***Starting Note from the Author***

Hello and Thank you for your interest. This story starts with the context of everything that has happened in the show and the light novels 1 through 11. We start by creating a new ending to anisOoalGown's wonder fanfic "Light's downfall." This work is currently a work in progress and is updated whenever I think I found a good point to stop. As usual, there is the usual legal disclaimer.

~Disclaimer~

I do not own the Overlord Series, nor the characters of the story, nor should I be confused or associated to be with the Overlord Publishers. Same can be said for some of the characters pulled from "Light's downfall." This is purely just a fictional work of art made to make fun of writing itself as well as indirectly comment on the philosophical issues that plague both the overlord world and our own.

Enjoy and Review!~~~

It wasn't that the wind was particularly cold, or the clouds too thick, or that climb failed to dress. One could even say that it was a perfectly perfect day, air not too cold and the sun not too hot. But even so, Climb and Brain had a persistent chill. That was because, today... today was not a good day. Today, they had to talk friendly to the monster that killed Gazef, a man both men respected. They had to meet, the Sorcerer King... Ainz Ooal Gown.

On horseback, they had passed by E-Rantel. Passing the minefield of Death Knights, albeit they didn't need to, but neither liked the idea of going near the legendary undead monsters. They were heading across the northern border of the Slain Theocracy to where Ainz was rumored to be spending his time today. Climb slowed down as he reached the top of the hill.

Brain
"What's the matter Climb, why have you stopped?"

As his horse trotted up to meet Climb up top the hill, he got his answer.

Climb
"Is that the empire's men?"

Climb was squinting and looking at a large battalion of uniform soldiers in two neat squares. A collection of men were on a hill below that of the hill Climb and Brain had stopped on, and beyond the soldiers was the capital City of the Slain Theocracy surrounded by fields of half harvested crops. Wearing a furrowed brow of worry and confusion, Climb continued,

Climb
"Why are they here? Are they working with the Sorcerer King to take down the capital with brute force?"

Brain also furrowed his brow, but more in disgust at the idea than anything else.

Brain
"I can't say."

Surveying the squares of men, one of the three groups looked different.

Brain
"Look over there! Just guessing but don't those guys look a bit off?"

Climb
"Yeah, something's not right here. We best go check it out."

With that said, they wore a face of determination to confront whatever they needed to so that they could complete their mission and head back home and forget about this day.

They rode down the hill, and up to the next to meet the people. As they got closer, they noticed one of the groups was a bit short.

Climb
Are those dwarves?

The people open up a path to let Climb and Brain through.

Climb
"Excuse me, who is in charge here?"

Climb voice was steady, perhaps from the confidence he got after seeing how the dwarfs had acknowledged him and Brain by opening a path up to them.

Gondo
"Your best bet will be me if you are asking us dwarfs. What be your business?"

The one who answered was small, and to Climb the small man didn't look any different from the other dwarfs. He feared that if he blinked, that even in such a brief moment of losing sight of the dwarf, it would still be enough time to cause Climb never to be able to find the leader of these dwarfs again. He contemplated what he should say next while concentrating on not closing his drying eyes.

Brain

"We come to seek an audience with the Sorcerer King. Are you his allies?"

Brain, on the other hand, didn't skip a beat. Climb felt that he still had a bit more to mature to reach the levels of Brain and Gazef to be so calm in such a situation. Both Brain and Climb focused all their attention on the dwarf's words; as if the two warriors were lost in a desert and each word was a drop of water.

Gondo
"Ey, that we are. We have come to show our support. These troops come from the Dwarf Kingdom, I am overseeing them on his majesty's behalf."

The dwarf answer seemed quite calm, no, even a bit happy.

Brain
How could this dwarf be in such good spirits when having to work with the Sorcerer King?

Climb
"And what of these other men, have they come from the empire to show their support as well?"

Climb hadn't meant to say his thoughts out loud, but after a hot wave of embarrassment washed over him after realizing he let loose his thoughts, his stern face seemed to have gotten even harder as he tried to make it seem like he was trying to be bold and stoic.

Gondo
"You guessed it. You can find the Emperor over by that little greeting party."

Climb
"The Emperor!?"

Climb immediately brought down the energy in his voice.

Climb
Does he mean Ainz? Or is he talking about Emperor Jircniv? Why would Jircniv be here?

Climb thought, recalling overhearing Princess Renner and others discussing how the Baharuth Empire had officially become a vassal state of the Sorcerous Kingdom. Distracted in thought, Climb realized that he had left an awkward silence in the wake of his sudden reply.

Brain
"Alright. Thank you. Do you know where the Sorcerer King is?"

Climb
Thank you for the save again Brain.

The one to answer Brain's question of the Sorcerer King was man hidden under a cowl and covered in a robe. Hard to see with the cowl hiding his eyes, was the face of an Elder Lich. He road atop a horse and following him were a few other men on horseback. One wore a white mask that had no expression or facial features other than one slit to see out of the mask. Another was a young lad in a red robe with the hood pulled back, and a necklace of bony fingers, his face didn't seem to communicate anything wicked. Lastly to one side was a rather plump and well dress man. They were followed by 5 Knights on horses as well under the order of the plump nobleman.

Unrazon
"We believe he is currently fighting the forces of the Slain theocracy."

The deep and monstrous voice made each man envision a Death Knight as they turned to see the speaker.

Brain
"And who are you?"

Urazon
"I am Unrazon, one of the 12 leaders of Zuranon."

Climb quickly went for his sword after hearing this. This was the first instant Climb was able to respond with haste and determination. The man, the monster, that stood before him, was none other than the Calamity of Auratum. A man who had destroyed all of Auratum city to collect enough negative energy to become a powerful undead himself. The others of the Zuranon Cult also worked to similar goals and were responsible for many of the catastrophes that had befallen much of mankind in the past 200 years. They came after the fall of the Evil Deities at the hands of the 13 Heros. In an instant, Climb pulled his sword with the intent of taking their heads that very moment.

Unrazon
"Hold yourself steady boy, for we are under the protection of the king. An attack against us is an attack against the king."

Climb
Damn! Are these monsters working together?!

Climb beamed menacingly towards the undead monster, his sword still half sheathed. Unrazon was actually lying through his teeth. They too had come to seek an audience with the king. They hadn't too long ago watching Ainz through the [Blood Pool]. They usually would be in the empire, but this time the leaders had collected at the location of the [Blood Pool], hidden in a monument buried near the empire's southwestern border. Through the [Blood Pool] they had watched Ainz's subordinates fight the Slain Theocracy's best units and defeat them so handily, no skill needed. Being so close and needing to make contact with Ainz, this was their best opportunity. Unrazon only worry was whether or not Ainz saw them as worthy pawns or not. The young lad to the right of the Undead leader didn't seem too worried, confident in the actions of the Elder Lich that he practically worshiped. The elderly masked man had made it clear to the group earlier his dislike for having to grovel at the feet of Ainz, still convinced they could leverage Ainz to get more support and funding for the organization. His plan was to use the hate Ainz would undoubtedly have for the living; being that he is an undead creature. The Nobleman, however, was sweating bullets. Jircniv could understand why.

Jircniv a few moments ago, was ahead of the troops, waiting to welcome Ainz and his party. He didn't believe that Ainz needed him, nor did he want to be here. Not only was Ainz suppose to be here, a deviously intelligent and wicked being that had swiftly taken control of them and crippled any support they may have had from the other kingdoms, but so too was Fluder here. Both Fluder and Jircniv understood Fluder's betrayal and had nothing to say between one another. Fluder seemed too distracted to even notice Jircniv, his practical grandson, was here. Fluder eagerly awaited Ainz to see what else he would do with his great magic.

The two squares of soldiers came from the empire. Jircniv had brought them here at the request of Ainz, as well as an act of friendship. Not that the two nations were really friends, but they had to put on that mask so not as to incur the wrath of the Sorcerous Kingdom. All the knight seemed to have an easy time keeping their nerves under control as long as Ainz wasn't nearby. The third square of soldiers, however, were from the Dwarven Kingdom. Sent over as an act of support and friendship.

Jircniv
*Tsk!*

Jircniv didn't like how Ainz had so handily managed to gain their obedience. Although the dwarfs were a tad nervous, they seemed much more confident and genuine than the knights of the empire. It was because of the tension in the air that made the collection of soldiers deathly silent. Because of the silence, that when Climb and Brain came riding in from up north, the sound of movement caught Jircniv's attention. Leaving Aura, one of Ainz other vassals; behind to guard Fluder, Jircniv went to meet the newcomers.

As Jircniv got close enough to make out the people in front of the battalion, his attention went to the knight in silver armor, Climb.

Jircniv
What is the Kingdom doing here?

His next landmark fell on the ranks of a group of shady and quirky individuals.

Jircniv
Damn! What is Phalfurt doing here as well? If he is here, that must mean those other men must be fellow Zuranon supporters.

He could see the sweat on the Nobleman's brow. Only 2 days ago had the empire managed to capture some of the Zuranon who had been kidnapping and sacrificing civilians as offerings to Ainz. It made Jircniv sick to learn that such people existed. After they were captured, some were more than willing to spill the beans about the details of Zuranon. It seemed most of the people the empire had captured had abandoned the organization and starting to make their own sector of followers in the name of the Overlord of Death, Ainz Ooal Gown. So keeping Zuranon a secret was no longer a priority to the prisoners. Thanks to the information collected by these men, the Empire started to try to flush out the Zuranon, but it seemed the cult was already one step ahead of the empire and had cleaned out most of their hideouts. They must have recently moved their base of operations out, as if they were preparing for something, but there was no way they could have seen the empire's forces coming in so many days in advance. They had most likely done this as preparations related to something else, wouldn't be too surprising if that something else was the legendary undead that Jircniv swore vassalage to.

Getting close now, the Emperor called out

Jircniv
"Phalfurt! Have you come to seek refuge in the Sorcerous Kingdom?"

Brain, Gondo, and the 4 Zuranon leaders turned their attention from each other to the man calling out. Climb, however, kept his intense gaze and burning eyes on the Elder Lich. The round man seemed to nervously look around as if pretending he didn't hear his own name. The Elder Lich started to make a response, trying to keep it cool, seeing how they were surrounded by enemies here.

Gondo
"Lord Jircniv! Don't worry yourself, they're already allied with the king."

Gondo had answered in a rather happy tone, as if glad to be surrounded by friends and family members, and as if he was trying to cheer up Jircniv who wore an obvious face of dissatisfaction. The tone almost made Jircniv puke on the spot.

Jircniv
Damn that Sorcerer King!

Unrazon
Hah! Perfect, thank you foolish dwarf.

Although he was undead, Unrazon still had his reasoning. He disliked the idea of having bluff his way through things, and although he was immune to mind-altering attacks, the dwarf had removed the thorn that could have turned into an executioner's ax. For that, Unrazon who was easily considered one of the evilest beings alive or rather undead, could not help but feel a little bit of gratitude to the small bearded man. But that feeling quickly fled away as Unrazon had to refocus on current events.

Gondo
"Any sight of his majesty?"

Jircniv was hesitant in his response.

Jircniv
...
"No."

The answer was a cold one.

Gondo
"Oh..."

Everyone was perplexed by the tone of disappointment coming from the dwarf. Jircniv walked past the Zuranon leaders and stopped next to the dwarf, he turned his attention to the newcomers.

Jircniv
"You men are from the Re-Estize Kingdom, aren't you?"

Climb finally relaxed, as it seemed the situation demanded that he ignore the Zuranon threat. Climb turned his attention and nodded.

Climb
"That we are. We have come to deliver a message to the Sorcerer King from our fair lady, Renner."

It felt weird to Climb to talk to the Blood Emperor, an enemy of the Kingdom, in such a formal manner.

Jircniv
"I see. Well, his majesty is not here at the moment and we are currently waiting for his arrival, so you will have to wait until then."

Climb
"I understand. Thank you, your majesty."

Jircniv
"Majesty? I am afraid I don't deserve such a title, I am but a lowly vassal of the Sorcerous Kingdom nowadays."

Climb was surprised at this. This once fearsome and mighty ruler seemed devoid of any life.

Climb
What had to happen to make such a man so lifeless?!

The sound of commotion and foot movement came from behind once more. Not long after, the trotting of a single horse could be heard. Brain was starting to get dizzy from having to keep moving his attention to different people. The person was a middle-aged man with hair down to his shoulders. The man wore chainmail shirt and a leather cap, with what looked like work pants and a leather and iron skirt that went as high as his ribs and down to his knees. He didn't look like a seasoned fighter, if anything his get up just looked sloppy and goofy, but his face wore a tired expression.

Copper
"Excuse me! Who are you, why have you gathered here?"

His question was rushed, with a tinge of worry. The first to answer was Unrazon, who wanted to skip the pleasantries of all these knights and noblemen.

Unrazon
"And who you might you be?"

The man winced at the dark voice with fear in his eyes and then quickly got off his horse and kneeled down. His motion was so fast and fluid that everyone had a hard time recognizing what he was doing before he violently spoke as he trembled like a green thorn, a rookie.

Copper
"Forgive my impertinence mighty King Ainz-sama of the Sorcerous Kingdom, I am a messenger sent from the Draconic Kingdom; we seek your aid!"

Climb, Brain, Jircniv, and the other three Zuranons
"Eh?!"

The dorky knight kept his pose even as he heard the uncouth expressions. Jircniv just frowned at hearing this but did find it amusing that the young man had mistaken the Elder Lich as Ainz.

Jircniv
Hah! So innocent. Hard to believe he is as old as my late father.

Gondo
"Hahaha! Hew hew hew, he-he-he!"

Everyone was perplexed by the loud and jolly laughter that seemed to have erupted from the small man. Surprised that such a body could produce a laugh at such volume. Gondo continued to laugh, struggling to control himself as the laughter lowered to a chuckle under his breath as he tried to speak.

Gondo
"Ha, hew. He." *Cough!* "Sorry, ha, few. Sorry, forgive my outburst everyone."

Gondo turned to the knight seeming to have is calm and happy composer back.

Gondo
"Sorry lad, Ainz-dono is currently away right now. This is just one of Lord Ainz's tax collectors."

All
Tax collector?!

Climb, Brain, and Jircniv could not help but laugh inside at the remark. Unrazon; the head of one of the most infamous organizations, one who people could mistake as Ainz himself as a legendary undead, seemed to be nothing more than a lowly public servant. The young man in the red robes furrowed his brow in anger at this remark, at the idea of his master being seen as such a low status, a man he worshiped! Phalfurt seemed to have doubled his sweat production, if Ainz really saw them as something so pathetic, it would truly be the end of them, of him! The scholar still was hidden behind the mask, he could only click his tongue at this remark but didn't read too deeply into it.

At this time the kneeling man had risen his head with wide eyes,

Copper
This is just a tax collector!? What kind of person must Ainz be to rule over such a monster like this one!?

The man rose to his feet and bowed again to the people.

Copper
"Forgive me, I had heard Ainz-sama was undead, so I had assumed..."

Unrazon
"It is all right."

It felt weird to Unrazon, given his true status, to be talking so casually to all these people.

Jircniv
"Since we all are waiting for his majesty, why don't we join the rest of the welcoming committee."

Jircniv quickly got everyone's mind off of the silly topic and everyone nodded and followed Jircniv as they went to join the welcoming committee. Each of them feeling the pressure of being at the mercy of the untold future. As they got closer to Fluder and Aura, a portal of black and purple ink opened up just past the two.

Ainz
*Sigh.* How did it come to this?

Ainz walked in front of Demiurge, Sebas, and Lycan. Ainz had just gotten out of the treasury, having taken [Downfall of Castle and Country], a major threat to Ainz's plans, and now they were heading to meet Aura after being told what the status was outside.

Ainz
"[Greater Gate]."

As Ainz walked to the portal, followed by Sebas and leaving Demiurge to his minions to clear out the treasury, he couldn't help but recall the hectic few months up and coming to this moment. After taking control of the fortress city E-Rantel, they had a bit of a food crisis. They had lost a lot of working hands in the battle for E-Rantel. After taking rulership, the city was without the support of its prior kingdom. They were trading food with the Dwarven Kingdom and just this month Enri, chief of Carne Village and wife of Nfirea the potion maker, had asked for support after they were attacked a few month ago and were short on food reserves to last them through to the next harvest.

Ainz at the time could have used his powers to generate food, but he held back on such actions, worrying about how people would react. Free food, it would be almost too good to be true, that would have been what the people would think. Food made by magic wasn't uncommon, but the lower level magic of the humans often produced very distasteful food. If he tried, the people may be afraid to accept it believing that there might be a catch involved, it might taste bad, or that it might have evil magic or poisons in it. So Ainz had to figure out how to make do with what they had.

He could have also asked for support from the empire, but he didn't want to look weak, nor did he want to look like he ruled a kingdom that would take advantage of its allies without hesitation. So he had to refuse that easy way out as well. He had sent out a lot of homeless and third sons of farmers out to make to fields, but it would still take some time to get food from them.

So when Demiurge came to Ainz at that time with news about finding out who attacked Shalltear, it took a lot of pressure off Ainz. If he could conquer the Slain Theocracy in the name of justice, not only would that help keep his image clean, but he could justly take what food he needs. Taking out the Slain Theocracy would solve a lot of problem from Ainz. So now that Ainz had finished his most of his current plans, he almost wanted to jump into a victory pose right there on the spot.

In the three months after he had made friendly ties with the Dwarven Kingdom, Ainz had pressured the Slain Theocracy and it went flawlessly. In the time between the three months, Ainz had to manage the kingdom with its mountain of paperwork. He had to move some of his Elder Liches to collect information of current rations and formulate reports so Ainz could figure out how well they were doing.

One of the things that had happened that Ainz was most proud of devising was a worker's program. Before his rule, people who couldn't work, pay taxes, were homeless or stole food to survive were often arrested until dues were paid. It made no sense, being in prison for being broke and jobless didn't make them any more able to help themselves. These issues also existed in back in the world when Ainz was human. It came to Ainz attention when one of his tax collectors, an Elder Lich, came to discuss how they had found a woman who couldn't pay her taxes and that such an event had been outlined by Albedo or Demiurge to call for swift and immediate execution.

Ainz
What were they thinking?! Demiurge should have caught that!

The vision of Albedo making secret revisions behind Demiurge's back popped into Ainz mind, and for a brief moment, he was filled with rage, before it was forcefully tempered. Ainz had looked over the submission, but being several hundred pages long and based off a compilation of the laws before Ainz's rule, he had planned to read it over the course of a few days.

Ainz
I must have passed it before I rushed to locate the dwarven kingdom.

Ainz was thankful and patted himself on the back for designing the few Elder Liches that helped did the paperwork and management for the kingdom. They were made to ask Ainz instead of acting on their own, able to identify and avoid any form of violence.

The days following that, Ainz had made a worker's program. People, prisoners, who couldn't get a job, who were either too old or hurt to work, or couldn't pay taxes after changes in the economy, too young and or homeless; instead of being given a jail cell, they became free labor. Ainz didn't like the idea of enslaving them, but the way he worded it, they worked for shelter and food. The work wasn't too hard either, most of the taxes went to buying the food. This was because what he used the people in the worker's program for, he wasn't too sure what to name it yet, was mainly to make emergency food rations. These were simple meals that were prepared, preserved, and packaged. Ainz eventually bought out most of the food the kingdom had, and everyone had to move to rations. Places that once served food either closed or learned to prep the rations for people. Through this rationing system, Ainz had managed to be able to ensure the longevity of the kingdom's food reserve until they could get more aid from the plunder of the Slain Theocracy to carry them over to the next harvest. Many of the workers who were injured, homeless, or elderly were finally able to make an honest living for the first time, even if the job was as simple as add 3 scoops of salt to the meat and pass the tray along, gave great pride and self-satisfaction to the workers. It boosted their morale, as well as help paint Ainz in a good light. A few weeks afterwards, the golden princess tried to do the same but her proposal was shot down by the nobles for being expensive and only encouraging bad behavior. Hearing such news made Ainz feel rather smug at the time.

Ainz
Oh, we're through.

Climb and the rest made their way to Fluder and Aura as the portal opened. Unrazon dismounted from his steed. Being a powerful magic caster, he had the skills and the mana reserves to cast [Fly] but he had chosen to go by horse to conserve his mana. The reason he priorities such things were because of the [Eye of Hector]. If the worst were to happen and he needed to fight Ainz, this was the Zuranon's trump card, and to use it the activator needed a bountiful reserve of mana to prime it. Once activated, it would consume a vast collection of negative energy the cult had gather and kept below in one of the cellars located beneath the outer defense wall of the empire. All that power at the Zuranon's fingertips could destroy nations in one fell swoop. Priming the artifact allowed it to summon a horrendous and unstoppable monster that could wield 7th tier magic, powers not even heard of in legends. But despite all the preparation for the worst, Unrazon got off his horse as he felt it would be improper for a being such as himself to be seen on such a creature. Even if he could summon an undead horse he would still have gotten off to show respect.

The rest of the Zuranon party followed Unrazon's lead. Climb kept track of their movement with his ears, but like everyone else, his eyes were fixed on the portal. The tension in the air had risen as expected, with Gondo, Fluder, and Aura being the exception; naturally. No, was the tension increasing? What is this pressure? Everyone felt cold, like time itself had slowed down, and a pressure of immense danger made their hearts beat louder. Unrazon who was undead was immune to mind-altering effects, but none the less could feel what going on around him.

Unrazon
What is this? Fear?! How can I be afraid!

Unrazon took a few more steps before realizing he no longer heard steps following him. He turned to see what had made his followers halt. What he saw were white and wet faces. They looked like they were about to be sick. Just as he turn to look at the portal, he could even hear Climb's armor clapping as he trembled and could even see the emperor visible shake, and then Unrazon felt the pressure skyrocketed as if it was going to crush him alive.

Ainz had arrived.