{The Monument of Ruin, the Great Forest of Tob, during Ainz's visit to the Holy Kingdom…}
The Monument of Ruin stood tall in the forest, a simple wooden house. Originally intended as a false Nazarick, Ainz had ordered it to be converted into a fallback point after making initial diplomatic contact with the Baharuth Empire. Deep beneath that structure, Mare used his various earth-shaping spells to hollow out an entire network of stony chambers. Various undead workers loaded various supplies and resources into the previous spaces. Aura was nearby in the caves made by Mare's magic, supervising the entire operation.
"Aura… I'm sleepy…" sighed Mare.
"How on earth are you sleepy, silly? You slept in today, through at least three of your alarms. Not even Lady Bukubukuchagama's voice could get through to you today…"
"I dunno… I kinda wanna go to sleep right now…"
"You won't get another wink until this work's done for Lord Ainz, even if it takes all day. You want us to have somewhere to fall back to or not? What if that World Enemy in the lake wakes up and starts attacking everyone? You know how seriously Lord Ainz is taking this whole thing. If He's worried about it, we need to keep working doubly hard so He doesn't have to be so worried."
"Y-yeah! I know, I'm just…"
"'Sleepy.' Yeah, whatever. Just think about it this way: the faster and better you get this mission done, the sooner you can relax."
"I d-don't wanna get out of it like that! I still wanna do my part for Lord Ainz! I'm just tired, th-that's all!"
"Right…"
The ground lurched suddenly, and loose pebbles fell from the chiseled stone ceiling.
"Whoa! Mare, careful with the spells!"
"Th-that wasn't me! I p-promise!"
"What?!"
"D-do you th-think it was…"
"The World Enemy… maybe?"
"Th-that's scary, Aura…"
"Wait, I'm getting a [Message]! [Cocytus?]"
"[Aura. I. Presume. You. Have. Experienced. The. Tremors. Just. Now. Since. You. Are. Near. The. Retreat. Bunker. In. The. Forest.?]"
"[Yeah, we did. Is it the World Enemy?]"
"[No. It. Has. Not. Moved. At. All.]"
"[Wha…?]" The earth groaned again, a longer, more sustained tremor. "[You feeling this, Cocytus?]"
"[What? Ah. That.]"
"[It's not from us…]"
"[Nor. Is. It. The. Serpent. I. Will. Proceed. To. Your. Location. You. Are. In. The. Bunker. Correct?]"
"[Yep!]"
"[Understood. I. Will. See. You. Shortly. End. Message.]"
{Several minutes later…}
"You came here by yourself, Cocytus?" asked Aura. The ice vermin lord nodded as a [Gate] closed behind him. The three Guardians met outside the large log cabin. A golden dragon, one of Mare's Woodland Dragons, peered down at them from over the roof.
"I. Must. Leave. The. Lizardmen. Village. Guarded. As. Lord. Ainz. Promised. Them. Peace. For. Their. Loyalty. So. My. Frost. Virgins. Remain. Behind."
"Okay… well, what do you think this is?"
"Mare. Can. You. Pinpoint. The. Center. Of. The. Earthquake? You. Have. Strong. Earth. Magic."
Mare was startled by the sudden shift of the conversation's attention to him. "Uh… It was pretty nearby, right, Aura? I could get us nearer to the center if you point the way, Aura…"
"Yeah… I'm trying to remember what direction I was facing when it started. It was slightly stronger in my left ear than my right, if memory serves."
"Do. You. Not. Have. A. Good. Instinct. For. Path. Finding?"
"I know the cardinal directions, but it's a lot harder to figure out when you're underground, like we were. Now that I think about it, I was facing southeast when the earthquakes happened. Which means… it happened somewhere north or northeast. We can take a look!"
"Very. Well."
"O-okay! S-should we fly or not?"
"I'll scout on the ground. You two take the dragon and get a view from the air, sound good?" The two other Guardians nodded in agreement, and Aura turned and whistled. "Fenny! C'mere, boy! Let's go!" Galloping from around the wooden structure came Aura's gigantic pet wolf, Fenny. With an acrobatic flip, she leapt onto the wolf's back, and the two of them charged into the forest.
{Further into the Great Forest of Tob…}
Fenny dashed across the tangled roots of the forest, nimbly avoiding them. After some time, wolf and elf suddenly lurched to a halt, as if being pushed against by a hidden force.
"Whoa… what was that?" whispered Aura to herself. She tried again, and could make no headway. "Hmm…" She dismounted from Fenny's back, and with amazing speed clambered up a tree. She had to leap over to a few different, taller trees in order to have a more commanding view of the forest. She reached the top of the third tree, surveying a vast swath of forest.
A circle of yellow glowing light shone through the forest canopy, and by Aura's judgment, she and Fenny had just hit the edge of that circle. A protection ward? It would have to be fairly powerful to keep a Floor Guardian out. Looking closer, she saw that the ward had been broken in one spot not terribly far away. Directing her attention to what lay inside this mysterious ward confused her further. I swear I checked this region of the forest! I'm not one to miss things like this! There wasn't anything here! Now there's some wooden house, and some ruined stone thing in here. Is that a temple or a castle? Ugh… Wait, how can I see inside? Does it not work since there's that gap?
Aura grabbed her acorn necklace, a magic item allowing unlimited telepathic communication with the owner of its twin.
"[Mare!]"
"[A-Aura?]"
"[Where are you and Cocytus flying? I found some sort of protection ward.]"
"[A p-protection ward? W-weird, we were about to land in some red forest area near the lake, but maybe we should stick together. We'll f-fly to you.]"
"[Okay, sounds good. The ward should be to the east of you, then. Land as close as you can to a little house that's in the middle of the ward, got it?]"
"[Y-yep!]"
"[Good. See you then.]" She closed the telepathic link, and hopped down the tree. "Alright, Fenny, let's go." Mounting the wolf again, Aura galloped off around the edge of the ward towards its opening.
She saw a vaguely humanoid figure hobbling through the forest. It was armed with a sword. It turned as Fenny approached, and raised its sword. Flames raced down the blade, and through gashes in its body. With an inhuman roar, it charged right at Aura and Fenrir.
The strange creature's head exploded into a gout of fire, as one of Aura's arrows went clean through it. The monster fell, its fires quenched. The arrow stuck itself in the trunk of a nearby tree.
"Huh," said Aura, as she slung her bow To Your Heart– over her shoulder. Fenny took her right near to the dead thing's body, and then just beyond, so she could retrieve the spent arrow. It wasn't any of her more powerful arrows, just a standard elven arrow, of which she had plenty. She and Fenny pushed onward once she picked the arrow up.
In no time at all, wolf and elf passed through the gap and arrived in a sizable clearing in the woods, where stood the small wooden house. Three sets of footprints were scattered around the house. Aura carefully scrutinized them. They were humanoid. Two were the size of an adult. The third set, less frequent than the first two, was of a child, likely of her own physical maturity. One set of the adult footprints was barefoot.
Aura looked around at the surrounding area. Trees had been broken at the trunk, cracks and crevasses marred the ground, and even the house had been damaged to some extent. Mare would have much more information on what had caused such things. Tracking was Aura's specialty, so she concerned herself with people, whereas the earth itself was Mare's expertise.
With a quiet whoosh, Mare's Woodland Dragon passed overhead, and circled down to land on the opposite side of the house. Aura went over to meet them, observing the two adult footprints just before the dragon settled on the ground. Mare and Cocytus hopped off its back onto the ground.
"This. Is. The. Small. Hut."
"Yeah, which is weird. Firstly, when I searched the forest for things threatening that human village, there wasn't anything here before. Secondly, Fenny and I couldn't go through whatever warding magic is around this house. There was a gap in the circle though, so we got through in the end. Also there's some weird monsters around here. Human-like, but like they're made of fire or something. It wasn't a threat or anything, just to be clear. Mare, what do you make of the terrain here? You've got a good eye for this sort of thing."
"Ummm…" he looked around momentarily. "The earthquake was s-strongest here. But…"
"What?" asked Aura.
"The trees… an earthquake wouldn't break th-them so high up the t-trunk…"
"A. Fight."
"Eh? Cocytus?" asked Mare.
"A. Fight. Took. Place. Here. Likely. Between. Powerful. Opponents."
"T-two warrior-types… spells would leave various marks on th-the area…"
"That makes sense, actually. There's some damage on the roof of the other side of the house. An earthquake wouldn't do that either…" mused Aura. "It might be the player."
"That. Is. What. I. Suspect. As. Well. However. You. And. Mare. Were. Underground. And. I. Was. Too. Far. Away. To. See. The. Transportation. Beam. Of. Light."
"S-so that means… h-he might s-s-still b-be around here?" asked Mare.
"Yes. So. Be. Ready. For. A. Fight. I. Believe. The. Three. Of. Us. Should. Be. Enough. To. Defeat. Him. Along. With. The. Wolf. And. The. Dragon."
"Absolutely," said Aura. While Fenrir was only Level 78, Aura's Beast Tamer abilities could buff it to about level 90, on par with the Woodland Dragon. Three highly-optimized Level 100 NPCs with Divine-class weapons and two Level 90 mercenaries were a force to be reckoned with, even for a Level 100 Player with Divine equipment of their own. "I think we should search the house. If something were to bring a Player here, it could be something Lord Ainz might want as well."
"I. Agree."
"Y-yeah…"
"Aura. Have. Your. Pet. Keep. Watch. Outside. Mare. Remain. Near. The. Threshold. With. Some. Defensive. Spells. On. Hand. As. We. Search. The. House."
"S-sounds good."
Aura and Cocytus searched every nook and cranny of the poorly lit house. They easily found a crawl space beneath a crude rug, but saw nothing of interest inside, and began to look outside the house.
"There seem to be footprints leading away from here, but the terrain is too broken and confused for me to accurately follow," sighed Aura in defeat.
They searched for the body a deadly fight would leave behind, again finding nothing. The stone temple was next.
None of them, not even Aura, had seen the small red bundle of cloth, embroidered with geometric patterns from a now-ruined land to the south, that lay in that crawl space. The cloth was marked by a golden hand, softly glowing.
{The Royal Suite of Nazarick, the next day…}
Demiurge, who had been left in charge of Nazarick in Ainz and Albedo's absence, plodded his way through the bureaucratic mountain of papers that topped the desk he sat at. He felt a good deal of respect for Albedo and her unrivaled talent in management and internal administration, as it meant he did not have to do such things. He also felt grateful towards Lord Ainz. The Supreme Being, in his usual thoughtfulness and wisdom, had guided Demiurge's intellectual prowess away from rather tedious internal matters and towards the external affairs of Nazarick and the Sorcerer Kingdom, and furthering the conquest of the world. Matters like international politics were Demiurge's expertise and a joy for him to manipulate. Albedo would defer to his judgment in such matters, just as he would bow to hers in the internal affairs of Nazarick.
Demiurge's musings regarding his talents and Albedo's were interrupted by the door of the Royal Suite office opening. Albedo, beaming brighter than her usual mask-like smile, entered alone. Demiurge stood up. She was his superior, after all.
"Albedo? I trust everything has gone well in the Holy Kingdom? Why else would you have returned so early?" Albedo's smile widened, and reaching an arm into her extra-dimensional storage space, she took out a small stack of papers, and slid them across the desk to Demiurge. He looked at the cover page. It was the treaty with the Holy Kingdom.
"Better than either of us could have hoped," said Albedo.
Demiurge smiled back to Albedo as he pushed the stack of papers back to her. He knew without even reading the treaty what its true contents were. "As expected of the Supreme Being. To win the fealty of another nation, in a single day… Once more I have failed to account for Lord Ainz in my plans. I will not make this mistake a third time."
"I fear that is impossible at present. We lack sufficient understanding of Him to accurately predict His next intervention. The best course of action is to learn from His interventions, and compile such experiences together so we can find a pattern," replied Albedo. "That may take centuries, if not millenia, given the labyrinthine intellect of Lord Ainz. He has returned from the Holy Kingdom as well, and awaits your presence in the Throne Room. Before we go, please satisfy my curiosity, since you have been given a free hand in our dealings with the Holy Kingdom. What was the next phase of the plan after the treaty?"
"Civil war, and one that we would not have even needed to engineer. Our infiltrator would have been drawn into a violent power struggle with the Temple and the Paladin Order fighting to overthrow the Holy Queen and install the agent as monarch. Supporting the Queen would be the two Custodios, of course, and all the nobles. We would let the war play out, and the victor would inevitably purge or cast down the vanquished. Regardless of the outcome, the Sorcerer Kingdom would be left in a position of supreme influence within the Holy Kingdom. With the vassalization instead, Calca's position is far more secure, since she has the direct backing of Lord Ainz Himself, and the plan has been simplified."
"Most ingenious. You have performed admirably, Demiurge, and I believe Lord Ainz would say something similar when we go to Him."
"Thank you. Let us go."
The two of them used their Rings of Ainz Ooal Gown to transport to the Throne Room, where their undead liege sat upon his mighty throne. As expected of all of Nazarick's denizens, they knelt in Ainz's presence.
"Lord Ainz," started Demiurge. "Albedo has informed me of your accomplishments in the Holy Kingdom. I can only offer my highest praises for this incredible achievement, and my deepest apologies, my Lord."
"Apologies?"
"I failed to factor You into my plans."
"No need to apologize, Demiurge. Nazarick has been made more glorious, regardless of the method. That is all that matters. You call this my accomplishment. I say it is our accomplishment. Without your diligent work in the Holy Kingdom beforehand, none of this would have been possible."
"Truly, we are blessed to serve such a humble and thoughtful master as You, Lord Ainz."
The doors of the Throne Room opened, and in came Aura, Mare, and Cocytus, who all took a knee as well in the presence of their ruler, once they drew close enough to the dais.
"Ah, what brings all three of you here. Has the Serpent awoken?"
"Fortunately. No. Lord. Ainz. However. We. Have. Found. Something. Bizarre. In. The. Great. Forest. Of. Tob," answered Cocytus. "Aura. And. Mare. Will. Be. Able. To. Report. Our. Findings. More. Clearly."
{A house in a red forest…}
"So he's gonna live?" asked the sickly boy. A magic boar lay in the middle of the room, one that the witch who lived considered her friend. She knelt next to the wounded beast, pressing her hands against it to cast her healing magic.
"Yes," she breathed.
The boy's father stepped out from the corner. "Then we are leaving."
"Wait…" said the witch, stepping away from the boar. "Not without thanks." She went to one side of the room, taking a wooden bowl filled with some sort of herbs mashed into paste. She took some of the paste onto her fingertips, and they glowed gently. As she made to put her fingers to the grizzled man's neck, he seized her wrist in suspicion. The witch huffed in surprise. "You want solitude? This mark will protect you from…" she reconsidered her words for a moment. "... from those who might make your journey difficult."
The grizzled man looked at her hand, and then at her, narrowing his eyes. "Hmph." He let her apply the mark to his neck.
"〔Leyna.〕" she intoned, as she traced a symbol on the man's neck. She moved to the boy next, squatting down to the boy's eye level. With her other hand, she wiped some dirt from around his lip, before tracing the same mark on his neck. "〔Leyna.〕" She stood back up, and turned away from them. "〔Heimili!〕" The house shuddered for a moment, before sinking down into the ground. Soon, the daylight that peeked through was gone, and only the light candles and lamps provided any light.
The witch opened another door, leading into a cave. "There's a shortcut below the house that leads safely out of these woods. Follow this path down, and then head towards daylight."
Father and son stepped out into the cave. The boy turned back toward the witch. "Will we see you again?"
She smiled gently and stooped down to his eye level. "As much or as little as you like. Now get outta here."
{The Lizardmen village…}
Ainz stepped through the [Gate]. As expected, the place was a sharp contrast to E-Rantel and its sophisticated architecture. Lizardmen craftsmanship was sturdy for what little resources they had, but it still looked quite primitive compared to E-Rantel's brick-and-mortar buildings and mighty battlements.
Across the lake, the great white body of the serpent lay unmoving, the majority of its bulk winding around the base of the nearest mountain. Several parts of its length were in the lake itself.
The Lizardmen who had been going about their daily toil, bringing fish from their farms in the lake, or building new huts, or gathering tribute to place at the foot of Ainz's marble statue nearby, all stopped what they were doing. They threw themselves on the ground out of fear and respect, for a God of gods now walked among them. One of the village elders broke the reverent silence.
"Great King of Death, Ainz Ooal Gown, thank You for visiting our humble village. We will inform Lord Cocytus of Your presence at once. I believe he is in the Chieftain's hut."
"Excellent. The rest of you, please return to your work," said Ainz briskly.
The Lizardpeople hesitantly resumed their daily work. Any who passed Ainz bowed deeply and gave a heartfelt greeting. The Sorcerer King passed through the village, finding the largest hut. There was the muffled sound of speech inside the tent. Ainz could identify Cocytus' voice as one of the speakers. Two Death Knights stood guard outside, and knelt as Ainz approached them. They were his summons, after all.
"Go, and announce me to those inside."
One of the Death Knights went in, parting the curtain that obscured the entrance. The Death Knight said something, and all talk inside stopped. Parting the curtain again, Ainz passed through. Everyone inside kneeled to Ainz as he did: Cocytus, Guardian of the Fifth Floor of Nazarick, his silver halberd in hand; eight more of Cocytus' vassals, the Frost Virgins; the Lizardman chieftain Zaryusu Shasha, holding his albino infant child; Crusch Lulu, an expert druid, Zaryusu's wife, and herself an albino; Shasuryu Shasha, Zaryusu's elder brother, and Zenberu Gugu, a skilled warrior and once a rival of the Chieftain.
"Welcome. Lord. Ainz." said Cocytus.
"Thank you, raise your heads, all of you. I apologize if I have interrupted any important discussions."
"Lord Ainz… any command You give us, we will do it. As You have the power to take life and return it as You please, who are we to question You?" said Zaryusu.
"Thank you, Chieftain. I am pleased by your loyalty, but I simply wish to observe, and remind Cocytus to please cooperate with Yuri Alpha in E-Rantel and Lupusregina Beta in Carne Village to improve your defenses. Please continue."
"As. You. Command. Lord. Ainz. Now. Regarding. The. Matter. Of. The-"
The ground began to shake, and panicked cries came from the Lizardmen outside.
"IT'S MOVING!"
"THE MONSTER!"
"RUN!"
Ainz felt his Emotional Suppression activate to prevent panic. He spoke quickly. "Chieftain Shasha, take your people to Carne Village, immediately. I will have Death Knights escort your people on the journey through the forest. The Serpent is dangerous to you. Look for Lupusregina Beta at Carne and inform her of the situation. Go, quickly! Cocytus, Frost Virgins, to the shore, with me."
{The shore of the Great Lake…}
Ainz, Cocytus, the eight Frost Virgins, and a gathering of Death Knights stood on the shuddering edge of the water, watching, as the earth trembled and groaned beneath their feet. The vast body of the Serpent shifted, as its head finally broke the surface with a foaming crash. The shore flooded with water, but Ainz and his forces held their ground against the rushing tide. The Serpent was facing away from them, and lowered its great head nearly to the surface, opening its mouth.
The sound of its voice was unimaginable, a deep, guttural tongue. It took a moment for Ainz to realize that he did not understand it. It was speaking, but the automatic translation that affected this entire world did not affect the Serpent. It said one last thing, before turning to face east. As it did, it seemed to hold still, looking over the great forest of Tob.
"Lord. Ainz. The. Water…" murmured Cocytus. "It. Has. Dropped."
Ainz had been so concerned with the Serpent that he did not notice the change right away. The water level had indeed fallen, revealing secrets that once lay beneath its surface.
Eight towers of black and gold formed an imperfect ring around the lake, and in their center stood a vast, circular domed building of the same materials. A vast statue of a man holding a spear and shield stood atop the great dome. Connecting one of the towers to the domed structure was a long bridge. We can explore that later… this Serpent seems a bit docile for a World Enemy, I think. Is it possibly not one? Only one way to find out…
"Stay here, Cocytus, and the rest of you. [Greater Magic - Seal]. [Greater Teleportation.]"
{Elsewhere…}
The bearded man with the Dwarven axe and a small boy had awoken him from his sleep. They did not smell of Aesir. He tried to speak to them as they sat in their boat, but they did not understand what he was saying, nor did he understand what they said, before they rowed away to the Temple in the lake. The boy seemed quite familiar to him, now that he thought about it.
He looked east for some moments, admiring the beauty of the lush forest surrounding the lake, before another voice, loud and clear, grabbed his attention with words he did not understand, but he recognized the speaker, in a similar way that he recognized the boy.
"Watashi wa Madō-ō Ainzu Ūru Goun. Watashi wa anata to hanasu tame ni heiwa ni kimasu. Watashi no itte iru koto ga wakattara, unazuite kudasai."
Author's Note: Sorry for jumping around locations and POVs like a maniac in this chapter. I'm also sorry for the Google Translate Japanese at the end here. I don't actually know the language so the actual dialogue may sound silly to you native speakers and fluent speakers.
