Could They Still Slaughter an Entire City?

"We've arranged Nazarick's defenses. Albedo, once you've finished setting up all the defenses, hand things over to Pandora. I'm sorry to ask you to spend some time in the Frozen Prison, but you may go out and fight if enemies invade."

Momonga felt terribly sorry for Albedo. If he hadn't lost so miserably, he could have rejected Demiurge's proposal by pointing out that Albedo lacked time resistance.

But his defeat had been complete. He hadn't even seen what the enemy looked like. In his view, even if he gave that reason, Demiurge would probably counter that Albedo should have detected the enemy beforehand.

The enemy had launched a surprise assassination. If Demiurge argued that failing to keep watch over everything nearby was a mistake, how could he defend Albedo?

If his authority hadn't been damaged, he would naturally have had the confidence to argue back, or even forcefully shut down Demiurge's doubts. But if a loser tried to argue, people would only think he was making excuses for his failure. The Guardians would see him as an incompetent ruler who appointed the unqualified.

"Tabula Smaragdina, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect your children."

"Lord Ainz, your earlier order forbade all the Guardians from leaving Nazarick. But if that stands, I won't be able to complete that mission. Please give me your instructions." Demiurge spoke up.

Huh? Huh? What mission? Oh, he means the matter I just put Demiurge in charge of. Does that mission require him to leave Nazarick? What exactly is it? I really want to know, Momonga thought.

"You're an exception, Demiurge. You may leave Nazarick freely to take care of that matter." Momonga paused, then took a ring from his Infinite Backpack. "To make things easier for you, I'm giving you this Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown. I hope you make good use of it."

"Thank you very much for trusting me, Lord Ainz. I'll devote myself wholeheartedly to Nazarick." Demiurge stepped forward and knelt on one knee to accept the ring. His expression remained calm, but inside, he was overwhelmed with excitement.

"Ahem. Everyone, return to your posts and get to work at once." Momonga had finished giving his orders, so he spoke up. Next, he needed to go to the Treasury and inform Pandora that he was taking over.

"Lord Ainz, one more thing. How should Aura and Mare be punished?" Demiurge reminded him.

"Ugh..." Momonga let out a quiet groan. He hadn't expected Demiurge to remember that. After a moment's thought, he looked at the Elf Twins.

He suddenly remembered something and asked, "Mare, can you completely conceal Nazarick's surface structures?"

"Huh? C-completely cover them? I-I can do that," Mare said cautiously.

"Then let that be your punishment. Also, make the terrain look natural. Hmm... I remember there's a forest nearby. If possible, I'd like you to plant vegetation and trees so that it connects to that forest. Can you do that?" Momonga asked.

"N-no problem, Lord Ainz." Mare thought for a moment, then added, "B-but wouldn't that look a little strange? It might be better to make the area larger, then have my sister make monsters live in the forest. That way, enemies won't be able to find Nazarick's exact location."

"Hmm... That'll work. In that case, Aura, helping him with this task will be your punishment too." Momonga nodded. Mare's suggestion had made him realize that covering only Nazarick's grounds wasn't very wise. It would be better to connect the entire surrounding area to the forest.

Though anyone familiar with the region might find the change strange, it would conceal Nazarick's true location. And if anyone wandered in, it would also make it easier to capture them and obtain information about the outside world.

After all, no matter how naturally they altered the terrain, anyone familiar with the area would still notice something was wrong. It was better to use the connection to the forest as a disguise.

After leaving the Throne Room, Aura and Mare walked side by side along the road leading out of Nazarick. Just then, Demiurge's voice came from behind them.

"Mare."

"Ah, D-Demiurge. What is it?" Mare looked up at him.

"Nothing in particular. I just hope you understand that concealing mistakes isn't good for Nazarick. On the road to conquering the world, even the smallest error can lead to disastrous consequences," Demiurge said.

"I-I understand." Mare nodded.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Aura clenched her fist and challenged Demiurge. She was always scolding Mare, but she still fiercely protected her younger brother.

"Ah, my apologies. I meant no offense. Everything I do, whether it concerns you, Albedo, or anyone else, is for Nazarick and Lord Ainz. I'll take my leave." With that, Demiurge hurried away.

Aura turned to Mare and asked, "Did you tell him what happened?"

"N-no, Sister. He contacted me first. I didn't tell him that Lord Ainz had been killed. I only told him Lord Ainz was in Nazarick," Mare said.

"Is that so? Then it looks like he figured it out." Aura rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment. "You can't use teleportation magic to go directly into Nazarick from inside the dungeon, so if he didn't see Lord Ainz in the surface structures but then found him directly inside Nazarick..."

Aura shook her head helplessly and said to Mare, "This isn't your fault. Demiurge is just too clever. But if something like this happens again, you can tell him to ask Lord Ainz directly."

Hades followed the direction Nigun had pointed. The fifty-kilometer trip wasn't very far, and he reached his destination quickly by flying. There, he saw an ancient-style city surrounded by layer upon layer of walls.

A city with such massive walls felt strangely familiar to him. In his original world, arcologies had built towering walls to keep residents of the poorer classes out.

The people of large conglomerates lived in the inner-city arcologies, cut off from everything outside. With class divisions impossible to reconcile, terrorist attacks targeting the wealthy sometimes broke out in the inner city.

The arcologies had comprehensive police forces to protect the rich, so even when a terrorist attack occurred, it was quickly dealt with and the criminals were arrested.

Hades understood that this kind of social environment would produce many people who hated society. And on the internet, the wall separating the rich from the poor had already disappeared. So it wasn't unreasonable for some to speculate that the members of Ainz Ooal Gown were a group of people who hated society.

Now that he'd attacked Ainz Ooal Gown, this city was the perfect place to hide his tracks.

As long as he disguised himself as a local and blended in without exposing himself, Hades didn't believe that even Ainz Ooal Gown could be so insane as to slaughter an entire city.