"Oi, Suzuki, you missed a spot there!"

A half-empty cup of soda clattered near Suzuki Satoru's feet, spilling the sticky pink liquid all over the floor. He gritted his teeth as he felt a cold, wet sensation soaking through the hem of his trousers.

Satoru looked up at the man who threw the drink. Dressed in a grotesque, yellow pinstripe suit, Hade Noburu's beady black eyes bore down on him, his lips curling into an ugly sneer as he savored Satoru's barely concealed indignation.

"You had an okay thing going for you, Suzuki, and you just had to go ahead and ruin it. Absent for five whole months? Do you know how much of a headache you caused management? You're lucky they let you stay here at all!"

"I guess it is fitting," Noburu continued with a disdainful laugh. "Being a janitor is about as much as you're worth. They pay you less than the upkeep cost for an actual robot."

Satoru said nothing in return. He grabbed the white rag he kept on his waist belt and lowered himself to the ground, proceeding to wipe away at the new mess without a word.

"Hoh? Nothing to say? Well, I suppose that's for the best. People like you should just lower your head and-"

Before Noburu could finish, Satoru sprung up with frightening speed to look him dead in the eyes. The man gave a slight gasp of shock as he took in the almost inhuman mask that was now only inches away from his own face. Satoru's eyes shone with a cold yet distant fury, like the chilling light of an impending comet. His pale malnourished features contorted into an almost skeletal visage, a countenance that exuded both an otherworldly authority and a ruthless aura that unnerved Noburu to the bone.

Noburu recoiled, his meaty hands clumsily pushing Satoru away as he stumbled away in a panic. Satoru toppled backwards from the push, slipping on the spilt soda and crashing down onto the ground, soaking his back with the sticky liquid as he did so.

"W-who the hell do you think you are? You h-have no right to be dissatisfied h-here. I'll be letting management know about this!" Noburu huffed, still struggling to get over his momentary panic.

However, as he saw the frail, pathetic looking figure on the ground, the fear and anxiety on his face slowly transformed back into a cruel look of superiority and disdain.

This weak and lowly man was clearly no threat to him, he thought. But then again….what was that expression on his face just now….? It was almost like the glare of a monster…. no, something far more terrifying….

However, as he continued to watch the defeated looking Suzuki Satoru clumsily make his way to his feet, any and all feelings of doubt or wariness quickly left his mind. Noburu scrunched his face up in disgust and spat at the ground near Suzuki's feet before making his way out of the office room, slamming the door on his way out.

Suzuki said nothing as he finally hoisted himself to his feet. It was three in the morning and all the other employees had long retreated back to their homes. He was always the last one to go, as the only way he could survive with his wage was to work nineteen hours a day.

In the morning and afternoon, his presence was more or less entirely ignored as he toiled about in his ceaseless tedium of work. However, every night before Satoru could close up, he would have to endure the torment of Noburu's endless taunts and attempts to humiliate him.

After wiping the soda off the floor, Satoru shut off the lights of the office and closed up before trudging over to the janitor's quarters on the second floor.

The so-called "quarters" consisted of one tiny room with a small, barely functioning shower stall and a dilapidated sink with the added luxury of a stained and foamy mirror. A chewed out sleeping bag lay on the ground next to a small suitcase containing the few belongings Satoru could call his own.

Satoru walked over to the sink and took off his shirt, the back of which was still stained pink from the spilt soda. As he began rinsing and washing out the residual stickiness, he looked into the mirror to see the gaunt face of a broken man staring back at him.

5 years ago, Suzuki Satoru lost everything.

The memory of that day haunted every moment of his life. He was on the cusp of an utter and overwhelming victory, but it was all blown away because of one fateful and completely unexpected turn of events.

The final contingency of the Slane Theocracy was no World Class Item. It wasn't Wild Magic. It wasn't a Player.

It was one of the infamous GM April Fools items, the "Big Red Button."

The mounting anger and frustration in Suzuki Satoru's heart reached a boiling point, and tears welled in his bloodshot eyes as he took his clenched fist and sent it smashing into the dirty glass before him. He grunted in agony, holding back a pained scream as he felt a great stabbing sensation surge through his knuckles and into his wrist on impact.

He tried his best to calm himself with deep, heaving breaths in an attempt to suppress the cacophony of desperate thoughts and emotions as they threatened to engulf him. He turned the rusted knob of the faucet, splashing himself with the cold water that gushed out into the sink to steady his nerves.

As he stared back into the broken mirror, water still dripping down from his pale face, he could almost see the remnants of the Overlord that once was staring back at him through the fissures of the cracked glass.

How comical….

The Big Red Button was a throwaway gimmick item. Every April Fools day, the GMs would leave a bunch of random items lying around that players could find scattered across Yggdrasil. Stuff like the "Turkey Costume," which turned the user into the appearance of a giant Turkey for an hour. The "Orb of the Disco God," which forced every NPC or player within a certain radius to dance for 15 minutes. The "Bubble Dragon Wand," which summoned a giant Bubble Dragon to entrap people with….bubbles.

The shitty devs never did give a crap about game balance….

All such items only had one charge and disappeared after a single use, but could be kept indefinitely even after April Fools day until they were eventually consumed.

Eventually, the shitty devs stopped GMs from throwing out these April Fools items as certain tryhard guilds (Ainz Ooal Gown being one of them) started stockpiling them to abuse in PvP and against certain boss encounters. There was a large uproar on the forums as many players were upset that the devs decided to stop giving out these fun flavor items because of the actions of a few overly competitive guilds, but the devs, as usual, never responded to the complaints.

The "Big Red Button" was arguably one of the least impactful of the April Fools items. It could be used to temporarily disconnect one player from the server. It was mostly used as a harmless joke between guild mates as there was nothing stopping the player from simply reconnecting instantly.

But right now…..

Suzuki could never reconnect again…..

And that wasn't even the worst part of it all.

The cascade of emotions that were beginning to fade instantly returned to a state of frenzy as he recalled that irrevocable mistake.

Why did I bring it with me? WHY DID I BRING IT WITH ME? I was so careful about it for years. I thought it would be fitting to have it with me for the final victory. That it would be SAFE!

Now even if I could go back, everything is already lost…..

Upon reaching this final stage of reflection, all energy and emotion dissipated from Suzuki's body like air from a punctured balloon. He crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

He went through this sequence of emotional torment every night. And every time he would think about ending it all.

When he returned five years ago, he discovered that only several months had passed since he logged into Yggdrasil for the last time. He found himself lying in the dirt lot near what was once his apartment, and from which he had long been evicted. As Suzuki realised what had happened to him, he felt almost a sense of relief as he began suffocating under the toxic air without a gas mask, and he had silently cursed the good samaritan that saw him and took him inside.

Fired from work with no place to stay and stripped of most of his earthly belongings, Suzuki was a man who had nothing. But the hardest part of it all was the physical and mental transition. He had spent far too long inside an undead body, and the sudden onslaught of physical and emotional sensations drove him to the brink of insanity. He spent days in the slums simply adjusting to the overwhelming transformation of his body as he relearned how to control his emotions and libido while coping with the physical limitations of his flesh and bones.

Eventually, Suzuki managed to get a grip on himself and returned to his former company in hopes of returning to work. Initially, security was reluctant to let his disheveled self enter the building, but a friendly acquaintance passed by and guided Suzuki to his former manager's office.

They offered him work as a janitor. At first, it seemed like they had a genuine interest in helping him get back on his feet, but Suzuki soon realised what was in store for him. There was one thing Noburu got right-they hired him as a cheaper alternative to an actual cleaning robot.

Throughout the five years that ensued, Satoru had been overworked to the bone. He got paid enough to barely afford one can of food a day and had been given a place to stay in the form of the shithole he currently resided, but he figured that it would be a matter of time before he joined the masses of employees that had died from overworking and malnourishment in the society of 2043. The same way his own parents had died.

That was if he didn't decide to just walk into the putrid air without a mask on to off himself first. Oh how tempted he was to do just that. How very, very tempted….

But ultimately, he could not bring himself to do it.

He now had a family that relied on him and loved him that he cherished beyond measure in return. No matter how slim, how impossible the hope, he would do everything in his power to reunite with them once again.

A fire of dedication kindled deep within Suzuki's defeated and lifeless eyes as he struggled to get back on his feet, grabbing the edges of the sink to steady himself. For the briefest of moments as he stared into the broken mirror that reflected his fractured heart and soul, he thought he could still see the crimson glint of an Overlord's gaze.

'Today we will be going over the events of the "Great Vanquishing."'

The class of students gave a collective groan.

"But, sir," complained Zinrus Eitrigg, a slender dark-haired teen with a haughty expression on his face. 'You've talked about the Great Vanquishing in four previous classes already, shouldn't we move onto something else?'

The lecturer, a bald, cheerful looking middle aged man with a broad figure and a thick red mustache, shook his head in disappointment as he explained: "The Great Vanquishing cannot be covered in a mere four lessons. It is the very turning point of history, an event that defines our current generation and inspires the very trajectory of our nation, the New Re-Estize Kingdom."

He puffed out his chest, beaming with a proud smile as he stressed the word new.

"Now," he continued, "who wants to give me a rundown of the Great Vanquishing? Just a bit of a refresher."

Zinrus rolled his eyes as he saw a slim hand shoot up from the seat in front of him.

Insufferable know-it-all...

"Ah-ha, as sharp as always, Miss Firza. Go on ahead."

The silver haired girl who raised her hand stood up before speaking in a loud, vibrant tone.

"Thank you, Professor Tyris. The Great Vanquishing refers to the monumental defeat of the Sorcerer King 100 years ago. The Slane Theocracy mounted a valiant last stand against the encroaching forces of the Sorcerer Kingdom, and in one final epic battle, the almost invincible undead king was defeated once and for all. With their leader finally vanquished, his undead forces turned into ash and his champions were either killed or captured-"

In one corner of the classroom, a red haired girl snorted as she heard this. She interrupted with a smirk: "Yeah right, from what I've heard, the Sorcerer King's champions were almost as powerful as he was. You know, like the Blood Valkyrie, the Prime Minister, the Demon Hand, the Calamity Twins, the Frozen Authority. You're telling me they were beaten just like that after their leader's demise? If anything, they would've torn the world apart in vengeance. It's all a load of baloney propaganda if you ask me. How do we know Ainz Ooal Gown isn't still-"

"WE DO NOT SPEAK THAT NAME!"

Tyris slammed his hand against the marble slab that was his desk, cracking the very stone with an invisible force that rippled across the room. The students stared wide-eyed in shock at the furious red face of their normally cheerful and patient professor as he strode slowly over to the red haired girl, who was now terrified into silence.

The professor stopped only inches away from his quivering student before speaking, his usually enthusiastic and upbeat voice now a dangerous whisper: "What was your question, Miss Varnam? How do we know he isn't still here? How do we know his champions were truly defeated for good?"

"Do you know what you all are standing on at this very moment?" He pointed to the ground beneath his feet, sweeping his thunderous gaze around the classroom of students who all shook their heads. "Well allow me to enlighten you, my dear little nobles."

"The ground beneath you was once the seat of the old Re-Estize Kingdom. The Royal Capital of Re-Estize. Over the past seventy years, we have finally been able to rebuild some of what was lost due to the efforts of the great Sovereign Duke Riivan. But all this you already know. Let me tell you what wasn't written inside those textbooks of yours."

'The old Re-Estize Kingdom did not fight a noble and valiant war that weakened the Sorcerer Kingdom enough to buy the other human nations time to prepare. Warrior-Captain Gazeff Stronoff did not land a heroic blow to expose a fatal weakness of the Sorcerer King so that the Slane Theocracy could "win another day."'

"The Sorcerer King's army crushed the Re-Estize armies. It was like stepping on a bug." the professor gave a grave, dramatic pause before continuing: "Every city, town and village was slaughtered and the people turned into mindless undead. Parents would kill their children and then themselves when they heard the cries of the undead approaching."

Tyris lifted his hand, causing Eloise Varnam to flinch, but the professor merely pointed his finger towards the other end of the classroom.

"To the South of us lies what we now call the Dark Massacre Plains. You have been told that this was an area cursed by the gods, a divine act to condemn the violence between the Kingdom and the Empire. This is only partially true. It was indeed the act of a god, but not the ones you worship in your snobby noble temple gatherings. And the purpose? A demonstration of force."

"The Dark Massacre Plains were formerly known as the Katze Plains." His voice cracked for a brief moment as he spoke "My grandfather died here, he shat his pants as he was trampled by the giant eldritch monstrosities summoned by the Sorcerer King, killed alongside 170,000 other soldiers. My father was one of the few survivors of those harrowing times-that is how I know."

"And Gazeff Stronoff?" Tyris gave a dark chuckle. "Didn't land a single scratch on that monster."

He whirled around and walked leisurely back to his cracked desk, ignoring the stunned faces of his students as he moved. Without looking back, he asked: "Miss Firza, you know your geography. What nation lies to our Northwest, surrounded by mountains?

Mina Firza blinked nervously before responding: "To our N-northwest? There's no civilisation there, sir. That's where the Doomlands are. It's uninhabitable."

Tyris stopped. He responded with his back still facing the class, his expression hidden from their view.

'What you now know as the "Doomlands" was once the place of a demi-human nation known as the Argland Council State. It was ruled by a council of dragons, led by the immensely powerful Platinum Dragon Lord….."

"The Sorcerer King razed half of it to the ground with a single spell. I've been told that death itself rained from the sky as the land boiled with the screams of an untold number of innocents. The Dragon Lord himself came out to defend his nation, but he too was slaughtered alongside the rest, felled by the Blood Valkyrie herself. They marched straight for the Theocracy next, and let me tell you, not a single soul alive during that time expected the Theocracy to defeat them after what happened to the Platinum Dragon Lord. And yet, due to some bloody miracle, the Sorcerer King is no more."

The professor fell silent for what seemed like an eternity as the entire room of students watched the back of his figure with unease and perhaps just a hint of anticipation. When he finally spoke, all the previous anger had disappeared from his voice, replaced with an eerie monotone.

"So how do we know that the Sorcerer King and his minions are gone? Well, you all better damn hope that he truly has disappeared for good because if he ever does come back….the same things I have just described will happen to Every. Single. One. Of. Us."

He took a deep breath before turning to face the class again, the expression on his face now back to the sunny countenance they were all familiar with.

"So there ends our lesson for today. I'm afraid I won't be taking any questions for today's lecture. For tonight's homework, go ahead and read pages….."

Kareth Fenix trudged hastily through the dark tunnels deep below the Slane Theocracy.

40 years ago, the Supreme Chancellor herself had appointed him as head researcher of the Theocracy's hidden research initiative when the previous head researcher had died of old age. He was given exactly one task: to learn more about a single magic item obtained from the Great Vanquishing.

In all of those 40 years, despite his extensive history and credentials in magical research, Kareth had made close to zero progress.

The head researcher stopped in front of a large pair of double doors carved directly into the stone walls. He placed his hand on a magic circle engraved to the right of the door frame. As he laid his palm on the intricate circular pattern on the wall, a golden glow lit up the engravings beneath his hand, and the double doors slowly began to creak open.

"Brief me, now!"

Two senior researchers garbed in white robes frantically came forward to receive him.

"Sir, it's emitting some sort of strange aura!"

"Please stay back, all of the junior researchers who went near it to investigate died instantly!"

Kareth's eyes widened as he gazed beyond the two men to behold the shocking scene behind them.

6 corpses lay in a circle around an orichalcum stand, cloaked inside a barely visible fog of wispy grey. Atop the stand and clamped in between two Adamantite pincers was the object that haunted his every moment of living for the past forty years.

The Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

100 years of silence…..why in the world is it showing activity now?!

He turned back to the two senior researchers besides him and barked a quick directive: "Go and call the Cardinal of Darkness over here NOW!"

After seeing off the backs of the two men hurrying to carry out his instruction, Kareth slowly approached the weapon, careful to stay well away from the grey mist that had presumably taken the lives of six of his junior researchers. He narrowed his eyes into a watchful stare as he got closer, not once taking his eyes off of the staff.

No matter how many times he looked at the weapon, he still could never truly prevent himself from being transfixed by the sheer beauty of the golden staff. The incredible craftsmanship of the seven entwined serpents had a surreal, almost hypnotizing quality to them. The seven gems each shone with an ethereal light that captivated him more than any other sight in the world. The crystalline grip emanated a faint cerulean glow, shimmering in an invitation for him to extend his hand and grip it. It hummed with a seductive power, like a promise to grant the entire world to any who dared to try and wield it.

Kareth grimaced. He was very glad that he managed to resist those urges when he first laid eyes upon it. Almost everyone who tried instantly died or lost their mind. The only one to ever succeed in wielding it was the Supreme Chancellor, and even she was only able to command it for a second before the process was too much for her to bear.

Yet that one second saved the Slane Theocracy, and possibly the entire world. Through some miraculous effect, the Supreme Chancellor managed to disable the Sorcerer King's enraged champions long enough for them to be bound and sealed away. This was a closely guarded secret within the Theocracy, and outside of these top-secret walls, the official story was that an epic battle had taken place and the Sorcerer King's subordinates were soundly defeated. Even most of the upper echelons of the Slane Theocracy's current administration had no idea the place Kareth worked even existed.

Throughout the past 40 years, Kareth and his small team of researchers worked tirelessly to uncover the secrets of the Staff. He had been told that the original purpose of his position was to destroy the Staff. However, no progress had come about during the sixty years of work that his predecessor, Maximilian Oreio Lagier, had put in to try and destroy it. As a result, when Kareth was assigned to the position, his task changed to simply trying to amass knowledge and to uncover any secrets that could lead to the Staff's destruction or use.

The Supreme Chancellor had told him in person that his job was the most important task in the entire Theocracy. When Kareth visited the previous Cardinal of Earth, Raymond Zarg Lauransan, he had been told the same thing by the old man days before his death.

At first, the words of those two great individuals fueled his motivation and drive to absolute heights. But after decades of mind-numbing work in a dark underground facility, he had long come to terms that he would never make any progress with the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. All he had to show for his 40 years of devotion was a personal theory that he had no way of confirming.

The Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown has a mind of its own.

Kareth was convinced that the Staff possessed some kind of independent sapience. He had a sneaking suspicion that the reason it could not be used and did not behave like a regular item was a product of something far more intriguing than mere incompatibility.

But...how to prove it….

His constant train of thoughts was finally interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned and looked at the newcomer, a stone-faced middle-aged woman in her fifties whose obsidian eyes bore a dangerous gleam. With her jet black hair and matching robes, she blended almost completely into the shadowy background as she walked through the still open double stone doors.

"I hear there has been an unexpected circumstance?"

Kareth tried his best not to roll his eyes. "Do you not see the six corpses behind me, Cardinal Jovarus?"

The Cardinal of Darkness Irisia Kiv Jovarus tilted her head at the response, her face still devoid of any discernible emotion.

"What corpses?"

Kareth swiveled his head to look at the scene behind him. Sure enough, the six corpses and the grey mist that surrounded them had completely disappeared.

"Wh-what?! That's impossible! Th-the two senior researchers I sent you, Melvin and Syndel, where'd they go? They'll explain what happened."

The Cardinal of Darkness quietly stared at the frantic Kareth for several seconds before responding: "I hope I did not come here just to have my time wasted with these ridiculous ramblings. I received a letter from you telling me to come over here because of an urgent occurrence. I did not encounter any of your senior researchers."

Kareth's mouth hung open as he heard this. His mind went blank as he struggled with the sheer absurdity of the situation. "B-but...what…?"

The Cardinal sighed as she stared at the bumbling state of the head researcher.

"I don't know why you're still cooped up here studying this irrelevant artifact. The chapter of the Sorcerer King has closed long ago. Your talents are wasted here toiling over a mystery that will likely never be solved."

She looked the old man up and down, a hint of pity finally slipping through her stony countenance.

"Look at you, you look like a vampire. When was the last time you actually left these wretched halls and saw the sun? The Theocracy needs magical researchers like you on actual important matters. The war against the Elf Country is finally drawing to its inevitable conclusion after all these centuries. The blasted Cult of the Deathless has infested deep into the Roble Holy Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire, and we suspect that it will soon penetrate into the New Re-Estize Kingdom and the Karnassus City-State Alliance as well. The Dwarven Kingdom and their subhuman spawn are expanding faster than ever and openly defy us. With all these enemies at the gates, we are in need of brains like yours more than ever."

At the sound of these words, Kareth's thoughts finally shifted away from the sudden mystery that had just befallen him. He looked up at Irisia Kiv Jovarus, a tone of warning entering his voice as he spoke:

"My work was assigned to me by the Supreme Chancellor herself. This Staff here is the only thing between us and the monsters we have sealed away from the world. It is imperative that we glean every bit of information we can so that we never have to repeat the events that shook the world 100 years ago."

The Cardinal of Darkness shook her head, an unconvinced look on her face.

"The Sorcerer King's Guardians are sealed behind the most powerful enchantments and barriers known to man. The Theocracy's most distinguished magic casters collaborated with all the best and brightest magical geniuses from across the world to create an impenetrable prison that would spell eternal imprisonment for even the Dragon Lords. Three quarters of our Treasury was emptied to contribute to the creation of an everlasting bulwark against their escape. They are never getting out. NEVER."

She hesitated for a brief second before adding in a softer tone: "Your work...is not needed."

Kareth clenched his teeth in rage as he listened to the Cardinal. The anger those words brought him bubbled like a molten fury at the brink of an unthinkable eruption.

The reason was simple: everything she said, he already knew. Those same words he had already heard countless times….from himself. Every single time one of his countless experiments failed during the past 20 years of failure, he would tell himself the same damn thing.

IT'S POINTLESS, ALL OF IT!

It took every drop of willpower for Kareth to calm himself enough to deliver his next response through gritted teeth: "As I said before, the Supreme Chancellor was the one who tasked me with this assignment. Are you questioning her wisdom?"

The Cardinal pursed her lips. They both knew the conversation was over. "I would not dare. I will leave you to your….research, Kareth."

Having delivered her final word, the Cardinal turned and walked away, her dark figure quickly disappearing into the shadows of the underground hallway. The stone doors shut close with her departure, leaving Kareth alone with the Staff once again.

Kareth had to catch himself from stumbling as the accelerated beating of his aged heart reached a dangerous peak. His vision blurred as the frustrations that had plagued him for the past 2 decades threatened to engulf him.

Finally, he cast the spell [Calm] on himself, slowly soothing much of the turbulence in his heart and mind. But as his thoughts cleared, another sinking realisation dawned on him.

Damn it. I forgot to explain the sudden activity of the Staff. Besides, what in the world happened to my team? Was it….all just an illusion?

He looked around the room, still confounded by the sudden turn of events.

And then he noticed it.

A dark red glow now pulsated from the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, an effect that Kareth had never once seen in his 40 years working with the nefarious object.

Kareth stared silently from afar as the Staff throbbed with a dusky crimson glow like the beating of a human heart. Somehow, he had a feeling he knew what this was all about.

It's taunting me….

Irisia tutted as she finally made her way out of the underground complex.

I hate making this trip, she thought to herself as she passed the tight formation of elite knights surrounding the entrance on her way out.

The entrance to the secret research chamber was located inside a special block within the Theocracy's Temple of Magic. She had to go through several layers of guards and security checks just to reach the inner cloister of the temple where the special block was located.

Upon getting there, Irisia then had to navigate through 5 floors of an underground labyrinth using a scroll imbued with a unique guidance spell. One wrong step could spell instant death at any moment.

On top of that, the Supreme Chancellor herself frequently visited to check on the progress of the Staff. The possibility of her presence alone was an absolute deterrence to any potential intruder.

It was the most secure place within the Slane Theocracy, almost as secure as the Treasury before half of it was obliterated 100 years ago. It was the second most secure place in the world.

The Cardinal of Darkness chuckled as she walked out of the Temple of Magic.

If they only knew…..

She gazed up at the late afternoon sky with a brief look of contemplation, before pulling up the hood of her cloak and making her way towards the market square.

While the Temples of the Gods traditionally occupied different sectors of a city, the newer Temple of Magic was unique in that it was attached directly to the Central Temple where the Supreme Chancellor presided. The Central Temple was seated on the northwestern edge of the Immaculate Capital with its back to the great Fire God Mountain.

On the other hand, her destination-the market square-was smack in the center of the Immaculate Capital. It was widely regarded as the "melding pot" of the city, where clergymen from different sects, positions and levels of seniority mingled in the name of commerce. Peasants set up stalls for basic commodities, while merchants managed stores with more...exotic goods. All of them were, of course, human. And their sole faith-the Six Great Gods.

Within half an hour's time, Irisia arrived at the center of the capital. However, instead of entering the great bustling plaza that was the heart of the capital's trade, she ducked into a dark alleyway, careful to keep her head down to conceal it under the shadows of her hood. The Cardinal walked briskly to the center of the alleyway, stopping in front of a small, dimly lit tea shop. She entered.

The inside of the tea shop was as murky and lifeless as it looked from the outside. Jars of tea leaves sat on rows of decrepit wooden shelves to the left, their labels already faded to the point of being indiscernible. To the right were a series of dusty glass cabinets crammed with tea-related utensils.

"How can I help you today?"

Irisia looked to the source of the voice, where a bald old man sat behind the shabby-looking counter at the other end of the room. The old man did not even look up as she entered, his face hidden in shadow as he tinkered with the oddly shaped teapot in his hands.

"I'd like to purchase a red bubble tea pot."

Upon hearing this, the old man halted the work in his hands for a brief moment before quietly resuming as he replied in a monotone voice:

"Our backroom may have the item you're looking for. Feel free to take a look in there."

He tilted his head briefly towards the small curtained doorway on the wall to the right of the counter.

The Cardinal nodded her thanks before making her way to the doorway, carefully brushing aside the violet curtains as she went in.

Behind the doorway was a tiny room, empty save for a large box made from an unknown grey material. Engraved on the top of the box was a strange sigil that glowed with a blood red light.

There were only a handful of individuals within the Theocracy who could recognise the significance of the alien carving, and Irisia Kiv Jovarus was one of them.

Nazarick Runecraft

Irisia placed her hand on the rune, closing her eyes and allowing the connection between her and the rune to form.

[Password]

A hint of nervousness crept into her voice as Irisia spoke: "The Goal of All Life is Death."

Hsssssssssss…..

The eerie sound that reverberated from the box resembled the inhaling of some dreaded beast, and for a brief moment, the Cardinal panicked as she felt as if all the air in the room had been sucked dry into the box. The feeling lasted for only a second, and her sudden bout of hysteria soon disappeared entirely as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The lid of the box finally slid open, revealing a plain looking crystal ball within.

The crystal ball took on a bright blue glow as a cold female voice was emitted from the object.

"Cardinal, I trust you have good news?"

Irisia's eyes lit up with a mixture of reverence and just a hint of fear at the sound of the voice.

"Your holiness, it is truly an honor. I am pleased to report that everything is under control. Our agents have slowly begun to penetrate into the other Temples, and I believe it is a matter of time before we can begin to embed eyes and ears into the Inner Sanctum of the Central Temple."

"What of the Staff?"

"It is as you predicted. The Staff is showing activity once again. I managed to delay my report to the Supreme Chancellor for the time being by provoking Kareth, but I suspect it will be a matter of time before she catches wind of the matter and personally investigates. The corpses of the two senior researchers I killed are undergoing memory extraction through the device you provided me. The results will be sent to you within the next few days."

An emotional undertone crept into the icy voice from the crystal ball as it muttered: "Hmm….so the Hand's premonition was correct. Could it be….?"

Irisia's eyes widened in surprise. "Y-your holiness?"

The voice returned instantly to a cold and indifferent tone: "It's nothing. What of the captured Floor Guardians?"

Irisia gulped as she replied. She had been dreading this part.

"Based on the limited intel I've been able to gather, the imprisoned ones are still unresponsive for the most part. Any and all information regarding their confinement is entrusted solely to the Black Scripture and overseen directly by the Supreme Chancellor. I'm afraid I have made little to no progress in that regard."

The voice did not sound surprised, replying in an indifferent tone: "I see….so that insufferable whelp still insists on playing the figurehead. Well, no matter."

The voice continued: "You've done well, Cardinal. I take it you've already adjusted to the previous augmentations we've provided? More will come as long as you continue to deliver your end of the bargain."

A naked hunger shone from Irisia's usually emotionless eyes upon hearing the voice's promise. "Of course, your Holiness. I am happy to serve. Long live the Church of the Deathless!"

'Enough of this "Your Holiness" nonsense.' the voice replied coldly. "There is only one being worthy of any claim to divinity. You may refer to me as Archbishop."

Irisia winced as she heard the sliver of annoyance in the voice's reply. The last thing she wanted to do was piss this person off. "Yes, Archbishop. To the Glory of Ainz Ooal Gown!"

"Mmm... yes, indeed. To the Glory of His Majesty, to the Resurrection of Ainz Ooal Gown."