"Come over personally, vampire,"
When this provocation-like phrase reached Shalltear’s ears, rage instinctively flared within her.
Yet, recalling her previous failure, Shalltear suppressed the anger in her heart, continuously reminding herself to remain calm.
"If I lose my composure, I might fall under the influence of Blood Frenzy, which would be unacceptable,"
Although she had lost the memories before and after being mentally dominated, based on the analysis from Nasalik, the reason Shalltear fell so easily under the control of a world-class item, ambushed by the people of the Black Scripture, might be partly attributed to Blood Frenzy, a special skill with negative effects.
It was precisely because of Blood Frenzy’s influence that Shalltear was caught off guard and half-maddened, falling into the enemy’s trap.
Otherwise, if Shalltear remained alert, with her power, she could have acted before the activation of the world-class item, avoiding its effect altogether. At the very least, she would have been able to use "High Tier Teleportation" or similar transportation magic like "Gate" to make a strategic retreat and avoid mental domination.
However, due to the influence of Blood Frenzy, Shalltear lost some of her rationality. Coupled with her natural disinclination for thought, plus several common traits of most heteromorphic beings in the Nasalik Underground Tomb, such as the contempt for humans and the disregard for species outside of Nasalik, these factors combined were what caused Shalltear to stumble.
This analysis was provided by Ainz, and so Shalltear had no doubts about it.
Therefore, Shalltear reminded herself more than once to stay calm, to learn to think, and not to be influenced by external factors again, resulting in mission failure and disappointing the Supreme Sovereign.
Reiterating this warning to herself, Shalltear also remembered the message Demiurge sent her using "Message" yesterday, when he informed her of Reiger’s appearance in the capital and gave her solemn instructions.
"Delay as much as possible, confine Reiger Brillhaut on your side, and if combat is inevitable, then make information gathering your primary objective to surveil the strength of that man."
Nasalik Underground Tomb had long wished to study Reiger.
Ainz, in particular, was constantly eager to gather information on Reiger. He wanted to discover not only his origins but also his actual strength.
What kind of fighter was he?
What kind of combat did he specialize in?
Was he an expert in melee? Or a ranged attacker? If he excelled in close combat, what techniques did he possess? If he was proficient in magic, which magics had he mastered?
These were all things Ainz wanted to know, as did all of Nasalik.
Ainz was the type to plan before acting, skilled in intelligence warfare. Even in player killing, he would first gather as much information as possible on his opponent, then devise corresponding strategies to exploit their weaknesses and maximize his odds of victory.
Thus, Ainz had long thought that if Reiger was to become an enemy sooner or later, it would be best to face him at least once to ascertain his capabilities and specialties in preparation.
Now, this mission had fortuitously fallen to Shalltear.
"This is a good opportunity to redeem myself. Even if I lose to that man, I must try to probe his abilities as much as possible."
The solemn words of Demiurge echoed clearly in her ears.
"Your role is essentially a cage anyway, your task is to act as the bait. Now that the prey is nearly upon you, and with the unexpected boon of Reiger Brillhaut, everything is in your hands, Shalltear."
Recalling Demiurge’s instructions, Shalltear took a deep breath.
"I will definitely complete the mission."
With this resolve, Shalltear began to chant magic.
"Life Force Continuous Recovery."
"Earth Mother’s Power."
"High Tier Elemental Defense."
"Magic Amplification."
"Sanctuary Protection."
Accompanied by Shalltear’s chanting, bursts of magical light began to flicker on her body, instantly bestowing upon her several magic enhancements effective for combat and improving her own abilities.
Seeing this, Reiger’s eyes flashed slightly.
"Radiant Green Body."
"Negative Attribute Nullification."
"High Tier All Attribute Enhancement."
"Magic Amplification."
"Extraordinary Intuition."
He, too, began to chant a series of magics, causing the magical light to continue flickering on his body.
If [Sage Rosenburg] and Brian, and the like were here to witness the magic used by Reiger and Shalltear at this moment, they would no doubt be terribly shocked, wouldn’t they?
Because the magics they were chanting were almost exclusively above the sixth tier, with a minimum of the seventh tier and even reaching the tenth tier, considered genuine miracles in this world.
Yet Reiger and Shalltear not only used them casually but also expertly and with ease, as if those were common magics they always used in everyday life.
"Self-Time Acceleration!"
The next moment, Shalltear made her move first, completely vanishing from her spot as she entered a different space-time of completely differing viscosity.
Witnessing this scene, Reiger didn’t even think twice before instantly casting the temporal magic.
In an instant, the entire world seemed to freeze, with time completely stopped.