Chapter 7: Rebuild the Lost
"Ahh, and then I remember Touch me saying; 'If you won't fight for your life, what are you fighting for!' Hah, those really were some times..." Murmuring to himself, he refreshed his old memories of his comrades. He used this to relieve the stress that weighed on his shoulders now that he was the Ruler of Nazarick.
The next thing he did was read a book about how to find peace in life. And what he could summarize from it, peace could only be achieved if one had a perfect balance in life. "What's that supposed to mean, balance? I got a whole tomb of monsters to control!" He threw the book away into his pocket dimension, forgetting whatever he read in it. He hated these kinds of books that told a philosophy, but didn't offer any instructions on how to follow it. Maybe it was just him not being able to get the message written in them.
"I guess happiness is something only the joyful know. But whatever, I think I've spent enough time by myself." He had spent four hours alone in his chambers, doing whatever took his mind away from what happened. It was in these times that he felt no stress. A time in which he felt peace. Maybe this is what the book was talking about. He had a perfect balance here, but outside, other forces shifted the balance towards imbalance. But he didn't find that a clear solution to this matter. He turned his gaze towards the huge mirror in his suite and saw a stunning Overlord with a dark halo floating behind its head, just above him. "Still, this is what I am now. Just before I was still in a game, damn..." Then he teleported to the throne room, not worrying about it anymore.
As he arrived, all the guardians were already in position, kneeling in front of him. "They definitely just arrived, Ainz. Don't make yourself more trouble than you need to." He swiftly spoke and addressed them properly. "My guardians, you may raise your heads." At the command, all the guardians looked upon the Supreme One, their eyes seeming to look at a god rather than a master. And in this case, it was somewhat true.
But just before, they had been talking about the fight between Ainz and Shalltear. Albedo and Demiurge told them about the magnificence their lord had shown while disposing of the rogue Guardian. For them, every description of what had happened seemed like the most interesting story ever told.
"I think Shalltear has waited enough. It is time she returns to Nazarick." He called forth his staff and hit the ground with it. Now before him were tons of Yggdrasil gold coins, ready to fuse with each other and resurrect Shalltear. Ainz concentrated on the motion and slowly the gold lost its solid state and became fluid. It flowed into one point where a body was slowly being created. It took a lot of gold, but it was still just a small percentage of what Nazarick had left.
Then, after the resurrection finished, a petite girl lay on the ground, bare. Quickly, he created a blanket and walked to her. He put the blanket around her body to give her some clothing when she would wake up.
"Lord Ainz? W-What happened? And why am I in the throne room without any clothes on?" Slowly, she became more confused than before, and Ainz had to intervene before she became more mad.
"I had to resurrect you, Shalltear. I am sorry." He told her in a grieving tone. She looked at him with an even sorrowful face.
"Please, Lord Ainz! Don't feel sad! You cannot!" She almost cried out, but her voice was just loud enough not to offend the Supreme One.
"No, Shalltear. It was all my fault. I let you leave and get mind controlled by a world item. Something not even I foresaw being in this world. Then... I had to kill you for this. Something I didn't really want to do."
His words impacted the young vampire like several daggers. She couldn't believe he had to personally finish her off for disobeying him. "Please, Lord Ainz! Forgive me for this sin. I won't allow it to happen again! I wont allow even world items to control me from now on!" She spoke, and meant what she said. But she couldn't become immune to world items just based on mentality.
"You're right. This won't happen again. I have already thought about that." He said while walking back to the throne, but before sitting on the world item, he turned back to them. "I will give each of you a world item, so that this may never happen again!"
The guardians were in shock. For them, even receiving one as a gift was a great honor, as Albedo already had one. But to bestow such things from the Treasury of the Supreme Beings was a something they deemed the highest.
"As you see, to counter a world item, you either have to be a World Enemy or need one yourself. And Shalltear had none. But with one, none of you will ever fall victim to their power." He explained, looking at the guardians while gently sitting down.
"As the Guardian Overseer, I thank you on behalf of all the Guardians present. We won't fail you again, my Lord!" She said and all the guardians cheered. Cocytus simply let more cold air out of his nostrils.
"No thanks needed. And another thing has come to my mind. It seems we cannot stay hidden forever, as we have already been found out. These humans Shalltear encountered are still alive and probably told whoever they work for about her, as everyone would when encountering a level 100 enemy. Therefore, I have decided to speed up the process of creating a sort of kingdom for us where we can be unhindered by the likes of this world and spread the name of Ainz Ooal Gown to all ends of the world. More will come if we don't proclaim ourselves; it will bring challengers, but also respect and fear towards us." He told the guardians. "And maybe even a friend of mine could be found..." He whispered so that only he could hear it.
"Then, my lord, I would be honored to begin planning if you would bestow this task upon me, your lowly servant." Demiurge spoke to Ainz, who looked at him with a gaze that was unrecognizable by any Guardian.
"Can I even say no to this guy? Well, he is the most intelligent out of us all, so why not." Ainz thought. "Demiurge, I will allow you to make multiple plans for our grand introduction to the world, but don't make them too brutal. We don't want any holy wars being declared against us. Is this clear?" He told the devil, whose smile even Ainz feared.
"As clear as night and day, Lord Ainz." He said, his smile becoming more of a grin by now. Ainz chose to ignore Demiurge and continued to bestow tasks upon the guardians.
"And you, Albedo, you are responsible for distributing the world items to the Guardians. I will give you a list later on about who will receive what."
"As you wish, my lord." Albedo replied lightly.
"Good, any questions?" Ainz asked, and Cocytus seemed rather energetic to ask one. "Yes, you may speak Cocytus." At that, Cocytus first released a cold breath and then began to speak in a warrior's tone.
"I thank you, Lord Ainz. And my question is about the fight against Shalltear. We were watching through the mirror and suddenly you transformed into this... being. If I may ask, what was that? It was interesting to see the difference in the strength between you and Shalltear while you were in this form. But this is only a request of mine, if you wish not to answer I will be equally happy."
Ainz knew this question would come one way or another. And as Cocytus was rather curious about this, he asked the question directly while the other Guardians chose to believe it was just the true form of their lord. He had to think about what to say, as anything perceived wrong by the guardians could have devastating effects on them and the future.
"Ah yes, about that... That was a form I chose to test in combat against Shalltear. But I do not wish to use it again anytime soon. If that answers your question, then we are finished here."
The scene changes to the streets of the kingdom's capital, a vast city with the castle of the royal family right in the middle. Currently, Blue Rose was on their way to the palace, all except the twins sitting in a carriage, even though Gagaran somehow fit in they found space to sit.
"So, what does the princess want to know?" Evileye asked the leader.
"About that thing you felt yesterday. She said a similar case happened to her as well, and even Gazef Stronoff was seen running to the chambers of the king. She wrote in the letter that part of the castle even got destroyed in the earthquake." Lakyus explained briefly, while Gagaran seemed to be ignoring her and looking out the window, probably thinking about her next meal.
"The only thing I know is that it wasn't anything natural. But I don't know what's powerful enough to cause such a huge earthquake all over the place." Evileye said.
"But you have a guess what it could be, do you?" Lakyus asked Evileye again, but she didn't seem sure.
"I can imagine the legendary Catastrophe Dragon Lord being the culprit. He's the only thing living in that region that could pull off something like this. But if he were to wreak havoc, we wouldn't be able to stop him." Now Gagaran's attention was fully on Evileye, hearing that they couldn't defeat a certain enemy.
"That old lizard should just come already and fight us! We don't have all the time in the world, and who knows, maybe I'll even be an old geezer when he finally comes out of his cave or whatever!"
"I like your spirit Gagaran. Hopefully you bring it with you when we're gonna that dragon already, or are you just gonna chase some virgin boys hehe.." Evileye said, implying Gagaran's love for younger men.
"Shut your mouth shortie or I'm going to chase you and put you down like I put that damn war troll down we killed a week ago!" Both were face to face, yet Gagaran's stature was way more intimidating, but that didn't say anything about strength.
"We are here now, so behave yourselves." The leader spoke, and Evileye and Gagaran took their time to end arguing. But when they left the cart, none of them spoke again. They were guided into the palace and then into a room they found familiar. It was the same room where they would meet the princess every time. But this day, she wasn't there. They waited and waited, but somehow the princess didn't come to them. Until the door opened and Climb entered, declaring the arrival.
"Entering is her highness personally, the Princess of Re Estize!" The young knight announced, and behind him came a young girl in a pure blue dress. Her blonde hair was as soft as it could be, and her eyes were pure as an angel's. But that was just her outer appearance.
"I welcome you, Blue Rose. Lakyus, Evileye, Gagaran." She greeted them, and all stood up and bowed respectfully. As soon as she sat down at the table, the others did as well. Only Climb remained standing.
"I heard you have some news you could tell me?" The Princess asked Lakyus, who quickly caught on.
"Oh yes, about yesterday. Maybe Evileye should explain that. She's the one that got a guess." She gestured to the short maiden, who cleared her throat and began to talk.
"Well, we believe it to be the work of the Catastrophe Dragon Lord. He's a legend to be real, but it is the only solution we have come up with. I surely felt the magical intent that caused this catastrophe. But if the dragon really decides to come back to the surface, we might not stand a chance against him." She told the Princess, whose face remained unmoved by the news Evileye provided. She simply sipped the tea from her cup and gently put it back down.
"Then it is true. But I don't think the kingdom will do much against him. But I heard about a rising hero in E-Rantel, Momon, was it?" She said, and the adventurers clearly knew the name.
"Yeah, the adventurer who reached Mythril in just under a week. He and his companion Nabe are certainly a strong pair, they defeated an entire undead army and members of Zurrernorn by themselves. Not even we managed to climb the ranks that fast. But what about them, your highness?" Lakyus implied. She didn't know why the Princess was asking this.
"I just wanted to know, nothing much." She replied, confusing Lakyus even more. But she didn't dare to ask further. "But, the reason I called you here was because of the 8 Fingers slowly getting too powerful in the kingdom. They are like a separate gouverment from the monarchy, as if they are slowly conquering our cities just by corruption. Now, I would like to call for Blue Rose to clear most of their headquarters here in the capital." Her request was direct and bold. But that was her right as the Princess of Re Estize.
"But the last time you tried this, your highness, the quest was disbanded by the nobles. Even the 8 Fingers have influence over them. What do you plan to change now?" Evileye asked her, still curious about the whole thing.
"You will act on a mission that is nowhere near the 8 Fingers, yet only on paper. And yes, the nobles will still check up on this, but if it's a quest as example; you going to help some orphans, my father would certainly not command me to take back that request just on behalf of the other nobles."
"So we can go to work then?" Lakyus asked.
"Of course, you have all the freedom to exterminate every bit of scum in this city." She replied with a smile as pure as gold. But behind it was a visage none of them would expect.
"Then it is official. You are now working under my orders. Perfect, then this discussion has been settled successfully." The Princess said, and began to stand up. The others did the same out of courtesy, and then both parties said their goodbyes before leaving.
Now, in a much grander space, a large dragon, covered with shining scales like platinum, was looking at a particular odd set of armor. It had a dent, which he was granted by the powerful vampire he encountered in the forest. He was chasing the Black Scripture when they were hunting the Catastrophe Dragon Lord, but he didn't expect this to happen.
"She was too strong for me to handle in that form. But I believe I could best her with my true appearance after all. She is just an undead, nothing more." He told himself. But was he really sure, since the vampire basically played with him, not even giving him a chance to strike or retreat? He had to entirely teleport back here.
"But that other thing I saw...just what was it?" It was the undead-looking being he encountered while flying with the vampire. It looked at him with those red orbs, piercing through him with the stare of death himself. He couldn't guess how powerful it was or why it was even there. But he guessed it was a powerful Night Lich.
"But who was it? Why did it come? Was it associated with the vampire? It could be. And then there was that force I felt, pure power emanating from exactly where the battle had happened. It could be the fault of the Catastrophe Dragon Lords, but nothing is really certain. With the knowledge of these two entities, now I have to be more wary. And I think it's about time they returned."
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Its done! There wasn't really anything more I planned for this chapter, but I think it's enough for the intro to the next round of the story. If there are any mistakes in this please tell me. And thanks for reading again, cant thank enough really.
And here's the sheet of Ainz in his World Enemy form:
World Enemy Name: Avatar of Death
Epithet: True Form of Ainz Ooal Gown, World Enemy, King of Death, Monarch of Despair
Race: [World Enemy]-Undead
Estimated Level: 100-120
Abilities:
[Greater Soul Manipulation] Can consume weak souls to recover HP
[Negative Energy Warping and Manipulation] Can manipulate and form negative energy at will
[Death Manipulation] Does inflict instant death with normal attacks in choice
[World-Item Immunity] The power of an entire world is deemed ineffective
[High Tier Physical Immunity IIII] Nullifies all physical attacks under lvl 80
[Body Transformation] Can change his form, as it is more of a mist than a physical body
Skills: Note that these skills cannot be cast again for a set period of time
[Surrounding Darkness] Encompasses the surrounding area and transforms into a void-like dimension for a certain time period. None can enter or leave this dimension until the timer is over.
[Darkfire Beam] A negative energy based attack that creates a beam in the selected area which destroys everything in it
[Timeless Duel] Allows to rewind time until the battle had started when needed
[Seven Divine Snakes] Activates the seven golden snakes of the staff to become more aggressive and attack the enemy instead of circling around the 7 orbs
[Seven Divine Orbs] Activates all orbs at the same time, summoning all the primal elementals of their element
[Orb of Momonga] Activates the secret orb that creates a red burst that inflicts much damage against dragons
[Rite of Nazarick] Summons varying monsters from Nazarick to aid him over time
So this is it. Made him a small profile so we know what his abilities are even when he doesn't say them, but I hope I made him somewhat balanced as a World Enemy, he hasn't any game-breaking abilities yet.