A clearing of bckened earth was left behind when the sers stopped firing. Despite the extreme damage done to the environment around her, Shalltear stood tall, unfazed by the attack she had just gone through—externally, this looked to be the case, but everyone present knew that it was anything but when Shalltear suddenly summoned bats and began attacking them.

  "Well, she knows how to life-steal using her summons," Lord Ainz said in worry. "So there's a mind behind that thing. I already felt that this was the case when she started to panic earlier, but I guess this proves it."

  "That is still Shalltear, just with a different allegiance," Demiurge added. "If I were to go by the books which Lord Peroroncino left her, I do believe the term we can use to describe her current state is 'mind break'."

  Lord Ainz clenched his hands into fists as he went silent for several moments. "I see," he chuckled. It sounded a whole lot more unnerving than usual. "Someone did this to one of my friends…?" he began to mutter. "I mean, Peroroncino would ugh this off, but... I'm also sure he wouldn't. Definitely not."

  "Lord Ainz?" Albedo grasped her chest in worry. "Are you okay?"

  Antikythera noticed it too. Their Lord was mad, and he was doing everything to keep himself calm. Right next to him, Pandora's Actor, a being who was sensitive to the emotions of others, began to shift uncontrolbly. Demiurge pulled on the suit of his tie to loosen it as though it was choking him.

  "Demiurge?"

  The Archfiend bowed. "You said Peroroncino left Shalltear a few books?"

  "Yes, Lord Ainz," the Archfiend answered.

  "I..." A sigh. Lord Ainz grabbed his face. "Okay, would she be sad if those were taken away?"

  "I believe so," Demiurge shuddered. If this was the punishment Lord Ainz would give the vampire, then there was a chance that he would do the same to everyone else. Demiurge also had artifacts that his creator gave to him, and he held them dearly. He was often pragmatic and preferred to use anything he came across, no matter how limited they may be in usage, but he hoarded Lord Ulbert's treasures like they were Nazarick's greatest treasure.

  And to Demiurge, they might as well be.

  Antikythera gripped his bayonet tightly. He had also read Lord Ainz's intent, and he understood. "I believe that it is an appropriate punishment for her failure, Lord Ainz. Items are, after all, temporary. Yet they hold value."

  "Umu." The Overlord nodded. He ughed heartily. "Look at all of you."

  Antikythera looked at his fellow guardians, all of whom were looking at him in shock and betrayal. The Automaton tilted his head. Did he do something wrong?

  "You know, Antikythera, I remembered the rest of the guild looking at Amanomahitotsu like he was insane after he suggested that we all put any treasure we get into some kind of secret room," Lord Ainz ughed. "He and Garnet were good friends. Blue Pnet too. They all had their own little group which focused on exploring and finding recipes or schematics."

  Sakai popped up then. She stared at Antikythera, who shrugged. Personally, the Automaton thought that learning more about his creator was a good thing.

  "After finding a World Item—" the stick hanging from Antikythera's hips suddenly felt heavy. "—all three of them decided that they were going to act as the treasurers for the rest of Nazarick, and I caught Ulbert with the same look Demiurge is giving you."

  "...I see," Antikythera looked at the Archfiend, who grinned.

  "I do not think we should give away our personal items so easily, but if Lord Ainz wishes to take them from us, then I have no objection."

  "I understand. And you assumed that I was adding fuel to the fmes?" Antikythera guessed.

  "Yes," Demiurge agreed. "I... was wrong for even thinking against Lord Ainz's wishes."

  A cry was heard, and everyone looked at the bawling Albedo. "I'm sorry!"

  "Albedo?!" Lord Ainz shouted before he added something in a much cooler voice, "Is something wrong?"

  "I-I didn't want to give you the—the—items Lord Tabu gave me! And—and—I'm not a faithful wife—so—" Albedo wiped her face. "You can just—" she calmed down but then quickly went back to crying. "Leave meeeee—"

  Antikythera looked at the succubus' plight. He did not get it. Demiurge, however, seemed to have sympathized with her.

  "I too have betrayed you with those thoughts, Lord Ainz," Demiurge shook his head. "I am no different from Shalltear in that regard."

  Antikythera's mind raced. Everyone was thinking they had failed the Supreme One by wishing to withdraw their items? The Automaton sympathized—he could not imagine how bad they must feel after betraying Lord Ainz.

  Speaking of him, the Overlord chuckled, and in his benevolence, forgave them all. "It is fine, I do not mind."

  "Thank you!" Albedo sniffled. Demiurge only bowed in thanks. "I will make sure to please you until—"

  "Umu!" Lord Ainz coughed loudly. "Let us focus back on the battle at hand."

  Speaking of the battle, Antikythera consumed the data packet Sakai had sent him and went through the drone recordings of the past few minutes. The angles were abundant enough that he was able to view the fight between Shalltear and the Pleiades in every conceivable manner, and he couldn't help but notice that...

  "They do not know how to fight," Antikythera pointed out.

  "Eborate." Somewhere between everyone focusing on Shalltear and Antikythera finishing his viewing of the recording, Albedo had fixed herself, and now she was a lot more presentable compared to earlier.

  "The Pleiades are more constrained in their movement than I expected. They don't use the environment to their advantage, and strangely enough, they fight like they are following a set pattern," Antikythera muttered. "Look at Entoma currently. She is in the backline, doing her best to cast debuffs on Shalltear, and she is doing a good job at it, but it could be better. She can start moving at angles that count as Shalltear's blind spots—"

  And there were a lot. Antikythera saw at least a dozen of them thanks to what he knew of the vampire's natural eyesight and senses, as well as the efforts of Lupusregina, Solution, and Yuri to attract her attention and allow Narberal, Shizuku, and Entoma to attack the vampire without being targeted. They had a system in pce for how they would kite Shalltear as well.

  But it was cking.

  "—and cast spells without worrying about herself for at least a while. And should Shalltear focus on her, Yuri can move to intercept. But I also find it strange that Yuri isn't striking the ground below Shalltear to make her fall, or at least cause the terrain to be unfriendly for her."

  "The air as well," Demiurge caught on. The Archfiend looked guilty. "It is like they are fighting in a ft pin rather than an open space with multiple angles. How come I only noticed this now?"

  "That is pretty interesting," Lord Ainz nodded. "I see it now too. I think I've seen this before—" their Lord went silent. "And I think we are going to need to fix this. Cocytus, talk to Antikythera and Demiurge about how to train the denizens of Nazarick, and then use what they taught you to improve everyone's combat skills."

  "I. Will. Do. That. Great. One." Cocytus nodded. "Though. Can. I. Ask. Why. They. Need. To. Train? They. Are. Already. Powerful."

  "He's talking about their skills during battle. The Pleiades' movement, for example, is kind of ckluster—too straightforward. Shalltear too, but that's expected," the succubus shrugged. "We need to fix this. Good job on noticing it, Antikythera."

  "Of course. It is my job to serve Lord Ainz and find any fws within Nazarick's defenses. Such a task is expected of me, really," Antikythera casually replied.