6,168The next day came to Ainz as it had always come before, the hand of the clock slowly counting second by second the passage of time, until with a single flick the date of the calendar changes. Time moves on – and he should probably get on with his daily duties.
After all, he was awake, despite the human body created by Da Vinci, Ainz was after all still an Undead for whom the very concept of rest or sleep was inconceivable. An Undead's stamina, after all, is literally infinite.
And yet, instead of rising from his bed, on which Ainz had been lying on for three hours already, he allowed himself to linger on for a moment, immersed in his own thoughts.
Ainz liked to immerse himself in his thoughts, in fact, it was almost the hallmark of his days in YGGDRASIL. Either in pleasant memories of the past, trying his best to grasp the shards of joy he had with his friends, repeating past conversations, or remembering events, both funny and sad.
And this time was no different, Ainz was lost in his memories of the past… Though perhaps not one that was so distant.
Recounting the Singularities, Ainz had already been through six, one might say, raids, so it was about time that he evaluated his performance.
In many of those early raids, he'd fumbled for tactics and strategy to resolve the later ones, though this could be mostly blamed on the fact that the raids were wholly unique. Expecting someone to complete it in one go is simply hubris. Never mind the fact that he was running those raids with new teammates whose capabilities he doesn't fully understand yet, which is the reason why he kept Mashu on all of his raids so far.
Having a dependable Tank lessens the need for snap judgements or unique tactics.
In his opinion, after some trials, he had put together a somewhat workable battle plan, strategy, and tactics for most possibilities in a raid, flexible to adapt to the situation, and strong enough to barrel through if necessary. And yet… and yet he still occasionally managed to run into surprises in most of the raids – situations where his personal involvement was the only thing between victory and defeat.
Like for example in the third Singularity where he had to use Super-Tier magic, and in the fourth where he came face to face with… Salmon? Some mage – a very powerful mage at that, the first adversary in the raids who had managed to not just resist Ainz's attack, but even retreat from battle unscathed.
Ainz had never learned why Salmon had retreated… Was it just a scouting attempt? Was he like Ainz, where he would forfeit the first battle to ensure ultimate victory in the second? Whatever the reason might be, Ainz needs to be prepared, it wasn't only Salmon that had an idea of what his enemy is capable of after all.
Where was he again? Ah, right, this time, in the raid that he had just completed, in the final battle, Ainz had once again lost access to a World Class Item, and once again because he was being indolent about just taking it away. Such a fact not only made Ainz sad, but also made him angry in that special strange kind of anger that caused the Players of YGGDRASIL to furrow their brows, but tended to turn into hilarious stories… A couple of months later, when the players' anger had subsided.
Ainz recalled one such a fiasco, when in the very first Singularity, as a result of his doubts and fear of Fafnir, he had allowed his Servants to die a rather ignoble death. At just how angry he had been at himself after the incident. And now, though it was perhaps wrong to say such a thing, given that he had allowed many of his Servants to die in battle and with their deaths being on Ainz's hand, he felt… Some strange nostalgia for those times?
Not in the sense that he wished for a repeat of such a debacle, but in the sense that it became another story from his past. Like the tales of how, at the very beginning of his time in YGGDRASIL, other Players had kept him from playing, endlessly hunting him down and killing him time after time. A sad story that nevertheless had value simply by the fact of its existence.
His first meeting with Nero, his travel on a pirate ship, even the subsequent panicked use of a Super-tier magic, or even when he battled robots on the streets of London. Memories of traveling the world, something that he would have only dreamt of in his past, all the while his Servants dealt with the raid, successfully he might add. And now even memories of traveling on a flying castle.
So many small moments of the past that Ainz could recall, how long had he been resolving Singularities? It was something like two months…? Such a short amount of time.
And yet, almost every day during that time had been filled with events that had stuck in his memories. In those two short months, he'd had time to look at many civilizations from many eras, and enjoyed marvels both architectural and natural. He had met many Servants with their unique special abilities that had made his collector spirits burn bright. He had even made relationships… Perhaps too many of them, that they began to tangle into a mess that he rather prefers not to think about, hoping against hope that it would resolve itself… Somehow.
In the past two months he had so many conversations, battles, conflicts, so many… Memories.
It caused a strange pain to twinge in his heart.
It was such a short amount of time and yet, it felt as if it had been overwriting his memories of YGGDRASIL. His memories of the past, of YGGDRASIL, of Ainz Ooal Gown would always hold a place in his heart, but at the same time, his current memories were beginning to be just as precious to him too. Brick by brick, it was as if it was building a foundation for…
For something new.
Memories not of the past, but of something… Current? Ongoing? Something definitely new, not connected to his memories of YGGDRASIL, but yet so distinctly similar to them. It was as if his past had taken place in his present, where the past had not ended, but transformed into something new. New, and continuing in the present moment.
It was as if the story of Ainz, the story of all of Ainz Ooal Gown, had simply continued on, as if the endless legend of YGGDRASIL, changed, still lived on. In his new adventures, in new Servants, in new people, acquaintances.
"A continuation, huh…" Ainz hummed to his thoughts. Once, the very thought of continuing on, of enjoying life after YGGDRASIL ended, without his Ainz Ooal Gown, without his friends had seemed to Ainz a sinful sacrilege. As if by doing so, he was insulting the memory of his friends. As if, with the end of YGGDRASIL, any other opportunity to enjoy life, to go on adventures, to socialize with people, was, by definition, impossible.
He had felt anger at the mere thought of someday finding… No, not a replacement for his Ainz Ooal Gown, never a replacement, but perhaps something else? Something new, something that would stand alongside his memories, forgetting his friends…
The thought had once caused him to bend and reject the very idea, yet here he was, with stories full of failures and successes, funny accidents and tragic coincidences, personal reflections and battles and…
"It was fun…" Ainz smiled softly to himself, referring to his two pasts, his two memories, the ones he had created thanks to Ainz Ooal Gown, and the ones he had created thanks to Chaldea.
"Really fun…"
Having finally got his thoughts in order and made his way out of his room, Ainz went, as was his custom, to the hall to summon new Servants. After all, he was still a collector and Servants represented unique pieces of that collection for him. Besides, Ainz had already broached the subject, every Servant was something new, after all. A new likely combat asset, and on top of that, someone new to meet…
Well, Ainz already had trouble fully understanding the capabilities of the Servants he already had… But that's not a reason to add a few more, isn't it!?
The mere joy of the novelty overrode whether he should be summoning new Servants – as a collector should, especially for the collectability that the Servants represented. Collectibles with martial value and personalities, who, by definition, are entirely unique.
Given that Ainz had no problem supporting, to put it bluntly, just a ridiculously large number of Servants at the moment, why wouldn't he quench his passion for collecting and get a couple of new Servants for his exhibit?
So as he stepped inside the summoning hall, already prepared to summon new Servants, Ainz didn't even bother to think about which Servants he wanted at the moment. Let the gacha… Umm, he meant the powerful ritual of summoning Servants. Well, to be honest, since he didn't understand how the ritual's supposed to work, it's basically a gacha roll.
"Ainz." Olga-Maria's voice distracted Ainz from his inner musings, as did her upraised hand and the slight smirk on her face.
"I know that every resolution of Singularities is a feat in and of itself, nearing miraculous, so I should congratulate you and celebrate, but… Well, none of us had any doubts about how it was going to end, so I guess you won't mind if I shorten the congratulatory speeches to 'well done, agent'?" Olga spoke with a commiserating smirk.
"I don't mind, Director," Ainz hummed a little at the words before he felt Olga-Marie's soft lips against his cheek for a moment. Blinking and pulling away in surprise, Ainz watched as the girl's gaze involuntarily shifted downward and to the side as her ears began to turn scarlet.
"What?!" She said indignantly, mostly in a fake way to cover her embarrassment. "We're in a relationship! So, that's just normal, right!?"
Momonga, hearing this, looked confused for a second before nodding, speaking as if to himself, "Yeah… You're right."
A relationship, hmm… Another event that happened to him in this world, another new detail that he could scarcely even imagine. In the past, in his old world, and in YGGDRASIL as well, Ainz had never had any 'relationship' that could even be called a romantic one, let alone something like a long-term relationship.
Certainly, he could never imagine amassing himself a harem, other than some idle daydream or after some Eroge recommendation from Peroroncino – who would probably curse Ainz to death for Ainz's relationship with multiple girls… But, thinking about that part of his relationships only confused his situation even more, so he'd rather not bring that up more than necessary.
Olga-Marie, who was not privy to Ainz's thoughts, pulled away from him, still looking anywhere but at Ainz's face, coughed after a few seconds of awkward silence. "So, are you going to summon new Servants now? You do it after the Singularities every time anyway, so I thought…"
"Absolutely." At the mention of his favorite subject, Ainz returned to reality, spotting Roman standing silently to the side as he was responding to Olga, who he had somehow missed as he entered the summoning chamber. It was as if he had removed himself from existence as he watched the two couples make a fool of themselves. Either as an act of giving the two privacy… or more likely a self-preservation instinct to avoid the wrath of an embarrassed Olga.
"Roman," Momonga nodded towards the man, saying hello, to which Roman smiled and waved slightly in return.
"Ainz." Ainz then nodded once more in response before pulling away from Olga and heading towards the summoning circle, pulling, as if out of thin air, the data crystals suitable for summoning Servants.
It is time for him to pull the gacha.
The rings of the machine spun, Ainz noted with a small smile, the excitement rising in his soul, and with it, his enthusiasm.
Yes, it was probably wrong to compare the ritual of summoning Servants, legendary figures that had carved their legends into the fabric of reality, to gacha. But if the end result was so similar to gacha, who would blame him for such a comparison?! Surely the similarity between gacha and the ritual of summoning Servants had its own rationale and important symbolic meaning, but Ainz did not know it, and therefore could only judge by the external similarity of the two actions.
And this similarity was in place, and it was impossible to convince Ainz otherwise. Perhaps the person that designed the ritual was a man fond of gacha as well?
True, Ainz could say that if the gacha he had spun in the past in Yggdrasil had unequivocally had 'successful' and 'unsuccessful' spins, then how could the summoning of Servants be evaluated? If he needed combat power, then understandably more powerful Servants would be a more 'rare' summon and thus a more 'successful' result for him. But if he didn't need it, and wanted some tactical flexibility, then how should he evaluate the Servants?
By personal feeling?
Well, in that case he could say that his Servants fell into three categories, the ones he liked, which included Hector, for example, and Medusa, the ones he didn't like, which probably only included Scáthach. And then there was everyone else… Or, hmm, was there a difference in his evaluation between, for example, Cainabel, who reminded him of YGGDRASIL, and Karna? Ainz liked Karna quite well, just not as much due to the fact that Ainz himself wasn't too familiar with him, while Cainabel…
Hmm, Ainz wasn't familiar with her either, she was pretty sure that one of Shalltear's Data Crystal came from her raid, but other than that he kinda missed out on her background. But she was a living relic of YGGDRASIL and…
Ainz's musings were interrupted by a flash of light, followed by a rather pleasant, arrogant but familiar voice. "Servant, Assassin-class. My name is Semiramis. Now then…"
The Servant with the lush black dress and long, knee-length dark hair with pointed ears took a step out of the summoning circle and looked around the room with a disdainful grin, meeting eyes with Olga-Marie, with Roman… And then with Ainz.
Semiramis immediately struck silent, cutting her grand presentation short…
Before taking a step back into the summoning circle and glaring at Roman, "Send me back."
"What?" Roman blinked in incomprehension and confusion at the Servant's strange behavior.
Semiramis took a surreptitious glance at the distracted Ainz, trying her best to move as stealthily as possible without activating her skills as it might attract attention, instead she once again glared in Roman's direction, this time looking more serious and without arrogance. In fact, her tone sounded like she was pleading. "Can you send me back?"
"Em…" Not quite sure how he should react to that, Roman could only look at Semiramis in confusion, before turning his gaze to where Semiramis was staring at, the colors draining out of her face. It was like she was afraid of some predator that could leap to bite her throat at any moment.
Looking at such a strange reaction, Roman couldn't help but ask Ainz some pertinent question. "Do you two know each other?"
"Not much," Ainz answered Roman's question calmly enough before shifting his gaze to Semiramis, who looked like one step away from trying to claw her way around the walls of the summoning chamber. In fact, she was looking around the room, looking for ways to escape, while keeping one eye in Ainz direction.
Ainz doesn't really blame her for the reaction.
In the past, she had tried to attack him, for which he had requisitioned her floating palace, creating a temporary alliance, to save humanity by resolving the Singularity. Sure, their first meeting might not be what could be called friendly, but Ainz didn't think that she needed to be so afraid of him!
Moreover, he had dealt with the undead in Semiramis' territory! Yes, it was an accident, as he met with the undead at Medb's urging, and the result of his actions was not ideal, considering that the castle disappeared from the territory of Semiramis along with the undead. But it still had to count for something, didn't it!? Considering all these facts, Ainz had behaved quite positively, even friendly in fact.
So, Ainz saw no reason for Semiramis to worry at all. And so, looking at the now panicking Servant who was murmuring about whether she had enough time to summon her palace and escape, Ainz tried to greet her calmly.
"Welcome, Semiramis. As your Master from now on, I propose to leave any previous offense or missteps in the past. As a Master, I am now responsible to take care of you and to protect all your interests in the future…"
Momentarily remembering Nobunaga, Ainz hurriedly added an important clarification. "As long as you follow the orders given and do not let any personal misgivings get in the way of the mission, and as long as you endeavor to at least listen to my directions, and explain any dissatisfaction. I swear that I would be fair with you."
"Ah, I see…" Hearing Ainz's declaration, Semiramis squinted her eyes, her face twisting into a mirthless grin, but Ainz assumed that it was more of a demonstration of her character, unaccustomed to cooperation, even less in following other's orders. Nobunaga had been like her in the past, so if Ainz had managed to end any future conflict at the talking stage this time, Ainz would definitely count it as a victory.
"If I knew you a little worse, I would absolutely think that you were talking about some brilliant villainous plan to conquer the world right now." Olga-Marie glanced at Ainz, making him chuckle inwardly.
Conquest of the world? How silly, Ainz wasn't even sure if he could properly handle the couple dozen Servants he had in his care, what horrors he would have to face if he conquered the world!?
Semiramis, however, hearing this remark from Olga-Marie, looked at Ainz carefully for a second, whereupon Semiramis' pupils dilated for a second, and her gaze, like that of a hunted animal, swept over Ainz's face. With a bitter, almost self-deprecating smirk, Semiramis laughed, took a step forward out of the summoning circle before looking at Ainz and slowly, as if she was swallowing poison, practically spat out her next words.
"If I have no more choice… So be it – Master."
"Wonderful!" Ainz could only smile at receiving a concession from someone he feared would be as difficult as Nobunaga. Now, if only Scáthach could finally stop calling him some weird Undead trying to kill Humanity, he would have all of his Servants under control!
Buoyed with confidence at his first summoning going well, Ainz quickly hurried to start the next summoning. "Next!"
Semiramis blinked at these words before shifting her gaze from Ainz to Olga-Marie, as if looking to her for an answer to Ainz's incomprehensible behavior, who only shook her head. Returning her attention back to Ainz, she could only see that he was busy arranging some sort of crystals around the summoning circle, no longer paying attention to her.
And so, with some embarrassment at her aborted introduction, Semiramis walked away from the summoning circle to join Olga, and Roman. She would stay for a while, curious about who would be summoned next, and she would prefer to keep Ainz in her sight for now, they might already have an understanding, but it's better to step gingerly.
Ainz, however, was no longer paying any attention to Semiramis, he, in an elevated mood, reflected in the manner of his movement, slightly danced around the queen of Assyria and began to prepare the conditions for a new summoning. Semiramis could only look at Ainz's strange behavior with doubt and confusion, making Olga-Marie, who had noticed Semiramis confusion, to grin slightly, as if privy to some inner joke.
"You will get used to it."
Unconcerned with Semiramis' question, with a flash of light, the machine started working again, a pillar of light struck in all directions. At the very least the pomp and circumstance of the summoning had shocked Semiramis out of her confusion, finding herself more interested with the new addition to Ainz's collection.
"Leaking my true intentions uncontained, I'm leaky-weaky Molay~" The voice was filled with mirth and undisguised emotion, something between the joy required of the action and the irritation of having to do it. It was as if the person speaking liked to do the action but hated being ordered to do it.
"Here's the last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar!… Even if I say that, after having various responsibilities foisted on me, they foisted on me all sorts of supposed sins and burned me at the stake in the end."
Taking a step out of the summoning circle, a girl with short hair of soft pink color and wearing glasses with strict office frames glanced at Ainz… And stopped, looking at him with undisguised surprise, just like Semiramis before her.
Ainz also glanced at the girl, waiting for her introduction to end, however a moment later the Servant before him began to change.
Her skin began to darken until it stopped at an inhuman scarlet-purple hue, and her eyes were completely covered in a golden iris that almost completely engulfed the whites, with the pupils elongated like a cat's. The humble robe of a knight was then replaced by a revealing evening gown that barely covered the girl's figure, ending well above the knee. And, given the large slits on her skirt and the huge neckline on her chest, it was easier to say that the dress was just a large corset.
The girl's figure was then wrapped in a mass of darkness and bone, forming the semblance of two short, bony wings on her back, and two horns like crowns or, perhaps mutilated rabbit ears, appeared on her head.
"Ainz!" The girl, who had changed in a split second from what could be considered a knight, into the perfect picture of a demon, opened her arms as if for a tight hug, which Ainz did not reciprocate. With an embarrassed murmur, the new Servant brought herself under control and lowered her arms with some effort and some reddening of her cheeks.
"Medusa talked about you, but you look even better in person than I thought!"
"Ah, ahem…" Ainz almost recoiled at such an unbidden friendliness of a Servant he had never met.
"Do we know each other?"
"No, not personally, but Medusa has told me a lot about you! Jacques de Molay, the last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar… And Shub-Niggurath! Pleased to meet you in person!"
'Shub-Niggurath?' Ainz frowned slightly as he looked at the girl in front of him, the girl that looked like a human, if somewhat demonic, was supposed to be the progenitor of one of Ainz's Super-Tier spells?
At least that explained the appearance of the Dark Youngling in the Singularity, was it because of her?
'She was described as a woman, at least in the book that Tabula likes to read of course, but isn't her appearance supposed to be a huge mass of tentacles, mouths, and hooves… This world has decided to give all Servants the appearance of beautiful girls, hasn't it!?'
"Of course…" Semiramis' voice caught Jacques' attention, as well as Ainz. "Like attracts like… How many more of these creatures will Ainz bring into this world? Is there any hope for humanity? And if there is, isn't poisoned hope more dangerous than outright despair?"
"Oh, Semiramis! It's nice to see familiar faces!" Jacques paid no attention to Semiramis' depressed whispers, approaching her with a smile, a smile in which Ainz could discern a slightly more predatory grin than usual. But on the other hand, if this was Shub-Niggurath, it would be strange to expect the opposite.
"I never thought that you'd end up here…."
"Not entirely of my own free will." Semiramis replied with pressure, giving the approaching Jacques a mirthless glance. "But I'll leave you to speculate on the motives of the unknowable-beasts to one of their own."
"A beast? You wound me Semiramis!" Jacques smiled while expressing faux pain from Semiramis' statement, raising her arms over her chest, looking at Semiramis with her golden eyes.
"I am full of love! That is what I came into this world for, after all, to bring my love!"
Semiramis took a step back after hearing the loud boast, a disdainful grimace on her face.
''Keep your love to yourself, creature." Semiramis began gathering her poison, but for whom it would remain to be seen. Being under the ministration of love at the girl in front of her is a fate worse than death, after all.
Jacques on the other hand simply grinned even wider, her mouth expanding inhumane lengths as darkness seemed to encroach the space.
"Please, silence." Ainz interrupted the blooming altercation between the two girls, a little more loudly and forcefully than he should have perhaps, as the two suddenly stopped moving. And if his hearing is correct, Semiramis had stopped breathing altogether… He really needs to be better at being a boss, there's no reason that his Servants need to fear him so much. Thankfully, he didn't need to order the two to stop fighting or anything like that, as Jacques stepped off of the summoning circle to join with Semiramis, who was trembling minutely.
Before Jacques could comment on it, and maybe start another fight, Ainz hurriedly re-done the summoning, so fast it was as if he had used Time Stop to complete it. The faster the summoning could be over with, the faster the time bomb of a fight between the two Servants he had summoned could be delayed. Hopefully indefinitely.
"Roman, the new summoning is ready!"
"On it… What! It's another strong rea—" Roman's voice was then cut by the sound of the machine, which a moment later flashed a rainbow color, a flash of light much more intense than the summoning of Semiramis and Jacques.
As the light died down a cold, detached, but at the same time filled with power and even some eagerness resounded.
"I shall answer your call, I am your Servant, Lancer. With this lance, I will be your strength." The first to emerge from the stream of light were the details.
A tall figure with a slender posture, golden hair, gathered in a strict bundle, and large turquoise-blue eyes filled with discipline, austerity, the detachment of an incorruptible judge.
And a very prominent chest, seemingly propped up from within a steel breastplate shining with the emblem of Camelot.
"And this time it's King Arthur himself! How auspicious." Jacques turned her attention to the new summon, smiling, instantly losing interest in Semiramis at the appearance of a more prominent figure, in all sorts of ways, in front of her.
"This time without Camelot, no longer a goddess. Though she retained her Holy Spear!" Like an excited child, Jacques leaped here and there to examine the figure of King Arthur.
"Jacques de Molay, you're here too, creature." Artoria glanced coldly at the excited girl who had paid no attention to her insult, it was true after all, it's not like she was planning to hide her inhuman features. Seeing that her words were simply ignored by the demonic girl, Lancer turned to Semiramis and gave her a brief nod as if to give a warrior's salute.
"Semiramis." She, at least, had earned her approval somewhat.
A moment later, Artoria's gaze finally found Ainz, and numerous emotions flashed through her.
"Ainz."
Artoria fell silent, looking into Ainz's eyes, memories rose in her mind like a wave. Of their battle, of the pain, of Camelot and the Singularity, like a half-forgotten dream from the past. Memories of the end of the Singularity, of the resolution of the History of Mankind forced that recognized the existence of the King Arthur as she was, erasing Bedivere's impossible mistake, correcting its diverted flow.
And yet, instead of erasing her altogether, Human History turned her, the Goddess of a Mistake, into a legend, giving birth to a new myth of King Arthur. A retelling of his legend in which she existed, in which, instead of a holy blade, King Arthur chose a holy spear as his weapon. A legend that was supposed to create a rift in Human History, and yet had linked the mangled history of the Singularity into History. And she is the central cause of it.
Forgetting her human past, in the end she became a machine, a mindless robot that perverted her own wish, the salvation of humanity, by turning it into an act of killing all of humanity. And how, in her final moment, Artoria remembered who she once was, and by perishing in the Singularity, was written into the history of the past, into her own created legend, not as a Goddess, but as King Arthur.
This was what the Goddess of Camelot was thinking about as she looked into Ainz's eyes.
Ainz, looking into the eyes of the Goddess, was thinking about something else, and perhaps not as important in the grand scheme of things, though he would vehemently object. 'What are the chances that I won't be able to get her World Class Item this time too?!'
Every second that Artoria felt more and more clearly the weight on her soul, Ainz moved closer and closer, pondering what the likelihood was that this time too he would fail to get the new World Class Item… Which is zero. He would not be the kind of boss that steals things from their subordinates.
His forgotten Command Seal seems to spark brightly, as if saying that with one simple command he could get his hand on the World Class Item, before, forcibly, covering his eyes and exhaling heavily, shaking his head slightly.
Artoria, taking this as a sign of her own, though not quite catching the correct meaning of it, walked past the distracted Ainz. Ainz would have time to speculate about World Class Items later, but right now he had to deal with the summoning of the Servants.
"By the way," Roman looked at Ainz questioningly as he started the machine for the fourth time. "Will you use the Grail for summoning again?"
"Of course… After I finish with this last one." Ainz shook off the stupor with the excitement of another summoning for his collection, turning his gaze from Artoria, or more accurately, to the spear she was carrying.
First he would expand his collection, and then he would think about what to do with it.
"Summoning a Servant while using the Grail?! The amount of energy alone…!" Semiramis' shocked voice only made Olga-Marie turn to her.
"As I said before, you'll get used to it." She grinned a little, completely devoid of any piety for powerful Servants and legendary rulers of the past after all the time she had spent with Ainz, they had somewhat lost their luster. Rather, she was enjoying how easily Ainz broke all the foundations of normalcy and how shocked the newly arrived Servants reacted to it.
And so, again, with scary sparks as the machine seemed to struggle to summon its next Servant, and a cry of terror from some of the staff, who began to curse their luck at future maintenance, the next Servant appeared.
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look at my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Ozymandias' voice was hard to mistake for anyone else's. It was filled with power, indomitable arrogance and regal countenance, as if all the gods of the world were not allowed to interrupt his words or oppose his edicts.
Taking a slow step, as if he had not just been called into this world, Ozymandias paused for a moment, his gaze sliding over the Servants already in the room. Without dropping even a respectful word to those, he nevertheless noted the rulers of the past Singularity with a glance, before settling his gaze on Ainz.
"The king is accompanied by his entourage," He said after a second of silent staring, glancing at Ainz before shifting his gaze. "And I will let you be worthy of that role."
After that, without paying any attention to the situation, he simply walked away, as if he already knew where he was supposed to be, and the whole of Chaldea, where he had found himself a moment ago, belonged to him. After walking a few steps, Ozymandias glanced at Olga-Marie.
Then, with a 'hm!' which in Ozymandias' view was an honor that only he could give, he turned his gaze to Roman. "I need twelve rooms, in six of them the walls should be torn down, and in the other six should be my private quarters, wine cellar, and office. Three of the rooms are to be provided for concubines."
Then, when Roman didn't move, Ozymandias snapped his fingers, looking at Roman coldly. "The command was given – fulfill it."
"Later," Ainz interjected, frowning slightly. Not that Ozymandias' appearance could completely distract him from the problem of the lost World Class Item, but anger at the representative of the corrupt elites was not a bad excuse for Ainz's inaction.
"Hmm?" Ozymandias shifted his gaze to Ainz, then froze in a silent staring contest with Ainz. Ainz had the advantage that his body was a puppet, with his true nature as an Undead, there was no way that he would lose in a staring contest. Ozymandias on his part was enough just by being Ozymandias.
The silent confrontation stretched for a second… Then ten… Twenty… Thirty…
Until it was interrupted by a flash of light.
Ainz, who had forgotten for a moment, with his staring contest with Ozymandias', the summoning ritual, and the fact that he had already prepared for his Grail Summoning. Which is a surprise since there was no small amount of machine groaning as an incredible amount of power was supplied by the Grail for the summoning. The entire machinery seemingly at the edge of blowing up.
Luckily it didn't, though judging by the shouts of despair, not without doing a lot of damage to the delicate machinery, that made Ozymandias' summoning look like a walk in the park.
Ainz turned, coming face to face with a young-looking face, one that is now very familiar, though now tinged with no small amount of killing intent. And with how they last parted, he was not surprised.
Though last time they met, she was a man… Is it just the nature of the world to gender bent heroes?
With long hair, glinting like gold as winds made from her overflowing power made it blow in the air, she cut a magnificent figure. Just as she was in YGGDRASIL, with her snow-white colored plate armor, decorated with a red crested dragon on her chest, which looked much more prominent now to account for her bust. A majestic blue cloak with gold filigree completed the ensemble that accentuated her pale skin and piercing blue eyes.
She? He? Was the last person he expected to summon with a Grail Summoning, though, on the other hand, who else should he have expected after the Singularity with Camelot?
"Ainz Ooal Gown!" A piercing voice filled with unmistakable rage, burning like hot lava and yet still managing to sound noble, rang out in anger and a moment later the man… The woman reached for her blade, Excalibur, the most Holy of holy Swords, drawing it from its sheath and pointing it in Ainz's direction. Something which made him panic for a moment, he thanked his lucky stars once again for his Emotional Suppression.
"I knew you would not leave the matter unfinished! You've already killed me in the past, you destroyed my castle with the help of my son, and now you…"
"King Arthur." Ainz interrupted the probable speech precluding him being skewered by his worst weakness, by one of the most powerful paladins in all of YGGDRASIL.
"You are a woman."
"What?!" Arthur recoiled and looked in bewilderment, the last thing he expected from his most hated enemy.
Olga-Marie, at hearing Ainz, calmly shifted her gaze to the newly summoned King Arthur, already the third in Chaldea, also female, and calmly nodded.
"And this one will also get used to it as well…"
Hello there! On Pat reon this Singularity has ended and currently people vote for which character's chapters they want to see in-between the Singularities! So, you know, you may vote. For a price.
Okay, as expected - kudos to DiscereEstVivet - he is the best.
For FAQ look chapter 155.
So, let's go to the more unique questions:
And now DxD fic is life on this site. Feel free to read it!
It's all on my Pat reon\rure though, so it's now 6 - chapters ahead. And this is not the end! For 1$ you get 6 new chapters right now, interludes and beyond. And even more, I made a 2$ tier, that is now 6 chapters ahead of 1$ tier, or 12 chapters ahead of public release. And even 3$ tier, that now has 15 chapters!
Also, I commissioned an illustrator to make illustrations for my fic. And she did just that. And so there are some pictures on my Pat reon now too. And even more, now 5$ tier can vote on what gonna be drawn next.