The Prophecy

Previously:

Albedo was watching the source of the reflection. In normal circumstances, she wouldn't mind, but she was somehow attracted to whatever was there. Thus, slowly, but surely, she was walking towards the source, close to the river.

Chapter 2: The Prophecy

Albedo arrived at the source of the reflection, she crouched and picked up an old-looking book. Titled 'The Prophecy of The Devil' the book emanated an aura of great strength and evil even though it was sealed. The succubus looked at the said seal and realized that it was from ancient times. This kind of seal requires the summoning of a god and the sacrifice of, not only the summoner, but 50,000 souls. The souls are used as a gift for the summoned god, and when it receives it, it uses its magic to seal whatever the summoner wants. In this case, the sealed thing is the book.

Many questions arose when Albedo picked the book. Who could have written it? Why would it be sealed with such magic? Is this the book the demon spoked of? How do you open the seal? Can you even open it? The succubus knew that if someone had the answers to these questions, it would be Ainz. He is one of the 41 supreme beings after all, nothing can stand in his way. Thus, Albedo put the book in a safe place and headed to finish her mission with the elves.

Mare is almost done with the healing, while Aura is sitting in a corner playing around with animals. When the succubus entered the little building, every noise stopped and all faces turned toward her. They seemed to wait for her to say something, but she didn't. Instead, she looked around and saw that the elves weren't done.

Albedo used <Message> to talk to the two siblings, [Aura, Mare, I will be returning to report to Ainz-sama.] she said.

The spell <Message> allows communication between individuals without the use of the voice. Their thoughts are connected to each other, thus enabling one to share information without being caught.

[Understood.] they both responded.

After that little exchange, Albedo turned around, her back now facing the inhabitants, and headed out, leaving the elves to their tasks.

*Nazarick, Few Moments Later*

The succubus arrived between the walls of Nazarick with <Gate> and traveled to the lowest floor with the ring that Ainz gave to the guardians. She made her way through the halls towards the undead's office. When in front of the giant double door, she knocked three times.

"Enter." a muffled voice could be herded. However, this voice could never be mistaken by Albedo, it was her Ainz-sama's after all.

The guardian entered the office, walked beside the desk, bowed slightly and said, "Ainz-sama, I have returned."

"I can see that indeed. What happened?" he asked.

"A few hundred imps attacked the village, half were dealt with by the goblins when we arrived." she responded.

"And what about the other half?" the undead demanded.

"We dealt with it. While Aura and I were fighting the remaining imps, Mare was tasked to heal the injured." the succubus informed.

"I see. Why did you heal the wounded?" Ainz asked. Not that he wasn't happy about it, he just wondered because he knew that Nazarick's inhabitants aren't fond of human beings.

"I-I believed that it would have pleased you. Shall I go kill these weaklings?" she asked, already ready to kill some weak humans.

"No, no! That is not what I meant! I just wondered is all." he said and added, "Is there something else?"

Albedo responded with an uncertainty, "Well… eh… yes?"

"Why are you so uncertain, tell me what happened." he asked the woman.

"While fighting the imps, I captured one and interrogated it. I wanted to figure out the reason behind the attack. Imps are rather intelligent creatures, thus a gang of them attacking a village for no reason is unlikely." she said.

"And what did you find?" he asked, hoping that it wasn't something too troubling.

"The imp said, in Ancient Demonic, which is a lost language; 'The devil asked, thus we obliged. Everything is written in the book retracing the story of the almighty god.'." she informed.

"I see, did you find the said book?" Ainz was a bit nervous, what could this mean? Almighty god? What can it be?

"I believe I did. However, the book is sealed. It was sealed with… <God's Seal>…" she said.

If Ainz still had muscle, you could have seen his eyes so wide that they could fall off.

#<God's Seal>? Back then, it was announced that they wished to add this to the game, however, they never did because it was supposed to be too powerful. Here, however, it is a spell written only on old papers in ancient languages. This is bad news.# Ainz thought.

"That is quite troublesome." the undead stipulated.

"T-There is s-surely a-a solution, Ainz-sama." she stuttered.

"Well, there is, however, it is only a temporary fix." Ainz said, then added, "Go fetch Pandora's Actor, and ask him to bring 'that', he should understand."

Albedo was leaving, but Ainz interrupted her advances by saying, "Oh, also, ask him to bring a recorder."

"Yes, Ainz-sama." she responded and left.

*Few minutes later*

Albedo entered the office with Pandora's Actor in tow. The egghead, dressed in a yellow Neo-Nazi-esque uniform, was carrying two things, the first one being something akin to a magnifying glass. This object that was referred to with the word 'that' by Ainz was a special item used to look inside something that is sealed. In this case, the thing allows the user to read the book, but if it were to be a sealed chest, it would show its content instead of its writing. However, this can only be used once on a sealed object, thus making this a non-sustainable method. Once it is used, it won't work on the book ever again. There is also another issue with this process, the more the seal is strong, the less time you have to see the sealed thing. The seal used on the object that the undead has is <God's Seal>. This means that the time will be short, that is why Ainz requested a recorder as well, so that they can record the content and read it later.

The second object, however, looked like a normal-sized camera. This device, consisting of a lightproof chamber with an aperture fitted with a lens, as a shutter through which the image of an object is projected onto a surface for recording. This item is used to record things that can be watched later on. There are limits to the possibilities with the object. For example, it cannot record for more than 10 minutes and can only contain one recording at a time. Nonetheless, the said recording can be manipulated as the user wants. Scenes can be added or removed, the user can crop or even change the speed of the recorded content.

"Fath–" Pandora was going to say, but was cut off by a subtle glare from Ainz. This look wasn't threatening, but it carried the message 'Not with the others' which was understood by the egghead because he coughed and said, with a small bow, "Ainz-sama, I have arrived with the requested objects."

"I thank you, Pandora's Actor." said the skeleton while extending his hands to take the two objects. The doppelgänger obliged and gave the two items to its creator.

"Now, let's see what this manuscript hides." Ainz said, as he used the two items at the same time.

The magnifying glass-like object showed the text of the book, while the recorder recorded the rapidly flowing letters. Only after a very few seconds did the former item stop, and the book closed itself. This either meant that the time was up, or that the book was finished and the only way to know it was to see the recording. Though, knowing the size of the manuscript, it is most likely the former. Ainz stopped the recorder and looked at it. He slowed the video, which, for some obscure reason, each frame represented a page, and showed it to everyone in the room. As expected, only a few pages were there. Enough to read the entire prophecy, which was only written in the first few pages of the book, while the rest was probably specifying things.

The prophecy was written in another language, even though it was understood by the trio. It stipulated that a being, known as The Devil, which wasn't created nor born, will walk the earth and claim it as its own. It is said that the demon will enslave the living and non-living beings that exist in its territory. However, this entity, that could kill gods with a simple touch, was sealed away by unknown events. Howbeit, when the day of its awakening arrives, chaos will return. It will pursue its objective of a peaceful world with no more pain, sadness, disease, or war by either destroying it or enslaving it.

Saying that Ainz was shocked is an understatement. He was so surprised that he would've passed out or even fallen into madness if it weren't for this emotion suppressing thingy. On the other hand, the other two weren't concerned. They seem to believe that this poses no threat to their lord.

"This is such a worthless try to make us worry. Nothing can stand in Ainz-sama's way." said Albedo.

"I agree, Fath– … Ainz-sama is the strongest, still undefeated." added Pandora's Actor.

After a few hundred compliments sent towards the undead, he spoked, "Enough already…" he paused, waiting for the silence to come and continued, "... everything that was said, read or done here, stays here. I don't want anyone to learn about that. Understood?" said the undead. However, it was in a more serious tone, that didn't leave any room for more discussions. The other two, noticing this change in tone, only nodded.

"You are dismissed." he said before the duo bowed and left.

*Within the floating castle of the Eight Greed Kings*

Laying down on a giant oval pedestal, Tsaindorcus Vaision could be seen. This overgrown lizard was (not) minding his own business when he rose and looked quite shocked. The world that he tries to protect by getting rid of the 'players' that this father of his brought, was in danger, and he could feel it.

#Is the prophecy coming true? After such long years… what could have–# his eyes widened in shock, he understood something.

#It's him! He must have brought that thing with him when he arrived. … It must be, if not, then I don't know. Nonetheless, it is troublesome, if it comes back, I don't think this world will still stand# he thought.

#What can I do? What should I do?# the dragon thought.

*Sigh* #It pains me, but maybe I must ask for his help… How ironic. The very being I try to dispose of is probably the only one that can stand against that.# he added while laying down again.

"Troublesome…" he muttered and closed his eyes.

Next time: Lustful Future

Approximately 1868 words.