Chapter 14: Ascension
The procession of the Gown family walked into the throne room, the mood changed from a joyous wedding to a somber almost funeral like atmosphere. Alabaster and Momonga we're first followed by Sebas, Tsaure and their children then all the Guardians, as they filed in two by two and surrounded their Lord and Emperor sitting on the golden throne. Empress Albedo was sitting next to Ainz with tears in her eyes as she was getting what she always wanted: Ainz all to herself but just not the way she intended. Her throne was identical to Ainz's but was only a replica and did not hold any of the powers the orginal did or to put it simply it was a chair and nothing more.
The Golden Throne was a site to behold and sat 7 feet tall with tubes and wires running out of it in bundles. Most of it was just a life suspension system that would set up a stasis field around the Royal couple but only through the combined WCI's the helmet and eyepiece of the all seeing eye of Odin and the Golden Chair Throne of Thrones would the Emperor be able to move around the universe and shine the light of the astronomicon. The back of the throne had all the dials and gauges were the most blessed of the Adeptus Mechanicus would keep watch over the Emperor's vitals and make sure everything was working correctly.
The Keeper was appointed and made from a special summon technomancer and designed especially for the very job of operating the Golden Throne. The Golden Throne was not just a combination of the two World Class items, it also incorporated a stasis field to preserve and protect the Royal couple. It also has a life support system connected to it that observed the couples vitals and if the life source readings became low sacrifices of mages were prefered would be used as they contained the most living mana. With all this technology put together on the Golden Throne it no longer looked like a simple chair but a enormous Throne that had all sorts of wiring and technology attached to it. The designers knew the God Emperor would be sitting on it. So with that in mind the entire Throne was gilded with Gold and made to look intimidating, as it had engravings of skulls and Imperial signits all over to make it beautiful.
The Keeper looked more insect than man as he had six appendages which had three fingered hands at the end of each one. He had four eyes that were mechanical and a mesh speaker vox for a mouth, and red cloak that covered the rest of his body. A line of life sustaining mana ran into the back of his neck into his bloodstream as he would never again leave this room. His life support systems were designed to be directly connected to the Golden Throne so as a precaution his fate would always be directly tied to his level of care, if the Royal couple suffered then he suffered, As a summon being he would no longer exist if the Emperor were to die as well, not that his allegiance would be ever in question as he was a direct summon of the Emperor and could not be turned against his creator. This would only happen if a mind control device was used and he had the weakest WCI integrated inside him without his knowledge to prevent this from happening,The Keeper had one job to do and he would do it with perfection every switch turned and button pushed was a carefully planned set of instructions to never deviate from for even .0000001 seconds. If anyone ever had the chance to watch him work they would be mesmerized by the precision of the chants and movements, they would comment by saying, "it had every bit of finesse of a ballet dancer."
On the right of the Golden Throng stood Cocytus standing tall with his honor Guard standing to the right and left walls 50 on each side for a total of 100 in all. They were all his insect Guard from Nazarick hand picked from the best of the best, they were all very glad to have the prestigious duty and went through harsh training and selection to get the job. The Throne room was large but not enormous as the only beings that would be allowed in the room after this day would be Cocytus, the guards, and Momonga and no one else as everyone else. There would be the daily sacrifices to keep the Empress and the Dead King alive but they would have [Mind Wash] cast over them so they would have no idea what was going on. Before the throne were countless circles where the sacrifices of human and Demihuman magicians were made and will be made currently only 16 beings a day were required but the Adeptus Mechanicus had calculated that as time passes the amount of energy compounded by the strain of the Emperors body would require and increase in living mana. They had calculated at the current rate it would take upwards of 500 to 600 people a day in after 10,000 years.
Finally, everyone was in the Throne room and in front of them sat God Emperor of Terra Ainz Ooal Gown with the Royal staff in his hand that was also secretly the Guilds weapon in his left hand. Most did not know that the protection of the staff is was just as important as the protection of the Emperor. Whoever controls the staff controls the fate of Nazarick. The Best kept secret in the Empire was that Nazaricks entrance was directly below the throne Martellus did not even know of its existence and of the second Generation Dracus and Momonga only knew, all humans that knew of Nazarick had their minds rewritten even St. Nemu, her sister Nifrea. What even fewer knew was that over the last two decades Ainz had been growing a world tree that was planted on floor 7 or as Ainz called it Paradise, the World Tree was a very special Crystal tree that grew up through three floors where the branches intertwined into the Golden Throne. The roots of the tree grew down and grew into every part of Nazarick drawing its power and anchoring it into this reality, the significance of the Great World Tree was that it acted as a conduit for all the souls of those in the Imperium.
During the last year the God Emperor had done many things in the Ether, but the first thing he did was to observe and understand the process of life and death. With life, souls the process of being born from the Ether and with death souls returning into the Ether. He found that every person had Ether threads of fate that attached people to each other, places and even the time a place of their deaths. If two people were linked they would often call then coincidences because they would often show up at the same place at the same time, what it really caused this was the Etheric connection that attached certain people together. Through Ainz's extensive studies and experiments he was able to manipulate Etheric connections to create and weave an Ether thread to each soul of his people. With each successive generation the thread is passed down through Ainz's New Ether magic. Through his creation of this new magic it has allowed each soul of his subjects be anchored to the golden throne no matter how far away they would be able to judge each soul by redirecting them from returning to the Ether currents.
Ainz also discovered during the creation of Ether Magic that a soul was a collection of Psychic energy that contained all memories, feelings and personality of the deceased. By simply using his All seeing Eye WCI he could see and and judge a million people in less time it takes to blink, individually! Depending on what they did he or she did in life they would welcome to Nazarick and store there soul into the World Tree and live as a spirit in paradise. For people were not that faithful they would be guided to be reborn to try again. If they were heretics or deemed unworthy their soul would be consumed by the Emperor to make him stronger, the Emperor made sure it was not a pleasant experience he would use the Throne's power of time dilation to make the judged experience a million million years in an instant while their souls were painfully ripped apart and broken down to basic living Ether then consumed. As all the Imperiums psychic energy would be stored in the World Tree then it would make each soul project itself into Nazarick in different wavelengths allowing an infinite amount of spiritual beings fill and enjoy the 7th floor of Nazarick without overwhelming each other and seeing the people you want. In game the tree was used as a respawn point but with Ether Science it was recreated. Since they new inhabitants were spirits food and drink was not a issue either.
All the Guardians who had become the Royal Family were standing in front of their God and sovereign whom could do no wrong. For them this was a somber moment that they all feared, for the second Generation Ainz was "grandfather" who did not have the absolute fanatical devotion the guardians held. Emperor Ainz stood up and tapped his staff ten times as all the talking died down and the Gown family bowed.
"You all may stand, I Your Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown of Nazarick and all of Terra will ascend to Godhood of not just this world but the Galaxy! Remember my children I am not leaving you but will always be there watching and when you need it helping. After the Gate drive is perfected I will light your way through the subverse with the light of the astronomicon from my Holy Visage, like a lighthouse on a stormy sea. Also, I have explored the galaxy and marked each planet on the start maps worth conquering so you will not fly blind. Next, is the governance of the imperium while I am on the throne. It comes as no surprise that I proclaim my son, Momonga Albedo Gown as the High Lord of Terra, furthermore I make all the children of the Guardians as a part of the newly created Senate: Dracus, Landon, Alabaster, Bian your shall be known as the Lords of Terra. Then Sebas and Cocytus and Aura you shall be senior members of the Senate as Guardian Lords of Tera to help guide the new generation. Remember to work together you shall be in control mang aspects of the Empire I will give you a list of your duties after I am done. Remember the Senate does have veto power over the High Lord but only if it is unanimous and agreed by me. But I warn you on using this power because if you abuse it I shall task an inquiry and whoever is reasonable will lose their seat forever.
The next and most important part is the Black Crusade to take the center of the Galaxy the Segmentum Centrum and beyond. The 4 Chaos Guardians have been chosen: Demiurge-The great mutilator, Shalltear-The Goddess of Bloodlust and War, Mare-The Chaos Guardian of Pestilence, Catastrophes asn Creation and finally Martellus-Warmaster and Chaos Guardian United. Thus on you shall be known officially as so and I give you charge to go out and take control of your fleet. Martellus you shall take Charge of the all warship except the other Chaos Guardians, especially the settler ships! Guardians work together I can't say it enough, do not make Planetfall without 2 or more Guardians do I made myself clear?
"Yes, Sire!" Everyone repeated.
Next, I hereby announce that by my divine right as the head of the Church, that henceforth Martellus and St. Nemu are married by my decrea, you may have a separate public ceremony if you wish. As I spoke of before you are not to conceive a child until I declare it, although I have heard machinations in place that will grow your family regardless. " Ainz said. Martellus who was the only non-family member in the room and made sure he was in the very back, wondered what that last comment meant.
"The documents have been drawn up and signed and will be given to you on your way out." Ainz said.
Ainz pretended to clear his throat and boomed, "To You all Chaos Guardians I desire for you to go out and conquer and bring glory to the Imperium working together. Two rules: Always be victorious and never fight each other, each one of the Guardians has a Juggernaut class ship to support a Behemoth class transport and the fleet with over 1 Billion settlers ready for a new world. There are many dangers out there in space, I have seen them as I have found that each race in the Imperium are actually races from different planets. I believe the ship that crashed here was prison ship or some type of exploratory vessel with all these different species. The only species original to this planet were dragons. You must be watchful and make sure that none of our races revolt to join their own people, many dangers indeed take for instance like the Eldar who are closely related to the elves. This is one of many races that will cause problems but stick to the faith and plant that I have given them and we shall not falter. This is my decree, when encountering a species on a new planet all sentient races recorded in the Imperial registry will be spared from Exterminus, If they accept the God Emperor and join the Imperium they will be incorporated bloodlessly. If they fight we will force them to join. If it is a Xenos or unknown race not listed in the original Imperial Registry then unless they are completely subservient and found useful you shall cleanse the planet of the heretical race and start anew. This is my mandate as it is also written in the Necroteuch as a reminder. Well, I would continue speaking with you but the time has come for me to ascend to greater heights. My children if you ever find yourself in dire need, just pray my name in full outloud and I will come a warning though, do not overuse this privilege. My children I love you all and wish you happiness, success and remember I am always with you!" Ainz said a he sat down and put on his helm and switched holding his staff, to his left and held Albedo's hand with his right.
There was not a dry eye in the house even Sebas "The Iron Butler" had a single tear roll down his face. The only person who was not crying was Demiurge and that was because Arch demons don't cry they lack the ability but his nose was still running and he was having a hard time breathing regularly. Then the ritual started the Golden Throne sprang to life the tubes started to bounce and the wires began to hum, the energy flowing into the Throne was so intense and powerful that it made the hairs on the back of everyones neck stand up.
The Keeper in his deep metallic voice said.
"God Emperor trust the holy relics given unto you by the Ether!"
Ainz replied, "I do and I shall!" The helm he had on he flipped over the eyepie that covered one eye.
"God Emperor trust the Adeptus Mechanicus whom you made to assist you!"
Ainz replied, "I do and will" he said as he flipped and switch to activate the stasis field preactivation sequence..
"God Emperor and Empress trust unto the spirits whom you found and gave to us to preserve your life." The Keeper said while flipping switches and turning knobs.
Albedo and Ainz held hands and said together, "We do and shall" as they both pushed the final button together with hands clasped. At that that moment it turned on the entire system and put Albedo instantly slipped into unconsciousness and activated Ainz's WCI' a picosecond the stasis field activated completely and stopped time within the Golden Throne. The Emperor and Empress looked as they were sitting on their Thrones ready to give orders, but not they did not move an inch; frozen it time. After the Keeper checked all life signs and confirmed all life support machines were fully functional, then he started the sequence for all the magic barriers to activate. There were thousands of traps and seals, full of mind numbing redundancy, in fact no one knew how many, not even Fluder who had worked on it off and on for over a decade. It was said, that even if the enemy broke in it would take a countless years to deactivate all of the barriers. Since it was a sequenced magic barrier if one was done out of order it would kill any mages who were de-spelling it and they would have to start all over again. If that was not enough the seal sequence would randomly change each time it was attempted, it was a true Gordian Knot. The only way to break in? Was is to not try; because if you got soldiers to surround the Golden Throne and waited for the Throne to run out of energy, the Emperor can now feast on souls of the damned as well as life force that could be used from Nazarick as a last resort. There is also the fact that the Emperor could kill every enemy soldier in the solar system if he so desired, it would take an enormous amount of energy but it is his prerogative to do so if he wished.
With that the ascension was over as Mare and some of the other Guardians were still crying as they all walked by the Throne and dropped flowers at the foot of it. Then they all filled out and walked to the Balcony were a sudden surge of applause and screaming came as all those millions of people who surrounded the Royal castle saw the Royal Family come into view. It was agreed that as now Momonga was the second to the Emperor he would make the final speech at the end of the day and to kick of the 7 days of feasting celebration. This would later be the one of the most Holy Holidays simply called The Ascension.
Momanga and Alabaster stood at the front of the group arms locked together still in their wedding clothes. They waved at the crowd as the yelling and screaming continued then finally after 20 minutes the roar died down and Momonga began his speech into a magical microphone.
"All beings of the Imperium just half an hour ago our God Emperor made the ultimate sacrifice and ascended in his Golden Throne where he shall guide the Imperium for all time. He shall no longer be Emperor or the God of Terra or even God Emperor but of the entire Galaxy! He will never sleep or rest, he hears your prayers and is with you and with your family in the stars at the same time no matter how far away!"
Suddenly, all over the planet all sentient beings saw the same flash then everyone in the Imperium saw themselves standing in front of the Throne of The God Emperor sitting on it sitting 50 feet tall in a the Golden Throne. Behind him was a beautiful clear crystal Tree shimmering in the light that went up as high as the heavens. All around the throne and World Tree was a beautiful city, everything was perfect from the trees to the sidewalks, if someone thought of heaven this would be it. Gothic homes and spirals reaching to the sky. Crystal clear lakes and waterfalls above the Tree was two permanent rainbows. After everyone saw this they fell to their knees in front of him. For many the site was to much and they fell to the floor weeping at the site they had seen.
A enormous Ainz began to speak in a large booming voice that a countless beings could hear, "My children I will only do this once so you are all very lucky but spread this story from generation to generation as all should know what I am to say. My children when you die and cannot be revived this is where you shall find yourself, I made the World tree and it invites you to Nazarick, Yes, paradise! For those of you who are faithful I will gather you to the World tree where you shall live forever in Nazarick in Paradise. If you had a hard life and did try but was found wanting I shall have you be reborn and try again. Lastly, this is a cautionary tale but if you rebel become a traitor or heretic I shall consume your souls and you will be no more. I will reward those who are faithful and punish those who are not, I want you all those in the Imperium to know that I will protect and guide you wherever you are!" Ainz said as he struck his staff and then all the beings in the Imperium saw a bright flash just like when the vision started then they all found themselves where they were before.
Was it a vision or were they called up into the domain of Gods to see the God King in his magnificents with his mask on as no mortal dared to see it lest they died. People were laughing and crying and dancing and then a chant started through the crowd slow but steady until everyone on the planet were chanting it some on the "Ridge" which is what the nickname was for the artificial ring around Terra said they could hear it.
"The Emperor Protects, The Emperor Protects! THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!" Everyone was saying in unison as they started to pour drinks and celebrate a week of total Hedonism for those who could afford it. This would be the one festival that anything went and then everyone would do there best to forget. A few years later they even made a medication that would block your memory for 7 days the official slogan for the potion was, "What happens at the Ascension festival stays at the Ascension festival!"
As all the Guardians began to walk out of the castle Demiurge was getting ready to jump on a ship back to Akuma Island when he was stopped by a person shouting his name.
"Demiurge! Demiurge! If you have a moment!"
Demiurge stopped but he did not want to because he knew this woman was dangerous and always wanted something, but he turned around and said,
"St. Nemu first may I may I congratulate you on your marriage! So what can I do for you?" He said with a smile.
"I as you know am not able to have children for some time, I also know that you are adopting 1000 Dragon nation orphans to turn into navigators. Am I correct in this assumption?" Nemu said with a smile.
Demiurge cracked a large smile, "Yes you are right but I fail to see what my Navigator program has to do with you?" He said fully knowing her plan.
"I am a married now and my goal is to establish the house of Martell as the greatest house in the Imperium, also if my husband dies then I am left with nothing other than the church. When the Gate drive is finished Navigators will be the only people who can pilot the ships, that means all commerce and transportation will hinge on this new Navis Nobilite." Nemu said with a smile.
"You are correct, so I suppose you are going to make me an offer so lets make a deal!" Demiurge said rubbing his hands together.
"I will use the church resources to get the best applicants as well as publicly announce that they will also be adopted into the Martel family, I will pay for and build housing for them on the Martell estate, pay for their education and needs. Then when they are ready you can operate on them and do whatever you wish. Then you can train your men how to create Navigators in your absence and our house will pay for their equipment and lodging. We will make a school and lab and create as many as you need until they are old enough to marry. You will get the best applicants while I get to start the Navigator house of the Martell family." St. Nemu Martell said with a smile.
Demiurge smiled, "I think that will work, I do not care about making money but commerce and trade are important to the survival of the Imperium. By the time the fleet reaches our first planet the Gate Drive will be finished and I will need a trusted partner to finish the program once I am gone. I do not trust you but you are ambitious and need this as much as me so I can intrust it to you but you must stay on Terra for the first part of the crusade and for this I know you will. So my answer is yes, the survival rate is 75% so make sure you get 25% more children than your need and they should be around 12 years of age. We will take in more detail later." Demiurge said as he walked away to his ship surround by Demon Lords.
"Sometimes it is best to do things in plain sight" Demiurge thought to himself as he walked to his ship. "Especially when I can get the best bloodlines to come to me!" He said with a smirk.
Ever since what the Dragons called the Great Catastrophe, when the virus was released and killed all dragons around a quarter or more of dragon blood the Elite lines had been hiding in caves and been elusive. These were the children he wanted as they would make the best Navigators but so far not much luck had turned any of up but with Nemu's new plan those pampered High Breeds will not be able to resist such an offer, Demiurge always gets what he wants in the end.
Hey everyone short chapter but it took me awhile, the stage is set for the Black Crusade! Do you think the Chaos Guardians can play nice with each other? What about the Senate with the young and old? How often will Ainz know manifest, will it only be during emergencies or will he micromanage everything? With FLT tech when the fleet arrives at the first planet 5 years will pass on Terra while it will be instant for the fleet. WIll the Gate Drive work or even be done on time? What will Martellus think when he hears of his wife's new scheme and how they will be apart for at least half a decade? I am interested in your thoughts and, "Merry Christmas, The Emperor Protects!