Chapter 173 ~ Exercise

The shadowed figure of the black knight and goat-like bipedal demon stood at the ready for battle as they focused their eyes on their "opponents", Yuuji and Aika. 

As phantoms of Touch Me and Ulbert Alain Odle created by Momonga, they were adorned in their full-set equipment, just like their original as Momonga had memorized and had ingrained in his memory. 

The phantom of Touch Me was adorned in his "Compliance with Law", a pure white full plate armor, now jet-black, that he had won from the world tournament. In his left hand was "Earth Recover", a pure white shield, now jet-black, that was his favorite shield. And a jet-black sword in his right hand. 

Its coloration was the complete opposite to its original. But aside from that, its appearance was the exact same as Touch Me. 

On the other hand, Ulbert's appearance didn't seem to change much, as he was already adorned in mostly black in the first place. He was adorned in a black and red ceremonial uniform akin to those worn by wester, perhaps european, generals, and a velvet cape with a rose pinned on his left shoulder. Upon his head was a beau, and the right side of his face was covered with a golden mask. 

The other side of his face, however, was shown and it wasn't that of a gray goat. Instead, it was black, and its pair of wickedly twisted horns were of the same coloration and no longer gold. 

Touch me had his sword and shield at the ready, while Ulbert had spread his hands, ready to cast buff spells to himself the moment the match started. 

Although these phantoms retained their personality, character, behavior, and to a certain extent, memories, as Momonga would remember, they were still "Phantoms" controlled by Momonga. And Momonga had brought them into existence to fight against Yuuji and Aika. As such, they were focused on the task at hand, and were ready for the moment Momonga signified the start of battle. 

In contrast, Yuuji and Aika were standing casually. Yuuji had not brought out his weapon, and Aika was not preparing herself to cast any spells. 

They were truly not in a hurry, and knowing their own power, they were not concerned with the "threat" these two phantoms might pose to them. If they were the original Touch Me and Ulbert, then they would've taken them more seriously, out of respect for their friendship and abilities. 

But to them, these Phantoms were simply sandbags they would be testing their powers against. 

While they might share appearances with their "friend" and "comrade", they were simply phantoms, in the end. And they did not hold any feelings towards them. 

Instead, they were listening in to Momonga's conversation with the twins. 

They were quite far apart, but with the keen senses of their new races, distance wasn't an issue for them to hear their conversation. 

"Yuuji, is that a good idea…? Some of the members had argued with each other in the past. And if their creations took sides, wouldn't it cause internal dispute between the NPCs?"

Aika silently conveyed her message to Yuuji telepathically through their specially crafted "Ring of Marriage" they've received as part of their "special level 100 character" support item for the mission.

The ring grants them the ability to communicate with their partners over any distance. They would also be able to teleport to each other's location for free once a day, copy 1 skill or spell, active or passive, of their other half that could be changed once every day, and inform them the moment their partner entered combat. 

Moreover, while within the same party, they would gain a boost to their stats, and a further boost if they were within a certain vicinity of each other. 

They were divine ranked items, due to how incredibly rare and high ranked the ingredients to make them were, with some being God Items. In their "memories", the pair of rings were created with the help of Amanomahitotsu, the best blacksmith within Ainz Ooal Gown. 

"I think it'll be fine… As he said, they would all be under his control. And I'm sure he won't let them fight to the point that it'll cause internal dispute between the NPCs."

"Hmm… I hope so."

Aika nodded as a smile appeared on her face, reminiscing the time she had spent with some of the other members of Ainz Ooal Gown within her "memories".

"I would've liked to meet them in real life, especially Bukubukuchagama-chan…"

"Memories" of her time chatting with Bukubukuchagama, their late night girls' talk, Bukubukuchagama complaining about her little brother or the annoying guys trying to get close to her, her envying Aika for having such an amazing relationship with such a perfect boyfriend, talking about their daily lives, even to the mundane stuff… 

They all felt so real, yet not at the same time… No, they were 'not' real. But Aika still treasured them all the same. 

"Me too…"

Yuuji glanced towards Touch Me's figure and remembered the figure of his good birdman friend, Peroroncino.

While he was close with all members of the guild, the two were the closest to him. 

Touch Me was a brother figure to him, someone he'd ask and receive advice from on how to better his relationship with Aika and life in general. And he would always be there for him, to help him no matter if it was related to the game or in real life. 

A big brother he could always count on. 

While Peroroncino was that perverted, annoying friend who he simply just couldn't come to hate or ignore. He was always honest, sometimes to a fault especially regarding his likes and hobbies. But being with someone so truthful and honest was something Yuuji appreciated greatly. 

He could tell him about anything he wanted and he would respond truthfully to his own beliefs without judging, even if the truth might hurt sometimes. And Peroroncino would also never hide anything from him. He was honest about his likes, his perverted fetishest, his desires, and the genuine friendship and kinship he felt with Yuuji. 

Recalling the "memories" he had with them, Yuuji also felt a bit somber. 

As Aika said… it would've been nice to have truly met them in real life… 

"Well, at the very least, we could still interact with the Phantoms…"

"Yes… At the very least."

A heavy sigh escaped their lips, before the two noticed a nod coming from the large, skeletal overlord that was Momonga from the distance. 

They nodded in return, and looked at each other. A smile finally blooming on their faces once more.

"Let's stop thinking about this and have fun. It's been a while since you've let loose, right?"

"Yes~ I'm suuuper looking forward to this~! I can't wait to test out some of my spells~"

"Well, just don't cast [True Armageddon Evil], any super destructive spell, or the Super Tiers, okay?"

Aika pouted.

"Geez, I know that already~ I won't do that kind of thing!"

"Mm."

Yuuji smiled softly at his pouting girlfriend before closing his eyes. 

Then, a beautiful one-handed longsword, adorned with two sky blue diamonds embedded on each side of the blade, and hilt wrapped with an azure-colored silk with a sparkling, cerulean-colored crystal at its pommel appeared within his right hand. 

'Est, let's do our best and have fun.'

He spoke to the spirit sword sovereign within his mind, and a soft, gentle, beautiful voice of a young girl resounded in his mind in response to his words. 

'Uhn… Est will do her best.'

The diamonds at the base of the blade and the length of the blade glowed with a radiant, divine light as magic began to emanate subtly, yet powerfully, causing the air in its vicinity to subtly shake and tremble. 

Then, with his left hand, he touched the obsidian gem and white gold necklace around his neck. 

'Alice, Aria. The two of you feel free to join in and have fun, okay?'

Without words, but intentions and emotions were conveyed through their bonds with Yuuji. 

Since they unfortunately do not have bodies that could move as freely as they wanted, they would simply like to help him and have him use their abilities while cheering him on.

'I see… Thank you. And I hope the two of you will evolve soon and perhaps, gain a body.'

The obsidian gem and white gold necklace glowed and vibrated in response to his words, as a mixed feeling of excitement, happiness, and anticipation were conveyed to him. 

"Well then… Let's have some fun, shall we?"

"Uhn~!"

The golden staff of Ainz Ooal Gown was raised into the air as all seven jewels within the mouths of the seven snakes shone from the lights that filled the grand amphitheater. 

Then, the low, bassy voice of Momonga resounded throughout the arena. 

"Begin!"

"[Bless of the Magic Caster], [Greater Full Potential], [Magic Boost], [Freedom], [Fly], Maximized Magic [Hell Fire Wall]!!!"

A myriad of colored auras swirled around Ulbert's demonic goat form as one by one, numerous buff spells were casted and empowered him. 

Ideally, Ulbert would've casted many more buffs to himself. However, having casted five buffing spells and a single offensive spell in a few seconds was a feat few high ranking magic casters could boast. 

There was only a very few number of magic caster who could equal Ulbert in terms of casting speed, and even less who could surpass him. Aika being one of them. 

However, Aika simply stood in place. She spread her jet-black feathered wings which seemed to encompass the world into darkness, and elongated her nails, sharper and tougher than even legendary class bladed weapons, as a tall, wall of flames rose with a fiery blaze from the ground between herself and Ulbert. 

An impressed look appeared on her otherworldly beautiful visage. 

Creating a wall of flames that would cause immense amounts of fire damage upon crossing, in addition to concealing his figure and location from Aika, was indeed an amazing idea. 

After all, while Aika was primarily a magic caster, she knew from her "memories" that she would often go against that notion and charge forward, using her naturally gifted athleticism and martial art skills to gain the upper hand against other magic caster. 

Ulbert, Shizyuutensuzaku, and Momonga had become victims to this strategy multiple times as, even if they knew she was coming, stopping her was another matter entirely. 

Despite being a Phantom, Ulber seemed to remember this fact and thus used Hell Fire Wall to prevent her from charging blindly. 

The tall wall of blazing flames burned with blinding light and intense heat, scorching the grounds. Its heat could be felt clearly even from where Momonga and the others were standing. 

"Amazing…! As expected of Ulbert-sama!"

"U-Uhn…! Even though it's a phantom and not the real Ulbert-sama, it's still incredible!"

A sense of pride filled Momonga's non-existent heart, at least in this form, as he straightened up and looked at the flaming wall with nostalgia and pride. 

"This isn't even comparable to his true prowess… But it's certainly still impressive."

Due to the effects of the strongest magic caster class, "World Disaster", which boasted incredible firepower and destructive magic, even if the "Phantom" could only manifest a percentage of the true Ulbert's capabilities, his spells were still comparable to a level 90 character's most powerful spells. 

"I agree… But, this shouldn't be enough to stop Aika. The damage she'd receive from this spell if she passed through it would've been negligible."

Momonga quickly turned his attention towards, surprised by his words. 

Although the spell wasn't comparable to what the true Ulbert could do, it was still a powerful spell which had been further empowered to increase the spell's attack power to its maximum damage potential with the Maximized Magic metamagic enhancements. Even him, when equipped with an equipment which gave him fire resistance, would still suffer quite the substantial amount of damage. 

Lelouch's words were hard to believe, to say the least. However… there was still a lingering feeling in the corner of his mind that might think they were true. 

After all, Lelouch had received "memories" of the three of them having spent years within Yggdrasil and Ainz Ooal Gown. He must've known Aika's true capabilities, as he had "seen" them in his "memories". 

"E-Eh? Is that true, Lelouch-sama?!"

Lelouch nodded at Aura's question.

"Yes. She had charged through Hell Fire Walls cast by Ulbert at an even higher tier before with only a few burns, before throwing him with an Aikido throw."

"T-Then why…?"

Lelouch smiled, turning his head towards the twin floor guardians and looked slightly downwards to meet their gazes. 

"Because she won't be satisfied with this little exercise if it ends so soon."

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