One Month Later…

Demiurge had made his camp outside the blasted ruins of what had once been the city of Plymouth. He had learned to take special care of the dead zones of this world. Ainz-sama had explained to him about 'radiation.' It was a special type of poison that was released by the weapons that had destroyed the human cities. The poison could remain active for hundreds or even potentially thousands of years after being released. He had seen the results first hand from the imps sent to explore several of the dead zones.

The effects of the poison varied depending on the amount of time spent within an area. Anything above about six hours was immediately fatal. The imps who spent less time would return complaining of feeling ill. They would vomit, patches of hair would fall from their backs and chests, blood would leak out from their mouths, genitals, and rectums, and then they would die. He'd had one imp spend only five minutes at the very fringe of a dead zone. That one had also complained of feeling sick, but had managed to live a total of nine days.

Ainz-sama had also warned him that any items recovered from these areas were also likely to be poisoned. The word Ainz-sama used was 'radioactive.' Of course the Supreme One was correct, as always. Some gold and silver trinkets had been recovered by the imps and brought out. Demiurge had deliberately given them to a homunculus who was never sent anywhere near any of the dead zones. The creature died hairless, puking, and bleeding from every orifice within two weeks. Fortunately, Demiurge had discovered that the same purification spells that could make poisoned food or drink safe, could also remove the poisons from the items and make them usable. Shalltear, Lupisregina, Mare, and a handful of others could purify the items. Ainz-sama had told him that a chest constructed of lead could safely contain the poison. Demiurge had such a chest made and ordered all recovered goods placed inside until he could be purified.

The homunculus and imps had all been resurrected. He now used skeletons to search through the ruins. They were immune to poison and were the natural choice for the task. Ainz-sama had also raised a handful of death knights and liches to act as supervisors as they went through their laborious task. The lower level undead could work without rest, but their lack of intelligence made supervision necessary. Despite having a workforce of over a thousand, it was taking time. The dead zones were many square miles and there was nothing intact within them. The skeletons had to excavate and dig through tons of rubble in the hopes of locating anything useful. So far they had recovered small amounts of precious metals and stones. Ainz-sama was also very interested in any books or intact machinery, so far there had been no signs of any of these. But there were many, many dead zones, and he was very patient. If there was any treasure out there he would find it and deliver it to his master.

XXX

Aura was riding on the back of a black bear. She had no trouble communicating with the animals of this world, or bending them to her will. It was a little disappointing that there were no sentient races besides human. She would have loved to have recruited some treants or nymphs to the sixth floor. When she stopped and thought about it, it was sad to know that she and her brother were the only elves in the entire world now. There were enough dragonkin and heteromorphic beings to possibly continue their races, but after a few thousand years the elven race would be extinct. It was sad, but if such was Ainz-sama's will she could accept it.

She was travelling with some ogres, goblins, and a small pack of wolves and wild dogs. She'd found a few groups of hidden humans, usually consisting of a single family or a few families eking out a living hunting and farming. They were not very welcoming, but it was not hard to convince them to kneel and swear allegiance to 'Lord Mortem.' Their lives would not immediately change. But their names and locations would be marked down and when the time came that they could be useful they would be gathered up.

Aura had discovered sources of both iron and copper. None of the humans she had met had ever heard of reward crystals or solnium. She occasionally missed her brother, but traveling this new land and searching through it was fun. Aura was enjoying her work and hoped she could continue with it for a while, for as long as it was of use to Ainz-sama.

XXX

Mare watched as the dragonkin harvested the wheat and dug up the potatoes and turnips. He'd been pleased to learn that, outside of the dead zones, much of the land here was fertile. With seeds from Nazarick, Mare had planted crops in empty fields. It was already fall, and normally too late in the year to grow food, but druidic magic could force seeds to go through the growth cycle and ripen within just a few days. The sole drawback to raising crops using magic was that if you did it more than once you could leave the soil barren. Mare would never want to do that, so had gone from field to field, plowing up the soil, planting seeds, using magic to force quick growth, harvesting, and then moving on.

The larders would be filled to bursting. During his search he had also found apple and pear trees that could be transported to the Great Tomb and planted in the sixth floor. Mare was confident they would have a thriving orchard. The land here was interesting in that so much of it was wilderness alongside the dead zones where not even a single blade of grass would grow. He'd received a message from Demiurge warning him to stay well clear of those places. Demiurge had provided graphic details about what would happen if he entered any of them. Outside of the dead zones and the paved roads there were few signs of civilization.

To Mare this world was very much a blank slate that could be changed into anything.

XXX

Cocytus and his party had traveled over a hundred miles, and there were thousands more still to go. His responsibility was to explore and map out the interior of this continent. It was not exactly the thing a warrior would dream about, but it was certainly a challenge. It was certainly far better to face a vast and difficult task than to spend his time waiting for an attack that might never come. The party he led was made up of fifty members of various races, including a single human. He had monsters who could fly, track, use detection magic, burrow underground, and use many other special abilities. Cocytus wanted people who could handle any situation.

In a sense, he and his group were not separated from Ainz-sama or the Great Tomb of Nazarick. No matter the distance he could always Message Ainz-sama or Shalltear and request a gate be opened to them. On the other hand, Cocytus absolutely did not want to rely on any others for help. Ainz-sama had given him this task and granted him carte blanche to handle it however he saw fit. To constantly need help from the guild would surely be seen as a sign of weakness. Cocytus would not disgrace himself in Ainz-sama's eyes by ever appearing feeble.

Every week Cocytus reported into Ainz-sama with Message, to inform him of his progress. Otherwise he and his party were completely on their own out in the wilderness.

"Hush, my sweet baby. Mommy is here."

Cocytus glanced to where Nigredo was cradling a doll in her arms. So long as she had the doll in her possession, Nigredo was completely rational. (Excepting the fact she believed the doll to be her baby.) He had asked her to join him as her ability was geared toward information gathering and locating things. For this mission her skills were an absolute must.

Two hundred yards away he saw the Tech by the name of Daryl. He was sitting in the grass, hand drawing a map to illustrate their current location. The human tended to keep to himself and had some difficulty socializing with the other members of the party. Cocytus noted that Daryl seemed to make a special effort to stay as far away from Nigredo as possible. Cocytus didn't understand the reason for that. She was likely the kindest and gentlest person in the entire group. Cocytus had heard that some humans found her lack of skin on her face off-putting, but he didn't believe that could be the reason for the human's discomfort. Well, Daryl was good at his task of drawing maps and keeping records of the journey. That was what mattered.

"Oh? Are you hungry? Mommy will-"

Nigredo suddenly cut off and looked up. She stared out towards the west.

"Is something the matter?" Cocytus asked.

"I think I've found something." She answered and began rocking the doll in her arms again.

XXX

As soon as Albedo landed in the tiny village of Peabody the residents all rushed out to kneel down before her and show proper respect. When she'd first come they'd all either attacked her or tried to run away. Mindful of her beloved's command to keep any bloodshed to a 'minimum' she'd held back and only slaughtered about a third of them. She'd then informed the survivors that they were now the property of Lord Mortem. The fools had actually been upset by that wonderful news. She'd had no choice but to disembowel a couple idiots to finally make it clear the sort of joy they should feel at their new lives and purpose. They lived only to serve Lord Mortem.

Once things had finally calmed down she'd been surprised to learn that one of the villagers owned a religious text. The man had offered it to her as a gift. Curious, she had accepted it. When she'd returned home she'd planned to have Shizu translate it. Unfortunately, none the Pleiades were available. Albedo had instead gone to the human city of Ainzport and had Tobi do it. She had discovered some interesting things. One being Lord Mortem had ninety-nine wives! Proof that Ainz-sama would want to have a harem! Another being that the Long Night which her beloved was to establish would one day be ended by a creature known as Salutem.

'Salutem shall come down from the heavens and defeat Lord Mortem. The evil one shall be banished from the earth and time will begin again. The Long Night shall end and the sun will once more be seen. The world shall be purified and renewed.'

This Salutem had to be a player character. The PCs had been the enemies not only of Momonga-sama, but of all the Supreme Beings who had created Ainz Ooal Gown. Only one of those despicable PCs could hope to defeat her lord and master. Since the holy text was right about Lord Mortem it was only logical to believe it had to just as accurate regarding this Salutem. As leader of the floor guardians, it was Albedo's responsibility to do not only what was commanded of her, but to do whatever would keep her darling safe. She would search out this hidden threat and eliminate him before he could challenge Ainz-sama.

Almost as interesting as what had been written there was what was missing. The book had included many prayers and benedictions devoted to the different gods of this world. There were prayers specifically to request the birth of a healthy child or a good harvest or a safe journey. There were specific words for requesting a blessing from the storm god or god or war or god of love.

But there was not one single line about praying to or beseeching the aid of Lord Mortem! How incredibly insulting! Whatever name he used, Ainz-sama was the most powerful being in existence! The bringer of life and death! The leader of the forty one Supreme Beings who were all greater than the gods! The situation was absolutely intolerable and Albedo was determined to fix it.

As the villagers knelt before her she spoke.

"Let us pray."

As one they spoke the words of the prayer she had taught them. Albedo would instruct them and others about additional prayers as well as rituals meant to honor and praise Lord Mortem. She was also working on a brand new holy text that would be exclusively about Lord Mortem. Albedo could not wait until the day she could kneel before Ainz-sama and reveal the new religion she had created for him. Knowing he was finally being worshipped like a proper god he would be pleased beyond all measure. Maybe enough that he would take her as the first of his ninety-nine wives!

XXX

In the city of Hannover there was a new and very popular restaurant called Sebastian's. It had introduced a completely unique concept, the maid café. All the waitresses dressed like maids and referred to their customers as 'master.' It had been an instant success as men from all over the city flocked to it to be served by the beautiful women who worked there. They were all foreigners who had only recently arrived, but that only added an exotic element to the establishment.

The owner was a middle aged man with a neatly trimmed beard who was always wearing a dark suit.

XXX

After the restaurant was closed for the evening Sebas and the Pleiades headed out to a special meeting. This was their real work.