Chapter 5: A Captain, a Captain, and a Monster
The Village Elder perked up when he heard the man state his name.
"I didn't realize it was you Warrior Captain Stronoff," he said as he politely bowed. Lucifer raised an eyebrow at this behavior.
"Excuse me, but, you know this man?" Lucifer asked.
"Yes, Sir Dracul. Captain Stronoff here is the head warrior of the Re-Estize," the Elder said.
Interesting. So does that make this man the strongest warrior in the kingdom?
Lucifer looked up at Gazef to find the man staring at him. Suddenly, Lucifer realized he hadn't introduced himself.
"My apologies Captain Stronoff. My name is Lucifer Dracul." Gazef looked around the village and saw the obvious signs of the fight that taken place here.
"What happened here?" Lucifer was about to respond when the Village Elder spoke up on his behalf.
"A number of the Slane Theocracy's men disguised as knights of the Baharuth Empire attacked the village. They would've killed us all if Sir Dracul hadn't eliminated them." Gazef's eyes widened momentarily before he jumped down from his horse and walked over to Lucifer before holding out his. Understanding the gesture, Lucifer gripped Gazef's hand in a firm handshake.
"Thank you for saving these people Sir Dracul," Gazef said with great sincerity. Cold gray eyes met sharp black eyes as Lucifer responded.
"It was no trouble. An old friend of mine had a saying "Saving someone who is in trouble is common sense."" Lucifer quoted Touch-Me. Although he still felt bitter about how his comrades abandoned the guild one by one, he would always have a soft spot for that idiot Touch-Me. Gazef grinned.
"He sounds like a good man!" Before Lucifer could respond, both his and Gazef's instincts suddenly kicked in and, although they didn't see anyone, they could feel enemies closing in on Carne Village. "Village Elder, tell everyone to get indoors," Gazef ordered sternly. The Elder didn't know what exactly was going on but knew from the expression on Gazef's face that the situation was serious so he did as he was told. After a few minutes everyone had gathered inside selected safe houses. Gazef, Lucifer and Albedo were with the Village Elder within his home along with numerous other villagers. Gazef and Lucifer were looking out the window studying the enemy forces that had appeared.
Those are Archangel Flames. What are creatures from Yggdrasil doing here?
"Shit, him," Gazef muttered as he stared at a man with blonde hair and strange black eyes. He had a scar on his face and wore a black and white robe. Lucifer followed Gazef's gaze to that man.
"Do you know him Gazef?"
"Unfortunately. That bastard is Nigun Grid Luin. Captain of the Sunlight Scripture."
"I assume Sunlight Scripture is a branch of the Theocracy?"
"Correct. Those sons of bitches are responsible for many illegal activities throughout the Re-Estize Kingdom. Recently, they were sent to eradicate a demi-human village, but they were stopped by the adamantite ranked adventurers of Blue Rose, whose leader, Lakyus, is the one responsible for putting that nasty scar on Nigun's face. They've also been known to assist the Draconic Kingdom in their fights against the beastmen."
"I see," Lucifer muttered although his mid was elsewhere. If this group was considered a force to be reckoned with by this world's standards, they would be the perfect test to see where he stood on the food chain. "It seems you many enemies outside and inside your kingdom."
"Ain't that the truth," Gazef said with a sigh. He then turned back to Lucifer with a determined look in his eyes. "Sir Dracul, how much need I pay to acquire your services?" Lucifer turned his gaze towards Gazef.
"I am not accepting job requests at this time," Lucifer stated coldly. Gazef sighed.
"Then under the law of conscription, will you fight for the Re-Estize Kingdom?" as those words left his mouth, several of Gazef's guards pointed their weapons at the magic caster, who simply chuckled at their actions.
"You didn't actually expect that to work did you Gazef?" Gazef gave a wry grin as he responded.
"No, I didn't. Weapons down men." At the order of their superior, the warriors lowered their weapons. "Thank you for helping these people anyway Sir Dracul. This may be rude of me, but may I ask a favor of you?"
"Feel free."
"Should my men and I not make it, will you defend this village from those bastards?" Gazef asked. "Please, there is only…" he had begun to bow but was stopped by Lucifer.
"I understand Gazef. I swear on the name Lucifer Dracul that I will defend this village to the end," Lucifer stated seriously. Gazef grinned at the man's promise.
"Then I have nothing to fear. Thank you Sir Dracul."
"You don't need to thank me, but I would like it if you took this with you," Lucifer said as he handed Gazef a small wooden statue. Gazef wasn't sure what exactly it was, but he accepted it anyway.
"Should we both survive this I hope you'll visit my manor in E-Rantel. You would be welcomed as a friend." A small smile made its way onto Lucifer's face.
"I may just take you up on that offer." Within five minutes of the end of that conversation Gazef and his men rode off on horses in an attempt to lure Sunlight Scripture away. He and Albedo were standing side by side waiting for the magic of the item he had handed Gazef to activate. It didn't take too long. In a flash of light, Lucifer and Albedo vanished from the room leaving a dazed and beaten Gazef and his men in their place. He glanced around. One minute they had been fighting the Theocracy's angels and now he was back at the village. Gazef glanced around and saw all the villagers looking at him with confusion. Turning to the Village Elder, he asked:
"What just happened?"
"One minute Sir Dracul and that Albedo woman were standing here and then there was a flash of light. Next thing I know you and your men are here and those two disappeared!" Gazef's eyes widened as realized what must have happened. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the small wooden statue that Lucifer had given him just in time to watch it fade from existence. Gazef grinned as his legs gave out and he fell on his back.
"They're all yours Lucifer Dracul."
Nigun was not exactly sure what just happened. One minute he was about to finish off Gazef and his pathetic band of warriors and the next minute Gazef and his men were gone and were replaced by a tall, pale man clad in black with a blood red cloak and a woman in black armor who carried an enormous battle axe.
"Who the hell are you?" Nigun spat irritably. The pale man gave them a cold smile and gazed at them as if they were ants.
"Greeting Sunlight Scripture. My name is Lucifer Dracul and this my lovely companion Albedo," Lucifer said in his usual calm and commanding voice, completely oblivious to Albedo's sudden fidgeting when he called her "lovely". "I am here to offer you a once in lifetime opportunity." Nigun raised an eyebrow at this strange man.
"And what would that be Mr. Dracul?" Nigun asked purely out of curiosity. Maybe this man could deliver Gazef to him? But then he noticed the evil grin that spread across Lucifer's otherwise elegant features.
"I'm giving you a chance to leave and never come back." Several of the Scripture's men started to laugh at the impudence of this magic caster. Who did he think he was? Even Nigun let out a small chuckle.
"You have amused me and that is enough for me to let you Dracul. Now step aside we have village to burn down and a Warrior Captain to slay."
"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that," Lucifer said sternly as a black aura engulfed his body. "I swore on my name that I would not allow harm to come to Carne Village. Should you try to make it past me you will not find the key to your mission's success. All you will find is death." The sun had started to set and they heard whispers of agony and death all around. The men under Nigun's command suddenly felt something they had not felt in a long time. Fear. Nigun felt it too. For a moment, just one moment, he felt completely vulnerable. It was at that moment he made the biggest and last mistake of his life.
"Archangels! Attack!" Having been given their orders, two Archangel Flames sped towards Lucifer and stabbed him through his midsection. Nigun let out a sigh of relief and scoffed. "I guess you were all talk after all." Then his eyes widened ad he heard something. It was laughter. Quiet laughter that slowly becoming louder and louder. Nigun dared to look back at the Archangels went cold at what he saw. This couldn't be right. Not only was Lucifer not dead after receiving two holy blades to the chest, but he had grabbed the Archangels by their heads and was laughing at them.
"This can't be happening!" one soldier cried.
"It's a trick! It must be!" another yelled.
"Impossible," Nigun breathed.
"Did you really that something this weak would harm ME?" Lucifer called out with a laugh.
Gotta love high tier nullification!
Deciding not make a show of it anymore, Lucifer simply crushed the Archangels skulls in his hands using nothing more than pure brute strength and dropped their corpses to the ground. Nigun stared at him for a moment before coming to his senses.
"ALL ARCHANGELS ATTACK! KILL THAT BASTARD!" Nigun screamed. As per their orders, every single Archangel sped towards Lucifer.
"Albedo would you excuse yourself for a moment?" Lucifer asked completely unconcerned about the numerous opponents headed straight for him.
"Yes my lord." And with the quick response, Albedo vanished in the blink on an eye. Lucifer waited a few more seconds or his opponents to get in close before unleashing his attack.
"[Negative Burst]!" A dark shockwave erupted from Lucifer wiping out any trace of the opposition's angels.
As I thought. The Archangel Flames are exactly the same as the ones from Yggdrasil. Where did these humans get them from?
"What? How did-?" Nigun stopped his stuttering when he remembered what Gazef had said to him during their brief fight. "Just wait until the man in the village comes for you". Nigun desperately looked to the only angel that was left, Principality of Observation. "Principality of Observation! Kill him! Kill him kill him kill him kill him!" Having received its orders, the heavily armored angel approached Lucifer and, with a powerful overhead swing, brought its Warhammer down on him. Lucifer should've been flattened, but, much to Nigun's to despair, he simply stopped it with a single hand. He could hear the mysterious magic caster's mocking laughter from where he sat on his horse.
"Pathetic. [Hell Flame]." From the pointer finger of Lucifer's free hand, a tiny black flame appeared, attached itself to the angel, and instantly engulfed it in black flames that burnt it until there was nothing left but dust.
"No! No! No!" Nigun shouted. He was in an absolute panic. It took a moment, but Nigun cleared his head and pulled out a summoning crystal before issuing new orders to his subordinates. "Hold him back! I need time to summon the most powerful angel!" With hope reignited in their hearts, they started casting spell after spell at Lucifer.
"[Holy Ray]!"
"[Shockwave]!"
"[Paralyze]!"
"[Fireball]!"
"[Fear]!"
"[Frost]!"
"[Poison]!"
"[Torrent]!"
Yup. Those are spells from Yggdrasil alright.
The Theocracy's continued their barrage of spells but all they heard was Lucifer's mocking laughter. One man tried using a slingshot to launch a bowling ball sized rock at him. With a laugh, Lucifer simply backhanded the large rock and sent it straight back at the man which ended with the poor man's head being blown clean off and his neck spewed blood on those unfortunate enough to be standing close by.
"Finally!" Nigun was on the verge of tears when the crystal finally activated revealing the so called "most powerful angel." "Behold Lucifer Dracul! The angel of the highest order, Dominion Authority!" His men started cheering. They were going to live! Lucifer simply stared at the weird looking angel with an eyebrow raised. "I have determined that you an adversary worthy of facing this most divine being. Although it is shame to kill a sorcerer of your prowess when you could have worked with your fellow humans in the Slane Theocracy, you are an enemy the Six Great Gods and therefore you must-" Lucifer had gotten sick of the ranting at this point so he decided to simply end it. And so he pointed at this so called "mightiest of angels" and said, without a shred of enthusiasm in his voice:
"[Black Hole]." A sphere so dark it seemed to suck the light from appeared on the angel and swallowed it whole. Everyone was silent.
"Was that it?" Lucifer asked. Nigun was sweating buckets.
"Y-y-you're not human. You can't be! You're a demon god! You must be! Only a demon god could defeat the angel that saved humanity from the Eight Greed Kings!" Nigun ranted.
Oh? It sounds to me that players have been here before. This fool might be useful. With the Theocracy's human centric views and Nazarick's inhabitants all being demi-humans and heteromorphic creatures, another conflict with them is inevitable if I want to take over the world. Besides, I could use a spy in their midst.
"Not quite, human," Lucifer said smugly as he reactivated his racial traits. His fangs extended and his eyes changed from a steely gray back to his usual crimson red. He grinned a crooked grin revealing his fangs to the fools who dared to oppose him.
"V-vampire," Nigun managed to whisper before he saw something that filled him with dread. Lucifer had started walking towards him. "STAY BACK!" A mere two seconds after he screamed that, a crack in the sky appeared and a shattering noise echoed across the plain before the crack vanished again. "W-what was that?"
"It appears the Theocracy was Intelligence Magic to monitor you. But now that I have entered its range, my [Anti-Intelligence Magic Wall] has destroyed its effect," Lucifer spoke as if he was commenting on the weather.
"My country was watching me?" Nigun asked to no one in particular. "Why would-" before he could finish that statement, Lucifer transformed into a swarm of bats and raced across the field right towards Nigun. Before Nigun could react a hand materialized from the swarm and grabbed him the throat. Nigun's remaining men panicked and ran as fast they could. Lucifer smirked.
"Albedo, would you mind killing the rest?" From out of nowhere Albedo reappeared in front of the fleeing soldiers cutting off their escape. They were doomed.
"Of course my love," Albedo replied with a flourish of her axe. Nigun, struggling in Lucifer's grasp, couldn't see what was happening behind do to Lucifer's fist clenched around his throat, him but he could hear his men screaming.
"Wh-What are you going to do with me?" Nigun stammered out while praying the wet sensation he felt was sweat and that he had managed to maintain some semblance of dignity by not soiling himself. Lucifer grinned in response.
"I'm going to turn you against your so-called gods whether you like it or not!" With that said he plunged his canines into Nigun's neck.
"SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
The mission had been a complete success and Lucifer now knew where he stood on this world's food chain. At the very goddamn top.
Lucifer finally made it back to Carne Village after he had once again deactivated a few of his vampiric traits. As he approached, all the villagers started cheering for him and Gazef ran up to him.
"You made Sir Dracul!" Gazef exclaimed with a grin. Lucifer simply chuckled.
"Was there ever any doubt?"
"Where is Lady Albedo?" Gazef asked with concern in his eyes.
"She is fine. She's making sure the enemy don't double back and try to attack us again." In reality, Albedo was leading the Nazarick Elder Guarders in a swift cleanup of the enemies corpses to turn into Death Knights and Elder Liches.
"What happened out there?"
"I put the fear of their gods into the enemy forces and forced them to retreat," Lucifer lied. What? Was he supposed to say that he was collecting corpses to create his own army? Hell no. Gazef furrowed his eyebrow as he had a feeling the pale magic caster wasn't being entirely honest with him, but he let it slide.
"Thank Sir Dracul." Gazef said with a grateful bow. He then smirked and added: "I owe you a drink."
"I'm a man of my word Gazef. I swore I would protect this village and so I did," Lucifer said dismissively. Gazef stood up and stared at him.
"Not just that, but you saved my men and I back there," Gazef said solemnly.
"Of course I did. I couldn't let my new friend die could I?" Lucifer said with a smirk. "How are you and your men anyway?"
"We took a beating but we'll live."
"I am capable of using healing magic. May I be of assistance?" Lucifer offered. Gaze grinned.
"I would be most grateful." It would be another hour before Gazef and his men were finally ready to leave. Gazef pulled up beside Lucifer on his horse and called him out. "Sir Dracul!" Lucifer who was ready to leave by this point hid his frustration at being held up and put on a convincing grin.
"Yes, Gazef?"
"His highness, King Ramposa III, is holding a formal party amongst the nobility in two months. It will be a painfully dull gathering, but I'm sure your presence would liven things up a bit and the king would never forgive me if I didn't extend an invitation to you seeing as how you saved my ass. Interested?" Lucifer smirked.
"I'll be there. Take care of yourself Gazef and try not to die until I get that drink you owe me." Gazef let out a hearty laugh in response as he and his men galloped off back to E-Rantel. Lucifer watched them go. "That man is a rare specimen among an otherwise relatively unimpressive species." He said to himself as his face twisted into an evil grin. "He will make a most excellent pawn."
Several hours had passed and Lucifer was once again he was sitting in his throne with the Floor Guardians gathered before him.
"First of all everyone, I would like to apologize for acting rashly, but it was needed and we have benefitted from it. Of course, Albedo will have already told what transpired. Didn't you Albedo?"
"Yes," Albedo spoke. "I am sorry if I have displeased you my lord."
"Not at all. You have saved us some time," Lucifer said with a nod. "For our second order of business, I would like you all to meet the latest addition to our forces, Nigun Grid Luin." And with that he gestured to the man on his left. Apart from the red eyes, fangs, and the fact his skin had become drastically paler, Nigun looked almost exactly the same as he had before Lucifer had turned him into a Vampire Lord. The Floor Guardians stared at the newcomer while Albedo outright glared.
"Thank you for allowing me to be of service to my lord," Nigun said with a bow. The Floor Guardians loosened up and Albedo gave a nod of approval seeing as this outsider fully understood his place in Nazarick. Lucifer nodded.
"Shaltear, I will leave Nigun in your care," Lucifer's words seemed to be more of an order than a statement. "Teach him the vampiric arts and report back to me once he has achieved acceptable control over his new powers."
"Yes, my lord," Shaltear replied with a bow, happy to be of use to her master.
"And I have one more announcement to make," as he raised his hand and silently cast a spell. Suddenly, all of the banners in Nazarick caught fire but were not damaged at all. Once the fires disappeared, the Floor Guardians could see that all the banners had changed from the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown to a fanged skull with bat wings sprouting from the sides of its head. "I have changed my name! From now on you shall know me as LUCIFER DRACUL! Are there any objections?" The denizens of Nazarick all bowed before their ruler.
"We know your previous name and treasure it," Albedo replied. "We now know your new name and praise it. Glory to Lucifer Dracul!"
"GLORY TO LUCIFER DRACUL!" Lucifer's subjects praised their master.
"We shall serve you for eternity, father!" Shaltear exclaimed.
"The lord of life and death!" Demiurge said with a faint hiss.
"Our. Great. King." Cocytus stated.
"The ruler of Nazarick!" the twins exclaimed.
"He who is supreme even among the Supreme Beings," Corvo said solemnly.
"Our master," was all Sebas said.
"The one true God!" Nigun proclaimed.
"My guardians!" Lucifer boomed. "Heed my words! We will make this world our own! We will gather intelligence, raise armies, and lay the groundwork for our ascension! And we reveal ourselves to the world, those in power will cower at the very mention of my name! The entire world will bow before me and Nazarick will rise above all!" Everyone cheered for their master once again. "Let me be perfectly clear, our goal is TOTAL WORLD DOMINATION!"
This is going to be the last chapter I post for tonight, but I'm already halfway done with another one so I'll be adding a few more chapters tomorrow!
HAIL AND KILL!