"It seems they still haven't returned from the market," Ainz said after seeing the empty Bareare Shop.
"Yeah, they sure are taking their time there. I hope nothing happened to them; the sun is already down…" Ninya replied.
The lunch at the mayor's mansion had taken quite a bit of time, and after walking to get back to the shop, it was already late afternoon, just a few minutes before nighttime.
"Do you want to look for them? We can accompany you."
"There's no need, Momon. They are my party members, so it's my responsibility to look for them. You can go and rest at the inn; I'll be fine by myself."
The words came out with such conviction that he ended up agreeing with her.
After saying their goodbyes, he and Lupusregina returned to their room at the Inn, and after a quick check for surveillance, he removed his transformation in Momon before casting a sound barrier.
"Ainz-sama."
Lupusregina promptly knelt, keeping her head lowered, showing deep devotion.
"Hum. There's no need for this; get up."
"Yes!"
As if burned, Lupusregina got up instantly.
Sigh.
There's no need for you to act like this…
He looked at the red-haired beauty who was wearing an expression of deep determination, seemingly afraid that he would at all doubt her willingness to do anything he wished for, even if it resulted in her death.
"Why have you been so quiet today? This isn't like you."
He had been bothered by it all day, only remaining silent because of the role he had to play around Ninya.
Now that they were alone, he asked right away.
"Because I don't want to ruin your plans with my stupid actions, Ainz-sama!"
Lupusregina replied without hesitation.
"Stupid actions?"
"Yes."
When did she do something like this?
Then he remembered her failure to restrain herself in the carriage on the way to E-Rantal, and the few times he had to placate her after someone showed him disrespect.
Did that weigh on her conscience?
Since when?
He didn't have many interactions with Lupusregina prior to this mission, and the first meaningful one could be called very negative.
Has this begun with the Decrement incident?
For him, the incident was over after he reprimanded her, but apparently that wasn't the case for her.
Of course it didn't!
You know how they venerate you!
He failed to consider Lupusregina's feelings on the matter.
But if I apologize, she might feel even worse for making me feel bad.
What a conundrum.
"Lupusregina."
"Yes!"
"I have already forgiven your previous mistakes, so I find your excessive restraint quite insulting to my generosity."
He let his voice lower a few octaves until it reached overlord status.
Lupusregina trembled, and he could see her desire to kneel, but since he had ordered her to stand, she forced herself to remain standing, only lowering her head.
"I'm sorry, Ainz-sama! This won't happen again."
"Good. Now let's go."
He held Lupusregina in his arms.
"[Greater Perfect Unknowable]"
"[Greater Teleportation]"
And then they found themselves in the air.
"[Fly]"
His body began to float.
"Hum!"
He looked at Lupusregina, who had emitted a weird sound.
"What's wrong?"
Now that they were flying, he held her in a princess carry, which he found easier.
"Nothing!"
Looking down, he saw her blushing and fidgeting in his arms.
It was a bit annoying, but he ignored it.
"I know this might be uncomfortable, but endure it."
[Perfect Unknowable] was a 9th-tier spell, and [Greater Perfect Unknowable] was its 10th-tier counterpart, which allowed him to apply its effects to anyone he touched.
The spell could be considered the highest degree of invisibility one could achieve by magical means.
While it was in effect, the user would not only be invisible, but their sounds and scent would also vanish, making them nigh undetectable, save for high-level thieves and some high-level heteromorph races.
Compared to that, the invisibility spells Lupusregina had in her arsenal looked laughable, so he chose this method for safety, which, combined with the low visibility of the night sky, made it his best bet for stealth.
If anyone can still detect us in this city even after this, then I'll need to cancel all my plans with Momon.
Anyone with this level of perception would be a powerful foe, and someone who could easily dispose of Lupusregina.
After taking in the beauty of the night sky, Ainz looked toward the market before flying toward the cemetery.
***
After secretly leaving the Magician's Guild, Theo Varker exhaled, exhausted.
He wore a big, goofy-looking black cape, but as he walked through the streets of E-Rantal, no one paid him any attention.
In fact, no one even looked in his direction, and the reason was simple.
They couldn't see him.
His cape might look ridiculous, but it was a high-level magic item that could grant the effects of the 3rd-tier spell [Invisibility] as well as a few other lower-level concealing spells to its user.
It had the unfortunate limitation of working only once a day and for no more than 1 hour, but it was enough for his needs.
He made his way through the crowds of workers returning home and soon reached the Cemetery.
I hope master is in a good mood today.
He had been delayed by the aftermath of a 4th circle magic caster's appearance, and now he was running late to see his master.
His master was a powerful man with no patience for incompetence.
Hopefully he will understand this time.
He owed much of what he was today to his master.
Even the cape he wore was made by his master's hands, so the thought of angering him put Theo under a lot of pressure.
The guards standing over the gate didn't see him as he used [Fly] to float over the gates, nor did they see him land gracefully on the other side.
The spell [Fly] continually consumed mana to stay active, so he would make his way on foot.
He walked for about 15 minutes before finding a specific tombstone.
Written on it, he could read:
Belinda Varker
Devoted Wife
He looked at it and, as always, paused for a moment to appreciate the dark humor in this setup.
He was never married, and never met a woman called Belinda.
But being a widower sure helped with his backstory, and served as a good excuse for him to come to the cemetery when needed.
He pulled a lever at the base of the Tombstone, activating a secret mechanism, and soon the grave opened, showing a set of stairs where a body should be.
He went down, with the grave soon closing in behind him.
"Senior Theo."
"Senior Theo."
…
After going down the stairs, he passed by many men and women, some old, some young, but all of them greeted him respectfully.
They were fellow disciples under the same master, but since he was one of the most accomplished disciples, they had to treat him with respect.
He nodded to them as he passed, but his steps never slowed.
"Master!"
After going through a few rooms, Theo finally saw his master and promptly knelt.
"You are late."
A raspy voice answered him.
"I'm sorry, master! But there was a good reason for this."
"Is that so? Then tell me, but know that if your answer doesn't satisfy me, you're going to be punished."
A chill ran through Theo's body as he lifted his head to see the man in front of him.
He had an emaciated, rotten face, deep red eyes, and pus-yellow skin.
He was practically bones and skin, with only a few hints of flesh here and there, but he still looked elegant in his red robes.
On his palm he carried a purple orb that Theo knew to be sentient.
As it noticed his presence, he began to hear it whispering sweet, deadly promises, but he did his best to ignore it for fear of offending his master.
The Orb of Death was a tantalizing thing, a deeply desirable item for any necromancer; and were it not for his fear of his master, he would have stolen it a long time ago.
His master, the mighty Zuranon, was not human.
At first he thought Zuranon was an elder lich, but later he discovered that he was something above that.
A Night Lich, and one who could use 7th-tier spells at that, something that no human could hope to achieve.
It had been 15 years since he became his disciple.
He had only been a boy back then, eating other people's trash to survive while trying not to be beaten to death by older and bigger boys in the same situation.
His master not only saved his life, but also taught him magic and gave him a purpose in life.
He admired Zuranon, convinced that no human could stand to face him, not even the old wizard of the Empire.
As such, he devoted his attention to him, doing everything that he was asked in exchange for magical knowledge and power.
"Today a new magician registered on the Guild, master. A 4th circle divine caster, and a young one at that."
"A divine caster?"
He could hear the displeasure in his master's voice.
For the undead, there was nothing as distasteful as a divine caster.
"Indeed. She came to the city to be an adventurer, and she has a companion, a warrior who seems even stronger. After digging up, I found that the man supposedly defeated a Mythril party by himself while using a twig as a weapon, and he did so without trouble, not having received even a scratch."
He found the reports absurd, but still said everything without hiding.
"Oh? It seems we have a hero on our hands. And a strong one at that."
Zuranon laughed to himself; an unpleasant laugh filled with mockery.
To someone else, a hero might be worthy of respect, but to this powerful Night Lich, they were merely inconveniences.
"How do you intend to deal with them?"
Finally, his master asked him the question he had been thinking about for the last few hours.
"The divine caster should not be a problem. I think I can silently deal with her with the help of some of my fellow disciples."
While a 4th circle magic caster may be powerful, she would still die if a group of 3rd circle wizards attacked her, especially if they could get the drop on her.
"But if the warrior is as strong as reported, then I would need Clementine's help to deal with him."
He spoke with some reluctance.
If possible, he didn't want to speak with that crazy woman ever again.
But it took a hero to face another, and her power was undeniable.
Theo touched his neck, right where the woman had put her stiletto the previous night, wondering if he could survive another encounter with her.
"Clementine is unavailable at the moment. She was getting restless, so I instructed her to capture the boy ahead of schedule."
"The Bareare?"
He spoke, more relieved than anything else.
"Indeed. Considering the item she brought from the Theocracy, him, or rather, his talent, is needed for this little ritual we shall perform on this city."
At the mention of the ritual, Theo's heart beat faster, and he struggled to hide the excitement on his face.
"It's okay for you to show your happiness. It won't be long before you discard the disgusting life energy you have with you and become a Lich."
"Thank you, master!"
Becoming a Lich had been his dream for the last 15 years, an obsession born of his admiration for his master and the desire to be like him.
"Don't thank me yet. The ritual is not complete, and if someone interferes, it might fail. Do you understand?"
"Yes, master!"
Theo reigned in his emotions and put on a calm face.
"Good. Now, tell me how you intend to deal with the two humans you mentioned."
How to deal with them?
If killing them isn't possible, why not make them leave on their own?
"I will make a personal request for their party, something that will require them to go far away… I'll make the request be urgent, and give enough payment that they won't be able to refuse it."
Nothing could get in the way of him achieving his dream.
***
What an excited child.
After Theo left, Zuranon couldn't help but find this disciple of his somewhat ridiculous.
Although I was probably just like him back when I was human.
How long has it been?
400 years?
500 years?
After a few centuries, time had lost most of its power over him and his thoughts, so he no longer felt the need to count it.
He cared little for his age, and even less about how he had been before becoming undead.
Maybe back then he had dreams, or maybe he just wanted to live forever.
Regardless of the motive, he succeeded in his transformation, but not without a cost.
He lost most of his desires and no longer felt the drives that moved living beings through their miserable existences of at most a few decades.
In their place, he developed a profound, inexhaustible thirst for magical knowledge.
It felt maddening, and in fact he had met quite a few Liches who had lost their minds in the pursuit of magic.
Lunatics of weak wills who couldn't face their own limitations, he liked to call them.
But the more he researched magic, the more he felt like a blind man fumbling his way into learning something.
Every failure brought him great dissatisfaction, his fury sometimes turning to the local population, which earned him quite a lot of infamy at the time.
But with this, he learned of something that would change the course of his unlife.
Powerful as he might be, there were still way too many beings who could put an end to his existence without breaking a sweat.
He had been lucky enough to escape from one of them, and after that he no longer dared to be so open with his actions.
A few years later, he received an invitation to a lich covenant that had formed in secret.
They called themselves the Corpus of Abyss, a most pretentious name in his opinion, but the allure of the offer made him accept.
There he found other Night Liches just as powerful as him, and some even stronger.
It was a strange group, with cooperation born of logic rather than fellowship, something that should have been impossible for beings as selfish as they were.
No. Instead of empty ideals, the members of this group were united because they had all reached similar conclusions after spending time in the outside world.
First, it was in their best interest not to call attention to themselves.
Instead of inviting trouble by ruling a country or doing pointless massacres, it was better to invest this time in researching in secret.
Second, they shared the same goal of acquiring magical knowledge, so it was better not to enter into conflicts with one another over research or waste time by pursuing the same subject.
For this reason, they shared research with one another, furthering their knowledge more efficiently.
By doing so, many powerful Elder Liches and Night Liches, some who had left their mark in history, spent their time coexisting more harmoniously than any other group of living creatures.
But Zuranon was not satisfied with only that, so he decided to create his own group of liches outside of the Corpus of Abyss, making them his subordinates who would work only to fulfill his needs.
To do so, he discarded the idea of gathering random Elder Liches, since they would be harder to control.
Instead, he spent his time finding humans with potential and turned them into his disciples, making them do his bidding.
The group soon took his own name and became fairly infamous in the region, although his existence never became common knowledge.
He had many disciples, but only the most loyal and talented were granted a chance to become Elder Liches.
This was less an arbitrary decision and more a requirement for the modified ritual he had developed.
Unbeknownst to his disciples, the ritual they fervently desired was one that would make the resulting Lich be completely under his control, giving him the power to destroy them with a single thought.
This ritual was his masterpiece, achieved after many experiments conducted throughout the centuries, and as such, he never shared it with anyone.
After decades of taking disciples, he already had 8 such subordinates, and if everything went well, he would soon have the ninth.
Huh?
At some point, two people appeared, standing at the center of the room without him noticing.
One was a human girl, and the other seemed to be another Lich.
Enemies!
Zuranon activated his orb, and it immediately let out a cry.
What is this?
The Orb of Death is trembling in fear?
The fearsome item he had obtained after exploring an ancient tomb, and which had accompanied him for many years, was now begging him to submit to the Lich in front of them.
"Who are you, and how did you get in here?"
Somehow, Zuranon felt that he might be facing a deadly crisis.
"You will soon know, but for now, why don't you calm down?"
Following the Lich's voice, he felt an irresistible force breaking into his soul.
Shackles seemed to form out of thin air, binding his soul into a sphere.
And then he felt a connection forming between him and the Lich in front of him.
To his horror, he understood instinctively that whoever that man was no longer mattered.
What was important was that his existence was now in that man's hands.