Intermission

After entering the room, Maximilian Oreio Lagier sat down. He tried to control his trembling hands. It wasn’t the first time he had met the other party, but he still felt nervous. He felt conflicted. In front of him sat an undead being; the Theocracy hated undead. Yet this being was not just someone who knew the Six Great Gods, but was hand picked and taught by the most powerful of the Gods. Yet this exalted man had chosen to become the hated undead. Maximilian couldn’t help but wonder if the path he had chosen in life was the correct one.

The Slane Theocracy promoted human supremacy and hatred toward the undead, but could he claim that such interpretation of the will of the Six Great Gods was correct in the face of the first disciple of one of said Gods?

He tried to suppress his emotions and to gather his thoughts before he spoke.

“Yavon-sama, I have come to speak to you on behalf of the Slane Theocracy,” he began.

The other party nodded, permitting him to speak further.

“The undead magic caster, Ainz Ooal Gown, had established a nation, with the city of E-Rantel as the capital, and had begun to absorb the nearby countries. We would like to know your thoughts on him,” Maximilian said.

“It would be hard to stop him,” the grating voice made Maximilian shiver.

“Then what of the so-called Pope Neia? Some girl from the Holy Kingdom, she had begun to spread the religion of worshiping this Ainz as a God.”

“An impostor and a false God. There is only one undead being who is worthy of being worshiped.”

“Then, does it mean Zuranon will move against her?”

“Don’t concern yourself with her,” the speaker waved his hand dismissively.

“I understand. As you know, Ainz had perished while fighting the demon Jaldabaoth. We would like to destroy the Sorcerer Kingdom and his subordinates before he revives…” Maximilian began.

“You want me to ally with you?” There was a hint of mockery in his voice.

“Yavon-sama, I know you have certain disagreements with the Theocracy, but surely as my venerated predecessor the fate of our nation is of a concern to you,” the Cardinal of Darkness tried to sound convincing.

“You say that, but would you be comfortable working alongside me?”

“If that’s what it takes to destroy this Sorcerer King,” Maximilian stared straight into the empty sockets of the skeletal being in front of him.

“You have some moxie, boy. What do you know of Ainz’s subordinates?”

“We are still gathering information.”

“What about allies? The Theocracy alone is likely not enough.”

“We have begun to gather them, but we need more time. We are hoping to enlist Momon’s help.”

“Momon, huh? There is a familiar name. He is quite powerful, and would augment your strength greatly,” the undead responded. “I would also suggest you reach out to the remaining Dragon Lords, we did have a pact with them once.”

“Thank you for your advice, Yavon-sama.”

“Hmm, who else, the two brast from the 13 heroes, Rigrit and Evileye are pretty strong. The Dark Knight of the City-State Alliance wields great power. That girl from Ijaniya is pretty good too. Do you think Felvia Olan Valur, the former Queen of the Holy Kingdom would join your cause?”

“That, that would seem unlikely,” Maximilian replied after a short consideration.

“The elf king obviously won’t join. I think that’s it.”

“Thank you again for your advice, Yavon-sama. Then if we gather a coalition, can we count on your support?”

“That will depend on your plan. After all, unlike you, I have all the time in the world ,” the undead chuckled at his own joke.

“I will bring your words to the other Cardinals,” Maximilian bowed.

After the Cardinal had left the room Yavon continued to sit in his chair, his gaze clouded by the memories of the past. It was so long ago…

***

He was captured. It wasn’t much of a surprise. For the beastmen, the humans were little more than walking sacks of meat. If anything, it was surprising that the human race managed to survive this long.

Such a philosophical topic was of little interest to him though. The beastmen had raided the camp they lived in. The faster humans were able to escape, those who stayed and fought were slain, and the weaker ones were captured. Being a young child he was among the latter group.

They were brought back to the beastmen camp and placed in cages. Unlike demons, the beastmen didn’t take pleasure in torturing humans, they looked at them strictly as food. Days went by, more and more of the humans were eaten, but he was lucky, he wasn’t one of them. Of course, such luck only meant that his agony of waiting for death was prolonged.

It was at this hour of despair that they came. They might’ve looked human but they were anything but. After easily scattering the beastmen they freed the captured humans. Despite being a young child, he was taught good manners, he went to thank his liberators.

He approached the six of them, who were discussing something and began to say his thanks when the one nearest to him turned.

“Aaaahh, please don’t eat me!” The child yelled as he froze in place.

“See, I told you. You should’ve worn a mask after all,” one of them said laughing.

“Don’t be scared, I won’t eat you,” the skeletal being told him. “What’s your name?” He continued as he approached and picked up the small child, cradling him in his bony hands.

“Ya.. Yavon,” he replied after a stutter.

“I am Surshana, and these are my companions,” the undead introduced himself.

“Are, are you Gods?”

“Far from it,” Surshana replied laughing.

“But you are so powerful, I want to be powerful too, so I can protect those I love.”

“An admirable desire. You should teach him Surshana,” a winged woman who looked like an angel said.

“Can the natives of this world even learn our magic?” Surshana replied.

“They might be able to now that we’ve used Five Elements Overcoming to make our magic usable in this world,” one of the humans said.

“And thank God it worked, or we’d be sitting in these cages ourselves,” another human replied with a nervous laugh.

“We might as well give it a try It would be a good thing if they could be taught, the living conditions of the humans in this world are pitiful,” the angel said.

“You are right, it would be a good thing if they could at least defend themselves against these savages,” the other companions agreed.

“So, how about it? Do you want to become my first disciple and learn how to use magic?” Surshana asked the small child in his arms.

“Yes!” Yavon replied cheerfully. He didn’t know what disciple meant and only Dragons could use magic, but he didn’t want to disappoint his benefactors.

“What a good kid, despite the horrors he had witnessed he is eager to move forward,” the angelic woman commended.

The six of them continued to discuss things, he didn’t quite understand what they were saying, but he understood one thing – that God-like being, Surshana, would teach him. He would become strong and would never be treated as food by the savage beastmen again.

The beings who became known as the Six Great Gods easily defeated the local beastmen and other demi-humans and founded the first human nation, the Slane Theocracy. Each of the Gods had chosen a human as their disciple and taught them the magic they wielded.

With the strength and knowledge of the Six Gods, the humans became stronger. They learned to use the magic of the Gods, combined with martial arts the powerful humans could now oppose the demi-humans surrounding them.

Years passed, the humans spread to nearby territories, founding their own nations. Most of those nation worshiped the Gods of the Slane Theocracy, but only the four human ones. Yavon was appalled by this, but when he asked Surshana about it the undead shrugged his shoulders and replied that the prejudice against non-humans ran deep in the humans of this world. Since they did not have the first-hand experience with the two heteromorphic beings, such behavior was only expected. His teacher was wise.

***

A Century after the arrival of their Gods, another batch of God-like beings appeared in the world. Unlike the Six Great Gods, these new beings cared little for others and just wanted to rule the world. They conquered one nation after another, slaughtering any who would oppose them. Surshana wouldn’t stand for such wanton destruction, nor would he allow the new arrivals to destroy the nation he and his friends had built.

Despite making a pact with the Dragon Lords, they were not a match against the beings who had become known as the Eight Greed Kings. Without their armies, Dragon Lords proved too weak, and the armies moved too slowly and were too easy of a target for the Greed Kings to pick off. Surshana was powerful, but alone against eight he could do little but die.

***

Yavon clenched his fists. His master was not at fault, knowing how kind Surshana was, it was unthinkable that he would allow the Slane Theocracy to be destroyed, without putting his life on the line. No, it was because he was alone that he fell. It was because the other four Great Gods were human that his beloved master had died. Being human was a weakness, of this Yavon had no doubt.

Despite their God-like power, four of the six were humans, as the decades passed they began to die one after another. And even though Alah Alaf was an angel and should’ve been immortal, she too has died.

It happened back when the six were fighting against the beastmen who occupied the territory upon which the Theocracy was founded. The Gods were too careless. The beastmen were ruled by the Emerald Dragon Lord. When the six made their demands the Dragon Lord refused, and the two sides fought.

It wasn’t really a battle, the Dragon Lord was too weak, and the beastmen army it led could do nothing against the Gods. After realizing this fact the Dragon Lord acted fast. He sacrificed all eighty thousands beastmen who worshiped him as their God to fuel his spell.

Wild magic, the Gods knew nothing of its existence, nor did they know what it was capable of. Why did the dragon choose Alah Alaf? Perhaps he thought the humans would die of old age soon enough? Maybe it didn’t think a status effect would work on an undead? It was impossible to say.

The Dragon Lord cast his spell and was killed shortly after. Yavon could still remember how concerned the six were as they discussed the incident. But Alah Alaf was alive and felt fine. In the end, they shrugged it off as a false alarm.

Decades later the effects of the spell became more apparent. Alaf-sama was losing her energy. She was still as powerful as ever, but she would complain of constantly feeling tired. Her condition became worse and worse. Heartbroken, Surshana watched his last companion pass away. A couple of decades later the Eight Greed Kings came. Although Surshana could simply go into hiding and wait for the Greed Kings to perish of old age, he chose not to. His morals wouldn’t allow it, and Yavon could feel that deep down his master was seeking death. His companions long gone, the humans were now powerful enough to defend themselves, he had lost his purpose in life.

If they weren’t humans, if they weren’t weak, things would work out differently. After his master’s death, Yavon became more and more convinced that being human was a weakness. A weakness he would cure.

Yavon founded Zuranon, an organization which worshiped the Undead God. Armed with his teacher’s knowledge and items Yavon was able to complete a ritual and became an undead lich. Being human was a weakness being undead was power. Now he had an unlimited lifespan and could devote his time to studying the magic his master taught him.

Centuries passed, Yavon’s progress in his magic studies was remarkable, though he was still far from his master. Despite Theocracy’s stance on the undead, they had kept ties with him. In turn, Zuranon did not conduct any shady activities on the Theocracy’s territory. They were not foolish enough to make an enemy of the first disciple of Surshana-sama.

***

And now the Theocracy is seeking my help, Yavon thought as he awakened from his memories.

I had ignored humanity for a long time now, but I cannot allow anyone to tarnish the legacy of my master. With this thought, he stood up and left the room. He walked along the empty corridors of Zuranon’s hideout, before coming to a stop in front of a door.

He walked into the training room and saw a blonde woman practicing combat, a stiletto in her hand.

“You finally have a mission for me, Yavon-sama,” the woman asked as the undead approached.

“Yes, there is a certain human I want you to get rid of, Clementine.”

 

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