- Observers and Participants.

The Shining Mug, one of the more fancy taverns in E-Rantel, was packed to the brim. Only the high-ranking adventurers and the city officials that weren't considered of noble blood usually frequented the expensive establishment.

Today, however, it was packed full with officers of the united Re-Estize army. The mood was rather grim, and the men tried to put their minds at ease by either drowning their fears in alcohol or watching the almost naked dancers on a stage and mingling between the tables.

A particular trio stood out among the rest. A man with dark brown hair and broad shoulders, a leaner man with blue hair and a Katana in his lap, and a blonde boy in shining white armor. Everyone knew who they were and even the more arrogant and self-important of officers didn't bother them.

No one was crazy enough to start a brawl with two of the strongest warriors of the entire country and even Climb although looked down at, was known to hold his own even against a well-trained soldier.

With only days away from the battle, the two older men had taken out Climb for his first night of drinking. They had a day off and since Climb had never been to a tavern and even tasted any kind of booze, both Gazef and Brain knew what to do. Princess Renner remained in the capital and they would serve as Zanac's bodyguards only on the battlefield, so a night of drinking all the worries away was a must.

For Climb, it was a whole new world. The taste of ale, the light buzz he felt even after the first sips of the bear. The flirty, barely dressed women all around. He couldn't even look at their bodies without getting red in the face.

Few of them caught the wind of the shy blonde boy drinking with the legendary head warrior and put an extra show just for him when he glanced up from the mug and looked around, getting klick out of teasing the boy.

"Climb, relax, enjoy the drink and view. We going to stare into the face of death soon enough, better enjoy the peace while we can." Gazef says, giving Climb a pat on the back.

"Besides, we need to show you a life of a free man before we marry you off to the princess," Brain chips in with a laugh.

Climb's cheeks flash bright red as he tries to hide behind his mug, looking like a blonde tomato stacked on top of shining armor, earning another round of laughter by the two older men.

"Ease up Climb, Brain is just joking around."

"R-right," responds an embarrassed boy with an almost unintelligible stammer.

It wasn't the first time he was teased about it. Brain had picked up almost instantly that Climb loved his mistress. A nobody like Climb could never marry a princess, anyway. But her smile was the thing Climb lived for. His whole life's purpose was to serve the golden princess. One who saved him from the streets with that same warm smile she always wore.

Maybe that's why each time he looked up from the mug and looked at the barely dressed dancers, he could feel her mistress's furious gaze burning into his back. It was all in his head, of course, even so, it felt like he was cheating on her just by looking around.

After the laughter of both men dies down, he quickly excuses himself for nature's call and goes outside the tavern to reach outhouse behind it.

The fresh night air is just a thing he needs. The warm breeze quickly takes the buzz away, and he silently walks towards his destination, unaware of a figure in shadows.

He quickly finishes his business and walks back, only to find a body bleeding out on the ground. Freshly killed, cloaked figure with a long dagger in his hand. Climb sighs and steps over it. Second one this month. He could only hope that whoever was his guardian angel wasn't demanding too much from his mistress for his protection.

He already hated being a burden to his beloved princess. She had a pair of much better guards than him. But her gentle smile and kind words always reassured that he was her personal guard and always would be.

Meanwhile, back inside, Brain takes a large gulp from his mug and quietly asks Gazef,

"So what do you think of all this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, Climb being sent to the battlefield with us. Princess is way too smart to not know the dangers."

"You think there is something more?"

"Haven't you noticed the daily visits from the king regent and Marquis Raeven? And princess herself, she is far too calm about all this, she knows something." Brain whispers.

Gazef takes a sip, sitting silently for a while. So Brain sees it as well. Something was off, but talking about such a thing openly was dangerous.

"I wouldn't blame her, you know. She and Climb deserve a future."

"Question remains. What about us? Gazef, what do you think will happen to us. We can't stand against them. No one can."

"I have my duty to the princess and to the kingdom. I will follow her to the end."

"I guessed you would say something like that," Brain says and then looks around to make absolutely clear no one hears him, "Even if she already has switched sides?"

Gazef looks in his mug. How could he answer such a question? If the princess had betrayed her home to the monstrous Nazarick, the same beings that saved him once, would he follow her? Would he turn his back to the rest of the kingdom? A memory returns to him, words spoken by Bukuma. 'My friends and I are trying to salvage what we can before it is too late.' The brilliant Princess Renner surely fit that criterion. Did his choice even matter? In face of impossible power, he was nothing. Finally, a single word escapes his lips.

"Yes."

"Then we follow her till the end. I can only hope she will not leave us behind."

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Rigrit sits on a chair in the Tsar's sanctuary. She had survived the first talk with one of the Lords of Nazarick. The lazy dragon was sleeping again, and she was in no big hurry to wake him up. Tsar was already stirring and would wake up soon, anyway.

With a teacup in one hand and a book in the other, she had no reason to rush things. A moment of peace and solace was a welcomed one.

Tsar still hadn't tidied up and his piles of amassed loot and gold were scattered all around. Rigrit could only guess what his mental state was right now.

"Oh Rigrit, you are back and alive. That's good," Tsar says, opening one eye.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still kicking. You know I could have robbed your sanctuary blind while you slept, you lazy lizard."

"I have warded everything important. Even you, my friend, can't take from me without asking." Tsar says and misses the joke as usual.

"I should just prove you wrong one day. That would get you out of your lazy phase."

"I am not lazy. You know my kind has these sleeping cycles. Did you meet them?"

"Yes. Spoke with one named Ulbert. A demon in the truest sense, but a smart one. He asked to set up a meeting with you, too. And they already knew about the Great Old one and plan to fight him."

Tsar finally rises to his full height, opening both eyes, and lets out a long yawn.

"Must have been that offspring of Bright that told them. Probably that is the reason they took over the Dragon Kingdom. It is good news that they want to fight it, saves time convincing them. Before we set up a meeting, I want to see the battle or massacre that is about to happen."

Rigrit puts down teacup and book and then gets up from the chair.

"Then shouldn't we be on the move right away. If I remember correctly, it takes you about a day to reach Katze plains."

"We? You can just teleport there."

"And to miss an opportunity to ride you."

Tsar lets out a groan and says,

"Why do you always have to word it like that?"

Rigrit laughs while pulling out a harness from her inventory space.

"For an ancient dragon, you are far too easy to fluster. Did the Bright bragged about his 'conquests' to you again?"

Tsar lowers his neck so Rigrit can put the harness on. As much as he disliked Rigrit's more crude jokes, her company would be more than welcomed on the journey to Katze Plains.

"No, I think he hasn't left his cave in the Elven kingdom for at least a decade."

"Shame his relentless flirting always makes me feel like a young girl again."

Tsar just grumbles in response as Rigrit hops on the harness and straps herself in to not fall off. Even with the special enchant that makes the rider ignore incoming wind and not be blown off or frozen to death, the fast ride on the dragon's lower neck was a dangerous feat.

Once Rigrit is in place, Tsar walks out of his sanctuary to the streets of the flying city and takes off.

{ Whoa I no matter how many takes I fly with you, the wonder never fades. }

{ Just hold tight and enjoy. }

{ Don't worry, I will. }

Tsar was flying low enough for Rigrit to enjoy the scenery of the desert sands. A calm before the storm. Neither of them was looking forward to witnessing another massacre. Both Rigrit and Tsar had seen far too much needless bloodshed.

Even though Tsar cared about the world in a more general manner and conflicts of short-lived mortal races were a little consequence to him, it still wasn't a pleasant experience to look forward to.

After a few-hour flight, the pair are met by the sunset. Tsar fully intended to continue flying through the night as Rigrit starts to doze off.

{ You have to work on your body temperature. Girls like warmed bodies to cuddle against. }

{ Can you stop with this already? It's not funny. Don't compare me to Bright. }

{ Relax, I know you are not like that. Just lightening the mood before we see a massacre. }

{ I know. Though I always wondered why you chose to not continue your bloodline. }

Rigrit chooses not to answer. For what this world was, she would never want a child of hers to be born in this hellhole, powerful or not. It was too late for such things, anyway. Although she was tempted to be young again, the price might be too high for her to take it.

{ I forgot to mention. That demon Ulbert tried to tempt me with the offer of restoring my youth. }

{ Hmm, do you want it? As someone who can't die of old age, I can't imagine how it is to grow old and wait for inevitable death. }

{ Part of me wants it, but it is a deal with a demon. There is always some hidden side to it. }

{ We will see how this plays out. The future is bleak, no matter what. }

Rigrit could only nod in agreement. For now, all she wanted to do was forget everything and enjoy the ride. Riding a dragon always trumped the flight spell, and very few humans had ever done it.

Less than a day and she would see Ainz Ooal Gown in action again. Most terrifying players she had ever encountered. The nobles of Re-Estize were rare kind of stupid. In their arrogance, they have driven their kingdom against the worst foe imaginable, cunning, brutal, and, above all, extremely vengeful.

More than once, small guilds lost their bases because of that dreaded guild. Every incident should have been a warning to not go poke the hornets' nest, but everyone wanted to be the ones who take down the infamous heteromorph guild.

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In just a few short weeks, the almost impossible feat was done. An impressive-looking fortress stood in the middle of the Katze Plains.

When Ainz and Tabula arrived to install the device, the hordes of undead workers were in the middle of constructing the outer walls and scout towers. The Night Lich met them at the entrance and with a bow led to the underground chamber reserve for the device both supreme ones had come to install.

While Tabula takes out part after part from his inventory, Ainz summons a few high-tier undead to guard the chamber and sets up the Anti-teleport field. With the importance of this place, nothing could be left to chance.

A floating sphere trapped between six metallic forks to keep it in place was the critical piece of their current plan. The battle was but a day away and with estimated tens of thousands of deaths, all the energy released by the souls needs to be gathered.

"Did you test it properly?" Ainz asks while looking at the faintly glowing sphere.

"It should work as intended. I did tests on the device by killing our prisoners near it, and the results are well within my calculations. Only pure awareness escaped the reality, leaving the soul energy behind. According to my calculations, it will gather energy from about two hundred kilometer radius and can hold the energy equivalent to two million human souls."

"Hmm, so in the future, we may need more of such devices to cover at least our entire empire and maybe even create portable ones."

"Probably. I haven't found a way to increase its capacity and radius yet. There is also still a question about spending it."

"We agreed to summon our friends to this world."

"Yes, but here is still a question. Do we make them like us or summon them as humans? The ritual is still half completed and to my estimate, it takes about forty thousand souls to summon regular humans and about a million to summon a level, one hundred players."

"How does it even work, Tabula? They shut down the Yggdrasil servers some time ago. And no one was playing, anyway."

"Time is a bit more flexible in the Astral realm, but for the ritual I work on, the only thing required is the soul's memory of the form, so even if someone has died we can bring him here if the soul agrees to it."

"Bellriver!"

"What about him?"

"He was killed years ago. You think we can get him here?"

Tabula silently contemplates what to say for a while. "There is a big chance he has moved on and reincarnated somewhere already. I will look into it and see what I can find."

"Then I will leave you to it. Let's hope this thing doesn't bring any nasty surprises." Ainz says, pointing at the device.

No matter how sure Tabula was about his creation, there was always a chance something might go horribly wrong. Another thing that worried him was with each member of the guild they summon, a power balance might change. Summoning them as humans might be a safer option, as then they could not pose a threat.

Friends or not, people not only have different ideas but they also change over time. Who knows how would Touch Me or Ankoro or Ancient One or anyone else for that matter, react to seeing what they have already done. The human moralities were lost somewhere on the way, and while that didn't bother Ainz in the slightest, he could recognize that possibility of future conflict when some of his more sensitive friends arrive.

There was still time to debate with others who to bring first and to give them the player's bodies or not. A big part of him wanted to give the best to his old friends, but the more reasonable and calculating undead side screamed to avoid unnecessary risks. There was a more pressing matter in the present moment, anyway.

To test if the newly set up device still works as intended, a live test subject was brought from Nazarick. One of many prisoners captured during Barbo's attack. The man begged to be spared, but it didn't matter. Tabula quickly crushes his neck and skull, letting the lifeless body drop to the ground.

"Looks like everything is in order," Tabula says, casually wiping off the blood and brain matter from his hand. He would prefer to not drain souls of their energy, but at worst he was setting them back for reincarnation or two. A much more preferable destiny compared to being a fuel for the Great Old Ones' return. Although even that would not permanently damage the pure awareness, just diverge it from the path for much longer.

The one solace Tabula truly had. Even in the worst-case scenario where Nazarick loses, it would not be the ultimate end. He was still divided if the deal he had accepted was a good or bad one but he could deny that within such a short time his growth was comparable to lifetimes spent learning and developing. This was a backdoor, the very short and dangerous shortcut.

"We still have to see if it works when there are thousands of bodies laying on the battlefield kilometers away," Ainz says.

"I see no reason it shouldn't. In the worst-case scenario, I will watch over the battle from Nazarick and draw energy inside me if the device fails and there is no other option."

"Is it safe to do so?"

"No, but it's still better than to let the Great Old One get it instead."

"Tabula, be careful. The last thing we need is something bad happening to you."

"I will. I am well aware of all the dangers."

Ainz could only hope that it was the genius side of Tabula speaking, not the careless, forgetful one.

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Fifty-seven times in the row, that many times the summoning spell had failed. Ainz lets out a groan of frustration. Since the first success with Eleleth, every other attempt at summoning a metatron angel had failed.

The only spectator to his failure was Eleleth, who silently observed with a knowing look. Otherwise, the arena on the sixth floor was empty. Not even Albedo was worried anymore that a summoned angel could possibly harm him.

What frustrated Ainz the most was that he could summon seraphim class angels with about forty percent success rate, and the lower-tier ones always responded.

"Why isn't it working, dammit!" Ainz exclaims in frustration.

"They will not come, my Lord." Eleleth quietly responds.

"Why not?"

"Metatrons are the closest servants of the one who created angels. He will not permit them to come into your service."

What she just said made little sense to Ainz. Eleleth showed in the first summoning attempt and yet claims a metatron would not answer his call.

"But you are a metatron too?"

"Yes, my Lord, but I am of few who were made by another."

"Then there is no way for me to get additional angels of your level?"

"You could create angels on your own, my Lord."

Creating his own angels sure sounded like a very useful ability to have. He could already create the undead, so creating angels shouldn't be that different in theory.

"You think I could create someone like you on my own?"

"Recreating someone on my level would be hard, my Lord. I can create only up to principalities myself. The rest of my legions are ones willing to follow me."

"Can you show me how you make the lower-tier ones so I can work from there?"

Eleleth nods and walks up to Ainz and takes the place gauntlet of her hand. With a graceful motion, she touches Ainz's skeletal forehead and burns the knowledge in his mind.

For the briefest of moments, he notices that nails on her delicate, fair-skinned hand were sharp. Eleleth quickly puts the gauntlet on again to hide the fact. It was a somewhat curious revelation, but not knowing if it is normal for angels or not, Ainz just drops it.

Now he knew how to create the low-tier angel. It was too late for tomorrow's battle, but in the near future ability to create high-tier angels will surely come handy. Even though Eleleth could be considered just a summon, he felt compelled to reward her in at least some manner.

"Eleleth, thank you for help. How do you wish to be rewarded?"

"If Lord wishes to reward me, I would be grateful for the ability to grow in your service."

No other of his many summons was past level one hundred. If Ainz would increase Eleleth's potential, she would become his strongest summon. One limit increase would not let her become a potential threat, so her wish could be granted without much of a risk.

Ainz motions for her to bow and waves his hand over her, increasing her limit for about twenty levels. A smile appears on her angelic face as she feels the change.

When Eleleth rises to her feet again, Ainz could swear he saw her glowing silver eyes having vertical black pupils.

"Thank you, my Lord, I will grow stronger in your name to be a better servant."

An angel growing beyond her limits surely was an interesting experiment by itself, but for now, creating additional beings like her was a higher priority. With the newly gained knowledge, he already had a general idea of how to go about it.

While Eleleth steps back to perform her own training, Ainz starts with creating a Principality of Peace. The process itself takes much longer than summoning one or even hordes of them, but it was first of his own creation.

Lover tier angels were not much different from automatons. The only difference was the freshly created angelic spirit inhabiting the golem-like body. The higher tier angel, the more advanced the programming.

Ainz guessed that the seraphim and metatrons were different in some regards, but what made them sentient was their experiences, not initial creation.

Maybe even demons could be created similarly. A possible co-project with Ulbert when both he and Ainz had time to put their minds on it.

Once again, he felt blurring the line between himself and an actual god. Maybe Tabula was right, and they were slowly becoming gods in the truest meaning of the word. A few more steps and he could probably learn how to create souls.

Was he ready to be one Ainz did not know. It was most likely too late to stop anyway and just embrace the role he had chosen.

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A lone figure stands on a balcony overlooking a half-built city fortress. The ever-busy undead workforce wasn't stopping the construction, even during the night. Unlike her goblin army, General Enri could not sleep tonight.

Tomorrow is the day she will have her first battle. Tomorrow will be the day people will die by her orders. People like her. No matter what everyone around her was telling all the time, Enri was still a simple farmer's daughter. The current situation was so over her head she sometimes thought that it was a fewer dream caused by bleeding out on that forest floor shielding Nemu while the attacking knights loom over. That scene, that memory, truly never left her.

Nfirea stirs in his sleep in the enormous bed behind her. Enri could only envy her husband's ability to sleep whenever he was exhausted. At least tonight she was the reason for his exhaustion.

Nfirea tried to put her mind at ease by retelling what his master had thought about life after death. Souls would go one be reborn either in the same world or better one. This thought alone was something Enri needed to hear. Maybe her parents found a better life after what happened. Maybe all of them who will die tomorrow will find better lives.

How long she stood outside on the balcony Enri couldn't tell, but the night's wind made her cold. With a sigh, she returns inside, undresses, and lays next to her husband in hopes of getting at least some sleep before the morning comes.

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It was one of those very rare occurrences when Renner's emotions could be seen on her face. With an expression of boiling anger, she slowly strides to her destination on Nazarick's ninth floor. There was time to spare and before she talked with everyone, getting control over herself was a must.

Those two bastards had dragged her pure precious Climb to drink and look at some common whores. How dared they! If not for the promise to bring them over to Nazarick's side, there would be a thousand ways how to make both Gazef and Brain suffer. But Nazarick's wishes came over hers, after all.

At least her puppy was hesitant to partake in all that. There won't even be a need to punish him. So close! The time when they can finally be together will come soon. Just a few more steps, a brief wait, and Climb will be hers for eternity and Nazarick will be her true home. That was the promise her God gave to her. All she had to do was to give Re-Estize to Nazarick.

No matter how many times she visited Nazarick, each walk, though it felt like stepping into a higher realm. The magnificence of this place never ceased to amaze. The place where she was free to be herself without masks or deceit.

Each step forward gives the much-needed calming effect. A few more deep breaths and she will be back to her calm self. A small professional smile and she is ready.

Renner knocks on the door and waits.

"Enter!" a melodic voice responds.

She opens the doors and gazes at the Empress before kneeling. Renner knew little about Albedo. The daughter of the God of Knowledge and the wife of the God of Life and Death himself. One that was considered to be in the same ranking as gods. Her beauty entices even Renner, who had no interest in women. Even her puppy would stand little chance in presence of Albedo.

Renner looks down at the floor but before she kneeled, she saw the pleasant smile on the Empress's face. From the chatter of maids, Renner knew about her pride and how little she thought of humans. Renner was just a bug in the eyes of Albedo staining the floor of her office. A wrong expression or action would get her in trouble only Lord Ulbert could save her from if he would even bother to do so.

"Rise, Renner."

"Thank you, Empress Albedo," Renner says and slowly rises. Albedo lightly smirks in satisfaction about her submissiveness. An inner relief washes over her.

"I must congratulate you. Your plan on how to deal with Re-Estize is close to Demiurge's level of planning. No wonder Lord Ulbert has such a high opinion of a mere human like you."

"Thank you, Empress, I'm not worthy of such praise."

"You are a clever little thing, aren't you? Don't worry, as long as Lord Ulbert thinks you are worth keeping, you are safe." Albedo says with a smirk.

Renner could see in the Empress's gaze that she just upgraded herself from a regular bug to something worth a passing glance.

"I called you today to inform you that Lord Ulbert had requested a private room for you to be made on the ninth floor."

Albedo says while handing a small blueprint to Renner.

"This is what you are getting. You can start planning what furnishings you need."

"Thank you, Empress."

"You can go now. A maid will lead you to the observation room."

Renner takes a deep bow and turns to leave.

"And don't mess up. Would be a shame putting all this effort into adding another member on Nazarick's list only to erase it later."

The maid outside waiting for her looked familiar. The red-haired beauty was holding two large bowls of unfamiliar food. Seeing Renner, she pushes one of them into the princess's hands.

"Come on, let's go. The show will begin soon."

Renner holds the bowl a bit confused and follows the overly enthusiastic maid. Suddenly Lupus swings around and says with a wide sadistic grin.

"By the way, I love your idea of what to do with your brother so much. Little piggy is getting all calm and properly trained. He makes such hilarious oink on command."

Renner wasn't used to dealing with such an enthusiastic and carefree person, but playing along was the safest route. She twists her face in the same sadistic expression and responds.

"Oh, you have to tell me tales about how you are breaking the piggy. "

"My kind of gal. No wonder Lord Demiurge likes you."

The tactic worked as predicted, mimicry was the easiest way to befriend someone after all. Now the key was not overdoing it and she could gain a friend in Nazarick.

Bonus Story - First line of defense.

With all preparations done, Albedo had only one task to do before The Great Tomb of Nazarick's defenses were fully prepared. Shalltear needed to be instructed on how to act in case of invasion. Albedo could of course just use message but she had seen the lately elusive vampire in a person for quite a while.

Everyone else remaining in the Tomb was already instructed, even including the three supreme beings that are not taking part in the upcoming battle. Ulbert, Tabula, and Peros choose to remain behind in case there is a surprise attack. A smart enemy could use the chance when most of the forces were in Katze Plains.

Albedo uses her ring of Ainz Ooal Gown and teleports to the second floor where Shalltear is currently patrolling. The vampire should come to Albedo's location within a minute.

As predicted, two figures appear from around the corner and stop once they see Albedo, who stares in surprise.

Instead of the petite teen girl, Shalltear looks like a young woman in her early twenties. Her face was less round, hips a bit wider and the decent-sized breasts barely covered with a low-cut dress are on display.

"Shalltear… you look different."

"Father taught me how to change my form." She answers proudly.

"Congratulations."

"Thank you. Did you need something from me?"

"I came to deliver Ainz's orders. In case of an attack with even a minor risk of dying, you are retreating to the sixth floor."

"What, why? You think I can't handle defense on my own?" Shalltear hisses.

"First of, it is a direct order from Ainz himself. Do you dare to question his concern about you? Second, in case you die again, it will cost Nazarick six hundred million gold coins! And third, no one is questioning your ability to defend. We know there are enemies out there that can be a threat to us or even the supreme ones."

Shalltear's cheeks flush red, and she looks down. Emperor Ainz cared about her wellbeing.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply all that."

"I know. Shalltear, no one is blaming you for your first death anymore. Not even me. Please be careful." Albedo says with a gentle voice.

"Thank you. I will be careful, I promise."