As a faint series of footsteps echoed from the distance, Momonga and the Guardians of the Great Tomb of Nazarick behind him immediately shifted into combat stances.
They hadn't even caught sight of the enemy yet—
And yet, a familiar voice had already reached their ears.
Momonga's expression stiffened instantly, a look of "No way… it can't be…" spreading across his face.
Reality, however, proved otherwise.
As the footsteps drew closer and clearer, two figures emerged before Momonga and the assembled Guardians—
Ren Kuroda… and Yuri Alpha.
"So," Ren said, narrowing his eyes slightly as he looked at Momonga, "you're the one summoning all these undead? The target we're supposed to eliminate for this mission?"
The truth was, the earlier attack Ren had launched at Momonga had been entirely out of necessity.
In the middle of a swarm of undead, a single presence had stood out—far stronger than the rest.
Anyone would assume that person was the one controlling them.
After all, no normal person would wander into a place like this in the dead of night.
And since Momonga was disguising himself as an adventurer, both his hands were covered in rings—some that concealed his magical power, others that masked his undead aura.
Combined with the poor visibility at night and the distance between them, Ren's earlier spell had simply targeted the strongest presence within the horde—
Which had been Momonga.
It wasn't until Momonga was struck, his armor melted away, and the overwhelming presence of Nazarick's Guardians appeared—
That Ren realized he had attacked the wrong person.
"No way," Momonga shot back. "I thought you were the one controlling these undead!"
"Huh? Are you an idiot?" Ren scoffed. "I'm not even undead. Why would I be summoning a bunch of trash-tier skeletons?"
"Also—I'm the one who just got blasted, remember?! Shouldn't you be apologizing first or something?!"
"Why should I care?" Ren shrugged. "You're a spellcaster pretending to be a warrior, sneaking around all suspicious. If you get hit, how is that my fault?"
—
Watching the two Supreme Beings—who normally got along extremely well—on the verge of outright brawling…
The Guardians of Nazarick all wore expressions of collective headache.
At a complete loss, they could only turn their gazes toward the ones who actually understood what was going on—
Yuri Alpha and Naberal.
After the two calmly explained the entire sequence of events in detail…
Albedo and the rest of the Guardians couldn't help but show wry, conflicted smiles.
"So even Supreme Beings—who are omnipotent—may only err when facing another being of equal standing…?" one of them murmured.
In the minds of everyone in Nazarick, the calculations and decisions of the Supreme Beings were absolute—never flawed.
And yet, an error had occurred.
But rather than confusion, they found clarity in it.
The cause of the miscalculation… was another Supreme Being.
Didn't that simply prove that the only ones capable of surpassing a Supreme Being's judgment… were other Supreme Beings?
"This must be what people mean when they say, 'Great minds think alike,'" Cocytus declared solemnly.
"There is no doubt—Ren-sama and Ainz-sama are both peerless heroes of intellect. It is only natural that they would arrive at the same conclusion."
"Well said, Cocytus," Albedo nodded in approval.
"But based on Yuri and Naberal's report, we now understand the situation."
Her golden eyes slowly shifted toward the surrounding undead, her expression turning ice-cold.
"While the miscalculation originated from the Supreme Beings themselves… there were also insignificant insects involved."
"It is precisely because of these vermin that Ren-sama and Ainz-sama have been placed in such an unpleasant situation."
"Therefore… I believe they deserve the most cruel punishment imaginable."
From Yuri and Naberal's account, it was clear that both Ren and Momonga had simply mistaken each other for the enemy.
In other words, the true mastermind of this graveyard had remained completely unknown to them from the start.
And all signs pointed to one conclusion—
The person Ren and Momonga were searching for… was the same individual.
The one who had kidnapped Enfrea.
The one who had summoned and controlled these low-level undead.
Yes, it was true that the existence of this person had indirectly led to the Supreme Beings' misjudgment.
And that alone—
Was unforgivable.
"Exactly!" Shalltear chimed in, eyes gleaming dangerously. "To damage the precious friendship between Ren-sama and Ainz-sama—such a crime warrants death!"
"And we shouldn't kill them too quickly," Aura added with a grin. "Let's drag them to Kyouhukou's room instead."
"M-Mare thinks so too…" Mare nodded timidly.
—
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Ren and Momonga appeared to be arguing fiercely on the surface.
But in reality, they were communicating silently through a "Message" spell.
They weren't actually fighting at all.
In fact, the whole act had been Momonga's idea.
After all, due to a miscalculation, they had not only caused a misunderstanding—but had also mobilized a significant portion of Nazarick's forces.
As the nominal supreme ruler of Nazarick, Momonga found it unbearably embarrassing to have made such a mistake in front of his subordinates.
He had no idea how to face Albedo and the others—who admired him so deeply.
So his solution was simple:
Pretend to argue with Ren… and cover up the awkwardness.
What neither of them realized, however—
Was that even if they hadn't done this…
Albedo and the others had already constructed a flawless explanation on their own.
Not only were they not disappointed by the "error" in judgment—
They were now even more convinced that the Supreme Beings were truly beyond the reach of all others.
After all, if only a Supreme Being could confound another Supreme Being's calculations…
Didn't that prove that Supreme Beings were the ultimate existences, surpassed by none except their equals?
—
The thousands of low-level undead scattered across the graveyard had already been mostly wiped out by Ren and Momonga.
Now, these skeletons—barely level five—were experiencing the most "glorious" moment of their miserable existence.
Because their current opponents…
Were all level fifty or higher monsters.
The Guardians themselves didn't even bother taking action against such weak enemies.
Instead, the cleanup was left to the Death Knights and the Pleiades battle maids.
—
As for the true masterminds behind this incident—
Khajiit and Clementine—
They, too, were about to experience the most "glorious" moment of their lives.
Outside a crumbling, ruined hall, a line of figures stood in formation.
There were eight of them.
Ren Kuroda and Momonga stood at the center.
And every single person present—
Was max level.
In truth, at first, both Ren and Momonga had felt that now the misunderstanding was cleared up, there was no need to make such a big deal out of things.
But this time…
Albedo and the others were absolutely resolute.
They were determined—
To personally meet the fools who had so carelessly courted death.