In this world, the way people referred to each other was similar to the world of Danmachi and the Akasha Continent, where it followed the Western custom, with the given name coming before the family name, unlike the Japanese custom, where the family name came first.
Accordingly, when people weren't too familiar with each other and didn't have a deep relationship, they usually referred to others using the family name with an honorific rather than directly using the given name.
For example, Gazef, Brain, and the members of Blue Roses all referred to Riezel by his family name, Brynhart, with an added honorific like 'Lord', 'Sir', or 'Mr.' as a sign of respect.
In this world, the only one who directly called Riezel by his given name was Ainz, a former Japanese who treated Western names like Japanese names—a habit from his past life in Japan.
Given this, there was no need to think further about who was calling Riezel.
"It's been a long time, Sir Riezel."
Ainz's voice echoed as he appeared behind Riezel, floating before him as Riezel slowly turned around.
Unlike in the past, Ainz was no longer clad in impenetrable full-body black armor, pretending to be a warrior, but had returned to his true form—a white skeleton with red glowing eyes, an Overlord who wore a luxurious black robe and held a golden staff studded with precious jewels, while each of his ten skeletal fingers bore a different ring, each with distinct colors and designs.
Ainz's body was nothing but bones—no skin, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, or organs—just a skeletal structure.
Around Ainz, several other figures appeared.
On his left stood Shalltear, still armored in crimson full-body armor and carrying a tubular lance, her murderous eyes glaring at Riezel.
On Ainz's right was Demiurge, with membrane wings and a frog-like face.
Albedo and Cocytus were also present, one clad in jet-black full-body armor with a huge, ominous battle-axe, and the other radiating coldness as he held a silver halberd, both standing in front of Ainz—guarding him from all sides.
With the four Floor Guardians surrounding him, Ainz made his grand entrance, causing Certain Death's pupils to constrict sharply and her heart to tremble.
It couldn't be helped.
In Certain Death's senses, these figures were clearly not human but a group of monsters, and each one of them radiated an aura that could only be described as terrifying since she could sense that the auras they emitted were on par with Shalltear's—each of their auras was undoubtedly far superior to her own.
'H-How is this possible?'
Certain Death's mind was filled with fear and despair.
Beings more powerful than herself, terrifying monsters like that vampire, appearing five at once?
Even worse, from the looks of it, they seemed to be a group?
Such a reality felt like the hopeless, hellish scene she had dreaded.
Even Riezel squinted slightly, feeling the combined murderous and evil aura of the four Floor Guardians locking him in place, overwhelming him with a sense of pressure.
However, this pressure and situation only made Riezel smile faintly.
"It hasn't been too long, maybe just around two months?"
Riezel finally responded, gazing at Ainz while ignoring the Floor Guardians.
"I just didn't expect our next meeting to be under these circumstances, Sir Dark Warrior."
Hearing his fake name spoken with a somewhat teasing tone from Riezel's mouth seemed to bring a bitter smile to Ainz's face.
"Just call me Ainz. Didn't you already know my real name?"
Not only did Ainz's meaningful words fail to make Riezel flinch or look surprised at all, but what Riezel said next would cause Ainz to flinch and be surprised instead.
"As far as I know, that's not your real name either. Am I wrong?"
Riezel's casual words made the red glow flicker several times in Ainz's hollow eye sockets.
"Hou? It seems you know more than I expected..." Ainz said, giving Riezel a deep look. "You're really making me more and more curious about your background, Sir Riezel."
"Nah, it's not that great." Riezel met Ainz's meaningful gaze and responded with indifference. "What matters is that with you bringing the Floor Guardians to block me like this, can I take it that you've finally decided to go to war with me?"
Riezel's statement sent a shiver through Certain Death and made the air around them grow heavier.
Despite being surrounded by a group of absurdly powerful monsters, Riezel remained calm and composed, boldly confronting them with such words.
To others, this scene was oddly admirable—at least, this was how Certain Death felt right now.
She couldn't even get a single word out, struggling with all her might just to resist the urge to flee, yet Riezel stood there with ease, facing those terrifying monsters with indifference.
If the situation were different, she thought she might really want to praise Riezel, maybe even develop a bit of affection for him, but unfortunately, her heart was consumed by fear, leaving no room for such thoughts.
Luckily for Certain Death, Ainz had no eyes for her, only for Riezel.
"Hmm... that should be my line, Sir Riezel."
Ainz stood tall against the wind, his robe billowing as a wave of dark energy, strong enough to instantly kill any ordinary person, emanated from him.
It was one of Ainz's racial abilities, capable of causing negative effects like fear, panic, confusion, and insanity to anyone near him while weakening their stats, known as 'Despair Aura'.
If someone's level was too low or they lacked the proper resistance, facing Ainz while he activated Despair Aura could even trigger an instant death effect, causing them to drop dead on the spot. Even more terrifying, when he equipped the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, which was the golden staff he now held, this ability could even affect Level 100 NPCs.
As a result, everyone in the vicinity, except Riezel, felt a suffocating pressure, especially Certain Death, who nearly screamed in fear.
Only Riezel could face Despair Aura head-on, and he was the only one present who could completely ignore the negative effects caused by this ability.
Being immune to mental interference, Riezel could disregard the fear, panic, confusion, and insanity induced by Despair Aura.
Being immune to physical interference, Riezel could ignore the stat reduction caused by Despair Aura.
As for the instant death effect, it went without saying that, with Riezel's current level, there was no way he would fall victim to it.
In other words, for Riezel, Ainz's activation of Despair Aura was just adding a special effect to his own presence, with no other significant impact.
Unaware of this, Ainz let out a cold, menacing voice.
"What happened to the royal capital, as you've probably noticed, is the work of our Great Tomb of Nazarick."
Ainz explained calmly, the red glow in his hollow eye sockets flickering slightly.
"From my investigation, though your background remains unclear, you are likely not a citizen of any of the three human countries. In other words, you have no connection to the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Slane Theocracy, or the Baharuth Empire."
"In that case, why—why did you break your way to Shalltear's place and even attack her? Why try to obstruct us?"
"If anyone is set on starting a war, it should be you, shouldn't it, Sir Riezel?"
Ainz's words sounded almost like an accusation, but Riezel felt as though he were being tested.
Clearly, Ainz was probing Riezel's motivations to deduce his origins.
Unfortunately, Ainz was going to be disappointed.
"Before I answer that, let me ask you something..." Riezel said calmly, his face still indifferent. "What exactly is the purpose behind all of these elaborate schemes you've set up?"
Upon hearing this question, the red glow in Ainz's eyes intensified.
As Riezel had guessed, Ainz's original objective was simple.
Ainz sought revenge on the Slane Theocracy because they had crossed a line by desecrating the precious child left behind by his guild companion—something he could never tolerate.
It could be said that once the Slane Theocracy used a World Item to mind-control Shalltear, Ainz had already decided that they would be irreconcilable enemies.
However, the Slane Theocracy was a country founded by the Six Great Gods, and the Six Great Gods were players just like him.
Additionally, since they had left behind a World Item that could mind-control a powerful NPC like Shalltear, it was highly likely that, just as Riezel had told him before, they had some kind of trump cards they could use in a crisis—probably other World Items.
Considering this, if Ainz attacked rashly, the Great Tomb of Nazarick could face unnecessary threats and significant losses.
Ainz naturally did not want to see the Great Tomb of Nazarick suffer any losses, so he came up with a plan—to let Shalltear, the victim, take revenge as her motivation and, without exposing the Great Tomb of Nazarick's existence, make her mess with one of the human cities of the Slane Theocracy.
Ainz's plan served two purposes.
One was to test the Slane Theocracy's reaction, and the second was to draw out the theocracy's most powerful force, the Black Scripture, which had once used a World Item on Shalltear.
In other words, Shalltear was merely sent as a decoy, the first step in a series of schemes against the Slane Theocracy.
As it turned out, the plan succeeded brilliantly, as the Black Scripture indeed responded.
As the information had indicated, the Slane Theocracy was a humanocentric nation with extreme hostility toward non-human races, so they would never allow their land to be invaded by a 'monstrous' being like Shalltear.
Moreover, when the Slane Theocracy learned that it was the same terrifying vampire from the Black Scripture's earlier report, they didn't hesitate to deploy their strongest combatant, Certain Death, who brought with her the equipment left behind by the Six Great Gods to wipe out the vampire once and for all.
However, the Slane Theocracy unexpectedly didn't use the World Item again or employ any other drastic measures, which made Ainz hold back somewhat.
At that moment, Albedo and Demiurge suddenly made a suggestion to the hesitated Ainz.
"Why not use this opportunity to shift the conflict toward the Re-Estize Kingdom? Let the two nations clash and further test what methods the Slane Theocracy might have?"
It was this suggestion that led things to develop into the current state.