Chapter 482: Out of Time

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After parting ways with Ainz, Vahn used Flying Raijin to teleport to the interior of a cluttered, well-furnished tent with a large bed, a Japanese-style divider, and a porcelain bath. There was a heavy aroma of animal musk and herbs in the air, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"Hmmn...?"

Staring at the bed, Vahn couldn't help but notice that, among the many stuffed animals that were present, several dolls that resembled him could be seen among the pile.

"Wow. You weren't kidding when you said you would come running if I called..." remarked the person who had called Vahn to the tent, followed by Aura stepping out from behind the divider in a familiar black, grey, and gold yukata. The garment was many sizes too large for her, but that was to be expected, considering it was tailored to fit Vahn.

"Is there something you need from me...?" Vahn asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"There is," Aura confirmed, making her way over to Vahn and raising her hands. Vahn exhaled in slight exasperation at this. But, without too much of a delay, he picked up the petite Elfette by her waist and placed her on his shoulders.

Running her fingers through Vahn's hair and hunching over his head, Aura revealed, "I want to be the announcer for the war games you proposed to the Holy Roble Kingdom."

"Oh? You heard about that...?" Vahn asked, pacing in a slow circle with his hands holding Aura's ankles.

"Pestonia recorded and broadcast the entire war council, including when you stepped in and completely derailed things~" Aura revealed, sitting up and drawing herself closer to Vahn's neck as she appended, "I think it's a really cool and fun idea. And since I'm already the announcer for the Sixth Floor's Amphitheater, who else is better suited for the position?"

"Hmmn...I was planning to have the Sorcerer Kingdom act as one of the event's sponsors..." Vahn conceded. His go-to choice for broadcaster was Tiamat. But as the Pavilion's Master of Ceremonies, she already had a lot on her plate.

'I also need to assign someone to oversee the organization charged with scheduling and officiating the games...' Vahn noted, leaning his head back and raising his gaze contemplatively. As he did, Aura hunched over him to meet his gaze.

"Did you have someone else in mind? And, if so, who...?" Aura asked, her brows creased and her expression slightly pouty.

"No need to become agitated," Vahn stated, his expression and tone calm as he explained, "We're presently in a very early stage of development. I personally have no issues with you being the announcer. However, as the organization responsible for overseeing the games must, at the very least, appear impartial, it would invite unneeded scrutiny if the face of the event were the vassal of a participating nation. That's especially true if you plan to represent Nazarick as one of its Champions..."

"Mmmnnnngh...I guess that makes sense..." Aura groaned, wrapping her arms around Vahn's face and head as if she were suddenly attempting to suffocate him.

"How about you help me plan the event format...?" Vahn offered, giving Aura's right thigh three soft taps. He would invariably regenerate, but he would rather not have his head pulverized like a watermelon between the pouty but powerful Elfette's arms and thighs.

"Mmmnn...fine..." Aura conceded, releasing her hold on Vahn's head and allowing him to remove her from his shoulders. Then, while discussing the logistical and organizational aspects of the war games back in his palace, Vahn kept Aura company for nearly the entire evening, humoring her many suggestions while doing his best not to afford her too many liberties with their proximity...

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[January 31st DxD/September 23rd DBT]

Though he would never admit it, Rokesh, Commander of the Demi-Human Alliance, was afraid. As the wisest, most powerful, and imposing member of the Naga Raja Tribe, having inherited the epithet of Rainbow Scales, he stood above virtually all other Demi-Humans of the Abelion Hills—both in terms of combat prowess and stature. Yet, for the second time in as many months, Rokesh found himself feeling inconsequentially small as he gazed in existential dread at the previously clear sky—now dominated by a host of colossal Black, Red, White, Green, Purple, Blue, Brown, Silver, and Gold Dragons...

As Rokesh, his fellow Chieftains, and some forty thousand Demi-Humans stood in awe of the inexplicable sight before them, something even more absurd began to occur. Atop the head of a particularly large Black Dragon, a young, seemingly human girl with bright blue eyes and short, somewhat messy blonde hair stepped forward—her inordinately slim frame garbed in a stylish, primarily white military dress uniform.

Holding up a white and gold microphone to her mouth, the petite, almost child-like girl stated, "Greetings, invaders hailing from the Abelion Hills. I am Praefectus Temporum, Tanya von Degurechaff. The Dragon God, Vahn Mason, has deemed your invasion and subsequent slaughter of the Roble Holy Kingdom's citizenry an unjust and regressive act. You have precisely six hours after this address to send forth a delegation of your leaders and champions. Failure to comply with this summons will result in your prompt and unceremonious annihilation."

Punctuating her statement, Tanya produced a golden pocket watch with a rune resembling an hourglass inscribed on its surface. As she thumbed its plunger, the sky rippled as a shimmering silver membrane spread across it like wildfire cutting through a dried prairie. At a glance, it seemed that she had changed the color of the sky. In reality, she had created a barrier that encompassed the entirety of the Roble Holy Kingdom.

'This is madness...' Rokesh thought gravely, swiveling his snake-like head from left to right. The moment Tanya activated her pocket watch, all of his guards and servants had become grey and motionless like stone statues. The same effect had been applied to the buildings around him, making it seem as if the entire world had been subjected to the petrifying gaze of a Basilisk. And that was somehow less frightening than what had actually occurred...

'Praefectus Temporum...she has dominion over time...' Rokesh realized, his iridescent, rainbow-hued scales losing much of their luster as the golden, gem-eyed, serpent-themed trident grasped in his right hand suddenly felt heavy and unfamiliar to him. It had the frightening power to drain the fluid from his opponent's bodies with a single stab, leaving them as mummified corpses. But against the threat that had appeared before him, it felt like a heavy, three-pronged stick...

Sending a fresh wave of icy dread through Rokesh's cold-blooded body, Tanya flatly declared, "If you are still able to move, your presence is one of those expected to appear before the Dragon God. I highly advise that you use the provided six hours to gather and come up with a reasonable justification for your actions. That is all."

Having concluded her address, Tanya performed a sharp about-face before promptly disappearing in a flash of golden light as she took a step forward. As she did, most of the Dragons present in the sky also began to vanish in color-coded flashes of light, giving some of those on the ground the false hope that they had been illusions. Unfortunately, at least one of each type of Dragon remained behind, hovering around the massive Black Dragon that Tanya had stood upon during her speech...

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"The authority to command an army of dragons and create a temporal barrier over an entire nation...the Dragon's Pavilion is fearsome indeed..." Demiurge remarked, a rare bead of sweat running down the right side of his face as he adjusted his glasses. He still had his usual smile, but there was a tension in his body he had only ever experienced when his creator, Ulbert Alain Odle, had considered deleting him to create something called a Sexy Satyress Waifu...

"My faithful servants...listen closely and heed my words..." Ainz said, his voice deeper than usual, his eyes blazing like crimson stars, and a dark purple aura rising from his skeletal frame as he sat perched atop his gold and obsidian throne in the heart of Nazarick.

"My Lord..."

"We are yours to command..."

Reacting to Ainz's utterance, Demiurge and Albedo, the only others present in the Throne Room, promptly dropped to one knee and bowed their heads to Ainz.

"From now on, you are not to take any actions that could be construed as antagonistic toward the Dragon's Pavilion..." Ainz stated, his eyes burning fiercely and his skeletal hands tightening into fists as he carved the scene of Tanya's cold and exceedingly procedural proclamation into his mind. He had been observing up until the moment she used her watch to create her time-stopping barrier. Now, any doubts he had about the Pavilion's status as a transdimensional power had been completely eradicated...

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Hearing Ainz's words and feeling his undead aura washing over them like a cold tide, Albedo and Demiurge nervously raised their heads to see him staring at them with what they perceived to be an evil, opportunistic grin. For the briefest of moments, they had almost misinterpreted his words to mean they had no hope of opposing the Dragon's Pavilion. Now that they could see his expression and tightly clenched fists, they understood their thinking was too shallow.

"I see...as expected of Lord Ainz..." Demiurge hummed, his wide, inhuman smile growing even wider as he pushed up his glasses and reasoned, "It has become evident that the Dragon's Pavilion possesses knowledge and military might on a level that Nazarick cannot compete with—at least not at the moment. Therefore, we should bide our time and prioritize winning their trust..."

"Indeed. And once we're able to infiltrate their ranks and ascertain the sources of their power, we can make it our own..." Albedo hummed, her face gaining a prominent flush, and her raven-black wings flittering with excitement.

"..."

Seeing Albedo and Demiurge once again misconstruing his words into plans and machinations he didn't have, Ainz cupped his skeletal visage and internally lamented his inability to correct them. The reality caused him to feel frustrated, frenzied, and amused in equal measure, provoking a low, evil-sounding chuckle from his non-existent throat that slowly rose in pitch until he was laughing as loudly as his equally non-existent lungs permitted...

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At the same time that Ainz was laughing like a madman back in his Throne Room, Vahn, unaware of the skeletal man's plight, handed a seated Tanya a particularly fragrant cup of coffee.

"Mmmmmn...Dragon God be praised..." Tanya hummed, accepting the cup and its accompanying saucer before holding it up to her nose and inhaling a deep, closed-eyed breath—followed by a protracted exhale. Coffee was arguably the thing she enjoyed most in the world. And the coffee provided to her by the Dragon's Pavilion made conventional coffees smell and taste like dirt.

"You play the villain well," Vahn remarked casually, taking a seat across from Tanya. The place she had teleported to after her declaration was the Seven Lotus Spring, specifically his tent. As such, they were seated in the recessed lounging area, allowing Tanya to set her emptied cup down and make her way around to his side.

"What villain? I am just an impressionable maiden, beguiled by a God to carry out his will," Tanya countered, grinning toothily as she unabashedly invaded Vahn's personal space. In exchange for her assistance with the current matter, she had been promised the position of an executive in the Dragon's Pavilion. It wasn't strictly required, but as every other executive was a prominent member of Vahn's harem or one of his wives, she would be at a disadvantage if she were the odd one out.

With such thoughts in mind, Tanya manifested a pair of inky black wings, curved black horns that followed the contours of her scalp, and a notably thick tail covered in black scales. Another occupational perk was that she had been allowed to reincarnate as a Black Dragon—specifically as one of Vahn's Rooks. So, with a clawed, black-scaled hand, she leaned closer to Vahn and used the hooked claw of her index finger to part his yutaka with a broad, shark-toothed grin...

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