At the northwestern edge of the continent, where the borders of the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Baharuth Empire, and the Slane Theocracy met, lay a vast grassland that Riezel had visited twice before.
More than two months had passed, and the grassland had changed since his last visit.
Now, the grassland was no longer the endless flat terrain but had many raised mounds of earth, with plants growing on top of these mounds that looked similar to the low, sharp leaves covering the rest of the grassland.
It almost seemed like they had always been there, giving the impression that the land around here had been shaped like this from the beginning, when in reality, that was not the case.
In fact, the terrain had been deliberately shaped by magic wielded by those from the Great Tomb of Nazarick to conceal Nazarick itself, which also lay beneath this very grassland.
Because of these mounds, the once expansive grassland had transformed into a land full of cover, making it impossible to spot any buildings in the area.
As a result, the graveyard above the Great Tomb of Nazarick was now surrounded by the mounds, hidden within. Unless one flew overhead and looked down, it was impossible to notice its existence.
Of course, even if one did fly overhead now, they still wouldn't see the graveyard above the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Why?
Because a magic barrier had already been cast in the sky above, it was impossible to see the Great Tomb of Nazarick's presence unless one approached closely enough.
With such heavy concealment, perhaps only those affiliated with the Great Tomb of Nazarick would know what lay here and how to enter their stronghold.
For this reason, when two figures appeared near the Great Tomb of Nazarick simultaneously, their identities were almost certain—they were definitely none other than those from Nazarick.
*Cough!* *Cough!*
Demiurge clutched his bleeding chest, unable to stop himself from coughing the moment he appeared.
"Are you alright?"
Cocytus supported Demiurge, whose body, which looked like a tough shell, had been completely shattered.
Nevertheless, although Cocytus's condition was dreadful, it was still far better than Demiurge's.
"I'm fine..." Demiurge wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression dark. "It seems I underestimated Riezel Brynhart's strength... For a devil like me, the damage he caused is too much and won't be fully healed in a short time."
"...Sorry, I've already used the healing scroll I was carrying. It's the best healing scroll I had on hand." Cocytus said grimly.
"I know. It's fine, Cocytus." Demiurge, only softening his tone when speaking to his comrade, spoke kindly to Cocytus. "As long as I can temporarily escape death's grasp and regain some mobility, that's enough. My injuries... compared to the current situation, are nothing."
As Demiurge thought about the serious situation at hand, his face darkened even further.
"Let's go." Cocytus, understanding the gravity of the situation, stopped wasting time. "We need to return."
Demiurge nodded.
With that, the two of them immediately entered the Great Tomb of Nazarick, passing through the magic barrier and arriving at a large graveyard—their destination was none other than the massive and solemn central mausoleum at the center of this graveyard, the only entrance to the inner sanctum of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
By the time they arrived, two figures were already waiting for them there.
"Demiurge!"
"Co-Cocytus!"
Exclaiming these words were none other than the dark elf twins, fellow Floor Guardians who had once surrounded Riezel alongside Albedo, Shalltear, and Demiurge on the vast grassland—Aura Bella Fiora and Mare Bello Fiore.
Now, these two Floor Guardians of the 6th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick had their faces tight with tension, clearly aware of what had just occurred.
Seeing them like this, Demiurge did not offer further explanation but instead asked the two a question.
"Has Lord Ainz returned?"
Upon hearing this question, Aura and Mare nodded in turn.
"Lord Ainz is back."
"Lord Ainz... is in the throne room."
Upon hearing their answers, Demiurge and Cocytus looked relieved.
It couldn't be helped.
Including them, what every denizen of the Great Tomb of Nazarick feared most was the possibility of their lord disappearing.
"Let's go, we're heading to the throne room."
Demiurge quickly entered the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and the others quickly followed—their destination this time was the 10th Floor, located at the very bottom of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
After passing through several teleportation gates, they smoothly arrived on the 10th Floor and entered an extremely spacious, intricately designed, high-ceilinged room.
Just like its namesake, the 'Throne Room', this room was not only vast but also exuded a sense of grandeur.
Not only was the ceiling incredibly high, with the walls mostly white and adorned with gold accents, but several magnificent crystal lamps made from rainbow-colored jewels emitted a mesmerizing and dazzling light, also illuminating forty massive flags mounted on the walls, each featuring different intricate patterns—truly a magnificent room.
In this room, dominated by gold and silver tones, a staircase with dozens of steps led upward, while at the top of the stairs stood an enormous throne crafted from massive obsidian, its backrest towering like a giant tree.
Behind the throne, hanging on the wall, was a giant red flag emblazoned with a symbol, its size larger than the forty flags adorning the other walls—clearly holding far more significance than the rest.
Located at the deepest part of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, this was the throne room, the most important place in all of Nazarick.
In this room, not only could the various affairs of the Great Tomb of Nazarick be managed through the system provided by the guild system of YGGDRASIL, but it was also where the NPCs within Nazarick could be overseen.
If any NPC died outside, they would eventually be resurrected in this room and return to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Like last time, Shalltear, after being mind-controlled and killed by Ainz, was resurrected in this room.
When Demiurge and the others arrived, not only had many high-ranking NPCs from the Great Tomb of Nazarick gathered here, but some servant NPCs with exceptional combat power had been summoned to this room as well.
At this moment, all of them knelt on one knee, facing the direction of the throne.
Seated on the throne was Ainz, holding a golden staff.
Yes.
Ainz had been resurrected.
Demiurge and Cocytus, filled with excitement, hurried to kneel before Ainz.
"Lord Ainz!"
"It's so good to see you're alright!"
Demiurge and Cocytus were both excited and touched, looking as if they might burst into tears.
Hearing their words, Ainz's eye sockets flashed with a red glow, as though he had just noticed Demiurge and Cocytus's return before lifting his head.
"...I guess you could say I'm fine."
Ainz spoke in a tone that almost seemed unsure whether he had truly survived.
"Thankfully, I had the teleportation item that activates immediately upon resurrection, or else I might've really died this time."
Ainz truly felt relieved about his survival.
Before heading out to confront Riezel, Ainz had brought two precious items with him.
One was a resurrection item that activated immediately upon death and wouldn't lower the holder's level, while the other was a teleportation item that could chain-activate upon resurrection, teleporting the holder to a pre-set location.
Both items were purchased with real money—in other words, cash items.
Ainz had taken these two items with him just in case, and to his surprise, both were used, allowing him to return safely to the Great Tomb of Nazarick and avoid actual death.
"But... Shalltear and Albedo are dead..."
Ainz's skeletal hands, resting on the throne's armrest, clenched into fists.
"They were killed! By that damn human!"
Fury erupted uncontrollably from Ainz's heart, and even though he tried to force himself to calm down, it still surged out, triggering Despair Aura.
In that instant, a dark, ominous aura rose from behind him.
"?!!!"
Feeling the suffocating and terrifying aura, everyone in the throne room lowered their heads in fear, not daring to even breathe.
Demiurge and Cocytus, on the other hand, wore expressions of deep guilt and regret.
"It's our incompetence that we couldn't protect Lord Ainz."
"Even though there were four Floor Guardians, we still ended up in this situation, and we even caused Lord Ainz to die once. We don't deserve to live."
"Please punish us, Lord Ainz."
"If it can calm Lord Ainz's anger, we are willing to face any punishment."
Demiurge and Cocytus spoke in voices that sounded as if they were about to cry, which finally helped Ainz rid himself of the overwhelming fury that had been boiling inside him, smoothing the intense emotions in his heart.
"Forget it, this isn't your fault."
Ainz sighed and shook his head.
"It wasn't because of your incompetence but because Riezel Brynhart's strength far exceeded our expectations, which led to this outcome."
"With that kind of strength, it didn't make sense for him to fight evenly with Shalltear twice. It's clear he had been deliberately hiding his true strength to mislead us."
"Regardless, the priority now isn't to punish you but to quickly arrange for the resurrection of Albedo and Shalltear, then come up with a new plan."
Ainz then turned his gaze to Demiurge.
"Demiurge, has the situation with the kingdom been controlled?"
Ainz's question caused Demiurge to raise his head.
"Yes, it's been successfully controlled."
Demiurge replied respectfully, raising his glasses with his index finger a bit.
"Although we were all heavily defeated by Riezel Brynhart, the plan was carried out smoothly."
"With the secret assistance of the Third Princess and the compromising information we obtained from Eight Fingers about various major nobles, the kingdom's high-ranking officials were misled and turned against the theocracy."
"Now, it is only a matter of time before the two countries clash."
"Also, we brought back some people related to Riezel Brynhart as a bonus."
Demiurge summoned a few servants and had them throw a group of people into the throne room.
If Riezel were here, he would instantly recognize them.
Evidently, the group that was thrown into the throne room was none other than the members of Blue Roses and Brain.