(No difference in T or M versions of this chapter)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Early Planning
Clementine walked to the middle of a fighting arena that she had been asked, or rather, ordered to go to. She was also told to wear her old gear and bring her weapons. She didn't put too much thought into the request as this was her morning workout routine with Lupusregina.
"Lady Lupusregina... " Clementine greeted the one person she did not want to see. The red-haired maid just smiled and cracked her knuckles.
"Hey Clementine, how are you doing~su?" the maid asked with a sweet smile that hid her true nature. Clementine looked at her old stilettos, she could tell they all had a magic spell loaded onto them.
"Fine, all things considered... " she looked at the maid as she put two of them away, spinning the stilettos she held in her hands.
"Good, because I have some question I need to ask you after we're finished with our work out~su"
"Uh-huh... and I'll be your punching bag, is that it?" Clementine asked stretching her arms and legs.
"Bingo! Imma beat you up... but there are some seriously strong spells on those weapons of yours this time... so if you DO hit me... you might get some payback for what I did to you the other day~su!" While that sounded nice to Clementine, she also knew that probably wasn't going to happen anytime soon... but she would try.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Clementine said taking a defensive pose. But suddenly the maid was gone. Clementine looked around but saw nothing. This was the usual method of her attack, full invisibility then a complete sucker punch, just once Clementine wished she not use that spell and maybe make this work out a not more intersting.
"HEY!" Suddenly a fist was punching Clementine in her stomach, she had no idea where the attack had come from, but she was doubled up over the maid's fist trying not to puke. The maid giggled as she brought her knee up against Clementine's chin, breaking her jaw and sending her flying upwards.
"SU~!" Lupusregina was already following up her knee with a straight punch into Clementine's chest, breaking two ribs and knock the air out of her. Clementine flew along the dirt ground for a few yards until tumbling to a stop. She couldn't breathe and blood was pouring out of her mouth. She looked up trying to see where the next attack would come from, but again she was nowhere to be seen.
"[GREATER EVASION] [PACE OF THE WIND] she used her speed and reflex boosting attacks but they did not help from a complete sucker punch to the back of her head just as she was getting up. The hit made her black out and fall face first into the dirt.
"[GREATER HEAL]" Clementine woke up, her face was in the dirt but she was not injured either. The maid had healed her.
"Round One... Lupu! Su~!" She put her hands up in celebration but Clementine was already dashing at her driving the stiletto at the back of Lupusregina. [FIREBALL] was released but the maid's armor deflected the attack and the explosion went off a foot or two away from the women. Clementine was sent flying from her own spell, however, the maid seemed completely unaffected by it.
"Shit..." For only a second Clementine had taken her eyes off her and the maid was gone again.
"Yo!" Suddenly she was in front of her and threw a handful of sand into the open eyes of Clementine.
"Arrech!" Clem screamed out and grabbed her eyes trying to rub the sand out. Clementine suddenly felt her leg snap from a kick and she fell to the ground screaming in pain, but her open mouth was a perfect fit for Lupureginas foot as she kicked her into the mouth, shattering the front rows of her teeth. Clem fell onto her back as blood from her gums flooded her throat and she began choking on her own blood.
"SU~!" Lupusregina came crashing down with an ax kick into Clementine's chest making her vomit the blood she had just swallowed and pass out again.
"[GREATER HEAL]" Again she woke up. All her injuries were healed and her teeth were back. She slowly rose to her feet dropping her weapons, she realized they were useless in this fight, as she suspected all along. She was giving this "cat" the struggle it wanted like a little mouse.
"Just... do what you want... I don't want to fight anymore." Clementine said shaking her head.
"KAY!" Lupusregina said as she rained down a flurry of punched onto Clem's chest and abdomen, shattering bone and rupturing organs. In the middle of her barrage combo, Lupusregina cast [GREATER HEAL] then continued her combo of punches and slashes. Finally, the barrage was over and Clem fell to her face bleeding and bruised. Lupusregina's foot came crashing down on the back of Clem's head driving her skull into the dirt. A huge splatter of blood covered the area below her face.
"Hmmm... well I guess that a pretty good warm-up~su!" she laughed Clementine was unconscious and near death.
"You're making me use a lot of my mana you know that?" Lupusregina said to the unmoving Clementine before once again casting [GREATER HEAL]. Clementine stood up wiping the blood and dirt from her face once she'd healed.
"Alright, so now I got my warm up in... the real reason we're here is My Lords would like to know more about this group you used to work for called The Black Scripture." Clementine shook her head.
"I told you people all I know about them already. But what exactly is it you want to know? The Half-Elf girl? I told you all I know about her." Clementine said thinking about a half elf girl with black and white hair... her power reminded Clementine of these people if Nazarick... she could fight well against most anyone here in a one on one Clementine figured.
"Oh? Is it that Zesshi girl?" Clementine nodded.
"As I said before, she isn't part of The Black Scripture...officially. I'd say she's more like... a secret weapon. If you make big enough enemies with The Slane Theocracy, you'll meet her and the entire team soon enough... including my brother." She tilted her head.
"Brother? What's his deal?" Clementine shrugged.
"He's an entitled asshole who always got what he wanted... and I would not stand a chance against him in a duel... he can summon hundreds of magical beats from these rings he has, but he himself is worthless in a fight, he's called the "one man army." Lupusregina seemed interested in what she had to say.
"Okay, who else, anyone else we should be interested in?" Clem thought for a second.
"They are all dangerous in their own right... but my brother's partner is one to be careful of as well. She's the seventh seat. Her name is Tessika, she's young but controls a weird monster that I've never seen, but even my brother says he's terrified of it. He says her one monster would easily beat all of his at once and is impossible to hurt, that's all I know about her. Other than she'd a bit of a weirdo." Lupusregina nodded.
"There's a couple of magic casters that... well, I used to think they were powerful but you guys make them look like jokes... so no concern there. There's one I've only heard of called "Thousand Leagues Astrologer"... she's probably the one that knows the most about you guys, I heard she can use magic to look in on people from afar." That didn't seem to concern Lupusrgina, so they must have countermeasures for that.
"Is that it~su?" Clementine thought for a while longer.
"There's a guy who supposed to be the strongest man in the world, like in terms of what he can lift, he never impressed me, however, so you guys might consider his strength 'average' at best. But the last two are..." Lupusregina was paying attention.
"There is a guy called "Time Turbulence" I've heard he can do... weird things. But I've never seen him fight, so who knows. Then there is the first seat and captain of the whole group. A Paladin named Answer. I know he's more known for his wit and cunning than his physical powers, but even those are past me, so he's dangerous because he's smart I guess." Clementine knew of some others but they were just slot fillers essentially, ready to be kicked out when a better fighter came along... thinking back, she may have been one of these 'slot fillers' not that it mattered now.
"So this Zesshi, you really think she could fight against us? su~!" Clementine nodded.
"Mistress Shalltears and the birdman..." Suddenly Clementine's world was spinning and she was on her back. The side of her face was hurting and half of her vision was gone. Clementine looked up and saw Lupurgina holding a bloody eyeball... it was hers!" Clementine put her hands over the empty eyesocket screaming in pain as the shock wore off.
"Refer to my Lord Peroroncino as "Birdman" again, and I will remove the other eye, understand?" Clementine rolled to her knees growling but also bowing.
"Yes... sorry Mistress... Lupusregina..." She grunted between he pain and blood covered her hand and the ground below her.
"Alright... continue, more about this Zesshi~su." Clementine tried to ignore the pain and focus on the question.
"Like... I said, she's stronger than you... by a lot. Mistress Shalltear and Lord Peroroncino could probably fight her... but I think it would... be a hard fight still, if it were... one on one. I've heard that her father... was The Elf King and... maybe her mother, might... have been a god or something... like that. She's called a Godkin." Clementine took some cloth and wrapped it around her head to stop the bleeding, it did not really help.
"Godkin? Explain~su."
"Imagine if... Lord Peroroncino had a child... how strong do you think that child would be? Anyone with the blood of these "players" as you all call them, in them... is known as a Godkin... it's guessed that is what she is, offspring or a descendant of one of these 'players'. It's not known which really... anyway like... I said, she's the one you need to be wary of, especially if she has back up from the whole team... I think that could be troublesome."
"Okay, and where can we find this Zesshi~su?"
"She is guarding a place of great importance to The Slane Theocracy. She's at the top of The Black Tower um... roughly twenty miles West from their capital, The Holy City. She never leaves it either, but she's also rarely left alone." Clementine had told Shalltear all this when she thought she was being interrogated and not simply broken in. the probably thought she was lying then.
"Alright, better make an eye patch for that, if could get infected, anyway we're done, go back to Shalltears house," Lupusregina said walking away. Clementine glared at her with her one eye angerly.
"Lord Momonga? I have that information you wanted... yes My Lord, coming to you immediately. " Lupusregina said as she cast [MESSAGE] to Momonga. When she arrived at his office he was talking to Demiurge, she patiently waited until their conversation was finished. He motioned for Lupusrgina to come and sit and give her report of The Black Scripture.
"I see... and Clementine is adjusting well to her time here in Nazarick?" Momonga asked after she had finished telling him everything Clementine had.
"Yes My Lord, she truly loves her Mistress Shalltear I believe, and we've been training together every morning." He seemed pleased and nodded.
"So then, Demiurge. What do you think?" Demiurge gave it some thought.
"While making enemies of The Slane theocracy is not wise... if we strike first and eliminate their most powerful and "secret" weapon... then they may just give up any hostile efforts, in favor of survival at that point. Also, I have many tests we could run on a "Godkin" that no doubt would benefit us immensely, and that's not even counting the "treasure" she guards in this tower... it is not a stretch of any imagination to think one or more world items may be kept there.
"But if The Slane theocracy deems this an attack on humanity and asks for help?"
"Your majesty has seen to the fact that The Holy Kingdom would not help if you simply, asked them not to. but i don't think even that would be necessary. With the dramatic decrease of the Demihuman population, the humans have begun a campaign of the genocide of any and all Demihumans found in many areas around their nation's borders. As they are a selfish nation, I cannot see them stopping this giant campaign just to offer help," Demiurge said.
"Likewise, the Re-Estize Kingdom is in preparations for their annual war with The Baharuth Empire, they would ignore any request from any nation, this holds double for the Baharuth Empire. Due to my Beastmans relentless attack of the Draconic nation. The Baharuth Empire has been forced to send every other available troop not participating in the annual standoff to help hold their lines, for as soon as the Draconic Kingdom falls my Beastmen will be in a prime position to attack The Empire.
"So we cripple The Slane Theocracy now before they can become a problem later?" Momonga thought it seemed like a good idea.
"It is as your plan has foreseen it, My Lord! Everything goes according to your plan." Momonga just nodded at the praise, how humble Lord Momonga was Lupusregina thought... so freakin cool!
"So who did you have in mind to lead this assault on the Black Scriptures tower?"
"Numbers are probably best here... Mistress Aura and her brother come to mind... they could be the spearhead that stabs at the Black Tower... every other team member would be simple back up for them, though I suggest Shalltear not participate in this particular mission.
"Back up, huh? I hate to use him but... Victim would make this attack... almost too easy, however, we should still only use him if we have to... an exit strategy if you will"
"As expected! I did not wish to say as it would require Victim to kill himself, but we now know he will return to use if we simply pay a very affordable price... My Lord, those three alone would easily take the tower." Momonga nodded.
"But only if we need to... i do not wish to kill Victim if we don't have to."
Aura would provide the sheer numbers. Mare would provide the heavy firepower to drop the tower from the outside completely if needed. And Victim would be the ace in the hole that would prevent anything "surprising" from happening if some weird force intervened like That Dragon Lord from last time. But still, the team seemed like it needed one or two more, just to be safe? Momonga thought, also he was wondering what Demiurge meant by "next big stage", but according to Clementine there were some that could prove to be tricky.
"The only decision really left is now or after the next big stage of your plan?" Demiurge asked looking at the near freaking out Momonga
He had no idea what to think... what if this attack messed up this "next stage" of "his" plan... damnit he wanted his Overlord body back so he could not freak out, he was sweating! They would see he had no idea what he was doing... damnit Jin! This is your fault! Suzuki cried in his mind as his nerves began to take over.
"So should we do this now or after the next big stage of your plan my Lord?"
Shit... I'm taking too long to say something... what do I do? Suzuki was trying to hide the fact that he had no idea what to do... his plan of faking it till he made it was falling apart.
Lupusregina was in awe of the mental power she was witnessing. Lord Momonga was thinking again! He must be thinking of amazing things! Lupuregina wondered the true scope of his brilliance... She found herself wanting to be with her Lord... more than just as a fun time. Her eye went wide as she witnessed him thinking even more... it was so intense! Shit! She might leave a puddle on the chair she was sitting on... why did her Lord have to be so impressive when he thought up plans? This was bad... his beads of sweat were a sign how much thought power he was putting into this simple coin flip decision.
"Hmm, what do you think Demiurge?" Lupusrgina nearly soaked her chair... it was an A or B question, yet her Lord had thought up an answer C? Damit... she was going to make a mess right here and now!
"If you are asking me My Lord, that means you have decided as you know what I would say, very good joke My Lord!" Demiurge said snickering, trying to keep his composure. Lupusrgina looked back and forth... they were speaking in a way she could not understand... she felt so small standing next to her Lords wit... it was damn near terrifying, if not so arousing. It was official, she had ruined her panties and this chair...
"Alright then, I will leave it up to you then Demiurge," Momonga said nodding.
"Oh, I am sorry Lupusregina, you may be excused." her eyes went wide. the second she stood up her shame would be all too obvious.
"Ah Lord Momonga, there is something I would like to show you on the fifth floor. If you don't mind I'd like to leave now to show it." Demiurge said giving Lupusregina s slight wink.
"Ah, of course, then Lupusrgenina thank you for your report, we will be excusing ourselves," Momonga said as they both used their Rings of Ainz Ooal gown to teleport away. As soon as they were gone Lupusregina got up to get dry, taking the chair with her, she would have it cleaned and dry as soon as she could.
"Indeed Demiurge... that is uh, a nice statue of me, but..." Momonga said looking at one of his latest works.
"Ah! I am glad it passes your inspection, My Lord! I was afraid you might not approve of the liberty I took with your jawline, as perfect as it is, I just wished to show a softer side that not many know of you My Lord!" Momonga nodded.
"Well if this is all, then I really need to get back to work," Momonga said. Demiurge bowed satisfied he had bought Lupusregina enough time to clean up.
"Very good My Lord. Then with your blessing... I will begin the assault on The Black Tower." Demiurge said.
"I leave it in your capable hands Demiurge!" And His Lord was gone. Demiurge sent a [MESSAGE] to Aura, Mare and Victim telling them of the upcoming mission and where to meet up. He would accompany them on this task, mostly because it might prove to be fun and he had nothing to do until the workers were all gathered and ready to kick off the final stage of his Lords plan. This could prove to be a fun diversion till then.