Ainz desperately parried a strike aimed towards his midsection, the force transferred through his clumsy block nearly toppling him to the ground. Albedo constantly attempted to pull her strikes at his request, but even so, the strength difference between a tank and a caster was staggering.
With Cocytus being busy assisting Buku, she was the natural second choice. Of course, the main reason for picking her was that Albedo was present most of the training time anyway and the best way to avoid making her overly worried was to let her be the one that did the training.
In fact, for the better part of the last two weeks, Ainz had spent most of his time with his lover either training in close combat or performing managerial duties. The remainder of his time was either spent with his friends, who were just as busy with their own duties or trying to level up by all available means.
There were no guarantees that other players weren't hiding somewhere and waiting for the opportunity to strike, which meant that becoming complacent could end in disaster. With being an undead giving him more time than everyone else due to lack of need for sleep, he could spend a few of the night hours in personal training while Albedo slept after their time together. Ever since she had gotten her racial auras and abilities under control, he no longer had to worry about being tired.
And those few hours were when he did the most risky experiments such as casting high-tier holy spells in his natural form. Though the pain and weakness towards the holy energies were lessening steadily with practice, it was still appearing to be a long road till he would be able to cast tenth-tier healing spells or summon seraphim without massive adverse effects.
Albedo, seeing that he remained standing, picked up the pace and went for another easy-to-block strike, putting a tiny bit more strength behind it. They trained in the ninth-floor dojo, not the arena, since there were no observers, save for the ever-present Rubedo, who watched the sparring match with her usual emotionless expression.
Ainz parried again and countered with his blunted halberd, redirecting Albedo's strike and aiming a blow at her head as smoothly as he could. Albedo parried it and struck him with the haft of her bardiche, tossing him to the ground. As he fell, Albedo pounced on top of him, grinning a predatory smile.
"The blade is not the only part of a weapon that can strike you, my beloved. You should keep an eye on the opponent, watch their movements to see where they strike next," she announced, leaning closer to his skeletal face.
"Ahm yes," Ainz replied, knowing where this was heading. As he had quickly found out, Albedo used this private training as a foreplay of sorts, and at first, he gave in without much of a fight, cutting the training attempts short.
"It's only forty minutes in. Contain yourself, sister!" Rubedo interrupted them as she was ordered to do by Ainz. Knowing how little control he had over the situation, he wisely appointed Rubedo as a referee tasked with stopping Albedo's advances till at least two hours of practice had taken place.
"Aghr! I know!" Albedo quietly growled and got off Ainz, picking up her weapon once again. As much as she disliked her sister's actions at the moment, Rubedo was Ainz's personal guard and did exactly what she was told to.
With a deep exhale, she calmed her raging desires down to manageable levels. After all, she was already dancing too close to losing the right to train her beloved as her thoughts far too often went away from the task at hand when they were together with only one set of eyes to witness them.
With as much care as she could, Albedo went for another well-signaled attack, which Ainz managed to block. From a certain perspective, it felt weird to have so much strength that she had to be gentle with Ainz, but from another, he was a caster and had not practiced any physical combat before, and on that note had made remarkable progress.
In that regard, she was filled with immense pride to be the one who was aiding Ainz's growth in such a direct manner. Her own level wasn't growing as fast as the others, but then again her physical ability wasn't being challenged, and she had spent little time practicing other means of dealing with enemies.
As the head administrator of not only the Great Tomb but the growing Empire as well, she had decided to train summoning abilities to gain useful servants without bothering the Supreme Ones. So far, besides her bicorn mount, she could only summon imps and base skeletons. It all came down to how much practice she could do each day, which was an hour at best each day.
With her current progress, summoning liches was just a week or two away. Once Albedo knew how to summon such useful servants, she would be able to create her own administrative network and give her beloved Ainz more time to work on more important matters.
X
His guests were interesting ones, to say the least. Zoran carefully put away all the enchanted artifacts, he bought from a man named Sebas, in a safe. For seven rings, a bracelet, and a pair of earrings, he spent over a thousand platinum coins, depleting most of his money reserves. But such opportunities came once in a lifetime, and he wasn't about to breeze past it without a second thought.
Getting the first picking rights with the mysterious merchant was more than worth such a massive investment. A ring that prevented its wearer from dying from all diseases or poisons alone was more than worth it. In his line of business, it pretty much just made him immune to assassination attempts, which weren't rare for someone of his status.
From ambitious underlings and other division leaders to jealous nobles and officials, a sudden ambush could end his life, and he had to be prepared.
As for the rest of the items, he planned to give one to each Six Arms member, the leaders of the Eight Fingers security department. Such a move would not only ensure his safety even more, but potentially could lead Zero, the head of the security department, to ally with him and help lessen his own competition. Bribery always worked wonders.
Of course there still was the question of what goals Sebas and his daughter had. The young blonde woman was excellent at playing a spoiled airhead, but he could tell it was just a facade. Beneath the mask, a predator lurked. A creature that could wrap men around her little finger and do with them as she pleased.
In a sense, the girl reminded him of his next guest, Hilma. The head of the drug department was just as skilled at playing a carefree lady while hiding a sharp mind and scary amounts of ambition, playing both men and women like a fiddle.
The two went way back to when his own hair was not yet gray and she was just a poor teenage prostitute. Though Zoran still had his slim and strong build, his face had more wrinkles and his once blonde hair and beard had nearly lost their youthful color.
In fact, she was the one to get the clutches on the old merchant even before he did, and all because nobles who had bought artifacts from the traveling merchant had sent her messages to gain a standing with her.
He himself was tipped off by a close, but unlikely associate; the third princess Renner. Their mutually beneficial partnership started years ago when he noticed very subtle moves through the criminal underground. At first, he suspected that it was an eight fingers member covertly creating a powerbase to rise in ranks. However, the truth surpassed just the wildest imagination. Renner, the golden princess, was the culprit behind the said machinations, and he was the only one who had noticed.
Obviously, the opportunity to get a royal under his thumb was too good to pass so he tried to trap her. Yet in the end, he was the one falling into the trap and had to work for the brilliant princess for a while until she deemed that her silence had been paid off. How she found out so much about his dealing was beyond him. But that was only the beginning of the partnership as Renner was the one to help get rid of the previous head of the drug branch and let him take the credit for putting Hilma in his place. Renner was the one suggesting laws that made his department much more influential and brought in undreamt profits.
In return, he was orchestrating a way for her to escape the country once the civil war started, which at this point was nearly inevitable. Both sides benefited from this exchange, as all business transactions were.
'She knows more about this Sebas than she has revealed. It is unlikely the princess would pay that much attention to an artifact trader unless she is gaining something. This cannot be a mere coincidence that a member of the so-called Research Guild visits the palace and my pretty little acquaintance starts making more aggressive moves. Which means it is safe to assume both she and Sebas are connected to that organization.'
Zoran lazily took out a cigar from the box on his office table and lit it, inhaling the sweet smoke.
'What are their goals? Surely not just to earn some money. I will have to monitor their actions carefully,' He mused as Hilma entered his office.
He glanced at her enticing figure with a smirk and exhaled, "Good to see you."
"Likewise," she replied with a smile. With slow steps, she approached the table and sat at the corner of it, facing Zoran as she exhaled a small cloud of the drug she was smoking.
"He had a collection of rather nice trinkets. How about ten percent?" Zoran made an offer. Of course, since he wasn't planning to sell off most of the artifacts, her cut would come from his own pocket.
"I thought the days of you trying to buy me for cheap are long gone," Hilma retorted in a playful manner.
"You truly have no shame. I always treated you well. And that golden necklace… You wore it for years. Twenty percent then, but I want details on what he is doing. Get some of Coco Doll's whores as the maids in that house," Zoran raised the offer.
"Now that is more suitable," She smiled leaning forward and giving plenty of view of her cleavage. "But I have another offer in mind. I think the opportunity I presented to you is suitable for clearing my debt to you. I will give you all the information I get and do not ask for any additional payment."
"Deal. But I will miss your visits."
"I'm sure you can afford them," Hilma smirked.
From the very beginning, they had this playful relationship and if there ever was a man she would settle for, it would have been Zoran. But life was what it was and tales of love were for young naive girls, something she had never had the luxury to be.
Her mother had sold her for the first time the moment she turned twelve to keep food on the table. Her first client wasn't gentle. She was a young and good-looking piece of meat, and nothing more than what the world was concerned about.
She learned rather fast where that life led and ran away from home, leading the life of a thief and a street prostitute, avoiding everyone who would try to take advantage of her.
With time, she found her place in the Eight Fingers, meeting Zoran and becoming his favorite. Seeing an opportunity, she latched on to the older man and carved a path upward until he arranged her ascension into the branch leader's position.
And there was one thing every member of the eight finger knew; you always pay your debts. And hers was a large one. Sure, all Zoran asked in return was to be close allies within the crime syndicate, and visit him twice a week to show him a good time, but debt was a debt and she preferred to clear it.
An alliance with Zoran was very beneficial due to laws the Golden Princess had pushed through; most drugs were made illegal and the smuggling branch was needed to distribute them safely. Hilma had long suspected that Zoran had some sort of connection with Princess Renner, but nothing besides hushed rumors existed to prove said suspicion.
"Mmm, sure. You always were my favorite," Zoran replied as Hilma moved closer and sat down in his lap, facing him.
"I think you can get one on the house. I am in a very generous mood today," Hilma leaned closer, playfully biting his neck.
The thought that he should have married Hilma when she was still a nobody crossed his mind once again, but in this business, any attachment was a weakness easily exploitable by others.
X
"All of them are worthless!" Shalltear loudly complained to the nearest vampire bride. During the last few hours, she had caught additional packs of humans, but none showed any sort of talent as the blue-haired man did.
With growing frustration, she tossed a pair of well-dressed individuals through the gate and ordered their carriage to be destroyed. The pair of horses could serve as a meal for her subordinates. Not that she particularly cared about their well-being, but if Supreme ones took care of their subordinates then so should she.
Once the last shred of evidence was destroyed, she could move on to the next target. As a natural predator, Shalltear could sense all warm-blooded creatures in at least a few kilometer radius, and the largest cluster of prey was to the south.
Traversing the densely wooded terrain in high-heeled boots was difficult, but the mission's secrecy excluded the possibility of flight.
"Ugh, the ground is too muddy!" Shalltear continued to complain.
"P-please let me clean your boots mistress Shalltear," the nearest vampire bride uttered, ready to tear off her own clothing to remove the filth from the Floor Guardian's boots.
"We have more important things to do!" Shalltear hissed back.
With the distinct feeling of being observed, she picked up the pace and tried to figure out if the one observing her was from Nazarick. If that wasn't the case, then anti-scrying measures would need to be taken.
X
The Captain of the Black Scripture stopped in his tracks the moment he noticed that the Seventh Seat had slowed down. It usually meant she had seen something worthy of her focus. By raising his hand he stopped the rest of the group and waited for Astrologer to speak.
"Group of vampires about a kilometer to the north. Near human appearances. One is dressed like a noble," she slowly spoke.
"Local monsters are not our concern. Adventurers of this nation should be able to deal with vampires," Captain commented.
"The one that looks like a noble used transportation magic I have not seen before. Maybe she is the summon of a player," Relzania continued.
"If that vampire is a player's summon, killing her would potentially end all chances of diplomacy…" Captain grew silent for a moment.
It would be easy to leave the vampire to her antics and search out the players directly. Then again, a summon could be used as a direct means of communication. Ultimately, the decision fell on his shoulders.
"We are going after her. Do your best to not provoke any of the vampires." He issued an order and motioned for Astrologer to show the way.
As they moved towards their target at a rapid pace, Relzania approached Captain and stated with a half-whisper. "I don't want to make any assumptions but that vampire looks like the one described in the holy texts."
"There is a chance all high-tier vampires look like that. For now, let's not jump to conclusions and exercise caution," Captain dismissed her concerns.
His confidence, however, was only a mask. The mere idea that they could be heading towards a God killer shook him to the core. If the worst-case scenario came true and the vampire was from the depths the monster Gods called home, only the divine artifact would have any effect.
X
With his mana reserves back to full, Ulbert was ready to perform the next demon summoning. For now, he had more than enough succubi and incubi, so his sights were set on trying to obtain a single high-tier demon. There were several options for him to choose from, but most were named and according to Flornohe might not be interested in serving him. After all, a goetic demon prince or duke was a commander of vast demonic armies and governing over massive swaths of infernal or astral realms. Such demons wouldn't be too eager to become a mere servant or change their patron, unlike in the game where they were just NPCs.
Hence the easiest solution was to attempt an arch-demon summoning. In Yggdrasil, depending on a player's specialization, they could be up to level ninety-five. Even one such demon would be a great boon to their current forces.
Once again standing in the designated summoning area on the seventh floor of Nazarick with his usual demonic retinue in tow, Ulbert prepared the ritual. Considering the strength of the demon he was about to call upon, it would take almost all his mana reserves and potentially leave him vulnerable if the archdemon became hostile. But with Demiurge at the helm of his guards, that was a minor concern, and they would be able to handle most threats with ease.
As the ritual ended, a lone figure made of blackened tar slowly rose from the center of the scorched circle. At first, it grew about four meters tall, with six shadowlike wings making a mockery of higher angels, but soon enough shrunk to a human size and grew pale skin and short blonde hair. The demon's slim but muscular body was quickly covered with a white three-piece suit.
At the moment the transformation ended, the demon opened a pair of completely black eyes that immediately locked upon Ulbert. With a small smile, the demon kneeled and announced, "I'm ready to serve, my Lord. You may call me Melborious."
Ulbert carefully observed the kneeling figure before him, noticing that Melborious lacked the now-expected horns on his head. 'Huh, it seems only his natural form had them,' He mused, recalling details about the massive form the demon had for a moment.
Another thing not escaping his notice was how tense Flornohe had become the moment his newest summon materialized. The most logical conclusion was that she simply was afraid of this more powerful demon, but she didn't show any fright in front of Demiurge, who wasn't exactly a fan of her. Though his son's animosity towards his concubine was easily written off as jealousy.
{ You seem tense. Anything to say about Melborious? } He messaged Flornohe to see what she would say.
{ One of Bael's. His children are as ambitious as Lilith's children are seductive. } She cautioned.
{ I'm not into men, so your position is safe for now. } Ulbert responded with a chuckle, getting an amused look from her.
{ I'm fairly certain your bed is not this demon's goal, but as your advisor, I must caution you. }
'Bael, where have I heard that name? Right! One of those demon statues Lucifer made. Let's see if this demon tries to lie to me.' Ulbert turned his attention back to the summoned demon waiting for his response.
"Tell me, why did you respond to my call?" Ulbert bravely stepped forward, now standing right before the demon. At a moment like this, showing fear and uncertainty would be a grave mistake. Even if he now lacked the mana to defeat Melborious on his own, Demiurge alone was enough to send him back to immaterial realms.
"When a new Demonic King has been born, many are flocking to be in his court. It would be a great honor to take a place beside you and help you grow into a role your birthright dictates," Melborious spoke in a voice smooth as silk.
"I will assume you are not stupid enough to try to sabotage and work against those in my service or of my friends. With that in mind, what role do you plan to fulfill?" Ulbert inquired. The demon clearly had some sort of goal and he needed to know this goal right away.
"I would be grateful to be allowed to be your personal attendant, my Lord."
'Attendant? This guy, who is about level ninety, wants to serve me coffee and fold my clothing? And he isn't even attempting to lie!?' Ulbert barely managed to keep his composure.
"Why? Aren't Beal's demons ambitious by nature?" He couldn't help but ask.
"Ambition comes naturally to me, yes, but ambition without reason is foolish. I would never take the place of your right hand, as that position is for your son. Consorts come and go as master tastes change, and vassals can fall out of favor at a moment's notice, but a butler, a butler can be by his master's side indefinitely and not worry about his position. And I assure you, my Lord, I am the second-best butler you can get in your service."
There was a meaning behind each word the demon spoke, Ulbert was sure of it. To remain on the top of his game he needed to decipher what was said. Obviously, Melborious had done his homework just like Flornohe. The fact that he called Ulbert a newborn Demonic King confirmed it in spades.
With that piece of information in mind, it was easy to conclude Melborious wouldn't try to take Demiurge's place nor think just because he is powerful his position among Ulbert's inner circle was safe. And calling himself the second-best butler could only do one thing; he didn't try to put himself above Nazarick's head butler Sebas.
'He is smart, and there wasn't a single attempt to lie. It's a bit of a waste to use someone of his level as an attendant, but then again I might as well fill the position and forget about it.' By all means, Melborious' intentions to be a butler were sincere and he wasn't aiming for anything else.
"Very well. The position is yours. I assume you did your homework?" Ulbert decided to give the demon the position he wanted.
"Of course my Lord. I would not dream of bothering you with trivial matters. With your permission, I will present myself before Lady Albedo and start my duties as soon as I am put on the servant list," His newest servant eagerly responded.
After Melborious had departed and he was back in his quarters with Demiurge and Flornohe, sitting down in the armchair behind the office table, Ulbert addressed both, "I want no infighting so no attempts at sabotaging Melborious' efforts. You two should get along as well. I don't want the headache of dealing with that. Am I clear?"
"I will do my best to get along with all your servants and your son, my Lord." Flornohe was first to respond with a bow of her head.
"Rest assured, Father, I won't do anything to jeopardize your power base and will do my best to get along with my peers," Demiurge was just as eager to avoid drawing his ire.
His inner circle would grow in time and it was only a matter of time before problems arose. All he could hope was to prevent feuds for a while, so then Nazarick's foundations were decently strong.
As he was about to dismiss two demons and take a short nap, Albedo's pleasant voice invaded his mind. { Lord Ulbert, I registered your summon, but on behalf of Lord Ainz I must caution you to not go overboard with summoning experiments. }
{ I know. I know. Ainz will get on my ass if I fill the whole Tomb with demons. Besides, didn't I tell you that you as Ainz's girlfriend can drop the titles? } Ulbert replied with a long yawn. Being out of mana was rapidly taking its toll.
{ I understand my position but it is not easy to address the Supreme Beings casually. I will be more mindful of your wishes, L- Ulbert. }
{ Don't worry about it, and tell Ainz I'm not summoning anything for the next two weeks. } Ulbert sent one last message and cut off the conversation.
Although spending all his mana twice had given a level-up, the mana pool hadn't increased by a noticeable degree. For now, he needed to sleep off the fatigue.
Proofreading by Aurodium, Sluethen, Saphire_Drake, and aidan_lo.
Editing by aidan_lo.
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/WmGKVU3XG2) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader (gives access to chapters months ahead of regular readers).