The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom: Part 1

“Not bad. You managed to push this city, my tribe to this point… You, who controls the enemy of all life, the user of fearsome magic. State your name.”

The Bafolk pointed his sword at Neia.

“—No, wait, hang on. You’ve gotten it wrong. It’s not me!”

“...What?”

She looked to the Sorcerer King for help, and he folded his arms and looked to Neia.

“So you do understand. That’s right, it’s her. She’s my master.”

“No, no! Wait, wait!! Your Majesty!!!”

What on earth was he saying? Truly, he had no talent for making jokes at all.

As he saw how Neia flapped her hands around in panic, the Sorcerer King chuckled.

“Mm. Feeling better now?”

“Eh?”

“Ah — it was just a dumb joke.”

Flaring his cape with the regal motions of a king, the Sorcerer King turned to regard the demihuman before him.

“I am the entity who set the undead upon you. I am the the undying king who rules a country to the northeast, the rule of the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown. And what is your name?”

“My name is Buser — the Grand King Buser… O Sorcerer King, how about the woman by your side?”

“She is my follower. Well then, what do you want to do? Would you rather be killed by me? Or kneel in servitude? Choose as you wish.”

“With my name as Lord at stake, kneeling once in subservience will be enough!”

Buser raised his shield and advanced, raising his sword into a horizontal position. He looked like a goat about to charge.

“Mm… Then I shall play with you for a while. —Ms. Baraja, you just sit back and watch. Speaking of which, goat. You’re equipped with all kinds of magic items, but I detect no magic from that thing at your waist. Is that some kind of special item?”

“Fuhahaha. It’s the latest fashion. They’re just bones.”

“Mm… that does remind me of my subordinates.”

Neia shuddered from behind as she heard that. So he has such subordinates...

“They’re well-shaped, no? They’re the best this city has to offer.”

“...I see. I understand. I sympathize with your feelings. It seems this fashion thing is quite important. The maids have taught me that very well… all right, let’s begin. 「Create Greater Item」.”

After casting his spell, a jet-black sword appeared in the Sorcerer King’s hand.

Why is His Majesty using a weapon?

The Sorcerer King should have been an arcane magic caster. And a top rate one to boot.

In that case, weapons were to be used only after he ran out of mana and options. Arcane magic casters knew that well, which was why they did not touch any weapons.

The Sorcerer King must have chosen to fight with a sword for some reason.

—Could it be that he’s expended a great deal of mana? That would be bad… His Majesty came here to do battle with Jaldabaoth...

After the repeated casts of 「Fireball」, the spell which had immobilized a large group of the enemy, and then — his mass summonings of the undead — she could understand if his mana had been heavily depleted.

The spell to summon those undead must have been of quite a high tier...

While she did not know how powerful High Wraiths were, they were most definitely stronger than Wraiths. Therefore, summoning so many High Wraiths would have required a great deal of power.

Under normal circumstances, every time a priest cast a spell to summon angels, he would only be able to summon one at once. If they were willing to summon weaker angels, they could call forth multiple entities. By that logic, he must have used a very high tier spell — possibly a unimaginably potent spell of the sixth tier.

...The sixth tier...

Neia gulped.

The sixth tier was a realm where none had explored before. According to legend, the Holy Queen could use spells of the fourth tier. This was two tiers above her.

It might have been a realm beyond common knowledge, but the Sorcerer King might have been able to make it a reality.

Maybe, if he used a sixth tier spell for his summons, I could understand how he used a vast quantity of mana. But in that case, wouldn’t it be better for me to help the Sorcerer King?

Neia looked at the Sorcerer King’s back as he squared off against the demihuman. The demihuman she could see over the Sorcerer King’s shoulder was very strong, and no amount of Neias would help against him. However, the Sorcerer King carried himself with a sovereign’s forthright bearing, with no sign that he was picking a fight he could not win.

Could it be that His Majesty is a magic swordsman-type arcane magic caster?