Barrett ran for his life, his heart racing, panting heavily, his legs carving a frantic path through the snow.
Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks. The snowflakes ahead were clearly drifting at an angle, but in mid-air, it was as if they smacked into some barrier, tumbling straight down in a wobbly fall.
Barrett reached out his arm, cautiously probing forward. The space in front looked completely empty, yet his palm bumped into a solid wall. It was like an invisible barrier stretched right across his path.
He pulled his two-handed sword from his spatial ring and swung wildly at the air. All he got back were BANG BANG impacts, no way to shatter the unseen shield.
The way ahead was blocked, so Barrett quickly checked to the left. But the left side slammed into another unbreakable transparent wall, just like a glass barrier standing in his way.
"Damn it!" Barrett raised his sword and charged to the right, jogging a short distance before the blade tip jerked to a halt, as if striking a flawless crystal shield.
Front, left, right—all dead ends. Was the only option to run back? Barrett spun around, stepping backward, and there before him was... Ainz Ooal Gown!
The super-tier undead gripping a dark gold staff, ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, king of the Sorcerer Kingdom—Ainz Ooal Gown stood right in front of him.
Ainz Ooal Gown's ribs in his chest cavity were neatly aligned like curved spearheads, his skeletal eye sockets blazing with a terrifying crimson glow. Magical energy surged like crashing waves, his black-and-gold robes fluttering softly.
Barrett couldn't help but smile bitterly inside. Sure enough, adventuring with the captain was just asking for trouble. Facing the ultimate overlord—had this day finally arrived? He gripped his sword with both hands, shifting into an attack stance.
With no way to retreat and nothing to fall back on, he only hoped for a death that suited an adventurer's spirit. Who doesn't cling to the joys of life? But for those who live on the edge of death, it's just the end of the road—bound to come sooner or later.
"Unexpected," a deep voice rumbled from Ainz Ooal Gown's skeletal jaws, "EeDechi's companion is just an ordinary human. Human, aren't you afraid?"
"If I was afraid of monsters, I wouldn't have become an adventurer ages ago." Barrett burst into laughter, his voice cutting through the wind and snow, bold and tragic.
"Calling me a monster." Ainz sneered. "Do you even know who I am?"
"You're the top-tier monster I've ever seen in my adventurer career!" Barrett faced the reaper before him without fear, locking eyes with the red glow in Ainz Ooal Gown's sockets.
Ainz mocked, "You think you're some hero staring death in the face. To me, you're just a worm squirming in the mud, babbling nonsense without a clue how out of your depth you are."
Barrett took a deep breath and roared, "In my eyes, you're just a pile of gold coins!"
He leaped forward in big strides, swinging his sword down at Ainz Ooal Gown! Slashing at the unbeatable overlord!
Ainz Ooal Gown stretched out his skeletal palm and gently clenched his fist.
9th Tier magic: Grasp Heart!
Barrett's chest felt stuffy and burning, blood trickling from his mouth, like a thunderbolt had pierced his heart! But he wasn't dead yet—a druid statue in his spatial ring crumbled to ash. It was the "death substitute" he'd gotten from a half-elf. The druid statue had blocked one fatal strike for him.
The two-handed sword came crashing down, its fierce edge shredding snowflakes as it struck Ainz Ooal Gown's skeletal skull, sparking a trail of bright yellow flames, but Ainz Ooal Gown was unscathed.
Barrett drew back his sword, built up power, and slashed again, hacking three times in a row. The blade chipped, sparks flew everywhere, but Ainz Ooal Gown didn't budge.
"Damn tough bones!" Barrett laughed wildly.
"Enough!" Ainz fumed with rage—no one had ever hacked away at his face like this. A puny worm daring to insult a god! He unleashed his magic.
9th Tier magic: True Death!
Barrett's grip on the sword hilt loosened, his blue pupils dilated, and he stopped breathing.
The damaged longsword plunged into the snow. He fell backward, crashing into the drifts. Snowflakes from the sky filled his lifeless eyes, a faint smile still playing on his lips.
Ainz Ooal Gown stared at the smile on the man's face, and for the first time, he couldn't help but doubt whether he had truly defeated his opponent.
...
Endless snowflakes hung frozen in mid-air, the sky a dull gray sheet. A few rays of sunlight broke through the clouds, refracting rainbow hues in the snowflakes like jagged rainbows, with beautiful lights and shadows drifting and shifting.
EeDechi raised her giant sword high in front of her, her gaze intense, locked in a standoff with the fully guarded Albedo, Shalltear, and Cocytus. Clearly, the three had geared up for an all-out attack, but they just stood there motionless, holding back.
A grim thought bubbled up in EeDechi's mind: the enemies weren't all here yet; they were still waiting.
Sure enough, from another direction at the crossroads, the silhouette of the Great Tomb of Nazarick's ruler—Ainz Ooal Gown—slowly sharpened into view.
EeDechi adjusted her posture, turning her wary side toward Ainz Ooal Gown. Ainz Ooal Gown lifted his hand, and a body burst through the swirling snow, hurled straight at EeDechi.
"NO!" EeDechi screamed from the depths of her soul, jumping up to snag the airborne body and clutch it in her arms—it was Barrett's corpse.
"You're standing against us, trying to save the world?" Ainz's voice dripped with cold, heartless mockery. "Too bad you couldn't even save your buddy, much less yourself."
He pointed at EeDechi, his tone icy and unforgiving, "You could've joined us, ruling this world side by side, but you picked the dumbest route! Making enemies with the Great Tomb of Nazarick. The real joke is, you actually thought the Re-Estize's king would back you up."
The adventurer captain's hands shook; her last teammate was gone. She shoved down the rage boiling inside her, drew a deep breath, and steadied herself for a second. She tried to stash Barrett's body in her spatial ring, but two mental commands to the ring did nothing.
EeDechi suddenly remembered what Barrett had once told her, "You can't store a spatial ring inside another spatial ring." She slipped the ring off Barrett's finger and then safely tucked the body away in her spatial ring.
Rustling footsteps came from behind; EeDechi hefted her giant sword. The demon Demiurge, clad in a brown pinstripe suit, crunched through the snow from the other end of the crossroads. The veins on EeDechi's forehead pulsed—that was the direction Sean and Stella had escaped!
By now, aside from Sebas holding the fort at the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and Aura and Mare facing off against the Dragon Lord in the Argland Council State, all the level 100 fighters the Sorcerer Kingdom could muster were fully assembled.
Demiurge met EeDechi's gaze and grinned wickedly. "Looking for them?"
He waved his hand, his palm suddenly swelling huge, revealing two blood-spattered bodies right in front of EeDechi—it was Sean and Stella! Their heads drooped, bodies covered in gruesome puncture wounds; they were already dead.
"What a touching romance," Demiurge sighed. "The boy threw his life away to shield the girl. But too bad—he only had one life, so he couldn't save her a second time."
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Endless fury howled in her chest; EeDechi's eyes nearly burst with rage. She swung her sword, smashing through the blanket of snow, and charged at Demiurge with thunderous steps.
Demiurge adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and put away the two bodies. Cocytus and Shalltear barreled toward EeDechi from left and right at blinding speed.
EeDechi had to skid to a halt, whipping her giant sword around to block, clashing against the great katana and Spuit Lance hacking in from both sides. The blade impacts rang out deafeningly, the shockwave pulverizing nearby snowflakes and shattering the glass windows of several houses.
The huge racket startled the folks in Lentwei town. Around the crossroads streets, a few windows in the homes creaked open; residents stuck their heads out for a quick peek, then ducked back in horror, slamming and bolting the windows shut.
"Aspect of the Devil - Archdemon's Wrist!" Demiurge reached out, his pitch-black fist swelling and thrusting forward like a thousand-ton hammer slamming down. Under the three-sided assault, EeDechi dodged and retreated, pulling back once more to the center of the crossroads.
Suddenly, the door of a squat building on the street's edge open, and a golden-haired girl around seven or eight years old scampered out, her body teetering as she dashed through the knee-deep snow.
She paid no mind at all to the demonic standoff on the street—or if she did notice, she figured they were just characters from a fairy tale.
The little girl craned her neck up at the sky full of frozen snowflakes and the warped, dazzling rainbow on the horizon, her eyes sparkling with delight. In her innocent voice, she yelled, "Mommy, come look! The snow's stuck in the air!"
A middle-aged woman bolted out of the house in a frenzy, hissing urgently, "Baby, get back here!" She dove forward, snatched up her daughter, and raced back inside, slamming the door with a Bang, as if that flimsy oak barrier could shield her family from harm.
Ainz Ooal Gown ignored it all. He flung his arms wide, unleashing a tidal wave of nearly boundless magical energy! Countless rings of arcane light whirled around his form, like stars circling the sun.
A howling gale spiraled into a vortex with him at its core, sucking in every bit of air and magic. Cocytus, Shalltear, Albedo, and Demiurge all backed off in unison, flashing back over a thousand meters in an instant.
In Ainz Ooal Gown's grasp was a slender crystal hourglass, its golden sands flowing with the essence of time. That was the Hourglass—a one-use super-tier rarity that could shrink the lengthy chant for Super-Tier Magic down to a split second.
EeDechi yanked a golden pen from her chest, gearing up to charge Ainz Ooal Gown. Without a second thought, Ainz Ooal Gown crushed the Hourglass.
Super-Tier Magic: Fallen Down!!!
EeDechi hoisted the pen and bellowed, "Magic Repeater!"
Super-Tier Magic: Fallen Down!!!
Two beams of light nearly a kilometer wide crashed down from the heavens, one slamming right into EeDechi, the other hitting Ainz Ooal Gown.
The glare was blinding, the two massive pillars spilling from the sky almost blending into one, like a sky-holding giant from legend. Unrivaled light and heat pounded the earth, holy power wiping out everything in its path.
As the fiery glow faded, the dull, thick clouds were blasted apart completely, leaving a vast blue sky stretching endlessly. The ground held a crater about three kilometers across, scorched soil baked into hard lumps; Lentwei town was totally wiped out.
The gods' battlefield was a living hell for the townspeople!
In the pit's depths, only two figures still stood. EeDechi's hair was a wild mess, the edges of her black outfit charred and curled up. Ainz Ooal Gown on the other side fared no better; he'd eaten this tit-for-tat Super-Tier Magic, his robes in shreds, the staff at his waist reduced to black ashes.
"Ainz-sama! Ainz-sama!" Shalltear and Albedo, hearts pounding with fear, flew straight to Ainz Ooal Gown at top speed.
They'd already flown clear earlier, just barely dodging the Super-Tier Magic's reach. Only Cocytus was slower at covering long distances; the two identical Super-Tier Magics triggered a scary stacking effect, bloating the range by almost half.
Cocytus got swept up in it—his defense was rock-solid, so he didn't take massive damage, but his health dropped by two-fifths. Still, Super-Tier Magic doesn't hit the caster, so EeDechi and Ainz each only caught one Fallen Down.
The whole mess had thrown the Great Tomb of Nazarick's plans out the window from the get-go. Based on the intel they'd scraped together, EeDechi topped out at 5th Tier magic—a straight-up warrior who fought with skills and brute force. But she could copy someone else's Super-Tier Magic mid-cast! That was a power nobody had ever heard of!
Super-Tier Magic was the pinnacle of spells, towering above even tenth-tier magic. Even a level 100 demon lord had to think twice before facing it down. Back before Ainz crossed over, in the game's guild wars, Super-Tier Magic could flip the battle on its head—it was like a trump card straight out of nowhere.
Ainz had once unleashed two Super-Tier Magic Fallen Down spells to deal with Shalltear when she'd fallen into a neutral state. The second one had dropped her right into the kill zone and blasted her to oblivion.
But copying Super-Tier Magic? What kind of item was that? What skill? It wasn't just unheard of in this isekai world—Ainz had never seen anything like it in the game either.
"Ainz-sama," Albedo urged anxiously, "Do we still go through with the plan to capture EeDechi alive? This adventurer is way too dangerous—I suggest we take her out."
"No, capture her alive. She's got too many secrets." Ainz pulled a set of gleaming silver high-magic-resistance armor from his storage bag and suited up. "Besides, we're short on level 100 test subjects. Don't worry—she can't pull off that copy magic again. Super-Tier Magic has a massive cooldown, and I bet her copy skill does too."
EeDechi leaned on her giant sword, standing in the crater. After the Super-Tier Magic barrage, the air was scorching hot; breathing it in felt like fire scorching her lungs.
Ainz had nailed it—the main purpose of the pen in her hand was to generate and tweak Justice Value. The Magic Repeater was just a side ability, usable only once a day.
"As expected from the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick," EeDechi called out boldly. "You'd unleash Super-Tier Magic even with a little girl right there."
"A young ant's no different from a grown one," Ainz replied coldly. He reached out, scanning EeDechi's power with a detection spell. A string of "???" popped up in his view.
Health Points: ???
Mana: ???
Armor: ???
Magic Resistance: ??? ......
"As expected, still immune to detection." Ainz began prepping his next skill and issued the command, "Stick to the original battle plan."
"Purifying Javelin!" Shalltear soared into the blue sky, a bright spear of light snapping into form in her hand, launching straight at EeDechi.
Martial Art: Flow Acceleration. Strike the leader first! EeDechi dodged the Purifying Javelin, her body coiling into a streak of black lightning. Instead of backing off, she pressed forward, charging right at Ainz Ooal Gown.
Albedo, wrapped head to toe in dark cyan armor, planted herself in front of Ainz. She gripped a massive axe taller than she was, hoisting her arms overhead, and brought it crashing down!
In a flash, the sky over EeDechi's head and the earth under her feet split open in a long, narrow rift!
EeDechi tumbled aside to evade, only to smash face-first into Cocytus's Wind Slash: Dance of the Dead! Cocytus's three Divine Artifact weapons whirled into a cyclone, like a blazing-fast blade fortress on the move, shredding everything in its path.
EeDechi parried wildly with her two-handed giant sword, barely avoiding getting pulled into the meat grinder. She hefted the giant sword high, slamming it down on Cocytus's great katana, borrowing the rebound to leap sideways. She punched through the air in the sky, accelerating in a burst toward Ainz Ooal Gown.
Shalltear swooped in to intercept, the greatsword colliding with the Spuit Lance in a thunderous clash of steel. Shalltear was stunned inside—her Spuit Lance could suck life force from foes on contact to fuel herself, but now, she couldn't draw a single drop of power from EeDechi through the sword.
"Coward! Don't hide behind women! Come out and fight me!" EeDechi bellowed, darting past Shalltear and rolling to dodge Demiurge's Aspect of the Devil: Sharp Severing Claw from behind.
Ainz Ooal Gown stood behind Albedo, raising his hand to unleash several deep black voids—magic triple maximize: Negative Burst!
Space warped into ripples around the black holes, the sky sucked in and twisted. EeDechi dodged away in a flash, but one black hole nailed her right in the back.
Her head felt like a massive bronze bell was clanging inside, and before she could fully snap out of it, Cocytus leaped down from above—Frost Wisdom: Rakshasa! A cross slash barreled straight at her.
EeDechi hit the ground, raising her sword to block horizontally. The earth beneath her feet shattered into a cross-shaped scar five hundred meters long and wide. Aspect of the Devil - Archdemon's Wrist ripped through the air, exploding in brilliant golden fire, smashing into her giant sword like a siege hammer.
Shalltear hefted her Spuit Lance, rocketing toward EeDechi at supersonic speed, like a fiery meteor punching through space.
EeDechi went flying back hundreds of meters. She jammed her sword into the ground, plowing a deep furrow to barely steady herself, but her chest tightened, and she coughed up a mouthful of dark red blood.
The clothes on her back shredded apart, splitting open a long gash where the wound ran deep to the bone, blood gushing like a fountain. That was from the multi-sided brawl earlier, when she'd carelessly taken a hit to the back from Cocytus's skill Three Paths Sever.
EeDechi's self-healing was no joke—red blood cells and platelets surged to clamp the wound, muscles straining to regrow—but it barely closed before tearing open again, blood streaming down her spine and soaking into the parched earth.
Cocytus's weapon, the God-Slaying Emperor Blade, clearly had a high-level enchantment that countered healing.
Ainz Ooal Gown's skeletal hands pressed forward, sheltered by Albedo. He'd finally completed the longest-chant incantation among tenth-tier spells: Falling Sun!
Over EeDechi's head, a domain of death exploded outward, magical energy vast and endless, swirling into a tornado-like vortex. For miles around, all air, heat, moisture, and magic got yanked into this domain, compressed into a blinding whirl of energy.
A massive, searing orb of light thundered down, like the sun plummeting from the sky, striking EeDechi at a speed that defied time!
BOOM!!! Energy more powerful than a solar flare eruption demolished everything, space itself on the verge of being ripped apart, a blood-red mushroom cloud billowing upward.
In the crater within the crater, the superheated dust cleared. EeDechi's black hair was a tangled mess, blood streaming from her eyes, her dark cloth outfit tattered and ruined.
Her palm released the greatsword stuck in the ground, her knees buckling as she dropped to them, head hanging low, like a shattered black statue kneeling on the scorched earth.
Shalltear, Cocytus, Demiurge, and Albedo exchanged glances—everything was going according to plan; EeDechi had been battered into immobility.
The four of them encircled her from afar in all directions, then charged simultaneously, Spuit Lance, dark red claws, great katana, and gleaming massive axe all lunging at the black statue.
"I really didn't want to use this," EeDechi muttered to herself, pulling a bright yellow bronze seal from her chest.
It was one of her exclusive items. EeDechi had crossed over carrying three pieces of gear: the giant sword, the pen, and the bronze seal. She'd used the greatsword and pen before, but for some reason, she'd never activated the bronze seal.
In a split second, Shalltear, Demiurge, Cocytus, and Albedo closed in on her. Under the edges of those four Divine Artifact weapons, she'd be hacked to pieces.
The bronze seal spun wildly with a whir, a piercing buzz echoing through the world. Crimson surged in EeDechi's eyes; she clamped both hands on the bronze seal and slammed it down hard! Roaring with fury:
"THE GREAT BANISHMENT!!!"
A massive "BAN" symbol, scrawled in splashed blood ink, plummeted from the heavens! Etched into the earth! Embedded in space itself!
"AH!" Agonized screams erupted from all sides. The four from the Great Tomb of Nazarick assaulting her froze in place at once, eyes bulging and bleeding. They collapsed to the ground, horrific damage cracking from their minds and marrow, nearly tearing their bodies to shreds!
[The Great Banishment: Inflicts ultra-high damage on all living beings in range except the holder, power rivaling Super-Tier Magic.
Note one: Deals bonus amplified damage to those with low Justice Value! Grants damage reduction to those with high Justice Value.]
Note two: Using it once drops the holder's Favorability Level by 33%, and it's tough to bounce back quickly—use with extreme caution!]
Albedo, Justice Value -500; Shalltear, Justice Value -450; Demiurge, Justice Value -500. Cocytus, Justice Value 50.
"Fall back! Fall back now!" Ainz Ooal Gown was in a panic—EeDechi had once again pulled off something way beyond their predictions.
Shalltear, Cocytus, Demiurge, and Albedo all backed off in a hurry at the same time. They'd eaten an overload hit of Super-Tier Magic, their health dropping sharply, but it was nowhere near a one-hit kill.
The five from the Great Tomb of Nazarick still had plenty of steam left, while EeDechi was running on empty. She'd driven back the four attackers but didn't grab the opening to strike or bolt, still kneeling there in silence like a speechless black iron statue.
Even if she tried to make a run for it, stopping her in that beat-up state would be a walk in the park for the five from the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
"Ainz-sama," Albedo took a soft breath, settling the roiling pain in her blood, and suggested, "That Super-Tier Magic just now has to be EeDechi's final ace in the hole. We need to seize this shot to kill her—we can't let her slip away!"
"Super-Tier Magic's cooldown is long; my previous Fallen Down isn't ready yet." Ainz sized up the scene. "Charge in—I'll back you up with tenth-tier magic."
He lifted his palm, chanting the spell. Dark clouds rolled in instantly overhead, countless lightning bolts crackling, merging into a thunderous serpent that dove straight at EeDechi.
Shalltear, Cocytus, Demiurge, and Albedo clutched their weapons, once more warily circling the kneeling black-haired girl.
Right as the thunder serpent was about to sink its fangs into EeDechi, she hammered down on the bronze seal again, like a judge stamping a death warrant. She roared out in a raw bellow:
"THE GREAT BANISHMENT!!!"
A vivid red splashed-ink "BAN" plummeted from the heavens to the earth! The thunder serpent shattered into fragments. This "BAN" symbol was bigger than before, almost blanketing the whole space, even ensnaring Ainz Ooal Gown inside.
Pain! Such agony! Ainz's Justice Value was -500; he took a massive dose of amplified damage, feeling like every bone in his body was about to splinter apart one by one.
Shalltear, Cocytus, Demiurge, and Albedo pulled back fast again, dropping into full defensive poses.
After the brutal pain subsided, Ainz Ooal Gown was stunned. The gap between those two Super-Tier Magic casts was under a minute—how could Super-Tier Magic fire off back-to-back so quickly? Could this not be Super-Tier Magic after all?
EeDechi knelt with her head down. Around her, indescribable ripping sounds echoed nonstop, setting teeth on edge. Deep, shadowy spatial rifts yanked open one after another, like top-grade silk getting its threads torn apart.
This chunk of space had tanked two hits of Super-Tier Magic Fallen Down first, then the elite tenth-tier spell Falling Sun, topped off with two blasts of The Great Banishment that matched Super-Tier power. Add in the all-out slugfest from six level 100 heavyweights smashing through space-time limits, and the fabric finally gave out.
If the world was sketched on a canvas, that canvas was now ripped with gashes from sheer brute force.
EeDechi grabbed the sword hilt and straightened up on the blackened ground, standing like a spear jammed straight into the dirt, ringed by horrifying spatial rifts.
She tilted her head back, hefted her sword, and exploded off her legs in a jump! Riding the wind, she vaulted into the endless sky! The heavens stretched blue and boundless, not a cloud in sight; in the crisp sunlight, she twisted mid-air and swung her blade.
High above, EeDechi pooled every ounce of her power, going all in, and bellowed, "The Great Banishment!"
Dazzling flames wrapped her body; at a speed that outran time, she dove straight down toward the ground!
Ainz sucked in a sharp breath and yelled, "Everyone, brace for defense! Watch the spatial rifts—don't step in!"
But this time, no bloody "BAN" symbol came crashing down.
EeDechi's giant sword gleamed razor-sharp like light, the tip slamming dead-center into space!
The spatial rifts, once slim and twisty, exploded into huge breaches under the impact.
EeDechi tumbled backward into the spatial rift. Inside it, she let go of her death grip on the giant sword, vanishing into the bottomless dark...