27 「WakeUpCall」 (2/2)

Placing his fingers on his temple and interrupting Momonga, ”Good Morning to you too Momonga.”

”I told you my name is now Ainz,” Momonga claimed his new name, attempting to correct Jack.

”You will always be Momonga, the man who offered me a place in an esteemed Guild as a friend.” Jack said with a semi-emotional tone, appealing to sentiment.

For a brief moment, there was silence.

”The Intruders?”

”A group of workers from the Baharuth Empire were investigating the Citadel, and apparently me. I noticed someone watching me using Surveillance magic and blocked them... Then when I came outside, there was a fun-sized surprise.”

”Oh...”

”So I nabbed the smol one and told them they have to eliminate the Death Cult to get her back.”

Momonga laughing as they were messaging each other back and forth. This definitely seemed like one of Jack's attempts at controlling other people. His manipulation of people was either super subtle or extremely blatant depending on the situation and the need for discretion, or the lack of.

Hearing Ninya repeating Arche's name on her lips brought him out of his little messaging trance with Momonga, causing Jack's eyes to lock right onto her again. Only one hand was on her face, caressing her cheek.

It appeared her face as calmed down and was only slightly pink now rather than as red as a cherry.

Feeling someone looking at him again, but this time from a distance, he turned his head to look out the window. His eyes immediately caught the red suit wearing Devil standing on the outer wall.

It was Demiurge.

”Well, don't you know, the Devil Wears a Suit and Tie,” his tone of voice imitated that of the song 'The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie,' by Colter Wall.

”Jack?” Ninya looked out the window and froze seeing the figure in the distance. She didn't recognize him, though he was too far for her to even identify him. It just looked like a red stick with black hair, pink skin and a silvery tail. ”Is.. That a 'Devil'?”

”Yes. Though more precisely an Arch-Devil. I made sure he can't enter the Village, due to his ability to manipulate people under relative to the mental fortitude of a Platinum ranked adventurer.”

The pink tinge on her face quickly disappeared as she'd pale hearing of the being's prowess. Even though it looked so tame standing, perched proper, on the wall. ”W-why is it here?”

”You remember Ainz Ooal Gown, from when Carne Village was under attack?”

”Uh-huh... The Guy in the mask.”

”The Arch-Devil is one of his servants, one of his top servants. His level is over two hundred.”

Ninya was amazed by the power of the single individual who had a Devil, but at the same time it terrified her that one person could control it. Or at least that the devil obeyed. It would only prove how powerful the person was.

”What is Sir Gown?”

”He's an Overlord, the final form of an Elder Lich, considered one of the most powerful Undead.”

For a good minute she was silent, from the corner of her eye she could see Arche was sleeping. She then turned her head downward to look at their feet. ”Why would he save the Village? Don't the Undead hate the living?”

”He's fond of them,” Jack referred to the living as them, as he wasn't amongst the living.

Ninya's brows furrowed at his use of the word 'them' and tilted her head back up to face him. ”You said you were an Arch Mage, and while I understand agelessness coming with vast magical power, it's hard to understand why you look a little older than my sister. Now you're referring to the living as them, rather than us...”

”I'm an Arch Mage, it's one of many professions I hold.” Jack could see she wasn't slinking away from him. She wanted to hear him out before anything else. ”I simply chose to turn my entire being into solidified magical energy. I am classified as sub-Heteromorphic.”

Ninya's mind could make sense of the concept, though just not the practicality. From what she could tell though, he wasn't evil. ”Then you are...?”

”An Arch Lich Champion, the pinnacle of non-evil Sorcerers who don't use Necromancy as a path to eternal life.” He brushed his lower lip with his thumb before glancing over at Arche who was sound asleep now, having given into unconsciousness.

”Champion?” Ninya's voice called him back to her.

”An Arch Lich comes in three forms, Lore Keeper, Guardian and Champion. Champion being a meld of both of the other sub-types.”

”Your form is fundamentally different from a Lich, so why are you called an Arch Lich?” Ninya asked as she concluded that the Arch Lich and an Elder Lich were completely different. One used Necrotic energies and the Book of the dead. While the other used some sort of technique to transform the body into magic energy.

”I didn't coin the term.” Jack said with a slightly smug looking face, as he didn't take the credit for it.

”Then you aren't the only one?”

Jack shrugged slightly, not sure how many of the players who had chosen the Arch Lich arrived in this world. He could only assume none of them had come into the world yet, or none were online at the time the servers shut down.

”Immortality was a Taboo where I came from.”

”Huh...”