Chapter 149

"I accept you as you are, no matter what you are, you are father to us all. No matter what your race." Demiurge finally uttered, but looked at his lord with horror, "But… you are mortal so… we cannot let the last Supreme Being die… the human race, no matter how strong, they have many frailties."

Ainz nodded, "I have gained far more power than I ever had, not only to defend myself, and not only to protect my children. But also so that I could find some way to 'change'. Race change items all come with drawbacks. Vampirism, Werewolfism, all other transformations come with drawbacks that range from loss of powers, elimination of my skills, or worse, putting me under someone else's control… now that you know the truth, perhaps you can find a solution."

Demiurge let out a derisive snort, "Me, Lord Ainz?"

"You're one of the three geniuses of Nazarick, yes, you Demiurge." Ainz answered and patted the archdevil's shoulder. "I cannot stay this way, but if you want to know the truth, as much as I loved my skeletal form… it had drawbacks I don't want restored. I can laugh longer in this form, I can feel the unbridled affection for my children and a sense of pride in your accomplishments… I do not want to lose all that. Nothing is suppressed now."

"Then… you want to become something else, My Lord?" Demiurge asked. The Archdevil's mind was already racing as he considered the possibilities.

"Yes, I think that would be for the best." Ainz answered, "It must be immortal, it must be able to contain all the requisite class skills, and it must have the full range of… shall we say… diverse emotional drives."

"I see…" Demiurge said and drifted off to thoughts of the research that would be necessary. "My Lord, we have race change items in the vault, wouldn't one of them…"

Ainz squeezed the hand which held his shoulder. "No. The world item that made up my phylactery would counter any attempt at-" Ainz stopped before saying 'any attempt at changing to a completely new form.'

Demiurge however, was not the sort to fail to pick up on that. "My Lord… you were once… human? That is why the Slane Theocracy's weapon worked? Because you were human first?"

Ainz sighed, "A father should not lie to his children… yes, Demiurge, yes. Long before I was a Supreme Being… consider the nature of this world, have you never noticed?"

"Noticed what, My Lord?" Demiurge asked.

"Dragonoids, quagoa, vampires, werewolves, elves, dwarves, and every intelligent race of significance you can name other than dragons. All have a humanlike body to one degree or another. All bipedal, all with arms in the same place, the human is the basic body type for almost all intelligent beings. Even slimes like Solution, insectoids like Entoma, and the android design of CZ. So it was with all the Supreme Beings. Humans give rise to all these things." Ainz explained, it wasn't really a 'lie' in his eyes as he said it, it was as close to true as he himself could conclude.

"Of course… you are forbidden from ever speaking of this. But I suppose there's no way to not tell you." Ainz closed his eyes and sighed, "That is why I don't use another race change item, I may be able to fulfill the requirements of an immortal class on my own, but in this new world, that doesn't seem possible so far."

"I understand, My Lord." Demiurge thought, but already his mind was racing ahead on the possible solution, something that may in concert be able to combine into a world item level of magic power, even if only once.

Demiurge slapped his hand over his heart with an audible clap and pronounced with fanatical fervency, "I will work tirelessly to see to your immortality."

"I will trust in you, Demiurge. But remember never to speak of this with the others. There is no reason for anyone to know that the reason I am what I am, is because it is what I was." Ainz replied, and Demiurge gave a nod of understanding to his Lord.

"My Lord's will shall be done, in all the world as it is in Nazarick, on my life I swear I will never say a word of this." He smiled a little, "Forgive me, My Lord, but I can't help but feel a little privileged to be the only one who knows this, even without your order, I doubt I would ever say a word."

Ainz and Demiurge shared a short laugh, and Demiurge began to make far more sense in Ainz's eyes.

'He really is like a child…' The thought was disturbing on one hand, but on the other, it was a relief, the innocent were more easily led and guided, unhindered by reflection, Demiurge would loyally obey any command of any kind.

'No matter what I tell him to do, he will never lose a wink of sleep over it.' He suppressed a shiver and recalled seeing the way a child tormented a housefly he'd captured, plucking at its wings, making it desperately dodge being squashed, unable to escape the torment and fear until the child grew bored and squashed its life out.

To distract himself, Ainz asked the next logical question, "What stage are you on now?"

"My Lord, my repeated harassments of the quagoa have been increasingly prodding, the dragons with ever more injuries, and my last large raid used twelve summoned demons. They're tired, they rely on the quagoa heavily now, and if everything went well, they have all the information to guide them to turning to the dwarves. If everything goes as I intend, they will launch an attack on this place in order to help the dragons escape as they are more valuable in a battle than several thousand quagoa, the rest will run by another route which I have made a point of ignoring. I expect their attack in a few days. Did I… did I execute your will properly, My Lord?" Demiurge asked.

Ainz nodded, "You did… you did very well, Demiurge, I'm proud of you. Now, I had better get back, the dwarves will need to be prepared. Send a small probe of demons to the city to impress on them how serious things are." Ainz suggested. It was a pointless addition to an already masterful plan, and Ainz knew it.

But in his desperation for relevancy, he couldn't resist the suggestion, '...And it isn't a bad one, it just isn't necessary… The other dwarves have already built up Jaldabaoth to the ultimate evil and the greatest threat they've ever faced. But this would be a chance for their new King and for them to build some confidence, some 'badly needed' confidence at that.'

An easy win was always good for morale, and with that, Ainz rose to his feet with the utmost relief in every capacity. "I place my faith in your efforts, Demiurge, I will see you again when you 'rise from the Great Rift' to greet your 'ancient nemesis' again."

Demiurge gave his lord a crooked smile, and when Ainz rose, he did as well. "My thanks to you, Master, for everything."

Then the gate opened, Ainz stepped through it, and was gone.