Gazef gritted his teeth as he stared at the column of thick black smoke on the horizon. He gripped the reins of his horse tighter and leaned forward, kicking the beast’s sides in an effort to push it to the very limits of its speed. It wasn’t fast enough. He had to go faster. He had to get there in time.
He had been ordered by the king of Re-Estize to track down and defeat the knights who had been massacring villages around the border. Chasing the trail of destroyed, burned villages felt like a wild goose chase, and sure enough Gazef was certain from the small army he had been provided that it was a trap, one set up to kill him.
But that didn’t matter.
Trap or not, innocent lives were in danger. If he could make it to just one village in time to save them, that would be enough. It would be worth it.
That was his job as the hero.
The men who rode with him were left in the dust, but Gazef didn’t care. It was only as he approached the source of the smoke that he began to slow down.
Carne village appeared intact. That was a good sign. All of the previous villages they had arrived at were razed to the ground, with no survivors. The fact that buildings still stood, albeit seemingly smoking, gave him a glimmer of hope that perhaps, some of the villagers could still be saved. Perhaps he wasn’t too late.
As he approached, however, he did not witness the massacre that he expected to see. On the contrary, an older man in peasant attire was standing beside two figures who appeared to be dressed as adventurers.
Gazef halted his steed and dismounted, dropping to the ground as he approached the trio. Glancing between them, he couldn’t help but get an uneasy feeling from the two mysterious figures.
“Village Headman, I presume? And who are these two?” Gazef asked, watching the two mysterious figures intently. They certainly did dress like adventurers, but they seemed to carry the equipment of nobility. A curious pair.
“This is Lord Ainz Ooal Gown and Lady Buku Ooal Gown, they were the ones who protected us from an attack by Imperial Knights.” The village chief explained.
Gazef’s eyes went wide. So these two had stepped in, just in time to save the village? That certainly meant he would owe them a favor, for sure. “Is this true? You two saved this village alone?” He asked them.
The other figure, Sir Ainz, as he was introduced, nodded. “Yes, that is correct. We happened to be passing by and couldn’t just sit and watch.” His voice was deep and gravelly, it reminded Gazef of absolute authority. The words the man spoke were like a crushing weight that demanded obedience. However, Gazef did not believe that it was the man’s intention to look down upon him, and so he ignored the thought, writing it off as simply being his natural voice combined with ordinary confidence.
Gazef slowly extended his hand out to the robed figure. “I am the Warrior Captain and Hero of Re-Estize, Gazef Stronoff. You both have my gratitude for protecting the villagers.” He spoke, unable to hide a slight grin that crept up his face. So he definitely did owe these guys a favor. They were certainly admirable individuals.
“Think nothing of it,” Ainz replied, accepting the Warrior’s gesture. The red and green angry mask that Ainz wore betrayed nothing of his emotion, but Gazef still felt as if he could sense a strange feeling of longing emanating from the magic caster. Evidently, he had his own reasons for helping the village, and probably wouldn’t take too kindly to insisting upon payment.
“The village was about to start preparing for the funeral when you arrived, Sir Gazef.” The village headman explained to Gazef anxiously. “Is there anything we can do for you right now?”
“Ah, right… About that…” Gazef tensed as he opened his mouth to explain why he was there, but one of his men interrupted him, shouting from behind.
“Warrior Captain! Several robed figures have surrounded the village!”
Ainz turned to the village headman and spoke. “Headman, does this village carry any military or economic importance?”
“N-None that I am aware of, my lord.” He replied, clearly becoming even more worked up from the sudden new development.
Ainz turned back to Gazef. “I see. Then it seems that you are a rather unpopular man, Warrior Captain.”
<X>
“They appear to be magic casters from the Slane Theocracy.” The Warrior Captain observed, turning to face Buku from his vantage point out the window.
Buku furrowed her brow as she stared out the window. The enemy had summoned angels from YGGDRASIL somehow, gleaming white constructs that radiated divine power, even if they were fairly low-level summons. But the strength of the summons aside, how was that even possible, in an entirely different world?
“Then Ainz’s deduction about the knights being from Slane was… probably correct.” Buku shifted her gaze from the window and looked over at the masked Overlord who was standing away from them, speaking with Albedo. The entire village was currently holed up in an old storage house, in the center of town. The safest place they could find in a hurry.
There was a moment of silence, as Gazef seemed to be considering his next words. Finally, after a brief moment of contemplation, he spoke up. “Hmm, Forgive me if this is a prying question, Lady Gown, but might I ask what your relationship to Sir Ainz is? Are you… his wife, perhaps?” He guessed, not entirely sure about it himself.
The blonde woman glanced away, blushing softly at his suggestion. She was about to answer honestly and deny his suspicion, but realizing that it may be confusing as to why they had the same family name if they were not married, she cleared her throat and forced the blush on her cheeks to disappear as much as she could. “Y-Yes… He’s my husband. What of it?”
Gazef’s gaze met hers, and he didn’t speak for a moment. Then, slowly, he nodded. “I see. Then, make sure you take care of him. He won’t appreciate you if you don’t make it clear he needs you.”
Buku paused, the warrior’s words made her suddenly a bit speechless, as his sentiment echoed in her head a couple of times. That was a strange bit of advice to give a married woman... So had he seen through her? But then why would he…? Buku quickly pushed the thought aside, recognizing the courtesy she’d just been offered. “I see. Thank you.” She replied simply, looking back over towards Ainz.
“Lady Gown, I would like to hire you and Sir Gown,” the man offered suddenly.
“No,” Buku replied instantly, still gazing intently at Ainz, who was paying her no attention. She wore an expression Gazef vaguely recognized. It was the gaze of a woman who was head over heels but didn’t know how to express it. She wished she could get Ainz to pay more attention to her, but she didn’t know how to do so. After all, in her past life as Akari, she never felt deserving of romance, let alone having time for it thanks to her condition, and so she hadn’t really bothered with the typical flirting that came from that sort of thing.
“Lady Gown, I will be going then. I pray you keep the villagers safe.” Gazef stated, shaking Buku out of her daze. She had lost herself in her thoughts and entirely forgotten he was standing right there. The curse of having a high processing speed, perhaps.
“We will,” Buku replied to him curtly, once again not looking away from Ainz.
Gazef sighed, shaking his head. “Take care of him,” he offered once more, before turning to leave the building.
Ainz approached Buku as he watched Gazef leave, Albedo following behind him.
“Buku, you know there’s a chance he dies.”
She shifted her weight to lean against the window. “I know. He does too.”
<X>
Gazef roared in anger as he leaped off the back of his horse. Hitting the ground with a thump, he drew his sword and charged straight toward the enemies before him.
He was horribly outnumbered. Before him stood what must have been a dozen Angels, and more were being summoned with every second. Still, his teeth grit as an Angel met his charge with one of its own. Reaching the man, it swung down with enough force to shatter the wind around him. But the man moved faster than the construct and quickly dashed to his right before bringing the sword up in a diagonal motion, cleaving the Angel into two halves.
“It’ll take more than that to take me down, bastards!” He roared at the robed figures, but the sorcerers merely extended their hands forward, commanding their constructs forward. Two angels charged him from either side of their masters, but Gazef quickly dashed forward before leaping into the air and slashing his weapon across both of them in one stroke, landing behind the constructs as he did. He didn’t look back as they faded into light, instead quickly dashing towards the wizards, but the robed men were faster than he had thought. In an instant, two more Angels were summoned, and even as those two were being cut down, another two were formed, then four..
As quickly as Gazef was able to kill the angels, the mages were able to create more of them. It was an endless loop, a war of attrition and the man knew it. Unlike the angels, he would soon tire, and it would only take one hit to defeat him. If he could reach their masters, it would be over in an instant, but the men had played their cards wisely. Just as soon as it seemed he’d reach them, another Angel would step into his path and the men would have time to back away, constantly putting distance between them.
Something needed to change, and he knew exactly what. Gritting his teeth and stepping back from one Angel, blocking their blade as he moved, he let out a shout- “[Martial Art: Sixfold Slash of Light!!]” He roared, taking a step forward and casting a massive slash through the air! Then another and another! With every step came another slash, and every slash unleashed a brilliance of light throughout the battlefield, tearing the constructs apart by the dozen. When at last he reached his final slash, he turned his attention onto the men and unleashed a swing at the pair, letting out a final roar as he worked! Before the men could react, they’d been slashed apart, leaving only their commander and his summons to remain.
He set his sights on the man at the back of the crowd. The commander was easy to spot. He’d summoned a much more powerful Angel to serve him, not to mention all of the others that surrounded him. Still, a whole fleet of those was nothing compared to a Principality. Without another thought, he raced towards the Commander and screamed a war cry as he cleaved through three whole Angels in one slash. But more still stepped into his path, and Gazef felt his jaw tighten. This wasn’t sustainable, not even a bit. Against this many Angels… The Commander had been playing the same game as his subordinates, only on a much grander scale. Not to mention, Gazef was running low on tricks. At this rate, he would fall well before he could reach the commander.
Eventually, he had to stop. Dozens of constructs surrounded the man as he did, slowly closing in at their master’s command. Despite himself, Gazef smirked and raised his blade again, this time a little weaker. “Is that all you’ve got?!” He shouted above the summons, roaring towards their master. “If this is what it takes to kill me, then I might die a happy man that it took an entire army to bring down one warrior! Come on then!” He braced himself as the constructs closed in, tightening his grip on his sword so much that the banding used to keep his grip dug into his flesh as he swung towards one of the Angels, narrowly deflecting their strike away from his form before quickly turning to do the same as another one brought its weapon down. He turned a third time, blocking yet another strike but at this- he screamed in pain as an Angel had managed to get in behind him, carving a gash through his armor and deep into his back. He turned just as quickly and slashed sloppily toward his neck, decapitating the construct, but the damage was done as another Angel came at his side and stuck its blade through his armor. Gazef danced away just barely in time to keep it from hitting anything vital, but could only barely lift his sword up to defend himself as another Angel prepared to slash down. He shut his eyes, not wanting to know where the next blow would come.
But then
Whump! The sound of an arrow colliding through an Angel’s body shook the Captain into attention, and he looked up just in time to see the shining silver arrowhead collapse to the ground as the construct was destroyed! “What!?” The commander of the Sunlight Scripture exclaimed in surprise, taking a step back as Gazef snapped his head back behind him in turn to see-
His men, an army of cavalry several hundred strong, archers, swordsmen, horsemen, the full force of his men, were charging toward them, crying out with a war cry as they raised their weapons and knocked their arrows!
“For the Captain!”
“You idiots… I told you to get out of here…” Gazef muttered under his breath, but then he grinned. “Still, I’m proud… of all of you!” Reinvigorated by his men, the Captain’s eyes land back on the Angel which had slashed him and he dashes towards it, plunging his blade into the creature’s heart before twisting and slashing through it and into its comrade, obliterating that one as well. “Come men!” He cried out to his men as he lifted his blade into the air. “Let us show them what we’ve got!”
As the cavalry charged right into the angelic summons and immediately erupted into a full-scale brawl! Men on horseback cut down the unprepared constructs while the men on foot jabbed their weapons into the army. The Angels were quick to react in kind, but Gazef smiled. His men had come for him. He wouldn’t allow any of their deaths to go unaccounted for! Not a single one!, He raced through the battle, slicing down Angels as he went, making his way dead ahead toward the man at the head of all of this. If he went down, all of his summons were finished. There was only one problem, but Gazef pushed that thought to the side as he charged forward with his sword jutting out and moved to stab right through the commander!
“Fool! Taste the power of the Gods, Hero!!” The Commander, Nigun, roared as he extended his hand and ordered the summon forward. Gazef didn’t stop and leaped into the air, sure that he could get around the Principality before it could move! He raced towards Nigun, his whole body tensed as the Principality acted on behalf of its master!
And the man was too late. A blinding white light blasted across the world, twinging the entire landscape the color of the Heavens as Gazef was consumed by holy magic that launched him backward. Though it was much less effective on beings of pure alignment, it was still a powerful spell in its own right, and taking the brunt of such a strong attack would be enough to send anyone reeling.
Gazef hit the ground hard enough to snap his bones, but the man didn’t waste time even as his whole body ached. He forced himself to his feet and pulled his sword along with him. He turned to face down the Angel that was guarding its summoner. It was stronger than usual angels of its type. Nigun had a unique skill if Gazef remembered correctly, one that allowed him to multiply the strength of his summons. A regular Principality would have been dangerous, but one created by this man was even worse. But it didn’t matter. He had to defeat it.
Gazef leaped towards the caster once more, activating his [Sixfold Slash of Light] technique as he did and unleashing a flurry of slashes against the Principality, each one stronger than the last as the man pushed himself harder and harder, trying to break through the Angel’s defenses, but the high-tier angel was easily able to deflect them all away with its sword. The air shifted behind him as a pair of lesser angels converged on him. Quickly, the man turned and carved them in half with little effort. But as he was distracted, the Principality struck him from behind! He turned, suppressing a pained scream as flames scorched through his back, burning through his armor and allowing the blade to pierce through his body. He swung towards the thing, unleashing a desperate slash against its body that forced it away, but he seethed through his teeth as the blade came out. A gash had been put through his back.
Gazef coughed, a few drops of blood spitting out of his mouth and landing on the grass in front of him. He glared back up at the man in front of him, before glancing back at the angel. He staggered on unsteady feet towards the thing, preparing his blade. His face twitched with rage and he lunged towards the creature. “Begone!” He roared, slashing down at the angel. It blocked his first attack, but the man had been expecting that. He rolled with the block as the behemoth went to parry, allowing the man to slide between its defenses and catch it off guard. He pressed his advantage and their blades sparked as Gazef went past it, slashing the thing in the chest and causing it to be flung backward from the force, magical sparks erupted from the gash as it did. Gazef grinned- finally, he was gaining ground! But before he could press his advantage, his grin faded as the wound suddenly closed up. “What-?!” Blood tore through the air. The thing had been no more than a blur to the man as it moved, catching him by surprise. He’d managed to take a half step back in time to keep it from becoming a lethal blow, but by the time he’d moved, it was already too late.
Though he had managed to dodge enough to prevent a lethal blow, it still cleaved through his abdomen and sent him tumbling to the ground, rolling over several times in the dirt. He coughed once again as he rolled onto his stomach, ignoring the pain as he put himself onto his elbows. A quick Appraisal of his own status confirmed what he had already suspected. He was on borrowed time. His special skill [Perseverence] allowed him to use MP in place of HP when he was reduced to 1 HP, but at this point, even his MP was running out. He had no other choice but to put everything into one last attack. He forced himself to stand, pooling as much MP into his arms as he possibly could. Every ounce of power he had left, flowed through his abdomen and through his arms, then it went a step further as it moved towards his weapon. His face, taught with emotion and soaked with sweat, snapped towards Nigun and his Principality Observer. One more attack. He couldn’t allow anything to stop him.
He wouldn’t.
A scream of pure anger slashed through the man’s throat. Light crackled around him as blood seeped into his eyes. “Not one death…” He muttered, thinking back to every single man who had turned around to come to save him. The men who had given their lives to make this even remotely possible. “Not. ONE. DEATH!” His voice raised even louder as he stepped through the grass faster than Nigun could follow. Even the Principality tensed itself as the man moved with speeds that would have impressed it. “WILL GO UNACCOUNTED FOR!”
The world erupted with force. A gargantuan explosion shook the grassy foothills around them. Even the forest behind Nigun shuddered as men and Angel alike took a pause in their battles as the Captain, the Hero’s, attack struck.
And failed.
Smoke and dust filled the air for only a moment longer before it too dissipated, revealing Gazef’s frozen form, his sword strung up by the air itself. The only thing that even hinted at what had stopped his assault was a spiderweb of cracks through the otherwise empty void around the sorcerer. Gazef stood frozen in his pose, eyes glazing over as he realized what had happened. Nigun too seemed shocked, terrified even that his life had come so close to being ended. The tip of the blade had almost touched him, and as soon as the man realized it, a nervous laugh came from him as he took a half step back. “Ha… Hahahahaha! Nothing- that’s right… Nothing! Can get past the Principality Observation's barrier! Not even you!” Still laughing, though now with more confidence, he pointed his finger towards the man and his Principality acted.
Gazef tried to move. His whole body was so tired.
It refused him.
He couldn’t even feel it as the weapon penetrated his chest. Not at first. Not the initial pain of the stab. It was the fire that he felt first as his body jolted to life. Lurching forward and letting go of his own sword out of reflex to grab futilely at the Principality’s arm, trying to force it off… Trying to force himself off of it.
Grunting with everything he had, the man growled at the Sorcerer, looking past his summon and towards the man. “I won’t… go down… so easily!” He declared and at last, his body surged with new life and forced the Angel back. He wasn’t sure what kept him on his feet, but he stayed there. He swayed with uncertain feet before forcing a step. The blade. It was still stuck between the man and his barrier, trapped within it. He needed to try. That thought alone pushed his body forward, even as he felt himself slipping. He gripped both hands on the weapon.
Nigun’s eyes widened. “How… How are you doing that?! How are you alive!?” He demanded, but the man didn’t answer. Nigun moved to order his Principality again, but stopped, shaking with terror as Gazef moved like a man possessed. With almost inhuman… No, with a roar that defined all of his humanity, the man cried out and flung all of his force through the barrier and shattered to pieces! His blade raced towards the wizard’s heart! Not one death! Those words rang through both men’s minds as the attack came down. Not. One. Death!
And then…
At last…
Gazef fell forward. His eyes closed slowly as he did. He’d put the last of himself into pushing through the barrier. And as he fell, his last act was merely to fall forward. Nigun had stepped back but a second too late. Gazef had failed to kill him, but he had left him with something. The Sorcerer howled in pain as the hero’s blade only barely managed to slash him through his robes, leaving a deep gash through his side. Lethal… If he wasn’t surrounded by his own men. His Principality acted, catching the man’s body before it could do further damage to its master, casting him to the side with ease. It hadn’t been completely clean, but it was over.
<Experience has reached the required level. Individual Nigun Grid Luin has increased from LV23 to LV24.>
<All basic attributes have increased.>
<Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired.>
<Skill points acquired.>
Nigun gasped and slumped to his knees as he heard the announcement from the Voice of God, confirming Gazef’s death. He had come very close to death there, but he succeeded. The Warrior Captain was dead. No, the Hero was dead. And with any luck, the Slane Theocracy would control the next one. Getting to his feet, he recalled his summon, letting Gazef’s lifeless body fall to the ground like a sack of flour. His mission was complete. He would report another successful mission for the Sunlight Scripture.
