Lydia's POV
Nfirea and I have been transported away through what I believe to be the 3rd-tier spell, [Shadow Transportation].
The woman and the old man are facing each other in a huge cave as the woman is carrying our two bodies under her arms.
"It's a real shame that I couldn't—"
"Don't even begin, Clementine. You've made us lose too much time with your antics already," the old man interrupted her angrily.
"What~?" she replied, sounding dramatically shocked. "Are you still mad at me, Khajiit~? I already agreed to stop kidnapping people; what more do you want?"
So, the woman's name is Clementine and the old man's is Khajiit.
"I want you to focus on the plan. I won't let you ruin five years of hard work just to satisfy your antics," Khajiit commented, and irritation could still be heard in his tone despite the apparent calmness of his voice. "Now, just put the Crown of Wisdom on the Miko while she's still unconscious," he added.
Clementine drops us on the hard ground floor of the cave unceremoniously and walks away, probably to grab that 'Crown of Wisdom' from somewhere.
I was going to reveal that I was still conscious by using [Purifying Touch] on Clementine and dealing with both of them here and now, but this 'Crown of Wisdom' caught my interest.
So, instead, I keep pretending, wanting to see that item with my own eyes.
While waiting, I also noticed that the orb in Khajiit's hand is much more peculiar than its appearance suggested.
[Sage's Gaze] told me that it's a sentient item—something I wasn't aware was even possible. It's called the Orb of Death.
Its appearance is that of a black lump of gravel with a vague circular shape.
It is apparently capable of boosting its user's ability to summon and manipulate undead, as well as supporting its user in the accumulation and manipulation of negative energy. It's a shame that the item is so low-level, but it would still be interesting to study.
Who knows, I could perhaps even create a secondary weapon for Ainz for when he wants to keep the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown safe, using this orb as a base.
While I was thinking that, Clementine came back with what I assume is the Crown of Wisdom in her right hand.
[Sage's Gaze] reveals the nature and purpose of the item.
The Crown of Wisdom allows its wearer to cast spells beyond their level by forcibly pushing the wearer's soul past its current limits.
Of course, anyone could guess what happens to someone whose soul is being tempered like that.
If their soul isn't already strong enough to support the power brought by the Crown of Wisdom, the price of this power is becoming a hollow husk.
And this item can only push someone to levels of power equivalent to levels 60–70.
The greater the gap between the wearer's level and the power that the Crown of Wisdom gives, the greater the damage to the soul becomes.
I'm not even sure if the Crown of Wisdom is going to have any effect on me since I'm already level 100 and far exceed anything it can give me.
I am also unsure whether I meet the criteria to wear this item.
The Crown of Wisdom has only two conditions to be worn. The first is to be female. The second is to have an extremely high affinity for divine magic.
As I was thinking and analyzing the item, Clementine placed me in a sitting position, my back against the wall, and put the Crown of Wisdom on my head.
At this instant, I felt something weird happening inside me.
Ainz's POV
I ran through the cemetery with Hamsuke behind me as the Swords of Darkness had a hard time following us.
The cemetery of E-Rantel is absolutely massive, looking more like a forest with a few structures in some places.
After a few minutes, I eventually arrived where I located the presence of Lydia and came in front of what looked like a mausoleum, but given the context, it was probably a facade.
As we entered, the Swords of Darkness panted behind me, but I ignored them. We saw the only structure inside the mausoleum: a large stone coffin.
The logical explanation that was taught to me by thousands of hours of searching for hidden loot in dungeons was that there was a hidden passage there.
Of course, I could take my time to search for the opening mechanism, but Lydia is in the hands of the enemies, and while a rational part of me kept telling me that I don't have to worry about her, I still don't want to waste any time.
So, instead, I unsheathed one of my blades, held it with both hands, and used it like a giant, sharp club against the coffin, demolishing it in only a few swings.
What I saw afterward proved my hunch to be correct, as a hidden staircase leading to a hidden cave system was revealed below the coffin.
I heard gasps behind me as I sheathed my sword back; I turned around to see their shocked expressions as they stared at the destruction.
"Let's go," I commanded as I walked down the staircase.
"W-wait, Momon-san! Shouldn't we discuss a plan?" asked Peter anxiously behind me.
This caused me to pause for an instant before looking at him over my shoulder and pointing at the swords on my back with my thumb. "This is the plan."
I resumed my descent before they could retort, but Peter still said while following me down, "I'm aware that you must be furious, but we can't go into enemy territory recklessly without a plan!"
"Weaklings like them aren't worth racking our brains over. In the worst-case scenario, I'll have Hamsuke protect you," I replied without looking back.
"Don't worry, my lord; this king will not disappoint you! Though I would have liked to have a more active role in the upcoming confrontation," chimed Hamsuke.
"We'll see how things go," I retorted and left it at that as we reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Oh~? Look who has come to join us~," the woman wearing a dark cloak sang as she spotted us, standing in front of Lydia, who now had a tiara on her head.
"You caused such a ruckus~. Were you that eager to join us~?" she continued.
"I guess you could say that. You took someone important to me, and I don't tolerate that," I replied, and I saw her gaze turning toward Lydia and Nfirea at my words.
I also saw a second person not far into the cave: an undead-like old man with a staff and an orb, wearing a red robe with skull ornaments. But since he seemed to only observe without acting, I ignored him.
"Oh? Could it be that boy? Or perhaps that girl? Well, I really hope for your sake that it's the boy~. Because I don't think the girl will ever be herself again, hehehe," she spoke with a sadistic grin on her face.
"And what do you mean by that exactly?" I asked, my voice turning colder.
"So it's the girl~, poor lad~. I just put the Crown of Wisdom on her head," she announced, gesturing towards the tiara on Lydia's head. "That little thing allows its wearer to exceed humanity's limits, but in exchange, it makes its wearer lose her mind~," she explained, her grin turning maniacal and her voice becoming sharper at the end, as if taking pleasure in explaining.
I heard the Swords of Darkness and Hamsuke gasp behind me as I stayed silent at her explanation.
The woman then turned toward the old man, "Hey, shouldn't we begin your precious plan~?"
The old man clicked his tongue in visible annoyance. "We weren't supposed to be interrupted this soon. Take care of them, and you can consider your end of the deal done."
"Okay~" she replied playfully as she turned to us once more.
I suddenly felt Lydia trying to form a connection with me through [Telepathy].
{Ain—}
{—Is everything all right?} I asked, speaking immediately after the connection was formed, interrupting what she wanted to say.
{Yeah... I'm fine. More than fine, in fact,} she replied with audible hesitation at first.
As we conversed telepathically, the old man walked up to her and whispered something.
But my attention is brought back to the woman who rushed at us with a playful smile, forcing me to move between her and the Swords of Darkness and block her attack with one of my swords.
She dodged the swords by twisting out of the way with impressive flexibility and struck my shoulder with her estoc.
Right after that, noticing the toughness of my armor, she jumped away and placed her stiletto over her shoulder casually.
"That's one tough armor," she mumbled quietly before saying louder, "Keep your attention on me, big boy; you don't want to lose an eye for being inattentive, do you~?" She turned her attention to the Swords of Darkness behind me. "The same goes for all of you: one wrong move, and I might just kill you~"
"Hmph, see if you can," muttered Lukrut as he grabbed an arrow from his quiver, aimed, and shot his bow at the woman.
As expected, she simply deflected it with her stiletto effortlessly.
"If you want to begin so badly, then who am I to make you wait~" Saying that, she rushed forward at an impressive speed, dodging my sword again and moving past me, ready to stab him.
His eyes widened in shock, but before she could pierce him, she was forced to block the tail of Hamsuke that came from the side, pushing her away with the force of the strike.
Not missing the opportunity, Dyne puts his hands on the ground and casts [Constricted Vines], causing multiple vines to shoot out of the ground and wrap themselves around her body, pinning her in place where she landed.
Right after that, both Ninya and Lukrut get ready to attack, one with [Magic Arrow] and the other with a regular arrow.
The woman, faced with the combined attack, used two martial arts, [Ability Boost] and [Greater Evasion], then slipped free of the vines, dodging the attacks at the same time.
As she did that, I looked at Peter over my shoulder. "Peter, stay on defense with Hamsuke; she is much stronger than you. You wouldn't last long in melee alone."
"Understood! But what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to prevent her from reaching our back line to begin with," I replied before charging forward.
Lydia's POV
As the fight began on the other side of the cave, Khajiit walked up to me and whispered. "Now get up," he ordered.
Should I pretend to be under his control? No, of course not.
And apparently, someone hated the idea of someone giving me an order, as my shadow shot out of the ground and struck him away with a dark tendril.
Khajiit stumbled on the ground as he struggled to stand from the unexpected attack, looking up in shock and surprise.
I stayed motionless, not because of a grand plan that needs me to keep pretending to be unconscious or under control, but simply because I froze in surprise.
While I hadn't forgotten that the Shadow was there, thanks to my connection with it, I hadn't expected it to act without a command.
"What is that?" I heard Khajiit mumbling as he stared at the dark mist hovering over my body in shock and fascination.
"Is that... the physical manifestation of a curse?" he hypothesized.
Oh... I could perhaps use that.
Yeah, and like that, I wouldn't blow my cover by simply shrugging off the effects of the Crown of Wisdom out of nowhere.
With a mental command, I ordered the Shadow to wrap itself around my body, and particularly around the crown and the blindfold, as I slowly rose from the ground like an animated puppet.
Khajiit simply stared, dumbfounded.
"Was the miko already bearing a curse? Perhaps putting on the Crown of Wisdom caused an already present curse to fight the Crown's curse. The weaker was expelled out of the body. So that is how one can cause a curse to manifest physically, hehehe, good, very interesting," he hypothesized with delight.
I silently tilted my head to the side almost mechanically before reaching forward, and a tendril of shadow manifested from my feet to strike forward.
With a grin, Khajiit watched the tendril approach before a massive skeletal claw emerged from the ground in front of him, shielding him.
The Shadow barely scratched the thing. Given the size, appearance, and toughness, it's a claw of a skeletal dragon.
I remember how much I used to loathe those things when I was a lower level, since they are immune to magic below the 7th tier, and I could literally only use magic.
Back then, the only way for me to deal with them was to deal with their summoner or flee.
The claw slowly retracted back into the ground as behind it, Khajiit summoned a group of undead and boosted them with three spells: [Reinforce Armor], [Lesser Strength], and [Undead Flame].
The undead stumbled forward as more dark tendrils rushed forward to meet them.
Of course, undead so low-level didn't stand a chance against the Shadow, and the tendrils swept them away almost effortlessly, even with their buffs.
The only somewhat effective buff they had was [Undead Flame], which caused dark, violet flames of negative energy to lash out at the dark tendrils on contact with the undead, causing the Shadow's tendrils to back off with an ethereal shriek of pain.
The Shadow wrapping itself around my body manifested eyes and teeth in some places of its mist-like body and glared at Khaijiit with a multitude of maniacal grins.
Seeing this, Khajiit let out a satisfied grin and produced more undead and boosted them with [Undead Flame], making them stumble forward like a disgusting wall of rotting flesh slowly closing in on me.
More dark tendrils came out of the dark mist enveloping my body, striking the incoming undead, with more shrieks of pain from the Shadow each time the [Undead Flame] surged.
With a mental command from me, the Shadow's mist-like body 'entered' the Crown of Wisdom and enveloped it completely, causing Khajiit's grin to drop and him to frown in confusion at the display.
Then, the shadow dissipated and retracted from my body with a shockwave similar to a [Negative Burst], leaving me standing in 'confusion'.
"Urgh... huh?" I groaned in feigned confusion, as if I had just woken up, bringing a hand toward the Crown of Wisdom.
Khajiit's eyes widened as he froze, stunned, his mouth wide open in shock. Meanwhile, his remaining undead kept walking forward, mindlessly following his previous order.
I brought my hands forward...
Narrator's POV
Khajiit stood frozen as the miko in front of him regained her mind from the Crown of Wisdom.
A multitude of thoughts crashed down on his mind simultaneously.
'Was the curse intelligent?'
'Did it choose to voluntarily withdraw its control over its host?'
'Did it nullify the effects of the Crown of Wisdom to make its host wake up?'
'Did the powers of the Crown of Wisdom disappear with its effects?'
That last question was especially important given that the miko was now fully conscious and aware in front of him, and the uncertainty filled him with dread.
Even more so as she raised her arms and a blinding light filled his entire vision.
On the other side of the cave, a stalemate had settled between the adventurers and the assassin.
Ainz, or Momon, couldn't match his opponent's speed while limited by his armor; even though he could focus entirely on offense thanks to the toughness of his magically created armor and Hamsuke protecting the Swords of Darkness, he couldn't actually land a blow.
The Swords of Darkness hadn't stayed idle during the fight either, as they tried to attack or hinder the assassin however they could. But all they managed to do was prevent the assassin from focusing on a target and landing counterblows. Thus, the stalemate.
Clementine couldn't attack the backline because of Hamsuke, nor focus on Momon because of the support of the backline.
Yet, the frustration that slowly built up in her wasn't due to the stalemate at all. But she couldn't voice it, as if she stood still for even a second, she'd be attacked by the mage, the druid, and the ranger simultaneously.
For her, Momon's lack of technique was frustrating to look at, and even more frustrating to be unable to punish because of his allies.
Peter noticed it as well, but he attributed it to a strategy that consisted of abandoning technique in order to match his opponent's speed.
Just as Clementine's frustration was reaching its peak and she was about to get serious to end this farce, a blinding light enveloped the barely lit darkness of the cave.
When the light diminished enough for everyone to see again, what they saw was Clementine screaming in pain as smoke came out of her body, as if she were burning, but without the flames.
Thin wooden pillars could be seen all around the place, all linked by a thick rope and a few strands of paper disseminated on the ropes.
A similar scream could be heard further away in the cave, and as they looked over, they found Khajiit in a similar situation.
His undead had long since been pulverized by the very first ray of light.
Even further away, their eyes found Lily standing with her arms raised in prayer.
But as the Swords of Darkness were about to relax, Khajiit fought the pain and raised the Orb of Death as he screamed, "Orb of Death, I call upon you! Bring death to this land!"
With his words, the Orb of Death shone in a purple light and a Skeletal Dragon came out of the ground, shrugging off the effects of [Himorogi] as it charged toward Lily, determined to end her spell.
Without hesitation, Momon charged forward and put himself between her and the Skeletal Dragon with impressive speed.
With his two massive longswords, he blocked the paw of the Skeletal Dragon, but the attack was enough to disrupt Lily's concentration, weakening her spell and allowing Clementine and Khajiit to move once more, even though they were in constant pain.
But what no one noticed was the faint, satisfied smile on Lily's face, or the smoke coming out of Momon's armor.
Lydia's POV
Good! I didn't overdo it this time!
But that also means that the Skeletal Dragon is immune to my spell...
"Glad to see you awake," spoke Ainz, loud enough for the Swords of Darkness to hear.
His words brought a smile to my face, even though this was mostly roleplay: "As if I'd let an item control me," I replied smugly.
"Let's see if you can keep up this attitude after this! Orb of Death!" Khajiit screamed once more as he raised the Orb of Death.
The Orb of Death shone once more in its violet light before going completely dark, losing its constant, faint glow.
Then, a second Skeletal Dragon appeared from the ground below us.
I heard him muttering about the Orb of Death being completely spent of negative energy as Ainz pushed back the Skeletal Dragon he was currently fighting, grabbing me, and jumping away before the second fully emerged.
"This is going to be tricky," muttered Ainz as he put me down.
"Let me try something," I demanded, and without waiting for an answer, I raised a hand toward the Skeletal Dragons and cast [Extreme Holy Strike].
Similar to the wrath of heaven, a massive ray of light descended through the ceiling of the cave and struck the two Skeletal Dragons, reducing them to ashes in seconds, stunning everyone present.
Ainz looked at me over his shoulder, "Lily..."
"Since they put this thing on me, I have felt my power overflowing, and I wanted to see if I could use it," I explained, pointing at the Crown of Wisdom on my head, just above the blindfold.
Of course, it's just an excuse, but I feel like this explanation is enough for both our enemies and the Swords of Darkness.
Both Khajiit and Clementine stood frozen in place with mortified expressions on their faces. Soon after, Clementine used various martial arts on herself and fled the cave at barely perceptible speed.
"I see..." mumbles Ainz, sounding satisfied.
"Now, [Haste]." I cast a buff on Ainz.
"Thanks." Right after saying that, Ainz dashed forward and grabbed both Khajiit and Clementine by the throat, his speed surpassing Clementine by a large margin as she barely took a few steps before being grabbed.
He stared at them for a few seconds, as if debating internally what to do as they tried to beg for their lives, but Ainz quickly snapped their necks with a twist of his fingers, killing them instantly.
He then dropped their bodies on the ground unceremoniously.
The Crown of Wisdom is fascinating; I hadn't expected it to have this effect on me.
When they put it on me, I felt like ethereal tendrils were trying to wrap themselves around my mind—or soul, I'm not sure—but instead of getting overwhelmed, my soul kind of assimilated those tendrils like cables being plugged in.
Then, the Crown of Wisdom became something like a second processor for my mind, lessening the strain of using the Eye of Heimdall considerably.
Of course, given the level of the item, it's like a weak processor was plugged into the best computer.
But it gives me a lead as to how to create the item that would help me use the Eye of Heimdall to its full potential.
But... why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?
.
NFIREA!
I quickly look around with the Eye of Heimdall and locate him where he was first dropped on the ground by Clementine, untouched by the combat thanks to his position.
He was positioned between the two fights, far enough for nothing to reach him.
I quickly go over to him and cast a healing spell, making him regain consciousness.
"Wha?" he mumbles before quickly standing up with a gasp.
I placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, it's already over."
I only removed my hand when he nodded in understanding and relaxed after looking around. Anticipating his question, I said, "Momon will explain everything to you," dropping the matter to Ainz before walking up to the still-frozen team of the Swords of Darkness.
"Thank you for coming all the way over here for me." I gave a small bow in gratitude.
"O-oh, don't worry about it," replied Peter, flustered.
"Yeah, we couldn't just do nothing after what you did," commented Lukrut with a smile.
"Indeed, that would have been most shameless of us," added Dyne.
"I'm glad you are all right," said Ninya with a soft smile.
I suppose they didn't see me go full shadowy over there. That's a relief. While it is part of the 'explanation' as to why I 'regained' my mind, I don't think they need all the details, just that it's over, and everything is alright now.
"And me? Did I do a good job?" asked Hamsuke.
I placed a hand on her head and began to gently pat her. "Yes, you too did a good job; thank you."
They all smiled at the scene before Dyne shook his head, as if resolving himself, and said, "But that was reckless of you!" Dyne suddenly admonished.
"Huh?"
"Yeah! Why was your first choice to sacrifice yourself?!" added Lukrut, sounding mad, but it was too exaggerated to be true.
They kept lecturing me until Ainz came to my rescue after explaining everything to Nfirea.
"Don't worry, I'm sure she regrets what she did, or at least she will after a long conversation about it," said Ainz after placing his hand on my head.
I turned to him. "Not you too!" I complained, making everyone laugh.
Soon after that, we left the cave by the destroyed entrance, but before leaving, I commanded the Shadow to discreetly collect Khajiit's equipment.
I want to study them later.
We all walked in the cemetery peacefully before Peter turned to us.
"You probably want to rest now; don't worry, my team and I are going to the guild to make the report," he proposed, even if it was more of a statement than a proposition.
"What! But I wanted to rest as well!" complained Lukrut dramatically before being tapped on the back of the head by Dyne.
"Shut up and move," Dyne told him with the tap.
"No problem, thank you for the help," replied Ainz, ignoring Lukrut.
"It should be we who thank you; I'm not even sure if we would be alive today if it weren't for both of you. You also prevented a catastrophe from falling on all of E-Rantel; you are already heroes. We'll make sure to explain everything in our report to give you the credit you deserve. It's the least we can do," explained Peter.
"I also hope to be able to work alongside you again in the future, but I also realized how much weaker we are compared to you. So from now on, our team's objective will be to first catch up to you. After all, we can't possibly get the real Swords of Darkness without a minimum amount of strength, right?" he continued, and the rest of his team gave their agreement.
After that, both teams went their separate ways; the Swords of Darkness went to the guild while we went to our inn.
Nfirea also went on his separate way to join his grandmother.
The walk towards the inn was silent, and we began talking only after placing a sound barrier in the room.
"You know that what you did was reckless, right?" began Ainz, making me sigh in annoyance.
"Yeah, but come on, do you really believe I couldn't get out of any situation I got into?" I asked, a bit annoyed, but I also kind of understood what he meant.
Ainz just sighed, "Whatever, I'm glad you're alright. So did you discover something interesting in there?"
After that question, a long conversation followed in which I explained to him the effects of the Crown of Wisdom on my mind and also the discovery of the Orb of Death, particularly its sentience.
I then explained my projects on making or transforming those items into higher-level ones for each of us.
At some point, Ainz said something during the conversation that caught my attention.
"Have you tried to modify an already existing item?" he asked, making me freeze in place.
"That shouldn't... be... possible..." I trail off at the end since, thinking more deeply about it, what would theoretically prevent me from doing so? I can already do a lot of things I couldn't in YGGDRASIL, and I never tried because I assumed it was impossible.
I removed the Crown of Wisdom from my head, feeling the ethereal cables being unplugged, and observed the item in my hand curiously.
Ainz stayed silent, sitting on the other bed as he observed me.
I began experimenting with my mana and the item, first by trying to modify the magic inside the item. While it was possible, it wasn't efficient, and the item could lose some of its function and power by doing it like this. This was because the physical vessel of the magic wasn't adapted to the modifications.
I discovered it after basically ruining the Crown of Wisdom.
This is when I got an idea: why not try to modify the vessel alongside the magic inside?
To do so, I enveloped the item with my mana and basically did an 'unsummoning', turning the item and its magic into raw mana that I could shape.
Then, I reformed the Crown of Wisdom, but I modified its effects to focus it purely on boosting the mind of its wearer and becoming a secondary processor for the mind. I also added more of my own mana into the raw mana to increase its level until it became a level 100 item.
Then, the moment of truth, I placed the upgraded version of the Crown of Wisdom on my head.
It is hard to describe what I felt when it touched my head, but it was like a burden I wasn't aware was there was suddenly lifted. The strain of using the Eyes of Heimdall basically disappeared, and I could envelop the whole city in my senses and process everything without any problem.
I tried to go further to see just how much of an upgrade the Crown of Wisdom gave me, and after testing it, I discovered that the range I could withstand basically doubled, and that's with a whole, bustling city all around me.
While impressive, it is also disappointing. I hoped to be able to use it to its full potential immediately, but I guess nothing short of another World Item could do that.
What I hadn't noticed until Ainz brought it to my attention is that I spent the whole night experimenting on that.
So I just paused there, and we prepared ourselves to go to the guild to get our reward. But what we didn't expect was to receive a promotion.
We went back to our room at the inn and stared at our guild badges. Orichalcum badges.