Author's Note:
As always, I wish you good health. Let the world-building continue. Adieu!
-Zirmeister
Disclaimer:
This fanfiction is a crossover that directly takes characters and other source material from the two preexisting light novel series Overlord and Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken. Please go support the authors, artists and the other people who have worked on each of the respective works.
"So, you said that Momo—I mean, Ainz-san, is the greatest person to ever exist out of the Supreme Beings and was responsible for leading Ainz Ooal Gown to many conquests throughout the Nine Realms? Is that right, Staff-san?"
"Indeed, you have gotten a good chunk of it right, Rimuru-san! However, there was one detail that you missed which was critical to Ainz Ooal Gown's rise to power. Please, allow me to reiterate the tale so you get a better idea on how truly great my master was back in Helheim where he found this one dungeon and—"
—No, please, I don't want to hear any more praises, Staff-san. As cute as you can sound as though an excited high school girl is talking to me, hearing you talk about the same person for two hours is just too damn exhausting.
Rimuru felt torn up at whether or not he should just stop Staff from telling him any more grandeur tales about Ainz Ooal Gown.
He ended up giving in after seeing the adorable expression on the young woman's face. There was simply no way he could just say no, but that meant he had to once again endure what could be up to an hour's worth of dialogue from Staff.
Anything for a cute gal…is what I would have said back then—but even this is just too much! I just want to get out of this cave as soon as possible.
On the bright side, Staff had seemingly shown a degree of trust in the innocent slime that was Rimuru Tempest, who continued to debate on whether or not he should intentionally disable his sense of hearing.
This trust had given way to the re-bestowing of [ Great Sage ] unto Rimuru's conscience which was greatly relieved after hearing its monotonous words. Even with how the skill sounded, just hearing the sagely skill after so long had managed to quell down the perturbing anxiety that had stayed with the slime ever since its connection was severed from him.
But now Rimuru was at a crossroads, though it was not exactly the kind of road that he would want to cross.
I now have this newfound sense of respect for those public speakers who would go on for hours in their meetings. They must have it tough, and now I'm one of those people who have to hear them out without being able to say a single word until the whole thing ends.
What was the twentieth or twenty-first story in a row, Staff continued to describe in comprehensively full detail about Ainz and his friends annihilating other Gods and conquering terrible dungeons that sprawled all throughout the Nine Realms.
At first, hearing these stories had made Rimuru extremely invested. The moment he showed his interest, though, was now but a grim reminder for the slime that expressions and words should be kept to oneself as his excitement gave way to an even greater one. Still, Rimuru did not want to sound like a prick and interrupt Staff, especially if the [ Great Sage ] had now warned him to not lay one finger on the lightly hopping woman.
While Rimuru tried his best to block out Staff's talks, he began to think about [ Great Sage]'s warning from back then. After the sagely skill essentially labeled Staff's existence as a red flag, Rimuru was understandably concerned.
—But that wasn't the surprising part. The surprising part was when Staff-san showed an ability that could literally disassemble bodies in some fashion that reminded me of Starcraft. It was honestly pretty to see the vividly colored particles flowing into her hands, but I can't help but think how painful that would be if the Armorsaurus was alive.
When Rimuru asked what Staff had done, she only said something along the lines of "I broke it down into information particles and added it to my repertoire of summoning."
The slime almost choked when he heard that.
If what I'm gathering is true, then Staff-san can not only break down monsters, but can even re-summon them at her own whim! Hell, she probably can make a whole frickin' army of Armorsauruses and probably say something like, "that didn't even cost a pint of magicules!" because that's exactly the vibes I'm getting at from someone as absurd as her.
After that horrifying display of unimaginable power, Rimuru meekly hopped behind Staff who was proceeding on the path that [ Great Sage ] originally told the slime to follow.
Because of this, it seemed that the woman was showing a great deal of efficiency in navigation, essentially becoming a sort of "GPS." Along with his and Staffs' goals of wanting to leave this cave aligning with each other, Rimuru did not see the need to break apart from the recently formed "team" that was already making their way out of the cave with ease.
Apart from the peculiar way of handling the sleeping beauty that was Ainz, Rimuru was also reassured by Staff that the undead would be waking up anytime now according to a spark being felt within her mental connection with the undead.
Since he did not know exactly what Staff was entailing, Rimuru merely gave a grunt of affirmation without prodding any further. This particular field was admittedly something that he could not completely understand, even after [ Great Sage ] provided more information upon his request. Since he was also completely focused on what was in front of him, he decided to trust Staff's words which were always filled with complete confidence.
That was why Rimuru had to stop the purposeful muffling of his own hearing when he heard a yelp from the now un-composed Staff.
"W-what's wrong?! Is it something about that girl up there that's freaking you out?"
{—Warning. An immeasurable amount of magical energy has been detected and is approaching your position at remarkable speeds. Its magical energy supply exceeds at least ten times greater than yours on the low end. }
Shoot. But wait, isn't that the same thing you told me about Staff?
{ Affirmative. However, it is immeasurable on the high end for both the individual "Staff" along with the unknown individual, so it cannot be determined as to whether the two stand on equal ground or not. }
I see. Magicule counts probably don't matter as well considering Staff's own "disassembling" ability. But it would be even worse if it was raw power alone that would make this person stick out.
Speaking of things that were sticking out—
"—Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha! So I finally found you, Ainz ol' Goon…huh? Who are you, people? Are you lackeys of that skeleton or something?"
There was a glaringly large hole above everyone, most likely caused by the new visitor. The roof had been obliterated to smithereens. The light from outside did well to cover a large expanse of the darkened cavern interiors, with both the slime and the woman instinctively blinking.
However, the slime's attention was now caught at the glaring lack of clothing on the girl.
What's with this skimpy outfit that she's wearing? And her chest…humu. It's as flat as a washboard. Of course, I'm not that dumb to just say that out loud. I'd be reincarnated a second time if that were to happen.
Apart from this clear violation of a dress code for someone who looked no less to be in her mid-teens, Rimuru found his eyes being enamored by the girl's dancing platinum-pink ponytails. She seemed to be hopping in happiness, most likely because she was able to encounter Ainz based on how the girl was intently staring at the undead.
As this was happening, Staff placed the floating Ainz onto the ground without batting an eye from the excited looking girl. Rimuru then received a message out of nowhere within his head whose voice he immediately identified.
( Rimuru-san, can you hear me? )
Huh? Y-yeah, I can hear you, Staff-san. What is it?
( This girl is too powerful for me to take head-on. If you would like, I would teleport you away with a random teleportation spell that I have in store unless the girl had already casted a spell similar to [ Dimensional Lock ]. To put it simply, this person is someone you cannot deal with. )
N-no way…
Rimuru felt his heart sink at hearing Staff's voice which was not betraying even the slightest hesitation.
If the one who had treated the monsters in Veldora's cave as easy pickings said that they themselves could not be a match for this person, then what chances did he have?
…No. No, it's fine. You, you said that Ainz was going to wake up anytime soon, right? Can he deal with this girl?
( I cannot say for sure. However, he would have hidden trump cards that would surely possess a prowess that makes my own secrets insignificant. I would consider pulling them out, but considering the current circumstances, I can't just—)
"—So it seems I have finally woken up."
Not just Rimuru and Staff, but even the one who was standing haughtily at the cave's extremely exposed entrance felt a great chill from those deep sounding words.
"Ainz-sama…!"
The undead began lumbering towards the duo and gave a brief stare at Staff and Rimuru. He then placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, causing her to yelp.
"Sorry for using an analysis spell on you, but you are the one that goes by Staff? It's odd to see the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown as a woman, but everyone has their own circumstances in this foreign world that we are all in, including you, Rimuru Tempest."
Ignoring the shocked stare on Staff, Ainz looked down to his right, seeing a bouncing, blue slime. It gave a nod of affirmation before speaking up.
"Yeah. It took you a long time to wake up. I suppose you know about my skills, too?"
"…Right," Ainz said, flaring his crimson eyes into a different color. The frosting looks of the undead's sapphire eyes pierced the shuddering slime, which then shifted into a swirling haze of emerald. "…I see. You're not someone from Yggdrasil as I know by now what every single 'Slime' race looks like, but there may be uncounted variables I am not aware of. The Nine Worlds were frankly too large for my own good."
"So you know I'm not from here, Ainz-san? Or, should I say, Ainz-sama…?"
Ainz shook his head. "You can just call me Ainz. I can tell you're not one for pleasantries. I'm on the same wavelength as well, I suppose."
"Oh! That's relieving. So, what now, Ainz? I kinda just went along with Staff-san and I heard a lot about you. Maybe a little too much."
"…Interesting, but I think we have to focus on the more pressing matter right now, Rimuru."
The trio from the ground looked up at the girl who continued to unleash more of her aura. The atmosphere was gradually tensing up as the undead's dreadful aura began to act as a deterrent towards the new visitor.
"Ah…ah! So it's really you — the one who calls themselves a 'True Demon Lord.' Your aura is really interesting. I could even feel a little bit of a chill from here. It's about time I found a good challenge!"
A teary eyed Staff and a jittering Rimuru hastily parted ways, soon finding themselves on either side of Ainz, who now stood with a natural air of authority around him.
Mlim jumped from her spot, probably falling from a height of fifty meters or so, but she landed on the ground with virtually no effort. The ground shook a bit from the impact, but the psychological effect made a greater impact on Rimuru who was beginning to become highly cautious of the girl.
The girl walked towards Ainz with a wide grin on her face. She stopped when she was about three meters away from the undead. Her face briefly contorted with surprise when she felt a pulsating aura from Ainz's World Item.
"Hm…I can tell from that red orb of yours that you're not one to mess with. You should be glad that those words are coming from someone like me! Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
"…Yes, you correctly surmise the current situation, Milim — one who bears the epithet of the 'Destroyer.' Truly, you are someone that is not to be messed with at all costs."
The girl stepped back in shock after hearing her name being called out by the undead.
"I—wha…? So…so you do know me! As expected, even people like you must have heard of me!"
The pleased look on the one called Milim had then turned into a pouted expression.
"Ehh…did someone get here before me? No fair! Who was it that came here?! Tell me now!"
The one called Milim was now pouting as she stomped the ground several times out of seeming anger over what she probably thought to be an anticlimactic reveal of her own name.
Each stomp from the girl caused a shockwave to ripple through the ground, creating miniature faults below the trio in front of her. Staff did well to balance herself while Rimuru deftly hopped onto more stable ground. The slime saw Ainz continuing to remain in the same place with the same indifferent look on his skeletal face.
"Ah…no, you were the one that came here before any other parties of interest came here," Ainz said, calmly raising his hand. Milim stared at the undead in genuine confusion until he started speaking up again. "As for your identity…I had simply heard about you since someone of your stature which surely warrants that of a glorious reputation. I am only one among the masses who was made aware of that long ago. But I do sincerely apologize for taking away your introductions."
"You…you're surprisingly nice for someone of your stature, but…it's okay! I sincerely accept your apology," Milim replied succinctly. For some reason Rimuru assumed that Milim had borrowed Ainz's words to sound smart based on her speech slowing down for a moment. "I can definitely tell that you're not like that lackey of Clayman, that's for sure…"
Did she just reveal someone that she shouldn't have said in public—the slime internally sighed.
He then saw Ainz tilting his head at that name as well before resuming back to his straightened posture. He could not help but smile after seeing that gesture of his. This told him that the undead was probably aware about the girl's accidental information slip-up.
Man, for him to not lose his cool right now…if Ainz-san is really not from this world, then he's doing a fantastic job at lying. Milim is just taking all of those words at face value, it seems.
"—Hm? Are you saying that all undead are natural bearers of evil? Aren't you being a little rude to the person you wanted to visit?"
Ainz somehow managed to sound offended, which made Rimuru stifle a giggle. The slime almost ended up laughing when he saw a genuinely troubled expression on Milim's face.
"R-rude? No, I'm…that's…hold on—I'm confused, now! Are you really a Demon Lord or are you just playing tricks on me? If it's the latter, I won't hesitate to drop you dead…er, a second time!"
Remembering that Ainz was an undead, Milim made sure to add "a second time," knowing that even circumstances like this would lead to misunderstandings. She at least knew that, and she eagerly waited for the next response from the undead which would determine his fate.
"Apologies…I do not mean to confuse you, Milim-sama, nor were my words intending to be that of a grave offense. Please, can't we settle this through diplomacy like civilized Demon Lords?"
Everyone promptly ignored the gritting of teeth from a certain someone after Ainz gave the highest of honorifics to Milim, who seemed to nod in approval at the undead's acknowledgment in the differences between them.
"Hmm…an undead wants to engage in diplomacy? Fuu…alright! I just wanted to see if you were the real deal, but I still want to fight you to test your mettle as a new Demon Lord. But...it looks like I was the first to arrive here, so I don't mind just talking to you for a bit, especially since you know how to respect your superiors!"
"Of course. While I would like to avoid fighting as much as possible, I would nonetheless be happy to accept a duel from someone of your caliber. Thank you for listening to my foolish request."
Rimuru could not believe this sight.
Someone who had the power to probably destroy the world several times over had quickly acquiesced to Ainz's request after only a few words of exchange between the two "Demon Lords." Was she already acknowledging Ainz's strength and status?
The slime did feel an ominous aura leaking out of Ainz, and he wanted to shake off this uncomfortable feeling every few seconds. But after a closer look via [ Analysis ], Rimuru found out the undead was clearly trying to hide his own magicules, unlike Milim.
The girl was not hesitant to hide her aura in any way, her magicules greatly perturbing the air around him. It was even more suffocating compared to the already dreadful aura that emanated from the undead.
Whatever it may be, the one known as Ainz Ooal Gown has somehow secured a moment of peace for everyone. As to how long that would last, Rimuru did not know. He had not even said an ounce of the word to the undead who in turn had only glanced at the slime and Staff a couple times before giving his undivided attention to the ridiculously powerful girl.
But right now—I have to place my hopes in Ainz. If he somehow deals with Milim without resulting in my life being turned to ashes, then I'll wholeheartedly believe that Staff-san's tales were not full of lies. I can only hope…
Before Ainz had actually woken up from the aftermath of his Harvest Festival, he was placed yet in another limbo state, but this time he was in a pitch-black void. The Voice of the World had told the undead to wait for a little longer, not specifying the exact time as to when he would finally arrive back in that cave he was previously in.
During his wait, Ainz tried to recall what he heard in Helheim when he was talking to Tabula Smaragdina. He was not only a guildmate who not only specialized in occult references, but was a major mythology buff who frequently visited strategic Pantheon locations.
Having a Councilman role was only supposed to show someone's status to a greater degree compared to someone reaching "godhood," a state that was only possible for NPCs if they were already not part of an existing mythology.
But if it was flaunted around on the political stage, then even a lowly salaryman like Ainz could understand if he were to interpret their roles as "public relations representative" (PR) of their respective companies.
I haven't really focused on these details, but if I remember correctly, the Councilmen of the Nine Worlds composed of Gods from various Pantheons who were chosen by their respective peers to be the representative of which Pantheon ruled which World. The developers were heavily biased towards Norse Gods, but there were also some exceptions.
Asgard was ruled by the Norse Pantheon, and their chosen representative or "Councilman" for that matter was none other than Odin — a prominent God who was also the leader of the Norse Pantheon. If it was someone like him who would be paying an early visit, that would complicate a lot of matters for Ainz.
Helheim was ruled by the Greek Pantheon, with Loki already mentioning Hades to be the Councilman of that particular world. Ainz was familiar with this the most, but some smaller details still eluded the undead who was still trying to remember.
At the very least, Ainz and other Players with extremely low karmic values had better chances of gaining favors with the God of the Underworld. Players were even able to unlock certain quests that were previously unavailable to people who had a neutral karma value and above.
Jötunheim was ruled by the Jötunn, specifically the primordial ruler and first of its people, Ymir. Naturally he was automatically chosen by the rest of his people to be the Councilman, partly due to Jötunheim's everlasting epithet which was the "Land of the Giants."
Chronologically speaking his existence should not have been possible, but Ainz remembered the developers adding him back into the game for an "April Fools" update and decided to keep it in, much to the outcry of the playerbase.
Midgard had initially chosen the Titan Prometheus to be the Councilman as he was responsible for creating humanity, as per Yggdrasil's lore. However, in a massive overhaul update, Midgard's territory was carved up into several pieces with the idea of creating a "free-for-all".
Of course, the geopolitical situation had grown increasingly chaotic as humanoid guilds who did not provide safe haven clashed with one another for control of strategic resources. Their volatile guild wars had frequently involved innocent Players in the midst of their skirmishes.
Múspellsheim was a more interesting situation if Ainz remembered the details correctly. Apparently, none of the Pantheons were willing to claim "ownership" of the fiery world as they would have to contend with its inhabitants, the Lords of the Seven Deadly Sins.
While all of the Lords were vehement against anyone who dared try to claim even a single bit of territory, they were supposedly lax against Players and the guilds that would pop up and would only engage in battle if the fight was brought to them. In a twist of events that caused Yggdrasil forums to go haywire, the developers elected Pride to be the Councilman of Múspellsheim since the demon was considered to be the most effective deterrent against both Pantheon Gods and other World Enemies.
Niflheim was also ruled by the Norse Pantheon, but the Gods decided it was not worth ruling the cold and misty tundras. In the end they left it to the goddess Hel, who took it upon herself to receive the spirits of the deceased and take them to Helheim. Everyone unanimously agreed for the title of "Councilman" to go to the Goddess of Death due to how much influence she had in both lore and questing.
Loki was surprisingly quiet when Ainz mentioned the name of Hel out loud. But after remembering the familial kinship the two Gods shared, the undead wisely decided not to prod into the topic any further.
The last remaining three out of the Nine Worlds previously had Councilmen from Pantheons other than the Greek and Norse ones. To both of their disappointments, neither Ainz nor Loki could remember as to why they were no longer existent.
Since Ainz was unable to remember, he initially thought the developers had simply cleaved them off. They had often found the solution to insufficient data storage issues in the form of purging characters that were deemed unpopular by the player base.
But what Loki later theorized made Ainz regain curiosity on this once irrelevant matter.
According to the trickster God's personal investigations during when the Gods were still bickering on visiting the undead, he had found something interesting during their talks. Most of the deities were not keen on bringing up the subjects of missing Councilmen within Nidavellir, Vanaheim and Alfheim. That was because they had all come from the same Pantheon that became extinct within Yggdrasil.
After asking for further details, Ainz had a figurative lightbulb pop above his head. He had remembered the developers adding in a secret quest that was only available when Players developed the proper relations with their respective Councilman of the Nine Worlds.
Ainz Ooal Gown had already fostered good relations with Hel who still held the status of the "Councilman of Helheim." After that secret quest was completed, a confidential agreement was signed between the heteromorphic guild and the Goddess of Death, swearing to keep the details regarding the disappearance of three Councilmen.
The reason why they had disappeared was because someone got too cocky and badmouthed the Avatara of the Outer God, Nyarlathotep. The fallout from that encounter was so great that it cowed even the strongest Pantheon Gods, and all the Councilmen swept the details under the rug from there on out.
Despite the 22nd century's infamous incidents that involved the several shutdowns of internet library archives across the Internet, Yggdrasil developers had sworn to themselves to keep the ideas of H.P. Lovecraft and make them reality within their game. When it was brought up in a poll on the forums, the entirety of Ainz Ooal Gown including Momonga had eagerly voted for the inclusion of Lovecraftian Gods. To no one's surprise in the guild, Tabula Smaragdina eagerly became the forefront speaker in the guild for approving the entry of the mythological giants.
The only condition that would prevent the game's player base going into a complete fury was that they had to be placed in heavily nerfed "Avataras." If their powers and abilities were added without any restrictions, there would be no doubt that World Enemies would quickly be lost into relevance as even the weakest Outer God could decimate the entire World Tree.
The opinions about Lovecraftian entities were often mixed, but it did not take long for the Players to switch sides. Having once been angered over the potential of Outer Gods completely destroying the game's meta, the Players started having a liking for a healthy addition of quests that pertained to sealing the Avataras. The developers had it also in mind for a future fostering of "Lovecraftian Mythos" within the game, specifically in the ridiculously long amounts of lore behind a single quest relevant to Lovecraftian Gods.
Ainz replayed the sidestory every so often as the years went by, mostly in honor of the occult freak Tabula who was saddened to see a complete halt in the addition of further Lovecraftian Gods. The undead found them to be interesting too, but not enough so that he would be riddled with weeks long depression that the Brain Eater went through at one point.
All of this recollection of events brought Ainz to a single thought.
He recalled a near-death experience for him and the entire guild when they were in the middle of sealing an Avatara from Azathoth, the ruler of the Outer Gods.
It had appeared one day in the outskirts of Helheim, and how it worked was that a Councilmen would immediately give a quest to all guilds who settled in Helheim. In this case it was the Goddess of Death Hel who sounded the horns, and the primary goal was to seal it with quest-given items before the time ran out.
When an Avatara would randomly appear, it would automatically ignore preset guild base boundaries and safe zones. The mechanics of an Avatara encounter was similar to that of a World Enemy encounter as both entities had ridiculously high health bars. But since the goal was to only seal it instead of defeating it, Players from once opposing guilds had to band together and strategize on who would distract the Avatara while others would concentrate on sealing it.
Due to having prepped for the inevitable encounter with an Avatara, Ainz Ooal Gown had quickly established itself as the leading guild of the hastily formed "Helheim Coalition," with Momonga automatically being elevated to that of a commander-in-chief. Tabula Smaragdina and Luci Fer, having made strides to study as much as possible about Avataras, assisted the guildmaster's efforts while the rest of the guild members were delegated to kiting and sealing roles.
With the other guilds following Momonga's plan to a tee, everyone had a huge rush of confidence. But it was Momonga himself who first realized that their grand stratagem, which were operating on past knowledge of weaker Avatara's, would not come to fruition so soon.
In the span of five minutes, roughly eighty-five percent of the Helheim Coalition were wiped out. The constant squabbling between guilds who refused to work together had undermined sealing efforts, and a single attack from Azathoth's Avatara gave everyone massive de-buffing effects.
The minions that spawned from the Avatara were offing Players like culling sheep—an apt analogy that was made by Ulbert Alain Odle. The same goat demon also thought that it was not only a rush of confidence and adrenaline that was being felt by the participating Players, but also a sudden rush of shit to the brain after seeing some of them charge head-on recklessly towards the Avatara's main body.
While any attack from the Avatara could have been a one-hit KO for any level one-hundred Player, this wasn't the case since Momonga had made a last-minute request before approaching the Avatara's territory to bring in a World Item that could invalidate one-hit KO attacks from World Enemies or Avataras.
Meanwhile the sealing efforts, which were to basically play a bunch of instruments in the worst sounding way possible, were later carried on by Peroroncino and Bukubukuchagama. They were happy to purposely screw up on their musical endeavors if it meant saving everybody's skins.
When the Avatara was finally sealed within the deep, dark abysses of Helheim, Ainz Ooal Gown had once again been hailed as the most infamous guild in Helheim—possibly out of the Nine Worlds, even. Momonga and the guild members were pleased to see their reputation, which had soured from the "Great Invasion of Nazarick," soaring up in the polls when the forums asked which Yggdrasil guild was the most popular.
A few more Avatara encounters occurred during Ainz Ooal Gown's glory days, but they were not as worrisome to deal with compared to Azathoth. And after the guild established itself as the domineering guild in Helheim, they received yet another World Item from Hel, who was apparently delighted to see the undead.
To everyone's amusement, Momonga had the "highest relationship points" with the Goddess of Death. Adding on to his extremely negative karmic value paved the way for a stuttering undead to deal with marriage requests from the Goddess of Death. If this had been accepted, Hel would have had to abandon her Councilman role before becoming an honorary NPC within Nazarick.
But at the very end of the dialogue options, Momonga had kindly denied the request with good reason. Even though her status as an honorary NPC would exclude her from filling in the NPC data storage, Ainz Ooal Gown would attract too much attention for having removed Hel as a Councilman.
Still, Momonga cringed after seeing Hel showing a depressed face. For the next few days, he was made fun of by Bukubukuchagama for "dumping a girl who was heads over heels for him."
Needless to say, Ainz in the present was extremely aware how dangerous a Lovecraftian God can be. The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick was also manned by no one else but the undead, giving him an unneeded amount of stress.
But for now, there was one thing that Ainz needed to grab. It was to gather as many allies as possible and gather information about the world he was brought into.
He could not properly use his knowledge that would make him unrivaled in Yggdrasil trivia and lore, but the skills, spells, equipment and gear were all ready for him to use without any restriction whatsoever.
And if it was true that the NPCs other than Shalltear could act on their own, along with the influx of Gods according to Loki's words, then he needed to prioritize on getting Nazarick's denizens up to date on the situation.
Ainz sincerely hoped for the Gods to become amiable in working alongside him instead of becoming another thorn in his side. There was a lot of work for him to do, and even with his empowered abilities, working alone was quite possibly the worst option to choose right now.
