Philian Apolesai

Arrival

In a far-off land, across the ocean, and deep underground, a certain undead's nonexistent ears started burning, momentarily pulling his attention away from the papers on his desk to look up at the ceiling and the world beyond it.

"Does something displease you, Lord Ainz?"

Albedo placed her papers back into the mountain of documents on Ainz's desk to direct her full attention to him. She and Demiurge were keyed into their lord's every action to an almost suffocating degree. Both now had their eyes locked on his form, eager to serve, to fix whatever flaw they had clearly missed. The pressure they applied was strong enough to kill. Thankfully, Ainz was already dead and thus able to recover quickly.

"No, it's nothing. Something else came to mind for a moment, but it's irrelevant here. This plan seems perfect; I trust you to finalize it."

The usual response of brushing off their worries and piling yet more work onto him was met with the usual satisfied smile and bows from Demiurge. Not understanding what the demon wanted or even knowing where this grand plan of his was taking Nazarick felt wrong, but Ainz simply couldn't keep up. He knew that all Demiurge did was in the best interest of the Great Tomb, so whether or not he understood the plan didn't really matter; he just needed to listen to his suggestions and everything would be fine.

[Philian Apolesai]

After a few more words of praise and a wag of his tail, Demiurge was off. His long stride quickly took him out of Ainz's office and out of the tomb. Work in the Holy Kingdom was finally drawing to a close. The people's love for his lord was growing and soon Ainz Ooal Gown would be a household name. The wide smile always present on Demiurge's face managed to widen to an almost unnatural degree as he descended the steps of Nazarick.

"Just as Lord Ainz intended."

The awe he felt toward his lord darkly coated his tone. Even as he worked to make this small piece of Lord Ainz's vision come to life his lord was looking so far into the future with such extravagant planning that it would be pointless to speak of it now. His lord's ability to always be taking in information, to always be scheming, amazed the demon. He might never know the full extent of his lord's thoughts, but he would do all in his power to make them a reality. First, he needed to visit his farm. There was much work to be done.

[Philian Apolesai]

The humans on her island didn't know much about this mysterious king, but they said enough to pique her interest. A skeleton well-versed in magic was taking over the entire continent to the east. Getting her hopes up was something she had learned to avoid long ago but out of every rumor she had ever heard, every strong being she had ever seen in this world, this 'man' seemed the most familiar. The description alone was enough to make her start thinking of home. Vesi shook her head as she swam. She could not think of that old life now. There was nothing to be hopeful about. This great king was just another power-hungry ruler. The fact that he looked like someone she used to know was completely irrelevant.

That's what she kept repeating to herself until a nagging feeling ripped her from her thoughts. A slight tingling sensation buzzed throughout her entire body. She was being watched.

Nothing was around her though. She had gone down deep, almost to the ocean floor to ensure her path would be clear. Life here was sparse, and what was here could hardly be considered intelligent.

Vesi sent out a small pulse, like sonar, pushing it through the dark waters but there was still nothing. Only one option was left then. She closed her eyes to activate her [Magic Sense]. Looking around, everything seemed to still be clear. Just as Vesi began to doubt herself, she looked up. Sure enough, there was a crack in reality quite a ways above her. Whoever created it had somehow noticed her presence when she was still so far from any civilization. If this was the great Sorcerer King she'd heard about, he would certainly be worth the long trip she'd made. Maybe he would even be stronger than her.