Chương 540: 50
Chapter 50
Ainz as usual was going through the countless daily reports that required his direct approval. As much as he tried to delegate less important tasks away from him and Albedo to the Empire's administration, new responsibilities popped up all the time.
On top of it, Buku and Punitto were not making his life easier by any means. All the military personnel needed to be maintained, even the undead ones. With a sigh, he looked up from the report sheet.
Splendora was playing with wooden blocks on a large office rug without a care in the world. Next to her, Rubedo sat cross-legged, performing the important assistant's duty of providing new blocks. His daughter was reshaping them into various figurines, making up various scenes with people she had met.
This wasn't the first time she had shown the ability to reshape materials at her leisure. How exactly she reshaped the wood was unclear, even Tabula could not detect any sort of magic being used when they observed Splendora's playing last time. The wood just changed form according to the small girl's will.
Although he needed to work, Ainz just watched Splendora play. Just as he thought he had seen everything she could do, Splendora animated the figurines of Cocytus and Takemi and let them fight one another.
'How is she doing that?' He just needed to know.
"Dora?"
"Yes, papa?" Splendora turned her head to face her very surprised father.
"How did you make them move like that?"
"Umm…I dunno. I just made them fight like uncle Cocotys and uncle Takemi did."
'She doesn't even know herself! This can't be bad, right? There is nothing to worry about, right? It's not like she can do something horrible with it.'
"Can you show me?" Ainz asked, stood up, and walked up to his daughter.
"Sure." Splendora responded happily at her father's sudden attention and took another wooden cube, quickly reshaping it into a tiny version of herself. Just like the other ones, the figurine started to move on its own and joined the fight.
'Nothing. I couldn't detect a thing. It's almost like she is changing reality itself.' Ainz sat down on the rug next to Splendora and watched the wooden figurines fight. Their movements were far too fluid considering the material they were made of.
Splendora quickly used the opportunity and sat down on her father's lap.
"Papa, look, I'm winning." she said while pointing at the smaller version of herself that was now dominating the fight. Despite the raw power Splendora possessed, the performance still looked rigged in her favor.
"Good job." Ainz said and patted her head.
By all means, he should have been working, but a small distraction couldn't hurt. However, another distraction came a moment later as someone knocked on the door. Ainz took his daughter out of his lap and sat her down on the rug once again and stood up. "Come in."
"Thank you, Ainz." Lilith said as she opened the door and walked in, leaving her retinue behind. Her eyes momentarily met with Splendora's who glared at her in annoyance.
"Good day to you as well, young one." Lilith said with a slight bow.
Despite her anger at the woman for interrupting her time with her father, Splendora stood up as well, curtsied, and said. "Good day, lady."
"I do apologize for the intrusion, but there is a topic I wished to discuss." Lilith said.
"Please, don't worry about it." Ainz said while motioning for her to sit down on the sofa.
Lilith gracefully accepted the offer and sat down. While taking a few more glances at Splendora, who had returned to playing with figurines she had made.
"Your child is powerful, extraordinarily so."
"She is." He had no reason to fully trust Lilith and thus didn't ask if she knew what kind of power Splendora was wielding. "You wanted to discuss something?"
"I have come to understand that you plan to create more of your kind from the souls of your friends still trapped in a wasted world?"
"Yes. We do indeed plan to summon the rest of our friends when there are enough souls to spend. Is there a problem?" Ainz asked, suspicious.
"Not with creation itself, no. My concern lies with the path you wish for them. There are already twelve Gods here, which is a standard limit of a pantheon."
"You mean we can't make them into Gods like us?"
"You can, but you shouldn't. That doesn't mean they can't be granted the immortality of the Gods." Lilith said as she leaned back onto the sofa.
To Ainz, it was quite evident she enjoyed the power over him in terms of knowledge. He had little to bargain with at this point, so there was no point beating around the bush. "What do you mean?"
"To be a God is not only to claim immortality and permanent form in higher realms but to gain power through belief as well. Twelve Gods are enough for a world. The rest can be granted the divinity of the Gods, but not the role and worship of one."
"I wouldn't want for my friends to be lesser."
"You are looking at it the wrong way. They can still become Gods when the time comes. Divinity gives them enough for a start but doesn't take away from the main ones. When the world is not in peril anymore and its population grows, they can be granted godhood as well."
Ainz sat silently for a moment. It sounded like she wanted more control over them. If he would want for the rest of the guild members to become Gods, he would have to either ask her or Regoz. Ally or not, she was a being whose goals could be different from his.
Lilith raised her eyebrow and then continued. "Do not misunderstand. This is not a power play. An enslaved God will cause nothing but trouble to the enslaver. We make beneficial alliances, or go to wars with each other if need be, but never suppress and control."
"What do you propose then?"
"I will teach you how to open the paths, but the choice of whether to listen to my advice or not will be yours."
"Might I ask why are you helping us like this?" Maybe the question was way too forward and blunt, but he wanted to hear her reasoning.
"My children are in this world, and I do not want them to perish." Lilith said and then leaned forward with a devious smile. "Besides, it is a rare opportunity to be the first one to work with an entire pantheon and be their teacher. Bonds made do not disappear easily. I may gain many favors from other Infernal Lords for just setting up the initial alliances."
"So it is about the power?"
"Of course it is. You should understand that it is always about power. But that power comes in many forms. Just because I gain more doesn't mean you would lose anything. The opposite is the case. With bonds forged, both parties gain power."
There were so many unknowns that he felt like he was playing chess blindfolded, with all the figures being indistinguishable. If what she said was true, then her actions made sense. She would be a tutor held in reverence. It wasn't that hard to notice her blatant attempts of befriending Albedo. More than once Lilith had offered an alliance to the Empress, despite her being the Goddess of Love and Family.
For now, Ainz had no other option, but to put at least some trust in Lilith, otherwise there would be no point in her being present in the physical realm.
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Not even two days after the initial strike, forces of the Underwater Empire had surfaced again. A wingless dragon followed by six gigantic monsters had walked out of the sea and demanded to parley with Nazarick. A swift strike force could do considerable damage to them, but from what they knew, the monsters would just get revived without the Great Old One suffering any losses.
To discuss the development, an emergency meeting was called with Ainz, Ulbert, Buku, and Punitto attending. All four arrived in the planning room in the military headquarters basement just minutes after the initial report by the dragon overseeing the region.
"Everyone is present, we can start." Ainz said sitting down next to Buku who was pointing out the region to Punitto.
"The position is rather open and disadvantageous for us, not to mention the sea topography in that region lets them retreat with relative ease." Punitto said after the initial assessment of the area.
"Peace is not really an option either. My guess is that it is a trap to gather as many of us as possible in that location, so other monster teams can strike undefended targets." Buku chipped in.
"Even if it is a trap we can't ignore it either, besides I have a few offensive spells to test." Ainz said.
"You do know, they will all specifically target you, right?" Ulbert said.
"I do, but they have no idea to what level I have grown."
"Come to think of it, I don't know either. You aren't planning to blow up half of the continent I hope?" Buku asked.
"Yeah, Ainz has not dueled anyone. I can't call myself the best spell caster if I don't even know if it's true." Ulbert remarked.
Ainz dragged his hand over his face at the sudden derailment of the whole meeting. "We have bigger things to worry about right now."
"Fine, let's return to the topic at hand." Ulbert said with a sigh. "Who is going with you?"
"Just those who are assigned to me: Rubedo, Eleleth, Tsar, and Cocytus."
"You think that is enough against seven?" Buku asked.
"It will have to do. Are the rest of the teams ready?"
"They are ready to be deployed." Buku said.
"Good, then I'm off to talk with the Underwater Empire's representatives." Ainz said and teleported away to gather the rest of the team.
If properly guided, they should have the upper hand even if Hzanfrot threw anything he could at Nazarick. There was one major concern, however. Since every single powerful being at their disposal needed to be ready to fight, Splendora would be left in the care of Nigredo.
Ainz wasn't completely sure his sometimes rebellious daughter wouldn't just decide to teleport somewhere dangerous at the worst possible moment. Ultimately, all he could do was trust she would not break her promise.
His team already waited for him in the courtyard of the imperial castle, with Tsar towering over every other creature present in his natural form. Ainz could clearly see a glint of murderous anticipation in his eyes.
'I have to remember to let him deal with his aunt personally.'
"Remember to be careful, and don't do anything suicidal!" Ainz said to everyone and cast a gate.
They stepped out some distance away from the Dragon Empress and the rest of the monsters. Since there was no immediate attack, he slowly walked closer to her with Eleleth and Rubedo at each side. Tsar and Cocytus walked behind them, ready to strike as well.
Even from the first glance, it was rather clear that the wingless dragon didn't escape Ulbert's spell unscathed. Her body was covered with greenish metallic scales, and in her empty eye sockets sat two green flames.
Beside Graladansa stood two bipedal headless creatures covered in black scales. The rest of the monsters stood some distance away.
"Ainz Ooal Gown. I wondered if you would have enough courage to face me!" Graladansa roared.
"I have to congratulate you. A lesser creature would not survive my friend's spell. I wonder how it felt?" Ainz responded with a tone of fake politeness.
"You and your pathetic empire will die!" she roared. "Kill them all! Kill them! Kill them!"
Ainz raised up both of his arms. The new spell he made was perfect for the occasion. With a need for localized spells, he had turned to his favorite offensive spell, Reality Slash, and upscaled it to its very limits.
"Twin Maximize Magic: Blades of Unmaking!"
The two headless figures suddenly were assaulted by countless ripples in the fabric of reality itself, shredding them apart.
Graladansa blinked in surprise as the two children of the Great Old One were turned into mincemeat, with their pale green blood staining the ground. It took a second to process what just happened. Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown was much more powerful than anticipated. More powerful than any player should be.
In a momentary decision to save her own skin, she turned around and ran towards the sea, abandoning her companions. Her master would be angry of course and punish her, but at least she would remain alive.
Before she could reach the water, something massive landed on top of her pushing her to the ground. "I didn't imagine you would be such a coward. So much for the Underwater Empress' iron will."
"You will die a thousand deaths, whelp. Your masters will not stand behind your back every time!" she roared in anger and frustration.
"But you will die just one final one. There will be no coming back." Tsar said.
Reeling from what the traitorous dragon just said, she struggled to get free "No, you wouldn't dare! That is forbidden!" Her roars quickly turned into wails. Her nephew, her blood, used the most sacred of magics against his own kind.
Her soul burned away at a rapid pace. No matter how she struggled, she could neither get out of his grip nor stop his relentless assault on her very being. All that she was had almost gone. There would be nothing to resurrect. She, after all, wasn't one of the Great Old One's children who were not bound to mortality.
"Stop!" she finally screamed in desperation, "I give up. Stop!"
There was no response from Tsar. He was determined to end her very existence. Maybe once she was family, but it didn't matter now. Despite her being the one who killed him, there was no satisfaction in the horrid act he was performing.
The rest of the monstrous creatures were being slain around them. They would come back only to be slain again and again. Was there even a way to win the war? Of course, the Emperor could resurrect or resummon Nazaricks' forces as well, but if a solution was not found, it would just end up a destructive endless stalemate.
The last remnants of Graladansa's soul faded away as Tsar finally let go of her corpse. What awareness remained would not even remember what she was or the world she was from. Tsar looked around to see if anyone needed help, but that wasn't the case. His master's magic was more potent than even he suspected, as Ainz seemingly did most of the damage by himself, with the remaining three doing mostly crowd control.
There was no point in chasing the lesser forces, as they just fled to the sea, terrified.
Ainz looked over the results of the battle, relieved. His hard training had paid off in spades. He knew he would have an easier time dealing with the creatures compared to Touch but didn't expect that the difference would be so big.
Since killing the Great Old One was out of the question, he at least hoped there was a way to imprison him. While he stood silently, his subordinates returned to him one by one, with the massive dragon being the last to approach.
"Did you have your revenge?" Ainz asked.
"She is not coming back. That is all that matters. Unfortunately, the rest of them will." Tsar said as he transformed into his human form. Ainz had noticed the dragon spent more time in this form than in his natural one but chose not to comment. Tsar's private life wasn't his business after all.
"Let's just hope we can find a solution before the entire world is in ruins."
{ Ainz, our prediction was spot on. Twelve more strike points, one in southern Robble. } Buku suddenly messaged him.
{ Your input? }
{ We have seven response teams including yours so five spots will have to endure. What are we doing with southern Robble? }
{ We'll deal with it, but we'll deal with it last. We can't let them gain a foothold there. }
{ Got it. Can you take this one? } Buku asked as she sent a mental image of the location in the northern Re-Estize. }
{ Yes. Is the capital safe? }
{ No attacks there yet, but Pandora and the top-tier summons are sitting at home just in case. }
{ Give me a heads up if we need to return home. }
{ Sure thing, boss. }
There was no time to rest now. Ainz quickly opened the gate to the next location and motioned for Rubedo and Eleleth to go through first. Not that he was particularly worried he might be ambushed, but both of his guards took their duty very seriously, and him going through first would lead to another long rant on their part about him being careless.
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Jircniv lazed around on the sofa with a stack of reports in his hands. The undead were doing the lion's share of the work and he mostly needed to look over the decisions and give human input, as the administration did not always take human sensibilities and abilities in mind. It was not the most difficult task but a necessary one.
His muscles ached after the morning training with Baziwood. As a king didn't need to have high combat prowess, the reason for the physical activities was much more mundane. With the more relaxed lifestyle, he had gained some weight and needed to get back in shape.
Unless something major was going on, the upper crust of Nazarick rarely interfered with his duties, and when they did it usually was just a new policy or a small request.
Overall, life was good. Still, there was one major concern left; the constant danger from the Underwater Empire. There was not a day where he didn't bless his decision to join the Empire of Nazarick. The monsters rivaling the Gods had all this time just waited under the dark waters for their master to awaken and now when he had, only the New Gods stood in their way.
His rather relaxed morning routine was interrupted when one of his succubi concubines entered the room with two cups of coffee without knocking. She casually walked up to him, put both cups on the table, pushed his legs off the sofa and snuggled up to him.
"You know I have work to do?" Jircniv said with a slight annoyance.
The succubus turned to him with a pout. "I was away for a week, you could at least pretend you are happy to see me!"
'This again.' Dealing with the demons was so much more troublesome than it ever was with his former human concubines. "Allixta, you know I'm happy to see you, but I still have a lot of work to do. How was your trip?"
"I met the Great Mother Lilith. It's a rare honor for someone of my rank." The succubus said as she started to nibble on Jircniv's ear to distract him from the work even more.
"That's good to hear." Jircniv let out a sigh. "You will have my undivided attention in the evening, I have to work now."
"You are no fun." Allixta said with another pout and leaned away. "Do you want to hear some rumors?"
"Of course." Jirniv responded and put aside the report he had finished reading.
"Lord Ulbert had earned some ire from Lady Lilith. He was nicer than bef…"
A loud explosion stopped her mid-sentence. Both jumped to their feet and ran towards the window. A gigantic creature had landed near the Baharuth's royal castle. The six-winged monstrosity who could be only described as a mix between a fly and a crocodile started to trample down buildings.
'Invasion here? They said monsters would only attack coastal cities!'
Without hesitation, he ordered the servitor to contact Nazarick's military headquarters. The area needed to be evacuated. No matter how careful the defenders would be, mass destruction was inevitable.
A moment later the gate opened in the middle of the room with Peros stepping through followed by Shalltear, Aura, and Mare. With only a fraction of a second to consider how to greet the guests, Jircniv decided to take the safest route and kneeled.
"Skip the formalities. We have an invasion to deal with." Peros said as he walked up to the window. "Shalltear, switch to Valkyrie form and take the beast's attention away from the people. Aura, assist her. Mare, try to immobilize the beast. Look out for evacuation teams and try to not cause mass casualties if possible. Consider your own safety the first priority."
"As you command, Lord Peros." All three responded in a practiced and unified manner, and used another gate to move closer to the target. Peros took out his bow and aimed. The monster had way too many eyes to be blinded instantly, but if he would be quick enough, he could impair the attacker.
As the first arrow hit its mark perfectly, Pero addressed Jircniv. "The evacuation of the city is being handled. Take the castle staff and retreat to the camping site outside the capital."
Jircniv bowed and ran out of the room, with Allixta following him. He would only get in the way. A childish desire to see the epic battle crossed his mind for a brief moment but duties came first.
"Take the western side and gather people in the courtyard." He addressed the succubus and then turned to Baziwood and Leinas, who were guarding the entrance to his quarters. "Take the eastern and southern wings. I will take the northern part of the castle. Every second counts."
One of the ways the ruler showed wealth and power was by the castle he lived in. At this moment, he felt the building to be unnecessary and large with far too many employed to tend it. As he ran through the long corridors, his aching muscles started to act up as well. Maybe he looked unsightly but it didn't matter. Should the monster turn its attention to the castle, everyone inside would die.
The evacuation in the courtyard was rather frantic, as only one gate was opened and the hundreds that worked in the royal castle still arrived one by one.
"Your majesty, you should go." Baziwood said as he practically dragged his king to the gate.
"No. Let the others go first. Unlike them, If I die, I will be resurrected." Jircniv said sternly. In a situation like this, showing any weakness could make his masters doubt his ability to administer Baharuth.
His bodyguard reluctantly stopped and stood guard as the castle staff ran through the gate. The raging battle was partly visible over the tall castle wall. The monstrous beast was blinded and crippled but didn't relent one bit, trying to snatch the opponents in its immense jaws.
'If something like that would have attacked before Nazarick was formed, my nation would be doomed. Not even all of humanity united could stop something like that.'
As the last people walked through the gate he, out of habit, started to calculate potential costs to repair the damages done to the city. He may have been just an administrator, but this still was his home, his nation.
The other side of the gate painted an alarming picture. Arwintar was clearly not the only target. The constant influx of both humans and demi-humans meant there were a lot of places hit in an all-out attack.
The countless Nazarick servants organized the chaotic crowd, providing food packs and tents, guiding people to their temporary camps, and overall keeping the crowds in check. Jircniv could hear the Apostle of the Life and Death preaching in the distance, but he didn't pay too much attention to it.
Instead, he turned to his servitor who floated nearby, and said. "Contact administration and request orders. There is no point for me sitting in this camp."
After a moment the servant responded. "There are no orders given. All of the top members are fighting the invaders, including the Emperor himself."
"Just great." Jircniv said. He quickly gave the list of his most important servants to the servitor, including his concubines, and ordered them to gather at his location. If nothing else, he could relocate to the imperial castle for now and hope to get some updates soon.
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Nigredo couldn't be happier with the current task. It was a rare opportunity for her to babysit her niece. Of course, she needed to be diligent and get the princess out of harm's way if anything were to happen, even at the expense of her own life, but that wasn't a problem.
Together with Splendora, they were making various paper figurines and coloring them while the rest of the Nazarick fought off the invaders.
"Aunt look, this is my big brother Pandora." Splendora said as she finished painting the next figurine. Her papa had told her to not use any of her abilities for playing while he was away and she wanted to make him and her mom proud of her.
"How wonderful." Nigredo said as she finished making figurines of her sisters.
Her senses were screaming that something was starting to go wrong but she couldn't figure out why.
'Maybe I'm just worried something might happen? Should I contact the Emperor or my sister?'
Splendora looked up as well and then started in a spot in front of her.
"There. Something is breaking." Splendora said as she pointed out in a random direction.
"We have to get away!" Nigredo said hastily and got up to grab Splendora. Something was off, and she was not about to risk finding out what exactly. As she reached for the princess, she also started to contact her sister and Emperor Ainz.
{ Something is wrong. I need backup. }
A sudden tear in the fabric of reality opened up in front of Splendora and a tentacle shot out and grabbed her, with a stream of water hitting Nigredo.
She managed to remain standing and even tried to grab Splendora but the tentacle disappeared with her into the void.
{ They took Splendora! } She sent a frantic message. { Something grabbed her and pulled her away from the castle I don't know where. }
{ You lost her? } Albedo's voice invaded her mind with such intensity that for a moment Nigredo thought her head would explode.
Nigredo remained standing motionless. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't sense where Splendora was taken nor is she all right. For a moment she contemplated taking her own life, but such failure should be judged by her superiors and suicide was an undeservingly easy way out.
When Ainz heard the shaken voice of Nigredo in his head his knees almost gave out. Without hesitation, he located his daughter. She was taken deep under the sea. Forgetting about his own safety he teleported to her location, prepared to die for her if need be.
The next moment he was standing on a stone-paved sea floor without any water around him and hysterically crying Splendora.
"Papa, scary monster! He… he… he…" Ainz grabbed his daughter cradling her in his arms and put the strongest shield he had around them.
"It's all right. I am here. I am here." He repeated again and again As the gates started to open and figures teleported in, he looked around startled, but luckily they were his friends. Rubedo, Elelleth, Albedo, Tabula, and Lilith all had come.
Albedo ran up to him and also embraced their daughter shaking in fear and anger.
Only then did Ainz look around. They were standing under some sort of translucent crystalline sphere. There were no enemies around. He tried to detect any danger but there was none. Only then did he see that Lilith was paler than usual.
"Is there…" He started to ask but Lilith interrupted him.
"Reality was rewritten here!" She took a long breath to seemingly calm down and repeat. "Reality was rewritten here and your daughter did it. She erased one of them from existence."
"She erased what?" Ainz asked as he let go of Splendora and let Albedo cradle her.
"One of the Old One's children. He doesn't exist anymore. You have no idea how bad it is."
"Why is it bad?" Ainz asked as his emotional suspension calmed him down.
"Such actions are not meant to be done. It attracts the attention of beings whose attention you do not want. If they come to investigate nothing will stop them. Not you, not me, not even…"
"Stop dramatizing things. I already straightened out the reality ripple. The all-seeing one didn't notice this little stunt." A familiar voice said. Most already knew the owner of the voice.
Regoz casually walked up to the group and approached Albedo, who was still cradling Splendora, who was letting out a small sob from time to time. By all means, she wanted to keep her daughter away from any danger but for some unknown reason, she just let this stranger approach her.
"Here you go, a strawberry milkshake, your favorite. A brave girl like you deserves a treat." Regoz said as he handed her a plastic cup with a straw which Splendora eagerly accepted.
"What happened?" Ainz asked.
"As our lovely Lilith already explained, Splendora wrote a child of Hzanfrot out of existence. But there is no need to be alarmed, I already fixed the issue."
The issue was too important to not be addressed. "How did she do it? Is my daughter the same type of being as you?"
Regoz smiled and said "She and I are not the same, but she holds immense power within, a power that was not meant to be activated for a long time. Rules were broken and this is the consequence. I assure you she will not be threatened again unless she herself or you put her in danger."
Lilith turned to Regoz and said. "So she is not a traveler?"
Regoz walked up to her, patted her cheek earning a snarl from her, and said. "My dear you are trying to put labels where there is no need for them. Splendora is a child that needs to be raised by loving parents and she already has that."
'Why are you doing this?" Ainz asked.
"Truth will not benefit you in any way."
"I want to hear it anyway. I will not sit idly by and let my daughter be dragged into your games!" Ainz said. It was foolish to threaten such a being but he didn't care, he needed to know the truth.
"I am protecting Splendora under the orders of the Queen Interitusel."
"Why does she want to protect Splendora?" Ainz asked.
"Well, that question you will have to ask her when you meet her in the future."
"Who is she?"
"She is the official Queen of Travelers. Do not get too antsy. The meeting will not happen any time soon. After all, you don't have to worry about dying of old age. That reminds me, do not even think about using Splendora to remove Hzanfrot. There already is a pit you can dump him in, all you have to do is to work out the details."
'Just great. More of them. Could it be that Splendora is one of them and he refuses to give me a straight answer?'
"I'll be off then. Do not repeat this." Regoz said as he motioned around. "Not everything can be easily hidden from the lurker at the threshold." He then bowed, and disappeared.
"Do you know anything about this Interitusel?" Ainz immediately asked Lilith.
She looked away and said. "She is not to be trifled with. She is as destructive as Regoz is manipulative, but she is not known for playing games. If she has an interest in your daughter, she likely sees potential in her."
'Just what we needed. More beings we can't even comprehend.' Ainz grimly mused and opened the gate back to the Imperial castle. For now, the priority was to ensure Splendora's safety, as Buku could deal with the remaining attackers without his direct help.
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"You let her be kidnaped!" Albedo screamed at her sister. Nigredo was kneeling in front of the thrones with tears in her eyes as her hands shook uncontrollably. She was looking down, not being able to look at the Imperial family.
Ainz and Albedo sat on their thrones, with Splendora sitting on Albedo's lap. Both of the parents simply refused to be away from their child even for a moment. Besides them, Rubedo and Eleleth were present in the throne room as well.
"I have no excuse." Nigredo said between quiet sobs.
"You deserve a thousand deaths." Albedo continued to rage.
"It's not her fault." Ainz finally said to his wife.
"But she let our daughter be kidnaped."
"She couldn't prevent it. The safeguards were in place. Albedo, you are pouring out your anger on the wrong target." Ainz said as he touched her hand.
"She…Yes, you are right, my love." Albedo said with a sigh. As much as she wanted to blame her sister for what had happened, Ainz had a point. The reports already made it clear that it was a very calculated attack.
"You are free to go, sister." Albedo said. "Ainz is right, you are not to blame. Our enemy will pay for this!"
"But I failed to protect Splendora, I should have done more."
Once again, there was no helping it. Ainz needed to come up with some sort of punishment. Before Ainz could come up with something that would seem harsh, Albedo said "You did and for that, you will not be allowed to babysit her again. Other than that you are free to go."
"I understand." Nigredo said in a broken voice and stood up. Once she was out of the throne room, Ainz asked his wife. "Don't you think it was too harsh? She is your sister."
"I didn't say she can't come and play with her niece, only that she couldn't babysit her." Albedo said with a slight smile.
"Mama, Aunt Nigredo can still play with me?"
"Yes, Dora. I will let your aunt play with you."
Bonus Story - Do not Anger a Patient Wolf.
When Buku said she would have to fight as well, Ankoro could not calm down at all. She, of course, knew that everyone had to pitch in, but it didn't mean she had the courage to go kill real creatures, even if they were the enemy.
The dreaded moment came sooner than she had expected. She was working on some healing rings to distribute when Buku ran into her quarters and said.
"There is an all-out attack, you have to come with me."
"O-ok." Ankoro said and followed her friend.
"Don't worry, you will just have to defend civilians and help the injured. I will not force you into combat." Buku said as the servitor opened the gate for them.
"Thank you." Ankoro said following her.
She was preparing for a battle scene but was not prepared for what she saw. The coastal town they arrived in was devastated. Many of Nazarick's volunteers lay dead on the street.
Then her gaze fell on a gigantic woman with a familiar corpse in her hands.
"Lakuys! No!" Ankoro gasped. The lifeless body of her apostle was too much. She clearly had endured more than any soul should before falling to her wounds, as she was missing one hand, her face was a bloodied pulp and her once pristine armor was punctured in countless places.
"She fought bravely till her last breath. Her mana ran out." Gagaran said through tears.
"We will push back the enemy. Ankoro, heal whoever you can, and gather corpses for resurrection." Buku shouted and ran forward.
Ankoro stared at the corpse of her mangled Apostle as anger rose inside her.
She casted true resurrection on Lakyus without any delay. The girl opened her eyes and looked at her savior with a glassy stare. "Mistress, I'm sorry I was too weak."
Ankroro looked around at the devastation and growled "No, you did more than anyone could ask. These monsters will pay!"
She let out a howl that made the battle stop and started to walk towards the biggest creature she saw on the battlefield.
Buku stopped and turned back to look at her friend. "Ankoro, now is not the time!" but her friend didn't listen.
"Ankoro, calm the fuck down!" Buku shouted again as the Blue Roses ran up to her. Gagaran was still carrying Lakuys who was still not fully back.
"What is she doing?" Lakuys asked with a shaky voice.
"Believe it or not, she reached her boiling point. Stay back, this will be a bloodbath." Buku said to them and started running towards her friend, who was already partly transformed into her berserk form.
There was no helping it, Buku just resolved to cover her friend's back as Ankoro charged the biggest creature, maiming everything in her path with her now overgrown claws, entire swaths disappearing in flashes of light and blood.
"Looks like you are not the only one with a darkness inside you, evil boss." Tina remarked as they observed their Goddess, the shy and reserved werewolf that seemingly couldn't hurt a fly, cutting a creature twenty times her size to shreds and letting out bone-chilling howls from time to time.
"Yeah…She is amazing." Lakyus said not taking her eyes off the raging Goddess.
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