In the royal palace of the Baharuth Empire.
A man with golden hair, dressed in magnificent attire, was reclining on a sofa.
This golden-haired man was none other than the current emperor of the Baharuth Empire, Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix, known as the Bloody Emperor.
At this moment, a knight in battle armor kneeling below the Bloody Emperor was reporting on the recent invasion of the royal capital by monsters.
"Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth... quite interesting."
After hearing the report, a faint smile appeared on the Bloody Emperor's face.
Then, he turned his gaze to an old man wearing a white robe and adorned with various magical items.
This old man was called Fluder Paradyne.
He was known as the strongest human magic caster.
"Old man, what do you think of this Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth's strength?"
Hearing the Bloody Emperor's inquiry, Fluder replied in a hoarse voice, "Without seeing him personally, it's impossible to judge accurately. However, since even the Adamantite-ranked adventurer team, the Blue Roses, considers this Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth extremely powerful, we can preliminarily judge that his strength likely reaches the level of the Thirteen Heroes from back in the day, or perhaps even stronger!"
The Thirteen Heroes Fluder mentioned were the ones who had defeated the Demon Gods that once threatened the entire world.
Now that Fluder compared Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth to the Thirteen Heroes, the Bloody Emperor had a clearer understanding of Jaldabaoth's standing.
"Reached the level of the Thirteen Heroes, huh?"
The Bloody Emperor muttered to himself, then continued, "Then the adventurer team that repelled Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth, Fairy Tail, must also be at the level of the Thirteen Heroes, correct?"
"That should be the case."
After receiving Fluder's confirmation, the Bloody Emperor fell into deep thought.
A long time later, he finally spoke: "First, an Ainz Ooal Gown appears, and now a Fairy Tail. Quite a few powerful outsiders have appeared in the Re-Estize Kingdom recently, haven't they?"
The news that Ainz had annihilated the Sunlight Scripture in Carne Village had naturally reached the Bloody Emperor's ears.
Although the Sunlight Scripture's strength was inferior to the Black Scripture, they were still very powerful among humans.
Yet Ainz single-handedly wiped out the Sunlight Scripture.
This was enough to demonstrate Ainz's power.
And now, Fairy Tail Adventurer Team, which is comparable to the Thirteen Heroes, had appeared.
Naturally, the Bloody Emperor felt somewhat uneasy.
After all, the relationship between the Baharuth Empire and the Re-Estize Kingdom had always been very tense, and war could break out at any time.
"Old man, could you help investigate Fairy Tail and Ainz Ooal Gown? And of course, the Adamantite-ranked adventurer teams, the Blue Roses and the Red Drop?"
The Bloody Emperor asked Fluder.
"It would be my pleasure to serve Your Majesty."
Hearing the Bloody Emperor's words, Fluder bowed respectfully.
…
The news of Fairy Tail repelling Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth naturally didn't just reach the Baharuth Empire.
The Slane Theocracy also received the intelligence.
The Captain of the Black Scripture, who had once narrowly escaped with his life from Shalltear Bloodfallen, was walking along a spotlessly clean corridor.
Soon, a woman appeared in the Captain's field of vision.
This woman had black hair on her left side and white hair on her right.
Moreover, her pupils were also one black and one white.
If Kenichi were here, he would definitely recognize this woman.
She was none other than the one known as God-kin in this world, Antilene Heran Fouche, or the one usually called [Certain Death].
"What's the reason for convening the Council of Cardinal Priests this time?"
Antilene, who had been fiddling with a third-order magic cube, seemed to sense the Captain of the Black Scripture's arrival and asked in a cool voice.
If this were before, the Captain would definitely have replied: 'Isn't it written in the meeting report?'
But last time, when the Council of Cardinal Priests was convened because Shalltear had killed three members of the Black Scripture, Antilene had also asked about the meeting's content, and he had replied: It's all in the meeting report.
However, Antilene had said: I never read it.
Having learned from that experience, the Captain sighed and then answered: "Recently, a Demon Emperor named Jaldabaoth appeared in the Kingdom. His strength is likely on par with the Thirteen Heroes from back in the day."
If an ordinary person heard the Captain's words, they would surely show a look of astonishment.
After all, a monster with the strength of the Thirteen Heroes was enough to threaten the entire world.
However, Antilene was completely unmoved.
After all, in Antilene's view, her own strength had long surpassed that of the Thirteen Heroes.
She continued to fiddle with the magic cube in her hand, only responding briefly: "And?"
"Also, on the very night Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth appeared in the royal capital, he was repelled by an adventurer team called Fairy Tail. The Fairy Tail was promoted to Adamantite rank the very next day."
"Just repelled?" Antilene asked.
"The intelligence says they only repelled him, and did not kill Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth."
"Tch, how disappointing. I was hoping someone stronger than me would appear..."
Antilene stopped her movements, stroked her stomach, and spoke with a disappointed expression.
Antilene had always had one wish.
That was to find someone who could defeat her.
Of course, Antilene wasn't particularly warlike.
She just wanted to unite with someone stronger than her.
In Antilene's view, if she could unite with someone stronger, the child born from such a union would undoubtedly reach an unprecedented level.
To fulfill this long-cherished wish, Antilene didn't even care whether the person stronger than her was human or monster.
The Captain of the Black Scripture was also well aware of Antilene's wish.
Hearing her words, he smiled wryly, then continued: "Next, we will send people to the Kingdom to recruit all Adamantite-ranked adventurer teams, including Fairy Tail, the Blue Roses, and the Red Drop."
The Slane Theocracy's principle was to unite all powerful humans in the world to fight against monsters.
However, if they encountered powerful humans unwilling to pledge allegiance to the Slane Theocracy, the Theocracy would eliminate them.
"That's your business. I'm not interested."
"Come find me when you've found someone stronger than me."
After saying this indifferently, Antilene turned and left.
Only after Antilene's figure completely disappeared from the Captain's view did he withdraw his gaze and look down at his own palm.
"That vampire is in the Re-Estize Kingdom."
"I hope we don't encounter her again during this trip to the Re-Estize Kingdom."