The six scriptures, each following one of the Six Great Gods, together are the strongest forces of the Slaine Theocracy.
Of these, the Black Scripture is by far the strongest one, made exclusively by heroes, and apparently, with a captain that is even stronger than that, being said to have the blood of the gods, and thus classified as a God-kin.
Blood of the gods… so a direct descendant of one or more of the Six Great Gods who appeared around 600 years ago.
If these so-called gods were actually players, then does that mean that if a player reproduces with a human of this world, the offspring will turn out stronger than other humans?
Could NPCs do the same?
Ainz moved his fingers through Demiurge's detailed report, turning page after page as he got immersed in its content.
Maybe it's worth testing.
He looked at his fingers on the page.
They were devoid of any flesh or skin, whiter than even the paper they held, yet, as he stared at them, he couldn't help but be reminded of his last few nights of passion with Albedo, finding that they proved themselves surprisingly useful in his time of need.
"Fufufu!" He was interrupted in his reverie by Albedo's happy, albeit creepy laugh coming from his side.
She wore her usual white dress with gold ornaments, holding a copy of the same report he had been reading.
Her flushed face showed a happy, lecherous smile that she had been more freely showing to him since the first incident.
To his other side was Nyx, elegantly wearing a black dress, while reading her own copy of the report.
"Oh. I'm sorry, Albedo, could you repeat what you were saying? I was distracted." Hiding his shame, Ainz spoke as calmly as he could, trying to save face.
"Of course, Ainz-sama!" Albedo replied seriously, but the smile never left her face.
"Sebas reported that the remaining survivors of the massacred villages have successfully reached Carne and have been integrated into its population without any problem. It currently counts 382 humans and 19 goblins, making for 401 people in total."
"Meanwhile, thanks to your grace, the reconstruction and expansion of the village is currently underway, and should conclude in a week's time, should it continue at the same pace."
"That's good news."
Before they were stopped in Carne, the knights under the Sunlight Scripture had destroyed 5 villages on the way, always leaving some survivors in each massacre to serve as bait to attract the Warrior Captain.
Now that the threat was over, most of them chose to go to Carne. Some because it was the closest village, others because they had heard rumors that the village was under the protection of a powerful magic caster.
After experiencing the destruction of their villages, these people were desperate for some measure of security, so they flocked to Carne and more than doubled its population in just a few days.
For this, Ainz owed a lot to Gazef Stronoff, who wasn't the least bit stingy with praising him while going back to the capital.
As a result, many people were coming to learn of the name Ainz Ooal Gown, which gave Ainz a surprising windfall.
He looked at his status window.
Host: Ainz Ooal Gown
Level: 100
Territories: Great Tomb of Nazarick(Divine), Carne Village(Low)
Subordinates: Shalltear, Cocytus, Aura, Mare, Demiurge, Victim, Albedo…
Influence: 255
His Influence had been growing steadily ever since he set foot in Carne.
Maybe unsurprisingly, acquiring Carne Village as a territory didn't give him as much Influence as capturing the Sunlight Scripture and befriending the Warrior Captain. A small frontier village couldn't compete with one of the black ops units of the Theocracy or with the mightiest warrior of the Re-Estize Kingdom.
But what surprised him the most was that, as the days went by, his influence continued to grow, reflecting his own rising fame. Even as he looked at his status window, it moved from 255 to 256.
A bit disappointing in terms of influence, as Carne may have been, he still received his territory reward for it, albeit one of the Low tier.
Pitcher of Endless Water x 3Iron Ore x 30Limestone x 30
These were not amazing items by any means, but he wouldn't complain about free gifts, especially when he considered that the cooldown until the next reward was only one month.
The one for Nazarick was 6 months, so from this, he deduced that the higher the tier, the better the rewards and the longer the cooldown.
Even so, he would still invest in developing Carne into a town and later into a city, raising its grade as much as possible for better rewards.
But that was a story for another time; right now, he focused on Demiurge's report, learning more about this world.
…
As Ainz rustled through the pages, he quickly grasped the basic configuration of the nearby countries.
There were 4 human countries in this region.
The Re-Estize Kingdom had the largest territory and the biggest population, but was surprisingly the weakest country in the region, locked in a losing battle with the Baharuth Empire for years. This came from how fragmented its power was. Structured as a feudal monarchy, it suffered from the threat of civil war between two factions: the Royal faction, led by the royal family, and the Noble faction, led by Marquis Boullope, one of the six great nobles of the Re-Estize Kingdom.
The Baharuth Empire used to be very similar to the Re-Estize Kingdom in structure, but had undergone changes over the last few generations that allowed its empress to control most of the country's power while the nobles continued to decline. It had a powerful military and was considered the most advanced country in the region in terms of arcane magic, and was led by a competent and charismatic, albeit infamous, young empress who was given the nickname Bloody Empress.
The prisoners didn't know much about the Roble Holy kingdom because this country didn't have much of a relationship with the Slaine Theocracy. It was divided into northern and southern parts and bordered the Abellion Hills, a region full of demi-humans who periodically tried to invade the country, which is why they eventually built a great wall that covered its entire territory.
Lastly, the Slaine Theocracy was the oldest of the countries. Having been founded by the so-called Six Great Gods 600 years ago, while the other human nations were founded about 200 years ago, after the death of the Demon gods. It was structured around the faith in these six gods, with each sect having its own scripture and led by a cardinal. The six cardinals formed a council that served as the country's highest authority.
"What do you two think of these human countries?" He decided to ask his two advisors.
"Utterly pathetic in both power and wits. I'm surprised they survived for as long as they have." Albedo gave her harsh judgment.
"I agree that they are weak, but some of them show signs of a budding intelligence. Take this empress as an example. While not particularly impressive, she implemented reforms in her country that increased its national power and improved the lives of its citizens. Meanwhile, the Slaine Theocracy has a more efficient power structure, utilizing the meager strength of its people somewhat proficiently, and the continued survival of the humans in this region happened in no small part because of their continued campaigns of destruction of demi-human settlements." Nyx also gave her opinion.
"Hmph. But what about this ridiculous 'human supremacy' propaganda they keep spouting? Isn't this an insult to Ainz-sama and all of the Supreme Beings? I think we should destroy this country immediately."
The Slaine Theocracy advocated that humans should be the ones governing the world. For that, they justified any unsavory actions they took as something for the good of humanity, even when the victims were other humans.
This strong belief was shared by the common people in the Theocracy, isolating them from other human countries that didn't share this sentiment, which ultimately worked pretty well for the higher-ups in the country.
A group of people was easier to govern when isolated from external influence, and as such, the Slaine Theocracy continued its reign without much internal turmoil, in stark contrast to the other 3 nations, which were constantly susceptible to interference.
In fact, after seeing how much stronger its military was in comparison with the other countries and how it wasn't above interfering in their internal affairs, Ainz had one simple question.
Why didn't they conquer the other nations?
He felt like the Slaine Theocracy could easily win against any of the other nations, and maybe even face all of them single-handedly and still win, so why not do it?
It would certainly be in line with their goal of human supremacy to build a giant human empire, but they chose not to.
Could they be afraid of pushback if they did it?
I need to gather more information.
"There's no need for wanton destruction, Albedo." He interrupted the discussion between the two women.
"My desire is to acquire and develop territories, not to destroy them."
"I'm sorry, Ainz-sama!" Albedo bowed immediately.
"Don't worry, I know you said that out of respect for my colleagues and me, so I won't blame you for that."
"What do you think, Nyx? Which countries are the easiest for us to conquer?" To change the subject, he turned to Nyx.
"The Baharuth Empire." She answered without hesitation.
"Oh, and why is that?"
"The power in the country is concentrated in the hands of the empress, so if we can control her, we'll control the country. Compared to that, the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Roble Holy Kingdom are more divided, while the power in the Slaine Theocracy is decentralized by design, requiring a more extensive process before we can assume control." She analyzed the situation in an instant.
"Do you think the same, Albedo?" He looked at her, and she nodded.
"Very well, your assessment is in line with my own deductions, but there's one piece of information here that you all seem to be underestimating." Ainz pointed at a section in the report.
"According to Nigun, the black scripture is currently transporting one of the Divine Relics left behind by the Six Great Gods, an item called Downfall of Castle and Country."
The two of them went to the part he was referring to in their copies and then looked at him, confused.
It was understandable. According to Nigun, this was an item that could control the target's mind, which wasn't surprising in itself, but their target was.
The Elder Coffing Dragon Lord.
Just by the name, one might suspect, but later, Demiurge confirmed that this was indeed an undead dragon.
One of the basic characteristics of the undead was complete immunity to mind effects, so for an item to be able to bypass that could only mean one thing.
"Could it be?" After staring at him for a while, the two women finally understood the gravity of the situation.
"Indeed. I suspect that this is a World Item." His tone was completely serious.
World Items were rule-breaking items originating from Yggdrasil, with devastating power by design.
There were 200 in total, and the guild Ainz Ooal Gown had 11, more than any other guild in Yggdrasil.
Ainz didn't know every world item, so he was not familiar with this one, but it was not hard to deduce its nature by the effects.
More than that, the fact that an item like this appeared in this world only confirmed to him that he wasn't the only player transported to this world; these Six Great Gods should have been a group of players, much like him.
As such, the Slaine Theocracy, founded by them, was a country that posed a great risk to Nazarick.
If this was a World Item that could control minds, then they needed to steal it as soon as possible; leaving it in the hands of an enemy could prove fatal.
"Summon Nigun, and these other three. There's something I need to confirm."