Shalltear’s ability to summon kin wasn’t unlimited, so it would eventually end. But letting her heal from all of the creatures around her was too dangerous.
Originally, he was going to use it when the Einherjar made its appearance. Aside from her healing herself by killing her own summons, the plan was still proceeding accordingly.
Amongst his 60 or so class levels, there was one particular class.
Even in YGGDRASIL, it was a highly rare class that only a few possessed.
The reason Ainz was able to get such a class was because he ignored power and maxed his death magic for the sake of role playing. A person who only wanted to make a strong character would not have been able to find it. It was a coincidence because builds skewed to the extreme were rare.
The prerequisite was to have five levels in Overlord. The next step was to be specialized almost completely in death magic while having a total level of 95. Only then, could you obtain the class.
A rare class like this, if it were a different game, the information would have been immediately uploaded to a guide site and shared. But YGGDRASIL was a game where information itself had value. Like the case with World Class items, the number of people who freely shared newly discovered information with others was small. This was especially the case with classes that had a secret weapon.
That class was ’Eclipse’.
「The Overlord that has mastered death in the truest sense will rise to this class. Like an eclipse, he will encroach upon all life.」— was what was written in the class status description.
And what he was about to use now, the skill learned at level five, which was the highest possible level of the Eclipse class. It was a skill that could only be used once every 100 hours.
The name of the skill— ‘The goal of all life is death’.
In an instant, a clock with its hands marking the twelve o'clock position appeared behind Ainz’ back. He then cast a spell.
“「Widen Magic: Cry of the Banshee」.”
A woman’s scream rang throughout the surroundings like a ripple. It was a shout with an instant death effect.
It was reinforced by Ainz’ many skills, making it stronger than normal and difficult to resist. But needless to say, it did not affect an undead like Shalltear and neither the Einherjar, who was considered a Construct and therefore had complete immunity to instant death effects.
But strangely enough, not even the creatures in the area that did not have complete resistance were affected.
Despite the strange situation, Ainz did not budge. Actually, events were proceeding as they should.
Clunk
With a noise, as if matching the timing with when the spell was cast, the clock behind Ainz began to tick.
As his health was being chipped away by the repeated attacks from the Einherjar’s lance, Ainz observed Shalltear from the corner of his vision and at the same time, was disappointed.
….As I thought, the battle won’t be settled. That Peroronchino, did he set up this countermeasure just for me? You didn’t have to give her a resurrection item, damn it!
He felt anger in his heart towards his friend whom he had been close with, even within the guild.
While Ainz was busy dodging the Einherjar’s attacks, twelve seconds passed. Having completed a full revolution, once again, the hand on the clock pointed towards the sky.
And Ainz’ secret weapon activated.
That moment— the world died.
It was not a figure of speech.
Everything had died.
In front of his eyes, the Einherjar turned into a white mist and began to crumble. Even the lifeless construct had died instantly. Likewise, Shalltear’s kin, succumbing to a power that they could not resist, began to die out.
But it did not end there.
Even the air that was devoid of life died and turned the 200 meter diameter into a space where breathing was impossible. If there had been a being here who needed to breathe in order to live, the dead air would have contaminated the lungs and ended its life.
Not only that, the land died as well. With Ainz at its center, an area measuring 200 meters in diameter instantly turned into a desert.
In a world where only death existed, the only thing left moving was Ainz and Shalltear.
Ainz’ secret weapon, ‘The goal of all life is death’, it strengthened the instant death effect of spells and skills to the point where even those with complete immunity were killed.
A method to defend against it was to, like Shalltear, deploy a self-resurrection effect and so on.
It was also the reason why even inanimate objects like the air and land had died. Although its effects weren’t to this extent in YGGDRASIL, in the real world, it was much more clearly pronounced in the form of granting ‘Death’ to all equally.
Even Ainz was taken aback by this strange occurrence. The fact that using a game skill in reality could change it to this degree, it was almost enough to make him unwittingly shake his head in wonder.
But Ainz swallowed his surprise. His pride was what kept him from letting his shock seem obvious. As if to say that this was what he was aiming for, Ainz, with a haughty arrogance befitting a ruler, quietly spoke to the lone survivor.
“How do you feel after witnessing the power that grants death to even those without life?”
A fresh breeze flowed into the surroundings, thinning the dead air. Carried by that wind, another voice could be heard.
“It was amazing, as expected of Ainz-sama. All of my kin ended up getting killed. But Ainz-sama’s MP seems to be almost gone. On the other hand… my health is still fine.”
Shalltear’s eyes reflected the nearly depleted state of Ainz’ MP. Although he still had a bit left, it was only enough to cast probably two or three more spells at max. With so few, no matter what spells he used, it would be impossible to kill Shalltear.
This was the case even if he were to use the super-level magic 「Heaven’s Downfall」.
“Is using two more 10th tier spells your limit? But since Ainz-sama’s magic is so strong, there’s no telling what amazing things you could do even with just that.”
“Indeed, it seems about two is all I have left.”
It was not a lie.
She won.
A smile of satisfaction rose to Shalltear’s mouth.
The line that divided the victor and the defeated was now clearly decided. Shalltear Bloodfallen as the victor, Ainz Ooal Gown as the defeated.
With the composure of the winner, Shalltear praised the loser, Ainz, who had put up a good fight.
“You were incredible Ainz-sama. Like how your MP is almost gone, mine is completely spent and my skill charges are nearly gone as well. You’ve fought very well until now.”
She channeled her strength into her hand grasping the Spuit Lance. The only thing left was to end his life in close combat.
“I agree. Your compliments, I will accept them graciously.”
Twitch. Shalltear’s cheek moved.