“Come, beast.”
The Dark Young seemed to have heard the challenge, and set a course straight for Gazef. The distance between the two shrank dramatically.
To tell the truth—
— Gazef was afraid.
If he could, he really wanted to flee with the surrounding soldiers.
Even after activating ‘Possibility Sense’ he couldn’t feel anything. It was like he was enveloped by an impenetrable wall of night.
As the Dark Young closed in, he studied its form in greater detail.
Judging by the way its hooves remained undamaged, it was likely that normal swords would not be able to deal any harm to it. From the deep prints it left in the ground where it stepped, its weight would instantly kill anyone it was applied to.
As his understanding of the beast deepened, so did his fear of it grow.
Right now, Gazef was exposed to a terror far more intense than those of the soldiers fleeing willy-nilly around him.
But he could not turn back.
The Kingdom’s strongest warrior could not flee. He cancelled ‘Possibility Sense’, and calmed his breathing.
The Dark Young pressed closer.
It was close enough that the clods of dirt kicked up by its hooves could reach Gazef.
It ignored the soldiers around it, like they were nothing but crawling worms, and headed straight for Gazef.
Or not.
The Dark Young turned like it had hit a wall, rushing past Gazef. Because it had turned so quickly, the Dark Young’s footsteps were messed up, and if it did not have so many legs it would have lost its balance.
The enemy had run away. This was impossible and even Gazef knew it.
It had simply considered where it could find more prey and changed its direction toward a place where it could trample more victims underneath its gore-caked hooves.
The Dark Young charged past Gazef, making the world quake in its passing.
Because there had been a meter or so of separation, the ground under his feet shook like an earthquake. Anyone but Gazef would have fallen down.
He aimed at the Dark Young’s gigantic hoof as it ran past—
“—Haah!”
Gazef swung his sword. At those velocities, the enemy’s own speed would become a weapon that would tear itself apart on the edge of his blade.
In the instant the hoof touched the sword, a massive impact travelled up the weapon and into Gazef’s arms. It made him feel as though his arms were dislocated.
His feet, planted firmly in the ground, left two trenches in the dirt as he was dragged backward.
“Gwaaargh!”
Somehow, he had kept his grip on his sword, but pain spread through his entire body. Be it his muscles or his tendons, every part of him hurt from the stress it had to bear.
Gazef breathed hard, and stared at the giant body that passed him.
Not far from Gazef, one of the Dark Young had finally stood still as opposed to running madly.
One of its tentacles had become a blur.
A chill not born of the temperature filled his entire body. Gazef raised his sword.
And in that instant, a mysterious impact radiated out from the sword, and his body floated into the sky.
Gazef couldn’t see anything, but he guessed that he must have been slapped by the tentacle. His body was sent flying through the broad sky which stretched above him.
After sailing through the air for a surprisingly long time, Gazef’s body finally struck the earth. He rolled and rolled and rolled, but this was not the tumbling of a flung corpse. It was the deliberate movement of a human that was trying to bleed off the energy of his rotation.
Gazef slowly stood up, spurring his battered body into motion. He stared at the distant Dark Young.
One hit.
The arm that took the strike had broken. It was sheer good luck that his sword had not broken as well.
The emotion on Gazef’s face vanished.
Why, why had he been saved? Why had it not pursued him?
Because he was not worthy as its opponent, probably. That seemed like the most appropriate answer.
It could not even be considered a total defeat. In order to be defeated, he would have to have fought, and he had not even come close to putting up a fight.
Fresh blood flowed from his bitten lip.
Following that, Gazef suppressed the intense pain which filled him and charged with all his strength.
Even if he couldn’t beat his opponent, even if he could only take one more hit, even so, he still had to protect his King.
However, his footsteps, made with his full conviction and determination, faltered after several paces.
He looked at the Dark Young that had changed direction toward him — there was no mistake here—
and he realized why he had managed to survive.
Upon the Dark Young, someone was seated upon what looked like a throne made of tentacles, his posture regal, like a king in governance. Of course, that face was abnormal. It was skeletal, and there was no doubt that it was an undead monster.
He was not nearly foolish enough not to recognize who that king was.
“Ainz Ooal Gown… dono. So you weren’t human after all.”
The Theocracy’s special forces. Gazef had no hope of defeating them, yet they had been easily wiped out. No human could have done that, which made this realization simple to accept.
Yes. Why had he even thought someone that powerful could have been human to begin with?
“Stronoff-sama!”
Even before he looked back, he knew who it was by the hoarseness of the voice. The familiar pair came running toward him.
“You two are fine as well.”
Climb and Brain were unhurt, and Climb hadn’t even gotten a stain on that pure white armor of his.
Considering the two of them had not tried to escape at once, that was a considerable stroke of good luck.
“I’m glad you’re safe!”
“I didn’t think you would die, and turns out you didn’t. However, it’s not over yet, right?”
The two of them joined their lines of sight to where Gazef was still looking.
“That is…”
“It can only be one person, Climb-kun. The monster who rules over other monsters. That is Ainz Ooal Gown.”
“That is… that is… How shall I say this… I, I’m sorry.”
At a glance, Climb’s body was shuddering. His stiff, frozen expression betrayed the fact that he was not quaking in excitement or anticipation.
“Don’t worry, Climb-kun. This is nothing to be ashamed of. Or rather, it can’t be helped! A third person whose strength surpasses all rational sense! What has my life become ever since that day!”
Brain radiated a malevolent air as he took a stance. Gazef was surprised at his facial expression, which was casual and easy and did not suit the circumstances.