Chapter 485: 445 Coercion? Foreigner?
People from the ancient magic civilization!
At this moment, if there were a third party here, upon hearing what Reiger had said, they must have been utterly astonished, right?
The ancient magic civilization— that’s a prehistoric civilization that had already perished eleven thousand years ago!
If this priestess in front of them was from the ancient magic civilization, doesn’t that mean that this person had been alive for over eleven thousand years?
If that were truly the case, it would be incredibly astounding!
As you know, even the longest-lived species on the Akasha continent, the dragons, none had lived for over ten thousand years.
It is said that the oldest living dragon currently is about four thousand four hundred years old, almost encompassing all the time since the appearance and development of the modern magic civilization.
At least, that is the history of the rise of modern magic; the history of modern humans dates back by about a thousand years more.
In such a scenario, if the priestess had lived from the ancient magic civilization until now, she would undoubtedly be an existence that is much longer-lived than the dragons, quite astonishing.
If it were someone else, they certainly wouldn’t imagine this, only Reiger would dare to make such a bold guess.
He didn’t think there was anything wrong with this guess either.
Longevity—this might be something unimaginable for others in this world, but Reiger didn’t think so.
Not to mention, in the hierarchy of magic, there were indeed against-the-natural-order magics that could make one eternally youthful.
In the world of Overlord, among the human race, there are several individuals who achieved longevity through magic.
For example, one who befriended the Platinum Dragon Lord, who had also fought against demons with Iveyer and joined the Thirteen Heroes, and had entrusted "Pale Roses" to investigate Ligulit; that individual has been alive for at least two hundred years and has not yet passed away.
Similarly, within the Bahar Empire, a Great Magic Singer once performed an incomplete ritual, managing to live for several hundred years. He is the only individual among the human race capable of using sixth-order magic, like Ligulit, surpassing the Heroic Domain as an Abnormal.
There are also some with sinister intentions who use the powers of evil systems within the rank magic to extend their lives, either by absorbing the lives of others or outright transforming into an undead species, thus avoiding the human race’s brief lifespan of a hundred years.
Among the more than a thousand types of magic Reiger learned from the Nasalik Underground Tomb, there are such magics as well. If he is willing, meets certain conditions, or is ready to pay a certain price, then he can achieve a life as long as the heavens.
The simplest and least risky method is to use the first super-tier magic that Reiger learned from Ainz——"Wish Upon a Star."
As long as he spends enough experience points and is willing to accept a reduction in levels as the price, Reiger could use this super-tier magic to wish for eternal life.
With such means at hand, and since he himself isn’t a typical person from the Akasha continent, Reiger naturally dared to boldly guess that the priestess was someone who had survived from the ancient magic civilization until now.
But just as Reiger was imagining this, the priestess suddenly paused and blankly said a sentence.
"Ancient magic civilization? What is that?"
She actually said that.
"You don’t know?" Reiger faltered, then said, "Could it be that you weren’t always guarding this city, but took over this mission from someone else?"
"I— " The priestess was about to say something, but then suddenly realized, glared at Reiger, and said, "Why should I tell you?"
Reiger frowned, staring at the priestess, and suddenly his eyes flickered red.
"Charm of All Races."
Reiger cast a mental domination spell on the priestess.
However, not only was the priestess not dominated mentally, she even sneered at it.
"Using a mental spell on me? Useless!"
The priestess seemed completely unaffected.
Reiger’s frown deepened, and he suddenly extended his hand and pressed it against the priestess’ head.
"Memory Manipulation."
This time, Reiger switched to a Memory Manipulation Series spell, attempting to search the priestess’ memories.
But after the spell was cast, Reiger discovered that he couldn’t enter the priestess’ memory domain at all.
"Useless." The priestess seemed to be mocking Reiger’s attempt, laughing. "It might have worked before, but now I won’t be affected by any mental, mind, or memory manipulation spells."
With these words, the priestess’ tone seemed to mock Reiger rather than herself.
Ignoring the priestess, Reiger just kept trying various spells that could extract information.
But just like the priestess said, all these spells were ineffective on her.
"...This feeling, it’s a bit like the undead’s mental immunity."
Reiger retracted his hand, slipping into thought.
Undead, as a species, don’t have life or normal minds, so mind-related abilities are entirely ineffective on them.
To attempt mental domination on an undead would only possibly work like that incident with Shalltear Bloodfallen using a world-class item that could tamper with even the world’s rules.
Reiger also possessed such a tier of items.
For instance, the Heat Ore that Ainz gave him as compensation.
And the Meroleith divine artifact, which was even more powerful than divine-level items.
Unfortunately, neither of these items had any mental effects, so using them was futile.
"It seems indeed impossible to force you to cooperate using magic," Reiger said somewhat indifferently. "And it would have been easier that way."
Listening to Reiger’s indifferent voice, the priestess felt an ominous premonition for some reason.
"What, what do you want to do?"
She couldn’t help but question him.
"What do I want to do?" Reiger said with a smirk that wasn’t quite a smile, "I just want to ask a few questions, but you are so uncooperative. Since that’s the case, I’ll have to resort to some less honorable methods."
Naturally, the priestess misunderstood, and her expression beneath the mask changed dramatically.
However, after a while, the priestess first remained silent for a bit, then she spoke with sarcasm.
"Do as you please, since this body is already abnormal. If you like, you can play with it."
Upon hearing this, Reiger nodded expressionlessly.
"Since you say so, I won’t hold back."
Saying this, Reiger began to cast summoning magic right in front of the priestess.
"[First Rank Monster Summoning]."
Along with Reiger’s chant, a magic array appeared in front of the priestess.
Just when the priestess found it strange, the next moment, what crawled out from the array almost made her scream on the spot.
"Squeak!" "Squeak!" "Squeak squeak!"......
In the midst of such sharp cries, what crawled out from the array were rodents the size of small dogs.
Their eyes glowed red, their teeth were sharp and slender, drool dripping from their mouths; one could tell these were not ordinary rats, nor were they herbivores.
Reiger’s voice resonated eerily.
"These are creatures known as man-eating rats. They are low-level, so weak that even collectively they are only level 1, but from their name, you should be able to tell what their main diet is."
Listening to this voice that seemed to emanate from hell, the ominous premonition in the priestess’s heart turned into a faint disquiet and fear.
"What, what exactly are you planning to do...!?"
With an inner paleness but outward fierceness, the priestess shouted, as if trying to embolden herself.
Regrettably, the man before her was not the type to feel tenderness for unfamiliar women.
"Let me give you a chance," the man’s voice was still eerie, "Would you choose to answer my questions, or would you prefer to get to know these adorable little rats up close?"
The priestess’s lips quivered beneath her mask.
"Squeak!" "Squeak!" "Squeak squeak!"......
The rats in front of her appropriately let out cries again, making the priestess want to plug her ears.
Although she was not a timid person, the thought of being devoured by monsters, which would be too tragic for most people, didn’t scare her; but any woman would physically dread such detested creatures.
Yet, at this moment, Reiger chose to apply pressure.
"You should be grateful to me; I really dislike cockroaches, otherwise......"
Reiger did not finish his sentence; he didn’t need to.
Anyway, the priestess could definitely understand his implication.
"You, you’re definitely a demon!" the priestess exclaimed, "Only the filthy enemies of the gods would do such vile things!"
Reiger completely ignored the priestess’s accusation.
"I just want to ask a few questions, and you’re unwilling even to cooperate with that, how can you blame me?"
Reiger spoke with indifference.
But, the priestess’s next words did catch Reiger’s attention.
"I don’t trust you outsiders!" the priestess raged, "I’ve been deceived by you once already, don’t think you can deceive me a second time!"
Her words made Reiger frown again.
"Have there been other outsiders who have deceived you before us?"
Reiger asked this.
"Yes!" the priestess shouted, "I was willing to receive them, listen to their requests, even gave them the opportunity to tour this city and visit the central temple, yet they dared to do such a thing!"
"So, I will not trust you outsiders again!"
"If you have even a shred of human decency, then just put an end to this quickly; otherwise, even if I return to the side of the gods, I will definitely curse you!"
The priestess’s words reached Reiger’s ears, rendering him silent on the spot.
"Squeak!" "Squeak!" "Squeak squeak!"......
The man-eating rats were still squeaking, seemingly eager to rush forward and feast.
Watching the man-eating rats with trepidation, the priestess hoped that Reiger would grant her a quick end.
Time passed slowly, and Reiger let out a sigh.