Re-Estize Royal Capital, the Golden Princess's bedroom.
The three main instigators of the attack on the Eight Fingers' strongholds—Princess Renner, Marquis Raeven, and Prince Zanac—were now gathered. The atmosphere was heavy, burdened by the latest reports they had received.
Hearing the news, Raeven and Zanac both frowned. Their faces were grim, overshadowed by deep disappointment.
All the teams that attacked Eight Fingers' strongholds discovered, during their actions, that another force was also assaulting the underground organization. However, the other party's objective differed from theirs. They did not wish to destroy Eight Fingers, but rather intended to use this underground force for their own gain.
Both sides were engaged in fierce battles at Eight Fingers' strongholds, but the result was... all the teams they sent suffered heavy losses, and only a few members escaped by chance. The stories they brought home were nightmares.
According to the survivors, the name of that force was the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, and its leader was a powerful undead named Ainz Ooal Gown who had previously caused unrest in E-Rantel. A name that now haunted their every conversation.
It could be said that their attack on Eight Fingers' strongholds this time completely failed due to Nazarick's intervention.
Once Eight Fingers gained support from that terrorist force, its negative impact on the kingdom's future would be even greater. Let's not discuss this for now. The three of them now had to face another, more difficult problem!
"Brother, Ainz Ooal Gown has announced that he will come to the Re-Estize Royal Capital in three hours to meet with father, to discuss the kingdom's full surrender to him. What should we do?" Zanac looked at Princess Renner, who stood with her back to them, gazing out the window. A hidden hope was in his eyes, hoping the princess's clever mind could provide a perfect solution.
Unfortunately, Princess Renner only gave this answer to his question, her tone flat, yet containing a cold bitterness: "Brother, I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about this."
How could this be...?
Zanac opened his mouth, but swallowed his words. Indeed, to successfully execute the plan to attack Eight Fingers' strongholds, they had mobilized almost all deployable military strength.
Now, over 90% of their manpower had been lost in the operation. Even if they wanted to reorganize their forces to face Ainz Ooal Gown's attack, they would be completely unable to do so. The kingdom was virtually defenseless.
Regarding the mobilization of city guards and seeking assistance from the Adventurer's Guild, the Magic Caster's Guild, and the great temples, those matters had been handled by the kingdom's internal affairs officers, their father's people. Those efforts also seemed utterly futile.
They truly could do nothing now. A feeling of helplessness weighed on Zanac.
What Zanac worried about most was the fact that Ainz Ooal Gown and his organization were so powerful that they managed to defeat several members of the Blue Roses and Church of Destiny forces—forces Lakyus greatly respected.
Even if all professionals in the Re-Estize Royal Capital formed a combined force, it might be very difficult to fight such a powerful enemy.
Since we cannot fight, it would be best to leave the capital temporarily and avoid direct contact with the enemy.
However, his father, King Ramposa III, was worried. If he avoided meeting with that organization, then that terrorist force would cause chaos in the capital and endanger the city's citizens. Therefore, he would not agree to his suggestion, no matter what.
This was the act of a king to stand and protect his people in times of danger.
Zanac understood this principle, but there was also a limit, wasn't there?
If something happened to his father during the meeting, as the instigators of this incident, both he and Princess Renner would be held accountable. There would be no possibility for them to contend for the throne. The throne would be inherited by their elder brother, Prince Barbro, the kingdom's first prince.
Prince Barbro's wisdom was truly concerning, and he was also the son-in-law of Marquis Boullope, one of the six great nobles. There was a high probability he would become a puppet after inheriting the throne.
At that point, wouldn't the entire kingdom have no future? What was the point of everything they had done so far?
Thinking of this, Zanac could no longer restrain himself and stood from his seat, frustration clearly etched on his face. "Marquis Raeven, let us go see our father again and ask him to move to a safe place for a while!"
"...That's all we can do," Raeven glanced at Zanac, sighed resignedly, and also stood.
The two then walked out of the princess's bedroom together and headed towards the imperial study, leaving the princess to her solitude.
Princess Renner glanced at the door that had closed again, her expression appearing very cold, as if devoid of emotion.
How foolish.
My father is a kind king, but also a stubborn old man. It's impossible to persuade him now. You're just doing useless work.
Ignoring Zanac's and Raeven's departure, she returned to looking out the window at the night sky and continued to ponder the matter. A faint frown creased her brow.
She and the demon named Demiurge had made a plan to support Prince Zanac's ascension to the throne, and then both parties would secretly manipulate the entire kingdom.
This was a very reliable method. Besides allowing other mysterious organizations like the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick to focus their attention on puppets and avoid associated risks, this method could also gain benefits by dominating the kingdom from behind the scenes.
Therefore, she did not understand why the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick would change its established plan now and adopt such a direct and brutal method to openly force the kingdom to surrender. Something was amiss.
Is this for another purpose, or is there another organization involved in this matter?
Princess Renner felt a little uneasy, as if an invisible large hand was gripping her, yet she was powerless. She hated this feeling of being out of control.
The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, tenth floor.
Ainz once again summoned Demiurge and the other Guardians to hold a meeting to discuss the emergency occurring in the Re-Estize Royal Capital.
The Golden Princess's plan to attack Eight Fingers' strongholds was primarily to allow the Second Prince Zanac to accumulate merit, while simultaneously dragging the First Prince Barbro, who was connected to Eight Fingers, into the mire, to shake the old king's decision in choosing an heir.
Since Nazarick was not directly involved in this incident, once this incident was successfully resolved, other mysterious organizations hidden in the Re-Estize Kingdom would not realize that they were controlling it from behind the scenes. The situation would slowly develop according to Demiurge's plan, and Nazarick would not need to bear any risks.
This was originally a good thing, but the sudden change made Ainz and the other Guardians extremely angry. An unforgivable insult.
Someone was using Ainz Ooal Gown's name to deceive others. This was an absolutely unforgivable act for Ainz and the Guardians!
It was decided to find those imposters and make them understand the price to pay for offending Ainz Ooal Gown.
"Demiurge, what is your plan regarding the specific battle arrangements?" Ainz asked Demiurge.
After experiencing several previous incidents, although he still wished to maintain his image as a perfect ruler in the NPCs' minds, he no longer beat around the bush when asking for Demiurge's and the others' opinions. A small development in his leadership.
Demiurge stepped forward and bowed, then replied, "Ainz-sama, this is also an opportunity for us. If we successfully drive away those imposters when they are pressuring the kingdom, we can change Nazarick's reputation among humanity."
"The kingdom will certainly not surrender easily to the other party. There will definitely be conflict between the two sides. We can wait until the other party causes a certain amount of damage to the Kingdom before we intervene."
"At the same time, to prevent such a situation from happening again, I would like to ask Master Ainz to summon a group of forces to ensure that this operation runs smoothly."
Ainz was silent for a moment after hearing this, processing the information. Then, as if having made a decision, he said, "For the victory of Ainz Ooal Gown, I agree with your request!"
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