Hello Scrolls and Nazarins, we are ending this arc in my fanfic The One Who Came Back.
Shalltear is furious and takes it out on someone, while the other guardians learn a lesson.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 70: Plans
Shalltear was furious, pacing the tomb's corridors and stamping her feet, the sound reverberating like thunder. In the last half hour, her rival had humiliated her not once, but twice.
Albedo could deceive her by lying about being alone with Ainz-Sama, that didn't bother Shalltear, however, the last part, where Albedo stated that her master chose her as a companion, was unbearable, mainly because there was no lie in those words, just triumph. Anger took over his mind.
"Ainz-Sama wouldn't do that, that gorilla couldn't have won."
Normally, Shalltear would go straight to her room to take out her frustrations on the vampire brides, but not today. Today, she wanted to crush something.
Following the corridors of the great tomb, she arrived at her destination: the Colosseum on the sixth floor.
The Colosseum is an eye-catching structure in the middle of a floor that was basically forest and woods, it was an area designed to attract invaders, a trap. Its stands were full of Animated Statues. Unlike golems, these statues were basically what the name suggests - statues that were given an animation spell. They were not that strong, but they made up for this weakness with numbers, since the Coliseum had an audience of forty thousand "spectators".
Furthermore, it was underground that Nazarick's reserve legions were located.
Ainz had the ability to summon a certain number of dead daily: Death Knights and Death Warriors. Therefore, one of his daily commitments was to spend these invocations and save them for... well, for "a rainy day."
The undead were also used in training, allowing anyone to spend their energy there. However, for all these opponents, they were too weak. Only Cocytus maintained this routine.
For the past few months, the Guardian of the fifth floor, at Princess Renner's request, has been training Climb. However, when the difference in strength became obvious, it was necessary to find a sparring partner, a fighting partner.
And they only had one who was familiar with Climb's fighting style, and that one was frozen on the fifth floor.
So, as a solution, all you had to do was take it out of the freezer, defrost it and then resurrect it.
It took a few days for him to recover enough to begin training, something that also helped Climb recover some lost levels. Now, they were both training when the vampire appeared.
"YOU! GET OUT OF HERE!"
"Lady Shalltear! Yes, as you wish, let's go." - said Climb.
The blue-haired man didn't move.
"*What are you doing? She's dangerous, does she want to die again?* - whispered Climb, who always maintained a human appearance for training.
"I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!" - Shouted the blue-haired warrior.
"Who do you think you are, you little human?!"
"I AM BRAIN AUNGLUS! AND I WILL BE YOUR OPPONENT!"
"I do not know you?!"
"We have already fought, my lady, twice." - Shalltear made a face like she still didn't remember - "I cut her nail on our last meeting."
"Aaah! On the roof." - she said with displeasure.
"That time, you wore a wig and white clothes, but the first time we met, my lady wore the same clothes. Momon claimed to have killed her, but it is obvious that the lady survived."
Shalltear was now rubbing her forehead sullenly.
"It wasn't me, that first time. It was my runaway twin sister, and on the roof I was undercover investigating for my master the rumor of a demonic invasion."
"Aah! I'm sorry for the confusion, my lady. I should have realized that Honeyopenyoko would be stronger. After all, I couldn't even scratch heraaaaAAAH!..." - Brain whined, when his belly was opened, his intestines jumped out along with pieces of his liver and pancreas.
"I am the strongest in Nazarick. Now, GET AWAY!" - said the vampire, cleaning one of her hands, standing meters in front of the disemboweled warrior.
Climb ran in with a potion and threw it on Brain, who was on the verge of death, but the potion saved him.
"That's all... what can you do?" - Brain teased, trying to get up.
Shalltear stopped walking, and in an instant she was ten meters behind the warrior, holding a severed arm.
When the vampire threw him to the ground, Climb ran to retrieve him and, once again, used another potion. He had many for training.
"There is! This time... I saw the lady coming" - Brain groaned.
Again, she disappeared, and for an instant she was in front of Brain. At this moment the warrior's upper body flew through the air.
Climb sighed. Apparently, his job now seemed to be picking up the pieces of his colleague and healing him every few seconds.
For over an hour, this routine went on, and even Shalltear was getting bored.
"You do not give up? You will never defeat me. He couldn't even touch me. That time you even cut my nail. Now, you're not even half of that."
Brain was shaking and could barely hold the sword. Even with healing, his strength was not immediately restored.
"If... I stop... if... I give up... fighting... it would be as if I... had really... lost."
The vampire stared at the human.
'If he doesn't give up, why should I?' - "That's enough for me, Climb, take care of this rubbish."
Shalltear left with a new resolve, she would not give up in the fight for Ainz's love.
"IF YOU WANT A REMATCH... YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME!" - Brain shouted, provoking the vampire who was leaving.
The knight threw another potion in his friend's face.
"You're crazy," Climb said.
...
Hours Later
Upon exiting the portal, Ainz was met with a strange reception; before him were Demiurge and Renner, kneeling were Mare and Tira, the leader of the Ijaniya group, the ninja who was in the service of the Argland Council.
"Welcome oh! Sorcerer King" - everyone said.
"Thank you for having me, I really wanted to talk to some of you. You, Miss Tira, the Ijaniya group did a good job of disinformation, the Council must have been reticent in the face of a report containing such conflicting information, since those who suspect us now have certainties based on the false information implanted and will take decisions that I believe will be hasty, you are to be congratulated and you received a bonus for your service, you are dismissed.
"Thank you, Your Majesty" - said the disappearing ninja.
Ainz then looked at the young elf who looked in agony.
"Is everything okay, Mare?"
"I-I'm sorry, Ainz-Sama!"
"Sorry for what?"
"Th-you treated me as an equal, that is an unforgivable offense. I-I'm just a servant."
"Mare, we've discussed this before. You are now a king and, as one, you will be treated as such at every solemn or outward event."
"B-but Ainz-Sama, m-my title of Floor Guardian is much more important than king, p-please don't degrade me" - Mare spoke between tears.
"Hmm, calm down, calm down. Since you insist on being treated normally, this is how it will be. I would never demote you, Mare, even if you win other titles, you will always be my guardians" - Ainz said, rubbing the dark elf's crying head, who was now wiping away his tears.
"Ainz-Sama, Renner told me the events of the meeting and I would like to discuss some points with Albedo."
"Of course, Demiurge, let's go to the throne room."
All the way, both demons did not stop making plans on how they would punish, sacrifice, replace or torture the king and the Emperor, as well as everyone on the Council and the representatives of the Four Kingdoms.
When they entered the throne room, Ainz's patience was already at its limit. When he reached the staircase that led to the throne, he stopped.
Immediately, everyone realized that something was wrong and fell to the ground on their knees, awaiting orders.
"Do you have that little faith in me?" - muttered the sovereign.
A tremor and astonishment passed through those present who bowed even more.
"WE'RE SORRY, AINZ-SAMA!"
"You don't even know what you're apologizing for."
"WE REGRET OUR IGNORANCE, AINZ-SAMA!"
"Humph! Everyone talks so much about my ten thousand year plan, but in the first situation that dissatisfies them, they completely forget about it."
"M-my lord, I'm sorry but the humans, they forced you to accept a heinous imposition, they tried to humiliate you.
"Albedo, the Council did exactly what I wanted them to do. The Holy Kingdom will for now deal with its own conflicts without my interference. This way, no one will question my intentions over the next few centuries, especially after showing that my power is not just for destruction, the knight's cure gave us another point for this "benefit of the doubt"."
"But Ainz-Sama, what about the dwarf king and the human, they were ashamed, they treated each other like children, they shamed the lord. They should behave as loyal and obedient subjects."
"Instead, Albedo, they behaved like normal people, with their flaws and defects."
"That's right, Ainz-Sama."
"Which was wonderful for us.
"Ainz-Sama?" - Demiurge tried to argue.
"Remember My Ten Thousand Year Plan. Everyone quotes him at every opportunity, but they don't seem to see what it means: ten thousand years."
"FORGIVE, MY LORD!" - everyone shouted.
"My Ten Thousand Year Plan means it will take me ten thousand years to complete it, not one year more or nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight less. If I wanted to take over the continent by force, I would do it in a week. But I ask you: what fun would that be?"
"But Ainz-Sama, the... vassals?!"
"They behaved exactly like kings and emperors. They behaved like free men, who can still exercise their authorities and are not subject to the absolute control of a tyrant or megalomaniacal dictator. The Council saw this, everyone saw this."
"But you should be venerated as the Supreme Being that you are."
"And I will be, Demiurge. But I do not desire a single subject who worships me only out of fear. They will fear me as they fear a God and they will love me for it. They will follow my desires whether for their good or bad, because they will have faith in me, and thus I will win their hearts in these Ten. Thousand. Years."
Ainz said all of this solemnly, without even turning around and confronting his guardians. He was afraid he wouldn't remember all the words if he faced them, but as he sat on the throne, he had to look them in the face.
He expected to see the two demons pondering his words and trying to fit them into their own concepts of the Plan, but to his surprise.
"SASUGA AINZ-SAMA!" - declared Demiurge, wiping his crystal eyes.
"MAY AINZ OOAL GOWN'S WILL BE FULFILLED! - proclaimed Albedo.
The succubus was in tears, as were Mare and Renner. Simply, they had heard the declaration of a true God.
"Hmm! Well, apparently this matter is closed. Now, I would like to discuss my next plan."
"Yes, Ainz-Sama, as you wish, will we conquer the Draconic Kingdom? Will we head to the lands of the Beastmen?"
"Actually, Albedo, I was thinking about going to the beach."
...
Author's Note
YES! I brought Brain back, he is now the sparring partner, he is weaker than Climb now that he has become a demon, hence the healing potions.
For those who don't know how to spar, you don't need to be as strong as those who are training, you just need to hold on and help correct the blows.
About Albedo and Demiurge not having imagined that everything was part of Ainz's plans, everything is because of EGO, their egos are so big that they cannot envision their master being humble and submitting to the rules of others, this helps Ainz every time he things don't turn out as they imagine.