Thinking about the resolution of Singularity (243) (Patreon)

Ereshkigal's tale was intriguing, not so much from the standpoint of providing clarification necessary for Ainz to determine his next course of action, but at least as a source of valuable information on its own. It wasn't that Ainz particularly enjoyed chatting about life situations with people he was unfamiliar with, at least not unless they were his Servants for whom Ainz, within his capabilities, strove to be a good boss. 

However, any information, especially under such complicated circumstances as the current Singularity, would never be useless for Ainz. Therefore, Ainz immersed himself carefully in Ereshkigal's story, a significant portion of which coincided with Merlin's previous account but shed light on certain information that the latter preferred not to disclose so readily.

For example, the initial emergence of the Singularity of Babylon was due to three goddesses, one of whom was Ereshkigal, another referred to as Quetzalcoatl, and the third being Tiamat. The Three Goddesses opposing the course of human history, which was supposed to erase them from the face of the Earth, which is, despite the resulting Singularity, was understandable. Being Goddesses, they really should have known better, but then the need of survival makes fools of all.

At the very least, Ereshkigal was not aiming for the whole destruction of Humanity, only their continued existence.

However, Tiamat, awakened earlier by Soma—or what was his name?—was a Beast, and Ainz could hear the capital letter, and therefore had a different idea entirely about Humanity as such, and so created a Singularity around her own actions. By effectively wiping out all human lives.

Since even Ainz’s with his inability in social situations, having looked closely at Ereshkigal and her actions, was quite sure that she hardly really wanted to participate in such activities. Especially, the clear worry she displayed for the human souls in her realm was genuine.

As far as Ainz could understand, Ereshkigal was accidentally added to the Alliance of Three Goddesses and joined them exclusively with the aim of saving those people who were supposed to perish as a result of the other goddesses' actions. That is, by transporting their souls the moment their physical body was killed and absorbed.  

Of course, regarding Quetzalcoatl, Ainz could not make such assumptions, especially given the fact that in the previous Singularity, a single Goddess was enough to create a Singularity, but the main problem of the Singularity was clearly in Tiamat... Excluding the fact that Tiamat was not in the Alliance of Three Goddesses.

To be more precise, Tiamat was sealed in the Abyss, a place without the concepts of time or space, and even the Seminar—or what was it called?—could not fully awaken her. However, what about that Seminar? Ainz really needs to ask for a clarification for that, as that is indeed a very strange name, but he was a bit too embarrassed to do so. 

Well, whatever his name is, what the being had managed to do when he had failed to release Tiamat from her seal was to revive Kingu, Tiamat's child. And somehow, while unable to do so himself, plants the thought in him of how exactly he was to awaken Tiamat with the help of the Grail, while also finding a semblance of Tiamat in this world. Gorgon.

Medusa Gorgon.

However, as quickly as Ainz associated this name with one of his Servants in Chaldea, one of those with whom Ainz was in a relationship with, about to rise to her defense, just as quickly Ereshkigal dispelled his thoughts. With a raised eyebrow, informing him that despite the name’s correlation, it was not quite the Medusa that Ainz was familiar with. 

The Medusa he had summoned before was the Medusa Gorgon after she had just been given the curse and had hidden on the Shapeless Island with her sisters living there for some years. 

However, as even Ainz knows, the legend of Medusa did not end with this event. After hiding on the island, the constant murder attempts by ‘heroes’ who wanted to gain the glory of slaying a legendary monster, or just to steal away her sisters, the beauty and eternal life of which had drawn many would-be suitors, who wouldn’t take no for an answer, had led her to degeneration. 

After slaughtering so many for so long, it had led Medusa to transform into the very monster that heroes wanted to destroy. Until in the end she had devoured her own sisters and turned into a beast only wishing to sow destruction and kill the people that wanted to hunt her or innocents alike. That Gorgon had come as close to her monstrous essence as possible, and it was the Servant formed by this part of the legend that the Superman— was that his name, it still sounded wrong? Are used as the false Tiamat, and would be the key to reviving Tiamat. 

This enemy had linked the Gorgon’s essence to Tiamat's, thereafter allowing Kingu to first serve and then in the end betray her, causing her death to reflect on Tiamat and awaken her momentarily from her sleep… 

Which, thankfully, had been stopped by Merlin. While the Gorgon's death was supposed to awaken Tiamat for a moment, which was necessary for Kingu to bring the Grail to the real Tiamat, Merlin orchestrated something unknown to the two goddesses to stop it… Which had directly led the Singularity to its current state. A holding pattern.

The Alliance of Three Goddesses, if it ever really existed, completely fell apart, and Tiamat was now stuck in the endless limbo, still absorbing the destroyed Gorgon.

And it was in this state that Tiamat remained to this day, as Ereshkigal, telling this whole story, was leading Ainz through her kingdom of the dead. She, inwardly rejoicing that she could occupy her unexpected new friend and not let him get bored. Even if the activity was just looking at the desolate landscapes of the world of the dead around them.

Ainz, in honesty, was not even paying attention to those, thoughtfully trying to imagine whether it was worth incorporating the newly acquired information about Tiamat into his not yet compiled action plan regarding her. The fact that Tiamat was originally represented by the now deceased Gorgon seemed important enough for Ainz, but he could not independently imagine how exactly this was important, only that it is. Instead, he spent his time trying to find any more crucial details in the Goddess’ story. 

Merlin had done something to Tiamat, something that he had kept secret from Ainz, which was understandable. But what exactly he did, not even the goddesses themselves, the former ‘allies’ of Tiamat, as far as this term could be applied to the Beast, knew. And although Ainz was not sure how truly important Merlin’s action was concerning Tiamat in the future, knowing it would benefit other ideas regarding what kind of information could provide a breakthrough in his further plans. 

Information that he did not have, which means he needs to gather more information. Which led him to another question, the Abyss. What is it exactly?

As he had thought to ask, the tour ended with a rather unexpected stop for Ainz, the world of the dead descending sharply downward, but at some point, Ereshkigal simply stopped. Forcing Ainz to stop after her, who pointed forward, or well, downwards, as if she's showing a prominent work of art hanging in the central place in the house. In this case the only object differing from all its surroundings in the World of the Dead. 

“Oh…”

It seems that Ainz did not need to ask about the Abyss anymore.

Ainz, momentarily returning from his thoughts, followed Ereshkigal's pointing direction and saw with his eyes… the Abyss.

No further descriptions arose from Ainz's observation.

The black bottomless pit, like a gaping wound in the very fabric of reality, went down into absolute darkness, absorbing any light.

Ainz, looking at it, blinked, pondering for a moment what exactly he was looking at, it was like something that is blacker than black.

The Abyss was exactly what came to mind when you heard the word ‘abyss’— it was a bottomless black chasm, in which it was impossible to make out any object, including, supposedly, Tiamat. And that is why, finding himself next to the Abyss, Ainz found himself at a loss, trying to imagine his next step. 

Originally, he had descended into the realm of the dead to take a look at Tiamat, but with the impenetrable darkness in the way, he certainly couldn't do that. So, he asked the most expected question that could follow. “How can one descend into the Abyss?”

"Oh?" At Ainz’s question, Ereshkigal blinked, after which she shifted her gaze to Ainz, as if to check if she had heard him correctly. "Descend… into the Abyss?"

"Yes," Ainz nodded, after which he shifted his gaze back towards the chasm before him. If he used a spell of flight or teleportation, then he should have had no problem returning, if the chasm separating him was just the issue that would block his path. However, wandering around in unknown territory, surely with its own territorial modifiers, didn't appeal to Ainz at all. 

"Tiamat is sealed inside, right? To look at Tiamat, I need to descend inside."

"Uh… Um..." Ereshkigal, finding no logical counterargument to Ainz's words, could only open and close her mouth several times, speechless, after which she tried to convey her thought, speaking as if what she was talking about was something obvious. Like saying the sky is blue, that water is wet, and that the sun rises in the East.

"But it’s the Abyss!"

"And?" Ainz turned to her, expecting an explanation from the girl, to which she could only respond with another confused blink, repeating her previous point, though at least adding more detail this time. 

"It's the Abyss! No one descends into the Abyss? The Ocean of the Void, spawned by Tiamat! Even the gods, when they sealed Tiamat, did not descend into the Ocean of the Void! This place—it's the cradle of all existence, where Nammu and Abzu meet!"

Ainz, letting the names settle that in any other case he wouldn't have been able to remember immediately, if only they don't start being repeated again and again like Ereshkigal’s, just looked at the black chasm before him attentively, "Okay… what exactly is in the Abyss?"

Ereshkigal, once again unexpectedly thrown off by the question, could only blink owlishly towards Ainz. "What?"

"If Tiamat is in this Abyss, then there must be something else in it as well, some place that can contain Tiamat, right? Hasn't anyone wondered what the Abyss actually looks like?" Ainz pondered for a moment, imagining if such a similar situation would happen in Yggdrasil. 

If a similar mysterious place was suddenly found in Yggdrasil, Players would explore it from end to end ten seconds after someone found an entrance to the Abyss. Well, alright to be honest, the functional immortality the Players have would play a major role in this, as not even the shitty Dev could actually kill people from inside the game.

Dying for real in real life after dying in the game only happens in fiction… And because there’s no way any Game Developer would kill off their own cash cows. Though to be fair, something as unique as a field effect where dying in it would also delete your character is in the realm of possibility for those shitty devs.

"Uh… Um…" Ereshkigal, again confused by Ainz’s question, thought about it for a moment, trying to find another objection or an answer to Ainz's question before latching onto another thought, 

"Tiamat may be in an infinite half-dream, but the Abyss—it's her place of power! Even sealed in the Ocean of the Void, Tiamat is most powerful in this place, any life stemming from Tiamat, any life at all, would instantly find itself lost in the locus of her power, dying almost instantly or worse! Even I, the Goddess of the Underworld, being a creature of death, would not dare to approach Tiamat! After all, even being the Goddess of the Dead, I ultimately come from Tiamat!"

Ereshkigal, satisfied with her answer and convinced that she had managed to persuade Ainz to finally leave the Abyss alone, raised her nose and tilted her chin up, but instead received only a new response from Ainz, "So the fact that you are the Goddess of the Dead somehow protects you from Tiamat's influence?"

"Of course," Ereshkigal, again confused—for the umpteenth time in the last few minutes, frowned, 

"Tiamat is the Goddess of Life, moreover, the Goddess of Primordial Life or the Goddess of the Emergence of Life, the absolute antithesis of the Goddess of the Dead. So, her powers are constrained with respect to the souls of the dead or in the Underworld, which is why she was sealed here, where she is weakest. However, even if that is the case—at the end of the day, I as a Goddess at the very beginning came from Tiamat, who gave birth to all existence. If only I somehow were to originate from something else than this world, then I would be completely immune to her reach and powers! The only one that could be, as Gramps doesn’t count! But seeing as everything living originates from Tiamat, you could see just how special I am, being able to be so close to her jail without succumbing to her control!"

Unable to fully contain herself, Ereshkigal raised her chin up again, clearly proud of such information, clearly forgetting that Ainz was doing exactly as she was doing, and not feeling any sense of lost control at all. This caused Ainz to look at the Abyss once more.

"So, a being associated with death and not originating from this world is the only creature that has a chance to approach Tiamat..." Ainz mumbled thoughtfully to himself before nodding.

“That's exactly what I said,” Ereshkigal, not noticing the small nod from Ainz, graciously nodded back at him.

Ainz, after pondering for a second, came to the conclusion that, lacking any other, more suitable ideas regarding resolving the current Singularity, had a semblance of plan in mind now. He, however, could only sigh at the plan that could turn suicidal very quickly if he was wrong. 

So, with one last affirming nod to himself, he looked at Ereshkigal thankfully for the information she had given him. "It was nice to meet you, Ereshkigal. I hope we will meet again in the future."

Afterward, pushing off easily with his feet, he quickly made his way to the center of the Abyss—and, under the influence of gravity, instantly plummeted down into the gaping chasm below.

Leaving only the loud, confused shout of Ereshkigal behind him.

***

Mashu leaned on her shield, watching as the Sun slowly slid into the Black Sea across the horizon, its rays running over it, turning the terrifying picture of the Apocalypse into almost a scenic one with the way it reflected over the surface. That is, until the evening darkness finally took over the sky, merging with the Black Sea into a single impenetrable carpet of onyx, as if it had swallowed the whole world beyond the walls of Gilgamesh's kingdom… 

Though, why ‘as if’? That's exactly what had happened. Tiamat had engulfed the whole world outside Gilgamesh's realm, and only the trembling remnants of humanity within the walls preserved the possibility that, one day, this Singularity would be resolved and return into the proper course of human history. Twisted, marred by Tiamat’s action, but still alive.

"Thank you so much, Mashu!" An unfamiliar man approached Mashu, smiling as he waved his hand in a friendly gesture at the girl, prompting her to smile back and wave her own hand. "Today we got by without a single death, and the only injuries we got were a couple of bruises and scratches! Your help was indeed indispensable."

"It’s no problem, no need for thanks." Mashu dismissed the words of praise, which still resonated warmly in her heart, smiling all the while. "Just helping to the best of my abilities and possibilities."

The approaching man was about to continue his praise, but with a shout of ‘Lancel!’, probably his name, from behind his back made him smile apologetically at Mashu before turning around and rushing to help the other soldiers. Leaving Mashu alone with her shield and her thoughts.

During her travels through the Singularities… Perhaps calling the Singularities with the goal of restoring human history after many encounters with terrifying opponents, capable of destroying her with one hit, mere ‘travels’ was not quite right. But what could Mashu do? She had already repeatedly faced the thought that she was not a strong Servant. 

To be more precise, she was quite a worthy Servant, she didn't need Galahad to get into another row about how deprecating herself was not healthy, but she was clearly not the strongest fighter in the world. This fact, at least, Galahad would not object to. After all, Galahad is a defender, not an attacking berserker, and the Shielder class did not really lend itself to crazy attacks in the first place.

Though, of course, as Galahad gleefully pointed out, she was not without her own ability to defend herself with violence.

‘Those who underestimate the combat capabilities of the Shielder Class simply have never been hit on the head with a shield before.’ Galahad waxed philosophically, idly floating in Mashu's head, but she turned away from that thought before returning to her contemplations.

Mashu couldn't say she was offended by her current state or the fact that no one considered her a mighty warrior. After all, it was true, and any attempt to say otherwise would have been nothing but empty and unpleasant flattery to Mashu, but she undoubtedly wanted to demonstrate her usefulness to Ainz and help him in resolving the Singularity crisis. 

And, in general, Mashu had done exactly that. She fought in various battles, accompanied Ainz as he solved Singularities, always by his side. Heck, she even managed to beat Poseidon once, how many could boast similar achievements?!

However, for some reason, precisely in this Singularity, having ended up on the wall after musing about the fact that she couldn't help Ainz to resolve the Tiamat problem, Mashu for the first time thought about… That she was doing something good.

Tiamat's monsters were numerous, considering the fact that tomorrow they will appear again, without having thinned out their ranks by even one creature, practically infinite, if not actually so. In other words, this whole struggle with Tiamat, with her creatures, was a doomed one, it was in effect pointless. And yet, time after time, the brave people of Uruk continued to do this, repelling the endlessly surging waves of the Black Sea back into the depths.

And of course, every single one of Tiamat's monsters were not opponents to be taken lightly, as she had not sacrificed quality for quantity overmuch. Even a modern army would have to work very hard to kill a hundred such creatures, let alone the endless thousands of those constantly crawling out of the womb of the Black Sea. 

But a prepared Servant, like Mashu herself, could easily handle those thousands. Especially considering that the fortifications had forced the creatures of Tiamat’s into the most unfavorable position possible. If they wanted to assail the wall’s defendants, and therefore pour forth to the lands behind the walls, they had to create living pyramids to allow at least a couple of creatures high to climb the walls. All this while under the constant fire of arrows and ballistas, and the defendants spears.

‘And you say the shield is a bad weapon. Just let one climb up, it can be knocked back with one blow and that's it, one less enemy, it won't climb again.’ Galahad, still a bit hurt by Mashu's words that his strength belonged to a defender, not an attacker, threw this comment, but Mashu easily ignored it again. Ignoring Galahad’s whining had been an essential ability to learn, in Mashu’s opinion. 

And besides, Mashu’s spirits would not be buoyed by just dealing with a bunch of enemies she was stronger than… Well, that too, of course, but not only by that and not so much.

Probably… The reason why Mashu had found her spirits flagging somewhat, was that she had never been in the position to directly congratulate, nor see the effects she had on the people she protected. The only closest that came to was during the Camelot Singularity, but even that pales more than what is happening now.

It just seems like a series of battle over battles, with nary a moment’s pause. That is, of course, people were always somewhere on the edge of her perception, and her mission was literally to resolve the Singularities in order to save humanity. But at this particular moment in time, after spending next to and face-to-face with soldiers stubbornly fighting another monster climbing the walls, or seeing how her shield blew away another enemy that was about to kill another soldier… Mashu felt for the first time that she was truly protecting people.

Therefore, rising from her position, leaning on her shield, and glancing at the distant walls where night patrol lights had begun to slowly light up, Mashu felt for the first time a sense of… Pride, definitely, but also a feeling that she was… fulfilling her mission? It was as if only now that she had looked into the faces of those very people whom she had been saving all this time, that she understood that it was all not in vain. 

That her actions mattered, that her mission truly existed to protect humanity. 

Because rational and logical understanding of her mission and experiencing it were two entirely different things. Just like looking at a photograph of breathtaking views and being there to see the breathtaking views themselves, seen live for the first time, provoked entirely different feelings.

Mashu's gaze shifted into the distance, towards the Black Sea… That was why she didn’t immediately notice a figure in a white cloak standing out against the pitch-black sky in her peripheral vision. It took a moment, unforgivably long in a battle, for the instincts hammered into her by the previous Singularities made her raise her shield and dodge to the side away from the potential enemy who had unexpectedly appeared near her.

"Well, well, it’s as if you've just seen an enemy! That greatly saddens such a good and friendly magus as myself," Merlin, raising his hands in a conciliatory gesture in front of Mashu, apologetically smiled. "You can lower the shield; there are no enemies here, you have dealt with all the monsters for today."

‘If it’s Merlin, then I advise you not only not to lower the shield but also to slap him across the face with it… Just in case, do it twice.’ Galahad’s warning was one that Mashu couldn't easily ignore. Therefore, it took a couple of seconds, before she could sigh, and lowered her weapon, much to Merlin’s great joy.

"Why are you here?" Memories of her previous interactions with Merlin, and Galahad's own, made Mashu involuntarily regarded the mage with hostility and harshness. But Merlin, not paying any attention to it, probably because he was already used to it, made his way to the edge of the wall as he peered into the Black Sea that is spread to the horizon. 

"Hmm, such an attitude seriously hurts me, Mashu. What have I done to deserve such cold words? I am, after all, the most useful elder brother of humanity on this earth! I even saved the world from destruction, people should celebrate in my honor, and yet everyone treats me like some terrible criminal!"

At these words, Mashu was about to open her mouth to reply to Merlin, before closing it a moment later. Speaking exclusively from a factual standpoint, Merlin really hadn't done anything for which he could be considered a villain, but all his actions, behavior, words… All of that involuntarily stirred up even in the most pacifistic of listeners the desire to at least try to plant their fist on his face. Maybe she should try hitting him once? It would make her feel better at the very least.

‘Mashu, he's getting to you again! He didn't answer your question!’ Galahad, who intervened in Mashu's thought process, made her realize that Merlin had once again diverted her from the original topic of conversation through provocation. ‘Spend as many years with him as I have, and you'll learn to distinguish his tricks.’

"So, why are you here?" Mashu threw a glance at Merlin, returning to the original topic of the conversation, to which Merlin didn't turn around, only continuing to look at the sea that Tiamat had created. "I wanted to take a walk."

"To take a walk? Seriously?" Mashu, not believing a single word, voiced her thoughts, coinciding with Galahad’s own. "Not much of a place for a walk, isn’t it? The walls are constantly under attack by the monsters…"

"But there are no monsters here now, thanks to you! Good job, Mashu!" Merlin smiled his widest smile, increasing the face-punch attracting factor of his face at least tenfold, causing Mashu to involuntarily grit her teeth. It seemed as if every cell of Merlin's was perfectly selected solely to irritate anyone speaking with him.

"You could have helped, you know, rather than arriving or appearing just as the last monsters were pushed off of the walls. That doesn't look like a mere coincidence, actually." Mashu cast another condemning look at Merlin, causing him to contort his face into an expression of offended innocence. 

"What?! At least I came here, while someone didn’t come at all!"

"Because they have their own missions. And what is your mission, o 'royal magus'?" Mashu cast a glance of aspersion at Merlin, not the first time wondering about the function Merlin served in this Singularity. 

Formally, he was Gilgamesh’s subordinate, and each and all of them were busy maintaining order on the walls, while Gilgamesh himself was drowning in bureaucratic work. Everyone was busy, except for Merlin, that is.

Gilgamesh could not, and would not, allow Merlin to be doing nothing at all in his kingdom, so what is his job? Even if Merlin was irritating to the point of spiritual torture, he still remained one of the greatest magi in history and the greatest magus of the Age of Man. However, Merlin somehow was always nowhere to be found when there’s work to be done, only to reappear for no known purpose, so no one could say for certain what he was doing at any given moment.

"Me?" Merlin took a step back, dramatically clutching his heart, "Mashu, you wound me without any sword! I'm saving the world!"

"Everyone in this Singularity is saving the world in one way or another. What exactly are you doing to do that?" Mashu frowned, looking at Merlin with suspicion, making him sigh as if saddened by the fact that no one would take him at his word. 

"I'm saving the world by keeping existential threats in check! For instance, I am holding back Tiamat, by the way, a tremendous task, the achievement of which I've taken upon my shoulders out of love for humanity!"

"By trapping us in an endless war with no chance of victory," Mashu articulated, her thoughts echoing Galahad's word for word. “Can you then really say you're saving the world, or just sealing it on the brink of destruction?”

"Hmm, I can't say your suspicions are entirely unfounded, but…" Merlin paused, raising his finger as if about to clarify some vital information before his face broke into a childlike smile, and he turned away, "Oh, look, a butterfly!"

"Merlin!" Unable to hold back, Mashu used the only argument that seemed effective to her. "I'll tell Ainz that you’re slacking!"

Though, the argument did not sound particularly threatening, more like a child's complaint threatening to tell an omnipotent parental figure that their siblings were doing something wrong. These words however, caused Merlin to instantly divert his attention from the distant butterfly and look at Mashu with something like displeasure, before he exhaled loudly. "You're absolutely no fun—Ainz literally won't let me eat."

"He doesn’t allow you to… Eat?" Mashu pondered for a moment before shaking her head, not allowing another one of Merlin's verbal manipulations to distract her. "No matter, that can be dealt with later, what about your function in the kingdom?!"

"You speak as if my function changes depending on my location," Merlin spread his hands wide, indicating the absurdity of such a suggestion. "As always my goal is to protect humanity, only the approaches to this action changes!"

Noticing that Mashu was readying her shield, Merlin only spread his arms wider. "What else can I say? I've already mentioned that I'm holding Tiamat from awakening until Ainz figures out how exactly he'll deal with her!"

"Wait, what?!" Mashu blinked at his words, looking at Merlin incredulously, "Didn't you follow Gilgamesh's plan to seal Tiamat and allow humanity to slowly reclaim their territory from the Black Sea?"

Seeing that his words had made Mashu lower her shield, and therefore he would not be eating a wall of steel colliding with his face, Merlin continued.

"Of course, it's a necessary part of the plan. You can't wait for reinforcements to arrive without temporarily sealing Tiamat, so Gilgamesh did exactly what was needed!" Merlin beamed, as if he hadn't just confessed to using Gilgamesh's plan as a temporary measure and Gilgamesh himself as a puppet executing it. 

"But an endless holding pattern, hoping that the slow descent would not be catastrophic regardless… Even if I can wait eternally, it doesn't mean I want to do it. Can you imagine how boring it would be for me to sit for thousands of years in my tower watching as Humanity  reconquered Earth meter by meter?!"

Merlin shuddered full bodily, as if the very thought repulsed him deeply.

"In the end, while His Majesty is truly a great hero and king, his omniscience… It's imperfect. He sees all possible outcomes, and finds among them everything possible and probable, but if one of the outcomes is impossible and improbable, His Majesty is too used to dismissing them." Merlin shrugged as if to say ‘what can you do’. 

“I, on the other hand, see the entire world around me. I don't see the outcome of events, but I see the factors interacting with each other… Although observing Ainz has been extremely difficult, I just made a bet. And that bet paid off. So my function now is to keep Tiamat in an unconscious state until Ainz figures out how exactly he'll handle her. And by doing so, I would be saving the world. See, isn’t the world’s best big brother just amazing!?”

After those bombastic words, Merlin suddenly calmed down, pondering about something for a moment before frowning and muttering under his breath, something barely audible. "Though, the fact that someone is constantly hovering on the periphery of my perception is horribly irritating, watching Ainz is already a job in itself, I simply don't have the energy to monitor someone else similar…"

Afterward, Merlin shook his head before smiling at Mashu. "See, you don't have to think of me as an enemy, I've been Chaldea's most loyal ally from the very beginning!"

Hearing those words, Mashu paused for a moment before shaking her head and looking up, her hackles raised. 

"And what about Gilgamesh?! You're also his ally, and yet you just used him and..."

However, Mashu's words were lost in the night's silence, as by the time she looked up, Merlin was no longer there, only an empty battlement where he was supposed to be. His last words remaining on the wind quickly lost, as it was then filled with the din of soldiers quarreling in the distance on the walls and their patrols.

‘And that's why nobody likes Merlin,’ This time it was Galahad who articulated the same thoughts that had crossed Mashu's mind.