Chapter 10
"Welcome to our conference room" said Ainz, he had used a gate to transport everyone to the ninth floor, while in normal circumstances teleportation was limited and from the outside into Nazarick was impossible, he found he could do so while he was on [The Throne of Kings] the world item allowed him to tweak the settings of Nazarick to his liking, without compromising too much. It was the particular reason why he had to meet visitors in the throne room, and he knew it gave an impressive impression of himself and his organization.
Ainz was worried, while it seemed like everyone was very well impressed, the gawking expressions on most people saw to that, he saw there were a few people giving him pretty weird looks, the first being that Elf King. he didn't know too much about their kingdom, he didn't have time to send anyone over to investigate thoroughly, but he gambled on bringing him to the summit and perhaps making friendly ties with him. Another individual who seemed odd was the Platinum Dragonlord, Ainz had heard of the Argland High Council and heard that one of them was extremely powerful and while he did seem strong it wasn't really by much, though he understood most of this world would no be considered very powerful by his standards. He was nonetheless interested in how he had acquired his armour, it was an item from Yggdrasil, one of the weapon sets from the Dragon Tamer class, something he knew a bit about from his days soloing for funds and gathering information. The class itself was not very strong but it was effective against dragons and other draconic races, he figured that with his levels he might even be able to force Sebas into his second form if they fought.
"Thank you, your Majesty, forgive us for being so distracted, this place is simply beyond imagination" spoke the little girl called Draudillon
She seemed extremely pleasant, though he had heard from Jircniv that she was much older than what she appeared, and apparently was a true dragonlord, capable of using wild magic. He was very interested in bringing her over to his side and hoped that being able to help with her country's affairs she would be willing to work with him.
"I am honoured by your words, indeed this place was once the centre of our organization, myself and my comrades built this place for honest communication, we would mandate that here all were equal" he said as he remembered the days when each seat was filled, when they would discuss their plans for raiding, or plan a mission, the memories seemed bittersweet with these new faces occupying the seats, though he was happy to be able to use the conference room again, even just a little.
"Indeed your Majesty, clearly the Great Tomb of Nazarick is a tomb in name only, but if I may be so forward, I wish to begin, firstly with why we are all here." said one of the Cardinals, an old looking man, he believed he was the Cardinal of Water.
'At least he's being polite, the other guy seems just pissed, did I do something wrong already?'
He noticed one of the Cardinals was extremely guarded, his body language telling him of his negative emotions, and he made note to remember him, should anything happen.
"Of course, let us indeed begin, as was stated this summit is held to ensure peaceful coexistence, I find it is better to come together and speak on our problems and to ensure no misunderstandings occur, often it is the simple things which lead to great tragedy."
"Indeed you are correct my lord," said Jircniv, bowing slightly,
"Excuse my informal demeanor but I must be blunt, I have been alive for a very long time, and I have seen creatures such as you before, beings of unimaginable power, tell me, Sorcerer King, are you a being of that world, a player from Yggdrasil?" the Platinum Dragonlord spoke, he stared straight at Ainz
Ainz thanked his undead body for not being able to sweat, he was extremely caught off guard by the question but it did confirm a few of his prior beliefs, and it made sense now, but he needed more information, and clearly, this dragonlord might have some.
"Interesting, when I learned you inhabited the castle of the so-called Eight Kings of Aversive I had my doubts but when you came in that armour, it proved my suspicions true"
"His Armour?" the Worm Dragonlord asked
"Yes, it's a Relic class item, before I confirm or deny my being, tell me what do you know of Yggdrasil?" he said looking back at the Platinum Dragonlord.
The dragonlord seemed pensive, thinking about what to say.
"I know every hundred years or so beings from that place cross into our world, I do not know of the quantity or reason, but after I took Eryuentiu I began researching their archives and learned that the Kings originated from this place known as Yggdrasil, some have come as boons, leaving technology and magic while others have been destroyers, evil in their intentions. I have my suspicions that many large events within the past were influenced by the emergence of one or more of the inhabitants of that other world."
"It is as you say, while I do not know everything concerning the Kings of Aversive or other such beings, I have deduced that they must be from Yggdrasil," said Ainz, taking the time to think on this new information. He would have to consult with Demiurge and Albedo once this was over, he now had enough reason to go visit this floating city in the desert.
"Than it seems you are also like them, so what do you wish with our world?"
One could choke on the air, everyone seemed interested in his answer and Ainz was getting nervous, he didn't want to say the wrong thing and make more enemies.
"When I first arrived in this world, I was content in keeping to myself, while I did try to explore the surrounds, to ensure nothing could harm me or my precious children," he said that as a means to make himself seem peaceful before he continued:
"When I had heard of the appearance of powerful beings such as Jaldabaoth, I understood that I may not be able to keep hidden for very long, and indeed I was correct, once my realm was found I reasoned the best way to be of some measure in this world, I saw that there was dysfunction in how the people treated each other, and I wished to create even in some small manner a utopia in this world."
Ainz wanted as much sympathy as possible, he had to make a good impression to reduce the number of potential enemies, better friends and allies, than people to conspire against him.
"So you come to help our world, and what is this utopia?" asked the Cardinal of Earth,
"In whatever way I can, in truth, I simply wish to build a place where my children can be at peace, a world where my nation can find prosperity, and utopia is a term originating from another world I have visited, it is the pursuit of a perfect place, the creation of a peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence, where suffering and hatred are not factors."
"And you wish to create this utopia here?" asked the Cardinal of Earth, seeming very interested in the idea,
"I do, for it is within my power, I have seen too many worlds to not want such a thing, tell me what do you think would happen if the world was only run by humans?"
He wanted to gauge the reaction of some of the more extreme members in his audience,
"It would ensure our safety, we would be functional and prosperous finally." responded the old man
"That is indeed a possibility, but I will share with you another, this was a world I visited much too long ago, in it humans were the dominant race, ruling over the entire planet"
The humans in the room seemed chipper with the idea and the old man, beaming said: "and was it like you said, a utopia?"
"No, far from it, you see when there was no one else, humanities worst vices came to bear, in their greed they sought to outdo one another in both political and military means. Creating monstrosities of war and from the backs of their own people they built monoliths of earth and metal which produced smoke and fire, they drove technology forward at the expense of their own planet, leading to an eventuality where the very air was poison and many had to live in covered domes to avoid the death which walked just outside. This was worsened by how little regard was given to those who could not even earn their own living, the means of government was so corrupt that it no longer cared for the citizens, choosing instead to advance itself and its own interests."
As he said this the smiles began to fade and the picture he painted them took form,
"That can't be true, why would they do such a thing," asked one of the escorts behind the Cardinals
"I do not know of their motivations, but I know that it is easy to take advantage of someone when you hold a superior position, you forget their existence, reason away their individuality and turn them into an object, something which can be used and discarded, throughout my being I have found that differences do not make us weak, the unique components of a race or peoples can be used to cover the weaknesses of another, should we work together we can create something that is more powerful, more perfect than the sum of its parts. And I hope to create that here, if even for just my corner of this world."
Some stunned faces looked back on him and Ainz was almost sure he was getting closer to his goal.
"But you are undead, why do you care?"
Ainz laughed a little remembering the question from before, he looked at the leader of The Blue Roses and spoke
"Understand I do not laugh at you, it is a question I was asked prior, and now will answer, I find often people worry that I am to be a monster, some cruel form of evil"
There were some hesitant nods to this statement.
"I ask then, what makes evil, would you agree it is the actions of those with will and intent?"
The dragonlord seemed to think and nod to the reply,
"Than if that is the case, am I evil for what I have done?"
"Your actions on the Katze Plains.."
"Were justified" he responded quickly, cutting off the Pontifex Maximus,
"I had delivered to the King written demands, and ample time to deliver them, he responded by bringing force, and I utilized my power to crush that force, in a manner which would ensure no more would be needed. Yes, the loss of life was great, but if I had only done so much, more needless death would have followed more pointless wars, if you were capable of such, would any of you have done differently?"
He could tell they thought on that, he had at least gotten some who were on the fence, now he needed to reel them in.
"I seek peace, regardless of what I look like, in another world, there was a man, a human known as Martin Luther King, and to paraphrase a quote, he said; Do not judge solely based on one's appearance but rather on the content of one's character. This is the basis of my nation, regardless of creed, race, or species, I accept all whose character reflects the aspiration to be kind and good to their fellow being, something I believe my nation has succeeded in proving to be true."
Some of the dragonlords and other members nodded at his words,
"Do you plan to expand your nation then, to take us all into your fold?" asked the Dragon Queen, clearly probing for a different question.
"I intend to help all who wish it of me, and keep my borders and vassals safe, I hoped to show you all the benefit of cooperation, between Beastman, Demihuman and Humans, between living and dead, and how we can all live peacefully, that we can all coexist."
"We have already received a divine proclamation, that of the Six Great Gods" said the Cardinal of Wind lethargically
"I would not claim to know of their philosophy but in my eyes, raising one race above others is not the proper conduct of any gods"
At the mention of the Six Great Gods, the Cardinals of the Theocracy seemed to pin up, in fact, everyone had been listening with open ears to the exchange he figured they were considering his words, well at least most of them.
"Do not speak of our gods as if you know them, undead" said the Cardinal of WInd, there was a malic in his voice which surprised Ainz,
'This guy seems a little unhinged'
"Dominic!" said one the others, Berenice he believed her name was.
"I do not know of your supposed gods, but I can indeed infer they were players from Yggdrasil, for them to create a faith which idolizes only humanity would strike me as wrong, or short-sighted at the very least."
"Indeed I believe that to be so, and the six can safely be assumed to be players," said the Platinum Dragonlord,
"How dare you…" began one of the Cardinals
"The equipment your escorts carry, they are clearly of Yggdrasil, not particularly high-level weapons, but nonetheless identifiable, this all but confirms they were players"
The information seemed to stun some of them, the escorts look visibly shaken, and this spurred a retort from Dominic,
"How dare you continue this blasphemy" he looked as if he wanted to say more before again one of his peers refuted him,
"Dominic Enough!, Sorcerer King we deeply apologise"
"I apologise for nothing, this creature sits here and speaks as if he knows anything about the gods as if he too is comparable to them! This is heresy, blasphemy of the highest order, I will not allow the Six to be dirtied by a mere undead."
His word sparked unconceivable rage from Albedo, she had been sitting next to Ainz, silent until now, and he knew she was about to snap, her aura was beginning to leak and the room seemed to be getting darker, he felt her anger growing and while he could not blame her he knew he needed to cool the situation.
"Albedo, enough" his simple words seemed to have calmed her somewhat.
"But my lord, this.."
"It is alright if we are to live together, to coexist than we must face the differences which divide our people, perhaps it would benefit us all to question the validity of these gods," Ainz said with surprising calm in his voice, thanking his undead body for not letting his nervousness leak out.
Lakyus had been silent as the conversations went on, she had heard some extremely surprising things, and learning that there was somehow another world where these almighty beings originated from had knocked her almost to the floor, she couldn't quite understand it all.
What she could gather, however, was that the Cardinal of WInd, Dominic, might not survive this gathering considering his more than a blatant disregard for decorum, and his mouthing off to someone who was obviously much more powerful than he was. As she thought it over, she figured the Theocracy would not wager a war with the Sorcerer King should he demand justice for the insults already spoken against him, but she was surprised by his calm, he seemed to have all of this under control and his insistence for peace even when insulted by the other party, made her appreciate even more that such a being had saved her nation, her opinion of the theocracy was slowly diminishing.
"Do you claim to say the six were not gods?" asked one of the other cardinals, the old man.
"I would not claim to know of gods," spoke his Majesty
'What do you mean by those words?" asked the old man again
"I mean just that, what is divinity, what constitutes a god?" spoke the Sorcerer King,
a reply was not had immediately, clearly, the Cardinal Dominic was about to speak when the others shot him a look to shut him up, but as Lakyus smiled at the sight, she began to ponder that question,
'What makes a god?'
"It is not the aspect of being divine?" asked the Dragon Queen after some pause,
"Should it simply be that, then we must ask the nature of divinity, which in turn returns us to our original query, the constitution of a god," replied the Sorcerer King.
Lakyus found her courage to answer,
"Is it not their power, to influence and change?"
"Should we hold that as the standard than are you, Ms Aindra not a god? Would we all not be, for we all hold power to influence this world, as leaders, we can declare edicts that our citizens must follow, wage wars and make peace, does that mean we are gods then?"
"No,.." Emperor Jircniv replied
The Sorcerer King continued: "Should it be a simple question of power, then would you consider the Demon Emperor Jaldaboath a god?"
"No!" she said immediately
"But he was indeed powerful, he could enact his will upon those who he wished, should that be the measure of a god?"
No one could agree with this, it would not make sense
The old Cardinal spoke next,
"It is faith then, our people follow our gods because they gave us hope, their actions provided us with salvation when humanity was being oppressed"
"To that, I would say you are correct, you hark on what can constitute a god, it is not power, or the individual themselves, no component of a being will make it godlike. Divinity is a status given by others, by followers or believers, gods are not born, they are made in the minds and faith of those who believe. Understand I do not say this to challenge your faith, to diminish your gods, but to make you understand that they are only gods because you believe them to be so."
"BLASPHEMY!" hissed the Cardinal of WInd standing and making his point.
"The Six blessed humanity with power, the gave us a place among the world and their power is truly divine, you are nothing in comparison to them" he was breathing rather hard, hatred burning in his eyes
Silence hung in the air as people were afraid of what may come, the Sorcerer King spoke again,
"To my understanding, your gods were most likely weak in comparison to me, all information I have gathered, the quality of their equipment which you wear now and even still the deeds which I have heard in stories, none of it makes me believe they were indeed beyond me, furthermore, I will say this only once Cardinal, sit, your outbursts are beginning to test my patience."
Lakyus swallowed hard at the possibility of the Sorcerer King angry, what sort of devastation he would be capable of should he unleash his power, she dared not think of the possibility.
As if only wishing to make worse the situation, the Elf King finally spoke,
"This talk of gods bores me, there is only one measure which is important, and that is strength, to be strong is to take what you wish, Sorcerer King, if you wish to earn my respect than prove your strength, fight and be done with this idle chatter"
"than fight me," a voice rank out, everyone looked towards its source, it was one of the escorts brought by the Theocracy, the girl with the massive scythe, she made Lakyus's skin crawl, but in comparison to the rest of the room, she almost seemed tame.
Raymond had been given a lot to think about, first and foremost, was Dominic, his attitude and outbursts were quickly becoming a problem, and not just for himself, Raymond was worried what it might mean for the Theocracy.
Moreso was the revelation of the origins of the Six Great Gods, while Raymond wanted to doubt everything being said, they themselves had no knowledge on where the Six had come from, legend spoke of them simply appearing one day out of the blue, their power quickly earning them a following, and saving humanity from the clutches of extinction.
Now he was learning that there were more from this realm, this place called Yggdrasil, where even the Eight Kings, of Avarice, who killed the last of the Six, had come from. And if everything of what was said was true, would this mean that the Sorcerer King would also be a god?
The questions plagued him and he wished to drift into his own world to think on them,
"Than fight me" he heard behind him, turning around to see the masked Zesshi looking at the Elf King, a smile blooming on the latter,
'Wait WHAT?!, I have to stop this NOW!'
Before he could interject, the Elf King accepted her challenge, and he was momentarily downtrodden, before thinking of the opportunity, now they could kill the Elf King, in fair and even combat.
"We are not here to fight" began the Sorcerer King, but was quickly interrupted by the Blue Sky Dragon Lord.
"I agree with the Elf King, strength is all that matters, I have heard of you power Sorcerer King, and I challenge you,"
Everyone was shocked at the blatant challenge, Dominic made to approve of it, and Raymond watched as the Sorcerer King brought to his cheek a boney finger,
"There was once a tradition in days gone, nations would fight wars by allowing their best fighters to represent them, I will not fight you, but I will accept your challenge, as well as honour that of the earlier two."
"We will postpone our discussions and have a simple tournament of strength, if anything than for the betterment of our countries through sport, the rules are simple, we should avoid killing our opponents, but resurrection is available should any unfortunate accidents happen."
The words seemed almost too practised, Raymond, had a very bad feeling about this, but around the room, there was clear approval.
"Sebas, gather the guardians and meet us on the sixth floor," he said into the air, before standing and again casting the teleportation spell [gate]
"Now then everyone, …. won't you follow me," said the Sorcerer King as he walked into the spell
One month ago -
Near the centre of the continent was a collection of powerful nations, one of these was the Beastman Country, within the country sat a particular looking Beastman, he was a mix of bat and man, his leathery skin made him look very sickly and the way his sunken eyes glowed almost gave him the appearance of one of the undead. His people, the Batmen, shared similarities to vampires, in that they drank blood from living creatures, but Batmen were particular in that they could eat the entire body of those they drained, a horribly painful process in which they would stun their prey with a sonic attack, paralysing them, leaving them able to feel as they proceeded to slowly chew and drink the individual at the same time. This particular Batman was Lan Ve Runhar, The Eastern Tribe Beast King.
He had been notified a few weeks ago that the forces which had been moving to collect food from the Dragon Kingdom had been killed, at first he was thrilled believing a challenge might be at hand, but as he heard the details his excitement turned to anger, such a report was utterly idiotic, in his rage he killed the messenger and had ordered the gathering of all the respective tribe leaders from the Beastman nation.
"We have gathered, now what is it you want Lan" the one who spoke was a Tigerman, she was known as the Carnage of the South, she had a particular taste for devouring human children, enjoying their softer tender taste, and her skills in combat were exceptional, she could best in single combat nearly half of the gathered members, and they knew that.
Calm yourself Vishneri, there seems to be opportunity here, Lan would not waste our time with simple chatter," the responding member was Pov U'er Di, he was a Panda Beastman, and an extremely prolific Monk, his fists were said to be able to shatter mountains, and the towering physique he had proved the rumours were at least partly true.
Normal panda Beastmen were soft bodies by nature and they did not enjoy eating meat, choosing instead to live on a plant-based diet, but they loved to fight, their battle mania was extreme, sometimes slaughtering friend along with foe. This had earned the nickname the psycho for his altering personalities, from when he was in combat to when his mania had calmed and he was in a collected state.
"Indeed, we received word that our advancing forces on the Dragon Kingdom had been wiped out, supposedly over four thousand were killed by some elf on a dragon, they tell he it did it with one magical spell, splitting the earth and killing them all." he left those words there to gauge the reactions of the group, most members were surprised, some had glints of excitement, presumably guessing what he wanted to say next.
"I find the reports a little hard to believe but regardless, the elf left a warning, saying to not attack the Dragon Kingdom under the name of something called the Sorcerer King"
"I believe I heard of some new nation being created near the middle of the human lands, apparently something tragic happened and this Sorcerer King was the centre of it." Bayhal Infrani was a flame dragonoid who had left his home in search of adventure, which he found within the Beastman Country. His power was vast and very quickly had secured himself a spot as one of the tribal council members, a position he enjoyed quite a bit. Being of the fire dragon line, Bayhal was very prideful, he sought out powerful opponents to quell his bloodlust and kept himself privy to any developing news for most of the surrounding countries, looking for a new challenge and earning him something of an intelligence-gathering position among them. While he normally paid attention to their surrounding neighbours, the trolls, minotaurs and the one human nations worth a damn, he would now and then hear news of the other human nations,
"I do not care for what it is, I care that it thinks it can dictate how we go about getting our food, this Sorcerer King needs to learn the hard way of what it means to disrespect the Beastmen, I am ordering a full mobilization, I want everyone ready to attack the Dragon Kingdom within the next window, we will make them all suffer,"
"What of the food pen plan?" asked another member
"We will simply occupy their lands and begin taking from one of the other human nations around the area, we should be able to secure more food this way anyhow," Lan responded
They had been careful to only attack during certain periods of the year, partially because they knew not all the Beastmen could operate well during some of the months but also they wished to give their food supplies enough time to replenish, the humans would birth their young and let them grow before the next wave would come, they would, of course, put up resistance but their species was weak, and the sport made for easy pickings.
"I will rally my people, though we should be able to come with about one hundred thousand or so," spoke Vishneri, she was seemingly excited for the prospect of war, happy at the chance.
"You certainly don't disappoint Lan, haha, we will also gather, expect around the same for us, it is ripe time for some of our cubs to wet their hands" spoke the Pandaman with a sinister smile,
Once the rest confirmed their involvement, quickly leading the tally to well over four hundred and fifty thousand in total, a force so large they could well destroy most of the human nations at once, without the use of their prized golems.
"Be quick, we attack in one month's time!" with that the respective members left, and Lan let a smile come to his face as he imagined the horrible carnage which would follow.