Overlord: Advent of the New Gods

Her castle had seen far better days and only a small portion of it was now regularly kept tidy by the remaining few maids and manservants, a pittance compared to what she ideally wanted to display for the incoming meeting. Draudillon sat on the throne, one of few pieces of furniture not stripped of its golden decorations. Her childish form was far too small for the seat with her legs not reaching the floor; an intentional choice to make her look more adorable in front of politicians.

Any minute, the ambassador for the Nazarick Empire would arrive, and she would ask, no, beg for their help, without any shred of dignity if she had to. The mysterious eldritch entity had shown her the path to the salvation of her people, and she was fully willing to walk it, even knowing the cost she would have to pay. There were small token forces and a decent amount of supplies sent by Jircniv after their joint expedition to find the New Gods, especially after Jircniv's meeting with their Nazarick ambassador.

This help alone gave them much-needed room to maneuver the conflict with the Beastman Kingdom, reinforcing key positions. There were no concrete promises from the ruler of the neighboring Empire, but even one-third of a legion and a detachment of battle mages were a huge help in the northern part of the kingdom, even if it wasn't enough to force a stalemate.

Draudillon glanced around at her court, which was slowly but surely diminishing as more and more nobles and generals either fell in battle or chose to flee from the kingdom with their remaining possessions. There were only her dragon blood guards present in the throne room, as all other royal knights had already been sent to conflict areas. She would send the dragon blood guards if not for her advisors talking her out of such a decision. Regicide and civil war were always a looming threat as self-interest was an ever-present companion of any noble, especially those clumsy enough to only see the metaphorical skies but not realize how unstable the ground was beneath their feet.

The dragon blood queen was battling a hangover, making her particularly irritable. Every smell made her queasy, the stale air pricked at her skin, and every sound was like a sharp knife being jammed into her head; all because she could not appear intoxicated to the representative of Nazarick. Every available noble being present also didn't make things better. The throne room was far more crowded than usual, filled with quiet bickering and pointless speculation of what remained of the kingdom's governing structure.

They didn't know what she did. No subject of hers did. They considered her a prophet who had seen visions of the New Gods and their rising empire. They thought she was ready to face whoever would open the door any minute. In truth, she had no idea how to approach the situation. She couldn't openly offer the dark secrets of the dragons in exchange for help. Even mentioning the existence of the black book was a great risk as there could be people foolish enough among her court to attempt to locate the tome that could shatter minds and souls by merely being read, further weakening her kingdom.

With breaths calm and measured, she shifted on the throne. The sudden sense of dread made her on edge. Her natural sensitivity to energies made her aware that an undead was within the castle and with no alarm sounded by her senses or her mages she could come to only one conclusion: Nazarick sent an undead as an ambassador.

Each second was an agonizing eternity as she waited. 'Why are guards not attempting to warn me? They either don't know the ambassador is an undead or… someone has told them not to warn me. Conspiracy to usurp me? No one would be that stupid at this very moment. My death would only accelerate the breakdown of my nation.' She decided that the only approach was to wait and see, staring at the room's entrance.

She tensed up as the doors to the throne room opened and a figure clad in black robes, adorned with a golden mask and jeweled rings on its gloved fingers, moved in with unnatural fluidity.

'They didn't know.' She reasoned. Outwardly the figure was ominous, but considering that this creature was representing the new Gods, its appearance could be chalked off to religious practices.

The figure stopped at an appropriate distance away from her and bowed, its voice ghastly and off-putting. "Your Majesty, I have come on behalf of Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown."

"I was expecting you, ambassador…" Draudillon paused and waited for the creature to introduce himself.

The undead entity slowly removed his mask, revealing a rotting face and pupil-less eyes with a subtle red glow. "I am but a nameless servant, a voice of my master, you may address me as envoy if you wish, your Majesty,"

Her guards readied their pikes, and the nobles reeled away from the creature, ready to flee should the monster become hostile. Even her high commander leaned in and whispered, "Your Majesty, this might be-"

She lifted her hand sharply, interrupting the man, "Stand down!" She barked an order, then added in a smoother voice, "I apologize for the reaction of my subjects."

"Their reaction is understandable, the living fear my kind. Rest assured, Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown guarantees that I will not engage anyone, even at my own peril." The lich replied with another bow.

"Of course, and you have my words that I will not tolerate any offense towards a servant of Ainz Ooal Gown. Let's begin the talks, shall we?" Draudillon flashed an innocent smile, hoping it had at least some effect on the undead.

The first and most obvious topic was the official acknowledgment of nation borders and where every nation stood politically. The fact that Slane Theocracy was quickly declared as a non-country wasn't surprising. After the clerics of her neighbor abandoned the temples and front lines, she wrote off any chance of reconciliation with Slane and didn't care what the New Gods would do with the most devoted worshipers of the Six.

She gladly signed on the maps, even as the nobles began disgruntled, eager to move to the more pressing topic. The moment one of the scrolls was safely tucked away by her prime minister and another copy was given back to the lich she spoke, "I will not mince words. The Dragon Kingdom needs aid. We are going through an all-out attack from the beastman kingdom, resulting in my people being turned into slaves and food daily. I ask for direct military assistance."

As she made her declaration, the lich's demeanor changed, straightening its posture. The undead creature's eyes flared up and its dreadful presence intensified a hundredfold. She detected subtle traces of unknown energies that induced a strange sense of longing, senses she rapidly purged from her mind.

"You ask for my help? Tell me Queen Draudillon, why should we pick sides in a conflict we have no business in at the moment?" The voice coming out of the lich was deeper, more regal, and carried undeniable authority, threatening to overwhelm even her presence upon the throne.

"Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown himself I presume?" She asked as she tilted her head to one side with a childlike smile.

"Correct," Ainz affirmed.

"I am of dragon blood and thus could prove to be a valuable ally on matters regarding dragons. I am not demanding help. I am begging for it for the sake of my people. We need your help, Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown, and I know with certainty you can provide the salvation my nation needs." She hoped that the mention of dragons would be enough to convey what she could offer without revealing too much.

"The Goddess of War and the God of Murder offer to visit your nation and assess the situation, but I want to make one thing clear. We help without any payment only to mortals who worship us as Gods. Neither you nor your people are entitled to us solving your problems. To me, all sentient mortal life is the same, be it humans, elves, or beastmen. From my perspective, a weaker nation is asking to be protected from a stronger one. As for your insight into dragons, I know the majority of them were wiped out by only eight players five centuries ago, so I do not perceive them as a great threat to my home. Whatever secret their kind holds, I will discover in time, without fail." Ainz spoke with an impassioned tone, taking away any bargaining power she had.

'This isn't how it is supposed to go. That entity had no reason to lie to me. Fine, I'll lay all the cards out.' Draudillon straightened out her tone resolutely, "I wish to converse with Emperor Ainz Ooal Gown in private."

"Your majesty I ad-" Her head of the military leaned in to protest.

"If a God wanted to kill me, none of you would be able to prevent it. Leave!" She interrupted harshly, the high-pitched voice not carrying the authority she wanted to exude. The nobles muttered, spreading dissident against her, but she would handle them later.

There were no further interruptions and a few moments later she was left alone with the lich the player used as a mouthpiece. She stood up, reverting to her natural form, regaining her natural mature voice. "I am not offering trivial information about dragons. I am offering the secrets of wild magic in exchange for your might. No player had ever gotten their hands on this knowledge, not even the greed kings could torture these secrets out of the dragon lords," She stated brashly.

There was a large chance this approach could backfire and the players could simply kidnap her and attempt to force the answers out of her, but she decided to trust her instincts and believe that the mysterious stranger didn't lie to her about the New Gods being the ones to help the Dragon Kingdom. She had come this far, she had to keep pushing forward.

"You are overselling the importance of this type of magic. If it indeed was so potent and useful, then the majority of dragon-kind wouldn't have been wiped out by a mere eight players, and let me assure you, they were not among the notable ones among my kind. I sense your desperation. You will say anything you think I want to hear in exchange for our help." There was a hint of amusement in Ainz's tone as if he was talking to a child who was telling obvious lies to get candy, dancing to the tune of an adult who controlled the family's finances.

And there was truth to it. While wild magic was extremely potent, it required soul energy and only pure-blood dragons were strong enough to use it regularly. Otherwise, mass sacrifices were needed, leaving numbers dwindled as her kind cannibalized itself and its allies in their efforts to fight. And she hadn't even dared to look into the forbidden parts of the black book, as her great grandfather had warned her that some secrets were better left uncovered and that she wouldn't benefit in any manner from the knowledge found on those accursed pages.

"It is because even most dragons cannot use it properly, but this knowledge could be devastating in the hands of players. Ainz Ooal Gown, my nation needs your help." She still stood firm.

There was a moment of silence. "The Goddess of War and the God of Murder will visit you. They will decide how to deal with the beastmen kingdom. In return, you will give us the secrets of wild magic. However, be warned, if you are enticing our help under false promises, we will take our payment how we see fit." Ainz warned her.

"If I am lying, you will still end up with an entire nation under your control. There is no benefit for me to attempt to deceive you. You have nothing to lose but time, which I believe is an inconsequential currency for Gods, while I stand to lose everything I hold dear if I try to outsmart you. We both know you can choose to stay and enforce your truth afterward." Draudillon sat back down, crossing her legs, her dress parting to reveal the right leg.

"Indeed. Help will come soon. If the situation becomes critical, you can contact me through my envoy and I'll dispatch the necessary troops to handle the threat to your kingdom, Draudillon. It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Ainz bid her goodbye as his presence faded from the lich.

The talks hadn't gone exactly how she hoped, but at least the Gods were coming. The one question on her mind was what would be her fate. For a monarch becoming fully reliant on foreign power at best meant becoming a vassal and at worst being completely removed from power. The one thing she knew was that she would sacrifice herself for her people and hopefully thrive once the beastmen were driven back, or better yet, exterminated completely. War and Murder were coming, and the blood was about to flow.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by Stac, Sluethen, fvvck, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, mfkz_rocker, Omnax,

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