Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord, the great Maruyama Kugane does.


The Grand Market of Bifrost.

Inside the famous DMMORPG YGGDRASIL, this was rumored to be the name of a place where one could buy anything, ranging from weapons, armors, potions, scrolls and even information that could not be found anywhere else,

It was said to be located far, far away from the area that players usually limited themselves to, for fear of the unknown or the level of danger of adventuring further away from the center of the world. This, by the way, was one thing that changed from rumor to tumor: Some said it was found in Jotenheim, others said they saw it in Muspelheim, and so on.

In truth, it was simply the base of a guild called Wicked Ambrosia. This guild focused on trades and exchanges, by either crafting items, selling information, or even acting as mercenaries or grinding for someone else. It was, simply put, a merchant guild.

Because of this, it was not a strong guild. At least not strong for the guild wars that where a common sight in the game.

The guild possessed very few fighters, and most of the other members where highly specialized in crafting or merchant classes. To that was added the fact that said members where what was usually called "Dream Builders".

That is to say, players that rather than building their character fully towards what would be most beneficial gameplay-wise, they expended levels in certain jobs and classes to turn themselves into an ideal; essentially, a character more fitting for role playing.

Normally, the dream builders would be considered as lower level characters, and those specialized in crafts would only be able to produce inferior items.

However, due to the massive amount of content still hidden in YGGDRASIL, some of their odd job choices would grant them the abilities to craft equally odd items that would not be possible to create otherwise.

In this skill, one player saw the opportunity for business that was selling players never-seen-before items, grating them the advantage of the unknown in a game in which information was key. With this idea in mind, the guild was created.

The founding members also decided in a few "rules" just for fun.

First, they're base had to be located in a remote area. Both because there was no way that a small group of merchants accumulating wealth wouldn't be raided, and because, in the word of one member: "It just makes sense that the rare item merchant is harder to find".

Secondly, they stablished the creed that "Nothing is Free". Specifically, never would they hand over anything, be it weapons, potions, help or information to anybody without anything in exchange.

They would not simply put high prices, but many times would rather take something "of value" as payment. Be it a rare drop, information, a treasured yet not-so-good weapon, or the few pennies a beginner managed to scrap.

And finally, everyone was free to do as they pleased, as long as they kept to the "theme" of the guild. While they would take their roles seriously, mostly where people playing just for the fun of role playing, and thus wouldn't commit to the strict organization of a normal guild.

They had enjoyed plentiful adventures in their 12 years playing YGGDRASIL, and had seen many friends come and go. In this, the final day of the game, only six of the guild members were present. They were holding a meeting in a small room, in which all of them were seated around a heptagonal table.

The table was supposed to represent the 7 main buildings that formed the grand market, every one with a specific type of "business":

In the center and at the end of the path from the entrance, The Colosseum offered a multitude of 1 on 1 Duels, players fighting against hordes of beasts, and many different games to entertain its attendants.

To the left of the colosseum and closer to the entrance, the herbalist´s buffet offered Potions & Food to those who wanted an exotic taste, either in the food, or in the de-buffing potions.

In front of the buffet, and on the opposite side of the path to the colosseum, The Chapel of Many and All offered a place for connecting with their gods, and also to buy sacred scriptures in the form of Scrolls.

Right behind the Colosseum, The Silent Office dealt with Information. No matter if it was about hearing or spreading rumors, locating guild bases or dungeons; or even finding out a players regular places, tactics or weakness. No matter the cost, if it was known it was for sale.

To the Right and a little behind of the Colosseum was the Fem Fatale Brothel, with a wide array of Concubines for rent, who doubled as strong Mercenary NPC´s.

To the Left of the Colosseum, the Give a Hand Tent was raised. Here one could ask help with a large variety of Odd jobs. Whether it be exploring a dungeon, collecting herbs, or having strong people following just for show, the Odd Workers were prepared to handled any tasks.

Finally, incrusted in the hill further behind the Colosseum, The Forge of the Primal Steel sent smoke up to the air. Here one could buy from a large display of Weapons and Armors, as well as request equipment custom made for oneself.

The whole perimeter of the market was surrounded by a high wall made of stone blocks, with sentry towers every few meters.

The room they were in, commonly referred to as the Conference room, was located inside the Silent Office, and was thus protected with various methods to prevent information from leaving the room, such as a blocking for the spell [Message]. However, today those measures seemed to be unnecessary, since for the whole day not a single person besides them had entered the market. Nor did anyone seem to be outside trying to spy them.

"Aaaah ~~ This is so boring" Came a female voice from one of the avatars in the room. "Is nobody going to come? Business has been slow lately, but not a single person has come today".

The woman, PuriPuriLilith, looked like a normal Caucasian human, save for the wings that spread from her back, just below her shoulder blades. They were pure and bright white, save for the tips and a few feathers near the end, which were a purplish-black. She was wearing a nun outfit.

She kept making frustrated noises, as well as showing sad and angry emoticons.

"It's understandable" Said the voice of that sounded deep but young. "After all; it is the final moments of the game. Most people would be in the center of the worlds. I heard the devs were going to put a huge display of fireworks at midnight"

The one who spoke was Loxen. Essentially, he looked like a man made of rocks. He played as a Golem, which made him incredibly resistant to attacks and magic, but gave him rather weak attack and very little regeneration. Underneath the superior layer of stone seemed to be molten rock, and was wearing a classic black salaryman suit.

"Yeah, and by this point, nobody is really going to need equipment or help with anything" This voice was a little more laid back, and came from the man seated to close left of the Golem. "Plus, with there being better entertainment, there is essentially no reason for anyone to go through the long and painstaking road that we made sure was the only way to reach us."

This was Wallaquia, He looked like a completely ordinary human, clear brown hair and bright blue eyes, wearing a Carbon Fiber vest with a camouflaged pattern, and one Survival knife strapped to his left side, one pistol on his right side, and one rifle strapped on his back. The only thing amiss, were his crosshair like pupils, which delated him as a cyborg. He also choose to specialize as a gunner to deal large amounts of damage from mid range.

"Better Entertainment?" The voice almost sounded offended "Well, I suppose any event that I could elaborate wouldn't be enough to properly bid farewell to 12 years of glory!"

The man that was getting excited as he spoke was the guild master, Shinsekai Kami, commonly referred to as leader, but more commonly he was called Boss. A humanoid looking creature, but with scales in his fists and forearms, as well as to the sides of his face. He also had claws instead of nails. His was a Dragon Kin, and was wearing a proper business suit with a blue tie, yet despite appearances was actually the strongest fighter in the guild.

"Still, this one feels sadness at the prospect of the final moment of the colosseum being one of solitude and not of cheering glory."

"Yeah, I understand where you're coming from. It's sad to see nobody hanging out at the buffet either." The snore voice belonged to Enges Munra, a man wearing a grayish coat, with his hair and neck covered in what seemed to be a dark green scarf. What little skin could be seen in his face, was grayish brown and looked like petrified wood. His golden eyes big and half open.

"Well, that's that, so it's not like anybody is going to be coming here at this point" Another man said as he stood "I know it's not exactly professional, but for today I suggest we say 'Fuck It' and forget business. For Today" The man called Hest, the guilds ranger, also looked –And was in fact completely- human; he had coal black hair and grey eyes. Attached to the sides of his waist were two equal swords and in his right arm he had an eye-catching gauntlet with a big gem attached in the back of the hand, with runes written around to it. His armor also seemed to be thicker than the normal light leather used by most rangers.

"I am really going to miss this place. Right now, I just want to go around the place and remember the times I have spent here. What do you say guys? There's still one hour before shut down"

"Okay, that's a rather… Coarse way of putting it, but I do feel the same. What does everyone think, shall we disperse to wander our home one last time, and then meet here for the final end?" The Dragon Kin asked everyone in the room.

"Sound good to me" the golem replied.

"Same here" Confirmed the cyborg.

"No objection" Said the Ent.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about." Happily replied the Human.

"Well, it will be less boring than just waiting" Said the Nun.

Having confirmed everyone's agreement, the leader gave his final word. "All right my precious friends let us say goodbye to this precious place of ours. Well meet back here ten minutes before shutdown"

With that, one by one they exited the room, off to explore for the last time the place they considered a second home for so long.


"Well, what should I do?" The man made of stone wondered.

After leaving the meeting, Loxen started to walk directly towards his workshop: the forge in the hill behind the colosseum. As he walked, he looked around. To each side of the road where a few small buildings, most of them containing a healthy amount of commonly used items, like frequent food and potion ingredients, cheap minerals, and materials to make scrolls and parchments.

The other buildings looked more like small houses. This was due to the insistence of an old guild member, who insisted that "what kind of town has all kinds of buildings for common –and uncommon- necessities yet has no houses for people to live in?"

After that there was an argument about whether it was supposed to be a market or a merchant town, but it was settled when someone argued "But wait, even if it's just a huge market; if and there´s people working every day, wouldn't they need somewhere to live? Even if it's just an employee's - only thing there should probably be something like that"

With nothing else to say, everyone agreed and collaborated to the project –Some more willingly than others-

After walking down the road, he finally found himself in front of his workshop. He sighed, taking in the familiar sight for what was probably the last time.

On the side of the hill, as if it were the entrance to a cave, the arched ceiling of the entrance was decorated with tiles of terracotta.

The doors themselves were rather large, somewhere around 2.5 meters tall. There was no pattern on it, just two rectangular pieces of dark wood with iron straps that attached them to the doorframe.

To each side of the entrance, faithfully guarding their master´s domain, stood Girls.

On the right was a girl tall and blond, with emerald green eyes that had a very serious expression. Her long and pointy ears clearly revealing her to be a high elve. She was clad in leather armor, except for her feet, hands and head and chest plate, were she wore armor made out of a red metal with golden trims.

To her side, in her right hand, rested a long bow made of the same material than the metallic parts of her armor. It was big, and along its surface were traced words in some strange language.

To the left was a shorter girl. She was grayish pale and had raven black hair and eyes. She was wearing a Crimson red tunic, with a gray spiked pattern going through the middle. The hood was taken off, and the girl had a more neutral-happy expression on her face. She was holding to her chest with both hands a black book with red trims, and it had the common rune fore "Fire" as the only marking in the cover.

He looked at both girls, remembering all the time they had protected him when going alone in missions.

"I've left you here just guarding the door for a long time, haven't I? I'm sorry my friends." The stone skinned man murmured to himself. "Hum, the least I can do is make one last gift for you". He opened the door, and paused a moment to remember the command he was thinking off.

Finally, he said "[Follow]" and the two girls abandoned their post, and followed their master into his place of work.


A woman was seated in the first row of benches in the chapel. It was the nun in charge of the place, the player PuriPuriLilith.

She was seated, a book in her hands. In her window interface, she was reading the contents of said book. It was titled "The rites of the One hundred", a book that she had wrote herself, mostly just as a little roleplay, since she viewed her character as a type of heretic priest that followed nearly all gods, and thus kept a record of every god she had known of and the rites and traditions associated with him. It contained deities from both inside and outside the game.

She would sometimes laugh while reading. It was fun, especially the older chapters, where she could see her mistakes and her less coherent writing. She had decided to never edit the book, since it was supposed to be a "Holy Scripture" and thus however it turned out was divine command. That and, she enjoyed, and felt a little pride, at how the writing got better the longer she kept reading.

Standing beside her was a man in a priest suit. He looked and was completely human, with his hair a pale yellow and his eyes a dim clear blue. He had bags under his eyes from –scripted- extenuation. She had made this NPC as the priest that was entrusted to her, he was a monk class warrior with strong faith and unbreakable will, yet he would be under the constant teasing and temptation from her.

"Well, at least it was fun, being with you all this years." She stood up and contemplated him in full. When she had entered the chapel, she had asked him to bring her the book from the altar.

"I guess this is goodbye… Heh, you must feel happy, having such an annoying person leaving you" The voice sounded stiff. She felt her face heating up and tears that began to form.

After a moment of hesitation, she looked at him and gave him a hug, well, at least as much of a hug as the YGGDRASIL system would let anyone "I can entrust this to you, right?" As she retreated, she deposited the book in the priest's inventory, which manifested in his hands since he didn't have anything equipped.

With that, she turned around to exit the chapel. However, she saw an old friend on the entrance, it was Enges Munra, His tall and thin complexion making her have to look slightly up.

"Hello there thought I'd find you here" he exclaimed. "Saying goodbye is hard, huh?" he said in a quiet and a little melancholic tone.

"Yes, I mean, it's been this long. How about you? Won't you go see your garden and your helper?" She inquired him.

"No need to see the garden, I have committed that place to memory. As for the boy I already did. I too left him a little gift. I suppose it's a sort of thanks for all the company and good memories they've given us." He got off the doorframe, and started walking outside.

"Well, aside from that…" He took a moment to look at the watch in his status screen "It's getting close to the time, should we start heading towards the Conference room?"

"Yeah, let's do that" She replied to him, feeling a little better after hearing she wasn't alone in how she felt towards their creations.


"Well, well, look at this place" the human ranger, Hest said. "It's even worse than I remembered!"

"We never really got around to cleaning this mess" said mechanical gunner, Wallaquia

The two of them didn't go very far from the conference room, instead choosing to explore some of the rooms of the Silent Office, since it had been there where they had most worked and dwelled.

The cause of their current conversation was a room which walls, floor and ceiling were a chaotic mess of colors, but mostly a dark green and red. Also, there were several dents in the walls like cuts from a blade, and marks of acid in the floor.

"That attempt at interrogation didn't really go well." Hest admitted. "But I still think that torturing that pussy angel guild guy by making him listen to death metal at max volume was a good idea" Even though the avatars couldn't convey facial expression, it was pretty obvious he was snickering. "The fact that he couldn't teleport away was the perfect bonus"

"Still, what exactly happened here? It's not common for blood effects to last this long." Wallaquia wondered just how this hadn't triggered the devs maturity rate detector.

"That's Cause it's not blood. I asked Munra to make special potions for me. They're essentially like the dyes for armor, but you can throw them and paint surfaces. The idea was to use them to annoy the little bitch some more". He explained

"Turns out, it worked really well! We drove him nuts. Except maybe for the part where he escaped and killed two merchants before I put him off. But o well" He explained further. Wallaquias annoyance was palpable in his silence.

"Any way. Turns out, since the potion was as unique and made as a side effect of something else, we really didn't have the appropriate potion that works as a "cleaner" for the dye, and Munra got tired of searching for that so… we kind of just left it as is". He finished.

Wallaquia remained silent for a few seconds, after which he could only say "… I can't even say I'm surprised."

"Meh, let's just go to another room. See what fun memories we can dig from this place!" Exclaimed the human, sounding a little bit too excited.

"Before that." Wallaquia said in a rather dry tone. Which caused Hest to stop and look at him. "Why don't we entertain ourselves with a duel? I believe we could better remember this day if we go out with a fight, or at least a friendly spar, don't you agree?"

It took Hest a second to process that his friend, the one that usually had to be dragged into duels, was asking one of him "That is rare, you asking me to fight? It really just took the literal end of the world for it to happen" They both chuckled at his joke.

"Alright, so let's go outside for this, don't want to cause a ruckus inside and be yelled at in the last day". Said Wallaquia in a Monotone voice.

"Oh, yeah. Before that. I have an idea. Why don't we have some spectators? It is our final duel after all" Suggested the human.

"What do you mean? The only other people that could come see us are likely busy doing their own things" Negated de cyborg.

"No. let's bring them out. I'll bring saphira." The ranger said in an excited voice. "I mean, it's not like we need that much surveillance given the circumstances"

"Fine. I'll call peacemaker. Let's show them a good fight!" Wallaquia was a being way more eager to fight than usual, but Hest didn't comment on it. A special day, one in a special mood he thought.

Once they got outside, the two named woman were already waiting for them.

The one to the left was Peacemaker. Blond curly hair that covered her left eye and dark brown eyes. She carried a tactical espionage suit, completely clad in black. In her back as an anti-tank Rifle that should have been way too much for the slim girl to carry.

To the right was Saphira. With White skin, and silver short hair and eyes, with little patches by the sides of her cheeks where there were small silver scales. She seemed to be carrying no apparent weapons, but was dressed with Light leather armor, perfect for maneuvers and exploration.

"All right girls, your orders are to stand by and watch our duel. No matter to which side the odds turn towards, you are to no interrupt or aid anybody. Is that clear?" Wallaquia lectured the two girls rather energetically.

After that, both stood in front of each other and decided to start by stating the rules of the duel. "First, we don't really have a good terrain nor a number advantage to turn this into a gunfight, so I say we leave those out" Hest stated first.

"Alright, given that it would turn into a stealth and survival battle, and that we are low on time, I accept your conditions". The gunner responded. "Then I ask that no traps be used, since either preparing them beforehand would be unjust in the spirit of a duel" He added.

"Deal" The other one responded without hesitation." Since it was me who mas challenged, I get to choose the starting sing" he said happily. "Saphire. In 10 Seconds, scream 'YES' loudly" With that, both of them tensed and started counting down the seconds.

The second the first sound came out of Saphires mouth, Wallaquia instantly banished.

Reacting, Hest quickly drew both his swords used to block the incoming attack. A second letter sparks flew as the cyborgs Survival Knife clashed into his swords.

"Heh, I saw that. I've gotten used to your [Shadow Stalker]" The human chuckled, as he put more force in his arms and pushed the gunner backwards.

Before he could lose his balance, Wallaquia shifted his body and threw a kick directly at the rangers left knee. To this, Hest retreated his left side so that he was facing him sideways.

Meanwhile his opponent used that frame of time to retreat to a safer position. Not wanting to leave an opening so that he could put him in the defensive again, the ranger activated his skills [Acceleration] y [Unseen Strike]. For a moment, it looked to the cyborg as if his friend had blurred out of existence.

A second latter he threw himself and did a roll to the left. In that same instant came a glowing sword thrusting with a force that could have easily perforated through his reinforced chest plate.

-After such a wide swing he will lose his balance, that's my chance- Thought the gunner while he stopped the roll and ended up crouched. With this, he activated again his [Shadow Stalker] along with his other skill [Deceive], and then he instantly disappeared.

Seeing the same skill had been used, Hest quickly spun around, carrying the movement from the thrust into the spin, thanks to his still active [Acceleration]. He prepared to throw a lateral cut towards the abdomen, while he protected the back of his neck with his other sword, knowing were his friend was aiming.

However, the ranger realized too late that him knowing where is friend would strike was a false perception imposed on him by [Deceive].

Instead of rushing towards the right, and position himself behind Hest as the human expected, Wallaquia had instead gone to the left, and put himself in front of him. Then came the rib-crushing kick to the thorax that the cyborg had prepared.

The attack had stuned his body as well as tacking a good portion of is health, the ranger tried to regain his balance, but found that Wallaquia had –way too soon, he thought- dashed towards him without missing the chance. However, before he could swing his knife, Hest used the item [Smoke bomb].

The surprised gunner let go for just enough time so that the Human could escape. Suspecting a quick counter attack from within the smoke, he activated his Cyborg ability [Enhanced Sensor] to see through the distraction. It was a mistake, however, since the second he activated said skill, his friend had consumed yet another item [Flask of Dawn], a small bottle that released a strong burst of light that blinded the gunner.

This caused Wallaquia´s sight to become completely white, and he stumbled for a moment trying to regain his senses. After confirming that his plan had succeeded, Hest rushed directly towards Him, and as they were about to clash, Hest activated his skill [Backstab] which instantaneously teleported him to the back of his enemy.

He then slashed Wallaquia´s open back, tacking out a huge chunk of his health bar. As the gunner regained his sight, he promptly turned around before crashing to the floor, and lunged towards his friend, who was ready to attack him again.

However, the cyborg activated one last skill, [Target Lock], with this, even if he were to be affected by status effects or physical means that would restrain his movement, his next attack was guaranteed to hit the target.

Sensing this, the ranger activated the ability [Strong Focus], since the only way to stop him would be to defeat him before he could perform the attack.

However, as his attack connected, the damage from the reinforced attack with [Strong Focus] was not enough, leaving Wallaquia with just the smallest bit of his Hp, while Wallaquias last attack left Hest in a very similar condition.

After this both ended in the floor. "So, do we call it a draw?" asked one, tired.

"Yeah, let's leave it at that" the other said.

With that out of the way, both of them stood, and noticed their female companions looking at them.

"Well girls. It's been an honor. Sadly I guess this is goodbye" Wallaquia said towards the two women.

Giving a look at peacemaker he could not help but remember how much the NPC had helped made his job as an informant much easier, and felt a little sting of shame swell in his heart for not showing her a bit of gratitude at least.

Searching through his inventory, he found what he was looking for: an old single action army peacemaker, the starter weapon the game gave him when he took the gunner job class. At this level it was useless to the both of them, but for him it carried a deep sense of nostalgia.

"I know I never gave you anything other than orders since I created you" he said with a heavy voice unlike his normal self "but since this is our last day, I suppose I could give you something" he deposited his weapon in her inventory, and it rendered in her gloved hands. Of course, she simply still held the same blank expression "look at me: with an NPC. Man, how low can you get?" The gunner said, while putting a hand to his face.

"You kidding me? Did you seriously just give your peacemaker, to peacemaker?" Hest said with amusement "I mean, I know you love to laugh at the irony of things; but damn man, that´s quite the cheesy parting gift" his voice carried an underlying sense of understanding.

"Can you shut up" Wallaquia half yelled, annoyed yet at the same time thankful.

"Ah, my beautiful Saphira, you have no idea how much will I miss you! Most women outside from here are all just harpies" he exclaimed.

"Hey, careful with what you say. You still have to deal with those same harpies in the real world" Wallaquia reminded him.

"Yes, Yes" He laughed, but changed his tone to one more solemn, as he turned towards her again "Well… we actually had a really great time together, didn't we? I still remember when I created you years ago: A wonderful dragon and a beautiful girl" He could almost hear Wallaquia roll his eyes.

"At that moment I couldn't possibly imagine that you would grow to become my most trusted partner for exploring and scouting. I'm thankful to you, more than you can imagine…" Hest said as he stared her in the eyes, as he calmly showed his true feelings.

"Now than I think about it, I think i should give you something, too…" he seemed to be looking nowhere as he started to think, and then he started looking through his inventory, knowing exactly what to get "This, the treasure item we got from the first dungeon we mapped together" he de-equipped the item in his necklace slot: a mithrill ring with a Sapphire incrusted in it.

"The gem in it is the same from which I took your name. Maybe I kept it to always have a something to reminded me of you, so that you would be always close to me…" he tried to caress her but there wasn't such an action inside the game, so he just settled for putting it in her necklace slot "Now it's yours" he said with a tone that carried a certain finality.

"At least with this duel you two now have the answer to who is the best between us, hehe"

And after a last look, gathering all the composure he could he said.

"You are dismissed, you can now return with your companions. Should we get going towards the conference room?" asked a down hearted Hest.

"Yeah, let's just do that".


After entering his workshop, Loxen ordered the two girls to seat in the chairs that were a little removed from his forge, so that they could wait close by but not get in the way.

"Let's see, let's see. What could I make right now?" I said as he –Metaphorically- scratched his chin. "I can't really give you anything that strong since you already have your full set and patterns, so I guess something to compensate your weakness?"

"Iris" He said, looking at the elven girl "You are really nimble and fast, but can be taken out with ease if you can be easily spotted. And you, eve." He said, turning towards the smaller girl "You have an immense burst of damage, but you are rather fragile. Hum…"

After putting into words the task he had to solve, his mind quickly came to an idea, a concept, then a blueprint, then a material list and then the crafting steps.

He fumbled around the rum for a little bit searching for the materials that he needed. After that, it was a rather simple task of following the steps that he had mentally traced.

Before he had finished, he contemplated the mundane looking rings that he had prepared. They were a perfect little addition to the npc´s equipment, but they still lacked something. Something that could make them a really worthy gift to give as the last.

As he thought of something. The ring in his own possession called his attention. It was a silver ring, with one big square emerald, in which was engraved the symbol of the guild: Two hands with their backs touching each other, the hand from above had some coins falling on it, and the hand from below was taking a little bag.

This was the guild ring, and the ring that granted him access to the whole base, and that proved that he was a member.

An idea appeared in his head. He looked for a few more data crystals, and imbued the rings with them.

It was just an addition to change their appearances, the before mundane rings now looked like the one he had, just that they had a sapphire, instead of an emerald and that it looked like iron instead of silver. However, the guild emblem shone beautifully over the stones.

He turned around and walked up to them. "[Stand]" He said, and they rose to their feet "these rings are my parting gift to you. With these, I recognize all the years of adventure we've had together, all the help you have provided, and for always upholding your devotion to me, to our guild. To our home" He fell silent for a moment, as the bitter sentiment washed over him

"Iris, with this ring you will be able to hide in plain sight, for a short time most things will not be able to detect you at all" He put the ring in her inventory, and equipped it in her ring finger.

"Eve, with this ring, you will be able to negate for a short period of time any and all damage that comes your way that deals 30% of your health or less" after saying that, he did the same thing with iris, and equipped the ring in her ring finger.

"you have always been part of my dear home and family, but now, with this I want to let you know, that I truly care for you too." After saying that, he started sniffing. "Oh god, I can't believe I'm weeping like this. And this monologue, I wonder what the others would think, ha"

With that, he reached for the exit, and just when he was about to close the door behind him, he turned around one final time and said "Goodbye, my companions. It was a pleasure to fight by your side".


"This place seems so big now that it's empty"- The warrior known as Shinsekai Kami exclaimed as he stood alone in the middle of the Colosseum. "I really wish I could grant this scenery one final moment of glory, but there's nobody to watch, and nobody to perform. " A tone of melancholy in his voice, hi slowly moved his gaze over the multitude of row seats.

The Colosseum was kind of the same all around, if one were only looking at the non-restricted areas. Big hallways all around that lead to flights of stairs which took people to their seats.

Almost all of the visible parts of the Colosseum were a whitish-yellow in color, since it was mostly made out of sandstone. The restricted areas however, like the waiting rooms for gladiators, or where they kept traps and beasts, where underground and made out of hard granite.

Since the backstage was no place for a Showman –And besides, he already knew that place well enough- To him, there was only one place left that would be worth visiting at this point.

He went to the furthermost part of the Colosseum, where in the middle there were not the normal rows of seats, but rather one square room that occupied the space of many said rows. This was the Podium, a place for only those most important of attendants.

He went up the stairs needed to reach it, meanwhile he was talking to himself "I guess this old Showman didn't have that much talent after all, for what kind of narrator can't gather the crowd and have them roar to the performances in the final day of the show" The Draconic warrior lamented. "… I shall simply admire my creation from the best point of view, and then take my leave…"

When he reached the Podium and opened the door he was stopped in his tracks, stunned by the sight before him

Standing near the window of the podium stood a woman of incredible beauty. Her hair, long and curly, went down her back and shoulders, reaching further down from her shoulder blades. Her smooth and vibrant skin was of a healthy white color, and her bright green eyes almost seemed to radiate a light that illuminated her face.

She was considerably tall, and also had quite an outstanding body: full of generous curves that could stir something inside the most uninterested men.

Her face was holding a neutral expression, her deep emeralds were looking slightly below, and her mouth shut in a straight line. One could say it was a stare befitting of a ruler judging down her people. For that is what she was: Caesar, Empress of the Colosseum.

"Oh my, good to see you well, Caesar. Yours is a beauty that never fails to leave me speechless" the warrior said, as he approached her to stand by her side. "But what is this, somebody forgot to change you from the last game you were out?"

What he meant, was that she wasn't wearing her common solid purple toga with abundant golden trims and patterns, which was the formal clothing for the empress when watching the events of the Colosseum. Instead, she was wearing a large silver colored breastplate, with strapped protections over the shoulders, and an equally radiant metallic skirt for protection, underneath that, she was wearing light leather clothes dyed red. One sword hung by her side, the handle beautifully decorated with sapphires.

This was the attire reserved exclusively for when the empress herself went down to the arena, ready to participate in the games, and face any who may dire to challenge her.

"Ah, at first I was against the suggestion that we used you as a special event, but once I saw you down there, crushing your unworthy opponents, I knew that that too, was part of your legacy to rule about all" He continued his lonely monologue. "But, you now…." Turning her to look him in the eyes, he said "Seeing you now just gave me an idea. What do you say Caesar, since you're already prepared what to head out for one final game?" He said, as he felt a little smile crawl its way to his face.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The warrior's voice soared "Welcome today, for the one and only, last day of the Colosseum!" he imagined the seats full like they were before, the crowds of people giving mighty cheers to the narrator.

He was now standing again in the middle of the arena, wearing his regular showman attire for the Colosseum: A white toga with golden straps on the shoulders, and a red scarf flowing from his left shoulder to his right lower body. His head was decorated with a laurel wreath, and in his hand he held a microphone.

"Now, since there isn't much time, I shall –Sadly- Jump straight to the main event!" with an exaggerated gesture of his hand, he pointed towards one side of the arena. From there, a big door was opening, and from it came a majestic visage:

Four horses where pulling a chariot: two white in the back and two brown in the front, each row with silver and black armor respectively.

The chariot itself was wide and white in color, with golden trims around the edges, and wing motifs painted in black by its sides. Its two wheels had 12 spokes each, and were big and golden colored.

Atop this magnificent vehicle, stood the only one it would allow to ride it: The Mighty Caesar, pose dignified and sword held high.

"Behold, my friends, for the empress herself will delight us with a show of her strength, as a parting gift to all those watching!" He ignored the silence, and kept going.

"Since there is no worthy opponent to challenge her head-on, her majesty will instead do the laps around the arena fighting off against a group of our best gladiators!" He screamed in excitement.

At this, from the door surged four more chariots, all brown in color, with the dark grey still of the steel covering its borders. Each one was also pulled by four horses, all black with bronze armor. Riding this chariots where pairs of diverse monsters. One had two lizard men using scimitars; another had a pair of skeletons wielding lances, the third one had elves, one of the holding bow; and the final chariot held two bulky mantis-like monsters that fought unarmed.

All of them had reached the starting line. Caesar was alone in the front. Right behind her where the Mantis and the Skeletons, and behind those where the elves and the lizard men.

"Now, START!" the narrator screamed, giving the signal for the chariots to start racing.

With this, all the chariots started accelerating. The first ones to attempt to strike Caesar were the skeletons, making use of the longer range of the spears to try to reach her from a safe distance. This, however, failed since she swiftly repelled of the attack, throwing the lancer off balance and making him clash with his companion that held the reins.

"And the match starts with a futile attempt from our boney friends, but her majesty deals with them with astounding ease!" The warrior-showman screamed.

The unexpected pull caused the chariot, together with the boneheads to crash with the wall of the arena. Next came the mantis, one of which jumped into her chariot. Having to hold the reins and defend from the scythes made Caesar struggle to keep balance.

"One bold moves on part of the insect! But what do you think people, can we have a transgression like that happening!?" He imagined boos and cries of disapproval, like those that he's heard before when something like this happened.

Meanwhile, the lizard men were getting close to reaching her chariot. Realizing she would have to fight two on one if she dint deal with the mantis soon, she pulled the reins hard. The sudden decrease in speed caught the insectoid off guard, chance she used to make a swing at its torso, after which she kicked him out of the chariot, to be stomped by the horses that where still racing towards her.

"Another one down, nobody can stand against our mighty empress!"

When she held back to the reins, the leftover mantis´s chariot was at her right, and the lizard men were to her left. A second latter, both chariots started clashing against her in an attempt at taking out her wheels.

At this, Caesar released the skill that her sword held [Commander´s Whip]. This skill transformed her sword into a long whip, with multiple edges attached along its length.

With a flurry of attacks, she decapitated the three monsters performing the pincer attack.

"Wow! That is the strength of our Caesar, not even with the number advantage can she be overcome!" The loud roar of the cheering crowd came to his mind from some old memory.

With this, she was close to reaching the goal line.

Before however, she sensed the incoming danger, and made swirling motions with her whip in the air above her. Not a second later, a barrage of arrows rained on her. Turning her gaze, she sees the elven bowmen further behind, preparing for another assault.

Then the second rain of arrows came. Caesar deflected them in the same way, except that this time they had been explosive arrows. The resulting impact wave almost made the horses fall.

"What's this? The elves try to overthrow our high mistress with their sheer volume of attacks! But will it work!?" In the center of the arena, he was gesticulating exaggeratedly to accentuate his speech.

With the target out or reach, she turned to one skill in her arsenal, specifically given to her for this type of circumstances.

She used [Temporal Dismount]. With this, a greenish transparent after image of her was left behind holding the reins, and she was free to activate her second skill [Mighty Leap] which allowed her to jump all the way between the moving chariots.

Slamming into the vehicle of the elves, she made quick work of them, since their power was prepared for long distance fights. 5 seconds after the activation of [Temporal Dismount], its secondary effect triggered teleporting Caesar back to replace the afterimage.

"And she uses her extraordinary skills to easily overcome them! Truly the one we claim as our Empress! Caesar! Caesar! Caesar!" To his ears, his chanting sounded like that of the full Colosseum claiming her name.

After this, she crossed the victory line with ease, stopping afterwards to strike her default victory pose: standing straight, with the right arm holding her sword high above her head.

Silently, the warrior made his way to where she stood, the programed "Winner" effects in place: bright light and a seemly endless rain of confetti and roses surrounded her.

He hopped up to the chariot, and approached her. He put his hands on her shoulders, and with a shaky voice he said "Wonderful, you have done wonderfully my friend!" he retreated back and faced her directly. "Though I apologize for not been able to prepare a more epic challenge for you, even still you performed as well as every other time- no, even better than ever before!"

After a moment's hesitation, he reached into her inventory, and placed in it the microphone that for so long –even today- had helped his voice reach the whole stadium. It was a simple item that exponentially increased the amount of people that [Message] could reach, however it would be heard by anyone within its range.

Even though it was a rather cheap Gacha item, he held dear memories of it.

"For so long we both have kept the audience speechless, and yet today I find the silence almost crushing." the warrior paused before continuing "My friend, to you I give this: my voice. For it may never resonate again within these walls". He leapt out of the chariot, and after looking back one last time he said "Goodbye, my friend. It was fun!"


Slowly, around ten minutes before midnight, everyone gathered again in the conference room. First were Hest and Wallaquia, since they were pretty close by. After that came Enges Munra and PuriPuriLitith. Then came Loxen, and finally, Shinsekai Kami.

This time, however, everyone had a more solemn- or, more exactly- sad mood to them.

"Well my companions. It seems this is the final goodbye" Said the Guild Master. "I really appreciate those of you who stayed to the end. You are all dear friends of mine."

A happy or thumbs up emoticon appeared from everyone. The next to speak was Lilith. "Guys, if it's not too much to ask…" She hesitated for a second "Could we play together again?" her tone had a certain tone of plea to it.

"Whatever do you mean? Of course we will! Be it in YGGDRASIL II, or some other game, but we will certainly reunite. After all, we are comrade businessman, are we not?" the sore voice of Enges Munra laughed.

"To quote and old song, 'we'll meet again, don't know when, don't know where, but it'll be my guess, some sunny day'" Loxen spoke, and then said in a more cheery tone. "We will definitively group back together!"

"Yes. It's been really fun." Was all that Wallaquia said, but everyone knew he meant that from the bottom of his heart.

"Yeah, we will kick ass together, wherever it is that we see each other again". Hest added his own remark.

"Thank you all, really. Now let us wait for the final moment" Added their leader.

The clock in their HUDs signaled 11:59:35.

36, 37, 38…

"You know, it's been so fun guys" Said Loxen.

49,50,51…

"Yes, I really wish we could stay here longer" remarked Shinsekai Kami.

58..

59..

"Well, this is it guys. Good bye" finished Wallaquia.

12:00:00.

01, 02, 03…

"Eh?" a confused sound.

"Hum?" and amused tone.

All of them were expecting the familiar feeling of disconnection, however, that never happened.

"Maybe they delayed the server´s shutdown?" Lilith timidly proposed a raised eyebrow in her face.

"Don't think so. The shitty devs were been pretty damn final about the whole thing." Hest said while frowning, due to remembering the one-sided decision of the developers.

"Interesting. This situation is abnormal. We should gather data" Said Wallaquia, his voice sounding a little stiff. A mechanical sound could be heard as he moved his hand to his chin.

"Wait guys. There's something strange here" Loxen noted, but was unable to determine what caused that feeling. He scratched his head, feeling the hard stone of his templates as he pondered.

"What? The [Message] function doesn't work, I can't contact an admin!" their leader exclaimed.

"Wait. More importantly, when did the HUD disappear?" said Munra, beginning to panic.

"All right everyone, let's calm down. Maybe there was some sort of bug while trying to shut down the server." Their leader commented.

"I just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. But god, what is it?" Loxen sighed, as he started loudly tapping the table.

"Hang on a second, Loxen how come you are… moving. Like. I can hear you Tapping the table!" as Hest stood and saw everyone turn towards him, with different expressions on their faces, he realized something else. "Guys, I think I got it now" his face seemed a mixture of shock and amusement. Everyone watched him expectant for what he had to say. "We are now in the game. Like, now reality is the game!" That was not what they were expecting.

"Aside from Hest going nuts from panic over there" Lilith said, giving an exasperated sigh. "Does anybody have a clue?"

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Hest said as he moved closer to her. "Here, ill prove it!" after saying that, he grabbed the point of one of her wings, and started caressing its feathers. "See! This feels pretty damn real to me!"

Not a second later and he was on the floor twitching in pain, Lilith having punched him in the face when she got surprised by the sudden sensation. She showed him her fists, face still red from anger. "Don't you dare touch me!" she screamed shyly and angry at the same time.

They were all standing now, surrounding the beaten up Hest as he stood again. "Well, that seems convincing enough for me" Loxen nonchalantly said as he shrugged.

"There could be an alternative explanation. Perhaps the launch of a second engine, more powerfull?" Wallaquia pondered.

"One that took for surprise its players, without singing an agreement contract, and didn't have an 'Exit' Button? I don't think so. The legal fallout would be disastrous" Munra added.

"Whatever it is, we just need to calm down, I'm sure the Developers will soon enough contact us" Their leader proclaimed. "Wait. Did anyone hear that?" He said next.

They all listened, and, surely enough; it sounded like an entire battalion was running. They instinctively knew that, whatever it was, it was going towards THEM.

Without a single extra second to prepare, the door to the conference room suddenly was blown out, as a bunch of people rushed to get in.

The sheer amount of shock they felt at that moment wasn't because they were facing the unknown. In fact, all the faces in front of them were extremely familiar. What came next, not so much though, as two of them reached towards them and spoke.

One had chocolate brown hair and was clad in silver armor, and the other was a tall blond with pointy ears. They, like the rest of the people behind them, had steams of tears coming from their eyes, and wore deeply worried expressions.

"Master, what is happening? What is it that you are biding me farewell!?" The brown haired lady got close to the Guild master and asked him in a pleading tone. "Did I do something, what has happened!? Please do not abandon me!" She hugged him and cried in his chest.

Meanwhile, the tall blond silently approached Loxen, a sad and bitter expression on her face.

"Loxen-sama, what is happening? You give us such magnificent gifts and yet…" She bits her lower lip and clenches her eyes in frustration. A single tear runs down her cheek. "And yet you suddenly say that they are parting gifts? That's…" She stops for a moment to prevent herself from sobbing. "That's just too unfair…" with this, she finally looks him straight in the eyes, rooting him in his position. She had a hurt expression like none he had ever seen before.

Loxen thought he would be paralyzed like that forever. Until he heard hearty laugh come from behind him.

"HA! Take that, I TOLD YOU!" Hest happily exclaimed. "I TOLD… YOU…all…" After which, he fainted.

Oddly enough, there wasn't much of a reaction to the the sight of their companion falling to the floor. Lilith herself found it a little hilarious.

However, a mighty scream came from the crowd. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" as some of the presents started to be pushed away, the culprit was revealed to be the ranger known as Saphira, who was now rushing forward.

"MAAAAASTER, YOU DIDN'T LEEEEEAVE" while running, she shoved away the tall blond, as she saw her as an obstacle. The silver haired girl jumped over Hest, still laying unconscious on the floor, and hugged him like there was no tomorrow "WUEEEEEEE, IM SO HAPPYYYY" the girl exclaimed. as tears started rolling down her cheeks, and she rubbed then on the unconscious man's chest. As she pressed against him, a sound like a bone moving out of its place was heard.

Meanwhile Wallaquia´s mind was racing at a mile per minute, considering many possibilities about just how a thing such as this could happen, perfectly aware that this effort was futile.

Normally, he would be panicking like the rest of his guild mates, and deep inside he was; but something was not allowing any emotion whatsoever to show on his face, nor for them to hinder his thinking process, which was almost working faster than he could keep up with.

He would have been fine with it, if not for the fact that the repeating message that his overloaded mind was sending him was, in resume, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

And that felt like a thousand needles going deep inside his brain, urging him to gather information, to research, to find the truth. And so he tried to do that.

"I'm going to investigate" he said in an urgent as he tried to push past the crowd gathering at the entrance.

"Wait what? You can't leave right now! We don't even know what's happening!" Munra said after returning to his senses

"And that's exactly why we can't just stay here sitting Munra"

He was almost reaching the entrance when Munra tried to move towards him

"wai-" Munra´s complaint was cut short, since a monotone voice interrupted him

"Master, for your safety I cannot let you leave"

His steps halted before he could even reach the door

"Peacemaker"

"Even if I have to use force to make you stay I will do it, so please master, refrain from leaving this room" She said with the smallest hint of a quiver in her voice.

He could see she was lying, even before he could reach the door he knew that none of the npc could stop them from doing so, they were essentially just begging for them to stay.

But he could not move her from the door at all. Not because of her feeble attempt to lie, nor because of the threat, and not even because of his guild.

"Are you aware, that pistol will do nothing to me?"

Her trembling hands were holding the weapon he had just given her, his peacemaker

"The moment this pistol rested upon my hands, I knew it was the best weapon I could ever wield". She said with monotone confidence in her voice.

He kept on walking towards the door –towards her- while she was still aiming at his heart. He put his hands on the top of the door frame over her head, and moved his face closer to hers.

"Please master" she said, her voice finally showing her despair, yet still not putting the gun down; rather, she was now aiming for his chin.

Watching her glacial eyes up close, he could see the beginning of water coming out of them. He extended his finger, catching the tear before it could reach her cheek.

"Well. Damn. Now I feel like an asshole" He said as he took a step back.

Now feeling in control of his mind again, he walked back to the table and sat down; putting his hand on his, face rubbing his eyes in an exasperated manner.

The rest of the Crowd could just look thankfully at peacemaker for her bravery, who was now rubbing her eyes to get rid of the tears trying to come out.

"Okay. Yeah. Wow. That just happened" a rather confused Lillith exclaimed, as she looked with a bit of incredulity towards her friend, now seated back at the table.

"Alright, everybody listen!" The sudden voice of the guild leader surprised everyone present, since he had been quiet since the crowd entered the room. With soft motions, he separated from the still teary-eyed girl that was hugging him.

"There seems to be a REALLY confusing situation going on that we Businessman need time to discuss. So as your boss, I shall ask every one of you: please, get out"- He said, a second latter murmurs of confusion and panic started to spread to the crowd. Before they could get out of control again, however, he repeated his order in a louder, more authoritarian tone "I said, get OUT!" as he motioned towards the door for everyone to leave.

As the last one of them exited –Caesar- and looked back for a brief moment with worry, before shutting the door. "Alright, with that out of the way" their leader exclaimed, addressing the other 5 players in the room. Everyone held their breath for what he would say next, some expecting their leader to make sense of the bizarre situation.

"First things first" he said as he looked at everyone in turn.

"What the FUCK do we do now?"