DonkeypuncHer005

  E-Naeurl, Re-Estize Kingdom (POV Scama Elbero)As I walked up the tower stairs, I couldn't help but feel a sliver of fear climb down my spine. The Sorceror Kingdom, albeit new, had already established itself as a regional, if not a world, power through the deaths of hundreds of thousands at the Katz Pins.

  Now they were here . . . here at my home.

  Snapping out of my thoughts, no need to get distracted, I greeted my employer as I took my pce next to him. It was a great day - the sun shone onto my skin, warming me, and the breeze cooled me down. It would have been the perfect day for some R&R if not for the sea of undead that loomed on the horizon. I could hear their moans, even at this distance.

  "Wow! Look at that army!" Count Naeura excimed without even gncing at me.

  "And good afternoon to you too," I gnced at him. The Count was widely known for his boisterous personality, never backing down from a good challenge, "I wouldn't give them too much credit, Count Naeura. It's just a horde of zombies, after all."

  "Judging by their clothes, they might have been vilgers raised from the dead by the Sorcerer King's magic. It's truly a revolting tactic." I tried to hide the disgust in my voice, but Count Naeura could detect it despite my best efforts.

  For the first time since I arrived, the Count turned to me. His face showed a brief hint of concern before he returned to his usual cheery self.

  "They can really do something like that?" I could tell he was trying to distract me from the prospect of putting down these undead vilgers, which reminded me why I liked to work for him.

  I pyed along: "There are certainly spells that can give rise to the undead, and the situation is exactly like the survivors described." I could tell that he was interested in the subject.

  "You see those two," I said, pointing my finger at the three prominent figures standing near the back of the horde. Two of them were undead, their rotting faces peering through their decaying helms. However, the shortest out of them stood with an almost regal air. Their pte armor was darker than night and had spikes over the knuckles; their most noticeable features were the horns and wings that sprouted from the bck knight's head and waist.

  "They're definitely not zombies," The Count's smile widened.

  "The two big ones are specialized undead sent by the Sorcerer King himself. It's said that he can kill two hundred thousand men in a single spell. However, I'm not exactly sure what the shorter of the three is. Perhaps it's one of the Sorcerer King's secret weapons." I had begun to muse again before I shut myself up.

  I turned my head to him, "You're not pissed that he's only sent three of his soldiers to conquer this city?"

  Count Naeuru turned to meet my eyes, "Not really, I suppose . . . when one's as strong as the Sorcerer King, you see everything as weak.

  Also, I got you Four Armaments on my side. Who knows? Maybe he'll spare the city if we give him a good fight!"

  I smiled, "Count Naeuru, I'm pretty sure that's just wishful thinking on your part."

  He returned the smile in full, "Yeah . . . but let us not go down without a fight." He turned away to make his down to where the other adventurers were waiting.

  Taking a breath, I turned to follow him.

  The Great Tomb of Nazerick, Sorcerer Kingdom(POV Bellriver)I opened my many eyes and shot up from bed the second I heard a knocking sound, on edge for any hitmen that the corpus would send after me, only to bash the top of my head on the top of the bed frame.

  It didn't hurt but added to my confusion about where I was. It took a maid running into the room along with several demon-masked ninjas for me to realize that I was no longer in Neo-Tokyo but rather in my Guild's base.

  The aforementioned ninjas immediately formed a semi-circle around me, each taking a defensive stance, searching the room for threats. The maid, Etoile, I think, also searching the room for threats, ran over:

  "MY LORD! Is everything alright? We heard a loud noise coming from your room!"

  Attempting to de-escate the situation, he expined: "I apologize for the disturbance that I've caused you; I merely bumped my head against the bedframe." I pointed to what once was a bedframe, now missing a chunk at the head.

  "No! You mustn't apologize for the disturbance! We merely thought the worst when we heard it, and since Lord Ainz has put Nazerick on Readiness Level Three, we assumed the worst. It is us who should be apologizing." She said the st part as she and the ninjas began to bow.

  I thought about trying to correct the situation but remembered Momon-Ainz's advice on the NPC's wish for a master-servant retionship. Just then, an idea popped into my mind.

  "Very well, I accept your apologies. Etoile, please clean up my room and repce the bedframe if you don't mind." I thought that sounded cooler. Well, I can't take it back now.

  "Thank you for forgiving us, Lord Bellriver!" They prostrated even further.

  Speaking to the ninjas, "You are all dismissed." The Kobi Katos all straightened and bowed before running out of the room.

  I tried to pull up my inventory from my HUD before I realized I was no longer in YGGDRASIL. Remembering what Ainz taught me, I pictured what I wanted and reached for it. I felt something and pulled, out came my usual gear.

  The centerpiece of my kit, [The Grasp of Nidhogg], a [Divine] tier set of bone armor that boosted [mana] regeneration by about one hundred and fifty percent, along with making me immune to poison damage. Pair that with my staff, Wackystick (Wish III named it, and it cost irl money to change the name), along with [Nidhogg's Fang]; both were [Relic] tier weapons. Initially, I pnned on upgrading them after work a few days before being transported.

  Stepping out into the hallway, I could see the maids and other workers of the Tomb darting around cleaning; many stopped what they were doing to bow.

  "Good morning, Lord Bellriver," I heard a voice to my left: Shalltear, dressed in her usual Victorian-Era dress. Right! I had forgotten that I made her my bodyguard five days prior as a punishment.

  "Good morning, Shalltear," she said, giving her a nod. The rest of you guys, there's no need to stop on my behalf." The many maids and manservants of the hallway immediately sprung back to action after replying with a quick "Thank you, Lord Bellriver."

  I sighed and motioned Shalltear to follow me, ready for another day with these overbearing NPCs or, rather, living citizens of Nazerick. It's still strange thinking that all of the Guild's creations are now living, sentient beings. I would have been more shocked if Ainz hadn't given me a heads-up when we were in Odin's Hall. Speaking of Odin's Hall, I still remember when we first built it; it was initially a prototype for the Round Table Room on the ninth floor, but Punitto Moe convinced Momonga/Ainz and me to leave it as a secondary command center in case of an attack.

  I dismissed my thoughts and opened the door to the guild master's office.

  "Good morning, Ainz," I said casually.

  The skeleton looked up from his desk. "Good morning to you, too," he said, sounding a bit ruffled. He tried to hide it, like usual, but I've gotten pretty good at finding his tells. He always taps his finger and is slightly hunched over when in a bad mood.

  "What wrong" subtlety was never my strong suit.

  He sighed, "I apologize; this is no way to act . . . Pestonia and a few others have petitioned for me to spare the children of the kingdom." He stood up, shuffling his papers into a neat pile, "It's not that I don't want to spare them. I'm just unsure how it'll go down with the guardians." rl

  I thought about how to approach this. After all, I was still new to this world and was unsure about the extent of my authority over the NPCs. "Maybe you should find a compromise, something in between. Killing all humans in Re-Estize will make establishing diplomatic retionships even more difficult than it already is."

  Ainz stopped, "That's actually what I was leaning towards doing . . . I think that I just needed to hear it from someone else."

  I pced my hand on his shoulder and guided him to the sitting area.

  "Everyone out." My voice suddenly changed to that of a general. All those within, including Shalltear, who I honestly forgot existed, filed out of the office. Turning to Momonga, I asked the question that has been on my mind: "Are you doing okay?"

  "Me? I'm perfectly fine! I'm just doing Grrrreat! Plus, as of now, nothing in this world can even damage us."

  "You know that's not what I'm asking about . . ."

  Momonga sighed, "I feel like I'm losing my humanity. I don't know how to describe it . . . I see humans as pests now. I guess I'm saying that I'm afraid of losing myself."

  "I get that . . . I feel that I'm slowly losing my humanity, too. But I gotta remind myself that mercy, when used correctly, can be the best weapon in someone's arsenal."

  Momonga turned to me; I could tell that he was pondering. "You're right; mercy can be a weapon."

  I patted him on the shoulder and said, "Come on! Isn't there an important meeting we're supposed to be at?"

  The two red dots that made up Ainz's eyes lit up. "OH SHOOT, we're going to be te!" he said before opening a [Gate] in front of us.

  He really needed that . . .