Sorcerous Kingdom, E-Rantel, Throne Room
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The footsteps were hollow and created loud echoing noises as they entered the room, looking around saw flags that presented the sigil of both the Sorcerous Kingdom and the Draconic Kingdom, and to add to that both flags were leaning towards each other creating an X shape symbolising something along the lines of 'unity' or 'peace'.
The queen, in her child form, walked elegantly, which to a bystanders point of view would look ridiculous or ignorant, but considering that inside she is a grown woman it was fine.
Besides the queen was the slick-tongued advisor who walked at the same pace as her, the guards followed behind.
Of course, leading the charge was Sebas Tian, he kept his arms next to his thighs as he walked up.
Undead wearing lavishing golden armour stood in a row creating a 'Hallway' atmosphere, they were lined up on both sides.
Even with the dense amount of undead, the walkway towards the throne could be considered at least four meters wide, it was more than enough to have ten men walk in three files and still look empty.
Ignoring the aesthetics of the room the throne itself looked pretty as if it was glittered in gold, it had the same radiance as the golden armoured undead.
Looking beside the throne made countless jaws drop.
A world-class beauty wearing a fragrant white dress regally stood with her hands crossed between her thighs, she smiled warmly. A man would stand ground in front of tens of thousands monsters to have that smile directed to them.
But even with wide-open mouths, no one could say a word, not even the usually composed advisor.
Taking a closer look at the woman it was easily spottable that she had two protruding horns and black wings that covered a short percentage of the lower part of her body.
Ahh... so beautiful... The queen thought while she was not attracted to the same sex even she can not shake off the temptation of saying 'Uwah... beautiful'.
But along with the thoughts of praise she was still sceptical, what was she? She was not human and she was spottable a demon, the question would be what branch of demons she came from.
Sebas, the Sorcerer King's butler looked at the prepossessing woman and nodded then quickly walked out of the room shutting the two large doors behind him. It took him two arms and his back strength to close both doors leading to the throne room.
The queen being a woman, still admiring her counterparts' beauty was the only one who could speak but as she was preparing to talk the woman's voice was heard,
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen of the Draconic Kingdom. I, Albedo, the appointed Prime Minister welcomes you to the Sorcerous Kingdom, His Majesty, Ainz Ooal Gown shall arrive in a short while, I trust you to be patient."
The words at the end were blunt, she was displaying arrogance, but that flew over the heads of the guards who were still in awe of the looks of the woman. The only person who kept composure was the Queen, the advisor was still mind boggled at the beauty.
"We are deeply thankful for the gracious welcome, I am the Queen of the Draconic Kingdom, Draudillon Oriculus," Draudillon responded.
Albedo smiled.
After a second she flinched her pure black wings slightly fluttered and put her fingers on the temple of her head. She then spoke,
"Announcing the arrival of His Majesty, Ainz Ooal Gown."
The air in the room turned pale, the emotions that were felt a few seconds ago changed instantaneously. Ainz Ooal Gown, will he order his guards to murder us? A whole lot of stereotypical questions raised in the minds of the people in the room.
Of course, it was different for Albedo, she was on the verge of a wide smile. She tried her best to keep it from showing, but even if she did show it her image of a beautiful woman would not faint at the slightest.
There was an obscure command that seeped out of the mouth of the advisor, "Everyone, bow."
The guards did just that, the advisor did as well except for the queen who kept her back straight and head up.
There was a vague magical sound, the sound travelled from the throne to the ears of the humans in the room.
Then a loud distinct sound covered the entire room, it was a lash of a staff, a metallic staff. The ground vibrated and the guard's spines begin to tremble, they, of course, did not raise their heads out of fear. But they knew what was in front of them.
It was the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown.
The razor-sharp laser eyes shot out of the undead, everyone in the room felt as though those red pupils were pointing towards them.
With great confidence everyone in the room raised their heads, they looked around the room for half a second before ironing their sights on the undead in front of them.
The undead looked dignified and completely different from what they were expecting, this truly was a different class of undead, something they would hope to not see in their entire lifetime.
Contrasting with the pure white skull it wore a colourful dress fitting of a king, it was bright red with yellow outlining and a special type of pattern she had never seen before, the undead was decorated with jewels in every corner of his body, especially his fingers.
The only word to describe the being sitting before them was, 'Exotic'.
The undead never had any features regarding angels or any holy creature but looking at the undead who proclaimed itself as 'Ainz Ooal Gown' there was an obsidian radiating halo coming from behind him.
Undead can look... this perfect? No way...
Despite being an undead Ainz Ooal Gown emitted an aura of a god, more specifically an aura of divinity and purity. It was completely different from what anyone could have expected.
Every human in the room had their minds narrowed to Ainz Ooal Gown, they forgot about the jaw-dropping beauty Albedo who stood beside the undead Sorcerer king and stared in wonder.
A deep composed sound came from the undead,
"Ladies, gentlemen, you have come a long way. It must have been tiring, have you rested?"
Undead showing empathy? Is that even possible?
This broke the tension suffocating the men in the room. But it still came as a surprise that an undead king would begin discussion with a reassuring gesture.
"Thank you very much for the concern, we have rested, Your Majesty," Draudillon responded.
"Ah..." The undead king slowly and regally adjusted his posture and cupped his chin with his bony fingers, every action was made in a dignified tone, truly befitting of a king.
"My nation has received your letter of... alliance, and your' reason. While we could have organised a fulfilling evening I feel as if formalities are unnecessary... especially with the circumstances you face, correct?"
"That is correct, Your Majesty," Draudillon replied.
"Then... dispense with the deception and tell me, what is the state of your nation?"
Draudillon quitely gulped as she gathered her thoughts, and after a second she spoke.
She explained the situation at the bordering cities and the estimation of how long it would take for the beastmen to reach the capital, there were also other matters such as deficit and malnutrition, she said it all, to an undead king.
"Umu, I see... so like the Holy Kingdom you want me to pay a visit to your nation and defeat the beastmen?"
"No no, we cannot possibly ask a leaders nation to personally come and fight for us," Draudillon replied as she made a worrying smile and shook both her hands.
Besides him, Albedo quitely sighed in relief.
"Is that so...? Umu, then," Ainz paused, "I am confident that as you entered E-Rantel you saw the army of death knights, yes? Would you be interested in loaning my powerful undead into your defence force?"
Death knights roamed the city of E-Rantel, and in the education system of all human known nations they were rarely taught, strong magic-casters and scholars along with powerful warriors and leaders were the only ones who knew about death knights, they were the legendary undead.
The queen imagined returning home with an army of undead, she shook her head as she mused about the reactions of the people who would see it.
The morale of her citizens would drop to the mud and her political power would surely plummet.
She did not want to accept this offer, so she urged for a better option,
"Mm, I'm afraid that I will need to respectfully decline," Draudillon said in front of the undead king. Next to Ainz Albedo's wings were trembling and a short temporary urge of bloodlust pinpointed towards Draudillon.
She felt her spine tremble, but ignored it and continued to speak,
"But, we have heard the feats of the adventurer Momon, he has sworn himself to you, is it possible for us to enlist him?"
Ainz leaned forward and replied,
"Oh? Momon... I would not agree with the use of him against an army of beastmen, how will you use him, if I were to lend him over?"
The advisor stepped up and spoke,
"Ah, your concerns are warranted, Your Majesty," He said with a professional smile, "While the same questions were raised about the same topic in our council meeting we have prepared a plan for the eventuality of the use of Momon the adventurer."
"Oh? Then, you may elaborate."
"Of course Your Majesty, we have located the main base of the beastmen and their leader seems to preside there, we will have Momon begin an attack from there, and for various reasons we cannot release the rest of the plans, forgive me, Your Majesty."
"It's fine, I understand your reasons,"
"My deepest thanks,"
"Then, Albedo, would it be safe if Momon were to be sent to the Draconic Kingdom?"
The black-winged woman turned around and lowered her head and replied,
"Ainz-sama, with the developments in E-Rantel it would be safe for Momon to leave for a short while."
"How long is a short while?"
"I believe it would be at maximum, five months."
"Thank you Albedo, you may step back."
Albedo faced forward and stepped back.
"Then, I will allow Momon to venture to your Kingdom,"
"Then-"
Before Draudillon could express another statement Ainz interrupts,
"But under one condition,"
Draudillon tensed her muscles and held her gaze towards the Sorcerous King Ainz Ooal Gown, it was only to be expected, there is a price to pay when negotiating for something. While it should not come as a surprise, she was still thinking about what the undead would ask for.
Was it her soul?
Of course, she had planned ahead, thinking about the rewards and merits that they could give to the Sorcerous Kingdom was only logical, but what could an undead king want? What does the undead even desire? Other than killing the living
"What is the condition?" She replied, her voice sounded tense.
"Wild... Magic..." Ainz slowly stated,
Eiiih? He wants me to inform him of wild magic? Is it the details of Wild Magic? Or does he want me to perform it? Then...
Wild magic was not a national secret or anything, rather most of her citizens knew about her being able to use Wild magic and the consequences.
The only thing the public knew about Wild Magic is what she wanted them to know, the details regarding the use or anything deeper was not known by anyone but the queen herself along with other special individuals, there were other things that people did not know about Wild Magic.
The only 'National secret' regarding Wild Magic was the specific details about it, details that most people don't know.
If it is the details he wants...
But with her nation on the scale, she would have to do just that.
What Ainz said was not exactly clear so she asked just in case,
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, is it that you want me to inform you about the details of Wild Magic?"
"That is right, a small price to pay for a nation, correct?" Ainz said as he shrugged, if he was not undead and wore a human face, then it would probably look like a smirking businessman who just swayed a few million dollars off someone. Or to simply put a devilish smile.
While Ainz didn't think so, he was sounding a lot like a demon, offering a desire at the cost of a heavy price.
So that's his true colours... What a diabolical undead... Wait, is that why they accepted the request so easily?!
Draudillon fell into deep thought.
Information was key, the strength and value of it were dependent on how much people knew about it. If the queen was to give the undead king all the details, what then? He could spread it across the entire continent and most likely blackmail the Draconic Kingdom with it.
Blackmailing the Queen with it was the worst thing the undead could do.
Dammit, he trapped us from the beginning!
Underneath the innocent smile the queen gave off she was screaming in her head, how could she have let this happen. If only the Draconic Kingdom hadn't relied on other nations it wouldn't have been this way.
She did not expect to be threatened with blackmail behind kind words when visiting the Sorcerous Kingdom.
The Undead king cracked his neck, the burning red eyes stared at the queen as he did that.
He's mocking us! Dammit!
The advisor was sweating, he turned his head over to the queen and had a worrying smile. He noticed how weird she was acting and assumed that she knew what was happening between the lines.
The undead king was not offering god sending help,
It made the first and final decisive move.
Checkmate.
She would have to accept if she wanted her nation to live, if she did not accept this deal with her nation will fall. With the circumstances right now it was to allow a kind noose being tied around her neck or fall into a pit of everlasting lava.
Struggling to hold her kind face she spoke,
"Yes, really is a… small price to pay… we accept your offer, Your Majesty…"
Damn you, accursed undead king!
Mocking laughter filled the room.
"I see, then Albedo, prepare Momon as soon as possible."
"Of course Ainz-sama."
Albedo took a glance at the devastated queen and gave her a slick smirk, she was mocking her.
Draudillon bit her lip in frustration.
"Then… it seems that this has been a very beneficial meeting."
"Yes, it truly has been." Draudillon struggled to bring out her words.
Sensing her cue Albedo announced,
"Announcing the departure of the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown."
With that staff that Ainz wielded once again smacked the ground followed by loud footsteps, the sounds grew fainter and fainter until a door could be heard creaking open.
It then closed creating a loud sound.
The Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown left the Throne Room.
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Tenth Floor, Ashurbanipal
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Fluder wiped his sweat-stained forehead as he flipped a page.
His eyes were speedily trailing towards every diagram, formula and word that was on the page he was reading. What he was reading now was about various monsters from YGGDRASIL along with their skills, he primarily looked at magical beasts and skimmed through the more physical tamed ones.
He did not have an interest in anything that was not related to magic.
A few weeks ago the Emperor, Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix or Jircniv for short finally banished Fluder from the Empire, he was expecting it but was surprised at the fact that the emperor did it so quickly.
Of course, after being vassalized by the Sorcerous Kingdom they did not have to worry about other nations attacking them once Fluder was gone but doing so would drop Jircvniv's political power to a low.
But that didn't matter.
Ainz Ooal Gown, the forgiving god had accepted his presence and allowed him to roam the Holy Sanctuary, Ashurbanipal, after being informed this Fluder struggled to keep control, his excitement travelled through the thin walls of his sanity.
After the excruciating pain of translating the sacred texts and learning them, Fluder finally managed to read properly, with the temporary help of magical glasses of course.
There was not a day where Fluder did not rush to the Library of Ashurbanipal to read. He was too excited and awed, when he entered the room through the two large bulging doors all he could see were books, books covered the entire room.
And the delicacy of the bookshelves and the carvings, they were top level. Not even the Throne room of the Empire could match this.
The lighting of the room was a bit dim, at first Fluder found it hard to see but with the help of a spell he broke through that problem with no trouble.
Right now Fluder was exhausted, he spent thirteen hours a day reading and reading.
Fluder turned his head and looked at a mirror that was facing him, he had black circles underneath his eyes.
He took his hand and gently touched his eye and spoke to himself,
"If only I found Ainz Ooal Gown when I was at my youth... these last two centuries... if only I found Ainz..."
An entire mountain of frustration swirled up in Fluder's mind, he was tempted to smash his fist on the table but that would get him kicked out so in the end he shook his head and returned to reality,
There's no time to be sulking about the past, I must continue to study... I have to reach the end of the abyss of magic...
The old man turned his head over to an alleyway of books, a tray full of books was fumbling across the carpet, it was an undead it wore a golden amulet around its neck and a red hood, it looked like an elder lich but was comprised of different types of bones ranging to humans and animals.
Fluder knew who it was.
It was the Chief Librarian of Ashurbanipal, Titus.
"Good day, Titus." Fluder greeted him as he shut his book.
Titus emotionlessly raised his head and looked at Fluder who was sitting at his usual spot,
"Greetings, Fluder, What is t thee needeth,"
"Ah, is there any information regarding creating a living being?"
"Thither is not, but I can suggest a few titles."
"Thank you very much,"
Titus turned around and walked away with his tray.
What most interested Fluder now was not attack magic, while it was a fact he had spent over a century studying magic that related to several attack or information spells what intrigued him was what the denizens of Nazarick spoke about these 'Supreme Beings'.
Every time he asked, 'Where did you come from?' the answer was always the same, 'The Supreme Beings created us', of course, Fluder did not buy into that nonsense, no one but the gods could create such complex beings, Ainz could be an exception to some degree, but Fluder still did not believe that beings with personalities could be created just like that.
But as he dug deeper the doubts that prowled his mind began to fade away.
The silver bullet that completely shot Fluder was news of the creation of the new servant.
Rumours spread all across Nazarick about a new servant being created by the one and only, Ainz Ooal Gown, they say that he is just as strong as the floor guardians if not stronger.
During the time when he heard this Fluder's knees went numb and he had to hold Titus's shoulder to stay standing.
But that was not even the shocking factor, the rumours also told him that the being was an angel.
While Ainz was already an idol to Fluder after hearing this his expectations increased drastically, more than a god, and more than an idol.
How can an undead create an angel? Such a thing was phenomenal.
Because of this Fluder had changed his entire direction in magic, he would be spending a fraction of his time studying attack magic and most of his time on summoning and creation magic. While he could not hope to achieve such a feat he just wanted to understand, understand the entirety of magic.
If he cannot touch the sphere of power from above, then at least let him see it with his own eyes.
"Uhm, excuse me Fluder-dono..." A maid from behind pokes Fluder.
Fluder allowed the sweet voice to swirl between his ears before reacting.
"Ah, forgive this old one, it seems that I have lost myself in time," Fluder said as he chuckles, "Let us go shall we?"
From the way, Fluder was speaking it was clear that he was used to this routine already.
"Right!" The energetic maid responds as she begins to lead the way out of the Library, this was Decrement, she was assigned the duty of taking care of Fluder.
The two beings quietly left the library.
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Slane Theocracy, Meeting Area
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"Permission to send an envoy from the Sorcerous Kingdom..?" Maximilian Oreio Lagier repeats, his throat went dry, if this was the case then the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown has finally made his move.
"Well then, it's time to release the demon who cannot deceive." Domonic jested.
"This is not a joke," Raymond responds slamming the round conference table with a piece of paper.
The sound travelled across the room, the piece of paper holding the letter added additional sound to the slam. This dignified the attention towards Raymond.
"Is there anything else in the letter?" Yvon, the Cardinal of Light asks,
"There's nothing else that's not related to the subject at hand," Raymond responds as he passes copies of the papers around.
The Cardinals grab the papers and start reading, after a while of reading scrunching sounds could be heard,
"Are you serious?! That arrogant undead!" Dominic shouts as he throws the crumbled paper across the room.
Raymond was glad that he ordered his servants to make copies of the letter.
When read by an outsider or a leader of another nation other than the Sorcerous Kingdom or the Theocracy this letter would look like a normal agreement of terms discussing various topics and solely asking permission to visit to elaborate.
It was well written, a little too well.
But from the eyes of the Cardinals, it was a passive-aggressive threat to the Theocracy that could not be translated in any way to be used against the Sorcerous Kingdom. To put the terms simply it says, 'You will allow us to visit your nation or we will declare war on you'.
Only someone with a well-groomed tongue could write something like this.
Was this written by the Undead King? Or perhaps a prodigy servant? No no, anyone with brains would not work for that Undead King, is he holding a skilled diplomat prisoner?
Raymond refused to believe that anyone who worked under the Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown to be intelligent at the least, this had to be the work of an intelligent prisoner or Ainz Ooal Gown himself.
The thoughts Raymond had aligned with the thoughts of the Cardinals.
"I'm sure you understand what this means, correct?" Raymond asks the group of Cardinals.
"Yes." They all responded.
"We have no choice but to accept their audience,"
The Sorcerous Kingdom struck too early, while the Theocracy had the trump card, 'Asher' they could not use him immediately without major losses of the country itself.
"There is no doubt that the Sorcerous Kingdom will use their ties with the Elves to exert pressure on us. So we must strike back, after we send our reply there will be a ten-day period before the envoy arrives, we must use this time wisely."
The Cardinals nodded,
"How goes the movements of Momon the adventurer?" Raymond asked Dominic,
"According to my spy, he is still at the adventurers guild in E-Rantel. But other than that the origins of Momon are still unknown, we don't know what god he came from."
"That is very troubling, without information about his origins we cannot determine which god... does anyone have any suggestions?"
The room was silent, no one wanted to offer any opinions.
"Well then, we must try to convince the warrior to somehow go against the Undead King," Raymond stated,
On the other side of the room Berenice raises her hand, Raymond notices this and calls on her,
"Is there anything you'd like to say, Berenice?"
"Yes, what if Momon is already plotting a plan against the Sorcerer King?"
"That could be a possibility,"
"Then we just need to make contact with him without attracting the attention of the undead. But that's not the problem here."
Raymond leaned forward making eye contact with Berenice,
"Can you tell us what the problem is?"
"In the rare case of Momon truly siding with the Sorcerer King or being blackmailed by him if we were to approach him about the plan, it will compromise the entire situation."
"Hm, that is true," Raymond responds as cups his chin.
Raymond wanted to say more but this meeting commenced only to announce the letter from the Sorcerous Kingdom, nothing more, there was too much happening and cramming it all in one meeting would be unproductive, besides they had already agreed on the plan to have Asher spar with Zesshi.
"Well, we have gotten post off-topic, the situation about how to approach the Sorcerous Kingdom will be discussed next meeting. I expect you all to complete the paperwork regarding the Kami Miyako's losses,"
After the attack on the Slane Theocracy's capital paperwork had drastically increased, naturally so but it bored them to death. But such a thing was necessary as one of the nation's leaders.
"For now, I'll need to authorize the experiment to have Asher-sama fight Zesshi. Please be there and bring in note-takers, we must analyse his strength."
"Meeting dispensed."
The Cardinals nodded as they stood from their chairs.
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Slane Theocracy, Kami Miyako, Underground
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Humans truly are pitiable creatures... they dare plan a strike against Ainz-sama?
Asher sighs as he sips a cup of tea.
This tastes disgusting, but with the maid here I have to keep up appearances...
Ainz told him when he was sent here to act as a proper angel, which was relatively easy, he was one, but when Ainz told the guardians that Asher would be sent to the Theocracy to 'Spy' on them that was not true, in a sense.
The true plan was to have Asher be used as a weapon by the Theocracy to have them land the first strike.
It was only a few days ago that Asher figured out Ainz's 'True plan', granted, Demiurge and Albedo were equally intelligent and figured out during the time but he could not help but think,
Was Ainz-sama testing me?
If he truly was testing Asher then he failed right away, he did not manage to look between the lines of Ainz's words thus he failed as a servant.
A bucket of regret drenched Asher as he barely managed to keep himself with shaking in fear. Disappointment, that was something all the denizens of Nazarick were afraid of, if Ainz was disappointed in Asher would he leave him? Throw him away? He would rather allow demons to slit his throat than that to happen.
Of course, these feelings were mutual to anyone in Nazarick.
But now he let those feelings aside, he cannot let anything interrupt his mission in the Theocracy.
He sat in the same room he was placed ever since he arrived here, other than the replaced furniture that broke during the time Zesshi arrived nothing much has changed.
The four-winged angel silently tapped the soles of his shoes on the wooden floor,
Zesshi... she really is extraordinary but cannot compare to the guardians of Nazarick... I need to inform Ainz-sama about this, if only that maid...
Ever since the small skirmish with Asher and Zesshi a few days ago Raymond made sure to give Zesshi a scolding, only to be proved futile, every day Zesshi would come over and demand a fight, it would always end with Asher demanding her to leave.
He thought that she'd be frightened to fight him when he showed his absolute dominion of power, but he was wrong.
Zesshi was persistent and did not give up.
Asher turned his head towards the entrance of the door, next to it Raymond's maid was staring right at him so when Asher looked at her their eyes met.
This was a common occurrence, it was no surprise that a normal woman would be entranced by Ashers looks but it still was a problem. To put it simply, Asher's beauty to the opposite gender was comparing to Albedo's.
"Is there anything wrong?" The lovestruck maid asks, an unrealistic spark forms between her eyes as she steps forward.
"Uhm, there is nothing wrong... I'm just deciding..."
How can I get rid of this nuisance? I need to find a way to contact Ainz-sama.
Using [Message] to contact someone required Asher to put two fingers on the temple of his head, if he were to do that now it would look suspicious, [Message] was a well-known spell in the magical world so if the maid reported to the Cardinals about Asher using an [Message] a lot of unquestionable questions would pop up.
Besides he sensed magical signatures all over the place, there was a slight chance he would get compromised.
After a few seconds of thinking an idea popped up in his head.
That's it!
"Whether or not I should go out for a walk." Asher finished the sentence with a kind smile.
"Ah-, of course, Asher-sama!" The maid panicked as she flusteredly opened the door out wide.
Asher placed the cup of tea back on the desk and stood up. He walked in front of the maid he leaned his face ten centimetres apart from the maid's face and with a cherry-topped voice he spoke,
"Take care of this room for me, will you?"
With a flushing red face, the maid felt a clench on her tongue as she struggled to speak,
"Y...Y-Y-Yes! Asher-sama!"
The angel then elegantly paced out of the room.
Uwah... that's all over now I have time to [Message] Ainz-sama.
Asher was well aware of his beauty and what effect it had on most of the denizens of the Theocracy, he wasn't a narcissist and wouldn't use his beauty to his advantage but Ainz made him that way, it would be a disastrous sin not to use it once in a while.
As Asher left the room he made sure to conceal his wings and his bright aura to not catch any attention, his intention was to go up to the surface and [Message] Ainz, he could already sense sensory magic all over this place so it was far too dangerous to [Message] here underground.
The hallway was relatively dark but Asher had night vision so he could see the hallway as light as day, there wasn't any remarkable furniture only a red carpet leading to another door.
After a minute of walking, Asher opened the door and came across a spiral of stairs he looked up and saw the light. But before he ventured further up he made sure to cast some enemy detection spells.
Mm, it's safe.
He slowly walked up the stairs and after reaching the top he took a deep breath.
All around him was uncut grass that was swaying along with the wind, a few trees could be spotted, the sunlight radiated into Asher's eyes and even though he was not affected by the suns light he covered his eyes as he stared up to the sky.
Asher then looked around to make sure no one was around, fortunately, there was no one, but he still cannot afford to use [Message] here. So he cast,
"[Greater Detection]".
He did not sense anything but was still cautious, so he cast again, "[Detecting Light]". A simple amplified version of [Greater Detection] that only people who possessed angel classes had.
He allowed the wind to blow right past him.
Feeling satisfied Asher cast, [Message].
[Ainz-sama, are you there? This is Asher.]
It took a moment for Ainz to respond,
[Umu, Asher? Yes, I'm here, what is it you need?] Ainz questioned from the other side of [Message].
Asher took a deep breath,
[Ainz-sama, I would like to submit crucial information about the Slane Theocracy]
[Oho? Crucial information? Go on, tell me."]
[There is a powerful being in the ranks of the Theocracy.]
[Hm? Powerful? Can you describe this being?] Ainz said with a serious voice.
If this being was too dangerous then he would have to pull Asher out and think of another plan.
[Of course Ainz-sama.] Asher said as he recalled his last skirmish with Zesshi, [The subject's name is Zesshi, she has power rivalling that of a battle maid, from her strength I assume she is the trump card of the Theocracy. I fought with her myself, Ainz-sama, but she's nothing special compared to the floor guardians.]
On the other side of the [Message], Ainz could be heard audibly sighing in relief.
Asher's face went pale,
Did I do something wrong? Wait, Ainz-sama! Please... Asher thought that Ainz's sighing was from disappointment.
[Does she possess any talents that could pose a threat to Nazarick?] Ainz questioned. Asher gathering his confidence replies,
[No Ainz-sama, not to my belief there is not.]
[Then... I'll have Neuronist question the Theocracy's Scripture members about this. Thank you for this.]
[I do not deserve such praise.] Asher replied as he lowered his head.
[Umu, anyway, do you have any other information regarding the Slane Theocracy?]
Asher's heart dropped.
He knew that Demiurge caught the 'Elite Scripture members' of the Theocracy and it would be easily assumed that Neuronist would have squeezed out any information from them by now about the Theocracy, whatever he tells Ainz about the Theocracy Neuronist would have already informed him about it.
In short, there was zero to nothing he could tell Ainz other than Zesshi.
[F-Forgive me Ainz-sama, I have not had the chance to get any information out of any denizen of the Theocracy... I will do so right after this call! Please punish this incompetent one!] Asher exclaimed over [Message].
[Uhm, it's fine Asher, I do not intend to reprimand you over such a thing. If there is nothing else to be said you may continue with your duties.]
[Yes, Ainz-sama!] Asher shouted.
[Message] ended.
Asher cleared his throat as he wiped off the dust from his shirt.
Tch, by now the maid would have informed Raymond of my leaving, I'll just visit him and gather some information.
Asher turned his head to look at the nearest building, right now he was still in Kami Miyako so reaching Raymond's cathedral won't take long. But the trip to the main road is tedious so he decided to teleport.
Before using [Greater Teleportation] he noticed his outfit, it was a pure white cloth and certainly looks weird, he had no spare clothes on him so he had to resort to using his shapeshifting ability to give the illusion that he is wearing something else.
His entire body melted and the white cloth he was wearing now turned into sets of clothes a middle-class citizen would wear, right now he looked like a lesser noble, a small red cape covered his left arm and he wore a priest-like outfit. Now satisfied he murmured, "[Greater Teleportation]"
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Asher walked the streets of Kami Miyako.
He was surprised.
Even after the invasion business was still thriving and people roamed the streets, their faces were a bit grim but the city has been cleaned up. Well, he should have expected this, the demi-humans only devastated the outer section of Kami Miyako only scratching the inner section of the city.
The only losses here was the destruction of two cathedrals because of the now 'dead' goat-man, 'Herematic' or respectively 'Demiurge'.
As Asher crossed the sidewalk he caught the eyes of many people, especially women, but he didn't mind, his destination was only one place, and that was the Cathedral of Earth.
"Hey Mister~ Are you single? You're cute~" A woman from behind erotically called out to Asher.
How can you be so cheerful after your city was ravaged by demi-humans? Asher curiously questioned in his mind.
"Ah, forgive me, I am on crucial business so I must go," Asher replied to the woman. He then skimmed through walking past her.
Thankfully the Cathedral of Earth was not that far from where Asher was so he wouldn't need to raise any suspicion by using [Teleportation] to reach it, well, he wouldn't use it even if the Cathedral was far.
After walking for ten minutes he had finally reached his destination.
In front of him was a staggering twenty-meter building covering the sun, it had five huge pillars at the front of the entrance creating a divine aura, it looked majestic to the average eye but to Asher, this was nothing compared to even the toilets of Nazarick.
He looked at the stairs and began to walk up, several guards holding a variety of weapons like sword, spears and bows regally stood in front as the guards of the cathedral, they looked drastically different to the average city guard of the Theocracy, their armour was pure white with golden outlining with helmets covering their entire face.
It would seem that they were elite well-trained guards.
But Asher did not mind as he continued to walk but before he could reach the base of the Cathedral he hears one of them shout,
"Stop there!"
Asher stops and turns his gaze towards the man who shouted,
"Is there something wrong?"
The guard responded,
"You don't look familiar, who are you? Identify yourself."
And here I thought I dressed the norm...
"Ah, of course, my name is Ragnvious La Garff, I am a businessman from the Kingdom if you have heard the recent news you would understand why a man such as myself would be here correct?"
While the Theocracy did not accept immigrants from the Kingdom they had their arms open for any nobles who wished to join their nation.
The other guards stepped back.
"Oh... my deepest condolences." The guard responded as he lowered his head. He had heard the atrocities that had occurred in the Kingdom, committed by the demi-humans, even some nobles weren't free from the subjective torture the humans went through.
Got him.
It was wide-spread of what happened in the Kingdom, so the Theocracy's citizens were rather very sympathetic, especially after suffering a fraction of that same torture.
"No no, you don't need to apologise."
"Is that fine? Then, anyway, you may pass." The guard said as he stepped to the side, allowing Asher to walk in.
After hearing this Asher continued to walk until he was inside the Cathedral, after being shaken down and checked for weapons he was allowed to actually enter the mass room.
Organs played and engulfed the entire room with a holy aura and there were lanes of people sitting on rows of seats facing the Archbishop who was preaching in front of the crowd.
As Asher was headed to another door he heard a particular phrase that caught his attention, it was 'The Sorcerous King, Ainz Ooal Gown.'
He looked over to the Archbishop and began listening attentively.
"Such evil cannot be fathomed, the Sorcerous King, this puny undead, 'Ainz Ooal Gown' has resided a nation next to us, this unholy creature, repulses the scriptures and should not be allowed to exist."
Puny? Unholy?
"The gods are testing us, this 'Ainz' was only created to be stepped on by US, the superior human race. But to do that we need resolve, resolve of courage and strength, we must show our gods that we are sufficient! They saved us, we need to prove to them that they made the right choice."
"Oh pray with me thy devout followers, we must purge the undead Ainz Ooal Gown."
With boiling up anger Asher gritted his teeth, the emotions building up in his body reached the surface almost exploding.
You... You piece of shit... You dare speak...
Asher scarcely managed to control himself, he frustratingly furrowed his brows as he gripped his hands carving it into a fist. With baring teeth, Asher glared at the man who continued to preach blasphemy against Ainz.
This was the first time Asher felt overwhelming anger.
Barely keeping composure his muscles tensed as his heart rate began to increase, he wanted to murder this man but it would compromise the mission so instead.
Glaring at the man Asher made sure to burn the image of his face into his head, he then walked to a nearby man and asked as he smiled with a bit lip,
"Excuse me, that bishop who is preaching, may I ask for a name?"
The man turned around and replied,
"Oh, that's Yvandier Jerome,"
"Thank you very much," Asher smiled back.
He's dead, after this mission I'll make sure of it... No, death is too much of a mercy for shit stains like him.
Asher struggled to keep his facade intact as he continued to walk towards the door.
After passing through many rooms and going through many people he finally managed to find Raymond's Office.
He knocked on the door.
The door opened.
"Good evening Cardinal Raymond."
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Uwah, this was a long chapter.
Review, please?