Author's Note: Cover Art for this story is up. Art by yours truly with help from a Friend/Brother, @ewyzeanimation on Tiktok. Feel free to contact him for Graphics design and 2D Animations.
Second Note: Should have put this out when I started the story, but this is a fanfic. Not everything will be 100 percent accurate to Overlord Anime or Light Novel Lore.
Chapter 12: Player, Non-Player and Scripture.
Yggdrasil
Long ago, the World Tree 'Yggdrasil' had countless leaves, but then a gigantic monster appeared which devoured these leaves, causing them to fall one after the other, until only nine were left. These nine leaves were the previous incarnations of the Nine Worlds: Asgard, Alfheim, Vanaheim, Nidavellir, Midgard, Jotunheim, Niflheim, Helheim, and Muspelheim.
However, that leaf-eating monster continued its advance on those nine remaining leaves. This was the backstory that was being replayed in Ben's mind, as he created his character. With the final details to his avatar now complete, Ben studied the list of Safe Zones now visible on the floating screen Infront of him.
"Here goes nothing." He thought to himself as his hand landed on the Safe Zone suggested by his brother. In the blink of an eye, he found himself whisked off from the creation field onto a new location.
Before him now stood a stone Monastery, with pillars flanking the opening with a pair of stone angels peering at him from above. The ceiling was curved, the stone floor marginally sloped. Over a dozen touches lit up this empty catacomb, giving Ben a proper view of his surroundings…which was littered with corpses.
"Makes sense considering the location." Ben thought as he looked up at the floating red name of said say zone.
Náströnd, Corpse Shore.
"Ben?" The Level one Mage darted his eyes to the left to see what he could only describe as 'A Knight in Shining Armour.' "So…you still decided to create a human character huh?"
"Pretty much yeah." Ben said already having an idea of who the Paladin was.
"And Ben Strega?" Touchme asked as he looked at his brother's name through his console. "Couldn't you have come up with a better gamer tag besides, I don't know, your real name?"
"Too lazy."
"Of course you would say that." Touchme said with a sigh.
"So, what are you suppose to be?"
"I'm glad you asked." Touchme said as he began swinging his sword dramatically. "In this Darkness filled World, I go by a name feared by all evildoers. I am the Defender of the people and Sentinel of Justice, Touchme!" He announced while striking a pose, as the Kanji 'Justice Has Arrived' floated behind him.
For what felt like an eternity, Ben stood there motionless as he stare blankly at his brother. If his avatar could twitch it's eyes, he would have been doing that by now.
"So…aren't you going to comment on my outstanding performance?" Touchme asked, no longer posing.
"I'm more concerned by the fact you named yourself 'Touchme.'" Ben said after a while.
"What's wrong with the name?"
"How do you not see anything wrong with the name 'Touchme?" Ben asked incredulously. "It sounds like you're telling people to touch you inappropriately."
"W-what…no!" Touchme yelled defensively. "...That's not what it means."
"Could have fooled me." Ben said while crossing his arm.
"It's an acronym for the word 'Touch Me If You Can'."
"Oh…" Ben muttered in realization. "...Ohhhh."
"What type of reaction is that?!" Touchme asked comically.
"Look…I made a honest mistake okay. But the name is very misleading…"
"Let's not talking about my name again okay." Touchme said cutting him off. "Let's focus more on getting you attuned to the game."
"Agreed."
"So judging by the level one robe you're wearing, your character is a Mage or Priest?"
"Mage."
"I would have really liked it if you were a warrior like me though."
"We can't all be warriors. Besides, I'm a dork for good magic system."
"Okay then. Have you learnt how to access your console and inventory?"
"Yes for the console." Ben said, making a blue screen to appear Infront of him. "No for the inventory."
"I see." From there on, Touchme proceeded to lecture his brother on how to access his inventory, along with detailed explanations of Yggdrasil's magic system. The talk lasted for about twenty minutes before Touchme stopped, giving Ben an avenue to ask questions.
"So basically this game follows a 5e system, or something similar to one?"
"Pretty much." Touchme nods, before fiddling through his console. "Hey Ben, I'm sending something to you right now."
"What's that?" Ben asked as a notification suddenly popped up in front of him. On clicking said notification, a message suddenly popped up on his window.
"Warning, Holmgang Initiated, Do You Accept?"
"What is this?" Ben asked, as he studied the message suspiciously
"Oh it's just some Level One achievement quest."
"Should I be worried?"
"Don't worry, you don't have to worry about anything while I'm here."
Shrugging to himself, Ben proceeded to accept it.
"Holmgang initiated, PVP commencing."
"Wait wha-"
"[World Break.]"
That was the only warning Ben got right before the world around him turned white and the write up 'You Died' appeared before him.
"The actual fu-"
"For dying too early in the game, you will be revived in the nearest Safe Zone in 3, 2, 1."
"Welcome back." Touchme said the moment his brother appeared.
"The fuck you mean welcome back!"
"Hey, language."
"Oh don't language me, you literally just one shouted me with some overpowered spell-"
"Nuh uh, I did not one shot with some OP spell." Touchme said while waving his finger. "I one shotted you with The OP spell. Welcome to Yggdrasil."
"Oh you Divine Coc-"
"Achievement Unlocked: Suicidal Tendencies. You will now reach four minor healing potions for challenging an impossible opponent at level One."
Even though Avatar's could not make facial expressions, Ben couldn't shake the feeling that his brother was smiling happily under his mask.
"So, how do you like the reward?"
"Don't think I'm forgiving you just because I got some healing potions."
"You're right." Touchme said as he pulled out a leather bag from his inventory, before tossing it at Ben who instinctively caught it. "The bag contains two 4th tier Fire and Ice spell scrolls, two Fifth Tier lightning scrolls, some minor and major healing potions and a 9th tier spell scroll."
"That…sounds like overkill." Ben said in disbelief.
"One more thing." Touchme said as he hands over a key to Ben. "I'd advise you reach Level Sixty before using this key. From what I'm told, it lets you unlock the 'Sage Class'."
"I don't think I can take this. Like this feels a bit too much for me."
"Maybe, but as you can see, I'm more of a warrior type character who just happened to have acquired this from a special event. It's basically being wasted on me, so you have it."
"Thank you."
"I take it you're not angry at me anymore?" Touchme asked.
"Hmm, I guess I can forgive you, but I'm still getting you back for what you did."
"Hahahaha, in that case hurry up a get stronger." Touchme bellowed a laugh. "Though I doubt you would still be able to, 'Touch me'."
"Asshole..."
"...Assholes!"
The blood-curdling scream of Shalltear snapped open the eyes of the kneeling form of Ben, causing him to look up to the true vampire who was now in full armour.
Despite the fogginess in his mind, he could clearly make out the intense blood lust being emitted by Shalltear as she prepared to slaughter her opponents. Ben had to hand it to these individuals for standing their ground against Shalltear, despite their current predicament.
"I'm going to fucking murder all of you for harming a Supreme Being." Shalltear yelled, as she flared up a crimson aura.
"This is bad." Quaiesse Hazeia Quintia, the 'One Man Army' and 5th Seat of the Black Scripture, muttered grimly, as goosebumps began forming on his skin from experiencing Shalltear's blood lust. "Not only is the 8th Seat dead, but now lady Kaire has been taken away by that strange light from earlier."
"Fall back with the others, I'll hold this monster off for as long as I can for you to escape." The Black Scripture Captain said while tightening his grip on his sword.
"But Captain-"
"That's an order." He said, halting Quaiesse protest.
"None of you are leaving here alive!" Shalltear said as she prepared to release another [Purifying Lance.]
"[Shadow Bind.]"
Shalltear's attack was swiftly halted as she felt something grab her offending hand. Looking down, she saw multiple Shadow like hands latching onto her, taking hold of her remaining limbs in an attempt to hold her down. But since she was immune to movement restriction, Shalltear was able to shrug herself free from the shadows, but the time used to free herself left her open for to another spell.
[Maximize-Magic: Chaos Flare.]"
Barely having enough time to dodge, Shalltear brought her arms up to block the speeding purple orb, the size of a building heading her way.
The moment the attack made contact with Shalltear, a powerful explosion instantly engulfed her, causing dark energy to course through her veins. Shalltear felt her cells begin to shudder as the attack threatened to rip her apart from the inside out.
Despite not being in the range of the explosion, the Black Scripture members were still knocked back a few feet backwards by the shockwave of the spell.
Once the attack died down, the Scripture members looked towards sound of sizzling to see Shalltear with wisps of smoke trailing off her body.
"To think she would still be standing after an attack like that." Captain thought, before shifting his gaze to the one responsible for attacking Shalltear. "And for this Magic Caster to display such power. The only question that remains is if Lady Kaire's spell on him was effective."
"Lord…Ben, why did you attack me?" The confused voice of Shalltear snapped the Captain out of his train of thought.
For a moment, Ben stood their silent as he looked at his palm, seemingly confused by his actions as well. "Honestly, I have no idea." He admitted, before turning back to face Shalltear and the Black Scripture members. "All I know is that I have to kill everyone here."
"Shit." Captain mentally cursed. "The spell must have been altered the moment Lady Kaire was attacked."
"You're not yourself Lord Ben. These lower lifeforms have do-"
"[Chain Chaos Flare.]"
Whatever Shalltear was about to say was lost in the sound of her pained scream, as a dozen giant orbs of purple energy struck her head on launching her several miles into the distance from the force of the multiple blows.
Ben sneered as he watched her disappear over the horizon, before turning to face the Black Scripture members. "So, what can all of you do?" Despite his decision to kill them, Ben decided to address something that had been bothering him. "You."
"Me?" Quaiesse asked, slightly surprised that their opponent was addressing him.
"Have we met before?" Ben asked.
"I'm afraid this is the first time we've ever met, Sir Ben." Quaiesse answered respectfully, having heard his name from Shalltear.
"I see." As Ben pondered this, the Captain who's speed was now amplified by 4th and 11th seat, dashed forward at incredible speed. Aiming the tip of his spear as he charged forward, he was quite certain that no being, save the Extra Seat, would have been able to defend themself against his attack. Even the fact that Ben had not moved an inch from were he was had also increased the confidence the Captain had in his charge, but all that was instantly proven wrong as his spear bounced harmlessly off an invisible barrier.
"Shit."
The Captain cursed as he tried to regain his balance from the failed attack. Ben had initially planned to attack the man while he was recovering, but instead, he shifted his head to the side, casually evading a lightning bolt courtesy of the 11th Seat.
"Tch." She muttered in annoyance at the fact her attack was evaded. "[Chain Lightning!]"
Three bolt of lightning rushed towards Ben as the Captain created some distance between the Player. But all her attacks merely vanished on striking his barrier. Not letting up, the 11th seat continued throwing more spells at Ben's barrier, while the second and fourth Seat continued to buff the Captain.
"They're coordinated." Ben thought, as he watched Quaiesse summon ten creatures, ranging from a Snap Grasp, Summoned Bear and Summoned Wolf, which all began rushing towards him. "[Dominate Monsters]."
On casting the 8th tier spell, all the Summoned creatures instantly turned their attention towards the remaining Scripture members save the Captain, who was about striking Ben with his spear, but like before, it was stopped by his barrier.
"That's an annoying shield you have there." The Captain said, as he leaped away from Ben. But before his feet could touch the ground, he suddenly felt a palm on his face, right before he got slammed into the ground, creating a massive crater.
"Captain!"
Beaumarchais yelled on seeing the state of his leader. Snapping the neck of the wolf he was fighting, the 9th Seat rushed towards Ben to aid his leader.
"[Flow Acceleration]."
The world seemed to slow down as Beaumarchais used his new found speed to advance forward. Swinging his chain with all his might, his plan was to shatter Ben's skull. But the Player on seeing his advance, tossed the Captain into a nearby tree before catching Beaumarchais chain. With a mighty tug, Ben pulled the scripture member towards him before lifting him up by his face.
"[Drain Essence]."
The 7th seat suddenly felt an invisible force reach into him as though grabbing his very soul. At first it felt like a gentle tug, but then the pull grew stronger.
His body began to weaken and wilter as Ben drained both his HP and MP. The Captain, now recovered from being slammed into a tree, could only watch in horror as Ben dropped the bone like corpse of his comrade on the ground, before crushing his skull under his boot. The rest of the Black Scripture, who had just finished killing the controlled summons, all stood in shock at the death of yet another member of their group.
"By the Six Gods."
"How did this happen?" Shalltear asked herself as she continued to pull on her hair in frustration. "How could I let Lord Ben get controlled?"
For a moment she thought about using message to inform Ainz of Ben's current predicament, but stopped to consider the implications. "Wait, if Lord Ainz hears about this, he might get angry at me. Or worse, he might think I'm incompetent for failing my mission…aargh, how do I fix this!"
As Shalltear continued to panic, a strange idea suddenly popped up in her mind. "What if I capture him? If I manage to capture Lord Ben and bring him back, I'm sure Lord Ainz could easily cure him."
"The only problem with the plan though is how to do it. I can't think of anyway to capture Lord Ben without us having an Altercation. Maybe I should just ask the others for help." Shalltear suddenly saw a brief image of Albedo mocking her for not only failing her mission but allowing Lord Ben to get controlled. The mere thought caused the True Vampire to grit her teeth as she shook her head in annoyance. "No, I'm not going to let that hag rub this failure in my face. I'm sorry Lord Ben, but it looks like I'll have to bring you back to Lord Ainz even if it means fighting you."
With her decision made, Shalltear instantly took to the sky, before heading back towards Ben's location.
A grim silence filled the air as the Black Scripture members watched the skull of their comrade get crushed after having his life force drained. The 7th seat was no pushover, yet here he was lying dead on the ground. And their opponent didn't even look like he was trying.
"[Maximize-Magic: Magnify Gravity]."
The Black Scripture members were suddenly sent to their knees, due to the sudden increase in gravity. Despite this, the Captain began to slowly rise to his feet, fighting back against the force that was pulling him down.
"[Increase Gravity.]"
"Ahhhhhh!"
The pained scream of the Second, fourth and Eleventh Seat caught the attention of the Captain, as he was sent to his knees, yet again. Because these individuals did not possess high physical stats, the now increased-gravity ended up crushing their limbs, with the Fourth and Eleventh Seat now having a bone sticking out of their arms and thigh.
"[Increase Grav-"
Halfway through the spell, Ben suddenly stopped, along with the force that had been pushing down the Scripture members. A sighed of relief left the mouth of the Captain, as he took to his feet. Taking a better look at Ben, he noticed that the Magic Caster's gaze was not focused on them, but rather his gaze was fixated on the forest trees.
"Why did he stop?" The Captain asked. As though answering his question, Ben proceeded to utter a new spell.
"[Mirage Walk]."
Within the blink of an eye, Ben was no longer in his original position, as a red blur suddenly crashed into the area where he once stood, causing dust and dirt to shoot up everywhere. Once the dust settled, it revealed none other than Shalltear, whose lance was embedded into ground.
"You know Shalltear…" Both the Captain and Shalltear turned to the voice of Ben who was now about a hundred meters away from his original position. "...if I didn't know any better, I would have thought you were trying to kill me."
"Forgive me Lord Ben, but this is for your own good." Shalltear said, before charging forward at speeds that would put gales to shame. As the distance between them diminished, her lance tore through while aiming at the chest of her opponent.
However, instead of hitting flesh as intended, her lance harmlessly phased through Ben as the image before her disappeared.
"Illusion Magic." Shalltear mentally cursed her recklessness for rushing in like that. As she hastily tried to pinpoint his location, a spinning vortex of hyper-intensified gravity suddenly struck her from the side, sending her crashing into multiple trees. This was the spell, [Gravity Maelstrom, which Ben had hurled at the disoriented vampire.
While Shalltear was sent crashing through the forest, the real Ben decided to chase after her. On seeing this, the Captain began giving out others. "Quaiesse, can you still summon Monsters?"
"I believe…I can." Quaiesse said, while struggling to his feet.
"In that case, have your Summons carry the injured, while I carry the dead." Captain said. "We'll use this opportunity to retreat while he deals with the Vampire."
"Understood."
Finally coming to a stop, Shalltear stood back up from her downed state, before glaring at Ben who was now standing Infront of her, though at a distance.
"Not rushing in again?" Ben asked.
"I'm not going to make the same mistake twice, Lord Ben."
"If it's any consolation, I wasn't planning on using illusions twice in a row against you."
Shalltear braced the Spuit Lance, narrowing her eyes at the magic caster before her, before casting [Mana Essence].
True to his word, the caster before her wasn't an illusion as his mana appeared before her.
"That's a lot of mana…" She thought, as she mentally cooked up a strategy on how to deal with him. Unlike Ainz who was specialized in death magic, Ben was something akin to a Handyman Mage. From her knowledge, she was made to understand that Sage's were meant to be balanced Magic Caster's, who were proficient in both support and offense…
"[Greater Healing Light]."
When said spell was uttered, Shalltear had assumed Ben had tried to heal himself, but that line of thought was quickly vanquished as a green glow suddenly engulfed her, and then, pain shot through her body.
"Ahhhhhh!"
The screams of Shalltear filled the forest air, as she was sent to her knees by the spell. While healing spells could restore the HP of living beings, undead creatures like Shalltear did not enjoy that benefit. The divine properties of the healing spell had instead dealt damage to Shalltear, leaving her open for another spell.
"[Chaos Dragon Lightning]."
At that moment, a dragon made of purple lightning began racing towards Shalltear. Despite her condition, Shalltear was not in the mood to continue on the defensive, so she decided to cast [Greater Teleportation, to go on the offensive.
The plan was to teleport into close range and begin melee combat. Her field of vision distorted, but the scenery that should have instantly appeared before her eyes felt like it had been slowed down.
"Cheh!"
Shalltear guessed that this was the effect of the teleport-impeding spell, [Delay Teleportation]."
As Shalltear had guessed, she was quite a distance away from Ben, when she should have been deposited into the range of her Spuit Lance. Instead, she saw three balls of purple energy before her eyes, made by the spell, [Chain Chaos Flare].
Not in mood to fall victim to this annoying attack, Shalltear assumed her mist form to evade them as they flew toward her. This skill transmuted the body into mist, and it was quite a flavourful skill for vampires. However, it did not transform the body into the physical phenomenon called mist, but instead phased the body into the astral plane. Thus she could use it to completely avoid attacks in the physical world…except right now, that wasn't the case.
"Eeeek!"
A surprised yelp escaped Shalltear's form, as she was forcefully sent crashing towards the ground by Ben's spell. Since her astral form reduced her defense, the spell was twice as agonizing in comparison to the first time she got hit by it.
Wracked by agony, Shalltear terminated her mist form. She felt blood begin to drip down from her forehead, making her widen her eyes.
"I'm sorry for not mentioning this earlier." Ben said, as he started down at Shalltear from a tree. "Chaos spells can also affect Astral entities."
"You truly are a Wildcard, as expected of you, Lord Ben." Shalltear said, as she stood up.
Ben did not respond to that honest praise. He merely studied his opponent with doubtful eyes before shrugging. "If you say so."
"Oh, but I do." Shalltear's lips curled up into smile. This was because Ben's MP had diminished greatly to the point it was now half the original amount.
Shalltear's health had also decreased greatly from taking attacks in her Astral Form with no defense, but that amount of damage was well within limits. In other words, Shalltear was one step closer to victory. With that, Shalltear made her move.
"[Force Sanctuary]."
White radiance filled the area around Shalltear, a defensive barrier made of pure mana. While this barrier impeded the caster's attacks, it would also completely negate her opponent's attacks.
Through this barrier of light, she saw Ben smile slightly. As soothing as the smile was, it unnerve her greatly.
"Nice Barrier you got there, shame if something were to happen to it…" Ben said, while pointing his hand at Shalltear. "...[Disintegration.]"
From the palm of his hand, a green stream of disintegrating magic rushed towards Shalltear, and once it made contact with her barrier, it's effect kicked in. Like a swarm of angry locust, the spell ate away at Shalltear's barrier.
"Cheh!"
She had not expected this magic barrier, upon which she had spent a significant amount of mana, to be broken in one move. Shalltear was unable to believe this as the attack began eating on her skin.
"[Greater Teleportation]."
In a last ditch effort to save herself, Shalltear teleported to an open space in the air, outside of the [Delay Teleportation] spell's area of effect.
Shalltear had expected Ben to follow up with some kind of attack against her and had plan to use [Negative Impact Shield]. But the next spell Ben used completely caught her off guard.
"[Blood Art: Crimson Nova]."
At first, Shalltear had braced herself to defend an attack from Ben, but the moment she felt the blood on her forehead move, she knew that the attack wasn't from Ben, but rather her blood.
The blood on Shalltear's forehead instantly took the form of a ball, and after that, glowed red before exploding like a bomb. The force of the explosion struck Shalltear's head with such force she was thrown back into the ground, causing the bleeding on her head to intensify.
[Blood Art, is a Blood Mage specific ability which allows the user to manipulate either his blood or opponents for various effects. Unlike normal spells that consume MP, Blood Art consumes the users Life force/HP instead. Also Blood Art spells that aren't properly defended, inflicts a compulsory bleed effect to an opponent that can bleed, while also allowing a caster to leech HP in relation to the damage dealt.
"This is bad." Shalltear thought, as she frantically wiped the blood off her face. "To think I would be placed on the defensive." She looked at Ben with hesitant eyes. "If this continues like this, I'll end up loosing HP faster than he looses MP. I have to heal."
[Maximize Magic - Greater Lethal]."
Positive energy restored the health of the living, while negative energy would damage them. However, the opposite was true for the undead. Thus, [Greater Lethal, which channelled vast quantities of negative energy, was the most powerful healing spell that Shalltear (one of the undead) could cast…
"[Twist of Fate]."
Right before Shalltear's spell could take effect, Ben had used the Reaction spell to alter the Negative energy of [Greater Lethal] into positive energy.
"Gggggggaaahhh…!"
Shalltear was once again sent to her knees as her skin began to sizzle from the positive energy flowing through her body. Ben was about to press the advantage he had on Shalltear, when suddenly he felt something powerful enter his range of senses.
That split second of hesitation was enough for Shalltear to close the distance between her and Ben. With no time to cook up a new spell, Ben settled for his already equipped [Rune of Protection, but Shalltear's attack merely shattered the barrier like glass before driving her lance through Ben's chest.
"Argh."
Ben managed to mutter as Shalltear's weapon drew on his damage for healing. Ben's [Rune of Protection, could only defend against physical and magical attacks of the 7th tier or lower. This was why he had not once tried to defend against Shalltear's attack. But now that he has received damage, he would have to refrain from using said Rune.
"[Hemolysis]."
Shalltear watched as Ben's entire body turned into a giant mass of blood, before springing off a good distance away from Shalltear, though still within his [Delay Teleportation] zone. The blood then congeals, before taking the form of Ben.
"I finally got the drop on you Lord Ben." Shalltear said, before licking the blood on her lance. "Though I'm disappointed I wasn't able to replenish a reasonable amount of HP from harming you."
"Pecks of having low HP, but a high physical and magic defense." Ben said, before placing his hand on his chest. "[Healing Light.]" The hole in his chest instantly closed up, as his HP was restored to full health from the spell. "Plus, I don't need to worry about using high healing spells to fully restore my HP."
"Tch, you really are a pain to capture." As Shalltear said that, Ben felt the [Delay Teleportation] spell, he earlier casted, take effect. Not completely certain of the new arrivals full strength, Ben cast an [Explode Mine] spell on the teleportation destination, which was a few feet away from him. Afterwards, he stood still, waiting for his opponent to arrive. Shalltear, who had silently watched him place the mine, stood there in confusion as to why he placed a trap for her to see.
However, that confusion disappeared as she heard the sound of the explosion the moment someone arrived. Another individual had triggered the mine, causing Ben to create some distance between him and the new arrival.
Curious as to who just arrived, Shalltear began observing the new individual. "Silver… no wait, the luster is different. Is that platinum? Or a metal I do not know of?"
The explosion kicked up quite a bit of dust and at its center, stood a set of platinum-colored full-body armor. Four weapons hovered around them, following their every move. A spear, a katana, a hammer, and a greatsword.
"Well I'll be damned." Ben muttered, as he studied the individual before him. From what his [Eyes] could make out, it was just an Armour with no Levels or MP, but it did have some HP, so that was something to consider. "I've never heard of magic that lets you control an Armour from a distance…no scratch that, telekinesis is also a spell but I don't believe it's effect range is more than 300 meters." Not sure on how to deal with this new arrival, Ben deactivated his [Protective Rune, before replacing it with a different Rune.
As Ben stood there eyeing the armour, a smile found it's way on Shalltear's face. "My luck couldn't have been better. Since Lord Ben won't let me heal and using my Lance against him isn't really helpful, I can drain the HP of this new arrival long enough for his MP to run down. Quite a marvelous plan, if I do say so myself."
E-Rental
The moment he pushed open the doors, the inn instantly went silent, and countless eyes focused themselves on Ainz. This time, nobody obstructed him, and he came before the innkeeper.
"You…"
The eyes of the innkeeper and the inn's patrons were all drawn to the metal plate around Ainz's neck.
In a casual tone which sounded like he was smiling, Ainz said. "A double room."
After putting down the silver piece, he took the keys from the speechless innkeeper. And so, Ainz entered his room, where he dispelled his magic and resumed his true face.
The mithril plate around his neck clinked loudly against the Nemean Lion Pendant. He had explained his part in last night's activities in the graveyard, and had been awarded that metal plate. Within his hands was Ben's Plate as well, which had honestly been a hassle to get due to Magic Caster's absence, but the minor inconvenience did not bother him due to the happy mood he was in.
The reason why the inn had gone silent was because of that plate. A man who had been a copper plate adventurer several days ago had now risen quickly through the ranks when they saw him again. This was beyond their ability to comprehend.
Their honest reaction filled Ainz with a sense of superiority, as well as dissatisfaction. In his heart, he had been hoping to be promoted all the way to orichalcum rank, but he had only managed the rank before that. What would they have done if he had really obtained an orichalcum plate?
Still, this was not an entirely impossible feat.
Only a small amount of people knew about this matter. However, when he narrated the events at the guild, Ainz's accomplishments were truly unbelievable. Though he could have been elevated to adamantite rank right away, that had not happened because Ainz had no prior accomplishments and the investigations into the matter were not complete. Therefore, the Guild had decided to be prudent about this.
In other words, the Guild already thought of Ainz as an equal to the two adamantite-ranked adventurer parties in the Kingdom.
In addition, as time went by, the story of the battle in the graveyard, as well as the great name of Momon would certainly spread throughout the city. This was because the fleeing guards talked about the exploits of Ainz.
The plan had gone so smoothly that Ainz could not help but smile. No, it had not gone smoothly; it had gone perfectly.
Ainz flicked the mithril plate with a finger, as he suddenly felt the use of the [Message] spell.
"Good day Lord Ainz, I do hope things are well on your side."
"Indeed they are Sebas." Ainz answered. "How goes your mission in the Capital?"
"It is going smoothly my Lord. Forgive me for asking, but have you heard from Lord Ben by any chance?"
"The last time we spoke, he was trying to reach out to the family of some diseased adventurers. Did something happen?"
Sebas went silent for a moment before speaking. " Earlier, Lord Ben spoke to me on the possibility that Shalltear was in her [Blood Frenzy] state. I've been trying to contact him since then, but to no avail."
For a moment, he had no idea what those words meant. After they slowly filtered into his mind, Ainz's reaction was like that of a moron.
"…Hah?"