While looking at Gazef’s face, he spoke to the two people nearby.
“…Seeing how he made a challenge with no chance of winning reminded me of that time. In honor of the Warrior-Captain, I will order the Dark Young to stand down. His body will be returned to you.”
“…No, there’s no need for that. We will bring Gazef back. There’s no need to trouble you.”
Climb exhaled heavily.
Would Brain challenge Ainz to a hopeless battle? he wondered, However, there was no need for that.
“Is that so,” Ainz replied before standing back up.
“The instant death spell I used, ‘True Death’, will invalidate lower-tier resurrection magic. Tell this to the people of the Kingdom. Tell them I will be merciful to those who submit respectfully.”
Ainz lightly floated into the air.
Even as they saw his defenseless back, the two of them knew they could not commit such a shameful act as attacking from behind.
Ainz sat on the tentacle of the Dark Young.
It was truly a terrifying throne.
“Cede E-Rantel and the surrounding areas to me and these lambs will not frolic through the royal capital. Tell the King this, when you see him again.”
The Dark Young turned and left, and the other four Dark Young also began making their way back to the Imperial castrum.
“Climb-kun. I have one request…Could I bring Gazef-dono back?”
“…Very well. Then I will bring Stronoff-sama’s sword home.”
“A lot of people died.”
“Yeah, too many to count.”
“…What just happened?”
“I don’t know. But, if someone like that calls himself a king and claims this territory…”
“In the future, a war will definitely break out. And who knows, the dead may outnumber the corpses here today.”
Walking behind Brain, who was carrying Gazef on his back, Climb’s thoughts turned to the future of the Kingdom, wreathed in clouds.
Brain’s words would definitely come true. What was important was what he could do, and then, what he would do.
And the most important thing was
— I have to protect Renner-sama.
Climb clenched his fist, and steeled himself. At the very least, he had to protect his mistress, no matter the cost
Translators: Nigel
Editors/Proofreaders: Namo-Namo, Rockgollem, Ferro, M, Noir-chan
The cold night wind whistled past.
It stirred up Brain Unglaus’ hair and ruffled his clothes as well.
“…It’s freezing out here…”
The cold wind swept away his pale white breath and his mumbling and carried them into the distance.
Even the deepest parts of his body felt like they were frozen.
Brain was staring aimlessly from atop the walls of E-Rantel, where the three of them had stood together before they had moved out with the army.
There was nothing out there except darkness.
During the battle― no, the massacre of the Kattse Plains, many of the Kingdom’s people had lost their lives.
He remembered what he had seen when he crawled off that battlefield.
The defeated people dragged their feet lifelessly, their clothes were tattered and they looked utterly wretched.
Even though Brain was a warrior who trod the edge of life and death on a regular basis, the image of that hel scape ―created by a single magic caster― was seared into his eyes.
Although E-Rantel ―protected by its city walls― could not be considered a safe place by any means, the fleeing soldiers, tired and worn out from exhaustion, collapsed like puppets whose strings had been cut. They curled up anywhere they could, and slept as if they were dead.
Upon this unmanned tower, Brain slowly exhaled again.
Then, he looked silently to the sky.
“I just keep thinking… nothing real y matters anymore.”
Brain looked at his hands.
While he was carrying the lifeless body of that man, he felt a massive weight pressing down on him.
Try as he might, he could not forget it.
He was a great man, and the greatest rival, who had always been a step ahead.
That man ―Gazef Stronoff― his death was a very real loss to Brain.
To Brain, Gazef was no mere rival. His existence could not be summed up by just that one word.
It was because that man fought him during the martial tournament, because he had roundly defeated Brain and his ever-growing pride, because of Brain’s burning desire to defeat Gazef, it was because of all of these that Brain had become the person Gazef was not.
Brain Unglaus lived, grew and refined himself because of Gazef. The strength of the man called Gazef was enough for Brain to invest his life into surpassing it. He had been like an impassable wal … and the closest thing he had to a father.
And then, the thing he should have surpassed no longer existed.
Gazef Stronoff stood tall, like a majestic mountain, even as he passed into death in front of Brain.
Brain once saw the true meaning of power in the form of Shalltear Bloodfallen. So for a time, he had lost himself in depression and could not free himself.
Because he was overly confident and relied on the fact he was strong, when Shalltear smashed his confidence, he knew he was weak. The Brain who stood here now could admit that.
But Gazef was different.
“Ainz Ooal Gown must surely be a monster of the same caliber as Shal tear Bloodfallen. And Gazef chal enged him anyway.”
At that time, Gazef did not request the duel for a worthless reason like his own survival. The conviction he displayed was completely different from the way Brain had flailed his sword wildly at Shalltear while crying like a baby.
What on earth made him do that?
“I don’t understand. Why didn’t you run?”
Forcing the words out was like coughing up blood.
“Why did you choose to die? Wouldn’t it have been fine to run from that monster? Wouldn’t it have been like conserving your strength? Why?! If you had to die, I wanted to go with you!”
If he couldn’t surpass Gazef, then he wanted to die with him.
Brain turned his vision to the weapon at his waist.
It was Razor’s Edge, which he was temporarily allowed to carry.
Brain drew Razor’s Edge, and activated the martial art.
“「Fourfold Slash of Light」.”
The technique Gazef used to defeat Brain in the martial tournament.
Four arcs of light cleaved the nearby railing to pieces. There was virtually no resistance and the blade flowed through the metal like it was water.