"What was it? Surrender yourself and You'll be shown mercy huh?" Ainz reiterated Nigun's previous words to Gazef.
The statement seemed to ignite a sliver of hope in Nigun as he knelt down.
"Ai- no, Lord Ainz! Please spare me! You can kill them but please! Spare me! I can offer you anything! Gold! Land! women! Anything!"
His outburst made the other mages look at him in disbelief.
"It seems you are mistaken." The Female knight suddenly spoke.
"What Lord Ainz intends to do is not to show you mercy but to make you understand the grave consequences you have brought upon yourself by tarnishing his promise."
Albedo spoke in spite.
"No-no- it can't be! I can't die here!" As he hurriedly stood up to flee he felt his legs unmoving, looking down he saw thorny vines gripping his ankles like a snake.
The thorns pierced his skin as a burning sensation seemed to spread all over him, along with a sudden paralysis.
"Who told you that you could flee?" Hyortr spoke as he floated forward. Countless other vines grew from the ground trapping all the other mages as they were lifted up high.
Screams of pleading, curses, prayer to gods, and even calls of one's mother rang out.
"Our work here is done Albedo, Hyortr. Transport them to Neuronist." Ainz spoke as he turned back.
"My Lord, If you would, may I acquire some of them for experimentations? " Hyortr asked as Ainz nodded after briefly considering the benifits.
"After all information has been extracted, I will ask someone to deliver them to you."
"Thank You my Lord." Hyortr spoke as he threw the mages towards a Gate that opened to the Room of Truth.
-------
With the events in Carne Village solved, the group returned to Nazarick as Hyortr returned to the Fourth Floor.
'Hmn after this, Ainz should pose as Momon and adventure with Naberal. Should I join him?' A question formed on his mind as Hyortr thought about joining Ainz's little adventurer group.
But when he glanced below at his torso and the fact he was floating he remembered something.
'I should have the ability to morph right?'
Hyortr remembered learning his Job Skill also happened to have a Doppelganger skill called Shapeshifter.
"Forget it, I should give Momonga some limelight."
But thinking back to how almost every fanfic had the MC become an adventurer, he dismissed the idea.
'On the other hand, I should familiarise myself with my Skills and Powers.' Hyortr thought as he entered his throne room chamber in the Temple.
While Hyortr was testing his skills and spells, he sensed a presence from the connection he established from the Forest.
----
Demiurge pov.
When Demiurge arrived in the Fourth Floor he was pleasantly surprised by the abundance of Trees in the horizon. Previously only a small forest was situated near the lake, now the whole area save for the Lake was covered with foliage and dense woods.
'I wonder, is this his doing? ' As Demiurge was about to form a hypotheses on why Hyortr would do such a thing he was once again taken aback with a vine growing before him.
The vine quickly took shape into Hyortr as it spoke.
"Demiurge, what brings you here? I was under the impression you would be busy?" The Vine Hyortr inquired.
"Indeed I am busy with tasks Lord Ainz have assigned me, but the reason I am here is also related to it, or rather related to Lord Ainz's Grand Plan." Demiurge spoke as he pushed his Glasses.
"I see, enter the plateform, it will transfer you to the temple." Vine Hyortr spoke as a green magic circle lit up near him taking shape of a circular plateform.
Demiurge stood on it without a question as he trusted Hyortr as a Fellow Guardian to not harm him. Suddenly his vision shifted from the lush forest to the ruined chambers of the temple's throne room.
"Teleportation?" Demiurge muttered, now surprised for the third time since coming here. It was a know fact that other than the established spots for Teleportation between floors or with the help of that Area Guardian, no Teleportation magic worked in Nazarick.
"Close to it. It is called Vein Teleportation. It acts on the principal that the trees in a forest are connected through their Phloems and Xylems like blood vessels. The forest you saw was the result of my AoE spell Growth. Inside here, I can transport anyone and see everything ." Hyortr partially explained.
He didn't mention that he could also effect the area the forest covers. He could in theory split his will into Wooded clones.
But he knew Demiurge would have already guessed his full potential of the spell.
"Marvelous, can you extend it any further?" Demiurge's crystal eyes gleamed behind his glasses in curiosity as he momentarily forgot what he came here for. The metalic tail behind him swinging periodically.
"Yes but unfortunately it will require me to expend Experience which at present is not renewable." This mention of Renewable seemed to give Demiurge a reminder for his presence here.
"Ah I see. Well, I was here just for that. I was wondering if you would assist me in a small farm I had been working on?" Demiurge said as he tightened his tie.
'Farm? He already thought that this early?'
"Farm?" Hyortr inquired.
"As you had said, certain things from Yggdrasil are not renewable in this world. Like experience and high quality materials for scrolls. So I am currently working on producing skins from High level beasts or other organisms to see which yields better quality resources." Demiurge explained.
"Does Lord Ainz Know?" Hyortr asked.
"Well, I have already compiled a comprehensive report of it. But I am sure he already knows, rather I believe he was the one to hint of this during one of our conversations." Demiurge spoke as he smiled in admiration of Ainz's vision.
'Well he might not know....' Hyortr who knew Ainz better than Ainz himself chuckled internally. Meanwhile on the outside he floated silently before Demiurge as if contemplating something.
"I am available if you need me, but might I ask, in what way do you require my services?" Hyortr asked after a moment of thought.
He didn't think directly refusing to help would work, rather he might be seen as a traitor for not contributing to the benifits of Nazarick.
He would first find out in what way his help will be utilised, and if possible avoid the extremes.
"I once heard from the Supreme Beings that you have abilities that can theoretically make someone Immortal?" Demiurge asked.
"....Indeed. But it has a certain draw back. It will only work until level 60, if the target is higher than 60 then it will only apply differing levels of healing." Hyortr explained.
He did have a skill called Nature's Essence that can buff allies with Advanced healing and defences, but it sucks up considerable amount of MP from him to maintain for extended periods.
"I see. Well, by my investigation so far, this world level is very low. With the highest level in Re-estize being that Warrior Chief you and Lord Ainz met in Carne Village. I suppose his level should roughly be at 20 or 30." Demiurge theorised.
"Yes, they were too weak. Just a normal level 50 Abyss mage might be enough for the collapse of their infrastructure." Hyortr commented.
'Except for a few hidden characters like Zesshi, Platinum Dragon Lord and the Elf King, almost all the creatures of this land is below 50, and that is me being generous.
Even those three can easily be countered by Shalltear if she played cautiously.' Hyortr thought.
"Except for the healing part, I also wanted some of your summons. Particularly the Abyss Mages and Hilichrul variants. They might be useful in some cases. " Demiurge requested.
"I will see to it. But, don't you think you should provide some compensation for my efforts?" Hyortr asked as his glowing eyes gleamed sharply.
"I have already considered it. Please, ask anything from me, I shall fullfill you requirements to my best." Demiurge said as he pushed his glasses.
'From the talks between Supreme Beings, I heard that Hyortr is someone who values equivalent exchange, I wonder what he would ask of me.' Demiurge thought to himself.
He wasn't that on guard against Hyortr's demands because he too believed in equivalent exchange and thought as fellow Guardians, Hyortr wouldn't ask for anything too unreasonable.
"It's a simple request, but before this I wanted to ask. What are your thoughts on that night?" Without specifying, Hyortr posed a question to Demiurge.
Putting his hands on his chin, Demiurge guessed Hyortr's question was related to the first night with Ainz. He quickly understood his implications.
"I believe Lord Ainz has clear intentions for World Domination. And for us Guardians, his will is our command. And Before you ask, yes I have already started planning things out. But I will need a few weeks to start it."
"That's good. But Demiurge, have you considered, how Lord Ainz wants us to take his hints?" Hyortr asked.
"Pardon? I didn't understand..."
"There are many ways to establish World Domination, the first few that come to mind are by Force, Schemes, Politics and Money.
The easiest for us would be by Force. Because, as mentioned by you, we might be or are the strongest." Hyortr explained as he glided to his throne.
"That is correct, and that was my basis for my plans." Demiurge spoke, a little confused as to what Hyortr was implying.
"I believe...Lord Ainz might not want a full on Invasion." Hyortr spoke as he stood before his throne, putting his back facing Demiurge who remained stunned in the middle of the chamber.
★★★★★★★
Any call-out for grammatical or spelling mistakes are appreciated.