Somewhere on an unknown underground level of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, in an arena styled much like an ancient Roman coliseum.
Ainz Ooal Gown stood on the observation gallery at the very bottom, flanked by the tall and slender Albedo and the petite, girl-like Shalltear.
Not far away, on the stone tiered seats, a group of beautiful women dressed in maid outfits huddled together, craning their necks to peer into the arena, their tense gazes all fixed on the center of the fighting ground.
In the vast arena, on the floor paved with heavy checkered stone slabs, two figures—one male, one female—stood facing each other from a distance.
The man was Sebas Tian, a level 100 dragonoid warrior and the butler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
The woman was undoubtedly EeDechi, an orichalcum-level adventurer and captain of the adventurer team "the Last Defender of the Way."
Sebas was still dressed in his fitted black tailcoat, but his face no longer held its usual kind and gentle expression. Instead, he was carefully sizing up his opponent, his eyes sharp and intense.
EeDechi had also shed her typical laid-back attitude. She rubbed her wrists, twisted her neck, occasionally dropped into a horse stance to stretch her legs, and bounced on the ground a couple of times, like she was warming up before a swim.
The decision to "spar" here wasn't because Ainz wanted to watch a fighting show. Ainz had no desire for his subordinates to battle enemies like gladiators just to entertain others.
It was simply because this place was spacious and ideal for a duel between two level 100 powerhouses—if they fought anywhere else, they'd surely tear the whole room apart.
In Ainz Ooal Gown's skeletal eye sockets, the red glow flickered like torches. He gazed at the large projection screen hanging at the top of the arena, a hint of unease in his heart. That projection screen could use magic to project the scenes from the arena, but it only showed Sebas's image.
EeDechi was clearly standing right across from Sebas, yet she was nowhere to be seen on the projection screen.
Not only that, but in the heavily guarded Great Tomb of Nazarick, all the surveillance and monitoring spells surrounding her had completely failed. It was as if she didn't exist in this world at all; any monitoring magic utterly ignored her.
Ainz suspected she possessed some World Item that countered magic, or perhaps she had trained in skills that granted magic immunity. As a Magic Caster himself, he didn't dare rashly tangle with EeDechi, so he could only have Sebas probe her first.
Sebas, as the butler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, was in charge of managing the daily affairs on the ninth and tenth underground floors. Under his command was the combat maid squad—Pleiades, serving as the last line of defense guarding the Throne Hall.
Among the four guardians in the Underground Great Tomb of Nazarick most skilled in hand-to-hand combat, his bare-knuckle fighting ability outstripped Cocytus and Albedo, and his true form's overall combat power might even surpass the two of them.
As for EeDechi's fighting prowess, Ainz hadn't gathered enough intel to assess her properly. Only by really throwing down could the real deal come out in the punches and kicks.
In their earlier chats, this newly popped-up level 100 traverser didn't vibe with their outlooks on life. But Ainz didn't dare fully flip the table and take her out. One reason was that right now, the Great Tomb of Nazarick had several level 100 guardians out on assignments across the world, so they weren't at full strength in numbers or overall power.
The other reason was that Ainz had no clue what aces EeDechi had up her sleeve or what World Items she held. If it came to a mutual destruction scenario, it might be fine if EeDechi got desperate like a cornered rat and lashed out, but if she struck back like a tiger on the prowl, it'd spell major trouble.
As a proper demon king overlord, Ainz had always played it safe; he valued his subordinates' lives, so it was best to handle everything with caution.
By Ainz's account, both sides were just having a simple spar, nothing more than a regular matchup between fighters.
But Ainz had already instructed Sebas that if he discovered EeDechi was weak, or if her specialty skills were hard-countered, then during the "spar," if he could beat her into a cripple or just kill her outright, that would be perfect—completely wiping out a potential threat.
At one end of the arena, EeDechi had no clue about the sinister ideas swirling in Ainz's mind. She slapped her knees with both hands, loosening up her muscles, as if wrapping up her final swimming warm-up.
Sebas was the picture of patience. Once he saw EeDechi had stopped her oddball moves, he asked in a low voice, "May I ask if we can start now?"
EeDechi cupped her fists in salute. "If I may ask, old timer, what school or style do you follow?"
Sebas frowned at EeDechi and said, "What I practice is Mixed Martial Arts—there's no such thing as schools or sects. But if I have to put a label on it..."
In his mind, he recalled the martial arts techniques his creator had programmed into him. "I am proficient in Boxing, Muay Thai, Jujutsu, wrestling, Sambo, Karate, Taekwondo, Aikido, Bajiquan, Krav Maga, and Jeet Kune Do."
"Oh," EeDechi said, somewhat surprised. "All those you mentioned, I'm proficient in them too. On top of that, I'm also skilled in Tai Chi, Sanda, Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, Wing Chun, Shaolin Kung Fu, and Drunken Boxing."
She paused, then added, "When it comes to swordplay, I specialize in the German school of fencing—especially the Deutsche Zweihandschwert—plus the Italian school of swordsmanship, Rapier, and Wudang sword techniques."
"..."
Sebas stayed quiet, unsure what EeDechi was getting at with all this talk.
"What I mean is, you're going bare-handed, so I can't take advantage of you with weapons." As EeDechi spoke, she took off the giant sword strapped to her back and thrust it into the ground, sinking it half a meter deep into the heavy stone slab floor.
Sebas's mustache at the corner of his lips twitched slightly. "As you wish."
With that, he yanked off his black tailcoat and tossed it to the ground, leaving him in just a fitted white shirt and suit pants. Beneath the white shirt, his burly chest muscles couldn't be concealed. He unbuttoned the two pearl-white buttons at his shirt collar, loosening it a bit, then stepped forward with his long legs, already set for an attack.
EeDechi, clad in all black top and pants, gave a thumbs-up. "Not bad build for an old timer." She also planted her feet firmly, striking a fighting stance.
Both crouched low, their bodies springing into action at the same instant!
BOOM!
The air was suddenly ripped apart. The stone slabs where they stood exploded! Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ground, dust flying everywhere—this was the imprint left by their feet powering off in the charge!
Aside from Ainz, Albedo, Shalltear, and Cocytus, no one else there could make out how Sebas and EeDechi clashed. They only saw a blur of white afterimage and a black figure suddenly burst forth and collide, then tangle together.
In the center of the arena, sand and stones kicked up, four sets of footprints weaving like lightning, the stone brick floor already stomped to dust. The white and black shadows crisscrossed in the middle of the arena, blending into one.
Fierce winds howled and tore, the crashes of fist on fist, knee on knee, elbow on elbow, sole on sole booming like thunderclaps!
Barrett was also sitting in a corner of the first-tier audience seats in the arena, the sight making his throat go dry. Compared to this fight, his life-or-death brawl with the iron fist maid that he was so proud of seemed like nothing more than two kids roughhousing!
"Are these even human?" he muttered to himself. Even though he couldn't catch a single one of their moves, his eyes didn't dare stray for a second.
With a BANG of massive noise, Sebas and EeDechi's fists slammed straight into each other, the surrounding air rippling out in a shockwave from the blow, the ground shaking for a moment. Both backed off two steps, the black and white afterimages pausing their tangle for now.