God Rising: The Cult of Ainz
Written by: AtheistBasementDragon
Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots
Chapter 179: In the Flesh
AN: Happy Holidays! Since we had some people donate food to food banks, I'm doing a short chapter bomb instead of just a winter vacation. Seven chapters, 6 GR and one Discord Exclusive comedy moved over. Enjoy... But one more thing!
AN TRIGGER WARNING: Scenes involving the character of Neia Baraja depict the symptoms of PTSD, done as realistically as the author can manage. If you find such instances difficult to read, well you have been cautioned.
...Forton Conference...
Berenice looked down at her hands. They were a little more pale, but they felt the same as ever. "These are mine...?" She asked herself in a moment alone. She looked into the mirror as she passed it by. The strange but normal hand came up and caressed her cheek. "Younger, more pale but... mine. She smiled, white teeth like the ones she'd always known, those were still there. "By the gods..." She felt a tremor in her spine, she reached up to where her ears were, and moved aside blonde hair to touch the now pointed tip.
She felt her breathing rush, and she scurried into the kitchen and down to the wine cellar. She let herself fall backward against the casks and brought her hand to her forehead. "So this is an elf body... I didn't expect it to feel like this." She looked down at herself, wearing servants clothing made of finer material than a cardinal's formal dress, with black and white frills and a pair of shoes made of an unfamiliar material, she shook her head at the strangeness of it all.
She looked up at the low ceiling and forced herself to breathe more slowly, then she set the tray under her arm, down on a nearby table, and put fresh glasses down. "OK, this is almost as strange as my... body. Me? Cardinal Berenice, a serving girl? Not quite what I had in mind when I asked His Majesty if I could observe the conference. Wait... did I just call the Sorcerer King... 'His Majesty'?" Berenice looked away from her task for a moment, towards the steps that would bring her back up to the kitchen and out into the hall where world leaders and ambassadors of great kingdoms were conversing. There was no sign that her private conversation with herself had drawn any attention.
She relaxed a bit and selected a wine while she thought about just how it had come to this.
...The Sorcerer King's Office...weeks earlier...
"Your Majesty, I thank you for rescuing me, for keeping faith with Zesshi Zetsumei, and... also for your excellent treatment, allowing me the comforts and freedom that you have, sets a standard my nation has never truly equaled, not for guests, and certainly not for prisoners." Berenice said with a grateful bow after her eye opening experience in E-Rantel.
Ainz set aside the document he had in hand, and looked at her with piercing red orbs that once chilled her blood, but now fascinated her without the same fear she'd held before. "You are welcome, Lady Berenice... or do you prefer to be addressed as Cardinal?"
"Just 'Berenice', if you like, Your Majesty. I'm afraid I don't really count as a Cardinal anymore." She smiled bitterly at that, and let her eyes fall away to the floor.
"Berenice, then. As we are alone, then for now just call me 'Ainz'." He replied, and her eyes snapped up to him in disbelief.
"Majesty?" She asked, 'Did I hear that right?' She wondered.
"I said, just call me Ainz, as we are alone. I confess I have little use for titles, they make me... uncomfortable. If respect isn't put into a person's name when they are addressed, what does a title change about that?" He shrugged, "I simply use them because it, for some reason, makes everybody else more comfortable." He answered with dismissive shrug.
Her mind went back to a speech that had fallen into her hand, where Neia had called him the greatest of all monarchs, the example of what a king should be. A stirring in her breast as he dropped all pretense in front of her, told her now that she understood a little of what the then squire was saying.
'Oh good, at last I can relax around someone, it gets 'exhausting' being king all the damn time, it'll be nice to have just a 'normal' conversation for once.' Ainz thought as he saw a matronly, warm smile cross her face.
"But you didn't come here just to say thank you, did you, Berenice?" Ainz asked pointedly.
"No... I..." She hesitated, then spat it out in a rush, "I want to beg your permission to attend the coming conference!" Her hands clenched and her eyes shut as she threw the words off of her tongue as fast as they could be uttered.
Ainz folded one hand over the other on his desk and was quiet for a very long minute. "That would be... a bit strange, don't you think? For someone from a hostile nation to attend a meeting to settle on what the direction of the world will be after her nation ceases to exist?"
Berenice winced, "I... know. I don't mean as a representative, could I... maybe be in disguise, the way I was in E-Rantel?"
"I see, well... you'd have to be unobtrusive but there is one option that will work, if you are willing to wear a different flesh for awhile, and if you are capable of serving... and taking risks? I won't force you, but if this is what you really want, well everything, even things freely given, have a price paid somewhere." Ainz said patiently.
Berenice nodded repeatedly. "I have seen much, seen everything I thought I believed, turned upside down, I feel like a coin flying up into the air turning over and over at the head and not knowing what way I'm going to land, or when the landing will come. Please, Sire, I will throw the dice one more time to get a chance to see the way the world will turn after all has ended."
"Alright, the demoness you encountered before, has been working with one of the greatest geniuses of Nazarick on an item that would 'temporarily' change the form of someone else. They have a prototype, but it is not without risks, and they want someone to test it on. Are you sure about this?" Ainz asked cautiously.
Berenice swallowed, "I am, I want to see, I want to know, and I will take risks to do both."
...Present...
"Not quite what I expected. But I do make a pretty elf." She laughed a little at herself and finished pouring the wine.
She paid close attention to everything as she walked unnoticed among the great leaders who, once, would have vied to talk to her. Her blood ran cold when she realized Neia Baraja had walked past her and casually taken a glass off the tray before walking over to Queen Calca.
But she froze stiff, as did all others, as the confrontation between Generals Enri and Neia unfolded. 'That's the bravest girl I've ever seen...' She thought as she watched General Enri continue arguing despite the terrible aura that rose from General Neia. When the tension faded to nothing and the other servants began to move again, she was only a half step slower, and so she rushed to where General Enri sat, and placed a glass down in front of her.
As she leaned in to do so, she whispered, "That was very brave."
Enri looked up and over to where Berenice's warm expression was, and she smiled weakly in return.
"Thank you... but that was terrifying." She said gently.
As Berenice stood up, she reached out and squeezed Enri's shoulder gently and whispered, "That is why it was brave... but I could have done without the 'too expensive to murder', part." Then she moved away to serve someone else.
...Kami Miyako...
Dominic stretched out in bed and the she fell out, stumbling away from where he stretched out, satisfied. 'At least this one kept the tears in check when I was done.' He thought as he felt his body relax. "It's so stressful to be in charge." He said with some smugness, "But it does have its benefits." He folded his hands under his head as the pillow sank a little.
He heard the faint sound of tears in the hall, 'OK, so much for that faint praise for the new she.' He thought as he rolled his eyes, right on cue, Yarvin entered the room without knocking.
"Master, was the one enough or would you like me to send another?" Yarvin asked formally, "Or would you instead prefer something to eat or drink?"
"Something to eat, I think, oh and... make sure the animals are fed well all day today, including tonight as well, I'll need to send the twins to pick up the harvest from the contract zones Raymond has been overseeing tomorrow, so everyone will need their full strength to fill the city granaries and warehouses." Dominic replied thoughtfully.
"As you wish, Master, but what would you like to eat, you matter most, after all." Yarvin replied urgently.
"Steak?" Dominic proposed.
Yarvin shook his head. "None to be had, Master. I sent the shes and the hes all over the city to every butcher, and could not find any."
"Lamb?" Dominic proposed hopefully.
"I'm sorry, Master, but the last shipment we got of that came from Crossroads along with the slave population that was evacuated, it was just the cheap salted stuff, and it was bought up quickly." Yarvin replied with an unhappy shake of his head.
"Fish, then? We do have that small river in sight of the city and..." He went quiet, screams were echoing outside, being taken up all over the city.
Dominic shot up out of bed and traded a look of alarm with his elven slave. Yarvin didn't waste a second, as Dominic rushed to the window, Yarvin went to grab his clothing.
The Great Defender of the Slane Theocracy threw open the windows and lunged halfway out, "What's going on?!" He bellowed as he looked outside. People were running about like mad, heading to the walls and chattering like wild monkeys. Nobody answered him, and the words were a jumble.
Yarvin returned and began throwing clothing to the bed while Dominic shouted desperately for answers.
"You! Guard! I demand an answer!" Dominic shouted at a guard who, despite running, seemed to have retained his senses, and recognized the Cardinal of Wind for whom he was. "What is happening out there?!"
"Disaster, Cardinal!" The guard cried out, "The river, the river has turned to blood!"
"Impossible!" Dominic shouted angrily and slammed his fist against the left shutter, smashing it against the outside of the wall hard enough that it splintered.
"It's true, My Lord Cardinal! I saw it from the wall myself, and that isn't all! The fishermen who were out there... they... they..."
"They what, man?! Spit it out!" Dominic hollered.
"They caught body parts! There are thousands upon thousands floating down the river!" The guard said with horror.
"Not possible!" Dominic snarled and thrust himself within. 'Damn fool must be mistaken, they're starting a riot out there over nothing! I swear I'll make it a hanging offense to start stupid rumors like that..." He thought as he went over to the bed and snatched his shirt up, 'the only place thousands of bodies and enough blood to turn the river red could... come... from... is... oh. No. No. NO!' He screamed inside his head as the realization dawned.
Yarvin looked anxiously and silently waited for Dominic's instructions as the Cardinal rapidly put his clothes on.
"Skip the meal, Yarvin. I have to go to the office immediately this morning." Dominic said urgently, fear palpable in his eyes.
"Master... what is it...?" Yarvin asked anxiously, while retaining perfect servant posture a few feet away.
"You're forbidden from speaking of this, do you understand?" Dominic said calmly.
"I do, Master." Yarvin said sincerely.
"Wheaton has been destroyed and its population either wiped out or nearly, it's the only answer, if what they say out there is true, Neia Baraja exterminated the population, and dumped the bodies into the river to... send them to us. That has to be her work. She likes people to know she's coming." Dominic ran his hands through his hair, he felt older than his middle years in that moment.
"Wheaton was our breadbasket, our last shipment from them came weeks ago, we were due for another soon, and with the city's population increased from the slaves and refugees from Crossroads and the few from Ikari, plus the survivors of Feron, and all the villages that fled as well... if we have survivors from Wheaton as well, what the hell are we going to do?" Dominic asked with a growing sense of dread.
"They've just wiped out even our meager fishing resource for... I don't know how long. I need to get to work, I have to go deal with this, we have to work out some way to feed everyone, or reduce the population to a manageable level." He said as he processed everything in his head as fast as he could.
"Master, you will find a way, you always find a way." Yarvin said reassuringly, "Go, I will make sure a meal is prepared and brought to you at work, we have some pork left, and some chicken, I'll make sure you eat well, and... should I have a she bring it to you to help you relax as well?"
"Good idea. Thank you, Yarvin." Dominic said gratefully as he rushed out the door as fast as his legs could carry him.
...Forton Conference...
Bearing witness to the simple 'erasure' of an army by a single being, brought a spirit of peace to all nations, when that being spoke of the tranquility he desired.
"First let me put one thing to rest," Ainz said calmly, "I do. Not. Hate. The. Living." The red orbs in his eye sockets seemed to roll with almost comical annoyance. "I have had to say that far too often, and it grows old, I will not repeat it. You are right to fear uncontrolled undead which rampage mindlessly. However, I am no ordinary undead, I am an Overlord, a ruling class capable of reason and holding to values other than hatred. I will kill or order killing when it is necessary, but it will not be for the sake of itself. That so many still live, should be proof enough, yet if anyone doubts me, they are free to tour my realm for themselves at their leisure."
"For now, I ask that you set aside any doubts you may have at least provisionally, and consider the state of the world to come. That is our purpose here, after all." Ainz said in a sonorous voice.
Akrotiri raised a dark, meaty hand. "What 'is' the state of the world as you envision it, Sorcerer King?" The minotaur lord asked with a sense of urgency as thick as his body.
"First, there is the matter of the war ending. The Southern Holy Kingdom has been granted its independence, while the Northern Holy Kingdom..." He gestured to Queen Calca, "has petitioned for integration into my own as an official province. This request has been accepted. All laws not considered to be in conflict with those of the Sorcerer Kingdom in letter or spirit will be allowed to remain."
He gestured to the Draconic Queen, "Similarly, Queen Draudillon has asked for the same status for her Kingdom, this has 'also' been accepted. So it also is for Re-Estize, the Dwarven Kingdom, the Understone Empire, the Dark Elf Kingdom, the Abelion Hills..."
"And the Baharuth Empire." Jircniv said suddenly as the litany of changes was made clear and he realized that the other monarchs had been looking to surpass his advantage as the first to yield, by yielding further than he had.
"...And the Baharuth Empire." Ainz added, gesturing lastly to his first vassal. "The Slane Theocracy will cease to exist, and be integrated into my empire after being broken up into several distinct provinces based around patterns of conquest by various commanders. So will end also, the Sorcerous Kingdom, and from it will be born the Sorcerous Empire." He went quiet for a moment, allowing the nations around his own, from the Argland Council State to the Minotaur Kingdom, to understand the situation.
He then went on, "I will not be destroying the temples of the six or of the four, but they will no longer be allowed to charge for the cost of healing, as holding life hostage for coin is considered anathema to the principles of my lands. They can find another means to sustain themselves," he clenched his fist in front of him and looked down at it, leaving many a delegate to wonder what he was remembering, 'Mother... it won't happen here, nobody will languish sick because they chose food or shelter over medicine, I will not let this world become like mine... and if preventing that means taking it all... well I have no idea how my NPCs got the idea I wanted this world... but as I look around, I find that I do, if for no other reason than I can make it something other than the world I came from. This is my world now, and I will make it so, it will be as it should be, no matter what the cost.' He thought, and carried on, and out of seemingly nowhere, his voice took on an even more impassioned state than Neia had ever heard from him.
"You ask of me the way this world will change, and I will tell you," he held his arms out and up, and looked not at the delegates, but above them, over their heads as if to speak to all the world, "it will change in all the best ways, the illiterate will read, the young will grow old, the old will die in their own beds instead of in the streets, the guard will not just be a bandit who gets paid, the noble will not be just a wolf, and the peasant will not be merely waiting to die as they hack at the dirt! Kingdoms will have a venue to work out their differences in peace, so that war is the last option, not the first. The great cities of the world will compete with one another in culture and art, swords will be beaten into plows, and slaves will walk free, their chains melted down and turned into useful things. I will make it so, even if I must drag the world out of its violent infancy."
'Yes, you will have your place, you are the rightful god of this world, it will pass into your hands, or I will burn it down so that you may build on the ashes.' Neia thought as the vision of that world passed before her anguished eyes, the march of years that were but a handful to some, seemed a lifetime as the sound of his hypnotic voice compelled her mind to search for a time when she had not needed to draw her bow to live, the terrible moments that she dreaded in the darkness passed by in a long march, and beyond them she saw the world he promised. 'Anything, anything anything anything anything anything, I will do anything, to give you everything. That world will exist, and you will be its god, I will die to make it so, or... kill everything in the way of it.'
As those thoughts passed through her mind, and the unspoken rededication of her will to that of the Sorcerer King, a devious plan began to form to make it so. 'His voice, his presence, so noble, so kingly, it's like black dust. So intoxicating... he has won the room with his will and with his power... I must ensure that they do not get a moment later to think to consider anything else. My power, so meager it is nothing before my lord... yet it is mine and I will use it for his sake. Who is not with him, is against him. I will watch, I will speak, and I will break their very souls.'
The Diamond Dragon Lord could barely believe what he was hearing, and yet he saw what he was hearing, manifest before him as if the world the Sorcerer King said he wanted, already was, like a fresh fruit just out of reach, and a skeletal hand grabbed the branch and drew it in, so that all he had to do was reach out and pluck it.
Akrotiri was incapable of tears, yet he thought of the shout of mourning he let out the day his sons had been buried in the last war against the Wyvern Rider confederation... now the reason for their deaths, a simple matter of trade, seemed so petty, pointless, coin movement for life... and here was an end to that.
King Rargnan thought of the pictures he'd seen of his kingdom as it had once appeared, a pristine beauty, and there before his eyes it was so again, renewed as if it had never been ruined, and this being, who had the power to kill them all, dangled paradise lost before him, offering him and his people a chance to return to it. 'Am I a wayward child being called home again? I feel like it.' He thought to himself, and did not care, the chance was simply too great.
Enri felt the same bedazzlement of all the others, though the question of whether that elf that had whispered to her was being sarcastic or not, still lingered, but her eyes were focused. Neia was across from her, she could see the gears turning. 'She's got something in mind. Damn you, Neia. Do you think you're the only one who serves this cause? Will you twist everything? I was serving him when you thought us unlucky to have him as a lord! Do you think fear is the only tool?! So much wrong with you... so much you're wrong about... I will show you, I don't need your help, and I will make you regret thinking terror and slaughter were the only choices to give our lord the world, or his proper place in it.'
As all those thoughts passed through her head however, she noted the expression on the Black Paladin's face, 'I've seen that look... on the faces of those resolved to die, I saw it on Nfirea's face the day he thrust himself against that ogre to save my life... what did Zaryusu call it...? Hero's Light... was she serious about not caring if she was hanged? She will not make this easy for me.' Enri's mind was a whirlwind and her senses were overwhelmed by the passionate power that had filled the room, her rational mind all but gone. Her resentment and concern over recent matters lingered on, as did a deepening suspicion, one she did not have even the slightest willingness to release, not yet.
Albedo sat demurely as her lord, her unrivaled lord, spoke his will to the world, the way his words hammered out, like a smith forging a sword, a sculptor shaping a stone, or a painter whose brush stroke crafted a masterpiece, he labored as only a king truly could, and with the quality that only the greatest of kings could manage.
The corner of her eyes caught the expressions on the two generals. Resolute, even fanatical. 'Each wishes to serve well, that is as it should be. Rivalry or not.' She thought, and decided to leave it alone.
Lord Ainz ceased to speak. 'I wonder, what can any of them say to that?!' Ainz suppressed a laugh as his time as a salaryman was applied in a handful of words that seemed to have ensnared the world into his vision. He caught the calculating looks of two of his generals, zeal was etched on their faces, nor were they alone, he saw, as those who would be his provincial rulers showed a similarly fanatical devotion on their faces, while those from abroad showed fascination and optimism, as near as he could tell, all on their own. 'Dealing with them will be easier for quite some time, I think. Still, caution is warranted. I can't know that their lands have no players, or NPCs in hiding. Time will tell how I can best deal with them and... who it is best to send.' He cast an eye between where Zesshi, Neia, Enri, and Chindai sat. Dark tendrils swept briefly over Neia's eyes, only to fade away after she blinked. 'No, she... I have to help. I can't ask more, not unless there is a very specific reason. Not after this.'
...Wheaton...
Skana sat alone with Lakyus and CZ in her private quarters. One of the former elf slaves put several plates of food out, he didn't say much, but his joyful eyes and the red marks on his wrists told her that the cause of those marks had been recently removed.
"So... was it really necessary?" Lakyus asked, breaking the silence as soon as the servant was gone.
Skana cut into the steak on her plate, leaving only the sound of cutting for a moment, as if that were to be her answer. She took a bite, chewed, clearly enjoying the taste, then set her fork down and looked at her companions. "Yes. Those were my orders." She folded her hands in her lap and smiled demurely.
"That wasn't what I asked." Lakyus replied calmly. "Don't you think dumping the dead into the river was a bit much? I mean, I suppose you had to get rid of them, and that was a lot to bury, but still."
Skana picked up her cup and drank a sip of wine, she savored the flavor and set it down. "It was practical, and it was necessary, as my wife said in her note, it was the best way to let Kami Miyako know what was coming for them." A troubled expression came over her face, "I know what happened, but she's not doing this for nothing... think about it. Villages everywhere are surrendering, we haven't suffered even one dead orc... orc! This is the Slane Theocracy, they 'hate' demihumans with a passion, look what they do to elves, and those are very close to human themselves! Her measures are... cruel, yes, but they're driving surrenders left and right, it'll save more lives in the long run."
"Will she recover?" CZ asked sharply.
Skana turned her face away, "I... I don't know what you mean."
"Yes you do!" Lakyus said urgently. "Yes you do! Damn it, Skana! Will you stop trying to forget and stop trying to deny the problem, you keep doing this, you deny a problem, pretend it doesn't exist, then admit it, then make up reasons why it will go away on its own, then try to forget it exists! How long will you do that for?!"
Skana's eye filled with tears, "Don't tell me what I already know! I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know... I don't know! I know there's... what she's... but she'll stop! She has to stop when it's over!"
"How do you know?" CZ asked with seeming indifference as she drank from her own cup.
"Because... she has to, doesn't she?" Skana asked weakly.
"Gagaran wrote that she's a threat to herself and to others, and she's right, you know it, don't you?" Lakyus asked gently, reaching out to take Skana's hand and hold it.
Without meaning to do so, Skana lifted her free hand and touched her throat, then snatched it away back down to her side.
"She's supposed to be a threat to others, it's what she's been paid for for her whole life." Skana's voice was cold, but her clouded eye did not meet Lakyus's look.
"You're playing with semantics, and you know it. You touched your throat just now, did she hurt you, did Neia hurt you?!" Lakyus demanded.
"It was an accident!" Skana snapped, "She was asleep, I held her, she woke up and just 'reacted', she wouldn't have done it otherwise!"
Lakyus and CZ traded expressions.
"You're strong, lots of people aren't, this city didn't survive her 'accident', how long till she has another, what if it had been an elf servant who was worried about the way she slept and woke her up, you'd have an elf corpse to get rid of."
"What do you want me to say?" Skana asked with a sharp sniffle. "I saw the same thing you did, what she did to the overseers, you don't think I know that isn't normal? Why do you think I tried to keep her back from the front? Why do you think I agreed with you about that? But she can't be contained that way, she's a front liner through and through, she leads by carrying forward, and she's been doing it for years. You think she shouldn't feel anything?"
She went quiet, Lakyus bit her lip, the hand that held hers, had a very slight tremor to it that could be felt more than seen, 'Oh... she's... damn it, she's not trying to attack my wife... stupid Skana... have you learned nothing?' Skana mentally rebuked herself and took a deep breath.
"No... I know, but listen... something has to be done." Lakyus said sharply.
"She's going to enter treatment, she promised me, but she wants to finish, maybe needs to finish here first." Skana barely whispered the words.
"Will that help?" CZ asked.
"I don't know, injuries to the body can be healed with a spell or a potion, but how do you heal a life? This kind of thing is all she knows, all she's ever really known, all I can do is stay by her side, the way I promised I would. If that means sometimes she wakes up ready to fight... well I'm... actually... I don't even know if I'm a better fighter up close than she is anymore... but I'll help her no matter what. Would you abandon Keeno, or Gagaran, or the twins, if they became like Neia has?"
"Never... absolutely never. But I wouldn't push the problem off till an unknown tomorrow in some distant time, either." Lakyus replied humbly.
"What do you want me to do?" Skana asked doubtfully as she tore a chunk of bread off of a loaf.
"Ask her to resign her command, pass it on to you, or ask the Sorcerer King to relieve her of duty." Lakyus suggested hopefully.
"That'll destroy her." Skana shook her head. "Not happening, after Kami Miyako, I'll... I'll get her to give up command of the army, let someone 'else' hunt down Theocracy remnants and the like. But until then, I won't do anything that might make things worse, and that... is a terrible idea."
"No good answer." CZ remarked in a monotone.
"Thanks CZ, big help there." Lakyus remarked in the same tone CZ had just used.
"Sure." CZ said dismissively.
Lakyus sighed and leaned back, "Fine, on other matters, I suppose it is good that the bodies are gone, but still, what next, how long are we going to be here? This city still smells like blood and death."
"Draudillon's scouts arrived this morning, most of their army will be here by nightfall, I figure one or two days rest, then we pick out a joint force from our armies to occupy the place, and march to Kami Miyako, there's not much left in this wreck to secure, so it is really about using it as a headquarters to run the villages and keep supplies from going northwest. Zanac and Zaryusu's armies should be at C'teon tomorrow, and with that big golem, they'll take it in a day. So... we leave in two days and take a slow march to Kami Miyako until our commanders all return. Then one last battle and the whole thing is all but over, except of course... for the Synod itself." Skana said and clapped happily.
"Then... then maybe I can get my Neia back." She said with a grin.