A Theory on Godhood: An Overlord Story

Chapter 52: Confessional

Silence hung in the air. An aura of disbelief and confusion abounded, creating a feast of undesirable emotions in the retired council member. Arthur thought this was a sick joke that Umbarth was playing on him, but the dead serious look on the dragon's face said otherwise.

"What?" Arthur blanked. Umbarth nodded grimly.

"I said E-Rantel no longer exists. It's gone. Not conquered, not under threat of destruction, but completely gone," the dragon replied.

Arthur struggled to find the proper words, to express his disbelief. The previous annoyance he felt nearly vanished. A fortress city like E-Rantel, meant to be a bastion for the country of Re-Estize, no longer existed? It was unthinkable.

"How? I thought the Empire wanted to capture E-Rantel, not burn it to the ground. Actually, for that matter, how could they have? It was too well fortified, not to mention valuable."

"The Empire did not destroy E-Rantel, but rather a third party did..." Umbarth ominously trailed off. He seemed almost afraid to give voice to what was the true culprit behind the city's destruction. That alone set off alarm bells in Arthur's head about what, or who had the power to annihilate a city like the dragon lord suggested.

"Explain yourself then, and be quick about it," Arthur said curtly. He saw a flash of hurt in the dragon's eyes, but he took a deep breath and stood straight as if he were a soldier reporting to his superior.

"A few months ago, a village called Carne came under attack by the Slane Theocracy's Sunlight Scripture. They were then saved by a group who called themselves the Sirs of Ainz Ooal Gown. Shortly afterward, the city of E-Rantel was consumed by a death spiral that Zuranonn created, stopped only by new adventurers that called themselves the Argonauts. Re-Estize tried to recover the survivors, and the Black Scripture became involved somehow. Someone fought them in the city and the result was the city itself turning into a sinkhole."

"Around the same time, the Forest of Tob was under attack by an entity named Zy'Tl Q'ae, and it was slain by similarly powerful beings. In both instances, the same necromantic aberrations were observed. Argland sent in some of their adventurers to recover specimens, and we've been studying them ever since."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "The Heavenly Dragon Lord has been busy scrying all of that for you. What did you end up finding?"

"That's the thing. These... creatures are all amalgamations of a bunch of other animals, stitched together into a hellscape of a body and held together by dark magics. Kennisdat Piarsi almost got smashed by anti-scrying measures when he did observe some of these places. That to us could only mean one thing."

"You believe another group of players has made it into the world, and these 'Sirs of Ainz Ooal Gown' are the ones making moves."

Umbarth shot him a hopeful look. "Any idea who they might be? I know not all players knew each back in Yggdrasil, but it never hurts to ask anyways. Anything you could tell me now would be greatly appreciated."

The retired council member thought hard about that as he scratched his beard. The name did seem familiar, but it's been nearly a century since he first arrived in this world. He'd likely have to meet a member of the Sirs of Ainz Ooal Gown to be certain.

He ended up shaking his head. "I'm not sure, to be honest. Get me in front of one of them and maybe I could say, but if that happens, then we'll be well aware of where they stand."

Umbarth picked up a smooth, white rock from the sand, admiring it while he collected his thoughts. "The world is changing again. It's always changing. That's perhaps the only constant that we are assured of. Whether it be the people who were born here, or those who come from other realms, change comes for us all." He breathed in, allowing a small pause in the dialogue for his words to sink in.