Chapter 8

Cocytus approached Ainz.

"My. Lord. I. Wish. To. Test. Myself. Against. The. Legions."

This was great news for Ainz, who was thinking of some way of measuring the strength of the more powerful NPCs found in the Vault. He also wanted to teach the Floor Guardians how to fight opponents that were of equal strength or stronger. Ainz believed that the Floor Guardians were growing overconfident and his reminders of an existence of strong enemies were beginning to fall on deaf ears.

The Floor Guardians all gathered in the colosseum on the 6th Floor. Ainz had ordered Azirim to pick out an NPC that was strong enough to challenge Cocytus. Ainz had hoped that Azirim and Medulla could join, but they were handling a possible coup in the Empire.

'How about I turn this into a small game.'

"Before we begin the fight, what do we think the odds are?"

Shalltear answered quickly. "100 to 1 in favor of Cocytus. His opponent is not even level 100, it should be an easy win."

Ainz shook his head.

"That is a poor way of thinking, levels aren't everything Shalltear. Strategy and matchup compatibilities can easily swing the odds."

"I think it's 5 to 1 in favor of Cocytus!"

"I-I agree with Aura."

"And why do you think that?"

"W-well… Cocytus specializes in melee combat and his opponent is also a melee fighter."

"Yeah, and Cocytus has more fours arms and more weapons which gives him a big advantage!"

Ainz laughed. "That is one way to look at it."

"Based on all the knowledge I have of the situation, I think the odds are 50/50."

'That's a cheap guess Demiurge.'

"I also think that the odds are 50/50."

'You too Albedo? Wait, do they think I am testing them? Is that why they are choosing the safest answer?'

"I-I change my mind, I also think it's 50/50."

"I agree with Mare."

"Me too!"

'Well that ruined it.'

"Hah. Then let us begin."

Cocytus stood, all four weapons in hand, in the sand as he waited. He was excited, more so than when he had fought the Lizardmen; he could finally go all out without instantly ending the fight in one swing.

"In this corner, Floor Guardian Cocytus! Aaaannndddd our challenger against the guardian of the 5th Floor is one of the Eclipse Knights!" Aura's enthusiastic voice reverberated throughout the colosseum and the ground shook as the spectator golems stomped their feet.

A dark armored figure slowly entered the arena across from Cocytus. The humanoid figure carried multiple weapons, its heavy armor was uneven in texture which resembled the coarse hide of a reptile rather than metal, on the back of its gauntlets and on its chest were black circles ringed by a dim orange hue.

The warrior stopped 30 feet away from Cocytus and drew a shield and a shortsword.

'Hm. Its spear would be better in this matchup.' thought Cocytus as he eyed the weapons on the knight's back.

"AND FIGHT!"

Cocytus made the first move as he activated his [Permafrost Aura V] and closed the distance in an instant. Cocytus attacked using his halberd, his strategy was to use his longer reach and prevent his opponent from getting close.

In the fraction of a second it took for Cocytus to move, the Eclipse Knight began activating its skills.

"[Inferno Aura V], [Despair Aura IV], [Aura of Draining Vitality], [Gravity Aura], [Annihilation Aura III]"

Cocytus struck at his opponent's head with his halberd.

The Eclipse Knight raised its arm and caught the blow on its shield but left its torso vulnerable on his left side as Cocytus swung his warhammer. The knight barely managed to reposition its shield to catch the second blow, but Cocytus was relentless in his assault as he struck the Eclipse Knight with his other weapons.

Cocytus was a whirlwind as he battered away at the Eclipse Knight and left it no room to counterattack.

Cocytus was dealing considerable damage to the Eclipse Knight but the powerful auras that the knight had activated was taking its toll on Cocytus. They slowly chipped away at Cocytus and restricted his movement, but it was not enough to truly threaten him.

As the fight progressed the Eclipse Knight began to adapt to Cocytus' flurry of blows and was able to sneak in a few strikes of its own.

After a few minutes of back and forth, the situation did not change. The Eclipse Knight was unable to get close enough to strike with its shortsword while Cocytus continued to land blow after blow by taking advantage of his longer reach.

"[Guillotine Blade]"

Cocytus spotted a gap in his opponent's defenses and landed a devastating blow. Strangely, it did not feel as if it had done any significant amount of damage. The Eclipse Knight, showing no sign of injury, then charged right into Cocytus, catching him off guard.

Now able to strike, the Eclipse Knight wasted no time as it carved away at Cocytus. Now it was Cocytus who was forced into the defensive as he struggled to use his long weapons effectively since the Eclipse Knight was so close to him.

The auras also started to affect Cocytus more, it felt as if they became more powerful as combat dragged on. It also felt like the Eclipse Knight was hitting harder while Cocytus' own attacks seemed to do less damage.

Cocytus then understood that he had to end the fight soon. He took several steps back and the knight lunged after him, taking the bait. Cocytus swung his halberd downwards and caught the shortsword of the knight in between the blade of the halberd and its shaft. At the same time Cocytus used his tail to strike at the knight's legs. The knight collapsed and Cocytus twisted his halberd and the sword flew out of its hand.

"Winner! The winner is Cocytus!"

Aura's cheerful voice snapped Cocytus out of his concentration. He sheathed his weapons and offered a hand to the Eclipse Knight.

"You. Fought. Well. I. Would. Like. To. Have. A. Rematch. Someday."

The knight took his hand and Cocytus helped it to its feet.

"That was a great fight. I want all of you to learn from it."

The majority of the Guardians nodded but Aura seemed confused.

"Right! But, uh, how does this help me or Mare? He is a caster and I fight more effectively with my beasts."

"Yes, well, you can still learn by understanding the general flow of battle as well as seeing the decisions made in the heat of battle. And I will eventually have both you and Mare fight as well."

"So I can go all out in my fight?"

"Yes. That is the purpose of the exercise, to challenge you so you may grow and improve."

'Hopefully she buys it.'

As soon as Azirim returned to Nazarick he had Medulla report to Ainz, Albedo and Demiurge while he headed straight for his small office in the Vault.

Azirim picked through intelligence reports gathered by Albedo and Demiurge and sorted them based on order of importance. He also made a mental note to deploy the Ninth Legion to keep an eye on some of the more uncertain elements.

'Dragon Lords, Slane Theocracy, Corpus of the Abyss, Party of the Grand Hero, surviving Thirteen Heroes. Looks like I will be very busy soon.'