Ainz, on the whole, was not an absolute gentleman. Well, he was of course initiated into the rules of behavior in society. For example, the need to hold the door in front of an elder leaving a building, and it was not such an unusual act for him to offer help to lift or carry some heavy thing for an acquaintance. But he, nevertheless, was not a gentleman.
Still, Ainz understood quite well that hitting girls was not worth it.
In an ordinary situation, that is.
But, the situation in which Ainz found himself was not ordinary at all. It was a battle. And in a battle - there is no place for prejudice, doubt, or feelings.
But...
"Nobunaga." After the distance between the fighters was about ten meters, Ainz stopped and, waiting for Nobunaga to turn, nodded to her, keeping a calm expression on his face. His smile had left his lips long ago, leaving on his face only an absolutely expressionless mask of utmost politeness - the one that Ainz used when politeness was the last thing he wanted to express, - "Anyway, before we start... I would like to ask you formal permission."
"Hmm?" Oda glanced at Ainz, waiting for an explanation.
"The fact is, fighting with my subordinates, with my Servants, is forbidden", - Ainz nodded slowly, then smiled, - "Therefore, I hope that for the duration of this battle, you will allow me not to consider you as my Servant."
However, there were certain formalities that Ainz preferred not to break unnecessarily. Not for the sake of creating a certain image - but, rather, for the sake of his own comfort.
"Ha, of course", - Nobunaga grinned slightly patronizingly, - "During the duel you can consider me your enemy."
"Oh, no," Ainz calmly objected and nodded, "Definitely, I don't consider you an enemy... I called you a hindrance. And I will stick to my opinion."
Nobunaga frowned for a second, then grunted as if mocking Ainz's opinion. He, however, continued to maintain a polite expression on his face, not reacting to such disdain.
After another second, Ainz turned away, looking at Mashu and smiled at her - quite affably, - "Mashu, would you be so kind... If Oda Nobunaga thinks that she is in a duel - could you start a duel countdown for Oda Nobunaga?"
To Da Vinci, whose gaze carefully analyzed every word and gesture of the fighters frowned, such a formulation of the proposal and wording was more than specific... However, she still understood that there was no place for her intervention in such an event. All she could at the moment was hope for Ainz's level-headedness and...
Da Vinci glanced at Nobunaga and frowned - well only Ainz's.
After another second, receiving a formal nod from Mashu, Ainz turned around.
The two opponents were facing each other. The distance is ten meters. Of course, someone could say that at such a distance an opponent preferring to fight in ranged combat was in an advantage However, in addition to the fact that for Servants such a distance could be crossed in less of a second, both opponents, Ainz and Nobunaga, specialized in long-range combat. Therefore, such a distance was, in a sense, beneficial to both of them.
However, this was only a trivial fact, insignificant for the duel that's about to happen.
The two duelists, Ainz and Nobunaga, stood opposite each other, looking into each other's eyes.
After another second, a wave of flame from Nobunaga again cleared the place for the two opponents to fight, to which Ainz did not offer any comment. After all, nothing that he could say at the moment would not affect what is happening and, in extreme cases, would make him look laughable. Therefore, instead of reacting in any way, Ainz only slowly shifted his gaze.
Mashu, prudently standing at some distance from the combatants, slowly raised her hand up.
The eyes of Arthuria, Jalter and Da Vinci were fixed on the two fighters, before Mashu uttered the coveted number - "Three..."
A second later, Ainz disappeared.
Nobunaga only had a moment to think the strange thought that Ainz made a false start - before a fist hit her stomach.
Ainz, of course, being a magician and having never trained in melee combat - could not boast of the ferocity of his left hook. Still, his nature as a Servant and the acceleration he gained in an instant made Oda instantly collapse from the unexpected blow that knocked her spirit out of her. The blow was enough to stun Oda, forcing her to catch her breath, a second of delay. This, as expected, turned out to be a mistake.
As befits a right-hander, the right-handed blow from Ainz was much stronger and, thanks to Oda's momentary hitch, was able to reach its intended target. Therefore, with a swing of his hip, Ainz's right handed punch struck Nobunaga's head, dropping her instantly to the ground in a brutal show of force. Nobunaga's head crashed onto the pavement, viscerally hitting her head against stone, and for her body to bounce a little.
As Nobunaga's body bounced on the hard cold stone floor, Ainz was already next to her with one of his legs raised. With a bone crunching crunch, Ainz's feet slammed into Nobunaga's face mercilessly breaking her nose, causing blood to instantly pour over her face.
However, after the brutal beatdown, Nobunaga herself was finally able to take control of herself - and all doubts disappeared from her mind. Only the battle remained.
After another second, Nobunaga's skill took effect.
As if it Was a Dream...
A skill that reflects the essence of Oda Nobunaga, the Avenger. A skill that was created from her nature as an Avenger - the nature of the Servant which has absorbed tens, hundreds, thousands of others like her, even the Oda Nobunaga that has never existed. Unfulfilled dreams and unfulfilled ambitions, failed history and unborn people. The quintessence of the True Demon King, not as Heroic Spirit, but as the hundreds of unrealized 'ifs' merged together. If Oda Nobunaga did not commit suicide when she was surrounded by the troops of her traitorous vassal. If Oda Nobunaga had unified Japan. If Oda Nobunaga had led her troops against the whole world. If, if, if...
A skill was born as the flip side of such 'ifs'. The skill of saying 'this thing didn't happen', and as there are infinite worlds it is so. The skill allowed Oda Nobunaga to make themself disappear altogether.
However, this was not a suicidal action. On the contrary, it could be called Oda Nobunaga's 'trump card'. After all, such a disappearance did not mean the disappearance of Oda Nobunaga as a Servant. It only meant that she was a creature of a fundamentally different nature from other Servants.
Such a skill was able to make Oda Nobunaga, the True Demon King, disappear in the material plane in a way that other Servants could not do, in fact, turning into a 'non-existent creature' for a time. In this form, Oda Nobunaga was immune to all attacks from the 'real' world, while remaining fully capable of interacting with the real world. It was a trump card against which it was impossible to pick up opposition.
Or at least it should have been.
Ainz was not interested in the mystical background of such a transformation, only what he needed to do to counter it. After all, the first thing he learned was the skills of all his Servants before ever considering them for anything, never mind a battle. And for every skill Nobunaga possessed, he also had a good counter, her 'trump card' most of all.
"Astral Smite", - Oda Nobunaga managed to disappear from under Ainz's feet, appearing next to him, preparing to attack. However, before she could do so. Ainz's spell pierced her through, ignoring Nobunaga's etherealness. In the end, methods of dealing with ethereal creatures were necessary for every player.
Dozens of ephemeral, thin, like needles, shots pierced Nobunaga's body. Abdomen, left shoulder, right clavicle, left knee, right ankle, right cheek, left hand... all were pierced by the needles.
Nobunaga, who did not expect that anyone could so easily ignore her trump card, and seeing that there's no point in draining her reserve further, materialized. As soon as she appeared, muskets were summoned all around her, by the influence of her power all were trained in Ainz's direction. Not bothering holding back, dozens and hundreds of similar mana constructs at once arose around her, all prepared to fire... but it was for naught.
"Antimagic Field", - Before the musket could do anything a wave of invisible force crashed into the weapons of Nobunaga, forcing them to instantly crumble into a cloud of harmless mana, - "Bone Stakes."
Caught in surprise once again, dozens of bone stakes appeared under Nobunaga's feet, easily piercing Nobunaga's legs, arms, body, forcing her to choke with pain, pinning her to the ground.
"Burn the Gods and...!" - the only trump card that Nobunaga could hope for in her current conditions was her Noble Phantasm, which elevated her above other Servants and would burn any Mysteries...
However, as soon as she admitted this thought and started the process of invoking her Noble Phantasm, the flow of mana from the Master, from Ainz, who had been supplying her all this time, instantly dried up. Nobunaga was instantly cut off from all of her mana.
Nobunaga had lost.
The stakes that pierced into her body did not disappear, forcing her to glance down at her arms and legs.
No matter how one looks, Nobunaga was absolutely helpless at the moment. Her arms and legs were pierced and nailed, as if crucified, leaving her hanging limply on stakes like a nailed butterfly.
Nobunaga shifted her gaze to Ainz. However, all she saw was the slowly approaching smog, which was slowly going to consume her.
Nobunaga did not have any abilities that would allow her to ignore the creeping fog of ash - and without her Master, she did not have mana to spend it even on something like burning the smog. Without the power of the Master, she would have disappeared in just a minute or two.
The mist of ash returned to its place with unhurried calmness, as if realizing that Nobunaga was now helpless, easily engulfing the Servant's figure beneath the choking smog.
Instantly, Nobunaga started coughing, feeling her lungs burning from the smoke, but the stakes that pierced her body did not even allow her to move her hand to cover her face.
After another second, Nobunaga heard footsteps sounding slowly next to her. Unhurriedly and measured, someone walked through the smog.
'Now he has to end this battle, ha,' Nobunaga chuckled. Winning the duel by false start and abusing the Master-Servant connection... This was not something that Nobunaga could approve of - hmm... Ainz was strong, Nobunaga was at least now very sure of that. But such a defeat... It left an unpleasant aftertaste in her mouth.
After a short while, the footsteps stopped, and suddenly, Nobunaga felt it became a lot easier for her to breathe, as if the smog was not there at all. After another second, the smog, burning her eyes, no longer blocks her eyes, allowing her at last to see the figure of her Master.
Ainz appeared calm as he lifted his hands away from Nobunaga's punctured arm. Now that her attention is no longer occupied by the ashes, Nobunaga could feel the two rings that now adorned her fingers.
Ainz took a step forward, himself now in front of Nobunaga's face. With him now in place, Ainz's magic disappeared and Nobunaga, whose body was now more like a lot of pieces of meat connected more like with scraps of clothing than bones or muscles, fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings have been cut.
All that Nobunaga could do now was to gather the last remnants of her strength and get up off the ground even a little bit. But even if she wanted to stand, all she managed to do was get up on her knees. She didn't even have the energy to lift her face to even glare at Ainz.
'This won't do.' Thinking such thoughts, Ainz kneeled on his knee so that Nobunaga could see his face as he talked. To Nobunaga, it was as if Ainz was looking down at her, but it was simply due to their height.
"Oda Nobunaga..." - Ainz said calmly, measuredly, - "Let me tell you a few things. Perhaps now you are unhappy that I dared to violate the conditions of the duel, to attack you before the indicated signal, hmm?"
"In that case, let me answer the reason why, Oda Nobunaga," Ainz sighed, as if he was explaining something obvious to a particularly dim audience. "You were fighting a duel against your enemy, I did not."
"As I said before, you are not my enemy, Oda Nobunaga," Ainz said calmly, "And if not that you are my Servant, Oda Nobunaga, you would be a hindrance."
"A duel is the highest form of respect for your opponent", - Ainz spoke calmly, measuredly, as if teaching something to a student, - "A battle in which you put your lives on the line, a situation in which you recognize your enemy as your equal and stake your life on your confidence. It doesn't matter how big a difference in position, strength, training and conditions is - by accepting a duel you admit that during this battle you and opponent are equal, not higher or lower than each other. You pay tribute to each other by agreeing to a duel. Dueling rules, counting down the moment of battle, fighting in full force, everything, up to the act of declaring a duel, is an act of respect for one's enemy. And as I said, you are not my enemy, Oda Nobunaga. You are a hindrance."
"Perhaps you decided that me using the words 'you are not my enemy' means I'm considering you as my Servant during the fight and therefore have to feel some subconscious sympathy for you," Ainz shook his head, "Of course, this is partially so. But I have to say that 'hindrance' is not a positive characteristic for my Servant. Otherwise, I would use something like 'sparring partner' or even 'opponent'."
A chuckle could be heard from beyond the smog, it sounded like Da Vinci.
"But that's not the point. Oda Nobunaga, I will say this again. I am not a cruel Master, although I could be. I could have taken every advantage I could in our battle, everything from the situation, Command Spells or use the help of the other Servants in order to force you to obey any number of rules I wish. I could even just change your behavior outright if I wanted to, there are enough spells and abilities that I know that could make such a thing trivial. However, I did not do this - because I am always sincerely unpretentious in behavior, actions, and thoughts of my Servants."
"However, right now, your behavior, your bull-headedness, your arrogance, and your stupidity have crossed a dangerous line", - Ainz exhaled, - "The line behind which the mission stands. You can take this as my reaction to your disobedience - and I accept your hate for deciding to do so. Moreover, I will not mind if you start to hate me. However - only as long as your hatred does not interfere with the mission."
"And so for the very fact that you, not being my opponent, being my Servant, took actions that cannot be interpreted other than sabotage, I consider you a hindrance", - Ainz slowly got up from his knee, standing up to his full height, - "Oda Nobunaga, you are a hindrance just because you are simply not qualified to be my enemy. Your lack of understanding of the essence of what is an enemy, the essence of the duel, the essence of the mission is the reason why you are only a 'hindrance' - and nothing more. And if you want to remain a hindrance in this mission, then I have only one answer for you."
Oda Nobunaga looked up, trying to see Ainz's face.
But Oda couldn't see him. It had nothing to do with the fog or the sun hitting her eyes. Perhaps this was due solely to the height at which Ainz stood.
Oda Nobunaga, kneeling near the ground, could not see the face of Ainz, who was lost in the sky.
"Don't stand in the way of Ainz Ooal Gown," Ainz said it calmly, but anyone who could hear these words would feel the power, some primordial truth hidden in these words.
After another second, Oda felt her depleted supply of mana begin to replenish again - and in her hands there was a bottle filled with a red, blood-like, liquid.
Oda looked up, then drank the potion to the last drop. It didn't take long for all her wounds, as if they had never existed, to disappear in the blink of an eye.
Seeing that Nobunaga is now healed, Ainz turned around, and started walking away. However, having made a couple of steps, he stopped, and partially turned his head back towards Nobunaga, "Oh right, and to answer your question - 'why did you not wait for the signal?'."
"Is that I didn't feel like it," Ainz said his last remark, turned around, and then walked away.
Ainz exhaled. He was glad that he was able to spew out that much babbling without biting his tongue, or even stuttering.
It was not a prepared speech at all... Ainz also had speeches prepared, but the one he gave Nobunaga was not one of those speeches. So the fact that he could spew such nonsense with such certainty was only due to his practice.
Locked in his room for six days, Ainz did not only lay on his bed and did nothing. Although most of the time spent was still on his bed - he also rehearsed some ways he's going to interact with the Servants in front of the mirror. Recently, the world has shown him the urgent need to prepare at least a few speeches for the future...
But the speeches he practiced were mostly love speeches. So spewing such things like 'the sanctity of duels' and 'opponents', 'hindrances' and whatnot was a straight 'improvised' action. Some of his true sentiment might have leaked through.
However, even his love speeches were impossible, still stuttered things that he half remembered from the 'galge' Peroroncino and his sister, Bukubukuchagama, liked to talk about. Still, for Ainz - such rehearsals allowed Ainz to slowly prepare for the inevitable progression of his relationship with the girls. In the end, even the most shocking and embarrassing words lose its punch after being repeated and rehearsed a thousand times. At least he hoped it would be enough for when the inevitable happens, and he has to do it in front of the girls.
And, of course, Ainz's monologue was not a love speech right now, no matter how one might look at it.
It was Ainz's own thought, spoken without preparation and without rehearsal.
However, for Satoru Suzuki, a simple office worker, such a thing as 'duels' was alien. After all, what could a simple office worker know about battles, putting lives at stake, and risking everything for a great mission?
It was all Ainz Ooal Gown, Momonga's, thoughts. Ainz, the Master of the Servants. Ainz, the one fighting for the fate of humanity. Ainz, the lead operative of the mission. Ainz, who has gone through many battles.
However, even so...
'I hope she doesn't really come to hate me...' Ainz sighed and shook his head. Although in the opinion of Ainz himself, his speech sounded 'cool', he wasn't sure if his idea of that concept is the same as everyone else. At least he was sure that he had gone over his speech with the intensity of pathos that he needed to make it sound compelling. Or, perhaps, he had committed a great mistake, and he incorrectly formulated his idea... Perhaps now he had made one of his Servants hate him completely. After all, almost nobody likes it when they are called a 'hindrance', isn't it? Ainz was sure that he had done something wrong...
But what had been done could not be returned. In addition, he really was angry with Nobunaga - and moreover, her gainsaying his decisions was not only dangerous, but destructive in a mission such as this. So Ainz could hardly have done otherwise in such conditions. Not that he thought that Nobunaga would agree to peacefully discuss all the problems and end up carefully listening to Ainz's arguments even if he chose to handle Nobunaga's insubordination in that way... So, perhaps, Ainz should think that he had made the only correct decision. Although definitely not perfect it might have been the only way to make Nobunaga listen...
Exhaling, Ainz took a few steps through the fog, finding himself next to the rest of the Servants. After which he glanced carefully at them, trying to assess their reaction to what happened.
In the end, although Ainz thought that he had most likely got at least some understanding from Nobunaga, the reaction of the other Servants was also important. After all, there was no point in forging relationships with one Servant at the cost of relationships with all the other Servants... So Ainz wished, wanted and hoped that the other Servants would at least react with restraint to his actions.
Restraint, hmm... Yes, this word definitely fits the current situation - since all of his Servants - excluding Medusa, who have not yet returned from her reconnaissance, looked at Ainz in a... Not wary, or at least wary not in the sense considering him as a threat, just... With some frozen surprise.
Ainz felt a little uncomfortable, looking into Mashu's eyes and having no way of identifying the strange mixture of emotions in her eyes. Unable to bear being looked at by his Kouhai in such a way, Ainz looked away to another Servant, Arthuria, only to see in Arthuria's face... Some sense of approval?
No, what he saw couldn't even be called approval. In the eyes of Arthuria, there was something more, in the strange expression on her face... But Ainz, so unaccustomed to the emotions of the cold girl, could not correctly decipher Arthuria's emotions... After all, Ainz did not believe that something as strange as admiration could be reflected on her cold eyes.
Jalter's expression was... Strange. It was just weird, Ainz didn't even try to decipher what he saw on his own in order to avoid a possible headache.
And, contrary to her usual behaviour, Da Vinci's face was not adorned with her beloved smile from the fact that she was able to see Ainz's battle up close. Instead, she was brooding, if not frowning.
"Hmm", - Ainz finally raised his voice, to grab the attention of the shocked Servants - "Now that the problem is solved..."
'Master, more robots are coming.' Medusa's report made Ainz sigh.
Judging by the fact that the destroyed mech still transmitted information to the rest of the patrols, it was quite the forlorn hope to think that he would be able to offer to surrender a second time... Sadly, after what had happened, all that was left for Ainz to come to terms with his next course of action...
'Come back' - Ainz gave the order to Medusa and then spoke up to the rest of his Servants, - "Opponents approaching."
Each of Ainz's Servants responded with a short, silent nod, and then turned towards the destroyed patrol, from where the new opponents would likely soon appear...
"I can deal with them alone", - Nobunaga's voice was cold, but... Calm.
Ainz turned his gaze toward the now standing Nobunaga.
The healing potion worked wonders. Despite the wounds inflicted on Nobunaga during their 'duel', the potion healed the girl to her best possible condition. When it came short to restore her pristine armor back, her own mana allowed her to restore all of her clothes, so that nothing reminded her that she had lost a battle just a second ago.
"Nobunaga..." Ainz looked at that one carefully.
"Oda," Nobunaga interrupted Ainz's voice, then looked at him and smiled... Not boastfully and not mockingly, but rather even somewhat meekly, "You can call me Oda, Master."
"Okay, Oda," Ainz nodded, "I have no doubts about your ability to deal with opponents of this calibre. However, the other Servant might notice, in their fight with the enemy, something that you might not notice... Especially Da Vinci. In addition, given that it makes no sense for us to split up at the moment in such a blinding smog, your proposal is appreciated, but not necessary."
"Okay, Master", - Oda slowly lowered her head... Almost in a bow.
'Has Oda ever bowed before?' - Ainz thought for a second before dispelling these thoughts - 'It doesn't matter, yet.'
"Enemy Servant spotted," The robotic voice resounding over the smog, alerted Ainz to the appearance of the enemy, forcing him to turn around...
'A Servant is approaching,' Medusa's voice calmly alerted Ainz for a second, before a moment later a blade pierced the head of mecha, which did not even have time to attack Ainz.
The dozen of robots that comprised the response team did not have time to react to such a change in situation - unlike Ainz's Servants. A dozen of rifles appeared in the air fired simultaneously with absolute precision, hitting their targets with ease. Not a single robot survived the hit.
The blade that had pierced the mech's head, with the grinding sound of metal was easily pulled out of the fallen automaton - after which Ainz finally saw the Servant's figure.
"Well, it seems you got into some trouble, huh?" The voice that reached Ainz was deep and echoed from behind the massive armor, so Ainz preliminarily decided for himself that the speaker was a man, "And I was just thinking, what kind of idiot decided to fuck around in the city center..."
The figure that appeared in front of Ainz's was completely encased in a massive steel armor, whose head was covered with a massive horned helmet, which gave the Servant's chivalrous appearance some feel of demonicity to it. Considering that the knight's white armor was also partially painted in red, this feeling only intensified.
Ainz glanced at the Servant who had appeared in front of him and thought for a second...
'Who the hell is that knight?' Ainz frowned.
During Yggdrasil's time, Ainz killed so many knights and knight-looking opponents that the appearance of the Servant that just now appeared did little to jog his memory. A massive armor, a large bastard sword... Ainz could immediately name a dozen such opponents equipped in such a way that he had fought before.
Although the horns on the helmet...
In a strange way, it reminds him of that half-demon knight that Ainz met...
There were many quests in Yggdrasil, most of which were available only to certain types of builds and players... One of these quests was the assault on King Arthur and his fortress, Camelot...
No, of course, any player could do it and attack Camelot even without the right build, hoping that he could break through hundreds of mobs of at least level sixty. They would have to go through several dozen 'elite guards' whose levels ranged from level eighty to the ninety-fifth, then a dozen mini-bosses of the hundredth level, the Knights of the Round Table. And then finally after all that, go fight two really strong Bosses, King Arthur himself and Merlin.
Still, a full-fledged quest regarding the assault on Camelot was available only to some player builds. In particular, heteromorphs with very low karma, who were required to go through several difficult quests to find out that among the Knights of the Round Table there was a traitor-half-demon. The traitor was the illegitimate son of King Arthur himself and a powerful witch, who later could open a secret passage into Camelot, disable the most dangerous traps and even help in battle...
What was his name, hmm... Ainz remembered that Ulbert at the time complained that he wasn't the first to think of taking this name... So it was clearly some kind of cool edgy name that suited his taste...
Dreadmore? Yeah, something like that, definitely!
But - Ainz glanced at Arthuria - that one was the illegitimate son of King Arthur. Considering that here Arthuria was, ahem, Arthuria - it definitely couldn't be her son.
So without anything to go on, Ainz simply chose to remain silent.
"Ha, why did everyone shut up?" - The voice from under the helmet sounded mocking, - "Or what, did everyone suddenly went crazy from the badassness of the great fucking Mo..."
The voice suddenly cut off. Ainz blinked at the abruptness and looked at the Servant - judging by the position of his head, he had turned his attention to Arturia.
"Arthuria, do you know him?" Ainz glanced at his Servant, maybe it was one of the Knight of The Round Table?
"I can't... Remember..." - Arthuria frowned, as if she was trying to break through a foggy wall in which some significant memories were hidden behind. Remembering which Arthuria would obviously roll her eyes and say something like 'Exactly, you are that one guy!'. After a moment of straining her memories she then suddenly coughed, - "Kha!"
"Oh yes, that's right", - Ainz sighed. He completely forgot that Arthuria was now the only one whom Ainz had not yet fully protected from the smog. So of course, she would have trouble recognizing the knight! She probably didn't even know that it was a knight at all!
In Ainz's hand a ring appeared, after which he took a step towards Arthuria, - "Arthuria, ring."
Arthuria, instantly reacting to Ainz's words, turned to look at the ring in Ainz's hand...
Then the Servant who had appeared out of nowhere issued an instantaneous cry - "Hands off him!"
The Servant tried to rush forward - but instantly a chain, a chain linked to a nameless blade grabbed onto the Servant's neck, like a lasso, forcing him to stop instantly and raise his hands to his neck.
"One action against my Master - and I will rip your head off," Medusa's voice sounded cold, even too cold for a 'normal' Medusa.
"Medusa", - Ainz glanced at the girl holding the chain to the Servant's neck, - "He had shown his intentions by fighting on our side. Release him."
It's not that Ainz was completely convinced that the new Servant was their ally. After all, he had already fallen for such a trap before, but Ainz at least should show some friendliness, in case the knightly Servant was really their ally in this Singularity.
Medusa needed only a word - and the chain around the Servant's neck loosened, releasing him from the grasp.
Instantly, the Servant pulled off the chain and turned to Medusa, - "Fucking hell, you've got some motherfucking manners there..."
After that the Servant's gaze suddenly darted to Arthuria, after which he coughed, as if to act a little apologetic, - "I mean... That was... Unexpected... Yeah."
"I can only advise you to watch your actions in this case, especially in relation to the Master," Medusa answered calmly.
"Hmm, so what am I talking about..." Deciding not to aggravate the incident, the Servant turned his gaze to Ainz and the others, then grunted, "Ha... Okay, as I see, help arrives at the last moment as usual... Okay, in that case - let's go, we don't have enough time... That is, there are a lot of things to discuss - and I don't like talking in the open. Let the useless couple do it."
"Hmm?" Ainz looked at the Servant, "Would you tell us your name in that case?
"Hmm", - the Servant coughed, then glanced at Arturia and hesitated a little, - "I am... Saber. You can call me that... Or you can call me Mo. Yes, definitely, you can call me that!"
"Okay, Saber," Ainz nodded.
"Then let's go, little Mo!" - Da Vinci answered next, and then, ignoring it, went forward.
"WHO THE FUCK CALLED ME LITTLE MO?!" - The Servant replied instantly with an indignant cry, - "AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO?!"
"You left a mark along the entire length of your path here.", - Da Vinci answered without slowing down, - "So if you really want to be our guide - I advise you to hurry up!"
"Ugh, STOP!" The Saber immediately rushed after Da Vinci.
Ainz turned his gaze to Arthuria... Then he shook his head.
No, definitely, it couldn't be her son. In the end, Arthuria was a woman... And if there was no moment in her legend when she became pregnant - and apparently this moment was not in her legend - it certainly could not have been her son.
In the end, that is the only truth he could accept, otherwise the situation would be... More than strange.
Extract from the classified archives of the Clock Tower (Wizard Marshal Level Authorization and above required) "Information about Marie Antoinette, part four of the dossier":
Information about the connection of Marie Antoinette with the magical part of the society existing at that time is not confirmed by any specific information. Despite her close acquaintance with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - whose participation in such societies and his magical experiments is widely documented, as well as a possible mutual romantic relationship between them - it seems that Marie Antoinette herself did not take any concrete part in the actions of the magical communities of the time, not openly, nor secretly.
However, two facts of the intersection of Marie Antoinette and the magical community of that world are officially documented. The first occurrence is, of course, the moment of her rescue from the Vichy fire of 1790, where Marie Antoinette, without the presence of Mozart himself, was able to escape from an angry crowd of peasants that started a fire in Vichy. (Perhaps in a repetition of the Vichy fire of 1433, staged with the participation of Gilles de Rais. Who by that time, have finally accepted the demonic paradigm of Bishop Prelati, using his magic, sealed in the form of the Mystic Code - a collection of notes entitled 'To save the soul of my beloved'. The current location of the Mystic Code is in the vault of the Clock Tower, this Mystic Code is considered a highly specialized catalyst for the summoning of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Caster's class).
The second case is more alarming - cases are documented when Marie Antoinette mentioned 'Death coming to her in her dreams, whose smile is enchanting, but whose eyes are cold' - a similar phenomenon that has been repeatedly mentioned and described in relation to the many people and magi who are suitable for classification as Heroic Spirits or Servants. A possible explanation regarding the nature of such an event occurring as a reaction to the environment where people that would become Servants is unsatisfactory. According to the documented evidence, for the first time, such a recollection of Marie Antoinette happened during her meeting with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in other words, during the time of peace of her people and the youth of Marie Antoinette herself.
Unfortunately, the complete monumental work of Leonardo Da Vinci - 'On the true nature of Death and Humanity', which can serve as a key to unraveling such a phenomenon is still lost. The works of Atlas and the Clock Tower to restore the lost document from the fragments that is extant continue to this day.
At the moment, there is no adequate explanation for the phenomenon of the 'Dream-appearing Death'. Further work to clarify this phenomenon is being carried out with all possible haste...