There was no way out, no conceivable exit, other than taking your own life. Tanya Degurechaff and Motoyasu Kitamura were surrounded from all sides. Behind them were the undead hunters, the night crawlers. To the left and right of them, other undead skeletal warriors have blocked their sides.
In front of them, the biggest threat and hurdle was the armored maid and the large armored insectoid creature.
"Surrender? But they don't want it."
Although Tanya was proud, she couldn't dismiss the possibility; the entire situation felt utterly hopeless, even if surrender was rejected. A bitter fight would end quickly if their enemies were interested in killing them. However, something was telling her, from the back of her mind, that they were instead here to capture them.
"They have no intention of formally accepting our surrender; they aim to break us before capturing us. They want us to squirm..."
The masters of this undead army made their reasons clear before. A surrender and clean cooperation would result in fair treatment and no abuse. A clear resistance or general defiance would result in torture and be subjected to advanced interrogation techniques.
The Shield Hero Group chose defiance long ago.
The Shield Hero Group's former leader, the shield hero Naofumi Iwatani, was skeptical of the terms offered by another maid who wore a green collar around her neck and was surrounded by colossal undead knights.
When the maid displayed her overwhelming power, the shield hero was unimpressed, but the mere thought of blindly wandering around in enemy territory made him blink.
The timely intervention of a young man, who sputtered long sentences about serving behind the light and embracing the shadows, caused the collared maid to flee by teleportation. The young man then swiftly dealt with the undead knights.
Surrender was not an option. The Shield Hero Group had rejected the 'generous' terms offered long ago.
"Fight?"
Tanya knew that one wrong move could cost her life. Motoyasu was dependable, but even with him, they wouldn't last a minute. Surrendering was the better choice. If she let them break her, at least she'd stay alive.
"Oh fucking shit."
Tanya thought as she dropped her rifle. If she surrendered, she could make her case; she could play her hidden cards. She could embrace the Lost Child act or the Forcefully Conscripted Child Soldier act.
"It's not a flush, it's a pair at best, but it's better than a high card."
Tanya viewed her situation through the lens of poker hands. Her heart beating fast. Surrender was her only option; she didn't care what that moronic spear hero would do; she prioritized her life.
The maid merely smirked and walked forward, approaching Tanya. The maid looked at her with visible disdain and barely contained satisfaction. The maid had something to pick with the child soldier, and she meant to enjoy every single moment of it.
"I told you, we are uninterested in your surrender. You were so strong before? Why are you now acting so weak?" The maid announced, scanning Tanya's figure from head to toe, quite satisfied with the quivering figure.
"What's the matter? Lives flashing before your eyes?" The maid muttered with a huge grin while lightly kicking the rifle forward. "Pick it up. Pick. It. Up." The maid baited, reaching for her spatial inventory, rippling the air, and then producing a large steel sword.
"Leave her alone, you pig-woman!" Motoyasu let out a shout as he lunged forward, spear spinning in his grip before driving it straight ahead.
"Lighting Spear!"
The tip of the spear glowed in electric brilliance, radiating shock. However, as Motoyasu thrusted the spear, the large insectoid creature stepped forward and blocked the spear attack with its bare lower left hand. Motoyasu staggered, and then he was whacked away with a single backhanded slap with the upper left hand.
Motoyasu's flailing figure struck and crumpled three tree trunks before crashing straight into the ground in the distance. He gasped in pain, as if his soul was being sucked out; his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth drew blood.
A simple slap was enough to put his HP near zero. He was alive but almost dead.
The large insectoid creature slowly approached Motoyasu, and with each heavy step it took, his fear of death spiked. "T-t-t-anya. R-r-run..."
The maid smirked at Motoyasu's broken figure, then turned to Tanya. The maid then pointed the tip of her sword at Tanya's crotch, letting the steel tip linger for a moment, then slowly dragged the sword's tip upwards and stopped at her throat.
Tanya gulped, realizing now was the time to bite down on a piece of cloth to brace for the pain. The expression on her face was both grim and full of hate at the maid. The maid scoffed, unimpressed by the child soldier's futile attempt at expressive defiance.
"Death is not the end of your transgressions towards Nazarick." The maid muttered as the undead skeletons walked forward, carrying a chain and a ball. The maid smiled, truly satisfied now, she had dealt with another problem and made her master proud.
Tanya glared at the maid's now-relaxed expression, biting her lip and drawing blood. However, just as the maid was about to say something, her expression froze, midway through speaking.
Tanya paused for a second, thinking if this was another form of the maid's mockery. Then the creeping feeling of familiarity washed over her. She knew what this was. She hated this kind of intervention, some higher existence was coming to gloat.
"It's not a gloat." The voice boomed, it was coming from Motoyasu.
"Here to taunt me again!?"
Tanya shouted, her energy and vitality surging from sheer hatred alone. Her most hateful nemesis had come back to watch her suffer, and she didn't want to give it the satisfaction.
"Sorcerer King. Ainz Ooal Gown. Momonga. Suzuki Satoru. A mere upstart, an undead, blasphemy was able to wring out the little amount of faith in you. I am surprised yet conflicted. This is not part of my plan."
"I would rather die than beg."
"The arrogance of humanity and their underestimation of pain. Would you like a glimpse of your former leader?
As soon as Being X said that, a fast flood of information surged through Tanya's head. The information rush struck her like a barrage of jabs, quick and painful.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tanya screamed.
Then she stopped, eyes unfocused, lips barely twitching. Tanya witnessed a fraction of the suffering inflicted upon Naofumi and even saw his bloodied figure.
The repeated resurrections, the flaying, the insertion, the burning, the stabbing, the opening, the spiking, the skinning, the scratching, the screaming, the silence, the never-ending, and the always circling loop of permanent torment.
Tanya shuddered; had time not been frozen, she would have collapsed and relieved her bladder right there, trembling and incoherent with fear.
"Please...."
"Oh?"
"Please, I beg you, get me out of here. Please, oh fuck, oh my god. I don't want to suffer. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to, please, please, please, please."
Tanya begged and pleaded, muttering whatever prayer or psalm she could think of. There was barely any hint of belief or faith yet, just the insistent supplication to avoid something worse. For Being X, it was a start.
They could work with it.
(The next chapter is divine intervention part two.)