While the soldiers in the kingdom's capital were cheering for repelling the monsters, the atmosphere in the Throne Room on the 9th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick was somewhat oppressive.
Ainz Ooal Gown, sitting on the throne clad in a black mantle, was in a very bad mood.
If not for the [Force Calm] effect, he would have been furious by now.
Some time ago, the mysterious disappearance of Shalltear Bloodfallen, a Floor Guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, had already made Ainz very angry.
And tonight, the plan to seize all the assets of the Eight Fingers was completely thwarted due to the appearance of Kenichi, Erza, and the others.
Furthermore, the Great Tomb of Nazarick's retreat in the face of Kenichi and his group was what Ainz found most unacceptable.
Who was he, Ainz Ooal Gown?
The Overlord.
The Supreme Being of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
The Sunlight Scripture of the Slane Theocracy was like ants before him, to be trampled at will.
Clementine, of the hero realm, had no power to resist before him.
The Lizardman Tribes had no choice but to bow their heads and submit before the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Before, the Great Tomb of Nazarick was synonymous with despair.
Anyone standing in its way had only one path: death.
But now, the Great Tomb of Nazarick had suffered repeated setbacks.
How could Ainz not be angry?
"My deepest apologies, Ainz-sama! It was my miscalculation that brought shame upon Nazarick. I beg for your punishment!"
Demiurge, who had been freed from the ice seal by Cocytus, knelt on one knee below the throne, sincerely asking Ainz for punishment.
Although Ainz was very angry inside, he couldn't take it out on the NPCs.
Seeing Demiurge take the initiative to admit fault, Ainz immediately said: "This is not your problem, Demiurge. I simply didn't expect Players to be hiding within the royal capital."
As soon as Ainz said this, Sebas immediately acknowledged his fault: "Ainz-sama, gathering intelligence in the capital was my duty. Failing to investigate the presence of Players in the capital is my mistake. I beg for your punishment, Ainz-sama!"
'Uh...'
Seeing Demiurge and Sebas were both taking responsibility onto themselves, Ainz was momentarily at a loss for words.
Just then, Cocytus let out a puff of cold air.
"Psh-"
Although the sound wasn't very loud, in the momentarily silent great hall, it was particularly noticeable.
"Cocytus, do you have something to say?"
Ainz turned his head to look at Cocytus and asked.
"Ainz-sama, I believe now is not the time to assign blame!"
Ainz originally thought Cocytus was also here to admit fault, but to his surprise, Cocytus said something like this.
"Oh? Continue."
"Ainz-sama once said that some lessons can only be learned through failure. When I failed during the attack on the Lizardman tribes last time, I learned some things from that failure."
'Huh?'
'When did I say that?'
As soon as Cocytus said this, Ainz was utterly bewildered.
But Demiurge looked up at Ainz with a fanatical expression: "Oh! As expected of the great Supreme Being, Ainz-sama! So all of this was within Ainz-sama's plan all along!"
"Its purpose was to allow us to grow."
"Indeed, in tonight's failure, I also became aware of my own shortcomings and gained some insights!"
As soon as Demiurge said this, Sebas had a sudden realization: "So that's how it is!"
Albedo also said with shining eyes: "As expected of Ainz-sama!"
Mare, holding his staff, looked at Ainz Ooal Gown with a flushed face and said somewhat excitedly: "A-Ainz-sama, hehe..."
Just then, Demiurge rallied his spirits and declared loudly:
"Next, let us formulate a new plan to eliminate the powerful enemies we encountered tonight!"
'Huh?'
'Huh?'
'Huh??'
Hearing the words of Demiurge, Albedo, and the others, Ainz on the throne was utterly bewildered.
Great Tomb of Nazarick, 9th Floor.
The originally somewhat oppressive atmosphere in the Throne Room eased considerably after the 'praise' from Demiurge, Cocytus, and the other Guardians.
And Ainz on the throne was no longer so angry.
He looked at Demiurge, first cleared his throat dryly, then said: "Demiurge, tell me what you learned from this failure."
Hearing Ainz's words, Demiurge stepped forward like a good student called upon by the teacher in elementary school, his face excited: "Mastering the enemy's intelligence is extremely important!"
"The enemies we encountered tonight are completely different from before!"
"We know nothing about them, but they seem to know information about us!"
As soon as Demiurge said this, the crimson flames in Ainz's skeletal pupils flickered.
Simultaneously, the image of the Bukubukuchagama manifested by Kenichi surfaced in his mind.
Bukubukuchagama was one of the 41 Supreme Beings of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Those who knew of Bukubukuchagama's existence should, in theory, be only the Undead of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
But Kenichi had created Bukubukuchagama.
Previously, when Demiurge was fighting Kenichi, Ainz hadn't carefully considered this issue.
Now, thinking about it calmly, a terrifying idea occurred to Ainz.
'Those guys we met tonight are undoubtedly Players, transported to this world like me!'
'The fact that they know about Bukubukuchagama is probably because, before being transported to this world, they had raided the Great Tomb of Nazarick in the YGGDRASIL and fought against Bukubukuchagama!'
'If that's really the case, then the situation is the worst possible!'
Thinking this, Ainz's skeletal hand involuntarily clenched.
The structure of the Great Tomb of Nazarick in the game, YGGDRASIL and the Great Tomb of Nazarick in this world were identical.
In Ainz's view, if Kenichi and the others had previously raided the Great Tomb of Nazarick, then they would have an intimate understanding of its layout.
Making the worst-case assumption, if these people attacked the Great Tomb of Nazarick, could it be defended with the current deployment of forces?
Even if it could be defended, how many forces would be lost?
'Nazarick was created by me and my companions together. I absolutely will not allow anyone to trample upon it!'
After resolutely thinking this to himself, he looked at Albedo and said in a voice full of authority: "Albedo, use every means at your disposal. I need all the information on those people we fought tonight!"
"Yes!"
Seeing Ainz's solemn expression, Albedo immediately stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and responded: "Yes!"
"Demiurge!"
After commanding Albedo, Ainz turned his gaze to Demiurge.
"Ainz-sama, what are your orders?"
"Go find a group of adventurers to attack Nazarick!"
As soon as Ainz said this, the expressions of Mare, Aura, and the other Guardians all changed.
'Have adventurers attack Nazarick?'
"Ainz-sama..."
Albedo was the first to disagree.
But before Albedo could finish speaking, Ainz raised his hand, cutting off what she was about to say.
"Albedo, I know what you want to say!"
"I also don't want humans to defile Nazarick!"
"But we must always prepare for the worst. What if one day, those guys we met tonight break in here? What should we do?"
"Currently, whether Nazarick's combat force deployment can handle it, whether there are any problems, these are all unknowns!"
"To find the answers to these questions, the best way is to find some adventurers to come in and test it!"
Hearing Ainz's words, Albedo instantly understood. She immediately bowed her head and saluted: "My deepest apologies, Ainz-sama, I did not consider that much!"
And Demiurge looked at Ainz with a fanatical expression: "As expected of Ainz-sama, to think of such a method! I will see to it immediately!"