I stepped out of the gate, a result of expending a wish charge, it was well worth the cost. To fully traverse this threshold dimension and its floors, we needed all the advantages that we could gather. Enemies and dangers were lurking about; frugality addresses the economy, but not the immediate dangers.
I crushed a cash shop item in my left fist. A jade colored eyeball with a red blinking iris. No combat utility, just a simple buff. [ Process Boost. ] is in full effect — a spell to increase my thought process. Albedo crushed the same cash shop item, too.
"Life Essence." "Mana Essence."
They hardly reacted to the loudly activated spells at all. No visible countermeasures or any magical counteraction. They weren't players, as already proven before, but it doesn't hurt to double-check and be sure.
The HP of Reinhard van Astrea was consistent with that of a high-level player, roughly around eighty, and his MP was horribly negligible. Even a homunculus maid had more MP than he did. His equipment was rather mundane, but that sword on his waist was obviously at least a divine-tier piece of equipment.
Now, Jin Woo Sung's HP shocked me. What was he, a raid boss? His MP was off the charts. A human necromancer with the health of an over-buffed tank. He was my opponent; Albedo should handle the red-haired knight.
The intelligence report said that the rest of the human posse were largely physically unimposing. I believe this, and further scrutiny will have to wait until the main vanguards are sufficiently studied and observed.
On to the opening remark, then.
"So we finally meet with the group that has given me and my kingdom so much grief. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, remember the name." I emphasized my words with the overly practiced raise of my arms. They're already trembling in fear, especially the little ones.
"I am a king with mercy and grace. I shall absolve you of your sins provided you surrender yourselves and be the subject of intense scrutiny and observation."
Reinhard-knight closed his eyes while that Sung-bastard glared at me with an unconvinced expression, disappointed about my opening remark. I won the bet, Albedo. They were indeed smarter than they looked.
"I see," Reinhard-knight muttered. "The mercy and grace that you speak of is death, correct?"
Heh. You're absolutely correct.
"Also, you're a horrible liar."
Ding. I did my best to make it easy for you, however. Now, the full pressing weight of your sins shall be showcased for you. You shall feel a glimpse.
"Grasp Heart." The favorite opening move.
The Reinhard-knight fell on his knees, vomiting blood. He didn't die; he resisted it, but the damage was there, clearly stunned for a while.
The floor darkened, and then the shadow summons quickly emerged. They were all aiming for me. The three slain maids were there, and my heart sank as I saw their empty eyes and darkened forms. They were fighting for a new master, a monster.
They were also stronger, a passive buff from the caster himself, perhaps?
Albedo instantly moved to defend me. I focused my hollowed eyes on the Sung-bastard. The MP cost for summoning these shadows was minimally low, and the damage they received from Albedo was continuously being healed. Albedo was keeping them at bay with fanatical speed, but they kept coming: orcs, skeletons, wolves, knights, a huge shadow with a shield.
They were dropping like flies, and the Sung-bastard's mana was slowly dropping. Minimal mana cost for summoning a shadow, no mana cost for activity, and minimal cost for a single shadow death. The strength or level of the shadow was irrelevant; everyone had the same resource price.
The shadows were tethered to his mana. As long as he had mana, the shadow army would remain functional and combat-ready.
The shadow army was quite diverse too, with no racial limitations. When creating an undead from a slain enemy, with my spells, their race was usually unaccounted in the necromantic process. A slain goblin will turn into a humanoid death knight so long as the cadaver fits the prerequisites.
"YOU! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER A HORRIBLE DEATH!"
"Albedo, increase the pace of your attacks. They're catching up, and good job on feigning your anger. Let them think you're a mindless brute."
"Yes, but the anger is so very real."
The space where Albedo was exploded, sending shattered floor tiles flying everywhere. My magical shield protected me from the shards.
It was that ethereal summon from that black-haired boy. That thing had formally entered the fight, making quite the explosive entrance from above. I glanced up, spotting a pool of shadow retreating.
That summon was composed of unknown energy, but it was clearly ethereal, a close relative to ghosts and phantoms. Albedo had blocked the stomp with her forearms, placing her in a compromising squatting position, but her magical and physical defenses held. Most of the shadows were unable to penetrate the fortress that was Albedo.
The HP of the ethereal summon was consistent with that of a tank, and that striking power... A high-level barbarian, perhaps?
"Insolent insect! Throwing a weak attack that didn't even bother activating my magical and physical defenses!" Albedo was screaming; her improv was very good.
"Chain Dragon Lightning!" I cast a spell at the huddled group. An easy kill, and I want to test Reinhard-knight and Sung-bastard's resolve. A shadow formicidae, however, kicked the spell away; it struck a shelf instead and destroyed it.
The formicidae shadow didn't absorb or nullify the spell; they kicked it away. An average player or someone with high resistance, especially to a certain element, wouldn't bother dodging or redirecting it. Why dodge when you're immune and can benefit from it?
Dodging it shows that you're vulnerable to that attack, even if only in minute, incremental ways. The shadow formicidae's foot was scorched by lightning before healing completely — no visible major magical resistance, unlike the summoner.
[ Chain Dragon Lightning ] was a seventh-tier spell, and for the formicidae to be affected by it, enough to scorch the exoskeleton, must mean they were below level seventy at least. A fair guess given the lack of data, still need more information, however.
"Greater Hardening!" "Penetrate up!" "Body of Effulgent Beryl!" "Greater Full Potential!" "Greater Luck!" I could use some more buffs, but I need a proper baseline assessment of the opponent's capacity. I don't just want victory in the end; I want an ultimate, dominating, unarguable, and devastating victory when the time comes.
"Oh? That's quite rude." I said, glancing at the huddled, terrified group of four humans. The one who threw the rock was quite mundane, a normal human.
"Summon Undead Tenth: Doom Lord!"
To properly hurt your enemies, you just don't hurt them. You hurt the people they care about. They'll either break or lose their composure, which in itself was a huge tactical advantage in a battle. We expected that they'd evacuate those four, but they didn't.
That either meant these four held more significant power than we had already surmised, or we're up against amateurs.
"Thank you for protecting me, Mr. Sung." The Reinhard-knight recovered faster than I expected. His HP had also recovered. I expected as such. Albedo can let off some steam; her opponent was a regenerating punching bag.
The doom lord vanished, turning into flickering motes of light. "Eh?"
I was then sent flying backward. That Reinhard-knight delivered a fast punch straight to my face. I didn't expect that doom lord to die within a single hit, and that striking power, that had to be beyond a level one hundred can theoretically deliver even with buffs and skills.
My passives were working full-time, absorbing some of the damage and erasing potential debuffs. I wholly survived receiving a large amount of damage, because of the active spells, buffs, and my equipment.
This was a bad opponent for me. Albedo should be the one handling this. I was ordered to face the necromancer himself, a summoner versus summoner fight.
"Albedo! The Reinhard-knight is a melee opponent, a strange mix of a duelist and a fighter. We should swap!"
I said, using the message spell. I wasn't facing Riku Aganeia or the now-dead dragon controlling it. This felt like facing the former guild leader and supreme being, Touch Me.
"I cannot provide anything substantial without exceeding or breaking the limits imposed. This is a probing attack! Probe as much as you can."
She replied while holding the shadows back and suffering meager damage. I can feel her composure dropping. Our enemies were significantly more powerful than expected, and they held the edge in raw speed.
"I've probed and reached the conclusion that this Reinhard-knight was a bad match-up!"
This necromancer isn't just a necromancer either. It's like I am fighting against a rogue, assassin, and a fighter all at once while being attacked with his summons." I can feel the seething hatred in her tone. "It's a bad match-up for you, even if we swap."
"The eight edge assassins will provide some breathing room." She replied, slightly cackling. The two vanguards, Reinhard-knight and Sung-bastard, were distracted. This will be another test of their resolve.