“Cleansing Throwing Spear!”
High in the sky, Shalltear, clad in crimson armor, raised her hand. White light converged in her palm, and a spear several meters long, formed from magic, appeared. With a gentle flick of Shalltear's wrist, the spear transformed into a streak of light, tearing through the sky and flying into the crater created by Zesshi Zetsumei.
Boom!
The next second, the earth began to shake violently. A faint white light illuminated the dark pit, followed by an increasingly brilliant glow. A white sun rose above the earth, and when the light dissipated, a circular crater several kilometers in diameter appeared in its place.
“Cough cough!”
At the bottom of the crater, her body embedded in the ground and near death, Zesshi Zetsumei coughed up large mouthfuls of blood. She felt excruciating pain all over her body—muscles torn, ligaments ruptured, bones crushed. She lay in a pool of blood, her life force nearly extinguished.
“I lost. I never thought I would lose.”
Zesshi Zetsumei's heterochromatic eyes, one black and one white, stared at the deep blue sky above. She had never imagined she would lose. She couldn't believe that such a monster existed in this world, one she couldn't defeat.
“The last hope of humanity, Miss Zesshi Zetsumei, are you planning to give up?”
Just then, a voice as gentle as a spring breeze sounded in Zesshi Zetsumei's ear. Then, to her surprise, the earthen wall in front of her began to churn, revealing an inner structure like flesh. A woman with long golden hair and a smile on her face walked out.
“Holy Queen?”
Zesshi Zetsumei looked at the woman in front of her and asked uncertainly. She had indeed seen the Holy Queen before, but she was completely different from how she was now. Although her appearance hadn't changed at all, the countless wriggling tentacles beneath her white dress, and the pair of scarlet pupils that emerged from the shadows behind her, made Zesshi Zetsumei hesitant to confirm the Holy Queen before her.
“Of course, it's me. Whether before or now, I am the Holy Queen.”
As she spoke, the Holy Queen walked forward and crouched down in front of Zesshi Zetsumei. Her fair, jade-like hand gently stroked Zesshi Zetsumei's face, which was covered in wounds, as if admiring a priceless treasure.
That indescribable, eerie aura made even Zesshi Zetsumei instinctively recoil, but in her current state, severely injured and near death, she couldn't even turn her head to avoid the Holy Queen's hand.
“What do you want to do?”
After a few seconds, when the Holy Queen had wiped all the blood from Zesshi Zetsumei's face, Zesshi Zetsumei opened her mouth and asked weakly. Even in her near-death state, her original perception hadn't been affected. Her instincts were warning her.
In other words, the Holy Queen in front of her possessed the strength to threaten her.
“What do I want to do... Of course, I want to obtain you.”
In response to Zesshi Zetsumei's question, the Holy Queen revealed a look of longing on her face, her hand gently caressing Zesshi Zetsumei's skin, her tone undisguised as she looked at Zesshi Zetsumei and replied.
“You want me?”
“Yes, I want you. Of course, you can refuse me, but that won't affect my decision. Also, let's end the small talk here, because if we continue, I'll also be very troubled.”
As she spoke, the Holy Queen didn't wait for Zesshi Zetsumei to reply. From beneath her white dress, blood-red tentacles covered in mucus extended, wrapping around Zesshi Zetsumei's body. In the blink of an eye, Zesshi Zetsumei was completely enveloped, turning into a meatball nearly two meters tall, with countless tentacles wriggling on its surface.
“Sleep now. When you open your eyes again, you will be reborn.”
The Holy Queen gently stroked the wriggling tentacles on the surface of the meatball, her eyes filled with tenderness, as if she could see the already unconscious Zesshi Zetsumei through the surface of the meatball. Then, she turned and walked into the flesh wall in front of her.
After the Holy Queen left, the originally crimson fleshy wall began to churn, returning to its previous appearance. Only a bloodstained, humanoid crater remained in the dark pit bottom.
“She escaped?”
A few seconds later, Shalltear and Albedo appeared here simultaneously. Looking at the empty ground in front of them, Shalltear scanned the surroundings and said uncertainly.
“She must have used some unknown item.”
Albedo crouched down and examined the humanoid crater left by Zesshi Zetsumei, then stood up and looked at the surrounding earthen walls. There was no passage that could allow Zesshi Zetsumei to escape. The only remaining possibility was that Zesshi Zetsumei used some unknown item to break through the blockade they had set up and escape.
“What do we do? Should we pursue her?”
As Shalltear spoke, the shadow beneath her feet began to lengthen, and familiars emerged from it. Several of them walked forward and consumed the bloodstains left by Zesshi Zetsumei, using them as a medium to track her scent.
“...No, let's report this to Lord Ainz first.”
After a few seconds of silence, Albedo looked at Shalltear and shook her head, rejecting her request to continue the pursuit. After all, the appearance of Zesshi Zetsumei, who could rival them, had already alerted Albedo. There were many unknown existences hidden in this world.
If they rashly pursued her, they might fall into a trap set by an unknown enemy. Considering this, Albedo decided to report this to Lord Ainz first. Also, the war above was about to end, and there were many things to do next.
Now was not a good time to pursue her. At least they had to wait until the battlefield was cleaned up.
“I understand.”
Although reluctant, Shalltear nodded to show that she understood and recalled all the familiars she had released.
“Let's go!”
After saying that, Albedo led Shalltear towards the location of Ainz Ooal Gown at the exit of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. In a few seconds, the two of them returned to the battlefield above and flew towards Ainz Ooal Gown's location.
“I apologize, Lord Ainz! We let her escape.”
As soon as she landed, Albedo walked up to Ainz Ooal Gown and knelt on the ground, lowering her head and slowly saying.
“She escaped?”
“Yes, when Shalltear and I went down to pursue her, that human had already escaped using an unknown item. Considering her strength, I suspect that there are hidden powerhouses among the humans in this world, so Shalltear and I did not pursue her.”
“Stand up, Albedo. You did very well.”
After listening to Shalltear's words, Ainz Ooal Gown waved his hand, signaling her to stand up. Ainz Ooal Gown didn't feel that there was anything wrong with Albedo's decision. On the contrary, he thought she had done very well.
After all, humans who could fight the Guardians had already appeared in this world, so there might be similar existences hidden behind them, and besides...
Thinking of this, Ainz Ooal Gown looked at the man prostrating in front of him. He was the ruler of the Slane Theocracy, the Scripture of Fire's priest. Not long ago, he had been planning to escape when Demiurge caught him and brought him before him.
Ainz Ooal Gown had already learned from him that every hundred years, a group of players like him would descend upon this world. The first group of players to arrive were the beings they called the Six Great Gods.
At that time, humans lived a precarious life under the oppression of monsters and demi-humans, facing attacks from demi-humans and monsters at any moment. For six hundred years, humans were nothing more than their food.
It was not until the Six Great Gods descended that humans were able to drive out monsters and demi-humans under their leadership, and gradually establish a royal palace belonging to humans.
Furthermore, Ainz Ooal Gown also learned from him that in the distant past, dragons were the absolute rulers of this world. However, after the players descended, the two sides launched a war. In this process, many players died under the dragons' primordial magic.
However, as a price, the dragons also declined afterward. Now, only a few dragons who can use primordial magic still survive in the world, the strongest of whom is the one ruling the Council State, known as the Platinum Dragon Lord.
"Ainz-sama, what should we do next?"
At this moment, Shalltear stepped forward and looked at Ainz Ooal Gown, asking. Now that the human kingdom's allied forces had been completely annihilated by them, the human kingdoms that had lost the protection of their armies were like sheepfolds to be taken from them.
Moreover, Shalltear had not forgotten the reason for starting this war. Now that the human kingdoms had lost all power to resist, it was convenient for them to investigate the demons who had attacked Ainz-sama in the first place, to find them completely, and to make them understand the consequences of offending Ainz-sama.
"Leave a portion of the undead soldiers to clean up the battlefield. Demiurge and Cocytus will take a portion of the undead soldiers and ten Golems to the Slane Theocracy to completely destroy that kingdom and investigate the traces left by those demons. Sebas and Pandora's Actor will lead a portion of the undead soldiers and ten Golems to the Empire..."
After considering for a few seconds, Ainz Ooal Gown looked at the Great Floor Guardians in front of him and began to issue orders. Except for Albedo, who was left behind to clean up the battlefield and oversee the overall situation, all the Floor Guardians and Golems were sent out by Ainz Ooal Gown to reap the rewards from the major human kingdoms.
"But, Ainz-sama, doing this..."
After hearing Ainz Ooal Gown's order, Albedo hurriedly stepped forward with a hint of doubt on her face. It should be known that Ainz Ooal Gown's arrangement was almost sending out most of the power of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
In this way, the remaining power in the Great Tomb of Nazarick would enter its lowest state in history. If an enemy were to attack at that time, the Great Tomb of Nazarick would be in danger.
However, before Albedo could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Ainz Ooal Gown. Ainz Ooal Gown actually knew about the problem that Albedo mentioned. He was deliberately doing this now in order to use himself and the Great Tomb of Nazarick as bait to lure out Lu Minghao, who had not appeared, and the players who might be hiding in the dark.
As for the defense of the Great Tomb of Nazarick... Ainz Ooal Gown could only say that if Lu Minghao and the players hiding in the dark really invaded the Great Tomb of Nazarick, then Ainz Ooal Gown would give them a big surprise.
"I understand."
When she saw Ainz Ooal Gown's calm expression, Albedo seemed to understand something. After giving a slight bow, she began to execute Ainz Ooal Gown's order.
On the other side, Demiurge and the other Floor Guardians also left one after another, leading the Golems and undead soldiers towards the major human kingdoms. However, before leaving, Ainz Ooal Gown handed them some World-Class Items and a ring-shaped item.
........
At the same time, as the undead army of the Great Tomb of Nazarick began to advance towards the major kingdoms, images of the previous battle of the allied forces quietly flowed into the major kingdoms. In less than half an hour, all humans knew one thing.
The human allied forces had been defeated. All the soldiers, adventurers, and nobles had died on the battlefield. At this moment, those undead monsters were advancing towards their kingdoms. They would destroy these kingdoms just like the kingdoms that had been destroyed by those monsters before. Everyone would be slaughtered by those monsters like livestock.
"It's starting."
At the highest point of the arena in the imperial capital, Lu Minghao sat on the roof, watching the imperial capital below that had already fallen into chaos. Looking around, humans who were burning, killing, and plundering could be seen everywhere: crying children, burning houses, and women who were desperately resisting but were still dragged into the alley by several thugs... The entire imperial capital was like a real hell on earth at this moment.
The inferiority of human nature was constantly amplified under despair and chaos. The 'evil' that could be seen with the naked eye began to rise from the royal capital, shrouding the sky.
And similar scenes could be seen everywhere in several human kingdoms. From the moment the images of the allied forces being defeated and slaughtered by the undead army of the Great Tomb of Nazarick flowed into the human kingdoms and spread, the entire world had completely fallen into chaos and despair.
"What a wonderful taste."
At the highest point of the arena, Lu Minghao stood up, closed his eyes, and slowly opened his arms as if embracing the entire world. The sound of blades piercing flesh, the screams of despair before death, the cries of children in fear, the desperate and helpless pleas of young girls... constantly echoed in Lu Minghao's ears. The pungent smell of blood and the burnt smell of burning houses surrounded his nose.
"Under despair, the evil of humans will be infinitely amplified. Things that they once only dared to imagine in their minds, they can now do with their own hands, no matter how cruel or shameless."
In the next second, Lu Minghao opened his eyes and looked at a young man below. Not long ago, this was still a young man praised by everyone for being diligent, kind, and brave, but at this moment, he was laughing and piercing other people's bodies with a long knife, wantonly trampling on innocent young girls.
"Master, so they need your salvation, to bestow upon them true 'life'!"
Behind Lu Minghao, Princess Renner held a golden dog leash in her hand. Her delicate face wore a twisted smile as she looked at Lu Minghao's back, while Brian, beneath her, licked Princess Renner's shoes like a real dog, wagging his tail non-stop.
"Well said, Renner. I will save them. Who told me to be a kind Slime?"
As he spoke, the corners of Lu Minghao's mouth cracked into a terrifying arc. Unconcealed malice flooded the entire royal capital like a tide, and indescribable power began to spread. With the arena of the royal capital as the center, everything around began to animate and mutate.
