"...and that's all we have managed to learn about him" - Aim would have respectfully bowed to his King if he had a head or a neck. However, in the current conversation, where only his mind and pure consciousness existed, such courtesies were impossible. Not to mention that in front of the King, who could see through the mind of Aim through and through - a meaningless gesture.

Usually, after such a report, the King would reply to the Demon King's report with some meaningless words, instructions or comments, something rather useless to be honest. It is at the level of "Hmm, is that so?" or "Is that all you can convey to me?", Or even "I'm disappointed."

That is how the communication of the Demon Kings to their King usually ended like.

So the fact that after hearing what Aim just said with the King not reacting to it at all, made Aim incredibly nervous.

Unlike the thousands and thousands of previous similar reactions, this time the King had remained silent.

Aim, who had died ingloriously just a few hours ago in the Singularity at the hands of Drake's Noble Phantasm and was just revived by the power of his King, after finishing his report and having received no order in return, was forced to simply wait in silence.

An order that, it seems, would not be coming anytime soon from the King.

The unsettling silence was... Unpleasant.

It was like a subordinate who had just delivered an important report to his boss, and instead of being dismissed promptly his boss was silent as he seemed to lose himself in thought. It would leave the subordinate standing uncomfortably in his office, afraid to leave without, afraid to speak as it would break his boss' concentration, instead being forced to wait for an order in discomfort.

This has not happened before.

Aim was old, not as old as the real elders, but he was older than many of the other Demon Kings. And in his entire life, this has never happened before.

A thought, disgusting like some kind of inappropriate joke, slipped into Aim's mind.

Maybe just for a second, but he thought that something bad had happened...

Something that doesn't fit into the King's plan. Preposterous.

It was an impossibility for a simple reason - his King is capable of foreseeing the future.

It was ridiculous to even think that the King who possesses a great mind, a great magi, who is capable of foreseeing the future, would be surprised by something unexpected. It was simply impossible from any logical point of view.

And yet for a pitiful fraction of a second, in the mind of Aim slipped a seditious thought.

Perhaps ... The King was surprised.

"Hmm, I see" - after a second, which seemed to Aim to be infinitely long, the King wiped out that infinitesimally small doubt "I understand."

Aim exhaled, relieved. Yes, the King's reply had instantly cast away from him any shackles of doubt that had touched his mind for a second.

His King was indestructible, invincible, but first of all - he was omniscient. It was impossible to surprise him in any way. Any event that could happen was simply one of the thousands of insignificant events that he had foreseen and studied with the meticulous mind of an infinitely powerful intelligence.

Of course, nothing could surprise his King and nothing could shake his confidence.

Aim believed this with all his sense of self.

"Well..." - after another moment, the King started speaking again - "In that case... Their goal, of course, will be the destruction of Poseidon."

"Without a doubt, my King" - Aim understood that the King was not actually asking for his opinion, only made judgments that were absolute in their very essence, since the King could not be mistaken in any way. Still the King continued on - "Is it worth it to stop them from doing this? "

For a second, the King fell silent again.

Another shadow of an uncomfortable nasty viscous sensation ran down Aim's back.

The King had no doubt. The King knew everything that is to happen. The King was ready for anything.

The King was always ready with an answer to anything. He simply did not need to doubt, no need to consider his options. No need to act as if the King was someone who could, even theoretically, encounter something unexpected. Therefore, a second pause... Scared Aim.

"Not worth it," the King answered after a second, "Moreover, hmm… the Grail."

After another second, Aim's mind seemed to be under the gaze of an experienced surgeon, an impartial meticulousness of a machine looking at every bit of his consciousness.

After another second, Aim felt new thoughts, ideas, and memories burst into his mind.

The King... Rarely resorted to this method. Direct interference with the minds of the Demon Kings were a very rare occurrence.

Unexpected actions, unexpected pauses, all from an unexpected event...

Aim shook out all these inappropriate thoughts from his mind, and then concentrated on the things that his King had transferred to him.

After another moment, Aim's mind shuddered from the gravity of the mission entrusted to him, and then from the plan that also arose in his head.

"My..." - Aim, for the first time in his long life, stammered - "King? You... wish for us to..."

"Yes," the King answered back unequivocally.

There was no doubt, regret, or remorse in his words. However, they also do not have any cruelty, ridicule or anger. Rather, the order was delivered with absolute neutrality with which a gust of wind or a burning fire would utter if they could speak, with no emotion at all. Just the power of nature, with which it was impossible to argue or fight against.

Aim... felt everything inside him shrank from the realization of his future fate.

No, it was the fate of only Aim as a conscious being, Demon King Aim will continue to exist. According to the King's orders, when Aim was still just an ordinary magi, he left behind an offspring, which could inherit his title and position. Demon King Aim will not disappear. It was simply the Aim that lives right now that would die to fulfill his King's plan.

"It will be done, my King" - Aim breathed out, accepting silently the 'death' that would happen with him following his King's plan.

After another second, Aim disappeared, thanks to the power of the King, finding himself in the Singularity again.

The King was now alone.

No one would hear the voice of the King. There was no one near the King and no one could speak to him.

And yet the King spoke like a whisper.

"Hmm..." - a slow sigh slowly escaped the King - "So... Focalor..."

The loss of a Demon King was not a problem. The loss of ten Demon Kings was only a minor nuisance. The loss of all the Demon Kings was but a small inconvenience.

But the attempt to steal Focalor, to convert his power - however insignificant it was - against himself...

It was a slap in his face. It was a spit to his face.

It was a declaration of war.

Not something to be done in the small game in which they had fun together before. Not to be done in the small skirmish between two magi who did not share anything in common in the vastness of this world.

It was an official letter declaring war, sealed with the personal seal of the enemy and hidden in wax, intended only for him.

War, hmm...

Never had the King declared war before.

But if this insignificant magi had decided to fight with him, hmm... Well, the King will be happy to show his enemy what a War with the King is like.

The loss of a Singularity is worth nothing to him. But will it be just as true for his enemy?

This King and his Enemy had to test that in practice.

"So..." - Medea exhaled - "I'm right here... Why?"

Medea was very accustomed to how quickly her life's circumstances could change. For a Servant, the ability to respond to changes in the world is possibly even more important than personal strength or intelligence.

There will always be someone stronger. There will always be someone who's prepared for your plan.

But if you have a little tactical flexibility - you can get around any trap.

Therefore, Medea could not say that she was not ready for one day to find herself in the shadow of a giant. Perhaps one could even say that she foresaw someone like Baal standing in front of her, someone that could overshadow her in every way.

Strong, smart, stylish, but, most importantly...

Cruel and to the very last grain of the soul, which he did not have, crazy.

Medea could see confirmation of this in every breath that Baal took. In the way he takes a step. How he smiled. How he maintained a conversation.

How his gaze estimated how much pain he could inflict with his every move.

See his mind pondering in how many ways he could cut any poor soul he met on his way.

How his every breath was aimed only at finding another way to hurt someone.

He had to win because it is precisely such people who always win. Someone smart, strong, cruel and unprincipled is the winner in all of history.

Therefore, Medea was ready for the fact that in the end it was someone like that who would become the winner.

In a way, this was even more preferable than any other option. If some knight in shining armor or a noble hero had defeated her, she would feel really stupid instead, like a cheap villain in a cheap performance, existing only to demonstrate the heroism of the protagonist. No, she, in a sense, liked that in the end she was defeated by someone who is even more evil, cruel and unprincipled than herself. In some funny sense of the word, Medea even sees it as the honest and correct way to die rather than death at the hands of a noble knight.

The only thing that seemed incongruous to her is the fact that Baal had found his own Master. And not some wimp that Baal could easily bend around his finger and operate like a puppet, but...

"This loyal Servant is ready to serve you with all his loyalty and strength, my lord," Baal smiled, bowing his head in front of Ainz.

"Your most loyal Servant have returned," the second monster, Cainabel, intervened in the conversation, casting an angry look at Baal, and then looked at Ainz with a soft, lovely and adoringly cloying — though very fake through and through, "My lord if you want something - just tell me, and I,your faithful servant, will be glad to fulfill any of your orders."

And someone before whom Baal did not wag his tail joyfully only for the look of it.

And Medea could see that Baal was not acting like a faithful dog only to make it easier for him to control a stupid obedient puppet. Medea could see that Baal really, very carefully and somewhat desperately, trying to demonstrate his loyalty… Out of Fear? Respect? Something in between?

Medea rolled her eyes - what an inappropriate joke... It was as if someone had decided to laugh at her once again for her life choices and actions. Demonstrating to her - very insignificant - place in this world.

Medea shook her head, after which she estimated her options.

Attack them? Hmm, she was sure that there were less stupid and painful ways to commit suicide in the world, but such a thing escapes her at the moment.

Betray them? Medea had not hidden the Grail from the Demon Kings before, only to join them right now.

Escape? How many steps can she take before Baal, with a good-natured smile, tore her body asunder - five? ten?

Medea simply could not do anything. She had effectively lost any freedom that she could have in this Singularity.

And this meant that all she could do now was wait and hope for the mercy of her new owners.

Medea sighed, after which she looked at the other Servants standing nearby.

Francis Drake... Loud, brush, stupid.

Asterios... Big, dumb, brainless.

Atalanta... Invisible, expressionless, unnecessary.

Nero, Altera, Mozart, Mashu? They didn't even attract Medea's attention.

So the only option was herself.

"Medea," Medea almost grinned at how unusual it was to turn simultaneously to herself and to someone else.

The girl, having heard Medea's voice, froze. After which she looked at her younger self, leaning against the stern of the ship with an aimless expression before approaching her.

"Yes?" The look of Medea, Medea the Younger, was in stark contrast with the expression on Medea the Elder.

The two Medeas were one legendary person, and yet were different in every way. Their appearance, their abilities, their Noble Phantasms, their legends, everything about them was different. And even the expressions in their eyes could not be more different.

One was full of hidden bitterness - the second with passive laziness.

The only unusual thing was that the younger girl's gaze was full of anger, that was barely hidden while looking at her grown-up copy, at the Witch of Betrayal.

"Hm, are you still angry?" Medea asked the question in a light tone, as if a part of some insignificant conversation, looking at her younger self in front of her.

"Can I not get angry?" Medea the Younger looked at Medea the Elder with such poison that if her eyes could kill - then the Witch of Betrayal would be dead more than one hundred times already, "You betrayed me."

"The Witch of Betrayal betrayed someone, what a surprise," Medea only answered with a barely covered sarcasm. Causing the girl whom she was once to cast a glare full of undisguised hatred. But such a thing would not get any reaction from the Witch of Betrayal.

After waiting a few more seconds, Medea nevertheless continued to talk, "You know how this story ends without me. Jason will never love you, and in the end you will become a despised Witch. I know that you yourself know this - our memory is the same after all."

After these words, Medea the Youngest had to be frightened, angry, and react in some at least...

"And so what?" Medea, the girlish Medea, looked at Medea with a sense of denial.

"You know that Jason will betray you - or have betrayed you, if you were to look at it with the World's perspective," The Witch of Colchis grinned, "Betraying him earlier is the best you could do."

To this Medea, the Witch of Betrayal, only received in response a look full of contempt, - "No. I would not do what you did."

"You are me," Medea answered to the younger Medea.

"No," Medea objected to older Medea, "If that were so, we would be one Servant. And instead, we turned out to be two different Servants."

"Sophistry, stupidity and youthful desire," Medea exhaled. She did not like children, however, the fact that she was talking with her younger copy blunted her hatred a bit - "You already know everything that will happen. Jason would never love you, and all of your interaction was built solely on lies. Trying to pretend otherwise, that you do not know about the fate of your 'love' in order to allow you to enjoy a bliss filled illusions a little longer. That's all that guided your actions."

To this Medea, a girl who is now sporting a hateful look, could not find the opportunity to answer back.

In essence, this is exactly what it was.

Medea, a girl trying to live a pointless lie to get a little closer to the object of her love, Jason. And the Witch, who took advantage of her delusion. Simply by threatening to uncover the lies that the younger Medea had made to Jason, forced her to vouch for her older self in front of Jason. And all this is just to make him steal the Grail - and escape with it. For what reason?

Fearing what the Demon Kings will be able to take the Grail from Drake or Jason, stay with it at her prepared base.

In the end, one could even say that the older Medea's goal was noble. However, the nobility of her ultimate goal did not cancel out blackmail and betrayal it took to complete it. Even more than that, one could say that such actions made her noble end goal look much less noble than it actually was.

And yet, the nobility Medea's purpose did not mean anything in this conversation. Only actions.

And the actions of Medea were not noble - under any circumstances.

"Hm," Medea sighed, looking at her silent young copy, and then exhaled, "I can't even understand... Why Jason? In the past, we had no choice - the curse of love did not leave us any other choice. Why love Jason now? You were worth more."

Medea, the girl, did not answer. Medea, the Witch, only sighed, turning to go to the next free Servant to annoy them somehow, but did not even have time to take a step away before being stopped by a quiet voice, - "Because he is a Hero."

"Jason, huh?" Medea could not help herself after hearing the remark. "He is a coward and a wimp."

"Yes," Medea, the girl who dropped her eyes agreed, "And a Hero."

The Witch of Colchis stopped for a second.

The words of her young copy sounded silly, as any phrase uttered by a young girl just for the sake objecting to their elders would sound silly. Medea was supposed to take these words as another proof of the stupidity of her young copy and forget about them at all, however...

Some kind of memory surfaced in her mind. Some kind of stupid, absolutely inappropriate thought...

"Whatever," the Witch of Betrayal suppressed this thought, which had arisen for a moment, after which she left Medea alone.

Atalanta slowly looked at the strangest child that she had ever seen in her life.

Frankly, she was used to the fact that children were small, cute, and naive. Something like a small kitten or puppy. They would waddle around at the feet somewhere at the level of the knees, smiling with a modest childish smile while looking in your face.

The child, if Atalanta could say such a thing, did not look like that at all.

"So," Atalanta breathed out, feeling strange conflicting feelings from watching her new acquaintance, "Your name is..."

"Asterios," the huge colossus of a Minotaur poked a finger at himself, staring blankly at Atalanta, "And...you?"

"Atalanta," Atalanta smiled.

Small...

Atalanta carefully looked at the colossus that is Asterios, which stood a good meter high above Heracles, the largest person that she had ever met. Which means that he was about two times taller than Atalanta herself. And if one were to consider the inhuman, in a very literal sense, amount of muscles on his body - five times bigger.

"I will... Remember it," Asterios nodded carefully, looking at Atalanta while not changing his expression.

"So, Asterios..." Atalanta smiled, trying to create a friendly atmosphere, "What do you usually do in your free time?"

Asterios paused, pondering.

Cute... Cuteness was an extremely subjective indicator. A normal person looking at the giant muscles and the huge, threatening stature of Asterios, his emotionless facial expression and large eyes with dark circles around it, would find it difficult to call him in any way 'cute'. And yet at the same time, his manner of speaking was... cute enough.

"I ..." Asterios started talking and then stopped. Atalanta literally saw how Asterios stopped paying attention to the world around him, deep in thought. Atalanta did not rush him, allowing him to come to the right answer, before Asterios himself nodded slowly, "I ... I'm sleeping."

"I see," Atalanta smiled at Asterios, trying to establish a dialogue with the big child in front of her, "Ah... Anything else?

Asterios blinked, after which he thought again. After a few seconds, he shook his head, causing his huge mane of white hair to sway - "No."

"I see," Atalanta smiled. Her acquaintance with Asterios in this Singularity was to be short-lived, but Atalanta herself would not have allowed such an opportunity to be neglected, - "Ah ... Do you usually play any games?"

"Play?" Asterios looked at Atalanta a little surprised, before slowly answering, "No..."

"Would you like to... Play something then?" Atalanta smiled.

Asterios thoughtfully looked at Atalanta before answering, "Okay... What?"

Naivety, hmm...

Still, Asterios had enough naivety for ten children...

Ains continued to look thoughtfully at his... Fleet.

His alleged fleet had suffered heavy losses from the attack of the Demon Kings, that was true.

However, not one of Ainz's Servants was injured. So he could congratulate himself on the fact that he quite successfully carried out his plan for the protection of his Servants.

And what's better, he really did not have to do anything extraordinary, he did not need to resort to ingenious tactics or spend precious resources. All that he needed to do in order to increase the survival chances of his Servants was to tell them to stick together and then cast several buffing spells, not even the strongest ones in his arsenal.

"Hm, now I'm curious..." - Ainz thought to himself for a second - "What if... Are you really going to do it?"

Although he couldn't take advantage of all his abilities — his best buffs or Nazarick's almost endless treasury — Ainz couldn't — or rather didn't consider such a thing necessary. But even so, the list of buffs he could cast was very impressive. In addition, in Ainz's inventory, there were enough various items of equipment and artifacts suitable for strengthening the Servants. Although Ainz was a magician, and a rather highly specialized one at that, there were still many equipment and artifacts in his inventory that was not limited to his build.

As Ainz was a very greedy and prolific collector, he has many pairs of legendary armor sets in his inventory or blades that even high level players would not be shy to show off. It's just that the various equipment in his inventory was not ideally tailored for use by someone like Nero or Altera. Of course, the compatibility of his Servants with the equipment he has is in doubt - for example, Nero did not look like a heavy 'tank' focused build, because of which the 'Flesh and Steel' armor in his possession would not be so effective for her. And to Mozart, a ring increasing the chance of triggering an insta-kill magic would hardly have been useful.

But even so, Ainz was sure that he could find some artifacts that would be useful even to the Servants with a different build. In extreme cases, he could just use rings or amulets that slightly increase resistance to some type of damage - the Servants would definitely not be disadvantaged from such a thing. And artifacts with that function in Ainz's inventory would be enough to supply a medium sized army from head to toe.

Besides... Ainz was sincerely interested in checking, for example, were the Servants capable of levelling-up?

Ainz had already done some experiments on his own confirming that the usual levelling-up methods were closed for him. No actions that could bring experience in Yggdrasil, such as killing mobs or completing quests, would give him any exp. However, at the same time, Ainz himself was already at the hundredth, maximum level in Yggdrasil, which means that the fact that he could not level-up was for that reason and not that it was impossible to gain any exp in this new world.

According to Ainz's reasoning and experiments, the main part of the Servants of this world was... different from anything in Yggdrasil, but at the very least they were not the maximum level. Could the Servants then be levelled-up in the sense of Yggdrasil - with getting classes and characteristics?

The question of equipment, the question of levelling-up, the question of protecting the Servants - all these thoughts occupied Ainz's mind, forcing him to think very hard, but most importantly - gradually awakening a sort of excitement in him.

It was like an older player trying to take care of his new comrades who had recently joined a game and were just trying to get comfortable in it...

Ains slowly contained his excitement and smiled.

At the moment, he was heading toward Poseidon.

First of all, he went to him in order to get the unique data crystals from defeating him. Unfortunately, in this Singularity, he had killed only one Servant - Hector - and having decided to show some respect for his opponent at that moment, he did not search his corpse, which means that he did not have a single data crystal at the moment. In such a case, the free neutral mob Poseidon looked like a great chance for him to get some well-deserved data crystals.

But does this mean that he could not pursue additional goals?

For example, the question of levelling-up and buffing that intrigued him.

However, in order to see the full result of a possible level-up and buffing, Ainz had to find the Servant who would show the maximum result at the moment...

There was a light knock at Ainz's cabin, after which a second later a girl appeared on the threshold of Ainz's office, which made Ainz smile at an epiphany.

And before the Servant could say anything, Ainz smiled.

"Mashu," Ainz called out "Would you like... To kill Poseidon?"

Mashu, who had just appeared on the threshold of Ainz's office with a very definite purpose to say something important, froze, as if struck by thunder, - "What?"

"Don't worry," Ainz smiled. "I will supply you with everything you need, and of course I will be watching. Consider it as... A test of your abilities - so you can see how much you have really grown! Yes, definitely, exactly!"

Mashu, who had finally comprehended what was just said to her, froze before she managed to squeeze out a phrase filled to the brim with confusion, - "What?"

'Sure, come to your Master, what could go wrong?' - the voice of the Servant in Mashu's mind burst out laughing.

Power

Imagine the Strongest thing you can.

With a capital letter.

Any ability, any artifact, any thing and any monster.

There are at least three versions of what you have just imagined in Nazarick, and each of them will be even stronger than you could imagine.

Artifacts, Armies, Servants, Wealth, Abilities, Palaces, Worlds, Plants, Animals, Monsters, Delicacies, Entertainment, Pleasures.

Everything.

Everything you could have ever imagined, anything you could have ever wanted.

The Great Tomb of Nazarick is fraught with everything that people would wish for.

And all that they should be afraid of.

Hello there!

Okay, as expected - kudos to DiscereEstVivet - he is the best.

Wa-was that a teaser for Nazarick? - What if it was?

Will Asura be summoned? - No, or at least not yet

How about for a Yggdrasil summon Adam? - No, or at least not yet

I'm assuming the summon is gonna be Morgan Le Fay OR someone related to Camelot - Well, the summoning already took place... And honestly and surprisingly, it was decided by people that it would be NOT an YGGDRASIL Servant.

Does Ainz have a Noble Phantasm called "WE ARE WAITING"? - I... Don't think I should answer that.

As a question would Ainz have any abilities that could effect or interfere with a quantum time lock - Of course, in some sense.

And hey - there is a lot of new chapters! In fact, the whole Singularity ended! And now people are voting on whom Ainz gonna summon and whose interludes would be written.

Does Ainz have "only" the power/legend of Momonga the Overlord - Spoilers...

It's all on my Pat reon\rure though, so it's now 7 (!) - chapters ahead. And this is not the end! For 1$ you get 7 new chapters right now, interludes and beyond. And even more, I made a 2$ tier, that is now 3 chapters ahead of 1$ tier, or 10 chapters ahead of public release. The current goal is to make 6 chapters ahead of public release for 1$, 12 chapters for 2$. Sorry for that, but I decided it's a needed step to make writing my full-time job.