Off the coast of the Argland Council State, facing nothing but empty land, Mustapha Mond basked in the unpleasant feelings of his two companions.
Well, two companions and the rest of the Seraphim guild who were flying invisible far behind them to avoid detection.
Ainz Ooal Gown covering up the entirety of the peninsula with the equivalent of mildly inconvenient glue was something worth investigating. Considering that the bread and butter of world PvP in Yggdrasil was based upon ambushes, it was almost a necessity to bring the entire guild to any location where confrontation was possible.
Especially when they're obviously trying to direct their attention to the peninsula.
"Ugh, how annoying…" Eyesee grumbled from his side, the many eyed angel casting a few preliminary spells to ensure they aren't annihilated right away, "So many Cloudheads. Where do they get it from? Do they like wasting resources?"
"We could do the same," Elynas proposed, sitting down criss-cross applesauce midair, "Covering all of the London District in Cloudheads. We could craft a lot."
"It's unnecessary," Mustapha Mond simply said, "It would be more beneficial if they found it and killed themselves upon the Library of God."
With what Ainz Ooal Gown could bring to the table against Seraphim, there was no viable option for them to be able to invade their guild base without casualties. As such, there was no need to hide. The radiant church would boldly stand against the darkness.
Eyesee jabbed her elbow at him, "You can go, now."
Silently nodding, Mustapha Mond pointed Grasscutter towards the peninsula.
Most spellbreakers in Yggdrasil chose to fully orient themselves into melee classes. After all, the worst spot a mage could be in was right next to a melee enemy.
Given the skill tier Seraphim played at, however, it was getting difficult to throw Mustapha Mond into the backline to disable the mages. So instead, he opted to go for the less powerful route of choosing to become a mage spellbreaker.
He gained valuable range on his spellbreaker abilities, but he now relied on his allies to actually take advantage of those opportunities instead of himself being able to clean house in the middle of a large battle.
Still, the utility of a mage couldn't be understated, especially in the real world…
Targeting the Cloudheads, which still had a physical vessel while protecting an area, Mustapha Mond casted a spell, "[Widen Triplet Magic: Divine Persecution]
Using the widened meta magic in combination with Grasscutter effectively quadrupled the area able to be targeted by a spell. While the triplet meta magic would sixtuple the amount of attacks that would come forth.
Mustapha Mond had his eye on Grasscutter since the day he heard of its existence. He couldn't use it often in Yggdrasil, but now, he could use it however he wished in the new world.
The 10th tier spell darkened the skies as its gaze fell upon every Cloudhead in sight. A lowly task compared to the power of the spell.
Holy thunder fell upon Argland, destroying much of the land surrounding each Cloudhead.
It was a small amount compared to the still massive amount of Cloudheads still standing, but it should get Ainz Ooal Gown's attention.
As time passed without the presence of anyone, Eyesee pointed out, "Seems like they're not paying much attention."
If this were the land of their guild base, they would likely be much quicker in their response.
The fact that a full minute had gone by without anything happening suggested that Nazarick likely isn't in Argland. Though it could just be that they were all deciding what to do.
Given that there wasn't any divination happening upon them, they might not even realize Seraphim was standing there yet.
"We could throw a spy in there," Elynas said during the wait, getting a nod from Mustapha Mond.
She was right. Cloudheads only notified the person who placed it down after it's been destroyed, not if anyone was walking through it or if a message went through it. They could likely teleport someone outside of Argland and have them walk to the nearest center of civilization, then continue business as usual.
In fact, he was quite sure one of their NPCs had some sort of spy ring set up in here already. Perhaps it would be good to check up on that.
Mustapha Mond felt a split second of someone else's divination looking at him before it immediately retreated.
The next moment, a portal appeared on land.
Walking out were various members of Ainz Ooal Gown. Whether they were the NPCs or players, he wasn't quite sure. It has been a while, after all.
A human, two elves, a frozen beetle, a succubus most likely, a dragon, a deer, and what was probably a vampire.
Given that there were only 8 of them, they were likely NPCs trying to bait them into attacking so that the players could sweep in after Seraphim used some of their cooldowns on revivable targets.
So they've reached the bare minimum of strategy in the new world. How assuring it is to know that you have competent enemies…
"Elynas," Mustapha Mond calmly said while keeping an eye on their enemies, "It is your turn."
She nodded as she lifted up her hand, "[Maximize Magic: Prophesied Location]"
After a second, she simply told him, "They're going to attack us and stay here after we leave."
"How annoying," Mustapha Mond frowned, disappointed.
It was a shame Grasscutter did not see the prophet's location divination as a status effect. Instead, the afflicted will simply know to stay put for a while longer while the effect wears off.
Curse you, Yggdrasil balancing.
As the small elf mage raised her staff, Mustapha Mond figured it was about time for the first part of the prophecy to become true.
"We are leaving after I nullify that spell," Mustapha Mond said, raising Grasscutter.
The mage finishes casting, sending Petit Catastrophe straight at the three.
It was no issue.
"[Final Commandment: Disappear]"
There were a few racial classes in the game that would change the name of various spells or skills, but still keep the same effect. Angels likely had the most number of changed names, given the popularity of angels in Yggdrasil.
One of those arbitrary name changes was the final spell of the spellbreaker tree. From "Absolute Nullification" to "Final Commandment: Disappear."
There were no visual changes either. Petit Catastrophe simply flickered away as if it were a small flame, nullified or disappearing, it did not matter.
He could do the same to Grand Catastrophe, as he had proven decades earlier, but the spell was on a 24 hour cooldown and he didn't want to risk Ulbert Alain Odle showing up now.
So, he told the entire guild, "Let us go. There is no need to fight a battle on even grounds here."
A few days passed by since they planted their Cloudheads and had a face-off against Seraphim.
There were a few more incursions into Argland, but nothing that would suggest an invasion was coming soon. It was all easily counteracted just by showing up.
In Vagisilious's opinion, that was kind of inconvenient, actually. Ainz Ooal Gown stood a better chance at winning a full on 41 against 71 conflict than letting things drag out to allow for ambushes to take out people on both sides. They had to play much more carefully with fewer pieces on the board than Seraphim did.
Well, at least they had the advantage of being able to initiate things instead of having to look at the shadows all day. She didn't envy the defender's disadvantage.
Anyhow, now Ainz Ooal Gown was getting prepared to overthrow Seraphim and create a society that isn't an actual genuine book-certified dystopia. Looking for Seraphim's guild base, looking for allies who would be willing to administer things on their behalf, and figuring out how to kidnap Seraphim members without breaking Principality's condition of not permanently killing someone.
Plus a few other things, but hey, she was busy.
As the guild's only propaganda worker, she was given the task of attempting to convince brainwashed citizens into believing angels were evil and monsters could be good.
This was mostly because they didn't want to have to kill everyone after overthrowing Seraphim, so they were just preparing them for the possibility of other people being in charge.
Those other people being monsters.
In her humble opinion, this was impossible.
But she's been surprised before by the stupidity of a human being, so maybe she can figure out how she's going to get away with it.
So, in her room, Vagisilious was creating a bunch of plans to try out on the general populace to see if she could get them to believe what Ainz Ooal Gown needed them to believe.
She drafted up all of her normal, human plans like putting up propaganda posters and praying that they work. Giving them "first-hand" accounts of Seraphim's tyranny. Shower them in gifts to make them like Ainz Ooal Gown better.
Most of those plans could be handled by her propaganda NPC, Bernays, and his few doppelganger underlings.
Then she realized that, hey, she can use magic now! She could figure out some cool magic things to convince people as well.
Which was how she got "use illusion magic to show Seraphim slaughtering their families."
Maybe Ulbert possessed her and wrote that one. Who would ever have such a dark thought? Certainly not her.
Think of the devil and he shall appear, however, as Ulbert's voice popped up in her head.
"Hey Vaggy, where are you right now?" Ulbert asked as soon as she let him speak.
Putting her writings on hold, she answered, "In my room, brainstorming things. Wanna help?"
Because Vagisilious has Ulbert wrapped around her finger (completely ignoring the fact he has her agreeing to anything he does as well), he immediately agrees and teleports directly into her room.
It was common courtesy not to directly teleport into someone's room, but hey, boyfriend privileges.
Ulbert immediately hugged her from behind as he asked, "Hey, so what do you need help with?"
She vaguely gestured to the giant stack of papers nearby as she leaned into him, "Figuring out how to convince people, who have seen real angels before, believe that they're evil."
"...That's out of my paygrade."
"Yeah, I know."
Again, she would like to reiterate, this is impossible. It was akin to trying to convince someone the sky wasn't blue.
Not to mention, they probably have the necessary infrastructure to fast forward anyone who believed her lies to be brainwashed with Control Amnesia. What a stupid spell. Who decided it should be allowed to just do that? It was just a roleplay and questing spell!
Well, it's not like she can say much, considering she had a bunch of those too.
Anyhow, back to the issue at hand, the people of the Holy Kingdom needs to, at the very least, mildly distrust Seraphim enough to where overthrowing them isn't a crazy idea.
In her own opinion, Vagisilious already wrote down all of the good ideas, so she's not expecting much from anything Ulbert says.
Which is why when Ulbert takes the time to scholarly ponder it for a moment, resting his head on her own, it doesn't surprise her when he said, "What if we had some really hot, 10 out of 10 girls convince the guys that the angels were evil?"
A singular tear falls out of her spectral eyes.
"Huh? Vaggy? Why are you crying?"
"This shit… Is so ass…"
"What?"
Plan 001
You are to distribute pamphlets to citizens in your given city. These pamphlets contain information that have no need to be protected and can be easily recreated. You are to place your lives above them.
After distributing all of your pamphlets, return to the dropoff point.
If you are found by anyone above the level of 30, you are to commit suicide with the items we have given you. You are not allowed to fight.
Vagisilious.
In the city of Re-Robel, Kolohan was on his daily jog to ensure he was getting enough exercise daily. Since the Seraphim had taken control of the Holy Kingdom, people have been getting lazy and getting overweight from the lack of physical labor they do.
Not him, though. Kolohan was a builder and he… Was also getting a bit overweight. As it turns out, there were only so many things he could build by hand when there were actual angels to help him.
So, his daily jogs.
Well, the things they paid for not having to worry about tomorrow.
As he was making a turn, he spotted a girl he had never seen before calmly handing out papers to anyone who would walk by her.
She was wearing what Kolohan would charitably call "High-class" so he assumed that whoever this was was from the London district of the Holy Kingdom. It was probably worth a read.
So naturally, he stopped jogging as he stood in front of the girl, who handed him a pamphlet without fuss, continuing to walk the path.
Holding up the paper to his face, he reads… oh.
It was just anti-Seraphim propaganda.
The pamphlet spoke lies of how Seraphim were brainwashing people in the London and Slane district, and how they were intending to make them obedient servants who could never question authority.
Quite frankly, he was about to rip it to shreds on the spot before his friend called out from in front of him, "Oh, hey, Kolohan! You got the same paper too, huh?"
Knocked out of his thoughts, he looked up to see his friend, Phillip, walking towards him with a smile on his face.
"...Ah, yeah," Kolohan scratched his head, not sure how to react, "How do you feel about it?"
Showing off his own copy of the pamphlet, Phillip amusedly said, "I think it's interesting. What if it's telling the truth? We don't know what's going on in the other districts, right?"
He knew his friend, Phillip, was a little daft. Most Phillips are. But even so, this was on another level.
"What- Don't say that!" Kolohan scolded, shaking his friend a little by the shoulders, "What if someone hears you?!"
Phillip wasn't convinced, "Ah, come on, man. It's fine! Don't you think it's interesting anyway?"
"It's a bunch of rubbish, that's what it is," Kolohan firmly said.
There was absolutely no way any of what was said was right. How could angels do any wrong? That's absurd.
"Mm, well, I'm just saying if it was right-"
He didn't get to finish the rest of that sentence as another voice loudly interrupted him.
"Hold it! You are under arrest for the attempted undermining of our great society!" The voice of a man, who Kolohan vaguely recognized as one of the guards he had never spoken to, shouted out.
While the size of the guards had decreased a lot over the years since the Seraphim took over and wiped out all of the monsters, those who remained were left with the task of watching over citizens to ensure nothing amiss was happening. Such as, of course, heretics.
Phillip froze, correctly assuming he was the one being called out. He sheepishly turned around and greeted the guard, "Oh! Uh, hey! I wasn't doing anything like that! I was just… You know?"
The unnamed guard did not accept his defense, immediately pulling out cuffs.
While Kolohan didn't blame the guards, he still had to at least try to defend his friend, "Sir, I'm sure he was just speaking before he could think, right? Surely it isn't worth the hassle of bringing him in like this."
The guard shook his head, "Haven't you heard? Re-Estisize was nearly destroyed by monsters. We must be vigilant to any traitors like him trying to poison the thoughts of men like you."
Well, of course he heard about that, but…
As Phillip was taken into cuffs to be taken away, Kolohan was left contemplating what had just happened.
The guard didn't confiscate his pamphlet, likely because he thought that Kolohan was a good citizen, but…
Looking at the words on his pamphlet, if that was what happened here… Maybe some of the things on this pamphlet were true?
TO THE PROPAGANDA DEPARTMENT
As expected, plan 001 has done almost nothing to reach our goals other than to make them aware that there was something brewing in the shadows. Most people have already claimed that everything written on the pamphlet is fake, or has an agenda behind it.
That being said, upon observation from my own divination abilities through the past few days in the affected cities, there were a few overzealous guards who caused a commotion and ended up radicalizing some of the affected citizens into believing us. As such, future plans should account for authority figures and their actions and how it could benefit us.
Due to the cost effective nature of this plan, where we really lose nothing by doing it, I recommend we continue the use of this plan.
Vagisilious.
Plan 004
Higher leveled NPCs (Above 30) will infiltrate cities in order to individually bring people onto our side. If they are clearly heteromorphic, they will wear a disguise for the time being. Prioritizing key officials like mayors, department heads, business owners, etc. Once you have converted someone on your side, they will be assigned a shadow demon to keep watch on their actions.
After Ainz Ooal Gown announces its coup, these officials will be pushed into a higher level of power in order to keep control in these cities to ensure order prevails under our watch.
If you can, attempt to find people who seem naturally greedy and offer them great rewards. You will be given a sum of gold and other goods in order to entice them initially.
In the scenario that they accept your offer only to attempt to sell us out later, we will simply kill them and replace them with a doppelganger. Do not worry about it.
Nigredo, Nubo, or I will be periodically checking in on all agents at least once every hour. If you cannot contact anyone from Nazarick for up to 2 hours, you are to leave immediately and assume you are being watched by Seraphim. Do not harm any civilians during your escape.
If you are caught by Seraphim or their NPCs, you are to kill yourself using the items we give you effective immediately.
Vagisilious.
With a population of 21,743, E-Tanto was a very humble town with a strong sense of identity. It was a town that Helmet was very proud to be the mayor of.
A wonderful town, a wonderful wife, and a wonderful country. What else could a mayor ever want in his life? He was complete.
As he was humming a tune while finishing signing a few papers, a chill went down his spine, as though something was watching him.
Knowing the various powers and monsters of this world, Helmet knew that it was more likely than not that someone was watching him.
Cautiously, Helmet called out, "Who's there?"
"I'm surprised that you noticed."
Flicking his head behind him, Helmet found the monster, short and clothed, yet wearing the plague doctor's mask and adorned in white, it seemed almost like a short human.
"Who are you?" Helmet quietly asked, unsure of how strong the creature in front of him was. If it was speaking, it at least had an agenda that might keep him alive for now.
The little creature chuckled as it hopped onto his desk, slyly saying, "You're the leader of this town, right? Do you make the people here happy?"
Not sure of the intentions of the monster, Helmet answers honestly, "Of course. As the mayor of the town, it's my duty to serve my people."
"Don't you want more, though?" The monster asked, tempting him into whatever foul trap it created inside his head.
It was true, Helmet did once have ambitions beyond the small town. Most of it disappeared when the Seraphim took over, but even so, a flame doesn't disappear so easily.
Hesitantly, Helmet asked, "...What do you mean by that?"
"Our masters, hidden in the shadows, hold a noble goal! In their infinite benevolence, they have chosen to lead the humans of the Holy Kingdom into a new future! You will be untethered by things such as uniformity and chains!" The monster doggedly espoused, deeply unsettling Helmet.
However, what came next was surprising, "You have been chosen to be one of the hidden daggers within the Holy Kingdom, waiting to be ascended into a place of prominence, keeping order within the new Kingdom!"
…They wanted to recruit him in order to keep order on a large scale after they take over the Holy Kingdom?
It was absurd. Who would be able to defeat the Gods direct chosen?
But the possibility of it being true, that they could overthrow the Seraphim, letting him gain more prominence…
His ambition…
"...I'm listening."
The monster was pleased, "Hahaha! You've listened to everything you needed to hear! Once our masters come out of the shadows, we'll be back to take you to your rightful place! All you need to do is be patient."
Narrowing his eyes, Helmet asked one last question, "And how long is this going to take?"
"The clash of gods doesn't take very much time at all," The monster cryptically said, before turning around, "Goodbye, human! Enjoy your new position!"
Helmet blinked, and the monster was gone.
He was left alone to stew in his thoughts as he blankly stared at where the monster previously was.
He didn't even get a name out of it.
After a few moments, letting him feel safe that the monster was now gone, thoughts turned into action.
He immediately brought out a quill and paper, starting to write.
"To the Seraphim, I fear that I have stumbled upon something gravely dark and request for your divine aid. I have been-"
In the next moment, the quill stopped.
For a brief second, he was confused on why it had stopped. But then he looked to his right hand…
His right hand had been cut off.
Helmet screamed in pain, unable to even comprehend how it had happened. But he knew one thing for sure.
The monster wasn't gone.
"Ah! You sadden me! You betrayed us the moment I was out of sight!" The monster had come back to say, placing a hand on Helmet's shoulder.
"What did I do wrong?" The monster inquired, disgustingly earnest about his question, "Should I have offered you riches? Show you my own power? What did I do wrong?"
It was over for Helmet. It was unlikely that he would live past this conversation.
His heart, however, was not filled with any regret.
"I have dedicated my life to my family. My town. My Gods," Helmet spat out, dizzy from blood loss, "You monsters cannot take any of it."
Though its eyes were hidden by its mask, Helmet could see the glee on the monster's face.
"Oh? That's why?" The monster raised its hand to lightly tap its chin in thought, "My masters will be interested to know everything they can about this kingdom! It's- Oh, you're here!"
The last view Helmet saw before passing out was another man with his own face.
Though Mustapha Mond had wanted all of Seraphim to mostly stay in groups, it was basically impossible to enforce such a thing on a group of people who had been so unchallenged in 10 years.
So, though they knew Ainz Ooal Gown was lurking in the shadows somewhere, it was not that important yet. The prevailing thought being, "They're dangerous, but they should come to our side after they realize we're right."
A notion that Zaphrael disdained.
After all, did Ainz Ooal Gown not already make their decision? Damaged by the poison of Earth, Seraphim chose to shut themselves in and create a paradise for themselves, ignorant, but free. Ainz Ooal Gown chose to harden themselves to live in such a wasteland, and has no interest in coddling those who chose to live comfortably.
Already, Mustapha Mond woke up 12 of the members who chose to insert themselves into the society they created, and none of them were pleased.
Now, it was up to the faithful of Seraphim to ensure that their less dedicated members would be ready for the fight ahead, and that required an unobstructed mind.
In the early days of the war between the two guilds, it was unlikely that Ainz Ooal Gown would make an aggressive move and would keep their actions hidden. As such, Seraphim split off in order to ensure that no cities were being infiltrated or being erased off the map in some scheme.
With that in mind, Zaphrael landed in the City of Aster, Baharuth District.
Most humans in their kingdom looked European, so the appearance of a dark skinned man like Zaphrael startled those who saw him for the first time.
However, the wings upon his back, the halo above his head, and extraordinary trinkets and clothing would mark him clearly as an angel.
Floating through the city, uncaring of the stares sent his way, Zaphrael looks out for anything with negative karma. Angels all get some sensitivity to those who commit evil.
Deciding for the moment to ignore humans with negative karma, Zaphrael is able to confirm that the majority of the city is clean.
With the exception of the mayor's house.
Narrowing his eyes, Zaphrael focused his vision upon the mayor's house and found two beings of negative karma.
One, likely the mayor. The other… Who?
Zaphrael sped towards the mayor's house, landing directly in front of it.
The mayor, perhaps sensing something, walks out 10 seconds later.
"Oh my- Are you one of the Seraphim?! It's such an honor to have you-"
Zaphrael did not bother with the pleasantries.
"[Ray of Light]"
His attack immediately killed the shadow demon that was hiding within the mayor's shadow.
"Huh wha- What?!" Was perhaps the lightest reaction Zaphrael has seen in years from a native to his attacks.
"So, tell me, mayor," Zaphrael leaned down towards the mayor who was now sweating bullets, clearly knowing he had done something wrong, "Why was a shadow demon with you?"
His confession turned out to be extremely informative.
Ainz Ooal Gown didn't just want to overthrow Seraphim, but rather take it all for themselves.
So much for freedom.
TO THE PROPAGANDA DEPARTMENT
There was some decent success on plan 004, the one that had us infiltrate the higher levels of local governments. That being said, there was a lot of failure as well.
As expected, most mayors did not wish to betray "the heavens" and chose not to betray their nation, instead attempting to get the word out, ultimately being replaced with doppelgangers.
Unfortunately, we don't have an infinite supply of doppelgangers, so we should probably stop with this plan.
Also, it seems as though this was the plan that got us busted. Lost contact with a few of the doppelgangers and shadow demons. Seems as though they figured out what was happening and are taking steps to solve it.
Given most angels took the ability to be able to see negative karma around them, we should probably scrounge up all of the positive karma summons we can find in Nazarick and use them.
That being said, it looks like Seraphim is taking advantage of the current temperature of the conflict and is going without any groups. We could take advantage of this and ambush them if Nubo or I manage to catch them in a city looking for us.
Though, it's very likely an entire city will be destroyed if we all jumped one person with the intention of capturing them.
Remind me to ask everyone how we feel about that.
Vagisilious.
Plan 014
Ulbert Alain Odle will unleash a demon somewhere, defeat all the angels at that location. After that point, have an inhuman monster defeat the demon and let the population's head do the rest.
Actually, why am I writing this? Nobody is going to see this because this is for like, exclusively Ulbert.
Well, maybe the other summoners in the guild.
Actually yeah the other summoners in the guild.
You're all being dragged into this too. Grab the anti-teleportation items from the treasury if you don't have a spell for it.
Vagisilious.
Triple checking for any anti-teleportation, detection, or any other negative trap and finding nothing, Vagisilious gives the thumbs up.
"It's safe," She said, floating on top of a branch in the forest that she was in, "I'll apply some anti-divination and anti-teleportation spells around here just in case, but I doubt Seraphim will come all the way out here."
Ulbert was dramatically leaning on a tree as he acknowledged her statement, "That's good. But I do wish one of their players was here so I could obliterate them."
Narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend, all she said was, "Please don't bring me into that fight. I don't want to carry you through another fight you shouldn't be picking."
"I can pick whatever fights I want," Ulbert scoffed, clearly forgetting how he got his ass kicked by Athalia before she had to save him from dying.
To be fair, Ulbert was a mage and she was an assassin, a mage's natural predator. She doubts any mage would've won that 1v1 in the same situation he was in. That being said, she was still going to make fun of him.
With the banter wrapped up, Ulbert shifts topics, "So, I know I made this plan. But is this plan actually going to change their minds about monsters like us?"
In her casual observations, most people only care about something if it affects themselves or they think it affects themselves.
So, considering that they were about to unleash a demon that's going to destroy half the village on them, they should care about who saved them…
She eyed Mekongawa, saying, "It depends if our savior over here makes a good introduction to the people. If he can do that, we've got it in the bag."
Because most of the NPCs in Nazarick are all somewhat evil and probably look too soulless in saving anyone, Vagisilious brought Beast King Mekongawa along. His mane looked fluffy enough to touch, and his face signaled danger enough to be a monster.
Plus, he's not doing anything right now so he's legally obligated to help her with her plans. Because hey, war, right?
Mekongawa narrowed his eyes at the pair, "The heck do you mean if our savior makes a good impression? I am going to make a good impression… Though, do I really have to look a bit afraid?"
Nodding her head, Vagisilious cheered him on, "Of course! The entire point of this is to make the monster persecution look bad! And Mekongawa, trust me, you look-"
"Ugly."
"Expressive enough to play the part of a persecuted monster!" Vagisilious finished, ignoring Ulbert's interruption.
"Ulbert. Just summon the demon I'm killing."
The small village of Birmingham in the rural parts of the Re-Estisize district hasn't changed in many years. Tucked away in the middle of nowhere close to a forest that gets cleared often by the Seraphim's angels, it was likely the status quo would stay the same forever.
Until, of course, it didn't.
On a bright and sunny day, a large roar suddenly sounded out across the entire village.
One of the residents who was having lunch asked their mayor, "Hey, what was that?"
The mayor scratched his head, "I don't know. Didn't the Seraphim clean out the forest recently?"
They couldn't have missed a monster. Such a thought was unthinkable. What could escape their divine judgment?
Soon, most of the people in the village congregated to find out what the noise was.
It was then the creature made its appearance.
The black-red creature was massive and towered over every tree in the forest and every building in the village. Its massive muscles, combined with the horns and tails, painted a grim image.
They had never encountered it before, but they all knew what it was. As though the word was ingrained into their very core to distrust and hate it.
"It's a demon!" The mayor cried out in disbelief, almost not believing his eyes.
As though hearing the word triggered it, the demon immediately began running straight for Birmingham.
Every man, woman, and child scattered as the demon crushed a house, engulfing several more into flames.
At that moment, the village angel, given out to every settlement in the Holy Kingdom, was alerted to the danger.
People cheered as it pulled out a holy weapon and went to battle.
People cried as the demon crushed the angel in his hands.
All hope was lost, and people began to abandon Birmingham.
As the mayor was running, not even turning around, he heard another cry, "The crops! The demon is burning the corps and forest!"
Giving it a glance, almost everything burst into flames. How? The demon was busy destroying the buildings and livelihoods of the people in Birmingham. Did it intend to leave them alive? But why?
Suddenly, more demons appeared in front of them, stopping everyone from running away.
Ah.
The demon didn't think they were worth the time.
As everyone froze in shocked acceptance that they were going to die, something unexpected happened.
A massive monster suddenly appeared in front of them, as though he appeared from the sky.
With a swing of his massive axe, every demon in front of them was killed.
"I thought the Seraphim killed all of the monsters?!" The mayor confusedly cried out, but not complaining that they had a savior.
The monster turned around and met the eyes of the demon. They began rushing towards each other-
It wasn't even a fight.
A single swing of the lion monster's axe killed the demon that had destroyed more than half of Birmingham.
A shocked silence falls over the people.
Then, claps. Cheers. Joy.
They didn't care that a monster slayed a demon. They were saved, and that was enough.
The monster took a look back at them, and for a split second, there was fear in his eyes.
Then, he ran off into the forest, not saying a word, if he even could speak.
They couldn't even give it their thanks.
As the village began to rebuild, several hours later, an human-like angel appeared.
"Excuse me," The angel said to no one in particular, "I see that you've all suffered an attack, and the angel protecting you all died? Could anyone explain what happened?"
As the mayor began to speak of what happened, a thought crossed his mind.
If they learned of a dangerous beast lurking in their forest, the Seraphim would kill it the next time they were patrolling the forest.
They couldn't just let their savior be hunted down like that.
"See, what happened was… The demon suddenly appeared out of nowhere, we have no idea why. But our angel quickly engaged it in battle. It was a long and arduous fight, destroying much of our small village… But the angel won, at the cost of its life. We owe a lot to you angels, because we would've been doomed otherwise!"
Politely nodding, the female angel summoned another angel, "Okay, that makes sense! We'll send you some extra supplies and prioritize you first for relocation when it reaches Re-Estisize. Stay safe, okay?"
And with that, the angel left.
Not a single soul in the village revealed their secret.
TO THE PROPAGANDA DEPARTMENT AND THE 41 SUPREME BEINGS.
After checking in on all of the villages a few days after the fact, it seems as though Seraphim wised up on the fact that this was us, and have been telling the villages to not trust their savior.
That being said, it doesn't seem to be working, as walking invisibly throughout the affected villages and listening into their conversations shows that they like us a lot. Or, like monsters, anyway. Especially when you guys talked, showing you guys as sentient.
Unfortunately, there were 2 scenarios of someone with Control Amnesia coming in to make them forget everything. Probably not worth continuing unless we strike a more populated area and place ourselves at risk.
That being said, only NPCs seem to arrive at our targeted areas. It might be a decent opportunity to make them waste gold. After all, it doesn't count against Principality's rules if we just kill the NPCs, right?
Get Peroroncino to snipe to detect traps. Dude has insane range and we can just teleport in after the check. Their reaction times can't be that fast, probably.
Vagisilious.
Reading the current situation of the domestic affairs of the non-indoctrinated districts of the Holy Kingdom, Mustapha Mond could only let out an amused chuckle.
"My, how bold they are," Mustapha Mond remarked to the only other person in the room, an NPC.
It seems while Seraphim are preparing for war and actually fighting equals, Ainz Ooal Gown are focusing on a scheme that will certainly not benefit them in the long run. After all, every strong being in Apotheosis was dead, on their side, or in a jail cell, either for being cute enough to not be killed and waiting their turn to be redeemed, or because one of the pacifist members was involved in their capture.
Given the current situation though, that last group should really just be put down. No matter how the pacifist faction put it, having a level 80 something elf capable of wearing level 100 divine gear was just not something they should leave inside a mountain filled with dwarves that were barely on their side as is.
Sipping on his cup of tea, Mustapha Mond reassured himself of his decision.
Yes, it was silly to keep those prisoners alive. While they're at it, they may as well exterminate the dwarves as well. Nobody in Seraphim turned out to be a dwarf lover. Unlike what happened with the elves, there should be no massive falling out over it.
…If only his fellow members of Seraphim were capable of rational thought instead of emotional. Star Mantle was such a useful world item in any PvP scenario.
Sighing, Mustapha Mond chose to ask the NPC, "Sigmar, in your opinion, have these operations in our kingdom changed where you believe Ainz Ooal Gown's guild base to be?"
Sigmar Rowboat was one of the NPCs that the now departed Oumuninjin-san created during his fascination with some franchise Mond never heard of. In stereotypical Seraphim fashion, Sigmar was kitted with a ridiculous biography that was essentially "Sigmar Rowboat is my special child and can do no wrong. He's also super smart."
But unlike what happened with the World Director, Aldous Huxley, Sigmar actually could utilize that biography of his without breaking down or straight up not working.
As such, he has essentially become one of the main strategists of Seraphim, despite only being an NPC. After all, with a comically large intellect built for strategizing, he beat out a bunch of office workers from a dystopia 10 times out of 10.
Closing his eyes for only a moment, the Tri Spirit Angel immediately answered, "This has not changed my answer. Ainz Ooal Gown's guild base is likely to be in the center of the Holy Kingdom."
Of course. It was his initial thought as well. While all of their NPCs had issues with going against the words of their masters, Sigmar was capable of slightly objecting to things if it was important enough.
So, to see Sigmar still hold his position on this matter was good. Ainz Ooal Gown had yet to do something completely fucking stupid, only to have it work in the least reasonable way possible.
Frowning, Mustapha Mond pondered a question to himself.
Through the Holy Grail and the assistance of their prophet, Elynas, he knew the approximate future.
Approximate being the key word, because as it stands now, everything that they saw lacked context.
Elynas took the most pessimistic approach to what they saw. Believing that the future was unchangeable and that the world was doomed with no recourse. But recently, it appears the future has changed in Elynas' visions.
There was only one reason that the future could've changed. In fact, given Elynas' ramblings, he believed he knew the exact figure who was the reason for that change in the future.
Yet, an opportunity to talk with them seemed so distant.
It wasn't so important, anyhow. Mustapha Mond was an optimist, believing that it was just one possible future, which was the most likely future. After all, what would be the point of seeing the future if there was no way to change it?
But even so, the future ended with the appearance of one, singular figure…
Whether Seraphim or Ainz Ooal Gown won, he would come no matter what happened in this war.
To ensure the morale of Seraphim did not plummet, he and Elynas kept that secret hidden away. After all, their perfect paradise summed it up best.
It is better to live and die in ignorance, than to accept the uncomfortable and hard truth.
Looking out at the rest of the guild base, Kami no Toshokan's divine appearance soothing his soul, Mustapha Mond had one question to think over.
If the entire world knew what he knew, what would be their response?
Would they be like Elynas, driven insane and unstable by the terror of the future? Not believing that life had any meaning, so they must ensure that no one has the capabilities to freely think for themselves, to ensure that they died a peaceful death?
Or would they willingly walk into the darkness, sticking to their ideals that would only bring them an agonizing death?
He doesn't intend to tell anyone the truth. After all, he is not so cruel as to shatter their bubble of only believing to fight for the fate of humanity.
But still…
If, at the end of their war, if Seraphim were to fall…
…He eagerly awaits their answer.
AN:
Fellas, October was not good for me at all.
Missed the October upload because my finger got bit, stopping me from writing for like 2 weeks because writing with 9 fingers sucks.
I finished this chapter like November 15th and it took me 2 weeks to write the outline for next chapter because my motivation has been in the dirt.
I can feel it this December though. 100k words December let's gooo!
Anyways, I made an MS Paint for my three main fics and their MCs.
[You know it. FFN, Ao3.]
Thanks, MS Paint.
Anyhow, next chapter is gonna be in Baharuth, probably a shorter chapter so it shouldn't come late. Maybe it might be early December depending on how fast I write everything else.
I really want to write a short fic of more Yggdrasil moments with the Time Capsule AOG, but unfortunately, this fic has been lagging behind so I should probably shelve that idea for January.
Anyhow, recently, I've set up a Discord server of my own. If you're in Ashurbanipal already, you don't have to be there unless you want to be pinged for chapters.
Speaking of chapters, I've started this thing recently where I would make an outline of a chapter first, then release it to let people read what happens in a chapter before I write it.
So, when this gets published on Ao3 & FFN, there'll be an outline chapter for Time Capsule chapter 30 in the Discord server, plus Ashurbanipal.
Plus, when I finish a chapter, I'll probably just start writing on a new thing immediately, so there's like a 1-2 day period before I actually upload the chapter.
So, if you want to know the outlines of what happens in the next chapter every time I upload, it'll be there in the Discord server.
The invite code is ZPrVHumQJv
Well, this chapter was there for like 2 weeks but hey, everyone gets a free pass.
[I have used multiple free passes. My word cannot be trusted.]
[I haven't read this chapter in 2 weeks ngl, hope it's all good lmao.]