A large building with a domed roof, with a clock tower extending from the top of the dome. The roof aligned with symbols of three weapons. The three-heroes church was bustling with activity. The doors to the building open with people coming and going as they pleased, an unwelcomed party entered.

It was the party of the shield hero, Ainz Ooal Gown, also known as Momon. He was a level-176 undead. With him were three women who were very beautiful in their own rights.

The floor guardian of the 1st-3rd floor, a level-100 vampire, Shalltear Bloodfallen. She was wearing her usual soft dress with a big skirt. Beside her, stood one of the Pleiades. A level-57 slime battle maid, Solution Epsilon. She was wearing a top with a knee skirt.

Last, was a demi-human not from Nazarick. She was a level-62 half-tanuki, and half-raccoon demi-human, Raphtalia. Even though her level was higher than Solution, she was far weaker than her. That was just because she belonged to this world where the power levels were different. She was wearing her armor with her sword by her waist.

In nearly three months, this party had grown a lot closer, much to a certain succubus' dismay. That certain succubus had even grown so jealous that a rape attempt was made on Ainz upon returning to his room in Nazarick. That ended with him being drily humped for half an hour.

Anyways, everyone in the party had become familiar with each other, especially Raphtalia, the one Ainz was most worried about. They now treated Raphtalia as a part of Nazarick. Although she was still hated by a few in Nazarick, this party was now much kinder than before. The definition of kindness was different though.

Raphtalia as a person too had grown very much. Her personality had grown and she was no longer afraid of anyone in Nazarick. Well, most of them at least. She was kind and would help someone in need if she had a chance. But at the same time, she was very much hostile towards those who were rude to her or any of the party members or anyone in Nazarick. She had unexpectedly become good friends with Shizu and Yuri.

This was the party of the shield hero consisting of four people. Their reputation at this place could only be described as poor. If one was asked, they would surely say that the "Devil of the Shield is manipulating those girls."

Outside of this place, and the capital however the situation was quite different. His party had gained the trust of a few villages because of their adventures. Ainz's party killed a pandemic inducing dragon and in turn, helped a village survive.

Similarly, the other party of Nazarick had slain a monster plant salvaging a town. They had provided mercy to some starving people in another faraway village too, essentially freeing them of hunger.

Leaving that aside, as they walked, they reached a hall with a podium in front. It was most probably the place used for prayers.

"The shiels hero's party, I suppose. Please come this way."

A woman dressed as a nun received them almost immediately. Her behavior was very cold and her tone forced. She turned around and started walking without waiting for a reply.

She led them deeper into the church, and there in the center was a giant hourglass. It looked to be around seven meters tall. It was covered in detailed decorations that lent the whole thing a holy, mystical feel. The red sand was streaming down silently.

Ainz heard a high-pitched beep as a beam of light shot out from the jewel in his shield illuminating the center of the hourglass. It lasted for a few seconds and then a small clock appeared in the corner of his vision.

02:20:32:08

With every passing second, the time left decreased. A little less than three days were left.

"Umm. Momon-sama, many people are approaching. Should we not leave?"

Raphtalia addressed her query. She was not worried about herself or the party but those approaching.

Regarding the approaching people, Ainz and co had sensed them coming too. There were around 15 people. So many people coming meant only one thing.

"Woah, Woah! Is that Momon. What is that bastard doing here?"

Ainz sighed internally at such bad timing. All three heroes along with their parties were currently present. Ainz turned back to look at the source of the voice. The spear hero, Motoyasu was walking towards Ainz with that girl, Malty clutching his arm tightly. He was attended by a gaggle of women walking behind him. He seemed to be walking fine. Ainz wondered if his injury was somewhat healed now.

He was different than he had been three months prior. His level had increased to lvl-52 and wore a piece of silver equipment with crimson clothing beneath. He was walking with a malicious look on his face.

Ainz did not want to waste his time with him. He would rather master his skills than argue here.

"We are leaving. Come on."

He started walking towards the exit but Motoyasu would not just give up. As his line of sight shifted to the three walking behind Ainz, his eyes began sparkling. He left his party behind and rushed towards them. He chose to target the worst of them. He started towards Shalltear with lust written all over his face. Ainz's party knew this would not end well but it had to be prevented as the waves were just over their heads.

"You! What is your name? You are so cute."

"Huh! What was that? You wanna die."

Her expression did not change and neither did her posture. She moved slowly behind Ainz ignoring him completely.

"Oh! Such crude remarks. A girl like you should not be with that bastard."

He kept walking towards her not listening to anyone else. Even though Shalltear was told to keep herself under control, if he continued, his safety could not be guaranteed. He extended his hand towards hers. This was bad. If he continued, then in the best-case scenario, his right hand would be separated from his body. Ainz was about to speak up but realized there was no need.

Raphtalia quickly moved behind her and took her hand before Motoyasu had the chance to. He was surprised at her speed that even he could not properly follow.

"Shalltear-sama. Don't you think we shall leave? We should not waste time here."

"She is right Shalltear-sama. We must leave." Solution agreed with her too.

"I suppose that is the truth ~arinsu. You! Keep your filthy hands off me."

They all moved towards the exit. On the other side, Ren and Itsuki came into the view. Their faces full of, confidence. They seemed to think that they were the most powerful here.

"Don't hold us back in the wave."

They all kept walking in the narrow passage.

"OI! Who do you think you are to enslave such cute girls? You should be ashamed of yourself."

What is it now? Just let us leave. What the hell is his problem?

As Ainz turned around, he saw Motoyasu with his spear in his hand. His eyes had a dangerous look in them and he was ready to charge. The three with him, as expected, did not take kindly to that.

He shifted his sight behind the spear idiot and saw Malty with a smirk on her face. He wondered if she would ever learn.

"We are heroes from other world. How dare you do such a thing?"

Behind him, the others were whispering within themselves.

"What are you talking about? They are not my slaves. They are with me of their own free will."

"Like hell, I would believe someone like you. I will make you release them of your control, you devil of the shield."

He charged with his spear. It was a normal thrust and no skill or magic was used. Perhaps he didn't want to hurt the girls. That was his mistake.

It was over in a second. Nobody in the room was even able to fathom what happened.

With a bloodlust like a waterfall over his head, Motoyasu could only stare into those blood-red eyes of the vampire. Those red eyes a few centimeters away from his own. It felt like staring into a never-ending abyss. Her mouth half-open as the smell of blood permeated into his nose. Those sharp canines were ready to such the very life out of this very moment. It all instilled fear never felt before into his very core.

The spear did not even manage to touch the target.

One hand held the spear with a monstrous grip and the other pointed razor-sharp nails centimeters away from his neck. Towards the right, was a silver blade emanating a dark aura inches away from the same neck. And on the left, was a single black dagger caressing its cold metal on his nape.

Movement was impossible. Even moving an inch would result badly for him. He understood this and did not even attempt to break free. His face was covered in heavy sweat. No one behind made a single sound. They too were somewhat affected by the heavy pressure.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

His grip loosened on his weapon and he left it. The spear disappeared from Shalltear's hand It reappeared in Motoyasu's hand. Ainz made a loud and disappointed sign.

"Come on. We are leaving."

All the bloodlust and pressure disappeared in a moment as if it was never present. The blade went back in its sheath and the dagger disappeared somewhere. Lastly, the hand slowly retracted.

Motoyasu fell on his back taking deep and disoriented breaths. His eyes seemed full of hate as he glared at Ainz.

Shalltear lightly jogged towards Ainz and her tone of speaking flipped completely.

"Ai- Momon saama~"

With that, the shield hero's party left the room leaving everyone inside absolutely stunned.

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00:00:09:49

The wave of destruction was to approach in nine minutes. Everyone in Melromarc must be preparing themselves for what was to come.

The situation was similar on the sixth floor of The Underground Tomb of Nazarick. Many demi-humans were talking among themselves. Some were nervous, some excited and some just wanted to get it over with. Raphtalia too, was talking to her nervous friend with whom she shared a room.

In front of such a big crowd that could even pass as an army, were the dark-elf twins. Mare and Aura both stood beside each other with their world item equipped. They had gathered all those who were to fight alongside their master.

All the demi-humans were placed in a single party under Raphtalia so that Ainz was not inconvenienced when adding them to his own party.

After a moment, four beings teleported ahead of them. Ainz was in his black, full plate armor. Shalltear wore her crimson red full plate armor and had her spuit lance in her hand.

Albedo was fully equipped with her pitch-black armor 'Hermes Trismegistus' and her world item 'Ginnungagap'. It was currently in the form of a giant axe. She had insisted that she be taken into the battle with Ainz.

The last was Demiurge in his usual suit. He won't be going into the battle.

The whole army bowed in a practiced motion then went back up after a few moments. Raphtalia came rushing in front of them and went on one knee. Albedo scoffed as she approached and Demiurge had a curious gaze. Albedo did not like Raphtalia one bit.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes. Everyone is fully equipped and ready for your command."

"Good."

Ainz added Raphtalia, and the demi-humans along with her into his party. Currently, Ainz's party consisted of himself, Albedo, Shalltear, Aura, Mare, ten assassins, and the demi-humans.

Ainz too needed to get ready. He browsed his shield skills for some time before deciding.

Unknown Series -] Prismatic Series -] Scarlette-Metal Shield

All the skills and shields from YGGDRASIL were sorted into the unknown series. He chose the Scarlette-metal shield out of them. It was the shield he got after absorbing one of the best seven ores in YGGDRASIL. One of the prismatic ores, ie, Scarlette. It was the shield that currently had the second-best defense of all the shields he possessed.

The shield transformed into a hexagonal shield of medium size. It was purely dark-red in color. It was a simple design but the defense was undeniably very good.

They all waited for a bit in silence. As every second passed, Ainz felt his non-existent stomach curl up. His mind was flooded with thoughts of the wave.

What if the waves are more powerful than expected?

What if the waves couldn't be stopped?

What if something bad happened?

What if the enemy is as powerful as a World Enemy?

And many more... Albedo probably sensed his anxiety.

"Ainz-sama... Please be at ease. We will protect you with everything we have."

Those were not the words he wanted to hear right now.

Yet, they calmed him down. He looked around him. All the NPCs present were looking at him with warm gazes. He saw the shadow of his friends in them.

They are all that meant right now. He would do anything to protect them, even if it meant abandoning Nazarick. It was the NPCs that mattered more and not Nazarick. As long as they stayed safe, the legacy of Ainz Ooal Gown would be preserved.

He smiled in joy at everyone. The smile was not visible of course, but it felt like his feelings were transmitted.

"Yes. That's right." He turned towards the demi-humans.

"Everyone listen here. You all are about to fight the waves of destruction.

Fight to protect your world and your brethren, and fight to protect this place, that is now your homes. You were too weak to accomplish this purpose before. But now the situation is different. Nazarick provided you with the strength to do so. You are not weak in this world anymore.

Weakness is a sin and you all are no longer sinners. Find the will to fight within yourselves. Those with weak will do not have the right to be on a battlefield. Decide for yourselves."

Everyone was dead silent for a few seconds. No one spoke, no one moved, everyone only comprehended Ainz's, their master's words.

"YES!"

They all exclaimed loudly. The timings were a little off but their wishes and wills to fight were clear.

Ainz breathed a sigh of relief within himself. He was worried whether or not this speech would work. He had worked hard to come up with it but didn't get a chance to say it. Now that this was done, he turned to face Demiurge.

"Now then. Demiurge. I trust you know your duties."

"Yes. I shall do my utmost best to protect Nazarick in your absence. I will await your return."

"Umu."

00:00:00:40

Only 40 seconds left.

00:00:00:02

00:00:00:01

00:00:00:00

Everyone except Demiurge was enveloped in faint yellow light. The light grew bolder and then, the scenery around him changed. The sky was filled with crevices, like a turtle shell, and was stained deep red. Monsters of all kinds were falling from the sky all around him.

Is there no fall damage? That could be useful later on.

Ainz felt his ring react and the sky above them seemed to crack for a second. It was the ring for anti-divination measures. That meant someone had tried to spy on them. Aura was unable to sense anything, so the culprit was most probably someone far away. It wasn't anyone from Nazarick as he had already denied that. Someone was trying to monitor them.

Who could it be? It could only be an enemy. We have to stay vigilant.

They were currently on a cliff. Three figures followed by twelve more jumped ahead from below the cliff. They were the heroes and their parties. They were running towards the place where the density of the monsters was the highest.

"Where are we?"

"Ainz-sama. It looks like we are near Lute village that the hanzos told us about."

"I see."

He turned to see Raphtalia and the demi-humans. They were looking at the village some distance away with anticipation. No matter how much they feared and hated humans, their main source of fear was those knights. The demi-humans still had some sympathy for innocent humans.

Well, if I refuse them this after that speech I gave, it will be hardly fair.

If saving that village meant gaining the trust and loyalty of this army, then it was worth it.

[Create Mid Tier Undead: Jack the Ripper]. [Create Mid Tier Undead: Corpse Collector].

After using his skill, two undead creatures appeared.

One of them was dressed in a trenchcoat and wore a mask that showed a smiling face. Its fingers ended in large, sharp surgical scalpels.

The other was a massive, brawny creature, but its body was covered in pustules and the bandages which wrapped its entire body were stained yellow. There were many metal hooks all over its body, linked by metal chains to just as many moaning skulls.

He mentally gave them and five Eight Edge Assassins the order to help the demi-humans.

"Go. If you wanna save that village, go do it yourselves. They will help you."

"Yes" They all gave a crisp and enthusiastic reply.

They ran towards the village followed by the undead.

When they all disappeared in the forest, he gave out orders.

"Aura, Mare. As decided, you are to stay here and scout for any powerful enemies that might hinder us. Albedo and Shalltear, let us go."

"Understood."

The twins stayed behind as the others continued in the direction of the main horde of monsters.

----------------------------------------

They arrived at the village. It was a horrendous sight. People were screaming and running as they were preyed upon. There were skeleton-type monsters, bees, trolls, and some other monsters. Some appeared to be fighting back but it was naught but futile attempts. They had sent out an emergency flare but no one had come for help.

"Help evacuate the villagers. You two, focus on fighting the monsters."

Raphtalia took command. The demi-humans worked quickly to defend and evacuate the humans. The locust type monsters were easy to deal with. Most of them died in just two swings, but they had the advantage in numbers. A few were able to land a hit or two. Those did not deal much damage because of the armor but it was damage nonetheless.

The two undead, on the other hand, did not even pay attention to the humans as the skinned through the monsters. None was even able to touch them whereas they just swept away the monsters like pests.

Jack The Ripper severed the monsters in half with each swipe of its scalpel hands without discrimination and the Corpse Collector wrenched-off monsters' bodies with its chains. It was a massacre and the monsters did not stand a chance.

"Eeeek! Save m-"

The person did not even get the chance to finish as all the monsters in front of him were swept away in one swing of Raphtalia's sword. All the monsters seemed very weak and did not pose a threat right now. The person seemed perplexed seeing those monsters killed so effortlessly.

"Umm. W-who are you?"

"We are the Shield hero's party. Run. Hurry!"

"H-hero? I understand. Thank you very much."

"Yaaaaaaah!"

A scream shot across the field from behind. Raphtalia quickly turned to see a woman with her child in front of a troll. She tried to run but her legs gave out. Raphtalia nimbly stood in front of the woman to protect her. The troll brought its club down, and it was met by her sword. She redirected the club and jumped to cleanly divide the troll's neck into two.

She looked around and was relieved to see that there was currently no damage done to their ranks.

A few more people were saved as they continued thinning the hordes of monsters. All the humans were evacuated to another cliff some distance away.

The monsters were endless. For every single monster they killed, two others took their place. If the current conditions continued, then it won't be long before they are overwhelmed by numbers.

X-X-X-X

The battle continued. An hour passed, then another, until three hours had passed. The wave showed no signs of stopping yet the monsters only got more and more powerful. Monsters now were deadlier than before and came in larger numbers. Their speed, power, and numbers were causing a lot of problems.

The Corpse Collector and Jack The Ripper were taking unavoidable damage themselves.

She turned around and saw two demi-humans on the ground. Many monster bees were surrounding them. Rapthalia took off towards them, but she won't be able to reach in time. They will die.

The bees all attacked at once and as their poisonous needles sunk into their skin. At least that is what should have happened.

All of them were cleaved in succession like butter. None of the monsters survived as they made deathly shrieks as they disappeared into thin air. Behind the demi-humans, three Eight Edge Assassins revealed themselves.

Hah! They were here too. Thank goodness... Just waiiiittttt...

"If you were here why didn't you help earlier?"

"Kiii!"

In response, they only made an inhumane sound. Although they could communicate, they were not talking. This mildly irritated her.

But still, just how long will this wave last? It has already been more than two hours. Now, that the assassins are here, should I go help Ainz-sama... No, he entrusted me with this village and demi-humans. I can't leave my post here... Well, I would only hinder them in battle.

Just as she was thinking this, she saw a blue streak head towards the sky. It wasn't that fast that she couldn't follow with her eyes. That blue streak was a person. She wasn't able to tell much, but it was someone with black hair and a blue dress.

Then, she saw something like green energy pass through the corner of her vision. It passed quickly through the sky to reach that person like a needle. It was-

Aura-sama's arrow.

The arrow was blocked by something but the arrow went through to pierce the shoulder of the person. The fact that such an arrow was blocked even if for a while was commendable in itself.

The person managed stumbled behind but then disappeared into the sky. The clouds slowly dissipated until only the clear sky remained. She then finally noticed that she had a timer on the top-right corner of her vision. That timer was probably to signify the end of the waves and it was already at point-zero.

She breathed a sigh of relief and she sat down on the hard ground. Finally, the wave was over and nobody here was killed. As she sat down looking at the blue sky-

She could not help but wonder who that was...