Upon the desolate and silent wilderness, traces of the previous battle still lingered. Within a deep pit, nearly a hundred meters in diameter and ten thousand meters across, a large amount of underground water was ceaselessly gushing out. Even some magical creatures that originally lived in the underground water veins were flushed out by the rapid currents, gradually forming a vast lake.
Not far away, beneath the collapsed mountain peaks, cracked earth formed deep canyons. Simultaneously, countless animals and magical creatures that lived here seemed to sense something, gathering together and migrating towards the distance. Only the 'Wind Spirits,' existing between ethereal and corporeal forms, continued to wander here.
Not far from the initial battle's epicenter, on a patch of remaining grassland, the flat ground suddenly began to bulge. Immediately afterward, a blood-red fleshy sprout emerged from within. The sprout, less than half a meter long, moved its body from side to side like a living thing, seemingly probing the surroundings.
After confirming there were no threats, the ground beneath the sprout began to tremble continuously. The entire surface started to rise, as if a gigantic monster was about to break out of the earth.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Half a minute later, the ground, now bulging nearly ten meters high, began to shed clumps of soil. As the soil peeled away, an indescribable monster appeared in its place, nearly ten meters tall, covered in tentacles, and with a fat, bloated body resembling a pile of countless corpses.
The suddenly appearing indescribable monster wandered around in place for a moment. Then, its bloated body, like a stack of corpses, began to crawl towards the forming lake not far away. Countless thick tentacles casually grabbed everything around it and stuffed it into the large mouths on its body.
A few minutes later, as ripples spread across the newly formed lake's surface, the bloated, indescribable monster submerged entirely into the lake. Soon, this indescribable monster arrived at a certain location on the lake bottom.
Faces emerged on the bloated body, and the chrysanthemum-shaped mouths, filled with fangs, emitted bursts of meaningless roars. Subsequently, the chrysanthemum-shaped orifices began to continuously swallow, as if devouring something. Wisps of purplish-black aura were visibly drawn into their mouths from the lake bottom.
As the absorbed aura increased, the indescribable monster's body underwent tremendous changes. Its body began to expand again, and pale, slick arms grew out from the corpse-like body. In the center of the palms, scarlet pupils were filled with madness and chaos.
"￥ \u0026 * … … %\u0026% … …"
The next second, after devouring all the remaining aura at the bottom of the lake, the monster, whose form had already expanded to nearly thirty meters, whose appearance was becoming increasingly terrifying, and whose aura was even beginning to gradually erode, distort, and assimilate everything around it, let out a deafening roar. Visible shockwaves began to spread from the monster's surroundings.
The water that originally enveloped its body was completely pushed away. The magical creatures that had been flushed out of the underground water veins were shattered into pieces by the shockwaves. The originally calm surface of the lake was blasted into the air, forming a dazzling rainbow, while an indescribable sound echoed in the lake's depths.
Suddenly, the roaring indescribable monster seemed to receive some kind of command. Its gigantic body wriggled and crawled upwards. As the roaring ceased and the shockwaves dissipated, the blasted lake water fell back down.
A few seconds later, a gigantic, indescribable monster crawled out of the still churning lake. Upon reaching a relatively intact patch of grassland near the lake, the indescribable monster's body began to contract and split apart. The tentacles and indescribable tissues on its surface began to disappear.
Immediately afterward, the enormous monster, nearly thirty meters tall, began to divide, and finally, only all the members of the 'Darkness Holy Sword' team and Balea, the genius alchemist and employer for this mission, remained on the grassland.
"Huh? What happened?"
A few seconds later, Peter Mork, the team leader, was the first to wake up. He shook his drowsy head and looked around. The dilapidated scene caused his pupils to instinctively contract. He instinctively stood up, drew the long sword from his waist, and cautiously surveyed his surroundings.
"Captain?"
At this moment, a slightly confused voice, as if just waking up, sounded from behind Peter Mork. Nia, who had just woken up, saw the back of her captain standing in front of her and subconsciously asked.
"Nia, you're awake!"
"Yeah, but Captain, what exactly happened?"
"I don't know yet, but let's wake the others up first."
"Yes."
After the brief conversation, Peter Mork remained vigilant, while Nia, as a magic caster, woke up all her comatose teammates and their employer, Balea.
"Cough cough! Mork, have you seen Mr. Momo and the others?"
Balea, who had just woken up, shook his dizzy head and stood up. Then, he patted his chest and coughed a few times. For some reason, a strong sense of fullness and satisfaction filled him, and he even felt like vomiting from being too full.
After spending a few seconds suppressing the strange feeling in his body, Balea finally raised his head and roughly looked at the surrounding situation. Only then did he realize that Momo and Nabe, the main targets of his mission, were not here.
"I don't know. I haven't seen them since I woke up. Because you were still unconscious, I couldn't leave to look for them."
Peter Mork shook his head after hearing Balea's words, looked at the dilapidated earth around him, and said slowly. His mind began to recall the previous events. Just a second ago, they had defeated all the attacking goblins and were shocked by Momo and Nabe's strength.
But in the next second, they suddenly saw Momo point his weapon at Nabe and throw it over, while shouting for Nabe to leave. What happened next was completely incomprehensible to them.
Whether it was the sudden appearance of the demon army or Momo turning into an undead.
As for what happened after that, they had no idea at all, because they had completely lost consciousness at the moment of the battle. Honestly, Peter Mork still had doubts about how they survived.
After all, judging from the traces of battle left around them, it was clear how intense the previous battle was. Yet they, who had passed out in such an intense battle, had survived. Could it be that Momo protected them?
"We have to find them quickly... Wait, what is that!?"
After hearing Peter Mork say that he didn't know Momo and Nabe's whereabouts, Balea, eager to learn the perfect healing potion recipe from Momo, quickly wanted to go find them. However, before he could take a few steps, a dark portal suddenly appeared not far ahead.
Clap! Clap!
Then, in the dazed gazes of the 'Darkness Holy Sword' team and Balea, Sebas, the handsome old man in butler attire, and Solution Epsilon walked out of it. And the moment they appeared, they immediately turned their heads to look at them.
In an instant, whether it was the 'Darkness Holy Sword' team members or Balea, they trembled uncontrollably, as if they were being targeted by top predators. Large beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads, and the aura of death enveloped their souls.
But that wasn't the end of it. Following their appearance, an even larger gate materialized. Albedo, leading the Floor Guardians, emerged first, followed by the seemingly endless ranks of the Nazarick army.
"Sebas, have you found Ainz-sama?"
Stepping out of the gate, Albedo immediately noticed the lingering signs of battle. The ruined earth and collapsed mountains instinctively made her grip her battle-axe tighter, but she forcibly suppressed her inner turmoil and questioned Sebas before her.
"We have not found Ainz-sama. The battle was already over when we arrived. However, they might know something."
With that, Sebas pointed to Peter Mork and the others in the distance. Since these humans were present when they arrived, they might possess some information.
"Humans, speak all that you know, or else..."
In the next moment, Albedo's figure instantly appeared before Peter Mork. A cold, cruel voice echoed in the air. Though unfinished, the chilling tone conveyed everything.
"I... We don't know who this Ainz-sama you speak of is."
Facing the close proximity of Albedo, the overwhelming aura nearly sent Peter Mork and the others into shock. However, relying on the strong will forged from their adventures, Peter Mork managed to stammer out the words.
"You don't know Ainz-sama?"
Gazing at the ant-like humans, Albedo's expression grew even colder. Mere humans dared to deceive her. They were right here, yet they dared to claim ignorance of Ainz-sama. Unforgivable.
Thinking this, Albedo seized Peter Mork, lifting him with a single hand. Under the immense force, Peter Mork felt as if his head was about to be crushed. Blood trickled from his mouth, eyes, and ears.
"Wait, Albedo-sama!"
Just as Albedo intended to crush Peter Mork's head to show these humans the consequences of deceiving her, Nabe's voice suddenly rang out, causing Albedo to instinctively lessen her grip slightly.
"Albedo-sama, they truly don't know Ainz-sama, or rather, the Ainz-sama they know is Momon, disguised as an adventurer."
After speaking, Nabe glanced at the 'Darkness Swords' members before her, who were staring at her in shock. Seeing that they were unharmed, a trace of relief washed over Nabe's originally panicked heart. If even they were alright, then surely Ainz-sama would be as well, right?
"Hmm, so now, do you know Ainz-sama?"
Hearing Nabe's words, Albedo understood that the humans before her weren't lying. She lightly loosened her grip, and Peter Mork fell to the ground, his bloodied face displaying an expression of relief. The 'Darkness Swords' members rushed to his side.
"Cough cough, if you're referring to Momon, we truly don't know where he is. After Nabe left, Momon began fighting those demons that suddenly appeared. We were knocked unconscious by the aftershock in an instant. When we woke up, we found you."
Peter Mork coughed as he explained everything they had discovered since waking up to Albedo. Upon hearing Peter Mork's words, Albedo began to ponder, unaware that Peter Mork, whom she had previously regarded as an ant, was now looking at her with a peculiar gaze.
A gaze as if looking at a piece of meat filled with nutrients, and exquisitely delicious.
"Um, actually, before I passed out, I saw Momon being ambushed by those demons, and then he flew into the sky, roughly in that direction."
At this moment, Baleare, who had been silent all along, stepped forward, his weak face showing a hint of fear as he looked at Albedo, and pointed out the direction in which Ainz had been ambushed and sent flying.
"Ambush! And Ainz-sama was sent flying!"
Upon hearing Baleare's words, Albedo's rampaging magic power instantly erupted from her body like a torrent. The tangible killing intent even filled the surrounding air with the scent of blood. But in the next moment, Albedo suppressed all killing intent and turned to fly in the direction Baleare indicated.
Seeing this, the other Floor Guardians followed Albedo. As for Peter Mork and the others, they were left under the supervision of the Pleiades Combat Maids, waiting for Albedo and the others to return from above.
The next day, Albedo and the others arrived at the location where Ainz had been ambushed, the epicenter of the explosion, and various detection spells and tools were used.
"Indeed, there is Ainz-sama's aura."
After a few seconds, Albedo said with barely concealed excitement in her voice. As long as they had this trace of aura as a marker, they would soon be able to find Ainz-sama's current location.
"Demiurge, track Ainz-sama's current location with all your might."
"Yes!"
Demiurge nodded and took the tool containing Ainz-sama's aura from Albedo's hand, then began to track it. Incidentally, before tracking, Demiurge also used various anti-tracking and concealment tools.
"Albedo-sama, Shalltear-sama has arrived."
At this moment, Sebas raised his head and looked towards the distant horizon. A blood-red light was rapidly approaching, and Shalltear was already in full battle mode, clad in scarlet armor, with a pair of white-gold wings on her back, and the神器 Drop of Blood in her hand easily tearing through the air in front of her.
"Albedo, Ainz-sama... Where is Ainz-sama?"
In the next moment, Shalltear, who had already appeared before the many Guardians, directly looked at Albedo and anxiously began to inquire. Ever since receiving the news of Ainz-sama's attack, she had been rushing towards this place with all her might.
"We have found Ainz-sama's remaining aura. Demiurge is currently tracking Ainz-sama's current location."
"Found it!"
Just then, Demiurge suddenly looked at everyone and said, while gently waving the tracking tool in his hand into the air. A green light was constantly flashing, and that was Ainz's current location.
"Finally found him, and Ainz-sama is still alive!"
Looking at the light on the tracking tool, Albedo deeply breathed a sigh of relief. Since they could still track Ainz-sama's location, it proved that he was still alive. As for the rest, it was no longer important, because they had arrived!
The only thing left to do was to go to Ainz-sama's side, and then eliminate all of those who attacked Ainz-sama, leaving none alive, and let them know what true fear is before they die.
