After everything was finished, the radiance around Chu Lian gradually faded, and she returned to her usual appearance. However, the way the others looked at her had completely changed. Anyone who had witnessed that scene—so akin to a divine miracle—would inevitably feel awe.
"I know you can understand me. From now on, enter the forest and follow quietly behind us. When we reach a village, remain in the forest and wait. I will make arrangements for you then."
These words were not directed at the centaur tribe, but at the magical beasts.
Hearing her command, the magical beasts slowly straightened their bodies. After giving her a slight nod, they turned and ran into the forest.
Since they had already chosen to submit to Chu Lian, they would obey whatever she said without question. The thought of resistance never even crossed their minds.
After all, they had only just pledged allegiance, and their strength had already increased so dramatically. Their reverence and fear toward Chu Lian deepened further, and their desire to follow her—and their loyalty—reached its peak.
"Rania, take your people and follow behind us. Once these matters are settled, we'll arrange your living situation."
After confirming that the magical beasts had returned to the forest to await orders, Chu Lian turned to the centaur girl and spoke.
"As you command, Your Excellency."
Rania nodded and offered a salute before pushing herself up from the ground with all four limbs.
As she rose, the other centaur warriors stood as well, lining up neatly behind her in silence like a personal guard.
Seeing this, Chu Lian had already roughly guessed Rania's true status. However, she did not expose it. When Rania was willing to say it herself, that would be the moment she truly submitted to her. There was no need to rush. Exposing it now would benefit no one.
"Liliana, are these matters resolved?"
The place where Chu Lian had spoken with the centaurs was some distance away from Ainz and the others. Unless one deliberately strained to listen, their conversation could not be heard. Ainz had no intention of prying, so he simply observed from afar.
Now, seeing the magical beasts withdraw and the centaurs rise to their feet, he understood that she had likely finished handling her affairs and walked over to ask.
Due to the distance, Ainz did not need to worry about the Swords of Darkness or Nfirea overhearing. Aside from using names, he did not deliberately conceal anything in his speech.
"No. There's still one more thing."
Chu Lian shook her head. The small bell at her neck chimed softly, diminishing some of her divinity and adding a hint of cuteness.
The reason she shook her head was that she had not forgotten the faint call she sensed when she slew the wolf king. She wanted to know what it had been.
"Oh? What else remains?"
Her answer left Ainz slightly stunned. He could not think of what else she needed to do.
"You'll see in a moment."
Before confirming what she might find, Chu Lian had no intention of explaining. She walked straight to the wolf's corpse lying in a pool of blood and looked at its lifeless eyes, unable to suppress a soft sigh.
Aside from Tina, Hiru, and Suicune[1], this wolf had been the most spirited beast she had encountered. And yet, such a creature had died beneath her blade. There was something strangely ironic about it.
Bending down slightly, she followed the faint trace of that call and fixed her gaze upon its head. Her brows furrowed. She had not expected the source to be there. If she wished to investigate, she would have to open it.
Although her earlier strike had split it cleanly from head to tail, in its current state it still appeared whole.
She mocked herself inwardly for being so affected. After all, she was the one who had killed it. And now she was feeling pity. How ridiculous…
"I'm sorry…"
She murmured softly, circulating her magic power to form a hand of wind, which pried open the wolf king's head.
What appeared before her was not a grisly scene of blood and brain matter, but a milky-white crystal, faintly glowing.
"This is…"
The wind hand lifted the crystal, and the wolf's head closed automatically. Chu Lian stared at the crystal, puzzled.
"Ayase, this isn't some so-called magic crystal, is it? I refuse to believe Overlord would still be using such an outdated setting from who knows how many years ago."
She felt somewhat embarrassed. She truly had not expected something like this to appear.
"Spirit Moonstone… To think it would appear here. This…"
Ayase remained silent for quite some time before responding. The shock in her voice was unmistakable.
Chu Lian's curiosity instantly soared to its peak. The last time Ayase had sounded so stunned was after they left Miami—when that overwhelmingly powerful existence had released a mere trace of its consciousness.
And now she was astonished by this crystal's appearance. How could that not intrigue her? Spirit Moonstone—she had never heard the name before. It did not seem to exist in the system's exchange list either.
"Yes, Spirit Moonstone. Put it away for now. It may be useless to others, but to you, it is more precious than even an SSS-grade item. This isn't the time to explain. When I've sorted out the connections and determined what I can tell you, I will."
Ayase did not reveal the truth, only instructing her to store it.
"Oh, alright. If you're telling me to keep it, then I will. When the time comes and you can tell me the truth, you can explain it then."
After everything she had experienced, Chu Lian was no longer the girl who demanded answers to everything, unable to understand Ayase's circumstances.
Though it had only been a little over twenty days, those days had allowed her to see many things clearly—about herself and about Ayase.
"In any case, if you encounter this in the future, you must obtain it no matter the difficulty. Right, I'll give you a detection method. When you activate virtualization, channel your power into your eyes and you'll be able to see it. It's simple. Any type of energy will work."
After saying this, Ayase fell completely silent, likely contemplating how this so-called Spirit Moonstone had come to be.
Memorizing the method Ayase had taught her, Chu Lian put away the Spirit Moonstone. Then she turned to Ainz, who was walking over, and said, "Big brother, what should we do with these corpses? Leave them here, or burn them?"
As she spoke, she gestured at the bodies scattered all around. If left unattended in the current heat, they would inevitably rot and stink, potentially spreading disease.
She did not want this road to become unusable, so she asked Ainz how to handle it—making it clear that the matter was entirely in his hands.
Scratching the back of his head, Ainz looked at Dolores, who had put away her weapon and now stood obediently to the side, and felt a headache coming on.
"You took all the benefits for yourself, and now I'm the one who has to deal with the aftermath."
But there was no helping it. As a big brother who doted on his little sister, this sort of thing was probably his responsibility anyway. Probably.
"Peter, come here for a moment."
He beckoned to the members of the Swords of Darkness. After hesitating briefly, they walked over.
"Um, Mr. Momon, what do you need us to do?"
As Peter spoke, his eyes secretly drifted toward Chu Lian, filled entirely with awe and admiration.
"Take whatever materials you need from these monsters. By the way, how do you prove that you were the ones who killed them?"
Ainz did not mind giving them these spoils. After all, he had asked for their assistance and needed to provide some compensation. Of course, it might also have something to do with the fact that he had realized killing monsters did not yield item drops, which left him somewhat disheartened.
"We usually cut off a specific body part as proof and exchange it for coins. The Adventurers' Guild has people who tally everything."
Peter glanced at the ground covered in corpses and spoke softly.
"If there are too many, it will only arouse suspicion. So about one percent should be enough. For the rest, take what suits you. After that, burn everything."
Ainz roughly calculated that there were at least three thousand corpses here. Even one percent would be a considerable number.
That way, they could display sufficient strength without causing the Swords of Darkness to suffer losses from this trip.
The members of the Swords of Darkness exchanged glances and nodded. Even if they had other thoughts, this was not the time to voice them. They would wait for a more suitable opportunity.
Thus, disregarding the blood, they bent down and began collecting their spoils.
They knew that in this battle, their contribution had been negligible. In fact, if not for their presence, the other two might have already revealed their full strength without relying solely on Miss Liliana.
But since Mr. Momon had said so, they would not refuse.
Or rather… they did not dare refuse.
"Have your people gather the corpses into one place. There's no need to touch those magical beasts—they've already been zombified. Direct contact could very likely cause problems. Just have some of them clear a three-meter isolation zone around the pile so the flames won't spread."
While the others were busy, Chu Lian did not stand idle. She walked up to the centaur girl and gave her instructions.
"Please rest assured, Your Excellency. We know what to do."
Rania nodded, then turned and spoke to the centaurs in a peculiar cadence. Once she finished, the centaurs split into groups and began working efficiently.
"Phew…"
Letting out a soft breath, Chu Lian looked up at the blazing sun. A faint, uncontrollable longing suddenly welled up in her heart.
This journey through the Dungeon Space might still last quite some time, yet she had already begun to miss them.
Perhaps she was someone who could never truly be satisfied. It had only been a short while, and she already longed for them so deeply.
If she did not know that this Dungeon Space determined how she would handle such spaces in the future—and that it would help unravel certain hidden truths—she might truly have abandoned everything and returned without hesitation.
But burdened with so much, she no longer had the right to be willful.
The current her had to prepare for the future.
After learning so much, she now understood why Ayase had once said, "We have no future."
The future was not some distant concept. When events she once believed impossible began appearing one after another in her life, she realized something.
The future was too close.
Close enough to touch.
"Perhaps I should begin preparing things that can help us survive the coming calamity."
Her small fist clenched behind her back. After this mutation, she would need more and more resources to withstand the unknown future.
"Your Excellency…"
At that moment, Rania's voice sounded from before her.
Chu Lian lowered her gaze to the centaur girl, uncertain what she wished to say.
Rania appeared somewhat embarrassed. After hesitating, she finally decided to ask about the matter that had been troubling her—something already beyond their tribe's ability to decide on their own.
And so, she spoke…
[1] Water Lord