Barrett pushed through the smoke-filled arena, running toward EeDechi in the center. He asked with concern, "Captain, how are you holding up?"
Barrett could see it now—this "spar" was nothing but ruthless fighting. The group from the Great Tomb of Nazarick was brimming with malice, and if EeDechi lost the next "spar," not only would the captain be doomed, but he'd be done for too.
At some point, EeDechi had strapped her giant sword to her back. Fresh from the fierce battle, she lowered her eyelids, breathing slow and steady, without even lifting her head, and shot back, "What about the vitality potions in your spatial ring?"
This was the first time EeDechi had ever asked for a magic potion. Barrett, hearing this, quickly pulled three orange-yellow glass bottles from his spatial ring and handed them over.
These three bottles were the top-shelf vitality potions he'd bought at a steep price. Just half a bottle could make a dying white-haired old man leap out of bed, grab a two-handed sword, and go toe-to-toe with an ancient dragon.
The potion master who'd sold them to Barrett had bragged, "Take five drops with a dropper, and I guarantee you can bang ten hot moms all night without running out of steam."
Even though the potion's effects were downright miraculous, Barrett had never tested it out. Stuff this valuable was for adventurers to save their skins in life-or-death moments—it couldn't be wasted on fooling around in bed. Of course, the other reason was that Barrett couldn't round up ten hot moms anyway.
The orange vitality potion came in fancy glass bottles, and even the stopper wasn't some ordinary cork plug, but a glass cap enchanted to keep it fresh.
EeDechi grabbed one bottle, opened her wide mouth, and chomped right through the glass stopper, cracking the bottle's rim along with it and sending shards flying everywhere. She tilted her head back and gulped down the liquid in one go, then did the same with the other two bottles.
Barrett watched her savage moves with his heart pounding, only breathing easy once he confirmed her mouth lining was as tough against blades and bullets as her skin.
EeDechi spat out a mouthful of glass bits, wiped the orange liquid from her lips, and grumbled, "It doesn't taste like anything. This isn't fake, is it?"
"I'm not you—how could I end up with fakes?" Barrett said helplessly.
These were just ordinary potions brewed by ordinary mages. No matter how pricey or impressive the effects, for someone with earth-shaking power like EeDechi, drinking them was like tossing a pebble into the ocean—no ripple at all.
"I... I was just giving you the chance to handle the supplies. If the boss does everything, what's left for the underlings..." EeDechi was about to snap back at Barrett when the arena ground shook violently, like a heavily armored giant stomping forward, cutting her off.
Following the heavy footsteps, a burly, muscular silver figure appeared at one end of the arena. The figure stood a full eight feet(2.44 meters) tall, with protruding silver armor on its head, four arms, and a long tail studded with spikes.
He looked like a gigantic insect warrior, except his body wasn't covered in fragile chitin shells, but in gleaming, thick silver armor.
Cocytus, Ruler of the Frozen Rivers, guardian of the underground fifth layer of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, level 100. He wielded a total of twenty-one weapons and boasted the strongest attack power among Nazarick's four subordinates most skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
"The match is about to start—get out of here quick." EeDechi waved Barrett off with commanding poise, but got no response.
She turned her head and realized Barrett had already snuck off to hide behind the ruins of the spectator stands.
From behind the broken walls, Barrett poked out half his head and gave EeDechi a distant thumbs-up. "You got this!"
For the first time, EeDeChi experienced the speechless feeling Barrett had encountered many times before. She shook her head, drew the giant sword from her back, and stood facing the tall silver figure.
On the other side, Cocytus gripped a massive three-meter-long(9.84 feet) odachi, lowered his stance, and assumed the starting pose for an iaijutsu slash.
EeDechi's expression turned solemn. She pointed her left foot's toe forward, rotated her right foot outward at forty-five degrees to form a T-stance, gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, and held her sword in the fool's guard position.
Music filled the arena once more, but this time it wasn't the frenzied Megalobox—it was Sword of the Stranger - Rasatsu No En.
Ainz, hovering in mid-air, declared with authority. "Just like last time, the match ends when the music stops."
He could see that EeDechi showed little sign of exhaustion—the tag-team approach probably wouldn't bring her down, so he didn't bother giving Cocytus too many orders.
EeDechi and Cocytus each gripped their weapons, slowly shifting their feet as they circled each other in a tense standoff.
As a drumbeat hit, both exploded forward in a charge. The giant sword smashed hard into the great odachi, a shockwave erupting from the clash, whipping EeDechi's loose black clothes into a frenzy of flapping and whipping sounds.
EeDechi clenched her giant sword with both hands and shoved upward with all her might. Cocytus, using his height to his advantage, bore down with the great odachi like an unyielding wall. The two were like a pair of raging bulls locked in a brutal shoving match!
The adventurer captain's frame was barely 1.7 meters (5.58 feet) seven, looking almost scrawny next to Cocytus's 3 meters (8 feet) bulk, but she didn't give an inch. Her feet rooted to the ground, cracking the battered floor into spiderweb fractures.
Just when it seemed they'd be stuck in a deadlock forever, things took a sudden turn!
Cocytus had four arms total—two gripping the odachi and pressing EeDechi down, but his other two free arms suddenly conjured a massive halberd and a two-meter-long(6.56 feet) katana. With blades flashing, the weapons hacked straight at EeDechi's waist!
As EeDechi looked set to be sliced in half, she bellowed fiercely, her black eyes blazing like fire, veins bulging in her arms.
Martial Art·Hegemon Lifts the Cauldron!
The adventurer captain heaved her giant sword up, actually flipping the towering Cocytus right over!
Cocytus's silver form tumbled and landed in a half-crouch. He shifted the great odachi to his right hand, while his left produced a naginata. Now all four of his arms clutched weapons.
The gigantic insect warrior stepped forward, swinging the great odachi, naginata, halberd, and katana all at once. Chilling blade shadows rippled out, sweeping and slashing from every angle like a storm of metal closing in on EeDechi.
EeDechi faced the impenetrable whirlwind of blades with a serious look on her face.
She hefted her giant sword, striking like lightning—hacking, thrusting, parrying—clashing against the blades of the metal storm. She fought while falling back, her form darting swift as the wind, like a streak of black light weaving around all sides of the silver tempest.
To outsiders watching the match, it looked full of close calls. One slip from EeDechi and she'd be sucked into the silver whirlwind of blades, while Cocytus seemed on the verge of having his defenses shattered by the fierce thrusts and slashes of her giant sword. But in truth, neither was going all out in a fight to the death, so the battle dragged on for quite a while.
As the last distant, lingering flute note faded away in the arena, the music ceased to flow. Cocytus and EeDechi clashed one final time before standing face to face.
"Your martial skills are impressive," Cocytus said in a deep, rumbling voice as he sheathed his odachi. "We should spar again sometime."
"You're not bad yourself. Swinging all those blades around—pretty scary stuff." EeDechi remained cool as a cucumber, though her tone showed she wasn't scared in the least.
...
Deep underground in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Albedo—who should have been attending at Ainz's side—stood facing an iron-barred window, her usually haughty golden eyes now filled with wary caution.
Behind the bars was a spacious bedroom, where a tall, striking woman with fiery red hair was... rolling around on the floor.
The red-haired woman tumbled back and forth across the ground, whining in a cutesy, pleading tone: "Oh come on, Albedo, my dear sister, pretty please? Sebas and Cocytus are having such a blast out there—let me join in for a fight too! You guys get to roam all over the world, but I'm stuck here in the Great Tomb forever. It's so boring!"
Faced with this ridiculous scene, Albedo didn't crack a smile. She kept a straight face and said, "Rubedo, Lord Ainz has ordered that you're not to move about freely, and certainly not to be sent out. Just stay put right here."
The rolling red-haired woman gradually slowed to a stop. She lay flat on the ground, her waist slumping like she'd completely deflated. Then she let out a pitiful "Wah..." whimper, her body springing up like a coil as she lunged straight at the window. Even Albedo outside the bars jumped back a step in fright.
The red-haired woman grabbed two iron bars on the window, yanking the arm-thick rods bent with one pull. She stuck her head through the gap, facing Albedo's furious expression, and her crimson tongue darted out to lick her lips.
"I have a feeling you'll need me. One day, I'll get out of here."