The battle was over. When Ains reached, thirsty for vengeance... there was no one to vent to, no one to take the super-tier magic he was ready to launch. All he found was a massive pond where the clearing next to the great forest of tob used to be.
From one day to the next, an ocean formed here. And sinking deep into the ocean was what remained of the crumbling Nazarick. Destroying it and drowning it, was it a sign of ridicule... or mercy?
For Ains, who currently levitated mid-air at the top, it could only be ridiculed. Whatever fueled his rage.
'I arrived into this world by myself. They didn't come with me... the least I could do was protect it. Guys, it is all on me... you can blame me'.
"Ains-sama, we only managed to find Nigredo and Pestonya... that last dot, it is inaccessible" Aura and Mare carried two bodies out of the pond after using barrier spells and swimming inside for nearly three hours, moving debris and destroying whatever was necessary to go deeper. But they couldn't find the third individual.
He knew three NPCs were still alive underneath; his map told him so.
The two NPCs were unconscious and heavily injured, nearly crushed by the debris and lucky enough to find themselves in an air pocket underneath the pond.
"I will look for her myself".
A gigantic water-like serpent manifested underneath him. Ains sank into the pond, wanting to see the destruction for himself and willing to do anything to save whatever remained, even if it was just a powerless homunculus.
For hours, he searched and destroyed the guild that he so much cherished, so long as he could save just one more life. Aura and Mare waited and guarded in the surface until the night fell on them.
Until finally, on the tenth floor, more than a hundred metres beneath the surface, he found her. She was unconscious, the corpses of the other humunculus trying to protect her from the weight of the debris created an scene that Ains would never be able to forget.
"Osiris... I swear..."
Ains picked her up and commanded the serpent to swim back to the surface through the holes they had made in order to reach the pond's bed.
The last surviving one of the forty-one homunculus maids, Cixous.
Aura and Mare rejoiced with his return, with the blonde maid in his arms with ragged clothes, he had healed her along the way. When she woke up, the first thing she did was cry against her master's embrace.
"A-Ains-sama... all of them!".
"I know... I know... you can cry, Cixous".
The maid cried, possibly recalling those last moments in which she walked along the tenth floor alongside her homunculus partners, cleaning the treasury, when, seemingly out of nowhere, the whole floor collapsed on top of them with the weight of a hundred mountains.
It has all been too quickly. Ains had a summon carry the three bodies of his last NPCs while he gave the drowned Nazarick one last glance.
A sea of pests and putrid miasma shot out his skeletal palm towards the sea below, transforming it from a shiny blue pond into a poisonous hell. No one was allowed in Nazarick. That was his selfishness.
'Even in this state, I won't allow anyone from removing a single more rock. Osiris, when I kill you, you will be buried in this poisonous lake alongside your companions. As atonement'.
<5th Tier: Trace Aura!>
Another spell was cast in the surroundings, approximately two kilometres around, in the surface all over the pond of the clearing, steps shone up, forming a trail of the different people that had been in this area for the last few days.
The stronger the aura, the more they shone.
Among them, there were a pair of steps that shone like the sun, so bright they almost illuminated the whole lake. Ains groaned and followed those steps with his eye into the forest, there were steps in the trees too.
'Four of them... all of them extremely strong'.
There were also gigantic steps, which he assumed belonged to the gigantic kitsune Yasaka Okami, the one with the title of 'Heretic Priestess' who he had met before alongside Elysir, The Primordial Star Core.
He saw the steps, but he didn't follow them.
"We are not ready. I'll make sure to get ready to annihilate you with a hundred per cent certainty. It is not time to shed tears".
"Ains-sama?".
"Aura, Mare... we will conquer this world in less than a year. And then... with the whole strength this world has to offer, I'll massacre Osiris and bury him in Nazarick as an atonement. Will you two help me?" He asked them, his voice feeling guilty as, perhaps deep inside, not so confident that they would be able to achieve such an ambitious objective.
Nazarick was completely destroyed.
The guild system shattered.
The strongest NPC, Rubedo, was defeated.
Floor guardians Cocytus, Demiurge, Victim and Gargantua were defeated.
He couldn't claim to be able to achieve any of those on his own, and none of the strongest members of the clan, Ains Ooal Gown, could muster that much power. This time, the enemy was not a Demon King, a powerful general, or a seasonal game last boss.
The enemy was a merciless, selfish, and powerful God and his Godly subordinates, each with strength enough to make a Demon King and his army look like a crowd of crawling babies.
He knew Nazarick's strength, which is why this outcome was so unbelievable. Even as he witnessed the crumbled great tomb, it still felt surreal.
...
"Of course, Ains-sama! They must pay for what they have done!" Both elves couldn't agree more. Blood had to be spilt before any of them could ever be satisfied.
A lifelong enmity.
**
**
I have worked hard just for this. Ever since I tasted his hands, I haven't been able to forget you, Ray-sama.
I have done everything in my power. Usurped churches, destroyed powerful adventurers, refined the lives of those powerful enough into mere catalyst crystals... anything in my power to raise a fitting sacrifice for you, Ray-sama.
All I wanted you to do was lay down as you teased my core one more time. I don't ask that you make me stronger than I currently am; I'm not that selfish... all I ask is that you will treat me kindly as you did that day, with your guard down, preferably alone in the room with no bystanders.
Then you would let me taste you, lick you all over without asking for so much as a munch, just a little lick.
Then why?
Why did you do it?!
We received the report; we moved to the city of E-Rantel, where we met Ains-sama and the survivors. Of all the forces of Nazarick... is this all there is left? I loved my home so much, the big house our supreme beings created. Is this all that's left?
"Henceforth, Osiris and his subordinates are our deadliest enemies. Our main objective in this world is their erasure. But we are weak... weaker than ever; to become stronger, we must segment our forces in this world until we can create a new Nazarick that will be way stronger than the one we had known," Ains-sama said, his face sad, his bones withered and yet trying to give us strength.
I watched from the back. Next to me stood Albedo-sama, with her gaze down. It is all her and Demiurge's fault. No one will say it out loud, but that is the truth.
She grits her teeth and possibly overlooked more than a thousand scenarios in which she tore Ray-sama apart with her very nails. Ains-sama wants to motivate us... but the atmosphere of vengeance is palpable.
"Our first objective is to take over E-Rantel and set it up as an undead hub of operations. It will be our temporary new Nazarick. For that, I need your help, Solution".
Ains-sama addressed me; I didn't expect it... does he want me to do 'that'? No... it can't be. It is my sacrifice.
"Yes, Ains-sama?".
"As a Black Elder Ooze, you should have abilities that will assist this swift conquer. If I am not wrong, Osiris and his subordinates should have headed towards the Baharut Empire, which means we have no temporal hindrances in our conquest. Solution, I want you to use your abilities as an elder slime to devour and supplant the identities of every single aristocrat deciding in E-Rantel" His eyes shone with viciousness.
We all gasped at the sheer wickedness of his methods. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but lick my lips.
"I understand, Ains-sama; I will perform this task for you, but please allow me to do it alone".
"You mean?" He frowned. I think Ains-sama is not in the mood to be questioned, but I can't let this chance go.
"I feel sad and uncomfortable at the loss of my sisters." I looked at Gamma; she heard my words soured. She and I were the only two left from the Pleiades.
"Hence, I would like some time to be alone and think things over, Ains-sama... please allow me to perform this mission alone. In the name of the new Nazarick, I shall finish this task in less than two weeks".
"Two weeks?" Shaltear frowned, but I nodded, cleaning the tears that fell from my eyes.
"I shall work steadfastly as not to delay Nazarick's conquest and vengeance".
"Very well, Solution. But I will tell you the same I have told Aura and Mare. Your safety is above everything. Osiris is not the only threat in this world; remember, we know next to nothing of the political spectrum. I aim to obtain all the information we can from the aristocrats in E-Rantel and then expand our influence in the region. No one must know the true nature of E-Rantel once we take over".
"I understand, my merciful supreme being." I bowed down, my legs shivering, and I resisted the urge to laugh.
"Then I shall start right away".
Without saying another word, I left the abandoned mansion's hall. Walking out of it and into the woods, leaning against a tree, checking myself up.
My whole body quivered at the thought. I imagined him destroying Nazarick with a strong hand. Those same hands he used to touch my body... how could he? How could he destroy my home?
I bit my lips, and my hand snuck inside my body, touching my core softly like he did... not managing to come even close to how it felt to be done by him.
"Ray-sama, how could you...? How could you make me your enemy?! I wanted you to touch me... no, you can still touch me. I can't let this go; I have been waiting for too long".
I even lost the best sacrifice. How much time I lost with that bastard Walter, allowing him to court me just so his value in my heart would increase. To sacrifice my lover for Ray-sama... wouldn't that be a fitting sacrifice? Wouldn't that give me a greater session quality?
"Horus".
...
I received no answer, and my core panicked.
"Horus... please answer me".
[What do you wish for, Solution? You should know that contact between us is–].
"Has Ray-sama banned me?"
[He hasn't... yet].
"He won't... I haven't made out my mind yet; it is too soon for you to discard me as your enemy".
[I can't rule out the possibility of your consciousness being controlled or tampered with; as such, further sessions with you may result in a liability to my master].
"I'm not being controlled! I want to book a session".
[Right now is not the time–].
"When is it going to be? I need it!".
Horus wasn't listening to me; it couldn't end like this. I need his hands on me at least one last time; I need to make up my mind. Loyalty, duty... I can't think of any of that when I'm so thirsty.
I need him to touch me.