Overlord: Advent of the New Gods

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two noblemen. Raven led Boullope inside the fallen noble's mansion, leaving their common guards behind. It was an unspoken agreement between all noble families that any of them, no matter how hated they were among the social circles, would be treated with dignity, and that the most brutal methods of powerplay were reserved for the lessers below their collective status. This had been subtly enforced for the simple reason that nobles wouldn't fear capture in conflicts and wouldn't employ scorched earth approaches when pushed into a corner, allowing for resources to be preserved.

Boullope went straight for the bar in the main reception room, poured two glasses of brandy, and handed one to Raven. Without exchanging a word both sat down on plush armchairs and took simultaneous sips in silence.

"Now what? We both know the investigation will be a farce." Boullope was first to speak, his expression stony showing his resolve to stare in the face of death with no fear.

"You couldn't just keep your mouth shut for ten minutes. What exactly did you hope to achieve?" Raven responded with a question of his own.

"That moron will get us all killed!" Boullope snarled, "You have family, you want them to be killed because of our idiot king?"

"And throwing a fit will help us how?" Raven, as always, kept his cool, even in the face of his peer's outburst.

"We're dead either way."

"Not if we do something about it. Dmitri and the rest should arrive any minute." Raven downed the glass, placing it on the coffee table beside the chair.

Boullope fell silent. The implications were clear. If his suspicions were right, besides his son, Zanac and perhaps even Renner would arrive any minute.

His son first entered the room and dropped on the sofa opposite the armchairs.

"You know that your sister is lost?" He addressed his son.

"Ellga? Can you blame her? She loves that…our king. I won't risk my family and my house for her." Dmitri spat, his expression early similar to his father's, proving just how similar father and son were. While the old Boullope had grown fat with age, his son was in tip-top shape.

"Our time is short, Barbro will suspect that all of us are working against him if we leave his sight for long," Zanac remarked, entering the room with Renner in tow.

"Indeed. Peshurian and Malmvist report our good king has gained some uncanny strength and foresight," The last attendee, Hilma revealed.

"What is she doing here?" Boullope asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but the high noble will have to deal with a lowborn whore like me if you want the Eight Fingers to join your cause." Hilma approached the bar and grabbed a bottle as she took a long puff from her cigarette, popping it open.

"We need all the allies we can get. The information Hilma revealed is… disturbing and I took liberty to request her involvement." Raven said.

"She could be a double agent," Boullope remarked.

"Rats and cockroaches are the first to flee a house that is about to collapse. Say what you want about the Eight Fingers, but they're mostly not run by fools," Renner commented.

"Of course, a witch would recognize her own," Boullope spat.

"Let's not devolve this meeting into infighting. Hilma, I have a question I would like to be answered." Zanac tried to be the voice of arbitration and keep emotions from running out of control during these tense times.

"And what question would that be?" Hilma inquired, taking a large puff from her pipe and taking a gulp directly from a brandy bottle, showing no desire for keeping any sort of manners.

"You said my brother has gained strength? Does that mean your people, guarding him, would not be enough for…a quick fix?" Zanac chose his words carefully. He was well aware that the whole meeting was an act, that the decisions on how things would go were already made, and that he and the others were but pawns moved around by Lord Ulbert, with Renner being the executor of the whole plan.

"No. Not even close. Whoever is behind Barbro made him basically untouchable. He grabbed a sword by the blade and broke it with bare hands without as much as a cut, smashing the person's head into the floor. Thankfully, the maid didn't know better. So you better cough up someone who can, like that saint girl, what was her name…"

"Neia Baraja," Renner said.

"Her. Or ask those Gods again. Just one thing, Eight Fingers will go along with whatever you plan, but we want a legal amnesty afterward and be recognized as a mercenary organization," Hilma bluntly demanded.

"Ask Nazarick for more? What reason would they have to not take over after they help us again?" Boullope questioned.

"It's not the question of whether they will take over or not but which side we choose, it is only a matter of time. Let's face it, the world has been turned into a battleground of two factions of Gods, beings beyond our comprehension and capability. The old and the new, and everyone with any sense needs to pick one side to not be simple and easy collateral damage. I think our choice with all the resulting consequences is an easy one." Renner spoke casually as she motioned for Zanac to get her a glass with something strong, which the archduke did without hesitation, displaying the power dynamics between them.

Boullope and Raven both took a quick notice while Hilma just watched with amusement. Dmitri, still unused to power dynamics between the most important people of the nation, chose to just observe for now to get a better understanding of how to get a favorable position.

"So you propose we just give our nation, our home, and our people to Nazarick?" Boullope asked. What Renner said made too much sense to be argued, even if he disliked it. The Slane Theocracy's isolation, the invasion of the capital, and the incident of E-Rantel. The Gods have been fighting a covert war, and his home was now chosen as a field of battle. And he, as a military-oriented man, knew what happened to those who got caught in between two armies. One side needed to be chosen, fast.

"Not just give over, no. First, we request help as allies and then let Nazarick vassalize the nation, leaving the power structure intact, essentially leaving the majority of the nobility to govern the nation under the protection of Gods. King or God Emperor, taxes are taxes," Renner assured him.

"Let's get straight to the point then. Who will become the King after Barbro is removed? And Renner, I think it is time we stop pretending what role you play here," Raven questioned.

"Role, whatever do you mean?" Renner giggled. "Oh well. Sure, I can be the mastermind behind the operation with the condition that I can marry Climb and I am given a sizable portion of the lands and keep the title I have now. As for the King, I'm sure we can all agree that my dear brother is the best option. And since he is unmarried, we can work out details of which noble family provides the queen later among us. After all, we have a few years until Dmitri's youngest sister reaches the age of marriage, the same as Raven's niece."

"Indeed. In either case, our families would form the new royal faction and aid the King."

"Didn't you plan to marry either Bloody Emperor or Caspond Bassarez? Or that was another one of your lies?" Boullope inquired.

"I see you're not so easily deceived. Of course, it was a lie. I had figured out that Re-Estize would have to join Nazarick a while ago and needed to keep all parties where they were supposed to be for the time being. Why do you think I befriended Saint Neia?"

"You're not as clever as you think," Boullope grunted.

"Father, I don't see a benefit in antagonizing the Duchess. If anything, we should make sure our interests align to benefit from her foresight on political matters," Dmitri interjected.

Boullope sighed, leaning forward in his chair. "Dmitri… You can keep the position as the head of our house. My expertise is best used on the battlefield. I suspect we won't deal with the mad king that easily and a prolonged war is inevitable."

"I will do my best, father." Dmitri nodded. "First, we need a clear plan of action. I presume King Barbro will order me to form the army and I will be in no position to deny him."

"You will form the army, and if it comes to worst just march it away from the capital and deal with any nobbles openly supporting Barbro. I will contact Neia and request help from Nazarick on behalf of all of us. As Boullope pointed out, war is unlikely to be quickly resolved, and there are elements even I cannot predict. That being said, remove anyone you care for from the capital and move them to the northeastern provinces. Being as close as possible to Nazarick's border is the safest bet. I wouldn't put past a possibility that Barbro could be able to summon demons just like the Slane Cardinal could, particularly with his newfound abilities, and the further they are away from the fight, the better."

Renner took a breath and continued, "Hilma, be prepared to remove your men from the castle at a moment's notice. We need all to leave at the same time to suffer minimal losses, the weakened capabilities would cripple them temporarily. I would prefer not to lose anyone present despite our differences, as capable people are in short supply. For now, let's agree that Zanac will be the leader of the opposition and the future King of Re-Estize, with the marriage option resolved when the war is over. House Boullope and House Raven are cornerstones of this nation; without either our chances to remain in charge are greatly diminished."

"I agree," Raven stated.

"I agree as well." Dmitri nodded.

"Excellent. Then I will coordinate everything through message spells. I will use the password, 'Golden Path' so you know it is me contacting you. My ability to cast the spell is still limited, and I can only keep it active for minutes at a time, so no arguing or lengthy talks when I use it," Renner instructed.

"Since when can you use magic?" Boullope inquired.

"For about three months. Any other pointless questions?" Renner continued.

With that, the meeting ended and Renner departed with Zanac from the mansion. The rebellion was set in motion and now the stage play could begin. Luckily, Neia was more than willing to play along and pretend she couldn't just kill Barbro in an instant.

'It is done, Lord Demiurge,' She reported to her superior as she entered the carriage with Gazef as the driver and Climb already waiting inside.

'Excellent. Find an excuse to be in private. You will be transported to Carne for training under Nfirea for the evening.' The archdemon informed her.

'I will. Thank you, Lord Demiurge.'

'You can skip formalities for efficiency's sake when they are not required.'

'Understood. I will make sure I can be transported the moment I return to the castle.' Renner let out a yawn to show Climb that she was tired, keeping up the facade.

Her fellow Apostle's living conditions were a lot more humble than she had expected. Renner found herself in a simple wooden house with decently made but rather plain decorations, save for a bookshelf full of thick and elaborate books regarding magic, alchemy, and enchanting.

She was sitting by the table with Nfirea, who was going over the contents of a book about the basics of magic, which was at a completely different level compared to the ones found in the royal library.

"Pages one to ninety are all the utility and protection spells you should learn, ideally as soon as possible. This book only contains spells up to tier four, but you cannot safely practice anything higher anyway. By the way, do you know what tier level you can learn?" Nfirea inquired.

"I am not sure, I think at least tier five. As I understand, I should be somewhere around level forty-two by the measuring system Gods use," Renner answered. Lord Demiurge had only given her an approximation of her power level since without training it didn't mean a lot anyway, and it was a useful enough metric to gauge raw power.

"I see then tier six should-"

"Enfi, the dinner it…who is thi- oh, I am so sorry, your Highness." A blonde girl barged in and after the first outburst, recognised her.

"You must be Enri Bareare. It is a pleasure to meet you and please, no formalities. Your husband and I are of the same rank." Renner flashed the young woman a charming smile.

"Y-yes. I know…habit," Enri stammered.

"I understand. But I think we will meet a lot in the future and who knows, maybe even become good friends. I for one would like to have a casual and friendly relationship with my peer's wife." Renner used a reassuring and soft tone to put Enri at ease.

"I would like that. Enfi, dinner is ready, will you be busy for long?" Enri turned back to her husband.

"No, just give us a few minutes. I need to give some instructions to Renner so she can study on her own," Nfirea replied.

With that Enri left the room and Nfirea continued explanations with urgency. "Please stick to low-tier magic and non-offensive spells. Once you are ready and used to their magic, we will practice higher-tier ones inside Nazarick for safety purposes. Hopefully, we can get you to tier-five casting soon and you, same as me, have the potential to learn teleportation."

"Teleportation would be very useful. I will try my best to push my magical skill." Renner accepted the book and was soon sent back to her quarters with it. Her real training could finally begin, and she was excited for it.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by MFKZ_rocker, Stac, fvvck, aidan_lo, and IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO

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