Shalltear was in such a blissful mood that not even Albedo being in an equally blissful state could dampen her spirits. The fact that Albedo was so elated for exactly the same reason as Shalltear herself did, didn't even register in her mind. So what if Lord Momonga had bestowed his love not just on Shalltear but on Albedo too – as a Supreme Being, no single creature could fully comprehend all his thoughts, actions or emotions, including love and carnal pleasures. The fact that afterwards Lord Momonga managed to gather both semi-conscious girls, transport them back to Nazarick, take a bath and head to the human world before the two could regain consciousness, only confirmed this.
After everything that had happened, even waking up in the same bed as Albedo without Lord Momonga present was easily ignored by her mind. Shalltear wanted to float on cloud nine rather than think about some big-mouthed gorillas… And the fact that Albedo was indeed a big-mouthed gorilla didn't matter much to Shalltear anymore.
Yes, she was one, and her saggy udders were definitely inferior to Shalltear's own aerodynamic form – but so what? After all, Lord Momonga found reason to love those udders, so who was Shalltear to argue with Lord Momonga's opinion?
Given that Albedo shared this mindset, the Great Tomb of Nazarick, already accustomed to the constant squabbling between the two closest contenders for being Lord Momonga's main wife, suddenly found peace. That their life could exist without those constant bickering, and the perpetually frowning girls ready to tear apart their closest subordinate, could actually be almost friendly with their surroundings.
So much so that when Shalltear discovered a young man bound hand and foot near the suspension bridge over an abyss on her assigned floor, she did not immediately order his execution. She, instead, tried to remember who he was before snapping her fingers in realization.
"That's right, you're Viy!"
"Ahem, it's Vis, Your Highness…" The Kamaitachi Youkai from Kyoto, captured by Shalltear, attempted to bow, as much as possible in his condition anyway, being tied up hand and foot, uncertain of exactly how he should do it and how he should address Shalltear. After all, even if he was from Kyoto, one of Japan's most traditional cities, it didn't mean he was an expert in noble etiquette.
However, as befitting his nature and Kamaitachi instincts, he at least knew exactly what to do to avoid losing his head prematurely. "I was trying to inquire with Your Highness about what orders you might have for me…"
"You tried to escape from your assigned cell, criminal!" A knee pressed into Vis' back, pushing his face into the ground, but Vis didn't express any outrage at this fact, at least to avoid losing that very face currently being pressed into the ground: "Lady Shalltear will determine your execution."
"Hmm, execution?" Shalltear looked at the young man's face, vaguely remembering that this one had helped her capture Kyoto's criminals and transport them to Nazarick for further analysis and study, something Demiurge and his subordinates had long since done and why Shalltear had received her reward. So Shalltear was feeling somewhat positively inclined towards this Viy… A miniscule amount, of course, but the fact that she felt anything positive to anyone not of Nazarick was already an achievement.
The fact that he tried to escape from his cage was at least somewhat compensated by Shalltear having forgotten about his existence anyway, so he would likely have just died otherwise. Even the fact that he had lost his usefulness after feeding all his criminal acquaintances from Kyoto to Nazarick, and couldn't be released after ending up in Nazarick anyway could be compensated by his further service…
However, in this case the bigger question before Shalltear herself was how Vis' would provide said service, and, more importantly, how that would contribute to Shalltear's own.
Like any being created by the Forty-One Supreme Beings, Shalltear wished to serve her masters in every possible way, without reserve, giving her flesh, blood and bones if needed, or at just their whim. The fact that Shalltear could also be rewarded with Lord Momonga's love for this, made her forget about any thoughts of rest and start actively seeking out any possible work she could take on…
However, this was precisely the problematic nature of her current situation, Shalltear couldn't think of any.
After she had captured the numerous criminal Youkai from Kyoto, Demiurge no longer required her services, just like Albedo or Lord Momonga himself. Aura and Mare, who had begun infiltrating the Khaos Brigade posing as the Old Gods Faction, naturally didn't need her presence, seeing as trying to disguise her Vampiric nature would be an effort in vain. She would need some help to craft her fake identity, and Aura or… Well, Aura would probably take that as Shalltear butting in on her job. Cocytus on the other hand was too eager to prove his valor and courage in conquering forgotten mythologies alone to involve Shalltear in his work.
In short - Shalltear couldn't find any opportunity to demonstrate her loyalty to Lord Momonga - and therefore, even if she wanted to spare the guy's life due to her good mood – she simply wouldn't find a reason to do so.
However, Vis, having already survived an encounter with Shalltear before, noticed how she almost sadly sighs and raised her hand up, he could literally feel the noose tightening around his neck. And so his mind, in its last moments, literally sparkled with activity, trying to think of a way to convince Shalltear to keep him alive. And ultimately couldn't find any… Except one,
"I can provide you with more Youkai!"
"Not interested," Shalltear looked at Vis uninterestedly, but due to her impossibly good mood didn't lower her hand immediately, signaling the fall of his metaphorical guillotine, instead holding it. Instead, Shalltear decided to reveal a bit more information to Vis, perhaps as a way to make him help her come up with something to do for Nazarick.
"We've already obtained enough information to manage without more kidnappings altogether, not to mention that any potentially useful accomplice has long been turned in by much more informed major criminals than you."
"But… But…" Vis felt a drop of sweat rolling down his forehead and saw Shalltear's hand slowly begin to fall, about to give the order for his execution, and Vis' brain screamed out the only thing that could come to his mind. It would be a betrayal to his entire race, but he was more than desperate enough to offer it.
"I can be your agent in Kyoto!"
Shalltear held her hand for another second, then sighed, continuing with the execution. "Perhaps if you are one of Nazarick's, but as an outsider who had seen the Tomb… No one could guarantee your loyalty…"
"But you!" Vis realized that any attempt to directly say that he definitely wouldn't betray Nazarick, or whatever they called themselves, was doomed to fail, so he had to grasp at any possibility,
"You can control me however you want! Absolutely! And all the Youkai, they don't just have information! Money! Power! Beautiful women! You can take all those from them."
Shalltear looked at Vis, then blinked and suddenly raised her finger to her chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. "Hmm… Now that's an idea!"
Vis didn't have time to catch his breath, sighing in relief as his life seemed to have been spared, however, as the next words shocked him even more.
"I've got it, what I can do for Nazarick! I'll capture Kyoto!"
***
Momonga was trying his absolute hardest to pretend that right now he was deep in contemplation – thinking heavy thoughts that forced him to close his eyes and furrowed his brow with all his might. For this occasion he didn't hesitate to take control of his facial expressions, changing them as appropriate, maintaining that severe furrowed look that made him look like he was thinking about something serious.
What was the reason for him to adopt such a serious look? What was he thinking hard about? Absolutely nothing.
Moreover, Momonga wasn't thinking while desperately furrowing his brows – it would be more accurate to say that he was actually panicking. Or as close as he could anyway, with his undead nature suppressing all strong emotions.
Behind Momonga's closed eyelids, he was cursing his bad luck.
'What kind of ancestral curse is this?! First, Issei took revenge on me from beyond the grave for killing him. Now is the Biblical God taking revenge on me for assuming his identity?! I'm a master necromancer specializing in death magic – I should be the one sending posthumous curses to people, not becoming their target!'
The reason for Momonga's panic was, surprisingly, not new and, frankly speaking, not too different from the cause of his panic at school, briefly described by the words 'I don't understand what exactly I don't understand'.
Momonga's 'infiltration' of the church happened quite peacefully. After assuming the identity and looks of some minor priest that Pandora's Actor had created for some past infiltration of his, Momonga only needed to nod at other priests' words and vaguely 'agree' with whatever they were talking about. Momonga's current identity was not one where people would go out of their way to approach him for an idle chat. Apparently the priest wasn't the most social of individuals.
However, in trying to learn about the god they worshiped here, the Biblical God… Momonga encountered many problems.
For example, the church stored many books, some of which were even magical or spoke of some magical subject or another, so Momonga planned to take them all. Of course, that would be in the future where he left the church and his assumed identity, so, right now, he could satisfy his idle curiosity only by reading them.
But the contents of most of them made no sense at all! And Momonga wasn't talking about the Magic books!
Some references to Leviticus, an author mentioning 'Matthew 26:5', a discussion inserted in the title about what is apocryphal and what isn't… And everywhere, everywhere, in these books, the writer relied on the reader already having some basic information about what exactly they were reading. Not a single book began with the words 'The Biblical God is a very kind god who values mercy and loves sugar donuts', how was Momonga supposed to figure them out when he had no basic information about the religion he had just joined?!
On the other hand, Momonga very quickly figured out the reason for such developments and realized that he had once again, as with the cursed school in the past, had missed the target. High school required certain specific knowledge from middle school that he hadn't learned, and the Church apparently required its own prior education and was more of a professional workplace than just a place of prayer and getting buffs.
Momonga had just gotten too used to the fact that in Yggdrasil, 'priests' of one religion or another could just be any random barbarian, shaman, or passerby. While Players have an image of high towers and magical universities when thinking about mages, it seemed like a 'priest' could be just anyone at all, they just needed to loudly proclaim that their god was the most correct one.
After these realizations, Momonga withdrew to himself to pretend that the contents of the books, that he barely understood as written words, were deep in heavy thoughts. No, he actually did sink into heavy thoughts about exactly how he needed to proceed further regarding his infiltration of the church… But he was overacting, with furrowed brows and closed eyes, everything Momonga could do to ward off any possible conversation with him at this moment.
Rather than wasting time cursing his luck, much, Momonga instead started thinking on how to solve his predicament. Indeed, he had accepted that he had once again fucked up, but self-recrimination would not bring him any answer, instead thought about how exactly he could fix the current situation and squeeze the maximum possible benefit from it.
A sign of growth really, if he could pat himself on the back, he would.
'Surely, that vaunted holy grail, a book, or even a chapter that could explain things to him what he wanted in a simple and comprehensive manner existed… But then a church would probably be the last place where he could find such a book.'
After all, why would the priests, the one that is there to teach the Gospel, the name of the Holy Book that Momonga had found, needed something so basic about a god they worship. A book explaining about what kind of god they are worshiping would be kind of silly, wouldn't it?
The priests, and apparently the parishioners as well, already knew perfectly well what kind of god they worship. Most likely, such things could be stored where they might be useful, for example, in orphanages where young children were housed, propaganda was most effective at a young age after all.
Momonga just needed to find such a place and take a couple of books…
Alternatively, Momonga could use a couple of spells and sneak into a private conversation between a priest and a parishioner. Apparently the unique mechanics of this religion were 'confessions' and the 'absolution of sins', so observing this event could also help Momonga understand the religion more.
But, at the moment, it was early morning, and so far Momonga had not seen a queue of people wanting to repent lined up at the church doors. So for now, Momonga chose the first option as the highest priority for his plans.
Of course, Momonga was not a complete invalid, he had managed to catch several simple details over the past few hours since he infiltrated the church. Like that someone, a central figure of the church itself, either the god in question or his son, the details get confusing, had sacrificed himself to save people. Although Momonga was not yet sure what exactly they were saving the people from, or how.
At least, from all the books he had read, a common theme of the god that he was supposed to be assuming the identity of, the god spoke of mercy, salvation, and philanthropy… Not exactly traits that Momonga embodied, at all.
He was supremely lacking in mercy to those outside of Nazarick, the only salvation he offered was that of a quick death, and as for being philanthropic… Well, he could probably work on that.
Still, it was not the worst or most impossible of possible traits that he needed to adopt, or at least fake. It could also be exploited to his advantage in the future, if his enemies expect him to act a certain way. Besides, playing to such emotions and expectations was much easier than if the god actually specializes in some kind of art of healing or chemical knowledge. Which Momonga barely knows, even taking into account his badly memorized alchemical recipes of Yggdrasil. That was Tabula's domain, not his, after all.
Alchemy was definitely a no-go, after all, no matter how effective Yggdrasil was and how great the freedom available to Players in it, alchemical recipes in it were much simpler than complex chemical processes of the real world. The process of turning one matter into another form was simply out of the question from him. He would have an easier time turning stone to bread for example.
In any case, after only being able to dredge the simplest details, and at that only enough to fit a small pamphlet, Momonga started delving into the volumes of lore that he could find, that is religious text. And Momonga found himself lost in the lines of text, lost as in not knowing where to start.
If Momonga had caught the basic understanding quickly enough, then any attempt to learn something more than 'God is good, and he is kind, and the bestest in all things', reading the Holy Book, he would have found himself lost in the weeds immediately.
The Holy Virgin, the Son, about the Father-Carpenter, the Last Days, the Kingdom of God, the Forbidden Fruit, and each author believed that anyone reading his works was perfectly familiar with these concepts. So basic were they, that the only way for Momonga to see himself learning them was through children's literature.
Did he need to look for an orphanage with a religious bent, or would any elementary school do?
However, Momonga could not just ask this question, never mind just how creepy that would sound, he was supposed to be a local, so he should already 'know' these things. Therefore, he had to put together a simple but brilliant plan, at least in his opinion, to beg his superiors for an assignment that included interacting with children!
For a religious organization, that includes grooming and propagandizing children, as all religions do, there is no way that there isn't such an assignment, indoctrination needs regular maintenance after all. And if he were to be assigned to such a job, he would be hitting multiple birds with one stone. Not only would he be able to acquire several 'elementary' level Holy Books, he would also be able to spend a day, or perhaps more, away from the Church, away from anyone that would talk with him about matters of faith. Matters that he was going to just be learning… Hopefully.
But, to accomplish this feat, he needed to do two things first. One, of course, that he needed to attract the attention of his superiors and to position himself as someone that is appropriate for such a job. Second, was to make damn sure that his superiors have a positive outlook towards him. And of course, the thing that is without any need to be spoken about, was that Momonga would need to catch them while they are in a good mood.
While Momonga might've been shit at religion or school subjects, when it came to dealing with colleagues and bosses at work, everyone around him needed a couple of hundred more years of experience before they could even hope to compete with his manipulative ass!
A product of the most toxic work culture that the future could create!
That's why right now, a time when even the sun hadn't fully risen yet, while those supposedly hard-working, non-materialistic simple parish priests were still sleeping, Momonga had been pacing around the courtyard of the small church. Plotting on how to convince his superiors to side with him and let him go 'preach' to the kids in the city.
Of course, his undead nature helped with this scheming, since Momonga didn't need sleep, he could spend all his newfound free time thinking about how to convince the brass to his line of thinking.
Sadly, despite his heads up in the art of ass kissing and brown nosing, the environment of the church was alien enough that he was quite unsure on how to proceed. The basic idea of showing himself off in the best light possible to get what he wants remains the same no matter the job or time period, it is how to do that that had stifled Momonga's effort.
He knew too little about priests' daily life and their job to know what to 'excel' at.
He wasn't even sure if the local exorcists would approve if he showed off his monster-killing prowess. Though according to intel, they knew perfectly well about the paranormal side of the world and even used artifacts from it, so he wouldn't be breaking any taboo of some sorts.
Momonga needed some not-too-paranormal but obvious as heck opportunity to do something that under any circumstances would definitely show off his good side…
"Lord Momonga." The Shadow Demon's voice nearly made Momonga jump out of his skin, the creature merged with Momonga's shadow, so perfectly mimicking it, completely hiding from Momonga's sight, and was so quiet that Momonga even forgot about its existence.
"Shadow Demon has passed information about an unknown group approaching the church."
'Is that report from a different Shadow Demon or are you talking about yourself in third person?' pondering again about giving the Shadow Demons names and what names they should use in this new world, Momonga didn't immediately catch what he was told.
"An unknown group?"
"Exactly so, Lord Momonga," The Shadow Demon somehow managed to bow to Momonga while remaining as a 2D shadow splayed across the ground. "Shadow Demon's observation of the approaching group determined they are definitely a combat group, however Shadow Demon failed to determine their power level. In atonement for this shameful failure, Shadow Demon requests permission for a purifying with ceremonial suicide."
"No, no! It's perfectly fine! It's not Shadow Demon's fault at all," Momonga inwardly sighed, sometimes his subordinates' zealous loyalty caused him more problems than benefits. Though the other way around would be more headache than not. "Shadow Demons don't have abilities to determine power levels or enemy capabilities, so there's absolutely no need to apologize for that."
Finally processing what he was told, with a 10-second delay, Momonga finally understood just what it is the Shadow Demon was actually telling him.
"Wait, a combat group is approaching the church?"
In Momonga's head, an image instantly formed of several tough tall muscular men with thuggish looks, moving towards the church with weapons drawn. They could even be paranormal beings, considering the fact that the church itself knew about paranormal creatures' existence and interacted with them. And given the exorcists' work, even eliminated them sometimes.
So Momonga, who initially thought that someone was trying to rob the church, realized that the church definitely wasn't the richest place to rob even in the small town they're in. It was not a robbery attempt, but an attack, a raid on the church.
And considering that the Angels had recently destroyed a large group of Fallen Angels not far from here? This was definitely a retaliatory raid!
In the world of Yggdrasil, Momonga had witnessed this pattern numerous times. When two guilds clashed, unless in the first attack one group managed to eliminate the other completely, and sometimes not even then, they would engage in retaliatory raids again and again until both sides exhausted their war materials.
Even if the Fallen angels were decimated by the Angels, some survivors, or even just their allies, would likely remain to deliver a courtesy 'visit' in return. And a small church in the middle of nowhere definitely made for quite the juicy target for such a thing. Not important enough to be well-defended, but the destruction of which would be a significant slap in the face for the Angels.
Momonga took a deep breath, not feeling particularly irritated at the incidental serendipity of his previous thought about the possibility of the Fallen Angels coming to him. After all, he had grown accustomed to his seemingly foolish assumptions turning out to be accidental plans, facts, or brilliant insights.
In this case, it had even worked perfectly with Momonga's interests!
He initially wanted to capture some fallen angels because they were unique specimens of this world, nearly extinct in fact. So having a few appear almost on the palm of his hands aligned ideally with his plans. He could even kill the less interesting ones and present them to his superiors as proof of his actions defending the church from the Fallen Angels, therefore improving his standing and earning easier assignments as reward for his achievements.
No matter how Momonga examined the situation, he couldn't find any downsides.
While Momonga wasn't entirely certain about this world's inhabitants' capabilities, Demiurge's intelligence report had indicated the Fallen angels as one of the weaker factions, having lost their most powerful members to the Demons and angels. So, right now, the combat group coming towards his location are likely only a few enemies he could handle without much trouble, or at least escape from.
Given that he was protected from the effect of World Items by one of his own – like all active Nazarick agents outside Nazarick except Pandora's Actor, Momonga was willing to take this risk.
So, upon receiving the Shadow Demon's information about the combat group's likely location of entrance into the city, Momonga strode forward purposefully.
It seems that the world is turning in his favor once again!
***
"We're being watched." Bikou's voice was barely audible as he whispered, but Arthur heard him well enough and started analyzing the information, internally grimacing. It was definitely not what Arthur wanted to hear when his group finally entered the small, sleepy town in the countryside of Germany, their target, the town's small church, in front of them. So close, and yet so far.
While he had expected that the Angels would be tracking Azazel's adopted son and Lucifer's great-grandson even after he had escaped and wandered through half of Europe, losing his mind in the process. Arthur had hoped they'd missed their group's interception of Vali by avoiding combat altogether, or that Le Fey's magic had confused pursuers enough to lose their trail.
But apparently Arthur's hope was premature and overly naive.
"Who, where, how many, and what are they doing?" Arthur barely moved his lips, quietly asking his companion for the crucial details. If the observers were just watching for now and were just regular exorcists or humans, Arthur could hope for a peaceful resolution. Or at least buy enough time until his group and Vali had retreated to Khaos Brigade territory.
Worst case, Arthur could quietly eliminate a few observers, but if there were too many who had already reported to their superiors… Things could turn ugly fast.
"Don't know, four times over," Bikou's report made Arthur, who was trying hard to act natural while dragging the thoroughly bound and illusion-covered Vali leaning on his shoulder, to stop in his steps. He acted as if he was busy doing something, a reason as to why he and Bikou had stopped, while he glared at the monkey Youkai, hoping he'd say that it was just a bad joke. Which would be typical of him.
However, Bikou offered Arthur no such easy comfort, rather than his usual easy going smile, looking quite serious if not somewhat worried.
Bikou wasn't exactly the best scout, as far as observation methods went, he only had his keen eyesight and some experience – he could use his Touki of course, but that would be rather obvious. No, instead, the information had come from Kuroka, as Arthur verified a moment later by glancing at her and receiving a nod.
And that meant a lot, as Kuroka was actually very good as a scout, and none of it particularly good.
Kuroka possessed the ability to use Senjutsu, she could even be called a master in using it, the powers to manipulate the energy that nature and the surrounding world exuded. If only because this ability was so rare within this world's framework, detecting a source of life force was easy for Kuroka.
That's precisely why she served as the unofficial scout for Arthur's team. Not a lot of things could hide from someone that could sense life itself.
So the fact that she and Bikou together couldn't provide any information to Arthur, except that someone was watching their group, made him tense up internally, quickly running through all the worst possible scenarios he could imagine in his head. And perhaps the worst was the possibility that someone from the Old Satan Faction of the Khaos Brigade had learned that Arthur's team was going after Vali, the official heir of Lucifer. Such a figure would bring chaos to the faction that upholds that the blood of the original Satans should rule the Underworld. The blood that flows in Vali's veins… Well, there's Rizevim of course, the actual current heir of Lucifer, but he didn't even want to join the faction at all.
Still, It would be a disaster if the Old Satan Faction had decided to try to kill Arthur and his group before they could bring in a figure capable of upsetting the balance in the Old Satan Faction. Perhaps Creuserey, after his abilities were enhanced by absorbing Ouroboros's power, could hide from Kuroka's sight…
Arthur shifted slightly to the side, scanning his surroundings surreptitiously, trying to see if he could see the observer, before glancing meaningfully at Le Fay. If it was someone like Cruzerey hiding under illusions, his sister might not be able to instantly break through his abilities, but she could at least detect their presence…
However, judging by how Le Fay just kept turning her head around as if not understanding the surrounding situation…
Arthur involuntarily lowered his hand slightly, feeling as the hilt of his [Excalibur Fragment] slipped into his palm as he surveyed his surroundings. The pre-dawn hour was the perfect time to attack a human like Arthur who lacked the ability to see in the dark, and a human that needs sleep beside, but the early morning effect would be insignificant. Arthur was definitely not someone who could be easily killed, even by a Satan-level opponent.
Not to mention that killing his entire group was impossible for a single Satan to begin with…
However, Arthur's gaze sliding across the streets finally caught a lone and highly suspicious figure slowly walking towards them, which only made him freeze in confusion as he stared at the person.
The fairly young man in the priest's garments seemed completely ordinary. So ordinary that he could easily be lost in the backdrop of the small, quaint town. Against the backdrop of the small church behind him, he wouldn't look out of place against the modern church, barely a few decades old. It was not a cathedral or ancient building, it was something newly constructed.
In short, absolutely not what one would imagine when thinking about the dangers of what one could encounter in their path and an enemy who might be conducting surveillance. But any thought of underestimating the opponent instantly evaporated from Arthur's head when he heard Kuroka's shocked voice nearby as she started to shake. "What… are you?"
The man opposite them, standing a good hundred meters' distance, easily heard Kuroka's quiet murmur as the priest turned his gaze to the cat Youkai, his expression completely unchanged.
He opened his mouth, and if it's not for the content of what he's saying, the voice would be so normal and boring that it could lull one into sleep.
"Hmm… A new ability and new form hidden by illusion? I'll try to preserve you…"
After these words and a look from the calm and completely ordinary man before him, shivers suddenly ran down Arthur's spine…