Greater Doppelgangers can imitate people of up to level 60. However, unlike the NPCs, they can only copy up to 90 % of the originals’ abilities. Even if they possess gear from the Pleiades, there’s no need to be worried… is there? In that case, killing them would be too much of a waste. After all, they’re mercenary vassals, which means summoning them cost money ― as I thought, I should just leave them powerless. Do I need to put that into the rules after all?
“Alright! I will add one more rule. Once you Greater Doppelgangers are near death, you are out. I will monitor your health with 「Life Essence」. You can hide your HP totals, right?” After Yuri replied in the affirmative, Ainz nodded. “Then suppress that ability for a while. If I judge that you’ll die after a light hit, I will call your name and rule you out. In that case, you will count as dead. Leave the battle area immediately. In addition, the same thing applies to the Evil Lord of Wrath. If I declare victory, the combat will end. Do you understand?”
The Evil Lord of Wrath and the two Doppelgangers indicated that they understood.
“Very well. Then we’ll start when the coin hits the ground… about twenty five minutes has passed, so I guess they won’t complain even if we start.”
Ainz cast 「Life Essence」 and then took out a gold coin. Of course, this was not a YGGDRASIL gold coin, but a trading gold coin used in this world.
“Will you not buff yourself?”
“Making time to buff yourself is also part of combat training.”
After replying thus to Doppel-Lupusregina, Ainz backed away from them, then flicked the coin up with his thumb so it landed between the two of them.
As the coin hit the ground, Ainz jumped back, then threw his hands out and shouted:
“Absolute Immunity Barrier!”
He saw the Evil Lord and the two Doppelgangers freeze up for a moment. However, the Evil Lord and Doppel-Yuri immediately rushed in.
That was it. That was the right answer.
Ainz’s previous actions were meaningless. There was no ability called Absolute Immunity Barrier in YGGDRASIL ― or at least, there should not have been, as far as Ainz knew. Still, Ainz had shouted that name not simply to fake them out, but also for a different reason.
Ah― it feels like they’re a little slow. Could it be that they think something was done to them and they’ve become a little timid now? Well, that’s what happens when you wonder if you’ve fallen into the enemy’s trap.
Their movements were restricted by the uneasiness that came from the fact that such a technique might actually exist in this world. One could say that this feint had succeeded because there were still unknown things out there.
Of course, that was not simply because of the unknown. A good example was Ainz’s ability to create undead.
In YGGDRASIL, there was no such thing as using a corpse as a medium to ignore the duration on created undead. This aberration had only sprung up after coming to this world. One could imagine that there were many other such changes that had happened in the process of coming to this world from the game. No, only a fool would not think about such things.
In other words, making decisions with YGGDRASIL knowledge alone was very dangerous.
I ought to discuss this with Albedo… and the others, Cocytus included.
Ainz cast a silent 「Fly」 spell and began thinking as he retreated to the rear while keeping a fixed distance from his pursuers.
Albedo said destroying the Kingdom would take about two years of preparation. Should I collect information until then? Expanding one’s nation means expanding contact with the outside… I ought to throw these questions at Albedo and Demiurge and get their opinions. Hm ― illusions seem to be surprisingly powerful, it might be very bad if we don’t watch out for them. It feels like you could do a lot with them if you were smart. If I meet a skilled illusionist, I should probably treat them well in order to recruit them. Fluder ― whoa!
The Evil Lord had outpaced Ainz’s 「Fly」 spell on foot. Unfortunately, flying was not that fast.
“!”
After taking a punch from the Evil Lord’s maul-like fist, Ainz felt pain ― though it was immediately suppressed. Though he had felt the same way during the fight with Shalltear, he was once again thankful for this body of his that could suppress his pain. Ainz could fight thanks to it.
After that, the Evil Lord pursued Ainz ― who had been knocked flying ― and closed the distance to him.
To Ainz, this was the worst possible thing they could have done.
Yuri has circled around behind me. They’re using a pincer attack of two people who can do bludgeoning damage, which is my weakness. Meanwhile, Lupusregina is keeping her distance and casting spells… hm, that’s a buff. Good grief, this is the best way to deal with magic casters. Is this because of the Evil Lord’s combat AI? Or is it because it’s choosing moves from the mind of its summoner, Demiurge? Well, that’s fine.
If they would not let him keep his distance, then he would simply have to make his own space.
“「Greater Teleportation」.”
His field of vision immediately opened up, and the city spread below him. Under normal circumstances, he would not have been able to teleport to an unknown destination, but it would be alright as long as it was within line of sight. Having teleported one kilometer above the ground without any hesitation whatsoever, Ainz cast another spell.
It was 「Body of Effulgent Beryl」.
This spell was exceptionally effective because Yuri and the Evil Lord both did bludgeoning damage.
“Of course, that’s not all there is to it,” Ainz muttered as he looked to the ground. “…If Bukubukuchagama-san or Variable Talisman-san were here, the backliners wouldn’t be getting beaten up.”
When playing as a party, skilled aggro managers like tanks would not make mistakes like allowing the magic casters in the backline to be attacked.
During the time when they had stopped playing the game ― when Ainz had gone out to earn the money for Nazarick’s upkeep by himself, he had used mercenary NPCs to allow him to act with impunity. The only time he had truly fought alone was the battle with Shalltear. Perhaps that was why he could not help complaining.
They were quite some distance apart, so he had no idea where the Evil Lord was, but he had a rough idea of the square’s location. While carpetbombing the area with attack spells was a valid tactic, that would be pointless. One could say that the objective this time round was to win in a full-powered contest with the opposition.
“「Widen Magic Delay Teleportation」!”
Come to think of it, I used to get pissed off by the mercenary NPCs’ poor management of aggro. That was probably the devs’ way of saying “please group up with other players” or something.
He then confirmed that something large was going to teleport above him, within the area of the 「Delay Teleportation」 spell ― the Evil Lord. Thanks to the effect of the 「Delay Teleportation」, it would take a while before it appeared in the real world. In other words, it meant that these two weak enemies which had lost their strongest shield were completely exposed before him.
In order to weaken the enemy’s fighting strength, he ought to defeat the weaker two first. Ainz let gravity claim him, and then accelerated further with 「Fly」.