CHAPTER 5:

SUNLIGHT'S FALL

Harry should have expected this from Albedo. Of the Floor Guardians, he felt that Albedo, Shalltear, and Demiurge would perhaps be the most troublesome towards him, from a moral point of view. If one included the Pleiades, then all of them barring Yuri, Shizu and Aureole were problematic morally, and he cursed Ulbert's juvenile obsession with presenting Ainz Ooal Gown as an evil lair of monsters.

His problem was less about their alignment, and more about changing them enough to channel their evil towards ends that Harry found less objectionable. Although he retained some morality, his betrayal at the hands of Ginnymort had tempered it somewhat, even before his arrival in this new world and his subsequent betrayal. He had no objection to someone being tortured by Demiurge, as long as they were the worst kind of criminal, like a rapist or a mass-murderer.

He also hoped that he could end up being Momonga's conscience, as he knew that their new forms influenced their minds. Harry was lucky in that his Fallen Angel body didn't affect him too much, beyond loosening his morals a little. But he was worried that Momonga's Overlord body may make him detached and lacking in empathy. Not losing it completely, he hoped, but Momonga revealing the emotional suppression he underwent was troubling.

It was disappointing of Albedo, though. He'd already made it clear that he valued humans, even before her callous remark. He just hoped that she could change. Even if she couldn't get rid of her antipathy entirely, she could at least allow for his own values, and not kill anyone beyond the deserving.

Then again, it was Demiurge he had been worried about most of all. Ulbert was his creator, of course, and the Demon had a devious and intelligent mind. He should warn Momonga not to second-guess him, to ensure that Demiurge was kept on as tight a leash as one could. With Demiurge, if one wanted a plan with him, then one should ensure that no loophole was left out, not because the Demon wanted to betray them, but because he was so devious that he might simply think his master meant something else.

He'd spoken to the elder and asked. The elder was unaware of Resurrection Magic(1), but Harry gently explained the pros and cons to the elated man. He hoped he wouldn't get into trouble for throwing around Lakyus' name: even here, they knew of the Blue Roses, thankfully.

After some quiet consideration, the elder agreed, and Harry asked Momonga to give him a Resurrection Wand, which was used. Not all of the slain villagers came back to life. Indeed, only half did, either due to a too-low level, or to simply accepting their demise. But the two girls he had saved, Enri and Nemu, got their parents back, which was better than nothing. Harry did say he wanted to remain under the radar as much as possible, if only because of the Platinum Dragon Lord potentially keeping an eye on matters. He eventually brushed off their thanks and returned to the others.

Antilene smirked. "You're a real softy, you know that, old man?"

"I can't help it."

"I'm sure," Leinas said, before frowning. "Still, if Stronoff is on his way, how long before he gets here?"

Momonga held up a hand to his ear…well, where it would be if he had a fleshy body. "The Eight-Edge Assassins have notified me of a group of soldiers in different livery. Maybe that is Stronoff."

"We'll soon see…"

As it turned out, it was Stronoff, a burly man with dark hair and a beard. Harry and the others were standing to one side, before the elder indicated them. Stronoff strode over, with Harry being told by Momonga to handle the introductions. "So, you're the ones who saved this village?"

Harry nodded. "I've heard a lot about you, Warrior-Captain. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Hal, a magic caster who currently resides in Arwintar. This is my daughter, 'Lene, and my sworn sword, Lady Leinas Rockbruise. And this is my old friend, another caster, Momonga of the foreign guild Nine's Own Goal, which I belong to, and our comrade, Lady Albedo."

"You're from the Empire?" Stronoff asked, on guard, but still not yet about to attack. 'Hal' was Harry's habitual alias when walking abroad, as 'Enzo' and 'Harry' were known to the wrong people.

"Not originally. I just stay there in an arrangement with the Bloody Emperor, I have no real allegiance beyond an informal arrangement. While I was catching up with Momonga, we caught wind of these idiots attacking using the livery of the Empire. If you wish for confirmation of who I am, speak to Evileye of the Blue Roses and mention my name. Oh, and the words: I solemnly swear I am up to no good. She'll understand that."

Stronoff, after a moment, nodded. "I'll take your word for it, for now. I was just surprised to see the likes of Lady Rockbruise, one of the former Imperial Knights, here. But I want an explanation."

"You'll get one, believe me…"

Stronoff scowled after hearing said explanation in the elder's house. "The Sunlight Scripture, huh? Assuming you're telling the truth, that explains a lot, even if I didn't think I warranted the Theocracy's attention this much. Still, it explains why those nobles insisted on my lack of armaments. I'm not blind to their machinations."

Momonga was peering out a window, even as the day gave way to afternoon. "…And it seems they were keeping an eye on you. The village has already been surrounded by summoners and Archangel Flames."

"The trap has been sprung," Stronoff said grimly.

"We'll see about that," Harry said. "I'd bet that those xenophobic bastards would try to wipe out this village again even if they killed you, just to make a point."

Harry heard Momonga using Message. "Harry, are you going to confront them?"

"Yes. I'll be using the strongest anti-Divination magic I can, Momonga. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to do a favour for Stronoff." Out loud, Harry turned to Stronoff. "Stronoff, I know you have little reason to trust me, given the Baharuth Empire's relationship with Re-Estize. But Momonga and I came here to save lives, and the Slane Theocracy had you lured out here purely to weaken your country. And my daughter and I have ample reason to despise the Theocracy. Not to mention you remind us both of an old friend, a paladin of great moral character. Honestly, I wish you could've met him."

Stronoff peered at him, before sighing. "…It seems I have little choice. But if you will ride out with me…"

"Stronoff, I'm not going with you. Or rather, I will be going in your stead, with my comrades, minus Lady Rockbruise." Harry turned to Leinas. "Sorry, Leinas, but the Sunlight Scripture have summoned Angels that would slay you."

The blonde woman nodded, not looking happy about it, but accepting it. Stronoff, however, frowned. "But you believe you could?"

"Stronoff…the Sunlight Scripture wanted a massacre." Harry scowled. "The thing is, they'll get one. Just not the sort they wanted…"

It took some more persuading for Stronoff to acquiesce, but he did. Harry, Antilene, Momonga and Albedo simply walked unhurriedly towards where the main body of the Sunlight Scripture was, apparently to prevent any escape by Stronoff. They had the air of going on an enthusiastic walk.

Harry and Momonga had arranged for a reward from Stronoff in exchange for saving Carne. While Harry did have books on Martial Arts techniques he could access easily, there might be stuff Re-Estize had that the Baharuth Empire did not. It seemed crass to ask for money or magical items, though the Treasury of Nazarick wanted for neither anyway.

The Sunlight Scripture moved to enclose them, and Harry noted the man standing at the forefront. He looked arrogant, with close-cropped blonde hair, and a face marred by an angry-looking scar, given to him by Lakyus, leader of the Blue Roses, from what Keno had told him. His blue eyes were glowing, an effect of his controlling the Angel summons around him.

"And who might you be?" the man, presumably Nigun, asked.

"We are representatives of the foreign guild Nine's Own Goal," Momonga said, though as he approached, the anti-Divination magic he had cast caused the sky to briefly seem to shatter. He looked up, and remarked, "Oh dear, it seems I broke the surveillance on you."

"…Surveillance on me? By my own country?" Nigun asked, confused.

Antilene tittered. "Oh my, Nigun. It seems they wanted to watch. Oh well, I wasn't sure I wanted to have an audience of voyeurs."

Nigun blinked, before looking at Antilene. "…Do I know you?"

Antilene looked to Harry, who nodded. Antilene then took off her hood. "I am Antilene Heran Fouche…or, as you may have better known me as, the Extra Seat of the Black Scripture, Zesshi Zetsumei."

"What?! Impossible! You were declared missing, presumed dead after that attack on…" His eyes narrowed in realisation. "You damned treacherous half-breed slattern!"

"I'll have you know I'm still a virgin," Antilene said, raising an eyebrow.

"Enough of the byplay, amusing though it is," Momonga said. "Nigun Grid Luin, leader of the Sunlight Scripture…I know that you intend to not only slaughter Stronoff and his men, but the people of that village, people we rescued from your allies."

"What of it? You intend to protect them too? You don't stand a chance."

He was blustering, Harry knew. Antilene was infamous in the Slane Theocracy, at least in certain circles, and Nigun knew he was in trouble just by her presence. "Actually, we do," Momonga said, his voice roughening up into a gravelly growl, more than before. "Your attitude towards these innocent people is absolutely galling, and you use your ideology to justify it. There are few things more offensive to me than that. So I offer you a choice: either surrender, and you will die quietly and mercifully, or resist, and you will suffer for your imprudence!"

Nigun just snarled, "Attack them! Concentrate on the traitor! She's the most dangerous!"

Antilene merely smirked as some of the Angels Nigun commanded attacked, and she promptly slashed them apart. As they dissolved, Antilene pouted. "Over so quickly? Ugh, I know many men have performance issues, but that was so unsatisfying."

Harry facepalmed, wondering if he needed to have a talk with his daughter about innuendo during combat. Antilene, however, continued. "And in any case, you're mistaken, Nigun. I'm weaker than these three. They stand on equal ground with the Six Gods and the Eight Greed Kings!" As Nigun's eyes widened in shock, Antilene grinned. "Ohhhh, yes! That's it! That's the look I wanted to see on your face!"

"…Impossible," Nigun whimpered, before howling hysterically, "IMPOSSIBLE! Men! Buy me time!"

He then hauled out the sealing crystal, and Harry knew his time had come. "ACCIO, SEALING CRYSTAL!" he yelled, and the crystal tore itself from Nigun's hands and landed in Harry's own. "Ta for that," he said cheerfully. "Then again, you are aware that a Dominion Authority isn't the highest class of Angel, right?"

"…It isn't?" Nigun whimpered, his confusion mixing in with the dawning knowledge he was completely fucked.

"Nope. In fact…I'm higher than them." And with that, Harry showed off his wings. Black as pitch, but undeniably angelic. And his earlier jovial nature evaporated. "You are a bunch of xenophobic monsters who are willing to murder even your own kind if they don't agree with your ideals. You're little more than a cut-rate version of the Death Eaters. Your pet soldiers were willing to rape and murder innocent people just for fun."

"But wait! You're an Angel, right? You should be working for us! Even if you're Fallen, you must understand, it was for the greater good!"

Harry stilled, before tilting his head quizzically. "For the Greater Good, did you say?"

Antilene winced. "Oh dear. That button has been mashed."

Harry began stepping towards Nigun, who panicked, and ordered his remaining Angels to attack, save for the mace-wielding one guarding him. However, Harry snarled, "NEGATIVE BURST!", and a shockwave of dark energy blasted them into oblivion. The last one, a Principality Observation, attacked him with its mace, only for Harry to snatch it from its grasp and stove its head in.

"How I hate those words. Don't get me wrong, I believe in utilitarianism, the greatest good for the greatest number of people. But how many times have people used those words, for the Greater Good, to justify atrocities, slaughtering the innocent, all for their own selfish goal that only benefitted themselves?"

Nigun squealed, and turned tail, ready to flee, only for Harry to speed up and stop in front of him. As Nigun collided with him, Harry grabbed him. "Momonga," he called out, "I'm going to have a little chat with him. Feel free to deal with the rest as you see fit. Ensure they can't be brought back to life for interrogation by the Theocracy."

And then, he used Apparition…

…And then, they were in the air, several kilometres up into the sky, as high as one could go without burning up from air friction if one fell. Harry activated a Bubble-Head Charm for Nigun to breathe in the thin air, who looked down, and screamed a girly scream(2). Harry then looked the man in the eyes, and used Legilimency. As tempted as he was to tear the man's mind apart, he had another punishment in mind for the head of the Sunlight Scripture.

After he was done, Nigun hissed, "What did you do to me?"

"Took everything of value from your mind. That's interesting, how Clementine went rogue. I heard Antilene speak of her," Harry said. "And now I know a little more about the World Items you bastards hold. I'll be sure to tell Momonga to keep an eye out for them."

As Nigun opened his mouth, to plead for mercy, Harry used a Silencing Charm on him, along with anti-Resurrection magic on him. "No. You do not get to speak, not anymore. You want to plead for mercy? Did your victims get it from you when they plead for it? I've seen inside your mind, and you're just a pathetic little peon of a bunch of xenophobic bastards who would prefer extermination to co-existence, and even then, you'd only allow other humans to live if they followed your vile creeds. And I am also going to make sure that you cannot be resurrected."

Nigun pleaded with his eyes, but Harry shook his head. "No, no no no…you're going to die, and there's nothing you can do about it. But…before you do die, I want to tell you something. I was once one of the Thirteen Heroes…though they erased the non-human members from the history books. I also knew your so-called Six Gods, those pathetic self-righteous pricks who founded your country, back when they were a bunch of zit-ridden nerds. They hated those who played monsters, and I remember them too well. I'm glad they died, but I'm less glad their legacy lived on. I am going to destroy the Slane Theocracy. Oh, I won't kill its people unless they're anything like you, but you righteous fanatics who claim to think you know what's best for humanity, when in truth, you just want to dominate the world…I'm coming for you."

As Nigun tried to plead for mercy, even shaking his head, Harry said, "We're very high, you know. High enough that you'll have enough time to know the fear and terror your victims did before hitting the ground. It's still too merciful for you, but…I'm tired of people like you existing. Just remember, Nigun, it's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the bottom. So, any last words? Make them good ones."

He undid the Silencing Charm, and Nigun, predictably, said, "No, spare me! I can be a loyal servant to you! I just…"

"Bored now," Harry interrupted, before dropping Nigun, who fell screaming.

As Nigun plummeted, still screaming a surprisingly high pitch for a man, Harry, watching on, reflected on what he did. While he retained something of his morality, both his experiences prior to Yggdrasil and his new body had affected him, making his morality more flexible. When he was young, he wouldn't have considered condemning someone to such a brutal death.

But he wasn't the same person who took on Voldemort. He still considered himself a relatively moral man, but what had happened had changed him. Some parts, for the better. He was more pragmatic now. But other parts, he was ruthless, sadistic even. And what happened with Rigrit and the Platinum Dragon Lord had only exacerbated that.

Still…could he and Momonga control and shape the NPCs under their banner into something that could be a force for good? The NPCs he had faced as one of the inaccurately-named Thirteen Heroes had become sentient, self-aware, capable of thought and reason. It didn't stop them from becoming nasty, but still…if the NPCs of Nazarick had become sentient and self-aware, then he and Momonga needed to steer them gently away from any truly evil purpose.

He then glared in the rough direction of the Argland Council, where the Platinum Dragon Lord ruled from a base he had taken from the Eight Greed Kings. That bloody hypocrite, denouncing Players and their influence, and yet freely taking their stuff for his own use. Guardian of the world his arse.

You'll get yours, Zeyndelux Vaishion, he thought to himself with a sneer Snape would have been proud of. Mark my words, you'll regret the day you and your cronies crossed me…

CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:

Oh dear. Should we pity Nigun? Nah.

Harry may still be Harry, but he's darker, more ruthless, and more pragmatic. Still, Nigun deserved it.

1. In canon, Momonga initially believes there isn't any thanks to the village elder, but Lakyus (not Evileye/Keno as I originally thought) proves it is possible, so I decided to correct what could have been an oversight by Kugane Maruyama. It's not unreasonable for the leader of a small isolated town to be ignorant of such things.

2. Both the Japanese and English voices for Nigun have rather girly screams when Albedo chucks a tantrum, don't they? Ironically, Nigun is voiced by the same guy as Dio Brando and Riser Phenex in Japanese.