REVIEWS AND POWERSTONES PLSSS!!!!!REVIEWS AND POWERSTONES PLSSS!!!!!REVIEWS AND POWERSTONES PLSSS!!!!!Chapter 61: "The Truth"
Great Tomb of Nazarick. The Throne Room.
The long wait produced no invasion.
Nazarick's defensive traps ran without pause — magical arrays pulsing light across the walls, mechanisms waiting uselessly in corridors no one had touched. Defenses built from gold coins burned through the guild's accumulated wealth with each passing second, silently, without a single enemy to justify the expense.
Ainz sat on the throne, looking at the semi-transparent management system interface before him. The daily maintenance cost column showed a number an entire digit higher than usual.
The dark red light in his eye sockets flickered faintly.
"Demiurge. Give everyone a summary of the current situation."
"As you command, Lord Ainz."
Demiurge stepped forward, placed his right hand on his chest, and gave a deep bow. When he straightened and turned to face the assembled Guardians, those gemstone eyes behind his round glasses were burning with quiet certainty.
"First: the low-tier minions and mercenaries Lord Ainz dispatched have, as of this moment, not come under any attack."
Demiurge spoke slowly, enunciating each word with precision.
Not come under any attack.
The words resonated through the empty Throne Room and settled into every Guardian's ears.
Albedo's brow shifted slightly; something contemplative passed through those golden vertical pupils. Cocytus had all six arms hanging at his sides, the blade-like tips of his fingers tapping lightly against the outside of his thighs, producing faint metallic sounds.
Aura's ears turned. That young face was written over with confusion. Mare kept his head down, fingers twisting at his staff, but his eyes had lifted slightly beneath his lashes.
"However."
Demiurge raised one finger.
"At a considerable distance from the battle site, we found this."
He reached into his coat and produced a fragment the size of a palm.
In the magical light, the fragment gave off a dull sheen. Its surface showed an irregular texture — the marks of something that had been burned by intense heat, then cooled and set. The edges were ragged, with fine cracks still visible in several places.
Demiurge held it up so everyone in the room could see it clearly.
"Lord Ainz conducted an appraisal. This is a drop material originating from the body of a high-level dragon."
The Throne Room was quiet for a moment.
Every eye in the room fixed on that unremarkable fragment.
"Which is to say..."
Demiurge looked around the room, certainty entering his voice.
"What Shalltear encountered that night was, in all likelihood, a dragon — or something capable of controlling one."
Cocytus's body tilted slightly forward. A breath of cold air escaped him.
"A dragon?"
His voice was deep and measured, as though weighing the word itself.
The Guardians turned as one and looked toward the two figures standing near the back of the room.
Aura Bella Fiora.
Mare Bello Fiore.
The dark elf twins — the two presences in Nazarick most immediately associated with the word "dragon."
Under all those looks, Mare stepped backward several paces, nearly disappearing behind Aura. His head stayed down, the force of his fingers on the staff increasing, his knuckles faintly pale.
"Hey, why is everyone staring at us?"
Aura's voice cut through the quiet, carrying that particular directness that belonged to her.
She planted both hands on her hips and raised her chin, her heterochromatic eyes sweeping the room from left to right.
"It's not like we did it."
Her tone carried a note of displeasure, but mostly the instinctive refusal of someone responding to an unspoken accusation.
Aura Bella Fiora. Guardian of Nazarick's sixth underground floor. Created by Bukubukuchagama. Race: dark elf.
Class composition: Master Beast Tamer Lv10, Beast Tamer Lv5, Ranger Lv5, Archer Lv5, Sniper Lv5, and others. Total combat level: 100.
One-on-one combat ability: the lowest among the Guardians. But she commands hundreds of high-level magical creatures.
Mare was Aura's twin brother.
Class composition: Forest Druid Lv10, Senior Forest Druid Lv10, Nature Vanguard Lv10, Calamity Apostle Lv5, Forest Mage Lv10, and others. Total combat level: 100 as well.
Overall combat power: second among all the Guardians, surpassed only by Shalltear. The Great Tomb's most powerful area-of-effect magic caster.
Due to Bukubukuchagama's particular sense of humor, Mare had been designed as a male character dressed in feminine clothing.
Demiurge adjusted his glasses.
"No one is questioning either of you."
His voice was even, the tone one might use to reassure an easily startled animal.
"It is simply that no one in Nazarick knows more about dragons than you two."
Aura's ears moved. She didn't say anything further.
Demiurge turned back to the room.
"Although the enemy's strength is considerable — "
He paused, and a slight upward curve came to his mouth.
"We may have been overestimating them somewhat."
Cocytus spoke again. Something like puzzlement had entered his voice.
"For what reason?"
Cold air escaped with the words, condensing into white mist in the air and drifting slowly away.
Demiurge did not answer directly.
He turned to face the throne and gave a deep bow.
"Lord Ainz."
Reverence had entered his voice.
"Please allow me to present the results that your brilliant arrangement has yielded."
Ainz sat on the throne, watching Demiurge bend.
A flash of green light passed over him.
Forced calm.
The cool sensation surged up from somewhere deep in his consciousness, pressing down that familiar feeling of being completely out of his depth.
"Ah, of course, Demiurge."
Ainz's voice was steady and certain, giving nothing away.
"Explain it thoroughly for Cocytus."
Demiurge straightened, a genuine smile settling on his composed face.
"You are as generous as you are wise."
He turned toward Cocytus and adjusted his glasses again.
"The reasoning is straightforward."
"First: the fragment exists."
Demiurge's voice was unhurried — the tone of someone carefully dismantling a precise equation.
"This tells us that the enemy was not unscathed in that fight. A one-sided, crushing victory would not have produced fragments."
Cocytus's insectoid head tilted slightly, apparently working through this.
"Second."
A note of calm confidence entered Demiurge's voice.
"The enemy did not clean up the site after the battle. That dragon scale was simply left behind — not recovered."
He paused, letting his gaze move across each Guardian in turn.
"There are only two explanations. Either the enemy had no resources left to spare for recovery. Or the enemy feared that Nazarick's reinforcements were on their way and could not afford the time."
The corners of Demiurge's mouth curved slightly upward.
"Either way — it tells us that the enemy's strength is not what we feared."
A low murmur rose through the Throne Room, then quickly fell silent.
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