The Caster of Destruction

by Kugane Maruyama

  “I’m sure I will.”

  “And yet you still…? I wasn’t really planning on killing you…so you have a death wish?”

  “Well, I didn’t think so, but here we are.”

  “…What are you thinking? I can’t understand your thought process. If you were challenging me because you knew you could win, I would get it. And in the case that you thought you had a chance. But you’re convinced you’ll lose… Have you lost the ability to make sane decisions?”

  “The enemy king has come within reach of my sword. I think it’s only a matter of course that I would try to take his head.”

  “Certainly, we are in close physical proximity. But it also looks like there’s an insurmountable gap between us. Are you calling me blind?”

  One of the tentacles of the dark young behind Ainz whipped out and gouged the ground next to Gazef.

  With Gazef’s dynamic visual acuity, he couldn’t even see it happen.

  “Maybe I am, Sir Gown.”

  “Are you getting cocky because I said I wouldn’t kill you?”

  Gazef smiled deep down. “I certainly don’t intend to be, not one bit. I just want to do what I should as captain of the Royal Select, that’s all.”

  “…If you come at me, I will mercilessly destroy you. That’s a fact.”

  “I bet it is.”

  “Hmm… So I can say all that, and you won’t change your mind? What a shame. As a collector, I’d rather not kill a rare one like you.”

  Gazef didn’t have the slightest intention of backing down.

  This was a one-in-a-million chance. For starters, Ainz had so many subordinates, yet here he was in front of Gazef with no entourage.

  On top of that, he was so arrogant in his strength that he wasn’t even moving to use the dark young behind him.

  A chance like this would never come again.

  His opponent was at unreachable heights. But here and now, this was the moment that reaching him might be possible.

  The next time they met, he would surely be surrounded by a crowd of guards, as befitted a caster who would be vulnerable in a close-quarters battle. He would never stand within a sword’s reach. That was why Gazef challenged him to a duel.

  There was also one other reason.

  It would be betting on a very slim chance, but it was worth a shot.

  Gazef declared his intentions formally. “King of Darkness, Ainz Ooal Gown! I am captain of the Royal Select of the Re-Estize Kingdom, Gazef Stronoff! And I challenge thee to a duel!”

  “Gazef!!”

  “Captain…”

  Finally unable to stand it any longer, Brain screamed and Climb moaned. But Gazef paid them no mind and continued.

  “If you accept them, King of Darkness, I would like to designate these two as the witnesses of our single combat.”

  Ainz shrugged.

  Gazef took it as permission to do as he liked and nodded.

  “W-wait! Wait, Gazef! I would die with you any day! I won’t let you go alone! Your Majesty, King of Darkness, I beg you! I realize this is impertinent, but it’s a wish from my heart! Would you fight us both at the same time? I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult for you.”

  Hearing Brain’s miserable screams, Gazef thought, Yeah, I knew it.

  Brain’s content expression earlier was that of a warrior who had made up his mind.

  He had resolved to be killed with Gazef by Ainz Ooal Gown.

  But Gazef wouldn’t accept that. He couldn’t.

  “Brain Unglaus! You would sully my warrior’s resolve?”

  Brain looked shocked.

  “Listen, Sir Stronoff. I don’t mind fighting both of you.”

  “That won’t be necessary, King of Darkness. I am your sole opponent. You needn’t lay a hand on either of them.”

  The red flames in the vacant orbits of Ainz’s skull gleamed brighter.

  “…I see. I’ve seen those eyes before. You have the will of a man who is ready to die. They’re strong eyes. I admire them.” Ainz spoke as if he was another human. “All right. I accept your proposal. You and me in a one-on-one PvP match.”

  Brain fell to his knees.

  Gazef couldn’t see his lowered face, but raindrops were falling onto the red earth.

  I’m sorry, he mentally said to him.

  “I’ll give you back your corpse in pristine condition. You can use Resurrection and—”

  “No need.”

  At Gazef’s reply, both friends and foe were speechless.

  “I don’t wish to be resurrected. I don’t mind if you throw my body away here.”

  He didn’t think there was anything wrong with resurrection magic. But he didn’t like it.

  A person had only one life to live.

  That’s why the decision people made to risk their lives carried such weight.

  And it wouldn’t be in the kingdom’s interests for him to come back to life, either.

  If Gazef died, it would be announced both internally and externally that the king had lost someone precious to him. That might soften the anger directed at him by his subjects who lost someone in the war.

  This was the selfishly operating captain of the Royal Select’s final act of loyalty.

  Ignoring the surprise around him, Gazef smiled, seemingly liberated.

  “Then let us begin… You two, watch my last fight all the way to the end.”

  Climb never imagined Brain would ever show such vulnerability.

  The Brain that Climb knew was strong, easygoing, and elusive. But the man hanging his head held not even a shadow of him. Still, Climb didn’t think he was weak.

  “Brain. Aren’t you going to do that for me?” Gazef asked without turning around.

  Brain didn’t move. Climb could sense his frustration from the way his hands clutched at the dirt. Still, he couldn’t not say it. “It’s what Sir Stronoff wants.”

  He didn’t think Gazef Stronoff could win.

  That’s why Climb and Brain had to fulfill Gazef’s wish.

  Brain slowly stood up.

  So much heat.

  Climb nearly skittered back.

  Brain seemed to be giving off a fiery warmth.

  “…I’ve acted pathetic in front of you so many times, Climb. I’m all right now. I’m going to burn his heroic figure into my eyes.”

  “Thank you.”

  What was the relationship between Gazef Stronoff and Brain Unglaus?

  Climb didn’t know. Especially about Brain.

  He lost to Gazef and trained hard with the sword. That was the Brain that Climb knew, but he had the feeling their relationship wasn’t so simple.

  “Very well, Sir Stronoff. May I see your sword? I’d like to examine it briefly,” Ainz said with utter calm as if he was inquiring about the day’s weather. Enchanted swords were invested with all sorts of abilities. To examine it was to examine the hand of one’s opponent. Common sense dictated it was not the sort of proposition that should be accepted.

  Climb wasn’t the only one to think that; apparently, Brain felt the same, because his eyes went huge when he saw what happened next.

  Gazef turned his sword 180 degrees and offered the hilt to Ainz.

  “Gazef! Have you lost all interest in winning?”

  “Brain! Don’t be rude! The King of Darkness isn’t that sort of person.”

  Ainz took the sword and cast a spell. Then he smiled in high spirits.

  “This sword’s amazing.” Ainz did what Gazef had done moments ago and offered him the hilt. “Sir Stronoff, how much do you know about that sword’s power?”

  “I know everything. This sword is so impossibly sharp, it can cut gold like paper.”

  “What a pity. That’s only the first thing it can do.”

  “What? What in the world do you mean, King of Darkness?”

  “In a word, it’s a sword that can kill me. With that, we meet the basic criteria of having a duel. If I fought against someone who was wielding a weapon that couldn’t even scratch me,
it’d be nothing but an execution.

  “How rude of me to have lumped you in with the sewer rats who barged into my home…,” Ainz said as he suddenly pulled a dagger out of the air.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, he pressed the dazzling blade hard against his face and dragged it across.

  But it didn’t seem to hurt him at all.

  “These kinds of things enchanted with weak magic can’t hurt me. Incidentally, the amount of dat—mana is the same as that sword you have, Sir Stronoff. But that sword makes all that possible. It ignores all the common sense I know. I wonder, if I win, would you mind if I took it?”

  Gazef winced. “Give me a break. This sword is one of the kingdom’s treasures.”

  “Hmm. So this is a PvP match where we’ll return any drops. Fine with me.”

  “I appreciate it, King of Darkness.”

  After returning the sword, Ainz rubbed his chin pensively and then began taking steps away from Gazef one by one, as if measuring.

  “This should be a relative distance of about five yards. Other than that…we don’t have a countdown, so we’ll need a signal. You with the white armor. Come up with some sort of start signal.”

  Suddenly getting called on, Climb shuddered.

  “I’m counting on you, Climb.”

  “W-well, I have my magic handbells, so how about if I rang one of those?”

  The two combatants silently nodded to show they accepted Climb’s suggestion.

  Gazef aimed the point of his sword at Ainz’s eyes and filled his body with energy. To Climb, behind him, it seemed like his muscles were actually expanding.

  His swordsman spirit was overwhelming. Climb had never seen the true force of the captain of the Royal Select. But the way he looked now seemed like a mirage, bizarrely distant and fleeting.

  “Sir Stronoff…”

  This was probably the last time he would see him alive.

  “You don’t know that for sure.”

  “Huh?!”

  Brain suddenly contradicted him.

  “It’s not a done deal that Gazef’ll die. It’s extremely slim, but he does have a chance at winning. He has an ace move.”

  “You mean Sixfold Slash of Light?”

  Brain smiled calmly. “No, it’s the ultimate martial art, way beyond that. He has that, so…”

  “I—I had no idea!”

  Readying his handbell, Climb gazed at Gazef from the side as the warrior, with his sword up, focused every fiber of his being—the steely profile of the man known in the surrounding countries as the captain of the Royal Select.

  “Yeah. One of the kingdom’s former adamantite-plate adventurers, Vesture Kloff Di Laufen, developed it, but he was too old to use it. If my strongest move, Nail Clipper, is the combination of multiple arts used at once, Gazef’s is the strongest single art. With that…he might be able to reach even Ainz Ooal Gown.”

  That might be why he chose to face him solo, Brain thought as he watched in earnest, unblinking.

  Climb gulped.

  The hand holding his bell felt heavy. Once the bell rang, Gazef’s fate would be decided.

  “Want me to do it instead?”

  “…Thank you, but…I’ll…”

  Brain murmured that he understood and didn’t say anything else.

  Climb held up the bell—with a prayer that Gazef would win.

  And then…the bell rang out even louder than he expected.

  Focused to the extreme, Gazef dashed forward with unimaginable speed—

  Climb and Brain were determined not to blink, their eyes opened wide—

  —but even faster than that, the world stopped.

  “Oh… You really need a way to handle time.”

  He had used Instacast Silent Magic: Stop Time, so Gazef was frozen in front of Ainz with his sword raised over his head.

  When time was frozen, all attacks were meaningless. Even if he hit Gazef with attack magic, he wouldn’t be able to do any damage. That’s why Ainz calculated out the times and cast.

  “Delay Magic: True Death.”

  It was a tier-nine spell.

  He didn’t use it much because Grasp Heart was so easy and fun.

  If magic was ineffective while time was stopped, all one had to do was cast in a way that the magic took effect right after the temporal magic expired. It was a basic combo, but because of how difficult it was to get the timing right, only about 5 percent of magic-using classes could pull it off.

  It goes without saying, but after spending a ridiculous amount of time practicing, Ainz could do it.

  “…This is good-bye, Gazef Stronoff. I didn’t dislike you.”

  The spell was lifted, and time returned to the world.

  And before anything else happened, the magic took effect.

  Gazef fell in slow motion.

  “Huh?!”

  “Wh-what?”

  Climb and Brain had no idea what had happened.

  The moment Gazef dashed forward, he began to crumple.

  Ainz caught his body.

  His sword dropped feebly to the ground.

  The duel was already decided.

  But they couldn’t understand it.

  They had absolutely no idea what had occurred.

  “What in the…?”

  “You think I know?” Brain roared. “Why?! Stand up, Gazef!”

  But Brain’s wish was coldly denied.

  “He’s already dead.”

  Ainz laid Gazef on the ground with correct etiquette, as if he respected him. Then he slowly closed his eyes, which had been popped wide open.

  The other two came closer, and with his eyes on Gazef’s face, Ainz spoke to them.

  “…Seeing him take on a fight he couldn’t possibly win reminded me of that one time… Out of respect for the captain, I won’t have the dark young attack anymore… After I make up his body, I’ll send it to you.”

  “…No, you don’t need to do that. We’ll take him back. I don’t want any favors from you.”

  Climb breathed a sigh of relief.

  He thought Brain might challenge Ainz even though he knew he couldn’t win, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.

  Ainz just said, “Oh,” and abruptly straightened up. “You can’t resurrect someone from the instadeath spell I used, True Death, with a low-level resurrection spell. Also, tell the people of the kingdom: If you submit to me, I will have mercy on you.”

  Ainz floated into the air.

  He showed them his unprotected back, but neither Brain nor Climb could do anything as shameless as attacking him.

  Ainz sat on the dark young’s tentacles.

  It was like a horrific throne.

  “If you turn over the E-Rantel area soon, these fellows won’t rampage through the royal capital. Tell that to the king.”

  The dark young whirled around and headed back toward the imperial army’s position, although the imperial army itself seemed to have started withdrawing at some point. The other four also seemed to be making their way back.

  “Climb, I have one favor to ask you… Do you mind if I take Gazef back?”

  “…All right. I’ll take his sword.”

  “So many people died.”

  “I wonder how many.”

  “…What is going on?”

  “I don’t know. But if a being like that is going to rule this land…”

  “There will definitely be another war in the future… And the casualties will probably be even greater next time.”

  Following behind Brain, who had shouldered Gazef, Climb thought of the kingdom’s gloomy future.

  He felt like Brain’s prediction was undoubtedly right. What mattered, then, was what he should do in that situation. And what he was even capable of doing.

  And most importantly of all…

  I have to at least secure Princess Renner’s future…

  Climb balled his fists tightly and made up his mind. He would do anything to protect his master.

  Epilo
gue

  A freezing evening wind blew by.

  Brain Unglaus’s hair whipped in it, and his clothes flapped.

  “Brr.”

  His white breath and low murmur were scattered and carried away by a northerly gust.

  He felt like he was going to freeze to his core.

  Brain was alone atop the rampart tower the three of them had climbed before, deploying.

  There was nothing there but darkness.

  In the battle on Katze Plain—no, the massacre—a huge number of the kingdom’s people had died.

  He remembered running from the battlefield for dear life.

  The people who had fled looked so pitiful and ragged, their gaits unsteady.

  Even Brain, who had fought through many life-and-death battles, would never be able to forget the hellish scene caused by that single caster.

  Despite its walls, E-Rantel couldn’t be called safe, but the soldiers who somehow managed to make it this far practically collapsed with fatigue, falling into a deep slumber.

  Up in the empty rampart tower, Brain exhaled deeply once again.

  Then he silently looked up at the sky.

  “Man…I kind of don’t care about anything anymore.”

  He looked at his hands.

  The weight of that man’s lifeless body still hadn’t left him. Even if he tried to forget it, he couldn’t.

  He had been a great warrior, as well as Brain’s rival, one step ahead of him.

  The loss he felt—the loss of Gazef—was tremendous.

  Gazef was more to Brain than a good rival.

  Because that man had stood before him in the tournament, because he broke him back when he had such a big head, because of Brain’s passion to defeat Gazef someday—those were things that made Brain the person he was now.

  Brain Unglaus was birthed, raised, and trained by Gazef Stronoff. Gazef’s strength was the strength that Brain was meant to spend his life trying to surpass—just as a father existed as a wall to be overcome.

  But now the person he was supposed to surpass was gone.

  Gazef had towered before him like a mountain to the last.

  Shalltear Bloodfallen had shown Brain true strength. And for a time, he wasn’t able to recover from it.

  He understood now that because he had been so confident in his strength, which he had made his sole foundation, he was fragile and weak when Shalltear shattered it.