Antikythera finished the meeting with the Eight Fingers' leader with a curious tilt of his head. It was a whole lot more productive than he initially thought, and what he assumed were lesser beings were quite competent in terms of organizing crime and subterfuge.

  Gd that this part of his pn was now over with, Antikythera moved on to continue with the rest of his tasks, but something interrupted him. A [Message] came from Albedo. The succubus had an uncharacteristically serious tone as she told Antikythera what had happened.

  'Shalltear has been compromised.'

  Four words. Antikythera slowed down his perception to digest what he heard correctly. The start addressed someone—the guardian of the second and third floors of Nazarick, Shalltear—while the rest of the words described what had happened to her; she had been compromised? How?! That should have been impossible!

  'She betrayed Lord Ainz?' Antikythera guessed. There was only one expnation for why Shalltear would end up in a scenario where she was "compromised," and that would be if she willingly went out of her way to harm Nazarick.

  Undead cannot be mind-controlled. It is simply impossible to do so. Anyone who tried would be foolish, so Shalltear being under such an effect was simply impossible. No matter how much time Antikythera put into understanding the news Albedo gave him, his answer always ended with the fact that Shalltear had betrayed Nazarick.

  'Where is she?' Antikythera's tone turned cold. He pulled out his bayonet and opened a [Gate] to Albedo when he got no reply. He would take care of this problem himself—how dare she throw away the purpose given to her by the Supreme Beings?!

  When his requested portal opened, Antikythera immediately rushed into it. He did not care what the other guardians had to say—he would hunt down Shalltear for her transgressions and ensure that she never saw the glory of Lord Ainz ever again.

  "Sakai, good, you are already here. I want you to tell me where Shalltear is located, and if you do not know, then start searching. I will hunt down that traitor and ensure she regrets her decision."

  Antikythera's eyes scanned the throne room. All the floor guardians were present, and the first floor's area guardian was among them.

  Curiously, none of them acted in panic, nor did Sakai follow his orders. Antikythera paused—was he cking context? Had Shalltear already died?

  "What am I missing?"

  "Shalltear, according to my scouting units, remains stationary in the middle of a forest," Sakai began her expnation. "We do not know what happened to her, but we will ensure that nothing like this ever occurs in the future."

  "She's standing in pce?" Antikythera repeated. "Did she lose her mind?"

  "It seems to be that way," Sakai nodded, "though I fear that it is something else. I do not want to say it out loud since I believe my theory may be false, and I wish to wait for Lord Ainz to reach us before making a hasty decision."

  "You can speak your mind. Even if you're wrong, I will not mind." Removing the mystery of Shalltear's sudden change sounded much better, as they would be able to begin narrowing down what to do next.

  "World Items—" Sakai's decration drew strange reactions, but no one moved to stop her from expining. She opened a hologram and showed it to everyone. "—are possibly in this world. We do not know how many there are, nor do we know who possesses them, but I have no doubt that this situation has something to do with World Items, for they are the only ones capable of mind-controlling Shalltear."

  "Hm," Antikythera considered the thought. He chewed on Sakai's conclusions for a moment or two before stopping. "It is possible, and I will not rule out the possibility. However, there may be another expnation for this—like some unknown Talent Holder."

  Everyone reacted to Antikythera's theory with suspicion.

  "It is possible," Albedo muttered. "One of our experiments has shown remarkable ability due to his talent of being able to use any item, regardless of level and category."

  "We need to eliminate them—the ones responsible for this," Antikythera announced with a tilted head. His servos whirred as he strained his mind to think. "Wherever they are, they now know of Shalltear's existence, and we cannot risk Nazarick being discovered."

  "Do we have any idea who they are?" Everyone turned to Aura, who shrugged. "I'm just asking."

  "Pointless question," Antikythera clicked his tongue. "If we knew the identities of the perpetrators, then we would have already attacked them en masse. I believe Albedo would not just stand by and let Nazarick's name be sullied like this."

  "Correct," the succubus smiled. "This is the kind of disrespect that would put Lord Ainz's pns in jeopardy. We cannot show ourselves as weak."

  "Shalltear failed to do that," Antikythera pointed out.

  "It is only expected for the mprey to be this incompetent," Albedo scoffed. "If I knew she would be this much of a failure, I wouldn't have sent her out there. Maybe another Pleiades taking her pce would have made the difference."

  "The opportunity has already passed," Antikythera waved off Albedo's what-if. "Should Shalltear come out of this as herself, then you can relocate her somewhere where she will not make any more mistakes. For now, we need to solve this."

  Lord Ainz entered the throne room as Antikythera finished saying that. Their Lord walked slowly and carefully until he sat upon the Throne of Kings. He addressed all of them, and they, in turn, called his glorious name.

  "What happened with Shalltear?" Lord Ainz asked. He acted like his proper self at the moment—calm, serious, and wise. He did not slow down, nor did he show signs of pying along with their jokes. Lord Ainz was treating the situation as best as he could.

  "We found her standing still in front of a road. She is currently in a forest, motionless and completely unaware of her surroundings," Albedo told their Lord what he needed to know about Shalltear's situation. "We suspect it is mind control. Sakai suggested it might be a World Item, but Antikythera says it may come from a Talent Holder. Both are probable, seeing as it simply isn't realistic for Shalltear to have been mind-controlled."

  "You're right... It is impossible," Lord Ainz mumbled. "Umu, Antikythera, come with me. I will open a [Gate] to Shalltear's location and see how she's doing."

  Antikythera did not question his Lord's command and followed after him. Together, they came face to face with the unblinking expression of Shalltear. Her facial features did not shift when Lord Ainz neared, and when she was addressed by the Supreme One, she did not answer.

  "Shalltear," Lord Ainz said, his voice sounding reserved. Behind him, Antikythera prepared for a surprise attack. He was ready to move in front of Lord Ainz and push him out of harm's way to personally confront Shalltear himself.

  Nothing happened, however, and Antikythera could feel the confusion emanating from Lord Ainz's form. The next thing the Supreme One checked was whether or not he could break Shalltear's mind control.

  And then Antikythera felt it—power.

  Raw power wafted off Lord Ainz in droves as he activated an item on his finger. The ring glowed, and he said something—a mumble that Antikythera chose not to hear—before then casting a spell.

  "I wish to break Shalltear's mind control."

  A magical circle formed within the earth and began glowing. Then it quickly broke and dissipated into motes.

  Lord Ainz looked around before moving away. "We need to leave," he said, opening a [Gate] and walking through, Antikythera shortly following behind. He did not wait to sit on the throne before announcing his concerning discovery.

  "Sakai is right. We're dealing with World Items."