The Projections of Evil

Looking cautiously at the staff, Invincible sensed a frightening aura around it.

As he looks at the staff, a golden radiance symbolic of nobility could be felt from it.

The aura from the staff seeped out and condensed into 41 figures, each different from each other; but held similarly awe-inspiring power.

These figures possessed all kinds of forms, some with animal heads, some like slimes, some like golems, however, what they have in common was that they seem to come from one's darkest nightmare.

Invincible's soul quivered in fear at the sight of these beings, causing him to subconsciously want to distance himself from them.

Even when confronting Zephyrus, someone he did not see any hope of defeating, the presence of death had never been this clear.

Invincible could tell that anyone of these figures could kill him in an instant, even with his new found void energy.

This might be because they wield power comparable to his own or perhaps greater.

The only way he could see himself escaping was fusing his soul with his body, and empting the amount of the Void of void energy but that still takes time. Time, that is something the enemy will not give him.

What made him chuckle to himself was that he didn't stand a chance of surviving against a Rank 7 Life Treasure.

Thinking of it logically, he was currently a mere Immortal King, meaning a Rank 4 Life Treasure was the maximum he could withstand.

The only reason he could subdue the Divine Yang Tree and the red orb was because of the void energy and his Void Soul state, otherwise he would be entering reincarnation right about now.

While he was debating about his actions, everything he did was within the eyes of the figures before him.

Amongst the lords of evil, a skeleton stood in the center, seemingly the leader, draped in expensive robes, with dazzling rings on his fingers. His right hand grasped the staff, while he looked at him with his flickering flames for eyes.

The skeleton looked at Invincible before turning to the others, "He is not an enemy until I decide so, control yourselves." As the skeleton spoke, the feeling of death faded and a sudden feeling of exhaustion hit Invincible. However he kept his feelings under control. It would be stupid to show these unknown people his weakness?

"Now then." The skeleton said and began to walk towards Invincible, who kept retreating however time seemed to be affecting him; no matter how hard he rushed back, the distance kept shortening.

One of the figures behind the skeleton, raised his goat head and looked at him; causing a sense of danger so intense his soul almost imploded.

Invincible felt that the demon could destroy his soul, even if his soul was now partially a part of the void .

Clank!

"Ulbert, I told you he's not an enemy! Don't test my patience!" Ainz looked at the projection of his friend with a calm presence but his presence drastically increased, towering over everyone.

His intention was obvious and spoke volumes of his dominance over the rest.

Ulbert chuckled and stopped looking at Invincible. "Don't get mad Momonga, I was just curious." The goat demon didn't seem too fazed by Momonga's words and apologized.

A figured clad in white armor shakes his head, while remaining silent.

The others either shook their heads or chuckled slightly at the antics of the Supreme Being of Fire and Destruction.

Sighing, Ainz looked at Invincible, "Forgive my friends, they don't mean to offend. You see, their projections haven't been activated in many years, and so their actions are a bit childish."

Invincible nodded, "I understand, since we are not enemies, how about we go our separate ways? I don't want to fight if I don't have to."

Ainz shook his head, while his friends raised an eyebrow in amusement, "I think you misunderstood my intention, you are not considered an enemy to us, simply because you are no threat at all. Your life can be taken, just as it had been given; that's my right as the Supreme Being of Life and Death. You can either agree to what I wish to offer you or die. There is no third option."

Invincible's soul stepped back, fusing into his body, making his body tremble and its eyes to twitch open, revealing two swirling orbs of darkness.

Invincible stood up, causing the entire mountain to tremble like a titan was walking across it.

That's not exactly wrong, as he was over 30 meters tall, more than enough to be called a titan.

Sensing the amount of power at his control, Invincible frowned as he looked at the skeleton, no Momonga as the goat demon, Ulbert called him.

'I can only use 70 percent of my power, which equals to an Immortal King. However, the speed at which my power regenerates at, is at least two times faster than when I was alive, meaning my battle prowess has increased instead of decreased. I should be able to fight an Immortal Emperor easily. Still, I cannot defeat them, not even one. If what Momonga said is true, he needs but a word and I will die. Can I trust his words? True strength doesn't have to be physical, it could be wits, meaning he might be lying to achieve his aim. I can't risk it, I just gain a new lease on life, I can't afford to die. Let's see what he wants before I do anything.'

Invincible's mind and body aligned with one another as he arrived in front of Momonga.

Invincible became alert as he had his power on standby, ready to retaliate in an instant.

Looking at the wariness of Invincible, Momonga nodded with praise and spoke, "Let me formally introduce myself, I'm Momonga, the Leader of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick; and these are the projection left by my friends when creating the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown." Momonga said as he pointed towards the figures behind him.

"Cut the crap and tell me what you want from me." Invincible was secretly alarmed at what Momonga said.

Firstly, there was force, Nazarick, out there with many hegemonic beings.

Secondly, Momonga is clearly suggesting that the owner of these imprints were most likely Immortal Supremes, if that's the case, how did Momonga, the leader of them, die? Or is he lying to me?

"Trust me, you will not lose out by helping us. Like I said before, the staff I'm holding belongs to me; and cannot be used by anyone else. In anyone else's hands, it's just a beautiful artwork but if I give you my acknowledgement, you can use a part of its power." Momonga releases the staff and the projections look at him one by one before fading.

Turning to the black flames, Momonga spoke, "I was trying to acquire the treasure hidden here, but since I didn't prepare enough, I died. Because of my death, Nazarick is currently without a ruler, a position I want you to fill. Of course, you will get equal, if not, more benefits from me."

With what he has seen, Invincible figured Momonga was an extremely exalted being. His comrades did not lessen this thought, but cement it.

Since he was not sure of Momonga's true realm, the faction known as Nazarick strength was growing ever so frightening in his mind.

As his thoughts ran wild, Invincible heard Momonga continued, "I want three things from you. First, I want you to lead Nazarick while I'm absent, in return the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown will be in your care. Secondly, I want you to find the figures that were around me and escort them to Nazarick; they will each reward you. Thirdly, don't tarnish the name of the Tomb or the Staff; in return, you will live."

Thinking for a moment, Invincible didn't see anything that was too out of place. He gets to wield a powerful item that holds Immortal Venerables imprints inside. For each member he brings back, the more rewards he gets. The last condition wasn't a condition, to begin with, no one would dare to bring harm to such a beings' home.

"Do I have to sign any contracts?"

Back in the Immortal Realm, whenever one wanted someone to uphold their end of the deal, they would summon the Heavenly Dao or if it was something extreme, the Grand Dao to bear witness to the contract.

Failure to uphold one's part of the contract, will cause one to suffer the night of either the Heavenly Dao or the Grand Dao that permeates everything.

"No, how you use the Tomb is up to you, no one will interfere." Momonga shook his head as he answered in a definite tone, almost as if infighting and betrayal was impossible.

Invincible didn't have to think much, "Okay, I accept. How do I reach Nazarick?"

Momonga reached inside his pocket dimension, bringing out a black orb. "Use this; it should be able to bring you there, but be cautious it can only be used once."

Momonga tosses the black orb to him before fading away, his eyes never leaving Invincible.

————-

Agreeing to Ainz's offer, the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, the once darkened Tomb became bright, making all the Floor Guardians and servants look around in confusion as they didn't know the reason for the Tomb's becoming dark and bright.

To them, the Great Tomb of Nazarick is a holy place created by the Supreme Beings, the absolute pinnacle of all races and domains.

Looking around, they all froze as they looked at a new flag hanging on a pole that had been absent from the flag for more than a thousand years.

The flag appeared on the pole that once belonged to Lord Momonga.

The flag, like the others, had a red background, but unlike the others, this flag had an unknown material as the base to form a fist print in the middle.

Albedo and the rest look at the new flag, wanting to know what the reason was behind it.

"Demiurge, what is the reason behind this? Why has a new flag appeared in Ainz-Sama's spot?" Albedo spoke, with a calm and unchangeable expression, but how can Albedo hide her feelings from the eyes of Demiurge, the Demon God?

Concealing his thoughts, Demiurge fixed his glass, "That's simple; I think Ainz-Sama had introduced someone else into the Tomb, making the number of Supreme Beings 42. I, too, don't know why he would do that."

Demiurge closed his eyes and continued with a sad expression, "All we can do is believe in him. Albedo, Floor Guardians, I will be leaving, I will be on my floor." Demiurge bowed slightly to Albedo before he teleported away.