Walking out of a portal Ainz re-equipped his armor and swords of his adventurer persona. It took two days after his duel with the Lady of the Lake for everything to settle down back at Nazarick. In that time Aura had finished looking through anything of note within the Forest of Tob. Besides a Naga and a Troll, who were both supposedly on par with his pet hamster there really wasn't anything else of any note. The Great Forest was practically under Nazarick's control now with the exception of the area around the lake which fell under the dominion of Cirno.
Which reminded him as to way he currently was looking forward to returning to his adventurer persona. Demiurge had explained to the other Floor Guardians that he had suspected that Ainz had wanted to take over the world. 'How did he even think I want to do that anyway?'
Taking over the world for only a split second sounded fun to some part of him. However, that was quickly pushed aside by the very fact he had just fought someone who was unstoppable, that Shalltear had died to a young-looking devil who was aware she was being watched, and the fact that there others in the world who might be more than able to stop Nazarick. Yet, Demiurge had unknowingly sold the Floor Guardians on that being his own plan. Because of that, he had to pretend he wanted to go along with this even though he was hesitant.
"Narberal isn't here…" Not surprising as he did tell her she was going to have to wander around the city or something to give the illusion that Darkness wasn't cooped up in their room. It didn't matter if he wasn't seen out in the city as long as "Nabe" was people would just assume he was as well. 'I think I should check in at the Adventurers Guild maybe to see if any other rumors exist.'
He did feel like he should explain what was going on with the Great Lake but after a second brushed it aside. Cirno didn't strike him as someone who would just kill anyone who entered her territory, not unless they forced her to. Besides anyone who did try to fight her stood no real chance with her broken passive anyway. If they even could hurt her.
Walking out across the city Ainz stopped as he crossed the local temple or church that he didn't pay much attention to. At least not before he started to wonder about how gods work in this world. 'I should come by here later.'
Entering into the adventure guild building he took time to look at the various jobs listing. His grasp of the native written language was still limited though he did notice that one of the listings was written in two different languages. 'I should ask about this.'
Taking the paper he was about to but as he passed by a seat he overheard the adventurers. "Hey, did you hear about the sightings of undead?"
"What from the graveyard or the plains?"
"No, what's more, the undead seem to be controlled given that they are seen with things in their hands."
"You think it's a necromancer?"
"Maybe it's the Corpus?
"Corpus?" Ainz decided to cut in as he had a feeling that this might be something he should know. Especially given the last bit of rumors led to him meeting the Lady of the Lake. "If you don't mind me asking what are you talking about?"
"It's an old group of undead, the Corpus of the Abyss, much of what is known about them comes from two hundred years ago like them possibly being part of the destruction of Inveria," Sure, it did run counter to the story of the vampire Landfall being responsible but the rumor of the Corpus being responsible was older and did have some backing. "They did attempt to invade the Slane Theocracy and fight the Thirteen Heroes but beyond that, it's mostly hearsay."
'Not a lot to go off on in terms of what this group is capable of,' Ainz had no frame of reference for both beyond the fact the Slane Theocracy is still standing and the Thirteen Heroes disbanded instead of being killed. Neither of which he understood their full capabilities. 'Should I risk it by looking into these rumors?'
"All the sightings seem to end up here," Ainz stood within a small hilly grove of trees. It was about a day or two travel from the fortress city but with a Gate, it wasn't much of an issue. No, the only problem was trying to find where the Corpus was located.
"Lord Ainz," Ainz turned over as Narberal who pointed to the ground just to the side of them. "These look like skeleton tracks."
Ainz didn't even notice at first, indeed given they are a bit off the commonly traveled paths it was hard to tell, but recent heavy rains had left the ground muddy enough that tracks were still visible even if already fading away. By the looks of things, they were heading deeper into the trees around where a large hill should be. As they followed the tracks the clutter of the leaves started to make it somewhat harder to track but eventually, there was something that seemed to be worn about the ground. This path was commonly used.
Finally, they came across what was a cave within the hill that while it seemed natural at a passing glance. As they got closer the stones on the floor seemed unnatural to say the least. Sure, it did at first seem to be erosion but they were almost completely flat, and deeper within the cave looked like stairs more than simple rock.
'This must be the hideout,' Ainz thought about the entrance to Nazarick. Maybe they should put a bit more work into hiding it than they did originally.
"Narberal, I am going in, you stay out here in case I need backup," Ainz pulled out a pair of scrolls that contained a Gate spell. "I will message you and you will head back to Nazarick and pick up whoever is there."
"You're going in on your own?"
He had several summoning items on him, something he had decided to take a look into from the vaults and other storages alongside a few of his former guild mates' weapons at the ready. Technically, speaking he wasn't going in alone as much as he was going in to scout the strength and respond accordingly. Narberal, standing watch and being able to leave to get the Floor Guardians was more if he did end up accidentally facing something he shouldn't.
"Between the two of us, I am the highest level," Sure, levels didn't mean everything but the gap between them both was such that it mattered no matter what. "Besides, you have probably heard about my fight with the Lady of the Lake I take it?"
She did but only today. Narberal didn't know what to think about hearing that he had been defeated. "I have," Corno as she was called was supposedly strong enough to hurt him but the real issue was that nothing could seemingly kill her for good. "You think someone similar to her is in there?"
"No, though I wouldn't put it past that who or whatever is in there isn't high level as is," Nothing about how the general population saw in terms of power gave him a reliable scale anyway. In fact, no one understood what a level seemingly was, or even a build for that matter.
Walking down the caves Ainz didn't get far until he found what appeared to be a stone wall that was at a glance in the darkness around him seemed like it was nature. Looking around he cast Detect Illusion. As he did to the right a semi-transparent mirage gave way as a well-kept wooden door appeared. Opening it up he was greeted with a leaver. Pulling on it caused the ground in the middle of the room to move out of the way and reveal a flight of stairs leading deeper inside. Ainz was quick to compare this to some early-game dungeons.
'Well, then let's see what I will find.'
A modest-sized dungeon with a handful of easily noticed traps was what greeted him. A few zombies here and there but nothing he couldn't take out. It seemed almost a chore but as he walked into the various rooms he noticed objects. Items he recognized from YGGDRASIL, were mostly low-tier trash, but a few pieces of gear that were rather mid-tier. Something that could be made with the right knowledge.
However, what really caught his eye was pieces of what looked to be ruined walls. Inside a rather large room a piece of weathered, broken, and somewhat put back together stone. On it was what seemed to be writing that made no sense even more than the native language but what did catch his eye was a picture. A long serpent-like beast with a pair of clawed arms and a dragon's head. Around it were several images of what seemed to be traditional-looking dragons.
'Lindworm,' Though if the image was to be believed this creature was massive compared to the Lindworms in YGGDRASIL. The next image broken and caved at places showed what could have been a circle of something and a crude image of a person with what might be a bow. 'Not much to go on there.'
The very last image in this piece was the most broken. Just a large head with two claws, the crude image of the supposed archer, and finally what was likely another dragon next to the archer. Both of which were attacking the lindworm in some sort of battle.
'How old is this?'
Come to think of it, he didn't seem much in the way of old ruins dotting the nearby landscapes. Admittedly, if this world was anything like his own when it came to society and history then it was obvious that whatever works of some older civilization were probably not appropriated. So many ruins became such even if the area had been continuously inhabited because the new rulers had no care for them. There was also the possibility population had developed a radical cultural shift and no longer cared for the works of their ancestors. After all, one of his former Guildmates had talked about how the Rosetta Stone was found within the walls of a fortress being used as a brick of all things despite it being able to translate Ancient Egyptian when no one could.
That did beg the question of how far back recorded history even went for everyone here. Did any of the kingdoms or raves have objects sitting in some trophy case, or inside a random building that told of a people long gone? 'You would have probably on on a tangent about the importance of museums and learning from the past.'
Turning around, Ainz walked down the next flight of stairs to come across a large room with several doors closed and a single figure in the room. Clocked in decorated high-quality-looking ropes was an Elder Lich who looked back at the armored figure in front of him.
"I had a feeling that there was an intruder, imagine my surprise it's an Adamantine Adventurer," He looked Ainz up and down. "Honestly, you don't look like a woman so I take it you're a recent addition?"
"You can say that," Ainz pulled both of his swords up as he pointed at the Elder Lich who didn't seem frightened at all. "Are you a member of the Corpus of the Abyss?"
"Oh, I see a new big-shot adventurer managed to track me down to prove his worth," The Elder Lich seemed almost bored at this. "Please I fought and killed some of the Slann Theocracy's best," He pointed to Ainz with a bony hand. "Do you really think you scare me?"
Hearing this Ainz decided to use Discern Enemy to get a reading on how strong this Elder Lich was. 'He's level fifty-seven…'
Comparing him to some of the other New World inhabitants he came up wanting. Admittedly, he was comparing the lich in front of him to Cirno, the devil that beat Shalltear, and Sabrina who all outclassed him in the level department. Compared to his first enemies in the New World before the devil girl he was a step or two above them. In fact, he was about in the ballpark of the Pleiades.
The Elder Lich raised his hands as the large doors gave way as dozens of skeleton warriors, armed zombies, and lesser revenants. All low-tier trash that Ainz wasn't worried about. "Unfortunately, adventurer, I can't let you leave here alive."
He brought his hands down as the undead rushed Ainz. Swinging his large swords, Ainz was able to take out several with each swing but predictably they were just distractions. Within the Elder Lich's hands gathered negative energy. A cone of negative energy pulsed out into the undead horde and hit Ainz who did show any signs of being affected by the spell. The surprise was evident at first by the Elder Lich but he knew that there were ways to negate the effects of Negative Energy within the world even if rare to come by for the living. Instead, he decided to focus on a high-level spell that he was unlikely to survive.
Lightning arced between his hands before he let out the seventh-tier spell. "Chain Dragon Lightning!"
The lightning strike raced forward, tearing through the undead as almost an afterthought as it arced into its target. As the electricity arced through the armor Ainz stood there unmoving. This spell had a greater effectiveness against those wearing armor, a bonus to its effect, but his spell resistances, magical defense, and the gap between them levels were vast. In short, the spell did effectively nothing at all to him.
"T-this can't be!" Even adamantine adventurers couldn't just seemingly shrug off a seventh-tier spell! "What are you!?"
Ainz had his two swords disappear into his inventory as he removed his helmet revealing his true face. The bony skull of the Overlord stared back at him. "For one I am not alive as you can see."
With no point in hiding his identity, Ainz switched his equipment back to his usual garb which caused the Elder Lich to freeze up for a second. A memory long passed, almost faded to nothing but still there to be recalled. Of an individual that looked almost exactly like him who was there and had killed his previous coven hundreds of years ago.
'He's dead,' The Slane Theocracy had hidden it but the lich knew the truth. That one of their gods had unambiguously died at the hands of someone else. 'There is no way he can be him!'
The Elder Lich looked on in fear as he tried to think of something to stop Ainz. There was only one possibility that he could do. 'Please Elder Coffin I am in need of aid!'
Ainz brought up his hands and let out a blast of flames. As the Elder Lich expected to meet his end a wave of energy came over him as his personality faded into the background of his mind. 'Assuming Direct Control!'
The fire hit a freshly summoned wall of bones that was more than able to block it. As the bones faded away it revealed that the Elder Lich wasn't exactly an Elder Lich anymore. At first, Ainz did mistaken him for an Overlord like himself. 'No, he's an Archlich."
In YGGDRASIL it was something of a divergence class from Overlord in the Lich family. It wasn't picked because the requirement for it was something that one didn't do unless your whole Guild was made up of lichs, a gimmick build basically that had no purpose. Because of it, the only times it was seen was with certain end-raid bosses that happened to be Dracolichs.
"I am amazed that he called, usually Rinik wouldn't dare call me for aid," The Archlich spoke, though the voice coming through it wasn't this "Rinik". No, it had to be someone else. "I can see why he did."
Ainz was now on guard. Using this chance he did a quick Discern Enemy. According to his spell, his opponent's level is now sitting at level ninety. If this was indeed as it was in YGGDRASIL then the being currently controlling the Archlich was anywhere from level ninety-five to level one hundred. Both of which meant that whoever it was wasn't someone to underestimate. Which meant that yet again another being of interest had made itself known to him.
'Honestly, at this point, there is like one hidden in every cave just off the road,' That was probably not the case but at this point, the string of them showing up lately was starting to be a bit concerning. Right now he had to try and be a bit diplomatic even though they were probably far past it. "I believe there is a bit of a misunderstanding going on…"
"A misunderstanding?" Elder Coffin laughed through Rinik's body. The moment he took over the Elder Lich all the Elder Lich knew was given to him. "You came here as Adventurers, Adamantine I might add but you're not that," The Archlich pointed at Ainz. "In fact, I believe I saw someone who looked a lot like you who came here almost six hundred years ago from another world."
That caught Ainz's attention. Did that mean he wasn't the first, well it was only logical given that things from YGGDRASIL existed here but the way he was talking about him. "How do you know?"
"Because you are far too strong," The Archlich raised a bony finger as the one controlling him started to list the ways. "You effectively showed up seemingly out of nowhere so you can't have gotten to the level in this world," Another was raised signifying the second reason. "Finally, the only ones who tend to reach your Tier Magic level are those who are tied to the players in some form or fashion."
Ainz didn't immediately respond as he processed everything that was said. The way he talked about it did make sense as there was like no way to properly explain where someone like him came from. "Are you someone from YGGDRASIL?"
For a moment the one puppeting the Archlich finally felt like a missing piece in a puzzle was put in place. A light chuckle came over him. "No, but I did how to say eat one of the Players like you and gained part of their knowledge and abilities."
Another powerful native it seems who probably had experience dealing with people like him. One that was likely hostile and could now use Tier Magic. 'Just my luck.'
"Well, pleasantries aside," The controlled Archlich raised his arms up as Ainz realized what was going on without him even needing to say it. "You attacked my servant so it's only fair I attack you won't you say?"
On one hand, this was enough of a threat that he would take it seriously. However, the Archlich was who was being controlled and it was unlikely the controller could have optimized the builds without a menu, forums, and other third-party tools. Ainz had the edge and this time it was unlikely that the native had any broken resurrection passive!
The Archlich glowed as unknown symbols and runes formed around him. "Form Break!"
After his small blackout, a few things had changed for Sebas. For one he found himself being more on watch whenever he heard about a thief, or people talking like someone had been nearby. Sebas knew that he should contact Nazarick about the developers but he didn't have anything beyond a blackout. No one could explain what had happened either. He had let a Shadow Demon scout out in case they could find anything.
The demon didn't come back at all. Either something had killed or captured it. Asking for more to scout out the city was a possibility but that many moving around could draw attention to them. "I'm telling you there is something off about that storehouse!"
"What are you talking about?"
"I was within there and when I came back out I completely forgot what was going on and I'm not the only one who dealt with that."
"Really?"
"Yes, almost everyone who goes there can't remember, except one guy who went in at sunset and said it looked like someone was living inside the storehouse!"
"Excuse me gentlemen," Sebas cut into the conversation, causing both men to turn to him. "Are you saying that someone or something is living inside the storehouse and no one can remember who?"
"Yeah, some of us have been thinking about sending a request to the city guards or the adventurer guild about it," One of the two men pointed to the old, somewhat run-down but still viable, storehouse down the street. "If you want to look for yourself it's that building over there."
"I believe I will," There was something up about the building and something told Sebas it fit with the blank in his mind. A missing part of his memories he couldn't access. 'Perhaps it is the lair of who or what seems to be causing this to the rest of the city.'
As Sebas walked into the room he noticed that while a bunch of crates and wooden barrels filled the place there were signs of someone repurposing things. A crate way out of the way from the rest with smaller ones around it like a table and chair set. Cups and utensils resting on top of the makeshift table. A punch of barrels were tied together over a bunch of straw, cloth, and pillows into a makeshift bed. A pile of junk piled up in one corner with clothes, toys, books, and tools making it up. Random objects seemed tossed around the room from balls to pieces of wood.
On the side of a rather large box, drawn in crayons, were four crude images. First, was what looked like a two-tailed black cat pushing a wheelbarrow around. The second was a bird with a red orb in its chest standing on top of a large yellow orb circle with yellow lines coming off of it. Finally, the last two were a pair of apes or maybe monkeys. Both had an eyeball in their hands with the difference being their colors. One was pink while the other was light green.
Someone had indeed turned this into a makeshift home of sorts. "Oh, hey you're back," Floating down from a higher room from the ledge Koishi came to see her newest guest. "No, you're that off-color guy."
It was like a switch had gone off. Something that had been remembered but wasn't returned. Sebas had met her before and she had done something to him. The moment his gaze had left her did he forgot all about her. "Koishi," That was the name of the girl in front of him. "You, how did you make me forget about you?!"
"If you remember me then you didn't forget," There wasn't anything of greater substance in Koishi's words but to be honest there wasn't much in the subconscious to reflect off of him. Besides the moment he saw her Koishi could feel the fight or flight instinct flare up.
Unadulterated, rather simple, and violent was the only way to describe it if she could. Most other people she met had something more developed, tempered by their consciousness. His was closer to a wild animal whose actions were driven more by lower brain functions, overlapped by a consciousness that didn't control it.
"Oh, you want to fight?" To anyone asking that it would seem weird but to Koishi who was reflecting herself off of his subconscious it seemed completely reasonable. Koishi's expression briefly changed to that of a careful expression as she pulled out a knife seemingly out of nowhere. "Let's play then."
Even with the debuff put on him that removed his immunities Ainz's assessment of his abilities proved mostly correct. He did indeed have the advantage as the Archlich was just auto-leveled and as such given a more standard build. No proper specialization which while it did offer variety it did not make it good at anything of note.
The only reason Ainz hadn't already won the fight was that the thing controlling the Archlich had something that Ainz hadn't encountered up to this point. Custom-made Tier Magic spells. First, he denied him use of summons with a spell called Slave Invalidation. Such a thing was next to unthinkable in YGGDRASIL without a World Item or the Wish On a Star spell. Next, he possessed a way to harm the undead with Negative Energy. Necro Bane Reversal which seemed to be an area of effect spell which swapped what energies healed undead, or made it so Negative Energy hurt them. Finally, there was the last one which Ainz almost wanted to call bullshit if there wasn't a boss skill based on what it was back in YGGDRASIL. Phantom Equipment, a spell that literally undoes all the effects of the items he had equipped, and made it so he couldn't use the abilities of the ones he had on himself.
All of which meant he was without a good chunk of his usual boosts and abilities. Which, didn't matter as much as he still had the advantage against his opponent. "Maximize Magic, Dimension Slash!"
With a wave of his hand, a rift in space formed and cleaved into the Archlich in front of him. Its body seemed to fall in two before a new spell was uttered. "Stitched Together."
The body parts seemed to be forcefully reattached to itself. It wasn't true healing, though for the undead it could in a way be said to artificially create temporary HP for true healing. 'This is getting me nowhere.'
Elder Coffin knew that his opponent was going to win. It was obvious from the start that Rinik wasn't able to cut it. Indeed, it was probably because his "build" as the player once called it, was what was deemed a "standard set" because of his actions. No, specialization or unique tricks that came about. All players and their descendants apparently started to try for such a thing the former more so than the latter as to optimize what they could do.
Recalling Rinik to him was needed though that had one issue. What Rinik was working on, and the things had gained would fall into the hands of this player if he did so. 'I will have to destroy everything.'
There was the possibility that the player had servants with him. Dropping the whole dungeon on top of their heads might not prevent them from recovering any of it but it was best to ensure they didn't get everything. A lesser of two evils it seemed. Stopping for a moment on the other side the Dracolich readied a spell to destroy everything. "Over Magic and Delay Magic, Spell Remote Detonation."
With these two spells he had cast he should be able to set off the spell regardless of if he is actually in the area. Pulling on Rinik's MP he cast the last needed spell. "Greater Teleportation!"
Nothing happened as Rinik remained where he was. Dracolich cursed as he realized what was going on. A Dimension Lock was in place. For a second he started to weigh the usefulness of Rinik to see if he warrants being saved from this. In a short weighting of the cost and benefits he just barely made the cut.
"Dimension Break!"
For a second the illusion of reality cracking like glass covered the area. This spell was the first one ever designed for the express purpose of getting around spells that prevent teleportation and the like. "Greater Teleportation!"
In a flash, Rinik disappeared from the area leaving Ainz to himself as the victor. As he did leave all the debuff he had placed on him disappeared as well. "He managed to flee."
For a second he had thought about capturing the Archlich but given it was obviously being empowered by the one controlling it the moment he did Rinik would just revert back to an Elder Lich. That was assuming his real opponent could just terminate him remotely.
"How could he…" Ainz was quick to remember that he was underground. "Greater Teleportation!"
Just as he cast the spell did the Tenth-Tier Spell activated. The whole dungeon was ripped up as the floors above it came crashing down due to the use of Earthquake. Outside of the cave entrance that led to it the ground gave way, collapsing into and being ripped open by what looked like a sinkhole, all the while an earthquake shook the area powered in part by the collapsing earth. Near the very end of this Ainz reappeared in front of the entrance.
Narberal was quick to his side but Ainz chose to ignore her for right now. Turning around to the collapsed cave Ainz thought about his confrontation with the controlled Archlich who had just tried to bury him alive. A thought now entered his mind as he had some time to think about it.
Was that their leader he had just fought through the Archlich or had he just fought a high-ranking member in their organization?
Rinik could feel his consciousness return to him as his body returned to the state it was before it had been taken over. The Elder Lich's mind started to try to process what had happened, what its body had seen, heard and had said. Finally, the thoughts of his master during that time echoed for just a moment before fading away into just a vague understanding of what he was doing.
"Well, Rinik you should be thankful you're still here," The Elder Lich looked up as he realized just where he was. Within the center chamber of his master's lair.
A great albino dragon looked at him, its long neck and tail seemingly out of place with its bulgy midsection. The dragon looked down at him. Just because he was weighed to be worth it didn't mean he wasn't annoyed by what it had to do and it showed given the look it gave him.
"I apologize, Elder Coffin," Rinik dropped to the ground and gave the great beast a blow. "I had underestimated the adventurers and fell for their trap."
"Come now you and I both know that wasn't some mere adventurer," Cure Elim should have guessed that the players would come anyway. Just because someone else, someone new and whose power held the key to his desire, did not mean that no players had come. 'I wonder if I should try and tell the Emperor's son about the player.'
If there was something the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord and the Platinum Dragon Lord could agree on it was the threat of the Players. Beyond that, there was nothing they shared and even trying to meet directly was grounds for them both to fight. 'No, I shouldn't have to inform him about it.'
Besides, the player wasn't his priority right now. If the both of them did end up crossing paths, or if say their servants did, then he would just have to crush them. After all, there hadn't been a player who hadn't let his own hubris or the hubris of their servants end in their death.
Floating around the city Koishi did run into a bit of trouble here and there. Most of the time that was solvable by just getting out of the area as they forgot all about her. Their minds forget all about her as the memory gets buried into the subconscious. Then there was that group who tried to capture her. Youkai hunters maybe or something but they sucked at it. The instinct to fight or flee didn't register as much more annoying than some random stray pet that Koishi normally would play with.
This guy who was similar to the fox and cat Yakumos was not like them. Her fight-or-flee instinct was actively registering him as a threat. All around her balls of hearts and lights pulsed outwards seeming to glitch, for the lock of a better word, as Koishi was starting to try and force out danmaku. With the spell cards not working her powers instead seemingly reacted with the psychic energy from the collective subconscious in the area around her. In essence, she was firing psionic attacks and as she did so she was starting to give form to people's fears.
Shadowy constructs of psionic energy that moved to join in the assault. Sebas found them more bothersome than actually a threat. The only issue was as he punched them apart they tended to just get reabsorbed and remade. All around the building was starting to wrap, as if reality was starting to change and bend. In truth, this was all an illusion, the whims of the subconscious of the population of capital bleeding out from Koishi and into the world around her as she fought Sebas.
Weapons fail like rain, hands moved up from the ground, eyes staring from the ceiling, a mouth opening and closing at random everywhere. Sebas tried to knock out the strange girl that was the cause of all of this but when he did his fist seemed to pass right through her! 'An illusion?'
A flesh feeling of pain from his side caught his attention. Looking down he saw blood pouring out of him. Turning around he caught of glimpse of Koishi with a knife in her hands that had fresh drops of blood on it. Sebas turned to the satori and tried to hit her, all the while feeling something was wrong. As he did his fist passed through the illusion and instead, he felt something slash into his outstretched arm.
Pulling it back he noticed the cut that sliced the tendon of his arm clean threw. 'What in the…' All around him was copy after copy of Koishi. 'More illusions?'
They each moved to attack as Sebas moved himself trying to block an attack against what should be the real one. He felt a pull to the right and tried to move out of the way as a slash that was originally aimed at his throat instead cut into his shoulder. The many Koishis floated around as he tried to pay attention to which one had been the one to cut into him. As he did his vision blurred and twisted, sounds of people talking alongside animal sounds echoing softly in his ears like endless static, Sebas could smell scents of everything from freshly made sweets to the most unpleasant things one could think of. Somehow she had compromised his senses making it nearly impossible to actually track her. Nearly, as there was one sense that he had.
Closing his eyes Sebas decided to rely more on his ability to feel chi, something Monks could do to offset the debuffs that inflicted blindness and the like. 'She's in front of me!?'
Sebas had expected her to be behind him or off to the side not right in front of him. Although, given she was able to throw off all his other senses and create illusions of herself he shouldn't be surprised that she chose to instead fight from the front. It wasn't a bad plan, all things considered. Sebas moved as he came to attack her, barely registering in his conscious thoughts.
Koishi was able to pick up his subconscious impulse. She tried to get out of the way as he locked on to her despite his senses being messed up by her. Instead of his fist hitting her square in the chest it instead hit her arm, just missing enough to not completely shatter the bone in it. She hurt, her mind could register the pain as she floated far back as the knife in her hand fell and edged itself into the ground. Looking at him her eyes caught sight of his closed eyes as he continued to face her direction.
Was he like that gate guard from the red mansion, and could locate her without the aid of his five senses? Such a thought seemed strange for someone without a consciousness to have but the idea that she couldn't think or remember anything was a misnomer. A misunderstanding of the role of the conscious and the subconscious. Memory was the domain of both and while it was harder for her to process, Koishi did know things. One of which was that she didn't really stand much of a chance against someone if she couldn't whittle them down or use stealth to kill them outright.
Fighting was not an option if that was the case. All of the subconscious impulses that had leaked out moved towards her and through her. With her closed third eye as the focus out came a mad fusion thing. Hands in the form of wings, eyes inside mouths, all of which were on a body that was one part bug-like and another part something that seemed slimy. Sebas delivered a swift punch to destroy the thing but all it did was cause its form to randomize as it rushed into him knocking him into the wall. Koishi took her opportunity and raced for the door out of the room.
Sebas managing to break through the psionic manifestation went to give chase but the moment the door closed and Koishi was out of sight he suddenly stopped. The thing that Koishi had formed was gone and what greeted him was a destroyed storehouse with a simply looking knife on the floor out of place as it stood dug into the ground.
Walking up to the out-of-place object he picked it up as a memory came to him. Of this knife cutting into him repeatedly. Looking around his body he noticed the cuts in both his skin and his clothes that seemed to match it. 'This… is just a normal knife.'
Sebas found it strange that such a thing could hurt him. Yet, he was looking exactly at the thing that did. The only issue was how it could even do something like that. A blurry image, a recent memory of someone that was buried into the back of his mind. One that he couldn't recall fully as there was a block of some sort. However, a name rang out in his head that was tied to the individual he knew was responsible for all of this.
'Koishi…'
Took slightly longer then I had liked. Figured I should give Nazarick some win as well they do kind of need it so I figured that I can use this chapter for that.