Chương 498: 7
Chapter 7 - To Anger the Gods
They didn't need much preparation to go inside the forest for herbs gathering. Nfirea provided everyone with a bag and explained with great enthusiasm how to recognize valuable herbs. Both teams would make a perimeter around Nfirea to ensure nothing ambushed him, with Peros and Lakrut going forward and scouting for potential dangers.
The first thing everyone noticed going inside the forest was how unnaturally quiet it was. The only sounds heard were their own steps on twigs and dried leaves. The first gathering spot Nfirea used on a semi-regular basis was just a five-minute walk away and they reached it without problems.
While Peros and Lakrut patrolled, each taking half a circle of about twenty meters away from the core group, the rest gathered herbs following Nfirea's instructions. Only Dyne, as a druid, could somewhat keep up with Nfirea's practiced gathering speed.
With the spot exhausted in about twenty minutes, they moved to the next one. Lakrut was looking around nervously, with the feeling that he was being watched. Peros had noticed Aura up in the trees following them stealthily and waiting for the command to start the show.
The next gathering spot was also uneventful and soon they moved to the third one, deeper inside the forest where more rare and valuable herbs grew. Nfirea was already happily explaining that they had gathered a record amount, and with the third spot, they would double his usual yield. Having a larger escort than usual had many benefits and increased yield of herbs was one of them.
The third spot took a bit more time to clear and when all the bags they had were full, Ainz gave the command for Aura to start the show. Soon, an attack by the Wise King of the Forest and a guardian sprite would come.
When all the bags were full and tied up, Nfirea let out a satisfied sigh and told everyone that it was time to go back. At that moment, the forest rambled, as something big was rampaging in their direction.
Everyone grabbed the bags and ran. At the small clearing, a large silver-furred beast caught up with them. A tiny figure rode on the beast, covered in clothes made of grass and with an overly large wooden helm-like mask covering its head. The beast roared and swung its snakelike tail towards the nearest target, Brita. She blinked and Bukuma was in front of her, rising her shield and blocking the attack from reaching her.
A metallic sound rang as the tail hit the shield with a small shock wave, even moving the nearby trees. The beast rose on two feet, dropping off the sprite from its back and spoke.
"Strong opponent you are, epic our battle shall be."
Ainz shouted to the Swords of Darkness,
"Take Nfirea, grab the herb bags, and run! We will hold it off while you get out of the forest!"
There was no time to discuss things. Peter trusted they could stand against the beast. He grabbed Nfirea by his hand who just stared shocked at the beast and dragged him out of the forest with the rest of his team quickly picking up the bags and following.
The small creature in a grass suit jumped near them and shouted in a childish voice,
"Thieves! You will never leave the Wise King's domain alive!"
The sprite charged them with its staff, but Itsuki intercepted the sprite and pushed it back, dodging the sprite's attacks with unnatural speed.
Peter and his team ran in a frenzy. This was so out of their league that they hoped to run and to get out of the forest alive. The battle raged behind them, with the sounds of falling trees, spells exploding, and loud shouts. Only when they saw the edge of the forest, the beast let out a loud wail in the distance and the sounds of the battle stopped.
The Swords of Darkness and Nfirea waited outside the forest, hoping that their companions were still alive. After about fifteen minutes, Satoru and his team emerged from the forest with everyone in one piece. They looked a bit bruised and roughed up, but otherwise fine.
The return to Carne was awkward. While Ainz's team was in an uplifted mood, loudly discussing the battle with a legendary beast and how they scared it off, the Swords of Darkness reflected on their own lack of power. The other team had saved them two times on this journey.
They didn't plan to spend much time in Carne, just loading up Nfirea's carriage and be on their way to get back to E-Rantel before next day's nightfall. Nfirea said his goodbyes to Enri, both being awkward, with a tint of red in their cheeks. It tempted Bukuma to just get involved and push the two teenagers together.
Brita, on the way back from the forest, walked a bit behind her team, lost in thought. Her short time in the village was spent talking to the people there and not helping the teams packing up for their travels back to the city. When it was time to leave, Brita came up to her team with a serious expression and addressed all of them.
"Guys, I'm staying in Carne. Adventuring just isn't for me. Keep my share from this job, not that I actually did anything."
Peter, Ninya, and Dyne understood her. The last two days had made them feel the same, but unlike Brita, they resolved to move on and get stronger, each for their own reasons. Lakrut, on the other hand, was protesting,
"Brit, you can't just give up. I mean, those guys are freakishly strong. No one is on their levels; the world needs small-timers like us too."
"If not for Akari, I would be a goner. All of us would, if not for them saving our butts. Sorry, Lakrut, but I already made up my mind."
Seeing that there was no convincing her, Lakrut gave up and said goodbyes to her with the rest of the Swords of Darkness.
The road back to E-Rantel started gloomy for them at first. Nfirea, oblivious to it, pestered Ainz's team for details of the battle with a legendary beast, as the excitable teenager he was.
Peros had taken a liking to the Swords of Darkness and seeing their mood took the role of an elder brother and cheered them up. His cheerful attitude grew on them, making the team look forward with optimism and determination to grow stronger.
Bukuma could only chuckle at her brother's antics, being reminded once again that he wasn't just a little pervy bastard. She didn't have to look after him like during all their childhood and teenage years anymore.
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A carriage with five passengers was driving the unpaved countryside road, going straight to an ambush point. The coachman was part of a mercenary gang that ambushed wealthy travelers, took everything of value, killed the men and raped and sold the women. It was a lucrative business covered by local nobles. The coachman was only aware of two of the passengers, who he thought was an elderly merchant and his spoiled daughter. He was full of excitement. Once the rest of the mercenaries had their fun, his turn with the spoiled brat would come, too. Of course, he was unaware that he and the gang were walking right into a trap.
There was a bit of silent awkwardness in the air as Solution, Sebas, Shalltear, and two vampire brides sat in silence. Everyone was aware of Shalltear's overall foul mood. She was taking the loss to Albedo rather badly. She herself was putting up a barely noticeable charming smile, but both vampire brides beside her were nervous and tried hiding how afraid they were of their mistress.
Sebas tried to lessen the awkward atmosphere by striking a conversation.
"Lady Shalltear, I have noticed that you lately are feuding less with Lady Aura. Are things improving between the two of you?"
"I guess. With our creators becoming more friendly with each other, it has reflected on us. Besides, Aura is not my concern, for the most part. That bitch Albedo is. What does she have that I don't?" Shalltear quickly descended into a raving.
Solution mused, "Maybe it's because Lord Tabula gifted her to Lord Ainz, not because she has anything better than you Lady Shalltear." Solution was one of the few denizens of Nazarick that was on Shalltear's side in the battle for Lord Ainz's main wife's position. She felt a weird kinship with Shalltear, as both were ruthless predators. Most of Nazarick considered the battle already decided, but there was still hope.
"That's it! I'll just ask father to gift me to Lord Ainz as well! Solution, thank you for your wonderful idea," Shalltear responded with a newfound resolve.
Shalltear had seen the supreme ones rewarding their subordinates for good work and wanted to follow the example. Shalltear did not know why they did it but if the supreme beings did it, it must be important.
"How should I reward you for the wonderful suggestion?" She asked Solution.
"I would be grateful if I could have the coachman for myself." Solution replied with a wide grin, happy that she had given Shalltear a useful idea.
"I don't see any problem with it. You can have him if you want," Shalltear answered with a wide smile on her face. She had a plan, and she would be Lord Ainz's.
Silence descended again, but the atmosphere was now less tense and a silent gratitude towards Solution was in the eyes of both vampire brides.
Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt, and they heard shouts outside. Shalltear's smile changed into a predatory smirk as she stepped outside. Some man seeing her smiled and tried to grab her chest while saying,
"Oh, little girlie this is not your day," but the hand didn't reach her. It just fell to the ground. She wouldn't let some trash touch her. The man screamed. Shalltear remained unmoving, with spilled blood collecting itself in a sphere above her head. The vampire brides got out of the carriage and tore into the ranks of bandits.
None of them could stand against them and fell one by one. By the orders of Shalltear, most were left alive intentionally. Lord Tabula had requested live test subjects, and she wanted to make a good impression on the rulers of Nazarick with her first task in the new world.
The coachman, seeing the carnage, jumped off the carriage and just ran. Then some shadow moved past him. He ran as hard as he could while hearing a woman's laughter from time to time. Someone was stalking him through the dark woods. Solution was toying with him. Just outside his field of vision, she fed on his fear. Soon, he would be inside her. His pain and screams would feed her for weeks. But since opportunities didn't come often, she would let this pathetic man run a bit more.
The man just ran and ran and then saw an unreal sight. The spoiled daughter of the merchant was standing in the clearing. She was topless and waiting for him. Anyone with basic reasoning would realize that it was a trap, but not him. Lust clouded his mind, and he crept closer to her. She just stood there, her huge breasts inviting him to touch. He grabbed them and then his hands sunk in. No matter how he trashed, he was just sinking in slowly and his skin inside burned. Solution just smiled as she watched him slowly being absorbed inside her. Her smile was much wider than humanly possible.
Shalltear just watched, bored. 'None of this worthless trash couldn't even put up a fight against my vampire brides.'
The vampire brides gathered all the captives in one spot for Shalltear to deliver them to Nazarick. She opened a portal to Nazarick's frozen prison on the fifth floor. They unceremoniously tossed bandits through the portal. Meanwhile, Solution came back looking very satisfied with her hunt. Sebas, who was just watching from the carriage approached Shalltear and said,
"Lady Shalltear, this is where our paths split. I wish you a good hunt and we will be on our way."
"Thank you Sebas, good luck on your mission as well."
Shalltear watched, with her vampire brides, as the carriage slowly disappeared from their view. Then she turned her attention back to the wilderness and activated her ability 'Predator' to sense all humanoid-type creatures within its range. With the words "Come on, you sluts. There is a cave full of prey nearby," she started gracefully walking towards it.
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A group of people was silently moving through the woods of the Slane theocracy towards Re-Estize. The Black Scripture was on the way of probably the most important mission of their lives, to deal with the Lords of Ooal Gown. Once at the border, the captain of the Black Scripture addressed his troop,
"Attention everyone. We are crossing the border and entering Re-Estize territory. From this point on, we are on full alert. In the worst-case scenario, these Lords of Ooal Gown may have someone with the same abilities as Nr. 7 and will be fully aware of our advance. Remember, the priority is diplomacy, so no trigger-happy shenanigans."
He then addressed Kaire, a woman in her eighties dressed in a somewhat revealing dress for her advanced age. The reason was that the dress itself was a divine artifact named Downfall of Castle and Country. She was the keeper of this artifact for over 60 years and was highly respected in the Slane Theocracy.
"Lady Kaire we will leave the use of the artifact at your discretion and if you need to stop for a rest, please inform me."
"I may be old, boy, but I'm not weak, so save the pity for someone else!" she told in a dismissive tone.
The captain bowed and apologized right away.
"I'm sorry, I didn't intend to insult you, lady Kaire." to which she just waved dismissively.
Relzanu was observing the nearby area in the meantime. In fact, she was doing it constantly, so ambushing the Black Scripture was near impossible. Something caught her attention about a half-day walking distance away; vampires were incapacitating a group of bandits. A strange monster shaped like a woman absorbed one of the bandits not far away from the main battle scene. Then a carriage sped away, leaving three vampires in the wilderness. She waited for everyone to quiet down and then spoke.
"Captain, I just witness an attack of powerful vampires towards outlaws about a half-day walking distance away; two females in white dresses following one younger-looking female vampire dressed like a noble. They may cross our path."
"Vampires? Something as weak as a vampire is not our concern." Captain responded.
"The ones I observed seemed much more powerful than a regular vampire and the leader used an unknown spell to transport their victims somewhere."
The captain was silent for a minute, deliberating on what to do. The situation was getting more and more complicated. In moments like these, he desperately wanted the advice of a cardinal. To not appear indecisive in front of his unit, he spoke with conviction.
"We will approach this vampire and find out more about it. There is a chance she either serves or is one of the Lords. Once we will be near, go on full defensive but don't give her reasons for attacking. Our priority is not to cause unnecessary conflict, monster or not."
Divine Chant was the one to protest as usual.
"Now we are talking to vampires. This goes against everything our gods taught us!"
"Nr. 4, you have your orders. Until we know more you will fall in line, IS THAT CLEAR?"
"Yes... Captain." Divine Chant responded through her teeth, not even attempting to hide her contempt about the order.
With that, silence fell once again, and the Black Scripture moved into the territory of Re-Estize. The captain was wary of how unhappy his unit was with that order, but the cardinals had given him explicit instructions and he was not to break them for either his or his subordinates' beliefs. He could only hope the encounter with the vampires would not end in disaster.
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Both teams escorting Nfirea reached E-Rantel late evening the next day. With testimonies from Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness, Ainz's team was recommended for promotion to the gold rank. Curious onlookers gathered around when all the ears of ogres and goblins were dumped on the sorting table for a clerk to assess the reward for their kills. For one unknown team to kill so many at once was a rare occurrence and other adventurers chatted among themselves that E-Rantel was getting another mithril or even orichalcum ranked team soon.
Nfirea had paid them an escort fee and gave Ainz his address so he could come and collect the additional payment for the herbs and discuss his apprenticeship with Nazarick a bit more. The Swords of Darkness volunteered to help Nfirea with the herbs, and they all left together, leaving Ainz and his team to wait on their payment from the guild.
After a tedious two hours wait, all the goblins and orcs ears were counted, and the guild finally paid them. After receiving their payment and signing an unnecessary amount of paperwork, Ainz led his team outside the guild building into the nightly streets of E-Rantel. Ainz was in an elevated mood. The first mission was a great success and on top of that, he had found a capable student for Tabula.
Once they got to the address Nfirea had given, a bad feeling set in right away. There was no light inside, and Ainz sensed undead. Something had gone terribly wrong. Once they rushed inside the stench of death hit them and three figures stumbled in their direction slowly.
Zombies. Three faces twisted in agony, Peter, Dyna, and Lakrut, or what remained of them, attempted a clumsy attack but were decapitated by Rubedo. The group split right away to investigate the house. Narberal discovered the mutilated corpse of Ninya right away, and Bukuma found Lizzie's preserved corpse stashed under the bed. There was no sign of Nfirea. He had disappeared without a trace.
Almost without a trace. After careful examination of the corpses, Ainz realized that all their ranking tags were missing. While Ainz was using various spells to locate the tags, Peros was pacing back and forth, rambling loudly.
"They were good people. What kind of sick fuck did this to them for no fucking reason. When we found them... fuck, they are getting everything Neuronist can offer."
"Brother, calm down. Ainz will sort this out. " Bukuma tried to calm him down a bit. She was just as mad for the senseless deaths of their newfound friends.
Ainz was using Remote Viewing spell, combined with detection magic on the tags, and found Nfirea in E-Rantel's graveyard naked, with a strange crown on his head surrounded by hordes of undead and a group of cultists in the same dark robes, performing a ritual. He also saw a blonde woman observing the ritual, and his location spell indicated she had the ranking tags of the Swords of Darkness. Ainz canceled Remote Viewing and addressed his group.
"Nfirea is still alive, but they used him for activating some artifact. We will stop it right away. Nabe, run to the guild and explain the situation."
Narberal bowed and left the building in a hurry.
Peros was still pacing back and forth and spoke to Ainz right after his command.
"Ainz, can we take them? Resurrect them at Nazarick?"
"You want to revive them? Ninya is the only one we could really bring back as the rest were killed as undead. And even if we could get them all back, what then? Keep them in Nazarick?"
"Dammit Ainz! What is the point of us being these godlike beings if we can't keep our allies safe?"
"Calm down Peros! Look, I will put a shadow demon to watch the corpses, and once we can't be connected to their disappearance, a stealth team will bring them to Nazarick. When we return to Nazarick, Tabula and I will investigate it and try to get them back. How does that sound?"
"Thanks, Ainz." Peros finally said, still agitated, but a murderous intent to get back at those who wronged his new friends replaced his anger.
All that remained now was to go to the graveyard and resolve the situation. Palpable murderous intent replaced the previously uplifted mood of the group as they rushed towards their destination.
A fifteen-minute jog later, the walls of the graveyard came into view. A wall around the graveyard was needed for one simple reason - the constant influx of undead. If enough bodies were buried in one place, the accumulated negative energies brought back the dead. Undead generated more negative energy, resulting in more undead getting progressively more powerful and dangerous. In essence, if left uncheck, the city would eventually be overrun by undead.
The closer they got, the clearer it became. The guards were fighting a losing battle, and the undead were spilling over the wall.
Ainz barked out a command, "Everyone, help them clear the wall!"
Peros with his sister and Rubedo ran to the wall and took out the attacking skeletons left and right. Ainz meanwhile cast the Fly spell and while hovering over the wall bombarded hordes of undead on the other side with fireballs, taking out huge chunks with each hit.
They quickly shifted the tide of battle in their favor with the wall cleared of undead soon after. The guards were quite confused, seeing bronze plate adventurers devastating the undead they couldn't hold back.
Ainz saw what looked like the captain of the guard and addressed him in an authoritative tone.
"Send one of your men to gather reinforcements. We will take the fight inside the graveyard meanwhile."
Normally, a veteran like him would scoff at a copper plate ordering him around, but the stranger exuded such of aura of authority that even talking back didn't feel like an option. With a nod, he turned around and called one of his men to him and ordered to get reinforcements.
Ainz resumed his flight and the rest of his companions followed him by jumping over the wall and tearing into the remaining undead over the wall.
As the sound of battle got further and further away, they finally could take a breather. One of the guards just spoke out.
"What just happened? Who in the world were they?"
The captain just remarked, wiping his brow from sweat.
"Lads, I think we just witnessed the birth of a legend; heroes clad in dark saving our city."
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Once out of view from the guards on the wall, Ainz activated his Dominate the Undead area effect spell and ordered them to follow behind him. More and more undead joined the orderly army that now followed Ainz and his friends.
Finally, they reached the catacombs in the middle of the graveyard and saw cultists performing a ritual. All of them, except their leader, who stood in the middle, had similar dark robes with the same symbol. One of them shouted at the leader and pointed in their direction, who now stared in disbelief at the army of undead behind Ainz.
Ainz extended his hand and did a silent cast of 'Negative Energy Gathering', making the undead behind him just fall lifelessly as energy gathered in his hand and then was absorbed in his body. His hand darkened as if rotting away and Ainz remembered that a human body couldn't handle negative without damage. With a quick heal, he repaired his hand as if nothing had happened.
Seeing a demonstration of clearly superior skill in necromancy compared to his, the leader, an almost undead-looking man shouted.
"What kind of spell was that?"
Ainz just responded with,
"We will be the ones asking questions. Where is the boy?"
The bald man let out a dry laugh.
"You are too late. The boy has used the Crown of Wisdom already. You can't save him anymore."
"I will be the judge of that, and where is the one with the adventurers' plates. Is she too much of a coward to face us?"
A figure came out of the catacombs with a wide grin. She was a beautiful blonde woman wrapped in a simple brown cloak. A thin line of her body was left uncovered with the cloak and what looked like an overly revealing armor made of adventurers' plates flashed through.
"Satoru, that bitch is mine!" growled Peros.
"Fine Itsuki. Go for it, but take Akari with you just in case," Ainz replied.
Bukuma and Peros walked aside as Peros shouted at the woman.
"Hey, you blonde cunt! Come face us!"
She just responded with a laugh while following them.
"My, my, I worked someone up. You didn't like what I did to your friends?"
"You bitch will pay thousand times for what you did," Peros growled back, getting more and more worked up as he already imagined this arrogant bitch broken. Bukuma followed her brother in silence. She too wanted that woman to suffer, but she would not give her the satisfaction of showing it.
Clementine was ecstatic. Another victim and he was already so mad. His pain will be so sweet. She couldn't stop taunting him.
"You know that girl, she insisted until the last moment that someone would come to save her. I even jammed one of my stilettos up her cooch. Oh, how she screamed. Such a wonderful moment to perform the first penetration of a girl."
Peros was already driven over the edge. She would regret ever living as she would never die. Peros knew healing magic could keep her in one piece no matter what was done to her, and she was giving him ideas after ideas on what to do to make her pay.
Finally, they reached a secluded area and stood about ten meters apart. Clementine dropped her cloak. A nicely proportional body, clad only in small armor made of adventurers' plates, came into view. Peros would be all over a girl with such a body in any other situations, but now he only wanted her to scream and not out of pleasure.
"You will have the privilege to die by the hands of the inhuman Lady Clementine." She raved as she took a position that resembled a cat preparing for an ambush. Bukuma took a step back and Peros left himself wide open to give her the illusion of easy victory and waited for her attack.
Clementine had almost climaxed from anticipation alone. This fool was leaving himself wide open. Her instincts screamed that something was wrong, but she was too worked up to pay any attention to it. She aimed for his shoulders, planning to take out both of his arms and then attack the woman, as she looked like much more of a defensive type and thus harder to crack.
She activated all her speed boost abilities and sprung into motion with a speed that would be almost incomprehensible to a normal human. To Peros, however, she could just as well be slowly crawling in his direction and he wouldn't tell the difference. She expected her stilettos to dig in the man's armor, but then something weird happened. Her stilettos stopped just before his armor. Her hands were bound. She blinked, and both stilettos now pointed upward.
Pain jolted in and the realization came that both of her forearms were broken like twigs in the hands of this man. She let out a scream of pain and another realization came. She wasn't on top of the situation, no; it was the complete opposite. The man let go of her broken forearms and she bolted. Clementine hoped she could run fast enough to run away.
She ran as fast as she could, but she fell only after a few seconds, hitting the ground face first. After a moment of confusion, she tried to get up, but a sharp pain came from her kneecaps and she was rolled over with a kick to her side. Man, she had pissed him off beyond belief as he loomed over her as an arrow was sticking out of each of her knees.
Peros grabbed her by the hair, lifting her and snarling in her face "Now bitch, your eternal hell begins."
Clementine bit her lip and closed her eyes. Fear, panic, desperation, all these emotions raised in her. She was always so careful not to cross the wrong people. How did she end up in such a mess? Begging was out of the question. She knew there would be no mercy for her.
Clementine felt being partly dropped to the ground again and then dragged by her hair back to the catacombs, her stomach and legs painfully being dragged over all the rubble lying around the cemetery. Her broken forearms and shattered knees gave her agonizing pain.
While Clementine went off with two of the newcomers, Khajiit and the cult members were left with the remaining two. A man dressed in a dark robe, who just performed necromantic magic beyond Khajiit's understanding, was making him sweat bullets. Khajiit was trying not to show it, thinking on how to stop his two opponents, as the girl with two long daggers looked like she was ready to strike.
Suddenly, the dark robed man shot a fireball towards him. Long exposure to Clementine's unstable and bloodthirsty presence had made him so paranoid, that Khajiit put defenses up in time only getting light burns. The rest of the cultists weren't so lucky and the smell of burnt flesh rose in the air. Khajiit was unnerved that he didn't even see the spell being cast.
Seeing no other options, Khajiit activated the Orb of Death and released large amounts of negative energy. The orb itself was a sentient artifact made to gather negative energy. By using it, Khajiit could boost his undead summoning skills and summon a skeletal dragon. No matter how powerful the stranger was, no magic in this world could kill a skeletal dragon, only pure brutal force was useful against it.
He ordered the dragon to attack the caster. The dragon lifted his paw and swung it towards the caster. The caster didn't bother to respond or even try to move out of the way. Just before the dragon could hit him, the girl just stepped in and stopped the attack. While the girl held the dragon's paw, the caster spoke.
"Is this all you can do? How pathetic."
Khajiit gritted his teeth. Were they part of some elite unit from the Theocracy even he didn't know existed? No regular human could be as strong as the girl holding the skeletal dragon. He cast various buffs on the dragon in hopes it would make it strong enough to crush his enemies. Then the girl let the dragon go, and the caster spoke again, this time giving the dragon an order.
"Skeletal dragon, squash that bug for me!"
To Khajiit's surprise, the dragon spun around and made a swipe at him. Even with his protective shield, it sent him flying, and he hit the uneven cemetery ground hard.
Ainz had cast another Dominant Undead area effect and wrestled the control over the dragon away from Khajiit.
Khajiit slowly rose with a sharp pain in his side. It baffled him what was going on.
"What in the world are you? How did you take away the dragon from me?"
Ainz let out a dry laugh.
"Your control over the undead is laughable. Rubi, bring him to me, I have an experiment in mind."
Ainz was curious if he could change a living being into an undead with their memories and mind intact. In Yggdrasil, there was an overlord-specific spell that turned a low-level living NPC into an undead, making them function as a regular summons.
Rubedo grabbed him in the matter of a blink and dragged him to Ainz. At the same time, Peros and Bukuma came back from their duel, with Peros dragging Clementine by her hair as she wailed loudly.
Khajiit tried to struggle against Rubedo's grip, to no avail. Ainz tore the robe of Khajiit's chest open, touched Khajiit's chest, and said,
"Touch of Death - transform to an elder lich."
Khajiit thrashed in agony and let out an almost inhuman scream as his chest rotted rapidly, making him feel agony he didn't know existed. It spread to his arms and legs and soon reached his head. Khajiit let out his last screams of agony and then the transformation was completed. Rubedo released the lich, who kneeled before his new master, awaiting orders.
Once Clementine saw the captured Khajiit, she knew there was no hope of escape. She was already in great pain and was letting out wails and moans of pain. Then the cloaked man did something to Khajiit, and he rotted away in front of her eyes. They had forced her to watch. All the cruelties, all the brutality she herself had done to others had not prepared her for what she saw now. Her mind got overwhelmed, and she screamed hysterically.
She begged to be just killed between her screams and thrashed around, despite the pain she was in. The man holding her just pushed her face into the cold cemetery ground, breaking her nose, and told her to shut up.
Once Peros had shut up his victim, Ainz addressed the elder lich.
"How much do you remember from your previous life?"
Lich responded while still kneeling.
"I remember nothing, my Lord. You created me just mere moments ago to serve you with all my being."
Although the experiment was successful and a living body could be used as a medium for summoning, it didn't leave any of the previous living being's personality. Ainz concluded he needed to research an alternative method to turn someone into the undead with their mind intact.
Peros interrupted his train of thought.
"Hey, Ainz, can you open the portal to Nazarick? I want to take this bitch to Neuronist."
Ainz nodded and opened a gate directly to Neuronist's work area.
Peros stepped through the portal, dropped the terrified Clementine on the ground, and informed Neuronist that the woman he delivered is on his absolute shit list and Neuronist should go all out of her, with the condition that Clementine may never die.
He stepped back through the portal to the graveyard to see Ainz taking off the robe from a dead cultist. Seeing the questioning look from Peros, he remarked.
"This cult of necromancers will serve as a perfect scapegoat for our more unlawful activities, like getting the corpses of the Swords of Darkness."
"We still need to find Nfirea!" Bukuma chipped in.
"Don't worry, he is down in the catacombs. I will go get him. Meanwhile, you all can gather anything of value before the guards and the other adventurers show up. Oh, and Rubi please shatter the skeletal dragon."
He apologized to the lich, who he killed, to present it as the main scapegoat for the event, as just a few easy to kill cultists would raise questions about the actual events. Then, leaving his friends to work on gathering the valuables, Ainz descended the stairs of the catacombs. He found Nfirea soon enough. The boy was standing unmoving, naked, with just a delicate crown on his head. His shut eyes were bleeding.
The first thing to do was to determine the properties of the crown. It was easy enough with an 'Item Appraisal' spell. The crown could cast a 7th tier spell, even if the caster didn't have enough mana or energy to perform it. The price, however, was that it drained the wearer's life force as a price. Additionally, if removed, it would destroy the wearer's mind.
Ainz pointed his finger at it and cast 'Greater Destroy Item' to avoid its removal effect. The crown disintegrated and Nfirea slumped on the cold catacomb ground. Ainz then cast 'Greater Heal' on him and pulled up one of Nfirea's eyelid to check if his eyes were healed. He carefully wrapped the boy in a simple cloak from his inventory and picked him up.
Ainz ascended quickly, getting outside of the catacombs. The mission was an overall success and would boost their rank even more. It vexed Ainz that they lost the Swords of Darkness, as weak as they were. He and Peros, particularly, took a liking to them. He now hoped that with Tabulas' help he could bring all of them back, to not let down his best friend's request.
After not even stepping a few steps outside, Ainz saw an incoming crowd, led by Nabe and a powerfully built man in his forties. As Nabe and the man, Ainz presumed, as the guild's representative, walked up to him, the rest of the crowd, comprising of adventurers and guards, spread around, looking for any remaining threat.
The man addressed Ainz as the leader of his group.
"Mr. Satoru, on behalf of the guild and city of E-Rantel, thank you for your team's swift response to contain the situation," he then noticed the corpse of the elder lich on the ground, "A lich! Looks like I will have to petition the mayor to increase patrols in the graveyard."
"Thank you, Mr..." Ainz responded.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Pluton Ainzach, guild master of E-Rantel's branch of adventurers' guilds."
"A guild master, it's an honor to make your acquaintance."
"Likewise. Is the boy alright? I already heard about Lizzie from miss Nabe. Such a shame she was killed by these...monsters."
"I did what I could, hopefully, his mind will recover."
"I will organize your teams and the boy's stay in the guild owned inn while we sort all this mess out and decide on your new guild rank and pay," Ainzach said and turned his attention on organizing cleanup. After a few minutes, the guild employed priest took Nfirea for deeper examination, thanking Ainz for the healing already done on the boy.
The inn the guild provided was a great upgrade compared to the cheap dump low-rank adventurers stayed in. Clean cotton sheets on beds, tasty food, and various cleaning and repair services catered to the adventurers renting rooms in it.
‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›‹x›
Shalltear had reached the cave full of her next victims, with her vampire brides following her. Two guards stationed at the entrance were eliminated with no effort. She was growing increasingly impatient. None of these weaklings were useful. Just cattle, nothing more.
Inside, the cave was not much better. The vampire brides tore through the victims with speed and efficiency, leaving Shalltear to just open a portal from time to time and toss in the bandits. Things changed after about a ten-minute walk inside the cave. A blue-haired man stood his ground, and he slashed the attacking vampire across the chest with a swift motion of the blade, forcing her to step back.
Shalltear grinned. Finally, something interesting. She pushed one of the vampire brides out of the way, almost crushing her against the wall. She noticed the man was projecting a strange circle around him. It wasn't visible but gave the impression of a trap. With a smirk, she stepped in it and the man swung the sword at great speed, far faster than any human she had ever seen before.
Brain Unglaus, known as the second strongest warrior in Re-Estize. At least that was what people thought. Ten years ago, he had entered a tournament and devastated all his opponents. All expect one, Gazef Stronoff defeated him at the finals. He had spent the last ten years being part of various mercenary groups to earn money and seek strong opponents.
But no one ever was worth the effort, so Brain just spent most of his time honing his abilities and even inventing new martial art abilities, waiting for a chance to face Gazef again and prove to himself that he was the strongest. Now monsters had invaded the cave the mercenary group he was part of occupied.
For vampires, all three were exceptionally beautiful, but it didn't matter to him as he slashed the first attacker, forcing her to step back. The smaller one then pushed one of them aside and stepped forward, a confident smirk on her face.
'Monsters are always so arrogant to think us humans as weak. Shame such a pretty one has to die, but a monster is a monster.' Brain thought and activated the 'Perception Field'. It was a special technique he developed. Anyone getting in the range would be attacked by him instantly, with a one-hundred percent precision.
The vampire stepped in his range, and Brain slashed his sword at her. Her head would roll off her delicate shoulders at any moment. That didn't happen. Instead, the vampire held his sword between two fingers and laughed.
"That was fun, want to try again?" and let go of his sword adding, "Show me all you got. A big man like you should know how to show a girl a good time."
Brain gritted his teeth. This wasn't possible. How did she stop his attack so easily? For the first time in ten years, he was preparing to go all out. This time his life depended on it. He activated the field again, but this time he additionally cast all the boosts he had.
He raised his sword and waited for the vampire to attack again. She casually stepped in his range again, but this time, he released a series of rapid slashes against her. A nail. She blocked all his attacks with the nail of her pinky. She mocked him. All his training, all the years of thinking he was the strongest, all for nothing.
For a moment, he just wanted to slump down in defeat and let her kill him. His life was meaningless against such a monster. Nothing, no one could stop something like that. The vampire girl looked at him with a bored expression and asked if that was all. He nodded and just ran away as fast as he could.
A moment later her delicate hand was around his neck and she forced Brain to her eye level. She was just as beautiful as she was monstrous. Her big red eyes stared at him for a moment and then his mind got clouded and he just stared into his mistress's eyes with devotion.
Shalltear finally found what they tasked her to find, someone with the ability to perform martial arts. His power was pathetic, but at least it was above the vampire brides. Once the man turned to run, she got in front of him and grabbed his neck, pulling him down to her eye level. Shalltear then cast Charm on him, making him docile and compliant.
She then shouted to both vampire brides,
"What are you two waiting for? Go clear the rest of the cave."
The vampire brides rushed forward and Shalltear followed with Brain behind her at a graceful pace. She could sense all the remaining humans in one place deeper in the cave and reached it after a few minutes of walk with her pet behind her. They gathered all the bandits up in one spot and there was a group of naked and shivering women in another spot. One of the vampire brides approached Shalltear and asked,
"Mistress, what shall we do with their slaves?" pointing at a group of women.
Shalltear wasn't best at planning and decision making, so she just replied,
"They go to Nazarick as well, the supreme beings will know what to do with them."
She then cast Gate and all the humans were tossed in. Women were begging desperately to be spared but to Shalltear, all humans were either toys or food. With the cave cleared, she walked out of the cave with now three followers to look for her next target.
Bonus Story 1 - To be a farmer.
His father had given the green light in creating his resource gathering and experimentation farm. There were some alterations, of course, because of his father's insistence on only using specific stock of farm animals. Still, it would be the place where he could express his creative and artistic needs in all their glory.
So many things to do and so little time. First, careful planning of the layout. Storage units, breeding areas, resource gathering, and many other buildings needed to be assembled in the most effective way possible. There was also the need to keep livestock separated by species, and possibly gender, to prevent unsupervised breeding.
The next thing was to select the right workers for each position. Finding a suitable workforce for each task was a necessary part of any successful farm. Employees who would know how to properly skin the animals were a must. Additionally, proficient healers were needed to keep everyone in just the right condition.
He had chosen a quiet clearing in the forest with a pleasant view. After all, he himself wanted to reserve a small part of the farm for woodworking and statue making, as those were the pastimes he enjoyed. Additionally, the animals would provide bones for more creative art projects.
One of the bigger problems was getting the livestock. Father had promised to provide some for a start once he gained some for proper farming needs. The question was when it would happen, but there was no rush, as getting the farm fully ready for its first inhabitants was a priority.
The daughter of his father's friend was sent on an important mission to catch some specimens for domestication, and he hoped to get at least some to jumpstart the operation. The stock came in at his father's disposal waiting to be sorted, and that was his chance to get the first specimens.
Not soon after he had started to build his farm, a new piece of information came in. His father's friend had captured an excellent female specimen for long-term domestication. Unfortunately, his request to get this animal for his farm was denied, as his father's friend had shown interest in following the domestication process personally.
Bonus Story 2 - Predator on the loose.
Lupusregina was given the task to protect a small village full of funny toys. She wasn't allowed to kill anyone, but she still could play. Enri was her favorite toy. She was so easy to spook and embarrass.
The first strike was when Lupus sneaked behind her when Enri was carrying a bucket of water. With a tickle at her sides, Enri dropped the bucket and got herself wet.
After the fourth prank, Enri's summoned goblins started to protect her more so Lupus just switched her attention to them. She struck gold when one of the goblins, Paipo took a nap against a tree instead of working.
Paipo was found two hours later, hanging from a tree branch by his pants screaming to be let down.
Then there were times when she was sneaking behind goblins during their hunts and just started howling like a barghest for the fun of it.
One of her other hobbies was to sneak around the night to see in which houses married couples were having sex, and howl in all the wrong moments to ruin their fun.
After the fourth day of her activities, Ulbert caught wind of her activities via a shadow demon and ordered her to tone it down, to not attract too much attention.
Before that, she had one crowning achievement. Enri liked a boy, and the boy visited the village protected by three of the supreme ones in disguise. He was in the village for just one day and apparently had riled Enri enough to seek a private time.
Lupus had caught wind of that and followed Enri once the boy left the village. She found Enri with a hand up her dress. Not losing the chance, she sneaked up close and loudly asked,
"Whach ya doing?" making her let out a loud yelp and fell backward. While Enri got up and tried to calm down, Lupus ran away laughing, knowing she had extra ammunition to tease Enri.
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