Albedo’s silhouette shrunk gradually as she chased after the red Powered Suit.
And now, Ainz was the only one remaining at the encampment. If all went according to plan, the main event should be starting soon.
Ainz cast the spell, [Body of Effulgent Beryl].
Those who wish to destroy Ainz, even if they knew little of the weaknesses of skeletal type monsters, would know to use blunt weapons. If Ainz was to lose a significant chunk of HP due to his weaknesses before he achieved his goal, that would be somewhat troubling.
And then, the [Delay Teleportation] Ainz had cast before, took effect.
In other words, things were indeed proceeding as he had predicted.
It seemed like Albedo was not their target after all. Ainz was relieved. If she was their target instead, things would have gotten quite difficult.
But — was that really the case? Could this be a double-layered trap?
The enemy was teleporting behind Ainz.
A single enemy.
Someone who preferred close-quarters combat.
While his opponent was being delayed, Ainz cast an [Explode Mine] spell on the teleportation destination. Afterwards, he stood still, waiting for his opponent to arrive. At first, he had planned to use [Life Essence] to confirm if they had lost health, but ultimately decided against that.
He heard the sound of the explosion the moment his opponent arrived.
Ainz immediately began moving forwards, away from his enemy, and turned around.
“Silver...no wait, the l.u.s.ter is different. Is that platinum? Or a metal I do not know of?”
The explosion kicked up quite a bit of dust and at its center, stood a set of platinum-coloured full-body armour.
Four weapons hovered around them, following their every move.
A spear, a katana, a hammer, and a greatsword.
All of them were oversized for humans, their appearance screamed form-over-function. Nazarick’s treasury held many more weapons similar to these.
The weapons had a similar l.u.s.ter as the armour, it was then highly likely that they were not silver, but platinum instead.
Given that was the case however, it created more questions than it answered. Ignoring the monetary value of the precious metal, platinum had no special magical properties at all. He could not fathom what advantages could be granted by creating weapons and armour out of it.
The most likely explanation was that it was only platinum-coated, to hide the true metal the equipment were made out of. An example he could think of was the Golem he had just learned was in Kyouhukou’s room. There were other examples of the same technique being used in Nazarick as well.
The next most likely explanation was that it was a metal that was identical to platinum in appearance — but Ainz was not well-versed in the types of metal in this world.
Ainz’s undivided attention was on his opponent’s every move. After all, even trivial intel could tip the balance of a fight.
What was unsettling to him was the fact that his opponent, since their debut, had not shown any emotional response at all. Since their appearance, they had stood still in one spot with a daunting pose. Was it because they had not taken any damage — they had not bled at all — that they had resorted to such showmans.h.i.+p?
It was impossible for them to have not taken any damage at all.
It was hard for Ainz to believe that it had taken the full brunt of his [Explode Mine] but all it did was sully that eye-catching armour with dust. Even with Ainz’s necromancy job cla.s.ses, it was still impossible for him to gain complete immunity to the damage of a high-tier spell. It was impossible without underhanded tricks, especially because [Explode Mine]’s damage type was non-elemental, it could not have been nullified so simply.
In that case, did their carefree att.i.tude stem from them toughing it out, or was it from their do-or-die resolve? Or perhaps — they really had an ability to nullify the damage.
“Did you think that I would just stand here without taking any precautions? There are more around you—”
He tried to gauge his opponent’s reaction through conversation, or at least that was what he had intended anyways. His opponent however, did not give him much chance to speak, as the armoured fellow unabashedly took an offensive stance. The hammer in their a.r.s.enal floated to where they could easily grab it.
That revealed a piece of intel to Ainz, causing him to gently laugh deep down in his heart.
This meant that their target was not Albedo, but Ainz himself.
Since they had not bothered to converse with Ainz at all, they were not trying to buy time. They were probably planning to end this fight before any backup could arrive.
If they had appeared from the sky and began talking to him, that would have meant that their target was Albedo or that they were both their targets.
Everything up till this point had occurred well within the margins of Ainz’s plan.
However, not even Ainz could predict his opponent’s next move.
Since their weapons moved with them, he had thought that they were the fighter type and would want to close the distance between them. Instead, his opponent moved his hand in a somatic gesture, causing the giant hammer to suddenly shoot forward.
So fast.
It was like a high-level warrior had lobbed it at him, Ainz could not dodge it at all. If this weapon was not enchanted, it would be nullified by his immunity to non-enchanted projectiles, but no matter which way Ainz sliced it, it had to be enchanted. If that was the case, Ainz stood still, mimicking the stance his opponent had adopted as he took the hit. Of course, the spell activated the moment the hammer connected with Ainz’s body.
The bludgeoning damage was completely nullified by the [Body of Effulgent Beryl] spell. His gaze had remained on his opponent this entire time, observing his every move. In that moment, his opponent stopped moving, probably out of shock that he had taken zero damage.
The hammer returned to its original position as fast as it had been launched, floating around the enemy.
“Muwahahahaha—”
Ainz laughed loudly with his arms extended outwards to show that he was unscathed.
“—Do you understand now? As I am sure you are aware, skeletons are weak to bludgeoning attacks. That is true for me too. So did you really believe that I would not take precautions against it? That I would be so stupid? ...That’s right”
Ainz patted his own body, “I am immune to bludgeoning damage.”
While he was sneering, his opponent did not seize the opportunity to attack. {What does that mean?} Ainz contemplated. If he made a mistake here, he might not be able to salvage the situation.
The enemy landed, raised a hand, and spoke. Their voice was that of a male’s.
“[Wall of the World]”
(TL’s note: the spell is 世界絶対障壁, the literal TL is “World Absolute Barrier” and I would have localized it as “World-Isolating Barrier” but I have been informed that all Wild Magic spells are references to some obscure novel.)
With his foe as the origin, a — s.p.a.ce-warping — shockwave pa.s.sed by Ainz.
If it continued to expand in its initial form, this place would be encompa.s.sed in a dome. Its size was immense, at least a kilometer wide. Albedo and the other guardians should all be outside of its range.
Ainz’s mind spooled up as he deliberated.
This was one of the oldest tricks in the book, to cut off an enemy’s connection to the outside world. Then, how hard would it be to break in? Would it be able to prevent someone from running in? Would teleportation still work?
Its effect and area-of-effect also had to be considered. Since it was a dome, could someone enter it through the ground?
And most important of all, could he destroy it through any means?
He was severely lacking in intel and thus could not be certain of anything, but he could at the very least make some rudimentary inferences..
First of all, his opponent knew that Ainz was a magic caster for sure, so this should at the very least be able block teleportation spells.
Unless he had a reason to not use the World Cla.s.s Item that could dominate minds, this person wasn’t the one who brainwashed Shalltear. What if there was a specific reason why he did not use it? Questions continued to pile on, but one thing he was certain of was that he should not underestimate this enemy.
That was because Ainz had mastery over a wide range of spells and special abilities. From the experience he had gathered through experimentation, he knew their full capabilities. This placed Ainz at the top of Nazarick in terms of battle tactics.
However, the ability this enemy had just used, Ainz could not recall. An ability that would cover this much ground had to be from a Super-Tier spell or a World-Cla.s.s Item. This meant that his opponent had easy access to — and immediate use of — skills that could rival the heights of those abilities.
He was undoubtedly a strong enemy.
Someone who could remove Ainz, and the other level 100 Floor Guardians, from the picture.
However, faced with this enemy, Ainz did not emote at all.
Of course, Ainz’s face could not emote anyways, but his uncertainty could still be observed through his att.i.tude and tone. Ainz Ooal Gown would never do something so unsightly.
At the same time, he could not allow the enemy to perceive Ainz’s joy and relief.
The thought of, {it was wise for me to have been the one to face him} came to mind.
Ainz squinted his eyes and continued to observe him.
Though this was an unknown ability, he could still pick up on certain aspects of it. First, this was an ability that expended HP and quite a lot of it. Given that, this barrier could not be cosmetic only. If he could not figure out its exact effects, he would be in deep trouble.
Ainz had seen his opponent’s immediate loss of HP when he had activated that ability through his [Life Essence] spell. [Mana Essence] picked up nothing in contrast, meaning that his foe was of a pure warrior build with no mana at all.
If the mysterious enclosure was an inescapable prison, it would not be odd for his opponent, who had effectively imprisoned Ainz in this dome, to relax a little.
Ainz began to calmly ask a question with that in mind.
He used an uncharacteristically gentle tone given he had just been smacked with a hammer.
“I will pardon your prior ambush. I do believe that you already know of my name, but do allow me to re-introduce myself. I am the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown. Now then, it is your turn. Could you tell me your name?”
After a few seconds of silence, he received a reply.
“...Riku Agneía”
Ainz immediately began to a.n.a.lyze the information he had just gained.
The likelihood that this barrier not only prevented his escape, but also prevented reinforcements from making their way in just increased drastically. The fact that he would risk exposing intel meant that he was trying to tell him, “you can’t escape,” and also, “your reinforcements won’t make it in.”
In the doc.u.ments compiled by Sebas and Demiurge, there were no mentions of the name ‘Riku’. Someone this strong would not have slipped through their information gathering network. Even if he was hermit, there were still things that could not be explained. In any case, someone this strong would have surely ended up in the Kingdom’s history books. For there to be no records of him at all was absurd.
The most likely explanation was that he had been given an alias.
But why would he give him an alias?
If he was from the Kingdom, he should have proudly declared his name and his intention to destroy the root of all evil that had started this war. Was it because he was someone who wished to remain anonymous of his own volition? Another possibility was that he was trying to draw Ainz’s aggression towards the real Riku Agneía, or perhaps the knowledge of his true name gave Ainz power over him or something.
Although it was essentially pure wilderness when those lands came under his rule, they had still gathered quite a bit of intel from the demi-human residents of that land. Of the intel they gained, one was about the connection some had between their true name and soul, and how one could become more susceptible to curses should their true name become known. However, after much investigation by Nazarick, they could not find conclusive proof of such a phenomenon. They had relegated this intel as plain folk legend.
So was it possible that Riku was of a tribe that held similar beliefs?
He had little to no intel. This was not the most ideal situation for him to make deductions here and there. As far as he could remember, there were only two powerful beings with connections to platinum. One of which was not a humanoid, the other was—
“I have heard through the bards’ songs, the heroic tale of the Thirteen Heroes. Quite a few of their names have been lost, though I do recall one of them wearing an armour forged in platinum… If I remember correctly, his name was Riku Agneía. Will those bards not be elated to find out that their tales were true?”
“Would they? I did not know that I was renowned enough for bards to sing of my name.”
His foe did not shrug, nor did he make any movements as he answered calmly.
Was he truly one of the Thirteen Heroes, or was he an imposter? There might be details that he was missing.
{Good grief}, AInz thought.
What was true and what was false, it was hard for him to tell. But, given how his opponent was confident enough in himself to face off against the Ainz Ooal Gown who could handily defeat an army of 200,000 with a single spell, the full extent of his capabilities must be explored in this battle.
“Riku, do you mind me addressing you by this name?”
“Denied.”
An immediate answer, one filled with palatable disgust in tone.
“That was rude of me. Perhaps that was too familiar of an address. Shall I refer to you as Agneía then? Would you still mind?”
“That is fine.”
“Oh. Well then, I have a proposal for you. Become my subordinate, how about it?”
The air around Riku froze a bit. He did not take a stance, nor did he move at all. Riku just stood there completely unfazed.
Ainz could not figure him out.
If Riku viewed him as an inferior, it would make sense why he did not take a stance at all. After all, Cocytus was the same during his battle with the lizardmen. So, was Riku looking down on him or not?
He felt different compared to Cocytus back then.
So, perhaps that already {was} the stance he intended to take for this battle.
He might have planned to stand in one place and have his floating weapons do all of the work for him, which was why he had adopted such a battle stance.
“...Looks like I’ve been rejected. How regretful. Could I implore you once more? I am currently trying to recruit powerful individuals into my services. Even that Momon of Darkness has been happily under my employ. If you are willing to become my subordinate — I would even end my conquest of the Kingdom right here. You alone are worth more than this country.”
“Denied.”
If words could kill. There wasn’t a single shred of hesitation in his voice.
Ainz, without showing any emotions, began to ponder the hidden meanings behind their little back-and-forth just now.
Even if he had the confidence that he could defeat Ainz and save the Kingdom, did he truly have no doubts or hesitations? Even if Ainz was killed, was he truly certain in his belief that the Sorcerous Kingdom’s army would just give up?
{...Perhaps he does not care about the Kingdom after all…? Is he from another nation?}
“[Cloak of Light]”
Riku’s armour began glowing. For a brief moment, Ainz thought that it was the Sun reflecting off of his armour until he noticed that Riku’s HP had just decreased. That was undoubtedly the activation of some sort of ability.
Now he had concrete proof.
Riku’s abilities were powered by his own health pool.
However, because lost HP could just be recovered through restoration spells or potions, abilities that were powered by HP were usually weaker by comparison. All in all, the higher the ability’s HP cost, the stronger it would be. The same logic should apply even in this world.
Riku had activated his special ability, that meant their parley had broken down. Ainz immediately cast his spell.
“[Greater Teleportation]”
Ainz teleported all the way to — the edge of the translucent dome. After his sight had adjusted, he found the translucent barrier blocking his way.
“Teleportation failed...”
He took a look around. It appeared as though Riku did not have the ability to follow him through his teleport, he was nowhere to be found.
In front of Ainz, not too far away, was his intended destination, the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick.
He could at least confirm one thing of this barrier: it cut off teleportation completely. That said, since he was now in front of the barrier, that meant that teleportation to destinations within it was still possible. Only teleportation in and out of the dome was disabled. It seemed like if one were to try and teleport outside, they would instead be teleported to the edge of the dome closest to their intended destination.
This was crucial intel.
He had originally intended to not use teleportation throughout this battle, but it was still worth it to have gained this intel at the cost of one of his trump cards.
Ainz then extended his hand to touch the barrier.
If it had defensive capabilities, he would probably receive the damage immediately, but that was unlikely. He thought so because the interrupted teleportation did not do damage to him either.
The bones in his finger made contact with the barrier.
Contrary to its soft appearance, it was extremely hard. When he tried to exert force on it, nevermind breaking, it did not faze at all. It was like a wall that separated worlds apart.
Ainz pulled out a common gold coin and tossed it.
The coin hit the barrier and bounced off.
Next, he cast a [Lightning] spell at a pre-calculated angle.
“...It cannot get through, hmmm.”
Just as he became satisfied with the results of his experiments, the [Delay Teleportation] spell activated once again. No doubt it was Riku.
Ainz cast [Body of Effulgent Beryl] and stood there, with his back towards Riku.
After Riku showed up, he used some unknown object to slam into Ainz’s body at high speeds. Because it was bludgeoning damage, it was completely nullified by [Body of Effulgent Beryl].
But for whatever reason, his body was sent flying and pressed against the barrier. That was highly unusual. Normally when an attack’s damage had been nullified, its secondary effects would not apply. However, Riku’s attack did not follow this rule. So what did that mean? He had no idea as of yet.
Ainz slowly, and regally, turned around.
The hammer returned to Riku’s side. The four weapons that surrounded Riku were different from before: they were all glowing white. Combined with the armour, they looked undeniably bada.s.s.
On the other hand, Riku’s health had decreased even further.
He had lost more health than when he activated that ability on his armour just then. Was it because he had to apply that ability to each weapon separately or because teleportation had cost him a bit of HP too? Ainz desired more intel.
“I am immune to bludgeoning damage, I believe I have said that already...so how did you do that?”
“...Even if you can teleport, you cannot use it to escape this barrier. Your fate is to perish here.”
{Answer the question, dumba.s.s}, Ainz thought but did not say it out loud. After all, if he wanted his opponent to talk, he had to avoid p.i.s.sing him off too much.
“I see. I am impressed that you could create such an inescapable barrier. I a.s.sume then that you have made your resolve already?”
No response. One of the four weapons, the greatsword, stopped moving.
—He’s coming.
Riku did not appear to wish to converse with him. Ainz made the first move with that in mind.
“[Twin Magic: Obsidian Sword]”
Ainz summoned two obsidian swords and rushed at Riku.
If his opponent was using floating weaponry, he would do the same.
One of the swords was deflected by Riku"s greatsword and the other’s strike was dodged in an unnatural manner.
“What!?”
Ainz couldn’t help but vocalize his thoughts.
What was shocking wasn’t the fact that Riku could dodge the attack, but rather how he had dodged it. Not even Cocytus would be able to pull off what Riku just did.
Riku had performed a sideways somersault at head’s height to dodge the attack. Although there were other oddities apart from what he had just done, Ainz should not be focusing on those details right now. The questions laid in the fact that those movements were inhuman.
Normally when a humanoid jumped, they would bend their knees and apply force on them. There should be reflexive movements before the actual jump. However, Riku skipped all of that, applied no force at all, yet still performed a sideways somersault in the same stance he had this entire time.
While it was not impossible, especially with spells like [Fly], not even Ainz could pull it off. One’s body would always reflexively move in a certain manner when performing such actions.
Perhaps those who were adept at using [Fly] would be able to do those moves, but Ainz still felt weirded out by those movements. The explanation for it was just on the tip of his tongue, but his brain could not express it properly.
While Ainz was getting increasingly annoyed, Riku counterattacked with his greatsword. Ainz’s two swords were deflected by the other weapons floating around Riku.
The greatsword, as if it had a mind of its own, flew towards Ainz, prompting him to think of his Guild Weapon. Ainz cast defensive magic in response.
“[Wall of Skeleton]”
The greatsword clashed with the newly created wall. The [Wall of Skeleton] was destroyed in a single hit.
“Impressive.”
In place of where the [Wall of Skeleton] stood, the honed edge of the greatsword pointed towards Ainz as it hovered. He had thought that it would return to Riku’s side after that, but instead it flew towards Ainz as if someone was wielding it. On the contrary, Riku was standing still in his original position, in his original pose.
From his observation of that pose, what had been at the tip of Ainz’s tongue finally came out.
Indeed, he was just like a puppet.
Riku was moving around like a puppet whose strings were still intact.
It was as though giant hands were behind him, one controlling the body and the other controlling the weapons.
{This isn’t something like [Psychokinesis] controlling the weapons, but the armour too? Unless, the insides are empty? Or was a living person within it too?}
Faced with the greatsword’s cleave from top to bottom, Ainz pulled out a [Blasting Staff] to intercept it.
The amount of pressure exerted on him made him feel as though he was sinking into the ground.
If he had weapon destruction skills, it would be worth his time to target this greatsword specifically, but Ainz had not bothered to learn such skills. Even anti-material acid spells would take quite a bit of time to chew through this sword, so he was better off attacking Riku instead.
“[Grasp Heart]”
That was Ainz’s favorite necromancy spell, yet it had no effect on Riku at all.
Did he have immunity against necromancy? Or was it resistance against negative status effects? While Ainz was still considering those things, the greatsword was swung at him at even greater speeds.
“Guhhh!”
He could neither tank nor dodge it in time, so his body took the full brunt of that attack. After receiving the blow, Ainz backed off a little only to b.u.mp against the barrier behind him. This position was disadvantageous for him.
“[Greater Teleportation]”
Ainz teleported upwards. Because they were summoned through non-conventional summoning magic, the two swords soon returned to Ainz’s sides.
As he was right above his opponent, he would have been easy to spot. Ainz did not teleport a long distance away, nor did he intend to buy time until Albedo arrived. This battle was what he had been craving.
Just as a precaution, he cast [Body of Effulgent Beryl] again while observing Riku, who appeared to be a dot from his perspective. He began to ascend as soon as he spotted Ainz.
He did not try to attack Ainz with his weapons, that was probably due to a range restriction.
Ainz responded by descending.
The moment they pa.s.sed by each other, he threw out the twin obsidian swords.
The [Obsidian Sword] constructs could only be used as an offensive tool and could not be used to defend oneself. That was because the obsidian swords suffered from a ma.s.s loss of durability if used to receive an opponent’s attack. If used defensively, the swords’ durability would rapidly diminish until they shatter.
Riku used the weapons around him to deflect the two swords that were soaring through the skies.
Did he put his all into defence? Riku did not choose to counterattack.
After brus.h.i.+ng past Riku, Ainz landed on the ground only to find the spear falling towards him at ludicrous speed.
Ainz leapt forward, barely dodging the attack. Because he had [Fly] activated already, he did not have any issues getting back on his feet.
Ainz stood up to distance himself away from that spot as Riku casually descended to the ground. His three weapons floated around him and the spear that had been implanted into the ground soon joined their ranks again.
Ainz also had his two obsidian swords float by his side.
His movements made it all the less believable to Ainz that a living being was in that armour. His knees did not bend at all when he landed.
It was at this time when Riku, who had been standing with the same pose this entire time, suddenly took the greatsword into his own hands.
This distance between them was closed in an instant. This was the fastest speed he had moved at yet.
He was like a shooting star.
Ainz sent out the two obsidian swords to intercept Riku’s attack, but they were deflected by Riku’s katana, subsequently falling onto the ground.
“[Call Greater Thunder]”
Multiple streaks of lightning converged on Riku, yet he did not slow down at all. It was not as though he hadn’t taken damage, Ainz could see his HP pool falling. It was more likely that he had suppressed all forms of pain.
The greatsword was raised high above Ainz’s head as it was cleaved downwards.
“Oooof!”
The moment Ainz took damage, he saw from the corner of his eye, Riku’s katana swinging in from the side.
Ainz began waving his Blasting Staff.
Riku tanked that attack with his own body. A magic caster’s physical strikes weren’t so impressive, so if he chose to tank that hit, he must be planning to strike Ainz too.
His deduction was correct.
If Ainz were in his shoes, he would have done the same.
However, that was a terrible, terrible mistake under these circ.u.mstances.
Ainz smiled deep down as the shockwave began propagating outwards. Riku was knocked far away.
Blasting Staff had a similar enhanced knockback enchantment as Yamaiko’s Female Sensei"s Iron Fist of Wrath. The cost of that enchantment was the staff’s complete lack of offensive capabilities, but it granted distance between a magic caster and their foe, one of the most important things to a caster.
Was it because he had been knocked back? The katana’s strike only grazed Ainz by a little, barely touching his sternum.
Riku remained unyielding in pose even after he was knocked back. Ainz cast another spell.
“[Summon Tenth-Tier Undead]”
The one to replace the twin obsidian swords was the level 70, melee warrior Doom Lord. A rusted crown sat on his dome and a blood stained cape hung off his back. Adorning his full-plate armour were multiple scythe-like curved blades.
Minute amounts of negative energy ebbed from the gaps in its armour in the form of a black mist. His health was constantly decreasing, a penalty placed upon the Doom Lord for its agility which was unthinkably high for a level 70. Optimal use of such a summon required mastery over unit placement.
However, Ainz just wanted him to be his s.h.i.+eld, so none of that mattered to him.
Summons’ were either used as s.h.i.+elds or swords.
Magic casters who could use them were all pretty strong in general. That said, a powerful pure warrior build could easily ignore these summons.
For example, what would Cocytus do?
He would probably kite the summons towards the summoner to bring the both of them into his range.
What would Albedo do?
She would probably use her defensive capabilities to her advantage to charge straight for the caster, completely ignoring the summons. She could also redirect aggro so that they would kill each other.
So, what would Riku do? Riku’s tactic up till this point had been to rely on his auto-attacking weapons. Though he had wielded his greatsword, he had not used any special abilities or martial arts to go along with it. For that reason, Ainz did not have a firm grasp on his abilities as a warrior at all.
That was why—
Riku closed the distance between them and beelined for Ainz without hesitation at all. An adamant action.
He was probably the type to have specialized in super close-quarters combat rather than purely relying on his floating weapons. For that reason, if he was able to swiftly destroy his summon, Ainz would have lost an option to widen the distance between them.
Faced with the rapidly-approaching Riku, the Doom Lord tightened his grip on his weapon, a long curved blade set upon a pole, a War Scythe. The scythe was shrouded in negative energy, shrouded in the same black mist as before.
Ainz used the magical link he had with the Doom Lord to give it his orders.
“It is highly probable that our opponent is not a living creature, but try to confirm it anyways,” his order was vague. Needless to say, a summon possessed a portion of its summoner’s knowledge, so it should have understood his intentions even without his order, but it was better to veer on the safer side of things.
The Doom Lord activated its special ability.
[Ruinous Night]