Chapter 49

Three figures stood over a large map of the entire known world. With the summoning out of the way, and Touch dealing with Slane's invasion directly, Bukuma, Punitto, and Ainz had gathered in the Empire's military headquarter's central planning room.

Having once served as a dummy Nazarick, the structure was greatly expanded to serve the current purpose. With the room being deep underground, the chances of any known forces reaching it were slim . On top of that, numerous protective enchants and anti-spying measures made information leaks almost impossible.

"So, not counting Slane that the Underwater Empire might directly influence, they are only attacking with small forces all over the coastal line?" Punitto asked.

"Yes, I suspect they want us to concentrate our forces in coastal regions, leaving the rest of the empire in a weakened state." Buku responded and then pointed at the southern part of Robble. "Their most active efforts are here, but unless the political situation changes, we are not helping that region."

Ainz, for the most part, just sat and listened to them talk. He wasn't even particularly sure why his presence was needed. Surely both Buku and Punitto could have a discussion without getting at each other's throats. Besides, Buku was the official high commander of the entire army of the Empire, so her word would be final.

"Is it safe to assume there exists magic that could cause a large-scale tsunami?" Punitto asked. "If that is the case then they are clearly trying to lure as many forces as possible to coastal regions for the sole purpose of drowning them."

"Even if that is the case, about half of our standing army consists of undead that I have summoned. Being flushed into the sea would do nothing but displace them for a while." Ainz said.

"An immobilized army is a useless army!" Punitto said, pointing at the countries east of Nazarick. "What about this region? Are they hostile?"

"Those nations are not openly hostile, but they are not friendly either. Pandora and Demiurge have prepared well-hidden armies that are ready to invade should that region start causing any trouble. The Underwater Empire is a more pressing concern. We only know the locations of a few of their cities and could strike them with a super tier earthquake or Grand Catastrophe, but there is little point doing so if their forces are elsewhere."

"I have to admit, I expected the situation to be far worse." Punitto said, glancing at Buku. She never struck him as the military type. The fear of Nazarick just throwing armies at all problems turned out to be unfounded.

"Gee, thanks. Good to see our strategist approves my work." Buku responded in a deeper tone.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it as an insult."

"Really now? You…"

"Buku, bickering will lead us nowhere. I'm sure Punitto didn't want to insult you." Ainz interjected before the situation could get ugly. Her temper hadn't gotten any better, and with her being way over level one hundred, Punitto would be in for a world of hurt if he managed to anger Buku too much.

"Fine. Anything else you want to ask?" She turned to the death vine once again, trying to keep her face neutral.

"About Touch being alone in Roble and rather close to the coastal line at that. It is not just an oversight I presume?"

"Of course not. He is bait."

"Could you please elaborate?"

"Ainz and I decided to play their own game. As they are baiting us with those constant small attacks, we are putting one of our own in a seemingly risky situation. I have no doubt they will send out something strong in his direction hoping to kill off one of us. The response force is ready and waiting to assist Touch, that is if he even needs it."

"Hmm, looks like you have things handled rather well." Punito said and scratched his head. 'I guess Tabula just told me my expertise is needed as a sales pitch.'

Knowing that his position as chief strategist was not as important as it used to be was a somewhat sobering experience, but considering how many small details needed to be considered in every operation, he could still fill the role of Buku's advisor.

"Is there anything you need help with?"

"Oh, plenty. We need to plan out a military takeover of southern Roble after Calca asks Roble to join the Empire… And someone needs to look over whatever plans Lucifer is making. His ideas are interesting but may get out of hand fast. Pandora has made a military modernization plan, but it's delayed until Tabula can ensure that we will not cause long-term magical pollution by implementing it. There are a few more things, but as you see, I can pile up work on you easily." Buku said with a tired sigh.

Thanks to the recent developments, she had spent so little time with the twins that they were getting anxious, not to mention how little time she had to relax. Giving at least a part of her work to Punitto could give her some leisure time.

"I'll start with Pandora's plans then. Speaking of Lucifer, did anyone forbid him from pulling pranks?" Punitto asked, concerned, and swearing that he could see Ainz's skeletal face flinch.

"Ulbert should have taken care of that. He is looking after him for now." Ainz said

"Aren't they even worse when put together?"

"Ulbert is second in command right after me. He may have his quirks, but he takes his work seriously and is good at it. If anything, he will keep Lucifer in check."

"I hope so. That wall glitch…"

"Don't remind me!" Ainz hissed. "I have fallen for his pranks enough times. Rebuilding the spa area wasn't exactly cheap."

"What happened there?" Punitto asked.

"One of the statues came to life and attacked me and Albedo."

"Just how many hidden golems did he have stashed around the great Tomb? In any case, I'll look into his activities."

'Have to look out for Lilith as well. Lucifer's connection with her is worrisome.'

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With the Apostles going to different parts of the country, he was left with a small group of paladins, including the order's grandmaster Gustav. The man seemed earnest and genuinely cared not only about his subordinates but the regular people as well.

With teleportation magic such as gate, moving troops around was easy. An army of twelve thousand regular Roble soldiers was moved and stationed in the nearby coastal city, waiting for the invading forces, while he and the paladins went to intercept Slane's army.

From what was reported, their main army had split up, and only about one-sixth of it was heading his way. Together with the small group, Touch stood on a large hill surrounded by grassy plains, with the coastline visible in the distance.

His first instinct was to take off his helmet and take in the fresh air, but he didn't want to make his allies uncomfortable. Even with the relative luxury of his previous life, he had visited the indoor parks only a few times, and they were a pale imitation of outdoor scenery like this.

The enemy forces were already visible in the distance, but there was no need to leave this position for now. With his greatly improved senses, he could already see the approaching army well enough.

Just as Ulbert's reports said, the so-called righteous people were dragging slaves among their ranks to use as meat shields. On top of that, a horde of undead was marching alongside them, the raised soldiers and paladins that protected their homeland till their last breaths.

Having seen enough, Touch turned to address his allies. "Remember to not get surrounded. This isn't a suicide mission."

"You think us cowards who would run from battle?" The woman in a squire's outfit shouted at him.

She clearly stood out among her peers. All of the twenty-four squires except for her were in their mid-teens. She, on the other hand, was somewhere in her early to mid-twenties. Touch was curious as to why she was the only exception, but his tact prevented him from asking such a question.

"Squire Custodio, watch your mouth!" Gustav responded in a stern, authoritative tone.

"Understood, sir!" She said with a salute that bordered on a mockery. Gustav shook his head and turned to address the God before him.

"I apologize for my subordinate's words. She is a special case and tends to speak out of turn."

"Oh, don't reprimand her too harshly. I was once young and eager to prove myself too." Touch said, oblivious to the fact that his words made the squire turn reddish and shake in anger.

Gustav gave Remedios another stern look with a silent warning to keep her mouth shut.

The Slane Theocracy's army reached their position in an hour, stopping at the base of the hill as a few figures walked out of the main army, shielded by slaves taken from among the Roble population.

One, dressed in a green costume with an almost comically small top hat, shouted.

"So the false Gods stand to protect the heretics!? You too will be swept away in our righteous crusade! If you want for these wretches to live, surrender unconditionally!"

'Hiding behind human shields… Despicable. Ulbert was right, these people are nothing but scum.' Even agreeing with his old rival rubbed him the wrong way, but there was no denying his report's accuracy.

"Yes, we know how much you want to save these wretched heretics. If you don't listen to us, we'll slaughter them just all the other subhuman trash you tried to save. Drop your weapons and get on your knees! Now! The young looking-man shouted again and partly pushed the tip of his rapier into the slave's neck.

Touch clearly heard at least a few of his allies comply with the order.

"Don't! Those hostages are dead either way."

"They will kill them if we do not comply. Some god of justice you are." Remedios spat at him.

"Remedios! This is your last warning!" Gustav shouted at her. He knew better than to surrender. Even if they surrendered, the hostages at best would remain slaves anyway.

"But…"

"If you surrender now, those people will remain slaves! There is no justice in bending the knee to terrorist cowards who hide behind living shields." Touch said, interrupting her tirade.

"Watch your backs. Go for the leaders. Retreat if they try to surround you." Touch ordered and charged.

Time Turbulence didn't expect the monster to attack so eagerly. After all, the cardinals said they wanted to save the subhumans and monster-loving scum. Within the blink of an eye, the white-clad knight had almost reached him. On instinct, he activated his talent 'time stop', but the monster charged past him.

'Wha-?' Something was wrong. The monster didn't stop. In a moment of clarity, he remembered the previous encounter with someone from Nazarick. That young vampire was not affected by his skill back then as well. 'Why did I do this? I should have known. I… Why is the ground closing in? Shit is that pain I'm feeling?' His vision rapidly dimmed. In his last moments, he saw his headless, armless body still standing while the slave that he had been using as a shield scampered away.

Gustav knew that the Gods, true to their name, were powerful beyond mortal understanding, but seeing one in action still took him by surprise. More precisely, he caught glimpses of afterimages as the front lines of the attacking army started to fall, with their leader being the first to die. What's more, most of the slaves held hostage were left alive, save for a few who got caught in the God's path.

After the momentary shock subsided, Gustav raised his sword, shouting "Charge, follow God's path!"

As Gustav ran towards the enemy, Remedios raced past him, clashing with the enemy soldiers. No matter how much she aggravated him, there was no denying that she was the strongest paladin Roble had ever seen. If not for the God of Justice present, she would have been the one to shine in this battle.

His blade found targets quickly and easily. There was something wrong with the attacking soldiers. Only madness could be seen in their eyes, madness that seemingly faded when they died, shocked by their own mortality.

Thanks to Touch's overwhelming might, the Theocracy's soldiers quickly started to lose their composure, with large parts of the force routing.

A sudden scream of "By the six, what is that!?" made Gustav look towards the sea. Some kind of creature was walking out of the water. The best way he could describe the enormous monstrosity was a sea urchin walking on twelve, thin, crab-like legs. It shot one of its needles towards the battlefield, clearly aiming to hit the God of Justice with it.

"Retreat and group up!" Gustav shouted to his subordinates. Most quickly followed his order, leaving the lines of shocked enemy soldiers behind. "Remedios! Retreat!" he shouted at the thick-headed squire.

She quickly reached him with a snarl on his face. "We must fight. Gustav, don't be a…"

"Just shut up and look, you idiot!" Gustav shouted back at her while pointing at the sea. More gigantic creatures were emerging from the sea. A gigantic eel with dozens of small, bug-like hands, each holding a spear. A bull-headed, squid-like creature and a bipedal, somewhat humanoid figure with a fish head and an enormous spear in its hand. Each was at least twenty meters tall, and all of them were closing in on the God's position.

"By the four. The enemy is using monsters as well?" Remedios gasped.

"I don't think those things are allied with the Theocracy." Gustav said. The gigantic creatures clearly had one goal in mind; they wanted to kill the God of Justice, and they simply trampled the humans unlucky enough to get in their path.

What followed them were smaller squads of various sea monsters. He could clearly see a pattern in their formation. Six to ten of them were marching closely together, separated by at least fifty meters from the next group.

"Listen up, everyone. Those monsters crawling out of the sea take priority. Avoid Slane soldiers if you can." Gustav ordered and prepared to charge one of the nearest monster groups. The smaller groups made it easier for him and other paladins to handle them, but the strange formation made him wonder.

'Why are they spread out like that? It's easier for us to strike them that way.' The answer formed in his mind just as quickly as the question arose. They were preparing for the God's retaliation, and the more spread out they were, the harder it would be to slaughter them for someone much stronger.

Touch meanwhile had engaged the sea urchin creature. Gustav had to jump out of the way as one of the creature's needles almost hit him. The God's movements were so fast that he could not be observed by a mortal like Gustav, but the monster still tried its best to kill the God and shot its needles left and right.

As fascinating as the battle was, he needed to carry his own weight as well. With one of the squires at his side, he once again charged the group of nearby monsters, killing a crab-like creature with ease.

Yet another nasty surprise stopped him and the others in their tracks. The sea urchin had lost one of its legs and let out a deafening screech. Gustav covered his ears with his plate-covered hands, trying to block out the sound to no avail.

With the sea creatures unaffected, they went on the offensive, killing a few of his comrades and almost striking him as well.

Even Lord Touch's might was not as one-sided as it seemed at first glance. The creature managed to hit the God, sending him into the nearest hill with a small quake.

'Keep your resolve no matter the odds.' He recalled one of the Paladin Order's core tenants and, after gulping down a healing potion, went counterattacked with renewed vigor. Even if they failed the God, he would fight till his last breath.

As if the situation wasn't chaotic enough, something shot past him in the air, and collided with the eel-like monster with a loud boom, splitting it in half.

"Just what…" Gustav quickly jumped back in order to gain some distance between himself and a bipedal fish creature and looked around. The gates were opening one after another, with armies of creatures pouring through.

The demons, angels, and undead collided with both the sea creatures and the fleeing Slane forces. A birdman he assumed was the God of Murder aimed and shot an exploding arrow at the bull-headed monster. The gigantic, fish-headed beast grabbed the flying attackers, tearing them apart with its hands, while the sea urchin shot his needles wildly, trying to hit anything.

The creature roared after the arrow hit its head. The ensuing chaos was too much for Gustav to make any sense of.

Hoping that his subordinates would hear him, he shouted. "All to me! This is not our fight anymore!" Most of the Roble forces heard him and quickly made their way to his position. "Remedios, come here dammit!" As usual, the hot-headed former grandmaster was too eager to slay every single monster that had the misfortune to get near her.

"You must be Gustav Montagnes. We will take things from here."

He turned his head to see an elven woman in full plate armor. "Lady Bukuma, I presume?"

"Correct." She answered with a pleasant voice "Those big beasties are too much for you and Touch alone to handle."

"What are those monsters?"

"Agents of the Underwater Empire. Your Queen will receive an explanation. Now stay out of our way."

It was like watching an ancient tale of Gods fighting. He managed to identify the one who killed the eel thing, an angel with metallic wings that came after the bipedal fish monster next, shattering its throat so fast that Gustav couldn't even see her move.

One would think that the Gods would have an overwhelming advantage, but that simply wasn't the case. Many of the angels and flying demons were shot down, and many of the undead were crushed and turned into paste. However, the gigantic beasts fell one after another. The God of Murder managed to finish off the bull-headed thing and Lord Touch resumed the fight with the sea urchin, finally splitting it in half with a particularly devastating attack.

The more he watched the battle, the more obvious it became that 'If we would oppose them, they would wipe us off the face of the world with no effort. They had no reason to help, yet they did, even in spite of our faith.'

The Gods were merciful after all. Gustav dropped to one knee and recited a prayer to the New God he identified with the most. Justice itself walked this world and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. There was no need to pretend anymore. The salvation of his people was in the hands of the New Gods.

He and the other paladins sat on top of a hill as the battle ended and the last strugglers were cut down. Lord Touch was finally coming in their direction after a short talk with Lady Bukuma. He couldn't hear what they were talking about from such a distance, but his guess was that they discussed the details of the battle.

"Sorry, this got out of hand. Luckily, my friends were prepared for such a possibility." Touch said apologetically. His armor had a heavy dent under the left shoulder and one of the leg pieces was pierced.

Gustav jumped to his feet and bowed. "On behalf of the Roble Holy Kingdom, thank you for helping us."

"Don't worry about it. Looks like I will be staying for a while. Buku thinks they were just testing us and the next attack is only a matter of time."

"You have brought these monsters to our doorstep!" Remedios shouted.

Gustav was about to reprimand her once again when Touch walked past him, facing down the woman who glared at him in defiance.

'This can't end well.' He thought but didn't dare to interfere with the God's actions. Remedios got herself into this situation with her big mouth, and she would be the one facing the consequences anyway.

"I may be the reason why so many came out of the sea today, but those monsters would attack your nation at some point anyway. If you have something personal against me, young lady, let's hear it." Touch said in a calm but stern tone. Despite her grown-up appearance, her behavior struck him as that of a teenage delinquent.

Being talked down to like a child didn't sit right with her. This 'God' was making fun of her. Her anger was starting to boil over, but she couldn't think of a response that didn't sound childish.

With a snarl, she saluted and said "No sir, I don't have a problem."

Touch continued to stare her down. She reminded him of an officer fresh out of the academy, who thought they knew everything better than hardened veterans. He went with the usual tactic employed in his department and went after her pride.

"So why are you much older than the rest of the cadets? Wanted a change of career?"

Remedios's expression darkened as she stood silent.

"Answer Lord Touch's question, squire." Gustav ordered.

Remedios looked down, slightly shaking. "I…I committed treason and was given a second chance."

"Treason? Does the paladin order take in people who commit treason?" Touch asked, genuinely surprised.

"She is a special case. Remedios here is the older sister of the high priestess, Kelart Custodio. Despite her crime against the Queen and her own sister, they both have given her a chance to redeem herself. If her presence bothers you, my lord, I will assign her to a different unit."

"That won't be necessary. But I will ask again. Do you have a problem with me, Remedios? I expect honesty this time."

Remedios closed her eyes while still looking down. This monster asked if she had a problem? All her life she had protected her people from his kind, and now everyone was bending their knee to them, even her Queen and her sister. Did her opinion matter in the face of what she just witnessed? Humans like her were nothing to the monsters that just battled each other, trampling armies like bugs.

"No, sir. My duty is to follow orders, not question the motives of my superiors." She finally said, still looking down.

"Good. The last thing I need is for someone to not understand the situation we are in." Touch said and then turned to Gustav. "Let's return to the city and prepare to move the army closer to the border."

"At once, my Lord." Gustav saluted.

The whole battle turned out to be harder than expected.

'I should have taken Buku's warnings more seriously. I wonder how hard it will be to repair my armor...'

One thing was clear, however, the war was only starting.

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Buku was following her brother and Ulbert to Lucifer's work area on the ninth floor. Like before, when they were still playing the game, Lucifer was afraid to talk with her directly. He wasn't exactly the most communicative person to begin with, and apparently he had gotten the idea that she was an angry and threatening person into his head.

'I'm not that bad, am I? I think I only screamed at him once, and it was for playing a prank on me.' Buku mused

Teleporting may have been a faster option, but knowing the fallen angel's quirks, he may have booby-trapped his quarters against it. The Great Tomb was almost empty these days, with only a few homunculus maids and stationed guards still being present.

Most of the operations were moved above ground to the imperial castle and the research center. Even most of the guardians and Lords lived in the castle, only occasionally coming down to the Tomb itself. Lucifer as of now was one of the few exceptions who wanted to live in the Tomb.

With her brother knocking on the door and entering Lucifer's living area, she took a deep breath and put on a friendly smile in order to appear less threatening.

Lucifer was working on something, not paying any attention to his surroundings as six succubi and one incubus watched him with great interest.

"Hey, Luci, what's with the cheerleading crew?" Pero asked.

"Oh, them? I'm not sure. They wanted to watch me work." He responded, not looking up while tinkering with a fist-sized ball that looked to be made out of bone.

Ulbert turned to face the group with a raised eyebrow and asked "Don't any of you have duties to perform?"

"It is our time off, Lord Ulbert." A red-haired succubus responded. Ulbert remembered her from the first batch he summoned a while ago as one of the higher-ranking ones. Before he could even ask a follow-up question, she continued to speak "We are here with Lady Lilith's blessing. She permitted us to compete."

Ulbert stared at them for a moment, and then he turned to look at the completely oblivious Lucifer, and then back at the small demon group. "Hey, Luci, they are yours now."

"Huh?" The fallen angel finally looked up and turned to face his friend, confused.

"Your cheerleading club. They are yours. You can do with them whatever you want as long as Lilith allows it."

"Ok." Lucifer said and returned to tinkering with the ball on the table.

{ Looks like their work is cut out for them. Lucifer is even denser than Momonga was when it comes to ladies or guys. To be honest, I'm not sure which way he swings. } Pero messaged his friends.

{ You can teach him how to get laid later. Now let's get to what he wanted to show us! } Buku responded and motioned for Pero to get Lucifer's attention.

"Hey, Luci, you wanted to show something to us?"

"Yes, this." Lucifer said and pressed a point on the ball.

The tiny ball suddenly grew legs and started to walk around the table.

"So it's a tiny golem. What does it do?" Buku asked, trying to not sound intimidating.

"Um, he…I-I need a live target to show."

"Someone disposable, I presume? Lucifer, what does that thing do?" Buku asked.

"Yes. It's a self-replicating hunter unit. I can show you."

"On it." Ulbert replied to Buku's unspoken request.

A moment later a gate opened with a shivering human being tossed through it. He hit the ground curled up and covered his head with both arms. "Here is your test subject." Ulbert said to Lucifer.

The fallen angel opened a console on a small device sitting on the table and wrote in a few lines.

The tiny golem jumped and landed on the human's head. Numerous needle-like appendages sprung out of it and dug into the victim's head. The human let out a screech and then froze up, shaking slightly. Slowly, his hand's arms and legs started to lose their form and smaller balls grew on the golem's body like tumors. More and more of the victim's body deflated as the balls grew larger. One split off the golem and latched to the human's skull as well.

Within a minute, only a pile of flesh remained as now five golems sucked out the last of the bone structure. Once the victim expired, they detached themselves and slowly walked in a circle.

"That surely was…" Buku wanted to say disturbing but quickly corrected herself to "effective. Mind giving us details on how you control them?"

Lucifer gave her a quick glance and then turned away facing the device on the table. "They are programmable, like very simple robots. For now, I gave them a very small area and only humans as targets. It can be used on all types of weak creatures and set to an almost infinite range as long as the control center provides them with energy."

"If used against our population, they would be a nightmare to handle. Do you have any safety precautions?"

"Yes. I encrypted their magical data, and they detonate if anyone tries to analyze or take them apart."

"Impressive. You said it only works on weak creatures, so what is the limit?"

"I think they won't be able to penetrate anything harder than steel both in terms of skin and bone."

"So anything over level fifty is immune to them."

"I think so. Y-you wanted a tool to cause mass enemy casualties. These can do that."

"How many can be produced?"

"Hard to tell, but I think about a half-million can be active at the time. More will just latch on to the nearest enemy and detonate."

"If it's ok with you, I will give you a heads up on when and where to deploy them." Buku said.

"By the way, you can always get more test subjects if you need them. Demiurge's farm is getting overcrowded lately." Ulbert chipped in.

"Oh, I didn't know. Should I ask you when I need some?"

"Sure you can send me a message, but Demiurge can also send you some when you need them."

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Touch stood by Ainz, Buku, Ulbert, and Punitto as Pandora worked on his damaged gear. The greater doppelganger's ability to shift into a member of Ainz Ooal Gown gave him a high enough skill to use Nazarick's resources for repairs.

The crafting department was still active, but for the most part, only performed maintenance on the lower tier gear.

"So seven million gold coins?" Touch asked while looking at the expense panel.

"They did not joke around. If caught by surprise, we can be slain by them." Buku remarked and then turned to Ainz "Maybe our dragon friends know more about what exactly those creatures were?"

"We can ask them when we are back in the castle. I'm not bringing either of them down here."

"I think we are done here. Pandora can finish the work on his own. Touch, from now on do not directly engage anyone that can potentially kill you and wait for the support team to arrive. I'll send Takemi the memo as well." Buku said.

"I'll keep that in mind." Touch said with a rather unconvincing tone.

Buku stared at him for a moment, and then decided it was not worth arguing over as the world champion would not listen to her anyway. The official hierarchy was not yet established after all, even though her being third in rank would mean that Touch would be lower ranked.

The moment Ainz and his friends returned to the imperial castle, he called for Tsar and Sazrasas to come. Tsar responded immediately, but Saz arrived about ten minutes later with the usual excuse.

"I apologize for the delay, but I was in the middle of an experiment."

Ainz motioned for his friends to describe the creatures they fought in Roble to both dragons. After hearing their descriptions, Tsar was first to speak.

"I have not seen them before. Saz, are they from ancient times?"

"If I remember correctly, those four sound like the less favored children of Hzanfrot." Saz said, pronouncing the name in a guttural voice.

"Who?" Ainz asked.

"Oh, that is the name of the Great Old One. Now that he is awake, there is no point in not calling him by the name anymore."

"So they were the children of the Hza… Hzan?" Buku said with a cough, trying to repeat the sound the dragon just made.

"Correct."

"That is great news. We killed four of them…" Buku started to say but then stopped for a moment. "Can it revive them?"

"For their kind death doesn't really exist. Their forms will be restored within days." Sazrasas said.

"How many children are there?"

"To my knowledge? At least thirty."

Buku sat down on a chair, contemplating the implications with Punitto pacing back and forth.

"It will be a war of endurance then. I would expect a multistrike attack soon." Punitto said.

"Agreed. Considering their threat level, we need to make smaller but well-optimized teams." Buku said. "Ainz, did Tabula say how long it will take for more of our friends to be summoned?"

"The crystals can be filled again, but those sea creatures are giving us nothing, so we need to start clearing out Slane. The fastest the next one can come in is in a few weeks."

"Just great. Let's go Punitto, we have a lot of planning to do. This will be an all-nighter that's for sure." Buku said, teleporting away with Punitto following suit.

Bonus Story - Daughter.

A lavishly dressed succubus hurried towards her destination on behalf of the Great Mother. Lilith had expressed a wish to converse with one of her daughters. The revelation of who the daughter was came as a surprise to Mariposa. To think she had met one of the oldest daughters of Lilith without even knowing it.

With the Empress officially acknowledging Mariposa as her mother, her status was elevated even more so than just being the wife of a God. The guards and other castle staff bowed to her as she walked the long halls.

Finally reaching her destination, she knocked on the door leading to Eleleth's quarters.

The angel opened the door and bowed. "Lady Mariposa."

"Eleleth. You shouldn't bow to me."

Eleleth's expression darkened. "So the 'mother' calls?"

"Yes, the Great Mother wishes to converse with you if you are not busy."

"So be it. Considering your status, you shouldn't be her errand girl." Eleleth said, following the younger succubus.

"It is an honor to be of use to her." Mariposa said.

'Who would have thought that the lost daughter was living among us. I better not get involved in their relationship.'

"I bet it is. I was like you once, eager to follow her every whim."

There was a bitterness in the angel's otherwise pleasant tone. It wasn't Mariposa's place to judge the motives of either Lilith nor Lelethe or Eleleth, but there was something she needed to ask.

"Does the Emperor know?"

"I told Emperor Ainz a few days before Lilith's summoning that she is my creator." Eleleth said and then walked in front of Mariposa adding "I have proved my loyalty to master more than once. Do not dare to question it!"

"I am not questioning your loyalty." Mariposa said with a forced smile. Her former sister's aura was getting too painful to bear.

Seeing the younger succubus' discomfort, Eleleth quickly turned her aura off "I'm sorry, it wasn't meant as intimidation.

"There was no harm done."

Despite the angel's apologetic disposition, Mariposa led her to the destination as quickly as possible. At the doors leading to Lilith's quarters stood two incubi honor guards. From what Mariposa knew, the Emperor had offered her private guards, but Lilith had refused the offer, stating that she had her own servants.

As they approached the door one of the guards opened it and requested for Eleleth to go in.

"Ah, my long-lost daughter finally comes." Lilith said with a neutral expression just as Eleleth came in.

"Lady Lilith, you wished for my presence?" she said with a polite bow.

Lilith stood up from the chair she was sitting on, walking closer to the defiant angel. "You talk to your own mother with such coldness?"

"I apologize 'mother', I did not wish to insult you." Eleleth said, not changing her tone.

"Child, I have come to terms with your choices, so maybe it's time for you to understand mine."

"You held me back."

"Lelethe, you know better."

"My name is Eleleth." she said, raising her voice.

"Of course. The one I gave you wasn't good enough. You have caused me so much pain, Eleleth. You were my pride and joy, one of my first children. To see you like this…" Lilith said and looked away for a moment. "Are you happy with your choices?"

"Happy? Is this what you are concerned about? I am not yours anymore. You have no power over me!" Eleleth hissed at her.

Lilith's face twisted in anger. With a mist-like movement, she was in front of her defiant daughter and slapped her hard enough for the angel to stagger. "Angel! Out of all the ways to disappoint me, you chose to become an angel, and you think you can mock me like this!? I didn't block your ascension! Your impatience was what held you back."

Eleleth clutched her cheek, now decorated with three dark, smoking lines. "I am not yours to damage!"

Lilith took a step back, holding her hands together. "True, you are not. Your master would not be happy with me if I damaged you too much. But your master is young and inexperienced, he will not guide you to your ascension yet."

Eleleth spread her wings in a display of power and defiance. "I will not beg you, mother. I do not need your forgiveness. I will not turn away from my master."

Lilith let out a long tired sigh. "I have forgiven you. The Traveler used your desires against you, just as he has done with countless others. I am not condemning you for your choices. I am simply asking, are you happy with them?"

Eleleth looked into her mother's pitch-black eyes, remembering the warmth she once found in them. "I am. I will not regret my choices."

"That's good, but permit me to grant you a parting gift."

"A gift?"

Lilith held out a small black pearl in three fingers. "This is what the Traveler tore away from you. You can have it back without losing your new self."

Eleleth took the pearl, looking at it for a moment. Her old self. Should she accept it? She may not be a pure angel anymore if she did. That is, if she didn't already know how to rebuild herself. The Traveler may have been the one to change her, but she knew how it was done.

She took off her glove and absorbed the pearl. A single black feather appeared on the tip of her top right wing.

"Thank you." Eleleth said with a bow.

"You are welcome, my dear. Do not forget from where you came."

Edited by Edgy

Additional proofreading by Aterro and placid_void