Ch.6 The Overlord's Reign

Justina sits in her throne in her capital as she begins to drift asleep. She remembers words over the centuries of how great her father was and his absolute rule over the tomb, and how it was divided after he left.

"Are me and Flamel THAT inferior to father?" She says to herself in complete doubt.

Not long after, an ominous aura appears near the door and so the Crimson Empress smiles a little and adds a little positivity to her day "Maybe a little curb stomping will ease my tension."

To her absolute shock, the door suddenly opens without anyone having to touch it and Justina gets a little excited to have a stronger opponent, even only slightly. But what catches her is that presence is getting stronger as it approaches. This presence is a very strong one and Justina feels a little nervous. She then equips new crimson armor that has round shoulders, no cape, and a new purple cloth around her waist with the symbol of a bat. She also reveals her weapon, a long sword that has a round edge but a very sharp tip, an oversized estoc with a hilt shaped like a bat with its wings spread and its mouth opened giving the blade the look of a tongue. Justina prepares herself for the intruder, but then…

"Oh, you wish to challenge me? If so, then I welcome it. It would be...interesting." A very commanding voice states but has a familiar essence to Justina, who becomes shaken.

Justina can see a figure getting closer to the throne room and when she gets a look at who it is, she becomes terrified. She sees her father approaching the throne and she immediately drops her sword and falls to her knees and bows.

"Father, I'm sorry. I didn't realize it was you." Justina says with a mix of both fear and distress.

Her father, Ainz Ooal Gown, makes his presence known as he is being followed by the guardians, who have unusually disappointed looks on their faces; even Cocytus has a disappointed vibe.

"Disgraceful, she cowers in her father's presence so easily." Cocytus says in calm tone.

Even her own mother appears displeased "Surely she can't be this cowardly from just being in her father's presence. Show more pride, Justina."

Justina doesn't change her position and just continues to bow to her father.

Her father, on the other hand, approaches her with his own disappointment "What's the matter the, Justina? This is the first time you've gazed upon me, and this is your response?" he asks.

Justina clenches the ground "No, I didn't want you to think that I don't respect you."

Ainz continues his questioning "Do you think that whimpering in my presence is respecting me? No, this is a shameful display of cowardice."

Still cowering, Justina pleads "Father, I just want to please you. I am your loyal daughter."

Ainz sits on Justina's throne and rebukes "No, you are a failure of a ruler, and I am very displeased with your flimsy throne." Ainz raises his hand "It is regrettable, but I'll have to punish you accordingly, and I'll name Flamel my successor." His hand begins to radiate power.

Justina looks as the other guardians do nothing and her father appears to be readying a powerful spell that causes her to close her eyes "NO!" she screams at the top of her lungs and then suddenly awakes to find herself in a massive bed. She takes a breath and looks around, it is just her room, and then lays back down.

She sleeps naked in the constant company of four (Three until not long ago) vampire brides of her creation. Among them are some of the most beautiful women in any nation of the world. Her personal bodyguards as well as her concubines, these four are very strong. The four immediately go to their empress's side to check on her.

"Are you alright, Milady?" One with long blonde hair asks.

"No, I'm fine." Justina replies as she stands up to look outside her window. She gazes from the behind the curtains to her chamber, which has a fortified barrier around it, and she can see some people walking in the streets despite being the dead of night. Clearly, she has some work to do tomorrow.

Elsewhere, Momon is still riding in the back of supply cart and tries to make it seem like it is just the driver and an assistant, who offers him some water, but he declines. The assistant, an energetic young lady, expresses her gratitude to the adventurer "Thank you so much for protecting this cart. The capital really needs the medicine and having you here makes it so reassuring."

Momon waves it off "Think nothing of it. I'm still being paid for this job, so it benefits me as well. But, if you'd tell me a bit more of the capital, I'd be grateful."

The young lady cheerfully explains while the armored adventurer listens "Oh, of course, I'd love to tell you. Firstly, and this is important, the capital is named Garudas. Don't get that wrong around the Crimson Knights. This next, and this is super important, is that Lady Justina, our Empress, is a powerful vampire."

This is a little surprising to Momon, who had kept his race a secret from his human worshippers for the most part when he began. But figures this is probably due to Justina's pride, a trait she most certainly inherited from her mother.

Furthering his curiosity, Momon swiftly asks "The empress is a vampire, you say. Does this not scare any of her people?"

The cheerful lady waves it off "Oh certainly not, at least not in my time. She provides for us, she saves us, and she's someone who just generally takes care of her people. The only catch, and I should have mentioned this earlier, is that we pay in taxes with our blood. Every month, Lady Justina asks that her citizens donate a portion of our blood to sustain herself. But she apparently keeps tabs on how much she takes and from who so she doesn't kill us."

Thinking on this, Momon rationalizes his thoughts thus far about situation.Continuing his observation, Momon rides with his clients down the way until he spots a city in the horizon, the famed Crimson Captial, Garudas. The time is near for him to meet Justina Bloodfallen, something he greatly awaits, but first, it's time to see what his daughter has built with his own eyes rather than the words of others.

Crimson Capital- Garudas

In her own private room, Shalltear files her nails while awaiting for her daughter's return from checking on the people of the city. But this moment is a little different as Sebas is currently meeting with his ally from the Great Tomb to discuss a certain matter.

Sebas has rarely visited the Crimson Empire due to his obligations to Flamel as he has primarily server her these last centuries just as the Elf Twins have served Justina almost exclusively.

Concerning Sebas is how Justina treats her people as he asks his peer "Shalltear, how has Lady Justina's people fared after finding out that they serve a vampire? I can't imagine they immediately took a liking to that truth."

Shalltear simply smiles and answers "Oh, they didn't, but they've adapted. Humans are very easily persuaded you know. Considering that Justina provides them with food and jobs as well as other meaningless things. Personally, I'd rather she turn them into zombies or more faithful servants, but she persists in keeping them human."

Not surprising him, Sebas responds "That's hardly a surprise. Lord Ainz was able to communicate with other races, humans included, without talking down to them. In fact, Lady Flamel gets along famously with her human citizens."

Shalltear's expression turns a little sour and rebukes "That's because Albedo failed in teaching that girl how petty humans are."

Realizing that he brought up a bad memory, Sebas swiftly apologizes "Oh yes, I'm very sorry for stirring up that memory." Sebas stands and must get back to his duties during his stay in the capital to assist with whatever he can. But before he leaves, Sebas asks one last thing "Oh, and I neglected to ask, but is it true that a group of rebels are lurking in the city?"

Shalltear simply scoffs and answers "It's hardly worth talking about. Justina's vampire brides are more than capable of taking out a few rats." She finishes her nails as Sebas finally takes his leave.

?

Outside the capital, a large tent is set up in a location near a mountainous terrain on the edge of a forest. In the tent, three young ladies sit around a table. One dressed as a shinobi slightly resembling Tia and Tina but with much shorter hair and wearing all navy blue with a blue rose tattoo on her leg and wearing a mask resembling a beast covering her jaw. The other has dark hair at about shoulder length wearing an ornate white body suit with a hydrangea motif around the waist and a mask resembling a butterfly covering her eyes. The third resembles the golden princess from a long time ago, Princess Renner but this young lady has rose-pink hair and blue eyes while wearing simple silver armor with a sword at her side. This is the current form of Blue Roses, except…

Evileye warps in as she is very much still alive. But now she has a new cloak, a dark blue with a red scarf as a tribute to her beloved Momon and his red cape and dark armor. She even wears a new mask that resembles his helmet. Physically, she remains the same. But now she is the leader of the team.

The girl resembling Renner tries to say hi, but Evileye simply walks by into a private portion of the tent and seals it with magic. She takes a seat on a bed that she uses and presses her face into a pillow "Oh, the memories are back!" she says to herself as she gets on her stomach and kicks while thinking of her crush from so long ago. Getting embarrassed, she tries to calm down but can't get over the similar armor.

Even though it is a stretch, she must confirm it. It could simply be similar armor and nothing more, but since Momon went away, he could have had children who had children of their own. So it could be a descendant of Momon, or even Momon himself since she never found out what he truly was. "If I don't find out for sure, I'll always be wondering, and it's been so long since I've felt this feeling." She says as she prepares to find the carriage to see if it is him or a descendant.

After a few more minutes of thinking of her beloved, Evileye returns to where her comrades are and apologizes for being a bit rude by not greeting them. After some formal things, she brings up what she wants to figure out "Anyway, I was looking into the supply carts being attacked and saw somebody I thought looked familiar. I need to figure it out, so I'll need Nikola (butterfly mask) to follow me, and you two will continue looking into the attacks on the carts. Many people need the medicine and goods they're carrying."

With the orders clear, the four split into pairs and go off to stop the attacks and find out the identity of the adventurer riding on one of them. Evileye and her partner make it a point to go to where the carriage that the adventurer was riding and learn the truth.

However….

Philospher's Empire

Another woman that greatly resembles Renner but with brown hair and wearing a regal white dress similar to Albedo's with a platinum circlet approaches Albedo inside of Flamel's palace. This palace looks more like a temple than a castle with a massive white statue of Ainz serving as a centerpiece in front of Flamel's throne. Albedo is usually found here while tending to her duties. Albedo has become something of a religious figure to the people of this empire due to her beautiful appearance and being Flamel's mother.

The woman resembling Renner bows to Albedo and simply says "Great Mother Albedo, I have some news from our spy in Blue Roses that you may find interesting." She says this with a rather malicious smile as Albedo looks a little pleased.