AN : Apologies, been writing and scrapping parts of the story.
"Demiurge."
"Yes, Ainz-sama." The devil bowed, his right hand to his chest. "What is your wish today?"
Ainz looked around the throne room. Sebas is handling some chores on the 9th floor, Cocytus is overseeing some constructions at the lizardmen lakes. Albedo's in Necropolis, though she would return shortly to Nazarick. Mare and Shalltear is still working on some tasks related to the Coliseum, and Aura's in Wololo's tower, training some humans.
"Did we gather anything useful?"
"Yes, milord." Demiurge smiled, the interrogation went smoothly. "I believe the culprit is an item called 'Downfall of Castle and Country.'
Ainz laughed. "Ah!" Memories of that World Class Item flooded into his mind.
It's an item that changed hands frequently, because as World Class Items go, its' fairly weak in that it could not break the game rules that much, though it was incredibly useful in raids. The limitations were that because players were actual people, the world-class item's effects generally did not last very long, allowing a player to take control of another player for a fixed duration, and even then, to the player-being-mind controlled, it was as if they had an out of body experience where they could not control their own character. But once the mind-controller were killed, the player would then regain control over his own character.
"I really don't remember who had the item though." Ainz sighed, lamenting his rather poor memory. "Do they have any other?" If he remembered who last held the World Class Item, he could have a better assessment of their strength.
"Yes, there are other "Supreme Treasures", as they referred to it."
"But are they world class items?" Ainz sighed, if it was Punitto Moe, he had tabs on where each and every world class item is rumored to be.
"Unsure, Ainz-sama. We would have to inspect them up close to know the true nature of their power."
That was something he wanted to avoid. Scouting has risks both ways, and if they get discovered, it maybe Nazarick that ends up letting out its secrets.
"I see. We couldn't infer much from their explanations?"
"These mortals do not know how to fully utilise their items." Demiurge smiled. "They-"
The door swings open loudly.
"Oh my dear Ainz-sama is back to Nazarick!" Albedo burst into the room. "Shall we spend some time in the bath today?"
Ainz had a cold sweat. "Not… not now."
"Someday then!" Albedo smiled, "I'll take that as a promise to me, Ainz-sama!"
Ainz regretted not responding more firmly, but thankfully, he did not have to continue this somewhat lewd conversation.
Demiurge, sensing the discussion straying off, quickly shifted the conversation back on track. "Ainz-sama, what do we do about these fools who dare cross us. We have our culprit, the Slane Theocracy."
He spoke with great seriousness, and Albedo understood that this was an important discussion.
"What's new, Demiurge?"
"Yes. The Slane Theocracy is the one that holds the World-Class Item that is able to mind control Shalltear."
"Good. We know who is responsible. When do we kill them?" Albedo asked, after all, this was an attack against Nazarick, and made her beloved Ainz-sama fight one of their own.
"I believe the culprit is already dead, from her rotting wounds. Shalltear managed to inflict lethal damage using her Javelin."
"That news should delight Shalltear." Albedo smiled, "At least even as she fell to the enemy, she managed to kill the culprit."
"The Theocracy has access to revival magic." Demiurge quickly cut off her somewhat celebratory statement.
"Then let us kill them all, and destroy the corpse as well." Albedo protested. "A lesson must be taught, to the fools that dare crosses Nazarick and sully the name of our great Ainz Ooal Gown. I suggest we deploy our own world class item and rain death and fury on them, with the combined might of Nazarick's undead armies."
Ainz hesitated, what's stopping them from using it again to mind-control the attacking force. So, if an offensive is launched, it should comprise of a small group, using whatever world-class items to protect them from the effects of the mind control. A full on attack will alert everyone of their presence, and it would be something he would like to avoid. He needed to keep some cards close to his chest, save some trump cards for whatever this new world may throw at them in the future.
This is not just a single game of winner-takes-all, so such aggression, though most impactful to establish their might and warn everyone else, also tells potential enemies all they need to know about Nazarick's strength.
"We can wait for them to be more vulnerable." Wololo appeared, in the form of a gigantic spider crawling down the ceiling of the throne room. He descended on a large silkish thread that he created from the spider's lower abdomens.
Demiurge looked up, "Oh, you are here too. Are you suggesting we set some kind of bait, Wololo-sama?"
"Why did they target Shalltear? Do we know whether they intentionally targeted Shalltear?" Albedo asked.
Ainz laughed. "That's a good question, Albedo." He didn't consider whether they intentionally targeted her, perhaps the assumption has been that it is intentional and they are facing a threat.
Demiurge smiled, "From what little the victims know, no. They were actually headed elsewhere when they bumped into Shalltear. A force within the Theocracy called the Black Scripture is tasked with wielding the "Downfall of Country and Castle", and they were to engage with a Dragon called the Catastrophe Dragon Lord."
"A dragon lord!" Ainz's eyes glowed.
"So it's a coincidence that Shalltear was on their path." Wololo's eight legs curled up around the silk web, hanging upside down.
"Coincidence or not, they should know better than to cross our path." Demiurge said.
"A bait with similar strength should be enough to lure it out, then." Albedo deduced, and if she was not mistaken, dragon lords mostly range from Level 50 to Level 80, though incredibly powerful ones could go up to level 100".
"Oh. That's true, faced with a strong enough threat, they will probably feel the need to use this power again."
Ainz tried to recall various tidbits handed down by his guildmates, but then he thought of the Dragon Lord. "So… do we know what happened to the Dragon Lord? Is it still there?"
"It seems he is resurrecting soon." Demiurge said, "But we do not know anything more at this time. It seems the information comes from an oracle within the Slane Theocracy."
"Oh..." Ainz sighed.
"Narud?"
"Huh?" Narud groggily replied, still struggling to open his eyes.
"Narud!"
Narud woke up in what looked like an operation room, filled with all sorts of equipment. Overlooking him, are three priests, each a member of the Theocracy's healing team.
""What… what happened."
"We'd like to ask you that."
Narud attempted to remember, but somehow he couldn't. Its as if his memory was all a haze.
"How.. how long have I been out?"
The three priests looked at each other. One mumbles and whispered to the other, and they looked at him again, lifting his arms, attempting to feel his pulse.
It was then, Raymond Zarg Lauransan, the Cardinal of Darkness came in.
"Narud, how you feeling."
"Uh… Cardinal Raymond." He attempted to bow in a sign of respect ot the cardinal who holds a superior position.
"What happened to the rest of the team?"
"I… I don't remember."
Raymond gestured to the other three priests, and they casted some kind of spell on him.
[Divine Confession]
"Do you remember what happened to the rest of the team?" Raymond asked again.
"I… I don't remember." Narud repeated, he genuinely did not remember a thing. All he remembered was entering the forests, as he quickly explained afterwards.
"So… you don't remember walking all bloodied back to the Theocracy's camp, alone?"
"I did that?" Narud couldn't believe he actually walked out of the forest and to the camp.
"Yes."
"How?"
"Don't ask me that. We want to know what happened in that forest. Our surveillance was interrupted the moment you went inside."
Raymond then whispered to the priests, and they whispered back. They both had a serious look on their face, one of worry and one of deep thought. There were too many questions about his abrupt and lonely return.
Raymond looked at Narud again. "Rest. We'll keep you under monitoring for a while, so you'll be in these chambers for at least a few days. Sorry we had to do this, old friend."
Narud nodded, he understood the protocols of the Slane Theocracy, and he was a former member of the Scripture as well. They soon left the room, and he was locked up. The room itself too had layers of magical restraints.
Raymond stepped outside and looked at the three priests. "How did he come back? What happened?"
"We don't know, Cardinal. His body is fine…"
"Keep him under watch. Record everything he says and does, maybe the memory will come back to him in bits and pieces."
"Yes."
Raymond sighed. He ordered the mission to investigate the Tree, as it was surreal and unexpected. The Theocracy monitors all major battles in the region, keeping tabs on the military strengths of all the nations. The recent rebellion, the senior leadership did not oppose, as they too had long viewed the Kingdom as a rotting body, awaiting death. Perhaps a civil war would rejuvenate and bring new energy into the Kingdom.
However, nobody expected the kind of widespread death that soon wrapped the entirety of E-Libera. Adding to that was the strange weather that interrupted their observations intermittently.
Raymond returned to his chambers, and soon was joined by the Captain of the Black Scripture.
"I sent the updates to you, what views do you have, captain?"
"Strange."
"I know that."
"It's the time of the gods, isn't it?" The captain quipped.
"So you are saying this is an act of god?"
"Sounds like it, no?"
"Then we must set up a perimeter around it, if the gods are coming, we must be prepared." Raymond sighed, he considered the odds that these 'gods' would be friendly to humans, or whether they would be hostile. Such as the coming of the Eight Greed Kings brought great destruction to the entire new world, where all races suffered.
What would life under the new gods be? If the next era heralded the coming of gods, what should the Theocracy's move be, to ensure humanity's survival?
The Tree is a reminder of the 100-year advent, the coming of the great "typhoon".
"Necropolis is probably related. Somehow." The Captain wondered. "They might know something."
"I considered that, but we don't have very good relations with elves at this time." Raymond sighed, and considered the other theater of war facing the theocracy. That against the elven kingdom.
"Still, we should still send a delegate. They are a new nation that has gotten the recognition of the Kingdom, and if I'm not mistaken, the unwavering compliance of Marquis Boullope to the Treaty of Necropolis."
"Have we gotten the full details of the Treaty?"
"Yes." The Captain smiled. "That's why I think they know something."
"Hmm."
"Based on our smuggled copy of the treaty, the term requires Gazef Stronoff and Brain Unglaus of the Kingdom to participate in some kind of tournament."
"When and where is the tournament?"
"Not explained in the treaty, but Gazef and Brain is last seen in Necropolis, so I suspect sometime soon?"
"They could be there for various reasons, perhaps to obtain their assistance in the civil war? Or just for revenge!" Raymond considered, and he was joined by an adjutant, a young spectacled lady, who radiates intelligence. "Gazef is widely known for his unwavering loyalty to King Lamposa III, and so it may very well be just asking Necropolis for help in his revenge, perhaps add to it, that the treaty is at risk with Barbro in charge."
"I still find it strange that he turns to Necropolis for help." Raymond sighed, wondering why not the Theocracy. With some additional training, Gazef would be a decently powerful member of the Scriptures.
"There's more to their relationship, isn't it?" The adjutant considered.
"We must consider the possibility that whoever is behind this has infiltrated us as well." The Captain added.
Raymond suddenly thought of Narud. "Narud?"
"Possibly earlier than that. Whoever did this has incredible ability to hide themselves, and if they are people of the Gods, they may very walk amongst us now." The Captain stared at the adjutant, and she looked a little uncomfortable.
"Captain, what do you mean?"
"Nothing." The Captain smiled. "I've got to go attend some matchmaking session, again. See you." The Captain left, and Raymond then looked at the adjutant.
After a brief silence, Raymond prompted his adjutant to continue.
"What have you got to update me today. I've been getting bad news all the way since that cursed tree came out."
"I thought you loved bad news." The adjutant smiled.
"I love bad news that I can find solutions to." Raymond smiled back, and adjusted his seat. He started to look at the papers the adjutant soon placed to the table.
Ainz wanted to sigh, but all he could muster was a bone movement similar to sighing. The tonnes of reports from across the entirety of Nazarick's operations lay on his desk, including that of Necropolis. The reports has been mainly compiled by Albedo, with the assistance of the Elder Liches, and it would be not right, if he did not respect their effort.
This is his duty, as supreme leader of Nazarick. Though Wololo is present, he is just a regular member of Ainz Ooal Gown, and does not hold the position of guild leader.
"Hmm.. but why don't I delegate some of these reports to him?" Ainz looked back at the stack. "Maybe he would take it… But wouldn't that seem like work to him?"
Ainz diligently read the reports. "I'm glad I have unlimited stamina and endurance." If he was still human he would be yawning from exhaustion by now, and somehow the words just come into him like drinking water. It seemed speed reading was one of the few perks of being an undead overlord, allowing him to speed through the reports easily. Or maybe it was all that intelligence statistics that he had, he wasn't too sure.
"But should I still delegate some to Wololo? He is after all a member of Ainz Ooal Gown, and the duties of guild extend to all our members." Ainz wondered aloud. There was no one in the room to hear him, though there are a few guards and assassins outside.
Ainz sighed. Human to human relationships was something that bothered him greatly, disputes between guild members were common, but they were usually able to resolve them amicably, arising from their mutual love for the game and their guild.
In this world, everyone is real. Should he treat Wololo differently from the rest, because he is a "human"? Are the rest less so?
Ainz finished the reports. Putting them aside, he took out a small book from the tiny box, that sat inside another box.
"The guardians, they are bound by an unbroken loyalty to the guild…. But will one day, as humans often do, corrupted by power, stray and change?" Ainz sighed. They are immortals after all, an undead would not age.
And if they are trapped in this world forever, would they still remain friends?
"If one day I find other guild members, and they've changed… what would I do?" He mentally sighed, there was a deep sorrow that was building, but before it peaked it got cut off by his overlord ability of nullifying strong emotions.
The effect of his Overlord passive brought about a temporary silence.
"Maybe I should not worry about such matters now." He closed the book, putting it back to the tiny box. And carefully returned the tiny box to the larger box, and placed it inside an enchanted drawer.
He stood, and his staff floated to him. His bony fingers touched to golden exterior of the staff, and memories of his time in the guild swept through him.
"One thing at a time."