PSA: It's the beginning of the end.
Steel and Sorcerers - Chapter 37
There was a knock at the door. "Please come in" called out Ainz.
As expected, it was Demiurge. He walked up to the desk Ainz was sitting at before kneeling down on the carpet before him.
He had also come here a few weeks ago, requesting permission for Narberal, and then Shalltear to carry a world-item for a period of time. When queried about what he could possibly need a world-item for, and why he was asking in place of them, Demiurge had responded that he needed to transport some units across to Earth through the gate, as part of 'the plan'. At that time, Ainz guessed that since you couldn't teleport to places you haven't been before, he probably needed Narberal to teleport across with Shalltear first, who would then be able to use [Gate] to transport larger numbers of units. He had granted the request but still wondered what exactly he was transporting.
"Thank you for coming, there is no need to kneel. I believe you had something to discuss with me?"
Demiurge got up. "Yes, if I may, there is something that I would appreciate you doing for me as part of the plan going forward, if it wouldn't be too much trouble."
"And what would that be?"
Demiurge smiled. "You see, your ingenuity in creating that Momon character was truly inspiring, and they have been a major asset to us so far, and no doubt will be in the future as well."
"Enough of the flattery, let us get to the point."
"Of course. My proposal would be for you to find a suitable human from the population of Japan and grant them some power, making sure to show to people that Nazarick was responsible for doing so."
'Wait, what is he talking about?' thought Ainz. 'He mentioned Momon before, but what does that have to do with buffing a random human? Is it supposed to be a gesture of goodwill or a demonstration of our power?'
"So… are there any particular characteristics that this human should have?" asked Ainz.
"I'll leave that to your judgement" replied Demiurge.
'Argh, that doesn't help! Well, what are my choices here. Hmm, should I choose some high-ranking politician or celebrity? No, they already power and status, so might not be as grateful. There was that group of soldiers, but I don't really want to be giving out powerful items to a member of the military… Well, I guess there's that one person I met that time, they should be fine.'
"Ainz-sama, if you need some time to find someone, I can arrange an escort for-"
"Thank you, but there is no need. I already have someone in mind."
"Sasuga Ainz-sama! If you let me know who they are, I'll make sure they aren't harmed in the invasion."
It was just after sunrise as Ainz walked through the long shadows of the Great Forest of Tob. He wasn't wearing his usual gear, but a different outfit, specially selected to not look similar to anything he had been seen in before, his undead nature also hidden with a mask and gloves. Put simply, it was a disguise.
He suddenly received a [Message]. "Ainz-sama, please proceed when you are ready."
'Looks like it's time.'
[Fly]. Ainz rose up through the trees until he broke through the leafy canopy. He could see the USJF's main base of operations built around the gate, silhouetted against the rising sun. He took a moment to observe his surroundings and wait.
'I had the NPCs and servants carefully monitor the gate for the entrance of anything resembling nuclear weapons. If any had appeared, I would've initiated an attack immediately, but luckily there was no need. Demiurge did say the Japanese have a policy forbidding nuclear weapons on their soil after all.
The humans can't be allowed to pollute this new world, like they did Earth. While the appearance of the gate might've altered the course of history enough to prevent that horrible future from becoming a reality, but it could just as easily become something far worse.
Thinking about it, perhaps this could be a good opportunity to also seize those runesmiths from the USJF. No, they are probably much less likely to deliver results if forced to work. It should be fine to just observe their progress as they work with the USJF, only stepping in if a major breakthrough is made.
Well, I'd better not keep Demiurge and the others waiting for too long.'
[Super tier magic: Fallen down]
A vast array of glowing blue rings of sigils began spinning around him, displaying his location like a beacon in the morning sky.
He had his disguise just in case, but Nazarick's forces had already infiltrated the compound, cut off communications, and eliminated reconnaissance observers. No news of his involvement here would reach the other side. The reason he was making himself such an obvious target was to try and bait out any players, or 'that person', who might be watching over this base. He would have to remain vigilant, but had a while to wait until the casting time was over. He could see a few of Demiurge's demons beginning to wreak havoc already, blocking off the gate from fleeing soldiers.
He was using the [Fallen down] spell here in particular to test the gate's resistance to damage. If it was able to be significantly damaged or disabled from a single super-tier magic attack, committing large amounts of forces to Earth would be extremely risky. Especially since he considered some of the effects of the [Fallen down] spell to be comparable to an atomic bomb.
He had been far too reckless in the past, going through the gate with little knowledge of its characteristics, caught up in the possibility of somehow finding his comrades again. He had scouts sent out to search of traces of them, but all they had found were what might be their distant ancestors. They might still be in the new world though, so he hadn't given up hope just yet.
The spinning rings of light around Ainz reached a frenzied peak. It seemed the cooldown was over.
Tens of thousands would likely perish in the near future as a result of his actions here. However, as Ainz thought of the possibility that they could one day threaten Nazarick, and that hellish future of the 22nd century, his resolve was hardened.
He released the spell. [Super tier magic: Fallen down]!
A blindingly bright pillar of heat and light appeared, burning up everything within its radius and blasting a vast burnt-out crater in the midst of the USJF's base camp. Nothing outside the spell's area was affected, but the land that was had been converted into a charred wasteland. All the buildings and equipment around the gate had been incinerated. All that remained standing within that blackened crater was the gate.
As expected, the spell's radius wasn't quite large enough to vaporise the USJF's entire base. There was a ring of what was mostly walls and fortifications that were untouched by the blast. Although, it looked they would soon be finished off by the encroaching demons.
Keeping on the alert for any signs of players moving in on his location, Ainz flew over to the gate.
Although it had received a direct hit from [Fallen down], it remained standing, supported by a pillar of dirt beneath it. The structure that the USJF had built around it was gone. Inspecting it more closely, perhaps the top of it looked slightly rougher than before, but it was hard to tell. All in all, it had received basically no damage from what he could tell.
Seeing it atop that mound of dirt in the crater, Ainz had a thought. Pulling a staff from his inventory he swung at the ground beneath the gate, blasting away great plumes of soil until eventually stopping. The gate was now suspended in mid-air, floating there despite him having cleared away the ground beneath it. He wondered what was keeping it in place.
'The tests aren't over yet though' he thought to himself as he prepared his next spell, the screams of the remaining soldiers being slaughtered by demons resounding in the background. It was possible that the gate simply had an extreme resistance to heat, and might be weaker to other methods. He would have to be extremely methodical to avoid missing anything. In the meantime though, Demiurge's forces would be free to start making their way through.
Enri Emmot had woken up just a little while ago and had gotten to work in the fields. It was now harvest season, and there was plenty of wheat to be collected and brought back in.
All of a sudden, there was a brief flash of light, and soon after a slight rumbling sound, startling her. She had been bent over picking up some hay at the time though, so wasn't sure where it had come from.
A couple of the other villagers came running over. "Hey, did you see that?"
"Umm, there was some sort of flash of light I think, and a distant noise?"
"Yeah, I saw it too!" exclaimed one of the villagers. "It came from the Great Forest of Tob!"
"What do you think it was?"
"I'm not sure, but we should report this to the adventurer's guild, there might be some powerful monster that just appeared."
"I see. Who's going to go? I mean, it's harvest season now so things are quite busy."
"I think you should go Enri."
The others nodded in approval.
"Eh? But, there's so much still to do back here."
"Don't worry, those goblin friends you summoned are a great help. We should be able to get everything done in almost half the time with their help. Besides, this will be great practice for when you'll be chief."
"What? Me, chief? No way…"
"Go talk with the village chief, I'm sure he'll agree that you should be the one to go."
Soon after that, Enri had set off to E-Rantel in a horse-drawn cart, escorted by a few of the goblins, with some additional goods to sell in the city while she was there.
Following the appearance of the gate and the monster attack that came shortly after, Ginza had been mostly converted from what was an up-market shopping district into a military-research complex. Former jewellery stores and sushi bars were converted into barracks and labs. Armed guards stood at every street intersection and the rumble of tanks and trucks was not an uncommon sound to be heard. Still, just outside this dystopian world lay the heart of Tokyo city, a vast metropolis of millions of people.
Ginza was now in a frenzied wave of activity, alarms blaring across the city blocks. Something had gone wrong on the other side of the gate, as communications were severed, and there were reports that monsters had been sighted in the tunnel connecting the two worlds. Soldiers took up defensive positions around the gate and armoured vehicles rolled down the streets, causing the ground to tremble.
The intensity of the frantic orders increased, as reports came in that demonic creatures were breaking through the defences in the gate. Orders were given to prepare to fire on anything exiting the gate, and a mass evacuation was initiated in the surrounding area of Tokyo.
It was finally heard that the demons were about to breach the last line of defences within the gate, and would soon emerge in Ginza.
There was a rush of a number of personnel escaping out through the gate, sprinting out past the lines of soldiers and tanks, looks of sheer terror on their faces. Since they were expecting demons to emerge from the gate any moment now it was a miracle nobody fired upon them accidentally.
There was about a minute of relative calm after that, as reinforcing soldiers continued to move up into defensive positions. Seeing the scores of tanks and hundreds of infantry lined up around the gate, it might've seemed like overkill, but their past experiences dealing with entities from the special region had taught them otherwise.
Finally, something emerged from the gate. A humanoid figure with long pointed ears, wearing a bright crimson suit and a devilish mask, a metallic spiked tail whipping around its legs. It was strange that it were wearing such formal modern attire, but there was no doubt that this was a demon.
"Fire!" yelled the commanders.
There was a deafening roar and crack of gunfire, as the spot where the demon was standing disappeared in a cloud of dust and explosions, tracer bullets ripping into the haze where it should be standing. Such was the hail of gunfire enveloping the target that it generated a huge dust-cloud that made it difficult to see anything.
Eventually the order was given to cease fire, so they could observe the effect on target.
As the smoke cleared, to their horror the figure remained standing in place. The ground around him was pockmarked by craters and bullet-holes, but the demon was untouched.
"Are you done?" asked the demon mockingly, dusting off the debris from his suit with one hand.
Now, [Meteor Fall].
Instinctively, the soldiers looked up to the sky. What they saw was a huge mass of superheated rock approaching at great speed.
"Shit, run!"
They didn't know how a meteor had suddenly appeared above them, but it was too late.
The falling meteor slashed through the sky and hit their positions, where it burst into an explosion. A thunderous roar echoed all around. The massive shockwave flattened everything it touched and shattered the surrounding buildings.
As the sand and dirt thrown up by the shockwave of the explosion begin falling back to earth, the dust slowly began to settle. What it revealed was the remains of the fortifications and buildings surrounding the gate, blasted to smithereens. After looking at the devastation, there was no need to think about what had happened to the soldiers stationed there.
'Now then, this ought to be enough for preparations' thought Demiurge, dusting off his suit once again.
There was no sign of a counterattack. It would seem they were desperately trying to collect information and regroup.
He gave an order to the minions under his command. "You may now proceed."
At his order, hordes of hundreds of demons began flooding out through the gate, rushing down the streets of Ginza as they caught the fresh scent of thousands of humans.
The leaders of the USJF had called an emergency meeting. Yokota Airbase, headquarters of United States Forces Japan(USFJ), and the now de-facto headquarters of the USJF since Ginza had been destroyed and overrun by demons was bustling with activity. There was also another meeting happening simultaneously at the National Diet building.
"Habiki Ito, please explain to us what is going on! I know you guys in the USJF like to keep things confidential, but we need a full disclosure if we're going to be able to properly handle this situation!" demanded the head of the USFJ. Other higher ups of the JSDF also nodded in approval.
"Yes, the situation has indeed gotten quite out of hand. Well then. Put simply, while exploring the special region we encountered a powerful demon calling himself Jaldabaoth."
There was a great deal of murmuring at this statement. Sure, they all knew the gate led to an alien world, and if Tsuare was for real, then it had people akin to humans there as well. However…
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to stop you there for a moment. Demons? Are you for real?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Just like you might imagine them, with wings, flame magic, and some are extremely hard to kill."
"Did you just say flame magic? Anyways… how hard are they to kill?"
"Most are not much tougher than regular humans, but there are some which have taken multiple tank rounds to kill and are basically immune to regular bullets. Plus, Jaldabaoth himself is probably on a whole different level. I would recommend a full scale mobilization of all resources. The only way we've managed to drive him off in the past was with the help of other powerful entities from the special region."
"And can we contact these entities for help?"
"Well, Jaldabaoth currently controls the gate, so no. Our only hope would be any soldiers left behind on the other side."
"Alright, we'll begin organising our forces immediately, thank you. Please remain here though as we have many more questions for you yet."
"Alright, now, what resources do we have at our disposal in the immediate vicinity?"
An officer of the JSDF responded. "Here at Yokota airbase there's the USFJ 21st special operations squadron. Down south there should be numerous ships including a US carrier strike group docked at Yokosuka naval base, with its air-wing stationed at Atsugi. As for the JSDF, we have the 1st division to the north-west at Saitama, equipped with several thousand soldiers, and a number of armoured vehicles and artillery. There's the 12th brigade at Gunma a bit further away, with similar equipment. Then there's all the air and naval assets, but it's easier to get them into range quickly."
"Thank you, we'll begin coordinating a response immediately."