Duel at Loyts

Duel at Loyts was a battle that took place near the city of Loyts between Sorcerer King Ainz and Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth, alongside the latter's Demon Maids, during the latter's siege on the Roble Holy Kingdom. In reality, though, it was merely a set-up designed to fake the former's death.

Background
After the Siege of Loyts, Ainz Ooal Gown used [Greater Teleportation] to return to the Great Tomb of Nazarick. There he reunited with Albedo, Demiurge, and Lupusregina Beta at the Log Cabin just outside the outskirts of the dungeon. The Overlord reviewed the developments in the Roble Holy Kingdom to clarify his actions, like saving its citizens despite his previous intentions. Though the three present did not object to his actions, judging them to be just and right. Despite having planned something originally for the Holy Kingdom, Ainz claims that he deliberately introduced a flaw to the plan. In the initial plan, Ainz intended to take the people of the Holy King who were enthralled with him to the Abelion Hills.

Instead now Ainz will go there first and there will spread the news of his death. Upon hearing the last part of the idea, Albedo protested as it was unthinkable to announce Ainz's death. Demiurge though being more reasonable asked his master to explain himself. Due to their apprehension to the idea, Ainz explained that the announcement would serve as a disaster drill to mentally prepare Nazarick in times of emergencies. As for the possibility of the scenario of Ainz dying for real, the two Floor Guardians have two differing paths. Albedo's path would be to exact revenge on the ones who killed Ainz, whereas Demiurge's path would prepare for their master's resurrection. The two's different priorities only distresses Ainz thus solidifying the need for the implementation of his training drill to prepare the NPCs for when he actually dies so that Nazarick will not be stuck in functioning. The Overlord explains that after the exercise of his fake death will allow them the premise to conduct other activities. At the same time Ainz order progress on the Statue of Ainz Ooal Gown to cease on the grounds that his greatness is not something that could be expressed through material objects. Ainz then discussed the details with Demiurge on summoning Jaldabaoth to attack Loyts and engage him in a fight. Additionally Ainz called Demiurge to assist in moving forward a personal project he had.

Battle
Three weeks after the siege on Loyts, Jaldabaoth as instructed attacked the city, enveloping it in fire. The Liberation Army's forces were unsure of the Demon Emperor's goals, but assumed that the demon was targeting Prince Caspond or the resistance's leadership. The Sorcerer King having been alerted to the danger sent orders for Neia Baraja's Archery Unit to prepare for battle and evacuate the city to the east gate. It was believed that the unit would be of no use in fighting the Demon Emperor, but would be better suited to deal with possible demons that might appear in the chaos outside the city. Ainz Ooal Gown with his squire Neia then flew over the chaos of the masses escaping the conflagration towards Prince Caspond's base. The two were brought in amidst the leadership of the resistance still unable to locate the Demon Emperor's presence. They were also greatly concerned over the fire in the city as it did not seen natural. Though having heard of the phenomena from Blue Roses, they deduced that it was safe to pass through and Ainz was able to confirm that the flames improved the negative-karma attributes. After being told that demons would appear within the area of the flames, Remedios Custodio planned to gather units there to engage them.

Just as a paladin asked Ainz if he could use his magic to pinpoint the Demon Emperor's location, said demon broke through the wall of the base wielding a lower body as a weapon in hand. Remedios recognizing the corpse as her dear friend, immediately charged at Jaldabaoth. Her foolish action earned her a blow that sent her crashing back against a wall together with the lower torso that the demon discarded. The Demon Emperor noticing the Sorcerer King in the room then introduced himself to the undead. He commented that the undead was strong, stronger than even Momon. From the hole that the demon made, two of the Demon Maids emerged. Seeing them Ainz paused unsure as to how to proceed. Neia thinking that the undead was concerned for the well being of the people in the room, urged her master not to worry about them as they will manage. Just before the two powerful entities square off, Remedios having recovered from the trauma of holding what was left of her friend took her holy sword and stabbed the demon in the back. The strike did not have any effect on Jaldabaoth calling it a mere prick. Finding the paladin boring to deal with the Demon Emperor then turned to facing the Sorcerer King who he announced that he will kill. Taking flight, Jaldabaoth took to the air with his Demon Maids. Ainz Ooal Gown readied to follow, and was briefly stopped by Remedios begging him to allow her to fight with him and be given a weapon that could harm the demon. Ainz refused, bluntly stating that she would only be a burden. Caspond made orders for the evacuation of the city to Remedios and to allow the Sorcerer King to confront the Demon Emperor. The paladin captain listening to reason obeyed and ordered the remains of Calca's corpse be preserved. The prince apologized to Ainz for the rudeness the captain had treated the undead which Ainz accepted. The undead promised to give the fleeing humans thirty minutes to buy them time to distract the demon. The leadership of the Liberation Army quickly left the demolished room, leaving only Ainz and Neia, who wished to join her liege in the fight. Her assistance was declined by Ainz, who feared that the demon would use her as a hostage should the opportunity presented itself. Despite Neia's insistence and willingness to sacrifice herself, Ainz refused to put her in harms way. His own weakened status was brought up, and Ainz confirmed that he was not at full strength but would not abandon his duel with Jaldabaoth as it was a matter of pride as a king.

The Sorcerer King then set out towards where Jaldabaoth was waiting for him. Along the way he called two Hanzos that were discreetly following him to check if anyone was observing him. Once he received a negative report, and from the other teams, it confirmed to Ainz that there was no evidence of any players in the Holy Kingdom. At the city square, Ainz found Jaldabaoth waiting for him and graciously greeted. Since their surroundings had been clear of any interlopers, the two conversed on the plan to proceed with the duel. At present there was, members of the Pleiades composed only of Yuri Alpha and Lupusregina Beta. It was requested by Albedo that they participate, hence explaining their presence to add some more weight to Jaldabaoth's fight with Ainz. Also the two maids were sent to confirm if their master was absolutely sure to leave Nazarick unsupervised in the coming year. Before ending the meeting, preparations were made to adhere to a request by Cocytus to make a record of the battle as well as to ensure the activity did not interfere with the anti-divination barriers. Momonga was about to end the meeting when he learned that the maids before him were not actually the members of the Pleiades but Greater Doppelgängers from the Erich String Orchestra but equipped with maids' equipment. Once the confusion wore off and other details on how the fighting should proceed with the intent to kill each other, Momonga flew into the sky with the Demon Emperor pursuing.

To add some space between his pursuer, Momonga cast [Greater Teleportation] to bring him a kilometer away. To protect himself from bludgeoning damage, Momonga casted [Body of Effulgent Beryl]. Topping it off with [Widen Magic Delay Teleportation] to prevent Jaldabaoth from getting the drop on him. The arcane magic caster then proceeded to freefall back down to the city square to search for the demon. He found the doppelgänger of Lupusregina and selected her as his target seeing that her healing abilities would be an issue. He tried to use [Reality Slash] but the spell was interrupted by a ranged attack. Ainz briefly though it was not from his accomplices but a third party, but soon corrects himself as it is from the imposter Yuri who closed in to attack him. Ainz was able to evade it by enhancing his defense with a spell. Now more wary against being trapped by his opponents and sees that the imposter Pleaides are actually in the town square. The Evil Lord finally catches up to Ainz and casts [Greater Word of Curse], but Ainz was able to resist it as it was only effective in close combat. Ainz then targeted Lupusregina, when a doppelgänger of Entoma Vasilissa Zeta attacked him with Bullet Bugs. The attack not really harming did not dissuade him from his attack on Lupusregina who he deemed a greater threat due to her healing abilities. Soon enough Solution Epsilon leaped in front of Lupusregina to protect her.

Initially planning to resume the attack, Ainz realized that Narberal Gamma was still unaccounted for causing him to reconsider fighting in the midst of the enemy. Using [Greater Teleportation] Ainz retreated to a roof of one of the buildings. While figuring which of the Dopple-Pleiades to attack, Lupusregina casted a spell to enhance Solution and Jaldabaoth arrived to the area. Ainz attempted to snipe Lupusregina from his position using magic but was interrupted by a shot form CZ2128 Delta. The distraction was enough for the Evil Lord Wrath and the maids to close in on Ainz's location.

Shocked at he had been made, Ainz tried to flee before they could entrap him. Jaldabaoth and Yuri flanked Ainz in pursuit. The magic caster evaded the physical attacks thanks to his evasion techniques he practiced with Cocytus. The magic caster was in arms reach of the demon and casted [Energy Drain]. Using the demon's own energy, Ainz replenished himself from all the damage he took. Weakened Jaldabaoth backed away in surprise. Verifying the positions of his enemies, save for CZ's who's location was unknown to him, Ainz casted [Maximize Magic Nuclear Blast]. The area of effect knocked all of them away though it did damage him somewhat as well but it was mitigated by his [Body of Effulgent Beryl]. Not only that, the surrounding buildings were swept away creating a wide space. Ainz had used the spell intending to draw out any other maids that were hiding, such as CZ. He spotted Lupusregina climbing out of the rubble, marking her as his next target and used [Reality Slash] on her, inflicting a wound on her. The attacks on his opponents pressed on, with Momonga activating [widen Magic Shark Cyclone] to engulf Yuri and the Evil Lord. So far the only maids in his sight were Entoma, Solution and a injured Lupusregina, yet CZ2128's exact location eluded him. The doppelgänger of Entoma tried to use her insect summons to stall Ainz, but he quickly cut them down using [Reality Slash], [Greater Teleportation] and [Twin Maximize Magic Reality Slash].

Keeping with his part as their opponent, Ainz cast [Perfect Unknowable] on himself, vanishing from the maids' and demon's sight. Though there was some initial confusion, Lupusregina is able to see his using her own skill just as the Evil Lord and Yuri break free from the cyclone. To quickly defeat Yuri and avoid causing the death of the doppelgänger, Ainz dispelled his invisibility and casted [Triplet Maximize Magic Vermilion Nova]. The attack caused Yuri to be weaken and Ainz recast his invisibility spell. At this point his opponents call out to him to stop hiding and face them, though Ainz pointed out that they were hiding CZ. Despite Ainz's invisibility, Jaldabaoth located him using [Soul-Bought Miracle] and charged into the undead, sending him flying. The undead managed to regain control of himself by using [Fly] and retaliated using [Triplet Maximize Magic Magic Call Greater Thunder] striking the demon three times with elemental damage before using [Perfect Unknowable] to hide again much to the ire of maids. Jaldabaoth devising a method to draw Ainz out, orders the maids to use area attacks on just on the vicinity but on himself as well. Entoma complied breathing [Fly Breath] attacking Ainz but leaving the demon unhurt. Yuri following the insect maid's lead used her Kibakushou to aim at Ainz once Lupusregina identified his whereabouts. Her attacked missed him and Ainz launched a spell of [Twin Maximize Magic Vermillion Nova], taking out the maid.

Aftermath
The battle wrecked havoc on the city of Loyts. The defenders of Loyts watch the battle unfold in awe of the spectacle. Ainz Ooal Gown takes to the sky with Jaldabaoth ascended into the air to follow. The two continue to attack one another, creating a light show in the sky. Eventually the casting ceases and Jaldabaoth descends back to the city walls where he announces to the remaining forces of the Liberation Army that though the Sorcerer King was a mighty opponent he was dead. Among the gather is Neia Baraja who adamantly refuses to believe the Demon Emperor thinking he must be lying. The demon openly declares that he was impressed by the undead's determination to protect the humans, and out of respect informs the humans that he will spare them for now at least until he recovers from his wounds. Just as Jaldabaoth turns to depart, Neia uses the Ultimate Shooting Star Super to shoot an arrow at the demon who catches it. The demon recognizes aloud that the weapon to be a potent creation of runecraft and demands to Neia where she got it. Ignoring his open questions Neia continue to shoot at the demon with her weapon, but he manages to evade the attacks. As very little progress is made get a response from the grief stricken human, Jaldabaoth uses [Greater Teleportation] to change locations from the area.

Still refusing to believe Ainz to be dead Neia urges the leadership of the Liberation Army to send out a rescue party to search for him. Her words manage to garner some support from the rank and file, but Prince Caspond refuses to send out a team east to search for the Sorcerer Kingdom, nor willing to dispatch an envoy to the Sorcerer Kingdom to inform the nation of their king's possible demise in order to maintain plausible deniability and avoid retribution from its undead armies. Additionally as the army Casponded wanted focus their efforts in further weakening Jaldabaoth by eliminating his remaining demi-human forces. Through this the princes hopes to win the support of the southern nobles and retake the kingdom. To do so the prince intends to first liberate Kalinsha as a more solid home base. More to the point if sending a search team would be a waste of resources as they did not know where the Sorcerer King ended up when he was defeated by Jaldabaoth. However Caspond agreed to permit Neia to lead a recovery team only within the territory reclaimed by the Liberation Army and if there were adequate preparations.

Though dissuade from pursuing a search for Ainz Ooal Gown, Neia Baraja was supported by others who believed like that the Sorcerer King survived and were willing to contribute to help look for him. In addition Ainz Ooal Gown left behind something useable to the resistance forces. From what the Liberation Army was able to tell the Sorcerer King, before going missing in his duel against the Demon Emperor, managed to usurp control over one of the Demon Maids known as CZ2128 Delta. The maid remained with the human army who summarily captured her, unsure of her loyalties but would eventually agree to trust her and allow her to partake in a rescue mission vital to the recapture of Kalinsha.

Unknown to the human parties and demi-humans parties involved, Ainz Ooal Gown's vanishing act was all part of a ruse. It was devised not just to test the adaptability of his subordinates but also give Ainz some liberty in his movements so that he could free the Abelion Hills and return as the savior to the Holy Kingdom. And CZ placement in the Liberation Army's forces was to keep watch on their progress as well as to somehow promote runecraft items.