In the throne room of the great underground tomb of Nazarick, a rather chaotic situation was unfolding. At this moment, when the Demon King Vandaleu was brought into the throne room so nonchalantly by Shaltear, there was nobody who really knew exactly what they should be doing.

In the case of Albedo, as a demon herself, she could instinctively sense the frightening and overwhelming power of the demon lord. She had often basked in the overpowering aura of her master, the great Momonga. He insisted on going by the name Ainz Ooal Gown after the name of the guild since the rest of the creators abandoned them, but he was always only Momonga sama to her. He was the one she loved dearly, and until this moment she had felt his presence was truly supreme and nothing could possibly ever be more powerful and overwhelming than him.

Although, though she hated herself for admitting it, the overwhelming aura of her lord was absolutely nothing before the frightening and oppressive air of the lord of demons who allowed himself to be carried limply like a doll in Shaltear’s arms. She was surprised though, the demon lord looked like nothing more than a little girl, and the clothing she wore was nothing impressive either. Certainly nothing that would be befitting of the term “demon lord.” And before she started to move in response to Aura’s words, she could have easily been taken for a large doll. However, there was no mistaking that frightening aura that was like the very physical incarnation of death itself. A force that could bring certain death to even immortal beings such as demons.

‘Damn that Shaltear! How could she be so careless as to fall to the Demon Lord’s control?’ She cursed in her mind for the harsh betrayal of Shaltear bringing the enemy straight to the heart of the tomb of Nazarack right as everyone had gathered together. She had to do something. She did not have her full combat gear at this moment, she was not expecting to suddenly be thrust into a battle situation at a time like this. However, if she were to leave to go get her equipment at a time like this it would be leaving her lord in danger. This was bad. This was very very bad.

Demiurge too was in a similar situation of unrest to Albedo. In his case though, he couldn’t help but bitterly admire how quickly and expertly this demon lord had played them all for fools. Simply by entering the city the demon lord had let their presence be known to Albedo who immediately alerted Ainz. Meanwhile, they had demonstrated their power by even charming the undead. An impossible move that could only easily be detected and understood by the likes of their lord Ainz, who appropriately acted quickly and retreated from the scene.

Demiurge did not know how the demon lord had gotten their hands on Shaltear and placed her under their control, maybe Shaltear was charmed before this attack even began. Then, an appropriate amount of time was given for all the power figures in Nazarack to be gathered in one place, at which time the demon lord had Shaltear, a trusted face, bring the enemy in like a Trojan horse strategy. It was brilliant, and this checkmate was achieved in just barely over an hour. They were truly defeated by the demon lord’s fiendish cunning and intelligence, such an expertly performed plan, and such an aggressive yet subtle strategy. If Demiurge were not on the receiving end of it and it were not a plan directed at his lord, he would likely break down in tears over such beauty. However, he could not afford to get lost in such a thing in this dire time.

“Umm… excuse me.” This voice came from Mare, Aura’s twin brother who was nervously approaching the demon lord Vandaleu still being held by Shaltear. “Umm, you’re a boy, right?”

“Yes, why do you ask? Actually, now come to think of it, people often tend to think I’m a girl if they mention my gender at all.” The demon lord responded as such while jumping down out of Shaltear’s arms.

“Ah, well… I… I mean, I am too…” Mare responds, becoming incredibly bashful as he furiously blushes.

“Ah, I see. By the way, are you two dark elves?”

“Ah! Yes!” Mare responds nervously.

“Haha! Yeah!” Aura follows up sounding rather proud.

“Ah, I have never really gotten to meet any other dark elves even close to my age, how old are you anyway.”

“Wait! You’re a dark elf!?” Aura responds, getting into the demon lord’s face without a care or even seeming to realize who it was that was standing in front of her.

“Yes, although I understand the confusion. You see, I am a damphir. My father was a vampire but my mother was a dark elf. It seems my father had a strong influence on the color of my skin which is pale like this.”

‘Heh, what is this now?’ Demiurge begrudgingly thought. ‘Is he trying to charm the kids now?’ It looks like he’s got us again. We are forced into a state of paralysis because if we make any hostile moves he will fight back against us with force. Demiurge did not fancy their chances in a battle of force on force as it was. This demon lord, or rather demon king now as Mare had established the demon lord is a male despite the appearances, had the confidence to infiltrate their stronghold on his own. There is no way he doesn’t have the strength to back up that confidence. And if that wasn’t enough, Demiurge could also feel from the Demon King’s aura that these tactics were no mere bluff. However, the Demon King had already proven that some form of charm magic was his strong suit, and the longer they waited without taking action the more time he had to work that magic on them. If they did not do something quickly, Aura and Mare would be lost to them the same as Shaltear.

“Oh my, what an adorable sight. It seems Shaltear has brought a wonderful friend for the twins to get along with.” Demiurge felt as though every drop of blood in his veins had frozen solid when he heard those words spoken. The reason for that is that those words were spoken by his master from behind him. No, it couldn’t be. The target of the Demon King’s charm attack was not the twins, he had already worked it on their lord himself. Lord Ainz had already fallen under the Demon King’s control.

Demiurge caught the eyes of Cocutus and Sebas who were standing a short distance away to either side. It looked as though they could understand the situation. They needed some kind of plan to minimize the damage from here. First step, they needed to find some kind of distraction that would allow them to get their master out of this. Also, if at all possible, they had to rescue the twins. If the primary target was their lord Ainz, maybe the twins had not felt the full effects of the charm just yet.

Cocutus and Sebas both nodded to him and Albedo, and then they began walking forward. Honestly, he was grateful, and this was also likely the best course of action too. Cocutus was an insectoid ice elemental warrior, and Sebas was a dragon transformed into human form. Since neither one of them were demons, they were not under the direct influence of the Demon King’s commanding aura. This would mean it would be his and Albedo’s role to take advantage of the opening they would create in order to get Ainz sama out of here.

Cocutus stepped up between Mare and the Demon King as he pushed Mare back with one hand. “Please. Step. Back.” He says.

“Huh? Wh… what’s going on?”

“Ah..hem!” Sebas loudly clears his throat and steps forward down the middle of the room toward the Demon King, his foot steps audibly echoing off the walls of the great throne room with every step. In this manner, he successfully manages to attract the Demon King’s attention. Once he is a few steps behind Aura, just enough distance to act in her defense if the need arises but not so close as to be taken as a threatening stance, he stops and gives a deep courtly bow as a proper butler greeting an important guest. “Greetings great demon lord, you said your name was Vandaleu correct? I would like to welcome you to the great underground tomb of Nazarack. I would like to ask to what we owe the honor of your visit here.”

“What!? This kid’s the Demon Lord everyone was afraid of?” The dark elf twins were obviously quite surprised about this revelation. Aura gave a rather pronounced reaction. Mare also seemed somewhat surprised, but he seemed to adapt a lot quicker and seemed to get properly on his guard behind Cocutus and ready to take up a support role should the need arise. However, they were not the only ones to express surprise over this.

‘Eh? He’s the demon lord? No, there’s got to be some mistake.’ the poor mind of Suzuki Saturo, the mere middle aged gamer who was stuck in the body of the Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown thought to himself. He felt he should probably say something to clear up what obviously had to be a mistake of some sort, but what would happen if they were actually right? His subordinates were often a lot smarter than he was. Maybe in this situation he should just let them handle it, but no matter how he looked at it it looked like some innocent little kid was just dragged into Nazarick and suddenly started getting accused of being the demon lord without basis. If things did go wrong, the poor kid might even get killed for no reason. He didn’t really want to see that happen. He looked like he would be a very good play mate for the twins. Oh well, maybe he would see how it goes and he would intervene if it looked like things were starting to go in a bad direction.

“What!? Demon Lord!? Now what’s all this about!?” Shaltear also seemed to have a rather strong reaction to this information. Cocutus, Sebas, Demiurge, and Albedo all had complicated expressions in response to this. They were expecting her to be completely brainwashed and under the Demon Lord’s control. For her to react like this, this added a whole slew of complications and possible considerations into the mix. Was she really not under his control? He was clearly quite cunning, it was entirely possible he had left her without fully brainwashing her just to force them to attempt to save her, thus endangering themselves in the process. However, it was also possible she was fully under his control and he had ordered her to act in this way. There was no way of knowing, and nobody knew quite how to act.

‘Oh! Yes! Way to go Shaltear!’ Suzuki Saturo silently cheered in his mind. Maybe now this would be properly cleared up.

“Yes, I suppose that title fits me, although I am not particularly fond of it. Some oppressive gods in the world I came from placed that title on me at one point, and I have been troubled by it ever since. I am not particularly fond of it, and frankly it gives me nothing but trouble, but I have come to accept it.” Vandaleu gave his thoughts openly on his status as the demon lord.

‘Eeh? So he really is the demon lord?’

Author's Note

I am fully aware of Ainz's character. Under normal circumstances, if he really thought he was just some random kid, he actually wouldn't care one lick about him unless he could be useful. The reason he's feeling concerned about Van like this is because he actually is under the effects of [Death Attribute Charm.]