Chapter 30: The Battle at the Manor

Peyton Manor sprawled wide but felt eerily empty, not a soul in sight.

Past the rusty manor gates stood a small marble castle, its back flanked by a birch grove, leaves nearly gone. Bare branches cradled a few quirky wooden cabins nestled among them.

Late autumn's dry, chilly wind whistled through. The castle's windows were all shut tight, its broad balcony deserted, save for a few black birds perched on the red-tiled roof, croaking hoarsely now and then—a bleak, desolate scene.

This four-story castle, the manor's centerpiece, clearly wasn't built for fending off invaders anymore but served as a cozy retreat for the empire's nobles.

The evil creatures they were tasked to hunt down were, without a doubt, most likely lurking inside.

EeDechi led the way, with Barrett close behind, gripping a small round shield. Stella, clutching her staff, followed, and Sean brought up the rear. The four of them cautiously pushed open a half-ajar oak door and stepped into the castle.

Beyond the door stretched a long corridor, lined with ornate iron doors leading to various rooms. At its end, a spiral stone staircase coiled upward. The place was dead silent, as if no one had ever lived there.

Stella softly chanted a spell, her short magic staff glimmering with interwoven blue and gold light. A faint ripple of magic spread out, enveloping them in a 2nd Tier Divine Magic aura called "Saint's Blessing." This glowing halo dulled the fear humans felt facing undead creatures and boosted their damage against those unholy beasts.

Following EeDechi's orders, she was clad head to toe in chainmail, her soft chestnut hair tied back into a sleek ponytail. 

Despite this, the silver orchid hairpin pinned at the end of her hair under the helmet showed her determined effort to maintain her sense of beauty.

Sean gripped a short sword in one hand and a hardwood crossbow in the other, eyes darting around, ready for any sudden trouble. He stuck close to Stella, his stance screaming he'd do whatever it took to keep her safe.

Barrett, shield in his left hand, nudged open a room's door with the short sword in his right, using his small round steel shield for cover as he peered inside.

His usual mid-sized tower shield and giant sword were stashed in his spatial ring. Every seasoned adventurer knew to switch up their gear for the situation. In tight quarters like these, short weapons were the smarter call for whatever might come.

"BANG! "

The three spun around, startled, as their captain, EeDechi, kicked open another door nearby and strode in like she owned the place.

Barrett let out a breath, feeling his attempt at stealth was a wasted effort. He led Sean and Stella into the room to scope it out.

The room was dim, empty, with only a waist-high cabinet against one wall. Its closed doors bore a few dark red bloodstains.

Barrett sniffed lightly. The air carried a faint whiff of blood, laced with a strange rotten stench. He was tempted to crack open the cabinet, curious if some noble's valuables were stashed inside, but in the end, he kept his hands to himself.

Barrett stepped out of the room, glancing at the others. "Looks like nothing's wrong here…"

Before he could finish, all hell broke loose!

With a crack, the cabinet door splintered, wood chips flying as a withered hand shot out. A fanged, ashen-faced figure lunged forward—a vampire! Barrett ducked low, slamming his round shield into the vampire's outstretched hand. Its razor-sharp nails screeched across the steel, sparking wildly.

His short sword slashed downward, hacking off the vampire's right leg. The bloodsucker, with its piss-poor Martial Arts, crashed to the ground. Barrett followed up with a heavy swing, driving his blade through its skull, snuffing out its feeble soul's flame for good.

Behind him, zombies and skeletons, clutching battered spears and iron swords, poured out from the corridor's depths and behind several iron doors. A swarm of Low-level undead, all zeroing in on the four adventurers.

Their shriveled, ghastly faces split into grins, sunken eye sockets glowing red with a hunger for living flesh.

The clash of steel, the chant of spells—it all erupted into chaos. The fight was on.

…

"What the hell's going on?"

At that moment, in the grand hall on the tenth floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown paced across a deep crimson velvet carpet, his voice edged with irritation. "What's going on? All the detection and monitoring magic and magical devices are failing!"

Before him, floating magical screens hovered in the air, each displaying images of rooms, hallways, the castle, and the birch grove—scenes from Peyton Manor, with every room clearly visible.

This so-called quest was a setup orchestrated by Ainz himself, targeting EeDechi, an adventurer of unknown identity and strength, to gauge her combat prowess.

Sebas's earlier investigation revealed that all surveillance spells, scrying magic, and magical devices failed when used on EeDechi.

At first, Ainz brushed it off. He had Shalltear litter Peyton Manor with a ton of surveillance magic items, including some seriously high-level Divine Artifact gear.

The plan was simple: while EeDechi fought for her life in the manor, Ainz could kick back, watch the show live, and size up her skills—pure bliss. But now, even though his minions reported that EeDechi's crew had entered the manor, the surveillance feeds showed not a single trace of them.

The detection magic aimed at EeDechi was top-tier, on par with tenth-tier spells, meaning only tenth-tier magic or Super-Tier Magic could counter it. Yet, according to Sebas, EeDechi gave off no magical aura and hadn't been seen casting any spells.

"Lord Ainz, perhaps she possesses a World Item that blocks detection," said a tall, white-robed beauty with black wings sprouting from her back, standing nearby.

Ainz turned to the overseer of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, mulling it over. "Could she be another player who crossed over? But I don't recall any World Item with anti-detection as its main gig."

World Items were called world-class for a reason—their insane powers to destroy, create, or resurrect. Ainz had never heard of one designed just to block detection.

He unfurled a message scroll and sent out an order: "Sebas, this girl might have a World Item. Be on your guard! Send in the Low-level monsters first, then have the maid squad move in when the time's right."

…

In Peyton Manor, EeDechi swung her giant sword like a whirlwind, mowing down undead and vampires like they were straw. Piles of broken bones and severed limbs littered the ground, and the sturdy marble walls bore deep gashes from her blade.

Nearby, Barrett braced his half-person-high tower shield, holding back the undead onslaught. Behind him, the young cleric girl shouted, her voice sharp as she pointed her staff: "Holy Light's Grace!" The divine magic flared, forcing back a swarm of undead.

As the skeleton soldiers fell back, a vampire in tattered robes lunged at Stella. But a single enchanted arrow, fired straight into its eye socket, ended its charge—and its life.

Sean lowered his longbow, rolling his sore shoulder. He'd loosed nearly forty arrows, pushing his stamina to the limit. But one glance at Stella, the cleric by his side, and his resolve kicked back in. He psyched himself up: if he couldn't handle these monsters, how could he protect the girl he loved?

They'd lost count of how many waves they'd beaten back. The undead kept coming, like a relentless tide—receding only to crash in again.

Creating Low-level undead wasn't exactly high-tier magic, but it wasn't cheap to churn them out like this either. Whoever was behind these undead must've been out of their mind—there were enough to form a legion and storm a city's knight garrison. Wasting them on this was plain nuts.

Barrett took a deep breath, steadying himself. While the undead fell back, he yanked out a vitality potion, bit off the oak cork with his teeth, and chugged the orange-yellow liquid in one go.

Adventurers thrived on hit-and-run tactics—finish the job if you could, bolt if you couldn't. A drawn-out slugfest like this was something lone adventurers avoided at all costs. Truth be told, if EeDechi weren't soaking up most of the heat, they'd have been swamped by the undead ages ago.

The priority was finding the mastermind pulling these undead strings and taking them out fast, Sean thought, as Stella cast a 2nd Tier blessing spell on him, perking up his mind and body.

Martial Art: Heightened Senses.

Under Barrett's defense, Sean activated his ranger-archer Martial Art, scanning the surroundings. Soon, he spotted a figure in noble attire deep in the corridor, wielding a staff and directing something—an undead master!

A necromancer!

Sean shouted to EeDechi, pumped: "Captain, I found the one calling the shots! That Magic Caster's right there!" He pointed toward the figure.

EeDechi's face darkened. "CHARGE!" she barked, brandishing her giant sword. With zero hesitation, she carved through the undead like a storm tearing through leaves, barreling toward the necromancer.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Barrett groaned, watching his captain sprint off. He hefted his tower shield, taking point, and led Sean and Stella in a mad dash to catch up with EeDechi.