"..." Shalltear eyes slowly opened, and with a blank look she looked around for a moment before the words of someone unknown to her entered her ears... no, she knew this person. but from where? She struggled to recall such a memory, and instantly it hit her.
She lay there, paralyzed. She remembered it all, how she added Ainz, and even attacked another one of the supreme beings. tears fell down her eyes, what greater shame was there than being the one to have betrayed the supreme being?
"Renner is smart. I'm curious, Demiurge. how smart do you think she is? By the way, you can all raise." Dracula asked with a smile, Demiurge who was kneeling respectfully. all of the floor gardens looked up, and seeing Ainz nodding towards them, they all stood up.
"I believe her intelligence rivals both mine and Albedo's. out of all of the people to come out of that kingdom, she is the only useful being within. in some areas, she might even be better than us." Demiurge said, stunning everyone. Ainz was the most shocked,
"I knew I found a gem. my gut feeling never fails me. Also, I found out that players have been in this world before. 600 years ago the 6 great gods who are being worshipped by the Slane Theocracy. but 100 years later, the 8 Greed Kings appeared. they went on to conquer the world, but they ended up killing each other, which is why they got their name." I said calmly, to which Ainz frowned deeply, although his fleshless body didn't show.
"All 6 Great gods have died, and the same is true for the 8 greedy kings. I don't know if there is a pattern, how know? new players would appear 100 years from now, or new players appear every 100 years. maybe empty guilds have been appearing, and no one knows." I said calmly, to which Ainz's heart grew heavy... although he didn't have one.
"Oh, Shalltear is awake," I said while walking over to Shalltear, the sound of her tears hitting the floor was what let me know she woke up since I was blind and all.
"Shalltear, are you alright?" Ainz asked in a warm soft voice, while getting to one knew, and recovering her tears. Shalltear had no arms, she was of no danger unless she used magic to attack him, but seeing her tears, he understood that the mind control was not working.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened..." Shalltear worlds were a mess, through her tears, she madly tried to explain everything. She was okay with dying, but dying while being titled as a traitor would be her greatest shame.
"come down, it's all Momonga's fault, not yours," I said stunning everyone in the room, Ainz looked at me, to which I just shrugged.
"Even I went on guard and watched my steps. but then again, this does bring up the question if Shalltear was being targeted or what. either way, we all underestimated this world in some way shape, or form." I said calmly, to which Ainz sighed softly, he waved his hand to stop Albedo who wanted to say something before speaking.
"He is right... Dracula is rarely careful. the fact he was more careful than me, shows my mistakes. this is all my fault Shalltear. you need not blame yourself." Ainz said softly, making Shalltear's tears grow.
"let her rest. I gave you the Necklace of Everlasting Life. Your hands should be back by tomorrow. Until then, rest and collect our thoughts. I find writing things down is the best way to collect your thoughts, so try it out." I said calmly while helping Shalltear up.
"How would she write?" Ainz asked while glaring at me. I froze for a moment before an awkward look appeared on my face.
"I couldn't allow me to attack me when using that skill, I was a seating target at that moment. since the only form of attack she had was with her hands or lance, disarming her was the best action to take... right?" I said with a bitter smile,
"... Dracula, that reminds me. do you still have the blood of the Immortal phoenix?" Ainz asked, making me freeze for a moment. the Blood Of the Immortal Phoenix could only be gained during the Phoenix Hunt, an event where the Phoenix appear. the Phoenix was nearly unkillable. even if it died, it could come back to life an extra 9 times, and it had flames said to be able to burn the root of the World Tree YGGDRASIL
I killed it all 9 tails, it tried to escape and wait for its 9 rebirths to recharge, but I killed it. In that event, I killed a total of 10 phoenixes, and among them was the Blood Of The Immortal Phoenix, along with a few things I used to create gear.
I had used the blood of the immortal phoenix, in the game, there was this king known as the King Of Greed. A Man who was in hold of a unique jar that was unable to increase the amount of just about anything that could fit inside. this went for items, scrolls, and so on. So long as one gives it time, then the jar would increase the amount of things within.
The King Of Greed was a man who normally needed a whole team to fight, they would have to plan things out, and target for the King Of Greed's weaknesses. even then, it would take hours. the same was true for me, it took me hours when I was fighting the guy by myself. but I managed to kill him, and with it, I managed to get my hands on his jar.
the thing with drop chances is it increases the fewer people do a dungeon or something like that. So when I entered the King Of Green Dungeon and cleared it all by myself, I was capable of getting most of the best drops without having to do it over and over.
Anyway, I got the Jar of Greed and put the Blood Of the Immortal Phoenix within. I reached into my storage and pulled out the jar. A blood-red air appeared in many heads. the jar had a face that had a greedy look on it, with some unique golden lines running along the jar's body.
instantly, the air was overwhelmed by the air of heated life. everyone there felt their health improving. this blood was divine grade, capable of healing just about anything without trouble. both the undead and living could be healed. it even had a chance of turning undead back into the living. it could even bring back the dead if one is lucky.
"What a shame... I was hoping it would be overflowing." I said softly, sighing, I healed the jar out, and slowly a drop of blood fell on top of Shalltear's head. Shalltear wanted to stop me from doing so, as she felt she was unworthy of such a treasure. but I was too quick, and the blood drop hit her.
slowly, a worth swallowed Shalltear, her arms which were cut off went to shot out of her shoulders. sure her armor didn't grow back, but she had returned to 100%. her armor could recover on her own, it was a magical item after all. it had self-recovery.
"perfect... I wonder how long it took for it to get full like this? how many drops do you think I have? 100? 1,000? either way, this is a cheat." I said with a nod of my head before I dropped one on myself. my eyes which were blinded at the moment recovered, giving me back my sight.
Ainz rubbed his chin slightly while looking at me, from his memory, I had countless divine-grade items. some I some I stole from others, and the rest I gained from drops. Off the top of his head, he could list over 10 divine grade items I had, that's not adding the 3 champaign grade items I made to get my hands on after becoming a world champaign.
Shalltear was sent off, with tears still in her eyes. After that, Ainz asked for the rest of the floor garden to give us space, where Ainz caught me up to everything, that happened after I was banished. it was sad hearing how everyone slowly left the guild one by one,
"Why me being banished a key reason for it?" I asked softly, making Ainz go quite slightly. while other guilds had more than 50, with some even having more than 100. their guild had a small 42... well, now it was 41. there was a reason for this. They didn't want spies who would try and sell their guild secrets.
but among them was Tratior. how did a world-class item affect Dracula who had 3 world class items? someone got close to him, someone within the guild. a new member, who went on to secretly leave the guild and use the world item on Dracula when his guard was down.
5 steps went into attacking the great tomb of Nazarick, which many guilds took. The first was to try and remove Dracula from the problem. the first step was to get close to a member of their guild. This they did through Touch Me. The second was to join the guild, which with the help of Touch Me, they managed to do.
the 3rd was to get close to Dracula and get his help in clearing a dungeon. Dracula wanting to show off to the new guys was more than willing, so he easily agreed. getting close to Dracula was the easiest part of the plan.
now, while within the dungeon, cut connection from the outside world, and secretly leave the guild. this would allow you to harm and target your former guild member. From there, find a moment to use the world item on Dracula.
But it was not so simple, they used two world items. one to banish Dracula, and the second to boost the effect of the first world item to the point that although he couldn't be gone forever, he should be gone long enough for them to attack. 3 years was something no one expected, they thought it would be a month or something. but for 3 years the game wouldn't be able to see Dracula, they were more than happy.
now, the 5th step was to attack the great tomb of Nazarick. many guilds attack, clearing the first and 7th floors. but they were all slaughtered on the 8th. As for the one who banished Dracula, the whole guild kept PKing him until he quit the game.
But Touch Me blamed himself for what happened, and remember how I said there were fights within the guild? well, this whole thing only increased the fights. in the end, Touch Me was the first to leave, and slowly others followed leaving Momonga who did everything in his power to keep the great Tomb of Nazarick running. of course, there was another reason why they left, the real world sucked and to survive they couldn't stay in the game... but still, Dracula became a topic that left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.
they knew Dracula was a cripple in real life. they all knew this was his way of escape, and they were his only friend. now for all of that to just be taken away from him. they felt some degree of guilt.
"I'm sorry..." I said softly, to which Ainz just shook his head. the old friend he once knew had changed, the first sign of this was how Dracula was on guard with the idea of returning to the guild. he was being careful, Dracula is never careful. Dracula was the type of person to give a party of level 100 time to attack or whatever, then when they all realized how outclassed they were. he jumps in and begins a slaughter. this one time he even healed them, just to bet them down to 1 HP, and heal them back up. so many people quit the game, cursing at how broken he was.
But Dracula is only broken once he starts moving, so long as he stands still, he could easily be one shot. hell, he is weaker than most level 100. but to get him to stand still is nearly impossible. then there was his world item, even if you do kill him, he would just pop back up. so what?
"What did you do after being banished?" Ainz asked, to which I strengthened my head awkwardly. remembering how it was for me after I was banished, after crying and destroying my headset in rage, I quickly accepted my fate and texted everyone as soon as I could.
"Well, I got to work. play games, be the best, and sell... and repeat. I was close to leaving Earth. but I don't want to go back. no matter what. I fear if I die, I will go back to hell. So I don't plan on dying any time soon." I said with a smile, to which Ainz nodded slightly.
"do you think the other could have come?" Ainz asked to which I shook my head slightly,
"unlikely, and honestly... I don't want the same thing that happened to 8 Greed King to play out. Don't worry, I have no interest in being a ruler. although the image of me having a castle to myself, with a nice throne sounds cool. picture it. people entering the throne room, only to see me cooly sitting on the throne. but other than for cool moments like those, I have no interest in ruling." I said calmly, leaving Ainz speechless, but he had to admit, I did look like the Lord Of All Vampires. and as he pictured the scene... it did look cool.
we talked for some time, from speaking of our past to what the future of Ainz Ooal Gown would be. Our first goal was simple, find those who tried to brainwash Shalltear pay. So I let, returning to Renner's room.
Renner was still looking at the Eye Of Oden, she wasn't rude enough to touch me, but looking at it wasn't bad right? plus, the slime that had taken on Demiurge form was looking at her, daring her to touch her master's master stuff.
"Well, I'm back," I said calmly, Renner just smiled at me. although behind that smile was weird,
"Thanks for your help these past few days. but I shall now be returning to the Great Tomb of Nazarick... what do you think about being my guest?" I said with a smile, stunning Renner
"You want me to come to the great tomb of Nazarick? would I be welcome?" She asked, to which I nodded slightly.
"yeah, I feel like you might fit in. You would be welcome," I said with a smile, making Renner quiet for a moment before she nodded with a real smile,
"then are we friends?" She asked, making me pause for a moment... did I make a friend? I was quiet for some time, thinking about it. but in the end, I nodded. why not? I could see myself being friends with this girl... is this the first friend I made outside the game?
"then I shall be leaving, you can call me whenever you wish," I said with a smile, before disappearing. Renner sat there for a moment, Dracula was gone, the slime was gone, and the same was for the eye of Oden.
"We friends..." She said with a soft smile. her first ever real friend... a few days back, when Dracula spoke about how Climb only liked her little act, and not the true Renner... it hurt. it hurt. Dracula was accepted for who he was, while the only reason she was accepted by anyone was because of her act.
She knew this, but she avoided thinking of such a thing. in the end, she realized one thing. she was not human, she was more of a monster than a human. her and Dracula were so much alike, she couldn't help but wonder. could they be friends? could Dracula's unmatched power, and her unmatched intelligence, they were both amongst the best in their fields. so they could...
but now they were friends. her first ever real friend. she had a friend, she had a friend who accepted her for who she was. She was even invited to his place... she couldn't wait,