Chapter I

Greetings and salutations, everyone! I am here with another new story! This time, it is a big one. Overlord, Devil is a Part-Timer, Invaders of the Rokujyoma, and a few other surprises along the way. The main character is of course Ainz/Mao, and it is a harem, as if it would be anything else. As usual, Bakuto Masaki is my copilot on this thing, so let us get started!

A tall, beautiful woman with long, flowing, knee-length, lustrous, jet-black hair, a long strand falling between her golden amber eyes, which had vertically slit pupils, and at her waist were a pair of large, black, feathered wings, and she wore elbow-length white gloves, a low-hanging white dress that reached the floor, open portions that exposed her full hips, and a golden necklace modeled after a spider web that flowed over her extensive bust made her way down a long, tall hallway towards a set of massive doors.

She knocked on the doors firmly and spoke a name into the room beyond. "Ainz-Sama?"

"Yes, Albedo?" a voice from the other side of the door answer.

The woman, Albedo, was slightly confused and opened the door, to see, in the massive throne at the rear of the room, sitting a young man with messy black hair and dark red eyes, two large horns sticking out of the top of his head, wearing a black and red uniform with a large black cape draped over his shoulders, held in place by large pauldrons. "Ainz… Sama? Why do you look so… strange?"

The man just chuckled weakly as she approached. "It's a new spell I'm trying out, helps me blend in with humans more, and it gives me actual flesh and blood and everything else a living creature has."

"Oh?" she hummed with intrigue.

"Yep! Even though it helps to be the famous Adventurer Momon, there will be times I will need a more inconspicuous appearance." After a moment, he glanced down at one of his hands in thought. 'I'm not sure how she'd react if I told her I was just trying to recreate my original appearance…'

Albedo merely nodded in understanding. "Ah. I see. Is that the only reason Milord?"

Ainz nodded firmly. "Yes. Now, what do you need, Albedo?"

Getting back on track, she explained, "Well… it seems one of the human kingdoms has decided to try and move into our territory."

Ainz sighed with subdued frustration. "Just great. Are they being aggressive or trying to be negotiable?"

Albedo answered plainly, "Their first action upon reaching the border was to kill the Goblins we had guarding it."

He nodded in understanding. "Then inform everyone of impending invasion and send out orders for all civilians to get to the invasion shelters."

"Anything else, milord?"

"Awaken and deploy Gargantua and tell your sister to get ready for battle."

Albedo offered a deep, formal bow. "As you command. Though might I make an inquiry?"

"Yes, you may, my dear."

Albedo smiled slightly as she questioned, "Is this much force necessary for merely a human army?"

The man his head against his hand with a small smirk. "The best way to ensure no one tries to do anything against you is to use overwhelming force to ensure they don't again. Besides, they threaten our people. And such threats must be dealt with harshly."

Albedo nodded, accepting the answer. "Understood, milord."

"Good. Also, where is Sinoula?"

"She said she had some errands to run with the Sins."

"I see…" he responded with a mild frown.

"Also, milord, if this form is a disguise, what should we call you?"

He rubbed his chin in thought before smirking. "Mao Sadao."

Sometime later, Mao walked around the maze of pathways in thought. "Hm… What to do… Everything seems… bigger in this form. … Maybe I should make myself taller…"

His thoughts were interrupted as he rounded a corner and found his vision becoming completely dark, quickly realizing his head was firmly planted between two pillows.

Albedo looked down at Mao in surprise, him glancing up at her as he backed away somewhat.

'… Maybe not…' Backing away even more, he coughed into his hand to keep his composure. "M – My apologies, Albedo, I was lost in thought."

That caused the black-haired beauty to frown slightly. "O – Oh…"

Mao caught onto her reaction. '… Is she disappointed…? Well… She is in love with me…' "Excuse me," he urged before walking away, sighing slightly. 'It seems this form has taken away some of the emotional limiters… Guess it's because it's a flesh and blood body. Thus meaning it probably lessens the strength of the limiters. Hopefully it didn't dampen my other Stats.'

Later on, Mao sat in a large room, at the head of a long table, surrounded by several others, Mao himself looking into a mirror that showed him visions of the world outside his castle.

Nearby, a young, blonde, dark-elf with mismatched blue and green eyes, wearing a white and blue uniform with a pleated skirt, looked at Mao curiously. "Um… does Lord Ainz plan on staying like this?"

Next to the elf, another, very similar looking Dark Elf with messy blonde hair and reversed green and blue eyes, wearing a matching suit with trousers instead, just smirked. "So what if he does, Mare? He's a hunk."

"No matter what form he chooses he's still Lord Ainz, Aura," a woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail and dark grey eyes, wearing an armored maid's uniform, chastised.

Aura just looked at her with a pouting huff. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

The group's attention was stolen when Mao frowned in thought as he watched the battle unfolding within his mirror. "How… Strange."

"What is, milord?" asked another maid, her uniform slightly less armored but with large spiked gauntlets on her arms, her black hair tied neatly in a bun with frameless glasses over her dark black eyes, her skin an extremely pale white.

"It's the enemy we're fighting, Yuri. They aren't retreating at all nor trying to fall back… It's almost as if… Ah. That makes sense…"

"What, what?!" asked an excited girl, dressed in a maid uniform with a large slit up the side, her dark brown skin showing on her thigh, her long red hair tied in twin braids, a simple black and white hat with two points on top of her head, as her amber eyes flickered with excitement.

Yuri smacked the girl on the head. "Don't interrupt Lord Ainz, Lupusregina."

"Owie…" she pouted, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's alright, Yuri. At any rate, I believe this army to be nothing more than a diversion." After his comment though, he noticed a well-endowed blonde maid, her hair in large curls and her eyes a dull blue, her uniform being much shorter than the rest with thigh-high armored greaves, staring with a slight frown. "Something wrong, Solution?"

"I suppose humans can think at times," the blonde remarked disdainfully.

Mao just gave a small chuckle. "If you'd pay more attention to them, you'd know that they can be very resourceful. Even those that are full of evil intentions."

Solution just responded with a dismissive, "I tend not to dwell on the affairs of insects."

Mao responded with a weak laugh. '… I am so glad they don't know I used to be human…'

Lupusregina sniggered at Solution. "Good thing Entoma isn't here to hear ya say that Solution!"

The blonde just huffed at her. "I consider her better than them." She stiffened when she noticed Mao frowning, though she sighed in relief when it turned out not be about her.

"Odd… the soldiers don't seem to be fighting with all their might." He sat back for a moment in thought. "Hm… perhaps their goal is not what we thought. Now where is their real assault coming from…?" He began waving the mirror around to search the borders of his territory. "Hm… Did a small strike team manage to sneak through…?" 'In a lot of RPGs and movies that happens often… A large army of cannon fodder is sent out to keep the attention of the final boss' forces on them while the heroes sneak in…' Without turning to her, Mao addressed Albedo. "Albedo, send orders out to Sinoula to dispatch the Sins to scan the area east of Nazarick for a team of enemy soldiers. It's likely no larger than a dozen."

"At once my lord," Albedo answered with a bow before leaving the room.

Mao nodded as he continued scanning the area. 'I doubt that strike force will be a problem, but I don't want the bad appearances of them getting close.' As he continued panning around, he noticed a figure leaving the entrance of a large mausoleum. 'Albedo couldn't have left that quickly.' Zooming the image in, he saw it was a tall, dark-skinned elf with bright pink hair and red eyes, her long blue and gold dress leaving little to the imagination of her well-endowed body. 'Hm… if I remember correctly, she's one of the lower-ranked Dark Elves under Mare and Aura's command. Her name is… Chirico, right? What is she doing though…?'

However, Chirico hid behind a large stone as Albedo emerged from the castle's entrance.

This caused Mao to frown suspiciously. 'I'll have to keep an eye on her.'

"Is something wrong?" Narberal questioned.

"No, it's nothing," he answered before changing where the mirror was looking. Soon he decided to end the endeavor and left the room, thinking. "Hm… I need to see what this form can do. But how… maybe Satan will spar, or Belial did something stupid and needs discipline. I'll probably find something." Eventually, he noticed Narberal following him for a few moments. "Is something the matter, Narberal?"

"Do you plan to stay this way, milord?"

He raised a concerned eyebrow at her question. "Well, yes. Do you not like it?"

Narberal shook her head in response with a small smile. "No, merely curious. Your current form is… cute."

"Ah… thanks. I think," he answered unsurely as he continued down the hall.

After a moment however, a spell appeared next to his head, ringing. Tapping it, he answered with a standard, "Hello?"

"We found the insurgents, Darling," a voice on the other end answered.

"Ah. That's good to hear, Sinoula. Anything to report?"

"They were a rather skilled team for humans," she answered, before she her voice got muffled as she spoke nearby. "Beelzebub, please try to be a little quieter."

That caused Mao to frown suspiciously. "… What is she eating?"

"Just some of the corpses," Sinoula answered casually.

One of Mao's eyebrows twitched slightly. "Sinoula… are you and Belial spoiling her with what she eats? Again?"

She remained silent for a long pause before offering an unconvincing, "… No?"

Mao rubbed the bridge of his nose in thought as he sat on a nearby bench. "… I'll be sure to remember that come tonight."

That caused the woman to pout.

"You know chunky food gives her indigestion. Remember?"

"But she looked so cute…"

"Did you already forget all the vomiting?" he asked, to which Sinoula had no response. "You're cleaning it up this time, not the Pleiades."

"Damn…" Sinoula cursed before deciding to change the subject. "That aside… we might have another problem."

That got Mao's frown to deepen. "… You let Mammon into the treasury?"

"No," she answered bluntly.

"Beelzebub into the ice cream factory?"

Again, a flat denial.

"Asmodeus near any Succubus?"

"Oh, Grima no," Sinoula answered with a huff.

"Then what?"

"The enemy's forces include Dread Knights."

"WHAT!?" Mao suddenly shouted before taking several breaths. 'Dammit, that emotional dampener really is gone…'

Sinoula, surprised by Mao's outburst, but staying focused, continued her report, "Yes. I don't understand it myself, but there was a Dread Knight amongst their forces."

Mao snarled as he rolled a small orb in his hand. "The only way that is possible is if there's a traitor." After a moment, he remembered seeing Chirico sneaking out of the castle earlier. 'Is that what she was doing…?'

However, his conversation was interrupted by a curious Solution.

"Yes, Solution?" he asked, turning to her and managing to stay mostly composed.

"A quarter of our Dread Knights appear to be missing, along with several Golems."

Mao nodded in return before turning his attention back to Sinoula. "You hear that?"

"Yes, Darling," the woman replied.

"Tell Satan to kill every Dread Knight and Golem she sees, I'll make sure the ones we have under our control stay here."

"She's already heading out."

"Good. Now I have a rat to find."

"Right."

Mao left the area and began looking around before finding Mare and asking her about his question.

Mare just stared at him curiously. "Chirico? What about her?"

"I saw her leaving Nazarick earlier."

The elf's head tilted curiously. "Huh? Why would she do that?"

Mao sighed slightly. "… I was hoping you could answer that."

"Sorry…" Mare pouted as her ears drooped somberly.

Mao sighed and patted her head gently before turning to her sister. "Aura?"

"No clue," Aura answered with a shrug.

"Would anyone under your command know?"

"Um… maybe? I could go check."

"I would appreciate it," he remarked before walking away in thought. "I should probably check the armory and see if they saw anything, and make sure everything is still there."

After a short walk, Mao walked up to a large set of doors and knocked, before the swung open. "Ingrid, are you here?"

On the other side was Ingrid, a tall, dark-skinned woman with long, knee-length, dark pink hair that flared at the ends, dark amber eyes, and a voluptuous bust that was barely hidden by a black and grey top that wrapped around her torso, leaving a large portion of the underside of her breasts and her abdomen exposed, a large red and white cape draped over her shoulders, thigh-high black and purple boots, and a small piece of clothing covering her nethers.

Mao winced slightly as she looked around curiously.

"Lord… Ainz?" the woman muttered before looking down slightly and seeing Mao. "… Is that a new form?"

Mao just sighed. "Why does everyone react like that? It's becoming rather annoying."

"I… see," Ingrid remarked in mild confusion before shaking her head and returning her composure. "What do you need, Lord Ainz?"

"Just checking if anyone has been down here and took anything."

She folded her arms under her bust in thought. "The most recent one down here was Sir Edwin."

That caused him to frown suspiciously as he followed Ingrid into the room, a massive, round room with numerous doors, along with a large, circular sofa in the center. "Oh? What was Shalltear's brother down here for?"

Ingrid stopped before turning to Mao with surprise. "He said you sent him to investigate the treasury."

Mao's eyes narrowed further. "I never gave such an order. If I did, I'd have told Albedo or Belial to do it."

Ingrid's eyes widened somewhat before she tightened her fists and bowed deeply.

Mao raised an eyebrow before averting his eyes from her. "I – Ingrid, what are you doing?"

"My apologize, Lord Ainz."

"There's nothing to apologize for," he remarked, causing Ingrid to stand, albeit slightly confused, much to his relief.

"I don't understand."

"I told you, there's no need. Nobody's perfect, you just did your job as I made you to do."

Ingrid blinked slightly before looking away somewhat, her dark cheeks tinting.

Mao sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "At any rate, let's check and see if anything's missing."

"Yes, my lord," she replied with a bow, motioning to one of the nearby doors as it opened up, Mao following her.

He hummed in thought as he scanned the shelves, cases, and displays down the large hallway. "Nothing important seems to be missing. How unusual."

"Since he is neither a Floor Guardian nor a Supreme Being, Edwin likely doesn't have access past the primary armory."

"That may be true, but don't forget he's Shalltear's brother." Mao suddenly stopped as he looked at a large bookshelf suspiciously.

Ingrid noticed his expression and looked at it as well. "Is something the matter, my lord?"

"Some of the books on runes and gates are missing. Did you notice Edwin leaving with any of them?"

Ingrid shook her head in response. "No, I don't recall seeing anything suspicious on his person." She then blinked in thought. "Although, he did ask about one book in particular."

"Which one?"

"A book from the Supreme Beings' original realm. One referring to a legend of two keys reaching to the heart of existence. Considering the absurdity of the fable, and how Edwin enjoys such fairy tales, I did not see any harm in it."

Mao went completely silent.

His silence noticed, Ingrid raised an eyebrow, concerned. "… Lord Ainz?"

Mao sighed heavily. "This is my own fault, so you don't need to worry. But that book is more than just some silly story."

"Wh – What?" she stuttered, shocked.

"It's hard to explain, but that story is, mostly, true."

Ingrid's entire face turned an almost stark white. "Wh – What?!"

"It's a book that chronicles the creation of the universe, and since it's a mostly historical book, I didn't consider it a problem to leave it in the main library. But I see now that was a mistake. Now we need to find out where Edwin went."

Almost immediately, Ingrid knelt before him.

Confused, Mao looked at her. "Ingrid?" he began to ask, stopping when he noticed her twins almost emerging from her top. '… What the hell was I thinking designing her like this!? Oh, right… wanted to make a super-hot badass. Damned hormones…'

"Lord Ainz, I will personally track down Edwin Bloodfallen and bring him back to the Tomb of Nazarick."

Mao furrowed his brow in thought before nodding. "… Very well." He then pulled something from his pocket and dropped a small ring in Ingrid's hand, who looked at it curiously. "This ring acts as a communicator directly to me. So anywhere you end up following Edwin in your pursuit, you will be able to reach me. Activate the spell imprinted on the back once you have Edwin, and it will immediately teleport you to my location so that I can deal with him. Also, before you leave, I'm lifting the restrictions on your weapon so you can fight at your full potential if needed."

Ingrid's eyes widened before she nodded with a smile. "I will not fail you, Lord Ainz."

Mao merely smiled warmly to her. "You never have."

With a swift motion, Ingrid stood and left the area.

After a moment, Mao sighed before rubbing his head. "Now… someone else needs to watch over the armory. But who…" he wondered when he heard footsteps approaching. He turned to see two figures approaching.

The first was a very well-endowed blonde, her bust larger than both Albedo's and Ingrid's, with long, wavy blonde hair and bright blue eyes, large horns atop her head, wearing an outfit akin to black bikini with a tall choker, thigh-high stockings, black high-heeled shoes, and full-length arm-warmers.

The second was an even more immensely endowed woman who had flowing, waist-length bright pink hair, bright green eyes, and two curved horns atop her head, her heaving breasts barely held in place by a black and pink top that exposed the majority of the underside of her orbs, along with a black top, an extremely short black miniskirt, a large, pointed cape on her back, and knee-high black and pink boots.

Looking at the blonde, Mao shook his head. "No." After a moment, he blinked in thought. "Wait, Mammon? What are you and Asmodeus doing here?"

The blonde, Mammon, smirked and began, "Well, I he –" before Asmodeus cut her off.

"We just got back and she had a feeling something dealing with money was going on here."

Mao just stared at Mammon incredulously, causing the blonde to slink back.

"S – So, shall I b –?"

"No," he retorted flatly.

Mammon stumbled back dramatically as if shot by an arrow. "How cruel! What have I done to deserve this?"

"You tried to use the treasury to buy all manner of useless things."

Mammon just pouted. "They're not useless…"

Mao sighed before retorting, "Now, anything else you'd like to say?"

Mammon nodded before pointing to him. "When'd you get so small and cute?"

Mao twitched an eyebrow before pinching the bridge of his nose. "New spell. Disguise. Tell the others so they stop asking, because it's rather annoying…"

"What about Momon?" Mammon asked.

Mao merely shrugged. "If I ever lost the helmet, people would know he's an undead."

Mammon nodded in return. "I see. So you will be dropping your Momon disguise then?"

"No. The rank and connection Momon has are too useful. I will just be using this form under the armor. After I make myself taller, of course."

Asmodeus gave a pouty smile. "Aw, but you're at perfect hugging height."

Mao flinched slightly as she approached him and swiftly ducked down as she went to hug him, barely dodging suffocation. 'Close…' he muttered in his mind before taking a step back, feeling his head press against two soft pillows. "… I gotta go…" he muttered as he tried to walk away, Mammon quickly wrapping her arms around him, pressing him into her cleavage.

"Not so fast," she commented with a smirk.

Mao gulped as he did his best to keep himself in check. "… What do you want?"

Hugging him slightly tighter, Mammon answered, "Just a little more freedom on the treasury. After all, with Ingrid's departure, you need someone to watch over it."

Mao twitched an eyebrow before sighing in defeat. "… I hope you realize that if you spend any money without my approval or sell anything I am cutting you off and denying you access to the alchemy labs."

That caused the blonde to pout. "You wouldn't…"

"I need insurance you won't do anything stupid."

This time it was Mammon's turn to sigh in resignation, puffing her cheeks in disappointment. "Fine."

"I'm glad that we came to an understanding."

She smirked before circling a finger over his chest. "Want a drink before you go?"

Mao gulped deeply before looking up at her. "… Maybe…"

Shortly later, Mao made his way into a large bedroom where a full suit of dark purple armor with a red cape sat on a rack. "Hm… it's way too big for me to wear as I am." After a moment of thought he put his hands together and was enveloped in bolts of energy before his height increased greatly, his muscles bulging to immense size at the same time. "This should be perfect."

A few moments later, he flexed his fingers after having the armor equipped. "Fits perfectly. Good."

At that moment, Narberal entered the room, seeing Mao in the armor. "My lord, are we heading out again?"

Mao nodded in return. "Yes we are. I wish to see if any of our… friends, know anything about the invasion."

"Very well. I will prepare myself as Nabe."

"Good."

Later in the day, Mao in his armor walked with Narberal, now disguised as Nabe, her appearance overall the same, but her maid uniform swapped for a plain white shirt, black pants, and a long red cape.

"Now then…" Mao wondered as they looked around.

"Who precisely are we looking for, Sir Momon?" Nabe questioned, walking slightly behind him.

"The Blue Rose, maybe young Emi too."

Nabe frowned incredulously. "Emi? You mean that child being hailed as some hero?"

Mao sighed before turning to her, scolding, "It's an official belief of the nation, so I expect you to outwardly go along with it, regardless of your view on humans. Okay? Not all humans are bad anyway, or do you disagree with my wife's actions in saving that poor girl?"

Nabe shook her head firmly. "No, I do not question the decisions of the Supreme Beings."

"Then be a bit kinder. If we are to eventually take over it is best not to give them a reason to rebel, understood, Nabe?"

"As you command, Sir Momon," Nabe answered with a reluctant sigh.

Mao nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, my beautiful companion."

That caused Nabe to sink her head slightly, her face tinting red.

"Now, we shou –" Mao began, changing the subject, before an energetic voice shouted from behind before a figure leapt at him, hanging off his shoulders.

"Lord Momon!" called out a petite girl with long orange hair, her face covered by a porcelain mask, clad in a red, ragged cape, a black dress with a frayed skirt, thigh-high stockings, and plain black shoes as she hung off Mao's shoulders.

Mao glanced back at her and nodded. "Ah, hello Lady Evileye."

The girl huffed with a pout under her mask. "There's no need to be so formal, Lord Momon."

Before Mao could respond, another figure approached from behind and pried Evileye off of him.

"Stop hanging off Momon every time we see him, you look like a child," chided a blonde, shapely woman with her hair wound in curls, a tiara just above her green eyes, clad in white, gold, and blue armor that clung to her body snuggly, showing off the shape of her firm bust, a massive black sword over her back.

"Lakyus, let go!" Evileye demanded.

Behind her, two people approached, well-endowed young women with long, orange-blonde hair tied up in a tight ponytail, one with a red ribbon, one with blue, wearing nearly identical outfits of a black crop top, a mesh undershirt, baggy orange trousers, an orange scarf with red and blue accents respectively, and armored gauntlets.

"That's because," began the blue-clad woman.

"She loves him," finished her red-clad twin.

Evileye just turned to the two, annoyed. "Tia, Tina, zip it!"

"What?" they asked in amused unison.

Lakyus just sighed as she dropped Evileye.

"Momon," a small voice called out, getting the man's attention to a young woman with long, knee-length red hair with several white streaks, bright amber eyes, clad in a black dress with white and gold armor overtop, a blue cape over her back.

He nodded in recognition to her. "Emilia. Hm? Your hair's turning white."

She twitched an eyebrow before turning away with embarrassment. "It's because of the magic I'm learning."

"Oh? Is it a color-change spell?"

"No!" she suddenly spurted out. "It's just extremely powerful magic. So…" she trailed off, touching one of her white locks of hair, "it's bleaching my hair."

Mao nodded appreciatively. "Ah, good. I was worried I may have been wrong about you for a moment."

Emilia flinched before turning to him, annoyed and uncertain. "… And what did you think…?"

"That you are a woman who is proud of her natural appearance, and not vain at all."

Her face immediately lit up brightly before she turned away, stammering, "Wh – What do you think you're saying!?"

The twin snickered in amusement. "Tsun."

"Shut it!"

Mao sighed as the group bickered. 'I guess women are the same just about everywhere…'

Evileye silently glared at Emilia from behind her mask, though the redhead did not notice, and merely sighed before turning to Mao. "So where are you headed, Momon?"

"Looking into something, actually."

"Really? Like what?"

Before Mao could answer, Evileye barged in and pushed Emilia aside roughly. "Don't worry about asking that pampered hero, she doesn't know enough about the world. What do you need to know, Lord Momon?"

Feeling a bead of sweat fall down his cheek in surprise, Mao continued his questioning. "Information on a kingdom."

"Oh? Which one?"

Before answering, Mao looked around curiously. "Let's get somewhere more secluded to talk, first."

"O – Okay," Evileye stuttered somewhat before following him.

Mao hummed in thought as he looked for a good place to go, before noticing a somewhat offset bar with a sign that read "Benevolent Mistress". "Hm… that should do."

They all went inside, and Lakyus was surprised at all of the workers inside wearing matching maid uniforms.

"I've never seen so many maids in one place," Tia commented.

"Agreed," Tina added.

Suddenly, one of the maids, a young woman with silver-blue hair tied in a ponytail, her eyes a matching grey, approached the group. "Hello, welcome to the Benevolent Mistress. Just sit wherever you choose."

"Thank you," Mao replied before the group made their way to a large table off in the corner of the restaurant.

Evileye groaned as she put her hands over her ears. "This place is loud…"

Mao nodded in response. "Which is why I picked it. Our conversation will be drowned out by the other voices, plus I thought you all might be hungry as well."

Lakyus chuckled with mild amusement. "My, my, how thoughtful."

"I usually try to be, after Clementine butchered my original party." The girls just stared at him in shock before he continued without expounding. "Anyway, order whatever you want, I'll buy. I'm the one who asked you to come here, after all."

The girls nodded before beginning to go through the menu.

After a moment, Evileye looked up at him curiously. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about again?"

"Simple. In my travels I heard some disturbing things. An army from a Kingdom I'm not familiar with tried to invade the Sorcerer Kingdom."

Evileye nodded quietly. "I heard about that. It was the kingdom of Evelvine."

"Evilvine?" Nabe asked, somewhat perplexed.

"Evelvine," she corrected. "One of the newer kingdoms. It sits between nation of Vilenkoven and the elf kingdom Winveria."

Mao narrowed his eyes in thought behind his helmet. "I see… well it was said that this Evelvine somehow managed to steal some of the Sorcerer Kingdom's Dread Knights."

Lakyus' jaw dropped somewhat. "If that's true, that takes balls."

"It takes far more than that. It takes strong magical power."

Evileye nodded in agreement before shrugging. "I don't know much about Evelvine, but to what little knowledge I do have, there aren't any magic users that powerful. To me, it sounds like that Sorcerer Kingdom has a traitor."

"I feared as such…"

"There's not much more I can say. I'd need to get in contact with someone from the Sorcerer Kingdom to learn anything else."

"I see…"

"I can't say I know anyone from there, unfortunately."

"Right."

Just as Mao was about to say more, the tavern's door swung open as a large group of people burst into the room.

At the head of the group was a petite woman with bright orange hair and squinted eyes.

Just behind her were two dark-skinned beauties wearing next to nothing, one with short, messy brown hair and a very petite build, the other with long, straight brown hair and a more voluptuous form.

Behind them was an elf with long green hair clad in a long, beige robe.

Next to her was a young woman with very fair skin, bright, golden hair, matching golden eyes, and a white and blue dress under silver armor.

"Who are they again?" Mao wondered.

Evileye nodded in understanding. "You and Miss Nabe have been almost solo this whole time, so I'm not surprised you don't know."

"Know what?" Nabe asked.

"That group there is called a Familia. A group of mortals who serve under a deity and, in return for their faith, loyalty, and some of the coin they earn, they gain a small power boost and comradery. That woman there," she paused, pointing to the squinted woman, "is Loke, the goddess of the Familia."

"A goddess?" 'Hm… I wonder. Is she a Player stuck in this world like me?'

Evileye continued, pointing at the golden-haired woman. "The golden girl is Loke Familia's star, Aiz Wallenstein."

"Know her well?"

"Every Adventurer worth a damn does. She's the Sword Princess, one of Orario's most powerful Adventurers. Myself and a few others are the only ones that can go toe-to-toe with her. Just about anyone else would basically be committing suicide." With a chuckle, she added, "You'd probable destroy her if you decided to fight her." Pointing to the dark-skinned beauties, she stated, "The Amazons over there are Tione and Tiona, twins. They're powerful in their own right, but they wouldn't be able to beat anyone from Blue Rose. No clue who the mutt is." She then motioned to the green-haired elf. "The elf is Riveria. She's from the elf kingdom Winveria. I can't verify this, but they say she's connected to the royal family."

"Interesting," Mao noted, saving that information in his mind. "Anything else?"

Evileye shook her head. "The rest aren't important enough for me to remember."

"Meaning –" Tia began, her sister finishing.

"She's lazy."

"Quiet, you!" the masked girl shouted.

Suddenly, the dog-eared man stood and shouted, "Oy, would ya listen to this?! Apparently there's some no-name Adventurer who showed up outta nowhere and was promoted to Adamantium without a Falna!"

Tiona smacked the man on the head, causing him to sit back down. "Bete, you dummy. That's just a story."

"They say it's the same dude that beat that demon."

Mao smirked under his helmet. '… Oh it will be so fun to freak them out…'

Loke snickered to her party. "You kiddos ain't heard nothin' yet. Word 'round Babel is that a new god's dropped his ass into Ente Isla, but nobody knows who the hell it is or where he's at."

'Well that confirms that theory.'

Riveria smacked her goddess with her staff. "Lady Loke, it is against the rules of the Guild for you to tell mortals when a new god has appeared."

Loke huffed with a pout. "Screw the rules. So long as I don't use my Arcanum there's nothin' they can do."

Mao furrowed his brow in thought

Evileye suddenly explained, "Oh, in case you don't know, Arcanum are unique, special powers gods and goddesses have. To keep a somewhat level playing field, the deities all agreed on a pact that Arcanum use is forbidden, and any who are caught doing it get banished back to Tenkai. Under those circumstances, the physical and magical capabilities the deities have are the peak of what mortal races can achieve, but not an impossibility."

Mao's fist subtly clenched. 'Damn, this means I can't use Dark Wisdom anymore. That's seriously going to hamper me. Guess I'll just need to get creative. Well… I doubt I'll find any spells they have that I'd want in my arsenal anyway. Now… should I freak out the werewolf now or wait a bit…'

Bete huffed dismissively. "Well at least that newbie's gotta be tough. All those weaklings have no business bein' Adventurers."

'Now,' he noted to himself before standing and going over to the large, round table the group sat at.

Seeing him, Tiona blinked in surprise. "Well aren't you a big one?"

Mao just looked down at her silently.

Tiona laughed weakly and pointed to Bete. "Sorry if the idiot's bothering your group. He gets loud when he's drunk."

Bete slammed a hand on the table. "Oy! I can be as loud as I want, and no weirdo in black armor's gonna… wait a sec…" he trailed off as he saw Mao.

Mao huffed as he folded his arms. "I see you're smarter then you look."

Bete stood with an excited grin and went over to the black-armored man. "So you're that newbie's gone all big and tough, eh?"

Riveria narrowed her eyes angrily. "Stop it, Bete. We don't need another incident."

Aiz nodded silently in agreement.

Bete just cracked his knuckles as he stood in front of Mao, the wolf-eared man barely coming up to Mao's chest. "Well the newbie needs to learn the pecking order."

"I can only assume you are at the bottom of it," Mao retorted.

"Oy! Ya wanna fight, bastard!?" Bete snarled, Tiona and Tione poorly stifling laughter behind him.

Mao just calmly rebuffed, "Where I come from we have a saying. 'The dog that barks the loudest has the weakest bite'."

Bete grit his teeth with a growl. "Okay, now yer pissin' me off!"

"I am merely stating facts, not trying to kick a puppy."

Riveria silently looked at Loke, who just shrugged with a smirk, before Bete lunged at Mao.

Mao lazily raised a fist, catching the beast man's arm with ease. "Is that all?"

Before the two's bout could continue, a hugely tall woman burst from the kitchen, picked up both Bete and Mao, and tossed them out the door. "If ya two wanna fight, do it outside!"

Mao just looked at her, his shocked expression hidden by his helmet. 'That woman is incredibly strong. I'd say she's a Dwarf, but she's far too tall for that.' He then turned as Bete stood again with a snarl. "Oh, right. You. So, how will the puppy fight now?"

Bete just growled and charged, Mao lazily knocking his swing aside.

"As I said, bigger the bark, smaller the bite."

Some of the others watched from the restaurant, Tione remarking, "Fifty Vals on the armored guy."

"I'll take that bet," her sister retorted.

"One hundred on Momo," Tia offered.

Bete suddenly leapt at Mao, who side-stepped his charge, grabbed him by the leg in midair, and then slammed him against the ground, knocking the wolf-man's wind out.

"Ouch," the others commented in unison.

Evileye just shrugged. "Saw that coming."

Mao folded his arms as Bete stood up shakily. "So, does the dog need more training? If not, go back to your Master."

"Why you…!" Bete snarled, charging at Mao, who just sighed in exasperation.

"This is getting boring," he groaned before side-stepping Bete's swing, grabbing his arm mid-thrust, swinging him into the air, and then slamming him against the dirt with enough force to leave a small crater, knocking the man unconscious. "There, that's that."

Riveria sighed before turning around. "I'm not carrying him home this time."

"Not it," Aiz added swiftly, her voice monotone.

Mao merely left Bete in the street as he walked back in to Nabe and the rest. "So, shall we finish our meal?"

"Yup!" Evileye cheered, grabbing his arm.

Later, after the other girls had gone their own way, and Loke's group had left, Mao and Nabe walked around the city, curiously.

Looking around, Mao commented, "This city warrants investigating."

"Oh?" Nabe hummed, curious.

"The gods here. They are from the same place as me, I believe."

"I see."

'How do I interrogate any of them without giving myself away, though? Get them drunk, maybe?'

Nabe noticed staring off thoughtfully. "Something the matter?"

"Hm? No, it's nothing."

"Right…"

Suddenly, something bumped into Mao hard from the side. He looked down and saw a girl with long, glossy black hair tied in twintails with weak blue ties, bright sapphire blue eyes, wearing an extremely tight, very short, white dress with a blue ribbon looped around her arms, back and waist, long white gloves, and white sandals, though what stood out most was, despite her childish appearance overall, were her voluptuous breasts, held aloft by the ribbon.

She sat, rubbing her head in discomfort. "Ow…"

"Well aren't you a cute little one," he commented, causing her to stammer as she looked up at him.

Before she could say anything in return, a man in a cooking apron came running from the nearby alleyway, livid. "Get back here, thief!"

Mao looked up curiously at the man as the girl hid behind him. "Did this girl steal something from you?"

"She certainly did!" he growled, pointing to an old, dried out loaf of bread she held in her hands.

Mao huffed before turning back to the man. "It's obvious that bread is old and dried out. I doubt anyone would've bought it anyway, meaning she saved you the trouble of getting rid of it. Or are you so greedy and heartless that you'd force a young girl to pay for near garbage?"

"She's not just some girl, she's a goddess."

"Which makes what you're doing even worse. What would you think the rest of the Divinities would think of you if you forced one of their kind to pay for something meager like this?"

"Just because they're gods doesn't mean they get a free ride."

"Subsisting on a mere scrap as this hardly counts as such, I would wager."

The man growled, deciding he was not going to get anywhere with the armored man. "Whatever," he grumbled before turning and walking away.

"Smart move," Mao remarked before turning his attention to the black-haired girl. "Now then, you are a goddess, correct?"

She stood and nodded nervously. "Y – Yeah. Hestia."

"I am Momon, an Adamantine Class Adventurer."

Hestia's jaw almost hit the ground upon hearing that.

"I was hoping to –" Mao began to speak, before a loud voice interrupted him.

"There you are!" shouted a very incensed a woman with short, chin-length, wild, dark red hair, matching crimson eyes, though one was covered with a black eyepatch, wearing a simple, white, collared shirt which was open at her bustline, exposing a portion of her generous cleavage, elbow-length black gloves, black trousers, and brown boots as she stomped over towards Hestia.

"Eek! H – Hephaestus!" Hestia shrieked before hiding behind Mao once again.

Mao looked at the angry redhead in thought. 'Another Player, maybe?'

Hephaestus snarled as she approached, "I've been looking everywhere for you!" Her temper settled somewhat when she took notice of Mao. "Huh? Who's this?"

"M – Momon," Hestia stammered, peeking out from behind Mao's cape.

"Ah. Wait, WHAT!? Him?!"

"I am, why?" Mao asked, confused and curious.

Hephaestus narrowed her eyes deeply before grabbing Hestia by the wrists and pulling her away from Mao and Nabe. "Stay over here for now."

"Why…?" she asked, irritated.

"Just do it," she demanded before walking over to Mao, staring him straight in the face, albeit from a lower height.

"Yes?"

Without answering, Hephaestus reared back a fist and them slammed it into Mao's abdomen, hitting him with enough force to send him sliding back almost a meter.

Immediately Nabe drew her sword to attack, only for Mao to raise a hand.

"… Ow. That hurt, Nabe, but not enough for you to attack."

Hephaestus sighed before groaning as Mao walked back up to her. "What the hell are you doing here, Momonga?"

Mao and Nabe both almost went as stiff as ice when she said that.

"Have we… met?" Mao asked, tentatively.

"We have, bony," Hephaestus growled. "Back when you would've recognized me I was called Ankoro Mocchi Mochi."

Nabe's eyes went wide before she kneeled deeply.

"If that's so… then why do you… look like that…?" Mao asked, perplexed.

Hephaestus sighed as she folded her arms under her bust. "Because, when we're brought here, we don't get to decide what we look like or what we're called. And before you ask, I can't make you any weapons or armor out of nothing like I used to, that was designated as my Arcanum."

Mao nodded in understanding. "Right. I have already assumed Dark Wisdom is mine."

"What I'd like to know is why the hell you seemed to have kept your original appearance and everything while the rest of us got completely changed."

Mao merely shrugged. "No idea. I just came here with all of Nazarick."

Hephaestus' eye went wide. "All of Nazarick came with you?!" she shouted before quickly slapping a hand over her mouth and waiting for others to stop staring. "I guess that explains why Narberal is with you." She then turned her attention to the kneeling woman. "Stop that, it's drawing attention."

Nabe nodded before standing. "My apologies, but I had to pay proper respect to one of the Supreme Beings."

Hephaestus just stared at her before sighing, with Mao changing the subject. "Is anyone else here?"

Hephaestus shrugged in response. "As far as I know, it's just me, Yamaiko, and her sister Akemi. No one else from the guild seems to have made it."

"Do you know who they are now?"

"Yamaiko is Kali and Akemi is Parvati."

"I'll remember that."

"So… all of Nazarick came with you…?"

"All the NPCs, the guildhall itself, and all of our treasures, including the Staff."

"The Staff? Then does that mean Sinoula came too?"

"Yes. We both somehow got sent here right as Yggdrasil's servers shut down for good."

Hephaestus folded her arms in thought. "She kept her original name and form as well?"

Mao nodded before shrugging. "Yes. I don't understand why it was different for us than you. Everything I keep learning fills me with more questions."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Especially this city. I never really bothered with it until I had to get in contact with Blue Rose about an army."

Hephaestus nodded before looking around. "Right. Come with me, we need to go somewhere else. I'm worried she might start listening on us."

"Okay…?"

Later, Hephaestus took Mao to her headquarters, a large building filled with hundreds of people making, testing, and improving weapons and armor, eventually taking him to the topmost floor of it; her office.

"Impressive base, and all dedicated to smithing."

"That's how Familias work. Each Familia is basically focused on what their god is best at. Mine is smithing. Dian Cecht's is potion crafting. Kali's is brawling. Hestia's got… none."

"What?"

"Hestia doesn't have a single person in her Familia."

"How sad."

"Unfortunately, she doesn't have any standout skills and she isn't that well known, so anyone who wants to join a Familia tries to join just about any other one."

Hestia, who had followed the two, suddenly piped up, "Hey! I'll have you know I did find some!"

"Yeah, that small group of newbies who got butchered by Clementine the Adventurer Hunter within a week."

Mao suddenly felt his skin got cold.

Hephaestus noticed his reaction. "… What is it?"

Without another word, Mao bowed deeply to Hestia. "I am so sorry."

"H – Huh?" the girl stuttered.

"I am to blame for their deaths. I left them at an apothecary to their own devices, not anticipating an attack from Clementine."

Hestia and Hephaestus stared at him in shock, Nabe tilting her head in confusion before Hephaestus sighed heavily and commented, "Well, Hestia? In this case how you want to deal with it is up to you."

"H – Huh?"

"Geez… I'm saying, since he's taking responsibility for getting your Familia killed, you get to decide how he's punished."

"He did kill the one that killed them, though," Nabe added.

Hestia furrowed her brow in thought. "I… I see. Then I see no reason to."

Hephaestus nodded with a smile. "Right." She then noticed Nabe's perplexed expression. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing…" the woman remarked.

Mao gave a very minute sigh of relief before turning to Hestia. "So you intend no punishment?"

The tiny goddess nodded in reply. "I'm not really that type of person. Plus, you avenged them by killing the one who did it."

"Ah." After a moment of thought he turned his attention to Hephaestus. "Now, Hephaestus, who is this 'she' you were referring to?"

Hephaestus nodded with an exasperated sigh. "The Goddess with the Strongest Familia, Freya. Because of an extremely bullshit loophole, she's able to use her Arcanum, which lets her see the events of any location anywhere on the planet so long as no one is actively blocking her sight."

That caused Mao to narrow his eyes in thought. "So that was the one who tried spying on me when I slaughtered that group from the Slane Theocracy."

Hephaestus raised an intrigued eyebrow. "You're the one who caused that ruckus with Slane? Guess I should've expected that."

Mao just nodded silently.

"But yes, it was probably her."

"Right…" he muttered, thinking how to handle this mysterious Freya, before changing the subject. "Now what?"

Hephaestus could only shrug. "Not sure… Have you considered making your own Familia?"

Mao rubbed his chin in consideration. "I might. Though I'm not sure how good it would be, what with the kingdom I'm building as well."

"… What?" Hephaestus asked flatly with a very unamused expression.

"What?"

"You're making a kingdom…?"

"That's what I said."

Hephaestus sighed heavily as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Great… just like Ares…"

"Pardon?"

Hephaestus just groaned as Nabe looked between the two, confused, right along with Hestia. "Another goddess named Ares also has a kingdom. And she is… well she's a major pain in the ass, let's put it that way."

"I see…" he hummed, realizing that this Ares could become a problem.

"So, which nation is yours?"

"The Sorcerer Kingdom."

Hephaestus' expression went completely flat.

"What?"

Hephaestus slowly made her way to a large desk and pulled out a large bottle of wine labeled 'Soma'.

"Eh?"

"I need a drink," she grumbled before downing almost half the bottle.

"… Is it something I said?"

"Not exactly. That kingdom of yours has been hurting my business. It just so happens to have been built up right between Orario and most of Re-Estize, meaning I'm not getting much business from them."

"Oh… sorry…"

"So, any other questions you want answered before I drink myself unconscious?"

"None."

Taking another swig, Hephaestus responded, "Right. Since you're billing yourself as an Adventurer, keep your head down so nobody else knows you're a God. And don't show your face."

"Why?"

"For some reason, something about our faces instantly clues mortals in to what we are."

"… Even though I changed it from my skeletal look?"

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow. "Let me see it."

Nodding, Mao removed his helmet.

Hephaestus looked at him for several moments before taking a sip of her drink. "Yep, any human who looked at you would think you're a god."

"Damn…"

"Maybe you can get away with demigod."

"Right…"

Nabe and Hestia just stared in confusion.

"Something wrong, you two?"

"I'm just really confused…" Hestia muttered.

Mao just sighed before he and Nabe left.

As the two walked through the streets of the city, he sighed somewhat. "What a day…"

"This city is very unusual," Nabe remarked, looking around at the people in the streets, shopping and talking.

"Indeed… the more I learn about this world, the stranger it gets."

She then turned her attention to him. "What is your plan now, Sir Momon?"

"Now it is probably best to plan out how to introduce the god Ainz to the rest of the divinities. But first we should head back home."

"Understood."

Eventually they returned to a large mausoleum, Mao reverting to his smaller human form as they walked in.

Back in the throne room, Mao shouted loudly, "Sinoula! We have a big problem!"

Sinoula herself then appeared, a beautiful woman with long, full, bright red hair and matching red eyes with large, golden horns atop her head, clad in a low-cut, black dress with red accents that left almost all of her voluptuous chest on full view. She noticed Mao's distress in surprise. "Is something wrong, Darling?"

"Yes, and no."

Sinoula raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. "I don't quite understand, but go on."

"First, it seems we've got traitors in our ranks. Second, I've found a city filled with former Yggdrasil players."

Sinoula's crimson eyes went wide at that. "That's quite a surprise."

"Yeah. They're worshipped as gods and all."

She nodded in return. "Hm… considering how the NPCs refer to us as Supreme Beings that isn't terribly surprising."

"Yeah. Well they seem to be aware that we 'descended' to this world but they don't know where we are. We also can't use our Unique Skills."

Sinoula nodded with a sigh. "I am keenly aware of that. I can't use Resonance, meaning I'm unable to draw power from the enemies I slay in battle."

"Ah. Right."

"So, how do we proceed from here?"

"Best guess? Find a time to introduce ourselves as gods to the other gods. I've already met two of them. One is someone I've never met, another is Ankora Mocchi Mochi."

And done! Thus ends the first chapter. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it, be sure to let me know if you did. If you were confused, unsure, or simply have questions on anything, let me know in a review, and I will do what I can to address your concerns. Though if your question is spoiler-related, I cannot guarantee a satisfying answer, so you would likely be better served with a PM. If you did not enjoy the chapter, review if you must, but do try and have a point and be civil about it. Anyway, enough babbling, until next time, bye-bye!