Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight.

Chapter 117 Feifei's New Mount

The troll that was struck let out a piercing scream; half of its shoulder had been almost severed.

But the edges of the wound soon began to wriggle, and new granulation tissue grew out, pulling the wound back together.

Gu dipped his finger in the blood on the sword blade and licked it.

Then he looked at Feifei again, his astonishment deepening.

"Weapons—no problem," he muttered to himself.

If the weapons are fine, then where is the problem?

Gu gritted his teeth, raised his greatsword again, and this time he didn't fight alone. Instead, he roared at his subordinates behind him, "What are you all standing there for! Attack together!"

The ogres and cannibals snapped out of their shock and howled as they pounced on Feifei.

Feifei took a step forward and swung the greatsword horizontally in her right hand.

The blade drew a dark arc, sweeping across the waist of an ogre. Its upper body almost simultaneously slid to the ground, blood gushing from the huge wound and splattering a dark red pattern on the cave wall.

However, those wounds began to wriggle and regrow after only a few breaths.

"Regeneration ability?" Fei Fei tilted his head slightly, dodging the club that came crashing down from behind. He swung his sword backhand, slicing the attacking ogre in half at the waist, but the wound quickly began to heal as well.

A ferocious smile appeared on Gu's face.

"You can't hurt us! We're immortal!" he roared, charging forward himself, his greatsword slashing repeatedly at a speed completely disproportionate to his massive size.

Feifei casually parried with the greatsword in her left hand. The two greatswords clashed repeatedly in the air, each impact emitting blinding sparks and a piercing metallic shriek.

Gu's attacks became increasingly frantic, but no matter how much force he increased, the black warrior's blocks remained effortless.

"Regeneration is indeed a bit troublesome," Fei Fei said calmly amidst the clash of swords, "but that's about it."

He took a half-step back after Ge Kaigu's heavy chop, creating distance between himself and his opponent.

Then he activated [Despair Aura V (Instant Death)].

All the ogres and trolls simultaneously lost their strength and collapsed heavily to the ground like puppets with broken strings.

The cave fell silent instantly.

Feifei walked to Gu's corpse, raised the greatsword in her right hand, and aimed at the neck of the huge corpse. The blade fell, severing Gu's head.

He lifted the ugly head and examined it closely.

"Using this deterrent should save a lot of trouble."

Gu's head was very large, and Feifei could only hold it by the tuft of stiff hair on its head with one hand, letting it dangle in mid-air.

The ogre's blood dripped down its broken neck bone onto the fallen leaves, making a soft rustling sound.

"Lady Feifei," Nabella finally couldn't help but speak, "um—how much longer do we have to bring this up?"

"Hmm?" Feifei turned around. "This? Of course, it refers to the lair of the Western Demon Serpent. This is a bargaining chip."

1

"We're here." Feifei stopped.

Naberal looked up, and the forest in front of her suddenly became quiet. The birdsong had disappeared at some point, and even the rustling of the wind through the leaves seemed to be deliberately suppressed.

In a small open space, at the end of the open space was a rock wall with a crack in it, dark and gaping, like the half-closed eye of some kind of reptile.

"Come out," Fei Fei's voice came through the crack. "I know you're in there. Your invisibility won't work on me."

The silence lasted for a few breaths.

A figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the rock wall.

A snake-like lower body covered with fine scales, a human torso as thin as a dead tree, and an old man's face covered with wrinkles.

Naga.

Its cloudy eyes were now fixed on the enormous head in Feifei's hand.

Gu's face was facing it, and its unseeing eyes seemed to be issuing some kind of silent warning.

"I am the Western Serpent, Rurarus Spenia Ai Indren." The Naga's voice sounded like two pieces of dry tree bark rubbing against each other, yet it also carried a hissing sound unique to snakes. "You two—killed Gu."

As it spoke, the snake's tail slowly coiled up on the ground, a defensive posture instinctively adopted by snakes when facing a threat.

But its face showed no hostility.

"It refused to submit." Feifei threw Gu's head on the ground. The enormous head rolled twice and stopped right in front of Rurarus. "So I killed it."

"So, what is your choice: surrender or death?"

Rurarus looked down at the head, remained silent for a long time, and then slowly looked away.

"Gu is the strongest ogre in this forest." Rurarus's voice was even lower than before, and it lowered its posture.

"It has ruled the eastern region for over a decade. In all these years, no monster has dared to challenge it. Even I, an old man, can only rely on invisibility and cunning to deal with it."

It paused, turned to Feifei, and then made a decision.

"I am willing to submit."

Rurarus bent down its thin human torso, and its snake tail loosened its tightly coiled position, lying flat on the ground.

The old man's face, covered in wrinkles, was lowered, revealing the fine, scaly lines on the back of his neck.

"It is only natural for the weak to follow the strong. The ancients did not understand this principle, and they are dead. I have lived to this age, and at least I still understand this principle."

Nabella raised an eyebrow slightly. She silently compared Gu's behavior in the cave to the Naga's submissive posture before her, the contrast was so stark that it made her feel somewhat dazed.

Indeed, things that have lived a long time are different.

"A wise choice." Fei Fei loosened the hilt of her sword. "In that case, I grant your submission."

After he finished speaking, he raised his right hand and activated the [Message] spell.

The magic created a faint ripple in the air.

"Kurasuke, come here."

As soon as he finished speaking, a rustling sound came from the bushes in the distance.

Before long, a huge Djungarian hamster emerged from the bushes.

With its round body, dark eyes, and a small leather helmet on its head that it seemed to have gotten from somewhere, it looked quite comical.

"I am late, please forgive me, Lord Fei Fei!" Cangzhu stood up on his two hind legs, his front paws arched in front of his chest. He looked very serious, but with his round and chubby appearance, he looked more like a pet begging for food.

Rurarus's gaze lingered on Kurasuke for a moment, a subtle, indescribable expression flashing across his wrinkled face.

The Forest Wise King, in the Great Forest of Tobu, is one of the three great magical beasts that are as famous as it and the ancient ones.

Although it had complained in its mind more than once about why this large hamster was on par with it, it was now seeing the "King of the Forest" treating Feifei with utmost respect.

Luralus suddenly realized that his decision to submit was probably the best thing he had ever done in his life.

"Kurasuke," Feifei pointed to Kurasuke's round, silver body, "you're in charge of carrying Nabe."

Kurasuke immediately turned to Narberal: "Lady Narberal, please come up! I've combed my fur well today, it's very clean!"

Naberal nodded and walked towards Kurasuke.

Riding a hamster isn't exactly something to be proud of, but after spending so much time together, Nabella has gotten used to it.

"As for you," Feifei turned to Rurarus and said in a serious tone, "give me a ride."

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Naberal turned her head, and a rare look of shock appeared on the usually expressionless face of the battle maid.

Rurarus himself was clearly not in the mood to react.

It blinked its cloudy eyes, looked down at its serpentine lower body coiled on the fallen leaves, and then looked up at the warrior in front of it, who was shrouded in black armor.

"—You want to ride me?" Rurarus's voice trembled slightly.

"Is there a problem?"

A being that is half human and half snake; although its lower body is a snake, its upper body still resembles that of an elderly human.

Lord Ainz, the absolute ruler of Nazarick, the supreme being Ainz Ooal Gown, rode on the back of an old man, all the way from the forest to Yerantil, through the city gates, across the streets, and finally stopped at the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild.

Naberal's lips moved, and her aloof indifference seemed to shatter from within, revealing the genuine panic beneath, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Lord Feifei, please wait a moment."

Feifei turned her head, and her gaze fell on her from beneath her full-face helmet.

"What's wrong?"

"This—" Nabella paused, took a deep breath, and tried to calm her voice, but she failed. The tremor in her voice betrayed her emotions. "This is absolutely not going to do."

Why?

"Because—" Naberal opened her mouth but didn't continue, unable to find the right words for a moment.

She couldn't very well say, "It's so shameful for you to ride an old man with Ainz's face on your back."

Nabella gritted her teeth. "Because it's not suitable. This Naga, though not small, is probably not enough to carry a fully armed warrior—"

Just then, Kurasuke spoke up at an inopportune moment.

The large hamster tilted its round head, raised its paws, and earnestly suggested, "In that case, why don't we let the Demon Serpent carry Lady Nabe? I can carry Lady Feifei! I'm very strong!"

"No." Naberal and Rurarus blurted out almost simultaneously.

Nabella glared at Rurarus, and Naga coughed, quickly softening his tone: "Although I have submitted, Lady Nabella is a complete stranger to me, and we may need some time to adjust to each other—"

Rurarus's meaning is quite clear.

After all, what if Naberal, with her feminine appearance, disliked her masculine image?

If it were to carry such a being, it feared that it would break its tail halfway through the journey. With its powerful survival wisdom, Rurarus did not want to die like Gu.

Naberal withdrew her gaze and turned back to Feifei, her posture much more composed, but her tone remained resolute: "Lady Feifei, please reconsider. Riding a demonic serpent into town will cause unnecessary commotion. The Adventurers' Guild has always been cautious about unknown monsters; if they misunderstand you because of this—"

"No, that won't happen." Fei Fei interrupted her. "The Adventurers' Guild will only recognize the Dark Squad's strength, after all, they were able to subdue and tame such monsters. And if it's not a ride, the impact won't be enough."

Feifei made a decision.

He raised his hand and pointed at Rurarus. "I ride the serpent."

Then, pointing to Kurasuke, she said, "Nabe rides Kurasuke."

Naberal opened her mouth as if to say something, but Feifei had already turned and walked towards Rurarus.

He placed the black greatsword behind his back.

When Feifei walked up to Rurarus, he only glanced down at Naga, and Rurarus quickly lowered his serpentine lower body so that Feifei could straddle him.

Feifei sat steadily on the back of the Naga snake, while Rurarus's snake tail coiled up, lifting him to a height of about three feet off the ground.

Feifei slightly adjusted her center of gravity, then raised her right hand upwards, making a forward gesture towards the treetops in front of her.

Be open, confident, and composed.

"Tsk."

Naberal's lips twitched.

She watched Feifei ride on Naga's back, rising and falling slightly with the undulating movement of Naga's snake tail, occasionally arching her back slightly to maintain balance, and even reaching out to pat Naga's thin shoulder in approval.

Her ears started to burn again.

Beneath that helmet was Lord Ainz's face.

At this moment, the face's incarnation was riding on the back of a snake with the upper body of an old man, head held high, fearless, like a knight who had tamed a dragon in an epic.

Nabella silently climbed onto Kurasuke's back and then lowered her head.

This time, she lowered her head even further than before, almost burying it in the fluffy downy hair around Kurasuke's nape.

"Let's go," Feifei said.

Rurarus's serpent tail began to swing rhythmically, drawing a winding S-shaped trajectory on the ground.

Feifei swayed her waist and abdomen slightly to the rhythm, and the joints of her armor made a slow and rhythmic creaking sound as they moved.

Kura-suke pushed his four short legs behind him, while Nabella on his back buried her face in his fur, her face turning red from her ears all the way to the base of her neck.

"Lady Nabe?" Kurasuke asked cautiously, his feet not stopping, his four short legs making soft rustling sounds on the dirt road.

"Are you alright? Your face is very red. Is my fur not clean enough? I really did wash it today and combed it three times."

"Shut up." Nabella's muffled voice came from the downy hair around the back of Kurasuke's neck as she gripped his hair tightly with her fingers.

"Yes, I will shut up." Kurasuke shrank his neck.

The silence lasted for about three seconds.

"Lady Nabe, you really don't need to worry so much. I think the Naga..."

I told you to shut up.

"Yes." Kurasuke pressed his mouth even tighter, not daring to even twitch his beard.

Naberal peeked out from the gaps in the downy fur, glanced at the scene before immediately burying her face back into the fur.

She still couldn't quite accept it.

Naberal felt she probably needed to reassess the psychological cost of this mission.

Moreover, this is not the worst of it yet.

She had a vague premonition that things would get even worse once Ye Lantier arrived.