Chapter 66: Deal?

Renner sat in the solitude of her chambers, the night had returned quiet once more with the silvery shine cast by the moon. She glanced down at the capital. The fires had been extinguished and the city looked almost peaceful with the darkness and the light glow of the stars and the moon in the sky falling onto the rooftops.

However, the quiet and seemingly peacefulness was deceiving. Many were getting aid and more were mourning the death of their loved ones. Although she now sat in the safety of her room in the palace, the calm in her hadn't returned. There weren't many things that could gain her attention, not to mention rattle her, but the world ending was certainly something.

Despite being the princess of the country, she wouldn't have been exempt from this catastrophe, and at its core was a battle that had nothing to do with her or her country. Her mind churned with ideas, thinking of a way to extricate herself from the battle of these beings, but she came up blank. She could use her authority to take Climb into a far-off land, hoping that disaster wouldn't reach her, but that would be foolish.

Currently, the only thing she could leverage was her position to gather allies. As for approaching the angel called Azazel, she would rather avoid this holier-than-thou being, especially since she couldn't be sure whether he could read her mind. Magic was something that could cause wondrous effects and a god among them could probably pluck her mind without resistance and without her knowing.

After hearing rumors of this angel, she had gathered a few texts from which she had gained some insights into their moral compass. Inherently benevolent and righteous. They were the guardians, protectors, and symbols of goodness. They represented loyalty and truth, incorruptible beings, dedicated solely to the preservation of order.

The only things Renner might leverage to earn favor from celestial beings like angels would be her chastity and her desire for control and 'order' within the kingdom, albeit on her terms.

Obviously, Renner's quest for control might not entirely align with the intentions of this celestial being. The manipulation and sometimes morally questionable acts she orchestrated might not be well-received by entities that value pure and selfless intentions.

Her desire for Climb as her exclusive possession, while interpreted as a sign of loyalty from him, might also be viewed through a lens of possessiveness and manipulation.

The very nature of her relationship with Climb, where he was viewed more as a possession rather than a friend or a loved one, might be at odds with celestial principles of genuine care and respect for others. So, even if she could ally with the angel, she might not reach her goal of turning Climb into her pet.

Her mind suddenly turned to a halt, when she noticed something coming through the door. It wouldn't have been problematic if the door had been opened beforehand. Her heart started beating a tad bit faster as she watched the demon coming out of the shadows and into the light of the moon's faint shimmer through the windows.

There were a lot of concerns, but she reigned them in as new ideas came to mind, ideas that would guarantee her safety and her goal. If she couldn't be accepted by the angels then why couldn't she deal with the devil?

Of course, all this would depend on what the devil was offering or whether he just wanted to force her. If he did then she would have to seek out the angel, who would hopefully ignore her... out-of-norm ideas and leverage her as a spy regardless. Ideas of turning into a spy and exploiting whatever she could from any interactions with this devil bombarded her mind.

"Your Highness," he began, his voice a smooth, controlled cadence. Given his neat suit, the clean glasses, and the measured steps he took toward her before halting at an appropriate distance gave him a rather orderly feeling, completely unlike the chaotic image that had been in her mind after witnessing the few demons they had come across during the invasion.

Until now she had presumed that they were savage beings. On the other hand, during her information gathering about devils, she had inevitably come across devils. The cunning and scheming type with whom one could sell their souls for a deal.

The rumors were stated that this mastermind enemy of the angel was a demon though, but then again she didn't put much regard into the accuracy of the words of peasants, who wouldn't know the distinctions. This being clearly wasn't one of the chaotic rabble, something akin to royalty among demons. Although she didn't have any facts at hand, in her heart she just knew that she was dealing with Jaldabaoth.

"I hope I am not intruding." His voice sounded sincere and she wouldn't be able to point out any flaws in that polite mask of his. Fortunately, Renner's acting skills had been her strong point since she was a child, so her face wouldn't show any of her concerns about her death at this devil's hands.

"Not at all. What brings you here at this late hour, Mr...?" She asked seemingly unaware of what kind of danger she was. For a moment, she had thought about acting like a distressed princess and calling for her guards, but that would put her into an unfavorable position in whatever conversation they would have now.

She was already in a disadvantageous position with this devil holding most if not all the power. The only thing she could do was make herself useful by displaying her intelligence and capability to keep her composure. Two things that could be taken advantage of by a scheming devil.

The suited devil chuckled slightly and his glasses gleamed slightly as they reflected the moonlight. "Oh, how rude of me! I am called Jaldabaoth, it's a pleasure." He said with a measured bow and she suppressed the nervous gulp. Of course, the devil wasn't surprised by her calm demeanor.

"The pleasure is all mine." Her voice remained steady and the smile never left her face as if she was dealing with yet another noble.

"I wanted to visit Your Highness after recent events. I thought it prudent to discuss these implications with someone of your intellect." He started explaining without a change in his smiling expression as if he was talking about the weather.

It looked like he expected her to be composed and apparently intelligent. Although some knew of her true side, it was a secret kept by her brothers and not something anyone should know. More knew that she was bright, but not even her brothers would have thought she could keep her calm in such a situation. Seemed like the devil had some insights into her personality through the persona she had built up, though the details of what he thought about her eluded her.

Renner's eyes narrowed imperceptibly at the devil's mention of 'implications'. "Implications? You speak of your loss against the angel who came to save this country?" It was an obvious slight to lower his position but she didn't have much to diminish his leverage in this 'negotiation'.

The devil just chuckled lightly, "Yes! My bitter loss against my arch nemesis." He put a hand over his heart and acted exaggeratedly hurt, which was clearly an act or at least he portrayed it as an act. Whether he was truly frustrated about his loss against the angel wasn't something she could guess by a simple conversation, though one thing was a fact. It certainly downplayed his arch nemesis' threat level.

"This country was truly fortunate to have such a benevolent ally. An entity that wields considerable power, intervening when all seemed lost. However," Jaldabaoth took a step forward and his polite aura disappeared as if it had never existed. "he can't be everywhere all the time." The air was filled with hostility and malevolence, something Renner had never experienced before. Her body tensed involuntarily. She couldn't suppress the instinctual signals her body was sending her. Run!

The devil stepped past her causing the tension to dissipate, though her back was still covered in cold sweat, reminding her that she was closer to her death than she would have liked. She watched him walk toward the window, overlooking the city below them.

"If I truly want someone to die, He won't be able to stop me." He said it with such confidence as if it was the truth. And at this moment, he could follow up his words. It would be easy to get rid of her and there was nothing that could stop him. A good indicator was that the guard just outside of her room hadn't reacted despite their conversation.

If she wanted to be saved from this devil then she would need at least an adamantite adventurer to be at her side at all times and even then she might not survive it if the angels didn't come to stop him. Not to mention Jaldabaoth, even these 'Evil Lords' could kill her when an adamantite adventurer protected her.

"I'm not here to make threats. This is an opportunity for you. I can offer you something that even Azazel won't be able to give you." He turned toward her again. The moon enveloped his figure from behind, leaving his face dark. Was she about to sell her soul? Her breath was controlled and her expression didn't reveal anything, though her heartbeat was a tad bit quicker than she would have liked.

"And what does this opportunity look like?" She questioned. Regardless of the price if the gains were acceptable, everything else could be negotiated. It wasn't like she had any other choice.

"Stability, Your Highness," the devil replied, his tone conveying the smile he had beneath his mask. "An assurance of security and tranquility within the realm. A force capable of aiding in future... dire circumstances. I am sure you can recognize the significance of cooperation amidst uncertainty and instability, can't you?"

Renner considered his words carefully, mulling over the potential implications, though there wasn't much of an option with him displaying his methods by appearing here without an angel bursting through the ceiling to apprehend him. She didn't even consider the possibilities of why he would seek something like stability. That wasn't something she should be concerned about. "And what is sought in return for this 'stability'?"

"The terms of alliances are dynamic and intricate, but forever binding" the demon evaded, maintaining a vague stance, though just this sentence conveyed that she would have to commit fully to their side. Although there weren't any expectations listed, she expected that the devil was after her control as the princess of this country and her intelligence.

Silence lingered between them with unspoken intentions and veiled truths. Renner weighed the consequences of aligning with this malevolent force, the potential benefits it might offer, and the unspoken cost it might demand.

"Devil," Renner addressed him cautiously, her voice steady yet tinged with curiosity. "Your offer is enticing, but I would like to think about it." Since he had come here to talk with her, she expected him to at least not kill her immediately, which gave her some wiggle room. The devil chuckled at her response before placing a glass bottle with a pipette as the head on the desk.

"Don't think for too long. I have marked you and the demons won't attack you, but angels might not look kindly upon you. Make sure to drink a drop of the angel's essence each day to mask it..." With his hands behind his back, he stepped away from her and toward the door before disappearing into the shadows. "Try not to lose it, I paid a hefty price for it."

Her hand clenched as she thought about his parting words. He had already marked her, wasn't this already pushing her into his corner? Even if she sought out the angels would they believe her? They certainly wouldn't trust her fully. Her mind revised their interactions again and tried to think about anything that might be of importance.

The sun started to rise again when she opened her eyes. She picked up the glass bottle with the white liquid and placed it in her dress. Since she was already cornered, she might as well show her worth and negotiate the best terms she can. Perhaps she needed to arrange for the angel to visit her and try to figure out more information through him.

She shouldn't make it known that she wanted to meet him. Plots formed in her mind as she thought about her future actions. Her hand touched the corners of her mouth that had curled up. It had been a while since she felt anything besides the joy of toying with her pet.

Regardless of the outcome, her life had gained some colors.

...

I glanced at the Luminari Guards, who were inspecting the Royal Backyard with a fascination that was almost unnerving. They seemed excited to know where I lived, so I just sent them to look around, though forbidding them to enter my house. I couldn't risk them seeing my nude women in aprons.

They swore that they wouldn't enter it without my permission and then went on to inspect the forest. Good thing Edan wasn't sleeping in the forest right now. He would be pissed to have some scrubs disturbing him. I was about to go inside when I saw an angel picking up a hoe.

"By the way, don't break anything." The guard shrieked slightly and started juggling with the hoe before catching it with a sigh of relief. I got an affirmative shout as a response as I walked inside, not wanting to deal with these weird angels any longer, especially the leader, who looked at me like I was the Second Coming of Jesus, ridiculous.

To be honest, I was rather surprised when I heard them talk. I was kind of under the presupposition that summons didn't talk, but then again the liches that Ainz had summoned in the series also talked. Not to mention, the intermission about that Death Knight, who got some of Ainz's memories/personality?

Although I had tried my best to remind myself of everything in the series, some things that I didn't deem too important had slipped my mind and by now I couldn't remember even a tenth of those.

After firmly closing the door I sighed, thinking that it might now have been a good idea to create their angelic essence from the soul energy of my domain and their bodies through the energy that my tree produced. In my defense, it sounded logical to do it this way. Besides it wasn't like I had failed, quite the opposite it was a full success.

It was the first option I wanted to try before using the bodies of my believers and with the theoretical knowledge in place, I knew it had a high chance of success. And here we were with an additional squad of level 46-55 angels under my control. Currently, I was only limited to those levels and I needed to grow more powerful if I wanted to create some high-end angels. Then again with just a thousand of those angels, I could probably wipe out most races off the face of this planet.

Theoretically, I could pump out infinitely more of those since I had an unlimited source of power in the form of my armor and tree, but the angelic essence was essential to keep them from exploding. Without it, they would be just energy shaped into a specific shape with nothing holding it together.

I shook my head and decided to banish these thoughts from my mind. There wasn't a need to build an army, it wasn't like I wanted to go to war. Besides, this world didn't have anything that would require any additional manpower than myself and if it did, I still had Nazarick on my side.

As I walked upstairs my house informed me that Albedo was inside my office, so I headed there without a second thought. As I pushed open the door I heard a voice, my voice to be specific.

I arrived at the perfect moment to see my wife squirt over the seat of my office chair while she watched a recording of me surrounded by the Evil Lords. That angle kind of looked like it came from CZ... no wonder she only fired a few times. She was busy setting up the recording stone!

"Yes~ show them who is boss~!" Albedo muttered while she continued to masturbate, not having realized that I had entered.

The scene continued with me attacking the demons, [Let this spear be the verdict of your infernal existence.]

"No, let your spear be the verdict of my pussy~"

"Ahem." I coughed loudly, causing her to hastily close the screen that was projected by the stone before she obliterated it and sat onto her own chair that was right beside mine. Her dress was pushed down again, and her hands were folded in her lap, trying to portray the image of innocence.

It happened in the blink of an eye and for a moment I was too stunned to speak. "Hello, darling. Back already?" She wore an angelic smile on her face and was batting her eyes in innocence. I glanced at my drenched chair, which caused her to speak up. "Oh, I am sorry. I was masturbating over your chair and didn't clean up yet. I will do so immediately." She was about to stand up and escape, but I held up my hand, causing her to sit down again.

"What about that the-" I pointed at the stone's remains.

"There was something wrong with it." She hurriedly answered as if she feared that her excuse would lose its weight the longer she waited. "I was masturbating to one of our sex scenes, where you were fucking my throat and then come all over my face and then fuck Fubuki until she passed out. It was our hardcore session from a few days ago. I was watching that on repeat, though for some reason it switched to the battle from just now-" She didn't continue when rubbed my forehead.

So, she would rather admit she watched our homemade sex tapes than the fact she was masturbating to me fighting? Was this some succubus thing I was too angelic to understand?

"So, you weren't watching my fight with the Evil Lords and Demiurge?" I asked as she bit her lip and slouched into the chair trying to make herself smaller.

"N-no, th-that would be absurd. After all, I was masturbating ha ha ha..." Her voice trailed off at the end.

"Are you saying that one couldn't get off from it?" I asked, doing my best to keep the smirk off my face as I was set on teasing the truth out of her.

"W-what- that- I wouldn't say there wouldn't be anyone that would find it stunning... I mean, you were very handsome and cool during your fight. Any woman witnessing it would certainly be mesmerized."

"And you just happened to be one that didn't find my fight interesting, is that what you want to say?" I made sure to sound disappointed, which garnered me the reaction that I wanted.

"No, that's not what I wanted to say! It's just-" She hastily tried to excuse herself, so I interrupted her.

"I get it, Albedo. You didn't find it appealing. That's too bad, I had hoped for you to show some enthusiasm. I really wanted to hear your praises..." I shook my head with a longing sigh.

"That's not. I find it incredibly arousing, okay?! I could masturbate just to your voice not to mention when you are this cool on the battlefield!" She exclaimed with a deep shade of red decorating her cheeks as she tried her best to keep eye contact with me to show her sincerity, even though I knew she was dying from embarrassment inside.

I walked toward her, letting a smirk appear on my face as I reached out to rub her cheek. She was still sitting, so I had to tilt her head up by her chin.

"That's a good girl." My words seemed to cause a critical hit as her entire face lit up red and blood started to leak out of her nose. A fountain erupted from below and splashed against my legs. "That's not nice- Albedo...? Did she really pass out from that?" I scratched my head as I looked at the trembling woman.

With a sigh and a wave of my hand, I cleaned her body and her clothes before I bent down to carefully pick her up. I carried her to our bedroom before I tucked her in. With a kiss on her forehead, I was ready to leave the room when I was stopped by her holding onto my sleeve.

"Azazel." I glanced at Albedo who pulled the blanket over her head. "Do you think I am too lewd?" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

I took her hand into mine, rubbing my thumb over the smooth back of her hand. "I think you are perfect the way you are." I could feel light trembling from underneath the blanket, my words seemed to have literally shaken her. "Come on let me see my cute wife." After some more trembling, she slowly pulled the blanket down, revealing her still-red face. I was surprised that her nosebleed had stopped.

"There she is, my cute, lewd, succubus wife." I leaned down and gave her cheek a big smooch. Her eyes were out of focus and she looked rather dazed from my affection. Perhaps, it had been too long since we were intimate. The day without any action due to the Gehenna Mission and the first week of November must have done a number on her. She looked like she was about to faint again.

I waited for her to recover. "So, what did you like best about my performance?" I asked with a smile and she was about to respond when she suddenly noticed something, causing her to perk up from the bed.

"Ainz arrived downstairs. I think he is here for you." Her eyes held some worry, but I just chuckled slightly as I opened the blanket and crawled into it.

"Come one, scooch over. I know you made multiple copies, let's watch your favorite scene." Although she was surprised, she gave me some room to sit next to her.

"What about Ainz-" I waved my hand at her question.

"He can wait. Come on show me what you recorded." She looked at me with wide eyes. Suddenly, she pulled me to her, kissing me passionately. She pressed her body tightly against mine before freeing me from her kiss. There were hearts in her eyes and I almost thought she would ravage me, which I wouldn't have a problem with.

However, in the end, she just put a leg over mine, while leaning her head on my shoulder as she pulled out another stone from her inventory. "I think that is my favorite scene." She started as the stone projected me on the building from a slightly different perspective than the one she had masturbated to. Seemed like she had 'hired' multiple demons/shadows/ninjas to record the scene.

[You think I care?] My voice filled the room as the scene started. I couldn't help but rub my chin. I certainly looked imposing and divine.

"This is my favorite quote, 'All I am surrounded by is fear. And dead demons!'" She echoed as the scene played out, her body seemed to vibrate as she watched it in excitement. At that moment, the door opened with Aneko peeking inside apologetically. I put a finger on my lips before waving her off.

"So, why are you so aroused by this scene?" I whispered as I cuddled her form, making her chuckle heartily.

"Because you showed your might to the world. How could I not be excited? And... look at those wings, your posture, the way you wield your spear, your hair fluttering in the wind..." The saliva in her mouth was barely contained as she started to list things. We watched the scene that wasn't even older than a few hours with her geeking out. It was really adorable seeing her like this.

...

Ainz entered the prince's home, uninvited. Although he had mentioned that he wanted to talk to him, this was rather rude, wasn't it? The boss appeared at his house just after telling him that he wanted to talk with him. The prince must be even more nervous than he was, thinking that he would get punished for something that was probably just a misunderstanding.

Just thinking about making the prince feel like he was about to be fired, made Ainz feel guilty, though he would understand, right? He knocked on the closed door to announce his arrival. Just after he did, Azazel's maid greeted him. "Aneko, is Azazel available now?"

The maid bowed slightly, "I will inform him of your visit." Aneko then went upstairs while he mentally went over what he wanted to talk with him. Suddenly, he heard some noise from upstairs. It disappeared in the next moment, though it sounded like a movie playing.

"He will be coming down soon." Aneko then offered some drinks and food, which he declined and continued to wait. As the seconds ticked away and he looked into the light of a candle, he couldn't help but feel like he had been stood up on a date.