He should be the owner of the highest medal — a hero.
There was no other possibility.
“We… probably saw a legendary figure… dark warrior… no, dark hero…”
That mumbling made everyone nod.
♦ ♦ ♦
A flick of his right hand sent an undead flying, a flick of his left cut another in half.
Ainz’s storm of one hit kills finally stopped.
“Annoying minions.”
Ainz’s hands was holding swords that were magically created again, looking at the undead in the surrounding with irritated eyes. He pointed the filth-stained swords at them.
The undead were in an uproar, trying to get away from Ainz. The undead who shouldn’t know fear seemed to feel just that from Ainz.
“…This king apologizes for its action.”
The voice came from somewhere high above Ainz. The Virtuous King of the Forest floated in the air with its limbs spread out and whiskers drooping, it sounded depressed.
The one answering wasn’t Ainz.
“Just… behave. It is hard to carry you if you fidget around.”
Narberal’s voice came from the Virtuous king of the forest’s stomach. Because the Virtuous King of the Forest wasn’t able to fly by itself, it was being lifted from below by Narberal, who had activated flight magic. Half of her body was pressed into the soft belly of the Virtuous King of the Forest.
“This one is very sorry…”
The low tier undead who lacked intelligence didn’t show hostility towards Ainz. They were sensitive to ‘life’, so they sensed that Ainz was from their own kind.
But they couldn’t let go of the ‘life’ of the Virtuous King of the Forest that appeared later. This dragged Ainz into this chaotic battle. Narberal lifted the Virtuous King of the Forest with her flying spell so that the undead couldn’t touch and hurt it.
When Ainz took a step forward, the undead would take a step back. Their distance remained the same in this encirclement.
The encirclement with Ainz in the center moved according to Ainz’s pace. The undead seemed to be searching for an opportunity to attack, but anyone who will step forward would be destroyed by Ainz with one hit. So the undead simply encircled Ainz, not daring to engage.
There had been countless examples of undead being decimated when they get close. Even the undead who lacked intelligence learned from this and formed this encirclement.
“But this would become a stalemate.”
Ainz complained about the number of undead left.
If Ainz broke through seriously, an undead mob of this level wouldn’t be a challenge. But if he broke through forcefully, the undead might scatter, which might lead to the guards nearby getting killed. He would then lose his eye witnesses, failing Ainz’s goal of being ‘the adventurer who resolved this crisis’. So he had to lure the undead as he advanced in order to ensure the safety of the guards. But this resulted in the progress becoming slow.
But Narberal took his words literally:
“Let’s call for reinforcement from Nazarick. With a few dozen helpers, we could decimate the scum opposing Ainz-sama in this cemetery.”
“… Don’t be stupid. I have told you the reason for coming to this city several times.”
“But Ainz-sama, if you want to gain fame, it would be better to wait for the undead to break down the gate, and make an appearance after there are more victims, wouldn’t it?”
“I have thought about that. If we knew information like the enemies’ objective and the combat prowess of this city, we could possibly do that. But with the lack of information, we need to avoid losing the initiative. If everything went according to the opponent’s script, it would be displeasing. And based on my observations, other parties might come in to snatch the glory.”
“I see… Ainz-sama is amazing. To consider every angle, as expected of the supreme being, I am once again awed by you. Speaking of which… maybe you could enlighten me about something. If we send servants proficient in concealing themselves, like Eight-legged Spiderblade Assassins and Shadowdemons to observe the situation before any major developments, wouldn’t that help us act at the best moment?”
Ainz looked at the flying Narberal silently.
The air flowed quietly. Thinking this was a chance, some undead stepped forward and were cut down by a casual sword swing.
“… If, if I have to teach you everything, how would you learn? Think about it yourself.”
“Yes! My humble apologies.”
Ainz who was slightly shaken turned his head back to gauge the distance from the gate, and whether the guards could see him.
“That, that might be so, but time is pressing. In order to cut open a path, I will use my powers.”
Ainz released his abilities.
「Create mid-tier undead, Jack the Ripper」. 「Create mid-tier undead, Corpse Collector」.
Two undead appeared after Ainz activated his skills.
One of the undead wore a mask with a smiling face and an overcoat. The lower half of its fingers were large surgical knives.
The other undead had a burly body shape and pustules all over its body. The bandages all over its body were yellow with several steel hooks. The hooks were connected to a chain leading to moaning skulls.
The two undead obeyed Ainz’s command and attacked the undead mob that had gathered. There were just two, but they had the upper hand in terms of power.
While Jack the Ripper cut off the undead’s limbs with its surgical knifes and the Corpse Collector tore off the undead’s head with its chain, Ainz continued to use his skills.
“I will settle all this at once.”
「Create low-tier undead, Wraith」. 「Create low-tier undead, Skull Vulture」. After summoning, he ordered them:
“If anything comes into the cemetery, chase them out. It’s fine to kill the adventurers, but don’t harm the guards.”
The body of the wraith disappeared like a shadow while the skull vulture opened its bony wings and took flight. Having finished his preparations, Ainz laughed.
Sending out the low tier undead as a precaution to prevent adventurers from taking out the mastermind with flying magic and steal the glory of this job.
“Let’s go then.”
The two undead that were summoned displayed their skills, letting Ainz break through the diminishing amount of undead.
Ainz with only Narberal in tow came to the shrine near the depths of the cemetery. He saw several suspicious figures in a circular formation before the shrine, conducting some sort of ritual.
The black robes covering their bodies were unevenly dyed and of poor quality. They used a triangular cloth to cover their face, showing nothing but their eyes. The tips of the wooden staffs in their hands had strange engravings.
They were short in stature and judging by the silhouette of their bodies, all of them were male.