Ainz Ooal Gown: Supreme Being in DxD

Collide with the hostess

Um, Rias-san?"

"..."

"Surely you know that a sudden pain is easier to endure than one that is prolonged by wait and dread, specifically if it is beneficial in the end?"

"..."

"Perhaps, are you familiar with the expression 'Tie a milk tooth to a door and slam it shut'?"

"..."

"Are you perhaps angry with me?"

"...!"

"I'll take that as a yes. Very well." Momonga managed to only barely dodge a spoon thrown at his head, and decided that it was a clear enough sign that Rias wasn't in the mood to chat.

The two ex-Peerages, now fused into one existing Peerage, had gathered into a living room that was considerably larger than the relaxation room they had been in before and sported a full-sized table with soft, if not as comfy, chairs. The relocation had been mostly because the relaxation room had smelled of burnt flesh, and some of the carpets had spatters of smoke and associated organic 'splash' from the two murders and resurrections that had happened in it.

So, while the service staff was working on making the room less morbid the group had relocated and Momonga had asked for some refreshments. He intended to have a tactics discussion and go over the abilities of everyone present, but the mood around the table had been decidedly... heavy... ever since the maid carrying tea and other drinks had left.

Overall Momonga considered the operation to acquire the Peerages to be a nearly perfect success. Firstly his theory had worked, secondly he had discovered two things when Xuelan had kicked him- firstly that raid members could deal friendly fire, and secondly that his [High-Tier Physical Immunity] wasn't working as it was supposed to- or rather, his body didn't fill the requirements for the ability to activate.

He had a feeling it might be the case before, when he had to restart his organs and heal damage caused by Rias's hugs, but before ascertaining her level, he couldn't tell if she was just so strong that her 'attacks' bypassed his physical immunity or if the ability was malfunctioning.

Luckily however his overall 'level' was high enough that, while he couldn't outright ignore low-level attacks, the health damage dealt by low-level attacks versus the health he had was still quite disproportionate to the point he wouldn't need to worry about getting killed by a low-level mook unless he turned over and allowed them to wail away at him for a year or two. However, it would mean that crowd control abilities could pose a threat, so he needed to adjust his tactics accordingly until he managed to discover how many of his abilities had malfunctioned and how to reactivate them.

The only thing that prevented him from declaring his operation to be a complete success was the fact that most of his new raiding party, or Peerage, was eyeing him with degrees of wariness or outright fright and hostility. Which, to be honest, Momonga couldn't understand.

After all, he had reached a solution where everyone got the chance to join a Peerage and avoid being condemned to become a Stray, and thus be executed. Something as insignificant as having to die once and resurrect afterwards seemed almost childishly easy solution as opposed to being condemned to a permanent death.