"Damn it, damn it!"
This time, Ainz did not vent in the throne room. Instead, he hid in his room, consumed by self-reproach.
The forces the enemy had deployed had not exceeded what the Great Tomb of Nazarick could handle.
Although the ten fire dragons were powerful, ranking among the strongest mercenary monsters, their attributes were limited, making them easy to counter, and they had no supporting units.
That meant the guardians of the Great Tomb of Nazarick could have killed them with a little more time.
Ainz had quickly used [The Goal of All Life is Death] to finish off the enemy swiftly and then withdraw to safety.
The battle had ended in a flash, without dragging on for very long.
Yet while they had focused on slaying the fire dragons, something had gone terribly wrong with the maids.
Shalltear had mysteriously vanished, without even leaving any signs of a fight.
Ainz immediately realized that he had most likely encountered a World Item.
Otherwise, Shalltear and the others would not have disappeared so easily, nor would their names have turned red on the guild roster.
The Battle Maids and guardians had all been created through the painstaking efforts of his companions in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
They could not contribute much to actual duels between players, but they were dearly loved by those players.
Losing four of them at once tore his heart apart.
As for mercenary monsters like Hanzō and the Eight-Edge Assassin Bugs, he did not particularly care.
At most, their loss cost some gold, which was hardly beyond the Great Tomb of Nazarick's means.
[Ainz Ooal Gown] could not possibly lose.
Yet now, they had suffered a crushing defeat.
Forced calm, forced calm!
After venting his fury, a thought surfaced in Ainz's mind.
I'm not fit to be the master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
It's my incompetence that has led the Great Tomb of Nazarick to suffer one defeat after another.
With that thought, Ainz made up his mind to tell the guardians.
But the moment he returned to the hall, Demiurge spoke with deep remorse:
"Lord Ainz, my incompetence led me to misjudge the enemy's strength."
"Had you not seen through their sinister scheme and chosen to take the field yourself, our forces might have been wiped out."
"All of this is due to my incompetence and my failure to grasp your wisdom."
No, that's not what happened.
As soon as Demiurge appeared, he took all the blame upon himself.
That left Ainz at a loss.
During the battle, he had become the target of the enemy's concentrated fire, leaving the guardians of the Great Tomb of Nazarick unable to attend to everything else.
Their loyalty had compelled them to abandon every plan and put Ainz's safety first.
Demiurge had intended to withdraw using an Exchange Doll.
But the sight of the pay-to-win fire dragons had left the Bone King stunned, forcing everyone to rush to protect him and turning him into a burden.
Only after he had recovered had he used Super-Tier Magic to turn the tables.
Through this painful lesson, Ainz finally understood that the pace of a game differed from that of a real battle.
He reacted half a beat too slowly and needed time to train and adapt.
Roy simply had not given him that time.
Ainz immediately said:
"Demiurge, this isn't your fault."
"We underestimated the enemy's strength. We never imagined the Dragon Worship Cult could deploy ten whole fire dragons."
"These fire dragons may belong to a player faction."
Ainz thought of the gacha draws. Anyone who drew even two of these pay-to-win dragons was already a sucker.
Could someone really have spent enough to get ten fire dragons?
No, if they have ten fire dragons, they'll have other dragons too-frost dragons, forest dragons, poison dragons, and so on.
There had indeed been a dragon-focused guild in the game.
They had clashed with the Seraphim Guild, arguing over which race was stronger.
But Yggdrasil had far too many guilds, and quite a few could afford to spend enough to acquire ten dragons.
People did not spend money on these dragons because they were such a rip-off.
Anyone determined to pay could still get them.
As for a supreme sucker like Lord Joshua, he had hardly interfered with the game at all.
Even if he had that many dragons, would they have traveled to this world with him?
Even when the thought occurred to Ainz, he could not be certain.
After all, the Dragon Worship Cult was clearly a faction centered on the Divine Dragon.
He had never heard that Lord Joshua liked dragons.
Albedo immediately added:
"No one in this world may stand as Lord Ainz's equal."
"Even if they are players, we will destroy them."
The guardians regarded Ainz as a supreme being and would not allow anyone to stand above him.
Ainz shook his head and said:
"Don't talk about destroying them. What we need to do now is review how the enemy accomplished this."
"Demiurge, explain it to us."
After endless anguish and regret, Ainz had finally decided to look ahead and rescue the NPCs belonging to the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Demiurge nearly shed tears and hurriedly bowed.
"Yes, Lord Ainz."
"According to my deductions, the enemy likely possesses a World Item."
"It was this item that rendered Shalltear unable to resist and allowed them to take her away."
"It may control the body, or it may control the mind."
"The red names on the guild roster prove that they were not merely captured. They may also have defected."
Quite a few World Items like that had indeed existed in Yggdrasil.
Aura and Shalltear seemed to bicker constantly, but they were actually very close. Aura could not help asking:
"Then wouldn't that mean the enemy has four World Items?"
That suddenly made the threat seem terrifying, but Demiurge shook his head.
"We cannot assume that!"
"If the enemy had four World Items, we would already have been finished in this battle."
"They could have wiped out everyone except Lord Ainz and Albedo."
"Thus, their cautious tactics indicate that Lord Ainz's appearance placed them under considerable pressure."
"For that reason, they used a World Item to capture Shalltear and the other maids."
"Their objective was undoubtedly intelligence, so they did not prolong the engagement."
Demiurge could hardly be blamed for guessing incorrectly.
Anyone with four World Items and four level-100 NPCs could have prevented four guardians from escaping.
Demiurge, Sebas, Cocytus, and Shalltear would all have been trapped.
Thus, he had reached a reasonable conclusion: the enemy lacked sufficient strength.
The ten fire dragons were probably the strongest forces they could deploy at the time.
Viewed that way, it could not possibly be Lord Joshua.
Ainz immediately felt much more at ease.
He remembered that Lord Joshua did not play the game and could not possibly have any World Items.
The game had operated for roughly ten years, yet many World Items had remained undiscovered.
Players had complained that perhaps all those World Items were in Lord Joshua's hands.
"You damn developers, explain yourselves!"
"Why else can't we find any World Items?"
At the time, Roy had responded to them directly:
"World Items?"
"If I really wanted World Items, would any of you have a single one left?"
"Would a hundred million yen apiece be enough?"
Those three remarks had sunk every accusation.
Lord Joshua did not have any World Items at all.
At this point, Ainz had successfully ruled out the correct answer, while becoming increasingly worried.
"Shalltear, Yuri, and the others have been captured and have outright betrayed the guild."
"The enemy will certainly obtain a great deal of intelligence. We must modify the Great Tomb of Nazarick's defenses."
"We must also devise countermeasures. We cannot assume the enemy's strength is limited to ten fire dragons. We must prepare as though they have a hundred!"
After hearing Demiurge's analysis, Ainz finally regained a little confidence.
After all, their all-important World Items had not been lost and remained stored in the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Demiurge said gravely:
"You are absolutely right, Lord Ainz. We now have a small lead on the enemy."
"That lead is Nfirea."
"The Dragon Slaying Cult took Nfirea away at the end. They will certainly seek him out again."
"As long as we can contact the Dragon Slaying Cult, we can rescue Shalltear and the others."
Ainz's eyes lit up, as though he had found a lifeline.
That's right. We must find Nfirea.
Through him, they could contact the Dragon Slaying Cult and even read the relevant memories.
The Dragon Slaying Cult could provide accurate intelligence on the enemy, allowing them to rescue the guardians.
Ainz said gravely:
"We lost this time because we lacked sufficient forces."
"I have decided to summon one thousand level-80 mercenary monsters."
"If the war becomes more difficult, I will summon at least three thousand more."
Pay-to-win dragons were formidable, but they were fundamentally no match for three Hanzō, making them utterly impractical for their cost.
As long as Ainz summoned enough mercenary monsters, everything would turn out all right.
That would be enough to overwhelm most enemies, and it was the measure he had planned to use against the Divine Dragon.
After two crushing defeats, the Great Tomb of Nazarick had decided to strike back hard.
The guardians answered in unison:
"Yes, Lord Ainz."
Just then, astonishing news arrived from E-Rantel.
"Lord Ainz, Nfirea has returned to the Adventurers Guild!"
What?!
Before you continue