Great Tomb of Nazarick's 10th Floor, Throne Room.
A day had passed since the confrontation with Riezel, and Ainz was once again seated in the throne room, but this time, it was no longer filled with numerous NPCs.
Aside from Ainz, only Albedo and Demiurge were present, while the rest had been assigned to various floors, busy with the post-battle cleanup.
At this moment, Ainz was reviewing the damage to the Great Tomb of Nazarick from the battle through the guild administrative system while listening to Albedo's report on the losses.
"At the moment, after a preliminary estimate, the losses to Nazarick in this battle are as follows."
"On the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Floors, aside from Floor Guardian Shalltear Bloodfallen, the rest have been completely wiped out, with no survivors."
"On the 4th Floor, Floor Guardian Gargantua suffered no damage, no consumption, and no abnormalities, but nearly all of the combatants, except for a very small portion, were killed during the defense against Riezel Brynhart."
"On the 5th Floor, the environmental effects were unaffected, but all of the defense systems were destroyed. Floor Guardian Cocytus was successfully revived after his death, but his subordinates suffered severe damage, including several Level 85 Frost Virgins, who were all burned by extremely hot flames."
"On the 6th Floor, all magical beasts sent to intercept Riezel Brynhart were slain, while Aura and Mare had both died once in battle. Several magical beasts under Aura's command, above Level 80, were also exterminated, and Mare's two dragons didn't survive either. Even the golems in the Amphitheater were mostly destroyed, with only a few still repairable."
"On the 7th Floor, this floor suffered losses second only to the 1st to 3rd Floors. Not only was the terrain altered and four of the Evil Lords killed, but even Guren, an Area Guardian stronger than some of the Floor Guardians, was also killed. All the devils and undead stationed there were wiped out, and Demiurge himself, who commanded them, was also killed."
Upon hearing Albedo's report, Demiurge's expression turned ashamed.
Ainz, however, didn't react since he knew that the true loss was still to come.
"And lastly, the 8th Floor, which serves as the final line of defense for the Great Tomb of Nazarick..."
Albedo spoke with the heaviest tone, delivering the report to Ainz.
"Not only have the large-scale, intense battles over the past two months caused most of the 8th Floor's defense systems to come to a standstill, but more than half of the 8th Floor's area has also been destroyed."
"Uka-no-Mitama and Ootoshi both died once, while Rubedo died three times. As for the 8th Floor Hierarchy, which the Supreme Beings spent a great deal of resources creating, some of them had died multiple times as well."
"Even though they were all revived in the end, the resources required to activate the 8th Floor, as well as the resources spent on reviving Rubedo and the 8th Floor Hierarchy, exceeded those of the Floor Guardians, causing the Great Tomb of Nazarick to lose almost half of its accumulated resources."
"Additionally, with the areas of various floors destroyed, defense systems like magic traps and mechanical traps unable to be restarted, and cash recharge monsters unable to automatically respawn, the resources required to restore everything, including reviving those who died, would be even higher. It would likely require approximately 20% of Nazarick's resources to be depleted."
"Considering the possibility of a second invasion in the future, it would be best to reinforce and strengthen Nazarick's defenses, but this would also require further consumption of resources."
"After summarizing all the data, it's been estimated that the losses to Nazarick in this event will cause almost 70% of our resources to vanish, and possibly even more..."
Finishing her report, Albedo's hands trembled with anxiety.
A loss of nearly 70%!
One should know that the accumulated resources of the heteromorphic-race-only guild Ainz Ooal Gown, one of the top guilds in YGGDRASIL, were not small.
Moreover, the uses of these resources were vast—they could be used to create high-level monsters, resurrect dead high-level NPCs, activate defense systems across various floors, and even create magic items, magic potions, special items, and other items with a wide range of effects.
In other words, these resources were the very foundation of the Great Tomb of Nazarick's existence—they were the treasury, the vault, and the most essential provisions.
If a guild were to use up all its resources, the day of its demise would not be far off—in fact, the players themselves might not be able to resurrect after death as a result, disappearing completely with no chance of return.
As long as these resources were available, no matter how many times one died or was destroyed, there was always a chance for resurrection, but once the resources ran out, resurrection would be impossible.
Because of this, resources were of utmost importance to the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and they were even more important than the lives of all the Guardians serving Ainz.
If a Guardian died, they could still be resurrected using the available resources, but if the resources were gone, even the NPCs, including the Guardians, would be finished.
Now, these crucial resources would be reduced by as much as 70%, making Albedo's heart fill with anxiety.
Naturally, Ainz felt the same way.
However, whether it was due to the enforced calmness from his undead race or because he had already mentally prepared himself, Ainz surprisingly did not show much emotional fluctuation.
Ainz even had the energy to push the matter aside and turn to Demiurge.
"Now that the internal situation of the Great Tomb of Nazarick has been confirmed, what about the external one?"
At Ainz's question, Demiurge quickly responded.
"It's actually equally chaotic, but this is undoubtedly a good thing for us."
"Thanks to the Third Princess's assistance, the royal family and nobles of the Re-Estize Kingdom have already blamed the Slane Theocracy for this incident and are preparing to send envoys to demand an explanation from the theocracy. Depending on their attitude, declaring war is not out of the question, as long as those nobles don't act foolishly in the royal capital by shifting blame onto each other or trying to undermine the royal family, causing internal strife."
"Likewise, there has been an unexpected development on the Slane Theocracy's side."
"Due to the miraculous survival of Certain Death, they learned of our existence from her and sensed that something was off, but with the Black Scripture almost completely wiped out—as its members we controlled were either killed by Gazef Stronoff or defeated by adventurers, then had their equipment seized and plundered by those foolish nobles and greedy adventurers—it was said that the Six Cardinals had lost their sanity and were preparing for revenge."
"On the Baharuth Empire's side, due to the covert involvement of Aura and Mare, the Imperial Court Wizard, known as the strongest human magic caster, an elderly man capable of using 6th-Tier Magic, has already submitted to us. With his assistance, the Emperor, who has great trust in him, is highly likely to be dragged into this."
"Now, the signal for a large-scale war between the three countries has already spread. I believe that soon, our plan will come to fruition."
Demiurge's report was undoubtedly a ray of hope amidst the bad news, giving Ainz some comfort.
Pondering for a moment, Ainz then issued the instructions he had previously considered.
"Since that's the case, let's revise the plan."
"Our ultimate goal is still to probe the Slane Theocracy's secrets, but in the process, we need to shift the focus a bit. We need to find a way to profit from these national conflicts and extract enough resources from these countries to make up for Nazarick's losses this time."
"Our final goal is still the Slane Theocracy, but for Nazarick, even if it means delaying it, we must first figure out how to cover the losses. If necessary, if there's an opportunity to obtain something valuable like prismatic ores, as Shalltear did last time, abandoning the plan wouldn't be out of the question."
"Since we are heteromorphic races, our lifespans are much longer than humans, so there's no need to rush. For the time being, we need to lie low and avoid encountering powerful enemies."
"Did I make myself clear?"
Ainz's instructions were naturally met with Albedo and Demiurge kneeling on one knee.
""Yes, Lord Ainz!""
Albedo and Demiurge responded in unison, their heads lowered.
"Good."
Ainz nodded, finally feeling a bit more relaxed.
However, just then—
"Lo-Lord Ainz!"
Shalltear's panicked and rushed voice suddenly resounded in Ainz's mind.
"What's wrong, Shalltear?"
Ainz asked in a deep voice, straightening his body.
In the next second, he heard bad news.
"Th-That monster! He's here again!"
===
Meanwhile, at the graveyard above the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
When Ainz appeared here in a hurry with a large group of heteromorphs, Riezel just happened to descend from the air.
"Yo, we meet again, Sir Momonga."
Riezel spoke with a smile as if he were just here for a casual visit to a friend's home.
Unfortunately, Ainz wasn't in such a good mood.
"What are you doing here again, Riezel Brynhart?!" Ainz shouted in an angry yet somewhat weak tone. "Didn't we agree to a ceasefire? Are you backing out?"
In response to this question, Riezel naturally shook his head, denying it.
"Nope, not at all." Riezel flashed a smile that sent a chill down Ainz's spine. "It's just that I've gotten a little stronger, and I'm not quite used to it yet, so I wanted to ask you for a little favor."
"A favor?" Ainz suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Yeah..." Riezel nodded calmly. "Can you open the 8th Floor again and let Rubedo and the others fight with me? It won't take long, just about ten days or so. How?"
Upon hearing this, Ainz's vision went dark, and he fainted on the spot.