It didn't get any easier, even after days of effectively nonstop practice. In his natural undead form, even the lowest of holy-oriented spells caused him considerable pain, some even dealing real harm as his hands crumbled into dust.
It was for this reason that for today's practice, Ainz switched to the human form he had used in Carne. Being human was neutral ground, so to speak, for most magic spells, holy spells included. Meaning, that the damage output from healing spells should theoretically be next to null.
As usual, the best place to do so was the sixth-floor arena, smack dab at the center. Here, he could toss around most magic without fear of causing insane amounts of damage to Nazarick, and he had more than enough space to cast all but the greatest of magical spells. Healing spells were more than accommodated in the ginormous stadium.
For today's audience, Rubedo was present, as always. Albedo, for once, was doing her own work and letting him train in peace without suffocating amounts of worry about his well-being, her presence located on another floor.
Additionally, the elven twins and Shalltear were watching him from the VIP lodge, snacking on popcorn and other such snacks. Even Wisey the hamster was up there, binging on the finest plants raised in Nazarick, used as a cushion for Aura and Mare.
After a few casts of base healing spells, it became clear that the pain and damage in this form was far less noticeable. Regardless, some pain remained since doppelganger rings provided mostly cosmetic effects and didn't actually change one's race.
With that in mind, Ainz mentally prepared to use the ninth-tier spell: True Resurrection.
One of the former scripture members' still-frozen corpse was delivered to his feet by a homunculus maid, who scurried away shortly after. The corpse was mostly preserved, with fairly little blood loss or natural decomposition. Even the equipment on the dead man had been left behind in their efforts to preserve the natural state of the body.
To not waste any more time, he used a low-tier warming spell, bringing the corpse close to normal body temperature. He noted there was fairly little change of consequences for him when using low-tier warming spells, and noted to test out the rest of the basics in private later.
'I can do this.' Ainz mentally prepared for the pain and revived the man, activating the magic as quickly as he could. Unlike with his skeletal body, there was no darkening of the fingers, only a small jolt of pain akin to a sudden slamming of a hammer.
'Not as bad as I thought it would be. Still, I have to find a way to increase my resistance against holy-type damage.'
The newly revived man slowly sat up and looked around, dizzily as he regained his bearings. The highest-tier resurrection spell had assured he would not lose any power, but the shock of being brought back to life was still present.
"It worked. Now onto the next step, True Death." Ainz exclaimed the name of the spell and tapped the man's forehead. Strangely, now in human form, this negative energy-based spell caused minor pain and blackened his fingers, unlike in his undead form when it did nothing besides drain his magic power.
A quick introspection on his changed resistances revealed that his weakness against holy-type damage was lowered greatly, but at the same time, he also gained a minor weakness to negative energy.
The once again lifeless body slumped to the arena floor, equipment clattering as Ainz once again prepared his magical power.
There was enthusiastic clapping coming from Shalltear, but Ainz paid it no mind. She clearly hadn't given up on having a romantic relationship with him, attempting to curry his favor wherever she could, and she likely wouldn't stop any time soon. The elven twins were more interested in the revival and death of the man than Ainz himself, pointing it out to Wisey as she brought them snacks with her tail.
Maybe if he hadn't added the line in his own flavor text of him deeply caring about all three of Tabula's daughters and loving Albedo in particular, then he would see things in a different light. But now Shalltear was the daughter of a friend he did not want to hurt, nor did he wish to possibly set off anything that would contradict the programming set in the NPC's coding.
Even beyond that, Shalltear was a teenage girl in both mind and appearance, making him uncomfortable about the whole idea of having anything romantic with her in the first place. He was a grown adult man through and through, albeit with some chuunibyou tendencies at times.
Returning to the task at hand, he cast True Resurrection again, immediately followed by True Death. If Pero could hit level one hundred and one just by training, maybe he could as well via a high-tier spell grind.
With each round of subsequent revival and almost instantaneous death, the test subject became increasingly aware of what was going on and started to protest against Ainz's actions with cries of anguish, much to the audience's delight. Shalltear in particular enjoyed the show, almost spilling wine on herself in her happiness-induced stupor.
Finally, after spending about two-thirds of his mana, the subtle yet euphoric feeling of his power increasing came. With that, he also instinctively felt that his human form lost some weakness against negative energy, and his natural undead form lost a bit of weakness against the holy magic. The scripture member lay dead on the floor, ignored for the first time after a long cycle of death and revival.
'If I continue leveling this way I could, in theory, not only lose my weakness against the holy attribute and perhaps even fire, but I could also gain outright resistance against other attacks.'
This possibility was certainly worth exploring. If he could remove his two biggest weaknesses, then he would be much harder to kill. Considering that no hard limit existed anymore, at least one hard limit Ainz was aware of, in theory he could continue to grow in power indefinitely. The only limitation of Nazarick's overall growth was how often he could use endless strive to increase either his own limit or those around him, and how long and often those affected by endless strive could empower themselves by training.
The next thing to work on were the angelic summons of his magical arsenal. While the regular angels responded to his commands as every other summon would, there was a chance this wouldn't be the case with higher-tier ones, something he couldn't risk in a fight.
Ulbert's summoning experiments had proved that demons above a certain level responded to their summons of their own volition, and pretty much agreed to a contract upon summoning imposed by their magical spells. Failing to fuel the magical contract with enough power would guarantee a failure, akin to not hooking enough bait when fishing.
If high-tier angels had their own agencies, then they could potentially not respond well to his call, or perhaps outright attack him due to their opposite types. With how powerful higher-tier angels were in-game, this could be dangerous for both him and Nazarick.
But before he could spend the last dregs of his mana on summoning spells, Ainz ordered the buglike guards to return to the fifth floor with the corpse he had revived and killed numerous times. They gladly complied, whisking it away within seconds to not disturb their Supreme Being from their experiments.
How long the poor man's soul could withstand such torment was hard to tell, but for now, there were few precious corpses to experiment with, and most crucial floors were ravenous in their demand for the greatly-outstripped supply.
Returning to the planned test, Ainz summoned an Archangel Flame. The plate-clad, white-winged figure displayed no obvious signs of hostility.
Same as a regular angel, it didn't speak. It just stood there, albeit not menacingly due to its low tier.
In fact, back in the game, only the high-tier angels had any voice lines. Whether or not it was a complete coincidence or the developers were subconsciously affected by real-life angels was hard to tell, and he would probably never know. There was also a possibility the angels were mimicking Yggdrasil instead, which held its own implications of angels actively attempting to deceive him.
Stepping up to the next power level, he went for a fourth-tier angel and the last among the low tiers: a Principality.
This type of angel was far larger than its already summoned counterparts, had four wings instead of two, and wore a robe over plate armor to reportedly give off a more flowing vibe.
As before, there was no visible hostility. Satisfied with the results Ainz sent the two angels to wait a distance away at the edge of the colosseum, and prepared to summon one of the fifth-tier angels, which were called Powers.
Unfortunately for the twins, their time to spectate came to an end as both needed to perform the daily patrols around the floor they both managed. That obviously included the hamster who had watched the undead perform impossible feats in both awe and fright.
Ainz, noticing the commotion, turned to watch them leave, and the trio used the opportunity to wave their goodbyes as they disappeared into one of the doorways.
Not wanting to dwell on them for long, Ainz returned his attention to the task at hand and performed the next summoning ritual.
Once again a four-winged angel appeared, dressed in similar clothing except even larger than the previous. This particular type of angel could either instantly destroy or enslave lesser evil beings, and was something he used to fear immensely back in the old, old days before he became far stronger.
To test if it worked as intended, Ainz summoned ten disposable low-tier zombies. He split them into two groups, ordering the angel to control one group and destroy the other.
The Power did as ordered and five of the zombies instantly crumbled into dust. The remaining five undead stood unmoving, swaying in the nonexistent breeze.
"Order them to walk over there," Ainz commanded the angel, pointing at the spot about twenty meters away from both of them.
The angel turned around and pointed at the same spot. Five zombies obeyed the command and lumbered over the spot.
"Release the control and join the rest of the angels."
For Shalltear, witnessing the ultimate master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick subjecting the despicable creatures of angels to his will was exhilarating, to say the least.
The self-righteous heteromorphs were monsters who, for stupid reasons, thought themselves as better and purer than others despite still raining down death upon others, which was arguably a sin in and of itself.
'Lord Ainz is so amazing. I wonder if he will break in a Seraphim or a Metatron today. Oh, how nice it would be to see them be put in their place.' She squirmed in her seat.
The Power complied, assuring that there was no problem so far regarding angels up to this tier besides de-summoning them, which he had not yet tested and intended to at the end of the experimentation session.
'Now the sixth tier. So far no problems. Maybe I can summon up to the Seraphim or perhaps even solo summon a Metatron. I'll have to see how it works. Virtues have the highest karma value out of all of them.'
This small concern made him hesitate a bit, even if there was no chance that a middle-tier summon could do him any serious damage. At most it would gradually chip away at his health while he blasted it to smithereens, but the ensuing battle could result in enough AOE to possibly harm his subordinates.
Even a Seraphim wouldn't be too hard to defeat, but it would require him to go all out. Metatron-type angels were the only ones that were a real concern. Being pretty much the antithesis of the undead, they could kill him without too much of an effort if Ainz was ever caught off guard by one of them, requiring extensive preparation and possibly a good chunk of his paid items to defeat. Truly, the game favored the whales.
They were the favorite toys of the Seraphim guild, which consisted of only players who played angelic races of various types. This guild was a headache for all heteromorph players, and a mutual enemy if push came to shove in all but the most extreme circumstances. Even he had spent time suffering from their dominion over the undead, and still remembered fending off their attacks vividly when they tried to conquer the Tomb of Nazarick, wanting to take advantage of their weakened state, which obviously failed.
After casting the spell for Virtue, something unexpected happened - the angel refused to appear. The spell had worked and mana had been spent, but the Virtue didn't show up.
'That is strange. I'll try again.' His suspicion of higher tier angels having agency of their own was pretty much proven, running parallels to the demons of Ulbert.
After two more vain attempts, a sixth-tier angel finally showed up. Unlike previous ones, Virtue appeared akin to a white stone statue dressed in a white robe with golden accents. With a delicate androgynous face and short silvery hair, it floated about thirty centimeters above the ground, gently flapping its four wings as it floated in front of him.
{ What are your orders, my summoner? } A pleasant, feminine voice intruded his mind.
"I would like to ask a few questions," Ainz asked, scanning for any signs of hostility.
{ I will answer to the best of my ability. }
"Why did I get a refusal more than once when summoning your type of angel?"
{ Your darkness repels our kind. }
"Why did you agree to be summoned then?"
{ Unlike them, I was abandoned by my creator. I would have accepted any offer. }
"I see. Would you follow any order I give?"
{ No, my summoner. I am unable to comply with evil requests. }
'Interesting. Does this mean I will have difficulties with higher-tier summons as well? I guess I'll have to leave it to another day when my mana reserves are full.'
With no more pressing questions to ask, he sent all the summoned angels to the Tob outpost and shot over a quick Message to Cocytus, telling him the battle-oriented ones to have patrol routes and the Virtue to act as a healer should any of the living creatures there require intense medical aid.
Done with today's research, he returned back to his undead form and left the arena. The audience left shortly after, returning to their respective occupancies. Shalltear in particular was excited, knowing what would come ahead the next time her beloved head Supreme Being would experiment with next.
X
Forming any sort of coherent fighting force out of the weak and undisciplined creatures was not an easy task, yet Cocytus embraced the challenge full-heartedly. The task was given to him by a Supreme Being, he would fulfill it to its fullest for the best of Nazarick.
He was standing at the center of one of the newly made military outposts beside the hobgoblin who was assigned as the outpost's military officer. To ensure no problems could arise, each non-Nazarick officer had a lich assigned to them to both assist and monitor.
Before him stood forty units, each consisting of ten goblins, an ogre, two old guards, and a hobgoblin squad leader.
If there was one thing he could compliment them on, it was their determination to serve despite their many shortcomings.
Goblins were dressed in simple leather armor with chest, leg, and arm plating, and armed with spears and bows, while ogres had similar armor and massive war maces for weapons.
Old Guards were there to assist the ragtag teams and in case of any real threat called upon Nazarick forces. The undead pop units were as strong as an ogre, if not surpassing them at times, and a lot more agile and dexterous. Considering that they spawned with magical gear, these rather unremarkable units by Nazarick standards were awe and fear-inducing among the local forest populace, capable of wrestling even renowned ogres to the ground.
The military service was purely voluntary, but that didn't deter a quite sizable amount of females from joining their ranks, along with the expected number of males. Thus the military forces were slightly larger than expected, but that posed little problem when most volunteers were extremely dedicated to their work, particularly the females.
The easiest guess was that since the military service guaranteed full bellies, and fighting was the only thing most of them knew, they had no better options for work besides returning to becoming stay at home citizens in an ever-changing forest world.
With general orders to disallow outsiders to roam around the forest, and to detain and question any trespassers, Cocytus teleported to the next outpost. The thudding of the ground signaled his great arrival.
The currently controlled area was split into forty areas, each having a military base of sorts, some more ragtag than others even as all were being upgraded to acceptable levels. There was only one fortress at the moment, but six more were planned in the most strategic areas to ensure proper communication channels were developed.
Lord Ainz had given him almost free reign when it came to military matters, and until Lady Buku returned from her scouting expedition into possible enemy forces, he didn't need to immediately report to anyone on his plans. The only thing that was required was to occasionally inform Albedo about the expenses, who would cooperate to ensure maximal results for minimal costs.
There was nothing of note happening in most of the places he visited for inspection, save for one of the southern bases located around the lake. It was a viable source of freshwater, making the location one of their more important long-term protected areas.
He already had received a report about a minor attack, but since the intruders were dealt with and there were no further attacks he didn't need to change his planned route.
When he finally arrived at the conflict area, there were seven lizard-type creature corpses waiting for him, splayed on the ground with their equipment separated for his inspection.
The local base commander, a tall hobgoblin, immediately approached him and stated while saluting, "Vice Marshal Cocytus, Lieutenant Rohi reporting for duty."
"AT EASE. REPORT WHAT HAPPENED."
"These groups of lizardmen left their territory and attacked the patrol late in the afternoon. Luckily, none of ours died, but the goblins and ogres that got injured are waiting for the healer to arrive."
"DID THESE LIZARDMEN GIVE A REASON FOR THEIR ATTACK?" Cocytus asked.
"No, but the sergeant reported that they attacked the Old Guard with extreme prejudice. Can I give a personal input, Vice Marshal?"
"YOU CAN." Cocytus permitted his subordinate to speak. Ignoring the input of his lessers was not a mistake he would ever make. The locals understood the reasoning of neighboring species a lot more than he did at the moment, and the Supreme Beings emphasized taking information from wherever he could to make the best decisions possible.
"The living naturally fear the undead. We now know better, but these lizardmen don't. All they saw was an enemy of the living that needed to be eliminated." Rohi said cautiously, the others nearby nodded, having come to the same conclusion.
Considering that the ultimate master of Nazarick was an undead, he had to choose his words carefully. By all accounts, Lord Ainz was a kind ruler, but he would not tolerate any sort of discrimination towards the undead among his ranks.
"THIS MEANS THEY'RE LIKELY TO ATTACK AGAIN. FOR NOW, DIVERT THE REGULAR PATROLS AWAY FROM THE BORDER. I'LL EMPLOY STRONGER UNITS FOR THE DEFENSE OF THE BORDER." Cocytus announced.
Without hesitation, he ordered a few squads of the fifth-floor insectoid pop monsters to arrive and take the place of the current patrols. Additionally, he requested for Shalltear to send the elite guard that spawned in her domain, and a group of battle-oriented demons from Demiurge, to further reinforce the patrols and command when, not if, push came to shove.
All of them were very easily replaced if given enough time, and their overall strength was way above the old guard, who already were the strongest units patrolling the area. These units would crush any further lizardmen attacks without any problem, perhaps even scaring them off from future assaults.
Once Lady Buku was back, an expansion into their territory could be proposed with their current resources. Such decisions were best left to Supreme Beings and he, as a dutiful servant, could meanwhile formulate a coherent attack plan. The quicker they took over more territory, the more they could develop their rapidly growing nation.
As the requested units arrived, he sorted them into patrol squads and sent them off to guard the border. The lizardmen would be a source of trouble no more.
'THERE'S A CHANCE OTHER BORDER AREAS COULD FACE SIMILAR ATTACKS. I'LL HAVE TO SUGGEST TO LADY BUKU TO INCREASE SECURITY IN THOSE AREAS AS WELL.' Cocytus mused, already running the numbers through his head.
With the possibility of strong enemies showing up, there was a need to form elite response teams as well. Resolved to discuss this topic with Demiurge, he returned to the Great Tomb of Nazarick to start the foundations for such a military growth endeavor.
X
When they reached the city gate, the sun had already set, the night sky fading into view as the brightest stars twinkled. Tired after the long road, the group rolled to the entrance gate, hastily gaining the attention of the city guards before flopping around like fish.
"I hope this doesn't take too long, I really need a booze and a bath," Lukrut groaned while leaning against the cart.
With Buku and Ninya being the most frequent passengers of the singular seat beside Nfirea, he pretty much walked the whole distance and now his legs were positively killing him. Too much excitement in the span of short few days would do anyone in, even experienced adventurers, and he was no exception.
"We still need to report to the guild and help Nfirea unpack the goods." Peter effectively crushed his hopes, and anyone else's, of kicking back anytime soon.
The blonde man merely grumbled in response as he observed the guard approach.
"Good evening, Mr. Bareare. The usual?" The guard glanced at the cart and leaned closer to the boy.
"Yes, please, and get yourself and your men something warm. It's starting to become chilly during the nights." Nfirea returned the greeting and dropped quite a few silver coins into the guard's palm, which swiftly left a clicking sound in a miscellaneous pocket in the guard's uniform.
"Will do. Don't forget to file taxes for the produce."
"Of course. I will send details tomorrow morning," Nfirea replied, urging the horse to move forward as another guard opened up the gates.
The rampant corruption was an open secret to anyone, but if it saved them a lot of time then there wasn't too much of a reason to complain. The guards didn't ask for too much either, having learned a long time ago who to sniff out for coins and who not to.
As they traveled through the gate, Nfirea quietly explained that guards always allowed him to send an approximation of what was gathered together with the tax money. Give and take, they kept on good terms with him and they'd keep a consistent customer.
They reached the guild soon enough, and armed with bags full of monster ears, approached the nearest clerk. Nfirea gave his testimony, as well as paid an additional fee for the extra danger the group he hired was exposed to due to the legendary monster's attack.
The moment he uttered, "The Wise King of the Forest," everyone's attention was on them, large and small.
Considering that there were quite a few adventurers present at this late hour, the news about someone surviving the encounter with the beast was bound to spread fast. Within the next forty-eight hours, they could guarantee even some nobles would hear of it, and the common people were sure to gossip about their achievement.
With his part done, Nfirea departed together with Brita and the Swords of Darkness, leaving behind Lukrut to collect the payment for his team. The group's scout for his supposed quick legs whined the most about wanting to take a rest, so he got his chance at the guild's waiting area.
Yet he quickly realized his error of his ways when he had to sit together with his new friends and watch the clerks count the massive pile of ears that, at this point in time, stank like hell, filling up the hall with the smell of death and decomposition.
After that came a lengthy interview with the guild master who, despite the late hour, wanted to look at the new talent with his own eyes. This lasted almost an hour as he drilled question after question into Pero and Buku, who responded in kind and relayed their harrowing stories of survival. They even got a few cheers from the night owl adventurers nearby.
Considering that people were meant to slowly work through the ranks, the trio only got promoted to the silver plate rank with a promise that more extraordinary deeds would let them rise even higher and quicker. The system could be bent to a certain extent, and the guild master was fully intent on bending to its max since more great talents in his guild meant higher financial income.
It was close to midnight when they arrived at the Bareare pharmacy to reunite with their friends. They had cash, they had friends, and they had the celebratory spirit when Lukrut spoke up.
"Huh, the lights are off? Did they go to celebrate without us?" Lukrut grumbled as he tried to peer inside the dark windows, the curtains interfering as they lightly swayed in the natural night breeze.
"Undead," Lupus warned, sniffing the air as she hosted her weapon.
Buku instantly grabbed the shield off her back and bashed through the door, taking a defensive position as she motioned for the others to follow. They followed, her natural air of assumed authority kicking in as the vanguard.
"Lucy, give us light!" She ordered, and cautiously walked deeper in.
The strong stench of blood made her stop for a moment before warning the others with a low voice.
"Be on guard, there's enough blood to fill the air, and that's never good."
As she crept deeper inside, Lupus caught up with her, holding the active continuous light spell in her right hand. Pero and Lukrut drew their close combat weapons and followed suit. Every creak of the house set off their joints, every whistle their ears, every breeze their noses, as they stalked through the hallway.
Suddenly one door swung open, and a figure charged them, blade in hand.
Buku easily repelled the attack and kicked the undead figure away into the light, where Lupus' magic gave them full view.
"Peter…" Lukrut gasped.
"He's been zombified!" Buku exclaimed, blocking another of the now undead man's attacks, unsure how to proceed.
As Peter stumbled back, two more zombies joined him: Dyne and Brita, shambling closer as they loosely held their equipment.
Lukrut took a step back, horrified. "All of them…"
Lupus was the first to react and she mercilessly bashed each of the zombies in their heads, killing them for the second time and hopefully ending their lives with mercy.
"My friends… wait, where is Ninya!?" Lukrut rushed past them, leaping over corpses and barging through the half-opened door.
They did find Ninya's mutilated corpse in the same room the zombies barged out, half-strapped to the floor and pale from lack of blood.
The shy boy turned out to be a girl.
Her naked, petite corpse was left on the floor. There were at least three dozen piercing marks all over the body, her face frozen in a permanent expression of agony. The death could not have been too old, any adventurer worth their salt knew body stiffening only lasted so long, and they had only left a few hours ago at the guild.
Lukrut slumped down against the wall and stared at her with glassy eyes, hopes crushed as Pero paced back and forth, agitated. Buku was standing guard, shocked, and Lupus was behind her.
Lupus and Buku just stared at them until Buku spoke up. "Where is Nfirea? He can't be the one responsible for this."
She quickly left the room, leaving the rest on their own.
"We have to find the fucks who did this and make them pay!" Pero growled in fury through gritted teeth.
"Ninya… he… she had a sister. We were helping to look for her. And now…" Lukrut's voice broke halfway, choked in tears.
He put his right palm over his eyes and sat in silence.
{ My Lord, should I act devastated too? } Lupus messaged Pero.
He stopped his pacing and turned to stare at the maid.
"They were our friends," He declared, still seething with rage.
Confused, Lupus took a step back, mumbling in confusion, "But we knew these humans only for a few days."
"Lupus, for fucks sake, I know you don't care but can you just… just leave me alone for a moment." Pero raised his voice.
"Sorry…" She whimpered in response, retreating to a different corner of the room from Lukrut and staying there, light ever slightly dimmer as she recoiled from being rebuked by a Supreme Being.
Buku, who had just returned, watched the interaction in silence.
"I didn't find Nfirea, but there is a corpse of who I presume is his grandmother and it had preservation magic on it, so she might have been dead for a few days."
"Someone likely has laid a trap and kidnapped the boy for whatever reason and put the zombies as a distraction." She continued when Pero didn't respond. "We wanted to play adventurers and see where it got us, and it got us … here."
She glanced at Lakrut, who had not moved at all, and then turned back to her brother. "You know if we resurrect them, their memories need to be erased. But it will be hard to convince Ainz to go through all the trouble."
"They're zombified. Resurrection won't work. At best, only Ninya can be brought back." Pero retorted, still pacing around.
"You can bring her back? Tell me she can be resurrected and you can do it!" Lukrut wailed with a broken voice, almost hysterical as he leaped up in this shred of hope.
He gawked at both siblings pleadingly, eyes shining with tears. When they didn't respond, he continued. "Ninya was like a little brother to me. I messed up. I had to be here with them. If you can bring her back, I'll do anything you want, no matter the cost!"
Pero observed at his sister, who only stared back at him, and then at Lukrut. He let out a long exhale, visibly relaxing as he stood in place, leaning against a wall.
"Buddy, if you come with us, there's no way back."
"As long as you can bring her back, I don't care. I'll work for you till the end of my life. Tell me you can bring her back?!" Lakrut pleaded. As someone who had lost his family at a young age, he could not bear to lose all of the people who were like a second family to them. Whatever the price he would have to pay or what even were his new friends didn't matter at the moment if he could save even one.
"We can. Pick her up, we're returning to our home with all the corpses of our friends. Then we're locating the assholes who did this and showing them what happens to those who mess with Nazarick." Buku spoke in a deeper tone, motioning for the group to move.
Lakrut grabbed a blanket covering a nearby sofa and gently wrapped the remains of his final deceased teammate in it, picking them up bridal style as he stepped forward, determination mixing with his grief-stricken eyes.
Pero, meanwhile, picked up Dyne's remains as Lupus and Buku picked up Peter and Brita respectively. All three were carefully held, albeit kept in their own equipment.
With the newly formed gate right in front of them, Pero was first to walk through, arriving in his quarters.
The rest followed suit, one by one, stepping through and placing the corpses on the ground. Only Lukrut continued to carry Ninya, refusing to place them on the ground as he held her ever so slightly closer.
"Lupus, go back to the guild and tell them that Nfirea and the Swords of Darkness are missing, and that Pero, Lukrut, and I are investigating what happened. Also, tell them about the old woman's corpse under the bed in what appears to be her bedroom." Buku ordered her, Lupus disappearing through the gate shortly after.
"You can put her down for now, buddy. First, let's get to the bottom of this, and then we can bring her back afterward." Pero addressed Lukrut, who was still shivering just in front of the portal.
"You promised to bring her back."
"And we will. On top of it, I can ask my friends if something can be done about the rest. Maybe we somehow can resurrect them too, if Lady Luck favors the brave."
He reluctantly settled Ninya down on the floor, layering it with blankets beforehand, and asked. "What are we doing now?"
"First, we're showing who we really are," Buku, switching back to her elven form with a flash.
"Damn, and I thought you were beautiful before," Lakrut commented on her appearance, slightly blushing as he seemed to emotionally recover a bit.
"Hey, that one was good too," She said defensively. "Anyhow, my real name is Buku Ooal Gown, and I'm the Goddess of War."
"Goddess?" He blinked in surprise.
"Yup, and I'm Pero Ooal Gown, the God of Murder," Pero continued, switching to his natural form as well as his feathers fluffed into the air.
Lukrut screeched and stumbled backward falling on his ass. "You…you're a monster!?"
"Hey, that's uncalled for. And the proper term is heteromorph. Both Buku and I are one."
"B-but she's an elf!"
"Trust me, buddy, you don't want to know." Pero let out a chuckle, as if knowing something Lukrut didn't. And to be fair, he did, even if it made him appear slightly more all-knowing to the poor man who had gone through a rollercoaster of a night.
Before he could finish, Buku's fist slammed into his shoulder with a shockwave, armor denting and leather tearing.
"Hey! That hurt!"
Lukrut backpedaled away from them in a sitting position, half crawling, half running away.
"You! Did you kill them! It's all your fault!" Lukrut screamed full of terror and fury as tears ran down his face.
"For fucks sake, I should have seen this would happen when we exposed our titles." Buku groaned. "We were with you all the time, you shit for brains. And what reason would we have to do that? Now get up and calm the fuck down!"
"But…"
"Buddy, calm down, we can't let you freak out like this in front of our friends," Pero claimed, and approached the frightened man, offering him a hand up.
Lukrut carefully grabbed the talon-clad hand and was pulled up, stumbling for a few moments.
"So what are you, really?" he asked in a calmer tone.
"We are Gods, and you're in our home, the Great Tomb of Nazarick. You agreed to work for us, so for now you're staying here until you can get your shit together." Buku said.
"What about Ninya and others?" he asked, lightly shaking.
"We'll resurrect her once we deal with whoever killed her and others. We also need to find Nfirea since he agreed to work for one of our friends, and We take care of those who work with Us."
"Then let's do it. I want to kill those bastards too."
X
About half an hour later, when everyone of immediate relevance in the tomb was brought up to speed, an emergency meeting was arranged in Pero's quarters.
While both siblings sat next to each other on the sofa, Lukrut was sitting a distance away on a chair and was told to keep his cool since things were about to become a lot more hectic. When dealing with their friends, emotional overloads were definitely not the best way to make an argument.
The corpses were delivered to the fifth floor and encased in magical ice and preservation magic to protect them until the more pressing matters were settled.
The first to arrive was Ulbert, unsurprisingly.
He gave a passing glance at Lukrut, who gulped and glanced down in response. Without saying a word, the demon settled on a sofa opposite to Pero and Buku, staring at them.
After gathering a modicum of courage, Lukrut glanced up to observe the goatlike creature suspiciously for a moment, then hurriedly glanced down again with a shudder. Compared to two, whom he at least could consider friends in some sense, the newcomer radiated pure malice toward his presence.
{ Why did you bring him along? } Ulbert messaged the siblings.
{ He'll work for us from now on. } Pero replied.
{ Right. Picking up strays is a reasonable business decision these days. You know this can royally bite us in the ass if he starts to run his mouth about what he's seen. }
{ If we resurrect the girl then I'll guarantee he'll be loyal to us. Oh, and since we are on the topic I fucking told you so. } Pero once again defended his decision and on top of it used the opportunity to dig at his sister, who had bet otherwise.
{ Yeah yeah, it's not something we should be worrying about at the moment. } Buku played it off. The fact that her brother did notice that Ninya was a girl and she hadn't was a minor embarrassment Pero likely would use as ammunition to tease her for days, but there was her blunder in the eagerness to live up a little that all parties could understand to a certain extent.
Buku chose to not address the Lukrut situation, knowing that their decision was based on emotions with little logic behind it, and that it was a useless risk to keep Lukrut around.
Ulbert gave another glance at the man, who had become increasingly nervous as the situation went on, leaning forward on the sofa to light the cigar with a hellfire spell he cast in his hand.
Ainz and surprisingly Tabula arrived at the same time, taking Their seats on sofas in between the two main parties at play. Lukrut paled at the sight of both of them, his face slowly losing all color.
Both settled down on sofas. Ainz, noticing the man, peered at Pero and Buku questioningly. Tabula, in his usual manner, paid no attention to the frightened human. Instead, he summoned what looked like a small floating hookah and inhaled a long puff, filling the room with a pinkish cloud of smoke as he exhaled.
"He's our friend, the rest are dead. We need to resurrect one and find a way to do that with the other three that were zombified." Pero gave a short explanation to Ainz's silent inquiry.
"I see. I trust you won't do anything to compromise Nazarick."
"Of course not." Buku replied defensively, "Hey what's that stuff Tabula?" She got a strange mix of feeling more relaxed and alert at the same time, something that would definitely be useful in the future for adventures.
"Oh this, I created this formula to help me work. Mari also loves it." Tabula waved his hand, producing more mouthpieces with elongated hoses as they floated mid-air.
Pero and Buku each eagerly grabbed one and dragged long inhales.
"Yup, this shit hits the right spot." Pero slouched back into the sofa, visibly less worked up, his sister also relaxing instantly.
Ainz and Ulbert both passed up on the opportunity to be Tabula's test subjects, he would get test subjects for that or would use his own summons. "We should start, as I understand time is of essence." Ainz opened the meeting.
"Sure thing boss," Buku nodded.
'U-U-Undead and what the hell is that thing!?' His mind couldn't take it anymore. He curled up in a sitting position and lightly shook, blanking out everything around him.
Buku noticed that Lukrut was a step away from passing away from sheer terror and asked, "Hey, everything alright there?" to which she got no reaction from the unresponsive man.
The moment everyone was present, Aureole teleported in with numerous remote-viewing mirrors floating around her. She bowed and arranged the mirrors in a half circle, floating mid-air as their images flickered.
"I located the target you are searching for. Nfirea Bareare is held in this specific tomb below the ground." She brought everyone's attention to one of the mirrors. Thanks to her abilities she was able to display an indoor location on it, crucial for their reconnaissance.
"It seems he is being used as a conduit for some sort of artifact and massive amounts of undead are being created. If my calculations are correct, it will take less than two hours for this undead force to overwhelm the cemetery guard and spill into the city." Aureole explained her observations, tone as neutral as if she were giving a report on medical bills instead of dozens dying.
"Is this the boy who agreed to work with me?" Tabula asked, pointing at the statue of a child.
"Yup, so if you want to have him we need to rescue him first." Pero retorted. "Hey Tabula, the stuff we're smoking, is it usable for humans?" He noticed that Lukrut was becoming worse by the second, letting out quiet whimpers and subtly rocking back and forth.
"Should be. Nothing in it is lethal or even harmful to humans, in theory." Tabula wisely added a deniably clause at the end of his statement.
{ Ainz we'll need a solid one from you. If Lukrut dies from this, can you bring him back and erase that from his memory? } Buku got up bringing the mouthpiece to the unresponsive man.
{ Sure. Just a piece of advice: keep your friend away from the floor guardians for now. His presence in the Great Tomb may cause some friction. } Ainz messaged both siblings.
{ I'll put him in a room and let him visit the cantina under the supervision of a maid, that's it. He won't be going much farther than that. } Pero assured.
Lukrut didn't react to Buku's offer in any way, making her resort to more direct methods. She took a long inhale from the hookah and blew the smoke right in the man's face.
Whatever the drug was, it had an immediate reaction. Lukrut sat up straight, twitching for a moment before assuming a stony expression.
"Better?" Buku asked with a reassuring smile.
"Y-yes. Sorry I-"
"Don't worry about it. Just sit tight and let us figure out how to handle things." Buku patted his cheek and returned to her seat, resuming the meeting.
"What should we do about the undead? If we stop this, we can pose as heroes later." Buku offered.
Ulbert dragged a long puff from his cigar, blowing out a large cloud of smoke, and declared with a grin, "I have a better idea. How about our God of Life and Death goes down and saves everyone when it gets bleak? A [Holy Nova] spell should cleanse the entire cemetery and more, no matter how many undead there are given the power of this world."
"I haven't practiced casting [Holy Nova] yet, and do you really think humans wouldn't automatically assume I had something to do with the undead showing up in the first place if I show up?" Ainz raised his concerns about the plans, seeing where this was going but internally hesitating.
"Not if you wear a mask and a few bells and whistles. We write you a nice speech, you save the day with your magic, and then we observe if you get worshipers. Maybe just the title alone is enough if we pull on it right. Oh, and you two can still play the chosen heroes. Get in the middle of it all, rescue the boy, and be blessed by a God. Should help with your elevation of ranks at the adventurers' guild."
"Could work. But I also want to get the bastards who killed our new friends. Any way to do it?" Pero asked, peering at the tomb and the ever-flowing magic exuding from the boy and crown.
Aureole smiled and turned another mirror to his direction, the images flickering once more. It showed the Bareare pharmacy with guild officials and city guard crawling all over it, taking notes and reporting to others. Lupus was in the middle of it, pointing out what she had seen. Somebody had even dragged out the grandmother's body and was analyzing it, a mage perhaps.
Aureole waved her hand over it, loudly stating, "Recall event."
The scene started to move backward, akin to reversing a video recording, and soon enough it was at the point where a tall blonde woman was tormenting Ninya. Aureole put another mirror next to it and it now followed the blonde woman at an accelerated pace when she arrived at the same tomb Nfirea was held in, having leapt the city's graveyard fence and skipped her way down the tomb.
Lukrut was morbidly interested, half-enraged as he watched the lady he now knew who was behind the deaths of all his friends, half-excited as he knew they were finally on the pathway to eliminating the bitch.
Other thoughts were swirling in his mind. 'I sold my soul to these… Gods. But where were they all this time? What will they do with me and Ninya? Buku at least seems… Concentrate! Do not stare at her rack. She is too much. She and Itsuku at least seem nice.'
As easy as this spell was to use, it was rather limited in application. Increasing recall time past one hour took exponentially increasing amounts of mana, and even the most basic anti-scrying effects would nullify it completely. This only spoke volumes to Ainz, as more data regarding the magic of this world's natives was always useful.
"There you go. She's still there, Lord Pero."
"Tell Neuronist to prepare. I want that bitch to experience the worst Nazarick can give her," Pero growled, fingers stringing his bow.
"Oh, before you return, I think it's better if you use a doppelganger instead of your pal, and he stays out until he can be trusted to not run his mouth," Ulbert claimed, taking another long puff of smoke.
"I won't tell a soul, I-I swear." Lukrut stuttered, face paling as he imagined where he would be sent to this 'Neuronist,' whom even the Gods deferred to for torture.
"Relax. You're not the one who will be sent to Neuronist. Your new best pals like you enough to help you out, but I'm not leaving anything to chance."
Ulbert slowly stood up, treading closer to the frightened man, leaned close, and blew smoke into Lukrut's face, more stating than asking, "You can sit back and relax for a while, right?"
"Knock it off," Buku retorted to the demon, who was about to make Lukrut soil himself.
"Just making sure he understands."
"I have to agree with Ulbert on this one. The man you brought here should stay back until things are sorted out." Ainz uttered, turning his attention to the man as well.
"For now, consider yourself our guest. You have my word that no harm will come to you while within these halls, and I will resurrect your fallen friend personally."
All Lukrut could do was nod meekly at the overwhelming presence of the undead God. He was a man among Gods, it was a miracle he hadn't broken down completely, and he knew it. "T-thank you, your m-majesty."
'Be calm. They promised to resurrect Ninya and others. I-I work for them now.' He clenched every muscle in his body, sweating a river a mile as he contemplated what he had heard of.
These monsters held his life, his friend's life, and possibly the lives of everyone in the city in their hands. 'If I'd known what I was getting into…'
He had sat there, listening to their scheming of time and lives, so obviously he would not see the skies of daylight again. The question was what they would make him do once the deal was completed.
There was another thing he didn't particularly understand: they called themselves Gods. And even talked about such outlandish things as removing armies of undead with a single spell, and that the undead would be the one to cast holy magic; a blatant slap in the face of his common sense. Even the greatest wizards he had seen couldn't do the latter on the fly, and none could claim to be the former without the church hunting them down.
'I hope I didn't make a mistake. Maybe it's for the best that we are on their side. Who knows what will happen to the rest of the world.'
After what felt like an agonizing fear-filled eternity, the monstrous Gods finished their talks and departed one by one, leaving him in the company of the two he seemingly knew.
"Hey, buddy, you alright?" Pero asked him, puffing another cloud.
"What will happen to me, Ninya, and the others?"
"You all will work for us," Pero replied as he sat down on the chair next to him, offering the hookah Lukrut had refused earlier.
Buku quickly left the room as a maid walked in, assuming position by the door. Pero gave her a hand gesture and she immediately went over to the bar and filled two glasses, bringing them over on a platinum platter.
Pero took one and motioned for him to take the second glass, "To calm down a bit."
Lukrut, not wanting to make anyone angry, took the glass and sniffed the golden brown liquid while also gratefully accepting the pipe. He had his fair share of booze in the past, and could trust his instincts to a certain extent.
The strong but pleasantly fruit-smelling alcohol ensnared him instantly. He downed it in one go, feeling both the sweetness and the pleasant afterburn slowly travel over his tongue and down his throat.
By all means, he had heard of the very high-quality alcohol the rich drank, but to taste something so heavenly… he wasn't even sure the richest nobility could drink something this mind-encompassing.
"Thanks, I needed that," Lukrut stated after placing the now-empty glass down back on the platter. The maid quickly whisked it away, returning with another full glass and stood there until either would want another.
"I needed one too. If my sister and I would even for a second consider that something like this could have happened, we could have prevented it too. For now, don't worry too much about what you'll have to do. First, we want to deal with what is happening in E-Rantel, and then we figure out what's coming next."
As Pero spoke, Buku returned with a thin white-skinned creature who had three black holes for eyes and mouth, hitting the uncanny valley in all the wrong spots despite not even remotely appearing like a human.
Lukrut leaned away from the creature, which approached him and touched his forehead with its spindly finger.
The creature turned into his twin before his very eyes within moments.
"Quite convincing, don't you think?" The creature now spoke with his voice and showed his mannerisms, as if he had a perfect twin who had been raised in secret.
"We'll be off then." Pero stepped in front of a gate that had just opened, but before he went through he turned to the maid.
"Can you please guide Lukrut to guest rooms, and show him where he can get something to eat or drink."
And just like that he was left alone with a young, beautiful woman in a maid's outfit who glared at him with such contempt it would kill back in the game.
"Mr. Lukrut, after me please." She motioned for him to follow.
Only as he walked through the long corridors did it start to dawn upon him how luxurious the place was. Not to mention its sheer size and the fact that this was supposedly a 'tomb', implying it was underground, and yet they still had enough manpower and resources to create such a thing. The largest tombs at the city center were mere carpets for the Tomb of Nazarick, their headstones Nazarick's floor tiles and their caskets Nazarick's stair steps.
If he had to guess, it was at least the size of a medium or large town. Their first stop was a cantina with even more maids milling around.
The first thing that he noticed besides all of them being highly attractive, as any man would, were the inhumanly large portions they were consuming with insane vigor. They made starved soldiers look like babies!
"This is where you may obtain food. Unless Lord Pero authorizes you, you are not to use or travel to other establishments." The maid urged him to take a platter and pick a meal, the other maids staring at them as well.
"Got it. So I can pick anything I want here?"
"Yes."
He quickly picked some barely recognizable food such as fried meat, bread, and fresh vegetables he recognized, and practically wolfed down the meal due to feeling how impatient the maid was.
Then, a few minutes later after a lot of hallways and crypts, he was led to a spacious room with a double-sized bed, a dresser, a small office table, and a connected bathroom with the works.
"You are staying here for now. Do not wander around and ring the bell if you need anything."
She pointed at the small bell sitting on the table and left.
Tired after the long day and the rollercoaster of events, he walked over to the bed, fell face first into the pillows he briefly thought were clouds, and passed out without a second thought.
Bonus Story - Orderly Menace.
There was only one NPC in the whole tomb that didn't answer to her, even if she outranked him, and it annoyed her to no end.
Albedo glanced over a pile of recent complaints, intently speculating about how to resolve the situation.
'Maybe I should at least talk to him before bothering Lo- Ainz? But he was the one to give his son free rein.'
The thought that she would be a failure of an overseer if she pushed this issue to Ainz didn't want to leave her agitated mind, even as the hours ticked by.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in."
Sebas entered her office with a small stack of papers. Her expression instantly darkened.
"More?"
"I'm afraid so. One from the head chef on-"
"What did Pandora's Actor do?" Albedo interrupted the head butler with a frustrated scream, the butler more than used to it at this point as any perfect butler would when their mistress went off the rails.
"According to the head chef, someone had rearranged the pantry during the night and the morning service was in complete chaos because of it, delaying mealtimes of everyone for up to hours. He has added a colorfully detailed description of how he would like to strangle the perpetrator at the end of the report." Sebas explained in his usual calm tone while rearranging his collar at the sight of Albedo's growing fury.
The moment he stopped talking she slammed her fist into the table, nearly cracking it as several quills did snap.
"That's it! I'm going to murder him!"
She grabbed the reports from the table and snatched the remaining ones from the startled butler's hands, rushing out of the office. She quickly found the reason for her headache in one of the ninth-floor corridors, rearranging flowers in the pot against the standard configuration accepted by the maids.
"Ah, Fräulein Albedo, good to see you." He addressed the succubus, oblivious to her murderous stare.
"What the hell are you doing!? Do you think it's funny!?" She screamed at him, one step away from punching the doppelganger as papers crumpled.
"I'm unsure what you are referring to. If you do not like how I have arranged these flowers, we can agree or compromise on different configurations," he replied, none the wiser to her fury.
"Over forty bloody complaints in just two days! Why are you changing things around?" She got in Pandora's face with a snarl, all but grabbing the three-holed soldier.
"Because Father suggested that I find a way to improve the Great Tomb in a way I enjoy, and I enjoy giving more efficient and logical order to those around me," Pandora responded, lifting his hands into a defensive position. He may not be a dedicated fighter, but he was still level one hundred and could hold his ground against the succubus.
Her anger changed into confusion. With a much softer tone, she asked a follow-up question. "Did Lord Ainz tell you to do this?"
"Yes…" Pandora stopped. Although he was trying to improve the performance of the ninth floor, the results were clearly not going as expected after his calculations. Not wanting to put his father to any blame, he quickly added:
"There might have been some misunderstanding on my part."
"Then it would be for the best to clarify with Lord Ainz what he had in mind," Albedo declared, and after confirming that Ainz wasn't busy, she teleported herself and Pandora to his office.
She quickly explained the situation and gave the folder with all the complaints to him, practically half a meter tall.
'All of the ninth floor is mad at him!?' Ainz dropped the stack of paper to the table, feeling the calming effect of emotional suppression almost immediately.
With a calmer mind, he could see where the problem arose and how to fix it.
"Pandora, as noble as your intentions were, you should have offered to help, not make changes of your own volition. People have their own sense of order, even if it may seem disorderly by your standards."
"I deeply apologize, Father. I will do better," Pandora replied with a deep bow, taking off his hat.
"Albedo, maybe he can be helping areas that are lacking. I think you'll have a better grasp than me of where his varied expertise could be best utilized."
"Nazarick is running at peak efficiency at the moment. But I should point out that my father is the only one without a direct assistant. His wife is serving as a secretary and planner, but she isn't directly involved in his work."
"What a wonderful suggestion, Stiefmutter. With your permission, Father, I will offer to assist Lord Tabula." Pandora saluted enthusiastically.
Ainz glanced at Albedo, whose right eye was twitching at being called a stepmother by his son. By all means her idea would resolve the problem of what Pandora could do long term, even if the execution was to her displeasure.
But there was just one if. Ainz resisted the urge to shudder at the thought of combining Tabula's unhinged drive for knowledge with Pandora's theatrics and chuunibyou tendencies.
'This won't end well, I just know it.' "I agree. Tabula could use some help."
The doppelganger practically teleported towards his newly assigned workplace, leaving Ainz's office in an instant.
Albedo used the opportunity of them being alone and quickly sat down in his lap, inquiring in a tired voice, "Can you please make him stop calling me his stepmother."
"I'll try," Ainz replied, knowing that it was futile to try to change his son's quirks.
Editing by aidan_lo
Proofreading by aidan_lo, Sluethen, Visur Nyxan, Sad_Smiles, Aurodium, Sapphire_Drake, and Swiss.
AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2WmGKVU3XG2) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader (gives access to chapters months ahead of regular readers).