272Cid was currently sipping coffee.
"Haa…" 'Free coffee is the best…' The Eminence in Shadow thought while looking out of the window and basked in the morning sun while sitting on a balcony, clad in the shadowy getup but hidden from view with a selection of magical effects.
The only problems with the enjoyment of the drink and croissants were that the scent of burnt flesh and acrid smell of burnt buildings permeated the air, and that the sun was partially blocked by the pillars of smoke that rose from the smoldering buildings.
The Capital of the Kingdom was a smoldering ruin for the most part, but Mitsugoshi store was still somewhat intact- While it had been set on fire, and a large part of its warehouse had burned down alongside its wares, the store's main floors were still mostly intact.
Cid had decided to hang around the area because it was the weekend and he didn't have anything pressing to do in Argland, and it seemed that something exciting was happening in the Kingdom.
That being thought, it had taken Alpha quite a bit of effort to calm Epsilon down, and the latter had broken into sobs and started to apologize to Cid with tears in her eyes when she had seen him enter the Mitsugoshi store from the third story window, as he had ended up in the room where the duo had been calming down.
'Well, it looked like Epsilon calmed down a bit after I told her that everything was according to my plans… I feel as if I've overused that sentence as of late, though. I should probably come up with another sufficiently dramatic phrase… That being said, that sleepy elf girl that I ran into looked to be utterly on the brink of self-harm, so I ended up putting her to sleep.' Cid thought while he drank the rest of his coffee, and then got up. 'Now then… Time to look around and see what's going on.'
Cid decided to go for a standard-issue 'mob disguise' and molded the slime-suit to take the shape of a common wretch who were the only people roaming the streets at the moment.
'Let's see… Hm…' Cid wandered the streets for a while, but since the capital was about sixty percent ruins, twenty percent intact, and twenty percent in a limbo between the two states, there wasn't much happening outside of King's Guard trying to put out fires- Some with more success than others, as it was clear that the noble and trained knights weren't exactly used to doing manual labor or putting out fires.
Cid sighed as he saw that the place had gotten boring, and decided to infiltrate the royal manor.
'From the shadows I come…' Cid made a dramatic motion as he arrived to a side-street that bordered the cliff on top of which the royal palace was built and the tall buildings next to it, and made a quick wall-to-wall ninja-hop up to the palace's wall, followed by tossing a distraction purse (filled with sand) to distract a guard, and finally melt into the shadows by climbing into the palace through a window, now clad in his Shadow-getup as he had switched to it mid-climb.
'...Hm…' Cid got a weird feeling from the shadows, as the shadows didn't seem as shadowy as normal, and decided to poke it a bit with a sword that he formed from mana-infused slime.
The shadow seemed to make a hole in itself in order to not be touched by Cid's sword, and Cid quickly made a criss-cross pattern of sword-slashes on the shadow.
The strange shadow dodged each sword-strike… And Cid turned on the light of the room, causing the strange shadow to withdraw behind a couch.
However, Cid had planned for that to happen, and flicked his finger towards the hiding spot. "Gotcha."
The shadow moved out from behind the couch and into the open as it dodged the imaginary attack… And was revealed to be a emancipated humanoid creature with withered leathery wings that seemed to drain all light that touched it
And Cid's stab landed on the emancipated creature that had lost its mobility due to being exposed to light, causing it to let out a sharp whining sound like stabbing dry ice.
The creature turned limp, leaving Cid thoroughly intrigued as he poked the strange creature's corpse and analyzed its properties via magic. 'Hoo? A shadowy creature like this… How cool! I wonder what it was doing here though… It looks like an emancipated skinwalker that's fresh out of drugs when it's not hiding in a shadow… Oh.'
The corpse dissipated into smoke, much like the strangely-clad bandits from before, making Cid wonder if the two were linked… Or if the strange creatures in the Kingdom had developed something like that naturally.
'Hm… I think I could replicate that effect with some effort…' Cid got an idea and started to work on it, before he finally managed to extend the shadow-like effect to make himself disappear from sight when he turned the lights off.
It was not exactly the same, but it would make for a cool entrance to a scene when/if he needed to make a dramatic entry or exit from the shadows.
'Now then… I wonder if there's anything else going on here?' Cid decided to practice using the shadow-movement as he moved from shadow to shadow, occasionally closing curtains and snuffing out lights to make his movement easier, and almost causing a stressed-looking elder maid to have a heart attack as the lights on a long hallway where she was were snuffed out around her and the curtains were slammed shut seemingly out of nowhere.
'Hm…' Cid hopped out of the window that opened to the shadow-side of the palace, and moved along the side of the building before jumping through a opened window, and using his newly-made 'ability', skirted notice from the occupants while glancing around.
It looked like the scene was something of a dramatic family meeting in a bedroom that had been converted into an infirmary, making Cid quite intrigued by the drama potential of the scene.
"...My child, I'm… I'm so sorry…" The old man by the bedside looked at least a hundred years old if Cid went by his expression, even if his creases and hair dated him to be about fifty-to-sixty years old. Moreover, he was crying and holding the bedridden person's hand, making him seem quite shaken.
Beside him was the warrior that Cid remembered having saved during the nightly loot-slash-drama tour. The warrior was carrying a large broadsword in his back and another sword at his hip, and both of the items were clearly heirloom items of some sort.
Finally,.there was a vaguely female form that was lying in the bed.
Cid could only really tell the gender of the form because of her hips as her face had melted into a near-formless blob of blisters and burnt flesh, her hair had burned away or charred against her partially exposed skull, and her limbs were deeply scarred with severe and deep-tissue reaching burn wounds as if she had been trapped in a burning box or something like that, and had been forced to claw her way out. The theory of burning box escape was further compounded by the manner in which her hands had burned- She had lost all but one finger, and her hands were little but exposed bone, boiled fat and sinew.
Her eyes had likely boiled in their sockets considering that she had a bandage on her eyes that bled pus from underneath it.
The severity of the girl's injuries and the pungent smell wafting out of them made it clear why the window to the room had been open.
"My King… Prince Zanac, he…" The warrior coughed to his fist after a moment, making Cid pull back as he had been sneaking the man's purse out of his pocket without him noticing.
"...He is dead. I saw him this morning. The servants brought his corpse in…" The old man let out a muted sniff and shuddered. "That damn undead… Not even the royal carriages were spared…"
"Princess Renner… If I may ask, where did you get this?" The warrior continued as he lifted a ring that looked to have a crack running through its center, and addressed the girl in the bed. "We found this in your hand when we found your carriage's remains- The mage that was with us almost had an aneurysm when he analyzed-"
"Gazef! This is not the time!" The king turned around in rage and gave Gazef a fierce, furious look of a grieving father, and caused Gazef to fall to one knee in an instant. "And just look at Renner! Do you think that she could hear, much less answer your pointless questions?!"
"My deepest apologies, my King, princess Renner! I didn't mean to insinuate-!"
"...Haa… It's fine. Fine. Stand up." The king seemed to get his rage under control after a few seconds. "We… sniff. We cannot let this divide us. Not now. Not when everything is falling apart…"
The not-quite-corpse on the bed looked to be unconscious, though, so Cid was fairly sure she wouldn't be able to participate in the conversation anyway. And if the exposed skull and burns were anything to go by, she likely had severe brain damage to go along with her medium-rare grilled state.
Cid got an idea, although he felt like thinking for a while instead of putting it to action immediately. 'Hm… If I'm reading the room correctly, that girl is a princess, and that old fart is the king, and the princess got into an accident or something that burnt her up badly… If I healed her, I'd appear like the good guy and I could probably extort a bunch of money from the King for that. But that wouldn't suit the Shadow…'
'That warrior, meanwhile, must have told the King about me, which probably means he said 'This guy, Shadow, killed all of those Adventurers in the square and everything!'- or something like that?' Cid thought while the King and the warrior talked about something and about a marriage and whatnot. 'Then again, he knew about me so chances are that he kept quiet about me- Or he was just humoring me and he had gotten into contact with Epsilon, who let him into the Shadow Garden act… I wonder why she'd do that, though. Normally Epsilon okay's whoever she lets in on the secret through me or Alpha, and that guy doesn't seem like Shadow Garden material, he's way too serious… I wonder if she developed a crush or something and wanted to rope him in?'
'Actually, since Alpha had been in Kingdom, then she might have been the one who came into contact with the warrior… Actually, that makes sense. And also explains why Alpha wanted to practice kissing with me, if she's trying to rope in that warrior-guy and doesn't want to embarrass herself for being a poor kisser…' Cid nodded as the recent events started to make sense- Although he figured that it'd be better if Alpha had been up-front about the intention of the practise kissing and felt that she was being a bit sneaky.
However, Cid realized that his thoughts were slipping and Epsilon's and Alpha's questionable habits and/or tastes weren't exactly important- They were adult girls already and it wasn't as if Cid had any intention to tell them what to do or who to woo.
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Epsilon sneezed while she was drinking coffee with shaky hands, causing Alpha to get a face-full of the brown liquid as she was sitting opposite to her behind a coffee table laden with what food they managed to save from Mitsugoshi's warehouse.
Meanwhile Alpha's cup had shattered due to excessively tight grip while she had suddenly developed a whole array of angry throbbing veins on her temple and her face had flushed completely white.
"This is bad. I feel something worrying has happened." Epsilon explained a bit meekly while offering Alpha a napkin.
"Likewise. I feel as if I've been called a cheap woman behind my back." Alpha continued to look pissed.
Epsilon gulped and hoped that no-one too important had done that, as she was fairly certain that heads would roll whenever Alpha found out who had spoken behind her back.
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'...However, I can't let the Eminence in Shadow appear like some rank-and-file goodey-two-shoes adventurer. That would be super uncool and if I ever got caught, I'd get an instant cease and desist letter from the Adventurer's Guild for imitation…' Cid pondered a bit internally while moving around the bedroom, sliding from shadow to shadow and training his newfound skill on the warrior as the man was keeping a sharp eye on his surroundings even though he was seemingly alone with the King and the Princess.
'...Hm… No. Sweeping in to rescue the princess would require a different setup, or at least for me to wait until night and then set up the King so that he walks in while I swoop in and heal the Princess in the middle of the night, and then he goes 'who are you, suspicious stranger?!' and I go 'I am the Eminence in Shadow, the Night taken shape and form…'' Cid finally let out a small sigh, inaudibly of course, and decided on his next move, relegating the 'saving princesses' to a later date.
Besides, it didn't look like 'Renner' was going anywhere in a hurry anyway.
Cid made to move towards the window and decided to check if there was anything else going on- But just as he was approaching the window, hiding in the shadow of a potted plant, he heard something interesting.
"...my King, the healing potions won't be enough for injuries like these- However. There is someone who can heal her, of that I'm certain- Even after the Blue Roses were captured by the enemy."
"Elaborate, Gazef Stronoff!" The King spun around. "Who do you mean?"
"I was about to die at the city square, I was overwhelmed by undead and nearly dead from my wounds, and yet I was healed." The warrior, Gazef, spoke and then glanced around. "He possesses strong healing magic, or at least strong healing items. I've even heard rumors of red healing potions. If M- ahem, the Eminence in Shadow is capable of healing me… Princess Renner could surely be healed if he came and took a look at her injuries."
"...This… This!" The King stood up instantly. "But- Hm…"
The warrior waited patiently for the King's words, and Cid paused as he had heard something interesting.
"Do you know where Shadow went?" The King asked after a moment
"I haven't asked around about him, in order to keep his cover intact. However, I can ask the Adven-" The warrior started but the King shushed him and sent him a glare, making the warrior cough and adjust his words. "My apologies, my king. I know we're trying to keep his name, allegiances and cover-up intact, but I must confess- I am profoundly unsuitable for this sort of subterfuge."
"...It's fine. Refrain from speaking unless you've had time to consider the implications of your words- I am aware that subterfuge is not a field you have had much interest or training in, but please try to keep his cover intact- The walls have ears, and even if we may doom ourselves by speaking, then let us not drag him with us. He is our only ally and sole hope to get through all of this." The king paced around the room, completely uncaring how he wobbled after sitting still by the bedside for who knows how long. "...He must be gone from the Capital already. It makes no sense for him to stay here- Considering the mountainous task he faces."
'...Heh. I'm guessing that Epsilon managed to get a word about the Shadow Garden to the King as well.' Cid smirked internally, even if he was fairly certain that the King wasn't 'in' on the Shadow Garden, but had heard of it through the warrior and likely thought that Shadow Garden (and its 'foe') were real organizations. 'That being said… 'keeping his cover' is making me a bit nervous. Don't tell me that Epsilon actually blurted 'Cid's name or something like that.'
"What about Renner's condition? She-" The warrior continued to talk while Cid was deep in thought.
Cid sighed internally as he witnessed a potential horror scenario unfold before him 'It'd be a coup de grace for my mob persona if a king of a foreign country came to the open and stated 'Cid Kagerou! You are the savior of our nation! Please accept this random princess and a title and lands!' or something like that after Remedios's allegations. It'd instantly lift 'Cid' to a protagonist rank.'
"I'll have to send word to Argland at once. That girl needs to get here at once so I can send word that I have Shadow's fiance here and he can come and meet her." The king looked to be completely serious and the warrior nodded. "Thus, Shadow has an excuse to come and heal Renner while he's here to meet his fiance."
"Pffrht!"
"What was that?!" Gazef turned around in a flash and drew his blade after Cid had accidentally nearly choked on his spit after hearing the King's bold declaration.
Fortunately for him, he was still using his shadow-melding ability and from the point of view of the warrior and the King, the room was empty of other conscious people… Except that Cid noticed that the bedridden princess had turned her head just minutely when she had heard of the commotion, making him suspect that she was just pretending to be unconscious.
Either way, the situation had gotten well out of hand, and Cid had to act quickly in order to ensure that the nightmare scenario wouldn't come to pass- Even if he had to risk acting out of character to do so.
Naturally, and since blowing up the King and the castle would be too cliche, he went for the secondary stratagem:
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Gazef turned around while drawing his blade, prepared to give his life for his King and his daughter if an assassin managed to enter Princess Renner's infirmary room.
Instead…
"The dawn comes… And it comes cloaked in tragedy and shadow of Death." A mysterious, shadowy figure sat on the window, resting his back against the side of the frame and looking out with little care.
Gazef saw the Shadow, and for the first time saw his form and clothes clearly as he was illuminated by the faint morning light.
The figure was clad in high-class clothes that eerily resembled Lord Gown's robes in color and weave, if lacking the orbs and bony pauldrons, if not for that Lord Gown's robes had a aura of eerie, dreadful might, whereas the newcomer's robes gave off a feeling of cool midnight air and mystery cloaked in darkness even in light.
"Do not be so surprised, Gazef Stronoff… For we have met once before, and after today, perchance, nevermore…" The figure turned its gaze towards Gazef while making a mysterious motion with his hand, as if he swirled his cloak of shadows around him.
…And in a whirl of shadows, the figure was gone from the window, only for Gazef to spin around as he felt something move elsewhere in the room.
"A tragedy most foul befalls the princess… But she is not beyond salvation: But there is something that I must tell you, o King:" The figure reached to nearly touch the bedridden girl with his finger, and Gazef felt his hope soar… Yet disguised Momon withdrew his finger. "You must never enter Argland. A plan most foul is brewing there- One of Cult of Diablos, the sworn ally of the Monster. You will only find death within that realm."
"What- What are you saying?" King Rampossa was clearly shaken and stood up. "Wait- Before that, Renner-! If you can heal her, I'll… I'll-"
"Hm… Her wounds are caused by magic of the Cult, imbued with not only fire and fury, but that of eldritch scent…" The shadowy figure seemed to loom over Renner, all the while the room's candles went out and the window slammed itself shut as if the shadows had extended from incorporeal form to one that could take shape and manipulate objects.
The effect of the sudden motion was that the room became suddenly dark, except for the Shadow who seemed to cast an eerie light by his presence alone, like a marshlight on a velvet shadow. "I have done to her what I can… But only the kiss of True Love may heal her. And that is whom she must marry- Elsewise the curse of the flame shall spread once more, and shall burst to devour your very kingdom, o King."
The shadowy figure moved his hand over Renner's face as if he was closing her eyes, even if her eyes were covered by a bandage and hollow in their sockets.
"I must now depart- We never met." The Shadow withdrew from behind the bed, seemingly melding into the shadows of the darkened room.
Gazef opened his mouth to ask- But before he could get the words out, the candles of the room flickered to life once more, casting away the darkness and revealing that only the King, Princess and the Warrior remained in the scene.
However, over all what happened, one thing struck out to Gazef as odd:
'...Wait, wasn't Momon taller than that?'
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'Heh. 'Curse of true love'.' Cid patted himself on the back while he moved amidst the streets of the capital, unseen under the very literal cover of darkness, in order to go and check on the local adventurer's guild if someone had noticed anything interesting of late, and then head back to Argland to ensure that if the King approached Argland, then he'd get a bad ending.
Moreover, a princess must have had a cadre of wooers so chances were that one of them could come over and kiss the princess, triggering the 'trap' that Cid had put on the girl's lips and causing a healing burst that'd most likely heal her to 'full health'.
It didn't really matter to Cid if that was her 'true love' or whoever, as long as it wasn't him. 'That should take care of the 'a foreign king tossing a random bride-princess to Cid Kagerou' issue'
'...After that, all I need to do is ensure that Remedios has a mysterious disappearance or something…' Cid felt quite happy about his future prospects of his 'mob persona' side as he approached the Adventurer's Guild.
He stopped by a side-street to mold a slime over his face to adjust his facial features like a mask (an idea that he had picked up from Epsilon and Gamma), and used it to slip into his 'third' Persona-
That of a Copper-Rank Adventurer, Mundane Mann.
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Meanwhile, there was panic in Nazarick.
'What did he mean?! 'Invited it to our home?!' Ainz was currently causing a dent on the floor of the Throne Room as he paced around, trying to figure out what sort of message 'the Shadow' had sent to him.
It wasn't a surprise that the mysterious figure could tell that Ainz had been spying, considering that he had called him out for spying once before… But Ainz had seriously expected a retaliation of some sort.
Yet instead the man had smirked utterly smugly as if he had gotten a huge victory in the town square, causing Ainz's internal calm to fracture a bit from paranoia.
'...It's fine. I sent Pandora's Actor to figure out what was going on…' Ainz waved his hand to dismiss the Overlord that he had sent with Albedo's guards to the Kingdom, and who had returned to Nazarick with some captives in tow that allegedly knew unknown spells. The Overlord had delivered his report to Ainz, and bowed before retreating back to the Library. 'I could just have the captives killed and tossed out… But what if he expects that and that is why he said that?! What if the Blue Roses actually know something important and that Shadow-guy is trying to keep it hidden by having me kill my captives out of paranoia? But what if it's a trap?!'
'...Well, after Pandora's Actor figures out what is going on, I should have a chat with Evileye… She knew a bunch of spells that I didn't have information on, like that [Vermin Bane].' Ainz paced around after Emotion Suppression brought him back to reality. 'I used ruruko-kun to change my voice when I spoke to her as Momon, so she probably wouldn't recognize me as Momon if we spoke… Although, that doesn't really matter anymore if she knows about that deception or not. Come to think of it, didn't Entoma ask to have a chance to tear out Evileye's voice and use it for her own? I should ensure that Evileye survives the interrogation so that Entoma has a chance to get her vengeance…'
'The rest of the group, though… Ngh, I need more information to make reliable decisions, but if I go to gather them by myself then I risk getting ambushed.' Ainz felt stressed as the combination of a number of unknowns and the fact that potential loss and death had started to pile his stress on the ever-shaky pillar of his self-confidence.
Or rather, on the full knowledge that Ainz was just roleplaying to be a mastermind leader. '...If I make a wrong move… If what happened to Shalltear happens to someone like Demiurge and they can use his talents against Nazarick… I'll be finished. Moreover, if I die… Then there's a high chance that it's going to be it. Dead. Done for. Even if I somehow got revived, all of my gear and inventory would drop on death, so it would be a gigantic loss for us. And… I don't want to die.'
Momonga's memories of getting PK'd repeatedly in YGGDRASIL mixed with Suzuki Satoru's very human desire to not die, and led to Ainz's paranoia and worry to go on overdrive to the point of being nearly crippling… And Emotion Suppression activated to calm him down once again.
Ainz noticed that Demiurge had entered the Throne Room, and had knelt towards him while Ainz had paced around.
"My lord, I am ready for your orders." Demiurge's words were utterly reverent.
But also indicated that the demon expected Ainz to pave the correct way forward.
And Ainz could feel nothing but horror and stress.
'Pandora's Actor- Hurry up and interrogate those adventurers so I know what exactly the Shadow meant with that threat!'
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Evileye felt groggy as the mind control slowly waned, allowing her to once again see and feel things after the interrogator had finished up with her, clicked her tongue, and returned to tormenting Tina.
'...[Control Amnesia]... ghu…' Evileye recognized the spell that had been cast on her- Even if she had resisted it after the undead monstrosity had deposited Evileye and the rest of the Blue Roses to some sort of frozen manor, and the monsters within had taken her deep into the manor's basement- Into a torture chamber.
The mind-controlling spell, while absolutely overwhelming in power, held no purchase on Evileye considering that her Undead racial trait made her immune to Mind Control and similar effects, with the exception of thralling- But even that left her with her mind as her own.
Yet, she had to stay strong.
She knew that the moment she broke, the moment she spoke and told what she knew… That'd be it- She'd run out of chances to get herself and the rest of the Blue Roses killed in order to avoid eternal torture.
"Gr… Pft. Is that all you can do? I've had massages tougher than that. Work it deeper, my muscles are still stiff." Gargaran spat blood to the side while the warrior-woman was tied to a torturing rack that forced her to a spread-eagle pose with her chest against the wall.
There were a number of hooks on Gargaran's flesh and her back had been sliced open so that the torturer could tear open her back, turning her back muscles into 'wings' and making her spine visible like a string of pearls poking from her the red meat of her back.
"Gar- gnh… H-haa… Water God, please guide our souls…" Lakyus let out a whimper as she had been stripped naked, as were the rest of the Blue Roses, and whom were in various states of disassembly in the torturer's lab.
Lakyus was still relatively intact, as she had managed to heal herself after the torture… But that couldn't be said for the rest of the Blue Roses.
"Hm… A bit higher tone, I believe?" A flabby creature of lard and tentacles spoke with a high-pitched, girlish voice that was utterly alien on the gross body as she was half-lying half-leaning over Tina's body that was spread on a torturer's bed. "Now now. You can still speak, so do feel free to speak and perhaps I'll administer a drop of anesthetic... Maybe?"
"Higaaaa-iiiiiiiAaaaa!"
"A bit lower… Like thisss?" The flabby torturer turned a cast-iron metallic spindly handle a bit, causing the pained screams to turn a pitch higher. "Ah, very good. I need a… hm… A deep bass voice next. Lord Ainz's choir must be completed."
The torturer turned, revealing a vaguely humanoid figure with gray skin and octopus-like head. The grossly overweight 'female' form was clad in a ill-fitting dominatrix outfit that caused the fat to spill over from the suit in gross folds that flapped as she 'walked', or rather waddled around the gross torture chamber that smelled of excrement, decaying flesh and bloody iron.
Evileye looked past the monster to see that Tina's body had been opened like a painting on a canvas, and a series of tube-like organs had been attached on her exposed lungs and throat, causing her to let various sounds like a church organ as she screamed in pain.
Her entrails had been torn out of her sliced-open and stretched belly and tied around her stumps of legs like some sort of insane living dress, and Evileye could see Tina's heart beating in her spread-open chest while her ribs had been pried open and spread like wings.
Whatever methods the torturer had used on Tina had made certain to cut her open in a manner that caused minimal bleeding, all the while ensuring that the woman wouldn't have the benefit of falling unconscious or dying.
Lakyus vomited as she saw Tina's state while Tia let out a miserable sound that Evileye had never heard from the normally-mysteriously cool woman as she saw her twin sister's bodily state.
"My. How uncouth." The torturer slapped Lakyus on the cheek while speaking in a high-pitched, quick-worded tone. She then pulled a rusty needle that she stuck through Lakyu's lip and split her front teeth in two, before starting to sew her mouth shut while the woman let muted screams against the hold the monster had on her jaw.. "Lord Ainz has shown you great mercy and compassion! After all, I received a very specific set of orders on how to interrogate you! And none of it involved killing you- However, I must kindly ask you to not vomit in my atelier. I'll resume interrogating you at a later date."
"This sick… place is your… atelier?" Evileye spat on the floor. "Figured that you wouldn't have the slightest shred of taste… But it seems you managed to go under even that bar and go straight to unsightly."
The fat torturer paused.
Evileye knew that they were doomed, but she hoped that if she managed to get under their torturer's skin enough, to enrage her enough… Then she'd slip, and accidentally kill them- Which would be a fate kinder than prolonged torture and painful death.
Or at least, if the torturer managed to control her emotions, then she'd focus her attention on Evileye instead of working on the others.
"My. What a unsightly creature you are. But do not worry, you too will be made magnificent… Ah. But where are my notes… Yes." The torturer seemed to reach into flabs of flesh and pulled a gold-encrusted case, which she opened to show a hastily-written letter that the torturer caressed with her gross tentacle-like fingers. "Lord Ainz's handwritten order… Haa~ My heart is about to burst~ How I wish I could show my choir to him already! But I cannot- It isn't ready yet… More tones are needed to perfect my art-piece!"
The gross creature checked the orders again, and then stashed the box and it's contents away into the folds of it's fat, which Evileye realized were arranged into a vague resemblance of breasts in the deranged leather outfit. "Now then… Evileye-san, is it? You resisted the [Scroll of Control Amnesia], so I'll have to be a bit less… careful with you."
"Do you think I'll break?" Evileye put arrogance into her sneer with intention of focusing the creature's attention on her- It was clear that the denizens of the strange place had very little patience and very fragile ego, considering that a few slight jabs at them, or rather, their lord was enough to drive them to rage. "Perhaps you should ready yourself to report back to your lord that you have failed- Or rather, to prepare to face death. Your lord won't be happy with a unsightly, gross creature like you."
The monster paused a bit. "Ara. I must confess I am a bit angry with you, Evileye-san."
The monster reached to run her finger down Gargaran's exposed back-muscle, and stroked her exposed spine. "I'll have to punish you for that kind of language. After all, I've been instructed to prepare you so that Lord Ainz may interrogate you after I am done with you- It wouldn't do if you acted like a local barbarian savage in His exalted presence."
"GHru- hr…." A cracking sound came from Gargaran's mouth as she bit on her teeth after the monster sank her finger into Gargaran's exposed back.
"I believe that you 'thief' types had bonds of friendship or some such?"
"As if." Evileye filled her words with spite in order to mask her real emotions- The 'Overlord' from before had already burnt her relationship with the rest of the Blue Roses, so it was simple for her to pretend as if torturing the girls wouldn't break Evileye's spirit. Even if it caused Evileye to scream in pain and anguish internally, as she had grown quite fond of the adventurer team.
"I see. Ah well. I'll have to interrogate them in depth later- But for now… Hm?" The gross creature glanced at the wall while lifting her finger to her ear as if she was speaking to some unknown figure. "I see… I suppose. Indeed. Yes- Certainly."
"My apologies. Your interrogation shall have to be postponed." The flabby interrogator curtsied 'cutely' causing her fat to let a small whine as air trapped in her folds escaped them and caused a gross scent of rot, perfume and sweat to fill the air. "I've received news that a larger prey has been caught."
"What-?" Evileye paused… And then froze against the shackles that held her against her torture-rack.
Indeed, a monstrous, tentacled creature wheeled in a new rack into the torture-chamber.
And on it was…
'No… No- No, nonono, no, that- this can't be-!' Evileye felt as if her heart would burst from her chest in despair as she saw the newcomer, at the same time as her heart felt like it had started to pump for the first time in centuries and her cheeks gained a small blush.
Indeed, Momon had been tied to a torture-rack in a spread-eagle pose, naked except for his red cape and his helmet.
"Evileye-san?!" Momon seemed to be surprised to see her.
"Momon-sama!" Evileye let out a wail of despair out of instinct as she saw her savior captured as well.
"My. You two know each other? My, we'll have such a good time together…" The flabby torturer put her hands together and made a heart with her fingers. "Teehee!"
Lakyus vomited again, this time through her nose.