Chapter 8 - Preparing for the Battle

They were late once again.

Gazef Stronoff, Captain of the Royal Guard, better known as the Warrior Captain, stood in the center of the burnt-down village. The corpses of the peasants were left as is on the ground.

The dark-haired man with a short beard was massive compared even to his well-trained soldiers. He was clad in a simple chest plate and heavy leather pants with plate kneecaps. The nobles had talked the king out of allowing him to wear the national treasure set which would greatly boost his already impressive abilities.

Only in his mid-thirties, he exuded the strength and wisdom of a seasoned warrior who had seen battles beyond a man's lifetime.

Many had clear signs of torture. Some were violated. The monsters with human faces spared no one.

In one of the first villages, they found the corpse of one of the attackers pierced in the neck with a pitchfork. The man was wearing the standard plate armor of a Baharuth legionnaire.

"We were too late." He said under his breath. His men were giving water to the already exhausted horses who were pushed to the limits to pursue the attackers.

"Why are they doing this? Has their Emperor gone mad?" He tried to figure out the reason why they would target small villages. From a tactical standpoint, not much would be gained.

"Sir, we found another of their soldiers dead. The people were trying to fight back." The vice captain approached him.

"How are the horses? Are we ready to move on?" Gazef asked.

"Soon. The animals can't carry us much longer without rest." The vice-captain said.

"We must catch them. This senseless slaughter must end." Gazef said through his teeth.

"Sir, if I may make an observation."

"Go on."

"These seemingly senseless raids do not look random to me. If I had to guess for their purpose, it would be to lure you into a trap." The vice-captain said.

"You noticed that too…" Gazef spat on the ground. "That doesn't make it any less senseless. I am just one man and they are killing hundreds to lure me into a trap!"

The vice-captain, a man in his late twenties, stepped forward to face Gazef. "Sir, you should return to E-Rantel. Report to the king. We will pursue attackers without you. The Kingdom cannot afford to lose you."

"Did you know I grew up in one such village? I couldn't count how many times I hoped someone would come and help against monsters or bandit raids, yet nobles only cared to tax us. We must show these people that some of us do care and are willing to help." Gazef took another glance at the piles of corpses. 'These monsters will pay, all up to that boy emperor who put them up to this madness.'

With the horses and men ready to continue their pursuit, he jumped on his horse and rushed towards their next destination. If they were fast enough they would hopefully catch up before another village was razed.

About halfway between the villages, something hit a roadside tree with a massive force. Gazef stopped his horse and raised his hand for rest to stop as well.

He jumped off the horse and went to investigate the odd event. The all-too-familiar stench of the blood invaded his nose.

'This… this was someone in full plate!?' Gazef looked at the scattered remains as the rest of his men came closer to observe the surreal sight.

"Captain, what could have happened?" asked the vice-captain. He kneeled and picked up a piece with the insignia identical to the one they found on the dead attackers.

"I don't know, but it is an ill omen." Gazef just stared at the remains. 'What could have thrown a grown man with such force? A dragon… a giant… maybe the legends of the fabled wise king of the forest were true and the mystical beast came out of the forest to exact vengeance on those who spilled innocent blood.'

Gazef's expression hardened. "Let's move on, we can't waste any more time. Carne Village is not far away, and we still haven't caught up with the empire scum that is killing our people. Whatever did this could be just as dangerous to the villagers."

As they moved on Gazef couldn't help but keep thinking of what sort of monster awaited ahead, and if he could even take it down. He was the strongest warrior of Re-Estize and even neighboring countries considered him a serious threat, but without the royal treasures, he would not be at his peak performance.

<X>

Nigun Grid Luin, the captain of the Sunlight Scripture, watched the village from the forest. The field scouts just reported that the soldiers, who acted as bait, had started the slaughter of the peasants. Beside him floated the Principality Observation, a fourth-tier angel he could summon.

The scripture's next target, Gazef Stronoff, should finally catch up and engage the soldiers masquerading as the Baharuth legionnaires, slaughtering most of them.

Most of the unit was so-called problem soldiers who needed to be gotten rid of either way. They were led by a son of a noble who had pretty much bought the rank of a captain for his spoiled and incompetent child. The dunce dared to think he would be in charge of the whole operation.

Luckily, the military command informed him that only a cardinal could give a direct order to scripture forces, and that no matter the rank, he could do nothing to impede the holy work of the theocracy's most devoted.

While waiting for the events to unfold, he once again dwelled upon the memory of meeting the six cardinals in person.

He had entered the Cathedral of Light, dedicated to the leader of the Six Great Gods, Alah Alaf, with one of the priests leading him to meet the six cardinals.

They were the highest authorities in the Slane Theocracy. Each of them represented one of the six gods humanity and the Slane Theocracy worshiped. Six hundred years ago, the Six Great Gods appeared and saved humanity from the brink of extinction and established the first human nation.

Nigun only knew they disappeared sometime later, leaving behind divine artifacts. He followed the priest to the room where the Cardinals awaited him.

Then, Nigun kneeled and recited a prayer.

The Cardinal of Light, Yvon, held one of the holy artifacts in front of him.

He spoke in a deep, authoritative voice once Nigun was finished with his prayer.

"Nigun, Captain of the Sunlight Scripture, your next task is to eliminate Re-Estize's chief warrior, Gazef Stronoff. His regrettable but necessary death would be the final blow to that rotting and decadent kingdom. We have full confidence the Sunlight Scripture can handle it without problems."

The cardinal handed him a crystal as he continued the speech. "Yet we cannot leave anything to chance. In case of unforeseen difficulties, you are permitted to use the miracle of the Gods. This crystal contains the summoning spell for the highest-tier angel, one that was able to defeat the Demon Gods."

Nigun accepted the crystal with both hands, holding his breath. To be entrusted with a divine artifact was the highest order of honor he could ever hope to achieve. Very few outside the elusive Black Scripture had the privilege to wield the legacy of the Gods.

"Thank you for entrusting me with this divine gift. I won't let my country down." Nigun gulped, holding back the tears.

"We will pray for your success. Gods guide you, Nigun Grid Luin." Said the Cardinal of Fire, Berenice, a slightly plump elderly woman with a motherly smile.

This meeting was one of the most profound moments in his life which he didn't expect to happen. As a dedicated and talented man, he had pushed his limits all his life. Usually, such divine artifacts were reserved for the Black Scripture members and only they could use them.

With his ability to cast tier three spells at the age of nineteen and the talent that strengthened all his summons, he was considered a candidate for the black scripture but ultimately fell short, and his dreams of greatness were shattered.

But as someone who refused to be any less than his best version, he pushed forward and soon after found a spot in the Sunlight Scripture, becoming one of the youngest members at the time.

Nigun was only twenty-two when he became the Captain of the Sunlight Scripture. His mentor, the previous captain of the scripture, died twelve years ago, a hero's death leading the charge against hordes of demihumans. A lucky strike from one of the catlike beasts ended his mentor's life and the Sunlight Scripture came out on top of it only thanks to Nigun's quick thinking.

Despite seeing his mentor die, Nigun took the leader's reins right away when the units' vice-captain froze in panic.

After they returned home, he half expected to be disciplined for usurping the chain of command in the middle of a battle, but to his surprise, the Cardinal of Light commended him for his excellent work and nominated him as the new captain of the unit.

It was the first time when he had an actual conversation with a Cardinal and it all but cemented his respect for them in his eyes. They didn't care about his upbringing or age, only his skills and ability to lead.

Now, if he would be the one to kill Gazef Stronof, his and the Sunlight Scripture's status would grow even higher.

"Captain, number forty-one and number thirty-seven are missing!" The scripture's vice-captain approached him, sounding distressed.

"What do you mean missing?" Nigun turned around to face the man who was clad in the same black coat and pants but unlike Nigun, had a plate helmet hiding his face.

"They are gone without a trace. I would suspect a monster attack but there was nothing indicating any sort of struggle. I can vouch for both that they are not deserters."

"Gather everyone. We need to regroup!" Nigun barked the order. 'There are no monsters in the forest who could bring down a scripture member without a struggle. Number two is right, those two would not get cold feet.' Nigun tried to figure out what could have happened but there was no explanation.

It took about five minutes to gather all the remaining scripture members. They gathered in a half circle and awaited the captain's orders.

"Regroup in groups of five. Watch for attackers, killing Gazef takes absolute priority, and we..." Nigun waved his hand, but before he could finish the motion he froze up. "What!? What is going on."

"Captain, I can't move!" One of the scripture members exclaimed, agitated.

"So, all this farce is to kill a single man?" A figure dressed in an expensive suit emerged from the trees. He was holding a walking stick in his right hand. His red cloak moved around forming clawed hands and then turning back to a cloak. The handsome man had pitch-black hair and a beard.

"You there, is this your doing?!" Nigun shouted at the man.

"No manners. What a shame." The man smirked and bowed, taking off his top hat. "Ulbert Ooal Gown, the God of Trickery." He introduced himself.

"'God?' What is this heresy? You will pay with your life for impeding our holy work." Nigun shouted at the man. "Principality of Observation, strike him down!"

Before the angel could make a move, it burned up in intense dark flames. Nigun stared at the mysterious man who had killed his summon with bulging eyes. "That is not possible! One hit! You didn't even chant!"

"Beginners." Ulbert shook his head, walking closer to Nigun. "There is this simple thing called a silent cast, and how much of a mouth-breather do you have to be not to believe that a trash tier summon can't get one-shot."

"Wait! I see you are a talented caster. The Slane Theocracy would be willing to pay your asking price to employ you." Nigun broke into a sweat. 'Could this man be an unknown tier six caster? He must be, no tier-five spell can kill my summon that easily.'

Ulbert stopped, tilted his head, and let out a mocking laugh. "Work for you? For trash that kills innocent people to lure a single human into a trap? I don't think so. But for the sake of fairness, I'll let you explain yourself."

"I don't have to explain myself to you. Now let us go!" Nigun shouted at Ulbert.

"I see… in that case I'll do some convincing." Ulbert walked up to the frozen Nigun. He raised his hand, showing the palm to Nigun and said, "Hand of the tormentor." with the fingertips and the veins of his hand gaining a reddish hue.

He pushed the index finger into Nigun's neck with a sadistic smirk.

Pain! He had never felt such pain in his life.

Nigun let out a blood-curdling scream. Ulbert dragged the finger around the man's neck, leaning in and observing his handiwork. Where his finger had touched the man's neck, a horrific burn scar was left.

"Please! Stop!" Nigun screamed.

Ulbert pulled back his finger. "And here I thought you were a man of God who would withstand any torment."

"We have to kill Gazef Stronoff. Without him, the Re-Estize Kingdom will fall to the Empire and humanity will be united once again. You must understand that only together can we stand against the subhumans and monsters." Nigun whimpered.

"Sacrificing so many innocent lives to kill one man?" Ulbert walked around the man and brought his finger close to the man's neck but not touching it.

"They need to be sacrificed for the greater good. Those peasants have little worth. We will make humanity stronger in the process." Nigun teared up. "Please…"

"Little worth, you say? Well then, how about we sacrifice a few of your men? Pick three."

"What?"

"Pick three of your men." Ulbert said with a smirk, releasing Nigun from the hold species spell. "And I will release them."

"That one and those two." Nigun pointed at the vice-captain and two random scripture members.

A thought of ambushing this man crossed Nigun's mind but with no certainty of success, he decided to play along for now. If he could send three of his men away and bring news about the mad spellcaster back to the Slane Theocracy, they could form a plan for how to tackle the situation.

He was tempted to use the divine miracle and summon the angel but if he revealed the trump card and then failed to activate it this madman would take it away.

"Run." Ulbert removed the hold from the three men.

All three took off, but before Nigun could even ask what now, Ulbert raised his hand and a red summoning circle appeared on the ground. "Cerberus Hound!"

A three-headed demonic beast rose from the circle. Ulbert patted the monster on the head with a smile and then pointed at the forest. "Find and kill them."

The beast ran off so fast that it was an easy guess she would find and kill all three men within the next few minutes.

Ulbert turned his attention back to Nigun, saying, "You are right, sometimes worthless lives can be used to achieve greater goals."

"W-what goals?" Nigun snarled at Ulbert.

"To show you that there is no escape." Ulbert cackled. "You are at my mercy, and between you and me, you'll find more water in a stone than mercy in my heart."

'This man is a monster. He is toying with us. Gods, why have you abandoned me? No, I won't go down easily. If magic can be cast silently, maybe I can ambush him. With luck, it will break his hold on my team and we can take him down together.'

Nigun dropped to his knees and raised his hands. "Please spare us." he positioned the palm in a way that a projectile would hit the man right in the face and tried casting the spell silently. 'Freeze Lance.'

Despite him trying the silent casting for the first time, the spell worked. The projectile was hurled towards the surprised man's face.

'Yes! I g-' The lance just shattered against an invisible barrier.

"That was a good one. Want to try again?" Ulbert smirked at the man.

"Freeze Lance! Freeze Lance! Freeze Lance!" Nigun shot projectile after projectile but they all just shattered against the barrier. After the fourth one, he stared silently at Ulbert, trying to understand why his spells did no damage. Even high-resistance gear would only partly block attacks.

"I guess I forgot to mention that one of my passives is an anti-magic shield. Nothing under tier eight works on me." Ulbert said matter of factly.

"T-tier eight? But…" 'Is he truly a God?' Nigun started putting together what sort of creature he was facing. It wasn't public knowledge but once every century or so powerful beings called players would appear.

The first ones were the Six Great Gods six hundred years ago. Then came the dreaded Greed Kings. Not every century were they discovered but it was the time for new ones to appear. "Are you a player, from the realm called Yggdrasil?" Nigun asked the obvious question.

Ulbert's surprised face gave the answer he sought. "So you know about players?"

"Yes. Our Gods were of the same race. Please let us finish our mission and come with us to our home nation. A human player like you will be held in utmost reverence." Nigun prostrated before Ulbert.

"I have other plans. You see, if this Gazef is so important, we want him to be indebted to me and my friends. You can carry out my plan and then we can talk about our next steps. Do everything right and I won't kill either you or your men."

"Lord… we will carry out your will, Lord, but I urge you to heed the council of the Cardinals afterward. If your friends want to take human nations under your rule, we and the Slane theocracy will do everything to guide you."

"Sure thing." 'This racist moron has no idea. It will be glorious when he sees the true me. Good grief, these mouthbreathers are stupid. How does he even plan to defeat anyone with this low-tier shit?' "But explain to me how you plan to defeat this Gazef with low-tier spells?"

"I understand that our abilities may seem pitiful to you, Lord, but Gazef, with all his might, is also just a human. Our efforts should be enough to defeat him and his warriors." Nigun explained.

"Should be, sounds like poor planning on your part," Ulbert remarked.

"If we fail to kill him on our own, I have been entrusted with a divine artifact." Nigun took out his trump card. "This crystal holds the spell to summon the highest-tier angel."

Ulbert did his best to keep his calm. 'Fuck! If that thing holds a seraphim, then I will have to blow up the entire countryside to take care of it. At least it isn't a metatron. Good thing the shitty devs didn't let that level summons be held in crystals.'

"Hmm, don't you think a seraphim is an overkill in this situation?"

"Seraphim? I'm sorry, Lord, but I don't know such a type of angel. This crystal holds dominion authority." Nigun looked up. 'Could it be that there are types of angels us mortals are not aware of?'

"Good grief, you seriously thought Dominion is the top tier. Just what sort of noobs were your Gods?" Ulbert tilted his head.

"I understand that you are a divine being, Lord, but please do not speak ill of the Gods we worship," Nigun said.

"Yeah, sure. No need to badmouth my fellow human Gods. But for the record, I was one of the most powerful casters in Yggdrasil so forgive me if I'm not in awe of what are, from my perspective, mediocre things." Ulbert released the rest of the scripture members from his hold.

The group instantly prostrated before him.

'By the six, could it be the Advent of new Gods. To see new deities joining the pantheon, what an honor to witness such an event. I wonder what other players Lord Ulbert mentioned are like. He said he was the God of Trickery, so I would assume Lord Ulbert is a God who operates from shadows.' Nigun could not contain his excitement.

Somehow, it didn't even cross his mind that the God of Trickery could be deceiving him.

"Now that I have your attention, I will explain what you have to do."

"We listen and obey, Lord Ulbert!" Nigun replied with frenzied enthusiasm.

"Good. You will proceed with your original plan while I will observe disguised as one of your men. Make sure you heavily wound Gazef but do not kill him. You will go all out against my friends and even summon that angel. At the end of the show, I'll cast a gate and we'll retreat while my friends will claim victory." Ulbert walked among the prostrating figures.

"After that, we will plan the next steps with your Cardinals and unite all of humanity under a singular rule and ensure not only the legacy of players who created your nation, but of all humans." Ulbert's voice grew more passionate with each step. "Rise and carry out my will!"

"We are your instruments, oh great Lord Ulbert!" Nigun shouted in response.

'God dammit, I'm already getting chubby on thinking how crushed the guy will be when he finds out the truth. Demiurge will have so much fun with these assholes.' Ulbert cackled internally.

<X>

The small stream of smoke rising above the hills filled his heart with dread. 'We were too late!'

Gazef kicked the horse to run faster. He could not fail another village. 'We can make it! We will save them!' he kept his hopes high.

"Keep up!" He shouted back to his men, pushing his poor horse beyond the animal's limits.

'Just one more hill!' Each second dragged on like an eternity.

Finally, the village came into view. Gazef squinted his eyes to see further away. 'Was I mistaken?' By what little he could see from such a distance maybe two or three houses were partly burnt.

He could see people waiting at the entrance of the small settlement. Not wanting to take any chances he rushed forward.

The village seemed for the most part unharmed. The ominous figures that waited for him were suspicious, to say the least, but he could not make out any details yet.

The closer he got the more confused he became. The figures waiting at the village entrance stood by a large pile of plate-clad corpses. 'The Baharuth soldiers… could they be the ones that killed the whole group?'

He finally reached them and got a better look.

The central figure held a golden staff and was dressed in a robe that would make a noble envious. Beside him stood two ridiculously good-looking elves. The woman was dressed in dark full plate armor with a sword on her hip and shield on her back and the man was dressed in rather strange golden armor with a bare chest and a large bow on his back.

Behind them stood another woman in black plate armor with a horned helm and a tall rotting monstrosity.

Each of them was dressed in gear worth a fortune. Even the monster's armor looked well crafted.

'They look like adventurers, mithril, maybe even adamantine ranked ones. But they are not locals.' Gazef tried to guess who these strange people were.

There still was the question of what made one of the soldier's remains land so far away from the village. It would be easy to pin on the monster but what if one of the plate-clad figures were that strong? 'I need to figure out their motives for helping these villagers.'

"I am Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff. We are hunting the people who were systematically attacking the villages." He pointed at the pile of corpses. "Is this your doing?"

"I am Ainz Ooal Gown, these are my companions, Pero Ooal Gown, Buku Ooal Gown, and Albedo." The man in the robe introduced everyone and stepped forward. "These soldiers were attacking innocent villagers. We stepped in and stopped their senseless slaughter."

Gazef jumped off his horse and approached Ainz. He immediately noticed that the woman who was introduced as Albedo tensed up and prepared to strike him. 'This Albedo seems to be their bodyguard. The rest of them, could they be directly related? Those names too, they sound like nobles.'

"You have my thanks for saving these people, Sir Gown. The Kingdom of Re-Estize is in your debt." Gazef continued to advance toward Ainz, extending his hand.

Ainz motioned for Albedo to stand down and accepted Gazef's handshake. The almost impossibly strong grip took him by surprise. Casters usually weren't the strong type of people.

"We only did what was right," Ainz said in a deep regal tone.

"Are you adventurers? And if you don't mind me asking, what is that creature behind you?" Gazef asked, pulling back his hand and subtly stretching it to alleviate the cramp left after the handshake.

"No, you could think of us as a guild of independent researchers of various specializations. Our dwelling is deep in the woods and we rarely interact with the outside world. The creature behind me is a death knight. One of my specializations is necromancy. But rest assured, the creature is completely under my control." Ainz explained.

'Death Knight? I have not even heard of such a monster.' Gazef glanced at it again, feeling the hair on his arms rising. "I was not aware there were humans and elves living in the forest."

"We chose the spot for its remote location to not be disturbed. But a decision was made to interact with the outside world once again." Ainz glanced at the cavalrymen, many of whom were shivering in sheer terror at the death knight's presence.

"I see. If your organization wants to interact with the world again, I would like to invite you to the capital to meet my king, Ramposa III. He would be grateful to meet the people who had selflessly helped his subjects."

"Then we will send our envoy to officially introduce ourselves." Ainz looked over the cavalrymen once again. 'Looks like none of them are mages and I can't assume everyone can use the message function.'

He pulled a few private message spell scrolls out of his inventory and handed them to Gazef. "Please bring these message scrolls to either your king or the court magician so a meeting can be arranged."

"Thank you, sir Gown." Gazef accepted the scrolls. He stashed them into one of the pouches attached to the saddles and glanced at the pile of corpses again.

While Gazef was thinking of his next steps Albedo walked closer to Ainz and said. "My Lord, scouts report that some unknown group is surrounding the village."

"Gazef, is this group associated with you?" Ainz asked.

'I didn't see any scouts on my way there. I guess the trap is sprung.' Gazef approached Ainz once again. "No, but if I have to guess I am their target."

"If you knew you were hunted then wouldn't you put all these people we just rescued in danger?" Ainz asked, his tone sounding accusatory.

"Sir Gown, my intention was to help these people not endanger them even more. Could I employ you to help me deal with the group that is surrounding this village?" Gazef asked.

"We are not mercenaries."

"Then I could be forced to conscript you."

"Conscript us? I'm afraid that would not end as you hope it would." Ainz said furrowing brows.

The tall undead monster stepped forward and raised his sword.

"Please understand. I want to protect these villagers. If there are people after me, I will lead them away from the village. But I must ask you to help my kingdom one more time and protect this village." Gazef took a step back reaching for his sword.

"Very well. We will help you one more time, but do not think you or anyone else in this kingdom can just order us around." Ainz motioned for the undead to lower his sword.

"Thank you, sir Gown. I will make sure your team is properly compensated for your service to the kingdom." Gazef jumped on his horse.

"Consider this an introductory favor from our organization." Ainz said to the warrior captain, who turned around to address his men.

{ Gazef is charging against the other group. Did you manage to get control of them? } Ainz sent a message to Ulbert and included the rest of his friends in the conversation.

{ Sure did. These morons think I'm a human God that will lead them toward a purely human world. } Ulbert cackled. { Oh, and be prepared to be scared of the highest-tier angel summon. They have a spell crystal. }

{ Man, you know Ainz is not exactly strong against holy magic. Stop fucking around. } Pero scolded the goat demon.

{ Relax, it's nothing serious. Do you want to guess what they think the highest-tier angel actually is? } Ulbert practically howled with laughter.

{ Seraph? I doubt they found a way to put a metatron spell in a crystal. } Ainz replied.

{ Ulbert, don't be a complete shit. I know Albedo and I can protect Ainz but still. } Buku joined the conversation as well.

{ Dominion authority! Those morons seriously thought dominion authority is the highest-tier angel. They will unleash it as their trump card, so have fun and try to not laugh.}

{ Dominion? Seriously? I guess I can at least receive some damage for appearance's sake. } Ainz replied.

{ Make me proud. I want a nice show. We are ready to start. } Ulbert sent one last message.

'If they think dominion is the highest tier angel that exists could it be they don't even know what tier eight and above can do?' The weakness of these humans was surprising, to say the least.

Bonus Story - The Holy Book.

Yvon Jasna Delacroix, the Cardinal of Light, walked through a silent corridor carrying a small box by its handle. One could easily mistake the guards stationed every ten meters for statues.

He was a middle-aged man with a skinny frame and narrow eyes which made him look like a sinister person. The monocle on his left eye accented his menacing presence even more. Dressed in a clergy robe and white cloak with his god's crest, he moved without making any sound.

He was one of less than thirty people who were allowed to walk the halls of the most guarded place in the Slane Theocracy.

Soon he would reach his destination: the holy vault. This is where they kept the artifacts left behind by the Six Great Gods.

In front of the vault's door stood a girl dressed in a baggy sweater with a cross-striped black short skirt and tight black pants holding a massive scythe in her right armpit while manipulating a cube with a colorful square pattern. Her black and white hair split evenly at the middle hairline. Her black and white eyes were opposite to her hair.

She paid no attention to the incoming figure.

'Ignoring everything as always.' Yvon moved towards her making sure he made no sound to see if she would notice. One would think the girl was slacking off at her post but he knew better.

She likely knew where exactly he was and within a blink of an eye could exterminate him.

"Good day, Zesshi. Blessings of the six upon you." He greeted her.

"The usual?" She asked in a disinterested tone without looking up.

"Yes." Yvon replied. There was no point in engaging in conversation with Zesshi as she would at best reply with one or two-word phrases or outright ignore him.

Zesshi stepped away from the massive door, letting Yvon open the vault.

The cardinal performed the incantation that removed all the locks and entered the vault, closing the door behind him. Ignoring the numerous artifacts, he walked towards the deepest part of the vault where the holy books were held.

Only parts of these texts were made publicly available through holy scriptures with a rare few being aware that direct writing of the Gods existed.

He put down the box he was carrying and opened it. Inside was a pair of white silk gloves. Carefully, to not leave even the smallest stain, he put the gloves on. Freshly washed by him in blessed waters found in a sanctuary outside the capital, they were part of this small pilgrimage.

Knowing where each book was placed on the bookshelf he pulled out the one he read the most and knelt on the cold stone floor. In his hands was the diary of Alah Alaf, the God of Light.

"Oh, great God, please guide my hand." Yvon opened the book at a random spot to see what God's wisdom should be taken to heart today.

He nervously gulped at the title of the chapter he knew far too well. 'The great invasion of the Monster Tomb Nazarick.'

Even though he knew the book by heart, he read each word as if it was the first time seeing the magical symbols very few knew how to read.

'There were fifteen hundred of us. About six hundred players and all the NPC mercenaries we could hire. The Great Tomb had stood as a mockery to all the good players. Those monstrous bastards killing and robbing us every chance they got.'

The greatest struggle ever seen in the divine realm of Yggdrasil where a higher race called players lived and fought. The majority were the righteous humans and the near-human races but opposed to them stood hordes of demonic monstrous players who hid in the darker parts of this realm.

No monster name was ever written down as according to legends, the Gods were so disgusted about these monsters, they did not want anyone to know the names of the tomb's dreaded masters.

'On the first floor of this tomb, we found the first guardian: a young vampire girl who was beautiful on the surface but deep within held a disgusting monstrous form. The six most careless ones fell by her hands.'

There was a simple drawing of a beautiful round-faced girl with crimson eyes. 'The faithful must be vigilant as the danger can hide behind a beautiful face.' Yvon remembered the lesson well.

'The massive stone golem was the guardian of the fourth floor. Mindless and destructive he killed seventeen more. But no matter what, we marched on.'

As with the guardian of the first three floors, there was a drawing of this monster as well. There even was a comparison of how massive it was compared to a human-sized figure.

'On the fifth floor, a few careless ones were distracted by the frost virgins but the rest of us knew better. The massive insectoid was the guardian of the fifth floor. He managed to kill four more of us. Some players never learned to use tactics.'

Yvon gave the monsters in the picture a glance. 'It is a blessing of the Gods that no such creature walks the mortal realm.'

With the defeat of this monster came another of the divine lessons left by great Alaf; carelessness can kill even divine beings.

Yvon read on. 'On the sixth floor, we found a massive arena. Two elven children ambushed us. A beastmaster and a druid. Seventy-four of ours fell, Surshana among them. He spawned too far away to rejoin us right away.'

Gods didn't truly die. Even if killed they would just return to their home in Yggdrasil.

What was most disturbing about these two guardians was that they looked like regular dark elf children. Smiling faces of innocence were just as treacherous as the most monstrous of the beasts.

He hesitated to turn the page. The next floor was where they faced the most evil of beings even among the monsters.

'Seventeen of ours fell into his devious trap. The demon mocked us as he rained fire upon our heads. In the end, we bested him and marched on.'

The depiction of this demon was the most haunting one. Even from the simple lines drawn by ink, the monster's handsome face oozed unrivaled malice.

'The eighth floor is where the doom came. First was the angel with metal wings. As strong as a world-level enemy, she killed over a hundred before we finally managed to take her down. I did not know what horrors awaited us further as we had not met a single player yet.'

Yvon closed his eyes and exhaled. The next part was the hardest to read. For a faithful servant of the light to carry the burden of such knowledge was not easy.

'A trap so devious could be made only by someone who knew we would all come for them. As we killed the guardian of the eighth floor, his dying breath cursed us all with affliction breakable only by death. In this weakened state we marched in a narrow corridor toward the ninth floor. This is where the tomb's master greeted us, standing in front of the massive door at the end of the corridor. The undead overlord with the burning eyes stared us down for daring to invade his home; the ruler of death. As we charged to strike him down, he used a world-level item to kill us all. That damned laughter. Those bastards dared to mock us for our failure.'

Yvon dragged his fingers over the depiction of a monster among monsters. The dreaded leader of all monster Gods. Truly the vilest of creatures. The skeletal face was the very mockery of life itself. The opposite of his God who stood on top of the human pantheon, this monster stood in the deepest of depths.

Yvon closed the book, closing his eyes and biting his inner lip. 'One day those monsters could show up. Could this be a warning, Lord?'

As much as he wanted to believe it was just a warning about the dangers of new players that could show soon, his heart filled with dread at the possibility that these monsters that were described to be way worse than the Greed Kings ever were would walk this land and spread their malicious influence.

Proofreading by Tophrel, Ethal07, Sad_Smiles, Alassandro, and Aterro.

AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (Link is in my profile) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader.