Chapter 4
Part 1
Two hours passed, then Ainz and Aura reappeared in the painted field. Around them, the artistic scenery of an alternate field quickly began shrinking in on itself, before sinking into the ground, vanishing without a trace.
Excepting the two of them, nobody else returned. Those who had been dragged in by the two of them did not reappear even as remains.
Tanya greeted them on one knee, as was proper since Aura was watching, but the two passed by without a word.
For an instant, her eyes met with Aura's, who glanced over with a look which could perhaps indicate concern, but the elf immediately broke contact and returned her attention to Ainz's surroundings. As for Ainz, her experience with discerning people's intentions did not extend to unchanging skulls. His could just as easily reflect satisfaction as disappointment, it all looked the same to her.
After taking just a few steps, Ainz opened a [Gate] and passed through, with Aura following immediately behind him. As soon as he passed through, the portal shut behind them.
What's with him, when he finally settled his grudge.
While thinking such unflattering thoughts, Tanya stood back up, lightly stretching more out of habit than in response to any physical exhaustion. She had been waiting for two hours, after all, long enough for the magic power she had expended to mostly recover.
A short while later, a black-and-white figure approached quietly from the direction of the city, dragging a bound and gagged second girl behind her.
Her timing was far too precise to be coincidence. Did [Downfall of Castle and Country] permit enough freedom for her to choose when to return, or was it a result of her following an unconscious order from Tanya, who didn't want her to run into Ainz yet, lest his latent anger make him kill the two before she could make use of them, or at very least, get what intelligence they possessed out of them.
Truthfully, she wasn't interested in the last member of the Black Scripture, the girl who was for some reason wearing an out-of-place school uniform. However, there was no doubt that she was just as guilty as the rest of the members for controlling Shalltear, at least in his eyes. No matter what happened from here on, there was no excusing that sin. At best, they might avoid torture and execution if they were shown to be more useful left alive.
To that end, she would present them directly to Demiurge, who could find the most efficient way to use a person, instead of Ainz, who despite being mostly emotionless, had a tendency to erupt with rage whenever his guildmates or NPCs were threatened. And while Tanya wouldn't lose anything even if they were simply killed, doing so would be a waste of talent.
One girl happily kneeled in front of her, while the other was bound and squirming in terror, with none of the determination of the rest even in facing off against death incarnate.
"Explain, how did your mission go?" (Tanya)
Tanya phrased her question as an order.
"Four cardinals and two ministers were captured by your servants, one of each killed when the tower collapsed. The rest were never in the city, but gathering the remainder of the army further south."
"So it won't end that quickly? Fine. Documents, treasures?" (Tanya)
"All but one of your Hanzos remained to sort through the documents. I went ahead to clear out the treasury, the contents are in these bags."
Just as she had said, she was carrying several thick magic backpacks on her back, which had been taken out from the tower's treasury to store the remainder of its contents.
"Add all your equipment, and hers." (Tanya)
"As you wish."
This was an order, and it was executed without hesitation, filling another backpack with the weapons and armor she was carrying.
Seeing her eagerness to obey gave Tanya a worrying premonition. Concerned with the wording she had used in her order, she pulled out a pair of thick cloaks, throwing one on each of the girls in advance.
Having prevented any accidents which might have otherwise occurred, she began digging through the backpacks.
They were the same Infinite Backpacks Ainz would occasionally bring out, with 500 kilograms of inventory space, but to the holder, the weight of only a single empty bag. She received a dozen of these, each completely filled to capacity.
Gold, gems, crystals, and coins. Swords, spears, halberds, and daggers. Helmets, boots, and shields. The wealth contained was immeasurable, incomparably greater than anything Tanya had seen in her lives. While she doubted it could match whatever treasure the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick was hiding, this was an eye-popping volume of riches to behold.
Tanya reached in and pulled out a few gold coins: thick, impressive lumps of currency, but clearly not the simple gold coins of any nearby country. This was YGGDRASIL gold, impossible to freely spend in the new world. Any common coinage would have already been taken out and spent, leaving only the treasured coins, the currency of the Six Gods which the Theocracy wouldn't dare to melt down into usable wealth.
She dropped the coins back in, which to her petty disappointment, landed without the expected clanking, as the contents of the backpack were no ordinary space.
Nothing she was interested in acquiring could be bought with simple money, so it was mostly worthless to her.
The weapons and armor were similarly unexciting. They had monetary value, and a number were created with a sizeable amount of mana. Finding one she could personally make use of in combat was another issue altogether.
She couldn't find a single weapon remotely resembling a firearm, and while there were a number of knives and daggers scattered within, none stuck out as superior to the one she was currently using.
Disappointed, she set down the backpack filled with weapons, then passed over the various armor just as quickly. As with the weapons, a few were quality items, but finding usable equipment was not as simple as picking the piece charged with the most magic, but would require appraising every single one of the hundreds of items.
Though doing so wouldn't be difficult, she simply didn't have the time to spend on what would likely end up being a fruitless effort. Turning them over, letting Pandora's Actor examine and catalogue each item, then requesting anything usable through the proper channels was a simpler path to the same result.
After all, nearly all the NPCs in Nazarick were already attached to the equipment provided by their own creators; They were unlikely to switch it out, even if the alternative was a numerically superior item. Therefore, her attempt to get that equipment for herself afterwards was unlikely to be met with competition, by process of elimination.
Tanya moved on to the next pack, pulling out a transparent, pale-blue crystal. It lacked the cut of a gemstone which might be used in the place of currency or art-piece, yet too large and clean to be a mere pretty rock. Moreover, several dozen of these were being stored alongside piles of literal gold, so they should have considerable value.
"What are these…?" (Tanya)
"Spell-sealing crystals, they store a single spell to be cast freely at a later time. Although, the ones left behind here are just empty trash, all the ones filled by the gods' magic were already taken out of the capital… there should be around ten of them left?"
The girl who had finished taking off all her equipment, and now wore nothing but the cloak thrown onto her, answered the question.
"Hmm, something like that existed?" (Tanya)
That could certainly come in handy, if used to store some of the more expensive spells to be used freely. She analyzed it with a quick spell to confirm the details.
[Spell-Sealing Crystal] (Empty) (Legendary), A mystic crystal of the highest order, capable of storing any magic except Super-tier magic. Consumable, Single-use.
She let some magic power flow into the crystal as a test, and just as described, it flowed in without the slightest resistance, being absorbed as if it were draining into a bottomless void.
"You must be joking, a material like this exists…" (Tanya)
Tanya immediately pocketed the lot of them.
Satisfied with the prize, she haphazardly threw the remaining backpacks into her inventory.
"Now then…" (Tanya)
From here, her next step should be to arrange a meeting with Demiurge – except he was busy with whatever Ainz needed from him. He would make contact her from his end once that was done. Then, she would go and present-
"Come to think of it, who are you?" (Tanya)
The thought occurred to her that she didn't know their names. It wasn't an issue when they were enemies to be disposed of, but now they might become disposable tools instead, or depending on how things play out, maybe even disposable colleagues.
"… The Extra Seat of the Black Scripture."
The mind-control was a composite of extremely potent Charm and Dominate effects, but the latter would only prevent lies, not necessarily take effect and force an answer unless an order was given. So, she gave one.
"Name yourself." (Tanya)
"Title, 'Certain Death' (Zesshi Zetsumei), no personal name."
"Japanese?" (Tanya)
The title she heard was clearly spoken in untranslated Japanese, but judging from Zesshi's lack of reaction, the meaning of that was lost on her. Tanya continued her interrogation.
"Zesshi it is, then. Who gave you that name?" (Tanya)
"It was the undead serving Surshana-sama. In the last two centuries, he's only comes out of his temple to give out titles, so I didn't bother to learn his name." (Zesshi)
Tanya gave up on her for the time being, walking over to the other girl, crouching down to ungag her.
"Right. Same questions to you." (Tanya)
"-T-Title, 'Thousand Mile Astrologer' (Sensei Senri)… personal name-"
"Let's go with Senri. The undead?" (Tanya)
"…"
"You can either make me use the 8th tier spell [Dominate] to get answers, or let me report your cooperation to my superiors. Your choice." (Tanya)
The fear in Senri's eyes was renewed at the mention of myth-level magic as a casual threat.
She had been watching merely hours ago as the tower above her was erased, undeterred by the myriad barriers and enchantments holding it together. This was no mere bluff.
"-T-The undead is the first servant created by the God of Death, Surshana-sama, called Rufus. His head temple is hidden in the south-east of the Theocracy." (Senri)
"Another target, wonderful." (Tanya)
Tanya cut the bindings on Senri's limbs, letting her stand up.
Even with her equipment taken away, she was being given the opportunity to cast some magic at the defenseless Tanya who was walking away from her.
She didn't take it, grabbing the cloak, wrapping it tightly around herself; Any will to resist had long since been torn out of her.
"Very good. With this, introductions are finished." (Tanya)
Tanya theatrically snapped her fingers, spawning a table and a single chair, which she sat and leaned back on.
"Let's begin the interview. What value do you think you can bring to our company?" (Tanya)
Part 2
"Excuse me, Demiurge-sama… and, Albedo-sama." (Tanya)
Tanya passed through her [Gate], leaving it open behind her. Demiurge had specified this room out of the E-Rantel castle, but unexpectedly also had to greet Albedo as soon as she entered.
"Ara, would it be an issue for me to hear what you have to say?" (Albedo)
"No, of course not, I'm surprised to see you here today, what with how busy you must be." (Tanya)
"So you do understand that what you're doing is just adding to my work…" (Albedo)
"Then let us not waste any more of your time with smalltalk. It's a question of how to handle these two from here on." (Tanya)
The two, Zesshi and Senri, were led through the [Gate], upon which they were immediately subjected to cold gazes from both Demiurge and Albedo.
"Prostrate." (Demiurge)
As they stood, Demiurge spoke, or rather commanded the two of them.
The latter immediately dropped to her knees and slammed her face into the ground from his order, while the former turned to Tanya for confirmation, and, as soon as she nodded, proceeded to do exactly the same thing.
"… What are those?" (Albedo)
Albedo looked at all three of them, Tanya included, with the eyes one might otherwise direct only at cockroaches and lesser vermin. Had she brought in a pair of mud-covered, rabid hounds off the side of the road, they would have gotten a warmer reception.
"The one on the left was the Theocracy's secret weapon, who I used to test out the World-Class Item. On the right is an extra from their elite forces who-" (Tanya)
"… Jaldabaoth…?" (Senri)
"-shit." (Tanya)
The prepared arrangement – for them to shut up and let Tanya defend them – fell apart with a leaked word from Senri, still on the ground.
Tanya grabbed her, tearing her off the floor even as Demiurge's order made her continue trying to press her own head into the ground. However, her own strength was insufficient to resist, easily lifting her to her own eye level.
"Option B it is, then. [Dominate]." (Tanya)
Her attempt at resistance immediately stopped, the new control spell overriding the first skill.
It was admittedly risky to make her speak the truth, but at least she wouldn't be able to speak out of turn with this.
"Where have you seen Jaldabaoth before?" (Tanya)
"I was ordered to observe Jaldabaoth's invasion of the Holy Kingdom as soon as we heard about it. By coincidence, I recorded his attack on Kalinsha, when he defeated their Holy Queen." (Senri)
"Interesting, there existed somebody who could observe us without our noticing. It was an oversight on my part to focus on them to the exclusion of threats residing in other countries. Was anybody else in the Theocracy made aware of the connection?" (Demiurge)
Tanya repeated the question in Demiurge's last sentence to get an answer out of her. Only then did she reply.
"The Cardinals and all members of the Black Scripture watched Jaldabaoth's fight to prepare for the possibility that we would have to defend the Theocracy against him. Once I confirmed his defeat at the hands of the Sorcerer King, our focus changed to him as the next threat." (Senri)
"Just that won't be enough to draw any conclusions. With their observer taken away from them, there would be no problem as long as nobody else sees you in action after this." (Tanya)
"Your requesting him to meet like this was a mistake, then?" (Albedo)
Tanya tried to finish the interpretation on a positive note, but Albedo quickly pointed out the obvious: Reporting to Demiurge was her responsibility, but bringing these two in as well was clearly introducing a liability.
"None of us were aware of how much they knew, nor are they the only ones who have seen that form of Jaldabaoth. I'll admit that it was unexpected, you can even call it a mistake if you wish, but the only consequence will be that these two can't be released with their memory intact… not that we would have done so anyway. If there aren't any more questions-" (Tanya)
"-Were those two involved in controlling Shalltear?" (Albedo)
Albedo stopped her again, bringing up yet another worrying question.
"… She's a non-combatant, specialized in gathering information-" (Tanya)
"Ask the question." (Albedo)
Her rushed attempt at a deferral was swept aside, leaving no recourse except to hope for a favorable answer.
"… Did you participate in the fight to subjugate the Vampire last year?" (Tanya)
"Yes, I did." (Senri)
Her hope was not answered.
"…" (Tanya)
"Ainz-sama has delivered his judgment to all responsible. They are to receive nothing except suffering and death." (Albedo)
"Wait, wait. Demiurge-sama, did Ainz-sama say anything after he returned?" (Tanya)
"He was disappointed to learn that encounter was mere coincidence. She was never their intended target, and so they were permitted the mercy of an early death." (Demiurge)
"-If Ainz-sama said that, it is possible his verdict has changed, killing them here would be exactly the needless killing he wishes to avoid. Albedo-sama, would you accept a stay of execution until Ainz-sama can offer an updated judgment?" (Tanya)
Albedo paused, considering Tanya's increasingly desperate attempt at a defense. She collapsed the bardiche she had drawn a few seconds earlier with a sigh, accepting the logic behind it.
"… Fine. Either way, her life belongs to Ainz-sama. We will present her, whether for clemency or execution by his hand." (Albedo)
"… Thank you very much, Albedo-sama. I will leave her handling to you." (Tanya)
Tanya released the domination, following it up immediately with a second spell to render the girl unconscious.
The result was still uncertain, relying on a judgment by Ainz, but those odds weren't terrible. Though she had been brought along as an extra who might be useful, she certainly seemed to possess more intelligence about the Theocracy, between the two of them.
Although the ministers and cardinals abducted by the Hanzos would certainly possess secret information of their own, getting it out of them wasn't necessarily practical. Since they were public figures, it might still be necessary to return them for negotiation, which having an extended chat with Neuronist might get in the way of. And, as Ainz and an unfortunate cleric had proven, excessive memory manipulation carried consequences of its own.
Both sides would find it easier to explain away the disappearances of the few remaining members of a secret society, than those of their own heads of state. There was no longer a conveniently located Demon Emperor to justify sudden personality shifts, so neither replacing them with doppelgangers nor brainwashing them through other means would be effective.
In fact, it was more likely than not that simply by being captured once, all those still free would assume them corrupted. Regardless of whether anything was actually done to them, they would never again be trusted with confidential information, just in case their minds had been poisoned to leak it all to the Sorcerous Kingdom at the earliest opportunity.
Assuming they followed the same trail of reasoning, the value of the captured cardinals for negotiations was likely close to nil. That being said, they might still be usable as puppets if enough of the government was captured and converted.
To an ordinary person, the cardinals were a sacred existence. Even to lower clergy, they were respected superiors who could be met with rarely, if ever. As far as they were aware, the puppets would be no less legitimate than the originals, and if a large majority could be controlled, the remainder could be destroyed by turning the Theocracy's own laws against them, leveraging the puppets' authority for anything from naming them traitors and heretics, to convicting and removing them outright.
There was no need for the Sorcerous Kingdom to annex or vassalize the Slane Theocracy outright. More likely than not, choosing to do so would only be counterproductive. The majority of the citizens would never accept it, and no small number would choose to die fighting over long-term occupation. In the worst case, the situation would devolve into either permanent martial law or nonstop rebellions. The resulting territories would cost more to maintain and garrison than any small benefit they might bring.
Even without conquering any cities, Nazarick would already be claiming almost everything it needed from the Theocracy: Their treasure, information, and most importantly, eliminating them as a threat once and for all.
Add a puppet government on top of all that, and the Theocracy would remain free in name only. Policy could slowly be changed to maintain control and prevent a future war, talent could be siphoned out of the country using the very same ledgers and census data the Theocracy maintained.
In the long term, changing their very gospel wasn't out of the question, secularizing the country outright, or otherwise rewriting their faith into something more advantageous to Nazarick. The possibilities were endless, what with the majority of Nazarick being unaging heteromorphic beings.
However, right now, Tanya still had her responsibilities until such a time that she could pass the remaining work over to Demiurge. The more cards she could put into his hands, the faster that day would come, and somebody with his intellect would certainly be able to make the most out of these two.
"And, who is that deviant drooling onto the floor while undressing me in her head?" (Demiurge)
A comment from that same Demiurge brought Tanya back out from her thoughts.
She glanced over at Zesshi, who, true to his description, had a disheveled expression plastered on her face, blatantly sneaking glances at the demon in the room, instantly making Tanya regret not binding her down with a proper order.
A quick, "Stay completely still" solved that, immobilizing her properly.
Watching her careful planning fall to bits in front of the two superiors she had no leeway against forced a brief sigh out of her.
"… As I mentioned, the Theocracy has been keeping her as a secret weapon for the past few centuries, the descendant of one of the players they called gods. The World-Class Item's control is… imprecise, and won't prevent a degree of independent activity, like holding a conversation during combat… or doing… that." (Tanya)
Tanya glanced at Demiurge and Albedo alternatively to see if they had any input to offer, but neither did. She continued.
"My control will expire after a day, though she herself doesn't mind defecting and giving up everything she learned, provided we're willing to accept two simple conditions-" (Tanya)
"… The prisoner is making demands?" (Albedo)
Albedo dropped in a resentful complaint, but didn't follow it up; Tanya again continued.
"- First, to kill her father, the king of the elves, after exhausting your imagination for torture on him." (Tanya)
Demiurge nodded slightly, then followed with an inquiry.
"The reason you believe we should accept mercenary work being…?" (Demiurge)
"You've read the reports about them, haven't you? A peaceful resolution against somebody with a personality like that is impossible. We would have to hunt him down regardless, so we may as well take the extra advantage. In addition, he's a relic from five centuries ago, exactly five hundred years, when he suddenly appeared and took over their kingdom. It's hard to think of it as a coincidence, and if they say he could single-handedly turn around a war against the Theocracy, I don't think it's unreasonable to guess that he's a former player as well." (Tanya)
"So we skip straight to bringing him in as a test subject for all the player-related experiments Ainz-sama has been putting off?" (Demiurge)
Tanya answered with a nod; the gist of her idea was communicated properly.
From the lack of further opposition, they would at least be willing to consider the condition.
"The second request was… how do I put it… for her to volunteer for Demiurge-sama's breeding experiments… with, you, Demiurge-sama, or another of a similar level." (Tanya)
"I see, examining both the biology of a player's descendant in this world, and those of us NPCs. Very well." (Demiurge)
"I would be exceedingly interested in observing that as well." (Albedo)
Much to Tanya's surprise, both immediately gave their support without the slightest reservation, even more readily than the first.
"To serve the Supreme Beings is to dedicate every fiber of your body and essence to them. Although, as you say, it is something which will require further experimentation, what with the difficulties of conception between species… the most suitable one would be Mare, I suppose?" (Demiurge)
Evidently, her doubt had been clearly visible to Demiurge. Still, he explained and even began formulating how he would get it done.
"-right, you do that. Then, there's the matter of the valuables seized from the Theocracy's hidden treasury. With your leave, I will return once to pass them over to Pandora's Actor-sama for analysis and cataloguing, before returning to finish the war." (Tanya)
"There is no need. Your task is already finished, so remain in Nazarick and assist Pandora's Actor as he deems necessary. Effective immediately, CZ Delta will order the army to return all forces to the Sorcerous Kingdom." (Demiurge)
Demiurge instantly rejected her proposal. The war was far from over as far as she was concerned, yet he unhesitatingly sent her away from the front lines – to yet another research job under a predictably mentally unstable, obsessive-type.
That, she could still get behind since it would inevitably give her the free time to work on her own new-found research projects, though the change was so sudden that she felt the need to confirm his intentions.
"If that is your order, I will obey, but is it alright to leave the Theocracy alone? Special forces excepted, the majority of their army is intact. On top of that, there are individuals of unknown power like the undead 'Rufus', who could become a threat. Given the chance, they will reorganize and counterattack, would they not?" (Tanya)
"Consider the state of the Theocracy for a moment. A sudden divine proclamation calling for a draft, in a matter of weeks, tens of thousands die, several armies disappear without a trace… and after a crushing defeat at their own capital, the invading army leaves without claiming a single prize, barely a sign of having fought a battle on them.
Now, how do the humans living in the Theocracy react to learning their families were sent to the slaughter on behalf of their gods, against invaders with no interest in conquest?
Doubt. Distrust. Disbelief. With the aid of brainwashed insurgents planted into the soldiers you captured, mistrust will turn to suspicion, suspicion to betrayal. Before long, they will abandon their faith by their own volition." (Demiurge)
Tanya watched him with amazement.
Just when did he have time to do all that? It's been a week since we took the city, in that time he picked out the soldiers who originated from other cities, manipulated their memories and emotions, so they could be sent back to become agitators without even knowing it?
"… Truly an archdevil, it seems I still have much to learn." (Tanya)
She gave her honest praise. Certainly, Demiurge was no general, yet he could probably claim a perfect victory without fighting despite that.
He answered her with a rare honest smile.
"No, the mission was a success, though somewhat shallow, I will not argue against results. For one who was not blessed to have been created by the Supreme Beings, it was an impressive act to watch." (Demiurge)
It was unexpectedly satisfying to hear those few words out of him. Not only in the sense of having a superior's support to improve her chances at promotion, but simply to receive his approval.
Tanya returned a smile and a salute.
"Thank you very much. Then, I will be departing." (Tanya)
She turned on her heel and teleported back to Nazarick.
Part 3
He sat up against the backboard of his bed, early in the morning.
Although he wasn't the type to care about sleeping well and waking up regularly in the morning, at his level, he no longer had to sleep more than a few hours every night. Even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep a second time.
There was nothing else for him to be doing, so he reached over to the nightstand, picking up one of the half-empty bottles of wine from last night, draining the remaining contents.
A fine elven wine, famous worldwide for its depth of flavor. This vintage, decades old but actually less than a year old, magically aged and fittingly rare. Not to him, of course, since he could take it straight from the source any time he wanted. Unfortunately, he had gotten bored of this taste a century ago, yet the useless incompetents running the vineyard had long since stopped innovating.
Perhaps it was time to get rid of them and swap them with some new faces – doing so would mean cutting the supply for at least a decade while they learned the requisite magic and techniques, so he gave up the thought. They weren't worth the effort, and besides, the replacements were unlikely to be any better.
He set this bottle back onto the nightstand, grabbing the other bottle next to it. He unstopped the bottle and took in the aroma, but waited before drinking. The taste of the last bottle was still left in his mouth, and following one with the other would just frustrate him by how poorly the two bottles went together.
The man sat alone in his bed, with no intention of doing anything this day. Two women had accompanied him last night, though they had gotten up an hour earlier and run off for healing the first chance they got.
Supposedly they were talented warriors, veterans whose strength had grown while defending the country, yet they remained incredibly frail. The difference between his own level and theirs meant they would inevitably get bruised during an ordinary intercourse, such was his strength.
With a little effort he could hold back enough to avoid injuring them, but he felt no need to do so. Their purpose was to pass on his genes, not to enjoy the process. And yet, so few of them succeeded, and the end product of his effort was nearly always garbage.
In fact, the last success had been nearly a century ago now, yet even that child had gone and gotten himself killed trying to hunt a dragon, and rejected resurrection on top of that. The fact that this kind of half-assed 'success' was one of the better results said everything about just how useless every single one of the mothers had been.
The one and only true success had been stolen away from him by the Slane Theocracy centuries before that. Worse, the deal which bought him out of the ancient great war meant he couldn't just crush them and reclaim her.
Thinking about the warning delivered by that armor drove him to fury.
He threw the bottle in his hand across the room, impacting and shattering into tiny fragments, leaving an indentation in the stone wall where it hit.
"That fucking dragon!"
He screamed in frustration and jumped out of bed. Somebody would come by to clean up the mess and rebuild the wall, sooner or later, this was far from the first time. Without stopping to put on some clothes, he opened the glass door leading outside, and stepped onto the balcony.
His gaze naturally rested on the city spreading out a few kilometers from his castle in every direction, built up from a simple village of elves into a kingdom in its own right over five centuries.
An eyesore.
Their golden age, lost, and all he got for it was this pathetic city. Time and time again he thought about razing it to the ground himself, but doing so would make it all truly worthless. He could at least finish by entertaining himself through watching it burn.
If he could at least have gotten a useful descendant out of them, they would have that little bit of value. Alas, they could not, and so they do not.
Maybe the humans could do better. He was on the verge of abandoning this country and trying that out after all, but doing so would require the resolve to once again make an enemy of that dragon, which he fought and failed to destroy once before.
"If it weren't for that fucking dragon!"
Today, he wasn't in a good mood. Today, he wouldn't be a merciful king. He wanted to throw something else, but his hand was still empty. Magic could serve as well, but that didn't seem right.
Instead he pulled another bottle of wine out of his inventory, brought it to his mouth and started drinking.
He was barely a fighter, he was an alchemist and a healer; worse, he was now an alchemist with a fatal shortage of ingredients, a healer without a party. Ambushing that dragon had failed even with two of his allies together with him, allies far superior to himself in combat skill. Destroying it by himself was no doubt hopeless.
Taking another drink, he thought back to the past.
In the beginning, they were allies. Eight supreme beings, dividing the entire world between them, trampling all who dared to stand in their path. Nothing in this new world could oppose them. Even after making the dragon lords and self-proclaimed gods their enemies, the wars were one-sided, consecutive victories for their side.
Conquering most of the continent only took two decades, but their rule lasted only slightly longer than that. Each of them had their own interpretation of the direction the world should advance, and the absence of an external threat to unite them, caused them to drift apart.
One betrayal, one murder, one retaliation. All trust built up as fellow guild members quickly dissolved, and not long after, any pretense of collaboration disappeared. By the time he learned about the existence of the mind-controlling World-Class Item, five of eight were already dead, beyond resurrection.
With the remaining dragon lords crawling out of hiding, victory was rapidly retreating from their grasp. During that period of chaos and insanity, he wished for nothing more than to leave it all behind.
And, in that moment of weakness, that dragon approached him with a deal: Withdraw from the fighting, recluse himself to a village of his own, and be spared from any further warfare.
He accepted without hesitation. It was only after the last two killed each other off that he realized the deception. Victory escaped him with two allies and a treasury full of YGGDRASIL items on his side, now the former had been killed off, and the dragon himself had seized the latter.
Centuries later, he had finally regained the levels lost to resurrections, tried to replace allies and NPCs with his own power-leveled children, all to break away and finally see that dragon dead.
Yet, playing 1:1 scale SimCity with the elves lost its appeal after only a couple decades. None of his children displayed the power of the 'god-kin'. His determination and drive for vengeance cooled into plain hatred.
He still had goals, but no further motivation to follow through with them. On a good day, he might still make progress, but by now the majority of days were like this. It was inevitable, he reasoned; four and a half centuries under house arrest would do this to anybody, he reasoned.
He took another drink from the bottle, leaving it empty.
A knock from the door broke him out from his depressing reminiscence. Instantly, it became the target of his displaced anger as the bottle sailed through the air at incredible speed. Whether because the alcohol was getting to him or his aim was just bad today, the bottle narrowly missed, breaking the wall slightly to the right of the door.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty."
"Not today!"
He yelled at the female elf messenger who stepped into the room, in spite of his threat.
"My apologies, Your Majesty, I bring a pressing report. The Theocracy has abandoned their forward camp inside our territory, retreating from our borders."
This wasn't the first time he had received reports about the Theocracy's attacks, despite the number of messengers thrown off the balcony to make it clear he wasn't interested in whatever happened to this country anymore.
At least this one brought good news for once, instead of trying to beg for his power. She may be worthless in terms of power, but at least she wasn't as stupid as the others. In that moment, he decided to keep her alive. Still-
"I don't care. Get lost."
If she continued to pester him, he could be convinced to change his mind and throw her off the balcony. For her sake, she had best withdraw – but she hesitated.
Had she brought news of something happening to the child the Theocracy had stolen, he might have cared, but this was nothing of note.
Decades ago, they would have continued pestering him with more news, but no longer. She bowed and started to leave.
"-Wait."
He thought about the implications of the Theocracy suddenly retreating, abandoning all their gains in the last decade. Whether this country lived or died mattered little to him, but this choice of theirs was strange enough to draw his interest for once.
"Is there any news about the Theocracy itself? Is some monster destroying them?"
She was surprised to hear him actually respond, but almost immediately regained her composure.
"We don't have the agents to confirm this, but we heard rumors of a powerful undead appearing to the north, and the Theocracy gathering an army to subjugate it."
He cast a [Cure Poison] to purge the remaining effects of the alcohol he drank, then pulled a decorated robe out of his inventory, pulling it over his nude body.
"Then get somebody out there, you idiots!"
It hadn't been approximately five hundred years, exactly five hundred years had passed. This was a hereto unknown force, with enough power to seriously threaten the Theocracy. An inexperienced group of new players, anxious and looking for news about their old world.
First impressions would be critical. If he got to them first, even pitting them against the dragon lords wouldn't be impossible.
This was no time to be drunk and depressed. Centuries of patience would finally be rewarded with the appearance of malleable players.
"Figure out what's going on. Go!"
The messenger bowed and rushed out from the room, carefully closing the door behind her as she departed.
As he watched her depart with an look of satisfaction, he carefully straightened the robes he wore, combing through his hair to clean it up, to make it less of a mess, if only slightly.
For the first time in weeks, the majesty befitting the king of the elves would be returned to his appearance.
Part 4
A single look into the treasury of Nazarick immediately convinced Tanya that whatever treasure she had collected and brought in was relatively worthless. Let alone the inner treasury and whatever dangerous terrors were kept beyond that portal, the disorganized mountains of gold coins and items in the entrance hall were already enough to drown out those few backpacks' worth of added inventory.
The difference between the two was staggering. Was it because the guild it originally belonged to was smaller than Nazarick, and thus had less treasure? Did they exhaust the rest of their consumables and YGGDRASIL gold during the war which destroyed them? Perhaps the guild was not around for as long, and had less time to accumulate treasures. Any or all of the three were likely true to varying degrees.
By far the most common among the items were ordinary equipment: weapons, armor, and the like. Though a few – particularly from the equipment gathered from the Black Scripture – were unique items constructed using the creator tools, the majority of these were common items, which Pandora's Actor was quickly able to categorize and list.
Naturally, the list meant nothing at all to Tanya, it was nothing but a collection of meaningless names. Pandora's Actor himself recognized a few as having duplicates among the older items in the treasury.
It wasn't until the list was shown to Ainz himself that he instantly recognized the pattern common to them: Every single one of the items and artifacts had been available with the first major version of YGGDRASIL, prior to the very first expansion – three years after the game's initial release.
Unfortunately, this meant their items had been created with the first generation of creator tools. Long before they were optimized into the idealized, easy-to-use tools they had become at the end of YGGDRASIL, at release they were a clunky set of programs, hard to use to the point where players were put off from customizing their equipment.
Most of the items they had seized were simply combinations of a visual skin and an item status sheet; They were nowhere near as personalized as the equipment created by the 41 players in Ainz Ooal Gown. Although this made their equipment far easier to pass onto another user, it was more general-purpose and nowhere near as effective at any specific function.
Of course, this didn't apply to every single item. In particular, the individual regalia of the players calling themselves gods – as identified by Zesshi – were far superior to the common items gathering dust in their treasury.
Only three of these were recovered, however, two being her equipment, and one to the late captain of the Black Scripture. A fourth had been taken by the still-active members of the Theocracy's leadership and was in the process of discreetly being recovered by Demiurge. The remainder were all missing, assumed lost to the Eight Greed Kings upon death.
In summary, the amount of work required to analyze every item was a mere fraction of initial expectations. A month's schedule was mostly finished by the end of the first week, with the remainder turning into a de-facto paid vacation.
Tanya's decision not to report their excessively generous schedule helped to earn that as well.
One month passed before the deception was discovered.
"- -_ -_-_- _- _-_ -_, -_ _-_ _-?"
"Reception is poor, last message did not transmit. Please repeat." (Tanya)
The message came in as nothing but noise.
No reply came.
She forcibly added more magic into the [Message] to amplify the signal strength and tried again. It may not exactly be radio, but it was probably close enough to apply the same principles. For the same reason, she expanded her perception into the air below her trying to catch an incoming transmission.
"Are you receiving? Reception is poor, last message did not transmit. Please repeat." (Tanya)
"I -d, I- lo-_ -_-ct _- _he -e, w-e _-_ _-u?"
She could recognize the message incoming, but dispersed shortly before reaching. Her indirect reception only The waves were definitely incoming, but still garbled. Dropping her altitude slightly to right where they vanished would resolve that.
"Message received, but still garbled. Once more, please repeat." (Tanya)
"My connection with the Eyeball Corpse disappeared for a minute just now."
Ainz's voice finally came through the last [Message] clearly.
"Sorry about that, I went out of range, it should be better now." (Tanya)
"Yeah, it's back and clear. I didn't think [Undeath Slave Sight] had a range limit, where are you? All we can see is sky." (Ainz)
"Space." (Tanya)
"… Huh? I think I misheard, what was that?" (Ainz)
"You didn't. I'm maintaining position exactly one hundred kilometers above the target." (Tanya)
"…" (Ainz)
Radio silence once again.
"Hello? Are the messages still dropping?" (Tanya)
"… No, I can hear you, but… how? Or, why?" (Ainz)
"I'm still experimenting, but most tier magic falls apart around this point, I'm certain he won't be able to detect me here no matter what I do." (Tanya)
"A flag…?" (Ainz)
"Flag? What do you mean?" (Tanya)
"No, nevermind. You see the city, right? Can you point the eyeball at it for us?" (Ainz)
"Acknowledged." (Tanya)
Tanya carefully untied the two-meter ball of mixed meat and eyeballs attached to her back, wrapping her arms around it in an embrace to avoid dropping it. The undead creature could float, but only a couple meters above the ground, not this far into the upper atmosphere. Were her grip to slip, it would plummet most of the way back to the surface before its flight returned. She carefully turned it until it was aimed directly towards the ground.
Two thousand kilometers to the north, inside a finely furnished command center within Nazarick, a satellite image with a high-level undead camera, [Undeath Slave Sight] transmitter, and [Crystal Monitor] display was being projected in front of Ainz, Albedo, and the Floor Guardians, Demiurge and Cocytus.
"Seems there's no problem with the image." (Ainz)
"It's from an undead created by Ainz-sama himself for this purpose, success is obvious." (Albedo)
Albedo proudly praised Ainz for his idle comment. The way he saw it, all he had done was use an ordinary skill, so he wasn't sure how else to respond.
Both Demiurge and Albedo were observing the tiny buildings with great interest. In all honesty, Ainz could only barely figure out which of the towers was supposed to be the focus.
Bringing his finger bones up to his chin, he held the pose for a few seconds. He gave a sagely nod.
"I see, so that's how it was. What do you two think?" (Ainz)
"Although his agents continue to be intercepted before they can pass through the Theocracy and into our territory, he continues to patiently wait in his stronghold. The worst possible outcome." (Demiurge)
"Precisely. Not only would it be exceptionally dangerous to assault his fortress through all his preparations, but having placed it in the middle of the capital city ensures any ambush we attempt would be witnessed by any number of his citizens." (Albedo)
Demiurge and Albedo respectively gave their candid thoughts.
Certainly, the fortress that is Nazarick could destroy nearly any number of ordinary invaders. Even without the rest of the guild members present to defend it, several dozen ordinary level 100 players choosing to invading would just be volunteering for suicide. There was no end to the traps hidden throughout its ten floors which could instantly kill a level 100 player caught unaware.
The tower they saw was certainly nowhere near as developed as the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, which had slowly been built up over the years with the aid of thousands of cash items to expand its data capacity.
Still, this was a player with hundreds of years to prepare for any possible attack. With sufficient preparation, a magic caster could slay even gods. Relying on the brute force that was Nazarick's Floor Guardians to raid his stronghold would be beyond stupid.
As long as he continued to wait for them inside his tower, attempting to capture him carried a significant risk of taking casualties. The costs and benefits were instantly inverted.
Then there was the placement of his tower: The very center of the capital city of the Elf Kingdom, deep within the Great Forest of Evasha. While the location itself wasn't an issue for staging an invasion – as demonstrated by Tanya's presence far above the city – the elven population would be.
A single witness placing them at the scene would be a diplomatic demerit in the coming years. For similar reasons, using [Sword of Damocles] wasn't a viable option, neither was Albedo's World-Class Item, [Ginnungagap]: The former would be tantamount to signing the smoldering ruins with Nazarick's emblem, while the latter was an area-of-effect centered around the wielder, so using it against the tower from point-blank range without first being detected would be nigh impossible.
The next best solution would be a straight-up massacre, to eliminate all witnesses by outright eliminating all possible witnesses. Were the entire city to be systematically erased from the map, many might still suspect the Sorcerous Kingdom being responsible for the attack, but actually proving it should not be possible.
Of course, resorting to such extreme measures would result in correspondingly severe repercussions should they fail to erase all evidence. In the unlikely event that some hereto unknown party possessed magic at the level of [True Resurrection], leaving every single body as nothing but scattered ash might not even be enough.
It was a last resort among last resorts, but if it came down to that or risking the lives of one of the Guardians, Ainz, Albedo, and Demiurge would unanimously choose to do so without hesitation.
"… The Player himself probably doesn't have any World-Class Items of his own, otherwise he would have long since used them… whatever defenses he prepared should be focused around the tower itself… if we could destroy the tower and follow up with a sneak attack…" (Ainz)
"You just need it destroyed?" (Tanya)
While Ainz muttered a summary, Tanya sent him another message. While they were watching her location through the Eyeball Corpse, she was listening in on the meeting in the same way, having created a magic ear and left it behind in the command post.
Although, of those present, only Ainz was connected to her with a [Message].
"Neither Super-Tier Magic nor World-Class Items can be used, you'd be recognized immediately. Can you really do it?" (Ainz)
"If you don't mind some collateral damage, sure. I happen to have a prototype to test out." (Tanya)
She seemed supremely confident, even in the face of those additional restrictions.
Admittedly, the destructive power she had demonstrated once in the past was impressive, but not to the level of a Super-tier spell. This time, the target was completely unknown. Even her casting [Sword of Damocles] had been insufficient to completely level the Theocracy's guild base, even without including the numerous underground floors described by the Hanzos. Like a bunker, they were left virtually unharmed by the strike.
Despite this, she asserted her success with certainty, more concerned with collateral damage than the target itself.
Considering her career experience in premeditated destruction, this was no idle claim. If she said she could destroy the tower, it would end up destroyed.
"Hm. Then, were that tower and its surroundings to disappear… how would you defeat an otherwise unknown opponent, Cocytus?" (Ainz)
"… With. All. Due. Respect, Ainz-sama, I. Believe. That. Question. Is. Inappropriate." (Cocytus)
"-Hoh?" (Ainz)
The flames in Ainz's empty eye sockets flared up briefly.
Had he made a mistake? The question he was posing didn't seem unreasonable given the situation, as far as hypotheticals went. Although making assumptions about an opponent they had never seen fight was difficult, Demiurge and Neuronist had done an excellent job of capturing agents and extracting information from them, respectively, and that information should have been circulated to the Guardians.
A talented warrior like Cocytus could make reasonable predictions about the flow of a battle with only a cursory understanding of the combatants.
Glancing briefly at Albedo, the fact that she maintained an unbroken proud face reassured him that at very least, he hadn't said anything so stupid as to drive her into despair.
Adopting the tone of an instructor leading his student to finish answering a question, he looked back to Cocytus and spoke again.
"Is that what you believe, Cocytus?" (Ainz)
"Yes. Since. Our. Objective. Is. Capture, Our. Methods. Become. Restricted.
Rather. Than. Defeating. Him, We. Must. Build. A. Team. To. Abduct. Him. And. Retreat. Immediately." (Cocytus)
Ainz nodded.
"An astute observation. Then, how would you go about doing so? What support would you require?" (Ainz)
Before responding, Cocytus paused to think about how to phrase his answer before responding.
"Begin. With. A. Surprise. Attack. From. Tanya, Use. The. Confusion. For. Shalltear. And. Aura. To. Pull. Him. Through. A. [Gate], Into. An. Ambush.
The. Critical. Stage. Would. Be. The. Abduction." (Cocytus)
"You would not recommend yourself for the mission?" (Ainz)
"Others. Are. Better. Suited. To. Stealth. Than. Me." (Cocytus)
"Certainly, knowing your own weaknesses is always important, no matter how strong you may be." (Ainz)
The strategy Cocytus was suggesting involved carefully dividing up roles to those well-suited to them, with each stage of the plan clearly working towards the overall goal. There was neither the arrogance of assuming his own strength to be sufficient, nor the belief that bringing greater numbers to every encounter, instead favoring a smaller team to accomplish a single, specific objective.
Whether he had determined from Ainz's own wording that Tanya was in position to launch a first strike, or independently reached the same conclusion on how to make use of her, Ainz could not tell. Regardless, he was properly thinking about all the pieces available to him, rather than getting caught up on the idea that only the Guardians could be used to fight.
Considering that this was the work of somebody who had zero experience with tactics only a year earlier, it was a remarkably solid proposal. Ainz had no doubt that the usual strategists – Demiurge and Albedo – could come up with something even more detailed, but the careful simplicity of Cocytus's approach appealed to him. Was this what it was like for a parent to feel proud while watching over the growth of his 'nephew'?
What Ainz should do now was to support him for his progress.
"In that case, we will be following Cocytus's proposed plan of attack." (Ainz)
"Seriously, we're doing this now? I'll say it again, it's an untested prototype, don't blame me if it takes out half the city." (Tanya)
Knowing that somebody was paying attention and willing to criticize him was actually reassuring. Still, if according to her judgment, that warning was the only critique she had to give, it shouldn't be that bad of an idea. He smiled – or tried to, at least, not that it was at all visible on his face.
"What do you think, can they succeed?" (Ainz)
"… He's also a player, so his level is limited, right? Two-on-one, with the element of surprise, I've had to deal with worse. If you're still worried, why not give them a World-Class Item or two?" (Tanya)
Ainz thought about her comment. True, players would be limited to level 100 according to the rules of YGGDRASIL, but the assumption that all such players would be equivalent was far from accurate.
The difference between two players with different class compositions could be staggering, particularly when it came to hidden classes like his own 'Eclipse', and even more so for classes like Touch Me's 'World Champion'. Depending on the circumstances, he might well have been able to fight two players at the same time, and come out on top, so adequate caution was necessary. Still, somebody with that much power was unlikely to sit idle for hundreds of years.
What worried him far more was the idea that in all those years, he would had found a way to strengthen himself further through some technique unique to this world. Talents, for instance, could theoretically be stolen with a wish, providing endless opportunities for improvement. Special magic items like Gazef Stronoff's sword existed, so he couldn't discount the possibility of the same techniques being used to create a powerful item with much more data. No doubt there were countless others which they hadn't yet stumbled upon.
Tanya's lack of knowledge about YGGDRASIL was inevitable. Rather, anything more than common sense game knowledge could only be taught directly by Ainz himself, and there weren't too many times when both of them were available at the same time. She hadn't expressed much interest in learning about the game either, so the topic didn't come up between them.
On the other hand, bringing a World-Class Item was a viable option. It was important to carefully balance bringing one along and incur the risk of losing it, against the advantages from possessing one, which would mitigate some risk to the Guardians being sent. To him, which was more valuable?
"Have Aura and Shalltear equipped with World-Class Items as well, just in case. Of course, if they believe the capture would no longer be possible, switch to assassination to eliminate the witness." (Ainz)
"We are awed by your generosity, Ainz-sama. If you would permit a question, is it truly safe to rush in without more preparation?" (Albedo)
Albedo voiced her concern while bowing.
"A reasonable concern. However, the risk is calculated, and lessened by the presence of each of you. While I wish to examine Cocytus's growth, you are permitted to support him if you believe our safety to be at risk." (Ainz)
"I. Would. Be. Honored. To. Learn. From. Your. Insights." (Cocytus)
Cocytus lowered his head towards Albedo and Demiurge.
"There is no need for such formality between colleagues. Our workload has been growing uncontrollably as of late, to spread the work out is a consideration for us, a boon out of Ainz-sama's generosity." (Albedo)
"Indeed. Shall we begin by contacting Aura and Shalltear? Their work for today should be wrapping up within the hour, thus we should be ready to attack by dusk." (Demiurge)
"… Call me back when we're ready to start, I'm heading back to finish the preparations. Degurechaff out." (Tanya)
The image reflected on the monitor reflected her action as well, blinking out once before revealing the inside of the shed that was the fake Nazarick a second later.
Ainz cut the connection from his end as well, instead watching Cocytus discuss plans with the other two.
Tanya continued to hover in the air, completely still. Curiously, there was no need for her to adjust for the rotation of the planet to maintain her position, even without doing so, she remained exactly where she started, dead-center above the central tower of the elven capital, altitude 100,001 meters above sea level.
At the moment, she was not carrying the massive clump of eyeballs from before, as it would only obstruct her movement. Although there would be no need for high-speed evasion today, the fact that carrying it around would get in her way didn't change, so she left it behind – in a distant cabin to be exact, carefully camouflaged deep within the forest, far from either human or elven civilization.
As the sun slowly began to set, she counted the remaining seconds until the mission was to begin. From this altitude, she could still clearly see the sun, but in just a few more seconds, the last rays of sunlight would vanish below the horizon, as viewed from the surface.
With perfect punctuality, Tanya prepared to attack, carefully withdrawing a crystal from her inventory into her hand.
This was a Spell-Sealing Crystal, certainly, yet its color was neither the dull, dark unfilled crystal nor the transparent, blue, glass-like texture of a crystal which had been charged with a spell.
The crystal in her hand was a brilliant white, perfectly opaque and giving off an intense, colorless light. Though she had called herself undetectable in her current position, were somebody in the city below to look straight up, they would see one extra point amidst the beautiful field of stars filling the sky above.
This was the lynchpin she had spent the majority of the last month researching, carefully testing the potential and pushing the limits of these items.
Its color came from the unreasonable amount of mana crammed into it: One full week's worth of her mana regeneration, equivalent to several hundred castings of an ordinary 10th tier spell. At this very moment, it was truly filled to capacity, on the verge of overloading in a catastrophic manner.
How had she filled one of these crystals – which would only accept a single spell – with such an unreasonable amount of magic power? The trick was deviously simple: She had merely continued charging it with raw magic as if constructing a formula inside it, but without actually forming it into anything of note.
The crystal would continue to absorb magic until it accepted a spell, but she provided no such spell, only magic. Thus, it would only continue accepting magic without limit, until it approached the storage limit of the magical material itself.
Simply put, there was a bug with the Spell-Sealing Crystal's conditions for recognizing what 'one spell' was. During the game, the ability to manipulate mana directly likely never existed, but this error remained after forcibly carrying over such an unrealistic item into reality.
She had stumbled across an irregularity in tier magic long ago, back when she was only just starting to learn the multitude of spells which made up that system. Using 10th tier [Reality Slash] half a dozen times would leave her tired, but even just a single casting of the 5th tier [Raise Dead] left her nearly unconscious.
Extrapolating from there, the cost of certain higher-tier spells such as [True Resurrection] would be astronomical. Unlike when Ainz or the Guardians used tier magic, the cost of spells of the same tier was not normalized to a convenient formula.
He could use any selection of 10th tier spells, and the cost of each of them would be comparable, no matter the spell.
She could use an attack spell of the same tier ten times, but her capacity was likely not even a tenth of what resurrection magic required.
Yet, a Spell-Sealing Crystal would accept either without care, accepting a spell of any size, no matter their relative mana consumption. Though the listed capacity was certainly 'one spell', its true capacity, when counted in units of raw magic, was unparalleled by any material she had seen in the past.
If she could only figure out how to draw the mana back out and use the crystal as a battery, her potential would be limitless.
Unfortunately, as of yet, there was only one way to release the sealed magic – explosively.
When breaking a Spell-Sealing Crystal, the energy would dissipate into the surrounding atmosphere. With any ordinary spell, this would be nothing more than a puff of smoke.
Multiply the magic by a thousand times, however, and the mana density would exceed the limit for what should be physically possible, turning into incredibly volatile materialized mana, which would deteriorate milliseconds later, scattering over a wide area, resulting in a wide-scale unconfined magic explosion.
Incapacitating or killing an entire battalion of aerial mages with a single attack would no longer be an idle fantasy.
Alas, Tanya was too much of a perfectionist to be satisfied with just this much.
This was a powerful effect, but not something she couldn't achieve on her own, as she was now. Though the crystal held several times the magic energy she could output, there was a clear difference in efficiency between letting mana combust naturally, and using a formula to direct that abundance of mana into something incomparably more potent.
With an exceptional degree of care and precision, she began to draw a shell of interlocking formulas around the crystal. The task was an entirely different challenge to imitating Super-tier magic. Although nowhere near as complicated, the fact that she was holding a semi-stable singularity of magic in her hand amplified the risk exponentially.
While there should theoretically be no way for the sealed mana to react with her formula, Murphy was often a cruel teacher. She had held back and left the crystal at around 90% capacity, but that was a rough estimate, based on careful measurement and calculation. The margin of error on that statistic was far beyond her preference for a weapon's safety tolerance, only barely better than the original Type-95.
The formulas she assembled were numerous: A standalone shell to prevent reactions with the air, as well as prevent energy leaks which could be detected; An impact trigger to shatter the crystal, with a delayed safety to ensure it couldn't activate until long after she let go; A secondary internal shell, for containing the unstable energy once the crystal shattered just long enough to work on it.
Between the two shells, another ring of formulas, this one serving as the core for the actual weapon. Though it would activate for merely a single millisecond, this complex set of calculations given form was the basis for amplifying the effectiveness of the materialized mana tenfold – through a process which admittedly was not her own invention.
Long ago, observations of the many, many catastrophic failures of Elenium Type-95 prototypes over a number of months led a certain mad scientist to start down a new path of experimentation. Why was it that an equivalent computation orb would sometimes explode like a hand grenade, other times self-destruct like a bomb, and yet other times clear an entire field of all life?
It was because he spent time researching this theory that the failures Tanya herself had to suffer through were relatively mild – 'relatively' being the operative word, about as mild as grasping an exploding hand grenade.
Unfortunately, that was the only practical benefit which could be extracted from the short-lived project. The most destructive of all the Type-95 failures, caused by the complete fusion of its four cores during the collapse process, was simply too unpredictable to reliably reproduce.
After one too many accidents during experimentation, the project was scrapped in favor of focusing on the actual Type-95, which was relatively a far more stable design. Again, 'relatively' being the operative word.
The upside of all this was that those sacrifices taught that mad scientist about the importance of separating the cores to prevent fusion even in the event of a catastrophic failure.
By the time Tanya was assigned to work under him, that project was nothing more than a stack of documents in the back of a filing cabinet, tagged 3-95G.
She didn't have a chance to read those documents until long after her term of service as his guinea pig had expired, finding them by accident during her last months in that world. A quick reading of those records was enough to once again convince her that the line between genius and madness was not only thin, but in his case, had long since dissolved.
Project 3-95G was predicated on the existence of mana fixation, written long before the phenomenon was ever confirmed. Nonetheless, his calculations and predictions had been perfect, as she was now discovering.
Tanya spent the better part of ten minutes and three-quarters of her own mana pool constructing the formula to the utmost quality, so as to make sure it would accomplish its function perfectly. Instantly, an incredible fatigue washed over her as mana exhaustion from the formula caught up to her.
Taking a deep breath, she dropped the crystal. There was no need to launch it, doing so would only increase the risk of complications from the sudden acceleration. Even without doing so, the crystal would continue to accelerate, straight down, without the slightest deviation from its path.
For reasons unknown, air resistance simply didn't apply to flying objects, as if the entire world was running on a shoddy physics engine. It continued to accelerate without limit, quickly falling out of range of her ability to detect it.
Just like this, the falling crystal would continue to accelerate, faster and faster, until it was falling at well over a kilometer per second by the time it struck the ground. The speed alone would make it impossible to fully evade.
"Package is loose, T-minus two minutes until impact. Withdrawing to observing distance."
Tanya teleported once back to the cabin, grabbed the giant eyeball, and immediately activated teleportation a second time, placing herself at the same altitude as before, but at a distance of a couple hundred kilometers away.
At this distance, she could see the entire city, and would be safe no matter how much she might have miscalculated the energy involved in her payload.
Hoisting the massive eyeball of a camera over her shoulder, Tanya and Ainz observed the first ever working prototype 3-95G: Mana Core-Fusion Explosive Device.
The man had chosen not to go to bed early today, instead spending the late hours in his vault, examining the treasures and ingredients remaining to him – that was the only reason he was currently alive, of that he was certain.
Though his instincts had been dulled from centuries of inactivity, the sudden alarm in his mind made him reflexively rush to cast the greatest defensive spell he was capable of using.
It was the very same moment that he finished and encased himself in a vault of magic that it was shattered with a single attack, along with half his health, and everything else.
This was no exaggeration: When he opened his eyes, the ground around him, the treasure vault he had just been in, the tower above, and even the very air surrounding him, all had vanished without a trace. As he looked up from the immense crater he was now buried in the middle of, all the lights of his city, as far as he could see – gone.
When he looked down, magic burns were covering half his body, the artifact robe he had been wearing, torn to shreds, perhaps even beyond repair. So severe were the burns that he couldn't even feel pain from them – arguably a small mercy, else he might have lost consciousness in that same instant. He screamed, but even that didn't reach his own ears, which had burst before he even noticed.
Before doing anything else, he pulled an Elixir, a healing potion of the highest grade. He had only a couple remaining after all these years, but still he drank the crimson liquid without hesitation. As he did so, a golden light covered his wound-riddled body, returning him to a pristine state only seconds later.
Now recovered and regaining his calm, he looked around at the ruins of what was once his city. No, the term was not appropriate; Within this kilometer-radius crater he was standing in, not even rubble remained of the buildings.
He didn't need to be told the cause of this destruction. It was blindingly obvious to any elf, not just the ones who had lived long enough to have witnessed it personally in the past.
There was only one being in this world who could perform an attack of this magnitude.
"Tsaindoruks Vaision!"
He screamed the name of his foe, the damnable dragon who had killed him with the very same ultimate attack centuries earlier.
"We had a deal!"
Scanning the night sky, he continued to search for the despicable enemy who would deceive him, betray him, and attempt to destroy him with a surprise attack.
Thus was his tunnel vision, so occupied with the threat he sought that he missed the threat that was.
Even as he continued to search, a thick chain tore through his chest, and as if possessing a mind of its own, quickly wrapped around his body. He glanced at the fountain of blood spraying out of his own body, then swung around to the attackers – a dark elf holding the chain, and some crimson armor charging him with a lance.
He dove out of the way of the attack, or at least, he tried to, but failed. Even though his equipment should have guaranteed immunity against binds of any sort, he was without a doubt rooted to the floor by the dark elf.
This information flowed through his head, just as the lance pierced his chest, just below where the chain had entered, its mechanisms opening up shortly after entering his body.
At this, he again screamed. Unlike earlier, he was entirely aware of this pain, the indescribable pain of having his very life drained out of him, the burning, excruciating pain, as if every drop of blood passing through his veins had suddenly turned to salt.
He was neither an undead who could fight without feeling pain, nor a legendary hero who could continue to fight without batting an eyelid when his arm was severed. He was merely a king, only a man who had sat idle for far too long, leaving his mind unable to keep up with his powerful body's abilities.
The chain pulled him forward as the dark elf ran backwards, towards a waiting [Gate]. He tried to resist, of course, and was able to for a time, but any magic he tried was broken when the increasing pain ruined his concentration, until the dark elf passed through the portal.
Somehow, the chain passed through unbroken, still connected to him on one side, and on the other… the force with which he was being pulled suddenly tripled, almost pulling him off his feat.
If there was still an upside, it was that the crimson armor had retracted its lance, perhaps no longer seeing a point to keeping him stabbed, but that didn't change his inability to resist the chain slowly retracting, drawing him into the portal where only doom awaited.
He was able to cast a strength buff on himself, but it was no use. With every jerk of the chain, he drew ever closer to the gate, until, with one final pull, he was drawn through it.
Unceremoniously, he fell down, losing his balance in the process, landing on the soft soil opposite the portal, which immediately sealed shut behind him.
On the other side, a single butler was waiting, his muscular frame drawing the massive chain together with the dark elf, obviously the cause for the sudden increase in strength. With one smooth motion, the chain was driven into the ground, binding him into place with only a couple meters of slack.
There might have been more enemies in the shadows of the forest, but he was in no state to look for them now, nor would knowing help in any way, given how he was still bound to the ground, unable to walk more than a few paces, even if he could stand up.
Still on the ground, he could only look up at the much larger butler even as he radiated an icy aura of absolute supremacy. In the distant past, this much intimidation would have been nothing to him or his companions, but now, he was alone and weak, a shadow of his former self.
"Now then, oh king of elves, I have heard just a bit about your past transgressions. Do not worry, though you will feel all which you have caused, I will not allow you to die. That is my promise."
The butler's eyes did not carry a shred of mercy or compassion.
Demiurge pressed a finger to his ear, exchanging a [Message] with one of his Evil Lords. Though it had been placed as a precautionary measure to lock down teleportation in the event something went wrong with using the [Divine-Binding Chain] to lock their target into position, if for instance, a third party had invaded to steal him back.
"Stage three, completed without issue. According to Aura, he was only able to put up a token resistance before getting subdued by Sebas." (Demiurge)
"… Everything has gone according to plan. I had expected… hoped, even, that a player would be more… I suppose we should not expect every fight to become a climax." (Ainz)
Ainz let the sentence trail off without finishing. Just what had he expected? More resistance against the attacks of his Guardians instead of an overwhelming victory? Or perhaps some mental resistance on his own part, having ordered the capture of a fellow countryman? Neither explanation seemed right.
"Ainz-sama, if I may…" (Albedo)
"What is it, Albedo?" (Ainz)
"From the perspective of lower lifeforms like humans – or elves, the loss of companions may leave mental scarring even after many years. Unlike a Supreme Being such as Ainz-sama who could easily run the entirety of Nazarick without our assistance, that man could not continue functioning after the guild members accompanying him were slain." (Albedo)
"I see… certainly, that does make sense. I am impressed by your flexibility of thought, to reach that conclusion through your understanding the intricacies of the human mind." (Ainz)
"-I am unworthy of your praise, Ainz-sama." (Albedo)
"No, Albedo, your efforts at administration have been what has sustained Nazarick. There is no limit to the praise you deserve." (Ainz)
As always, her evaluation of his potential was far too high. Even though it was she who ran the daily affairs of the entire country, analyzing and organizing mountains of paperwork into something even he could mostly understand.
Rather than him sustaining Nazarick on his lonesome without the Guardians, it was they who could continue on without him. And yet, those few words from the unnecessary him were enough to bring a tear to Albedo's eye.
He leaned back into the makeshift throne which had been set up in this room for him, looking at the floating mirror which no longer displayed an image.
As he did so, Cocytus matched his gaze, recalling the scene which it had just shown them. Taking in a deep breath of cold air, he spoke with an audible dejection in his otherwise jagged voice.
"Ainz-sama. I. Sincerely. Apologize. For. My. Suggestion.
Her. Attack. May. Cause. Diplomatic. Problems. In. The. Future.
Please. Allow. Me. To. Take. Full. Responsibility." (Cocytus)
Despite a resounding success in the mission he had directed, Cocytus instead apologized. Ainz immediately spoke up to stop him.
"It's fine. Tanya's attack was a direct order from myself." (Ainz)
Seeing the confusion on all three, expressed either on their faces or by a surprised exhale of frigid breath, he began to think up a justification.
Though he had honestly been just as shocked as them to watch the broadcast from the Eyeball Corpse, that attack which had left even Albedo with a pale face was indeed something he had authorized. He had no intention of making either her or Cocytus take the fall for that.
"… That level of destruction is far from the worst history has known. Let's see… Just as you once did with the Lizardmen, and Albedo has just shown… consider the viewpoint of the elves." (Ainz)
By this point he was just weaving together complete bullshit. Although, from the fact that their complicated expressions had not changed even now, this might have been too much for even them to make a leap in logic into a reasonable conclusion.
Ainz tried to salvage the situation by breaking into a chuckle, interrupting the three who were desperately spinning gears in their heads trying to understand his own nonsense.
"… Do not concern yourselves over it, this was merely an unlikely gamble which may not show results beyond the obvious. If it pays off… I'm sure you'll understand in time. If not, what we will learn from my failure is benefit enough." (AInz)
He laughed again. Though Demiurge and Albedo were obviously disappointed to hear this from him, it was self-directed, and should fade with time.
If they were able to make something out of it, good. If not, he would shrug it off as a miscalculation. Regardless, they had already gotten what they needed from this operation.
The only remaining question was when and how the Sorcerous Kingdom would come back to take over the remainder, this time in an official sense.
"Demiurge, I entrust you with the remainder." (Ainz)
"Of course. May I request your assistance once we reach the experiments requiring memory manipulation?" (Demiurge)
"Certainly, Demiurge. I eagerly await your reports. Then, until next time." (Ainz)
Ainz ended the conversation there, gracefully standing up from his seat before using the teleportation effect of the [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] to return to his own private bedroom.
Despite not taking part in any combat, the mental tension he felt was very real. Confirming that the door into the room was indeed closed, he dropped into bed with a deep sigh.
Not long after their master left, Albedo directed a slight smile to Cocytus.
"Well then, Cocytus, I'm sure Sebas is finishing up by now." (Albedo)
"Yes. I. Will. Contact. Shalltear. For. Teleportation." (Cocytus)
As he said so, he bowed to the two of them to bid farewell, then burned a [Message] scroll to speak as he left the room.
Once they were certain he had left earshot, both Demiurge and Albedo immediately turned serious.
"… Albedo, did we miss something about Ainz-sama's motives?" (Demiurge)
"He was definitely covering for her actions… but as for why, I cannot tell either." (Albedo)
With both of them having confirmed that they reached only the same incomplete conclusion, the two shared a dull sigh.
"Come to think of it, the last time he said he was lying, it was to create the story of a Spell-Sealing Crystal having that power… was Ainz-sama aware of it at the time, but wished for us to doubt his assertion and learn the method, as he told us to think for ourselves, and that he would deliberately introduce flaws into his words and plans?" (Demiurge)
"Perhaps, Demiurge, perhaps. His boundless wisdom never ceases to amaze…" (Albedo)
