"Old man, didn't you say this place was absolutely safe? Then why the hell have these people found us?!"
"I should be asking you that. Did you do something unnecessary while capturing the target? Or leave behind some kind of trace for them to follow?"
Kajit and several black-robed magic casters had originally been in the middle of some kind of ritual. But the moment they saw Ren Kuroda and the others slowly approaching, they were forced to halt, their expressions turning grim as they directed their accusations toward the shadows—
Where Clementine stood concealed.
"I see… so you're the one who summoned those low-level undead," Momonga said calmly. "There should be another one too. A spear user… and a pervert who likes collecting adventurer tags as trophies."
The moment Kajit heard those words, he immediately understood.
The reason their enemies had tracked them down… was undoubtedly because of that madwoman, Clementine.
"Well now, how surprising," Clementine said as she stepped out from the shadows. "Did you go out of your way to investigate me? And you even brought quite the crowd. Looks like tonight won't be boring after all."
Even as she looked at the eight figures standing before the ruined hall, she showed no real sign of panic.
Though among them, Cocytus, Mare, Aura, and Demiurge clearly didn't look human—
Clementine had once been the Ninth Seat of the Black Scripture. She had slaughtered plenty of non-human monsters in her time.
Creatures like these?
They didn't faze her in the slightest.
More importantly, neither she nor Kajit could sense any particularly powerful aura coming from the group.
The reason for that was simple—
Momonga had suggested using "False Information" to conceal their true levels. In his view, revealing their full strength too early, especially when the enemy was unknown, was far too risky.
But now that he had actually seen Kajit and Clementine in person…
Momonga realized those scrolls had been completely wasted.
These opponents weren't worth that level of caution.
"…Well, I suppose this works too," Momonga muttered. "Experiencing despair while still clinging to hope… will make this far more unforgettable for them."
Hearing Momonga's completely improvised villain speech, Ren almost couldn't hold back a comment.
But since he couldn't just call him out in front of everyone, he simply pointed at Kajit instead.
"That guy's my target," Ren said flatly. "As for the rest, do whatever you want."
There were eight people on Ren's side.
On Kajit's side, including Clementine and Kajit's assistants, there were only seven.
Momonga intended to settle the score with Clementine for what had happened to the four members of the "Black Swords."
Which meant—
That left just five of Kajit's robed subordinates.
To be fair, among humans, those five magic casters weren't weak. At around level fifteen, they would be considered fairly strong adventurers.
Unfortunately for them…
Their opponents were six terrifying beings, each above level one hundred.
And they had absolutely no idea what they were about to face.
Five enemies.
Six Guardians.
Even if they split them evenly, there wouldn't be enough to go around.
And none of them wanted to walk away empty-handed.
Since Nazarick had arrived in this world, the Guardians had realized that aside from guarding their domain, they had done very little for Ainz-sama and Ren-sama.
These humans might be weak—
But this was still their first real battle here.
They all wanted to prove their worth.
After an intense round of rock-paper-scissors, Shalltear ultimately lost—with a thoroughly displeased expression.
She had even lost to Cocytus, who could only throw rock and scissors.
—
Meanwhile, the battle between Kajit and Ren had already begun.
Dressed in a crimson robe, with a necklace of skulls hanging across his chest, Kajit raised the crystal orb in his hand.
With a confident grin, he summoned a massive skeletal dragon before Ren.
The creature exuded an imposing presence, its hollow eyes glowing ominously.
"Behold!" Kajit declared proudly. "A Bone Dragon! It possesses absolute magic resistance—the nightmare of all spellcasters!"
Ren glanced calmly at the towering skeleton before him.
A dragon in name…
But in reality?
Just a level thirty trash mob.
So-called "absolute magic resistance" simply meant it could nullify spells below the seventh tier.
Well—by human standards, that was impressive.
After all, even the most powerful human magic casters could only use sixth-tier magic.
Against such opponents, the Bone Dragon truly was a nightmare.
But to Ren?
It was nothing.
"So that's your full strength?" Ren said, tilting his head slightly. "You can summon more than one, right? Go ahead—bring out the other one too."
"Otherwise, dying without even using your full power would be pretty pathetic."
A level thirty undead…
That was about on par with the mass-produced Death Knights from Nazarick.
Ren had absolutely no interest in treating something like that as a real opponent.
"Hmph! You'll regret your arrogance soon enough!" Kajit snapped.
But despite his bravado, Ren's calm demeanor in the face of the Bone Dragon unsettled him.
In the end, Kajit poured all the remaining negative energy from his crystal orb into summoning—
A second Bone Dragon.
And once both were on the field, he used the last of his mana to layer them with multiple enhancement spells.
Standing behind two Bone Dragons—creatures with near-immunity to magic and regenerative capabilities even against physical attacks—
Kajit finally felt secure.
With this setup, he was certain—
Even the kingdom's strongest warrior, General Gozen, wouldn't stand a chance against him.
"…Looks like that's everything you've got," Ren said quietly.
"Then even if you die now, you shouldn't have any regrets."
As he spoke, Ren slowly drew the blade at his side.
Then—
With a motion so casual it almost looked like a joke—
He swung it once through empty air.
A simple, effortless slash.
He sheathed his sword immediately afterward…
And turned his back.
"…What the hell are you—playing at?" Kajit began, his voice filled with anger.
But before he could finish—
A gust of wind swept through the battlefield.
And in that instant—
A perfectly clean cut split the ground beneath them in two.
The same cut—
Had already passed through both Bone Dragons.
Through their bodies.
Through everything.
The two creatures Kajit had placed all his hopes on… were severed cleanly in half.
Kajit himself froze.
His words cut short.
A spray of blood suddenly filled his vision.
A sharp pain bloomed in his chest—
And his consciousness began to fade.
As he collapsed to the ground, his dimming gaze fixed on Ren's retreating figure…
Even in his final moments—
He never understood what kind of monstrous existence he had provoked.
—
Meanwhile, Momonga's battle with Clementine concluded last.
In the end, he performed a brutal finishing move—
Crushing her to death in an embrace, a grim parody of intimacy.
Watching the way Clementine died, Albedo's expression twisted with irritation.
After all—
Even she had never been held like that by Ainz-sama.