EeDechi, Barrett, and Franco slipped through the crowd, racing toward the city outskirts.
Pedestrians on the streets had thinned out. Terrified of the Sorcerer Kingdom, most people had already barricaded themselves inside their homes, while the tourists hurried back to their inns. The avenues were a wreck—abandoned carriages and wagons littered everywhere.
"We split up," EeDechi said, shooting a worried glance at the crossroads. She pulled off the ring that housed the Dragon Endbringer spirit and tossed it to Barrett.
"Hide as best you can. Don't tangle with the enemy unless you have no choice, and only fight when you must. Once things calm down, we'll regroup outside the city," Barrett said, his voice tight with concern.
"Stay safe, Captain," Franco called, then bolted. Barrett took off in the opposite direction.
EeDechi tightened the scarf that hid her face and sprinted toward the edge of E-Rantel. If she could just get out of the city, she was sure she could shake them.
E-Rantel was enormous—more than three hundred thousand permanent residents—so the Sorcerer Kingdom wouldn't be able to comb through it anytime soon. EeDechi suddenly picked up speed, darting down one alley after another until she reached the outer district and finally arrived at the foot of the city wall.
A seemingly endless line of towering ramparts rose before her, thick and coarse. EeDechi followed the base of the wall for a short distance but found no drainage ditches, low gates, or anything else she could use.
She drew in a sharp breath, focused her power, and threw a single punch. A deafening boom split the air as she blasted a gaping hole straight through the base of the wall. Shattered stone and dust rained down in a clattering shower.
EeDechi burst out of the hole in the wall and broke into a dead sprint. Just a little farther and she'd be clear of E-Rantel.
Thud!
She slammed face-first into an invisible barrier and jerked to a halt.
"What the hell?" EeDechi gasped, eyes wide. She threw a savage punch straight ahead. Her iron-hard fist stopped dead in mid-air, like it had smashed into solid rock—an unseen wall.
She reached out and ran her fingers across it. The barrier was real, completely transparent, and utterly unbreakable.
On the far side, a farmer strolled past with a hoe over his shoulder. He'd seen her crash into the wall and wandered closer out of curiosity, poking at it with the tool.
The farmer opened his mouth and shouted something, but EeDechi heard nothing. Not a single sound from outside the barrier made it through.
She drew her giant sword and activated Martial Art·One Sword Opens the Heavens!
The farmer caught sight of the terrifying power in her raised blade, his face going deathly pale. He snatched up his hoe and bolted.
EeDechi sucked in a deep breath and brought the sword screaming down. The massive giant sword sliced through the air with a high-pitched ring, but the barrier didn't even tremble.
"What the hell is this?"
It was beyond anything EeDechi knew. Even a tenth-tier shield spell would shatter under her strikes, yet this transparent wall stood completely unmoved.
"Still wasting your time on pointless struggling? Hehehehe." A cold, mocking laugh rang out right behind her.
EeDechi whipped around. There, fully armored and ready for battle, stood Shalltear.
Shalltear had already changed into blood-red full-plate armor and now gripped her Spuit Lance. She licked her lips, a sickly grin spreading across her deathly pale cheeks. "Finally found you."
"What kind of sealing magic is this?" EeDechi's face darkened. She pressed her back against the solid transparent wall—there was nowhere left to run.
"Since you asked, I'll be merciful and tell you." Shalltear sneered. "This is Lord Ainz's latest masterpiece: the World Item · [Super]Depiction of Nature and Society! Even if you hold a World Item, you can't escape this sealed domain."
"Hmph, interesting." EeDechi cautiously shifted her stance. "No World Item is ever foolproof. I escaped from you once—I can do it again!"
"Heh, don't be stupid." Shalltear looked at EeDechi with open contempt. "You can see the scenery outside the transparent barrier, and the people out there can see you too, but in reality you're now trapped in an entirely different dimensional space."
"Since it's a World Item, there has to be a way to break it. Worst case, I'll just destroy this so-called Depiction of Nature and Society. I already smashed Demiurge's World Item—destroying one more won't be any problem." EeDechi gripped her giant sword with both hands, ready to fight at any moment.
"Destroy it? Figures. You're exactly the kind of brute who only knows how to swing raw power around—just like those lizardmen," Shalltear sneered. "Depiction of Nature and Society has forty different ways to break it. All you need is to find one. And if you actually manage to crack it, ownership transfers straight to you. But I know your brain isn't up to the task—you won't figure out even a single method."
If anyone succeeded in breaking the World Item · [Super]Depiction of Nature and Society and escaping the sealed dimensional space, ownership of the item would immediately transfer to the one who cracked it.
Shalltear kept chatting with EeDechi on purpose, buying time. She had already secretly sent EeDechi's coordinates to the other level-100 guardians, calling them in for the hunt.
EeDechi's grip tightened on her giant sword, her expression hardening. She suddenly exploded forward, legs driving into the ground with such force that the turf ripped up behind her.
CLANG!
The giant sword crashed against the Spuit Lance. Using her superior height and raw strength, EeDechi forced the fully armored Shalltear backward, pinning her down.
Shalltear clenched her teeth and triggered a skill. Her body vanished in a blur, then reappeared instantly on EeDechi's left side. The razor-sharp Spuit Lance thrust forward with deadly speed.
EeDechi whipped her blade around in a backhand block, then unleashed a storm of strikes—chop! slash! cut! thrust! flick! diagonal slash! sweeping blade!
The massive giant sword whipped through the air like a raging hurricane, bright crescent arcs of silver light weaving into a deadly storm that swallowed Shalltear whole. Shalltear desperately swung her Spuit Lance to fend it off, but several strikes had already landed on her blood-red armor, bursting into bright blue sparks.
Shalltear felt a chill run down her spine. EeDechi was on an entirely different level now. Compared to their last fight, her swordsmanship had reached heights that were simply incomparable.
Shalltear rarely faced real life-or-death battles—she spent most of her time crushing weaklings. But EeDechi had walked the razor's edge of death more times than she could count. Her combat experience and technique had long since left Shalltear far behind.
The overwhelming sword pressure exploded between every clash of blade and lance, rippling the very air. Shalltear sucked in a sharp breath, leaped backward several times, straightened her gear, and prepared to summon her vampire thralls into the fight.
EeDechi narrowed her eyes and caught a flash of silver streaking across the sky from the far side— Cocytus! The warrior was clad in gleaming silver-white armor, wielding a massive nodachi and a giant halberd, his icy killing intent flooding the heavens.
Farther back, Aura and Mare were also racing toward the scene.
EeDechi didn't hesitate. She spun on her heel and sprinted straight for the heart of E-Rantel, covering three thousand meters in the blink of an eye. Aura shot forward mid-route to cut her off, but after a few swift exchanges EeDechi broke away again, pushing deeper into the city center.
"EEDECHI!"
A furious roar shook the sky. The earth split open in a small crater, streets shattered, and several houses collapsed. The residents inside hadn't even had time to flee before they were crushed into bloody pulp beneath the rubble.
The undead overlord in skeletal form—Ainz Ooal Gown—descended from above and planted himself squarely in EeDechi's path.