A/N: I'm aware it's been awhile, kind of had my hands full with a surgery lately among other things. I'm fine now, and I should be able to release more chapters regularly now.
Special thanks to Remembrancer Of Tales (on FFN) Inquisitor of the Sorcerer King (on Grand Library of Ashurbanipal Discord server) for helping me with this chapter. He wrote the treasury scene as well as quite a lot of the Underway.
Also, thanks to the Usual Gang of Perverted Idiots from the Grand Library of Ashurbanipal discord server for the beta reading.
C3:Priorities
Wissenburg outskirts
"Right then, on you go!" Said the guard near the raised portcullis.
Erhardt proceeded with a nod as his horse walked along the road past the gate. He wore a normal traveling outfit instead of the usual robes and cloak a stereotypical master vigilant is expected to wear. An unassuming brown poncho concealed his leather vest and the pistol he had in his holster.
The hood was down, revealing his fair skinned face and black hair. His brown eyes scanned the hired help in front of him.
For this "expedition" as he called it, he hired mercenaries and adventurers that happened to stay in his city today.
The mercenaries consisted of former imperial huntsmen and outriders, in addition to a couple of hedge knights among them. All of them were tried and tested professionals, fully capable of fending things off alone yet also professional in disciplined formational combat.
Erhardt was lucky that they were present in Wissenburg at the time, as they were on route to Nuln and would have left in an hour or two.
There were also five adventurers from the League of Merchant-Adventurers. Compared to the mercenaries, they displayed more enthusiasm, apparently they had always wanted to explore the badlands.
And then finally there was Conrad Tousche, a witch hunter of the cult of Sigmar.
The forty year old templar was visibly grumpy. To say he isn't too thrilled about the prospect of spending months with a mage was an understatement to say the least.
"Well, can we finally go now? I'd like to get this over with as soon as possible." Said the witch hunter with a sneer. His eyes regarded Erhardt in a cold, judging way.
If it were up to him, he would have impaled the master vigilant on a pike, burn him up and be on his way. But alas, the wizards of the college were out of his jurisdiction.
He wore a big brown hat and the coat found among his ilk. His metallic shoulder plate gave a dull reflection of the afternoon light.
"I share your sentiment, templar. Yet like I said earlier, no matter how much we hurry, this trip will take a month at the very least. But yes, we can go now." Erhardt replied in a patronizing tone. He was just about growing weary of the witch hunter's hostility.
"Hmph. And are you sure you know how to use that? I was under the impression your folk had other means of fighting." Said Conrad while pointing to Erhardt's pistol.
"One doesn't live in Wissenland without knowing how to shoot." Erhardt replied dryly. And it would be true. Even civilians owned at least one firearm, and as someone who wished to keep a low profile, it was simply a step in fitting in with the population.
Without waiting for a retort he proceeded to join the other members of the party.
The plan was to cross Solland and follow the river to Eigenhof. From there, they would cross the Blackfire Pass and stay at Akendorf for a while.
Depending on what they find out, they would then proceed to Varenka Hills in the Badlands for signs of "the incursion" as his order had called it, while investigating the other confederacies along the way.
As the expedition made their way along the road, he saw other travellers passing by. If he were to hypothesize, he'd say most of them were heading to Nuln. The river to their right seemed to be calm today, and the climate was fairly pleasant.
All in all, Erhardt thought this was not a bad omen for their future. Even with Chaos being possibly involved, perhaps this will end well.
Nazarick,Treasury
The guardian overseer entered the room, making sure to remove the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown before doing so.
"Welcome, Albedo-san! To what do I owe your visit?" The speaker asked with an exaggerated flourish. He was clad in his regular military outfit.
Much to Albedo's relief, her love's creation was in his doppelganger form instead of her traitorous creator. Initially she viewed him as a melodramatic blowhard, but over the years she grew to respect him as an equal, so much so his antics didn't bother her anymore.
Indeed, Pandora's Actor, the Area Guardian of the Treasury and an important member of her "secret unit" was one of the smartest denizens of the tomb. In fact, in her opinion, the hitsquad would never have a chance to succeed if he weren't on board.
"I'm good, thanks. I'm here to know if you have found anything regarding….them." Her sister was also a part of the unit, and so more often than not, the doppelganger had access to her intel and helped direct her to clues regarding the other Supreme Beings.
"It's too early to tell. Although, till now there has not been any sign of Player presence. From what I gather, we may even be the first Yggdrasil entities to arrive here."
"I see. So maybe it would be safer to stay here rather than return?"
"That, I can't say for certain, Frau (Miss) Albedo." Pandora's Actor said, his face was blank as always but the undertone of his voice was firm and resolute. "Fa- I mean, Ainz-sama has been very clear on that subject. And after reading the report, I see that his point has become clearer and clearer and not just something come solely from his overly caring nature for us denizens. And I believed you could guess what I noticed."
"Yes, yes I do," said Albedo knowingly as she recalled what happened back then. "I was there when it happened after all. But that could be just a freak accident, a rare and random encounter against an abnormally powerful foe of this world. Even then, it was manageable. Despite their size, their elites even have some struggle against one Death Knight."
"Maybe, but it could also be a norm for this world. After all, we have just been forcefully sent to this new world, like with the topic on the Players, it is too soon to say anything just yet."
With her arms folded in front of her chest, Albedo then looked down, her beautiful face slightly scowled, and painted with thoughts and considerations. After a while, she continued, her voice skeptical.
"Do you think Demiurge will get much out of the subject? It is quite a… hectic beast, to say the least."
"Yes, I read on that too, the hulking Orc spellcaster broke free from the mind control a moment after it was delivered here, rather interesting really." His voice then switched to a more optimistic one. "But alas, it is now contained, some progress has been made, some discovery has been found. And considering Demiurge's specialty and experience, I am quite confident that he will give us some desirable results."
"Do you think that he will give us some deep insight on how magic here works?" Her voice was expecting, almost hopeful even yet a sense of doubt still linger on.
"Although I want to be optimistic, at most, just a relatively thorough overview of at least how this world Orcish magic works and how their kind's biology is, really." Pandora's Actor said, specutatingly.
"The nature of how magic works is always just that complicated huh?"
"It has never been a simple matter, meine Aufseherin (my Overseer)." Pandora's Actor continued, his tone shined a degree of sophistication. "If we take YGGDRASIL and especially the previous world as exemplary templates, magic between worlds can be rather fundamentally different, and there can be multiple magic systems co-existing with each other and some can be race and class specific. Alas, the worst thing is, either intentional or not, it has been a trend that knowledge on magic or even the surrounding world is something normally shrouded in legends, half truths, unreliable narratives, and of course, bias."
"That means even if we get a source of knowledge on how the magic here works in this world, it does not mean it is completely correct or reliable for that matter, does it?"
"Leider haben Sie da recht, Liebe Aufseherin. (Unfortunately, you are right, dear Overseer)" He slowly nodded. "And please remember Albedo, magic is just one part of what determines how powerful an area or a world is. Theoretically, there are so many more aspects, with some may not even be knowable to its own denizens."
"Yes, I understand. Then, it can also mean that in other aspects, things can be not too bad, even when magic can be overall stronger than in the New World." She said, thoughtful and almost optimistically. "After all, we have endured YGGDRASIL, somewhat thriving even, in spite of the fact that those traitorous curls who left our Lord and us all alone to rot."
"Maybe… Or maybe not, like I said, nothing is for certain just yet. There can theoretically exist things that may be far worse than anything YGGDRASIL could ever offer."
"It is still just theoretical, yes?"
"Perhaps…" He continued, his face seemingly darken and his voice became tenser. "But please remember that, we are transported here by the Platinum Dragon Lord, there is also the possibility of that dragon sending us here intentionally, knowing enough or fully well what this world may have for us."
Ever since the forced teleportation, there had been a distinctively tense atmosphere all around Nazarick, more or less. With the mention of that cursed name and possibility, the tension broke, leaving behind nothing less than an air of hazardous hostility, one that was seemingly trying to squeeze the existence of everything all around them.
"To think that I could not hate that overgrown lizard even more so!" Albedo roared, wrath and self hatred for what she perceived as her failure embedded within each of her syllables. "I swear, once we return, I will personally make him pay!"
"So do I, Aufseherin Albedo (Overseer Albedo)," Pandora's Actor replied, almost sinisterly, trying to keep calm. "So does everyone here in Nazarick."
Then almost just as suddenly, the air cooled down and she changed to a more tender demeanor as she immediately thought about her beloved. Her hands gently placed on her heart, her cheeks flustered, her lips bloomed a wide smile and her gaze shined bright as much as they were distant.
"Our lord truly is magnificent, is he not?" Said Albedo, her tone filled with admiration and love, "To be able to make such a quick and in depth analysis of the situation and come up with what we should do immediately, before any of us could, before even stepping his beautiful foot on this world. Such is the wisdom of the last and the greatest of the Supreme Beings."
"Indeed, Albedo." Agreed Pandora's Actor. "Though, I find that one of the main reasons for such is still for the sake of safety for the denizens of Nazarick first and foremost, like always. As his creation, you can trust me on this."
As if those words were oil, it provoked even greater the fire that already existed in her heart about her Lord at that very moment. Her grip became stronger, the blush became a much tenser shade of red, her smile was euphoric, her gaze became far more entranced and her mind could only think and fantasize of nothing more than his glory and magnificent beauty.
"And such is His love and dedication for all of us. Unparalleled and incomprehensible." Albedo exclaimed, euphorically. "Truly, the only one worthy to rule over us all. No one else could ever have that legitimacy… Especially them."
"In many ways, I agree…" Replied Pandora's Actor, his voice had a masterfully hidden hesitance underneath.
As the creation of his Ainz himself, he understood his lord the most, his feeling, memory and even personality, more than anyone. Unlike anyone else, it was he who had personally watched with his own eyes and experienced fully just how much misery and sadness they had caused his creator by leaving and never truly coming back. Albedo might have seen it at least once, but he doubted she could feel the true depth of it all. He wanted the best for his creator, as it is the responsibility of every denizen to their own respective creator. For such, there was a distinctive displeasement within him for the other Supreme Beings.
Yet, as an inheritor of a part of Ainz's own spirit, he did not hate them as much as Albedo, it was mostly a pragmatic thing for the sake of his Lord and for the sake of the Tomb. In a sense, he secretly somewhat believed that they could still be useful, if they ever returned for that matter, but a certain level of control upon them is needed. This applied to the Players as well. However, should he ever share this idea of his, it would be in a more opportune time, when their bond is even greater than now.
Albedo, on the other hand, was a special being.
Although not being his own creation, yet tying her to the master of the Tomb was not just the natural loyalty any denizens have to any Supreme Being. She was the one who personally watched each and every other Supreme Being leave the Tomb and never truly come back. And it was she who saw him always returning as well as his exhausting attempts and efforts at trying to keep sustaining the Tomb almost by himself, something she believed that he deserved better.
For that, as the Overseer of Nazarick - caretaker of the Tomb and its denizens, there already existed some sort of resentment for them, as well as the truest, most natural of respect for his creator.
Then, beyond that, there was love, one that was shared by a lover to another.
Whether it was the result of that respect, he did not know. All he knew was that it was a scorchingly passionate love, one that was reserved only to his creator. Combined with her background, that feeling is amplified.
In the end, in many ways, their goal and perspective was quite aligned, which indeed tightened their bond. She, along with Demiurge, was also said to be comparable to him in wit and intelligence, but not in the same focus.
And that… suddenly made him realize something about this whole talk.
"Say Albedo…" Pandora's Actor said, breaking her from her trance. "Did you by chance actually realize all of this from the beginning, even before this talk?"
At that, she perked up. Yet, her posture was calm, her gaze was that of expecting and her luscious lips bore an almost confident smile.
"As expected of His own creation," she admitted. "To a certain degree, yes, mostly on the overall situation and what needs to be done. But of course, it is nowhere near as in-depth as your words are."
Her demeanor then became more saddened, and she looked at the ring her beloved had given to her.
"I somewhat came to the same conclusion as well." Albedo continued, her tone now held some sadness and bitterness in it as she looked at him. "I had somewhat hoped that you could have proven me wrong, things are simpler and that staying here would have been better, safer for the Tomb, for Him."
"I feel the same, Frau Albedo." said Pandora's Actor, understandingly. "I too wanted that as well, I too wanted things to be simpler, especially for His sake. But alas, rarely is such the case, I believe you knew it well considering your position, isn't that right dear Prime Minister of the Sorcerer Kingdom?"
Albedo solemnly nodded in reply, before he continued in a more optimistic tone.
"Alas, like I said, everything is still in the realm of possibilities, we can't conclude anything just yet. Who knows? Things may be simpler, and it is not that bad, maybe even better than the previous world."
"Perhaps… I truly hope so." Albedo replied, her voice seeming to be happier. "I have to go now, I need to return to my duty, seeing how everyone is doing. Thank you for the talk, it has been enlightening."
"You are most welcome, Frau Albedo."
As Albedo disappeared in a flash of light, the room returned to its previous silence as Pandora's Actor also went back to maintaining, taking care of the items that were assigned to him and preparing for the worst.
Barak Varr Underway
The Underway was one of the greatest achievements of the Dwarven race. Made and refined by their reverent ancestors, it was an inter-continent megastructure that bound each hold, fortress to each other with a network of safe highway tunnels so that their everlasting empire could stay connected at all time. One that was meant to be as eternal and unscarred by time and invulnerable to any outside influence, just as the Karaz Ankor.
Yet, that was the past, of a time remembered as the Golden Age. A time now only remembered in legends and grand tales passed from generation to generation, with promises that such an age shall return eventually as long as they remain steadfast to the path of their ancestors and venerate them forevermore.
As the Karaz Ankor still existed, the mega-structure also still existed. However, like a mirror to the fable dwarven empire itself, with much of the passages now in the state of disrepaired and filled with dangers, it was nothing more than a shadow of its former glorious self.
Within a part that was more intact and well maintained led to Barak Varr, moving between these damp, partially ruined ancient halls was the famed dwarven retinue of the Storm Wardens, led by Storm Lord Karnji. However, unlike before, this time his throng was also escorting two special outsiders, who were weirder than any case they had ever encountered.
Up to this point, no one dared to speak a word with the only sound being the restless rumbling footsteps of fearsome seasoned dawi warriors and their "guests", the constant sounds of pickaxes as well as the near silent ambient sound of rock and stone and maybe something more seemingly so close yet also so far away.
In the minds of the Dawi present, there were many things, but most of all, an air of tensed, absolute caution blanketed all over them, more than ever before.
And among them, more so was the case of the Storm Lord himself, for his mind swirling with memories and contingency plans concerning the two guests.
His braided raven beard had grown long, and with his position as the leader of Storm Wardens, he had encountered many things throughout his life. So much so, it could be said that he had seen too much for the standard of a traditional Dawi.
Fortunately, he was not exactly one.
The Borderlands - as the humans called it, a fitting name no less he had to admit, was a wild, untamed land of petty realms and kingdoms; where countless individuals had tried making a name for themselves or simply wanted to find for themselves an adventure. For that it was here you can find all sorts of things and people, new and old, weird and ordinary, threats and non threats, the known, the unknown and the forgotten.
But, nothing he had seen can be as weird as these two beings were. Enigma in all sense and manner.
The runes on the mask were not that of Klinkarhun or even Eltharin runes, or any language he had seen. Yet, the power brimming in each word spoke true, however he did not know what its power was.
The gown was academic looking, luxurious in every shape and manner, empowered with some sort of unknown arcane power and exuded an air of regality of kings and nobles.
The only thing somewhat familiar about them was the sword the beetle creature wielded, reminiscent of exotic blades from the land in the Far East. Even then, upon closer look, it was unusual, too unusual.
It was an oversized, overweight sword, too much for most humans or elves or themselves to handle. Although he was not a smith, the quality was simply astonishing, with each part of the blade made with perfect balance and absolute martial and strange arcane lethality, as if it was a relic of a forgotten mythical era.
And as he felt the power within, he felt not the toiling, prideful clashing power of runes or the fickle treachery of the Winds and especially void of the disgusting influence of Ruinous Power, but a constant flow of immense power throughout the blade like a calm singular purity of river with the strength and reliability of gromril.
When he gave his friend, Hergren, the blacksmith of the throng, for some in-depth look, he also confirmed there was nothing wrong with the blade. Beyond that, he was even more mesmerized than he was, quasi-worshiping it as if he was looking at a relic from the time of the Ancestor Gods themselves!
As ridiculous and seemingly blasphemous for some of the more traditional Dawi as it so might seem, Hergren was very much adamantite in his statement as he stared at him with the gaze of steel. For all he knew about his friend, his judgment on the quality of weapons and equipment were never meant to be taken lightly, more so when he was like this.
However, weirder was their very beings themselves. After all, even the very name they had was extremely foreign, never been heard off, and he was Barak Varr's dwarf for Grimnir sake!
Even not taking in the golem army that followed them, with power and some sort of aura brimming from their form so casually and almost unintentionally, it did not take much effort to know that two of them were powerful individuals at first glance and interaction.
That combined with the fact that they come from nowhere and almost too coincidental, put him on edge with quite a number of them even suspecting them of Chaos-aligned, their weapons aimed toward these newcomers, ready to be unleashed at first sight.
Despite the cautious hostility from his people, they remained calm, their words spoke of civility and negotiation. Wrought by experience, he decided to carefully have a closer inspection of them and validate their words, with his trusted retinue of Hammerers standing by his side.
Yet, upon inspection, it was not something he or probably anyone in this world was familiar with, even at the slightest.
The power from them… It was powerful, foreign almost to the point of being eldritch… but somehow tamer, far tamer than anything related to the Winds of Magic can ever be, calmer and more controlled than that have been put into runes.
The blue sentient beetle, at first glance, some may even accuse him as a creation of Chaos and mutation. However, he knew better.
As the Borderlands was an area filled with constant strife, hardships and dangers, it was a semi-ideal ground for Chaos influence to grow. Luckily for them and every innocent soul, with such a sparse population, it also meant far fewer potential Chaos worshipers, and thus each incident was very much manageable… Though collectively, the same could not exactly be said about the number of incidents itself, both coming from those that originated from here as well as elsewhere.
As the leader of the Storm Wardens, it was his duty to find and keep the upcoming storms at bay, which included searching out these threats and weed them out as fast and as permanently as he could before any of them could grow into something too serious. For that, one could say that he, along with the most veteran of dawi in his throng, are experts on dealing against the Dark Powers as well as many other menaces.
From his time of duty, he had noticed something peculiar about Chaos-damned and dark magic using entities.
Regardless of the form and regardless of which cursed god they follow, there is always a distinctive corruptive wrongness to them, as if they were things not meant to exist to begin with. That also applies to mutation as well.
Yet, standing close to them, there was utterly none of that feeling. The blue beetle was weird, almost otherworldly, but not wrong, and every single spec of himself was simply natural, like stone in the mountains.
The same could be said about the mage.
Yet, there was still some warriness within him, such an instance might require the witness and confirmation from a god.
From under his cloak, he pulled out an amulet of Valaya for all to see. Made and blessed in the holiest temple dedicated to the Mother of the Dawi kind within the venerable Karaz-a-Karak by a High Priestess of Valaya, the power of the Mother Goddess in the amulet had been a great aid to him and his throng in the line of duty against the Dark Powers. Besides helping him fend off its corruptive influence, it also worked as an alarm, visibly vibrating strongly and shining a warm gentle blue hue whenever such threats were closed, regardless how "normal" the target seemed to be.
And as he held it up close to the foreigners for all to see, the amulet laid solid still.
An approval from Valaya herself.
When the most common and worst suspicion was cleared, he then asked where they were from. They said that they were from a different world and were transported here magically. Normally, one would call such a concept outlandish, if not, a ridiculous insult to another's' intelligence. However, there was a certain charm and weight in his words; and in many ways, it really tied a lot of things about them together.
For that, they were allowed to follow them back to the Karak. Meeting the King however… Is a whole different story by itself. Ever since his brother and father's death and the killing of that damnable sea dragon responsible for that grudge, there had been a significant change in his attitude for the grimer.
Although far more assured, there is nothing wrong in being overly cautious for a Dawi, especially when you are leading two potentially very powerful individuals over the formidable Dwarven walls of your own home itself.
After all, you do not exactly need to be a Dhar-aligned dreg to be a threat to others in this world.
And so, he demanded them to leave the golems behind, and the mage had to hold onto a slab of obsidian. To which, they agreed with little to no hesitation.
Until now, walking between the two of them, his senses heightened than ever before, his lips silently mustered prayers to the Ancestor Gods, the amulet held tightly on his left hand, while on his right, the grip on his trusted runic axe remained strong, always ready to strike.
Although obsidian was considered as the bane of all magic, he had mixed feelings on whether it would work the same way for this otherworldly magic of theirs.
In the worst case scenario where things went horribly south, they would collapse the tunnel and bury the two with them; meanwhile, a group would be sent back to the hold to report and prepare for the counterattack and defense. Something tells him that a simple avalanche of rock wouldn't be enough to stop them, only merely hinder their movement, albeit hopefully long enough.
And on his sides and from behind, it was good to see that his throng thought the same way.
The faint smell of finely made gunpowder mixed with the steel of gunbarrels wafted through the relatively narrow ancient tunnel.
The ever rattling sounds of bullets in barrels and loaded bolts on crossbows.
Ironbreakers and miners fully prepared their charges, their hands closed to their explosive staches.
Every warrior's weapons were held tightly in their hands, and near the triggers, ready to act.
He and his Dawi were ready to sacrifice themselves for their home, as always.
Right now, he wondered what was within their otherworldly minds at this moment and there were still things that were still unknown about them. For that, he decided to break some ice and get some more information from them, just like how his cadre always meant to do.
_
'That went about as well as expected,' Ainz thought as he followed the recently introduced "Storm lord" along the Underway. The dwarves were noticeably wary of Cocytus, especially the older ones.
Ainz recalled how their first meeting went. 'The rune was well worth the investment.'
A few years ago, back in the New World, Ainz had given the mask to the dwarves when they informed him of the first working prototype of runecraft. The rune etched on the Mask of Envy was called "Sjarm" and worked similar to a charm spell; those caught in its general area of effect would experience decreased aggression, as well as making them more open to dialogue. In Yggdrasil, cursed items like the Mask of Envy cannot be enchanted or upgraded, but it seemed RunecraftTM did not obey this particular rule.
Although not quite as powerful as mind control, it was useful enough for diplomacy. The "Dawi" even believed him of his excuse of having a condition that warrants not exposing his face.
Besides the differences in technology, Ainz noticed that these dwarves were much more paranoid than the dwarves of the New world. In fact, he had to leave the golems outside the outpost per their order.
There was also their… aversion towards the insectoid guardian. While Ainz understood that heteromorphs like Cocytus were feared, he did not know what they were talking about when allegations of being a "chaos daemon" were leveled against him.
Fortunately, Lord Karnji had seemed to believe his tale of "coming from another world". The dwarf was able to calm the others somehow.
For their sake, Ainz agreed to hold an obsidian stone for the remainder of this meeting. Apparently, they nullify magic here. 'This world's magic I suppose. Tier magic works just fine.'
And they did. Ainz had immediately tried to use [Time stop] and [Message] upon being handed the stone. Sure enough, the spells worked just as intended.
'Still if what they say is true, I should consider hoarding them. Would be a good counter against those shamans.'
As for Cocytus, Karnji also managed to convince the other dwarves that "it doesn't quite feel like chaos", or whatever that means. The fact that the insectoid even let one of the smiths inspect his "divine eastern blade" also helped.
Although, Ainz could still hear the grumblings of the nearby elder dwarves called "longbeards".
"So, the rune. What does it do exactly?"
Ainz was jolted out of his thoughts upon hearing Karnji's question.
'Damn it. What should I say? They probably won't trust me if I tell the truth. How about..'
"I will have to apologize, the runesmith was rather insistent that I shouldn't disclose what it does." Ainz replied after a few moments.
Karnji held a neutral expression, one that did not betray his feelings about Ainz's answer. A moment of silence later, he gave a light chuckle.
"Ah it seems even in a different world, the Dawi there are not so different from us after all. At least you know what to expect from the runesmiths here. Mind your head," the dwarf said as they entered another part of the cavernous tunnel.
Behind them some of the troops of the outpost marched along the way. There were also miners engaged in work on the sides. While they wouldn't admit it, they were rather relieved from the usual heat they had to endure down in the tunnels due to Cocytus's freezing passive ability, even though it was suppressed.
'Looks like I still got it.' Ainz thought while giving a mental sigh of relief.
"And that sword of your guard, it was quite an impressive piece of weaponry. Hergren, the smith you met earlier couldn't stop raving about it. And he is quite hard to impress and among the more silent types, to gain such a reaction from him is not an easy task."
Karnji looked back to his friend right behind him, only to find him secretly eyeing Cocytus's blade with admiration and wonderment. Catching the eyes of his friend's amusing look, he immediately turned away, though Karnji was still very much aware that his smith friend still periodically had a glance at it.
"May I ask, where did you find such a sword? Asking for a friend of course, if you don't mind."
To that, Ainz glanced at Cocytus.
Like with all the denizens of Nazarick, he wanted to have the Guardian of the Fifth floor to interact with the world around them more for he believed it was vital to one's own growth as an individual. Over time, others had shown such progress as well, though one of the greatest examples was still Cocytus, especially since it already happened quite early on his conquest of the Lizardmen tribes. Considering that Cocytus was accompanying him now and potentially would accompany him more frequently in the future as his usual bodyguard and general, in many ways, it was vital for such ability to be more refined. This applied to several others within the Tomb as well, for similar and different reasons.
Feeling the glance from his lord and understanding his intent, Cocytus began, solemn and reverence was his voice.
"This blade was not found… It was made. Its original owner as well as its maker was Lord Takemikazuchi, now given to me by Himself. He was a lord of my home - the one that I personally paid a special homage to, a great friend of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown and was the greatest and the most honorable warrior and blacksmith I ever had the honor to know."
"A great and honorable warrior as well as a fine blacksmith!? He must be quite a lad!" Karnji said with wonderment and amusement
"He indeed was." Cocytus nodded, replying pridefully.
"And his name…" Karnji continued, wondering "Maybe this was just a hunch, but it sounds rather… Far Eastern."
"Far Eastern?" Ainz asked.
"Yes, indeed, maybe it was just a coincidence and just a hunch, I don't personally meet those from there much, mostly just heard about them. Still, perhaps different worlds do not mean things have to be too different huh?" Karnji replied with a musing chuckle.
"Yes… probably." Ainz answered almost hesitantly, as he thought of what Karnji just said.
'First the sword and now Takemikazuchi's name… This can be something I need to look into. If they somehow have a fantasy version of medieval East Asia here, then fate is seriously laughing at me right now… And maybe, there would even be a possibility that we are not even the only YGGDRASIL entities here…'
As Ainz was deep in his thoughts, the Storm Lord looked to his friend once more, he spoked.
"You know, you can ask them more about the sword if you seriously want to, right? I will allow it."
Hearing his friend's proposal, Hergren decided to take his chance, his voice enthusiastic, and in the light of the nearby lamps, his eyes seemingly radiant with the fire of the desire to learn.
"Excuse me, but did he come with you to this world?"
Cocytus remained silent - one that Ainz could understand. For that, Ainz decided to take his place.
"He did not…" Ainz replied in a solemn tone. "Even before back in the world, he had personal businesses to take care of, one that required him to go to another place, far away."
Presumably noticing what he meant, Hergren's face saddened, the previous enthusiasm seemed to have ceased away.
"I… I did not know, I am sorry for asking."
"Don't be, it is an honor" Cocytus replied, pridefully. "Such appreciation of the work of my Lord is always a welcome thing. And since He is not here, I give you His gratitude for your compliment and enthusiasm in His stead."
"I… see, thank you." Hergren replied in gratitude as Cocytus returned a nod of approval.
Seeing the atmosphere a bit too solemn from the talk and considering there were still things that needed to be known from them, Karnji spoke up once more, changing the air around them.
"Speaking of which, how did you get that mask with that rune by the way?" He said, partially continuing the topic he wanted. "Runesmiths of our kind here don't exactly give runes out to others easily, more so to outsiders, to say the very least. Runes, after all, are works of art and literal symbols of power, not something that can be just distributed freely and especially not to those unworthy and those unable to appreciate them."
'Just my luck, these dwarves will be harder to make a deal with than I expected.'
"A rather long story to be honest." Ainz said in half truth. "This is not the first time I encountered the dwarven kind. Long story short for simplistic sake, I helped save a dwarven kingdom in my world and this was one of the gifts they gave me."
The atmosphere around them seemed to lighten up with the revelation of the new information. The gestures of dwarven warriors around them started to relax more as they looked at the two of them with a far less tensed gaze.
"HA, A DAWI FRIEND! Different world or not, it matter not!" Karnji laughed jovially. "The King will love to hear this. It may as well lighten his usual grim mood for at least a bit. He might be more willing to help you once he receives this information."
Then, Ainz could have sworn he saw a sudden flash of light in the seasoned gaze of the raven beard dwarf. Or it was simply the reflection of the surrounding lights to his eyes.
"After all, like the Great Mother of the Dawi - Valaya has taught us, we must always do our best to help a Dawi friend in need."
"That is… a very wise teaching." Ainz admitted.
"Of course it is," Karnji insisted proudly, "It is the wisdom from one of our most revered Ancestor Gods after all."
He then switched to a more solemn demeanor as he momentarily set his gaze on Cocytus before glancing at Ainz, questioningly.
"And another thing about your companion… Though I know he is not a chaos filth," the word "chaos" rang out similar to a whisper "I need to know. What IS he?"
'Chaos? Again, the hell is that?' Ainz mentally exclaimed, clearly hearing the intentionally blurred out word with his superhuman sense.
"He is an insectoid. And one of my strongest warriors, mind you."
"An insectoid?"
"Humanoid insects, you could say, they don't exist here in this world?"
"No….I don't think they do." Karnji pondered. "At most, it could be the result of mutation. Yet, it does not exactly feel like it."
"What sort of races exist here?"
"Oh besides us and the humans? There are those pointy eared bastards on the west; they call themselves "high elves". Beides their arrogance, they are civilized and are normal compared to their… darker kin." Karnji almost spit at their mention. He remembered many of his kin being slayed or captured by those damned slavers. He also remembered the satisfaction of butchering druchii corsairs alongside his throng as well as seeing one of their infamous black arks being destroyed by dawi vessels.
He took a deep breath and continued. "There are also tree loving fanatic variants called wood elves, try not go into their forests by the way, they shoot first, ask questions never."
"Interesting…" Ainz pondered.
That partially reminded him of his first encounters with the Wood Elves in the Elven Kingdom back in the New World. Back then, they were at a terrible war with the once-existing Slane Theocracy. With their border surrounded by their enemy, it was rational for those elves to have such a hostile defensive attitude toward foreigners, for any of them was quite possibly an enemy. He wondered if the Wood Elves here were in the same situation.
Or they were just simply ultra-isolationists.
"There is also something I forgot to ask you back then." The Storm Lord asked, his voice questioning.
"Yes, ask anyway," Ainz replied, however seemingly casually. "We are currently in your custody after all."
"Since you were from a different world transported here by a magical means." Karnji replied, there was a certain grunt in his tone. "Where did you arrive?"
"It was near what looked like a fortress built in a mountain of molten iron, I think the hulking green creatures there called it "Iron Rock ?''
Karnji's mind raced as he heard the mentioning of that name.
'Could it be?'
"Yes, I know that place." He said, his voice was seemingly nostalgic and not so pleasant. "Many brave dawi have tried to retake and hold it, but to no avail, those greenskins were simply overwhelming, like always."
His eagle-like gaze then glanced at the two besides him.
"However, most recently, my rangers reported that that area has been silent in a very odd way, almost otherworldly. Were you two perhaps responsible for that?"
Ainz perked up, if it were not for his experience and who he was, he would have been far more nervous. Such level of sharpness was something he expected from the old dwarf, he was still very much impressed by it till now regardless.
"You… definitely can say that, my party secured the place to be our temporary base for the time being. Especially since the surrounding area was seemingly hostile so to speak and we have too many resources with us when transported."
There were rumbling whispers among the dwarves on the subject. Some were impressed, some felt a bit pity for it was not them who did it, some were simply interested, but the Storm Lord paid not much mind into it.
"Indeed, that is a wise move for the situation if you have the resource, Ainz Ooal Gown. And may I ask, how exactly did you secure it?"
"The golem army did most of the job, the one back there was only a small contingent so to speak." He lied, "Besides them, I and another joined in the fight."
"Another? As in, it was not your bodyguard here and there were others as well?"
"Yes, there are several others that came with us to this world as well. They are still in Iron Rock to defend the place and setting things up. Someone has to defend the base after all."
"Understandably so." Storm Lord nodded before he continued. "And if you have taken Iron Rock, what do you think about those green savages?"
"Well, they are big, hulking, and overall very warlike. Anything in particular you could tell me about them?"
"I might as well. They are not normal beings of just flesh and bones, in fact, they release fungal spores upon death, from which eventually more of those buggers are born. When one of our holds gets attacked, our Iron drakes have their hands full with clean up duty." Karnji said, seemingly having calmed down.
'Basically orcs and goblins that grow on mushrooms. Just what I needed, good thing I found that now at least. And Iron drakes? Don't tell me they have iron dragons too! These dwarves are definitely a lot cooler than the ones back in the New World.'
"Oh, and they are seemingly stronger when more of them are around."
'A passive buff? Quite a few were there when that shaman attacked. Would explain how it got through high tier nullification.' Ainz thought as he recalled that day's events.
"I see. Thanks for letting me know, lord Karnji."
"Don't mention it. Just make sure you clean up Iron Rock again."
"We also encountered some rat people down in the mines.They were quite hostile and had to be put down. I hope they weren't considered your allies."
The throng seemed to come to a halt once his word stopped. As if the question itself was a severe insult to their very existence, their gaze turned far more hawkish, especially the older ones, the whispers became almost hostile as the atmosphere seemingly tenser than ever. Immediately, Karnji stared back, the troops calmed down knowingly and they returned to marching as before.
"The skaven are anything but allies." Karnji's voice was that of emphasis. "You're lucky I know you're unfamiliar with this place, another dawi might have put you in the book. Anyway, they are also one of the other dangerous threats you need to look out for. Those vermin have basically everything under their furry sleeves, and all of them are insane enough to do anything to get their objective done."
Karnji threw Ainz a warning gaze for a moment.
"From what it sounded like, I will guess that the ones that attacked you were just a small raid squad. Their true army though, if they decided to be serious, it will be something far different by itself. We Dawi know it far deeper than any."
'Expected, but definitely not something I wanted to hear, still…'
"I see… Hmm, are there any other threats in this world that I need to know about? Besides the aforementioned." Ainz continued to ask with little hesitation. He simply required to know.
The Storm Lord's gaze became distant and grimer as he stared deep into the darkness beyond. In the light of the nearest lamp, his body was splitted into two shades, his features seemingly more ragged, his face seemingly darken.
"There are many dangers in this world, Ainz Ooal Gown… Too many in fact." Karnji replied. "Besides the numerous beasts that littered around the world, normal bad individuals running around this world and the ones I have mentioned and you have seen, there are two more groups."
"In the land known as Sylvania and in forgotten ruins and caves littered around the worlds," he continued, seemingly begrudgingly "There are undead and necromancers, the most dangerous of them being blood sucking abominations the humans called vampires."
'Great, just my luck…'
His hypothesis was correct; even beyond worlds affected by YGGDRASIL, undeads are still hated beings of terror that needed to be put down and necromancy is stil a taboo. But alas, it was something expected, it is understandable why messing with the souls and death is considered as universally unacceptable by the morals of the majority. It would have been more beneficial for him and Nazarick if it had not been so though.
Yet, at the same time, Ainz mentally and silently appreciated his luck and paranoid personality, as he imagined the sheer problem that he might have caused if he had brought with him Shalltear, or a Death Knight or went without a disguise.
Then, in the corner of his eyes, Ainz saw his grip on his amulet become stronger, Karnji's voice seemingly slowly becoming more quiet.
"And then… There is Chaos. They are potentially everywhere in the outside world, beyond the safety of a Dawi's hold really." He continued, "In the North near the pole; in the deep uncharted wild; as well as in secret dark corners within places of civilizations, there laid them. The types they come in are various, however, most commonly found in this part of the world, if you are unlucky enough, would be the cultists and the beastmen in the wild."
'Beastmen… As in Demihumans? I see that demihumans here too, get a bad rap. Apparently for additional reasons as well.'
"I see... Are all beastmen affiliated with this… chaos?" Ainz continued to ask, trying to be careful.
"Yes, all of them are, whether they are goats, bulls or centaur. They all have a certain wrongness in them." Karnji reaffirmed, seemingly noticing a casualness in Ainz's words. "Judging by your tone, I would say that you might have considered the possibility that some of them are good at heart or useful… My word of advice: don't, it is not worth wasting resources and risking yours and others' lives for such a naive and pretentious academic hypothesis. Same goes for the cultists."
"And if those are what we may be unlucky enough to encounter here… What is the worst case that could possibly happen universally?"
"In the worst cases scenarios, one that I pray no good soul would ever have to encounter…"
His voice became more like whispers, his blank seasoned raven gaze stared at Ainz death in the eyes.
"Daemons…"
'Again, those two terms came up again, Chaos and Daemons, yet there is no clear explanation as to what they are exactly.'
Ainz pondered. With his experiences back in the New World and his experience overall, the word "demon" can have so many meanings, some may not actually be demons in conventional sense. After all, at least some of the so-called Demonic Deities, as he found out, were not demons at all, they were actually of other Heteromorphic races. Although he knew it was very likely bad to ask, he simply needed to be more clear on this.
"And may I ask, these daemons… What are they like and what do they look like? And what is Chaos exactly?"
As he spoke those words, Karnji's gazes immediately steered away, everyone halted what they were doing, standing still, not daring to make a sound, their eyes darting in every direction. To his "ears", unidentifiable amalgamation of silent sounds so close yet so distant away, echoing in a nonstop mismatched rhythm. And judging from others' reactions, there was seemingly a chill as well, one that was more like a sudden shot from nowhere and not the casual coldness like that from Cocytus.
This happened for a while, until everything became silent once more.
Before they returned to their march, Ainz and Cocytus met the gaze of the Storm Lord once more, this time, it was a more haunted look, filled with warning.
"That… I can not answer… and in many ways, should not be answered…" Karnji replied, his voice was a whisper as he tried to look around, his sense flaring.
"Here at least. In fact, that question should NOT be thrown around so casually! Such a thing should only be asked in sanctified places, in a far more discreet way to the right person! Even then, for some, such an action could be considered as staining the place with the mentioning of such a concept! If you asked the public or an Imperial Witch Hunter such a question in such a way, they would be more than glad to torture you and burn you on a pyre, especially since you are a mage no less."
He turned away, then took a breath before continuing in a tone of disgust.
"But I will give you a short, tamed version of your second question. The Dark Power is THE threat, since the dawn of time, when the Ancestor Gods still walked among us. They, as the whole, are worse than anything in this world. Worse than any beasts, worse than the dragons in the mountains or in the deep sea, worse than the Undeads, worse than any Greenskin, worse than the enslaving Druchii, and no doubt worse than those rats!"
Then his voice switched to one of absolute venerance.
"So much so, in the Great Catastrophe, our great Ancestor God Grimnir, blessed be His name, by his faultless untaintable honor and his divine strength, had to march into their cursed realm to hold back the eldritch tide till this very day… But even then, those abominations still spilled out into the world every now and then, from the North or by the twisted acts of Its worshippers."
Finally, his voice was that of pity as well as urging as he glanced at both of them.
"From what I could guess from your questions, the world you were from is a safe haven, at least, safer than this one. For that, I urge your party to find a way back as soon as possible, it is not worth staying here. And definitely not through the Dark Power. It is not worth it…"
In the end, throughout what was left of the journey, there was only silence, a tense, unnerving silence among all of them.
Within Ainz right then, the ambient fire that was his hatred for Platinum Dragon Lord only burned brighter and brighter forevermore as he silently cursed the creature in every way he could muster.
Eventually, they reached another turning, the sounds of mining works grew louder as more and more dwarves became visible.
Ainz saw more of the Dwarven warriors clad in those heavy dark armor guarding the cavern, not dissimilar to some of the more elite troops within the army that was escorting him. He noted that their defensive stats were absurdly high compared to their levels and theorized that the armor was the reason.
Ainz's estimation of the supposedly grim dwarf king went up a notch seeing as how widespread the armor sets were.
'Far better than hoarding adamantite like nobles back there anyway. ' He thought while mentally shaking his head.
After some time, the cavern opened up, revealing the side entrance to what seemed to be the harbour judging by the various ships docked in.
"Welcome to Barak Varr lads," Ainz heard from a nearby dwarf warrior.
Hundreds of thick chains hung from the darkness of the roof of the harbour cavern. At the end of each, was an octagonal lantern the size of a nobleman's carriage, which allowed an even yellow light that seemed to help the ships navigate their way to the docks.
While there were normal looking merchant medieval ships, there were also warships belonging to what Ainz assumed to be the Dwarf navy.
Ainz expected to see medieval warships, instead he saw contraptions similar in design to destroyers and battleships that many Corporate-owned navies used on his Earth.
Smoke belched out of them. They were massive paddle streamers with chimneys and gun turrets, and covered with thick metal armor plates. They might as well be floating fortresses.
Quite a few of them were smaller single turreted frigates while some were more armored multi turreted ships as big as normal galleys. Ainz failed to ignore the even larger steam powered destroyers that were coming back from their patrols.
The collector's instinct in Ainz ramped up to eleven, and before the spirit of his dark "military otaku" past could rear its ugly head, his emotional suppression kicked in.
'Color me impressed, I knew they were advanced, but this… has exceeded my expectations.' The war machines were an intimidating sight, he wondered how mere savage beings like the greenskins gave these dwarves a hard time.
'Perhaps before we go back I should try to gain some insight on how they're built. Would certainly help in our exploration efforts,' He noted in his mental to-do list.
Back in the New World, the continent he and his NPCs landed was mostly fully mapped and traveled. Along with project Utopia, apparently the next phase of his "ten thousand year plan" was to colonize a new continent according to Demiurge. Ainz, of course, went along with it, hoping to find some of his long lost friends there.
Humans and dwarves alike crowded the streets, and quite a few of them eyed the mage and his beetle companion warily. Although, it seemed the presence of the dwarf throng was enough to allay their fears.
To his right and beyond the docks, there lay a city of stone. The dwarf kingdom of his world, during the many years of being a vassal of the Sorcerer Kingdom, had seen long term occupants from other races inside their caverns. It seemed the Barak Varr administration was similar in that regard, judging by the houses and mercantile buildings arranged along broad avenues under the shadow-hidden roof of the cave, yet interestingly they had obvious dwarven influences.
The buildings themselves were squatter, and more massively built than standard human houses. All steel grey granite and decorated to the roof peaks with Dwarven ornamentation. Even the smallest of them looked as if it could withstand a cannon-blast.
A steampunk metro city through and through.
Despite getting hurled into a new, dangerous world, there was a pleasant feeling of excitement and wonder in Ainz, not too dissimilar from the early days of exploring YGGDRASIL.
'Heh. Perhaps this trip isn't too much of a disaster.'
He disguised a chuckle, and followed the throng into the hold.
-xxx-