Tears of Nazarick

Inside Nazarick.

Throne Room.

As the last of the stewards left the throne room on the Overlord's behest, his gaze lingered-on above, at the memories burnt in the crests of the missing members of Ainz Ooal Gown.

'Peroroncino, Ulbert… You guys would have loved this place.'

Sitting comfortably on the Throne of Kings still, Lord Ainz let his thoughts wander aimlessly while his children awaited further orders. It wasn't long before he realized Shalltear had moved from standing up besides him to sitting on his lap, a daring move he was surprised no other guardian rebuked her for.

'Then again, I did just tell them she is effectively their Queen now, right? Hopefully this doesn't cause any issues down the line…'

"That's right, Shalltear." Ainz brought his voice to address the vampire resting her head on his chest. "We could have a throne crafted here just for you as well." He turned his head to the side as he pictured the theoretical seat he'd ask Balrigg to make, anything that could save him from this repeating in the future.

"What are you saying, Ainz-sama?" Shalltear, of course, would fight for her rightful place. "I already have the best seat in the world right here, arinsu~"

Silence. Then mutual embarrassment, before nullification.

"Argh, Ainz-sama, I mean…!"

'Yep, this settles it.' If Shalltear was stammering over herself right now, Ainz wasn't hearing it over his racing thoughts. 'I had my doubts if 'Karma' was a thing in this world before, but I'm definitely paying it back now for sitting on Shalltear.'

With a dark scowl covering his now empty eye-sockets, the Overlord quickly clicked the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown on the floor below, gathering the attention of his subordinates and placing everyone back in order, including Shalltear.

Inspiration-struck, Ainz addressed his subordinates with newfound vigor.

"Very well. That meeting may be done and over with, but it wouldn't do us well for me to dismiss all of you without further orders, correct?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama!" A resounding chorus of approvals rang out from the nodding Floor Guardians.

"Umu. Let's recapitulate."

Extending a bony arm forward and spreading his hand, the Overlord called an illusory map of the continent accompanying a [Crystal Monitor] spell.

While the guardians gasped at the straightforward show of magic, Ainz couldn't help but let out a sigh.

'That's a good trick for demonstrations purposes, sure, but compared to the real thing? Ahhh, I bet Atlas would come in handy right now…'

Lamenting the almost decade-old loss of the World Item wouldn't get Ainz anywhere now, so he proceeded with his spiel.

"This is our most up-to-date mappings of the continent Nazarick has been transported to. In the years since our arrival, we've gathered power and disrupted the fickle standing of the other settlements, consolidating it all for ourselves…"

The arch-devil in attendance smiled, as did the rest of the guardians as their Overlord recounted their successes in taking over the world.

'All part of Ainz-sama's plan, just as he wills it, it shall be made…'

Demiurge licked his lips as he savored the moment, the unparalleled wisdom of the Supreme Being in display as he recounted his latest moves.

"With the Baharuth Empire under our heel, the Kingdom of Re-Estize eliminated and the Roble Holy Kingdom being rebuilt under our image and guidance, we have few neighbors left to target…"

Ainz reflected on his own words as he spoke them. With his practiced cadence and royal flair, he could almost fool himself into believing he was actually a genius who held the world in the palm of a bony hand.

"...That brings us unto our latest excursion down in the south. Upon visiting the Elf Country with Aura & Mare, we intercepted several of the Theocracies' troops making siege into the country."

The twins perked their heads up as their names were mentioned, the trip to the Elf Country fresh in their young minds.

"That's right! That vacation almost ended up boring, but then Lord Ainz taught us how to Kill Steal!"

"It-It wasn't a vacation after all, right, Sis? Lord Ainz must have known what was going to happen, that… Must have been the goal all along!"

The Overlord couldn't help but stare blankly at the awe-inspired twins, once again pushing their overblown expectations onto his kingly-self.

"Humph. I wouldn't say I thought that far-ahead. I wanted that trip to be meaningful and educational to you two children. While the dark elves themselves didn't prove enriched enough to teach you, at least you both came out knowing valuable new tactics."

Ainz didn't even realize the heartfelt silence he had caused while he spoke the truth out to the Twins. Aura & Mare's eyes widened and grew starry as they nodded to the Supreme Being, overwhelmed by his generosity in helping them grow ever more stronger and useful for him.

Standing next to the Overlord, Shalltear could only smile warmly, deluging herself in His great kindness as she saw her beloved wipe away the tears from Aura's face.

'Ainz Ooal Gown-sama… All that power, all that beauty, all that love for us…"

Just as the vampire queen was about to part her lips and commend her lover, a dapper devil standing in line brought everyone's attention back on-topic.

"Ainz-sama, if I may humbly ask." Demiurge straightened himself as his tail shifted behind him, anticipating hearing more. "What fate did you have reserved for the Elf Country?"

Just then, all Guardians intently looked back at Ainz, expressions that awaited his magnanimous success to be reported once more as he imparts his wisdom unto them.

The Overlord himself brought a bony hand under his chin, as if contemplating the easiest way to address his children that they could understand as he reminisced.

"Hum. Once we realized the Theocracy's aims of overrunning the Elf Country, we used their imminent sieges as opportunity to infiltrate the royal castle. I was hoping we could have quietly taken their treasury for ourselves midst the chaos, but we met unexpected resistance there…"

"Decem Hougan." Ainz's tone of voice lowly shifted, his grip on the throne's armrest tightening as he almost balled his hand into a fist. He nearly let the nullifier ring out at the memories, but he found the will to restrain himself to a silent, simmering rage.

"The king of the elves did not make good first impressions." Ainz stared at the two elf twins, vividly remembering the punch he landed in Decem's face. "He foolishly believed Mare and Aura to be his progeny, and thought he had the right to use them as he saw fit."

The faces of Demiurge and the rest of his guardian peers immediately contorted in disgust and scorn for the existence of the Elf King as the meaning behind Ainz's words set-in. Even Shalltear stared at Aura with seething disbelief, not imagining how she must have felt in the presence of such presumptuous scum.

"...When I clashed with him in his throne room, it was clear that while his power was abnormal for this world's standards, his abilities combined with his mana reserves capped him at most at level 75."

The arch-devil smiled tentatively then with this new information about the elf monarch. It didn't take an intellect like Demiurge's to presume how the rest of the encounter went.

"I see. He must have been resilient enough to avoid being subdued, and too much of an egomaniac to be talked-down even when facing an insurmountable force like Lord Ainz. That must certainly have warranted him a quick execution, if I may presume."

Shalltear smiled imagining Demiurge's words come to life, picturing her Lord crushing the heart of the demented Elf King with his favorite spell while the little twins rushed forward to kick the lifeless corpse.

The Overlord, however, brought both their fantasies to question.

"While that had been my plan at the time, Demiurge, it wasn't I that landed the killing blow."

Ainz nearly sighed after ushering the revelation. 'Man, and I was the one trying to do a kill steal. What would Punitto Moe think?'

For the vampire and the arch-devil, the surprise was clear on their faces as their thoughts seemed to align for once, both turning to the twin dark elves in attendance.

"What, did Shorty lose her temper and finish him off too soon?"

"Hey, back off!" Even if the dark elf felt Shalltear looked oddly proud while accusing her, she still had to refute that. "I followed Lord Ainz's orders to a tee! And I almost got him, but…"

The spunky elf suddenly lost her demeanor, remembering the last she saw of Decem.

"He didn't slow down from what I threw at him. He didn't even flinch at my [Shadow-Sewing Arrow]! I wanted to chase him down after that, but Lord Ainz stopped me."

Shalltear couldn't help but frown, seeing Aura slump her shoulders down in defeat like that, but it didn't take too long for her to pick herself up once again. It amazed the vampire how nothing seemed to keep Aura down.

"Well, if it wasn't Aura that did it, certainly it must have been Mare who finished him off, then?"

While Demiurge's anxious eyes locked onto the timid sibling, the same shook his head under the gaze of his peers.

"N-No. I went down the stairs after him, b-but, that weird elf girl had already gotten to him…" Mare lowered his head as he remembered the odd encounter. "She was standing over him all proud. W-when she saw me, she kicked his corpse towards me."

Ainz listened intently to Mare's recollection, forming in his mind the picture of the last living moments of the Elf King that he had missed out on.

"S-She was pretty strong. The body was blown to pieces when it hit the wall… I hope that didn't break any of his items…"

Curious, Ainz actually spared a glance to the Doppelganger standing besides him. A sly nod confirmed that the inventories were salvaged without failure.

Seeing the understanding dawning in on the look of his guardians, Ainz clicked the Staff to speak once more.

"As you can all see, our little excursion to the Elf King's domain was nearly finished with our encounter with the monarch himself." Ainz paused, bringing his hand into a fist before descending it gently onto his armrest. "It was his own past misdeeds that came back to haunt him, that Half-Elf must have been one of the many children he boasted about spreading unto the world."

The looks of the guardians all flashed in surprise as they looked in admiration towards Lord Ainz. The same clasping his bony hands together as his ever-tactical mind wandered in revelation.

'I see now. He did keep talking about his children 'awakening their powers' like what he thought had happened with Aura & Mare. If that's the case, that explains why that girl from the Theocracy was strong enough to give even Mare some trouble, but…'

"...We still don't know the full extent of her capabilities. We now know she is an agent of the Theocracy that had a personal vendetta against the Elf King, but where her real loyalties will lie is still to be tested."

Shalltear's eyes widened as her beloved spoke. She recalled their first meeting on her chambers, how Ainz spoke of the prisoner as a potential asset they could take control over, dominate for themselves.

"If I may speak, my Ainz-sama~" The vampire queen purred as she spoke, fluttering to stand near her beloved next to his gilded armrest.

"That brat had enough courtesy to eliminate the wretched elf who wanted to take Aura as his plaything, didn't she?" Shalltear spoke in her best facsimile of royal flair, flimsily filing her own nails as she admired the gaze of the guardians on her. "Perhaps there's more to her than meets the eye, mmm-arinsu~?"

It was Cocytus, exhaling a wave of frost he didn't realize he was keeping in. Just as his mandibles clacked for him to speak, however, the Overlord continued from his partner's words.

"That's right, Shalltear." He pretended not to hear the vampire's tiny squeal of delight at his compliment. "Our prisoner is someone dangerously unique. It is unclear how well she might have fared against the Elf King on her own, but keeping her multiple trump cards in mind…"

The Overlord paused for a moment, flashes of a particular battle playing back in his mind.

"She's using it. Shalltear's final trump card…

[Einherjar]!

…

Skill! [The Goal of All Life is Death]! Widen Magic! [Cry of the Banshee]!"

'It's no wonder Mare thought that the girl would have something to do with my battle with Shalltear. Still…'

"Her talent is terrifying."

The guardians all around flinched at the words of their lord, who suddenly realized what he had spoken out-loud.

'Well, if the wheel really is turning upon that girl, its better off that we're all well-informed about what she can do.'

Coughing out on a bony hand to dismiss all tension, the Overlord continued.

"Forgive me, I had my mind lost on previous affairs for a moment, that girl's talent really is worthy to look into."

The guardians held their heads raised to ask more, and as such Ainz continued: "And as for her battle ability, I know she sustained quite the trashing from Mare's hits, did she not?"

The little boy did his best raising his voice to his lord. "Y-Yes! I did my best trying to subdue her… She wasn't falling to my h-hits, so when she pulled out those strong skills…"

Mare timidly looked down, tactically reliving the battle in his mind after being hit with Antilene's [Death] spell and later pulling out his Lord's own [Elemental Gacha].

"...You hit her with your own trump card, your [Petite Catastrophe]."

"R-Right!" Mare gave a determined, if exaggerated nod. "I-it blew through the golem to hit her, but, she finally passed out after that..."

Demiurge's ears perked hearing the disaster's apprentice calling card have to come into effect.

'It's like Lord Ulbert's own… No, saying that would be akin to blasphemy, the Apprentice of Disaster is miles weaker compared to the real carnage a [World Disaster] can bring upon the realm. Still…'

He underestimated her, he decided. 'That's why she's so well-kept compared to our other prisoners. If she can resist a spell like that from Mare, she'd never break under Nazarick's intensive care…'

The devil gave a bitter smile as he listened on, recounting on how he was left to examine the reclaimed items from the Elf Castle with Pandora…

'I should have grasped the true intent of my Lord sooner. Had I known that the armor belonging to the half-elf intruder really withstood such devastation… I would have come to interrogate the prisoner on my own, I wouldn't have left my Lord waiting like he is now!'

Seeing as his lord did not take notice of his own inner turmoil, the dapper devil kept on listening as Mare received his righteous praise.

"Facing-off against such a versatile opponent, you have done well in not letting her escape, Mare."

The dark elf blushed, his words stammering out his mouth.

"I-I, I only did my best to serve, Ainz-sama!"

The pin-prick flames of their master's eyes shone brightly once more, looking down with pride at the small guardian before him.

"Just as I've done before, for a job well-done Mare, I'm willing to grant you a reward. Do you have anything in mind?"

Mare stood, still as stone for a minute, contemplating deep in his thoughts what he should ask for.

'Ahh, I don't know, sis.' He tapped-into his Silver Acorn necklace. 'I don't think Lord Ainz will be happy if I ask him to kill those elves that live with us…'

Suddenly flinching like someone had screamed his ear off via telepathy, Mare just stammered out.

"I-I'll make a good choice later, A-Ainz-sama!"

Feeling himself sink into his gilded seat, the Overlord deliberated inside his head as he couldn't get the Half-Elf prisoner out of his mind.

'Why did she even attack Mare anyway? If her target was the Elf King and her mission was destabilizing the Elf Country, she didn't have to make a move against us.' The Sorcerer King sighed before his eyes burned bright once more.

'No. She had no way of knowing Mare's allegiances, at least not at first. Perhaps due to their heterochromia she assumed them to be related, both brood of the Elf King.' Ainz looked into the deep pools of blue and green in the twins' faces while his thoughts lingered. 'Still, it was too late for her by the time she found out.'

"Mare, besides her obvious strength, did anything else about her stand out to you during your battle?"

Bukubukuchagama's creation flinched once more, starting to tremble under all the pressure being put into him.

"Um, I… I don't believe so-eek!"

A sudden rush of cold air blew through the small guardian as Cocytus stepped forth, triumphantly putting himself over the startled elf.

"My. Lord!" The frozen insectoid feverishly bowed his head. "If. You. Would. Permit. Me. To. Speak. In. Mare's. Place…"

Raising his head to meet the Overlord's gaze proper, Cocytus finally revealed what he had been holding back this whole meeting.

"I. Have. Faced. The. Half. Elf. In. Combat. Inside. The. Tomb."