195

Ainz looked at the woman, Semiramis, before him, thoughtfully.

Once again he encountered a World Class Item, or something comparable, and once again its possessor does not understand what Ainz is talking about. In fact, she's looking at him with a look of irritation, arrogance, and interest – interest, at the very least, in the fact that he mentioned a term unknown to her.

Ainz thought about it for a moment, could he steal Semiramis' palace? By all appearances, Tesla's WCI was merely an ability, while his gloves were merely artifacts, but Semiramis' WCI hovered in the air as quite the tangible physical object… Ainz was quite willing to go to great lengths to get another WCI for his armory, an addition to the eleven WCIs already in his inventory.

Even if it meant ruining relations with some Servants and finishing Semiramis off right now.

On the other hand, the WCIs familiar to Ainz were various objects like gauntlets, scrolls, spears, or something similar. In general, they were objects that players could carry in their inventory, the largest of which was the size of a full armor and also fit perfectly in Ainz's inventory, like 'powered suits' for players, for example.

If the WCI was an entire castle… Ainz wasn't sure if he could even fit an entire flying palace in his inventory.

In theory, of course, there was a WCI much larger than Ainz himself that he couldn't fit into his inventory either, the Throne of Kings. But that one was completely embedded in Nazarick's Throne Room, with no ability to be moved, since its functions were specific to the Nazarick.

Could the soaring palace of Semiramis obey the same logic? No, judging by Ainz's own senses, the whole palace was the WCI. Even if he stole Semiramis's throne now, it might be useless. If he could do it at all of course…

"How much longer do you plan to look at me as if you were trying to size me up for butchering?" Semiramis' voice cut through Ainz's occupied mind. "I've conceded defeat, but don't think that means you can treat me with no respect now."

Ainz thought for a moment, should he be treating Semiramis with respect at this point? No, she had attacked him first, and now Ainz was contemplating appropriate compensation, the WCI would have served him well in this, but it still needed to be obtained, and Ainz had some problems with that. Hmm, maybe Semiramis herself could give him a clue?

"Hmm, I see," Ainz shifted his gaze to Semiramis, "I beat you, didn't I?"

Semiramis narrowed her eyes at that, clearly not wanting to agree with Ainz' words, but having to do so, at least, so she wouldn't look even stupider in denying the obvious. "You may call it that…"

'Didn't you yourself say you lost, a moment ago?' Ainz frowned. 'Or what, she's already figured out I don't want to kill her, and now she's trying to quickly gloss over the past as if it never happened? A cheap trick, Semiramis!'

"In that case, I'm entitled to a loot, that is, a reward, isn't it?" Ainz wasn't really sure whether he was entitled to anything like that. But realizing that Semiramis was perfectly capable of ignoring her defeats and was clearly one of those who always tried to put herself above others, he decided not to let his guard down by answering confidently.

Semiramis only pursed her lips at these words, squinting her eyes even more, so that they became narrow little slits, looking at Ainz as if she were one step away from attacking again.

Semiramis' pressure, however, was not that significant to Ainz. He had defeated her in combat a moment ago, and unless she had used some unseen ability in the past minute to become much stronger, there's nothing to fear about fighting again.

If Semiramis' attempt to pressure Ainz was eliciting any emotion, it was primarily irritation.

'Huh, she reminds me so much of a boss from my past life. The kind who always pretends that any problem they cause was not their problem and that everyone should only be happy that they condescended from their office to people… Huh, she also reminds me of Nobunaga, only somehow even worse. I just beat Nobunaga once, and she's already much better behaved. I've already beaten Semiramis, but that doesn't help. Hah, it's starting to get on my nerves!'

A moment later, Momonga's irritation crossed an invisible line and triggered his emotion suppression – it hasn't completely gone from his thoughts, though, it just transformed from an interfering emotion into a structured fact. Luckily, it came as Semiramis herself began to speak,

"And what does the intruder of my house want from the Queen of Assyria?"

"An intruder? Do I need to remind you that you attacked me first?" Ainz frowned – no one warned him in any way that he was entering someone's territory! Even if he had indeed trespassed, the first thing she should have done was to meet him and explain to him what had happened, a warning even! He would even be willing to pay some fine, if it was small – but to try to attack him immediately? Besides, Semiramis apparently did not attack him in warning, but immediately tried to kill him – and now pretended as if it was Ainz' own fault!

Semiramis were beginning to open her mouth to reply to Ainz. But he, whose emotions had been suppressed again, nevertheless left him with the clear knowledge that he was absolutely right in this situation and Semiramis' reaction annoyed him, simply interrupted her. "I have decided – I will be taking your soaring fortress."

After Ainz's declaration, Semiramis, who obviously wanted to answer Ainz arrogantly, suddenly blinked stupidly, not having time to close her mouth at such unexpected words. Before, after a moment, her visage changed, from a cold mask of proud Queen to cast a look of contempt, anger, and even some strange respect. "Is it not too much you ask from-!"

"I'm not asking, I'm telling you as a matter of fact." Ainz simply interrupted her again, confident of his superiority after their battle. And, though once again made devoid of his annoyance at her, was still mindful of the emotions she had provoked in him. "I'm taking your palace – not sure if it has any worthy use, but it will be a suitable compensation for your insults and your attempted murder of me."

Semiramis blinked for a moment, as if she really hadn't expected this turn of events, as if trying to determine whether she should continue acting like a ruler, trying to maintain her mask. Before she decided to suppress her arrogance for a moment and look at Ainz not with cold arrogance but with a real open emotion – though in this case not much better – as it was overflowing with anger, "How about 'no'?!"

"I wasn't asking." Ainz took a step forward, feeling chains rise up around him again, trying to cut into his body and entangle his legs, to stop him.

These chains were not overly strong, inflicting piercing damage that Ainz was best protected against, and finally trying to impose the restraining effect that Ainz was also protected against. Trying to hold Ainz down with dozens of these chains that appeared out of nowhere was like trying to hold down a hurricane with one's fingers – utterly useless. It only emphasized the power of the approaching element rather than actually protecting from it.

After a few more seconds, another attempt, this time from chains and stakes to magic, only for her to realize that neither she herself had grown stronger in the past minute nor Ainz had lost his abilities. By the time Ainz approached the stairs leading to her throne, Semiramis still, with great reluctance, lowered her gaze, showing something akin to admitting defeat.

At least this time she had learned to do so much sooner – doing the same thing expecting different results is just madness after all. "Okay, enough."

Ainz hesitated for a moment, taking a step on the first step leading to the throne, then, determined not to let Semiramis dictate her terms, he took another step.

"I said that's enough! I said no more!" The girl tried to sound indignant, but instead sounding desperate instead, showing Ainz that her earlier behavior had been nothing more than a trick.

Ainz felt the Servant's ability begin to work on him again, poisoning his body, but it couldn't stop Ainz. How do you poison a skeleton?

Semiramis hesitated for a moment, finding that Ainz's Dimension Lock was still active, and she couldn't summon or teleport as she pleased. She then glanced at Ainz as he continued up the stairs toward her, causing Semiramis herself to freeze in doubt. She could, of course, have risen from her throne, continuing to try to attack Ainz, or moved elsewhere to fight, but it was equal to simply admitting defeat, leaving the throne that Ainz demanded her to give up.

On the other side, continuing to sit still, Semiramis was powerless to stop Ainz. And so instead of 'a monarch capable of destroying anyone before her gaze', she instead looked as if unable to even move from her seat, allowing Ainz to do whatever he wanted.

These thoughts were repugnant to Semiramis, the antithesis of all that the Queen of Assyria was – but for all her 'disagreeable' personality, at least she was capable of acknowledging the reality before her eyes.

And the cruel reality was that there was no way for Semiramis to keep her title of ruler and her pride in peace, rejecting any possibility of defeat even while being defeated.

Technically speaking, Semiramis could have committed her final act of resistance to reality by committing suicide right now and blowing up her Hanging Gardens. But in that case all Semiramis herself would have achieved was to look like a frightened girl cornered by Ainz, which, in fact, she was.

In other words, Ainz had cornered Semiramis completely. And before she could decide on her options, Ainz had chosen it for her, climbing the last step and ending up in front of Semiramis' throne herself, looking down straight at her seated form.

Semiramis, now being confronted directly, could only shift her gaze up to Ainz. Then, retaining the remnants of her pride, held her nose high, showing her attitude toward Ainz, and at the same time setting her neck for a suitable execution for her royal persona.

A moment later, however, Semiramis felt a firm hand touch her body… At the place of her waist.

Semiramis did not have time to react to this before the second hand appeared on her waist, her own perception of such an unexpected situation had not even formed in her mind.

Before she felt herself lifted into the air.

Semiramis's thoughts were all in disarray. Of all the options for her immediate future, she definitely hadn't considered this one, before she felt herself in free flight.

Semiramis' situation changed so quickly and unexpectedly that she didn't even have time to react to her flight, falling to the floor a moment later with a loud thud and landing on her butt instead of her feet.

Semiramis blinked confused, as if trying to absorb in her head everything that had just happened in the last moments of her life, before realizing her situation.

The unknown intruder, who never introduced himself to her, who felt in her perception like the Old Man of the Mountain, climbed up to her throne before lifting her in his arms and…

Threw her off the throne a moment later, causing her to plop down on her ass.

The situation, what happened, was so out of left field to Semiramis' familiar patterns of behavior that she could not even summon any emotion appropriate to what had happened. And so, rather than try to finish off her opponent by simply continuing to sit in her seat, she was busy trying to understand what an appropriate reaction to what had happened was.

However, faced with such an unexpected and strange event that did not fit into her view of the world around her, her brain had short-circuited, depriving Semiramis of the ability to form full thoughts. Causing her to slowly rise from the floor, shaking herself off, in a state of prostration instead of a suitable response.

"Hmm, hmm, I see," The intruder's voice made Semiramis look up, seeing that Ainz was perusing the throne room as he settled on her throne. "So this is how it works? I wish I could take it with me from Singularity – but it's not bad, definitely a nice bonus on this Singularity. Though the speed, of course, leaves a lot to be desired. Speaking of which, as it happens, can you tell me where this… Old Man of the Mountain is at the moment? The one you have me confused with?"

Semiramis blinked once, then twice, before the intruder snapped his fingers in front of her face as she's still in a state of catatonia. "Ermm, Semiramis? Are you there?"

"Ah, yes, he's a little farther away, in the Alamut territory." Semiramis replied on pure reflex before she blinked again and finally came to.

Just now in her Hanging Gardens, her great Noble Phantasm, attributed to her according to legend, as crucial to Semiramis' as her name, an unknown man who looked like the Old Man from the Mountain had suddenly invaded. He then defeated her, and then threw her from her throne, sat in her throne himself and took control of her Hanging Gardens. And now, from what Semiramis herself could sense, directed the Hanging Gardens toward Alamut, where the Old Man himself still appeared to be.

"Will you show me the way?" The intruder turned to Semiramis with such insolent impudence, as if he had not just committed a dozen insults to her royal person and made an eternal enemy in her. So brazen that Semiramis could not find any other answer within herself except for – to agree.

"Yes, of course…"

Arthuria gazed into the frozen figure of Sir Bedivere staring at her, trying to determine what she felt most at the moment.

Was it Joy? An emotion so rare in this form for her? The joy of seeing her old friend, her faithful follower, who was beside her during her last moments on that cursed hill of bodies?

Perhaps Sadness? The detached sadness that came from the depths of her memory? Sadness that this was not 'that' Bedivere, that he was not 'her' old friend, but only the Bedivere of this world, of this Singularity – as she herself was not 'that' King Arthur.

Or perhaps even Doubt? A feeling borne of fear and confusion breaking even through her indestructible mask of cold detachment? Did this Bedivere serve the King Arthur of this world, was he her enemy, should she be preparing for another battle?

Would she be forced to kill yet another of her Knights?

Emotions, always so detached from Arthuria, crept inside her mind, causing her, who was always ready to fight, to follow orders, to freeze in indecision, as she raised her hand to her blade.

"Arthuria?" Mashu's confused and worried voice reached Arthuria's ears, but it could not make her look away from her old friend.

"Sir Bedivere." Arthuria slowly tilted her head slightly, greeting her old friend, all the while preparing herself to separate his head from his body. "What brings you to this settlement?"

Bedivere, who had been silently surveying Arthuria for the previous dozen seconds, only slowly lowered his gaze before dropping to one knee, head down in the picture perfect of supplication. "My king…"

"Rise, Sir Bedivere." Arthuria said calmly, as she has done so many times before, and Bedivere obeyed the order, rising from his knee before raising his gaze to Arthuria again, displaying a smile without an ounce of joy in his gaze.

"Is this also the result of my mistakes?" Bedivere said these words with a sardonic smile, before he moved closer to Arthuria, still looking at her with unbridled sadness. "I am sorry, my king."

"Don't be," Arthuria only shook her head slightly. "I assume, Sir Bedivere, you have not come here on an order from Camelot?"

"Camelot?" Taking another step, now a few feet away, Bedivere frowned before asking in a somewhat uncertain voice. "My king, you don't… You don't know about the Lion Goddess?"

Arthuria frowned inwardly at the unfamiliar title. Lions were part of the usual heraldry of her native Britain, so calling her a 'Lion King' or similar was possible. But no King of Britain, including herself, had ever thought to compare herself to Gods…

Besides, even assuming that he would take on such a thing – Arthuria would have called herself a 'Lion God', just as she was 'King' Arthur. She had always maintained her masquerade as a man – and so naming herself as 'Goddess' was counterproductive in this case.

If we're talking about Arthuria herself, of course.

Who she was now and who she remembered her being in this world were two very different people – even if we're talking about the other Arthuria of the other world, or this Singularity.

"All right, judging by the fact that most of this settlement is still alive, you have fulfilled your duties and I have two minutes to fulfill my end of the bargain." Administrator's voice, a very surprising one, coming from behind Arthuria told her that the time for answers coincided with the moment of new questions.

The Administrator's light but too loud for a trained Assassin's step behind her coincided with the moment when Sir Bedivere took a step to the side. And only at that moment could Arthuria see that the dusty gray cloak that covered Bedivere's right side covered nothing behind it, revealing no arm, no blade, and even no sheath.

The administrator took a step to the side from behind her back, froze, looking at Bedivere, then examined Arthuria and, noticing their considerable resemblance, spoke up. A mistaken assumption or a very crude attempt at humor, Arthuria couldn't really tell. "If you could create your own clone to protect the settlement, consider me surprised and even grateful."

Bedivere did not respond to the jest, and neither did Mashu, to whom Arthuria glanced momentarily, and, realizing that she was the only one who could resolve the misunderstanding, she spoke up. "No, it's my…"

Arthuria thought for a moment, before, almost reluctantly, as if slowly turning on the axis of a creaking mechanical cog, she squeezed out her answer. After all, there is no more Camelot, and no more Knights of the Round, and she has to keep her identity secret nonetheless. "This is my friend."

The glances of the three Servants crossed over her at these words, before the Administrator was the first to a reaction, shrugging his shoulders. "There's no protection for this settlement besides you, so I'll take your word for it. We've been short of friends lately, so if you've managed to find one, I'll take it as a favor from God… for what it's worth in these circumstances."

There was silence again for a moment, before the Administrator spoke up once again, "Well, I promised to answer your questions – unless you've discovered an unexpectedly great love for standing in the sand and looking out into the distance, and protecting this humble village, come along. We should speak behind closed doors about such matters… even if it is the closed doors of a ramshackle hut built in haste."

Arthuria, casting one last glance in the distance at Camelot, nodded at these words and followed after the leaving Administrator.

Mashu made herself a little more comfortable, as comfortable as she could afford to be with the desperately creaking wooden little stool. She had nothing else to as she's getting ready to listen to the Administrator, as he made his way to the top of the ungainly wooden table, and prepared to speak.

"I think we should start with what you already know. No need to have me repeat myself in case you were blind to the obvious." He glanced around at everyone present, fixing his eyes on Bedivere for a moment before he sighed and continued speaking,

"We've got an apocalypse on our hands here, a lot of Servants battling out, with a few forming their own groups. There's the Holy City, controlled by the Lion Goddess, Assyria, ruled by that insufferably arrogant queen, and the Egyptian Kingdom, ruled by Ozymandias. Of course last, but perhaps a bit of the least, is us the sect of Assassins, and finally the Crusaders, or what's left of them, who are also ruled by a Servant. The Assyrian Queen and Ozymandias are trying to play their state games, pretending that the Apocalypse will disappear if we pretend it doesn't exist."

The Administrator shrugged, as if not condemning what's happening, but saying something like 'what else would you expect from them?'.

"Us the Assassins and the Crusaders are mostly just trying to survive and try to take care of all kinds of refugees moving toward or leaving the Holy City. What the Lion Goddess is planning, I have no idea. Mostly she just sits around, saving her strength and conducting the Holy Selection."

"What is Holy Selection?" Mashu asked the Administrator after hearing the unfamiliar term, a question that interested at least her, Galahad, and Arthuria.

"The Holy City Selection." The Administrator once again simply shrugged, then glanced at Bedivere before he continued speaking.

"From what the refugees tell us, every day at noon, people who want to be tested come to the gates of the Holy City, and then one of the Knights of the Lion Goddess comes out to the people. Sometimes the light from the sky points to some people, after which they are let into the city. Those left behind sometimes just leave, sometimes stay under the walls, sometimes they are attacked and killed indiscriminately by knights. It's hard to say what triggers this and how another Holy Selection will turn out – but those who survive what happened usually go away, to other nations, to us, to the Crusaders… Or die in the wastelands on the way, maybe because they got lost, whatever happens they die either way, swallowed by the sands."

Mashu blinked, trying to absorb the information in her head.

"Are they killing people? Is that what you want to ask next?" Administrator correctly picked up on Mashu's unasked question, then nodded with a slight exhale. "Sometimes. Sometimes not."

"Why?" Arthuria asked calmly.

"I have no idea," The Administrator only shrugged as an answer, before he thought about it some more for a moment.

"Sometimes the Knights of the Goddess go on patrols, usually they hunt other Servants, or other people. But for all the power of her Knights, they are not invincible. Ozymandias and Semiramis, especially in their own land, are too strong even for them – so they typically stay away from their domains. How the Crusaders would hold up in such a case – I have no idea."

"And you?" Arthuria looked up at the Administrator, silencing him for a moment. "You are weak – how are you still alive?"

At Arthuria's words the Administrator was silent, and although Mashu could not see his face, she was absolutely sure that he was staring back at Arthuria. The atmosphere in the room grew cold with the pause, before the Administrator answered slowly. "We buy them time. Day by day – life by life. We're lucky that we can buy a lot of time – thanks to our peculiarities, there are many lives to sacrifice."

Arthuria, clearly aware of something, nodded slowly, then looked up. "How many are dead?"

"Sixty, the last time we gathered…" The administrator turned his face away, as if to look away at something in the distance. "It's been almost a week since then, so perhaps seventy already died."

'From everything I know and feel, this Administrator is a lousy fighter – his friends probably aren't much better – but they deserve my respect, their sacrifices are great as it is noble.' Galahad's voice in Mashu's mind made her blink as she realized what he was saying.

'Are they just sacrificing themselves, dying one or two a day?!' Mashu asked into the emptiness of her mind – well that, and to Galahad as well.

'They don't have many options, they can sacrifice themselves, or they can sacrifice people – and they chose the very noble option, they have my respect for that'

Galahad sighed, as a knight who uphold chivalry, it was something that he respected – it still doesn't make it much easier to hear. 'It's a tough situation really…'

"What about the others?" Arthuria questioned the Administrator. "With all the nobility of self-sacrifice, if the Goddess doesn't risk messing with Ozymandias or Semiramis, why not get their patronage?"

At these words, the Administrator only exhaled, and then looked up again, this time he couldn't hide the tiredness in his voice. "We tried."

Judging by the fact that there was no subsequent explanation of the situation, there was no point in speculating about the results of the negotiations.

"I see," Arthuria said distinctly, as if giving a disappointing verdict on the situation before she thought for a moment, "Who is the Lion Goddess?"

'Here comes the expected answer,' Galahad sighed in Mashu's head, causing her to nod slowly, aware of what would follow as an answer.

"King Arthur," Administrator, simply shrugged. "One of them, for God knows how many there really are."

Arthuria merely nodded calmly at this, clearly knowing the answer to her question in advance, needing only confirmation before she turned her gaze to Bedivere. "In this case, there is only one question I have for you… Sir Bedivere, what is your relationship to the Lion Goddess?"

Bedivere lowered his eyes slightly at these words before he sighed and raised his gaze to Arthuria.

"I have come to kill King Arthur…"

Then, realizing exactly what he'd said and who he'd said it to, Bedivere was a little embarrassed. "I mean, not you, but that King Arthur…"

'Yup…' Galahad sighed in Mashu's head, and she was forced to agree with his assessment.

'There is more and more information, but the situation is still not becoming clearer and easier…'