Chapter 124

Demiurge put himself beyond the sight of his master as swiftly as he could, but when he was out of range of sight, or sound, or scent, when he was sure that Lord Ainz could not be 'aware' even if he had knowledge of it, Demiurge watched them go. A lesser being would not have known why the dragon's words had touched a nerve.

'But Lord Ulbert… my maker… desired a being of boundless ability… serene in evil to better serve their needs…' Demiurge had never once cursed his nature, never once taken anything but pleasure in his own supreme intellect. But watching Lord Ainz disappear into the distance, it was an aching existential horror as if he watched his own maker vanish again, and knowing that wasn't what he was seeing made it no better.

How one's own nature and knowledge created an inventive creature of torture, and now that nature was turned upon himself. He forced his body to turn around, to show his back to the vanished dot of his Lord and the new servant, and yet he looked over his shoulder, even held a hand out, shaking in the dark like one of the prey he'd acquired for scroll production. 'I can imagine ten thousand ways to succeed, why can't I stop imagining a hundred thousand ways each plan could fail?!'

Demiurge gritted his teeth and lowered his hand, then turned away in full, ceasing to look backward into the dark that did not bar his crystalline demonic eyes. Ahead of him lay his destination, his certainty was absolute. 'Pompous beings place themselves at the center of their world, so he will be in the center where the capital lies. It takes a Supreme Being for the world to form around them on its own.' He thought with smug pleasure, the walk was made more pleasant by that thought, and for the time being his grim thoughts and fears could be left behind.

Nothing about the depths of the shadowy mountain troubled the archdevil, the silent buildings did not have the charm of terror filled screams of pain. But what lesser beings would have called 'eerie silence' was grave-like, and brought some comfort to the heart of the archdevil in its own peculiar way.

Between the functional square stone buildings carved into the rock itself lay the widest road, and it was that road which Demiurge followed, there were fewer glowstones in this area than in most, which diminished the admiration Demiurge had for the innovative species' work. 'Their leaders were quick to flee. They had enough time to take the glowstones from this area… they may be useful craftsmen, but perhaps the Quagoa will make better troops once tamed.' The plan was already shaping in the archdevil's mind, each little facet of the stone world which surrounded him filled him with more ideas.

The cool, stale air had a faint whistle to it as he passed by the more narrow alleyways, left alone, it would howl endlessly, the only scream in a dead city devoid of life.

That in and of itself was a curiosity. 'No rats, no bats, none of the creatures I would expect in a place like this… I think it very likely that the dragons have the quagoa act as pest control… that or the quagoa eat such creatures.' He turned up his nose at the thought of eating such filthy creatures. 'I'll feed them better while I'm breaking them.' He promised himself that as he spied the distant great double doors which towered over many buildings.

[Aspect of the Devil], [Invisible Tempter], [Thief of Souls], Demiurge used his skills and hopped atop the walls, it was almost a skipping motion, hopping from building to building until he reached his destination.

The sound of snoring, rough and not that far away, hit his ears. 'Good, they're here.' Demiurge thought and stopped to appreciate the place he was about to break into. A massive building with a curious looking mechanical lock on the front, there was a great double door which he had to crane back to see the top of. 'Overcompensating for something, are we, dwarves?' He wondered and laughed a little, adding the noise of his amusement to the whispering stale breeze.

He took a scroll from out of his pocket dimension, and used it. [Perfect Thief], he said to activate it. Blue fire consumed the hovering paper, and for a few minutes the archdevil had high level thief skills stacked on top of the middling ones added by his imp class. The lock, already more 'interesting' than problematic, was suddenly more like a cube meant to teach a child about shapes by matching objects to holes to fill it. His fingers worked it for a moment, it clicked, and the great treasures of the dwarves, guarded like a jealous lord's harem, were laid bare to him.

He penetrated the untouched space, parting the door and walking within to see what treasures he could find.

The archdevil expected to be disappointed, and he was. There were piles of gold, and copious sacred objects which faintly glowed with power… 'But not a single thing fitting for more than a middling Yggdrasil player.'

On the whole, he looked at this treasury as little better than a water closet.

'Absurd. To guard so strongly, things of such little value, and so little of it, other than their runecraft's unique properties, there is not much of anything worth bothering my Master about.' A bold statement to make if he had not seen Nazarick, for around the room there were stands full of armor of orichalcum, and adamantite, there were enchanted swords, spears, and axes. There were chests overflowing with coins of gold and silver… wealth enough for any ten common kings. But nothing of great worth in his eyes. 'At least they will make nice presents for Pandora's Actor, he's not particular about what magical objects he touches as long as they're magical and he can touch them.'

There was one thing of note… 'Runecraft', the thing his master coveted. There were plenty of well made runecrafted materials, and that was eye-catching because his master said it was. He could also see the one value it truly held above all else, even as a yet to be properly developed art.

'No resources, only time… what a stupid world, to not realize how valuable this is… if this is one of the 'talents', and runecraft skilled dwarves are rare… perhaps we can breed more of them? Perhaps we can select them for their power?' He wondered while picking up a long straight sword which had three runes emblazoned on it.

[Appraise Magic Item]. He cast the spell, and found it was enchanted for bleeding, burning, and pain. His opinion of the dwarves went up another notch. 'Sadistic. I like it.' A little amateurish, but to make a weapon out of pain itself wasn't a bad idea.

[Summon Evil Lord of Wrath]. The smell of sulfur briefly filled the air around him as his summoned servant appeared. A being of stone and flame, nearly nine meters tall with sharp dark stone fingers and flaming wings springing from his back, this was one of his most powerful servants. He was broad shouldered, had a sharp featured jaw, which when opened, revealed a maw of hellfire. From above his burning eyes four horns jutted and curved back behind his head, his thick, powerful pair of legs were as large around as a human body, and a miasma of evil surrounded him like an aura.

But he was not enough. [Aspect of the Devil], [Dominance of the Puppet Master]. Briefly the Evil Lord of Wrath's eyes lost all sense of intelligence, the bright burning orange fires within seemed to fade. But then it burned bright again as Demiurge took control. He moved the body around a little within the treasury, knocking over a few objects, coins, gems, the clattering and tumbling of armor. He chuckled a bit more, the Lord of Wrath's body was stronger than his own, even if it was of lower level, it was purpose built for battle, so it felt quite good to dominate and control the creature.

His sharp ears pricked up a bit, there was a noise in the distance, something heard his laughter and the noise of the treasury. A few of the more delicate objects, such as cloth tapestries, seemed to have broken or torn. 'It doesn't matter, there is nothing here that is a match for the creation of a Supreme Being.' Demiurge thought and with his mood improved, his tail danced about behind him, the metallic sheen occasionally glinting in the light of one of the few remaining glowstones which illuminated the interior and glinted off the many shinies present in the long rectangular room.

"What are you…?" A voice came from out of sight. "You don't sound or smell like either a quagoa or a dwarf. It's been a long time since I've seen a human… but unless they've changed, you don't smell like one of those either."

It was a rough voice, crude, frosty.

The claws of the beast scraped over stone, a lashing tail hit something of stone, the sound of a home becoming rubble echoed off the mountain interior.

Demiurge sat down in the lotus position with his legs crossed and his arms calmly resting on his thighs, fingers touching one another where his hands came close to each other and shut his eyes.

His control was complete.

The Lord of Wrath emerged from the treasury, and his booming, burning voice answered back.

"I am Jaldabaoth… Demon Emperor, the hidden one of the dwarven treasury. I have been asleep for a very… very long time, and now…"

A pause hung in the air.

"I've woken up."