“Are you ready?”
“I’m perfectly ready, Father!”
Sensing Naiyuan’s gaze, Aura replied with high spirits.
Her father was watching her; she couldn’t let his expectations down.
*So, I’m sorry, Momonga-sama.*
Aura looked at Momonga with a solemn expression, mana constantly gathering within her.
She planned to strike first, aiming to suppress Momonga—a magic caster—from the very beginning to seize the initiative.
“Naiyuan, will Momonga be alright?” Herohero asked, looking at his friend with concern.
“Don’t worry.
Since he asked for a duel with Aura, it means he already has a plan.
After all, that guy never fights a battle he isn’t sure of winning.”
Naiyuan explained to Herohero.
How could he not understand Momonga’s personality?
As a level 100 NPC created by Bukubukuchagama, Aura was extremely powerful.
Both her job-class synergy and her equipment were top-tier.
And now that she possessed sapience, she was no longer a robot that only followed programmed commands.
Aura possessed the Beast Tamer class, allowing her to summon and magically buff a large number of magical beasts with levels reaching around level 90.
If one didn’t know her specifics, it was easy to be forced into a defensive position.
A chaotic barrage of skills and spells from countless magical beasts could give even a level 100 player a headache.
However, for Momonga, who knew every detail of her information, the result was actually decided before it began.
In this game where pay-to-win could change everything, as long as you spent enough, there were countless ways to nullify an opponent’s summons.
All sorts of strange special items were constantly being introduced.
Even Naiyuan had to admire the game’s developers; being able to run a game like this for 12 years was impressive.
Take Naiyuan as an example.
As an ultimate “whale,” his racial and job classes, as well as his resistances, had been pushed to terrifying levels through spending.
Name: Naiyuan Race: Dragonoid Lv15, Calamity Dragonoid Lv10, Dragon Lord Lv5, ???
Job: Sword Saint Lv10, Dragon Sorcerer Lv10, Dragon Slayer Lv5, ???
Karma: 15
With the help of cash items, Naiyuan didn’t need to select the usual prerequisite jobs.
He could skip them to choose more powerful rare jobs like Sword Saint and Dragon Sorcerer.
The combination of a powerful melee class and terrifying magical output made Naiyuan the strongest PK combatant among the 42 members of Nazarick.
Even Touch Me, who held the [World Champion] class, had conceded to him.
In his Dragonoid form, Naiyuan could fight Touch Me to a 4-to-6 ratio; in his Calamity form, it was 6-to-4; and in his full Dragon form, it was an 8-to-2 advantage.
If he hadn’t felt that Dragon Slayer suited him better, Naiyuan had actually considered trying to snatch a [World Disaster] class for fun.
After all, as the class boasted to have the strongest magical output, Naiyuan was quite interested.
However, considering the synergy between Dragon Sorcerer and Dragon Slayer, he ultimately decided to give it up.
If one only chose powerful classes without a proper build plan, the character would be ruined.
As a perfectionist, Naiyuan didn’t want that to happen.
***
Momonga’s Perspective:
“Momonga-sama, I’m coming!”
Aura swung the whip-like weapon in her hand, speaking with a touch of excitement.
It gave off a strong sense of déjà vu, causing the two onlookers to freeze for a moment.
*Why does this feel so strange?*
*That weapon plus those lines is a bad combination!* Momonga thought, internally critiquing the scene.
Meanwhile, a magic circle slowly formed in his hand, and a dark red gas turned into a thin film covering his body.
[Crimson Protection]
This was a mana-type defensive skill Momonga, a Skeleton Mage, had learned from looting a corpse at level 80.
It was a 9th-tier spell that increased defense and could reflect a portion of damage back to the attacker, adding a stagger effect.
“Come!
Let me see the strength of a Guardian!”
Momonga continued to stack various defensive and buffing spells on himself while maintaining a ready posture.
Since he was now a Supreme Being, a sneak attack wouldn’t suit his status.
He had to let his subordinate strike first; he could only “slightly” apply some positive magic to himself.
*Adding 30 buff spells should be enough.
Actually, let’s add a few more.
It would be embarrassing to lose due to carelessness.*
Momonga thought for a moment and then began adding more buffs.
Only this could give him peace of mind.
Aura pushed off with her legs, rushing toward him.
The whip in her left hand began to glow with flames, and a magic circle was activating in her right hand.
Aura was well aware of her strengths and weaknesses.
She was actually better suited for ranged combat than melee, but against Momonga-sama, a magic caster, opening up distance was undoubtedly the most foolish method.
The only opening was to force a melee engagement to give herself a chance at victory.
While the NPCs only engaged in automatic combat during the game’s era and had no true combat experience, their creators had input all sorts of combat data into their settings when writing their backstories.
Therefore, Aura was quite adept at handling various classes.
“Oh?
She didn’t choose a ranged attack, but chose melee instead?”
Momonga looked at the charging Aura with some surprise.
Her actions were somewhat unexpected.
It seemed he had made a new discovery regarding the NPCs’ autonomy.
Without panicking, Momonga slowly raised the [Dragon’s Blessing].
As a magic circle appeared on it, an emerald-green barrier emerged, enveloping him completely.
[Dragon Soul Protection] [Flame Whip Strike] [Maximize Magic: Life Siphon]
As Momonga’s protective shield rose, Aura’s whip strike arrived.
The flaming whip lashed heavily against the barrier.
Immediately after, a dark red magic circle appeared directly above the shield, and a powerful suction force began to pour out, as if trying to drain something from Momonga.
However, under the protection of the barrier, it was to no avail.
Seeing the attack had no effect, Aura quickly retreated, looking at the barrier in surprise.
“Ugh, is that an equipment skill?” Aura guessed, looking at the dimming protective shield.
“That’s right.
Thank you for helping me test this weapon’s effect.
Now, it’s my turn.”
Momonga’s figure was still in place, but his voice came from right beside her ear.
Aura’s heart jumped; he had somehow closed the distance without her noticing.
“An undead clone?”
“Correct, but no prize for guessing.”
[Perfect Warrior]
The warrior transformation magic was activated.
Momonga’s various attributes instantly shifted to the level of a level 100 warrior.
The downside was that he could no longer use magic.
(Note: In the original work, the effect of Perfect Warrior allows the caster to temporarily become a level 100 warrior.
Otherwise, Ainz, being a mage, wouldn’t be able to wear warrior equipment or engage Shalltear in melee.)
A skeletal hand covered in the light of over a dozen buffs struck out with seemingly slow speed.
It looked weak and powerless, but when her detection skills saw the staggering 40-plus layers of enhancement magic, Aura was terrified.
If this punch landed, it could take out a massive chunk of her HP.
Without the bonuses of a melee class, her defense was quite poor.
She absolutely could not let this punch hit.
“Move!
Move!
Damn it, why can’t I move?”
“Could it be?!”
“Don’t bother struggling.
I already cast the binding spell [Seal of the Dark Realm] in advance.
You can’t move right now.”
Looking at the struggling Aura, Momonga explained patiently.
At the same time, his fist struck her directly in the chest.
*I’m sorry, Father…
I’ve been utterly defeated.*
Aura thought as the punch, backed by 40 buffs, sent her flying.
Under such immense power, even the hardest rock would be shattered.
Her body was like a cannonball, smashed deep into the walls of the arena.