"It would appear that the first group of pitiful fools has arrived," Shalltear remarked, her undead, vampiric skillset allowing her to sense life within a one-hundred-meter radius.
"Nice! I guess that means I'm up soon~!" Aura pealed, spinning a cordless golden microphone between her right fingers.
"Their brazenness aside, let us hope these intruders possess the spirit of true warriors—for their sake," Cocytus appended.
"Indeed..." Vahn muttered, his presently golden eyes narrowing and a frown marring his face as a group of four entered the amphitheater's arena on the far side of the structure. The odds of his identity getting out were slim, but to be on the safe side, he had adopted the outward appearance of a Kitsune, complete with fluffy, white-gold hair and ears, nine tails, and tapered crimson markings around his eyes.
'This guy reeks of arrogance...' Vahn thought, referring to the presumed leader of the four-person group, a man with combed-back, pale blonde hair and sharp, blue-grey eyes. His hair was pulled back into a stylish top knot, and his black, gold-trimmed armor, worn over an off-white, black-trimmed sword coat, gave the impression he was a variation of Samurai, particularly with a long-handled odachi affixed to his left hip.
On his own, Vahn might have thought the man had a unique and stylish aesthetic. However, with the arrogant-looking man was a trio of notably malnourished Elves, each with medium-length, pale-red, pastel-blue, or blonde hair. What caused Vahn to frown was that, alongside wearing the distinctive rags of a slave, each of the Elves had had their ears painfully, and ostensibly recently, clipped.
"Alright! Off I go~!" Aura chimed, leaping high into the air despite the balcony they were on being twenty meters above the arena.
crash
After landing heavily near the arena's center, producing a cloud of dust that spread away from her due to the air pressure, Aura rose to her full height, made a theatrical gesture toward the group of surprised Workers, and announced into her microphone, "Thanks for waiting, everyone. Our first challengers for tonight are a band of four foolish Adventurers—one human and three Elves! They have brazenly desecrated The Great Tomb of Nazarick with their greed, but thanks to the magnanimity of one of the Supreme Beings, they will now be granted a single opportunity to explain themselves! Depending on their response, they will either be slain like the dogs they are or put to work here in The Great Tomb! How truly fortunate they are~!"
"What farce is this? A lowly Dark Elf brat dares to speak so audaciously before the great Erya Uzruth? You need to learn your place, sub-human swine..." asserted the odachi-wielding man, glowering contemptuously as he slowly drew his nearly meter-and-a-half-long sword.
"Oh, wow. This guy is even dumber than I thought..." Aura spoke into her microphone, her brows raised in a genuine expression of shock. She had very low expectations for the humans that had invaded Nazarick, but the man before her seemed especially irrational. It was like he couldn't sense the hundreds of monsters surrounding them as spectators...
"Well, whatever," Aura appended, completely ignoring Erya's attempt at a retort by gesturing to a barred gate at the opposite end of the arena and animatedly announcing, "As for the identity of the person who will be determining their value, why, it's none other than our illustrious Overlord, Master of The Great Tomb of Nazarick, and Supreme Ruler of Death itself—his name is Lord Ainz! Ooal! Gown~!"
Alerting Erya to the reality that he was surrounded, the monsters in the stands began cheering loudly as Ainz, wearing simple but elegant black robes with a crimson trim and belt, entered the arena—followed dutifully by Albedo.
Compared to his usual Divine-tier equipment, Ainz's current attire lacked majesty. There was even a large metal collar around his neck, designed to limit the wearer's stats in exchange for increasing the amount of EXP they received. Anyone who didn't know that might assume he had been a slave in life, contributing to them severely underestimating his power.
"First, a mud-skinned Elf and now a skeleton wearing silk robes? This tomb becomes more absurd by the moment..." Erya remarked, doing his best to appear and sound confident despite his numerical disadvantage.
"Were you not listening? I am no mere skeleton, human interloper. What stands before you is an Overlord, the absolute pinnacle of Undead," Ainz asserted, making a show of removing his robes by pulling them away from his body with his right hand.
"Oh, my Lord Ainz! Take me now...!" Shalltear gushed, her face flushing and a plume of steamy condensation escaping her throat before Cocytus pulled her away from the balcony's edge and out of view.
"Hmmn...?"
Glancing back and up in the direction of the balcony, Ainz's gaze naturally met with Vahn's. This was exceedingly fortunate for Erya, as, based on his words and actions thus far, Ainz wasn't convinced the man was deserving of the chance being afforded to him.
"Consider yourself fortunate, human. For while your transgressions are deserving of a fate worse than death, I will hear the justification for your petty greed. Tell me, to what do you aspire that you are willing to risk your life in pursuit of wealth?" Ainz questioned, materializing an obsidian-black scimitar and a large black buckler with four wedge-shaped prongs and its cardinal points, and a pointed, outward-facing spike.
Gripping his drawn sword with both hands, Erya countered, "What kind of question is that? Surely, you must have been human at some point. As a fellow man, you should understand that there is no greater pursuit than to become as strong as possible. The equipment I'm wearing isn't cheap to maintain. And then there's feeding and clothing these mongrels cowering behind me..."
"So you seek wealth as a means to an end. This mindset is not unfamiliar to me..." Ainz conceded, thinking back on his life as a salaryman, plagued by financial hardships. Maintaining Nazarick wasn't cheap, either, so while he loathed Erya for invading his home, Ainz couldn't condemn the man for pursuing wealth. Had he sought it in a different tomb or dungeon, it would not have concerned him in the slightest...
'And were it not for us luring them here in the first place, unaware of the dangers that awaited them, these Workers might never have come here...' Ainz acknowledged, the crimson flames representing his eyes dimming in introspection.
"Shukuchi Kai...!"
Taking advantage of Ainz's distracted state, Erya slid forward without moving his feet, closing the distance between them while swinging his sword in a downward, diagonal arc.
"A surprise attack while my guard was lowered? Are you in such a hurry to die?" Ainz questioned, his eyes flashing as he effortlessly deflected Erya's attack with the buckler in his left hand.
"Kuh—Ability Boost...!" Erya exclaimed, spinning with the momentum of Ainz's parry and trailing his odachi in a wide, sweeping arc as he shouted, "Bifurcating Cut...!"
Intercepting Erya's attack with the scimitar in his right hand, producing a loud, clashing sound of metal against metal, Ainz calmly conceded, "Well, a surprise attack was your best chance at victory," before countering with a heavy forward kick.
With Ainz's obsidian-black greave sinking deep into his stomach, Erya spat out the contents of his dinner and a fair amount of blood as he was launched back tens of meters horizontally. The force of the blow caused his top knot to be undone, but he was miraculously able to hold onto his weapon, allowing him to use it as a support as he shouted, "You! Hurry up and heal me, you bastards...!" at his Elven companions. At least, that was his intention.
Where Erya's companions had been standing moments prior, there was now nothing but unoccupied space.
"Wha—where the fuck did you bitches go!?" Erya shouted, the panic he was beginning to succumb to reaching a peak he had never experienced in his short human life.
"How tragic. It would appear that the heavens themselves have forsaken you..." Ainz remarked, glancing back at where Vahn had been. He was no longer present, which, from Ainz's point of view, was evidence that he had no intention of intervening to alter Erya's fate.
"What...what are you talking about? What heavens...?" Erya questioned, his pale blonde hair falling over and obscuring much of his pain-twisted face as he forced himself to stand.
"Worry not. Though your offenses are many, I shall grant you one final opportunity to submit yourself to us willfully. If you refuse, then once we are done scouring your memories for information, every part of your body will be processed into various ingredients," Ainz warned, stepping toward Erya with casual, unhurried steps.
"There's no way I'll die here! Not me...!" Erya shouted, smashing several vials of liquid against his face and body. Each would have cost a typical Adventurer several months of their savings, but without his Elven slaves to heal and buff him, he didn't have a choice.
"Greater Ability Boost! Great Horizon...!" Erya cried, charging forward and performing his most powerful slash attack. The strain on his body caused blood to leak from his ears and erupt from his nose, but he believed that if he could beat Ainz, the established ruler of those present, the rest would be too fearful to approach him. They may even recognize him as their new master.
With such delusions at the forefront of his mind, Erya's brain was wholly incapable of processing that his most powerful attack didn't so much as cause Ainz's scimitar to budge. Instead, it was the flesh of his palms and fingers that yielded, his fingers breaking and blood staining the hilt of his sword as Ainz smacked him across the face with the edge of his buckler, shattering his jaw and knocking him unconscious...
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"So this is where you were..." Ainz remarked, appearing atop the balcony with Albedo and Aura in tow, his eyes flashing at the sight of Vahn tending to the trio of Elven slaves, presently lying on the ground.
"These three were abducted from their homeland and forced into slavery against their will. I could suppress or erase the memories of what they've borne, but as debilitating as trauma can be, those able to overcome it have boundless potential..." Vahn remarked softly, rising to his feet and turning to face Ainz.
"Shall I have them apprentice under Yuri Alpha and then be put to work here in Nazarick? It could be advantageous to Aura's and Mare's growth to have more Elves around," Ainz proposed, prompting Aura and Mare to blink in surprise and tilt their respective heads.
"That would be safer for them than returning them to their home. From what I saw in their memories, their King is a tyrannically cruel man who routinely rapes his female citizens to death and sends his children off to prove themselves in wars," Vahn revealed, his brows creasing deeply as he appended, "But the decision should be theirs to make. If they choose to return home, please see them there safely."
"Of course. On the honor of Ainz Ooal Gown, you have my word that no harm will come to these three so long as they remain within the purview of Nazarick," Ainz responded firmly, prompting every Guardian present to stand straighter and become more attentive.
"You have my sincere gratitude..." Vahn expressed, offering a slow nod and a slight inclination of his body before turning to look down at the trio of Elves and adding, "There's also the option of having the three of them become caretakers of the Seven Lotus Spring. They possess the abilities of a Ranger, a Cleric, and a Druid. With time and care, they could become much stronger than they are at present."
"Then we will ensure all of the options available to them are made clear when they awaken," Ainz affirmed, shifting his gaze to Mare. "Mare, take these three to Pestonya and tell her to ensure they receive the best care that Nazarick can offer."
"Y-Yes! As you will, Lord Ainz...!" Mare responded with a start. Then, using the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown that had been entrusted to him, he teleported himself and the Elves to the 5th Floor's Frozen Prison, where the dog-like Maid, Pestonya Shortcake Wanko, and many guards waited to administer aid to, detain, and break the Workers who managed to survive their trial in the arena...
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