*Cough!* *Cough!*
With two coughs, blood started to drip from Shalltear's lips, staining her chin and neck red.
At this moment, she had fully become a blood-soaked valkyrie—not only had her waist almost been severed, but she was bleeding severely, with blood also dripping from the corners of her mouth—her entire body was drenched in blood.
Adding to this, her armor, a full-body crimson set, gave her a truly tragic and fallen appearance.
Of course, her appearance was just a superficial reflection of her true suffering, as the real tragedy lay in her health points.
Now, her health points had dropped to the limit, nearly reaching zero, indicating that the negative life force within her was almost gone. Once it dissipated, she, as an undead, would immediately die.
For this reason, Riezel's declaration wasn't just a provocation or an act of arrogance, but simply the truth.
Her current situation made Shalltear realize just how dire her circumstances had become.
"Tch..."
Clearly, the fact that she had lost to a mere human was something she couldn't accept, making the anger and sadistic tendencies in her heart verge on exploding.
A True Vampire like her wasn't one to be trifled with, after all.
She was genuinely a ruthless and cruel monster inside and out, as proven by how, back in the northern forest of E-Rantel, she hadn't hesitated to rip apart the limbs of those bandits, decapitate them, and leave their bodies in pieces, creating a genuine sea of corpses and blood.
It went without saying that the only reason she could stay calm this time was merely that the painful memory of her previous failure was still deeply etched in her mind, but nonetheless, that didn't mean she had changed.
In other words, Riezel's declaration, Riezel's dominance, and Riezel's one-sided suppression had the power to ignite the darker side of her heart.
Naturally, this wasn't like when she had to retreat from the Slane Theocracy.
When she lost to the Black Scripture in the human city of the Slane Theocracy back then, it was not because she could not defeat them but because the retreat itself had been part of a plan set up by the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Because of that, she hadn't worn her full set of equipment at the time, and she had barely used any of her special skills or high-tier magic.
However, this time was different.
Except for a few special skills, she had used everything she had this time, yet Riezel had reduced her to this state—truly something she couldn't accept.
However—
'Collecting information about his strength and abilities... I guess this is pretty much done, right?'
Shalltear silently thought to herself, feeling that through this battle, she had witnessed Riezel's strength and learned about several of his abilities.
Under these circumstances, she believed her mission was almost complete.
'What about Demiurge? Is he still not done yet?'
Feeling her low health points, Shalltear grew a bit anxious.
'If you don't finish soon, I'll really have to start going all out, Demiurge!'
Shalltear's inner cry was, of course, unheard by Riezel.
Riezel simply saw Shalltear hovering before him with a fluctuating expression and seemingly had no intention of using her trump cards.
Realizing this, Riezel's smile instantly faded.
Truthfully, he really wanted Shalltear to go all out because that would be the most advantageous for him.
It was only natural since the stronger his enemy, the more excelia he would gain from defeating them. If Shalltear continued holding back and didn't use her full strength, even if he defeated her, the gains would be much smaller.
No risk, no reward, right?
If victory came too easily, there would be no chance of gaining much excelia.
Given that there weren't many strong individuals in this world, and now that he had rarely encountered one, he really wanted to maximize his gains, or else he wouldn't have dragged this fight on for so long.
Unfortunately, Shalltear was apparently still scheming something, unwilling to go all out by bringing out all her trump cards, which pushed his patience to the limit.
He really hated this kind of underhanded scheming.
What he preferred was a true, all-out battle, one where everything was on the line, where life and death could be decided in an instant, a fight that would make adrenaline surge, leaving the fighters uncontrollably excited.
Shalltear could clearly provide that, but unfortunately, in her efforts for Ainz's unknown schemes, she was willing to become battered and bruised, refusing to go all out to secure that final victory.
Such a calculated battle, to be honest, was starting to make him uncomfortable and somewhat pissed.
In that case—
*BOOM!*
*Bzzz—!!!*
A violent lightning suddenly erupted from Riezel's body, sending a blinding and terrifying lightning bolt shooting up into the sky, illuminating the already darkening night.
Amidst the thunder and lightning, the lightning bolt seemed to gain awareness, gathering toward the sword that Riezel had sheathed at some point.
"?!"
Shalltear was immediately awakened by this exaggerated celestial phenomenon, looking at Riezel, who was surrounded by countless lightning bolts that made him seem like a true god of thunder.
Soon, a deadly sense of crisis rose within Shalltear's heart, one so intense it almost made her feel both angry and terrified.
In fact, it wasn't just Shalltear—even Certain Death, hiding in the shadows, felt the same.
"Wh-What is that?"
Certain Death stared dumbfounded at Riezel, whose lightning phenomenon was causing such an incredible spectacle.
She felt her scalp tingle, her body shook uncontrollably, and a strong urge to run rose within her, making the power she had just accumulated by using several powerful Martial Arts almost collapse under the pressure.
Riezel, bathed in the dazzling lightning, gazed at Shalltear with an emotionless expression.
"If you don't plan to go all out, then die."
As soon as these words came out of Riezel's mouth, he lowered his body and slowly placed his hand on the sword at his waist.
"Huuu... Haaa..."
Riezel's breath seemed to turn into thunder itself, causing the lightning around him to surge with each exhale and inhale.
Seeing this, Shalltear instinctively realized one thing—the next strike would be earth-shattering.
If she didn't do something, she would definitely die.
Yes.
Die!
"Greater Teleportation!"
Shalltear cast high-tier teleportation magic without hesitation, preparing to escape from Riezel's attack range.
Unfortunately, her teleportation magic failed, making her furious.
She could feel an invisible wave of magical energy spread through the area, making the entire space feel as though it had frozen, preventing her from using teleportation magic.
'You kidding me?! Dimensional Lock?!'
Dimensional Lock was an 8th-Tier Magic that prevented teleportation magic from working within a certain range, locking the space and disabling teleportation abilities.
It was as if Riezel had anticipated that Shalltear would use teleportation magic to escape the battlefield, as he had already set up Dimensional Lock, sealing off the space in the area.
"Thunder Breathing - First Form..."
Riezel's whispered words slowly rang out, reaching the ears of the furious Shalltear.
Feeling Riezel's increasing power and the mounting sense of danger in her heart, Shalltear couldn't hold back anymore.
"Negative Impact Shield!"
Shalltear finally used one of her trump cards, a special skill that was both defensive and offensive.
In an instant, a shockwave surged like a storm, transforming into a dazzling, reddish-black wave of force that shot out from Shalltear's hand.
Riezel, however, remained completely unfazed, his expression as calm as a still lake.
"It's too late."
As soon as these words resounded, Riezel transformed into divine lightning.
"Thunderclap and Flash - Godspeed!"
*BOOOM—!*
In the thunderous roar that shook the sky, a lightning bolt more dazzling, more blinding, and more brilliant than any before shot up from the horizon, racing toward Shalltear like a lightning ray.
It seemed to tear through space, disturbing the invisible wave of magical energy that was locking the dimension.
It seemed to break through time, crossing the entire sky in an instant, moving so fast it was almost like a true beam of light.
Shalltear's Negative Impact Shield tried to block it, tried to stop it, but her Negative Impact Shield couldn't even catch up to the lightning ray as it left her Negative Impact Shield behind in the blink of an eye, bypassing it completely.
In the end, when the lightning ray reached Shalltear's face, her expression was still frozen in shock and fury—not even her vision, her senses, or her consciousness could keep up with its speed.
Ultimately—
*WHOOOSH—!*
A strike, raging like divine lightning from the heavens, rushed through in an instant.
*Bzzz—*
Riezel's figure appeared behind Shalltear, who was still holding her arm up as the lightning flickered and faded.
"..."
Time itself seemed to freeze for that one second.
*Schwing—*
Riezel slowly sheathed his sword, signaling the end of the battle.
Shalltear didn't turn around to look at Riezel but stood frozen, her pupils trembling violently.
At this moment, the emotions on her face were no longer just shock and fury—they were disbelief.
*Splurt—!*
Blood suddenly sprayed from the back of Shalltear's body, as if it were a delayed reaction.
Soon, a line of blood appeared, running down from the top of her head, extending down her entire body until it reached her crotch.
In the next second, her body split apart, evenly torn in two, falling to the left and right in opposite directions.
One slash, two halves!
"W-Won...?"
Certain Death, who had seen this scene with her own eyes, finally snapped out of the shock from the earth-shattering lightning and spoke in a tone full of disbelief, her eyes widening.
She stared at the young man, who was facing away from Shalltear, slowly sheathing his sword. As she looked at his calm, indifferent, and merciless face, her mind instinctively trembled.
"He... really won... alone..."
With a power so overwhelming that even she found it suffocating, he claimed an unquestionable victory.
For what had she come here?
Was her presence actually unnecessary?
Certain Death couldn't even begin to describe how she felt at this moment.
She only knew that she would likely never forget the figure standing in the sky, radiating with lightning.
Now, his figure had already become something no different from the god she worshipped in her heart.
Just as Certain Death's heart trembled while gazing at Riezel, who stood midair, sheathing his sword, a figure suddenly appeared behind him.
"Aspect of the Devil - Razor Sharp Claw!"
A devil with wings spread wide and claws extended lunged at Riezel's back, fierce and urgent.