Yggdrasil Online Chapter 1, a Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン + Overlord/オーバーロード Crossover fanfic

Kirito's hand danced on the hilt of his sword. He wasn't nervous, just a bit…unsettled by the abundance of people that gathered. The town square was packed to the brim with players all bristling with excitement. The collective glow of the magic items painted the city with a multitude of hues, like the beginning of some rave. The remaining moon floated in the sky, as the planetary rings bisected the night. Asuna, leader of the Knights of Blood stepped onto the podium erected in the center of town.

"Welcome, I'm glad to see before me so many heroes." A strong cheer ran through the crowd. "Not only heroes, but craftsmen and thieves," More hollering. "All of us have banded together, as humans.

"As you know Yggdrasil Online is shutting down soon. For years we have played this game, exploring and creating. The worlds that make up Yggdrasil have changed by our hand, but it almost time to let it go. But not just yet! Since almost the beginning, there has been a curse on the land. One that protects monsters, one so strong that even Kayaba Akihiko could not defeat them! You know of whom I speak, the guild of monsters, Ainz Ooal Gown!" Here the hostilities began to make themselves apparent, the crowd jeered and shook their weapons, crying for blood. Kirito felt the malice was a little intense. He may have dumped years of his life into the game, but he still felt Ainz Ooal Gown were just another group of players. In fact, they practically created a good deal of the game's long history by playing villains. It wasn't as if they were hurting anyone for real.

"They have resided unassailable in the Great Tomb of Nazarick. They have remained undefeatable. Now though, Yggdrasil is drawing to a close. Can we really let them reign for the entirety of Yggdrasil's history? Should we not defeat them in a final blaze of glory? Let it be that when this world ends, all that remains of Nazarick is a smoking ruin!"

"There are but four days left, use all the materials you have, for after this it means nothing! When you blacksmiths finish the swords for your comrades, create one more for yourself; let every man and woman march on Nazarick. After tomorrow, we shall embark on the final raid of of Yggdrasil! The Final Days of Judgement!"

Kirito wished she hadn't stirred the crowd into such frenzy, all this jostling and shouting. Her speech was quite rousing, especially for her. Since he was a top tier players, the Knights of Blood occasionally hired him to help during World Class raids. The Asuna he remembered was much more soft spoken. Someone probably wrote the speech for her. Maybe Argo knew.

Using his agility he slipped over to the podium. He'd been invited to the guild leader conference that was to take place beforehand. Asuna stepped down from the stage and greeted him.

"Evening Kirito. Ready for the fight?" "You know it. By the way, that was one hell of a speech you gave." "Yeah, I figured if it's going to be the final raid they should be properly riled up. Let's head inside, the others are waiting."

The tavern was the only one in town vacant, it had been reserved for this meeting way in advance. Only the bartender and the guild leaders were allowed inside. And Kirito. The fact he could remain at their level without a guild drew more eyes than he would like, but he could deal with it. He saw some familiar faces around the table. Klein, leader of Fuurinkazan; Argo, leader of The Network; Griselda, leader of Golden Apple and, to Kirito's great surprise, PoH, leader of Laughing Coffin.

"Well, if it isn't the Black Swordsman himself. Finally found something you couldn't do on your own?"

"Have you finally gotten tired of picking on people far below your level?"

"Hah! Your tongue is as sharp as ever. Pity you never joined." Kirito shook his head. PoH respected power, and despite his harassment and trying to assassinate Kirito multiple times, still thought of them as something like friends. Kirito was fairly sure the correct term was rival and still disagreed with the assessment. From his perspective, Laughing Coffin caused more problems than Ainz Ooal Gown, but they hadn't formed an invincible fortress.

Before moving on to the plan, the leaders introduced themselves for those who did not know them. Asuna led, as leader of the group with the largest power/population cross product.

"My name is Asuna, leader of the Knights of Blood. I believe you've all heard of the guild. I took over after Heathcliffe, better known as Kayaba Akihiko. The Knights of Blood are a large mid to high level group. We specialize in raids and large-scale battles. I hope to help organize our forces."

"My name's Klein and I lead Fuurinkazan. We're a high level guild of a few buddies in RL. Even against some World Class threats, we've yet to lose a single man!"

"You all know me, but I'm Argo. I run The Network and specialize in gathering info. My people also do a bit of exploring, so we can survive in unknown territory. We'll do best scouting ahead and facilitating communications and any jobs that require mobility. I've also consolidated information from previous raids on Nazarick."

"My name is Griselda, and I lead Golden Apple. I'm honored that you think our group is capable enough to be considered one of the leaders in this event. There are eight of us, and I hope we can be of service to you all."

"I go by Tantamount in-game. I lead Lewd Scone Festival. We're 27 nerds who devote way too much time to gaming. We'll be acting independently, but I'd like us not to get in each other's way."

"Agil, head of 7th District Shopping. I'm also representing the other crafting guilds. I'll be heading the efforts to distribut our weapons most effectively. We have a large store of Legacy and Relic items, as well as a few Legendary items. Let's have our people fight at full strength."

"PoH, founder of Laughing Coffin. We're specialists and we're all been able to beat your people. We like getting the drop on people, but we're heading in for a bit of revenge. Laughing Coffin will be the one disabling the tough guys."

"Grisia of the 12 Holy Knights. Specializing in healing magic, my paladins and priests will keep you on your feet. The other 11, Judgment Knight in particular, are excellent warriors. Praise the Sun."

"Ah, then I'm The Black Swordsman Kirito." Those at the table looked at him. What? He didn't have a guild! "I'm a solo player. I dual wield [Demon's Final Hope] and [Rainbow of Despair]."

"Two Divine class items? Ah, That was you! You're the one who fought Kayaba, aren't you!" Agil exclaimed. "Man, I heard you got your hands on a Scale of Tiamant, I really wanted one of those."

"Yep! That was Kii-bou alright."

"How about we get down to business."

"To defeat the Huns?" Tantamount interjected. Asuna gave him a withering look, making him shrink back. "I thought you guys knew what you were getting into when you invited me."

"Ignoring that, we aren't the only ones organizing for this. The heteromorphic races and some demi-humans have allied themselves with Nazarick for the final battle. This means that not only are we facing Nazarick, but a whole army of players a their summons before even getting inside. There aren't any other large heteromorphic guilds with much influence, so they'll be rabble for the most part. High powered rabble, but good organization should trump that.

Our basic plan is to charge towards Nazarick from multiple fronts. The...Lewd Scone Festival wishes to work by themselves and can approach from the south. The Knights of Blood will lead from the north. Slightly offset to the east, I want the center of the Holy Knights. We should each have enough healers to deal with the lesser threats without assigning your high level priests. To the West, I want Fuurinkazan, Golden Apple and Kirito. To the East will be the rest, led by Laughing Coffin. Argo, you'll be serving as our communication and scouts."

Kirito eventually started glaring off into space. His role was to stick with Klein's group and Golden Apple. Since Fuurinkazan had such durability, they would be leading the charge just behind the scouts to cut down what they could and tank until reinforcements arrived. Except for when they were in the process of healing or sleeping, they were supposed to keep the pressure on. With Kirito's gear being top-notch save customize Divine class items or World Class, he didn't really need to listen to the assignment of gear.

The day before the raid, everyone was moving into position. Kirito was introduced to Golden Apple and struggled to remember the names of Klein's friends. They practiced moving together and covering each other on the weak monsters of the forest as they travelled. Then they arrived to their destination. The Mire of Souls.

Seriously, Ains Ooal Gown had too much power. Originally a normal sized swamp, they had the power to use magic to slowly terraform the surroundings. While he could probably beat even several of their members individually, it was as their existence as a guild that made them powerful. They spent their resources developing their base and items like it was a city building game. The forces of 'humanity' had to drag their way through muck from this point forward.

Instead they stopped. They needed to wait for the signal. Argo said that the denizens of Nazarick would know if they entered the swamp. The charge needed to be simultaneous for the maximum advantage. So the group waited, staring into the thick vines and mud, shadows enough to hide plenty of enemies.

"Hey Kirito, remember back in the day when we first met? Can you believe how long it's been?"

"Ah yes, before pigs were nerfed."

"You don't gotta say it like that." Klein punched Kirito in the shoulder "You really should hang out with us some time RL."

"I mean, I guess I could. Shoot me an email or something. No promises though." Klein and Griselda's groups swapped stories of all they'd done in game. So much time spent in Yggdrasil. It wasn't really real, but that didn't matter. They had a good time. Stories stopped when they heard the clash of battle in the distance.

"That's not our cue..." The knight Schmitt muttered. A bright flash was seen in the distance.

"No plan survives contact with the enemy! It's our turn!"

The 19 charged forward into the depths of the jungle. Kirito took point. There were only low to mid level players and as expected, they didn't have any plan. Springing off trees, he cut them down easily. Fuurinkazan had a bit of trouble keeping up in their armor, but didn't fall behind. Kirito knew he needed to slow down to let his party catch up, but still kept them just on the edge of his vision.

"Man down Kirito! Get your ass back here and help cover us!" He heard Klein shout. An armored knight lay on the ground drinking a health potion as a lich covered in filth launched spells. Hiding in the mud, were they? Yoko was supposed to be in charge of barriers for the group, but not seeing a magic enemy hadn't buffed Golden Apple. He can't believe the guy fell to a lich. They were level 30 at most man, get a hold of yourself. Kirito zipped in and out in a flash, leaving a pile of bones after a quick flurry of strikes.

"Sorry about this dude, this armor is hell in a swamp." Klein muttered. Kirito nodded in acceptance. They'd want heavy armor for when they got to the tomb proper. Still a wasted health potion was a wasted health potion.

With Kirito in the lead, one of the top 10 players, they experienced little difficulty, even when encountering other players in the 90-110 range. Over course the troubles they did come across took out Caynz and someone else from Golden Apple. It really went to show how the level calculation broke down at higher skills. Golden Apple's members had high primary skills, but they hadn't focused on any auxiliary talents. Level measurement weighted fewer well developed skills higher than a jack-of-all-trades, but it was made under the assumption a character would branch out to better suit their style. Kirito did his research before leveling, his HP, DPS, armor, and item loadout were all above what one might expect.

They soon found themselves at the foot of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. It was...as quiet as the grave. Kirito scanned the area with the Observer skill. A lot of human footprints showed up, as well as some marks that indicated battle. The obsidian gates were still shut however.

"Looks like someone's already been here..."

"My col's on the Scones. They're the only ones crazy enough to take this place on their own. Still, we need to stick to the plan." Klein looked to his friends "Dale, Kunimittz, radius 50 meters out. Harry One, use those balls of yours."

"Yeah, we get it. You're a real comedian Klein." Harry One took out several [Clairvoyance Spheres], cheap, single use items that replicated the spell. Before using them he read a series of scrolls and then placed his hand on one of the orbs. It began to glitter on the inside, like sparks inside a thick fog. "Here it goes."

"T-Combo inbound!" There was an explosion, but Harry's momentary warning gave him time to activate Greater Evasion. The surroundings were bathed in ice; then flame, gouging out about 10% of his HP. Kirito got his bearings and looked around, at his fellows. Klein's group looked good, some coming away unscathed, while the rest took less damage than Kirito. The Golden Apple hadn't fared as well, but it seemed Yoko trew up a general purpose barrier nullifying some of the damage. The blast still knocked them down to the 80% zone.

"Damn Harry, what was that?"

"Sorry guys, I set up countermeasures to their anti-scrying, but they noticed them taking effect. I think they have someone manually watching the territory. Or they decided to invent some Level-6 Antiscry magic. They can't do that right?"

"Honestly wouldn't put it past them." Klein ran his hand through his hair. "Alright, that had to draw some attention. Here pass these to your crew Griselda. That was our bad. Let's secure the perimeter, but we're operating in the dark this time. Don't let them get the drop on you, but we can't go shooting our own people once they arrive. It should be a few hours at the most. Remember, don't be afraid to use items, the lower level ones especially." Klein having given out orders let everyone get to work.

They held the position for several hours before the first few squads started making their way to the gates of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. They arrived laughing, with blood stained cloaks. Laughing Coffin.

"XaXa look! Fuurinkazan!"

"Oooh, yeah it is, hey guys how's it going?" The Laughing Coffin members slammed their foreheads against some of Klein's friends who responded in kind.

"Aww, if it isn't the little assassins who couldn't. What took you so long, get distracted by some puppies you wanted to kick?"

"Kittens, actually." It went on like that for a while, only occasionally interrupted by a monster PC. Laughing Coffin might be loathed by the weak, but it seemed Klein's guild enjoyed the challenge. They couldn't really be condemned for Player Killing, since the whole crusade business was one giant player hunt. The groups loved to hate each other, and when one shoved the other into danger, they shoved right back. Kirito didn't get it.

More time went by, and eventually the tattered forms of the Knights of Blood and Holy Knights came into view. It looked like they'd already been through hell.

"Hey, what happened back there?"

"La Shub-Niggurath! The guys outside the walls were basically sacrifices!"

"Wait, the overrank spell? With the creepy sheep?" Kirito questioned. He'd fought one before, and would not want to repeat the experience. How was something that big supposed to move so fast and why did they have so many Hit Points?

"There were four of them! Those things tore through our ranks. Asuna and the Twelve Holy Knights were able to take them down, but we've already taken massive casualties."

"I hope things don't end before they've begun."

Kirito and Klein's group decided to log out to take a quick nap. Kayaba had been kind enough to end the game on a long holiday, but their minds still needed rest, and they certainly wouldn't want to be booted due to hunger in the middle of a fight. His phone rang, Argo signaling him to return to the game.

"Have a good nap Kii-bou? My scouts have reported back. It's time for you to get in there and do your stabby thing!"

"Uh-huh, got it. By the way, how many people did we lose out there?" Argo winced at the question.

"Everyone took some heavy hits. We're down to 3,000 people. Still, that ought to be more than enough with you on the front lines. Go show them who the Black Swordsman is!"

The next two days, Kirito slept in his raid schedule. Charge forward with Klein and the others for six hours, then sleep for two. It would be hell to break out of the pattern later, but right now he was in heaven. The Great Tomb of Nazarick was as imposing as all the stories. Dead ends and traps, undead that seemed to not only spawn endlessly, but all decked out in minor magic items. An absurdly large giant, a freakish lamprey...thing, Kirito ran through his potions quicker than he thought he would. There just wasn't enough time to rest so his Regeneration could kick in.

Argo's people scouted for the way to the next floor as everyone else tried to fend off the infinite hordes coming from all sides. Of course even disregarding the difficult NPCs, the biggest threat were the members of Ainz Ooal Gown. They had something that let them teleport freely inside the Tomb, opening up the crusade to sudden attacks at any moment. Being high level all the magic casters could use Overrank magic multiple times per day. Then they had to take into account there were 41 of them.

41 of the highest level players, including Touch-Me who got a special reward for being so powerful. And they were all here. The reason that the Judgment Day raid stalled was because even in their most dire straits, only a few of the Supreme Beings would be on. They had jobs after all, it was their cash items that helped them make up for the fact they couldn't play as devotedly as as some Otakus. But with the final days of Yggdrasil announced ahead of time, it seemed they all had enough vacation days to reassemble. 41 high level, cash item wielding, PCs in their own guild hall. It would be a miracle were they to succeed.

It seemed to take ages before they reached the end of the seventh floor, a lava filled hellscape. There were four hours left, but they couldn't charge ahead before healing. Grisia, the only remaining Holy Knight spent his energy healing the party which now consisted of Kirito, Asuna, three Laughing Coffin members and all, all of Fuurinkazan. Reinforcements could never make it through the rest of the Tomb in time, especially with the level penalties they'd been accruing. 16 to take down the remainder of Ainz Ooal Gown. At least the Holy Knights managed to take down two of the Supreme Beings who got too close during one of their harassment runs.

"You and your friends are very good at teamwork Klein."

"Er, thanks Asuna. We've been buddies for ages, we just learned what worked best for us. You're doing pretty well yourself. I heard you made it into the top five for a few months."

"Yeah, until Kirito here pushed me out of it."

"Hey, it was a long break and I didn't have any homework to do."

The party healed up and pushed on. Entering the Eigth floor, they came to a vast wilderness. Kirito's Intuition picked up on something, drawing his attention to what looked like an embryo with skeletal wings.

"!hctamhtaeD maaaaaeeeeeeeT" [Somebody has set you up the bomb.]

"Eh?" Kirito knew that phrase from somewhere, what was that meme from?

"Full resistances! Full resistances!" Klein and Asuna shouted. Kirito activates Warrior's Fortitude, this must be Victim, the floor guardian that inflicted massive debuffs. It didn't seem to be doing anything though. But then he hear two cries and the sound of blades clashing.

"You have no chance, make your time."

"For great justice!" XaXa and Johnny Black cackled, each swiftly moving to a second victim, chosen from among Fuurinkazan. PoH kept his own daggers locked against Klein, who managed to recognize the threat.

"You bastards..."

"Hey, I've got nothing against AoG. You guys on the other hand," Kirito and Asuna leapt into action to help Klein, quickly overwhelming Laughing Coffin's leader. "Hehe, never lost a player have you?"

"Only because you back stabbed us."

"'PKing assassin douchebags' as you say."

"Touché, you smarmy ass." Klein finished PoH off and then Johnny and XaXa. Victim just kept floating there.

"PUOS TA M'I"[All our base are belong to us.]

"We'll see about that. Look at my men!" Klein shouted to the sky, where the Supreme Beings were undoubtedly watching. "Their courage hangs by a thread. If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end worthy of remembrance!"

"Ride to ruin and the world's ending!" Kirito joined in.

"DEATH!"

They charged forward, surprisingly unobstructed, chanting bits and pieces of phrases, with Asuna trailing along, slightly confused. They burst into a beautiful throne room to see 20 of the Supreme Beings on either side, with one centered in the middle.

[The Goal of All Life is Death]

[Cry of the Banshee]

"Good evening Heroes. I truly commend your bravery. But we are Ainz Ooal Gown.

I have won.

Exactly as planned."

With that, Kirito felt the tug of character death pulling him back to town.

The throne room of Nazarick erupted into cheers. For over a decade, they remained indominatable in the world of Yggdrasil. They all clapped each other on the back and acted far different than proper, hardworking members of society should.

"Hahaha! Momonga, you make an excellent villain." Blue Planet said something that may have been a compliment.

"Yes, it's like we built our Great Memory Nazarick around you."

"Oh no, this was a work we all built together."

"But who was it that kept this place tidy until these last few days? We'd have nothing to come back to if not for you." Momonga had a little difficulty parsing all this praise from his dear friends. Surely they knew they too played a huge part. Touch-San at the very least needed to take some of the credit.

"Ah, we mustn't forget Touch-San. He is the one who founded Nine's Own Goal."

"I thank you for your praise, but you have grown over these many years. You've become quite the leader."

They chatted, old friends during what might be their final meeting. Then Warrior Takemikazuchi suggested they quickly revive all the guardians and reset the traps and see how much wealth they still possessed. Even in such a dire final battle, luckily for the the visual impact of their remaining funds, few of the guardians fell. Instead, most were ordered to retreat at the last moment. Alive, all it would take was a few heal spells and mana potions and they could return to the front lines.

The wealth was inspiring, though gently sloping and spread out, it surpassed the height of most of the members. Then, Bukubukuchagama placed some of her magic rings in the pile. Everyone else followed suit. To top it off, Momonga placed the guild staff near the top, like planting a flag. A wonderful, gleaming pile of treasure that surpassed even the loot found from a dragon.

The festivities were done. There was still an hour left, but there was nothing left to do. Even without a job in the morning, they were getting too old to stay up like children. So final farewells were said and despite the lack of facial expressions, Momonga almost swore he heard some watery eyes. The departure of decade long friends. One by one they all left. Touch-Me stayed behind longest.

"Ah, I'm an old man now, but I still don't want to give this up. I'm glad I chose you to lead Ainz Ooal Gown. You've brought us many happy times together."

"Thank you Touch-San. I couldn't have done all this without you and our other Friends."

"I should really be going now. Remember even if the road is harsh, there are those who will lend their sword to help."

With that Momonga, leader of Ainz Ooal Gown, was left alone with the NPCs idling in the corner. How bitter it was as the system clock ticked down.