A new power is rising, its victory is at hand

...

Though she would follow the express commands of her master to the letter and without hesitation, Thurnwingethil nevertheless still found herself growing increasingly agitated as she stared at armored being.

While lacking the dark majesty that was only partially limited by Lord Morbus's current form, the armored being in front of her nevertheless possessed the same feeling of power that wafted off of the ruler of Utumno. But unlike the sole remaining Shadowed Lord, whose presence alone caused his servants to feel like they were standing in the presence of a god, the sight of this new being only filled her with the same type of feeling a religious zealot would feel when confronted with a unrepentant infidel.

Casting a brief glance at her fellow Supreme General, the dress wearing vampire could tell from Mara's expression that she too shared the same opinion about the armored warrior. The red haired assassin was many things, but a disloyal fool she was not.

Like herself, Mara was probably already thinking of the numerous ways they could remove this potential thorn in their master's side, his little companion was of no consideration since they could tell that her strength was no match for Angmar's brothers, let alone anywhere near their own level.

But though she had been instructed by Lord Morbus to do nothing to provoke her potential enemies, that didn't mean she could hope that the armored being was less wise when it came to his orders.

For while Lord Morbus had ordered them not to attack, he had nevertheless left them the option of using deadly force to defend themselves should the need arise.

….

This was not turning out the way he had thought his evening would go.

The irritating taunting of the blonde psychopath aside, he had been pretty satisfied by the amount of success that had transpired thanks to his difficult, but surprisingly profitable relationship with the mentally unbalanced woman.

Thanks to her help, he had been able to considerably advance his schedule in reaching his desired goal of becoming a powerful undead sorcerer, and it was for that thought alone that he had briefly considered keeping his part of their bargain.

He suffered no delusions that their partnership was temporary, formed out of mutual convenience rather than any previously established ties of loyalty, and they had already threatened each other on more than one occasion, but that still hadn't done anything to prevent him from briefly feeling more merciful than he had felt in years.

But that brief moment of consideration had been ruined by her constant complaining, so regardless of the amount of negative energy he had managed to amass thanks to her aid, let alone the vast amount he was sure to acquire once the hordes of undead were released on the city, he was determined to bring their partnership to a swift end.

However, his plans of betrayal had been briefly put on hold by the sudden appearance of unexpected witnesses to his ritual, and as he conversed with them he experienced the chilling sensation that perhaps his plans were in danger of being overthrown.

The first indicator had been that comment regarding the state of his undead masses. Their should have been a literal sea of corpses surrounding the gates to the cemetery, and yet the first group claimed to have only encountered a few dozen.

Even if they had been deliberately playing the part of the dismissively confident adventurer, the fact remained that they were obviously skilled enough to penetrate what he had thought to be an impenetrable obstacle.

The second problem had been the appearance of the second group.

While he was confident that he could easily take care of the red haired woman, for it was clear that despite her form clinging attire that she was simply another sword wielding maniac, the other two were far more problematic.

The pale skinned woman, whose attire was something that only a highly valued courtesan would wear, in all honesty frightened him far worse than Clementine could ever hope to be. It wasn't the fact that her slender hands were currently covered in black flames, or the casual, almost playful way in which she morphed the flames into weapons of cruel design.

No what frightened him was the look she sent him that made him feel like he was an ant standing in front of a dragon who had yet to decide on the proper method of eliminating him.

The leader of the trio, while far less intimidating in appearance then any of the other unexpected witnesses to his ritual, was nonetheless slightly more off putting than the armored knight.

While he expected any muscle head to display a level of misguided confidence for dispatching a few reanimated corpses, the almost cheerful nature of the grey bearded man was enough to make him wonder if perhaps he was the most dangerous person here.

"I should probably introduce myself. My name is Gandalf. Gandalf the Grey".

Though he didn't care to learn the names of those who would be hopefully killed once Clementine decided to finally stop lazing around, it shocked him that the armored interloper seemed to be somewhat familiar with this man.

"Indeed? I must say that the likeness is uncanny, but you'll have to forgive me if I don't wholly believe your claim. For as I'm sure you're aware, that name isn't exactly a common one in this land is it"?

Seeing the older man chuckle in amusement at the audible skepticism of the hulking knight, Khajit felt his annoyance and his curiosity grow as he heard this Gandalf's response.

"You have a point there, for I sincerely doubt that this world has ever read the literary works of Tolkien. But since I am currently wearing the form of the of Peter Jackson's adaption of the character, it is only proper that I also use the wizard's name when making introductions. For after all, it seems to be a common trend for those who came from YGGDRASIL".

Seeing the knight immediately stiffen at this piece of information, as well as the murderous looks of outrage that were currently being sported by the 3 rather beautiful women, the balding necromancer couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he could turn these two interlopers against each other.

Unfortunately though, he wouldn't have the chance to test out his theory.

…

Slowly recovering from the surprised at seeing a character from the over a century year old fantasy film, though this had quickly been superseded by his shock at having clear proof that he was no longer the only player who had been transported to this world, Ainz decided to put his rescue mission on hold while he tried to learn more about the transformed player.

"Narberal, while I am busy conversing with Gandalf, I want you to take care of these cultists. You may use any methods you choose, but I want you to ensure that their leader remains alive. Understood"?

Seeing the glaring doppelganger slowly nod her head as she kept her attention fixed on the smiling wizard and his murderous looking servants, Ainz nodded his head in gratitude as he heard his fellow player give similar orders to his own female bodyguards.

"Mara, Thurnwingethil, you are to remain here as well. You may do whatever it is you wish with these men, but do your best to keep the leader alive. A man like that might have some value in these lands".

Amused at the fact that 'Gandalf's' servants bore expressions that were similar in appearance to that of Narberal's, Ainz waited for the wizard to walk in behind him before they stepped away from the inevitable battle.

Passing their journey in relative silence, though he heard his companion chuckle in a tone of grandfatherly amusement as they heard the terror filled cries of the cultists, the armored lich and the wizard soon arrived at their destination and began the meeting that would lay the foundations for the new world order.

"So tell me Mr. Gandalf, when we were both in the game, which guild did you belong to? Cause I confess that I have never heard of a player who chose to look like a character from that hundred year old film".

….

Not surprised that this would be the first question asked of him, the bearded player adopted a slightly apologetic expression as he came up with a response.

"True enough. I suppose the administrators, let alone the more creative fans, would get in a bit of an uproar if they discovered a guild that might have caused the game to be shut down due to copyright issues. But since this form has served its purpose, I suppose it would be prudent of me to change back".

Utilizing his ability to transform back into his default appearance, a sensation that had now become second nature thanks to regular use, the molten eyed doppelganger shot a slightly challenging smirk at the armored lich.

"There, that is much better. I trust that you will follow my example Mr. Ainz Ooal Gown? It's awfully hypocritical to hide your true form when you're asking someone else to transform back".

Noticing that the armored being stiffened in surprised at the mention of his name, Morbus allowed his smirk to remain in place as the armored warrior managed to recover from his earlier shock.

"You have a point. However, there is a purpose for adopting this name, so even if you are familiar with my game persona, I ask that you continue to refer to me as Ainz Ooal Gown".

Nodding his head to show that he would follow the spoken request, though he was somewhat confused as to what possible reason why his fellow player would adopt the name of the guild, Morbus narrowed his eyes in contemplation as he witnessed Ainz's transformation back into his skeleton form.

"So, it appears that I was not the only guild leader who preferred to be forcibly logged out of the game. Shouldn't be surprised though. Momonga was well known for his dedication to his guild. But I wonder why the sudden urge to adopt it's name".

Pushing this thought aside for later consideration, the molten eyed doppelganger adopted what he believed to be a congenial expression as he addressed the skeletal overlord.

"I must admit, that I had some early suspicions about your true identity Momonga. Does my heart good to see that I was correct".

…

If he still possessed the ability to do so, Ainz would have frowned in annoyance at the rather casual way his fellow player chose to interact with him. But at the same time, he was rather enjoying the novelty of talking with someone who neither worshipped the ground he walked upon, or looked at him with understandable fear.

That being said, he did have limits to his patience. And with his previous questions seemingly being ignored by the shape changing player, he allowed his voice to carry a barely audible tone of warning as he replied to the smiling doppelganger.

"Indeed. I point out however that while you are familiar with both my name and guild, you have yet to reveal your own name or who you are affiliated with. I trust that this will not be difficult for you to share".

Though he noticed a slight narrowing of the doppelganger's eyes at his tone, for which he attributed to the fact that his tone sounded more like an order rather than a suggestion, Ainz was relieved when he received an answer from the now smiling player.

"I do apologize for that. Its been some time since I have talked with someone who could be my equal that I have forgotten the niceties of proper conversation. The name that I had chosen for my character was Morbus, and I am the final leader of the Shadowed Lords".

Seeing the proud expression that was currently being worn by his fellow guild leader, it was only thanks to his emotional limiting ability that prevented Ainz from feeling any amount of shame as he responded to the doppelganger's boasting.

"Never heard of you, or them for that matter. Were you well known in the game"?

…

Scowling at the dismissive words of the robe wearing lich, though he was somewhat grateful that Momonga had said that while they were, hopefully, out of ear shot of his servants, Morbus managed to school his features back into an impassive mask as he answered the rather insulting question.

"I believe we were. Not as well-known as the forces of Nazarick, especially after the failure of that guild alliance served to increase your notoriety, but we managed to carve our own impressive niche within the game before the game began to decrease in popularity".

Fighting the urge to smirk as he noticed the skeletal player straighten at the reminder of the attempt to wipe his dungeon off the face of the game, Morbus swore he could detect a barely audible level of anger in the lich's voice as he offered a reply.

"I see. Is that why you have chosen to reveal yourself? To finish what your allies had tried to do all those years ago? I commend you for your diligence, but you will find that I am more than capable of defending myself".

Waving aside the threat with a dismissive gesture of his hand, for in truth he was pretty certain that he could easily take out his fellow player with the aid of his servants, Morbus proceeded to reassure the skeletal overlord that he meant no harm.

"While I admit that the Shadowed Lords had some dealings with those guilds who formed an alliance trying to bring you down, I assure you that neither I, nor my guild have ever done anything to make us enemies. And I would thank you to keep your threats to a minimum. Cause if our little conversation dissolves into violence, I'm pretty sure that I can take you".

Having witnessed Momonga once again stiffen to alertness after his earlier statement had caused him to relax by the smallest of margins, Morbus didn't bother to hide the slightly challenging smirk that spread across his face as he heard the equally challenging tone of the skeletal overlord.

"Oh really? And what exactly makes you so confident that you can beat me? While I have no doubt that you have already confirmed that your abilities are more than a match for any being in this world, the fact remains that you have yet to come across someone who is your equal".

Allowing his arms to fall to his side, serving to both conceal the Ring from view while his hands strayed next to his lightsaber, Morbus morphed his features into a more pondering expression as he replied to Ainz's truthful observation.

"True, but the fact remains that in terms of combat ability, I possess the advantage. For you see, some of the players your guild defeated were quite willing to pass on the information they learned during their ill-conceived venture to conqueror your dungeon, though I confess that it cost us a fair amount of money to learn this. And since your character requires MP to fight, while I don't, I think it's safe to say that I have a very strong chance of beating you".

….

Though he hated to admit it, Ainz knew that the molten eyed doppelganger had a point.

If he was to engage in combat with another presumably maxed level player, if he failed to finish the battle quickly he would end up losing due to his status as a magic caster. And even if he was to call on Narberal for aid, the raven haired Pleiade would be easily overwhelmed by Morbus's servants.

These thoughts passed through his skull as he considered his options. But while his fellow player held a clear advantage over him, he hadn't used it. So it was with that thought in mind that the lich carefully framed his next question.

"If you are so confident of your victory, why haven't you done anything to secure it? Or for that matter why didn't you choose to remain in the shadows instead of confronting me directly? I've only just started my quest to become well known in this land, so it would have taken me quite a while to hear any mention of you. So I confess I am also somewhat curious how you knew about me already".

Receiving a look that greatly reminded him of his high school teachers whenever a student had asked a stupid question, Ainz soon had to accept that Morbus had some cause to wear that look as he proceeded to answer his question.

"Are you perhaps forgetting that little skirmish you had with the soldiers of the Slane Theocracy? If you have, it costs me nothing to tell you that they have not forgotten the way in which you so easily destroyed their forces. And since you happened to butcher one of their most elite unites, it wasn't long before they started calling up their people's magic casters in an attempt to rebuild their ranks".

Though grateful that he now knew the identity of those who had been silently witnessing the progress of Nigun's attempts to destabilize the Re-Estize Kingdom, not to mention the fact that he now had a rough idea where his fellow player was now located, Ainz nevertheless kept his tone firm as he addressed the armored doppelganger.

"I see. So you have allied with the Slane Theocracy in order to survive in this new world? I admit that strategy has crossed my mind from time to time, but since my NPCs are somewhat…distrusting of humans, I never gave much thought to that plan".

For the first time since meeting with his fellow player, the skeletal overlord could detect a genuine smile of amusement on the doppelganger's face.

"Nice to see that I am not the only one experiencing the issues of troublesome NPCs, though I suspect that out of the two of us that you have it worse off than I am. Cause after all, I sincerely doubt that you are properly equipped to deal with some of the more….personal requests of your female servants".

If he still possessed the ability, Ainz was certain that he would have blushed in angry embarrassment at the reminder that he lacked the means to get intimate with the more forward members of Nazarick.

However, before he could voice his own observation on this particular aspect of his new circumstances, Morbus's expression soon turned cold as he explained the other reasons for his reveal.

"And I would think carefully before you insult my dungeon again. I admit that Utumno is in the midst of defining its relationship with the theocracy, but never would I choose to subjugate myself to the whims of a foreign power. I won the right to lead the forces of my dungeon in a manner that I see fit, and I will continue to do so for as long as I live".

…

Taking a moment to calm himself down after that little outburst, and thankful that Momanga hadn't immediately gone into attack mode during his justified reprimand, though he had noticed the skeleton's shift in body language, Morbus began to explain the reason for his presence with a question of his own.

"Tell me Ainz, are you familiar with the RTS genre? Or are you one of those people who chose to devote themselves to only one type of game"?

Seeing the skeletal player shake his head in the negative, the armored doppelganger continued his monologue.

"Such a shame. One of the first video games I ever played happened to be in the RTS genre, and even though it's been nearly 140 years since its release, Age of Empires still manages to be my favorite game, outside YYGDRASIL of course".

Guessing that the slight flaring in Momonga's eyes was a literal spark of comprehension, Morbus allowed himself to smile as he heard the lich describe the features of the game his grandfather had introduced him to when he had expressed an interest in finding a historically themed game.

"Isnt that the series where players chooses a civilization from history, go on to gather resources, and build armies to fight each other over specific map types"?

Nodding his head to show that he was correct in his description, though he was over simplifying the gameplay, Morbus continued his explanation.

"That is correct. Each new installment continued to upgrade various parts of the gameplay, but in short the basic structure was all the same. However, despite those changes, the most valuable ones being the inclusion of infinite resource generation, I still vastly preferred the second game in the series since it allowed me to do something that the other games could not".

Smiling as he remembered all those hours spent constructing medieval empires with armies of long range bowman, Morbus flashed a questioning look at his fellow player as he slowly moved to reveal his plan.

"Tell me Ainz, have you ever found yourself disappointed that the AI couldn't provide you with more of a challenge once you reached your maximum potential? All of the later Age of Empire games where like that, and even with the ability to generate limitless resources, they never managed to recover their strength if you gave them time to rebuild. The 2nd game of the series was like that too, but unlike the others, there were options that could allow you to give your enemies the necessary resources to rebuild, thus ensuring that the game could continue longer than originally thought".

Seeing the lich nod his head in contemplative agreement with his reasoning, Morbus judged that now was the time to reveal the true purpose of their meeting.

"With that particular thought in mind, I was hoping that such an arrangement could form the basis of our two dungeon's relationship while we are in this world. If we were to determine respective spheres of influence, with the agreement that neither of us would interfere with the events that are happening on the other side of an agreed upon border, the both of us could concentrate on establishing an empire without worrying about its destruction at the hands of a rival power. Of course such a truce would become pointless once we've divided the world between ourselves, since I'm pretty sure our servant's would be pushing for war with each other once they no longer have other distractions to occupy them, but it would nonetheless provide us with a challenge since we would be facing off against an opponent of equal strength".

….

Though his face was incapable of expressing any visible signs of emotion, Ainz was certain that if he still possessed the ability, he would be expressing interest with this sort of plan.

He had to admit that during the last year playing YGGDRASIL, he had been rather bored with the game. Most of his teammates had left, upgraded patches from the administrators no longer provided new quests or locations to explore, and his solo missions were done to ensure the upkeep of Nazarick rather any sense of excitement on his part.

The only reason why he had kept playing was because the game represented a time in his life when he was most happy, but as the game steadily approached its deletion date, he had only felt a steady feeling of depression.

And while he was thrilled beyond measure at having his teammates' creations come to life, though he still hoped that he would one day be reunited with them if they too had been transported to this world, he had been somewhat disappointed by the standards of power he had come across.

So it was with this thought in mind that Ainz sought to clarify a couple of things before he made a decision.

"Just to be clear, what exactly do you mean by spheres of influence? Are you proposing we undergo a Cold War strategy where we each try to win control of an as yet unclaimed territory? Or do you mean that we can only operate north or south of a defined geographical feature"?

Seeing the armored doppelganger take a moment to consider the question, and suspecting that he would go for an option that would benefit him the most, Ainz was somewhat surprised with the answer he received.

"I believe a variation of the Cold War strategy would be best since it gives us more options. That being said, since you've already begun to spread your influence in this kingdom, I will do nothing to hinder your attempts to bring the Re-Estize Kingdom under your full control, provided of course you keep your skeletal hands out of the Slane Theocracy. All the other nations of this world however are up for grabs".

Nodding his head to show his approval with this form of agreement, for it would allow them both to begin their plans more or less on an equal footing, the skeletal overlord posed another question that would determine the nature of their little game.

"And how would we go about claiming new territory? Do we have to capture a nation's capital? Send a letter stating that this land is either mine or yours? Cause if that's the case, I predict that it won't take too long for the pair of us to reach that final confrontation".

Judging by the smirk that was currently spreading across the face of his fellow player, Ainz accurately guessed that a solution to this potential problem had already been thought of.

"Nothing as basic as that. There are two ways in which we can claim territory for ourselves. The first one being the use of diplomacy, where the borders of your new found allies mark the extent of your territory. However, should this nation choose to break off its relations with you due to pressure from another power, excluding myself of course, then that territory will be once again up for grabs. Sound fair"?

Inclining his head forward to show that such terms were agreeable to him, Ainz found his interest growing as the guild leader of the Shadowed Lords explained the second option for expansion.

"The other way to gain new territory would be through the use of military conquest. This option gives us the option of dividing a nation between us should we be interested in the same nation, with our new border situated at the point where our forces meet. Of course, if the indigenous population surrenders after a display of force, this would also count as a military conquest, but in my opinion is somewhat less fun that beating a bunch of nobles who believe that victory is their divine right. So what do you say Lord Ainz, is it a deal"?

Taking a moment to mentally examine the rules of this game, and finding that their were no loopholes to this agreement that he could see, provided of course that both players kept to their word, the lich nodded his head.

"It is a deal, and let the best player win".

...

AND thats done.

FINALLY reached the conversation I had in mind when I first got the idea to write this story :P. Took a while but finally got there lol.

Believe that I made the interactions between Overlord pretty plausible. For in the series (both cannon and the various fanfic that I've read) Ainz is always relaxed/having fun/overjoyed when he converses with his fellow guild members, so I believe he would be a bit more stand offish if confronted with a member from another guild. Less so if my OC came from a guild that had attacked them in the past, but nevertheless is still a rival.

Hopefully you all liked that bit where Ainz didnt even know about Morbus's guild :P

As you might have guessed from some of the dialogue, I am an Age of Empires Fan :P, so just had to find a way in which to include that into the story. Especially the bit about that option in Age of Empires II where you can send resources to both allies and enemies in order to make it more challenging...the AI never seemed to build to the max population limit, and kind became lethargic after first couple of attacks were ruined.

And since I'm the kind of player (card and video) who will allow the enemy to recover (not enough to destroy me but enough to keep me on my toes/challenge me) once I've secured my own position, felt that should be reflected in my oc. I've lost once or twice because of this mentality, but its more fun than winning to quickly XD

ANYWAYS...will be a while til the next chapter upload, where we will see what the NPCs have done to the death cult and the insane blonde. But since I have FINALLY gotten off my ass to work on my other stories...not to mention trying to complete a slightly crammed college semester...will be some time before I expand on this story.

Til then, thanks to those who have left reviews/favorited/followed this story

REVIEWS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME (so long as they dont burn)