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Chapter Text

Ainz Ooal Gown was satisfied with his life. The kingdom of Re-Estize had fallen thanks to their new ally in Princess Renner, and the Sorcerer Kingdom was now a fully recognized global power in this New World. But as he walked from the Throne Room towards his personal chambers, he could not help but feel uneasy; Renner was not like the Floor Guardians or the Pleiades in her loyalty to Nazarick, her loyalty was not so fanatical and her obedience not as certain. Though the Guardians thought him infinite in wisdom, he was no genius like Albedo or Demiurge were. Renner, however, was such a genius that she would likely figure him out. Only Albedo’s use of Climb as both carrot and stick was keeping her in line for now, though of course he would take further measures in the future.

Wearied by the long day, the Lord of Nazarick climbed into his magnificent and immense bed, which still only barely fit his massive skeletal frame. After about an hour of trying, he finally dozed off, which as an undead was quite rare for him. Often the night was a time for rest only in the sense that he would not be bothered by his subordinates. As was usual for him since his arrival in this world, he began to dream of the old times back in YGGDRASIL with his guildmates, remembering those happy days with fondness.

Suddenly, though, he perceived himself in the Throne Room again, seated comfortably upon the Throne of Kings. Looking around, he saw no one around, but a strange golden rift about ten feet in front of him. Rifling through his spells, he attempted to identify what was causing this and, of course, to protect Nazarick against such a deeply penetrating invasion. If an intruder were to appear in Nazarick’s throne room, the damage they could cause would be astronomical!

However, not only did his spells not work at sealing the rift, but he also found that he could not wield any of his spells. After a moment, he realized that he must still be in a dream state, and that someone is trying to communicate with him. With a mental handwave, he allowed the visitor entry, and the rift enlarged into a shining golden portal. And from the portal came a figure about equal to his own height, pale skinned and with raven black hair. Together with the wings, the figure looked surprisingly similar to Albedo, though with some differences. For one, the wings were attached at their shoulder rather than the waist, and all six (a number of wings that felt unnatural) seemed to be made of gold. The feathers were visibly sharp, almost akin to blades.

Looking up at the visitor, he saw in their face a level of deep wisdom and intelligence that belied their almost childlike beauty. Upon closer inspection, he determined that he was looking at a male angel of some sort, perhaps a Cherubim from YGGDRASIL? In any case, he decided to wait until he had further knowledge.

Suddenly, the uneasy silence was broken by the man. He spoke forth words that Ainz Ooal Gown would not have expected from anyone, not from this world or from even a YGGDRASIL Player. “Suzuki Satoru, he who calls himself Lord Momonga of Ainz Ooal Gown, I salute you. I have come to bring you tidings of victory over all that opposes you.”

Shocked, Momonga naturally questions the figure, “Who are you, and how do you know my real name?” Only a YGGRASIL Player or one of his guild would have known his username, and he was sure that no one online knew his real name. If this figure knew who he was, then he couldn’t be from this world or the one he was from. This man must be some sort of higher power!

The man smirks and says, “Of course I know who you are. I know what you think I am, and I am indeed not human. I have an interest in helping you and Nazarick prosper. After all, it is an Angel’s purpose to serve and protect humanity.” Moving closer, he continues, “YGGDRASIL’s closure pulled many human souls into this new world. You are correct in assuming that you are not the only one to have been brought here. You have already clashed with the legacy of another guild pulled into this world: The Theocracy and their Six Great Gods, who manifested six centuries ago. Sounds awfully similar to how the NPC’s see Players: literal ‘Supreme Beings’.”

Momonga considers this new information, but has several questions. “So I am truly a God in this world. But why did the Tomb appear so late compared to the others? And why are no others left in this world?”

“The answer for that first question is simple: the Great Tomb of Nazarick was so full of data that it took 200 years to manifest in this world. And there are a few players left in this world, mostly those who manifested within the past century. Other than them, the only remnants are the descendants of YGGDRASIL Players who inherited their potential. You know them as the Theocracy’s Godkin. Your disguise, Momon of Darkness was called one, and you captured another, in fact their most powerful.”

“That does make sense. But why are you here? You said you were here to help me, but besides the information about other players, this information isn’t really as valuable as all that,” Momonga asks. What could this angel possibly have to offer Nazarick?

Nodding, the angel acknowledges his words and continues, “True, this is not the major piece of assistance I am giving to your guild. My influence is powerful enough that once this dream finishes, I can create a portal to give you a Grimoire with information and powerful magics to help you out. However, I can only do this the once, and then I cannot do any more for quite a long while. So, ask your questions now to ensure that you won’t need my help once I’m gone.”

“How would this grimoire help me? I am already a level 100 player, which in this world makes me a God. While I’m not going to say no to new magical knowledge, how will this be useful?”

The angel’s smile widens, and he says, “Don’t you miss your comrades? Don’t you think they would be overjoyed to return to the Tomb and regain their old powers? The Grimoire holds knowledge of how to travel between this world and the world of your birth, as well as many other powers that are beyond the capabilities of YGGDRASIL sorcery.”

Momonga’s jaw drops. “My comrades? I can bring them back? That is a great boon! Nazarick would be truly all-powerful if all the Supreme Beings returned.”

“There is far more than just that, but that is one of the major highlights. There is also some important knowledge that could help in your future plans, but that is recorded elsewhere. I would also advise that you keep this information quiet, probably only Albedo, Demiurge and Sebas to be safe.”

“Naturally. So is there anything that you need from me to do this?”

“Only your agreement. Angels do not need to use blood or spit or anything like that.”

Momonga doesn’t even have to think about his answer. Of course, he wants his comrades back, as well as all the other boons this Grimoire could confer! And with his benefactor truly asking nothing in return, this is a perfect deal. “I, Suzuki Satoru, Lord of Nazarick and Master of Ainz Ooal Gown accept your blessing.”

The angel stands up, his relaxed and calm demeanor giving way to solemn formality. “On behalf of the Most High, I confer upon thee the agreed blessings. May thou live happily in this life, and know joy eternal in the next.”

And as suddenly as the vision began, Momonga woke up. Above him, a heavenly vortex appeared, and a book covered in silvery dragon-scales and edged with a gold that seemed to shine without any light descended onto his lap. He had no need for sleep now, he had to get to work on his new plans.

Chapter Text

Albedo woke with alarm early the next morning. She barely had time to get dressed because her beloved Lord Ainz had called for her, Demiurge and Sebas so early in the morning. She had to resist the temptation to simply use her Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport instantly to him. If he only needed the three of them, it was something important, but not so urgent as to require everyone. Besides, it wouldn’t do for her to neglect her daily preparations; as Guardian Overseer she had to be prepared for anything her Lord might need of her, and lack of preparation could spell disaster for her beloved’s plans.

Demiurge was intrigued by Lord Ainz’s sudden command, as it implied that the Most Supreme Being had important plans that could not possibly wait. Of course, he naturally dropped everything to cater to his master’s will. He even skipped checking up on the bipedal sheep farm as he had originally intended, as of course any self-respecting and loyal Guardian of Nazarick would.

Demiurge knew quite well by this point that whenever something like this happened, there was always something major in the works. And when his master’s works were unveiled, he felt almost as if he was once more in the presence of his missing Creator. At the thought of Lord Ulbert, he sighed in longing briefly, and then left to find the Sorcerer King.

Sebas was, of course, already in the Throne Room when the message from his Lord arrived. As the overseer of the Pleiades and the butler of the Supreme Ones, it was a natural part of his routine to be there waiting beside the throne when Lord Ainz came in, just in case he happened to need something done. He was surprised, though, when the order specified that none of the other Guardians or maids were summoned, especially when it was explicitly stated to be a private conversation. What kind of plan could Lord Ainz have that would need such secrecy? Sebas felt honored to be included in a meeting about such an obviously sensitive plan. He only hoped that they were up to the task.

Ainz, of course, was exhilarated by the events of last night. Skimming through the Grimoire, he had found many interesting pieces of knowledge. Of course, not all of them were good.

For one thing, he had found definitive proof that Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix, ruler of the allied Baharuth Empire, had been conspiring with the Theocracy against him. He had even been meeting with Theocracy priests in the arena when they had met by chance, and had actively concealed that fact. The thought that a man he had thought to be a close military ally was actually an enemy was terrifying to him. He had known, of course, that the Emperor had organized an invasion of Nazarick, but that was to gauge his strength and eliminate one of the survivors of his purges. This new information led him to plan how to humiliate and subjugate the Empire, as the Emperor had sworn his nation as a vassal state only moments after trying to betray them as allies.

This train of thought was cut off as the doors opened to allow Albedo and Demiurge entry into the Throne Room. With Sebas already at his side, everyone that was needed was present for this meeting. Once the door was closed, he raised his hand and cast a simple but powerful locking spell. The Guardians and the Pleiades would never dare open a door that he had locked, considering it worse than sacrilege. Demiurge’s eyebrow quirked even as he knelt, seeing such light security measures for something so obviously important.

“Albedo, Demiurge, Sebas, good. You came so promptly, I’m grateful,” he praised. “This discussion requires quite a lot of explanation. I invite you to sit down for this for your own comfort.” He twisted his hand, and small thronelike chairs arose from the floor, though they were not on the raised dais where he himself sat, but on top of the carpet in front of him.

He began first with his origins and nature as a mortal human, explaining the nature of YGGDRASIL. This of course was basic knowledge to him, but knowledge he had concealed from the inhabitants of Nazarick since he had come to the New World. The fears he had of the Guardians’ revolt when they discovered this fact turned out to be unfounded, though they did seem confused on some points. Albedo and Demiurge had both immediately assumed that Ainz Ooal Gown had created YGGDRASIL, and it had taken a few minutes to correct that misconception. Sebas, as a dragon was disgusted to hear of the destruction of nature in the world his master came from, and together with the other two was horrified to hear that their master had been a salaryman.

He continued, recounting the heteromorphic prejudice that they were all too familiar with, but revealing the true reason for their behavior as villainous figures to be conforming with the expectations of their enemies. Ainz had become an Overlord of Undeath who terrorized the living Humanoid players because that was what people feared he was, Ulbert had become a catastrophic Demon Lord because of prejudice against demon players. But now, he revealed that he had rethought that position.

“I suggested ruling the world because this world is chaotic and imperfect, in need of a benevolent order. Living in my own destroyed world made me intimately familiar with the evils mankind is capable of. My desire for the Sorcerer Kingdom to be a utopia was not simply egotism; I actually wanted to build a place where all are as happy as is possible, a counterpoint to my birthplace.”

Sebas looked up, eyes shining in wonder. “That sounds beautiful, my Lord. You are reminding of Lord Touch Me right now with those words.”

“You know, of course, that Touch Me saving me was the catalyst for our first guild, Nine’s Own Goal? That is the kind of benevolence that I aspire to rule with, both in this world and my home world.”

“But Lord Ainz,” Albedo interjected. “There is no way for you to return to your home world! You said so yourself!”

Momonga nodded and said, “That was true before last night. I had an unusual dream, more like a vision, in which an angelic being offered me knowledge and power to help my cause. And when I awoke, I found this grimoire on my bed.” He pulled out the grimoire, which emanated a pure aura of divinity. Instantly, Albedo and Demiurge tensed, feeling the powerful holy energy radiating in waves. “Among the magics listed within is a spell that allows me to create a portal between two points in either world. Unfortunately, I would be powerless in that world, not to mention looking decidedly not human.”

Demiurge of course saw the problem and asked, “Is there a spell that can allow you to mitigate these problems, my Lord? If you were to become powerless to defend yourself, then you would not have suggested this!”

“Naturally, Demiurge. In fact, I have already performed a ritual that should solve both problems. For one, it allows me shift between two forms: my human form and my true form. I am just as powerful in my other form, including my physical nullification,” answered Ainz. “And what’s more, as a side effect, I am capable of using my powers back in my world.”

“But what do you plan to do in your home world, my Lord? Are you perhaps trying to convince the Supreme Beings to return to us?” Sebas asked. At this, the three of them shuddered at the thought of reuniting with their beloved creators.

“Of course, Sebas! I miss all of them just as much as the rest of Nazarick does! And I intend to use the same ritual I used earlier to allow them to regain their powers and aid us in conquering and ruling first this world, and then our old world.”

“But why would you not want the rest of Nazarick to know of this? They all would be overjoyed at their masters’ return! We could help track them down and bring them home!”

“Ah, but in the process, they would be so distracted that the Great Tomb could be left undefended. Not to mention that their appearance could attract unwanted attention from the humans,” Albedo reasoned, and Demiurge nodded slowly, adding, “It is better that such knowledge be kept quiet until the time is right to reveal it.”

“Precisely, Albedo, Demiurge. That is precisely my reasoning. However, I know I can trust the three of you to keep the others on task while I slowly gather my comrades,” Momonga replied in turn. “There is an additional part of the ritual that I noticed while preparing: spouses and children of my comrades would be similarly transformed. We could not only restore the number of Supreme Beings to 41, but we could raise it higher by including their consorts and offspring among that total!”

All three of the NPC’s naturally were stunned silent. The idea was brilliant and could expand Nazarick’s strength beyond even their glory days!

“Lord Momonga,” Albedo asked. “When do you plan on traveling to that world? I am confident that we can keep the Great Tomb functioning without you for a few days before anyone notices your absence!”

“In fact, Albedo, I intend to depart later on today,” admitted Momonga, “but there is a task I need the Guardians to focus their efforts on.”

“Yes, my Lord?” The three Guardians asked as one.

“I have discovered that Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix has been conspiring with the Theocracy. He was meeting with them not moments before becoming our vassal. He doubtless intends to betray Nazarick,” he stated coldly.

Instantly, their previous joy at the return of their creators evaporated, replaced by an all-consuming rage. Albedo smiled cruelly, and replied, “My Lord, I think I can occupy the Guardians for at least a week with this task.”

“Very good, Albedo. Now, go forth, and do my will. For Nazarick!”

As one, they echo, “For the glory of Nazarick!”

Albedo quietly thought to herself about her master's words. She had seen before how much he had cared for his comrades, but now that he could bring them back into the fold... well, she was having to reconsider old plans. Now, she had to dismantle and cover up the task force she had created to eliminate any Supreme Beings for fear of them overthrowing him. She could not find a flaw anywhere in his reasoning, nor could she find a downside to his plans, and so she had to agree that restoring the lost Supreme Ones was for the best.

Chapter Text

When Guardian Overseer Albedo called a meeting, it was a simple fact that you would go and do what you were ordered to do. Mare knew that this meeting was more important than normal because Albedo said that Lord Ainz had given the order for the meeting. While Aura wanted to run to make it to the meeting, Mare reminded her of the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown they both wore. In moments, they had teleported right outside of the Throne Room, where Shalltear and Cocytus were already waiting. It was a sign of how important this was that Aura and Shalltear did not immediately start sniping at each other. Cocytus knocked upon the door, and Demiurge answered, “Come in, you are expected. Aura, Mare, Shalltear, good, we’re all here.”

The entirety of the Floor Guardians, except Gargantua, as well as the Pleiades knelt before the throne. Sebas and Albedo were standing on the dais where Lord Ainz’s throne rested, and Demiurge walked back from the door to stand with them. Again, Mare felt that this was supremely important. Even if Lord Ainz wasn’t there to instruct them personally, this felt just as serious. After all, those three were his most senior advisors, carrying His Word. The Throne Room was dead silent.

Albedo broke that silence, saying, “Lord Ainz is doing something personal right now which he says will benefit Nazarick greatly. However, he has given unto all of us a most important task.”

Mare wondered what Lord Ainz was doing but decided that the Supreme One would tell him when he wanted to. Albedo continued, “He has discovered that Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix of the Baharuth Empire, our vassal state, has been colluding with the Theocracy against him.”

There was a palpable sense of all-consuming fury in the air, and Mare started hearing a loud throbbing sound. His mouth opened, and he found himself speaking more like his sister did.

“That disgraceful human swine! Daring to backstab our glorious master while feigning being his ally? What a cowardly thing to do! I want to hurt him, destroy his Empire in front of him and turn his palace into a statue of Lord Ainz!” Mare screamed at the top of his lungs.

Aura looked at him, her face a mixture of equal fury at the Emperor, as well as shock at her brother’s uncharacteristic outburst.

Cocytus huffed and said, “Me. Too. He. Dares. Defy. The. Most. Supreme. Being! He. Must. Be. Punished. Severely!”

Beside him, Shalltear nodded violently, clearly too furious to even speak coherently.

Sebas then spoke up, “Of course, our Master could not in good conscience let this betrayal slide. He has ordered us to not simply subjugate the Empire and bring it in line, but to humiliate and torment the Emperor for his daring. The Pleiades are asked to stay behind to monitor the Great Tomb, while the Guardians lay waste to the Empire’s capital.”

Demiurge was wearing a grin so cruel that it made his normal behavior seem pacifistic. He felt almost giddy that his master had given him carte blanche to terrorize the Empire for their disrespect. He looked forward to causing chaos, like he had in E-Rantel disguised as Jaldabaoth.

Albedo then continued on, “Before we go and cause chaos in the streets, I believe we should sound out ideas for what to do regarding the Emperor. Personally, I believe our Lord’s student, Fluder Paradyne, should kidnap the Emperor so we can be sure he survives the destruction of his capital city. Then we send him to Neuronist with orders not to let him die, ever.”

Aura looked at Mare, and said, “I believe we should do the same thing we did when the Emperor sent invaders into our home, but on a larger scale.”

Mare looked back at Aura, and nodded violently with a sadistic grin on his face. It was not an expression you would expect to see on the face of someone usually so shy and timid, more akin to Demiurge’s grin, which seemed to be getting wider by the minute.

Shalltear finally seemed to come back down to Earth, and said, “I agree with the twins for once, we should go all out to punish those who dared besmirch His Glorious Name!”

The Guardians and the Pleiades, united in sadistic fury, made plans to decimate the city and let loose fully.

Momonga was currently in the Amphitheatre, finishing his plan of assault. He would make a portal to his apartment, change form, and then recruit his old guildmates. With the Guardians out of the way, he could bring his comrades to the decoy Nazarick he had Mare build a while ago, and then take them home once the Empire was suitably punished.

However, he still had other problems on his mind. For one, Renner. She may not be a YGGDRASIL player or an NPC, but she was a genius and may become a threat if not dealt with. Second, how would he be able to find his guildmates? He didn’t have anyone’s contact information, having only contacted them through YGGDRASIL’s messaging system. Third, he still did not know whether or not the World Item the Black Scripture had used on Shalltear was still in their possession, or whether or not its user had survived.

Somehow, though, he had faith that the grimoire would hold the answers to those questions. He concentrated on the portal spell and pushed it open. A swirling void of iridescent colors opened before him, and beyond was the sight of his old apartment, though he couldn’t see his Neural Nano-Interface or his computer. He could only make out his bed, his kitchen and the door to the apartment. And that interface reminded him of an intellectual curiosity – how did the closure of YGGDRASIL manage to entrap him in a different world? Deciding to push forward, he walked through the portal, which closed by behind him with a whoosh. Turning around, he saw his own dead body, still wearing the Nano-Interface.

Chapter Text

Suzuki Satoru is not the kind of person who would be able to resist screaming at the sight of his own dead body. Or at least the man he was wouldn’t have been. His time as Nazarick’s only Supreme Being has, on some level, changed him. Absently, he wonders whether his racial traits as an undead are keeping him from reacting to the sight of his own corpse. After a few moments, though, he is focused on his mission again – find his friends and bring them home. Looking at the clock on his computer, it seems that he has arrived only moments after YGGDRASIL went offline permanently. Perhaps the time flow in both worlds is different, or perhaps the portal spell can connect points in time.

Reaching for his grimoire, he is reassured to see the dark portal opening in front of his hand, signifying that his inventory is certainly still working. As he opens it, he finds the bookmarked page, which has just the spell he needs – a locator spell that works based upon personal bonds. He should be able to know exactly where his comrades are and travel there unerringly, based upon both the description of the spell as well as his own testing while the Guardians had been sleeping. Reaching out, he performs the spell while focusing on one of his friends, choosing to start with Touch Me. It would only be fair to start with his oldest friend, who saved him and founded their first guild, not to mention the one who could best keep the Guardians in line with his utopian plans.

The spell’s effect is immediate, as he feels his old friend’s presence in his mind, guiding him to a place that he can feel his friend adores. Casting Invisibility and a Greater Teleportation, he appears unnoticed before the door of an apartment. Reaching out with his bond, he feels an aura of love and devotion emanating from these walls, doubtless a reflection of Touch Me’s benevolent and protective nature. Silently using simple divination magic, he discovers that there are two others with his friend: a wife and child. This worries him briefly, as he is certain that Touch Me would never leave them, even to join his old allies. However, he remembers one of the side effects of the transformation ritual: it can affect spouses and offspring of a player.

Soothed, he dispels his invisibility and knocks upon the door. Soon, he is greeted by an older man, his voice hauntingly familiar, a voice he knows quite well. “Hello, Touch Me-san. It’s me, Momonga!”

The man seems startled, even slightly suspicious of this information, before he continues, “YGGDRASIL went offline earlier today, and I needed to talk to you real quick.” Understanding the situation a little better, he responds, “Nice to finally meet you in person, old friend. Can we discuss this outside? I don’t want to disturb my family.” Nodding, Momonga steps aside to make room for his old friend to move into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

“So, the game finally went offline, huh? Did everyone show up to the party?” Momonga frowned in remembrance of what had happened. “Actually, everyone else slowly quit over the last few years. Only HeroHero showed up, and that was only for a few minutes. I was the only one of our guild to stay until the very end.” Touch looked shocked, as though he had quit YGGDRASIL, it had been due to animosity with another of their guildmates. He was about to reply when Momonga continued talking. “Somehow, though, something happened. And that’s what I’m really here to talk about.” And he mentally reached for the trigger to transform, simultaneously casting a spell to short-circuit the security cameras.

Touch Me looked uncharacteristically shocked to see his old friend’s game avatar in real life, just manifesting out of nowhere. He was doubly shocked as he heard his friend continue in the voice of that avatar. What he was saying was utter madness, but as he watched he recognized his friend casting Message and heard him speaking in his mind, though he saw no movement of his mouth. There was no way it logically could be, but the evidence was undeniable. As he listened to Momonga’s tale and his plans for the future, his resolve returned.

“Of course, old friend. I’ll return to Nazarick with my wife and daughter. After all, you said you had a way to give me my powers again, right?” And with that, Momonga transformed back into his human form and got to work.

After Touch Me and his family were transformed and settled in the decoy tomb for now, he went and found his old friend Tabula Smaragdina. Fortunately, he was easily convinced and had nothing and no one else keeping him on Earth. Soon, he joined Touch Me and got to talking about the grand old days. Momonga, though, had another target: Ulbert. He might be difficult to convince, if his in-game persona was accurate to real life. But Momonga had been a salesman at his old job, and this was nothing more than a sales pitch. Casting Invisibility and Greater Teleportation again, he disappeared from his apartment once again.

Ulbert Alain Odle, as he had been known in-game was, in fact, not at all like he had behaved in-game. That character performance was just him being an edgelord – for the most part. He did share some characteristics with his persona, specifically a pragmatic mindset, general pessimism, and a willingness to do questionable things for the right reasons. Case in point, the research he had obtained from Bellriver shortly before he disappeared under mysterious circumstances. It seemed to have something to do with the development of YGGDRASIL and several deaths under equally mysterious circumstances.

Suddenly he heard a knock at the door, as well as the familiar voice of his old friend Momonga. He remembered the announcement that YGGDRASIL was shutting down and pieced together that his friend wanted some comfort now that the game that had brought them together was gone. Getting up, he stopped when he heard the same voice suddenly speaking quite a lot closer to him, almost as if – “As if I were psychic? Yeah, that’s one of a few things I need to talk to you about.”

After about ten minutes of explanation, Ulbert was reasonably caught up and convinced that Nazarick had somehow become real in an alternate reality. But he could not leave this world for his guild mates! He had to bring justice to this world, to take down the tyrannical megacorps and avenge Bellriver! No matter what, he would focus on taking down the enemies of this world rather than becoming a villain in another world!

But his old friend was prepared for this, promising vengeance upon the ruling class of this world. First, though, they needed a safe base of power, as well as allies. Nazarick could fill those needs, and could serve as a better regime to one day rule over the Earth, not out of greed but out of compassion. As a member of the lower class, a child born into poverty who had lost his parents at an early age because of the hated megacorps, this idea proved too enticing for him to resist. But Momonga had one final piece of information to share, one he had expected to be a deal-breaker. That Touch Me, his once hated enemy, had already returned to Nazarick. And had Momonga not argued to overthrow the tyrannical regimes of this world, then that would have been a deal-breaker. But because he did, he realized that Touch Me had the same intentions as him. Now, he longed to return to Nazarick, to prepare for a cleansing apocalypse where the evils of the world are wiped from its face.

Albedo and Sebas were already in the false Nazarick, conversing with their respective creators as they oversaw the assault on the Imperial Capital. Suddenly, though, a portal opened before them in the counterpart of the real Throne Room. Touch Me looked shocked as his one-time nemesis, Ulbert Alain Odle, the most powerful and dangerous magic caster he had ever known, walked through with a smile. Sebas seemed to anticipate a fight between his creator and his old rival, stepping between them to prevent it from coming to blows, or even to spells.

Before he could get halfway to the demon lord, however, he instantly disappeared, silently teleporting face-to-face with Lord Touch Me. Everyone who knew of their feud expected barbs to be thrown and blood to be shed. But not only did the demon continue smiling, but he actually  hugged him, said a few words, and they walked away together, obviously ready for a long talk. Both Sebas and Albedo were extremely surprised, but it was Lord Tabula who broke the silence that had fallen since the portal had opened. “Excuse me, but what the hell just happened?”

Suddenly, Albedo spoke up. “The infiltration team has captured the Emperor!”

Fluder Paradyne smiled as he stepped through the portal back to Nazarick. It had been simple to win back the emperor’s trust. By coming to warn his guards ahead of the Death Knights’ arrival and staying to help protect him, Jircniv could not help but have faith in him, believing that the aged magic caster had finally seen sense and come to defend his master. Of course, it had been a simple matter of conserving enough energy while casting spells at the Death Knights to be able to kidnap the emperor, as well as dealing minimal damage to the Sorcerer King’s minions. Without him to aid them in their fight, he was certain the guards would fall before them. As Jircniv got to his feet, Fluder cast a strong Sleep spell to ensure he wouldn’t be able to cause problems. Then he cast Message to inform Lady Albedo and Lord Demiurge that the Emperor was in his custody.

As Touch Me and Ulbert were talking, the latter mentioned the files that Bellriver had sent to him. Fortunately, Momonga had taken the time to gather them up and bring them back to Nazarick for analysis. But what was clear from Ulbert’s months of poring over them was that something was rotten behind YGGDRASIL’s beautiful façade. Especially the cover-up of the dead testers. Perhaps the event that pulled Momonga into this new world was intentional, to kill off dissident citizens. But any further analysis would have to wait until their empire was a bit more solidified.

Chapter Text

Demiurge smiled as he received Fluder Paradyne’s Message. With the Emperor captive, there was no longer a need to hold anything back in the assault. With a quick message to the twins, the pace of the destruction increased immensely, with many buildings falling every second. Pausing to take in the carnage, he felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction with his handiwork. He ordered the Death Knights to stop holding back, as there was no longer any reason for such restraint. After all, the Emperor was out of the picture, and Lord Ainz did command the destruction of the Imperial Capital. Who was he to defy the Supreme One?

Suddenly, Albedo messaged him, informing him of a visitor coming to him with a gift. As a gate opened behind him, he turned to regard the figure – and suddenly stopped short, beginning to kneel. Lord Ainz had indeed accomplished his goal! He had heard from Albedo about her encounter with Pandora’s Actor in the form of Lord Tabula, and thus knew that they would be able to feel when an impostor was before them. So when he felt the aura of the demon before him, he looked up, eyes shining with unshed tears, at his Creator. Now, the momentary sense of satisfaction he had felt only seconds ago felt like nothing, his entire being filled with joy at the return of the one he knew as Father and Master and Creator.

Ulbert Alain Odle regarded his creation warmly, seeing how even now he was eager to please. “Rise, my child. I have come to see thy handiwork.” Demiurge quickly stood and explained the plans they had made and how well they had turned out, taking joy in every word of praise from his creator. When at last, there was nothing more for him to say, Ulbert spoke again. “You have truly done me and Nazarick as a whole proud. There is but one suggestion I have for you.” Demiurge excitedly asked, “What is it you need me to do for you, my Lord? If you wish to participate in the destruction of the city, then feel free to indulge yourself! I would be delighted to see you back in action!”

The demon lord smiled and replied, “While I intend to use my arsenal to its full potential, there is something that I wish for you to test for me. Momonga told me that you used the prototype of Armageddon Evil on E-Rantel. How would you like to try the perfected artifact?”

Demiurge’s jaw dropped. “Father, I would be honored to use one of your creations!” He extended his hand and took the offered artifact, which seemed to sing in his hands, recognizing him as both a powerful demon and another creation of its maker. He quickly began the activation ritual, which he had already used with the prototype back in E-Rantel. Demiurge made sure to summon the full number of 239 demons forth from the artifact, and ordered them to join the attack on the city.

Aura and Mare had already put Demiurge’s orders into effect: the beasts under Aura’s command ran wild, only taking care not to harm each other. Simultaneously, Mare was using his full power to cause chaos. Giggling as he created sinkholes beneath houses and raised mountains in the streets, he suddenly felt a pulse of powerful evil energy coming from the place where he knew Demiurge was watching. He guessed that the demon had summoned more of his kind, but whatever he was doing felt far more powerful than he usually was. Turning to look at his sister, he asked her, “Did you feel that? Demiurge just summoned a lot of demons!” Aura turned and nodded with a wide grin on her face. She had been a lot nicer to Mare since his outburst in the Throne Room, finally happy that her usually shy and meek brother was being more expressive. Deciding to stop holding back, she calls for Iris, ordering her to run around and destroy every building in the city, and promising to give her treats when they get home if she does. The monster almost immediately runs off to destroy entire neighborhoods.

Shalltear also is having fun, especially because she’s finally able to let loose for once and not worry about strategy. She hasn’t killed so many for such a long time, and it has been quite a while since she has been able to give in to her Blood Frenzy. At this point in the attack, it’s difficult to tell where her legs are because they and the ground are covered in several inches of human blood, although some of the older patches of blood are beginning to dry out. By her estimation, she’s been in her frenzy for about a half hour and is still going strong. Seeing another strong-looking human, she licks her lips and goes in for a quick kill.

Cocytus is pleased to have so many opponents to fight, it is unfortunate that their clash could not be more sporting. True, they maybe crowding him 50 to 1 but he still feels under-challenged. But at least they are, as soldiers, skilled at fighting as a group. It warms his heart to see such cooperation, such coordination. Truly it is a shame that they opposed Lord Ainz and had to be destroyed. Wiping his blades clean, he looks over the pile of corpses felled by his expert hand and chooses the most practical of their weapons. As he picks up the sword, he feels the powerful wave of evil that can only mean that Demiurge has summoned something extremely dark and powerful. Well, good for him, it’s a good thing that he gets to help in the destruction.

Within the Throne Room, Albedo looks on, pleased at the destruction caused by her fellow Guardians. She also notices Demiurge using Lord Ulbert’s Armageddon Evil and starts to grin, thinking, ‘Already Lord Ainz’s works are yielding fantastic returns! How brilliant of my beloved! I had nothing to worry about, the thought of them overthrowing him is so obviously foolish!’ After a quick message conversation with Lord Ainz, she takes direct control of Gargantua. Just because she is directing the assault team from the Throne Room does not mean she can’t contribute in some way.

Gargantua awakens on the fourth floor of the Tomb, feeling new orders enter into its mind. A massive portal opens in front of the large rock golem, and the beast steps through. Ahead is the city that Master wants to be destroyed, and the other Floor Guardians are already hard at work. Gargantua notices a nearby mountain range and delicately plucks a mountain out of the ground before hurling it at the Imperial Palace.

Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix awakens in a dungeon, with only vague memories of Fluder Paradyne’s betrayal. He suddenly realizes that his highly expensive robes have been replaced with coarse cloth that scratches at his delicate skin. Looking up, he startles upon seeing a pair of Death Knights in his cell, preventing him from leaving. Now he can guess roughly where he is, and remembers why he is here. Somehow, the Sorcerer King discovered his treachery and used his former court mage as an accomplice to kidnap him and decimate the Empire he had worked so hard to reform. Regardless of what comes next, the Emperor knows his old life is over, and the Overlord of Death is breathing down his neck.

Chapter Text

Ainz Ooal Gown is not focused upon the destruction of the Imperial City at the moment. He will get back to that matter when his allies are done turning it into a smoking crater, but right now he is focused on the information that Ulbert was given by Bellriver. He won’t pretend to understand the scientific aspect of the files, but he can certainly understand the rest. The developers of YGGDRASIL had intentionally designed the game system to be attractive especially to those who were likely to rebel against the megacorps in charge, and could use the Neural Nano-Interfaces to effectively render such rebels brain-dead. They knew of this alternate reality and would force the minds of their enemies into that empty reality so they could not do any damage.

The fact that several of the testers had died and some of those tests were marked as ‘total successes’ was all that he needed to hear. And based on the fact that Bellriver had given these files to Ulbert, he had figured out too much, and had to be ‘disappeared’. And given the megacorps were only morally bankrupt, Bellriver was almost certainly dead. He had searched the Grimoire and found one promising thing: a powerful resurrection ritual that could reconstitute Bellriver. However, the ritual required ten Supreme Beings who had known him well. Counting himself, they only had four residing in this world. Bellriver’s return would need to happen later.

When Albedo contacted him asking for temporary control over Gargantua, he naturally granted it, as of course he wouldn’t want to limit the potential destruction the Guardians could inflict upon a traitorous vassal. Anything to speed up the process of the Imperial City’s obliteration.

Ainz is especially looking forward to the aftermath of the destruction when the slow return of his guildmates is revealed to the Guardians. He has already heard from Albedo that Ulbert already visited Demiurge and that they used Armageddon Evil. Their already high productivity will be through the roof once they realize their creators are returning home.

Of course, there is more to do afterwards. First, he needs to discuss with the others regarding Bellriver and the suspicious circumstances of his disappearance. Second, he needs to justify his attack on the capital of the Empire by revealing Jircniv’s treachery. Third, he needs to continue gathering his old guildmates. And lastly, he needs to ascertain whether the Theocracy’s Black Scripture still has the World Item that controlled Shalltear, as well as finding out if they have any other World Items. But the focus for today is unveiling the return of the guild’s members.

Aura is of course ecstatic to report that their joint mission was a success; the capital of the Baharuth Empire has been effectively annihilated. There are a few hundred survivors left, primarily those who willingly surrendered to the Sorcerer Kingdom. But every other inhabitant is either dead or imprisoned by their forces to prevent an uprising. Death Knights and Demons patrol the streets as the lesser undead begin to rebuild the essential areas of the capital in a more fitting manner, one that reflects their true position as a vassal state to the Sorcerer Kingdom. Mare’s suggestion of a statue of Lord Ainz was actually quite well received; Demiurge even ordered a small portion of Nazarick’s treasury be used to gild the statue to ensure it looks appropriately magnificent.

As the Guardians finish recounting the extent of their success, Lord Ainz is exultant, pride underlying every word he says to praise their work. Most of the Guardians are trying (and failing) to hide their joy at his satisfaction. Shalltear and Albedo are actually barely keeping it together, although Shalltear has it worse as she tries to recover from such an extended Blood Frenzy.

But Lord Ainz has more to say. “However, these are not the only good tidings we have. Albedo, Demiurge, Sebas, you know what I am referring to. They are at the door.”

At this, the three of them go to the massive doors of the Throne Room, leading three figures cloaked in black robes up to the dais. Though the others are confused, they themselves are anticipating the others’ reactions to what shall come in mere moments.

“There is even greater news than victory, my friends. You know that I myself did not participate in the sacking of the capital, that I was doing something of greater importance. What could be of greater importance,” he nods, and the three figures lower their hoods and drop their robes, “than the return of your creators?” At this, all the Guardians and the Pleiades kneel, although only those who already knew are not sporting expressions of shock.

“The Supreme Ones are returning to us?” Mare asked, both he and Aura openly weeping in joy.

“Indeed, little one. I have brought Lords Touch Me, Tabula and Ulbert back into the fold. But they shall only be the first! Next shall come Lady Bukubukuchagama, Lord Peroroncino and Warrior Takemikazuchi!”

“My. Creator. Is. Returning!?” Cocytus shouted in wonder. Shalltear, already shocked by the unexpected appearance of three more Supreme Beings, fainted at the idea of her creator’s return.

Aura and Mare stopped kneeling, got up and started hugging while crying tears of absolute joy at their mother’s coming return. Demiurge spoke up further, “My father, Lord Ulbert, helped to secure our victory today. I could not have summoned so many demons on my own. He granted me the use of the true Armageddon Evil to summon forth the hordes of darkness, just as I did with its prototype back in E-Rantel.” Ulbert merely replied, “I asked you to use that because I was pleased with the work you had done for Nazarick in my absence. I promise that I shall never leave you again, my son.”

“So, Momonga, why did you want to meet with us?” asked Touch Me. “I assume this is about the information Bellriver sent to me. It was pretty insane.”

“Indeed, but it goes further perhaps than you thought. By analyzing the patterns in the scientific reports, I was able to deduce that the developers of YGGDRASIL intentionally designed it to draw in those unhappy with the megacorps’ rule. Using the Neural Nano-Interface, they could strand their minds in this world, leaving their bodies effectively brain-dead. The same actually happened to my own body.”

Tabula spoke up again, “And I assume that Bellriver’s ‘disappearance’ was them covering their tracks?” “That much seems obvious. But is it possible to restore Bellriver?” Ulbert questioned.

Ainz then dropped the bombshell. “Yes. Even without his body, there is a ritual within my grimoire that should fully resurrect him. Unfortunately, it requires ten YGGDRASIL Players familiar with him to be effective. Restoring him will take quite a while.”

Ulbert salivated at the idea of such powerful magic. He had been told of the grimoire with its unearthly power, and even experienced some of its magic for himself, but he had never even thought it possible.

Touch Me had an interesting point to bring up, however. “Could we bring back other YGGDRASIL Players? If they have similar aspirations, they could be persuaded to join our cause.”

That thought actually gave Ainz pause. More level 100 players on their side would be an immense benefit. After all, the Six Great Gods of the Theocracy were Players, and if they could be convinced, that could potentially eliminate them as an enemy. However, “I think it depends. If they are willing to set aside their prejudices against heteromorphic races and fully align with us, then I have no objections. But restoring the Theocracy’s Gods would only make them more of a problem. We should wait and see regarding that idea.”

Chapter Text

Ainz Ooal Gown is many things – God of death, sorcerer, king, tactician – but politician is not one of them. But even he knew that attacking the capital of not just an allied kingdom, but your own vassal state was not something that could be brushed off. He was aware that every nation would decry his attack on the Empire’s capital and the kidnap of his vassal. Naturally, he would need to inform them why he had committed such an atrocity. Turning to his knowledge of sorcery, he summoned a group of gaseous wraiths, the very same that he had summoned during his summit with the Lizardmen Alliance, intending to use them to reveal the Emperor’s backstabbing. Then only the Theocracy would be complaining about such an attack, and only because they had lost an ally in their war against him. Others, such as the Roble Holy Kingdom, the Dwarf Kingdom and Renner’s vassal kingdom of Re-Estize would merely accept it as justified retribution for betrayal by a subordinate.

As for Jircniv, he has not yet decided as to his punishment. Death would only be mercy for him, an escape from punishment rather than a true punishment. He has yet to decide what to do with the traitorous Emperor that would be truly fitting. Perhaps the punishment that Shalltear endured would be more effective on him… although he may not be able to survive long-term, especially not for the length of time he needs to be punished for. He could certainly use Region Petrification to freeze him into stone, but he should be conscious during his punishment. A modified form of that spell could work.

The Six Cardinals were deep in discussion when the message came. They were, naturally, discussing the Sorcerer King’s invasion of the Empire and the rumored kidnap of the Emperor himself. While technically a vassal to the Sorcerer Kingdom, they were aware that he was actually trying to gather forces from the Human Kingdoms in order to eradicate such evil. They had naturally agreed with such a plan when he still only the Sorcerer King’s ally, even sending priests to speak with him. But by some detestable misfortune, the Sorcerer King himself was present and immediately came to speak to his ally before the discussion could truly be begun.

Because of his immense magical power, and the sheer military might of his kingdom, the Pontifex Maximus himself naturally was starting to rethink his decision to focus instead on the Elf King, since that inaction had led to such a massive and brutal assault on one of the most powerful nations in this world, not to mention the one they had expected to be leading the charge by insurgency.

While they were talking, a horrible spirit appeared in the council chamber, bearing a message from the Sorcerer King unto the nations of the world. The cardinals and the Pontifex instantly fell silent. What could he possibly have to say about this grievous cruelty?

“We bring the words of the Great One, the Sorcerer King. He has seen his servant, the Emperor of Baharuth’s works and has condemned them. No king will abide disloyalty and no king will allow betrayal by an ally. The Great One knows that the Emperor was plotting to overthrow and destroy him, and that the Theocracy was involved. In retribution, he has taken his vassal’s capital for his own, so that the Empire can be ruled by a more honorable being.” And thus, the Theocracy’s greatest fears were realized. The Sorcerer King had discovered their plot. They had long known that he was powerful, ever since he had decimated the Black Scripture, and had only learned of the spell that killed hundreds of thousands from the Emperor himself. Before, he had not been an active threat to them. The most dangerous potential threat, certainly, but not a certain one. He had been mostly content to fight them only when their agents directly tried to stop him.

But now? Now, they were certain that he would come for them. As the wraith disappeared, they began to plan how to survive the oncoming onslaught and preserve the human race. As they concluded the meeting, the Pontifex suggested that they spend the rest of the day in prayer, to attract as much of the Gods’ favor as they could, knowing they would need it before too long.

Shalltear was, naturally, displeased. The Emperor had been plotting against the Glorious Supreme Beings?! That was truly unforgivable, equal to sacrilege in her mind, as the Supreme Ones were, to her, truly divine beings. For him to pretend alliance, only to work with the hateful Theocracy… it made her blood boil. The thought of the Theocracy seemed to do that, ever since she had awoken, naked, in the Throne Room many moons ago. As she did every time the feeling arose, she tried to remember why she despised them so, but as always, could remember nothing. She knew that the others were aware of what had happened, though she had chosen not to ask them about it. Now, however, she decided to try.

Ainz was sitting upon his throne, listening to a report from Demiurge, when Shalltear entered the Throne Room, asking for a moment of his time. “My Lord, when I heard of that foul roach’s scheming with the Theocracy, I was furious. But I also felt as if I had forgotten something about the Theocracy. The only thing I remember around that time is you sending me on a mission and waking up here in the Throne Room. I didn’t want to bother you before, but now I’m curious… what happened to me?”

Demiurge looked at Shalltear, and said simply, “While you were on that mission, you were ambushed and placed under mind control. We were furious when you awoke because you had fought against Lord Ainz without restraint. The mental domination was so strong that he had to end your life. When you awoke in the Throne Room, it was because he had just resurrected you.”

Shalltear’s jaw dropped. Of course she didn’t remember! Her mind was not her own during that time! She had even dared to… No wonder they had been so furious! But she still had questions. Luckily, Lord Ainz had more information.

“According to one of my sources, you were ambushed by the Theocracy at one point on your mission. One of them was using the World Item, Downfall of Castle and Country, which bypasses an undead’s resistance to mind control. The user died from their wounds, which prevented them from fully controlling you, but did turn you against me. I had to use my ultimate skill, The Goal of All Life is Death, to kill you and end the World Item’s power over you. After that incident, every Guardian that leaves Nazarick must carry a World Item to ensure that this never happens again.”

Hearing this, she understands more completely how severe the situation was, if even a Supreme Being was pushed to their limits. But those names rung a bell in her mind. In a flash, she saw in her mind’s eye a memory: Lord Ainz casting Cry of the Banshee on her and saying: “Skill: The Goal of All Life is Death!” With sudden clarity, she remembered everything she had forgotten, including the moment of her death. And now with tears running down her face, she fell to her knees, thanking Lord Ainz for unintentionally restoring her memory.

After about five minutes of sobbing on the floor (during which Demiurge stood next to Lord Ainz uncomfortably), she asked, “My Lord, do you know if they still have that World Item?”

Oddly, Lord Ainz replied, “I honestly do not know. If they knew it was effective against us, they would certainly have tried to use it on you again, or worse, on me. They could still have it without knowing how effective it is against us, but they might not have it.”

Later that day, on the site of the former Imperial Palace, Lord Ainz and Albedo brought Jircniv and forced him to kneel. As the crowds looked on, he cast a modified form of Region Petrification on the Emperor. This version was single-target but transformed them into a much-sturdier stone and did not impede their consciousness. He called it Petrified Humiliation for now, though he was certain that he would change the name. When he had cast it, Jircniv was on his hands and knees, just like Shalltear when he had had to punish her. Effectively, he had transformed the traitorous emperor, who had long sat high and mighty on his throne, into a portable throne to sit upon as he spoke to the citizens of the Empire. And he did not dispel the effect once he was done speaking. The Emperor would remain frozen in stone, yet entirely conscious, for the foreseeable future.

Chapter Text

Momonga had gathered them together in the Throne Room, though for what purpose, Tabula could not say. It had been a few days since he had administered the meddlesome Emperor’s punishment, and there had been relative peace in the Empire. The Theocracy had shown obvious signs that they were preparing their defenses for Nazarick’s inevitable attack. However, he knew that their information was not entirely complete. For one, they were unaware of the existence of Touch Me, Ulbert and himself. With that in mind, he was much more certain of their victory, though he couldn’t help but wonder what nasty traps they could be planning.

“I have called you all here to set the agenda for today. I may be master of the Guild of Ainz Ooal Gown, but I would not dream of giving you orders, my old friends. Let me be blunt, today I am going back to Japan to gather more of our comrades. I advise that the Guardians keep an eye on our territories, as well as the Theocracy. Of course, Touch Me, Tabula, Ulbert, you are in charge until I return.”

Reactions differed slightly, but generally there was an air of joy in the room. The Guild Members were happy that their friends were coming home soon, but those Guardians whose creators had not yet returned were near to tears, or in Aura, Mare and Shalltear’s case, actively weeping with joy. The twins were hugging again. Cocytus seemed relatively calm, but he was evidently only keeping it together because there was a job to be done in the meantime.

“Albedo, I am sending you to the Empire with Demiurge to reform the government of the Empire to ensure that it continues to function as normal. Make sure that the day-to-day life of the citizens is maintained, and if you find anything that could be a problem, make sure that we are aware of it,” Momonga continued. Albedo and Demiurge nodded, knowing that the Empire had had many problems other than their traitorous emperor, but that their vassal state needed to keep running.

“Ulbert, I actually have a potential task for you, if you are willing to hear me out.” Ulbert looked up, intrigued at what his friend wanted him to do. “The allied kingdom of Re-Estize is currently ruled by Princess Renner. She was instrumental in helping us to conquer her kingdom, asking only for herself and her beloved bodyguard Climb to become demons. I would send you to speak with her and take her under your wing. Be on your guard, however, as she is deviously cunning. One of the only reasons she does as we say is because we allowed her beloved to join us. As a Yandere, she will do anything to keep him with her.”

“Well, she sounds like an interesting ally. I do hope she is as interesting as you say.”

Groaning, Momonga replies, “You have no idea. Becoming a demon with Climb was the primary reason she joined us. She may act pretty innocent and kind for appearances’ sake, but her true self is that of a diabolical genius. Anyway, I am going to leave for Japan in a few minutes. When I return, Bukubukuchagama, Peroroncino and Warrior Takemikazuchi will finally be home!”

As he rose from his chair, the Guardians knelt deeply, and his guild mates bowed slightly out of respect. He was still a bit unsure about that, they were friends after all! Just because he was ‘Guildmaster’ didn’t mean he was the boss! Sighing in feigned exasperation, he waved his hand and opened the portal back to Earth.

“Your Highness, there is a gentleman waiting for you in the Throne Room,” said one of the maids. Princess Renner frowned, didn’t this fool know better than to interrupt her time with her precious puppy? Regardless, if there was a gentleman waiting in the Throne Room, then it was doubtless someone from the Great Tomb.

She still couldn’t believe she had been outsmarted by Lord Ainz Ooal Gown. By allowing himself to play a role that she dictated for him, she angered Albedo enough that she was kept on a short leash. No room for her to do anything but her absolute best! She may be a genius, but she was not expecting such a brilliant play. Climb may be her puppy, but she was the one on a leash for her masters. Walking into the Throne Room, she saw a tall demon sitting on the throne that Lord Ainz had taken up during his playacting, the throne that her ‘dear’ father had once ruled from. When she looked upon the demon, however, she instinctively felt the urge to KNEEL before him and SERVE HIM, an urge that was entirely at odds with her noble upbringing. Guessing that this demon was far more powerful than she was, she swallowed her pride and knelt before him, waiting for him to introduce himself.

“Greetings, child. My name is Ulbert Alain Odle, and I am one of Lord Ainz’s comrades.” Comrades? What did he mean, comrades? Lord Ainz only had servants so far as she knew!

“I see you are confused by this, child. Allow me to explain. Beyond the Guardians of each floor of the Great Tomb and the Pleiades Combat Maids, there are forty-one Supreme Beings who ruled Nazarick and created them. Ainz Ooal Gown is the name of that group, and also the name taken by the one we chose as our leader. For a long time, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown was the last Supreme Being residing in this world. But this has recently changed.”

Renner’s heart sunk. A demon with equal power to Lord Ainz? No wonder she felt the urge to kneel before him. Her demonic instincts were correct, this monster was her master.

“The Supreme Beings of the Great Tomb of Nazarick are returning to this world. Slowly, but surely. This is why my comrade did not meet you personally; he is busy gathering more of our old friends. However, I was anxious to meet you, the one who sold out her kingdom to become a demon. I think that you could become my protégé.”

Finally looking up, she was puzzled. What could an all-powerful being like him want with her? She was clever, but not powerful enough to be of use to him. She asked, her voice trembling, “Why would you want me? I’m only an imp, I’m far too weak to do anything you need of me.”

His smile widened greatly. “Because my dear, your weakness is temporary, but your cunning is innate. You know how powerful Demiurge is, correct?” She nodded, not following. “I am his creator. I can train you, bring out your unholy powers and then you can use them as needed! In addition, this is a bit of an experiment – I created Demiurge from nothing and he became so immensely strong. Will you, a human turned demon, reach those same heights? I am dying to see how powerful you can get! And besides, such cunning is always appreciated in Nazarick!”

Suddenly understanding, she smiles beatifically, although unlike her usual ‘Golden Princess’ smile, this one is more real, more in line with the demonic psychopath hidden beneath the surface. “I see your point now, Master. And I accept your offer.”

Ulbert smiles, offering her his hand, which she takes without hesitation.

Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix was not having a good time. He had been frozen in stone for about 85 consecutive hours, and he was exhausted. The weight of the Sorcerer King upon him as he sat and spoke to the crowds for half an hour was excruciating. But what was worse was a combination of two factors: he couldn’t move at all, and he was still conscious of everything around him. He could hear every insult his subjects had hurled at him, every slight Lady Albedo and the other demon had made against him, every jibe from his own courtiers as they betrayed him to save themselves. It was agony, and he didn’t know if he would survive the experience with his mind intact.

Chapter Text

Warrior Takemikazuchi proved to be very easy to convince. The promise of strong opponents, Touch Me’s return and a noble goal for the guild to work towards was all that was needed to get him to return. He was currently waiting in the Decoy Nazarick, while Momonga gathered Bukubukuchagama and Peroroncino.

Appearing outside her door, he heard voices – one he had expected and one he did not. It seemed that Peroroncino had moved in with his sister. That cut his workload down significantly, as he would not have to hunt him down and convince him separately. Knocking, he quickly found himself invited in, and after some reminiscing about the old days and some yelling from Bukubukuchagama at her brother for his perverted ways (really was just like the old days), he revealed why he was really here and what he was offering.

But she threw a curveball that he didn’t expect: She was a mother now, with a son conceived from an ex-boyfriend. Peroroncino looked smug as he revealed that when said ex had left her because of the pregnancy, he had beaten him up. None of that was expected, least of all Peroroncino getting violent in real life. As much as he remembered them bickering, it seems he had either forgotten how strong their bond was, or it had gotten stronger in the months since they had quit YGGDRASIL. Nevertheless, he reassured her that her son would also get similar powers in the New World, even attesting that it had happened with Touch Me’s wife and daughter, who had never touched the game.

As they agreed to return to Nazarick, he waved his hand to open the portal. Within moments, they were gone, baby and all.

Tabula wasn’t really involved in overseeing the Guardians’ work, he was more occupied in the process of getting reacquainted with Albedo’s sisters. Nigredo had been quite delighted to see him, and after a lengthy discussion about what she had been doing, he was satisfied with her work. Internally, he thought her appearance and personality could use some tweaking to better fit her current role as an overseer of the war orphanages. Her indifference towards humans two years and older could be a potential problem. He wondered if the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown’s ability to modify NPCs would still work.

Next, he went to visit Rubedo. She was one of his crowning accomplishments, made in such a unique way that it made her certainly the strongest being in Nazarick, enough to give Momonga and Touch Me a run for their money. Rubedo proved to be loyal to Tabula and Momonga as guild master, but vehemently refused to take orders from anyone else, even Albedo. Again, he wondered if the Guild Master’s Staff could change that fact.

As he was leaving Rubedo’s area on the eighth floor, he was contacted by Albedo, who wanted to discuss a certain problem with him in her bedroom. Using his Guild ring, he teleported to the door of her bedroom and knocked. She quickly opened the door and invited him in. She brought up how her summoned mount, a War Bicorn Lord, couldn’t actually be ridden. He thought that that was an oversight, as well as something that shouldn’t be possible. He had written in her bio, verbatim, that she was a slut. True, she wouldn’t want to debase herself with a human, but there were others she could have gone to. He didn’t understand why she hadn’t done anything about it when he noticed an interesting piece of information – Momonga had actively changed her code to make her desperately in love with him. While he was briefly surprised, he didn’t feel too badly about it; if anything it felt like a better idea than his original programming. Now he had confirmation that the Staff had worked that way before the shutdown. But was there a way to restore that functionality in the grimoire he had been given?

Demiurge was in the entrance hall when his creator returned with a satisfied smile. “Excuse me, my father, but what has you so happy?” “Ah, my son, you are aware that I met with the princess of E-Rantel, correct?” “Yes, but I do not know what part of meeting with her has made you so delighted, my lord,” Demiurge answered, perplexed. Ulbert’s grin widened slightly, as he said, “I saw in her the same potential that I gave you by design. She has a similar cunning to yours, but very little demonic power. I am beginning an experiment of sorts – can a mortal turned demon reach similar levels of power as a demon who was created with your level of power? To that end, I have taken her as an apprentice. Either she will be simply a cunning strategist or an equal to you in both cunning and power. Regardless, Nazarick benefits.”

Demiurge’s smile grew, as he saw the truth in his creator’s words, but was unprepared for his final statement, an absolute bombshell. “In fact, I might adopt her as your sister, given how alike you two are.” Demiurge nearly fainted from the idea, but just barely was able to keep from doing so in front of his creator.

As Momonga returned from gathering more of his comrades, he was pulled aside by Tabula Smaragdina. “First off, I know you changed Albedo’s settings. To be honest, I’m kind of glad, because that change might actually be better than what I had. She’s your second-in-command already, your secretary. And we all know what secretaries do with their bosses.” Momonga spluttered, but Tabula continued, “There’s more however. Is there a way to make the Staff able to alter NPC personalities in this world? Because some of mine have certain issues that conflict with their roles.”

Momonga pondered this for a second and replied, “I did see a spell in the grimoire that should allow it to work even on people from this world. But it has an extremely limited duration. I’m guessing that Nigredo and Rubedo need attitude adjustments to better fit their jobs, right?”

“Indeed,” Tabula replied. “There is also an issue that cropped up with Albedo that she hasn’t told you about – your changes prevented her from being able to mount her War Bicorn Lord. Normally, what I had would have allowed it, but her shyness around you prevented her from doing the deed and by extension, riding her mount. You might need to take care of that as well.”

Momonga blushed and nodded, before teleporting back to the decoy Nazarick to gather the others for their return.

Aura and Mare were in such good spirits that they were practically bouncing off the walls in anticipation of their mother’s return. Shalltear was happy, but composed herself so that she wouldn’t explode from excitement. Cocytus was pleased that his creator was soon to return, and planned to ask for a friendly spar with him to celebrate.

As Lord Ainz materialized upon the Great Throne, the Guardians turned towards the door. There in the doorway, were their glorious creators. And to Aura and Mare’s shock, Lady Bukubukuchagama was holding a baby that looked almost exactly like her.

Peroroncino walked up to Shalltear, picked her up, and started complimenting her on all her hard work, even consoling her for the incident with the World Item.

Cocytus walked up to Warrior Takemikazuchi, bowed and greeted his master. After a brief conversation, they started discussing the battles Cocytus fought, and where he could improve.

The twins finally snapped out of their state of shock, and slowly approached their mother, who greeted them warmly. Mare was the first to speak, asking if he could hold the baby. She gently handed her son to his older brother of sorts, and embraced Aura, both women crying tears of joy.

All the others, both NPCs and Guild Members were touched by the scene.

Chapter Text

Momonga had worried about the differences that would naturally happen when the NPCs became actual individuals with their personality. He had performed many subtle experiments and been so careful to cultivate their loyalty for fear of their retaliation. But with the spell he had discovered in the grimoire, he was able to use the Staff in the same way he had just before the Transference. That was what his guildmates had taken to calling it, and he had immediately agreed that it sounded fitting. After all, his mind had been transferred into his avatar’s body and both transferred into this New World.

Tabula’s assessment of his daughters’ personality was spot-on. Nigredo’s relative compassion towards humans in general and adoration of children in particular, while perfect for her role as overseer of the orphanages, had already led to her disobeying his direct orders. She needed to be more willing to follow orders if they were ultimately for the greater good.

Ultimately, the same was true of Pestonya, though she was not yet at the point of needing an attitude adjustment. Nigredo’s true issue was her indifference to children over the age of two; if she was to be overseeing their orphanages, Nazarick needed her to care for all of the children. And related to that issue was her frightening appearance – she could and would traumatize the children if not for him granting her the ability to mask her horrific countenance in beauty, like Shalltear’s normal appearance as compared to her true vampiric form.

Rubedo’s problem was slightly different. She was certainly loyal to Nazarick and not afraid of causing mass destruction. The issue lay in her stubborn refusal to take orders from anyone save for Tabula and himself. It was a simple fact that they would not always be in direct command over her, so her unwillingness to follow orders from other competent leaders was extremely detrimental. Fortunately, it was simple enough to convince her of this fact with both her own creator and the guild master saying the same thing. What resistance she mustered to the idea was easily unraveled simply by pointing the Staff in her direction. Momonga still planned to keep an eye on her, prepared to reinforce those changes in case they didn’t take this time.

Looking through the Grimoire for interesting information, he stumbled upon a very interesting fact – the so-called ‘Player’ that Pandora’s Actor had fought while impersonating him was actually a suit of armor that had been remotely controlled by the Platinum Dragon Lord, one of the major leaders of the Argland Council State and the son of the Dragon Emperor. What was more, he was fully aware of the existence of YGGDRASIL Players and was determined to eradicate them to prevent them from corrupting this world. An interesting twist, which could prove useful to them, or spell their doom. Ainz considered how he might react to them offering an olive branch, as they may be players, but they were a stalwart champion of heteromorphic species as heteromorphs themselves. How would he factor into their plans to create a true utopia? Would he throw his support behind them to defeat the anthropocentric Theocracy, or would he be yet another enemy to worry about? Such questions, he decided, were something better discussed with the rest of Nazarick.

Continuing his reading, he found himself reading a familiar page, describing the Portal spell he had used many times now to cross between worlds. He was about ready to pass over it when a certain phrase jumped out at him “…can also be used to create a gateway between the past and the relative present.” His attention thoroughly grabbed, he read further, discovering that not only could it pierce between separate worlds, but it could allow for paradox-free time travel. The paradox prevention was extremely effective, as the harder that one tried to alter the past, the more likely it was that they would end up causing the events they had tried to change. The ramifications of such a spell were so infinitely complex that he could even… Hmm, now that was an idea.

Aura was holding her creator’s son and looking down at him with such reverence and adoration that anyone would believe the boy was Aura’s own child. She was so gentle and careful that Sebas seemed a little surprised, given her usually bombastic and hyperactive behavior. “It seems that the twins are more alike than I realized,” he thought.” Between Mare’s outburst and this, I feel like the universe is playing a joke on me!” Looking over at Shalltear, he saw that Lady Bukubukuchagama was talking with her and obviously consoling her over something. They were talking softly, and as a gentleman he turned away from the conversation, giving them some privacy. Unfortunately, at precisely that moment, Shalltear wailed, “I hate being called flat!” Blushing, he looked at Aura, who had a furious grimace on her face. Obviously, she was upset both that Shalltear might be disturbing her baby brother and at the reminder of their frequent spats over their personal… endowments. Sighing, he made his way to Nazarick’s bar, thoroughly devoted to forgetting that unfortunate situation.

When he arrived in the bar, he saw his creator, Lord Touch Me having fun over a drink with his wife. He smiled, and sat down next to them.

Tsaindorcus Vaision was confused. The Sorcerer Kingdom had attacked the Empire with such strength and power, a level of power that he did not remember from his proxy’s clash with the Sorcerer King. True, he knew there were powerful NPCs under his command, but he had not expected such a level of devastation.

He eventually realized that this was not the same being he had fought against, perhaps a shapeshifter in the service of the Sorcerer King. From what he had heard, he was not the kind of being to kneel before others. The massacre in Re-Estize and the recent destruction of the Imperial Capital had proven that. As one of, if not the most important members of the Council, he had been present when the Sorcerer King’s messenger spoke to them. While their retaliation was justified even by his standards, the actions they took in service of such retaliation was precisely what he had come to expect from these ‘Players’. He shuddered to think what would happen if more of those like him joined under his banner; the chaos and carnage would be unrivaled!

While the Sorcerer Kingdom was a majority-heteromorph kingdom, they were led by one of the most powerful and cunning ‘Players’ he had ever seen in his long life. Even the Eight Greed Kings seemed lacking in comparison to such might! At least he had time to prepare his nation in case they turned their swords to his people, as they were focused on the accursed and hateful Theocracy.

Chapter Text

After a long meeting with the denizens of Nazarick, it was decided that they would extend an olive branch to the Argland Council State, and ask to meet with the Platinum Dragon Lord himself.

Sighing, Ainz retired to his dressing room, and began putting his plan into motion. First he reached out his hand to make a portal, as he had done many times before, but this time focusing on a specific time and place. A shimmering portal opens, and he steps through. Nearby, he can feel a past version of Shalltear. He casts two spells, first Perfect Unknowable to prevent the Black Scripture or Shalltear from seeing him, and then Greater Teleportation to warp near to Shalltear.

As he arrives, he can see Shalltear in the same set of armor she used when he duelled her, in his past… which hasn’t happened at this point but will certainly happen soon. As he watches, the Black Scripture encounters Shalltear, and their leader starts casting something. Casting All Appraisal Magic Item, he identifies it as his true target: the World Item, Downfall of Castle and Country.

Waiting for a few moments, he confirms that it has begun to take effect, but abruptly stops further effect as Shalltear’s Pipette Lance contacts her. Using Time Stop, he walks to the figure, and switches the genuine article with a fake made just then using Create Greater Item, before the wearer starts bleeding. Before Time Stop expires, he returns to the tree line and casts Greater Teleportation in order to return to the portal. As he steps back through into his dressing room, the portal closes behind him and the timeline is preserved. Now that he has done this, Nazarick should be safe from Theocracy control. Realizing now precisely why the Theocracy had never managed to control another one of the Guardians, he laughs boisterously and hangs the World Item in his closet for now.

Takemikazuchi is exhilarated. He has not had such a workout since before his return! Nodding to his creation, he sits down to cool off before their next spar. They begin to talk rapidly, analyzing the fight to find their respective weaknesses and think of potential strategies to counter their use.

Cocytus brings up an interesting topic, however. “My. Lord. Do. You. Know. What. A. Martial. Art. Is?”

“Are you referring to different styles of combat, such as judo, karate or Krav Maga?”

“No. My. Lord. It. Is. Something. We. Discovered. In. This. World. It. Is. Like. A. Skill.”

“Something completely unknown to YGGDRASIL? Fascinating…” Takemikazuchi replied.

“Indeed. My. Lord. It. Could. Be. Compared. To. Tiered. Magic.”

“Such as specific attacks and buffs for melee and ranged fighters?”

 “Yes. However. There. Are. Also. Talents.”

“And those are?” “Innate. Magical. Powers. From. Birth. They. Cannot. Be. Changed.”

“Equally intriguing. What kinds of powers do those grant?”

“There. Are. Many. Such. As. Detecting. Magical. Power. But. Not. All. Of. Them. Apply. Some. Warriors. Are. Born. With. Magic. Strengthening. Talents. It. Is. Useless. For. Them.”

“This is incredibly fascinating, Cocytus! Are there any other unique powers in this world?”

“Indeed, my good friend,” said Ulbert, arriving in the Amphitheatre.

“Lord. Ulbert. Always. A. Pleasure,” Cocytus said respectfully with a bow.

“And the same to you, child. You were discussing the powers of this world?”

Warrior Takemikazuchi nodded. “Yep. They sound pretty interesting! Have you heard of any more types of power?”

“Indeed I have, in fact through the research of Demiurge and our good friend Momonga, there are two unique forms of magic in this world specific to certain species. One would be runecraft, the specialty of the dwarves. Momonga told me he was sponsoring their rediscovery. It turns out that Tier Magic is just more convenient to learn for them. Unfortunately, runecraft does not mix with conventional enchantments. A true shame.”

“That sounds like something he would do. Greater technical knowledge has always helped the guild in the past, runes could turn out to be dead useful!”

“But the more interesting type of magic,” Ulbert continued, “is Wild Magic. Very few can actually wield it nowadays. The true masters of Wild Magic are the Dragons, but unfortunately the number of those who can use it is very low because of a genocide committed by the Eight Greed Kings. The entire reason that some are called Dragon ‘Lords’ is because they are capable of wielding Wild Magic.”

“But what is so special about Wild Magic? It can’t be that different from the spells in YGGDRASIL,” Takemikazuchi asked, confused. Spells were not his forte as a warrior, thus he relied on his mage friends to help him understand and strategize around magic.

“On the contrary, they are extremely different from each other. While Tier Magic consumes MP, Wild Magic draws upon the energy of souls.”

“What? You’re serious!?” he asked, horrified by the idea. Even long after the fall of organized religion and spirituality, the concept of a soul was still considered sacred in their world. The idea of using souls for power felt unnerving to him.

“As the grave. Such magic grows stronger with each soul offered up in exchange, but the more powerful it is, the more damage it can do to the caster’s own soul. It’s a very old and primal form of magic compared to what we know. It is mostly dragons who can use it, although some humans have Talents that allow them to wield it. But for those with little or no dragon blood, it can require far more power to do far simpler things. Only a True Dragon can truly master Wild Magic.”

“I can understand why magic like that wasn’t in YGGDRASIL. It sounds so… dark.”

Ulbert raised an eyebrow. “You do remember who you are talking to, correct?”

“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant!” Takemikazuchi shouted as Ulbert began to snicker in amusement.

Cocytus huffed, counting his blessings that he had not had to face such terrifying power.

Lord Momonga had, once again, called the Guardians and the Supreme Beings into the Throne Room for some important business. They quickly discovered just how important – he had traveled back in time and stolen the World Item that had controlled Shalltear. The very idea of being able to travel through time, even if only backwards, was unbelievable to any of them. However, he held the proof in his hands. Shalltear gasped upon seeing it, and confirmed that it was indeed the genuine article.

But he wasn’t done yet, he had a greater target: The Nameless Book of Spells wielded by the Eight Greed Kings. If Ulbert had been drooling at the thought of Ainz’s otherworldly grimoire, he was slobbering at the idea of a book listing EVERY new spell in this world! Such potential that they could attain!

It would be difficult, but Momonga was certain that they could attain it. The more pressing issue was a diplomatic mission to the Argland Council State and specifically its most powerful councillor, the Platinum Dragon Lord.

Chapter Text

It was unfortunate that the Empire still needed to be brought to heel, but orders were orders. Albedo had wanted to accompany Lord Ainz, but as he had said last night in the bedroom, she was needed here more.

She enjoyed being able to ride from time to time, even if she generally rode in a carriage instead. Steering her summoned mount throughout the city, she observed Empire citizens fixing buildings. When they waved, she waved back, not because she actually cared about them but because as a skilled leader, she knew the importance of keeping up morale and job satisfaction.

Albedo guided her steed through the courtyard, where a group of citizens were polishing the statue of her lord. She smiled as she passed the statue, happy that the citizens knew to respect and adore the Most Supreme Being and the love of her life.

As she neared the site of the former palace, she saw Demiurge. Calling out to him, she asked whether or not there were any issues. He turned around, briefly raised an eyebrow in confusion, and responded in the negative. As she dismounted, she tied her mount to a nearby post and ordered it to stay. She saw her younger sister, Nigredo tending to the little ones, smiled and waved.

Touch Me was feeling cautious. Most people would feel cautious and terrified approaching a dragon, especially one that they knew could potentially kill them and one that could already not like you. But all that needed to be set aside, as today’s mission had to go flawlessly if they were to survive long-term.

Ainz had gathered Touch Me and Ulbert to accompany him to the meeting with the Platinum Dragon Lord. He had justified this by saying that Touch Me was a good example of the kind of people they were, while Ulbert was cunning (and extremely powerful in case they had to fight their way out).

As they arrived at the mouth of the cave where the Platinum Dragon Lord dwelled, they naturally shouted their greetings to inform him of their presence. Simply barging in would not give them a good first impression, and they needed as much luck as they could get to be able to pull this off. Hearing a cultured voice responding to their greetings, they asked for permission to enter his lair. They hoped this would help endear them to the dragon, as he already hated all players from YGGDRASIL.

As they entered, they saw the dragon transform into a silver-haired elderly gentleman remarkably similar to Sebas. They thank him for allowing him to enter and talk with him. However, he merely huffs in contempt, asking them to speak whatever words they came to say and then leave.

Ainz begins, “Your Highness, I am Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, King of the Sorcerer Kingdom and Guild Master of the Guild Ainz Ooal Gown. These are my companions, Sir Touch Me and the archdemon Ulbert Alain Odle. We know that you despise those of us ‘Players’, and I distinctly remember having a proxy clash with you through my subordinate, Pandora’s Actor, however, we are here on a diplomatic mission.”

The dragon’s face hardens as his suspicion that he wasn’t fighting the true Sorcerer King is confirmed, as well as the fear that more ‘Players’ are involved. He resists the urge to destroy them at this news, as they are here for diplomatic reasons. Still, he will not allow their destructive influence to spread into his territory.

“We know that us ‘Players’ have done great damage to this world. The evils done upon your kind by the Eight Greed Kings, the foundation of the Theocracy by the Six Great Gods, and the terrors of the reign of the Evil Deities. But we have come to unite this world in peace and understanding.”

“Hmm. You certainly displayed your peaceableness with your attack on the Imperial Capital. You may have had a good reason to attack the Empire, but the violence of your methods is unforgivable.”

Ulbert responded, “Your Highness, we know that we went quite far, but it was necessary. You know precisely how much the Empire and the Theocracy despise Heteromorphs. Their human-centric system of values is abominable, and we needed to send a message that such behavior was not acceptable to us. Even now, we are dedicating our resources to rebuilding the Empire to be better than it was before, and righting our wrongs.”

Touch Me added, “Our armies do not enter the capital to hold the people hostage, they patrol to keep them safe to live their lives freely. The most we do with our undead in the city is to use them to help with reconstruction and farmwork.”

“A noble quality, this restraint of yours. But I did not see any restraint in your reckless destruction. The Palace was nothing more than a crater! Most of the buildings were destroyed! Hundreds of lives were lost! How, may I ask, is that restraint?”

Touch Me responded, “Those who perished in the attack were buried, with honors. Those who could be healed, were healed. The Emperor’s Palace was replaced with a full neighborhood’s worth of residences, stores and government buildings. We did as much as we could to undo the damage, save for resurrection. We did not wish to drag the dead back from their eternal rest into a home ruled by their killers. It would have been disrespectful.”

“Lord Touch Me is the most honorable man I have ever known. He may be human, but he has always stood up against those who despise Heteromorphs. In fact, that is how we met – him saving me from being murdered by anti-Heteromorphic players,” Momonga confessed. “Dragons are among the species who enjoy freedom in the Sorcerer Kingdom. My loyal butler, Sebas Tian, is second only to Touch Me in his honorable nature, and is also a proud dragon, though unfortunately he lacks the gift of Wild Magic.”

“A dragon holds so high a position in your kingdom? To be expected. It is indeed unfortunate that he lacks the gift. I admire your respect for the dead, and your willingness to atone. You may speak your piece.”

“What we are here to ask for is a mutual pact of nonaggression. We agree with your protection of Heteromorphic individuals, and we also seek to create a perfect kingdom for our subjects. It is Lord Ainz’s will to create a true utopia, and we hope that you agree,” Ulbert said.

“Of course! Such is my own will with my subjects – a place where they can live safely and freely. I hold no objection to this pact. You have my blessing,” agreed the Dragon.

“We also seek to keep the knowledge of Wild Magic alive. We may not be able to use it, but such ancient knowledge must be preserved for future generations!”

“You will find I have no argument with that. While I prefer Wild Magic, I do admit that the magic you wield is quite formidable.”

Soon after, in the council chambers, the pact of non-aggression was formally drafted and signed. Now there was but one enemy to overcome (so far as they knew): The Slane Theocracy.

The Pontifex Maximus was enraged. The World Item given to the Black Scripture had been stolen and replaced with a fake. They had been using it regularly, and it had worked on those who lacked resistance or immunity to mental subjugation, but only recently they had discovered that it could no longer bypass such immunities. The fact that the last time it had successfully done so was on a member of the Sorcerer King’s court pointed to their involvement, save for the fact that it was confirmed that only the vampire had ever come near to it, and the filthy creature had been the one affected. He didn’t know how they were involved, but he was furious that they’d managed to steal their Trump Card.

The Pontifex’s mood did not improve when he received news that the Sorcerer King and the Platinum Dragon Lord had reached an accord. Many things were broken during the ensuing tantrum.  

Chapter Text

Fluder Paradyne was overjoyed at the Sorcerer King’s invitation into the Great Tomb, as he had learned much during his first visit. He hoped that Lord Ainz would favor him with such great knowledge again on this trip. Although there was one point that was noteworthy to him – he would not be the only visitor the Great Tomb that day – Re-Estize’s Golden Princess would be joining him. He guesses that as a vassal of the Sorcerer King, she has been invited to fulfill his will. Well, he will find out soon.

Renner was anxious for this meeting, as she was there to meet with her new mentor, Lord Ulbert, and learn to master the power her demonic body had so that she could better serve Nazarick. Climb would soon be doing the same with Lord Touch Me, although he had to wait until he was sufficiently recovered from his transformation.

Becoming an imp had left him extremely weak, especially since he had recently been resurrected from such a brutal death at the Sorcerer King’s hands. She shuddered at the thought of how powerful he was, knowing that only her loyalty had been enough to allow Climb to return from death back to her side.

The thought that she would soon be learning the full powers of magic excited her greatly, as before she had to rely on her wits and her royal authority to force her enemy into submission. Now, she would have far greater power than she had ever had in Re-Estize.

As Fluder Paradyne entered, he saw a vaguely familiar figure that strongly resembled Princess Renner, although it seemed too demonic to be the revered ‘Golden Princess’. Nevertheless, he addressed her the same, and in the following conversation he learned her story and realized that she was a kindred spirit. She had cast aside all that she had known, for a chance at achieving her dreams in service of Ainz Ooal Gown. As they spoke, Demiurge came to greet them, leading them not into the Throne Room as he had expected, but instead into a comfortable drawing room. There, another demon, far more powerful to his senses, awaited.

“I have brought your guests, dear father,” Demiurge said calmly. In reply, the archdemon’s apparent father said, “Thank you, my son. I will call for you again soon, as we will need to bring them to the Amphitheatre to continue the Princess’ training.” Father? Training? What was this demon speaking about?

The demon then turned to him and answered his questions. “Hello, Master Paradyne, I am Lord Ulbert Alain Odle, creator of Demiurge and member of the Guild of Ainz Ooal Gown. The one you know as Ainz Ooal Gown is the master of that guild, by the decision of the whole guild.”

Fluder, his tone reverent, asked, “So you are just as great in power as he? Outstanding! I cannot believe that I am meeting such a powerful being!”

Ulbert smiled, grateful for the praise. He had put a lot of effort into his profile and it made him jump with joy to hear others praise the fruit of his labors. “Thank you very much. While Lord Ainz is focused almost entirely on instant death and necromancy magics, and thus lacks many of the talents of magical efficiency that most casters of our level do, I do not share that problem. In fact, my specialty is quite simple: destructive magic and summoning lesser demons to serve similar goals.”

The idea of Lord Ainz being called deficient did not quite make sense to Fluder, but he understood this as an explanation for the Sorcerer King’s frequent reliance on necromancy and instant-death spells, as those were what he specialized in. Ulbert continued, “And while Ainz’s ultimate skill, The Goal of All Life is Death, may compliment his specialty, my ultimate skill, Grand Catastrophe, fits more closely with my personal preferences.”

“And what do those skills do, my Lord?”

“The Goal of All Life is Death delays the effect of instant death magic by twelve seconds, but amplifies it to the point that even undead can be affected unless a resurrection effect is applied before it activates. My own Grand Catastrophe, however, takes 60% of my mana to create a wave of pure destructive energy that exceeds even Super-Tier magic’s level of power.”

“Super-tier magic?! I have heard of it, but only from the Massacre of Re-Estize! You mean to say that you have greater power than that?” Fluder asked, his mind blown by the sheer weight of such a revelation.

“Yes, but as I said, it costs at least 60% of my mana. I have to be careful with how much energy I use, lest I render my trump card unusable.”

Princess Renner, seeing that the conversation is getting slightly out of hand, decides to speak up. “Master Paradyne, Lord Ulbert, if we could return to business?”

Ulbert stops himself from going into more detail, realizing he had almost forgotten the purpose of this meeting. “Indeed. I have taken the Princess as my apprentice, to teach her how to wield the powers her new form grants her. I have also brought you on to help in teaching her how to wield the powers of magic, up to the sixth tier at the least.”

Fluder nods, having been in somewhat similar situations before (as regards teaching magic). However, Lord Ulbert has more for him. “You will also be guided towards becoming an Elder Lich, and thus gaining up to the eighth tier of magic, as a reward for your valuable service to our cause.” Now his attention is thoroughly held hostage; the idea of being able to learn and wield such power that not even he could access all these long years was all too tempting. There was only one answer: “Thank you, my Lord. I will assist the Princess in her education.”

Demiurge returned moments later, guiding them to the Arena for Renner’s first lessons.

Momonga was currently meeting with Evileye in the rebuilt Re-Estize throne room. The Platinum Dragon Lord had mentioned that they had both been members of the Legendary Thirteen Heroes, and he felt he owed it to Evileye. He had spent some time already revealing his deceptions, such as his identity Momon of Darkness, Jaldabaoth being merely Demiurge and Entoma being one of his servants. But his explanation of why such things were necessary for the Sorcerer Kingdom proved to prevent her from exploding in fury for his blatant deception, although she still didn’t approve of those actions.

When she heard of his utopian ambitions, however, her mood seemed to shift. Obviously, she was a fellow believer. He understood her position entirely, more so than she had expected. He had even known her true identity – the vampire Landfall, member of the Thirteen Heroes, who long been thought dead by their hand when she had actually joined their ranks. The true bombshell was his awareness of the Nameless Book of Spells and his interest in acquiring it for the ‘Greater Good’. She volunteered to retrieve it, because as one of the Thirteen Heroes, she had already been deemed worthy to take one of the treasures of the Eight Greed Kings. In gratitude, he offered as many benefits as he could think of for the Blue Roses, as an apology for Demiurge taking their lives.

Nazarick’s power was growing even faster now than before he had retrieved his allies. Which reminded him that there were still more to gather. Soon, he would venture back to Earth to recruit more of his old friends.

Chapter Text

What Evileye had said to them had sounded patently absurd – Momon of Darkness was really the Sorcerer King and Jaldabaoth was his right-hand demon? Yeah, right! But the fact that she freely admitted to them was that he had known who she really was, a fact that not even they had known until just then? That proved that all of it was true, even including his extremely generous offer, which he had made in apology for their deaths.

Heroic adventurers they may be, but even they still had bills to pay. Such a large amount of money and creature comforts was not something they could pass up!

Evileye was relieved when the others didn’t condemn her for being a vampire. Although to be honest, she did not know why she had. One of their former members was Rigrit, another former member of the Thirteen Heroes. She would not have abided such disrespect against an old friend.

As she remembered Rigrit, she wondered if she should introduce her to the Sorcerer King? She had asked her about him before, and they were likely to bond both over their ideals and their mastery of necromancy.

As Renner’s training for the day ended with a final spar between her and Fluder, Ainz entered the Amphitheatre and greeted them warmly. Offering to heal their minor wounds for them, he touched them with his staff, grinning internally at the execution of his brilliant plan.

He had long been worried about the loyalties of those allies from the New World, who were by nature not as loyal as the NPCs were. Fortunately, the spell that enabled him to change their settings with the Staff had an additional property: it also worked on New World natives aligned with Nazarick. Now Renner, and to a lesser extent Fluder, were definitively on his side. It didn’t hurt to actually heal their wounds, as that would help sell the illusion while making him seem even more generous to them.

While Renner had certainly been loyal to Nazarick before through his generous gifts, now he could finally stop worrying about her potential betrayal. Fluder’s loyalty was more easily won, but it did not hurt to give him a more permanent sense of loyalty to Nazarick.

As he left the Amphitheatre, he headed for an empty conference room, sending a Message to Ulbert and Touch Me to meet him there. He had an idea…

Peroroncino was visiting Nazarick’s dungeons when saw one of the most beautiful beings he had ever laid eyes on. Asking a nearby NPC, he learned that she was a half-elven descendant of enemy YGGDRASIL players. Walking up to her, he began a conversation.

The Platinum Dragon Lord was quite happy, as he had just had an enlightening conversation with his old friend Landfall. As it turned out, she had had a few bad encounters with the Sorcerer King and he had been determined to right his wrongs. She and her new companions were living in relative luxury (relative for him, he had always lived better than most dragons as the son of the Dragon Emperor, and dragons had better lives than most other species), and he was taking care of their every need, leaving them free to do their jobs and protect the people with all their heart. She had even told him that they knew her true identity now and had encouraged her to be more open. He agreed with them, as one of the Sorcerer Kingdom’s cornerstones seemed to be equal treatment for intelligent beings of all manner of species, similar to how the Argland Council State ran things.

He was pleased that the Sorcerer King was as noble as he had presented himself. Oddly, the man reminded him of himself: flawed, occasionally vicious, but selfless and kind at heart. Not at all what he had come to expect from players. The Guild of Ainz Ooal Gown seemed, to him, to be the exception to this rule, among many others they flouted.

Rigrit Bers Caurau was thinking very similar thoughts. Obviously, while the emergence of the Sorcerer Kingdom was certainly among the kind of Great Tremors she had witnessed from the emergence of players, it was entirely different, in a way that reminded her of her time among the Thirteen Heroes, or as a member of the Blue Roses. A focus on mercy, compassion and leadership through service. Not to mention their acceptance of individuals of all species, all genders and orientations, all walks of life, into the glory of their kingdom. While she had been initially apprehensive over the viciousness of their attacks (and still was), she now saw them as shepherds defending their flock from the wolves nipping at their heels. Landfall’s proposal was, perhaps, a good course of action. Perhaps she should meet with the Sorcerer King.

She also remembered young Fluder Paradyne, with his desire to be just like her. Now he was long since grown, and now finding his heart’s desire in the service of the Sorcerer King.

Maximilian Oreio Lagier was terrified. The Pontifex Maximus had discovered that the World Item entrusted to his Scripture had somehow been stolen, likely by the Sorcerer Kingdom. He was fearful not just for his position but for his very life. If he or his subordinates made even the smallest slip-up, he would likely be dead and replaced before sundown. He made a simple proclamation to the members of the Black Scripture, ordering them to be cautious, lest they catch the Pontifex’s wrath. He knew they could not afford anything going wrong until he was back in his superior’s favor, and hopefully not for a long time after then.

Cardinal Lagier had also started to confer with the other cardinals to ensure that none of them had suffered similar losses. He may be selfish, but he knew that the loss of all six Cardinals would do irreparable damage to the Theocracy. Perhaps if he could locate and bring the Extra Seat of his Scripture back into the fold, the Pontifex’s anger may abate. But it was entirely possible that she was in the clutches of the enemy. If that was so, then his fate was sealed.

Chapter Text

“What is it, Momonga? What could you possibly have planned?” asked Touch Me. All of them knew that he was planning to bring more of their comrades back, but beyond that, nothing.

“After this next trip, we will have enough to bring back Bellriver.” Instantly, the room seemed to still. All three were aware of their friend’s fate, but only Momonga had remembered how close they were to his return. “With Punitto Moe, Blue Planet and HeroHero, we will have enough of us gathered together to finally bring him back from the claws of death!”

Their hearts began to beat faster in anticipation of such glorious the coming day would be, but Momonga was not quite finished. He continued to speak ever more rapidly, saying, “I need you two to come with me and hack into the files of the YGGDRASIL devs, so that we have all the evidence we need to prove their involvement.” The two seemed interested in this idea, knowing that Bellriver’s evidence had some holes that they had filled only through logical assumptions; if they could prove the devs had malicious intentions, and that they were involved somehow in their friend’s death, then they would have full justification to take them down.

There was more, naturally. By hacking into their database, they could learn secrets of the game that no-one had discovered yet and find out who had which World Items. They could become even more powerful than they already were.

Reaching out with his hand, Momonga conjured a shimmering portal, and beckoned them through. As avid YGGDRASIL players, they knew where the developers’ headquarters were, and thus could pull off such a heist with ease, especially with Ulbert’s library of spells to aid them.

Momonga split off from the others to do his usual comrade-gathering routine. Then, he had to find Bellriver’s remains and bring him back to Nazarick for the coming ritual.

The Pontifex Maximus was fearful, as was unfortunately a normal occurrence for him. The emergence of the Sorcerer Kingdom had done nothing but frustrate their operations for months, and now they had been proven themselves to be more than equal to the Theocracy’s might yet again. Well, not quite.

Five hundred years ago, long after all but Lord Surshana had passed on, came seven powerful foes that ravaged the world. Not even the full might of the gods was enough to defeat them. However, Surshana, God of Death and patron of the Black Scripture managed to seal them away in the World-level Item, Gjallarhorn, and entrusted it to the first Pontifex, with orders to never use it. All that detection magic ever revealed of it was that it would bring back the Gods to clash with their great foes.

When the Eight Greed Kings came into power, Lord Surshana had refused to allow the use of the World Item, preferring to defeat them himself. He had not survived the battle, and only their cruel idea of 'mercy' had saved the Faithful. None of the Faithful had ever forgotten the fact that those demons had slain the last of their Gods, and categorically refused to serve them. Again, this idea of 'mercy' saved them from otherwise certain destruction. What kind of mercy was this, being ruled by the worst of sinners? Even if such mercy had stayed their enemy's hand, they refused the idea, believing that they had ever more wicked designs. In self-defense, the Pontifex of the time was almost ready to authorize the use of the Gjallarhorn, but before he could, their oppressors had turned on each other and destroyed their kingdoms.

Like his predecessor, the Pontifex held hope that the Gods’ intervention might be enough to bring the Sorcerer King and his abominable court of monsters to heel. The time was not yet right, the hour not so desperate, but he could feel the coming doom of the Theocracy, the slaughter of its Faithful. He would not allow it, not so long as his faith endured.

Blue Planet had proven to be easily convinced. Knowing how much the druid had adored nature, he had given his word that they would cleanse the Earth of all the pollution and destruction man had caused and shape it into a new utopia. HeroHero was also convinced, as he was desperate to escape the job he swore was slowly killing him, not to mention his joy at the idea of one day toppling his old bosses from their high thrones and making them suffer through the coming utopian revolution.

Punitto Moe, once convinced, demanded that he go into detail on his past and future plans to analyze them in detail. While he acknowledged that his past could not be changed, he could learn from the less successful aspects of his plans. Upon learning his true plans for both worlds, he was ecstatic, finding his use of the available information to be far higher than he expected, though still not perfect yet. As they returned to Nazarick, he performed the Transformation ritual upon them, and sent them down to the Treasury to get the items they were missing, as well as Bellriver’s items. Once they were out of earshot, he stepped back through the portal, trying to track Bellriver. The usual spell he used, reliant on the emotional bonds between user and tracked, felt clammy and cold, entirely corpselike, but still led him unerringly to a grave marked with a familiar name, the same name digitally stamped on the files he had sent to Ulbert. He sighed, and got to work.

Ulbert had discovered quite a lot. At least 75 World Items had been discovered, although only about 35 were actually game-breaking, most of the rest valuable only due to the immunity they granted against other World Items. He had also acquired a list of boss enemies that had been active during the Transference, as well as a similar list of players online during the Transference. Six profiles seemed to be a match for the Theocracy’s Pantheon, and of those, four seemed to also match the Gods of the Roble Holy Kingdom. Interestingly, there seemed to be seven individual World Enemies spread throughout the map when Transference occurred.

Transferring the digital data onto his laptop and deleting them from the system, he placed the physical files into his inventory for easier carrying. As they were finishing up, Momonga entered, cradling the dead body of Bellriver in his arms. At their looks of unease, he simply replied, “I’ve had to carry a dead body before. Namely, my own.” When they looked at him horrified, he revealed, “Yeah, because I was in the system at Transference, my body was essentially dead. Oddly though, after I performed the Transformation ritual, it disappeared and I could suddenly look human again.”

Touch Me chimed in, saying, “You know what, let’s return to Nazarick before I lose my lunch.”

They walked through the portal, which closed behind them, leaving no physical trace of their presence, save for the fact that every file was gone from the place.

The Amphitheatre was quiet, as the inhabitants of Nazarick stood in a large circle around the center of the Arena. When the portal opened, the circle parted to make way for the procession carrying Bellriver’s corpse. Taking their positions, the Supreme Beings began to pulse their auras as Momonga began to incant. Below Bellriver’s corpse, in the center of the arena, a circle inscribed with unfamiliar sigils appeared, pulsing in time with the auras of the guild members. As Momonga continued to chant, the body was covered in a divine aura, and slowly levitated, looking as if he was flying. And suddenly, the magic circle blazed into flame and Bellriver was rapidly struck nine times by lightning, before his eyes opened, glowing with power. And as soon as it started, it was over, with Bellriver slowly floating down to the ground.

A cough was heard, though no one saw anyone cough. Then the body moved. Bellriver got on his hands and knees, then stood. There he was, precisely as Momonga had last seen him in YGGDRASIL, years ago at this point. Upon seeing him, Momonga could not contain his happiness, running to hug his restored friend. And as Bellriver slowly reciprocated the hug, all the denizens of Nazarick cheered and wept tears of joy.

Chapter Text

After a long talk, Bellriver had confirmed their worst fears regarding the developers and gone far beyond. They had not conceived the idea of their own accord, but had been contracted to develop such a plan, to allow the megacorps to cleanly ‘disappear’ anyone who could be a problem. Such harsh measures were not exclusive to YGGDRASIL, but were present in every facet of the Neural Nano-Interface, and the companies relied on corruption and murder to ensure this was never brought to light, and that people would continue to use the Interfaces, both to keep filling the megacorps’ pockets and to give them a way to kill anyone without suspicion. All of the Supreme Beings were disgusted at this information, but focused on current business while silently renewing their vows of vengeance against their old corporate overlords.

Peroroncino actually had quite the interesting tidbit of information for the group regarding one of the prisoners – Antilene Heran Fouche, the Extra Seat of the Black Scripture who had been one of the few not involved in the attack on Shalltear. As it turned out, she was somewhere around level 90, which by this world’s standards was extremely impressive, especially for a mere mortal.

However, that was nothing compared to her Talent – as the daughter of the Theocracy’s former ace, she had the Talent of being able to use some of the powers and abilities associated with items belonging to a player. Coupled with the fact that she carried weapons of all the Six Great Gods, she was a major powerhouse, even sharing Momonga’s ultimate skill while wielding Surshana’s scythe. The fact that their God of Death had the same ultimate skill meant that he had a very similar build, if not identical. Remembering the fallen Emperor’s first thoughts about him, Ainz’s jaw dropped realizing that all of those who had worshipped him had actually had a precedent – the Theocracy had worshipped an almost identical figure.

Naturally, Peroroncino had discovered this not through interrogation, but just out of a sense of loneliness. He may not be as much of a pervert as he once was, but he was still searching for love. And since he had met her shortly after his return, he had been smitten with her. His current priority may be to romance her and become her lover, but the others were all thinking of how this could be used to gain her loyalty. Remembering the reports from her interrogations, Ainz revealed, “She has an almost pathological desire to find a strong mate and bear his children. It’s almost disturbing, especially as compared to her father’s desire to force her to the same for his nation. She may hate him, but deep-down she desires the same things. But the road there would not be easy; you’d have to slowly get rid of the lasting psychological damage the Theocracy did to her. Are you prepared for that, my friend?”

Suddenly, his face turned from lovestruck teen to stonefaced warrior, as he vowed, “She will join with us, and join willingly, as my bride. This I promise, on my honor as a member of Nazarick!”

Everyone was shocked by his dedication to someone he had known for so little time. For him to swear by the guild, which all of them held sacred, was a level of commitment that they were unused to hearing from the man they remembered as being a pervert and not much else.

“Wonderful, my friend! Good on you!” Ulbert replied joyfully, as he cheered at Peroroncino’s apparent maturity. “But there are other matters to attend to, as we discussed earlier, Momonga?”

“Indeed, Ulbert. Today I have a most crucial mission for all of you. Up until now, I gathered comrades three at a time. But now we have an opportunity to cut down our workload. We now number eleven in this Tomb – ten to gather comrades, and one to hold down the fort,” Momonga replied. “If the ten of you each bring home one of our comrades, we will have doubled our numbers. And if we do same once they are settled in, that trip will have gathered half our guild in one swoop! In a week’s time, we may very well be back at our full strength!”

All but Ulbert looked shocked, and then smiled widely. It was quickly agreed that this course of action was best going forward, so that they could quickly and efficiently gather their old allies before preparing for further action. As they adjourned to begin preparations for their mission, Touch Me sidled up to Peroroncino and began to offer love advice.

Ulbert was overjoyed that Momonga had chosen him to lead the mission, and especially about the honor he had given him: the honor of wielding the grimoire. His intellectual mind sang with joy as he felt the weight of the book, knowing that not a single page, nor any part of a page was wasted; the entirety of the book was filled with knowledge from the heavens. As he watched the others begin to track their chosen target, he sighed, satisfied that he could help his guildmates come back into the fold.

Naturally, both the Guardians and the Pleiades noticed the absence of their creators and were upset, knowing their masters vowed never to leave them again but not quite able to tamp down those long-held fears. When they learned of their Lords’ plans, their fear left them as they realized the brilliance of the idea – soon the Great Tomb would be filled to capacity once more with their divine masters, as well as their consorts and offspring.

Shalltear, though apprehensive over her creator’s infatuation with a member of the cursed Black Scripture, knew that she was no threat to him and was all too familiar with how suave and charismatic he had become since his return. At the idea of a mortal wielding powers of the Gods, even using Lord Ainz’s technique, she was shocked, but realized this made her only more of a match for her Creator – a deadly beauty. A goddess in mortal flesh. Of course he was attracted to her. She knew his tastes well enough, being a living example.

Antilene was surprised that Peroroncino did not visit her. He was usually so punctual, always there by midday. But instead, one of the Dark Elf children had come to speak with her. She had heard from Peroroncino that this was one of his sister’s twin children, who dressed in clothes opposite their gender. She already knew one of them, but the other one, Aura, had come to speak to her.

“What have you come to say, brat? Where is Peroroncino?” asked Antilene. Aura immediately was furious, demanding she call him by his full title, but of course, she did not care overly much. However, as the girl continued speaking, she learned more and more. Peroroncino was a being equal in power to one of the gods, and the one she knew as the Sorcerer King was supposedly a match for Lord Surshana. That tracked with what she knew of his power over death, as well as both of their auras, which seemed to radiate power at a level no other she knew could.

What was more, Peroroncino and the Sorcerer King were part of a large group, whose membership had dwindled. The number alone was staggering – the idea of forty-one godly beings was terrifying to her, so it was a relief to hear that only ten besides the Sorcerer King were here in this world. But the most terrifying news was what she heard next – they were actively gathering their old friends from beyond this world, from what she could only assume to be the Realm of the Gods. Soon, their number would meet and exceed their original capacity. At this, she commanded the brat to leave, needing time to process these revelations.

Later that day, Peroroncino came to visit her. He freely confirmed every revelation his niece had told her, and then added onto her problems with a simple statement.

“I love you, Antilene.”

Now that was a bombshell. Hearing this, part of her instincts went off, acknowledging that such a powerful mate giving his assent to lie with her could not be passed up, but she managed to keep them under control enough to ask in reply, “Would you take me as your wife? And would you give me children?” At the sight of his brilliant smile widening, she already knew his answer and felt her life’s purpose, her search for a stronger warrior to conquer her, was finally over. As they talked, she felt her adoration for him grow. And as the Sorcerer King appeared in the room, he opened her cell door, promising that in exchange for her loyalty, she could finally be with her beloved. She did not hesitate to agree, swearing her loyalty unto him then and there as he knighted her with his golden staff.

Chapter Text

As much as she hated her father, she did admit he was necessary for this part of the plan. The Elven kingdom did have some intricacies she needed to know, which, given her upbringing in the Theocracy, she did not have any knowledge of. To become the ruler of the Elf Kingdom as planned, she would need to spend time with her father, although her fiancé had promised that he would die not long after the wedding.

The plan was simple and obvious: Nazarick, not yet having ties to the Elven Kingdom, would forge a marriage alliance between her and her beloved Peroroncino. Then, when the Elf King died during the inevitable Theocracy attack, she would take the throne as Queen, swearing herself and her nation as vassal to the Sorcerer King.

To ensure she would be able to rule effectively, she spent much of her time with advisors, from Nazarick or else from her father’s kingdom. Her father, now knowing that the Sorcerer King had managed to bring his most powerful child back from the Theocracy’s clutches, had immediately tried to force her to breed with another, but upon learning she had fallen in love with one of her rescuers, he had jumped at the chance to align with the saviors of his long-lost broodmar- daughter! He had been less irritating since then, reasoning that she would be carrying far stronger children than he could possibly have arranged. And he also seemed to trying to get her to forgive whatever he had done to upset her enough to kill him.

Still, the act that created her, an act of brutal rape, was not something she could forgive. The fact that he had been resurrected from her earlier assault was infuriating and she was tempted to kill him immediately. However, the Supreme Ones had foreseen that the Theocracy would not allow such a union to happen – especially if it tied their kingdoms together. They would inevitably send out a Scripture to prevent the union from happening and recapture her in one move. Under cover of the assault, she could easily kill her father and blame the Theocracy, allowing her to complete her vengeance and blamelessly ascend to the throne, further justifying her alliance with the Sorcerer Kingdom through their shared enmity of the Theocracy.

She shook herself from her thoughts of coming vengeance and continued preparing for her daily stroll through the forest, where she would help the people of the forest and further endear herself to them in the process. It had been her own suggestion, and her fellow ally, Princess Renner had agreed it to be a wise course of action. She herself had done a similar routine for much of her life under the persona of the ‘Golden Princess’.

The fact that it served also as a way to both learn more about her culture that she had never known, as well as a romantic evening with her beloved was certainly a bonus. The time they were spending together served only to make her fall ever more deeply in love with him.

Ainz Ooal Gown was quite satisfied with how his plans were going. After his visit, in which she had sworn loyalty to him (subtly reinforced with his Guild Staff), she and Peroroncino had quickly become the cutest couple he had seen in a while (not counting Touch Me and his wife, those two were adorable sometimes), and had quickly started making arrangements for their wedding. He was to serve as the Minister, which as both a King and technically a God in this world, he was well suited to play, while Touch would be Peroroncino’s best man.

Renner had volunteered as Maid of Honor and quickly been accepted. She and Antilene spent quite a lot of time discussing, although none of their topics were what were usually considered normal between a bride and the maid of honor. For one, they were casually mentioning the fact that the wedding would inevitably be crashed by an enemy, and that the father of the bride would certainly not survive.

All in all, everything seemed to be going perfectly.

The moment the invitation had come, he had immediately ordered an assault. The Cardinal of Darkness knew he was on thin ice already, and if the Extra Seat of his Scripture married into the Sorcerer Kingdom and swore her father’s kingdom as vassal as seemed to be the plan, the Pontifex Maximus would have his head. He had ordered the entirety of his forces to be there and capture or kill as many as possible. He knew killing the Sorcerer King was not possible, and so they were ordered not to even try to do so. While he was certain the attack would draw his further ire, he was already certain the Sorcerer Kingdom was gearing up fully for war.

Decem Hougan was finally beginning to be happy with his plans. His daughter was returned and had decided to marry into the Sorcerer Kingdom! He had realized a while ago that the Dark Elf twins were not his grandchildren, nor did they summon the powerful undead he had seen. In fact that undead was actually the Sorcerer King himself. He idly wondered whether those twins would be available as breeding stock to finally achieve his plans, but cast the thought aside, as his powerful daughter was marrying one of the Sorcerer King’s comrades.

He salivated at the thought of his daughter’s children, their blood infused with the power of such a powerful sire as well as his own immense power flowing through them. This union was the only reason he was willing to forgive his daughter for killing him previously, which he chalked up to being under the control of the Theocracy, though her anger at him was confusing to him. As far as he understood, the child should have been fighting to get back to his side to fulfill her rightful duties. Why would she be angry with her father, who had been fighting to liberate her these long years? Well, it mattered not. She had many years to realize this anger was not worth it, and that she should prioritize her new duties.

The Platinum Dragon Lord was joyous at his old comrade’s daughter’s upcoming nuptials. Not only was the Elf Princess returned from the Theocracy, but she had fallen in love with one of her rescuers, who turned out to be a high-level member of the Sorcerer King’s court. Already he could see the good that the Sorcerer Kingdom was doing, although Decem was acting oddly about it. He was talking of… breeding his daughter, using her as a broodmare. It struck him as odd, as if he only cared about her for her power and capabilities as a mother. But he was sure that, on some level, he was wrong about this. He hoped that the Elf King was more loving than those overheard mutterings had implied.

Chapter Text

The wedding of such a high-ranking nobleman of the Sorcerer Kingdom to the long-lost Princess of the Elven Kingdom was, naturally, a very serious and important affair. Diplomats from allied nations were invited to witness their union, and both the Elven and Sorcerer Kingdoms worked to ensure the ceremony would not be interrupted or attacked. Both were desperate to ensure the ceremony happened without incident, especially as this was more than just a marital alliance, but a direct challenge of the Theocracy’s might and authority.

The Theocracy was, of course, not about to allow the strongest of their God-Kin to return to the Elven Kingdom, and certainly not going to let her wed a member of the Sorcerer King’s court. The Pontifex Maximus had commended the Cardinal of Darkness for his quick planning but warned him that he was still on thin ice if this operation failed.

It was not simply because of her strength that her capture was imperative, but also the recovery of the weapons of the gods, which she had with her when she had been captured by the Sorcerer Kingdom. The thought of the already godlike Ainz Ooal Gown wielding Charon’s Guidance, the almighty scythe of the god Surshana, Lord of Death. Already, The Sorcerer King appeared to be a rival for Lord Surshana, and him acquiring their god’s scythe would only bolster his already unbeatable powers.

A third major reason was, of course, to strike at both the Elf King and the Sorcerer King’s courtiers at one time to cripple them before the great war that all knew was on the horizon. The powerful vampire Shalltear Bloodfallen had already proven to be strong enough to threaten the Sorcerer King during her brief time under their control, and with an unknown number of similarly powerful warriors and magic casters, the denizens of the Great Tomb of Nazarick was far too powerful to face head-on.

Ambushing them during the wedding, when their guards were down would allow them to lower their numbers and potentially gauge the powers of the noblemen of the Kingdom. If not even the succubus Albedo was considered a noblewoman, how powerful could the nobility be in battle? This was a question that had to be answered, as there were still too many unknown variables for anyone’s liking in the upcoming war.

Peroroncino was in a state of bliss. With every passing day, he and Antilene seemed to grow deeper in love, and the Great Tomb got busier in preparation for the wedding of their one of their Supreme Beings. They had decided to allow the Elf King his duty as father of the bride, but not allowed him to take any further role in their day’s proceedings. They only allowed him to participate at all because his death was part of the plan they had set out, but that was all that kept her from killing him before then.

Aura and Mare had naturally been a bit confused about which of them would the Flower Girl, and which the Ring Bearer. Normally, it would have been obvious, but considering their personality and dress preferences, Aura was chosen as the ring bearer, and Mare would be the Flower Boy (which he kind of already was as a druid).

The venue, it had been decided, was a small clearing in the forest just outside the capital of the Elven Kingdom, a place that had been the site of many Elven royal weddings in centuries past. For tradition’s sake (and other reasons), they had decided to be wed there. Of course, Nazarick was not the only Kingdom to be abuzz with joy at the coming wedding. Many of the elves had been helped by the Princess and her new fiancé, and so were ecstatic about the joining of the couple they had come to adore and even start to worship.

The seamstresses of the Sorcerer Kingdom were somewhat overworked creating Antilene’s wedding dress, in addition to creating brand-new suits for those who didn’t bring them from Japan. Peroroncino sighed. It was three days until the wedding, and now that wedding practice had concluded in the Tomb’s Amphitheatre (though not a dress rehearsal), they had agreed not to see each other until their wedding day. It was going to be a long few days without his fiancée, especially now that he was so used to being around her pretty much every day.

He remembered a conversation they had had just before wedding practice earlier, where Shalltear had asked whether or not Antilene was now going to be her mom. After some discussion, it had been decided that if Shalltear wanted to call her mom, she would be free to. That had led to Antilene saying how much she wished for children already, that she couldn’t wait for the honeymoon.

Ainz was preparing for his part in the ceremony. Far from a simple wedding bond, he wished to give his friend’s new bride a great gift. He had been trying to tweak the Transformation ritual he had used on his friends, when he discovered a new page in the book, one he had not seen before, that seemed perfect. By casting this altered form of the ritual, he figured that he could bring her up to level 100, and maybe even permanently grant her some of the powers of the Six Great Gods. Peroroncino was already utterly convinced she was a goddess, so why not make that a bit more literal by giving her the powers of her old gods?

Of course, this was also to help her stand on her own during the war. He didn’t want his friend to worry overly much, and he thought that if she could touch the power of a player, particularly Surshana, she would be better than fine.

Evileye was stunned by the conspicuous displays of wealth as she took in the wedding venue. It was clear that the Sorcerer King was sparing no expense for his friend’s wedding. It reminded her of the kindness she had seen in him, while he was disguised as Momon of Darkness. She was also taken aback by the fact that she had been invited to sit next to Shalltear, and somewhat happy to sit next to another powerful vampire. She intended to have a long conversation with her about their experiences.

Chapter Text

Before the ceremony had begun, naturally the Sorcerer Kingdom’s courtiers had made sure to check the area. As expected, the Theocracy’s Black Scripture was lying in ambush. Renner and Fluder had individually confirmed this, as had Demiurge’s summons and Aura’s familiars. They would be careful to keep them from making a move until the proper moment. After all, this was Lord Peroroncino’s wedding, and the rest of Nazarick was present, including the fully restored Guild of Ainz Ooal Gown. Even now, they shuddered at the sheer power present at the front of Nazarick’s delegation, as thirty-nine god-level beings, true Supreme Beings, sat patiently waiting for the ceremony to start.

Fluder was, of course, happy to be included in such an important event, significant both politically and in a romantic sense. He had seen Lord Peroroncino and his bride-to-be together quite a lot during the months of restructuring in the Empire, which he had helped to participate in between visits to the Great Tomb. They seemed to be the perfect ideal of a couple, particularly their shared love of battle. He looked forward to the Black Scripture’s coming attack, when he could finally see Lady Antilene’s full strength.

Renner was happy for many of the same reasons that Fluder was, although she couldn’t help but think of her loyal boy-toy Climb one day joining himself with her, with marriage only the first of several “joinings” she was thinking of. But her attention was focused on the sheer spectacle of a wedding of a noble of the Sorcerer Kingdom, every tiny detail having required days of agonizing over, and countless amounts of gold pieces to fund. No expense was spared in creating this lavish wedding venue, and any other kingdom would have been bankrupted by the amount of jewelry, finery and other blatant displays of wealth.

Suddenly, the trumpets sounded, and all looked at the entrance of the clearing. The bride stood, covered in a veil, and looked towards her groom. All conversation ceased, as the organs and the choirs began to acclaim the lovers in a joyous, sweeping and triumphal serenade that left all near to weeping. The ceremony had begun.

The Black Scripture was still moving when the trumpets sounded. At first, they had thought themselves detected, but when no attack came and a choir began to sing in the distance, they realized that the wedding ceremony had begun. The defenses in their way thus far had been paltry, so they had been expecting a trap somewhere. As they continued without setting off any traps or raising any alarm, they were able to hear the beautiful music, which clashed with what kinds of beings they knew were present – elves, demons, and assorted monsters, all led by the accursed Sorcerer King. He may be the most powerful caster in this world, but nothing stood against Lord Surshana, and as his most devoted disciples, they would do his bidding and end this farce.

Looking towards the altar, they saw Lady Antilene, who all of them had known well enough by reputation alone, standing opposite a winged warrior in a well-tailored suit. And between them, the Sorcerer King himself stood, obviously placing himself in the role of a priest. Such mockery could not be allowed to stand! He would brought to heel and made to pay for his countless blasphemies, but they had their orders first. They would wait until they were sure that the time was right.

Silently, the Captain of the Scripture gave orders to his men to surround the clearing, preparing to ambush them from all directions and catch them off their guard. The Elves did not seem very frightening, as even the grunts of their nation could hold their own against them. No, their attention was entirely on the delegation from the Sorcerer Kingdom. Some of the recognized courtiers were already known quantities – Shalltear Bloodfallen and the succubus Albedo, for example.

However, the thirty-nine members of the nobility were indescribably powerful. Each one seemed to force them into despair, a level of power that felt ominously similar in magnitude to the Sorcerer King. Lady Antilene’s husband seemed to be about the same level of power. As they watched the bride and groom clasp hands, the Sorcerer King touched their hands with the top of his staff. The staff was long known among the Theocracy to be extremely powerful, though not World-level. When he did so, inexplicably, Lady Antilene’s aura seemed to explode in power, growing roughly tenfold in power to match her husband. Obviously, a powerful dark ritual, though its full effect was not yet discernable.

Seeing the Elf King in the front row, gazing joyously at his long-lost daughter, the Captain decided that today, he would get the honor of finally removing that long-term thorn in their side. As soon as the bride and groom kissed, he gave the signal, and they advanced.

Antilene could feel the presence of the Theocracy’s minions, could feel their eyes as they watched her, some them lustfully. She was furious at them for their daring, and took great joy in knowing they would be among the bloodbath. Suddenly, as the Sorcerer King blessed their union with his staff, she could feel a rush of power and potential within her, as if the heavens had opened to accept her. Looking at him, she saw him wink and continue on. Her beloved seemed a little surprised at something, but stayed silent.

As Lord Ainz gave his permission for them to kiss, they took it and ran with it. After so long without each other’s touch, they yearned to greet each other, to hold each other, to kiss each other. The kiss was short, but full of fiery passion, both as an affirmation of their love, as well as a readiness for the coming bloodbath. And as they parted, she saw the Captain of the fools give his signal. As they broke into the clearing, intent on kidnapping her again, she smiled, ready for war.

Chapter Text

Decem Hougan really should have expected an attack from the Theocracy. After all, it was the wedding of his daughter, their former Ace turned traitor, to a nobleman of the Sorcerer Kingdom. Neither kingdom was anywhere near to being on friendly terms with the Theocracy, especially due to their hatred of non-humanoids and minimal tolerance of non-human humanoids. But in his excitement and his hopes for the future, he had lowered his guard. Fortunately, however, it seems that the Sorcerer King and his entourage had been prepared for this, judging by their lack of reaction. As he engaged in battle with the interlopers, he saw all of his courtiers fleeing for their lives. Disappointing, but at the very least, they knew when they were outmatched. As he finished off the attackers surrounding him, he felt a blow from behind he knew immediately to be fatal. Turning as he fell, he was shocked to see his daughter, having just swung a scythe he knew at once to be a Godly relic. As he realized her betrayal, he soon learned why she had done this to him. She had not been able to let go of the way in which she was conceived, blaming him for his mistreatment of her mother. While at first thought, he thought it ridiculous, he realized the truth in her words. Before he could answer, however, she effortlessly broke his neck.

The Captain of the Black Scripture was, to put it bluntly, screwed. His charge towards the Elf King was interrupted by the Platinum Dragon Lord himself. He knew he did not have the power, or the skill needed to slay the beast himself, nor did he have the manpower necessary. Having thoroughly assessed the situation, he fled. Unfortunately, he ran right into Ulbert, who cast Sleep on him and teleported him away, knowing the man could be useful in proving the Theocracy’s guilt as part of their casus belli.

Peroroncino noticed that his wife (his WIFE! Amazing how he could say that about her now!) seemed to feel a little different from whatever spell Momonga had cast on her. He would make sure to ask what the hell that was, but right now, he was focused on fighting alongside her. As she tore through the Theocracy’s men with Charon’s Guidance, he used his archery from the air to pick off lone enemies either trying to escape or trying to ambush her.

Touch Me was happy to finally have a real battle to participate. Or, as this affair seemed to be, a one-sided slaughter. That impression was reinforced by the bride carving large swathes of destruction with her scythe and the Platinum Dragon Lord flying low, slashing out at the enemy with his powerful limbs, covered with serrated scales. It was fights like these that kind of made him bored.

He longed for the kinds of fights he had back in YGGDRASIL, where the winner was decided through technical skill rather than level. But as a god in a world of mostly mortals, those were the rules. The wind pressure alone from a slash with half his strength was enough to instantly cut a group of New Worlders in half. He feared what he would be capable of with his direct, full might.

Renner was having a fun time. Having managed to learn up to the fourth tier of magic, she quickly found that her favorites were mostly either destructive or mind-dominating. She enjoyed being able to use her new abilities to the fullest for the first time. Giggling as her latest target exploded in a sudden shower of gore, she turned to regard the few thralls she had already acquired. Her eyes lit up in unholy glee as she ordered them to cut down their comrades, and then end their own lives.

Ainz was not able to do much. Almost all of his AoE spells would also be targeting his allies, and he certainly did not want to waste his ultimate skill on this fodder. Instead, he used simpler spells while watching his allies fighting. As he watched, he started thinking of what his next move would be, and how he would start his war against the Theocracy.

When the battle wound down, Antilene and Peroroncino began walking up to him. Unseen to all but him, an invisible Theocracy spellcaster preparing Dragon Lightning while aiming at her head. Instantly, he incanted, “Grasp Heart!” As soon as the spell took hold, the enemy’s invisibility spell and the spell he was casting failed. Clenching his fist, the man fell to the ground. Casually, as though nothing had happened, he addressed the happy couple.

As it turned out, the spell Momonga had cast on his wife was one that would allow her to work her way up to level 100. Although it had some unique side-effects as a result of her talent, namely that she could use some of the unique powers of each of the Six, without even touching the relevant artifact. While doing so enhanced her power when using those skills, she could use them without a weapon. The most powerful of these was, naturally, The Goal of All Life is Death, which when used with her array of instant-death spells made her a living nightmare on par with Momonga.

The Pontifex Maximus was experiencing a feeling that was as far as one could get from a religious experience. The phrase ‘religious experience’ usually assumed that the experience was a good one. Not this experience though, as in addition to the Sorcerer Kingdom and their allies’ (including the Elven Kingdom, now ruled by their former Ace) formal declaration of war, there was a message addressed to him alone, which had revealed a horrific truth. The nobles of the Sorcerer Kingdom were other gods of the Great Tomb’s pantheon, with the Sorcerer King being the one the other gods had chosen to lead them. The sheer number of godly beings he knew were aligned against him was terrifying.

Forty-one. Forty. Gods-damned. One. That was precisely how many gods they had had, and that number apparently did not count children and consorts of the gods, who had been elevated to the same level of power. A category that now included the bearer of the Six’s weapons, now the vassal of the Sorcerer King and wife of one of his subordinates.

He did not even try to punish the Cardinal of Darkness for this fiasco, because he now knew there was no way that he could have expected the Black Scripture to succeed against GODS! Besides, he needed as many people as possible fighting against the inevitable tide that seemed to be bearing down upon his nation. His was the only pure human nation left, and he was up against what was effectively every other nation. Out of desperation, he thought briefly of using the Gjallarhorn, but he decided against it.