Chapter 4: Fateful Encounter (3)
Kaiser sighed behind his jester mask.
Too many were dead.
If he could, he would have cast resurrection magic — brought them back, even just one. But he couldn't. He no longer had that power. His immortality — the curse that granted him eternal life — had stripped away the ability to manipulate death. Resurrection magic, revival items, divine relics that restored life — all of it was beyond his reach.
Immortality… was it truly a blessing?
Kaiser wasn't sure anymore.
The chirping of sparrows mixed with the metallic stench of blood. It was a jarring, almost surreal harmony — nature and carnage interwoven. Beyond the mist and corpses, he could feel that same evil aura again. Faint or not, it gnawed at him. He wanted to ignore it, but its presence was simply too powerful.
He exhaled softly. "How unfair," he murmured.
He had bled, fought, clawed his way to strength through death and suffering. But these others — they hadn't risked anything, hadn't walked through hell — yet they possessed powers that rivaled gods.
It was unfair, yes, but so was the world. Kaiser had lived long enough to know that fairness was an illusion. The only thing left to do was accept it quietly.
From behind him, a voice broke his thoughts.
"Um, how long do you intend to keep wearing that mask?"
"Does it not suit me?" Kaiser asked lightly.
"..."
"Silence means yes, doesn't it?"
Kaiser removed the jester mask with a small chuckle.
It wasn't just for decoration — it was called the Mask of Falsehood, an ancient artifact that could pierce through lies and illusions. But the relic was so old that its power required time to activate. Now, at last, it was fully attuned.
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Tch. Troublesome… I'd hoped I was wrong, but this is beyond annoying."
The beings he'd sensed — Ainz, Albedo — were not alone. Their presence was just the surface. Something else was out there. If the worst possibility was true — if their entire base had been transported here — then this world was doomed. No kingdom, no army, not even the Theocracy could survive that.
Hostility will only bring ruin, Kaiser thought.
If they had attacked humanity, he would have fought. But they hadn't. In fact, they'd saved lives. That alone set them apart from the undead he'd known — from the other Overlords he'd slain in ages past.
These two were different.
Calm. Controlled. Capable of loyalty, even affection.
He could sense faint traces of who they'd been — humans, perhaps, before they became what they were.
He sighed. "I really hate trouble. But ignoring power like theirs isn't an option… Tch. That's why players are always such a headache."
Kaiser gave an awkward smile before turning his head sharply toward the forest. The air rippled — footsteps, armor, and intent.
They weren't hiding. The group was large — dozens of signatures, disciplined and armed.
Soldiers, he realized.
And judging from their approach, they were the same faction as the corpses littering the ground.
"W–Warrior Captain Stronoff!" a soldier shouted, running up breathlessly. "Troops from the Theocracy are approaching from the west!"
"What? The Theocracy? Not the Empire?"
"Yes! We saw their insignia clearly!"
"So it's come to this…" Gazef muttered grimly.
Pretending to be imperial soldiers — all to tarnish Gazef's name. It was a trap from the start.
If Gazef asked Kaiser for help, the battle would end swiftly. But that wasn't who Gazef was. Kaiser knew the man — stubborn, noble, and bound by duty.
He'd grown from the rigid child Kaiser once met… yet still carried that same unyielding sense of responsibility.
"Lord Kaiser, could you please help Lord Gown escort the villagers to safety—"
Kaiser smirked. "You mean, 'Please help us,' don't you, Gazef-kid?"
Gazef flinched. "Ahem… I'm hardly a kid anymore."
In front of his men, the warrior captain looked mildly embarrassed. But Kaiser, who had lived for centuries, merely chuckled. "You'll always be a kid to me."
Then he started walking — slow, deliberate steps toward the forest where the enemy awaited.
Gazef watched the man's back.
Even now, after all these years, he still couldn't reach it. No matter how much stronger he'd grown, that figure ahead of him remained beyond reach — the symbol of "strength" itself.
"Gazef."
"Yes?"
"Take care of the villagers."
"...Yes!"
The word had barely left his mouth before Kaiser vanished — dissolving into thin air. Whether it was raw speed or teleportation, Gazef couldn't tell.
"Will he be all right?" one soldier asked nervously.
"Even if he's strong, those are the Sunlight Scripture's elites — the Theocracy's finest. Reports say they've deployed a High Angel of Flame, a third-tier divine summon."
"There's no need to worry," Gazef said simply.
He wasn't being optimistic — he knew.
What he had seen from Kaiser wasn't even the man's full strength — just a fragment of it.
And that fragment alone had been enough to convince Gazef that even the Sunlight Scripture would be annihilated before they could touch him.
"Hold your ground!" Gazef roared. "Defend the village! We will remain here — and await the glorious return of a true warrior!"
Because if there truly existed someone capable of defeating Kaiser…
Then running would be meaningless.
....
Forty-five soldiers.
Elite troops — veterans of the Theocracy's Sunlight Scripture.
Kaiser remembered them well. Among the Theocracy's six scriptures, they were the most militant — tasked with exterminating demi-human settlements and purging heresy.
His knowledge was outdated, but he doubted much had changed.
He hated the Theocracy.
To them, he was the heretic of heretics — the man who had proven that humans didn't need gods.
Some even whispered a legend: that one of the Six Great Gods had fallen by Kaiser's hand.
And so, the Theocracy had declared him the ultimate blasphemy. The eternal enemy.
They'd hunted him for centuries, wielding holy relics and divine weapons — strange artifacts that had nearly killed him more than once.
He smiled faintly, eyes narrowing as light shimmered above the trees.
"So it's the Sunlight Scripture this time… how nostalgic."
And for the first time in centuries, Kaiser let himself feel a flicker of anticipation.
"Stop right there."
At the front of the formation, a man stepped forward — Nigun Grid Luin.
The leader, huh? Kaiser tilted his head slightly.
He stood surrounded by angels, his expression brimming with arrogance disguised as confidence. Every high-ranking official from the Theocracy wore that same look — the smug assurance of those who believed God Himself stood behind them.
A plain sword appeared in Kaiser's hand. It looked ordinary, the kind of weapon you could buy in any market. But when Nigun glared at him, Kaiser calmly removed his Mask of Falsehood and spoke.
"I'll give you a choice, soldiers of the Theocracy."
"What?"
"You can turn around right now, pretend you saw nothing, and go home. Or stay… and leave here beaten and humiliated. Either way, what sounds easier to report to your superiors — that you ran away, or that you found nothing?"
"You insolent fool!" Nigun snapped. "If you know we're from the Theocracy, then you know who you're defying! Are you one of Gazef's dogs!? Then let me give you a choice — move aside! I am merciful; do so now, and I'll overlook your nonsense!"
He sneered.
The young man before him looked small, harmless even — with a calm face and a cheap sword, not even wearing armor.
To a proud believer of the Theocracy, he seemed laughably weak.
But Kaiser's mask vanished.
"Is Gazef's death truly necessary?" he asked quietly.
"Of course! He serves a false king! It's unfortunate — if he'd been born in the Theocracy, what a glorious warrior he might have been. But alas, he's a man of the Kingdom, and proud of it."
"You'd risk war over that?"
"That, too, is the will of God!" Nigun spread his arms theatrically. "You've refused my mercy — then become the first victim of this sacred purge! Do not fear — you and every witness here shall ascend together to God's side!"
Kaiser drew his sword.
Shing— the metallic gleam reflected across his face. His black eyes dimmed — not from blindness, but from years of emptiness. He could barely remember when they'd last shone with life.
"Kill him!"
Kaiser moved.
It was a slow, almost lazy swing — so slow it looked like a mockery of combat. The soldiers blinked in confusion. But before they could react, every angel floating in the sky shuddered — then split apart, dissolving into light.
"What—!?" The soldiers cried out, horrified.
Only Nigun saw it — the shift in the air, the impossible compression of power. His instincts screamed that Kaiser had done something, but he couldn't understand what.
While he hesitated, Kaiser stepped forward, speaking with quiet clarity.
"My name is Kaiser. I hope someone who knows that name is watching. The Theocracy claims to build a world for humanity — yet here you are, assassinating one of its greatest men. A just warrior. A good man."
Even Nigun knew Gazef's reputation — a warrior admired even by his enemies, a man of strength and honor. Yet the Theocracy, in its twisted piety, sought his death, calling it divine will.
Still, they were unchanged. The same blind faith in "God" that had once drenched whole nations in blood.
"K–Kaiser…!? You dare speak that accursed name!?" Nigun roared.
The name that had shaken history.
The man who slew a god.
Legends said Kaiser had killed one of the Six Great Gods themselves — proof that humanity no longer needed divinity. To the Theocracy, he was the ultimate blasphemer. Nigun refused to believe it — refused to accept that a mere human could defeat a god.
"You're a fraud! A heretic imitating a legend!" Nigun screamed. "Let's see you stand before divine judgment! Go, Dominion Authority Angel!"
He thrust out his staff, summoning a radiant being of fire and wings — a fourth-tier angel of surveillance and punishment.
It launched toward Kaiser like a spear of light.
And in the next instant, it was cut in half.
No one knew what had cut it — and then it simply vanished.
Nigun, who had shouted with absolute confidence moments ago, froze in confusion, staring at Kaiser.
Still calm, Kaiser spoke.
"Is it over?"
"A–Aaahhh…!! Ahhh!!" Nigun screamed.
A horrifying possibility crept into his mind — the thought that the man before him might actually be real, the true Kaiser from legend. He tried to convince himself it was impossible, mere fantasy. Shaking, he pulled a crystal-like object from his robes.
Kaiser frowned. "That's a rare item you've got there."
"H-Hah! So you do know what this is! Everyone, buy me some time! We can't win as we are! I'll summon the highest angel!!"
Kaiser tilted his head. "If I beat that thing, will you leave?"
"T-That thing…?" Nigun stammered.
Kaiser didn't intend to kill them. They were soldiers on orders — no need to slaughter them. They weren't sadists, just men bound by duty to their nation, following commands. Perhaps their methods were wrong, but their resolve to serve their country was something he couldn't bring himself to hate.
"You bastard! You'll regret mocking me! Behold — the sublime form of the highest angel!!"
What emerged truly was sublime — radiant and immense, the very image of holiness. The Radiant Dominion Angel, said to have once slain a demon lord. Its glorious wings filled the battlefield with light. Nigun smiled, certain of victory. His talent increased the power of his summoned creatures — not by much, but enough. And for this angel, even a small boost was terrifying. It was, after all, a being closer to a god than any mortal.
"That's the one that Panda guy took down," Kaiser muttered.
"Panda…?" Nigun blinked, confused.
Was he insane? Facing such a divine being, he looked relaxed. No stance, no tension — as if the sight of the angel had dulled his will to fight. Gritting his teeth, Nigun tried to erase the image of the Guardian of Humanity from his mind.
"Radiant Dominion Angel! Recreate the strike that once slew the Demon Lord! Let the world witness your divine glory again!!"
The power that poured from the angel was otherworldly — far beyond human reach. Even the most gifted sorcerer could never touch such sacred energy. It was the purest form of divine might — the Strike of Holy Light.
And as that light descended—
Kaiser swung his sword.
A faint sound — shwip, like wind being cut — and the light itself split apart, shattered as if sliced by an invisible blade.
"Wh—what…?" Nigun whispered.
The next moment, the horizon itself seemed to break.
The Radiant Dominion Angel fell apart, cleanly bisected, and faded into nothingness.
Kaiser stood quietly, eyes on Nigun.
The moment their gazes met, Nigun stumbled backward. Kaiser's face held no hostility — only indifference, the kind that said: Why waste effort crushing something so weak?
Maybe I should go a bit harder, Kaiser thought.
He shifted his sword sideways — and swung.
KAAANG!!!
The ground split open. The shockwave roared like a natural disaster. The sky tore apart; clouds were sliced clean through. Everything in front of him was erased, meaningless before that single stroke.
The Sunlight Scripture — Nigun included — could only stare in silence.
"This is your last warning," Kaiser said. "Go home. Tell your superiors this: if you try something foolish again, I — and that Panda guy — will pay the Theocracy a visit. Tell them that I…" He paused, scratching his head. "Ah, never mind, that was nonsense."
Then he smiled faintly at the terrified soldiers.
"Now get lost. Don't tell me you've forgotten the way back?"
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