End of Death, End of Life
Zesshi Zetsumei sat idly in the Treasury with a bored look on her face.
She could hear the sounds of battle outside. Even through the thick ultra-reinforced doors and walls of the Treasury, Zesshi's superhuman senses could still pick up the clashes of steel, the cries of agony, the explosions of magic and countless other noises that filled the thick blood-scented air. And yet the half elf's youthful face displayed not even a hint of concern. All she could feel was boredom. The same sensation of boredom that had hung onto her for the entirety of her life.
Zesshi sighed. The sounds of pain undoubtedly came from the Theocracy's elite knights as they were mowed down by the enemy's forces. But none of that mattered. To Zesshi, those knights were about as significant as the ants crawling beneath her feet.
However, she suddenly heard a particular noise that caused her stone cold heart to beat just a little faster.
The Captain of the Black Scripture was one of the few individuals Zesshi recognised as "competent." That was why Zesshi could not help but feel a sliver of perplexity as she heard the sheer desperation in his voice as he shouted:
"Retreat! We can't beat that monster like this! Divine Chant, Eclipse, Time Turbulence, One Man Army, fall back with me! We have to use it NOW!"
Zesshi sat up straight, the bored expression in her eyes quickly transforming into a look of intrigue. She had never heard the Captain speak in such a frantic tone.
She then heard another voice, an alien rumble she could only assume belonged to the enemy.
"Stop. These. Futile. Efforts. At. Once... Lay. Down. Your. Weapon. And. Kneel. To. Ainz. Sama."
Despite her relative distance from the actual speaker, Zesshi could still feel the chilling quality of the words seeping into her bones. She felt like someone standing right outside the range of a snowstorm, just close enough to feel a hint of the blistering cold winds but far enough to avoid being caught right underneath its wrath.
As expected, Zesshi immediately heard the Captain's stalwart reply: "We will never surrender! Now you will see the full power of the Black Scripture! Come forth, Throne Zeal!"
[Throne Zeal] was the penultimate trump card of the Black Scripture. It called forth an angel of the highest order, a tier stronger than the [Dominion Authority] that the Sunlight Scripture had access to. However, the cost of conjuring it was incredibly steep. The ritual of summoning required the Captain himself to be present, as well as four other members of the Black Scripture. The act of summoning drained all of them of their strength and if, the gods forbid, the Throne Zeal fell, the Black Scripture would have no strength left to defend against the enemy.
Zesshi raised her eyebrows at the unexpected escalation of events. She could feel the raw holy energy radiating from the Throne Zeal's summoning even from within the Treasury. In the 105 years she'd been alive, she could only remember one other time the Black Scripture was forced to invoke [Throne Zeal]. The fact that they were resorting to it now meant-
And then she heard it.
That voice.
"Ah, a Throne Zeal, is it? And here I thought I would at least encounter a Seraph Empyrean. I had prepared for the possibility of even a Seraph Aerosphere, but it seems my caution was ultimately unnecessary."
If the first enemy voice Zesshi had heard possessed the icy chill of a raging blizzard, then this one was the voice of death itself. There could be no mistaking it. This was the voice of the Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown.
Zesshi's frigid heart finally began racing with a newfound anticipation. If this Sorcerer King could actually defeat the Throne Zeal, she might finally have a worthy opponent on her hands.
"Perhaps I should have used [Pantheon] before coming here to show you what true divinity looks like, but I'm afraid casting it now would be a waste of time. Cocytus, deal with them."
"Yes. Ainz. Sama."
Zesshi blinked in surprise as she heard this exchange between the two voices.
"Come, Albedo, our final destination is the Treasury. That is where the last of the potential threats to Nazarick are being held. While I doubt there will be too much trouble for us, we must still proceed with caution. I will be using my summons to scout out the area before we move in."
"Cardinal Raymond, I'm going to engage the enemy."
"W-wait, what? So soon? The Captain has yet to-"
She ignored the rest of his words, closing with blinding speed the distance between her current position and the massive double doors that marked the entrance of the Treasury. Using her natural ability to enhance her voice at will, she projected a naked challenge towards the Sorcerer King beyond the walls.
"You doubt you will have too much trouble, you say? Come face me in single combat! I, the strongest existence in the world, hereby grant you permission to face me. If you defeat me, I will allow you the honor of planting your seed in my body. Just imagine the heights our child could reach!"
"..."
Zesshi frowned as a heavy silence fell after her words were spoken. Even the sounds of battle somehow disappeared, replaced with a suffocating absence of any and all sound.
Hm? No response? It almost feels like something has scared them all into silence. Is my presence really that-
"YOUUUUU DAAAAAAARREEEE!"
"W-wai-"
"GINNUNGAGAP!"
Zesshi was completely unprepared for the sheer unbridled force that followed. The closest thing she could use to describe it would be a massive earthquake, but that still wouldn't do it justice. It was as if the very fabric of the world was ripped apart in that very instant, and then the two sides of that dimensional fissure grinded back together in a tectonic slam that blew everything in its vicinity to dust.
For the first time in her life, Zesshi Zetsumei felt fear. Her body-which she previously believed to be untouchable-was blown back like a ragdoll to the back of the Treasury.
She gaped in disbelief as the doors and walls of the front half of the massive room shattered completely and utterly into dust. These were components of an edifice constructed from a material that predated even Zesshi's knowledge, which had stood for thousands of years without a single scratch. Now half of it all had been obliterated in a single blow.
Bruised and battered but still in battle condition, Zesshi gritted her teeth as she stood herself back up to face the enemy. She looked up past where the doors of the Treasury previously stood, finally catching a glimpse of the being she had heard so much about in the past few years: the undead king, Ainz Ooal Gown. Even from such a distance away, the Sorcerer King's aura and presence rippled across the room with a quiet supremacy unlike anything Zesshi had ever encountered. Shaking off the dust and grime on her body, she made her way towards her target.
But before she could get any closer, a black silhouette shot towards her like the dark blur of an obsidian comet. It stopped right in front of Zesshi, who had just barely enough time to mount a defensive stance with her scythe before the black armor-clad nightmare swung its axe at her head…..
The Supreme Chancellor of the Slane Theocracy jolted awake, her heterochromic eyes of black and white snapping open as the beating of her heart rose to a near breaking point.
She sat up abruptly in her king-sized bed as cold beads of sweat began sliding down her neck.
The Chancellor sighed. She didn't really need to sleep at all, but she made it a nightly routine to do so anyway because it gave her a guaranteed escape from the world. However, every few months, she would once again repeat that dreaded nightmare.
She slid out of bed, making her way across the large, grand room that was the master chambers of the Central Temple. She stopped in front of a large rectangular mirror before looking into the immaculate glass with a drained expression on her face.
Staring back at her was a woman that looked to be in her late 20s or early 30s. Her long braided hair was divided evenly down the middle into a silvery white on the left and a pitch black on the right, contrasted by an eye of the opposite color on each side of her face.
Zesshi Zetsumei recalled the days of when she was still only 105 years of age, a carefree child filled with frivolous thoughts about battle and power. Back then, the biggest problem in her life was boredom. Now, twice as old and ten times as stressed, Zesshi oversaw the running of a nation.
Everything in her life ended and began anew 100 years ago...
The fateful encounter she had had with the forces of the Sorcerer King shattered her perception of reality. The absurd powers she encountered that day broke her confidence and forced her to reevaluate her very existence. Zesshi had long outgrown the pretentious musings about her own superiority that she indulged in as a child. Gone were the constant thoughts about finding worthy opponents and the desire to mate with the strong.
The warrior in black had pummeled her. It was like fighting an entity that was simultaneously an unstoppable force and an immovable object. But the scariest thing about it all was the sheer rage behind that mysterious armor. Every strike the warrior delivered was intended as a death blow, fueled by a murderous intent beyond anything Zesshi had ever seen.
In the end, the Cardinal of Earth was forced to activate their final trump card and the Sorcerer King was banished from this realm. The events after that, however…..
After 100 years, Zesshi still could not wrap her head around what happened.
The history records told a definite story: An epic battle was waged between the forces of the Theocracy and the Sorcerer King's champions, and humanity ultimately prevailed over the monsters after their morale was shattered with the death of their leader. This was the official tale known by countless citizens and soldiers alike.
Her closest subordinates were told a different story: The now Supreme Chancellor of the Theocracy made a valiant rush to claim the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, and through sheer willpower commanded the nigh invincible weapon to bring the Sorcerer King's Champions to heel.
Zesshi smiled bitterly. The first story was a lie. The second one...only partially accurate.
The events that actually transpired confounded the Supreme Chancellor to this day. She did not rush and grab the Staff. There was no way for her to get past the Sorcerer King's enraged subordinates, and all the other members of the Black Scripture had been killed shortly after their summoning of Throne Zeal.
In truth, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown came to her.
It materialised in front of her, and when she reached out and grabbed it out of instinct, she entered some kind of deep trance. Within that state of catatonia, Zesshi witnessed a series of four unspeakable visions.
In her first vision, the sky burned with hellfire as the land was torn asunder by a horde of unthinkable monstrosities. She could hear countless human screams amidst the horrific symphony of savage roars as blood and gore rained from the blazing sky. In the middle of the chaos, two entities were locked in a brutal clash of power. On the left was a man in a pinstriped suit and a silver-plated tail, wreathed in the same fire that scorched the earth and sky. On the right was a man in a butler's uniform and the aura of a dragon, radiating an intense pressure that flattened the very ground with each move.
In her second vision, she could see a small group of haggard looking women and children running frantically away from what looked like a giant orb of blood in the distance. They were led by two women-one with glasses and the other with an eyepatch-both in maid uniforms. The fleeing group stopped in front of a large forest where a massive black wolf stood guard. The woman with glasses pleaded desperately for the entry of the group behind them, but the wolf merely shook its head, its intelligent red eyes shining with a clear sadness.
In her third vision, two female silhouettes did their best to comfort a huddled group of terrified children in a dark basement. A woman's maniacal laughter reverberated from above, accompanied by footsteps that sounded like the heavy stride of a giant humanoid beast. Suddenly, a white frost seeped through the basement ceiling as the sound of even heavier footsteps arrived. A thunderous clang of clashing metal ensued, shaking the entire building. One of the women comforting the children abruptly turned around as if a sudden realisation had struck her, revealing a hideous face without lips or eyelids. She tried to leave, but the other woman clutched onto the former's arm, pleading for her to stay.
In her fourth vision, and the one that haunted Zesshi the most, she saw the back of a young crimson-haired girl standing atop a literal mountain of corpses. Human and inhuman. Armored and unarmored. Bodies ranging from as small as a child's to as large as a giant's. All piled into one enormous mound that reached into the heavens. The girl slowly turned around to look straight back at Zesshi, revealing a pair of spinel-colored eyes that gleamed with a child-like innocence.
That was the scene that snapped her back into reality. When she came to, she found the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown lying on the ground, and all the Sorcerer King's champions were frozen in place, seemingly unable to move or act.
At first, Zesshi tried to attack one of them, swinging her "Scythe of Certain Death" at the black armored warrior with the hope of landing an easy killing blow. However, she soon realised that while the enemies had been rendered passive, they were far from defenseless. The instant she directed killing intent towards the warrior, it struck back with full strength. The same happened whenever she attempted to remove any of their equipment. Fortunately, the counterattacks subsided when Zesshi fled the vicinity before returning.
When the Cardinal of Earth arrived from the inner reaches of the Treasury to check on the sudden silence that had befallen the battlefield, Zesshi confided in him the truth of what had happened. Throughout the next few years, Cardinal Raymond organised the battleworn remnants of the Theocracy to relocate and seal away the dormant champions. It took several years, and hundreds of the Slane Theocracy's elite forces were killed from accidental triggers of the monsters' counterattack responses, but their efforts ultimately succeeded.
The Cardinal of Earth then spent the next decade using his political strings to push for the creation of a new structure of power-one that would oversee the Theocracy's rise from the ashes. At the pinnacle of that new hegemony stood none other than the Supreme Chancellor-Zesshi Zetsumei. In a new world order where both the Dragon Lords and the Sorcerer King that crushed them were no more, her power would reign supreme.
It was, to say the least, a drastic change. The Zesshi Zetsumei that lived 100 years ago was a monster that guarded the treasures left behind by the Six Great Gods. She felt no empathy, pursued no ambition, and her only desire was to meet a worthy opponent and produce offspring strong enough to challenge even the gods themselves.
But her encounter with the Sorcerer King's forces had crushed any semblance of that desire, and so she accepted. For the first time in her 105 years of life, she left the shadows and ascended into the light. With the Cardinal of Earth guiding her way and the faith of the Six Great Gods uniting the remnants of the sundered nation, she presided over the reconstruction of a new Theocracy.
Eventually, Raymond Zarg Lauransian-the only individual who shared the burden of the truth with her-passed away. And now she was all alone, left by herself to ponder the same questions that had been gnawing away at her and the Cardinal of Earth for decades.
Why? Why did the Staff appear before her? Why did it voluntarily incapacitate the Sorcerer King's subordinates? What were those visions she saw?
Did the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown simply decide to betray its master? Or was it something else, something deeper and darker than she could possibly imagine?
Zesshi turned and walked away from the mirror, stopping before a plain wooden cabinet whose mundane design clashed with the opulence that furnished the rest of the room. She opened one of the drawers and reached inside, taking out a crumpled multicolored cube.
The Rubik's Cube that she was so attached to as a child had been partially crushed by the outer ripples of the shockwave that destroyed the entrance to the Treasury. As a result of that incident, the cube was damaged beyond repair, reshaped into something that barely resembled its former self.
But it was still here.