AN: Thank You for reading, Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord, that all goes to Maruyama-sama
Pe Ryuro had met a strange human who he learned was the 'Guild Master'. His Demi-human mind assumed that he was the lord of the guild he found himself in, so he had to tread carefully. The 'Lord of the Guild' had given the quagoa a document which he couldn't read, but that was to be expected by Pe Riyuro, who was illiterate. Maybe if it had been Dwarven script he would be able to partially read it but sadly that wasn't the case.
The Guild Master, Amic d'Vressa, started explaining to Pe Riyuro that it was a special document for transit, being able to act as a temporary payment within Baharuth. If officials in the Empire needed to travel somewhere unexpectedly or swiftly make their way to a designated location without worrying about payment of services until after whatever circumstances straightened themselves.
Or at least that was how it was described to Pe Riyuro by the human in front of him, it was a lot to pile on to his already growing mountain of burdens.
Amic seemed to be friendly enough to the quagoa lord, as he had walked him out of the Guild, still repeating his explanation of what Pe Riyuro was to do. While he appreciated the 'Guild Lords' willingness to help him, the repetitions of humans' word's were starting to annoy Pe Riyuro, first was the guard at the gate and now the guild master.
'Why must all you humans repeat yourselves so many times? Do you like to hear your voices so much?' The Quagoa Lord complained to himself as he was led out the door of the Adventurer's Guild.
The first thing that both Amic and Pe Riyuro noticed was the tenable lack of activity that once flowed through the streets of Straeland, parading itself audibly around the city blocks. Now it was as if the once bustling city was a ghost town, stranger still was that it seemed to happen all at once, with no indication of there ever being anybody in the first place.
Pe Riyuro watched Amic cup his chin while scrunching his face before turning around and grumbling his way inside, this change of atmosphere both startled and again confused the almost lucid Demi-human, leaving him bewildered once more. That was when his fur stood up on end.
A skeletonized horse, spewing a sick yellow fog as if infecting the air itself, and a being reeved in spikes, waiting to crush with its shield and sever with its sword. The two beings emanated a feeling of dread and destruction he had felt all too well.
The Death Knight hauled its body with its dreadful gait, beside it was a Soul Eater, the death knight specifically had just been ordered to Straeland as one of the 'projects' by the Emperor. Today was the day that the lot of leased undead were finally released from the warehouse outside of Arwinter which they had been placed to try and contain panic, though that did little to ease the often well-founded fear the living would feel if they knew they would be in the same area as a bloodthirsty undead.
Upon the duo's entrance to the city, having already been briefed of their dreaded arrival by word of the local mayor, even the guards hid out of sight. The only sound that was carried by the wind was the fiendish steps of death upon the earth.
Pe Riyuro locked eyes with the death knight, he felt that he was just strong enough to beat it if it would be a one on one, however, the horse like creature walking alongside it gave him a feeling of certain death. The quagoa lord simply froze in front of the Adventurer's guild as the undead lumbered past him. The Death Knight kept the eye contact that Pe Riyuro accidentally committed to as it passed by.
He wanted to leave, he wanted to hurry up and go back to his clan. The golden furred quagoa shook his head as he made his way in the direction that he recalled being told that Arwinter was. Pe Riyuro also remembered the paper for transport that the guild lord had given him. He would use it but the Human never told Pe Riyuro where to hand it in, which seemed like extreme shortsightedness for any type of lord, especially after Amic had to explain what the document even was.
The quagoa rubbed his snout in moderate frustration, as the human seemed like he was trying to help, but his help was utterly useless. Or perhaps that was why he had been repeating himself? Pe Riyuro grumbled in consternation at his whimsical fate.
After resting in a burrow outside the city-limits of Straeland, in a forested path heading to Theiries and then Arwinter, Pe Riyuro walked. He hadn't gotten a full nights rest in awhile, especially being in such an unknown environment as Baharuth. The lord of the quagoa continued his journey in silence.
An ape was sprawled out on a table, limbs fastened by some kind of metallic bars that locked into place. Its tail hung limply from between its legs, the only thing that wasn't locked in place, as even its neck was secured by two bars, each running against its jaw as to not crush its throat.
An odd sensation, one of both wholesome bliss and terrible loneliness. The feeling of an ignorant foreboding, like he could open his eyes, or keep them shut for all he wished. As his awareness consolidated within his concussed head he heard an unknown voice and then felt a sharp pain which caused his eyes to shoot open.
"Let's get this tail out of the way, just in case." A gliding voice casually said. Before Mu'Aaz could even react, he realized the figure in front of him was already sawing at his tail.
The realization of pain made Mu'Aaz finally, absolutely awake. His arms and legs flailed within their restraints, but it wasn't enough, he could feel the blade tearing through what little of his tail he had left, he clenched his jaw but the pain from him previously smashing his own tooth out was too severe, the empty cavity pulshed with heat inside his mouth.
An even worse sensation than that of a blade cutting his flesh arose from his partially severed tail. The sound of wet paper being shredded resounded inside the tent and Mu'Aaz screamed with all he had. Such a wail, the sound of agony, echoed across the surroundings. The Demi-humans ordered to stand still outside the tent despaired internally, dreading such a fate to befall them. They didn't show or voice such thoughts, out of fear of actualizing them from the wrath of their new master.
The masked being before him had just yanked on Mu'Azz's tail in a sideways direction, splaying apart flesh, skin and fur from the vertebrae and cartilage which made up his prehensile tail. His tail now hung paralyzed as a mangled mess of organic tissue, as the force had destroyed the nerves needed for movement, and thankfully, the pain as well.
"Oh. I seem to have woken you, I apologize for the disturbance." The being said in what Mu'Aaz thought was a rather compassionate tone, but it was obviously served to mock him.
Mu'Aaz conflictedly decided it was best for him to try to play this devils desplicable game, he didn't want to but he was not in a bargaining seat after all, the mysterious being before him just demonstrated as such. His consciousness might have come back to him, but that didn't mean his mind was any more clear than it was before he regained wakefulness. His eyes finally scanned around the place that he found himself, as he couldnt move his head, he immidiately wished that he didn't.
Lining the walls of what he could assume to be a large tent, were many Demi-Humans of differing species, suspended on what looked like meat hooks through their shoulders. Most had the look of being dead for a minor amount of time while others still clung to life, somehow. Blood seemingly trickled from their pores, as if desperately trying to escape the body which it was suppose to bring life to. Others ran along wounds, following the lines of cuts in the body until it reached a point where it had no choice but to drop to the ground, slowly dying the grass underneath red.
The masked figure before Mu'Aaz, rather than laugh grandly, simply chuckled condescendingly. Seeming to take notice and enjoyment of his plight, and then subsequently walking out of the tent with an air of superiority, as if he had better things to do. From where the devil exited, another being came.
The being which he had remembered, the twisted tree revealed itself and then spoke,
"Either be a good monkey, or you can find out what happens to the bad ones." Its wilting voice creaked like a rotting door.
By that statement Mu'Aaz could only hope, the evil creatures that have decided to fall upon the Abelion Hills haven't gotten to his tribe.
"If I do as you say, will my tribe be safe?" Mu'Aaz didn't know what to expect from the beings who so brazenly displayed their trophies in the manner of haning meat, but maybe he could at least secure if not his safety, than that of his tribe. He quickly realized his hopes were all but ash in the wind.
"Well... We'll just have to see. After all, we need do materials." The being that Mu'Aaz could only define as a tree that had been twisted with evil life spoke.
"M-Mater-ilths?!" The stone eater Lord all but shouted, as his jaw was almost held shut, and the pain of a missing tooth caused a mispronunciation and lisp.
"Im glad you understand." The evil creature in front of Mu'Aaz said in what sounded like laughter, the great stone eater wondered what would become of his people.
The waves made by the falling star of the hills was already sinking anything in its path. On instant, tribal settlements were dominated. Some would welcome the bloodthirst, others who were more pacifistic were slain or thrown into the new 'internment camps' as he liked to call them, culled from the horde of ever expanding, murderous entropy which encased those who chose to embrace their new banner.
Jaldabaoth, or specifically at this moment, Demiurge gazed at the map rolled out in front of him, his mask was in his inventory for the time being as he was safe from prying eyes. For now, before taking one of the Holy Roble Kingdom's cities as a base of operations he had to renovate a previous harvesting facility, but that was no matter, as being 'Jaldabaoth' gave him free reign over overt cruelty, that was the persona he was portraying after all.
The Arch-Devil's hand drew approximate boundaries of his horde of demi-humans, the border went from the mountain range in the east which seperates the Abelion Hills from the Slane Theocracy, into a parabola arcing through the center of the Abelion hills and connecting to parts of the northern area of the mountain range. Demiurge's location was centered in this precisely estimated boundary. Everything had been going to plan.
'Excellent, this must be going so smoothly because of Ainz-Sama. I should have known his reach was far beyond comprehension.' Demiurge pondered how many strings the mighty Supreme Being operates from atop his great throne, figuring that it was forever an unknowable number until his great .
The devil refocused back to the map and out of reverence of his master, marking the next areas to absorb.
Papers littered the area around the desk, some crumpled, others crossed out, at times both. The pen used to write lay empty, its vial of ink recently depleted.
The Bloody Emperor wracked his brain for an idea but all he could think of was a "celebration" marking his vassalage. There was always the Empire's anniversary, but that was half a year away, and even that was usually only celebrated by the ruling class, not the masses. He knew how to organize the ideas of events not plan for them, that would be for whomever the actual planning was delegated to.
He resigned himself to the choice of celebration the Empire's vassalage, as that would be the only thing remotely relevant enough to possibly accrue the energy needed to distract everyone from the lurking undead.
Jircniv exited his chambers, he thought that maybe he too, could gladly use this distraction that he was setting up.
When he had reached his throne and took his seat, a guard presented himself seemingly rather urgently. This didn't sit well with the emperor, not one bit.
The guard was kneeled in subservience, with the dignity expected of one of the Royal Guard. Jircniv allowed him to speak.
"Thank you for gracing us with your presence your Majesty. There has been reports of a lone but powerful Quagoa wondering through Baharuth on-route to Arwinter from Straeland." the guard stated, immediately causing Jircniv confusion rather than anxiety.
"Well, if he is simply on-route, I don't see any reason to stop him. After all we have updated our policies on all non-humans, now since you're already here, summon general affairs." Jircniv commanded, to which the knight succinctly nodded and dismissed himself to complete the emperor's order.
Officially it was the Conventional Committee of Everyday Happenings, but Jircniv found it too cumbersome to say the whole thing so it was shortened to General Affairs. It was exactly what it sounded like, the general monotonies of daily life, but transcribed into administrative form. Jircniv would be delegating the planning of this event onto their hands.
As he sat on his throne, his mind traced back to the words of the guard, he wondered what a Demi-Human would want in Baharuth. Jircniv's mind gravitated towards some evil plot orchestrated by the devil known as Ainz Ooal Gown, granted even if it was, from his experience he knew he could only hope it wasn't the case.
