Looking at Lakyus and the others being brought into the throne room, a flash of red glow flickered in Ainz's empty eye sockets.
At this moment, Lakyus and the others seemed to have turned into mindless puppets, standing in place blankly—even when they were roughly thrown by the servants summoned by Demiurge, they still didn't react at all.
Among them, only Evileye was different.
Even though she hadn't become a mindless puppet like the others, she had lost consciousness and fallen into a coma.
As for why Lakyus and the others had ended up like this, it was all due to Demiurge's special skill, 'Command Mantra'—a skill capable of turning weak-minded individuals into puppets under the user's control.
However, this skill was ineffective against high-level individuals and only worked on those below Level 40.
For this reason, Evileye didn't become Demiurge's puppet but was instead controlled by magic, while Lakyus and the others were all easily dominated by his special skill without exception.
In fact, the reason the members of the Black Scripture went berserk in the royal capital was also because they were controlled by Demiurge's special skill. Only those far beyond Level 40, like the Captain of the Black Scripture or Certain Death, who were awakened god-kins, were immune to it.
In the end, those who couldn't be dominated by Demiurge's special skill shared a fate similar to Evileye's—being controlled by magic and brought back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
"Demiurge, this girl isn't human, is she?"
Ainz immediately saw through Evileye's true nature as he asked Demiurge.
"Yes."
Demiurge, his head lowered, replied humbly.
"Like Shalltear, this girl is a vampire. According to the information I extracted from the other members of Blue Roses, she seems to have once been known as a legendary, powerful vampire, Landfall."
"She even fought alongside the Thirteen Heroes 200 years ago against the Demon Gods, so her strength is far beyond the members of Blue Roses."
"I'd say she's probably around Level 50."
In order to hide her identity, Evileye had been wearing a magic item to conceal her undead aura, but since that magic item had already been removed by Demiurge, Ainz could immediately recognize her true form.
"After the battle between Riezel Brynhart and Shalltear, they left the hideout of Eight Fingers and went to Ro-Lente Castle to find the Third Princess. I received a report from her, so I went there and brought them back."
Demiurge continued his report.
"Anyhow, this action has also provided me with some new information, which is also related to Riezel Brynhart."
Demiurge's statement successfully shifted Ainz's attention from Evileye.
"Tell me more."
Ainz expressed extraordinary interest.
Now, any information related to Riezel would catch Ainz's full attention.
In Ainz's mind, Riezel had become the greatest, ultimate enemy of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the biggest threat they had ever faced. Until he gathered enough information, he had no plans to provoke Riezel again.
Seeing Ainz's cautious attitude, Demiurge began reporting the new information.
"It seems like these adventurers received a request from someone named Rigrit, who, for some unknown reason, seemed particularly focused on Riezel Brynhart."
Demiurge explained, his eyes glancing at the members of Blue Roses.
"She requested Blue Roses to make contact with and investigate Riezel Brynhart, claiming that he was someone who would have a huge impact on this world. While I don't know the exact relationship between them, I can be certain that she is currently keeping an eye on that man."
Upon hearing this, Ainz furrowed his nonexistent brows.
"And who is this Rigrit?" Ainz asked in a deep voice.
"She seems to be someone like this vampire, who participated in the battle against the Demon Gods. She's been alive for over 200 years now, probably having used some special magic or item to extend her life."
Demiurge explained respectfully.
"She was once part of Blue Roses but has since retired and is usually nowhere to be found. I have a feeling that she is a very important figure in this world."
"Is that so...?" Ainz pondered for a moment before continuing. "Is there any way to investigate this Rigrit?"
"Of course." Demiurge answered with certainty. "As long as we have this vampire, it shouldn't be hard to dig up information on Rigrit."
It was understandable.
Because Rigrit had participated in the battle against the Demon Gods like Evileye, the two could be considered comrades or even old friends who had known each other for 200 years. By using magic to investigate Evileye's memories or through methods like interrogation to get her to spill what she knew, most of the mysteries surrounding Rigrit could be uncovered.
If only Evileye hadn't been different from Lakyus and the others, unable to be controlled by Command Mantra, Demiurge would have already extracted all the information she knew.
For now, Demiurge could only work with the very limited information Lakyus and the others had since the rest could only be obtained through Evileye.
"Let's go with that then."
Ainz spoke after thinking for a while, feeling that the plan was fine, so he decided to move forward with it.
"In that case, what about the rest of them?" Demiurge asked, glancing at Lakyus and the others.
Ainz's gaze swept over the others, excluding Evileye.
Whether it was Lakyus, Gagaran, Tia, or Tina, Ainz was seeing them for the first time, although he had often heard their names while posing as Momon.
In truth, Ainz hadn't paid much attention to Blue Roses, except for a slight interest in the Cursed Sword Kilineiram in Lakyus's possession.
As for Brain, he didn't know the man at all and hadn't even heard of him.
If this were any other situation, Ainz would have made good use of these captives, such as chopping up those with little use and sending them to the heteromorphs in the Great Tomb of Nazarick who enjoyed eating people, while the valuable ones could be kept around, whether for interrogation, magic experiments, or as materials to create new magic items or magic potions.
In short, Ainz would extract every bit of value from them, and if necessary, he would even spend some resources to heal or resurrect them, using them for a second round of exploitation.
Such methods were how Ainz generally handled captives.
Cruel?
Yes.
However, to Ainz, as long as it benefited the Great Tomb of Nazarick, no matter how cruel his actions were, he would carry them out.
As for all other life forms outside of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, whether they were humans like his past self or undead like his current self, he saw them as nothing more than livestock—they could be abused and, if necessary, killed or used as tools.
In other words, becoming captives of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, becoming Ainz's captives, was definitely not a stroke of luck but the beginning of hell.
In this case, since Lakyus and the others had been brought to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, they clearly wouldn't meet a good end.
Not to mention—
"Demiurge, these people... are related to Riezel Brynhart, right?" Ainz asked in a cold, deep voice.
"Yes..." Demiurge lowered his head deeply. "Even though the connection isn't deep, even this man here, Brain Unglaus, only met Riezel Brynhart in the last few days, these people can indeed be considered to have ties to Riezel Brynhart."
Upon hearing this, everyone present immediately turned their eyes toward Lakyus and the others, their gazes filled with murderous intent. Even Aura and Mare, along with the other Guardians, glared at Lakyus and the others with eyes full of rage.
If Lakyus and the others still had any sense of awareness at this moment, being stared at by so many terrifying and powerful heteromorphs filled with murderous intent, they would probably be shaking uncontrollably.
It was truly inevitable.
Having ties to Riezel was enough to draw the hatred of everyone in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Riezel was, after all, the one who had killed Ainz.
Ainz Ooal Gown, the highest ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and the last remaining of the forty-one Supreme Beings that still existed—the ruler most revered and admired by all the denizens of Nazarick—had been killed by a filthy, despicable human.
Even Albedo, the Guardian Overseer, and Shalltear, the strongest Floor Guardian, had been killed by Riezel.
Needless to say, this was a violation of the Great Tomb of Nazarick's sacred boundaries.
For the denizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, no one would even think about forgiving Riezel.
In truth, they really wanted to tear Riezel apart, skin him piece by piece, torture him until he was unrecognizable, and then use magic to heal or resurrect him, only to continue the torment until his mind broke completely.
And now, the ones related to that most hated being were right here, so how could anyone not feel murderous intent toward them?
Even Ainz couldn't escape this.
Remembering what had happened to Albedo and Shalltear, Ainz's fury erupted once more.
"Anyone who dares to harm the Great Tomb of Nazarick will pay the price."
"Even you are no exception..."
"Riezel Brynhart."
With overflowing fury, Ainz was about to issue a cruel command, but just then, a violent tremor suddenly swept through the entire throne room.
*Rumble—!!!*
"What?"
A floating screen popped open in front of Ainz, showing the outside scene of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Immediately, in the panicked eyes of all NPCs of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz abruptly stood up.
===
At the same time, outside the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
*Swish!*
As the ripple sound caused by teleportation magic resounded, Riezel's figure appeared, materializing in midair.
He lowered his head, looking down from above at the vast grassland below, which was littered with mounds.
In the next moment, a cold smile spread across his lips.
*Zing—!*
Suddenly, centered around Riezel, a massive, dome-shaped, three-dimensional blue magic circle expanded and spread within a ten-meter radius, its energy causing a tremor in the air.
"Super-Tier Magic..."
Riezel's chanting echoed in the air, calm and composed.
"Fallen Down!"