Chapter 378: 360 come here in person_2
I, who once swore allegiance to the Supreme Sovereign, have lifted my hand against him, and as an undead, I even suffered from a mental control I should not have been subjected to—a disgrace so profound that it stains the very name of a Guardian.
Because of this, Shalltear spent some time in a daze, drowning her sorrows in drink every day, which shows how intense her regret was.
Thanks to that event, this time upon receiving a new mission from Ainz, Shalltear had taken an oath that she must not bring shame to Nasalik or to the Guardians ever again.
Therefore, during this mission, Shalltear was uncharacteristically serious, not only abandoning her previous disdain and contempt for others but also diligently making all sorts of preparations, truly doing her homework.
Among these preparations were gathering intelligence and collecting data, everything concerning people, events, and objects related to the mission, which she thoroughly investigated and recorded in her notebook.
Among them was the information on Reiger, the data on Reiger.
Therefore, Shalltear was able to recognize Reiger at a glance and went into full armament immediately.
She knew that Reiger was at the top of the list of individuals that Ainz and the Guardians of Nasalik were on guard against.
She also knew that she had once crossed blades with Reiger in the northern forest of Re·Yestijie, it was only the loss of memory that meant she had no actual feeling of the event.
Moreover, just yesterday, Demiurge had reminded Shalltear that Reiger was likely to come here, to this stronghold, and might encounter her again, so Shalltear was already prepared.
This time, she was determined to wash away the dishonor.
"A potential obstacle to Lord Ainz, a threat to Nasalik."
With an uncharacteristically calm tone, Shalltear spoke those words.
"Let me, Shalltear Bloodfallen, the Guardian of the first to the third floors of the Nasalik Underground Tomb, verify just what sort of threat you pose."
Having made such a declaration, Shalltear did not give Reiger a chance to speak, but extended a hand in his direction.
"[Monster Summoning of the Tenth Tier]."
The exceedingly arrogant True Ancestor vampire had, this time, started by directly using a spell of the tenth tier, and it was Summoning Magic at that.
Suddenly, a large Array spread out on the room’s floor, and a ferocious monster began to materialize slowly.
It was a beast resembling a demonic hound that crawled out of hell itself, not only enormous in size but also possessing three heads, with eyes that seemed to burn with flames, its entire body a crimson red, spreading an ominous aura throughout the room.
"A Hell Three-headed Dog, huh?"
Reiger’s gaze was instantly captured by the vicious magical beast.
The Hell Three-headed Dog, a creature that can wield hellfire, adding flame damage to all of its attacks and having complete resistance to both fire and poison, with formidable combat abilities.
In "YGGDRASIL," it was a level 64-70 monster, but in this world, it was a mythical hound that existed only in legends.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
The hound from hell let out roars towards Reiger, flames leaking from the three mouths of its three heads as if dribbling saliva, they suddenly surged forth and launched at Reiger.
"Boom!"
Along with a thunderous noise, the scorching fires spit out by the Hell Three-headed Dog during its charge turned into a torrential wave of flames that overwhelmed everything in its path.
Reiger was engulfed by the flames, his entire being disappeared into the firestorm, and he was no longer visible.
"[Life Essence]."
Seeing this scene, Shalltear, who was hovering midair, did not show a smile of triumph; instead, her expression grew even more solemn as she invoked a spell.
This was an Information Magic spell from "YGGDRASIL" that allowed one to see others’ health points.
In this world, the spell could be used to check an opponent’s vitality, thereby making judgments about their status.
If the opponent’s life points had decreased, it would mean they might have been injured, or perhaps had used some special power that reduced their life force.
And when the life points dropped to zero, the opponent would naturally be dead.
Shalltear used this Information Magic with a clear intent: to find out if Reiger had sustained any injuries from the Hell Three-headed Dog.
However, what Shalltear saw was only the massive green glow that soared into the sky from the center of the sea of fire.
The green glow was the enemy’s life value.
This life value was not only staggeringly enormous, but it also did not show any signs of weakening, confirming that the individual engulfed by the flames hadn’t suffered any damage at all.
"Can he neutralize fire attribute attacks?"
As this thought flashed across her mind, Shalltear immediately realized that the Hell Three-headed Dog would probably be of no use against Reiger.
The Hell Three-headed Dog was very powerful, completely on the level of a demon god in this world. Even the legendary Thirteen Heroes had to fight seriously to subdue it. If it were let loose in this country, it would certainly turn the Re·Yestijie Kingdom into scorched earth and destroy the nation within a few days.
However, it was a monster that specialized in fire attribute attacks, and since Reiger could neutralize fire attribute attacks, it would only be a waste of time to let such a monster face him.
In that case...
"[10th Tier Undead Summoning]."
Shalltear used a new summoning magic, causing the magic array to appear once again.
"Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!"
The Hell Three-headed Dog, which was in full sprint, had not yet charged into the sea of flames before it disappeared into a shower of light particles.
This was because, except in special summoning circumstances, monsters summoned by summoning magic would usually be only one per spell.
When the summoner used a different type of summoning magic, the effects of the previous summoning spell would disappear, and the summoned monster would be replaced by a newly summoned one; only higher tier summoning magics or special skills could summon multiple monsters, though these monsters are generally of a weaker type.
For instance, the vampire bats and vampire wolves that had appeared in front of Reiger and his party were low-tier monsters summoned by Shalltear using a special skill called ’Familiar Summoning.’ It is in such circumstances that a summoner can call forth multiple monsters.
But [10th Tier Monster Summoning] and [10th Tier Undead Summoning] are not magics used to summon low-tier monsters; they are for summoning high-tier monsters between levels 64 and 70.
To Reiger, such a level of monster was already on par with a level 5 creature.
High-tier monsters like these couldn’t be summoned repeatedly with summoning magic unless it was a super-tier magic.
However, as an NPC, Shalltear could not learn super-tier magic; the highest-tier magic she could use was 10th Tier.
Therefore, when Shalltear activated the new summoning magic, the summoning of the Hell Three-headed Dog came to an end, causing it to vanish then and there and be replaced by a new monster.
Upon closer inspection, it was a knight whose entire body was exuding a black aura, enshrouded in billowing black mist, holding a lance in its hands, riding a black horse, armored from head to toe, yet lacking a head.
"Go, Headless Knight!"
At Shalltear’s command, the high-tier undead known as the Headless Knight surged with black energy and charged toward the sea of flames.
The Headless Knight, a level 69 high-tier undead, is a fearsome monster with only melee capabilities but can trigger an instant death effect at random upon landing a hit on the enemy.
While it’s difficult to trigger the instant death effect on opponents higher than its level, once the effect is triggered, it could even annihilate a full-level enemy in one strike.
This dreadful monster now raised its lance high and charged into the sea of flames, thrusting its weapon at a figure at the center of the inferno.
At that moment...
"[High-tier Exclusion]."
A voice sounded lightly.
Invisible magic power fluctuations suddenly surged from the figure at the center of the blaze, like an invisible shockwave, and slammed into the Headless Knight.
"————"
The Headless Knight, struck by the magic, couldn’t even let out a wail before it was seemingly rejected by the world under the influence of the invisible magical fluctuations and vanished without a trace.
"Tch..."
Shalltear clicked her tongue.
The blaze also died away, allowing Reiger to emerge slowly.
"You wanted to test my strength?"
Reiger lifted his head and looked toward Shalltear.
"Then don’t bother using summoned creatures to probe me. Come at me yourself, vampire."