On the outskirts of the Great Forest of Tob, the once serene landscape had been ravaged. Patches of lush green lay in ruin, with soil torn and gouged out, while trees, once towering and proud, now lay felled like lifeless corpses. Amidst this desolation, three figures stood, their presence stark against the backdrop of destruction. Shalltear, the vampire, the queen of the night, looked at the two beings that played with her with mocking red eyes, her armoured hand rested on her face as if to dam up her bubbling emotion, but like a broken dam, her restrain exploded, filling the air with haunting laughter.
"*Hahaha* This is hilarious. If you people change jobs to comedians or clowns, I guarantee you would be much more successful than you are now, *hahaha!!*."
After her chilling laugh echoed for what seemed hours, her composer slowly returned, her teary orbs refocusing on the two. The Captain, the leader of the esteemed Black Scriptures, lay motionless on the blood-soaked ground, his life slowly ebbing away as crimson poured from where his limbs once were. His once-pristine armour, a symbol of his prowess, was now shattered and scattered across the battlefield, reduced to debris. Only his spear remained intact, yet without its master, it rested abandoned—nothing more than a discarded tool, forgotten in the corner of the devastated battlefield. The last figure, Kaire, the holy priestess and the holder of the World item [Downfall of Castle and Country], lay on her knees, her head kissing the dirty soil, arms covering it as if trying to disconnect herself from the scene she has been thrust into.
"No-No-No, What are we humans to do. What trials have the Gods given us. This is impossible, utterly inconceivable. What kind of cruel trick is this, *hehehe*. Yes, it must be just a dream, a dream. I see a dream then...." Kaire mumbled crazily, her old body shaking and shriveling.
"Ara? Had she lost her mind already, arisu~? Hmm, well it's no matter. She will be useful as long as she breaths."
Shalltear, losing interest in finishing the kneeling human off after looking at her, turned towards the destroyed battlefield and made the most worried face of the night, a slight sweat tracking down her waxen face.
"It seems I might have gone a bit overboard after the plane succeeded."
"I won't call this a bit. More like extreme. You have gone too far playing around Shalltear."
A sudden voice, as beautiful and lively as sunlight, suddenly interrupted the vampire's worried contemplation, making her unbreathing heart skip. But as the night queen she is, she quickly controls her continuance, instead dawning one of annoyance as she stares at the sudden visitor.
"Aura, why are you here? Didn't Ains-sama task you with lookout duties?"
"Yep, and unlike you, I already did my job perfectly, with.out .any. faults." Aura spoke cheekily, stepping out from inside the forest. She wore a smug smile on her youthful face as a light breeze ruffled her short golden blonde hair.
Walking towards the grinding Shalltear, Aura put her hands on the back of her head and continued speaking non-calantly. "Well, you can get your punishment later from Ains sama, it's none of my business. But you must have at least completed your main aim right?"
"Hmmp, of course I have. Why would I even struggle with these insects as my opponents? I also did a perfect job acting as bait for this woman, and it worked out perfectly." Shalltear replied in with a huff at getting her competence questioned but could not hide the tinge of pride seeping into her tone.
Ainz and Lemon had already identified the identity of the world item, but due to their uncertainty about its authenticity, Ainz proposed a plan to confirm it.
They would use a sufficiently strong monster to comfort the enemies, letting them activate [Downfall of Castle and Country]. This would have confirmed the item's genuine nature, as well as made the item unusable for a period of time. At first, Ainz thought of using a high-level summon as the bait, then after the monster had fallen to the opponent's hands, they would gang up and completely suppress both their enemies and the now-controlled monster. But Lemon interjected this plan, telling him that the bait might not be sufficiently powerful, proposing they use one of the guardians instead.
Of course, Ainz instantly rejected this, but after a heated debate on the dangers and benefits, as well as added support from the guardians, he relented by letting Shalltear, the strongest force they currently have, act as bait while holding one of their World items.
"Why do you sound proud when you botched the landing?" Aura asked in exasperation, shaking her head. She stole a quick glance at Shalltear's face, her eyes gleaming with satisfaction as she saw the frustration written all over her companion's expression.
"Shut up you pep squick, this much damage is nothing, I could order one of the servants to restore it in no time, and I don't want to hear that from someone who is playing around instead of completing their task". Shalltear spat back angrily, her irritation growing towards the she-elf.
In return, Aura looked at Shallter in disbelief and just replied with a shrug, her smug superiority oozing from her every movement. She, satisfied with her victory in their verbal spar, moves on from their current bickering, acting as the more mature individual and walks towards the kneeling Kaire.
"So is this the World Item. It looks…. well plain." She commented, eyeing the Cheongsam dress from every angle.
Seeing her opponent was moving on, Shalltear gave a dissatisfied huff but replied, understanding the futility of dragging on with this conversation.
"Well, it just used its skill, so maybe all its energy was spent. It seems the embroidered dragon is also not glowing after all." Shalltear said, walking up next to Aura.
Hearing Shalltear's insight, Aura nodded, satisfied with the answer. Then, with a spring in her movement, she turned to the vampire.
"The other fights are mostly done too, so we should start cleaning up. I will bring these two to the base with me. You also return after fixing this mess. Maybe contact Mare for it. That way, it will be more safer too, and you both can return together." Aura said to Shalltear. Seeing the vampire nod in acknowledgement, she turned and whistled, calling on her tamed beasts.
After a few moments, two quadrupedal, dog-like beasts emerged from the woods. At Aura's command, the beasts obediently moved to collect the motionless and squirming figures. With a fluid motion, Aura climbed onto the back of one, effortlessly taking her place atop the creature.
"Ok, we will be off. Let's meet back on camp."
"Indeed arinsu~, until then".
*****************************************
Ticking back the clock for about 20 min let's return to the front of the cave, now only occupied with 4 people.
One group was led by Caenis, the tan-skinned Amazoness. She now donned her golden, red, and white armour, which revealed a fair amount of skin, highlighting her powerful physique. In her hand, she tightly gripped her golden divine spear, while her shield was strapped securely to the opposite arm. Her presence radiated strength and confidence, a warrior ready for battle. A few steps behind her, Akeno stood, her smiling gaze targeting the opposite side, her maturity envelope by her white and red priestess attire.
On the opposite side of the two, the two remaining members of the Black Scriptures stood. One of them, the Divine Chant seeing the two imposing figures, readied herself by activating her holy armaments, a pair of gloves with intricate oval carved in its inner side. The ovals looked like components from a speaker with its pinkish gold colour and black rims. This design was also engraved throughout her holy garment speaking to her role as the divine preacher of the Great Six Gods. Next to her Quaiesse Hazeia Quintia also known as One Man Army stood, his ruby-coloured eyes narrowing slightly. He, unlike his alert comrade, did not show any external weariness at the two figures in front of him, instead, he wore a friendly smile, like that of a jolly neighbour. This did not mean that he was letting his guard down, no, in fact, this attitude was born from his knowledge that he already had them surrounded and the unbending confidence of his victory.
"Haha, well it seems we were left behind by our companies. So what do you say, as part of the unwanted group, we talk about this like proper humans." Quaiesse spoke amicably, taking a few steps towards the two ladies.
"Humans?" Caenis asked back, her face scrunching in confusion, but after a moment, she burst out in laughter, as if someone tickled her sides.
*AHAAHA* "I see, I see, we do look like humans, so if you judge us with just our outer appearance, you aren't wrong. But, *hahaha haaaa* this is sad, we are going to be dealing with people that can't even recognise differences between races."
Caenis' words elicit a stiff twitching in the smile of the blonde-haired man. But before he could ask what she meant, the person next to the amazoness spoke up.
"Caenis-san what are you sprouting about, you are a human, aren't you. The thing that's disappointing is your brain, which couldn't recognise that he is speaking the truth, at least for you. And the thing about them not knowing is a given, you can't expect such standards from insects."
"Wa-what, listen here bitch, don't throw me with some run-in-the-mill human, I am someone that has gained divinity and blessings from the gods. I am a high human, and lumping me with them is like saying a lion and a cat are the same cause they are both felines." Caenis bites back with a turn of her head, her annoyance fully displaying in her tone.
"Hmm, is that how it works? Quite a cute difference," Akeno murmured with amusement, her voice dripping with sarcasm despite the playful smile hidden behind her paper fan. The fan concealed her expression, but it did nothing to mask the sharp edge in her tone.
"This bitch, if I, *fuuuu haaaa*. Calm down Caenis, we are still in a battle.... Good, whatever, we can finish this later." Calming her irritation at her fellow servant, she turned away returning to face the man and continued speaking. "So, what were you talking about, something about being the left-out group?"
"Ah yes, *Ahm* we thought a battle between us would be unnecessary." Quaiesse was surprised that the two in front of him were not humans. His ears also did not miss the key terms 'receiving divinity, High humans, recognising difference between species'. His mind churned with all these new words, but he suppressed this growing curiosity, telling himself that he would look into this further at a later date, he continued.
"From my estimate we are close to equal in terms of strength, so instead of fighting a battle that could lead to casualties, why not retreat and save ourselves the trouble." Quaiesse ended his words with a charming smile. This smile, charming and dashing as gold, would have melted the hearts of even the most cold-hearted maiden, unfortunately, this sure-move smile had missed, simply because the two in front of him were not maidens.
"Akeno are you hearing his guy, he thinks we are equal in power." Caenis giggles non-maidenly, pointing her thumb as she turns towards the raven-haired miko.
Akeno hearing Caenis giggling, unamusingly folded her fan with a *twat* as she gave Caenis a side-eye. "Haa, I don't know what you feel so amused by that derogatory statement, but…" Her eyes now glaring at the smiling man, continued. "If that's a way to stroke my ire, then I must say, you are due a hefty reward."
"Has my negotiation failed? Hmm, I truly believe this is the best course of action for both of us," Quaiesse said with a smile, maintaining an air of sincerity. Yet, his eyes betrayed him, their glint shifting to one of seriousness as they briefly flickered toward Divine Chant. Noticing her subtle nod of readiness, he quietly stepped back, assuming an 'at ease' posture, his demeanour calm but prepared for what was to come.
Caenis, as if not noticing or simply not caring about the change in her enemies, continued speaking amusingly as she placed the butt of her spear on the ground. "Ya keep yapping your delusion bud. Besides, I doubt you two can escape from here even if we let you escape. As for your efforts of buying time for that escaping Captain of yours, it probably won't go anywhere with Shalltear at his tail."
"Hoo, are you saying that my purpose was just a ploy to gain some time?" Quaiesse said as his ease started to break.
Several of the rings on his fingers started to glow softly as his mana was poured into it. These rings served as a controller for his army, but at the same time, they also served as limiters, making them easier for him to control. and this rings, as if reflecting his state of mind, started cracking.
"Of course. We are even giving you enough time for you two to prepare no? It would be boring if this ended too quickly."
Caenis's reply was never finished as it was cut halfway by a sudden roar coming from below. Then as if choreographed beforehand, the ground beneath her suddenly vanished, giving way to a giant maw, one large enough to swallow her whole.
Quaiesse quickly jumped backwards near DC as he too took a defensive stance with his. The rings in his fingers were now glowing brightly in purple, its crack slowly expanding.
"Are you ok Quaiesse, it seems your summon is out of control." Divine Chant asked worriedly without looking away from the two in front of her.
"No worries, I just injected too much power into them. My trigger command of attacking them will still be followed, though, if the two of them die from this first attack, we will have a strong monster to deal with," Quaiesse answered, his eyes also never leaving the two.
This worry was never needed though because, in less than ten seconds, the head of an alligator-looking monster flew towards him, landing with a *thud* next to them.
"Oi oi, don't tell me that was the best you could come up with after I gave time for you to prepare." Shouted Caenis, stabbing the body of the now headless beast.
Quaiesse remained silent in the face of Caenis's taunt, his focus entirely on the ring. Pouring more mana into it, the already strained artifact gave way, shattering into dust. As if in response, the ground trembled violently once more, cracks splitting open as more of the same beasts clawed their way out from beneath. Quaiesse, unfazed, swiftly pulled out several marble-sized magic crystals and hurled them toward the two.
Upon landing, glowing magic circles sprang to life beneath each one, summoning towering angels clad in gleaming, heavenly white armour.
These creatures, both heavenly and monstrous, surrounded Caenis and Akeno, making one sigh and the other grin.