Nazarick.
The moment Naohara returned, he immediately received a summons from Momonga.
The Vampiric Dragon Lord had been thrown onto the Sixth Floor, now living next door to the Platinum Dragon Lord.
After giving a few brief instructions to the Brightness Dragon Lord and the Heavenly Dragon Lord, who had rushed over in haste, Naohara left right away.
...
Nazarick, Ninth Floor.
In the same conference room as always, Naohara lounged half-reclined on a sofa, holding a strip of dried dragon meat and eating it with clear enjoyment.
This was no ordinary dragon meat. It came from the Vampiric Dragon Lord.
Curious about what the flesh of an undead True Dragon Lord would taste like, Naohara had deliberately removed one of the Vampiric Dragon Lord's hind legs to try it.
After all, the Vampiric Dragon Lord was asleep and unaware of anything. As long as Naohara restored it before the dragon woke up, there would be no problem.
"So while I was asleep, you already met the Bloody Emperor, Momonga? How did it go?"
Naohara swallowed the piece of meat in his mouth and licked his lips with satisfaction. As expected of an undead True Dragon Lord, the flavor was quite unique.
"Yes. There were a few small surprises, but overall it went smoothly."
Thinking back to Fluder, the man who called him the God of Magic, Momonga felt somewhat helpless.
He was hardly any kind of God of Magic.
Unlike the magic casters of this world, who painstakingly studied and researched magic in order to master it, all of Momonga's spells had originally been obtained inside the game.
Even after arriving in this world, the way he cast spells was different from ordinary magic casters.
He didn't need to manipulate mana to construct complex magic circles. All he had to do was silently think of the spell he wanted to cast, and the mana would automatically move and form the necessary magic circle.
The sensation was roughly the same as playing the game, except the skill icons that used to float in front of his eyes were gone. Now he simply activated spells through thought.
Although he had been studying magical theory diligently, hoping to become a true skeletal archmage rather than just a fake one, even so, Momonga had only learned up to sixth-tier magic through study.
In terms of pure magical knowledge, he might not even surpass Fluder.
"Now that you've awakened, Naohara, it's about time we launched our attack on the Argland Council State."
Shaking his head to clear away his wandering thoughts, Momonga spoke with a serious expression.
Even though he was the guildmaster, Momonga had never considered himself above Naohara or Herohero.
For major decisions, at least two of the three of them needed to agree before any action would be taken.
"The Argland Council State, huh. It's been a while since we captured the Platinum Dragon Lord. I suppose it's about time we made our move."
"Oh right. Didn't the White Dragon Lord previously request a chance to persuade the Argland Council State's Wyrm Dragon Lord to surrender? How did that turn out?"
Naohara nodded. Nazarick had stayed quiet for far too long. It was time to establish their own nation.
Of course, if the Argland Council State changed rulers, it might attract the attention of some remaining True Dragon Lords, as well as the Slane Theocracy.
But the three of them didn't really care.
How many True Dragon Lords were even left at this point?
The Platinum Dragon Lord had already been turned into the Platinum Power Plant.
The Brightness Dragon Lord and the Heavenly Dragon Lord had pledged themselves to Nazarick.
As for the Vampiric Dragon Lord, he had just been kindly invited over and was currently sleeping.
Even if the remaining True Dragon Lords tried to stir up trouble, they could simply send the Brightness Dragon Lord and the Heavenly Dragon Lord in as undercover agents.
Then, at the critical moment, deliver a decisive betrayal.
As for the Slane Theocracy, there was even less to worry about. As long as they behaved themselves, Naohara and the other two had no intention of doing anything to them.
Strictly speaking, the Slane Theocracy had never actually offended them. On the contrary, Nazarick had already wiped out three of their Scriptures.
The Sunlight Scripture, the Black Scripture, and the former Black Scripture.
When Naohara first learned about this, he had been momentarily stunned.
The event that was originally supposed to end with the complete annihilation of adventurers had somehow turned into the destruction of the Slane Theocracy's former Black Scripture instead.
That kind of terrible luck almost made Naohara feel sorry for the Slane Theocracy. It really was painful.
Still, sympathy was one thing. The former Black Scripture had invaded Nazarick, and that debt still had to be settled.
For now, the former Black Scripture was imprisoned on the First Floor.
Momonga had deliberately avoided letting the two generations of Black Scripture meet.
After all, Nazarick needed to present itself as the victim. The former Black Scripture would serve as a bargaining chip during negotiations.
If they were allowed to meet and the former Black Scripture learned that Nazarick had taken the World-Class Item [Downfall of Castle and Country], things would become troublesome.
Whoever wanted that blame could take it. Nazarick certainly would not.
In any case, once everything was over, Naohara planned to visit the Slane Theocracy personally as a player and discuss the matter of compensation.
...
Meanwhile, Momonga nodded. His thoughts were largely the same.
Answering Naohara's question, he spoke.
"Yes. As for the White Dragon Lord, he has already gone to meet the Wyrm Dragon Lord. He brought the Platinum Dragon Lord's reverse scale along with dragon scales from the Brightness Dragon Lord and the Heavenly Dragon Lord. There shouldn't be any problems."
Momonga actually approved of the White Dragon Lord's plan.
If they successfully persuaded the Wyrm Dragon Lord to surrender, his status as one of the five great councilors of the Argland Council State would make him extremely useful.
At the very least, once Nazarick conquered the Argland Council State, it would help avoid certain unnecessary complications.
"In that case, let's start the war."
After confirming there were no issues, Naohara said it casually.
He picked up the strip of jerky in his hand and was about to continue eating, but Momonga's stare made him pause.
Naohara glanced at the jerky, his eyes shifting slightly as if he had just thought of something.
"You two, step outside. Don't let anyone enter."
Naohara waved toward the ceiling as he gave the order.
Click, click, click.
The Eight-Edge Assassin insects revealed themselves and dropped to the floor, quickly scuttling out of the conference room.
After activating an item that prevented eavesdropping, Naohara looked at Momonga and waved the jerky in his hand.
"Come try some. Jerky made from an undead True Dragon Lord. I think you'll like the taste."
Faced with Naohara's invitation, Momonga didn't bother holding back.
Activating the item [Mask of the Dead], Momonga briefly transformed into a human form. He took the jerky and started eating.
Inside the conference room, the two figures quietly began sampling the unusual delicacy together.