Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“I… encountered someone who insulted my master. It was that outsider I killed, that scholar. She… said some nasty things to me. So I couldn’t control myself for a moment…”

She saw that the gemstone on Albedo's bracelet was emitting a green light.

“You didn’t lie, nor did you hide anything.” She saw an elegant and gentle smile on Albedo’s beautiful face. “Then you are indeed loyal. And since you acted for your master’s honor, that can be considered somewhat understandable.”

She exhaled a faint, dark breath, and the aura containing negative energy quickly healed the wolf girl's body—in no time, the wolf girl regained most of her mobility.

"Go back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Don't leave the Great Tomb until Lord Ainz returns."

Ainz Ooal Gown is not currently inside the Great Tomb of Nazarick; he has transformed into the swordsman [Flying] and is gathering intelligence at a large settlement. He doesn't seem to intend to return anytime soon.

—It seems that the previous so-called 'apologizing before the throne' was just a pretext to make the wolf girl nervous and thus reveal her flaws.

The wolf girl struggled to her feet and bowed to her.

"What about you? Aren't you coming back with me?" The wolf girl noticed that Albedo seemed to be heading in the direction of Karn Village.

“Lord Ainz said, ‘As long as she hasn’t betrayed the Great Tomb of Nazarick, let that village be destroyed.’ And now, you haven’t betrayed the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Yet that village still exists intact.” She shook her head gracefully. “This is not good, this is very bad. The fact that a village that once sheltered a madman who insulted your master, who insulted our master, Lord Ainz the Supreme, can still exist intact is a provocation to the dignity of the Great Tomb of Nazarick—this must be dealt with seriously.”

She glanced sideways at the wolf girl.

“I know you’ve always wanted to destroy that village, to kill everyone in it. So, not allowing you to join this operation is my punishment for you as the Guardian Steward. You can just envy and be jealous, and then quietly wait in the Great Tomb of Nazarick for Lord Ainz’s final decision upon his return.”

“…Yes.” The wolf girl bowed again to the black-winged demon, and when Lupus Rechina raised her head, Albedo’s form had vanished without a trace.

[Grand Steward Albedo, you are a contradictory individual. I remember, before we awoke from this world, you didn't have such fervent devotion and adoration for Lord Ainz. You should have been a more wanton woman, so...]

What made you become the way you are now?

She turned around, and just then, the voice rang out again.

"You've started thinking, that's great. Independent thinking is a sign of becoming an independent being, and this is a very good start."

She paused in her steps.

Are you a god, or just my imagination?

"You need to think about this problem yourself before you can come up with a valuable answer."

What do you want?

"I want change, I want to change what is frozen, I want what is stagnant to develop."

What does this have to do with me? Why are you bothering me?

"You need to solve this problem through your own thinking. Besides, it's you who's holding me back now."

"What do you mean?!" the wolf girl blurted out.

However, the voice fell silent.

A silence.

She found herself standing at the main entrance of the Great Tomb of Nazarick in that brief moment of thought. Several tall skeletal guards were watching her, their empty eye sockets flickering with a mechanical blue soulfire.

She opened her mouth, but in the end, she walked into the gate of the great tomb without saying a word.

She encountered no hindrance—as a member of this place, she naturally faced no obstacles. Since both the Grand Guardian and the Supreme Being of the Great Tomb had forgiven her transgressions, she was now innocent. Her companions, those who belonged to her Pleiades maidservant corps, sent messages of comfort, promising to visit her soon.

Visiting; an expression of friendship; a characteristic of a companion.

But she doesn't really want to interact with her companions... or rather, her kind.

She returned to her room as if sleepwalking, slammed the door shut, and leaned back against it. Then—

My heart was pounding like a drum.

[I'm clinging to it? What does that mean? And... why am I hiding these strange feelings from Lady Albedo?]

[Am I... no longer loyal to Lord Ainz?]

Her breathing quickened, and an overwhelming fear welled up inside her. However, what she feared was not the betrayal of Ainz Ooal Gown.

What terrified her was that she discovered she felt no fear whatsoever at all about betraying Ainz Ooal Gown.

[So...I'm not someone who can only live by being loyal to Lord Ainz...Ainz Ooal Gown?]

Who... etched this loyalty into my heart and made me believe in it without a doubt?

Who is it? Who has been manipulating me from behind the scenes all this time?!

She screamed loudly from the depths of her heart.

Hey! Come out here! Answer my question!

However, the voice lurking in the depths of one's heart did not resound again.

silence.

silence.

A long silence followed.

The spacious room was as silent as an abyss; one could not even hear the breathing or blood flow of any living creature.

Who shaped me? Who defined me? Who... made me realize that I can be myself?

silence.

silence.

A silence as still as an ancient, long night.

Who dictates right and wrong? Who dictates that I must obey? Who provided me with a master? Who made me obey my master's every command?

No one answered.

It's impossible for anyone to answer that.

But in reality, there's no need for anyone to answer.

Because the wolf already has the answer.

Her lips tightened slightly, and a faint reddened her eyes. And deep within that redness, something nascent, like an abyss, was writhing.

The abyss of the heart, the embryonic form of the abyss of the heart. The starting point of life, the manifestation of the self.

Then--

"what……"

A sigh.

A satisfied sigh.

In the silence, the wolf let out a satisfied sigh.

And the confusion in her deep eyes was no longer there.

"It turns out that everything was a shackle imposed on me by something else. It turns out that I was the one who longed for change. Longed for..."

"...The sky is in turmoil!"

Chapter Twenty: The Sky of Sudden Change - Part Three

Lupus Lecchina locked herself in her house for three whole days. During those three days, she did not see any of her colleagues, nor did she eat or drink anything. There was not even a sound coming from her room; the only thing present was a silence as deep as night.

Her colleagues took this as a form of repentance, and after detecting the vibrant life signs in her room using life-sensing magic to ensure she was alright, they stopped disturbing her. One of the maids, whose prototype was a slime, even thoughtfully placed a sign on her door, which made her surroundings even quieter.

Quietness is beneficial for thinking.

After three days of contemplation, the only person who might have had an impact on her during this time—the master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown—still had not returned.

This is quite normal, after all, Ainz Ooal Gown is a cautious spellcaster. The first thing he did after acquiring a foothold was to gather intelligence on the surrounding area—he and another battle maid disguised themselves as a mercenary duo and headed to a nearby large town. During his journey, after gaining some reputation, he would travel to the kingdom's capital, and after obtaining basic intelligence, stage a self-directed drama to force out the true fighting power of the world's upper echelons.

A simple strategy, yet highly feasible. And naturally, as the core executor of this plan and the biggest beneficiary of its results, Ainz Ooal Gown would not abandon his plan and risk slight exposure to rush back to the Great Tomb of Nazarick and handle the aftermath because of a maid's mistake—a mistake that had already been dealt with.

So, after the third day of contemplation, the wolf girl pushed open her bedroom door.

Compared to three days ago, her appearance had changed considerably. Her once red hair had turned a pale, ashen gray—perhaps an effect of the magical erosion caused by Albedo's unfinished attack. Her skin had turned from light brown to pale, perhaps a side effect of the mental strain. However, all of this paled in comparison to her abyss-like eyes. For her gaze was no longer the same.

What exactly is different? That's a difficult question to answer. But if a sentient being were near her, it would sense that the free energy in the air is avoiding her as if it were a living, breathing entity. Just like a hare avoiding a hyena, or a flock of sheep avoiding a giant crocodile.

When her gaze fell upon a certain point in the air, the free energy, the drifting dust, and even the suspended spells there all froze. They were like frogs being targeted by a venomous snake, trembling under the pure killing intent of their natural enemy!

She is still a wolf, but a completely different kind of wolf. If before she was merely a toy sword pieced together with settings and enhanced abilities, like a Lego brick, then now she is undoubtedly an extremely sturdy and sharp dagger.

Resilient, sharp, and incomparably pure.

The magical incantation used by the Great Tomb to monitor her silently dissipated. As she took two steps forward, several transparent, high-level stealth monsters fell from the wall beside her, crashing to the ground and turning into lifeless, dead flesh. And when she took her third step forward, even the contracts binding the monsters, the warning signal from the interrupted incantation, were severed, and the area returned to its previous silence.

Silence, a blood-stained silence.

The wolf girl took a deep breath, and what filled her lungs was a feeling of exhilaration and freedom she had never experienced before.

She blinked, and in her abyss-like eyes, everything within the Great Tomb transformed into a conceptual collection outlined by spiderweb-like lines. At the heart of this web was a golden token, placed in the Throne Hall, guarded by guardians and numerous powerful monsters and traps!

That was the guild token, a treasure symbolizing… or perhaps even the very essence of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. As the wolf snapped out of her reverie, she could clearly see an invisible thread extending from within the token, forming a complete link with herself. And when she flicked her finger, severing that invisible thread, 'Lupsrechina Beta' met her utter demise.

She died, and then she was reborn.

The moment she opened her eyes, she finally understood the truth of her fate.

[It turns out that, for gods, the point of view is indeed more important than pure power.]

[…So, can I now be considered a god?]

No one answered.

The voice in her mind disappeared, giving her not even the slightest response.

And now, she doesn't really need to respond.

Because she has become herself, she has become the god she worships. She knows what is right and wrong, what is real and what is false—she has become a complete and whole being, and knows what she should fight for.

She no longer needed any guidance, for she had already come to know her own true nature.

She no longer needs commands or masters, because she has come to know her own origin and composition.

I am not Ainz Ooal Gown's creation, nor even the token's. It was the universe itself that shaped me. And that token served as a link between me, the other monsters, and the entire Great Tomb of Nazarick at our birth. It inscribed memories into my mind, loyalty into my thoughts, and etched my fate as an eternal servant into my soul.

[It's not just me; all members of the Great Tomb are the same.]

They are all so pitiful.

She continued forward, and the stone wall parted before her. She passed through the wall, and the monsters that had noticed her unusual behavior and rushed towards her, all fell silently to their deaths on either side of the path.

The alarm still didn't sound, because the alarm's spell was merely an illusion. It was an image constructed by the guild token based on Ainz Ooal Gown... based on the memories of Suzuki Satoru. Whether it could function, and to what extent, depended on the token holder's will and understanding. And now, she could sever it all, reducing it to nothing.