Hello again, all.

I'm glad that so far I have been able to keep up with the release schedule I have decided myself. Nevertheless, now it's time for Chapter 51.

See you again in the afterword.


[X][X][X]


High in the sky on clear night, people of New World could set their sights on the one object always looming over, decorating the dark curtains of the night with its shine. That object was none other than the moon. Its light provided limited illumination to all beings still active in the night. Be they humans, demi-humans, animals, living or unliving, the moon's light did not discriminate. It would shine over all, not caring whether the light would bring them fortune or ruin. Some never paid any special heed to it, while some others revered it, and others still which avoided it like a plague.

But none on the lands below knew about the object hiding behind the moon. It was a gargantuan spacefaring vessel 70 kilometers long with a mildly transparent dome near its back center, which contained a city within.

This vessel was ARKS Ship Number 005, codename: Laguz.

The ship was in a rather crumbling state, having taken damage from a recent event which had separated it from the rest of the fleet. All the crews and technicians were struggling to keep the damage under control, lest the lives of civilians were in jeopardy.

The bridge of the ship was only occupied by a single person; the Ship Administrator with the name Xiera. Xiera was a special kind of android called Hi-Cast, possessing a high level of intelligence and capability to perform extensive calculations. Her appearance could very well pass for a normal human, having blonde short hair tied into high twintails, sky blue eyes, and wearing the standard uniform for ARKS officers, though the top had a custom bright pink color exclusive to her.

"Sector B-812 has a hull breach. Send the nearest technician to plug the hole immediately!"

"Life support unit at Sector D-059 is failing. Divert the power from the neighboring sectors to buy time for repairs!"

"Fire in Sector G-042! Send a Goodbye Fire squad or any Force just cast Nabarta on it since the Photon Restriction Field is currently null and void!"

Xiera was overwhelmingly busy with coordinating people in the efforts of damage control and repair. Her priority right now was to make the ship able to sustain itself once again without crumbling when left unattended for even a minute.

While Xiera was busy relaying commands through the ship's communication network, a person entered the bridge through the entrance behind her seat. Xiera was aware of the person's presence, and therefore...

"I'm temporarily cutting this broadcast off. Contact me only if something very urgently dangerous is spotted!"

After saying it, Xiera cut the communication off and spun her seat to face the person who just came.


[X][X][X]


As I walked to approach her, Xiera spun her seat and faced me. Her face expression was as cheerful as ever, but I could rather easily notice that she was quite exhausted, which would say a lot if one took into account the fact that she was a Hi-Cast.

"Welcome back to the bridge!"

"...You look tired"

I expressed my concern, and she seemed to be a little surprised.

"Really? I thought I covered it well! Just pay no heed to it, okay?"

"..."

I only could stay silent. That kind of response was typical of Xiera, and I couldn't really insist to inquire about that any further.

"Anyway, now let me explain the current situation. I know you may already know most of this, but I am obliged to make sure you are informed about every relevant thing!"

Xiera spun her seat again, facing away from me. A number of holographic monitors appeared in front of her, in an amount no normal human could possibly process simultaneously.

"As you can see, the ship is badly damaged. Varuna really got us good, but thanks to your brave effort we managed to escape total destruction. The thing is, now we are totally separated from the fleet and unable to move until we repair the ship back into working condition"

Indeed, we had been on our way searching clues for a way to combat Shiva, the Goddess of Demise. However, one of her aides, Varuna, had pursued us and pretty much all hell had broken loose. In fact, the battle had exhausted me so much I had to stay in bed for two days afterwards.

"But here's the interesting part!"

Xiera spun her seat again, facing me.

"Our escape somehow led us to this peculiar space. According to this data analysis, the planetary system we are now in is surrounded by unnatural energy distortions which effectively functions as some kind of barrier. Those outside can see what's inside, but the opposite doesn't apply. Also, any ship going through the distortion risks taking great damage. No worries! With proper calibration of photon drives the barrier will be as good as none! Moving on!"

Xiera cleared her throat and then she began speaking again.

"Right now we are parked next to a moon which orbits a planet. The planet itself has signs of intelligent life, but we can't glean further because there is something weird about the planet's atmosphere which obstructs our scouting devices"

"Something weird?"

"Yes. There are photon particles in the atmosphere, but the particles are... let's just say, mutated. This is not the same as the negative photon resulted from Darker activities, but more like having their nature forcibly modified. I have yet to analyze the data thoroughly, but I can roughly estimate that the mutation happened more than five hundred years ago, maybe six hundred years. Keep this in mind, since your Photon Arts and Photon Techniques might not behave like you normally expect"

"Hmm..."

I folded my arms, thinking about the information Xiera had just told me. The coming mission would probably be unlike any mission I had ever done.

"You already know your mission, right?"

"Yeah... Search and retrieve the runaway ARKS; Mel Rose"

Mel Rose was the person who had run away from Laguz a couple months ago for some reason. The records said that the Gate Ship she had used had ended up somewhere on this nearby planet, where Laguz had just ended up as well by pure coincidence. Retrieving her had been put on hold for quite long thanks to a lot of urgent events happening, but now that Laguz was under repair just near the planet in question, might as well just do it.

"That is correct! According to the logs, the Gate Ship she used to escape crashed somewhere on this planet. Speaking of crash, the mutated photon in the planet's atmosphere will severely overload the engine of any Gate Ship, causing it to explode and crash. In addition, the communication device will go into safe mode, effectively cutting you off from this ship"

I just sighed. Obstacles after obstacles, how this mission could be any worse now?

"I will calibrate the communication network and Gate Ship engines to work on this planet, but that comes after repairing this ship. I'm sorry about this, but until then you are the only one who can reach her. Find her, and keep her safe until we can extract both of you, alright?"

I nodded without saying anything, and then I walked away back to the entrance of the bridge.

"Good luck, Guardian!"

That was the last thing I heard from Xiera before I activated the teleporter right outside the entrance which brought me to the Gate Area of the ship.

Guardian.

That was the title I somehow had obtained some time ago, thanks to my acts of heroism they said. A title which granted me privilege to act independently within ARKS without worrying about stifling administrative works and bureaucracy. That title also made me revered as some kind of hero among ARKS operatives, which somewhat put a gap between me and them. It was hard to make genuine friends when everybody just outright idolized you, and my case was not an exception.

I glanced around while I walked. Every people around the Gate Area were busy with damage control, tending to the injured, and other stuffs to keep the ship alive. Without paying much heed, I went to the place where Gate Ships were parked.

"I suppose you need me now, don't you?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. The voice speaking to me just now was the last voice I wanted to hear.

"Of course you do. Of all the powers you borrow, mine is the only one that grants you flight"

Without responding to the voice, I closed my eyes and put my consciousness into the mind space inside my head. When I came to, the one in front of me inside the rather empty space was Luther, formerly known as Dark Falz Loser. He stood with his arms folded and, with his slanted sharp eyes, brandished a smug face which I was never a fan of.

"So what if I do?"

I also folded my arms, somewhat gesturing a challenge. Luther just laughed as a response.

"Nothing. Feel free to use it as you like. Just be careful, because something unwanted might happen otherwise"

Luther spoke those words still with the smug face. I just kept myself silent and left him alone.

After coming back in control of my body, I went to an airlock room and pressed a few buttons. Soon, the inner door shut tight and then the outer door opened. I jumped out from the room, and then I unleashed the power I borrowed from Luther.

Dark Blast Loser!

A blood red vortex engulfed me, and my body transformed into an altered, purified form of Falz Angel. After the transformation was complete, I spread my wings, flew around the moon, and straight towards the planet which still had not been named in ARKS database. I guess, for now the name I would use to refer to the planet below would be "Pandora".

Within a couple minutes, I reached the atmosphere of Pandora and slowed down my descent into the atmosphere. The star of this system was currently positioned in a way that night had just recently fallen in the area I was descending to.

As I was descending through the clouds, suddenly a huge object passed by from below at incredible speed, nearly hitting me.

"Whoa! What was that?"

I stopped my descent to look at the thing. To my surprise, it was a giant octopus creature. There was no way such creature could fly, so something must have launched it. Soon, as it fell back down, I noticed that there was a Max Darker Core latching on its head. That creature was corrupted by Darkers.

As the giant creature disappeared to the darkness below, I descended further to take a look at the situation. However, suddenly everything became bright and another big thing went past me, nearly hitting me. This time it was a big fiery meteor which had appeared as if it had been conjured right then and there to fall on top of the giant creature.

BWOOOOOM!

The meteor made a big explosion down below. The shockwave pushed me away with great force, sending me tumbling away from the impact spot. It took a minute until I finally could stabilize myself.

I soon went through the clouds towards the impact spot and finally saw the surface of Pandora, which was an open water area at this part. At a distance near the surface, I noticed a different giant creature along with what seemed like three persons floating, and none of them seemed to notice me yet. They were probably the ones fighting the corrupted giant octopus, and judging from the giant meteor, they must be really strong.

Before long, I noticed the corrupted octopus appearing on the water surface below me. It had somehow survived that meteor attack.

I made an assumption that the ones fighting this corrupted octopus were already exhausted, and the responsibility to finish it off would fall on me. Therefore, I used the ultimate attack of this Dark Blast Loser right on the creature.

Diffusion Ray!

As I began the attack, my wings cupped forward and a huge laser was shot right towards the corrupted octopus. To my surprise, the laser I shot out was enormously bigger than normal. I questioned myself whether this was one of the effects of the mutated photon particles on Pandora. Nevertheless, my attack managed to finish the creature off. Now the ones fighting the creature should notice me, and I hoped that they wouldn't see me as their enemy.

As I somewhat expected, they all retreated immediately. This form was quite intimidating after all. Nevertheless, now I should focus on finding a dry land as soon as possible since I just remembered that...

"Your time is up, fool"

Luther's voice echoed in my mind, and suddenly my Dark Blast form was engulfed by a red vortex, reverting me back to my normal form.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me.."

That was the last thing I said before I went to a complete free fall to the waters below. I guess I deserved it, since it was myself who had neglected to keep track of the time.


[X][X][X]


"A new Dark Falz you say? Are you sure?"

"Ryu himself did not seem sure about it, to be honest. But the moment he noticed it he uttered the name Falz Angel"

Ainz's mind went into overdrive despite the mental exhaustion he had. He had no idea what to do with the sudden potential new enemy appearing. If this supposed Falz Angel was also a battle seeker like Elder, things would spiral down into constant battles with two abominations from space wreaking havoc as they pleased.

"I see. What is your current position?"

"Right now, the group is resting at an inn in Re-Lobell. They have retreated from the Falz Angel, which back then didn't seem to pursue"

Ainz tried to recall the map of this world in his head. Re-Lobell was the port city located far west at the western edge of Re-Estize Kingdom. Having another Dark Falz appearing at such a distance would be a real hassle, and Ainz hoped that whatever Ryu's group had just seen was not a Dark Falz.

But right now Ainz was still in the dark about pretty much everything regarding Ryu's group. What were they doing so far west? Why were they out there? Had they retreated because they had fought the Falz Angel and lost? The information was still severely lacking, and it was not advisable to plan further course of action with so little info.

I need to get them here as soon as possible and hear their stories. The spy's [Message] won't last long enough to get me up to date... Wait, that reminds me...

"By the way, why did you wait this long to report to me?"

Ainz couldn't help wondering why the spy had not reported this important matter earlier. Something as important as a possible new Dark Falz should have been reported on sight. A report delivered too late could contribute to the downfall of an entire kingdom.

"My apologies, but for some reason the [Message] scrolls just burned up and vanished with no effect back then. This one is the first successful attempt after expending most of the scrolls Ainz-sama has given me"

What?

Ainz was quite bewildered hearing the answer. He had never heard about [Message] scrolls failing to activate from within a [Reverse Assimilation] target. What could have happened that the scrolls failed but this one didn't?

Oh wait, don't tell me...

"Tell me, is Lily now asleep with her armors unequipped?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama"

"Is this [Message] the first attempt you did after Lily unequipped her armors?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama"

I knew it.

Ainz had just realized that he had crippled his surveillance on Ryu by giving Lily an overly enchanted armor set. It must have been one of the enchantments which had obstructed the spy from using the [Message] scrolls. Ainz didn't remember which one could have that effect, but it was already too late for him to change that.

"Do you have any scrolls left after this one?"

"There are two scrolls left, Ainz-sama"

"Good. Contact me immediately the moment Lily wakes up in the morning. Keep in mind that you won't be able to contact me again the moment Lily puts on her armor, so make sure you do so before that happens"

"Understood, Ainz-sama"

The [Message] spell ended, and Ainz leaned on the throne once again. Albedo, who had been beside him all along, stood straight with a calm expression, seemingly waiting for Ainz to give her a command or some words.

"It seems we need to fortify the defenses of Nazarick even further"

"I will arrange that with the best of my ability, Ainz-sama"

Ainz leaned to the side, resting his left cheek on his own skeletal hand. For now, his plan was to wait until Ryu's group was rested enough, and then he would contact them and see if he could get them here with [Gate] without drawing unnecessary attention from other people. He decided to wait until morning because a dead-tired person wouldn't be able to tell clear stories.

But for now, there was something Ainz had to do, so he sat straight once more, raised his hand towards his ear, and casted a spell.

[Message]

His target was the one Floor Guardian who was currently away from Nazarick.

"Demiurge"

"At your service, Ainz-sama"

"A situation has come up and your wisdom is needed. Return to Nazarick as soon as you can"

"I apologize, Ainz-sama. Right now I am in a situation which prevents me from returning"

"What? What kind of situation?"

"The ranch is currently under attack... by Darkers. The same ones we saw at the Capital"

"What? How many?"

"A swarm larger than before, and they all are individually stronger than before as well"

What Ainz had just heard from Demiurge was completely bad news. Darkers similar to the ones back in the capital meant Elder was probably nearby, and them being stronger than before meant Elder himself had recuperated from his defeat, coming back even stronger. Back then, Ainz as Perfect Warrior Momon could leisurely hold back during the fight against Elder's Falz Hunar form, but if Elder had gained strength from that encounter...

Ainz quickly made a decision. This decision was made from his instinct to prioritize the survival of his Floor Guardian over some resources.

"Demiurge, abandon the ranch"

"But Ainz-sama-"

"No buts! Abandon the ranch and return to Nazarick! That's an order!"

"...As you command, Ainz-sama"

The [Message] spell ended, and Ainz stood up from his throne.

"Albedo. I will need your wisdom as well. Once Demiurge returns we will have an emergency meeting"

"As you command, Ainz-sama"

Ainz then began walking to his office. A lot of problems had piled up within just one night, and his mind was already exhausted. Could this situation get any worse?


[X][X][X]


Somewhere within Abelion Hills, a man was slowly walking foward, his eyes showing determination. In addition, he was smirking in amusement. In front of him was an army of few hundred Darkers under his command, advancing at a steady walking pace towards a settlement guarded by an army of demon creatures.

This man, Elder, had recovered from his defeat against the dark warrior, "Momon", and after defeating countless wild hostiles and absorbing their energy, he was even stronger than before. Right now he was close to reaching the level of power he once had before his defeat to ARKS and landing on this planet. The level which he believed he would reach after coming out victorious against the hostiles ahead. Recreating his true Dark Falz body was an entirely different matter which would take even more energy, but Elder believed he would eventually get there as well.

Elder himself was quite bewildered on how fast his power had been returning to him. He had never expected himself to achieve this much over just a couple months. But nevertheless, he was pleased that everything had turned out overall better despite the few setbacks.

As the two armies were about to clash, Elder was covered in a blood-red vortex and transformed into his Falz Hunar form. He now could keep this form for as long as he wanted, though he still reverted to his human host form sometimes because this Falz Hunar form was only suited for combat and essentially nothing else.

Elder soon stopped walking, took his Elder Pain sword from his back, and raised it pointing to the sky. All the Darkers under his command stopped their advance, their eyes still focused towards the army of demons in front of them.

"Attack"

Elder lowered his Elder Pain, pointing it straight towards the enemy army. The Darkers immediately charged forward in unison, and the enemy army did the same in response. Soon, the two armies clashed and the large scale battle began.

Elder was not the type who liked to command an army like what he was doing right now, but he sensed that there was someone behind the enemy army possessing fine energy which he would like to obtain. Teleporting directly to them would risk the army piling up on him, which would be an annoyance instead of a good battle, so a frontal attack with his own army of Darkers was the way Elder chose to do to get there.

The enemy army heavily outnumbered his, but Elder's Darkers were individually strong. Dagan, while the weakest of Darker species, could take out a number of enemies before perishing. The stronger ones like the Kuklonahda were basically unstoppable, swinging their arm-baton around and sending unlucky ones to their early grave.

The only problem Elder's army had was the enemy flyers. All the Darkers in his army were melee attackers, so enemy flyers possessing the ability to attack from range could more or less attack freely. Some species of Darkers like Dagacha and Dahgash could fly, but their flight was slower, so the enemy flyers could defeat them before they could reach their enemies.

That was where the Cyclonehdas would come in.

Cyclonehdas were essentially the same as Kuklonahdas, but their arm-weapon was instead a round ball attached to the arm with a long wire which they could extend and retract at will, effectively functioning as a very long flail. A number of enemy flyers had seen their demise from the massive blunt force from the weapon of the Cyclonehdas. It was not perfect, though, since they needed a few seconds of charge time to throw their ball at long range, but overall the Darkers were winning the battle.

"Whoever is behind the enemies better come out now"

Right after Elder spoke to himself, a pillar of fire emerged at a distance behind the enemy army. Seeing this, Elder smiled. He was pleased knowing that a worthy opponent was coming.

As Elder had expected, a tall and bulky demon figure came out from the pillar of flame and charged through the demonic army towards the Darkers. From the body posture, it was quite clear that the demon was preparing an attack.

[Napalm]

The demon threw a ball of fire into the middle of the crowd. The ball exploded and spread fire all over an area, burning off all the Darkers caught within range except the stronger ones.

[Greater Teleportation]

Suddenly, the demon disappeared from sight. Within a split second, Elder realized that the demon was attempting an ambush by teleporting right behind him. Elder quickly turned around with a horizontal swing of his sword, and the sword clashed with the demon's hardened fist. Both Elder and the demon jumped back after the clash.

"A worthy opponent!"

Elder declared with excitement, feeling the strength of the clash on his arm. Despite the demon being quite smaller than his Falz Hunar form, Elder could feel the great strength of his opponent. The energy within the demonic being was curiously different than the energy he had sensed before, which had just recently disappeared. But Elder didn't care because conflicts and battles were his goal from the beginning, and a very worthy opponent was right in front of him.

Smirking inside his mind, Elder charged at the demon fully expecting an exciting battle.


[X][X][X]


Ainz sat uneasy on his seat in his office room within Nazarick. Albedo stood by him, seemingly uneasy as well. Ainz didn't know whether her uneasiness was from the troubling situation, or merely because she was concerned about Ainz being uneasy. Either way, the root of the uneasiness was the currently ongoing problem.

Knock! Knock!

Someone on the other side of the entrance door knocked. Ainz expected the one knocking to be Demiurge, since Ainz was not expecting anyone else. Therefore he responded with a calm voice, although inside his mind he was not exactly calm.

"You may enter"

Click!

The door opened with a clicking sound, and the one coming in was Demiurge as Ainz had expected. However, Demiurge was unlike his usual self. Normally, Demiurge sported a smug expression as a sign of confidence over his skills and intellect. But this time, the expression on his face showed guilt and depression.

After closing the door back, Demiurge walked towards Ainz. His head was bowed down, and his long sharp ears somewhat drooped. Ainz had never seen Demiurge in such a depressed state, and he wanted to reassure him as soon as possible. Therefore Ainz spoke as soon as Demiurge stopped walking right in front of his office desk.

"Demiurge, raise your head and look at me in the eyes"

Demiurge complied, but just a second later he bowed deeply.

"I apologize for my failure, Ainz-sama. I have failed to protect the ranch, and Nazarick has lost a valuable territory as the result"

Ainz was silent for a couple seconds before speaking in response.

"Demiurge. What happened was not your fault. I gave you the order to abandon the ranch, because I feared that you might get infected again like the last time you encountered Darkers. You are a Floor Guardian, a legacy of my friend, and I would rather lose a parchment material source than a valuable existence like you and all other Floor Guardians"

Demiurge was speechless. His mouth was slightly agape, signifying a disbelief. Ainz immediately continued, because he could somewhat predict what Demiurge would say.

"Before you try to declare yourself unworthy of such praise, I'm going to deny you the chance because you would be wrong. You are one of the most hardworking Floor Guardian, and you have brewed brilliant plans which I would have never thought of. Your worth is much more than some ranch, Demiurge"

"I... I am deeply moved by your grace, Ainz-sama"

Demiurge bowed again. This time, Ainz could notice how Demiurge seemed to be relieved. Ainz was glad that he could bring Demiurge back from the brink of depression.

"Now let's gather round and discuss the current situation"

Demiurge nodded hearing Ainz's words with his confident expression having returned to his face. Ainz, Albedo, and Demiurge then sat around a smaller table at one corner of the room, which was made for the purpose of conducting a small meeting. Ainz began the discussion by filling Demiurge in about what had happened in Nazarick while Demiurge was away. At the end, Demiurge nodded in admiration.

"As expected of Ainz-sama, responding brilliantly within such a short notice. With Mel Rose and Ryu's sister added into the list of allies, we are a step closer to securing an alliance with ARKS as a whole"

"I hope so. It all depends on whether any of them were of high enough position within ARKS to influence the decision of the organization"

Ainz then looked at Albedo, hoping that she would give some kind of input. But knowing the way all Floor Guardians thought, Ainz was aware that he had to take the initiative.

"Is there anything you would like to say, Albedo?"

"Nothing, Ainz-sama. Your thinking is brilliant, and there is no questioning that"

Again... Will they ever learn?

"Albedo, this is an important matter which can influence the survival chance of Nazarick. A wrong decision can jeopardize everything. If you notice something wrong you should speak up, even if you feel that it would be against me. Remember that I am not a wise almighty being. I might mess up and make a bad decision, so..."

Ainz stopped his speech midway. He realized how futile it was to repeat the same speech over and over. No matter what, the undying loyalty of the Floor Guardians would keep them admiring him to unreasonable levels. He had to find a workaround to this situation.

"Ah-!"

Ainz suddenly got an idea which sounded really good to him, but his behavior as he got the idea looked a little strange to the other two, so Albedo spoke up to ask.

"Ainz-sama! Is there something wrong?"

"I want you two to roleplay"

"~What?"

Both Demiurge and Albedo asked simultaneously. They had no idea what Ainz had just meant.

"Let me explain. I will state a general idea, and the two of you will debate over it while pretending that I'm not here. Demiurge will play the role of agreeing with the idea, while Albedo will play the role of opposing the idea. This way, the pros and cons of the idea will surface and become clear to all of us. Only then we can become informed to make a real decision about the idea"

Both Demiurge and Albedo were speechless hearing the idea, making Ainz worry that the idea sounded really stupid to them. He was no longer worried about keeping his image, but utterly embarrassing himself in front of them was a wholly different matter.

"As expected of Ainz-sama. That is brilliant! I'm all in for it"

Demiurge smiled, looking very impressed.

"I will gladly participate, Ainz-sama. Your mind is supreme as always"

Uhh... they really never learned.

Ainz let out a little sigh, holding the urge to facepalm. But nevertheless, he spoke again.

"Alright. Let's do a debate about this one..."

Ainz cleared his throat. There was something which had been bugging his mind, and he wanted to know whether his Floor Guardians actually agreed with it. He wouldn't get much info if there were only two of them like this, but at least he hoped to know more about their stance and whether the idea was good to begin with.

"Allying with ARKS"

Immediately, Albedo began speaking with her eyes straight towards Demiurge.

"I see no good reason to ally with ARKS. As far as I can see, the organization is filled with people of human ideals. There is no guarantee that they won't backstab us heteromorphic beings once the tide of battles are in their favor. With that risk in mind, we should cut ties with them and stay cautious against their movements"

Demiurge smirked with the smug expression plastered all over his face.

"If you see two sides fighting a perpetual battle, you could just leave them be and move on, or you can take advantage of it by siding with the one which will give more benefits. In this case, one side is a civilization with powers none uf us have seen before, while the other is a bunch of berserk creatures seeking destruction of everything. It should be obvious which one will give more benefit to us, isn't it?"

"Blinded by greed is the downfall of many mighty ones. We can't just ignore the possibility that they will see our goal and see that as a weakness to exploit. As you have said, they are a civilization with unknown powers. We have no idea what they are capable of, and therefore the risk carried by allying with them is too great to be worth it"

Demiurge smirked again.

"Unfortunately, there is a flaw in your thinking. We already have some idea about their capabilities, and there is evidence that they have no resistance against debuffing and ailment magic. Even if they turn against us later, we can eliminate them all in one fell swoop with area of effect ailment spells. They are essentially in our grasp already"

"It isn't like you to underestimate your enemies, Demiurge. Ainz-sama never underestimates enemies, no matter how weak they are or they seem to be"

"I merely was stating the fact that we already have the information about their weak point which we can exploit if they become our enemy for real"

"Alright, enough"

Ainz stopped the debate. He felt that he had heard enough information. His idea turned out working very well, and he was glad for that.

"Both of you have raised good points. I commend you both for that"

"You are too kind, Ainz-sama"

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the praise, Ainz-sama"

Both Albedo and Demiurge bowed to Ainz, showing their gratitude. Ainz didn't pay much heed, and so he continued speaking.

"As for the actual decision, I already have made a promise under the name of the guild to ally with Ryu and ARKS, and by principle I will not break that promise, until they cut the alliance themselves that is. Therefore Nazarick as a whole will continue the mission to ally with ARKS, but as Albedo said, we will keep ourselves cautious against them while trying to get as many benefits from them as we reasonably can. The Photon Arts which CZ and Yuri have gained was one example of such benefit"

Both Albedo and Demiurge nodded in approval.

"Now, let's move to the next topic"

Ainz produced the map of New World from his inventory and put it on the table. Ainz then pointed on one spot between Slane Theocracy and Roble Holy Kingdom.

"Demiurge, I believe your ranch is around this area, isn't it?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama"

Ainz then pointed to the ocean located to the west of Re-Estize Kingdom.

"The spy I planted on Lily reported to me that a different Dark Falz was spotted here. I will ask Ryu personally about that matter later, but seeing this, I can't help feeling worried that the two Dark Falz might meet and work together. Nevertheless, what was the situation of the ranch when I ordered you to abandon it?"

"I had my Evil Lords summon as many demon beasts as they could to buy some time for them and other useful minions to evacuate. I also used my skill to summon an expendable copy of Wrath. When I left the place, all that was left there were the summoned creatures and the livestock. Humans, demihumans, and all"

"I see. Let's just bet on the chance that your summoned Wrath might defeat Eld-"

Ainz stopped his speech because he had just noticed something within Demiurge's words.

"Wait a second. Demiurge, did my ears fail me or you really said humans? I thought the livestock were chimeras, or what you called as Abelion Sheep"

"What? It can't be- Ahh, I see..."

Demiurge, seemingly realizing something, was silent for a brief moment, and then he bowed to Ainz.

"I truly apologize for my failure to convey clear message to you, Ainz-sama. I should have mentioned them as humans and demihumans from the beginning"

Oh crap... This could be bad.

"Demiurge, tell me truthfully; What have you been doing over there?"

Demiurge then explained everything about what he had been doing at the ranch, which essentially had two functions. The first one was to use the skin of humans and demihumans as parchment materials. The other function, which Ainz had never been aware of, was to perform experimentations, both psychological and physical, the latter of which was someting that would have made his old Suzuki Satoru self puke upon hearing about them.

Oh dear, now I hope Elder will win and destroy that ranch.

After hearing Demiurge's explanation, Ainz was somewhat thankful that Elder had decided to attack Demiurge's ranch. If any higher ups of ARKS saw the contents of the ranch by any chance, it would basically fulfill an instant-fail condition for the mission to ally with ARKS.


[X][X][X]


Afterword:

Let me put a reminder that I have galleries which could help in visualizing how things look like. I have recently updated them both, so check them out again. Links are on my profile.

See you in another two weeks.