Overlord (Light Novel) Chapter 51

Chapter 3: The Large Tomb

(Re)Translated by: Nigel

Part 1

The Worker team led by “Green Leaf” Palpatra bade farewell to the others 一 who were driven by anticipation and desire 一 and then looked down upon the outside from the stairs leading to the central mausoleum's entrance.

Nothing stirred under their eyes as they swept them across the silent graveyard. The only things there were silence, darkness and starlight. As Palpatra took a step towards the stairs, his companions said:

“Gramps, don't you think this is a bit of a shame? We should have let the other teams search the graveyard, no?”

“In that case…”

“But we have priority searching rights for tomorrow, so we aren't losing out on anything. Besides, we ought to have finished the surface investigation by then, and if they're unlucky, the last team might not be able to find anything, and they might even be posted to guard the base camp.”

“Besides, going first into a mysterious set of ruins is far too dangerous. They're like mining canaries for us, though hopefully they'll come back alive.”

There was a hint of disdain on his face, completely unlike the benign old man who was called “gramps” by others. However, his teammates knew him well, and they were not alarmed.

To just about anyone, nothing was more valuable than one's life. Even so, they could not help but envy the treasure that had slipped through their fingers.

“You do have a point. However, look at this neat and tidy graveyard. Someone's clearly tidying it up, which means monsters will be coming out to welcome us. Isn't it better to let the others see what kind of monsters there are? Personally, I didn't really like this job because there were too many uncertain factors.”

“But you still took it in the end, right?”

The group descended the stairs and reached the ground.

“Besides, even if we end up losing out here, all we need to do is knuckle down and find another job with a big payout. You've said it before, haven't you, gramps? As long as you live, there's always a chance, so there's no need to force yourself to take risks.”

“Aren't you still young now?”

The group flashed wry grins to each other as they headed towards the small mausoleum.

“Well, that's the only way you could have expressed it back then. Besides, you're the team leader we chose, gramps. When our trusted leader makes a decision, we're all happy to obey.”

“Mm, we've engraved your spar with him into our eyes, gramps. That's an adamantite-ranker for you.”

“Gramps…”

“Really?”

“How could you possibly die, gramps? I can't even bring myself to imagine you retiring.”

“Hyahyahya, no, no, not even I could do something like that. The man's an oddity.”

Suddenly, a woman's quiet voice reached them.

The group immediately raised their weapons, and turned back.

Each of them was unbelievably beautiful, but at the same time it also made them especially abnormal.

“You… who are you? I didn't see you just… oh, so there was a hidden passage after all.”

“They don't seem hostile, but… they can't possibly be people who were hired in addition to ourselves.”

His comrades dared not be careless. They observed the girls closely as they asked him.

“Our numbers are roughly even… so we should just be able to handle it, right?”

They had not attacked while the Workers were gathered together in order to get them all in one fell swoop. That implied they lacked the fighting power or traps to deal with so many people at once. At the same time, they had chosen to show up and show themselves off and initiate the conversation; that implied they were confident of defeating Palpatra's group.

“Still, maids showing up in a tomb… really calls their taste into question.

Palpatra thought the temperature around him had plummeted for a moment. However, the goosebumps covering his body were no delusion.

“LeT's KiLL thEM.”

“We can't just kill them normally. We need to make their suffering legendary.”

“Alright, alright,” the most senior-looking maid said with a clap of her hands. “Our master has ordered us not to let any of them return unharmed, so we were going to kill them anyway. However, I'm quite pleased to see everyone so motivated.”

Shaken, Palpatra and company backed off.

For Palpatra and the others, the ideal tactic for them was to shorten the distance between themselves and the enemy. The reverse would be to the maids' advantage. However, why were these maids coming down the stairs? Were they planning to soar into the sky with [Fly] if anything happened?

Clang!

“Alright, let's start with a self-introduction. I… forgive me… this one is the assistant leader of the Seven Sisters (Pleiades), Yuri Alpha. While we will not be together for long, it was a pleasure to meet you. Now then, back to the main topic, while wiping you out directly would be faster, we cannot make a move ourselves for certain reasons. What a shame.”

The smiles of these stunningly beautiful maidens overflowed with a charm that instantly seized the hearts of anyone who looked upon them.

However, their scornful words overflowed with a sense of superiority, and below the thin veneer of their fair features was arrogance which belonged to the overwhelmingly powerful. For these men, who had walked hand in hand with death and who were very proud of their abilities, such high-handedness was utterly intolerable. It even made them want to show the maids exactly who they were looking down upon.

The best option might be to run, and let the adventurers 一 especially Momon 一 join the fight.

Yuri clapped, and the graveyard trembled, as though in response to the echoing sound.

“What?” Palpatra exclaimed in shock.

A pincer attack? No…

Palpatra came to the conclusion that the only enemies in their way were the Skeletons behind them, and so he began assessing the new batch of enemies.

However, there was a problem.

These Skeletons felt different from regular Skeletons, and their equipment was different too.

Skeletons outfitted with magical gear could not be ordinary Skeletons.

“You don't know either, gramps? I'm not too sure… but I think they might be an offshoot species of Skeleton Warriors.”

Opponents one had never encountered before were always unsettling, especially foes outfitted with magic items that possessed special effects.

“We're honored that you're sending out such powerful undead against us. However…”

No matter what, they could not possibly have too many undead equipped with so many magic items. They were probably using their strongest forces against them right off the bat.

“一So these are the strongest fighters of the ruins, then? You think they're enough to stop us?”

I hit the nail on the head! I see. So they already laid a trap during our conversation…

And so, they had learned part of their opponents' aim from this. When the maid said, “show us how far you can run,” they were trying to bait them into fleeing, so they would have a chance to attack them from behind. From the maids' point of view, they would be engaging in several battles, so they would want to minimize any wear and tear to their forces.

“So all we need to do is defeat these Skeletons and break out of this encirclement, am I wrong?”

The other teams might be rivals, but comrades were comrades. Besides, if they wanted them to flee, then standing and fighting would run a lower risk of falling into a trap. And of course this was just in case, but he was thinking about asking Momon to fight if their opposition was very strong. However, they ought to fight now, even if there was risk.

“Given how well those undead are equipped, I can't imagine there could be more of them.”

“…No, I think there ought to be a few more in the ruins. However the ones left are probably lower-grade undead.”

“We've already been surrounded, there's no escape for us! Even if we try to fly away, they'll shoot us down with bows! Hang in there, lads! There's no way for us to survive but by defeating them!”

“Well, that's also a valid means of breaking through. We'll cheer for you, so let's begin.”

Yuri and the others had troubled looks on their faces as they kept “cheering” them on.

“Ahhh, this is bad ~su.”

“Cocytus-sama will be shocked.”

“Oh, that looks very bad, he'll die ~su.”

The sound of metal scraping and a heavy object collapsing somehow managed to fill the air despite the intense battle.

“Priest-san, if you don't heal him, he'll die ~su”

Yuri muttered worriedly to herself, while Shizu shook her head as an answer.

Palpatra was the only one who seemed to be earnestly giving battle, but he had to deal with three enemies at once and did not have the freedom to help his comrades.

The thief fighting to protect the arcane magic caster now had one more enemy to face. Now he had two. The thief's light and nimble weaponry lacked decisive power against his foes 一 the undead Nazarick Old Guarders who could not be slain in one hit and who wore sturdy armor. The thief barely managed to avoid their attacks with agile movements, but there was a great difference between the untiring undead and human beings who could become fatigued.

“Want to wave to him?”

“Okay ~su”

“…It hit him.”

“Ueeehhhh~ It's my fault ~su?”

“Yes, I do hope they can hang in there a little longer.”

The Nazarick Old Guarders held the upper hand throughout the battle with Palpatra's team. At this point, this one-sided battle could be described as futile resistance. Even Yuri and the others could not help but pity them.

“Uwah, the difference in their strength is so great I can't think of anything to say.”

“I think that summon spell they cast was it.”

“No, that's too weak for a secret weapon. Although, using a summoned monster as a meatshield was a pretty good idea.”

“HOwEVeR, uSIng fLIGhT MAgiC aFter thAT wAS jUsT STuPId. DiDN't that wriNKLy old gEEzeR SAy sO hIMseLF?”

“…He became a priority target.”

“But why did they think there were only this many Old Guarders?”

Had they unconsciously imagined the scenario going in their favor? That did not mean they were stupid. Perhaps humans thought like that when they did not want to look despair right in the eye; their survival instincts flared to their limits in order to build up their courage.

“Yes, no matter how you look at it.”

Everyone glared at Entoma.

“…Goes without saying.”

There was a scream of unbearable pain, followed by the sound of something collapsing. The battle maids turned to look at the source of the sound, and then spoke sadly.

“The outcome of the battle's been decided.”

“But they were so confident back then! Of course I was wondering if they had some plan in mind.”

“SMeLLs TasTY…”

Their master had issued an order to recover everyone who was incapacitated, whether they were alive or dead. Naturally, they could not present an insect-chewed body to their master. It would be terribly rude.

“We'll ask Ainz-sama if you can eat it later. Bear with it for now.”

“Seems like it. That's why they posted pretty strong undead near the walls.”

“…Didn't expect them to fight head-on.”

And so, Palpatra and the Worker team he led vanished that night

“Push them back!”

The room was 20 meters long on each side, and the ceiling was at least 5 meters overhead. This room, illuminated by the light spell of the magic caster and torches dropped on the floor, was packed full of people.

There were so many that counting them would be an exercise in pointlessness.

A Zombie pounded on Gringam's full plate armor with both its hands. While Zombies were stronger than regular human beings, they were still not enough to put so much as a scratch on the steel plate armor. The rotted, fragile hands splattered on contact, leaving putrid chunks of rotting flesh stuck to the full plate armor.

Of course, they might have gotten in a lucky shot. But such lucky shots had not occurred, thanks to the protective magic on them.

“Dammit! There's too many!”

_{The latest_epi_sodes are on_the ʟɪɢʜᴛɴᴏᴠᴇʟᴡᴏʀʟᴅ.ᴄᴏᴍ website.}

He smashed the skulls of Zombies and Skeletons with his mace, but he could not hold out against the enemy's pressure, and he was slowly forced back.

The warrior's question was very reasonable.

Zombies and Skeletons were hardly strong foes. However, their numbers were a threat of their own.

The back-liners would probably not go down easily either, but the sheer numbers they faced left them uneasy.

“We need to finish this right away! I place my trust in thee!”

Normally, undead like this were not a problem for Gringam and the rest of Heavy Masher. However, that was also the reason why the backliners chose to wait and conserve their strength. Once the backline made a move, eliminating undead like these would be as easy as falling off a log.

The priest clasped his holy symbol, and his cry took the form of power. A cool, clean feeling surged through the burial vault 一 which had been filled with unclean air 一 in a wave of divine might that was more potent than usual. The priest used his ability to turn undead.

When there was a great difference between the respective power levels of both sides, the ability to turn undead could instead directly destroy them. However, destroying many undead at once was extremely difficult, and the user needed a certain degree of power.

“I'll blow you away! [Fireball]!

“I'm not done yet! [Fireball]!”

The backliners launched another round of areeffect attacks and the number of undead sharply decreased.

“Alright!”

Gringam charged into the undead horde, his axe swinging. Sticky fluids oozed 一 perhaps it would have spurted, if its heart were beating 一 from the the flying body parts. The odor from the open, severed wounds on the corpses was nauseating but it was not unbearable.

Gringam and the warrior worked together, attacking, attacking and attacking some more. They gave no thought to defense.

Every now and then, something would strike Gringam's head, but his armor absorbed the impact, and he hardly felt anything in his neck. Even when his chest and belly were struck, he hardly felt the blows.

“All the undead we've met are piddly little creatures, but there's a lot of them in this tomb!”

The person answering him was the priest, who was observing the battle from the rear as he picked up the warrior's shield.

The strange thing was that the corpses vanished after a certain amount of time had passed, so the ground was not carpeted in bodies, leaving them no place to stand. That part sounded like what happened to summoned monsters after they died, hence the wizard's warning to the others.

Gringam replied as he felled skeletons like trees, and then he surveyed the interior of the room. There were few undead left, less than the number of fingers on both hands. It did not look like a new batch would be coming in through the door, and the battle would be over soon.

His danger sense ordered him to flee immediately, but he could not do so right now. Even so一

The thief seemed to have sensed it as well as he shouted.

His comrades cried out in pain. However, Gringam poured his strength into gripping the axe which he had not released even through his fall. As he smashed the Skeletons that had fallen with him, he stood up.

The undead had also been damaged from the fall 一 in particular, the Skeletons were weak against bludgeoning attacks and had thus taken a great deal of damage 一 so fighting them was much easier than before.

They were probably at the bottom of a pit below a magical trap that caused the floor to vanish. Looking up, the ceiling seemed very far away. At a glance, it looked like it was 12 meters overhead. Three meters above the floor was a closed door. Three meters above 一 a total of six meters above the ground 一 was an open door, the one through which Gringam and the others had originally entered the room. One could say they had fallen a distance of roughly two floors.

It was hard to believe they had barely been hurt by falling into a place like this.

“It looks like a room used for drowning. I'll bet they'll pour in water from those tunnel-like things up there. I'll pass on that, if you don't mind. It's worse if they're Slimes or the like instead.”

Climbing two floors of a wall with no handholds was quite difficult. At most, only the thief could do it; people like Gringam in their full plate armor would have a very hard time. In contrast, that unknown door might not be safe, but reaching it seemed much easier.

Their bodies were bloated from the negative energy accumulated within them, and they exploded when killed. Their death explosions harmed the living and healed the undead at the same time, making them very troublesome undead.

“Look out! Get clear!”

Everyone 一 the wizard who was almost in tears included 一 barely managed to avoid the attack, and so the undead rolled into the center of the inverted pyramid. The next wave of Plague Bombers had already showed their ugly faces, which let Gringam and the others know that just now was just the first wave. At the same time, they also guessed what would happen after this.

If they were knocked into the center of the room by the intense impacts from the rolling undead, they would assuredly be squashed to death. Even if they were not crushed, they would be immobilized, and then they would die from the repeated negative energy explosions of the other undead being flattened by their fellows.

“As if I could! You fall in there and you're done for!”

“Then I'll use magic!”

“No, uwah! That was close! I'm going to use [Web Ladder]!”

“一No! Halt! We must flee through the second storey door through which we entered! The door below is perilous!”

“[Web Ladder]!”

This magically created spiderweb had a unique stickiness to it. When one did not want to let go it would be adhesive, but when one wanted to move, it would not be, making it very suitable as a ladder.

Gringam finally reached the door that had been open all this while, and carefully studied the passage through it. If they were hit and knocked down now, they would surely meet with a hideous fate.

After he was sure of it, he jumped on top of the tunnels and then pulled everyone up.

“…These ruins are really maliciously designed. I sprained my ankle when we fell, hope you can heal me.”

“I barely managed to avoid it by luck. It's too much to ask a wizard to dodge attacks.”

“Say, Gringam, why did you want us to avoid that door? I thought that door would have been the right choice. Don't they always put the right route in the most dangerous place?”

Gringam had reverted to his usual way of speaking now that he was exhausted. After hearing his reply, the thief immediately pulled out a dagger and threw it at the door. The dagger flew in a straight line, and struck home 一 or at least, when it was about to, part of the door bulged out and shaped itself into a tentacle, which deflected the flying dagger.

“Cheh! A double trap, huh, that's pretty evil. Still, you're amazing, you actually saw through it.”

At this point, Gringam shut up. That was because the thief who had been going on and on since just now had a finger on his lips, and was tilting his head to listen.

Everyone looked to the source of the sound 一 towards the passage.

“Yeah, there's only one of them, and they're not trying to be stealthy, so that should be it. I hope it's the last one…”

The tak tak tak sound grew louder, and the other party finally showed themselves.

Its skeletal face was covered by a thin layer of rotting skin, and there was a malevolent intelligence in its eyes. Negative energy wreathed its body like mist.

“一An Elder Lich!”

Indeed. After a wicked magic caster died and the body was infused with negative energy, it would give rise to an evil monster like this.

Elder Liches were fairly powerful opponents. To adventurers, platinum-rankers would not be able to defeat one easily, but mithral-ranked teams would be certain of doing so. If Gringam and the others disregarded fatigue, they would be able to beat it. In addition, they were fortunate enough to have a team member who was exceptionally potent against the undead, which was a shot in the arm for everyone.

“Is that the master of the tomb?!”

Good examples of those were the captain of the ghost ship that sailed through the mist of the Katze Plains, or the Elder Lich who became famous for ruling a city, and so on.

“Did we hit the jackpot? That's a stroke of luck!”

“We'll show him the power of Heavy Masher!”

His other colleagues were shouting. They were doing so in order to banish the fear they felt when facing a mighty foe like an Elder Lich.

Just as Gringam was about to start calling battle orders to his comrades, a strange feeling arose within him. He immediately found the reason for that feeling. It was the powerful enemy before them, the Elder Lich.

“He doesn't seem to want to… attack us?”

Gringam and the others were hard-pressed to hide their confusion. This was because they thought they would be charging into combat, yet they did not dare make the first move.

The most important thing was that avoiding combat was the ideal course of action when one faced a powerful enemy like an Elder Lich. Perhaps it had shown up because it was tired of not being able to eliminate the group with its traps, but it might also be because it knew their strength and wanted to peacefully negotiate.

Gringam and the rest of his group looked at each others' faces, and verified that everyone was thinking the same thing.

“Forgive my disrespect, but thou seem'st to be the master of this tomb. We一”

In other words 一 quiet.

Gringam obediently shut up. Then, he heard a sound again from the silent passage, and he immediately doubted his ears.

Gringam and his group exchanged glances again. They did not want to believe the answer the sound was telling them.

“Who was it?! Who said the Elder Lich was the master of this tomb?!”

“Are you fucking kidding me?! This is ridiculous!”

“Even divine protection has its limits!”

There were now seven of these powerful magic casters.

The problem now was that they did not have such a way, and they could not possibly do so.

“Now then, let us begin.”

“Retreat!”

At their head was the thief. After that was Gringam, the wizard, the priest and the warrior.

They reached a corner. These were places where they ought to have been on guard against traps or monsters, but as the footsteps pressed in from behind, they did not have the free time to check carefully. Everything was up to the heavens; all they could do was run.

The armored people made a cacophonous sound of metal clashing as they ran, which echoed along the passage. While the sound might attract monsters, nobody had the time or energy to cast [Silence].

They moved their legs, heedless to everything else. Turning corners and sprinting madly made them lose their sense of direction, and they no longer had any idea of where they were right now. If possible, they would have liked to return to the entrance, but nobody had the energy to consider that.

“They're still there! They're running after us!

“Why the hell are they running! Why aren't they flying?!”

“Let's hide in a small room and parley…” the mage panted. He was the physically weakest member of the group, and he looked like he would collapse at any time.

Undead monsters like Elder Liches would not get tired. If this kept up, they would be forced into a corner, and once their endurance was gone, all that awaited them was to be slowly picked off.

Such a thing was impossible if one went by common sense.

That was the only answer they could think of. However, was there really such a powerful undead being? Gringam was at a loss for an answer.

The warrior running at the end of the pack cursed between panting breaths.

“What一”

***

Gringam's vision was filled with blackness. The sounds of crunching and squishing came from under his feet, and he felt his body slowly sinking. It was just like falling into a swamp. He panicked for a moment, but this swamp-like place was not very deep, and he stopped sinking after it reached his waist.

“…Is anyone there?”

He immediately received a response from a comrade 一 the thief. In addition, he was not far away. It was probably around the same distance that had separated them while they had been running.

There was no answer. He had guessed it; there was no light here, so the wizard and the warrior were not present. He had been lucky enough that the thief was here at all.

“Indeed, it is as… cheh! Yeah, you're right.”

Nothing seemed to be moving一

“Might as well.”

“Right then, hang on a bit.”

The first thing he saw was the thief, holding a glowstick high in his hand. Then, he saw the light reflected of countless smaller surfaces. It made him think of the glittering treasure he had seen in the mausoleum.

Gringam fought the desire to scream, while the thief's face seized up as well.

So the crunching sensation under his feet was caused by squashing cockroaches. The thought of being submerged up to his waist in cockroaches was that much more abhorrent.

“This… what is this place?”

“What on earth happened?”

As the thief looked around in fear, Gringam thought of the last thing he had seen before his world was swallowed by darkness 一 the magic circle that had floated up under his feet 一 and then he told the thief:

“To think there'd be a teleporting trap… or was that a spell from the Elder Lich?”

“一I think it was a 5th or 6th tier spell that could teleport multiple people at once, right?”

Could it be that our opposition is really so…”

A chill settled over Gringam's heart as he keenly realized the danger of the tomb. At the same time, he felt an intense resentment towards the Count who had offered him this job. Of course, it had been Gringam and the others who had accepted the job, and they had known there would be risks, and they had still laid their lives out as chips on the card table. Perhaps it could not be helped that he was looking for a scapegoat.

“So he couldn't bear to share that information? Son of a bitch… let's get out of here! These ruins… are not a place we should have touched.”

That was the fact that these cockroaches were not moving.

Their feelers were twitching faintly, so they were probably not dead yet, but they remained still. A mysterious air of dread filled the area.

Suddenly, a third person's voice rang forth.

Gringam and the thief frantically looked around, but they could not sense anyone moving.

Their melee weapons could not reach that far. The thief silently drew his bow, while Gringam planned to pull out his catapult 一 but that was only for show. If the battle began, he could wade through this waist-deep sea of cockroaches and hack at his foe with his axe.

However, this cockroach seemed different from its fellow cockroaches around it. It was only 30 centimeters tall, yet it stood erect on two legs.

The strangest thing was that it was looking right at Gringam and the thief despite standing upright. An insect would naturally look up if it were standing on two legs, but the being before their eyes was different.

Gringam exchanged looks with the thief, and they agreed that Gringam would parley with their opposition. After verifying that the thief had put down his bow and the arrow nocked to it, Gringam asked Kyouhukou:

“Umu. It would seem you did not hear my introduction just now. Shall I state my name once more?”

“Oh, a deal. I am very thankful to the two of you, and I am delighted to deal with you.”

“…We would like… we would like to ask you to allow us to safely leave this room.”

The second floor一

“We passed through the mausoleum on the surface, descended a flight of stairs and passed through a doorway 一 was that the first floor?”

“No, I was simply confirming that.”

Somehow, Kyouhukou was nodding. Gringam felt like he had been stabbed by icicles when he saw it.

In other words, while he did not know how they had done it, their opposition used teleportation magic as a trap. What kind of spell was it, and what kind of magical technology had they used? He knew how shocking this was despite not being a magic caster.

“Hmhm.”

“I see…”

For a short while, the interior of the room was deathly silent. In the end, Kyouhukou seemed to have made up its mind. It nodded and said:

Gringam was about to open his mouth, but Kyouhukou raised a foreleg to stop him, and then said:

“Ah!”

The arrow whistled through the air, but Kyouhukou's crimson cape caught it, and it fell powerlessly.

Countless rustling noises echoed through the room, and it became a torrent of sound.

It was a churning flow of darkness.

The swell of the tidal wave swallowed Gringam and the thief. It looked just like being devoured by the ocean.

Weapons were useless against a swarm of such tiny insects, and Gringam did not know any martial arts which could attack an area. In that case, smacking them with his hands would be faster. Therefore, he had already cast aside his weapon, and he did not know where it had gone.

His thief companion's voice was drowned out by the rustling, and he could not hear it.

Prickling pain filled Gringam's body from head to toe. It was the pain from the cockroaches which had infiltrated through the gaps in his armor and were chewing at his flesh.

Gringam wanted to cry out, but the cockroaches working their way into his mouth blocked it up. He frantically tried to spit out the cockroaches, but every time he opened his mouth, another cockroach would squirm in through his lips, and then crawl around in his mouth.

Tiny cockroaches seemed to have burrowed into his ears. The rustling grew louder, and his ears were unbearably itchy.

Gringam understood what sort of fate awaited him. He would be eaten alive by cockroaches.

He screamed out loud, and the cockroaches promptly flowed into his mouth. They wriggled everywhere, and then burrowed into the depths of his throat. Then, he felt something slide down his throat into his stomach. The sensation of a live cockroach thrashing around in his guts made him want to throw up.

He could not bear to die like this.

Gringam had saved up enough that he could spend his days in leisure even without adventuring, and with his reputation, he could easily marry a beautiful woman, the likes of which one could not find in a village. Be it in terms of strength or wealth, he was far superior to his elder brothers who had chased him from the house. He should have been a winner in life.

“Abbbooooaahhhhhh! I want to go back aliveeeeee!” he screamed as he spat out chewed-up cockroaches.

Gringam's cries vanished into the black vortex several seconds later.

His eyes suddenly opened

These incomprehensible circumstances sparked terror within him. He wanted to scream, but something was stuck in his mouth. He could not speak, and he could not close his mouth.

“Aran~ so you're awake.”

A horrific monster worked its way into his immobilized field of vision, appearing before him.

Its skin was the cloudy white color of a drowned corpse. Its body was swollen like the aforementioned drowned corpse, with a few bands of black leather to substitute for clothing. Those bands bit into its skin, looking just like butcher's twine used to wrap up cuts of meat, and it was hideous beyond belief. Perhaps they would have been bewitchingly alluring on a beautiful woman, but on a spine-chilling monster like this, it was less seductive than stomach-churning.

This bizarre being looked at him with cloudy, pupil-less eyes.

“Hahhh… hahhh…”

The strangely cold sensation sent a chill through his entire body.

“Ara~ there's no need to shrink in fear.”

“Mmm, should I ask you for your name?”

“…”

“Ufufufu, you don't want to tell me? You're so shy, how adorable.”

“Let me tell 一 you 一 my 一 name <3” the creature said, in a saccharine 一 though garbled 一 voice that sounded like it was appending hearts to the end of every sentence it said. “I'm Neuronist, the special intelligence gathering officer of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. However, everyone also calls me the torturer.”

“Afterwards, I'll use this to suck you dry~”

“Alright, it's like this. We caught you.”

“You do know where you are, don't you?” Neuronist chuckled, and then continued. “This is the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, you know. The Kingdom of the only member of the 41 Supreme Beings who stayed behind, Momo一no, Ainz-sama. It is the most honored place in the world.”

“Indeed, Ainz-sama.”

“He's one of the 41 Supreme Beings, and the leader who once coordinated the other Supreme Beings. And he's also a very, very charming man. Anyone who sees him would want to pledge their utmost loyalty to him. As for me, if I were fortunate enough to be called to Ainz-sama's bed, I would gladly offer him my first time.”

“Mmmm, I'll tell you something,” The monster began tracing letters on his chest, like a young girl in the throes of her first crush. “The last time Ainz-sama visited me, he was staring at my body. His gaze was like a male beast selecting its prey. After that, he seemed embarrassed, and then turned his eyes away. It made my heart race and my spine shiver~”

“That little brat Shalltear and that ugly freak Albedo both seem to be enjoying Ainz-sama's attentions, but no matter how you think of it, I'm more attractive than them. Don't you think?”

What manner of fate would befall him if he dared disagree with her? The fear of that made him agree with her.

“Fufufu, you're sweet. Or are you just telling the truth? Still, for some reason, Ainz-sama has never called for me… ahhh, Ainz-sama… your stoic attitude is so attractive…”

“…Ah, I've gone all shivery. Ara, pardon me, I've been talking all this while.”

“Let me tell you what your fate will be. You know what a chorus is, don't you?”

“They are a choir that sings hymns and psalms, praising the love and glory of God. I want to have you join the chorus, along with your friends.”

“Oh yes~ It's a chorus~ Even a fool like you who has not sworn his all to Ainz-sama can make an offering to Ainz-sama if you but raise your voice and sing. We will have your singing in unison be our objective. Ahhh, my body's gone shivery again. This shall be the gospel music that Neuronist will offer to Ainz-sama.”

“Fufufufu. Alright. I'll introduce you to the people who will help you sing in harmony.”

Once he saw those people, he momentarily forgot to breathe, because he knew that they were evil creatures at a glance.

Their heads were covered in seamless black leather masks. There was no telling how they could see or even breathe. Their arms were also very long. Each of them was about two meters tall, but their arms extended down below their knees.

There were four of these vile creatures.

He had a very bad feeling about this. He suddenly realized what “singing” meant, and he frantically twisted his body in an attempt to escape, but his body still could not move.

“Rho rhu thiiih!”

Neuronist asked him that question as he shouted and the tears welled up in his eyes. Then, it lightly waggled its six tentacles.

“Ah hourrrihh!”

Neuronist produced a slender rod from somewhere. At its tip was a five-millimeter long section covered in spikes.

He had no idea what it was for, but Neuronist was only too happy to explain.

“Rho rhu thiiih!”

“We're going to be together for a very long time. If you're going to cry and make a fuss over this much, it won't end well for you, you know?”

Each team had taken a different route at the crossroads, and among them Eruya Uzruth had simply charged straight ahead, on the baseless assumption that there would be a strong enemy waiting for him in the tomb's depths.

Perhaps I picked the wrong route. As Eruya thought that, he clicked his tongue.

Fortunately, nothing had happened so far, but if there had been traps, she could very well have died.

However, he had his reasons.

Surely anyone would be shocked when they heard that answer. Their shock would not be a matter of ethics, but economics.

Among them, those Elves with special skills cost as much as a magic weapon enchanted with special effects. Even someone like Eruya could not simply buy one because he wanted to.

I'll buy one with bigger breasts next time, Eruya thought as he looked at the back of the tired-seeming elf.

Since this job was a cooperative effort with other teams, he had not bedded the Elves for several days. Granted, nobody would say anything even if he had slept with them, but jealousy brought about displeasure. That was not advantageous, and as a Worker, Eruya knew at least that much.

“Or maybe, next time I'll ask for someone like that bitch's type.”

That bitch was truly an eyesore.

Just thinking about it filled Eruya's handsome features with rage.

The Elf slaves were thoroughly broken before they were handed to their masters, ensuring that they could not put up any resistance.

“Why did you stop? Keep going.”

“A sound?”

“…I don't hear anything.”

“How about you lot?”

“It… it sounds like metal clashing against metal.”

There was no way the sound of metal colliding with metal could occur naturally.

“We're going to check out the source of that sound.”

He let the Elf slave walk ahead of him, and they travelled in the direction of the noise.

“Is that the sound of another team fighting? I didn't think we crossed their path when we went forward, but it seems we've run into another team.”

“Oh well, forget it. We might be able to back them up and kill some monsters.”

When he turned the corner, his doubts were answered.

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They were swinging their swords within the room. Each mighty hack was deflected by an unhesitating parry. Scenes like that repeated themselves throughout the room. It might have looked like an intense battle, but Eruya immediately saw that they were training.

Apart from the Lizardmen, there was a gigantic fellow with a huge tower shield and wearing black plate armor with blood vessel-like tracery on it, and one more person 一 or rather, one more creature.

“So, thou hast come at last, intruder-dono.”

Eruya was a genius swordsman, but his magical abilities were hardly exceptional. He channelled his strength into his core, steeled his soul, and prepared himself to resist hostile magic as he asked:

There was no need to bother. Since it was here waiting for him, that implied that it was the guardian of these ruins. The question now was how powerful this guardian was.

“Someone hath appointed me to face thee, and perform several tests at the same time… but given thy strength, I fear it is somewhat insufficient.”

The former was because the magical beast was simply a watchman, and the latter was because it had scorned him.

“Y-yes.”

“What kind of creature is that?”

“I… I'm very, very sorry. I… haven't heard of a magical beast like that before.”

“Cheh, you're useless.”

He smashed the useless Elf's face with the hilt of his sword.

The magical beast was quite large; fighting it head-on would be very unfavorable. However, magical beasts were generally very big, and Eruya had killed several magical beasts like this until now. There was no need to be afraid or whatnot of a magical beast he had not seen before.

“I have a question; what makes you think you can beat me?”

Eruya's face twisted, and he tightened his grip on his sword.

“I pray thee spare me. Very well, my master hath ordered this one to slay thee here… so let us begin forthwith.”

He wanted to dispense with the pleasantries and start swinging, but if he got angry and slashed at a magical beast who was taking things easy, he would end up feeling like someone had gotten the better of him. Therefore, he swallowed his anger, and snorted.

“Speaking of which, why dost thou delay? Will those Elves not prepare as well?”

“Ah, they are not involved in this. The Lizardmen behind this one are merely to spectate the fight. Fret not about them.”

“I thank thee for thy praise.”

“That said, this one must slay thee without mercy, so this one desires that thou assault me with all thy might. After all, as this one hath said before, this is also a test for this one.”

“Mm~ a test to see if this one's warrior prowess hath improved. Alright, let us commence. This one shall not strike at the elves behind thee, but only at thy person.”

“This one is known as Hamsuke! Remember the name of the one who claims thy life upon thy voyage to the next world! State thy name as well!”

“Then this one shall erase you my memory as a nameless fool!”

There was no way he could have imagined such a large body moving so fast. A less talented warrior might have been shaken by the immense pressure bearing down on him, and he would have been unable to avoid being slammed by that huge body and taking severe wounds.

Eruya waited until Hamsuke drew near then slid to the side, without moving his legs.

The basic [Shukuchi] was a martial art that could only be used to shorten the distance to one's foe, but [Shukuchi Kai] could be used to freely move in all directions. Sliding around without moving one's legs was quite creepy, but very practical.

“Yeeart!”

“一Guuwaaargh!”

It felt very hard.

As he crashed heavily to the ground, he subconsciously confirmed that he could still move.

However, the twin facts that he was rolling around on the ground and that he had disgracefully taken an attack from the enemy almost made him go berserk. However, Eruya the warrior reprimanded himself; now was not the time to be thinking of that.

A slippery fluid flowed from his nose. He wiped at it with one hand, and as expected, it was blood.

Hamsuke watched Eruya rise with calm eyes. The word “observing” would best describe the expression on its face.

You're using me as a touchstone for a magical beast's growth as a warrior?!

“I see… so if I keep fighting at a slow pace like this, I ought to be able to win… Ah, I pray thee pay it no heed. This one hath never before seen a human being who could overcome this one.”

He had thought he could win easily, so he had not used them. However, he no longer had the luxury of arrogance.

These martial arts were his pride and joy. [Greater Ability Boost], in particular, was a martial art that someone of Eruya's level should never have been able to learn.

He swung the sword in his hand. The blade was light and his movements were smooth. The sword moved as he imagined it.

“Umu, this one remembers that one should keep a distance when one cannot gauge an opponent's strength, right? But this one must also face battle as a warrior… alas, it cannot be helped.”

“This one wishes to fight in close quarters; wilt thou accede to this one's request?”

The moment it entered his attack radius, Eruya swung at his foe.

Eruya did not pull his sword back, but thrust at Hamsuke's eyes. Some magical beasts had a protective film on their eyes which could repel insufficiently sharp blades, and some warriors could use ki or an aura to deflect the strikes of an amateur. However, Hamsuke did not seem to have such defensive abilities.

Hamsuke's body whirled, and as it evaded the thrusting blade, its tail ripped through the air and struck at Eruya.

“Gwaargh!”

Eruya leapt back. He had roughly grasped the length of the tail; after the tail passed by, he would use [Shukuchi Kai] to charge back into close quarters with the enemy.

“Hnggg!”

The tail's movements were completely different from those of the body. It was not a rat's tail, but a serpentine tail like that of a Chimera; it could move independently.

Eruya altered the information on Hamsuke in his head as he rushed into its embrace. Hamsuke had been waiting for this, and it responded to the attack.

Hamsuke could attack with both claws, and so he could strike more frequently than Eruya, who only had one sword.

His bodily attributes might have been improved, but Hamsuke was still superior. In that case一

“Umu…”

“[Void Slash!]!”

Hamsuke covered its face and braced itself, and its hide deflected the cutting strike.

“So you can't block this, can you? This is the difference between a man and a mere beast.”

He kept on using [Void Slash], but Hamsuke's hide was very hard, so breaking through its protection would surely be very difficult. That was why he had to keep using martial arts on its face, which ought to be the least protected.

“Wait!”

“No 一 stop bothering this one. I speak of the one within this one's mouth… ahhh, what a pain!”

Well, obviously humans wouldn't be able to understand what beasts are saying… that said, it ought to be charging over now!

“Bring it.”

It was difficult for [Void Slash] to strike mortal blows, so he would have to defeat it with a direct attack. When Hamsuke ran, it did so like a beast, sticking out its face, and during that time, Eruya could use a martial art that was more potent than [Void Slash] to stop its movements. After that, all he would need to do was keep attacking its face and victory was assured.

“Abbbahhhhh!”

His pauldron dented inward with a scream of tortured metal as it was crushed with his flesh. The sound of bones breaking crackled up and down his body, and agony flooded his brain like an electric shock.

The massive, serpentine tail twitched behind Hamsuke. It had become strangely long.

This was bad.

If his enemy tackled him under these conditions, his defeat was certain.

After hearing her master's order, one of the Elves hurriedly cast a spell on him.

“That's not enough! Cast strengthening spells on me!”

After being buffed by several spells, the cocky smile returned to Eruya's face.

He had never once lost after being strengthened by so many spells. It had been the same regardless of the strength of his foes.

“Humans and beasts have always been separated by the difference in their physical attributes! I've made up for that difference now!”

“Bullshit!”

“Take this!”

His blade, swung with all his might一

A slashing attack from above him connected with his arms.

Eruya could not understand it.

Agony coursed up from his arms. Some distance away, his arms fell to the ground, still holding on to his sword.

He stumbled back from Hamsuke and screeched:

The Elves did not move.

“Marvellous! A resounding success! This one can use martial arts! Now Milord shall surely lavish praise upon this one!”

Eruya wailed hoarsely

Eruya had experienced many sorts of pain. He had been struck by lightning, burned with fire, froze by cold, his bones had been broken, he had been mauled, slashed and bludgeoned, but through it all, he had never lost his weapon. That was only common sense; in this world, releasing one's weapon indirectly equalled death. No, he was confident that as long as he held his sword in his hand, he could overcome any difficulty.

This was the first time in his life Eruya had taken such a great blow.

Fresh blood kept spraying, and his body started turning cold from the wounds out and became heavy.

Just as Eruya was at a loss to describe the emotions bursting in his heart, a voice bearing a hint of kindness reached his ears.

There was a whoosh.

That was the last burst of agony Eruya experienced in his life.

The corpse with the half-smashed face collapsed to the ground with a thud.

“Alright, wilt thou not come at me…?”

“But why? Is this how Elves inter the deceased?”

“…Oh, what a headache.”

“Apparently, all one needs to do is to give verbal provocation… but what manner of provocation should I use? This one does not understand… it cannot be helped; I shall wait for Milord to contact me. Oh, yes…”

“Zaryusu-dono, how was it? Did this one pass muster?”

The Lizardman who had tutored it in warrior techniques nodded, and Hamsuke smiled broadly.

“Yes. We'll start from light armor, and then slowly go heavier.”

“This Hamsuke shall become stronger for the sake of Milord, so Milord will look upon me with different eyes! But how much longer must this one practice before this one can count as a full-fledged warrior? Hamsuke shall be a warrior!”

“…That's so far off!”

“Is that so?”

Hamsuke's body trembled. The two lizardmen trembled as well. They all recalled the training they had received.

“Personally, I think you grow stronger more easily when you fight on the edge of life and death… that's just a personal opinion, though. Besides, it would be a bit of a shame if our newly-wedded husband lost his life in training.”

“Yes. That's because she seems to be with child.”

Zaryusu punched Zenberu on the shoulder.

“Ah, let's leave them there for now.”

The Elves which had been kicking and beating the corpse sank into a sitting position on the ground, like puppets whose strings had been cut. Hamsuke could not sense any will to fight from them. Therefore, Hamsuke decided that unless his Master gave the order, or they tried to flee, he would leave them alone.

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Chapter end