"WHAT?!" They all cried in unison, with the exception of Ainz, of course. But, he had expected at least a few of them to hold prejudice against him. He was honestly shocked it took this long for one to voice it.
"Everyone, get behind me! This being is obviously a threat to humanity and our goals! We must strike him down immediately!" At this point, Remedios wasn't even thinking, just doing what her instincts told her to do.
"R-Remedios, what the hell are you doing?! Paladins, restrain her!" Calsa could only stutter out that order as she stared in shock at her servant. As the paladins attempted to move in, they were stopped in their tracks when they heard a voice that could be mistaken for none other.
"Hoh? You wish to kill your only chance of survival? Well, so be it then. If you wish to fight me, go ahead." They could almost see the mockery in Ainz's words as he stood, trying to entice her into attacking. Evidently, it worked.
Remedios charged forward with inhuman speed, emitting a battle cry rivaling a dragon in intensity. She had her sword raised above her head, intending to cut through Ainz's shoulder. But, when she swung, she hit nothing but air. She quickly scanned the room for her target, before her sword suddenly collapsed to the ground. It took a moment for everyone to realize what had happened; her right hand had been severed at the wrist. She screamed in agony as she collapsed to her knees, trying to stop her wrist stump from bleeding, before getting kicked to the ground with a massive amount of force. Now on her stomach, she could only turn her head and look up in fear at the one who had her pinned beneath his foot. The Overlord was gazing down at her, with eyes she could only describe as annoyed, as if he were merely killing an oversized ant.
"[Touch of Undeath]" Ainz cast a spell as he reached down to grab Remedios by the neck, and as his hand was outstretched, a black aura materialized around it.
As soon as he touched her, she immediately started shouting in pain, being able to feel her life force being drained out of her.
This went on for a few seconds before the rest heard Ainz mutter "Dispel." To Remedios, it was like a godsend, being released from pain. That is, until she noticed what the Overlord was doing next.
He was slowly raising his right hand, aiming his fingers directly at her heart. With his aim lined up, his hand shot forward with a speed that Remedios could barely even see the aftereffect of, and she felt extreme pain coming from her chest.
A hole had been formed, directly where her heart was, with the Overlord holding it out on the other side of her. They remained in that position for what felt like millennia to Remedios but was only a moment in actuality. It was only then that Ainz ended her suffering, crushing her heart in his hand like it was nothing. He pulled his hand back out of the hole, and dropped her body to the floor, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
No one spoke for a solid thirty seconds. They were all struggling to process what had just happened. They heard he was strong, but he was supposed to be a magic caster! They shouldn't be able to have such physical strength, or else it would throw the whole world off-balance!
However, they were forced to accept it as the Undead King sat back down on his throne. He had just killed one of the strongest people in the world without a scratch. They knew full well now that he could easily kill all of them on a whim if he so chose. However, nobody could expect what he said next.
"Well, now that the inevitable has been taken care of, let's get back on task, shall we?" There was not even a hint of anger in his voice, as if he knew this would happen and was simply punishing a stupid child. This both filled them with awe and terrified them. "So, we were talking about the Slane Theocracy, right? The place that worships those idiots?"
The group almost didn't register the question, their minds too busy to listen. But, it managed to click for Jircniv, so he answered, "Yes, my lord."
Ainz chuckled at that for a moment, before speaking. "There is no need to address me as that. Feel free to call me Ainz, if you so choose. But, the Slane theocracy is in possession of many items that could potentially pose a threat. As such, you should realize that I would like to be compensated for this. I am not some all-loving, generous deity. I will require payment."
Jircniv had to swallow the tension in his throat before he could answer. "I'm afraid that we might not have anything to offer you, Master Gown. After seeing such a place, I'm sure everyone will agree with me that we don't have anything that could even hope to compare to the treasure that is this world. Not to mention, you are incredibly powerful, so that also rules out any backing we could hope to offer. Forgive me for saying this, but I can only hope that you help us out of empathy…"
Ainz sat in thought for a moment, seeming to come to an unconventional conclusion before responding. "You are correct in the fact that I have no need for physical items. If I ever desired something, I could create it with magic. You are also right about me not needing any backing, either political or militarily. But, that is based on the assumption that I want to create a country in your world, which is incorrect. In all honesty, the only things I would wish for as payment is that all of you present are at the battle against the Theocracy, just because I need my name to spread, and… if you could listen to the ramblings and stories of an old man, nothing could bring me more joy…"
His voice seemed almost shaky as he spoke those final words, as if he was begging them to accept these conditions. Ramposa spoke up immediately after hearing that. "A-are you sure that is all you want in exchange? Surely, you don't stand to gain anything from this. If you have any other requests, please tell us!"
Ainz was silent for a moment. His eyes seemed to be seeing an entirely different picture, something set in a far off time; despite him being a skeleton and having no eyes to speak of. Eventually, he answered Ramposa's statement. "...Once you have been around for as long as I have, you start to feel that reminiscing is the only way to feel whole again. That is why I asked for it. But, if you are insisting that you give me another thing in return, I would have to ask for the opportunity to explore the world once more. This would be after the war, of course, but if you could grant me a group of people who could guide me around, that would be acceptable."
Ramposa's eyes shone for a second, before he answered with a quick, "Of course, sir!"
"Well then, we can finalize everything later, and make sure everyone is okay with the terms, but there are a few things that have been bugging me. First, you." He pointed towards one of the Four Knights - Leinas Rockbruise. "Could you approach me for a moment?"
Leinas trembled in fear at being singled out, but after the Emperor subtly nodded for her to go, she slowly stood up and walked towards the unknowable Lord of Death. Millions of thoughts were racing through her head, such as 'This is the place I die,' and 'Well, he seems more human than he should be, maybe he'll spare me,' and such. As she got to the foot of the throne, she knelt back down, making sure to keep her head as low as possible, so as to not offend him.
"Raise your head." The command noticeably shook Leinas, but she did so nonetheless. It was at that point that everyone simultaneously stopped breathing, as the undead had grabbed her face, looking at her as if she were prey. "Hmmm… a wraith, yes?"
It took a moment for Leinas to answer, whether out of fear or shock, no one knows. She nodded slightly when she realized that he was referring to her predicament, and Ainz simply sighed. "Well, let me fix this for you. [Greater Heal Curse]."
The effects were noticeable immediately, the right side of her face, once disfigured and pus-filled, was instantly healed. After Ainz let her go, she almost broke into tears. Now she had the ability to hope to live her old life again. She quickly went back to her former position, trying to hide the tears of joy forming in her eyes.
"Okay. Second, I need the masked girl. However, I would like to speak to her in private, so that should be done later. Now then, I take it there are still no objections to my previous proposition?"