Something caught Nigun’s eye. In the distance, standing just outside the village was a trio of figures. He couldn’t quite make out who or what they were, but they did appear to be slowly approaching, walking toward him as casually as one might take a stroll through the park on a quiet afternoon.

Nigun turned to one of his men in confusion. “Hey, who are they?” He asked, scowling. The man jumped but shook his head. 

“I-I don’t know, sir! Probably just some adventurers!”

Nigun nodded at that. Of course, it made sense. As they got closer, he could tell that one of them appeared to be an elf. A dark elf to be precise. He narrowed his eyes in disgust. So of course they were adventurers. Only those mercenaries would ever imagine working with an elf.

“I am Nigun Grid Luin, captain of the Sunlight Scripture! Identify yourself!” He commanded the three figures who were now about twenty paces away.

“Identify?” The lead figure, and as it seemed the only male, asked with a deep, booming voice. “I am Ainz Ooal Gown! Long ago there were none who didn’t know this name!” The assertion echoed over the hills and rang heavy in Nigun’s ears.

Nigun chuckled. A lone spellcaster with illusions of grandeur? He didn’t even need to bother with his summon. “Listen, I, Nigun Grid Luin, will give you a chance at mercy. Surrender now, and I will make your death painless. That goes for the three of you!” He shouted.

“Hmm, Do you really think you’re stronger than me? That sort of attitude will be your undoing.” Ainz replied, shaking his head slightly. “You truly are a fool in that case.”

Nigun scowled in irritation at how the man was mocking him, and turned to the remains of his men and issued a command. “Destroy that pathetic weakling!”

Nigun’s shout was nowhere near the booming dominance that Ainz’s voice carried, but it was one which compelled his men to act. Immediately, their hands lit up with the light of magic circles which launched spells of various affinities towards the other spellcaster, ignoring the two women at his side completely. As the bombardment of spells rained upon the magic caster, he didn’t even bother to move, and the dust erupted up around him from the dozens of small explosions as a result of the spells impacting his body.

As the dust settled, Nigun’s eyes widened and his confident expression turned to one of dread. Impossible! The magic caster had survived completely unfazed? Perhaps he simply had a skill that nullified magic? Nigun raised his hand toward the figure, and used his Appraisal skill on the man.

Nigun’s Appraisal skill was only level 6, which meant that he couldn’t tell what sort of skills his men had. That information was only available to those with a level 7 Appraisal skill or higher. Even still, the information that he was able to gain from this appraisal shocked and terrified him..

“W-What is this!?!?” He gasped in horror. “What are you!? An Undead!?!?” He frantically took a panicked step back, his body shuddering in fear. It was all clear now. He had made a huge mistake. This being was far more powerful than anything he had seen before. All his stats were in the 20,000 range. Conversely, his highest stat was just over 300. And he had thought himself powerful.

“Hohhh, So you appraise me? Have you not been taught that peeking at one’s status is immensely disrespectful?” Ainz chuckled bemusedly at the frantic scrambling panic of the supposedly powerful magic caster. 

“Silence! It matters not what stats you have! Nothing, not even the great frost dragons, can withstand the might of the highest tier of angel!” He roared. It seemed he would have to skip the weaker summons, including his Principality. Ainz’s stats were far above them, and it’s likely that the damage they would do, if any, would be negligible. Not to mention the two women behind him who seemed to be acting more as silent guards than actual companions. Were they truly just guards? If so, they were seemingly quite bad at protecting their master. Did they simply not see this as worth their attention? If so, Nigun would prove that it was a fatal mistake on their part. With an overdramatic flourish, Nigun held up a glowing crystal, shining with blue energy. “Behold! The strongest of all angels! Rejoice, for I have deemed you worthy to gaze upon its magnificent form!!” Nigun proclaimed.

“Oh? That’s not good…” Buku narrowed her eyes as her brow furrowed in concern. The magic caster was holding up a spell crystal. These crystals could only be activated once, but upon activation would unleash the spell which had been sealed inside them. They were able to hold a spell up to the tenth tier, and that included a summon spell. If Nigun carried a seal crystal which would summon a high-tier angel, it was likely that they would have a problematic fight on their hands, what with Ainz’s undead nature. A Seraph Emyreon or Cherubim Gatekeeper would not be easy, though with enough preparation the two players and NPC could probably handle it.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have that luxury. 

“No, it’s not. That might pose a problem. [Magic Ward: Holy!]” Ainz cast a protection spell on himself that would hopefully reduce any holy damage he received from the summon. In response, Buku and Albedo quickly jumped in front of Ainz. 

“Ainz, if things get bad, you should use [Gate] to escape. We can use our high durability to cover your retreat,” Buku ordered him.

“Buku, I’m not gonna leave you two–” Ainz began, but Albedo quickly cut him off.

“Lord Ainz, it would be our honor.” She spoke firmly, without even turning around, leaving no room for discussion. 

Ainz sighed, recognizing he couldn’t win this argument. “I understand. But once I am gone, you two follow right after. I won’t accept seeing either of you die.”

Buku chuckled, glancing back at him with a wink. “You got it, boss!”

Nigun smirked at the frantic behavior of his three enemies. “Of course, it is natural to be frightened of such a powerful angel! Now, feast your eyes… on the DOMINION AUTHORITY!!”

With a bright flash, blinding everyone for a brief moment, a mechanical construct of immense proportions burst from the man’s hand where he held the crystal. The crystal itself disintegrated as the burning white entity floated higher into the air above him.

Buku and Albedo stood frozen, transfixed on the angelic figure. Ainz let out an audible grunt of surprise. “What… is this…?” He asked, struggling to comprehend what he was looking at.

NIgun laughed mirthfully. “Isn’t it remarkable!? The power of the Gods within my palm! You should be grateful that I deem you worthy to gaze upon its form!” He roared with an ecstatic fervor.

Ainz shook his head. “Unbelievable… After all that…?”

Buku sighed and let her shoulders relax. “Well, that definitely took the wind out of my sails.” She groaned.

“Sorry for getting you two worked up about this,” Ainz chuckled. The Dominion Authority was only a Tier 7 summon. It was safe to say that it didn’t stand a chance against Ainz alone, let alone the three of them together.

“What are you talking about!?” Nigun shrieked in horror. Did these people really mean to imply that they were stronger than the summon? Impossible! There was absolutely no possible way these people were stronger than the Dominion Authority! He growled as he spoke his orders, drops of spittle flying from his mouth. “Dominion Authority! Use Holy Smite!”

With that, a magic circle was summoned around the angel, before a beam of white light split open the heavens and descended upon Ainz. 

The spellcaster was engulfed in a brilliant bright glow, one that completely obscured him from view. not even his silhouette could be seen.

Nigun smirked as he watched this. The magic caster had evidently been completely disintegrated by the summon’s magic. He then turned to focus on the other two armored women, confident in the destruction of the arrogant magic caster.

However, as he did, the effect of the spell ended, and the pillar of light disappeared leaving the very much still standing figure of Ainz unharmed in the midst of a scorched patch of earth. Nigun swiftly turned his attention back to the magic caster. “What—? How—!? A… a god!?” He stammered out, his mind struggling to comprehend the impossibility of what his eyes presented him with.

A low chuckle emanated from the sorcerer. “So, this is pain! I actually felt your attack, even if it was more of a light stinging than any actual damage!” He laughed mirthfully. The two women at his side visibly tensed in anger at his words but said nothing.

“Impossible!” Nigun roared. The man most certainly had to be bluffing. That first attack should have done extreme amounts of damage. The only possible explanation that Nigun could imagine was that he was only just barely managing to stay standing up. Indeed, that must be what it was. He just needed one more spell to finish the magic caster off. After all, he said he took damage, so perhaps it was actually a decent amount? Nigun didn’t hesitate a second longer. “Dominion Authority! Holy Smite!”

“That’s enough of that. [Black Hole].” Ainz declared, raising his hand toward the Angel. Before the summon could even cast the spell again, a small black dot appeared within it. The sky turned dark, and slowly, the Angel began to contort around the dot, which grew and expanded into a small sphere of inky blackness. Slowly, its body shrunk down and swirled into the slowly growing singularity, until with a quiet popping noise and a burst of wind, the black hole disappeared completely, leaving no trace of the supposedly unconquerable summon behind.

Nigun stared transfixed and completely speechless at the place where the Dominion had just been. Not only had this spellcaster done the improbable, no, the impossible, and defeated a Dominion Authority, the strongest of the angels second only to the gods themselves, but he had done so with only a single spell. What was there to say? How could he possibly respond to such an unfathomable display of power? Even having seen it himself, he struggled to believe it.

Slowly, deliberately, Ainz used this moment to remove his mask and gauntlets, revealing his true undead visage with bale white bones and flaming red eyes, an aura of death and despair surrounding him. 

Nigun fell to his knees. So it was true. The Dark God had come to punish him. How had it come to this? Nigun thought he had lead a faithful life, free of sin, but still the Seven turn their backs on him, abandoning him to evil? If they had abandoned him, he would accept his fate full heartedly. 

“L-Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! Forgive me!” He wailed, slamming his head down to the ground as he prostrated before the magic caster. “I was a fool!! I will devout myself to you, should you only have the mercy to spare me! Even if you have to kill my men—!”

“You don’t understand.” The dark elf in crimson armor stepped forward, glaring down at him disdainfully. “You have no right to demand mercy after you dared to raise a hand against Ainz Ooal Gown. You painted yourself an enemy, and our enemies are shown no mercy.” 

The woman’s expression twisted into one of a sadistic grin. To the surprise of even herself, she was enjoying this quite a bit. 

“Lady Buku is right. Lower life forms like yourself should gratefully bow their heads to be killed by the supreme beings.” The armored woman said, stepping towards him as well. It was quite obvious that his behavior had upset them both.

Ainz simply watched the two women size up the man impassively. It was then that the night sky split open, a web of cracks materializing in the clear sky above them like shattered glass, before suddenly vanishing as quickly as they had appeared.

“Ah, it seems my anti-divination barrier activated. I hadn’t expected anyone to actually be watching, but it seems that you are quite popular among your people.” Ainz noted, glancing back towards the cowering disgrace that was now the captain of the sunlight scripture.

“My country… was spying… on me?” Nigun blinked in disbelief. No, it was too obvious. Of course they’d be keeping tabs on him. Why had he thought they wouldn’t? The position he held was nothing more than an illusion in the end. He had been betrayed by everything he knew. “Please, let me join your cause, Lord Ainz! I will devote my everything to serving you!”

“So, in your last moments, you turn away from your allies? Pathetic. You missed your chance for that, a long time ago. Ainz?” Buku glanced back at the undead, a wordless question on her face, and in response the spellcaster simply nodded.

“Do it.” 

<X>

‘Damn, Buku is pretty scary…’ Ainz thought to himself as he followed both her and Albedo back towards the village. 

“So, what do you think, Ainz? Seems like we’ve done all we can here.” Buku glanced back at the pair of Albedo and Ainz, cocking her eyebrow.

“Indeed…” Ainz paused for a moment, as if contemplating, but then nodded his head slowly. “Yes, perhaps it’s time to head back.”

Ainz watched the grieving villagers in the aftermath of the battle in silence. He did have the ability to revive the deceased villagers, in theory at least, using his Wand of Resurrection. But a magic caster that can revive the dead may likely be something of a miracle in this world, and Ainz didn’t wish to risk standing out too much more than he already might have.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t save that Warrior Captain.” Buku mused, sighing as she crossed her arms thoughtfully. “He seemed like a decent guy.”

“I believe the Supreme Ones have done enough to help these lower life forms.” Albedo interjected, her disdainful hatred of humans was evident in her venomous words.

“Don’t be like that, Albedo.” Ainz admonished her, shaking his head. “True, at first I saw humans as insects, beneath my notice. But over time I have come to view them as small animals. Perhaps with the right care and attention, they can be useful.” He explained.

Albedo tilted her head and glanced over at Ainz. “I see… so is that why you went out of your way to help them, my lord?”

Ainz chuckled and glanced over at Buku in response. “Umu… who really knows?”

“Well, it’s better to make friends than enemies.” Buku replied with a smirk. “By the way… about your new name…?”

Ainz lowered his head and nodded. “I’m sorry… it was just a spur of the moment thing. I probably shouldn’t take the guild’s name for myself, should I?”

Buku laughed and quickly shook her head. “No, actually, I was going to say I quite like it. If anyone deserves the name ‘Ainz Ooal Gown,’ it’s you, Momo.” She winked. “You have no problems with it, right Albedo?”

Albedo bowed her head in response. “Of course not. If that is what the Supreme Ones wish, it shall be so.”

Buku glanced back at Ainz with a chuckle. “Then it’s settled! Time to go home. Lead the way, Ainz!”

At that, Ainz held his staff up and spoke, the gems glowing once more. “[Gate]!”

<X>

Ainz gazed upon the assembled floor guardians in the throne room of Nazarick. Not only were the floor guardians there, however, but the Pleiades and Sebas as well. To his right, stood Buku, who had changed out of her crimson battle armor and into a purple dress with a white vest, similar to Aura and Mare’s outfit. Once again, Ainz was reminded of the uncanny resemblance between the creator and creation.

 Ainz cleared his throat and spoke to the geneflecting servants. “Everyone, I’d like to first thank you all for coming. This is a momentous occasion for Nazarick. Not only have we created our first foothold into the new world that we find ourselves in, we have learned about the enemies we may face in the near future. My loyal Guardians, I will assign you tasks to the end of destroying these enemies. But first, a bit of housekeeping.”

Ainz lifted a skeletal finger, and pointed toward the banner which hung in the center of the throne room, the one that beheld his personal sigil, the sigil of Momonga. To the Guardian’s surprise, it quickly burst into flame and disintegrated as it fell to the ground.

“From this day forward, I will no longer be known as Momonga. I will be taking the name Ainz Ooal Gown! If there are any objections, speak now.”

“None, your majesty!” All of the guardians proclaimed together in unison.

“Excellent. Likewise, Bukubukuchagama will now be known as Buku Ooal Gown! Once again, if there are any objections, speak now!”

“None, your majesty!” The guardians proclaimed again, perhaps even louder this time.

“Then, I or Buku will assign each of your tasks at a later date. See me in my office when you have time. Display your devotion to the supreme ones!”

With that firm assertion, Ainz raised his arms, proclaiming himself absolute ruler.

“Hail the undead king!” 

<X>

As he walked briskly down the tight corridor, Zinedine’s face was set in a stern expression. Though the elderly man certainly had a sense of humor, this situation was not a light one, and the near-permanent scowl that displayed upon his face was ever more pronounced today of all days,

Specifically because he was thinking about the discussion that he and his colleagues, the other six cardinals, had just had.

With the topic at hand being about the dark gods. It was understandable that they didn’t know how to react. There were reports of the dark gods appearing around the world. The three near carne village were of particular concern, given their proximity to Slane.

As the cardinal of water, he had read the journal of his particular god more than any other, which had given him, at least in his opinion, a slightly greater understanding of the dark gods than his colleagues. While the others fear and condemn them all, Zinedine recognized and respected the power they held. He had urged his colleagues to approach these new reports with caution and respect the potential power of the dark gods… but they quickly shut him down. Rather, they were more interested in killing the dark gods.

Zinedine however knew such a task was impossible, at least not without some kind of major advantage. Which was why he sought out the most powerful man he knew.

Opening the door to the cathedral, he saw a man waiting at the pew. The man was wearing white pastor robes, and a Cardinal’s hat, but he was no cardinal. Zinedine carefully approached the elderly man, who offered a kind smile and extended a hand to shake.

“My friend. I would ask to what I owe the pleasure, but I suspect that this conversation will not be a light one, given you called me all the way here in secret.”

Zinedine shook the man’s hand as he stood next to him and shook his head. “Pontiff Dustin. Unfortunately, that is correct. I wish to speak with you about the dark gods.”

The pontiff frowned and shook his head. “I believe you know that I do not have any concern about that aspect of your religion. The Word of God religion does not follow the same gods as you.”

“Even still, there are creatures, evil and powerful creatures, that have appeared in our world. The Word of God will be under threat sooner or later. That’s why I’m suggesting we put our differences aside, and seek out a solution together.”

The Pontiff furrowed his brow. “I am unsure what you expect me to do. Though I can muster an army several hundred thousand strong, your scriptures would be far more—“

“Pontiff, I’m serious about this. Please do not pretend.” Zinedine interrupted him. “The power these creatures hold is beyond anything even our strongest can match. And I know that you have connections to beings far stronger than that.”

The pontiff watched the cardinal carefully, as if considering, before he sighed. “Unfortunately, those beings are not under my command. They may be unwilling to help. In fact, with their own goals, they may even turn to assist our enemy.”

Zinedine lowered his head. “Please. My friend, recruit their assistance. We need it now more than ever, or humanity may be doomed.”

<X>

Even if he said that much, Pope Dustin still couldn’t help but feel he was taking an unnecessary risk. He couldn’t help but feel like the elves were a far bigger threat at the moment.

Still, it was true that the Players which came to the world from the realm of the gods were rarely defeated by mortals. Only the strongest entity within the system could possibly stand a chance of defeating them.

Which is why he was taking the extremely risky action of enlisting help from that entity.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Dustin turned and glanced over his shoulder. A young girl’s voice emanated from the shadowed figure behind him that he could just barely make out.

“You must be pretty desperate to come to me for help…” she said, stepping forwards as she passed by him and sat down in the seat across from him. She appeared about the age of 13-15, in her early teens, but it would be a mistake to underestimate her for that reason. Of course, she was older than most beings in this world.

The girl had piercing, narrow eyes with bright red irises. Her brown hair was short, but there was a single strip of white on her bangs. Her complexion was light and healthy, and her figure was toned, but not too muscular. She was wearing a tube-top with hot pants, adorned with straps around her waist and legs, and a stripped cape with a high-fur collar, eight strips in total.

Dustin offered his most charming smile. “Ariel. It’s nice to see you again. I hear you’ve become the demon lord…”

“Cut to the chase, old man.” The girl quickly shot down any of his attempts at small talk. 

Dustin sighed and nodded. “The truth is, one of my contacts in the north believes that powerful entities will be appearing in our world again.”

She frowned. “You mean… Players?” She asks.

“Indeed.” Dustin nodded.

“Ah, well, it’s not my problem. If they’re smart, they’ll know better than to mess with me.” She sat back casually, crossing her legs and throwing her hands behind her head.

“Ariel, please, I know we don’t always get along, but… we could really use your help here. Humanity needs you.”

The girl scowled at that. “And where was humanity when I needed them?” She hissed.

Dustin sighed. “I will grant you that mistakes were made. But putting all of humanity at risk needlessly is not the solution. Isn’t that what the Players of Slane decided?”

“Well, they probably didn’t know…”

“They knew.” Dustin replied. “I told them.”

The girl was silent for a moment at that. However, that silence lasted only a moment before she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll look into it. But if it turns out they can help me, I will not hesitate to exterminate each and every human on this goddamned planet.” She hissed,

Dustin sighed with relief and nodded. “Thank you. If the reports are true, the threats are on all sides.”

“Point me towards the first one then.” Ariel replied reluctantly.

Dustin smirked. Perhaps he was getting somewhere after all. “Well, there was this thing that happened in Carne…”