A giant wall spread for vast distances. Big double-doors with two lanterns hanging on them. The wall that separated Melromarc from other countries. This checkpoint, in particular, split apart Melromarc from the country of demi-humans, Siltvelt. There were a few towns and cities on the way but those weren't that relevant.

A long line of carriages waited patiently for their chance to come. The traffic was very slow and the security checks were a pain. All this to not let the devil and the fake hero escape the country.

The carriage second in line was specifically a luxury. It was one that could normally only be afforded by nobles. Pulled by two filolials and a dashing old man in a very neat suit. It could easily be the indicator of one's influence and power.

The carriage first in line passed through the security. The said luxury carriage moved forward and took its place. The border security approached and one began questioning the man in the suit. The others just stayed behind in order of an emergency.

"Where is this carriage headed?"

"That would be Siltvelt. My mistress wishes to visit that place."

"I see. Let me check the inside."

He went around to the back and lightly moved the metal door to peek inside. As some light entered through the gap inside the dark carriage, he could only be captivated by the figures that came into view.

Ten seconds passed, twenty, then almost thirty. The old man interjected to get him back to his senses.

"Sir. Is everything ok?"

"Ah! Ehh... Yes, everything is fine. Let them pass." He closed the door and moved away. He had not even checked properly.

The giant doors leading to outside the country opened up. The old man flashed a little smile. As his white hair fluttered in the cold air, they passed through and the night continued like normal.

Deep in the forest, in some kind of ruins, everything was silent except the two figures of authority. They sat facing each other on some kind of stone.

One of them looked just like a little angel. Wearing a red and white gothic dress and white wings sprouting from her back, sat Fitoria at one side.

On the other side, sat an ominous being made of naught but bones. Red points of light from within the eye sockets and a red orb floating under his ribs. He had his jet blue robes equipped. Ainz Ooal Gown.

Behind Ainz, were his companions that came with him. Surrounding them were a lot of filolials. Like at least a hundred of them. Ainz understood that the being in front of him was responsible for defeating the two assassins.

Fitoria on the other hand, had no idea that the ones she fought were the underlings of Ainz Ooal Gown. She had just fought two monsters trying to spy on her.

Ainz had discovered her when heading towards the direction of the assassins. Upon meeting there was an awkward silence for some time until she came to terms with the fact that 'He was indeed the Shield Hero'.

Now that they were to talk face to face, nobody had any words. Finally, Fitoria broke the silence with an introduction.

"Shield Hero. I am Fitoria, the filolial queen."

"I am Momon. I am the "Shield Hero" as you say."

"Hmm. I have a question for you. Who... What are you?"

"I am an undead. I suppose you must have seen those before in this world. Those are but mere mindless monsters.

Now it's my turn to ask the question."

"My question is not answered."

"You asked what I was. Nothing else."

"Hmm. I suppose... Ask away."

She pouted a little just like a little child. Her voice at the last was a little hushed implying she didn't like where this was going. Suzuki Satoru, the shrewd salesman did not let this chance go by.

"What are your powers?"

. . .

She thought for a moment. She did not want to reveal her secrets. Of course, any rational person would not like to reveal anything about themselves if possible.

"I am the queen of filolials as well as the Wielder of the vassal weapon of carriage. I rule over the filolials and can turn into one myself."

A perfectly valid and cunning answer. She wields a vassal weapon. The fact that she defeated those assassins means she was more powerful than that king. And not to say she can freely transform into a filolial.

Fitoria continued with one more sentence.

"You have the candidate for the filolial queen yourself, don't you?"

"What would that be?"

"I was told that the shield hero travels with a filolial. She is the one. I don't see her here."

Wait, she could have something like classes of filolial queen. If she becomes even half as powerful as this girl then that would be very beneficial. Does this mean she could also turn into a human... or angel form like her.

"She is not traveling with us for the moment. So you're saying that she could have the power to lead filolials."

"Leading the filolials is NOT a power. It is my responsibility as their leader."

"I apologize. I have disrespected you."

Ainz understood this perfectly. The responsibility to lead his subordinates, to protect them, to keep them away from harm's way; it was hard, yet it was his duty. He got tired, frightened, and terrified at times. He had thought about it many times, but never did he see running away from it as an option.

"Hmm... Now it is my turn for a request.

I know that you are not on good terms with the other heroes. I want you to make up with them. If you do not do that, then saving the world is nothing but a pipe dream. No matter what you do you won't be able to defeat her."

Her?

"Making up with the heroes is not possible. They are nothing but delusional idiots that think the world revolves around them. They are too self-absorbed in fame and pride that they fail to notice the truth pushed in front of them. I won't be wasting my time trying to make futile attempts at friendship when I could train instead.

And who do you refer to when you say 'Her'?"

"If you do not even try, then new heroes will have to be summoned. You will have to perish for that and I will make sure that it happens."

The deep-red glow in his eyes flickered for a second. He moved his hands on his thigh, and his head previously resting on those hands was now completely straight and on alert.

"Is That A Threat?"

His voice was deep and of one at authority. He unconsciously activated his Despair aura I and the filolials surrounding them began shuffling within themselves. A mood of unrest was present. It was surprising in itself that Albedo and Shalltear had managed to restrain themselves after Fitoria's words. It was probably the influence of Ainz's strict orders before entering the forest.

Fitoria too noticed his aura and went on alert. She was leveled up enough that she wasn't affected but she understood that this was just the starting of it. But she was not one to back away. Her fate doesn't matter if she follows her master's orders.

"That is a threat. I'll tell you what. Prove that you and your party alone are enough to fight off the waves. Fight me and if you win, then I am willing to not interfere in your affairs again."

"That is a lot to ask, don't you think? You are the instigator and are offering nothing in return for our battle. Then killing you or sparing you won't make a difference.

If I win, become my subordinate."

"Not possible. I won't fall under anyone. Ask something else."

Ainz did not want to fight in the first place, but there was no guarantee that such an opportunity would show itself again. He had to take the risk, otherwise, he might have to kill her without getting out enough information. She seemed stubborn so taking out information from her might be difficult.

Ainz knew this would happen, after all, no queen would decide to fall under someone's rule based on a single battle. Truthfully Ainz had hoped for this to happen. Now he could easily make his demands without them being too much. The salesman inside him would be proud of him.

"Then, tell me all about 'Her' that you mentioned earlier. Also, you will inform us of how to obtain the class of filolial queen."

"Cheh! I agree."

She was frustrated beyond words. She had been played wonderfully. She could not decline now, and denying them could possibly lead to her death. But if he and the party were powerful enough, then it could truly be possible to defeat 'her'.

An open field, designed for battles within the forest. It wasn't too far from the ruins they were before. The battle was to begin at dawn.

"Remember. No mention about our abilities must be made to anyone else."

"I understand."

Normally Ainz would be at the backlines casting buff and debuff damage, simply being the wildcard he was. Right now, he did not want to show much of his YGGDRASIL abilities. He had instructed the two others to not show much of their abilities unless absolutely necessary.

He was currently at the frontline with Albedo to make sure she keeps the thought of him specializing in the shield. Shalltear would be casting spells and fighting in the frontlines both. She would focus on unholy and dark attacks as it was the filolials' weakness. This was not an optimal setting, but to deceive the enemy, this was necessary.

If the battle goes as they expect, then there won't be much need to use their magic in the first place.

A few minutes passed... Finally, as the first ray of sunlight hit upon them, the battle began without a verbal signal.

Fitoria turned into her filolial form that was easily a hundred times bigger than a normal filolial. She was to move but-

[Time Stop]

The tenth-tier spell. The world turned colorless as all except the Nazarick force froze in place. The battle proceeding was already discussed before the battle. There were plans in both scenarios, whether the spell worked or not.

[Discern Enemy] . [Life Essence] . [Mana Essence].

Max levels in this world's terms. With average HP and mana over 75. Taking into account the information given by the assassins, her stats could easily be well over Level-90 in YGGDRASIL terms. She has some ability to teleport too.

(Note- Ainz's divination spells only denote values in YGGDRASIL terms. Whereas when he said her level in this world, it was because of the ability [Discern Enemy] he uses denotes the level of the enemy in this world and not in YGGDRASIL terms. So, everything except level is denoted in YGGDRASIL terms.)

[Dimensional Lock] . [Delay Teleportation] . [Triplet maximize magic - Exploding Mines]

As Ainz did this, Shalltear used her skill to summon four 7th-tier Vampire Wolves.

Albedo cast [Skill Boost] on Shalltear so that the summons were boosted. She herself cast [Summon Mount] bringing forth a War Bicorn Lord. They didn't have any special ability but had enhanced HP, agility, and strength. She could not ride it, nevertheless, it could be used in a variety of other ways.

Time Stop limit was over and the spell dissipated. Fitoria swiftly advanced as though nothing happened but one look at the battlefield and she knew something had happened. With a heavily armored horse with black skin, red eyes and two horns extending horizontally along the length of its head.

At the back along with the girl in the red armor, were four wolves, or something in that territory. They were made of nothing but something like dark energy. One may say all the summons reeked of negativity.

She swiftly rushed towards the bicorn. and made a low kick at its front legs. The bicorn neighed loudly and stumbled but didn't fall over. It attacked the side of Fitoria that she exposed while attacking.

She for one was stunned once again. All her full power kick did was make that bicorn stumble. After all, the War Bicorn Lord was level-100 and a force to be reckoned with in itself.

The horns of the bicorn attempted to hit the left side of the big bird. His height only allowed him to poke her from down. She retreated and avoided the attack but that was not the correct answer.

The four wolves together charged at her from her blind spot. She sensed them and dodged three of them. One of them, however, bit her and dug its teeth into her flesh. She took a little damage and kicked the wolf. It vanished with just her one kick.

"HA!"

She shouted out in battle spirit. A very big magic circle showed itself in front of her and within a second a violent wind tornado started wrecking the surroundings. The hundreds of filolials behind her were completely unaffected by it.

"[Sharks Cyclone]"

A cyclone of water that put the air tornado to shame came forth. It ate away at the tornado and proceeded towards Fitoria.

She pushed herself high into the sky before falling like a meteor in the middle of the cyclone. The spell was discarded and only the cracked-in ground remained.

All the filolials including Fitoria started making some kind of melodious sound. It was a beautiful chorus and made a very pleasant sound. However, the bicorn heading towards Fitoria had a sudden decrease in its speed. Ainz and co. and the wolves however were unaffected.

The bicorn did not even reach her and its speed was already cut in half. The voices it made were now very low, and the representation made it seem that the energy was being sucked from it. It was most likely a debuff effect and a powerful one at that.

She kicked the wolves and they died in a single strike again. She rushed by the bicorn's side, which was now unable to follow her movements and lightly brushed one of her claw on the bicorn's skin. She had nothing but made a sensitive touch.

Crash

Giant ripples of wind came into view just as the bicorn was sent flying at unimaginable speeds and crashed into the trees some distance away. That caress must have been a special skill.

All the summons were defeated and they were to face her directly now. However, the summons had their job splendidly although the bicorn might not have been defeated just by this. Their observation was complete and they had a rough idea about her physical abilities now.

Little masses of light traveled through the air from the filolials into Fitoria. They had now stopped singing after realizing that the debuff wasn't working on them. It might have been a direct mind-affecting ability,

Albedo finally moved and made a full-blown punch at the filolial's head. However, A metallic cling ran out as she hit an invisible barrier. No shockwaves reached the filolials behind her so it was safe to assume that they all were under its protection.

[Mana Essence]

Her mana was not generating at all. All of it was probably used in maintaining the barrier and the preparation for a high-level skill or magic. None of the filolials were even moving an inch.

Ainz teleported directly in front of the barrier and Fitoria still only looked at him with eyes one would take in a battlefield.

"You are indeed strong."

"You aren't weak either. Let's continue now. [Despair Aura IV] "

As he spoke those words almost half of the filolials at the front went unconscious within seconds and the other half was flailing around wildly. Some of them still transferred their mana but the supply was reduced to a mere ten percent. This caused the barrier to weaken considerably.

Shalltear with her inhuman speeds appeared in front of Fitoria and extended her Spuit Lance. The barrier shattered into uncountable small pieces as the lance pierced her body and blood drew out. Fitoria opened her mouth and was probably about to shout something but-

[Time Accelerator]

Shalltear silently cast this magic and immediately moved behind her before she could even get one word out.

"Aaaah!"

This time Fitoria was sent flying straight towards Albedo. Shalltear had used [Impure Shockwave Shield] from behind her and she was hit directly with the reddish-black wave of force.

The filolials still helping her ran towards her Shalltear even if just to distract her and she cast

[Mass Hold Species]

All of them froze in place and their efforts to break through only managed to tire them.

The big bird was flying towards Albedo. She could not regain control in the air and was helpless. Albedo didn't use her weapon but kicked up. She was sent up into the air and made unfamiliar bird noises.

Ainz was getting ready to cast the finishing spell, however, the moment didn't come to be. Her defense was weak. Her health was already less than 20% and a paralyzing or restraining ability would be enough to declare victory.

Fitoria was stuck in the air or rather floating of her own accord. Her eyes were slowly turning yellow with energy and her enormous figure shrunk down to the size of Ainz's filolial. Her wings spread completely and she completely silent letting the leaking power talk instead.

The energy, that was not mana was escaping from her body. White and Yellow energy so dense and powerful in vast amounts that even Ainz was filled with a little admiration.

At the same time, he had a bad premonition. If this was her trump card, there was a high chance that it could bypass resistances. He took a glance at her and she was gathering a great mass of energy.

This was the time for the death knight to shine. When opponents switch over to complete offense, preferably as a last-ditch spell or attack, then 'Hate Management' used at the crucial moment would most probably render their targeting useless completely wasting it on a death knight.

He was about to summon a death knight, but then saw the sky. Dark clouds coated with various translucent colors were gathering in the sky.

Shit. It is an AoE attack. Even Albedo's ability to transfer damage completely won't work in that case. What to do, what to do? Shit, I will have to use it. I didn't want to reveal it to anyone. But it's necessary.

The leaking energy shot up as a beam into the sky. An extremely thin beam into the center of the gathering clouds. Her mana was decreasing rapidly.

"Albedo! Shalltear! Get behind me!"

"Understood Ainz-sama!" Shalltear went without complaining and the filolials finally became free.

Albedo, on the other hand, went mad and tried to retaliate in this critical moment. She wanted to protect Ainz and that was completely understandable given her nature. But she needed to understand that at this moment, his defense would prevail.

"Get Behind Me!"

"But Ainz-sama. It is my duty to keep you safe. If something happened to you while protecting us, then-"

"I know that Albedo. But think rationally right now and GET BEHIND."

"Y-Yes."

She too rushed by his side and took a moment to cool down. She immediately regretted what she said. She had just wasted time on a battlefield. But her intentions were only good and nothing else.

Anyways, a few seconds later the mana was completely drained off from Fitoria. All the clouds glowed with pure white and all the previous darkness was washed off.

"|SUPREME QUEEN'S DECISION|" The voice seemed to roar and echo itself throughout.

Light descended from the sky dying everything white. With Fitoria as the center, everything in the radius of 200-meters was eloped by the light.

An entirety of twenty seconds passed away. The light then slowly thinned out and turned non-existent. Nothing of the forest and its natural habitat was even touched. Everything was exactly the same. The filolials were unscathed as well.

Ainz and co. were the same. They were completely unchanged despite the grand attack being meant for them. Why?

Ainz's right wrist donned a silver-white shield with a slightly lifted arc from its base to the top. The shield owned by his best friend, a part of the World Champion's armor, Touch Me's [Earth Recover]. Currently the strongest shield in the inventory of the overlord providing him with again, the two strongest abilities in his shield arsenal.

He was reminded of his old friend and he thanked him internally. This shield, being a part of World Champion's equipment provided him with his two best abilities by the shield.

The first being a defensive ability to protect himself and all the comrades from any single attack, it didn't matter how strong the attack be. Its uses were limited in accordance to time but it was could be used against anyone's trump card.

The other was a passive defensive ability that could prove useful in a variety of ways whereas being useless in some. The armor covered him head to toe in a shiny silver armor that provided physical defense equal to the stats of the shield. However, when using the ability his magic attacks were reduced to twenty-five percent of normal. So, it gave him a basically impenetrable physical defense in exchange for three-fourth of magic offense.

The second ability could be activated and deactivated any number of times with a fifteen-minute cooldown with every switch.

Fitoria descended with her eyes closed and lightly landed on plain ground. Her Human form was back and she majestically opened her eyes. Maybe it was Ainz's imagination but she was acting even more like a queen now. Her actions were more refined and it had a charm to it.

Anyways, all that went away as soon as she laid her eyes upon the three figures standing at some distance just staring at her.

She regained her composure in a few seconds and spoke in defeat.

"It's my loss. I acknowledge your strength and will follow my promise. I will no longer interfere with any of your activities. Now as for the information. Let's start with her. Yup, let's start with Medea..."