Part 1
"What did you say?!"
The once renowned bloody, strong and devious emperor, who was for the past few months sighing and drinking in his castle suddenly stood up after hearing some weird news from a messenger who had barged in.
"Your Majesty... The Sorceror's Kings Undead are going insane!"
"Ainz Ooal Gown's undead going insane? You mean, they're going around killing everybody?
Jircniv's eyes widened as he created an inference on his messenger's words, he could feel his already weak heart silently explode within as his head became dizzier than usual.
Typically, he would have headaches every day because of Ainz Ooal Gown's soul-crushing and intellectual advancements.
But this time, his face became hot from sheer nervousness, he could feel a ring around his head tighten and tighten, thumping inwards as fast as his heart rate
It was only a week before that he had submitted to that stupid undead King, offering him vassalisation, and only days later his soldiers had begun to occupy the entire empire, although not too much.
The streets weren't riddled with undead or anything, only the heart of the empire was under the control of Ainz Ooal Gown.
Actually, Jircniv had suspected that even months before, the Empire was already under the control of Ainz, and he just didn't know it.
So what the hell is happening?!
"N-No, Your Majesty, it's not that-"
Hearing those words, Jirvniv sighed in relief, but still kept his gaze toward the messenger's mouth, hanging on his every word.
Ainz Ooal Gown was an intellectual being, every move was an overly strategic one that would branch out probably decades into the future.
That's why, what's happening now, is anticipatingly horrifying.
"-The undead stationed in the castle are running around, looking everywhere, running outside and into the city. They're screaming and squealing, but not harming anyone."
Ainz Ooal Gown's undead servants acting crazy? Did he let them loose or something? No, he's probably doing this on purpose... Why though? Scare the civilians? What's the point in that beside raising fear?
"..."
No, there has to be some reason. Especially if it's 'Him' we're talking about. But whatever the reason is, the end result won't be so good for us.
"What are the Four Knights doing about it?"
Jircniv took a deep breath and calmed himself, taking a kingly stance that despite the feeling of himself giving up was a thing, he still wanted to maintain the authority and atmosphere of a ruler .
"They're all confronting the undead, the Death Knights but not engaging, they're waiting for orders from you to know what to do!"
"...Make sure they don't harm anyone. Keep confronting them, gather all the squads within the castle to at least stop them from leaving. Send a messenger to the Sorcerous Kingdom, tell them that they've somehow lost control of their forces."
Jircniv wouldn't know what to do, they had just pledged their allegiance to him as a vassal nation.
Now, their soldiers are running rampant.
If it was a normal nation, Jircniv wouldn't hesitate to capture those soldiers and talk to the foreign ministers about them.
But this is the Sorceror's Kingdom he was talking about.
Things could get really messy even with one mistake.
If Jircniv attacked them, who knows what sort of punishment Ainz Ooal Gown would anticipate for the nation.
If Jircniv did nothing, his people would lose faith in him
The only thing that could be done, is making sure they don't hurt anyone.
I don't understand why Ainz Ooal Gown is doing this though.
Why are these undead acting this way? Are you doing this on purpose? You-!
Before the messenger could nod, everyone else in the room had noticed a sudden shift in atmosphere .
Jircniv could feel his knees become weak, hearing the shivering and cluttering of the armours of the guards around him as the room went freezing cold.
The light in the room became dark, looking outwards into the large windows and balcony, the sky had went from a sunny cloudy day to a deep dark frosty night.
"So cold-!"
"W-What?"
"Your Majesty!"
Everyone had gone on their knees, both from the cold, and this sinister feeling.
Within this darkened room, they all could feel their spines tingle from a weird scary feeling.
Jircniv tried his best to stand up as straight as possible, not falling victim to this feeling of fear.
"Whats... Happening?"
Jircniv, with trembling feet, walked to the balcony. It felt like each step caused tiny explosions of thousands of pins and needles into his foot followed with a numbing sensation. Only to realise that everyone else in the city was inflicted with this sudden coldness and fear as well.
From within the castle, Jircniv could hear the sounds of Ainz's undead servants squealing and screaming getting louder, and louder.
"-EEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAIIII-AAAIIIYYY"
"-WEEEIEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAA"
"CRIEEEEEEEEEEFEAAAAA"
Jircniv jumped from the sounds, the muscles in his body tensing as he quickly looked back.
By now, everyone has was unconscious. Collasped completely from the spine-crunching fear.
Jircniv was wearing specific rings and jewellery to negate all sorts of effects, so maybe he was still standing because of that.
Putting his hand on the railing, Jircniv noticed how cold it was as was cold enough to create a superior feeling of warmth.
With the deafening cries of soldiers running toward his office behind him, the metal clanking and most notably... The monsters screams, Jircniv, for the first time in his entire life, stood mindlessly, unsure of what to think in the present moment.
Part 2
"Ainz-sama..."
Albedo, the Overseer of the Guardians stood beside Demiurge in Ainz's Office.
Both of them had frightened expressions on their faces, their nods nodded downard but eyes upturned. Almost like guilty children standing in front of their parents after doing something horrifically bad, like breaking the TV or accidentally breaking a precious item.
Their knees felt weak, but it would be rude of them to suddenly fall.
Especially when Ainz Ooal Gown, their master, is in such an unstable state.
"[Albedo-sama, the death knights stationed in the Empire's main castle have lost control!]"
Albedo ignored the message, as something more important was happening in front of her.
Ainz's chair flew to the other side of the room, causing a huge thunderous crash as it ploughed against the wall of Ainz's office.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit! FUCK!"
Ainz repeatedly kicked his desk with his feet, the power of a level 100 magic caster was weak physically compared to a level 100 warrior, but it would still be strong enough to compare to a level 30-40 warrior's strength.
But the desk didn't move, as it was a core furniture item of the guild.
Instead, deafening clanking noises struck the entire room, with each kick.
"...We've retrieved the body of Mare... She was found in a secluded building near the Empire... The soldiers however, seem to be from the Slaine Theocracy."
Demiurge muttered with his face pointing down, his hands behind his back without his usual smarty and confident demeanour. His expression was that of insecurity and worry, surely with a frown. He looked like a shy and quiet child who was forced to stand up in front of the class, and speak.
His voice wanted to tremble, but with all of Demiurge's ability, Demiurge made sure not to stutter.
Ainz suddenly stopped, and despite being an Overlord Undead, took a death breath and exhaled very deeply. He then turned toward Albedo and Demiurge:
"...Forgive me for the unsightly display. Tell me more."
"Yes... Although we've already sent a team to investigate for more details, from what we know now, a Mare was attacked by a seemingly special force unit from the Slaine Theocracy... He... He..."
Demiurge, for the first time of his life, began to stutter.
His forehead began to produce sweat as he felt his master's gaze weigh on him heavier and heavier. His master's red, discerning, deep and piercing laser eyes seemed to shoot straight through his body in disapproval.
Even Albedo could feel Ainz's menacing figure as he looked down on them both.
"Take a deep breath, Demiurge. Fifth, give him this cup of cold water."
"Y-Y-Yes!"
There was another person in this room, the maid, Fifth.
She had witnessed Ainz's angry outburst, her hips jerked forward as she felt his furious aura envelop her.
He had just made a cup of water out of nowhere, so she took a few trembling steps toward Ainz.
"Oh?"
Ainz blurted out as he noticed Fifth, his personal maid, suddenly collasped onto the floor.
Her knees gave out from fear. Fear from her own master.
In response to this, Ainz walked toward her.
"A-A-Ainz-sama?! Please, what are you doing? I'm not worthy of thi-!-!"
"It's alright, my child."
Ainz knelt down, and carried her up in a princess carry position.
Suddenly, the feelings of absolute freezing fear was replaced with wholesome warmth, she felt the expensive fabric from her master and smiled on the inside.
What more, she called him her "child".
She could die right now.
A rising feeling of euphoria rose from her heart, but there it wasn't an appropriate time to show it... There was a serious matter.
Because of this serious matter, Ainz opened the door to his office, and gently placed her down outside her room.
"You can rest for a few moments until you're ready."
Ainz said as he shut the door, he then turned back, looking toward Albedo and Demiurge.
From the outside, Ainz could hear the sounds of weeping. Most likely from Fifth.
"...Demiurge, drink."
"T-Thank you."
Demiurge stiffly took a huge sip of refreshing cold water, which seemed to loosen his vocal chords. Along with that, he felt sort of happy that his master was caring about him like this. With that in mind, his confidence returned.
"As I was saying, Ainz-sama. Mare was attacked by a special force unit from the Slaine Thoecracy, or at least, it would seem that way. We don't know exactly yet how he was attacked, but he was chained by this..."
Demiurge pulled out bronze Handcuffs.
Ainz walked over toward Demiurge, and took it from his hands.
"...[Yggdrasil Cuff]? No wonder, this reduces your level by 80%... But, only 3 copies were made, so it's exceeding rare. Nazarick has only one copy of this item, and no one knows who owns the other two..."
Ainz muttered under his breath, Demiurge and Albedo heard this, but didn't dare to question their master's knowledge.
"That's good to know, go on."
Demiurge hesitated:
"About what happened to Mare... They-"
"Ainz-sama has already heard about what happened, there's no need to repeat it. Demiurge."
Albedo cut in, with an angry yet nervous sounding tone.
"No. It's my responsibility as your master to know every detail."
Ainz interrupted, and urged Demiurge to continue.
"Mare was beaten with a mace, they were interrogating him about information about Ainz-sama. All his finger and toe nails were peeled off by needles, something seemed to have been plunged into Mare's eye, his clothes were stripped with various torture methods being used on him."
"Such as?"
Ainz calmly inquired as he stood in front of Demiurge.
"There are no signs of anal insertions, at the very least."
Demiurge hinted at the notion that Mare was not raped.
"-He was beaten, cut into and strangled."
Ainz began to shake, until he suddenly calmed down. Like cold water over a fire.
"There is hope for recovery, correct?"
"Of course, Ainz-sama. There shouldn't be any long-term problems, they had just managed to successfully capture Mare, and interrogate him."
"I see. Where is Mare right now?"
"Sixth Floor, Aura and Neruonist are taking care of him."
Without a word, Ainz activated his ring and teleported out.
"..."
The room was silent.
Albedo looked at Demiurge, who had a bigger mind of her himself.
"This is the first time I've seen Ainz-sama... Act so, emotional."
Demiurge pointed his chin up, and sighed.
Of course, Ainz wasn't the only one who was angry.
All of Nazarick was furious, if Ainz-sama wasn't there to command them, then something bad and unplanned might have happened.
"They're so foolish, to think that they would strike at us just this early... What idiots. Their first mistake was that, but their second one was angering Ainz-sama. Who knows what Ainz-sama will do now. The Theocracy will fall in the next few months that's for sure."
Albedo spoke without restraint.
Demiurge nodded in agreement, but couldn't help but think about one particular event.
"Ainz-sama, called Fifth his child; he then looked toward us for a few brief seconds."
Demiurge felt a surge of happiness and satisfaction rise from his heart.
Despite the fear he felt before, he now felt much more happy and loose in this serious situation.
He now wanted to serve Ainz-sama even more.
He was sure Albedo felt the same way.
"Well then, Ainz-sama expects much from us. Let's begin preparations."
"For what?"
Albedo inquired, raising her brow.
"A lot of things."
Demiurge responded as he walked out of Ainz's office.
But before shutting the door, he peeked his head in:
"You should tell Ainz-sama about the situation in the Empire, that's truly an oddity."
Albedo didn't seem surprised by the fact Demiurge knew about it, Albedo hadn't responded to Entoma's [Message] regarding it, so naturally, she informed the person next to Albedo, Demiurge.
"Of course."