Chapter 98

Overlord First Half Chapter 98: Massacre Part 4

Hi Guys, Frostfire10 here . I have exams for the next two months and we have reached the end of the First Half so I feel that this is a good place to take a break .

Thus I will be on break until November . Thank you for everything until now and see you guys again .

Massacre Part 4

Translators: Frostfire10, Skythewood

　 Ainz nodded several times .

　He could let it eat aplenty .

“Now, your turn . ”

　Ainz pointed his black gauntlet towards the hellish crumbling landscape of the Kingdom’s army .

“Awaken, Avarice . You may feast . ”

　As if answering to Ainz’s action, countless blue lights were pulled out of the Kingdom and flew upwards . Those tiny lights, smaller than a fist, were sucked into Ainz’s black gauntlet .

　A hundred and thirty thousand balls of light was swallowed up, like everything was a dream .

　The gauntlets on Ainz’s hands was one of only two hundred World Items in Yggdrasil, called [Avarice and Generosity] .

　The gauntlet called Avarice had the ability to store the experience that the user was usually about to gain . And the gauntlet called Generosity could be used in place of the experience lost under certain conditions, up to the amount that Avarice had taken .

　The blue light was nothing more than a special effect during the absorption of the experience .

　Ainz was already at the max experience cap for a level 100, and thus could not absorb any more . Thus any experience gained would be lost . However, that was a waste .

　The super-tier magic [Wish Upon a Star] and other spells or skills often used experience and were stronger than most . And one of Ainz’s World Items used enough experience to fall down five levels .

　While the amount was few, wasting experience was something a player could not forgive . Thus he had considered the possibility that a player was around and used a World Item to absorb the experience .

　Well, to those like Ainz who have lived in the game world, they would at most be surprised that Ainz was collecting experience .

　However, to a third party, how would they see it?

　They could only see Ainz collecting something, something that was not experience .

　What were those?

　They were— Souls .

　In front of them, the souls of the Kingdom’s soldiers were being taken . That was the only way they could see it . If it were the beautiful gauntlet absorbing it, they might still be saved . But it was the black, demon-like gauntlet that was absorbing it .

　Then, there was only one title that suited Ainz .

“—Demon Lord . ”

　One of the knights whispered .

　Those words slipped into his neighbour’s hearts . There was no better word to describe the mysterious noble who trampled on two hundred thousand men and collected their souls .

　This scene of hell . And the screams of the dying .

　And to descrate it further, there was only one title for a man who could .

“—Demon Lord . ”

“—Demon Lord . ”

　The noise spread as more mouths whispered the title .

　Archduke Ainz Ooal Gown . This was the moment that he gained another title of Demon Lord, when he let all of the army taste a great fear .

　Of course, Ainz could hear the words, Demon Lord .

　At first, he thought that an actual Demon Lord had appeared . However, realising that it was directed at him, Ainz’s expression beneath the mask fell .

　Ainz’s plan was to show off in this war and get a high evaluation . And afterwards, he would act nice and become the hero of the Empire, and battle with Demiurge who would play the Demon Lord .

　Basically Ainz wanted to be known as a hero .

　 —Then why?

　As Ainz let [Avarice] feast on the experience, he shook his head .

　Demiurge and Fluder had both assured him that this war would turn him into a hero . Then why was he being called a Demon Lord?

　Demon Lord did not seem to be an abbreviation of Magic King . (TL Note: Character for Demon and Magic is the same)

　Basically his plan had went awry . Ainz could not understand . However he had to fix his mistake . That was why he could only think of how to shift the direction of his plan .

“… . A surprising amount was collected . Despite the experience being few due to the level gap, the numbers add up . This might be surprisingly useful . ”

　Ainz was satisfied with the experience stored in [Avarice], and shifted his arm to look at his gauntlet . He was like a housewife who was wondering what she should exchange her points for . However, he had yet to notice the looks of fear the knights were giving him .

“Now—”

　It was a boorish thing, but Demiurge said that it was better to do it .

　The Guardians should be looking here through the mirror . They were prepared to jump in at any moment . That was why he had to act cool until the last moment . While, he was personally against it, he had to grasp the hearts of many to debut as a hero .

　Ainz made his decision and acted .

　However, before that, Ainz looked up at the sky . Even though the sun was shining brightly, there was a thin fog like clouds were covering the sky .

“—Return to the Eighth Floor . ”

　Ainz ordered the largest force that he had brought out of Nazarick to return . Probably no one noticed . That there was another giant ball of light that covered the sun .

　After giving his order, Ainz sighed and turned to the Empire’s formation .

　He felt tens of thousands of gazes falling on him . It was an overwhelming pressure . Ainz personally felt the phenomenon of many gazes combining to form a physical pressure .

　If he were not undead, without any immunity to emotional attacks, he would be pressured and not be able to do anything . However, Ainz acted with more ease as compared to earlier .

　He slowly spread open his hands .

　As if to hug a friend— Or like the opening of a devil’s wings .

　In the silence, as the screams of the Kingdom’s soldiers could be heard, Ainz spoke in a quiet voice .

“—Applause . ”

　Basked in the gaze of everything, Ainz spoke again .

“Applause for my formidable power and supreme might . ”

　The first one to clap was Fluder . His face showed understanding and jot . And as if shaken by that, spurts of claps could be heard, as it all changed to a thunderous applause .

　Of course, they were not sincerely applauding for him . Even if they were the enemy, that would not want to clap for a person who massacred most of them . This was not a war, but genocide .

　However, could anyone say that?

　Could anyone upset a monster that was in front of them?

　There was no one who could .

　The thunderous applause was a show of how fearful the knights were . We will give you your applause, so please do not get upset . That was how they felt .

　Ainz’s face changed underneath his mask . He had the satisfied expression of  a man whose plan was proceeding as he’d like .

“Now, I shall take my steps one at a time . In this world—”

　The casualty count of the Kingdom was a hundred and thirty thousand, and the Empire’s was zero . This overwhelming result shook the surrounding countries .

　And afterwards, the name of Archduke Ainz Oown Gown spread far and wide .

　 Feeling the slight change in the air the Strongest dragon, Tsaindolks Vaishion, also known as the [Platinum Dragonlord] woke up from his light sleep .

　Most of his consciousness was filled with shock .

　Shock from something slipping past its senses and into its surroundings .

　It was normally impossible to escape a dragon’s sharp senses . A dragon could immediately detect whether there was a presence nearby even if it were invisible or the dragon was sleeping . But there were a few creatures that could escape a dragon’s magical senses .

　Even Tsua who had lived a long life, only knew a few . Such as one of the Thirteen Heroes who had left this world, the assassin Ijaniya . That old man could probably have done it . Apart from him—

　Tsua felt that it was a familiar presence, and slowly opened his eyes .

　Dragon eyes could peer through darkness .

　Seeing like it was noon, there was a familiar person there, one of the few that could make it there undetected .

　There was a wide smile on her face, one of a human that was able to pull off a large prank .

“It’s been a while . ”

　That person was an old woman with a finely crafted sword hanging from her waist .

　Her head of white hair showed how long she had lived . However, her face overflowed with a childish vibrance on her face which did not match her years .

　A person whose identity was different from her appearance .

　Comparing her with the woman in his memories, the old woman’s eye brows sharpened into a dangerous angle .

“What? My friend, have you forgotten how to say hi? Oh dear, even dragons can grow dull . ”

　Tsua let out a deep toothy laugh . He remembered that her friend was like this .

“Sorry . I’m happy to meet an old friend . ”

　The old woman’s reply was what Tsua expected .

“A friend? My friend was that empty bucket of armour over there… . Well, something’s inside now right?”

“Yes . My knight is inside . ”

　In the past, Tsua had travelled with the old lady and her group by controlling an empty suit of armor as a substitute for himself . Therefore, when his true identity had come out, his companions had been furious about being tricked . He wanted them to forgive him for the time when he had surprised them by removing his helmet .

　The resentment from back then still had not died out, and she was still making digs at him until now .

　Tsua smiled and then looked at the woman’s finger .

“…What happened to the ring? It’s a treasure beyond humanity you know?”

“Trying to change the topic, are we? Still, your eyes are sharp; is that the Draconic treasure sense at work… oh well, that’s fine . I gave it to a young man . Don’t worry about it . ”

　That item was not something that could be simply given away . That was made from [Primal Magic] and it was extremely difficult to recreate . However, the old woman would not pass it to someone weird . He trusted her .

“Really now . Well, since you decided to give it away, I doubt you’d have gone wrong… right, I heard that you were an adventurer once, am I correct? Are you here on business?”

“Of course not . I came to look up a friend to have fun . I’ve already retired, and I’m no longer an adventurer . Don’t ask a little old lady like me to work so hard; I’ve turned my duties over to that crybaby . ”

“That crybaby?” Tsua thought for a while and then a flash of inspiration struck . “…You mean her?”

　Hearing Tsua’s subtle tone, the old woman knew that he had got it .

“Yes, little Miss Inberun . ”

“Ah~” Tsua sounded dumbfounded . “You’re probably the only one who can call her little . ”

“Oh, really? You’re even more qualified to call her little . I’m about the same age as that girl, but you ought to be older, right?”

“That is true… still, I can’t believe that girl would be willing to be an adventurer . What kind of scheme did you use?”

“Hmph . That crybaby went on and on and wouldn’t stop, so I said, ‘If I can beat you, then you’ll have to listen to me’, and then I smacked the crap out of her!”

　The old lady went ”kakaka” . Her laughter seemed to come from the bottom of her heart .

“…I think you’re the only human who could beat that girl . ”

“Well, I had friends helping me out . Besides, if you know the undead, you know how to beat the undead . If you can’t defeat the power of the Earth, you can still exploit elemental affinities and compatibilities to turn the tables in your favor . Crybaby is very strong, but others are stronger than her . For instance, you could easily beat that girl . If you didn’t limit yourself, you would be the most powerful being in this world . ”

“… . Maybe . Well, I still feel admiration for the strongest magic caster of humanity… . Can I ask you a question?”

“What? As long as I can answer I don’t mind?”

“That weapon, was it a Guilty Weapon?”

　Seeing the weapon Tsua was talking about, the old woman shook her head .

“Guilty Weapon? No . That’s a Guild Weapon . ”

“Ah!” Tsua felt the fog clear from his mind . “That’s right! Yes . That’s what he said . The strongest weapon the Eight Greed Kings wielded! I see, I see . A Guild Weapon . ”

　Tsua felt a sense of relief fill his body . As he did so, waves of memories washed over him . As he fondly recollected, he asked the old woman .

“Now, Rigrit . Why did you come here?”

　The old woman nodded, and made a serious face .

“Hmm . Tsua . About three weeks ago . Have you heard about a magic caster called Ainz Ooal Gown?”

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Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading until now .

This will be continued in Overlord Second Half .

Thank you very much .