Disclaimer: Seriously, I would have owned Overlord if I'm a gazilllionaire, sadly I am not. So, tough then.

Title: Heaven or Hell

Chapter 19 - The Revolution III

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Great Tomb of Nazarick

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Glacier.

The proverbial name of the 5th level of the Great Tomb, a veritable frozen world full of peril, monsters and the home of Nazarick's Military Commander, Cocytus. Back in the days of Yggdrasil's infancy, when the Great Tomb was still an unexplored and unconquered dungeon. The 5th level was guarded before by a large ice serpent, but after the members of the guild Ainz Ooal Gown prevailed and conquered the dungeon. They began to reform this dungeon into their own guild base and one of their number, Warrior Takemikazuchi was elected to make the guardian NPC of this level whom he personally made in not just his image, but also his personality and outlook in life.

However, in all of things that were created by men, not everything went according to plan. Take-kun had a reckless personality and was quite macabre and free-spirited in regards to dungeon exploration and dives. Unlike the more cautious HeroHero who was obsessed with careful planning and excellent timing with execution or even the ever just and fair Touch Me, he would not let it past him to be underhanded at times and forged a warrior's outlook in life. As such, when his creation came alive in the New World, he did not know that his creator was such a fun loving and carefree individual, yet still fair and very brave in all aspects of the warrior. The environment he had been put in charge of somewhat changed his personality and arrayed it to his emotions and countenance hence, the stoic manner upon which the Guardian carried himself with a little bit of the care-free attitude buried underneath all that ice and carapace.

His world of ever-present snow and ice applies a constant penalty to attack speed and movement speed to any would be attacker. Unfortunately, such effects on their adversaries well-being consumes a great deal of treasury. Upon activating the 'blizzard mode' of the whole level, Pandora computed that they burned through 1 million Yggdrasil gold pieces in just one hour. And so, to rectify such an endeavor, it was decreed by the Supreme Beings that all passive defenses by the Tomb would be shutdown at the moment. Which means that at the moment, aside from the 5th level's continuous blizzard, all passive defenses would be shutdown, the 7th floors lava lake would need to run intermittently and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd level catacombs commanded by Shalltear would need to have their numerous traps and pitfalls sealed including the poisonous gas that permeates the air around the catacombs of the 1st 3 floors.

At the moment though, Ainz or Momonga surveyed the area and discussed with their new subjects about their current set-up or niche within the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Without Cocytus beside him, it has fallen to Demiurge and Shalltear to escort him as he made his rounds, which greatly honored the demon and thrilled the undead vampire.

The Frost Giants had been tasked to help the Dwarves in completing the northern fortress of 'Zirakzigil', it will stand atop the tallest peak of the Azerlisia Mountain range and would support the proposed 'Iron Curtain' in the north and its accompanying bastion. The proverbial curtain or wall would stretch in between two mountainous cliffs like a dam, it will stand as high as 500 feet, approximately 4 to 5 kilometers long and has a thickness of at least 500 meters at the top of the wall. It will be built with combined stone, steel and concrete. It would employ the latest in modern engineering to stand the test of time. It was basically a copy of the 'Hoover Dam' multiplied by a factor of 3 or 5 at least considering its massive scale. The Giants would loan their great bodies in its construction and in carving 2 great stone statues that stands 100 feet tall, which will carry the images of the 2 Supreme Beings. They will be put beside an adamantium door that will be supplied by the dwarves, which should allow passage through the mountain path that it guarded. Additionally, with the entrance of Feo Jera near it, another smaller citadel will be constructed by the Dwarven Kingdom for the garrison of the wall. Due to its sheer size, it was impossible to guard its entirety with only 1 citadel. Thus, it was decided that 2 citadels near the twin mountains where it rested would be constructed, plus the 'Zirakzigil' fortress with additional dwelling space for the Frost Giants and the Frost Dragons.

Now, it was not a mere show of power that a gigantic wall, larger than the one employed by the Roble Holy Kingdom would protect the northern passage into the realm of the Sorcerer Kingdom. It was a simple manner of defense that they have done this, plus the large number of soldiers that they would be welcoming in the coming months would quickly fill the gaps in defense. Additionally, the Frost Dragons would act as 'medieval airliners' that transport not just material, but also soldiers or people for their own convenience. Although it is much better to open a [Gate] towards a certain city or place, the psychological effect of a whole flight of dragons coming towards you is something else entirely.

Plus, both the Overlord and the Warmaster thought that the coming months would show how much of an effect can that be especially to other outlying nations.

The plan of establishing buffer states like what the Soviet Union did in the Old World is going swimmingly in the North. Now, the pieces are almost in place as both him and Sammael decided that another wheel must turn in its place to ensure that the West, East and South followed suit.

Ainz stood in front of a wall of ice as wraith-like undead converged at his approach. The whole 'Frozen Prison' was modeled after the mansion of a thrilling game they once shared called 'Resident Evil 1' as it effectively locked you inside an eerie mansion that would not just simply take your sanity. But was also crawling with undead creatures that will kill you on sight including wraiths and mutated humans called 'Lickers' and of course, other baddies that he and his friends designed back in the Old World.

The Overlord sighed, 'Welp, we got no Lickers here... but we do have Neuronist.'

"Ainz-sama?"

"Hm?"

Demiurge bowed and said, "My Lord, are we here to visit Nigredo?"

"Not at the moment, I merely wish to see our 'esteemed prisoners' and their current status at the moment."

"Ah!" the devil shivered in delight, "Truly, I can only fathom the path of your thinking in a linear manner. Never could I have hoped to understand your web of scenarios you so skillfully manipulate. You are truly the Supreme among the Supreme Beings Ainz-sama!"

Shalltear gave a soft cooing noise, "It is as he says Ainz-sama, your intellect is your greatest quality, but let us not forget how handsome and perfectly undead you are too... arinsu~"

Momonga stifled the urge to roll around on the floor in embarrassment, he was able to keep his anxiousness to a manageable level without his passive magic kicking in. Most especially at times when he receives such words of extreme adulation in person and in front of the Guardians. He just could not help himself from feeling so inadequate compared to the way their NPC has seen them. His friend on the other hand though seemed to be handling things quite well on his own considering he commanded men to their deaths before in the Old World. He spoke with him a few days ago concerning his plans and their overall objective and he didn't felt anything wrong or lacking except for a few minor things. He almost sighed again but deftly kept it to himself, hell, would not want the NPC's getting the impression that he's just a normal salary man in all manner of speaking. But one comfort that he had with running a country and fighting an underground war with so many nations is that he has someone to share it with. A sounding board that acts like a sponge or more like a rather spiky sponge since he would always get ribbed by Sammael every time they would see each other. Maybe it was his way of coping, or maybe he was just really good under pressure, but one thing is for certain in this New World.

He certainly would never like to be alone.

As such, they both endeavored real hard to stay alive and uphold the basic tenets of their former guild mate and resident strategist, HeroHero, on what method is best in dealing with unknown enemies in Yggdrasil.

They entered the mansion as wraith-like undead floated through the deserted halls, these undead are the designated jailers of the Frozen Prison as they both patrol and blend into the surroundings. They seamlessly meld with the interior display and every nook and cranny of the mansion is filled with a whole group of these wraiths and they would attack anyone that is foolish enough to enter this forbidden place. However, the mere presence of the Supreme Being made all the guards somewhat excited and every 'hidden' wraith shivered and shook in its place. Demiurge can only maintain his smile as he understood the feeling of being in the presence of the Sorcerer King, their Lord and Master, as a feeling that is truly something else entirely.

"Let's see, if I am not mistaken-" Ainz walked over to the fireplace in the middle of the main lobby and saw a portrait of a man and a woman in Victorian-era dress cradling an infant in her arms. They were the image of a happy aristocratic family, except for the fact that upon closer inspection of the picture. The man had a sinister smile as he clutched some kind of bloody leathery piece of fabric on his clenched fist, while the woman smiled serenely without any skin on her face, while the baby had blue-black skin as a death mask seemed to settle on its serene sleeping face.

The Overlord sighed at Tabula's somewhat twisted personality as he admired the painting in front of him, "Nigredo's tragedy," he clicked his none existent cheek and said, "Tabula really loved his contradictions huh?"

Ainz turned away from the painting as he headed upstairs, taking the left stairs where a stylized eagle sculpture was located at. He stood in front of the sculpture's plinth and took the circular stone medallion that blended in the masonry of the sculpture, he then turned to Demiurge and said, "Go to the other stairs and take the 'Lion Medallion' from the sculpture and then follow me to the fountain area outside."

"Right away Ainz-sama."

The Arch-demon walked away and did as he was ordered as the Overlord went back down to the main lobby of the eerie mansion and headed for the back lot. Still with Shalltear in tow he stepped outside once more into the frozen landscape and came upon a large fountain that was not working. It had the design of a famous Soviet-era fountain where sculptures of children were playing and dancing around a crocodile sculpture with its mouth wide open. The irony and the contrast of the sculpture did not escape Ainz's thought as he once more thought about Tabula's obsessiveness to detail and his devotion in propagating the gap-moe into society. Around the fountain were four sculptures, a lion, an eagle, a wolf, and an unknown creature without a head. The Sorcerer King approached the 'eagle sculpture' and inserted into a niche the stone medallion he got on the mansion's 2nd floor eagle sculpture. It slid in like a glove and locked into place, Demiurge then came out from a side door clutching the lion's stone medallion. He kept his head high and his shoulders straight, he nods his head to the Supreme Being as he went in front of the lion statue and inserted his own medallion to a special niche in front that fitted it like a glove. It was both a perfect fit as sounds of gears grinding together reached their ears, a loud crashing sound could be heard as the two medallions opened the way towards the lower grounds.

The fountain that was informally called 'The Barmaley Fountain' in the Old World was covered in hard ice.

But the sound of gears turning intensified and the ice that was frozen solid that covered the fountain vibrated with a low hum until finally it shattered loudly like crystal glass. The statues of the children began dancing around the crocodile and one by one they vanish as they dived into the melted water until finally the crocodile also dove after the children and vanished altogether. The middle of the fountain opened up and a spiral staircase was revealed as the water drained away. From where the Sorcerer King stood, a portion of the fountain's wall folded into the ground and it opened the staircase going downwards to the lower levels of the 1st floor basement. The sounds of large gears turning and grinding together continued all around them as Demiurge finally walked beside the Overlord just in time as the gears stopped turning and all activity within the fountain ceased at the same time.

"Ainz-sama, wouldn't a [Gate] be more convenient for you instead of doing such a tedious thing as walking through this place and triggering this hidden access way?" asked Shalltear as she seemed mystified why the Overlord would go through the effort of doing the backdoor access to this side-dungeon of the Glacier World.

The Sorcerer King gave a small laugh, "Of course we can do that however, it defeats the purpose of me seeing how the systems are currently working in the Great Tomb. Additionally, I wanted to talk a walk again within these halls as I enjoyed doing back then in the Old World. The same way that we both stopped incursions within the Great Tomb before. Which begs the question, am I boring you now Shalltear?"

The elder vampire made a pained cry as she realized her folly, "I would never scorn nor grow weary of your attentions Ainz-sama~. Please forgive this foolish undead and allow me to be your servant for the day as punishment. I would never find any time I spend with you as a tedious and boring use of my time. Though I would certainly appreciate a more enjoyable pursuit in my chambers My Lord~"

'Good god Peroroncino, if you could see me now!' as Momonga reigned in his emotions, 'The Undead Casanova!'

He tried to shrug it off as the memory of his friend surfaced again and his certain proclivities to other sexual pursuits.

Putting the memory to the 'very deep' recesses of his mind, Ainz entered the Basement 1 of the Frozen Prison as two large hulking pieces of armor barred his way. It was an Undead Shield Lords, a heavier variant of the Death Knight that wielded a large axe made from ice while a large kite shield was strapped on their back. The guards took one look at the Overlord and immediately got out of the way, there were numerous doors and offices here where the interrogation rooms are located including the room of Neuronist Painkill, Nazarick's main jailer and special interrogator of the Great Tomb. Passing the room of Neuronist, they headed for the elevator door and stepped inside, once more the sound of gears turning eerily should have made him queasy about it, but being undead actually helps him focus and clear his jitters on anything unnatural that he has seen. The elevator quickly reached the lowest floor and its double doors opened to the 3rd Basement, the room where the most notorious of their enemies are kept at. Each and every cell was carved into the frozen earth and the corridors are patrolled by more Undead Shield Lords. Walking through the cell blocks of which most are empty anyway, they passed a few cells that held heteromorphic creatures that stared back at the Sorcerer King with fear in their eyes.

The survivors of the Quagoa genocide that have made their way deeper into the mountain was pursued relentlessly. They were kept here since their additional use has not been determined at the moment yet, Ainz didn't even spare them a glance and instead stood in front of a reinforced door with magical seals on it. Carrying the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in his right hand, he touched the sealed door with one of the snake heads on the staff and the door smoothly opened towards him. Demiurge and Shalltear followed suit as the Sorcerer King stepped inside and came face to face with the unchained and free roaming agents of the Theocracy.

The recently resurrected members of the 'Black Scripture' that was killed by Sammael a few months ago near E-Rantel, each and everyone of them looked back at him with uncertainty in their eyes.

Beaumarchais, Barbro, Cedran, and Time-Turbulence, all gazed at the Undead King with an underlying fear in their eyes.

They were all seated on their own bunk beds, which was considerably more comfortable than any dungeon that this world can offer. However, even though they are unchained and unrestricted, the mere fact that the Lord of this place would casually walk inside with his adversaries unrestrained points out one thing only. Power, overwhelming power that can and will inundate you and overpower you without even lifting a finger. As such, the revived 'Black Scripture' members did not even try to rile up or heckle the Overlord. Rather they observed and kept to themselves and waited for any sign or any indication of his need to see them personally. He could see them all dressed in a white tunic and shoes to cover their feet, a thick furred jacket made from a familiar bipedal breed covered them and protected them from the cold.

Ainz lets go of the Guild Weapon and it floated lazily near him, the humans still looked at him warily as he sighed and turned to Demiurge.

Without missing a beat, the Archdemon walked forward and with a smile on his face proclaimed loudly.

"KNEEL before the Sorcerer King~!"

4 pairs of eyes widened as their bodies uncontrollably stood up and then crashed down head first into the ground. A powerful urge to bow down and prostrate shamefully in front of the undead Overlord overpowered their own senses as they were unaware of the passive ability of the demon in front of them. They were the best that humanity has to offer yet they could not even right themselves up, nor can they even prevent themselves from honoring the enemy king in shame.

"YIELD and do not resist~!"

Even Barbro, one of the strongest human in this world can only simply grit his teeth as the force of the 'command' robbed them of their control and of their senses.

Ainz gave a few more minutes to their suffering until finally he gave a small nod to show that he was satisfied as the demon commanded once more.

"You are permitted to RAISE your heads~!"

The immovable force that drove their faces into the cold floor finally abated, yet the heavy feeling on their prostrated bodies could not be undone. It was like they were buried in an avalanche and you could not move your body, only your head was exposed and this was the opportunity they used to actually look at the Sorcerer King. A being so powerful that even though he was holding himself back, they could felt an extra ordinary power emanating from him. His jet black robes, numerous rings of power on his every finger, even the pulsing red orb on his supposed 'stomach' gave the image of a monstrous being that descended to their realm.

Silence reigned as the only sound came from the noses of the humans as they prostrated and looked at the Overlord now standing above them.

"You are perhaps wondering why you are still alive and breathing in front of me?"

The Black Scripture members kept their silence as the Sorcerer King sighed once more as Demiurge bristled in annoyance.

"ANSWER him you WORMS~!"

Ainz raised his hand slightly to him as the Archdemon noticeably calmed down and bowed submissively, "Well?"

Finally, the 2nd Seat of the Black Scripture replied, "A-among other things Sorcerer King, it has not been made clear to us why we still live among the undead."

"And your name is?" two red orbs of the undead's light turned to him, "Are you not the one they call Time-Turbulence?"

"You are correct your Majesty," the young man replied, "Though I was named at birth as 'Aion', they called me Time-Turbulence due to my affinity to as you already know which is 'Time Magic'-"

"Wrong," the man named as Aion and the others looked at him, "What you are using is not 'Time Magic', true time magic is a 10th tier spell no item you have could ever cast. Time Magic allows you to completely manipulate its passage by increasing your movement speed, thus, giving the illusion that time has stopped. Your magic item is a severely watered down version of that spell, a mere copy of a copy in this world. Surely you have felt its effect firsthand?"

Aion's eyes widened, the undead's words were true. The Fallen Angel's magic, no sooner that he casts his Time Slowing magic, another more encompassing magic surrounded them and surmounted his spell like a deluge of wave on a seaside cliff. Unstoppable and unyielding, it threw his magical sense around as it engulfed him and finally held it in its deadly grip.

"Yes, your Majesty."

"Good, then it is easier to explain now to you."

Ainz proceeded to tell them the truth about their Gods, about their similarities, the chaotic world where they came from. Where all aspects of battle and living are all but a game for them. Life, power, money and strength were merely means to an end, faith and loyalty the true currency for these Supreme Beings. The members of the Black Scripture were horrified and enamored at the same time as the Supreme Being laid out the things he discussed together with Sammael to them.

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"Remember, these are humans... their minds are unlike us anymore, their quite impressionable considering we're akin to Gods for them. Plus, their mental fortitude is unlike what we currently possess."

Ainz shrugged his shoulders as he sipped on the tea in front of Sammael, "Well, you have a point."

"I do!" the Warmaster walked over to the veranda of his mansion as he looked towards the open grounds of their estate, "Wrap your mind into this scenario, just recently we committed genocide in the Dwarven Kingdom right?"

"Umu."

"Okay, how do you feel about it then? You saw the reports and the visual evidence, including the prisoners at the 5th Floor right?" the Fallen sat beside him also carrying his own cup of tea, "In a human's viewpoint back in Japan, mass slaughter was something done during the Tokugawa Period, and in essence carried into the 22nd century. But it did not escape political and cultural scrutiny right? It was condoned and even considered taboo, but it was still done. Consider this, we just committed it right now, how do you feel about the Quagoa Genocide?"

Once more the Overlord shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, I suppose I don't care."

"That's it then," the Angel gestured wildly towards him, "We have become jaded and accepted this easily as a fact, but if we see it as a human then it leaves something for us to think about."

"But Quagoa's are not humans-"

"-indeed they are not, that is why I have no qualms about such steps we took," the Angel lounged at the sofa and looked up at the ceiling, "But the people we rule over might not accept it so easily. Dwarves have been living under the constant threat of the Quagoa that they easily accepted it, but their Forgemaster resists our methods. If ever we would expand our Kingdom, we must take careful note that these 'dissenters' would never become part of the majority. Instead, we must blunt them with deeds, politics, and with force."

"Force? Does that not contradict what you said awhile ago?" Ainz looked miffed at him, "You were arguing that we should stifle these dissenters in their infancy, yet must be careful also to use other beings aside from us to blunt them away. Like the carrot and the stick?"

"Modified carrot and stick actually," Sammael gave a small laugh, "We must have our own 'independent supporters' that would inadvertently work with us. By countering the lies and deceitful prejudice that this Old World has against beings such as us, we would be inadvertently at an advantage as our enemies would definitely be lax in their dealing with us."

"Perhaps we should begin work with the Theocracy?"

"Why don't you spearhead it? We already have an operative in place including 'one' of your greatest fan right-"

"Ugh-don't remind me please," Ainz sighed at the memory of that particular event, the Fallen was ribbing him about the scene in the Throne Room with Cardinal Dominic. The uncontrolled supplication and ravings of the old man was recorded by a 'vision-projector' that was designed by the Mechanicum within the Stellarum Nex. It allowed the installation of organic CCTV cameras that record sight, sounds and ambient energies by using a real living eye organ enhanced with magic to see not just in the physical realm, in the immaterial, and in the numerous color spectrum. Since this is technically a tool, it did not use gold at all unlike the old system of monitoring the guild base that was used before in Yggdrasil.

"Plus, you have Demiurge with you- with brains like his then you can't go wrong."

"Aha! That is the problem," with no one around, the Supreme Beings lounged and rolled around on the sofa as the locked door ensured their own privacy, "When you speak with him, it's like a perpetual hopscotch with words that you try and get any bearing of the truth. It's so frustrating sometimes to be honest when he goes into his litanies about us being smart and concocting such audacious plans that it encompassed decades into the future. Their view upon us is too much!"

"Agreed, yet we must not waver. You're an excellent manager Suzuki while I am an excellent soldier, if something cannot be done with words then guns and cannon probably could. But their vision upon us cannot change, not until they are ready and have opened their eyes to the things that have complicated matters in the Old World."

Ainz grunted as he also stared up at the ceiling, "Ain't that the truth? So, what shall we do with the Theocracy?"

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"Let me clarify that your Majesty, you are letting us go now?"

The Overlord looked puzzled, "Of course, I am letting you go. I am allowing you to don your arms and armor so that you can fight your way out of here."

"So, in essence you are letting us go through a gauntlet."

"Would you rather rot in this frozen place?" the undead looked at them one by one, "Would you rather do nothing? Wait here until the end of your days since you would not have the fortitude or will to fight out of here?"

The members of the Black Scripture all looked at each other as they were still on the ground prostrated, their heads the only thing that they can move at the moment. One by one they nodded their heads and said, "Would you give us all our weapons back?"

"I have given my word and more than that, now would you accept or not?"

Aion nods his head together with Barbro, then Beaumarchais and finally Cedran. Ainz gave a small laugh as he turned away and said, "Release them at once, return their weapons and see if they can escape or fight out of this mansion. Let's see if they are indeed worthy of their name of the most powerful humans in this world."

"I'll see you on the Catacombs," Shalltear gave a leering smile as Demiurge loudly said, "You are free to MOVE."

With the 3 denizens of Nazarick leaving, the door shut firmly as the four humans felt their bodies obeying them again. They got up from the ground as Barbro punched the tiled floor, normally, his punch would have easily left a hole on the ground, but the place where they're currently at is simply out of this world and his strike did not even blemish the tiled floor.

"This is absurd," Barbro grunted, "Bullshit even. How should we even believe what this undead is saying to us? Who would be on their right mind to let their prisoners go without anything in exchange?"

"It could be a trap," Beaumarchais stretched his back as the prostrated position didn't really do good to anyone's posture in the long run, "Though the chance of getting out of here would be quite questionable considering their servants could make us bow down with just their words. My hands couldn't even move-"

"-nor I..."

"Even me," the barbarian flexed his right hand and shook his head, "Considering I am the strongest human, by brute strength only the Captain or Zesshi could have taken my blows. But damn, that Angel is something else-"

Aion stood up as a treasure chest suddenly materialized in front of them. It was an ornate chest with power emanating from within, with haste the 2nd Seat of the Black Scripture took out his armaments from the chest as the rest of his companions followed suit. Donning their armor and suit quickly, Barbro caressed his large axe and sighed, "Feels good to have you back old friend."

Cedran on the other hand looked grimly at his two shields that now took up both his arms each, his last memory with them was the God-like Angel's arms passing through them like butter and him dying quickly after that.

"You okay big guy?" it was Beaumarchais, he followed suit after Cedran fell as the Fallen punched him squarely in the face and shattered his skull, "Let's hope we don't meet that guy again so soon huh?"

The door slid open as all eyes turned to the homunculus maids bringing them food and other items.

'Beautiful, utterly beautiful,' Beaumarchais tried to stifle the admiration he felt as Lumiere and Cixious brought trays of food for them. They were all still cautious, but months in captivity within the Frozen Prison taught them that if the denizens of this hellhole wishes you to be hurt then they will hurt you.

"What's this?" Barbro asked with a frown of his head, yet took a pair of continental sandwiches, "Feeding the lambs before throwing them to the lions?"

Lumiere merely smiled as Cixious unfurled a scroll and read out loud the words in it, "To all members of the Black Scripture, due to your recent resurrection a penalty has been put on your life force and your level. It is unacceptable to our gracious Lord that you would get to fight out of the Frozen Prison without any assistance. As such, it has been declared that if you ever die within these halls, you would be revived again and again until you would prevail. Once outside of the Frozen Prison, you will be taken to the Catacombs where you can make your way to the surface- Lord Ainz has graciously provided you with potions to allow you to weather until you reach 'safe spaces' on every floor to ensure your survival. Please take heed, the Sorcerer King does not dole out these wonderful things if you do not work for them, prove your worth in escaping this dungeon and he shall reward you for your efforts."

The two maids gave their sweetest smiles as they both bowed and simply walked outside of the room.

"You think it's all true?" Cedran asked as he took a chicken leg from the tray of food.

Barbro shrugged his shoulders, "What do we have to lose anyway?"

Aion did not say anything and just helped himself to some food, he affixed the silver chain around his long brown hair. His golden clock was pinned on his chest pocket as he puts his curious rapier-like sword on his waist. The green white tunic has been repaired and there doesn't seem to be any tampering made on their items. In fact, it seemed to radiate a slight silverish sheen and light to it. He looked at his comrades and saw that their weapons and armors also took a much nicer sheen to it, like it was somehow polished and maintained by someone. But how could he prove it? Perhaps when they step out of the room they would somehow know by whatever is waiting for them outside.

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Cedran dragged the half-lifeless body of Beaumarchais as Barbro was flung toward the center of their holding room. Sounds of clashing swords and marching boots came from the outside as finally even Aion jumped inside their safe room, which is their jail cell. Panting and out of breath, the four members of the Black Scripture wasted no time in using a Life Potion to heal the 'Divine Chain' from his wounds.

As soon as they stepped outside, a large hulking armored undead confronted them as they headed for the staircase heading to the 2nd Basement of the Frozen Prison. But unlike the 'legendary' undead that spawns every 100 years, this one had complete white plate armor that covered all parts of its body. It carried a large single bladed axe with a cutting edge that is as tall as a full grown human man. Its face was the only thing that would identify it being an undead as it growled at them as soon as they approached it, the rotting face underneath the helm radiated the cold blue eyes of the dead.

"WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK WAS THAT!?" Barbro cursed loudly, "It was stronger than a Death Knight-"

"-it can cast Ice Magic," Cedran shook his head as Beaumarchais finally sat up gasping for breathe, "And heavily armored too."

"Not to mention its Fortitude is something else," the Barbarian wiggled his shoulders and fought off the pain, "Fucking hell, that undead trashed all four of us at the same time."

Aion nods his head as the unidentified undead paced around the opening of their cell, careful not to go inside and just growled at them from the icy hall outside. Finally, it gave a last growl and closed the double doors to isolate them again from the outside.

"Well, at least we know one thing about the Sorcerer King," Beaumarchais said, "We know he was telling the truth that he would give us a fighting chance at least. I could feel the impact of the blow on my shoulder and I should have died already."

"And yet you did not," the 2nd Seat rubbed his chin in thought, "Perhaps it is there to bar us until it would not be able to do so? Perhaps it is there to measure us in a sense."

"How?"

"Don't forget, this is the enemy's stronghold and we are their prisoners, this game where they gave us our weapons and allow us the fighting chance to escape provided we can prevail against the guards is something unheard of. Additionally, that guard could have cleaved us all with its axe, yet it toyed with us somewhat, perhaps it was tasked to make us understand that 'we are not ready' to go further."

"A test?"

"Perhaps"

"Fuck that," the Barbarian clicked his tongue, "Any thoughts?"

"What else can it be? A test for whatever end, I do not know, but I do know is that I have a fighting chance now and we must make the most out of it."

Barbro stood up and shouldered his weapon, Cedran and Beau also did the same as Aion fixed the small top hat on his head.

"Shall we?"

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From the Throne Room of the Great Tomb, Albedo and Ainz were hovering over floating consoles and screens as they monitored the 'epiphany' made by the members of the Black Scripture. Unknown to the Guardian Overseer, a happiness welled deep inside the Overlord as he could see that people were fighting through their dungeon base again. An almost forgotten feeling of pride and happiness as he watched them all struggle to the death against the Undead Shield Lord, brought back reminiscent memories of dungeon dives in Yggdrasil.

Perhaps for him it was all truly a game.

As he watched the barbarian struggle mightily against the undead creature, the pinpoint attacks made by Aion to weaken the Shield Lord, the efforts of Beaumarchais to stop or slow its movement and finally, Cedran and his insurmountable defense for his party mates. It was the fighting and the interaction that he missed, Ainz thought, yes the thrill of PVP against each other. The feeling of PVE as you feel the presence of your enemies around you, the joy of triumph and success as you look down at your opponents broken corpse-

W-wait, he would need to rethink about that last one though.

'Aaand down goes Cedran- followed by Barbro, ooh his right arms gone- Aion's trying to retreat to the corner, and he's down too, followed by- good night to you too Divine Chain,' Ainz sighed as even Beaumarchais also falls down unconscious.

"Are you displeased by their attempts to overcome the Undead Shield Lord?"

Albedo's voice broke his reverie, "No, in fact I expected it considering the weakness of this world's inhabitants and their inability to handle a simple Death Knight at the very least."

"Considering a group of Undead Shield Lords are quite difficult for level 50 players with their ability to cast 3rd to 5th Tier Ice Magic."

"Then I was right in lowering the difficulty, I even considered allowing the Undead General to guard the door," Ainz gave a small chuckle, "Perhaps we need to lower it further, we need them strong of course, not broken in the future."

Albedo's brow furrowed, "But to lower it further, would it not make it too easy for them?"

The Overlord waved his hand and half of the monitors vanished as he stood up and prepared to leave, "Let's have them fight the 'Wraith Blades', I'm sure that will still pose a problem and would not make it too easy for them. Have the Undead General wait at the inside of the mansion, while keep the Undead Shield Lord on the staircases that will measure their strength. Since the Wraith Blades spawn a fixed amount on the Frozen Prison then we won't have any issues with that, though for them to take down an Undead Shield Lord alone would constitute them a threat to Nazarick. Yet I seriously doubt they could do that within the month."

"Your will be done Ainz-sama!"

"Albedo, I trust you implicitly that you would monitor their progress and report to me any changes and improvements on their strength," his bony hand full of rings found her smooth shoulder as she took a peek up at the object of her affection, "Is that clear?"

Her cheeks blushed as the heavy words of trust reached her ears and tickled her senses, the gentle hold of his bony hands threatened to overtake her senses, "Of course Ainz-sama, I will hand in my report once they make considerable progress and daily reports also for your own perusal."

"Umu, I must prepare for the 2nd batch of guest we would welcome here," the hand was withdrawn from her shoulder as he opened a [Gate], "I leave this in your capable hands."

The Guardian Overseer kept her head bowed until the [Gate] dispelled with his leaving, her blush still had not abated as she breathed softly, "Soon Momonga-sama, soon..."

.

.

Baharuth Empire

.

A mansion's silhouette seemed to come out of the morning mist as four groups of men arrived at the far-flung mansion. Far beyond the capital of the Baharuth Empire, this place was the home of a well-known Count that had tried to curry favor within the Imperial Court. Their family was somewhat spared by the Emperor during the 'Purge of the Nobility', but their lands were reshuffled and most nobles were given the border lands to control. As such, the noble House of Femel was re-located to the Western borders of the Empire, which was dangerously close to the Re-Estize Kingdom.

Yet a chance to earn favor within the Imperial Court and to the Emperor arose.

A certain VIP has endeavored to lead a large expedition to an unknown tomb that was recently uncovered near the Great Forest of Tob. The large men and material needed for the expedition was an absolute necessity as the tomb skirted the territory of the Sorcerer Kingdom. A small and powerful nation-state that suddenly sprung up almost overnight after subjugating one of the fortress city of the Re-Estize Kingdom and establishing it as their capital city. The surrounding villages were immediately taken into the new kingdom's fold, their housing and standard of living was increased and every frontier village or hamlet suddenly had their own walled area. As such, the necessity of the large escort seemed apparent if one can take into account the extreme volatility of the situation.

An old man looked outside from the 2nd story window as numerous 'Worker' groups made their way into the open area of the mansion. His eyes had a silver gleam to it as he judged each and everyone that arrived according to their magical prowess. The door of the room where he stood opened with a knock as he continued looking at the arriving people.

"Lord Sorcerer, the groups that you have called forth have arrived," a portly man with brown hair, noble robes and a cowardly countenance approached the elderly man and was known as one of the most powerful personalities within the Empire, second only to the Emperor, "As per your orders, we have employed at least 5 groups to accompany your expedition into the unknown tomb."

The old sorcerer did not immediately acknowledged the noble, but he gave a small nod and said, "Thank you for your efforts Count Femel, I am sure that the Emperor would be most pleased of your- efforts to secure what we have discussed. I am sure to put a 'good word' in your name."

The man's eyes glimmered as he took a bow, "I serve this Empire as faithfully as I serve the Emperor."

"Yes," the old man breathed softly, "Now, go and finish the preparations. I will follow you once my own preparations are done."

"Of course Lord Paradyne," and the Count saw himself out of the room. As soon as he knew that he was alone, the old man waved his hand and a black void appeared on his side. Not many people know that he can conjure his own [Item Box], a skill that's wonderfully tactical in a sense that he could hide numerous potions inside its cavernous inside. The old man took out two books that he used before in his younger days, one was gold embossed and the other was bound in midnight leather colored dragon skin. They were quite ancient considering their age and according to his own assessment of these artifacts. Yet its age is not the most important aspect of these books, nor it's appearance-

What's remarkable is that both books can store the magical prowess of their wielder. Each and every spell that Fluder learned in his lifetime was stored in them including those magics of the wizards he had defeated. Fluder affixed the silvery gold chain on a strap that crossed his shoulder, while he tied the black and coarse chain holding the black book to his waist. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his back as he relished the feeling of donning his wargear again, a feeling he had not had in centuries since becoming the Court Magician of the Baharuth Empire. Looking back at his past, he could not recall the last time that he felt such excitement and joy. The thrill of delving into unknown dungeons, the unknown that was so far from his grasp before, seemed much to near towards his lifetime.

By going through with the exploration, he could test his mettle against such magical might that he had never seen or could possibly see in the future. Truly, meeting the Supreme Beings was one of the best things that could have happened in all the years of his long and tiresome life. A euphoric joy seemed to course through his body as he felt the excitement bubbling deep inside him.

"Time for a stroll," was all he said as he looked at the mirror and walked out of the room.

.

A man with silver blonde hair strode confidently forward as his curved sword called a katana was tied securely on his belt. Light leather armor, white tunic and piece meal iron armor covered his vitals as the leader of the Worker group Tenmu approached the waiting butler at the open grounds. His sharp eyes and roguish smile gave the air of a very wily predator as three hooded slaves dressed in brown sackcloth followed closely behind. The man was named Erya Uzruth, a well-known 'Worker' that accepts assassination jobs on all the nearby nations of the Baharuth Empire. He has a bad reputation as a womanizing sadist that plays with his helpless targets.

All profession has the bad litter among them and many would say that Erya was one of them.

The three slaves he dragged around was actually support magic casters that he utilizes for his solo jobs. And the only reason why he does not bring additional fighters with him is that he doesn't wish to share the fame of every kill he makes. As such, the Worker group named 'Tenmu' is a one man operation that was centered solely on him. Each and every elven slave that served him had their ears cropped off to signify their less than human status. A mentality that has not left him even after his brief stint as a tracker or scout for the Slane Theocracy's own military.

Yes, Erya Uzruth is a native of the Slane Theocracy, a nation so steeped in the dogma of humanity's superiority that the three elven women with him was the product of a lucrative raid they once made into the Elven Kingdom near the Abelion Hills. After his batallion raided another Elven village they carried off numerous slaves including magic casters that was actually ordered to be sent towards the Capital City however, as he was part of the prisoner escort, he instead killed off his other companions and made away with the three magic casters. After cutting off the point on their ears, he bound them in a slave crest and made them to follow him ever since.

The man gave a sharp smile as the butler looked at him indifferently, "I presume you are the 'Tenmu' worker group?"

"Yeah," Erya shrugged his shoulders, "Got any wine around here? I'm kind of thirsty because of the long journey."

"Please help yourself, we have set aside tables and chairs for your group," the butler nods his head to another servant as they were led to a center table, "The other guests are still coming."

He sat himself at the head of their separate table while he poured himself a drink. The three Elven girls gathered behind him as they stared longingly at the dribbling refreshments on his throat. They tittered on their slim legs due to exhaustion, but dared not utter a sound. His beatings and assault can be pretty taxing, especially when they rest at night, that is, if ever he would even let them rest at night.

.

"I don't like this," a burly man in shook his head as other Worker groups walked out of the mist to join them, "There's too many people involved, what do you think boss?"

A man with brown wavy hair and light metal armor walked up to the burly man and said, "Shut your mouth. This is our highest payday since we left E-Rantel. We need this money to go to the Dragon Kingdom and see if we can get some mercenary work there. If this pans out then we wouldn't even need to go there, we can just travel through the Slane Theocracy and find work at the Roble Holy Kingdom or to the Argland States. As long as its away from E-Rantel and those undead minions of the Sorcerer King."

"Plus, the fact that the Empire itself was funding this expedition would not only make our names rise due to its prestige, but our name would be included on whatever thing they would discover."

"Got it boss."

"Make sure you don't wander off," their leader said as he secured his weapon on his waist. He was the classic rogue or scout in a party, heavily armed and lightly armored, it ensured he could respond to all manner of situation with every tool in the arsenal within his reach. The man was named Igvarga, he once led one of the Mithril-ranked adventurer group named Kralgra on the Re-Estize Kingdom. However, after the fall of E-Rantel and their outright refusal to join the Undead King, most adventurers scattered from the Fortress City and their group was one among many who sought refuge elsewhere. But with no direct line to the capital of the Re-Estize Kingdom, they instead made the journey to the much nearer Empire. They sought and was granted asylum provided they fend for themselves and considering they were adventurers they could do so. But without an endorsement from the Re-Estize Kingdom adventurer guild, they were practically transferring on an entry level rank, a rank they worked so hard to graduate from. And so, they all made the decision to try their luck as soldiers of fortune, mercenaries, and Workers. It was not as prestigious as an adventurer, where the truly heroic gets song named after them by bards and minstrels. No, they would need to rethink their choices and make a plan, but for that to happen, money must first be secured. Hence, their presence on this lucrative job, it promised to pay a hefty sum of 50 gold coins and a portion of any treasure that they would find.

And so, Igvarga frowned and brooded some more. With his complete party, him being a ranger, a crusader that acts as their tank, a magic swordsman and finally a cleric to complete their party, that money is as good as theirs.

.

A short stocky man in heavy plate armor shouldered a two headed axe and smiled as he and his group watched an old man approached from the mist.

"Ah! Greetings Elder, thy truly am happy to see you again," the head of 'Heavy Masher' worker group called out as the old man made a beeline for him and accepted his outstretched hand, "Thou I thought it a blessing to have your guidance on this job again, Parpatra Ogrion."

The leader of the Worker group 'Dragon Hunt' smiled at him as he shook his hand, "It is good to see you again Gringham, and I see you brought your whole group with you this time?"

"Indeed, 'tis with great fortunes that I was able to find a reliable merchant that provided us with excellent potions and could maintain our armors so quickly."

"Are you talking about the new merchant on Arwintar? I heard he caters to everything and I mean 'everything' that you could possibly need."

Gringham smiled as all 13 other members of the Heavy Masher worker group showcased their newly repaired and acquired armory.

"They look well-made," Parpatra Ogrion took a sword from one of the other Worker group's member and analyzed it, "I mean they look made by a smithing house, but to see the style to be similarly uniformed."

"It's nothing like your 'Green Dragon Tooth Fang'-"

The old man's weapon had a spear tip that was made from a Green Dragon's tusk. A testament to the skill and exploits of the former Orichalcum-ranked adventurer who had seen time had finally caught up to him. Though the story of his past seemed to come up from time to time when the guild master of the Adventurer's Guild of the Baharuth Empire would be concerned. It was said that he fought once before with the guild master who was only known as the 'Sergeant' and had been handed his own ass on a plate. But long story short, he left the ranks of the Adventurer's Guild and became less bound by rules being a well-known 'Worker' of the Empire.

"Surprisingly, I am not seeing 'Foresight' at the moment, its not like them to pass up a payday like this."

"Twas truly unfortunate, but rumors has it that their magic-caster was sold by his father into the same merchant that had appeared at Arwintar recently," the leader of Heavy Masher quipped, "Henceforth, thy have not had the honor of being with them or seeing them on any job. Though I did hear that the rest of the members led by Hekkeran-dono is running an escort job for the same merchant towards the Sorcerer Kingdom and the nearby Elven Kingdom."

Parpatra rubbed his chin as his brow furrowed, "So, the word of the Elven Kingdom going back to the Forest of Tob is true. I have never seen an Elven city before."

"Alas, neither have I elder, but one would understand why Hekkeran would take back his companion there."

"Ah yes, Foresight's ranger is a half-elf am I right?"

"Indeed, Lady Imina is a half-elf and the young man has set his sights for her," Gringham gave a small laugh, "I have heard that Lady Imina is looking for any of his blood relative if possible, or perhaps any traces of her mother, at least that is what was shared to thine."

The old man shook his head, true enough Gringham speaks in such an old fashioned and eloquent manner that it taxes his mind at the very least to at least remember the old languages that he once knew of. If only he could sordidly point out to him that his attempts to speak in an eloquent manner fails to increase the common perception of his inadequacy. But then again he is a nice old man, no need to rile up anyone before even leaving for this job.

.

The numerous Worker groups were conversing with each other when the owner of House Femel walked out of the house and the butler with him clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Greetings to you all, I am Count Femel," the man with the dirty blonde hair spoke loudly, "You are all gathered here today to participate in one of the biggest expedition that has been funded by the Empire. Due to the nature and location of the area, it is imperative that an elite force of Workers gets in and out of the ruins to assist our VIP in investigating the area. I must entreat to you all that the success of this expedition is not just in the treasures that you will uncover, but also the survival of the VIP that you would be escorting."

The gathered throng bunched closer together as they all finally had the glimpse of the face of their employer, most of the time when someone would hire them, the face of the noble who paid their wages would not even appear in front of them. But the fact that the main contact to the Empire has shown his face means that this expedition is known to the highest level inside the Empire. It could only mean that the man living in the castle in Arwintar is closely watching their progress. A fact that did not escape all the experienced 'Worker's' gathered around.

Rubbing his chin, the elder leader of the group 'Dragon Hunt' finally asked the reason they were all here for, "That's good and all Count, but what we would really like to know is how are we supposed to divide the treasure we find and get paid in the process? Plus, who is this VIP that we need to escort?"

"Don't be hasty, young man..." the gall of the speaker to call Parpatra 'young man' almost froze everyone, but did a double-take as they realized who spoke and who was the VIP they would be escorting, "I tell you, your reputation precedes you boy. Still as hot-headed as ever I see."

All the Worker groups gathered around looked in disbelief as Fluder Paradyne appeared behind Count Femel. Everyone was speechless and stupefied as the ancient human gave a small laugh, "Surprised to see me?"

"L-lord Paradyne!" Parpatra surprisingly bowed to the old man, "I have not seen you since the subjugation of the Green Dragon- indeed I was still a boy back then."

"Hmm," the Sorcerer stroked his long beard, "That was almost 40 years ago right? You were taller back then huh?"

"-and have more hair," the elder Worker pointed to his already thinning top, "I am glad that you would come with us. My fears have been suddenly washed away. To think that I would have the chance to fight with the Tri-Arts Magic Caster once more."

Each and everyone of the gathered 'Workers' looked both in awe and fear of the Court Magician. Even Erya, in his eternal contempt for everyone else actually held a tinge of fear in his eyes as he beheld the old man. Would he even win if this sorcerer would fight him? True enough, maybe a younger or less powerful sorcerer would be simply fodder for his speed. But this old man had the magical might to bring down all the gathered warriors around here. Igvarga looked a bit less warily as the presence of Fluder was unmistakable, his skin prickled as his senses were somewhat affected with his vicinity. He knew immediately what was happening.

The presence of the Sorcerer and his power was electrifying the surrounding area and they were all feeling it.

'That solves it then, he's the real deal.'

"Now, as mentioned by Count Femel, I have found an uncharted dungeon near the Forest of Tob," Fluder spoke as he unfurled a map of the area they would be scouting, "As you can see, the area is near one of the villages that belongs to the Sorcerer Kingdom. If we go with a large force then we would certainly be noticed, but with only a small detachment of 'Workers' and of course a small battalion of knights and adventurers to show that it is a legitimate enterprise, then we can evade suspicion."

"It would be dangerous if we would not be able to maintain a camp," it was Erya Uzruth who spoke, "How can we ensure that we would not be left fighting on two fronts or rather how can we ensure that the safety of the camp can be established?"

"Ah, I have imported a well-known Adventurer from the Re-Estize Kingdom," the Count clapped his hands and a man in full plate armor stepped out from the mansion, "May I present one of the Orichalcum-ranked adventurers in the Kingdom. He would ensure the safety of the camp and the perimeter-"

"NO!" Igvarga exclaimed from the back as he saw a familiar face or rather armored man, "Momon the Black!"

All eyes turned to him as he obviously knew the notoriety of his fellow former adventurer. They watched as Igvarga walked to the front and snarled at the taller of the two. "How did you managed to hire him?"

Fluder gave a small laugh and said, "I do not feel I need to explain it to you however, during the retreat from E-Rantel he was one of the last adventurers to run a guard duty in the refugee convoys from the Sorcerer Kingdom. He was promoted not just with his skill, but his willingness to actually 'stay' for the benefit of others and not just saving his own skin. Thus, that is the reason why the Kingdom increased your rank from Orichalcum correct?"

"Indeed it is," the curt reply was not missed by the other people and his obvious dismissing of Igvarga's outburts, "I am honored that you would ask for our service, though there are many capable adventurers in the Kingdom, you have somehow selected us."

"Well, it is fortuitous that you were in the Baharuth Empire for a visit."

It was Momon's turn to give a small laugh, "We had to deliver an important letter to the Empire's Adventurer guild and we had to skirt the borders of the Sorcerer Kingdom to do so. The Re-Estize Kingdom's guild deemed that I would know my way around the undead borders much better than those that they would send. Additionally, sending an Adamanatite-ranked group might send a wrong signal, thus I was hired for the task."

"And so now I hired you, as I said, fortuitous to the letter," Fluder then turned around to the gathered 'Workers' and said, "I hope this clears everything up, as mentioned by the terms, you will all assist me in exploring the ruins and if possible break into the outlying tombs. You will be paid 30 gold coins for this endeavor and a 10% finder's fee on any treasure that we would find. Of course, that 10% is split into 5% being you actually being present and the other 5% from the overall find of the expedition. Any objections?"

Silence as the Workers could not believe the very lucrative deal they just snagged, if they ever hit the mother lode of finds then they would be certainly set for life.

The only thing that marred this is the obvious look of contempt from Igvarga to the Black Warrior.

"Now then," Fluder clapped his hands together, "Be rested and prepare, we would depart for the ruins in one hour."

.

"Should we be concerned that the Sorcerer King might notice us?"

"Not yet, I'm sure the passive defenses would be able to see us coming a long way off."

"-we could be facing the Death Guards."

"Let's hope not."

Momon was conversing with Nabe and Azlan when one of the Worker groups from a farther land approached them, they turned to him as he was dressed in an armor reminiscent of the lamellar ones used by samurai's in the old world. All four approached as they bowed all at the same time, their leader carried an ornate spear as he removed his 'jingasa' or wide-brimmed straw hat, he looked at Momon's visor with his bright brown eyes and bowed once more.

"Greetings, my name is Yari," the man who carried the ornate spear said as he offered his hand on the adventurer to shake, "I came from the Draconic Kingdom as one of the mercenary 'Workers' that was employed by our nation, we are named 'Kaiten' good sir. I am honored to meet you at the very least."

"As am I," he gripped the young man's hand and found only sincerity in his gaze, "I thought you were from the Empire?"

"We are a mercenary group originally from the Draconic Kingdom, our nation has tasked us to fan out and recruit other Adventurer's that might be able to provide help to the Draconic Kingdom."

The black armored warrior gestured to a waiting horse cart as the other groups began loading themselves into their own carts. 'Heavy Masher' took two carts for their own considering their party's large size, 'Dragon Hunt' and 'Kralgra' took one while 'Tenmu' somewhat demanded one for their own. So, 'Darkness', 'Kaiten' and another adventurer group named 'Screaming Whip' who along with Darkness would run security and specialized combat force for the camp was forced to cram themselves into the last unused cart. Provisions were loaded along with the foot soldiers that Fluder would bring with him considering he would be leading this endeavor.

As the cart started moving Momon once again turned towards Yari and asked, "You told me you were looking for adventurers that could help the Draconic Kingdom?"

"Indeed, good sir," the man had the countenance of a samurai, yet his hair was unkempt and his armor looked to be in slight disrepair. Giving credence to his story that he was from a Kingdom farther than the Empire, "We were initially hired to fan out together with other mercenary groups to at least mention the rewards of helping the Draconic Kingdom. What the Dragon Queen needs now is enough fighters to hold the tide of Beastmen that's currently invading her lands, but due to the recent events with the Slane Theocracy and the continuing unrest, they were unable to send their customary reinforcement in destroying or at least thinning out the population of the Beastmen. As such, many cities and towns had already fallen at the hands of the Beastmen and would continue to do so if there would not be anything we do to change the status quo."

"Hmm, it looks dire indeed, what do you think Azlan?" Momon turned to the warrior monk.

The warrior monk with silvery blonde hair shrugged his shoulder, "To be honest, it sounds risky. Additionally, we do not have any information on the Draconic Kingdom, nor have we heard anything much about it."

"Can you tell us more? And about the fair beauty of the Dragon Queen~"

The leader of Darkness tried not to smile as the passive ability of the Angel monk affected the members of Kaiten as they spilled everything they knew about the Draconic Kingdom.

.

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Slane Theocracy - Holy City

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Alexander opened his eyes and saw a very familiar ceiling, the wooden beams of his childhood rushed towards his mind as he rubbed the sleep off of his eyes. When was the last time that he didn't need to actually get up at 3 am in the morning to attend to his morning duties. Stretching his tired and sore muscles, he puts his feet on the ground and donned his boots. He stood up and walked over to the window and saw the bustling residential district of the Holy City of the Slane Theocracy. Smiling to himself, he headed down to the 1st floor and found his mother was kneading flour to make bread.

"Good morning mother!"

"Ah your awake Alexander."

"Where's father?" the young man took out a sack of gold and gave it wholeheartedly to his parent, "I want you to go to the market today to check out new things to buy, clothes, furniture, jewelry. Those that you can keep mother for a rainy day, okay?"

His mother pinched his cheeks lovingly, "Such a sweet boy, your father went to the farmer's cooperative. The grain from the early autumn harvest has come in and their supervisor would like to make more room for the other batches that is supposed to arrive in the coming weeks."

"I see," Alexander took a piece of bread from the basket his mother just laid on the table and clutched a small saddle bag, "Well mother, I need to hand in these documents anyway. Shall we go later at the market together?"

"I'll wait for you son."

He smiled as he took another bite on his bread and walked outside. Closing the door behind him, he looked up as the sun shone brightly on the Holy City. Turning towards the central cathedrals he aimed for the Cathedral of Light and headed for it. The report of the Archbishop in Karnak clutched tightly under his arms, he would need to complete this so he could focus at last on his vacation. It was weird, before he left the Fortress City there were numerous probes, checks, and procedures done to him. Perhaps to ensure that he would not carry anything in the Capital considering they were caring for a man that was attacked with a new biological weapon of the Elves. One sad thing though is that the man did not die quietly from whatever poison was in that arrow tip. On the contrary, he died so violently that he was glad that he would not have to deal with another one like him for the next month. With that happy thought in mind, he added another spring into his step towards the Cathedral of Light.

It was already past midday when he was finally let go by the Inquisitor that accompanied the Archbishop.

They drilled him on the current situation on Karnak, especially about the report he carried from the Abelion Hills. The midnight blue furred dire wolf that the group of hunters encountered was a particular piece of information that they did not easily let go and ensured that every scrap of information can be taken from him. Additionally, the predicament that the Elves have something that the Theocracy do not have is another blow against the already weakened military forces.

He was heading home when he felt a prickling sensation on the nape of his neck. As with all humans that felt such a sensation, we have this overpowering urge to turn to the one that was so absorbed of our being.

Alexander looked behind him and saw a pair of glowing eyes underneath a hood. Analyzing the dress and armaments carried by the strange man staring so intently at him, he saw the Inquisitorial Rosette, which is the mark of the Theocracy's elite soldier monks. A brotherhood that acts as the pinnacle of defense for all the myriad enemies of humanity. The brotherhood that transcends all divisions of the 6 Great Gods.

The Inquisition.

But it was not just an inquisitor that he locked his eyes on, judging from the Crozius he carried, he was a Confessor too. A combat one it seemed considering he had piecemeal plate armor that-

The man broke eye contact and walked away, Alexander sighed heavily and continued on his way. He needed to rush home too, he promised to take his mother to the marketplace and also to bring meat to the table tonight.

Erythro smiled as he walked towards the Council's chambers, the Cardinal of Fire, Light and Water would be converging today to interview him regarding his latest activism including his link to the disgraced Nigun Grid Luin and the heretical movement spawned by his inadvertent apprentice Luther. His heart was fortified not just by the blessings of the Supreme Beings, but by the mere thought that the herald of the 'Advent of the Gods' has arrived. He knew he could not deny the feelings that he has, for the visions of the future does not allow him to lie through his teeth. As such, he would at least convert one more of the Cardinals or at least lay the seeds of doubt, before any judgement could be placed upon him.

Indeed, the Herald has arrived and his propagation should begin soon.

.

Alexander kept walking until he reached the central plaza of the residential district. A rumbling sound from his stomach loudly proclaimed as he ruefully thought of not getting any food at one of the barracks of his religious order. There simply was no chance to do so as he was too eager to get away from the inquisitive questions of the Cardinal of Light that he forgot the hunger pangs he was feeling a few hours ago. Now, it was too late to go back to the Cathedral as that would take too long. He tried to gut up and kept moving forward, but the smell of freshly baked bread as he passed the commercial district of the residential area stopped him in his tracks.

He walked up to the cobble stone streets and stopped in front of a well-known baker. The baker was a gruff old man with a long mustache as he watched him stacked a few trays of white bread and brown bread on the shelf. He approached the display as the baker turned to him and smiled at the sight of his somewhat clean uniform.

"What will you have?"

"I don't know, I haven't been back for quite some time now. What do you recommend then?"

"Well, I just had this baked," he rubbed his chin with his somewhat floury hand and pointed to a variety of sweet bread that is famous at the Holy City, "I just acquired a fresh batch of flour from the northern farmlands. The crops from the north are much better in yielding white bread."

"How much is this?"

"That's 5 copper coins," he fished out 5 copper coins out of his saddle bag and gave it to the baker. The man then took 2 pieces of bread, wrapped it individually and handed it to him, "Here you go. Thank you for your patronage."

Alexander smiled as he took the bread and nods his head in acknowledgement, "Your welcome," he politely said and finally walked away.

.

The acolyte walked a fair distance before reaching the bazaar that was spread in front of the market district. He took out one of the pieces of bread taking great care to inhale the sweet scent of the confection like pastry and took a large bite out of it. He continued walking as he weaved through the afternoon throng of shoppers.

A gentle wind swept through the plaza making him close his eyes for but a moment.

Alexander dropped the barely eaten bread to the ground where it rolled on the dirt and poked the shoe of a nearby shopper. They both turned towards each other at the same time as the man noticed something odd about Alexander. It looked really bizarre, but for some reason there was this deranged look into his bloodshot eye as he was tackled to the ground. Confusion and surprise made him unable to react as a searing pain coursed from his neck where Alex bit him.

Thus, begins the 1st day of the infection.

Bystanders shoved him away as they tried calming him, but during the scuffle he bit another one in the arm and another on the shoulder before two soldiers began marching towards them. The 1st man he bit on the neck convulsed violently then stopped as he calmly stood straight up, his green eyes were now also bloodshot. Without hesitation or pause, the man locked his gaze onto the nearest bystander, made a beeline towards it and tackled him to the ground while biting his neck. This process continued as the civilians around the plaza was quickly swept up into a wave of fear and panic. The two Knights of the Theocracy that tried to assess the situation suddenly found themselves inundated by ravenous and violent individuals who have no regards whatsoever to their personal preservation. Even though they have drawn their swords and decapitated at least 2-3 individuals, the running mob plowed through them sending more panic-stricken civilians running for their lives. Alexander looked into the setting sun, in his mind he knew it would be dark soon, but his body thought nothing of it. An overpowering drive to hurt, maim or kill coursed through his very being, an unknown surge of power of violence and hate drove them on as the rage induced mob plowed through the residential districts.

.

"Your recent outburst of heretical claims about the Advent of the Gods has riled up a following in the south, not to mention some of the younger clerics and acolytes are beginning to waver on the beliefs to the 6 Great Gods, how do you explain this 'lapse' in your faith High Confessor?" the Cardinal of Light looked down at Erythro as the accused sat calmly strapped on the chair. The strap was a precaution to ensure that no overt movements will be done or no threat can be posed against the Cardinals that were gathered. After all, any human being, especially a Confessor of his caliber if indeed heretical has the potential to turn to extreme measures if pressed.

Although he did not give off any indication to become violent, on the contrary, he seemed to give off an image of calm and vulnerability even though the Cardinals of Fire and Light seemed to be actually out for his blood now.

Cardinal Berenice of the Fire sect of the Theocracy her eyes boring down on him said, "Your family and you personally had been a great supporter of the Church and was very well-received at the 'front lines' of battle. Your recent 'activities' though had cast a shadow upon your achievements."

"There was a report of-" the Cardinal of Light looked down on his scroll and then turned towards him again, "-a spread of heretical thoughts and notions throughout the acolytes that was begun by a certain 'Acolyte Luther', which incidentally, is the same Luther that you accompanied in the reserved section of the library inside this very Cathedral. Is there truth in that?"

"I do not deny that I have taken upon me a service to allow a young acolyte to accompany and help him finish his thesis on the exploits of the God of Light 'Alah alaf-sama' based on the writings handed down by his own acolytes that was contained in the restricted section," Erythro began calmy, "It was not my wish for him to start a movement based on a heretical claim that the teachings of the Theocracy, which was based on the motivations of the Six Great Gods infallible."

Cardinal Yvon of the Light's eyes turned into slits, "Yet you paved the way for heresy to take root in his heart."

"If heresy was in his heart then so be it, but I did not motivate him to do so. I wanted to help him attain the educational resources that I have not had the chance to get until such time that I was already an Inquisitor-apprentice," the High Confessor shook his head, "I wanted him to excel."

Cardinal Berenice slammed her palm into the table, "There was a reason why you would need to be an apprentice to an Inquisitor before you could be able to access those specific records. You of all people should know that a strong faith to the teachings of the 6 Gods is needed to ensure that there are no 'misunderstandings' or 'misinterpretation' of the lore will happen."

"Which is exactly what happened to that heretical acolyte Luther," Cardinal Yvon shook his head in disbelief, "I heard he has assembled a menagerie of other heretics with him and conflicting reports indicate that he has either retreated to the North or the cities near the Great lake towards the Draconic Kingdom."

"Normally, the punishment for the sin of pervading heresy would be death," Cardinal Ginedine said as she took out another scroll from the side, "Unfortunately, with the recent disbandment of the Sunlight Scripture, the crippling blow to the Black Scripture, continued unrest at the Western Front near the Abelion Hills, with the 'undead nation' on the North, and a brewing heresy on the possible Eastern cities. The panel of Cardinals has decreed that you would personally root out this heretical acolyte, extinguish all its leaders up to its roots and be bound to any Cardinal of your choosing."

Cardinal Berenice sat up straight on her chair and declared, "Be mindful and thankful that our leniency is due in part of your great service in the past, sacrifices made in the name of the 6 Great Gods, that you are now deemed to be worthy of 'cleaning up' the mistake that you have unwittingly started."

"I am grateful of the leniency that was bestowed on me-"

"-plus, you will need to recant your twisted visions about the future."

Erythro stopped as well as the other Cardinals, "What do you mean your Eminence?"

Cardinal Yvon of the Light's eyes turned sinister towards him, "I am the foremost and leader of all Divination magic users in the Theocracy yet never have I ever heard you spout prophecies before. Though as a Confessor you are compelled NOT to lie, the visions you have seen could only be possibly misinterpreted since you have lacked such gifts before and have not trained to align such visions to the teachings of the 6 Great Gods."

The Confessor's head turned to the side and said, "I will not lie Cardinal, I truly have seen the Advent of the Gods. Surely, as a divine magic user as yourself, you can feel my prowess?"

"Indeed I do," the old Cardinal said, "But it is marred and untrained, reckless and without direction, it is very dangerous if you do not control it. Plus, the visions you have seen are dangerous, very, very dangerous."

"In what way your Eminence?"

"Your security clearance is not high enough to know, as such, you will control this or will suffer a more stricter punishment."

Erythro bowed, "I understand-"

"-so, will you recant what you said to the faithful?"

"I cannot-"

Cardinal Berenice slammed her palm again on the table, "Are you taking us for fools? You said you understand, yet you do not acquiesce to what we are asking of you."

"Your Eminences, I am a Confessor of the Earth sect of the Theocracy, I cannot lie," the secret Apostle bowed as much as he could, "I do understand the need to control my power, and I do indeed understand what is being pointed out to me. But recanting is the same as admitting a lie, something upon which I cannot do, you would have me recant my prophecies, but would hold me unfaithful to my vows. I cannot have that my Eminences, either kill me as an unyielding Confessor, or a true heretic, I care not what you seek from me for I have already given my all to the Supreme Beings we call as Gods."

All three Cardinals looked at each other knowingly, he was truly bound by the truth as he was compelled by his order to do so. As such, the Cardinal of Light and Fire nods their head to the elder Cardinal Ginedine, "Very well then, we would accept this in deference to your sworn office. But our gazes are fixed and we would not tolerate any further connections to these heretics. Furthermore, as mentioned you would seek out these heretical persons and bring them to justice or to their deaths."

The sinister eyes of Cardinal Yvon found him again, "We will not allow further transgressions from you or your friend."

"I assure each and everyone of you that Nigun is now retired, I consult with him regarding matters of tactics and strategies from the front line," Erythro added with a hint of sadness, "Ever since his retirement he had no other ways to pursue matters of the faith, the loss of his command was most taxing to him."

Even Cardinal Berenice, the Cardinal of Fire's expression softened at the mention of Nigun's name, "I do pity Nigun, having the core members of your Scripture wiped out while you were allowed to walk away from the enemy's bastion if not an outright insult is an exact boast to their power."

"I do not see the relevance that-"

Every occupant in the room stopped talking and moving as the sound that tore through the Holy City invoked a sense of dread from everyone. For any attack that reached at least 1 of the minor churches surrounding the Holy City would constitute only 1 bell for that church to ring. However, the constant chorus of almost a hundred bells now resounding through the windows indicated that a massive attack has now enveloped a section of the city. The 3 Cardinals raced towards the window as they see and heard people screaming from all over, like a desperate wail from a night of terror sweeping through the city. Soldiers from the Citadel of Light were sealing the gates as Knights and soldiers were forming up to reinforce any strong points that were established by anyone still left within the residential district.

While anxiety gnawed at their heels, a small smile crept up to Erythro's face.

The door suddenly slammed opened and a group of heavily armored knights and a menagerie of mages, inquisitor and confessors gathered among them. It was the house troops of the 3 sects as they barged inside to secure their own Cardinals. A black armored adjutant followed all behind them carrying a scroll that he read in front of the Cardinals.

"Communication from the residential districts your Eminences: Minor churches within that sector are being besieged by a mob of crazed civilians. All manner of de buffing, curing and cleansing spells were all but naught. House troops are holding the line for every pocket of resistance inside the residential districts, while all the other districts are isolating themselves to ensure that the spread of this 'attack' would not run rampant."

"Is it the undead?"

"Negative your Eminences," the black knight shook his head, "The assailants were identified to be citizens of the Theocracy, though they seem to be afflicted with some kind of 'curse' or 'spell' that would not be easily lifted. Unless you use a sword, spear or any killing implement to a human."

"You mean to say that this is a natural occurrence?" the Cardinal of Fire shook his head, "What about the Miko Princesses? Were there any indications that the undead are controlling them?"

"Negative your Eminences, but what we do know is that these people who were infected can be killed and they would not rise again unlike the undead."

"So, we cannot directly say that the undead nation on the north is to blame?"

Cardinal Berenice shook her head, "We cannot discount that at the moment, what is important is that we must secure our own citadels first and then make sure the city is not lost. What are the steps that have been taken to ensure that?"

"All major thoroughfares from each district has been sealed, only military passages are allowed to function. There are pockets of resistance and holdouts especially for the churches with sealed doors however, the common civilian would be powerless to stop them."

Erythro felt the straps holding him down to the chair loosen up, he looked up at the leaders of the Theocracy as Cardinal Yvon said, "You are hereby dismissed, link up with your troops and defend the city. We expect your hunt to succeed within the month, is that understood?"

The Dark Apostle of the Sorcerer Kingdom bowed submissively, "I understand completely, your Eminences."

"Then it is settled we move to make safe our city," the Cardinals all took out their magical weapons and walked outside with their retinue following closely behind. The black knight followed including all their house troops, as Erythro brought up the rear. He puts up his psychic hood as his eyes glowed dark red once more under the shadows. Violet energy swirled and coursed through his Crozious as he also stepped out of the room to see the work of chaos first hand.

Erythro suddenly stiffened up as his power coursed through his body, his face was hidden under his hood as his 'Mark of Chaos' manifested on the iris of his eye, hence the glow it suddenly acquired. He sighed and said softly, "For the Dark Gods..." and followed the rest outside.

.

RAGE

Pure unadulterated rage.

Fire seemed to flow through Alexander's veins as he shook and convulsed uncontrollably. His senses was alive, alert and aware as he ran with breakneck speed towards the nearest civilian group. Previously rational individuals also screamed and hollered as they incessantly charged headlong into danger, driven by anger with a complete lack of self-preservation. The horror that seemed to play out through his eyes was like a nightmarish scene with people butchering each and everyone they could get their hands on. Like something uncontrollable seemed to control each and everyone they touched. It was confusing and truthfully, terrifying to behold. But the feeling of rage fueled his mind, he couldn't stop himself as he buried himself into another man's neck and bit hard enough to actually draw blood. The garrison for the commercial district was quickly overwhelmed as the bites of the infected was quite contagious and a few priests tried unsuccessfully to purge the supposed 'poison' or 'substance' from the bodies of the infected. Instead, those that tried to cleanse the flood of infected was also overwhelmed.

Like a flood of bodies so thick, the screams of pain and dying seemed to fuel everyone's emotion.

He saw a soldier stand his ground 50 meters away from him, he saw him draw his sword, lop off the heads of the 3 infected men that was charging him and was promptly torn apart by 5 other infected that followed. He went down screaming as he soon stood up and joined the uncontrollable horde of rage filled human beings.

It was an unbelievable feeling that amidst all the chaos and confusion, he could still think rationally and see what he was doing. How he managed to grabbed a woman that was cowering on her home, break down the door with one charge of his uncontrollable body and almost gouge her eyes out, but not before biting her and scratching her all over. After doing his bloody work, he saw his body stand up and ran back outside to look for more victims, his previous victim now ran beside him with one eye dangling outside of her head's eye socket. It was such a bizarre feeling that he swear it was like a dream-like nightmare.

.

A few months ago

Ainz looked intently at the red pulsing liquid inside the crystal flask that he was holding, taking great care not to spill anything. He and Sammael was on the 'Stellarum Nex' as they both go through the numerous items that the Warmaster has acquired through the months of continuous pillaging during the Reliqua Crusade. They uncovered numerous sets of armors with varying degrees of mastery and rarity, other Ancient and Divine-class items, including quest items and remains of destroyed Guild Weapons. The unused war gears of those he had defeated was dumped into one holding area that hasn't seen the light of day ever since they parked the Battle barge inside Nazarick that felt almost a century ago.

"I can't believe you have so much stuff!" he said exasperatedly as the Fallen turned to look at him and whispered pointedly.

"Says the person who got the 'Mask of Jealousy-"

"I thought I told you that was a consolation prize!"

"Consolation prize for being single and utterly alone on Christmas?"

Ainz looked up from the item he was scrutinizing and lets out an annoyed voice, "Oh shut up."

"Heh!"

"What the heck is this for anyway?" the Overlord asked as he shake the pulsing liquid flippantly, "Another unknown potion?"

"I was actually looking for that," the Fallen walked over to him as he gives the flask of pulsing red liquid.

"What is that anyway?"

Sammael gave a playful smile and said, "It's rage."

"Rage? You mean a vial of 'Berserker Fury' potion right? Wasn't that potion outdated due to a bug in the system before that lets an AI control the player's character independently, but not before having the character kill a total of 28 other characters first? It gives quite a boost on the martial prowess of a buffed player, but then again your character is uncontrollable plus the penalty on your magic and physical defense is simply staggering that it was simply reserved for the tanks as a last resort. It was known as the '28 Kills Later' potion, it was powerful, but utterly uncontrollable."

The Fallen smiled as he pocketed the vial, "Indeed that is exactly what this is, there was a rampant use of this particular drink especially during guild base defense. But people quickly learned that casting [Greater Cure All] or holding them down with any time-related magic, or curse spells could easily debilitate the user."

"It's true, that is why the last patch for the Fall Season update removed all those items from the server."

"Yes," Sammael nods in agreement, "You are correct that all items within the server, NPC Traders, and including the NPC and personal crafting methods were also removed, including those in the inventory of the players and also their Chests. But how about other hiding places then? The special books that hid a summoning circle? A summoning circle that was held within a player's dimensional chest and of course, the NPC dungeons that were turned into guild bases."

Ainz gave a small laugh, "Very good. But the question remains, why did we try to find these vials of potions anyway?"

"Biological weaponry."

"What do you mean?"

The smile that the Angel gave somewhat disturbed his undead heart as it looked somewhat disturbing, "We need something to weaken an enemy nation without destroying its infrastructure. Imagine a weapon that would act so fast, while making as little damage to a city as possible. A few buildings will burn, maybe a few house, but their resources will be intact, their food source, land, buildings, fortifications, including their treasures. Imagine if we can just walk over there and take what we need after everyone has died, without even lifting a finger to fight, or no one able to put a single ounce of blame upon us."

"Sammael-kun."

"Yes?"

"That is insane."

"Insane? Yes, but quite effective if I may say so. It is indubitably less destructive from our more conventional means of eradicating our enemies," the Fallen gave a smile as he pocketed the vial and they both rummaged through the storeroom some more, "Imagine if we used our more combat oriented 10th-Tier spells, what would happen to the denizens of any city? They would be obliterated of course, any traces of their being destroyed completely, their existence would be questioned at one point considering there was not one object to link such city to the past, yet a virus targets only those that are alive or biological, believe me it would be very effective."

"Though it is indiscriminate yes?"

The Fallen shrugged his shoulder, "Can't start a nation without breaking a few heads I suppose."

Ainz nods his head and hummed appreciatively, but the way his friend worded his argument seemed primal at best. Like, it was not a person from their time, who is both decent and good that is speaking. How could they compel their subjects to bow before beings as benevolent as them, when they held blessings on one hand and a sword on the other?

"I don't think this is right."

"I know its not right, but did you really think our governments were any better?" a dangerous glint was on Sammael's eye as he looked back at Ainz, "Did you harbor the thought that all the injustice was made manifest by our own governments? Indeed, that is exactly what happened to the Old World, did you not know why Russia and Europe united and became the Eurasian Socialist Republic, or China became the Great Dragon Co-Prosperity Sphere? They all promised one thing- a utopia. A promised utopia that was facade for more of the rich getting richer, while the downtrodden gets driven to the ground. Yet that is now our objective is it not? And what better way to handle this utopia than to have all the 'weapons' we can muster for its protection."

"I thought our objectives were to propagate the name of Ainz Ooal Gown and possibly reach out to any of our friends that might have been sent here."

At this words, Sammael gave a deep sigh as he turned to the Overlord and asked, "Do you still cling to this hope that our friends are here? When it was clear that you and I were the only ones in the Guild that managed to not get logged out?"

It was Ainz's turn to sigh, "Of course, it has crossed my mind that our friends would not be here-"

A hand was placed on his shoulder as he turned and faced the Fallen, "Satoru, I need you to hope. The two of us are the leaders and caretakers of the legacy of our comrades now. I, as a person do not hope for the best, for hope was drilled out of my every being. All things I did in the Old World drove me to change into a person unsuitable for positive notions as peace, I simply cannot believe there can be true peace. There is always a threat and we must always be ready, as such, I will find all the ways to ensure that you can continue to hope and lead forward."

"-but I am just a salaryman."

"-and I am just a soldier," Sammael turned and looked at him with all seriousness, he could see that the Fallen had thought of this before, "I cannot lead a nation for I do not think I have the aptitude there is for that. But I can be your Warmaster, I can be whatever weapon that the Sorcerer Kingdom needs me to be."

The Overlord nods his head and gave a sigh, "We are obviously clueless on what we're doing here aren't we?"

"Indeed we are, but we must not falter at our current path. You do yours and I'll do mine and we just need to ensure that our objectives align. Agreed?"

"For the future?"

"Yes, for the future my friend," Sammael gave a small laugh as he shifted a few objects to the side, "Don't you think we're quite an ironic pair? An Undead Overlord that rules and hopes for his constituents and an Angel that works in the shadows."

It was Ainz's turn to laugh, "The irony indeed."

.

The residential district of the Holy City was gripped with such fear as the sound of wailing and panic rose like a crescendo throughout the city. Soldiers scrambled to secure all passageways as the infected humans tore through any barricade without any hint of self-preservation or fear. Spears, swords and shield failed to stem the flow of violence as the infected fear nor pain or death. Soldiers stare wide eyed as the infected ran without even looking where they were going and still find those humans that are not yet affected by this virulent infection. As such, the soldiers instead tried to corral the infected into choke points and ensured that they would not be flanked. Soldiers they said are like nails, they won't move unless you hammer them down to move, but these soldiers do learn.

They learned that the infected rely on their numbers and their brute strength to overpower them, they learned that the infected can barely see their target, they actually rely on their sense of smell to seek out those that are not yet infected. They rely on their hearing to pinpoint any movement, footsteps and marching actually rile them up and as such the clinking of the armor and weapons was an actual draw on them. They learned that one bite, one wound, one drop of blood can actually infect you and easily turn you into one ravaging quasi-human image of your former self.

"Seal the gates!"

The Quartermaster of the Citadel shouted as the large iron doors came crashing down in front of him, the ravaging horde tried to claw its way through, but nails and teeth can only do so much against the hard steel forged gates. With a look of contempt the Quartermaster stepped away as another set of heavy doors was closed and barred. His frantic adjutant wheezed in exhaustion as he looked at him warily.

"Are you wounded?"

"No sir-"

"-report on the Main Gate?"

The adjutant shook his head, "I was one of the last group to fight our way through the residential district. The Minor Chapel of Fire was the first church to stop its bell tolling, when we passed it on our rush to go here is that the heavy doors were battered down. There was blood everywhere on the door and I cannot hope to think that there would be survivors inside considering how the infected deal with their victims so far."

"Any priests?"

Once more the adjutant shook his head, "A soldier informed me that in the initial confusion, it was the Priest and Clerics that was trying to use Divine magic to cleanse the infestation were the first ones to fall. They were not aware that they could not purge the infected with their magic, so far, the only method that is effective in dealing with these people is with a sword. Bash their head in or lop it off completely, but a sword has it limits of course."

"Agreed," he turned to the upper parapets and saw the Magic caster flinging spells over the walls to the slowly gathering infected at the edge of the walls.

Suddenly, from a side gate, a Knight came rushing up towards them. It gave a small bow and said, "My Lord, we have lost contact with the [Message] room at the Northern Gate."

"What did you say?" the Quartermaster looked at him and they briskly walked towards the inner rooms, "How is that possible? Was standard quarantine not obeyed? An explicit order to retreat and reinforce was given to all the major gates of the City, why was it not followed?"

"Apologies, it seems that the Northern Gate had one of the heaviest concentration of the infected. The speed of the infection actually threw everything in chaos, as such, they were not able to abide immediately to the order."

"-and so they fell?" the man shook his head, the fury in him seemed to wash off of him like a wave, "Were they able to close the gates leading outside at least?"

"We have no confirmation sir, I have requested for aerial reconnaissance to assess the situation."

They were still walking towards the parapets when they saw a man hurtling towards them, he was garbed in white martial armor as he sped through the sky and headed towards them. Almost all the soldiers and mages that were rushing to assist in the defense of the citadel stared at the man as he landed softly in front of the Quartermaster and his adjutant.

The Knight bowed in deference and said, "I am honored that the 'Theocratic Guards' are here, we truly need your assistance now. We welcome you Mage Lord Malakith, only short of the Black Scriptures presence can one outweigh your worth."

"With the weakening of the power of the Scriptures, the Guards are now needed to safeguard the whole Holy City," the man named Malakith shook his head, "To think that this attack happened to the Holy City, utterly unforgivable this sin is."

A scream pierced through their conversation as they walked over to the side of the walls and saw a group of soldiers defending a group of civilians. But the infected were unrelenting and their reckless abandon could break any fortified stand or formation with ease.

"5th-tier! [Magic Cannon]" with his left palm aimed straight towards the ravenous infected, he formed a mass of mana on his palm and launched it towards the rabid humans. In a blink of an eye, the spell was upon the infected and exploded near their vicinity. It was a mass of mana and it blew away the unguarded and unarmored bodies of the former humans. The beleagured soldiers and their civilian charges quickly overpowered the remaining enemies and hurriedly went to the sealed gates. Seeing that he had somehow managed to assuage their suffering, Malakith turned back to the Quartermaster and asked, "There was a scheduled meeting near the Cathedral of Light with 3 Cardinals in attendance, any word about them?"

"None yet my Lord, but we were told that the House Guards of the Fire and Water Churches have headed to the Cathedral. Presumably to fetch and make safe their own lieges."

"Very well, I shall do aerial reconnaisance for now," he was about to take flight again when the Quartermaster stopped him, "Lord Malakith, if you can please take a look at the Northern Gate too. We have lost all communication with their garrison and I fear that they were overwhelmed."

"You have my word," and the Mage Lord was off again to the skies.

.

Cardinal Yvon Dracrowa's eyes burned with anger as he sat on his throne on the top of the highest tower of the Cathedral of Light. His mace hung on his belt as he surveyed the residential district currently in chaos right now. With almost a million people crowding the district, it frankly did not surprise him that the infection or any kind of infection could baloon in numbers. But this was something else, his 'divine sight' could not see the strands of fate, nor could he predict the outcome of this skirmish. There are too many variables that is clouding his power and he actually needs the Miko Princesses to pinpoint the exact reason of this outbreak. But with the district sequestered, he could not do anything much but hold the line and thin out the ranks of the swarm. The swarm of rabid, uncontrollable and violent creatures that once resembled humans at one point of their life.

Still, the question remains, was this a deliberate attack or a simple chance of fate that something somehow afflicted these poor folks into turning against their countrymen.

Concentrating on his divine skills of foresight, he casts out his consciousness into the residential district that is currently roiling around in both fear and chaos as he almost choked on the overwhelming and single minded thought of those infected.

HATEKILLMAIMBURN
HATEKILLMAIMBURN
HATEKILLMAIMBURN

The old man shook his head as a vertigo like diziness almost seized him, he was a powerful magic caster of the divine class and through the years he could, in short distances, hear and influence other people with his magic. But the overriding and unifying will coursing through the mind of the infected was impossible to sway. It was like the mix of frantic and hateful emotion roiled within their hearts and mind driving ever forward, overriding their will and their own sanity, hence, the shock and surprise that the soldiers who initially met the infected which led to their own demise. He could feel Cardinal Ginedine and Berenice had penetrated to the other main gates and were now mobilizing with their own House troops to cleanse the residential district. Extending his thoughts, he felt the members of the remnants of Black Scripture also mobilizing at the central Cathedral. Even Zesshi moved and-

'-stop looking at me.'

Her rebuke of his intrusion shocked the Cardinal, was he too obvious that she actually felt his subtle gaze upon all of them? No matter, this is an emergency that no amount of red tape could surmount any manner of offense against this crisis.

He stood up and faced the Northern side of the district, he stretched his thoughts once more and tried to assess how many survived of this catastrophe. Suddenly, his eyes opened and focused on the Northern Gatehouse. There was not a single thought that was not a jumble of rabid rage within the gatehouse, even the most guarded hall of the [Messages] was silent. A cold chill gripped him as the implication of this virulence spreading across the northern territory of the Theocracy including the east and west towards the Abelion Hills. Rage filled minds streamed pass the Northern Gatehouse and out into the countryside, slowly he could see large groups of possible Knights fighting their way through the slowly dwindling down numbers of the infected.

It is no wonder that the volume of infected has dwindled for they all poured out of the North Gate and is quickly making their way towards the neighboring cities, towns, and villages.

Will they make the warnings in time? Perhaps, perhaps not. Yet one thing was set on his mind as he gazed at the amount of destruction this infection had wrought in such a short amount of time.

"We are not in control anymore."

That statement brought a fresh chill on the base of his spine since for centuries, the Theocracy has been on the forefront of human defense. Yet, why does he feel so vulnerable? So weak, especially now that a rising nation, with an undead as its King has arisen on their North-

Could it be?

Could this attack be the brainchild of the Sorcerer Kingdom? Was it possible that they managed to penetrate this far into the Holy City? Was this their declaration that we are not as powerful as we believed ourselves to be? Is this event part of a bigger plan that this undead is cooking up? But the undead does not care for the living, it was an anti-thesis of what they are. Yet, Lord Surshana was the God of Death and he cared for humans as much as another cared for another.

It was prophesied that the God of Death would rise again, for there must always be death so that life can assume in its place.

A single thought came into his mind as a cold chill coursed through his spine, "What if he was right?" the Cardinal's breath hitched at the implications of his thoughts.

"... holy shit."

.

Alexander's body ached all over after biting his 28th victim and turning him into another of the infected, his body lost all of its energy. As if the exhaustion threatened to kill him, his body was almost spent due to the exertion he had endured. He rubbed his eyes and the first sight brought a cold chill down to the pits of his stomach.

A woman's half-eaten face stared back at him lifelessly, reeling back in shock and surprise. The young acolyte backed up to a wall and tried to stand himself up. The shock undulating from his senses like a wave that shook his knees and balance. Taking deep gulps of air to steady himself, he looked back at the woman's face and tried not to retch out. Steadying himself he made his way out of the alley and tried to half-walk, half-drag his way back into their house. Breathing heavily to steady himself, he looked at the blood splatters that seemed to adorn every wall and the roads were somewhat blackened with dried blood. Though the stench was also nauseating, it was the image of something rushing through the streets that made him take pause. There were corpses here and there, doors and windows broken down, a mixture of both soldier, civilian, and ecclesiarchy all laid down on the streets. His last memory was a large house that he destroyed the front door with only his fist.

The memory of all the running, the pursuit, the uninhibited horror he committed it was all beginning to drop down into him. Like a weight of rocks slowly piling up on his shoulders. He could not understand it and so he must now find answers as the whole residential district seemed deserted and no amount of people could be found.

There were signs of extreme violence on some of the bodies, violence more akin to beastmen and their tendency to give in to their more primal emotions. Carefully, he tried to peer through every corner first to ensure that no threat would be able to meet him in his already weakened state. Slowly and surely, he made his way through the cobblestone streets and finally arrived at the one building he dreaded not to find in trouble. As he made his way to the rubble strewn streets, he prayed mightily to the 6 Great Gods to spare his family, he promised his insignificant life, all his skill and strengths to the service of the Gods all his life, just for the sake of his mother and her continued safety.

But as Alexander looked at the front door of their house, now broken and battered in two. All hope seemed to wash away from his heart, he shambled forward and propped himself on the door frame. His heart fell on what he saw. On the kitchen floor lay his father, or at least that was what his father was wearing since it seemed familiar to him as being one of his clothes, but that was it at all, his mother was crouched down on his father's face and quietly chewing on his nose.

"M-mother?" he croaked out as all fluids seemed to drain from him.

The creature who was once his mother looked up at him with bloodshot eyes, she slowly stood up towards him and wiped her bloody lips with her arms. He saw a large chunk of flesh was missing from her right arm, she was wounded by someone yet it looked like someone bit her prior to this. A deranged look of hate and anger coursed though her mother's formerly loving eyes. She was growling like an animal as her muscles twitched with all her nerves firing on a rate much faster than a human could comprehend. Shambling towards him, Alexander could only look in silently as she approached him and grabbed his forearm tight. The creature who was once his mother breathed on him, the smell of blood and of iron permeated through the air as his mother's mouth dripped with his father's blood.

He closed his eyes and waited as the creature gave him a sniff and uttered a word, a word he hadn't heard for a long time.

"F-forgive me... m-my son-"

An arrow planted neatly on her deranged mother's temple as his initial shock wore off and he finally heard the sound of soldiers rushing towards him.

"WE HAVE A SURVIVOR!"

Metal boots clanged towards him as her mother's corpse laid on her side on the threshold of their door. His eyes was focused on her face as he saw tears streaming down her face, probably from the regret of her killing his husband and not having the strength to stop herself. Perhaps the condition would be the same as him, a rush of emotion came to him as he looked at the full plated soldier that carried a bow.

"Y-you killed my mother!"

His hands found the more flexible armor on the neck and began to squeeze as he throttled the erring soldier. The other soldiers rushed up to him to pry him away, but he was much too overwhelmed by emotion that all he could think of doing is killing the man who killed his mother. The soldiers quickly hold him down to restrain him, they understand the horror he had faced, plus they also saw the necklace he wore. He was an acolyte of the Church of Light and they would need all the personnel of the Theocracy they could save from this mess. Alex did not mind the armored men holding him down, he did not mind the stench of blood and decay, nor did he mind the smell of burning wood and the shout of orders that's going around him. He did not care for all of that, what he did focus on was the image of his mother as she spoke those last words to him, his mother now lay dead on the threshold of their home completely uncaring of the wails and cries of anguish that came from his mouth. All around him, the sounds of suffering, pain and death were left to those who survived.

But Alex didn't care, he wanted his mother to have the best, and now she was no more. Someone has to pay for this and he did not know who or what, but some is.

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Great Forest of Tob - Lizardmen Town

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" AINZ. SAMA. IT. IS. AN. HONOR. TO. SEE. YOU."

"Cocytus, I am glad to see that your project has-" a peculiar object stopped him in his tracks as he looked at the quasi-altar/monument that eerily resembled him. He composed himself and asked stiffly without sounding strained at the very least, "W-what is that?"

"AH! THE. DRUIDS. OF. THE. LIZARDMEN. WANTED. TO. SHOW. THEIR. ABSOLUTE. FEALTY. TOWARDS. YOU. MY. LORD," the guardian clicked his mandibles excitedly, " THUS. AN. IMAGE. IN. YOUR. HONOR. WAS. MADE. AND. COMMISSIONED. BY. THE. REVIVED. LEADERS. THEY. CARVED. IT. FROM. THE. BEST. GEMSTONE. THAT. THIS. PLACE. HAS. TO. OFFER."

"T-thank you Cocytus, I am honored that you uhh- honored me."

'Ohh my GODDD! WHAT THE FUC-ahh I knew that casting 'Resurrection Magic' wasn't a very good idea!' the Overlord tried not to sigh as he saw the elders and members of the druid class bowing down towards him, shaking their bowls full of scented smoke and organic barbiturates, "C-Cocytus, I shall not bar the Lizardmen of their beliefs, but keep in mind that I nor any of my friends demand such blind devotion. A servant that does not think is 'useless', while a servant that has no 'wants' is tiring to command. But keep in mind and do not forget to mention to the other Guardians that I nor my friends demand such acts of worship."

" I. SHALL. KEEP. IT. IN. MY. MIND. AINZ-SAMA. YOUR. WORDS. TRULY. RADIATES. THAT. OF. A. GREAT. LEADER"

That statement finally made him sigh, "Oh, you put me in such high regards Cocytus, if only you have met Take-kun. I am sure you would be surprised at his... umm- histrionics."

Clicking his mandibles excitedly once more of the mention of the name of his creator brought immense joy from within the Floor Guardian. He was not the first to notice it, but the Supreme Beings would call each other names or insults that would be considered offensive. Yet, they do not seem to think so, then again perhaps it is due to their mindset or better yet, the way they see themselves.

"I. SHALL. KEEP. THE. MEMORY. OF. MY. CREATOR. CLOSE. TO. MY. HEART. THOUGH. IT. WOULD. HAVE. BEEN. GLORIOUS. TO. SEE. MY. LORD. CREATOR. IN. ACTION."

A tinge of sadness seemed to seep out of his words as Ainz stopped walking and looked back at him, "Is it true that you never seemed to have seen your creator before in action?"

"INDEED. I. HAVE. NOT."

Ainz nods thoughtfully and rubbed his chin as he continued walking, "Perhaps I can check if we still have the 'streams' that was made by Bukubuku-chan during our dungeon raids, or maybe the record of the one day battle with the whole Nine worlds would be nice to remember."

Another stream of cold breathe in excitement as Cocytus has very little memory about that day considering he was only able to hold the onslaught of their enemies for only 5 hours until he himself had fallen that time. "IT. WOULD. BE. A. GIFT. WORTH. REMEMBERING. MY. LORD."

"Now then, I can see that the fish pens that is part of the fishery program we have are thriving. How goes the amount of fingerlings we have?"

A lizardman that carried the magical weapon 'Frost Pain' bowed as he was the one primarily who started it, "My Lord, with your additional input and improved technique in regards to net making and positioning of the pens. We now have ample sites to raise fish fingerlings and have prevented loss due to cannibalism and endemic species predators. Our fish yields are expected to increase by 50% net amount, with personal consumption, trade profits and manufacturing of dried fish goods factored in."

"That's a good output," Ainz said, 'That's hella good! I'm glad that the books about fish culture I found actually worked!'

"Though our outlying pens were continuously raided by the Toadmen, we were unable to prevent thus far their attacks considering we are still consolidating the area where the Lizardmen can take care of the fish pens or concentrate on their other work."

Ainz reached an area overlooking the fish pens and counted close to 50 pens already. The rock upon which was used by them as a platform in their initial contact with the Lizardmen was turned into a strong point in the middle of the lake and he could see that a small fortress is beginning to loom over it. Somewhat it amused him that this simple platform, thrown by their cute golem 'Gargantua' would now be used as a strong point for the Lizardmen. It was deemed useful as a tower could give a respectable view of the surrounding landscape and for all intents and purposes, the tower or fortress could harbor the denizens on the nearby villages.

"Cocytus?"

"YES. MY. LORD."

"I thought you have already subjugated the Toadmen? Were they still resisting us? Have they not heard of what happened with the Lizardmen?"

"INDEED. THEY. HAVE. BUT. THEIR. NUMEROUS. SUCCESS. AGAINST. DRIVING. BACK. THE LIZARDMEN. BEFORE. AND. THEIR. VICTORIES. AGAINST. THEM. HAVE. BLINDED. THEM. ENVOYS. I. SENT. WERE. DRIVEN. BACK."

"It is rumored that their leader 'Slark' the Unbound, could walk the shadows and eliminate you like an assassin. Additionally, the Toadmen could use magic to 'charm' beasts that they use to fight us before," Zaryusu shook his head, "We are embarrassed of our weakness my Lord."

He was about to amend what the lizardman just said when they saw a small imp flying towards them. Beckoning for the small demon to come closer, he found that it was one of Demiurge's own messengers. The imp landed in front of the Supreme Being and bowed low, its small weapon called a pilum was set on the side.

"What is it little devil?" Ainz's deep voice called out to the prostrated demon.

The imp gave a startled cry before replying, "M-my Lord Supreme Being, our Lord Demiurge has sent word that 'Pandora's Actor' has come home."

The Overlord gave a small hum of appreciation and signaled to him that he can go. The imp took off immediately and flew away as Ainz turned both to the Floor Guardian and the elite lizardman.

"Umu, Cocytus I want the whole Forest of Tob to be included within the Sorcerer Kingdom. If someone is resisting our rule, pay them a visit personally and offer our terms."

"AND. IF. THEY. RESIST. FURTHER. MY. LORD?"

Ainz hummed and rubbed his chin as the setting sun bounced of the lake like glittering gold on his face, "You can stretch your legs then dear Cocytus."

"YES. MY. LORD."

The Overlord then waved his hand and opened a [Gate] spell, with one final nod he walks through the portal and was gone from their presence.

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To be continued... into the next chapter.

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Nigun Grid Luin looked on as the residential district of the Holy City burned with sporadic fighting as the infected did its work in the city. To show that the projected might and invincibility of the Theocracy is all but naught against the Supreme Beings power. Now, the Cardinals would be shaking in their boots now considering they thought that the Holy City would be untouchable against the enemy of Man. But therein lies the problem, the Supreme Beings do not view man as the enemy. Yet the blind obedience of the Theocracy immediately places these Gods or Beings as those lesser of a man.

If not for their mercy then he would not have known any different.

Indeed, he would be also joining them, in their anguish and pain. Oblivious still of the naked truth that was there all along in front of them.

As the residential district burns and the Northern gatehouse fallen, it has come down to the responsibility of the other gates to ensure that their own gates are a barred and unguarded. They tried shooting down the raving infected from the top of the walls and by casting long distance offensive magic. But without specialized teams to catch them, they could have a few infected getting through the net and have an infection bloom from a nearby village or an unguarded town. As the infected spreads outward bringing ruin, confusion and death, the 'movement' from the south could use this as fuel for the propagation of the descent of the Gods.

Footsteps behind him broke his reverie, but the familiar presence did not warrant for him to even turn towards the man.

"That was fast?"

"Yeah well, they have other matters to attend aside from an errant High Confessor you know," Erythro of the noble house of Mycin, High Confessor of the Theocracy and secretly the Dark Apostle of the Sorcerer Kingdom.

"Did you see the herald?"

"Yes, he's unremarkable to say the least, but he had served his purpose. Now, the infected is sweeping through the Northern, Western and Eastern cities, I am sure that the Pontifex or the College of Cardinals would secure the other cities, but with the Holy City's messaging network crippled with the loss of the Northern Gatehouse, they would need to rely on more exotic means to communicate to the other cities."

"How about your apprentice? Any word from him?" Nigun turned to Erythro as they began to head back towards the brushes, "Did he embrace the truth at least?"

"Wholeheartedly," the Dark Apostle gave a small laugh, "His belief on a higher purpose and understanding is uncanny- makes me regret that we would be using him to summon a Greater Servant in the future."

"Yes, regretful indeed, but a necessary sacrifice for the 'Advent of the Gods' as such we have a elected a spare, yes?"

"As mentioned, the spare is unremarkable, but he will do. He just needs to hold onto that rage of his and all will unfold in due time."

Nigun waved his hand and a spiral vortex seemed to materialize out of thin air as he stepped through the [Gate] that he made, they arrived at Nigun's mansion as they both stepped inside and basked in the safety of the precautions that he placed on his own home. Within these halls, their conversation are theirs and theirs alone without the usual scrutiny of the Miko Princess of Water and the Clearwater Scripture. Though with the recent addition to their cause, it certainly is a good sign that Cardinal Ginedine was quite lenient of Erythro and was quite good at deflecting blame to other causes.

Perhaps he was preserving him for other gains, one can never tell. Yet, one can always respond in kind to one's preferential treatment.

"Do you think that the Pontifex will finally waver and show weakness if we initiate Stage 2 of Operation: Obsequio?"

"He must, so that our Cardinal can step in his place."

The Fallen Captain took out a bottle of wine and poured himself and Erythro on a cup, "I hope so, I don't want to present the Theocracy as a smoking crater to the Supreme Beings. If its something that Lord Ainz appreciates, then it is subtlety in all things."

Erythro shrugged as he took another swig of the wine, "I'm sure the citizens can handle it- the Gods will appear before their eyes. Who else but the most blind or dense would deny their presence and power in front of them."

"Well, let us hope then that nothing would necessitate an opening of another battle front for the Theocracy."

A person appearing from the shadows made them turn and a familiar face looked back at him coldly. Both men gave a small nod as another servant of the Supreme Being appeared before them.

"The Warmaster demands your presence," her voice was haughty, her stare was predatory and a dangerous glint was forever etched on them. But her loyalty is unquestionable now as her breastplate proudly carried the symbol of her Lord and Master.

"Of course," Nigun smiled at the mention of the 'Warmaster' as he gave another small bow, "Of course we will meet him at once, Lady Clementine."

A flash of anger as the woman drew her short sword, "Do not utter that name in front of me, that name is weak and blind. I have been reborn and my Master has granted me power and eternity beyond what this 'Clementine' could ever hope to do."

"My apologies Callidus-chan," the Fallen Captain inclined his head and said, "Of course, we shall meet him right away."

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King Ranpossa III sat on his bed reading a book as the lateness of the hour seemed to trickle by. The events of the past month had weighed heavily on his mind and he worried that he might not be able to keep the Kingdom together until such time that the Crown Prince could take the reins of leadership. He was worried about the threat of a new Kingdom sprouting up out of nowhere, with such an insane amount of soldiers not to mention their individual strengths. Add to that the somewhat sliding economy, which was averted by the autumn harvest being actually harvested for the first time properly in almost a decade due to the numerous farmhands that they have right now. Considering even the Baharuth Empire refused to pursue their claim of E-Rantel from the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Perhaps the arrival of this merchant from the Empire is a feeler for any strands of cooperation on their side.

Then he must praise his eldest son's recent acumen regarding diplomacy and his pro-activeness in extending the hands of friendship to this unknown merchant.

Speaking of the said merchant, it might aid him if he had a little drop before turning to bed for the night. He stood up and gently puts the book he was reading to his bedside table, walking over to a nearby cabinet where he usually kept his personal stocks of ale. The King took out his key to unlock the cabinet doors and opened it in full. Gazef himself put the wine bottle on the side part of the cabinet as he picked it up and surveyed its content. The old man smiled, such fine craftsmanship of the bottle with its design etched into the glass before it was cooled. The wine inside had a bronze and gold-like color that pleased his eyes as it reflected the soft candle light of his room. He twisted the ornate stopper on poured a small amount on his wine goblet, he shuffled on the carpeted floor and sat down once more on his bedside. Swirling the contents of the goblet, he took a sniff and savored the bouquet that lingered inside his inner nose. Finally, he took a measured gulp smiled and lets it dribble down his throat.

The King then rested his head on the pillow as the warmth that was brought by the wine spreads from his mouth, to his throat, then to his chest and finally throughout the extremities of his body.

As tomorrow comes, all the bells will toll throughout the Re-Estize Kingdom as First Prince Barbro is crowned King Regent, since King Ranpossa III would not wake up fully so soon after taking part of such a delectable midnight nip.

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(A/N: And... here I GO AGAIN!)

I hope everyone is doing okay at the moment. I have read the Overlord Light Novel Volume 14 and it is simply what I expected to happen in the future. With Satoru Suzuki not basically knowing what to do nor command his great power, he would feel his humanity being chipped away and his morality slowly being eroded. Not to mention the massacres that was perpetrated by his forces which he felt no amount of remorse basically turned him into the tyrant we are so familiar such as those mentioned in the annals of the 'African Tribal Warlords'.

Truth be told, Maruyama began the light novel as a light hearted take on the baby steps a man of immense power could make and the results of the wrong decisions if one would not be decisive such as him. If one would not think of the truly future consequences of flexing his enormous power, both physically and militarily. Including his slowly eroding morality due to the numerous setbacks on his hopes to possibly find another human being in his time means he is spiraling out of control. Slowly but surely, we are getting glimpses on how he slowly turns to the racial Undead Overlord that he is now. Maybe it has already begun, the human Satoru Suzuki has already died with the Re-Estize Kingdom.

And lets be honest, even if you find another human in the future, would you be treated as a fellow human after what you just did and massacred cities, towns, and put a nation to a sword. It takes a special psychological mindset to keep yourself sane and connected to humanity after such a struggle, which I can see he is now totally lacking.

His former mindset to 'protect the weak' and 'justice for all' is all but gone, though I hope his citizens would not suffer the same fate in the future.

On a different note, I'm hoping that the Pandemic doesn't get extended and its not that I'm all out for the pain and suffering it has currently inflicted on all the people of the world, but this staying at home thing is simply doing wonders for my fanfiction writing time. (I kind of began pouring some time to my other fanfiction as well)

Additionally, 28 Kills Later is a play on words of 28 Days Later and then 28 Weeks Later. Kudos to those who saw it!

Cheers,

Scarabeye3000