AN: Reuploaded due to formatting error. Fucking FFN. If you don't recognize the character of Chindai or his wives, read 'Dark Plains' where they're introduced. I was a little iffy about even mentioning 'past players' but the player won't ever 'appear' and they serve only as foreshadowing for a future event and an explanation for the Dark Elf culture so...I can live with it, I think it works. Leave your own opinion in the reviews.

...Kami Miyako…

Raymond looked around him as he walked the streets of his city, or more accurately, Dominic's city. The streets were dark and a gentle rain was coming down, night had fallen over the capital of the Slane Theocracy. Most people were home asleep, the shops and restaurants were closed, only a few buildings would be open at this hour. Inns, brothels, bars, and places that were all three.

He wasn't Zesshi, even as good as he was, he couldn't be certain that he could slaughter an establishment without meaningful opposition.

But this, this he could do. He quickly located the house he sought. It was a large place, built for the most part with bricks rather than wood. That alone made it stand out, but the quality of the wood was equally impressive. It had been sanded down to a fine, smooth finish before being painted a solid white that, in the daylight, must have been quite pleasant to look at.

For all the beauty outside, however… Raymond bit his tongue and checked the area around him one more time. No sound, no noise, no one.

He crept to the side of the house and jumped back and forth between it and the neighboring residence, using each push off the wall to propel him higher until he got to the top floor.

He raised the window and slipped in, drawing his sword as he stood back up while taking slow, deep breaths. It was darker inside than outside and he quickly concealed himself, as a shadow dwelling among shadows. His heart didn't pound in his chest the way it did in his younger, more 'green' years, but this was still 'murder' and that bothered him.

Not much.

But a little.

He moved to the door of his target, pressing his ear to it for a brief moment. After hearing no sound within, he pushed the door gently open and slipped inside. There was a little light from a window where the moon shone down, it fell directly on the target, asleep in his bed.

The man was smiling, apparently having a good dream. Raymond moved beside the bed, standing silently over him. He raised his sword high, holding it with both hands, and then brought it down hard into the man's head, piercing his brain and abruptly ending the dream.

Raymond withdrew his sword, lifting the dead man's head slightly off his pillow as he did so. He then wiped the sword clean on the bed and returned it to his sheath.

He felt a great well of satisfaction as Hangan Bale's blood dripped slowly off the bed and onto the floor. He'd been the largest slave owner in Kami Miyako, and left behind several greedy, lazy heirs.

Raymond went quietly downstairs and out the front door, calmly closing it behind him. He returned to his estate as if nothing had ever happened.

Berenice and Ginedine were waiting in his study. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked them.

"No." Berenice replied, biting her lip.

"Not a wink." Ginedine said as he fidgeted with a book he was holding on his lap.

Raymond took his seat behind his replacement desk. "Well, you can sleep soundly knowing that Hangan will sleep forever. Thanks to his stupid, greedy heirs there will be a glut on the slave market very soon. Ginedine, I assume you're ready to buy them up for our little operation?"

"Absolutely. I had a servant acquire a few acres to the south. For some reason, the family that lived there just decided they didn't want to farm anymore and donated it all to a temple one of my servants does the books for. That temple happened to be very generous about selling the land to a newly formed entity dedicated to providing food for the citizens and soldiers of the Slane Theocracy." He kept his face blank and his voice deadpan as he said it.

Raymond however, had a large smile on his face.

"Berenice, what about you?" He asked.

"I had a servant buy up a number of old wagons, nothing fancy, but suitable for transporting people or goods, and some farm equipment. For some reason, the servant then 'quit', and I believe he applied to work as a finance officer with some new organization aiming to start farming a few miles south of here. It's just so hard to find good help these days." She said with a heavy sigh and a very big smirk.

"Well then, everything is moving along as it should, isn't it? Of course, we can't expect that to last forever, but if we can keep Dominic and his allies focused elsewhere, then we should be able to accomplish quite a bit." Raymond said thoughtfully.

There suddenly came a knock at the door, and they all stiffened simultaneously. "Sir, I saw you come in, and I thought maybe I could bring you some tea." A sweet voice said from beyond the entrance.

They each exhaled heavily when they recognized the voice. "Come in, Nua." Raymond said with noticeable relief. The door cracked open, and in slipped an elf girl of small height and slender frame with long blond hair and darting, nervous eyes, bearing a tray with three cups and saucers.

"Nua, you forgot something." Raymond said with a frown.

"Sir?" She asked with a quivering lip.

"You forgot yours. I keep telling you, you're not a slave in this house. If I'm having tea, then you should feel welcome to have some as well." He said patiently.

"O-Oh ah, sir, I didn't really want any." She said quickly.

As she set the tea down in front of the three cardinals, he looked at her pointedly, she was eyeballing the cup that had the most sugar in it.

"Nua, go get yourself some tea. It's alright." He said gently.

"Ah, thank you sir." She said, and saw herself out as fast as her feet could carry her.

"Why does she call you 'sir' if you're trying to convince her that she's not a slave?" Berenice asked uncertainly.

Raymond closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead, and let out a very heavy sigh. "It's the best I can do with her so far. She's very much on edge; it took a week just to convince her that I wasn't trying to trick her into misbehaving as an excuse to punish her. It took another week to convince her that she wasn't just a well treated slave, that I wasn't going to do anything to her. Frankly, I should be happy with this much progress. She's been a slave longer than I've been alive." Raymond said with a catch in his voice that he did not, could not, conceal.

"Have you heard from the Sorcerer King yet?" Ginedine asked, shifting the subject.

"Not yet. However, I did speak with Lady Albedo, the 'Guardian Overseer' which seems to be their equivalent of a Prime Minister, the head of the government under the Sorcerer King. She and her chief advisor, Lord Demiurge, seemed to favor my request, and I think we can count on help of some sort." Raymond replied hopefully.

"I hope so." Berenice said.

"The same." Ginedine added.

"Agreed. It would be nice if, before I die, I could begin to atone for what I did to that girl." Raymond said, and picked up his cup of tea, its warmth hitting his tongue along with the faintest hint of sweetness. Nua had done a fine job making it.

...Roble Holy Kingdom…

Robel's last few days had been nothing if not busy. Preparing the town of Commonton to go on the offensive had been a shock to many of those who had sought refuge there. But after Astrakian loyalists had attempted to slaughter them, just to advance farther east? Oh, they were more than pleased to strike back when he explained what they were going to do.

More importantly, they had the numbers to do it.

"So, what do you think our odds are?" A large spear-wielding bafolk walking beside him asked.

"Very good actually. The force we faced wasn't the biggest of the war, but we were a soft target, relatively speaking of course. And if I had to guess, I'd say that since they had nothing but victory over little villages and small towns till now, the usurper king won't be expecting us to come knocking on his back door." Robel said with a deep and savage laugh.

"Perhaps not, but how long will it take us to travel all the way to Hoburns?" The bafolk asked.

"You weren't part of the invasion back then?" Robel asked. Anyone who had invaded the Holy Kingdom, or at least most of them, had been to the capital one or more times before everything turned around on them.

"You ask that in a strange way, human." The bafolk said.

"Call me Robel." He said politely. "But what do you mean I ask it in a strange way?"

"Like it would not matter if I had been. I know what my kind did to yours." He said, "Are you not thirsty for revenge against us?" His voice was unusual, quite hard to describe, but Robel thought he sounded incredulous.

"The invasion was ghastly, but everybody suffered. Jaldabaoth tormented those who served him and those who didn't. When the Sorcerer King came along and wiped out the invasion, I figure you lost as many or more than we did, probably many more." Robel said, and looked at the bafolk for confirmation. It nodded slowly in reply.

"So, let's call it even. You were forced to invade, and we were forced to wipe you out. Jaldabaoth is dead now, and we are what's left, so I'd rather not have to worry about your children killing mine, and I'm sure you don't want mine killing yours. So, why don't we spare both our children the risks of fighting tomorrow by burying the hatchet today?" Robel said practically.

"You may be very wise, Robel. I hope that wisdom extends to how to win battles." The bafolk said.

"Me too. By the way, I didn't get your name." Robel said with a wry grin on his face.

"You couldn't possibly pronounce it, just call me 'Ba'." The bafolk replied.

"Baaaa it is then." Robel said with a smirk.

That was when he learned the immutable truth that yes, demihumans can and do facepalm. Ba slapped his hand to the long bridge of his face and with a shake of his head said, "Please do not pronounce it that way, my brothers and sisters will never let me hear the end of it."

"You got it, Ba." Robel said cheerfully, "Now, to answer your question, we'll be at Hoburns in about a week or so. According to what I've heard, Skana is somewhere west of us, so if possible I'd like to link up with her to give us a few thousand extra soldiers, but if I can't make contact, we'll just have to make do."

"You don't think we'll encounter another large army?" Ba asked dubiously.

"No, not really. Astraka is probably starting to run out of people willing to fight for him about now. He was never very popular in the north in the first place, and thanks to the efforts of Gustav and his people, supplies among the southern nobles are significantly harder to come by, so they can't really get together what they need in order to send large numbers north to help their guy out, so he's basically alone. We win at Prart, we win at Hoburns, and then we can invade the south."

"How will you take the city though?" Ba asked. "We have many with us now, and I am sure more of your people will help along the way, adding to our strength, but we lack siege engines, and we have no engineers. We do have tools, but we cannot build towers to take the walls, and ladders are easy targets." Ba said unhappily.

"Well, we will have some help. Astraka has made a lot of enemies, and Hoburns was where Black Justice got its real start. Trust me, we'll make it in, we'll just need a little help first." He said with satisfaction.

"I guess I'll trust you then, I have no other choice." Ba said with resignation.

"That's… Ok, that's not quite the spirit, but hey, it'll work out." Robel said, his cheerful grin still in place.

Though he smiled outwardly, the harrowing loss of Gilcrest still ate at him within the quietness of his mind. But here, now, on his way to avenge his friend, there was nothing he could do but put on a brave face and march towards the front lines where heroes were either born, made, or butchered.

...Nazarick…

Ainz was on his throne taking reports from the guardians, it was always a little nerve racking. However, with the passage of time he had gotten more used to being up there and looking down at their kneeling forms as they spoke. He had, little by little over the years, become more comfortable in the role that had been thrust upon him.

"So, you're able to keep heads alive for several hours now? That is considerable progress Demiurge, very well done. However, I understand the goal is 'indefinite', so where do we stand in regard to that?" He asked. "What further experiments will you perform?"

"My lord, I would humbly ask that we be given more living bodies to test with. The current number is almost all used up, so I have temporarily called a halt to our experiments until we have either refined our techniques further or until we have more subjects to work with." Demiurge replied.

"Finding new subjects will not remain problematic for long, but you said 'our experiments'?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Yes, my lord. Vanysa has been assisting me when her duties permit her. She has been quite useful." Demiurge said politely.

"Well, as long as it gets done, you may borrow whomever you need so long as it does not impact their duties. I will speak with her later to commend her on her… efficacy." Ainz said, making a mental note to find out where she'd learned anything that could be useful to Demiurge.

"Aura, Mare, what can you tell me?" Ainz asked.

"My Lord, I visited the Dark Elf Khanate, and Chindai Khan has assured me that he has eighty thousand ready to ride south on your order, and they are 'very' eager to pay a visit to the Slane Theocracy." She said with her customary enthusiasm.

"Do they require anything that will aid them in their success?" Ainz asked.

"Nothing special, Chindai has asked that some additional runecrafted gear be provided to his war leaders to ensure their safety in command positions, but he has also asked that he be permitted to come here in person to swear his allegiance to you before the campaign." Aura replied as she recited his request from memory.

"Reasonable requests, does he stand ready now?" Ainz asked.

"I had him stand where I left him for just this purpose my lord, himself and his wives." She said.

"His wives?" Ainz asked curiously.

"Yes, my lord, apparently among the dark elves a household oath is not valid unless its head and the head's spouse give it. As he has two wives, they would come with him to secure his bond, and if any one of them should attempt to break that oath, it falls to the others to kill the breaker and offer the head to the one they would have wronged." Aura said in a voice that suggested she rather approved.

"Would you like to visit them again some time?" Ainz asked her.

She thought it over for a moment, "I guess they're not too boring. Yes, my Lord, plus I'll bet they have rare monsters I haven't seen yet." She scratched her cheek and gave him a broad, full faced, childish smile.

"After the war, you're authorized an immediate two week vacation to their country, guest rules apply." Ainz said, gesturing to Albedo beside him to make note of it.

"Mare, what of you?" He asked.

"L-Lord Ainz, the road through the Understone Empire is cut all the way through the pass, Gargantua has finished his work and awaits your order on the other side. I-It isn't laid yet, b-but I talked to the dwarf council and th-they'll have it paved all the way through in t-two weeks or less. A-Also, they offer five hundred direwolf riders and magicine infantry as a token of their allegiance to serve alongside th-the dark elves." Mare said anxiously.

"Very good Mare, is there any way I can reward you for all your hard work?" Ainz asked.

"I-I can't th-think of anything now, b-but I will, I promise." he said hurriedly.

"As you like." Ainz said gently. "Open a gate for Chindai and his wives, I will take their oaths." He said.

A few moments later, out of a gate stepped a tall, well-muscled but rather slender looking dark elf, followed by an elf woman of the south, followed by a dark elf woman tanned like the man Ainz assumed was Chindai. Their hands were held open in front of them, palms out to show that they bore no arms.

To his surprise, they did not lose their senses as they entered his throne room, gawking was the norm, but they had mentally prepared themselves well enough that they treated it as any other.

The trio proceeded toward the front center of the steps, standing beside Aura, Mare, and Demiurge, and then sank down to one knee with their eyes downcast.

"Raise your heads and speak." Ainz commanded.

Chindai almost couldn't manage it, he'd heard that this being was undead, but the noble voice, the size, the sheer power and charisma emanating from this being was such that he could scarcely accept what his eyes were telling him, let alone the crackling sense of authority and power that radiated from this entity.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell his wives felt exactly as he did, and he didn't think anyone in the khanate of the dark elves would fault them. However, he had promised himself he would not disgrace his name or station at such an important hour, and so he forced himself to raise his head.

"Sorcerer King, I am Chindai Khan, ruler of the plains, in large part it seems, thanks to your aid. You have fulfilled a dream of my childhood by making possible the unity of my people and ending the influence of the Slane Theocracy. In gratitude and reverence, my wives and I offer you our oath." He said clearly, doing his best to keep his voice from trembling in awe.

"Make it then." Ainz said briefly, looking down at the trio.

The three spoke together as if they had practiced it many times. "We of the tent of Chindai, Khan of the plains, offer to the Great Khan, the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown, the allegiance of our tent, and the service of ourselves, and our heirs, to the ending of the plains themselves. Our bows, our swords, our lives are yours, and our service will be a testament to your greatness. So say we all."

"The oath is made." Ainz said, "Lady Khava, Lady Ryla, Khan Chindai, I will remember your oaths, and speak of them to your heirs until the end of all things, thus will your names live on, should you serve me well." Ainz said in a reserved, dignified voice.

"You will have your revenge on the Slane Theocracy. You may begin to move south immediately after the soldiers from the Understone Empire have joined you, they are few, but will serve well to your security and flexibility in battle. You will go south to provide support to Fortress Alaf, where General Leinas Rockbruise and Guardian Aureole Omega are under siege. Turn back the Theocracy, defeat and destroy their army, and let them know the danger of meddling in the north for a thousand generations." Ainz said in a fierce and valiant voice as he sat on his throne, looking sternly down at them.

The faces of the three leaders of the new kingdom were ablaze with happiness and barely contained enthusiasm at the prospect.

"One thing, you mentioned the term, 'Great Khan'?" Ainz's voice went curious.

"Yes, my Lord. Many, many, many centuries ago there came among us one who united our people and led them to the plains. He gave us our traditions, and ruled over us for many years until his death. It is from him that we drew words like Khan and Khanate, and some of our customs which separate us from our neighbors." Chindai said, his own voice becoming curious in turn.

"My Lord, forgive this new servant for asking, but what brings you to ask such a question?" Chindai asked.

Ainz reached into his pocket dimension and pulled out a bow, it was one used by players around level sixty, worthless really, compared to Nazarick, but if he was right... "Did he use a bow… like this one?" Ainz asked. The bow was a magnificent golden colored wood, a recurved shape with strips of black with words etched in the Sogdian script along the edges.

The jaws of Ryla, Khava, and Chindai fell open, and they flung themselves forward onto their faces. "Are you the Great Khan come again?" Chindai asked reverentially.

"No, I just wondered if your lives were tied to someone I knew… a long, long time ago." He said as he lost himself in thought, and looked away as if looking into the distant past, adopting 'ancient undead pose number five'.

"Did he introduce himself as Chengis and have a fondness for dancing, and absolutely no talent for it?" Ainz asked, chuckling at the thought.

Chindai looked up and smiled, "The stories say he was a terrible dancer, and that name is correct, but, you have his bow?" He asked.

"Not his, a similar one though, and he's passed on you say?" Ainz sighed, "I suppose it was inevitable."

'So, other players did make it to different points in time, and different places, we'll have to widen our search. I wonder if the location a person was located in our world, influenced where they appeared in this one…' Ainz thought to himself, glad at least that it was not one of his guildmates who died.

He shook the thought off, "Well, I will rule well in his stead. You may return to your homes, but be ready to ride south tomorrow when the dwarves arrive."

"It will be done, Great Khan." Chindai said, putting special joy into the way he said the last two words. He stood, together with his wives, bowed deeply, then walked through the gate that opened for them again.

...Dark Elf Khanate...

"He knew him? Our new lord, knew our first lord?!" Someone shouted, and the story spread like wildfire among the dark elves under Chindai. When he came through the gate, his first act was to have a challenge circle drawn and to stand in the center, so that any who disbelieved his word could face him. Challenge circles were rare things, only the gravest issues were settled there, where only one could walk out alive.

It spoke to the gravity of his words as he related what the Sorcerer King had asked them. The bow in his possession exactly resembled the legendary weapon detailed in stories of myth and lore, and his mannerisms spoke to a long and distant memory of the past. The excitement of the story of the impossible realm where an immortal god ruled, who knew in life their greatest champion, their founding hero of legend.

Nobody stepped into the challenge circle. The reputation of Chindai and the support of his wives, all of truthful reputation who confirmed every word he'd said, was good enough. Too, it added to a buzz of excitement, as if Chindai Khan had become the chosen successor to the united Khanate of the Dark Elves. They practically itched to jump into the saddle and ride south to bring glory to their heritage, for as it had been in the beginning…

So it would be again.