Nothing, absolutely nothing. The scent and tracks have ended.
The empty city, once devoid of life, suddenly found itself overrun by the undead. A swarm of skeleton fighters has already occupied several dozen buildings. The sweep was thorough and straightforward, intending not to leave a single stone unturned.
Banners are visible hanging along the sides of the buildings. The hallmarks of an occupation, intending to stay for a long time.
The massive swarms of skeleton fighters marching in lockstep sent their rhythmic thudding reverberating through the city — an infinite city tentatively under undead occupation. The Death Knights were also carrying large banners bearing the flag of Nazarick.
Another level claimed by the Sorcerer Kingdom.
Other than the swarms of skeleton fighters. Three figures stood out inside the city: two childish elven figures, one male and female.
The third one is a tall man wearing a clean, well-sewn white suit and slacks. He wore a white fedora with a black ribbon band, his well-groomed hair spilling out from beneath the brim.
Muzan Kibutsuji remained standing outside the café, the neon signs blinking on and off, signaling that it was open despite lacking any staff. He trained his head above, gazing at the impossible heights of the skyscrapers.
Also, despite the ambient sunlight piercing through the permeating mist of this level. Muzan wasn't affected by it, meaning that whatever the source of this light was, it didn't come from the sun.
As for the structures, he saw drawings and descriptions of such buildings, but they came from the United States of America, which to his knowledge, was in its roaring speakeasy era. He sighed, turning his head at the café entrance, watching the two elven siblings do their work.
Muzan was there to provide support or to face the enemies head-on. He knew what the primary job was, a mere cannon fodder, but he had patience. One way or another, he's going to free himself from the yoke of this sorcerer king.
As he thought of that, a chilling sensation erupted from his spine. For the first time, he truly had no options; he had nothing to offer and everything to gain from complying. He didn't want to be tortured or experimented on again.
Muzan bit his lip, pretending to be a willing asset for now. The mere presence of the tamed beasts of his superior, kept his thoughts in check. The wolf beast, Fenrir, was especially keeping an eye on him.
Inside the café, the mood was rather grim.
Aura Bella Fiora used the best of her ranger and tracking kills, supplemented by her various tamed beasts, but nothing came up. The ranger and druid spells she used were [ Detect Presence ], [ Detect Life ] , [ Track Target ] , [ Beast Eye ] , [ Wisp of Direction ], and [ Earthen Eye ].
She even used some items to improve her search, but still, nothing came up.
Mare Bello Fiore, supportive of her sister's task, gave her buff after buff. [ Guidance ], [ Intuition ], [ Bless ], and several spell boosts or buffs. Nothing.
"Sister, I don't think they've fled to another level."
Mare spoke up first, tightly gripping the wooden staff he carried, [ Shadow of Yggdrasil ], as it was formally called. He only gripped it when his façade of meekness needed reinforcement, or when his sister was stressing him out.
"What are you talking about? Doesn't it make sense that they just found a ripple inside this café and then destroyed it on the other side?" Aura chided, placing one hand on her waist while the other scratched her head.
"Yes, that could be a possibility, but sister..." Mare paused, glaring at his sister with a worried glance. "The skeleton scouts already found another nearby ripple entrance, and Shalltear, along with Cocytus, is scouting with them."
Aura hummed; the thought of Shalltear creating a mishap was low but not non-existent. Anything about tracking and scouting was Aura's domain, and the thought of Shalltear doing it too, albeit under the orders of Ainz-sama, left her with some uneasiness.
"She's by far the most experienced and well-suited to combat situations. She went with Cocytus. They just returned earlier, and what they told me was rather telling." Mare added.
"What did they say?" Aura questioned, raising a brow.
"Well, first things first. They found another level; this one was, as Shalltear called it, a place of eternal, cozy-looking hills and short grass. There were also structures resembling those of a modest house." Mare said, stuttering, his voice almost a whisper.
"Cocytus detected a significant surge of harmful energy, akin to radiation — the same energy emitted by the bald man and the cosmic-like humanoid he had witnessed arguing weeks earlier. Despite deploying numerous scouting, sensing, and surveillance spells and items. Both of them found no trace of Reinhard, Sung, or their associates."
Mare said, twirling his hair with his fingers.
Given that the detected ripple was located quite far from the café, if Reinhard and Sung's group escaped through the presumed ripple entrance within the café, then both ripple entrances in the subsequent level should not be situated far apart.
The proximity between the two ripples meant that any tracking or sensing spells, despite the distance, should have easily detected their presence or leftover tracks. Mare thought.
"However, they found tracks belonging to that cosmic-like humanoid, the bald man, and another person. Yet those individuals were gone as well, and their tracks were weeks old." Mare finished, looking at his sister.
"What are you saying, Mare?" Aura said, brows furrowing.
"I suspect that, much like the strange monk the Death Knights met before capturing those JGSDF soldiers, Reinhard's group may have also discovered a way to exit these thresholds."
Aura hummed, noting that it was still one theory. "So you're not sure?"
"I am not sure, but if they did indeed flee this whole threshold. Then, we may have to find a way to enter their realities. Demiurge said that Reinhard's group is mainly composed of scattered, lost travelers. Not that they necessarily come from the same reality."
"Just like that monk who apparently phased through a wall, and when the Death Knights tried to chase, the wall suddenly turned normal," Aura muttered, her eyes widening in slow realization. She jolted upwards, up in the air, as if she received an epiphany.
She started feeling the walls, floors, and even the ceilings. She ordered Fenrir to start sniffing outside and even shouted at Muzan to scout the perimeter.
She was looking for the entrance, not a ripple, an isolated space amongst the walls or floors that holds no collision mechanic. Mare sighed; her sister was a smart ranger and tracker, but her mental acuity leaned more toward keen intuition than logical connections.
"Sister, I already checked, you're not going to find any. Besides, it's just a theory, a game theory."
"A what?"
Mare pleaded; he had already checked and double-checked, and the better thing to do right now was to report back to Ainz-sama and provide their assessments or theories.
"You might have overlooked something! Help me and look again." Aura retorted.
"Okay..." Mare sighed, thinking that he might as well get this over with. He had another report to file and a point of interest to study.
The massive crater not far from here was created when a powerful being destroyed the first massive scouting battalion. The scouting battalion would've set up the base and even possibly caught up to Reinhard's group before they fled.
(Next chapter is the city of Priestella.)