Overlord (LN)

The frontline’s unified command center had always been noisy, but it was even more so with the war situation finally changing. It would probably continue to be bustling even after they’d won this war, at least until the civil officials arrived to oversee the occupation.

Right now, the strategists were compiling the information carried by messengers from different places, going over each piece and taking great pains to consolidate them into a comprehensive battle map. They still had the calculations for the casualties to do as well as the management of the prisoners of war. Other miscellaneous tasks like dealing with the dead bodies were postponed for later as they were in the middle of fighting right now.

Anyhow, only accurate information—without any falsehood—reached General Valerian Ein Obinie.

That’s why he felt relief from the bottom of his heart when he received the news that he was waiting for.

“Your Excellency. We finally broke through those Elven defensive lines. With this, the enemy’s counterattacks were reduced by 70%...we feel like they were weakened by too much but that can be attributed to the absence of strong people in the enemy forces. Still, the remaining enemies have escaped into the city, waiting to lay ambushes in different places. How should we proceed?”

“Avoid unnecessary casualties. The guerillas who barricaded themselves in weren’t too much of a threat, but those who are roaming around the city going on a rampage are to be feared. Expand the area under our control, suppress them and force those Elves outside—into the waiting hands of our encircling siege. Avoid fighting indoors. Don’t forget to include strong individuals in the squads deployed to fight inside the city.”

“Understood. I will relay the instructions immediately.”

“The Elves fighting against the siege will probably fight as fierce as cornered, dying animals. Make sure to warn everyone again to be on their guard.”

“Understood.”

“—It looks like our path lies open, but have we received any counterattack from the castle?”

“Nothing. It continues to stay silent.”

That would have usually made Valerian’s expression far grimmer.

He doubted the castle was empty. It was highly likely that it was being protected by the Elven elites. Also, there was no doubt that the desperate Elven soldiers were escaping to the castle and most of all, there was still the existence of the Elf King.

The death of the Holocaust Scripture’s vice leader at the hands of the elemental commanded by the Elf King was still fresh in their minds. He might not have reached the realm of heroes, but was still strong enough to have stood on its cusp, yet he was killed just like that.

According to the records in the Theocracy, even a Holocaust Scripture—made up of hero class members—a hundred years ago was nearly eliminated by the Elf King’s strength. He didn’t know what that operation was about, but seeing that it had succeeded, that at least meant that the Elf King was not infallible. Still, dealing with him would have been too heavy a burden for Valerian’s troops and would be the greatest mountain they have to cross yet in this war.

But—they have a trump card here now.

“Just to make sure, are you certain that we can advance there directly?”

“Yes. It’s possible.”

Hearing the confidence in the strategist's answer, Valerian stood from his chair.

“In that case...we can probably consider our preliminary goal completed...Everyone, we’ve weathered through some tough times. Tell everyone to halt after we’ve surrounded the royal castle and continue observing it from afar. Ask them to put their efforts in other areas. I will go over to that person to pass on the information personally.”

Valerian exited his tent alone and headed to a different tent. This tent’s owner didn’t like others’ company much. It would be bad if this person was displeased.

He called from outside the tent.

“Excuse me, is it alright for me to come in?”

“Please.”

He received an immediate reply.

Valerian took a single deep breath before he entered.

She was certainly not a dangerous person. He had exchanged light greetings with her on her arrival and felt that she was a rational person. However, when faced with a person from the Black Scripture, someone who stood in the realm of heroes—or someone who exceeded the realm of humans—even Valerian needed a certain amount of resolve. Even though he knew that they wouldn't attack him, he required the kind of mental state that was necessary if one were to face a giant carnivore before them.

And there was one more thing.

Even among the heroes, the one inside this tent was kind of special for the Theocracy.

Different humanoid races could produce children between them but that kind of thought was taboo in the Theocracy.

For the Theocracy, which thought that only humans should flourish, every other race was an enemy even if they were humanoids.

That said, that policy was comparatively new and had only been practiced for a century plus a few decades. Before that, the Theocracy also took the other humanoid races into consideration, the policy being that they should join hands together and fight against the other races.

The person inside this tent was considered one of the reasons for that change.

She was considered the Theocracy’s strongest, and her lifespan was extremely long. She was also supposedly the apprentice of the rumored person known as the guardian deity of their nation. That was all Valerian knew.

Among such vague information, there were also a few things that he knew to be true.

One was that she was not someone even a general like him could be rude to. Of course, he had never even thought of looking down at the apex of the natural order.

He rolled the cloth covering the entrance aside and entered, whereupon he saw a simple chair, a bed, and a table with a helmet on top of it. The tent was not too different from the others around it, but the furniture inside was comparatively well made. These were brought over from the Theocracy using [Teleportation], even his—a general’s—tent didn’t have such nice things.

He found her jumping in the middle of the decor, wearing dazzling armor.

“Did something happen?”

Perhaps she was doing something Valerian wasn’t knowledgeable on. For example, a special type of ritual.

“Nn? No, it was nothing special. I just don’t feel calm unless I move my body around”

“Undoubtedly so.”

She continued to jump for a few more seconds and finally stopped.

“You don’t need to be so polite. You are my superior in a sense after all.”

Though she said that, it didn’t feel like she intended to change her own tone or the air of superiority that hung around her.

“No, I certainly cannot acquiesce to such a request, not to the Theocracy's strongest force and the guardian deity’s apprentice.”

“Too stiff...Well, I won’t stop you if you want to be like that. That aside, seeing that you are here, can I assume it’s about that?”

“Yes. Only the castle’s left now, but we think the remaining forces are concentrating in the castle at the present, so...”

“I will deal with them too, but I am only aiming for one person so don’t expect me to be thorough in wiping them out.”

“Understood. Please leave them to us.”

The woman called Zesshi Zetsumei slowly changed her expression.

Valerian, who saw the smile on her face, cast his eyes down.

It’s not like she was pointing killing intent at him. He understood that. Even so, he couldn't help but feel afraid.

“Ah, sorry about that...well, can you hear me out a bit?”

“Yes. If you are fine with me.”

“Un. Honestly speaking, you could say that I don’t really hate him, because he never harmed me directly. You could also say that he didn’t do anything fatherly, but from his point of view that’s unreasonable to ask of him. It’s entirely possible that he didn’t even know about my existence after all...It was my mother who had a grudge against him. So, you could say that my feelings in this matter are just what my mother instilled into me.”

How should he answer her? Should he agree or deny? First of all, did she really say that she was the Elf King’s daughter? Then, who in the world was her mother? Question after question flitted across his mind.

She ignored Valerian, who couldn’t answer from confusion, and continued with her speech.

He understood it now.

This was just her talking to herself. She didn’t expect an answer.

“Then I should be directing my hatred at my mother, right? To the one who gave me such troublesome emotions, but she is already dead so I can’t take it out on her. Maybe that’s why I am directing this hatred at my father as a replacement. If I really want to clear my hatred...I should be directing it at the things my mother loved, right?”

The mood of the conversation changed.

Valerian tried to read her expression.

She was still smiling. Nothing’s changed.

But—was that smile real?

He gulped unconsciously.

He was afraid that his answer could become the trigger that would cause the Theocracy’s destruction.

She probably felt his tension, as her smile turned bitter.

“...ah, I did it again. Sorry. Did I scare you? I was not saying that I would make the Theocracy the target of my hatred, because...all things considered I do love the Theocracy.”

“I-is that so? That’s great.”

He couldn’t give her a good reply, but relief spread inside Valerian.

“But...I don't know why. I just wonder if I can really feel free after I clear this hatred that my mother burned into me. I feel a little shy talking about things like this. This is probably what they call a moody phase.”

“I see.”

“If it were one of my acquaintances, they would be joking about my age right about now.”

“Sorry for not being attentive enough.”

She continued, unbothered by Valerian’s bow.

“I wonder what my mother felt.”

“Eh?”

“...The weak can only be trampled upon, so become strong. The sentiment certainly isn’t wrong. I doubt if there was any need to train a child so strictly, but then again, it’s likely that I wasn’t the only one who was trained to near death during their childhood. There could be someone who is receiving stricter training than me to become stronger. With that in mind, I am just being a spoiled child, am I not?”

“About that...It’s hard to say for sure, I think, but how should I put it...”

Agreement or denial. Valerian, who was focused on thinking about which answer would be less likely to displease her, ended up giving her a nonsensical response.

Probably realizing what Valerian was going through, she laughed again—though it was an honest laugh this time.

“Maybe I should go through the old records after everything’s done. There might be things the past me didn’t notice. Maybe there are some things that couldn’t be understood except from a third party’s perspective. Anyhow...she should have probably left something behind. What did she really feel about me? ...Well then, shall we go?”

♦ ♦ ♦

“Huff. Huff. Huff—”

Considering Decem’s physical capabilities, sprinting such a short distance at his full speed shouldn't have him wheezing. Yet, he was completely out of breath. It must be the fear. The fear that was welling up from inside him was so strong it was physically affecting his body.

He tried to listen to his rear, to see if anyone was chasing him.

Nothing.

No one was coming after him.

Did he manage to escape?

No—Decem shook his head silently.

He couldn’t be careless.

He should not cling to his pride as the strongest Elf anymore. He should run away.

Defeat isn’t the end of everything. It’s not like there were no Elves left outside this forest. He could just travel to a place far away and rebuild his kingdom. He was confident enough in his own strength that he would be able to do that—probably.

{I won’t make the same mistake next time.}

Be it grandchildren or great-grandchildren—he now had the proof that even later generations could awaken their blood. He would just have to proceed wisely from now.

{Yeah, that’s right. This is neither a mistake nor a defeat. Just something that can be a good experience for me. I won't waste the experience that I have gained. I am not such an idiot. Only idiots repeat their mistakes!}

That’s right.

First, he would make his children have progeny with the Dark Elves…or should he do it with the Dark Elves himself?

{Anyhow, there’s no time. Should I just escape as quickly as possible? Or...maybe I should carry some food with me.}

Decem continued to think while running.

His teleportation was limited to teleporting to the elemental he was linked with. As he couldn’t use it anymore with Behemoth dead, he could only rely on his own legs to run away from this place. Still, he could fly, so maybe he didn’t need to rely solely on his legs.

That’s right, Decem had the power of magic.

Frankly speaking, even if he didn’t take anything along, he should be able to manage somehow with just the gear he had on him. Plus, if he passed by a civilized area, he could just pillage what he wanted from them. These things were possible for someone as strong as Decem.

Certainly, he had just been defeated—it was vexing but he had acknowledged it—but those grandchildren’s strength was an exception. They were only that strong because they had Decem’s blood flowing through them, so it’s unlikely there were people of similar strength at the place he would be escaping to. Still, a display of his strength could draw too much attention. That undead commanded by the grandchildren might come chasing after him if news of his whereabouts were spread.

{That aside, what were those two aiming for in the first place? Were they on that floor because the treasury was there? In that case, maybe they are no longer interested in taking my life...}

Perhaps he was being too optimistic. It was hard for him to believe the grandchildren’s words—or to be more accurate, what they made the undead say.

“Maybe...they really are after me”

He should expect the worst-case scenario. His life depended on it after all.

{In that case, I should try my best to lie low until I am as far away as possible from this area...I should also avoid using magic. I will have to carry some food with me then.}

There was a druid spell that could make fruits. There was also a staff inside his treasury that could do it six times every four hours, but Decem himself didn’t learn that spell. He wasn’t used to living in the forest either. Decem was confident in his ability to deal with any beasts that could attack him but he was not at all confident in his ability to collect food from the forest—including properly field dressing the slain beasts.

{There is some fruit and wine inside my room. I should leave this forest with them as fast as possible, without using magic. After that, I will kill everyone I meet to stop information about me from reaching those children’s ears. I can also snatch their goods at the same time. While doing that, I will run to a place as far away as possible. Oh, right. Maybe I should also carry some valuables. I remember hearing that jewels and gold coins are useful.}

Decem finally reached his room, wheezing his lungs out.

There should be some women inside, but it would draw attention if he took any with him. They would also be a burden so they should probably be left behind here.

Or maybe he should take one or two along.

It was an unpleasant thing for a king like him to carry them, but they shouldn’t be a burden if he did that.

{—I don’t mind taking along a woman who can cook. And it’s unknown when I can meet an Elf again after leaving this forest. In that case, I should really take some along to make children.}

Decem adjusted his breathing and wiped off the sweat induced by pain. He wanted to avoid looking unkingly before the women.

While splitting some of his attention towards the way he came from, scared that the undead would suddenly appear, Decem opened the door to his room.

“Welcome back.”

A female’s nonchalant voice called out to him.

Decem immediately felt angry.

To think a woman who probably scraped their heads along the ground for him until now dared to be so nonchalant! He felt like he was being mocked for suffering defeat at the hands of his grandchildren. However, that anger soon subsided the instant he saw the room’s situation.

It was red.

His room was painted completely red.

It’s blood.

The scent of blood was so thick that he couldn’t even begin to describe it. He probably failed to notice it outside the room because his nose had been distracted by the scent of his own blood.

The remains of the women who were supposed to be here were scattered around the room and a single chair was placed in the middle of them—likely intentional—with a woman sitting on it.

He didn’t know her. She wore a splendid-looking full set of armor, carried a helmet in one hand, and held a mysterious-looking staff with three curved blades drenched in blood at the end of it in the other. He couldn’t understand what method of use the creator of this weapon had in mind when they made it.

The woman didn’t look like an Elf to him, but at the same time, her face had hints of Elven characteristics.

So was she an Elf? And most of all, those eyes—

“Yo—pleased to meet you, father.”

The woman grinned with clear scorn.

He finally arrived at the only possible conclusion.

“I see. So that’s how it is...so you are those kids’ mother...”

The woman’s expression went stiff for a moment before returning it to a smile immediately.

“Yes, you are right. Those kids’...mother. Those wounds—so you were defeated by them—are they so strong? Which ability of theirs made you lose? Tell me, father”

He started to open his mouth but stopped it. He didn’t have time to play along with her as she was clearly stalling for time.

He immediately turned his heels, trying to get away from the room—

“—not going to let you.”

“Guh!”

Pain ran through his legs, making him tumble on the floor.

Looking down, he saw that the blade that extended from the strange weapon caught his legs. It tripped him and he was being dragged back into the room by his legs.

New wounds opened on his legs and he started to bleed again, but those were trivial compared to the chest wound from that undead or the damage his legs received when he ran from them.

But—he couldn’t understand.

There had been some distance between the two of them. Despite that, she immediately caught up with him and attacked his legs. It’s like this woman—his own child—was far faster than he could ever be.

He felt a strong pressure bearing down on his back.

The woman was pressing him down with her feet.

“Guhh!”

Decem couldn’t stand up.

Did this mean that she was far stronger than him? Or was it some kind of special skill?

“Was your chest wound caused by a blade? What about those on your legs? I’ve heard that you use an earth elemental, so where is that?”

She fired out questions in rapid succession. He could not feel a hint of tension in her voice.

It was true that Decem was deeply wounded. It was also true that he lost Behemoth, but that didn’t mean he was weak. He still had his physical strength, which could easily kill any living being around here in a single hit. This Decem, who had lost Behemoth and who only had his physical strength to rely on, tried to run with his full power. Even though he was dulled by the pain, there was no way that woman could catch him.

But he had to acknowledge reality.

This woman surpassed him in brute strength.

But there was still a doubt left.

He didn’t remember having a child with such high abilities. He moved his head to see the woman who was pushing down on him.

Just as he thought, he really did not know her, and her face felt a little bit off for an Elf.

“...Wh-what do you want? Why are you doing this to me?”

That was a genuine doubt from the bottom of his heart. The woman laughed out loud with scorn.

“The strong can do whatever they want to the weak. Am I wrong?”

“Guh...mm”

She was right.

That was the principle Decem had lived by till now.

“That is the morality of wild animals...but it’s a suitable ideology for savages who live in the forest without proper civilization.”

“D-did the women who had been here say that?”

“...fuhh”

The woman let out a large sigh like she was trying to expel the heat that accumulated inside her.

And in that instant, the force pressing down on him became stronger.

“Guhh, ggahaa...”

He couldn’t breathe from the pressure.

“Why don’t you answer my previous question first?—wait, did you forget it? Are you turning senile?”

“Gogggah...”

The pressure on him gradually increased to the point where Decem could no longer bear it. He could hear the innards of his body creaking around. His mouth, opened to take in a breath, could do nothing but expel air.

“Tch,” the pressure was slightly lessened after she clicked her tongue, but not enough for him to be able to escape. Decem still had to put in all of his efforts just to take a fresh breath.

“What attack wounded you like that?”

{Why, is this happening to me...From the moment I met those kids...it’s the worst...but why is this woman interested in the wounds? Doesn’t she know what her children did? They are necromancers who command various undead...no, maybe...it’s different?}

To think three people, his children and grandchildren, who rivaled him—no, who surpassed him—appeared at the same time? No, maybe there’s a different reason behind it.

“I see! I thought they were my grandchildren—descendents, but if they are blood relatives, there’s another possibility! Perhaps they are my father’s...! Impossible! These are my half-siblings!?”

Wasn’t that the most logical answer to all of this?

His father was an Elven hero who was the strongest fencer.

(T/N: 軽(light)戦士(warrior) => light(weight)warrior => fencer. The light ( 軽) here is the light in “lightly armored,” not light as in luminescence. )

They were called Eight Greed Kings not in praise, but in scorn, because they were stronger than anyone else. The weaklings tried to paint over their great deeds and destroy their glory through such petty acts.

Decem didn’t manage to inherit the fencing talent from that great bloodline but perhaps this woman here did.

“So? Talk soon or I will kill you, okay?”

“Aaah...ah...khah!”

{Talk, I will talk, so please ease off the pressure.} He wanted to shout, but he couldn’t vocalize. He heard something break inside his body as a sharp pain spread through his chest. His body stiffened from the pain that felt like his innards were being gouged out as he unconsciously drew nails on the floor.

“...I never felt a single ounce of pity for my mother since then but...to think she conceived me after being raped by such a mook...yeah, I do pity her a little.”

When he thought he heard her talking to herself, the pressure on the leg crushing him increased further. He could hear things inside him breaking one after another, revitalizing the pain he felt previously with every instance.

He could taste the blood welling up from his throat, but even if he wanted to let it out, he could at most make a trickle down his mouth.

It was stifling.

Stifling and painful.

Why did he have to go through this?

Even though he did nothing wrong at all.

Decem struggled with his full might. Just a single breath would be nice, but he wasn’t able to free himself. His struggles were meaningless in the face of an overwhelming gap in the level of their strength.

Die.

He would die.

Not much time had passed since he has had similar thoughts, but it was stronger this time.

Scared.

He was scared.

Stifling.

It was stifli—

Why, he—

“...This is really irritating, because of this mook, I...my mother...”

Dark—

Why—

Tears welled up.

Why was she doing such cruel things to him?

“Really, really!”

He couldn’t breathe.

He didn’t want to die—

Someone—

Help—

—

—suddenly, his consciousness came back, but that didn’t mean the pain disappeared or that he could breathe.

What.

Something happened.

“...your body swelled up? Really, how stubborn!!”

—crackcrackcrackcrackcrackcrack

The sound of all of his bones breaking at once.

Pain—

Something—

Happen—

The world darkened for Decem once again.

♦ ♦ ♦

“Just like your ideology, right? You reap what you sow. Ah, but it’s a bit unfortunate. I wanted to torment you more before killing you...”

Not a twitch could be seen from her blood-related father anymore. Zesshi moved her gaze to the Elf corpses around her.

Now that she thought about it, she really didn’t need to go this far. It would be a lie to say that her hatred towards her mother wasn’t a factor in her killing them all. However, most of all, she didn't wish for the country she loved to do the same things this bastard—whose very existence in the same world as her made her nauseous—had done. She thought that they would be better off dead, so she sank these female elves into a sea of blood.

Those people, who optimistically thought that these elves could have achieved happiness elsewhere, probably wouldn’t understand Zesshi’s actions. In a similar vein, Zesshi couldn’t understand those kinds of people either.

Zesshi suddenly looked at the entrance.

A dark elf girl could be seen in the gap of the still open door.

There was no doubt that she was one of “those kids” that drove the Elf King into a corner.

Upon seeing the mark of royalty in those eyes—each of a different color—Zesshi let out a small sigh.

Decem mistook Zesshi, who he had never met, for their mother. Then, this should be his grandchild—Zesshi’s niece.

A little surprised at her own unexpected reluctance to kill this child, Zesshi kicked the Elf King, already dead from getting his chest caved in, towards the child with her full strength.

Ordinary people, no, not even outliers should have been able to avoid it; yet, the girl did, by just jumping aside primly.

The corpse hit the opposite wall and bloomed into a bloody flower with a loud sound.

{To think that she avoided it...her physical ability should be comparatively high. That guy’s wound looked like it was from a blade though...}

The girl—her niece was holding a black staff, a weapon to bonk with. A glance at that guy’s wound was enough to know that it was from a different weapon. He actually did say “those kids,” so there should be one more at the very least. However, there were also magic items that could create blades of magic or could change themselves into blades.

She couldn’t disregard the possibility that this girl was the one who wounded the Elf King.

{Or maybe the other child caused the chest wound while this one smashed his legs? With her staff...or magic?}

But why did this dark elf girl wound the Elf King?

No, there were many things to hate him for. Perhaps she was the same as Zesshi, inheriting her mother’s hatred for the Elf King. This could be the case, especially since she looked too young to have her own reason to hate the Elf King enough to wound him so grievously.

It was also possible that she just wounded him while frolicking around, but the circumstances just now denied that possibility. Even though he was already dead, the girl avoided the body she kicked instead of trying to retrieve it.

“E-excuse me, y-you see. Where are you from onee-san?”

Very shy—a cute girl who was male fantasy made manifest. She was from a different world compared to Zesshi, such a girl asked her a question.

But a single glance was enough for her to see that the girl was different inside. The girl didn’t look like she was scared by the Elf King’s corpse behind her or the massacre done by Zesshi in this room.

{She can still behave like that after avoiding my attack? Uwaah. It's highly likely her shyness is just an act, that just makes me more cautious...well then, what should I do?}

How should she answer the opponent’s question? If possible, she wanted to avoid a battle and feed her false information while taking her time to gain as much information as possible from the other side.

But that was impossible.

The Elf King’s words implied there were multiple enemies. In case this was the one who wounded the Elf King, the fact that there wasn’t a single drop of blood on her—there should have been some even if she was healed—meant that there was an overwhelming gap between the strength of the Elf King and this girl.

Even if this girl wasn’t the one who did it, considering that she was chosen to be the one to give chase, she and her comrades shouldn’t be taken lightly. She didn’t know how strong they were, but even Zesshi would be in danger if she let them regroup.

This was her chance to deal with the girl alone, before her comrades arrived. Instead of gathering intel, she should seize the initiative and defeat her here in a short and quick battle.

{The idea that your enemy’s enemy is your friend is just optimism. You'd more likely be correct to treat them as a new enemy instead.}

She thought for a moment and then, with a smile to ease up her opponent’s caution, Zesshi finally answered.

“—Good morning. I am...someone from the Sorcerer Kingdom, but what about you? Are you alone?”

The girl’s face twitched a little. Her shy attitude didn’t change, but it slightly felt like she was thinking about something.

{I can’t read her. I’ve made a mistake. I should have asked a leading question...With this reaction, I can’t read if she doesn’t know about the Sorcerer Kingdom, if she’s from there, or if she sees it as an enemy. Considering that she didn’t immediately attack me, the possibility of her being hostile to the Sorcerer Kingdom went down a little, but maybe she is just stalling like me to gather more information...aah, maybe I would have gotten a different reaction if I had mentioned the Council State instead.}

She mentioned the Sorcerer Kingdom because there was intel that the Sorcerer King had a Dark Elf as one of his retainers.

They didn’t get this information by sending spies into the Sorcerer Kingdom’s internal organization.

It was because the Thousand-League Astrologer had confirmed the presence of a dark elf girl beside the Sorcerer King in the battle against the Kingdom on the Katze Plains.

They made a detailed report on the Sorcerer King and his forces after using illusions to recreate the scene the Thousand-League Astrologer saw. They also saw the dark elf who was the only one attending him through the illusions, but they weren’t able to see her face clearly due to the blurriness.

That was something that couldn’t be helped. The Thousand-League Astrologer couldn’t divert her energy to remember a single person as she had to observe the entire battlefield. Plus, what happened after made such a strong impression on her that a lot of other information had flown straight out of her mind.

Remembering that vague picture, it felt like this girl wasn’t the same one as the dark elf that followed the Sorcerer King back then. They both held a black staff but the armor they wore was completely different. Well, there was also the fact that she didn’t remember anything except for the gear because the illusion was of very low quality.

If this girl really was from the Sorcerer Kingdom, what would she have chosen to wear when she planned to come here? The answer: she would have been completely geared up just like Zesshi was. This was a battlefield. Anything could happen here so it was impossible that someone would appear in their usual attire. Even the defensive gear Kaire and the Thousand-League Astrologer wore were chosen only for their ability, disregarding the fact of whether they suited them or not.

That said, the Katze Plains had been a battlefield as well. Truly strong people didn’t use multiple sets of serious battle gear generally.

That was because excellent gear was a necessity to ascend to higher tiers of strength, and they would need to polish their skill with a single piece of equipment for that. For example, there was someone skilled with a club who was given an axe after they were recruited into Black Scripture, they had to spend years to get proficient at using it.

Going by this logic, the girl from the Sorcerer Kingdom and the one before her should be different people, but there were too many things in common between them for her to come to that conclusion.

That’s why Zesshi asked a suggestive question to reap some information from her reaction but got nothing in return.

{I am better at reaping with this scythe though,} Zesshi thought and slightly strengthened her grip on the great scythe.

(T/N: the original is a wordplay on ‘asking a suggestive question’ (鎌をかける) from the sentence before, which literally translates to “grabbing by a sickle/scythe.” Zesshi jokes that she is better at using the scythe in her hands instead.)

And there was also the fact that the girl was not human.

Zesshi could mostly differentiate between the faces of fellow humanoids, but she was not perfect at it. There were some things that one wouldn’t be able to perceive if they were not of the same race, so the other races tended to look all the same to her.

“Ah, eh, Y-yes. I am alone...”

“I see. Then everyone’s probably worried for you.”

{Haa. She lies so easily with such a cute face...absolutely different from how she looks. In that case, any information I can get from her is highly likely to be false. There’s no use in continuing this conversation when I already know that she has other allies here. First, I should incapacitate her with force and move to a different place. It’s better to draw the truth out of her at a later time, either through magical means or through physical pain...}

The girl shyly raised her hand which was not holding the staff to touch the necklace hanging from her neck.

A behavior like that was nothing out of place. It looked like her hand was just searching for something to grip to soothe her unease. One could call it a shy and girly action but Zesshi, who sensed the disconnect between the girl’s appearance and her true self, didn’t think so.

“Tch!”

Zesshi reduced the distance between them in a single motion, faster than her tongue click could dissipate in the air. While putting on her helmet, she swung the weapon she was holding—Charon’s Guidance—to graze the ground at the girl’s legs.

If she could, she would cut her legs.

A no-holds-barred attack with her full strength behind it—an attack even the man who was the strongest of her comrades would find difficult to avoid.

That attack—

Was deflected back by the girl planting down the staff by her feet.

The weapon that could easily cut through even steel was deflected, but Zesshi wasn’t surprised. She expected this possibility, but the fact that Zesshi's full-powered attack couldn't even make the girl’s hand flinch was beyond her expectations. Then—

{So she’s a martial-type.}

She has now got a clue on the classes held by the dark elf girl.

{...Wait a minute? A lightly equipped warrior? No way...though it’s not confirmed that the Elf King was his only child...her appearance...}

Both Dark Elves and the Elves had the same lifespan, so the speed of their growth should also be the same.

“W-what are you doing su-suddenly...”

{Is it possible that she was from a different bloodline? ...Am I thinking too deeply into it?}

It looked like the dark elf girl was muttering about something, but Zesshi continued to swing her scythe, trying to think. She had already decided to fight her. From now, there was no need to talk anymore except if she wanted to stall for time or if she had won.

Zesshi burst into the corridor, chasing after the girl who jumped back.

Rotating the great scythe in a wide arc to accumulate a lot of inertia behind it, Zesshi swung at the girl’s ankles.

Swinging such a large scythe meant that she naturally hit the floor and the walls along the way, but that was not an issue. The weapon once held by the savior God of the Theocracy—no, of humanity—Surshana, could easily part the walls and the floor in its path. There was a slight resistance but it barely slowed down the great scythe.

But it was deflected.

Again.

And again.

The three attacks that followed each other like lightning struck at the same spot. All of them were parried by the black staff held by the girl. Her parries were not exactly graceful but the explosive power in them was massive. The girl’s lightning speed was on the same level as her without a doubt.

{She’s pretty good. A warrior on my level? This is bad. I will be at a disadvantage if she is completely focused on defense.}

She already understood something from this short exchange.

According to the Elf King’s words, the opponent had allies. If they were also on this girl’s level, then Zesshi could only put her full effort into escaping. However, it would be shallow to think that she could run away easily just because the Elf King had managed to escape. If the opponent was not an idiot, they would have some countermeasures in place now after letting the Elf King escape once.

That meant—

{—I will deal with her here in a short battle. Killing her—it can no longer be helped. Depending on the situation, I could just return with her corpse and try resurrecting her.}

Zesshi tried to suppress her urge to look at the girl’s navel.

Despite wearing a dress-like metal armor, her flat and smooth navel was exposed to the elements. The girl was boldly exposing a place stuffed with important organs, a place that’s considered vulnerable. That said, thinking that she could wound her deeply by attacking there was far too optimistic.

The armor’s defense could generally be said to be a sum of the infused magic in it, the metal used to forge it, and its special abilities. At the very least, that abdomen should still be protected by the strength of the magic power in the armor. Still, it lacked protection from the material used to forge the armor. There was no doubt that the defense there was weaker compared to other parts.

Then why was she wearing such a thing?

She was probably leading the opponent’s attacks there by intentionally exposing it. It’s highly possible that this was a trap in waiting.

Despite realizing that, Zesshi couldn’t help but slightly hope to kill the girl with a single hit by targeting that area. That was why she was trying her best to not look at it.

“[Power of Gaia]”

The girl suddenly cast a spell, making Zesshi widen her eyes.

“Hah!? Magic!? Not a martial class!? No, no, it’s not like there are no martial classes that could use a little bit of magic…but…eh?”

Zesshi could use a little bit of divine magic, but she has never heard of the spell the girl used. It didn’t affect her, so it’s possible that it was self-buffing magic.

If the girl’s main class was martial and she only slightly dipped her toes into the caster classes, then she needn’t worry much. Still, it would be a serious issue if her main class was actually a caster instead.

Being able to choose any approach through the use of myriad spells would make the girl far more flexible than a dedicated warrior at dealing with a wide range of situations. If luck was not on Zesshi’s side, it was entirely possible for the girl to overturn the situation with some awesome magic.

Zesshi’s thoughts about these spells were lacking in detail, only calling them “awesome magics” because she was not too knowledgeable about magic casters. That was why she had to be even more on guard now. In her experience, even being able to heal just a bit, like herself, was enough to affect the course of battle.

Assuming the worst possible case, that she wasn’t a warrior, what type of magic-caster could the girl be?

She didn’t have absolute proof, but by considering their short exchange of attacks, she probably wasn’t an arcane caster. She would have been weaker in their melee exchange if she was anything like an ordinary arcane caster. It was more likely that she was a druid or a priest, the kind of caster that was comparatively better at close-quarters combat.

She could also just be an atypical magic caster, or from other types. Psychic magic was one of them, but unfortunately, Zesshi was even less knowledgeable about those casters. There would be no end to it if she continued her conjectures down this path. It was fine to keep them in a corner of her mind and be on guard against the possibilities.

And—taking into account that she was a Dark Elf, she was most likely a druid, even more so given that she was related to that Elf King.

Unfortunately, Zesshi couldn’t do much if she really was a druid. So instead, she activated one of the two special skills she learned upon mastering the Inquisitor class. She activated it in case the girl was some kind of priest that could use high-tier magic that Zesshi didn’t know about.

“[Denounce Heretic].”

This skill made priests who worshiped a different God expend a little more mana than usual when they used magic around her. It wouldn’t show clear effects immediately, but it would slowly start hindering the opponent in a drawn-out battle or if they used stronger spells.

She didn’t plan to extend this battle but decided to use it anyway in case the opponent came out casting one high-tiered spell after another. Using a skill like this that aimed for a single, very specific effect was probably wasteful when she wasn’t sure about her opponent’s abilities, but such skills were useless if not activated at the start of the battle anyhow.

“[Elemental Form - Earth].”

The girl cast another spell unknown to Zesshi, turning her skin to a light brown shade.

Changing skin color was probably not the only thing that spell did. She also thought that perhaps the girl was showing her true form—that she was originally not a Dark Elf but a different race—but it’s useless to theorize about that.

She should not get caught up in questions that didn’t have answers when in a battle with her life on the line. Such gaps in knowledge should only be guarded against.

The same went for magic.

When she didn't know what some spell did, it was best to keep her conjectures about them to a minimum. Zesshi activated another skill like the one before.

“[Sentence Heretic].”

It was the other special skill she gained upon mastering Inquisitor. This one also had a similar effect in that it increased the rate of failure of activating a spell. Naturally, mana would be spent even if the spell failed to activate.

As she ended up using both of them, she wouldn’t be able to use any other Inquisitor skills until their active time ran out, but it couldn’t be helped. She would still have the physical durability and resistance against magic that was granted by the Inquisitor class so it would be tolerable.

Zesshi planned for a quick fight, but the battle went in a different direction than what she had hoped for. The present situation was not what she had in mind. For Zesshi, all paths to victory roughly fell into two categories: restrict the opponent by continuously pushing her advantage until they were crushed, or guard against the opponent’s attacks while gradually closing their avenues of offense to grind them down.

However, the girl came out unharmed through Zesshi’s attacks, turning her plan to decide the victory in a single strike into a battle of attrition, where each side took turns slowly bringing out their cards into play. Although it was irritating, Zesshi had to acknowledge that the girl was the one who had control over the field. If this was how it was going to be, then she would follow the opponent’s script and wait for an opportunity to derail her plans.

“W-well then, please excuse me.”

Perhaps two spells alone were enough for her or because she couldn’t use more than two, the girl swung her staff with an apology. It came down with such velocity that Zesshi’s hair stood on its ends instantly.

She shuddered.

Not because the speed of her attack was unbelievably fast.

But because she felt the girl’s heart was not in the apology. There was no hint of it either in her tone or in her expression. It’s like she was apologizing by command—like some kind of puppet—

“—don’t think!”

That’s not the important thing. The attack coming down on her was more pressing right now.

This attack was not up to her standards if as she had assumed, the girl was a warrior. It was just too simple, without even an attempt at a feint.

It was impossibly fast but it was easy enough to receive it or avoid it.

Zesshi chose to receive it. She had gotten a general idea of her opponent’s evasion and parrying skills, so this time she would measure her strength.

Zesshi’s great scythe easily held the attack—or that’s what she expected

“—too heavy!!”

She should have been able to receive it easily, but instead, both her elbows and her knees were bent from the force. Forced down, the staff came near her forehead.

Zesshi gritted her teeth and with a spirited “hngh!!” pushed it away with all her strength. Even though the weapon was pushed back, the girl didn’t break her balance at all. However, the staff’s recoil made the girl wide open.

A chance.

Trying not to stare at her defenseless navel, Zesshi activated several martial arts.

[Greater Wind Stride], [Steeled Arm Strike], [Greater Piercing] [Greater Ability Boost], [Greater Possibility Sense].

It was for this moment that she held back from using martial arts before.

Her speed, agility, damage from her attack, piercing damage, and strength were all increased along with her sixth sense being sharpened to the extreme.

She was aiming for a single spot.

Her navel, which looked so defenseless.

Perhaps it was a trap, but she was confident enough in her ability to break through it if there was one. And most of all, she couldn’t resist the hope that she could wound the girl seriously enough to completely turn the tides of the battle to her side. Zesshi had a reason to resolve this battle quickly.

She shrunk the distance between them at lightning speed and swung her weapon so fast that the sound left behind by the scythe cutting through the air couldn’t catch up with the blade. She then directly hit the girl’s soft navel.

Zesshi’s sudden acceleration due to the rise in her abilities surprised the girl, who couldn't defend herself in time. After some resistance that was more than what she expected—hard enough to make her doubt if it was really skin—her scythe broke through and smoothly pierced her skin.

{Yes!}

She couldn’t help but smile.

Zesshi had a class called Executioner. It greatly increased the damage from a critical hit and sometimes even killed the opponent in a single hit. Originally, it also had the ability to deepen wounds from slashing weapons, but because she used the middle blade to pierce her instead of slashing her with the crescent blades that extended to the sides like wings, that ability wouldn’t trigger in this case. Even so, this attack should have damaged the girl considerably.

However, her joyful expression soon turned serious.

The feeling that she got from her weapon was too strange.

Especially because she couldn’t feel the sensation of her innards being cut.

Before she could understand the reason, a black silhouette appeared in her peripheral vision.

“[Instant Counter]!”

But it was too late. Just too late.

Even though it was only for a moment, her getting caught up in feeling her weapon was a mistake.

Gah! A loud sound echoed.

Her head received a hard blow from the weapon with a tremendous force behind it.

She immediately used pain suppression and jumped back a great distance using [Greater Wind Stride]. At the same time, she forcefully pulled back the great scythe, dealing more damage to the girl in the process.

Her scalp had probably split from the strong blow as blood started to trickle down Zesshi's face. Even though she was suppressing the pain with a martial art, just moving her face was enough to make pain rush through her, making her light-headed.

Zesshi was wearing the armor of the one known as the God of the Wind. Despite that, she took enough damage to make her legs unstable. It had been a long time since she was wounded to such an extent.

“—[Heavy Recover]”

While Maintaining enough distance that the opponent couldn’t reach her in a single step, Zesshi cast the highest tier magic she could use to heal herself. It was far from healing her completely, but it should be good enough as first aid for the time being. While she cast the spell, she continued to observe the girl, guarding against a follow-up attack.

And then she widened her eyes.

Putting aside the matter of her innards, the girl’s abdomen wasn’t even bleeding. Still, it’s not like she was completely unhurt, evident by her face twisting in pain and the large gash in her earthen-colored skin.

“P-painful.”

The girl took a scroll out of nowhere and activated it.

“[Heal].”

It’s a spell from a higher tier than the one she used.

{—Sixth tier! Why, such a scroll! This is bad! She probably healed most of her damage from that. I don’t know how much health she has remaining but I am probably the one with more damage unhealed! And, the feel of that abdomen… considering that extreme hardness, it really was a trap!}

The defense provided by the armor’s enchantment probably had the attribute to negate critical hits in that part, but it looked like the girl still felt the pain of getting stabbed in the stomach. The trap worked splendidly at leading her opponent’s attacks to that part, but it seemed like the girl would have to pay the price of pain for it.

Zesshi clicked her tongue, wondering what wicked person could make this kind of armor. If they knew they were going to be targeted there, they should have added pain resistance to it. This was no different than cursed armor.

Zesshi wanted to furiously scratch her head from irritation, but suppressed the urge. She didn’t want to do anything that would increase the pain, but she didn’t have the option to do that anyway.

She couldn’t feel happy that she made her opponent use a sixth-tier spell. She was not certain that was the last scroll the girl had. Maybe she had multiple stowed away. In that case, there was no chance of Zesshi winning if she fought like usual. But, she had a trump card that could kill the girl, however many scrolls of [Heal] she might have.

That said, she shouldn’t use it yet. She should try other methods first.

First of all, she probably wouldn’t have used [Heal] for just a scratch. So, considering that she could attack the girl to deal a lot of damage, she should just continue attacking without giving her a chance to use [Heal].

After deciding on that plan, Zesshi took a stance with the great scythe again. While the martial arts that raised her abilities were still active, she approached the girl in a single move.

She would aim for the wrists next.

{What!}

The girl didn’t look like she was going to avoid it.

Previously, it was because she wasn’t able to catch up with the sudden increase in Zesshi's abilities, but this time it was different. It felt like she didn’t even intend to defend. For a moment, the previous exchange of blows surfaced in Zesshi’s mind, but there was no choice for her except to attack at this stage.

She spun her body like a top right at the edge of the girl’s reach, swinging around the great scythe with the greatest inertia possible and hitting the front of the girl’s arms.

The blade went through her body, causing the girl's arm and armor to fall to the ground with a spray of blood—or not. The girls’ wrists were unharmed even after receiving the slash that easily cut through all the armor it had met until now.

—it felt tough.

Completely different compared to her navel.

That was obvious because her hands were covered by the armor unlike the navel. Still it was too hard even after taking that into account. Maybe that armor rivaled the ones worn by the Six Great Gods, or maybe she was using a special defense-type martial art.

And the most fearsome thing of all was that she received the blow with all of Zesshi’s might behind it with just a single arm of hers and didn’t even lose her balance.

But Zesshi didn’t have the time for further thought.

Realizing that her right arm was being aimed at, the girl held her staff by her left arm alone and was about to bring it down on Zesshi right at that moment.

Remembering the pain from before, Zesshi desperately moved her body using [Instant Counter] and [Evasion] to avoid it.

She didn’t have the time or the space needed to draw the great scythe back to parry that.

But she couldn’t avoid it.

Even if she had adjusted her body with the [Instant Counter], it was difficult to avoid the attack even if she used the martial art at the same time.

Zesshi’s arm was struck by the blow, but she was ready for it, unlike last time. She was able to activate a martial art at the same time.

[Greater Reinforce Defense].

It was a martial art that increased defense. [Reinforce Hide] was better at reducing damage, but as a Half-Elf, Zesshi didn’t have a hide to speak of.

Despite using a martial art, the pain from the blow coursed through the depths of Zesshi’s body nonetheless. [Greater Reinforce Defense] was nothing but mere consolation. Perhaps it eased the pain just a little bit compared to the previous strike, but that’s about it.

She killed the whimper that rose up her throat as she didn’t want to let the opponent know she was hurt. But—

{This is bad...}

The exchange this time confirmed the girl’s intentions.

Thinking back, she had been doing the same since the start.

The girl matched her attack for attack. It felt like the girl would bruise her own fist to break her opponent’s jaw.

It was possible that she was doing this because she couldn’t hit Zesshi if they fought normally, but that was probably not the case. The girl intentionally chose to fight in this way.

{She is confident about defending...a tank like Cedoran? ...That’s why she left her navel exposed? Because she will heal any damage with [Heal]?}

It was sound to assume that this girl who rivaled Zesshi in her strength was a tank specialized in defense, who could use magic but was slightly bad at offense. That blow from before was just a bit too strong for this to be the case though.

Or perhaps that staff was a magic item of enormous power. It couldn’t be cut even by a weapon of the Six Great Gods, so that was entirely possible.

Her suspicion that this girl was probably the same one that had been beside the Sorcerer King deepened by the second. If it was the Sorcerer King, the one who could cast tremendous magic and who led monstrous armies, it was possible that he would have such stupefying gear in his treasury that he could lend out to one of his underlings.

After putting a little bit of distance between them, Zesshi keenly observed the girl’s movements while taking a stance with the great scythe.

The girl stood solidly, rooted to her place; in contrast, she had to jump in and out throughout the exchange.

This battle was slowly devolving into a foregone conclusion between a superior and inferior.

“It’s really bad...”

If you asked her who had the advantage at the present, she would answer that it was the girl.

She had received Zesshi’s attack with her body and in return hit Zesshi with a single unavoidable attack every time. Health, defense, offense, and healing magic, she couldn’t understand which of those the girl placed her confidence in. The fact that the girl chose to trust the simple method of trading blows with her and healing afterward showed that she was confident in winning if she continued to do so. Though it was also possible that she was intentionally fighting with a handicap to make Zesshi reveal her hand.

Considering that the girl didn’t seem like she intended to attack proactively, it was also possible that she was just stalling for time until her comrades arrived. Zesshi didn’t know how strong the girl’s allies were, but their addition would solidify the tides even further against her. That could be the reason why this girl chose to fight a war of attrition that was sure to accumulate damage on both sides.

There was little Zesshi could do here. The ideal development was to beat her at her own game while playing along with the opponent’s strategy. This meant that she would have to hit her while blocking all of her blows, but it was impossible for that to turn out as she had hoped.

The girl’s armor was impossibly strong, so she would have to approach quite close to her to be able to land an effective hit. Then, the girl would certainly aim for the gap in her defenses that would be created while she was focused on landing the hit. What should she do then?

{Such a difficult question...Should I use them?}

Zesshi glanced at the great scythe in her hands for a moment.

Used by the God Surshana in the past, Charon’s Guidance was made from a metal that was yet to be discovered by the Theocracy. Its extreme toughness and offensive strength were suitable traits for a God’s weapon.

It also enabled the wielder to cast [Death] two times every eight hours.

And there’s even more.

[Undead Flame], that added negative energy damage to its attacks.

[Undead Avoidance], which protected the wielder from undead without intelligence.

[Create Undead], that literally created undead.

[Disease], that could cause illness.

[Sleep to the Undead], which triggered a chance to destroy the undead without turn resistance in a single hit.

[Evil Eye], which lets you select an ability from the different gaze effects.

[Death Mask], which defended the wielder from gaze attacks while strengthening the fear effect caused by the user.

[Hand of Glory], which could be used in two ways.

She could choose among them and use them five times every four hours.

Other than this, it could also summon the special undead, Spartiate. It was similar in ability to the Fifth-Tier summon [Heavy Skeleton Warrior], but with superior gear. However, they were also weaker in a sense because buffs from special skills wouldn’t affect them. This scythe could create a total of 30 every 24 hours, with a limit of 5 being active simultaneously. This weapon was an extremely powerful magic item.

It made her feel like it was too soon to start thinking about using her hidden cards.

Revealing her own hand while knowing nothing about the opponent’s would push her into an inferior position on a mental level, which was not good.

She should try out a few more things with this simple method of fighting.

“E-excuse me, aren’t you coming?”

Zesshi clicked her tongue loudly at the girl’s hesitant question.

{She wants me to attack? This brat! Then, how’s this!}

Zesshi jumped backward while activating a martial art at the same time.

After using [Double Air Slash], [Steeled Arm Strike], and [Flow Acceleration], two blades of air flew from the arc created by the slash of the great scythe.

The girl moved into their trajectory.

Yes, into their trajectory.

Martial arts that produce ranged slashing attacks like [Air Slash] were generally weaker than physical hits. Still, one had to be mad to move forward while taking them head-on without a second thought.

{No, I did the same thing to that child in the Black Scripture. This would be seriously taxing on anyone's mental state.}

The girl only made an expression of slight pain—which looked too fake—when the blades of aura hit her. The moment she had Zesshi in her range, she swung her staff without even trying to hide her intention.

Zesshi managed to avoid it, but barely.

The girl’s attacks didn’t pass a warrior’s bar as usual, but they were always the most efficient attacks. In the beginning, Zesshi was able to avoid the attacks somehow but now, even if she was completely ready, even the slightest delay in response would guarantee the blow connecting with her.

{Laugh, laugh! Make her think that I can see through her!}

Zesshi pursed her lips into a thin smile and started laughing, loud enough to make the girl hear.

She wondered whether or not she had succeeded. Her stiff smile—got hit again.

{It will be bad if I don’t preserve enough power to use [Greater Evasion].}

She tried to create distance between them by retreating backward, but the girl matched her speed by advancing ahead.

She couldn’t widen the gap at all.

“[Spartiate].”

Five undead appeared like a wall between the girl and her.

The girl’s first blow immediately took one down.

The five Spartiates would need five hits to be dealt with at most, but that was enough for her.

Zesshi kicked the wall and leaped in the air, nearly grazing the ceiling while trying to land behind the girl.

Just when she thought that the girl had sunk her body down a bit, the girl kicked the floor with enough force to break it into pieces and jumped backward. She probably disliked getting pincered. The Spartiates weren’t much of an opponent for her but they could bother her enough to divert her attention for a bit.

It was not like the Spartiates had been able to damage her after all.

After that explosive jump, the girl struck the staff down into the floor, carving out a rut as she quickly came to a stop. Her movements were too haphazard. She was forcibly regulating her explosiveness with her unbelievable physical strength.

{What a weird...movement. Not used to her full power? ...or not used to fighting?}

“U—n, u—n” the girl muttered as Zesshi stood before her with two Spartiates on both of her sides.

Zesshi transmitted “go!” through her thoughts to the Spartiates. The fearless undead swarmed the girl at the same time. Zesshi followed them a moment later.

The girl took out another scroll.

“[Firestorm].”

Fire bloomed outward like a storm that encompassed everything. The raging tongues of flame burned Zesshi, but they disappeared in a moment like they had been just an illusion. Her stinging burns, however, showed that they had been real. Luckily, the damage wasn’t that great, probably because it was activated from a scroll.

The Spartiates could still move but barely; they were on their last legs. All of them would be wiped out if they were hit by the spell once again.

Zesshi swung the scythe horizontally with her body as the axis and hit the girl with the pommel of the scythe. She wasn’t exactly sure because she had hit the armor, but it didn’t feel like the girl was particularly hurt from the hit. The Spartiates matched her attack and threw all of their spears at the same time, but a single swing of the staff, strong enough to create a gale around, took care of them. Just as she thought, only Zesshi’s attacks could reach the girl.

Taking advantage of that moment, Zesshi again started rotating as if she was dancing, going low across the floor like a spider and attacking with a very low slash at the girl’s ankles.

Meanwhile, one of the Spartiates was split into two, disappearing into the air just like that. But, that’s what summoned monsters were good for.

She slashed with the great scythe as if to gouge out the girl’s Achilles’ tendon—sparks flew.

It was tough there too.

Even with [Steeled Arm Strike], [Greater Slash Strike], and her class abilities, it didn’t feel like the weapon managed to penetrate deep.

But that wasn’t the only reason she aimed for her legs.

Zesshi immediately spread her legs apart and gritted her teeth, she swung the great scythe up with all her effort even as it stayed stuck into the girl’s legs. She was trying to destroy the girl’s balance. But—

The girl didn’t even flinch.

She was like a great tree.

Impossible.

But, that was the truth.

She used her full might with the opponent’s strength in mind, but it felt like she would be the one to lose balance and fall forward instead. There was too much of a gap between the weight she was feeling and the lovely appearance of the girl before her.

Perhaps she was using some special skill or a magic item, but it felt like Zesshi was dealing with a humongous tree that had its branches spread towards the sky. Considering the response that she received, it didn’t look like she would be able to make the girl fall no matter the amount of strength she put into it.

She suddenly felt cold, sensing something bad was going to happen.

The girl probably found Zesshi’s loss of balance to be a good opportunity. She extended the staff in her right hand as much as possible and brought it down on Zesshi in between the Spartiates trying to obstruct her.

An attack with the greatest reach and the most force possible behind it, an attack that made Zesshi’s spine go cold.

Her stance was too awful to be able to avoid it. The Spartiates couldn’t resist it more than a few strands of hair would, so it was useless even if she used them to obstruct it.

Still, Zesshi sent an order to Spartiates through her thoughts.

Immediately, one of them that was standing beside her tackled Zesshi with its body and sent her flying away. The girl’s staff swung down like a black comet and the Spartiate that took Zesshi’s place was smashed into tiny pieces.

While rolling across the floor, Zesshi gracefully adjusted her weapon and freed it from the girl’s legs. In the same motion, she quickly stood up, holding the great scythe in front of her as if to hold back the girl.

But the girl didn’t follow with an attack on Zesshi. With a violent motion of her body, black winds raged and the Spartiates were blown away into pieces.

Amidst the scraps of bone disappearing mid-air, the girl stood calmly, readjusting her grip on the staff. Then, she started fidgeting like she just remembered something.

{Should I summon Spartiates again?...But, I have to confirm something first.}

Zesshi started spinning the great scythe above her with a deliberate motion. The sound of the blades cutting through the air filled the room. The girl stood still, observing, taking on a completely defensive stance.

Little by little, by a nail’s length each time, Zesshi approached the girl.

With the distance reduced—

Zesshi took a sharp breath and swung the considerably accelerated great scythe towards the girl’s left wrist.

The girl wasn’t slow when compared to the blades that were so fast that they physically slashed the air apart. Instead, it felt like she intended to take the hit again like a machine while getting ready to land a blow on Zesshi. Perhaps she had already gotten used to Zesshi’s speed, as she didn’t falter in her movements.

But—the blades that originally parted apart the air to aim at the wrist suddenly arced upwards.

A change in the pattern repeated till now.

Zesshi was aiming for the neck this time.

Would the girl die if she sent her neck flying? Improbable, considering what she felt from the previous hits. However, her neck was exposed just like her navel. It could be a trap as well but if she managed to hit her, it would be highly likely that she could hurt her just like when she cut her abdomen. If she did manage to do that, she could probably wound her enough to turn the tide of the battle with all of her class skills put to use in a single strike.

From their exchanges till now, Zesshi understood that she was the better fighter. It was for this very moment that she didn’t use any feints till now, she only used simple attacks. The girl who got used to Zesshi’s simple-minded attacks would be taken by surprise by the sudden change just like when she used martial arts before, and would fail to defend her neck.

The great scythe slashed the girl’s neck. And—

“Guh!”

—Zesshi caught the staff’s blow in return.

She endured the pain but still ended up letting out a whimper.

Zesshi took a great leap back and then widened her eyes.

“...not again.”

There wasn’t even a drop of blood coming out from the girl’s neck, but there was a faint slash mark left behind.

It was impossible for the girl to be unhurt, maybe she had an ability that nullifies strikes at vulnerable points. In that case, many of the skills Zesshi had learned wouldn't even trigger.

{Is she even really alive? Maybe...is she an undead made by the Sorcerer King?}

The girl probably sensed Zesshi’s discomposure as she hesitantly put a proposal forward.

“E-excuse me. W-won’t you, surrender, please? Y-you see. I will not cause you any more pain if you do that, and will guarantee your safety afterward.”

Zesshi’s impression of that was—nauseous, to say the least.

It had been the same since before, but she couldn’t even sense a hint of hostility or killing intent from the girl’s attacks. Whether this could be considered gentleness or something different depended on the person, but it was hard to think that the opponent was being gentle when she was trying to cave her head in just because she wasn’t being hostile or showing killing intent.

Zesshi felt disgusted from the bottom of her heart by this girl. She could be her niece, but Zesshi didn’t feel even a bit of familiarity with her.

If the proposal had been from pity or a sense of superiority, she might have felt unpleasant, but then she at least wouldn‘t have been so disgusted. She couldn’t feel such emotions from the girl.

{...It’s reasonable if she is just an undead without emotions who is just acting the part.}

She felt everything about the girl was incoherent, making her wonder if all of her words and actions had been an act. However, that wasn’t the important thing right now. Zesshi’s personal opinions on her character were irrelevant.

The important thing was how she should proceed here to break through the situation and lead to a result that was beneficial to her. She could try acting like she was willing to surrender if that could lead to some advantage.

“I am fine with surren—”

Zesshi suddenly turned silent.

That’s right.

It was better to limit talking to when one needed to stall for time or when one had won.

And was the girl winning?

—No. There wasn’t a clear victor yet. The girl had a slight advantage but that’s all it was. In that case, couldn’t it be that she started talking because she was stalling for time?

“—Tch!”

Clicking her tongue loudly, Zesshi again reduced her distance from the girl. Even if she attacked using martial arts or from range, the opponent had the magic from the scrolls. She didn't know how many were left—and where she was storing them—but assuming the worst-case scenario that she still had a lot left, a battle of attrition would be to Zesshi’s disadvantage.

Luckily, it could be conjectured that the opponent didn’t have any means to attack long-range except for the scrolls. If she had any, she wouldn’t need to use scrolls in the first place.

{Does she have rogue-type classes that focus on using scrolls like this? ...no, she cast something like a self-strengthening spell by herself so it’s very unlikely.}

Zesshi didn’t have any effective long-range attacks either, so she thought there was no chance of victory in fighting from a distance.

Then what about a close-quarters fight?

Not a bad idea. So Zesshi chose to fight like this.

This time, Zesshi aimed the great scythe at the girl’s face. Maybe she couldn’t let her face get wounded, the girl deflected the scythe with her staff.

Even Zesshi's hands became numb from the force of the collision.

The girl counterattacked with her staff, swinging it down in a large arc. Zesshi easily avoided that by activating both [Greater Evasion] and [Instant Counter] at the same time.

They were evenly matched, or maybe not. Maybe the difference in their ability as combatants—the ability to predict an opponent's actions and adapt one’s own to match them—was finally showing itself on the surface, the scales were somewhat leaning to Zesshi’s side now. That said, no matter what amount of damage she did to the enemy, the girl could instantly turn the tide with a [Heal] and she would lose in the end with certainty.

{Should I use them here then…}

Zesshi held two trump cards.

One was a skill that was a surefire way to kill the opponent.

The other one was an extremely adaptable skill.

She could use the latter to either kill the opponent or to escape, so she shouldn’t be using that so easily.

Then, should she use the first one here?

The girl showed pain when she was hit, but was she really feeling it? There would be no end to it if Zesshi started doubting that.

All of Zesshi’s conjectures till now were based on assumptions, so they could all be wrong. Perhaps her opponent really was a cute girl who disliked fighting as she appeared to be.

Even so, she couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of anomaly from the girl.

{What should I do...If...if there are others here who are on par with this girl, I am not sure if it’s good to use it here...but...Ideally, I’ll want to kill this girl before she can reveal her trump card...is it possible though?}

If asked whether she could do it or not, she could only answer: “I don’t know.”

If those were all the scrolls of [Heal] she had, then she could probably succeed, but it was impossible to finish this quickly.

Of course, Zesshi continued to act even as she contemplated. She was slashing continuously with her scythe, but she wasn't able to make the girl bleed. All the while, she was receiving counterattacks from the girl’s staff.

Unlike the girl who only needed to stay still and aim for her, Zesshi had to repeatedly jump in and out of her strike range while swinging her scythe, using her legs to control the distance while handling the weapon for attacks. Without such concentration when trying to evade and defend against the attacks, it would be difficult to defend against the enemy who was countering her while ready to take damage in return.

Though the girl was fine with taking hits on her navel or on her armor, her face was the only part she didn’t let Zesshi hit.

Zesshi started to analyze the information she had gathered until now.

{Should I just...use it? I will win for sure if I use it...}

The only issue was whether to use it now or later.

They exchanged blows multiple times after that.

In return for slashing the girl, Zesshi received a clean hit in her flank.

She was blown away, the sound of creaking bones echoing through her body. Suppressing her urge to vomit from the pain, Zesshi forced her heels into the floor to stop herself.

That blow was unexpected. It was a bit hard to even breathe. Though her sides stung from pain, Zesshi made an effort to look nonchalant, sticking the scythe’s shaft into the floor and leaning on it. She then crossed her legs, took off her helmet, and sneered to make it seem like she wasn’t affected at all by the hit just now.

She could do this only because she knew that the other side wouldn’t proactively attack her.

“Well, it can’t be helped then.”

She muttered to herself in a light-hearted tone and resolved herself to it. She would use one of the trump cards to kill the opponent here.

The girl didn’t try to approach Zesshi, who had opened up some distance between them.

That was a saving grace.

“...you there, you asked me to surrender before, right? I want to ask one thing...are you an undead created by the Sorcerer King?”

“Eh? B-but why are you asking such a question? Don’t you want to ask about how you will be treated after surrender?”

“Answer me.”

“...N-no, you are wrong. Just as I appear, I am not an undead.”

“I see,” Zesshi replied and started thinking.

Did the girl not answer immediately because she was confused by the question? Or because—she wanted some time to think of an answer?

{In the first place, I asked her that question because I couldn’t figure that out from her appearance...that aside, did she just completely ignore how I brought up the Sorcerer King's name? But, well, whatever. It doesn’t matter whether she is an undead or something else, she will die without doubt.}

Zesshi put on her helmet again and activated the power she was born with.

By guiding that power into the weapon once held by a God, she could use the greatest power wielded by the God of Death, Surshana. And so—

“[—The Goal of All Life is Death].”

A clock manifested behind her immediately.

This was one of her trump cards that she could only use when she wielded this great scythe.

The skill that brought certain death.

The skill which made one’s death impossible to resist.

The skill that hadn’t been beaten even once.

“Eh!?”

The girl let out a voice of surprise. A display of emotion so honest that even Zesshi found it genuine.

{—What? So she wasn’t an undead? Well, I can very much understand her feelings. Anyone would assume that I was using some mysterious skill with unknown effects if they didn’t know about this skill. But, you see. This clock behind me doesn’t have any effect by itself. It’s nothing more than a herald for the power that will be coming later. Really—it’s too soon to be surprised yet.}

Following that, Zesshi brought out the spells infused in the great scythe.

And naturally, the one she selected was—

“—[Death].”

She heard a click at the same time she activated the spell at the girl. The clock started to count the time.

—She had won.

Zesshi was sure of her victory now.

“[Phoenix Flame].”

She saw a bird of flames extending its wings behind the girl.

{Another spell! But, fufu. It’s useless. I don’t know what spell you cast but once I used this power, there’s no way you could stay alive...Taking me down before I could use this power is your only chance!}

[Death] was generally effective the moment it was cast, but when she used this special skill, it needed 12 seconds to activate. She was unsure what would happen if she was killed before the timer ended, so she chose to take a defensive stance now.

Perhaps she found that her spell didn’t work, the girl charged at her with the staff in her hands at an unbelievable speed.

The girl who did nothing but defend and counter till now turned to offense, probably because she sensed that something was wrong. In this situation where she didn’t know what was happening, she didn’t choose to take a defensive stance or just observe what would happen. Zesshi had to concede that the girl had some good battle sense.

But, Zesshi was the one better at technique and grasping the flow between them. If she only stuck to defense without planning to attack, parrying and avoiding hits was pretty easy. Of course, she couldn’t continue to avoid every single attack indefinitely, but doing it for a few seconds was possible.

{—six.}

She avoided the girl’s consecutive hits. Even heroes, no, not even outliers could clearly see the trajectory of those explosive attacks. It was like she was standing in the same realm as Zesshi. Zesshi observed the girl for a while as her defense didn’t require all of her attention and realized that although the girl’s physical capabilities were pretty high, she wasn’t using them to the fullest extent—that she was not used to the strength.

{--eight.}

This was something common with those who were strong from birth.

Because their body’s capabilities were too high—because they could just win through brute force, they tended to disregard finer techniques and things like reading the opponent’s movements. Most of the strongmen who were like that were made to eat dirt when they faced the truly strong. They had yet to realize their own arrogance until then.

Yes. Just like the girl before her.

{—eleven. This is the end. Farewell.}

Evading another one of the girl’s attacks that would have caused cerebral concussion in ordinary people just by grazing them, Zesshi bid farewell to the girl.

The girl made her nauseous in a way that was difficult to put into words, but looking at her now—after she had confirmed her victory—she was pretty cute. When she thought about it, the girl was still too young to understand everything. The sin didn’t belong to this girl, but to the parents who raised her.

Zesshi deflected another blow—while ignoring a chance to attack—and then noticed the abnormality.

The girl didn’t die.

“...eh?”

Her mind went blank for a moment.

The opponent didn’t die from the skill that brought certain death. Then, Zesshi probably miscounted the time. That’s the most likely reason.

Excluding the time during her training, this was the first time she had fought someone so strong. It probably made her tense and she just didn’t notice it. Counting time accurately in such a mental state would be difficult. A simple mistake.

{...two.}

So she counted two seconds more, slowly at that.

But—the girl didn’t die.

The girl was energetically making cute sounds like “ey!” and “yah!” which didn’t match the fearsome blows that accompanied them.

“B-but how!?”

She couldn’t understand.

A skill that absolutely killed. A skill that killed even the undead and the lifeless golems though even Zesshi couldn’t understand how it did that. But, it didn’t manage to kill this girl.

Her attacks hurt Zesshi, so she wasn’t an illusion, but what else could it be? Maybe that skill didn’t work on Dark Elves or on blood relatives. Or else—maybe the spell cast by the girl broke through it.

If that’s the case, then why did the girl know about this skill? Even she herself could only make use of it because of her talent, she didn’t know everything about it. It was the same for the few people in the Theocracy who knew that she could use this skill. If there’s someone who could be said to know everything about it, it would be none other than the original owner of this great scythe, Surshana.

Was that God behind this girl? Seeing as the girl didn’t die, she felt that thought strangely plausible. If that was true—

“--thh!”

Her body went stiff from the confusion and the nervousness, making her take a hit that should have been avoidable.

“Aaah, enough already!”

Enduring the pain, Zesshi swung her scythe. The slightly reckless attack slashed into the girl’s body, but the staff came down on her before Zesshi could see whether it was effective or not. She began to see stars due to pain, but she put a leg forward before she could collapse.

Zesshi started to think desperately.

Her plan had failed.

What should she do now?

What would lead to the best outcome possible?

She took a lot of hits, but she still had some energy to spare. She was still far from being defeated, but there were the opponent's reinforcements to think about. She had to decide whether to continue the fight or run away.

Then, if she decided to run, would she be able to succeed with her speed? She was not sure. In that case—

{—Should I reveal the other trump card?}

It was not a bad idea, but what she experienced just now made Zesshi hesitate. The girl already broke through a skill previously thought invincible.

It was hard to imagine that this skill would get nullified as well, but maybe the girl could just disperse it with some other awesome magic.

{—how many scrolls she has, and what magic can she use?! There just isn’t enough information!}

She hesitated to reveal all her cards while still not having read the opponent’s hand. However, just as she had thought before, time was the girl’s ally and her own enemy here.

Although she could bear the pain still, it continued to dull her thoughts.

Zesshi’s smile deepened.

Smiles could completely hide her sentiments, thoughts, and emotions from everyone—especially from the enemy.

So she smiled, and came to a decision.

{—I won’t think anymore! No amount of thinking is useful in this situation without enough information!}

The only thing Zesshi was clear about was that on top of her revealing one of her cards, the opponent also got proof that they had a way to deal with the said skill. Just this alone was a greater loss for Zesshi than all the damage she had received until now.

On activating the final trump card, light coalesced into another Zesshi.

Zesshi held two trump cards.

One is certain death—or to be more precise, her power made it possible to draw out the trump cards of the former wielders of the equipment she held.

The other was from the class she acquired—Lesser Valkyrie/Almighty—a clone.

Einherjar.

It was slightly weaker than Zesshi, but still an overwhelmingly powerful summon as Zesshi was considerably strong herself.

The girl widened her eyes again, letting out an “eh!” from surprise. However, it was Zesshi who felt a bad premonition, finding the girl’s reaction similar to the one when she revealed her first trump card.

Before Zesshi could even send a single command to her clone—the Einherjar—the girl took out a globe.

The next moment, a huge earth elemental—which found the corridor a little too cramped to stand in normally—appeared beside the girl.

Zesshi was confused again.

She thought that it was highly likely that the girl was a druid, but instead of using spells, she used a magic item to summon the elemental.

Especially since the elemental didn’t seem too strong.

{She can’t summon elementals and she can’t use offensive magic either...a self-strengthening type druid? Or am I missing or misunderstanding something crucial? ...I heard that the one used by the Elf King was a huge earth elemental...is this the one? But...it doesn’t feel...that huge?}

The earth elemental that was rumored to be used by the Elf King was supposed to be overwhelmingly strong, something not even outliers could win against.

Compared to that, the elemental before her was too weak. That said, what appeared to be weak to someone as strong as Zesshi could appear overwhelmingly strong to weaker people.

An elemental this weak wasn’t too much of an issue.

Zesshi was fine with leaving the summon to Einherjar and fighting the girl herself. It would probably take down the elemental quickly, and then it would be two against one.

{...No, let’s take down the elemental together in one go.}

“Let’s go!”

Zesshi charged ahead and attacked the elemental with her scythe. Einherjar did the same.

Earth elementals had resistance against physical attacks, but the difference in the strength between them was simply too great. The blades left deep gashes in its hard exterior.

Naturally, for something that was known for its durability, an attack or two wasn’t enough to kill it.

But the earth elemental disappeared unexpectedly.

“—huh?”

She didn’t understand at all. It’s not like they took it down.

The very next moment, another earth elemental appeared before them. This one was larger than the one before.

What was this even?

Zesshi didn’t feel like it was the same as the one before.

“Don’t tell me it’s a sacrificial summon!”

She never heard of such a spell or special skill, but that phrase was just too appropriate for the situation that she ended up shouting it.

She was unsure if this was really a new summon, but the elemental was certainly stronger than the one before. Not even outliers could win against this one. But—

{I can...is it the right thing to do though?}

Would this earth elemental become even stronger after taking damage or after getting destroyed?

Zesshi thought that was impossible however which way you might look at it, but she wasn’t completely sure at the same time.

She made the Einherjar stand by and observed the girl.

The girl was only taking hesitant peeks from behind the earth elemental, and the elemental itself didn’t try to attack them immediately.

{Who is this child really? I can assume that the Sorcerer King made her if she was an undead but if she really was just a Dark Elf child... How exactly has such a child been hidden till now? With this kind of strength, she should have been more famous, right? Or, was she hidden by some country till now, just like me?}

The Sorcerer Kingdom was founded only a few years ago.

The Empire declared that the area around it originally belonged to the Sorcerer Kingdom in the past, but the Theocracy—which existed for a long time—knew it to be a shoddy lie.

There never was a Sorcerer Kingdom or a Sorcerer King in this land in the past.

{The Sorcerer King suddenly appeared out of nowhere so there were some unconfirmed theories that he was an existence like the past Gods...but, no way, right? Though...if that really was true...then this girl’s the same? No, considering the mark of royalty in her eyes, she was more likely to be related to that guy. Did the Sorcerer King come up with a plan to come over here from a faraway place and unite the non-humans after he got his hands on this girl?}

She just didn’t know, and she had no proof either. She found it difficult to even imagine that this girl was related to the Sorcerer King.

But, she should assume the worst-case scenario here: that there was a possibility for that to really be the truth.

{If this girl really belongs to the Sorcerer Kingdom...then it means that the Sorcerer Kingdom had at least two people on par with me including this girl...no way, is the Sorcerer King here too?}

Zesshi started panicking.

How stupid had she been? She had thought about the possibility of the girl being related to the Sorcerer Kingdom, so she should also have thought about this possibility.

Normally, it’s impossible.

No amount of lives would be enough for a king to come to the battlefield where two other countries were fighting their decisive battle. Yet, didn’t the Sorcerer King do just that, going and doing whatever he liked in the Holy Kingdom? He made every country realize that a magic caster capable of destroying armies could appear anywhere now.

Plus, they also received the hard-to-believe report that he had appeared in the arena as a gladiator right before the Empire became their vassal. Then, it was completely believable that he would come to this Elven Country moments before its fall.

Zesshi fiercely admonished herself.

It would be the worst if the Sorcerer King was here as well as she had surmised. This girl alone was enough of a problem, the addition of that undead would wipe away any chance of victory she might have had. The Theocracy had yet to complete its analysis of the Sorcerer King’s true strength, but it was hard to think that someone who could annihilate an army of over a hundred thousand soldiers could be weaker than this girl.

{At present, it’s nothing but layering conjecture over conjecture, but everything fell into place—everything really did fall into place. I don’t know what the other party is aiming for, but if the Sorcerer King himself is here, should I negotiate?}

If they managed to steal the earth elemental, then that was the same as usurping this country.

The girl had the mark of royalty—her eyes.

If the Elves were shown that as proof of royal lineage and shown the earth elemental used by the Elf King obeying this girl, they would surely bend the knee.

{If they also fought us back, they would be highly popular as well...what perfect timing. What, perfect, timing?}

Zesshi started feeling even more uneasy.

{—The Theocracy had accelerated its war with the Elven Country, rushing it to its conclusion only because the Sorcerer Kingdom started invading the Kingdom, seemingly to destroy it. But, is that what the Sorcerer Kingdom was truly aimed for?}

Suddenly, she felt like the different colored cubes of the Rubik's cube had fallen into their proper places, completing it. Just for a moment, Zesshi, who had never experienced any fear in any battle, suddenly trembled all over her body like she was filled with ice.

Yes, if all of this had been the Sorcerer Kingdom’s plan all along, then everything fell into place.

{Their original goal was not the Kingdom, but making the Elven Country come under their rule while hurting the Theocracy? In that case, their invasion getting repelled at E-Nauru and the leaking of information about their invasion was not because they wanted to instill fear of their impending doom into the Kingdom's population, but to push the Theocracy into making a move at their desired time? No, he aimed for both? Trying to put both countries under his rule in such a short period of time? Unbelievable! It’s too unbelievable to think we had been dancing along to the Sorcerer Kingdom’s tune all along...simply impossible.}

She didn’t want to acknowledge it, but had to assume the worst-case scenario like before.

The Supreme Executive Council evaluated the Sorcerer King as someone to be regarded with the highest level of caution. That, though he was a cut above the rest when it came to scheming, his fearsome power was what should warrant most caution.

But—

Yes, but—if this had been the Sorcerer King’s scheme, then the truly fearsome thing was not his power that could kill a hundred thousand soldiers in an instant. It was not the fact that he commanded subordinates powerful enough to eliminate all the nine million citizens of the Kingdom either. It was his ability to read a hundred moves ahead while playing his opponent like a puppet through invisible strings; what they should fear most was his scheming mind.

It was hopeless for them if someone who’s already strong could also scheme. That would destroy the only weapon the weak had against the strong.

{Or, was it the demonic Prime Minister Albedo who schemed this? Whoever it was...no, wait? ...was it not just these two countries...but also the Theocracy? Are they planning to wipe out the soldiers deployed here and declare war?}

It was true that there were some people who would say that there was no problem no matter how many weak soldiers died. A person who stepped into the realm of heroes was strong enough to surpass a few thousand soldiers. But, that was how a strong person would think, and not what an ordinary citizen would think.

The Theocracy extolled human supremacy and united the country with that notion. The intention behind it was that unless the weak humans united and made the first move against non-humans, they would be the ones to get destroyed instead. And there was a good example of that scenario in the Draconic Kingdom, which bordered the beastmen.

However, were the common populace strong-willed enough to continue to fight if they realized that they were about to be destroyed by this hypothetical person with tremendous power? After hearing of their failure to destroy their arch nemesis, the Elven Country, and that their soldiers were wiped out instead?

Zesshi made her usual smile—the one she used to hide her heart.

It's not that she was happy or that she found something interesting. Actually, her state of mind was the total opposite.

It’s her despair at having fallen into the trap—into the perfect scheme their enemies had laid out.

{What should I do? Try to let the soldiers escape? Or, escape myself so that I could live?}

The death of the Theocracy’s strongest trump card would be a tremendous loss for the nation, so escaping should be the better choice.

With her attention diverted to think about the next best move, Zesshi stood still, which then made the girl talk.

“E-excuse me? I am repeating myself but won’t you surrender? I t-think it’s not too late yet. I don’t want to kill you.”

It’s not a bad idea considering that she might get information on the opponent. But—

“—can’t. I can’t run away!!”

“Eh?”

The girl raised a puzzled voice. Understandable. Zesshi's response didn’t match her question from the girl’s point of view, but it was logically connected inside Zesshi’s mind.

That’s right. There was nothing else to be done.

If this really was the Sorcerer Kingdom’s scheme there's only one way to break through it: fight with the ferociousness of a wounded and cornered animal, kill the girl before her and destroy the Sorcerer Kingdom’s plan along with that.

The loss of an individual this strong would greatly derail the Sorcerer Kingdom’s plan.

Perhaps a most wicked trap was lying in wait for them, but this was their only chance to foil it and she was the only one able to do it right now.

{Yes. I am the only one who can save my country!}

If asked whether the Theocracy did enough for her to make her bet her life on them, she would feel complicated emotions. But, from time to time, there were some humans she liked. She saw most of them pass away over her long life, but she thought that they mattered enough for her to wager her life once for the sake of the country they loved.

{—I will probably die, but I will use all my might to kill her. That’s good enough for me.}

Zesshi made her decision.

She really did think about retreating for a moment, but if she had to do that, she would like to do it at her own pace rather than escaping narrowly by the skins of her teeth. There was a certain part of her in this battle until now which hadn’t been serious about killing her opponent. It was not due to any sentimentality on her part regarding the girl possibly being her niece. Even if the opponent was a mere child, she would cut her limbs and bind her or kill her without hesitation if need be. But, she certainly prioritized leaving with her life the most, until now.

She would throw it away.

If she didn’t gamble here then where else could she?

Tomorrow would surely be worse than today.

“Go!”

She bellowed.

Einherjar attacked, following her command.

Frankly, she need not have shouted it out loud. She could give the order silently in her mind. In a sense, this was a poor decision that gave away information to the opponent. Zesshi understood that as well. She shouted despite that to stir herself up and to strengthen her conviction even more.

She made the Einherjar deal with the elemental while she tried to go after the girl herself.

However, the elemental extended its hands out to the sides like it was trying to block the corridor.

Zesshi didn’t mind if this was how it was going to be.

She and Einherjar would take the elemental in a rush and then kill the girl after.

If the elemental before them was the one used by the Elf King, destroying it would be destroying one of the symbols of royalty as well. Perhaps that would slow down the Sorcerer King’s plan by a bit.

The two great scythes slashed the elemental multiple times in an instant.

Frankly speaking, elementals, which didn't bleed and didn’t really have any vital points, were troublesome opponents for her.

On top of that, high-class elementals had resistances against physical attacks. Even Zesshi’s scythe couldn’t take them down in a single hit.

This was not the kind of opponent Zesshi would choose given a choice, but she didn’t have a say in this matter.

Still, the girl's attack couldn’t reach them either with the elemental obstructing the corridor, and it would be hard to get a clear line of sight to attack with magic from the scrolls. The thing they should be more cautious of was the girl being able to cast her strengthening spells on the elemental.

{I am the one at an advantage here because they are two of us, but it’s not an absolute advantage. We can’t go behind the elemental so we can’t stop her from casting buffs...but...}

She wondered if the girl truly didn’t realize this.

Something bothered Zesshi slightly, but she couldn’t express it in concrete terms.

The elemental brought down its arms, which were made of boulders. She was about to jump back but this wasn’t a situation where she could slowly grind it down with hit-and-run attacks. She used the great scythe to hook the arm and deflect it. The earth elemental’s attack had tremendous force behind it, but deflecting it by applying force from the side was easy.

That said, this wasn’t a weapon suitable for that, and she was only able to do it through brute force because of the overwhelming difference in their strength.

She could see Einherjar doing the same from the corner of her eyes.

Zesshi’s Einherjar was weaker than herself. So, seeing that it was even possible for it, Zesshi confirmed that this elemental wasn’t strong, just like she had expected.

This was probably not the one used by the Elf King, the elemental the Theocracy was most worried about.

That said, it didn’t mean that the earth elemental before them was exactly weak either.

Someone only on the level of heroes wouldn’t be able to avoid its punches. It was hard to be sure if the hit would kill them or not, but it would certainly damage them heavily.

She dodged another attack and turned her gaze to the girl hiding behind the elemental. They were right in the bosom of the huge enemy so it was dangerous to take her eyes off it, but it was far more dangerous to ignore the girl’s movements.

What she saw made her doubt her eyes.

{—huh?}

The girl was running away with her back turned to them.

Though her running looked cute, she was unbelievably fast.

She ran.

She ran away.

“—!!”

Zesshi realized.

This earth elemental wasn’t summoned to handle her Einherjar.

It was to stall for time so the girl could escape.

She didn’t realize based on the girl’s attitude, but perhaps she was at her limits all this time.

The girl never intended to fight or risk her life. Didn’t her actions at the start make that pretty clear?

That time when she retreated back with great force, when Zesshi tried to jump behind her was not because she disliked being pincered, it was because she didn’t want her escape route to be cut off.

Her words and actions had put her intentions clearly on display.

“Damn!”

She needed to choose one of the three choices before her immediately.

She could somehow catch up with the girl.

She could defeat the earth elemental here for now.

Or she could escape as well.

Among them, she could easily put the third option into practice.

The summoner couldn’t give commands adapted to the changing battlefield to the summon if they couldn’t see what was happening.

So, for example, if the elemental was commanded to “stay here and kill everyone that tries to pass through the corridor,” it wouldn't chase after Zesshi if she ran away. But, if it was commanded to “kill the woman before you,” it would probably try to chase and kill her.

That said, it would just give chase in a straight line and wouldn’t use its brains to do things like trying to waylay her.

So, there was no way it could catch Zesshi who was faster and more agile than it if she did decide to run.

If she ran away at full speed, the elemental would wander around aimlessly, searching for her like a mindless drone.

However, she refused to do it. Refusal was the only path open to her.

She couldn’t avert her gaze from the possible future crisis—the Sorcerer King’s schemes.

Then, the choice was between the first and the second option.

Catching up to the girl was difficult as well. Even if they destroyed the earth elemental obstructing them quickly, it depended on luck whether or not they could catch up to the extremely mobile girl. Plus, her reinforcements were probably waiting for them at her destination. Zesshi wasn’t sure how the battle would end if that was the case.

So the second option was the best one.

It made her resolve from before a joke and would be completely meaningless if it turned out that this was not the one used by the Elf King.

Still, considering the risk and the return, this was the only choice she could take.

She shouldn’t be tempted by the greener grass on the other side.

Zesshi stared sharply at the earth elemental and then realized that the girl behind it—who had put some distance between them—turned back to face them.

Zesshi continued to observe her without diverting her attention from the earth elemental, expecting the girl to say something. And then, the girl moved her lips.

“It’s good that I conserved my mana.”

It shouldn’t have been audible considering the distance, but maybe because of Zesshi’s Elven blood or because of her extremely high capabilities, she could faintly hear the girl’s words of relief. Before Zesshi could understand the meaning behind them, the girl raised her staff high against the ceiling.

One of Mare’s classes was named the “Disciple of Disaster,” which had a trump card.

It was the inferior version of the World Disaster’s trump card.

Its name was [Petit-Catastrophe].

In return for consuming enormous mana, its damage surpassed even the Super-Tier spells that Ainz could use. Of course, it was still not as powerful as [Grand Catastrophe], but the raging torrents of energy born from it was enough to blow away everything in an instant.

The very next moment, Zesshi was hit by tremendous energy.

{Bad—will—die.} Zesshi immediately realized.

The fierce currents of energy blew away the earth elemental in an instant.

She finally realized at that moment that the earth elemental was neither a countermeasure for Einherjar nor a wall to let the girl escape. It was nothing more than a decoy, to keep Zesshi and her clone from escaping that single tyrannical attack.

And in reality, her Einherjar had also disappeared just a moment after the elemental did.

Following that—

{—not yet! I will not die! I WILL NOT DIE!}

Though the storm of destruction raging around her was sweetly whispering to her to give up and take it easy, Zesshi brought all her vitality to the forefront to bear through it.

But—her consciousness weakened. She could no longer sense the pain that had been stinging all over her body from before. She could no longer even sense if she was still standing or where she was.

So this was how death felt like.

What the heck is this?

That was the only thing that she could think of.

Wasn’t she supposed to fight, risking her life, after this?

Wasn’t she supposed to fight with all of her body and soul to protect the Theocracy—her country, from the fiendish enemy and their diabolic schemes?

How mean.

Of course, it was just Zesshi excusing herself. She realized that even amidst her awareness fading away.

Even so, she couldn’t help but complain.

She didn’t feel any relief at the elemental getting destroyed. It probably meant that it was no more valuable than a sacrificial pawn. Or, maybe they thought it was an acceptable loss for taking out the strongest trump card of the Theocracy.

In the end, who was that girl really?

If she really was from the Sorcerer Kingdom, to what extent were they dancing on their palms?

This was defeat.

She finally realized that defeat didn’t mean getting taken down by the enemy’s attack. It was getting one’s wish, which they put their body and soul into, smashed without a trace and then falling into an endless pit of despair.

Cruel.

She didn’t want to lose.

Her wanting to taste defeat was an outright lie.

She only wanted to deny her own strength. Or maybe—deny her mother.

Deny the blood that ran through her veins—and the loveless days it made her go through.

But, if she could have protected what she held dear with this unwanted power...

Even though she would have probably forgiven her mother a little then.

Even though she seriously didn’t want to lose for once.

All those feelings still ended up getting crushed.

{I hope at least that she isn’t from the...Sorcerer...Kingd...}

And then—the world went dark.

♦ ♦ ♦

Ainz left the Elven treasury along with Aura.

The conclusion was that they don’t know yet if it met their expectations or not. Ainz wasn’t sure about the value of a lot of things there, like the strange fruit which was larger than a palm fruit—actually larger even than Aura.

The fact that most of the items were made of materials easily collected from nature instead of precious metal was even more disappointing, but he still held a slight hope that they had some rare or unknown abilities.

So, Ainz wasn’t exactly in a bad mood. In fact, he was feeling pretty good.

The goods were not here anymore.

Ainz sent them to the log house near the overground level of Nazarick using [Gate].

He probably surprised the Pleiades on standby in the log house, but he didn’t have enough time to explain the situation to them while Mare was still left alone. He only managed to loudly command them to carefully store the items sent inside the log house considering that some of them could be dangerous.

After everything was done, Ainz resolved himself and turned to Aura with a serious expression; which was the same as his usual bony mien.

“Well then, I am relying on you! Aura!”

“Okay!!”

Aura gave an energetic reply, turned her back to Ainz, and squatted.

Frankly speaking, the speed at which he could run was completely different from Aura's. He would probably be easily left behind. Of course, she would slow down a bit as she would have to carefully follow the trail of the Elf King’s blood. Still, Ainz wouldn’t be able to keep up despite that. He also had equipment that would greatly raise his speed alone, but a change of equipment didn’t just mean changing the required part and being done with it.

The gear Ainz usually equipped were strictly coordinated for things like the overall resistance distribution, equipment weight, and the increase and decrease in parameters. He would need some time to go over the coordination again if he were to break the balance. He wouldn’t need to spend time if he used consumable items like scrolls to increase his speed instead, but his miserly nature stopped him.

He wasn’t sure if he could keep up with Aura even after going through all that trouble either.

So they chose the most suitable option here—he was to be carried by Aura.

Of course, an adult man getting carried by a little girl was extremely, extremely embarrassing. Even Ainz felt a bit ashamed of that. His embarrassment gradually accumulated, probably because the suppression wouldn’t kick in with such lukewarm emotions.

But Mare’s life depended on this choice.

Mare would win against the Elf King without a doubt. From Ainz’s estimation of the Elf King’s strength, he had no chance at victory; he was also exhausted and heavily wounded on top of that. However, there were no such things as absolute certainty.

Ainz hesitated to ask about the situation through a [Message] even though he wanted to, fearing that he could end up diverting Mare’s attention in the middle of a fight. So, it was best to meet up with him even if by only a second sooner.

Then—Ainz should throw away his embarrassment if need be. It was not a choice he made as Suzuki Satoru, but as Ainz Ooal Gown.

Naturally, there arose one more doubt after that.

How exactly should he be carried?

If he was going to be carried by Aura, then there was the choice of getting carried in her arms like a princess. Maybe some would even prefer a ride on her shoulders. Ainz chose to be carried on her back. No, to be precise, it was Aura who decided that.

At first, Ainz proposed to be carried over her shoulder like a piece of luggage. He would have been less embarrassed that way and it was also more suitable in the sense that he could ironically joke that he was “unnecessary baggage.”

But, upon proposing that, Aura told him, “I can’t handle Ainz-sama like luggage.” After he realized that it would take some work to persuade her, Ainz gave in.

He didn’t dare propose getting carried like a princess. His mental stability wouldn’t have held.

So, he ended up getting carried on her back.

Having already resigned himself to it, Ainz climbed onto her small back, cheering with a “dokkoisho” in his heart. Following that, he took out a short sword from the item box and held it. He was not sure if he would need it, but it was better to be prepared.

An Elemental Skull created from Ainz’s [Summon Undead Tenth] floated beside them.

Why didn’t he create an undead to carry him in Aura’s place then? There was a simple reason why he didn’t.

It’s because he would need to leave someone behind as a diversion in a critical situation.

He intended to use an undead for it so he and Aura could escape. So, he decided not to summon one to ride it.

Of course, he could just get down from the undead when they met an enemy, but that moment could end up being fatal.

Ainz felt that he was being too cautious, but this was a battlefield where the chances of something unexpected happening were too high. It was necessary to make preparations to some extent—like to retreat immediately with an undead as a wall—for their own safety.

Elemental Skull was more of an attacker than a tank. He summoned it despite that because the tank wasn’t always the most appropriate choice to use as a diversion. Incidentally—

He wouldn’t recommend an attacker acting as a tank in YGGDRASIL. Furthermore, only monsters like Touch Me-san were able to build into being both a tank and an attacker at the same time so he wouldn’t recommend that either. Well, it was more like no one would be able to do that normally.

However, if one wanted to insist that they could, they were free to do so.

Aura sprinted.

Following the faint trail of blood, she descended down the stairs for a few floors. Then she stopped.

She looked away from the floor towards the direction they were heading for. Ainz followed with his eyes as well but couldn’t sense anyone there.

He wanted to ask her what the issue was but decided to wait for her words, ready to command the Elemental Skull immediately if something unexpected happened. Ainz also thought about another possibility.

And he was right.

“...Ainz-sama, I received a message from Mare”

“—I see”

Ainz replied with a serious tone. It sounded out of place considering he was sitting on Aura’s back, but he had to use a tone befitting of their master.

“From your attitude, it doesn’t seem like Mare asked for help. So, did he capture the Elf King without an issue?”

“About that...it seems like Elf King was already killed”

“What?”

From Ainz’s point of view, the Elf King without his primal earth elemental was weak, but not enough to be unable to escape from or be killed by the inhabitants of this world.

“...So there is one more strong individual here other than the Elf King. What did Mare do after that?”

“Yes. He took down that strong individual, but it seems like they are still breathing. What are your orders? Mare said that it’s highly possible they are holding some important information, that they could have probably watched the battle between Ainz-sama and Shalltear...”

“What? You mean that battle? ...Could they have a world item? ...We will go there, secure them, and immediately return to Nazarick...there’s no time. Aura, it will probably be hard on you but I will be depending on you for just a little bit more.”

Aura specifically mentioned the enemy to be a strong “person” instead of “people” so they were probably alone. However, it was also possible that Mare chose those words because it was a group where only one of them was strong while the others were just riff-raff. It’s better to retreat to a safe place as quickly as possible when one was unsure about the enemy’s numbers.

“That will not be a problem. But—we will be going fast. Ainz-sama, hold on tight.”

Aura dashed the moment her words ended. She was far faster than before, not slowing down even at the corner, but instead kicking off the walls to change directions—it felt like a jet coaster, though he had never ridden one. Although this body couldn’t be affected by fear, he felt a bit afraid. Perhaps his line of sight being this low to the ground increased his sense of fear.

He could move at about the same speed when he changed into a warrior, but running on his own two legs was completely different from experiencing these sudden curves, accelerating and decelerating at someone else’s whims.

They saw Mare after what felt like a few seconds to Ainz.

Mare was carrying an unknown human over his shoulder, dexterously holding his own staff and something that looked like a strange sickle together in one hand.

He had a lot of questions like “I heard he was killed but where is the Elf King’s body?” or “what happened to his magic items?” but they couldn’t have such a relaxed conversation in a hostile area.

They should retreat for now.

Ainz, carrying himself brazenly with a serious expression—like he wanted the others to understand that this had been necessary and that it was completely normal—climbed down from Aura’s back. He thrust the short sword into the floor.

It was hard to memorize this featureless corridor in a short amount of time, but it should be a bit easier if it’s the place he stuck a recognizable sword in. He also memorized this short sword very clearly so he could use magic to connect to here directly.

Then, he activated [Gate].

“Go ahead.”

After a shy acknowledgment, Mare entered the gate while holding the human.

Ainz dispersed the Elemental Skull and followed after him along with Aura.

The other side of the gate was where he previously threw the contents of the Elven treasury. Ainz found Entoma, who probably came over to retrieve the items, bowing upon his arrival. She probably guessed that they were going to come through when she saw that a [Gate] had been activated again.

Death Knights, who were likely here to help Entoma, were standing around aimlessly.

“Welcome back. Ainz-sama”

“Umu. Continue with the retrieval, Entoma. Is the ring with you?”

“Yes, it is”

“Then give it to Aura. And, Aura. This one’s an important source of information. It will be bad if she dies. Quickly, but carefully, carry her to the frozen prison. On that note, I don’t think we will have to remind Neuronist, but don’t forget to take off her gear”

“A-ainz sama, may I have a word?”

“What’s the issue Mare? Is there something to worry about?”

“Y-yes. This human...? Was very strong. I cast [Sandman’s Sand] on her, but if she woke up for some reason, I don’t think Neuronist-san can win against her.”

“...I see. Then stay beside that woman until either Aura or I have arrived. Be on guard.”

Aura wore the ring and activated it, teleporting while holding the woman somewhat gentler than Mare did. After seeing her depart, Ainz turned to Mare.

“Well then, Mare...why do you think that human watched the battle between Shalltear and me?”

This was his greatest doubt.

“Y-yes. That human used both Ainz-sama’s [The Goal of All Life is Death] and Shalltear-san’s [Einherjar]. It’s impossible that it was completely unrelated to that battle!”

“What!! What did you say!!”

Normally, having a single skill strong enough to be called a trump card was the limit. To hold two such skills was impossible in Ainz’s opinion. In that case, Mare’s hypothesis was probably right. Maybe it was something like a copy skill.

“You did good taking her down without killing her, right?”

“Y-yes. I too thought that she would end up dying from [Petit-Catastrophe] but, it looks like she had a lot of HP, so she didn’t die luckily.”

“You used [Petit-catastrophe]!? ...to think that she didn’t die from even that...that human is certainly strong. You’ve been really fortunate...So what happened to the Elf King?”

Hearing about the end of the Elf King from Mare, Ainz wrinkled his nonexistent brows. [Time Stop] didn’t work on him, so it was highly likely that he was equipped with an item to nullify it. He wanted to retrieve the equipment, but he also wanted to gather intelligence from that woman at the same time.

Retrieving the equipment should be prioritized, as that human wouldn’t be escaping from Nazarick anytime soon.

{Then, let's send Pandora’s Actor. He can also search around for stuff that I’ve missed. Or, should I send him to investigate that human...no, I am better than Pandora’s Actor at that. In that case...}

Ainz turned towards Entoma.

“Entoma. Just wait for a little bit longer. I will be calling Pandora’s Actor.”

After hearing Entoma’s answer, Ainz activated [Message].