After their rather intense 'early morning exercise' the two decided to freshen up in Shido's private bath, conveniently located within his room.
The moment Albedo stepped into the warm water, her seductive body glistening under the steam, it took every ounce of Shido's willpower not to lose control all over again. Her curves, accentuated by droplets of water sliding down her porcelain skin, made resisting her feel like a divine trial.
They nearly had a second round right then and there, but fortunately, Shido's reasoning managed to overpower his desire… barely.
To maintain his focus, he sat in the bath with his eyes half-closed, hands in a meditative pose, quietly chanting a sutra in a desperate attempt to calm his raging mind.
Albedo, meanwhile, was thoroughly enjoying the sight. As she washed her voluptuous body at a leisurely pace, she couldn't help but chuckle softly, amused by his internal struggle.
Looking down, she could see that little Shido wasn't energetic due to Shido's desperate attempt to calm himself in face of the deadly succubus.
Although Albedo felt a pang of disappointment, she wasn't planning to have another round with Shido just yet. As the Overseer of Nazarick, she still had duties to fulfill. Even so, her thoughts wandered inevitably to Ainz, her master and once the object of her unwavering love. Guilt tugged at her heart as memories of the dirty deeds she had done with Shido surfaced. She wasn't sure if she could even face Ainz properly now.
However, she couldn't resist Shido's advances so gave herself away. She had surrendered to her desires, momentarily casting aside any thoughts of Ainz and indulging in forbidden pleasure. Letting out a quiet sigh, Albedo turned her gaze toward the man who had taken her first time, part of her wanted to scold him for being so naughty and shameless doing so many embarrassing thing to her precious body.
Even so, she have to admit that she would never forget the feeling of Shido's thick thing inside of her. It was so pleasurable that it made her almost lose her mind. She didn't know if it was love but she felt her heart beat faster when she was doing intimate things with him. Albedo shoved those messy thoughts behind her mind since they have time to discover what she was truly feeling.
With that, Albedo and Shido finished their bath and stepped out to change back into their usual attire. After bidding him farewell, Albedo used the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport, however, before she disappeared, Albedo leaned forward and steal a quick kiss from Shido. She then stuck out her tongue playfully while a teasing glint appeared in her eyes, before vanishing in a flash of light.
Shido stood there, stunned for a few moments, before a smile slowly crept onto his face."That girl... she's just too cute, isn't she?"
He chuckled to himself, thinking how someone as mature and composed as Albedo could suddenly act like a flirtatious seventeen-year-old high school girl. Not that he minded, in fact, the contrast only made her more charming. He even thought of having a play with her where he would play as the older one and Albedo's role would be a young wife.
Meanwhile, in the northern part of the Great Forest of Tob. A certain group of adventurers arrived at the site where the fierce battle between Shido and Zy'tl Q'ae had taken place.
...
Great Forest of Tob, Northern Forest
A party of female adventurers stood at the edge of a desolate stretch of land, their eyes wide with disbelief.
What had once been a thriving part of the Great Forest was now nothing but barren wasteland. The trees were gone, no animals, no plants, no signs of life remained. The air was still, heavy with the lingering scent of scorched earth and destruction.
And at the center of it all lay a massive crater.
A void carved into the earth, so deep its bottom couldn't be seen. The diameter stretched nearly 300 meters across, as if some ancient god had struck the land with divine wrath.
The group of female adventurers spread out, carefully surveying the area in hopes of finding any clue as to what had occurred here.
The adventurer group in question was none other than Blue Roses. Leading them was Lakyus, who hadn't appeared in the past few chapters. Beside her were Evileye and the rest of her trusted companions.
They had been commissioned by the Adventurer's Guild to investigate the strange phenomenon that had taken place just the day before in the Great Forest of Tob. The event was so overwhelming and catastrophic, that it had been likened to the end of the world. Naturally, the Guild wanted answers. If something like this could happen again, they needed to be prepared.
Under normal circumstances, Lakyus would have declined such a perilous request. After all, the phenomenon had originated deep in the northern forest, a place so treacherous that even seasoned adventurers rarely set foot in it.
However, when Lakyus learned that most of the monsters in the northern forest had evacuated, she reconsidered. After discussing it with her team and receiving their approval, she decided to accept the mission.
Lakyus was a rational leader, she would never endanger the lives of her precious comrades, no matter how tempting the reward. But this time, the risk seemed minimal. The usual threats had vanished, leaving behind only questions. That alone was enough reason for her to venture into the unknown and uncover the truth behind the catastrophic event.
...
"…This isn't a natural disaster or a random phenomenon."
Evileye's voice broke the silence as she stepped up beside Lakyus, both of them staring into the depths of the massive crater. Lakyus wore a rare expression of helplessness on her face.
Surprised and curious at her companion's words, Lakyus turned to her. "Are you certain? If it's neither a natural occurrence nor a magical anomaly… then what in the world caused all this destruction, and this enormous hole?"
"A fight between gods?" Evileye muttered with a wry smile, even as disbelief flickered in her own eyes. The words sounded ridiculous, even to her.
Lakyus turned to her, eyes wide with disbelief. "...Gods?"
"What's with that look?" Evileye said, folding her arms. "We might not have concrete proof of their existence, but if there's any place that worships so-called divine beings as real, it's the Slane Theocracy."
She paused, letting her words sink in before continuing.
"If you're wondering how I came to that conclusion... I examined the area. There are unnatural scorch marks across the ground and trees knocked over in every direction. Some were even splintered clean in half. That kind of destruction wasn't caused by a natural event. It was either the work of an enormous creature, or a series of devastating, high-tier attacks."
"Also, this thing in front of us…" Evileye gestured toward the massive crater, its depths swallowed in darkness. "It's definitely the result of a final, devastating attack, likely the last strike exchanged between the ones who fought here."
Lakyus remained silent, her gaze locked on the abyss as she absorbed every word.
"I see… It's more dangerous than I thought." Lakyus furrowed her brows, concern etched into her face. The sheer scale of destruction, the remnants of power still lingering in the air and it all pointed to something beyond what they had ever faced.
'A calamity might be looming over the Kingdom.' she thought grimly, her hand instinctively resting on the hilt of her sword.
Strangely, the energy radiating from the crater felt familiar to her. No matter how hard she tried to recall where she'd sensed it before, the memory eluded her. Eventually, she pushed the thought aside as the rest of the Blue Roses regrouped around her.
"Whoa! This thing's seriously deep." Gagaran whistled, peering into the eerie black trench that looked as if it led into another world.
"Careful. One wrong step and you might end up as meat paste," Evileye said, casting a sharp glance at Gagaran.
"Haha, I know, I know." Gagaran replied with a grin, though a subtle shiver ran down her spine as she stared into the endless blackness below.
Once everyone had gathered, they began discussing their findings. Gagaran, Tia, and Tina each shook their heads. Aside from the strange way the trees had splintered and the small craters scattered across the area, there was nothing, no traces of life, no clues, just an eerie silence.
However, this only served to reinforce Evileye's theory. Without hesitation, Lakyus shared Evileye's hypothesis about the strange phenomenon. The others fell silent, listening intently to Lakyus's words, while Evileye occasionally nodded and added a few remarks of her own.
By the time Lakyus finished, the three were left in stunned disbelief.
"…Gods, huh?"
"…How are we supposed to fight something like that as mere mortals?"
A heavy silence hung in the air, uncertainty weighing on all of them. But Lakyus quickly cut through their doubts.
"Don't overthink it. It's just a theory from Evileye, we can't rule out the possibility that this was simply a natural phenomenon," Lakyus said calmly.
"That's right. I could be wrong too, so no need to look so shocked," Evileye added, waving her hand dismissively. Even though she was fairly confident this massive catastrophe was the result of a powerful battle, she couldn't completely deny the chance it was something else entirely.
"Let's return and report this to the guild." Lakyus commanded her team members, however in her mind, Shido's image flashed briefly. 'I haven't met him for a while now, should I go visit him?
"Yes!" 4x
The four wasn't aware of her thoughts and simply responded to her. In a few moments the five of them disappeared from the forest.
However, just as the previous group vanished, another mysterious party arrived, so silently that no one noticed their presence. The one who appeared to be the leader glanced briefly in the direction of the departing figures before turning his gaze back to the crater.
"Interesting... another variable has appeared and a very dangerous one at that."
The leader was a striking man with blonde hair and pink eyes. Upon closer inspection, he bore an uncanny resemblance to Clementine.
"Qua-chan, can we go back already? I don't like being near this place." a woman with long blue hair said nervously, fidgeting as she addressed the man she called Qua-chan. Her outfit was revealing enough to expose her underwear, with garments that hung loosely and sagged at the edges. An oversized hat obscured most of her face, adding to her strange appearance.
"Heh! How can you be such a scaredy-cat?" a massive, gray-haired old man with a muscular build teased the woman, letting out a booming laugh.
"If we weren't on a mission, I'd have already sent you flying into the sky!"
"Hoho, I'd like to see you try."
Tension crackled in the air as a fight seemed ready to break out. Yet the rest of the group showed no intention of stopping them, except for their leader.
"Now, now. Calm down, both of you. We still have a mission to complete." the leader said, his tone calm but firm.
"Tsk, you're lucky Qua-chan stepped in." the girl muttered, clicking her tongue as she moved away from the huge old man, more out of fear she might actually launch him skyward than anything else.
"Hahaha! Big words for such a little girl like you." he laughed heartily.
...
"We're done here. Let's report back before something unexpected happens." the leader said, his eyes lingering on the crater for a moment.
The rest nodded in agreement, and in the next instant, they vanished without a trace.