Previously, Ellie's speculation that the Eight Greed Kings were a group of elementary school-level players was likely correct.
Because Ellie saw eight quite massive statues, posed in various familiar ways, standing on the grand avenue leading to the magnificent main entrance of the palace. It seemed these eight statues were indeed the Eight Greed Kings.
Ellie looked closely for a moment, 'Aren't these all JoJo poses? So there's a JoJo fan among these people!'
Seeing this, Ellie initially just felt a sense of amusement, but upon seeing the statue placed at the very end, Ellie couldn't smile anymore.
Because the figure on the last statue, its modeling was too similar to the statues of the Six Great Gods that Ellie had seen earlier in the Slane Theocracy.
That alone wasn't all... what surprised Ellie even more was that behind each statue was a large banner, similar to Nazarick's personal crest banners. What surprised Ellie was that the crest behind that particular statue was actually Nazarick's banner.
After careful observation, Ellie also noticed... that the statue really did resemble her. The previous statue among the Six Great Gods was completely unidentifiable, but the craftsmanship here was much finer than in the Slane Theocracy.
More importantly, this was a colored version, so the similarity to Ellie was even higher. Plus, the statue was also wearing a set of pure white Champion Armor. Although many parts of its structure differed from Ellie's current Champion Armor, the overall color scheme and structure were very similar, both predominantly white.
Then, a red cape and red trim served as accents. Although the hairstyle of the figure on the statue was different from her own—she always had simple long, straight black hair—
the statue's hair was styled like the 'Aho-ge King' from a certain game, coiled up, but the hair color was exactly the same: black with a slight pink tint at the ends.
Fortunately, Ellie found one place where she was distinctly different: her eyes. She had very chuunibyou-like heterochromatic eyes, while the figure on the statue had a pair of deep blue eyes. This made Ellie breathe a sigh of relief. If even this point was the same, Ellie wouldn't know how to explain it.
After all, such a high degree of similarity was already strange enough. If even her chuunibyou characteristic was the same, she would probably suspect that she had traveled to the past to cause trouble, and this statue was her own.
Fortunately, this distinction indeed made Ellie breathe a sigh of relief. After all, the other three also stopped in front of that statue, observing Ellie while looking at the statue, clearly playing'spot the difference.' However, these three had never seen Ellie in her full Champion Armor, so they could only judge by her appearance.
"She really looks like little sister Ellie, doesn't she!" Ligurit said, smiling as she looked at the statue. No wonder that fellow's attitude was a bit strange when she first saw her. This was her second time here, so it was normal for her to have seen this statue.
"I just feel like it's an older Lord Ellie!" Bell added. As for Uncle Ged... he was probably more interested in the craftsmanship of these statues. He had already almost gone to the other Eight Greed Kings' statues to carefully observe the details, almost touching them. He probably feared being discovered by the Heavy Armor Knight in front, so he didn't make a move.
"..." Although Ellie really wanted to complain, she was now even doubting if this person was her relative. But since she had to pretend to be Lord Bai Xia in front of the Heavy Armor Knight, Ellie could only endure it.
According to descriptions seen in the original web novel, the Eight Greed Kings were seven men and one woman. Combining what the Elf King said earlier, and the attitude of those Dragon Maids towards her, then this statue must be the so-called Bai Xia.
Such a high degree of similarity... it's no wonder they would mistake her. But didn't these people notice that her eye color was completely different from Lord Bai Xia's? Isn't that a pretty big difference?
Then, after excluding the appearance issue, the next problem was the Nazarick crest. This was the second time Ellie had seen the Nazarick crest outside of her own home.
The first time was on Zesshi Zetsumei's cape, and the second time was here. Previously, Ellie's judgment was that Lord Bai Xia should be the mysterious ninth person maneuvering between the Six Great Gods and the Eight Greed Kings, after all, it's common knowledge that the Four Heavenly Kings have five people!
What's more, the Eight Greed Kings. But this statue in front of her directly overturned Ellie's previous speculation. This person was also one of the Eight Greed Kings. But if that's the case... what about the Six Great Gods who saved humanity back then?
Ellie had already decided that this Bai Xia should also be one of the Six Great Gods, after all, the statue seen in the Slane Theocracy, and the equipment used by Zesshi Zetsumei, were all consistent. This also aligned with the saying that Zesshi Zetsumei inherited many pieces of equipment from the Six Great Gods. So how should the Eight Greed Kings be explained?
This Bai Xia is also one of the Eight Greed Kings! Is she a traitor from among the Six Great Gods? Uh... Ellie was not very happy thinking about this possibility. Although it was certainly true that this Bai Xia was definitely not herself, someone with a face similar to hers doing such things made Ellie's mood a bit subtle.
Nevertheless, this was also a very important piece of information for Nazarick. At least, that crest strongly suggested that Bai Xia might also be from Nazarick.
If that's the case... this Bai Xia is actually a three-faced bitch! However, given that Bai Xia still used Nazarick's crest as her representative crest among the Eight Greed Kings, I should still discard that somewhat harsh-sounding statement!
After all, she is still alive, merely sealed in the Evaluation Country. It's better to speak less ill of her. Since she's not dead, there might be a possibility of meeting in the future.
Although my constitution is special, I can't stand up to fighting a real player. At my current level, I can't even defeat one of my own Guardians, let alone a player.
Uh... if this trip can end safely, this matter must be reported to Ainz-papa. After all, Ainz-papa, this empty-nest old bone, still needs care. Ainz-papa's original intention for Nazarick to emerge from underground was merely to find companions who might have also transmigrated here; it was just a misunderstanding by Demiurge.
It's rare to have information about a companion now, and a living one at that. This should be enough to make Ainz-papa happy for a while.
However... the Evaluation Country might be in trouble next. Previously, in the Black Worker arc, didn't Hekkeran of the Four Strategists lie and trick Ainz-papa into believing his companions allowed him to enter, directly enraging Ainz-papa? Their fate wouldn't be so tragic, would it?
"Bai Xia... Lord Ellie, the main hall is not a place I can enter. I can only bring you this far." The Heavy Armor Knight turned around and bowed to Ellie, saying.
"You've worked hard." Ellie subconsciously replied directly.
Uh... having gotten used to answering the Dragon Maids and Vampire Brides in Nazarick, she just blurted it out.
She originally wanted to ask him, if he didn't lead the way and there was no one inside, what should she do or where should she go? But now that she had already said that, it was hard to call him back to continue leading. What do you mean 'a place I cannot enter'? The Eight Greed Kings are indeed a bunch of elementary school students, not even allowing guards into the main hall?
"Another Lord will be waiting for you in the main hall, so please allow me to return to my post." The knight continued.
"Then you may return!" Hearing this, Ellie felt much relieved. So there are other attendants inside. Then you are useless. Go back to guarding your gate!
Uh... wait a moment, it's too early to be happy. What did that knight just say? 'Another Lord'? He used honorifics, so that means, the one guarding the main hall is at least someone of status? An existence similar to a Nazarick Guardian? Will I be exposed like this?
She could only brace herself and go in. She had never admitted that she was that Bai Xia; it was always others who misunderstood on their own. If she was exposed, she could only use this excuse to get by.
So, Ellie, having steeled herself, confidently walked ahead. She wanted to see who this person, possibly similar to a Guardian, truly was.
After reaching the tightly shut main hall doors, the enormous doors opened in response. No one touched any part of them. Automatic doors? Quite high-tech!
After the gate opened, Ellie's eyes were met with a spacious main hall. The overall design was similar to Nazarick's main hall, but the difference was that there was no throne like Nazarick's in the center. Instead, there were eight chairs of various styles, four on each side, arranged left and right. Moreover, on the stone pillars behind the chairs, there were crests representing individuals, which was the same as Nazarick.
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