The battlefield trembled with residual force. Smoke coiled upward like dancing phantoms.
And from within it…
Laughter.
A distorted giggle, bubbling up from the wreckage.
Then louder—rising in pitch.
"Ahh-hahahahaha…"
Shalltear emerged, her crimson armor scorched but intact, face alight with an expression far too alive.
Not joy. Not pain.
Something in-between.
Manic.
"Ainz-sama~," she crooned in a voice too sweet to be sane, "why are you being so cruel? Didn't you say you'd protect us? Don't tell me… you're trying to hurt me now~?"
Her head tilted at an unnatural angle. The smile widened, but her eyes remained glassy. Detached. Controlled.
And yet—she laughed again.
"Ehehe… ehehehehee~!"
Ainz didn't speak. He kept floating backward, calculating.
Suzuki Satoru: She's not completely suppressed. Some of her core personality traits are leaking through… But they're distorted. Amplified. Probably part of the control mechanism—a failsafe. Use her madness to make her more unpredictable.
"So mean…" Shalltear murmured, mock-pouting. Her lips curled upward again, into a grin that didn't reach her eyes.
Then, suddenly, her body blurred.
She was in front of him—again.
The lance lashed out in a wide arc.
Ainz barely dodged, casting [Delay Phase Shift] to temporarily desync his position from the physical plane.
She missed by inches.
And laughed again.
"That's no fair, Ainz-sama~ You always had all the cool toys. But guess what?" Her voice turned sing-song, almost childish.
"So do I."
She clapped her hands once.
[Create Greater Vampire].
The spell instantly summoned two humanoid familiars beside her—twisted vampires, clad in red formalwear, faceless but fanged. They screeched and lunged forward.
"[Wall of Spirits]."
Ainz cast instantly.
Dozens of translucent undead rose from the earth, forming a shimmering barrier of tortured souls. The summoned vampires collided with them, snarling.
"Ohhhh~! That one again!" Shalltear twirled mid-air. "You used that during guild PvP back in the Labyrinth Wars, didn't you? It's been so long, I almost forgot!"
The tip of her lance traced the air lazily. Then—abruptly—she lunged again.
Her movements blurred—faster than before.
Suzuki Satoru: Blood Frenzy Mode… she's stacking speed passives from every hit taken. If this goes on much longer…
Ainz didn't have time to finish the thought.
Her lance stabbed forward again—
—he teleported.
Mid-cast, he activated another cash item—[Quick Cast Gemstone]—and launched [Reality Slash].
A rift split through the battlefield—a glowing arc of spatial distortion.
It caught her shoulder. For a moment, the distortion resisted her regeneration. Blood—real, thick, crimson—spilled from the wound.
Her body froze.
Then… she shuddered.
"Aaaaah… that hurt… That HURT! Ahahahahahahaaa!!"
She arched her back, drinking in the pain.
"So THIS is love, huh?! Ainz-sama, you're so cold… So heartless… You always were! But that's what makes you soooo perfect~"
The ground trembled as her aura exploded.
This was no longer a duel of strategies.
This was a descent into madness.
Ainz's eyes narrowed.
He raised his hand.
"[Gravity Maelstrom]"
Shalltear grinned wide, blood on her lips.
"Yes, yes—fight me! Hurt me! Show me how a Supreme Being punishes his servant!!"
And once again—
—they clashed.
**************
Ainz's robes flared as he floated backward, barely dodging Shalltear's next lunge. Her crimson lance cut the air like a guillotine, missing his chest by a hair's breadth.
His [Twilight Veil Robe] shimmered, redirecting ambient mana into his spell pool. The [Ebonflow Bracelet] pulsed on his wrist, syncing with the [Pendant of the Inner Current] and fast-tracking the next sequence of chained spells.
"[Triplet Magic: Gravity Maelstrom]."
Three violet spheres ignited and collapsed into a singularity, pulling terrain and summoned vampires into its event radius. The pressure cracked the stone beneath their feet. Shalltear, however, vanished in a blur.
She reappeared above him.
"Gotcha~!"
Her voice was gleeful, mocking. Her lance descended like lightning.
"[Time Step]."
Ainz's body phased half a meter left, evading the strike. He countered with [Reality Slash], the blade of spatial dissonance grazing her ribs. Flesh and armor warped unnaturally before re-stabilizing.
She laughed.
"You really came prepared, Ainz-sama~ Did you memorize every counter to me? I'm flattered~!"
Then, she leaned in slightly, her grin widening unnaturally.
"Still, where's the fun if you already know all my moves? Did you come to scold me or kill me? Or maybe… something in between?"
Her voice lilted, taunting, as if the battle itself was a twisted dance she enjoyed far too much.
Ainz did not respond. His silence cut deeper than words.
Suzuki Satoru: "I hate this. I hate this more than anything I've faced so far."
He raised both arms now.
Another cash shop item vanished in his palm—[Cooldown Nullifier Scroll].
"[Super-Tier Magic: Creation - Gate of Pandemonium]."
The sky opened.
A vast, abyssal portal tore reality above them. From its center, tendrils of void energy slithered downward, shrieking as they pierced the battlefield, sucking away residual buffs, feeding on nearby summons—even Ainz felt its cost.
Shalltear flinched.
Her laughter cut off.
Then returned, jagged and cracked.
"AHAHAHAA… Y-you used that during the Dungeon Siege against Wild Hunt! You remembered~!"
She flew higher, crimson aura blazing, and cast [Maximize Magic: Blood Lightning Spear], hurling a bolt directly at his chest.
It struck. His barrier shattered in rippling arcs.
[Emergency Recovery Triggered.]
Ainz staggered in midair but retaliated instantly.
"[Triplet Magic: Astral Bind - Dispel - Reality Anchor]."
Three spells struck in tandem. The first slowed her movements. The second shredded her low-level auto-buffs. The third locked her teleport abilities.
She growled. A rare, unladylike sound.
Then she laughed again, a breathless, strained giggle.
"So rough, Ainz-sama~ Are you finally taking me seriously? Does this mean... I still matter to you?"
Ainz's heart ached.
Yes, you matter. That's why I'm doing this.
But he couldn't say it.
He raised his hand once more.
"[Absolute Seal: Crown of Submission]."
Golden glyphs formed a halo above Shalltear's head.
For a moment—just a second—her eyes flickered.
Something in her soul trembled.
And then—
"Noooooo~!"
She roared, a blood-curdling shriek that split the skies.
Her armor began to ripple with energy. Red mana flared outward, and from the magic circle that bloomed beneath her, a white clone began to emerge—identical to Shalltear in form and armament.
The Einherjar.
A perfect physical duplicate, matching her in stats and gear. It could not speak. It could not cast. But it would fight with all the martial prowess Shalltear possessed.
It stepped forward, silent and lifeless.
The true battle… had only begun.
***************
Ainz's crimson eyes locked onto the newly formed Einherjar—Shalltear's pale mirror image. It moved without hesitation, its presence heavy with martial intent, yet its eyes were void. Soulless.
Suzuki Satoru: "No mind, no mercy. A puppet made to kill. Just like her… now."
Shalltear, the original, floated behind her summoned clone, twirling her lance with a manic gleam in her eyes. The madness in her laughter had faded into something more focused, more dangerous.
"Let's see how you fare against two of me, Ainz-sama~"
The clone struck first.
It blitzed toward Ainz like a blood-red comet. He raised both hands in response.
"[Twin Maximize Magic: Obsidian Wall – Dimensional Lock]."
Two simultaneous spells triggered. A curtain of dark stone erupted from the ground in jagged arcs, intercepting the clone's approach, while an invisible field wrapped the area in spatial suppression—no teleportation.
The clone slammed into the obsidian wall, shattering it, but its momentum was slowed.
Ainz moved. He blinked ten meters away with a triggered spell stored in his bracelet.
Shalltear herself lunged forward now, weaving around her clone's side, her lance a blur.
"[Boosted Delay Teleport]."
Ainz vanished just as the lance slashed through where he had been, reappearing above them.
He didn't wait.
"[Triplet Magic: Hold Species – Mana Drain – Gravity Bomb]."
One spell locked the clone in place. Another sapped a chunk of its copied mana pool. The third detonated in a localized singularity, dragging both Shalltear and her copy downward into a crater.
Dust exploded across the field.
Out of the smoke, the clone erupted, cape torn and armor scorched—but still functional.
Then, from below, Shalltear leapt—her lips curled in a feral smile, her voice sultry yet venomous.
"You're keeping up well, Ainz-sama~ But can you keep this up... forever?"
She wasn't wrong.
Suzuki Satoru: "Even with regen, the cost is stacking. Mana efficiency or not… this is a war of attrition."
He triggered another scroll—[Area Refresh Zone]—restoring a sliver of mana and resetting local cooldowns.
Above him, the clone and Shalltear flew in tandem.
"Let's play double-time~!"
They dove.
Ainz narrowed his gaze.
"[Quick Cast: Abyssal Lance]."
A spear of black light formed and launched, striking the clone directly in the chest. It pierced through—but the clone didn't fall. It simply kept moving, unfazed.
Then, Shalltear reached him.
Their weapons clashed—her lance versus an instantaneous [Force Evasion Field] from his robe. The field cracked. Her next strike came faster.
He barely raised another defense—[Arcane Ward: Reactive Shield]—as her lance scraped across his robe, cutting open a shallow tear.
Red droplets spattered from his exposed hand.
Blood.
Suzuki Satoru: "Even in this body… this skin... I still bleed like a human."
He fell back, eyes glowing brighter.