16 A battle of Gods (1)

Ainz entered the Mausoleum, though he ensured Albedo didn't have her ring on before he did much to the sadness of the succubus who was reluctant to give it up.

Ainz was still focused on the behavior of his cringe creation, a product of a phase he along with many other Japanese people went through, he now appreciated the cringe removal part of his emotional control.

Without it, he would have buried himself with shame and regret.

Albedo walked in behind him, looking shocked at the confines of the room.

"T-The Supreme ones?" She asked in confusion.

Indeed, around them and going down the corridor there could be seen Pedastols with golems of the Supreme ones, they are wearing all their divine-grade equipment.

On the pedestals, their symbols could be seen, Ainz took great care to recreate everything he could, the memory of his friends deserved only the best treatment.

"Indeed, when the others left, I created this room to store their equipment separately, that's why I asked you to remove your ring, if you didn't, these golems would have come to life and attacked you."

"I-I see..."

An awkward silence filled the room as Ainz thought of something to say.

Albedo had plenty she wanted to say, she was constantly debating if she should speak against her beloved's decision to fight Thoth, but then again, his order was absolute.

"You see that empty space over there?" He pointed to the end of the line, where one empty pedestal could be seen.

"That is where I will go in the future."

Albedo immediately shook, despite her questionable behavior, she truly loved Ainz more than anything else, and the thought of her beloved dying or leaving her behind caused a tsunami of intense emotion in her brain.

She kneeled as she shouted: "Lord Ainz! Please dont say such things!" Her voice shook, causing Ainz to turn around in surprise.

He, for all his intelligence, didn't realize what his words meant, only now realizing why Albedo was so upset.

"Ah-Albedo-" Ainz tried to elaborate, but he was interrupted before he could.

"Please dont leave us too Lord Ainz!" Her shoulders now shook as she spoke, the poor girl seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Ainz lowered himself and hugged Albedo, who froze as she felt Ainz wrap his hands around her.

"It's okay, I won't leave or die, I promise."

Albedo took a deep breath to steady herself, and with tears in her eyes, she asked Ainz the question on her mind.

"Lord Ainz, must you fight Thoth? I'm worried that something might happen to you..."

"Haha! Your worries are understandable, but have no fear, I have everything firmly under control." Ainz stood up and Albedo stood up with him.

"You see, Thoth did everything in his power to ensure I would win."

"He went into his biblical form, meaning he has an immense debuff now, also, since he is locked in his humanoid form, he gets an additional debuff from it, I can also equip myself with armor designed against positive karma attacks."

"My victory is assured! You must only watch and cheer my name as I show you the might of Ainz Ooal Gown."

Albedo had nothing more to say, her master was right, and besides, shouldn't a good wife always listen to her husband?

"Very well Lord Ainz, I will always believe in you." She kneeled once more, her head low in reverence.

"Thank you Albedo." Ainz nodded.

Before Thoth became corrupted, in the night, the four small angels could be seen.

Protector, Warrior, Bard, and Wizard could be seen floating above the home of Nfirea and Enri's family.

The two were not together yet, but since Nfirea didn't have his own house built for now, Enri's father said he could stay in their home, allowing the four little angels to catch up as the two slept in the house.

Currently, they could be seen playing cards again, Bard had pretty much all the chips on her side, with Warrior far behind in second place, leaving Protector and Wizard crying with almost nothing.

That's right, the angels could be seen playing poker, but hey, who could judge them now anyway? God?

"What's up with you two?! You have to be cheating!" Wizard threw her cards away while Bard collected them again, sneaking a peak at them while no one was looking.

"Exactly, this is ridiculous," Protector agreed, but he was wise enough to keep his cards close, he knew exactly how sneaky Bard could be.

"My friends, my friends! We have a term for the current situation, Bard, I can't say it without you~♪"

The two spoke together as Protector and Wizard were forced to listen, the duo already annoyed by what was coming.

"♪ ~You have a skill issue~ ♪" The two said in practiced harmony, making Protector roll his eyes while Wizard simply flew away to sulk.

The two internet trolls in training laughed seeing the reactions, but all of the joy on their face vanished once they felt a change in Thoth.

Wizard immediately returned with confusion and trepidation on her face.

"Do you all feel that?" Wizard asked, the frustration from before was gone.

"No... I don't feel anything anymore..." Bard spoke to her sister, fear in her voice.

"Exactly, something happened."

"No shit, but what do we do now?" Wizard gave Warrior the stink eye as he swore, she was fine with swearing, but the clear disrespect angered her.

"Now we must investigate, let's all go to where we last felt Lord Thoth, maybe we can do something." Protector took charge as usual, the rest fell in line immediately, he was higher ranked than them back in the day after all.

And he was the best leader in their little group as acknowledged by everyone, everyone else was too flawed or had a conflict with someone else in the group.

The angels traveled as fast as their wings allowed them, but it still took them two hours to reach the place where their master was last detected.

They were so fast before thanks to Thoth helping them on their journey with his power, allowing them to travel at incredible speeds, but now, no such aid was granted.

"Say... You don't think the Elder died do you?" Warrior asked the big question, but no one had an answer, still, they prayed that he was still alive.

"No way! Elder couldn't die." Bard firmly refused the idea, there was no way the Seraph would be killed just like that.

"Have faith, my friends, things will work out, they always have." Protector tried to reassure the group, but it only angered Warrior.

"Have faith? In what? God?" He scoffed, earning a firm whack from Protector that sent him flying back a bit.

"Calm down you two," Wizard spoke up, clearly not amused by the boy's drama, there are more important things to do at the moment than to fight.

"We are calm!" Both of them shouted at once, making Wizard blink, her expression screaming: 'Are you sure about that?'

Protector turned back to Warrior after sighing to himself.

"No, have faith that the Elder wouldn't be so easily killed, have faith that even if he was, there is still hope." Protector got face to face with Warrior, "Have some balls goddamn it. Are you not a Warrior of heaven?"

"I am." 

"What? I didn't hear that sorry excuse of a claim."

"I said I fucking am!"

"Good! And you, as a warrior, would quit first when things get rough?"

"Of course fucking not, like hell, I won't give up just like that." The provocations set a fire ablaze in Warrior, an unrelenting will only triggered by challenges. A desire to adapt, improvise, and overcome all threats burned in his mind.

"Good, let's continue, there is no time to waste."

The group continued to fly, they were noticed immediately by the forces of Nazarick once they got close to Thoth, but they were allowed in.

Nazarick's watchful eye was fully focused on the area, and nothing would escape detection, not even a certain Paladin Dragon Lord dared to test Thoth's combat capabilities with Nazarick holding the area in an iron grip.

It wasn't difficult to find Thoth, even without his divine tier items, he still radiated a large amount of divine energy.

Bard gasped in shock as the others froze, no words could describe their feelings.

The sun had already risen, and its beam bathed the forest in light.

Thoth could be seen, his eyes were closed like the main eye in his biblical form, luckily, when he was forced out of his biblical form, basic black clothes and black boots appeared on his body, leaving the boy in some clothing.

His wings are exposed, their feathers black as night, still as grand and imposing as ever.

To the untrained eye, he would just look like he was in some kind of emo phase, but to them, the sight was horrific.

They could feel his divine soul caged within his own body, its powers clawing at the cage desperate for freedom, but the cage was an immovable force, no creature could resist the might of a world item, it was frankly a show of immense strength when Thoth managed to even slow it down before it took his body over.

It is difficult to describe how an angel feels when they meet a fallen one, usually, they kill the fallen angel immediately, but that is no longer an option.

An angel falling is a tragedy, it was always seen that way, like watching a kind intelligent person give up on life and ruin themselves, it is a sad event, so all of them were horrified by the sight.

"No. No! Bulshit!" Warrior shouted in disbelief.

"Calm down!" Protector's voice was filled with authority, making Warrior reflexively shut up.

And so, the angels sat down on a nearby tree branch, watching over the Seraph, praying that Ainz would save their master.

The city of E-Rantel was not doing much better than the small group of angels, news of the strange creature had already reached the city through either unknown sources or through eyewitnesses becoming seemingly insane, claiming to see a large monster with wings and many eyes.

All Mythril-ranked adventurers were called upon, including Momon and his team, who could be seen walking to the guild.

Momon looked around the city, people were scared and nervous, and many merchants had chosen to leave the city in favor of their safety.

Indeed, a hero like Momon and his companions were needed now more than ever.

The group entered the guild and were immediately led upstairs by the lady manning the counter, inside, a few people could be seen.

Mythril-ranked adventurers were rare, so only the guild master and a few others, most likely the leaders of their groups, were present.

The groups summoned were Kralga, Darkness, Sky Wolf, and Rainbow.

The leader of team Kralga, a human named Igvarge with brown hair and piercing brown eyes wearing leather armor, eyed the newbies carefully, almost as if looking for even the tiniest of mistakes.

The leader of team Sky Wolf, a man known as Bellote, has orange hair, blue eyes, and half-plate armor, his demeanor is more friendly and welcoming.

And lastly, Moknach, the leader of Rainbow could be seen. he has long blond hair, his eyes couldn't be seen as he kept them closed at all times, his armor was leather and his expression was completely poker-faced.

The guild master beamed once he saw the group.

"Oh Darkness! Welcome, please have a seat, we have much to discuss."

Igvarge was jealous of their rapid ascend to the Mythril rank, he and the others had to work for years, so why do these guys have to be different? What made them so special? He would be sure to put them back in their place.

"Oh, where is Thoth?" Igvarge, leader of the team Kralga, asked.

Momon turned to him and said an already prepared lie, "Thoth is feeling unwell. Since he is closely connected to the divine, the fallen angel in the area has disturbed him. He wouldn't be of much use now."

Igvarge scoffed, boo hoo the child was having a stomach ache.

The guild master and the others in the room looked at Igvarge with anger, such disrespect was unacceptable, they could all tell how jealous he was of the new team's success, it was a pathetic display of immaturity.

Aura, in particular, was angered by Igvarge's behavior, "Just cause you are pathetic doesn't mean you can insult one of us!" She shouted.

Nabe also immediately prepared to cast magic, if her master decided the human's impudence must be punished, she would do so with glee.

'Oh boy.' Momon thought as Igvarge absorbed the words of the dark elf.

Aura was never one to hold back, she was quite reasonable usually, but when one of her friends or family was threatened, she would become extremely protective like a strong older sister protecting her little brothers, though Thoth is technically older, but she didn't care, she would still protect him.

And some pathetic, jealous, shit-faced h u m a n had no right to insult a creation of the Supreme Ones, a creation which was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice without hesitation no less, all for the sake of Nazarick.

"Calm down!" The guild leader shouted, he threw a threatening gaze at Igvarge, who calmed down as he felt the gaze of his superior.

"I apologize, Sir Momon, Miss Aura, and Miss Nabe, however, I believe it would be best to look past this and work together to take on the threat at hand.

"I agree, let us put this behind us." The guild leader relaxed as Momon also de-escalated the situation, glad things didn't spiral more out of control.

"Now, could you please tell me about the situation?"

"Of course! A strange creature was discovered a few kilometers away, its nature is unknown but we assume it to be divine, we do not know what it wants or what it's here for."

"Kuku... To think I would encounter it yet again." Everyone turned to Momon as he laughed quietly to himself.

"Momon, you have seen this creature before?" Bellote, leader of Sky Wolf, asked.

"Indeed, the angel fell from grace a long time ago, it has been sealed away until recently, and for the past few years, I've been searching for it in hopes of killing it once and for all." Momon gave a brief story to cover things up.

"I see, what is the angel's name then?"

"Th-Thorbovur!"

"Thor Bovur? what a strange name." The guild master mused, which prompted Momon to dig his hole even deeper, "Indeed, the creature was named by people from ages ago, who knows what kind of names they had for other powerful creatures."

"How do you intend on killing something so powerful?" Igvarge questioned again, if it had come from someone else, it would have been a fair question, but everyone couldn't help but feel Igvarge was doing this for a different purpose.

Momon turned to him, "Indeed, it will be difficult, that is why I have this." He pulled out a crystal-like object that glowed with power, making the other people in the room gasp in shock.

"This contains an eight-tier spell that will make it easier to subjugate the fallen angel."

"Bullshit! There is no way you have something so powerful! The eighth tier is the stuff of legends!"

Momon shook his head, "Goodness... We can have it checked if you want, but I don't think we have the time for that."

"Yes, we shall trust you Momon, you and your team should go and subjugate the angel, if you are willing."

"What? My team will go as well!" Igvarge shouted, he wanted some of the credit for killing it, even if he would do nothing, hell, while Darkness was exhausted from the fight, he could rob them and kill them.

"Igvar-" The guild leader was about to admonish him for his behavior, but Momon stepped in.

"You may come with us, but if you do..." The air in the room seemed to go still, even if only for a millisecond, "...you and your team will definitely have a slow, painful death."

Igvarge was not discouraged by this, and so the meeting ended.

The groups gathered together, Igvarge was barely tolerated by Aura and Nabe the whole way, the rest of his party was more normal, but that didn't matter to Ainz.

Even he was growing frustrated at Igvarge's rude behavior, so once they entered deeper into the forest, Momon called out to him.

"Igvarge, turn around."

Igvarge, who was in front, turned around, only to see the corpses of his companions decorating the trees like Christmas ornaments.

"Mare! Do you think the eye would be better on this twig or this branch?" Aura asked her brother, "I-I don't know sis... Maybe we should ask Lord Ainz?"

"W-What the fuck?!" Igvarge stumbled back, but he didn't make it far.

As he blinked, Nabe appeared behind him, she kicked both of his knees, breaking the bones in them.

Igvarge screamed, but no one could save him here, there was no one to hear his pleas for aid aside from the overlord he insulted.

"Your disrespect has been vexing, to say the least. I even warned you, I tried to show you mercy, yet you, in your pride and arrogance, refused to heed my warnings."

"Aura, I understand how much he has frustrated you, you may end him." Momon turned around and removed his armor, revealing his brown tattered clothing, the armor he specifically picked to resist Thoth's positive karma spells and abilities.

Igvarge's eyes widened as he realized this would be his end, he tried to crawl away and get to safety, but Aura simply stomped on his hands, leaving him immobile.

"You know, I don't tend to hurt people, but you? You are a worm, so die like one." And she stomped on his head, killing the man instantly.

"Nabe, have someone come to resurrect him and instruct Demiurge to find a use for him."

"Understood." Nabe bowed and disappeared.

"You two, take these." Ainz turned around, giving Aura a large scroll that was held by a belt, one might recognize it as an item known as Depiction of Nature And Society, she slung it around her neck, the cover for the scroll was red while the casing was golden, showing how extraordinary this item was with its appearance.

Mare took two gauntlets, Averice and Generosity, one was black and red, covered in black thorns that would no doubt harm anyone who touched them while the other was white and blue in appearance, its armor was sleek with absolutely no sharp points.

Both of these were world items, ones they were granted for their protection.

Each guardian was given one since a world item couldn't affect someone who also had a world item, if only he thought of that precaution before Shalltear made such a big mistake and Thoth had to cover for her.

'Haahh, how stupid, I shouldn't have let my guard down' he suppressed the urge to sigh out loud and dismissed the siblings, who would now watch from afar.

Demiurge, Albedo, Cocytus, and Shalltear were no doubt watching as well, he couldn't let them down again.

Ainz knows he isn't who they think he is, and so far, he hasn't been successful in learning more, but still, time was only on his side, after all, he was now immortal.

He looked at the child dressed in black who was now standing before him and spoke in a grand voice.

"My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, and that name has never known defeat!" Thoth didn't open his eyes, making Ainz chuckle.

"I see, you won't do anything until I attack, then I must apologize, but please give me a few minutes to prepare Thoth."

"[Protection Against Radiance][Maximize magic: Floating Mines][Greater Mind][Indomitable Soul][Indomitable Will][Greater Mobility][Shield of Death][Greater Resistance: Positive Karma][Negative Karma Enhancement][Eagle Eyes][Maximize Magic: False data life][Maximize Magic: False Data Magic][Strength of God][Ancient Wisdom][World Turtle's shell][Dead Mind]"

Ainz spoke spell after spell, each one picked by him to aid him in the battle ahead, making up for his weaknesses while boosting his strength.

If there was one field Ainz was confident in, it was PVP, even with an RP build such as his current one, he was known for his strength, not thanks to his stats, but thanks to his raw skill.

Thoth would test that skill firsthand.

Observing Ainz from afar within Nazarick, Albedo, Cocytus, and Shalltear could be seen sitting around a wooden table on soft couches.

In front of the table, a floating mirror was visible which showed Ainz preparing for his battle against Thoth.

Demiurge arrived now, his face contorted in anger.

"Albedo! You said you would convince Lord Ainz to not fight Thoth! What happened?"

"My beloved decided he wants to fight Thoth himself, he promised me to win and to never leave us, isn't that all we could ask for?"

"Yes, but you know how naive that outlook is? What if Thoth was given some kind of Trump Card while we were still securing the area?!"

"I won't stand for this." Demiurge turned to leave, but Cocytus took out his halberd.

"Tch..." Demiurge took a second to compose himself, his diamond eyes shining as his rage simmered beneath. "If something happens to Lord Ainz, you will step down as Guardian Overseer. I demand it!"

"Force her from the position she was given by the Supreme Beings? That is blasphemy Demiurge!" Cocytus slammed his halberd into the ground in an outrage, it wasn't easy to get the honorable warrior this riled up, but Demiurge managed it in a single sentence.

"Fine," Albedo agreed, she wasn't worried at all, after all, her beloved promised her to return just fine.

"*Sigh*, Cocytus, what are the odds looking like?"

"Six to four, Six for Lord Ainz."

"Truly?" Demiurge was surprised, Thoth has the advantage doesn't he? He is still an angel after all.

"Normally, I would say Lord Ainz has no chance at victory without a hidden trump card, Thoth is wise, knows how to fight, and is unpredictable thanks to his both naive and serious personality."

"However, Thoth predicted this and intentionally weakened himself!" Demiurge finished for Cocytus, who nodded to confirm.

"Yes, Thoth changed into his biblical form, meaning he can't do so now, he is now a lot weaker due to that and also because he is forced to stay in his humanoid form, which puts him at a greater disadvantage."

"Truly, he was thinking about Nazarick until the end, I expected no less from Thoth." Demiurge nodded.

"Indeed, but Thoth may have some kind of ability or spell we aren't aware of, we should watch closely."

"Of course, things are about to get started."

-x-x-x-

Aww~ You thought I would let you finish without a cliffhanger~? That's so cute~

THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS! patreon.com/MarAuthor

NAZARICK NPC's (0): NONE (1 USD/month)

AREA GUARDIANS (1): Blorgus Gaming (2 USD/month)

FLOOR GUARDIANS (1): LightningGodWolf(4 USD/month)

SUPREME BEINGS (1): ElusiveBucket (6 USD/month)