E-Rantel.
At the exact moment Nfirea's body shattered, all the summoned Undead seemed to freeze in place, as if time itself had stopped.
On the city walls, under the watchful eyes of countless adventurers and soldiers, a breeze swept past. In the next instant, the Undead crumbled into heaps of dry bones.
"The Undead… are dead?"
Yago stared blankly at the piles of bones below. For a moment, he couldn't process what he was seeing. Then it hit him, and he burst into a shout.
"Naohara succeeded! We've won!"
His voice jolted everyone back to their senses. With Boss Ajjie taking the lead, the crowd erupted into thunderous cheers.
"We survived!"
"We won! We did it!"
"Long live Ainz Ooal Gown!"
(Naohara's team was called Ainz Ooal Gown.)
Adventurers, soldiers, and even the townsfolk who had been hiding in their homes, waiting for death, all began celebrating. They were alive. They had made it through.
Nearby, the Doppelgängers disguised as Momonga and Herohero exchanged a glance and gave a subtle nod. The Supreme One's plan had worked perfectly.
"Ahem…"
The Doppelgänger disguised as Momonga cleared his throat twice, drawing the crowd's attention. He had just opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly found himself surrounded.
Arms grabbed hold of the two Doppelgängers. In their stunned confusion, they were lifted into the air, tossed upward, caught, and thrown again.
[Message]
Doppelgänger Herohero: "Should we resist?"
Doppelgänger Momonga: "…Forget it. This is probably part of the Supreme One's plan too."
Doppelgänger Momonga: "Let's not do anything. We don't want to ruin it."
Suspended midair, the two quickly reached an agreement. In the end, they did nothing. Amid roaring cheers, they were hoisted high and carried into the city by the adventurers, treated like honored heroes at the center of attention.
Meanwhile, the remaining adventurers outside the walls turned toward the cemetery and began running as one. They were going to welcome the final hero.
"Everyone, come with us!"
"Let's go welcome our heroes!"
Boss Ajjie shouted to the crowd behind him before leading them in a grand procession toward the graveyard. Under his deliberate encouragement, they loudly called out the names of Naohara and the other two.
"Naohara, Momonga, Herohero… this is the only thing I can do for you," Ajjie thought silently.
On the city walls, the once-packed crowd had thinned dramatically. Some had carried Momonga and Herohero back into the city, while others rushed toward the cemetery to greet Naohara.
Only a handful remained, quietly clearing away the corpses scattered along the ramparts.
Yago walked alone along the wall.
He hadn't followed Ajjie to look for Naohara, nor had he returned to the inner city. Instead, he stayed behind, moving in silence until he stopped in front of a body.
"Guildmaster Ainzach… we've won."
Yago stood before the body surrounded by Adventurer's Guild staff, his eyes red and his voice thick with emotion.
He hadn't forgotten. If not for Ainzach's help, an ordinary soldier like him would have died long ago, devoured by the Undead until nothing remained.
"What are you going to do with Guildmaster Ainzach's body?"
Yago looked at the woman beside him. He recognized her as one of the Adventurer's Guild receptionists. He even remembered her complaining while drinking with Naohara about how she had argued for half an hour just to secure a quest for him.
"There's too much necrotic energy in the air. To prevent Guildmaster Ainzach from turning into an Undead, we've decided… to cremate him."
The receptionist hesitated before saying it.
Cremation was difficult for people of this world to accept. But given the risk of him rising as Undead, they had made up their minds.
Guildmaster Ainzach, your spirit in heaven will surely forgive us.
"Is that so?"
"Then let me do it. Guildmaster Ainzach saved my life. Let me be the one to see him off."
Yago took a deep breath. As if prepared in advance, he pulled out a torch from behind him and strode quickly to Ainzach's body.
The staff nearby hesitated for a moment but did not stop him. It was cremation either way. It didn't matter who lit the fire.
"Goodbye, Guildmaster Ainzach!"
Yago gave a simple farewell, then began stacking firewood over the body. In no time, Ainzach was completely buried beneath the pile.
Under the wood, Ainzach's finger twitched faintly.
Outside, unaware that Ainzach wasn't entirely dead, Yago prayed briefly together with the Guild staff before resolutely lowering the torch onto the pile.
Flames roared to life at once. As the wood element met the fire element, the blaze spread rapidly through the stack.
Inside the pyre, as the temperature climbed, Ainzach's brow furrowed. His eyelids trembled, as though he were about to wake.
"Hot… what's going on?"
"Why is it so hot? Wasn't I dead?"
He struggled to open his eyes, but before he could grasp the situation, a wave of searing pain shot through his mind. Blazing flames had already engulfed his body, scorching him mercilessly.
"AAAAH!!!"
Driven by instinct, Ainzach let out a miserable scream and forced his body to move, struggling desperately to escape.
Outside, Yago continued adding firewood while fanning the flames with a small hand fan, his face heavy with grief.
Then a furious roar erupted from within the fire, snapping him out of it. The burning pile exploded outward, logs scattering in all directions as a "man of fire" leapt out.
"…Guildmaster Ainzach?"
Yago froze. He glanced at the firewood and fan in his hands, then quickly threw them aside.
The Guild staff finally reacted. A magic caster hurriedly cast a water spell, extinguishing the flames clinging to Ainzach's body.
With a hiss of steam, a pitch-black, charred figure appeared before them.
Though completely naked and stripped of all hair, they recognized him immediately.
"G-Guildmaster Ainzach… how are you still alive?"
The staff approached hesitantly, fear creeping into their voices.
They had confirmed he was dead. Now he was suddenly alive again. For those who had decided on cremation, this was an extremely awkward situation.
"It's me! Were you trying to burn this old man to death?!"
Ainzach stared at his now-bald head and vanished beard, his heart aching. He had spent years carefully maintaining that hair. It had survived even the Undead invasion. Yet now it had been reduced to ashes in a single blaze.
"Uh…"
Hearing his roar and realizing he was truly alive, the staff hurriedly apologized, repeating "sorry" over and over.
Attempting to cremate their own superior while he was still alive was no small matter.
Meanwhile, Yago quietly frowned and slipped to the back of the crowd, preparing to make a run for it.
The decision to cremate hadn't been his, but he had been the one to light the torch. Although he was genuinely glad Ainzach was alive, he valued his own life just as much.
No one noticed Yago's retreat. Everyone's attention was fixed on Ainzach.
The staff quickly explained everything that had happened and informed him that the Undead had already been defeated and vanished.
Only after hearing that the Undead had been wiped out did Ainzach finally calm down.
"The adventurer party Ainz Ooal Gown?"
"Was that person really you?"
He recalled the vague figure he had glimpsed before losing consciousness. He remembered being given something to drink.
A potion capable of reviving someone whose life force had been completely exhausted could not have been ordinary. It must have been extremely precious.
"Sigh… I owe that person a tremendous favor…"
Ainzach let out a long sigh. Then he suddenly remembered something and looked around. When he confirmed that a certain figure was nowhere to be seen, a devilish smile spread across his face.
"Go and bring Yago back to me. This old man intends to repay him properly!"