Fine beads of sweat seeped out on Heiji's forehead.
Saguru's fingers clenched into fists in his pockets.
Everyone kept repeating the same sentence in their minds, 'Don't say it anymore, don't say it anymore.'
Their faces still maintained calm expressions.
But their wildly accelerated heartbeats betrayed them.
Having lived over a hundred years in total across his past and present lives, how could Makoto miss the details of these people's expression changes?
What's more, under his top-level Observation Haki perception, those people's hearts were beating like drums. Too obvious. There was definitely something wrong with this group.
"If your companions really are in this world too, then why haven't they come to see you?" Makoto asked with a smile.
Ainz gritted his teeth. "Because they also fear your existence. So they need me to defeat you first before they will come to see me."
Makoto's smile deepened. The curve at the corner of his mouth grew wider. "That's not right, is it? If that's really how they felt, they should have joined up with you earlier and then dealt with me together. Aren't you good friends? Why would they choose this kind of 'watch from across the river' approach?"
Ainz fell silent.
Not to mention the other Supreme Beings, even Peroroncino, who had the best relationship with him... if that was really how he felt, there was no reason for him not to come back and help him.
Heiji and his group had been part of Nazarick for over two years now.
During those two years, he hadn't failed to notice something was off.
But he had never investigated them, never even used mind-reading on them.
Rather than believing their story, it was more accurate to say he simply wanted to maintain that lie himself.
Because he wanted so badly to believe... to believe that his friends were also in this world, to believe he wasn't alone, to believe that the days they had fought side by side in the game hadn't completely disappeared.
Now, Makoto's words were like a knife, precisely cutting open that wound he had been afraid to touch.
Makoto looked at his silent demeanor and knew he was thoroughly shaken.
"Let me help you out."
With that, Makoto pointed toward Heiji and his group and crooked his finger. "Hey, you big bug, bring those humans over."
Cocytus paused.
He turned his head to look at Albedo, Demiurge, and the others beside him, then looked at himself.
'Big bug. Was he talking about me?'
"Yes, you." Makoto smiled. "Bring them over."
Cocytus turned his head to look at Albedo and Demiurge beside him.
The others nodded.
They certainly weren't willing to obey Makoto's command, but they also sensed that over these two years, the information provided by these humans had been problematic.
They also wanted to know the truth.
"Go." Cocytus waved the battle-ax in his hand.
Sweat seeped out on Jodie's forehead. "Th-this, isn't necessary, right? Th-they are enemies..."
Her voice trembled. The smile on her face couldn't hold up any longer.
Cocytus said that if Makoto's people tried to ambush them, he would protect them even if it cost him his life.
But as he said this, there was already a hint of suspicion in his eyes.
With no other choice, the six of them had to force themselves to go and follow Cocytus toward the center of the battlefield.
Every step felt like walking toward an execution ground.
Eight people stood at the center of the battlefield, flanked by hundreds of thousands of soldiers on either side. On the left was a white ocean, on the right a black one.
They were caught in the middle, like lambs tossed into an arena.
"Look into my eyes."
Makoto's voice floated down from above.
Heiji and the others instinctively looked up and met those crimson Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
As if under a spell, their faces showed no expression. They were like empty shells whose souls had been extracted.
"Regarding your information about Old Bone's companions, is it true or false?"
Hakuba Saguru's voice was flat. "That guy Kuroba made it up to trick Ainz Ooal Gown."
Ainz nearly jumped off his carriage.
Demiurge, Cocytus, and the other Floor Guardians were even more furious, ready to chop these people into mincemeat, but were timely stopped by Albedo's raised hand.
"Why did you lie to him?"
Akai Shuichi's lips moved. "To borrow his power to deal with you."
The battlefield fell into dead silence.
Ainz sat on the carriage, his bones cracking as he clenched them.
He felt his nose itch, 'I had become a clown?'
'Damn it!!!'
Rampant killing intent and death-infused magic power surged from Ainz's body... black, thick, overwhelming, shooting into the sky.
The clear sky darkened in an instant. Sunlight was swallowed by that black aura. The earth was shrouded in shadow. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers looked up simultaneously at that expanding black canopy.
Ainz raised his hand, his palm aimed at Heiji.
In his palm, a translucent phantom of a heart appeared. The thumping heart was still beating.
The next instant, Ainz's five fingers suddenly closed.
Squelch!
Heiji's body, as if all its strength had been drained, collapsed straight to the ground.
Ninth-Tier Magic... Grasp Heart.
One of Ainz's most commonly used spells.
"Heiji—!"
Mrs. Shizuka's mournful cry came from the Nishikawa Grand Alliance's formation.
No matter what had happened, no matter what he had done, that was her own flesh and blood, carried for ten months.
Makoto glanced helplessly at Old Bone. "What's your hurry?"
He raised his hand, extending his index finger. A holy white light glowed at his fingertip, flew from his finger, traced an elegant arc through the air, and entered Heiji's chest.
Heiji's body jerked violently.
A few seconds later, his fingers moved. Then he pushed himself up from the ground.
The dark-skinned detective knelt on the ground, gasping for air, looking around him with confused eyes, 'Wh-what just happened?'
"Resurrection magic!?" Megumin's voice came from Kurama's back, rising several decibels.
Queen Mirellia also paused.
They didn't remember Makoto having learned that kind of magic. That man only learned attack types.
Megumin turned to ask Yunyun, "When did he learn that?"
Yunyun also shook her head. She didn't remember her man practicing that move either.
"Speaking of which, where did that Aqua run off to?"
Kazuma, standing at Kurama's feet, suddenly realized something else.
Ainz was equally shocked.
Resurrection magic was nothing difficult for him, but a perfect resurrection that didn't cost a large number of gold coins... he had never seen it before.
He could sense that Heiji's strength and level hadn't dropped due to the cost of the resurrection.
Although whether Heiji's strength went up or down, in the eyes of someone of his level, he was still a roadside stray dog.
Heiji stood up from the ground and suddenly noticed that not only the people on Makoto's side, but even the people on Old Bone's side, were looking at him with extremely hateful eyes.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Heiji forced a smile, the muscles in his face twitching.
Albedo stepped forward, her expression completely twisted. "To dare to deceive Ainz-sama, we will make sure you die in the most painful way possible."
Yu smiled. "Dying is too cheap for them. We should find a way to keep them alive, let them spend the rest of their lives in endless torment."
"Leave it to me."
A strange voice came from the Nazarick camp.
Neuronist Painkill... the interrogator of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
His body looked like it was pieced together from piles of animal entrails, held together by several leather straps squeezing out rotting flesh. It was disgustingly grotesque.
At that moment, he was holding a small, barbed stick, licking his lips excitedly.
He couldn't wait to use that thing to stir up Heiji's urethra.
Heiji collapsed to the ground in fear, bracing himself with both hands, scooting backward.
"Stay away! Don't come near me!"
Having been in Nazarick for two years, although he hadn't built good relationships with many people, he knew the organization quite well. He naturally knew what Neuronist did.
The Teddy Devil also stepped forward, holding a durian in his hand.
He was going to use that to stir up Heiji's asshole.
The two 'torture experts' looked at each other. An eerie atmosphere of "mutual admiration" filled the air.
Makoto signaled to Darkness. Darkness understood immediately. She circled behind Mrs. Shizuka and Kazuha and brought the edge of her hand down.
Thud, thud-
Two dull thuds rang.
Mrs. Shizuka and Kazuha's bodies went limp. Darkness caught them, one on each side, and moved them to the rear.
The following scene would be too cruel for them.
Although their memories could be erased later, it was still better not to see it.
The next second, Heiji's screams echoed across the battlefield.
At least at this moment, the Nishikawa Grand Alliance and the Sorcerer Kingdom had reached a consensus.