The Visage of Evil
[A/N: Climb doesn't exist in this world because I pity him for being just a 'puppy' and not even realizing it. No offence intended.]
[E-Rantel]
A portal appeared a few feet away from where Ainz was standing. On the sudden formation of portal out of nowhere, all of them were on guard. Evileye dashed in front of Aniz, preparing a [Crystal Lance].
A voluptuous fourteen-year-old girl walked out of the portal and rushed towards Ainz to hug him.
"Ahh... I missed this smell so much."
Ainz didn't resist or stop her. This confused the present people, but suddenly they recalled that Ainz had contacted his subordinate, so they lowered their guard except for Evileye.
"Get away from him."
She shot the [Crystal Lance], but Shalltear brushed it off with her finger without a hitch and said in a playful tone.
"Oh my! What do we have here? The power of [The One], but something doesn't feel right. Although the power is thin, this fragile body shouldn't be able to hold it."
[The One] or you can say [True Vampire] is the racial class possessed by the descendants of the [First of the Blood of the Divine Ancestor: Cainabel]. Being one of the top race in YGGDRASIL, a strong undead body is required to hold its power.
But, Evileye didn't achieve the [True Vampire] class through natural means of magic. So, her body was too weak to sustain the true power of [True Vampire] class. Her class's potency was greatly reduced and scaled down to match her. Deducing it to that, Shalltear concluded it to be the corrupted version of [The One].
She got closer to her and whispered softly.
"You shouldn't act on impulse, especially against me, a divine magic caster who venerates the First of the Blood, the Divine Ancestor Cainabel. I'll forgive your insolence this once, as you wished for lord Ainz's safety. But keep in mind that I don't even forgive my own household for their mistake."
One of the many gods in YGGDRASIL, Cainabel is described as the god of the bloodline of origin. The party leader that defeats him gets Cainabel's Blood Soul item which allows one to become the successor of the top race [The One]. Sometime in the past, he was defeated by Ainz Ooal Gown.
Being the patron god of vampires, the vampires of YGGDRASIL needs to have belief in him to use the [Divine Magic]. Shalltear also has the superficial belief in this god which helps her to cast the [Divine Magic], but in truth she regards Cainabel as a weak event boss defeated by the supreme beings. After all, for her, there are only 41 True Gods.
Evileye, as the residence of New World, obviously hadn't heard of such deity, but she could feel the familiar feeling from Shalltear. So, she could only believe it and engraved the deity named Cainabel in her memory. She gulped hard and nodded her head, but she was still staring daggers at Shalltear.
"Shalltear, don't be impolite."
Ainz didn't want the situation to disarray. He scolded her, to which she apologized, lowering her head. Then, he continued.
"Captain Gazef, shall we head out now?"
"Sure, Lord Gown."
Gazef was not much surprised because he had already had his fill for today. All of them headed to the camp on the outskirts of E-Rantel.
Soldiers were gaping at the arrival of the mysterious man who had demonstrated god-like abilities, while Nobles of each faction were having different thoughts. Some saw this as an opportunity, whereas some saw this as an obstruction.
[Inside Main Camp]
"We welcome the patron of Re-Estize Kingdom. My name is Renner, Princess of this Kingdom. It's a pleasure to meet you... in person."
Renner possesses a simplistic and detached view of the world in general. The world was like a chessboard to her, and the individuals were the chess pieces. She felt neither love nor hatred towards anyone. Either she was grateful or felt pity for her subjects.
Possessing unfathomable intelligence, observational skills, comprehension, creativity, and leadership, she manipulated nobles and surroundings to act accordingly to her schemes. But, nothing was able to excite her, neither the fear nor the pleasure of her actions. However, that was until now.
She saw something that made her heart skip a beat. The man in front of her had a pitch-black exuberance. The golden aura around were trying to suppress the leakage of that pitch-black exuberance. Forcing her way through the golden aura using her [Observation] skill of [Princess] class, she saw true horror.
Thousands of eyes were staring at her, trapping her in a pitch black room. She felt like, her soul was being pierced thousand times a second. Wanting to escape from them, she instinctively tried to look away. But she couldn't feel any part of her body. It was like her body wasn't even listening to her. Then, wide grinning sharp teeth appeared in the centre. A cold sweat ran through her spine.
"If you probe to reach near the abyss, you need to have the ability to keep your sanity in control. Sit down before the fact as a petite child, be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss's nature leads, or you may learn nothing."
The voice brought her to reality, and she once again saw the man covered in the same golden aura. For her, it was an experience of indefinite duration, but only a few seconds had passed. She composed herself pretty quickly as the Princess and screamed in her mind.
'He is not human. How can such an evil entity exist? He is the source of true evil, suppressing his evil tendencies. What can be the motive of such a terrifying being to approach us? He could easily destroy this Kingdom or those undead armies if he so desired. But he is weakening the Kingdom. It's as if he is toying with this Kingdom.'
"Oh! So the interesting Princess that Demiurge was talking about, was you?"
Shalltear muttered under her breath, so only she could hear. Then, she immediately realized the meaning behind the man's words. He had seen through her facade and was giving her an opportunity. He was saying,
'If you want to have the excitement, then you should also have the ability to create and enjoy the moment fully. So, if you desire it, then be like a petite child and follow me to witness the true thrill.'
He was offering her an opportunity, but she had no right to reject. She couldn't have the courage to turn down the offer of such a being, as it would be an insult to him and not a good ending for her. Maintaining her vigilance, she replied calmly with the utmost respect she could garner at the moment.
"I understand. Would you mind introducing yourself?"
Ainz only realized now that he hadn't introduced himself all this time. He had only given his name to Gazef, and introduced himself as a magic caster. He wasn't trying to hide his identity as the lord of Nazarick, but Gazef didn't probe further. So, he also didn't think it was necessary to say anything about Nazarick.
That was at that time, but now, he had come to pullover the Kingdom under him. So, he would need to make a magnificent introductory debut, showing his true might.
'Ho.. I just remembered the line from the original. Let's make them know my greatness.'
"The Supreme Overlord of Nazarick, Ainz Ooal Gown. In the past, there was no one who did not fear this name."
He doesn't have to conceal the existence of Nazarick, as he knows that no powerhouse in this world can harm Nazarick. And, later or sooner, everyone would know of Nazarick.
'Now they have heard something new, they will ask me about it. Come on. Give it to me. I'll destroy your mentality with the heroic tales of Nazarick. Let's spread Nazarick's heroic tales in this world.'
No one uttered a single word, but all of them were making up their own story about Nazarick. And the one common thing of their story was,
'He is a legend from the long lost history.'
To verify her story about the god-like man, Evileye decided to get more information from Ainz's subordinate by asking her to introduce herself. She could directly ask about the things she wanted to know. But, they're likely to avoid it in front of these many people. Her thoughts were.
'This 14-year-old figured girl must be in a high-ranking position to be allowed to hug her master. As a result, her introduction, like that of any other powerful being, will undoubtedly include information about her position and role.'
Evileye cautiously asked, still staring daggers at her.
"And what about you, miss Origin?"
Shalltear was about to answer just her name, but a message from her master stopped her.
'Boast about Nazarick in your introduction without making suspicion.'
Ainz thought this was another chance to make Nazarick's name widespread in this world. Shalltear, on the other hand, was thinking that Ainz wanted to introduce her as an important person with high authority.
Shalltear introduced herself by putting her padded chest out and smiling with her eyes and mouth.
"Oh my! You want to know about me. How cute. I'm the guardian of the first, second and third floor of The Great Tomb of Nazarick, Shalltear Bloodfallen, who swore loyalty to the one and only Supreme One, Ainz Ooal Gown."
She paused for a moment and continued again, putting her hand to her blushed cheeks.
"And the most beloved of lord Ainz."
"Hmph!"
Evileye couldn't bear to hear her last words and snorted while avoiding facing her. Seeing the context of the events going through, Ainz halted to spread Nazarick's name for now.
"Care to introduce yourself, miss? We're new to this current world, so we need some information about our surroundings. I hope you don't mind. But hearing from you would also give a different effect."
Hearing such a word from Ainz, she avoided eye contact with him and replied while blushing. She didn't want to lose to the vampire in front of her. Ainz was the man who had give her the feel of security after hundreds of years of living. Her former companion also didn't leave this kind of mark, for her to feel anything emotional.
So how could she lose to other girls? Although looking like 12-year old child, she had amassed many achievements in her lifetime. And the most famous of them was, her contribution in the defeat of the Evil Deities, when the world was in total chaos.
"Lord Ainz, I don't mind at all. I am known as Evileye, adamantite ranked adventurer and magic caster of Blue Roses, while also a former companion of the Thirteen Heroes who fought against the Evil Deities two hundreds of years ago."
Evil eye said proudly, comparing herself to Shalltear. But, Shalltear didn't think much about it and ignored her. And the thing about her being at least two hundred years old, neither Ainz nor Shalltear felt surprised. When being a person changes into vampire, her body also transforms into the body of an undead. So, her being underdeveloped is not of much concern.
"Thirteen Heroes? Evil Deities? Guess I've to collect more information."
"I would love to share it with you."
Evileye got to see the rope that could lead to more contact with Ainz. She would be foolish to not catch that rope.
"Then, I would like to thank you for your kindness."
Ainz naturally needed information about those Thirteen Heroes and Evil Deities, because in the anime they were vaguely mentioned. And, he didn't read much of the light novel. So, although being a transmigrator, he was unaware of many fact. In order to thank her for agreeing to provide some inormation, Ainz opened his dimension space and pulled out a necklace.
"This [Sun Necklace] is enchanted by the protection magic, allowing you to walk in the daylight without your mask and evolving your charm to a higher level. You can keep this as compensation for your help."
Evileye slowly took the necklace and quickly put it on, as it would be an insult to Ainz if she were to reject it. If any other had provided such a thing to her, she would have refused it immediately.
But the one who gave her this was Ainz. She wouldn't miss the chance to gain his affection by showing her appeal. And she also felt pretty happy to hear Ainz complementing about her beauty.
Shalltear, on the other hand, was grinding her teeth. She was jealous of Evileye, who was getting the affection of her beloved master.
Nevertheless, she could only stare at the scene, as there must be a reason behind his action, and she couldn't afford to get in the way of her master.
"Thank you for such a courteous gift, lord Ainz."
"It's nothing, and I would like to know about you too. Your sword has a peculiar attraction to it."
Ainz asked, pointing towards the sword in Lakyus's hand. Lakyus, who had been silently observing the situation and the powerful being in front of her, was about to open her mouth after a long period of silence.