Chapter 5, Part 1

Ainz couldn’t help laughing as he thought about the sneaky devs: Not only did they hide the info in two separate entries, but it’s in the Origins too. I almost missed it myself, despite knowing that there should be something in the entry. Origins was the timeline before Yggdrasil began, making up the background lore of the game. Few players looked for connections in this part of the lore, believing that information would concern the present, rather than be hidden in the past.

So, soon after unearthing a demonic artifact, Filkin’s entire party died, wgile he himself probably died after getting to the temple of the Order of Zar. Witnessing the terrible power of the artifact, the paladins must’ve decided to prevent the item from wreaking further destruction. Ultimately, the artifact proved too powerful for the paladins to contain, resulting in the whole order being afflicted by a demonic corruption. Sounds about right, Ainz summed up his hypothesis.

Given the scope and power of the said artifact and how much work was put into its lore, it was most likely a World-Class Item. Too bad Black Knight didn’t have it with him, Ainz felt somewhat disheartened about this point. Perhaps we should have captured Black Knight instead of killing him, Ainz thought. Still, he felt rather satisfied with his deductions. What’s more, with his mind occupied by an interesting yet consequence-free topic, Ainz was able to fully relax. Even if he got the whole story wrong, it wouldn’t matter.

“World-Class Items, hmm,” he mumbled as an idea popped into Suzuki Satoru’s head. He laid on the bed a bit longer, mulling over it, but seeing how Demiurge and Shalltear hadn’t returned yet, he decided he had enough time.

He walked outside of his bedroom, where several insectoid monsters from the fifth floor stood guard, as well as the ever-present group of Eight Edge Assassins, who hung from the ceiling.

“I’ll be heading to the seventh floor,” Ainz announced.

He cast [Gate] and stepped into the portal, followed by several Eight Edge Assassins. Coming out of the [Gate], Ainz found himself in the fiery realm that was the seventh floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. He stood in front of a series of one-story buildings which made up Demiurge’s “Happy Farm.”

Ainz began to walk towards the buildings when a female demon came out of the nearest one. She was tall, dressed in a tight-fitting and rather revealing bondage outfit with a crow’s head – one of the Seven Evil Lords, Envy.

“Welcome, Ainz-sama. How can this one serve you?” She asked respectfully after bowing to greet Ainz.

“Take me to the Elf King,” Ainz ordered.

“Please, follow me,” Envy said. “He was moved to building number three,” she added as she led the way.

“So, um, how has Demiurge’s research been progressing?” Ainz asked to break up the silence as they walked.

“We have learned quite a bit, though Demiurge-sama’s main objective has not yet been achieved,” Envy replied.

Main objective? What’s that? Ainz wondered. He wanted to ask Envy more about it, but alas, doing so would no doubt damage his reputation in the eyes of his servants.

“I am sure it’s just a matter of time,” Ainz chose to give his encouragement, making it seem as though he knew all about this main objective.

“Thank you, Ainz-sama. Demiurge-sama believes so too. That is why he keeps working so hard, trying new approaches and doing all he can to keep things running smoothly,” Envy replied excitedly. “for instance, a few days ago there was a problem where some of the female test subjects refused to participate in the experiments being conducted. Yet, rather than forcing them to do it Demiurge instead decided to… oh, we are here,” Envy interrupted her story as the two came to the entrance of a building.

“Wait, what was is that Demiurge decided to do instead?” Ainz asked as his intuition told him that there was something important that he was missing from that story.

“I don’t want to waste your precious time, Ainz-sama. My point was that Demiurge-sama was able to resolve the issue quickly and without use of force,” Envy said as she opened the door, allowing Ainz to enter. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Ainz-sama? Or may I return to my duties?”

“I will leave after speaking with him, you may resume your work,” Ainz dismissed the demon and entered the building.

Inside, several demons stood guard in front of a barred cell. The demons bowed in greeting and moved apart. Behind the bars, Ainz could see Elf King chained to wooden board set at forty-five degrees.

“His limbs?” Ainz asked curiously when he noticed that the elf’s arms and legs seemed to be broken.

“Yes, Ainz-sama! At first, we would cut off his limbs for security measures. But, they would regrow when he was healed, which required enough guards to subdue him, making skinning him a major hassle. Demiurge-sama then decided that we could just break his limbs after he was healed. This not only removed any security issues but also increased the amount of skin that could be gathered,” one of the demons began to explain.

“I, I see,” Ainz replied with a nod. He wasn’t particularly happy with constantly skinning someone, even if Elf King was a mob NPC in Yggdrasil. But, materials for scrolls that could hold up to seventh tier spells were quite valuable.

“Ah, look who it is! Did you come to see what the one who will end your reign looks like?” Elf King greeted Ainz.

“I have a question for you,” Ainz began, however, he was immediately interrupted.

“Do you want to know how you will die? With my hands around your neck,” Elf King laughed as he mocked Ainz.

The demons who were guarding the cell stirred and the Eight Edge Assassins twitched while hanging from the ceiling, yet, Ainz remained unmoved. It wasn’t due to him being a skeleton or that he didn’t find it annoying, but rather because he had already been through this many times before.

“I wanted to know if you had any valuable items in your dungeon back in Yggdrasil, before you were transported to this New World,” Ainz asked.

“And why would I tell you that?”

“It’s just that Black Knight, whom you mocked so much, happened to belong to an order that had a priceless treasure. I was wondering if you had one as well. But you are right, how could someone like you, an exiled king who had to eke out a living in some old, musty dungeon, actually possess a priceless treasure? I don’t know what I was thinking, coming here,” Ainz voice became more and more dismissive. After finishing, he actually turned around and began to walk toward the exit.

“You… you dare?! I’ll have you know I had a great elven treasure in my trove!” Elf King shouted unable to bear the insult.

“Oh?” Ainz asked in the most skeptical tone he could muster. “Probably some worthless trinket that you’ve mistaken for an artifact,” he added.

“You fool! How could any elf, much less one of royal blood such as I, possibly not recognize Stormwind, the greatest of all bows!” Elf King was boiling with rage as he shouted, he even struggled to break free from his restraints.

“Stormwind, huh? And where is it now?” Ainz asked as his skull provided the best poker face in existence.

“Do you think I would bother with those worthless elves if I still had it when I was transported here? Armed with it, I alone could conquer this whole world!” Elf King shouted before he once again began to mock Ainz.

“I am done here,” Ainz addressed the demon guards. By the looks on their faces, Elf King’s next skinning would be especially painful. Then again, Ainz was convinced that the NPC paid no attention to such things. Anything that wasn’t part of its lore was completely dismissed.

He was still musing over the nature of the NPCs as he exited the building and opened [Gate] to outside his bedroom. Leaving the Eight Edge Assassins behind, he entered his bedroom and sat at the table. He placed his elbows on the table and interlocked his fingers, placing his chin on top.

Hm, I carried a World-Class Item, as did several of the NPCs, in addition to the ones that were stored in Nazarick’s treasury. The Six Great Gods had at least one World-Class Item as well. Did the Eight Greed Kings have one too? Could the World-Class Items be related to getting transported to the New World? Too many questions, too little information,” Ainz shook his head.

It was pointless to think anymore about it, and he was about to work on some of the documents stacked neatly on the table when a [Message] came from Albedo.

“Ainz-sama, Demiurge and Shalltear have returned. The mission was, of course, successful,” Albedo informed him.

“Excellent, have everyone come to the throne room,” Ainz replied.

Once again, Ainz left his bedroom and informed the guards outside that he was headed to the throne room. Being guarded, even inside Nazarick, seemed a bit silly to Ainz, but the guardians insisted on it and so he went along with their wishes.

Using [Gate] Ainz quickly traveled just outside the throne room, arriving before most of the Guardians. He sat on the throne and discussed things with Albedo while they waited. It didn’t take long for all the Guardians to gather and for the meeting to begin.

“For those who had been unable to participate in the previous meeting, we have come to the conclussion that Sir Armoreth was a puppet, and the one controlling it was most likely a Dragon Lord. Demiurge will fill you in on the details later,” Ainz began. “Demiurge, Shalltear, I understand your mission was successful?” He addressed the two.

“Yes, Ainz-sama. Everything went without a hitch. We have left all of the Hanzos behind to continue to monitor the situation, in case something unexpected occurs,” Demiurge replied with a bow.

“As expected of a plan created by one of the brightest minds of Nazarick,” Ainz nodded.

“You give me too much credit, Ainz-sama. It was all due to the groundwork you’ve laid, that we could execute everything so smoothly,” Demiurge said.

“Mm, if you say so. So, how are the, um, guests, behaving?” Ainz felt no desire to dive into the pool of trouble that was Demiurge’s perceptions of his, Ainz’s plans, choosing to change the topic instead.

“They are frightened but defiant,” Shalltear said with a scowl. “For now, anyway,” she added as the grimace on her face turned into a wide smile.

“I am sure an audience with Neuronist Painkill will lead to a change in their attitude. Still, bring them in, I want to speak to them first,” Ainz instructed.

Shalltear bowed and left the throne room. A few minutes later she returned with a group of undead monsters who were escorting a dozen or so humans. These humans had disheveled appearances and fear-stricken faces. There was a commotion when they saw Ainz on the throne, and some of them attempted to run away. The escorting undead quickly put an end to such silly ideas, pushing the humans to the middle of the room, where several of them slumped to the ground, seemingly unable to stand.

“What is the meaning of this? Why have you been revived already?” Several of the more resilient humans cried out.

Ainz cleared his non-existent throat, completely ignoring their questions. “Welcome to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, my, no, our home,” he began. “I wanted to talk to the rulers of the Slane Theocracy for a long time, so, I had my servants bring you here.”

“Talk to us about what?” Raymond Zarg Lauransan, the Cardinal of Earth and one of the youngest among those present, asked.

“Oh, there are so many topics we could discuss. Like your Black Scripture using the Downfall of Castle and Country to mind control one of my servants. Or your plan for Elf King to go after Mare, pitting our nations against each other. Then there is your most recent attempt to use the pretext of offering us help in confronting Jaldabaoth, only to stab us in the back when an opportune moment arrived,” Ainz rattled off several topics. With each one, the faces of the humans in front of him became more and more pale.

“Of course, the one I am interested in the most is your plan to deal with me should your strike force fail,” Ainz added, the red dots in his eye sockets looked like they were trying to bore into the souls of the humans.

However, the top brass of the Slane Theocracy remained silent. After a period of silence, Ainz spoke again: “Nothing? No matter, you’ll talk soon enough. I was hoping you would be smart enough to cooperate, but I guess religious fanatics can’t be reasoned with,” Ainz waved his hand dismissively.

“You may have defeated us, but you will never overcome the might of the Six Great Gods. Their legacy will live on long after you’ve destroyed the Slane Theocracy,” Yvon Jasna Dracrowa, the Cardinal of Light replied in a somber tone. The man’s narrow eyes, skinny frame, pale face, and bloodshot eyes made him look like a vengeful ghost cursing his enemies.

“Fools to the very end,” Ainz shook his head in contempt. “It should be obvious I have no plans of destroying the Slane Theocracy. As for the legacy of the Six Great Gods living on forever, you are once again mistaken. They will be completely forgotten within just a few centuries.”

“Impossible! You might be powerful, but their deeds are the stuff of legends!” Yvon shouted, having lost what little composure he had previously.

“Although you are about to experience Hell, I guess I’ll go ahead and break your spirit first,” Ainz said. Although his skull remained unchanged, everyone had a feeling that he was smiling. “You know that your Six great Gods were Players, right? Before I came to this world, my friends and I used to hunt players like them for fun. You lot are simply too weak to comprehend the difference in our power. Compared to me, your Six Great Gods are but prey to be hunted,” Ainz declared as a wave of frightening power swept through the throne room. “Take them away,” Ainz ordered the undead monsters with a wave of his hand.

“Im-Impossible! How could that be? For a monster like that to exist?” The humans began to shout, having recovered from their shock. However, they were quickly removed from the throne room, their shouts fading behind the heavy, wooden doors.

“As expected, they are too stupid to comprehend their position,” Demiurge spread his hands apologetically.

“It’s within our expectations, though I am afraid I’ll have to trouble Shalltear and you once more,” Ainz shrugged his shoulders.

“Serving you is our greatest reward, Ainz-sama,” both Guardians replied in unison.

“In that case, assist Jircniv in quickly moving his legions to occupy the Slane Theocracy. With their leadership gone, Theocracy’s army shouldn’t offer much resistance. Do use the Hanzos to remove especially meddlesome commanders though,” Ainz instructed.

“A-Ainz-sama, would the citizens of the Slane Theocracy just accept our rule? They h-hate undead there,” Mare said, recalling his experience in the capital.

“We can use Neia Baraja to spread the word of your greatness,” Shalltear proposed.

“We can also try to use Zuranon for the same purpose. And even that useless lot we just saw might prove useful after Neuronist is done with them,” Demiurge added with a wide grin.

“Excellent suggestions, we will utilize all available methods to change the perception of the citizens of the Slane Theocracy, Ainz nodded. “But, before you two depart, I wish to announce the fate of the invaders,” Ainz added.

The throne room immediately plunged into silence.

*****

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