“Arche! Is this guy a magic caster?!”
“No! I’m sure of it! At least, he’s not an arcane magic caster!”
“Hm? And what is that supposed to mean?”
“—I can’t sense any magical power from your body.”
“Ahhh. So, you use detection spells, then. How rude.”
Ainz showed Hekkeran and the others his hands. As one might expect of an undead, there was nothing of them but bones. He spread his fingers to show that each of them, on both hands, was wearing a ring.
“Once I remove this ring, you will understand. I also lent it to my subordinates.”
Saying that, Ainz removed a ring on his right hand. And then—
“Uuuuoooggh!”
It was the sound of vomiting. Sticky fluid spilled onto the floor of the arena, and a sour, rancid stench wafted up around ‘Foresight’.
“What did you do?!”
Imina glared at Ainz, from where she had rushed over to assist Arche. Ainz seemed a little uncomfortable, but still answered in a displeased tone.
“What do you mean, what did I do to that girl? There’s a limit to how rude you can be, throwing up when you see someone’s face.”
“—E-everyone, run!”
Arche was shouting, and tears were leaking from the corner of her eyes.
“This guy is a mon—uuuurrrrrggghhh!”
Unable to endure it, Arche threw up again. In that moment, Hekkeran understood why she had vomited.
Ainz had done nothing to her. Rather, she had been unable to withstand the combination of terror and stress caused by seeing the enormous magical power surrounding Ainz, and so she had thrown up.
And that meant—
“—We can’t beat him! His strength is on a totally different level! Even the word monster can’t describe him!”
Arche began wailing as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
“No way no way no way—”
Imina tightly hugged Arche to her chest. The girl was violently shaking her head as though she had gone mad.
“Calm down! Roberdyck!”
“Got it! 「Lion’s Heart」!”
Under the influence of Roberdyck’s magic, Arche managed to recover from the panic which had gripped her. Like a newborn deer, she rose unsteadily on shaky legs, using her staff as a crutch.
“—Everyone, we have to flee now! That’s not a being humans can beat! It’s an unbelievable monster!”
“Understood, Arche!”
“Yeah, I get it. When he removed the ring, the entire world seemed to change. I felt it raise goosebumps all over me.”
“Yes. Powerful wouldn’t nearly be enough to describe this monster.”
The alertness level of the three of them had gone through the roof. The stared at Ainz with nerves wound even tighter than before. Theirs was an expression that understood that even an instant’s loss of watchfulness would spell their deaths.
“It looks like they won’t let us run.”
“The moment we show them our backs, we die. Although I have the feeling that just averting our eyes would be enough.”
“We need to buy time or we won’t make it.”
“…Not coming?”
Of course, Hekkeran wouldn’t be baited by Ainz, who was lazily scratching his skull with one long finger. The enemy’s fighting power vastly exceeded that of any being which had ever existed. That meant they could only count on one thing.
When Ainz began casting a spell—a magic caster was most vulnerable when reciting an incantation. If he used a silent spell, then the game was up, but even so, that was a tiny possibility which existed for them.
As though drawing a bow taut, Hekkeran gathered his strength within himself.
“Then I will go. 「Touch of Undeath」.”
“What kind of magic is it? Arche!”
“I don’t know! I’ve never heard of it before!”
The black fog which covered Ainz’s right hand was an unknown magic which put them all on their guard. Hekkeran tensed his legs, ready to dodge at any time. His companions behind him were also wary for an area-of-effect attack, and began spacing themselves out.
Instead, Ainz began walking towards them.
Hekkeran’s eyes went wide. It was a totally unguarded and defenseless movement method. Those were not the movements of a man that was a skilled warrior. He knew was that it was a trap, but he didn’t know what Ainz was aiming at.
Is he trying to use magic for something… or was that spell a close-range type? Or was it a defensive type?
Hekkeran was familiar with the more famous spells, but Hekkeran was not a mage by profession, and couldn’t understand Ainz’s intentions.
“Stay away!”
Imina’s angry cry pierced the air, as did the arrows she launched at Ainz.
Using a special technique, she had launched three arrows at once, but Ainz deftly knocked them from the sky with a bony hand.
“…You’re in the way.”
It was a small but cold voice.
The red blaze in the empty eye sockets flickered, but it was only Hekkeran, who was up front studying Ainz’s every move, who noticed it.
Just as the bad feeling struck, Ainz’s form vanished.
Hekkeran turned, trusting his instincts. In his eyes, he saw his companions’ shocked faces. However, there was no time to explain. Especially to Imina. Ainz was standing behind Imina, slowly reaching his hand out to her.
Imina! She didn’t notice! I need to—no, this isn’t the time for such useless actions!
As he used a martial art to move at top speed toward Imina, a twinge of confusion ran through Hekkeran.
Was it wise to protect Imina?
Compared to Arche and Roberdyck, who could use support spells to enhance people, Imina’s usefulness and importance were relatively low. The best way to increase their survival rate was to discard the stumbling blocks at their feet.
However—
Dammit!
This was the wrong thing for a leader to do. Even though this was almost equivalent to betraying his comrades, Hekkeran did not slow his steps at all. Emotion overruled reason in this matter.