As I'm sure all of you are aware, the Undead King known as Ainz Ooal Gown has recently established a country known as the Sorcerous Kingdom. But, due to His Majesty's skeletal appearance, many do not trust him, and fear he will start killing them all for no reason.
However, after many long months of gathering information and conducting secret interviews, I believe I have a decent grasp on His personality, and am capable of truly believing that His Majesty is not one who kills without reason.
My investigation into Him began as soon as I received a letter about His actions on the Katze Plains; the event where he massacred 180,000 of the Re-Estize Kingdom's army with a single spell, gaining control of the trade city of E-Rantel. I had heard that the Emperor of the Baharuth Empire had supported the establishment of the Sorcerous Kingdom, so I figured I would start there.
After arriving in the Imperial capital of Arwintar, I decided to ask around to see if I could find one of the Empire's soldiers that was present at the battle. It took a few days, but I did manage to secure an interview with one of the Empire's Four Knights, Nimble Arc Dale Anoch.
I eventually got him to tell the story of what happened that day, and this was where even I started to get a bit scared of the Sorcerer King's power.
According to Mr. Anoch, once the King's spell went off, it killed 70,000 people instantly. But, that was only the beginning. A giant black orb appeared from the horizon, and popped into a black liquid that absorbed the bodies of the fallen soldiers. This led to the dawn of despair, as five giant monstrosities with tentacles growing from their backs were formed by the liquid. And, to top it off, the Sorcerer King started laughing, claiming that it was a new record, having summoned five of what we now know as the Dark Young. Mr. Anoch went on to say that the Sorcerer King called one of the giants over, having it pick him up with a tentacle and place it on his back, saying that he had unfinished business to take care of. This business was most likely his battle with Gazef Stronoff.
The aftermath of this event shook the surrounding nations to their core, with the Royal Family of the Re-Estize Kingdom losing much of their power to the Noble Faction, which was made up of people who hadn't seen the massacre. Perhaps the one who suffered the most loss of sleep, though, was the Emperor himself.
Through Nimble, I acquired an interview with the Bloody Emperor, Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix himself. Trying to use my time with him as efficiently as possible, I decided to get straight to the point. Rumors had been circulating that he had met with Ainz Ooal Gown in his domain before the war, so I decided to open up by asking about his first impressions of the Undead King.
This was where I learned the truth of why this all happened. The Emperor managed to learn of a tomb near the Great Forest of Tob through the magic of Fluder Paradyne, the oldest and strongest human magic caster, who said he suspects this to be the home of the man known as Ainz Ooal Gown. Having heard the name come up about a year prior when they were talking about the disappearance of the Sunlight Scripture of the Slane Theocracy, he hired a few groups of Worker teams to scout out the tomb and discern Gown's personality. Not a single member of the four teams came back. Once he received news of this he thought he had a decent grasp of his personality. But, no one could have guessed what the repercussions of this intrusion would be.
Two emissaries of Ainz Ooal Gown landed in the castle courtyard, coming in on dragonback. They were easily able to obliterate nearly 200 Elite Imperial Guards with a single geomancy spell, killing one of the Four Knights in the process; The Heavy, who boasted the strongest defense in the Empire.
They demanded that the Emperor come to apologize in person. Seeing no way out, he was forced to accept. About a week later, they arrived at the place they now knew was called the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick. I won't get into all of the details he told me, for the sake of keeping this relatively short, but as soon they stepped out of their carriages and were greeted, Ainz made a show of power by casually using the spell, Control Weather. If you don't know what that means, it was a casual usage of a Sixth Tier spell, something that even Fluder Paradyne can't do. They were even waited on by Death Knights as Ainz made some "final preparations," or that's what they were told. According to the maids that greeted them, he not only controlled each of the legendary undead, but he created them. This left them with a few doubts, but those were quickly dispersed when they were finally granted an audience.
In Jircniv's own words, "Gown is nothing less than a God of death. Even without his abilities in magic, he rules over monsters of more power than you could possibly imagine, and the ones at the top of the chain are nearly as powerful as Ainz himself.
"It would be one thing if he were just another mindless undead that just acted off of instincts, but Ainz is a genius. The entire time we were there, I couldn't shake the feeling that everything was going exactly as he planned it. Every move he makes has thought put into it, nothing is done without some hidden meaning. He is a monster among monsters among monsters, but it's not his might that gives him that rank. I have no doubt that even if he didn't have the magic he wields, he would still be a high ranking official in any faction he attempted to join due to his sheer charisma, but if you combine them… You get a force like no other. The only advice I can give you is to never anger him, less you are prepared for eternal torment." As to why I was trusted with all that, I may never know. But, I'm now absolutely positive that there is more to this story than meets the eye.
Using that as a spark of determination, I decided it was time for me to venture into the Sorcerous Kingdom's capital to finally learn the truth of the being that is Ainz Ooal Gown.
The journey to E-Rantel took me about five days. For the most part, it was uneventful, other than passing the occasional trade caravan. The line into the city was about as long as I expected, but it moved much more slowly than most other capitals. Pondering about why it took so long, I stood in line for well over an hour before it was finally my turn, and it was then that I learned the reason.
The King had instituted a new policy; that all first-time visitors had to be given a brief seminar on both what to expect once inside, as well as a quick briefing on what laws and rules were currently in place. As to be expected, the main one was "no violence of any kind," but, when surrounded by the death knights that act as the city guard, who would dare even insinuate that something would happen?
The first thing I noticed once I got in the walls was the abundance of multiple different races, from humans and dwarves, to even lizardmen. I had heard that E-Rantel was open to all races, but it's one thing to know about it and another to see it for yourself.
But, being the investigator I am, I quickly brushed this off and asked around for who I would need to speak to in order to obtain an audience or interview with either the Sorcerer King himself or one of his subordinates. Eventually, I secured a meeting with His Majesty's head butler, Sebas Tian.
As the interviewer, I arrived at the meeting place thirty minutes early, but it seems he had a similar idea, arriving just ten minutes after myself. My first impression of him was that he was a man of steel, a man easily in his seventies, but still held himself up as if there were a metal rod in his back. I also really liked his beard, having never been able to grow one of my own. So chiseled and well-kept.
He soon spotted me at the table I had reserved, and quickly made his way over. After he sat down, I told him the reason behind this visit; that I was trying to write this article about the nature of His Majesty, in order to inform the general public whether or not he should be feared.
Seeming pleased with my reason, he opened himself up to any questions I had. I had prepared multiple, ranging from his skill as a leader to what he did in his off time, but there was one above all others that I thought needed to be asked first.
"Why was all this necessary?"
I think that was the question on everyone's mind. Sebas seemed to ponder for a moment before answering, "There are multiple reasons. The first and foremost is that our lord has been alive for millennia, traveling through multiple different realities, seeing civilizations rise and fall. But, there was one that hit him the most. I believe it was his homeworld, but he never told us in full detail. In short, it was a world without magic or any other sentient species other than humans. They had to rely on the knowledge they had been born with to survive.
"For centuries, as their knowledge of technology advanced, they prospered. But, the more they advanced, the more it was killing their planet. Unfortunately, they realized this too late to stop it, and despite the world leader's best efforts, almost all other life was destroyed. Eventually, the businesses took control of the governments, and that, I believe, was the start of that world's end.
"According to His Majesty, they were in complete control of the people, and made their lives a living hell. Having served one of these groups, he knows first hand how bad oppression can get. Because of his experiences, he refuses to allow any other being go through what he did. When he entered this world, he saw the seeds of this starting to take root. He immediately started taking action, and as an immortal being, he will always be around to make sure that this world doesn't fall to corruption as his did."
Whether or not I believe all of this, I'm not sure. But, I can believe it to an extent. In a world without magic, I could definitely see it falling to corruption. But, this also opened the door to another question, "Wasn't there another way?"
Sebas had to think about this one for quite a bit longer, but eventually answered with "Probably. However, none of them would have a guaranteed result like this one. Rule through fear is never a good choice, but it can be the best one. But, once the world is united under the same flag, that method will no longer be employed. Of this, I can assure you."
This also made sense, as no matter who you are, the people you conquer will start off afraid of you. This goes triple when your new ruler is an undead, a being that you have been taught hates the living, and wants nothing more than to destroy any trace of it.
But, this asked the third, and final question. "Is humanity safe in his hands?"
This time, the reply was immediate. "Absolutely. There is no one in this world that is as powerful as His Majesty. Anyone protected by him is protected by the strongest thing in the world."
Having been given this bunch of information, I was having a hard time processing it all. I was forced to end the meeting early. Having thanked him for his time, I rushed back to the inn I was staying at to start writing this.
Whether or not you believe this is up to you. I cannot expect everyone to change their opinions on the undead king based on one article alone, but I hope that this has at least gotten you to start questioning their beliefs of him. I, too, don't know what to think about this, but there is one thing that I am still certain of, even after all of this.
Ainz Ooal Gown is not your typical undead. He is a being capable of compassion and sympathy, and maybe, just maybe, he's still human under those bones.