Chapter 400: 378 The attack comes with great momentum.
Watching Lakyus and others being brought into the Throne Hall, the red glow in Ainz’s eye sockets flashed again.
At this moment, Lakyus and the others all seemed to have become puppets without consciousness, standing there blankly. Even when the servants summoned by Demiurge rudely threw them into the Throne Hall, they still made no response.
Only Iveyer remained not a puppet, yet she had also lost consciousness and fell into a coma.
The reason why Lakyus and the others had become like this was all because of a special skill of Demiurge—[Rule Spell].
This was a special skill that could turn people with fragile hearts into one’s own puppets.
The skill was ineffective against those of too high a level, only affecting those below level 40. Hence, Iveyer had not become a puppet, but was controlled by magic, while Lakyus and the others, without exception, were all dominated by Demiurge’s skill.
The members of the Black Scripture were also controlled by this special skill of Demiurge, hence their madness in the Royal Capital. Only individuals far surpassing level 40, like those Awakened Godkin genderless youths similar to Absolute Death, were spared from control. In the end, they met the same fate as Iveyer, controlled by magic, and were brought back to the Nasalik Underground Tomb.
Thanks to this, the first one Ainz paid attention to was Iveyer.
"This girl is not a human, right?"
Ainz recognized Iveyer’s identity at a glance.
"Yes," Demiurge reported with his head lowered, "This girl, like Shalltear, is a vampire. From the information squeezed out of these people from [Blue Rose], she seems to be a vampire noble once known as [The Annihilator], who had fought alongside the thirteen heroes against Demon Gods 200 years ago, thus, her strength is far greater than those in [Blue Rose], probably around level 50?"
To hide her identity, Iveyer actually wore a magical artifact that could conceal the aura of the undead.
But that magical artifact had been removed by Demiurge, which was why Ainz could recognize Iveyer’s true form at first glance.
"They separated from the [Eight Fingers] stronghold after Reiger Brillhaut and Shalltear started battling and went to Flanxia Palace in Lorenti City to search for the Third Princess. After receiving the report, I took a detour, capturing them and bringing them back,"
Demiurge continued his report.
"This act allowed me to gain some new information, also related to Reiger Brillhaut."
These words successfully diverted Ainz’s attention away from Iveyer.
"Let’s hear it."
Ainz showed maximum interest.
Now, any information related to Reiger was of significant interest to Ainz.
Because in his heart, Reiger had become the greatest enemy of Nasalik and the greatest threat.
Before obtaining sufficient information, Ainz had no intention of provoking Reiger again.
Under Ainz’s cautious attitude, Demiurge then reported on the new information.
"These adventurers from [Blue Rose] once accepted a commission from someone called Ligulit. For some reason, the person was highly interested in Reiger Brillhaut."
Demiurge said so.
"She commissioned [Blue Rose] to make contact with and investigate Reiger Brillhaut, claiming that he is someone who would have a huge impact on this world. Although I am unsure of the relationship between her and Reiger Brillhaut, it is certain that she is currently paying attention to that man."
Upon hearing this, Ainz frowned, though he had no eyebrows.
"And who is this Ligulit?"
Ainz asked.
"This person seems to have participated in the war against the Demon Gods just like this vampire girl, having lived for over 200 years. She must have used some special magic or item to extend her life to this day," Demiurge spoke, "She once joined a team from [Blue Rose] but now seems to have retired and is elusive. I always feel that this person is a very important figure in this world."
"Is that so?" Ainz pondered for a moment before speaking, "Then is there a way to investigate this Ligulit?"
"Of course, no problem," Demiurge assured, "With this vampire girl here, it should not be difficult to investigate information about that Ligulit."
After all, like Ligulit, Iveyer had also fought in the war against the Demon Gods. They could be considered companions, or friends acquainted for 200 years.
Merely by using magic to investigate Iveyer’s memories or through interrogation and other means to make Iveyer speak, they would be able to uncover most of Ligulit’s mysteries.
Had Iveyer been like Lakyus and the others, and could have been dominated by the [Rule Spell], Demiurge would have already extracted the information she knew.
Now, Demiurge could only rely on the very limited part of the information known by Lakyus and others. The rest had to be acquired from Iveyer.
"Let’s do it that way,"
After thinking for a while and deeming the approach suitable, Ainz put the plan into action.
"So, how shall we deal with the remaining people?"
Demiurge inquired.
Ainz’s gaze immediately swept over the others, excluding Iveyer.
Whether it was Lakyus, Brian, or even Gegran, Tia, Tina, Ainz was meeting them for the first time. However, as the adventurer Feifei, he often heard of their great names.
Frankly, Ainz was not particularly concerned about these people from [Blue Rose], only showing a bit of interest in the Magic Sword Zilinilam in Lakyus’s possession.
As for Brian, it goes without saying. Ainz didn’t even know of this person, never having even heard the name before.
If it were a normal day, Ainz would have definitely made good use of these captives.
For example, he might divide people who had no value into several pieces and feed them to some of the human-eating aberrations in the Nasalik Underground Tomb.
The valuable ones could be kept for interrogation or for various magic experiments, even as materials for creating new types of magic tools and potions. In any case, he had to thoroughly extract the value from the captives.
If necessary, Ainz was even willing to spend resources to heal or revive the captives for their secondary use.
Basically, that’s how Ainz dealt with his captives.
Don’t call him cruel.
In Ainz’s current view, as long as it benefited Nasalik, no matter how cruel it was, it could be done.
And every creature outside of Nasalik, whether they were humans from his past race or the undead of his current race, he regarded them as nothing more than livestock. He might play with them occasionally, but if necessary, he would not hesitate to either kill them or make use of them.
Therefore, becoming a captive of the Nasalik Underground Tomb, becoming a captive of Ainz, was definitely not a fortunate matter but the start of a hellish nightmare.
Under such circumstances, now that Lakyus and the others had been brought to the Nasalik Underground Tomb, they were bound to face a grim fate.
Not to mention...
"... These people are related to Reiger Brillhaut, aren’t they?"
Ainz spoke out.
"...Yes," Demiurge bowed deeply and replied, "Though the connection is not deep, even this man named Brian Angelos only met Reiger Brillhaut in the past few days and took an interest in his teachings, but indeed, these people do have a connection with Reiger Brillhaut."
Upon hearing this, everyone present instantly glowered at Lakyus and the others with a crazed murderous intent.
That included Guardians like Aura and Mare, who looked at Lakyus and the others with eyes filled with rage.
If Lakyus and the others were conscious at this moment, being stared down by so many terrifying and powerful aberrations with such murderous gazes, they would surely start shaking uncontrollably, wouldn’t they?
They couldn’t help it, they were connected to Reiger, and that alone was enough to earn the animosity of everyone in Nasalik.
After all, that was the man who had killed Ainz once.
The highest ruler of the Nasalik Underground Tomb, the only one among the forty-one Supreme Sovereigns who still remained here, the most beloved and worshipped master in the eyes of all the aberrations, had been slain once by lowly and despicable humans. Even Albedo, the Guardian Chief, and Shalltear, one of the strongest Guardians, had been killed by the enemy. This was a taboo violation against Nasalik.
Here, no one was willing to forgive Reiger.
They wished to dismember him into a thousand pieces, strip his flesh bit by bit, torture him until he was beyond recognition, then heal or revive him with magic and continue the torment until his spirit collapsed.
Now, here were the ones related to such a detestable person; how could they not harbor the intent to kill them?
Not even Ainz was an exception.
Thinking of Albedo and Shalltear’s situation reignited the fury in Ainz’s heart.
"Anyone who dares to offend the Nasalik Underground Tomb must pay the price."
"And you are no exception."
"Reiger Brillhaut."
Filled with intense anger, Ainz was about to give a cruel command.
However, just at that moment, a violent tremor swept through the entire Throne Hall.
"What?"
A window opened before Ainz, allowing him to see the outside of the Nasalik Underground Tomb.
In an instant, amidst the panicked gaze of all the aberrations of the Nasalik Underground Tomb, Ainz shot to his feet.
...
Meanwhile, outside the Nasalik Underground Tomb.
"Shuh!"
An outline appeared here in the midst of a dimensional transportation magic fluctuation, hovering high in the sky.
Reiger, looking down, stared at the barren plain below, a chilly smile playing at his lips.
"Hum———"
The next moment, a gigantic dome-shaped magic Array unfolded around Reiger, radiating out for about ten meters in every direction, vibrating the atmosphere.
"Super-tier magic..."
Reiger’s faint chanting filled the air.
"[Fallen Down]!"