{The Royal Palace of Hoburns…}

Calca Bessarez sat at court, flanked by her proverbial wings: on her right hand stood her chief advisor, the priestess Kelart Custodio, and on the left, the avenging angel of her realm, Remedios Custodio. At the foot of the dais, on the right, was her brother, Prince Caspond. Gathered around in a grand assembly were all the nobles of the South and the North, the Paladin Order, and the priests of the Temple. The palace of white marble and pale blue lining in which they stood was cold to the touch, but brightened with skylights. The otherwise colorless walls were vitalized by vast tapestries and intricate frescos filled with colorful depictions of angels, ancient heroes, and beautiful geometric patterns. These magnificent works had been made by some lost art, for the beings and shapes upon them slowly moved and breathed as if they were alive.

"Are we ready?" asked Calca, scanning the hall for any faces of uncertainty. She saw none. "Show the emissary in."

Servants swung open the door. Guards brought in the emissary, who wore a dark hood and cloak, standing at 2 meters in height. Remedios narrowed her eyes in suspicion. The emissary undid the broach that held its dark cloak in place, revealing plate armor underneath. And what hideous armor it was! Mangled and buckled by the gashes of merciless blades and a hail of arrows, with bare ribs and vertebrae visible underneath the gashes. The royal court gasped.

"Undead! Calca, get out of here!" said Remedios in anger. She put a gauntlet of steel to the hilt of her sword, baring the base of her blade, ready to draw the rest of it at a moment's notice. The guards readied their spears at the monster that they had unwittingly admitted into the palace. "Calca, we should destroy it before-"

"All of you, stop," said Calca firmly. She turned to the undead emissary. "You are a messenger of the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown, are you not?"

"I am, Your Majesty."

"Do you have a name?"

"I am a Death Knight," replied the being. The older priests' eyes widened as they recognized the name of that legendary type of undead. "Lord Ainz Ooal Gown created me to speak to you on His behalf, so you may also call me an envoy or a messenger if it pleases you."

The priests spoke among themselves in shock. "Created…? How?!"

"Speak to us, Envoy. What message has your… creator given you?"

"Lord Ainz Ooal Gown has looked upon your nation from afar and seen the plight of your people, and His heart is overwhelmed with sympathy. He sends His regrets that He was unable to provide timely assistance to your nation against the menace of Jaldabaoth, as internal affairs required much of His attention at the time. But they do so no longer. I convey to you His deepest condolences for the tragic losses and horrendous damages suffered upon your people at the hands of the Demon Emperor. Lord Ainz is prepared to render aid to your kingdom and aid in its recovery. He has sent requests to the Baharuth Empire, the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Slane Theocracy, and the Argland Council State on your behalf, asking to create an international effort to provide assistance to your realm. Only the Empire has accepted, but even the lack of other responses will not deter His effort. He asks only to be permitted a visit to your realm to sign any agreement and to assess damages." The court murmured at each other as the Death Knight spoke.

"What manner of aid does the Sorcerer King offer?" asked Calca. Remedios looked at her incredulously, leaning in to speak quietly into her ear.

"Your Majesty, how can you even consider accepting such an offer?!" she cried. "What if it's a trick to kill you? There has to be another way, Your Majesty!"

"You are welcome to think of one," whispered Calca after a brief pause, making no eye contact at all with paladin-captain verbally floundered helplessly for a moment, before closing her mouth. Once assured of Remedios' silence, Calca continued speaking to the emissary. "Forgive the interruption, Envoy. I will ask again, what aid does the Sorcerer King offer?"

"Grain and labor, at the very least, Your Majesty. He is-"

One of the priests blew up in anger. "So this Sorcerer King would send us the victims of his own bloodlust from Katze Plains under his pretense of pity to defile our land? Does he take us for desperate fools?!" Remedios made eye contact with that priest and nodded, proud that at last someone in this room had some sense.

"The base aspects of undeath neither constrain Lord Ainz nor cloud His judgment. He will not send the dead from his wars to your land. Know that Lord Ainz is a generous king to those who accept His kindness, and He is willing to increase or diminish the scope of this aid project as needed. Who else among your human neighbors has offered you aid?"

The priest was silenced by this.

"No one," said Calca. Kelart leaned towards the Queen's ear, and whispered something. When she finished, Calca continued. "Envoy, I trust you are not constrained by time, or have any other message to deliver?"

"I have said all that Lord Ainz wishes to say, and I will remain here until Your Majesty sends me away."

"I see. I ask because I must confer with my court and advisors as we consider the Sorcerer King's offer. It is exceedingly generous, make no mistake, but I must hear all points of view available to me before I make a final decision."

"Lord Ainz embodies patience. He will accept whatever answer it pleases you to give Him, when it pleases you. Will you ask me to wait outside, Your Majesty?"

"If it is not inconvenient."

"I am a Death Knight. The elements do not bother me."

"Thank you."

The guards marched the emissary out, far more cautiously this time. As the doors closed behind him, the royal court began to all talk at once. Calca raised her hand and her voice.

"Peace! Peace! I will hear your thoughts in turn. What say you, brother mine?"

"I find this whole thing to be suspiciously prescient."

"The coincidence is strange, indeed. Kelart?"

"His Highness is right. The Sorcerer King's emissary arrived like an answer to our prayers. We should move with caution, Your Majesty. While the offer is generous, it still comes from a foreign power, with the added problem that the ruler of that power is undead. It is the pinnacle of naiveté to believe the Sorcerer King is sincere in his intentions. There are likely hidden strings attached to the offer. If we accept the Sorcerer King's aid without any manner of scrutiny, he could easily achieve more conquest in peace than what Jaldabaoth could in war. If his undead forces are permitted to enter our lands and work, they could be turned into a surprise occupation force and take over the country overnight. This Ainz Ooal Gown might want the Holy Kingdom to follow the Empire's example and submit willingly, and will use the widespread presence of his minions here as incentive to give in. Therefore, I believe we should permit the visit, and hammer out a written agreement, accepting only the grain shipments. To prevent attempts at coercing us to swear fealty to the Sorcerer Kingdom, we should include a clause in the agreement that requires the Sorcerer Kingdom to acknowledge the continued national sovereignty and complete independence of the Holy Kingdom, extending beyond your reign. That is my advice." Many of the nobles and even a few of the more open-minded priests and paladins nodded and murmured in agreement with Kelart.

Remedios huffed aloud from frustration and her emotions practically frothed at her mouth. "Are you insane, Kelart? I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: he's an undead! Undead hate us! Why should we believe any offer from the Sorcerer King will benefit us in any way? He could end up sending us poisoned grain! Look at the situation! We're in a bad way at the moment, right? We've been blasted apart in the northern regions by demons and demihumans, and guess who swoops in to save the day like some knight in shining armor? The Sorcerer King! He's the only one who gains from this! He's just taking advantage of our misfortune to salvage his own reputation! If we take this bait, we'd just be playing right into his hands!" The old guard among the priests, most of the Paladin Order, and the more conservative nobles made their support for the Paladin-Captain heard.

"Remedios, the Queen's subjects are at stake," retorted Kelart.

"Our principles are at stake, dammit! What good are the values we have if we drop them at the first sign of discomfort?!"

"The principles we hold must evolve to help us survive. If we refuse the Sorcerer King's offer because it feels wrong to us now, then at least 40,000 will starve this winter. That would make us seem ineffective and weak to the rest of the world."

"So what I'm hearing is 'do the right thing only if it's comfortable?' What kind of moral belief is that?!"

"What kind of moral belief would let thousands die needlessly for its own sake?"

"What moral belief would permit us to bring this undead, a mortal enemy of the living, into the heart of our land?! The Roble Holy Kingdom is a realm pledged to righteousness and purity, for gods' sake! What would the common people think of our Holy Queen merely having the presence of an undead murderer on our soil, let alone accepting its gifts? There would be unrest everywhere!"

"Not necessarily, Remedios. The people trust Queen Calca, especially now that we've won the war. If she tells them that something's alright, they'll believe her. They will question it even less as they see our agreement with the Sorcerer Kingdom brings them food and warmth in the winter."

Caspond stepped in before the exchange could go on at length. "Sister dearest, this is your decision to make. Do we accept the aid of the Sorcerer King or not?"

Calca heard both parties, and pondered the matter for a moment.

"Send for the emissary."

The Death Knight returned before the Holy Queen.

"Envoy, forgive the wait. We have reached our decision. We will accept your master's visit, but we wish to negotiate the terms of this treaty with him personally during his visit."

"Lord Ainz will be pleased by your answer. How much time will you require to prepare for his visit?"

"Some days, over a week accounting for the Sorcerer King's time spent traveling."

"Distance is nothing to Lord Ainz."

"Indeed… We will be ready to receive your master in three days. How may we accommodate the Sorcerer King and his entourage?"

"Two others will visit alongside Lord Ainz: the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transportation."

"I see… Before you depart, I wish to make it known to your master that in the custom of our people, a purifying ritual of welcome, the Fourth Blessing of the Gods, is typically performed for visiting foreign rulers by the priests of the Temple. We will understand if the Sorcerer King does not wish to undergo the ritual for obvious reasons, and we will not press him to do so."

"Lord Ainz is grateful for your willingness to accommodate him. He will inform you upon his arrival if he wishes to undergo the ritual. Is there anything more you wish me to convey to Lord Ainz?"

"Inform him that Calca Bessarez personally wishes to give thanks to the Sorcerer King for his kindness and consideration of his sister nation, and that we await his visit with eager hearts and open minds. With that, we bid you safe travels, Envoy."

"May your reign be long, Your Majesty. Lord Ainz will meet you in three days," said the Death Knight. It disintegrated into nothing, leaving the Royal Court of Hoburns in awestruck silence.

Remedios shook her head in confusion. "How will the Sorcerer King know of anything that was said if his messenger just died here?!"

Kelart answered. "It's said that necromancers can see and hear through the eyes of their summons. I imagine the Sorcerer King is no exception. He has likely heard everything that was said at the moment it was said." She turned to face Calca. "Interesting that you should give the undead the option to undergo the Temple's ritual, Your Majesty."

"It is a courtesy to him. I would not wish to be forced to undergo any bizarre rituals or ceremonies if I visited his land."

Kelart raised an eyebrow at this. "Your Majesty… No undead in the world could survive a holy ritual of the fourth tier, let alone of the fifth when I add my own powers to it. There is no way he will accept, unless he is an idiot or suicidal."

"That is for him to decide in three days."

{A house in the Great Forest of Tob, at that same time…}

The grizzled man stood over the pyre, where the body of his wife, wrapped and garnished in forest flowers, burned away to ash. He turned to the sickly boy who stood nearby. "Boy, can you hunt?"

"Yeah, lemme get my bow." The boy went into the wooden house. The man stared into the fire. A few moments later, the boy came back out of the house with an overly large bow in hand and a quiver of arrows at his hip. "What are we hunting, father?"

"You are hunting deer."

"Where?"

"In the direction of deer."

"Okay… uh… this way." The boy ran off into the woods, followed by his father.

Author's Note: I just wanna say sorry to you God of War fans that Kratos and Atreus are a bit of a sideshow in the story so far. If I were to follow them more closely right now, I'd just end up novelizing God of War, and I don't want to do that because that's already been done. At this point, they're unaware that the world around them has changed, unlike Ainz and Nazarick. Therefore, those two would behave as they would in canon.