Chapter 3, Part 3

All of the guardians were gathered outside the throne room in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, listening to Albedo.

“Then, after Ainz-sama appears I will welcome him and all of us will bow. Then Demiurge will open the doors and I’ll follow Ainz-sama. After me it will be Demiurge, Cocytus, Mare, Aura, and Shalltear,” she explained.

“Why do I have to be after Aura? I don’t want to be last?!” Shalltear protested.

Aura stuck her tongue at the vampire, while Albedo waved her hand dismissively.

“Someone has to be last,” she said.

“I demand we change the order the next time then,” Shalltear refused to give up.

“Ugh, fine we’ll change.. oh, here he comes. Everyone get ready,” Albedo was interrupted mid-way by the appearance of a [Portal].

“Welcome, Ainz-sama,” Albedo greeted the avatar of death after he came out of the [Portal].

Following her cue, all of the guardians bowed. Ainz nodded his head in acknowledgment, before proceeding forward. Demiurge opened the doors leading into the throne room, and Ainz walked in, followed by everyone else. He took his seat on the throne, with Albedo by his side, while the guardians arranged themselves in front of him.

“I am glad to see everyone here. I know some of you are quite busy, but the time of our biggest confrontation draws near, so I wanted to bring everyone up to date,” Ainz began.

“Serving the Supreme One is our duty,” the guardians replied in unison.

“The Theocracy and their allies have begun to gather at Carne Village. Those from the Re-Estize Kingdom are already there, along with one Sir Armoreth. While the Theocracy’s forces have crossed the border of the Sorcerer Kingdom and should be there within a week. Once everyone gathers we’ll bring them into Nazarick and remove those fools in one fell swoop,” Ainz explained.

“We are all looking forward to it, especially Shalltear,” Albedo said as she smiled delightfully.

“I will finally get my hands on those responsible for brainwashing me and causing Ainz-sama so much pain. I’ll make them pay,” Shalltear promised as she involuntary released a wave of killing intent.

“Do. We. Know. Everyone. That’s. Coming.” Cocytus asked.

“Thanks to a certain captive, we mostly do. The only two unknown are supposedly members of the thirteen heroes from two centuries ago: Sir Armoreth, currently in Carne Village, and the Cursed Knight, who’s still on his way from the City-State Alliance,” Demiurge explained.

“Clementine’s capture came at an excellent time. Thanks to her we got a great deal of inside information on both the Black Scripture and some of Zuranon’s members,” Ainz said.

He was rather surprised when he realized the one who tried to assassinate Neia was his old acquaintance, Clementine. The disappearance of her corpse and the possibility of her getting resurrected and revealing Momon being an undead weighed on Ainz’s mind as the biggest oversight he’d made since coming to the new world.

Surprisingly, it worked out quite well, as they were able to learn about their approaching enemies from her. In fact, it ended up working so well that Demiurge had even assumed it was all a part of Ainz’ plan from the very start and praised Ainz for such an amazing scheme. Ainz himself had to wonder yet again about how much his Luck stat affected the world around him.

“Actually, have Clementine brought here, there is something I need to thank her for,” Ainz ordered. He waved dismissively to Demiurge, who looked at his master questioningly, before adding with a chuckle: “Her appearances always bring me good luck, it almost seems a waste to kill her.”

Ainz chose to ignore the confused looks on the guardians’ faces, as he continued.

“Pandora’s Actor is currently trying to learn more about this Sir Armoreth,” Ainz added.

“I hope he can mimic Momon well enough to fool the members of the Blue Rose,” Albedo said.

“They haven’t spent that much time in Momon’s company. Besides, we can’t be certain that no one in the allied forces has [Sense Undead], so it’s too risky for me to act as Momon,” Ainz shrugged.

“And once everyone gathers we’ll trap them all at once. Truly everyone dances in the hand of the Supreme One. You’ve got all of our enemies to not just stand up, but to even deliver themselves to us. Taking over two countries is just the icing on top,” Demiurge praised.

“Speaking of which, did everything go well in Re-Estize? I am surprised no one questioned the strange points of the scheme,” Ainz asked.

“It was a little crude, but then if it was a perfect scheme, unraveling it would be harder. But no, no one is questioning the events just yet. Zanac is too busy celebrating the removal of the noble faction’s leadership, while the others are in shock of what happened. By the time questions begin to be raised, we’ll be there to give them an answer,” Demiurge grinned.

“Demiurge, Albedo, you two have done well,” Ainz declared. Removing the remaining top nobles while simultaneously removing the king, allowing us to place our own man to govern over the Kingdom. It’s a nice plan, though strangely bloodless, Ainz thought.

“I only wish my abilities could allow me to serve you better,” Demiurge replied with a bow.

“I too feel we aren’t able to do enough,” Albedo added solemnly.

“You two underestimate your contributions. I could not run Nazarick as well as the Sorcerer Kingdom so smoothly without your help, Albedo. And Demiurge’s contribution in the research department is enormous,” Ainz said in an attempt to cheer up the two. “All of you who stand here have contributed to Nazarick’s greatness. Don’t ever forget it,” he added.

“We are unworthy of your praise, Ainz-sama,” the guardians replied and bowed.

“Demiurge, what about the Slane Theocracy?” Ainz asked after a short pause.

“The Hanzos are ready to act at a moment’s notice. We’ll also have the Baharuth Empire’s legions take over, to make the transition smoother,” Demiurge replied.

“Conquering the hearts and minds of the people in a religious state like that might prove quite difficult.”

“I believe with Neia’s help we can set up a good foundation for a transition. I’d also like to see if we can use the Cardinals to spread a certain truth. Using Zuranon members to spread the religion of Ainz-sama is also a possibility,” Demiurge explained eagerly.

“Hmm, I see. You plan to substitute one religion for another,” Ainz said. He was unsure how he felt about declaring himself God and having people worship him. Being treated like that by the NPCs is fine, but having normal people do so feels a bit weird, Ainz thought as an image of a kowtowing Fluder flashed through his mind.

“It is the fastest way to convert them to our side. Besides, worshiping Ainz-sama would at least add some meaning to their otherwise pathetic lives,” Demiurge replied with a smile, while the other guardians nodded in agreement.

Oh well, he’s right about it being the quickest way to get the people of the Slane Theocracy to accept me as their ruler. Besides, if I conquer this world, it would only be a matter of time before everyone started to worship me as their God. Guess I’ll just have to get used to it, Ainz sighed.

Just then, a knocking sound came from the doors. A bizarre looking insectoid, one of Cocytus’s subordinates, poked its elongated head through the opened doors.

“We’ve brought the human prisoner,” he told the guardians who were staring at him.

“Oh, good. Bring her in,” Ainz said excitedly.

The doors swung open and two insectoids marched inside, pulling a woman with them. Clementine seemed to have lost all of her usual brazen attitude and was visibly trembling. The two guards brought her some ten feet before where the guardians stood and let her go, taking a step back. Without the two monsters holding her up, Clementine’s body keeled over on the floor.

She swept the room with her eyes, she grimaced when she saw Cocytus before her eyes settled on the skeletal figure sitting upon the throne.

“Clementine, I had you brought here so that I could do something I wasn’t able to do after our first meeting. I wanted to thank you. The information you’ve provided on the Black Scripture and Zuranon is quite valuable. But, the reason I want to thank you is that it was my encounter with you that had awakened my interest in hand to hand combat. It was you who made me realize just how much I still had to learn. And for that, you have my thanks,” Ainz declared to the stunned and confused woman, with a slight bow of his skull.

“The great Ainz-sama has expressed his thanks to you! Stop staring like a moron and show some appreciation for this highlight of your life,” Shalltear, who stood closest to Clementine whispered through her teeth.

“Aaah,” Clementine let out a low moan as she felt the danger coming from the silver-haired girl. “Have, have we me-met?” She finally managed to squeeze out while looking at the skeleton on the throne.

“Ah, Neuronist did report that you had lost all memory of our encounter. I thought seeing me would jog your memory, but I guess not. In that case,” Ainz stopped in the middle of his sentence and cast a spell.

In a blink of an eye the throne was no longer occupied by a skeletal magic caster, now upon it sat a warrior clad in a dark, full plate armor, a red cloak was draped to his shoulders, behind which rose the hilts of two large swords.

“You… you are… Momon? You are the elder lich that bear-hugged me to death,” Clementine exclaimed after a brief moment of confusion.

“Hugged?” Shalltear mouthed as she exploded with killing intent.

“Ainz-sama hugged her?!” Albedo’s reaction mirrored that of the vampire.

“Now that you have remembered me,” Ainz began after changing back into his magic caster form.

However, he was interrupted by Clementine, whose mind had apparently snapped and who began to curse and threaten him in a deranged manner.

“You filthy undead! You think you can get away killing me, lady Clementine, who has already stepped into the realm of heroes? Zuranon will not let something like this slide! Not to mention the Slane Theocracy! The Black Scripture will have your skull soon enough. My brother will avenge my death! Your days are numbered, Momon! Soon, you’ll return to the ground from which you’ve risen!”

I guess the revelation that Momon is a skeleton, as well as the memories of her brutal death, were too much for her already damaged mind, Ainz shook his head as he looked at the woman who had clearly lost her mind.

After delivering her belligerent outburst and seemingly burning through the burst of energy her madness provided, Clementine threw up on the floor. Her shoulders drooped once again and she began to sob as her whole body started to tremble once again.

“Why do all these blondes throw up when they see Ainz-sama? Aura asked in a perplexed tone of voice.

No one answered her, and the throne room remained silent for a while.

“Disgusting.” Cocytus finally broke the silence.

“Is she finished?” Aura asked, her face revealing just how revolting she found Clementine.

“Who knows? Who cares? I’ll handle this,” Shalltear said as she activated her eye powers.

What’s up with those eyes? Clementine might’ve thought if she still retained any grasp on her mind. However, Clementine had already gone insane and now, staring into Shalltear’s red eyes she lost what little control she still had over her body.

“Did you say Ainz-sama hugged you to death?” Shalltear asked the question she was most interested in.

“I don’t know who Ainz is. But the skeleton in front of me, Momon, did bear-hug me to death,” Clementine answered in a monotone, emotionless voice.

“Ainz-sama, may I please take this woman to… um, punish her for not appreciating…” Shalltear trailed off as her words became undecipherable.

“Wait a minute! Ainz-sama, as a Guardian Overseer I feel it is my responsibility to carry out such punishment,” Albedo immediately protested.

Ainz opened his mouth, but before he could speak Shalltear spoke full of indignation.

“Albedo, you already have a toy to play with. Don’t think that just because of your position you can hog all the fun.”

“Fufu, I don’t really spend that much time on Philip since I had Neuronist take care of him. Don’t think I am not capable of handling another one,” Albedo replied dismissively.

Philip is still alive? Now, that’s a surprise, Ainz thought as he watched the two women become more and more agitated.

“I demand silence!” Ainz declared with a practiced wave of his hand. Instantly bringing both quarreling sides to silence. “Shalltear is going to have her hands full with the Black Scripture members. So, Albedo can have Clementine,” he added.

“Thank you, Ainz-sama,” Albedo replied, while her wings fluttered excitedly.

“Why… why don’t you just kill me?” Clementine asked as her moment of madness had passed.

Hearing those words Shalltear walked up to the grounded woman and lifted her chin, forcing Clementine to look into her eyes. She spent a few seconds enjoying the terror she saw in Clementine’s eyes, before delivering her line.

“Your punishment must be more severe.”

Previous | Next