Cherreads

Chapter 352 - Tremble, Skeletons—Your King Has Returned

"You two carry on. I'll be going now." Seeing the two of them already fighting—and with the battle only growing fiercer—Chu Lian knew this was the perfect opportunity. After tossing out a light remark, she immediately used Teleport to escape.

However, although Teleport had once been something she could use consecutively, after entering Overlord her attributes had been game-ified like an MMORPG character's, which meant it now came with a three-second cooldown. As a result, before her second Teleport had refreshed, Albedo and Shalltear—who had already noticed her escape—instantly ceased fighting and rushed after her.

Unfortunately for them, Chu Lian had long since prepared for this. Since she had deliberately spoken up to alert them, she naturally had a complete plan in place—one that would allow her to escape smoothly.

"See you." She activated Teleport again. Her figure vanished from where she stood, only to reappear the next instant as a faint silhouette within the forest.

"Damn it! It's all your fault, you old hag! If not for you, how could Lady Deloris have gotten away? Her first time—her rightful main wife position—it's all gone!" Losing track of Deloris once more, Shalltear stomped her foot in frustration but continued the pursuit. Even so, she could not resist viciously mocking Albedo along the way. "She must have run because she saw a shameless nympho like you. You big gorilla."

"You lamprey, shut your mouth! She was clearly avoiding you. What does it have to do with me? When you're not around her, I can do whatever I want with her. Why would I worry about her running? She only runs because you're there!" Albedo shot back without hesitation, each of her words striking precisely where Shalltear could not refute them.

"Bastard! You're only taking advantage of proximity! If she were with me, I'd have conquered her long ago. As if it would ever be your turn!" Shalltear clenched her fists tightly, barely suppressing the urge to punch Albedo. They had just caught up to Chu Lian after her second Teleport, and her third was about to refresh. If she got entangled with Albedo now, they would certainly lose her trail again.

She thought so—and how could Albedo not think the same? Compared to Shalltear, she was slightly calmer. She knew that finding Chu Lian came first. Trading insults right now was meaningless.

What they did not realize was that none of Chu Lian's Teleports had been particularly long-range. Instead, she had cleverly maneuvered deeper into the forest, using the trees to conceal herself.

The place she needed to reach was a secluded lake. From there, one could see the very cliff they had started from.

"Phew... Sorry, Albedo. I'll make it up to you after we return. For now, I'll be taking my leave." After her seventh Teleport, Chu Lian finally arrived beside the lake she had seen from the cliff earlier. Gazing at her reflection on the water's surface, she tossed down two items, then stepped lightly onto the lake. Turning back toward the direction Albedo was approaching from, she spoke.

"Lady Deloris..." Hearing her words, Albedo instantly sensed something was wrong and called out.

The next second, her premonition came true. Chu Lian's figure vanished from the spot. The space here was open and the view unobstructed—yet there was no sign of her anywhere.

As if by tacit understanding, Shalltear and Albedo both turned around at the same time.

What they saw was Chu Lian standing atop the cliff, bathed in moonlight, now dressed once more in a cheongsam.

She waved lightly, then tore open a long-distance teleportation scroll. Her figure disappeared, leaving the two women staring at each other—before promptly resuming their fight.

Now that Chu Lian was gone, and Ainz was not present either, the two who had already harbored grievances against each other no longer held back. Aside from their ultimate trump cards, they unleashed everything they had, thoroughly devastating the surrounding landscape.

No one stopped them. They fought however they pleased— from the lakeside to the lakebed, from the lakebed back to the surface, then up to the cliff again, and finally to the place where Shalltear had once been controlled.

After nearly an hour of exhilarating combat, they stopped at the same time. Casting disdainful glances at one another, they used the last of their magic to activate ultra-long-distance teleportation scrolls and returned.

As for the scrolls—they were precisely the two items Chu Lian had tossed beside the lake earlier. It seemed she had anticipated that the two of them would lose track of time once they started fighting, and had deliberately left behind a means for them to leave. That was also why they had fought so recklessly.

The meaning behind the scrolls was obvious. After thinking briefly about what had happened today, it was clear she wanted them to clean up the traces and disrupt any potential enemy investigation.

Thus, Shalltear and Albedo seized the opportunity to fight, both destroying evidence and venting the frustration in their hearts.

It had to be said—fighting was truly beneficial for one's mental and physical health. After letting loose completely, the two returned to Nazarick and handled matters far more smoothly.

And the instigator of it all—Chu Lian—reappeared in the room she had left earlier. She pressed a hand to her chest, catching her breath. While relieved to have narrowly escaped disaster, she was also troubled about how to deal with things once she returned to Nazarick.

"Lady Deloris..." From behind, a tall figure embraced her.

Chu Lian froze briefly, then relaxed her guard and allowed the other to hold her.

"Nabe, weren't you with my brother?" she asked curiously. By her estimation, it had been about half an hour since she left and returned. Shouldn't Nabe have gone with Ainz to deal with the Zuranon incident? Why was she still here?

"Ainz-sama was worried about you, so he ordered me to wait here until you returned. He departed as soon as he finished investigating their location. It's been about ten minutes. If we head there now, we should still be able to catch up," Nabe said, releasing her and stepping in front of her.

"You've worked hard." Chu Lian reached out, rising onto her toes to gently stroke her cheek.

Nabe pressed her hand against her own face and shook her head. "Lady Deloris went to resolve Lady Shalltear's matter. That was far more difficult than waiting here. If you're not tired, how could I be?"

"It's you. Don't use 'Lady.' Got it?" Chu Lian withdrew her hand and placed her index finger lightly against Nabe's lips in gentle admonishment.

"Mm..." Nabe nodded. She could feel the sincerity in Chu Lian's affection for her. For the sake of that feeling, she would willingly give anything.

"All right. Since it's been settled, there shouldn't be any more problems." Chu Lian shook her head. What she needed now was to quickly resolve the Zuranon incident and not let her previous efforts go to waste.

But before that, she had to restore her body to its original form. If she went like this—with nine fox tails—it was likely that the first thing treated as an enemy wouldn't be the skeletons, but herself.

"Transformation." Chu Lian murmured. The tails and ears behind her gradually withdrew.

At that moment, she felt rather fortunate that she had chosen the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox race. Although some of its racial traits were not technically skills, they were undeniably useful in certain situations.

"Is Lady Shalltear all right?" Nabe had also learned from Ainz what had happened. Now that Chu Lian had returned safely, did that mean Shalltear's "betrayal" had already been resolved?

"Mm. She was controlled by a World Item. After I killed its wielder and seized the item, the control over Shalltear was lifted," Chu Lian explained briefly, omitting the system and claiming the credit entirely for herself.

Otherwise, there would be no way to explain how she had accomplished it. And as for the system's existence—she had no intention of letting anyone know.

"A World Item..." Having followed Chu Lian and Ainz these past few days, Nabe understood the terror of such items. No wonder Lady Shalltear had been controlled. Objects of that level were never easy to resist.

"Mm. But it belongs to me now." As she spoke, Chu Lian spun lightly in place, showing off the cheongsam she wore.

"It fits you very well..." With their different aesthetic sensibilities, what appeared exquisitely styled in the eyes of a Huaxia native simply looked, to Nabe, like a well-fitted and rather attractive one-piece outfit.

"Well, an item that surpasses even divine-class gear must have its own unique power. It can automatically adjust to fit the wearer's body perfectly." Chu Lian straightened proudly as she spoke. The close-fitting cheongsam accentuated her ample curves, already reaching a scale many adults did not possess.

"Now that I look at it, Lady Deloris' figure is better than most people's," Nabe said cooperatively, indulging her display, earning a bright laugh from Chu Lian.

"Little Lian'er, although you're currently a D, your true body is only slightly better than children's undergarments—barely reaching an A-minus. Is that really something to be so happy about?" Ayase, who had not appeared even when Shalltear nearly pushed Chu Lian down earlier, suddenly spoke up—immediately dampening her enthusiasm.

"Ahem. All right, let's go find my brother." Chu Lian pretended not to hear. Whatever her original body was like, she was 34D right now. No longer a flat-chested loli.

"When it's just the two of us in the future, call me Deloris. Don't call me Lady Deloris." After saying this to Nabe while taking her hand, Chu Lian opened the door and quickly headed with her toward the location of Zuranon.

Near the Great Cemetery outside E-Rantel, several soldiers were chatting. One of the guards standing at the main gate gazed at the night sky and said to another, "It's peaceful again tonight."

"Since we haven't been fighting the Empire lately, the number of undead has probably decreased," the other soldier replied. But just as he finished speaking, a strange noise came from behind the gate, startling him. "Hm? What was that sound?"

"Hey, don't scare me," the first soldier said, turning toward him.

"Quiet. I think I heard something." The second soldier quickly hushed him, straining to listen more carefully.

"Probably just your imagination." The first soldier sounded unconcerned—until a shout came from above.

"Hey! Look over there!"

The cry instantly put the other soldiers on edge. They hurried up to the top of the wall and looked down.

"This is..."

Beyond the wall, within the graveyard, countless skeletons shuffled forward. Their pale bones gleamed eerily under the moonlight, forming what looked like a white sea of skulls, as though it would swallow everything in its path.

"An undead army..." one soldier cried out in alarm.

The officer at the front judged the number based on experience. "And not just a few hundred. From the looks of it... there must be thousands."

Having said that, he turned to his subordinates. "Notify the garrison immediately! Hold the line until reinforcements arrive!"

The skeletal horde advanced slowly, reaching the wooden gate of the wall. Raising their fleshless arms, they began pounding against it, as though announcing the start of battle.

More and more skeletons gathered at the base of the wall, forming a grotesque ladder of bones. Those behind climbed over the shoulders of the ones in front, scaling the wall.

At first, the defending soldiers managed to resist. But as more undead skeletons crawled onto the wall, the officer knew they could no longer hold. To avoid being slain and assimilated into undead—thus creating even stronger foes—he could only issue the order: "Retreat! Retreat!"

Upon hearing the command, the soldiers abandoned their defense and rushed down from the wall. The only thing they could do now was warn the town and prepare for the worst.

At that moment, a warrior clad in blue-black heavy armor, riding an enormous hamster, appeared before them and halted.

The retreating soldiers saw the bronze adventurer's plate gleaming under the moonlight and immediately recognized his identity. "An adventurer? Unfortunately, a bronze rank won't be of any use."

The officer, unaware of the newcomer's true strength, judged him solely by the plate representing his rank. "You should leave as well."

Hearing this, Ainz swung down from Hamtaro's back. His red cape billowed behind him as he reached over his shoulder and drew two greatswords.

"Turn around and look behind you," he said calmly.

The soldiers reflexively turned. A massive skeleton had just risen above the wall, and the sight made their legs tremble.

At that instant, Ainz hurled one of the greatswords. It crossed more than a dozen meters and struck the creature squarely in the forehead, killing it in a single blow before it could even display its might.

The officer stood stunned. Turning back to Ainz, he asked, "Just who are you?"

Ainz ignored the question. Raising the remaining greatsword, he pointed it toward them.

"Open the gate."

"Are you joking? There's an entire army of skeletons outside!" Even after witnessing Ainz's astonishing display of power, the officer refused. In his experience, he had never seen anyone capable of wreaking havoc among so many undead.

"So what?"

This time, the reply did not come from Ainz, but from a soft, ethereal female voice.

From the forest beneath the moonlight, a young woman in a cheongsam approached, leading another with a high ponytail. She looked at the soldiers calmly.

"What does that have to do with us?" Ainz continued seamlessly. Seeing the soldiers still unwilling to open the gate, he tilted his head slightly. "Very well. If you refuse, there's nothing to be done."

With that, he bent his knees and leapt straight upward, vaulting over the wall.

Chu Lian and Nabe gathered magic around themselves and rose lightly into the air, following after Ainz.

"Lady Liliana, please don't leave me behind!" Hamtaro cried out when he saw them departing.

But Chu Lian had no intention of letting that troublesome fellow follow her inside. Turning back to glance at him, she said, "Stay here. Make sure no undead escape—and don't let those who lack the strength go in either. Understood?"

Since she had personally refused him and assigned him a task, Hamtaro dared not argue. He could only reply in a dejected tone, "Yes... I will guard this place properly."

After answering, he could do nothing but watch silently as Chu Lian and the others departed.

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