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[LFTAW] Chapter 330: A Monster Disguised as a Human?
🕑 Added 2024-11-27 01:31:30 +0000 UTCBecause of the battle with the Platinum Dragon Lord, Riezel had already drifted away from the spot where he had first confronted Shalltear.
Concerned about what might be happening there, Riezel used Fly and immediately left the giant crater caused by the Platinum Dragon Lord.
Surrounded by a faint bluish glow of magical energy, Riezel flew toward the place where Shalltear and the human group had last faced off, and because the distance wasn't far, he arrived quickly after flying for only a short while.
Soon, from mid-air, he saw it—a figure standing in the sunken forest clearing below.
It was none other than Shalltear, but she had reverted to her original form—no longer a monstrous vampire with a terrifying mouth, but once again the breathtakingly beautiful girl in her elegant black dress.
Shalltear stood in place, completely alone, surrounded by blood scattered on the ground, while the ball of blood that had once hovered above her head was now gone.
However, something about her seemed off—her eyes were hollow and lifeless as if she had lost consciousness.
Even when Riezel floated in the air within her field of vision, Shalltear remained motionless, as if what she was seeing wasn't the person she had just been trying to kill but rather an insignificant pebble that had rolled into view.
Seeing Shalltear like this, Riezel landed in front of her, gazing at her intently.
'So, she's still being mind-controlled in the end?'
Riezel narrowed his eyes, deep in thought, and after a moment, he began walking slowly toward Shalltear.
Shalltear didn't react in the slightest throughout the entire process, and only when Riezel was close enough did she finally lift her gaze and begin to move.
BOOM!
In the next instant, Shalltear shattered the ground beneath her feet and transformed herself into a speeding bullet, shooting straight at Riezel.
BANG!
Shalltear threw a punch aimed directly at Riezel, but it slammed into the sword he had raised at some point, producing a dull sound that echoed through the air.
Regardless, Riezel was still sent flying backward by the immense force, his feet scraping against the ground, kicking up dust as he was pushed a considerable distance away.
Meanwhile, Shalltear, who had just launched such a fierce attack, surprisingly stopped again, standing motionless in place, exactly as she had been moments before as if frozen.
"..."
Riezel stared at the trembling sword in his hand, and after a moment of silence, he sheathed it back into its scabbard.
'She only reacts when attacked or if someone enters her attack range, whether it's friend or foe, huh?'
Riezel had figured out Shalltear's current condition, and it made him pause in thought.
'Should I just take her out here and now, or...?'
Riezel was seriously considering it.
Truly, there was no denying that Shalltear was incredibly strong.
Among the Floor Guardians, Shalltear, the Floor Guardian of the first to third floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, was the only one responsible for multiple floors since her strength surpassed that of most other Floor Guardians and even rivaled that of Ainz, the player himself.
Because of this, Shalltear was regarded as the strongest Floor Guardian, and among the NPCs in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, she was easily ranked in the top three, if not the top two.
On top of that, knowing Shalltear was equipped with several powerful items from YGGDRASIL, if Riezel managed to take her down here, there was a chance he could loot those items and gain a significant amount of excelia.
However—
'Forget it...'
Riezel shook his head, rejecting the idea as he remembered Ainz.
'Getting my hands on Tier Magic is way more important than this.'
Sticking to his original plan, Riezel decided to use this incident as a way to milk some benefits from the protagonist.
"Greater Teleportation."
With his decision made, Riezel used Greater Teleportation, which he had just learned, and left the area.
===
At the same time, someone stumbled out of the northern forest of E-Rantel, running frantically as if being hunted.
Who else but Clementine?
"Monsters! They're all fucking monsters!"
Clementine cursed repeatedly as she ran, her breath ragged.
"How the hell did so many monsters show up in this place all of a sudden?!"
Soon, the memories of the chaos in the forest, the tremors in the ground, and the unimaginable intensity of the battle she had sensed resurfaced, making Clementine's already twisted heart tremble with fear.
Clementine had always been confident in her abilities.
In this world, stepping into the Realm of Heroes at the young age of around twenty was an extraordinary feat.
In terms of strength and potential, she undeniably surpassed most others.
Gazef, for example, was already well into middle age and still hadn't officially entered the Realm of Heroes without the aid of magic items. Compared to the Re-Estize Kingdom's strongest warrior, her talent was indisputable.
With such remarkable achievements, her confidence, and perhaps arrogance, were only natural.
Even within the Black Scripture, a special unit where all of its members were within the Realm of Heroes, there were only two individuals whom she unequivocally acknowledged as superior.
One was the Captain of the Black Scripture, while the other was the Extra Seat, known as Certain Death.
As for the others, some might have been stronger, but she never thought she was significantly outmatched.
Yet today, all of her confidence, all of her arrogance, had been utterly shattered to pieces.
Shattered by Riezel.
Shattered by Shalltear.
Shattered by the Platinum Dragon Lord.
Although she wasn't physically present at the scenes of their battles, the earth-shaking aftermath made it impossible for her to ignore the overwhelming gap in power.
For the first time, she cursed her own heightened senses—her ability to perceive every detail of the violent clashes so vividly.
Because of this vividness, she had to face the cruel truth.
Compared to those monsters, she was just insignificant, weak, and utterly ordinary. No matter how hard she tried, she would never reach their level.
"Dammit... Dammit..."
Clementine's twisted mind festered with even darker thoughts, brewing a hatred so intense it threatened to consume her.
If someone were to appear before her right now, she wouldn't hesitate to take all her frustration out on them, torturing them in every way she could to vent the suffocating darkness and fury inside her.
"I'll go back to E-Rantel..." Clementine muttered, her eyes gleaming with vicious intent. "If I can't escape, then I'll make sure to drag as many people down with me as possible, and we'll all die together..."
Consumed by such a warped resolve, she turned and began creeping back toward E-Rantel.
Unfortunately—
"Sadly, you'll die here, all alone, without taking anyone else with you."
A sudden voice rang out from above, cold and merciless.
Clementine froze, her face showing fear, while her body locked up as though shackled by invisible chains.
She couldn't take another step.
She couldn't suppress the overwhelming fear that welled up inside her.
At this moment, she knew that her fate was no longer in her own hands.
"It looks like you understand your situation, huh? Great."
Riezel, embodying the image of death in Clementine's eyes, landed in front of her and spoke with a half-smile.
Such a completely unremarkable appearance, so plain it almost felt nonexistent, made Clementine want to scream in frustration, hurl insults, and vent her anger.
Someone this monstrously strong shouldn't have an aura so weak it was laughable, nor a presence so devoid of intimidation.
It felt like the universe itself was playing a cruel joke on her.
If only Riezel carried himself with a bit more presence or showed a trace of extraordinariness, would she even have ended up in this mess?
As Clementine mulled over these thoughts, she had no idea that, compared to Yoriichi, Riezel was still a hundred times better.
Like Yoriichi, Riezel also concealed his fighting spirit and aura with the Selfless State, but thanks to his inherently striking nature, people could still sense the mysterious contradictions surrounding him, indirectly realizing his uniqueness—realizing that he was not an ordinary young man.
Yoriichi, on the other hand, during his first and last encounter with Muzan, had been mistaken by Muzan for a completely ordinary, unimpressive small fry—a simple man as plain as he came.
Yet, it was precisely because of this underestimation that Muzan was defeated by Yoriichi in an instant.
By comparison, Riezel wasn't so bad, but of course, unlike the compassionate Yoriichi, Riezel was much colder and more ruthless.
"Don't say I didn't give you a chance."
Looking at the beautiful yet crazy woman before him, Riezel spoke words that all but declared her death sentence.
"Go ahead. Say your last words."
Needless to say, there was no escaping death for Clementine this time.
"...Ohh, how generous of you, Sir Monster."
Saying this, Clementine's beautiful face twisted into something grotesque, exposing her true nature for all to see.
Anyone witnessing her at this moment would know that her beauty was nothing but a facade, for at her core, she was a dangerous, twisted, carnivorous monster, no different from the heteromorphs from the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
"I just wanna know... what exactly are you?"
"Are you a human? A god-kin? Or a monster disguised as a human?"
"Yeah, there's no way someone like you is a human, right? Hehehe..."
Clementine's lips curled into a vicious, twisted grin as she laughed darkly.
"C'mon, before I die, let this Lady Clementine see your true form."
"I know that human face of yours is just a mask slapped onto your body, right? Tear it off and show me!"
"If you satisfy my curiosity, this body of mine is yours to do whatever you want with before I die."
"Tempting, right?"
At Clementine's words, Riezel just stood in place, silently watching her, completely indifferent.
However, Riezel's calm gaze and indifferent demeanor ultimately shattered whatever composure Clementine had left, unleashing the darkness in her heart.
"YOU DAMN MONSTEEERRRRRR—!!!"
Clementine drew two stilettos from her waist, screaming as she charged at Riezel.
While her speed wasn't bad, and in fact, it was fast—truly living up to the name of Windstride—unfortunately, the one she faced wasn't just anyone.
Seeing this, Riezel calmly drew his sword.
Scwhing—!
Splurt!
With a sharp slashing sound, the cold gleam of Riezel's blade sliced through the air, followed by a spray of blood.
At the same time, Clementine's body continued rushing forward, even as her head detached from her body and soared through the air.
A moment later, Clementine's body finally collapsed, her aura dissipating as life left her.
