CHAPTER XVI: MENACE

Shalltear, Aura, and I arrive on the 9th floor to find it maintained but strangely deserted. There should be more servants moving about at this time cleaning and fixing but now, all that remained is a solitary guardian sitting against one of the doors. Aura is the first to say what we're all thinking, all of us moving towards the door as she whispers, "How long has Lord Ainz been locked in his room again?"

"Three weeks, give or take a few days," Shalltear comments as we reach Albedo. I don't need extra information to see that she's worse for wear, her aura of authority and beauty feeling tarnished by her exhausted appearance. She opens her eyes when we arrive and has enough energy to look up at us, her expression neutral as she asks in a hoarse whisper, "Why?... why won't my beloved come out?... why am I locked out?... did I do something wrong?"

"And you're sure this will work?" Aura asks idly, my shoulders shrugging as I take my helmet out of my inventory and place it on my head. Nothing changes immediately once the armour is formed but within a few seconds, dancing patterns of violet energy start to form patterns on the elaborate door. I place the fingers of my right hand against the energy and in reply, the energy produces five bright dots for me to place my fingers. I place my fingers against the dots and feel my arm go numb, the magic gliding my fingers to follow the patterns they trace. My fingers write kanji symbols of energy that hang on the door and in the few quick movements, my hand is released from outside control. I press my palm pressing against the formed word as I whisper, "Momonga."

The administrative enchantment disables and I reach forward swiftly with both hands, seizing the chains that appear and pulling them free with a loud bang of breaking magic. The door swings open into its door frame and Lord Ainz, with no door to lean against, slumps backwards into Albedo. She quickly turns around in a panic and catches his fall, distressed by his lack of awareness and consciousness. Lord Ainz is dressed in a simple long sleeve shirt and dark blue pants, looking far more like a man than the lord he is. Without his robes, there's no mistaking the signs of emaciation and his chest rises only slightly when he breathes. Albedo picks his limp body up as she whispers frantically to him, "My Lord... what have you done to yourself?... why would you do this to yourself?"

She moves him quickly to his beddings and a hand shoves me out of the way of the door. I catch Demiurge rushing past me into the room with a stern look on his face but as I move back to my original position, another hand shoves me out of the way. The figure connected to the hand looks identical to Demiurge but there are notable differences. This new figure takes the time to stop in the doorway and say to us in a gentle and polite voice, "We will take it from here. Thank you for letting us in."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Who is that!?" Aura exclaims as the strange copy shuts the door gently behind them, Shalltear chuckling and saying with amusement, "I always knew Demiurge was narcissistic but to copy himself as a woman?"

I try to respond but the door opens again and Demiurge points at me sharply as he commands, "Lord Ainz wants to speak to you despite my protests. Come."

He tugs me lightly but firmly by my armour collar into the room, the door shutting behind me to the protests of the two left outside. The room is dim but I can still see despite the gloom, the otherworldly grandeur of Lord Ainz's private chambers shockingly apparent. I can't appreciate the location properly because Demiurge pulls me to the opposite side of the bed and turns me towards Lord Ainz with practised movements. His copy is diligently taking measurements of Lord Ainz using strange devices and she quickly attaches something to his right arm. Her voice is even but worried as she says to Demiurge, "He's lucky to be alive given his level of muscle and fatty tissue loss. I've stabilized him but he'll need some time before we move him onto liquids and solids."

I only hear some of the words because Lord Ainz is staring intensely at me, his eyes half open and crazed from his condition but mournful from something else. He whispers to me in a hoarse rasp, "Beric... she... she told me not to tell you... she wanted to tell you herself without... without you seeing her in that state... what did she tell you?..."

"She passed while I was in training with the Pleiades," I reply evenly, Lord Ainz coughing lightly from a dry throat. Albedo tries to offer him something to drink but Demiurge's copy tells her not to until his body is stable. Lord Ainz keeps staring at me as his expression changes to further guilt, his voice hinting at indignation as he rasps, "She lied... she wanted me... to spare her a long, painful death... she didn't want to die slowly... dying of old age... so I... I granted her wish... I gave her a swift and painless death..."

His pained expression stops any emotion I might feel save pity and sorrow. I feel terrible seeing him so defeated and vulnerable, wishing that he had waited until he was better before having this talk. Lord Ainz lays down on the bedding, breaking eye contact to stare at the ceiling as he rasps, "I killed one of my friends... all I can feel is remorse for my actions... perhaps... that is why I locked myself inside my chambers..."

"You feel responsible for all of this... because you gave her a copy of the Great Tomb of Nazarick's master administrative code... the one that I now have from her... that's how she stole the Emerald Tablet in the first place... you orchestrated everything..." I state evenly and slowly, trying to be as diplomatic as possible but failing to hide my anger fully. Lord Ainz clenches his hands into fists, his expression changing to pure rage as he shouts at me, "That invention was tearing my guild apart! Those who joined after the forty one only wanted to fuel their greed, not to help those who were shunned! Greed was poisoning what we built so I orchestrated Izzy to take it with her when she departed! In the end, I tore what we worked for in half, only for the rest to decay over time!"

"Lord Ainz, please calm down. Your blood pressure is rising," Demiurge states calmly but Lord Ainz isn't cowed by such concerns as physical health. Albedo seems visibly disturbed by the disarming confession but Lord Ainz isn't done with his anger and shouts, "My selfish actions brought about all this suffering, even in a New World! Perhaps I should be the one that ends instead of so many others! Maybe then, the world would be better!"

I want to say something but his words cut me deeply. Guilt starts to rise because I had thought the same thing as him and hearing him admit what I once thought didn't feel right at all. To my horror, Albedo has her axe in her hands in an instant, everyone in the room staring at her in mute horror as she lifts it above her head in shaking hands. Tears are falling down a face filled with anguish as she whispers to Lord Ainz, "If that's what you want... know all of the servants and loved ones you'll leave behind when you pass... know all of the pain you'll bring... to me... and to so many others... and if you can accept that... then... I'll obey your wish..."

I glance between Albedo and Lord Ainz as they stare at each other in a pained confrontation. We all knew that if Lord Ainz willed it and asked, Albedo would obey him without question and end his life with none of those present stoping her. I feel frozen in place because as much as I want to stop her, I know that I was still bound by duty to Lord Ainz and that he could stop me if he wanted to.

Lord Ainz doesn't reply and rises slowly to sit at the bed's edge. Demiurge's copy tries to lay him down but he shrugs her off and struggles to his feet, nearly falling to the floor as he stumbles the few steps he must under his own power. The pain he must be experiencing is written on his face but he reaches out and moves his arms over Albedo's shoulders anyways, hugging her with what little strength he has in his body. Albedo releases her axe and breaks down into pained sobs, holding him desperately as the weapon thump against the floor.

The brief moment of calm and relief is dashed when I feel intense magical buildup coming from the pair. A violet aura of pure, dark magic surrounds them and suddenly, Lord Ainz recovers his vitality at a steady rate. Albedo collects herself instantly and rips the device out of his right arm as she returns to her normal form, the dark magic sustaining her and granting her renewed strength. The aura of darkness projects a low hum of power and the candles are blown out one by one so that the violet hue is the only light source left. Lord Ainz doesn't seem to notice any of the chaos around him as he intones slowly in a familiar, powerful voice, "I shall reward your efforts, Albedo."

"We should go, right now, with haste, and as fast as we can," Demiurge's copy states as she and Demiurge make speed towards the doorway. I start to move as well when arcs of violet lightning lash out indiscriminately from Lord Ainz, turning metal ornaments into slag, wooden furnishings into cinders, and cloth fixtures into ashes. I have to raise magical shields to avoid the terrible chaos being unleashed but the sheer amount of power shatters each shield I raise with horrifying ease. As I'm staggering out while facing them to focus my shields in one direction, I hear Albedo chuckle darkly and whisper with similar echoing power, "I am at your service, my lord."

I watch Lord Ainz pick Albedo up by the waist but as soon as I get through the doorway, Demiurge slams the door shut and his copy starts manipulating a blue box aimed at the room. I watch tensely as the door starts to bend and crack from the chaos within the room, violet light flashing through the minor holes before a barrier of white energy slams down like a castle gate and holds the chaos at bay. Demiurge and his cohort exhale simultaneously in relief, Demiurge patting his cohort on the head to her disapproval as he says aloud, "It's safe to say that Lord Ainz is going to be fine but I recommend we give him a few days to... make amends."

"Your armour is charred," Shalltear comments as she lifts my left arm, showing me the silvered plates covering the arm and gauntlet covering the hand charred black and melted slightly. I don't remember an arc of lightning striking me nor felt any physical feedback so the wound is surprising to see. She gently removes the plates and drops them to the ground, revealing the approximation of my arm as a collection of black mist. I force the mist back into flesh, flexing the arm and hand as Aura states tensely, "I'm not letting you touch me with your arms like that. No way, no how."

"Noted," I reply with a smile, Aura groaning at such obvious humour. The smile on my face is temporary and I'm quickly drawn to the new voice in my head, one that I recognize and try to pinpoint the source to. He has such great power. We can be equal to him if we tried-

"Never," I say aloud as I whisper an elvish incantation, emerald fire appearing in my left hand as I turn towards the smouldering armour piece on the ground. I drop the flame onto the hiding shade, watching the fragment ignite into a brilliant emerald fireball. Its screams are deafening in my mind but I remain focused on the creature's suffering and smile darkly when the discarded armour is nothing but ashes.

"That shouldn't be possible... earth elementals, even corrupted ones, can't use fairy fire..." Demiurge's copy explains as they crouch down and gather a sample of the ashes in a glass jar. They offer the jar to Demiurge who takes the jar gently and lets his magic levitate it above his hand. Rings of crimson flow around the object but as soon as the analysis is finished, the two Demiurge's exchange a concerned glance. The copy summons a gate that they brusquely walk into without further comment.

"You could've just told them what changed instead of making them work for it..." Shalltear whispers, my head nodding as the homunculus maids start to return to their duties now that the crisis is resolved. I watch them for a moment as they clean and fix until Aura grabs my left hand and pulls me down the hallway. We rapidly pass a few doors before she grabs my shoulders and places me in front of one of the doors, commanding in a tense voice, "Open it."

My right hand is already moving forward, manipulating the pink energy dancing around the door to perform the proper kanji patterns. A few seconds pass before I press my palm against the door and whisper, "Bukubuku."

A swarm of pink butterflies and rabbits explodes towards me, making me throw up my arms to defend myself. Aura shoves me aside and throws the door open with a rapid hand movement, walking into the room as I recover and follow her closely. I'm expecting something cheerful and bright but the room beyond is cheerful and bright to a sickening level. Everything is fluffy and the only colours are bright pink and pearlescent white, both colours somehow clashing and offensive to the senses. Aura does a quick twirl to get a full grasp of the room before commenting with a dark smile, "My creator was into making things that contradict. This room looks like the opposite of what a den for a slime creature should look like... or even what a den for a sane person should look like... let's make this quick..."

"Are you sure it's in here?" Shalltear comments from behind me, my head glancing back to see her in the doorframe but refusing to step inside. Judging from her expression, she's as disturbed by the room's visuals as I am but has a more pronounced reaction to the place. Aura doesn't answer her question and starts rummaging through drawers and cabinets, tearing the room apart as if she's a common thief looking for valuables. She upturns half of the contents of the room before halting and turning to me, snapping harshly, "Look for anything hidden or... I don't know! Don't just stand there!"

I crouch down and throw the swirling pink rug off the floor towards one of the walls, placing my right hand against the marbled wood and manipulating a second magical lock placed there. Aura is mid-throw of another drawer when she drops the drawer unceremoniously and watches what I'm doing. My right hand manipulates the symbols into place before my right palm touches the centre of the lock and whisper, "Fiora."

The lock fades away and a wooden hatch appears where there was smooth flooring before. My hand seizes the handle it offers and hoists the small panel open. Inside is a cushion of brown animal skin cradling a small box but as soon as I lift the box out of its home and move to a stand, Aura snatches the box from my hand. She gently opens the box and upon opening it, it starts to play a song that I've heard many times before. She and Shalltear have hummed the song to me on several occasions to the point where I memorized the melody but hearing it through this music box puts me on edge.

"Your father gave me closure by telling me why she left us... it's time I moved on from the past," Aura states as she closes the music box, her hand closing tighter until the item starts to buckle under the pressure. Her glove protects her from the jagged mess of metal and wood she creates even as she drops the box on the floor without looking at it. She strides towards the door and pulls me by the hand out of the room, leaving the mess she just made behind.

I gently pull my hand free once were outside and turn back towards the room, feeling the confusion of Shalltear and Aura as I pull up a crimson box to manipulate. While my right hand manipulates the box, my left-hand summons a gate leading to the Mausoleum. The contents of the room glow white and float at increasing speed towards a single point in the centre of the room, each item condensing into their energy equivalents and combining together. The room collapses soon after, condensing into the ever-expanding mote of white magic that slowly floats towards the door. The door is sucked into the mote as well, leaving only an unblemished wall in its place.

I adjust the gate on my left until it views the Avatara I require, sliding the crimson box from my right hand to my left hand. The Avatara falls apart so that's its essence can join with the current mote, completing the ritual and causing the mote to collapse into its final form. I close the gate and slide the crimson box away while the final product lands in my right hand. Aura is quick to move in front of me, her face showing her shock and awe as she exclaims, "Is that what I think it is!?"

I smile and offer her the glowing data crystal while saying, "It's yours is what it is."