Clang!
With a thunderous noise, two swords collided in the middle of the arena, lifting clouds of dust.
Even as he watched from the VIP Area, Ainz could feel the intensity of the fight.
"It won't take long, it seems." He spoke, after casting [Life Essence] to see the remaining HP of one of the two Death Emperors fighting below.
"Indeed." Pandora's Actor, who had taken his form, answered from his side.
The VIP Area was a spacious area, originally intended for all 41 members of Ainz Ooal Gown to sit down and watch invaders fighting in the arena below.
As such, there was a lot of empty space even as Ainz sat in his chair, watching the fight with Aura, Mare, Artemis, and Pandora's Actor.
Behind him, on the ground, was a strange coffin with a yin-yang symbol on its lid. The colors were constantly moving as the symbol continued to spin with no sign of stopping.
In the arena, there were two undead wearing black royal garments that exuded a black aura, and broken crowns on their heads.
They each wielded enormous two-handed swords, making the ground tremble as they attacked each other.
These were Death Emperors, level 90 high-tier undead, and some of the strongest undead Ainz could create.
One of them was created by him, while the other was created by Pandora's Actor.
As for why they were fighting, it was to test the effect of his newly acquired talent.
"It seems that this talent is functioning perfectly even when applied to level 90 undead. What an impressive skill."
The Death Emperor he created had been dominating the other one throughout the fight, not giving his opponent any chance to counterattack.
As they continued to observe, his Death Emperor beheaded the other one.
The impressive part about this talent was not its 25% boost, but rather how it seemed to be going against all the common sense he had developed as a player in Yggdrasil.
Ainz had many skills that worked to strengthen the undead he created, but how much he could strengthen an undead was heavily dependent on its level.
For low-tier undead, he could almost double their stats after using all his skills on them, but on high-tier undeads, especially the ones at level 90, the boost he could give was incomparably weaker.
This was common sense in Yggdrasil: the stronger you are relative to your summons, the more your skills will apply to them.
That was one of the reasons why he felt that having Pandora's Actor create another Death Emperor for this test wouldn't be a problem.
As a Doppleganger, Pandora's Actor could assume his form and replicate his skills, but they were inevitably weaker than when he used them. That was the basic penalty for Dopplegangers; otherwise, if they could perfectly replicate the skills of others, why wouldn't everyone want to be one? So Pandora's Actor was the most versatile NPC in Nazarick, but he was not the strongest.
But as his own skills had limited application when it came to creating level 90 undead, he thought that the difference between one created by him and one created by Pandora's Actor shouldn't be very significant, making it a good point of comparison.
Ainz approached this test with some expectations, but even so, he was pleasantly surprised.
This talent seemed not to care about their target at all. Be it a lowly Skeleton Mage or a mighty Death Emperor, they all received the same 25% boost.
Maybe I should make it go against someone stronger to gauge its limits.
"Aura."Noticing the excitement in the little dark elf girl who had been watching the fight with him, Ainz spoke up.
"Yes, Ainz-sama." She replied excitedly.
"Do you wish to fight it?" He looked at her, noting how her smile was equal parts cute and savage.
Aura was someone who liked fighting, in stark contrast to her brother, Mare, who was looking nervously at him with his head lowered.
"Can I?"
"Of course you can. Go and destroy it, you're going to be helping me out by doing so."
The Death Emperor would vanish in a few minutes, so there was no harm in destroying it, and if it could serve as entertainment for one of his Floor Guardians, all the better.
So Aura jumped into the arena and began fighting the Death Emperor, whom he had already ordered to battle.
The Death Emperor was doing pretty well in the fight, thanks to its better stats and to the fact that Aura was not much of a solo fighter.
The Death Emperor was a monster that specialized in AoE attacks with its sword, spreading harmful effects to its opponents. At the same time, it was a competent warrior-type monster that could work as a tank.
After receiving the talent boost, it had better physical stats than Aura, gaining the advantage whenever they clashed, but Aura was still quite a bit faster than it.
She ran in circles around the Death Emperor, hitting it with her whip from a distance, not giving it any chance to get closer.
The Death Emperor grew more and more frustrated and started thrashing the arena, hitting the ground with its sword and making a mess, but Aura continued unfazed.
"She really is a wonderful child, isn't she?" He couldn't help but praise.
"Indeed. These two are wonderful children, and I feel very lucky for the opportunity to work with them," Artemis replied while standing at his side. Her tone was one full of motherly love for these two children.
It had been difficult, but after some convincing, Artemis had grown more relaxed in his presence.
She still found looking down on him a travesty, but doing so while he was sitting and she was standing seemed to be something she could accept.
I should spend more time with her to see if I can help her loosen up a bit.
"A-a hum." Mare awkwardly fidgeted in his corner, making Ainz smile.
"Of course, I'm also proud of you, Mare." He beckoned him to come closer, and as he did, Ainz began to pat his head, letting his fingers slide through the boy's golden hair.
"How's the process of mapping the Great Forest of Tob? I heard you guys have been working hard at it."
The place where Nazarick was now situated was called the Great Forest of Tob. A place that was said to be inhabited by many monsters and demi-human tribes.
Carne Village was situated right at the edge of the forest, where the Re-Estize Kingdom's territory started.
The forest didn't belong to any country, stretching through the territories of the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire. From what he heard, it had once extended all the way to the Slaine Theocracy, but they had since cleared it from their territory.
Regardless, he had put Aura, Mare, and Artemis on a mission to map this region, so they could better prepare for future situations.
"As it stands, we have made good progress on it. Do you wish to see the results, Ainz-sama?" Artemis replied.
Seeing him nod, she brought a table and placed it in front of him, before taking out a map and unrolling it.
"Oh! It's very detailed."
Ainz traced the map with his finger, appreciating the detailed drawings representing the tribes, villages, and cities on the paper.
On the map, he saw the Slaine Theocracy at the bottom, the Baharuth Empire in the northeast, and the Re-Estize Kingdom occupying most of the center.
At the intersection of the Kingdom and the Empire, a sprawling forest was depicted, with the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown at its center, indicating where Nazarick was located.
Going north, there were the Azerlisia Mountains, with a big lake at its edge.
"Lizardmen, Toadmen, and Snakemen, huh?"
"Yes, they each occupy a section of this lake. Aura-sama saw them as she flew close to the mountains."
"How is the development of their civilizations?"
"Very primitive. By the description given by Aura-sama, their settlements should be a few levels below those of the humans in this region."
"Oh? What are you talking about me?" Aura, who had returned after defeating the Death Emperor, asked.
"We are talking about the demi-human tribes living in this lake, Aura." Ainz pointed at the map.
"Ah, them. Are you interested in them, Ainz-sama?"
"I'm not especially interested in them, but it seems to me that we could use these tribes as our next targets." He rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
This lake should be far enough from Nazarick to allow us to deploy forces without alerting potential enemies of our position.
And considering the level of technology reported, the chances of a player staying in one of these tribes should be close to 0.
Small tribes like these should be living in isolation in that lake, so dominating them wouldn't cause any trouble for the countries in the region.
But who should I send? They need to be strong enough to deal with any problem that may arise, so a Floor Guardian should be deployed, but who?
Aura and Mare have their mission, Demiurge and Albedo have more important functions in Nazarick, while I'll already send Pandora's Actor and Shalltear on a new mission, so that leaves… Cocytus?
Hum… He is indeed a good fit. Let this be a training experience for him.
"I will put Cocytus in charge of a subjulgation campaign for the demi-human tribes that live in this lake. Later, fill him in on the details of the region, but don't help him come up with a plan."
"Yes!" All of them answered in unison.
"Also-"
Creak!
He was interrupted by the sound of the coffin opening.
From it emerged a woman.
She looked to be in her 30's, with short blonde hair and sharp features. Most striking of all were the dark scleras of her eyes.
"What happened?" The woman looked at her hands, then touched her face, before finally turning to him, looking very confused.
"Hum… The item seems to be functioning perfectly." Ainz answered calmly.
"The coffin you spent the last few minutes on is called Yin-Yang Coffin, and its effect is reversing the sex of the person inside. The time needed is in accordance with the level of the one inside. In your case, as a level 24 mage, it took 24 minutes to take effect. Now your sex has changed from male to female, that's all."
Nigun looked at his body, trying to wrap his head around this.
An item that could change a person's sex was unheard of, but more than that…
"Why change my body?" He looked at Ainz, once again reminded that the man in front of him was an incredibly powerful monster.
"Why? Well. I wanted to test the functionality of this item, since I had never used it, but it was also so I could use you on a mission outside. You see, as an important member of your country, I can't quite have you recognized while working for me, can I? So I needed to change your appearance, and this was the easiest method. Should I have used a more painful one? If you want to, I can ask Demiurge to help with this. I'm sure he would be delighted to do so." He smiled.
Nigun shivered, his face turning incredibly pale, as he remembered something terrifying.
"T-there's no need, Ainz-sama. Thank you for your mercy." Nigun bowed respectfully to him.
"You're welcome. Also, regardless of your own preferences, I'll be referring to you as a woman while you maintain this form, am I clear?"
"Of course, Ainz-sama. Call me whatever you please." Nigun hit her forehead against the ground.
"Good. There's no need to be nervous, Nigun. You made some good contributions with the information you gave me, even giving me a new pawn to use and a new target for my subordinates."
"A new pawn, and a new target?" Nigun looked up at him.
"Yes… Oh! They're coming." They looked down at the arena, where a black portal had appeared.
From it emerged Shalltear, and following her closely was another woman, who had a terrified expression on her face.
Shalltear looked at them, grabbed the other woman, and jumped all the way to the VIP Area in a quick movement.
"Emilia?" Nigun almost yelled upon seeing the woman, who was fighting her dizziness after Shalltear released her.
The woman looked at Nigun, not recognizing him now that he had a female body.
"It's me, Nigun." He had tears in his eyes, seemingly very happy to see her again.
"Captain? What happened to you? Why do you look like a woman?"
"TSK!" Shalltear clicked her tongue, and suddenly Emilia dropped to her knees, while trembling.
"What do you think you're doing in front of the Supreme Being!? Do I need to drag you back for punishment?" Shalltear's voice was full of fury. She seemed ready to kill the woman if she continued talking.
"Forgive me, Lady Shalltear, and forgive me, Ainz Ooal Gown-sama!" Emilia, now on the ground, prostrated herself in his direction.
"Now, now. There's no need for that, you two. And calm down, Shalltear. I appreciate your loyalty, but I asked you to bring her here for a reason, and now look at her, the poor woman is terrified."
"Forgive me, Ainz-sama!" Shalltear dropped to her knees, wearing a scared expression."
"Idiot." He heard Aura whispering from the side, but ignored her.
Meanwhile, Emilia stared at Shalltear, having a sense of reality as she saw the monster who had been tormenting her suddenly acting so meek in front of someone.
Ainz stood up and walked towards Emilia.
"There's no need to be afraid, Emilia," he said as he helped her up and walked her to a chair, where he had her sit.
"The reason why I called you here is that I have an offer to make to you, and I think you'll be interested in it." He spoke gently to the woman as he sat beside her.
"An offer?" There was fear and suspicion on her face, but Ainz also saw a bit of hope mixed there.
"Yes, an offer. One related to that little lover of yours."
"Quaiesse?"
"Indeed. It's related to the man known as the one man army."
"Tell me, is it true that he has a talent that doubles the number of his summons?"