"I do not care about those mongrels!" Gilgamesh snapped. "Only Enkidu deserves my undivided attention. None else."
Seeing the strongest Character in this timeline walking away, Ainz Ooal Gown frowned.
Lancer's loss had come as a surprise, but the strength Berserker had displayed had been even more surprising. That made Berserker the greatest enemy, requiring Gilgamesh's direct intervention.
Or so had both Kirei and Ainz put it to the King of Heroes before he firmly refused the request.
It was still unclear why Gilgamesh was supporting the birth of the Angra Mainyu through the Greater Grail. He must know by now that any wish obtained by the end of it would be corrupted, too.
Also, Gilgamesh had always wanted to rule the world with a new leaf after annihilating most of the modern humanity. However, releasing All The World's Evil would do the exact opposite, as there would be nothing left to rule.
Then, what gave Gilgamesh so much confidence that everything was under his control?!
The Overlord couldn't find a direct answer to this question, unless the Heroic Spirit meant to betray them in the end.
As Gilgamesh disappeared, Kirei Kotomine approached the Lich and stood next to it, both eying the Greater Grail, many, titanic eyes pulsating behind a fleshly, red glow.
Above the Greater Grail, a humongous black hole had manifested, surrounded by a blue halo.
They lacked nothing now but time. Once the Greater Grail matured with Mana, Sakura would fuse with it, returning the Will and birthing the true Zoroastrian God of Darkness.
That would mark the End of all Beginnings!
Ainz Ooal Gown cared little what happened to this timeline… or the Fate Bubble.
"I am not of this world," Lord Momonga said, a beheaded head flashing into his skeletal hand. "This person had something that connected him to this world. I had been keeping him alive after beheading him… just to use that connection to come here."
"…" Kirei's mouth twitched. "After making all beings suffer on your side, you came here to enjoy the suffering of this world's people as well? Haha… That's truly something… I don't know if I would go that far even if I had the opportunity. Hmm… Perhaps… I would…"
"…" Ainz Ooal Gown kept quiet, letting the misunderstanding fester.
It had come easily to him — playing the part of just another evil guy. That night, the other Contestant had cast a baffling Spell, separating Good from Evil.
He had managed to escape the clutches of that Spell by sacrificing some Levels, Ainz remembered.
Surprisingly, that gave Kirei and others the impression that he was evil to the core as well.
Ainz's action to kidnap the Dark Sakura and let her begin the ritual of Angra Mainyu's incarnation worked for his evil persona as well.
If Ainz was being honest with himself, he didn't really care about what separated Good from Evil in the eyes of these people.
His family and friends were in a different Bubble.
Because of a disastrous event that had yet to come into the picture, Ainz needed to get his hands on an Item that surpassed World Class.
Instead of roaming the Multiverse to get such an Item, Ainz had decided to upgrade the Staff of Ainz instead.
So, when an idiot Contestant barged into his home, trying to molest Albedo for a mere Hidden Mission of some sort, Ainz killed him and learned of… The Jeweled Sword of Zelretch.
Being a staff, and not truly a sword, Ainz knew instantly that it was the exact thing he had been looking for.
That's why he had come here when Zouken's Inheritance was triggered that had also pulled the beheaded, but alive Contestant.
As the Jeweled Sword wouldn't come into the picture if Dark Sakura didn't exist, he had no choice but to save that girl.
If the mysterious white-haired Contestant agreed to his terms and let him have the Jeweled Sword, then he wouldn't mind betraying these fools himself.
If not…
"… I will burn all the fools coming to stop us to ashes," Ainz Ooal Gown declared, a majestic deathly aura misting off him. "One way or another, I will have what I want."
Kirei Kotomine found Ainz's thirst for suffering admirable.
"I want that boy… and Assassin…" he said, smiling. "As I think of them, I feel like I have uncompleted tasks on my hands… making my skin prickle. To see them die… in front of each other's eyes…"
Ainz Ooal Gown turned around and walked away.
One moment more with the psycho and he would truly end up killing the fool.
…
"Why… Why… Why…" Evil Betty Shaw held his head. "Why…"
His lower half was a swarm of insects, buzzing louder than ever.
Ever since he had joined the Overlord, he had been keeping an eye on him. He knew what kind of past Lord Momonga had and that the Lich wasn't an evil entity.
Still, there were infinite timelines.
Who was to say a few Overlords didn't turn out to be vile Mages?
Taking precaution, Evil Betty had still put an insect upon him. Surprisingly, that insect never returned. The last image it had sent to him was of Ainz Ooal Gown standing in front of a white-haired man… a man that Betty had never seen before.
He couldn't believe that there were still unknown players in the game.
There was no best-case scenario in any of this, though.
All these insects were his bodies, housing a part of his soul, letting them use his Glitch as well. Which meant whoever killed the insect must have a monstrous sense-based ability.
Was it Ainz Ooal Gown?
Was it the unknown man?
Was it the Chaos' Contestant?
Did the person who killed his insect know about his Glitch?!
Unlike others, Evil Betty's entire existence depended upon Greater Grail birthing Angra Mainyu.
In that case, he could ask it to separate him from his other side, effectively making him Fate Bubble's Character. Then, he could resurrect in the Primordial Tower and become a Gltiched Chaos' Contestant.
Everything was going as planned.
Then why… why… why… it felt like it wasn't!
"I need to do more…" Evil Betty ripped off a part of his face, spattering worms. "I need to… go Plus UItra! Do you believe that, too, dear audience?! Right?! Right?!! Yes?! Oh, Heavens…
"… Thank you for believing in me!! Kekekeke!!!"