I’m not dead yet. Anyway, thank you for your patience in waiting an entire month for this chapter and being loyal servants of Lord Ainz. Anyway my exams are coming in one to two months so this pace will be kept until about August where I can focus on this.

Thanks and Enjoy.

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Invaders Part 6

Translators: Frostfire10, Henet, Skythewood.

At the feet of [Foresight] which had just repelled four ghouls. There was a magic circle. The next moment, they were swallowed by an unavoidable pale white light and the scene around them changed.

"What?"

Hekkeran let out a gasp of surprise, and frantically looked at the surroundings. While understanding the current situation was important, the safety of his comrades was of far greater importance. Looking around, he confirmed the presence of his comrades.

Imina, Arche Roberdyck.

While preserving the formation then stepped on the magic circle, the members of [Foresight] were gathered without a single person missing. Confirming each other's safety, faster than they heaved sighs of relief, the four looked around at the surroundings immediately.

This place was a wide corridor, dimly lit and with a high ceiling. Even a giant could walk freely through here. The flickering flames of faraway torches provided unsteady illumination and in their light the long shadows seemed to dance. Ahead of them was some kind of crosshatched portcullis, and from the square gaps in its surface, rays of white, magical light shone through. Behind them, the path stretched into darkness, and along the way, several doors opening into the corridor could be seen, lit up by torches.

With everyone remaining quiet, only the crackling of the torches could be heard.

It did not seem like they were in any danger of being attacked immediately. Even if it was such, his gaze looked at the surroundings with caution.

"Although I don't know where this place is, it has a completely different atmosphere to what we have seen up until now."

The style of this place was completely different to the tomb they had just left. In fact, signs of civilisation could be seen here. The members of 'Foresight' surveyed their surroundings, and whilst they were trying to grasp where this place was, only Arche's attitude was different from the rest.

"—This place is.."

Keenly perceiving the meaning behind the words, Hekkeran asked Arche.

"Do you know?"

"—I know of a similar place. The Empire's Grand Arena."

"Ah.. indeed, you are right."

Roberdyck grunted in agreement. Although Hekkeran and Imina did not say anything, they also shared Roberdyck's opinion.

Monsters or beasts fought in the Coliseum. If one was a worker it was not a rare job. In order to entertain those who were not satisfied with normal bouts, it was common to hire workers. Yes, at times workers fought fellow workers.

Long ago, the members of Foresight had fought monsters in the Coliseum. The scene from that time—The route from the waiting room to the arena, the road in between, certainly suited their current location.

"Then behind that should be the arena."

Roberdyck pointed towards the portcullis.

"That should be the case.. then being teleported to this place means that.. is that what it is?"

"Give me a fight to watch" was probably the intention here. Although, they had no idea who or what might be waiting for them.

"—It's dangerous. I have not heard of teleportation traps. Either an existence that can use unknown magic is here or one that knows advanced magical skills. No matter which, having any as our enemy in this tomb is dangerous."

Even those that did not have much knowledge of magic skills, the high level of the magic of teleportation was well known. Using one as a trap, made one imagine the caster having extreme proficiency in magic. If not, teleporting them with magic that even Arche did not know, they would have no idea of the caster's true strength.

Basically having either an an enemy was an extremely dangerous thing.

However to those people who dragged mud in, people who would treat them warmly was extremely few. No, it would not be strange to say there were none. The moment they stepped into the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, the lives of Hekkeran and the rest were half decided. At best, the traps in the tomb were not placed by those currently living here. If those traps were placed long ago, there was a chance of leaving alive.

"—It might be a relic from 500 years ago."

"Ah, there were more advanced magic techniques in the past."

"Are you referring to the beings that dominated the continent and whose country shattered almost immediately, of which only the capital remains today?"

"—The Eight Greed Kings. They are considered to be the ones who spread the existence of magic further through this world. If this is a relic of that era, then perhaps.."

The members of Foresight looked at each other and sighed. Staying here would bring no good. They had to get a result.

"...Shall we investigate?"

"We have no other choice. I think we are blocked in thought."

"There is only one path. Shall we pray that the owner gives freedom to the victors."

Hekkeran's words decided their objective.

Hekkeran was at the front, followed by Roberdyck, Imina and Arche.

When they got close to the portcullis, it rose upward with impressive speed, as though it had been waiting for them all this time. The first thing they saw as they entered the arena were rows upon rows of audience seats around the arena.

It was a colisuem.

A length of 188 metres, breadth of 156 metres and a height of 48 metres. It was not inferior to the Empire's Coliseum. No this place might have been better constructed. Various locations had <Continual Light> cast, and the white light lit up the surroundings.

And so they looked at the surroundings as if it were noon.

Seeing the seats, the members of Foresight were suprised and were at a loss for words.

This was because sitting there were innumerable clay figures, the dolls known as golems.

Golems were inorganic creatures created through magical means, who would obediently carry out their master's commands once they received them. Without the need for food or sleep, and never suffering from fatigue or even the ravages of time, they were treasured as guardians and labourers. Furthermore, because their production took considerable time, effort and cost, even the weakest ones would cost a considerable amount of gold coins.

Even Hekkeran and the others, who were paid well, would find it hard to purchase a golem. Such was their price.

And standing there in the coliseum, were countless of them.To Hekkeran, it spoke of how wealthy the person who owned this arena was, as well as how lonely he felt.

They looked briefly at each other's faces before silently walking towards the centre of the arena.

"Outside?"

Reacting to Imina's voice, all that could be seen when looking at the sky was darkness. Because the light from the surroundings was too strong, it outshone the light from the stars, but even so, there was no doubt that above the arena was a vast expanse of open night sky.

"Were we transported outside?"

"—Then, we could use flight magic to escape—"

"TOOOOOH!"

A figure jumped from the balcony of the VIP box.

The figure somersaulted in mid-air as it descended from a height that seemed roughly equivalent to a six story building, making people wonder if it might have wings as it gracefully landed upon the ground. There was no magic at work here, only pure physical ability. Even the rogue Imina had her breath taken away by the perfection of the movement.

The figure who had absorbed the impact with a mere flexing of its knees smiled brightly.

Before them stood a young dark elf girl.

The long ears which emerged from amongst the golden strands of his hair twitched slightly, giving rise to a glorious impression like that of the sun.

She was fully dressed in a suit of tight-fitting, light leather armour, made from jet black and deep crimson dragon scales, over which she wore a white vest embroidered with golden threads. A coat of arms was sewn onto the breast of the jacket.

Seeing her heterochromic eyes, Imina let out a gasp of surprise.

"Ah—"

"—The challengers have arrived!"

The arena trembled and shuddered in time with the girl's bright and cheerful voice.

Looking around, it seemed that the golems which had remained motionless so far were stomping on the ground to make noise.

"The challengers are four reckless fools who have invaded the Great Tomb of Nazarick! And, facing them is the master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the Supreme King of Death, Ainz! Ooal! Gown-sama!"

The portcullis on the opposite side of the arena rose upwards at the same time as the dark elf's voice rang out. From the darkness of the path beyond, a being stepped into the light. In a word, it would be skeletal.

A crimson radiance flickered within the eye sockets of the white skull.

It wore a shining black expensive full plate mail, with gold and purple symbols. A drawn sword was held in its right hand.

The stomps gradually turned into claps.

It was a reception befitting the arrival of a king.

Amidst the thunderous continuous applause of the golems, the skeleton slowly walked in. The weapons in its hands and its armour was enough to tell what would happen.

"—I'm so sorry."

Arche muttered.

"—We ended up like this because of me."

What would follow was probably going to be the most grueling battle Foresight would ever have faced. In all likelihood, one or more of them might die. Arche probably felt that they had been plunged into such a dire circumstance was because of herself. Without her debt, perhaps they might not have accepted this task to go investigate a tomb they so obviously did not know enough about.

Basically everyone might die due to Arche.

"Don't mind it."

"Yes. Taking on this work was a group decision. This isn't your fault."

"That's how it is."

Hekkeran and Roberdyck smiled as they spoke, and Imina patted Arche's head.

"Now, I think it's impossible, but let's talk."

The skeleton in question, Ainz, waved his hand before them. The movement looked as if he was wiping something.

The sounds disappeared. In an instant, the golems' movements stopped, and once more they were subjected to the almost deafening silence. Hekkeran faced Ainz and spoke in a serious tone.

"Firstly I would like to apologise—"

"..Ainz Ooal Gown."

"—Ainz Ooal Gown-dono."

Ainz stopped, hoisted his sword onto his shoulder, and moved his chin as if to order him to continue.

"We wish to apologize for entering your tomb without permission. If you can find it in your heart to forgive us, we will gladly offer the appropriate compensation to atone for our transgressions.”

Time passed in silence. Then Ainz sighed. Of course, as one of the undead, Ainz had no need to breathe. But he did so in order to get his message across.

"To those who step foot into Nazarick without permission, there has never been a case where we allowed them to return without harm. Even if you had misunderstood, or did not know, it does not matter. Pay for your foolishness with your life."

With that, Ainz brought down his sword, and made a fighting stance.

"What if we had permission?"

Ainz froze. Apparently, that had gotten through to him.Hekkeran was surprised that a single sentence could have had such a great effect, but of course he did not let it show on his face. Just when all seemed lost, a ray of hope had shone through the darkness. Clearly, he had to seize it.

"..Nonsense."

It was a still, small voice, almost on the verge of fading away.

"What if we had permission?"

"...How stupid...No...The possibility exists? Then why...Here..."

Was he shaking? Ainz shook his head continuously as his flew into his sea of thoughts.

Hekkeran thought furiously as well. What would have the highest possibility of coming out of this alive.

"..Who gave you this permission?"

"Don't you know him?"

"Him..?"

"He didn't leave his name, but he was a pretty big monster."

"Big? That is..."

Hekkeran desperately thought on where the safety lines to evade danger were hiding.

It was a question that only a person paralyzed by indecision would ask, because only by asking could a person know what was true or false.

"Tell me what you saw."

"..He was very very very big.."

"Very very.."

As Ainz descended into another round of introspection, Hekkeran reflected that they had avoided danger yet again, and breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"Did he say anything?"

"He said to give his regards to Ainz in the Great Tomb of Nazarick."

"..Ainz?"

His fidgeting suddenly stopped. Hekkeran noticed, and an "oh crap" expression spread across his face.

"..He said, to give his regards to Ainz?"

"..Yes."

"Kuhahahahaha!"

Ainz laughed when he heard Hekkeran's answer. This was not a happy laugh. It was a laugh that could be best described as volcanic.

"...Fool. I am a fool. Being tricked by these idiots, I am the biggest one!"

Ainz's movements stopped, and he turned to look at Hekkeran. The crimson fires blazing in his eye sockets turned dark, consumed by the black which surrounded them and reducing his pupils to points of red light. Hekkeran and the others took a step back, as though Ainz's mere line of sight was exerting physical pressure on them.

Within that glare was the purest rage.

The earlier absolute being, the one who placed himself above others, came down to the same level as Hekkeran after being enraged.

There was the phrase "Pouring water on an Ignonick (Igunonikku)."

Ignonick was a magic beast that lived on dry savannahs, and was a quadruped with long and fluffy fur. It had horns on its head, and it was about the same length as a cow. It was known that it's meat was delicious.

While it was a magic beast, it had a warm personality and did not like fighting, and so it was often hunted for its meat. However, there was a reason why such a magic beast was not domesticated.

That was as it mentally exploded when exposed to water.

It was to the point that it would ferociously attack a magic beast many times its size.

In addition, the wet hair would harden to become harder than iron. And with a will of steel, it would charge with its horns and try to impale its enemy. Such was its fighting method.

Pouring water on an Ignonick. It meant to infuriate an originally calm person, basically an example of a foolish action.

There were no words that were more suitable for Hekkeran's situation.

"YOU TRAAAAAAAASSHHHH! YOU DARE! YOU DARE TO TREAD YOUR FILTHYYYYYY! YOUR FILTHY BOOTS INTO THE NAZARICK THAT I, THAT WE, MY FRIENDS AND I, CREATED!"

So intense was his fury that Ainz was struck speechless. His shoulder blades moved as though he were breathing, and he continued.

"AND YOU! YOU DARE USE THE NAME OF ME, OF MY FRIENDS! YOU DARE USE IT TO TRICK ME! YOU SHITS! DO YOU THINK THAT CAN EVER, EVER BE FORGIVEN?!"

Ainz was shouting in a furious tone. It would not have been a surprise if his anger had gone on forever.

However, his rancor suddenly vanished, and he returned to his usual calm.

It was a sudden change, as though the emotion had simply been switched off. The abrupt change was enough to make Hekkeran and his team, who were facing off against Ainz, think that something was amiss.

"...So strong emotions are still suppressed."

Ainz spoke as if it were of another person. To Hekkeran's group who could not understand the content of his words, Ainz spoke to them in a tone as if he had a light smile on.

"Since I gained this body, pain and emotion have been suppressed if it surpasses a certain threshold. For example, can you fight if you lose your right hand? Being attacked by an intense pain, there is the possibility of being unable to take any action to fight. However I am different. Even if I lose my right hand I can fight with no problem. Since I feel no pain below a certain level. The pain of losing an arm, or even being hit is suppressed. Even emotion. When swallowed by intense anger, I immediately regain my calm. But...As a result a weak anger is maintained."

Ainz had a behaviour that suggested that the talk was over. Then he strongly gripped the sword he held, and spread his feet—A battle stance.

"Aura."

"Yes, Ainz-sama."

The girl who was watching quietly until now opened her mouth. In her gaze of Hekkeran was hostility. Basically the girl would attack as well, and so Hekkeran prepared himself to face her as well.

"Now retreat as agreed. Only handle the cleanup."

"Understood."

Aura moved behind him, with only Ainz facing them.

"Let's get started."

As Hekkeran stared down the sword-and-shield-equipped Ainz, Hekkeran's first thought was that his opponent was not a warrior or a swordsman. If pressed, he would say that he was like a monster, the kind who would use their excellent physical abilities to overwhelm their opponent.

Both his posture and stance looked like those of an amateur. But he radiated a heavy pressure, appearing larger than life.

For a being like this, the deadliest move they could make might be to simply attack.

"Not coming? Then, allow me."

Ainz rushed over as he replied. He followed it up with a grand slash downwards from above.

The attack had openings all over it, but it had great destructive power. In the hands of a mighty being with incredible physical ability, it was a sword strike that could kill anything it hit.

—Taking it would be very dangerous.

Hekkeran came to this conclusion in an instant, as he sensed the high-speed blade descending on him. A hard block would turn this into a contest of power, and he knew that he would be overwhelmed if he pitted his strength against Ainz.

That being the case, there was only one option—

Ainz's sword struck down into the ground, the lingering echo and vibration of steel against steel fading into the air.

—Parry the blow and guide it away from his body.

No matter how much power it had, if the blow was guided away it would not be a problem. And after doing so, the posture of the body crumbled. The armour he wore was probably of an amazing quality. It was possible that Hekkeran's sword could not penetrate it. Then he would aim for the head. He released a martial art—

"Double—Slash!"

The two swords inscribed gleaming arcs in the air as they scissored toward Ainz's head.

Hekkeran's weapons were short. So it had to be thrust into his opponent's chest. However, that was if his opponent's chest could swing a sword.

On the contrary, if an opponent with weapons of normal length fought in Hekkeran's range, the difficulty to block it skyrocketed.

The twin swords sped toward his opponent's head.

An average person would have taken it full-on.

A first-rate opponent might have only been scratched. Then—What about an elite opponent?

"Hnh!"

As Ainz made a strange cry he made a large jump. He raised his left hand to the sword that aimed for his head and shielded it. With a metallic sound, Ainz clicked his tongue but was unharmed.

This showed that his gauntlet and thus his full plate mail, were of the highest quality.

"—<Magic Arrow>!"

"<Lesser Dexterity>!"

As the shield blocked the two strikes, Arche's spell sent a white bolt streaking towards Ainz. At the same time, while the sound of clashing metal still rang in the air, Roberdyck cast a spell to augment agility.

"Child's play."

Ainz did not look at it. Completely ignoring the ball of light, he charged towards Hekkeran.

While the ball of light seemed to be stopped by a wall before it hit Ainz, and while Arche made a shocked expression, Ainz attacked. The aim of his sword was Hekkeran's chest.

He thrust his sword out in a flash, and where it would have hit, Hekkeran moved his body. A ripping sound could be heard from his chest and the chains from his chain shirt danced in the air.

An instant of carelessness.

No since Ainz's attack was too fast, his dodge was late, and became careless for an instant. If he did not have the support of Roberdyck's magic, it might have been impossible or a coincidence.

Hekkeran endured having his armour ripped off, preserved his posture, and activated his martial art again.

"Double Slash!"

"Ohh!"

Ainz bent his body in a undignified manner, and tried to move back to take some distance.

"As if I would let you escape!"

As Ainz moved to escape, Hekkeran stepped in. And from right next to Hekkeran's face, something flew towards Ainz.

That was an arrow.

The arrow Imina released flew towards Ainz.

"Chi!"

A high-speed arrow came from behind Hekkeran's back, hidden by his body. Naturally, a normal person would not have been able to avoid it. However, against Ainz with his superhuman reflexes, it was still not enough.

"<Flash>!"

"<Lesser Strength>!"

A brilliant flare of light burst in front of Ainz. Whether he resisted it or not, the spell would blind him for a moment, but it seemed pointless against Ainz. All it did was annoy him.

"Interfering busybodies!"

Ainz clicked his nonexistent tongue at Hekkeran, who had closed the gap thanks to his augmented strength and dexterity.

"—<Reinforce Armor>!"

"<Anti-Evil Protection>!"

Arche and Roberdyck's support spells had solidified Hekkeran's defense.

Having evaded Hekkeran's attack and deflected his swords, Ainz was about to riposte once more when another arrow flew into his face.

"Shit! Another bother!"

He blocked the arrow with his gauntlet, but when he stopped his movements, Hekkeran ran in to attack again. Arche and Roberdyck cast magic to gradually make Hekkeran stronger.

Ainz was strong.

His physical abilities were completely untouchable by human beings. Combined with his resistance to magic and the enchanted sword and shield he bore; he was everything a warrior wanted to be.

However, he had weaknesses. That was while he had an amazing physique, he had no skill. Basically a wild beast. All attacks were wide swings, and did not think of his next attack. In addition he did not use feints and only attacked head on like a fool.

It was true that all of his attacks were one-hit-kills that all warriors would admire, and was of a another level compared to humans.

To be fair, he had been hard-pressed to hold his ground. If he had misread the angle of the falling sword and missed his parry, his swords would have been ruined and he would probably have suffered a fatal wound. A small mistake in estimating the speed of the black sword would have resulted in him being sliced neatly in half. The fact that all his coin tosses had come up heads was nothing short of luck.Yet, there was an even more important reason beyond this. That reason was teamwork.It was precisely because they were all working together, and were intimately aware of what each of the others was thinking, that they could move and act like a single organism.

Basically as long as the existence known as Foresight existed, it would never face defeat.

A faint smile lifted the corner of Hekkeran's mouth.

His sword had begun to reach him. Currently Ainz was without harm. However, on that top class armour, his swords had scratched it. In this manner, if he did not panic, it would be possible to give Ainz a fatal blow.

With this conviction in his heart, he swung his twin swords.

"——–!"

Ainz moved to avoid the flash of light, and deflected the sword straight towards his head with his gauntlet. The arrow flying in was interdicted by the black sword. Arche and Roberdyck made use of this opening to enhance Hekkeran even further.

"Shit!"

With a roar, Ainz swung his sword in a large arc. Of course, with a speed that humans could never reach. Hekkeran avoided it but his attacks stopped for an instant, and he ran back to take distance.

After considering whether or not to press the attack, Hekkeran decided to back down and calm his frenzied breathing. The undead Ainz would not get tired no matter how long or how hard he fought, but a human like Hekkeran and the others would become exhausted. Dragging the battle out was a bad idea. He had to rest whenever he got the chance.

"What is wrong?"

Ainz took distance and whispered.

"Why, won't these guys die?"

"Hah?"

Ainz's words made it seem as if their death was certain. It was true that Ainz's fighting abilities were high. However, having it being said as if it were natural would make anyone angry.

"Cocytus!"

The VIP seats responded to his words. There, like Aura—but with a completely different shape, dropped down.

It was a mass of platinum. It reflected the countless number of lights from the surroundings, and sparkled.

It's 2.5 metre tall gigantic body made one think of a bipedal bug. It was like if a demon had mixed a praying mantis and ant. The hard platinum exoskeleton released a frost into the air, and seemed like diamond dust that sparkled in the air.

Cocytus tried to kneel, but was stopped by Ainz.

An existence that seemed to be much stronger than Ainz. At its appearance, the members of Foresight shuddered. Ainz alone was this strong, and when the numbers increased, they could not win.

"...Answer me, Cocytus. Why are these people still alive?"

However, ignoring Foresight, Ainz spoke to the strange being that appeared—Cocytus.

"I should have the strength to rival a level 33 warrior. From that, it sh-->>

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