Stormveil Castle Part 2

After entering the castle of the Lord of Limgrave, Ainz carefully inspected his surroundings, guessing from which era on earth this castle could be. But every part of the castle was poorly maintained, there were many breaches, and all the servants seemed more like undead than living. It took quite a while to take the standard path until he reached the end. But even then, he had to think about all the varying creatures he encountered down the road and how one would rule over all. Another thing he was curious about was the gate that led towards a tower of sorts. He wished to see what it was, but he had to visit Godrick instead.

He was led by none other than the gatekeeper himself, who seemed like the rest of the people he encountered. Lifeless, he walked in front of him, yet still living. 'Everyone in here looks worse than the people from my world! They just seem to do their job. And I haven't seen anyone move or speak. Maybe my mind will clear up when I meet this Godrick the Golden. Let's see; maybe he's a fellow I could interact with when not. Well, there's going to be a fight even when I don't want one. I got no clue about this guy, just his name. This is such a bad idea, but if I run, he will hunt me, so I just prolong the inevitable. Better buff myself right now.'

Multiple lights flickered around Ainz and disappeared as fast, yet nobody noticed it. Suddenly the gatekeeper seemed slower as if waiting for Ainz to arrive. "This is where you will meet Lord Godrick the Golden, a pleasure to have seen you." He says monotone and simply walks away. Ainz could only nod at the man that seemed more depressing than his life, yet he couldn't think about that now.

He got in what seemed a small front yard of where Godrick would live, and to his surprise, the man himself was there. 'Is he waiting for me? He seems rather weird. What is he?' Since the being in front of Ainz wasn't facing him at the moment, he couldn't guess what he looked like, but he didn't want to seem rude and ask, as his visage could be perceived the same way. Yet he saw him to be very tall.

"Another Tarnished?" His grotesque voice called out into the air. His movements were slowly halting at all as he turned around. "Or am I mistaken, perhaps?" He said as he had a clear look at Ainz. He knew something was off about the person standing before him. He did not emit the feeling a Tarnished would give him. He tried to glance behind that mask of his but found only the Abyss staring back at him.

"Was I not invited here by you? It seems guests are not welcome here then." Ainz replied to him, letting him know of his invitation. And it seemed the expression on Godricks face changed. Still, it was hideous, but Ainz wouldn't tell. But what he found more curious was what he was hiding behind that garment of his.

"Thou are the one imposing thyself onto my land? But thou are no mere Tarnished, so I will hear thou out." Godrick said to Ainz.

"I have permitted myself to create a fortress in this land, yes. But I had no ill intentions, and I was not aware of the political structure this land was under control." Ainz told the demigod, trying to pursue diplomacy with him. 'Still, he might want some sort of compensation or even pursue me out of his lands.'

"Mmh… Thou seem more golden than me when I look upon your gown, rings and all your being. Still, I would prefer for thy to lay down that mask so I can look upon your face." He said, and Ainz was trying to find a lie to counter that.

"I am not sure why but do you truly need to see my face? I can assure you all that those who saw it found it unappealing in some way. I wish only to save you from the experience." He told the demigod. Who is looking at Ainz with questionable expressions.

"Now I see it. The Flame. The Chaos. It has decided to come here, now?… what would one of the golden lineage do… Oh yes, challenge you and the Frenzied Flame!" With that, he grew in size, letting him reach his peak. And what was hidden under his cloak was revealed to be many arms attached to his body, but they all seemed to differentiate in looks, possibly of different victims he transplanted onto himself.

'So this is grafting. And how did he know?' He made himself ready to approach a battle but tried something else otherwise. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Ainz asked, trying to change Godricks mind. He didn't know what the golden lineage was, but it certainly manipulated his actions from what he saw. Maybe he could use it to his advantage.

"Thy are persistent in prattling, yet myself got dishonoured long enough. I have evaded death and the torture that would've come with it many times. I plead for my life to run away as the coward many believe I am. However, not today! Even with mine breath taken away, I will face thy. Perhaps this will take further fruit." Suddenly, he grabbed a great axe from his back. It seemed like one, yet it still looked different. It was two-sided and huge in comparison to an ordinary axe. But Ainz didn't go into detail and focused on the battle.

"So this is your decision. Very well, there was a small chance, but never mind." He didn't have any weapon he could pull from his back, so his hands were empty. Confused, Godrick asked again.

"Thou do not draw a sword or a staff. Do not dishonour me more by not taking Godrick the Golden seriously!" Now he was furious. Still, he didn't understand what Ainz truly was, but for him, it was a sign to fight. He didn't want to die like a coward. He wanted to finally give the world a symbol that he wasn't weak, that he died in a proper fight.

"You misunderstand me, Godrick. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, and never had this name known defeat and won't ever. You will see soon enough why I don't require any weapons." He chuckled, but he couldn't possibly know Ainz was from another world where one wouldn't need a staff or a sacred seal.

"Then meet your demise!" He jumped into the air, using the momentum to slam his axe into Ainz, but he evaded the attack by simply disappearing. Godrick looked around, confused. Did he already kill it? Was it just an illusion, perhaps? He was unsure, but suddenly he heard that same voice behind him.

"A corpse of a dragon, yet more akin to a wyvern. Strong, but still small to what I have seen." Ainz said while looking at the slain creature. It seemed different from the ones in Yggdrasil but more like a wyvern than a dragon. He had seen his fair share of them and still had nightmares of the bosses that were dragons.

"That corpse is mine to take!" He spoke outraged, swinging his axe behind him, but he hit nothing again. Then he heard him again talking behind his back.

"Still trying, I see. Admirable, but ineffective. Come forth, Death Knight!" With that spoken, out of the ground rose a liquid that formed itself into a being about Godricks size. He was stunned. He never saw or heard of such a creature, but it looked like the ones that lived in death. Then it attacked with a roar towards Godrick, who blocked the incoming shield dash and tried to counter it with a heavy attack. But the Death Knight didn't stop pushing and led him right into a wall, letting some bricks fall off and hit the ground.

'He got beaten up by a Death Knight? Or it's simply that he never expected this. From my point of view, his level is around 30 to 40. Maybe he has some abilities that he didn't use before. Let's see.'

Godrick seemed to recover from the attack and hit the Death Knight in the back with the end of his axe. It startled and let Godrick free from the wall, who tried to use slow but heavy attacks to take down the summon, but every attack got blocked, and none came through.

"Lowly creature, kneel!" He proclaimed, yet could not break through the death Knight's defence.

"If you cannot defeat this creature, there will probably be no need to go any further." The avatar of death spoke, and then a single word left its nonexistent lips, and everything turned dark. "[True Death]"

The great Godrick fell onto the ground, dead as a corpse. Not even some last words did he have. He just died. Perhaps if the enemy were someone else instead of Ainz, he could've had more luck, but that was sadly not the case.

"Interesting." Ainz thought as something appeared in his inventory. He thought to see what it was and found it astounding. 'A greater rune? That's what everyone was talking about mmh.. What?' Suddenly his mind was filled with thoughts and anxiety. Did he read right? 'Raises all attributes? Like everything? So I can go beyond my level practically without levelling up, like a buff? But how does it work…' He tried it many times but couldn't equip the rune with anything. 'This must be a rune from the Elden Ring that I heard about.'

"Maybe I can help with this." A devilish voice rang out. Flames ignited again, and Ainz felt the familiar presence in his mind.

'Not this guy again.' Ainz thought. "Tell me something of use now. Or you disappear as fast as you came." He threatened the frenzied god. Yet he only let out a small chuckle.

"The greater rune you gathered needs to refill its strength at these "divine" towers. A creation of the Greater Will, but it will be of great use to us for the moment." He said, clearly expressing something near about the Great Will disturbed him greatly.

"A divine tower? You mean the one I saw before?" Ainz asked him. It was the only picture he guessed would come true to the name.

"Yes…" It replied but said nothing more.

'So when I reactivate it, it should work. If the words of the Frenzied Flame are to be trusted.' His gaze turned back to a specific gatekeeper that led him into the castle. He was walking towards the corpse of the fallen lord. And when he arrived, he started to kick it.

'Was he that of a bad boss? Maybe he deserved it if this guy truly goes up to hit his dead body.' He walked up to the man, getting his attention slowly.

"Oh, I thank you for killing this pig. You know, he was a cruel man and a coward. The Golden Coward." He said , spitting on the dead body, the hatred visible in his voice. He had waited for this day so long, and now it had happened.

"Then he got what he deserved, I suppose. You get what you give in life."

"Aye, and this one got a clean death even, should've suffered more, I say." Still, he kicked him until his feet tired, and he stopped.

"Then no lord will disturb me anymore if Godrick is finally dead? There won't be any problems with me residing in Limgrave then." Ainz spoke, trying to figure out if this matter was finally over.

"Nay, maybe not for now. There's still to tell who's gonna rule Limgrave after the death of this bastard." He kicked the body again but hurt his foot from hitting a metal plate.

"Well, I don't think I can do much about it."

"You know, you could inquire yourself to become the lord of Limgrave. There are no real candidates at the moment. The best one doesn't even own a fortress, but you own the great rune Godrick once had." The gatekeeper told Ainz, which found the idea interesting at least.

"Ruling myself, I don't know…" He fell into thoughts as to think about what the man told him. 'That would allow me to do as I please in these lands freely. But surely give me some other problems as well. But how will someone hear the name of Ainz Ooal Gown if there's nothing to spread it? Claiming this region for myself would boost my reputation. But would make it difficult to travel around incognito. Well, I can always find other ways.' Lost in thoughts, he somehow found himself back in reality, where one particular man still looked at him, waiting for an answer. "If it is possible, I would claim Limgrave for myself." He said baldly to the man.

"So you would. Very well. Then we must first tell the people about Godricks death and his successor." The man told Ainz.

'Damn, I know nothing about ruling. What am I even doing? Maybe I can give this responsibility to someone else and only rule in name? But then, no one would even respect me, well damn. Maybe I should just tell them I never really ruled as a lord. Could be acceptable.' He thought. "First, I want to say something. I have never truly ruled such a land by myself, and I don't know the traditions or rituals some may have. Also, it would be weird if a stranger suddenly would claim Limbrave for himself." He told the gatekeeper, who listened but didn't seem to change his mind.

"Godrick was a monster in every way. He tortured people, killed some for angering him, and much worse. That bastard was far from golden, I say. And no one had any respect for him, not even his fellow demigods. But, the one who killed him would be praised by the people as more of a hero, I say. There is still an opportunity in this."

"Indeed. I believe I still need time to think this through. But I will be here in one week and decide if it is truly what I want. For now I say goodbye to you." With this said, the Overlord disappeared back to his tower, leaving the gatekeeper alone beside Godrick. For a second, he stood there, unmoving, until he kicked Godricks corpse again.

"Old bastard!"