Well, I dont mind if you dont understand it yet. Lets go.

He was unsure what Decem was thinking, but he approached the twins who stood rooted to their place and extended his hand towards Aura.

Ainz brushed that hand away. Determining the action as an attack, [Perfect Unknowable] got dispelled.

Before Decem could turn to look at Ainz in surprise, his bony fist planted itself in Decems face.

Decem flew away, sprawling on the ground.

This pedoshi. To think you dare to stare lecherously at the girl entrusted to me by my friend. Die.

While he continued to hurl abuse, the small part of him that managed to stay cool clicked his tongue at his mistake.

He went through all that trouble to maintain [Perfect Unknowable], but ended up throwing a punch because he lost his temper. Theres nothing more wasteful than this.

Ainzs emotions would be suppressed if they cross a certain line. He would have acted more rationally just now had that been triggeredinstead of punching the guy, he would have cast instant death magic on him. However, it didnt trigger, probably because he was more disgusted than angry. The extent of that emotion probably didnt cross the line either.

Wh, wha

Decem stood up in a fluster, with blood flowing from his nostrils. But, he didnt receive much damage. [Life Essence] showed Ainz that only a little bit of his HP was gone.

Even though he received Ainzs full-powered punch defenselessly, thats all it managed to do to him.

There's a possibility that he was faking it with a skill like [False Data Life] or some equipment, but that was most likely not the case.

Ainz showed his open palm to the twins, making a pose to tell them not to move.

From his estimates of Decems HP and MP, he seemed to be above level 70 but below level 80.

That said, although its very unlikely, they should be on guard against one possibility.

YGGDRASIL had no such classes, but maybe this world had some that wouldnt raise HP and MP when leveling up. Those could make it possible so that someone is at level 100, but their MP and HP would stay at level 70.

He would probably be right in assuming that there was nothing like that, but there is no such thing as an absolute.

{The three of us can gang up and kill him, but thats a bad idea for now. At least not until we figure out the method behind his teleportation...}

While Ainz continued to think up their battle tactics for the hereafter, Decem raised his voice.

An U-undead! Why, here, and so suddenly. He turned his gaze to the twins.

Is one of you a necromancer!?

Ainz answered before the two could speak.

Just like you have surmised. These two are peerless necromancers, and I am their guardian who was born from the power of these two and their parents, from the combined powers of four people. I will definitely not allow the weak to touch them. I wouldnt mind you taking them away on the dawn of the day you defeated me but Ainz used his full effort to laugh scornfully, trying to anger the opponent. Well, I think thats impossible for you, right?

Hoo... Decem removed his hand that had been pressing down on his nose. It seemed like the bleeding had already stopped. I am a little surprised. To make me bleed...how many decades, no, centuries has it been? I see. You are strong enough to match your boast, but thats not the way to speak to a king. That said, this is rather fortunate. Rejoice, I shall teach you the difference between our strengths and discipline you.

He said those words while looking at Aura and Mare. It looked like he really believed Ainz.

So, Ainz continued to think.

Why did it look like Decem believed his (the enemys) words without a doubt?

Did he really not have any abilities that could see through invisibility? If he had any, it should have crossed his mind that Ainz suddenly appearing was not because he was summoned, but because he was hiding using something like [Invisibility].

If he really didnt, then he was probably a specialized druid like Mare.

{Or, in case this was all an act and he knew I was already herea bluff in a sensewhat is he aiming for?}

He wanted to simulate what he would do if he was in that guys place, but spending too much time pondering on it would look suspicious.

Then why dont we fight one-on-one, fair-and-square? That should make it easier for my masters to understand who is stronger, you or them, right?

Decem widened his eyes and laughed like he just heard an interesting joke. Meanwhile, Ainz used the silent metamagic to send a [Message] to Mare.

{Mare. That was a big lie just now. If it looks like I am in a bad situation, cooperate with me to absolutely kill that guy. Pass that along secretly to Aura as well.}

Obviously, he had no intentions of handing the twins over to the guy. Also, fighting one-on-one, fair and square in a fight with ones life on the line was an act of utmost stupidity. Some battles were fine to lose, but not those where people were trying to take each others lives.

But

Ainz felt like he had made a mistake.

He wanted to spend a little more time buffing himself, but there was no way he would let a pervert like that touch Aura. The elf also could have had skills to force teleportation that Ainz didnt know about, which would have been dangerous if he had let him touch her.

The sight nowthe sight of you two commanding an undead made me sure that you are my grandchildren.

Then, the floor moved.

Like waves receding back from the beach, the soil roiled towards Decem.

Ignoring it, Ainz took out a scroll from under his clothes with deliberate movement and activated it.

It was extremely wasteful, but he had no other choice. Until he knew how much the opponent knew, he couldn't let the enemy get cautious.

The activated magic was the Eighth-Tier spell, [Dimensional Lock].

This spell had the same effect as the special ability used by extra-dimensional beings like devils and angels. It blocked beings from teleporting out of a specific range with instant teleportation magic.

While he was doing this, the earthen lump that coalesced before Decem turned into something huge.

It was in the form of an elemental that Ainz knew.

He could hear a gasp of surprise from Mare, but Ainz was surprised as well.

{A Primal Elemental!?}

Upon seeing the elemental that couldnt be summoned by normal means before him, Ainz instantly raised his level of caution.

Unlike Mare, Ainz suppressed his sound of surprise from leaking out. One of the fundamental teachings of PKing for Dummies was that you couldnt let others find out that you knew.

Mares surprise could be misunderstood as a kids terror at seeing the elemental, but in Ainzs case, it would make it clear that he had knowledge about it.

So Ainz lowered his shoulders in an exaggerated manner.

hnn. So what? You created a big lump of soil called an earth elemental? Are you going to make it fight me instead of fighting by yourself? Arent you underestimating me?

Hohoo. So you know what this is?

Decem smiled haughtily.

{Good!}

Of course. Thats just an earth elemental, right? I destroyed one that was summoned against me in the past. Well, that wasn't nearly as large as the one here, so you should be quite strong to be able to control one so large. Size is one of the marks of strength after all, but size is not everything.

Yes. You are correct. Dragon Lords who only have their large bodies to speak of can be defeated by Elves after allBut I am surprised. Your knowledge is not incorrect. You were right that this is an earth elemental. Hahaha. Your discerning eyeno, memory? I would bow to it. Decems clearly scornful grin deepened further.

This is a rare chance, so why dont you take a blow with your body? A blow from an elemental you called trivial

The Primal Elemental slowly raised its fist.

{...It should move faster if it was a Primal Earth Elemental. Was this intentional? Well, I am thankful for it.}

Its behavior, like a cat playing with its prey, was a welcome thing for Ainz.

{Isnt this the best?}

While hiding his smileof course, his face wont move in the first placeAinz tried to recollect Primal Earth Elementals abilities.

The Primal Earth Elemental that was over level 80 played the tank role among the Primal Elementals of the same level. No, fundamentally, all earth elementals filled the same role.

Its attacks were considered to have nearly all of the metallic attributes under its level to be included in them.

For example, if beings like Lupusregina who had a weakness against silver got hit by it, it would trigger that weakness.

Also, as long as both the opponent and itself stood on earth, it would have a bonus to all of its stats, even though meager. But, that shouldnt work now as the original floor that was exposed after all of the soil had collected near Decem was made from plant material. It also supposedly had the ability to hide in soil, but that couldnt be used here either. All things considered, he could say that this was not a good battlefield for the Primal Earth Elemental.

What he should be on guard for were the punches from those fists. It was a simple way of attacking, but it was highly destructive. They were not exactly fast or precise, but it was hard for a backliner like Ainz to evade them. Furthermore, it does bludgeoning damage, which was particularly effective against Ainz.

It could also extend its arms like whips and do long-range attacks, but in that case, its power would go down a lot.

Just like its attacks, its defense was also supposed to have metal attributes imbued. It also had [Weapon Resistance V] against all weapons and physical damage reduction on top of that. Considering all of the above, it was the ideal tank and was troublesome to deal with using only physical attacks.

That said, it also had some weak points, naturally.

For example, it didnt have any dangerous trump cardsthat is, it had no special skills. That meant that it had no attack that could turn the tide in a battle.

The other weak point was that everything that worked against metallic attributes worked the same on the elemental.

{...Herohero-san could probably take it down easily.}

It was weak to acids andthere was one more element it was weak against.

Ainz made preparations to take out the staff from his inventory when needed. He wouldnt be taking it out yet though.

Since the opponent was assuming that he was just a simple undead, he should play along and not display any skills that would put him on guard.

The question was whether or not he should take the incoming hit or not.

It would make for a good act if he made it look like that single attack was what made the undead being realize that this was no simple earth elemental. The demerit in this scenario would be that the enemy would turn cautious after seeing that one serious blow wasnt enough to kill Ainz.

{...Right. Theres no doubt that he is specialized in summoning. The earth elementals attack will be more powerful than usual. It will be disadvantageous for the fight hereafter if I receive damage for no reason. In that case, what I should be doing here is}

[Wall of Skeleton]

Ainz created a huge wall made of bones in front of him at the same time the elemental brought its fist down. The wall was instantly destroyed and disappeared into thin air.

{As I expected...did his mana just go down?}

W-what is this! Ainz exclaimed in a voice loud enough for the elf to hear. Why, why can it destroy my wall in a single hit!!

Hahaha. To think it was broken in a single hit from a simple earth elemental, isnt your wall too brittle?

Taking advantage of Decems good spirits, Ainz immediately shot a spell at him.

[Lopsided Duel].

This was a Third-Tier spell that made the caster teleport to the same place as the person he cast it on if they tried to escape by teleportation. Furthermore, even if the opponent was protected by [Delay Teleportation], it would still ignore it and instantly teleport the caster at the same time.

Still, this obviously had a fatal weakness. If the opponent teleported right into the middle of his comrades, the caster who followed them would also teleport to the same place and would end up as their punching bag. That was why, even though it looked like an extremely useful spell at first glance, it was relegated to the Third-Tier. Before it was patched, it could be cast on allies to teleport along with them. After it was patched out, the spell could only be cast on enemies.

So, Ainz should be prepared to escape if there were people on the same level as Decem waiting at the place he would teleport to. Luckily, [Lopsided Duel] had the small mercy of not taking the enemy along with the caster if it was the caster who used teleportation instead, so it would not be that difficult to escape.

What did you do?

...I cast an instant death spell. I see, so you already have measures against instant death?

...Well, it looks like you are somewhat intelligent, so you tried to deal with me after seeing that you cant win against Behemoth. But, do you really think that I am weaker than the elemental?

{Summoners being weaker than their summons is impossible in YGGDRASIL, but you are probably the lower-leveled one here. Keeping that aside, why didnt he answer my question even though he is looking down on me as a weakling? Is it because he really had no anti-instant death measures? And, what is this Behemoth?}

Decem jerked his chin, making the Primal Earth Elemental lift its fists again. It was far quicker compared to the last time. He could also hear Decem cast a spell at the same time.

[Mercy of Shorea Robusta].

{Tch. His use of Tenth-Tier magic was within my predictions, but thats a really troublesome spell. Now I will have to use twinned metamagic to kill him.}

[Mercy of Shorea Robusta] was a Tenth-Tier spell, and its mana consumption was one of the highest among them, on the level of [Reality Slash].

This spell had three effects.

First, for a limited period of time, it would gradually recover HP. However, the recovery rate was trivial and so it was hard to call it useful for people at this level range.

The second one was absolute immunity against instant death. There were far better spells in the Third-Tier if one only wanted to acquire resistance against instant death, but there was a reason why a lot of druids learned this spell despite that.

That reason was the third effect, which automatically resurrected the target when their HP reached 0 and died. This would not cause a drop in levels from resurrection. The trigger condition of HP going to 0 made it useless against deaths that werent caused by damage like those by drowning, but it was still a very useful spell. Priests had resurrection spells that wouldnt cause level loss if they were cast right after death, druids also had spells like [Phoenix Flame], but many use this spell to cover for any careless mistakes. That said, they would be at low health upon resurrection, so they were very likely to die anyway after a few hits. Still, there were a lot of cases where people were saved by this spell.

Incidentally, it could avoid death from Ainzs ultimate skill, [The Goal of All Life is Death] as this spell was considered resurrection magic. In that case, however, the spell would end even if there was still some active time left. It was because the spell was dispelled after it activated the resurrection portion.

{He is probably guarding against my bluff about using an instant death skill...I made a mistake. My bluff should have been about some magic I cant use. Lets do that next time.}

[Triplet Magic - Wall of Skeleton].

As he expected, the first wall was destroyed with a single attack and the second wall soon followed. While the third wall was obstructing Decems view, Ainz slightly changed his position, took out a scroll, and activated it.

[Piercing Cacophonous].

It was a buffing spell that he didnt really need right now, but he used it just to be sure.

Primal Earth Elemental attacked again.

The [Wall of Skeleton] shattered and

[Triplet Magic - Wall of Skeleton].

At the same time the first of the three new walls he created was being destroyed, he heard Decem chant a spell.

[Aspect of Elemental].

Its an Eighth-Tier druid spell that gave resistances similar to the elementals. It gave immunity towards bad statuses like poison and disease. Other than that, it also nullified critical hits and attacks with similar effects.

There was also a similar spell in the Ninth-Tier named [Elemental Form].

The areas Ainz specialized in were being mitigated one-by-one, which was troublesome.

That said

{how much of his mana can I exhaust.}

[Triplet Silent Magic - Greater Magic Seal]

Ainz changed his position a little more. With this, he had moved ninety degrees from his initial position with Decem as the center, he was now closer to the stairs.

The Primal Earth Elemental destroyed one more wall. Unfortunately, he couldnt make new walls of bone right now.

[Triplet Maximize Boosted Silent Magic - Magic Arrow]

His mana went down by a lot instantly.

Naturally, even a low-tier spell would consume a lot of mana after being strengthened by four metamagics.

If this Primal Earth Elemental was a summon, all it needed was a single successful [Greater Rejection] and he wouldnt need to prepare all these spells. However, if Decem really was specialized in summoner classes as he assumed, it probably wouldnt succeed in dispelling the summon even with their large level difference.

Plus, [Greater Rejection] could only dispel summons, not creations.

{Could it be an Elemental Adjutant? If it was created by sacrificing experience, it could be maintained nearly forever. But, it looks like he was consuming mana to maintain it so that shouldnt be the case...I cant really gamble on it though.}

Then, he should also be prepared for that possibility.

Fina Decem stopped speaking, looked at the twins, and then looked at Ainzs position with a puzzled expression. Why did you move over there? Are you planning to escape while calling yourself their guardian?

Tch!

Hahaha! Then let me lend you a hand.

The Primal Earth Elemental landed a punch on Ainzs defenseless back as he ran towards the stairs. The knockback caused by its gigantic fist blew Ainz away.

Hooo? To think you werent smashed in a single blow, it stands to reason why you would talk big. Well, your resistance was futile in the end anyway.

Ainz was sent flying away, but he managed to keep his posture with [Fly] and took his position before the stairs.

But seeing that you are running away, can I assume that you are going to leave your masters behind with me?

Theres no way I would do that.

Ainz created another [Wall of Skeleton].

That again? How do you even expect to win without damaging my elemental? That is an idiotic plan you got there.

Upon hearing Decems exasperation-filled voice, Ainz returned a sneer from behind his wall.

Hahaha! I know that humans are assaulting this country right now. Hey, Elf King, don't you think time is on my side?

...I see. So thats how it is. Arent you clever? But, thats meaningless. Your plans impossible.

What? Impossible, you say?

Yes. Did you perhaps think that something like humans could take me down? Me, the one who controls this elemental?

{I was exasperated at similar words I had heard from the guy who summoned an angel in the past, but the Primal Earth Elemental is truly a top-class being. ...Is the Theocracy attacking while knowing Decems strength? If thats the case, it means that they have a method to defeat him. Yet, this guy looks like he hadnt even thought of that possibility yet. Either the Theocracy is ignorant, or this guy is. But, if the Theocracy really knew Decems strength, would that person at that time really have called that the highest angel?}

Its unsure what he thought about Ainz contemplating silently, but Decem spoke in an utterly fed-up voice.

You should have probably understood it if you thought about it a little bit, right? You really are such a shallow person. Well, maybe it cant be helped. You are an undead after all. All you have is air for brains.

{I dont know. If they are prepared for a fight with the Elves, it stands to reason that theres someone in the Theocracy's camp on the same level as this guy at the very least. In that case, time really isnt my ally here. I want to avoid consecutive battles but...}

How much of his opponents energy could he exhaust?

While thinking about that, Ainz cast another [Wall of Skeleton].

As he said to Mare in a [Message] previously, fighting one-on-one is an idiotic thing to do when one really wanted to win, but he had to continue doing so this time unless he felt like he was in danger of losing. This battle also had one more irritating factor.

He had to fight with a hand tied behind his back.

Ainz already concluded that Decem couldnt see through [Perfect Unknowable]. He could easily win if he used that.

But that wasnt an option.

Why?

What was the most likely development if he started to have an overwhelming advantage using [Perfect Unknowable]?

Or, say, what would happen if he used a high-tier spell like [Time Stop] and outed himself as a strong opponent?

Decem would likely run upon realizing that he couldnt win. Luckily, he wouldnt direct his attacks at the twinswell, he couldnt be certain of that, but it was very unlikely. That guys aim was to capture Auraand then, Mare. It was reasonable to think that he would not cause them fatal harm.

Ainz didnt want to let him escape without finding how Decem teleported here. He appeared suddenly, so he could probably disappear suddenly as well. Noin fact, he should imagine the worst and assume that he had the ability to do just that.

If he let this guy escape, this pervert could continue to aim for Aura and Mare forever.

That was one thing he certainly couldnt let happen.

The twins could be standing at a dangerous precipice depending on Decems true strength, which he was yet to be certain about.

That was why he was putting into practice what he said to them with the [Message].

He would be sure to kill Decem here, and not give him a chance to escape.

That was why Ainz didnt ask the twins to help.

Difference in numbers was one of the main factors that decided victory. The first thing Ainz would do if he were to encounter a group of opponents of unknown strength that outnumbered his group would be to escape. He should assume that Decem would do the same.

It was better not to make the enemy realize his disadvantageous situation before he could create an opportunity to take them out. So, not only did he not ask for the twins help, but he didnt even summon any undead.

His great lie about Decem being allowed to take the twins if he was defeated was also for the same reason.

By restricting his opponent's actions, Ainz led his opponent into not wanting to leave the battlefield and gradually made him not able to leave it even if he wanted to.

{Su, su...what was it again? Yeah, the sankyuu-cost effect. The important thing is whether or not I can make him accumulate enough of it...I hope that he doesnt see through it...Lets just pray that he doesn't have much battle experience...I should break his will at the very least.}

(T/N: Ainz is trying to remember sunk-cost fallacy and mistook sunk with sankyuu (how thank you is pronounced in Japanese))