Chapter Volume 1 58 part6(2/3)
"Their abilities have not left the realm of my predictions."
"Then why. Why can I not kill them."
"That is the difference in experience. Ainz-sama's abilities should be easily able to kill them. However, that is if you can use all of it. Since you cannot utilise all of it, you are unable to easily kill them."
"Because I cannot use all of my strength?"
"Correct."
"I see...Since there is no skill called experience. Hmm...I see, then there are no contradictions in my plan for growth. While the data exists there is no experience. Another way to put it is that I can pile up experience. I see...Experience huh."
He nodded several times, and seemed satisfied. Ainz then once again faced Foresight.
Feeling the change in atmosphere, Hekkeran had a bad feeling.
His senses that traversed the line between life and death were panicking. That it was dangerous.
"I shall remove my armour."
Ainz seemed to be speaking to himself.
In response, Foresight went "What is this guy saying", but just that.
Full plate mail was something that took a lot of time to remove. Even if someone helped him, it would take three minutes. If he did it alone, even more. But was there a merit for a warrior to remove the armour that protected their bodies?
Not able to believe that someone would remove their armour while their opponent's had their swords drawn, the members of Foresight looked at Ainz in surprise. No, it would be fine to say that they were being made a fool of. The reason why they did not attack was as the instant Hekkeran made even the tiniest movement with his arms, Cocytus would replicate it.
That was a restraint.
If you move, I move. Being shown such an intention, they could not move.
So Ainz began to remove his armour. While silently watching such a foolish scene, the objective of their actions was decided in silence. If you can laugh when an enemy in front of you removes his armour, then do so. However, the scene that happened in front of them overturned this motion.
Ainz casually waved his hand.—At that moment, a black vapour rose from the armour.
Faster than Hekkeran was surprised, Ainz's armour completely disappeared. Yes, it was as if his armour was made of solidified vapour.
His whole body was exposed.
His black long pants were well made, and silver thread was used to sew symbols on his waist. His top half was naked.
His head and arms were pure bone. His ribs had some fallen flesh, but it was hanging thinly on. Below that, his spine was visible from his stomach. Where his ribs ended, inside—Far below his heart, was a pulsating reddish black ball.
Everytime he moved, the golden symbol on his necklace swung in the air.
"...W, what is going on?"
"Lies. It was made of magic?"
"That isn't a magic armour with special properties?"
Ignoring Hekkeran and the rest who were making noise, Ainz discarded his sword. The discarded sword fell to the ground and let out a dim glow.
Seeing that, once again, Hekkeran and the rest had their mouths agape.
Discarding one's arms was the universal sign of giving up the fight. However, Ainz's attitude did not betray even the slightest hint of capitulation.
And so Hekkeran did not understand was Ainz did and was confused. However, they could not be left simply wondering about his actions. So, he braced himself and asked.
"..What are you going to do?"
He slowly spread his arms. It was an action that resembled an angel reaching out to the faithful, or a mother welcoming her child into her embrace; a loving acceptance of what lay before him.
"You don't get it? Then let me put it in terms you might be able to understand."
Ainz laughed.
"I'll play with you, so give me your best shot, humans—"
The mood had changed—
He had forsaken his weapon and his shield. That should have meant he had been weakened. But Hekkeran had the feeling that the Ainz before him now was more powerful than before. Indeed, it seemed as though his body had physically grown in size before their eyes, so oppressive was his presence.
A being that grew stronger when abandoning the sword.
When you thought about it, only two answers remained. One would be that he was one of those warrior monks who honed their bodies into living weapons. But if that were the case, his fighting style from earlier—the way he evaded attacks—didn't seem polished enough for him to be one of their number.
Then, the alternative—
"—A spellcaster?!"
That was it. This was the question at hand. The being before them, Ainz Ooal Gown—was he a magic caster?
It was understandable that they had not considered that earlier. Who could have imagined that any magic caster could have fought on even terms with Hekkeran, the party's strongest and most skilled fighter? Magic casters—especially arcane magic casters—had weaker bodies than warriors. After all, if one had time to train one's body, one could easily spend that time on learning magic. As such, magic casters who could fight on par with warriors were nonexistent.
That was simple common sense.
A being who could turn that wisdom on its head—who could have imagined such a being would be standing in front of them?
As such, Arche's voice carried the hope that it was untrue, and the desire that her hypothesis would be rejected. Because if it were true, that would mean that Ainz was far more confident in his skills as a magic caster than he was as a warrior.
What that meant, nobody needed to say out loud.
Even casting a few spells could greatly improve battle performance. As Hekkeran had been demonstrating, several enhancement spells made a dramatic difference.
However, Ainz's confidence was not that thin. He was far far better than Arche—He had an absolute confidence.
However Arche had a reason to refute it.
"Did you finally realize it? How foolish you lot are. Well, it's only natural to expect this level of intelligence from you miserable vermin, who track your filth into my—no, our Nazarick."
"—That's impossible! I can't sense any magical power from your body!"
Ainz tilted his head and wondered. And stumbling on something, he shrugged his shoulders.
"You can measure a magic caster's magic power huh?"
"—Yes! And from you, I can—"
Then, Arche's face changed colour. Hekkeran and the rest did not understand why Arche stopped, and made strange expressions. At that moment, the only one to understand was the enemy, Ainz.
"Feel—Nothing right? Despite myself saying that I am a magic caster?"
Yes.
It was so. Arche could not feel the slightest bit of magic power from Ainz. However, if Ainz could use priest type spells, then it was not wrong. But, if that was the case, Ainz's spellcaster abilities would be completely unknown.
"That is so."
Ainz, raised both hands to Arche, then Hekkeran and the rest. The hand that was previously covered by a gauntlet, was one that fitted an undead of only bone. On each of his ten fingers was a ring. From one look, one could tell that magic was imbued inside.
"Once I remove this ring, you will understand. I also lent it to my subordinates."
Saying that, Ainz removed a ring on his right hand. And then—
"—Uuuuoooggh!"
It was the sound of vomiting. Sticky fluid spilled onto the floor of the arena, and a sour, rancid stench wafted up around 'Foresight'.
"What did you do?!"
Imina glared at Ainz, from where she had rushed over to assist Arche. Ainz seemed a little uncomfortable, but still answered in a displeased tone.
"What do you mean, what did I do to that girl? There's a limit to how rude you can be, throwing up when you see someone's face."
"—E-everyone, run!"
Arche was shouting, and tears were leaking from the corner of her eyes.
"This guy is a mon—uuuurrrrrggghhh!"
Unable to endure it, Arche threw up again. In that moment, Hekkeran understood why she had vomited.
Ainz had done nothing to her. Rather, she had been unable to withstand the combination of terror and stress caused by seeing the enormous magical power surrounding Ainz, and so she had thrown up.
And that meant—
"—We can't beat him! His strength is on a totally different level! Even the word monster can't describe him!"
Arche began wailing as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
"You finally realised." Ainz laughed. "But, you can't run."
"—No way no way no way!"
Imina tightly hugged Arche to her chest. The girl was violently shaking her head as though she had gone mad.
"Calm down! Roberdyck!"
"Got it! <Lion's Heart>!"
Under the influence of Roberdyck's magic, Arche managed to recover from the panic which had gripped her. Like a newborn deer, she rose unsteadily on shaky legs, using her staff as a crutch.
"—Everyone, we have to flee now. That's not a being humans can beat."
"...Understood, Arche!"
"Yeah, I get it."
"Yes. That is truly a monster."
The alertness level of the three of them had gone through the roof.
The stared at Ainz with nerves wound even tighter than before. Theirs was an expression that understood that even an instant's loss of watchfulness would spell their deaths.
"It looks like they won't let us run."
"The moment we show them our backs, we die."
"We need to buy time or we won't make it."
"..Not coming?"
Of course, Hekkeran wouldn't be baited by Ainz. The enemy's fighting power vastly exceeded that of any being which had ever existed. It was not a movement for victory, but was one to buy time for escape.
That meant they could only count on one thing.
When Ainz began casting a spell—a magic caster was most vulnerable when reciting an incantation.
Ainz's strength as a warrior was undeniable, but that was why they had to bet on that. If he used a silent spell, then the game was up, but even so, that was a tiny possibility which existed for them.
As though drawing a bow taut, Hekkeran gathered his strength within himself.
"Then I will go."
Ainz slowly moved his hands—
—Now!
The arrow called Hekkeran launched from its bow. His current dash was probably the fastest he had ever done. All his steps seemed to cause the ground to shout beneath him.
In an instant.
Ignoring the sword that seemed to teleport straight in front of his eyes, Ainz cast one spell.
<—/—>
The sword that was several centimetres in front of Ainz, cut thin air. And Hekkeran exploded from the inside.
His flesh and blood splattered on the ground of the Colliseum.
What happened.
Roberdyck, Imina and Arche could not understand. They could not understand that after he lost his target Ainz, he did not kill his momentum and instead flew to the ground and tumbled.
Even the fact that he was not moving. Even the pink flesh that dropped to the ground soon after. Even the fact that his body had rotated from the impact and his headless body was visible.
Yes, they could not understand how, without a sound, the team leader that they depended on, Hekkeran, had died.
"H, Hekkeran?"
Imina whispered. Roberdyck finally calmed down. Ainz should have been in front of Hekkeran. And where did he disappear to. He turned his head in a panic to capture Ainz's figure. And became speechless—
Ainz was behind everyone. Right behind Arche. He slowly raised his hand—And in it was a metallic glint.
"A—!"
Faster than Roberdyck could shout, the knife in Ainz's hand plunged into Arche's shoulder—
"—Giiiii"
A sudden burst of pain. Arche screamed. Why happened, why am I in pain. Arche could not comprehend this, panicked, and her body bent. She ran. Towards the frozen Roberdyck.
A new pain was born when she ran, but Arche endured.
"...As expected I don't feel a shred of guilt...Is this a result of me losing any sense of familiarity with humans? Or is my humanity disappearing?...However, that girl ran for help after facing despair. So this either means that she has the ability to be able to ignore me or that I am treated as a third wheel, that I am looking down on her and creating this painful situation she has to endure?"
Ainz did not chase after Arche, but instead ran his finger across the knife, and mumbled to himself.
He did not understand his own words, and it was not anything Ainz thought was important.
Ainz moved his gaze from the knife. He looked at Roberdyck who was using healing magic to heal Arche.
"Well, fine. Anyway exterminating you people takes priority."
Ainz let the knife go and it dispersed into fog, like the armour from earlier.
"What, did you do?"
Roberdyck asked with a trembling voice.
Using teleportation magic, he moved behind Arche. While Roberdyck and the rest were confused, he prepared a knife. Roberdyck understood that much.
Since he understood that Ainz was a monster that could use even 6th Rank Magic.
Then how did he kill Hekkeran. Did he kill Hekkeran at the same time as he used teleportation magic. There was not enough time for that.
"Is it strange? It is not anything worth mentioning though?"
Ainz made the method clear. With a reply that crushed the hearts of those still alive.
"I first used the 10th Rank Magic <Time Stop>. Then I used the 8th Rank Magic <Explode> on that man." Ainz pointed at the fallen Hekkeran. "Then I used the 3rd Rank Magic <Dimensional Move> to get behind then used the 7th Rank Magic <Create Greater Item> to make the knife."
It's nothing much. Ainz continued.
A silence froze the air. That was as a physical fear assulted Roberdyck and the rest. In their midst, frantically—Frantically, Imina gathered her courage to ask.
"...You stopped time? U, using 10th Rank Magic...?"
"Yes. One needs anti-time measures you know? When you reach level 70 you have to have them."
The chattering of teeth could be heard. It was not just Imina, but Arche and Roberdyck as well.
Lies. They would feel bliss if they could yell that. It might feel better to refute the words of this monster—No this existence that stood in the realm of gods, cover their ears and kneel.
They understood that he was strong. Especially Arche. However, they did not comprehend to what extent.
10th Rank Magic. A rank even gods could not reach. It's existence was nothing more than an empty theory. It was said that the 8 Greed Kings used it, but since their existences was not confirmed, it was nothing more, until now.
And that was used to stop time. The world was a joke.
An existence that could stop time. The flow of time that people could neither rule nor control. What should one do when their opponent could command it? It would be simpler to cut down a large forest with a single sword.
Ainz Ooal Gown.
That was an existence that humans could never defeat.
"Arche! Run!"
The reason why Roberdyck turned, was to tell his comrades, who were still intending to fight.
"Look at the sky! This is probably outside. There is a chance you can escape if you fly away! Even if it's just you, run! I will buy you one min...No ten seconds!"
His gripped his mace with both hands—
—When his shoulder was tapped.
"Ah..."
Roberdyck's body stopped moving. This was as he knew who tapped his shoulder even without looking. The existence that should have been in front of him—Ainz Ooal Gown. The existence that was like a god who could control time. He had disappeared from his sight.
A frost flowed out from the hand on his shoulder and Roberdyck became an ice sculpture. His body did not even have the freedom to feel that.
"—Although it's impossible?"
Roberdyck heard a kind voice—One without any hostility. The mace dropped powerlessly from his grip, and onto the ground—.
"You want to ask what I did right?" While everyone had froze and did not move, Ainz heartily revealed the answer. "I simply chantlessly cast <Time Stop>. It's nothing much right? However, I think it is impossible to buy ten seconds?"
Now, Ainz whispered. He looked at the three who were losing fighting spirit.
"...Yes. I have thought of something good. I should give someone a chance to escape. If you are running, just run. However, there will be something chasing after them. If they cannot lose it...Well, it will be quite pitiful. —Aura, raise the exit."
"Understood."
Ainz pointed in the direction where Roberdyck and the rest entered from. Aura jumped up, activated a light on her shoes, and disappeared.
"Now, Aura teleported and opened the door. Feel free to go. Feel free to abandon your comrades. Now who's running?"
Ainz's hand faced them. The expression on his face was an evil one. It was a face that held extreme interest in who would run away. He probably wanted to see them fall out.
It was true that different from adventurers, Worker teams were tied together for monetary reasons.
However, Foresight was different.
"...Arche go."
"Yes, go." Imina smiled. "While we only have each other, you have sisters right? Then abandon us. That is what you have to do."
"—That! This is my fault!"
Seeing that Ainz had no intention to immediately attack, Roberdyck walked over to Arche. He then took out a small leather sack from his bosom.
"It will be fine. We will chase after you after defeating this monster called Ainz."
"I agree. Then you treat us."
Imina also took out a small sack and passed it to Arche.
What meaning does this have? Ainz who was standing by the side did not understand, but Arche did. Roberdyck walked over to Hekkeran's corpse, took out a similar sack, and threw it to Arche.
"If you let me say something, but I promise to first kill that piece of dirt."
While it was being decided that Arche would escape, Ainz pouted in disatisfaction. It was an unhappiness at it being decided without arguing, and beautifully. In contrast to Ainz, the three cast fleeting glances at him. No, only Arche was staring at him.
Imina smiled at Arche. That clear smile caused Cocytus, who was watching from the side, to shake his head several times.
"...Now, go. Use the money in the inn in any way you'd like."
"Mine as well."
"...Jikaijita. Zagi ni itteru" ( I have no idea what this means.)
Of course, the three of them did not believe it.historical
Defeating an existence they could not fathom, like Ainz, there was not even a sliver of such thoughts. Knowing that this was the final farewell, Arche could no longer form words, but was instead making noises. She began to cast magic.
"There are monsters in the air so you will be caught even if you fly."
"—<Fly>."
Ignoring Ainz's warning, Arche activated her magic. After looking at her comrades one last time, she silently fly away.
"...Ah, I see. It's faster than running, and one won't tire." Ainz seemed to have forgotton this. "However, it was decided without any discord. I thought that you would have showed me disgusting actions suitable for dirt like you."
"She has the highest chance of escaping after all."
"Yes. Since we are outside and she can use flight magic, she can run the fastest."
"...Outside huh."
Ainz looked at the sky of floating stars, and sneered. The two felt a sense of foreboding at it.
"Shall I tell you something g—"
"—Ainz-sama."
"What is it, Cocytus?"
Ainz felt some displeasure at the interrupting Cocytus, but he asked politely.
"If you kill them now, I believe their screams can reach her."
"Oh! Cocytus, you think of some terrifying things sometimes. However, the manoeuvrability of flight magic is quite high. So unfortunately it will be difficult. But I thank you for the good idea, Cocytus."
"Thank you."
"...Well, she might hear it if they cry loudly. Now, shall I kill you pieces of dirt. Have you prepared yourself for leaving this world?"
Roberdyck raised his mace and moved closer to Ainz. Ainz smiled lightly at the man charging towards him.
Imina took in a long breath—
"—Ahhhhhh!!"
—While releasing a shout like a weight had been lifted, Imina pulled back her bow. And—Released. While Roberdyck was right next to him, she would not endanger his life. At this distance, she would hit a hundred out of a hundred times.
However—The arrow bounced off the front of Ainz, as if there was a wall.
"Useless actions. However...Shall I play for a bit. <Triplet Magic Greater Magic Accumulation>"
Three magic circles floated in front of Ainz.
"Uoooooo!"
With a loud manly cry that did not suit him, Roberdyck slammed his mace down onto Ainz's face. It was a hit with all of his power that ignored everything else. It was a hit based on his belief that Ainz would not evade.
However, that was easily repelled. Feeling an intense pain in his wrist, Roberdyck dropped his mace. Ainz did not even look at him. It was an attitude that said that he had no such worth.
"<Triplet Maximise Magic Magic Arrow>"
Ainz filled one of the magic circles in the air with magic.
"<Middle Cure Wounds>!"
Roberdyck cast healing magic on Ainz. This was as undead received the opposite effect of healing magic and would be instead wounded. However, like the magic Arche used, it seemed to hit a wall and did not have an effect.
"<Triplet Maximise Magic Magic Arrow>"
Ignoring the attacks of the two, Ainz filled another magic circle with magic.
When arrows were about to hit Ainz's face, it was repelled as expected. Seeing that, Imina threw away her bow. She decided that projectiles would have no effect.
"<Triplet Maximise Magic Magic Arrow>"
"<Magic Weapon>"
Pulling out the short sword from her waist, Imina had magic cast on her by Roberdyck. It was at this time where Ainz finally filled in the last magic circle.
And—He simply released it.
While she was surprised, she knew it somewhere deep down. Imina made a lonely face as Ainz pointed his finger at her. Roberdyck tried to get in between them, but Ainz's magic was far faster.
"Good work— <Triplet Maximise Magic Magic Arrow> And <Release>"
"Ah...An angel."
90 from the magic circles, and 30 from Ainz. 120 bullets of light.
The rush of the bullets drew a pair of angel wings. However, it was not such a merciful thing.
Hitting. Hitting. Hitting. Hitting—
Her head, chest, stomach, arms, legs, face, nether region—
120 bullets of light. That was the amount of magic hitting Imina. Like fishing chasing after food, the bullets slammed into Imina's body. It was not even at the level of her losing consciousness.
While in the midst of pain like being hit by sticks, she did not make a sound. Even when her bones broke or her innards imploded, she did not raise even a moan of pain.
It was just an instant.
There was no one where Imina was. Behind it was a thin but widely spread layer of meat. Her armour was bent, and the things she wore was mixed in with her blood and flesh.
"Imina...!"
"Dirtying the place my comrades and I built, it is an extravagant death for filthy thieves".
Roberdyck stared at Ainz, who spoke in a bored manner, with a glare full of anger. They were 70 centimetres away and Roberdyck glared into Ainz's empty eye sockets with hatred.
While receiving a gaze that would make most humans want to leave, Ainz did not feel such emotions. No, it would be better to say that he had no emotional constructs.
Roberdyck curled his hand into a fist, and punched. He had one aim. The pulsating orb located at the end of Ainz's spine.
He believe that was his weak point.
His fist hit in a way that it seemed to be pulled in—When a loud metallic cracking sound could be heard.
Receiving a powerful impact, Roberdyck's fist was repelled. The recoil was astounding, and from it, Roberdyck's gauntlet was completely broken and fell to the ground.
He stumbled backwards from Ainz, and Roberdyck made a surprised face and looked at his fist. While his gauntlet completely shattered, his hand beneath did not have a scratch. It was a strange situation. However, if he thought about the existence known as Ainz, Roberdyck felt that such a result was fitting.
"Be grateful. You just touched the highest class of magic item. The world item that becomes stronger when I wield it, the world item that has my name engraved on it. In the last war, half of the players died to this. —Shalltear!"
Ainz calmly turned away from Roberdyck, and spoke to the VIP room. His attitude was as if it was telling Roberdyck that he could not harm him.
Well, it was true. No matter how they attacked it was futile. Ainz understood that and acted as such. Roberdyck had no methods of harming the monster Ainz. And so, he had to think calmly. In the worst case he had to buy time for Arche to escape.
While retreating, Roberdyck's brain was working furiously, but a girl jumped down from the VIP lounge in the same fashion as Aura and Cocytus.
It was a human girl with a shimmering silver beauty. Even though Roberdyck was controlled by anger, she had a beauty capable of stealing his eyes.
With a sigh, Shalltear moved her gaze and looked straigh-->>