Hi Guys, Frostfire10 here. I have exams for the next two months and we have reached the end of the First Half so I feel that this is a good place to take a break.
Thus I will be on break until November. Thank you for everything until now and see you guys again.
Massacre Part 4
Translators: Frostfire10, Skythewood
Ainz nodded several times.
He could let it eat aplenty.
"Now, your turn."
Ainz pointed his black gauntlet towards the hellish crumbling landscape of the Kingdom's army.
"Awaken, Avarice. You may feast."
As if answering to Ainz's action, countless blue lights were pulled out of the Kingdom and flew upwards. Those tiny lights, smaller than a fist, were sucked into Ainz's black gauntlet.
A hundred and thirty thousand balls of light was swallowed up, like everything was a dream.
The gauntlets on Ainz's hands was one of only two hundred World Items in Yggdrasil, called [Avarice and Generosity].
The gauntlet called Avarice had the ability to store the experience that the user was usually about to gain. And the gauntlet called Generosity could be used in place of the experience lost under certain conditions, up to the amount that Avarice had taken.
The blue light was nothing more than a special effect during the absorption of the experience.
Ainz was already at the max experience cap for a level 100, and thus could not absorb any more. Thus any experience gained would be lost. However, that was a waste.
The super-tier magic [Wish Upon a Star] and other spells or skills often used experience and were stronger than most. And one of Ainz's World Items used enough experience to fall down five levels.
While the amount was few, wasting experience was something a player could not forgive. Thus he had considered the possibility that a player was around and used a World Item to absorb the experience.
Well, to those like Ainz who have lived in the game world, they would at most be surprised that Ainz was collecting experience.
However, to a third party, how would they see it?
They could only see Ainz collecting something, something that was not experience.
What were those?
They were— Souls.
In front of them, the souls of the Kingdom's soldiers were being taken. That was the only way they could see it. If it were the beautiful gauntlet absorbing it, they might still be saved. But it was the black, demon-like gauntlet that was absorbing it.
Then, there was only one title that suited Ainz.
"—Demon Lord."
One of the knights whispered.
Those words slipped into his neighbour's hearts. There was no better word to describe the mysterious noble who trampled on two hundred thousand men and collected their souls.
This scene of hell. And the screams of the dying.
And to descrate it further, there was only one title for a man who could.
"—Demon Lord."
"—Demon Lord."
The noise spread as more mouths whispered the title.
Archduke Ainz Ooal Gown. This was the moment that he gained another title of Demon Lord, when he let all of the army taste a great fear.
Of course, Ainz could hear the words, Demon Lord.
At first, he thought that an actual Demon Lord had appeared. However, realising that it was directed at him, Ainz's expression beneath the mask fell.
Ainz's plan was to show off in this war and get a high evaluation. And afterwards, he would act nice and become the hero of the Empire, and battle with Demiurge who would play the Demon Lord.
Basically Ainz wanted to be known as a hero.
—Then why?
As Ainz let [Avarice] feast on the experience, he shook his head.
Demiurge and Fluder had both assured him that this war would turn him into a hero. Then why was he being called a Demon Lord?
Demon Lord did not seem to be an abbreviation of Magic King. (TL Note: Character for Demon and Magic is the same)
Basically his plan had went awry. Ainz could not understand. However he had to fix his mistake. That was why he could only think of how to shift the direction of his plan.
"….A surprising amount was collected. Despite the experience being few due to the level gap, the numbers add up. This might be surprisingly useful."
Ainz was satisfied with the experience stored in [Avarice], and shifted his arm to look at his gauntlet. He was like a housewife who was wondering what she should exchange her points for. However, he had yet to notice the looks of fear the knights were giving him.
"Now—"
It was a boorish thing, but Demiurge said that it was better to do it.
The Guardians should be looking here through the mirror. They were prepared to jump in at any moment. That was why he had to act cool until the last moment. While, he was personally against it, he had to grasp the hearts of many to debut as a hero.
Ainz made his decision and acted.
However, before that, Ainz looked up at the sky. Even though the sun was shining brightly, there was a thin fog like clouds were covering the sky.
"—Return to the Eighth Floor."
Ainz ordered the largest force that he had brought out of Nazarick to return. Probably no one noticed. That there was another giant ball of light that covered the sun.
After giving his order, Ainz sighed and turned to the Empire's formation.
He felt tens of thousands of gazes falling on him. It was an overwhelming pressure. Ainz personally felt the phenomenon of many gazes combining to form a physical pressure.
If he were not undead, without any immunity to emotional attacks, he would be pressured and not be able to do anything. However, Ainz acted with more ease as compared to earlier.
He slowly spread open his hands.
As if to hug a friend— Or like the opening of a devil's wings.
In the silence, as the screams of the Kingdom's soldiers could be heard, Ainz spoke in a quiet voice.
"—Applause."
Basked in the gaze of everything, Ainz spoke again.
"Applause for my formidable power and supreme might."
The first one to clap was Fluder. His face showed understanding and jot. And as if shaken by that, spurts of claps could be heard, as it all changed to a thunderous applause.
Of course, they were not sincerely applauding for him. Even if they were the enemy, that would not want to clap for a person who massacred most of them. This was not a war, but genocide.
However, could anyone say that?
Could anyone upset a monster that was in front of them?
There was no one who could.
The thunderous applause was a show of how fearful the knights were. We will give you your applause, so please do not get upset. That was how they felt.
Ainz's face changed underneath his mask. He had the satisfied expression of a man whose plan was proceeding as he'd like.
"Now, I shall take my steps one at a time. In this world—"
The casualty count of the Kingdom was a hundred and thirty thousand, and the Empire's was zero. This overwhelming result shook the surrounding countries.
And afterwards, the name of Archduke Ainz Oown Gown spread far and wide.
Feeling the slight change in the air the Strongest dragon, Tsaindolks Vaishion, also known as the [Platinum Dragonlord] woke up from his light sleep.
Most of his consciousness was filled with shock.
Shock from something slipping past its senses and into its surroundings.
It was normally impossible to escape a dragon's sharp senses. A dragon could immediately detect whether there was a presence nearby even if it were invisible or the dragon was sleeping. But there were a few creatures that could escape a dragon's magical senses.
Even Tsua who had lived a long life, only knew a few. Such as one of the Thirteen Heroes who had left this world, the assassin Ijaniya. That old man could probably have done it. Apart from him—
Tsua felt that it was a familiar presence, and slowly opened his eyes.
Dragon eyes could peer through darkness.
Seeing like it was noon, there was a familiar person there, one of the few that could make it there undetected.
There was a wide smile on her face, one of a human that was able to pull off a large prank.
"It's been a while."
That person was an old woman with a finely crafted sword hanging from her waist.
Her head of white hair showed how long she had lived. However, her face overflowed with a childish vibrance on her face which did not match her years.
A person whose identity was different from her appearance.
Comparing her with the woman in his memories, the old woman's eye brows sharpened into a dangerous angle.
"What? My friend, have you forgotten how to say hi? Oh dear, even dragons can grow dull."
Tsua let out a deep toothy laugh. He remembered that her friend was like this.
"Sorry. I'm happy to meet an old friend."
The old woman's reply was what Tsua expected.
"A friend? My friend was that empty bucket of armour over there…. Well, something's inside now right?"
"Yes. My knight is inside."
In the past, Tsua had travelled with the old lady and her group by controlling an empty suit of armor as a substitute for himself. Therefore, when his true identity had come out, his companions had been furious about being tricked. He wanted them to forgive him for the time when he had surprised them by removing his helmet.
The resentment from back then still had not died out, and she was still making digs at him until now.
Tsua smiled and then looked at the woman's finger.
"…What happened to the ring? It's a treasure beyond humanity you know?"
"Trying to change the topic, are we? Still, your eyes are sharp; is that the Draconic treasure sense at work… oh well, that's fine. I gave it to a young man. Don't worry about it."
That item was not something that could be simply given away. That was made from [Primal Magic] and it was extremely difficult to recreate. However, the old woman would not pass it to someone weird. He trusted her.
"Really now. Well, since you decided to give it away, I doubt you'd have gone wrong… right, I heard that you were an adventurer once, am I correct? Are you here on business?"
"Of course not. I came to look up a friend to have fun. I've already retired, and I'm no longer an adventurer. Don't ask a little old lady like me to work so hard; I've turned my duties over to that crybaby."
"That crybaby?" Tsua thought for a while and then a flash of inspiration struck. "…You mean her?"
Hearing Tsua's subtle tone, the old woman knew that he had got it.
"Yes, little Miss Inberun."
"Ah~" Tsua sounded dumbfounded. "You're probably the only one who can call her little."
"Oh, really? You're even more qualified to call her little. I'm about the same age as that girl, but you ought to be older, right?"
"That is true… still, I can't believe that girl would be willing to be an adventurer. What kind of scheme did you use?"
"Hmph. That crybaby went on and on and wouldn't stop, so I said, 'If I can beat you, then you'll have to listen to me', and then I smacked the crap out of her!"
The old lady went "kakaka". Her laughter seemed to come from the bottom of her heart.
"…I think you're the only human who could beat that girl."
"Well, I had friends helping me out. Besides, if you know the undead, you know how to beat the undead. If you can't defeat the power of the Earth, you can still exploit elemental affinities and compatibilities to turn the tables in your favor. Crybaby is very strong, but others are stronger than her. For instance, you could easily beat that girl. If you didn't limit yourself, you would be the most powerful being in this world."
"….Maybe. Well, I still feel admiration for the strongest magic caster of humanity…. Can I ask you a question?"
"What? As long as I can answer I don't mind?"
"That weapon, was it a Guilty Weapon?"
Seeing the weapon Tsua was talking about, the old woman shook her head.
"Guilty Weapon? No. That's a Guild Weapon."
"Ah!" Tsua felt the fog clear from his mind. "That's right! Yes. That's what he said. The strongest weapon the Eight Greed Kings wielded! I see, I see. A Guild Weapon."
Tsua felt a sense of relief fill his body. As he did so, waves of memories washed over him. As he fondly recollected, he asked the old woman.
"Now, Rigrit. Why did you come here?"
The old woman nodded, and made a serious face.
"Hmm. Tsua. About three weeks ago. Have you heard about a magic caster called Ainz Ooal Gown?"
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Author's Note:
Thank you for reading until now.
This will be continued in Overlord Second Half.
Thank you very much.