"Eve, give me your report."
Roy had enjoyed quite a show and was in an excellent mood.
He had thoroughly outmaneuvered the Bone King, making a mortal enemy of the Space Dragon for him.
Now he could launch an offensive against the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Everything would be done in the Dragon Worship Cult's name anyway, leaving the Great Tomb of Nazarick with no way to find the real culprit if it wanted revenge.
The more he attacked the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the more desperately it would fight the Space Dragon.
Wasn't that wonderful?
Eve bowed respectfully.
"Yes, Supreme One."
"The Petit-Catastrophe the Great Tomb of Nazarick's guardian just used was equivalent to two casts of Fallen Sky, disregarding resistances."
"It depleted the Dragon's Magic Mantle by a total of 0.5%."
"Based on that estimate, World City would need to activate at least four hundred casts of Super-Tier Magic simultaneously to burn through that Magic Mantle."
"At present, even if the Great Tomb of Nazarick deployed its entire force, including its Siege Golems, it would have only a 10% chance of wearing down the Space Dragon's Magic Mantle."
"These calculations do not account for World Items."
"Additionally, the Dragon's final breath attack was extremely unusual."
"I suspect it has a special function and could even become its signature means of invading the Great Tomb of Nazarick."
"Should World City provide assistance to the Great Tomb of Nazarick to prevent the Space Dragon from winning too easily?"
"After all, given its experience with Mare, the Space Dragon is very likely to employ a special sealing method in combat to prevent resurrection."
"In that case, their first confrontation would also be their decisive battle."
Eve's analytical report was lengthy, listing all manner of calculations as well as the distribution of the Space Dragon's mana.
Mana was like an aura, drifting around a person's body, stronger in some places and weaker in others.
Eve's ability to discern weaknesses was a special skill of the Valkyries' Gunner class.
She could instantly identify the weakest point and observe the flow of energy within the Dragon.
Unfortunately, Mare had not lasted long enough for Eve to fully deduce the Space Dragon's life cycle.
Otherwise, the Valkyries' Gunner class had a special skill called Origin Bullet.
It specifically disrupted the flow of life and could inflict massive internal damage on monsters.
As far as they could tell, the Space Dragon was a textbook stat monster.
Aside from its somewhat unusual final Dragon Breath, they had yet to discover any special moves, though that might have been because Mare was not strong enough.
Roy looked over Eve's analysis. Thanks to Mare's battle, they had gathered a vast amount of intelligence on the Space Dragon in one go.
Originally, World City's best option for achieving a complete victory against the Space Dragon had been to deploy its entire force.
Now the threat appeared less severe, which was excellent news.
Intelligence was the lifeblood of battle. With the Great Tomb of Nazarick knowing almost nothing about the Space Dragon, its chances of defeat were high.
That was why Eve had proposed helping the Great Tomb of Nazarick, lest it fail to perform well enough for them to gather more useful intelligence.
Roy considered it, then said:
"We can provide some intelligence, but not directly. Embed it within the Dragon Worship Cult's internal information."
"As for their strength, if we account for Momonga's Orb, the Great Tomb of Nazarick isn't entirely incapable of putting up a fight."
"We don't need to worry too much about them. We can even hit them hard."
Momonga's Orb was the red orb in the Bone King's abdomen.
There were two versions of its description.
According to the light novel version, Ainz could sacrifice five levels to unleash its power to the fullest, with one of its effects specifically targeting Dragons.
The web novel version made an even more extraordinary claim: when the Great Tomb of Nazarick had faced fifteen hundred level-100 invaders and wiped them all out, the greatest contributing factor had been the Bone King's use of Momonga's Orb.
Roy had read the item's description. One version concerned its lore, while the other concerned its in-game effects.
As for which would hold true in the New World, that remained unclear.
In short, the Bone King still had a fighting chance.
Eve nodded at his words.
"I understand. Then your plan, Supreme One, is to adopt a Two-Front War Plan."
"On one front, we will make the True Dragon Lords believe that the Great Tomb of Nazarick is taking action."
"On the other, we will make the Great Tomb of Nazarick believe that the True Dragon Lords are targeting it."
"At the same time, we must control the intensity of the fighting without damaging the Great Tomb of Nazarick's core combat strength, allowing them to gradually discover the Space Dragon and eventually engage it in a decisive battle."
Roy had initially only wanted to hit the Great Tomb of Nazarick hard, but Eve had refined the plan into a war on two fronts.
Never mind just the Great Tomb of Nazarick-World City could attack the Dragon Lords as well.
So Roy said decisively:
"Eve, you may have guessed my plan."
"But do you understand the risks of fighting on two fronts?"
Eve answered without hesitation:
"Rest assured, Supreme One. After the incident with Mare, the Great Tomb of Nazarick will certainly focus its defenses on its most precious level-100 NPCs."
"Even when they leave, they will definitely carry World Items. Unless World City deploys multiple experts, capturing them will be difficult, and even capturing one would expose information about us."
"Therefore, our targets will not be them, but the mid- and low-level NPCs."
"For example, the Great Tomb of Nazarick's Battle Maids."
"Or the Argland Council State's Ordinary Councilor Dragon Lords."
"Their strength is nowhere near sufficient, yet successfully capturing them would provoke a substantial reaction."
"This would leave us with less than a 0.1% risk of exposure while generating sufficient hatred."
"To that end, I hope you will be seated upon the Throne at the time, Supreme One."
By this point, Roy naturally understood Eve's plan to steer events, as well as the item she intended to use.
It was the World Crown.
One of the World Crown's effects was simple: any NPC who entered World City without carrying a World Item would kneel in submission.
It was an area-of-effect version of Downfall of Castle and Country.
Capture one, brainwash one.
The Great Tomb of Nazarick would equip its level-100 NPCs with World Items, making them difficult to deal with.
But its Battle Maids probably would not have World Items on them.
Entomologist Narberal, for instance.
If Roy wanted to provoke the Bone King, capturing a few maids would work best.
It would not weaken the Great Tomb of Nazarick's high-end combat strength, yet it would provoke a deep reaction while pinning the blame on the True Dragon Lords.
Two birds with one stone. It looked perfect.
Especially since the more NPCs Roy captured, the more the Great Tomb of Nazarick would work for him. That was simply too wicked.
No, too wonderful.
Roy had no reason to refuse. He even smiled as he said:
"Let's do this."
"Let the Nine Governors stretch their legs a little."
"Except for Lucifer of Sky City, who will handle the Slane Theocracy."
"Assign four Governors and grant them the [Chains of Heaven], [Gloves of the Fire Thief], [Dictator's Copper Ring], and [Nibelung's Ring of Curses], respectively. They will use these four World Items to capture personnel from the Great Tomb of Nazarick."
"For now, only capture its low-level members, primarily the Battle Maids and similar personnel."
"Grant the other four Governors the [Zhuge Liang's Eight Formation Diagram], [Saint George's Dragon-Slaying Spear], [Eternal Sleep Moon Wheel], and [Sighing Bulwark]. They will use these four World Items to investigate and capture ordinary Dragon Lords."
"Don't be too aggressive at first. Investigate gradually and take action gradually."
"Prioritize safety. Capturing targets comes second."
"If success isn't absolutely certain, don't act rashly."
Eve seemed to have been waiting for this moment all along, her face brimming with excitement.
"The Supreme One is preparing to step onto the stage of history."
"The Nine Governors will feel boundless honor and joy at this."
"They have long been eager to get started and accomplish something great."
Roy smiled and said:
"Enough with the flattery. I'm not the Bone King."
Eve still answered with complete seriousness:
"Having the Supreme One rule the world is our mission and our glory."
"There is no flattery in that."
"Then bring me your plan for ruling the world. Let me take a look."
Having gained a preliminary grasp of his power, Roy prepared to extend his claws of justice toward the world.
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