Numa Ancus Tullius had been the Emperor ruling over a country near the eastern part of the continent. He had reigned for twenty-seven years, and what a glorious twenty-seven years it had been! His country had made great strides not only in terms of land conquered, but also in areas of magical technology, the arts, and architecture. The Grand Cathedral of Kings had been one of the greatest marvels of the continent, which his father had started and that he had finished. The Carni and the Morini, both old enemies of his empire, had been destroyed after a series of excellent military decisions. His reign was greatly celebrated by his people.

If he had been allowed to pass away due to old age, and to leave his legacy to one of his sons, he would have been content with that. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.

Even now, countless years later, the memory brought an ashen taste to his mouth. Truly, it was rightfully said- that women were the downfall of not only men but of kingdoms. Such was since the beginning of time itself. As a matter of fact, the reason that this country had been so easy for him to conquer was because they were fools who allowed themselves to be ruled by women- though to be fair, he doubted a man could've done much better against him given how outclassed these weaklings were.

She had been a milkmaid- a simple peasant who should've not even been a grain of sand in the great desert that was history. However, she had a charm to her- and had managed to enthrall both of his heirs. They had nearly fractured his country in a bid to win over the nation- and by extension, her. What resulted was a calamitous war that nearly destroyed everything that he had built. The Grand Cathedral of Kings- reduced to a mound of rocks! A quarter of his nation's population wiped out due to famine and plague!

What could he do though? He could not reign forever- so the priests who gathered around his deathbed told him. He should have faith, they told him, that the gods would deliver the nation from this calamity. That his sons would eventually get over their hatred and see the light of reason.

His court wizard had a different idea. A way that he could indeed rule forever... though certain sacrifices would have to be made for that to come to fruition it would surely be worth it for the greater good of his nation. And so, to save his country, he had embraced the darkness of unlife.

It was fine, initially. For about five years his people played along- though eventually paranoia got to them and he had been forced to stamp out a large rebellion who refused to live under the yoke of an Elder Lich. They told him that after his transformation he had become excessively cruel and vindictive- but that was merely part of being a ruler, he told them- he had simply done what was necessary!

His people had been foolish. How could they not see the benefits of being ruled by an Elder Lich- one who could command legions of undead, using which he had tilled the fields and filled the stomachs of his starving countrymen? How could they not see that he could rule forever, and another civil war would never happen again?

Not only were they foolish, they were downright ungrateful. While initially empathizing with their plight, he had ultimately felt only a twinge of pity as he wiped out city after city, turning his empire into a true nation of the undead.

And then things went smoothly for about a century, before he came into conflict with another Elder Lich. During the conflict, a large amount of negative energy was released, and as he emerged the victor- he had assimilated the other into himself. That other being was currently his second head- though it did not have any more free will of its own- he could occasionally get the impression that it was whispering to him.

And so, one would think that he would finally have some peace and quiet- but the thing about life is that it always finds a way to send new problems at you. And as such, unending life equals unending problems.

And this problem was one that he could not solve. He had eventually joined the organization known as Corpus of the Abyss, an organization of like-minded undead magic casters- but they had been taken over by 'That One'.

The wall that defended the Roble Holy Kingdom was one thousand kilometers long- when it had still stood, that it is.

If the word 'HATE' was written on every single millimeter of its length, it would still be inadequate to express how much he despised That One. For That One was the worst kind of leader- the kind that would dispose of his subordinates without a moment's hesitation, the kind who reaped all the benefits with none of the risk, and who cared for naught but himself. The Death Emperor was not alone- That One was so universally despised that the other members of Corpus of the Abyss had no qualms about conferring with each other regarding overthrowing him- such was their certainty that none of them would sell the other out.

But hate could not kill. That One was far too strong for them to ever hope of defeating. Still, the fact remained that they were all eternal. Was it impossible that there existed the possibility that, given that they would live long enough, that they would be able to finally strike down That One? For now, they kowtowed to That One, while all the while scheming of a way to take That One down.

And so, as a part of that, they needed a way to counter That One's abilities if such a future ever came. That One was among the oldest of the Dragon Lords, and to counter That One's trump card- its ability to use Wild Magic, they needed either another Wild Magic user... or, as he had found out while researching, something known as a 'World Item.' A confidant of his had found an abandoned library, and a text in there outlined an item with magical properties that he had never heard of before... yes, he had thought at the time, this had to be a weapon capable of rivalling Wild Magic.

His search for it had led him to the Holy Roble Kingdom, and its destruction was a prelude to him obtaining it. After he had taken over the temples, his Elder Liches had scoured them for information about the item in question... and his search had not been unfruitful! Two days ago, deep within a cave, he had found it buried under a mountain of rubble- and upon touching it he knew its true power. He knew that simply by holding this, he was completely immune to Wild Magic- the strongest trump card of the Dragon Lords!

Truth be told, before he had found this World Item, there were times where he felt it would've been better if he had died on his deathbed so many centuries ago and had not embraced unlife, given he had to deal with That One. But no longer did such thoughts haunt him.

Indeed, in a way he had outdone the other members of Corpus of the Abyss. That said, he was not deluded enough to think that he could go toe-to-toe with That One, but as it was said, the journey of a thousand leagues began with but a single step.

One day, perhaps, he would either be strong enough himself, or, a hero would emerge from somewhere with the power to take down That One.

Still, he thought this achievement was certainly great enough to style himself the 'Death Emperor'- it was certainly a title befitting one such as he.

Of course, now what remained to figure out was what he was to do with the rest of this country. Its destruction had simply been a means to an end- to obtain this World Item. He had had some fun for old times sake though- he had ritually strangled the Holy Queen after a large military parade such as the ones he used to hold when he was still alive, but now it was time to wrap things up. Though, as a final act of humiliation, he had turned her undead- the one thing that she would have despised the most.

He had considered making this country a second base of operations, but it was too much work to maintain. Still, negative energy could always be harvested... yes, it would be best if he slew all the demihumans and humans still living here and turned them into undead.

He was pondering this when his senses went off- one of his Death Knights was trying to reach out to him... but its location was different from where he remembered placing it.

Using [Greater Teleportation] he appeared over what was once the largest cathedral of this human city (he intended to turn it into a garbage dump) and nothing initially felt off, until he found the Death Knight.

He knew simply by looking at it that it was not one of his on- and a strike of [Chain Lightning] took care of it. Now, the question arose- who had summoned it? Had another member of Corpus of the Abyss came here? Were they trying to steal his World Item? While they were supposed to be working together, a World Item was a treasure that could easily turn brother against brother. That was why he had taken this whole pilgrimage in private, and told none of them what he was up to... but had one of them somehow found out?

Though they were technically were supposed to be working together, backstabbing was not out of the question. He landed, only to be met by someone barging out of the Inner Sanctum.

A human barged out- a woman with the garb of this country's paladins. She pulled out a strange crystal he had not seen before, though a simple thought of [Death] sent her to the afterlife before she could take more than two steps.

Honestly killing her was so easy it was like swatting a fly- it made him wonder why she had even bothered trying to attack him despite the vast differences in power between the two of them, like she thought that she was the main character of a heroic epic or something. Anyway, this all just reinforced his thinking that woman, indeed, should not be left in charge or anything given how dumb they were.

He concluded that it wasn't her then that had summoned this other Death Knight- if she was strong enough to summon one she should've been able to survive that spell.

Before he could take a step further though, something enormous jumped out of the Inner Sanctum.

It was a beast he had never seen before- a nightmarish creature with three heads that were far too small compared to its massive body. Each head had the shape of a deformed dog, with long teeth that looked like they could take a bite out of adamantite with no problem.

It wasn't its size though that was the issue. Immediately, even with the distance separating them, he could feel this creature's strength. Instant death spells were not going to be an option here. "[Anti-Life Gungnir]!" This tenth tier spell was one of his own invention- it sent a powerful burst of negative energy at a target and combined it with piercing-type melee damage as well. He felt the spell connect... but the beast, though injured, did not fall.

It was the first time that an enemy had been able to survive his trump card, and this nearly caused him to fumble and retreat, but the beast did not chase him- instead, it took the corpse of the woman he had killed, picked it up in one of its mouths, and then bounded back into the Inner Sanctum.

His immediate reaction was rage- how dare these filth contaminate what was rightfully his? Now that he allowed himself to calmd down somewhat, he realized that his spell had definitely done damage- so a few more casts should be able to take that beast down. He then gave chase.


Ainz felt relief when his cerberus came back, but this immediately evaporated when it dumped Remedios to the floor.

Lifeless.

What? How did this happen?

I'm sorry boss! the cerberus communicated to him mentally. She was like this when I got to her!

Ainz nearly fell to his knees. No... he had been too late!

His summon gave him a pitiful look and then turned around with its belly facing upward as if it wanted a belly rub and some consolation- if it wasn't so ugly it might've been endearing.

"Aww... it looks so cute!" Dantallion said behind him.

His cerberus glared at Dantallion as if saying that it would bite his head off if he came anywhere near it.

"What's wrong with you?" Neia asked.

"Hey- I'll have you know that my parents took me to three different priests, and all of them concluded that I had no mental damage!" Dantallion said, puffing out his chest.

"I think that incident speaks for itself then..." Neia said. As annoying as Dantallion was, the bigger issue was that Remedios, her mentor was dead and there was nothing that-

"-I refuse to accept this!" Ainz called out. Greif had overwhelmed him before his emotional suppression had somewhat calmed him down, clearing his mind so that he could at least think somewhat. He took out a Wand of Resurrection from his inventory. Would this work? It had to! Remedios had talked about resurrecting the Holy Queen, so it meant that it was possible in this world, right?!

It had to work! He refused to lose another person that he cherished so much- perhaps even loved, again! He may have lost his other friends, but he wasn't going to lose Remedios!