With all kinds of buffs bolstering him, Hades felt refreshed. The undead body didn't seem so hard to accept anymore, and he felt as though he were filled with endless strength.
He first used Time Accelerator, slowing the flow of time around himself. Within the spell's effect, he could move freely without interference, but he couldn't attack.
The spell's main purpose was to prepare him to apply various buffs.
Although this wasn't his first time using the spell and he'd used it often in YGGDRASIL, that was still a multiplayer virtual world. The nano-device couldn't accelerate the user's consciousness to create an effect like bullet time.
As a result, the only noticeable effect during that period was a reduction in the casting time of buffs.
But in the real world, Hades finally understood what bullet time meant. The feeling was indescribable. While the spell was in effect, his thoughts raced several times faster than usual.
During the time acceleration, Hades had finished preparing his spells. As for the spells he'd modified to have a casting delay, he'd need to wait until he'd changed into a human character before using them.
If he used them now, they would be of no use to him in his current state as a Magic Caster, and he would suffer negative effects as well.
For example, Regenerator was a negative buff for an undead. Undead could only recover HP by using negative energy, so this spell's healing effect was poison to them.
The effect of Time Accelerator was about to wear off. Hades took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on Momonga below, while casting Message on the four Hanzo.
"How's it going?"
"Lord Hades, the target hasn't noticed anything unusual."
"Have any of you been spotted?"
"No."
"Good. After we end the call, count to two, then attack."
"Understood!"
Hades ended the call. Momonga was focused on the group of native soldiers, giving him a chance to descend and get closer, but Hades didn't dare approach too closely.
As a Magic Caster, Momonga could use magic to alert the Elf Twins. One of them was also a Magic Caster and could likewise warn Momonga if anything went wrong.
The assassination had to begin simultaneously. Otherwise, if the other side had time to react, they would lose the initiative. Hanzo had already been lying in wait below, and Hades estimated that he would reach Momonga and attack in two seconds.
If nothing went wrong, the timing would be perfect. Hanzo would send the Elf Twins away, while the Eight-Edge Assassin Bug would be strangled. That way, Hades wouldn't have to worry about Momonga's reinforcements.
Greater Teleportation
As he cast the teleportation spell, Hades's heart leaped into his throat. It seemed that even an undead body couldn't entirely suppress this surge of excitement.
In an instant, Hades appeared behind Albedo. The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end, as though the Grim Reaper were staring at him. Albedo hadn't turned around, but he knew she'd noticed him.
He wasn't Hanzo. He didn't have stealth skills enhanced by his class. Although Perfect Unknowable could make his sound, presence, and figure disappear completely, an opponent with the right attributes could still detect him with ease.
Under immense psychological pressure, Hades gave Albedo no chance to act. He immediately activated the tenth-tier spell Silent Magic: Time Stop.
Unlike Time Accelerator, this spell could stop time within a certain area. In the virtual world, it had been relatively easy to represent.
At this moment, time was the key to the assassination's success. Hades chose to spend some extra MP to make the spell silent.
The MP cost of Tier Magic depended on its tier. For example, a first-tier spell cost one MP, while a tenth-tier spell cost ten.
An ordinary Magic Caster had around 1,300 MP at max level. With various bonuses, the total could be much higher. Yet even with that much MP, and with the highest-tier spells seeming to cost relatively little, MP could still run short.
The reason was that these enhancement spells added to the cost. To cast a spell instantly, one had to add Silent Magic; to increase its power, one had to add Maximize Magic, and so on.
These enhancement spells could be stacked, so casting a powerful spell cost far more than a mere ten MP.
As the highest-tier time spell, it wasn't easy to resist. Time resistance could almost only be gained through equipment or special skills.
Hades was sure Momonga had time resistance, since players practically had to prepare for it. But he didn't believe the members of Ainz Ooal Gown had gone so far as to equip their NPCs with time-resistant gear.
That was why Momonga hadn't been his first target from the start. His target was Albedo, whom Momonga had positioned as his vanguard.
As it turned out, Hades had guessed correctly. Albedo had no time resistance, and the head that might have turned toward him at any moment froze in place.
Hades didn't have much time left. He had to deal with Albedo before Momonga could react—or, even if Momonga reacted in time, he had to eliminate this obstacle at the very moment he was attacked.
Silent Magic: Teleportation Circle
Hades aimed at the space in front of Albedo and cast the spell. He couldn't attack while time was stopped, and a Teleportation Circle wasn't an attack spell; it was a trap spell. He set its destination in the forest where he'd been earlier.
Since it was a trap spell, he couldn't place it directly under his opponent's feet. YGGDRASIL didn't allow that, and Hades had no time to test how the spell worked in reality. To be safe, he planned according to YGGDRASIL's rules.
As a Warrior, Albedo was nearly impossible for him to defeat in a short time, so he could only banish her.
Once the Teleportation Circle was set, Hades glanced at Momonga. Momonga certainly had time resistance and wouldn't be affected, but that didn't matter. Hades had already considered how Momonga might react while planning the assassination, and his expectations seemed to be right.
First, Momonga was completely absorbed in bullying the weak and showing off. Since the natives were weak, his vigilance would also have slackened.
Second, the incident had happened so suddenly. Momonga wasn't an AI program but a human being, and no one could escape the limitations of being human. Faced with an unexpected situation, not everyone could react quickly.
Although Momonga had an undead body too, Hades's own experience told him that while an undead body did bring a calm mind, that was all. If emotions surged too strongly, even an undead body couldn't fully suppress them.
Sure enough, Momonga hadn't realized what was happening right away. Hades sneered inwardly. That meant he'd already won.
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