[10th Floor of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick]
A young-looking man was walking through the hallways separating the personal rooms that used to belong to the supreme beings of Nazarick who walked these very halls over 100 years ago. The way he walked and frantically looked in all directions gave the impression that he was looking for something or someone.
He had fair skin, light grayish hair that was cut short, and bluish-green eyes. His attire was akin to what a high-ranking noble or royal would wear, which was quite fitting for someone of his status and heritage. At first glance, this man looked indistinguishable from a human, but just like many beings that reside in Nazarick, this man was anything but.
"Greetings, Lord Tatchi. May I be of service?"
A nearby homunculus maid took notice of the young-looking man's behavior and offered to help in any way she could.
"Foth, you're most kind." Replied the man - Tatchi - to the maid. "Tell me then, have you perhaps seen Shura? Or at least know where he is?"
"Oh...Lord Shura?" Foth began to speak with faint anxiety in her voice, indirectly letting Tatchi know that she couldn't be of much help after all. "Lord Shura came to visit Lord Ainz some days ago, but his visit was short. I believe he may be on Ravenloft now."
Ravenloft was the name of Shura's personal castle which was as big as a city. When he couldn't be found anywhere else, chances were he was holed up there.
"I see, so he already left. Right after telling me that he had something to discuss with me."
The reason Tatchi was roaming this particular area of Nazarick was that these rooms - which used to remain empty out of respect for the absent supreme beings - were the place where Shura stayed every time he visited the great tomb.
"Mmm, I assume that what Lord Shura wanted to discuss, it couldn't be shared through a [Message]?"
Foth made that question out of a genuine desire to be helpful in any way she could, seeing how she was unable to answer the main query of Lord Tatchi. And it seems Tatchi himself knew that because he responded with a gentle smile on his face.
"You're correct, this is one of those instances when Shura insists on speaking face-to-face." He shook his head in a seemingly disappointed way. "Ah Shura, always the schemer."
Seeing how he had nothing left to do in Nazarick anymore since already greeted and spoken with his father who resided on the 9th floor, he used the [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] he was gifted by the God of Stars to teleport up to the surface, his destination now was Shura's castle.
"[World Teleportation]"
Tapping into the power of his soul, Tatchi used this spell that only he, his blood descendants, and the previous rulers of the supercontinent could use to instantly move himself to the throne room of Ravenloft.
It was quite convenient to be able to arrive at the throne room this way. Most of the important people who want to have an audience with Lord Shura must first pass through the high gates which are guarded by high-level gargoyles, then walk through the long hallways which are patrolled by ghosts and other spectral undead which are also of relatively high-level, and then finally arrive at the large throne room doors which are guarded by a pair of martial undead; vampire warriors that retain the ability to use the martial arts they knew back when they were living beings. And of top of that, these two martial undead in particular were equipped with weapons, armor, and other items borrowed directly from the treasury of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, making them the most dangerous creatures in Ravenloft.
Well, the most dangerous after Shura himself, of course.
Finally, anyone who passed through all of that and entered the throne room would be basking in quite the magnificent sight; a very large room with a ceiling over 50 feet high that was spacious enough to have an audience with 300 or so medium-sized guests, the equally large windows had magnificent colorful glasswork depicting epic battles and conquests, there was an enormous and mesmerizing chandelier hanging in the roof reminiscent of the one in Nazarick's throne room, and the throne itself was carved out of an enchanted piece of obsidian and likewise fashioned in a similar way to the Throne of Kings that also resided in Nazarick. However, this makeshift obsidian throne was still nothing like the actual Throne of Kings which was a world-class item, hence why someone could arrive at this place directly with [World Teleportation].
What first caught Tatchi's attention was Shura who was sitting on the throne and had a mirror of remote viewing in front of him, standing near him was the only other individual in the large throne room beside the aforementioned Shura and Tatchi himself, a creature whose physical appearance was indistinguishable from a human woman, but yet again, this being was anything but; she was wearing an adamantite full plate enchanted with resistance to all elemental attacks, a cloak that enhanced MAG stats, rings that gave deflection bonuses to defense and raised physical stats alongside several benefits, and other clothing that gave miscellaneous boosts to her abilities. But the most impressive aspect of her arsenal by far was her sheathed sword, a weapon that was granted to her by none other than the sorcerer emperor Ainz Ooal Gown himself, a weapon that the God of Stars had personally selected from the treasury of the supreme beings and was now in the hands of this creature who looked like a human woman.
However, said sword was a "trash-tier" relic-class weapon - an item tier one step below legendary-class which in turn was one step below divine-class - with relic-class also being the tier of the equipment that was given to the two martial undead that guard the gates of this throne room, gear that was utterly worthless for any level 100 being from Yggdrasil. Nay, relic-class was worthless even to level 90 Yggdrasil beings. But for a native being of this new world, even a single relic-class weapon is considered a treasure worth destroying several countries for.
She wasn't wearing her armor's helmet which meant that her head was exposed, a head with a face that featured a pair of golden-yellow eyes and medium-length hazelnut hair on the scalp. If her equipment wasn't enough for Tatchi to identify her, then her fair face removed any doubt.
"Yavenee, what a pleasant surprise." Said Tatchi to the creature that resembled a woman.
"Lord Tatchi, you're finally here." Said Yavenee in a formal tone.
Tatchi had told Yavenee countless times that there was no need to address him as "Lord" but she simply refused to stop calling him that, so instead of wasting his breath with her, Tatchi would simply address the one who called him here. It must be quite important if he called not only him but also Yavenee as well.
"So, what is it that you called us here for, Shura? Is it related to the new player who arrived in the lands of the ba'al?"
"Oh, it's about a player, alright." Replied Shura without even bothering to look away from his mirror. "But not that new scaly guy. Nor is about the feathered bastard, either."
"A player that is neither the ba'al nor the player who arrived this wave? What is it about the emperor that you wish to discuss with us?" Asked Yavenee, understandably a bit confused.
"It's not the old man, either."
At hearing that, both Tatchi and Yavenee got even more confused, so Shura wasted no time and began to explain himself.
"You both know that I trust you more than anything. You two, Maiko, Acheron, Styx, and Lethe. And my own dear Khalli too. I know I can rely on you for anything, even to keep secrets to your friends and kin."
"If they are secrets that have a good reason for being secret, then yes, we are always willing to keep those hidden." Said Tatchi to Shura, his lifelong friend. "Because you likewise know that we don't enjoy lying to our own closest confidants."
"Oh this is a very good one, trust me. You definitely want to be aware of this." Replied Shura with confidence.
"So what is it? You should skip the fanfare and tell us."
"Better to show you."
Immediately after saying that, Shura turned his mirror of remote viewing around so that Tatchi and Yavenee could see what the mirror was showing. But obviously, neither of them could fully understand what they were looking at.
"That...that thing is a player? Wait, there's two of them?"
"Oh no, only one is. The player is the one that the other creature is currently trailing."
What the mirror was showing wasn't only Rhemurus himself, but it was also showing Zahur, the shadowdancer who had been keeping tabs on the human player because some other human native of this world had deluded herself into thinking she could somehow coerce a player into subjugation.
"Another player is being trailed by a native of this world...? Why? How?"
"What is happening? Would you stop being so vague for once?"
Shura took the opportunity to tell his trusted comrades everything he knew about this new player. He told them how this player came to the new world at a low level but is currently growing stronger bit-by-bit, and since the player was still relatively weak, some natives of this world would still pose a threat of sorts to said player.
"So you're telling us that a player, a being like the emperor and the ba'al, is a low-level creature that can only cast measly 3rd-tier spells?"
"For now, that is." Shura was not willing to sleep on the future potential of the human player. "He's a dual-caster to boot, so that means he could grow to become someone interesting."
"Someone interesting? Fluder is a tri-caster who can cast 6th-tier spells, and even if he already reached the limit of his growth, he's capable of exploiting his unique racial abilities to learn even more spells."
As a [Lesser Overlord] - a lich variant that didn't exist back in Yggdrasil - Fluder has a racial skill similar to [Dark Wisdom], a skill that allows him to perform a ritual on the corpse of a dead spellcaster to learn any spell that the deceased mage knew but Fluder didn't. In the new world, Fluder's racial skill is even more useful than Ainz's because the original [Dark Wisdom] skill from the overlords of Yggdrasil only works on the corpses of dead players in particular, and is thus totally useless on the corpses of spellcasters native to this world.
Ainz knows for he has tried to use his racial skill in this world several times to no avail. Meanwhile, Fluder's spell list just kept growing and growing, and as of now, he had nearly 400 different spells at his disposal.
"This new human player may become a curiosity down the line, but not worth making a fuss over, I believe." Said Yavenee with her usual emotionless expression.
"On top of that, splitting his power between arcane and divine magic will only result in his overall ability as a spellcaster being diminished by the time he reaches the peak of his potential. Assuming he even lives that long, that is." Added Tatchi who talked from personal experience since he was one of the most powerful spellcasters of the new world, and depending on how much soul power he has available, he could be the absolute most powerful under specific circumstances.
Shura didn't object, he simply nodded in agreement to his comrades' words before adding his own input to the conversation.
"It's true, our Fluder is indeed quite impressive! And this new guy is very quite weak as of now. But...can our Fluder use the skill called [Spell Synthesis]?"
Both Tatchi and Yavenee were understandably a bit surprised hearing about this [Spell Synthesis] they had never heard about before.
Is not like they were ignorant of Yggdrasil mechanics, it's simply that there were just SO MANY classes and playstyles in that game that counting and remembering all of them was nearly impossible for a new world native who learned about Yggdrasil from second-hand accounts. And using more than one spellcasting system was a relatively rare niche in that game on top of that, too.
Truth be told, not even Shura knew that [Spell Synthesis] was a thing either until Ainz told him about it when he asked about details regarding Rhemurus several days ago.
"[Spell...Synthesis]...?"
"Judging by the name, it's the ability to merge spells, is it not?"
"Yep, pretty self-explanatory, is it not?" Shura predicted their next question so he went ahead and addressed that as well. "I reckon that the reason our Fluder can't do that may be the same reason why he became a lesser overlord instead of a proper overlord like the old man is."
And Shura's assumption would be correct. Fluder didn't become a tri-caster the "proper" way - as in the way a player from Yggdrasil would become a tri-caster - but rather he used the shortcuts that talented new world natives use to skip one or more steps to greater power. That's why the racial class Fluder obtained after completing the same ritual Momonga used in Yggdrasil to become an [Overlord] instead gave him [Lesser Overlord], and also why he couldn't use [Spell Synthesis] like dual-casters and tri-casters from Yggdrasil could.
"Alright, this human player may become more curious than previously anticipated. But still, it doesn't justify your personal interest in him, Lord Shura."
"Yavenee, seriously, stop calling me Lord-" Unlike Tatchi, Shura doesn't mind wasting breath on someone as stubborn as Yavenee. "-and if you don't mind me speaking my mind, you're not looking at the big picture here."
Rather than saying anything, Yavenee simply raised her eyebrow.
Shura then turned towards Tatchi.
"What do you think? Can you see the potential profit here?"
"Mmm, if he grows to become as powerful as the sorcerer emperor, then having him as an ally would be in our best interest."
"As powerful as the sorcerer emperor...? I hope you don't mean that literally, Lord Tatchi." Yavenee said with an almost mocking smirk on her lips.
"Of course not. Our emperor has divine-class weaponry and the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown at his disposal. Even if Lord Ainz were to give this human player the best equipment that can be found among the leftovers that the supreme beings left behind, he still would never stand a chance."
The 41 members of the guild did leave behind a large surplus of legendary-class gear that was overflowing in the treasury. But legendary-class was still very weak when compared with divine-class. Like, really weak.
"No, I meant it in the sense of basic magical power. Our emperor has told us numerous times that his own raw power as an arcane spellcaster is lacking when compared to his former peers among the supreme beings like Lord Ulbert Alain Odle or Lord Tabula Smaragdina. A dual-caster who merges high-tier arcane and divine spells through this [Spell Synthesis] skill may be just as powerful as a supreme being in different ways. Assuming we are not considering equipment in this equation, of course."
"Even so, this is just a big if. There's no guarantee this human player will even survive that long."
"And that's where WE come along!" Even if his expression couldn't be fully seen because of his skull-face, it was clear that Shura was grinning like an idiot.
"Shura, I'm aware that you can sometimes be impulsive and are curious by nature, I get that. We all get that. But even if the stars align and this human manages to reach level 100 and somehow gets equipment on par with what can be obtained from Yggdrasil, what would he have that we already don't have are our disposal in good numbers?"
The vast Sorcerer Empire has six level 100 floor guardians who have high-ranking and influential positions in the said empire, and the tomb of Nazarick itself has another two level 100 beings guarding it at all times. Add a tactical golem, several beings that are above level 90, even more beings above level 80, and a varying amount of beings between levels 60-70, and you have a force that not even the most powerful player would be able to match by himself. And that's not even counting the native forces that were raised in this world, forces that manage to produce the occasional level 40-50 being that may have exotic abilities and mysterious talents that no Yggdrasil being would have.
No matter how hard they racket their brains, neither Tatchi nor Yavenee could think of a logical reason for investing time and resources into securing the growth of a no-name player who just happened to arrive in this world at low level.
"For starters? What about some basic genetic material?"
"Genetic mater-...what?"
"Oh, you mean like a breeding bull?" Stated Yavenee with the most unemotional tone.
"Yeah! How many high-level humans does our empire have at our disposal? At least, humans that aren't leftovers from the annihilated Slaine Theocracy, I mean."
Ainz Ooal Gown has under his absolute dominion an incredible variety of relatively high-level native beings that are loyal to him which includes - but isn't limited to - heteromorph kings, demi-human leaders, dragon lord-descended reptilians, ancient liches, elder dragons, and even elemental beings. Humanoids in the empire don't have much room to stand out in comparison and they aren't even the most numerous, similar to other multi-racial societies of the new world and even like Yggdrasil itself during its heyday.
Thus, most of the high-level humans that are part of the Sorcerer Empire are as strong as they are because Ainz decided to continue Slaine's tradition of preserving the bloodline of the first players to ever arrive in the new world. But even so, those humans who awaken their potential - the "God-kin" as Slaine used to call them - are obviously few and far in-between, and they aren't even the only player-descended beings in the Sorcerer Empire's armed forces either; the occasional minotaur who awakens the blood of the ancient sage is also something that Ainz looks forward too, and there are even beings who have the blood of the Greed Kings in their veins as well. Such awakened beings quickly rise through the ranks or are transferred to specialized units, but they all enjoy celebrity status in the empire.
"So you want to help this human become stronger just so we can add variety to the pool of player blood among our "awakened" humanoid soldiers?"
"You sound like Lord Demiurge, you know?"
"But you two now see my logic, yes?"
Yes, the net positive for the Sorcerer Empire in the event of having Rhemurus at their side was now clear to see for both Tatchi and Yavenee.
"However, you said that this was only one reason. Surely you have more than one?"
"I do. This reason I just gave you is the one I plan to tell the guardians and other high-ranking nobles if they ever find out about what I'm doing."
"Oh, so, who knows about this player guy besides us three?"
"I already told Maiko, Acheron, Styx, Lethe, and Khalli about this, and the one who told me in the first place was the old man."
"So...only nine individuals know."
There are actually 11 individuals who know because Keno - the one formerly known as Evileye - and Fluder were also aware of Rhemurus at this point.
Shura did know that Keno and Fluder knew and he was purposely hiding that from his closest friends, at least for the time being. Is not that he distrusts them, it's simply that while Shura does consider them his most trusted comrades with whom he grew up, the bond he shares with the sorcerer emperor Ainz Ooal Gown is deeper than that.
Also, his wife Khalli is likewise aware of everything that Shura also knows, since the bond he shares with her may be among the only ones that goes even deeper than the one with Ainz. That said, both he and Khalli agreed to hide this even from their own children, at least for now.
- The old man really wishes to find someone he may call a true equal to his own. A friend. If it weren't for the bad blood between them, the king of kings may have potentially been that someone.
Of course, when Ainz thinks about an "equal" he doesn't mean another God-King who has absolute power in the metaphysical and political sense like him and the ba'al, but rather, he wishes to find another player with whom he can have casual and senseless conversations with about random and irrelevant topics just like he used to have back in Yggdrasil with his guildmates. Perhaps even go on adventures together, have the occasional dumb argument that they would forget the next day, geek out about what other games they played back on Earth, and all manner of mundane things that seem insignificant yet they were always taken for granted.
- If only I was enough...but no matter how hard I try, I simply can't pretend to be something I'm not.
Shura was not a player, hence, no matter how personally close he was to the sorcerer emperor, he would never be able to quench Ainz's solitude.
"The other reason is that I want the old man to have his own playmate. Like us, back when we were kids!"
"Aaaand there it is..."
"Only you would come up with such a childish reason for this, Lord Shura."
"But even so, the excuse reason you plan to give could indeed be a good one in the long run. Anything to give us an edge against the ba'al."
Since both the emperor and the ba'al are heteromorphs, the cold war between the Sorcerer Empire and the Sarrukh Theocracy could go on for centuries or even millennia.
"Also, this human spy of yours appears to be moving away from the new player's vicinity and into a different location. Is that noteworthy?"
"Huh?"
After Yavenee updated him on the situation, Shura hurriedly turned the mirror again to see what was happening.
From the looks of it, Zahur learned that Rhemurus was planning to join Argland's army and thus would no longer be able to become a pawn to his mistress, so he was running back to report it back to Drulia and find a way to force Rhemurus to stay in Breizen.
"Ah, these little ants think that they can hold dominion over a player. Maybe they can-" He said while taking out his rod of teleportation. "-considering how weak the new guy is right now. But I have plans of my own."
Plans that Shura doesn't want anyone else to interfere with.
"So if you are going to directly interfere with this human's affairs, I assume that you already told us everything you wanted us to know?"
"Oh right, I do suppose this is it. If you don't want to help me that's okay, but can I still ask you to keep this new guy's existence a secret?"
"Yeah sure, why not. We have kept your secrets before."
With nothing else to say, Shura cast the lesser-grade invocation [Walk Unseen] to turn himself invisible and used the magic of his rod to teleport to the Argland Council State, more specifically the inn room where Zahur used to be just an instant ago. It was late into the night and the human player was already fast asleep, Shura took the opportunity to take a second and look at Rhemurus with his own eyes.
- One day we will talk, new guy. Just not now.
Immediately after, he began to follow Zahur through the shadows with his greater-grade invocation [Path of Shadow] to find the center of this conspiracy and put an end to it before it even began.
Since they were in the human city, it didn't take long before Zahur finally reached the base of Drulia's underground operations. They weren't located in any district, rather they simply resided below the city streets in a network of tunnels that Drulia had ordered to be built.
Zahur in particular used his ability to move among the shadows to easily travel back and forth between the city and these tunnels, one of the reasons why Drulia valued him so much since virtually nobody else in the human city had such ability. But unluckily for them, their meddling with the new player who arrived in these lands brought upon them the attention of someone who has a plethora of abilities, including walking through shadows.
"My mistress-" Zahur began to speak, unaware of the invisible creature standing right behind him. "-a somewhat unexpected development has arisen."
"Go ahead, report me in full." Said Drulia who was sitting on a chair while looking at some reports of the daily activities of her goonies. This place which acted as her personal office was currently empty save for the two humans and the hidden being from Nazarick.
"The one you ordered me to trail, for some reason a higher-up from the council state's army arrived at the city gates earlier today and requested his particular recruitment."
"Oh, I reckon it may be because of the noise he caused during the hunting event. And the invasions from the frozen north must have the higher-ups of this country's army very desperate for new pawns they can throw to the meat grinder."
"Must likely. And considering how he accepted the offer to join the ranks, I'm afraid that I won't be able to trail him during the army campaigns, at least not without risking detection."
Considering the huge variety of races and classes that compose the standing army of a multiracial and multicultural country like the Argland Council State, thinking that a hiding shadowdancer would always be able to avoid detection at all times is an extremely stupid assumption.
"In that case, my dear Zahur, we may feel forced to accelerate our plans and pay the berserkers a little visit." She said while making a strange gesture with her left hand.
"Understood." Immediately said Zahur after noticing the silent signal his mistress sent him and used the shadows to exit the place.
Or at least, he pretended to leave the place.
"You didn't follow Zahur right now, so I assume that you were hoping to find me, specifically?"
Drulia was seemingly speaking with nobody now that her shadowdancer was no longer around, but seeing how she also raised her head to stare at the direction that the invisible Shura was standing in, her intent was quite obvious.
"Ah, so you can see me?" Said Shura while being genuinely impressed that there was someone here who could see through his invocation.
"Not with my eyes, no. Rather, I can perceive you with my mind. I could tell that someone was behind Zahur the moment he appeared right in front of me."
"Oh! Your mind? Then, you're a psion!?"
Had Drulia told Shura that her eyes could spot him through the invocation that turned him invisible, then he may have assumed that she was a wild magic user - an extreme rarity among those who aren't dragon lords, but they definitely exist - because invocations, while not really spells, still follow many of the mechanics of arcane magic, and thus the invocations that those like Shura use are still something that wild magic users can easily bypass.
But because she specifically said that it was her mind that could spot Shura through his [Walk Unseen] invocation rather than her eyes, then he knew that it was most likely because of psionics rather than wild magic that allowed Drulia to sense him. He could tell after all, since it was precisely because of the relatively large amount of psions in the Sarrukh Theocracy that the Sorcerer Empire has always had a tough time adapting to this strange and completely alien form of new world native magic.
While technically still "magic" under the word's definition, psions don't use spells fueled by mana but instead, they use manifestations fueled by mental power. And thus, users of psionics aren't "spellcasters", they are instead called "manifesters".
The particular manifestation that Drulia used to detect Shura was one called [Detect Hostile Intent], a manifestation that she keeps active every day as long as she can as a precaution.
"Ah...so that is what I'm called. A psion. To tell you the truth, I used to believe that I was some sort of freak, nobody else in the history of the council state had abilities similar to mine." Drulia said while still being wary of Shura who dispelled his [Walk Unseen] invocation since there was no longer a point in keeping it active.
"Since you are being honest I'm also going to be frank with you, I am pleasantly surprised to find a psion so close to the Sorcerer Empire. Since you are someone who went through huge efforts to hide your true nature, then I assume it's safe to assume that nobody else knows that you are a psion? Not even your subordinates?"
"The Sorcerer Empire, so that's where you're from?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Why were you following my strongest agent who also works as my closer? Do you plan to poach him?"
"What, you think we don't have entire armies of rogues infinitely better than your excuse of a shadowdancer? Don't flatter yourself."
"Then, why are you here?"
"For the same reason you are sending that "closer" of yours away from you."
"Oh...-" It finally clicked. "-the strange refugee? The so-called Rhemurus?"
"Correct again."
"Why is someone from the Sorcerer Empire so interested in him? I'm aware that a pair of individuals from your land, whose names were Nomom and Phenia, came to participate in a large event we had earlier this year. Did your government send those two as spies? To eye out anyone who may have the potential to grow into a powerful being?"
"Ah, ha, hahahahaha!"
Shura was reminded by Drulia just now of that incredibly convoluted charade that both the old man and Keno insisted on partaking in. Going through all that trouble just for the chance to meet the new player guy, Shura couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness.
"Oh right, yeah...Nomom and Phenia. Hahahahahaha. Oh boy, and he calls MY ideas stupidly complicated!"
Drulia didn't react, she just stared with a deadpan expression at the undead-looking creature in front of her.
"Well, yes actually. Hehe. Those two did come here to this country to look for him specifically, mainly because one of them knows exactly where Rhemurus comes from."
"Huh?"
"Turns out he comes from the same place! The old man, I mean."
While Shura kept on rambling to himself, Drulia sent a silent order to Zahur who was hidden in a shadow nearby to attack to kill. Even if this individual from the empire survives, she may be able to use him as a hostage of sorts.
Only someone who's quite high-ranking in a country as large and powerful as the Sorcerer Empire would have the confidence and swagger that this hideous creature is throwing around.
However, neither Drulia nor Zahur could have known just what they were really up against, to know just who Shura was simply by looking at him. But to be honest, Shura himself never bothered to introduce himself first.
Zahur swiftly jumped out of the shadow with his shortsword in hand, a blade that was enchanted both with poison that debilitates the body and acid that corrodes the flesh. Combined with the sneak attack bonus of his rogue levels and improved critical damage from striking at a vital spot, this single pincer strike would normally be enough to kill even an individual that was some levels higher than Zahur with a single hit.
But all Shura had to do was simply point his finger towards the place Zahur jumped out from and fire his signature attack.
"[Eldritch Blast]"
The very first ability that Shura ever learned, [Eldritch Blast] is a skill that fires a ray of baleful magical energy to deal raw arcane damage. Mechanically, this blast is a ranged touch attack that strikes a single target and bypasses all defenses bar a high enough Spell Resistance, hence why Shura went ahead and learned the [Penetrate Invocation] skill in other to allow his blast to bypass the SR of any high-level opponent he may face.
However, because Zahur was so much lower-level than Shura, there was no need to even increase the defense-piercing ability of [Eldritch Blast] nor boost it with an eldritch essence invocation, the plain unmodified ray was more than enough to obliterate the human shadowdancer with a single hit, killing him before Zahur even knew what happened.
"Now that was rude, interrupting my amusement like that. I would apologize for killing your confidant just like that, but I'm not really sorry."
"You..." Drulia was still showing no expressions of any sort on her face, but the shock in her eyes was clear to anyone. "...you must be the spymaster of the Sorcerer Empire, are you not? Or some sort of hyper-specialized super-solider. How else would you have been able to kill someone like Zahur so easily."
"Ah, of course, you can't figure out who I am. I'm pretty sure you think that individuals who look like undead abominations must be commonplace in the empire, we haven't done much to change that perception. The old man does say that being feared has its benefits...but anyhow-"
As Shura just kept on rambling with the most carefree attitude, Drulia began to cautiously cast defensive manifestations on herself.
Under normal circumstances, she would instead run, and there are indeed psionic manifestations that allow the user to teleport long distances like [Dimension Door], but Drulia's mental power still wasn't high enough for her to learn those. She does know how to cast a manifestation called [Dimension Twister] which summons up a vortex of shimmering silver energy that sucks up the body of the target and teleports it somewhere else, but the vortex itself is a chaotic and unstable rift in space that ends up painfully deforming the target's body, and the direction in which said body is teleported to is always random and can't be controlled by the manifester at all.
Hence, [Dimension Twister] is an offensive attack manifestation, rather than something a psion would use to teleport towards a desired location. And the reason she didn't use this manifestation on Shura was that she was almost certain that someone who could kill Zahur in one shot would also be able to resist her direct attack manifestations, and the fact that she was the type of psion that specialized in mind control and manipulation rather than in psychokinetic destruction didn't give her any confidence, either.
She believed that her best choice would be to cloak herself in all the defensive manifestations she knew and run away for her dear life to the city's surface and towards the closest member of the city watch she could find since she doubted that a secret agent in a silent mission would expose himself to the authorities of another country.
However, it was all futile. Drulia only got to cast [Inertial Armor] and [Force Screen] - which function somewhat similarly to the [Mage Armor] and [Shield] arcane spells, respectively - when Shura stopped fooling around and took the matter at hand seriously; he stopped his rambling and pointed his finger towards Drulia, this time he did modify his [Eldritch Blast] but not to increase the ray's damage, but to make it harmless instead.
"[Binding Blast]"
This eldritch essence transformed the ray attack into a beam of solid energy that surrounded the target's body like a rope, immobilizing it until Shura either dispelled the invocation or the target's mind rebuked the invocation by force.
"Now you are being the rude one. Here I was answering your questions when you start getting ready to throw hands! Sorry, but I'm not running any chances against a psion."
Shura has fought plenty of psions before, way more powerful than this Drulia will ever hope to be, but regardless of how powerful an individual psion is, they were always incredibly annoying to deal with.
"I will neutralize you by force if need be. I know how to shatter your consciousness beyond the point of no return, and I won't hesitate to do so if you don't calm down."
"Whoever you are, I assure you, there is value in keeping me alive! Please, please don't kill me!"
It was only now that Drulia's stoic facade broke down, revealing the feeble and insecure person hiding behind the ego of a crimelord. She instinctively understood that there was no point in attempting to mentally call all her goonies here, none of them would be able to do absolutely nothing. All she could do now was beg for her life.
"I-I have resources! The loyalty of influential people! Everything will be yours! Just let me live! Have mercy!"
"I said CALM DOWN!" Said Shura with the first tint of anger he had shown ever since he came to this place.
The torrent of tears and incessant shaking from Drulia didn't stop, but her noisy and annoying begging did.
"Alright. I won't kill you, okay? But I would appreciate it if you answered the question I asked you before. Who else knows that you have the abilities of a psion?"
Instead of answering Shura's question, Drulia simply turned her terrified gaze towards Zahur's corpse.
"Oh, I see. Only this guy knew."
Drulia again didn't say anything, she just nervously nodded her head. Turns out not even Calistria knew about the capabilities of Drulia, only her loyal Zahur did.
"Okay, here's the thing. I have been trailing the same guy you have been trailing through my own means, and I have a great personal interest in seeing that this guy is always in constant battles."
Now that she heard that, curiosity and confusion began to seep inside Drulia's mind. But she didn't dare to speak out.
"The army is the perfect place for him, so I can't have you or anyone else interfering. Any ambitions, any plans, whatever it is that you were planning to do with the being you call Rhemurus, you will let go. Got it?"
She just nodded in agreement.
"Oki then, now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about you."
"W-wha, me?"
"Yes, you. Is there an echo? But anyway. You told me nobody else in this country has awakened psionic abilities, are you sure?"
"I, I...as far as I know...I..."
Drulia was now even more terrified for her life. She did say that nobody else in Argland had ever developed psionic abilities, but that was an assumption she had made out of the fact that - of all the famous individuals recorded in the council state history books - there wasn't a single manifester among the country's historical figures that she was aware of. On top of that, she was only knowledgeable of what was recorded in the books that Breizen had available, but it was reasonable to assume that much larger cities would have a more extensive array of historical sources that someone like Drulia simply wasn't aware of, and thus, it was also possible that one or more psions may have been recorded in Argland's history and Drulia lied to this being.
"P-p-please forgive me...I assumed...I'm not that sure..."
"Oh for crying out LOUD!"
Shura was now getting annoyed. He still has things left to do today, people to see and talk to. This little side mission he just took was a sidestep that wasn't planned at all, and he had way more important things to do. The only reason Drulia wasn't dead at this point was because the Sorcerer Empire was lacking on psionic manifesters and Ainz was always telling his subordinates to be on the lookout at all times for individuals with exotic abilities to bring them into their fold.
"You insist on being a trembling wreck that doesn't know how to talk!? Alright then, how's this for size! [Beguiling Influence]"
The [Beguiling Influence] invocation was capable of dramatically increasing the bewitching abilities of the user; you become more amicable, believable, and convincing than you naturally are immediately after casting it. Since invocations are a relatively rare power in the new world, Shura is capable of sneakily using [Beguiling Influence] to ensure that diplomatic negotiations with foreign powers always go smoothly and in favor of the Sorcerer Empire without others noticing.
If the level disparity is large enough, then Shura will appear as the absolute most magnificent and awe-inspiring creature that anyone has ever seen while [Beguiling Influence] is active, which is exactly what happened in the case of Drulia who was no longer terrified but was now utterly captivated at the sight of Shura's majesty. Almost as if she had suddenly forgotten that this creature just killed her most loyal subordinate.
"You calmed down? Good, now we can actually talk."
He dispelled the [Binding Blast], Drulia was no longer going to run.
"Back to my question. You told me that you are the only psion that has ever existed in this country?"
"As far as I know, yes. But there could have been other psions that were also actively hiding like I was. If so, I'm afraid I do not know of any of them."
"Well that's to be expected, being noticeably different from others is always a source of social stigma, regardless of how tolerant is the local culture."
Shura himself knew that very well.
"But in any case, do you have a family here? Kin or friends that would miss you dearly if you were to move away from this place?"
"No, I'm an orphan. I never had anything going on for myself nor anyone who truly cared for me ever since I was a little girl, and when I began to develop these strange mental abilities, I started to secretly use them to build a reputation for myself among the others who were also neglected all their lives like I was."
"So, you became like a leading figure among the outcasts of this place, eh?"
"Mainly the ones who were bitter against society decided to follow me. One day I hoped to become the true ruler of the human city, but now..."
Zahur is dead, he was Drulia's biggest and most valuable asset. Without him, her plans have very little to build themselves upon. Calistria's influence is good and all, but all gangs require a strong closer.
"In that case, what would happen if you suddenly disappeared?"
"Well, I think there will be a period of confusion among the members of both the underbelly and law enforcement because of my sudden disappearance, then an internal struggle will follow to decide who will lead this organized gang I created now that I left."
"So to put it mildly, no one will miss you?"
"The only one who would've missed me...is now dead."
When he heard that, Shura turned his gaze towards Zahur's corpse. Assuming that this human's words were true - since [Beguiling Influence] made it unlikely that she would willingly lie - then she has spent all of her life alone, using her abilities to build a reputation for herself among individuals that only really appreciated what she was and the things she could do for them, rather than for who she was. And on top of that, the closest thing to a friend she ever had was just killed by him.
- Now I feel kinda bad.
Because of all the stories Ainz told him while growing up, stories of how the old man spent most of his life alone and only found a semblance of companionship among his comrades in Yggdrasil, Shura had kind of a soft spot for those individuals who likewise had to walk through the struggles and hardships of life all by themselves, not because they chose to do so, but because they had no choice.
He began to scratch his hair a bit while carefully thinking about what to do now. After a few seconds, he offered Drulia a generous choice that he didn't need to make, but he still went ahead and offered it either way.
"What would you say to moving over to the Sorcerer Empire? Because you are a psion, the emperor Ainz Ooal Gown himself will have a great personal interest in you, and as long as you swear him fealty and that you will put your talents to the empire's disposal, you will be set for a comfortable life in the lap of luxury for the remainder of your days in the world of the living."
And now the cherry on top.
"If you accept this offer, I will see that your underlying whom I just killed is revived and placed at your side."
Because the effects of [Beguiling Influence] were still under a time limit, Shura always made a habit of leaving a very good impression that would last long after the invocation expired. Offering to make sure she's set for life in a place where she can truly belong will hopefully ensure this psion's loyalty forever.
"You will do that for me? For us? Even after I got in the way of your plans with the Rhemurus individual?"
"Is not like you were aware of my plans, and I kind of intruded into your place without any warning and killed your friend, so...hopefully this makes it up somewhat."
Drulis just needed 10 seconds to decide after seemingly thinking it over. The only other person she was somewhat close to was Calistria, but she was so beautiful and famous that she would still be set for life without her. The only reason she ever joined Drulia was because Drulia herself prayed on the ego and narcissism all good-looking but decadent people have.
"Yes, I will have to leave behind some letters to particular individuals, but there should be no issues of any sort. I will gladly move to your country and offer my abilities to the sorcerer emperor."
"So it appears it's settled. I made sure that there would not be any obstacles in Rhemurus' path and got a brand new psion to add to our numbers. The old man will be pleased!"
"Old man...so I take it your father must be a very important figure in your empire."
"Ah, right. We still haven't introduced each other, would you tell me your name?"
"I never knew what my real name was, the caretakers of the orphanage I grew up in gave me a name I didn't like, so I called myself Drulia."
"Drulia, nice to make your acquaintance." He said as he reached his hand forward, a hand that Drulia softly grabbed with both her own hands as if she were making contact with the holiest of figures.
"My name is Shura Ulain Gown, firstborn of His Majesty Ainz Ooal Gown, elected governor of Corpus of the Abyss, Lord of Ravenloft castle, and crown prince of the Sorcerer Empire."