At Ren's frantic attempt to explain himself, everyone's gaze shifted—slowly, unanimously—toward the Yuri Alpha in his arms.
Ordinarily, she was the very image of composure: calm, intellectual, the dependable "big sister" figure among the battle maids.
But now—
Her entire face was as red as a freshly boiled crab.
Yuri Alpha had already been teetering on the edge, overwhelmed by embarrassment and shame. And now, under the combined scrutiny of the Supreme Beings and all the Guardians, her mind simply… gave out.
With a faint hiss—almost as if steam were escaping from an overworked machine—her consciousness overloaded.
And she fainted.
Completely.
Being held in the arms of the man she admired had already pushed her to her limit. Appearing like this in front of everyone in the Great Tomb of Nazarick only made things worse. Even under Ren's overwhelming killing intent earlier, she had managed to remain conscious—
But this?
This was far beyond her ability to endure.
Now she lay limp in his arms, cheeks flushed with a blissful redness.
No matter how one looked at it… Ren's explanation had absolutely zero credibility.
"Why are you blushing like that?! Yuri, wake up and explain things properly! I'm about to get labeled as a scumbag here!"
Ren shook her shoulders in a panic, trying to wake her—
…but it was completely useless.
Meanwhile, Shalltear had already lost it.
The massive stone platform beneath her feet had been stomped halfway into ruin, cracks spreading with every furious step. A terrifying aura radiated from her body, and the way she glared at Yuri made it abundantly clear—
She wanted to kill her. Immediately.
Getting beaten to the punch was one thing—
But flaunting affection right in front of her?!
How could she possibly tolerate that?!
"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!"
Watching Shalltear slip into what was essentially a berserk, blood-crazed state, both Ainz and Albedo attempted to calm her with commands—
But it didn't work.
Right now, Shalltear wasn't listening to anyone.
Seeing things spiral out of control, Ainz shot Ren a look.
A very clear look.
Your mess. You fix it.
Faced with a Shalltear on the verge of going completely berserk—and already branded a scumbag in everyone's eyes—Ren gave up resisting the situation entirely.
If he was going down…
He might as well go down spectacularly.
Stepping forward, he pulled Shalltear into his arms in one swift motion.
"Shalltear, calm down. You're a beautiful progenitor vampire. Acting like this isn't very elegant, you know."
Silence.
For a single heartbeat—
Everything froze.
And then—
The effect was immediate.
The rampaging Shalltear instantly calmed down, her murderous rage melting away as if it had never existed. In its place, a deep blush spread across her pale cheeks, her expression turning shy… and unmistakably thrilled.
Ainz's skeletal jaw nearly dropped off.
He had once heard from Peroroncino that Ren, in his previous life, had been a model—handsome, wealthy, and a complete womanizer. Ainz hadn't really believed it back then.
But now?
He was seriously reconsidering.
Especially considering that even Peroroncino's sister—Bukubukuchagama—had reportedly been quite close with Ren…
"…No way…"
Truly, being good-looking was a cheat in itself.
In the end, after a lengthy and somewhat desperate explanation from Ren, Shalltear reluctantly accepted his version of events.
Meanwhile, Albedo cast a subtle glance toward Ainz—one that very clearly suggested:
Perhaps you should learn a thing or two from Ren-sama.
With that chaos barely settled, the situation finally returned to its original purpose.
The reason Ren had been summoned here in the first place was simple—
The lizardmen representatives had requested to see him.
Following the advice of Cocytus and Demiurge, Ainz had changed his plan regarding the lizardmen tribes—from extermination to subjugation.
And when a supreme power sought to rule over the weak, there was only one effective method:
Overwhelming force.
Especially considering that the previous undead forces Ainz had sent—little more than expendable skeleton troops and a low-tier elder lich—had been completely wiped out by the lizardmen.
Flushed with victory, their morale was at its peak. Convincing them to submit willingly now would be no easy task.
Which was why Ainz had assembled this grand display—
Gathering most of Nazarick's Guardians, deploying elite undead forces, and presenting a scene so imposing that it crushed any thoughts of resistance.
The result was immediate.
The lizardmen, who had only just celebrated their victory, now realized the truth:
The "commander" they had defeated with everything they had… hadn't even been worth more than a ceremonial pawn in the enemy's army.
The gap in power was absolute.
Faced with such an insurmountable difference—and the sheer terror of the Supreme Beings—the lizardmen naturally began to consider surrender.
And yet…
As they looked upon the demons and undead gathered atop the platform, their leaders hesitated.
Even if surrender meant survival—
What kind of future awaited them under the rule of such monstrous beings?
A future of despair?
Just as uncertainty began to spread among them—
Two figures from the Green Claw Tribe suddenly recalled something.
Shasuri Shasha.
Zaryusu Shasha.
They remembered the human who had once come to their village—
Ren Kuroda.
He had been part of this overwhelming force… and yet, compared to the terrifying beings before them, he seemed far more reasonable.
After all—
Before the war had even begun, Ren had personally warned them to flee.
If only they had listened back then…
Hearing Ren's name suddenly brought up among the lizardmen, Ainz and the Guardians all froze for a moment.
Then—
Ainz's attitude flipped completely.
Gone was the distant, domineering presence.
"If you are under Ren's protection," Ainz said generously, "then I will apologize for my previous actions. Furthermore… I will revive those among your people who have fallen."
It was a complete reversal.
And it spoke volumes.
For all that he had become an undead being with a negative karma value of -500, when it came to his comrades—
Ainz Ooal Gown never wavered.
If it was for their sake, he would even act against his own nature.
It was precisely because of this that Ren, despite their occasional differences in ideals, remained in Nazarick—
And acknowledged Ainz as its supreme ruler.
As for the lizardmen…
They were utterly stunned.
They had never imagined that merely invoking Ren's name would carry such weight.
Resurrection…?
These beings could even accomplish something like that?
Unfortunately—
Their connection to Ren was little more than a single encounter.
He was not their shield.
And so, Zaryusu could only say honestly:
"That human—Ren-sama—once told us to leave this place. His intention… should have been to spare us."
However—
Just as those words fell—
The grotesque mass of resentful spirits that had previously delivered Ainz's message suddenly reappeared.
And without hesitation—
It exposed the lie.
"Ren-sama clearly stated that he was merely passing through," it screeched. "And that everything should proceed according to Ainz-sama's command!"