Harbingers of Change

Chapter 27

All signs, both public and hidden, pointed towards the invading army starting to move soon, and thus one last strategic meeting needed to take place. The newly created floor dedicated just to military matters was the perfect place for this meeting, decked with enough deadly weapons to blow Dwargon sky high, meeting rooms large enough to be called houses, and communication magitech connected to all of Tempest in one place, designed specifically for the time when Nazarick expanded again as they needed a command center that isn't Momonga's office.

Ramiris had done an excellent job creating an entire floor for the sole purpose of housing Nazarick's standing army, open fields, supplies, and housing as far as the enhanced eye could see. Placed between floors seven and eight (an informal floor seven point five, so to speak) this new area was entrusted to Demiurge as he was the de facto military leader outside the guild members. Though Cocytus was considered Demiurge's equal when it came to military matters, the insectoid was more akin to a field commander than a grand strategist, preferring to command the troops as they saw the whites of his enemies' eyes over moving figurines and charting graphs. Demiurge, comparatively, was written into his NPC background code that he was a scheming demon capable of commanding the legions of Nazarick.

The majority of the floor was just a flat surface meant to hold the undead foot soldiers who didn't require food, sleep, or any sort of entertainment, at most requiring ambient magical power within the air. Most of the rest was divided into biomes for specific types of creatures, whether they be towering skeletons or frost virgins. In a pinch, even the living warriors of Tempest could be housed here, albeit not in houses they were used to. Lastly, at the center of the floor, was the massive military HQ, two stories tall and armed to the nonexistent brick cracks that would act as a final stand. Below immediate soils and waters, the entire floor was layered with magicule-packed metal and stone, and the uppermost skies were covered in a dense layer of poisonous fog, in the near nonexistent - but still possible case - that invaders had reached the floor to limit their mobility.

Everyone of military importance had gathered in the central command room around a massive round table, monster or demihuman. Lights of a hundred remote viewing mirrors placed upon the tables and hung on the walls, shining upon an extensively detailed map of the Cardinal World, a myriad of figurines, flags, blocks, and movement rods glimmering back.

Momonga and the guild members were seated upon the grand seats in the four cardinal directions, Momonga to the north and Veldora to the south, Pero and Buku to the east and west respectively. Also present were Rubedo, Sebas, Pandora's Actor, Ramiris, Chloe, Demiurge, Benimaru, Kagali, Clayman, Souei, Kaede, and Hakurou representing Cocytus as his executor.

The guild members were there to make the final decisions and keep order, Sebas and Pandora's Actor were there to suggest information regarding their respective fields of internal affairs and technology, Ramiris and Rubedo were there for their intelligence regarding spirits and void-beings, and the rest were there for their expertise in on-ground or political battlefields, or in Chloe's case, past timeline knowledge. Kagali, Clayman, Kaede, and Hakurou all had centuries of expertise after all, meaning they could suggest, improve upon, or shoot down ideas for others to consider.

Suffice to say, anyone who wasn't a Nazarick native was extremely startled at baseline, or in Clayman's case, nearly fainting upon learning that Tempest had a medium-sized nation's worth of land hidden within the Storm Dragon Veldora's cave.

As the supreme leader of Nazarick and Tempest, Momonga was the one to start the meeting, declaring, "Since everyone is now present, we may begin. Before we discuss details, Chloe, do you have anything you would like to add on the matter before we begin discussion regarding the overall plan for the battlefield?"

The young woman returned his gaze, startled by the sudden attention she was being given by everyone present, and nervously stood up as she played with her fingers.

"Ahm, yes. First off, I want to point out that the current set of events is very unusual, even compared to the dozens of other timelines I can remember at the moment. In other timelines, Yuuki didn't have the ability to create a weapon that could threaten Veldora, nor did Hinata lead a crusade this numerous."

Kagali observed the lady, almost desperate to figure out who she was. The young woman hadn't been present in any past meetings with Demiurge, Buku, Pero, or Momonga, and her information of influential figures was limited to what the Free Guild could access, meaning she was likely a hidden master of sorts from Nazarick. Her demeanor was quite shy and reserved, but it was very clear that she had power in spades due to having a ring of false data on her.

{ Master, who is this woman? How should I address her should the need arise? } Clayman sent her a message, just as confused about Chloe.

He and Kagali knew the rest of the attendees and what roles they played in Tempest's government in some way or another, but the girl was a complete enigma in their eyes. Even he hadn't heard about her, and he had an intelligence network to rival the Free Guild's with contacts centuries old.

{ No idea. I'll try to get some information on her, but I have to be careful. We are still on thin ice. Make sure to investigate her later. } Kagali replied.

{ I see. Please do not risk- }

{ I would prefer if either of you just asked questions directly, and did not try to use roundabout ways to gather information. All information you are allowed to know will be given freely. } Demiurge interrupted them, delving into their Thought Communication, slightly displeased.

Kagali hastily responded, Clayman cutting himself from sending but still listening.

{ Lord Demiurge, my intention was not to snoop around. I am still unsure which channels to use in each circumstance, given my status, so I did not want to bother you right away in any shape or form. If it is permissible, we would like to know who this young woman is, and how we should treat her. } Kagali inquired, desperately trying to sound calm as she shivered in her seat.

There was a noticeable pause, but then Demiurge sent another message, { You are permitted to know who she is, but that information cannot be disclosed to anyone besides yourself and your four subordinates. Chloe Aubert is one-half of the true hero who imprisoned Lord Veldora approximately three centuries ago. Should you interact with her, you must treat her as if she were a close friend to Lady Buku. }

{ Understood. Considering the delicate nature of her existence, I will not peer further into the topic. }

'Half of the true hero? She mentioned multiple timelines, so it's safe to assume she possesses at least one divergent form of herself. I don't think even Lord Momonga has any time-related abilities.' The safest approach was to not talk about Chloe with anyone, and she was adamant about following her orders to the T in order to avoid drawing the ire of Nazarick's leaders. Her beloved daughter still had nightmares about the entity named "Neuronist."

In truth, to both Kagali and Clayman, even the fact that Demiurge had revealed to her who Chloe was sounded like a trap or test within itself. The demon, no doubt, was looking for ways to make her slip up and devastate the second chance her master had given her, seemingly always scouring Nazarick's members and allies for disloyal or deceiving members. It was half of his job, and everybody in the room knew it.

She and her creations' habits were constantly putting them on the edge of a knife's blade, dancing just close enough to fall into disaster but still within relative safety. Luckily, it seemed that both Lord Demiurge and Lord Momonga were aware of their ingrained habits, and didn't automatically assume they were up to no good because of their past alliances. They were loyal to a fault when the client treated them well, something Lord Momonga seemed evidently keen on ever since their last encounter.

Returning to the present, Kagali and Clayman turned their attention to the discussion at hand. Clayman had never even heard of time-related abilities, and Kagali was terrified imagining the sheer raw power Lady Chloe must have to manipulate space-time.

"Does that mean the timeline has changed drastically because of us, or do random things happen each time?" Buku asked, leaning forward as she took notes.

"I think this timeline has changed even more than the last. Although this is the first one I've been part of without Rimuru, who plays a pivotal role in almost every timeline, meaning for all I know this timeline could be the standard of your timelines. Truth be told, I'm not even sure if the Eastern Empire is the biggest threat any more thanks to Yuuki, and they're the ones who kept killing Rimuru most of the time. The inconsistencies keep building, and this isn't good," Chloe spoke in a soft and quiet tone, her nervousness clearly on display.

"Unfortunately, this means we cannot fully rely on what you know," Momonga commented. "It's safe to assume that there is something larger behind the scenes if Yuuki has not made similar weapons in other timelines, and that knowledge from the previous timelines should be taken with a grain of salt, no matter how important they were in other timelines."

"As for the upcoming battle, our main worry should be Hinata and her Melt Slash ability, which directly damages the spiritual body. In detail, she can place a Disintegration field around the weapon and strike with astonishing speed and precision, instantly destroying a few square meters of land and everything above it, including Special A rank monsters. I am uncertain, but should Veldora come into contact, he may be able to feel it even if it is weak by his standards. He may even be familiar with it from his clash with past me since we- I fought him for weeks before finally sealing him. Additionally, the church may employ anti-magic fields, which will weaken all monsters and demihumans within its containment. Stronger anti-magic fields do require preparation with specialized crystals, but in turn their effects on any monster below Special A rank is tremendously increased to the point of muscles and magic becoming useless and they have far greater range," Chloe continued.

"Anything else of note? Anything different now compared to past timelines that should be noted?" Momonga asked. 'Those anti-magic fields nullify any advantage we get through sheer, raw numbers of pop monsters, and I'm not planning on sending anybody less than S rank to the front lines…'

"Mmm, as for the former, the only thing that comes to mind is to look out for the Ten Saints and the otherworlders. While they usually don't come out of Ruberios since Hinata is the most active of all of them, all of them have unique skills and could potentially kill the kijin and other field commanders in duels due to their great experience. The otherworlders are all well within A rank, with some of the saints reaching near the peak of Special A and S rank."

"As for the latter, the timeline seems to be moving at an accelerated pace compared to the timelines I'll call Rimuru's timelines. The Ten Saints usually don't come out this early besides Hinata, but she was still aggravated into attacking Tempest by an Eastern Empire merchant. And armies of this size like the one we're seeing here, hundreds of thousands strong, weren't even supposed to show up for a couple more years." Chloe motioned to the mirrors which displayed men camped as far as the eye could see, their flags sagging in the wind.

Momonga sighed upon learning how their choices to broadcast Tempest's power had led to the quite dangerous situation at hand, but he tossed aside the regrets. The past was the past, and comparing himself to this "Rimuru" seemed to be something that wouldn't gain him much. It seemed if anything he should have presented Tempest's might even more. He was grateful for the intel about the possible dangers of the Eastern Empire and he would love to ask her about the nation more, but it would have to wait for a later time.

"Are we not trying to capture Hinata alive, if possible? She could be a powerful unit if we convert her, given the tests run so far. Even Death Empresses stood no chance against the sword from Yuuki that she currently wields." Buku's tone changed to a somewhat undetermined one, wavering.

'This must be the influence of that woman's soul she had consumed, to save anybody related to summoning. Trying to capture Hinata would serve only a single purpose; to ensure we don't mess something up when Chloe's other half is awakened. Does that even matter? It would be far safer to kill her and then use her body to create a fairly powerful undead. Should I give the order, Buku may undergo inner conflict, which would prove to be troublesome at this time and could cause chaos among the leadership. Perhaps I should look into ways to remove that part of her. For now, it would be best to leave Hianta's fate open to see how it goes.' Momonga tried to determine what, at the moment, was Nazarick's most beneficial course of action for Nazarick as a whole.

"We can still attempt to capture her if that's possible, but I strictly forbid anyone from risking their lives for that purpose if they're not completely confident they can capture her," Momonga declared in a tone that left no room for negotiation.

"Moving on, Demiurge, you may start explaining the general plan." Momonga turned to the demon, skeletal fingers ominously tapping. The others perked up, knowing their time to advise had come.

With a quick swish of his tail, Demiurge stood up with his nowadays characteristic stack of papers in his hands, always ready to hand out reports to those who needed it. Fixing his glasses and starting to speak as his papers duplicated themselves around the table, his usual aura of smugness oozed out in waves.

"Let's start with the most pressing question on the table; how to perform the handling of Hinata. Thanks to Lord Momonga graciously getting involved and personally testing her with a team of undead, we have a clear picture of the overall danger she poses. With that in mind, she will be handled by a team of Supreme Beings and floor guardians."

Demiurge fixed his glasses and continued. "Rubedo is the only one permitted to engage Hinata in close combat due to the unusual sword's high raw damage output and refined control over spiritron-based magic. Lady Buku will provide assistance in the form of moral, physical, and magical support, and attempt to utilize her ultimate skill to weaken the enemy from a distance, although still within visible range. Lord Momonga, Lord Pero, Aura, and Mare will provide ranged support with a combination of environmental manipulation, soul targeting, and overall raw power. Albedo will guard Lord Momonga in the case Hinata decides to target him personally, assuming she has defeated or fled from Rubedo."

Figurines representing the mentioned characters shifted themselves around the map, along with arrows for plans of ranged attacks dictating precisely where each person would be placed and circles for ideal locations for one-on-one duels.

"Moving on to the rest of the attacking army and how the decimation shall occur. Shalltear, Diablo, and I will oversee the harvesting of noteworthy individuals for further experimentation, assuming long-range support from sprites, dragonnewts, and majins have not yet annihilated them. To my assessment, the anti-magic shield the Ruberios church employs isn't noteworthy, considering someone of special A rank or above would be immune due to the shield's insufficient magicule extraction rate. This proves to be inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, although it will be slightly uncomfortable for those at Special A rank and could distract from battle."

"The rest of the army will be slowed and its overall morale destroyed through the utilization of a set of weapons designed by Pandora's Actor. The border area between Tempest and Falmuth is currently armed with minefields and other traps that will cripple, maim, and demoralize the enemy for hours before reaching our preferred fighting location. Considering that corpses can be utilized in the creation of powerful servants, total annihilation should be avoided, giving preference to less destructive ways of dealing with the attackers."

Again, more figurines and blocks flew across the map as the map itself changed, army blocks overlapping marked hexagonal fields and a trio of characters surrounding said blocks.

The demon's smirk only grew, much to some spectators' horror or delight, as he flipped his pages and uttered a final, sealing deal with barely contained reverence. "And finally, the main event of the whole operation will be Lord Momonga personally dealing with the entire enemy army, once all other obstacles are removed, through a single mass area of effect spell. Any questions regarding this part of the plan?"

Kagali carefully raised her hand as she observed the map's pieces rearrange themselves according to the plan if run successfully, grabbing ahold of a movement stick and motioning toward Momonga's figurine. If the opportunity to be useful presented itself she was going to take it to raise her status and contribute possibly useful information. "I have a suggestion."

"Let's hear it." Demiurge nodded.

"Although this is nothing more than a theory after scouring my records of soul-related information, I suspect the gathering of human souls is one of the main catalysts for a Demon Lord awakening. Learning to gather them would not be too difficult of a task for Nazarick's upper echelons. I can teach the method to anyone who needs it, it only requires extremely fine control over magicules and high power the Lords should have."

"Are there any other uses for souls? If that is the case, I can adjust the Nazarick skill connection with your help, and that would let anyone connected gather souls and send them to me," Momonga responded, interested. The other guild members were interested, with some others like Hakurou watching on in utter surprise as handling souls was something unfathomable, to them.

"Unfortunately, most of my father's research was lost with his downfall. However, from what little I could gather back then and preserved, he was gathering souls for 'undisclosed purposes.' In my humble opinion, it is better to gather a potential resource and then discard it if nothing of value can be done, rather than just not gather it at all."

"Agreed. Thank you for your input," Momonga addressed Kagali and motioned for Demiurge to continue.

{ Hey Momo, are we really doing this? You know, going full-on 'We eat the souls of anyone who fucks with Ainz Ooal Gown' route. Not that I'm against it. I just want to make sure we aren't holding onto human morality anymore. } Buku messaged him and the other guild members, activating Thought Acceleration for everyone as well.

{ If it's us versus the world, I won't waste any potential way to boost Nazarick. This show of power should deter most forces from attacking us, including potential enemies or current allies. And if we can empower ourselves and our allies to reach the same status and power level of some entities we have yet to meet, it would act as a reassurance in the case Milim refuses to defend or we have the ideal opportunity to gather data. } Momonga told her, cold determination lacing his voice.

{ If we ever die, we'd go to hell anyway, meaning we might as well get the whole villain bingo filed up and go there as legends. Demiurge found entire libraries of the stuff in this world, and he could incorporate those into his own plans for us to play along with. Having entities capable of living centuries at a time helps generate myths. } Pero joined in with a laugh.

{ Good point. } Buku agreed with her brother. { It's too late to go back or hold back at this point. }

{ I'm with the Chief on this one as well. If humans foolishly invade our domain, we have to crush them. By the way, why wasn't I mentioned in the plan? You got something for me to do, right? } Veldora whined, suspecting that he, once again. was left out of all the fun. He was quite strong, he could hold his ground! He was the Storm Dragon Veldora, destroyer of nations!

{ You and Pandora will defend Nazarick in the case an unknown entity decides to infiltrate it while the rest of us are dealing with known attackers. And that is non-negotiable. } Momonga crushed the dragon's hopes for some action in one fell swoop, authority ringing in their minds.

{ But- }

{ You are the prime and original target for destruction. You are not leaving the tomb, that is final. }

{ Fine… } Veldora gave in with gritted teeth. Once again, he didn't get what he wanted, but at this point, he had learned it was pointless to argue with his fellow guildmates unless he had a trick up his sleeve. This time, he had none. He saw their line of logic too, even if he was thinking they were far too paranoid regarding the danger levels of mere humans. After all, even Nazarick's own citizens would pose a higher danger level than them.

Demiurge quickly scribbled some adjustments to his plans to include soul harvesting and continued. "Considering that both the Ruberios Church and the Kingdom of Falmuth are throwing everything they have at us, there is no better time for a counterattack than now when their warriors are away and their headquarters are defenseless. While we cannot currently ensure a complete victory against the Holy Empire of Ruberios due to unknown Demon Lord factors, Cocytus will lead the invasion of Falmuth, which has two main goals.

First, quickly establish total control over the movements of the populace, which will be achieved by deploying rapid movement, disposable units unallocated to the main defense, as an invasion force on the western border of Falmuth. This will effectively cut them off from the rest of the human nations, preventing any notion of reinforcements from allied nations. Second, cull all possible opposition left within, and spare the easy-to-control population for future use. Additionally, King Gazel will be strong-armed to close Dwargon's border, preventing nobles and merchants from fleeing the country through the use of economic and/or magical superiority."

"What if other human nations decide to get involved despite our encirclement?" Buku asked, shifting around the figurines as Demiurge described his plans for others to study it for themselves.

"This scenario is unlikely, but in case of a surprise attack, the first wave of deployment will be split into two forces. One will be left as a defensive force, whose task will be to strengthen the border with disposable military installments and a similar defense line to the one currently used on our border with Falmuth, centering around larger towns and cities. However, in the case of stronger individuals become involved, the plan will be readjusted according to the worst-case scenario by being reinforced with stronger, disposable monsters such as liches, and only if those are decimated will total abandonment of invasion plans commence. The other force, of course, is Cocytus' force."

With no additional questions being verbalized or thought of, Demiurge continued. "Lastly, Benimaru will handle the defense of Blumund. Considering that only one strong individual is present in the forces stationed just outside the borders, a small detachment of our standing undead forces will be enough to stop any attacks, with an elite core of majin and kijin forces defending the capital."

"Other points of note are that in case of betrayal from Eurazania, Sarion, or Fulbrosia, some of our forces will have to be diverted to defend our southern border, and there is a slight chance of unaccounted powers entering the conflict against us, of which Nazarick will unleash a portion of its hidden armies en masse. Sprites and direwolf riders will act as our scouts and perform hit-and-run tactics until the undead reach the frontlines."

"I could station some of my standing forces closer to Eurazania as a warning. Carrion would not risk attacking Tempest if he feared a sneak attack from me," Clayman spoke up, shifting around his pieces.

"Although beneficial in the short term, Carrion could see that as a threat of invasion, and revealing your alliances is not yet beneficial to our cause. We cannot take the risk of his espionage revealing your purpose being our protection instead of simultaneous invasion," Demiurge declined his offer.

As always, it was easier to let Demiurge do most of the work, and the demon was more than happy to be giving such a critical part of the whole operation. He lived to serve the Supreme Beings, heart, body, and soul.

What Momonga knew from his years of experience as a guild master was that no plan survived the clash with reality, and at least some problems were bound to arise. He would have to craft backup plans for Demiurge's plans, just in case. There were still unaccounted forces in this world possibly aiming for his nation, such as the other legendary True Dragons, and with himself occupied with the battle, emergency measures would have to be taken. Another reason why they would leave Veldora behind, to stall for time.

For now, all he could do was hope that nothing too out of the line happens and that he and others wouldn't make easy-to-prevent mistakes during the next few days.

Editing by aidan_lo

Proofreading by aidan_lo, Sluethen, Cakeeight, Aurodium, x4x, and FantasyTroll.

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 (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader (gives access to chapters months ahead of regular readers).