Nothing could be left to chance with so much at risk. Ainz went through the plan of action at least three dozen times, pouring over every detail he knew of and answering countless what-if scenarios of various player-based problems arising. Standard and unique traps he knew of from his days as a guild leader, monsters that could supposedly live for centuries and pop out at a moment's notice, he had to consider it all. He would teleport in and immediately cast [Time Stop], and, if no one resisted, cast paralysis on Kaire while Pero and Albedo incapacitated her six guards. The chosen staging area was one of the sixth-floor colosseum prep rooms, prepared with dozens of containment barriers and surrounded by pop monsters, in case she held other secret cards to her chest.
By Clementine's descriptions of their power levels and abilities, Kaire's guards wouldn't pose any real threat to them. There was a small chance she could have either lied or not been aware of their true power, but Ulbert had not sensed any duplicity from Pero's worshiper and thus the information was deemed reliable.
The eight Hanzos and two dozen eight-edge assassins were standing in orderly rows waiting for orders. Summoning them wasn't cheap and there currently was no way to replenish mercenary scrolls, but no expense could be spared to minimize the risk. If something truly unforeseen happened, they would be the ones to sacrifice their lives for Ainz, Albedo, and Pero to escape, preferably with the mind-control world item in their hands.
Pero was the first of the two to arrive, tensing up Rubedo. The angelic golem had insisted on guarding Ainz till the last moment of the operation, and the only reason she couldn't accompany Ainz for the mission was that she could not teleport on her own. Albedo had tried to teach her sister new magic spells, but efforts were slow, to say the least. Rubedo's artificial mind worked differently than that of blood and flesh creatures and was very resistant to new information, preventing her from expanding her skill set despite no longer being shackled by the game's system.
"Relax. At worst, I'll just sucker-punch Ainz within the tomb." The avian addressed Rubedo's concerns in not the best way, leading to even more heightened tension.
"You shouldn't say such things to her. But if punching me is what you want then we could just get over it." Ainz gave a hand command for Rubedo to stand down.
"Like that will solve anything. Your tail will fuck me up if I do that anyway. If you want to make up for your fuckup, then be better. You are a leader, so act like one! When we needed your paranoid overthinking the most it wasn't there!"
"I know!" Ainz exhaled, "I know." 'If only it was that simple. I wasn't a leader of the guild. I mostly dealt with small disputes. He wants me to suddenly have all the answers when I didn't even do most of the planning. Why couldn't Punitto or Touch come online on the last day? With them maybe things would not have been so bad.'
Pero's anger towards him was completely understandable. He had let everyone do whatever they wanted from the day they arrived here. In hindsight, it was bound to end with something bad sooner or later, and it just so happened to be sooner.
"Would you have listened if I told you and Buku to not go out? Or deny Shallter's request to give her a mission?" Ainz needed to ask this question. If his friend was ready to put all his trust in his leadership, then he would have to step up and start commanding his friends, not just NPCs.
"I… you can't pin this on me!" Pero raised his voice as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed
"I am not pinning this on you. I sent her out. It is my fault what happened to Shalltear. I am asking if you would have listened if I had fully relied on my paranoid and overcautious side. Will you listen to me in the future?" Ainz questioned. His emotional suppression and the growing undead side let him remain calm, even in this emotional situation.
Pero raised his hand and covered his eyes, letting out a low growing sound. "I failed her. I fucking failed my daughter! Is that what you want to hear?"
"No. I want to know if you are just venting your anger or asking me to become your superior and order you around. I don't know what exactly you expect, but I didn't ask for this position. As you saw I can't even step down if I want to. You and the others just expect me to know everything! I- Everyone, leave us!" Ainz suddenly stopped and addressed his bodyguard.
"Master there is a chance-" Rubedo protested, but Ainz cut her off,
"I said leave! I will be fine."
Rubedo pressed her lips together and flipped around, leaving the room together with the mercenary units.
"Here is your chance. Vent your anger! Hit me! Blame me for everything."
Pero moved. Moved faster than Ainz could react, even with his in-game experience. The avian's fist connected with his face. But the pain was barely there. If Pero had hit with full force, he knew he wouldn't remain standing. He didn't move or even show any outward reaction as if the avian just hit a stone statue.
'He held back. Despite everything Pero doesn't want to hurt me for the mistake I made.'
"You know, I kinda expect you would do that from day one. If you would have forbid me and Buku to go on an adventure, I would've called you an asshole but stayed." Pero raised his arm again to swing once more, winding up his speed. "I have no idea what to do! I was just some guy a few weeks ago. I needed someone like you to tell me that this world is dangerous. That this is not a game anymore. That people we care for could get hurt. You wanted to come with us!"
He took a step back and blinked at Ainz as if realizing something. "Man… you…" He let out a long exhale and mumbled. "You were the same. Fuck, man, I didn't even consider that you had just as little idea as me of what to do…"
Pero slowly slid down the wall till he was sitting on the stone floor, slumped over.
'He wants my guidance, but how can I give him that?' Ainz stared at his friend and took a step towards him. The overlord side of him yearned to take charge. The side of him that started to become more dominant the moment he had his inner dialogue when he had to choose between accepting or rejecting Albedo. But it would have to be… modified to fit the situation.
"I will do my best to lead Nazarick, but I cannot do it alone. I need you and others to help me." Ainz extended his arm towards Pero.
"I guess we both need to get it together." Pero glanced up and grabbed onto Ainz's hand with the intent of helping him stand.
"That we do and we will. We accepted our roles as Gods, now is the time to start acting like ones."
"Yeah, let's go punish some mortal shits for crossing us." He chuckled.
"Agreed. Let's start."
{ You can come back in. } Ainz messaged Rubedo and the mercenary team.
With Albedo arriving with the rest the team was assembled. His girlfriend seemed worried at first, but upon seeing him standing in one piece she visibly relaxed.
"We are teleporting in on three. Remember to prioritize safety," Ainz instructed everyone one last time and started the counting.
"One, two, three." He cast the teleport spell and stood right in front of the chair the old woman was sitting on. Before Kaire could even react, he cast time stop and dimensional lock in rapid succession, ensuring the local region could go absolutely nowhere. The rest of the team appeared in the room, quickly locking onto the nearest targets and spreading out ready to strike once the time stop ended.
Ainz took a step forward and applied paralysis on his right hand. The moment time resumed its endless flow, his palm touched the old woman, sending its magic straight through her nerves. In the background, he heard the rest striking their targets with speed and precision.
Not wasting any time, he tore off the world item of the old woman and slammed it into his inventory as quickly as he could, all while the rest of the house's occupants were gathered in the same room either immobilized or dead.
"That's all of them. I do not sense any other presence." Albedo reported, her voice slightly muffled because of the full plate helmet.
"I am removing the dimensional lock in ten seconds and casting gate. Move them through as fast as possible." Ainz replied and cast the spell that would remove all evidence of their involvement. "[Delay magic: Explosion]."
As the seconds ticked by the precast gate, it would appear simultaneously with the dimensional lock removed. The return home went on without a hitch and moments later all of them were in the same stone room of the coliseum.
After ordering mercenary units to deliver the prisoners to Demiurge, he asked Albedo. "Has Shalltear's status changed?"
"No, she is still hostile."
"Wait! Then all this was for nothing!" Pero roared.
"Calm down. We have the world item. All we have to do is for someone to equip it and release Shalltear. I am not familiar with this particular one so I don't know why she wasn't freed the moment I removed it from that creature. Perhaps there are other conditions to this one." Ainz explained his reasoning for why Shalltear was still mind-controlled.
"Then let's go!" Pero urged him and instantly teleported away, no doubt directly to his daughter's prison.
Ainz, with Albedo and Rubedo, followed suit, taking out the Downfall of Castle and Country from his inventory.
"We need someone to put this on." He awkwardly stated, not daring to suggest Pero himself put on the dress as he held it out.
The avian looked at the cloth, then looked up at Ainz's face, and then back at the dress. "I mean Albedo can do it, right? It's not like she's limited to one world item."
"Albedo." He handed the world item over to her.
The succubus removed her armor and put on the dress that Ainz had to admit fit her like a glove. Albedo smoothed out the fabric of the dress and turned towards Shalltear.
"Done. Control over Shalltear is removed," Albedo reported as she moved forward.
All eyes instantly were on Shalltear as Albedo opened the prison control panel and released her from the chains.
The young vampire sluggishly glanced around and, moments later began to shake. She was hyperventilating, shivering as her power rose, concerning everyone nearby.
"Sweety!?" Pero practically charged through the bars barely opening the door.
Shalltear pushed him back, her whole body shaking. She raised her hands and glared at them intently while mumbling under her breath. "I attacked Lord Ainz. I failed. I am a traitor. I-" She suddenly rammed her right hand into her chest with an audible crack, deep enough to hide her entire hand.
"Shalltear!?" Pero grabbed her, trying to stop her daughter's suicide attempt as he attempted to pull Shalltear's arm out.
Ainz looked at the scene in horror and, mostly on instinct shouted. "Shalltear I forbid you to harm yourself!"
She instantly pulled her hand out of the hole in her chest and allowed it to heal.
"Ainz what the hell is going on!? Why is she reacting like this?"
"Shalltear, explain yourself!" It was the Albedo who barked an order at the vampire.
"I failed! I am a traitor!" Shalltear shrieked, tears streaking from her eyes.
"You are not a traitor. We caught the one who took control of you and I swear on the name of Ainz Ooal Gown that wretched woman will never get the release of death. We will invent new ways of suffering to deliver appropriate punishment. Rise and know you are not to be blamed!" Ainz now fully leaned on his authoritative side, knowing that would be needed at the moment.
"Lord Ainz, I told them about the Tomb and the Supreme Ones! I attacked you. How can I not be held responsible!?" Shalltear sobbed. She was still shaking like a leaf in the wind despite being securely held in Pero's grasp.
"Sweety, you were mind-controlled. It is not your fault. Let's go, get you something to eat and rest a bit, OK?" Pero grabbed his daughter as securely as he could and picked her up in a princess carry, which Shallter did not resist.
{ Look after her. I fear she might try hurting herself again. } Ainz messaged the avian who had already disappeared from the prison.
{ You don't have to tell me that. } Pero replied, teleporting away.
"Ainz, should I keep this item for now? It may become handy if a strong enemy shows up," Albedo asked.
'Should I let her have it? I have no doubt Albedo won't abuse it, not that it would work on anyone with world items in the first place. And she does look good in it,' Ainz thoroughly studied Albedo up and down.
The world item in the shape of a dress was a bit more conservative looking than her default outfit, not that he complained. The dress reached her ankles but gave a plentiful view of her legs as the dress was split up to the waist on both sides. It also was a high cut, unlike Albedo's main outfit, and had a golden thread Chinese dragon image soaring up throughout the dress.
"Yes. I think you can keep it, but do not equip it all the time. It is better not everyone knows you have it, especially outside entities."
"Of course. What are your further orders?" Albedo inquired while changing back to her default look.
"Let Pero and Shalltear rest a bit, and then we need to decide how we will retaliate against the Slane Theocracy. That nation had made themselves our enemy."
"Understood. I will inform the rest of the Supreme Ones," Albedo nodded.
'They will pay a thousand times over for what they did to one of our own. We will erase that country's very existence from the world. I… don't want to rush things. They must suffer slowly,' His thoughts suddenly changed from a deep desire to crush Slane Theocracy immediately to slowly destroying their legacy and making them suffer for a long time, not that he noticed. Leaders had to think slowly at times, and he had finally truly accepted his role as the leader of Nazarick.
Editing by aidan_lo.
Proofreading by Saphire_Drake, clagan, Lightflan, aidan_lo, LionLover, NuggetLover, x4x, KieraKieraARTS, and Milk.
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