“Uh, I just asked a question, but can I ask another one?”
Demiurge gave Mare a gentle smile and motioned him to go ahead.
“Ah, yea. S-Sebas doesn’t have a World-class item like us. Will he be alright?”
“As Ainz-sama foresaw, he is to be the bait. If the enemy falls for it, then it would be great. Albedo is watching from the Throne Room in case the enemy falls for the bait. Also, for those who cannot use ‘Message’, do not act independently. I will watch over the entire operation, so come to me instead. In case of an emergency or if for some reason you can’t contact me, I have already told Mare everything about the plan and he will act as the Second-in-Command.”
“Wha… What about myself…?”
“Sorry Shalltear, but like I said, I can’t trust you completely, so you’re in the reserve. Haaa… your uncontrollable bloodlust can be quite a concern.”
“I got it, I got it, alright!!!”
“As soon as stage one is finished, we will enter stage two immediately. I’ll explain it to you now. This is the real deal, so pay atten— …What is it?”
A Shadow Demon wiggled out of Demiurge’s shadow and whispered new information into his ears.
“Is that so? It’s certainly last minute, but can’t be helped.”
It was a truly annoying matter but something that could not be ignored.
“Mare, this is a new information. We have a new Eight Fingers hideout to attack. I’m sorry, but I will need you to head there instead. You might not have enough manpower, but I will send Entoma as support.”
“Y, yes, um, please leave it to me!”
“Good answer. We’ll talk about the details later, but for now let me explain Operation Gehenna while everybody is here. This is the most important plan we’ll execute in the Kingdom, so pay attention.”
Chapter 8 Six Arms
Part 1
In the Kingdom, it was normal to sleep when the sun went down, because keeping the lamp lit would cost money. In countrysides, where most were poor, such practice was the norm. However, cities were the polar opposite of the countryside. Especially around downtown, all sorts of stores and people were active like nocturnal animals. The place Climb was heading to was a little different. Instead of a brightly lit and bustling street, it was an alleyway swallowed in darkness.
Climb walked along the silent street without any lamps. The reason he could navigate the dark street was thanks to his ‘Helm of Dark Vision’. The maximum range was 15 meters, but the view beyond the slit of the helm was that of midday. Furthermore, unlike plate mails made of iron, mithril-made plate mails didn’t rattle as much. Unless someone with extremely good hearing or an extremely skilled rogue was paying attention, nobody could even guess that Climb was walking around fully armoured.
The scouts were ready.
They saw their target when they came out of the alley. Tall walls surrounded the perimeter as if to separate the inside from the outside. It resembled a fortress or a prison. What kind of illegal activities might be going in there? He thought of all the dark activities that might be going on inside. The magical light placed on either side of the door failed to drive away the darkness that seemed be seeping out from the building. He could not see the building that was described in the plan from the outside.
“That’s it. There’s no doubt.”
Climb murmured while crouching down to hide himself, and a voice replied from beside him.
“It seems so, leader. The atmosphere fits as well. I’ll go scout it out.”
It was the voice of one of the former orichalcum ranked adventurers who had rogue class skills. Brain spoke instead of Climb.
“Be careful. There are warriors that can detect invisibility.”
“Of course, they are the Eight Fingers after all. I plan on acting as if there’s a rogue or magic caster of my level. Well, wish me luck, both of you.”
With that, the presence beside him faded. He could not hear anything, but a rogue of similar caliber might have heard the footsteps headed towards the mansion.
The only ones left were Climb and Brain.
The reason they left everybody else behind was because they weren’t used to acting stealthily. Full plate armours were loud and would have tipped off their location. Since a battle could occur any minute, they couldn’t take off the armour to approach either.
So those two came instead.
Both were warriors, so they couldn’t imitate a rogue. However, for Climb, thanks to the magic imbued in his armour and for Brain who could use martial arts in the dark, it was possible to act in darkness. From here on, it was up to the professionals. There was a reason the two of them got this close despite the danger: If the rogue was detected, they had to decide quickly if their group would attack or retreat. Now it was time for them to wait and see. Still, they had no idea what was unfolding inside. As time passed, only negative thoughts plagued them.
“Will he be alright?”
Brain replied to Climb’s concern.
“I don’t know… but we can only trust him. He is a former orichalcum ranked adventurer after all.”
“I suppose. He’s quite experienced, I guess.”
They lost track of how long they were waiting. Then suddenly, Brain reached for his katana. Following Brain’s example, Climb reached for his sword as well and heard the panicked voice of a man from beside him.
“Wait, wait. It’s me, I’m back.”
It was the rogue who went out as scout.
“Ah, it’s you. You came close but didn’t do anything… Were you testing whether I could really sense you with my martial arts or not?”
“Yea, I’m sorry about that. To test the renowned Brain Unglaus, it’s my fault.”
“It’s ok. If our situations were reversed, I might have done the same. Either way, can you tell us what’s inside?”
Climb could feel the rush of air and felt someone sitting down beside him. He looked to his side and saw nobody, but could feel the strange sensation of a faint presence being there.
“It seems like that place was set up as some sort of training ground. The courtyard was set up just like one. I had a brief look through the building and there were a lot of rooms. I think we can safely say that this is a building owned by the Security Branch of the Eight Fingers. There were couple of areas with security so heavy that I couldn’t risk approaching. Also, there’s some bad news, leader.”
The tone of his words changed the mood to a very tense atmosphere.
“These are the important points. There are prison cells in the building and a woman’s imprisoned in there. Also, there are people who match the description of the Six Arms in the compound as well.”
Even if the woman was unforeseen, they already calculated for the presence of Six Arms. So what was the problem? Brain’s question cleared Climb’s curiosity.
“How many? Considering you said ‘people’, there must be more than one.”
“Five of them. Since we already have ‘Devil of Illusions’, it probably means everyone else is gathered there.”
In another word, this was an impregnable fortress. The worst possible location. But—
“This may be bad for us, but better for the others. If they’re all gathered here, that means the other locations will be that much easier.”
It was the silver lining in this worst situation.
“Then what will we do leader?”
“There is nothing to do. This place will be impossible to take down. We will retreat.”