A week went by as Hyortr and Demiurge collaborated on a few joint projects.
With the help of Hyortr's mind and soul corruption abilities, they gathered valuable information on the properties of the soul and achieved a breakthrough.
According to their research, A soul was an intangible and virtually indestructible entity that resides outside of the material plane.
After a death of the body, the soul theoretically passes on to a plane dubbed the Spiritual Plane, where the memories and experiences of the past is erased and stored to be transferred to the next body.
All these was already know by Hyortr, but what intrigued him was the fact that souls, while being indestructible and intangible, were also a great mana source.
Although they haven't found what made it so, but souls when corrupted and dissolved by Hyortr and then consumed by him, it gave him a 1% increase in Mana and a 0.4% increase in some attributes like Physical and Defence.
Although the numbers weren't large, the fact that consuming souls have an increase in attributes, just like gaining experience in Yggdrasil elated them.
This meant that given enough time and souls to consume they can break free of the 100 level limit.
And all these was considered based on the weak 10 to 20 level humans. For other creatures, they found that the percentage dropped significantly which made them question the fundamental difference between Humans and non-human creatures like demi-human and elves.
Nonetheless, a report was drafted and submitted to Ainz, who praised the two's efforts and rewarded them accordingly.
For now, though, this ability to corrupt and consume the souls was accessible to only Hyortr. And Demiurge and him are already working on it so that it can be used by everyone.
One such solution that Hyortr came up with was to pre-store the exp in a container to be consumed. But he underestimated the intangible property of the soul, because as soon as his influence of the Abyss that bound the soul was lifted, the dissolved souls turned exp would instantly dissipate.
He tried to attach a function that would work similar to the Abyss bind on the container but as soon as he lifted his control, the binding will either consume the soul-exp or the soul-exp will self destruct.
Either way, the fact that such a discovery was made in such a small time regardless of the disadvantages and setbacks were enough to motivate Nazarick to overcome the hurdles and reach out for Glory and Greatness.
All under the Divine Guidance of the Supreme Ones, Ainz Ooal Gown!
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A few days later....in the Theocracy.
During these past few weeks, Hyortr with the help of Pandora's Actor quickly usurped the power of the Theocracy upon their hands as Hyortr had already manipulated some of the Cardinals into submission.
All that needed to be done was to enact a play that will solidify the faith and loyalty of the humans on Hyortr or The Healer and by extension upon the Supreme Ones.
A simple task for someone like Hyortr equipped with a vast knowledge on Psychological Warfare tactics and Manipulation.
Quickly, the world was changing rapidly.
The Theocracy had fallen under the grasp of Nazarick and Baharuth Empire was already trapped in an elaborate trap that even Ainz was unaware of.
Now...it was time for...
"Roble Holy Kingdom."
"Yes, a peninsular nation off the south of the continent. To protect its people against the Demi-human attacks, where I had set up his Farms, and also to evade against the Theocracy's skirmishes." Demiurge smiled as he spoke the details of their upcoming plans.
Armageddon, a three tier plan to take control of three Nations in one fell swoop. By the end of this plan, Nazarick predict the Fall of the Re-estize, Roble and Baharuth Empire.
And, with the addition of Hyortr's side task, Theocracy became the first Nation to fall under the Rule of Ainz Ooal Gown.
"Demiurge, explain your plans to the denizens in the simplest term that even a child can understand." Ainz ordered in his regal tone as he sat on his grand throne, the Throne of Kings.
Below him knelt the guardians and NPCs that were selected for this grand plan.
"Ofcourse." Demiurge bowed deeply as he stood up, facing the guardians as he recited the plans.
"Our main aim in the Roble Holy Kingdom is to spread the influence of Nazarick and gain its full control." Demiurge began.
"To begin with, I, impersonating as the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth will terrorize the kingdom, utilising the demi-human tribes scattered in the mountains. Then..."
The plans were recited in a simple manner as Ainz analysed the content.
'A simple carrot and stick method huh? First we will beat the kingdom with a hard stick and then dangle a delicious carrot on it which they won't be able to refuse.' Although Ainz wasn't aware of it, with the passage of time, his Heteromorphic attributes were influencing him.
His intellectual capabilities were subtly increased at an alarming rate not to mention that his every decision or movement were already perfect and 'meticulous'.
Hyortr glanced at the Skeleton Overlord who was deep in thought as he guessed what was probably swirling around that Non-existent Cranial Brain of his.
'Even though I would like to make some changes to this Holy Kingdom Arc, the author has done a relatively great job at tying certain things together so much that any element I try to remove will affect the overall outcome of the events..but...' Hyortr's eyes drifted to Demiurge, still giving detailed description of the plans in a simple term.
'...what If I don't want it to remain?...'
'What if...I completely change the whole story?... Instead of assimilating nations why not destroy it? Humans or not, doesn't matter, with me and Ainz's summons we can replicate a structured humanoid society free of the disadvantages a weak ,feeble and worthless Human- oriented one would bring.
But even without Ainz's summons, I myself can do much more, I can summon and sustain a variety of summons of different types. While his could be emotionally detached and efficient, the mood will quickly shift with the monotonous way of undead life.
Can I taint them with the Abyss? Is there an entity like the Abyss? The Void? In this world? What is outside of this world? Nothing? Or a vast expanse of free real estate to Usurp....but for that should I...'
As Hyortr mused deeper into his thoughts, he suddenly reached an alarmingly dangerous point.
'What if I Usurp Nazarick?'
"Hyortr?" But before it could spiral into a certain disastrous tendency, he was woken by Demiurge.
"Hmn?" Taken out of his inner musings which were quickly about to take a dark turn, Hyortr looked up to see that the guardians were staring at him, Ainz included.
"I apologise for my lack of presence just now, I was tranced by the glorious aspect of the Supreme One." Hyortr smoothly lied as he technically said the truth.
Hearing his reasoning, they accepted his apology instantly as they discussed the plans.
"I was asking if you have prepared the 'Ritual'?" Demiurge re-iterated patiently.
"Yes, it is. As soon as Lord Ainz appears on the stage, the Ritual will commence." Hyortr nodded sagedly as he answered.
"What is this ritual?" Shalltear asked cluelessly as Ainz gave an internal Thumbs up.
"It is a special spell designed by me and Demiurge, which if successful will convert all the souls of the victims that will be trapped in the ritual into Exp Points." Hyortr explained.
"Although, for now these exp points can be consumed be only Hyortr, it is still an indispensable piece for the future of Nazarick." Ainz spoke.
'If even Only Hyortr can Level up and break the level 100 limit, it will be a great merit to the whole of Nazarick. With his allrounder build and being one of the strongest Guardians, he will be a kep component to Nazarick, not that the rest aren't.' Ainz optimistically thought as he glanced at the figurea of his Guardians.
The silhouettes of his dear friends overlapping with the NPCs.
'Everyone...I will make Nazarick the Greatest Guild!'
With this conviction in his mind, the meeting soon ended, the future of the Holy Kingdom already drafted and set in motion.
★★★★★★★