Doing his best to contain the near giddiness he felt after hearing that his plans were succeeding, Morbus managed to keep his carefully crafted expression of composure as he addressed his still kneeling servant.
"You have done well Sidious. Your new weapons will be added to the army during the upcoming campaign, and if they prove to be as effective as you've claimed to be, I may just very well place more resources under your control. I trust that you approve of my condition"?
Receiving an even deeper bow from the NPC that had been modeled after the most successful, albeit not as iconic, villain in Star Wars history, the armored doppelganger fought the urge to roll his eyes as Sidious expressed his thanks for being praised for his efforts in his usual oily fashion.
"If my master is pleased with my efforts, then I will do all in my power to ensure that I continue to meet his approval".
Pleased with this latest example of boot licking, gestured with his ring wearing hand that the audience had come to an end, and waited until the robed NPC was out of the room before rising from his throne to admire one of his latest creations.
It had taken some doing, with more than a little help from not only the aerial forces of Utumno, and the more academic of his new human subjects, but also a tentative agreement with his fellow transported player, but the results had been worth it.
For while he possessed the ability to magically direct his sight into every corner of the land from the safety of his personal study, there was just something proper to having a carefully detailed map of the land he sought to conqueror.
Only one of several meters long documents that now rested in his possession, the map that currently was situated against the side of the throne room, well away from the flames of his Balrog bodyguards, depicted not only the territory that laid in the lands that had been claimed by the Slane Theocracy, but also the steadily growing power of his own expanding Empire.
For while much of the map was covered with the blue that designated the lands under the directed control of the religious human nation, the top portion of the map, which designated the mountain border that separated the territory already claimed by the new Overlords, was covered in an ever expanding red to reveal the current extent of Utumno's empire.
Only a few major cities remained as bastions of blue in the otherwise all red territory, signifying that the common people were more than willing to submit to his power when their clergy lacked the means to directly enforce their power.
But even though these cities remained under the Theocracy's control, albeit somewhat tenuously due to the increasing popularity of his sermon, it was only a matter of time before they were forcibly added to the former librarian's new empire.
The concept of Empire building through outright military conquest had always fascinated growing up, and to that end, once he got the dungeon's library up and running, had added numerous texts from the real world describing the methods of the most powerful nations the world had ever seen.
However, as a student of history, the armored doppelganger had also spent considerable time researching the inherent flaws of each and every empire that had fallen, either due to outright military conquest, or due to internal factors.
He believed he had sufficient knowledge to not only ensure that it did not crumble under the weight of indigenous independence movements, something which had caused the fall of both the British and the Soviet Empire, but that it wouldn't be weakened by internal factors when faced with more external threats, as was the cause for the Roman and Chinese Empire.
But before he could begin the process of spreading his ideas beyond more than a couple of towns and villages, he needed an outright military conquest to prove in the most basic way that he possessed the strength to rule.
He had already reinforced Saruman's forces with an additional 10 000 orc soldiers and hundreds of support goblins. And before the week was out, the White Wizard, who had proven to be an effective field commander, would be leading an army of 12,000 Uruk kai, and 14,000 Orc infantry, supported by 2000 Goblin engineers, 600 Warg Calvary, 8 Sith Assassins, and 4 winged dragons, against the city of Mecia.
If the city was wise enough, they would immediately surrender when confronted with the sight of Utumno's terrible army. If however their leaders still possessed enough sway over the inhabitants to resist, then all would be left of the Theocracy's former city would be a smoldering pile of ruins.
This result was eagerly anticipated by the more violence prone members of the Supreme Generals, and to a degree Morbus also found himself looking forward to it.
Not because it would give him a chance to see his army in action, though this in itself was one of the factors that led him to choose this course of action, but because his new personality had resulted in a mindset that was more analytical, and less concerned about the concept of good and evil.
The rationale for destroying a city was highly similar to other would be world conquerors, either historical or cinematic recreations. For if he displayed his power, and willingness to destroy one city that dared to defy him, then that would increase the chances of obtaining more cities intact once he had turned his attention towards them.
In short, he cared little if thousands of innocents where spared or scarified to fulfill his ambition.
All that he cared about was the completion of his imperialistic ambitions, and he did not care how he went about achieving them, only that they ensured that his power would not be challenged.
He suspected that his fellow Overlord suffered similar, if not more exaggerated problems when it came to comparing his former life's thought process to the one they now had courtesy of being trapped in non-human bodies. For as a being that was essentially a walking skeleton, Momonga had no need to indulge in such actives as sleep or eating, and lacked access to any biological function that would have allowed him to experience the emotions that came with being a living being.
Such was not the case for the ruler of Utunmo, though his circumstances where slightly different. For in addition to still possessing the need to take care of his body through such activities as eating and sleeping, albeit on a reduced scale than what he had previously been used to, he still possessed the ability to feel strong emotions. Of course his new mental process allowed him keep them from influencing his decisions, but he could still nevertheless feel happiness, rage, and even depression.
However, while he had at times given in to these emotions, either through cackling in a manner that could rival his yellow eyed servant, or using the most useless and being in his dungeon for violent stress relief, there was one emotion that he had yet to give into.
Though considering the persistent nature of his more…visually appealing servants, it was only a matter of time.
"Forgive my intrusion my lord, but may I have a quick word with you"?
Pulled from his musings of conquest and emotions by Thuringwethil's sudden appearance, and idly noting the departing backs of his Balrog bodyguards, the armored doppelganger waved his hand for her to proceed before he refocused his attention back to the map.
"Thank you my lord. While I hesitate to question any part of your cunning plan, I'm afraid that I have regrettably come across a flaw while thinking of the numerous ways I can best help you achieve your ends".
Fighting the urge to scoff at Vampire's concern, which was another example of just how much his personality had changed when he had been a mere human, Morbus nevertheless focused his attention back towards the kneeling vampire with an amused expression.
"Oh yes? And what flaw would that be Thuringwethil? Apart from the forces of Nazarick, there is no power in this land that can hope to stand against the might of Utumno. Our soldiers are loyal and powerful, the lands that I have conquered are peacefully prospering after submitting to my edicts, so I am curious as to what I have overlooked".
Having expected the dress wearing vampire to immediately offer an apology for doubting his methods, the former librarian was caught off guard when the undead beauty smiled in a manner that could only be described as seductive.
"And I do not deny that you have achieved all this in a manner that clearly expresses your prodigal talent my lord. However, the flaw I refer to is based not so much on how you've gone to accomplish this, but rather how you have not ensured that you're growing empire doesn't crumble when you are no longer here to rule it".
Allowing a look of confusion to cross his face as he processed this information, for he had never considered that his current state of being was only temporary, Morbus's expression soon morphed into one of shock as the raven haired woman listed her solution.
"But, if you were to designate an heir, one that had not only your blood flowing through its veins, but also one of your most loyal and powerful servants, then I can safely predict that there will be no danger in your empire being anything but eternal".
Doing his best to recover from this latest example of how different this world was to the one he had left behind, a task that was somewhat difficult due to the fact that Thuringwethil had quickly moved to close the space between them, Morbus managed to find his voice as his incredibly attractive servant began to run her hands across his armor.
"As….insightful as your plan is Thuringwethil, I'm afraid that in the spirit of fairness, I'm gonna have to decline your most generous offer".
Having expected his words to have some sort of negative effect on the undead woman, whose current position allowed him no doubts that she clearly wished to cross that boundary that he had previously considered crossing before other aspects of his new life stole his attention, the molten eyed doppelganger was surprised by the answer he got to his protest.
"There is no reason to fear my lord. I have already talked it over with the other female members of Utumno, and they happen to agree with my reasoning. Of course Jade was somewhat reluctant to take that final step with the being we consider to be a god, but I managed to get her approval once I explained that only our children would be considered rightful heirs to the throne if you happened to follow your predecessors. Any offspring you have with the lesser orders will of course be honored with important positions within the Empire, but they will lack the right to succeed you".
Rendered temporarily speechless by just how thorough the dress wearing vampire had gone to ensuring that she would get what she wanted, Morbus nevertheless considered the highlights of this plan.
On one hand, provided of course that his current body possessed the ability to do more than simply enjoy the pleasures of sexual intercourse, he would be increasing the amount of powerful beings that could only be loyal to him. But on the other hand, by choosing this action, he opened up his empire to the historical threat of civil war.
And while some conflicts had proven to be beneficial for the nation in which they originated, the United States and to a lesser degree China and the Roman Republic being firm examples of this, the damage that would be incurred, not to mention the fear of creating a regime that was self destructive was present.
"Before I choose whether to accept this plan of yours, tell me one thing. If you were the first one to have a child, regardless of gender, would said child be accepted as the first in line to succeed me? Or would..",
"Actually we all decided that you would be the one to determine which of the children by your Supreme Generals would follow in your footsteps. Even if the child wasn't mine, though I confess both Jade and I would prefer to have our own child selected, I would give your designated heir my full loyalty, surpassed by only what I give to you of course".
Nodding his head to show that he found this method to be acceptable, though he suspected that there would be obvious displays of favoritism until, and probably after he selected his choice, Morbus found himself voicing his agreement.
"Then I suppose that I have no problem with this plan of yo….WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING"?
Momentarily pausing her actions at the shocked voice of her master, the vampire woman merely raised an eyebrow in amused confusion as she answered his question.
"I thought that was obvious lord. With your busy schedule, not to mention the fact that I have to return to my duties by this evening, I thought it would be prudent to start working on your heir as soon as possible. And as I have heard that males get excited at the sight of bare female flesh, especially females with figures like mine, I thought it prudent to divest myself of my clothes. Though if you wish to do so yourself, or to ravish me while my clothes are one, I have no objections".
Rolling his eyes at the shameless behavior of his servant, whose partially undressed state did little to diminish her overall physical appeal, Morbus, after taking a moment to consider this new development, activated the message spell to his thankfully absent bodyguards.
"Inform the Supreme Generals, as well as any other servant that wishes to meet with me, that I am occupied for the next 2…no, lets make it 3 hours. And that I will be most severe if anyone tries to interrupt me during this time".
Cancelling the message before he could hear a vocal response to his wishes, and seeing that Thuringwethil was now completely free of her clothes, the shape changing overlord quickly moved to enjoy the physical pleasures that were amusingly enough denied to the skeletal ruler of Nazarick.
...
Though his current body ensured that he wouldn't have to deal with the annoying aspects of emotions for any length of time, it took Ainz's suppression ability 3 times longer than usual to calm him down after seeing what had become of the young looking Floor Guardian.
Gone was the usually cheerful expression that Shalltear always wore in his presence, at least when she wasn't in the midst of a fight with Albedo. And in its place was a look of such emptiness that one could mistake the usually energetic vampire for a doll.
While the dress wearing succubus did her best to console him that this was not his fault, the skeletal being knew that such was not the case.
For it was at his order that Shalltear, along with Sebas, searched the territory of the Re-Estize Kingdom for not only signs that his fellow player had violated the tentative truce that had created, but also for beings who possessed skills that were equal to, or surpassed those held by Gazef Stronoff.
If she hadn't been following his orders, then she wouldn't have been so desperate to fulfil her mission, which would have spared her the fate of falling under the spell of this potentially new enemy.
He already suspected on who was responsible for this catastrophic event to happen, though he was as yet uncertain to how involved his fellow player was with Shalltear's current state. But he was determined to find out.
….
And due to the curse of writers block, gonna end the chapter here XD
Hopefully you all enjoyed this, now time to respond to the comments that have been made by my loyal readers J
First, let me address the way in which I have depicted Ainz/Momonga during and after his meeting with Morbus. If he has come across as naïve and too trusting, I assure you that was not my attention. However, wanted to capture the gamer like spirit he has, which I have seen during those flashback scenes/his reminiscing about the other members of his guild. He liked playing the game, and everyone knows that playing with people was the best time of his life.
The agreement with Morbus sort of reflects this desire to recapture what his life was life before YGGDRASIL's shut down, but his attitude of course if different from his fellow player, which of course is due to the nature of the guilds. In Ainz Ooal Gown, there seemed to be a degree of equality, cooperation, and trust that ensured a harmonious gaming expierence. But in the Shadowed Lords, they tended to follow a more Darwinistic approach (i.e. Only the strongest could lead the guild, and using its army for conqeroring). And lets not forget, Nazarick was one of the most well-known dungeons, which of course could have led to feelings of jealousy by less powerful guilds. With this in mind, its not tooo much of a stretch that my OC ended up this way.
For not only is he the ruler of a guild that based itself around the principals of conquering evil villains, (at least when it came to establishing their power), but his feelings of inadequacy, plus his former life as a librarian/military history buff, causes him to act the way he is once he's got the power XD.
And to those who made comments about maintaining his power in this new world, not just by conqeroring it, have to remember that the new world (like most worlds with magic, like familiar of zero) tend to respond best to the feudal concept of might makes right. But of course Morbus has other more subtle/peaceful methods to pacifiy his new subjects, so carrot and stick approach.
Ainz of course is by no means less intelligent or ruthless, but different experiences means different learning curves. Rest assured, Ainz will become better after this segment XD.
Thinks that's the main part everyone was concerned about.
Now on to the rest.
Yes I am using that 'female NPCs' want to have sex with the transformed main character trope, along with the 'leave an heir to remember you by' bit, but unlike Ainz, Morbus is fully capable, and willing, to take advantage of it XD. But since this is a rated T story…at least for the moment, let your imagination fill the gaps that I have provided you XD.
Anyways, hope you liked this, not sure when next chapter will be, got other stuff to work on, but hopefully wont be TOOO long.
And as always, PLZ REVIEW J