Chapter 48: Wine and dine her

"I feel like we might have gone overboard." Momonga felt a bit wary as he moved Ravel's limp body a bit, namely holding her hand and moving it to the side.

"I think she'll recover, um, eventually." Xuelan, the main perpetrator of the 'incident' looked a bit ashamed as she looked away with a blush.

The group consisting of 'Momon', Ravel, Xuelan, Yubelluna, Rias and Akeno had finished their 'nightly activities' and had slept until the morning, waking up to do 'it' one more time and then relocate to the showers.

It seemed, however, that Ravel had utterly lost her ability to walk, even if her body was otherwise alright as far as Yubelluna and Xuelan could analyze when they showered the girl. Her mental state, however…

"Nhguah! D-don't touch me so suddenly, Momon-ku-Nngh!" Ravel whined while she blushed up to her eyebrows from the innocent holding of hands. "T-that's super lewd when you do it like that… A-and, I didn't like anything what happened, not even one bit! Make sure you remember tha- Hyah!"

Momonga sighed while he held Ravel's hand. "Ravel-san, we need to get going and start our day… I still have to hold my promise to your mother and resurrect your father."

"T-that- No! Don't!" Ravel held tightly on Momonga's hand. "No way! You're going to twist that around and, and, and… Make mom and dad engage me to you, or something like that! Stop! Don't ruin my family any further! Nooo! I don't want to be subjected to something like what happened last night every single night from now! I super don't want that to happen to me! Not even the tiniest bit! Y-you're making me act lewd, and I'm going to expose you!"

"Um, Ravel-sama… That's..." Yubelluna looked a bit wary as Ravel's expression was exceedingly lewd as she spoke. The violet-haired woman then turned to whisper to Momon. "I think we might have overdone it a bit…"

"Agreed." Momonga whispered back. "Well, anyway, let's go get breakfast. Hop!"

He reached to scoop Ravel up and carried her off to a dining room of the Phenix mansion in the Underworld where the service staff had prepared breakfast.

The people already eating seemed to enjoy the meal, considering that they had already gorged a unhealthy amount of it to their starving systems- after all, the last time most of Momon's Peerage had eaten properly had been in the morning of the day before.

"Oho?" Lady Phenix looked as if she hadn't slept for a wink and had black bags under her blood-shot eyes, although the tiredness seemed to just make her vulnerable instead of reducing her looks. "Ravel?"

"M-mom…" Ravel blushed to her eyebrows as Momonga carried the girl to a spot next to her mother and put her down on a chair. The girl let out a loud, uncontrollable groan as Momonga moved her legs so she'd sit on the chair properly, which unfortunately involved touching her thighs. "Mom! I, uh, I need to, um, warn you about something, let's talk in private. After eating. Yes. Did you check that the food isn't poisoned?"

"I… don't think it is." Lady Phenix blinked and cast a magical circle in the air which expanded to encompass the entire breakfast table. "I didn't sense any poisons. How are you feeling, Ravel?"

"I'm… Alright, considering." Ravel sent a wary glance at Momonga who had retreated to the side of the table that housed his Peerage. "...This is actually super-bad. Hyper-bad. Turbo-bad. I can't believe this has gone so wrong…. but so right? No, I'm still affected by the mind control, go away, lewd thoughts… No way, I'm not letting that happen..."

Lady Phenix interrupted Ravel's mumbling by hugging the girl, causing her to freeze still. "It's alright, everything is going to be fine. We'll get over this and recover, somehow. You'll see. You're still wary over what happened, and that's alright. It's only been a day. And if Momon-san brings dad back..."

Momonga sighed as he stopped paying attention to the conversation on the other side of the table and focused on his Peerage. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm… surviving." Yuuto nodded, although the boy was still a bit pale and couldn't get food into his system properly, likely due to the stomach wound he had suffered causing phantom pain even if it had been entirely healed and his lost limbs restored. "Thanks for asking, Momon-san."

"Asia? Xenovia? Irina?" Momonga turned towards the ex-church trio who looked equally shaky but instead of holding back were gorging on the food. Well, Irina and Xenovia were, Asia was just plucking occasional sliced fruits but wasn't engaged in the same frenzy as the two.

"Gnth…" Xenovia sent Momonga a wary and a bit angry glance, clearly feeling the after-effects over what had happened- or rather, everything that had happened. He couldn't blame her.

Irina, on the other hand, just looked like she felt incredibly awkward from being addressed by someone who looked like 'Issei' but wasn't. She hesitated for a while but finally chose to not answer and instead bit into a hamburger made from breakfast bun and enough bacon to cause a spontaneous heart attack to a regular human.

Asia, on the other hand, just sighed in a depressed way that was unusual for the usually bashful and timid girl. "I prayed for God-ow, but he-ow would not answer, only condemn… That place, that, darkness... "

She shivered and Momonga reached to pat her shoulder reassuringly. She seemed to draw strength from the touch and shook herself from her depressed state. "I, well… T-those enemies, are we going to have to face them from now on?"

"Possibly, but for now we've won." Rias voiced in from the side. "Stay strong, Asia-chan. We'll get stronger and we'll be able to put up a better fight."

"Speaking of getting stronger, I plan for us to spend this day training. After I take care of my promise to Lady Phenix." Momonga told the Peerage as he sat down and looked at Koneko. "Koneko-san? How are you feeling?"

The girl flinched visibly from being addressed and retreated tighter into a ball, as she had drawn her legs in front of her so she practically squatted on top of her chair while poking her food disinterestedly.

'Haah… Operation: Team-building exercises are a go.' Momonga sighed. 'I guessed that 'Madness' isn't going to be like in YGGDRASIL where it just ends after a duration. Psychological damage isn't so easy to fix. I'll have to see about giving them something to whack to get their aggression out and give them something to vent their fear and frustration to, and raiding, er, training should do that. Afterwards we can have some team pep talk or something.'

Momonga knew he was stalling for time because there was fairly high chance something would go wrong when his plan for 'resurrecting' Lord Phenix would be put to action. After all, he wasn't going to resurrect the man in traditional sense- not only would it compromise his cover if he retained his memories and free will, but with his soul absorbed to Momonga, there was a high chance he'd deal critical damage to himself if he tried to use [Resurrection] or [True Resurrection] on the head he had in his inventory.

Since summoning an undead would likely cause severe damage to his cover no matter how he explained it, and with Angels being a bit too 'innocent' to properly pose as a Noble Devil, he had only one real option remaining, as far as sufficiently intelligent summons went.

'Oh well… I'll just have to be extra specific. The Angels seemed to work just fine with basic instructions, likely because of their 'good karma', but with Undead the situation went right out of my hand.' Momonga schemed while forking food into his host body's mouth. Suzuki Satoru part of him enjoyed the tastes and smells, but 'Momonga' part of his soul was busy with fine-tuning his plan. 'But since the Angels back in my mansion are still alive, as they sent the message about visitors, and I have a Dominion Authority as active non-undead summon at the same time, it means I can summon multiple creatures and have them active at the same time. In YGGDRASIL I was limited to just one, with the old one disintegrating if a new one was summoned.'

He nodded to himself as he patched one possible problem in his plan. 'So, I'll have to restore Lord Phenix's body, and then summon a Demon into it. And then be extremely specific about what it can, cannot, and should, and needed to do. All of the Demons I can summon are 'Extreme Evil-Karma' so It's pretty much a given that they're going to flip out and start doing something extreme, like building a cult that worshipped me, if I let it run free…'

He sighed. '...But on the other hand, if I get a particularly crafty one, then it should be able to slot itself into the leadership role of the Phenix family, and thus eliminate my chief competitor in the healing business in one go by taking the mantle from Lady Phenix. Moreover I could integrate my 'company' into Phenix, and have the demon perform the mundane day-to-day paperwork while I free myself to do something else. That just means I have to keep the demon busy with paperwork and projects to the extent that he is too busy to notice that I'm not the dark lord it probably expects I am…'

After all, Momonga, or rather Suzuki Satoru, was looking forwards to freeing himself from financial dependence towards Lady Phenix, but at the same time he wasn't willing to just turn himself back to sixt-to-five salaryman and officeworker like he had been back in Neo-Japan in the process. 'Plus, I can offload the memories I don't need to the Demon… Plus, if the worst comes to it, I can use it to help consolidate my influence in the Underworld so that if my secret comes out, I can influence the political sphere to downplay or discourage retaliation. It won't help against the Maous, but if I turn their people against them in a new civil war, they should be too distracted by it to deal with me, allowing me to divide them up and potentially work on taking them down one-by one… And for that, I'll need to make my Peerage strong and loyal enough that they'll help me.'

"Lady Phenix?" Momonga turned towards the woman whose eyes snapped from Ravel to him in almost creepy way. "I believe I should start getting ready to see about resurrecting Lord Phenix. I'll need someplace private."

His Peerage looked at eachother and Momonga turned to play another of his cards- delaying the inevitable. "I'll explain more later. For now, time is of the essence. After you're done eating, please retire and rest for a while. We'll begin training afterwards."

The Peerage members seemed a bit confused but nonetheless agreed with Momonga's leadership, so they started to file out of the room in twos or threes, leaving Momonga, Ravel and Lady Phenix in the room.

"Well then, let's get to it." Momonga addressed Lady Phenix, who nodded resolutely while reaching quickly to wipe a small tear from her tired and bloodshot eyes.

"M-my husband's study chambers, they're private and have wards against spying." Lady Phenix stroked Ravel's hair. "I want to be present when…"

"I'm sorry, but considering the problems that no doubt arise during the resurrection, I doubt having external sources of distraction is going to help. Considering the state of your husband, there's even a chance that he'll end up rising as an undead." Momonga explained away, using the 'scary undead' trump card to dissuade Lady Phenix.

"I- I… I don't care if he turns undead, as long as he returns to me as he was!" Lady Phenix shook to her core and Ravel's would-be scream turned muted as Lady Phenix smothered the girl's face to her breasts. "Please let me be there when, when…"

"..." Momonga considered his options. 'Hm… Although, if Lady Phenix is disposed that way… Then I could theoretically…'

He reconsidered the plan to summon a demon, as he knew another creature that would have enough acting ability, theoretically, to take the place of a demon. 'And I have enough experience from the last few nights to summon one of those without losing too many levels… And I can just blame Lady Phenix's presence if things go awry.'

Momonga revised his plan and nodded to the woman. "Alright. But only you."

"A-ah… Thank you. Thank you, Momon-san." Lady Phenix squeezed Ravel's shoulders reassuringly as the girl vibrated from fear while her eyes were wide and full of terror… and also some sort of extremely messed-up expectation?

'I think last night must have knocked Ravel's mental state from one extreme to another… Oh well, win some, lose some…' Momonga sighed.

.

.

The two of them, that being Momonga and Lady Phenix, re-located themselves to a musky half-library half-laboratory that looked as if it hadn't been used in ages. Most of the light to the room came from magically controlled fire, giving the room a cozy feeling- but only to those the room welcomed.

To Momonga it felt as if the room was partially sentient, giving a feeling of creeping dread and being somewhere they didn't belong if an unwelcome guest entered it.

Momonga attributed the feeling to the numerous wards presumably encompassing the area, but he didn't have time to further study them.

"He used to study the nature of Phoenixes here, before the civil war…" Lady Phenix traced her fingers along the backs of sturdy decorated tomes that gave the victorian-era decorated room an eerily foreboding atmosphere.

"...I see." Momonga wondered if he should appropriate a few of the books behind Lady Phenix's back, but decided against it. He wasn't above thievery if it served his goals, but he also knew that thievery should only be committed against one's enemies lest he turns his 'allies' against himself. 'Still, I should get 'Lord Phenix' loan me a few of those books once I get 'him' back up… Ah well, I should stop prolonging the inevitable…'

Lady Phenix shook her head, seemingly clearing it of thoughts that must have come up from the books. "My other children are in Tannin's care, apparently Sirzechs sent an observer to them but Tannin captured him and released him afterwards. I doubt Sirzechs is moving against me, us, but still…"

"I see. Anyway. I'll need to clear this space…" Momonga cleared a spot on the floor from books, roughly at the center of the room. 'I could technically just perform the summon without any flourish or grand acts, but that wouldn't fit the narrative of this 'resurrection' being a difficult and fragile thing…'

Lady Phenix retreated to the edge of the room, watching him like a hawk. 'Well, time to use my Chuuni once more… Ugh, I can feel the self-damage on my psyche from just thinking about it…'

He eyed the crack in his mental 'mind-scape' once more, double-checking that the barricaded and barred crack was keeping something from invading his mind. However, with Peroroncino-plushie keeping the crack in control and Touch Me-plushie keeping an eye on the slowly leaking dam in his mind holding Lord Phenix's memories, 'Momonga' and Suzuki Satoru parts of his persona focused themselves on the task at hand.

He put his hands in his inventory while facing away from Lady Phenix so that his back obscured the rift that opened, pulling Lord Phenix's head with one hand and his- no, Ainz Ooal Gown's true weapon with the other, and also tied one of his fingers around a healing potion from YGGDRASIL.

Momonga heard Lady Phenix's breath stall as she looked at him as he turned to face her.

Curiously, Momonga noticed that she was alternating looking at the dead head of her husband and the golden staff.

"Now, we begin." Momonga said as he laid the head to the clear floor and placed the staff above it so it floated like a spear about to strike the head. 'I need some sort of summoning circle or something equally impressive… Hm, that'll do.'

Momonga plucked the cap of the potion, lamenting its loss but figuring that with his newly-found [Regeneration] he probably wouldn't need to heal his 'body' anymore, and if it could produce healing tears, he could probably use them to distribute to his Peerage and save his remaining potions.

The potion splashed on the severed head, causing a blob of flesh to bulge from its neck down and start re-forming the dead body.

It didn't bring it to life, as resurrection wasn't strictly speaking within the potion's ballpark, but the amount of 'health' it restored seemed to be enough to at least restore most of the man's body.

He cast a simple cantrip, a tier-less spell that had visual effect and was used more for roleplaying purposes than for actual combat, causing a ominous black multi-layered circle akin to that of a death-magic super-tier spell to spread on the floor.

However, the necromantic roleplay-friendly effect would serve Momonga's purposes more than hinder it. After all, he had to give Lady Phenix some food for thought should Momonga's 'resurrection ritual 'fail'.

"Well, that's ominous. There may be complications with the resurrection. Lady Phenix, that should be pure white, not black, and the aura it gives off... Are you prepared?" Momonga feigned wariness while he pointed at the circle while sprouting ritualistic bullcrap, feeding from his 'chuuni' to produce the most cringe-per-minute without starting to strike poses and shout German. "This might be a bit… unpleasant. Whatever had happened to him must have destabilized his soul! I have to hold back the darkness within and wrangle his soul together from its current state, and then modify his memories so he won't return to the darkness from which he came, and where it had been put by the Undead! Even the Deepkin may have their hands on him, and the experiences might have changed his personality, so no matter what... "

"T-tell me what I need to do!" Lady Phenix seemed shaky but resolute.

"You must do nothing. Simply put, do nothing." Momonga advised her, doing his best serious and apprehensive ritualist routine, even going as far as turning his back to the woman and striking a thoughtful, dread-filled pose that caused the woman's breath to catch behind him.

He then turned back to look into Lady Phenix's eyes and received a resolute nod, and she pushed her back against the bookshelf. "Interrupt and he is damned, break my concentration and we are damned."

'Now then… [Silent Magic: Deafen].' Momonga cast the silent deafening spell on the woman while he did a grand flourish to distract her so she wouldn't be able to read his lips, and he let the spell lapse as soon as he got the words out, hopefully making her think that her body had malfunctioned as he got his spells off. 'I can't afford to silent-cast the summoning, since it's so high-tier…'

He lifted his hands up in a grand flourish that billowed his dress jacket and caused the magical fires to flicker in a foreboding and ominous way, casting deep shadows in the room and royally frightening Lady Phenix who placed her hands on her ears after losing her hearing.

"[Delay Magic: Control Amnesia], [Summon Overlord Wiseman]!"

.

.

The being that had once been Elder Lich twitched a bit as it felt something powerful join the Master's ranks.

Its lipless face would have creaked into a smile, had its face still retained any skin. Yet, instead of spending time contemplating the countless plans of the Supreme Being, the once-Elder Lich focused more on its new body so it could be ready once its role in the new act would come.

Indeed, between unlocking the power of the souls it had initially acquired for finalizing [Scroll of Dark Wisdom], acquiring a 'snake' from the unknowing servant of the Supreme One, Ophis, and extensive combat experience in the days since its summoning, the Elder Lich had transformed itself to Black Counterfeiter, a summoning-and-crafting focused sub-class of Elder Liches, and after that…

It had finally reached 'level eighty', becoming a newly-born Overlord General.

However, learning proper control of its new abilities had required quite a few casualties among the rank-and-file of the puppet organization known as 'Khaos Brigade'. After a while the newly-leveled up Undead had fine-tuned its control to the point it could off its [Aura of Despair II], so the racial ability wouldn't cause any normal living being entering its range to turn to quivering mess of fear from its mere presence alone, and turn off its [Black Halo] so it wouldn't imbue negative energy to everything near the Overlord and corrupting the furniture and the very estate into a pseudo-'undead being'. Although it still couldn't quite control the [Negative Energy Touch], meaning that the very ground it walked on would wilt and die and everything it touched would turn to corrupted, dark and undead mess.

A woman clicked her heel against a table as she sat cross-legged in front of a conference table in an otherwise run-down dark estate, its windows barricaded with logs and sense of dread radiating from the mansion's every function, mostly because of the Overlord General's initially uncontrolled [Black Halo] corrupting the building.

"I must once again protest this. Just because it's a new recruit, we shouldn't let it run amok. This estate was comfortable and beautiful before it joined! Then it released its aura and look at it! It's something straight out of a horror movie and half of my servants committed suicide from fear after being near it and the rest are scared out of their wits by the house itself!" The woman complained to the rest of the occupants of the table. "One of the servant girls ran into some sort of blob and had her legs eaten and then turned to some sort of abomination in front of her friends! I've had it! Please put it in its place!"

"I, permit it, Skele-guy's super strong, he helps against Baka-Red." A small girl put her hands above her head, waved them to one side, then paused, and waved to the other side almost as if she was celebrating. "I, I also found new recruits, kinda…"

"WHAT?! Grrhhh- Fine, my lady, but the next time one of my servants kills themselves because of this thing or it kills them then I'm going to take matters into my own hands." The woman, Katarina Leviathan, quickly controlled her voice after shouting and clicked her tongue at Ophis's words. "I hope our new recruits aren't lunatics like this one."

She then pointed her finger at the Overlord General.

"Be careful with your words, fellow servant. Our True Master does not appreciate the infighting, it loses our efficiency and focus." The Overlord told the woman in a gentle way, but which came out as a threatening rumble like two ancient bones rubbing against each other.

"I, I like you, you're good." Ophis seemed to be pleased by the Overlord's words and she waved her hands above her head again, celebrating in her emotionless way. It seemed that the girl had completely missed that the Overlord General hadn't meant her with its words.

"Servant? Me? You're so far below me that you should be licking my boots, undead. If you had a tongue, that was." Katarina Leviathan growled at the Overlord who sighed despite not having lungs.

'I wonder what role will she play in the Master's Grand Act?' The Overlord scratched its elongated and carved chin while the red orbs that made its 'eyes' in its eye-sockets traced the woman's every move. 'Her raw power, as of now, is still superior to mine but she lacks the focus and efficiency to use it properly. A master-crafted sword held by a monkey, in other words.'

The woman seemed to, at least in some level, understand the Overlord's thoughts and seemed quite offended. "Stop staring at me, creep."

A door opened to the now-decrepit conference room and a man entered it.

"I, I welcome you, new guy." Ophis waved her hands in the man's direction. "I, I found him after the battle in the human-world. I, I think Azazel sent him as a spy, but he said he wanted to join us for realsies. I, I think he's strong so I let him, he can do things to baka-Red while Skele-guy kicks baka-Red's shins. I, I think he's Vali Lucifer, right, new guy?"

'A deliberate spy plant from the enemy, in other words. I'm surprised Ophis hadn't executed him on the spot. There's no way anyone would fall to such a blatant attempt to put a spy in our ranks. But this 'Ophis' doesn't seem to be too bright.'The Overlord contemplated the new 'hire' but chose to withhold his voice. '...Come to think of it, Kokabiel did mention that apparently 'Azazel' had sent a person called 'Vali' to capture him… Hm…'

"I feel so welcome here." Vali Lucifer growled at the room's occupants. Katrina looked as if she was so high above the man that she'd likely float off with the wind, Ophis was waving her hands to one side, and then the other in celebratory manner while her expression was dead-set to emotionless stare, and the Overlord was merely looking at the white-haired man.

Vali pointed his thumb at the two Death Knights the Overlord General had summoned and put beside the door like a honor guard. "What's with the horror aesthetic and the undead prowling around? Wait… You."

"Me." The Overlord agreed to the man's words as the words were directed at it.

"Are you related to the Supreme Being?" Vali asked outright.

'This spy is not just incompetent, he's straight-up retarded.' The Overlord realized. '...I wonder, is this part of the plan? Oh, who am I doubting, of course He has planned this in advance. But what does He expect me to answer to this Vali's question… Hm, well, since He's approved of this spy, then I should probably feed him as much information as I can that'll advance His plan of world domination and shrouding it in the Dark.'

"I am but a Servant of the Supreme Being. You're Vali Lucifer, correct? Kokabiel mentioned you. Welcome to our ranks, young one." The Overlord performed a grand flourish and the two Death Knights with polearms by the doorside hammered the ends of their halbers to the floor to announce the welcome. "We are but pawns in The Supreme One's Great Game, so let us perform to our fullest, my fellow servant."

Vali's eyes narrowed. "I am no-one's servant."

'...I should check him later for brain damage. He must have fallen down a staircase as a child. Ah well, yet another of His unknowing servants...' The Overlord General let the insult fly by, but only barely as it took his full will and a suppression of rage so it wouldn't incinerate the man for insulting the Supreme Being by denying Him. "Quite so, quite so...Now, I believe young Katarina over there had a plan related to casting down the New Maous?"

"...Silence, undead. Yes, since there is going to be a gathering of Maous and other riff-raff from Heavens, Fallen and apparently, if the messenger my scouts spotted went where I think it did, then there's going to be some forest critters from Kyoto in the mix." Katarina tapped her heel against the table. "I plan on crashing the party, killing the attendants and attendees or at least a few of them, and causing the Truce to end. That should cause a war between the Three Factions to re-ignite, and allow me a chance to end the surviving new Maous when they are too distracted to keep an eye on their backs."

"Interesting plan. But to what end?" The Overlord asked.

"To end that imposter, Serafall Leviathan, who holds to the title of Maou and Leviathan despite being nothing more than a child playing child's games in the Underworld, holding to the title that is rightfully mine, by both might and blood!" Katarina Leviathan's body quaked in wrath and the teacups on the conference table shattered, the liquids still within converging to form a blade of water that stuck the table and remained upright. "Afterwards, I'll reign over the Underworld as one of the True descendants of the Old Maous, and lead them to victory over the remnants of Heavens and Fallen!"

"Quite so, quite so." The Overlord nodded, still scratching his chin. 'Hm, as I thought, I need to send more scouts to various realms to gather information. As it is, my information network is woefully inadequate to properly service the Supreme Being.'

He waved off the woman's plan as it was more or less the continuation of the plan He had set in motion before, and one that had been, apparently, foiled by Kokabiel's defeat. Yet, the Overlord knew that the 'defeat' had been pre-meditated and well prepared in advance to further the Supreme Being's goals. After all, elsewise He wouldn't have sent his servants to escort the Overlord out of the battle, and had His vampire-Servant 'foil' his plan by killing the [Awakened Deepkin].

However, the lack of intelligence network made the Overlord General practically blind, specifically with the ex-Elder Lich Overlord's base now destroyed and most of his previous undead either scattered or destroyed. Yet, at the same time, he was now joined by much stronger allies, and could leverage his new support-class to much greater extent. And with Ophis teleporting the Overlord General between realms if it asked, it could establish a new base and work on getting an even more encompassing intelligence network that not only affected the area surrounding him, but also across the Underworld and Human world.

The Overlord had already prepared tools for the network by spending his entire 'daily cap' of undead summonings to create a huge flock of Corpse Carrions that would perform as his eyes in the sky, and had procured a number of bird corpses to use as summon reagents so the undead creatures wouldn't look too out of place, and also to allow them to exist without constant mana drain.

In short, everything was going exactly as The Supreme Being had planned it to go.

"...So, for that, I'll be needing the Nilrem's magicians to create a diversion and division, as well as to hold the Maous while I deal with them. You, undead! Make yourself useful and send me your creatures as well, they can eat the resulting bodies, get destroyed in the fight to create a diversion, or something." Katrina finished her 'grand plan' that was to the Overlord like seeing a child's drawing of a map, which was… almost cute compared to the cartography of the entire universe and all its worlds that the Supreme Being had created, and to which the Overlord compared it.

"Kukuku… kukukuku!" The Overlord couldn't help but to chuckle at the adorable 'plan' Katarina had 'created' from 'her free will'. "Khuhahahaah!"

Katarina's face blushed in anger. "Are you mocking me, undead!"

"I, I don't want you guys to fight each other… Fight baka-red instead…" Ophis commented from the side.

"Of course, Lady Ophis, we merely need to take care of… interferences." Katarina Leviathan's arrogant tone turned to one akin to the tone used by kindergarten teachers. "After that, we can work more on defeating the Great Red."

Ophis seemed to be mollified by the explanation and went back to her emotionless 'celebration dance'.

"Of course, Lady Katarina. My undead will accompany you. Please use them as you wish." The Overlord managed to get its 'emotions' under control as they reached a limit and were brought back to a calm level. "I hope my humble servants please you. Ah, I also put your servants that had… hm, met their end after meeting me into a good use. The results are quite impressive, no?"

The Overlord motioned to the side and a sickening groan of hundred different voices answered his call, and a black rotten muscle-like mass broke the floor next to him like roots of a tree eating away at rock to reveal a black sludge creeping over the floor and rising like a tree-trunk from it.

The small piece of the undead creature's mold-like body greeted Katarina with a soul-chilling screech of agony, causing a layer of frost to form on the table's surface as the water-blade the Leviathan had created turned to ice on instinct.

"Ah, this is a [Necroswarm Giant] I made from the corpses of the dead servants. It isn't all that strong now, but it should grow stronger as it assimilates more souls and stronger enemies." The Overlord waved at the mass while Katarina shook off her initial fright and concealed it under a layer of arrogance. "I've already summoned a [Deepkin] and had the Necroswarm eat it, which boosted its capabilities quite a bit. I took inspiration from the example of… hm, no. Let's keep it a mystery for now, hm?"

The Overlord General held its words as it analyzed the spy's reaction which was utter shock.

"Right, what the fuck?" Vali shook his head then turned towards Katrina. "Bah, fine, whatever. But I want to fight Momon Phenix, so I'm going with you."

'Hm?' The Overlord picked up a word from the droning of insects that made the man's speech. "Quite interesting. You wish to fight… Momon Phenix? You know him?"

Vali seemed to double-take his words and cursed under his breath. "Yes, he… humiliated me. I wish for revenge."

The Overlord General leaned its chin to its bony hands. 'He's lying, yet not. In other words my Master humbled him and sent him to me. Interesting. In addition, he seeks to 'fight' the Supreme Being, or rather, meet Him during the coming battle and exchange information he's gained from us... Or rather, reports how I've performed. Interesting. The Supreme Being did say that He'd contact me in a week, but it seems that our enemies are keeping an extremely close eye on Him if He decides to use such convoluted ways of getting a report from me. Yet at the same time, for Him to be able to confuse, obscure and manipulate so many different intelligent and powerful entities at the same time while he is in plain sight of them and they believe Him to be their ally, manipulating friend and foe alike… I'm truly at loss for words for his brilliance.'

"I, I give a snake. Eat it and be strong. Don't be depressed, you'll beat this Momon-guy." Ophis hopped up to pat Vali's head, then thrust a snake to his hand that came from under Ophis's skirt. "Fight Momon, then help me fight Baka-Red."

Vali seemed to hesitate a bit as he looked at the snake, then gulped and cursed something under his breath, and then bit into the snake.

Katarina Leviathan rolled her eyes at the 'new hire' while the Overlord General sighed despite not having lungs. 'Muttering 'Damn you Azazel' in front of us... This spy is not only retarded, he's a straight up idiot.'

He contemplated the spy's position for a while and nodded to himself. 'Quite so… I'm feeling a bit ashamed that He would send such a foolish spy for me to manipulate, as it indicates that He doesn't quite trust my abilities to mislead a more competent spy… But it's true that I haven't proven myself to Him quite yet. After all the whole [Scroll of Dark Wisdom] debacle was just His way of clearing my conscience, soul and burden of failing to be what he desired, in addition to starting thousands of new plans within plans, which in retrospect isn't going to reinforce His belief in my abilities…'

The Overlord General's emotions returned to calmness after the bout of intense shame. 'I'll just have to prove my worth!'

The [Necroswarm Giant] let a foreboding roar in unison with the Overlord's resolve.

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