To a human, this would be a sight so terrifying it would root them to the spot. However, to an undead creature like himself, this was nothing to be afraid of. The broken-down exterior was just a facade — in truth, the bridge was very sturdy. As long as one did not deliberately step onto the missing portions, even a creature with his massive weight could easily cross the bridge.
Paying no heed to the keening of the rotted wood underneath his feet, the Death Knight set forth.
After the bridge, he would be at his objective.
The path ended at an unassuming stone door.
Although it was hard to tell from the outside, this door was the entrance to Shalltear Bloodfallen’s private quarters.
The Death Knight knocked on the door. The sound it made was not that of the stone it looked like, but metal. It was a metal door made to resemble a stone one.
After a few moments, he knocked again.
The door opened, and one of Shalltear’s servants, a vampire bride, poked her head out.
“Ara, you are…?”
Since he had come up through the teleport gate that led to the lower floors, she could be reasonably certain that he was not an enemy. However, she still gasped as she saw this unfamiliar undead being, since Death Knights did not usually exist in Nazarick.
The automatic spawn system would only produce monsters that were level 30 at most. Death Knights, which were level 35, would not be spawned by that system. In addition, the mercenary system that summoned creatures in exchange for YGGDRASIL currency did not allow for the summoning of Death Knights. Her confusion was understandable.
The Death Knight introduced himself, in order to avoid a situation like the one with the maid from just now, where they ended up staring at each other in surprise or embarrassment.
The vampire bride’s eyes went wide as he told her that its master — the absolute ruler of this domain— had sent it here to speak with the ruler of this floor.
“Is, is that the case?! Th-then I apologize for delaying you! Shalltear-sama is bathing now, she’ll be— no, it would be rude to make you wait here. Please come in!”
The Death Knight would have been fine waiting outside, but refusing an invitation like this would be disrespectful.
With that, the Death Knight nodded lightly, and entered the room.
A thick, sweet fragrance hung in the air. Although it had no effect on the undead, it could imagine that if the living failed to resist the effect, they would be inflicted with some form of negative status. Thick scents like this, which seemed to soak into one’s skin, were a common trap used in the lairs of the undead.
Gauzy pink chiffon veils hung from the ceiling, obscuring vision. The sound of women laughing and moaning lewdly carried over from the distance. It was completely unlike the rest of the tomb, and he felt as though it had been drawn into another world. Fighting a team battle here would be very troublesome, to say the least.
The erotic atmosphere of the room was shattered by the vampire brides running around frantically. They appeared to be helping Shalltear — who had finished her bath— dress herself.
“Clothes—”
“Dry Shalltear-sama’s hair—”
“Ainz-sama’s envoy is waiting—”
“Even if he’s undead, we should offer him refreshments as a courtesy—”
“Prepare a seat for him first—”
All these words floated over to the Death Knight, accompanied by the sounds of hurried action.
“P-please, come this way.”
Soon, a different vampire bride appeared before him, and brought him to a room with a small white table, set for two.
Each place had porcelain teacups set before it, filled with a bright red fluid, the scent of tea filled the air.
“Shalltear-sama will be here shortly; please wait for a moment.”
After bowing, the vampire bride left.
The Death Knight sat down, worried that the delicate legs of his chair would not be able to bear his mighty weight. Though tea had been freshly brewed for him, he left the cup untouched and waited. He would not suffer any ill effects if he drank the tea, but if he did, it might leak out from his body and onto the floor. He did not want to dirty someone else’s room.
After several minutes, Shalltear emerged, flanked by two vampire brides. It seemed as though even this hasty entrance had been quite rushed, given the fact that her long hair was not fully dried and it was left hanging behind her, instead of being pinned up.
The Death Knight rose from his place to welcome Shalltear. Her eyes went wide, and then she silently fell to one knee.
“The Floor Guardian Shalltear Bloodfallen presents herself. I apologize for the delay in my appearance, oh messenger of Ainz-sama.”
As Shalltear greeted him without concern for her station, the Death Knight expressed his hope that she would not adopt that attitude. It was he who should be bending his knee to her.
“But, I could not possibly show disrespect to an envoy of Ainz-sama.”
Upon hearing Shalltear’s denial, the Death Knight pleaded with her not to stand on ceremony once more. However, Shalltear did not seem able to accept that fact. As he surmised, she probably thought that any rudeness to Ainz’s messenger would be rudeness to Ainz himself.
After several rounds of this back and forth, the two of them finally came to a compromise. In a show of mutual respect, they would speak casually to each other.
A smile came to both their faces as they reached an accord.
“Then, can you tell me what you need? I haven’t received a message by envoy rather than by magic since Albedo ordered us to gather in the colosseum. It must be an important matter, so I hope you will let me hear it even in this shabby room.”
Shalltear looked at the vampire brides she had brought along.
It seemed like this was a confidential matter.
As the Death Knight confirmed that this was to be kept secret, Shalltear gestured with her chin in the direction of the door. The vampire brides nodded and quietly left the room.
“Then… let’s sit down and talk.”
Although both of them were undead and did not have to worry about fatigue, it seemed quite silly for both of them to be standing, especially when drinks had been prepared.
The two of them matched their timing and sat down in unison.
Their eyes met for a moment, and then Shalltear spoke in a low voice.
“Then, can you tell me?”
Her voice was filled with excitement and anticipation. Shalltear must have felt that the Death Knight was going to entrust her with some clandestine mission that could only be accomplished by the Floor Guardian Shalltear Bloodfallen. The building heat of her excitement felt like a physical pressure — or not.
According to his master, the first thing he should ask the Guardians was “Are you feeling alright?”
After he said that, Shalltear blinked in surprise, then wobbled from side to side while thinking about the question. Finally, as though admitting defeat, she spoke up.
“Is there any particular reason for that question? Has something unusual happened?”
Maintaining one’s health was important, so his master felt that asking about their health would lighten the mood. After all, when doing business, one needed to find common ground after clearing the air.
Although he had asked the question with that intention, the result had been the opposite of what he had predicted. Shalltear’s eyes went wide at the unexpected question.
“As Ainz-sama surely knows, as an undead being, I am immune to most status effects and am thus in good health. Even so, I know that some special effects can affect the undead. Has one of those effects turned up?”
The undead were completely immune to sleep, poison, disease and other effects which affected a living creature’s metabolism. However, some enemies’ attacks could bypass those resistances.
Those attacks usually belonged to World-Class enemies.
For instance, the Five Rainbow Buddhas’ ‘Five Celestial Death Throes’, the ‘Corpse Venom Breath’ exhaled by one of the Eight Dragons, or the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ of the Lords of the Seven Sins.