Hi Guys :)
In what is best described as an instant, the war entered a quiet moment, as news of the recent events spread throughout the Kingdom of Re-Estize, and beyond. The death of the northerners' de facto leader, Erik, should have resulted in an easy victory for Count Lytton's army. Yet at that moment, Barbro commanded all of them back to the capital, feeling a little insecure with the tiny amount of survivors that all no longer had any will to fight.
At first, it was bewildering for the northernlanders to stare defeat in the eye, and then escape. They even thought the Kingdom's army lost their balls. Then the news of the slaughter of E-Libera broke, and horror was all they could process.
So the story goes, that the Tree of Death was seeking blood, it bloomed when enough blood stained the lands. Though irrational, it captured the minds and imaginations of the people, and many turned to the temples for solace and protection.
"Be good and donate to the church or the Tree of Death will skewer you." was a saying some opportunistic clergymen quickly adopted, as their coffers filled with the donations of many.
The population of the surrounding towns panicked, and even in the capitol, a few days away by horseback, fear proliferated. Men who once willingly went to war for glory and honor were horrified by the stories of the survivors, the deaths of the thousands skewered alive by roots and branches.
"The tree of death." It came to be known for the very macabre display of corpses along its edges.
"The apocalypse is coming." The servants of the Empire shuddered, stories of a vast city engulfed became the whispers of every bar and tavern. With fear, came wild imaginations.
"This is the sins of the Prince Barbro and Prince Zanac who refused to coorperate and rule the country together! The gods are punishing us for our stupidity!"
"This is the sin of blood, when men go to war, enough blood will trigger the tree of death."
"The end times are here!"
The Theocracy refused to comment, but behind the scenes their priests and cardinals scrambled to run through the ancient writings left by their Gods, to make sense of the 'Event'. But their silence, as the 'authority' on religion in the human-lands, only amplified and allowed the rumors to spread and evolve.
Trade routes and merchants were the first to attempt passing through E-Libera, but it was very swiftly rerouted, as the sight of bodies stabbed by branches and roots were displayed at the Tree's periphery, a macabre mark of its violent birth, left a lasting horrifying mark on the merchants who passed there, many whom quickly spent a lot of money at the temples and churches for purification rituals. The corpses, merchants reported, still seemed alive, their faces still constantly contorting and seizing up in bursts. Even in sleep, some still have nightmares of the breathless, voiceless wails.
Though their faces seemed alive, they are but a shell, a husk sucked dry of its life force.
It took about a week before the Theocracy could puzzle together a response, a joint statement of its five public cardinals.
"The incident at E-Libera is taken out of the secret scriptures of our Six Great Gods, and in it, they wrote, "The Kingdom that is corrupt, unjust and embroiled in civil conflict will soon be punished."
So, the Theocracy says this is a punishment from Great Gods for the decadence and incompetence of the Kingdom's ruling families. The Theocracy strongly urges the Kingdom of Re-Estize to relook at its administration and policies, as to avoid further punishment from the Great Gods."
"Bullshit." Marquis Raeven ranted. The Marquis is a well studied man, familiar with the scriptures of the Six Great Gods. He also knew what they said, wasn't in it. The scriptures themselves was nothing but a short list of rules that bound the Six Great Gods, a code of conduct.
Still, the population believed them, and so the populace throughout the nation were empowered to call out the acts of their rulers, citing divine punishment. Even the soldiers and guards, some of which were religious, took their side. With Prince Zanac nursing his wounds, and his men still recovering from the war, they were in a bad position.
If they were in a war now, they would be swiftly crushed. Thankfully, the capitol was in arms too. Daily protests against the "King" Barbro, as many women and children screamed at the inner city gates.
"Return my husband that you sent on your blasphemous war!" A religious woman yelled, "You earned the ire of the gods, why did you have to drag my husband into hell with you!"
An old man would weep and wail at the doors, "My son! You have unknowingly sinned for following this foolish King!"
Before the incident, these people would be swiftly dragged to the guillotine for lese majeste. But times and the mood changed.
Despite King Barbro's commands to pacify the protestors, it seemed even his closest men were reluctant to obey. Many of his inner circle were with him when the Tree burst through the grounds of E-Libera, and many now have secretly turned against him, pushed by the propaganda that the Theocracy peddled. Seeing the Tree, one could say they have turned religious overnight.
And the newly converted believed it with zeal.
The beneficiaries of this, was mainly the church, and the faction that stayed out of it.
Boullope's army of 50,000 men was marching for the capitol, when the fastest riderse came with the news, the tree of death. It was then he called off the expedition, and he said to the close generals around him.
"This war is not ours to fight. Let's go back." Though his generals protested, the changed Boullope had a strangely keen instinct for death, a gut feeling to gnawed at him, and whispered that the gods were meddling their fingers, and mortal men like him had to stay out.
And indeed, Boullope's decision then became wise in retrospect, as his generals and his men hailed him as a wise man who knew how to avoid god's punishment, or else the Capitol would suffer the same fate as E-Libera.
It was a strange thing, for some of his advisors. The Lord whom their citizens so feared, now became the wise Lord who turned their men back from their foolish ways. Yet, Boullope did not relish his new found popularity and perceived wisdom, and instead told his men to spread the word that :
"The treaty with Necropolis is our number one priority. Break it, and we will face consequences far worse than E-Libera."
The Theocracy too benefited greatly, as new converts and donations soared overnight. Migrations too increased, as humans left their Kingdoms for the Theocracy, for fear of future divine punishment.
Behind the scenes, the Theocracy had many unanswered questions, and secretly, an expeditionary force was assembled to investigate the Tree of Death.
Six were sent.
They left in the cover of night, and went ahead with the fastest of their horses and mounts. Led by Narud Hid Kalmu, a retired Black Scripture member.
They had a few goals in this expedition, first was to establish what is the "Tree of Death". They knew nothing of the Tree, and its presence shattered all illusion of their dominance in the world. Second, was to find out who was behind it, if someone was behind it. Lastly, they wanted to see whether they could reverse engineer or control the Tree of Death.
Narud is an old man in his sixties, serving as 8th seat of the Black Scripture till he retired some twenty years ago. A man focused on ranged combat, and magical spells, he was judged to be the best fitting for their mission.
With him was Brosa and Hundra, both masters of the Earth magic and druidic spells, Bodum and Gandra, both retired warriors with a chequered history of battles, and lastly Raddia, also a former black scripture member focused on the secret dark necromantic arts.
Bodum and Gandra's role was more of bodyguard, their protectors as the rest attempt to figure out what the Tree of Death is.
The expedition had to be done quickly before adventurers or others attempted to infiltrate the Tree of Death, and taint the site, making the task harder.
And they were there.
"Wow. It's more gruesome than the news described it." Raddia quipped, admiring the wall of twitching corpses. "I'll… take the rear guard."
"Fine." Narud nodded, someone had to do it. "So, how do we get to the main tree, fly in, and through these thick woods?"
"I suggest we walk. It'll let us know what's on the ground, and both of us will be looking for clues on the sort of magic used to summon such as monstrous creation, and whether blood magic had any part to play in it."
"Let's go then." Narud commanded, and the rest nodded. Raddia followed a little to the back, admiring the scenery. "I'm sure some crazy bunch of adventurers would have tried to head in already."
Bodum and Gandra took out two large axes, and they started hacking their way. The first initial hit was a little suspense, as they wondered whether they would trigger a defensive reaction when they slashed off the wooden branches that blocked their path. To their relief, nothing happened, and a short wait later, they started hacking.
Narud, and the Druids were using all their scouting abilities, attempting to decipher and make sense of it, but their detection failed to pick up anything. Raddia, on the other hand, kept a distance from the 5, and seemed a little distracted.
The Tree is centered at where was once the Central Tower, and its branches, roots extend all the way to the outer walls. It's as if an entire forest popped up in an instant, and in doing so, it slaughtered everyone.
"The trees have some faint magic to them, but we can't seem to make out the details." The druids commented, their palms touching them. "There seems to be some kind of pulse, that moves from the outer rims into the center. With this, we should know where to head."
"That's… not good." Narud sighed, he checked his weapons and made sure everyone is fine. "It also means the Tree, whatever it is, knows we are here. We best be ready for combat."
The druids nodded. "It's all part of the larger thing…"
Raddia, a distance away, nodded. "No worries, with so many corpses, I can take on whatever the tree can throw at us."
"Good, we'll need that sense of security." Narud nodded, and moved on.
A while later, about half way to the central tower, the Druids stopped. "It's strange. This was once the entirety of E-Libera, yet the ground looks like everything has been forested for ages, as if it never existed."
"If the Gods is sending a signal, that only means they wished the Kingdom does not exist."
"Let's move on."
"It's awfully silent.." The druids observed the unnatural trees, their blooming flowers and dark green leaves, all stained with fresh blood, and the rotting flesh of human corpses. The pulsing was stronger, and they were headed in the right direction.
From the holes in the canopy they could still see the large tree that loomed over them like a giant, and certainly feels like it is staring down at them.
"The bodies are all untouched. Seems like probably nobody has came in yet." Bodum took a look at a body that happened to lie on the floor, his chest impaled with a giant root, that looped around his chest before headed into the earth again. The coins he held, the weapons he had, all were left untouched. If such a corpse was out in the open, it would be gone within a day, ransacked by passersby or bandits.
"The fear of the gods is a good thing." The druids added, believing it is the presence of the gods that scare foolish bandits from attempting anything.
Narud sighed, he never was that much of a believer, despite being so deeply entrenched in Theocracy hierarchy. But he knew what to say in front of those who believed.
"Let us go-" Narud threw a knife into the darkness.
But it hit nothing.
"Let's go. With haste." Narud was uneasy, and activated a few defensive skills.
They hacked through the thick overgrowth of branches and roots, and then they reached main tree, where there is a small clearing in the immediate vicinity of the giant tree trunk.
"Hello. I see I have visitors."
They turned to see a large masked man with a jet black flowing robe, standing next to the giant trunk.
Narud was quick to draw his weapon, and was ready to strike at the smallest trigger.
"Who are you?" Narud's voice was slightly threatening.
"I am Ainz Ooal Gown." The man responded, his voice deep and powerful. "You are?"
Narud scrambled to recall their briefing on Ainz Ooal Gown. He was described by the Theocracy as an upstart ruler that established the elven city of Necropolis, and dabbled in the dark arts of necromancy, summoning Skeletal dragons. If anything, it suggested this man is proficient in magic, but they had utmost confidence in their own ability.
"Did you make this?" Narud asked.
"No." Ainz replied coolly.
It was then Raddia arrived, together with a few other robed men, and an army of skeletons. Narud turned, his face a little shocked at what Raddia brought along.
"Raddia, what's this?!"
"The Black Studies just decided that this was a matter that is related to our great God Surshana. So we have some backup."
"Oh?" Ainz looked a little amused.
"Mortal, I suggest you leave this sacred lands." Raddia commanded. "This tree shall serve as a fitting altar to worship Surshana's greatness."
"Oh?"
"Do not challenge the power of the Theocracy!" Raddia yelled.
Ainz looked at Narud, and then back at Raddia.
Narud was bewildered, this wasn't what the cardinals instructed. "Raddia, I'm in charge here."
"I'm not challenging your authority, I am asking this visitor to go, or we will kill him for his sins of tainting this potential holy site. This may be the rebirth-"
"Raddia!"
"Ah!" Raddia stopped, and Narud turned to face.
Ainz looked at the expedition members, unmoving. Inside, he wasn't sure how to respond to their insults.
"So, get out before the might of the Theocracy's Black Studies descend on you."
Ainz didn't respond, as he was trying to remember what Wololo said earlier. What was it about these people again…
"Are you too stunned and afraid of the Theocracy to even respond?" They laughed, and they started some odd ritual, summoning skeletons from the surrounding corpses.
The skeletons emerged, some 50 of them, and they marched towards Ainz, wielding whatever weapons they had on their body, or wooden branches, or some other bones.
The skeletons closed in on Ainz, and attempted to attack. But their attacks somehow never hit.
Ainz tapped lightly on the skeletons with his fingers, feeling a little amused, and they disintegrated to dust.
"What?!"
Narud took that chance to leap in with his two daggers, charged with magical energies. It stabbed into the darkness that is Ainz's chest, but he quickly sensed something was amiss.
Normally, when a dagger pierces a body, there would be blood, some kind of jerking, some kind of recoil. A sensation that the dagger registered and is effective. Yet, here he was, feeling… nothing.
Narud looked up to meet Ainz's eyes. "Oh? What are you doing."
That very moment, looking at those eyes, he felt the entirety of his skin curl, a cold bolt of lightning ran through his body. There was something very, very wrong. Something he didn't comprehend.
[HIGH TIER NULLIFICATION]. All attacks below level 60 are not effective.
Still, he couldn't believe it, and attempted to force the dagger through anyway. Yet… nothing. AS much as he tried to push, as much magic power he flowed into it, nothing.
"Narud, what are you doing!" Those watching wondered why Narud was playing around, but they did not comprehend what he experienced. The voices of his compatriots however, was sufficient to break the disbelief, and Narud quickly retreated.
Bodum and Gandra summoned their most powerful weapons, and prepared to strike.
"Bodum, Gandra, wait." Narud commanded. Something isn't right here. "We might be fighting an illusion."
Raddia laughed. "Illusion? Have you gotten mad, old man?"
Narud lived to his old age, owing partly to his keen sense of danger, and at this moment, it was ringing and screaming at him. Narud knew he wasn't an illusion, there was a real presence to the man before them, yet could not explain how did his attacks yield no effect.
Ainz looked at his arms. "Illusion?" These new worlders were not making any sense. But he was getting fed up with their antics.
[Greater Sleep]
A haze-like smog filled the entire area. In an instant, everyone collapsed.
That's easy. Now to call in-
"Not so fast!" Raddia and the other Black Studies agents rose up, in their arms all holding a glowing purple crystal, each containing a higher level summon.
Ah darn, these guys are necromancers, they have status effect resistance!
"You dare challenge the Theocracy! Infidel!"
[Summon: Undead Greater Wyrm] The orbs glowed, and all of them combined to form one giant Undead Wyrm, made of all the bones and corpses in the immediate vicinity.
Hmm, this looks about the level of a Death Knight…
"Haha, are you afraid now, mortal? Death is coming for you!" Raddia boasted, his eyes a little mad.
The Greater Wyrm took a few steps towards Ainz, the earth shook with every step.
"Ugh…" Narud stood up, the effect of the Greater Sleep dispelled by the shockwave of the Greater Wyrm's steps. "Greater Wyrm!"
Ainz looked quizzically at Raddia and the rest of the Black studies, then at the other sleeping expedition members. The Greater Wyrm, at best, is about level 50.
The Greater Wyrm towered in front of Ainz, but did not attempt to attack.
"Crush this foolish human. How dare he challenge the disciples of Surshana, the God of Death."
"Ainz-sama, perimeter secured, long distance surveillance jammed. They have no means of escape, and no one can see us." Aura and Mare spoke through a special secure channel.
"Death comes for you, foolish mortal." Raddia and the rest of the Black Studies laughed.
Ainz grinned, he was waiting for the Guardians to confirm everything is fine, while they focused on him. As a precaution, Ainz assumed the Theocracy have seen him in his mask before, back when the Sunlight Scripture first made contact with him, when Nigun the was under some kind of long distance surveillance.
Now he had no longer need to hide his true power.
"You think you are the masters of death?"
The undead greater wyrm suddenly froze.
"You think you know the true depth and power of necromancy?"
The greater wyrm glowed in a faint red color.
[Control Undead] A passive ability of a undead Elder Lich, amplified by the Overlord of Death's passives
Ainz stepped forward, and the Wyrm lowered it's head and let Ainz step on it. The wyrm's bones could not bear his weight, and cracked a little, but it endured the damage, to let it's new master walk.
Raddia, Narud and the Black Studies disciples were stunned. Ainz soon came within arms length of Raddia and the disciples.
"I, am the Overlord of Death." Ainz unmasked himself, revealing his skeletal face. Along with it, he unleahsed the full power of his Despair Aura I to V, sweeping through the entire area.
In an instant, all of them lost their strength to stand, and collapsed.
Raddia's face turned ghoulish pale, and could only mutter under his breath.. "Sursh… Surshana…." And then he collapsed.
Ainz looked around at all of the combatants that had lost their will to fight, and grinned. They all had lost consciousness, overwhelmed by Ainz's domineering presence.
"Send them to Neuronist. We'll get full details of who attacked Shalltear soon enough." Ainz commanded, and the Guardians, along with a few NPCs appeared. Then, a squirrel ran down from the Daemon Tree, and perched itself on a rock next to Ainz.
"Went as planned, Ainz-san."
"Went as planned, Wololo-san."