Ainz had used his nicest voice with Decem, urging surrender. Perhaps the conditions weren’t right for the mystery teleport; perhaps he was just too cornered to think straight—but he looked ready to raise the flag.
Finally. Ainz grinned inside.
The offer was a lie, of course. He guaranteed nothing at all. He would kill the man the moment he cast off his gear.
If his mind was sufficiently broken, perhaps he would not target the twins again, but death was the only way to be sure.
But an instant later, the fire was back in Decem’s eyes.
Mm?
Decem broke into a run. Right at Ainz.
Tch, closing in for a fight? Then—so be it!
Doing his best not to let his smile show, he acted surprised and alarmed.
Certainly, arcane casters like Ainz loathed close combat—it might even be called their weakness. But if Decem wanted a fight, Ainz was all for it. He might lose a little HP, but it ensured Decem’s death. Except—an instant later, his surprise was genuine. Not that it showed on his expressionless visage.
Decem’s path led slightly to one side, not slowing at all.
Ainz realized he’d guessed wrong.
Shit, he’s bolting!
It pained him to admit, but his opinion of Decem went up—not quite a full notch but a smidgen at least.
Full-on flight was the option Ainz was least prepared to handle. In Decem’s shoes, Ainz would have done the same—admittedly, much earlier.
But because he knew that, Ainz had assumed Decem would use magic to escape and prepared for that eventuality. He didn’t have anything prepared for this guy just making a break for it on foot. Lack of time was a factor, and there’d been only so much he could do while hiding his own skill.
“Stop! I will kill you!”
He shouted a warning but knew it would not work. And even if he did stop, Ainz was still going to kill him. Even as he spoke, he was already considering his next option.
A wall—he’d just jump over, and then Ainz would lose sight of him, leaving him unable to handle his next means of flight.
If he could land a mind-control spell, that would end things. But Decem was supposed to be over level 70, and odds were the spell would fail. Items and means of countering mind-control magic were widely available in Yggdrasil. It was reasonably difficult to block all of them, but he likely had a few measures in place.
Emperor Jircniv, for instance, had carried magic items to resist mind control. Gambling that Decem might not would be simpleminded. Ainz would have loved to use an instant-death spell, but with Mercy of Shorea Robusta active, there was no point.
“Stop Time!”
He didn’t stop.
Decem kept going.
Ainz didn’t bother swearing. He’d known this was a possible outcome. He’d just have to get help.
He barked the order.
“Aura!”
“Okay!”
She drew her bow—
“Shadow Stitch Shot!”
and fired at Decem’s shadow. Still Decem did not break stride. He was at the stairs now. At least there was a countermeasure in place—set down while Ainz had been skulking beneath Wall of Skeletons.
Explode Mine went off beneath Decem’s feet.
“You can’t run. Your feet—”
Decem paid him no heed. His footsteps retreated down the stairs, the sound growing faint.
“Did he know it was a bluff? Or was he just not listening anymore? The man didn’t even know to use piercing damage against wall spells, so I expected less.”
He’d hoped that bluff would slow him down, but nope.
Decem was a druid. Different branch but still a caster. It was entirely possible he’d figured out the nature of Ainz’s magical trap. Generally, you couldn’t have multiple of the same spell active—which was also the principle that prevented you repeatedly casting summon spells to get an army of the same monster.
“Sorry,” Aura said. “I let him escape.”
Ainz turned from the stairs to face her.
“No…… Yes, I suppose that you did. That skill was the wrong choice, Aura. During combat, we saw the man had countermeasures against instant-death and time effects. A safe assumption that he’d have measures against movement obstruction as well.”
Aura made to apologize again, but he waved her off.
“But I did not warn you of that, so I am equally complicit. Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to me that he could break through that. The biggest question is…what now?”
“We should pursue and kill.”
“Wait!”
Aura was ready to run off after him, but Ainz stopped her.
Decem was at least a level-70 druid, so at Ainz’s movement speed, he likely wouldn’t catch up. Aura and Mare could manage it, but that would leave Ainz isolated—and he’d used up a fair amount of mana.
Could use a Gate, fetch forces from Nazarick— No time. Gotta decide if I let him go or make sure he’s dead.
Decem had lost a lot of mana, but his physical attributes were still rather high. Ainz stood no chance against him in a regular brawl with no magic. Assuming he wasn’t just using Perfect Unknowable.
Aura has no beasts with her, so if he’s got another trick up his sleeve, she might not be able to handle it. I could summon an undead… No, what if he can summon that primal earth elemental again? No, no, there’s no way he can.
Repeat summoning an elemental more powerful than the caster was a real balance breaker. Even with the mana drain. Ainz was heavily specced toward Ghost Magic and couldn’t pull that off. Still, what he considered impossible was all based on Yggdrasil rules and might not apply to this world.
So far, his game knowledge had served him well, but that same game knowledge said Decem shouldn’t have been able to summon that elemental at all. In which case—
“Mare!”
“Y-yes?”
“It’s a risk, but go alone and slay Decem. You’re in alt gear, but take every precaution. If you deem the fight unwinnable, conserve magic and buy time.” He would rather issue a whole heap more instructions, but time was critical. “Go!”
“Okay!” Mare answered with an uncharacteristically enthusiastic response.
He ran off down the stairs at an impressive speed. His footsteps were soon out of earshot.
Ainz considered summoning an undead to follow, but given the peculiar situation they were in, he’d rather keep them around to use as a shield. Lopsided Duel was still active; Ainz himself might wind up in combat with that king once more before this was over. And he would have to end it quick, then.
“Aura, you’re guarding me. Let’s quickly loot this treasury. Take it all! Then we’ll go after Mare.”
“Got it!”