World Enemies in Teyvat

It's been an hour since the trio have exited the forest and have been on the road towards the city of Mondstat since. The two gluttons were once again deep into their discussion over the culinary arts while the de facto leader of the group, Ainz, was absorbed in his sightseeing of the natural sights Teyvat had to offer. 

While the Undead would've preferred the silence over the rambunctious nature of the two behind him, he couldn't deny that he felt a sense of ease from the fact he was in the company of others once more. It needn't be said that the years he spent alone in Yggdrasil with no one to talk to in the DMMO-RPG were mentally draining.

And as the group continued onwards, Kuyo and Ainz felt a presence rushing towards them, courtesy of the former's draconic instincts and the latter's new-found abilities born from his ascension. And while the dragon didn't care much as she was confident in her strength, the Overlord put up his guard while mentally reviewing what spells to use should the unknown being turn out to be a hostile force.

And just as Ainz felt it being closer than ever, a figure with red clothing and a headband of the same color in the shape of a bunny's ears jumped from the nearby low cliff, straightening herself out as rolled on the ground, looking straight at the inhuman group.

"Stop right there!" The unknown girl spoke as she gazed at the three, her mouth gaping in the process as she took in the appearance of the trio.

At the head of the group, was a being two meters tall, clad in deep purple royal robes with large pauldrons resembling the fangs of some oversized creature or another and contained two large crimson red orbs , with silver gauntlets and a red-and-green mask with a permanent mocking grin and sapphire gems in the place of the mask's eye sockets. To say that she was frightened by the being covered head-to-toe would be an understatement, if the shivers going down her spine were any indication.

And behind this mysterious entity was a woman only slightly shorter than the larger being in the front, yet it didn't make her any less terrifying as well. She was beautiful, unequivocally so, that even she can say it without a doubt despite being of the same gender. Yet the tall pale woman was also intimidating in her own way. 

She had long heterochromia hair of black and white and heterochromia eyes of crimson red and deep blue as well. Her horns, sleek tail and what seems to be her wings hidden behind her large cape, even more proof of her inhuman nature, were blinding white in colour. The woman looked at her with a deep authoritarian gaze, reminding her of the grandmaster who would look at her in the same way in official settings. Yet the difference between the two was clear as water, whereas her superior's gaze was often a mix of authority yet compassion for her subordinates, the woman in front of her looked at her the same way one would look at a bug or an inferior entity, with utter revulsion or apathy.

The only one who didn't evoke any negative emotions within the newcomer was the mascot-like creature floating besides the taller female, she was dressed in a white jumper with uneven stockings and boots of the same colour with rose-gold embroidery covering them all. She also had a night-blue cape laying behind her, flecked with the designs of constellations and other heavenly bodies. And her hair was white in colour, while her eyes were dark purple.

The red-clothed figure could only sigh softly in mental relief to see someone normal looking, or as normal as possible, accompanying the two large beings. Yet before she could forget, she coughed slightly to hide her emotions, or at least as much as she could, before speaking up at the trio.

"Halt Strangers! May the Anemo god protect you. I am Outrider Amber of the Knights of Favonius. You do not look like Mondstat citizens, explain yourselves!" The now-known Outrider, Amber, attempted to use as place as much authority in her voice to hide her previous shock of the appearance of the unfamiliar beings, unfortunately for her however, the dragon picked up on her fear and smiled inhumanely, before capitalizing on the moment and began her attempt to scare the human.

"Oh~? And why should we? You yourself are clearly aware of the difference between us in strength. Matter of fact, how about I eat you alive right here and right now. I am quite… starved right now~." The World Devourer walked forward slowly, accentuating her words by opening her mouth slightly to show her sharp teeth while her eyes were fixated on the shorter girl, who was taking small steps backwards, her gaze trained on the tall dragon, filled with fear and caution like a small rabbit.

*Chop!*

Thankfully, before the Devourer could continue her game, or actually make her words into a reality, the Overlord hit her on the head from the back, causing the dragon to yelp from the sudden sensation as she crouched down while placing her hands on her head where the undead hit her.

 Ainz sighed as he quickly dealt with the sadistic World Enemy's shenanigans before looking at the Outrider, who was just as shocked by his actions as the dragon, while Paimon, who was seemingly slowly getting used by the actions of the two she joined with, sighed softly while placing her hand on her in exasperation.

Fortunately, Ainz spoke up before Amber could regain her bearings and decides to treat them as enemies and attack them, or worse, retreat to the city to inform the rest of the knights. And while the newer World Enemy was confident in defeating her - as when he used the spell [Discern Enemy] it determined that she was only around level 20 -, he doesn't want to accidentally kill a soldier of Mondstat before he even enters the city.

"I apologize on the behalf of this fool for her actions, she simply likes to use her appearance to scare others for fun," Ainz bowed his head slightly towards Amber, a gesture she faintly recognizes from her meetings before with people who hail from the land of the Electro Archon when they apologize.

The man coughed slightly in his gauntlet hand before speaking up once more. "Let me introduce myself, I am known as Ainz Ooal Gown, but you may simply call me Ainz. While her name is Nidhoggr, or you can call her Kuyo should her name prove difficult to pronounce." Ainz stated with politeness as he introduced himself and the woman who began standing straight once more, her previous apathetic expression and authoritarian aura returned once more, which was ruined by her hands which were still massaging the spot where the masked being hit her.

"I see, well, it's a pleasure to meet you two. I guess. And uh, what about this… mascot?" Amber questioned while pointing her finger at the flying girl, who wasn't appreciative of the outrider's words.

"Hey! It's rude to call someone a mascot, you know! Paimon's name is Paimon, and she is in fact…" As the fairy began introducing herself, the dragon took the chance once more to steal the spotlight as she opened her mouth.

"She's my emergency food," Kuyo spoke up with pure confidence and no malignance, which took a while for Paimon to notice what was exactly said.

"Yeah! Paimon is emer… wait, this is worse than being a mascot, Paimon isn't emergency food!" Paimon floated towards the dragon before hitting her back with her short dinky arms, which did no damage but instead amused the undead and the outrider while the large female was ignoring the floating guide's feeble attempts in attacking her, mentally taking note how much more fun it is to take jabs at her in any social interaction.

"Haha… well, it's a pleasure to meet you… um… strange yet respectable travelers." Amber said as she attempted to reign back the conversation while fixing her posture, which proved pointless with the small fairy's response.

"So fake." Paimon dealt a fast response at the outrider's choice of words, stopping her futile attacks on the dragon's scapula while giving the knight a blank stare.

"Hey! Do you have anything against the type of language usage prescribed in the Knights of Favonius' handbook?!" Amber exclaimed with indignation at the floating sprite.

The disguised undead squeezed the fairy's face slightly in a reprimanding manner, while looking at the outrider.

"Don't mind her, she usually speaks her mind before thinking." Ainz said in an explanatory tone while the fairy in question was simply grumbling under her breath, her words garbled due to the undead's hold on her cheeks.

"It's fine, but where exactly are you three going? The city perhaps?" Amber questioned the three though was more asking the larger robed being than the other two. Primarily due to the fact that he seems to be the leader of the group of three.

Certainly not because she's still afraid of the horned woman who had a dangerous gleam in her eyes or because she's still salty at the fairy's quib at her change in her language usage. Not siree, she's a respectable knight who doesn't hold grudges.

"We were planning on staying the night in the city, though I suppose that considering a knight of the same city is stopping us right now. I am to assume that there's an issue at hand that would require you to be so far from the city, or is it a simple patrol routine?" Ainz replied to the outrider while questioning her in turn, earning a shocked expression from Amber as she nodded and began explaining.

"You're extremely quick-witted Ainz, I'm impressed. Yeah, there were a bunch of hilichurls spotted near the city, so I was enroute to the forest to try and find any hide or hair and eliminate them before they become an issue." Amber said as Ainz began dissecting her words and absorbing any new information, before a certain word stuck with him.

"Hilichurls?"

But before Amber could either reply, Paimon freed herself from the undead World Enemy's grasp and answered him.

"Oh, Paimon can answer! Hilichurls are a common monster race that usually lives in tribes and have lots of different types! There are the normal hilichurls, the samechurls with their staffs that they can use to wield the elements, the big metachurls with large axes or shields, and many more!" Paimon finished her explanation with a satisfied hum, before she began to frown and look at the outrider in a questioning manner.

"But, Paimon never heard of hilichurls going near any city or village before. Is there something happening?"

Amber sighed sadly before nodding, "It might be because of Stormterror appearing over our orchards more recently, displacing the hilichurls from the forested areas. He even began appearing near the city and causing havoc nearby…"

It was this time however that Ainz spoke up, asking the knight who and what exactly is Stormterror. While the silent World Eater took the chance to let her mind wander and imagine what she would eat once she's in the city. 

After all, she already has a very clear idea of who this 'Stormterror' is, if the wind lizard she, Ainz, and the midget met in the forest is any clue. Though she believes that it's an undeserved title considering that the pathetic creature doesn't seem to be up to par to be any form of considerable terror or is capable of forming any noteworthy storms.

Though she had to wonder, why is Ainz asking such an inane question when he surely already came to the same conclusion she did, if not even before her? Perhaps to downplay his intelligence and spread false information of his own capabilities? If that is the case, she can only applaud his scheme, even if she doesn't personally agree with him considering that someone who was able to defeat her of all people in her own game should be parading his strength around instead of simply hiding it away.

"It's… complicated. Even though people began to forget about it, Stormterror is a dragon who was once part of the Four Winds, a guardian of Mondstat. But for some reason, he began to instead terrorize Mondstat and the nearby settlements, whipping up the monsters that usually stay in the wilds into a frenzy." It seemed as though the subject was too heavy for Amber to talk about as her head dropped down, even her bunny ears shaped ribbon deflated like the ears of an actual rabbit.

Ainz was slightly compelled to apologize, after all, while he doesn't really care for the city itself sans for the slight curiosity of what it has to offer. He and his old friends of Ainz Ooal Gown were a close knit group, and thoughts of any of them betraying the group would hurt him quite deeply. So while he doesn't care for the fate of the city, it seems that the dragon in question - who he is thinking might have been the dragon he just recently met in the forest - was once a good protector and ally of the nation, but became hostile to them for some reason or another.

'Though if that really was this so-called Stormterror, who was the boy that was speaking with it? Perhaps a knight who was trying to make amends with it? And what exactly are these Four Winds? Are there other dragons who protect the city?' Ainz shook his head to shake off his thoughts for the moment to try and apologize with the outrider, yet before he could do so, Amber coughed a bit loudly before her bright demeanor returned.

"In any case! Even if it's a bit upsetting that Stormterror is going, that doesn't mean we should just give up without trying! So until then, we will do that whatever it takes to protect Mondstat till we are able to deal with the threat of Stormterror!" Amber exclaimed as her face adopted a determined expression and she clenching her hand into a fist.

Paimon gave a smile as she spoke up. "That's the spirit! With knights as determined as you, Paimon is sure Mondstat will always be safe!" The fairy mirrored Amber's stance as she clenched her fist and raised it in the air, appearing almost like a general boosting his soldiers' morale before a battle. Or it would have been so, if not for her small body and high-pitch voice. Resulting in Ainz giving an amused huff, while Nidhoggr snorted at the floating creature's words.

Fortunately, her attempts at cheering the outrider still succeeded as Amber gave out a soft laugh at the fairy's words. 

"Thank you, Paimon! In any case, usually as you three are guests to the city, I should be escorting you to the city's gates. But with the hilichurls appearing nearby, I have to continue my investigation into the area and clear out any of them nearby. I already know of a hilichurl camp nearby, and I have to go and deal with it. Sorry for that." Amber rubbed her nape in embarrassment while looking away from the trio.

"It's no issue, in fact, I would instead like to ask if it's possible for the three of us to accompany you instead and assist you with your task." Ainz formulated his request with as much genuineness as he could muster with his deep voice, a feat easy for one such as him who was forced to deal with the cut-throat businessmen of the 22nd century and their politics.

After all, though he may appear to want to help out of the goodness of his heart, in truth, Ainz was curious about the native species of this world and how a knight of the city fights, and at what level he could effectively put her in. Even if Ainz could determine an estimate of her level with his magic, it wouldn't account for much if it turns out she could use attacks well above her level or even able to use skills to greatly harm them. 

Yggdrasil had its own plethora of broken enemies and skills, who's to say this world doesn't have them as well?

"Huh? Are you sure? It could get dang-" But before Amber could continue, she realized who she was talking to. Even if she never saw Ainz or the woman behind him in battle before, Kuyo's stunt was still fresh in her mind. And if her time as an outrider did anything, it honed her instincts to a large degree, and her instincts screamed at her that the abnormally tall duo are extremely powerful and extremely dangerous. 

She chuckled as she shook her head at her own folly, here she was, almost forgetting one of the first lessons her grandpa taught her, to trust your guts and instincts in combat. If he was still around, what would he say about this misstep?

"No… I suppose with you guys, it wouldn't be. Ok, I appreciate the help Ainz. The quicker we finish, the faster I can get you guys to Mondstat." Amber spoke up with a smile as she extended her hand towards Ainz, who, understanding her intentions, extended his own and shook it.

But before Amber could utter another word, the duo of World Enemies sensed a hostile presence nearby hiding within the tall grass. Kuyo took the chance and pointed her finger in the exact direction of the unknown entity as a sphere of blue flames materialized in front of her finger. And before Amber or Paimon could comment on the immediate unbearable heat (which they were able to survive being in the presence of, due to the flames' magical origins), it flew towards the presence hidden in the tall grass and engulfed it completely. 

And not even a complete second later, the poor creature that chose to exude hostility in front of the Devourer, was wiped from existence before it could even show itself or give any reaction to the unspeakable pain it went through in that short moment in time. The only thing that could've proved it once existed was the perfectly symmetrical circular spot in the midst of the grass devoid of any greenery and was instead filled with molten lava akin to a small pond.

Amber and Paimon, whose heads were flooded with sweat, paled as they witnessed Kuyo's attack. While the two were comrades in that they both were given the fright of their lives by the dragon, it was also the first time for either of them to witness Kuyo's strength in combat. And it exceeded whatever preconceived notions about the woman's strength the two had in mind.

'By the Archons... How hot were those flames that they could make me feel as if I was stranded in the desert in the heaviest Snezhnayan coats?! No, even more than that, whatever that poor creature was, not even a second passed by before it was disintegrated by those flames! And just how in the world could they turn the ground into lava as if it just erupted from one of Natlan's volcanoes?! No Vision wielder I know of could do this much damage, the only one I would think would be able to do a feat similar to this would probably be the Pyro Archon herself! And even then it should be abnormal for someone to be able to do something similar to her to begin with!'

Amber was terrified, rightfully so, considering what she just witnessed, even Paimon who was never in combat before could tell that this was abnormal. and so, as the two could only gaze agape with sweat beads rolling down their foreheads from the heat, only one thought plagued their minds while Amber felt a pang of guilt for the torment she may have resigned the hilichurls to by accepting Ainz's request.

'This isn't going to be a fight, it will be a slaughterhouse…'

---------------

Ainz was shocked by Kuyo's attack, not so much by the strength behind it, but by the implications.

'That spell… It was that eighth tier spell [Miniature Star], wasn't it? But it shouldn't have those effects to begin with!'

Ainz's mind was consumed by his panic, before his faithful new friend {Emotional Suppression} cooled his mind once again, allowing him to think and recap.

The spell he just witnessed wasn't extremely strong, not even in comparison to other eighth tier spells. While it was after all a fire-based offensive spell, most of the damage of the spell came from DoT damage it caused to the victim in the form of fire damage. It was an extremely useful spell when the Player was in fights against opponents with weaknesses against fire damage but had to constantly dodge their attacks that could almost one-shot him. While it most certainly turned into a battle of attrition against such enemies, if it still meant victory, Ainz was willing to spend that much time.

But this? How was it possible for such a measly spell to cause this much damage, and in such a way too? Even taking into account Kuyo's racial and job levels boosting the strength of her spells, this still doesn't explain the colour of the fire spell before Nidhoggr cast it on that creature, or how it seemingly did tens of times more damage than in Yggdrasil.

Fortunately for him, the Devourer's next words seemingly put the final piece of the puzzle for him.

"Hoh~ it's no wonder that pathetic mortal was so obsessed with this spell, it certainly scratches the itch of seeing your enemies die in excruciating pain." Kuyo's words, filled with the slightest hint of admiration hidden deep behind her usual attitude, for whoever this 'mortal' was, threw Ainz in for a loop, before he realized what or rather who she may have been talking about.

'Wait… Could it be…? The lore!' Ainz was stumped by this revelation, he should've expected for such a thing to play a bigger role and affect even the spells, especially since it seems even Nidhoggr's memories were altered according to the lore and not based on what actually happened in the game.

The spell, [Miniature Star], was said in its lore to be an ancient mage's final attempt at creating a self-sustaining small sun. Resulting in him instead accidentally developing a powerful spell in the form of the very sun he attempted to create that could be used to devastate any enemy in one's path, provided they have studied long and hard and have the mana for it. Unfortunately for the mage, a hidden order of sorcerers found out about his achievement and had him killed, using his works among many other of his unfortunate colleagues' achievements to spread anarchy. 

It was all in fact tied up to the quest Ainz undertook back in Yggdrasil to put a stop to and destroy that very order, which resulted in him obtaining the spell book for [Miniature Star] among many other rewards.

When Ainz read the lore of the spell first, he was excited, having believed back then that he may have acquired an extremely powerful addition to his repertoire. Unfortunately, his excitement was shattered when he finally reached the tidbit that explained the spell's actual effects.

Of course, it was still powerful in its own right. But in comparison to other fire spells that focus solely on instantaneous amounts of damage or DoT, it was quite… average. But even if it wasn't that good, the fact that it had a low MP requirement offset the lower offensive capability, making it quite the economic spell for battles of attrition.

'Ah, I'm getting side tracked. Let's think about this for a moment. If the spell was changed to fit its lore and it actually was a small-sized star. It would explain the new colour, especially since I read before somewhere that stars' can range from colours like blue, yellow to red. Though which one was the hottest again? Maybe red since blue probably means a cool star and yellow is in-between?'

The undead attempted to scratch his chin in thought, a habit he developed a long time ago on Earth. Before he realized he was still wearing his mask, causing him to let out a sigh before settling on nestling his chin between his fingers instead.

'In any case… Hmm… Thinking about this logically, if the spell changed to fit its lore. Then what about other spells like [Nuclear Blast] or [Grasp Heart]? …Or, God forbid, [Black Hole]?'

Ainz had to suppress the shivers crawling up his spine at the thought of the spell creating an actual black hole and destroying the world in the process.

'Even if I subconsciously remember everything about the spells back in Yggdrasil even though I can't access my interface anymore. I still should try to lessen my use of the more powerful spells until I can have a good grasp over them, especially since everything I cast now would obviously be more potent than ever with my World Enemy status and increase in levels.'

Ainz nodded to himself as he looked at Nidhoggr who was dusting her hands off as if she recently finished a dirty physical job, looking bored as ever.

'Should I try and ask her for help? She probably has more experience in this if we go by lore and her being higher leveled than me. Though would it make me weak in her eyes, would she then use this as a chance to betray me? How about I try and mask it behind me wanting to get used to my new-found strength? Would that work?'

Ainz folded his arms as he was deep in thought, thinking of all the possible ways to approach the matter. Before he finally settled on a decision and nodded to himself.

'I'll leave this to you, future me.' Ainz, like the true procrastinator that he is, decided to keep the matter for the future as he looked towards Amber, who was startled by the masked Overlord suddenly turning to face her.

"It's about time we start making our way towards the hilichurl camp you spoke of, no?" The undead tilted his head as he asked the outrider, who blinked in confusion.

"Er… uh, yeah, I guess we should go now." Amber nodded slowly before going in the direction of the forest outside of the path, giving the newly made lava pond a huge berth as the Ainz followed her, with the still-shocked fairy and the dragon behind him, the only sounds to be heard were of the rustling grass and the lava popping.

---------------

A few minutes of walking later on, the group stumbled on the hilichurl camp, consisting of a few makeshift tents and guard posts. And inhabiting this station were nothing more than a few dozen average churls, some smaller variants with staffs and larger churls with tower shields made mostly of wood or large axes as well can be found around the bonfires within the camp.

As the quartet moved closer towards the camp, Ainz used the chance to once again cast his magic on the group.

'[Silent Magic: Mass Perfect Unknowable!]'

Kuyo, who was already used to the magic of Yggdrasil, didn't utter a word or question the Player's motives as she slowly began to get used to the modus operandi of her new master. While Paimon - who is currently sitting on Ainz's shoulder -, having already experienced this once before, only looked in silent appreciation of Ainz's 'cool' magic as she simply looked at her semi-transparent hands in childlike amazement, free from any hand to clamp her mouth like last or hold her in place.

Amber on the other hand…

When the outrider suddenly felt her boots not causing any faint sounds of rustling the grass anymore, looked at her feet. First in an inquisitive way for the sudden cessation of noise, next in alarm as she saw her own body being translucent, almost seeing the ground under her feet.

She slowly took a few steps back in utter shock and then in fear as she saw the grass under her not even moving slightly because of her, as if she wasn't there at all! The outrider attempted to scream in fear at the sudden frightening changes, only to find that her voice was no longer there as well.

'W-what's going on?! Why can't I talk? And why is the grass still as if I didn't just step on it?! A-and my body! It's almost see through! I-it… It can't be! A-am I dead?! Is that why I'm like a ghost right now?!' The poor girl exclaimed within the confines of her own mind as she began to panic.

 Fortunately, before her thoughts could spiral out of control, she suddenly felt a large gauntlet being placed on her shoulders, a loud squeak erupted from her, it would've did if it weren't for the fact that she was extremely silent due to the spells. As she turned towards the owner of the hand. She was met with Ainz's mask, Kuyo's apathetic gaze, and Paimon, who was cheekily giving her a teasing grin, and all were semi-transparent just like her.

{Amber.} As the girl heard the voice of the large man in her head, was startled as she looked towards the man regardless for an answer. Her expression was a mix between shock, fear and apprehension.

{Don't fret. I put a spell on us to mask our presence and traces in case the hilichurls detect us. And I'm currently using another spell to communicate with you within your mind right now.} The undead further proved his point by lightly flicking his gauntleted finger on a nearby tree, which in all other circumstances would've shook and made audible noises due to the Overlord's actions. All the while, the [Message] spell, was still active between them, more precisely, it included all four of them. Resulting in Paimon, who didn't know of this spell, to look in wonder at the World Enemy as the shock from hearing what she supposed was a conversation between Amber and Ainz in her mind as if they were her own thoughts.

{Woah Ainz! Paimon didn't know you can speak to others in their mind like that! It's super cool! …And a bit creepy too, if Paimon is being honest.} The fairy spoke sheepishly towards the undead, blissfully unaware of the emotional damage she caused the man by inadvertently calling him by association 'creepy'.

The man almost let a sigh seep out of him before realizing it may be heard by the trio in the [Message] channel and instead resorting to shaking his head slightly before looking towards the outrider once more, having removed his hand from her shoulder.

{In any case, Amber, what can you tell us about this camp? I'm afraid that I am not familiar with intricacies related with the hilichurl species and their operations.} Ainz spoke in the channel once more, questioning the knight in front of him in hopes of gleaming any useful information from the expert on the current subject.

The outrider was a bit dazed for a few seconds due to recent events before her professionalism took hold as she attempted to focus on the camp in front of her.

{Well, the first to note are those human-sized hilichurls, they're the most common of the bunch. And usually use clubs or stones as their weapons of choice. Though some of them use elements-infused crossbows or slimes, you can find out which element they use by the symbol on their masks and their mane colour.} The human girl pointed at the monsters wandering the camp as she explained.

She then began pointing towards the smaller samachurls with staffs and the larger-sized metachurls sitting around the campfires as she continued explaining. {The next are those small sized churls called samachurls. Unlike the hilichurls, they exclusively use the elements, which again can be denoted by their appearances, though do be careful as they aren't afraid to use them to attack you if you get too close.}

The outrider took a look at Ainz to silently ask if he got all that, which upon him affirming by nodding, she continued. {Finally, the large ones over there are metachurls, and they either use large shields to defend themselves and as bashing weapons, or axes which they could infuse with an element.}

She sighed to herself as she furrowed her eyebrows. {Fortunately, based on how there are only a few watchtowers and some makeshift tents, it doesn't seem as if there are any other forces to be aware of that aren't inside right now. And with the lack of any lawachurl in sight, it means that they don't have an actual leader to be wary of.} Amber gave a soft smile as if to ease her nerves before she saw Ainz look at her with his masked head tilted slightly akin to indicate his confusion.

{Ah. Lawachurls are an even bigger subspecies and are arguably the most powerful variant of the churls. They don't use a weapon per se, but can instead coat their entire forms in an element and to that end use their bodies in fights. Thankfully however, they are much rarer than other churls, and even when they do, they often prefer solitude so are easy to ambush and defeat as long as you are prepared for them.}

As Ainz absorbed the information given by the outrider like a sponge, he gave her a nod of appreciation as he looked towards the camp in front of him. {So… What do you plan to do?}

The human blinked, pointing to herself as she blankly stared at the masked mage. {Huh? Me?}

{Well, yes. You are the most experienced one here when it comes to fighting hilichurls, and you are the highest ranking person here as a member of this nation's knights. So shouldn't you be issuing orders or plans for this attack considering that this is within your jurisdiction?}

The outrider was flustered as she frantically waved her arms. {No, no, no, no! Even if I have a bit more experience, you guys are doing me a favor by helping me really! Besides, this isn't an official operation or anything, so I can't order you guys around or anything like that!}

{I see, well, forgive my misunderstanding then.} Ainz bowed his slightly in apology towards the knight, while the fairy sitting on his shoulder was using his large pauldron's orb to stop herself from falling off. {But still, do you have any plans to deal with this camp in particular?}

Amber froze as the undead put her on the spot, she cupped her chin as she began to think. {To be quite honest, with the amount of hilichurls here, I would've instead returned back to the city and returned with a few knights to help me. But right now? With the hilichurls being so near Mondstat?} She pursed her lips as she furrowed her eyebrows once more in contemplation.

Meanwhile, Ainz only gave the knight a glance before looking back at the camp, casting [Discern Enemy], [Life Essence] and [Mana Essence] on the hilichurls. And the results were…

…disappointing.

'No, I understand that they couldn't be extremely strong to begin with. But isn't this just weak like the slimes? The hilichurls and samachurls are all around level 3 to level 6. And the metachurls are between level 8 to 10. I would've expected for them to be at least all stronger than the slimes, not to be within the same range as them. And another thing, none of them have any mana whatsoever, then how do they use these 'elements' then? Or does it rely on something else to be cast instead, like items and the sort? Perhaps something similar to the Visions Paimon told me about? And if what Amber said was true that she would need the assistance of other knights to deal with this lot, then does that mean that even the knights aren't that much better?'

Just as that optimistic idea was beginning to grow within the confines of the overlord's head, it was blown apart in this next second as his mind honed by years of Yggdrasil took hold. 'No, that can't be true. For one, Amber did say that there are others like lawachurls who aren't in this camp, and they are supposedly much stronger than the ones here. And that's not taking into account if there are other subspecies or outliers to the norm that no one would know about…' 

'And if I were to consider the knights the same as a guild, then just because they have weaker members, doesn't mean that the leaders are weak as well. Besides, there are still those archons to watch out for as I have yet to meet any of them for a point of reference on their strength. I shouldn't underestimate anyone no matter the cost.'

'But…' Ainz looked back at the camp once more. 'I already have a grasp on the levels of the hilichurls here, might as well test myself right now.'

As Amber was rummaging around in her mind for what to do about this dilemma, she heard the voice of Ainz once more within her mind. {Allow me to deal with them.}

But before she could question the undead about what he said, she herself was unable to speak with him through the spell he cast on her. Presumably because he has dispelled it now. And with no way to chase after him and risk alerting the hilichurls, as she couldn't truly trust that his spells could hide them perfectly from them. She was forced to watch as Kuyo took a hold of Paimon who was sitting on the masked mage's shoulders as he walked towards the camp's entrance, his body becoming fully opaque once more.

---------------

Ainz walked towards the camp's wooden entrance as he observed the wooden structures closely. They weren't properly fortified and he could spot many weaknesses and gaps in their defenses that if he wanted to, he could've used and abused for this little attack.

Unfortunately, he plans on doing things a bit more differently.

He first wanted to test his immunities, to be more precise, if they still function as normal despite the foreign situation he is in and their… evolution.

If he was in Yggdrasil right now, his newly evolved immunities after his ascension to a World Enemy would result in his new {High-Tier Physical Immunity V} would nullify all attacks at level 80 or below from the former level 60 cap. While his {High-Tier Magic Immunity V} would nullify all spells from the 8th tier and below from the former 6th tier cap.

And while they are excellent lore-wise considering what it means to be a World Enemy, it wouldn't matter much in the glory days of Yggdrasil where most of those who choose to attack World Enemies are almost always level 100… with the few exceptions of course. 

Such as that one guild in the past that believed in 'quantity over quality' and attempted to attack the World Enemy known as the "Celestial Lord of the Sixth Heaven" using over two hundred players. And while it would have been not only doable but also easy had they all been at level 100, as there is no size limit to how many players can raid any World Enemy, most of those players were apparently at level 70 or below.

And to no one's surprise, they failed miserably and suffered massive losses as a result. And not only that, once the shitty devs realized what had happened, they humiliated them even further for their folly by publicly releasing the identities of the players who participated in that shitshow and with their actual levels to boot at the time of the raid.

Suffice to say, all the trolls and PKs had a field day with this information by finding the poor bastards and killing them over and over till all of them reached level 1 once again and some even chose to quit the game as a result…

'I'm getting side-tracked again…' Ainz attempted to shake off the amusing memory as he began to refocus on the current task he is undertaking. 'I don't know if my immunities regarding attacks and spells would even function anymore, let alone if my other skills also work or not. But…' Ainz looked towards the watch towers as the hilichurl archers, some of whom seem to have manes and masks denoting their elements, realized his presence, warning their friends while beginning to charge their crossbows, with regular or elementally infused bolts.

'Now's as good a time as any.'

---------------

While Niddhogr, or Kuyo, was looking at the scene in front of her with mild interest. Amber and Paimon were completely shocked.

Here was Ainz, standing in the middle of the hilichurl camp, unharmed and unfazed as all the hilichurls attempted to inflict damage on the masked mage, who was standing amidst the barrage of bolts, clubs, axes and elemental attacks. As all of these attacks seem to either bounce off of him or are seemingly absorbed by an invisible barrier around his person.

'Is this another one of his spells?' The two natives of this world thought at the same time, as they could only look with awe at another one of the man's powerful and unusual spells. Yet the direction of their thoughts became different.

Paimon was amazed by Ainz's power, and could only wonder what else he was capable of.

'Maybe Ainz has a spell to make delicious food for Paimon too?' The gluttonous fairy thought within the confines of her mind as she watched her new undead companion cup his masked chin while the hilichurls began to desperately try to inflict any amount of harm on him. And while she attempted to swerve her mind into thinking about food as she was sure they would never be able to do anything in the process - courtesy of the information Kuyo gave her about Ainz and herself -, she can not help but worry if there is a limit to his spell and he might get hurt.

Amber however, was afraid. Not for him, but of him. 

'He can turn invincible at will, talk with people telepathically, and is now unharmed by the attacks of others. I did understand at one point that he must be powerful since he's accompanied by that… woman.' Amber gave a slight look at the horned woman beside her, who was holding the smaller girl in her arms. 'It's a good thing that he's at least on my side… right?'

Yet, as if to shatter her mind more than he already did. Ainz decided to do something more horrifying and terrifying.

The man stopped stroking his masked chin as he looked at the hilichurls who were still attempting to futilely injure him. Yet, before any of them or Amber could comprehend. The mage punched one of the axe wielding metachurls in the face.

No, it wasn't a simple punch. Where there once was the mask and horns of a metachurl surrounded by fur, a hole the size of the Overlord's hand is present in the newly made corpse of the monster. Fragments of the mask and the shattered horns flew from the impact of the punch. Bits and pieces of flesh and brain matter along with blood spraying like a geyser from the corpse landed on the other side resembling a macabre soup on the ground.

Amber wasn't unfamiliar with terrible sights, both due to her duty forcing her to sometimes get up close and personal with her enemies instead of defeating them with arrows. Yet she couldn't help herself from turning green as she felt shivers crawling up her spine at Ainz's show of strength.

Paimon however, seeing Ainz's physical prowess in action, clutched the clothes of Nidhoggr tightly in fear as she began to quiver. She couldn't exactly explain why, but seeing Ainz casually annihilate a metachurl in one punch brought out a mixture of fear, disgust, shock and awe within her. And seeing the Overlord's next actions peaked those emotions within her even further.

Slowly, the man removed his gauntlet from the corpse of the metachurl, watching it silently drop to the ground like a puppet whose strings have been cut. And just before any of the hilichurls could react to the sudden death of one of their members. Ainz extended his arm and silently cast another of his spells.

'[Summon Mid-Tier Undead: Death Knight!]' Slowly a blob of a tar-like substance formed mid-air, yet unlike the summoning of the Undine, the blob slowly descended towards the corpse of the headless metachurl and enveloped it.

After which, the covered corpse began to rise as it slowly grew in height and began to morph into the silhouette of a being that was most certainly not a metachurl.

And as the tar-like substance receded, it left in its wake a creature that could only be considered as the physical manifestation of violence itself.

The creature stood at nearly 2 meters tall with a crooked body, its black armor was outlined with many red bloodlines across and was adorned with numerous sharp thorns, with two jagged demonic horns protruding from the black helmet.

In one hand the monstrous being held a large flamberge and in the other it held a tower shield that's nearly as tall as it. Both of which emit waves of red and black fog. Yet the greatest surprise was the being's characteristics. The monster had a disgusting rotten face with empty eye sockets that, even without eyeballs, seem to emit hatred and killing intent for all that is living.

It was, in other words, the physical manifestation of violence and carnage. And as it fully formed, the creature emitted a soul-shattering roar that caused all those who witnessed it, sans Kuyo and Ainz, to feel despair at the sight of the creature, regardless if they were human or monster.

Ainz, the mage who summoned this being, was also shocked, but for very different reasons.

'Eeeehhhh?! It took over an actual corpse?! It never did that in the game! I mean, I understand the aesthetic, since necromancy's whole gig is to use the corpses of your enemies to bolster your own forces, but still!'

Ainz, having overcome his shock, without his trusty skill's intervention thankfully, sighed audibly at the situation. Which to the onlookers, seemed as if the mage was disappointed by the hilichurl's fear of the creature he summoned, increasing the amount of awe Amber and Paimon held for the man, along with their newly born fear of his power.

'Ah well… I still feel able to summon them without using corpses, so it's not as if I'm forced to use corpses to summon undead now, and… Oho~ It seems that my new levels boosted the strength of my summons more, the death knight's stats are even larger than the last time I used them! And that's with my passives only! I wonder what would happen if I were to actively use other spells and skills on top of that? Would they get even stronger than this? …Food for thought, but for now, let's finish the job.'

The masked Overlord, having reached a conclusion to this new aspect of his magic and his newly improved skills, looked towards the hilichurls once more, causing them to flinch and shiver in fear, as he pointed his finger towards them and spoke in a cold tone.

"Death Knight, dispose of them."

And disposing of them he did.

----------------

To say that Paimon and Amber were afraid would be an understatement, because now, there are no possible words that could describe what they felt at this moment seeing the so-called 'Death Knight' kill, no, slaughter the hilichurls with manic glee eminent from the undead creature's form.

Where they saw Ainz casually beheading a metachurl with a punch as extremely violent, the Death Knight's macabre demonstration of its skill showed them just how wrong they were.

The axe-wielding metachurls were the first to overcome their fear as they attempted to put up one last fight, a futile thing to do, and went on to attack the Death Knight , followed by their shield-wielding brethren.

Yet it was nothing to the creature, who used its oversized flamberge to not only cleave the iron axes in two, but the bodies of their wielders as well. Some got quicker deaths as the Death Knight beheaded them or cleaved their heads in half vertically, yet the rest suffered for longer as the Death Knight cut their torsos in half with extremely quick speed. And all that remained was the metachurls who suddenly felt unable to feel their lower bodies only to find themselves tumbling down to the ground, their lower halves standing for a short while before falling down as well, giving their previous owners a few agonizing moments of witnessing their own entrails falling out of their bodies, before they breathed their last.

The shield-wielding metachurls were the next to attack, attempting to use their large wooden shields to bash the death knight, only to find themselves unable to even move as the monster was unfazed by their attempts. Only to respond in kind and use its tower shield on the metachurls as well, the difference was, when the Death Knight did it, the metachurls were hurled high up into the sky, them and their shields.

As they fell, most of them died on impact, yet one metachurl survived the sky trip and was moaning in deep pain, which the death knight was happy to stop, but not in a quick way. Using its shield, the death knight used it instead of its flamberge as a cleaver, bashing its lower edge on the body of the metachurl, causing the poor creature to scream in pain as it felt its body being separated in half by the monster's action, before death finally claimed it, and it knew pain no more.

The smaller hilichurls, having witnessed the death of their larger brethren, attempted to escape as the dendro and geo samachurls attempted to stall the monster till the younger hilichurls escape, yet it was to no avail.

The death knight cleaved through the dendro vines and simply broke through the geo constructs, before killing, or rather, crushing the samachurls under foot, their small size playing no small part in their demise as most of their bodies disappeared under the undead abomination's foot. 

The death knight having nearly finished the job, disappeared into a dark mist, reappearing in front of the hilichurls as it gave a blood-curdling roar, terrifying the hilichurls, who attempted to raise their clubs and crossbows in a hurry to attack the monster. Yet what could they do when faced against something their stronger and wiser members couldn't scratch, let alone defeat? Half of the club-wielding hilichurls were the first to go as a simple swing of the large flamberge was able to execute many of their members, leaving a macabre scene of hilichurl guts, blood and bones strewn about on the grass, tainting it a permanent red.

The rest, seeing the situation caused by the monster once more, lost all hope to even respond to their fight-or-flight instincts as they fell to their knees and dropped their weapons in abject horror, hoping for a quick end.

A thing that they will be denied from the very beginning.

A scream erupted from one of the hilichurls causing all the still remaining living hilichurls to flinch as they saw a horrifying sight, one even more so than that of the death knight.

What they once saw as their elders, were nothing more than mere monsters as the crushed samachurls that were once dead were now seemingly feasting on one of the remaining survivors, who was still alive throughout the entire process. And with the samachurls' masks being broken, the hilichurls were able to see what was once behind it. Rotten faces, similar to that of the large abomination that killed them, was what replaced the faces of the samachurls. And while no hilichurl saw the true face of another or even their own, they instinctively knew that was not how they were supposed to look like, as what replaced what would have been once a face of a living being, was the rotten caricature of a head, with empty sockets and a full set of tainted-black teeth, with not lips, nose, or any other feature to speak of.

And it was not only them, the metachurls, who were also supposedly dead as well, arose from the dead state, though not complete.

Crawling on the ground with surprising speed, were the upper bodies of the cleaved metachurls, some still carrying their axes and fragmented shields, some not, some with their masks intact, others not as the similar abhorrent faces of the samachurls replaced theirs as well.

The metachurls used their axes and broken shields to kill their former brothers and sisters, while the ones unmasked joined in the samachurls' macabre banquet as they also joined in and devoured the still alive hilichurls.

And for a few moments, nothing was to be heard except for the screams of agony, the swinging of axes and shields and the tearing of flesh and bones, before nothing else remained except for the groaning of the undead hilichurls and the soft winds.

--------------------

"Elder Overlord":

Many are familiar with the Overlords, the ancient beings who serve as the commanders and kings of the undead. Yet even among these wondrous and terrifying entities, exists an "Elder". One only existing in rumours, said to be the one who sits even above the Overlords as their king and god. Seen by all the rest as being the "First" of the Undead race. An entity never before witnessed by any in Yggdrasil till its rebirth, and following the fight between the Guildmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown and the Devourer of the Nine Worlds, will never be known.