**Calca's POV**
In the Holy Kingdom, things had been turned upside down.
A letter had arrived from the Sorcerer King, stating that the Abelion Hills had been conquered and that the Demon King Jaldabaoth had been eradicated.
Additionally, he kindly asked when the next meeting—which he called a "bilateral meeting" or whatever that meant—would take place.
This news was shared with some surrounding nations: the Dwarven Kingdom, Re-Estize, the Baharuth Empire, and the Draconic Kingdom.
As if that weren't enough, a group of merchants and adventurers from the Sorcerer Kingdom claimed to have passed through the Abelion Hills without incident.
Of course, these merchants came with golems and adventurers as their bodyguards, but even so, crossing the Abelion Hills directly was considered suicide.
To make matters worse, the letter referred to the Abelion Hills as "Sorcerer Kingdom territory pending colonization."
"Do you still think the undead brings anything good?"
"This… seemed reasonable when I spoke with him…"
"Liches are known for being cunning, though I admit he made a good first impression," said Kelart, the High Priestess.
"I agree with Onee-sama. You have to be careful with liches."
They were heading to court to discuss with the nobles what the course of action should be in this case.
"Your Majesty, you must do something. An undead or whatever is at our borders, claiming to rule over the demihumans. Let's attack the demihumans before they attack us," a noble from Loyts spoke, echoed by several northern nobles.
The northerners were the ones who suffered the most from demihuman attacks, so they were the most susceptible to this.
The southerners, however, had a different opinion. "While he's a disgusting undead, his products are of high quality and even innovative," said another noble, this time from the south of Kebe.
"The southerners would sell the country for his gifts," a noble from Prart (north) responded.
"The merchants sell us runic weapons made by dwarves, an item that lets you see an enemy's mana, golems as labor, and even a strange purple potion more effective than the normal ones," said the same noble from Kebe.
"It's a trap!"
I had to stop this. It's not good for the citizens to argue.
Ainz Ooal Gown didn't seem like an undead to me. He sought to adapt and even had the audacity to propose marriage…
"Gentlemen, don't fight. I will go speak with the Sorcerer King myself. I'll discover his intentions."
"We can't let the Holy Queen near a demon."
I sighed internally. All the men treated her like an object, not their queen.
"Don't worry, my faithful servant. I have the Nine Colors to protect me."
"Yes, Your Highness."
x-x-x-x-x
**Ramposa's POV**
In the palace of Valencia, the king was having the worst days of his life.
"An undead killing a demon, huh?"
His informant had told him that Jaldabaoth died in the Abelion Hills at the hands of his son's killer.
Because of the Sorcerer King, his champion had died, as well as 2% of his nation's population.
The death of the Warrior Captain, Gazef Stronoff, had dragged him further into madness, to the point that when the adventurer team Blue Roses couldn't resurrect Gazef, he couldn't contain himself and struck Miss Aindra.
Was it his fault? His weakness for not being able to control the corrupt nobles?
Even his firstborn son, Barbro, was dead.
Had he messed up so badly?
And now it turns out that this undead bastard wants his merchants and adventurers to pass through my country to who-knows-what with the Abelion Hills. Do they have a death wish? Has being subjects of the Sorcerer Kingdom driven them mad? No one survived crossing the Abelion Hills.
And lastly, it seems Queen Calca will come to the kingdom to go to the Sorcerer Kingdom and speak with the undead or whatever his informants say.
This is all a disaster. It seems I'll have to resign from the throne.
I just hope the gods help Zanack.
x-x-x-x
**Jircniv's POV**
I had just recovered from my chronic stomach pains when I received news of the so-called "trade agreement" between Calca and Ainz.
This showed that Ainz Ooal Gown wasn't a normal undead lord. Beyond his power, he could be as kind to those who followed him as he was cruel to those who threatened him.
That's what made him so terrifying, in Jircniv's opinion. He was a monster who could disguise himself.
This was something everyone had realized.
I had an idea based on Pe Riyuro's accounts—how he wiped out half his species in the blink of an eye and later, as if it were nothing, relocated them to the Abelion Hills with a portal.
Nimble still had recurring nightmares of the massacre he had witnessed.
I just hope the empire isn't destroyed.
x-x-x-x
**Raymond's POV**
Even the Pontifex Maximus is worried.
I've always believed I'm one of the calmer cardinals. As the Cardinal of Earth and commander of the Six Scriptures, a bit of tranquility and calm is necessary.
However, the situation was making everyone a bit nervous.
In half a year, an undead of incredible power had settled in a city of Re-Estize, made it his own, and improved it considerably, according to spies. Finally, he defeated the demon who attacked Re-Estize: Jaldabaoth.
Well, saying he improved it considerably would be an understatement.
He improved it unimaginably.
His contacts in the empire told him of the wealth and growth they had been experiencing due to the policies the Sorcerer King had established. They had heard of the establishment of mandatory education centers and state-sponsored trade schools where students would learn multiple trades and decide which suited them best—an idea that even impressed Dominic.
Not only that, he created new potions, new magical items, sold golems, built orphanages, and used undead en masse as labor.
Informants even said he created new "games" for entertainment called soccer and basketball, all for the citizens' enjoyment.
"It's a trap!" shouted Dominic. "He's gathering people for a grand sacrifice. We must act now."
"We already know an undead can't be good, Dominic. It's just that we don't want a Pyrrhic victory. We must gather information first," said Berenice to the Cardinal of Wind.
"Before the Demon takes over the entire known world? He already has E-Rantel, the Baharuth Empire, the Abelion Hills, and now somehow he's making deals with the Holy Kingdom of Roble, even though they're almost as religious as us. Damn it, he's even stealing our influence in the Draconic Kingdom with a cursed Death Knight," said Maximilian, the Cardinal of Darkness.
At that, everyone fell silent. It was clear the undead was drawing people in with his influence.
"We can't do anything. We cut ties with the Holy Kingdom long ago because the demihumans blocked the way. As for the Draconic Kingdom, we must deploy the Scriptures to regain our influence, or we simply can't compete," said Zinedine, the Cardinal of Water, pragmatically.
"Or we can assassinate the whore queen if she seeks relations with an undead," Dominic gave his opinion.
"It's too risky, though we could pose as citizens of Re-Estize. It would make sense—Re-Estize was their main trading partner before this 'trade agreement,'" said Yvon, the Cardinal of Light.
"You're forgetting something. We don't know if the queen's brother, Caspond, would act the way we want."
"No, but the nobles wanted nothing to do with an undead. We'll spread rumors that Queen Calca was killed by the Sorcerer King."
"Votes in favor of sending the 12th Seat of the Black Scripture, Tenjho Tenge," the Pontifex spoke seriously for the first time.
"Against," I said. It's too dangerous.
"In favor," Dominic didn't hesitate.
"Against," Berenice, the Cardinal of Fire.
"Against," Zinedine.
"In favor," Maximilian.
"In favor," Yvon concluded.
"It's a tie. Do you want to end this nonsense, Pontifex?" I said.
There was no way we were sending an agent to kill the ruler of a human nation.
"Yes, to prevent the influence of evil in this human world, we must take drastic measures. We cannot let another human nation fall into the hands of the Sorcerer King."
It can't be.
"I vote in favor."
"Good. It seems we've ended this nonsense," Dominic gave me a mocking look.
May the Six help us.