Let's start by the good news, the timeline seems to be somewhat unchanged so far, unaltered by my existence. Moreover, it looks like I did interpret the character of Arllin correctly, at least no Guardian showed any sign of suspicion towards me.

"Servant." I called from my chair.

"Milady?"

"Call some weak unoccupied underling to my room, Momonga-sama allowed them to transit in the lower floors."

"It will be done, Arllin-sama."

I still can't be sure if we are in the New World, a different world or an alternate universe.

"Arllin-sama, if you allow me…" Said another maid after the other left.

Hm?

"What do you want?"

"Your aura will damage anyone who doesn't have our ring."

Ah.

I didn't notice that I had an equivalent to [Despair Aura], that's a little embarrassing, now, how to disable it.

And as I tried to suppress the power the information came to mind, it felt like remembering an old childhood song.

[Old's Presence] debuffs and damages anyone that has equal or less mana than the conjurer based on the level difference, it also instigates a feel of dread, the existential crisis that a dinosaur looking at the meteor who will bring his extinction felled. It can even damage one's sanity and mutate their body if they are weak enough.

A level 100 player or NPC would only receive some debuff's, anything below level 90 will be damaged.

Disabling the passive it's like switching breathing from the nose to the mouth, trivial if you try.

Magic ring or not, the maids looked slightly relieved when the aura was turned off. Which reminded me: I never tested their loyalty did I?

"You have my thanks, I forgot about this. Do you have a name?"

My question seemed to surprise the white haired maid.

"None of us do milady."

"Hm…"

"Then, nameless one, let me ask you a thing. Hypothetically speaking, if I ordered you to kill yourself what would you do?"

"A-Arllin-sama?"

I waved my hand lazily.

"Just satiate my curiosity."

Her throat moved as she swallowed.

"I would follow your order, milady."

"Do it then."

After saying that, a silver dagger could be seen in my hands, removed from my inventory. The woman stopped and gulped for a moment, then she walked in my direction and tried to take the blade from my hand.

Instead of letting the weapon go, I approximated my other hand to her neck.

"Just kidding." Despite the words, my emotionless tone was not one of someone playing.

I caressed her head.

"Don't worry, your princess was just testing your loyalty. Nazarick can be in great danger at the moment so I need to do this, you understand right? You wouldn't like to disappoint the Supreme Beings would you?"

Small drops of tears enveloped her eyes as she shook her head.

So easy~.

"Good girl."

So they fear death and pain. They also don't worship my existence like they do to the Guild Members, however, any irrational order will still be followed, if more reluctantly. I am respected and even exalted, yes, but I'm not their living god.

That will do for now.

I get back to writing a report of magical discoveries while waiting for the underling, a naturally spawned NPC, to come. While the amount of data is going to be substantial, I am trying to use a more simple language so Momonga-sama could actually read it. There's no need to use complex terms if he can't understand the words; Demiurge and Albedo are going to create sufficient useless paperwork without my help.

After some time, the maid that left the room came back with an underling, a vampire bride. My maid bowed and left the other woman in front of me.

"Do you have a name?" I requested it while writing.

"Anna, Lady Arllin."

I waited a minute to reply and looked at her eyes, holding my fingers intertwined, with my elbows resting on the table.

"For you see, Miss Anna, The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick is in an unknown situation at the moment. The magical system has undergone some changes, and I'm in charge of cataloging those changes."

"What this means to you is that I have a difficult thing to ask. One that you will have the right to refuse."

There's no reason to antagonize the NPCs unnecessarily.

"If you do such, I will ask others until someone agrees."

"I will do my best to serve Nazarick, Lady Arllin."

"In that case, I need you to die."

"E-Eh?"

"There's a need to test the resurrection system of Nazarick, as an underling, you're the best option to fulfill that purpose. Everything so far looks to work flawlessly, but there's a risk of that being permanent."

"I… I will do my best to serve Nazarick, Lady Arllin."

"I see…Let me inform Shalltear first. [Message]"

"Shalltear, I will test the respawn mechanics of the Tomb, is there a problem in sacrificing one of your vampire brides? She may not come back."

"Princess Arllin? No there's not, if she dies to help Momonga-sama she should die happily."

"Your cooperation is appreciated, Shalltear, we shall speak more in a later occasion."

I dismissed the spell and focused on the vampire again.

"If you don't come back to this room in thirty minutes, I will mark the respawn mechanics as corrupted."

The bride breathed deeply, and with a strong resolution she turned her face to an expressionless one before answering.

"Understood."

"Then, I'll see you later. [Grasp Heart]."

She was dead before the body hit the ground, and her corpse started to disappear soon after.

"Or not."

I wanted to test a seven tier spell first, but [Hell Flame] would be painful, my mercy really is limitless, I may be too kind for this world.

Interestingly enough, my mistreatment of the NPCs didn't give me a strong emotional response, I was expecting pleasure or an intense disgust when seeing them suffering. I did not like it, but because it was a somewhat logical thing to do, I only felt slightly repulsed; less than that for the underling.

And then, after a few minutes, an intact vampire bride entered my room. Which made a little smile stay in my face.

As expected…

…

After the now called Ainz Ooal Gown left, the Guardians Overseer spoke.

"Everyone, raise your heads."

After hearing Albedo's calm and steady voice, the people whose heads were still lowered lifted their heads in unison.

"Everyone, please act as Ainz-sama orders. After that, I have something to announce."

Albedo's eyes were fixed on the flag of Ainz Ooal Gown that hung behind the throne. The NPCs and servants behind her were also looking at it.

"Demiurge, tell everyone what Ainz-sama said to you."

"Understood."

Demiurge was kneeling with everyone else. However, his voice could clearly be heard by everyone present.

"Ainz-sama looked at the night sky and told me, 'Perhaps the reason that I have come here is to claim this chest of jewels which belongs to nobody.' After that, he said, 'No, this is not something I can claim for myself. Perhaps these jewels are meant to adorn the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick; myself and my friends from Ainz Ooal Gown.' The chest of jewels here refers to the world. This is where Ainz-sama's true ambitions lie."

Demiurge smiled, but it was filled with something other than kindness.

"Finally, Ainz-sama said, 'However, conquering this world might be quite interesting.' In short, that means…"

The looks in everyone's eyes turned razor-sharp. It represented their iron will and determination.

Albedo rose slowly, to look on everyone's faces.

Everyone looked at Albedo, as if in response. At the same time, they looked at the flag of Ainz Ooal Gown behind her.

"Understanding Ainz-sama's true intentions and preparing for them is the proof of our loyalty and the mark of excellent subordinates. Everyone must keep in mind that the final objective of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick is to deliver this chest of jewels — the world — to Ainz-sama."

Albedo was all smiles, and she turned that smile to the flag behind her.

"Ainz-sama, we will definitely give this world to you."

Then, countless voices spoke as one, their words echoing across the Throne Room.

"We will render everything in this world unto its rightful ruler, Ainz-sama."

And the one at the right side of the throne, who has never kneeled, smiled at these words.

…

"Demiurge, Albedo."

Called the princess while the others were leaving.

"Indulge me for a while and stay. I want a short report of the outside."

"The humans are as pathetic as ever, most enemies found couldn't even fight a [Death Knight]..."

When the Overseer finished her explanation, the room was empty, and for a few seconds no one spoked. Until she did.

"May I ask why you didn't kneel to Ainz-sama?"

Despite her calm tone Demiurge noticed that her hand was firmly pressed, shaking slightly. She was anything but calm.

"I bow only to him, but I kneel to no one."

"Do you have a problem with how I was created? Lady Albedo."

"Albedo!" He advised.

"Even you need to show respect to-"

"Then go to our Lord and protest about how he wanted me to be."

And the Overseer stopped her tantrum, for she knew that this would be truly disrespectful, to disagree with Ainz's vision to his creation is to insult him on his face. No one in Nazarick would do such a thing.

"...I have been foolish, I apologize."

The princess waved her hand, and sat on the right arm of the throne.

"The difference between me and everyone else under Lord Ainz rule, is that I have the difficult task of one day surpass him. If possible, such a task will demand thousands of years and the aid of the other servants of Nazarick."

She fixed her glare on the throne.

"Remember that I am the one that must sit on this throne one day, a day that like all of you I fear."

And then moved her red eyes back to the demons.

"But we have millenniums until then, and I have hope that instead of leaving us he will only abdicate and guide our future affairs."

Demiurge couldn't help but smile. He was worried about the heiress like everyone else, after all a heir implied that Ainz-sama would leave them alone one day, and she may be someone who seeks to see their master depart. Luckily that is not the case, nor did the Overlord show any intention to leave them.

"May I ask you what those future affairs would be? Lady Arllin."

"..."

She stared at his eyes for a few seconds.

"Every star in the night sky contains at least a world to conquer, and we can only see an insignificant amount of them. There's billions of trillions of stars in the universe."

Both Guardians contemplated this information in awe, unknowing of such primordial truth about the cosmos.

S-so this is the knowledge of the one who knows a million things, to think that the supremes discovered such secrets. P-perhaps Ainz-sama is only training us for the future… Sasuga, sasuga Ainz-sama.

"In any case this is for a distant future, and that is not the reason that I wanted to talk to both of you."

"For you see, as someone who is still learning and is prone to make mistakes, I will need the aid of both of you and my brother to grow wiser. Of course, all the denizens of Nazarick should improve themselves to better serve Lord Ainz, but I'm referring to my young age and inexperience. As such, I shall request help and guidance from both of you."

"It will be our honor to help you Arllin-sama."

Said Demiurge and a now humbler Albedo.

"May I ask about this brother of yours? Is he another creation of my beloved Ainz-sama?"

The researcher removed her hat, and inserted it in a black portal that just appeared in front of her hand; then, she nodded.

"None of you or the other guardians need to be too formal with me, we will spend eternity together after all."

"And I suppose that it's appropriate for you to know. His name is Pandora's Actor, the final ace of Ainz Ooal Gown. He is as intelligent as both of you and is capable of mimicking the power of all the 41 supremes, that makes him the most versatile fighter ever."

"Indeed, I believe that only Lord Ainz and Rubedo could defeat him with ease."

As expected of a creation of Ainz-sama, the Supreme Being that ruled over the Supremes Beings.

"To think that someone so powerful was unknown until now… Why none of us ever heard of him before?"

"Because he's the guardian of the World Items and the Treasury of Nazarick, Demiurge. A duty that he never failed or left in his existence."

Demiurge's eyes widened in comprehension.

"Thank you for appeasing us with all that knowledge."

"It's as much of my duty to share it with Nazarick, as it's your to protect the Tomb."

She clapped her hands and rose from the throne arm.

"Now that we all are clear, I must return to my other duties. At this point my servants should have delivered my report to Lord Ainz and to your offices."

The imperial princess of The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick put her small hand in a black portal, this time removing and equipping a ring that both Guardians know very well.

"May our God bless your life."

Using the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, she teleported away from the throne room.

"D-Did she have the ring all this time? Even when the other Supremes walked between us?"

Demiurge put his hand on his chin, contemplating Albedo's question.

"Maybe… I once heard Ulbert-sama saying that she was almost the 42 Supreme, but I don't know what this actually means."

"It's probably a knowledge that we can't comprehend yet Demiurge, she just told us about the scale of the cosmos like if it was as simple as basic math."

"Ah, I should have asked her to bless my marriage with Ainz-sama. Perhaps I can mother her or even give many brothers and sisters to-"

The demon lord shook his head and left the room.

…

Ainz stared at the small pile of paper in front of his eyes.

Ahh… Hopefully I will not have too much paperwork in the future.

The Overlord who has just cursed himself started reading the report written by Arllin Ecclesiastes.

'The results showed that all tier of magics are working fine, as previously informed a complete dissertation of the effects changes will demand more investigations. But for now we can rest assured about the safety and major functionality of most spells from YGGDRASIL, no problem to the caster could be detected so far…'

Uwah, I can understand it, I thought that this would be more complicated to read.

'It was also confirmed that the changes in the tier magic are upon this world and not the interior of Nazarick, or at very least the changes are consistent in a radius of 10 kilometers from the tomb. A use of the tier nine spell [Grasp Heart] in an vampire bride underling showed that the respawn mechanic's are working as intended to low level servants, more testing needs to be conducted to confirm prolonged effects of the system and to verify the costs for the high levels minions.'

If Ainz had eyes, they would be blinking in disbelief.

Did she kill an NPC? How dare-

The Overlord felt an unnatural calm on his mind, the emotional suppression of his race was activated.

No, I shouldn't be angry at her, she was taking care of Nazarick and did a necessary test in a POP NPC. If anything it was my fault to not be explicit about limitations on her research.

'Because of my inability to use summon spells, I could only test low tier convocations from my servants at the moment. If possible I request to delegate that job to Demiurge, otherwise, a Guardian or Lord Ainz will be needed to aid me. As explained in the book 'Four Secrets of Arcanium' when…'

"[Message]"

"Lord Ainz? How can I help you?"

"I want to thank you for your good job so far, but to also inform you that more dangerous tests on the inhabitants of Nazarick will not be tolerated."

"... I hear and obey my Lord, I did only one that I thought to be essential." She replied in a more deliberate, almost worried, tone.

"I know, I'm not punishing you, just informing about the limits on future studies."

As Momon-. As Ainz finished the spell and laid on his chair, he thought about the NPC called Arllin.

Suzuki once had a younger sister that wanted to play YGGDRASIL with him and the other guild members, but she died from a disease before she could. In his grief, he created the character that she would want to play: A asian themed imperial princess who has abandoned her humanity in search of forbidden knowledge.

And this witch princess consumed so much of it that she eventually became a distorted being, a brain-like monster that eats books and peoples, lost in the desire to accumulate more and more information.

Eventually, she regained her wisdom and achieved an unprecedented evolution; she was not a mere monster anymore but a being from the eldritch himself, a [Ancient One], hiding in a human shell, who possessed so much secret knowledge that even the gods could only but envy her. The Lord of The Mysteries.

He changed some things so she could be a NPC and not a player, including integrating this lore with Ashurbanipal and Nazarick. But the essentials are the same, a bookworm lovecraft princess who seeks to grow smarter, wiser and powerful. Fueled by endless ambition and a birthright to rule.

It was all cool before but now? Now Ainz doesn't know how much he can trust her, she can very well be the most dangerous entity in Nasarick to him.

But again, the same can be said about the other NPCs too, and I can't blame Arllin for how I created her, in any case, she is loyal to Nazarick.

Ainz shook his head to clean his depressing thoughts and got back to reading the report.

…

That was close.

For a moment I thought that he was really pissed with me killing the bride, no, he was pissed, but his anger got suppressed. I actually didn't expect him to care about NPCs that his friends didn't create, clearly a mistake.

Shit.

A big mistake actually, I shouldn't test the resurrection system before the spell [Control Amnesia], now I don't know if it is safe to cast it in myself to obtain my background information. And I will not start a habit of disobeying someone that will control my life for centuries, so there's no way of casting it in another NPC.

Well, let's not allow this day to end on a bad note after the good talk with the Guardians.

How exactly do these rings work? Without cash items it's only possible to equip two at the time, however, here I am using five on my right hand.

Perhaps Lord Ainz has used cash items on me so I can equip ten rings? If he did I don't remember when.

What are cash items anyway? In terms of lore, are they extra dimensional artifacts or fragments from the fallen worlds given physical form? Both hypotheses correlate to their weakness toward World Items and rarity, but I digress.

Going back to the rings, neither me or my maids had a problem using two of them, but only I could equip 10 rings.

I tested but it's not the level of our tier magic that controlled this limitation, and I vaguely remember that a wizard from the empire could use 10 rings despite being relatively weak. So far my memories from the novel have been trustful.

So it's another factor that limits it or the New World has a different set of rules towards magical equipment.

Also, why does it need different fingers?

I sighed and wrote a 'Need more Tests' in my document.

It will really take a millennia to discover all the specificity of this world. There's no need for me to be so obsessed, I am not a human scientist with a time budget for useless research anymore.

Despite this, I'm way more obsessed with learning now.

Standing up from my chair I walked to my bathtub.

I never feel hungry or thirsty, I don't sweat and I haven't slept in years.

But at least I can appreciate a good bath.

…

When the butler entered the quiet room the maids silently appointed him to another smaller room, from which vapor was leaking out below the wooden door.

Sebas couldn't help himself but to admire the lodgings of the imperial princess, the design of the Supreme Beings never failed to impress him.

"Sir Sebas."

Called an elegant voice from what he suspected to be a bathtub or a spa.

The dragonoid walked closer to the room and stayed there, staring at a wall.

"Lady Arllin, you asked for me."

Inside the bathtub, the princess observed her black hair floating on the hot water.

"I have a favor to request. Do you have some time to spare daily?"

The butler stiffened a little. Within all honesty, the Heiress of Nazarick worried him. Not because a heiress implies that their lord will leave Nazarick, Sebas believes in Momonga endless mercy, but because of the little things that he knows about her.

She suppressed it now, but he did not forget how her presence felt on the 6th floor. While Momonga was more powerful for sure, Arllin was unnatural. An anomaly that the world couldn't bear, be it the air, the ground or space itself, everything started to be devoid of color and meaning.

Sebas knew that if anyone but the Guardians were present in the colosseum at that moment, they would feel like an ant being observed by an indifferent giant, their minds would be enveloped in dreadful thoughts about the uselessness of existence.

He knew it, without a doubt, because such thoughts blew on his mind too.

Sebas respects that, it is a proof of her power and leadership, adequate for the future empress of Nazarick. That doesn't change the fact that worried him.

He also heard about how she recently killed an underling, while it was fast and probably needed, the thought of Momonga doing such a thing feels wrong, unlikely to ever happen.

And, finally, he can't forget that Touch Me-sama himself once expressed his worries about her being 'too focused on rule play and too little on more important things.'

But it's not his place to judge the growing lady, he was created to serve the supremes and serve he will.

And I'm sure that the fatherhood of Ainz-sama will teach her those important things.

"I always have time to help milady."

"In that case, train me in close combat."

The butler blinked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's a weakness in my arsenal that I have no desire to sustain. I may be confident about my magic but there's no reason to be complacent in other forms of combat."

"I see… If it is your wish I will allocate two hours a day."

"Then, you have my gratitude. I will see if Cocytus can help with blades and other weapons at a later date, so your training will be mostly unarmed techniques."

Cocytus too? But our power comes from different sources.

Sebas sharpened his eyes.

Maybe she…

"Do you believe that it's possible to use Ki despite being a magical caster?"

"Not for now. The 'Theory of Everything' discusses how all forms of energy are interchangeable, however, I do not know the conversion rate, YGGDRASIL system limitations or a spell that can do it. But it's certainly possible, the existence of Pandora's Actor alone is a proof of concept."

"I also have… Difficulties with acting, and some of my future plans will need me to pretend to be weaker, using the direct opposite of my fighting style will serve this purpose well."

"Impressive milady. Your ladyship wants me to inform Cocytus about all of this?"

"It would be appreciated, yes, Sebas. If he has other obligations, send a [Message] to my servants."

He bowed in the direction of Arllin's voice, despite not being seen, and left the room with a small smile. Maybe he was a little paranoiac after all, the princess felt way more comfortable to talk than he expected.

…

After the butler left, I allowed myself to get lost in thoughts.

I am free.

After a decade I'm finally free, my body is now mine to command. I will not spend tens of thousands of hours staring at a wall or reading a book without being able to even control my eyes.

Many may see my situation as a false freedom, after all I don't have friends or healthy social interactions, a fate worse than death can happen anytime, my will matters not, this place is a show of horrors that distorted my mind; I even lost my humanity.

But honestly? I'm free enough. Now that I can move, talk, act, fight, do; I'm satisfied.

It's almost sad how I was the type of person who would dream of such a situation, a different life where you can achieve greatness above most people, where individual power allows one to rule over thousands.

Be careful with what you desire was the lesson I believe.

I submerge in the water.

The loss of humanity is… hard, yes. Unlike most people from my time I didn't look down upon my race, while full of defects humankind was and is the superior species. I was really proud of my lineage as the apex being of my planet, indeed, I still believe that humans are greater than any possible alien species.

That may become a false statement when fiction enters the playfield though.

Myself alone puts my faith into doubt, I can feel deep inside what kind of monster I truly am, a monster that plays by another set of rules, hierarchically superior to mankind.

Be me or the inhabitants of Nazarick, we are like a planet compared to the ant that an individual human is.

But given enough time, humanity can easily destroy planets.

Everything accounted for, it was a worthy exchange. Immortality alone was worth everything, but immortality with magic? If the opportunity to deny the last decade appeared I wouldn't accept it. Now it's possible to achieve everything that I dreamed of, to surpass my civilization and to watch the growth of a stronger one.

Standing up from the underwater, still not breathing, I propped my back on a corner of the small pool.

The new world is an interesting and important place, the foundation of my future empire, full of magic and convergent evolution. If the decision was mine to do, I would exterminate most species and let only some races that I approve of. But it's not, so let's make sure that any plan follows Lord Ainz's desires.

Unlike a certain skeleton, I need to really understand magic, fortunately I know a lot of theory from my reading; the holes in my knowledge will be fixed with time and training. However, that is only true to the YGGDRASIL magical system. This world has way more freedom and a similar but slightly different Tier Magic, things like wild magic and talents are present too, as such, it will be more adequate if I visit a certain empire.

I got isekai by truck-chan in a grimdark nightmare and visited a magical academy!

I chucked with my thoughts.

"Lady Arllin" Called a voice from outside, "The ingredients have come."

These maids are really useful, they already learned of my preference towards silence and that I always listen when anyone talks to me, it would be unpleasant to repeat myself saying understood every time.

I closed my eyes, relaxing for a few more minutes.

But that name of mine.

Arllin…

Arllin Ecclesiastes or Arllin Ooal Gown? Maybe Arllin Ecclesiastes Ooal Gown.

Ecclesiastes.

The biblical chapter of how to live, supposedly written by the king of wisdom, son of David, Solomon.

'Fear God and keep his commandments; for that is the all of mankind.'

Hm…

It's a good name.

…

"Lord Ainz. I have a request."

"What is this Arllin?"

"I desire to visit the Baharuth Empire, formally."

Hm? Why?

"Wouldn't this affect your duties?"

"My duties can be conducted outside of The Great Tomb, your majesty. I believe that studying the magical properties of this world while gathering information about our neighbors will be better for Nazarick."

Ainz leaned on the chair and put a fleshless fist on his cheek.

"And why Baharuth, exactly?"

"The empire has a magic academy that I seek to join."

The once called Momonga stared at his creation for a few seconds.

"I see… "

Maybe she just wants to make some friends in school? Uwah, I'm too young to raise a child. I can't let her go alone.

"You have my permission to go if you take some bodyguards."

"Can I take Sebas and CZ?"

Umu, Sebas is the best option, CZ will be a good friend to her.

"Yes. Is there anything else that you will need?"

"Only a few, Lord Ainz. A palanquin, three more carriages for supplies, ten servants, some pounds of gold…"

Ainz sat there, incredulous at the growing list.

She's a spoiled brat.

"Twelve guards, another carriage to myself, silk carpets…"

"Do you really need all these things?"

Arllin blinked confused.

"Of course your majesty. Otherwise I can't represent Ainz Ooal Gown with the prestige that is our divine right."

The Overlord put his hands on his face.

"Talk to Albedo about anything that you want."

Why did I make her a spoiled princess…