Текст книги "Overlord - The Man in the Kingdom - Part 2"

Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane

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Evileye rebuked the part of her that wanted to reach out a hand to him.

She had originally come here with the determination to die. Even if her opponents were stronger than expected, she could not do anything as shameful as beg for help. And Momon's earlier words were clearly a sign of how much he trusted her. A man like him would never be so callous or cruel.

Come to think of it, he definitely said something from behind his back. If it was Evileye and Nabe, they would definitely be able to hold the enemy back until I won, something like that.

A fire blazed up from within the depths of Evileye's heart.

"Then here I come, De... demon!"

Momon roared, and slashed at Jaldabaoth. A fierce battle started. In order to keep the other two from being drawn in, Momon pressured Jaldabaoth, slowly forcing him away.

"Then, I'll take three and you take two, how about that?"

"Are you sure? I'm alright with three people too."

"Hmph," Nabe smirked.

"You take two, I'll take three."

Evileye felt she had a better grasp on Nabe's personality, and smiled.

To be more precise, Evileye's impression of Nabe as a rival was improving, as a fellow mage who could stand by Momon's side.

Really, if it was just Momon and Nabe, I could just take off my ring and reveal my true form... Well, first I need to go back alive.

"You're so stubborn. All right, I get it. I'll take care of these two quickly, and then come to support you. Fight like you want to live– what?"

Evileye had the feeling that everyone present – all five maids and Nabe – were all looking at her. As though they had already planned out everything in advance, something seemed out of place.

"No, there's nothing."

After that cold answer, Nabe took the first step to the side.

"Then, although I said I would handle three of them, our opponents will be the one deciding who they will send at us."

The ones who were lured out were the insect maid, the twin-braided maid, and the drill-haired maid. The ones who stayed with Evileye were the maid with the bunned-up hair and the long-haired maid.

"My name is Alpha. This is Delta. We shall be your opponents."

"Are you now? This is all quite formal. My name is Evileye. I shall defeat the two of you!"

Evileye had not intended to prolong the fight with conversation. Had she thought that way, her opponents might have picked up on it and killed her instantly. She had to be patient.

"Is that so? How scary."

Evileye's first move was to activate her ace in the hole. It was a special ability that would cause the negative energy flowing through her body to overload, and infuse every attack she made with negative status effects.

"Here I come!"

With a cry, Evileye began her spell.

Lower Fire Month (9th Month) , 5th Day, 03:59

"Don't look down on me."

The negative energy-infused crystals sprayed out at the running maid, Alpha. This was a bludgeoning and piercing physical attack, and the negative energy would drain her life force.

At least, it should have. However, Alpha kept running, with no sign that she had been hit at all.

"Kuh!"

Evileye took to the sky. Close combat was a very bad idea for an arcane magic caster. Putting more distance between them would increase her chances of victory.

As she floated into the sky, something bounced away before her eyes. It must have been an attack deflected by her ‘Crystal Wall’, but at the same time, the sparkling light wrapping her body began dimming rapidly.

Although it could neutralize fairly powerful attacks, she would be lucky if the only things they threw at her were things the ‘Crystal Wall’ could negate by itself. The ‘Crystal Wall’ would only work against attacks below a certain level, and it was completely useless for anything more.

"Again?!"

The one using ranged weapons was the maid in the rear, Delta. She had fired on Evileye when she was flying earlier.

"Hah!"

Alpha entered a stance, and lunged at Evileye. It made her click her tongue.

Normally, Evileye wouldn't even take anyone coming at her with their bare fists seriously, but that was only the arrogance she felt toward the insignificant beings who had always been beneath her. Shortly after fighting with Alpha, she was keenly aware of that. Alpha was truly a fearsome opponent. Every time she tried to open a gap between them, her opponent would come in swinging, several times faster than herself. If she took a direct hit without the protection of her barriers, she would be destroyed.

If she was still with Gagaran and Tia, she would not have been so careless. Now, Evileye felt like she was walking on a tightrope.

The most annoying thing was their flawless coordination. Teamwork could greatly increase the fighting power of adventurers. Right now, the two of them were giving her an object lesson in jolly cooperation.

"How can demons work together so well... what the hell!"

I have no right to say that, Evileye thought. The others in her party were human, but she was one of the undead.

A gang sound rang out, and the protective ‘Crystal Wall’ grew ever thinner. One more hit and it would be pierced.

Evileye cursed, trying to get away from Alpha, who was intent on chasing her down and beating her up. Although Evileye's body was superior to a normal human by virtue of being a vampire, Alpha's body was even more so. The only reason why Alpha had not caught her already was entirely because of her flight spell.

Using magic required focus, during which the body could not move. As a result, having to constantly back away was very difficult. Movement would disrupt one's sense of balance and make concentration difficult. This was why magic casters stood still to cast their spells. Because of this, Evileye had chosen to use ‘Flight’ to maintain a distance without disrupting her concentration, and thus fight a mobile battle. That was nothing special by itself; any magic caster who could use ‘Flight’ had mastered that tactic. How well they did it was a matter of talent, but as a vampire, Evileye had the natural ability to fly and 250 years of experience to master it in.

Even so, it took effort to escape from Alpha. And although she could kite one opponent in circles in the large plaza, there were two opponents.

Another gang sound rang out, and the barrier protecting her was completely destroyed.

It was hard to believe anything could break the ‘Crystal Wall’ in three hits, but there was nothing to be done about it.

“「Sand Field– All」!”

Sand particles dispersed throughout the surroundings. Although Delta was too far away to reach, Alpha was completely caught in the area. Because it would affect one's comrades too, this spell was useless in a group fight. Any opponent within its area would be immobilized, as well as being blinded, silenced and dazed. On top of that, because of Evileye's trump card, the sand was infused with negative energy that would drain life force.

This 5^th tier spell was her own creation. It was one of the strongest cards Evileye had up her sleeve.

However, Alpha did not slow down, nor did she look like she was hurt at all.

"But how?!"

Was she immune to immobilization and negative energy?

"You deserve praise for that! What a splendid set of resistances!"

Alpha's answer was to vanish. As though she had performed a short-range teleport, she materialized in front of Evileye and kicked her in the face.

Her mask cracked with a mekii sound as Evileye was flung far away.

She bounced off the floor with a dang, dang before she managed to recover, groggily shaking her head.

"「Crystal Wall」!"

Alpha's fist collided with the suddenly-materialized crystal wall, producing a thunderous crash. Cracks spread where Alpha had struck it, as though it had been hit by a wrecking ball.

"...Hmph!"

Another "dang" rang out, and as Alpha's foot struck the ground, she transmitted her inner force into the cracks in Evileye's wall, and it crumbled before her eyes.

"Is this ‘Charged Energy Release’?!"

At this moment, while trying to clear some distance, Evileye felt a great tremor run through the earth. She did not know where it came from, but her instinct told her that it was the aftershocks of the battle of those two.

"Are they still fighting... no, most likely their fight has reached its climax. That means... I have to buy more time!"

As she said that, Evileye charged at the attacking Alpha.

She just needed a little bit longer. She had to drag this fight out. With that in mind, Evileye fully prepared herself for death, and carried out her kamikaze attack.

Alpha's hands were moving in circles in preparation to receive Evileye. She stood tall, like an invulnerable fortress, but even seeing this, Evileye did not stop—

♦ ♦ ♦

Lower Fire Month (9th Month) , 5th Day, 03:53

While Ainz and Jaldabaoth struggled with each other, they crashed into a house. The door shattered as Ainz drove Jaldabaoth into it, scattering splinters everywhere. The interior was dark and cramped, unsuited for Ainz to swing his sword.

Ignoring Jaldabaoth, Ainz rose to his feet and walked off. Jaldabaoth got up as well and followed him. They entered another room, with a small table, two chairs, and Mare.

Mare pulled up a chair for Ainz to sit. Then, with Ainz's permission, Jaldabaoth removed his mask, revealing Demiurge’s face.

"Firstly, is this room secure?" Ainz asked.

"There is no problem. The words spoken here are for our ears alone."

"Is that so... Well, then. First off, I have a favor to ask of you. Do not harm the guards I passed on the way here. While this place is fairly distant from E-Rantel, helping people in distress is good publicity."

"Understood. Will it be acceptable to transmit orders by telepathy?"

"Go ahead. In the meantime, tell me about your plan."

Even though Demiurge had already explained the plan to Narberal via ‘Message’, she had not told him anything about it yet. He was forced to remain silent and not express his displeasure in order to make sure the plan wasn’t ruined, but in his heart he was worried about it.

"Very well. This operation has four main objectives—"

"Ho... I only counted three. Four, you say?"

Demiurge smiled. It was a smile of smug satisfaction.

"I feel as though I have gotten the better of Ainz-sama for once."

Ainz magnanimously waved his hand. Of course, he did not even know what the first three were, but Demiurge's words still made him uneasy all over.

"You've always been one step ahead. I've got a long way to go."

"What are you saying, my liege? Truly, you are too humble."

"No, really– forget it. Then, tell me about these objectives."

"Indeed. To begin with, the objective of attacking the warehouse district was to secure the wealth and goods within and transport them to Nazarick. To facilitate this, I had Shalltear open ‘Gates’ in front of the warehouses, and let Pandora's Actor handle the matter of transportation."

This was a very profitable objective indeed. Ainz silently praised Demiurge from the bottom of his heart.

Losing so much wealth would make life in the capital more difficult in the future, but at this point in time, Ainz had no way of knowing that. Right now, all he felt was relief that the problem of funds was solved for the moment.

"The second is to cover up our involvement in our attacks on the hideouts of the Eight Fingers in the area. As you have no doubt surmised, a direct attack on the Eight Fingers' hideout would arouse suspicion. If we are unlucky, it might even lead to the exposure of Sebas and his contacts. As such, we expanded the area of operations in order to make others think our true aims lay elsewhere."

That is to say, it was like throwing torn-off branches in the forest to hide them.

"But can you do this? What will you use to throw them off the scent?"

"Please take a look at this, my liege."

Demiurge gestured, and Mare brought in a bag, which he opened. Inside was a statue of a demon. Each of the demon' six arms were grasped a different kind of jewel. A strange, pulsing light radiated from within.

"These jewels are imbued with the spell known as 「Armageddon Evil」.

The 10^th tier spell ‘Armageddon Evil’ was one that summoned a demon army. Although it could summon a massive amount of troops, they were not very powerful. And if angels were hard to control, demons were even worse, with their tendency to go berserk at the worst possible moments, making it a very difficult spell to use. The normal usage capitalized on the fact that the summoned demons were not allies by default, so they could serve as live sacrifices for certain rituals and other special abilities.

Much like how Shalltear used her Spuit Lance to kill her own summoned minions, this magic existed for a similar purpose.

"Though this item was created by Ulbert-sama, I feel it would be best used here."

From the perspective of this world, it would make sense that an item like this would draw Jaldabaoth's attention.

Ainz recalled the past.

It was about a friend called Ulbert, back when the Guild's power was at its peak.

Originally, there had been a World class item which could summon an unlimited number of demons that would eventually consume the entire world. Although that would cause a huge disturbance, Ulbert had been overjoyed when he heard about it and strove to create an item to imitate it. But when it turned out the item could not cast six spells simultaneously, he lost interest in it and gave up.

It was plain to see that Demiurge was reluctant to give up a possession like this. That was because it was a relic of his creator.

Ainz reached his hand into a pocket dimension, and withdrew a certain item.

"Demiurge, there is no need to use that. Take this as a substitute."

The device Ainz withdrew looked similar to the demon statue Demiurge had prepared. However, its hands only held three gems, and it looked cruder in general.

"This was also a device made by Ulbert-san. Because it was a prototype, he wanted to dispose of it, but I thought that it was too much of a waste and kept it. How about using this instead?"

"How– how could I expend the treasures of Ainz-sama for my own schemes?"

"Is that how you see it? Very well, then. Demiurge, this is yours. Use it as you see fit. However, don't you think Ulbert-san might be embarrassed that his failed experiment was still around?"

"This is... how can I express my gratitude to you for gifting me with such a wondrous magic item?"

Demiurge rose from his chair and knelt on the floor. Mare, seeing him, frantically knelt down beside him.

"Enough, Demiurge. Do you not have something else to do? Think of this as a token of my appreciation for your loyalty."

"We Guardians were created by the Supreme Beings. As such, until the very moment of our extinction, we shall be utterly loyal to them. Even so, Ainz-sama has not only bestowed his mercy and care upon us in abundance, he has even given into my keeping such a valuable treasure... as for this Demiurge, though he has already sworn his complete and undying loyalty to Ainz-sama, permit me to once more offer my loyal service unto you!"

"Ah... erm, well, then, I shall look forward to your loyal service. Now, now, stand up. Demiurge. You had something else to say, no?"

"Ah, indeed I did! My sincerest apologies!"

Demiurge sat back down, and Mare returned to his standby position.

"Then, as I said earlier, Jaldabaoth targeted the hideouts of the Eight Fingers, and then proceeded to take control of the Kingdom's financial district. Seizing the resources of the warehouses was also an aim. Naturally, this device created by Ulbert-sama will be found in one of the hideouts' coffers."

"That much is clear now. And what about the third objective?"

"Yes. I have already transported roughly half the humans within this firewall into Nazarick. There are many uses they can be put to, and the blame for this will fall squarely on the demon Jaldabaoth."

So that was what he was up to, Ainz thought, but he still had some questions. Was there a benefit to letting Jaldabaoth's villainy grow? Rather, instead of inventing the character of Jaldabaoth, wouldn't it have been better to let some other demon do it?

"...so you intend to build infamy, then?"

"That is correct. The intention is to place Jaldabaoth upon the throne of the Demon King."

"Now I see. So accomplishing my order was part of your plan, then?"

Ainz looked at Demiurge, who was bowing low to acknowledge that that was the case. He remembered the order he had given. Then again, he had given several of them, and this was probably to give rise to the Demon King.

"This touches on the fourth objective, which was to use the Holy Kingdom as a proving ground for this incident."

At that moment, Ainz understood. He asked a question which had been weighing on his mind.

"Come to think of it, were these demons summoned from Nazarick?"

"How could I? I would not dream of doing so without Ainz-sama's leave!"

"Hm? Given that I entrusted the task to you, and you received Albedo’s permission, I thought you would have used the forces of Nazarick..."

"No, my lord. Those were merely the summons of my Evil Lords. After a day has passed, they can be called forth again. The strength of Nazarick will remain untouched."

"Is that so... I see why there are so many demons without memories in Nazarick. No matter, I understand. Then, another question, you said you sent every human here to Nazarick. That was regardless of whether they were male, female, young or old, correct?"

Ainz was vaguely upset by the way Demiurge could so easily and casually answer in the affirmative.

Humans were irrelevant. Perhaps Ainz had once been a human, but this body he had now felt no sympathy or closeness to them. It was as though they were a whole other species that could be casually kicked out of the way with one foot. He would slaughter any number of humans for the benefit of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Even then, killing children still upset him. This was a vestige of the man who had once been Suzuki Satoru.

Ainz took a deep breath, despite having no lungs.

"Demiurge. If a person has not given offense to myself or the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, they shall be slain swiftly and without suffering."

Demiurge bowed deeply, without saying a word.

Ainz Ooal Gown's priority was to ensure the stability and loyalty of his subordinates.

Since they had brought children back with them, releasing them safely would mean the details of Nazarick would escape with them. While it might be possible to raise them into zealots who were slavishly loyal to Nazarick, there were very few benefits to such a plan at the moment. As such, this was the greatest mercy he could give them.

"Then, are we done here?"

"There are two more matters for your consideration. Firstly, Mare has given us an excellent opportunity."

Ainz turned his vision toward Mare, the nervous, fidgety boy.

"And that would be?"

"At the moment, we are still in the training phase, so the exact degree of success is debatable. I shall elaborate further when we return to Nazarick. Secondly, from my observations of the situation thus far, I can safely conclude that the ones who brainwashed Shalltear have no connection with the Kingdom."

"I understand. Then, I look forward to receiving your help soon."

"It will be gladly given. During our battle afterwards, please feel free to defeat me. I would do anything for Ainz-sama."

"I see. Then, before I drive you off, could you damage my armor? It will be more convincing if I bear the signs of a hard fight."

"That is to say, you will remove it, and then I will damage it? It is unthinkable for one such as myself to dare raise a hand against Ainz-sama—"

"What happens if I remove it and it's so badly damaged that I can't put it back on? During the Shalltear incident, I had a smith create flaws in the armor before putting it on. If I took it off here and you beat it out of shape, I would probably be unable to wear it again."

Ainz laughed softly. The guardians before him, not understanding why, took on expressions of puzzlement.

"Th-then, Ainz-sama? I-isn't th-that armor m-made by magic?"

"That is not correct. This armor was not created from magic. I can see how you would think that way given that I, as a magic caster, am wearing it so naturally. But the truth is, I cast a warrior transformation spell and put it on. During the break before we travelled to the capital, I sent a ‘Message’ to Albedo to have her begin future preparations. It seems it was the right choice."

Sustaining the transformation spell and other magic would both lower mana and mana recovery rates to zero. Even though he could dispel the transformation if there was an emergency and use magic, he would be starting out from a depleted state. However, in this case it had been the right thing to do. Without it, the first battle with Demiurge might have been much more troublesome.

Demiurge's already narrow eyes narrowed even further when he heard Ainz's response. "As expected of Ainz-sama, everything dances within the palm of your hand. To think I would dare to match wits with such a great person... I should have expected nothing less of yourself."

As Demiurge chuckled to himself, Ainz back ran with sweat that wasn't there.

"Then, shall we begin? Demiurge, I'll leave the battle damage to you."

"Assuredly. Mare, send the signal. It will be an earthquake, like the last time."

♦ ♦ ♦

Lower Fire Month (9th Month) , 5th Day, 03:56

"Take my lightning!"

The lightning spell lashed out, striking one of the maids.

"Guwaaaa-su~"

The maid making the incredibly fake cry of pain was blown away like she was jumping by herself, until she vanished into the distance.

"Eiiiii~"

The drill-haired maid threw her knives. They travelled in a lazy arc and struck Nabe's body.

"Kyaa—"

As Nabe let out a deadpan cry of pain, she followed after the maid that had been blown away. Entoma was pursuing her silently.

They landed in the alley, forming a straight line. Ahead of Narberal was the maid with the two braids. Behind was Entoma and the drill-haired maid. This was a classic pincer attack, but there was no tension at all. Then again, how could there be? Back then, there had been the pretense of a fight, but now even that had completely evaporated, and the mood was like a group of schoolgirls chatting in a cafe.

"So anyways, this place's been warded against spying by Nigredo-san. It should be okay now~"

"Is that so? Then... it's been a while, Lupu~."

The two-braided maid – Lupusregina Beta – laughed under her mask.

"It really has been awhile su~ this is the first time we've met since Nar-chan started running around with Ainz-sama."

"I did return to Nazarick from time to time, but during those times, you were at the village."

"Oh well~ you know how it is, these things just happen. Come to think of it, I haven't seen you in a while, Sol-chan~"

"The same. However, your way of speaking..."

"Oya? Sol-chan and Yuri-nee-san were concerned about the same thing su~. But it's okay~ I'll be careful. En-chan’s the same way su~"

"That's good... speaking of which, why is Entoma so quiet?"

"Ah... En-chan doesn't seem to want to talk right now~"

“tHat lItTle bRaT ToOk mY VoicE!”

"I see."

Narberal nodded to her. Entoma hated her original voice, so she tried to use it as little as possible.

“i WAnT To lEt HeR fEeL wHaT iT’S LikE!”

Even though her true face was covered by a mask bug, her murderous intent and anger were still overflowing in her direction.

"You know that is impossible. Since she is travelling with Ainz-sama, it will ruin his reputation if she doesn't come back alive with him."

Entoma wasn't happy with what Narberal said, but she kept quiet. It was obvious which to pick between her master's good name and her own desires. Every battle maid knew this.

"That little lady was quite strong. What is her name?"

"I have no interest in the names of oversized mosquitoes. Although, I think her name was Evil-something."

"How mean~ Didn't you guys come together as comrades?"

Narberal frowned at her companion's words, so Solution answered for her.

"...that would probably be Blue Rose's Evileye. Sebas-sama wrote as much in one of his reports."

"Ah, that sounds right."

Narberal was sure that Solution had the correct name.

"Nar-chan, are you pretending to be retarded? Are you all right?"

"Can you all actually remember human names?"

"That is no problem for me. I might end up needing to know them during the course of my duties. I took care to commit a few important names to memory."

"No probs here su~ actually, you could say I get along pretty well with humans, yanno?"

”No pRObLEMs HErE.”

Narberal was slightly shocked when she discovered that she was alone among her fellow maids. Just as she was considering whether to pay more attention to names, the sound of an explosion rang forth. Because buildings blocked visibility out of the corner, they could not tell what had caused it.

"Ah, they must be getting serious over there."

"Well, it's Yuri-nee-san and Shizu~ they're always serious. But if the fight's not over yet, that means they haven't used their real strength yet."

”If iT wAs Up tO Me I WoUlD fIgHt hER tO tHe DeATh!”

"Evileye is quite strong. By levels alone, she might not be an opponent Yuri-nee-san or Shizu could beat."

A shadow passed over the face of the battle maids for the first time. Only Narberal was different. She was confident.

"It will be fine."

As everyone's attention turned to her, she continued, "Evileye and myself are both elementalists. We are arcane magic casters that specialize in the use of a particular element. Although this means our attack power increases greatly, it also means that outside of our area of expertise, we are quite weak."

"Earth-type, then... there should also be acid, poison or gravity, right? Why crystals?"

"It must be a further specialization within earth-type elementalism. Her crystal magic must be quite strong."

"Bludgeoning and piercing physical attack magic... I do not understand..."

If it were up to me, how would I kill Evileye? While the four of them were pondering this question, the earth shook. There was a slight difference between that and the shaking of the earth caused by a great impact.

“ThiS EArtHqUAke mUSt HaVE BEEn caUsEd By MaRE-sAMA. thEn, ShALl WE moVE On to tHE nEXt stAGe?”

"Was that a signal?"

"That is correct, Narberal. Then, is it alright if we hurt you a little? It will not look good unless we rough you up a bit."

"I'll try not to hit you too hard, so forgive me su~"

"There's nothing to be done about it. It's work, after all."

♦ ♦ ♦

Lower Fire Month (9th Month) , 5th Day, 03:57

"Calm down! Please, calm down!"

Climb tried not to raise his voice too high as he called out to the people. However, the warehouse had been packed with a lot of agitated people, so his current volume was completely insufficient to get them to quiet down.

"My child—"

"My wife was taken—"

"Mama, Papa—"

Male, female, young and old voices all blended together, washing over Climb like a wave. He could no longer make out what they were saying any more.

Climb had found the three hundred people here at great risk to himself, and they were the only residents he had managed to find. The people locked in this small warehouse had no idea what was going on outside, and all they could do was whine about how their family members had been taken elsewhere.

It was a very natural response to the current circumstances, but it was also a very dangerous one.

Even though they had not encountered any demons on their way here, that did not mean that there were no demons present. In fact, they had already seen the silhouettes of the demons several times in the alleys they passed through on their way here. If they heard the cries coming from this warehouse, then the arrival of the demons would only be a matter of time.

"You are the only ones we've found so far—"

"Where's my wife? Go find her!"

"That—"

Perhaps if he raised his voice he might be able to shout them down. Climb, as a warrior, was far stronger than any mere city guard. If he roared at the man, he could easily seize the hearts of everyone present. But Climb did not do this.

Climb was the ambassador of the princess. He was here because Renner had seen fit to put her trust in him. If he used methods that terrorized the citizens and made them dislike him, that might easily spill over to Renner as well. With that in mind, Climb found it impossible to work himself up to using harsh methods on them.

"Hey, answer us—"

"My kid's still young—"

"Papa! Mama!"

"Shut up, all of you!"

It felt like the air in the warehouse had suddenly blown all the voices away. Brain's uncontrollable shout – the anger of a first-rate warrior – had devoured the hearts of all the weaklings present.

"The lot of you are chattering like chickens just because he kept quiet. We're in the territory of these guys, and there's no way to guarantee your safety. If you don't move quietly, the demons will come and they'll kill every last one of you. If you understand, shut your mouths."

Brain surveyed the now-silent warehouse, then looked straight at Climb. The citizens who were closing in wilted under his volcanic gaze and backed away.

"Now then, Climb. Time for you to make a decision."

Climb was largely sure what decision he had to make. However, he had no confidence that it would be a wise one.

"It's hard to say, then? Never mind, I'll do it. First things first, you lot had best get it into your heads, the next time someone speaks when I do, I'll kill him on the spot. I can't even be sure you lot are all humans."

Brain exposed a little of his katana, and the reflected light seemed almost blinding.

"I'm sure you lot are wondering what I'm on about, but take a look at the person next to you. Are you sure all the people here are humans?"

The captives looked at each other in shock.

"Listen up. We saw a lot of demons on the way here. Some with wings, some with tails. Some even looked like people without skin. There were a lot of those. The ones roaming outside might be those guys... you should have seen them on the way in, right?

Everyone Brain turned his attention to nodded, their faces pale.

"Then, who can guarantee that there aren't any demons among you? No skinless demons wearing someone else's skin?