World Enemies in Teyvat

As the macabre feast of the dead ended, Ainz looked around as he studied the situation, which, contrary to anyone's expectations, was quite grisly even for someone like him, as a former human from the post-apocalyptic Neo-Japan of the 22nd century.

'This is… worrying. If I was still a human, seeing such sights would have made me hurl or at least make me feel sick. Even if I were to chuck it up to me being a literal undead with no stomach to begin with. I don't even feel anything when seeing something so gruesome…'

Ainz looked at his gauntleted hands and as he felt his boney hands within them, his thoughts spiralling at the revelation. 'I know I'm undead, but how much of me is still human? Am I even still Suzuki Satoru inside or am I just the undead necromancer Momonga with the memories of the Japanese Salaryman? Am I really who I think I am, or just a cosmic fluke and the real Suzuki died?' 

His thoughts began burrowing deeper and deeper into the subject, before his skill, {Emotional Suppression}, made its presence available once more, leaving him with only one question in mind.

'Who am I?'

Fortunately, before his thoughts could spiral down once again, the sound of soft footsteps from the direction of the forested area became clear.

Looking back, he saw the faces of the three females, one of whom, Kuyo, seemed to drool as she gazed at the undead hilichurls for some unknown reason. While Paimon and Amber's faces showed the reaction Ainz expected of himself to have when he saw how the undead churls cannibalized their former friends. They were both shocked, mortified, disgusted, and afraid.

Probably of the Death Knight and the undead hilichurls, and most definitely of him as well, as the two's eyes were quivering while their faces were a shade of green as they saw the grotesque remains of the undead dinner.

Paimon, who was held by Kuyo during the process, released herself from the lazy half-hearted hold of the dragon and slowly floated towards Ainz, her subconscious mind nearly causing her to look at the bloody remains of the poor hilichurls as she tried to force herself to only look at Ainz. Resulting in her forgoing the feelings of sickness in exchange for fear as her image of Ainz began to warp in her mind after the ugly demonstration of his strength and power.

"A-ainz… W-what are those… things?" The fairy pointed in the general direction of the Death Knight and the undead hilichurls.

The Overlord sighed at the expected question, and felt grateful for it as it helped swerve his mind from an ongoing identity crisis, before turning towards the trio and pointing towards the Death Knight.

"This is a Death Knight, one of the many beings I can create using my magic, and is very loyal to me, so you should have no fear of it going rogue or attacking you." As the Player said this, in hopes of assuaging any fears the two Teyvat natives may presumably hold about the death knight. It instead made them secretly more frightened of the physical embodiment of violence, as they traded the fear of what the unknown monster is with the fear of being killed by it and suffering the same fate as the hilichurls.

The Overlord, unaware of what he had done, pointed towards the undead hilichurls, who were constantly groaning and shifting in place. With some still having the entrails of their former comrades on their faces as proof of their latest meal, making the already wicked creatures look even more terrifying.

"As for these, they are called Squire Zombies, the thralls brought back by the Death Knight to serve it eternally." Ainz said with a matter-of-fact tone, as if it's the most obvious of knowledge in the world. Which, all things considered, is technically true. 

The Death Knights were one of the most common summons to be seen in Yggdrasil, partly due to them being a mid-tier undead summon, and due to their popularity also playing a factor in this. They are a level 35 summon, with the offensive stats of a level 25 and the defensive stats of a level 40. Of course, when considering that Ainz and his common foes were always in the range of level 90 to 100, such summons would be expected to not see much use, as logic dictates. But their two special skills more than make them viable even for end-game fights.

The first of the Death Knight's special skills is the ability to draw the hate, or the 'aggro' of any foe, forcing them to target the death knight instead of the summoner. The second of which is the ability to survive any fatal attack once with one HP remaining, regardless of what type of attack used, with the exception of World Items that is.

'Still, I am pleased to see that my new skills seemingly improved on the Death Knight's stats, it's on the level of a level 50 summon now, that's a 15 level increase! And it now has the defensive stats of a level 55 and the offensive stats of a level 40! And that's seemingly only from my new classes' passive skills buffing it, not to mention that I can use other means to buff it even further. Though…'

Ainz gave a look at the Death Knight as he recalled something weird occuring during its summoning, cupping his masked chin in the process.

'Why did it use a corpse in its summoning? I still feel able to summon them without one. But is there any difference between one summoned with and one without? Perhaps in autonomy? …No, that wouldn't make sense, the Undine was pretty much sentient and autonomous despite her summoning not using up any sort of catalyst in the process. Maybe the overall strength? No, that wouldn't make sense either, the increase in the Death Knight's stats was due to my new classes' skills, not from the corpse… maybe the period of summoning changed? Well, the only way to find out is to wait and see if it outlives the usual summoning period, so I can only wait.'

The Overlord nodded to himself as he looked at the shambling and groaning Squire Zombies.

'And it seems that they have increased in level too… They're level 25 now, so at least the rule of the squire zombies being half the level of the death knight still holds true. It's unfortunate that my skills don't directly affect them like the death knight. But I can settle for them being stronger than their former level 17 counterparts. Though I do wonder if the limit of how many Squire Zombies a Death Knight has at one time increased too or not. Shame that the Death Knight didn't personally kill all the hilichurls, the ones that he did were below the limit of what I already know…'

Ainz sighed in disappointment before he looked at the Death Knight, who, seeing his master sigh with such disapproval while looking at him, flinched slightly.

'I suppose I'll have to test that at a later date.'

Ainz began to walk back towards the female trio, and as he began to do so, he noticed Nidhoggr looking with a certain expression at the undead hilichurls, not a frown of disapproval or disgust, but… wait a moment, is that drool?

"Kuyo, are you alright?" Ainz asked the dragon, wondering why she was looking at the zombies that way.

The World Enemy looked at the larger being while her white tail was twitching. Her hungry expression was still ever present even as she looked at the Overlord, making the Player extremely worried.

'Oh God, what now? Why is she looking at me like that? Does she want to eat those hilichurls? Wait, does she want to eat me too?! No, what if…'

Fortunately, before Ainz could escalate the situation within his mind, Nidhoggr replied.

"I'm hungry." The World Devourer replied with a lackluster tone, as if she was stating something that is simply common sense.

"...Eh? Uh… Right… You're… hungry?"

"Mhm. You don't need these little brainless undead minions, right? So, can I eat them?"

The casualness of her request almost sent a shiver down Ainz's undead spine, yet when he thinks back again about who he's talking to right now, it starts to make sense, even if he's uncomfortable with said truth.

"Er… Sure, go ahead, just don't eat the Death Knight, alright?"

The World Devourer nodded with a small smile one would not expect her to adorn her face with before she set her gaze back on the poor undead, unaware of their upcoming misfortune.

The woman slowly opened her mouth wide… and wider… and wider… till her head nearly split into two as her mouth became a monstrous and unproportionally wide open maw, filled with rows upon rows of sharp teeth, and in the middle was her cavernous throat, leading to what seemed like an unknown dimension and most certainly not the esophagus of a normal being.

Soon from within this terrifying visage, a tongue, or rather tongues, that seemed like tentacles filled as far as one can see with tiny spines, extended out of the orifice and in the blink of an eye grabbed all the undead hilichurls and raised them up in the air.

The undead, finally realizing their predicament, attempted to struggle free, scratching, biting and hitting the appendages holding them, but alas it was to no avail. Soon, the tentacle-like tongues began covering undead completely; head, torso and limbs all. And as the final creature was covered, the pair of Teyvat natives and the Overlord heard the disgusting crunch of bones and the tearing of flesh as the beings that the tongues were holding seemingly began to shrink, blood seeping from in between the tongues and falling to the blood tainted earth, and as they shrunk to a seemingly acceptable size, the tentacles with their targets retreated to the open waiting maw of the dragonoid, her mouth slowly reforming back to a normal shape, the only evidence of her recent devoured victims was the blooding dripping from her scarlet lips, contrasting greatly with her soft alabaster skin.

The woman closed her eyes as she began to slowly chew her food, her expression shifting from appeasement, to one of a frown, before reverting back to her usual neutral one.

Ainz looked at the morbid scene with curiosity and fascination, while Paimon and Amber…

*Bleeergh*

…were busy emptying out the contents of their stomachs.

Ainz was silent as the two Teyvatian natives were busy with what he was sure was something he would've done as well if he still had a stomach while looking curiously at Nidhoggr.

"Uh… are you alright, Kuyo?" Ainz asked the World Enemy cautiously who had an expression on her face similar to the ones food critics he saw on old cooking competitions videos back on Earth that they used to adorn when they were tasting food.

"Six out of ten."

"...Eh?" Ainz was stumped as he suddenly heard a rating from the woman, who didn't wait before she continued.

"The meat has a certain spicy taste that I enjoy, but it's less soft on the tongue and more chewy and stringy than what is acceptable normally, making it quite the unappealing meat specimen."

Nidhoggr finished her critique of the undead hilichurl meat as she materialized a napkin out of thin air and began wiping her lips and chins from the blood, her expression as dignified as ever. While the Overlord was busy opening and closing his jaws as he tried to comprehend what he was subjected to hearing, before his savior and newly found best friend, the {Emotional Suppression} skill, helped him to relax as usual.

"Umu… I see."

Ainz sighed slowly before turning towards the other two who were heaving and taking deep breaths near the puddles of bile and vomit, his gauntleted hands holding two towels he created using [Create Item], which the two took with appreciation, though with some hesitation and shaking from Amber.

A few moments passed as Ainz and Nidhoggr waited for the two to clean themselves up, which took a fair bit of time for the floating fairy who seemed like she would vomit again when looking at the scene of the crime, while Amber, courtesy of her own years in the Knights of Favonius, was able to recollect herself much quicker, even if she still seemed a bit more pale than usual.

"...S-sorry about that." Amber began. "I guess everything I… uh… just witnessed took a toll on me and I couldn't hold it back any longer." She said with a sigh and a deep breath as she burned the completely dirtied towel in her hands using her vision.

"Umu, it's no issue. I suppose my undead servants and Nidhoggr's… eating habits aren't something many people would get used to quickly." Ainz gave a small chuckle as he saw how dazed Paimon seemed, wobbling in the air as if she'd drop at any moment.

"Well, I suppose with the threat now gone, we can continue on our way to Mondstat?" Ainz said as he pointed with his hand towards the direction of the city.

Amber nodded slowly as she began making her way through the rocky road, a bit more hesitation in her step, as she was followed by the pair of World Enemies and their fairy guide.

'I have to warn Jean about these guys as soon as possible, they're fine so far, disgusting slaughter and bad eating habits aside, but that power…'

Amber's hand gripped her belt ever so closely in nervousness.

'No mere mortal has that kind of power… Just what in the world are they?'

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

The undead overlord marveled as the city of wind and dandelions came into view, the towering windmills of Mondstat rotating ever so slowly, providing ample energy for the medieval like nation.

"Beautiful…" It was the only word Ainz can think of that can describe the sight before him as they entered through the city's gates with the Outrider. He could never witness such wondrous views on Earth due to the post-apocalyptic nature of his world. And while Yggdrasil had similar sights before, nothing could truly compare to the real deal like this.

Amber grinned a bit more brightly upon hearing Ainz's compliment towards her home. As one of the Knights of Favonius, seeing even outlanders complimenting her beloved city made her brim with pride.

"Let me officially introduce the city of wind, dandelions, and freedom. Travelers under the protection of the Knights of Favonius, welcome to Mondstat!" The outrider exclaimed with her hands spread on her sides as she faced the group with a warm smile, and as if on cue, a gentle gust of wind blew right by them as if to welcome them as well.

"Phew… Paimon thought we'd have to camp outside for the day!" The silver fairy, to Ainz and Kyo's amusement, wiped her brow of nonexistent sweat as she sighed in relief, before looking at her surroundings properly.

"But… the city folk don't exactly look too cheery."

Ainz looked around him as he silently agreed with Paimon, everyone he could see seemed tense and pensive, it reminded him of how Players would often look while preparing for an attack from another party or an NPC invasion event.

"Could this be related to the so-called Stormterror?" Ainz cradled his chin as he looked at Amber for an answer, who nodded with a grim before her countenance morphed into one of confidence not much afterwards.

"Yeah... But! Everything will be fine as long as Master Jean is with us!"

"Jean? Who's that?" Paimon tilted her head in confusion at the unfamiliar name.

"Ah, that would be the Acting Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius. With her by our side, even Stormterror will be no match for us."

Ainz hummed at Amber's clear confidence in regards to this superior of hers, which made him curious about her character. If it was him in regards to his own superiors back on Earth, unless he was being recorded or being forced to say such things for a raise, he wouldn't be caught dead praising any of them.

"Ah. But before I take you guys anywhere else, I have a gift for you two," Amber spoke with a small smile as she motioned for Kuyo and Ainz, which only earned Paimon's indignation.

"What about Paimon?! Why not her?!" The small fairy stomped her feet in the air furiously at the feeling of being left alone.

The Knight only chuckled for a moment as she waved her hands apologetically. "I don't think what I intend to give the two of them would be a good gift for you, Paimon. But I can treat you to a Mondstat local treat afterwards, Sticky Honey Roast, how about it?"

It didn't take long for Paimon to immediately shift gears, her mouth instantly salivating at the thought of the treat, which only made Ainz sigh exasperatedly while the World Devourer was merely curious about the taste of the local food now that it has been brought up.

"It's best if we get to higher ground for this, come with me you three." Amber motioned to the trio as she began walked up the stairs towards the fountain.

Ainz silently followed her along with the other two, though he couldn't help but feel the pensive stares of the locals digging holes straight through him, which made him feel a bit self conscious as he attempted to walk normally through the rows of shops that make up the plaza of the city.

The Devourer herself however, gave nary a single care towards their gazes on her person, her steps regal as ever as she walked behind the Elder Overlord.

As the group was lead through the city by Amber, Ainz took the opportunity to observe all the wondrous sights up close, from the magnificient fountain they walked past, to the arrangement of greenery and shrubbery throughout the city, and finally, the magnificent cathedral that he could now see all too well, its towers and stained glass a sight to behold.

And in front of this wonderous piece of human ingenuity, was a statue of stone depicting an angelic-like figure, his hands outstretched from within his robes with wings of rock and stone wrapped around him.

Ainz scrutinized the statue for a moment more than the other landmarks in the city. It was as exquisite as the rest, yet he couldn't help but feel the figure was familiar once more.

'Should I presume that this must be a statue of the Anemon Archon? Teh resemblance to the Statue of the Seven we found beforehand is quite clear. Yet why does it all seem familiar for some reason? I don't recall meeting the figure that the statues were modelled after, with the exception of… ah.'

As Ainz came to a conclusion in the depths of his mind, he had to halt his steps immediately as Amber stopped in her tracks a few kilometres in front of the statue.

"Here we are, this is as good a place as any to give it to you two." Amber grinned as she rummaged around in her small waist bag before pulling out two cube-like objects, handing them to the pair.

Ainz and Kuyo took the cubes from Amber's outstretched hand, fiddling with them as they observed the 'gifts'.

When suddenly, the box in Kuyo's hand fluttered open nearly immediately, and in her hands were a pair of artificial wings the colour of the earth.

Ainz hummed as the box in his hand showed a similar reaction, and a similar contraption was also laying in his large gauntleted hands. Though unlike the draconic woman, it was quite comical how small the pair of wings were in the Undead's hands.

Once the pair unveiled their gifts, the Outrider, not one to stay silent, spoke with happiness as she explained what she gave them.

"These here are one of the main attractions of Mondstat, wind gliders! You could use them to traverse great distances around Mondstat and even other nations."

Amber grinned as the pair stared at her silently, which only made her smile even wider as she thought they did so out of surprise for the gifts.

Unfortunately, reality wasn't so kind to her imagination.

"Miss Amber… I think your gifts are wasted on us…" Ainz informed the young Outrider with a hint of guilt as he watched her expression morph into confusion with every word he spoke.

"What do you mean? You don't have to worry about any hidden price or something, I make these myse-"

She couldn't even get to finish the sentence before Kuyo slowly unfurled her massive wings from behind her body. The sight making Amber's eyes along with the many citizens near Barbatos' statue widen in surprise.

Amber took a long hard moment to recollect herself as she was practically boring holes into Kuyo's extra appendages, her surprise and shock palpable as she watched the draconic limbs shake gently to and fro… is that a tail too?

"Ah… I… see…" Amber slowly said as she attempted to recollect herself. She supposes something like is to be expected at some point in her life to see. Mondstat does have its own demihuman citizens after all, such as the young alcohol-hating bartender Diona of the Cat's Tail, and even among their own knights such as the Assistant Alchemist Sucrose and even young Klee.

But never in her years in service to the city, even though they've haven't been that long to begin with in comparison to other knights, did she expect to see someone who had more than non-humanoid ears and tails, least of all dragon-like wings and a tail, along with those horns on her head.

What's next, they're going to reveal she's probably some dragon in disguise with scales under her armour too?

A few moments later, Amber recollected herself with a furious blush on her face as she attempted to clear her throat to hide her embarrassment.

"Sorry, I guess I just wasn't prepared for your guys' answer to be that, I don't think I ever met someone who had wings before in my life."

Ainz tilted his head in response to her words as Kuyo was busy hiding her white wings once more under her purple cloak. "What do you mean? Are airborne species' that rare in this wo- I mean, in Mondstat?"

Amber scratched the side of her head with a nervous chuckle. "I suppose so? The only ones who could fly as far as I remember in all of Mondstat are Stormterror and the occasional Anemo Vision wielder who could figure out how to do it briefly. I do recall hearing about other varied races out in Teyvat, though I don't exactly leave Mondstat enough to know about it…"

The World Enemy hummed with a hint of happiness as he absorbed the new piece of information he was given.

'I was honestly planning on pretending we own some relics we found in the past that give us the ability to fly, but Nidhoggr's stunt stopped that completely… Dammit, I was about to pull out [Mass Control Amnesia] and make everyone in this place forget what happened when she quickly took to showing off again! Haaaaah… though… Considering she saw me summon undead, should the ability to fly be that more rare?'

Ainz decided to test that by floating upwards imperceptibly, not enough for other passersby to notice without getting closer, but more than enough for Amber to have her eyes bulge with shock.

"As you can see, Miss Amber, I am also capable of flight. Though unlike Kuyo over here, what I use is more of a spell I have," he said as he slowly took to solid ground once again, the red black-hole-like eyes surveying each and every part of Amber's outward bodily expressions in hopes of gaining any more information no matter how small about such a revelation.

And to his surprise, Amber got close into his personal space as she held one of his hands tightly, her eyes practically overflowing with sparkles as she looked straight into Ainz's mask.

"Please teach me how to do that too!" She said while practically hopping on her two feet. "I always wanted to learn how to fly! Please? Please? Pretty pleaaaase?"

The Elder Overlord took a moment to recollect himself as Amber didn't stop pestering him for a response, her eyes filled with so much wonder and optimism, he felt guilty for what he was about to do.

Yet, even so, he couldn't stop the deep baritone chuckle released from his non-existent, his hand patting the Outrider's head with slight affection like a doting father as he broke the sad news to her.

"I must apologise, but I doubt my brand of magic could be learned by others, including you, Miss Amber," he put his hand up as Amber's bandana that emulated rabbit ears slumped down on her head, was that thing magical or something?

"But, we could test later if there are any chances for you to learn how to do it, how about it?"

Amber took a few good moments to recollect herself as she absorbed the man's words, before nodding as she took a few steps back. "Alright then! I'll hold you to that in the future."

The man nodded in response as he twirled the wing gliders in his hand, slowly figuring out how to revert it back to its conveniently portable form.

He attempted to hand it over to Amber as Kuyo did the same to the pair in her hands, though the young Knight stopped him with a hand raised. "You don't have to worry, you two can keep them as a gift nonetheless from me to you. Who knows, you might find a use for them in the future, or give them to someone in need later on!"

Ainz nodded with a hint of gratitude as he slowly tucked the object into his robes, and into his {Inventory}, the dragonoid doing the same with an exasperated sigh upon meeting the man's eyes, that even from behind his mask, exuded his intent well.

As the two put away the gifts they were given, the skies suddenly darkened as just as quickly, Stormterror came into view.

The beast roared as he flew close to the city and toppled one of the buildings, leading to all the citizens nearby and far to quickly flee the scene with panicked screams. The creature flew up above once more as he roared ferociously into the air, causing multiple tornados to come within the city.

Amber and Paimon sported worried expressions on their faces as the anemo-borne tornadoes began scattering, and destroying anything that got in their way.

"Amber."

The Outrider was quick to blink as she stared at Ainz in worry, only to find him, Kuyo and Paimon a few feet in the air. "Go and help the citizens, we'll deal with the… beast."

Not one for slow decisions, the Outrider of the Knights of Favonius nodded as she immediately began calling all nearby citizens to follow her to safety, the city folk immediately following her as the group of three took to the skies to the dragon.