The square was empty now, save for the three of them. The villagers had withdrawn, whether from awe or fear, and only the distant wails of the dying remained.
Ainz stood unmoving, his skeletal hands folded before him. Albedo loomed protectively at his side, her golden eyes still resting on Elijah with unreadable intent.
Elijah broke the silence first.
He looked from Ainz to Albedo, voice measured.
"…Were you surprised? When you realized… we were still here?"
Ainz turned his skull slightly, eyes glowing.
"Indeed," he said slowly. "Although I can't say I'm entirely disappointed."
A moment passed. Elijah smiled faintly.
"Must be nice having a whole clan again."
Ainz let out a low, nostalgic chuckle. "You could have joined. Back then."
Elijah smirked. "Maybe I should have. 'Nine's Own Goal'… those were the good days."
That name—spoken aloud—hung in the air with a weight neither of them acknowledged directly.
Silence settled again, not uncomfortable, but longing.
Elijah broke it.
"It's nice to see a… real face, Momonga."
The skeletal expression didn't change—but Ainz stilled slightly at the name.
Elijah's eyes turned toward the horizon.
"But the village ahead is in trouble. I don't know what this world is… but some things stay simple."
He turned back, and for a moment, something soft surfaced beneath his otherwise composed tone.
"When somebody is in trouble, it's only natural for you to help them"
Ainz stared at him.
Then, like a pressure valve releasing, he laughed.
A real laugh.
The kind Momonga had made back when he'd been a man with friends at his back.
"You sound just like him!" he said, almost fondly. Then his voice turned dry. "Let me give you a hand, Lone Reaper."
Elijah shook his head. "Still with the "
Ainz extended his arm, bony fingers stretching out.
His voice rang out with clear, practiced command.
"Gate"!
A black circle tore itself into reality—vertical, rimmed in faint blue.
Ainz gestured politely.
"Shall we?"
Elijah simply stepped through.
Scene Transition – Carne VillageThe village was chaos.
Knights in false Re-Estize armor surrounded the remnants of the resistance. Screams rang from alleyways. Blades cut through bodies.
A Death Knight appeared in the center of the square—its sword already swinging before it even landed. Just as it had in canon, it tore through the attackers like a sickle through wheat.
No commands. No hesitation.
Just death.
Elsewhere—unseen—flickers danced along the rooftops.
Mimic's clones moved with supernatural silence, bodies cloaked in shifting black that made them indistinguishable from smoke and shadow.
One clone snatched a toddler from a collapsing house just before it crumbled. Another pulled a wounded man beneath the floorboards. A third silently broke the neck of a knight poised to kill a fleeing woman—then vanished before she could even scream.
The villagers saw nothing.
But they lived.
Elijah stepped through the gate beside Ainz.
They were untouched by the flames.
Ainz raised his hand as knights turned in panic, weapons half-lifted.
His voice thundered with immortal finality:
"How do you do, Gentleman? I am Ainz Ool Goan."
The knights froze.
"Lay down your swords and leave, tell your masters not to bother this place…
—silence—
or I'll bring death to your country".
Some turned and ran. Others dropped their blades. A few—foolish or fanatical—charged the Death Knight.
They died in pieces.