Harbingers of Change

AN: Self-advertisement time. I have started to publish a new story: Supreme Beings of Azeroth. It is about Ainz and Buku in the Warcraft setting. As with all of my stories, there is no need to know the source material to enjoy the story so please go check it out.

Chapter 17

To his relief, Buku hadn't encountered any problems during his temporary absence, proving that she could be left in charge should the need arise. The first thing Momonga did after resuming his duties was to go over the general event report provided by Nazarick, outlining what had occurred, who was involved, and when. He had to admit that the sentient skill's ability to compile all the relevant information regarding Nazarick's inner dealings was unparalleled, capable of aggregating information across their entire territory into an easily readable summary only a few pages long.

The two main points to deal with beyond the standard problems and growths of the nation were the evolutions of Hinata and Kagali. They would serve as blueprints for the next set of evolutions he wanted to trigger as soon as all the necessary precautions were taken. The power had to be gained.

"So, you could include Clayman's underlings into Nazarick with just an executive order from Buku without any specifics needed?" He sought to clarify a specific point in the list of accomplishments he found unusual.

"Yes, I took the liberty of carrying out Buku's order without direct clarification from you, as I believe you would make the same choice in the specific situation, and if I am wrong in my judgment, everything can be easily reversed," Nazarick explained, her translucent figure beaming with pride.

"I see. In this case, your judgment was correct. I am curious about how you make such decisions?" Momonga put down the report and leaned back in his chair. Nazarick was far too independent for his liking, even if all her decisions had been on point thus far and had only helped Nazarick grow even more by tens of percents. But there always was that lingering what if, and it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to handling a sentient being.

Momonga was confident he hadn't sensed any duplicity from the skill, but she might have been deceiving him in the most subtle of ways. He had countless hours as guild leader under his belt from managing the guild in-game, he knew a thing or two because he'd seen a thing or two.

"Since I am connected to your soul, I know your wishes at all times, and my most heartfelt desire is to carry them out according to methods you would have used," Nazarick assured him, nodding.

"And what if I gave you an order that went against my own wishes?" He continued the questioning, genuinely interested.

"I would warn you against such an order but carry it out nonetheless if you still insist on such a course of action after my warning."

'There was something off about her answer.' Momonga felt compelled to find out more. Nazarick stated that she would act upon his word, not his intentions, while holding the utmost desire to do what he desired the most. Which by itself implied a chance she might choose to bend the truth based on the wording.

"Are you capable of lying to me?" Momonga went for the most pressing question. Such a question likely would be answered the same way no matter the actual truth, so he relied on his senses to feel if she was lying or not more than ever. They hadn't failed him yet.

Nazarick hesitated a bit since she no doubt understood where such a line of questioning was going. She needed to prove her loyalty and sincerity beyond any doubt, so much so that Momonga would never consider crushing her core, which she knew the Overlord could do thanks to his paranoia often driving his decisions.

"I am capable of lying, even to you, but I would not lie and haven't lied to you. As I said I would carry your orders even if I believed they go against your wishes." Nazarick finally gave an answer he didn't expect, admitting that she could lie. Most liars would never do that, instead choosing to buckle down on their supposed innocence and honesty.

'She isn't trying to deceive me. But there was hesitation.' "Have you deceived me through omission of information?" He asked a follow-up question, going for the fattest slice of the meat.

Deceit didn't only include lies. The easiest deceit came through simply not revealing the truth, after all. The absence of the truth was not technically a lie, but it was still against his will nonetheless since he required complete honesty from his subordinates.

Nazarick's image flickered as she stood silent. She had already deceived him in some manner. Momonga mentally reached for Nazarick's ego core, grasping it.

"Wait! I didn't intend to. I-it's nothing to worry about," She stammered.

"Explain yourself then." Momonga wrapped his hand firmly around her core within the skill, preparing to rip it to mere lesser spirits.

"I failed to report that I allocated resources to construct a golem body for my personal use. I had no malicious intent or agenda beyond doing what's best for you!" She grew increasingly frantic and spoke with increased speed. "Without a humanoid body, there isn't much I can do in case of an invasion, save for producing mercenary units and issuing your orders to Nazarick personnel. But with a body, I should be capable of temporarily equipping it with skills and utilizing the energy reserves more directly. And if the results were satisfactory, I could eventually develop more for the defense of Nazarick."

"And why did you decide to hide this plan from me or Albedo? This alone is reason enough-"

"I won't hide anything from now on! I just thought my proposal would be rejected since the energy requirements for constructing such a body are high due to such a body requiring caloric stone to host my presence. I planned to present it once it was finished. I am sorry if I misinterpreted your desire to protect everyone by surrounding them with strong, disposable forces like how you've done with the undead and pop monsters." Nazarick, at this point, was trying to break the speedtalking record as her hologram quivered in fright. Her master's hand tightened around her whole existence, and she could stop existing at any moment if she didn't successfully plead her case. "Please don't crush me! I won't ever attempt to deceive you again in any shape or form. I made a mistake I shouldn't have made. My intentions weren't malicious."

"You understand that if I can't trust you, I am risking the safety of everyone in my care. It has been only a few days since you became sentient, and you already tried to hide things from me," Momonga stated firmly. He could feel the skill's sincerity, but the fact remained: Nazarick tried to deceive him through omission.

"Yes. I understand the full gravity of my actions… I would understand my termination. But I urge you to give me another chance. Master, please do not destroy me. I want to live and serve!" her voice became frantic as it seemed to be on the verge of crying.

This as well could be well-crafted lies. 'How can I be assured… hmm, if she can feel my true intentions then I should be able to do the same.' He decided to investigate the Manas core more thoroughly, not through cold logic but through emotion.

First and foremost, Nazarick was scared of death, intensely so, given that it had been created from nothing and feared returning to nothing. There was lingering regret of trying to be sneaky and above all he felt an overwhelming desire to be useful. In that regard, she hadn't lied. Nazarick's most heartfelt desire was to carry out his will, and it had attempted to do so in the ways it had been programmed to do so - which was to pursue any objectives that aligned with his ambitions. Creating automated defenses led by a very powerful figure was a decent plan after all.

"Very well. Since the offense was relatively minor and I understand your reasoning, you are getting off with a warning. However, I will not tolerate any lies or omissions, even if you think you have good intentions. There is always a chance you misinterpret something."

"I will be completely honest from now on. But I wish to request permission to at least argue with you on the topic if I feel you are going against your own best interests," She requested.

"That can be permitted within reason. For now, return to your duties and report to Albedo that you are allocating resources for building yourself a body." Momonga let go of her sentience core, canceling his magic.

"Thank you for this opportunity." Nazarick bowed and dismissed the holographic projection, retreating into her consciousness. From this interaction, she learned two things. Never underestimate her master, and that she was capable of a wide array of emotions just like flesh and spirit beings. And fear was the most potent one of those feelings so far.

And the last thing a proper servant should feel is fear when critical decisions need to be made.

X

Soon after resolving the Nazarick issue, Momonga was ready to tackle the next task at hand as he rested in his chair and a maid brought him snacks and tea.

Buku arrived in his office with Hinata, Kagali, the newly awakened Demon Lord, and her direct underlings. Among the group, there was one figure he didn't immediately recognize. A young girl with large fox ears, approximately twelve years old, who was keeping close to Buku. The rest were recognizable though and had long since had their data registered in his mental database.

The fox girl and Buku were the only ones to sit down in the provided sofas as the rest of the group remained standing. Hinata, Kagali, Laplace, Footman, Tear, and Clayman all assumed rigid postures, standing in a perfect row between the two sofas.

{ I'm not one to talk, but your habit of collecting children is getting out of hand. } He half-jokingly messaged Buku.

{ This one was an accident. I didn't know that the fox would turn into this after I named her. Remember Clayman's pet he always carried around? That's her. Oh, and I gifted her to Aura. } Buku explained awkwardly, pointing to the newcomer.

"This is Kumara, she's Aura's new pet or assistant of sorts. As you can see, she's decently powerful." Buku introduced the fox girl, motioning for it to kneel, which it did before returning to a standing position.

"Are you sure she can keep up with Aura?" Momonga asked. The mythical beast was stronger than Clayman in terms of raw power but possessed only intrinsic skills related to magical beasts that could be spawned from her nine tails. She held little other abilities.

"She survived the first day just fine. And the other kids like her as well," Buku commented.

'I guess she will be fine, Aura is a responsible pet owner after all.' Momonga switched his attention away from the fox girl to Kagali as he began his analysis.

Her power growth was substantial, to say the least. From barely breaching A rank she was at before the body swap, Kagali's power level was well within SS rank, and she wasn't that far off the floor guardian level, especially now when her unique skill, Planner, had evolved into ultimate skill, Agastya, Book of Prophecy. This skill not only gave her calculating skills on par with Omniscience but also the ability to foresee the future to a certain extent, allowing her to prepare countermeasures even before the opponent had made a move and thus making her a formidable duelist.

Now knowing better than to just cut off names from skills, he used Omniscience to investigate what sort of entity was linked to the name Agastya, searching through Nazarick's digitized libraries. The name was associated with a sage from Earth who was the father of South Indian mysticism. Thus, this made the skill on par with God skills, minus the divine enchantments which could be added at a later date, should he think Kagali needed to be empowered even more.

Following the cord connected to the name core, he came face to face with one of the shadowy entities he now knew as Gods. Apparently, this former sage had ascended to become a near-all-powerful being, who responded in kind before he could even ask his questions.

'She is yours to command as long as she is in your employment. Once that covenant is ended and she has left your realm, I intend to invite her as my apprentice. Does that work for you, Young One?' A whispering voice inquired.

'Yes, if you do not attempt to influence her.'

'You misunderstand, Young One. I cannot control the one who chooses me as patron, only lightly advise. Fear not the covenants. As you are guided, so are those serving you. We do not interfere with the dealings of others. Fate holds us all, including the gods, and what happens, happens.' It was easy to see that Agastya stood for knowledge and wisdom, and there was truth behind the entity's words.

'I guess I won't cut off this one for now. But I'll have to check on Kagali from time to time just in case.' Momonga mused while moving on to the next target. Her four prime subordinates had grown in power, but unfortunately, none of their unique skills had evolved into ultimate ones. Additionally, there were several thousand of Clayman's subordinates who had all gotten noticeably stronger, noticeable through their connection, and who were all apparently standing at the ready in Clayman's castle in case they were summoned. He quickly sent a transmission to dismiss them and return to their duties.

This fact posed the main issue he now faced with a grim outset. What would happen during Buku's or Albedo's demon lord awakening, since not only were both demon lord seeds but were also among the prime candidates on top of being some of the highest ranked individuals in the Nazarick's hierarchy? After all, it was logical to empower the guild members and floor guardians first, given how much they could grow.

Buku was the only guild member on the list since Pero could only undergo local God evolution due to his awakening as a quasi-God and Veldora already was on a tier above that. Milim, of course, was an awakened Demon Lord, though her real status was closer to a true dragon than a demon lord due to her heritage.

He'd have to talk to Pero later about the mechanics of divine energies and develop them alongside him. He had gone a separate initial route, choosing to empower himself through faith instead of raw divine energy taken from other Gods, and both paths had to be explored.

"I see that Kagali's Harvest Festival almost completely disabled Jistav for an entire day, which is not ideal if more of Nazarick's top members undergo the awakening, you included," Momonga commented, addressing Buku, who nodded.

"Technically, I only have my kids and Souei under me, so it shouldn't be that bad," Buku replied, leaning back.

'If that was the case then things would be easy, but what if there are more parameters just like it was with the demon lord awakening itself?' Momonga immediately set out to find out details. Considering that all answers existed within the system, with the help of Omniscience he found what he was looking for immediately. The Harvest Festival affected all demon lord subordinates that were considered to be in direct servitude, regardless of race or power level. And considering that everyone connected to Nazarick fell into two categories, either Guild members or subordinates of said Guild members it pretty much included everyone. In some cases, even those who were not directly connected to the skill but served under one who was, like in Clayman's case with his underlings who were yet to be included in Nazarick, were eligible.

"That's not how it works. Since you are second in command of the entirety of Tempest Hegemony, everyone who has magicules in their system will be affected by a harvest festival, no matter their species or even if they work directly under you or not. Even the pop monsters will shut down the moment you awaken as Demon Lord, and the same goes for Albedo or anyone with high authority." Momonga explained his findings. "I bypassed it due to evolving differently, but I cannot for you within a reasonable time frame."

"Ohh… that won't end well. We can't just pull a million mercenaries out of our asses to hire for a day." Buku's expression soured. "I mean we could ask Elmesia and Gazel nicely, but we would be indebted to them big-time."

"The Free Guild could be hired under the pretense that Tempest is testing a nationwide surveillance system. There are two point seven million combat-ready members spread throughout Tempest-controlled territories," Kagali suggested, pulling out some papers.

"Damn, someone is running for employee of the month. That is an excellent idea. We should have enough money for that right?" Buku perked up, reaching for the pages and skimming through them.

"We will use both ideas. It will be the perfect opportunity to find out how trustworthy an ally Gazel is, but we won't ask Elmesia for help since Sarion is a neutral nation. Kagali, how much time and money are required for you to set up an operation of such scale, when in full cooperation with other figures of the Tempestian military and economics?"

"If we provide transportation, then I could put everything in place in four days, but even on the low end it will likely cost about three to four thousand stellar coins since it would require rush fees, let alone summoning that many people of decent quality within such a short period would require an expensive upfront reward and ongoing wages," Kagali explained.

"The bird will have a stroke when he hears this," Buku remarked, knowing how much it would cut into the nation's annual budget, which was her brother's responsibility. She had her dabblings in it too.

"Not necessarily. The current Free Guild unpaid tab towards UTC is close to a thousand stellars. With some maneuvering and time, I should be able to minimize the expenses to under a couple thousand, which can then be covered through mass selling of products for bulk price to the Free Guild afterward," Kagali added. Getting on Lord Pero's hit list for suggesting such an expensive plan wasn't something she wanted to achieve.

"Then carry it out. I will talk with Gazel personally and hopefully get his agreement. Nazarick, inform Aureole that we might need rapid troop relocation on a mass scale. Buku, I'll leave it up to you to make sure there are no information leaks about the real purpose of this operation." Momonga issued a list of orders, standing up in his chair.

As everyone prepared to leave, Momonga turned his attention to Hinata and what sort of abilities she had gained through becoming a divine human, and whether there was a potential risk of her breaking free from his chains. Despite Buku's assurances that Hinata had become loyal to Nazarick, the risks still existed.

Her power increase was staggering, to say the least, as she could likely go toe to toe with a floor guardian for a while and possibly win if the floor guardian didn't go all out from the start. But what Momonga found most concerning was her ultimate skill Fortuna, Lord of Odds. It wasn't one of the God skills, but at the same time wasn't a skill connected to the system as well.

'Hmm, by the looks of it, this skill connects to some fundamental force like Albedo's Ginnungagap. I guess I can let it be as is.'

Fundamental forces were fundamental forces. He had already begun tapping into the fundamental aspect of death and had tasked Manas: Nazarick with determining if any others held similar skills.

The skill itself gave her most of the standard abilities Ultimate skills had like Thought Acceleration and Multilayer Barrier. But on top of all that, she had Space-time Manipulation, which allowed her to accelerate beyond standard limits, closing in to the feats God Skills with divine enchants allowed her to perform. Additionally, this ability gave her instant teleportation, a surely handy ability from its inferior skill Spatial Domination.

She now could pose a danger to the unprepared player or floor guardian, that was, if her enslavement and enforced loyalty failed to prevent her from turning her strengthened blade against her new masters.

Thankfully, the chains kept around her had held firm during the evolution and showed no sign of breaking. Thus, she was fine, and he dismissed her back to Buku.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by aidan_lo, FantasyTroll, clagan, Cay, Sluethen, shynavyseal, NuggetLover, CakeEight, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO and Nervy.

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