Текст книги "Overlord - The Invaders of the Large Tomb"

Автор книги: Maruyama Kugane

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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

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

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

“Not coming? Then, allow me.”

Ainz rushed over as he replied.

His was a frightening speed that shrunk the distance between him and his foes to nothing in an instant.

He followed it up with a grand slash downwards from above.

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

Taking it would be very dangerous.

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

That being the case, there was only one option—

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

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

Normally, an attacker would be thrown off balance after being parried, and this would be a prime chance for a counterattack. But Ainz had not even moved. It was as though he knew that particular sequence of events was going to take place, and he had reset his stance to its original position.

Hekkeran realized that he had made a big mistake.

No good! I underestimated him! But, the only thing I can do is fight on!

He aimed at Ainz’s head. The martial art he used was—

“「Twin Blade Strike」!”

The two swords inscribed gleaming arcs in the air as they scissored toward Ainz’s head. Normally, bludgeoning weapons would be more effective against a skeleton-type enemy like Ainz, but Hekkeran was more proficient with slashing weapons, and not nearly as confident with blunt weapons.

His main objective was to try to inflict some damage on Ainz. He flurried as many attacks as he could against Ainz, not caring if they hit or missed, in the hope that at least one of them would get through and strike him.

The twin swords sped toward his opponent’s head.

An average person would have taken it full-on.

A first-rate opponent might have only been scratched.

Then what about an elite opponent?

“Hnh!”

Ainz interposed his shield in the path of the swords. Normal people would not have been able to accomplish it, but with overwhelming physical strength and speed, it was possible.

“「Magic Arrow」!”

“「Lesser Dexterity」!”

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

“Child’s play.”

Ainz did not even bother looking at Arche. The missile of light flicked and faded out of existence before it even managed to touch Ainz. A shocked expression appeared on Arche’s face.

“Spell immunity? But from where?”

“Hmph!”

In response, Ainz swung his shield at Hekkeran’s face.

“A shield bash, is it!”

The widely-known basics of fighting skills resounded in his head. Hekkeran decided to turn this danger into an opportunity, and made his move. He aimed at the belly, reasoning that the bulk of the shield would create a blind spot in the defense.

However, Ainz easily swept his weapons aside with the black sword.

He saw through it!

His eyes followed the wall-like shield as it approached, and he barely evaded the blow by the skin of his teeth—and then an armored boot kicked at him from below.

Hekkeran would not have been afraid of a normal kick. However, through their brief exchange of arms, he was fully aware that due to Ainz’s incredible strength—despite having no muscles to speak of—any attack he made could kill him in a single blow. Taking the hit was tantamount to taking a mortal wound.

Hekkeran rolled away in a panic. Without Roberdyck’s support, it would have been impossible. The vacuum in the kick’s passing sliced off several of his hairs, and a chill raced up and down his spine.

“This way!”

Imina launched two arrows from her bow. Because she had cried out, it was not a sneak attack, and Ainz casually avoided it.

The arrows flew past him, having missed their mark.

To begin with, arrows were not effective on skeleton-type monsters like Ainz. She had hoped that he would not bother with evading them and casually take the hits, but it seemed that was not going to happen. The arrows she had loosed had flattened heads, like a spade; they were specially-designed magic arrows which would do bludgeoning damage. If they had not been avoided, they should have been able to strike a telling blow even on skeletal opponents.

At least, that was how it was supposed to happen, but even if that was not the case, there was nothing to regret. Hekkeran took the opportunity to stand up and slightly widen the gap between himself and Ainz. Imina’s cry had also been to give Hekkeran the chance to rise to his feet.

“「Twin Blade Strike」!”

“Hah!”

The two slashes were easily deflected by the single sword. The shock of the parry sent tremors through Hekkeran’s hands.

What a troublesome guy, is this what happens when you give warrior training to a monster with superhuman abilities? Just how strong is he?

The price of repeatedly using certain-kill moves was the rapid draining of mental stamina. His brain felt like it was screaming from his exertions, so Hekkeran decided to back away.

Of course, Ainz would not permit that.

“As if I would let you escape!”

Ainz charged. That was only to be expected—backpedaling was slower than forward motion.

Just as he was about to be overtaken, something whistled through the air as it flew past the side of his face.

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

“「Flash」!”

“「Lesser Strength」!”

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

“Interfering busybodies!”

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

“「Reinforce Armor」!”

“「Anti-Evil Protection」!”

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

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

“Hmph!”

The casual ease with which Ainz evaded the arrow by simply turning his face was befitting of the ruler of the tomb, and of a monstrous swordsman.

Hekkeran used the brief opening made by the support fire to back away, and sweat coursed down his body from the brief but intense combat.

He already knew this, but Ainz Ooal Gown was very strong.

His physical abilities were completely untouchable by human beings. Worse still, he had the technique to make full use of his superhuman strength and speed. His observational skills could see through feints. He had the measure of every member of Foresight. Combined with his resistance to magic and the enchanted sword and shield he bore; he was everything a warrior wanted to be.

But there was a reason they could stand toe-to-toe with a being like this.

To be fair, he had been hard-pressed to hold his ground. If he had misread the angle of the falling sword and missed his parry, his swords would have been ruined and he would probably have suffered a fatal wound. A small mistake in estimating the speed of the black sword would have resulted in him being sliced neatly in half. The fact that all his coin tosses had come up heads was nothing short of luck.

Yet, there was an even more important reason beyond this.

That reason was teamwork.

It was precisely because they were all working together, and were intimately aware of what each of the others was thinking, that they could move and act like a single organism.

This was how the united group ‘Foresight’ could stand against the mightiest individual, Ainz Ooal Gown.

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

Until now, Ainz had been untouched. Certainly, he was very strong. But he was not invincible.

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

Hekkeran’s sword strike, the fastest his augmented body could produce, was deflected by the round black shield. The arrow flying in was interdicted by the black sword. Arche and Roberdyck made use of this opening to enhance Hekkeran even further.

Ever since Ainz had clicked his tongue, his hostility toward them had been rapidly weakening.

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

“So… as I thought, I still couldn’t deal a decisive blow. I thought had the advantage in strength, skills and knowing what you could do, but when I’m actually engaged in battle, I’m still feeling some anxiety… something like, why haven’t I taken any of you down yet?”

Ainz shrugged his shoulders in annoyance. Hekkeran, who was watching from opposite Ainz, did not feel particularly irritated by his patronizing tone.

Truthfully speaking, this was the advantage of working as a team. Hekkeran smiled as though he had been praised.

In the midst of all this, the beauty who had been silent up till now finally spoke.

“Ainz-sama. Perhaps we should end playtime here.”

“What?”

“Forgive my rudeness, but I find it hard to believe that you would permit continued freedom to these base knaves, these thieves who dared use the name of the Supreme Beings to deceive you. Perhaps it is time for you to grant them mercy?”

“Hey, Albedo. If you talk to Ainz-sama like that—”

“—No, Aura. That is a good point.”

Ainz shook his head.

“And that is enough. I have gained sufficient experience from this battle.”

“Truly marvelous. As expected of the Overlord who rules me.”

“Hah, is it now. Well, this is certainly cause for celebration. Although I know you’re humoring me, praise from a warrior whose skills far exceed my own is still pleasing to me.”

“I would not dream of deceiving you with false praise. I meant every word of it.”

“Is that so? Then thank you. Cocytus can evaluate me later, and I still need to hear your opinions on future training sessions like this.”

After nodding a few times and looking very satisfied with himself, Ainz turned back to ‘Foresight’.

The air between them had changed, and Hekkeran had a bad feeling about it.

His instincts that had carried him through many life-and-death situations were screaming to him: there is great danger here.

“Then, playing around with swords is over. Now is the time for a different kind of amusement.”

Ainz cast aside the sword and shield he was holding, and they vanished before they hit the ground.

“What?!”

Discarding one’s arms was the universal sign of giving up the fight. However, Ainz’s attitude did not betray even the slightest hint of capitulation.

This was not a gesture of surrender.

Unable to figure out what Ainz was thinking, Hekkeran was filled with confusion.

“…What are you going to do?”

At this, Ainz smiled. Or rather, he seemed to smile.

He slowly spread his arms. It was an action that resembled an angel reaching out to the faithful, or a mother welcoming her child into her embrace; a loving acceptance of what lay before him.

“You don’t get it? Then let me put it in terms you might be able to understand,” Ainz laughed. “I’ll play with you, so give me your best shot, humans.”

The mood had changed—

He had forsaken his weapon and his shield. That should have meant he had been weakened. But Hekkeran had the feeling that the Ainz before him now was more powerful than before. Indeed, it seemed as though his body had physically grown in size before their eyes, so oppressive was his presence.

A being that grew stronger when abandoning the sword.

When you thought about it, only two answers remained. One would be that he was one of those warrior monks who honed their bodies into living weapons. But if that were the case, his fighting style from earlier—the way he evaded attacks—didn’t seem polished enough for him to be one of their number.

Then, the alternative—

“He’s a magic caster?”

The voice belonged to Arche, who had reached the same conclusion Hekkeran had.

That was it. This was the question at hand. The being before them, Ainz Ooal Gown—was he a magic caster?

It was understandable that they had not considered that earlier. Who could have imagined that any magic caster could have fought on even terms with Hekkeran, the party’s strongest and most skilled fighter?

Magic casters—especially arcane magic casters—had weaker bodies than warriors. After all, if one had time to train one’s body, one could easily spend that time on learning magic. As such, magic casters who could fight on par with warriors were nonexistent.

That was simple common sense.

A being who could turn that wisdom on its head—who could have imagined such a being would be standing in front of them?

As such, Arche’s voice carried the hope that it was untrue, and the desire that her hypothesis would be rejected. Because if it were true, that would mean that Ainz was far more confident in his skills as a magic caster than he was as a warrior.

What that meant, nobody needed to say out loud.

Even casting a few spells could greatly improve battle performance. As Hekkeran had been demonstrating, several enhancement spells made a dramatic difference. But if that was the case—

“Did you finally realize it? How foolish you lot are. Well, it’s only natural to expect this level of intelligence from you miserable vermin, who track your filth into my—no, our Nazarick.”

However, as long as Arche was around, Hekkeran and the others could deny it.

“Arche! Is this guy a magic caster?!”

“No! I’m sure of it! At least, he’s not an arcane magic caster!”

“Hm? And what is that supposed to mean?”

“—I can’t sense any magical power from your body.”

“Ahhh. So, you use detection spells, then. How rude.”

Ainz showed Hekkeran and the others his hands. As one might expect of an undead, there was nothing of them but bones. He spread his fingers to show that each of them, on both hands, was wearing a ring.

“Once I remove this ring, you will understand. I also lent it to my subordinates.”

Saying that, Ainz removed a ring on his right hand. And then—

“Uuuuoooggh!”

It was the sound of vomiting. Sticky fluid spilled onto the floor of the arena, and a sour, rancid stench wafted up around ‘Foresight’.

“What did you do?!”

Imina glared at Ainz, from where she had rushed over to assist Arche. Ainz seemed a little uncomfortable, but still answered in a displeased tone.

“What do you mean, what did I do to that girl? There’s a limit to how rude you can be, throwing up when you see someone’s face.”

“—E-everyone, run!”

Arche was shouting, and tears were leaking from the corner of her eyes.

“This guy is a mon—uuuurrrrrggghhh!”

Unable to endure it, Arche threw up again. In that moment, Hekkeran understood why she had vomited.

Ainz had done nothing to her. Rather, she had been unable to withstand the combination of terror and stress caused by seeing the enormous magical power surrounding Ainz, and so she had thrown up.

And that meant—

“—We can’t beat him! His strength is on a totally different level! Even the word monster can’t describe him!”

Arche began wailing as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

“No way no way no way—”

Imina tightly hugged Arche to her chest. The girl was violently shaking her head as though she had gone mad.

“Calm down! Roberdyck!”

“Got it! 「Lion’s Heart」!”

Under the influence of Roberdyck’s magic, Arche managed to recover from the panic which had gripped her. Like a newborn deer, she rose unsteadily on shaky legs, using her staff as a crutch.

“—Everyone, we have to flee now! That’s not a being humans can beat! It’s an unbelievable monster!”

“Understood, Arche!”

“Yeah, I get it. When he removed the ring, the entire world seemed to change. I felt it raise goosebumps all over me.”

“Yes. Powerful wouldn’t nearly be enough to describe this monster.”

The alertness level of the three of them had gone through the roof. The stared at Ainz with nerves wound even tighter than before. Theirs was an expression that understood that even an instant’s loss of watchfulness would spell their deaths.

“It looks like they won’t let us run.”

“The moment we show them our backs, we die. Although I have the feeling that just averting our eyes would be enough.”

“We need to buy time or we won’t make it.”

“…Not coming?”

Of course, Hekkeran wouldn’t be baited by Ainz, who was lazily scratching his skull with one long finger. The enemy’s fighting power vastly exceeded that of any being which had ever existed. That meant they could only count on one thing.

When Ainz began casting a spell—a magic caster was most vulnerable when reciting an incantation. If he used a silent spell, then the game was up, but even so, that was a tiny possibility which existed for them.

As though drawing a bow taut, Hekkeran gathered his strength within himself.

“Then I will go. 「Touch of Undeath」.”

“What kind of magic is it? Arche!”

“I don’t know! I’ve never heard of it before!”

The black fog which covered Ainz’s right hand was an unknown magic which put them all on their guard. Hekkeran tensed his legs, ready to dodge at any time. His companions behind him were also wary for an area-of-effect attack, and began spacing themselves out.

Instead, Ainz began walking towards them.

Hekkeran’s eyes went wide. It was a totally unguarded and defenseless movement method. Those were not the movements of a man that was a skilled warrior. He knew was that it was a trap, but he didn’t know what Ainz was aiming at.

Is he trying to use magic for something… or was that spell a close-range type? Or was it a defensive type?

Hekkeran was familiar with the more famous spells, but Hekkeran was not a mage by profession, and couldn’t understand Ainz’s intentions.

“Stay away!”

Imina’s angry cry pierced the air, as did the arrows she launched at Ainz.

Using a special technique, she had launched three arrows at once, but Ainz deftly knocked them from the sky with a bony hand.

“…You’re in the way.”

It was a small but cold voice.

The red blaze in the empty eye sockets flickered, but it was only Hekkeran, who was up front studying Ainz’s every move, who noticed it.

Just as the bad feeling struck, Ainz’s form vanished.

Hekkeran turned, trusting his instincts. In his eyes, he saw his companions’ shocked faces. However, there was no time to explain. Especially to Imina. Ainz was standing behind Imina, slowly reaching his hand out to her.

Imina! She didn’t notice! I need to—no, this isn’t the time for such useless actions!

As he used a martial art to move at top speed toward Imina, a twinge of confusion ran through Hekkeran.

Was it wise to protect Imina?

Compared to Arche and Roberdyck, who could use support spells to enhance people, Imina’s usefulness and importance were relatively low. The best way to increase their survival rate was to discard the stumbling blocks at their feet.

However—

Dammit!

This was the wrong thing for a leader to do. Even though this was almost equivalent to betraying his comrades, Hekkeran did not slow his steps at all. Emotion overruled reason in this matter.

He wanted to save Imina. That was all.

An image of Imina lying on his bed appeared in his mind’s eye. He smiled bitterly to himself, because in a life-and-death situation, all he could think about was her curveless body.

Even so—he put even more power into his feet.

This was the strength of a man who wanted to protect his woman.

“Get away!”

Hekkeran’s sudden charge created confusion, and thus an opening. Before Ainz could touch her, Imina was knocked out of the way.

Ainz was deciding which should be his priority—reducing their pain, the small whimpering voice in his head was saying—the man who had appeared in front of him, or the woman who got away.

“Hey! It’s me, dumbass!”

He followed up his yell with a martial art.

First, he used ‘Limit Breaker’. There would be a price to pay, but it increased the amount of martial arts he could activate at the same time. Next was the technique which made his body feel like something was being broken inside it, ‘Dull Pain’. After that was ‘Physical Boost’, ‘Iron Fist’ and the augmented ‘Twin Blade Strike’.

His greatest attack was born from these.

His twin swords glowed.

Hekkeran was counting on the fact that Ainz would be used to his sword attacks from their earlier exchange, so the sudden change in speed would confuse his senses and make it harder to evade. It was the foreshadowing of a strike which would end the battle in a single blow.

Ainz did not react to it.

Got him!

Just as he imagined his swords slicing into the defenseless skull, the sensation which travelled up his hands was definitely not the feeling of steel cutting into bone.

Slashing immunity?!

He had had similar experiences during his adventures as a worker.

He’s immune to both slashing and piercing attacks? What kind of monster is he?!

As Hekkeran tried to retreat in a panic, he felt an icy-cold sensation enveloping his forehead. It was Ainz’s hand. Hekkeran felt like he had been clamped in a vise, wanting to escape yet unable to move.

“Hekkeran!”

“Imina! He’s immune to slashing!”

Hekkeran tried to shrug off the intense pain and report what he had learned to his colleagues. While he was grasped by the head, he felt his entire body being lifted up. Although he hammered the hilts of his swords into Ainz’s arm, the grip on his head showed no signs of loosening.

“Wrong. It doesn’t matter if you use piercing, slashing or bludgeoning—none of the weak attacks you can muster can do so much as put a scratch on me.”

“…That… what? The hell, what kind of con game are you running? That’s not fair!”

“He’s lying! Imina, if that were true, there would be no reason to fight at all. He must have some kind of weakness!”

“—I won’t fall for it!”

“It’s truly sad when you can’t even believe the truth that’s right in front of you. I would have imagined that you would have realized from the melee battle, and the conversation we had, that you were nothing more than useful test subjects. Did that little skirmish we had give you the hope that you could actually win here? Consider that my mercy to you in the hell that is to come.”

“What kind of mercy is that? You piece of shit, you goddamn bastard, let Hekkeran go!”

The arrow arrived at the same time as her voice. However, Ainz simply remained still, and the pain in Hekkeran’s forehead continued unabated.

“Do you really want to do that? You might hit this man.”

The pain had Hekkeran gripped in terror, the terror that at any moment his head might be crushed by the hand holding it. Although he struggled, Ainz did not shift a millimeter. It was like attacking a steel block—the only thing Hekkeran hurt was himself.

“Did that hurt? Don’t worry. I won’t kill you like that. A miserable little thief like you does not deserve that mercy—「Paralysis」.”

His body was frozen. No, it wasn’t frozen, it was paralyzed.

“Hmm, if I used ‘Paralysis’, then maybe ‘Touch of Undeath’ was kind of a waste.”

Hekkeran heard the words, but he did not understand them.

Imina’s bowstring hissed as she sent a continuous stream of projectiles downrange, but the only response was quiet laughter.

“So, how far can you… no, please, struggle as much as you want. That will only deepen your despair.”

Run away.

Hekkeran’s mouth would not move to make the sounds he wanted.

This was an opponent they could not simply evade just by running away. But fighting would be even more foolish. This was especially true given that once the vanguard was taken down, the battle line would collapse.

“Then, who will be next? Of course, you can all come at once, but that would be too boring, no?”

Imina turned to look at Hekkeran, who was lying on the floor of the coliseum.

He wasn’t dead. But he looked like it. There was no way she could save him from the clutches of the logic-defying monster known as Ainz Ooal Gown. But even so—

“—You idiot! Just by common sense, you should have abandoned me! You dummy!”

She was angry.

“Idiot, idiot, idiot, stupid idiot! You moron!”

“…Directing abuse to a man who so gallantly risked himself to protect his comrades is only going to upset me, you know.”

It was a statement that showed a complete lack of understanding for Imina’s feelings. Then again, their opponent was a monster; trying to make him understand human emotions would be impossible.

“I already know that! I don’t deserve such a great leader!”

She took a breath.

“But still! You’re still an idiot! Running on your emotions like that!”

“…What?”

Don’t be confused…

Imina thought to herself. She was trying to suppress the feelings of a woman who wanted to save her man.

She had to abandon Hekkeran and bring this information back. She had to tell the outside world about these ruins, about the fearsome monster which inhabited it, and depending on how things went, they might even need to assemble a punitive force to deal with it.

—Demon Gods…

Two hundred years ago, the Demon Kings that inhabited the barren continent must have been beings like that.

It felt as though the world she was living in had been touched by myths and legends. It clearly couldn’t be like this, but some part of her, deep in her heart, was insisting that this was just a dream.

Legends, huh? It sounds so bizarre when you put it that way. It’s heroes that ought to be fighting a monster like this—

Inspiration struck in a flash.

That was it. The ones who battled the demon gods were the Thirteen Heroes—they were heroes. Then, the only one who could fight Ainz was also a hero.

“Give Hekkeran back! If we don’t return by the stipulated time, the strongest people in the world will force their way into this tomb! If we can return unharmed, you can use us to negotiate!”

“What is this, lies again?

Ainz sighed, a silent haah sound. Sweat beaded on Imina’s brow, that was genuine.

“No, I’m not lying.”

“—Albedo. Is there anyone who could be considered strong on the surface?”

“There are none, I believe she is just spouting meaningless lies.”

“It’s not a lie!”

The girl behind Imina was shouting.

“The adamantite-ranked adventurer Momon from “Darkness” is there! He’s the greatest warrior of them all! He’s stronger than you!”

For the first time, Albedo appeared perturbed. She looked to Ainz, panic written on her face, and lowered her head to him.

“M-my apologies! There is such a being! P-please, forgive me!”

“Mmm… ah, yes, I didn’t even notice, Albedo. Momon of ‘Darkness’, hmm. About him… forget it, it’s not important. He cannot defeat me.”

He had been acting like a demon king until now, but the way he was slumping his shoulders suggested that he was hiding something. Exactly what he was hiding, nobody could tell.

“Momon is strong! Stronger than you!”

“…Ah, well, that’s hardly grounds for negotiation, Give it up.”

Ainz waved his hand lazily to dismiss the topic.

“Now then, shall we start again?”

The time for idle chatter was over.

“Arche! Run!”

Roberdyck shouted, and Imina agreed.

“Yes, run!”

“Look up! This is probably the outside! If you fly, there’s a chance you can escape! Run, even if it’s only you! We’ll try to buy you some time, a minute, no, ten seconds!”

“Now that is an interesting idea. Aura, open the exit. I will humor them.”

“Understood!”

Ainz pointed at the direction Roberdyck and the others had entered from. Aura leapt up, the bottoms of his shoes glowed, and his body disappeared.

“Now then, Aura has gone to open the gate. Go ahead and flee. Abandon your comrades. Who was the one who wanted to run again?”

Ainz extended his hand. His skeletal face could not display any expressions, but from his gesture, it was clear enough. If he had flesh, it would have been twisted into an evil smile. It would have been a smile that eagerly anticipated these comrades to fall into infighting.

Workers were different from adventurers; they formed parties based on the power of money and useful relationships, and in a situation like this, the odds of them fleeing would be quite high. However, Foresight was different.

“Arche, run now!”

“Yes, run,” Imina smiled. “You still have your sisters, right? Then leave us and go. That’s what you should be doing!”

“How could I? This is obviously all my fault!”

Seeing that Ainz had no intent to press the attack, Roberdyck walked over to Arche, and then withdrew a small leather pouch for her to hold on to.

“It’ll be fine. We’ll beat that monster Ainz and then come right after you.”

“When that happens, you’re buying the drinks.”

Imina also drew forth a small pouch for her to hold.

“Then, go. Use the money I left at the inn as you wish.”

“Mine too.”

“…I’ll hold you to that. Then, I’ll be going first.”

Of course, none of the three actually believed it.

Defeating the being called Ainz, whose power was far beyond their imagining, was something they could not even hope to do. Arche knew that this was their final farewell, and she was choking back her tears as she cast her spell.

“There are monsters in the sky that might still catch you even if you run…”

“—「Flight」!”

Ignoring Ainz’s warning, Arche’s spell took effect. She looked to her comrades one last time, and then took to the air without another word.

“…Ah, is that how it is. Well, it’s less tiring than running,” Ainz said in a casual way.

“However, it’s quite remarkable that you decided it without fighting with each other. I thought I would see your disgusting true selves on display here.”

“You would never understand. It’s because we’re comrades.”

“That’s true. Dying to protect a comrade is not a bad thing—”

A flash of insight struck Imina.

“—Were your comrades the friends you spoke of?”