The Pharoah's Rise (Overlord Male Reader Insert)

Part 15: Let the Games Begin

"Again!" You shouted, as both Climb and Gazeff panted tiredly, barely able to keep their swords up properly. Climb was the first to rush forward and deliver a four hit sword combo. You narrowed your eyes and focused on each strike, seeing its trajectory in what seemed like slow motion. You weaved through the strikes with relative ease, but you did notice that he seemed faster than when you had started. As you leaned back, dodging his last strike Gazeff lunged forward and threw his own four hit combo. The strikes came out a bit slower than Climb's, but with much more power. Instead of dodging the strikes this time, you blocked each shot with your fists that were currently hardened by your Adamantine Skin ability. Once they both stood there panting, you flexed your arms and emitted a powerful Shockwave that sent them both back onto their butts.

"You've both improved since we started." You said, as they both sat up and looked at you.

"Though it's far from where you can still be." You held up your pointer finger as you spoke. Climb and Gazeff looked at each other and smiled. You were glad this had been their reaction. You always struggled with that fine line between proper criticism and praise. It seemed however you had found the perfect balance for spurring these two's progress even further. It had been two months since the incident with Nueronist and Lilith. You hadn't returned to Nazarick in that time frame, but you had received messages and correspondence from time to time, as to not be out of the loop. Lilith had become a major asset, as she now lead and ran Eight Fingers with a trusted staff she selected. The only exception was Zero, who returned and to your surprise was very amicable. Well...after a duel with you that ended with him nearly dead. He not only pledged his loyalty, but he had also asked to become your pupil. Lilith had proved herself a shrewd business woman as well as a charismatic leader. She lead with kindness, but kept intimidation in her back pocket as a trump card. You ensured her absolute safety by assigning her an elite bodyguard. After Lilith had been tortured, you began worrying about Tuare. Though Sebas was surely always with her, enough denizens of Nazarick could take Tuare and leave Sebas for dead. You had asked the butler to join you in the Kingdom as an advisor as well as Lilith's bodyguard. Naturally you invited Tuare to come live in the castle which she was all too happy to accept. It was like a dream come true to her after the hell she had been through in Re Estize before Sebas had "liberated" her. Sebas also eagerly agreed. You didn't want to assume anything, but it seemed Sebas treated what you said with a deeper sense of Loyalty than he did Ainz. An ally like that may be of great use to you one day. After the Nueronist incident, you had no faith in Ainz as a leader. A part of you felt betrayed that he had allowed that to happen. You hoped it never came to this, but you felt as though a great divide was forming between you and Ainz, and that war may be a potential outcome. You had already noticed small hints of favoritism amongst the floor guardians. Albedo had become cold and distant to Ainz, and had instead elected to be your eyes on the inside of Nazarick, reporting everything you asked her to report. Though she did continue to loyally serve Ainz, it had become strictly business. Cocytus' closeness with Th'uul naturally made him favor you a bit more, as he respected your warrior's spirit. On the other hand, Aura and Mare, being young and impressionable have simply latched onto Ainz as a parental figure. You imagined that had you been present in Nazarick, you could have very well filled that position. Alas, your ambitions drove you away from Nazarick, and your disagreements with its archaic ideologies teased the last thread that kept you tied there. Shalltear had begun sucking up to Ainz like never before, once Albedo backed off. Meaning she was comfortably in Ainz's pocket. It was no surprise that Shalltear wanted to get back into Ainz's good graces after she had been controlled and made to fight Ainz. You made sure to watch the whole battle from a remote location, using a world class scrying orb that kept your spying concealed. It was quite the battle, and it gave you a good look at Ainz's tactics and strategies. He was over reliant on preparation and you knew to exploit that if you ever had to. Suffice to say, Shalltear would feel under Ainz's thumb until she died for good after that. The other floor guardians weren't as obvious with their allegiances yet, but if things kept progressing as they had, you were sure that a need to pick sides would arise and you would have your answer then. You hadn't been monitoring Ainz's movements all that closely. There was no need since the exploits of the adventurer Momon were common tales told around Re Estize.  Since taking control of Re Estize from the shadows, you had familiarized yourself with the all too important Adventurers Guild by now. You had personally formed relationships with each prominent guild and its members. Most notably being the Blue Rose. Being so tied into the guild, it was only natural that you had heard of plenty of the things Momon had done. It was clear Ainz was interested in gaining clout, but you had yet to figure out what his plan was exactly. Knowing Momonga, and his lack of experience, you banked on him having just winged it till this point. You shook your head, realizing you had gone on a bit of a mental tangent. Climb and Gazeff both looked at you curiously as they seemed to notice you spacing out.