Chapter 9

Declaration

-The Great Tomb of Nazarick

-Tenth Floor-

-Guild Leader's Quarters-

Ainz inwardly sighed, his back shuddered as his back finally gave up. I'm so bored. Was the single thought that went through his head.

Times like this makes me want to play a game. YGGDRASIL would've usually filled this gap but... It starting to become repetitive again... Work, break, work. It's a death march. Wait, since I'm already dead does that mean it would change from the death march to the life march? Holy march? Gah! This is so confusing! Although, if I finish this paperwork I could take a few a quests from the Adventurer's Guild or maybe I should practice my swordsmanship with Cocytus or spend time with the off-duty denizens? Yeah, that's a nice thought. With that thought in mind, Ainz doubled his efforts in clearing the paperwork. How does Madara-san even finish his paperwork without him being here?

The answer came to him instantly. Clones. I wish I had that assassin class...

A knock on the door abruptly kicked him out from his musings.

"Enter!" he called his voice firm and controlled due to his training under Madara.

As always, Albedo came in with reports retaining information of the floors and the information of his and Madara's projects, although most of his fellow guildmember's project were kept from his view until they finished construction or the strongest member of the guild deemed him accepted to receive the information.

"Ainz-sama," Albedo's greeting was simple and curt, although a bit of hesitation but Ainz just waved that off for now.

"Albedo, the daily reports of the floors and projects I presume?" the skeleton overlord inquired, his hand already waiting for the reports to fall in his hands. I wonder what projects Madara-san has finished. He subtly thought.

"Here you go, Ainz-sama," Albedo stated, the reports now falling into Ainz's hands.

I should really give her a personal gift soon... She has contributed to me than any other NPC, even if I messed with her settings... He nodded in appreciation, sending a subtle glance at Albedo. "Hm... Let's see..." Project Green is now bearing fruit, quite literally; Madara's Steel Project has finished and he's building up his monopoly and soon we'll be able to secure a rather heavy source of income if his predictions are correct. Hmm... Project Barrel?

"Albedo, do you know any specific details pertaining to Madara-san's Project Barrel?" Ainz inquired, his gaze turned from the reports to Albedo.

The succubus nodded. "Yes, it did interest me as well. The idea of using this to destroy armies... I believe that the inner components are similar to an Automaton. The idea of a non-organic machine not powered by magic rather powered by an unknown mixture of earthly components," her reply was most helpful as it basically identified the object, a nuke.

Honestly, Ainz was not surprised, the Uchida Enterprise that had subtly taken over entire countries had invested many amounts of cash to start up their weapon industry branch. To think that I'm on equal footing with the man who took over countries economically is... Scary. The thought of the man who not only created the largest company in the world but also owned a grand total of 30% of YGGDRASIL's stocks was in their guild... It had been a hectic year once the Uchida company started forcing the "shitty developers" to pump out so many updates that it had to continuously buy more servers to host the influx of players.

At least then more than 40% of the guild returned from inactivity to complete the expansions. Ainz, as well as many YGGDRASIL players, would hate to admit but the Uchida company extended YGGDRASIL's lifetime by a few years.

Then a person by the name of the person who practically reunited them sent a request to join their guild with level 10 VIP access...

Ainz shook his head to dispell the thoughts.

"I believe Madara-san is preparing for war... Probably with the Empire or Theocracy," Ainz looked at Albedo. "We need to test our security systems... Raise the threat level to yellow... I shall begin my preparations."

Albedo looked confused. "Is there anyone that could even penetrate the first floor of Nazarick?"

"No. I do not think anyone could clear the first floor, only a force of a guild of level 90's could have hoped to," he debunked. "No. Rather I would need to test to the security of Nazarick, checking if key runes, spells, and traps work perfectly. After all, I'm in charge of Nazarick and I can't have Madara taking the brunt of the work, can I?"

Albedo nodded in affirmation.

-The Human Kingdom of Re-Estize-

-Re-Estize-

-Nazarick "Special Operations" HQ-

"Is the lord of the house in?"

Sebas studied the man before him. The blonde hair and blue eyes that was dominant in this kingdom - and possibly other human nations - were, of course, there and his pig face symbolized a noble. The criminals have connections to the nobility and possibly royalty. He put that fact to the back of his mind for later reference.

"Yes," he curtly replied, his back straight. "Unfortunately he has just finished a long journey and needs time to rest."

The noble, obviously seeing through his ploy, said, "Well as chief inspector of this glorious kingdom, I am here to enforce the laws the just and fair Princess Renner has imposed. Your lord is currently under suspicion of slave trafficking."

Human shit.

He doubted after this whole affair that he, Sebas, was going to be left unpunished. "Very well, my lord is this way."

"Servant, are the guards outside your lord's?" the fat noble inquired.

Sebas absently nodded.

"I've never seen armor such as their's do you perhaps know the blacksmith who made it?"

Sebas remained silent, his face as hard as steel. As he finally reached the room Madara's maid, who accompanied him on his trip to Re-Estize, bowed.

He could smell the lust coming from the man. It was absolutely disgusting. Even the more... emotional denizens of Nazarick could control their emotions, to a certain extent. Though he highly doubted that even the ever so lustful Albedo would wet herself seeing Ainz, probably. If not, then... Then he only hoped she had a spare of clothes.

"Madara-sama, Lord Staffan has arrived," he declared as he made way for the duo.

"Greetings to my rather humble abode. My name is Uchiha Madara, my first name is Madara. It's a pleasure to meet you, Staffan-san," the Uchiha motioned for the official to sit.

"The pleasure is all mine," Staffan said gruffly, his eyes slowly wandering over to the lady of the house, Solution. The obese man licked his lips like a thirsty dog as he eyed her rather large bust.

"Eyeing my wife? She's a gem, isn't she?" Madara said with amusement laced with his voice. Solution blushed at the comment.

"Yes, a fine..." The shady man behind Staffan nudged the official, snapping the man out of his stupor. Staffan opted for a silent glare at the man before coughing into his hand. "Ahem... Putting your outstanding beautiful wife aside now, let's get to business." Madara caught the pitiful wink at Solution.

"That would be for the best," he agreed as the duo took a seat on the couch opposite from him.

"Your butler here," Staffan grunted, pointing to Sebas, "has been charged for slave trafficking."

Madara gave a lazy look at Sebas before turning back to Staffan. "I assume you have evidence of this crime?" he asked.

"We have the transaction payment and the seller. As well as a dozen or so witnesses."

A bluff. Madara's eyes wandered to the sullen man. "Hm... If possible, may I speak to this seller? I would like to confirm this confession for myself."

Staffan's eyes squinted - or narrowed but he couldn't tell - in anger. "Do you not trust us?"

Madara pondered on the question for a second. "If I didn't trust the authorities then I would've taken to more... Illegal means of entering the city."

At the mention of illegal activities, the thin man straightened his back slightly, not observable to the unfocused eye but Madara caught it never the less. Staffan scoffed before taking a glance at Solution once more.

[Silent Cast: Message Sebas] Did you not take the stealthy approach here?

The response was slow, most likely due to Sebas' pondering. [No I did not...]

[Silent Cast: Message Sebas] I will find an adequate punishment for your mistake, Sebas.

"Of course, if you pay a certain fine and return the woman... I will overlook this," Staffan stated as he continued to strip Solution with his eyes.

-The Human Kingdom of Re-Estize-

-Re-Estize-

-Adventurer's Guild-

-Blue Rose's Private Apartment-

Blue Rose was... Tense and well alert. The paranoia got bad enough that their arcane caster had to cast 3rd-tier charms around the room.

All of the members of the Blue Rose were assembled in an emergency meeting regarding the... The incident within the castle.

"The most worrying thing about this is how he was able to slip through the barrier me and the other mages made. There was no flaws nor holes that I know of," the masked member of their group stated. "Unless one of the mages made a backdoor..."

"What if he was hired by the Eight Fingers? If so, then they must have known about our plan," their vanguard, Gargan stated. "We might need to change the whole plan..."

One of the twin assassins shook her head. "Even if he was, he didn't hear much, I didn't sense his presence until he slipped into the room," Tina stated.

Lakyus grimaced. "I think we should cancel the raid and focus our attention on protecting Renner," she stated, her eyes tiredly looked at her teammates.

"We could enlist the help of another adamantite team..." the masked arcane caster, Evileye, piped up.

Gargan raised an eyebrow. "Who though? I'm pretty sure Red Drop is out on a quest to right now and they're the only other adamantite team out there," she retorted.

"No, actually there's a new adamantite team, I believe they call themselves Darkness," Evileye stated her eyes moving to meet the large woman.

"Darkness? Accomplishments?" the other twin assassin, Tia, inquired.

"Well... First, they deterred a goblin tribe heading North, defeated an army of thousands of undead in the cemetery in E-Rantel, killed the masterminds of the incident and two skeletal dragons. From there they defeated a strong vampire and defeated a large balisk..." Evileye listed, her eyes studying her teammates' expressions. "And whilst only with two members, the leader and front-line fighter, Momon, and the arcane caster, Nabe, although a little boy and an oranged masked man have been seen hanging around them, time to time."

The whole group's expression was of aweband confusion.

Lakyus was the first to regain her bearings. "Any specifics of them like gender and appearance?"

"Ah yes! Momon is covered from head to toe with an armor of unknown design and material, although it's speculated that it's made of adamantite, he wields two huge broadswords also of unknown design and material. Nabe, on the other hand, wears rather plain clothes and a cloak, it's unknown if they are enchanted or not, she wields a sword but - obviously - her main weapon is her rather strong spells," Evileye explained.

Everyone took in the information.

"Gender?" Lakyus asked in mild annoyance. "I know its obvious but I would like to confirm their gender."

"Well... Momon is male but his appearance is unknown as he never takes off his armor in public. Nabe is female and is described as a beauty rivaling even the "Golden Princess" herself."

Lakyus nodded and sat in silence as she let everyone else to ask their question.

Gargan spoke first, "How authentic is this information?"

"The goblin tribe incident had 2 witnesses, the cemetery incident had the guards' and adventurers' testimonies, the vampire incident had no witness other than Momon himself and a used up crystal that contained a very powerful spell and the battlefield shown a very hard fought battle with scars that would take years to heal. The balisk had the whole guild-worth of witnesses when Momon carried the monster to claim his bounty."

"Okay..." Gargan was rendered speechless.

Lakyus looked worried now. "How long were they adventurers?"

"About 2 to 4 months."

"Wait, did I just hear you correctly? A duo just climbed the ranks to adamantite within a few months?!" Lakyus asked in utter disbelief. "They're most definitely in the realm of heroes..."

Evileye seemed to disapprove that notion. "Despite their accomplishments, I truly believe that they're not within the realm of heroes, a firm leg - possibly half their body - but unless I see them in combat, I do not believe that they are."

"Oh right, you are within the realm of heroes, Evileye..." Gargan mumbled.

"Gargan I assure you that you're at least a foot in the realm of heroes while Lakyus is more of a slippery leg because of her sword," Evileye assured the front liner. "Tina and Tia is a toe in I guess."

The twins shrugged, Gargan seemed a bit happier, and Lakyus had a smile, although a tad bit strained.

"So should we ask them to protect Princess Renner or ask them to take up the plan with a few of us while the rest protect the princess?" Gargan questioned.

"Well we could leave Princess Renner to Momon, at the very least he should have his priorities straight," Lakyus stated. "Although... I don't know if we could fully trust him with royalty..."

Evileye nodded. "Some unsavory rumors describe him as shady and greedy."

"Shady and greedy... That's not a good combination," Lakyus murmured as she bit her fingernail. "We need someone trustworthy but all the while strong..."

"A mercenary group perhaps?" Tia asked as she uncrumbled a piece of paper from her pocket. "I found this advertisement poster on my way back, I thought it was interesting." The poster said in big bold letters: "The Black Army Company." Below it read: "Two copper per hour."

Lakyus raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that they aren't a new illegal brothel?" she asked in a very much serious tone.

"No, I think they are a mercenary group," Tia deadpanned. "I spoke with some of the populous and they said that they are a very trustworthy start-up company and when they were once approached with a bribe to let go of their current request, they responded by throwing the man into jail."

"Wait, you intentionally spoke with other people?" Gargan asked in surprise.

Tia scoffed, "I still have a voice."

Lakyus put a hand to her chin in thought. "On a scale from one to ten, how much do you rate them?" she asked.

Tia shrugged. "Six-ish, nine if the rumors are true."

"Nine... I suppose they have a base here?"

Tia nodded.

-The Human Kingdom of Re-Estize-

-Re-Estize-

-Black Army Company Headquarters-

The Grey Guard, the royal guard of the reaper of Nazarick, Madara Uchiha. While they were most certainly not the most powerful NPCs, they made up with the staggering quality of their weapons and armor. The Angels wore Absolute Divinity of God armor sets, one of the top 10 best purchasable armor sets, and equipped with the best purchasable holy swords, they could easily match a max level player with ease.

The Demons, on the other hand, wore Sinful Choas Armor Sets which, of course, were practically on par with the Absolute Divinity of God armor set. They wielded the best demonic swords.

They were opposites. They were equal.

It is said that Angels and Demons shall never walk along with each other peacefully. Yet, two of such guards guarded the recently renovated building, they even made idle chit-chat as boredom filled their minds.

As a client walked out of the door, a happy smile placed upon his face, the two guards eyed the man. "That makes him the twentieth right?" a deeply masculine voice asked.

"Why do you need to ask me, Wraith? Going senile already?" a feminine voice replied sarcastically.

"Oh shut it, Geduld," Wraith scoffed. "Honestly, despite being so-called divine and virtuous, you have a wicked tongue in your mouth."

A chuckle erupted from Geduld, a harmonious tone that would make any man wet their pants with their seeds. She suddenly stopped her laughter and her posture straightened, Wraith followed her lead.

An assassin and big paladin, both females, looked at them before entering.

-The Human Kingdom of Re-Estize-

-Re-Estize-

-Nazarick's Operations Base-

"It would seem my servant was saving someone from slavery," Madara said in an amused tone. "Of course we only heard his side if the story. Sebas, get the girl."

"At once, Madara-sama." An audible click was heard as the door opened before closing.

"Please do not mind her... Rather unfitting clothing..." Madara said to Staffan. "It might be a tad too big."

Staffan just snorted. "How would we know you didn't change her memory just to match with your story?" he asked in an accusing tone while crossing his arms.

"I suppose I don't have a mage?" Madara shrugged. "Honestly, that high of a tier... Why would you think I have access to someone like that?"

Indeed, in this world 3rd-tier magic were as rare as diamonds. Since this world had low power levels, he suspected mages like those were naturally rare. Of course, it could be just wrong assumptions, but he was willing to take the off chance that he was correct.

Staffan just mumbled in distaste. Before straightening and continuing his interrogation, "Well, I suppose so... Where were you at the time of the transaction?"

"Wrapping up the business deal, as I told you before," Madara responded swiftly. "Before that, I was arriving at the city, through legal means of course."

Despite Sebas' impasse face, he was not calm. He was furious, furious at himself, he caused severe inconvenience to one, if not both, of his masters. By doing a single kindness, he was repaid with something worse than death.

Disgracing his masters.

And that damned insect and his fellow. It enraged the old butler whenever he thought about the fat one and the sullen one. The ones who brought the problem higher than it should be.

He opened the door of the room where Tsuareninya was staying in. He saw that her eyes were red from crying. "My master has called for you," he said sternly. "Come."

The fragile girl stood herself up and walked to Sebas with her head down. "Is he going to kill me?" she asked with hollowed voice.

"No, that would cause more complications for us."

The walk there was silent until they reached the door. Knock. Knock.

"Enter."

Sebas twisted the knob and opened the door. He remained silent as he stepped aside for the both of them to see Tsuareninya. The poor girl fidgeted under her their gazes, especially under Staffan's, undoubtedly recognizing him.

"Y-You..." she whimpered at the sight of the noble.

Staffan suddenly had a cold sweat, now recognizing the woman. "Um... Is her testimony truly necessary?"

Madara raised an eyebrow at the question. "Shouldn't the law be enforced with testimonies? Especially the victim's, I highly doubt that a victim's testimony should be ignored." Strange, what happened to all that arrogance?

The unnamed man put a shoulder to Staffan's shoulder. "Ahem, very well... I'm Succulent, the representative of the institution you kidnapped her from."

Tsuareninya clenched her fists in anger but remained silent.

"From what we've been told, she was enslaved by your institution. This is coming from her," Madara said impassively.

"She is an unreliable source, we had just recently fired her and she's just trying to damage our reputation," Succulent responded swiftly.

Madara raised an eyebrow, "When my butler, Sebas, had found her, he described her state... Dreadful to say the least. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a safeguard on working conditions?"

Staffan stepped right back into the conversation, "I've heard of no such law being implemented. If so, then all of our mines would've been surely closed."

Madara hummed before nodding. "To be truthful to you, I've yet to study the laws of this Kingdom as this place was the last priorities list and I've been unable to obtain a law book. I assume this is due to the lack of people working to copying these important laws?" Even in the Elemental nations, we had a primitive form of a printing press.

Staffan took it with a wince. "The laws are always past around by the mouth of the local officials..."

"Ah. Therein lies the problem, I was ignorant of these laws as no one has told me in detail, I'm only learning the laws from the mouth of the peasants, an unreliable source considering that this is the center of crime... Especially the crime organization, the Eight Fingers."

At this point, Succulent started to hesitate at the sudden knowledge of the notorious organization. "T-This has nothing to d-"

"Ah, but it does... You see the young lady here is branded with the mark of the slave department..." For emphasis, he motioned for the said woman to come to him. "Show them."

"O-Okay..." She lowered her collar, which was easy considering her loose outfit. There was the mark of a chained finger.

"Unfortunately, the priests couldn't heal that part."

Succulent became overcome with anger as he glared daggers at the man. "Are you accusing me of being a representative of the Eight Fingers?!" Killing intent suddenly burst from the man, making Staffan and Tsuareninya to gape in fear.

"Yes," Madara said blandly. "I know this for sure because of the mark on your ankle."

This seemed to calm down Succulent a bit but a sudden shit-eating grin contorted his face. "Well, no one will know that if I kill you and take your woman!"

"Oh? What of Sebas and the girl?" Madara mused with a smirk.

"I'll kill him and take her too!" Succulent roared as he brought out a dagger and charged.

Suddenly the windows broke as bodies were flung in. Staffan gave a shriek of terror as he recognized them as the guards he brought with him.

"Shut your squeals, pig," a heavy but feminine tone said in disgust. Suddenly, chains of dark mist rose up and bound the man and muffled his cries.

Succulent eyes widened as a hand shot out and grabbed his neck. He tried to hit Madara but to no avail as his daggers broke when it contacted the Uchiha's skin. He tried scratching and prying the grip off of him as he gagged and as his windpipe was slowly being crushed.

"You're a millennium too early to scratch me, mongrel," Madara said as his eyes turned red. "Rejoice, however, as you are going to live... Live under my illusion that is."

Illus...ions...

Once he was done with Succulent, Madara turned to his guards. "Restore everything back into order." The Grey Guards bowed before doing their assigned task.

"Hmmm!"

Madara's attention went to Staffan as he continued to fruitlessly struggle in his binds. "You shall report that it was a false report, understand?" The noble's eyes dimmed and his struggle slackened as the illusion art took effect. "Tanya, escort the kind gentlemen out."

The homunculus maid nodded as she gestured for the controlled men out, their movement natural unlike how zombies walked. "Sebas... Since you started this mess, I want you to end it. You should know where they operate."

"Thank you for this chance of retribution, Madara-sama," Sebas bowed, only sparing a glance at Tsuareninya before continuing his path.

"And you, be grateful that you are spared, I'll let Sebas decide your fate. Right now I've got business to attend to." With that said, Madara walked out leaving Tsuareninya all to herself.

She collapsed as her mind tried to comprehend what on this dreadful world just happened. Tears started to well down her face as a feeling of relief filled her. "I-I'm free... I'm finally free..." She hugged herself as she let loose her pent-up feelings. "I'm going to find you... Sister..."

-Slane Theocracy-

-Church of The Divines-

The six heads of the Slane Theocracy knelt down before the figure clad in a dress, her golden hair was free and flowing behind her, bellowing as a gust of wind picked up. Her face was set on a gentle smile, one that the church leaders secretly declare sacred. Her armor was light, although one could tell from the pulsating runes that the armor was heavenly divine in origin.

Yet, the most defining trait was her two white feathered wings and the cross hanging from her neck.

"Greetings bishops," the angel greeted kindly, her voice similar to a whole choir of the Slane Theocracy's best vocalists.

The bishops replied as one, "It's an honor, Lady Gabriel."

"I assume that you're recovering your strength?" Gabriel inquired innocently.

"Yes, the new recruits for the new Sunlight Scripture seem promising but are still lacking in skill and experience that the previous had," the bishop the angel's farthest left stated.

Gabriel nodded. "That is to be expected, my fathers have been alerted of this menace and have instructed me to aid in your recovery, Heavens' vast knowledge of combat has been invested in me now to you all."

The bishops had a silent cheer of having an archangel guide them.

"Hm... Now having reported everything necessary, how is your ace? I would love to meet her."

Chapter 9 End

It's been a long time, hasn't? If you guys haven't already known, I was wrapping my latest story, which in the end was rushed, and this is the first update, in what? 4 months?

Exams are coming up next week and I need to finish my Virtual Chinese, which sucks, so I might not update until Winter Break.

As my Chinese teacher kept typing at the end of his assessment of my assignments, "Moving forward!"

New discord server: /jwknWgf