Vandaleu was quite happy when he was brought by Shaltear to see the Sorcerer King. He had already concluded that the Sorcerer King was a good guy based on what he had seen in the town, and when he got to the king’s throne room the first thing he saw were two dark elf children coming up to meet Shaltear. They both appeared to be a little older than him, around 13 in human years. He had just recently turned 30 in this body, but due to his being a dark elf damphir he still looked like a 10 year old human. Although, he would look 11 by now if he were a normal dark elf. Going by his understanding, these dark elf children ought to be around 60 or 70. That may not be considered close to his age by human standards, but according to the dark elf way of thinking that would actually place them very close to his own age.

However, when he was trying to talk to them since they seemed rather friendly and the way they were getting along with Shaltear reminded him of his friends, one of them was told by a giant ice-insect type humanoid to step back and got between the two of them. Another one, a strong butler-like old man, came up behind the other dark elf and gave a bow toward him.

“Ah..hem! 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.” The butler asks him.

“What!? This kid’s the Demon Lord everyone was afraid of?” One of the two dark elves, Aura he remembered their name was, said. He knew the other one who's name he didn’t hear was a boy, but he was not going to make any assumptions in regards to Aura.

“What!? Demon Lord!? Now what’s all this about!?” Shaltear shouted. Well, it seemed like some of them knew about his demon king title somehow. He looked to the back of the room where two people who looked like they might be demons were trembling and standing between him and the Sorcerer King.

‘I see.’ He muttered under his breath, likely too quiet for most of them to pick up. Well, the best way through this would likely be to just explain things straightforward. “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.”

Well, that should at least clear it up enough for the people who are confused.

“Well then, I ask you again great demon lord, what business do you have here in our Nazarick.” The butler-like man continued to push on this subject.

“I heard some disturbing rumors about the local city of Erantel being taken over by undead who oppressed the living. I had to see for myself if they were true. I was quite happy to see from the town that they were not true, and so now my purpose is merely to meet and talk with the Sorcerer King.”

“Hmm… well then,” the butler-like man said. “That sounds reasonable, however, before you can talk to my lord I would like for you to release him and Shaltear from the effects of your charm.”

“What!? Charm! You must be going senile Sebas! I mean, yeah, this kid is absolutely adorable and I wanted to ask Ainz if I could keep him and all that, but I am certainly not charmed by this wonderful little guy! Well, maybe a little… I mean.. there is just something so wonderful about him! I just want to eat him all up!” Shaltear had a euphoric expression on her face that somewhat reminded him of Islay. He was used to this kind of reaction from female vampires, so he concluded it was normal.

“What are you talking about you bimbo vampire! That’s totally being charmed!” The dark elf, Aura, yelled at Shaltear.

“Well, even if I am Charmed, I am still 100% loyal to Ainz sama, so what’s the difference?”

“Really? If Ainz sama told you to attack this kid right now, would you do it?”

“Oh, there’s no way Ainz sama would ever order such a horrible thing! This kid is just too wonderful! Ainz sama will completely agree!”

Aura bit back her words with a painful look, and then she started glaring over at Vandaleu. It looked like this might be a problem. “I am afraid I do not know how to release the undead who fall under my charm from its effects. I have never had a situation where I have had to before.”

“I see… well then, I am quite afraid I can think of only one other method that may release them from the effects.” The butler-guy says and then holds up his fists in a fighting stance. After this, Aura gets down into a crouched stance and pulls out a whip from her belt, and Aura’s brother whimpers a bit but he readies a staff. The ice insect humanoid in front of him then readies a battle axe he had been carrying in 2 of his 4 arms since the beginning.

“Ainz Samaaaaa!” Shaltear immediately yells and goes flying toward the Sorcerer King and the two demons. As she goes charging forward, the female demon steps up in the way and, with a furious smack with her hand, drives Shaltear’s head into the floor.

“Hehe! I’m sorry Shaltear, but I can’t let you get near Ainz sama in your current state!” She says.

“Get off you fat cow!” Shaltear bites back and throws off the female demon. “Ainz sama! Make them stop this!”

“Shaltear….” The Sorcerer King says in a pained sounding voice. “I want to stop them, but…”

“Well,” the male demon says. “It looks like Ainz sama is resisting the charm’s effects somewhat. I’m glad for that at least. Shaltear, you should try to snap out of it as well!”

“Ahh… I…”

Well, it appears as though the chance at a peaceful resolution is out in this case. The 4 up front had cast half an eye over to what was going on behind them, but their eyes returned to him after this exchange. “Well then,” the buttler-guy says. “Unfortunately in this instance, for the sake of our master I am going to have to ask you to please die.” As soon as those words are spoken, the entire floor of the great throne room vanishes, causing everyone in there to be caught off guard and fall into a pit that had suddenly opened up. Everyone except for Vandaleu that is, who had cast the non-attribute spell flight immediately before the floor disappeared. He had noticed as he was searching for options to combat these opponents that this throne room was inside of a dungeon. He also noticed that his dungeon master skill gave him more than the normal amount of control over this dungeon than he would have over a dungeon in Lamba. Included in this was the ability to remove the floor as he just had, something he could not have done at all in Lamba.

Just a couple of seconds after the floor had vanished, Vandaleu restored it to the exact state it was in before. Meanwhile, he also created a large cave as the new ceiling of the space everyone else had fallen into. He felt a little bad about dumping Shaltear and the Sorcerer King down there as well, but he reasoned that the rest of them would be angry if he kept those two close to him while separating them from the rest and it would just lead to more misunderstandings, so he decided to send them down there with the rest.

“Hmm… I didn’t expect my dungeon creator skill to have such a profound effect in this world. I thought about making a pitfall trap, but instead it wound up creating an entire extra floor of the dungeon below this one.” Vandaleu mused aloud to no-one in particular. He had grown used to having his friends at his side at all times, so it was unusual for him to be by himself like this.

Almost as soon as Van had finished his words, the sound of rocks breaking could be heard and the floor beneath his feet shook violently and then completely shattered. As the ground broke apart 4 figures of an ice-insect humanoid, a dragon-humanoid wearing fancy looking pants, and 2 dark elf children all jumped up out of the cracks.

“Oh no! I destroyed the throne room!” The skirt-wearing male dark elf twin said.

“That’s quite alright! Simply focus on the foe in front of you!” The dragon-humanoid responds in the same smooth voice Van recognized from when he was an old man.

“That. Is. Right. You. Can. Worry. About. Such. Things. Later.” Despite the cautions of both the dragon-man and the insect-man, the dark-elf boy still raises his staff and restores the floor to its previous state. Unlike Van’s fix though, the large red carpet that had run through the center came up horribly mangled. The dark elf boy seemed to look fairly uneasy about this. Cocutus shook his head at this, a move rather uncharacteristic of a warrior of his standing facing down a powerful enemy over a move such as this, and he let out a groan looking a little uneasy.

“What is it Cocutus?” Sebas asked him, now fully on guard.

“Something. Smells. Incredibly. Good.” He responds. “This. Smell. Is. Incredibly. Distracting.”

Sebas’ furrows his eyebrows, or rather his scaled eye-ridges, at this response. “Well, I suppose there has been something of a different smell since we got up here, but I wouldn’t quite describe it as incredibly pleasant as you are saying.”

“No, I think I know what’s going on.” Aura cuts in. “This is probably some kind of insect pheromone.”

“That is correct.” Vandaleu responds. “I should also inform you, I have an ability called insect binding. It gives me a similar attraction effect toward insects as I get toward undead, although it is slightly different and this is the first time I have ever used it on an intelligent insect. At any rate, I can also bind insects inside of my body. Pheromones such as this can be used to enhance the charm effect.”

“What!? Insects too!?” Aura cried out with a cringe on her face. This was quite understandable. Just by being in the room and not having taken any combat action yet, Van had already disabled 5 of their 8 members. Well, actually it was 6 at this point, but he would allow them to figure that one out in the heat of combat if they were still insistent upon coming at him under these conditions.

“Cocutus…” Sebas directed a serious look toward his companion.

Cocutus shook his head again, attempting to shake off the effects of the combined effects of the pheromone and the insect binding abilities on him. “I. Know. I. Shall. Be. Cautious.”

“M.. maybe you should hold back this time.” Mare suggested.

“You should just hold the line for Mare while he supports us with his spells.” Sebas declares. “Aura and I shall take the front line in this fight!”

“Very. Well. In. This. Case. That. Might. Be. A. Wise. Decision.”

“Just to be sure,” Sebas says, directing a sharp glare toward Van, “I am feeling a certain intense charisma from you as well. You wouldn’t happen to also have some ability specific to dragons, would you?”

“I possess the ‘Dragon Emperor’ and ‘Scale Emperor’ titles, which give me the authority to rule all scaled creatures, dragons in particular. However, the effect is not quite as strong as it is with undead and insects.” Vandaleu says in answer to his question.

“However, there is nothing like that absurd ability you just described to absorb an insect such as Cocutus inside of your body?”

“I could still do so to anyone who has a parasitic insect that has burrowed under their skin. However, no, I do not have such an ability specific to reptiles or dragons.” Vandaleu did not correct the misconception the other side seemed to have about him absorbing insects. He had properly used the term ‘binding,’ but they seem to have misinterpreted it as some form of absorption. So long as it kept that ice guy with the giant halberd on guard and at a distance, he would have more leeway to subdue them without killing, so this kind of misconception worked out for him.

“Well then, I would like to thank you for being so frank and informing us of your abilities and their nature before our battle. I apologize, but for the sake of my master I will have to destroy you now.” Sebas announced and brought up the scaly fists of his half-dragon form just as he would in his human butler form. Despite his now bulky and lizard-like form, all of his movements still held a perfect elegance and grace of a trained butler of Nazarack.

“Alright Mare! I’m counting on you to support me and Sebas!” Aura yelled to her brother behind her while never taking her eye off of the threat in front of her.

“R.. Right!” Mare yelled back and then raised his staff. “Protection! A… huh..?” Mare had a thorough look of confusion when he cast his spell but it didn’t go off.

“Tsk!” Sebas clicked his tongue.

“Yes, I also have the ability to nullify all magic cast by a select target, or all harmful magic directed toward me.” Vandaleu informed them of what was going on.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter. We shall do our duty regardless.” Sebas responded. Aura on the other hand looked as though she was rather shaken. She was even hyperventilating a little.

“M.. Mare?” She said in a voice that was rather uncharacteristic of her. While she was shaken, it wasn’t actually to such an extent. The hyperventilating was a cover as she prepared her special status-affliction breath-attack. This change in demeanor was also part of the same cover. She let out a deep breath at the end of her performance directing a puff of purple mist toward Vandaleu possessing the effect of paralyzing poison. Immediately after this, she jumped high in the air and lashed out at the demon lord with her whip at the same time as Sebas went out toward him at a dash.

Vandaleu noticed the odd colored cloud that had come from Aura’s mouth and was coming toward him, but his danger-sense death showed no reaction at all toward it, not even an incredibly weak one that would indicate it could lower his chances or even create an opening in this battle, so he decided to ignore it. Meanwhile, the whip flying at him was stopped unnaturally in mid air and froze next to his head, causing such a great deal of confusion for Aura as she saw this happen that it made her stop her assault and simply land as she looked on with confusion as the end of her whip was still hovering in mid-air next to Vandaleu’s head. The body of the whip still seemed to obey the laws of physics and had fallen to the floor, but the end of it was still doing nothing but hovering there.

“Huh? My whip!” Aura’s voice broke in her confusion. In the time it took her mind to catch up to this turn of events, Sebas had already closed the distance on the unmoving Vandaleu and threw a powerful punch, but this only resulted in his hand meeting a very strange resistance. No, it can’t even really be described as a resistance. It was as though all the force he threw behind his fist was suddenly gone. His arm strained as he tried to push it forward, and then he found that he was also unable to pull his arm back.

“That is my inertia barrier,” Vandaleu announced. “It absorbs momentum, and it is actually a lot more effective against strong opponents such as yourselves. A weak person would only graze the surface of the barrier, and then they would be able to pull their sword back out. However, an exceptionally strong person can easily bury their weapon so deep inside the barrier that they are also unable to pull their weapon back out.”

Sebas had a real look of horror on his face at these words as he realized his situation. As an un-armed fighter, this made him the absolute worst person to go up against an absurd skill like this. His weapons were his fist. If it were Cocutus and he had buried a weapon into this barrier, all he would have to do is let go of his weapon and he would at least be free. However, in his case, his fist was now stuck. With a serious look of resolve on his face, Sebas straightened his free hand into a knife-hand, and then with a furious blow he struck his own shoulder, severing his trapped arm and then leaping back away as he clutched the bloody socket.

Aura was still trying to pull her whip back from Vandaleu’s barrier at this point. However, when Van reached up and grabbed the end of the whip and pulled with such force that it began dragging her toward him, she immediately let go.

“This is not good. He has not even launched any actual attacks yet and it already feels as though we have been met with a crushing defeat.” Sebas stated as he tightly gripped the socket that once held his now missing shoulder.

“He’s really strong! He didn’t even look like he was trying to pull all that hard, but it felt like I would go flying if I hadn’t let go of my whip!”

As Sebas and Aura were rattled, Cocutus stepped forward and stood between the two of them and Vandaleu. “Cocutus?” Sebas responds to the large warrior’s actions.

“I. Must. Say. I. Can. See. No. Road. To. Victory. At. This. Point.”

“Vandaleu Sama!” At that moment, Gifandgarn managed to appear right behind him, and soon after that Sam was able to come in as well, and from his carriage Rita and Saria jumped out.

“Is there an enemy!?” Rita shouted. Soon after this, Levia, Orbia, Kimberly, the light and space attribute ghosts who were formerly members Ternicia’s 5 hounds, and Jane Doe all materialized as well.

“Van, what’s going on?” Levia asked.

“Please calm down, there was something of a misunderstanding and they thought they had to protect themselves from me. I would prefer not to kill them if at all possible.” Vandaleu told them.

The four who had come up, upon seeing the already hopeless battle had turned even more against them hung their heads in defeat.

“Well, if that’s the way it is, I suppose we may have no other choice but to surrender.” Sebas decides and straightens himself up as he transforms back into his human butler form, righting himself and presenting himself with dignity despite the fact that he was still missing an arm and his injury was still open and bloody.

“Well, that’s good to hear.” Van announces as he picks up Sebas’ torn off arm and immediately casts preservation on it. He then begins carrying the severed arm over to its owner. “Here, allow me to reattach this for you.”

“Uhh? Ahh…!” Sebas consents and then kneels down on the floor to be at the appropriate level for Van to do as he said. Van places the severed arm back against its socket and uses his spirit form transformation to extend his spirit into Sebas and share his ultra-speed regeneration. The muscles and tendons begin knitting back together and the arm is fully reattached within mere seconds. Almost the instant the skin finishes mending, Van pulls out a needle and produces thread from the Demon King’s thread gland, died black with the demon king’s ink sack, and he begins sewing up the torn edges of the butler uniform at high speeds. In almost no time at all, Sebas’ suit is fully mended as though the fact his arm was torn off a moment ago was a lie.

Sebas begins to test his hand out and moves his arm and he quickly seems satisfied. “Healing magic as well, and every single spell you cast was without a chant. I do not believe I have ever felt so completely outmatched. In fact, you defeated the majority of us before the battle even began.” Sebas had a dark look on his face as he assessed Vandaleu’s strength.

“Indeed. Had. He. Wanted. To. Combat. Us. Seriously. I. Believe. He. Would. Easily. Have. Been. Able. To. Cut. Us. All. Down. Completely. On. His. Own.” Cocutus declared. “He. Possesses. Abilities. Which. In. One. Way. Or. Another. Are. A. Weakness. To. All. The. Floor. Guardians. And. Even. Our. Lord. Ainz Ooal Gown. Himself. It. Seemed. As. Though. You. And. Aura. Were. An. Exception. But. It. Was. Only. That. The. Weaknesses. Of. Yours. That. He. Was. Able. To. Exploit. Were. Not. Of. The. Sort. That. Would. Render. You. Incapable. Of. Combat. Before. The. Fight. Started.”

“But what about Ainz Sama!?” Aura yells.

“Yes, indeed. Our combat was to attempt to eliminate the one controlling our lord. With our complete defeat, perhaps this means all of Nazarack has now fallen under the Demon Lord’s control.” Sebas concludes.

“So, are you saying we’re all his servants now!?” Aura says with an objecting tone.

“I will say it again, all I came here to do was to meet and talk with the Sorcerer king in order to figure out whether or not the rumors of Erantel being ruled by fear were true. Since they do not seem to be true, I have no further intention of interfering with you or controlling you. It is true that the Sorcerer King might have fallen under the effects of my death attribute charm, but this should not significantly affect his personality or cause him to become enslaved to me. In the case of superior intelligent undead, it only means they will take a liking to me and think of me in a positive light. He still possesses his own mind and is fully capable of objecting to things I say, and I will make no attempt to control you or the Sorcerer King.”

Since it seemed related to the confusion that lead to this battle, Vandaleu felt he had to clearly and precisely state his intentions and how his death attribute charm worked.

“Hmm… well, if things are as you say that they are, then I deeply thank your lordship for your magnanimance.” Sebas says, giving the same proper bow as he did when he first approached him. However, unlike the first time where he was approaching with the air of being on guard, this time his shoulders were more relaxed as though he was relieved.

As all of this was going on, Aura was eyeing her whip which is laying on the floor currently below the cluster of attribute ghosts that came in to Van’s aid as they hover in the air behind where Van had stood stationary for the entire duration of the battle. Although she wants to retrieve it, she has decided not to as she is nervous about what the Demon Lord’s reinforcements will do. She is not certain of their strength, but since the Demon Lord in front of her seems to be stronger than her lord Ainz, she feels she has to assume his servants are each stronger than her.

“Umm…” Mare, who was standing quietly in the back during this entire exchange spoke up. “So, does this mean you are friendly then?”

“I do not wish to harm any of you, so long as you do not attack or do harm to any of my friends I believe it would be possible for us to be friends as well.” Vandaleu says, turning to respond to Mare who gives a shy smile and steps forward uneasily.

“So, umm… is what you said before true? Are you really a dark elf?” Mare casts suspicious eyes up and down Van’s body, taking in his deathly-pale white skin.

“Indeed. I am a Damphir who had a vampire father and a dark elf mother. In this case, my skin took after that of my father. However, in my world, it can be told rather plainly that I am descended from a dark elf parent due to my purple eye. A damphir always has one red eye, and one eye that is the color of their non-vampiric parent. In the world I am from, dark elves all have purple eyes, a trait unique to their race. So, indeed I am a dark elf, but it may be slightly different from the dark elf species of this world.”

And, like that, Nazarack’s confrontation with the demon king Vandaleu came to an end.