Chapter 109

                                    

                                          

Reyshifting, the method used to travel to the Singularity, usually did not cause any negative side effects on Ainz or the Servants. Therefore, as soon as Ainz heard a tearing cough from his Servants immediately after arriving at the Singularity, he was instantly alarmed. Is the enemy already here!?
Thankfully for Ainz's sanity, it was not. A few moments later what had happened to the Servants became clear in front of his eyes. Or more specifically, it didn't.
The first thing Ainz noticed was the smell. Then a familiar burning sensation in his eyes, making Ainz blink in confusion and to wipe the tears that were building up in his eyes.
"Ho?" Smog. A heavy, suffocating, gray-brown smog. So heavy that one would be swimming in it instead of walking. A thick layer of smog is the only thing in front of Ainz.
Ainz blinked again. This situation was familiar to him. Actually, very much so.
The same kind of smog usually hung on the streets of the cities of his past life.
Burning face and poisoned air, burning out the eyes and forcing a person to choke from one breath in a senseless attempt to defend themselves, trying to cough up their lungs full of smog. At least to those to not have the good sense to wear a gas mask.
Of course, such a thing would only be true for a normal person. Satoru Suzuki, Ainz, who has now possessed the body of a Servant - and, moreover, a powerful undead, all this, moreover, wrapped in a body created by Da Vinci, just breathed the air in an unusually calm manner. For a second even forgetting about the Servants nearby.
'Sulfur gas...' Ainz inhaled. It's funny, he had spent his entire life under the polluted atmosphere of Earth that he could now even determine the composition of the smog that had descended on him by only half-forgotten sensations and smells -
'Hydrogen sulfide... Nitrogen dioxide... A little bit. Gasoline? No, benzpyrene gives a different taste in the mouth... Soot. A lot of soot... '
After another second of a fitful nostalgia, a wave of fire engulfed the entire surrounding space. Like the fire of purification, the flame engulfed the smog. Fortunately, the wave of fire passed harmlessly, practically circling Ainz's figure. The flame rushed forward, burning out the smog that was surrounding Ainz and the Servants. The flame left several tens of meters of fairly even circle of empty space surrounded by fire.
"Kha!" Someone coughed loudly and with extreme indignation behind Ainz's back, forcing Ainz to turn around, finally remembering about his Servants, "Why the hell did I end up in this cesspool?!"
"Watch your tongue, Nobunaga," Arthuria's voice sounded cold enough, but Ainz could also easily determine that the speaker was experiencing some difficulties. Apparently, even for the True King of England, London's smog did not pass without leaving a trace, "You are now standing in Londinium, the capital of Britain."
"This place does not cease to be a cesspool due to the fact that you have personal attachments to it", - Nobunaga replied sharply, after which the flame instantly flared up around her to relieve her even of the remnants of smog around her completely, - "I did not come here to... to choke on the smoke!"
"But, how did it happen exactly?", - Da Vinci instantly intervened before the two Servants started butting heads, before Ainz could do the same himself, and then turned to Ainz, - "Anyway, hmm... Ideas why such a thing appeared here at all?"
'Honestly, I would like to ask you about it...' Ainz sighed inwardly. No, definitely, there were negative traits in his act as a titan of intellect... But, if nothing else, Ainz knew how to use the information he had to the best he could.