When the massive, twisted form of "The God of True Mechanism" crawled out of the ruins of the Akademiya, many panicked Sumeru citizens, after their initial terror, actually felt a ridiculous spark of hope!
"It's the Akademiya! It's the Akademiya's secret weapon!"
"It appeared where the sages are! It must be here to save us!"
"This is great! We're saved! Quickly, defeat those skeleton monsters!"
People in despair instinctively grasped at any possible straw; they looked up at the gigantic Mechanical God, and some were so moved they shed tears, as if witnessing the arrival of a savior.
However, this pitiful hope was completely crushed the next second, turning into deeper despair and fear!
The four gigantic arms of The God of True Mechanism suddenly began to swing, not attacking the undead within the city, but ruthlessly smashing the surrounding buildings indiscriminately!
Boom! Boom!
Huge stone blocks, Burning wood, and unfortunate civilians caught in the crossfire were easily tossed and crushed like toys!
The foul energy core in its chest fluctuated violently, suddenly spraying forth a chaotic, unpredictable torrent of elements—hurricanes that ripped everything apart, scorching flames that incinerated all things, turbid water that corroded bone and marrow, and freezing ice that locked souls solid!
Four elements intertwined and erupted chaotically, like the arrival of a natural disaster!
It was not saving; it was carrying out complete, maniacal destruction!
"Ah—! It's gone mad! It's attacking us too!!"
"Run! Get away from it!!"
"It's more terrifying than those undead... more terrifying than those skeletons! At least they... they don't seem to actively kill us civilians!"
Someone let out a breakdown cry.
In comparison, the legions of undead, which only advanced silently and occasionally swung their weapons, actually seemed much "gentler"?
"Miss, watch out!!"
Dehya's battle instinct allowed him to react the moment before disaster struck.
He saw a gigantic, Burning piece of building debris, swept away by The God of True Mechanism's arm, hurtling towards their location!
Without hesitation, the Crimson-Maned Lion erupted with all his strength, tightly gripping the frail Dunyarzad in his arms, then leaping forward, narrowly rolling into the corner of a relatively sturdy stone doorway.
Almost the instant they dove into the corner—
Boom!!!
The huge debris smashed down violently, heavily impacting the top and front of the doorway, instantly sealing off the exit of that small corner completely!
The deafening roar and violent shaking nearly caused them to faint.
Smoke and dust filled the air, and gravel rained down.
"Cough! Cough! Dehya! Are you alright?"
Dunyarzad, who was firmly protected beneath Dehya, coughed violently as she asked anxiously.
She received no immediate response.
As the dust settled slightly, Dunyarzad struggled to lift her head, and the sight she saw made her heart nearly stop—Dehya was lying motionless on top of her, bright red blood continuously seeping from his hair, running down his resolute but now pale profile, and dripping onto the ground.
Right next to his head on the floor was a sharp, blood-stained stone!
Clearly, during the impact just now, Dehya had been struck in the head by this stone while protecting her!
"Dehya!!"
Dunyarzad's voice was choked with tears. She struggled out from under Dehya, frantically tearing off a relatively clean piece of fabric from her own skirt, and tremblingly, carefully bandaged Dehya's still bleeding wound.
After simply treating the wound, Dunyarzad looked around, and her heart sank.
The gigantic wreckage was like a small mountain, completely trapping them in this cramped, dark corner, with no visible way out.
In the darkness, she could only tightly embrace the unconscious Dehya, feeling her companion's weak breath and body temperature; this was her only solace at the moment.
Endless fear and despair surged over her like a cold tide.
"Oh God... Lesser Lord Kusanali..."
Dunyarzad's voice caught, and tears finally slipped down.
"Please... whoever you are... whatever existence you may be... help us... save Dehya... save Sumeru..."
Her prayer was faint and desperate, echoing in the enclosed space.
Just then—
Bang!!!!!
A massive sound came from the front!
The huge piece of building debris blocking the exit seemed to have been violently shattered from the outside by some irresistible force!
Blinding sunlight suddenly shone in, causing Dunyarzad to instinctively close her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, the sight made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar!
A tall, pitch-black figure, emitting a dense aura of death, was slowly retracting its door-sized greatsword—it was the Death Knight!
And behind it stood many more silent Nazarick skeleton soldiers holding sharp blades!
They... had found them!
"No... please don't... this can't be happening..."
Dunyarzad trembled violently in fear, yet she hugged the Dehya in her arms even tighter, as if this could grant her a shred of security.
The Death Knight's hollow, crimson gaze rested on the two of them for a moment, seemingly confirming its target.
Completely ignoring Dunyarzad's terrified struggles and pleading eyes, it stepped forward, and its iron-clad massive hand mercilessly grabbed both Dunyarzad and the unconscious Dehya, lifting them like two pieces of cargo, and then turned and strode quickly towards the edge of the city.
Held in the Death Knight's hand and moving at high speed, Dunyarzad was able to see the scene inside the city from a higher vantage point.
She saw—the frenzied God of True Mechanism, rampaging in the center of the city, four chaotic elemental forces erupting from its body like a vortex of destruction.
Surprisingly, large numbers of the undead legion were not confronting it directly, but were instead systematically covering and guiding the surviving Sumeru civilians to evacuate outside the city!
They even used their bodies to form shield walls, blocking the elemental attacks leaking from The God of True Mechanism to protect the civilians!
At the same time, she also saw another elite undead unit charging toward The God of True Mechanism, one after another, attempting to halt its advance.
But under that chaotic and powerful elemental explosion, even the mighty golden skeleton soldiers were constantly torn apart by whirlwinds, ignited by scorching flames, corroded by turbid water, and Frozen by ice, suffering extremely heavy casualties!
The God of True Mechanism was like an invincible War God, tearing through the undead army as if entering an empty land!
Just at this moment of despair—
Whoosh—Boom!!!!
A colossal rock, comparable in size to a small mountain, seemingly ripped directly from a nearby peak, tore through the sky with a terrifying whistle, striking the chest of The God of True Mechanism with impeccable precision at supersonic speed!
Thud!!!!!!
A dull, massive sound loud enough to burst eardrums!
The rampaging God of True Mechanism had no time to react before the meteor-like blow sent its entire body crashing backward, falling heavily to the ground and flattening a large section of the ruins beneath it!
The elemental light shimmering on its body flickered violently, as if it might extinguish at any moment!
The God of True Mechanism struggled, using its four twisted arms to support the ground, attempting to stand up again.
Its chaotic core locked onto the direction of the attack's source.
Then, it saw... an existence even larger and more terrifying than itself!
A colossal Golem, over thirty meters tall, composed of countless gigantic rocks, metal, magic crystals, and unknown energy cores!
It was like a walking mountain range; every step caused the earth to tremble!
Its rock-formed face was expressionless, with only two massive, furnace-like bursts of energy light Burning in its eye sockets—this was the Guardian of the Fourth Floor of the Nazarick Underground Great Tomb, the Strategic Siege Colossus, Gargantua!
And what made the souls of everyone (and every undead) who witnessed this scene tremble even more was—
Standing quietly on the shoulder of the mountain-like Golem, Gargantua, was a figure.
He was clad in a luxurious and extremely imposing black mage's robe, embroidered with mysterious runes and trimmed with dark gold metal.
In his hand, he held a massive and ornate staff.
A red orb embedded in his abdomen emitted a heart-stopping energy fluctuation.
However, the most terrifying thing was his head—it was not a human head, but a smooth, pale skull with no features!
In the eye sockets of the skull burned two calm yet soul-freezing crimson soul fires!
He merely stood there, silent and still, yet an absolute pressure, transcending all things, controlling life and death, like that of a God, enveloped the entire battlefield!
He was—the Guild Master of Ainz Ooal Gown, the Supreme Ruler of the Nazarick Underground Great Tomb, the Incarnation of Death—Momonga!
His arrival caused the frenzied God of True Mechanism to freeze, the raging elements to subside, and the entire battlefield to fall into a deathly silence!
The true Supreme Being had arrived!
A/N: I decided to add an extra chapter because I wanted it to end off on sort of a cliffhanger... but yeah 15 chapters a day if you never noticed!