"Grasp Heart!"
Having made up his mind, Ainz immediately activated the ninth-tier instant-death magic. Although he suspected this attack might not work on Lock, it was still good for buying time.
The magic took effect instantly. Lock only felt a tightness in his chest, his HP dropped slightly, and his vision blurred.
Taking advantage of this brief interval, Ainz immediately activated his special skill—Create Mid-Tier Undead. A black mist formed a tornado in front of him, and a Death Knight appeared out of thin air.
Although he didn't use a corpse as a summoning material, and it would disappear after its time was up, Ainz still chose this low-level summon.
This was because the Death Knight possessed a special ability to completely resist one fatal blow, which, in a sense, was a one-time magic attack nullification.
"Aura, go help the others! Retreat, don't get entangled with the enemy!" Ainz shouted.
Although Aura didn't understand why, since Lord Ainz had given the order, a Guardian naturally had to obey. She immediately urged her Fenrir to run towards another battlefield.
"Can you escape?!" After Lock regained consciousness, he waved his divine staff. The surrounding ground contracted towards the center like waves, and the burning trees rolled in the mud, making a huge noise.
Although the Fenrir had the special effect of ignoring terrain, it couldn't be immune to this earth layer that contained attack energy. Aura was immediately blocked.
Ainz immediately used teleportation magic to appear in front of Aura, grabbed her into his arms, and flew into mid-air to dodge.
"Maximize Magic Effect Area · Dimensional Lock!!!"
Seeing Ainz and Aura flying in the air, Lock immediately activated the teleportation-blocking magic. This way, if they wanted to leave, they could only use ordinary means of travel.
Flight magic itself wasn't fast, at least not as fast as magic attacks. He didn't believe Ainz would dare to expose his back in front of him.
"Triple Maximize Magic · Holy Smite!"
A magic circle immediately appeared under Ainz's feet, and flames mixed with holy light surged out. He decisively threw Aura away and activated defensive magic, "Sanctuary Protection!"
The moment the magic light covered his entire body, holy flames immediately enveloped Ainz. Three consecutive flame attacks caught Ainz off guard.
As an undead, although he could gain fire resistance through items and equipment, it was always a weakness, just like the holy attribute. He could only reduce the damage taken from attacks of these two attributes.
In just an instant, Ainz felt as if this magic was created specifically to counter the undead.
"Maximize Magic Duration · Extreme Evil Attack!"
A pale blue pillar of light descended from the sky, enveloping Ainz once again. This time, it was an attack that judged the value of justice—the more negative the justice value, the higher the damage taken. And Ainz's justice value was -500!
Ah!
The intense burning sensation made Ainz let out a scream. He was currently rushing into battle with Lock without having applied various status magic, and these continuous attacks were a bit too much for him.
"Lord Ainz!"
Aura, of course, also saw that Ainz was in a bad situation. Even though she was a skirmisher, her offensive capabilities weren't strong, but she immediately drew her magic bow and shot an arrow towards Lock, "Stagnation Arrow!"
The magic arrow flew out, its shaft stirring the surrounding air, forming a gelatinous, solidifying sensation as it flew towards Lock.
"Overestimating yourself!" Lock sneered, turning the divine staff in his hand. A brilliant holy light condensed into a huge cross shield in front of him. Immediately, a three-meter-tall light figure appeared behind him, holding a light spear, poised to strike.
The Stagnation Arrow hit the cross shield and was easily blocked.
"Holy Judgment!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the light spear in the Holy Figure's hand aimed at Aura and was fiercely thrown out, shooting away at a speed far exceeding an arrow.
"Aura!"
Ainz was shocked. He struggled to turn his body within the pillar of light, but could only watch helplessly as the light spear flew past. Although he didn't know what skill this was, it was definitely not low-level magic. Damn it!
The light spear was upon her in the blink of an eye. Aura strained to draw her bow, shooting a volley of arrows to try and reduce its power, but a locking magic circle suddenly appeared on her chest. After breaking through the arrows' obstruction, the light spear still pierced directly through her chest.
Ugh!
Aura violently spat out a mouthful of blood, and the light spear in her chest dissipated with it. This attack... couldn't kill her!
"Maximize Magic Effect Area · Great Maw Tornado!" Ainz, having escaped the pillar of light's attack, waved his hand, forming a huge tornado that enveloped an area of nearly a hundred meters around him, roaring towards Lock.
Ainz immediately flew to Aura's side, carrying her towards another battlefield, "Quickly!"
Because he was so close, Lock had nowhere to hide from such a massive area attack. The storm whipped up the mud he had just gathered, obscuring his vision, and a six-meter-long shark bit at him.
"Powerful Burst Wave."
A spherical energy body immediately formed on Lock's body. Under its activation, it rapidly expanded, destroying everything within thirty meters around him.
"Let's see where you can escape to!" Lock immediately chased after Ainz and Aura.
"Get lost!"
Shalltear heard the huge commotion not far away, her heart filled with anxiety. This didn't sound like an attack Aura could cause, which meant the attack could only have been launched by Lock.
Could that shorty really block him?
Damn it!
Shalltear constantly swung the drop lance in her hand, attacking frantically, but the Guardian Golem only passively defended. The cross shield in its hand was like a Wall of Lamentation; no matter how she stabbed or even used magic attacks, she seemed unable to break through.
Once she tried to bypass the Guardian Golem, this golem would immediately teleport and then activate its shield wall, pushing her back.
Even without falling into a state of Blood Frenzy, Shalltear was extremely enraged at this moment.
"Rib Cage Binding!"
A voice suddenly rang out. Shalltear leaped back alertly, and giant ribs immediately clamped the Guardian Golem tightly, locking it in place.
At this moment, Ainz flew over with the injured Aura, shouting to Shalltear, "Shalltear, stop the enemy behind us!"
"Lord Ainz!?" Shalltear was first startled. She had already noticed Aura's injuries. "I understand!"
Saying that, Shalltear immediately flew up from the ground, meeting the pursuing Lock, and gathered a red energy body in her hand, "Bloodsucking Shockwave!"
The moment she attacked Lock, the Guardian Golem, bound by the skeleton, flashed its eyes, immediately broke free, and then teleported in front of Shalltear. The red shockwave immediately hit the cross shield.
The Guardian Golem even raised the spear in its hand and thrust it towards Shalltear.
"Damn it!" Shalltear swung her drop lance, heavily parrying the Guardian Golem's knight spear. Seeing that she was once again entangled by this puppet, she immediately activated another skill, "Heroic Spirit Soul!"
Pure white energy condensed into a human-sized figure beside Shalltear. Once fully formed, it looked exactly like Shalltear herself, except for its color.
Under Shalltear's command, the Heroic Spirit Soul immediately intercepted Lock, who was about to fly past. Although it only possessed basic abilities and couldn't use skills, it still couldn't be ignored.
Lock parried the Heroic Spirit's attack with his divine staff. Seeing that Ainz had already brought Aura to the center of the other battlefield, if the Guardian forcibly disengaged from combat, Catherine and the others would probably be unable to stop them, except for the Guardian Golems.
The opportunity had been lost!
Lock immediately forced back the Heroic Spirit Soul with a Holy Flame attack, then sent a magic signal into the sky.
Bang!
A dazzling, magical light, like fireworks, exploded in the sky above the forest. Catherine and the others, who were fighting Mare and Demiurge, immediately disengaged after a feint. Lock also simultaneously ordered the Guardian Golems to retreat.
Lock slowly descended into the clearing in the center of the forest. Two Guardian Golems stood in front of him, one on the left and one on the right. Catherine, Vier, and Zesshi Zetsumei, riding on dragons, also slowly came to his side.
On their opposite side, Ainz was in the main position, with the injured Aura being supported by Mare. On the other side stood Demiurge, and in front were Shalltear and Cocytus, two warrior-typeGuardiansn, standing guard.
"Demiurge, are you alright?" Ainz saw that Demiurge also had many injuries and asked with concern.
Although Demiurge was clearly injured, he still calmly displayed his characteristic evil grin and replied, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Ainz. This subordinate is not seriously harmed."
"...That's good." Ainz didn't know if he was telling the truth, but now was not the time to worry about it. His crimson gaze watched the group opposite them warily.
This time, they had truly been careless.
Was it the information they had gathered before that made them underestimate the humans of this world?
Even after Shalltear's incident, he had still rashly formulated such a plan against an enemy whose true strength was unknown. If he hadn't arrived in time, Aura and the other Guardian might have met with misfortune, right?
No! After all, no one could have imagined that Lock, originally a warrior-type native, would be even more powerful in terms of magic.
And so many Guardians had been deployed, each carrying a World Item. This was no longer due to their lack of caution.
The Lock before them might even possess a force capable of rivalingthe Nazarick Great Tomb. They would need to treat him with caution in the future.
But now was not the time to consider that.
"Your Excellency, as I said, if we can stop this battle now, it will be good for both sides. My previous promise still stands." Ainz took a step forward and persuaded.
This time, Lock didn't seem to reject him immediately in a fit of anger; instead, he began to ponder.
Although if the fight continued, Lock was confident he could take down one or two Guardians.
If he could ultimately win the battle, Lock would not hesitate to continue fighting, but...
Lock glanced at the red orb in Ainz's abdominal cavity. He had witnessed the power of that thing. If it exploded, besides the two Guardian Golems and himself, Catherine and the others would likely perish here.
"We can stop this battle, but you must endure a combined attack from u, as the price for your subordinates attacking me. If you can withstand it, this matter will end here." Lock pulled Zesshi Zetsumei from the side and said to Ainz, "You can use all your defensive means. What do you say, will you accept this wager?"
Ainz was silent for a moment, as if making a decision, then nodded, "Alright, I accept."
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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