Overlord of biblical proportions: Return of the Biblical God (13)

Griselda finished surveying the area, then exhaled slowly, not knowing how she should even react to the information she had gathered, let alone compile it into a comprehensive report for her superiors.

When the monitoring systems transmitted information about the surge of power and magical energy spikes in an unremarkable, sleepy town on the border of Germany, it couldn't possibly be good news under any circumstances. Especially considering the fact that the spike had happened against the backdrop of an entire faction of Fallen Angels being destroyed by a vampire, not far from Germany itself. 

Who could say what exactly the cause for this reaction was supposed to be? 

A retaliatory action by the vampires? The petty final revenge by the Fallen? Or perhaps someone else had decided to take advantage of the confusion with the Angelic factions, and just decided to start a massacre involving thousands of innocent peaceful people? 

Anything is possible.

Which confuses her greatly – as far as Griselda herself knew, there was nothing, absolutely nothing remarkable in this town. Three small families with magical abilities who had long since sent their children away for training, and a couple of undercover exorcists, functioning more as police than anything else. That’s it.

The only accident of note involving the town was a poorly functioning magical talisman that caused a pot to explode… That was it. The kind of incidents that the Church’s annual inspection bodies would hear about, write a short report, and then shove it into the deepest recesses of the records so that they wouldn’t be able to ever mistake it as something important.

And then suddenly, pandemonium. The warning grid of detection suddenly warned of a sudden breakout of energies and danger that it would require the intervention of six-winged Angels to resolve. At minimum.

Suddenly, in a sleepy German town, a danger that a Seraph might need to resolve had appeared. And all this in less than a minute.

What was most surprising was that following such a signature, the monitoring bureau received no distress signal. Meaning that whoever or whatever had emitted such a high level of energy, they were not targeting the civilians or the inhabitants of the local church – a rarity in the paranormal world. Which just made the situation even more confusing to the higher-ups, which is why Griselda was sent out, as it was possible that it was a trap.

Arriving in the town, Griselda could see the evidence that a battle did take place… Which made it even more strange that no one in the town was harmed in any way as a casualty of such a battle.

And a battle did take place, this was more than revealed by Griselda's further analysis of the incident site. Moreover, as further analysis of the discovered remains, ashes, rather, at the battle site showed, the fight was not a random skirmish. 

No, the battle claimed the life of at least one person, and further signature analysis brought Griselda Quarta an unexpected answer about who exactly the killed person was.

Bikou, the descendant and heir of Sun Wukong — who had previously been noted to have joined the Khaos Brigade.

Griselda, as one of the Church’s most veteran investigators, was briefed about even some of the most sensitive information that the Holy See possessed. At least in the amount permitted to her. But, either the church itself did not wish to reveal the secrets about this town, or, quite possibly, Sun Wukong and his entire pantheon as a whole kept their dirty laundry well under control and did not allow it to reach the ears of other factions. 

So, there is at least some partial answer as to the source of the beacon of power, from the reports the Church has of his capability, he was strong enough to have emitted the level of power that was detected. And if there was someone or something strong enough to kill Bikou so thoroughly and overwhelmingly that the town was not just a crater, the source of the beacon of power became obvious.

So then, there was only one question that is very pertinent right now; what was Bikou doing in some random German town?

A question that became even more important, when, besides Bikou’s remain, Griselda discovered droplets of blood that belonged to Arthur Pendragon, another legendary heir to a storied family. And on another site, the blood of Kuroka, an S-class renegade Devil, all affiliated with the Khaos Brigade. Although, for the latter two, there were no bodies found or even patches of ash like Bikou, so it’s possible that they are still alive.

Though, what fate had befallen the two, Griselda couldn’t tell nor speculate about.

In other words, the situation looked stranger the more Griselda herself thought about it.

Three outstanding criminals encountered someone or something in a small, sleepy town, suffered a crushing defeat within a minute, and then… Fled? The blood of two criminals and the body of the third spoke of the crushing defeat, with no evidence that their opponent was injured in any meaningful way… Though, maybe they had cleaned it up? 

No, if they were so worried about leaving evidence, they would also clean up the remains of Bikou, Arthur, and Kuroka. And, if they want to mislead any investigator to the level of their strength, the fact that they had defeated Bikou, an Ultimate class fighter, alongside fighting off Arthur and Kuroka, or capturing them, without causing any collateral damage to their surroundings, would already make anyone wary.

And, to completely confuse the situation even more – a catastrophic burst of holy power was also detected. The outburst was of such a level and purity that the analyzer could only speculate that one of the Four Great Seraphim had entered the battle in that territory. Before they could get any specifics, however, the burst ended, lasting only a couple of seconds. 

Griselda arrived at the battle site to find the current situation – a body, some spilled blood, and a couple of broken concrete slabs. And perhaps an unknown vigilante who had broken three outstanding criminals of the Khaos Brigade like matchsticks in a minute, protecting the civilians.

Of course, Griselda was constantly communicating with the Church during her whole investigation, the case was too strange but important – she, however, was not expecting a miracle. The clues, the pieces were so mismatched that she had no hope that even the higher-ups could put it into a clear picture – and even if they did, Griselda would not be made aware of it. 

Her current position did not give her access to the most classified of information, which the current situation obviously reeked of.

However, by the time she had completed her investigation and her own assessment of the current situation, along with an assumption about the nature of the incident, and prepared to leave, having given the usual cover-up response, a gas pipe explosion laid under the city. Another piece of the mystery landed in her lap.

[You are ordered to immediately proceed to the nearest emergency transport station.]

Looking at her communication device with a blink of confusion, at the message that seemed to make sure that Griselda had read it, before erasing itself from the phone's memory. And then, to Griselda's surprise, her communication shut down, rebooting, and wiping off any data off of the device, ensuring that no reminder of the message would appear in any recoverable form in the memory of the device itself. 

It was supposed to be a function created to transmit news of absolute urgency and importance, and secrecy, the authorization of which itself required clearance much higher than Griselda’s own.

Besides, the order about the emergency transport station… 

The Church maintained an extensive network of all kinds of backup systems for various purposes, including various logistical channels. But usually, the Holy See still preferred to use official channels, even when they had various loopholes to bypass them. Such is the case with official border crossings – there’s a reason why Exorcists use public transportations, it is so as to not unnecessarily disturb national governments and authorities. 

But that did not mean that they did not have the capability of instantaneous teleportation, held in reserve in case of emergencies.

Of course, another reason as to why teleportation was seldom used, was that finding magicians capable of the feat was not easy for the Church. ‘Suffer not the witch to live’ had made sure of that. That means that of the mages that could, their service was highly sought after, being made use for usually only in church-wide matters of importance.

And so, the fact that Griselda was ordered to use such a service at the moment, indicated that the level of importance of her investigation and discoveries had just grown much higher than her clearance level allowed her to know.

Therefore, after putting the device in her pocket and trying to maintain a level of composure on her face, which Griselda had stopped feeling a second ago, she made her way to her car. After which, she turned her gaze to the window, as if afraid that the driver would be able to discern something that he absolutely should not know by looking into her eyes.

To Cologne."

"Yes, meine damen," The driver's voice replied calmly, but for a second, it seemed to Griselda that the speaker was sneering. As if they knew some secret that even Griselda herself did not know, as if they were enjoying some secret joke, as sophisticated critics familiar with a plot of a play might still enjoy the actors’ acting. 

Though of course, that was patently ridiculous, it was just Griselda’s own nervous mind playing tricks on her. 

"Cologne it is…"

***

A formal gathering of the Pendragon house heads was quite a rare event in and of itself. Like any other major meetings of influential individuals, usually busy with their own affairs, they preferred to be doing that, instead of sitting around a table, talking about it. 

Hating meetings was the same sentiment whether in a large company, or noble houses.

Of course, compared to some larger branched aristocratic families that constantly played games with each other to gain control of another company or city, the Pendragon family could be called a model of friendliness and closeness. But that still didn't mean they gathered every other day for family dinners, exchanging news about how yesterday went for each family member. 

Therefore, it was rare for residents of the Pendragon family estate to witness a gathering of its influential family heads, even rarer when they were assembled in full – especially when the meeting called was so unexpected.

What was most unexpected, however, comparatively speaking at least, was the identity of the person that had called the emergency meeting – Elaine Westcott. The former personal maid of the Pendragon family heir, Arthur Pendragon, and former teacher for his younger sister, Le Fay Pendragon. 

Now, however, her position was that of a personal magic trainer for several outstanding children of the family and the head maid of the Pendragon ancestral estate.

Therefore, taking their places in the small conference hall – whose name was not fitting. Not only could it perfectly accommodate all the influential figures of the dynasty, but because the large hall could host three balls simultaneously. So large in fact that it’s possible that guests of a ball wouldn't even know that two other balls were taking place next to them… Actually, no one knows why such a large hall was called ‘small’, though it’s very possible that Merlin was involved, so no one tried to change the name.

Still, being called to such a meeting meant that the heads of the Pendragon family knew that the current situation was extraordinary. However, the madness was definitely just beginning. 

Because at the moment when all the heads finally took their rightful seat waiting for the person that had called the meeting, it was not Elaine, as they expected, but her student. A student that they hadn't seen for more than three years.

"Le Fay!"  The first to react was her mother, jumping up from her seat, only to instantly freeze, torn between maternal love, and the duty of the ruling matriarch of the Pendragon family. Undoubtedly, she loved her daughter and her son, but their departure from the family and joining the largest criminal organization in the entire paranormal world could not be forgiven as easily as a broken vase or chocolate eaten before dinner.

"At least let me applaud your courage – considering that by the laws of our family, and of the Kingdom of Great Britain, we should be handing you over shortly to the court. And, by the laws of our honor, execute you with our own hands." Le Fay's father was torn no less than her mother did, but masked it incomparably better than she.

Le Fay, however, raised her gaze to her father, and his subsequent comment died in his throat. 

Of course, as Le Fay had left the family almost three years ago, when she herself was still a child, just tasting the idea of freedom and permissiveness. Something that could only be called the first teenage rebellion. It was to be expected that some changes were to happen to the pre-pubescent girl. 

However, the look with which she had pinned her father looked alien on her face. It was a look more suited to an enemy force commander than their beloved little daughter.

"Arthur has been kidnapped," Le Fay stated with an eerie calm, despite the seriousness of the matter, sweeping her gaze across all the gathered representatives before she continued. And if the previous news was a bomb, then her next words were like that of a nuclear explosion. 

"And [Caliburn] with him."

Such news instantly made everyone grimace and became uncomfortable, as was expected. 

Arthur Pendragon, the young heir of the Pendragon family, was not only the beloved son of his parents but also one of the most outstanding descendants of the Pendragon dynasty since King Arthur himself. His talents, intelligence, and unwavering will were such that even after he fled from his family, stealing [Caliburn] with him and then joining the Khaos Brigade, the question of his disinheritance was not a done deal. Despite the fact that if any other member of the Pendragon Family had done even a tenth of his indiscretion, they would be exiled from the Family in short order.

Besides being the favorite heir of his parents, who could officially expel him from the family, even other influential family members who felt less familial love for him couldn't deny that with his talents and power, the Pendragons could enter a new golden age. Therefore, they continued to keep the inheritance question in the air, hoping that one day Arthur would return to his senses and return to the Pendragon clan. 

His past misdeeds would then be glossed over and swept under the rug, explained away as ‘youthful mistakes’ or something similar. 

As long as he didn't do something too criminal or public, many things could be hidden in the world of high politics. Participation in a criminal organization and a few dozen heads to his name were not half as terrible as what other powerful people regularly did in their daily lives.

The loss of such a person, besides the personal tragedy of losing a beloved child, would also mean the loss of one of the most outstanding heirs in the history of the entire dynasty.

But, the loss of [Caliburn] was far more important, and terrifying.

Officially speaking, [Caliburn] was the most powerful of all [Holy Swords] in history, surpassing even [Excalibur] in its full power. It was the undisputed reason for the existence and influence of the entire Pendragon family, being the natural wielder of such a Holy Weapon. 

Since its foundation, [Caliburn] had been the guarantee of power and strength for the Pendragon clan, a weapon approaching the concept of ‘absolute’ in its might. Its power was so great that the Holy Church itself could not force the Pendragon clan to hand over the holy relic, fearing that a conflict over the right to possess [Caliburn] would lead to a conflict ending with countless casualties among the humans and the Angels. 

The thought that, backed into a corner, the Pendragons might even prefer to break the relic solely out of a desire to spit at the Holy See one last time and deprive them of such a trump card. Such a scenario caused even the most hawk-ish of the Cardinals to tremble in fear. A fear so strong that the Pendragon clan was officially appointed as the guardians of [Caliburn] with the justification that it was their family heirloom and should be passed down in their family. 

A paper thin excuse, made just so that the Church could feel that they have a say in matters. As if they had the rights to determine where and who could wield [Caliburn].

It is no surprise then that the Church would do everything they could, almost constantly, to find ways to get [Caliburn]. Deceit, subterfuge and even honey traps, all were tools used by the Church to get their hands on the strongest Holy Sword. Some would say that using such dishonorable methods was anathema for the Church, the supposed bastion of light and good.

But, to those in the know, such things were no surprise.

That was why Arthur leaving the family and joining the Khaos Brigade gave a huge trump card to the Holy See against the Pendragons. Information that Arthur had also taken [Caliburn] with him was hidden from the holy church by all possible means. The loss of such a relic would not only instantly enrage the Church, feigned or not, for the Pendragons' laxity, and give them the opportunity to obtain the relic they had been eyeing for hundreds of years. 

This would also mean the destruction of the Pendragon clan. A painful, demonstrative, prolonged destruction of the family by the Church, as revenge for the loss of face, and for all the years they kept out [Caliburn] from the Church’s hands, and as a lesson to others.

Not to mention the fact that if the Church were to obtain [Caliburn], it would significantly shift the balance of power on the world stage. One of the reasons for the creation of the Anglican Church, not just because Henry VIII was horny, was as an attempt to separate Great Britain from the influence of the Holy See. And the Pendragons had played no small role in that. 

The Catholic Church had certainly not forgotten this fact.

In other words, while Arthur's situation as heir of the Pendragon might have been open for discussion – regarding [Caliburn], there was absolutely none. By any means possible, the blade had to be returned to the Pendragon family.

However, even if all the house leaders present decided this unanimously, it didn't answer the question they all wanted to ask.

"Who exactly did it?" Asked a gray-haired man, a leader of one of the branch families, not specifying whether he was asking about the heir or the blade.

"Unknown," Le Fay said with visible strain in her voice, reluctantly acknowledging her lack of understanding of the current situation. "But he is strong. Incredibly strong. I suspect… I suspect that they are much stronger than a Cadre or a Seraph."

Le Fay's admission instantly provoked several outbursts from all present and sparked a heated discussion. Of course, matters regarding such beings, as the movement of the strong is expected to be, but their number throughout the world was quite small. Small enough that any of the gathered family heads could not only name them individually, but also recall their faces and known facts about them.

A dozen Gods of Old Religions who retained their powers, various primordial deities or ancient powerful dragons, perhaps bearers of [Longinus] who had already developed their powers. There was a reason why all the bearers of [Longinuses] are documented and watched with scrutiny. 

If desired, those present could offer about two dozen names as to who exactly had confronted Le Fay and Arthur, but therein lay the problem. It was information that Le Fay was also educated on, so for her to speak of such beings being an unknown? 

It meant that their opponent was unknown to everyone present as well.

Different powers could hide in various cracks of the earth's crust, biding their time, but the stronger they were, the less likely it was that they could keep their existence secret. For a God-level being, as Le Fay’s conjecture had implied, such a concealment was completely unthinkable.

How could one hide a being that was as radiant as the sun, without anyone noticing? It was quite literally a paradox. And if that was the case – it meant that rational discussions couldn't help the current situation at all.

This realization spread through the room like a wave, causing each influential family member to freeze for a moment when an understanding of the current situation descended upon their shoulders like a mantle. They again turned their gaze to Le Fay's face, she was the one that had brought the situation to their attention, then it must mean that she also had an answer prepared already.

"We need an alliance," Le Fay calmly stated, completing her thought before looking at all the family members gathered around her. "The Khaos Brigade."

Sharp outcries of indignation immediately spread throughout the hall, after which influential aristocrats, wise with experience in intrigue and machinations, began jumping from their seats, rapidly raising the volume of their voices.

The Pendragon family was founded on the prowess of [Caliburn], a Holy Sword, the Pendragon themselves are a Family of Knights, they had their own pride. But, of course, not being fools, they know that they required help against someone that could stand against [Caliburn], but the question of just who they could call on for help was a complex question in and of itself.

They could certainly call on the help of some minor factions, just with the reputation of their name alone. But, such a minor faction would not be enough against a Deity, especially when it’s possible that a large, powerful faction might be the one responsible for the attack against Arthur. 

The Pendragon Family would need the help of one of the Major Factions if they want to reclaim [Caliburn], and, if possible, Arthur as well. Therein lies the problem.

Should they ask the Church for help, comparatively speaking, the major faction that they’re the closest to, it would be no surprise if the Church asked for [Caliburn] in return for their help. The Grigori were no more, and even if they hadn’t, it is likely that they wouldn’t be strong enough to help, or they would just squirrel away [Caliburn]. The Devils? If their representative didn’t just laugh their request away, they would most definitely destroy [Caliburn], the sword that posed the most threat to their kind, when they found it. 

It was like putting the cart before the horse. Anyone that they would ask for help, would have more reason to keep [Caliburn] from the Pendragon’s hands than to help them recover it.

And so, despite the hubbub that they were putting on after Le Fay’s suggestion, sooner than later cooler heads prevailed. Asking the help of the Khaos Brigade was not the terrible idea that it had first appeared as.

The Khaos Brigade consisted of many disparate groups, many of which were in the same organization only by chance and through the Ouroboros' personal intervention. In reality, they worked against each other, with diametrically opposed goals, most of the time. The Khaos Brigade also have members that are quite powerful individually, many [Longinus] bearers call the organization their own, so power-wise they are more than capable. 

Moreover, Le Fay had some connections within the Khaos Brigade itself – and therefore knew that they had at least one ally there.

"The Hero Faction," Le Fay pronounced, her words pinning down everyone in the room. 

"I know you would agree to anything just to get [Caliburn] back, but I don't care about the sword. My brother will be saved by any means necessary — and of all possible options, only Cao Cao is more interested in him than in [Caliburn]."

For a moment, silence reigned in the previously raucous room, before Le Fay continued.

"Elaine has already informed him about what happened, and if you don't agree now — he'll simply tell everyone else about the loss of [Caliburn]," Her words sent shivers through everyone present. The moment that information about the loss of the family's greatest heirloom spreads beyond the walls of their family home, the entire Pendragon lineage would become history. 

However, despite the very real mortal threat that she had just uttered, Le Fay merely closed her eyes, then swallowed the thick saliva building up in her mouth. Threatening her own family was unpleasant for her, but for her brother, she would do anything. 

"Cao Cao will get Arthur back, he might even leave the blade — he will try to obtain it too, but Cao Cao's priority is Arthur’s return. Your priority should be the same."

A grim silence descended upon the shoulders of all present, glancing at each other with silent questions on their lips. Even if they truly wished to save Arthur, relative to [Caliburn], his life would always remain secondary, but not for Le Fay. Who had resorted to blackmail and betrayal to save her brother, using for Cao Cao, who saw value in the Heroes of humanity themselves, not in their weapons.

"Please," Le Fay, unable to maintain her mask of determination, raised her gaze to her parents, switching to a pleading expression, She didn't want to resort to such a betrayal. She definitely loved her parents, relatives, her history, and her lineage – but for her, [Caliburn] was just a blade, no matter how powerful and ancient. While Arthur was not the promising heir or just a scion of the family, but her beloved brother.

Therefore, looking into her eyes, her father, the head of the entire Pendragon lineage, sighed. Even if his duty as the Patriarch of the Pendragon meant that he should abandon Arthur for [Caliburn]... It seems that he would have to do otherwise.

He had no other choice in the current circumstances anyway.

And then, after taking several deep breaths, doing his best to restore his composure and cold mask, he turned to the family members beside him and finally began to say what Le Fay had wanted to hear all this time. 

"Mobilize all our magical contractors, call all our contacts, and call in the old debts. Unfortunately, in the coming days, we'll have to work without rest…"

***

Momonga tried his best not to show that he was carefully listening to Johan's explanations regarding the magical theory of this world. Whilst, internally, he deeply regretted that he couldn't simply take out a notebook of his own and start writing notes. Or better yet, ask Johan to write it down for him. 

Certainly, some of the knowledge settled in his head as he heard the lesson being taught, he, after all, had a lot of experience in studying the lore of Yggdrasil very thoroughly, some delivered just by NPCs conversation. Dare he say, he had even studied and known more of the lore than Tabula… Although Tabula knew immeasurably more about real mythology and occultism, on which most of Yggdrasil's lore was based.

But, still, even with his keen sense of hearing and memory, many of the specific pieces of knowledge like formulas or complex examples passed through his skull, and from one ear to the other. Instantly forgotten. 

Fortunately for Momonga, it was not an ailment that was solely his. Periodically, Saji raised his hands and asked Johan a question about a topic of interest to him, for which Momonga was internally very grateful. It had allowed him more time to digest the information – but still most of the previous information couldn’t fully settle in his head. 

And not because Momonga was once again demonstrating the shortcomings of his education, but because Momonga's magic system wasn't built on the same principles as the magic of this world. Or, at least, Johan's system of magic.

For example, spell creation. Johan claimed that every spell used by humans was ones that could be prescribed by a specific formula, the more complex, the more complex and powerful the effect of the magic itself. That the magic user had to, depending on the formula used, correctly distribute the mana input in one or another segment of the spell, staying within certain limits. That the magic used by a mage could radically change its effect depending on how exactly the formula was constructed, in what order and with how it was filled with mana.

It was a complex system that could lead to many completely different results, even if from the same formula being used. Half of the ‘results’ however, usually ended in the tragic demise of the mage themselves. That’s why experimentation is best left to more experienced mages, while acolytes are better served using rote memorization.

For Momonga, it was entirely different – there’s no need for spell construction for instance, he instinctively knew the arsenal available to him and the ways to activate it. When casting a spell, he always knew which magic he had chosen to cast at the moment, its effect and impact, the mana spent on its realization, the target, and even the result of the casting. Of course, all within the limits of whether his magic was successfully cast or blocked, whether it encountered magical resistance from the target or not.

There were variables, but not as much as the magic that Johan is teaching.

In other words, Johan's lessons, in many aspects, simply didn't apply to Momonga himself. Or perhaps Momonga had been approaching his own abilities incorrectly all this time? 

There was every chance that his magic had changed in this new world after all.

If that was the case, he would need to conduct numerous experiments regarding his own abilities, trying to control not only the result but also the effect of casting magic itself. However, he absolutely couldn't do such experiments at the moment, and therefore wasn't even sure which information provided by Johan could be useful to him in the future, and which was just white noise, completely inapplicable to him.

Because of this, Momonga's thoughts and Johan's words freely floated through his head, occasionally sticking together into bizarre figures of contemplation about whether he could use [True Death] without using the aspect that prevented resurrection magic on the target. And whether in such a case the resulting spell would differ from simply the much lower Tier spell, [Death] or not.

In any case, the theoretical part of Johan's lesson finally came to an end, which means that it was time for the demonstration. Thankfully, it was not Momonga’s turn, but instead Johan’s, and to a raised eyebrow from Momonga, Johan cast one of the simplest [1st tier] spell that Momonga himself knew. 

‘Huh, did Demiurge teach him that? Or is it actually a different sort of spell, just with the same name and effect?’

But, of course, Momonga couldn’t ask the question. Sometimes playing at Omniscience only brings him headache after headache.

“[Light].”

A small ball of light appeared in Johan's hand, immediately stabilizing and continuing to shine around him. Sadly, the effectiveness of such a spell when the sun had not yet set, didn’t look very impressive, looking more like a dim light bulb. But the demonstration certainly attracted the attention of Aika and Saji, it was an act of magic that they could see with their own eyes after all. 

For Katase and Murayama, however, who had already encountered an even grander magic a little earlier, from Asia they looked on the display with disinterest. Asia, at least, was polite enough to show some interest.

Xenovia, however, acted in the strangest ways, as she continued to stare at Momonga himself, who had been trying all this time to attract as little attention to himself as possible.

Internally, Momonga was trying to determine exactly why Xenovia was staring at him. Judging by her previous actions, she had either believed in Momonga's nature or at least fit him into some personal understanding of the world, which Momonga was more than happy about. What he was definitely not happy about was that Xenovia clearly wanted to learn something about him at the moment and seemed to be waiting for the right moment to ask Momonga something.

And Momonga wasn’t sure that it would be a question that he could answer.

Usually, in such an awkward condition, he usually used the most effective spell in his arsenal – ‘Demiurge, why don't you answer instead of me’, and it usually solves the issue. Sadly, there was no handy Demiurge to allow him to use the spell, and so he dread the possibility of a question being lobbed at him. 

Therefore, instead of just waiting for the question, waiting until Johan finish with his demonstrations and lessons – Momonga decided to make his own move, 

"Excellent, Johan. Your knowledge is truly worthy of praise."

Johan, hearing such words and clearly was on the cusp of finishing with his lessons, making it the perfect time for Momonga to interject. He broke into a smile, then bowed so low that Momonga could swear he heard his spine crack. 

"I am grateful for your praise, Lord Momonga!"

"In that case," Moving preemptively, Momonga didn't allow Xenovia to express her question before he raised his hand, preparing to demonstrate his own spell. The one that the students were supposed to replicate. 

"With your demonstration over, I think that it's time to demonstrate an ability of my own..."

Before, Momonga suddenly realized that he had forgotten to think about the spell that he was going to use for the demonstration. He was so distracted by Johan’s lessons, that he had forgotten about it.

So, what spell could Momonga show? Of course, when Johan had ‘joined’ Nazarick, he had demonstrated his full abilities, which, after some consideration, Momonga classified his strongest spells as somewhere closer to [5th tier] magic… Though not the most powerful of its rank. 

Which, in Momonga's estimation, puts Johan's level hovering around level thirty. 

Considering Johan's assurances that he acquired most of his spell casting capability after several years of training, and did so under his mentor's guidance – teaching him magic of higher tiers now was too foolish.

Especially considering that the magic that he was supposed to demonstrate had to be at least theoretically accessible for all those present to learn. Therefore, it was best for Momonga to use abilities and spells no higher than [3rd tier]. 

The problem was only in trying to determine which magic Momonga should demonstrate to the students observing them at this moment. Momonga… Didn’t really know many spells of such low rank.

Low rank magic possessed equally low effectiveness, meaning that Momonga usually didn't bother with them. Not to mention that any magic except combat magic at such rank was easily countered by abilities or consumables that were widely available even to a Player who had just started playing. Therefore, Momonga's arsenal, outstanding in all respects, was still not at all extensive regarding low-rank magic. 

Not for a lack of want, however. Momonga being the completionist and collector that he is, would love nothing more than be able to collect all the more than ten thousands spells in Yggdrasil, even if most of the spells would only languish, unused.

Sadly, that wasn’t possible.

After all, even if he took all kinds of magic that no other player striving to optimize their build would ever choose, he still wouldn't be able to acquire many new low-rank spells with his [Dark Wisdom]. Simply because all Players rarely picked obscure, useless spells at low levels, where they didn't even think about any specialization and simply learned the ‘best’ spells available.

Well, other than the idiots who simply looked at a guide on the internet and simply copy-pasted their Spells and Build, forgetting that by doing so, they have pretty much just told everyone just what their weaknesses are.

That was why, rather than thinking too much about it, Momonga simply used the low-rank spells that his Race levels had given him.

The spell that seemed most appropriate to him in the current conditions. 

"[Summon Undead III]."

A moment later, when he turned toward the students and Johan, he noticed how they looked at his summon with surprise, shock, and even a little fear on their faces… Except for Xenovia, who for some reason immediately brightened, and she bowed at once, as if grateful for the answer, 

"Good, now I understand. Please forgive me, Lord Momonga," A moment later she sank to both knees and bowed in dogeza, so deeply that her forehead touched the ground, 

"Now I see that all the scriptures were wrong."

Momonga, looking at such a strange scene, could only swallow his nervousness, realizing that perhaps he had not chosen the most ideal spell from his arsenal to demonstrate his divine abilities...