Tears of Nazarick

Inside Nazarick.

Ninth Floor.

Words were flawlessly written down to the scrolls she had been given. The inkwell pen floated graciously from one line of skin-crafted paper to another, meticulously cross-referencing laws, workshop names, titles of land and other legal artifacts.

She smirked. A Princess elated to be shut-off, hidden well in the darkest depths of a monster's dungeon. Taken from her castle by the foul Demon Lord who burned her kingdom down.

'No.' She stopped herself where she was writing, ink pooling beneath her white fingers, now paler than the parchment she was inscribing on.

'Not a Demon Lord.' She quickly set the pen on it's inkwell once more, retrieving the ruined piece of paper on her hands and burning it to ash with an improvised spell. The soot markings on her hands were just a sign she wasn't proficient with her powers yet.

'A God. Ainz Ooal Gown is nothing short of a terrifying God.' The Princess temporarily left her workshop, stretching out her limbs while little devil wings fluttered on her back. Taking step after delicate step, the doors to the washroom opened themselves before her.

'A God who gave me my own room in Paradise.'

With a wide smile showing itself-off on her pristine mirror, Renner turned away to return to her sacred duties – Unknowing of the specter now looming inside her quarters.

Turning the doorknob to her workshop open, Renner's eyes immediately widened. She did not have time to close the door behind her before her body, following it's most pure survival instincts, dropped her to one knee to show submission towards the intruder.

"…"

She could feel a bead of sweat drip down from her forehead. Unconsciously, she raised a hand to feel around her throat – The phantom pain of her last encounter with the Doppelganger still slithered around, choking and burning at the skin like a tight noose wrapped around her neck.

Seeing her master had not yet addressed her, the fallen princess dared raise her head up, brushing aside hair away from her beady eyes to better stare at the looming host.

'Pandora's Actor. The new Overseer of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.' She cautiously studied the Doppelganger towering over her. He hadn't turned towards Renner for one moment, instead looming over the desk of her workshop, perusing over her written documents while seemingly humming to himself.

'A being terrifying enough to inspire subordination in the likes of that demon, Demiurge. Appointed Overseer by the very own Sorcerer King.'

Renner could feel her hands trembling under her, knuckles turning white as her fingers clawed into her thigh to try and find relief. The sizzling of the one candle illuminating her workshop resounded in her ears, flickering so dimly it barely uncovered the shadows masking Pandora's Actor.

'It is no mistake. I prided myself too much in my acting classes, and in return, the Overlord humbled me once more by sending a Doppelganger my way. How cruel.'

With a bitter smile masking her features, Renner resolved not to flinch when the Doppelganger finally looked her way.

"You may stand up, Prinzessin." The Doppelganger spoke in a low, unimpressed voice. While his exuded no threat in his mannerisms, she knew better than to let her guard down once more.

"You've done well cataloging the economy of E-Rantel. Ainz-sama will be most pleased." Three black dots composing the most minimal facsimile of a face turned to study her, angling his face in a near imperceptible tilt to ask her more.

"There appears to be a page missing, though." His question assaulted her, his spindly fingers resting above her well-stacked papers, feeling the recently ripped edges of the scroll's skin.

The actress flashed the actor a sly smile, raising up from her position to face him proper.

"It is as you say, Pandora-sama" Renner bowed her head without hesitation, even as a shiver ran down her back from being questioned. Every move of her, no matter how minuscule would be scrutinized, after all.

"E-Rantel is adapting well to it's shipment of ore and equipment from the Dwarven Kingdom. Shopkeepers interested in reselling or forging with the material have already had their inventories indexed. More than that, I've taken the liberties to ensure we'll have more than enough grain and other foodstuffs needed for our eventual aid mission." She spoke every word with the utmost grace she learned when playing the Golden Princess, but now coated with a sliver of sadism befitting her new position.

"After Civil War breaks out in the Holy Kingdom, E-Rantel will have no issues sending out a 'Peacekeeping' mission in the name of the Sorcerer-King. When the ruins of the South see how merciful Ainz Ooal Gown-sama truly is, I'm sure they will be quick to submit."

Renner delighted herself explaining the preparations for E-Rantel should the Roble South fall, and her small smile widened as she spoke of "Peacekeeping". Truly, she knew the Sorcerer King would bring peace and quiet to his subjects, one way or the other.

'To freeze over the very streets until every scream is silenced… That throne of rubble will forever remain testament to the might of the Sorcerer King.'

Having finished her report, Renner laid still as a doll, smile never leaving her sculpted expression as she awaited Pandora's judgement.

The Doppelganger had no interest in breaking her limbs this time, it seems.

"You're thinking further on the future of the Sorcerer Kingdom. That is good." The faceless phantom praised her in earnest, making her relieved even as his body showed no outwards signs of satisfaction.

"Do you intend on making Ainz-sama act out another Role for these… Plays?"

These words, though laced with no hint of accusation, still shook Renner to her core.

"N-Never!" Her eyes widened for a moment, the blow to her mask making it expertly come undone.

As she realized Pandora's gambit, she recomposed herself.

"Forgive me, Pandora-sama." She lowered her body further towards him. "I have no intention of letting the Sorcerer King play the role of a jester once more. All my plans and contingencies can be realized without Ainz-sama needing to step-in himself, I assure you."

While Renner bowed deeply in front of him, Pandora's Actor studied her apprehension with much curiosity.

Of course, when his father personally rose to fulfill Albedo's role in declawing the last of the Kingdom's humans, it made the previous Overseer furious with Renner that her beloved would "lower himself" to such degrees.

'Well, it's no matter now. Vater will be having his hands full with Shalltear-sama around, I'm sure.'

Shifting to adjust his military cap, Pandora walked towards and after Renner, only briefly turning his head back before continuing out the room.

"Rise and follow, Renner. There's still work for us to do."

Hearing his command, she turned with grace to follow him three steps behind. Her steps were delicate, matching his pace as the Doppelganger marched the halls with hands clasped behind his back.

"What do you know of the Black Scripture, Prinzessin?"

Pandora didn't turn his head as he spoke, and Renner followed suit.

"I learned about as much as one could from my standing position inside my bird-cage. The Black Scripture is the Slane Theocracy's strongest force. They all stand above Adamantite level, and their equipment likely descends from the very own Six Great Gods."

Though Pandora didn't answer, his mind wandered to Antilene's equipment. 'So it must have been Yggdrasil-borne after all.'

"I also know several of them were present in the Kingdom right before it's downfall – On a mission to recruit our Adamantite adventurers, no doubt. I believe Demiurge-sama found no reason to tail them at the time."

The fallen princess continued recounting the fall of the Kingdom with much glee as they neared her quarters.

"There is much more I wish I could have learned from the Theocracy, but alas, they never cared to reply to my letters…"

With his hand wrapping around the door's handle, Pandora suddenly halted his march, turning his neck back to Renner as she laid perfectly still behind him.

"And if I told you we have taken the Extra Seat captive here in Nazarick?"

He delighted himself in the way her expression broke for just one second. He always had a flair for the dramatic reveals.

Regardless, she answered him in kind.

"Well, I'd be surprised their existence goes beyond mere rumor, for one."

The doors to her bedroom chamber slowly creaked open. Behind the Doppelganger's pace she followed delicately behind. Pandora, stretching his hand outwards tapped the touch-sensitive lantern that illuminated her dim room.

They weren't alone. Of course, the Shadow Demons that tailed the Princess never left her room, and neither did her little object of infatuation.

"Renner-sama." The former bodyguard had long been stripped of his Mythril Armor, his new attire more befitting of his position as Renner's pet – Only a silken black vest, fitted halfway from a kimono to a loose bathrobe covered his features.

As Climb realized Renner didn't come-in alone, he immediately curved himself before Pandora's Actor – The Doppelganger staring him head to toe without as much as addressing him, looking down the new nubby horns and thin tail with certain bemusement.

'The seed has certainly sprouted within him.' The hopeless consort of Renner had changed quite drastically, his hair had grown lengthier over his shoulders, messy like a teen who's been left out on the rain for too long. His eyes were sunken with despair, and perhaps more. His skin had grown sickly pale, and marking of black licked under his eyes and on his nails.

His new racial lineage might be stronger, but he was under no condition to raise combat levels in here.

With Renner turning to smile jovially at her impoverished pet, looking more and more like he was the day she first found him, Pandora had nearly finished his appraisal of the boy – Until something caught his attention.

'What is…!'

"I'm glad you're recovering well, Climb!" The Princess's honeyed words teased and reddened his ears, the lost light of his eyes nearly lighting up once more. "After I'm done with everything, I'm sure we'll have the time to-"

In mere moments, Renner flinched as Pandora stepped between her and Climb, sizing up the recently-turned Imp before suddenly grabbing him by his collar.

"W-What are you-" Crack. "GAARGH!"

Without warning, the Doppelganger lifted the boy up in the air with one hand, and nearly crushed his wrist with the other. Renner stood paralyzed as she dared not blink with the sound of cracking bones ringing in her ears.

Lifting his wrist up to his face with no struggle, Pandora's spindly fingers rose up from Climb's arm to forcefully grasp at his hand, applying pressure ever so slowly that he'd unclench his fist for him.

He could see it in Climb's hand, a Ring of pure silver forged in the likeness of a dragon's claws. Just a small glance at it from his analysis spell when he looked over Climb was enough for Pandora's instincts to overtake him.

It was unlike anything he's seen before. He needed it.

Climb's chest heaved and he struggled to draw breath, but the pain in his wrist was the worst while he struggled to release himself. He could do nothing but kick his feet in the air as the Doppelganger crushed his hand once more, forcing Climb to raise and spread his fingers out.

Holding his thumb over the boy's ring finger, Pandora flicked Rigrit's Ring out from his hand. The ring spun in the air for just a few moments before Pandora dropped Climb and, with a flick of his wrist, swiftly ensnared the silver ring between his fingers.

"[All Appraisal Magic Item]."

Renner quickly rushed over to Climb's side, lowering herself on the ground to tend him after he hit the floor with a thud.

He looked terrible, like half his life force had just been drained out of him. It was sickeningly hard for her not to smile right now.

"T-That ring was…" Climb heaved and coughed as he stammered out his words. "...From the Warrior-Captain!"

While Climb tried sneering at his assailant, his eyes suddenly widened in fear as his words died on his throat. Renner immediately understood the reason when she followed Climb's gaze.

In the lowermost corner of his face, Pandora's Actor smiled. A maw-like crack formed in his usually expressionless mouth, stretching up into an open smile in which a viscous black liquid dripped down from.

Trying to cover himself with shaky hands, the Doppelganger let out a shrill, cold laughter that echoed off the halls of the Ninth Floor – That terrifying image forever burning itself into the Princess' and her consort's mind.

It was an unusually chill day in the Eastern front of the Roble Holy Kingdom.

Ravens and other corvids cawed freely at an entourage, where horse-riding archers scouted the ruins of the Great Wall. It has long been sanctified by the new rulers of the Kingdom, but reconstruction would have to wait much.

And where it stood, one particular three-legged crow spied the rulers walking side by side, performing dutifully until the smaller one's glare landed right back at it's eyes.

An arrow struck it down soon after that.

"Is there anything wrong, Miss Baraja?"

The Kingdom's Holy Archer flinched, snapping-back to her previous posture as she was addressed by none other than the Bloody Emperor of Baharuth himself.

"Forgive me, Lord Jircniv." She lowered her Ultimate Shooting Star Super, glare still not leaving the spot she shot the arrow at. "Maybe my paranoia is getting to me. I felt as if someone spied on us."

The Emperor smiled sadly as they continued their walk among the clearing.

"Is that so? Perhaps it's my fault, my subordinates always worry when they have to walk me around too." He paid no attention to the exasperated noise the Faceless One made in reply.

Inside his mind, Jircniv wondered back at his stay in the Roble Holy Kingdom thus far.

'When my advisors told me I should visit the Holy Kingdom, I expected the worst. It hasn't been too long since Ainz Ooal Gown's influence set foot here.'

Jircniv stared down the remains of the Great Wall, now lying in rubble. The smaller girl, following his gaze, already recounted her share of experiences.

"It was a massacre. The Holy Queen and the High Priestess, the highest figures of our Kingdom – Wiped out in just one night." Though her words were laced with regret, her true expression never changed.

"All because we were weak. Too weak to defend ourselves, too weak to avoid being stepped on by the demon Jaldabaoth."

The footsteps of the Evil Lord still resounded in her ears some times. Her heart thumped in her moderate chest, glare looking beyond the ruined wall to the clouded horizon above.

The same horizon the Sorcerer King once fought the demon Jaldabaoth head-on.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

"Still, Roble is still standing today, isn't it? If it weren't for the Sorcerer King…"

The Golden Emperor spoke with a ruler's air behind her, excising Neia from her war-trance.

Still, he swallowed right after, having learned far to well what mentioning their Overlord did for the Faceless One's psyche.

Neia snapped back from her gloominess, hands behind her back as she put her chest forward and spoke.

"Exactly! We would have all had the same fate as Lady Calca and Lady Kelart if His Majesty the Sorcerer King hadn't shown us the way!" Neia Baraja paused, covering her heart as she spoke. "Ainz-sama's mercy showered us of the Sacred Kingdom that day, and it's up to us to follow his justice now!

Jircniv stood speechless in front of the Evangelist. Her stature had changed completely, the grim visage of the ruined wall behind her now only serving to highlight the weight of the message she carried. In the Emperor's eyes, Neia Baraja was an enigma, standing tall despite the harrowing death she experienced.

'She truly is a natural. Has the Sorcerer King picked her just for that, or did he groom her into the perfect preacher?'

Without having even realized, Jircniv found himself holding onto the Medallion of Mental Protection he always wore around his neck, seeking reprieve from Neia's honeyed words before snapping back to reality.

'No, I don't need to be converted to realize just how much of a monster His Majesty truly is, I've already seen it for myself, Neia Baraja.'

While he found the Faceless One quite the intriguing character, Jircniv didn't find the companionship in another victim of the Sorcerer King's whims as he quite imagined. Indeed, she had been molded by him, but he just couldn't emphasize with all the preaching.

'It's too much of a shame Kelart had perished in Demiurge's whims, too. Perhaps, in another life she would have made for an adequate bride for the Empire…'

Feeling heat momentarily rush up to his face, Jircniv raised a hand to cough into as he looked away. 'No, it's pointless now. I should use the time I have left to finally get Roxy out of her shell. The only way I'm marrying someone as Emperor now is if the Sorcerer King puts me up for political marriage.'

Letting his gaze return to Neia Baraja once more, the Emperor's sad smile defied the archer's enthusiasm for rebuilding. 'Please, just don't tell me you dragged me here for matchmaking, Ainz Ooal Gown. This girl's gaze alone could incite a bloodbath worse than any I did in my ascension.'

Luckily for Jircniv, the tense silence between the two was broken soon enough, the anxious trotting of a scout's horse making the gathered ravens soar away in a cacophony of bird calls.

"Neia-sama!" The brunette girl in horseback was a head taller than the Holy Archer, and if not for Neia's position as head of the church, it would be obvious to assume she was her senior.

"Codina." Neia turned to address her subordinate, already flicking her trademark visor down before her glare could get in the way again, and to ready herself for trouble. "What is it? Have we found trouble on the border?"

Codina stammered a moment before answering, her gaze wandering to the Bloody Emperor in awe – And confusion if she should show her respects, before shaking her head and turning back to the mission at hand.

"We expected to come across a Demi-Human encampment or even an entourage from the South, but the advance scouts have sighted an Undead at our front. We have already restrained them, but…"

"Undead?!" Neia snapped back immediately, the coldness of her gaze almost perceptible underneath the sheen glass of her visor. "Is he sentient? Could they possibly be part of His Majesty the Sorcerer King's troops here to relay a message?"

A bead of sweat ran down Codina's brow at her superior's eagerness, but she had the duty to shut-off Neia's enthusiasm.

"Neia-sama. The Undead is indeed sentient, but She has refused to name herself in front of us. From what we've gleamed, she carries no sigil of the Sorcerer Kingdom with her, and she also bears no resemblance to any troops in His Majesty's army."

Neia Baraja locked her eyes on Codina as she spoke. It was a faint presence, but she could still feel it in the distance, right where the scouts are. Perhaps it's because of all the time she spent with His Majesty, she got herself all too acquainted with Negative Energy, and she could tell this presence was strong.

'First that stalking feeling from before, now Codina's report on this… Just what is going on today?'

Seeing her subordinate was still waiting her command, Neia swiftly issued her orders.

"Alright, if she has come all this way, chances are she's looking for me. Do the scouts still have her in sight?"

"We have our swords at her neck, Neia-sama."

Codina meant to reassure her leader, but the tremble in her words did just the opposite. Regardless, Neia already began taking steps towards the rest of the scouts before recalling the monarch she was leaving behind.

"Apologies, Lord Jircniv. It's terribly improper for me to depart in these conditions, but-"

"It's fine. It's the duty of a ruler to take care of their people." Surprising her, Jircniv was eager to send her off her way. "You may go ahead, Miss Baraja."

The Holy Archer still flinched at the Bloody Emperor's words, never expecting him of all people in this world to see her as an equal. She wouldn't waste his time though, leaving him with a short bow before turning her heel and climbing atop Codina's steed.

The vassal lord stood watching as the figure of Neia Baraja slowly shrunk in the horizon, the sound of the horse's gallop fading until only birdsong filled his ears.

At least, Jircniv wished he held such peace for long.

"Hohoho, not even the slightest bit curious to see that suspicious Undead, Jir?"

The Bloody Emperor sighed as an old man hovered behind him, certainly coming from behind his entourage. He may have looked different than the wizard he knew all his life, now that he had bitten from Ainz Ooal Gown's forbidden fruit, but he was still the same Fluder Paradyne.

"I'm not sure I enjoy you still calling me by that nickname, old man." Jircniv rolled his eyes, turning exasperated to face Fluder. "And the answer's no. It's better for us to sit back and watch how the Faceless One deals with issues in her Kingdom."

Jircniv's thoughts were genuine, but still laced with an underlying irk. 'Besides, I have had enough of suspicious undead for a lifetime. Several, in fact.'

The Elder Mage mimicked the motion of stroking his beard, despite finding none to hold at. His Lord had given him the opportunity to meet up and try to reconcile his bonds with his young pupil. It would be a shame for their relationship to remain torn while they serve the same master.

"I see. I'm glad you're still wise beyond your years, Jircniv."

"And you're too smart for not having gone senile yet, gramps."

The two remnants of Baharuth's past splendor stood turned-off from one another, with Jircniv refusing to look into Fluder's way for too long.

Still, with the entourages stopped and the distant cry of crows ringing in his ears, Jircniv stared down the ruined wall of the Sacred Kingdom. It looked almost no different than the carnage he'd picture befalling on his Empire in his nightmares.

The look in Neia Baraja's eyes when she spoke of it, he could only imagine…

'Really, no matter how much the old man's betrayal stung, wasn't it for the best? Had I not encouraged Fluder to learn of Ainz Ooal Gown, if he stayed loyal to a fault in the Empire…'

He could see it, his own golden cities burning down at the end of Demiurge's claws.

Finally, he sighed again, turning to face the man he once saw as his very own father.

"You know, gramps. If the Sorcerer King offered me your head as a gift, I'm not sure I could deny it."

Fluder's mood seemed to lift at the grim proclamation. It was just like how little Jir used to treat him when he first took on the Empire.

"Hoho, I'm sure you wouldn't, Lord Jircniv. I'd be surprised if you didn't!"

With that remark, the Bloody Emperor could finally let out a small grin.

Hundred-First Year of Rebound Black.

"Get up."

Antilene's chest heaved. She felt herself laid down, legs folded underneath her thighs touching the cold floor below.

"I said get up!"

She didn't want to open her eyes. She could feel her hair loose, spilling over her face without any ties or bands. Her body was bare, pale skin contrasting the black void.

"Tch. You idiot!"

A leg lifted off the floor in front of her. Antilene felt a sudden rush of pain as her head swung back in recoil, blood swelling up on her eye and dripping from her nose nearly instantly from the kick.

It really hurt.

"Just open your eyes already, damn it!"

Feeling the leather gloves wrap around her neck, Antilene finally heeded the call of the growling, feminine voice trying to choke her out.

Staring through half-lidded eyes and the fringe of her hair, Antilene could make out a pair of monochrome globes, their piercing gaze staring right through her.

It was someone she knew very well.

"Zesshi…?"