Capítulo 85: What now?
"So, what now?" For some reason, Ainz felt that something had come to an end. He guessed it was because of the fact how powerful Azazel was. After all, no matter what was thrown at them he could manage it. Given his attitude, it didn't seem like he would abandon or turn on them. It was his home too. Despite this, it still felt like something had ended. Like Azazel had finished something vital and was about to ride into the sunset with nothing to hold him.
"That's a good fucking question, Ainz," Azazel answered as he swirled the wine inside his glass seemingly contemplating what he would do next. It was then that Ainz realized what change he saw in the prince. He had finally beaten his arch-nemesis and was now free. There was no all-powerful resentful enemy on the horizon that would threaten his life.
The way he leaned back into the chair, kicked up the footrest, and lied there as he casually addressed him and drank his beverage. The guy looked like he finally had time to relax in what seemed like eons. It was clear that he didn't see Ainz as a boss right now, but as a friend to hang out with. It made Ainz relax as well, fumbling with the chair for a moment before managing to kick up the footrest as well.
Although he didn't need to rest physically, this felt nice, especially with the tar-like substance which let him experience taste once again. He didn't feel threatened by Azazel anymore despite knowing that the other wasn't telling him everything. Despite his inability to lie- wait was that even true?
He mentally shook his head. It didn't really matter. If there was one thing, he was sure about, it was that Azazel didn't have any bad intentions for him or Nazarick. Him having secrets? It actually felt nice. It felt like he wasn't an NPC. Not to take away the other former NPCs' autonomy and awareness, they still were following their initial backstory.
It made him feel like he was stuck in the past with them. It was why he wanted to find out if they could improve or change. Somehow, even though he was eternally grateful for them and loved them like they were family, it made him feel like it restricted him in some way. He had difficulties truly articulating it, but one thing was for sure. In this tomb, he had found someone who could ease his soul… if he had one.
"You know…" Azazel began as he eyed the tar-filled glass Ainz was sipping from. "I could give you something other tasty. It's white in color and sometimes glows golden, though if I give it to you, I would need to change your race. I mean any race is fine really it just had to be female-"
"Wait, w-what? You can change someone's race and why does it need to be female?" Ainz was confused and felt like he was intentionally left in the dark by Azazel. The angel truly had a strange mind sometimes that made it difficult for him to keep up and that wasn't even when the other was throwing out words that he didn't even know.
He understood what the other was saying, but somehow it didn't connect in his mind what he truly meant- or rather he dreaded what the angel of lust meant.
"Never mind, ignore that." Azazel dismissed after a brief chuckle, prompting Ainz to open his mouth to retort and dig deeper, but he had the feeling that the consequences of doing so would be too much for him to bear.
"Right." He only uttered before taking another sip of his drink.
"I want to fuck my women."
"Pfft" The emotional dampener didn't kick in quick enough and had him spill the liquid all over his face and robe. "What the hell, man?!" He exclaimed before calming down again when the dampener finally hit him. He still continued to stare at the chuckling angel dumbfounded. "You are doing it on purpose!"
"Hahahaha, man this never gets old." The dipshit actually laughed in his face! Ainz thought incredulously.
"I can't believe you've done this."
"Pfft- Hahahahaha…" Ainz crossed his arms as he watched the angel with no sympathy at all and whoever said that he was sulking didn't know how to read the facial features of a skull!
"Just so you know, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined-"
"W-wha? HAHAHAHahaa, please stop! You're killing me!" The angel clutched his stomach as he wheezed and Ainz couldn't help but be astonished at how the other acted. The other was laughing at his expense!
As strange as it sounded, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of having a lighthearted exchange. It made him feel warm inside. He took another sip from his remaining drink as the other calmed down after a while.
"As I was saying hehehe~" The angel chuckled and Ainz made a point by expressing his disgust verbally.
"Eugh, your chuckle is really creepy." The angel's smile didn't vanish at the insult and instead widened.
"Well, fuck you too." Azazel even gave him the finger which made him feel really nostalgic. He then coughed once as he started speaking again, "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. For the time being, I just want to fuck my women and relax for a bit. Afterward, I might want to travel and explore the worlds. Of course, you are invited if you want."
Ainz expertly ignored the first half and focused on the enticing bit, "I could see myself exploring this world. There are probably a lot of sights that- Wait. Did you just say worlds? As in plural, multiple worlds?"
Azazel casually nodded as he conjured what seemed to be strawberries. He had seen those in a book once about food that even everyday Japanese could've acquired back in the day. "Yeah, you know. The omniverse is a big place, after all. I'm sure that there is a universe with all the porn you've watched." How did he know about porn as well! How much did know?!
"Oh, I know a lot," Azazel answered as if he had read his mind. "It comes with being the nigh-omnipotent status that allows me to create entire realities with infinite timelines."
"Right…" Ainz didn't have a clever comeback and feeling that the conversation might end up in a topic that the other was obviously infinitely more knowledgeable about, he had no interest in diving into that. "By the way, good job dealing with Yggdrasil."
Azazel gave a couple of shallow bows as if he were thanking an invisible audience, "Thank you, thank you."
"Honestly, I had put more thought into our defenses and escape routes. I had never expected for you to actually win and this easily as well." Ainz easily admitted. The situation had been quite bleak and to be confident in winning the odds they were faced with would be delusional.
"Yeah. Well, it wasn't that easy. I mean I had to learn new spells for four entire days- Okay, four relaxing days with mostly intimate sessions and some study sessions in between. Still, I wasn't able to enjoy it thoroughly with the world tree being such a downer for my mood." Was he really complaining or was he bragging?
"Alright, yes poor you, having to study for what 4 hours a day-"
"4 hours a day?! Are you insane? Why would I quadruple my study time if one was obviously more than enough to deal with the World Tree?"
"I'm really trying to be grateful to you, but you are making it unnecessarily difficult." Ainz was doing his best to give the other a deadpanned look, but it seemed to just brush off of him. A helpless sigh escaped him, "So, those spells of yours are targeting the World Tree's essence or something." Ainz asked in passing interest, just wanting to have a clearer picture of what actually happened when some subordinate would inevitably ask him questions about it.
"Naw, they wouldn't have been able to scratch the tree. It was mostly for the Archangels he had sent my way after it figured out a way into my array. I killed them and absorbed their understanding of their domain, allowing me to incorporate and boost my power exponentially."
Ainz whistled slightly even without lips! "Must have been powerful spells." He wasn't sure what to say otherwise. He hadn't a clue about the arcane and from his understanding, the strength to take on several World Enemies simultaneously wasn't something that existed in the game.
"It has the same origin as my array." Azazel answered easily before continuing, "They aren't really cultivation techniques but belong to another universe magical system…" Ainz opened his mouth before closing it again.
Azazel seemed to see his doubts and started explaining the origin of the Whispering Tome as he summoned said tome. The powerful grimoire has existed since time immemorial. It was always updating and apparently, only he was worthy of its knowledge. He wasn't sure why, but he didn't have the will to ask about it and was relieved when Azazel put it back in his inventory There was also the fact that it somehow was familiar as if he had seen it before. After pondering over it for a minute, he dismissed it after not being able to come up with anything.
"So, unlimited powerful spells that are beyond the tier magic system and knowledge about the arcane and supernatural. Sounds overpowered." Ainz analyzed. Since everything said about it was mostly true, it was really an overpowered item that needed nerfing asap!
"Yep, made it rather easy to kill the World Enemies that then steal their power for mine."
"Kind of lucky that Yggdrasil wasn't aware you could do something like that, especially after it sent the Archangels after you. We would have had a problem if it had holed up in the nine realms and sent some other World Enemies after us." Ainz thought about that scenario and couldn't help but shiver. It would have been a nightmare that would have lasted for years or even decades. Well, at least until Azazel learned some other spells or learned that knowledge he stole.
Azazel frowned as he gazed into the fire. He wasn't watching it and was obviously deep in thought. "From what I know, it just took so long to convince them to attack me. It had figured out the weakness almost instantaneously. Would Yggdrasil miss the fact that I was growing stronger with more knowledge? Sending archangels was bound to create some mistakes. He clearly didn't need the Archangels and could have used other divines like Odin. Their deaths wouldn't have resulted in the same increase. There would still be some, but not nearly as exaggerated..." The angel continued to mutter something and his frown deepened before he stood up and turned his head to look at the ceiling.
His eyes started to glow golden and for a moment, Ainz felt like he was in the presence of an almighty god. It was truly intimidating, but fortunately, as fast as it had appeared, it vanished just as fast. Azazel released a breath that he had been holding before dropping onto the couch again. He leaned into the backrest as he shook his head. "Man, I'm still too naïve. Well played, well played indeed." Azazel downed his glass and from the actions he inferred that he had some revelation.
"Any bad news?" He carefully asked, causing the angel to think for a moment before he sighed.
"Not really. I've just been too arrogant to think I had the upper hand against a primordial being with more experience under its belt than I could boast of even after a million years."
"I- ehhh, that sounds bad?" He asked, not really following what implications his words had, but it sounded like Yggdrasil wasn't defeated?
"It's hard to explain. To cut itself off, it needed to bind itself to something that could be cut off. The fate of its doom by my hands and the hostility between us was just a plan it had concocted to free itself. Of course, by doing so it had to truly perish, but its rebirth wouldn't be hindered by anything. Its existence was secured since despite being an independent and new existence by all measures, it continues to exist. For a tree, memories weren't essential for its being after all."
"I'm not sure I follow. Yggdrasil is still alive?"
"Yep, in one shape or form. It wanted to be killed by me and now a seedling that it had left behind would start its existence anew."
"Oh, eh are you going to end it?" Ainz questioned as it seemed that a possible powerful enemy was still out there.
"No, its existence is inconsequential to me and our connection had been cleanly severed. There is nothing that connects me and its seedling. It won't remember me and even if it did, it wouldn't want to risk an altercation with me. Despite having lost all its creations and subordinates, it just sees it as losing its leaves in the winter. Not worth being angry about. Part of life and all that."
"… you think it knew that you wouldn't go after it?"
"Most likely. It seemed to have a pretty good grasp on my personality. It wouldn't be hard for him to deduce that I would find it too cumbersome to kill something that had done nothing against me."
"…Trees, am I right?" Ainz joked trying to ease the mood which made the prince chuckle light-heartedly. It truly seemed like he wasn't bothered by this revelation.
"Why would I be bothered? I would have done the same thing even if I knew I was being set up. It's a win-win situation for both of us," Azazel answered with a shrug and Ainz had the feeling that he was truly reading his mind! "Naw, you just wear your heart on your sleeve."
"I- wha- how? I'm a skeleton! I don't have a face or a heart for that matter!"
"Oh, sounds like you want to change your race, how about being big-tiddy goth-"
"No!"
"Alright- geez, no need to shout. Here you want a steak and fries?" Azazel presented him with a plate, making Ainz deadpan at him, "Ah, right you can't taste this food that is probably better than anything you ever had in your entire life. Too bad."
"Boy, you might be powerful enough to end existence, but you are still Hermorah's child and I will spank you in his stead if you keep this up!" He threatened, making the corner of his mouth twitch in amusement, but didn't say anything. Ainz wasn't sure whether that made it worse since he could imagine what the other would want to say.
"Ahem, anyway," He coughed slightly to divert the conversation. "what's the deal with that book? Why do you just have something this powerful in your possession?"
"It's just one of my items that are meant to be by my side. Perhaps, Yggdrasil had some influence on them landing in my hands, but I doubt it. There are some things that were beyond its power, so it just went along with it. It probably saw the opportunity for what it was and executed it in accordance with my plans."
"That doesn't explain… whatever. Do you have any other items that we should know about? I don't want a sudden magical nuclear bomb to go off right in our tomb because I touched some random book."
"Yeah, I guess I had some, but I already used most of them in preparation for Yggdrasil. There is that mirror I got in the basement. With enough energy, it can lead you to another world. I don't really need it as I could just traverse the void, but it's rather convenient if you have the coordinates to your destination. Actually, with it, you might be able to return to your world, though without coordinates it will be a lot of guesswork. I could use your soul, but depending on how the reality reacts after having an open channel to your soul, it might just suck it out of your body."
Ainz shivered slightly at the thought of just dying the moment his home was in arms reach. "Maybe we should conduct some experiments first or search for it slowly. There is no time pressure, I've got enough time." Azazel nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, we got all of eternity for us to explore the world."
"What about the Elder Scroll?" Ainz suddenly asked as he remembered Hermorah talking about it quite extensively. He had the tendency to write him some stuff about it even during work time through text messages. There were several instances when he almost got in trouble for it.
"The Elder Scroll?" The angel's eyes widened in surprise.
"Ah, Chronicles of Divinity I think its name was, right?" From what he remembered, one could summon the highest divine summon that wasn't a World Enemy. Usually, one would only consider level 100s like a Seraph Empyrean or a Valkyrie Queen.
"How do you know about it?" Azazel almost seemed warry as he asked this as if he wasn't aware that he knew of it. Perhaps, he shouldn't assume that Azazel knew everything. After all, he had some misconceptions about what it meant to be a Player. Besides, how could he have known that Hermorah had communicated with him offline?
"There are a lot of things I know. Don't underestimate me…" Ainz said with his chest, though Azazel just gave him an unimpressed look which caused him to fold immediately. "Hermorah told me when we were in our world." Azazel nodded slightly.
"Makes sense. I should warn you not to touch it. It will obliterate your soul or anyone who isn't me." His words only aroused Ainz's curiosity. Of course, he wouldn't touch it since Azazel told him not to, but it still made him want to know more, which seemed to be obvious with the way Azazel sighed.
"It will allow you to return to a specified point in time where the Elder Scroll existed, though I doubt that it will truly do so. Time runs differently for beings such as I and Yggdrasil. It might be enough for anything else though. Honestly, it's kind of useless for me now."
"It allows you to return in time? Time travel?" Ainz asked astonished. There were some time spells, but to return in time where the Elder Scroll existed was undoubtedly overpowered. He could return to the start of their transfer and easily act as the genius that the NPC thought of him!
"Indeed. The Elder Scroll, boundless in wisdom and prophecy, exists as ancient manuscripts chronicling the origins of existence. Created by cosmic entities, that witnessed the birth of worlds, these scrolls hold the secrets of creation, fate, and the interwoven destinies of all beings. For those powerful and divine in nature, it will allow glimpses into past, present, and potential futures and for the angel Azazel, who is destined with it, it will allow passage through this fabric of creation and deliver him to his chosen time."
Ainz was awestruck by the description of what this scroll was supposedly capable of. "I- this is- It can show you the future? Allow you to time travel?"
Azazel merely nodded as he ate a strawberry, "Yeah, from what I could sense it acclimatizes to the reality it resides in and allows to manipulate time with enough power. I can do the same without it, but it certainly would ease the negligible strain, so it's not that important to me either anymore. Actually, the same with the Worldforge Stones."
"The Worldforge Stones?" Ainz was getting a headache, this sounded like a powerful item as well.
"An artifact which possesses the ability to shape realms from the void, crafting worlds within a designated space. It harnesses the raw energies of creation, allowing wielders to fashion entire universes with a mere touch. However, the power it holds demands caution, for the creation birthed from its influence holds the weight of its creator's essence. Basically, once used to create an independent world of my backyard, for example, it will forever be branded by my essence. I wouldn't be able to gift it to someone."
"Gift someone a world? No, it creates a universe… I- eh, that's great? Creating a universe from the void, I mean." He really had a hard time following. Were there truly such powerful items? Those were beyond what World Items were said to be capable of. He had a hard time believing it, but somehow, he didn't doubt the validity of it all.
"Yeah- wait what did you say? Yeah, it is capable of creating a universe from the void… True, I always saw it to create a pocket universe from an existing space, but I could just create something new and feed it my tree…" Azazel rubbed his chin in thought, giving Ainz enough time to catch up again.
"Any-anything else?" Ainz asked with a gulp, fearing that he would hear something even more outlandish. Fortunately, the other shook his head.
"There is only Flora's Embrace Vial, the Astralroot Scepter, and the blueberry bush of arcane knowledge. All of them were already pretty useful, the vial…" Azazel then went on to explain each of these three items, waterboarding Ainz with information that left him gaping at the effects. "… so, you want one?" He finished as he procured a blueberry from his inventory.
"I'm good for now thanks." Ainz shook his head as he held onto the chair, feeling slightly dizzy with all that information but held on strong.
"You sure? It might give you a way to ascend your class." Azazel's words were like lightning cutting through the headache in his mind, clearing it up and illuminating a path to continue grinding. He had already given up on levelling further, but if he could 'ascend' his class then...
"I-" He wasn't sure if he should accept, on one hand, it would give him a purpose and goal to achieve, but was there a need with Azazel there to help them?
No, he said he wanted to explore the worlds at some point. What would he do if he encountered something akin to a World Enemy when Azazel wasn't there? And besides what was there to lose?
"Any side effects?" He asked just to be sure, but the angel shook his head.
"Not really, just another perspective on things. Usually, you would gain some levels from consuming it, but it shouldn't be the same for you as you are already maxed. The restrictions of a race aren't easily broken, but peeking at reality should give you some insights on what might be possible on your own." Ainz could practically hear the unsaid, 'I could break your race's limits with a snap of my fingers', but he wouldn't have him do it even if he did say he could.
Of course, there were certain ideas and ideals that he was hoping for when hearing that there was possible growth for him to be had. It would be an excuse to explore and go out there on his own. He believed it would be something he needed, so he carefully reached for the blueberry that Azazel held in his open palm.
He opened his jaw wanting to inquire whether it would even be possible for him to eat it without a stomach, but remembering the bullshit powers they and all the other items in his possession had, he wasn't particularly worried that it wouldn't work for him. Besides, Azazel seemed pretty confident as well. He wouldn't have suggested it if it had been impossible for him.
He held the blueberry in his bony fingertips, hesitating for a moment longer before he threw it in his jaw. The berry crushed between his teeth and he could feel and taste the blueberry spreading in his mouth before it was absorbed by something. He glanced up, expecting Azazel to give him a teasing smile or something that would indicate that he had been messing with him.
However, nothing of that sort happened instead he saw something that he would never forget even in a billion years. A kaleidoscope of colors and concepts appeared in front of him. He could feel the effects of the blueberry accelerating his thoughts and understanding. In a single moment, everything about magic that came to him intuitively was suddenly understood.
His magical knowledge rushed up from a 0 to a 100, giving him insight into how and what he was doing every time he cast a spell. It was an enlightening experience, but this wasn't what captivated him. It was Azazel in all his glory. Power immeasurable. So, vast he couldn't even imagine an end to it. It was as beautiful as it was terrifying.
A thousand ideas and possibilities were laid out to him, and he instinctively knew that he just scratched the surface. He knew there was so much more, so many layers that even with the aid of this magical blueberry he wouldn't be able to grasp. In the next moment, the influx of information started to diminish until his normal vision returned to him.
"This is certainly a different perspective," Ainz muttered. His perspective truly had changed and widened so significantly that he could be said to be enlightened. Of course, perhaps he only reached the mentality of a normal successful human with just more magical prowess, but he felt like a reborn man.
"Any luck on how to proceed with your class?" Azazel asked even though they both were aware of the answer.
Ainz smiled as a journey, an adventure formed inside his mind. "Yeah, I have an idea."
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A/N: Didn't expect the conversation to continue for this long, but it felt fitting and nice. Besides, I wanted to give you guys an idea of what their relationship and future will look like. Of course, this won't be everything I will show, there are still a few chapters until the true ending...
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