Roaring Heroes Battle the Overlord (Ainz)

In front of the charred ruins of the fire site, ten long strips of white cloth lay on the ground, each covering a body blackened like coal. The recovered victims' remains were neatly arranged on the dry, cold earth.

Well-dressed knights stood in formation at the front of the crowd, one hand pressed against their chests, their expressions somber. At the forefront of the assembly was the kingdom's third princess, Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself, along with the grand knight Wade Bolton and the adamantite-level Divine Magic mage, Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra.

The farewell procession included several elegantly dressed nobles, along with a perspiring mayor. After the heinous incident of the princess being attacked in his territory, it was hard for them to escape blame, even if they hadn't been directly involved in the assault.

Led by Princess Renner and the Divine Magic mage Lakyus, everyone joined together in a final prayer for the innocent souls lost.

A local band had been invited to play the knights' funeral march, the musicians clad in black and gray robes stood to one side, as flutes and oboes began to softly lament, the tones grave and mournful.

The atmosphere was solemn and respectful, if one ignored the four individuals whispering at the back of the crowd.

"Captain, why is your hair wet?" Sean quietly asked, tilting his head.

EeDeChi brushed a few damp strands of hair from her forehead, expressionless, "Lakyus squirted at me."  

"She squirted at you?" Barrett sniffed, "What's that strange smell like a dead moth soaked in horse urine for three days? Is she spraying you with some top-tier vitality potion?"

"Maybe." EeDeChi replied irritably, "Your rhetoric skills are pretty good, huh?"

Barrett looked up at Lakyus's back at the front of the line. "She's still alive? You didn't slap her?" 

Just thinking about how EeDeChi once knocked "Lord of Despair" Clovis half out of commission made Barrett feel uneasy.

EeDeChi shot him a glare. "I don't just hit people for no reason, especially since Lakyus is a nice girl. Her Justice Value is 284, which is 138 points higher than yours!"

"Oh," Barrett shrugged, noncommittal.

"Captain, can you revive those who were burned to death?" Stella asked quietly from behind. "You know, with your healing magic."

"Right," Barrett remembered. "Didn't you just have to shout, 'If Gods Deny Salvation's Hand, With Sacred Blade I'll Reprimand,' to cast a powerful healing revival field?"

EeDeChi shook her head. "They're burnt to a crisp; I can only revive those with intact bodies."

"What did you talk about with Lakyus? Why did she want to spray you with vitality potion?" Barrett asked curiously.

"We talked about a lot of things. Basically, she thinks Ainz Ooal Gown is an invincible demon god, and that the Blue Roses adamantite-level team can't fight him alongside me." After saying this, EeDeChi let out a deep sigh.

She knew that on her own, she was too weak to take on Ainz Ooal Gown. So, she had been searching for an adamantite-level team within the kingdom. Now that she finally encountered an adamantite-level adventurer, she received such a weak and powerless response.

An adamantite-level adventurer represented the pinnacle of human combat strength. If even an adamantite-level adventurer didn't want to confront Ainz Ooal Gown, where could she possibly find help?

What was even worse was that Lakyus claimed to only have mastered 5th Tier magic. Just knowing 5th Tier magic already made her one of the best among humans, while Ainz Ooal Gown likely wielded the highest-tier magic, which should be 11th Tier—Super-Tier Magic, far beyond 6th Tier!

This meant that very few individuals in this world could even stand a chance against Ainz, and there might even be… none at all. Even if there were, for EeDeChi to find them in this isekai filled with dozens of countries, hundreds of tribes, and thousands of races would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Moreover, Ainz Ooal Gown was not just a powerful demon lord; he had several equally powerful subordinates. EeDeChi had previously faced off against some of those subordinates—Sebas, Cocytus, and Shalltear. Although it wasn't a life-or-death battle and she didn't go all out, it still felt incredibly challenging.

The mournful melodies of the fallen knights' prayer service echoed in her ears, and for the first time, EeDeChi felt how rugged and difficult the path to confronting the demon lord truly was. She couldn't help but chuckle bitterly; it seemed that nothing in this world was ever easy.

However, this time, the heartfelt conversation with Lakyus, the leader of the Blue Roses adventurer team, was not entirely fruitless.

Lakyus expressed deep apologies for having sprayed EeDeChi with her saliva and was surprised by EeDeChi's ambitious goal of taking down Ainz. After using a cleaning spell to wipe EeDeChi's face, she willingly shared many unknown secrets.

EeDeChi opened her palm and stared at a dark golden ring resting in her hand. The spiral patterns on the ring were nearly worn smooth, showing the traces of time.

Engraved on the inner band were a series of elegant alien letters, strong and bold, like a young dragon about to leap out of the ring. Lakyus explained that this represented "Thirteen" in dragon script.

Lakyus gifted the ring to EeDeChi, telling her that it could serve as proof to find the recluse Rigrit Bers Caurau in the capital of the kingdom.

Rigrit was a founding member of the Blue Roses team, now retired. At over 200 years old, she had once been a member of the legendary group known as the "Thirteen Heroes," specifically the Controller of the Dead among them.

EeDeChi pondered silently, realizing that there was still one last legendary figure alive from the "Thirteen Heroes." It seemed her only option was to dig deep into the ancient secrets of this world and have a chat with these old-timers. She clenched her fist, storing the dark golden ring in her spatial ring.

The crowd of mourners had somehow dispersed, and the bodies of the victims had already been laid to rest. Princess Renner was speaking with several nobles, seemingly investigating the mastermind behind her attack.

Princess Renner smiled warmly, her voice soft and gentle as she spoke, seemingly untroubled by the deadly assassination attempt. In contrast, the much taller nobles around her bowed their heads, their expressions fraught with fear, barely daring to breathe.

EeDeChi activated her Innate Talent, curious to know the Justice Values of these nobles to see who had the lowest—perhaps it would help in solving the case.

"This..." EeDeChi's eyes widened in disbelief.

To her astonishment, the one with the lowest Justice Value was not one of the slick, powdered nobles but Princess Renner herself, with a Justice Value of -261! EeDeChi distinctly remembered that this morning, Princess Renner's Justice Value had been 185.

"Is something the matter? Is my lipstick smudged?" Princess Renner noticed EeDeChi's shocked gaze and turned to ask, her bright smile unfaltering.

"It's nothing, you're as beautiful as ever…" EeDeChi swallowed hard and motioned for her three teammates to leave.

...

Lakyus stepped over rubble and ruins, wielding her magical ring "Trace Revelation" to survey the area.

Princess Renner ran up to her, asking, "Any clues yet?"

"Not yet, but I can confirm the arrow shot at you was stored in a magic circle, not shot by hundreds of archers simultaneously," Lakyus replied without pausing her spellcasting.

Being a longtime friend of the princess and an adamantite-level adventurer, Lakyus didn't need to adhere to royal etiquette.

Princess Renner glanced at the ruins, casually asking, "I saw you and EeDeChi talking in the woods for a long time, what were you discussing? EeDeChi often mentions the supreme Lord Ainz to me, has she talked to you about him?"

Lakyus extinguished the magic aura and gave Princess Renner a deep look.

"Um… no, we just chatted about typical adventurer stuff, like the hunting habits of chimeras, how much air element an invisible stalker contains…"