Emissary of the King

Part 6

It was a world whose air seemed aglow with red light.

Crimson lava flowed like river, with numerous bubbles in these currents bursting as they reached the surface.

There should have been a fire-elemental damage field effect in place here, but since that effect had been temporarily suspended, the area was merely hot instead. However, despite the word “merely”, this was not a place where the living could easily survive. The scorching air would easily strip throats and skin of their moisture in seconds.

Even freshly beaded sweat would instantly vaporize into steam, causing a steady accumulation of fatigue.

This place, which was thoroughly inimical to the living, perfectly fitted the description of a “hell world”. Even so, many creatures lived here, part of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

For instance, demons.

Many demons were resistant to fire. Even hazardous environments like these would have no effect on them. Indeed, one could already see the outlines of several demons in the smoke clouds that hung low and heavy in the air.

In addition, there were corrupted spirits of fire called mephits, monsters who were resistant to fire. Further in, one could find undead with very strong resistance to fire. In addition—

— There was the meandering flow of a river of lava. The Death Knight was following its course, walking along the path that ran over a dam. Every now and then, he turned his gaze toward the lava.

Just at that moment, the gigantic, writhing creature that had been keeping pace with the Death Knight — though he could not tell if it was walking or swimming, given that he could not clearly see it beneath the lava— seemed to lose interest in him, and left.

That was the Area Guardian of the 7th Floor’s River of Flame, a giant abyssal slime — Guren.

As a creature optimized for combat, its fighting ability was easily on par with the Floor Guardians.

If the Death Knight had been an enemy, he would have been dragged into the quicksand-like lava by Guren’s tentacles and attacked by a virtually invisible opponent. Simply put, Guren was a far more dangerous opponent than Demiurge, this floor’s Guardian. Because it did not need to breathe, it could hide its body in the magma, and defeating it with normal methods was nearly impossible.

Although the Death Knight did not think that Guren would actually attack and all that might have just been a prank, the Death Knight knew that even a playful swat might have resulted in lethal amount of damage for him.

The feeling of relief was an utterly alien thing to an undead creature, but as Guren fell back, the Death Knight could understand that emotion.

The Death Knight continued its long strides. Soon, he could see a cluster of randomly-strewn white columns ahead. Once, this place might have been a majestic Grecian-style temple, but the columns were scattered like they had violently collided with each other, and the statues of various gods had been profaned and smashed. The ceiling had been broken down, and the pieces were lodged in the ground.

It resembled the ruins left after demons had cast the gods down from their place in heaven. Desolation permeated the entire scene.

And among them were the forms of demons that were far, far superior to the Death Knight.

They were the Evil Lords, demons that were around level 80.

Their eyes seemed to contain an emotion resembling curiosity. It was only a natural reaction given the appearance of a hitherto-unknown undead creature. However, they were still able to discern that the Death Knight was on the same side as them, so they did not indulge the basic demonic instinct — to make others suffer.

They asked the Death Knight which Floor Guardian it served, with the utmost courtesy.

Their response to the Death Knight’s answer was dramatic, to say the least. All of them respectfully bowed to him, and asked him the reason for his arrival in the most self-effacing language.

When they received the answer that he had arrived to speak to the relevant Floor Guardian and ask questions of him, one of their number promptly fell back, and almost immediately returned with another demon.

It wore a dirty white hood that concealed its features. Its body was twisted and lumpy, and it looked like it could whisper a few words to a human being to have them devolve into a demon.

It wore a large piece of golden jewelry on its neck, inscribed with what seemed like letters.

“Please come this way.”

The Death Knight followed behind his guide.

After passing through the desecrated temple, they seemed to have arrived at the center of the area. A pale white throne sat atop the uneven, slightly lumpy ground, and atop that throne sat the person the Death Knight had come to find.

He could feel Demiurge using his slitted eyes to probe him.

“Demiurge-sama. I have brought Ainz-sama’s messenger before you.”

“Thank you for your effort. Leave.”

Demiurge slowly rose to his feet.

Almost immediately, the Death Knight interjected that there was no need to stand on ceremony.

“Understood. You are… I see. As I thought… it’s like this. Just over an hour ago, someone passed through the seventh floor; would that be yourself?”

There was no doubt about that. After the Death Knight nodded in agreement, Demiurge smiled.

“So — what orders does Ainz-sama wish to give me?”

Demiurge’s smile seemed to gleam with anticipation.

Unsurprisingly, the first question was the same as the previous time.

“I see. This is Ainz-sama’s intention. Well then… I believe I can coordinate with any of the other Guardians in order to accomplish my objectives. However, I consider myself something of a jack of all trades, so during combat, I doubt I could work very well with the command-oriented Aura. I feel I would work best when partnered with Cocytus, but as I said before, even if I were unable to get along with any of the guardians, if Ainz-sama willed it, I would match my abilities to those of any Guardian or their subordinates… indeed, even though I am ever-incompatible with Sebas, I doubt he would take any actions that ran counter to Ainz-sama’s dictates.”

Although the Death Knight had spoken with several other Guardians by now, this was the first time he had met anyone who actually said that they would not get along with anyone else. Perhaps if he was a living being, he might have followed up and asked more questions, but the Death Knight was undead and his heart was not troubled by such petty impulses. Seeing as Demiurge did not have any intention of continuing, he asked the next question.

“…My desires, then. Indeed, that is something of a challenge…”

Demiurge adjusted his glasses.

“…May I ask about the motives underlying that query? Oh, my apologies, you need not answer… it is the duty of an excellent subordinate to discern his master’s true intentions and take the necessary action to fulfil them. Although, by my estimation, the exact nature of those motives can be narrowed down to two options, but which of them is correct? Or perhaps, the third…”

Demiurge was immune to fire, yet sweat drops began forming on his forehead. Although the Death Knight was freed from the burden of answering, it was not as though he could have answered in the first place. In the end, the muttering and murmuring Demiurge finally exhaled at the end of his ruminations.

“It must be one of these two options. First, if Ainz-sama wishes to know which domain this one wishes to govern for him after the world becomes his, then I will ask for the right to administer the sky on his behalf.”

The Death Knight nodded. After all, only his master could decide who received the sky.

“Alternatively, if he wishes to know what I would require to strengthen Nazarick, then my answer is that I would need nothing. Although I do not know if you can fully convey the message to our master, I hope you will observe this domain.”

Demiurge spread his arms.

“This land, this dominion was designed and created for me by Ulbert-sama, so it contains everything I need to perform my function. Indeed, it may appear as a mere ruin to you, and the center where we stand may seem like a little more than a barren waste, but many things are hidden within it. These tumbled ruins are the true expression of Ulbert-sama’s love.”

Demiurge was all smiles.

“Still, an answer like that would be entirely too boring. If Ainz-sama is interested in replying, then please convey to him the fact that there is an answer I would like to know. Originally, I was intended to rule over twelve demons, yet now only seven remain. I would be honored if he could tell me the reason why.”

Demiurge recited the names of the missing demons — Garira, Iabel, Belias, Kainon, Abiretsia.

“I pray you will ask the master if these five demons remain in Nazarick. Then, is there anything else?”

The Death Knight shook his head.

“Is that so. Then, permit me to escort you to the teleport gate.”

The Death Knight indicated that he did not require such an entourage. After all, he clearly understood his master’s desire not to be seen by any of the Guardians.

With that, the Death Knight bade Demiurge farewell, and walked alone to the teleport gate.

This time, his master did not speak to him.

After entering the teleport gate and returning to the 9th floor, he heard his master’s voice. He was instructed to return to Ainz’s room, and perhaps he might have begun sprinting, but then he remembered the encounter with the maid.

Instead, the Death Knight elected a quiet jog that would not invite censure, and as he considered how he might sometimes howl from time to time, he covered his mouth with both hands as a countermeasure against that.

After taking several turns, he finally saw the servants guarding his master’s chambers. They remembered him from when he had left the room, so they immediately stepped away from the door and let him through.

After opening the door, Ainz jumped in fright and slipped something under the table that the Death Knight could not see. After seeing that it was the Death Knight who had opened the door, Ainz breathed a sigh of relief and raised his right hand.

“…Huh? So it was you. For a moment I remembered what surprise felt like… well, next time, knock before you enter.”

Ainz, while sticking the book in his right hand back into his pocket dimension, muttered imprecations at the Death Knight who was carefully closing the door.

Normally, his master should have been able to feel the Death Knight’s presence and location. Perhaps his shock came from the fact that all of his attention was focused on the book he had just put away.

“Well, then. Let me hear Demiurge’s answers.”

As the Death Knight spoke about the people Demiurge was close to and distant from, for want of anything better to say, Ainz — even though he had no expression on his face due to being a skeleton — smiled.

From his pocket space, Ainz withdrew a silver plate that was larger than his hand. After manipulating the plate, an image appeared on it.

This image depicted over thirty heteromorphic creatures, and Ainz pointed to two of them.

“These two never really got along before the formation of Ainz Ooal Gown. Outside of these group photos, you would almost never see them in the same picture together. I think you could count those pictures with the fingers on one hand, and that includes the one we took after conquering Nazarick. Really… those two never got along.”

Although he seemed to be explaining this to the Death Knight, he knew that his master was not really speaking to him. As such, the Death Knight did not make any reply. He sensed that that was what his master had hoped for.

“So children take after their parents after all…”

Ainz seemed to cherish this plate dearly, given the satisfied look he had.

“Like their fathers… hm? Like their parents?”

Ainz furrowed his nonexistent brows.

“Well, that fellow seems pretty lively, I should probably go visit… or not. Even just looking makes me feel… huh, is that it? I feel… uneasy? Hmm… Unease, is it. Hah, well then, let me hear the rest.”

Hearing “the sky” as the answer seemed to surprise Ainz.

“Did he really say that?”

The Death Knight nodded deeply.

“The sky, huh… well, he really does set his sights high… what an unexpectedly romantic gesture. Or did he come up with that when we were looking at the night sky? What an unexpectedly interesting fellow Demiurge is. One might even call it an innocent desire… Well, no matter what, I can’t give him the sky, but I could give him something close enough.”

The other answer was “I need nothing to strengthen Nazarick”, and Ainz’s face was a picture of shock after he heard it. The Death Knight relayed the rest of Demiurge’s words to his master, and after hearing them, Ainz sighed.

“He’s absolutely right. That’s exactly it. Every Guardian lives in a place filled with everyone’s feelings. Yet I — thinking I could do better than their creators— went to ask them what else they needed. What was I thinking? The only answer they should be able to give is that they don’t need anything. Back then, when I designed Pandora’s Actor, I also gave him a fully-equipped place to live in. Although that was meant to be our secret base… ah, how embarrassing, how foolish I was. I… am I really fit to rule, to manage this place?”

Silence descended over them for a moment.

The air was somber and heavy, but the Death Knight could not speak any words of comfort, because he had not been allowed to do so.

His master looked back to him with a bitter look on his face.

“Since it was my decision, I should see it through to the end. After all, this is also a lesson to remind myself of my own foolishness. Then, the last one should be Albedo. Go, then.”

But the Death Knight did not move. It could not move.

That was because it did not know anything about the subject in question.

As for why—

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you moving? Before that, Albedo’s room… where is it, anyway?”