Chapter 334: World-class Props
In "YGGDRASIL," all magic items were clearly ranked.
Low, Middle, High, Top, Legacy, Relic, Legendary, and Divine Artifact — magic items were categorized like this, from lowest to highest, into eight distinct ranks.
Naturally, the higher the level, the stronger the power of the magic item, and the rarer it would become. Even the max-level NPCs of the Nasalik Underground Tomb were equipped with only one or two Divine Artifacts, and only Ainz had the ability to furnish himself entirely with Divine Artifact-grade items.
Above the level of Divine Artifacts, there was actually another level of magic item.
These were the pinnacle items of "YGGDRASIL," of which only two hundred existed, their effects so powerful that they were deemed equivalent to disrupting the game’s balance.
They could accomplish many things that were ordinarily impossible, such as mentally dominating the undead who were supposed to be immune to mind control, or even altering the very laws of the world.
They wielded the highest priority of effect, meaning they held preemptive rights, allowing them to take effect before anything else under any circumstance. Only items of the same rank or special classes could withstand their power.
This was the strongest item in "YGGDRASIL," limited to only two hundred pieces — the World-class items.
Now, Reiger had mentioned them, telling Ainz that Shalltear had been subject to mental domination through the use of a World-class item.
"No, this can’t be..."
Ainz muttered to himself.
World-class items, those were the ultimate artifacts which even the former Ainz Ooal Gown had only acquired eleven of.
Could there really be World-class items in this world?
Is that... possible?
"Why couldn’t it be possible?"
As if he had anticipated the thoughts in Ainz’s mind, Reiger suddenly spoke.
"If you could bring the entire Nasalik Underground Tomb to this world, why couldn’t the beings of the past like the Six Great Gods, the Eight Greed Kings, and the Thirteen Heroes bring World-class items here?"
It was an extremely blunt and straightforward theory.
"...Who is it?"
Ainz asked, suppressing his emotions.
"Who used the World-class item on Shalltear?"
The emotions rising within Ainz at the moment were nothing else but anxiety, anger, and fear.
Someone had used a World-class item on Shalltear and dominated one of Nasalik’s important Guardians.
If that was the case, could the rest of Nasalik also have been subject to mental domination by World-class items?
Could it be that they had used the power of World-class items to do something to Nasalik without his knowledge?
The thought filled Ainz with unstoppable anxiety, anger, and fear.
But Reiger was oblivious to all this.
"This is the tenth question," he reminded coldly before finally saying, "The entity that used the World-class item on the vampire was the Slane Theocracy’s Scripture of Darkness."
Indeed.
The human group that had suddenly invaded the battlefield between Reiger and Shalltear the night before, was none other than the Slane Theocracy’s special intelligence detachment under the direct command of the clergy, the most powerful and unique squad among the Six Scriptures — the Scripture of Darkness.
All of them were beings who had stepped into the Heroic Domain, especially the long-haired androgynous youth wielding a lance, who was one of the awakened godkin Clementine had repeatedly called a monster, the chief and leader of the Scripture of Darkness.
To be honest, Reiger half-expected and was half-surprised by the arrival of the Scripture of Darkness.
He half-expected it because this event had occurred in the original story; the Scripture of Darkness encountered Shalltear outdoors and used a World-class item on her, so Reiger was not at all surprised by this development.
The surprise came from the fact that Reiger thought that his own involvement might mean the Scripture of Darkness would not be dispatched to the Ja-Reland area this time.
In the original work, the reason why the Scripture of Darkness came to the Ja-Reland area was entirely because the Sunlight Scripture had been annihilated by Ainz. The Sunlight Scripture was annihilated in Kain Village by Ainz, who had just emerged from the Nasalik Underground Tomb, and even the surveillance magic the Theocracy used to monitor Negan was countered by Ainz’s offensive defenses, leading the Slane Theocracy to mistakenly believe that the Sunlight Scripture was involved in a calamity of Dragon Lord proportions, prompting them to dispatch the Scripture of Darkness to Ja-Reland.
But this time, it wasn’t Ainz who annihilated the Sunlight Scripture; it was Reiger, who didn’t possess any offensive defenses capable of countering intelligence magic. Logically, the Slane Theocracy should’ve learned the truth about the annihilation of the Sunlight Scripture through their intelligence magic, thus knowing that it was Reiger, not some calamity like a Dragon Lord, who was the culprit.
Given this, the Slane Theocracy might have taken retaliatory action against Reiger, targeting him, but whether they would deploy the Scripture of Darkness with World-class items in tow was not certain.
Therefore, Reiger had considered the possibility that the Scripture of Darkness might not make a move this time, and that Shalltear would not be subjected to the mental domination of a World-class item.
Who would have thought that in the end, it still happened.
Reiger, for his part, did not realize that in terms of the outcome, the development was not significantly different from the original story.
Indeed, the one who had annihilated the Sunlight Scripture was no longer Ainz, but him, yet the Theocracy’s surveillance magic intended for Negan was ultimately countered nonetheless.
The one who countered the Slaine Theocracy’s espionage magic was not Reiger, but Ainz, just like in the original work.
At that time, Reiger had already made contact with Ainz, causing Ainz to suspect "whether someone else is around," and so, just to be on the safe side, Ainz expanded the alert network of Nasalik by several levels, encompassing even the nearby Kain Village within the range of Nasalik’s magic defense system.
Thanks to this, the Slaine Theocracy’s espionage magic being used to monitor Negan was countered by the Nasalik defense system, leading them to mistakenly believe, just like in the original work, that the Sunlight Scripture had become entangled in a dragon lord-level catastrophe and decided to dispatch the Black Scripture.
Everything was proceeding back onto the track of the original story.
Putting aside the oblivious Reiger, a very strong murderous intent had arisen in Ainz’s heart.
"The Slaine Theocracy, huh?"
Clearly, Ainz had come to hate the Slaine Theocracy.
Apart from that, Ainz’s tolerance for the fact that the other party used a world-class item to exert spiritual control over the Guardians of the Nasalik Underground Tomb was absolutely zero, and could even be said to be negative.
Everything in the Nasalik Underground Tomb was the fruit of his former comrades’ efforts, their legacy, and especially entities like the Guardians, meticulously crafted and designed by everyone, could indeed be called the children of former comrades.
Now, with the children of his comrades being controlled by a world-class item, it was a direct affront to Ainz’s bottom line.
"Aside from the Six Great Gods, there shouldn’t be anyone stronger than a player in the Slaine Theocracy, right?"
Ainz posed this question.
Why he asked was obvious without thinking.
As long as there was no significant threat from the Slaine Theocracy, Ainz would not mind mustering the entire force of the Nasalik Underground Tomb to obliterate this nation.
Reiger narrowed his eyes, watching Ainz for a good while before finally speaking indifferently.
"To my knowledge, there are three descendants in the Slaine Theocracy who have inherited the bloodline of the Six Great Gods, known as Godkin."
"Their strength far surpasses that of the natives of this world and could almost rival players."
"The strongest among them has the title of ’Absolute Death,’ and if she dons the equipment left by the Six Great Gods to the Slaine Theocracy, her strength would be sufficient to contend with you in base equipment, as well as the Guardians of Nasalik."
In other words, if Ainz and the Guardians of Nasalik were fully equipped, then ’Absolute Death’ would absolutely not stand a chance.
Hearing this, the red glow in the eye sockets under Ainz’s helmet flared up like burning flames.
At this moment, Reiger spoke again.
"As for humans, that’s about it. The strongest in the Slaine Theocracy would be ’Absolute Death,’ the extra seat of the Black Scripture."
"As for anything other than humans, whether the Slaine Theocracy has other trump cards, other means, that I do not know."
"The Six Great Gods left many things to the Slaine Theocracy, and world-class items are just one of them. Who knows if they have other methods?"
These words made Ainz cool down a bit.
Indeed, even if the strength of humans only extended to that level, it did not mean that the Slaine Theocracy had only that degree of power.
Not to mention, world-class items were a strong and forceful trump card that even Ainz had to be wary of.
It seems that taking action against the Slaine Theocracy needed more strategic planning.
"This is the eleventh question," Reiger reminded Ainz, saying, "Do you have any more questions?"
Hearing this, Ainz hesitated a bit.
The eleventh question meant that he needed to provide Reiger with detailed information about one thousand and one hundred types of magic, and demonstrate their effects; otherwise, he would have to compensate with corresponding magical items.
One thousand and one hundred types—it goes without saying that this far exceeded what Ainz could provide and he would have to find another way to pay for the shortfall.
This being the case, he could no longer ask questions so freely.
"Then, let’s ask one last question," Ainz said to Reiger, "Why did the Slaine Theocracy leave Shalltear in the wilderness and not care for her? Do they have some kind of scheme?"
The answer to this question was, to some extent, rather dull.
But, it could put Ainz’s mind at ease.
"The vampire slaughtered the user of the world-class item before being controlled, which resulted in an incomplete spiritual control. Hence, she is now in a state where she attacks anyone who approaches or attacks her indiscriminately, which is why the Black Scripture had no choice but to retreat."
Reiger stood up.
"The questions have been answered, so I hope you will prepare the payment due to me as soon as possible."
With that, Reiger turned and left.
Ainz watched Reiger leave and fell into deep thought, no longer speaking.