Accompanied by a massive roar, the entire ground caved in. Albedo stood in front of Ainz and the others, a magically formed shield floating before her. The pitch-black shield was etched with demonic imagery. The skill 'Wall of Jericho', an iron wall known as 'Absolute Defense', blocked the Platinum Hero's 'Self-destruction'.
However, if that was supposed to be a Self-destruction, while the noise was intimidating, its power was far too low. It was merely a bluff, a smoke screen created for the sake of escaping. Ainz silently used the Message skill and asked a certain cadre in the shadows:
"Was the marking successful?"
"Yes, we have successfully tracked the opponent's whereabouts. As expected of Ainz-sama, you predicted the opponent would use this move and made preparations in advance."
Ainz felt a bit ashamed. He had predicted the Platinum Hero's actions? Nothing that exaggerated—he simply hadn't had enough time to place spatial teleportation restrictions on the area. Although he could have done it using Divine-class items, he didn't want to waste his item stockpile while his side currently held the advantage. Given the situation, he had only considered how to handle it if the opponent escaped, which was why he had someone keep an eye out.
But the things the Platinum Hero said afterward completely exceeded his expectations. Furthermore, he really hadn't known at first that the Platinum Hero was just an Avatar. So the reality was simply that he had stumbled into making the optimal choice; it wasn't as amazing as his subordinates thought, just pure luck.
"Summon everyone to the Throne Room for a meeting!"
Ainz issued the order to all the Guardians.
The current situation was urgent. A legendary hero had appeared, his identity as a Player was exposed, and his arrival in this world seemed connected to the Goddess of Dusk. The amount of information revealed in the hero's few sentences was simply too much. Next, they had to consider how they were going to survive in this world.
Ainz thought of this and suddenly snapped awake.
"That's right, survival!"
Lately, because so many things had happened, Nazarick's policy had somehow become something even he couldn't quite understand. Demiurge seemed to be secretly communicating with the Kingdom's royalty, which was where the previous intelligence came from. Now, he had even incorporated the legacy of the Eight Fingers as a subordinate department of Nazarick. The things being done left him bewildered for a time.
But he hadn't forgotten what their initial goal was. First was to survive, then to make a name for themselves and find companions who might have traveled to this world with him. This was what he, Ainz Ooal Gown, wanted to do. Even if he knew the truth of his arrival might be related to the Goddess Cult, what he intended to do would not change.
"Although I am curious..."
"...about the principles of this world-crossing, whether I can return to my original world, and the situation of other Players, if the Goddess of Dusk's goal is to destroy this world, then even if I was summoned by her, I will not allow such a thing to happen. Those lunatics of the Goddess Cult are still my enemies!"
Having cleared his thoughts, Ainz arrived at the Throne Room. Under the reverent gazes of all the Guardians, he walked to the throne, turned around, and sat on the seat that symbolized Nazarick's absolute authority. In reality, no one had ever sat in this seat in the past. After all, the guild 'Ainz Ooal Gown' was just a small family guild formed by like-minded comrades. The reason they could reach a high rank on the leaderboards was only because the guild had PK masters like Touch Me and many pay-to-win Players like Ainz.
Therefore, in the guild at that time, there was no such thing as a ruler. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been Ainz's turn to be the Guild Master. Among the guild members, he was at most a Player who spent a bit more money and was more obsessed with the game; his name wasn't even in the top ten of the Player rankings.
Ainz's mind traced back through past memories. He only just remembered now; he didn't even know what he had been doing before. Had he gone mad from fear? Why did he take it for granted that he was a supreme ruler? If his identity as a Player hadn't been suddenly called out by the Platinum Hero, it was very likely he wouldn't have remembered what his past self was like. It really was because of the soul of this Undead called 'Ainz Ooal Gown'. But because of the sudden shock, this self-important guy was caught off guard, and the soul of Suzuki Satoru had awakened once more.
[Forced Calm] activated—
Activation failed.
How could such a thing still be useful now? Unlike Suzuki Satoru the Player, Ainz Ooal Gown had never experienced this before—the fear of being shrouded in unprecedented despair. Because if an existence on the scale of the Goddess of Dusk descended, everything in this world would be finished. And Ainz Ooal Gown, who had reached his 'peak' and could no longer level up, could never resist such an out-of-bounds character that exceeded the 'level cap'. But Suzuki Satoru the Player was different. Why? Because his useless self had always walked the path of the weak, both in reality and in the game!
"Ainz-sama...?"
Standing beside the throne, Albedo noticed that this lord seemed somewhat different from before. No, rather than saying he had changed, it was more like he had returned to being the lord he was when he first arrived.
Suzuki Satoru heard Albedo's voice and looked up at the King of the Undead before him—Ainz Ooal Gown. That was another soul born in his heart. Because of his cowardice, shortly after arriving in this world, he had allowed the soul of a powerful ruler, formed from this body's negative emotions, to take over. He had also discovered that he was being devoured by it bit by bit.
"I was only a little bit away from completely replacing you, you piece of trash." Ainz Ooal Gown let out a sigh of disappointment. He had wounded Suzuki Satoru's soul during the previous battle against Shalltear. He was just a tiny bit away from completely devouring Suzuki Satoru's soul.
"Yeah, it really was just a little bit away."
Suzuki Satoru also felt it was a pity.
If not for the sudden shock that woke his soul, he probably would have just let Ainz Ooal Gown completely devour him. That would have been the correct choice, because if it were Suzuki Satoru, he could never endure the pressure that Ainz Ooal Gown bore, nor could he become an excellent ruler, and he certainly wouldn't have the confidence to manage the Guardians.
"Are you waking up now because you intend to face that ultimate despair yourself? That is an existence that wasn't even allowed to be cleared in the game. And you've realized it too, haven't you? In mythology, the origin and destruction of the World Tree... Although the Goddess of Dusk didn't have any information released about her in the game, based on mythological data, she is likely the ultimate trial that would only have appeared in the final version. Though the game ceased operations before it could be updated to that version."
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