"Are they still fighting... no, most likely their fight has reached its climax. That means... I have to buy more time!"
As she said that, Evileye charged at the attacking Alpha.
She just needed a little bit longer. She had to drag this fight out. With that in mind, Evileye fully prepared herself for death, and carried out her kamikaze attack.
Alpha's hands were moving in circles in preparation to receive Evileye. She stood tall, like an invulnerable fortress, but even seeing this, Evileye did not stop—
♦ ♦ ♦
Lower Fire Month (9th Month) , 5th Day, 03:53
While Ainz and Jaldabaoth struggled with each other, they crashed into a house. The door shattered as Ainz drove Jaldabaoth into it, scattering splinters everywhere. The interior was dark and cramped, unsuited for Ainz to swing his sword.
Ignoring Jaldabaoth, Ainz rose to his feet and walked off. Jaldabaoth got up as well and followed him. They entered another room, with a small table, two chairs, and Mare.
Mare pulled up a chair for Ainz to sit. Then, with Ainz's permission, Jaldabaoth removed his mask, revealing Demiurge’s face.
"Firstly, is this room secure?" Ainz asked.
"There is no problem. The words spoken here are for our ears alone."
"Is that so... Well, then. First off, I have a favor to ask of you. Do not harm the guards I passed on the way here. While this place is fairly distant from E-Rantel, helping people in distress is good publicity."
"Understood. Will it be acceptable to transmit orders by telepathy?"
"Go ahead. In the meantime, tell me about your plan."
Even though Demiurge had already explained the plan to Narberal via ‘Message’, she had not told him anything about it yet. He was forced to remain silent and not express his displeasure in order to make sure the plan wasn’t ruined, but in his heart he was worried about it.
"Very well. This operation has four main objectives—"
"Ho... I only counted three. Four, you say?"
Demiurge smiled. It was a smile of smug satisfaction.
"I feel as though I have gotten the better of Ainz-sama for once."
Ainz magnanimously waved his hand. Of course, he did not even know what the first three were, but Demiurge's words still made him uneasy all over.
"You've always been one step ahead. I've got a long way to go."
"What are you saying, my liege? Truly, you are too humble."
"No, really— forget it. Then, tell me about these objectives."
"Indeed. To begin with, the objective of attacking the warehouse district was to secure the wealth and goods within and transport them to Nazarick. To facilitate this, I had Shalltear open ‘Gates’ in front of the warehouses, and let Pandora's Actor handle the matter of transportation."
This was a very profitable objective indeed. Ainz silently praised Demiurge from the bottom of his heart.
Losing so much wealth would make life in the capital more difficult in the future, but at this point in time, Ainz had no way of knowing that. Right now, all he felt was relief that the problem of funds was solved for the moment.
"The second is to cover up our involvement in our attacks on the hideouts of the Eight Fingers in the area. As you have no doubt surmised, a direct attack on the Eight Fingers' hideout would arouse suspicion. If we are unlucky, it might even lead to the exposure of Sebas and his contacts. As such, we expanded the area of operations in order to make others think our true aims lay elsewhere."
That is to say, it was like throwing torn-off branches in the forest to hide them.
"But can you do this? What will you use to throw them off the scent?"
"Please take a look at this, my liege."
Demiurge gestured, and Mare brought in a bag, which he opened. Inside was a statue of a demon. Each of the demon' six arms were grasped a different kind of jewel. A strange, pulsing light radiated from within.
"These jewels are imbued with the spell known as 「Armageddon Evil」.
The 10th tier spell ‘Armageddon Evil’ was one that summoned a demon army. Although it could summon a massive amount of troops, they were not very powerful. And if angels were hard to control, demons were even worse, with their tendency to go berserk at the worst possible moments, making it a very difficult spell to use. The normal usage capitalized on the fact that the summoned demons were not allies by default, so they could serve as live sacrifices for certain rituals and other special abilities.
Much like how Shalltear used her Spuit Lance to kill her own summoned minions, this magic existed for a similar purpose.
"Though this item was created by Ulbert-sama, I feel it would be best used here."
From the perspective of this world, it would make sense that an item like this would draw Jaldabaoth's attention.
Ainz recalled the past.
It was about a friend called Ulbert, back when the Guild's power was at its peak.
Originally, there had been a World class item which could summon an unlimited number of demons that would eventually consume the entire world. Although that would cause a huge disturbance, Ulbert had been overjoyed when he heard about it and strove to create an item to imitate it. But when it turned out the item could not cast six spells simultaneously, he lost interest in it and gave up.
It was plain to see that Demiurge was reluctant to give up a possession like this. That was because it was a relic of his creator.
Ainz reached his hand into a pocket dimension, and withdrew a certain item.
"Demiurge, there is no need to use that. Take this as a substitute."
The device Ainz withdrew looked similar to the demon statue Demiurge had prepared. However, its hands only held three gems, and it looked cruder in general.
"This was also a device made by Ulbert-san. Because it was a prototype, he wanted to dispose of it, but I thought that it was too much of a waste and kept it. How about using this instead?"
"How— how could I expend the treasures of Ainz-sama for my own schemes?"
"Is that how you see it? Very well, then. Demiurge, this is yours. Use it as you see fit. However, don't you think Ulbert-san might be embarrassed that his failed experiment was still around?"