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Focalor understood - with all the clarity and knowledge that only a Demon King could have - that he was definitely up shit creek without a paddle.

Of course, he was supposed to be too dead from Drake's Noble Phantasm to be anywhere near the clusterfuck that he's in right now. But, as he had just now learned, free and easily obtainable cheese are usually ones found in a mousetrap. And in all his effort in trying to avoid any contact with the unknown enemy that could kill a Demon King for good - he was now face to face with that same enemy in the worst possible state to be in. He was bound in place, with his ability to teleport blocked while surrounded by inhumanly powerful opponents. To add insult to a very grievous injury, the enemy didn't even bother giving him the illusion of a chance of escape as he's currently a torn piece of flesh.

Escape, ha... Focalor had a choice to make in the future that might guarantee his continued existence. Not very good choices mind you, but he still had a chance of surviving.

Focalor could act as the faithful servant of his King. Refuse to speak, be horrifically tortured, and in the end die a complete death without rebirth.

Or Focalor might try to bargain for his life.

With all his abilities to scheme and plan, with all his experience as a Demon King, he could see the infinitesimal chance where he could survive. The fact that he had to betray his King to acquire it didn't really bother him that much

Focalor was not traitorous in any way, no, in fact he loved his King very dearly. And it's not like he hated his colleague that much to push them into the mouth of the beast, as it were. No, he had actually enjoyed, and even in some strange sense felt a sense of camaraderie with the rest of the Demon Kings - not that he would admit it to anyone.

But, above all else, Focalor loved himself more.

And therefore, the terribly difficult choice, one that would infringe on his morality, philosophy, self-awareness and the very concept of his existence was made. It only took him about one instant - or even a little less, to come to a decision.

"Don't kill me!" Focalor screamed out, not even giving the unknown enemy time to form a thought, "I'll tell you everything!"

Ainz, who is unknowingly the source of many a Demon King's nightmare, was flabbergasted, - "You will?"

"Yes," Focalor would joyfully nod his head if he had one, but in the absence of it simply put as much joy in his voice as he could express, "But... I need some guarantees."

"You seemed to not understand the situation in which you found yourself..." - the girl who had protected Focalor from Drake's attack, who till that point had kept an extremely irritated expression on her face — thankfully it's not likely to be caused by Focalor's action - took a step forward.

"Cainabel," But before anything could be done to the Demon King, with one word from Cainabel's master, as far as Focalor could guess anyway, was enough to silence her and make her bow her head in fear, "Step back. If I want to know your opinion, I will ask for it."

"I beg your forgiveness, my lord, I had no intention of contradicting your intentions," Cainabel instantly bowed her head in obeisance then took a step away from the Demon King. The man in a magnificent suit standing next to her then threw a mocking smir in the vampire's direction, provoking Cainabel to throw an evil grimace in response. If Focalor had any levity of mind he wouldn't fail to notice the similar atmosphere the two Servants of the unknown enemy are giving off. It was just like how he would interact with some of the other Demon Kings. But the fact that he's currently fully engaging his mind in a death struggle, he didn't notice any of this.

"I..." Focalor exhaled, his next words needed to be a wild cocktail of truth and lies that Focalor had to pass off as the unvarnished truth. It was a very difficult thing to do, but in order to save his own skin, Focalor would have to try - "My King is able to read the minds of the Demon Kings, so if I were to divulge information about him, he will instantly incinerate me in response. All the Demon Kings are bound by an incredibly powerful magical bond with our King, if you were to compare it with the bond between a Servant and a Master then it would at least be ten times as strong. I cannot say anything until this connection is broken."

For a second, Focalor's opponent, the unknown Master, walked away to form a plan, allowing Focalor to win a couple more seconds for his life. If this unknown Master was so strong that he could pose a threat to the King and even kill the Demon KIngs, then Focalor would find this out soon enough. If not, and this unknown Master was not the one that could kill the Demon Kings for good, then Focalor hoped that when he died, the other Demon Kings could at least try to revive him. Not out of any sense of solidarity mind you, but for the sake of receiving the information that he would possess about the unknown enemy. It is highly unlikely that they would hang their necks out to dry if Focalor didn't possess something that they wanted. Moreover, if death was an alternative to non-existence, Focalor would have chosen such a course of action ten times out of ten.

The unknown Master was deep in thought for a while before the Servant in a beautiful suit exhaled and seemed to have come to a conclusion, "Ah, there is such a thing..."

The Master then looked toward the sharply dressed Servant, who had bowed his head in reverence, "Baal?"

"Baal" - a name of one of the Demon Kings, in some way a fellow or colleague of Focalor teared through the head of Focalor - "Oh..."

"I admit, I was interested in the reason why you, my lord, ordered me to retreat and not just give me an order to destroy someone so pathetic and weak, instead choosing to invite our opponents to join our side,... I can finally see the genius of your plan and can't help but admire the beauty of it my lord," Baal bowed respectfully .

Baal's Master then froze in place as if from total surprise, what the reason for his surprise might be escapes Focalor's mind at the moment. Slowly, as if requiring great strength, he drew air into his lungs, and then closed his eyes. Even more slowly, literally taking seconds, he exhaled, as if slowly accepting a fact for himself, after which he opened his eyes full of confidence - "Of course Baal. Exactly. It seems you had figured out the goal of my plan. I'm really glad to have such a smart Servant."

Baal, receiving such praise, only smirked in reply all while casting a gleeful glance at Cainabel, who only frowned even more "I apologize, my lord, but doing such a thing is to be expected of any good Servant."

"Ahem, yes, of course," the Master tittered for a second, "In that case, since you have figured out my plan, will you do the honors of explaining it to everyone?"

"Of course, my lord," the Baal nodded, and then turned around, "Medea and, ahem, other Medea. Please come."

Focalor froze in shock. Medea, one of the greatest magicians in the history of mankind, here, on the side of the unknown enemy - two of them even... Even if the unknown enemy had nothing more to them than the ability to kill Demon Kings, as ridiculous as that sounds, even in such a baffling case, Focalor would be afraid to take any hasty actions now that Medea of Colchis is in play.

A second later, next to Baal - 'Medea' or the 'other Medea', Focalor couldn't determine yet - two girls appeared. One is dressed in what seemed like a raincoat with a high hood, which was now pulled down, and the other girl who was dressed in a flimsy dress and looked like the previous one - or rather, a younger look alike.

"Medea the eldest, my dear, please," Baal smiled, "Could you use your Noble Phantasm to break the link between the Demon King and his master. Meanwhile, Medea Jr, dear, I ask you to help. I'm afraid that even with the considerable ability of the older Medea, she will not be able to completely destroy the connection between the Demon King and his master. Could you sever this connection the moment it becomes weakened?"

The girl in the cloak only nodded slowly, while the girl in the dress glanced away. Apparently, she is trying to find the answer to an unspoken question from the other Servants standing at a distance. However, whatever it is she is looking for, Focalor cannot see it behind the backs of the Servants surrounding him. Finally, having come to some kind of conclusion, the younger Medea nevertheless looked at Focalor and nodded.

'So they do have the capability to break the King's connection…' - Focalor bit his lip - metaphorically that is, as Focalor has nothing that would like a lip to bite - 'But why would they not use the power they used before? And instead relying on the power of the two new Servants they meet in this Singularity. Of course the power of one of the strongest magi in history is without doubt but still... Why? Why not just use whatever ability it is that allowed them to kill Demon Kings ?'

With all his knowledge and ponderings, Focalor did not receive an answer to this question.

Maybe whoever possessed this ability is not with them? No, that didn't make sense. Maybe if they have not met with any other Demon Kings and was caught unaware. But they should have known that they would fight a Demon King in this Singularity, so not bringing such a trump card is simply stupid. Or maybe they didn't want to use the ability? Perhaps the use of such an ability had certain negative drawbacks that did not allow them to freely use it - or...

Focalor froze in realization.

It was because the Master did not want to show any of his abilities to the King. The destruction of such a strong magical bond would leave traces behind, judging by the fact that the death of Baal, such an event would not be quiet. Even if it's just an echo, the King would receive some kind of information the moment his bond with the King is destroyed. And the Master understood this. To use their Servants to check his connection to the king King's for any traps is the most reasonable and logical option in Focalor's opinion.

'Okay, he's not a complete idiot,' Focalor breathed out. On the one hand, it would be easier for Focalor to work with an idiot. An idiot would be easier to fool and bargain for his freedom with. An idiot would be much easier to backstab. On the other hand, working with an idiot would mean that he had betrayed his King for nothing and would receive a very harsh punishment when he returned to his King's service.

A blade flickered in Medea's hands - a small dagger with a crooked blade, which was even problematic to cut bread with, not to mention using it as a weapon. A large staff flickered in the younger Medea's hands, the staff looked comically large when compared to the girl's stature, in which magic immediately began to concentrate.

After a second, Focalor's body, which is slowly beginning to regenerate, recoils as if in pain - after which his connection with the King becomes weaker. The King, clearly sensing it happening, instantly sent a command through the link, self-destruct. The command would have turned Focalor into falling ash in a thousandth of a second. However, before the command would take effect, the combined abilities of Medea and the girl with the staff had managed to completely sever the weakened connection the instant before the King's order would cause Focalor's self destruction, cutting Focalor off completely from the King. The last thing Focalor managed to feel from the link was great anger.

Such a rare and terrible emotion of the King...

The emotion had instantly swept through Focalor's entire body, making him freeze like a wild animal, who had just felt the jaws of a predator suddenly clenching on their defenseless neck...

Before the sensation disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

His link with the King was lost.

It just disappeared without any fanfare at all.

It evaporated as water evaporated on a sizzling hot pan.

Focalor was now left alone. Free.

Instantly Focalor could feel the Mana from the King disappearing. Focalor's body, which before was filled with an almost unlimited supply of rushing Mana, was now like a dry desert. His flesh-like body's regeneration slowed down to a crawl, with his body preserving what Mana Focalor has left like a precious resource. But all this faded into the background in Focalor's mind.

Focalor had now become free. In an instant he became completely free. His connection with the King has disappeared, the overbearing pressure of the King's gaze following him everywhere have disappeared. All that would chain Focalor down has disappeared.

Focalor exhaled slowly...

And laughed like a madman.

The Demon Kings did not strive for their freedom. More precisely, they did not consider themselves bound in the first place. Yes, they obeyed the King's commands - but who would not obey the commands of their God, father, archmage, and the sole ruler of the world? Yes, they could be killed at any moment - but given who their King was - he could kill anything living and dead with but a flip of the hand. So in that regard the Demon Kings were not in a worse position than anyone else in the world - just more 'aware' of the real state of things than anyone else. Yes, at any moment their minds could be completely studied and changed. But again, considering who their King was, this did not mean much. If he wanted to destroy and manually rebuild the minds of the entire population of Earth, it would be a week of relaxed work at worst.

In other words, the Demon Kings simply believed that being 'free' from the King was simply an impossibility.

And here he is, Focalor. A man - if one could call a Demon King that - whos current state perverts this postulate, this 'truth' of the world. With a simple pirouette of fate, he had left the King's service and received his freedom. A state of existence of which he could not even dream about.

Focalor laughed.

Of course, some would say that he did not receive any 'freedom' at all, but simply exchanged one collar for another. But when you exist for hundreds of years without realizing that you can change that collar, it's easier to look at these things fondly.

Focalor's jelly-like body literally shook with mirth. After which, not paying attention to his surroundings, Focalor burst out laughing even more, and louder to boot.

Ainz, who is standing nearby, looking at the strange and not entirely understandable column of flesh shaking with laughter, breathed out. At least judging by the fact that Baal and Cainabel did not react in any way to the actions of the Demon King, everything most likely went well and Ainz's should not intervene.

"You broke the Demon King," Mozart spoke plainly and clearly, after which he glanced at the two Medeas, at Baal, and then at Ainz, "I didn't know that such a thing was possible at all, but... It seemed, you all broke the Demon King."

Baal, having heard these words, only grinned, "Everything is according to the plan."

Ainz slowly shook his head and exhaled, "Yes... Of course... Everything is according to plan..."

"Roman!" Da Vinci slowly leaned back on her couch, after which she glanced at the doctor "Do you still have free space on your hard drive with porn?"

"No, was filled just a day before," Roman answered automatically, continuing to watch what was happening on the screen before he came to his senses, realizing what Da Vinci had just said, "I don't have a separate hard drive with porn!"

"Yeah, sure," Da Vinci grinned, after which she looked back at the screen.

"Da Vinci," Olga-Marie sighed before looking at her very strange colleague, "Why do you need such a thing?"

"I wanted to copy this one hardcore NTR clip," Da Vinci could not restrain herself, after which she burst out laughing when she finished her thought, "It's just something so amazing. I did not think that Ainz would decide on such a cruel humiliation of the unknown King, whoever he is. But that madman had just NTR-ed one his trusted lieutenant - and I would really like to record the face of this unknown King at that moment for all time."

Roman and Olga-Marie, who continued to focus on the screen at that moment, only sighed and exhaled at their colleague's antics. The screen displayed the Demon King in all his flesh jello glory, laughing uncontrollably, while Ainz watched his actions carefully.

It was an impossibility.

But, Olga must admit, with Ainz's actions was in Chaldea, the word was so devalued that it did not really mean anything anymore.

Yes, it was impossible, like the tens, hundreds, and thousands of things that Ainz had done before. Yes, it was another impossible thing that he had accomplished — even more impossible than summoning Cainabel and less impossible than a full rebirth, comparatively impossible with possessing magecraft comparable to that of a True Magic.

Probably, if someone had told Olga-Marie two months ago that when she would be a witness to the impossibile made mundane, and that she would not feel anything when it is done - she would not have believed the speaker. But at this particular moment, looking at the culmination of Ainz's eldritch inspired plan, where in the end he was in the position to literally steal a Demon King from under the nose of the enemy, Olga-Marie thought of only one thing.

"How much porn had Roman downloaded to fill out of a hundred and twenty-terabyte hard drive?!"

Finally, Focalor felt the emotional outburst slowly recede, and was finally able to control himself enough to stand. His mana reserves have just dipped by a quarter thanks to the passive regeneration of his body. Without the outpouring of Mana from his King, it is unlikely that he would fully recover anytime soon. But this detail Focalor was practically of no interest to him at the moment.

The Rubicon is crossed, the die is cast, the bridges have been burned, his association with the King is broken. There is no turning back, and all that Focalor could now hope for, was the favor of his new King.

The Demon King exhaled, then bowed slowly, "My name is Focalor."

The Unknown Master, the leader of the Servants, took a step forward - "Ainz Ooal Gown."

Focalor was absolutely sure that he had never heard this name anywhere before. And judging by the fact that the unknown Master is controlling so many powerful Servants at once - including, um, Baal - Focalor should have heard about such a powerful existence before now.

'An alias?' - Focalor thought - 'Or maybe he was remembered by the wrong name?'

Alternatively, Focalor could have simply missed the existence of his current Master. The probability of such a thing was vanishingly small, but it still existed. Focalor was alive for... One hundred and fifty years. A huge number when compared to a normal human, but an absolutely insignificant number for a Demon King. Focalor was one of the youngest subordinates of the King. However, to determine the true 'age' of the Demon King Focalor remained a rather vague concept. It would be more correct to say that Focalor as he is right now, as a concrete incarnation, had existed for only one hundred and fifty years. The Demon King 'Focalor' had existed as long as the rest of the Demon Kings - for about two millenniums... In any case, such a thing did not matter at all in the end.

"Focalor, I think there is no turning back for you," Ainz took a step forward, looking at the column of flesh in front of him, "And, whatever your motivation was, you have now become, if not our ally, an enemy of your 'King'."

"Yeah," Focalor exhaled. Yes, the danger of a final death had not fully disappeared, it had only transformed from the 'about to die right now' category to the 'hanging over my head' category. But, judging by how bad the situation around him not even five minutes ago, Focalor could say that he had won the lottery even - "So I'm ready to work fully for the good of my new King. Long live the King!"

"At least he has some manners," Baal grinned, making Focalor breathe out as if he had just walked over his grave. Focalor would really like to know what's the deal with the 'Baal' in front of him, but such a thing could wait for later.

"In that case, Focalor, I have decided on my first question to ask," Ainz slowly enumerates, as if to emphasize the gravitas of the question, "Who is this unknown King to whom you obeyed?"

Focalor froze for a moment.

Unfortunately, the answer to his new master's question was a little more complicated than it seemed.

His King could, at any moment, survey the mind of any Demon King he wanted. And yet, at the same time, none of the Demon Kings could glean anything from the King's mind that he himself did not divulge. The Demon Kings depended on the mercy of the King for their continued existence, but the King himself did not need them. And of course, although the King knew the history, actions and past of all the Demon Kings. Yet, the Demon Kings knew about their King only what he did not consider it necessary to hide.

And Focalor, one of the youngest Demon Kings, did not know much. Although someone of the same age as the King, his oldest and most trusted lieutenants, could easily answer the question 'who was the King really?' Focalor knew only a few details. However, even some paltry details that he had collected in his short life, in this case, would function as the invisible currency, which Focalor would use to support the value of his life with. Therefore…

"I'm not completely sure," Focalor replied half-truthfully, "He rarely acted openly and most often spoke to us directly by accessing our minds. He is a great magi, one of the greatest in fact. He is old even when compared to the oldest Demon Kings and he is one of the reasons for the end of the Age of the Gods."

"I see," Ainz breathed, "And so, what are his plans?"

"To destroy the world," Focalor shrugged, "And recreate it again in his image, or at least something like that. Although in reality the situation there is somewhat more complicated…"

"Good to know," Ainz nodded, after which he asked the third most important question he could think of, "Can he intervene in the current Singularity?"

"In the current one?" Focalor thought, "That is unlikely... For us, the Demon Kings, he gave us an order and made us act simultaneously, I don't think he will be changing his mind anytime soon. I think Aim is now giving his report to the King after he was killed by Drake's Noble Phantasm."

"Ah," Ainz suddenly exhaled, "So he... was reborn?"

"Of course, he was not killed by your power," Focalor shook his head, "At least I think that it is by your power... I see, is that the reason why you killed the other Demon Kings without the possibility of their rebirth?"

"Ah?" Ainz froze in place, literally for a second, Ainz had stopped breathing, and then slowly, as if a creaky greaseless gear had turned, Ainz was normal again, "Yes... Of course... That's right... I knew about it from the very beginning..."

"I knew it," Focalor nodded. "In that case... Is there anything else?"

"Yes," Ainz faltered a little, having just come face-to-face with yet another unforeseen genius part of his 'plan', "Since the King's final aim has been determined... What then are the Demon Kings doing right now?"

"They are gathering the maximum possible amount of strength on their side, and then concentrate it all on one attack. They would either win, or, what is more likely, they would have received more information about you and then retreat back to the King to inform him about what they had learned" Focalor breathed out, "At least, that is why I have planned for the Demon Kings to do. Theoretically speaking, they can improve it, but... Judging by the fact that they have taken all the Servants and the other Grail with them… and it's not like there's much to improve on a plan like 'Do and Die'"

"I see," Ainz breathed, "So ... We should prepare for a siege, hmm? Or rather, a large all-out assault…"

"Certainly," Focalor nodded. "Taking full advantage of the Grail and the subordination of the mind of the Servants to their new masters will take some time, but I don't think they will take any other actions in the meantime. They could, theoretically speaking, but Poseidon is still insane, so their plan of action is greatly limited."

"Poseidon?" Ainz listened to the unexpected name from Focalor.

"Yes, Poseidon," Focalor cast a condemning glance at Drake, "Our mutual friend here had acted extremely cruelly with him."

"Drake?" Ainz asked the girl, making her breathe out in consternation.

"The grail," Drake rolled her eyes, "More precisely, the original Grail of this Singularity... Hm, initially, I was not in the Singularity as a Servant, and was still alive so to speak. I just plowed the sea until I came across this one bearded guy on an island in the middle of the sea. He had a bunch of cool golden toys with him, so without thinking about it twice, I decided to rob him."

"Wow, to meet an unfamiliar old man and decide to rob him with just a glance at his possessions!" Baal moved closer to Drake, "I like your moxie!"

"In any case ..." Drake exhaled, "I sent my fleet at him ..."

"And we intervened at this stage," Focalor exhaled, then, noticing the angry look from Drake, he shook his head - or, at least, made the equivalent of such a movement for a Demon King, "What ?! You had to be killed anyway. And it was much easier to work with you as a Servant!"

"Yeah, then they killed me," Drake frowned at Focalor, "And for what? When I returned as a Servant I finished what I started anyway. I found the island again and plundered it to hell! At the same time grabbing the Grail. Though in my hurry the Grail's core was destroyed."

"The core is what maintains the stability of Poseidon's mind," Focalor breathed out, "After its destruction, our original plan to use Poseidon to help fight all of you turned out to be 'very' unviable, to say the least."

"In the world there are very few creatures that can directly control a Divine Spirit or return its mind to him," Focalor sighed, "So Drake, by accident or not, destroyed our main asset in the event of a battle with you."

"Hm ..." Ainz nodded.

Poseidon, then ... He knew this name.

"Focalor, can you give us access to the base of the other Demon Kings?" Ainz asked, not particularly expecting a positive answer.

"I can't use the abilities of other Demon Kings after breaking my connection with the King," Focalor breathed out, "And under the effect of Drake's Noble Phantasm, I can't track their movement."

"I see," Ainz nodded. "So, nothing that we could do now, except wait for the enemy to attack?"

"I'm afraid so," Focalor nodded.

"Excellent," Ainz nodded. "In that case ... It's probably worth taking this chance to prepare."

"In what sense?" Focalor looked at Ainz, waiting for an answer.

"I mean," Ainz smiled. "A crazed enemy is still an enemy in the end."

Free time? It sounds so suspiciously like "grinding time"...

Description

We are waiting.

We are an endless army of monsters that burns with hatred, lust of destruction, and thirst for the flesh

We are waiting.

We are gods in human form, living cataclysms, perfect machines of destruction.

We are waiting.

We are inconspicuous servants, maids and cooks, slaves and butlers.

We are waiting.

We are monsters and people, living and dead, eternal and fleeting.

We are waiting.

We are faithful to the last breath.

We are waiting.

Our time will come.

And so we are waiting.