God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

by atheistbasementdragon

Neia Baraja is out to change the world, war and conflict follow where she walks as she spreads the worship of the Sorcerer King. But the adherents of the Old Gods will not go quietly into the night. Armies will rise, nations will die, and even if it destroys her, she will see her God Rise. No matter what the cost.

211. After God Rose

God Rising: The Cult of Ainz

Written by: AtheistBasementDragon

Edited by: The Usual Gang of Drunken Perverted Idiots

Epilogue

Peace can mean many things. For 'most' of Kami Miyako, it meant the peace of the grave. The city was a shattered husk, a ruin of itself. Gargantua had by himself, demolished a dozen city blocks, but his destructiveness paled before the wrath of the elves that had, for an hour or two, had the power of gods in their hands, and the power of the armies of Black Justice, who had grudges of their own for the burnings made possible by the Slane Theocracy and the inquisitors that nation had sent. As she walked the city streets, Queen Draudillon carried with her, in her own hand, the long pike that had the head of her faithful servant.

Dressed in white armor with a cloak of white that was broken only by the outline of her national symbol, she made for a fearsome and beautiful sight, but despite this, she knew she did not stand out. Not now.

Not with the Sorcerer King standing beside her as they walked. "He has come back. As your nation promised he would. They are punished, sorely." Ainz said as he walked with his impossible staff in his left hand, tapping the ground rhythmically with every step.

Draudillon kept her eyes in front of her, scanning the broken and bloody streets, few buildings were not missing chunks, most were completely collapsed. The only people not in armor that they saw as they walked, were on their knees under guard. "Yes, we've done what we set out to do, our nation's pride is avenged, our people are avenged. Our war has come to an end. Most of the time, that's the easy part, the hard part is winning the peace, afterward. But... I don't think that will be nearly as troublesome as these things usually are. Your Majesty's power... it is beyond the realm of the mortal. You made us into gods for a short time, a time we will never forget. There is nobody in all our armies who will not worship you as such, including myself. But..." She smiled weakly.

"But?" Ainz prompted as he glanced sideways at her.

"But I would have done so anyway. My rule was not a perfect one, my... mistakes, will stay with me for some time. Yet you saved us all. Saved my people, my country, and gave us a future. That's godly enough for me, even without all your power. When we go to the ceremony, know that when I kneel and proclaim you as my god, I only say what is in my heart. I am your faithful servant, and that will never change." Draudillon said with a deep, sincere smile as Generals Oma and Musan rounded a corner and got her attention.

Oma was waving from where they stood, happy, enthusiastic, and 'headless' in a manner of speaking. The hand that was waving for her attention was holding her head, on the faces of the kneeling and bound citizens of the Theocracy who had been taken captive, were expressions of abject horror at seeing this. But that horror only deepened as Draudillon, at a nod from the undead monarch, broke off and went to embrace her as one might a sister, and began to speak as one did with friends, to the dullahan general and her human comrade, General Musan, who was at her side, rolling his eyes at her undead antics, but smiling nonetheless.

*Queen Draudillon would have a long, prosperous reign, with the exigencies of war behind her, the needs of peace became the most important facet of her rule, and a massive influx of undead labor brought both wealth and prosperity to the kingdom turned province, construction projects created new villages and towns, and the wide open spaces still there from the beastman invasion years before, were gradually filled in by a new, stronger, better equipped, and prouder generation than the one before it. She would rule for centuries, before at last passing her throne on to her heir at the end of her life. Her heir, took on the title of 'Governor Queen' instead of simply 'Queen' to proudly mark her lands as a province of the Sorcerous Empire.

*General Musan would retire after they returned from the long conflict. He, like many of his counterparts, Boabdil, Enri, Neia, and others, would write down everything that he remembered about the war, and would travel for years, giving sold out talks about what wonders he saw, eventually adapting them into a series of popular children's books that sold well everywhere from the Elf Kingdom, to the far north of Re-Estize or the Baharuth Empire. He died at his country estate, twenty years after the war, full of his years, and proud to the last of his service and his Queen.

*General Oma took over General Musan's position, becoming the first undead chief of staff, and would stay on in that capacity until Queen Draudillon herself would pass away. In her 'retirement', she started a touring company, taking the curious history buffs of the Empire to the many places that marked the war's great conflagrations, always ensuring that her Queen and her mentor figured large in the stories she told in the places she visited. She would not take up her scythe again, until the Sorcerer King requested it personally.

Ainz walked on, through the streets of the city of the faithful, where he encountered General Enri walking and laughing with Lupusregina Beta, seemingly indifferent to the blood and corpses that they stepped over, or the blood that stained their bodies and clothing.

"Enri." Ainz said, and she snapped her head to where she heard his voice, then rushed over and knelt in front of him.

"My lord!" She said formally, with Lupusregina taking a kneeling position beside her in the middle of the street.

"Be at ease, General. You have done a great service. Tell me, is there any reward I might offer you for your faithful service? And you know what 'not' to say to that, I trust?" He asked with a hint of sarcastic humor to his voice, both Enri and Lupusregina blushed a little, and were silent and flustered by his presence and his words.

"My Lord... I have... so much more than I ever wanted in my life, and I have it all because of you. I... really can't think of anything I could possibly want, that I don't already have, or that isn't waiting for me when I get home. But... if you really require me to ask for something... can... I ask for two things?"

He looked at her quizzically, Lupusregina's lips were pulling back as if she were getting angry at what at first appeared to be brazen greed, and too, he thought, 'I have never known her to be greedy, but... I suppose I should hear her out.' As the thought passed, he nodded, "Ask." He replied.

"May I ask that you join me in my home for dinner, sometime. To host you in my humble residence is... well... a joy. And also... I-I ah- forgive me if this is presumptuous but... may I call you 'Ainz'?" She stammered out her 'two' reward requests, and the anger of Lupusregina melted away into a warm and approving friendly smile.

"Yes, to both of those things, but... we will have to see you to a new home. I realize you do not require something grand, your humility is a noble trait but... if after such good service from you and your husband, you are left living in evident poverty, then the world will think I am cheap and do not properly reward good service. You will have a new home, we will use the pieces of your old in its construction, so that it is always with you, it will be done when you return home. Then after you have overseen the reconstruction of the former Theocracy lands, you will return to govern Carne in my name, and if it is possible, I will take you from your home no more." Ainz said in a slow, noble voice, he laid his hands on Enri's shoulders, and she gazed up at him happily.

"I know, something of what you have endured, my first human servant. But you needn't have been jealous of her, nor envious. You were my first faithful human, that is not to be overlooked or forgotten, and will not be. Carry that knowledge home with you, when it comes time to return to your life." Ainz said with a gentle voice that Enri felt in her bones.

"My Lord, may I ask one other reward for her?" Lupusregina asked suddenly, with an urgency in her eyes that brought Ainz up short.

"Ask it." Ainz replied abruptly.

"She isn't like me. This," she swept her hand to encompass the bloodshed and destruction, "isn't like home for her. I'd like for her to be given a reserved place in one of your healing homes, at least for a little while, to help come back to herself after all this. For me, this is playtime, for her, it will never be." Lupusregina remarked in a more solemn voice than Enri knew her friend to be capable of.

Ainz hesitated, and then asked, "How did you conclude this was needed?" He asked curiously.

"While I carried her into battle, I saw the unbridled wrath and hatred of another human, I could feel how twisted that one was, even from where I carried Enri, as with that one's unrestrained power, living people were turned into puddles of blood and scraps of metal. It was beautiful... but not for my Enri. As I am myself, I know how much I liked that. But I don't want Enri going so far down that road. I like her as she is, even if she just can't stop trying to get me into bed, and even though she rides me really, really hard." Lupusregina said sardonically and winked at Enri beside her.

Ainz listened with grave nods until the last sentence, "Uwa! Enri are you sexually harassing the servant I sent to you?" He asked, "If I had known you were that desperate, I would have given you leave to see your husband..."

Enri's eyes welled up with deeply moved tears as Lupusregina spoke, right until she saw that spark of mischief, her hands flailed back and forth from her bodyguard and her master, "No no no no no! I never, no! Wait... I could have seen my husband... how did I not... no, I'm not that way, we're not, I, she..." She blushed deep crimson as Ainz understood the joke and laughed a deep, hearty laugh, quickly joined by Lupusregina, and finally by Enri herself, who was the butt of the joke.

"Yes," He finally said as he held out a hand to Enri, which she took without hesitation and allowed him to help her stand, "you will have an outpatient spot reserved for you at the facility nearest to Carne. That way you can start to come back to yourself."

He then looked to Lupusregina and extended his other hand, allowing his staff to float at his side. She took it, and rose with awe and adoration in her beautiful golden eyes. "Lupusregina, you have grown, and I am truly proud of you."

She beamed bright as the sun, and tears of joy flowed down her face as Enri went in to embrace her companion.

"Go, see to your duties, tonight, the city feasts. Then tomorrow, you go home." Ainz said as he released their hands and took up his staff, and on he walked as they went to see about their tasks.

Enri walked the streets for awhile with Lupusregina at her side, before a familiar voice caught her ear and she glanced over to see General Boabdil waving at her from a table. 'He lived, well damn, that's one good thing, I wasn't sure my reports and whatnot would do any good.' She thought to herself, and approached the ruined cafe.

A few minutes later she sat across from General Boabdil at an outdoor table in the ruined city. "He has quite a... presence. Doesn't he? I've spent my whole life being taught the undead are evil, that they're mindless forces of hate and destruction. But ten feet away from him, and just to hear him speak... I wanted to stand at attention and beg for orders." Boabdil chuckled bitterly and raised the mug of his enemy's beer to his lips to drink.

"He does." Enri said with certainty and solemnity while Lupusregina's face shone proudly and her nose turned up somewhat smugly.

"On the one hand," Boabdil said with a sad little frown, "I respect all the cardinals even more, for being able to oppose his will after being in front of him that way, and on the other hand, I wonder how anyone that damn foolish ever got to lead in the first place." He held his mug to his lips and drank deeply for several seconds before letting out a hearty 'ah' as he slammed it back down on the bloodstained table.

Enri and Lupusregina chuckled at the black humor of their former enemy. "So, what happens now?" He asked with some small concern for his future evident in his voice. "He didn't have me arrested, just Raymond. What happens to me? Where do I go, now that it's all fallen down?"

Enri felt a brief flash of sympathy flare up in her heart as she saw the broken look fly briefly over his face, only to vanish when he looked over and held the mug out to a servant to refill. It vanished when she saw the mutilated ears that marked the recently freed. "Thank you." He said to the servant, and Enri's opinion of him jumped again as the servant nodded and departed.

Enri took up the mug that was laid down at her table, not minding for a moment that she hadn't asked for it. Lupusregina finished hers in a few seconds and was raising it up with a broad smile on her face, eager for another. After a sip, she looked him in the eye and spoke with gentle sincerity.

"Now, you're free. The reports I wrote of you during our conflict, praised your warrior's honor, you treated our dead with respect, you treated those prisoners of ours who you held, with kindness or at least without violation or brutality. You fought for the wrong side, but you fought for it, in the right way. Heikeren and Ira have agreed to support my efforts at reconciliation, and I've asked for the responsibility of rebuilding this country. If you're willing, I'd like your help with it, if you can do more than drink with your enemy."

"I can't." Boabdil remarked, prompting Enri to look at him with surprise, "Because you were never my enemy. You were my nation's enemy, never mine. Now that all this is over and, I don't know what to do with myself, I think your offer is a damn good one. If Heikeren and Ira are on board with it, then so am I. I'll spend the rest of my life, building this country back up, into something that can share space with its neighbors. My country is dead, but my people, many of them at least, still live, and as long as they live, the better angels of our nature may yet triumph and... maybe make better choices in the future."

Enri's dismay turned to delight as he answered, as Lupusregina finished off her second and raised her empty mug for a third.

"I look forward to working with you, General Boabdil." Enri said as she stood up and rested her hand on Lupusregina's shoulder after polishing off her mug and setting it down.

"Same." He said, and stood in turn.

Enri rendered a firm salute of fist over her heart, which he returned in like fashion, to her surprise, it was nearly perfect. "I've always been an unlucky man, you know. The odds were never in my favor not even once, for anything. Yet I triumphed every time until I met you on the field, up until then, I always won because I did more with bad luck than most of my enemies did with good. Losing the fight to you, the way it was lost, was probably my greatest victory, in the end."

Enri smiled the bitter sweet smile of one who lost those she'd loved. "Bad luck set me on this course, and many paid the price for it, but despite that, I'm glad I'm here, now, and perhaps we have that in common too, that we did a lot with bad luck." Enri and Boabdil dropped their salutes slowly and comfortably, and stood at ease on the same side and at the same table.

"Pick your staff and take over the central headquarters building here, I'll be back in a month or less, depending on how much time my Lord gives me to return to my husband and... put myself back together again." She grinned weakly and blinked swiftly to keep tears of longing at bay.

"So little time?" Boabdil asked, "After this triumph?"

"The reward of good work," Enri said with solemn pride, "is more work. Dread the day nothing is wanted of you, because then, nobody believes in you."

"Wise saying, where did you hear it?" He asked curiously.

"My strategist, Sun. The goblin you met, everything I know of commanding an army that was not ripped from books, was pushed into my thick peasant skull by his endless lessons. He died at the meeting with Heikeren. But I'll never forget his lessons, when time permits, I'll compile them into a book, so that he will live again whenever his name is uttered, and the world will know he lived here, once." Enri said sadly, and Boabdil had the decency to allow a moment of silence to pass in the memory of his fallen foe.

"See you soon, General Boabdil, I've got to check on my soldiers, make sure they're ready to move out of here soon." Enri remarked, and turned to walk away.

"I look forward to it." Boabdil said sincerely and sat back down, raising his mug, and ordering just one more beer as his rival departed.

*Enri would spend the better part of a year going through 'outpatient' treatment for her experiences during the war, after returning to her husband. True to predictions though, there was almost a month when nobody saw her at all... though Lupusregina could 'hear her' from her hiding place outside the bedroom window where Enri's husband ran through the better part of a year's worth of stamina potions in such a short time that he became something of a hero to the young men of the city, and grew incredibly wealthy selling that product alone. The pair would have six children, and in keeping with the word of the Sorcerer King, received a grand manor befitting a governor of the city of Carne Village. She would pass away at home, in her own bed, at a great age, only a few weeks after learning that her compilation of Sun's teachings had achieved best selling status in a multitude of venues both foreign and domestic. She was mourned by her companion and her bodyguard, who unsurprisingly given her nature, did indeed get off on it, and also would oversee the training of generations of children descended from the remarkable couple. Nfirea would go down in history for his innovations in magical potions, and in a move that would no doubt have delighted him, numerous schools bore his name, he survived his wife for only a single year, before passing on without regret, saying a fond farewell before his children scattered out to the world again, bearing the family name to ever greater fame.

*Goan, Nemu, and Kuuderika... have their end told in the epilogue of 'Bone Daddy's Daughters'

*Boabdil went down in history as 'Boabdil the Unlucky'. He would spend the next seven years after Enri's return, seeing to the rebuilding of his nation into various provinces. Enri became a fast friend to both himself and his wife, before he retired from the stressful job due to his age and became a teacher at a military academy in Ikari. His work taken over by his younger proteges, likewise under Enri, the four of them would lay the foundations for the future with massive construction projects that remade most of the Theocracy. When Boabdil would finally pass away, Enri was among those who mourned him most, and remarked that for a man with so much bad luck, he had accomplished much. On the monument over his tomb there read an inscription, "Even if you only have bad luck, you can still do a lot with it. Here lies the proof."

Nua hefted the bag in her hands as she walked through the streets of the city she loathed, the city that for a hundred and forty years and more, had eaten up her life. She looked at the broken timbers and toppled stone from homes and other buildings. She stepped in a puddle of blood that had gathered a foot from a body off to one side, where a young man had been ripped in half, and only his torso lay there, the rest of him, who knew where it was?

She walked on, a human survivor of the city was crouched down in an alley, rocking back and forth, he was bald, but not naturally, he'd torn his own hair out, it lay scattered around him, but despite the bloody splotches on his scalp, he seemed not to be aware of what he'd done. He rocked back and forth endlessly gibbering nonsense words. He did see 'her' though, and recognized her distinctly elven features. He screamed, and fell backwards and crawled like a crab backwards into the darkness.

"It's real, isn't it?" Enlaith remarked as she and Misu caught up behind her after a few hurried steps.

"How long have you two been here?" Misu asked quietly as she picked and fidgeted at her clothing, looking down at it uncomfortably.

"Over a hundred and forty years." Nua replied quietly, "I was lucky I guess, that I was older than some when I got here, I still 'remember' what freedom was, even if it was more or less under that twisted trash king. His rule was far away."

"Not much different for me." Enlaith remarked as they walked on. "But, I at least managed to get some revenge along the way."

"I never did but... I didn't come here alone either, my... my brother was here with me." Misu said sadly. "A few more days, and we'd be leaving together but... well, you know, he died to get me to safety."

"Now though, we're as safe as we can be, I'm leaving the city, if you two want to travel with me?" Nua said generously. "It seems I find myself suddenly 'rich' so I can afford to help two traveling companions without much difficulty." She tossed her bag up and caught it in hand with a confident snap that caught her by surprise when she made the bold gesture.

"Where are you going?" Misu asked as she thought it over, still picking at the cloth over her skin.

"I thought about it, and there is only one place for me. I'm going to Hoburns, to the first temple of Black Justice. I'm going to be a priestess of His Majesty. After that... I want to travel. I've been trapped in this city for so long, I want to herald his glory everywhere. I can think of no place I'd rather study. Neia might have been the second most terrifying being I've ever personally seen... but by the unliving god, look what he drove her to do for us? No, her faith will be mine, and I'll carry it everywhere." Nua said with breathless optimism.

"I want to go to the sanctuary lands in the east. The places the Sorcerer King bought from the Draconic Kingdom. I don't think I have family left, and the Elf Kingdom isn't full of good memories. I think I'll settle down there and open up a potion shop, my skill at poisons might be turned to something more peaceful that way. And I think I've had my fill of being around humans. My only regret is that I didn't get to thank Lady Skana." Enlaith remarked sadly.

"Skana? The wife of the demon of the west?" Misu asked with wide eyes. "How do you know her...?"

"I don't, not really. But... I snuck out last night to go finish off one human in particular, one who had to die by my hand and no other's. I got him, but didn't reckon on his son. That one got me from behind, might have done... terrible things to me, if the fighting hadn't started. Skana happened to be the one to break into the house... by breaking the house. She tore my chains off, literally tore his head off, and after getting my name out of me, told me to run to safety. It was just a few seconds of action... but she's earned her reputation as Neia's sword." Enlaith said wistfully. "Pretty, too, for a human."

"Oh, well... I'm going home. I think... or I hope, anyway, that some of my family is still alive around Crescent Lake, somewhere. If they are, I'll find them." Misu said with quiet longing as she continued to tear at her clothing's loose threads.

"What... are you doing, exactly? Something wrong with what you're wearing?" Nua asked as she looked at the green and black shirt and pants Misu had on.

"I'm... not used to clothing still. It'll take some time, I guess." She blushed.

"Oh, sorry... ah." Nua remarked, somewhat shamefaced at the insensitive question, she moved along, "Well, it looks like we're going in three different directions, if you hold off a bit, I'm sure the Sorcerer King plans on using his magic to send people where they want to go. You could just wait." Nua proposed thoughtfully.

"Why aren't you doing that?" Enlaith asked, noticing that Nua's feet fairly twitched with eagerness to walk onward.

Nua sighed, "Because... for a long, long time, I dreamt of walking out those gates, and I'll be damned if that dream doesn't come true. Now it's all fallen down here, and I want to make this journey myself. I'll buy a horse or passage on a boat, some supplies, and head west on my own. The sky above and the earth below, the only things to contain me, and all the rest of the world, open. I only wish..." She looked up at the sky through the gaps of the shattered wall.

"You wish Raymond could go with you." Enlaith finished for her.

"Yes... I do. I lost, and found my soul again, inside these walls, both of those things were because of humans. I did some things that will haunt me forever, but I can't regret them either. None of the good in the last year could have been, if I hadn't known him, so of course I wish he could walk out the gates with me. But, that's alright, we don't always get what we want. Nobody knows that better than an elven woman in Kami Miyako." Nua smiled a fragile smile at the two women, who reflected it back at her in faces of their own.

"Good luck to both of you, then." Nua said, and reached into her pouch, and took out ten platinum coins each, and placed them into their palms. Their eyes widened enormously.

"I've got ten lifetimes of fortunes in this bag, I can give up twenty coins from it, go, and use it well. It's a gift, not a loan." Nua said in the gentle voice that was more beautiful for being truly free.

"Well, I suppose we can walk to the gate at least." Enlaith remarked casually.

"Then let's." Misu agreed, and this they did, it was a relatively short walk by then. The enormous gate, that thing of terror Nua remembered from so long ago as it swung open, and swung shut behind her with a sound like a clap of doom, was now torn from its hinges in one half, and broken into large splinters on the other, most of which half dangled from where it had once proudly stood. She looked up above, and where once a thick shadow was cast by the upper section of the stone wall, now an open sky was in full view, the upper wall completely blasted open. Through the now well-lit space, she walked out of Kami Miyako.

"Goodbye, and goodluck." They said together, and scattered, following after their own heart's desires as they had always wished, and would do forever after.

When Nua was alone, and looking back at the ruin of Kami Miyako in the distance, it seemed small, tiny, and the world around her, even in the cold she felt as the distance grew between herself and the unnatural Spring, so large and beautiful, and no one seemed to be chasing her, nobody was shaking her awake out of a dream, nobody was brandishing a lash and everyone who longed to was either dead, in chains, or in hiding in fear of the liberators... she let loose a shout. "I'm free! I'm free! I'm finally free! You did it, Raymond! You kept your promise! You hear that! You stay alive out there, wherever you are! I'll come for you, someday! That's MY promise!" She spun and danced for joy where she stood, her feet kicking up white snow that vanished into the still black river near to where she walked, until at long last she set her feet to the road, and began her own adventure.

*Nua would do as she said, and travel to Hoburns, where she spent the next three years studying to be a priestess before setting her feet once more out into the wider world, turning her eyes on the Kingdoms beyond the borders of the Sorcerous Empire. As to her promise to Raymond... that is a story told in 'The Trial: Journey's End'.

*Enlaith would spend time establishing a potion shop, only to sell it for a small profit and return to the central lands of the Sorcerous Empire, where she would work as a volunteer in 'Illyana's House' tending to the veterans of the war who had scars that no healing potion could remove, before leaving that position and entering into Papal service.

*Misu returned home, and found her father still alive. She would mourn her brother for the rest of her life, and name her first child in his honor. Eventually, she would start a line of clothing that would see great success after a particularly fashionable vampire in the Sorcerer King's service, took a liking to the design.

Malach bowed deeply when he saw the Sorcerer King pass by, and went out to the main encampment to report to the paymaster. "So... you were part of General Enri's army?" The burly dwarf asked.

"Yes, I've been held captive in Kami Miyako after being transported from Crossroads. Worst, trip, ever." Malach said sarcastically.

"Identification number?" The dwarf asked bluntly, indifferent to the joke.

After Malach spat it out from memory, the dwarf pulled out a drawer and rifled through it. "Yup, missing in action, fill this out, and I'll get your back pay drawn for you and arrange for transportation to wherever you want to go." He handed Malach a quill and a document and waited as the young man worked, he handed it back after a few minutes.

"Elf country?" The Dwarf asked.

"It's as far from where I came from, as I can think of to go." Malach remarked in a quiet voice that had the gruff dwarf hesitate for a moment.

"Alright. Well, when your records are updated, expect an award to come your way, and I suggest you settle in Crescent Lake, looks like some of you black armors are goin' there, word is the new Queen is downright friendly to you folks." He suggested a little more amiably than in his first words.

Malach gave a weak smile of gratitude, the corners of his mouth just barely moving. "Thanks, I'll take that under advisement."

He blinked in disbelief at the pouch he was given. "So much?" Malach replied.

"Special hazard pay for that suicide mission in your record, plus back pay, plus a discharge bonus." The paymaster replied. "When your awards come through, there'll be another bonus sent to you, so update your records as soon as you can." The paymaster advised with a wagging of his meaty thumb.

"I'll... do that." Malach remarked in awe.

The dwarf then handed him another document, "This's your discharge paper, don't lose it. Now yer officially outta the army. You want to wait on transport to where you wanna call home, you can, but as of now, nobody can stop you from goin anywhere in the Sorcerous Empire." The gruff voice was countered by a twinkle in his eyes as he picked up on Malach's rising enthusiasm. "You goin' south, there's another group gettin together to make a pleasure trip out of it instead of waitin on official transport, do what you want." The dwarf said pleasantly, and Malach, taking his advice, approached the group that the dwarf pointed out.

*Malach went south to settle in Crescent Lake, where he found his way into a quiet life, buying some vacant land beyond the interior where he took to farming, his work made much easier by getting special rates and preferences on undead labor due to his status as a war veteran. He had modest success, and though he never forgot Moira, he took comfort in his belief that she escaped and returned to her son. He was only half right, and never learned otherwise, though perhaps that was for the best. He fathered two children with a young veteran woman who settled the next farm over, and was buried with full honors in a hero's graveyard established by order of Queen Zesshi, after a life lived long enough to see his children grow up strong, free, and prosper on their own, which is all any good father ever really wants.

"I've got to get out of here while the getting is good." The former interrogator said to himself, "Moira's still out there, my son is still out there... I've got to find them..." He uttered to himself as he crept out of his hiding place in the trash pile as peace settled over the city, and he headed for the shattered northern gate, and started on the long walk to Carne.

*Goan's father, would take the letter he was given and travel north to the city of Carne Village in search of his ex-wife and son. He found the boy, walking out of the manor of General Enri where he lived. He spoke to his son at least a little, which is how he learned of the heroic death of his ex-wife. He visited her grave on a quiet night when he was sure nobody would see him, and begged for forgiveness he would never get. For several days he 'accidentally' encountered Goan, and spoke with him without revealing his identity to the boy, his letter clutched tightly in his hands, a secret he longed to reveal, but did not. After a few such encounters, it was clear that Goan would never need, nor want to know the one who had abandoned him and his mother... his father went into the forest of Tob, tore up the letter and cast it into a creek, fashioned a noose, and hanged himself. He died alone. His body was picked apart by beasts, it was never recovered, and he was never mourned.

...Argland Council State...

Raymond sat in the carriage as it rode through the Argland capital city. "I guess this is the last of us, isn't it?" He asked the driver through the window.

"Yes, so I'm told, one or two more loads of people from your capital, and then that's it." The driver replied in the gruff, gravelly voice that most orcs had.

Raymond was quiet, the chains on his wrists didn't hurt, they weren't even heavy. 'I wonder how Zesshi is doing?' He smiled at that, 'Queen Zesshi, it has quite a ring to it.' He chuckled at the thought, and tilted his ear, for a moment, he thought he heard someone shout his name a few times. He laughed it off, 'Who here, would know who I am?' He thought dismissively as he was taken out of the carriage and led into a building.

He didn't argue or resist as he was taken through, processed, given simple clothing with a large yellow X, and given a brief block of instruction on how to behave in his 'new home'. "You'll be here until your trial. It may be in a few weeks, it may be in a few years, there are a lot ahead of you. You may also have noticed, but you're alone right now. We're told you are a 'special prisoner', former cardinal. That you rendered some services to the Sorcerer King during the war, so you're going to get some extra 'comforts' while you wait, as a kind of reward. Most like you, don't get much, but we'll provide you with books to read to pass the time, and when you want to write letters, you can request paper and ink. Any questions?" The slender dark elf woman asked.

Raymond looked around, she had a simple desk, the sort any bureaucrat might have, and two beefy orc guards. Her office was simple, free of decoration, pure functionality seemed to be her ideal, or her mandate. "None." He replied politely.

A few minutes later he found himself passing by cells filled with noisy prisoners, almost all of them humans, until he reached his new spot. The orc escort opened the door, and in he went. It slammed and locked behind him, and he looked around. A small cot, a space to write, a simple chair, a piss pot and a window, where outside, he heard the sound of ropes pulling tight as some unfortunate war criminals were hanged. "So... this is it." He said to himself, and sighed as he looked around.

Despair settled in around him as he contemplated this end. 'My work is done, she's safe, they're all safe, there's nothing left to do.' He thought grimly, and took off his clothing and wound it up into a rope. He looped it around the bars of the window up high, and fashioned a noose. 'Nua... looks like it will be the next life, after all.' He thought sadly, and slipped it around his neck.

Then he paused. 'No. No. I DO have one more thing to do. One day, it will be my turn, I will stand before judges at my trial, and I... I have to tell them everything. The whole truth, everything my country did, from start to finish, the families we ripped apart, the flesh we shredded because it was part of a body that had slightly longer ears than ours. Someone, someone has to tell them... everything they say about everything we did... it's all true. Let that confession be my last legacy. I'll wait, I can die, another day.' He said to himself, and undid the noose, put his clothes back on when he unfurled them, and laid down in the bunk to wait.

*Raymond's wait would last several years, before at last the chance came to tell the world everything at trial, but as with most things in life, there was an unexpected twist that even he could not anticipate... it was not his trial, that he was testifying at. But that is a story, and a legacy, for another time... in the upcoming work: "The Trial: Journey's End".

...Kami Miyako...

Zaryusu walked the streets of a city he never thought he'd see, in a part of the world that was impossible for him to visit, but which, to his amazement, was now part of the same kingdom as his home swamp. He looked at the massive buildings that were now mostly a pock marked ruin, but he could still see, in his mind, how they must have looked in their prime. He thought of the humble, poor huts of his homeland. 'If I had not seen Nazarick, this would be even more impressive than it is. One day, we will rival you. With the books and store of knowledge we've accumulated, the help of the dwarves, the quagoa, and His Majesty most of all, we will join this world, and carve for ourselves a mighty legacy in the pages of its story.' He promised himself, and was so lost in his own thoughts that he was unaware of the Sorcerer King until he felt the skeletal fingers on his shoulder.

He whirled and knelt instantly, putting the capitol building at his back.

"Your Majesty!" He said loudly. "Forgive your servant, I was lost in thought."

"There are worse things to lose one's self in than thought." Ainz replied, "Rise. I wanted to tell you before the ceremony, how well you have performed, the loyalty of your lizardmen has been exceptional. You should be very, very proud of yourselves, because I am. Cocytus was right about your worthy spirits." He said in a slow, sonorous voice that rang with the nobility of a true king.

Shalltear was grinning broadly behind the Sorcerer King, "Shalltear even tells me you were of use to her, and from what she's shown me, she was right. What reward would you ask for yourself and your people?" Ainz asked in the way of a generous lord, his arms open as if to embrace his subject.

Zaryusu thought the matter over. "My Lord... you have promised us prosperity, and you have been delivering that far beyond our dreams, I can think of no reward for ourselves that you are not already giving. But... well, there may be one thing, I do not know if it is too much, though, for our humble services."

"Ask, I will make that determination for myself." The Sorcerer King replied patiently.

"The population of my home is growing, our children multiply, and we will soon run out of easy living space, perhaps two or three generations at most. Could I ask, if there is some unoccupied land that you should encounter, could it be made into land suitable for my kind to live, so that our young can have homes of their own?" He asked with his head bowed deeply as he stood before his god.

"Yes, that is a good request, in the near future, we'll be sending out great expeditions by ship, to explore this world and find new lands, no doubt we will find suitable space for you, somewhere out there, and we can begin a new colony of lizardmen, to spread your spirit to the wider world. When we do, your children will take first priority." Ainz said as if he were contemplating a change of clothes instead of announcing a new golden age of adventure.

"I cannot wait to see it, Your Majesty." Zaryusu said proudly, and bowed as Ainz moved on.

*Zaryusu returned to his wife, and had four more children, three of whom would travel to new lands beyond the sea to settle new colonies in an empty land. He himself would seldom leave his homeland again, settling into governing it alongside his excellent wife. Though he would occasionally depart for reunions and celebrations held in Nazarick or in the great cities, with those exceptions, he would not travel more than thirty miles from his house again for the rest of his life, though the place around his home, would travel much, much farther, from where it was when his people first encountered the Sorcerer King. He would often correspond with his old training partner, the Pope, until he too, slipped quietly away, a few days after his wife, and another pair walked into the fog into legend, at an exceptionally old age.

Ainz walked on through the city streets, it was easy to tell who his people were, versus who were Theocracy citizens. The citizens of the Theocracy were starved, broken, and terrified. They hid and looked at him with terror and awe. "Can I punish them for their disrespect, My Lord?" Shalltear asked with growing anger as heads popped out from around corners, only to vanish into hiding again as he walked through the ruined city.

'Better distract her. Or this will only escalate.' Ainz thought to himself. "They're punished enough, for now at least." He answered, "More importantly, we need to discuss your reward."

"Can I have a whole night in your office... as... as your seat again!" She asked eagerly, clapping her hands together with passionate enthusiasm, a wide open smile and stars in her eyes.

'Shit! Well, too late now.' He thought to himself as he regretted his attempt at distraction. "Very well, but that will be a long evening, return to Nazarick, and rest yourself in anticipation. But be prepared to open the gates to send everybody home, between today and tomorrow." He said as he rushed to take the easiest way to remove her from the city before she grew too angry with the population of defeated humans.

"At once, My Lord!" She replied with a cackling laugh as she vanished through the gate and arrived back in Nazarick.

Ainz waited there, in the center of what was once one of the greatest cities in the known world, where the six great gods descended first to touch the world, and remade humanity into a force to be reckoned with. There, the Kings and Queens of great lands, would kneel before the undead, and proclaim him also, to be a god.

Neia remained at a distance, watching with joy spiralling through her heart as they began to assemble.

Chindai and his wives approached, and knelt before him a few minutes before the ceremony.

"My Lord, my wives and I wish first to express our everlasting gratitude for what you have given us, we will never forget it, oh Master of the Everplains." He said humbly. His long ears twitched with joy, as did those of his mates.

"You served well." Ainz remarked, "You will have a bright future, will you accept a reward for your service, that will ensure that your name echoes through the ages?"

"With pleasure, My Lord." Chindai said as he spoke for them all.

Ainz held out his hands, over the heads of his wives, his staff hovering beside them, he whispered, "Blessing of the Dark."

"My lord?" The women asked curiously.

"Your children will stand head and shoulders above all others, if it works half so well as it did on the last one to which that was applied." Ainz said with a blank face that, had it flesh, would surely have been wearing a smirk.

"To receive a blessing from a god... such a thing has not happened since we took to the saddle as a people... truly, we are your loyal servants to the end of time." Chindai said proudly from his humble posture, echoed quickly by the voices of his wives.

"We swear it." Ryla and Khava uttered in unison.

*Chindai, Ryla, and Khava would keep their oaths, and birth a set of twins each, all of whom had white hair that grew long, and faces like those of their father. The trio would rule the plains and raise great cities, but unlike most of the kingdoms of the Sorcerous Empire, they would keep only a 'few' such places. In this way they kept the great plains open, and their horse culture thriving. True to their dreams though, the dark elves of north of the former Theocracy, would indeed ride the world, in trade, in the spreading of their new faith, and in war, the adventurous hearts of those born of the harsh plains, would become the stuff of legends, making both their women, and their men, ardently sought after by those of passionate hearts in surrounding nations, and if anybody minded the reputation, they never said so.

When Queen Calca came through the [Gate], she appeared beside Neia. The Pope didn't jump out of her skin at the surprise appearance, instead she turned and held out her hand to shake it as one would a peer. Only for Calca to immediately embrace her. Neia's arms slowly enfolded the slender beauty, and the embrace was held for a moment.

"You're alive... thanks be to my God that you are alive." Calca whispered as she stepped back and held the Pope's hands in her own, her fingers rubbing slowly over Neia's as she clasped them.

"Is there some reason I wouldn't be?" Neia asked, a little befuddled, but smiling slightly at the warm greeting.

"I... feared this war would be your end. You saved my life, you helped save my kingdom, in the stories I grew up with, the hero always dies at the climax. I guess I feared that end for you, after all you did... you seemed like..." 'a human sacrifice...' She thought, and nearly said, but held the words back, unable to say it out loud, "...someone who had already done too much. I dreaded that I might learn that you fell here, in the moment of your great triumph." Calca answered hesitantly.

Skana laughed, "My wife is a bit tougher than that, besides, her story isn't over yet, what makes you think 'this' is the climax of her life's epic? We've won the war, we've got to win the peace, and that's a lot harder, you of all people, should know that, Your Highness." Skana said as she addressed her former Queen.

Queen Calca laughed slightly and bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Perhaps you're right, there is still a lot to do, but my part in all that is, I think, largely over. I've got a kingdom to see too, that is now a province. I know you two don't plan to come back to it, but there will always be a room open for you in my palace, if ever you should feel the need to visit any part of my Kingdom again." She let her hands go, and they dropped to her side.

"I thank you for the invitation, Your Majesty. One day... I may want to see some things again... but I'm not ready for that, not yet." Neia said with a suddenly haunted look in her eyes that she shook off quickly. "But you'll do great things there, and I'll support you, I promise."

"That means much to me, thank you again, for everything, I'd better go take my place now. Looks like they're starting to gather." Calca said, and walked over to take her place beside Queen Draudillon.

*Queen Calca did as she said, she kept a room open in her palace for the Black Paladin for the rest of her rule. The Northern Kingdom entered into a golden age, with settlers from the vast armies moving in in droves to replace the lost population. The kingdom 'changed' forever, and grew stronger and stronger, as the southern offshoot grew weaker and weaker, until a certain swordsman, driven by dreams of his own, saw to the collapse of the place, took the crown for himself, and ensured reunification with the northern Holy Kingdom, by marrying the Queen and making it one land again... but that is a whole other story altogether.

...Nazarick...

"They're awake." Vanysa said to her paramour as she looked down at the two humans. She wore her 'human' face for this occasion.

"Where am I?" Yvon asked as he tried to move his head, and found that he couldn't. Chains held him fast, stretching him taut but without pain... unless he moved.

"Yvon?!" Dominic asked from the table next to him. "What did you do?!" He shouted with his characteristic fury.

"Me?! Nothing! Is this one of your tricks?!" Yvon snapped back in fury of his own. They struggled to move, but could not do anything but speak and hurt themselves.

Vanysa giggled as she walked between their tables. She looked over each of their faces, so that they could see her pretty, sweet and toothy smile.

"G'mornin!" She said cheerily and lightly tapped each of their cheeks with her hands. "I'll tell yah everythin, doncha worry." She said with her charming grin.

They were quiet.

"Yer in Nazarick, in the home of my god, the Sorcerer King. Yah both went and died, and while that ain't so bad most of the time, yah were both right terrible, an'ee figured death that quick was jus a bit too light to get off with." She said cheerily, and hovered her face over Dominic, and let her face change to that of a demoness, her eyes wide as she stared into him.

"You're so... so guilty... it's sumptuous... I crave the feast you offer..." She licked her lips hungrily as Dominic stared defiantly up at her golden skin. She hovered her eyes from Dominic, to those of Yvon, raking her talons slowly over their naked flesh. "So..." She interrupted her hungry motions, as her eyes cleared of her moment of madness, "you're both in for a lot of... punishment. You're going to live as... severed heads. And I have something very... very special in mind for both of you."

She giggled as the insanity returned... "See, yah had a small hand in what terrible thins 'appened ta me an to mah king's people, an on account of im bein' right sore about that, we gots ta give evil fer evil an good fer good, an yah gotsa lotta the first one." She laughed as sweetly as a crystal bell's ringing.

"Do they understand now, what is about to happen?" Demiurge asked patiently, "I know you like to talk to your prey but... I want to get to the mirror to watch the ceremony."

Vanysa's hand went up to her mouth and clarity took over her eyes, "Oh! You're right, I want to watch too! Well, they know enough. The rest, they can figure out. And by the way, Dominic, just so you know, your suffering will end before Yvon's, between the two of you, he was just a little bit worse."

The two humans chained down the table started to object, before Demiurge's order to silence shut them up.

The pair worked swiftly, within minutes, Dominic and Yvon felt their heads severed from their bodies, attached to devices in boxes, and closed up in darkness. They were handed over to quagoa workers, who tunnelled them a quarter mile beneath the city streets of Kami Miyako before the lids were taken off and they were set into the darkness facing a pair of mirrors.

"What is this, what have you done?! What is going on?!" The cacophony of questions from the two went as fast as an expert archer loosed arrows from the bow, but was ignored until the workers were done. "You are now beneath the city you both dominated, with no one but each other for company. The mirrors you can't yet see, will be quite visible as soon as we leave. Because then your real punishment begins." The quagoa worker replied as he read the missive he'd been given.

"Real punishment?" Yvon asked, his sinister eyes glaring in the dark. "This isn't punishment enough?!" He shrieked into the dark.

"No, not even close. When we leave, the spell will activate, and every single time a demihuman or heteromorph walks over the part of the city above where you're buried, your heads will catch fire. You will watch yourselves burn alive, without dying. Dominic, you have been sentenced to five thousand years in this hole. Yvon, to ten thousand of the same. Enjoy the darkness, and one another's company, it is all you'll have, for a very, very long time." The quagoa shuddered as he put down the letter, not least because it had included the predictive reply to the incredulous disbelief about the extent of their punishment. 'I must not anger those capable of such long thought.' the worker silently and wisely reminded himself.

Dominic and Yvon began howling in unison, threats, promises, bribes, but the one thing they did not do... was beg. When the Quagoa left, sealing them alive in their tomb, and the first flame erupted... then they begged. But there was no one to hear it.

*Nobody ever did. They burned there for century after endless century, as it was a common stopover for travelers, many of whom were demihumans. They spent that time hating each other, hating their unwitting tormentors, hating their continued existence... until finally, at long last, Dominic died for the second time...permanently. Long after he had abandoned his belief in the gods that didn't save him. Yvon would burn alone except for the company of the slowly rotting, foul smelling head of his former rival, until he also perished. Their heads sat there, alone, until a construction project one day accidentally opened the room, and found what was left of them. It was quite the curiosity, but by then... nobody remembered who they were or why they were there, except for a handful, who of course, said nothing, allowing them to be completely forgotten and tossed in a hole, forgotten again.

*Vanysa entered outpatient treatment in a healing home to help recover from the traumas she experienced under Astraka, and at the hands of the Beastmen before him, and at the hands of those few humans who had power over her life in her early youth. Her madness slowly eased, though she remained an eccentric who enjoyed the company of Pandora's Actor just a bit more than most. She would in time, be more than a mere subordinate and lover to Demiurge. In addition to being a suitable mate, her sandwich shop franchise became one of the most popular in the Sorcerous Empire... as well as the place out of which most of her espionage operations ran out of when she became head of the intelligence division, and sat as co-chair as a researcher beside her mate, in her free time. Though eventually, she embraced her role as a mother with the same vigor that she applied to 'making music' with her prey. She would often reflect on the world shattering changes that she endured in barely a year of life, and no matter how long she lived, she would always say that half her proudest moments, happened in that age of heroes.

Fluder had asked only one reward of the Sorcerer King when he encountered His Majesty again in the streets of Kami Miyako. "Let me plunder the library in the local magic academy."

With the reward granted, he did exactly that, drawing upon the gracious allowance of the use of his [Gate] to take all the books back to Nazarick for cataloging and reading... while eating a pie made out of Idun's apples to restore his youth and give him a whole new lifetime to apply to his magical studies.

*And study, he did. Becoming a magical researcher involved heavily in collaboration with the dwarven schools in the Understone Empire, the Dwarves of the Azelian mountain range, and the grand schools of knowledge around the empire. It was however, when he 'developed' the concept of 'peer review' and began those more public collaborations, that the first real progress began to be made. Often people, usually students and other young researchers, would ask about his time in the war, but about that he rarely said much, "I liked Skana just fine, interesting girl as far as it went. But on the whole I saw the war as just... stupid. I am amazed that anyone doubted that His Majesty was a God, and that if anyone did doubt it, it is equally amazing that they were not so dense that they died by forgetting to breathe. Now get back to work." As endings go, it wasn't much, but then, the path of magic ws endless, and that suited him just fine, so in a way, one might call that a suitably fitting end.

Zesshi walked beside Thirg and Tefl Dahn as they made their way to the central gathering point, she pointed out things around the city that she recognized and remembered from her years of life in the city as they drew closer to their destination. To her great surprise, she felt very little about the place anymore, not even the satisfaction she expected from its almost total destruction. "Now that it's all over, have you considered what you'll do next?" She asked her long time Vice Commanders.

Thirg and Tefl gave one another a look of mutual wide eyed surprise. "I, we... we forgot that this could ever actually end." Thirg remarked with breathless shock in his voice.

"It's been so long for us... but that's a good question... what now?" Tefl asked her behemoth of a brother.

Zesshi slightly lowered her head in sympathy, stepping over the severed hand as they walked the long road up to where her world would start to change again, where the gods first came to their world. "I've heard that ruling a kingdom is tough, and that you need three things. Revenue, land, and good advisors. I've got the first two, and room for the third. Stay with me, we'll work something out."

The siblings traded another look, and slowly nodded their assent. "I think we'd like that." They said together. Tefl bowed her lithe, slender body in her Queen's direction, as did her brother.

"We can work out the details later, but for now, we don't want to be late." Thirg remarked.

"Good advice. You're getting the hang of it already." Zesshi smirked, and picked up the pace as low laughter followed behind her.

*It turned out that Thirg and Tefl had a knack for good advice, and stayed on throughout the reign of Queen Zesshi. The vampire elf siblings resided comfortably in Crescent Lake for centuries, occasionally filling in for the Queen when her duties or her 'impulses' carried her from the throne. They provided quick studies, and were avid supporters of the faith of their founder, and in their spare time, occasionally gave interviews, wrote short collaborative pieces, and contributed to the preservation of the memory of the age of heroes.

*Zesshi slipped more and more into her duties as the days went on and turned into years and years turned into decades which turned into centuries. She gradually rebuilt Crescent Lake into a thriving metropolis and the greatest city in the south. Trade flowed in and out from the great city, and by working with the temples of Black Justice over the years, elven slaves who were scattered by her former nation, were slowly able to return home and start their lives over again. The next century and a half after the victory at Kami Miyako became known in her homeland as 'The Grand Renewal'. As she'd promised Neia, a room was kept open in her palace for a papal visit. Though she seldom saw the Pope in person, correspondence was common, and always welcomed at both ends. As time passed and more descendants of her vile father were found, her family grew by leaps and bounds, but no growth was as welcome as that which took place within her own body, when she finally lay with the only male to defeat her utterly... But that story is told in 'The Undiscovered Country'.

Olasird'arc perched atop the capitol building of Kami Miyako, the former center of government, and watched the leaders of north and south alike gather together. Beside him, perched his now much more lean, younger son. "I'm going back home now, I suppose." The much humbled dragon monarch said with a weighty voice. He felt a pair of black eyes look up at him briefly, and shuddered. "You were right about that one, my boy."

Hejinmal didn't respond immediately, but when he did, he said, "I won't be going with you, father."

"No?" Olasird'arc replied, somehow unsurprised.

"No, Lady Aura is allowing me to travel, I want to see something new out there. Maybe you weren't wrong before, back when we used to argue. I hid in books because I was weak in body, but thanks to her, I'm stronger now. I want to join one of the exploratory ventures. See something of the world." Hejinmal remarked quietly.

Neither father nor son looked at the other for awhile. "The whole world is changing," Olasird'arc said sagely, "maybe seeing more of it, isn't a bad idea. I'll take care of the mountain, it isn't going anywhere, go, see the world, and come back when you're ready, with stories enough to tell that you'll write your own books instead of just reading those of others."

Hejinmal felt his mouth fall open in an unexpected laugh, "A dragon writer, who ever heard of that?" He paused, "Wait, not a bad idea. I may just do that, I'll see you again, when I return in a few years, father, and maybe, just maybe, I'll take your advice this time."

*After the ceremony, they each did as they said, Olasird'arc would aid in drawing other dragons into the service of His Majesty, with grand treaties offering mountain tops to dragons, as well as suitable labor to make them comfortable, in exchange for services to the Sorcerer King in the form of everything from long distance mail delivery and transportation, to military defense. And of course, to sweeten the deals, the strength of the Sorcerous Empire's military research developed ever better equipment with which to arm their dragon corps, fulfilling many a dragon's dream of great strength... and humbling those who felt dragons were not meant to serve.

*Hejinmal went on the first western expedition, using his ability to fly, to scout for dangers ahead of the ships, warning them of storms and occasionally, eliminating deadly sea monsters that broke the surface. He stayed overseas for three years, helping to establish the first colony on an uninhabited coastal island bordering what turned out to be a great continent with previously unimagined peoples, and when he did finally come home, his many letters were bound into a book, and it became a bestseller, sparking new waves of adventurous youth to take to the seas in the age of exploration. Occasionally he saw the rest of his family, but by and large he remained at Lady Aura's side, whose company he came to enjoy best, except when the itch for adventure struck, and out he'd go again.

Leinas stepped through the gate and found herself in E-Rantel once again. No ceremony. No pomp. Just her and a bustling city that was rapidly growing into the center of the world. Around her, shopkeepers were busy selling goods that were undreamt of years before, as well as those that were older than human memory. The smell of fresh baked bread was welcome, and she stopped to purchase a piece to eat on the way to the governor's manor.

That was when she started to really draw notice. Salutes and shouts greeted her all the way to her simple, private office, where the figure behind it simply stood up, moved aside, and offered her the chair. "All yours." The lich said in his polite, raspy voice.

"Thank you, it's good to be back." Leinas said politely as she got back to work.

*Leinas Rockbruise would often see Aureole Omega whenever the latter came to the city, and this didn't change when she accepted the order of immortality to prepare her to serve in the crisis for which the Sorcerer King was preparing. Though she retained her humanity, and kept age at bay by way of the occasional eating of an apple of Idun to remove the years from her. This went on until after the first advent, when she was rewarded by being allowed to age, and she walked into legend herself at the age of two hundred and ninety, without regret, without a mark on her, having lived a life worth writing about, after enjoying a lengthy retirement at a country estate in the empire she'd abandoned years before. The story of the cursed knight became popular children's fiction, and her life became a kind of morality tale about how hard work let someone overcome great obstacles.

The trio of Black Scripture members stepped out of the gate and into the palace of the Elf Queen, and word spread like wildfire that the war was over, and the Queen who rid them of their vile king, was coming home. Elves began to return to the outskirts of the city over the next few days, and Zesshi's loyal remainder took the initiative in helping to find places for them to stay, establishing temporary camps and order beyond the city as construction crews went to work dealing with the sudden influx of population from the freed slaves as well as the return of their armies and the released captives from elsewhere.

*Cenna and his companions remained for the rest of their lives in the Elf Kingdom, training new warriors and settling into peaceful lives that prepared future generations for war. One thing that remained in common with the Theocracy, was that they were encouraged to have children, to pass on their strength and prepare the Empire for the crisis only a handful knew was coming. The one tainting of their lives, for as long as they lasted, was the fact that they alone had lived. The Black Scripture had destroyed itself, and the memory of killing their own comrades, would haunt them for the rest of their days. The one comfort, they all said, was that seeing what Zesshi did, had them convinced she was worth it. That didn't change the bitterness, but it made it bearable at least, and sometimes that's the best anyone can ask for.

Nimble sat back in his chair within the governor's manor, sighing with relief as soon as word came that the war was over. "It's all over. Now the really hard part begins." He said to himself, and was relieved when Heikeren and Ira took the news well.

"Going home?" Heikeren asked as amicably as he could.

"Going to retire. This was enough for a lifetime." Nimble said begrudgingly, "I have a lot to process, and it won't be easy, I don't know if one lifetime is enough for it all."

"Well, maybe you can ask for some extra?" Ira forced the joke, but he laughed appreciatively regardless.

"Maybe so. But I'll be happy with a quiet retirement. Still, I hope everything works out here, I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but after all this, I'm happy to hear about it after the fact." He said firmly.

*Nimble wasn't joking about his retirement. He put in his papers the day he returned to the Baharuth Empire, and though he was often troubled by sleepless nights and terrible memories of what it had taken to put down the rebellion brought about by the Agante, he found some comfort in the occasional news of peaceful reconstruction. He settled into a country estate, and shut himself off from most of the world, save for a few friends. Though he privately and anonymously supported some veterans organizations along the way, and when he died at the age of eighty, he left everything to those, remarking in his final days that if only people grew tired of war as fast as they grew tired of singing, dancing, drinking, and sex, war would be rare and short, and it wouldn't have taken a god to bring peace to their lives.

Jircniv took his place in the line as the other monarchs began to form up, with Pe Riyuro falling in beside him. "It's been... something, hasn't it?" Jircniv remarked quietly as attendants began to set lights around the sacred space in the form of glowing staffs.

"It has, it has. My people have distinguished themselves, fought alongside dwarves, aided the lizardmen in raising themselves from the muck, and as a reward for service, as our numbers grow, there are lands being set aside for us to work with the Mountain Elves west of Feron and South of the Elf Kingdom. We're about to enter an age of unprecedented growth." Pe Riyuro replied as he gently embraced his friend, taking care not to harm him with his claws.

"It's strange to think of how far we've all come, from where we began. Once, we were each the center of our worlds, building on our power, and then in the blink of an eye, each of us became a mere spectator to the rising star of the Sorcerer King. Yet even I... didn't know then that I was going to be kneeling before a god. It seems... obvious, in retrospect." Jircniv said with a tired laugh.

"It does, but... the past is always clear, and the future always murky. Maybe if things were the opposite, we'd all be better off, but... what can we do?" Pe Riyuro asked with a shrug.

*What indeed? Pe Riyuro ruled for another thirty years, presiding over the rebuilding of his numbers, and provided with ample support in everything from healers to rare minerals, his people grew strong and numerous. He lived to see their numbers surpass the strength he'd thrown away to be slaughtered in a futile battle, and to see the first colonies established in distant mountain ranges. When he died, it was on his throne, still working tirelessly for his people, and he was remembered as the father of their future.

*Jircniv would rule until the age of sixty eight, when he would retire and pass the throne to his eldest son through his empress. He stayed on as an advisor for a year or two, before retiring outside of the city, far from the power he wielded for so long, and he died at the age of ninety-seven, respected for his wisdom, his acumen as a ruler, and his foresight. His birthday became a national holiday throughout the province that had once been an independent empire. Though occasionally the 'Bloody Emperor' was criticized by history for some of his brutality, the Sorcerer King only remembered him as the anonymous mentor, and at the end of it all, a very good friend, and not many people have gods saying that about them. He was widely mourned, even by those he once called rivals, and that alone, said enough about his character in the eyes of those who knew him.

Renner stepped through the gate along with her lover, her brother, and two 'guests' and found herself in Kami Miyako. She put her new nature on full display, and floated a few inches above the ground, slowly flapping her massive angel wings and looking at blood and destruction through pure, white eyes. "I knew I made the right choice." She said profoundly.

"My Princess?" Climb asked, curiously.

"Nothing, Climb. Nothing at all, now come along, I must bend my knee to our god, and I want you to observe, so that you know that even for all that I am, even I must bend to the greater." She said sweetly and laid her hand on his shoulder.

*Renner would have a multitude of children by the man who would become her husband, these half angel beings inherited the duality of both father and mother, and arguably were the better for it. Neither being cruel and obsessive, nor mindlessly loyal and impractically good. They walked a middle path that neither of their parents could, and prospered as a result. Renner remained her ruthless self in the service of her master, growing significantly in power and skill. Her lust and desire for her 'puppy' did not diminish, but her insecurity about his continued devotion, did. And with the growing confidence that he would not leave her, some of her obsessive madness faded, making her at least, a little happier and more comfortable with her life.

*Climb doted on his children and his wife, and came to enjoy her 'games' quite a bit, even if he did usually need a healing potion afterward. Kept young by the apples of Idun, he found satisfaction in palace life that was at last, free of double dealing politics, scheming maids, and constant threats of external destruction.

*Raeven did his best to assist King Zanac in governing wisely, though he never fully recovered from the events of the Katze Plains, his dedication to ensuring that it would never happen again, made him a potent force for diplomacy, as he traveled in entourages to the kingdoms east of the Sorcerous Empire to negotiate deals that would bring common prosperity without the risk of conflict. He died at the age of seventy-seven, days after returning home to his family estate, and much mourned by his wife, children, and colleagues. Zanac even had a special coin minted in his memory, that was produced for one day per year, every remaining year of his reign. The coin went by the name 'kingmaker' and was eventually used as the model for coins used in games of strategy where players had economies to manage. His son often reflected that his father would have been very proud of that.

Zanac stood on the other side of Pe Riyuro, lost in his own thoughts. 'My father is avenged, my country is avenged, my people are safe, my throne is safe, is this what winning feels like? If so... I like it.'

*Zanac had three children, founding a line of kings that would last for three hundred years of mortal rule, until one of Renner's half angel children took the throne, while she remained the power behind the throne. Often said to be the king who shouldn't have been, he was also said to be the king who deserved to be. He never forgot his father, though thought little enough of his disappointment of a brother. He ruled until the age of eighty-eight, and died on the throne he wasn't supposed to have gotten. In his last moment of life, he reflected that there was no better place for his time to end.

*Hilma was allowed to retire a year after the war ended, and settled comfortably into a town that sprang up on the Central One grand highway that the Sorcerer King had built. There she established herself as a name in the hospitality business, with few knowing of the earlier events of her life until it appeared in her obituary. Who she was, really was, became a thing of some controversy when it was found that she left all of her worldly wealth to either the courtesans who worked for her, or organizations meant to assist those who wished to leave that business behind. Most concluded that at the very least, she 'wasn't all bad'.

Brain stood outside the ceremonial area next to Alden, and crowds began to gather to watch as the kings and queens of nations came to bend a knee to Ainz Ooal Gown. "You're planning on leaving, aren't you?" Alden asked bluntly.

"How did you know?" Brain whispered the question by leaning slightly towards the young man.

"I know the 'I've got to get going' fidget, thank you very much. So where and why?" Alden asked, looking up to the blue haired warrior.

"West, to the Southern Holy Kingdom. And to pursue a dream." Brain replied eagerly.

"She'll let you go?" Alden asked, indicating the princess with a nod of his head.

"Yes. I already have permission." Brain said eagerly.

"Then I'll go with you. If I stay here, it'll be nothing but boredom and drinking, besides, you're broke, and I've still got enough money to live for a good long time without any effort, so... how about we work together, maybe I can help?" Alden replied with a whisper of his own.

*Alden did exactly that, taking the rest of his reward of gold, he traveled with Brain to the Southern Holy Kingdom, and to the greatest adventure of his life, and eventually to the title of Baron, which he passed on to his children when he died at the age of one hundred and two.

*Brain sought adventure and power in the Southern Holy Kingdom, waging his own private partisan war to bring down the government, though it was roundly denied that Queen Calca or the Sorcerer King provided him any aid, the question was never really settled, not even after he eventually won, and reunited the two kingdoms, giving it to the Sorcerer King in exchange for the power he sought to surpass his human limits. Many an experiment later... he began to realize his dream. As far as his life as the 'Holy King' he found he had more in common with the Queen than either expected, and the union was a happy one, though childless, and when the Queen passed away, he sought a life of adventure, abandoning the throne to her last wishes. He carved a mighty name into many a story, and the late Queen showed she had something of a petty side, as she had appointed one of Neia's children as her heir, a kind of final 'fuck you' to the disloyal south that she was never able to fully forgive.

The Dragon Lords watched the battle of Kami Miyako with abject horror. "What do we do?! What the hell do we do?!" They asked each other over and over as they watched 'gods' being made out of common humans, at least for awhile. "Do? I will tell you what we 'do'." The Worm Dragon Lord answered in a hollow voice. "We maintain our independence as long as we can, make ourselves into great neighbors, great trading partners, make it undesirable to go to war with us by cooperating in every way we can, so that 'if' he ever decides we need to become one nation with him, we can negotiate friendly terms for integration, with as much autonomy as we can manage. And until then, we maintain our national policy of not pissing him off!"

*The various dragon lords thought that to be very good advice, and this they did, retaining their independence entirely until giving it up partially during the rise of the next advent, and entirely favorably during the dread time of the Ragnarök advent, integrating peacefully into the Sorcerous Empire. Their plans worked so smoothly, that they believed in their hearts that it had all been part of his plan all along, though none ever found the will to voice it, and except for dire times, most never really even noticed that anything had changed, except for the better.

Lakyus watched from the sidelines with the rest of Blue Rose as power gathered at the place where human might was born with the return of the gods, broken with the coming of a new one, and, as she thought of it, reborn into something better. "Are you alright?" Lakyus asked Gagaran gently as the giant woman stood anxiously by.

"It's nothing. Just hearing things." Gagaran replied.

"What is-" Tia began.

"After this?" Tina finished.

"We'll have to pick an immortal form, I suppose." Lakyus said with an awed tone as she watched the Black Paladin embrace her Undead god. "Hard to believe I'll live to see two hundred."

"You get used to it." Evileye remarked with a smirk. "Just make sure you have a reason to get up in the morning, and it isn't a problem. Maybe, by the way, you should consider choosing 'vampire'. That way you'd all stay pretty, and who knows how powerful you might become?" She proposed as if she were suggesting breakfast.

"It's a bit much." Lakyus said, her eyes still fixed on the Pope.

"But you're not thinking about that now, are you?" Evileye asked gently as she reached out and touched Lakyus's arm.

"No, I guess not. I'm just... well she's a friend. And... I'm worried about her. I hate to think she did all this, and gets nothing but more trouble for it." Lakyus replied hesitantly. "I couldn't be how I am now, but for what happened in Kedyn. I guess... I'm overthinking things." Lakyus said with a sigh.

Gagaran grunted indifferently. "Just don't get too close to that one, bad things happen around her, and I don't want to see you getting caught up in it." She said coldly.

*Lakyus did not take Gagaran's advice, and remained a close friend to the Pope and her wife, throughout the Synod, and visited Neia when the pope was imprisoned after the investigation of Wheaton was completed a few years later. But she and her sisters did take on new forms, when suitable magic was developed that allowed them to do so with relative ease, and they spent their days in service to the Sorcerer King. When looking back on the age of heroes, she was often asked her thoughts on the matter, and summed it up in this way, "By the end of the war, it was often hard to tell who was good and who was evil anymore, but when I went through places like Wheaton, Wenmark, and Kami Miyako, and saw the terrible things done to others just for daring to exist as something other than human, and saw the hurt in my sister's eyes as she had to hide herself from those she loved... It was easy to remember then. Maybe nobody was perfect, but only one side wanted a better world for everyone... and whatever 'certain people' did to get there... it wouldn't have been necessary, if so many others hadn't lived to just make things worse."

*Gagaran remained haunted by her own actions in Wheaton for as long as she lived, though the terrifying voice that told her to kill, did fade to a whisper in time.

*Tia and Tina opened a series of dojos that trained others in their skills, and it became a prerequisite for intelligence operatives in certain positions to attend them for a year or two in the course of their training.

*Keeno traveled the empire widely, often leaving her sisters for weeks or months at a time, but always they returned to the place they had made their headquarters in Re-Estize, to meet, to talk, to keep their long years of friendship and family ties, strong even through trying years, such as the challenges they faced when the advent threatened to ruin all they'd fought for. Keeno and Lakyus grew only more at ease with the changes in their lives and their world, as did the rest of their team, and made themselves truly comfortable in the new world.

Neia broke the embrace of her beloved undead father and stepped away as the last of the royals gathered together, spectators abounded, friendly and defeated alike. The lights were erect, and as the light of the sun slowly began to drift away from the world, shadows drifted along the sacred ground. Skana took a place to one side, while the Sorcerer King stood behind his faithful pope, on the exact spot the first of the six had supposedly stepped on for the first time.

He watched her cloak flap lightly in the breeze. It was warm, as a gift to the attendees, he'd chosen to make the weather like that of late spring and early summer, ensuring maximum comfort for his guests, and maximum awe from the defeated.

Neia's straw colored hair was clean and unbound, a little longer now than it had been, if not by much. He thought back to when he'd first seen her, a scary looking face and unflappable will to offer up her life if it bought her country even a year. 'Impressive, even then, and she was barely more than a child. Now? Now she's a grown woman with a name, a reputation, and despite the fact that she now seems as tall as a mountain to look at her... She's still so young... could anyone be expected to go through all that? I didn't help matters. Even if I can't ever tell her, I have to make up for the death of her village, and her parents. I'm a level one God now... and what kind of God can't do that? I'll have to be a better boss, for all their sakes, the world doesn't need a do-nothing god, any more than it needs dead ones.'

The train of thought was broken as Neia cleared her throat and spoke with the passionate and almost musical voice that made so many listen to her. Her words were free of wrath or threat or the rage that had grown up in her over the previous few years. Her arms opened out as the Kings and Queens bent their knees and lowered their eyes.

They then repeated after her. "Strength through Justice, Justice through Strength, in the name of our God, Ainz Ooal Gown, we pray for both, and condemn Weakness, the root of all sins, repudiating it utterly. We therefore commit ourselves to the will of the one true god of this world, offering our bodies, our souls, our skills, our hearts, and our minds, that we may become better than before, in all things."

One and all, their voices were raised in harmony as they accepted the rise of their god as the sun slowly set in the distance. Neia's face was bright with happiness, and those soldiers of Black Justice who observed, in particular, her hundred, drew their swords and thrust them into the stone, easily penetrating the rock as they knelt and rededicated themselves to the faith they had adopted for themselves. It was easy then, to tell the victor from the vanquished, as the act spread from faithful to faithful, as if a stone had dropped into still waters and created a vast ripple, hundreds of thousands of soldiers imitated the act, and the oath went from the handful of mighty rulers, to those who had long since, and only just, alike, accepted the faith. The mass rededication sent a wave of happiness through Neia's heart, until the last sound of the last word had faded.

"Now rise! Rise servants of our Lord, and let us dedicate ourselves to rebuilding this world, in accordance with His sacred will!" Neia's voice echoed everywhere without even the slightest effort, and the sound of so many rising as one, echoed for several more seconds off the many broken walls of the defeated city.

Neia turned her back to the royals and approached her master, her father, her god. "It is done. Now, My Lord... your servant begs your orders, how may she serve you next?" She had a solemn, intense look on her face that reminded him again of their first meeting, when he lowered her head to accept it's removal.

"Now," he said as he put his hands to her shoulders and looked into the swirling void of her black eyes, that were marked by only by a pair of tiny red dots, "you feast, you rest, and of course, there is the Synod. Royalty has bent the knee, next, it will be the priesthood." He said proudly.

"Yes! My Lord." Neia grinned, and as he waved over her wife, he quietly withdrew himself and ordered that the entire store of food be opened up, to feed even the fallen city itself.

*Neia's story continues in 'The Synod: The Book of Black Justice' and is concluded in 'The Trial: Journey's end'. But for now... in the hours after the simple ceremony, she couldn't help but feel it was all a little anticlimactic. The world didn't burst into light, the sun set as it always had, and while the celebrations were wildly enjoyed by countless figures who were overjoyed by the end of the war... she walked back to her tent with her wife in silent contemplation.

"You were expecting something?" Skana asked as she began to undress.

"I... guess. The world doesn't look any different now than it did a few hours ago, I was just... well, I don't know what I thought." Neia said as she poured two glasses of wine.

Skana's green eye blinked back at her, "Dear, you know better than anyone, changes don't take place overnight. This was the founding moment, there's nothing left in the way. All we did, was build the race track, it's now set for us to start running, this was the start, not the finish."

Neia grinned broadly, "You always know how to make me feel better." She said and drank her wine down in one long, slow motion before she set the empty glass aside. "Now get the rest of those clothes off." She winked, and Skana obliged with a laugh.

They spent the rest of the night drunk, happy, relaxed, and lost in one another's embrace. Which to the Vice Commander, was the real point of everything. Neither knew the troubles that were brewing around the corner only a few weeks away, nor the earth shattering moment that threatened to tear their lives apart a few years later. But even had they known all that, it wouldn't have changed the bliss of that evening. And as far as Neia was concerned, that day alone, and the night that went with it, was worth a lifetime of trouble... especially for the years she got in return.

*From these years of war and change that saw the old falter and the new begin, many actors were born on the great stage of life, yet every entry has its exit, and while there are too many names to give them all, here stand the legacies of some few. Yet first it must be said...

*They did with their lives what they wished, which is the truest freedom, even with its consequences. The young who mourned their parents would learn to live with the loss, and make the best lives they could in a world that truly let them do so, they faced challenges and trials, and lived on the foundation of those who fought to give them that world. Goan never forgot his mother, and named his first daughter after her. Moira's final days resulted in her gaining some renown, and she had a building or a street named after her on almost every military base.

*Aalon settled into the role of governor in the mountain range west of the Theocracy, ruling from Feron, the 'Mountain Elves' stayed in the town they made, creating the only mountain elf culture in the world, eventually they even earned the praise of the dwarves for the application of their superb long term thinking to the crafting of their understone civilization. Aalon settled down with Elpida, though the ghost of the life he wanted but he'd have with Nua never vanished, it became like a dull ache that he learned to live with. His wife knew of course, but in keeping with her better nature, she never made it an issue, choosing not to put herself in competition with the ghost of a nonexistent life. He went back to the grave of his 'almost son' every year, and sometimes, when Nua was there as well, they could clasp hands to think of what might have been.

*Aorli rose to the rank of governor herself, and used her close ties to the elven province to aid in the development of her region. Though for the rest of her life there would be nights she would wake up in a cold sweat and look around, fearing that she was still back in Kami Miyako, the nightmares did not rule her days, and over the passing decades the terrors of the night became fewer and fewer.

*Tinamoc would become famous as 'the mute merchant' as luck would have it, his inability to speak became an asset, because he never said anything foolish or gave anything away. He would revolutionize the guild system and education in economics and trade. The delivery of his tongue to a temple had not been forgotten, and he was given a year of study in Ashurbanipal, where he devoured every treatise on wealth and commerce that he could grab. He passed away in peace at the age of eighty-seven, mourned by those who knew him, with his wife and many adopted children that he took late in life, burying him with honors, his funeral attended by his entire community.

*Ulthis and Cercei would eventually become far more than simply ruler and advisor, though they could not have children, they did not die and required no heirs, the city became their child, and it was dearly loved and well raised as a result.

*The martial lord, Go Gin remained a champion until he was late in his years, before finally he settled down to find a wife for himself, and unwittingly created a line of champions as a result.

*Astraka died of terror in a cave in the Southern Holy Kingdom, when he learned that the country was going to rejoin the north and become part of the Sorcerous Empire. He did sire a number of ratmen during his short freedom, and they would grow greater and stronger than their peers, and make their way in the world with far greater fortune than their father had.

*The 'Iron Governor' Tenva, had his name cleared after the war, with Enri confessing that yes, she'd lied her ass off to still resistance in the city of Ikari, and he earned a new nickname, 'The Unbowed'. He returned to the governorship of his city eventually, and created the first veterans associations expressly for Theocracy survivors, and with the help of both Boabdil and Enri, and some covert support from the Sorcerer King, he was able to bring many of his veterans back from the brink of self destruction.

*Eire mourned for Petyr for the rest of her life, she birthed a son that was his spitting image, and eventually sold the bar and everything in it, taking her child and moving north, trying to find Petyr's family so that she could at least let them see their grandson. She made the best of things, settling on a small but comfortable farm, and was at least able to find some peace with her child and grandchildren before she too, passed away at the age of sixty-eight in her own bed, under her own roof.

*Cormeum took over his father's shop after the older man died in battle, and per Petyr's request to Kirak, he received ample support in getting himself started, when he learned who Petyr really was, and why he stopped showing up, he first grew angry, then laughed, and as the years passed he remembered the part time blacksmith with brighter and brighter fondness, eventually he married, fathered children, and named one of them after the man who helped to save his shop even as he sought to overthrow the city.

*Kirak and Shanda took their rewards and moved out of Crossroads after ensuring they'd done all they sought to do, eventually settling in the Re-Estize Kingdom where they applied their skills to the stage, and became renowned performers, starting one of the most successful theater companies in the region, performing until they grew too old for easy travel, and settling down to a quiet life in a comfortable home, where they died of old age a few years later.

*Bertra, formerly Berenice, lived happily in Crescent Lake, became the proprietor of a bookshop, which expanded into a tea cafe, married, had several children. And she paid the local Black Justice temple to keep a pair of candles lit for Raymond and Ginedine all year, every year, until her own passing at the age of nine hundred and eighty-two, her true identity not revealed to those who knew her, until Queen Zesshi herself appeared at her funeral and told the story as she knew it.

*Yuri, renamed Myne, endured more torment than she ever thought she could bear, and was eventually broken into service. In time, she became an operative of great renown within the secretive realm of the Sorcerer King's intelligence apparatus, as she worked diligently for one and only one reward. To forget everything. A reward she finally achieved, in the closing days of the next advent to strike the Empire.

*Thousand Mile Astrologer would hunt Agante enclaves for the better part of a hundred years, until none remained in the Sorcerous Empire, and she began to engage them in a more duplicitous way in the borders beyond the Sorcerous Empire, using her power to inspire, to secretly join their ranks, rise to the top, and turn them into yet another tool of the Sorcerer King's power.

...An unmarked location in the Slane Theocracy...

The plains were silent save the rustle of grass as the wind blew. A woman in a red and black dress stood in front of a stone monument decorated with the sigil of Ainz Ooal Gown, hands folded in front of her as she read the plaque for the fifth time in a row.

"Here lay the forgotten dead." It read, "Heroes to their nation, one and all."

Area Guardian Grant, unknown to all but herself, read it a sixth time.

"So what happens now?" She suddenly asked out loud. Silence answered her, not even the birds chirped.

"Do not know." A timid voice answered from at her feet.

Grant bent down and retrieved her wayward child, cuddling him to her breast. It was time to slip back into anonymity. If Lord Ainz needed her, she would be there. She would always be there.

*Grant would later be assigned a position topside, contrary to her beliefs of continued isolation. While originally skeptical, humans would gradually come to accept the arachnoid as a valuable liaison to the Sorcerer King. Although she would never form any lasting relationships, she began to see humans as more than food. Her relationship with Entoma Vasilissa Zeta was eventually repaired. With the blessing of Ainz Ooal Gown, Entoma was allowed to take Grant on tours of various cities, similar to what she had done with Berenice.

Grant would never be a figure in legend, and she liked it that way. All she needed were her children, and Entoma.

...Of course… There is but ONE more thing to be told...