"I still don't understand what's so special about you, that a Supreme Being went through the effort to save you, but I'm determined to at least try to figure it out," Solution muttered loudly.
Playing the role of a rich merchant's daughter, she was taking a walk around the merchant district with Ninya as her permitted bodyguard. The long bright yellow dress somewhat restricted her combat ability, so she was permitted to discard it, should the need arise. Current intel on denizens of Re-Estize made it rather unlikely to encounter strong adversaries since Ninya, who currently was in her demon form both for a power boost and to avoid being recognized, was more than enough to deal with anyone trying to attack the good-looking pair.
With Solution having provided intense close combat training to her fellow Lord Pero's subordinate before this expedition, Ninya had pushed way beyond a measly level twenty individual.
"There is nothing special about me. I just got lucky, that's all," Ninya retorted, trying to avoid talking about Pero's motivations to get her resurrected.
"There is no such thing as luck when it comes to Supreme Ones. Their moves are always calculated. If they are seemingly making a mistake, it is nothing more than an act of kindness to make us believe they are even capable of making mistakes."
'That is insane. Everyone is capable of making mistakes, even Gods. World wouldn't be such a shithole otherwise,' Ninya knew it was pointless to argue against the conviction of Nazarick's natives. They, as direct creations of Gods, couldn't even conceive the possibility of their creators being wrong, seeing them as all-knowing, all-powerful individuals. "Then neither I nor you know why Lord Pero chose me. Maybe it was nothing more than momentary amusement at giving me a second chance."
"Maybe. But I think there is something more about you. Not every human would discard their old self that fast. When I look at you, I can't help but see a tiny bit of my sister Narberal in you," Solution commented, glancing at the necklaces displayed in the window of a random jeweler's shop.
The purpose of the walk was primarily to observe how the Eight Fingers would react to Sebas' daughter being in a vulnerable position. If they attempted to kidnap Solution, it would serve as a justified reason to retaliate and weed out unsuitable executives for any of a myriad of reasons. After all, from any long-term stance's perspective, it would be an idiotic move to antagonize a source of magical artifacts to save a little bit of money via extortion and not even consider the consequences of doing so. This far out from their place of residence, there was a tail on them, but they kept their distance.
Even without Eight Finger's involvement, they had attracted enough attention as is. Solution was an unmatched beauty among women, and even though Ninya wore somewhat baggy clothes and hid most of her face under the hood, she naturally exuded the aura of allure thanks to her demonic form's movements and charm. Luckily, men of lower material status didn't dare approach them whatsoever, as the clothing both wore screamed wealth, and that meant that even a fool would see that Ninya as a bodyguard was likely very dangerous if they had that kind of money to flaunt.
Yet it seemed that not everyone had gotten the memo, as a group of drunk men stumbled out of a nearby tavern, the ringleader being dressed in an outfit typical of a lesser noble. The group stumbled in their direction, shouting obscenities and lewd remarks as people quickly scattered out of the group's way.
Ninya grasped the handle of her shortsword and stepped between Solution and the approaching group, glaring at the men. The six or seven men either didn't notice or didn't care about her hostile reaction and merrily approached them, wobbling as they continued their useless exclamations.
"Would you look at that? Boys, it seems I've found my future wife! Come on, let's have some fun. That guardian of yours can entertain my guards meanwhile. She looks the type to handle multiple men!" The ringleader shouted, slurring the entire time.
"Sir, that is no way of speaking to a maiden from a merchant house. I suggest you leave before you have embarrassed yourself even more," Solution retorted, her voice drenched in theatrical disgust as her nose wrinkled in sync.
"You watch your mouth bitch! You're speaking with a son of a Baron! You're lucky I fancy you for your looks, otherwise, you would be entertaining my men!" The young man slung back, his face flush with anger.
The largest of the men lunged forward to seize Ninya, but before he could even hope to touch her, Ninya grabbed the man's arm and broke it in multiple places like a twig with brute strength, her sword unnecessary for the task as she did it with her bare hands.
The man let out a scream of both pain and shock, stumbling backward as he clutched his broken arm.
"These men are attacking us, guards please help!" Solution let out a hysterical scream as Ninya jumped into action, generously distributing kicks and punches indiscriminately among her targets as she took down the whole group within seconds. The only one remaining without serious injuries was the son of the noble who had fallen on his ass and stared at the scene in confusion, having been judged as not a threat in the fight.
Since they were in a wealthy district, guards arrived rather quickly at the scene. Solution, the natural actress she was, was bawling her eyes out and loudly complaining to the guards that the attackers threatened to violate her. Meanwhile, the son of the unknown noble was shouting obscenities and claiming that the lowborn were the ones starting the conflict.
The lieutenant leading the guard group had no other choice but to play diplomat and try to get both sides to calm down. It wasn't wise for a simple guard to get involved in such conflicts since the side he turned his back on surely would stab it, and he wouldn't be capable of fighting back. When it rapidly became clear that a peaceful solution couldn't be found, he declared that the matter should get resolved between the two houses and offered both parties an armed escort home, to which both promptly refused.
Solution continued to loudly complain until she and Ninya were far away from both the noble and the guards. Once there were no witnesses around, her demeanor completely changed as if she had never been crying a river. She twisted her face into an inhumanly wide smirk and whispered to Ninya, "You went soft on them. Hitting them between the legs and kidney area would have caused more pain."
"I'll keep it in mind for the next time I have to deal with such scum. Did we get the attention we sought with that fight?" Ninya asked, ignoring Solution's creepy expression.
"Not exactly, but I'm sure it will help either way. Lord Ulbert did say he wanted every action justified, especially in the public eye, whatever the opinion of humans are worth."
"But that piece of shit noble could try to retaliate. They might try to kidnap us," Ninya voiced her concerns. As powerful as she was, there was still the possibility of her being caught unprepared.
"Leave such worries to your superiors," Solution wisely stated, ending the conversation.
They had almost reached the mansion they resided in, and the soothing presence of the invisible guards melted all worries away as they trekked past the gates.
Just as they stepped into the main guest room to reunite with Sebas and Lukrut, a gate opened right in the center of the space. The first to step through was Demiurge, closely followed by Ulbert.
Before anyone could kneel, he waved his right hand stating, "Skip the formalities. Demiurge, you can begin," and sat down on the nearest sofa, placing his walking cane against its side.
"The confrontation Solution was involved in has proved that the Eight Fingers are not planning a provocation and are doing the opposite. The young noble's family has received a warning and Sebas should expect an apology and compensation. But thanks to Renner, we have an opening to exploit. Sebas, you soon will receive a time and route to follow. On said route, you will rescue Renner's guard from attackers. This act will cause inner conflict in Eight Fingers, and the ensuing retaliation against the perceived enemy can be used as a stepping stone for a full takeover."
The demon fixed his glasses and continued, turning to Ninya, "We have located a woman that fits your sister's description, at least age and name-wise. She is kept as a slave in one of the Eight Fingers-run brothels, and we are currently planning when it would be an opportune time to liberate and hand her over to you."
"My sister is held in a brothel!? I need to-" Ninya shouted in sheer agitation at hearing the news but was sharply cut off by Demiurge.
"There won't be any deviation from the plan."
Ninya clamped her mouth shut out of self-preservation instinct and glared downward, her eyes filled with tears.
"You will get your sister back, that is a promise. She likely has been subjected to that lifestyle for years, a week or two right now would not change much. And once she is in your care, you will be permitted access to Nazarick's resources to heal and rehabilitate her," Ulbert reassured her.
He didn't disclose any details about what sort of brothel it was, and that she was exposed to truly inhuman treatment within it, which made Demiurge take notes on how to break prisoners in his soon-to-be prison complex, where the worst of the worst would be held. Once again it was demonstrably proven that there was no need for demons to create a hell, humans could make one on their own just fine and the demons could reap what the humans sowed.
"T-thank you, Lord Ulbert," Ninya muttered under her breath. After all these years, she was finally close to getting back her sister, and once again all she could do was hopelessly wait.
Talking to Barbro was like putting razor-sharp nails inside his shoes and going for a few-kilometers-long run. His older brother was so self-assured and narcissistic that everything had to be about him and how he would rule soon, making any sort of conversation a veritable minefield.
In the past, it was a chore to keep up appearances and interact with the dunce, but now more than ever he had to do it. At least now Zanac had some assurances he would stay alive and well off if things went terribly wrong. With the invisible demoness walking close behind, he entered one of the lounge rooms where his brother waited.
"Ah, good day brother, I hope you are in good health," Zanac greeted Barbro, who seemed bored.
"Yes yes, we both will pretend there's a point to this so Father can be happy," Barbro retorted, filling a glass with brandy, his cheeks already reddish from the liquor.
"There always are at least a few points to discuss. There is no reason for us to be enemies," Zanac sat down opposite his brother with a sickeningly sweet smile.
"And what would that be? If you think I would just sit and let you rub in my face the blunder with that, whatever that man was, you are sorely mistaken," Barbro uttered through gritted teeth as he downed the glass.
For now, he still needed to tolerate Zanac's presence, but once he inevitably became the king, the fat bastard would die from "mysterious circumstances" that could be blamed on the opposing nobles and used as an excuse for consolidation of his own power as another male candidate for the throne.
"On the contrary, your rather decisive action made me think. I wouldn't stand up to a commoner in such a brash manner for trying to undermine everything that is to be of noble blood. True, things didn't go as planned, but I don't think your actions were out of line," Zanac grabbed the spare glass from the table and began pouring himself some booze.
"Your point?"
"The country needs a strong and popular figurehead to keep the commoners in line but said figurehead cannot rule alone. While I would like to be the next king, we both know me taking the throne wouldn't make our nation better. But no king can rule without advisors to help him make the right decisions."
Barbo glanced at his brother, confused, 'Did he just say what I think he said? That fat bastard couldn't have given up.'
"Oh don't look at me that way, dear brother. I am well aware of your plans, and let's just say I think I would be more useful to you alive than dead." Zanac took a sip and closed his eyes, enjoying the taste of the pleasantly burning spirit.
"Well, at least you're not as stupid as you look. You think I will just believe you?"
"Of course not. But we both know politics aren't your strong suit, and your father-in-law won't be around forever to advise you. All I want is the title of Archduke and a few plots of land taken away from your opponents. You'll be the strong and courageous king who finally pushes back the empire, and I will deal with domestic issues. Father would love to retire, but he doesn't hand over the throne because he fears you are too impulsive to handle the intricacies of fine-tuned manipulations. But if he saw us get along and knew that I support your birthright to rule, he might change his mind."
'He is making a good point. I am tired of waiting to get what is mine. And with Zanac as my lackey, I could be sure Balloupe knows his place as well,' Barbo smirked at how clever he was to pit his brother against his father-in-law.
"You make sure I become king soon and I will grant you the title, but you aren't marrying any of the greater noble families, nor foreign nobles."
"Trust me, brother, I know very well how any attempts at consolidating power would end for me. I will follow your lead and advise you on more mundane matters, of nobles scheming behind your back and commoners striving to reach above their station. You meanwhile worry about how to bring the crown back to greatness. I'm sure under your leadership Re-Estize armies would be unstoppable."
It seemed that Barbro had bought into his attempts at becoming a lackey he could use. Zanac left the room in an elevated mood. There was no need to report to Renner directly later, as the shadowy creatures did that in his stead in times like this.
His next stop was Marquis Raeven, who needed to be informed about his decision so the clever noble could make adjustments to his own plans. Raeven was one of the nobles Renner deemed useful to keep alive when Nazarick would take over, and he would ideally act as one of their more important friendly nobility to pressure the others into submission.
{ Your brother is talking with Bolloupe about your change of heart. } The shadow demon informed him not even ten minutes later.
'Anything I should be worried about?'
{ Bolloupe thinks you are doing this to save your skin and suggests you need to be watched for any signs of ambition. }
'I trust my sister already knows about this. If she has no new orders, I will proceed as planned,' Zanac once more displayed unwavering confidence to his supervisor, as best he could.
{ Renner tells you to proceed. Bolloupe will be watched, and if need be, pushed aside. }
His brother's arrogance was his greatest weakness. He surely wouldn't see he was being led to his doom until it was too late. Whatever Renner had planned for Barbro was a grim fate. The vengeful monster wouldn't let the soon-to-be king have a quick and easy death, that was for certain.
With Ulbert spending time with other Gods, his three closest confidants had their own gathering. Melborious filled glasses of wine in a practiced manner for himself, Demiurge, and Flornohe. Maids didn't protest his actions too much since the clever demon gave them plenty of work around Lord Ulbert's living space, even giving suggestions on how to improve their performance.
"The Re-Estize operation is going as planned. But that doesn't mean we can just lay on our laurels. Father's influence needs to be spread to other nations as well," Demiurge stated while whirling the wine in the glass and taking in the aroma.
"If the Lord wills it, I will slowly bring more of my kind into this world to assist him in extending his reach. The young Emperor of Baharuth seems to be an easy target to be seduced," Flornohe proposed, taking a careful sip from her glass.
Out of the three, she was the lowest ranked in raw power and it seemed to be soon in terms of influence as well. Ulbert was far too aware of the fact that women could control a man through sex and try to make him fall in love, so he was suspicious of any advances from her, preventing her from gaining points in his eyes. No matter how much pleasure she brought her master, she wasn't seen as trustworthy despite her honest intentions of doing whatever was necessary to support him, all because of her gender painting her Lord's vision against her. In her long career as one of Lilith's direct servants, Flornohe had never betrayed a man or woman she was assigned to unless they went against the Great Mother; her track record was impeccable. Even without any real romance involved, she did everything to become the best concubine Ulbert could wish for, but that wasn't enough. Now there was a new archdemon in the Demon God's inner circle fighting for a favorable position, and likely not the last in the near future.
"While I think bringing more servants in father's service is beneficial, tackling other nations without direct orders should be avoided. But answer me this, would they be just as loyal as the ones my father summons directly?" Demiurge inquired.
Flornohe materialized a scroll in her hand with the puff of a flame and handed it over. "With this ritual, they will."
"I think Lord Ulbert would benefit more from soldiers and inquisitors than entertainers," Melborious dryly remarked. "Many would be grateful to enter his service."
"Under the same oath, I presume?" Flornohe didn't take the bait flashing the superior demon a confident smile.
"I would strongly advise against any sort of inner power play. Father will be the one to decide how to best utilize you both," Demiurge harshly scolded the two summoned demons.
As useful as both were, they weren't Nazarick's created natives, and his distrust in both stemmed from that fact. Both were loyal to Ulbert but still thought they needed to compete for their summoner's attention. Flornohe had taken large steps to earn his trust by teaching magics native to her type and Melborious had given an extensive breakdown of the politics and relationships between Gods and the higher type beings called Infernal Lords giving the perspective of the wider cosmos and how Lord Ulbert can mingle among them as a proper God.
"Of course, I wouldn't dream of defying Lord's will," "Fret not, my goal is to be sure all serve with proper dedication," Both Flornohe and Melborious responded in near unison, before returning to glare at each other.
Demiurge was not fully convinced of their sincerity but chose to not further lecture them, instead switching the topic back to the matter at hand. "Speaking of loyalties, are you aware Renner entered a contract with one of yours?"
"Said contract was reported to me, and no doubt to you as well."
"Not directly."
"Then I will resolve the matter right away and replace Venosa with someone more trustworthy."
"There is no need, but that raises a particular issue, which I would prefer to be fixed," Demiurge fixed his glasses and took a small sip.
"You have my word, I will make sure every single one of my charges will know what consequences they will face should they fail to report to you," Flornohe spoke with the usual casual confidence behind her tone.
'That moron! I knew I should pick someone less ambitious.'
Flornohe left half of her presence in her physical body listening to Melborious blabber about how to keep subordinates in line and Demiurge agreeing with him. The other half grabbed Venosa's spiritual form firmly by the neck, nearly yanking it out of her subordinate's body, and hissed in her ear.
'This is your only warning to keep Lord Demiurge in the loop about all your dealings in this realm! You have lost all your favor with me.'
'I'm sorry, mistress. I didn't think it was necessary-' The younger succubus hastily responded full of fear.
'Wasn't necessary? I made it very clear that there should be no duplicity towards Lord Ulbert and Lord Demiurge! Your desire to stand out has blinded you. Now you do, but not in a way you desired to be noticed,' Flornohe tossed away Venosa and returned her full attention to the meeting with the two archdemons.
For now, she needed to thread carefully and redouble her efforts in keeping all her subordinates in line.
The usual method of finding out what exactly Tabula was researching was to ask his wife, but it seemed today was a day when all the planets lined up. In front of him lay a medium-sized tome written in calligraphic handwriting of all Tabula's discoveries, no matter how small.
'Mariposa is doing more than I could ask. I can't imagine what effort it took to decipher whatever Tabula calls his handwriting and then compile it into an easy-to-read book,' Ainz mused as he slowly flicked through the pages.
'I have two charges of Endless Strive at the moment, I could give one to her, Mariposa has earned it. She has even written her commentary on more abstract topics.'
With an influx of test subjects provided by Shalltear, the God of Knowledge had devised many ways to manipulate the bodies. Direct empowerment or weakening, flawless race change, and everything in between, including effortless age manipulation, were just a few of the things that had been accomplished. The problem of keeping Aura, Mare, and homunculus maids at their prime were solved, thus enabling Nazarick to preserve its foundations forever. There was even the answer Pero was looking for regarding his zombified human friends.
A particular ritual for calling souls directly, with any remains as an anchor, could be used to bring them back in new forms akin to rebirth with all the memories intact. Same as with resurrection, the soul still had to be present in the astral realms and not fully reborn somewhere else, meaning the resurrection had to be done relatively quickly in the grand scheme of things. The only thing beyond the caster's control was what form the reborn entity would take.
'Once I've learned everything I can from these notes, I'll tell Pero I can bring them back. If I remember correctly, the two living Swords of Darkness members are with Sebas.'
The first order of business was to reward Mariposa. The whole thing took less than five minutes and now Tabula's wife could grow to around level forty-five. Ainz made a mental note to increase her limit once again when she was close to reaching it and moved on to the next task at hand.
Minutes later, the three naked, rotting bodies were lying on the tables in the ninth-floor testing area, Ainz and Pero standing over them.
"Are you sure it will work? If you turn them into ash or bring them back braindead, I doubt Lukrut and Ninya will take it well," Pero questioned.
"It should be fine. Tabula tested everything he could," Ainz replied, turning his attention to the first corpse. The soul of the slim, blonde man was still trapped in the frozen undead body, filled with fear and rage. No doubt, the group's leader Peter blamed himself during his last moments, the scourge carved into his mind.
"OK, then do your thing," Pero consented.
Ainz put his skeletal hand over the man's chest and began the ritual. The rage guided the soul, picking a form that both gave power and allowed the new form to utilize his near-endless rage as fuel. His outer appearance slowly returned to how he looked before being turned into undead, but deep within, the heart of a wolf waited for its first beat. Peter would return to life as a werewolf. The only difference was that his human ears disappeared, replaced by wolf ones on top of his head, and a blonde tail found its way out from under him. After a few moments, the man opened his eyes with a howl-like scream and then just as quickly fell into a deep slumber.
"It's done. I think it will take close to a week for him to fully wake up, but there were no complications," Ainz commented.
"A werewolf, huh? At least I won't need to do the 'you can't get your old life' spiel." Pero leaned closer to inspect the animal ears.
Ainz meanwhile moved on to the next corpse. Dyne was just as decomposed, but his soul, unlike Peter's, held a strong desire to protect and be close to nature.
It wasn't hard to guess what sort of race the deceased druid's soul would choose, and once Ainz started the ritual his prediction was on point. The man's skin was quickly replaced with bark and stone, his hair turning into sharp grass. The newly reborn nature elemental in his unconscious state sprouted roots from every part of the body that was resulting upon a surface, seeking nourishment.
"I'll give him to Mare to take care of until Dyne wakes up. The little buddy will know what to do," Pero picked up the elemental quickly to not get the whole testing area infested with roots and teleported away.
Before Ainz could deal with the last corpse, Pero was already back. "Let's deal with the lady one and hope she gets a cute form."
"Would it really matter?" Ainz asked, staring at the naked woman's deceased body with clinical detachment.
"Not really but you know, as a girl she might be more upset if she's monstrous."
"Not sure on what you are basing this assumption since it's the soul who chooses, and thus should be fine with the result," Ainz stated.
"You know that- eh fine, no need for that discussion at the moment," Pero waved him off and shifted his entire attention to the ritual.
Brita's soul had only one overwhelming desire swirling around; to survive, meaning she likely would take the form of a very hard-to-kill creature. With many possible options, Ainz refrained from guessing and merely observed the transformation.
For the first few seconds, the only thing that happened was the body returned to looking fully human.
"Hey, she is hu- oh what in the…" Pero's eyes went wide as Brita's body grew two more pairs of arms and the skin turned to a deep shade of blue. At the sides of the mouth, large tusks sprouted out, growing centimeters within moments. Lastly, the body grew taller and even more muscular than it already was. Her hair remained the same color as before, giving a stark contrast to the final form.
"She turned into one of those…you know, from the Hindu expansion."
"Rakshasa, or in her case, Rakshasi, is near impossible to kill. She did want to be a survivor after all," Ainz commented.
The demonic creatures from the Hindu-based expansion were a pain to deal with by any player, as these creatures regenerated from the tiniest amounts of remains usually requiring items or spells that annihilated every last bit of them. Many a guild had fallen to a horde of them being baited into attacking simultaneously since these items and spells were difficult to obtain for lower-ranked players.
"Makes sense. Not bad looking either. Do you know more about her race?"
"I skipped that content. The rewards were mostly cosmetic and didn't really go with my usual aesthetic. Tabula probably knows more."
"Fuck, I just want some tidbits, not a two-hour lecture on mythology I couldn't give fewer shits about it if I tried," Pero whined.
"Sorry, I can't help you, but it's either him or the library" Ainz chuckled, patting his friend's shoulder.
"Fine…"
The moment Pero contacted Tabula, the brain eater popped up next to him and glanced over the sleeping Brita with interest. "Fascinating."
"Just give me the short version," Pero groaned. "By the way, have you been juicing? I remember you looked thin."
Despite wearing a loose robe, it was obvious Tabula had developed broader shoulders and his arms were more human-like.
"Reshaped myself for practicality. Six Arms! I should have done that," Tabula all but lost interest in Pero and cast an analysis spell on Brita as he rambled on.
Ainz wisely decided to leave them to avoid taking part in what likely would be a long lecture and teleported away, knowing he had more things to do.
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by Lightflan, Clagan, Sapphire_Drake, nate051499j6, aidan_lo, Antilene, Thea, Sluethen, and NuggetLover.
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).