Once the Demon Lord and his companions left her quarters Renner exhaled tiredly as she collapsed down into her chair. She was mentally beyond exhausted. They did a thorough cleansing of her room since it was left in a bit of a messy state after her episode of murderous domestic violence. To be fair she only killed two of her family members, the strange maid-dressed short girl magnanimously dealt with Barbro in her stead. She was a bit disheartened that her most hated family member happened to be the one that didn't die by her hands, but she didn't mull on it too much. Getting eaten alive while being muted by a silence spell sounded much worse than getting stabbed by her anyhow.
She thought back to the events of the past hour. It surprised Renner how naturally the betrayal of house Vaiself came to her. This idea was something that she was often entertaining in the back of her mind, especially when she had to interact with her oldest brother, though these thoughts used to be nothing more than fancy daydreams. However, once the opportunity presented itself, in the form of an immortal demon offering a place among his ranks in this case, she took it instantly. She gutted her older brother and stabbed her father multiple times, the father that did anything in his power to provide her with an enjoyable life. Yes, he was restricted by the feudal rules placed on royalty in what he could and couldn't allow her, but what he could allow her he did. He was a great father by all accounts, and she killed him without giving it much of a thought. Even while her knife deeply entered his internal organs she didn't feel regret or guilt, in fact, she was experiencing the greatest joy in her whole life as she watched his eyes filled with the grief caused by her betrayal lose its shine as he fell to the ground to bleed out amidst his own son's intestines. Her whole body shuddered with utter bliss just from reliving these short albeit glorious moments.
Ulbert-sama explained her situation to Renner while a brigade of exquisitely beautiful maids were cleaning her quarters. She was the first "outsider", what that term meant exactly she wasn't completely sure of, who was presented with the opportunity to join the demon's guild; Ainz Ooal Gown. Though her joining wasn't set in stone yet, as she first needed to complete one single task in exchange; overseeing and facilitating the successful vassalization of her Kingdom under a currently non-existent nation. If she managed to do that, she was promised a full membership to their organization, evidenced by the demon's promise that once the Kingdom stabilized under his rule as its vassal state she was free to select a puppet ruler in her stead and live in their base permanently, if she so wished to do so.
Even though she wasn't yet an official member, Ulbert-sama had already shown her just what kind of miracles might be in store for her if she manages to succeed with her task when he gave her a so-called 'Shadow Demon' that would protect her person at all times. A being completely hidden from the naked eye; so much so that even the ninja twins didn't discover its presence.
Renner giggled as she remembered back to the particular moment when her new bodyguard was revealed. As it turned out this entity was already with her for many days now, hiding in her shadow to collect information about her, she just didn't know about it. When Ulbert-sama called its name it appeared from her own shadow, giving her a big jumpscare which to her chagrin caused her to let out a shameful scream. Thankfully the demon found her antics amusing, evidenced by the laugh that followed her yelp. Although she was in the presence of an archdemon and multiple other peculiar individuals, her comrades now, of highly irregular species, she still didn't expect to have a creepy demon living happily in her shadow. Her new 'friends' really were otherworldly beings.
Of course, the princess wasn't naive enough to not understand the double-edged nature of her gift. While she would be protected physically, her failures would not remain hidden from Ulbert-sama in exchange. With an ever-vigilant bodyguard came an ever-vigilant observer, watching her every move. A single mistake could lead to the loss of the Demon Lord's favor shown to her person.
She thought back to the sixteen years she spent on this plane of existence, when she compared her past to the events that went down in the span of a measly hour highlighted just how mundane her life was in the past. She really was blessed by her newly acquired Lord's grace. Renner quickly realized that she couldn't imagine a life where she would have to go back to solely living amongst humans anymore. They were just so damn plain. Boring, dirty, unintelligent, arrogant, so incredibly, exhaustingly dense. After spending a single hour in her guests' presence, humans simply lacked in everything.
She couldn't wait to spend more time with her new comrades. How would they behave, what kind of personalities do they have? What wondrous species are present amongst their ranks? Do they have vampires and undead as well? How would they treat her? What kind of being hid behind the small maid's mask? Just one look towards the devil with glasses that held her father hostage was enough to understand that he had exceptional intellect. She sincerely hoped that she could converse with him at a later date. Renner couldn't even envision what invaluable treasure trove of information the devil had stored in his head. Would he entertain her though? The princess made a mental note to think about what she could offer in exchange at a later date. What about the doll-like small silver haired girl that effortlessly smashed her well-built brother's hand? Just how strong was she? How could she even get that strong with such a frail-looking body anyways? The girl was even smaller than her, but they were entire worlds apart in the strength department. The ex-princess was full of questions, full of childlike wonder towards her uncertain future and unique colleagues.
She smiled warmly as she remembered the antics of the leader of her unexpected guests, the Demon Lord. He was a man shrouded in complete mystery. He had a good sense of humor and tremendous charisma. Well, pious individuals that worship the human gods would probably find this statement regarding his charisma false as they would be repulsed just by the knowledge of his existence, but for her, a girl that felt nothing towards 'the holy', he was anything but repulsive. Even though she wasn't accepted into their ranks yet, he promised her his support in achieving her task. It was easy to observe how kind he was to his servants as well. He called even his maids by their names and thanked them once they finished scrubbing all the blood and gore from her floor and walls. Both the small girl and the entity with the tail and glasses held complete devotion towards him. One didn't receive such servants just by paying wages on time.
The princess felt a previously unknown sensation brewing inside her. "Is this what having a group to belong to feels like?" She whispered to no one in particular as a cheerful smile adorned her face. Even though she basically knew nothing about Ainz Ooal Gown, about her own future, about her role-to-be, for the first time in her life Renner didn't experience a burst of anxiety which she always did when she thought about what might be in store for her in the future.
She shook her head as her smile evaporated. "Why are you celebrating already, Renner? You have a mission to accomplish first, never forget that. Once that is complete only then can you entertain such thoughts." The princess reminded herself of her duty. First, she would have the pleasure of confronting the nobility about her ascension to the throne. She laughed in her misery, as she was already in agony from the reception her proposal would receive from the aristocrats. She had a lot of planning to do.
For a moment Renner turned her head towards the doors of her quarters and thought about the man, a boy rather, that was standing guard on the other side. He didn't even notice that his mistress' chamber was invaded by over a dozen entities. She understood well that she shouldn't blame him for this, as he was doing his best in protecting her, but that no longer meant much for the princess. What she knew for certain was that his new bodyguard wouldn't have allowed such a thing to happen. The silver haired pale-skinned girl, who was obviously serving as the demon's bodyguard certainly wouldn't either. For some reason she couldn't help herself as she compared Climb with Ulbert-sama. The comparison ended with a one sided massacre. He lost in every single category she could think of. He was just so incredibly dull in contrast to her newly found almighty sovereign. For the first time ever since she picked him up from the side of the street Renner didn't feel an ounce of affection towards her oh-so cherished puppy.
Sebas walked down the aisle of the local marketplace. He entered this nation called 'Roble Holy Kingdom' by the locals a few hours ago. He was here for one thing and one thing only; to gather more information about the bafolk. While he was ordered to completely eradicate this accursed race from the face of the planet, the headbutler lacked a worrying amount of information about them. He had a discussion with Demiurge, who told him that the area titled 'Abellion Hills' is where he expects the bafolk to live based on his spy parties' collected information, though even the genius devil wasn't overly confident regarding their location. Nazarick's surveillance parties simply lacked time to cover multiple nations in such a short time while remaining hidden to those being observed.
Since this presumptuously called Holy Kingdom was the closest nation to the Abellion Hills where Sebas thought he might find intelligent beings he decided to gather information here before jumping headfirst into the bulk of the mission. This assignment was graciously given to him as a way to redeem himself after his ugly failure, thus he couldn't rush things now, no matter how much he wished to strangle all bafolk right this moment, lest he fails once more. He barely managed to stop his body from shivering at the horrifying thought of failure.
The butler felt eyes on his back ever since he entered the inner district of the capital city. Sebas didn't quite understand why they were tailing him, as he didn't commit any strange acts. His pursuers seemed to be quiet observers who were waiting for him to act first. Perhaps they had the resources to watch every single traveler visiting from abroad? He made a mental note that he shouldn't underestimate this nation.
"Shadow Demon, take position behind the three people following me and be ready for a pincer attack. In case I fall you are to retreat immediately and inform Ulbert-sama of what you've learned."
The minion took position as ordered. Sebas didn't sense that the three individuals following him were particularly strong, evidenced by their awful surveillance skills, but he did prepare for the worst just in case.
He turned left and then right at the next opportunity, finding himself in front of a tall, well-built church. He stopped as if admiring its architecture, which finally prompted his rookie spies to step forward after the long hours they spent tailing him. He waited until they made their presence known in order to hide the fact that he was aware of them all along.
"Excuse me, sir." A feminine voice called from behind him. As the headbutler turned around, he saw a woman with brown hair affixed with a white hairband. She wore garbs that resembled those of the local priestsesses, though hers was clearly more decorated. A high ranking member of their religious order, Sebas thought. He thought that as the country itself was highly religious, a leader of the religion would also be influential in the political aspects of the nation.
She had a soldier on both of her sides, presumably her bodyguards. These two had levels barely reaching into double digits. Sebas had to hold back a mocking chuckle at this miserable sight. After all, the priestess these two were 'guarding' was many times stronger than both combined.
"Yes, young lady?"
"I would like to ask some questions from you. Would you be so kind as to indulge me?" She was more courteous than what Sebas expected from someone that had spent the better half of their day spying on him, though her expression didn't betray her apprehension towards him. She seemed to be quite anxious for some unexplainable reason.
Kelart was frightened to the bone. While she went on her usual morning stroll through the marketplace of Hoburns she sensed an entity of beyond immense strength. He was simply otherworldly, so much so that the priestess knew that she wasn't even capable of measuring just how strong he was exactly.
She decided to send a paladin that was escorting her to notify Remedios, the strongest fighter of their country. Together, they may be able to put up some form of resistance, she prayed. It would be a long time until her sister got here though, thus the High Priestess of the Roble Holy Kingdom decided to pursue the anomaly of a man from a safe distance while she observed his actions.
He was dressed like a gentlemanly butler and throughout the hours of them secretly following him he didn't do anything that would immediately put her on guard, until he suddenly changed directions twice and arrived in front of the nation's most prized church. Kelart's heart ached as she imagined the destruction he could cause to the prized historical building on a whim; thus she decided to approach him.
He seemed amiable, he was so professional and gentlemanly that he reminded the priestess of her and Remedios's family's butler who served them ever since they were little babies. After getting permission from the butler-dressed man to ask some questions, they introduced themselves, thus she found out that he was called Sebas Tian.
"Lord Sebas, I highly doubt that I wouldn't be aware that a man of your strength was residing inside this nation. I presume that you are visiting our capital city for a reason, could I be of assistance?"
He nodded. "Indeed, Lady Kelart, I'm not your citizen. I've come looking for an expert known for his or her expertise regarding the demihumans inhabiting the Abellion Hills. I would like to hire them to serve as a guide."
This was the last thing she expected to come out of his mouth. "What a strange request!" she thought. At least this confirmed her suspicion that he wasn't dangerous, or to be more precise, not at this moment. He was here on friendly terms. She exhaled inwardly. It seemed like she would manage to see another day.
"May I know what you hope to achieve there?"
He clenched his palm into a fist. "I apologize for I'm not allowed to divulge that information. Though, I will say that I'm not going there to sightsee." His barely hidden bloodlust was more than enough to know just what manner of result he was hoping to achieve. Perhaps he was here to enslave some demihumans? Or collect their parts for rituals? Kelart knew of some that needed very specific body parts to come to fruition.
With her and her country's immediate safety ensured, came her duty to her fellow citizens and queen. She needed to bind this man to their nation at any cost. He was a walking one-man–super-army, after all.
"I know just the person you are looking for, Lord Sebas. In fact, she should be nearby. Please be so kind as to allow me a few minutes to fetch her and inform her of the situation at hand."
After getting confirmation from Sebas, Kelart turned around and walked away. Once she was out of the butler's eyesight she ordered her paladin guards to notify Remedios immediately. She was the strongest paladin in the nation, and as the paladin order was responsible for fighting the demihuman hordes on their borders no one knew more about the Abellion Hills and its wretched inhabitants than her. She was the perfect candidate to help the man out, and as Remedios was a high ranking official of the Holy Kingdom, she could represent their nation, leaving the butler-dressed anomaly in their debt once they assisted in his request.
XX
She woke up feeling drowsy. Her body felt like an entire house collapsed on it, she saw multiple ugly bruises and sensed multiple internal injuries. It didn't take long for her memory to catch up, as she began to remember the past night's events. She successfully completed her part of the mission, that was; capturing the target with the talent that let him use any items while ignoring its usage requirements, such as the Crown of Wisdom. She had to kill a party of adventurers to get to the boy with the dreadful virgin haircut but they proved to be laughably weak, as expected. Unless her enemy group was of the adamantite rank, they would be slaughtered effortlessly, such was her might.
So then, just how could she be humiliated this badly?! "By a fucking maid no-less!" Clementine cursed inwardly. While she and Khajiit were in the middle of the ritual to turn the city of Re-Estize into a city of the dead, a maid with glasses leisurely strolled into their crypt as if she was taking a walk around a flower garden. When Khajiit questioned her intentions, she replied that "Typhoon-sama has ordered me to protect this city in his absence. You are in the way." and then followed her statement with an explosive lunge towards the necromancer. Clementine clearly remembered seeing that while the maid was mid-air she equipped a gauntlet on both hands, then proceeded to kill Khajiit in one punch, his acolytes quickly following him into the afterlife without being able to put up any amount of resistance. Simply put, they were brutally slaughtered.
All this while, she was shrouded in darkness, observing the massacre from the safety provided by the shadows. She was not a thief, but she could count the people with better hiding skills than her on one hand. That's the reason why she was utterly shocked when the maid turned her head towards her once she finished desecrating the last acolyte into a bloody mess of unrecognizable gore.
Clementine could clearly remember her leaving her hiding place, leisurely chatting with the non-responsive woman while she powered up with a formidable amount of martial arts. She also remembered what happened next, her dashing towards the maid as she stood still, unimpressed. However, this is where her memory failed her, since the next thing she could remember is her waking up here.
Where was 'here' exactly? She was clearly captured as she was in a prison cell with a weighty metal collar around her neck. All her prized equipment was stripped of her person, replaced by a baggy cloth that didn't at all fit her body shape, just like what she saw the poorest of peasants wear in the countryside. "Great, just great. Humiliated in combat then captured! She didn't even give me a warrior's death!"
Beyond her cell the warrior woman could only see a frozen wasteland everywhere she looked. Winter was many months away, there shouldn't be many places that were this cold around this time of the year. Perhaps the snowy mountains inhabited by the infamous Frost Dragons that she heard so much about?
"Wait a second… cold? Cold! How the fuck am I not feeling cold in this shitty potato bag?! I should be closer to freezing to my death with every passing second, but it feels like I'm in a slightly windy autumn climate…" Clementine examined the collar around her neck with her hands. She quickly realized that this item was the most likely perpetrator behind the unnatural phenomenon; an artifact. Quite a strong one at that. "I bet those old geezers would love to get their filthy hands on this item!" She snickered as she thought about the cardinals of the Theocracy. Their relationship wasn't exactly on the brightest of terms after her little act of treason and the ensuing manhunt.
Before she could continue the discovery of her newly found situation, she saw an entity approaching her cell. It definitely was of a feminine build, with a lengthy black hair, pale blue-white skin and entirely white clothes. It was easy to tell from her skin color that she wasn't human. "Yo! Freak! Let me go or I will cut you to pieces!" Clementine shouted, doing her best at giving off an alarming aura. Her intimidation maneuver failed as her visitor remained entirely unanimated as she leisurely continued walking towards her.
Once she reached her cells she stopped in front of it, examining Clementine from head to toe in muted silence. "Can you speak? What even are you?!" The warrior shouted as her heart began beating faster. Just what kind of freak took her hostage?!
"This one is capable of speech. I am what's called a Frost Virgin."
Clementine couldn't hold her laugh at the surprising name. "Ahahaha! Who even calls herself like that? Your parents must've been very loving. Weren't you bullied as a child with such a stupid name? I am starting to feel pity…"
Virgin remained completely unaffected by the blonde woman's ridicule, to the latter's utmost annoyance. "There's no need to feel that way. Cocytus-sama is waiting. Time is of the essence, come." She unlocked her cell nonchalantly, not even slightly worried about the person inside who was in the Realm of Heroes. Either she was an idiot, or… incredibly strong, the warrior realized.
Of course Clementine had no intentions of complying with the requests of a monster. She had to escape no matter the cost, and a golden opportunity just happened to present itself. "{Greater Ability Boost}" After casting her martial art, she exploded towards the exit with inhuman speed, one that would put even adamantite ranked thieves to shame. She quickly went past Virgin, who couldn't even react to her speed.
Clementine looked back towards her captor, who was still unable to comprehend what had the untrained eye the momentum of her dash must've looked as if she simply disappeared."She was an idiot! Now onto escaping this shithole!"
Before she could take more than a few steps her arrogant smile vanished when she saw Virgin turn towards her direction and speak. Unlike before, the sound of her voice came from all directions at once. As if she was everywhere, her voice echoed unnaturally throughout the frozen wasteland. This time, her distinctly emotionless tone was replaced by one that was fueled with clear animosity. "Cocytus-sama is under the direct orders of the Supreme One. Therefore, you are wasting His time."
Virgin suddenly melted down into what seemed to be a liquid-like state, in a way that one would think she was nothing more than a body made of snow that suddenly got exposed to too much heat. As soon as the snowy ground absorbed the liquid, Virgin materialized in front of her, traversing the lengthy distance in less than a fraction of a second. Even in such a bizarre situation, even under the extreme stress she was going through, Clementine's battle-hardened body reacted instantaneously as she threw a punch in her opponent's direction.
"{Frozen Aegis}" As the spell left the strange woman's lips, hundreds of thousands of miniature icy-blue particles began swarming all around the entirety of her body at speeds that even the warrior's trained eyes found hard to keep up with.
Once her punch connected with the strange particles, her hand was deflected. Clementine quickly understood the nature of this spell; it was a protective shield. "Damn, if only I had my gear!" She grunted. She was confident that she could overcome any and all obstacles if her trusty stilettos were with her, but this time they were nowhere to be found. Escape was out of the question in case Virgin could utilize her strange teleportation spell multiple times. This fight had to be settled now, and with the old fashioned way at that. She gritted her teeth in determination.
Once she attempted to punch again Clementine realized that something was terribly wrong. Her fist was unresponsive. She couldn't even feel her fingers. As she examined her hand for the first time in her life she felt what must've been true terror. The blonde warrior found that her fist was severely mutilated, with multiple fingers missing. Her skin and flesh was torn away, leaving only a few critically damaged metacarpal bones behind. Her hand resembled that of a damaged skeleton's. The most frightening thing was that Clementine didn't feel an ounce of pain, despite the severity of the damage sustained, she didn't even bleed. "Those small particles completely froze my hand!" She quickly understood just how deep of a trouble she found herself in. She couldn't escape nor attack.
Virgin didn't allow the frightened warrior to dwell on her quickly deteriorating situation much, as she was already casting her next spell. "Playtime is over. {Frozen Arsenal: Overkill}". Snow from the ground that was laying everywhere around them swiftly evaporated, leaving only the frozen earth floor behind. In the next moment numerous objects began forming behind the icy woman. As the process finished, Clementine was facing what must've been over a thousand spears resembling icicles hovering around her opponent in the air, all pointed towards her. These weren't normal icicles that the warrior came to know from nature though, as each was at least as big as her own body. They were clearly in the monster's domain, she must've been a legendary entity that benefited greatly from having snow around her.
"Just what the fuck…" She was lost for words as she stumbled backwards. Who was this 'Frozen Virgin', why didn't she hear about such a mage before? This woman was leagues ahead of even the infamous Fluder Paradyne. Her shield spell didn't even diminish one bit after her punch! Just how was she supposed to win?!
The white-skinned mage lifted her right hand high in the air and brought it down in one swift motion, signaling the commencement of her onslaught. Instantaneously two spears exploded forth with such speed that Clementine didn't even realize they left their formation until they reached their mark, namely, her legs. This time, she felt pain. Both of her limbs were pulverized by the oversized icicles, making her fall face first into the ground. She let out a guttural cry. No pain she felt in her struggle-filled life could come to compare with the utter agony this attack caused. She could feel frost injecting itself into her insides as her grave wounds froze.
Her right hand mutilated, her legs destroyed, her body on the brink of a heart attack from the nigh unbearable cold. Any still lingering will to fight left the warrior by this point. Clementine could hazily perceive Virgin approaching her and then squatting down once she reached her. "My name isn't Virgin, it's the denomination of my species, stupid blonde." The warrior woman understood that she was insulted, however, she was beyond caring at this point. All she hoped for was the hasty arrival of the sweet release death would surely bring. Clementine felt the metal collar around her neck tighten, as the monster lifted its attached chain and began mercilessly dragging the defeated woman away over the frozen ground.
Author's Note:
I've spent hours searching for a fitting ost for the Frost Virgin fight (aka massacre) without success. (﹏)
Last chapter there were quite a few questions, here are my replies.
Q1: Did Ulbert's rampage of Adventurer's Guild work throw off the Zuranon plot of Book 2?
A1: Answered (although in a slightly ambiguous way) in this chapter. If it wasn't clear, Yuri beat both of them to a pulp, then brought Clementine back to the Tomb for a lengthy and relaxing vacation (All paid for generously by NazarickTM).
Q2: Did one of the Pleiades kill Brain off-screen as Brita's group died because they were going after Brain's group and ran into Shalltear under Blood Frenzy?
A2: Brain is the most well written (New World) character in Overlord in my opinion, his story was completed well, he had by far the best character arc out of anyone. I don't think there's a reason for me to touch his character, I wouldn't leave anyone more satisfied than Maruyama did in the canon story. To answer your question, no, he was not killed off-screen, but I'm undecided if I want him to play a role in this fic. Brita and her group were unlucky this time (as well), the males lost their lives or were enslaved while Brita is quite busy at the moment with being chained to our favorite blue haired bandit's bed, I would imagine. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )
Q3: What is going to happen to the Elf Country and Draconic Kingdom as a consequence of Slane going into high-paranoia mode after their 2nd best got trashed and traumatized?
A3: I plan to incorporate both of those nations into this story, so I would say your best bet is to wait for more chapters to get your answer.
Q4: Are you going to do anything with Zuranon? They're never really expanded on after Book 2 in canon despite apparently being a multi-country cult with some big hitters (by New World standards, Clementine is high tier, not top but still up there, and Khajit probably would have succeeded if he didn't accidentally cross Momonga)
A4: Yes. If any of you readers have ideas about their structure, members, powers etc feel free to write me a message, as I am in the (very) early stages of conceptualizing the organization. Okay, I will be honest, I don't have anything yet…
Now onto reacting to the non-question reviews.
Some of you readers commented that you love that Ulbert is not (overly) cautious and that he is truly evil. I share your enthusiasm for this character. To me, he is a breath of fresh air. I've always been a sucker for evil/morally ambiguous (main) characters, writing Ulbert's story has been an amazing experience. He is the Demon Lord, why shouldn't he do as he pleases? Momonga was pushed around like a little *redacted*, his genocide of Re-Estize only came to be because he couldn't say no to his own endlessly loyal fanatics. I thought that that was the lowest point of his character. To make it clear, I wasn't against the genocide itself, far from it, but that the Overlord, the ruler of all, did it against his own wishes.
One reviewer recommended external ways (reddit, discord, AO3) to promote this story to get more readers. I'm not posting these chapters to get more views, though it certainly makes me happy when I see that people from around the globe read this story and even more so when you leave appreciative reviews and/or favorite/+follow. The reason I write this story is simply because I enjoy doing so. After all, I've been writing it in my lonesome for over a year even before I published the first chapter.
