Zzz...
Boom!!!
A blinding light beam sliced through the sky and struck the ground from above the Eternal Snowfall, triggering a cataclysmic explosion over the Great Tomb.
The first round of probing attacks completely obliterated the structures, land, and rock on the surface—revealing the deeply buried energy shield beneath.
The Great Tomb of Nazarick, at its core, was an underground base of the undead.
Its scale was indeed massive—according to scan results, it was nearly the size of a medium city.
Through the shield, various internal environments could still be seen: forests, wastelands, graveyards, glaciers...
The first to be exposed were the 1st to 3rd floor graveyards.
Shalltear had originally been in her domain, preparing for battle with her minions and magical beasts.
Carefully plotting how to set traps for the intruders.
"Lord Ainz said that low-level magic and attacks are useless against the enemy. In that case, I can only use Tier-9 instant death spells..."
Suddenly—
Boom—
The super-graviton cannon fired a beam of energy at the Great Tomb's barrier, scattering radiant streams of light.
The entire space quaked violently.
"Hmm, the barrier is quite sturdy. It can block conventional attacks."
"Increase firepower."
Setsuna activated the main cannon firing sequence.
Clack—
From the spinal peak at the bow of the starship, a dark red stream of energy roared forth.
Zzz—!!!
At the moment the main cannon fired, the surrounding air was seemingly superheated to white-hot temperatures in an instant, forming a blinding beam of light.
Boom!!
When the super-graviton cannon struck the underground shield, a massive red energy sphere rapidly expanded at the impact point.
Accompanied by intense light and annihilation rays, the energy spread at light speed in all directions, vaporizing everything around it instantly.
Hundreds of square kilometers were leveled—forests, hills, and roaming magical beasts were all reduced to ash in a millisecond.
Crack—
Inside the Great Tomb of Nazarick, a massive quake erupted.
Looking up, it was as if the sky had shattered.
They had originally been underground, and the sky above had been simulated through magic.
Setsuna's strike had shaken the very existence of the Great Tomb.
Shalltear raised her head, watching as the starry sky shattered like glass. The magic maintaining the tomb's existence and shield couldn't withstand the super-graviton cannon and collapsed with a roar.
Revealing the true appearance of the outside world.
Looking around, overhead was the majestic space fleet.
The Eternal Snowfall's dark metallic hull hovered high in the sky, casting a shadow of intense oppression.
Surrounding it were escort carriers and battleship girls, completely sealing off the area.
"Ah?..."
Shalltear was bewildered.
Around her stood hundreds of familiars and various summoned undead.
They had planned to rely on mazes and traps in the upper levels of the Great Tomb to stall the enemy.
She had even prepared some items and spells.
Even if she couldn't complete the mission, she intended to buy time for the Supreme Being.
—Then the enemy skipped the process and just blew the lid off the tomb.
"She revived?!"
Mio and Elma looked at the girl below in surprise.
She had just been one-shot by the dragon girls not long ago.
"Uh... that's how the Overlord world works. As long as resources are spent, allies can be revived without losing levels or energy."
Setsuna thought for a moment.
Some world systems and power structures were just that bizarre.
Even the Spirit of Origin, who could do anything in her domain, couldn't revive others.
But in the Overlord world, even slightly capable adventurers could use scrolls or resurrection spells to bring back teammates.
"Still, this time it's truly goodbye."
Boom!!!
The first three layers of the Great Tomb couldn't withstand the intense assault—the ground crumbled into powder.
Revealing scenes from even deeper below.
The subterranean lake and glacier world, guarded by Gargantua and Cocytus, were exposed.
"Shalltear?..."
"No, they flew a starship into Nazarick?! How is that possible?!"
Cocytus looked up in astonishment.
Outside the Eternal Snowfall's bridge, Ikaros unfurled her pale pink wings, soaring through the sky.
She drew her violet bow and aimed at her target.
"Enemy detected, Master. Initiating purge protocol."
"Apollon!!"
The Sky Queen's ultimate weapon, capable of destroying a country from the ground, shattered the fourth and fifth floors of Nazarick in a single strike.
Cocytus and the massive golem guardian were engulfed in flames along with the territories they protected.
"Floor Six, fire."
Boom—
Rumble—
The starship and Angeloids alternated bombardments, destroying the Great Tomb of Nazarick layer by layer from the first floor onward.
As the entire guild base, the Great Tomb had extremely solid defenses. Past invaders had only tried to breach the Throne Room to loot the treasury.
No one had ever considered using brute force to completely destroy it.
In the Throne Room—
Ainz watched as the names of freshly resurrected guardians were crossed out one by one.
The YGGDRASIL system issued a flood of alerts:
[The graveyards of Floors 1–3 have been destroyed!]
[The underground lake on Floor 4 has been destroyed!]
[Floor 8 of the Great Tomb has been destroyed!!!]
"!!!"
This was unprecedented in all of YGGDRASIL's history.
Each floor had been built with tremendous resource investment from guild members.
The Sorcerer King shot up from his throne, slamming his staff onto the floor.
"Lord Ainz... this?!"
Albedo and the Pleiades were in complete disarray.
As NPCs from the game world, they had seen many invaders—but this was the first time someone tried to raze the entire Great Tomb.
"How could this be..."
"Was their real goal to destroy Nazarick entirely??!"
Ainz finally realized he had misunderstood Setsuna's intent from the very beginning.
"What now?"
"What do we do?!"
Faced with an unimaginable strike, he couldn't think of any countermeasure.
Crack—
Rumble—
No time was given to contemplate.
As the ninth floor of the Great Tomb collapsed, rubble rained down onto the palace housing the Throne Room.
"They're here!!"
The Sorcerer King heard the whistling sound of incoming missiles.
Boom!!!
Corrosion missiles struck the grand palace dead on, shearing off its upper half.
Looking up—only a sky full of starships and a wasteland remained.
From Floor 1 to Floor 9, the Great Tomb had been entirely reduced to dust by the starship bombardment.
Based on relative positioning, the Great Tomb had been buried several kilometers underground.
Setsuna's fleet had physically carved out thousands of meters of earth, systematically destroying the tomb layer by layer.
The Sorcerer King now stood at the bottom of a deep crater.
To starships with overwhelming firepower, this method was far easier than infiltrating layer by layer, dueling guardians with wits and strength.
Pure violence, absolute power suppression.
The tomb's defensive magic was meaningless before the Spirit of Origin and the dragon girls.
The system interface next to him showed that all previous floor guardians had been wiped out. Only a handful of minor entities remained alive.
"..."
Ainz looked up at the starship fleet, mind shaken to its core.
This was his first time witnessing the power of space warships firsthand.
He no longer had the strength to be angry—he was overwhelmed by shock and fear.
Even though they had reduced the Great Tomb to rubble, what could anger accomplish in the face of such an overwhelming fleet?
It would be nothing more than impotent rage.
Crack—
Dozens of turrets under the starships locked onto Ainz, Albedo, and the Pleiades.
"I request a PVP duel with the opposing commander."
Ainz hesitated, then looked up and spoke.
He wasn't sure they'd agree—it was merely a final act of resistance.
He had been getting beaten for so long without even seeing the enemy commander's face.
"..."
The starships hovered silently for a moment.
Then—
Setsuna stepped onto the bow of the Eternal Snowfall.
"Sure. I accept."
"!!!"
The Sorcerer King stared at him—clad in a black-and-red uniform, he reminded Suzuki Satoru of a general from Earth.
A worthy bearer of the title "Commander."
Since he was human, there must be ways to defeat him.
Ainz's eyes reignited with vengeance as he cleared the area for a duel.
Maybe the enemy had grown overconfident, thinking victory was in hand.
Clutching a few high-tier cash items in his skeletal fingers, he prepared to unleash his strongest instant death spell once the target entered range—to erase him from existence on a systemic level.
Even a one-for-one trade would be worth it.
Clack—
The Eternal Snowfall's turrets locked onto him.
Ainz: "?"
"I am this starship. If you duel me, you're dueling it."
Rumble—
The main cannon, along with dozens of secondary batteries, locked onto their target and fired simultaneously.
"Farewell, Ainz."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven