Chapter 2, Part 3

Death’s Call, Suzuki Satoru felt very nostalgic looking at Mare’s drawing. It was a themed item, the crafting recipe for it was given out during one of the Halloween events. It was at the time of Ainz Ooal Gown peak, so Ainz had naturally obtained said recipe. The weapon was to be paired with a cloak – Death’s Cowl to make a themed set, which would turn one’s character into an avatar of death. Complete with the hooded cloak, a skeletal face and the iconic scythe every Grim Reaper needed.

As someone who role-played a Death based character, obtaining such an outfit was extremely tempting to Ainz. He had obtained the cloak rather easily, and he had the schematic for the weapon but… shitty devs. They just had to go and make the weapon a divine-grade item. Divine-class items were hard to get, even for strong guilds. However, much like with the World Class Items, Ainz Ooal Gown was different – every member had a full set of divine-class items.

The Scythe was powerful, but useless to Momonga, beyond it’s themed appearance. With a heavy heart, Suzuki decided to use the materials for a more practical item. And now, he had found someone with this item. Ainz’s collector’s spirit was celebrating, as the memories flooded into his non-existent brain.

However, his trip to the past was interrupted by Albedo.

“Death’s Call? Hmm, what makes it powerful?” She asked.

Ah, right, I might as well explain it to Albedo now. Actually, Mare was in quite a bit of danger, if I knew about this weapon I wouldn’t have sent him there, Ainz thought as he focused his mind on the answer to Albedo’s question.

“When this weapon hits, it inflicts a stackable debuff called Death’s Embrace, upon the fifth application of this debuff, a character will die,” Ainz said.

“That… is a very dangerous weapon, we must make sure this Zesshi never comes close to you,” Albedo said, with a worried expression. “Actually, we should just take it from her to make sure of your safety.” She followed, her wings fluttering excitedly.

“In due time, Albedo. Besides, for all its power, there are several limitations to this item, though the main two don’t seem to apply in this world,” Ainz caressed his chin as he thought about this point. “Regardless, there are ways to deal with it.”

“Such as? Aside from using ranged attacks and avoiding melee combat,” Albedo asked.

“The debuff only works in PvP, though it’s hard to say if that is still the case in this New World. It also only procs when the weapon hits. In other words, if Zesshi is paired with someone like you, who is extremely good at defense, the risk of the debuff activating is very small. Additionally, you can switch fighters. The debuff can only apply to a single target, so if a new target is afflicted by it, the previous target’s debuff will disappear,” Ainz explained.

“I see. With some preparation, this weapon will pose little issue to us. As expected of the one I love.”

“We must still be cautious, there are Talents and Martial Arts in this world, which are still beyond our understanding. Could there be a Talent or a Martial Art technique that activates the debuff on the first hit? It’s impossible to say,” Ainz shook his head. “At the very least, Zesshi seems to be ignoring the two properties that made this weapon useless in Yggdrasil,” Ainz added.

The unknown that these two abilities the natives of the New World possessed was giving him quite a headache. How can you plan a fight when the enemy’s abilities could be anything? Ainz thought with an annoyance.

For a strategist like him, information was the most important commodity. Yet, nearly four years since he came to this world, he had barely any information regarding both Talents and Martial Arts, nor did he know what they could do or even if there were any limits to what they could, potentially, do. Such a black hole of information filled him with unease.

“But how can she ignore them?” Albedo asked, a hint of outrage in her voice.

An item called Death’s Call should by right belong to the Overlord of Death, not some puppet of the Theocracy. And how dare some mortal manage to use an item in a better way than the Supreme One. The one I love?! Albedo’s eyes flashed with anger as she thought about it.

“Um, ah? Oh, well, despite this weapon being a scythe, in Yggdrasil it was classified as a staff. Since many of the abilities were weapon dependent, using a staff would result in about seventy percent of a fighter’s ability becoming unusable. Of course, such restrictions don’t seem to apply to the natives of this world. Plus, they use Martial Arts, not abilities, so it’s a moot point.”

Albedo nodded in understanding.

“The second one, I am not sure how she’s circumventing. The scythe was restricted to only be usable by skeletons. Maybe a talent similar to Nfirea’s? Or could it be? Could there be a race-change item? What if Surshana used a race-change item, which allowed him to change from a skeleton into someone who could then conceive an offspring? But, would such a child be considered to be half-undead or would it be considered as whatever race Surshana was when the child was conceived?”

Deep in thought, Ainz didn’t see how Albedo’s face turned bright red. Her nostrils flared and her breathing became labored. The black wings at her waste opened and closed uncontrollably.

“Ai-Ainz-sama, do you… have any such race-change items?!” Albedo moaned as she leaned dangerously on Ainz’s desk.

“What? No, of course, I don… Hey, Albedo! What’s wrong with you?!” Ainz’s alarm went off as soon as he saw Albedo’s smile.

He had already seen such a smile, though it was a while ago. Back then he had said “I love everyone in Nazarick,” which Albedo managed to take way too personally. As a punishment for her actions, she had spent some time in the Frozen Prison, and Ainz would not meet with the succubus without an appropriate number of guards. But, that was back then, on the other situation the situation right now…

“Ainz-sama, could I request you to begin the search for such an item, so that I can fulfill my duties to you, my beloved? Oh, Ainz-sama, just one item and I can bear you a child!” Albedo moaned as she was about to lose control.

“Albedo, calm down! Get a hold of yourself! You don’t want to do something you’ll regret later.”

“Why would I regret being taken by my beloved? Ah, just thinking about it makes me… makes me… Kiyaaaaahhhh” Albedo screamed as she flung herself at Ainz.

The Ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick rolled away, to escape Albedo’s embrace after the Guardian Overseer tried to tackle-hug him by jumping over the desk. Leaving the attending maid, Fifth, who was sitting quietly in a corner, with a shocked expression as she witnessed such unbecoming behavior.

“Eight Edge Assassins! Delay Albedo until I can make my escape!” Ainz bellowed.

Albedo was then confronted by half a dozen Eight Edge Assassins.

“Out of my way!” the love-crazed succubus screamed as she flung the defenders away.

However, it was too late. Having already encountered such a scenario, Ainz already knew what to expect and had, naturally, formulated a number of strategies to deal with such a situation. He would not be defeated as easily as he was the last time. [Gate] – if you can’t win, run! That was one of the basic principles of Punito Moe’s “PvP for Dummies.”

His vision changed, and Ainz found himself in the realm of fire. Flames sprang from the ground, rivers of lava flowed everywhere one looked, scorching heat would no doubt assault his lungs if he had lungs. The whole place looked like one would expect Hell to look. Which was pretty close to the truth as this was the seventh floor of Nazarick.

Ainz looked around before locating the Blazing Temple, Demiurge’s residence some distance away.

Demiurge has his Seven Evil Lords – they should be strong enough to restrain Albedo if she comes here. Plus, I should reiterate that I am fine with the Re-Estize Kingdom still not coming under our control. The look he had when I mentioned it during the meeting… ah, I am sure he had imagined something. I don’t want him to do anything rash. Ainz thought as he teleported to the entrance of the Blazing Temple.

Sensing a disturbance his [Gate] created, a figure walked out out the Blazing Temple. The figure had an appearance of a young, good-looking man with long red hair, but was clearly a monster, as indicated by the bat-like wings on his back and two horns protruding from his temple. He wore plate armor, except for the chest area which was open, revealing his impressive abdominal muscles. In his hand, the monster held a dark scythe.

“Ainz-sama, it’s such an honor to see you,” the Evil Lord of Greed bowed when he saw the skeleton.

“Is Demiurge here?” Ainz asked motioning to the building from which the Evil Lord had emerged.

“I apologize, Demiurge-sama is not here. I believe he should be at the Happy Farm, conducting certain experiments.”

“I see. Take me to him,” Ainz ordered after a short pause.

The demon bowed, then spread and flapped his wings, taking off into the air. Ainz followed him with a [Fly] spell, and the two begun to fly through the air. Which was the preferred method of movement on this floor, unless one had immunity to fire, otherwise crossing over the terrain of the seventh floor on foot was a huge challenge.

After about five minutes a set of buildings came into their view. There were several dozen long, one-story buildings, which looked like sheds. There was a larger, square building in the center – probably a warehouse where food was stored. As they came closer, Ainz could see several demons moving around from the square building towards one of the surrounding ones.

“Demiurge has been rather busy. I did not think there were so many test subjects,” Ainz commented.

“Demiurge-sama is conducting numerous experiments at the same time,” Greed offered an explanation.

They landed near the square warehouse, but after looking around Ainz didn’t see the guardian.

“Tell Demiurge I am here to talk to him. I’ll be, in that building,” Ainz motioned to one of the long sheds nearby.

Evil Lord of Greed bowed, while Ainz walked toward the building. Might as well check out Demiurge’s work while I am here, he thought. Upon entering, Ainz was shocked.

The long shed consisted of two rows of cages on either side of the room, with a passage in the middle. Inside the cages were grotesque monsters. Ainz took a closer look, feeling a mix of repulsion and morbid curiosity. All of the chimeras he saw had a beastmen’s head, but their bodies were different some were humans, others seemed to belong to wild animals, yet others resembled bodies of larger demi-humans, like ogres and trolls. The same went for their limbs. Strangely enough, the iconic snake for a tail was completely absent.

The groans the chimeras made interrupted Ainz’s observation. For a moment he thought he heard something, but in the next instant, he realized his mind was just playing tricks on him. The sounds the monsters made were not actual speech.

Ainz wandered from cage to cage, amazed at the variety of chimeras. One had a tiger’s head, a human body, and arms, with the lower limbs of a lion. Another was a bull’s head, a human torso with lion’s arms and the legs which belonged to some large bird – the legs were unable to support the heavy body, so the chimera had flopped on it’s back. Yet another monster stole his attention – this one was centaur-like. A lion’s head and torso, with human arms, and a horse’s lower half.

Ainz’s exploration of the strange creatures came to an end when Demiurge walked inside the shed.

“Ainz-sama, it’s a pleasure to see you,” Demiurge greeted his master with a bow.

“Demiurge, are these the Abelion sheep you’ve mentioned?”

“Ah, Abelion sheep, yes, Ainz-sama, I believe that is how you had referred to these creatures at that time,” Demiurge smile grew frighteningly large.

“I can see why you thought a sausage made out of one would be a bad idea. Still, they seem… rather strange,” Ainz said.

“May I ask in what way?”

“I did not expect them to be so, so human-based,” Ainz explained.

“As expected of the Supreme One, you’ve seen right through the problem. Indeed, the human parts are the weakest. However, they also seem to hold the most potential. Although we had just begun these type of experiments, if Ainz-sama wants to help analyze the test results, I am certain the experiments would bear fruit much sooner,” Demiurge eagerly offered.

Hmm, what is he talking about? Experiments? On Chimera? What is he talking about? More importantly, do I actually want to look through tests of, say sliced muscle tissue trying to analyze something or other? Definitely not! Having come to a firm conclusion, Ainz didn’t waste any time.

“It’s fine Demiurge, I want to give you enough responsibilities so that you can have a taste of success,” Ainz said while puffing his chest.

That didn’t sound too pompous, did it? He wondered.

“Albedo is right, Ainz-sama is most generous indeed. Even when you could complete a task with just a wave of your hand, you are still kind enough to give it to us – your servants, so that we can feel the high of accomplishing our given tasks. I am honored to serve such an amazing master,” Demiurge said in a sincere voice as he bowed deeply.

“Um, Demiurge, you over exaggerate. As one of the top intellects in Nazarick your ability to accomplish a given task is second to none,” Ainz tried to reassure the guardian.

Why is he taking this so close to heart? And what was that about Albedo being right? Ah, talking to Demiurge is always such a headache.

“You flatter me, Ainz-sama. I might be able to predict a few things, but I have realized that it’s impossible for me to compare to your unfathomable ability to plan ahead,” Demiurge said with a self-mocking smile.

“By the way, what’s in the other sheds?” Ainz asked as he recalled there were actually several dozen such buildings here.

“That’s where I conduct the other experiments. Would you like to take a look at my work?” Demiurge rubbed his hands in anticipation.

“Um, no, it’s fine. These tests notwithstanding, there are two other reasons I came to see you. Albedo got a bit too excited so I will need the help of your Evil Lords to subdue her.”

After Demiurge raised a brow, Ainz explained.

“I was explaining the weapon the Theocracy’s Zesshi uses, and I mentioned the existence of race change items, which could potentially be used to allow a skeleton to procreate…”

“Say no more, I understand the nature of this problem,” Demiurge smirked. “The Guardian Overseer can be a little… overbearing when it comes to this subject.”

“Indeed.”

After a brief pause, and some coughing to clear his throat, Ainz spoke again.

“The other reason, I just wanted to make sure you understand there are no issues with the Re-Estize Kingdom still not having submitted to us. It’s your’s and Albedo’s project, and I am certain that the results will be worthy of your positions,” Ainz said.

“I thank you for your generosity once again. Although we are unable to speed up their fall, without the use of force, we have made certain adjustments to secure the loyalty of the Kingdom’s citizens, for when it does fall.”

“Mm, that’s good.”

“This move will also result in Princess Renner’s promotion to a status equivalent to an Area Guardian, and it will bind her to our service in the process.” Demiurge grinned like a mad scientist who had just completed his newest gadget.

I literally have no clue what he’s talking about. I could ask him to submit a report, but after all that talk about leaving certain things to him and allowing him to take responsibility for it, if I asked him to submit a report now it would look really bad. It would look like I don’t trust him, Ainz thought dejectedly.

“Hmm, that’s… fine. Keep up the great work, Demiurge,” Ainz mumbled. “Now, let’s do something about Albedo, so I can get back to my office and finish my work,” he continued.

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