An empty plain, hills and uncultivated green fields stretching around as far as the eye could see is what greeted Ainz in the new Singularity.
For a second after the reyshifting, Ainz simply stood where he was, looking around his surroundings, trying to determine exactly where he and his Servants were — however, it was useless. Almost in all directions, only empty green fields could be seen, sometimes alternating with wildflowers and trees scattered around the empty plains.
"Everything here looks very peaceful" - the skeletal magician did not fail to remark to himself.
"Wow," a second later came the voice of Cu Chulainn, distracting Ainz from his contemplation of the peaceful environment around him, "That thing in the sky from the previous Singularity is also here."
Hearing what Caster said, Ainz looked up at the sky to see exactly what he had seen before in the sky of Orleans. A clear, blue, peaceful sky with rare, slowly passing white clouds in the sky, in the middle of which there's a spot of darkness as if someone had spilled black paint, spilling it into a huge, perfectly round, black spot, which seemed to be able to absorb the sky with its crushing emptiness.
"Hm" - Ainz grunted vaguely - "So that thing is also here... Problem - but on the other hand it proves that the Singularities are interconnected..."
"So that's the thing that you were talking about then," Ainz turned his head to hear the quiet voice of Medusa who is currently lifting her head into the sky, she is watching the strange phenomenon.
"Indeed," Ainz blinked in understanding. "She couldn't see the sky of Orleans before, hmm..."
Seeing Medusa without a mask was somewhat unusual. Now her mask is dangling freely around her neck, like a scarf or a strange necklace, while the girl looked at the world - and the sky - through the glasses that Ainz had given her. And although this should not have been such a significant detail - the girl with glasses now looked completely different than what Ainz used to. On the other hand, if Ainz was to make a comparison, then he would definitely say that the glasses looked pretty good on her.
"So, where are we?" the Witch's voice distracted Ainz from his thoughts and contemplations, "I also wonder what this thing is in the sky - but this can be dealt with later."
Ainz had no idea exactly where they are. He was not strong in geography - just as he was not strong in many other things, so all he could say was that they were somewhere not far from Rome, probably.
"My lord," the remark from Cainabel drew the attention of Ainz, "I'm sorry, but perhaps you would like to know that a battle is happening not so far from here."
"A battle?" Ainz looked at the girl, to which she nodded.
"Yes, my lord," Cainabel smiled at Ainz, bowing, "And a lot of people are participating in this battle... And also two Servants."
"Hm," Ainz grunted thoughtfully. Right off the bat, then? A battle immediately after their entrance into the Singularity - it was even in some sense expected for Ainz - "Are the Servants fighting monsters or people?"
"My lord," Cainabel smiled again, trying to look as kind as possible, "I can't say for sure, but as far as I can judge, there are no monsters participating in this battle — at least I can only feel the blood of people and Servants in this battle. The Servants are... fighting among themselves."
"So that's how?" Ainz looked thoughtfully at the girl.
Until that moment, he did not have to meet with the Servants while they are fighting each other. No, of course, in the Singularity, his allies fought with the Servants of the Witch, but he had never succeeded in stumbling into an occasional battle between the Servants.
'So,' Ainz looked around once more, 'We ended up in an unknown place, in the middle of an empty plains, quite by accident next to a battle and next to two Servants fighting each other.'
Could this be a trap?
Ainz clutched his head at the thought, after which, a second before devoting himself to paranoia, he slowly let go of this line of thought and returned to his previous line of thought.
Yes, this could be a trap. But if again, as in the previous Singularity, he let himself be troubled excessively by this paranoia, then it will again do more harm than good. At least Ainz was sure of that.
In addition, the opportunity to look at a battle between two Servants from the distance was a valuable experience.
"So, we should at least get closer to them," Ainz sighed, then used the spell, "Mass Flight"
A second later, Ainz felt the spell connect to him along with his Servants, giving everyone the opportunity to fly... Except for one exception.
"Jeanne?" Ainz turned to the side of the previously silent Servant. She, looking at the magician, averted her head, embarrassed, to the side.
"Jeanne, I couldn't use the flight spell on you," Ainz said in a blank voice, "Do you know why?"
"That's because of my Magical defense," the girl said quietly, "It is extremely high and therefore almost all spells..."
"Even your strongest trump cards are made in such a way that you have only problems from them," the Witch's voice came out gloating, "How shitty to be you, Jeanne d'Arc."
"The unsuccessful copy of Jeanne d'Arc said," Cainabel intervened in the conversation, not forgetting to prick the Witch, causing her to cast a malicious look at Cainabel who only smiled back in response.
"I apologize," Jeanne, clearly embarrassed by what had happened, looked down, trying to hide her regretful expression, "I... I just..."
"Okay," Ainz sighed. It was difficult to send Jeanne back for a replacement now - and besides, she really was the most suitable of all the Servants in the current conditions - in order to replace Jeanne, Ainz would have to reassemble the whole team again. Therefore, with a sigh, the magician held out his hand forward, after which the darkness of his inventory swallowed his hand to the elbow. After searching for a bit, Ainz found the necessary necklace, after which, just in case, he grabbed something else.
"Here," Ainz took out a small necklace from the instantly disappeared black hole and threw it at the girl. Jeanne caught it, and then looked at the necklace carefully.
In fact, the necklace was a small thin chain of silvery metal, at the end of which was a pendant stylized as a white wing - "This is an amulet of flight. Although my spells do not apply to you... At least for the moment - you should have no problems using the artifacts."
'Or so it would have worked in Yggdrasil,' Ainz added to himself.
Fortunately, immediately after putting on the necklace, the girl smiled, "Yes, it will work."
"Good," Ainz nodded, after which he handed the girl something else, "In that case, here."
Jeanne glanced at the thing in Ainz's fist, then slowly reached out and took... the ring.
"Hah?" The girl looked at the ring in confusion, then at Ainz, "Hah?"
A second later, her face literally ignited - it became so red and bright, as if someone had heated her face like an iron.
"No, no, no, no, no!" The girl immediately waved her hands, "I do not agree! I mean, not now... I mean, you are a good person, ahem... You helped me tremendously, but I can't so easily..."
'Hm?' - Ainz looked at the girl with a blank expression - 'What is she talking about?'
"Senpai", - Mashu's voice drove Ainz out of his thoughts, forcing him to turn to the Shielder. The girl looked at Ainz with a slightly irritated and slightly incomprehensible look, - "What are you doing?"
"That is a teleportation ring," Ainz explained, still not understanding Mashu's indignation, "I just thought that in a case where we would have to teleport and considering that I maybe couldn't just teleport Jeanne like that, I should give her the ring now, in advance."
"Ah?" Jeanne stopped, still a little crimson, after which she laughed awkwardly, "Yes, exactly, a teleportation ring... This is exactly what I thought, haha, of course... After all, that's the only way, haha..."
Ainz looked at the girl not fully understanding her behavior.
"Senpai," - Mashu's voice distracted Ainz from thinking, - "I... I also want a ring."
"That is," Mashu immediately tried to continue her thought so that no one would think that she had any extraneous motives, which of course she didn't have, "Perhaps we will need to split up in the future, or we can be cut off from each other, in which case we will need to use teleportation independently of each other..."
"Yes, perhaps," after a moment's deliberation, Ainz agreed with the thought, "Good. Then I should give it to all the Servants."
"Ha?" Mashu glanced at Ainz, and then immediately frowned, "Yes, of course, that would be logical."
Fortunately, such low-level items were common like dirt in the game, so Ainz had at least a hundred or two of the rings and necklaces without any problems.
Without any fanfare, he managed to give them to the remaining Servants, stopping only before the last two.
"Cainabel, you don't need it," Ainz nodded to the girl, who also nodded in response. Indeed, Cainabel could fly and teleport by using her abilities, without the help of artifacts, - "However, Cu Chulainn..."
"What?" The guy looked at Ainz, then at the outstretched ring, and then sighed, "Master, I warn you right away, I'm straight."
"Hm?" Ainz blinked. 'What is he talking about?'
"It doesn't matter," not finding the best words for the reaction to what was said, Ainz handed him the ring and necklace.
"No, I will repeat it again," Cu Chulainn sighed, "My orientation is so straight you can draw a line using it instead of ruler."
"Good, good," Ainz sighed. "Now put on the ring."
"Just to make it clear," Cu Chulainn explained to the magician, incomprehensibly, "I do this solely to increase my capabilities."
"Suuuure," came Cainabel's voice, to which Cu Chulainn only cast an annoyed look at that, "Now put on the ring before my Master has to kneel down to put it on your finger."
'And why would I get on one knee?' - Ainz was completely lost in the thoughts of the Servants - 'This is probably the problem of all Servants. They think in other categories and are completely unable to behave like people, so they just don't understand how normal people should behave... How difficult it is to communicate with them!'
Sighing, Cu Chulainn still put the ring on his finger, and then looked at Ainz,- "Well, now is that all?"
"Yes, probably," Ainz nodded. "Now we need to get closer to the battlefield."
The battle was far from its climax. Both warring parties, leaving several fairly distorted groups of corpses on the ground, retreated from each other, looking at their opponents with tired eyes, clutching at the rugged parts of their body.
The only ones who still continued to fight were the two Servants, still fighting, as if without feeling any exhaustion, continuing to fight each other.
Ainz hovered in the sky, a little away from the battle, continuing to survey the fighting Servants.
Judging by the fact that the two flashed over and over again converging in close combat, carving sparks with a clash of swords, it was easy to assume that both combatants were specialists in close combat. However, it was not easy to catch any defining characteristics from a distance.
Thanks to his race and his current existence as that of a Servant, Ainz's vision was much better than that of a normal human, but even so it didn't particularly help him to see the detailed appearance of the combatants. However, he could still see something.
On one side of the battlefield were soldiers. As far as Ainz himself could understand - these were Roman soldiers, perhaps even legionnaires - at least their appearance was similar to Punitto Moe's descriptions, and in this regard Ainz trusted his friend, after all, Punitto Moe was a history otaku. On the other side of the battlefield, the army's appearance was much more mottled.
Unlike the approximately identical looking soldiers of Rome, the soldiers of the other army on the other hand were completely differently dressed. Among them, too, were Roman legionnaires - as well as people dressed in quilts, leather armor, and, it seemed, everything that they could wear as protection. They also held a wide variety of weapons in their hands - unlike the Romans, these soldiers were armed with spears, swords, shields, hammers, strange curved blades and a lot of other kinds of weapons. However, Cainabel was right - there were no monsters on either side of the fight. Of course, perhaps among them there were monsters that could take the form of people - but if Ainz continued in this train of thought, he would again risk slipping into meaningless paranoia.
The two Servants looked more interesting, continuing to converge over and over again in combat.
Both Servants were girls, it was clear for sure. One was wearing a dress completely unsuitable for battle - a huge, red dress, swaying every time she parried another blow with her huge red blade, as if it was out of a fantasy game... Perhaps Ainz even saw such a design in Yggdrasil - the blade looked more like a curved red horn torn from the head of a monster than a sword - however, this did not prevent the girl, a golden-haired and a pretty short-haired one, from attacking with it with inspiring dexterity.
The second one who fought looked more like a warrior - but only in comparison with the first. Ainz could see that she didn't even wear armor - but at least her clothes were more suitable for battle, even if there was a decent neckline on her chest that allowed him to look at her impressive chest. The girl's hair was also cut short enough, but they were red, copper-red in color, unlike her opponent's. Another difference, the girl held a blade in her hands which looked like a very real blade, unlike the girl in red strange sword, and a small buckler shield, using which she occasionally parried her opponent's attacks, not forgetting to respond with her blade.
Ainz froze for several tens of seconds, trying to keep track of the actions of the girls.
"They..." - Ainz wondered. "More powerful melee warriors than me."
On the one hand, that was a good compliment. Ainz was still a hundred-level character with excellent strength and dexterity parameters for his build. On the other hand, this compliment was very humiliating in fact, since Ainz himself is specialized as a hundred-level magician - his melee abilities were his weakest side, even weaker than his stealth ability - and this is even without taking into account his spells that may boost his stats.
The two combatants clashed time after time, crossing blades, however, during that time Ainz, observing for several tens of seconds, did not observe the activation of any skill.
"Strange," the magician muttered thoughtfully to himself. "Are they not taking their fight seriously? So far, it looks like the two warriors are using auto-attack against each other..."
Both fighters continued to fight each other, periodically leaping around the battlefield, because of which it was difficult to figure out which of the Servants fought for which side. Fortunately, some help was provided to Ainz by an unexpected ally.
"Hey!" Cu Chulainn, who had been calmly staring at the battle scene before, grinned, "How could I not notice..."
"Do you know any of them?" Ainz looked at Cu Chulainn.
"I would hardly have recognized her in the form of a Lancer," the mage grunted under his nose, "But as Caster it is not difficult to identify the one that took an oath to the ancient gods of the Celts."
"That," after that, Cu Chulainn pointed to red-haired girl with his hockey-stick-like staff, "That is Boudica."
"Boudica?" Ainz looked at Cu Chulainn. This name did not immediately stood out in his memory when he was a player, but Punnito Moe definitely mentioned her. Ainz jogged his memory, "Is that... The Queen who led a rebellion against Rome?"
"Yup," Cu Chulainn nodded.
'So it's more likely that she is the commander of the gang of hodge podge soldiers' - Ainz looked at a group of soldiers dressed in various armor and holding different weapons - 'Is it possible that she is now leading a rebellion against Rome?'
Ainz was not sure of his conclusion, but the likelihood of such an event was not zero.
"Miserable creatures, aren't they?" Ainz looked at Cainabel, who appeared next to the magician, "Even in battle they're not able to use their skills, such a small fry..."
"Don't underestimate them," Ainz sighed. "Perhaps they are hiding their trump cards while studying the enemy."
"As you say, my lord," however, although the girl agreed with Ainz, he could easily discern that she continued to hold her own opinion.
'So, then we accidentally stumbled upon a battle between two Servants, one of which is Boudica, known for her uprising against Rome' - Ainz looked at the fight - 'What to do next?'
By interfering in the battle Ainz now could easily tip the battle in favor of either side. The question was only for whom he should fight.
On one side was Boudica, who allegedly led the uprising. An uprising could be associated with something heroic, like the revolt of one person against an evil state... And it could also be a trap leading to even more violence, the coming to power of crazy dictators and mass destruction.
The second side, judging by the legionnaires, was Rome - or at the very least the very system against which the rebellion took place. And they, equally, could be both vicious tyrants against whom the people justly rebelled, and disgruntled soldiers trying to save the remnants of the state in order to protect the people from crazy radicals and rebels.
Ainz did not even have an idea about whom he needed to support in such conditions.
And all this, of course, was true only if Ainz himself correctly guessed with whom and why they were fighting. It would be foolish if it turned out that now Boudica defended Rome, and her opponent would be an even more famous destroyer of civilizations.
Ainz sighed, and then looked at the fighting below.
After another exchange of blows, however, the girls retreated - and the wind brought the voices of those fighting to Ainz.
"Let my soldiers go!" the girl in red shouted, "They should not participate in this battle! This is our fight!"
"I don't remember your troops listening to me when I asked the same!" Boudica could hardly resist rushing at her opponent with a blade.
"This is our fight!" The girl in red pointed her monstrous blade at Boudica. "They are not guilty of anything!"
"Every Roman is guilty of something," Boudica answered by putting out her blade, imitating the pose of her opponent, "Each of them is guilty of the existence of this damned empire, and each of them is guilty of it's sins!"
'Everything has become even more complicated...' - Ainz sighed, 'And which one is worth supporting? On the one hand, we have a heroic rebel leader obsessed with revenge. On the other hand - a kind commander protecting her soldiers from death, despite the fact that judging by the cry of Boudica, these soldiers are guilty of some terrible deeds...'
"My lord," Cainabel's voice did not add to Ainz the certainty that her words would bring him an answer to this question, "Maybe we should destroy them both? They don't seem to be too strong."
"Cainabel!" Jeanne was next to the girl, "How can you suggest such a thing?!"
"Why not?" Cainabel shrugged. "Standing in the middle of the battlefield while shouting threats to each other — isn't this a confirmation of their inability as warriors?"
'Just great,' Ainz sighed.
"Cainabel, we won't destroy anyone just like that," Ainz remarked, "Moreover, you are forbidden to attack any Servant in the Singularity except in the case of self-defense."
"As you order, my lord," the girl smiled and bowed, despite the fact that at the moment she was in the air next to Ainz.
However, the situation still did not clarify.
'Punnito clearly would like to support one of the Romans' - Ainz sighed - 'But on the other hand, he was not at all like Ulbert. He wouldn't support the definitely bad guys... How difficult...'
Ainz sighed.
Apparently, he really did not know exactly who he was supposed to support in this clash. In this case, all that remained for him was just to not support anyone.
On the other hand, if he had just left the Servants now, he would obviously have lost the opportunity to learn any valuable information that both combatants probably owned.
It was resolved in his mind.
Ainz turned toward his Servants. Apparently, he would just have to force the combatants to stop the battle until Ainz himself figured out who he should have supported.
"I'll take a closer look at them. Wait a bit," Ainz said calmly, glancing at his Servants, "Greater Teleportation."
After a second, the vista in front of his eyes changed. He had just looked at the battle from a bird's eye view - and a moment later his eyes were focused on by the gaze of the girl whom Cu Chulainn recognized as Boudica. The emerald green eyes looked at him with hatred - however, this hatred was not directed at Ainz, and therefore did not bother him at all. Rather, Ainz simply accidentally stood in the way of Boudica's gaze directed at her opponent.
Turning around, Ainz was able to look at her opponent - and froze.
'I thought we left Arthuria in Chaldea' - Ains froze for a second before dismissing this thought. The girl in front of him looked like Arthuria... No, maybe even he would have decided that she was actually Arthuria - if not for her bright green, lime-colored eyes, in which at the moment there was clearly a splash of misunderstanding. However, a second after the misunderstanding was replaced by joy.
"Finally!" The girl announced it loudly, after which she looked at Ainz with a pretense of severe anger, "Where have you been so long?! How can you make your emperor wait?!"
"Fear!" - before Ainz could say something, the girl took a step to the side so that her gaze rested on Boudica, "My reinforcements finally arrived!"
Boudica, listening at this, took a step back.
The man who appeared in front of her did not feel like... In any way, he did not feel like anything, in fact. The instincts of Boudica as a Servant refused to recognize the man in front of her as a Servant... Human... Living creature... Source of mana... For her, what appeared was felt just like a void - as if there was nothing at all on that place.
And yet she could definitely see the person in front of her.
"Assassin?" Boudicca stepped back, thinking, "Caster?"
However, wild guesses will not give her a definite answer. And this meant that Boudica was placed in a losing position.
The battle with Saber was difficult in itself - adding a new opponent to this battle meant a practically guaranteed defeat.
Boudica gritted her teeth.
"We're retreating," she said after a second of silence, casting her last hating glance at Saber.
In other conditions, a retreat would have been impossible - Saber was still able to fight and the arrival of reinforcements meant that she would not have allowed Boudica to retreat and continued the battle. However, not under current conditions.
Saber could not force the fight with Boudica, Rider, forcing herself to leave her soldiers alone and undefended. Most of them were injured - many could not continue the battle or even defend themselves - they would have to be carried back to the camp. And Saber could not leave them just like this, undefended - especially now, knowing that they were easy prey, it was worth the risk attacking them with only one Servant - or even a simple group of soldiers to defeat them completely. In the end, she is forced to send at least one Servant to accompany the troops - and even if she sent a second after Boudica who is retreating to her camp, Boudica would be able to rely on help from her camp to blunt the attack. Saber also knew about this - so she would not dare to risk her soldiers in vain.
"We're leaving," said Boudica, after which, as if in mockery of the girl who had just been fighting, she turned her back away from her, not looking at Saber, while slowly moving away.
'Hah?' - Ainz wondered. 'It was easier than I thought.'
Ainz would not have chased after Boudica in any case - in the end, his goal was simply to stop the battle, so he calmly reacted to Rider moving away, as it seemed completely indifferent to Ainz.
For several tens of seconds, Ainz watched as Boudica slowly left, taking away the remains of his soldiers - those whom Ainz nevertheless correctly identified as her army. A lot of people in a variety of armor and with a variety of weapons moved away, leaving Ainz behind them - although unlike Boudica, almost all of them nevertheless cast a glance at the magician and Saber, not sure that they would not follow after them. However, despite their worry, not one from the enemy's side nevertheless followed them - so Ainz was able to observe in silence the slow retreat of the army, after which he turned to the girl in red, so similar to Arthuria.
She, only noticing Ainz's gaze, smiled, after which she exaggeratedly and even ostentatiously proudly stood in a pose, propping her breasts with her hands, raising her chin.
"Rejoice!" Said the girl with some special pride, "For you have just earned the grace of the emperor ~ umu! Let me congratulate you on behalf of the Roman Empire - for your intervention today saved hundreds of faithful soldiers of Rome and an unfortunate lost soul that decided to fight me - from certain death! Know - that my gratitude as Emperor will not know end ~ umu!"
'Although I generally did not pursue such goals,' Ainz sighed internally.
"I'm not your reinforcements," the magician said eventually.
"Of course I know that," however the girl only smiled, "However, the fact that you came to the aid of your emperor in battle is worthy of praise anyway ~ umu! Now - say your name, stranger!"
"Ainz," Ainz sighed, "And I have not come here alone."
"Really?" Saber raised one eyebrow, "And with whom?"
Ainz touched his connection with the Servants, after which a second later his small army appeared next to him with a slight flash of teleportation.
"These are my Servants," Ainz said, after which he looked at the girl in front, "However, first of all, I need to find out who you are."
"How rude it is to not recognize the Emperor herself!" The girl frowned for a second, making an exaggeratedly surprised and insulted gesture, as if Ainz's unrecognition really hurt her, but a second later she smiled with a wide smile, "Rejoice - for you are now facing the Fifth Emperor of the Roman Empire, the magnificent and incomparable Saber of the Golden Theater ~ umu!"
"Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus!" The girl said on her exhale with a huge smile, "And now, let me welcome you to my Roman Empire!"
'Nero?' Ainz blinked and looked at the girl, who continued to smile. "Nero like... The Roman Emperor?"
Punnito Moe told Ainz something about him and Ainz clearly remembered that Nero was a man...
On the other hand, Ainz remembered that King Arthur was also a man - and then he met with Arthuria.
'Another oddity of this world' - Ainz sighed - 'How many more obscure people with a changed gender await me here?'
Ainz had no idea...
"Well, now that the courtesies are over," Nero clapped her hands, "We need to bring the soldiers back to our camp..."
"Camp?" Ainz looked at Nero.
"Antium," the girl smiled, "A beautiful place not inferior to Rome..."
After mentioning Rome, Nero suddenly turned grim, as if thinking about something, but then shook her head, casting the unpleasant thoughts away from herself - "Well, enough talking. Further communication can be carried out in the presence of the rest - now it is necessary to bring the soldiers to the city."
"The rest?" Ainz looked at the girl.
"Of course, what kind of an emperor would I be without my faithful followers," the girl smiled, "Or rather, three emperors... Perhaps this can be called good luck — that they both were summoned..."
"Okay, I've talked for too long," Nero dismissed her thoughts instantly, and then turned around. "Forward, I can't wait to introduce you to my uncle. I hope that the fatty after such good news will also cease to be angry with me..."
Nero moved away, forcing the soldiers, who were still gazing at Ainz and his Servant, to cautiously move after her.
Ainz went after, looking thoughtfully at Nero.
"Uncle..." - Ainz tried to remember - "Uncle of Nero was... Caligula, right?"
Ainz remembered about Punnito Moe. Once he was annoyed by the history of Ancient Rome that the man continually told him... But as this time proved to him - in the end, it was for the good.
"Who would have thought" - Ainz smiled.
In this Singularity he would probably remember his friend for many times to come...
Deicide: EX
In the end, the divine that crossed its paths with the owner of this skill will be destroyed.
So simple.
In the end, the rank EX means that the possessor of this skill is a curse of the divine kind, the one which is impossible to fight.
EX rank means the almost absolute suppression of divine power, in battle or spells. In other words, this skill is rather a mark, signifying the imminent defeat of the divine. Divine intervention in the life of the bearer of this skill will be rejected, just as magic is rejected by protection from magic. It is as if the possessor of this skill itself is a being outside of Divine Authority. One can say that Divine Authority has no effect on the owner of this skill, and the owners of Divinity in their veins automatically lose their parameters, depending on the level of their divinity. Artifacts and skills acquired through communication with the divine are also unlikely to work against the owner of this skill. Nevertheless, one can say that Ainz is an ideal machine for the destruction of the divine.
However, on the other hand, if the creature opposing it is something of a different nature, similar and at the same time different with divinity - a Buddha, a demon, or another creature of another world... The result may be slightly different.