Sarah Emmot was running through the Great Forest of Tob, she was trying to guide her daughters away from the knights who were slaughtering Carne Village. The knights who had slaughtered her husband. She had told Enri to follow behind her with Nemu and to keep her safe. And now she was running ahead of them so that if they ran into anything she would be the target.

Sarah was still running when just ahead of her she saw a flash of silver as three knights began to intercept her and her daughters. She turned to tell Enri to not come this way, only to see Nemu's heel disappear behind a bush. She smiled, confident in the fact that Enri was going to escape with Nemu.

"Don't look too happy there, commoner, we have two other gentlemen going after them right now. While they get to have their fun, why don't you keep us company?" The knight closest to her said, holding his blade to her throat.

Filled with anger that her daughters weren't going to make it she turned her head to look at the knight who had addressed her. "Go to hell." Was the only reply she gave.

The knight looked shocked that anyone, especially a commoner, had told him to go to hell. In his own rage he drew back the sword to cut into her. "I'll make you pay for insulting me, Bitch!" He screamed as he cut towards her shoulder so that he could wound her as well as remove her clothes, if they could be called that.

Sarah was sure that she had kept her eyes open, she was sure that she should be looking into the eyes of her assailant, but…. there was nothing. It was darker than even a moonless night. 'Is this death? Am I dead? No, I can still hear the knights, what's going on?' Was all that was going through her head.

"What in the name of the gods? Who's there?"

"It doesn't matter, just kill the woman and let's get out of here. This doesn't feel natural."

"I'm trying to, but the sword just keeps stopping, like there's a blade in the way."

"Well obviously there isn't or else we would be able to hear the clash, stop fucking around and get it over with. This is making my hair stand on end."

"Oh-ho, big brave men to corner a single woman and try to kill her, but you're all still afraid of the dark."

The knights and Sarah froze, this was an entirely different voice. It sounded airy and like several people were speaking just over each other. But most importantly for Sarah, the voice stood right in front of her. After she realized this the knights began to panic.

"Who's there?!"

"Show yourself!"

"We aren't afraid of that obviously fake voice you're using."

After the last man spoke there was a short pause. Fearing that whatever defender she had had left, Sarah cautiously pushed her hand towards where she had heard the ghastly voice. Her fingers brushed against a leathery material that felt as smooth as it felt timeworn, and as though the simple gesture of her touch was the catalyst, the surrounding darkness was pushed away from the person her left hand was touching. He was just slightly taller than average, wearing a leather like set of combat robes and a large pointed hat, on his left hip was a tome that was thicker than any Sarah had ever seen, and in his right hand was what appeared to be a long sword made of literal darkness and shadows. The thing that caught the attention of Sarah and the knights was actually the only skin that they could see, or what should have been skin, because this creature seemed to be made up of physical shadows, wispy tendrils of darkness rose from where his neck and head should be. As the creature turned to look over his shoulder at Sarah, she saw a fiercely glowing red eye looking back at her. Even as she watched the eye seemed to cool from a raging inferno to the soft yellow of a candle. "Don't worry, you're safe now."

———

Vaughn had appeared out of the woman's shadow, immediately activating two of his abilities simultaneously. First was [Aura of Shadows lv4] which had immediately purged all of the light from the surrounding area, rendering all within blind as they were too low of level to have any way to negate the blindness. Second was his [Blade of Shadows] that he was able form from his own body. He easily blocked the slow moving blade of the so-called knight. Since he was a Shade, all of his "shadow" classes counted towards each other in terms of level by level progression such as the potency of shadow based magic from his Shadow Caller class, or in this instance, his pseudo strength with his [Blade of Shadows] that he got from his Shadow Warrior class.

He blocked three more slashes with contemptible ease before the knight's conversation pissed him off enough to interject his own thoughts. "Oh-ho, big brave men to corner a single woman and try to kill her, but you're all still afraid of the dark." He watched with satisfaction at the looks of horror that he received from the men as his voice set in. Their insults towards him afterwards only served to anger him, manifesting as his eyes becoming red hot coals. Just as he was about to end the three before him, Vaughn felt a very gentle, almost scared touch on his back. Realizing that it didn't really matter anymore whether the men saw him or not, he allowed light to once again exist in his presence before turning to the woman behind him.

This woman, while nowhere near as beautiful as any from Nazarick, was still lovely in her own right. Seeing the scared expression on her face, he allowed his anger to dissipate so that he could put her at ease. Fearing that it wouldn't be enough he added "Don't worry, you're safe now." In as gentle a tone as he could before returning his gaze, and anger, to the three men before him.

"M-monster!" One of the men shrieked in a tone far more fitting of a little girl rather than a grown man.

Vaughn took a step forward. "You, who have killed who knows how many civilians, who have raped countless innocents, who was about to do both once again. Call me, the only one protecting this woman, a monster? I think that in the afterlife you should take a real close look at what a monster truly is." He said before summarily decapitating the knight in question. 'I suppose now is as good a time as any to test how potent my magic is in this world.'

The Shade pointed his finger at the second man who was standing there watching his friends headless corpse flop onto the ground "[Consuming Shadows]"

The man felt as though he was suddenly being eaten from his feet up. Looking down he saw that he was slowly sinking into his own shadow, leaving only the armor behind. "No, no! Please! Help me!" He yelled at his final companion, only to see him turn and run.

He didn't get too far though "[Heighten Magic: Shadow Bolt]" Vaughn nonchalantly called as a small compressed ball of pure darkness shot out and hit the man square in the back, killing him instantly. 'Hmm seems like even a weak fourth tier spell is more than enough to kill the average human here, I wonder if the third tier is high enough as well…'

———

Sarah looked on in disbelief at the completely impossible sight before her. A Creature that sounded like it had crawled out of the pits of hell had just killed three men that were far stronger than herself with such ease it seemed as though he hadn't even needed to get out of bed this morning. "Wha- who- who are you?"

The humanoid creature turned to her as though being pulled from deep contemplation. "Ah, forgive me," he said with a gentleman's bow "my name is Vaughn. Now before you ask anymore questions I believe that you would like to go to your daught-"

Before this entity now identified as Vaughn could finish his sentence there was a loud crashing sound from behind her. She whipped around to see with horror, a very tall figure wearing full plate armor and wielding a tower shield in one hand and a wavy bladed flamburge in the other. However it wasn't the look of the being that scared her, it was the fact that it had come out of the same path Enri and Nemu had run down. It turned to look at the two of them before turning back towards the village and running off with great lumbering steps.

Worried for their safety Sarah sprinted down the path hoping beyond hope that she would find her daughters safe at the end of the path. She broke into a small clearing just to see her daughters cowering away from an 8 foot tall skeleton that was currently offering Enri a vile of blood. On instinct she rushed in between them and protected her daughters, not noticing the tall black armored figure holding a large axe next to the skeleton. "Please, don't hurt them!"

——-

Vaughn walked in to see the woman he had saved protecting her daughters from Momonga, Momonga attempting to hand them a minor healing potion, and Albedo raising her axe to strike all three of them down. "Albedo, stop! They are no threat." He called out to her.

"But, Lord Vaughn, these lower life forms are denying the help that Lor-"

"That's enough Albedo. They are simply scared." Vaughn walked over and looked at the two younger girls only to see that the older daughter had a large cut on her back, probably from the knights. Raising his hand he cast. "[Mass Heal]" Glowing green light enveloped the three as he turned to Momonga.

{Really? A Death Knight?}

{Hey, I needed a front liner.}

{Oh yes, oh mighty god of death, create a tank for yourself and then immediately send it away.}

Momonga could tell that his friend was just giving him a hard time. He stood and returned the potion to his inventory. {Speaking of, when I summoned it, the knight spawned out of the corpse of one of the knights I had killed. Maybe you should try to summon one of your shadow demons in the same way, there is another body over there.} He gestured towards it before raising his hand towards the small family before him. "[Protection From Arrows Wall, [Anti-life Cocoon]."

As Momonga provided them with protection and some trash items, Vaughn stepped over to the dead knight. Intrigued by what Momonga had said, Vaughn raised his hand. "[Create Greater Shadow Demon]" Watching in fascination the body's shadow crawled over the skin and other organic material while leaving the armor and clothes behind before the shadow merged with his own. Vaughn was surprised, he could feel that this shadow was tied to this plane and wouldn't leave until it was dismissed. Vaughn mentally commanded it to protect the three women inside the green dome. Standing he began walking away with Momonga and Albedo when a voice interrupted them.

"T-thank you misters, can we know your names?" The older of the daughters asked.

Vaughn glanced over his shoulder. "My name is Vaughn." He was about to take another step when Momonga spoke.

"You would do well to remember my name, for I am Ainz Ooal Gown."

Vaughn thought about it for a moment and realized why he had gone with that name. Nodding Vaughn continued on his way towards the village itself.

After they were well out of earshot of the family Momonga turned to Vaughn. "Do you think I overstepped my authority as the guild master in taking on the name of the guild?" He asked, sounding fearful of what his friend would say.

"Let me ask you this in turn, did you do it for yourself? Or did you do it for the others?" Vaughn asked, already knowing the answer.

"I did it so that as the name spreads, any of the others that might be here can find us." Momonga said as he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the Shade walking alongside him. "But you already knew that didn't you?"

Vaughn chuckled. "It was the only reason I could see why you would pick that name. I approve, some of the others might not but the decision isn't theirs because they left." He finished with a hint of venom in his voice.

The newly appointed Ainz looked at his friend with worry but let it go, after all he felt the same way.

The two arrived at the village just in time to see that the Death Knight was about to cut down the last of the opposing knights. Before making themselves known Ainz donned a mask and gauntlets before Vaughn cast an illusory image over himself as there was no hiding the back of his head.

"Death Knight, that's enough." Ainz called as the Knight in question was about to cleave another two soldiers in half.

Vaughn walked over the four men and looked them over before casting [Silent Delay Quadruple Maximize Magic: Create Greater Shadow Demon]. The drain on his MP was impressive from all of the meta magic that he had added on so that the four of them would unknowingly become his spies, but not to a degree that would keep him from combat. "Now then, we are going to let the four of you go. Return to your owners and tell them that this village is now under the protection of my brother and I." He said with a smile. "Any questions?"

The answer was apparently a no since they all started sprinting south as fast as possible.

Turning to the gathering of villagers in the middle of the square, Vaughn saw that there was an older looking man in front of the group that appeared to be the Chief. "Don't worry, you're all safe now. Are there any among you that are hurt?"

The villagers all looked scared and unsure of if they should trust these individuals, however several people in the group raised their voices to Vaughn's question.

As Vaughn cast a [Widen Magic: Mass Heal] Ainz stepped towards the Chief, and spoke. "Unfortunately our intervention comes at a cost. We shall speak about this once my… brother is done healing your people."

Upon hearing that there was a cost, the villagers all relaxed seeing that there wasn't an ulterior motive behind what they had done.

After everyone had been healed Ainz, Vaughn, the Chief, and his wife all retired to the Chiefs house to speak. The Chief and his wife were relieved to hear that their saviors weren't interested in money, but in information. Ainz spun a tale that the two of them had been studying magic in seclusion for many years and were unfamiliar with the state of affairs outside. After the Chief had pulled out a map, Vaughn realized that he couldn't read anything. "It seems that the written language has changed since we last stepped outside." He said. "Would you be so kind as to teach us the new script?"

Ainz mentally patted his friend on the back, he hadn't even noticed the issue with the text. After an hour or so of instruction Ainz and Vaughn had gotten a good hold on the language as they had an ungodly high intellect. As they had learned what they needed to, they let the Chief go to look after his people.

After just a moment Vaughn stood up "Oh hell, we left those three out there in the forest." He sighed, "I'll go get them if you want to have the Death Knight gather up all of the knights bodies so we have fuel for our summons."

After they had agreed on this course of action Vaughn left to go collect the three women. On his way he created two more Greater Shadow Demons out of the bodies that he had killed. Gathering the women he first realized something, "Okay, I need you three to listen to me for a second." He said looking each one straight in the eye. "My brother, Ainz and I are not human, or living for that matter. That being said we value life which is why we came to save you. Now there are a lot of people that would like to do the two of us harm because of what we are, so we've hidden our true faces from the rest of the village. If it gets out, there is a chance that the adventures guild would think that we are manipulating your thoughts, and send someone to try to kill us. If you could all please keep what we are a secret, we will pay you back when the time comes that we no longer need to hide. Do you understand?"

Sarah and Enri nodded their understanding, but Nemu looked confused. "Big brother Vaughn, why would people try to hurt you for saving us?" She asked in the completely honest and adorable way only a small child can.

Vaughn dropped down to his knee so that he was eye level with the small girl. "It's because we're different, and people are almost always scared of what's different." Vaughn then leaned into her and whispered in a conspiratorial tone. "But you're not most people right?"

Nemu gave the largest smile she could and shook her head. "Nope, because even though big brother Vaughn looks a little scary, I know that you're really nice and that you saved Mama." In a moment of surprise the little girl wrapped her arms around Vaughn's neck and hugged him tight. Pulling back she giggled lightly rubbing her cheek that had been pressed against his. "The wispy bits tickle."

Sarah and Enri were worried for a moment but they smiled when Vaughn just ruffled the small girl's hair as he stood to guide them back to the village.

Upon arriving at the village Vaughn was surprised to see Ainz, the Chief, Albedo, and the Death Knight standing in the square but nobody else. "What happened?" Vaughn asked Ainz as he walked up beside him.

"A group of riders are approaching the village. I had the rest of the villagers gather in one of the storehouses and I warded it against almost any kind of intrusion. If there was more time I'd recommend you take the three of them there as well but I don't think we have it." Ainz said as a dust cloud approached the village.

Vaughn turned to the three women behind him and whispered to Sarah "Look down at your shadow." Looking down Sarah saw that her shadow was at a 90 degree angle to the others around her. With fear in her eyes she looked back at Vaughn. "Don't worry, it's a creation of mine, it won't hurt you." After seeing her relax he continued. "Follow it with your daughters. It will guide you to the rest of the villagers."

Giving him a shaky nod, she ushered her girls away from whatever was going to take place here.

Turning back around Vaughn saw most of the mounted horses stop just outside of the village and a lone rider approached them. As he stopped a few paces away he looked over the group before his eyes landed on the most plain looking of them. Guessing correctly he asks. "Are you the Chief of this village?" The only response that the Chief was able to get out was a nod of the head. "Then be at ease, I am Gazef Stronoff, the Head Warrior of the Re-estize kingdom. We received reports that there were some bandits attacking the villages around here so we came to protect you. May I ask who these individuals are beside you?"

Both Vaughn and Ainz noticed how the Chief relaxed when he heard the name of this man, however right when he was about to answer the question Ainz held up a hand. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Head Warrior. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, and this is my brother Vaughn. We are just a pair of magic casters who were traveling when we noticed this village being attacked by knights that seem to be wearing the armor of the Baharuth empire, based on what the Chief here told us afterwards. Not wanting to let innocents die, we stepped in and wiped out the men that were attacking the village."

Gazef looked startled for a moment before he dismounted his horse so that he could stand before Ainz. "If that's the case, Lord Ainz, I owe you a debt of gratitude for protecting the people that I should have been protecting. Would you please remove your mask so that I can properly thank you?"

Before Ainz could reply Vaughn cut in. "I'm afraid that would be impossible, Head Warrior. You see, that mask is a magic item that gives my brother control over the legendary undead creature standing behind us. Should he remove it, odds are that it would slaughter us all." It was all a lie of course, but Gazef didn't need to know that.

Gazef paled at the revelation but he composed himself quickly. "I see in that case forgive me for making an unreasonable request." He said, bowing his head. Right as he was about to continue, another of his troop rode into the square and addressed Gazef.

"Head Warrior! A large group of men have surrounded the village!"

5 minutes later

Ainz, Vaughn, and Gazef were standing in one of the buildings on the outskirts of town looking at the men standing on the plains waiting for something. Ainz and Vaughn recognized the creatures that floated next to each of them.

{Ainz, aren't those Archangel Flames?}

"Yes, but what are they doing here?" Ainz was so focused that he had forgotten to reply in a [Message].

"If you don't know," Gazef started. "Then there's only one other person in this village worth the Slane Theocracy sending one of their scriptures."

Ainz and Vaughn turned to him. "Guess you're a pretty popular guy, huh, Head Warrior?"

Gazef nodded before steeling himself for something. "Lord Ainz, Lord Vaughn, I'd like to hire the both of you. Name any price and I shall ensure that it's paid."

"Declined." Vaughn replied.

"We are not mercenaries for hire Head Warrior." Ainz added.

Gazef looked crestfallen before he quietly said "and if I conscript you into the army as the law dictates I can?"

The air in the house suddenly got much colder and darker. "If you tried," Vaughn said in a very cold tone. "You certainly wouldn't have to worry about those Theocracy casters. Only because you wouldn't live long enough to face them."

Gazef gulped realizing that had he posed it as an order rather than a question he would already be dead. "Alright then, I apologize for asking a foolish question. However I would ask that the two of you protect this village once again. We will try to pull them away from here."

"On my name of Ainz Ooal Gown, I swear that no harm will come to any within this village." Gazef nodded and turned to leave, Ainz stopped and handed him a small wooden doll. "Where we come from these are given as a sign of luck. This is my way of saying, good luck Head Warrior."

While that stuff was going on Vaughn ordered one of the two greater shadow demons to take the place of Gazef's shadow and follow him.

After the warriors rode out of town the Chief asked Ainz what was going on but Vaughn wasn't paying attention to them. He noticed something in the sky above where the encounter was about to take place.

{Ainz I'll be back, there's something I have to take care of.}

{Fine but don't go too far.}

"[Perfect Unknowable, [Fly]" Vaughn flew into the sky just behind the invisible sensor that was floating around looking at the ongoing battle. "[Scry to Source]" he cast, allowing him to see the person who was currently scrying on the current situation. Most considered it to be a useless spell because you had to know that there was some form of sensor in order for it to work.

Through the scry Vaughn saw a young woman in a school girls uniform, she had short cut burnett hair and silver eyes, Vaughn actually found her rather attractive. She was surrounded and apparently protected by 7 or 8 other people. She was watching through a [Crystal Monitor] as the Theocracy scripture surrounded Gazef to deal the final blow. 'Welp, time to end this.' He cast a ball of darkness over the Sensor, causing the crystal monitor to go black before he used a distraction ability from his Shadow Caller class to whisper in her ear as though he were standing right next to her. "Be careful where you turn your gaze, little girl. I may find you to be cute, but for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Don't worry it'll wear off in a couple of hours. [Curse of Blindness]."

The last thing Vaughn saw of that room was the girl screaming as she moved her hands towards her eyes. 'Well that's one thing taken care of.' He looked down just in time to see the switch as Ainz and Albedo replaced Gazef and his men. Vaughn decided to stay where he was for now, he had to hand it to the little girl, she picked a good spot to see the whole area. Vaughn didn't care to listen to what Ainz and the man who appeared to be the leader talked about, or when Ainz destroyed all of the Archangel Flames, he did pay a little bit of attention to Ainz destroying the last angel. Only to see the leader pull out a spell sealing crystal.

"Behold, the highest order of angels, Dominion Authority!" The man yelled as though he had been driven mad by how crazy this was. 'The highest order of angel. My ass, okay I'm done watching now.'

Vaughn flipped open the Tome of Wisdom and found the page he was looking for. "[Gods Domain]" Vaughn released his [Perfect unknowable] as he cast the tenth tier cleric spell that allowed him to take control over any angel monsters who were more than 10 levels below him and/or controlled by someone else who was 5 or more levels below him. Given that the Dominion Authority was level 70 or so and that the summoner was level 36 Vaughn immediately took control over the massive angel. 'I really have no use for this guy but maybe I -a could use him to get a stronger angel.' "[Summon Seraph Empirian]!" Vaughn cast targeting the Dominion Authority.

I just thinkHe watched as the current angel spread its arms and wings as cracks appeared along its armor before shattering to reveal a far smaller angel in its place. She had golden hair and eyes, her face was flawless and her body was such that she'd give Albedo a run for her money, and on her back were 6 glowing white wings. She flew in front of Vaughn and somehow knelt midair. "My master, what wouldyou have me do?" She asked in a voice that sounded they way that the world's softest silk felt.

"What?! Who are you!? What have you done with the Dominion Authority!?" The leader barked at the new figure flying in the sky.

Vaughn looked at his new angel. "Capture them all alive and deliver them to the Frozen Prison on the fifth floor of Nazarick. Instruct Neuronist that she is to wait for me to arrive before we begin interrogations." The angel nodded and was about to turn away when her master spoke again. "Wait, do you have a name?"

The angel blushed, to think that her master would care so much about her as an individual. "No, master, I do not."

"Hmmm, in that case from now on you'll be known as Gabriel. How does that sound to you?"

Gabriel's blush deepened, she felt so lucky that her master was so kind to such an insignificant being such as her. "I- I like it, master." She said barely managing to get the words out at a volume to be understood.

Vaughn nodded. "Very well, Gabriel, carry on with your pre-assigned tasks."

After receiving her acknowledgement Vaughn flew down to Ainz who was looking at him strangely. "What?"

"Why did you decide to step in right then? You know that their so-called trump card couldn't hurt me."

"I know, I just got excited when he pulled out the crystal only to be let down when the creature was so weak. So I used it to make something stronger. Don't tell me that you were totally fine with facing a Dominion Authority as the final boss here?"

"No you're right, it was quite the letdown." Ainz and Vaughn both slumped their shoulders in a near depression.

"Oh well, we got some information, some sources for information, some test subjects," Vaughn started counting off on his fingers, "gained the allegiance of a village, made it so that the royal Head Warrior owes us a favor, and sent a message to someone who was spying on that ass-clown over there." He jutted a thumb at the scripture commander. "So I'm going to call today a win."

"You're one of those 'glass is half full' guys aren't you?"

"Yep."

———-

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