Jaldabaoth muttered to himself.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
Remedios touched herself as she wailed in anguish, fresh blood streaming from the corner of her mouth. No, she was collecting the chunks of meat that were stuck to her. What was she doing? Has she lost her mind? Neia wondered.
No, there was a meaning to her bizarre actions.
Don’t tell me, that corpse was… how could this be…
Although the lower body had tattered bits of what looked like armor stuck to it, it should have belonged to a woman. In that case, she could imagine two people that it could have been.
If that was really the case…
“What a lovely sound,” Jaldabaoth waved his hand like a conductor. “In that case, I believe this is the first time we have met, Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown-dono ― or perhaps — sama would be a better form of address?”
“It doesn’t matter. Now then, I trust you’re here for a showdown with me?”
“Indeed. No amount of weaklings will make a difference.”
“I concur on that point. I have no intention of generating meaningless deaths.”
Still sniffling, Remedios looked towards the Sorcerer King.
“Your Majesty, you are strong. Stronger even than Momon. I hope you will allow me to adopt a strategy that will guarantee my victory.”
Jaldabaoth raised his hand, and a head poked itself through the hole.
It was a woman wearing a mask and a maid’s outfit. There were two of them, in fact.
“I trust you will not call me despicable?”
“―Uh, hm. Well, this is… mhm… uh… um.”
The Sorcerer King was starting to get worried. No, that was only to be expected.
Nobody could have expected Jaldabaoth to arrive with his maid demons in tow. However—
That’s probably not the case. The Sorcerer King is wise, and he must have anticipated this. In that case, why is he like this? Could it be that it’s because we’re here? Perhaps he’s not confident of protecting us all as well, which is why he’s worried!
“Your Majesty, please do not worry about us.”
“Eh?”
The Sorcerer King made a tiny exclamation of surprise.
Neia knew very well that the maid demons were beings who could kill everyone in this room, and they were so powerful that she could not be at ease even if someone told her not to worry. Compared to someone on the Sorcerer King’s level, Neia and the others, probably including Remedios, were little more than valueless pawns.
However ― she would rather die than get in his way.
She had once heard that the Sorcerer King’s subordinates were prepared to die if they became hostages. While the Sorcerer King said it had disturbed him, Neia could finally understand how his subordinates had felt. They did not want to become a burden to the person they respected.
“Hahaha! Do not worry, humans. I will slowly torture you all to death afterwards. We will be waiting in the fountain at the center of town. Of course, you may flee if you wish, Sorcerer King.”
“I take those words and return them to you, Jaldabaoth.”
The Sorcerer King and Jaldabaoth stared each other down.
After that, Jaldabaoth turned ― and Remedios jumped up, her holy sword in hand, and rushed at him.
The weakly glowing holy sword looked like a band of flowing light.
“Dieeeeee!”
And then, she stabbed it into Jaldabaoth’s back.
“What? This is… Are you satisfied?”
―It was a cold, flat voice.
“Why… why… after taking a strike from the holy sword… you should be evil…”
Remedios’s back looked far too tiny and insignificant in comparison.
“I have no idea what to make of that. Why? What do you mean by why? It felt like a little prick. Is that enough for you? If you’re done, would you mind getting out of the way? I don’t intend to kill you here. That comes after I kill the Sorcerer King.”
Jaldabaoth paid no heed to Remedios and spread his enormous, fiery wings. He flapped them, and Remedios collapsed to the ground.
Jaldabaoth ignore her as she lay on the ground and took off. The maid demons followed him.
“…Then I’ll be going too. You should go take shelter so you don’t get caught up in the fighting. While I don’t think it’ll be a problem, I hope you’ll understand if this city ends up demolished.”
“Your Majesty, will you be alright?”
Caspond rose from where he had dived for cover to avoid the debris flying about the room. His eyes looked at Remedios, who looked utterly defeated and could not rise to her feet.
“It’ll be fine ― I can’t say that for sure, but there ought to be a chance. It would have been very troublesome if he’d brought the demihumans along as shields. Looks like he’s still underestimating me, and this is also a chance to bring the maid demons into my fold.”
“It’ll be fine. It’s okay. My sister is still here. Kelart is still here. As long as she’s around, Calca-sama might…”
Remedios smacked her face as she muttered to herself, and then she forcefully rose to her feet.
“Sorcerer King! I’ll go too! Lend me a weapon that can harm him! I’ll become your sword for the time being!”
The Sorcerer King looked at Remedios, her eyes bloodshot and filled with hate, and then shook his head.
“…Forget about it. You would only get in the way.”
“What did you say!?”
“Do you not understand? I speak of the disparity in strength. Or do you mean to say you understand it, but refuse to accept it? Simply put ― you are a burden.”
Remedios glared at the Sorcerer King like he was her nemesis.
The Sorcerer King’s words were very harsh, but they were also true. Or rather, they were hard to accept precisely because they were true.
“Captain Custodio! I have another task for you. Evacuate these people outside the city!”
Caspond gave the order in a stern, commanding tone.
“The original plan was to let His Majesty handle Jaldabaoth. You agreed to that too, didn’t you?”
“…Ahh, I know,” Remedios bit her lip, and then she forced out her next words. “You must kill that bastard.”
“Understood.”
“―Paladins, carefully gather the remains of that body. Don’t leave a single piece behind.”
“Captain… that body is…”
The paladin had an idea of what was going on, and ventured his question in a trembling voice. Remedios replied in a tone that seemed to be telling him not to ask any more.
“Don’t forget that there might be demonic trickery at work.”
Remedios left without looking back. Several paladins followed her, with half-frightened looks on their faces.
“Your Majesty, I sincerely apologize for the way she treated you… May I apologize on her behalf?” Caspond lowered his head. “Please, I beg your forgiveness.”
“…I accept your apology. Now then, hurry up and evacuate. If he has to wait too long, he might decide to go back on his word. I’ll be heading off first to buy time, but I hope you understand that I can only give you about thirty minutes.”
“I understand. Everyone hear that? Get moving!”
Several priests and paladins moved out with Caspond.
The only people left in the room were the Sorcerer King and Neia, as well as several paladins and priests who were stuffing the remains of a certain someone’s body into a bag. In that case—
“Your Majesty, may I come with you!?”
There were gasps of awe and sudden intakes of air from all around her. But Neia ignored those irrelevant people. She took off her visor and looked straight at the Sorcerer King.
“…Umu. I cannot. He may have said all that just now, but he’s a demon. If pressed, he will reveal his true nature and use you as a hostage.”
“But if that happens, Your Majesty will kill me without hesitation, will you not?”