A week later.
Jircniv met and formed an alliance with Ainz.
From the point of watching the maids order around a bunch of Death Knights to the Opulence and Grandeur of the Throne room.
He knew Ainz had everything a man could dream of, Money, Power, Ladies and Powerful Subordinates.
Among the subordinates present there, he could clearly say that just one of them was enough to destroy a city. This was the level he was willing to rank them at.
And to command them? What kind of a monster this Sorcerer King was?
Even now, in the capital, Arwinter, in his domain, Jircniv could vividly remember the Aura that Death God radiated, his mocking gaze as he watch Jircniv propose an Alliance, as if it was already predestined.
And the feeling of being observed didn't help, he even started to loose a few strands of hair. A fine healthy man in his prime showing symptoms like this was bound to be a matter of concern.
And also the fact that he had a suspicion that somehow the Teacher betrayed the empire didn't make the situation better.
Life was just going well for Jircniv a few days ago, and now the world seems to throw a metamorphical fuck you at him.
Regardless he hoped that the coming Skirmish with the Kingdom this year will help his situation.
During that time, he proposed an idea that Nazarick should debut itself by using the most powerful spell they could cast to start off the War.
Why do that you ask? Aside from gauging the power of this Monsters, he also had a lingering suspicion that this Sorcerer King was somehow related to that Order... especially that Floating Creature.
Was it named Hyortr? Jircniv vividly remembered how terrified he was internally when he accidentally glanced at those glowing green eyes, the darkness and the madness that he perceived trumped the Deathly and Regal Aura of that Elder lich.
With that proposal, he hoped to show the world what threat they were pitted against. It was not a war that standing alone would win, no, Humans and even the demihumans have to come together if they hope to have a chance. Which he wanted to achieve through the upcoming war between Re-estize.
The war between Re-estize and Baharuth was a decade long war, where at the end of the harvest season, both will meet at the Katze plains and engage in battle.
While on paper, both sides seemed to suffer, but in the bigger picture, the empire was winning, and in the next decade, Re-estize will be short on manpower and properly veteren soldiers that will make the final invasion of the Empire easy.
But all these, was on the sidenote. What he hoped for now, was for the world to see what a terrifying and dangerous entity this Sorcerer King was.
He hoped to maintain this facade of an alliance with him while creating alliances with other nations to destroy him.
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As for Hyortr who was enjoying all this.
He let the original plot play out for a while. Letting Ainz and Demiurge orchestrate the interaction with the Emperor, Hyortr focused on the Slane Theocracy.
By now, almost all of Slane was infected with the virus and a few days ago he activated the virus, letting it show preliminary symptoms, like fever, headaches and nausea.
During this period he went to the Villages infected with the Virus as a traveller seeking shelter, he then cured all the sick and injured villagers using his Life Spells, he then disabled the ones he had 'cured' as he went from village to village at his own pace.
He let the news of his work spread, making the villagers he meet next invite him voluntarily to their house, letting him cure their sick relatives.
While doing so, he didn't take any rewards, though some insisted, he only asked of them to spread his work, so that 'more poor souls could be saved'.
This made the people feel more grateful for such a kindred person who saved and cured strangers with no rewards.
After a few days he re-activated the virus that he previously de-activated, as he made them show themselves at a slower rate.
As he went on, curing people, the virus began to build up it's symptoms.
He then let it build up to Anemia, Bloody Diarrhoea and Skin Rashes.
This wouldn't be the end of it, no, how could it be? He was an Abyssal Being, someone who thrived in the very essence that would corrupt and destroy a normal being.
He now intended to make the virus develop more severe symptoms but he needed to wait. Time was with him, he didn't need to hurry.
By now, news had already spread to the capital, about his work, earning skepticism about his intentions.
Although Villagers and poor civillians were gullible and believed his words, the nobles and high standing officials were wary of this news.
They intended to investigate this matter by sending spys but they seemingly go MIA, leaving the nobles more warry.
They tried to send invitations to this mysterious man but he never seemed to stay in one particular spot, and his trails didn't give a particular pattern they could trace, making it hard to predict his next destination.
It was as if he could teleport. Some even speculated that this was a high ranking mage sent by the Empire but this was shot down instantly as they didn't believe the Empire would invest on something like this, not to mention the fact that there wasn't a mage known to them who could cure the sick, even in the Slane Theocracy themselves.
As time went on, Hyortr continued his 'charity' earning himself titles like the Saint, The Healer and the likes.
This expectantly didn't sit well for the Cardinals, who decreed a search warrant for him, putting a high bounty for anyone who could bring him to the capital on account of impersonation.
Who was being impersonated? Who knows, but what everyone knew was that this Healer was also strong.
There was news of him defeating and then healing the hunters who took the bounty on him. This led to the hunt to be temporarily paused as none came forward to get beaten and then healed back home.
This left the Cardinals frustrated enough that they were about to sent out their scriptures before a news reached them.
During his journey, the Healer reached a border city of a low ranking noble, who knowing his reputation invited him to treat his twenty year old Son, who was suffering a rare illness called Devil's Wrath.
The noble's son was suffering this illness since 4 years, the son always seemed to have high fever, making him weak and frail, unexplained bruises appeared on his body as he experienced excruciating pain and rashes.
If you asked the Healer, Hyortr what this was, he would respond with one word, Cancer. More specifically Blood Cancer, a dangerous disorder that will lead to the person's death.
Normally this would be incurable no matter the world, but this was Hyortr who we are talking about, the famed Healer.
He stayed in the city for three days, intentionally slowly treating the son as well as any civilians in the city, when the third day arrived and the son was fully cured. Hyortr showed his intentions to leave the city for his next destination to the noble, intending to give a farewell.
What he or anyone would not expect was that the noble tried to capture him. He even recruited four bounty hunter teams on the rank of Mithril to imprison him, but it didn't turn out as the noble expected.
Defeating the Bounty Hunters, the healer cursed the Son and the whole family to being inflicted with the same Devil's Wrath.
Then he left, ignoring the pleas of forgiveness of the nobles. This event added another layer to the personality of the Healer, don't anger him.
It showed that what the healer took away, he could give it back hundredfold.
But this was only felt by the Higher ups of the nation. For peasants and normal people, the healer was the same kind and generous person who helped them when even their nation wouldn't.
As this was going on, the virus was also working it's magic.
Soon, news of this virus already spread, what it was no-one knew. Only that it effected every one person out of three, with symptoms like fever and diarrhea.
They gave it the name of Lesser Plague. Because this didn't seem to lead to any deaths...for now.
★★★★★★