The Bloody Valkyrie

Epilogue

The leader of the mithril ranked adventurer group 「Sky Wolf」, Berette, opened the front entrance to the adventurer’s guild.

Adventurers were looking at him with respect and worship.

Berette was already quite used to this scene, but the intensity of the gazes did not seem to be as strong as compared to a month ago.

Guess it can’t be helped.

He set his eyes on the bulletin board’s commission contents, but unfortunately he was unable to find any mithril ranked ranked missions at all.

Missions only entrusted to mithril ranked adventurers did not appear very often. However the reason for the shortage of missions this time was because an adventurer who could quickly solve all missions ranked mithril and above had appeared.

"…Momon-san."

Half complaining, Berette muttered this name.

About a month ago, this man exterminated a vampire that was both highly capable and unbelievably powerful.

It was a fierce battle that had shaken the heavens and earth. He didn’t witness the battle himself, but after the seeing the remnants of the battle, one could imagine just what kind of battle it was. Igavaruji's adventurer group, Kuragura, had accompanied him but were completely annihilated from the collateral damage they suffered during the fight. This result was not surprising.

No, if anyone were to join that battle, it would be certain death.

The explosion of the magic sealing crystal had charred the surrounding ground black, some areas had even turned into a desert. The shocking thing was, if it hadn’t been done that way, the vampire would’ve been impossible to defeat. Furthermore—

“—They survived…"

On the other hand, they, who had been victorious and returned safely, would naturally be regarded as more of a monster than the vampire against whom Berette never stood a chance.

That was why his tone just now had been humble, and furthermore, Ainz was strong enough to command the respect of others.

Just as he was fantasizing about this absolutely powerful being, he heard the door opening and a commotion broke out, as if a burst of wind had entered the guild.

Roughly guessing what the commotion was about, Berette also turned his gaze toward the direction everyone else was looking at. Sure enough, he saw the person he expected.

The main topic of this town was the 「Dark Hero」, Momon.

With two great swords on his back and accompanied by a woman of peerless beauty.

“The front part of that armor was made using a large amount of adamantium… Just how much money is it worth?”

The title of “Dark Hero” came from that set of ultra high-class full-body armor, which had been severely damaged upon his return. It had been charred all over, with ruptures and claw marks, but now that set of dark armor was unblemished and shone brilliantly under the sunlight.

This was the due to the efforts of the Magicians' Guild, who mobilised all their magic casters to cast repair magic on it.

The metallic plate hung in front of his chest was— the living legend, adventurers’ object of worship, humanity’s trump card that protected them from other powerful races — adamantium.

His achievements already far surpassed orchichalcum rank, which was already a high enough rank that had never once appeared in the city of Re-Lantier.

Like the appearance of a hero that came right out of a storybook, the atmosphere inside the guildhall suddenly became rowdy.

“The Kingdom’s third adamantium adventurer…”

“That’s him…「Dark Hero」 Momon…and the one behind him is 「Alluring Princess」 Nabel, she really is as beautiful as the rumors say.”

“You know in that forest, the huge chunk of it that has been burnt to cinders is said to be his work… I’ve heard he used martial arts to burn everything down.”

“No way, how is that possible…If an area of that size was destroyed using martial arts, can you really say he’s still human?”

“He’s probably one of the few who could do such a thing? The adamantium rank is the pinnacle for adventurers. If one were to say that he’s the best within the adamantium rank, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.”

Under everyone’s worshipping gazes, Momon leisurely walked towards the counter. The adventurers who were discussing mission details with the female receptionist all parted to give way to this highest-ranking adventurer. Their expressions showed respect — and fear.

Momon casually spoke with the receptionist.

“The task entrusted to us is completed, please help us search to see if there’s any new work.”

The girl’s eyes widened, but only for a moment. Berette knew why she had opened her eyes so widely. The job Momon and Nabel had accepted was very difficult even for mithril ranked adventurers. This mission had been expected to take a while, but they solved it within such a short amount of time.

That’s right, if it was entrusted to him, even mithril ranked missions could be completed with a breeze.

This was only natural, since the highest ranking adventurers were of this caliber.

“Guess there’s nothing left for me to do.”

Berette couldn’t help complaining, but then again he wasn’t serious. After reaching the rank of mithril, unless there were special circumstances, one would have more than enough money to retire and live wealthily for the rest of their life. Adventurers who continued adventuring after reaching this rank mostly did so for reasons other than money.

“Ah, Momon-san. I am very sorry, but at the moment we don’t have any suitable missions for you, my sincere apologies.”

The receptionist stood up and bowed deeply.

“So it’s like that—”

It was as if he intended to say something but stopped halfway. After a few seconds he spoke again:

“—I see, that’s wonderful, because I suddenly remembered an urgent matter that demands my attention, so I’ll return to my hotel first. If anything urgent comes up you can find me there. I assume you know which hotel I am staying at, right?”

“Yes, it’s Shining Golden Pavilion right?

Momon nodded and elegantly turned around, causing his red cloak to billow, and proceeded to walk out. When Momon passed him by, Berette thought he could hear him talking, but the voice was so soft, he couldn't make out the content of his intermittent speech.

What Berette did not hear, was Ainz commanding his distant subordinates to reveal the full extent of their military might.

"Order Gangantua to start moving, call Victim and wait for Cocytus to return. Since this is a rare opportunity, let all the Floor Guardians move out together."