The Two Leaders

A furious anger burned under CZ’s emotionless face. Sixth had a feeling that she shouldn’t be here any longer.

“…Ah, I-I have to go to Ainz-sama!”

“Then, I’ll go too.”

“I’ll send you along~”

Sixth and the others quietly vacated their seats, though they did feel a little bad ignoring Lupusregina’s pleading looks toward them. They only managed to go for one round of the buffet.

Pangs of regret stung their hearts as they slipped away, but now was the time for work. Sixth paid no heed to the tension that was rapidly filling the air behind them. Instead, she lightly slapped her cheeks to focus herself.

Her face had the stern, brave expression of a soldier heading off to a war, but her footsteps were light and fast.

♦ ♦ ♦

Nazarick Time 9:20

6th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The undead that roamed all over the tomb were nowhere to be seen here. Instead, Aura’s beasts and other monsters that did not automatically respawn defended the floor. This floor was the widest in the Great Tomb of Nazarick and most of the floor was densely forested. It was an area befitting the word ‘sea of trees’.

However, the former members of Ainz Ooal Gown hadn’t been satisfied, and didn’t stop after simply covering the floor with greenery.

A Colosseum, giant trees, overgrown ruins, a lake, poisonous pits, twisted trees, mangrove forest, bottomless swamps, and various types of woodland were added to the floor. They had even accepted new residents recently, so there was a small village as well.

Amidst all the sights in this verdant expanse, there was a huge lake at the middle of the floor —

though it was still smaller than the underground lake on the 4th floor— and it was surrounded by a plain rather than a forest. Compared to the entire 6th floor, the plain was as small as a cat’s brow, but for them, it was large enough.

The first one in the group was the guardian of the floor, Aura. The way she rode on top of her wolf with pitch black fur was gallant and could be described as nothing less than extremely skilful.

That was to be expected. To patrol a floor this large —though she possessed extraordinary physical abilities and just running around the entire floor was possible— she preferred riding on the back of the beasts that she had tamed.

There were two others with her.

One was the overseer of the guardians, Albedo. She didn’t wear her normal beautiful white dress, but was instead garbed in her black full plate armour used for combat. However, she did not carry any weapon or shield.

The other was Shalltear. There was nothing different about her from her normal attire. There was a slight glint in her eyes as if she was enjoying the situation.

“Then, I’ll start. Come, my steed.”

The skill Albedo activated was ‘Summon Mount’.

A monster with a coat coloured like silver armour appeared from nowhere.

With its silver mane and tail, it was a magical beast that resembled a horse. It wore a set of full plate barding, as well as a saddle and bridle. It was smaller than an average horse, but had an energetic aura about it. The final difference was the head, where two horns sprouted, pointing forward.

The first one to react was the one who was the most knowledgeable about magical beasts; Aura.

“Oh~ It’s different from a normal bicorn! The horns are amazing and its body is lean and muscled!”

Albedo smiled in satisfaction.

“Of course. This one is specially tailored to match my abilities. It’s something worthy of the name

‘War-Bicorn Lord’…. But it’s actually just a level 100 Bicorn.”

“Can it fly?”

“No, that’s too much. Its basic status is no different from a regular bicorn. It doesn’t have special abilities, only enhanced HP, strength and agility.”

“Ah, I guess if you don’t have ‘Rider’ class skills, it’s hard to evolve a mount. If it fights alongside us in battles between level hundreds, it could become a hindrance because of its lack of special abilities.”

“Yea, but I can protect this child with my skill, so it’ll be able to fight alongside me for long enough.”

“But do you not think it would be a waste to divert your resources like that? You will have plenty of openings in a battle like that. How about strengthening it by changing the equipment? I heard that mount-class monsters could be equipped with armour and horseshoes.”

“That’s right. You can change its equipment even if the mount was summoned with a skill. It’s somewhat related with Aura’s question earlier. For example, if you equip it with horseshoes imbued with the power of flight, it could go around flying, but since I already equipped it with speed enhancing equipment… That might be difficult.”

Albedo lightly petted her mount that was standing beside her. But the bicorn staggered a little as if Albedo had put some strength behind her tap. There was no way that the mount she summoned would be unable to bear such a light tap. When Albedo started frowning, wondering if the beast was being rebellious, Aura asked another question.

“Hehe~ So what’s the name?”

“It’s a bicorn, like you said earlier.”