At the same moment, Albedo charged at Riezel again, her battle-axe glowing with an ominous light.
Seeing this, instead of feeling anxious or panicked, Riezel smiled—smiled with an extra sense of joy, an overwhelming excitement.
'Looks like I gotta bring out my real skills this time...'
A sword instantly appeared in Riezel's hand, and from it, intense heat began to radiate.
Meanwhile, almost simultaneously, everyone from the Great Tomb of Nazarick, including Ainz, noticed the unusual sword in Riezel's hand.
Even though the sword's appearance wasn't much different from the one Riezel had just used, except for the red cracks running along the blade and a unique pattern that looked almost divine near the cross-guard, the blade seemed to glow with a red light, clearly much more powerful than the previous sword—a weapon far beyond compare.
Additionally, the sword emitted an extremely high temperature, which could be felt clearly, making the surrounding air rise by several degrees.
Such an unusual sword made Ainz and the others' expressions grow more serious.
'A legendary-class item... No, could it be a divine-class item?'
Ainz truly wanted to use 'All Appraisal Magic Item' to examine Riezel's sword since this magic could identify any magic items, giving the caster specific information about the item being examined, but due to the distance and the previous event where he got slashed, he didn't want to risk getting closer to Riezel.
Even though, as a skeletal undead, Ainz had a high resistance to slashing attacks—which was why he had remained unharmed after Riezel's previous powerful strike—if what Riezel used was really a divine-class item, the damage would likely not be something his resistance could easily handle.
Especially the high temperature emanating from the sword—it made Ainz cautious.
Undead were well-known to be highly vulnerable to holy attribute attacks, but they didn't have much resistance to fire attribute attacks either, so beings like Ainz and Shalltear, as undead, not only needed to be wary of holy attribute attacks but were also highly cautious of fire ones.
Now, the sword in Riezel's hand clearly gave Ainz the strong impression that it was a fire attribute magic weapon.
'Isn't he more skilled in the lightning attribute?'
Ainz quickly recalled the information Shalltear had brought back.
Shalltear had provided a wealth of useful information to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, revealing much about Riezel's abilities.
He was skilled in lightning attribute attacks, excelled even more in close combat, and was a master of the sword.
He could use magic from various systems and could also employ multiple Metamagic Enhancements.
He had an extremely high resistance to fire attribute attacks, was also resistant to negative attribute attacks, and could even be immune to various negative effects, ignoring debuffs from various magic.
In game terms, Riezel was an incredibly versatile character with few weaknesses.
Regardless, what truly surprised Ainz was that Riezel could actually nullify his instant-death magic, True Death, completely, which was 9th-Tier Magic.
First and foremost, Ainz was a necromancy-specialized magic caster.
Unlike Riezel, whose success rate when using instant-death magic against stronger individuals was very low, Ainz had special skills and racial abilities that enhanced his instant-death magic, so even against opponents of the same level or those stronger than him, he could ensure a higher success rate for instant death.
Yet, in such circumstances, Riezel could actually ignore his instant-death magic effortlessly.
Such a fact made Ainz reassess just how tricky Riezel's existence was, making him quickly adjust his strategy in his mind, deciding not to use magic that caused negative effects but to switch to direct frontal attacks.
However, Riezel now started to undergo a change not mentioned in Shalltear's information.
Riezel, supposedly specializing in a lightning attribute as mentioned by Shalltear, not only equipped a weapon that seemed to be a divine-class item with a fire attribute, but his breathing rhythm had also changed.
It became more powerful than before.
It became hotter than before.
It became fiercer than before.
"Huuu... Haaa..."
Even though he was on the verge of being hit by Albedo's giant battle-axe, a genuine World Item, Riezel ignored it completely, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply as if its intensity could tear apart his lungs, pulling in a vast amount of air.
With the massive intake of air, the aura emanating from Riezel's body gradually changed.
Before, Riezel had given off a mysterious vibe—powerful yet conspicuous, but with no aura or presence, like a great dragon lying in wait, filled with contradictions from head to toe.
Now, however, it was as if that dormant great dragon had awakened, making Ainz feel somewhat uneasy.
In a fleeting moment, Ainz felt as if he saw a bright sun rising from the darkness, and soon, an overwhelming sense of danger abruptly flooded his heart.
"WAIT! ALBEDO!"
Overcome with a bad premonition, Ainz couldn't help but anxiously shout out to Albedo, who was charging at Riezel.
Unfortunately, by the time he spoke, it was too late.
"DIE, LOWLY CREATURE!"
Albedo swung her pitch-black giant battle-axe down upon Riezel with incredible force, its blade glowing with a dark light as it aimed for his head.
Needless to say, if anyone had tried to block this blow with a weapon, it would have been destroyed in an instant, and their head would have been shattered like a watermelon by Albedo's battle-axe. Given this, Riezel should have realized this after the previous clash, and logically, he wouldn't try to directly face her with a weapon anymore.
However, just as everyone thought this, Riezel, still with his eyes closed, suddenly raised his burning sword and held it out in front of him, blocking Albedo's attack.
*DING—!!!*
As the giant battle-axe came down like a meteor falling from the sky, crashing into the sword Riezel had raised with terrifying force, the impact rang out in the night air with a resounding metal collision, sending a shockwave-like gust of wind surging around him and Albedo.
If this shockwave had spread across the ground, it would have completely shattered everything within a radius of several hundred meters, leaving behind a deep crater.
Meanwhile, at the center of the shockwave, Riezel remained unmoved, his eyes closed as he held Hermit, taking Albedo's overwhelming strike head-on with a steady, calm stance.
What was surprising was that the sword in Riezel's hand wasn't even scratched, let alone cracked.
"What?!"
Albedo exclaimed with a stunned expression.
Just then, Riezel finally spoke up, his tone calm and light.
"Looks like even against a World Item with quality surpassing first-class equipment, the Durandal attribute still takes effect, huh..."
Riezel slowly opened his eyes, and in those eyes, gleaming with a transparent glow, a flicker of flame danced within.
"GET BACK! ALBEDO!"
Ainz's anxious shout reached Albedo's ears, but it was too late.
*WHOOOSH—!!!*
As a terrifying heat burst forth from Riezel's body, accompanied by scorching flames, Hermit, tracing a nearly perfect circular arc, was enveloped in flames that seemed capable of purging everything.
Like the sun, the sword appeared in front of Albedo in an instant, slashing toward her.
"Sun Breathing - First Form - Dance."
A slash akin to the arc of the sun cut through the entire night sky, banishing the darkness and the ominous aura surrounding it.
*Psssss—!*
Before Albedo could even react, the perfectly circular strike pierced through her armor and effortlessly cut through her flesh.
*Splurt!*
In an instant, blood shot out from Albedo's body.
"AAAAAAAARGHHHHH—!!!"
As Albedo let out a tragic scream, Ainz felt his chest explode, stirring emotions within him like a violent eruption.
"Triplet Maximize Magic - Call Greater Thunder!"
Usually calm as an undead, Ainz shouted a magic chant filled with fury, clearly unable to suppress his intense emotions.
In an instant, three enormous lightning bolts, as if condensed from numerous strands of lightning, fell from the sky and struck Riezel.
*BOOM!*
With a roaring sound, the lightning bolts pierced through Riezel's body, engulfing him entirely, but instead of bringing Ainz any joy, this scene made his instincts scream danger, causing him to panic.
No choice.
As soon as the lightning bolts struck Riezel, Paranormal Intuition, the magic Ainz had cast before, was triggered, amplifying his sense of impending doom.
"Greater Teleportation!"
Ainz cast teleportation magic without hesitation, and at the same time, Riezel's figure appeared behind him like a mirage, carrying the flames of the sun.
"Sun Breathing - Fourth Form - Fake Rainbow."
Using the flickering flames of the sun to hide his presence, Ainz had no idea when Riezel had sneaked behind him, delivering a slash wrapped in blazing flames.
Unfortunately, by this time, Ainz had already used teleportation magic and vanished from his original spot, causing Riezel's fiery slash to miss.
Regardless, the missed slash didn't faze Riezel in the slightest.
As soon as Riezel realized his strike had missed, he immediately cast teleportation magic like Ainz.
"Greater Teleportation."
Riezel, who had disappeared from his original spot, reappeared in the next moment, and in front of him, Ainz's figure appeared just in time.
"What?!"
Seeing Riezel suddenly appear before him, Ainz exclaimed in panic—if he had a human face, it definitely would have turned pale in shock.
Riezel, already transformed into a figure of flames, rushed toward the now-close Ainz.
"Sun Breathing - Seventh Form - Sunflower Thrust."
Riezel unleashed a horizontal thrust, so fast it was like a meteor burning with fire, flames forming concentric rings around his sword and scorching everything it touched.
*WHOOSH—!*
Ainz, having no way to avoid it, took the full brunt of the fiery attack head-on.
"AAAAAAAARGHHH—!!!"
Ainz instantly let out an agonizing cry of pain.
As a skeletal undead, although Ainz should have been completely immune to slashing or piercing attacks, the flames carried by Riezel's strike felt as though they could purify evil itself.
As a result, when Riezel's strike hit Ainz's body, it felt as though he was about to melt, causing him to experience an indescribable and excruciating pain.
"LORD AINZ!"
"NO!"
"STOP!"
Shalltear, Demiurge, and Cocytus, completely unable to keep up with the situation, yelled in a mix of anger and shock as they witnessed this.
"Purifying Javelin!"
"Hell Flame!"
"Acalanatha Strike!"
All three Floor Guardians unleashed terrifying attacks in unison, launching a divine javelin with a purifying and holy aura, pitch-black inferno flames, and a shockwave-like slash—all aimed at Riezel.
Sadly, all they received in return were even fiercer flames.
"Sun Breathing - Eleventh Form - Sun Halo Dragon Head Dance."
As these words resounded, a dancing fire dragon appeared, making the entire world light up.
Burning with intense flames, the fire dragon flew through the night sky, scorching the air as it swept toward the three Floor Guardians.
*Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!* *Pu-chi!*
With three consecutive cutting sounds, the fire dragon passed by Shalltear's side, then Demiurge's side, and finally Cocytus's side, as though biting through their flesh, leaving each of them with a huge wound and a large amount of blood spraying out.
""AAAAAAAARGHHH—!!!""
In that instant, their painful screams echoed through the sky.