A few minutes after the meeting with Clayman had concluded, Momonga stood in the courtyard of the former demon lord's, now soul-officialized servant, castle and watched as Adalmann summoned all the undead troops under his command all at once. The undead priest had a personal champion, a death paladin named Albert who had also been his longtime friend even before he became an undead, along with an enormous unnamed undead dragon. Additionally, he had around twenty thousand basic undead under his command, filling up the majority of the courtyard. Not all that strong individually, but he looked forward towards Adalmann's historical report later considering Albert was a paladin, a distinctly Luminism-related job in the Cardinal World.
"I must say, your command over such force is impressive, considering your overall power level. I wonder what would happen if I empowered you even further?" Momonga mused out aloud, sensing that Rimuru had given titles to Adalmann and Albert and named the undead dragon.
"I exist to serve my God. I am not worthy to receive your power," The undead priest knelt before him, his undead doing the same a breath later.
Momonga found such displays of worship bothersome but he had long accepted that most would treat him in such a way. Also, it seemed to please his consorts like most acts of servitude.
"It is up to Momonga to decide who is and isn't worthy. You are deemed to be worthy of his attention, take pride in it," Albedo, standing beside him, commented, staring at the undead who dared to refuse her husband's attention.
"He's rather weak though," Shion added.
"It's not his direct power, but his ability to control vast amounts of undead that are interesting," Shalltear joined in, hoping to shine as she had picked up on Momonga's intentions. "Liches of his power level can't even control half of what he can field at once. At most a few thousand."
"Still, naming and titles alone won't be enough and we are all out of souls to use for empowerment," Shion pondered.
"We'll get more when we deal with the southern continent, and there is a small trickle from Demiurge's activities in espionage. For now, naming and bestowing title should do," Albedo stated.
Momonga let them banter among themselves as he stepped forward and announced, "From now on, you are Adalmann, the Gehanna Lord." He forced as much energy into the undead as naming and title allowed and then some, bending the naming rules a bit in his favor by abusing the natural authority over the world's laws those of his caliber had.
While Ramiris had warned him of the dire consequences of making direct changes in the system, there were no such worries about the subtle bending of the world rules, which had some flexibility to offer when used correctly. Besides, he was becoming exceedingly better at utilizing Omniscience to produce desired results.
Adalmann's power level rose significantly. Although Momonga knew the undead could assume a more human-like appearance, similar to himself when he interacted with human subordinates. However, the priest chose not to, sporting the same skeletal look with the priest garb as before, instead having chosen to dedicate all of the given power to his inherent capabilities.
"Lord, so much power…" Adalmann gasped. "I can…" He stopped as his form glowed slightly.
Momonga felt new hordes of undead appearing just outside the castle as the courtyard was full already, elder liches and death knights among them, dramatically increasing the amount of undead he could support. Adalmann hadn't utilized any particular skill; it was his natural ability to command the undead which was utilized to its fullest with its newfound capacity.
'I should send a few overlords to study under him, but I will need to find capable assistants for Albedo first.' If undead could be taught this ability, five or six overlords would be enough to create a million armies, which would be a huge boon for not only border control but inner security as well, as no military west or north of them would dare to send in their own armies knowing the Tempest Hegemony always had as large standing armies at the ready as well.
Setting this plan for the near future, Momonga set his attention on the Death Paladin, "Albert, the Gehenna Paladin, serve Adalmann with full dedication."
"I will my Lord. Thank you for this wonderful gift," The paladin knelt as his appearance became fully human-like with only a hint of him being undead, the pale shade of his skin remaining. Although nothing special by Nazarick's standards, Albert now was an absolute beast on his own when it came to the ranks of Jistav's elite and a worthy servant of who was likely to become one of Momonga's most important undead.
The next was the undead dragon whose name and title Momonga already knew, noting how the timeline once again gave him the name he desired. The creature currently was without a spark of intelligence but it was safe to assume it would gain sentience after naming's power took its course.
"Venti, the Gehenna Dragon Lord." Momonga, like the previous two undead, pushed as much energy as possible into the creature, noting how powerful it was already, stronger than even the named Albert.
The dragon grew in size massively, nearly rivaling the world-enders in size. A few moments later, her power surpassed even her master as a sharp mind formed its bond to his Nazarick. The creature lowered its head but then, as if realizing something, perked up and immediately changed its form into a white-haired girl in a frilly dress with a scythe in her arms. She, same as Adalman and Albert, knelt, expressing gratitude, "Thank you for the gift, Lord."
"I am pleased with your loyalty," Momonga motioned for the trio to raise. "You will report to Zegion and help him re-organize the border security. Additionally, Adalmann, you will work with Nazarick directly and perform naming experiments upon your summoned undead."
"Your word is my command, Lord," Adalmann responded earnestly, his skeletal form rattling in excitement.
"Oh, and be prepared to receive students. I am interested to see if such mastery over summons can be taught." Momonga gave the last set of orders, ready to return home. There were a few more places he needed to visit but for now, the standard governmental duties needed to be addressed as well. Not that his consorts were eager to tackle them as well judging by their bonds and flying Thought Communications, but with leadership came responsibility.
"We didn't mess up anything. I don't get why Rigur is transferring us!" Gobta loudly complained to his friend and partner Garf.
{ Jealousy. We are not among his lackeys and he fears us taking over. } Garf, his direwolf partner, responded as he lazily walked towards the raider station, feeling no need to hurry.
"Hmm… I don't think Rigur is like that. He's, you know, too uptight to do such things." Gobta responded.
{ We'll see. The fact is we are sent away from the center of it all to a dump who knows where. } The wolf didn't back down from his opinions, trodding along.
Despite some disciplinary and attitude problems noted in their paperwork, they were considered one of the best teams in the capital's police force, rivaling even the shadow monsters who also patrolled the streets. Garf and he had caught countless thieves, stopped a literal army of troublemaker humans during their career due to an ambitious mercenary team wanting to strike it rich, and were among the few who had talked directly with Lord Momonga, which too elevated his status.
As they arrived at the wolf rider station, they were met with the usual orderly chaos of wolf riders dragging in lawbreakers for processing, training with their companies, or just loudly arguing about all kinds of topics from racing speeds to possible partners.
Gobta today had no time to engage anybody, so they headed straight towards Rigur who was likely in his office. He hopped off Garf and left him outside to mingle with his peers and try to extort meat and treats from his kind as the intimidating wolf usually did and headed inside, tense.
He was met with a familiar figure. Gobzo, his close friend, was waiting with him with nervousness written all over his face.
"Hey, Gobzo, sorry I can't stay and chat. Captain wants to talk," Gobta avoided giving the reason for his arrival as his friend was the type to get overly worried over anything.
"I am coming with you. If the captain is exiling you, I won't stay in the center," Gobzo saluted with determination.
"Then you'll see Shion even less," Gobta pressed on his friend's weak spot. The day Gobzo set his gaze upon the beautiful kijin woman he had hopelessly fallen in love with her, head over toes. A love that would never be reciprocated as Shion was one of Lord Momonga's consorts and fiercely loyal to the Supreme Leader of Tempest, but the goblin indulged in this one-sided adoration nonetheless and the people around found no harm in it either. Observing the one who had captured his heart from a distance was enough for him.
"I know…" Gobzo paused before continuing, "No, I'm coming with you anyway," Gobzo didn't give in.
"Alright alright. Let me talk to the captain first," Gobta shook his head. His friend's loyalty was admirable, and part of him pitied Gobzo for picking an object of adoration he could never get instead of a local girl, as there were plenty of single women to woo over.
He himself was much more of a lone wolf not to be tied down by a single woman. Not that he had anyone trying to tie the knot with him. And he had Garf, the single most terrifying direwolf in Tempest besides Ranga himself, as his companion, but that was beside the point.
Leaving his friend behind, Gobta finally reached Rigur's office and after a short knock, entered.
"Ah, Gobta, you are finally here!" Rigur looked up from a pile of papers.
"So what is this about? Why are you sending me away?" Gobta demanded, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall in the small office that had only an office table and a large bookshelf as furniture with a small window letting the light in.
"You didn't read the full document I sent you?" Rigur sighed, rubbing his eyes, "Dammit Gobta, I'm not sending you away. You are getting promoted."
"I mean I skimmed over… Wait, promoted?!" Gobta perked up.
"Yes, you're getting a captain's position in one of the new districts. You need to pay more attention and this could help you out in the long run." Rigur let out a tired sigh.
"Oh, sure I'll read the…" Gotbta pulled out a scroll from his pack to fully read it.
"I'll just explain. You will get a hundred raiders under you and are taking charge of district twenty-four's public security. It is only partly built at the moment but first residents, housing, and businesses are already settling in and we can't afford to divert attention away from the neighboring districts anymore. Can you handle it?"
"Yes, Captain!" Gobta saluted.
"Good. And Gobzo wanted to come with you, so you have your first lieutenant. Take the full instructions file from Ziffi and be on your way," Rigur waved for him to leave and pushed his nose into the pile of papers again, sighing again.
Gobta didn't need to be told twice. He quickly left the office, picked up the file from the Rigur's pretty secretary, and grabbed Gobzo on his way out of the station, the duo laughing about the misunderstanding.
Garf didn't protest against the new assignment as a remote district would put them closer to the forest and let them go on hunting trips on their time off, an always-welcome benefit. Gobta hopped on his companion with Gobzo doing the same with his, both pairs heading towards the new district. Gobzo's direwolf wasn't all that shabby either, still above average and thus could pull its weight and keep up with Garf.
Gobta, for once, decided to read all the documents given to him to not get in some sort of trouble, as he always somehow managed to misunderstand Rigur's summons and had even completely missed the wondrous part of him getting promoted.
The new station had only the bare essentials in place with most staff only trying to figure out their work situation and working in cramped quarters for the time being. Gobta looked around hoping for a sexy Goblina or perhaps even an elven lady as his secretary, but that proved not to be the case. Some cruel administrator had decided that he deserved an older gruff dwarven woman who was already loudly bossing around the new members of the district.
'Just my luck,' he grumbled as the woman noticed him.
"Ah, Captain, you finally manage to dragged your lazy backside here! Well, what are you waiting for, men need their assignments," She tossed a patrol plan into his arms and moved on, rapidly breaking apart a fight between two wolves through brute force by prying them apart by their necks.
"Scary lady," Gobzo mumbled under his breath, his wolf letting out a quiet whine in agreement.
"We'll be fine, I think," Gobta let his endless optimism shine through and decided that the best option was to avoid getting on the bad side of his secretary and get the station in something resembling order before he went exploring the taverns and restaurants in the local area. "Here, you take these twenty and send them on a patrol," he gave one page to Gobzo, easing his own workload. That was what a friend was for, he would do the same for Gobzo.
It likely would take at least a few weeks, if not months, before he could pick more lieutenants, but for now, it was good to be in charge.
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by aidan_lo, Sluethen, KieraKieraARTS, fvvck, Alassandro, Malguis, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, clagan, and Stac.
Link my discord server (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2)