Chapter 3

Overlord Volume 7 Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Large Tomb

(Re)Translated by: Nigel

Proofreader/Editor: Deus Ex Machina

Part 1

The Worker team led by Green Leaf Palpatra bade farewell to the others who were driven by anticipation and desire and then looked down upon the outside from the stairs leading to the central mausoleums entrance .

Nothing stirred under their eyes as they swept them across the silent graveyard . The only things there were silence, darkness and starlight . As Palpatra took a step towards the stairs, his companions said:

Gramps, dont you think this is a bit of a shame? We should have let the other teams search the graveyard, no?

Youre right . Every team well, that piece of shit team aside, the others have roughly the same abilities . Anything we can do, Heavy Masher or Foresight can do too .

In that case

Palpatra interrupted his companion halfway through his words and said:

But we have priority searching rights for tomorrow, so we arent losing out on anything . Besides, we ought to have finished the surface investigation by then, and if theyre unlucky, the last team might not be able to find anything, and they might even be posted to guard the base camp .

I see

Besides, going first into a mysterious set of ruins is far too dangerous . Theyre like mining canaries for us, though hopefully theyll come back alive .

Palpatra turned back, a cold look in his eyes . The Workers who had charged into the ruins had disappeared in the direction he was looking .

There was a hint of disdain on his face, completely unlike the benign old man who was called gramps by others . However, his teammates knew him well, and they were not alarmed .

Palpatra had a very meticulous personality . He was a man who thought and thought again, the kind who would tap a stone bridge to test it before crossing . That was why he had been able to adventure on the frontlines for so long and slay a Dragon . On the other hand, his excessively nitpicky personality meant that he had missed several chances for gain . However, he had never once lost any of his companions, and so everyone on his team trusted him .

To just about anyone, nothing was more valuable than ones life . Even so, they could not help but envy the treasure that had slipped through their fingers .

We might have missed the chance to discover amazing magic items! Whats wrong with betting our lives on that?

You do have a point . However, look at this neat and tidy graveyard . Someones clearly tidying it up, which means monsters will be coming out to welcome us . Isnt it better to let the others see what kind of monsters there are? Personally, I didnt really like this job because there were too many uncertain factors .

After hearing Palpatra grumble, his team members lightly asked:

But you still took it in the end, right?

Of course . Thats because the other teams accepted it too . I felt that we could flee while they sacrificed themselves for us .

The group descended the stairs and reached the ground .

Is that why you chose to search the surface? So you could run once you heard them scream?

Thats one of the reasons, and the fact is my way of thinking was a bit of a gamble Just like you said just now, we might end up losing out because of this . Well be safer if we can gather more information, but the fact is that I dont know if thats really so great an advantage . If Im wrong, then Ill apologize to you all for it .

Dont worry about it, gramps . Weve always trusted you, because for the most part, your choices were always right .

Besides, even if we end up losing out here, all we need to do is knuckle down and find another job with a big payout . Youve said it before, havent you, gramps? As long as you live, theres always a chance, so theres no need to force yourself to take risks .

Man, those were the days . We were all young back then .

Arent you still young now?

Hah, its not very convincing when you say Im young, gramps .

The group flashed wry grins to each other as they headed towards the small mausoleum .

That said, I should have discussed this with you all first, but I ended up making the decision on your behalfs . Sorry about that .

Well, thats the only way you could have expressed it back then . Besides, youre the team leader we chose, gramps . When our trusted leader makes a decision, were all happy to obey .

. . . You were all moping back there, what are you grinning about now? Alright, thats fine . Lets hurry up and check, and if we have time left over, Ill see if Momon-dono can give me a few pointers . Its a rare chance, so maybe you can have him teach you a thing or two .

Mm, weve engraved your spar with him into our eyes, gramps . Thats an adamantite-ranker for you .

. . . Theres many kind of adamantite-ranked adventurers . Eight Ripples from the Empire is, frankly speaking, not really adamantite-ranked . Momon-dono is a true adamantite-ranked adventurer . He s on a level I cant hope to reach .

Gramps

Hyahyahya, dont worry . When I was in my prime, I might have been jealous, but now Im just a wrinkly old coot . Its not like Im shocked or anything . Besides, Ive seen several true adamantite-ranked adventurers in my time, but Momon-dono is unique even among them . From his presence, he feels like an adamantite among adamantites .

Really?

Oh yes, which is why Im telling you to get some pointers from him . After I die, gaining experience will be helpful if you want to continue adventuring .

How could you possibly die, gramps? I cant even bring myself to imagine you retiring .

Exactly . Youre hale and hearty, so living to Fluder-sans age shouldnt be problem, right gramps?

Hyahyahya, no, no, not even I could do something like that . The mans an oddity .

What a wonderful team you have .

Suddenly, a womans quiet voice reached them .

The only women among the members of this expedition were the two ladies from Hekkerans Foresight and the three Elf slaves from Eruyas Tenbu . However, the voice did not belong to any of them .

The group immediately raised their weapons, and turned back .

As they looked up the stairs they had just descended, they saw a group of women in maid uniforms standing at the entrance to the mausoleum . There were five of them in total .

Each of them was unbelievably beautiful, but at the same time it also made them especially abnormal .

The strange thing was that each of them was dressed in an outfit that resembled a maids uniform, but they were different from the clothes Palpatra had seen before; they gleamed with an armor-like sheen .

You who are you? I didnt see you just oh, so there was a hidden passage after all .

Women? Theyre beautiful enough to rival the Beautiful Princess of Darkness theyre clearly not ordinary people

They dont seem hostile, but they cant possibly be people who were hired in addition to ourselves .

What should we do, gramps?

His comrades dared not be careless . They observed the girls closely as they asked him .

The best option would be to negotiate with them, but it would seem they would not be able to conclude this amicably .

Our numbers are roughly even so we should just be able to handle it, right?

Their opponents strength ought to be about the same as themselves, or slightly higher .

They had not attacked while the Workers were gathered together in order to get them all in one fell swoop . That implied they lacked the fighting power or traps to deal with so many people at once . At the same time, they had chosen to show up and show themselves off and initiate the conversation; that implied they were confident of defeating Palpatras group .

While his aged body hardly sweated any more, at this moment, Palpatra felt the hand gripping his spear turn cold and clammy .

Still, maids showing up in a tomb really calls their taste into question .

In the next moment, the friend of his who had tossed off that casual joke was suddenly covered in cold sweat, his face pale and trembling .

Palpatra thought the temperature around him had plummeted for a moment . However, the goosebumps covering his body were no delusion .

Even with only the light of the moon to illuminate them, he could clearly see murder in the eyes of the maids lined up above him . It looked like their eyes were glowing .

LeTs KiLL thEM .

. . . Have to die .

We cant just kill them normally . We need to make their suffering legendary .

An intense bloodlust roiled around the maids . Their anger was such that it felt like the air itself was warping .

Alright, alright, the most senior-looking maid said with a clap of her hands . Our master has ordered us not to let any of them return unharmed, so we were going to kill them anyway . However, Im quite pleased to see everyone so motivated .

There was a clang, a sound of metal which seemed to come from the stairs that had been cut from a slab of stone . The sound had come from the greave-like metal high heels which the maids wore .

Shaken, Palpatra and company backed off .

Given their lack of weapons, their opposition ought to be magic casters . In that case, allowing them to take the high ground and fighting in this wide-open space which favored ranged weapons was not a wise strategy .

For Palpatra and the others, the ideal tactic for them was to shorten the distance between themselves and the enemy . The reverse would be to the maids advantage . However, why were these maids coming down the stairs? Were they planning to soar into the sky with [Fly] if anything happened?

The maids blank faces were like a mask, and their movements were as regal as a sovereign as they slowly descended the stairs . Palpatra and his group were at a loss for how to respond, but still, they sheltered behind their shields and discussed what to do and what tactics to use

Clang!

A particularly strident sound rang through the air . The maids had stopped halfway down the steps .

Alright, lets start with a self-introduction . I forgive me this one is the assistant leader of the Seven Sisters (Pleiades), Yuri Alpha . While we will not be together for long, it was a pleasure to meet you . Now then, back to the main topic, while wiping you out directly would be faster, we cannot make a move ourselves for certain reasons . What a shame .

The wind carried adorable, bell-like laughter over to them .

The smiles of these stunningly beautiful maidens overflowed with a charm that instantly seized the hearts of anyone who looked upon them .

Being a former adventurer and currently a Worker, Palpatra had seen all sorts of things over the years . Among them were supernaturally alluring monsters like Fairies and so on . Yet, even he had never seen such beautiful maidens before, whose fair features seemed to ensnare his very soul .

However, their scornful words overflowed with a sense of superiority, and below the thin veneer of their fair features was arrogance which belonged to the overwhelmingly powerful . For these men, who had walked hand in hand with death and who were very proud of their abilities, such high-handedness was utterly intolerable . It even made them want to show the maids exactly who they were looking down upon .

However, they had witnessed various indirect pieces of evidence which suggested that these maids were incredibly powerful, in contrast to their adorable appearances . Their faces were still filled with terror from the murderous intent they had felt just now, and they could not fully steel themselves for battle .

The best option might be to run, and let the adventurers especially Momon join the fight .

Then, allow me to introduce your opponents .

Yuri clapped, and the graveyard trembled, as though in response to the echoing sound .

Come forth, Nazarick Old Guarders .

What? Palpatra exclaimed in shock .

The earth behind him split open and several Skeletons showed themselves .

A pincer attack? No . . .

Looking up, he saw that the maids were still hostile, but they had no desire to fight . Perhaps they were in a spectator mode . While they could not be careless, it seemed to be as the maids had just said; they did not wish to attack right away .

Palpatra came to the conclusion that the only enemies in their way were the Skeletons behind them, and so he began assessing the new batch of enemies .

Skeletons were hardly powerful opponents . Given the strength of Palpatra and his group, they could take on a few hundred of them with no problems . That being the case, the Skeletons that had emerged from the earth eight of them in total were no match for them whatsoever .

However, there was a problem .

Palpatras companions gulped in unison and unconsciously backed up one step .

These Skeletons felt different from regular Skeletons, and their equipment was different too .

They were dressed in grand breastplates, like the sort a countrys royal guard would use . Their shields were emblazoned with a griffin motif, and they wielded all manner of weapons, in addition to composite longbows on their backs . In addition, all this equipment glowed with the light of magical power .

Skeletons outfitted with magical gear could not be ordinary Skeletons .

What are those?

You dont know either, gramps? Im not too sure but I think they might be an offshoot species of Skeleton Warriors .

An offshoot, huh? They dont look like Red Skeleton Warriors either

Opponents one had never encountered before were always unsettling, especially foes outfitted with magic items that possessed special effects .

These numbers should be enough to deal with you gentlemen . Please do your best and show us how how far you can run .

Were honored that youre sending out such powerful undead against us . However

Palpatra calmly pondered the matter .

No matter what, they could not possibly have too many undead equipped with so many magic items . They were probably using their strongest forces against them right off the bat .

Otherwise, they would not have let them enter the ruins; they would have dealt with them long ago .

So these are the strongest fighters of the ruins, then? You think theyre enough to stop us?

Looking up, Palpatra saw that Yuri seemed shaken by his question, her eyes roaming about .

I hit the nail on the head! I see . So they already laid a trap during our conversation . . .

The wisest way to use their best troops was to neutralize each group of intruders piecemeal . Of course, after considering that they might not be able to match their opposition, it might be smarter to concentrate their forces where a group of people would be after completing their explorations, when they were physically and mentally fatigued; at the entrance, in other words .

And so, they had learned part of their opponents aim from this . When the maid said, show us how far you can run, they were trying to bait them into fleeing, so they would have a chance to attack them from behind . From the maids point of view, they would be engaging in several battles, so they would want to minimize any wear and tear to their forces .

Therefore, there was only one thing they had to do .

So all we need to do is defeat these Skeletons and break out of this encirclement, am I wrong?

They had to defeat the Nazarick Old Guarders for the sake of the teams who would be following them .

The other teams might be rivals, but comrades were comrades . Besides, if they wanted them to flee, then standing and fighting would run a lower risk of falling into a trap . And of course this was just in case, but he was thinking about asking Momon to fight if their opposition was very strong . However, they ought to fight now, even if there was risk .

So I messed up the plan and now were the canaries instead ah, what a pain . Alright, do you think thats all of them?

Given how well those undead are equipped, I cant imagine there could be more of them .

This is a route which invaders would have to pass through, so stationing their best troops here would be the best tactic . That being the case, these Skeletons should be all of them . And since the opposition should have better intelligence than us, they probably arent dumb enough to split their forces .

. . . No, I think there ought to be a few more in the ruins . However the ones left are probably lower-grade undead .

Gramps we should flee . This is bad . Its very bad .

Weve already been surrounded, theres no escape for us! Even if we try to fly away, theyll shoot us down with bows! Hang in there, lads! Theres no way for us to survive but by defeating them!

The response to Palpatras shout was a resigned yet surprised voice .

Well, thats also a valid means of breaking through . Well cheer for you, so lets begin .

And with that, the Nazarick Old Guarders stepped forward .

Yuri and the others had troubled looks on their faces as they kept cheering them on .

They had been hard-pressed to hide their consternation since the beginning . To think they were actually so

Ahhh, this is bad ~su .

. . . Did not think it would be like this .

Cocytus-sama will be shocked .

IF tHIs keEPs Up ItLl ENd wiThoUt ANythINg To shOW fOr It .

Yuri and the others watched a raised hammer swing down .

Oh, that looks very bad, hell die ~su .

Just as Lupusregina muttered to herself, the man in question took a blow to the chest and crumpled to the ground .

The sound of metal scraping and a heavy object collapsing somehow managed to fill the air despite the intense battle .

The first casualty was a human warrior, but the Nazarick Old Guarder holding an electrically-charged hammer did not seem particularly excited about it, instead looking for another target .

Priest-san, if you dont heal him, hell die ~su

. . . No point . Died instantly, and battle line fell with him .

Yuri muttered worriedly to herself, while Shizu shook her head as an answer .

The two Nazarick Old Guarders that the warrior had been holding off were now freed up, so one went to deal with their priest while another one planned to circle around to attack the back-line . The priest was already occupied with two of them, and now with another one to add to his burden, he no longer had the time or energy to cast spells . He had his hands full just trying to fend off savage attacks from three directions at once .

Palpatra was the only one who seemed to be earnestly giving battle, but he had to deal with three enemies at once and did not have the freedom to help his comrades .

The thiefs firepower isnt enough . I wonder if they have any trump cards?

The thief fighting to protect the arcane magic caster now had one more enemy to face . Now he had two . The thiefs light and nimble weaponry lacked decisive power against his foes the undead Nazarick Old Guarders who could not be slain in one hit and who wore sturdy armor . The thief barely managed to avoid their attacks with agile movements, but there was a great difference between the untiring undead and human beings who could become fatigued .

Hes looking at us like hes about to cry ~su

Want to wave to him?

I guESS WAvinG To HIm wOUldNt hURt .

Okay ~su

Lupusregina smiled sweetly and waved to the man .

. . . It hit him .

Its all Lupus fault for distracting him .

Ueeehhhh~ Its my fault ~su?

. . . Mm, your fault . But we can cheer for them Yay .

Yes, I do hope they can hang in there a little longer .

The maids nodded at Yuris words .

The Nazarick Old Guarders held the upper hand throughout the battle with Palpatras team . At this point, this one-sided battle could be described as futile resistance . Even Yuri and the others could not help but pity them .

At first, they had even laughed and said, Werent you very confident in yourselves before the battle started? but then they had lost all interest and started yawning, and now they were even rooting for Palpatra and the others .

Uwah, the difference in their strength is so great I cant think of anything to say .

. . . No trump cards?

I think that summon spell they cast was it .

3rd tier?

No, thats too weak for a secret weapon . Although, using a summoned monster as a meatshield

was a pretty good idea .

Indeed . As long as they could keep attacks from connecting, they might have been able to reorganize .

HOwEVeR, uSIng fLIGhT MAgiC aFter thAT wAS jUsT STuPId . DiDNt that wriNKLy old gEEzeR SAy sO hIMseLF?

I dont know if he was planning to flee or use magic from above

. . . He became a priority target .

The arcane magic caster collapsed after taking a mortal blow . If someone could cast a healing spell on him or apply a potion, he might have been able to get back into the fight, but nobody had the energy for that . In the end, all they could do was have the thief cover him and prevent the enemy from finishing him off .

But why did they think there were only this many Old Guarders?

That was truly a mystery .

Had they unconsciously imagined the scenario going in their favor? That did not mean they were stupid . Perhaps humans thought like that when they did not want to look despair right in the eye; their survival instincts flared to their limits in order to build up their courage .

Besides, it was hopeless anyway .

Yes, no matter how you look at it .

WHat If tHEy WENt oN fULL dEfeNSe tO buY TiME aNd foR tHE otHeR tHIeVEs tO ComE BAck?

Everyone glared at Entoma .

As if theyd come back!

. . . Goes without saying .

Theres no way, right? Its impossible for them to come back safely from the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick .

There was a scream of unbearable pain, followed by the sound of something collapsing . The battle maids turned to look at the source of the sound, and then spoke sadly .

Ah, THe tHIeF weNT dOWn TOo .

The outcome of the battles been decided .

Like I said, maybe we should have listened to them beg for mercy on the steps

But they were so confident back then! Of course I was wondering if they had some plan in mind .

The thick scent of fresh blood wafted over to the maids from the thiefs body .

SMeLLs TasTY

You cant do that, Yuri chided Entoma .

Their master had issued an order to recover everyone who was incapacitated, whether they were alive or dead . Naturally, they could not present an insect-chewed body to their master . It would be terribly rude .

fREsH MEaT

Well ask Ainz-sama if you can eat it later . Bear with it for now .

But this isnt good, right? The original plan was to see if we could deal with fleeing people, right?

Seems like it . Thats why they posted pretty strong undead near the walls .

CoCYTus-saMA muST HAve pREdiCTEd THat WeD CATch uP tO thEM EasILY, bUT

. . . Didnt expect them to fight head-on .

Well, this is what happens when you dont understand your opponents strength . Alright, well heal the ones who are still breathing and send them to the torture room . As for the dead well report them to Ainz-sama .

And so, Palpatra and the Worker team he led vanished that night

Part 2

Push them back!

Gringams furious cry rang through the burial vault that was filed with the stench of mildew and rotting corpses .

The room was 20 meters long on each side, and the ceiling was at least 5 meters overhead . This room, illuminated by the light spell of the magic caster and torches dropped on the floor, was packed full of people .

Gringam and the members of Heavy Masher had been forced into the corner of the room . The rest of the burial vault was flooded with massive quantities of low-end undead such as Zombies and Skeletons .

There were so many that counting them would be an exercise in pointlessness .

Gringam and the shield-carrying warrior stemmed the flood of death head-on, forming a defense to keep the undead from reaching the back-liners .

A Zombie pounded on Gringams full plate armor with both its hands . While Zombies were stronger than regular human beings, they were still not enough to put so much as a scratch on the steel plate armor . The rotted, fragile hands splattered on contact, leaving putrid chunks of rotting flesh stuck to the full plate armor .

The same went for the Skeletons . The rusted weapons which they held could not possibly harm enchanted full plate .

Of course, they might have gotten in a lucky shot . But such lucky shots had not occurred, thanks to the protective magic on them .

Gringam swung the axe in his hand, but every time he brought one down, another undead being would rush in to fill the gap . They pressed in ever closer, as though they wanted to squash Gringam and the others to death .

Dammit! Theres too many!

The shield-bearing warrior beside Gringam growled in pain . His shield covered his entire body, so he had not taken any attacks, but the shield was covered in filthy fluids .

He smashed the skulls of Zombies and Skeletons with his mace, but he could not hold out against the enemys pressure, and he was slowly forced back .

Where did all these enemies come from?!

The warriors question was very reasonable .

After Gringams group separated from the others at the crossroads, they had searched several rooms . Sadly, none of the rooms they searched contained wealth like in the mausoleums, but they had found several valuable treasures . They continued slowly exploring in this manner . Then, they entered the room and began searching it, whereupon the door had suddenly opened and a huge horde of undead flooded into the room from nowhere .

Zombies and Skeletons were hardly strong foes . However, their numbers were a threat of their own .

Once they were dragged down or pressed down, they would not be able to move even if they did not die . At that point, the undead horde would assault the back-liners .

The back-liners would probably not go down easily either, but the sheer numbers they faced left them uneasy .

If things went on like this, a stroke of bad luck might lead to their battle-lines crumbling . Having reached this conclusion, Gringam decided to use the power he had wanted to conserve .

We need to finish this right away! I place my trust in thee!

The back-liners who had only been casting stones until now made their move .

Normally, undead like this were not a problem for Gringam and the rest of Heavy Masher . However, that was also the reason why the backliners chose to wait and conserve their strength . Once the backline made a move, eliminating undead like these would be as easy as falling off a log .

My lord, O God of Earth! I beseech thee to purge the unclean!

The priest clasped his holy symbol, and his cry took the form of power . A cool, clean feeling surged through the burial vault which had been filled with unclean air in a wave of divine might that was more potent than usual . The priest used his ability to turn undead .

In the wake of that wave, the undead crumbled into ash and dust, starting from the ones nearest the priest .

When there was a great difference between the respective power levels of both sides, the ability to turn undead could instead directly destroy them . However, destroying many undead at once was extremely difficult, and the user needed a certain degree of power .

In the end, that single move disintegrated over 20 undead beings .

Ill blow you away! [Fireball]!

The arcane magic caster cast his [Fireball], which flew to the back of the undead horde where it detonated . In a single, ferocious instant of flame, the false lives of all the Zombies and Skeletons within the spells area of effect were consumed and burned away, leaving nothing but ash and smoke .

Im not done yet! [Fireball]!

My lord, O God of Earth! I beseech thee to purge the unclean!

The backliners launched another round of areeffect attacks and the number of undead sharply decreased .

At them!

Alright!

The warrior cast aside his shield, holding his mace in both hands, and together with Gringam, they charged into the undead horde . It would have been easy for the magic casters to wipe them out, but Gringam had chosen a charge anyway, because the truth was that he wanted to conserve their mana . In particular, the priests ability to turn undead had a limited number of uses . His profession made him particularly adept at dealing with the undead, and it was arguably their secret weapon in this tomb .

Gringam charged into the undead horde, his axe swinging . Sticky fluids oozed perhaps it would have spurted, if its heart were beating from the the flying body parts . The odor from the open, severed wounds on the corpses was nauseating but it was not unbearable .

Or rather, one could say that their noses were numbed to it .

Gringam and the warrior worked together, attacking, attacking and attacking some more . They gave no thought to defense .

They could make such an assault because of magical aid and the sturdy armor protecting them, in addition to the fact that they were facing such weak undead .

Every now and then, something would strike Gringams head, but his armor absorbed the impact, and he hardly felt anything in his neck . Even when his chest and belly were struck, he hardly felt the blows .

After all, their foes were the weakest of the undead to begin with . The only danger just now had been their human wave tactics; once the enemy ranks had been thinned to this extent, the fighting was much easier . The warrior kept swinging his weapon, and shouted:

All the undead weve met are piddly little creatures, but theres a lot of them in this tomb!

So theres no guarantee that stronger undead wont show up! Although, if there are stronger undead, I have no idea why they havent appeared yet!

The person answering him was the priest, who was observing the battle from the rear as he picked up the warriors shield .

. . . No, perhaps the undead here were summoned by some means . It might have been some kind of ritual, or through an item .

The strange thing was that the corpses vanished after a certain amount of time had passed, so the ground was not carpeted in bodies, leaving them no place to stand . That part sounded like what happened to summoned monsters after they died, hence the wizards warning to the others .

Some gimmick that mass-summons weak undead I heartily reject it! I fear to imagine this tomb thoroughly flooded with zombies!

Gringam replied as he felled skeletons like trees, and then he surveyed the interior of the room . There were few undead left, less than the number of fingers on both hands . It did not look like a new batch would be coming in through the door, and the battle would be over soon .

Just as he thought that, a bone-chilling sensation transfixed him through the soles of his feet .

His danger sense ordered him to flee immediately, but he could not do so right now . Even so

Look out! Head outside

The thief seemed to have sensed it as well as he shouted .

However, it was too late . All of a sudden, the originally sturdy floor suddenly turned weak . A floating sensation engulfed them . A moment later, their unbalanced bodies were dumped heavily on the ground .

His comrades cried out in pain . However, Gringam poured his strength into gripping the axe which he had not released even through his fall . As he smashed the Skeletons that had fallen with him, he stood up .

Destroy the enemy!

The undead had also been damaged from the fall in particular, the Skeletons were weak against bludgeoning attacks and had thus taken a great deal of damage so fighting them was much easier than before .

After eliminating the undead within the room, Gringam finally had the luxury of looking around the room .

They were probably at the bottom of a pit below a magical trap that caused the floor to vanish . Looking up, the ceiling seemed very far away . At a glance, it looked like it was 12 meters overhead . Three meters above the floor was a closed door . Three meters above a total of six meters above the ground was an open door, the one through which Gringam and the others had originally entered the room . One could say they had fallen a distance of roughly two floors .

The overall shape of this room was like a square pyramid . The floor of the room sloped down toward a point, and due to the steep incline, one might end up rolling to the bottom of the room the center if one were not careful . In fact, one of his comrades had actually rolled down there and gotten stuck at the bottom . He had almost been buried alive by the falling Zombies .

It was hard to believe they had barely been hurt by falling into a place like this .

The strange thing was that there were four tunnel-like structures on each wall at the three-meter mark, on the same level as the closed door, for a total of 16 .

It looks like a room used for drowning . Ill bet theyll pour in water from those tunnel-like things up there . Ill pass on that, if you dont mind . Its worse if theyre Slimes or the like instead .

I agree . Lets check out that door and get out through there if its okay .

Climbing two floors of a wall with no handholds was quite difficult . At most, only the thief could do it; people like Gringam in their full plate armor would have a very hard time . In contrast, that unknown door might not be safe, but reaching it seemed much easier .

Just as they were discussing how to climb up, heads emerged almost simultaneously from the sixteen tunnels . They were corpses swollen so badly they looked like they were about to explode Plague Bombers .

Their bodies were bloated from the negative energy accumulated within them, and they exploded when killed . Their death explosions harmed the living and healed the undead at the same time, making them very troublesome undead .

The meat lump-like undead leapt through the air . The Plague Bombers bodies hit the floor and made a nauseating sound . The problem was what happened after that . Their round bodies did not stay still on the slopes but rolled down like boulders, towards Gringam and the others .

Look out! Get clear!

Im the intellectual of the group, dont tell me what to do!

Everyone the wizard who was almost in tears included barely managed to avoid the attack, and so the undead rolled into the center of the inverted pyramid . The next wave of Plague Bombers had already showed their ugly faces, which let Gringam and the others know that just now was just the first wave . At the same time, they also guessed what would happen after this .

Run! This room is going to be flooded with them!

If they were knocked into the center of the room by the intense impacts from the rolling undead, they would assuredly be squashed to death . Even if they were not crushed, they would be immobilized, and then they would die from the repeated negative energy explosions of the other undead being flattened by their fellows .

What a despicable trap! Someone, please give me a boost!

As if I could! You fall in there and youre done for!

Even if someone managed to evade one attack, the moment they lost their balance, they would not be able to avoid the next attack . Nobody dared boost anyone else under those circumstances .

Then Ill use magic!

Dont use [Fly]! Youre not strong enough to pull us all!

No, uwah! That was close! Im going to use [Web Ladder]!

Thatll do! Please anchor it to the nearest door! Gringam, cover him!

No! Halt! We must flee through the second storey door through which we entered! The door below is perilous!

His companion did not question the basis for those words, but they trusted Gringam .

[Web Ladder]!

The magic took effect, and a spiderweb climbed up the wall, until it reached the second floor .

This magically created spiderweb had a unique stickiness to it . When one did not want to let go it would be adhesive, but when one wanted to move, it would not be, making it very suitable as a ladder .

Gringam and the others were worried, but in the end they managed to climb up the ladder in single file .

Gringam finally reached the door that had been open all this while, and carefully studied the passage through it . If they were hit and knocked down now, they would surely meet with a hideous fate .

He sighed in relief . It would seem what he feared undead above the tunnels had not taken place .

After he was sure of it, he jumped on top of the tunnels and then pulled everyone up .

Were saved! Being crushed to death by undead is one of the most horrible ways to die!

. . . These ruins are really maliciously designed . I sprained my ankle when we fell, hope you can heal me .

I think the negative energy explosion grazed my toes! That was scary as hell!

I barely managed to avoid it by luck . Its too much to ask a wizard to dodge attacks .

His companions panted, swapping complaints and curses between breaths .

Say, Gringam, why did you want us to avoid that door? I thought that door would have been the right choice . Dont they always put the right route in the most dangerous place?

It was just a hunch I had take a weapon you dont need and attack that door .

Gringam had reverted to his usual way of speaking now that he was exhausted . After hearing his reply, the thief immediately pulled out a dagger and threw it at the door . The dagger flew in a straight line, and struck home or at least, when it was about to, part of the door bulged out and shaped itself into a tentacle, which deflected the flying dagger .

Thats a Door Imitator! No, given the color of that tentacle, its probably an undead Door Imitator . This sort of enemy captures its enemy with sticky body fluids and then delivers a one-sided beatdown with its tentacles .

Cheh! A double trap, huh, thats pretty evil . Still, youre amazing, you actually saw through it .

It was just a hunch . No, strictly speaking, I just went with what I knew over the unknown . Also, consider the position of that door; it would be taking repeated negative energy explosions . While negative energy explosions probably wouldnt do too much damage to an inanimate door, I had the feeling theyd put something funny there . Then, lets move

At this point, Gringam shut up . That was because the thief who had been going on and on since just now had a finger on his lips, and was tilting his head to listen .

Gringam pricked up his ears as well . He could hear a rhythmic tapping tak tak tak sound on the floor .

Everyone looked to the source of the sound towards the passage .

That ought to be an enemy, right? Cant they give us a break?

Yeah, theres only one of them, and theyre not trying to be stealthy, so that should be it . I hope its the last one

Everybody raised their weapons, and the warrior at the front raised the shield his colleague had given him, hiding half his body behind it . The wizard pointed the glowing tip of his staff at the passage ahead, where the sound was coming from, ready to cast a spell at any time . The priest raised his holy symbol and the thief aimed his bow in the direction of the noise .

The tak tak tak sound grew louder, and the other party finally showed themselves .

It wore a luxurious though fairly aged robe, which covered a body that was slimmer than that of a womans or a childs . It held a gnarled staff in one hand that had probably been the source of the rapping sound .

Its skeletal face was covered by a thin layer of rotting skin, and there was a malevolent intelligence in its eyes . Negative energy wreathed its body like mist .

This was an undead magic caster . Its name was

An Elder Lich!

The wizard, who had been the first to surmise its identity, cried out .

Indeed . After a wicked magic caster died and the body was infused with negative energy, it would give rise to an evil monster like this .

The moment Gringam and the others heard that it was an Elder Lich, they immediately changed formation . Nobody stood in a straight line with anyone else, and each of them kept a distance from each other, to defend against areeffect spells .

Elder Liches were fairly powerful opponents . To adventurers, platinum-rankers would not be able to defeat one easily, but mithral-ranked teams would be certain of doing so . If Gringam and the others disregarded fatigue, they would be able to beat it . In addition, they were fortunate enough to have a team member who was exceptionally potent against the undead, which was a shot in the arm for

for everyone .

Also, Elder Liches were hard to deal with at a distance, but given the current distance, the battle conditions were very favorable for them .

Is that the master of the tomb?!

That was Gringams conclusion . Elder Liches were controllers . Sometimes they would control hordes of undead, and depending on the circumstances, they could even make deals with the living .

Good examples of those were the captain of the ghost ship that sailed through the mist of the Katze Plains, or the Elder Lich who became famous for ruling a city, and so on .

Therefore, it was not at all unusual for an Elder Lich to be the master of this tomb .

Did we hit the jackpot? Thats a stroke of luck!

The job didnt ask us to kill the master of the tomb!

Well show him the power of Heavy Masher!

Behold, the divine protection of the gods!

His other colleagues were shouting . They were doing so in order to banish the fear they felt when facing a mighty foe like an Elder Lich .

Defensive spells

Just as Gringam was about to start calling battle orders to his comrades, a strange feeling arose within him . He immediately found the reason for that feeling . It was the powerful enemy before them, the Elder Lich .

. . . Whats wrong?

He doesnt seem to want to attack us?

The Elder Lich was clearly looking at Gringam, yet it had not made a move . It had not raised its staff, and neither had it begun incanting spells . It simply watched them in silence .

Gringam and the others were hard-pressed to hide their confusion . This was because they thought they would be charging into combat, yet they did not dare make the first move .

It was true that the undead bore hostility towards the living . However, it was also true that certain intelligent undead were willing to deal with humanity . While they would probably start from a weaker position if they opened negotiations first, sometimes the undead would ask for a ceasefire, and one could gain magic items made with long-lost techniques .

The most important thing was that avoiding combat was the ideal course of action when one faced a powerful enemy like an Elder Lich . Perhaps it had shown up because it was tired of not being able to eliminate the group with its traps, but it might also be because it knew their strength and wanted to peacefully negotiate .

After considering these possibilities, striking first would be far too rash . That would essentially be abandoning all possibility of negotiation . This was the heart of the enemys power . It would be too risky to plunge into battle without ensuring that there was a way for them to retreat .

Gringam and the rest of his group looked at each others faces, and verified that everyone was thinking the same thing .

It was his job as their leader to speak for the rest of them .

Forgive my disrespect, but thou seemst to be the master of this tomb . We

The Elder Lich turned its horrific face to Gringam, and then rested a slender finger on its lips .

In other words quiet .

While such a gesture was very unfitting for an Elder Lich, they were not brave no, they were not suicidal enough to tell this powerful entity such a thing .

Gringam obediently shut up . Then, he heard a sound again from the silent passage, and he immediately doubted his ears .

He had heard this sound before, that of something going tak tak tak as it rapped against the ground . And there were a lot of them

Gringam and his group exchanged glances again . They did not want to believe the answer the sound was telling them .

And then everyone screamed at once .

Who was it?! Who said the Elder Lich was the master of this tomb?!

Im sorry! It was me!

Are you fucking kidding me?! This is ridiculous!

Oi oi oi oi oi, we cant possibly win this!

Even divine protection has its limits!

More Elder Liches appeared behind the original one; six of them, in fact .

There were now seven of these powerful magic casters .

Granted, since they were the same sort of entity, they would attack in the same way . In other words, once they had a way to negate all the attacks the enemy could muster, beating seven of them would not be a problem .

The problem now was that they did not have such a way, and they could not possibly do so .

In the face of such utterly hopeless odds, Gringams group lost their will to fight .

Now then, let us begin .

As the Elder Lich spoke in its voice that did not sound like it wanted to negotiate at all, seven staves rose into the air . At the same time, Gringam bellowed:

Retreat!

Everyone in the team ran with all their might, as though they were waiting for that word . They ran in the opposite direction from the Elder Liches . Of course, they hardly had the luxury of contemplating what lay ahead of them; all they could think of was fleeing the excessive firepower of the Elder Lich cabal and buy themselves some chance of survival .

At their head was the thief . After that was Gringam, the wizard, the priest and the warrior .

They ran nonstop, without hesitating .

They reached a corner . These were places where they ought to have been on guard against traps or monsters, but as the footsteps pressed in from behind, they did not have the free time to check carefully . Everything was up to the heavens; all they could do was run .

There were two stone-carved doors on either side of the passage, but after considering that they might be dead ends, nobody was brave enough to rush in .

The armored people made a cacophonous sound of metal clashing as they ran, which echoed along the passage . While the sound might attract monsters, nobody had the time or energy to cast [Silence] .

They ran, and ran, and ran some more .

They moved their legs, heedless to everything else . Turning corners and sprinting madly made them lose their sense of direction, and they no longer had any idea of where they were right now . If possible, they would have liked to return to the entrance, but nobody had the energy to consider that .

Are they still behind us! Gringam shouted as he ran . The warrior at the end of the group replied:

Theyre still there! Theyre running after us!

Dammit!

Why the hell are they running! Why arent they flying?!

If they flew, wed be eating spells one after the other, moron!

Lets hide in a small room and parley the mage panted . He was the physically weakest member of the group, and he looked like he would collapse at any time .

Gringam decided that this was not going to work . The mages stamina was going to give out .

Undead monsters like Elder Liches would not get tired . If this kept up, they would be forced into a corner, and once their endurance was gone, all that awaited them was to be slowly picked off .

How can there be so many Elder Liches

Such a thing was impossible if one went by common sense .

Dont tell me the master of this tomb is more powerful than an Elder Lich!

That was the only answer they could think of . However, was there really such a powerful undead being? Gringam was at a loss for an answer .

Dammit! This goddamn tomb!

The warrior running at the end of the pack cursed between panting breaths .

A glowing magic circle floated off the ground at that very moment . The magic circle was very large, big enough to encompass Gringam and his team within its bounds .

What

There was no telling who it belonged to, but he heard something that sounded like a scream

There was a floating sensation, different from when they had fallen down just now .

Gringams vision was filled with blackness . The sounds of crunching and squishing came from under his feet, and he felt his body slowly sinking . It was just like falling into a swamp . He panicked for a moment, but this swamp-like place was not very deep, and he stopped sinking after it reached his waist .

In this silent world of darkness, Gringam called out uneasily, like a child who had lost his parents:

. . . Is anyone there?

Im here, Gringam .

He immediately received a response from a comrade the thief . In addition, he was not far away . It was probably around the same distance that had separated them while they had been running .

. . . Are the others here?

There was no answer . He had guessed it; there was no light here, so the wizard and the warrior were not present . He had been lucky enough that the thief was here at all .

It seems were the only two around .

Indeed, it is as cheh! Yeah, youre right .

He stood in place, studying the mood in the air around him . The blackness extended infinitely around him, filling him with the fear of not knowing where the darkness ended and where he began .

Nothing seemed to be moving

Need a light?

Might as well .

Would doing so break the silence? Would it trigger a trap? Despite the countless doubts filling his heart, it was a regrettable fact that human eyes could not see through darkness . Light was indispensable .

Right then, hang on a bit .

The thiefs voice seemed to be moving around in the darkness . And then, there was a source of light .

The first thing he saw was the thief, holding a glowstick high in his hand . Then, he saw the light reflected of countless smaller surfaces . It made him think of the glittering treasure he had seen in the mausoleum .

However it was not .

Gringam fought the desire to scream, while the thiefs face seized up as well .

They saw countless reflections . The reflections were of the insects which filled every inch of the room; what humans called cockroaches . The smallest were only the size of his little fingers tip while the biggest were over a meter long . The room was filled with cockroaches of all shapes and sizes, and they crawled on top of each other .

So the crunching sensation under his feet was caused by squashing cockroaches . The thought of being submerged up to his waist in cockroaches was that much more abhorrent .

The room was very wide, so the light of the glowstick did not reach the walls . Given the glowsticks effective radius of illumination was around 15 meters, one could estimate the size of the room from there . He looked to the ceiling and saw countless cockroaches reflected in the glow .

This what is this place?

The thief spoke like he was out of breath, and Gringam could understand how he felt . He must have had the feeling that if he made a sound, all these cockroaches would start moving .

What on earth happened?

. . . This is a pit, right?

As the thief looked around in fear, Gringam thought of the last thing he had seen before his world was swallowed by darkness the magic circle that had floated up under his feet and then he told the thief:

It cant be . I dont think this is an ordinary pit, we must have been hit by some kind of spell

To think thered be a teleporting trap or was that a spell from the Elder Lich?

Teleportation spells existed; for instance, the 3rd-tier spell [Dimensional Move] . However, that spell only worked on the caster themselves . The ability to teleport others, and multiple people at once, was a spell of the

I think it was a 5th or 6th tier spell that could teleport multiple people at once, right?

Right I remember it should have been something like that .

Could it be that our opposition is really so

They knew very few people who could use magic of the 5th tier . However, Gringam could accept that hypothesis . If a mighty being like that existed, then the peaceful coexistence of multiple Elder Liches was easy to explain . That was because it would surely be childs play for such a powerful entity to rule over or command Elder Liches .

A chill settled over Gringams heart as he keenly realized the danger of the tomb . At the same time, he felt an intense resentment towards the Count who had offered him this job . Of course, it had been Gringam and the others who had accepted the job, and they had known there would be risks, and they had still laid their lives out as chips on the card table . Perhaps it could not be helped that he was looking for a scapegoat .

However, the Count should have known something about this place . Otherwise he would not have offered such a high payout and gathered so many Workers and offered the job to investigate this tomb .

So he couldnt bear to share that information? Son of a bitch lets get out of here! These ruins are not a place we should have touched .

Ah, got it . Then, Gringam, Ill go first, and you can follow me .

It would seem the thief still had not realized it yet . Fortunately, he had not .

That was the fact that these cockroaches were not moving .

Gringam sized up the mass of cockroaches in front of him .

Their feelers were twitching faintly, so they were probably not dead yet, but they remained still . A mysterious air of dread filled the area .

No, you two gentlemen will not be going anywhere .

Suddenly, a third persons voice rang forth .

Who is it?!

Gringam and the thief frantically looked around, but they could not sense anyone moving .

Oh, do pardon me . By order of Ainz-sama, I have been granted dominion over this place . My name is Kyouhukou . It is a pleasure to meet you two gentlemen .

Their eyes went to the source of the sound, where they saw a bizarre sight . Something was forcing its way through through the pile of cockroaches as though it were going to emerge from below .

Their melee weapons could not reach that far . The thief silently drew his bow, while Gringam planned to pull out his catapult but that was only for show . If the battle began, he could wade through this waist-deep sea of cockroaches and hack at his foe with his axe .

Soon, they saw that the entity that had worked its way through the cockroaches was, in fact, another cockroach .

However, this cockroach seemed different from its fellow cockroaches around it . It was only 30 centimeters tall, yet it stood erect on two legs .

It was draped in a grand-looking red cape edged with gold thread, and it wore a tiny gold-gleaming crown on its head . Its forelegs held a pure white scepter set with a gemstone .

The strangest thing was that it was looking right at Gringam and the thief despite standing upright . An insect would naturally look up if it were standing on two legs, but the being before their eyes was different .

Other than that, it was not too different from the other cockroaches . No, those alone were big differences .

Gringam exchanged looks with the thief, and they agreed that Gringam would parley with their opposition . After verifying that the thief had put down his bow and the arrow nocked to it, Gringam asked Kyouhukou:

Who are you?

Umu . It would seem you did not hear my introduction just now . Shall I state my name once more?

No, thats not what I meant Halfway through, Gringam realized that was not what he ought to be doing or asking . . . . Alright, Ill get to the point; would you like to make a deal with us?

Oh, a deal . I am very thankful to the two of you, and I am delighted to deal with you .

There was something strange about those words why was it so grateful to the two of them? It bothered Gringam, but given the overwhelmingly unfavorable circumstances before him, he could not ask the other party such a question .

. . . We would like we would like to ask you to allow us to safely leave this room .

I see, it is only natural that you should think that way . However, even if you two gentlemen do manage to leave this room, your current location is within the second floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick . It behooves me to mention that returning to the surface will be very difficult .

The second floor

Those words made Gringams eyes go wide .

We passed through the mausoleum on the surface, descended a flight of stairs and passed through a doorway was that the first floor?

Many would regard it as such, would they not?

No, I was simply confirming that .

Haha, well, you two gentlemen were teleported here from the first floor . Your confusion is eminently justified .

Somehow, Kyouhukou was nodding . Gringam felt like he had been stabbed by icicles when he saw it .

This was a terror born of his suspicions being proven right .

In other words, while he did not know how they had done it, their opposition used teleportation magic as a trap . What kind of spell was it, and what kind of magical technology had they used? He knew how shocking this was despite not being a magic caster .

. . . Indeed, Im hoping you can tell us how to leave this tomb, but I dare not ask so much . Just allowing us to leave this room will be enough .

Hmhm .

We are willing to give you anything you desire .

I see

Kyouhukou nodded deeply, and looked as though it were deep in thought .

For a short while, the interior of the room was deathly silent . In the end, Kyouhukou seemed to have made up its mind . It nodded and said:

What I desire is already within my grasp . The terms you gentlemen propose do not satisfy me .

Gringam was about to open his mouth, but Kyouhukou raised a foreleg to stop him, and then said:

Before that, it seems you do not understand the reason for my gratitude towards the two of you . Then, permit me to explain . In truth, my familiars have long grown tired of eating each other . Thus, I am grateful that the two of you are going to become their feed .

Ah!

The thief loosed an arrow immediately upon hearing that .

The arrow whistled through the air, but Kyouhukous crimson cape caught it, and it fell powerlessly .

Then the room began to writhe .

Countless rustling noises echoed through the room, and it became a torrent of sound .

Then, a tsunami loomed over them .

It was a churning flow of darkness .

Regretfully, there are only the two of you, but even so, I hope you will fill my familiars bellies .

The swell of the tidal wave swallowed Gringam and the thief . It looked just like being devoured by the ocean .

As Gringam sank into the black whirlpool, he frantically swatted at the cockroaches which had worked their way into the gaps of his armor .

Weapons were useless against a swarm of such tiny insects, and Gringam did not know any martial arts which could attack an area . In that case, smacking them with his hands would be faster . Therefore, he had already cast aside his weapon, and he did not know where it had gone .

He struggled and tried to flail his arms, but the countless cockroaches weighing him down had already taken his freedom of movement . His actions were just like a drowning man thrashing his arms about . All Gringam could hear was the rustling of countless cockroaches .

His thief companions voice was drowned out by the rustling, and he could not hear it .

No, it only made sense that he could not hear the thiefs voice . That was because the thiefs mouth, throat and stomach were stuffed full of cockroaches, and he could not vocalize .

Prickling pain filled Gringams body from head to toe . It was the pain from the cockroaches which had infiltrated through the gaps in his armor and were chewing at his flesh .

Stop

Gringam wanted to cry out, but the cockroaches working their way into his mouth blocked it up . He frantically tried to spit out the cockroaches, but every time he opened his mouth, another cockroach would squirm in through his lips, and then crawl around in his mouth .

Tiny cockroaches seemed to have burrowed into his ears . The rustling grew louder, and his ears were unbearably itchy .

Countless cockroaches crawled up and down his face, biting everywhere . Pain covered his eyelids . However, he could not open his eyes . He could imagine what would happen to his eyes if he did so .

Gringam understood what sort of fate awaited him . He would be eaten alive by cockroaches .

I dont want this!

He screamed

/>

He screamed out loud, and the cockroaches promptly flowed into his mouth . They wriggled everywhere, and then burrowed into the depths of his throat . Then, he felt something slide down his throat into his stomach . The sensation of a live cockroach thrashing around in his guts made him want to throw up .

Gringam struggled desperately once more .

He could not bear to die like this .

He wanted his two elder brothers to look at him with different eyes . This was the sole, driving purpose which had motivated him and let him reach his present position .

Gringam had saved up enough that he could spend his days in leisure even without adventuring, and with his reputation, he could easily marry a beautiful woman, the likes of which one could not find in a village . Be it in terms of strength or wealth, he was far superior to his elder brothers who had chased him from the house . He should have been a winner in life .

He did not want to die in a place like this .

Abbbooooaahhhhhh! I want to go back aliveeeeee! he screamed as he spat out chewed-up cockroaches .

. . . My, but you can endure . Then, another helping for you .

Gringams cries vanished into the black vortex several seconds later .

His eyes suddenly opened

A ceiling came into view . Said ceiling was made of fitted stone slabs, and there was an object which emitted white light set into it . He did not know how he had come to be here, but when he thought to look around, he realized that his head could not move . No, it was not just his head . His arms, his legs, his waist and his chest were bound by something and immobilized .

These incomprehensible circumstances sparked terror within him . He wanted to scream, but something was stuck in his mouth . He could not speak, and he could not close his mouth .

All he could do was move his eyes . He frantically tried to see what was going on around him, and just then a voice addressed him .

Aran~ so youre awake .

That voice was garbled . It was difficult to determine if it belonged to a female or a male .

A horrific monster worked its way into his immobilized field of vision, appearing before him .

That thing had a humans body, but its head was a bizarre object that looked like a deformed octopus . It trailed six long, twitching tentacles that descended to its thighs .

Its skin was the cloudy white color of a drowned corpse . Its body was swollen like the aforementioned drowned corpse, with a few bands of black leather to substitute for clothing . Those bands bit into its skin, looking just like butchers twine used to wrap up cuts of meat, and it was hideous beyond belief . Perhaps they would have been bewitchingly alluring on a beautiful woman, but on a spine-chilling monster like this, it was less seductive than stomach-churning .

The monsters hands sprouted four slender fingers each, with webs between them . They had long nails, each with beautiful nail polish applied, and they were further adorned with strange nail art .

This bizarre being looked at him with cloudy, pupil-less eyes .

Ufufufu . Did you sleep well?

Hahhh hahhh

His breathing was heavy under the twin assaults of fear and shock . The monster caressed his cheek with a gentle gesture, like a mother comforting a child .

The strangely cold sensation sent a chill through his entire body .

It would have been perfect if it emitted a heavy scent of blood or rot . However, it instead radiated a floral fragrance . That only served to heighten his sense of terror .

Ara~ theres no need to shrink in fear .

The creatures line of sight moved to his groin, and the sensation of the air against his skin let him finally realize that he was naked .

Mmm, should I ask you for your name?

The monster placed its hand on what seemed to be its cheek and tilted its head . Surely it would have been a delightful gesture if a woman had done it, but instead it was an octopus-headed creature that looked like a drowned corpse . All he felt was disgust and fear .

. . .

He could only move his eyeballs, and the monster laughed at him . Its mouth was covered by its tentacles, and its expression did not seem to have changed . However, he could still tell that it was laughing, because its cold, glassy, marble-like eyes were narrowed .

Ufufufu, you dont want to tell me? Youre so shy, how adorable .

The monsters hand slid over his chest, like it was tracing out letters, but all he felt was panic, like his heart might be ripped out at any time .

Let me tell you my name