A warrior in white armor stepped forward. It was Climb, who had exerted himself thus far as the only subordinate of the king’s daughter, Princess Renner.
“I’ll also act as a diversion. I don’t know if those monsters have eyes or not, but if I wave a flag, maybe I can catch their attention. This armor makes for a good target, as well.”
Climb had the kingdom’s flag in his hands. The dirty footprints from where fleeing soldiers had stepped on it hinted at how dire their situation was.
“Agh. Then I’ll go with you.”
Brain Unglaus stood next to him. Ramposa III’s most trusted aide, Gazef Stronoff, said the man was a warrior equal to himself. Brain had joined this battle on behalf of Renner. He was essentially in the same category as Climb.
“Are you sure? You aren’t even a true subordinate of the princess.”
“What’s that now? Well, don’t worry about it. I jumped onto the front line during the demon disturbance and lived. I’ll just pray good luck comes my way again. And I’ll pray for you, too!”
“The gods won’t give up on us. They sent us a hero during the demon disturbance. I believe they’ll bring us good luck again this time.”
Brain and the vice-captain fist-bumped in front of Ramposa III and went their separate ways.
“How horrible…”
Where did I go wrong?
Ramposa III groaned. Probably none of the warriors before his eyes would survive.
The vice-captain and Climb would die as bait.
And what would become of Gazef, who rode off to stop the dark young?
His eyes grew hot.
He wanted to say, Forgive me.
They were throwing away their lives, their futures, to distract the enemy from an old man.
But there was no way he could say such a thing.
Though resigned to their deaths, they intended to struggle.
In that case…
“Return safely to E-Rantel. You’ll have whatever you wish as a reward.”
Climb and Brain had started walking but turned around.
“I don’t need a reward, Your Majesty. Princess Renner saved me. I couldn’t possibly ask for anything more…”
“My wish is for you to give my favorite kid in the kingdom the most beautiful princess as his bride.”
“…Ha-ha-ha-ha. That’s quite a reward you’re asking for.”
“Brain, what are you saying?!”
“I would have to start by giving that kid a peerage. Well, let’s work hard!”
“Now you really have to live through this and make it back, huh, Climb?”
Climb just blinked furiously with his mouth hanging open, his warrior’s determination of a moment ago vanished.
Ramposa III forgot everything and smiled merrily in spite of himself.
“Now then, Your Majesty.”
“I’m counting on you.”
Ramposa III’s armor had been removed, so the warriors picked him up.
“Your Majesty. Whether we can escape like this or not will depend on luck. If anything should… Well, please forgive us.”
“That’s fine. I decided to use your idea. If our luck is bad, then there’s no helping it.”
“All right, Your Majesty! See you in E-Rantel!”
The vice-captain and the others rode off on their horses. As if it had been waiting for that cue, the dark young changed directions.
“Okay! Let’s go while everyone is drawing its attention!”
4
Among the turmoil of panicked soldiers, Gazef gazed steadily ahead and drew the kingdom’s treasure, Razor Edge. He always won when he unsheathed this sword with its icy gleam. One could say the sword was proof of Gazef’s victories.
But today, it looked awfully feeble.
Gazef was just so small compared to the huge dark young making a beeline for him.
“If you get past me, you’ll reach the king’s position. Don’t mind if I stop you here,” Gazef said with a smile. A self-deprecating grin.
Gazef had no chance of winning against the monster. Stopping it for so much as a second would be admirable—even for the captain of the Royal Select, the warrior whose name was known in all the nearby countries. Even for a man like him.
“Take the king and run. Lay down your lives, if necessary.”
Gazef gave orders to men who weren’t present—his subordinates—as if he was praying. He had left the kingdom’s strongest soldiers behind to guard the king. Of course they would succeed in protecting him from the savagery of those monsters. Even if they gave their lives, probably the most they could accomplish was to take a single attack as a meat shield.
But that actually did mean success.
If they took a hit, they would probably die, but if they could get their opponent to waste even one blow, then the king would live longer. It even became possible to hope that maybe, with eighty meat shields…
“Sorry.”
With his eyes fixed on the monster, which scattered blood and flesh as it rapidly approached, Gazef apologized to his men. They weren’t with him, but he knew that even if he had told them directly, it would have been only for self-satisfaction. Still, he would have hated to die without saying it.
Gazef exhaled sharply, feeling the ground shake beneath him.
Then he held up the sword gripped tightly in his hand.
How tenuous his blade seemed against the hulking form crushing humans as it closed in.
If it had been a runaway carriage, he would have been able to stop it, no problem. If it had been a pouncing tiger, he could have dodged and immediately cut its head off.
But he didn’t have much of a chance of surviving a dark young.
He exhaled deeply, and at the same time the flow of the people around him changed dramatically. Up until a moment ago, it had been a confused torrent, but now they parted around him. They essentially created a straight path between him and the dark young.
Stomping more and more people apart beneath its feet, the dark young drew nearer.
With his sword up, Gazef observed its entire body. Where could he attack that would be most effective?
He used the martial art Detect Weak Point.
But…
“No weak spots?”
Did that mean it really had no weaknesses or that the gap between their abilities was so great that they couldn’t be read? Gazef didn’t know.
But he didn’t lose hope. That outcome was within the realm of the expected.
He used another martial art.
It was a fairly big move, an ability that could be explained as a boost to the user’s sixth sense: Possibility Perception.
The difference in their physical abilities was so great that even if he boosted his physical strength, he would close the gap only slightly. Instead, he figured it would be better to rely on something else—his sixth sense.
“C’mon, monster.”
As if the dark young heard his voice and listened, it headed straight for Gazef. The distance between them shrank before his eyes.
Let’s be honest.
Gazef was scared.
If it would have been permissible, he would have rather run away with the other soldiers.
Even with Possibility Perception, he didn’t sense anything. It was like being hurled into a completely black night.
Once the dark young was closer, he could observe its condition in detail.
Given the lack of scratches on its hooves, it was possible a mere sword wouldn’t be enough to cut it. Considering how deep the earth was dented when stomped, it was definitely enough weight to be instantly fatal.
The better he understood the monster, the stronger his fear grew.
Gazef was experiencing greater fear than all the panicked soldiers running around.
But he wouldn’t show his back.
The strongest warrior in the kingdom couldn’t run away. He deactivated Possibility Perception and steadied his breathing.
The dark young was nearly upon
him.
It was close enough that the dirt it was kicking up reached him. It ignored the other soldiers as if they were bugs by the side of the road and dashed on a crash course toward Gazef.
But they didn’t crash.
The dark young’s body twisted as if it had hit a wall, and it moved to go around Gazef. It happened so suddenly the monster’s gait was thrown off, and even though it had an extra leg, it still nearly lost its balance.
Gazef didn’t think for a minute that it had run from him on its own.
Perhaps it had simply gone toward an area where there was more prey; it must have thought that by shifting its course to the side it could trample more prey.
Shaking the ground as it ran, the dark young passed by Gazef.
Because it went by only about a yard away, the ground beneath his feet shook as if he was in a huge earthquake. If it was anyone besides Gazef, they would probably have fallen down.
He focused on the dark young’s big hooves as it tried to run away and—
“Yahh!”
—swung his sword. If it was running away so fast, it meant its own speed would turn into a slashing weapon.
The moment blade met hoof, a tremendous shock went through his sword hand. It was so strong he thought his arm might come off.
Stomping legs left two trails in the dirt as they receded.
“Nnnngh!”
Though he had avoided having his sword being ripped out of his hand, a sharp pain ran through his arm. The stress must have injured either his muscle or his tendon.
With ragged breath, he scowled at the hulking form behind him.
Not too far from Gazef, the dark young stopped for the first time since it had begun its rampage.
A single tentacle overshadowed him.
Fear pierced his entire body. Gazef promptly held his sword up.
That instant an incredible shock was transmitted through his sword, and his whole body lifted into the air.
Gazef couldn’t see anything, but he figured he must have been swiped aside by the tentacle. He flew quite a distance.
After an unbelievably long time in the air, Gazef fell to the ground—and rolled more than a few times. But it wasn’t the rolling of a corpse that had been thrown but of a thrown human actively trying to slow his momentum.
Whipping his creaking body, he slowly stood up. He glared at the now farther off dark young.
Just one blow.
His hand was broken. That his sword wasn’t broken was surely thanks to sheer luck.
All emotion had drained out of Gazef’s face.
Why was I spared? Why didn’t it attack again?
Had it decided he wasn’t a worthy opponent? That seemed the most likely explanation.
It wasn’t a crushing defeat. He hadn’t even been able to get anywhere near.
Crimson blood flowed from the lip he was biting.
Then he suppressed the mounting pain and desperately took off running.
Even if he couldn’t win, even if he could take only one more hit, he had to protect the king.
But the feet he had moved so resolutely stopped after only a few paces, because when he saw another dark young coming—there was no mistake—toward him, he realized why his life had been spared.
There was a king sitting on a throne of tentacles above the dark young. But there was something strange about his face. It was all bone, and Gazef had no doubt this was a type of monster called an undead.
He wasn’t such a fool that he couldn’t understand who the king was.
“Ainz Ooal Gown…sir… So you weren’t human, I see.”
The special unit from the Theocracy… Gazef had no trouble understanding that the being who handily annihilated an opponent that had been impossible for him was not human.
I see. Why would a being with that much power be human? Why was I even thinking that?
“Sir Stronoff!”
He knew from the hoarse voice who it was before even turning around. Two familiar faces were running toward him.
“You guys are all right, then!”
Climb and Brain didn’t seem to be injured, either. Climb’s white armor wasn’t even dirty. They hadn’t scrambled to flee, so they must have been extraordinarily lucky.
“More than anything, I’m glad to see you’re all right.”
“I didn’t think we would die, and we didn’t! But I guess it’s not over yet, huh?”
Both of their gazes settled on what Gazef had been looking at until a moment ago.
“What in the world…?”
“There can only be one of those, Climb—a monster who could tame those monsters. That’s Ainz Ooal Gown.”
“That… That’s…? How… I-I’m sorry.”
Looking over, he saw Climb was trembling.
The tense look on the boy’s face told him the shivers weren’t from excitement.
“Don’t worry, Climb. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, shit! He’s the third ultra-powerful being now! What the hell has been going on with my life lately?”
Brain got into a fighting stance, exuding an overpowering swordsman spirit.
Gazef wondered just a bit about his content expression, though, because it seemed out of place.
“I—I can’t run away, either!”
Climb and Brain stood on either side of Gazef.
Squelching through chunks of scattered flesh, the dark young walked right up to Gazef.
Screams could be heard in the distance, but this place was quiet.
It was almost like this area had been cut away from the rest of the world.
Ainz’s gaze went from Gazef, uninterestedly to Brain, and then stopped on Climb for a moment. Then he shrugged and turned back to Gazef.
“…You seem well, Sir Stronoff.”
“You seem well, too, Sir Gown…heh-heh. Or can I say ‘well’? It would be rude if you ceased being human since the last time we met.”
“Ha-ha-ha. I haven’t changed since then.” Ainz chuckled and hopped off the dark young. Probably due to some sort of magic, gravity didn’t seem to pull him so much, and he fell slowly.
At first, Gazef thought it might be the Fly spell that everyone knew of, but when he considered that it was this great caster using it, he felt there was a good chance it was a higher-tier spell he had never heard of.
“It really has been a while, Sir Stronoff. Since back at Carne.”
“Indeed, Sir Gown. So…whatever can I do for you? I’m sure it can’t just be that you happened to spot an acquaintance on the battlefield and came over to say hello.”
“Well, hmm. I don’t like using flowery language, and a roundabout phrasing wouldn’t be appropriate here. So…I’ll tell you straight.”
Ainz slowly extended a bony hand.
Not out of hostility but out of friendship.
“Come work for me.”
For a moment, Gazef’s eyes widened.
At the same time, he heard Climb and Brain gasp on either side of him.
He never thought this great caster would say such a thing to him.
“If you agree to come work for me…” Ainz snapped his fingers, although it wasn’t clear how, with his skeleton hand.
Unsure what was about to happen to him, Gazef trembled.
But nothing about him changed physically or mentally, and he didn’t feel anything.
“Look around.”
Gazef surveyed the area. As expected, nothing was—
“Aha. So you stopped them?”
All of the dark young had ceased moving. With their legs raised mid-stomp, they looked like statues.
“This is temporary. What happens next depends on your answer. If you refuse, I’ll give the young I summoned another order. I’m sure you can guess what it will be without my telling you.”
Gazef blinked.
Even if he took Gazef hostage and forced him to work under him, Gazef would do more than lack loyalty—he would be sure to plot a betrayal from the inside. Gazef didn’t think Ainz
could have overlooked that.
So there had to be some other reason he would ask such a thing.
Gazef didn’t understand.
But there had to be a reason that a being of that power, who could control a corps of monsters, would want him.
“What? Gazef Stronoff, come work for me.”
The bony hand was there, extended.
If he took that hand, many lives would be saved.
Gazef’s heart wavered—because he had been given a chance to save the people of the kingdom.
But he couldn’t take that hand.
This decision is wrong.
It’s only for my own satisfaction.
A hundred out of a hundred people would be sure to call him a damn fool.
But Gazef still couldn’t betray the kingdom.
He emphatically shook his head.
“I refuse. His Majesty has favored me, and for that, I owe him. Thus, my sword belongs to the king. I cannot yield it to you.”
“Even if more of his subjects die as a result? You engaged in battle prepared to give your life to save Carne… Now that same man would abandon lives he could save?”
The words cut Gazef’s heart like a knife.
Still, Gazef Stronoff could not take the hand of Ainz Ooal Gown.
The captain of the Royal Select couldn’t betray the kingdom.
That was Gazef’s loyalty.
Perhaps irritated by his silence, Ainz shrugged. “You’re a foolish man. Well, then—”
Without letting Ainz say anything else, Gazef pointed Razor Edge at him.
“—What?”
His wounds from the goat hadn’t completely healed even with the power of the talisman he was using.
But that wasn’t why the tip of his sword was shaking. Even so, Gazef was gushing fighting energy from his entire body.
“Sir Gown, I apologize for this impudence as someone in your debt, but…I challenge thee to a duel.”
Ainz’s face had neither skin nor flesh. Since Gazef couldn’t know what expression he was making, it was impossible to read what he was thinking.
But he had the feeling somehow that he was dumbstruck. And apparently the other two behind him were, too. Even if no one spoke, their shock was palpable.
“………Are you serious?”
“Of course.”
“……You’ll die, you know.”
The Caster of Destruction Page 27
