Disclaimer: Zero no Tsukaima is the property of Noboru Yamaguchi and Media Factory. Overlord is the property of Triumph Studios and Codemasters. I claim no ownership of any of the elements of either franchise appearing in this story. This entire story is a work of fan-fiction.

Overlord of the Void:

Chapter 2

As it turns out, I ended up spending most of the night helping Siesta with a few of her tasks. After that, I spent some time familiarizing myself with the castle, so I wouldn't need to search the halls blindly again. By the time I finally returned to Louise's room, the sun had already risen, and I can hear the noise of some early risers coming from the hallway. Apparently, Louise herself isn't one of those, as she still seems to be fast asleep.

Which leaves me with the task of waking her up. "Louise," I call out to her.

No reaction.

"Louise," I try again, a bit louder this time. Again, she doesn't react in any way.

"Hey, wake up," I say, as I start shaking her by her shoulder. This time, she mumbles something incoherently, but she still doesn't seem to wake up.

Finally losing my patience, I give a hard kick against the edge of her bed, thinking the impact should cause her to wake up. However, it seems these beds are less resistant to violence than the ones in the Dark Tower. With a loud crack, the bed splits into two halves.

This time, Louise does wake up.

Oh, crap.

Looking around in panic, Louise calms down as her eyes fall on me. Then, she sees the damage I inflicted on her bed. "Familiar, what happened to my bed?"

"Well, I think it split apart," I answer, in an attempt to stall the conversation for just a little bit longer.

Apparently, it wasn't the right answer. "Yes, I can see that. And why, exactly, is that?"

"I don't know. Maybe you need to go on a diet," I say, saying the first thing that came to mind.

Alright, that definitely wasn't the right answer.

Her face slowly turning red from anger, she begins to grumble. "Why you, you stupid..."

Suddenly, her anger seems to disappear, to be replaced by a devilish smile. Getting out of the ruined bed, she stretches her arms out to the sides, looking at me expectantly. "Dress me," she orders.

I put on a smile that matches hers perfectly. "Alright, if that's what you want me to do..."

Louise's smile instantly disappears, and this time, her face turns a different shade of red. "You... Just wait outside!"

I snort, and adopting a mocking tone, I answer, "As you wish." Turning on my heel, I quickly leave the room.

It seems most of the students have already left for the dining hall, as the hallway is completely deserted. As I wait next to the door to Louise's room, one of the doors on the opposite side of the hall opens, and a red haired girl appears. She seems to be quite a bit larger than Louise, in several ways, and I get the impression that she is used to taking advantage of this little fact. Well, calling it a large fact might be more accurate, really. The fact that she has left the top few buttons of her shirt undone, showing off her considerable cleavage, doesn't really do anything to take away this impression, either.

Shortly afterwards, Louise follows me out of her room as well, but as soon as she sees the girl, she freezes. When the girl catches sight of us, she grins broadly, and coming over to us, she says, "Good morning, Louise."

Louise frowns, and returns the greeting in a somewhat strained tone of voice. "Good morning... Kirche."

Then, Kirche turns towards me. "And I suppose this...," she says, while pointing at me mockingly, "is your familiar?"

"That's right," Louise answers.

Kirche burst out laughing. After she calmed down for a bit, she says, "Wow, it's really just like you to summon a commoner. What else to expect from Louise the Zero?"

Louise starts to shake in anger. "Shut up."

However, Kirche continues talking. "I summoned a familiar yesterday, too. But unlike a certain someone, I was successful on my first try." Then, pointing at the open door of her room, she says, "If you're going to have a familiar, it should be a good one, like this. Flame!" After calling out to her familiar, a salamander the size of a large dog crawls out.

Seeing the look of envy on Louise's face, Kirche grins. "Well, what do you think? Isn't he wonderful?"

Louise opens her mouth to make a retort, but I am just a little bit faster. "It's a salamander."

Kirche smiles. "That's right! A fire lizard! See, look at the tail. A flame this vivid and large means it's without a doubt a salamander from the Fire Dragon Mountains!"

Hm? Honestly, I fail to see what's so special about it. "What are you bragging about? It's just a salamander."

Kirche seems a bit skeptical, as she says, "Oh? And what would a commoner know of things like this?"

"Well, quite a bit, actually. I used to keep a few of them as pets," I say with a smirk. That was a very long time ago, though. I attempted to train some of them as mounts for the Red Minions, but I never managed to make it work during my time as the Overlord. While training salamanders isn't easy, trying to train a Minion is even harder. But at least they should have picked up a few things, so perhaps the next Overlord had more success.

My answer seems to have surprised Kirche, as she doesn't say anything for a few seconds, but then she replies, "Is that so? But surely, this one is special. After all, this is one of the rare salamanders from the Fire Dragon Mountains!"

"Why? Has this one learned how to cast magic of its own?"

Kirche seemed uncertain. "Er, no?"

"Can it speak? Or perhaps it obtained opposable thumbs?"

Again, Kirche replied in the negative.

"Then this salamander seems completely ordinary to me. Even its size is normal. It's nowhere near as large as a king salamander."

The conversation is put on hold for a few seconds as Kirche just stares at me. However, she doesn't seem offended. "Well, aren't you an interesting familiar." She starts to laugh. "Well then, I'll be off now." Having said that, she turns around and leaves. Her familiar starts following her shortly afterwards, and then they were gone.

Louise sighs. "That Kirche... She always gets on my nerves!" she complained. "But still... Was it true what you just said? About the salamanders?"

"Of course. I already told you what I did before I got here, right?"

Louise looks incredulous. "This again?"

It seems she still doesn't believe me. "Never mind. However, shouldn't we head towards the dining hall as well?"

"You're right. Let's go, familiar," Louise says as she starts walking down the hall, while beckoning me to follow her.

Well, then. Let's see what this dining hall looks like.

The entire academy is shaped like a pentagon, with a tower representing one of the five elements on each corner. The dining hall is located on the ground floor of the centermost building, with other important rooms, like the headmaster's office, on the higher floors.

Inside the dining hall, three long tables are arranged parallel to each other. It appears that every grade has its own table. Viewed from the entrance, the students sitting at the table on the right are first years, wearing brown cloaks. In the middle are the second years wearing black cloaks, and on the left are the third years wearing purple cloaks.

Being a second year, Louise heads towards the middle table, as she starts explaining. "Tristain's Academy of Magic doesn't teach just magic, you know."

Then why is it called an 'Academy of Magic'? That doesn't make any sense. I nod anyway, prompting her to continue.

"Almost all mages are nobles. The saying 'nobles achieve nobility through the use of magic' is a foundation for the education we receive as nobles. Thus, our dining halls must also be fitting of a noble's status."

"So I see..." So to be part of the ruling class, you have to be a mage? Well, in a way that's understandable. After all, the strong have always ruled over the weak. Since those possessing magic are stronger than those who don't, it's only natural that those who possess magic are called 'nobles' while those who don't are named 'commoners'. But still, being a good mage doesn't necessarily equal being a good ruler. That's a fact, and you'd have to be a fool to close your eyes to that. Which basically means that almost every noble is a fool.

Sounds about right to me.

"Understand? Normally, a commoner like you would never set foot inside the Alvíss Dining Hall. Be grateful," Louise continues.

Well, duh. I wouldn't even be here if you hadn't summoned me. And if a commoner would never set foot inside this place, then what about the servants? I sincerely doubt these mages would be able to function at all, if it weren't for the servants around here.

"Of course, Louise. I'm incredibly grateful to be here." I really, really am. "By the way, what's an Alvíss supposed to be?"

"It's the name for the little people. See all those statues over there?" Louise says, as she points towards the small statues lined up along the walls.

"So those are Alvíss, huh. Is there anything special about them?" I ask, since I can feel some faint traces of magic coming from them.

"Well, during the night they come alive to dance."

So these Alvíss can come alive at night? Interesting. I can think of a few uses for a group of small, walking statues. "Really? Is dancing all they do?"

"Well, yes. What else would they be doing?" Louise asks, apparently seriously wondering what other uses they might have.

"It's nothing." So not only do they dance at night, when no one can actually see them, but they don't do anything else, either? I silently shake my head. Such a waste of potential.

Apparently done talking, Louise takes a seat at the table, which is covered with all sorts of food. There are different kinds of meat, vegetables, pie, and although it's early in the morning, there's even wine. Really, luxury is all well and good, but this is just excessive. Back when I was Overlord, I didn't even eat like this for dinner, let alone for breakfast.

The students start to pray, and closing her eyes, Louise joins in as well. "Oh, Great Founder Brimir, and our lady, the Queen, we thank you for this humble meal that you have graciously provided us this morning."

How exactly is this a 'humble meal'?

Having finished praying, Louise looks at me, and then points to the floor. Placed on the floor is a bowl, filled with some kind of soup that looks more like dishwater, and a piece of hard-looking bread. It seems they didn't even bother to give me a spoon. Really, what is this? Even a dog eats better than this.

Yeah, I think I'll pass. It's not like I actually need to eat, anyway, so if this is what I'm going to get, I might as well skip it altogether. Waiting for Louise to finish her breakfast, I eye the food with disdain.

I silently promise myself that I'll limit their diet to water and bread once I rule this place. That'll teach them. I immediately feel a lot better.

The classes of this academy are pretty much as I expected. Basically, you sit down and watch the teacher talk all day. Most of what she said was unimportant, but I did learn a few interesting facts. Apparently, the mages of this world are divided among different classes, based on magical strength. The weakest mages are Dot-class, then there is Line-class, then Triangle-class, and the strongest mages are Square-class.

Also, apparently Square mages are rare, and only Square earth mages can transmute metals into gold. Personally, I found that very disappointing.

But besides that, most of the class was rather dull, although it did end rather explosively. Let's just say I now finally understand why Louise is called a 'Zero'. Her success rate is zero. Still, I don't think it's that bad. Sure, it's disappointing if all your spells fail, but explosions have their uses too, right? Did you lose the key to your house? Just create a little explosion, and the door's gone. Does someone annoy you? Create a slightly bigger explosion, and the nuisance is gone. There are very few things a nice, big explosion can't fix, and I've never met anyone who could create explosions as large as Louise can. I'm sure the Brown Minions would have loved her.

Right now, lunch break has begun, and so we're back at the dining hall, where we are going to have lunch. That is to say, Louise will have lunch, and I'll just stand around being bored. In fact, that's exactly what I'm doing right now. Looking around the hall for a bit, I frown as I see a familiar face. It seems Siesta has managed to earn herself the ire of a pair of nobles.

I recognize one of the nobles as the William-lookalike from last night. The other one is a young girl with tightly rolled blond hair. She's holding a bottle of perfume in her left hand, and her right hand is raised, as if to slap the frightened maid.

Normally, I don't interfere in this kind of stuff, but I'll make an exception this time. All this talk about familiars and serving is stressful, and I need to blow off some steam. There isn't much opportunity for carnage here, but even a little bit of conflict should make me feel a lot better. Besides, the girl is a good servant, and good service should be rewarded. Quickly making my way over to them, I catch the blond haired girl's hand right as it came down.

"Surely, this is all a misunderstanding," I say to the stunned girl, even though I have no idea what this is all about.

"And who are you?" the girl snaps at me.

Letting go of her hand, I answer, "Oh, I'm just someone passing by."

"Wait, you must be that commoner that Louise the Zero summoned," the William-lookalike interjects. "It figures you servants all cover for each other."

I slightly narrow my eyes, "Oh? And why would I be doing that?" I'll let that insult slide. After all, what's about to come next will easily make up for it.

"This maid has stolen my perfume," the blonde girl accuses, waving around the bottle of perfume in front of my face.

Siesta frantically denies it. "That's not..."

The girl didn't let her finish, however. "Quiet, commoner! How else could you have obtained that bottle after I gave it to Guiche?"

And suddenly, the pieces fall together. This Guiche is obviously some kind of playboy, and this girl must be his girlfriend. He must have dropped that bottle at some point, and Siesta, being a faithful servant, tried to return it to him. This girl must have seen the maid holding her perfume, and she must have drawn the wrong conclusion. And because Guiche is a spineless worm who is already being suspected of cheating, he has decided to support his girlfriend.

Of course, I have no way of knowing this for sure, but it sounds exactly like something this William-lookalike would do. But even if Siesta does happen to be lying, which seems unlikely, it doesn't matter to me. She didn't bother me, after all. Besides, seeing Guiche squirm should be amusing.

"That doesn't make any sense. Think about it for a moment. If she had really stolen your perfume, then would she have really done it in plain sight, where everyone could have seen her?"

The girl doesn't seem to be convinced, but she does seem to start doubting Guiche's story. I bet this isn't the first time Guiche has been lying to her.

Luckily, I know of another way to utterly destroy her trust in Guiche. In fact, she just entered the dining hall, and she is approaching us right now.

"By the way," I say casually to Guiche, "are you absolutely sure that she stole it?"

"Of course, commoner. Are you accusing me of being a liar?"

"Not at all. But I do wonder; if this perfume belongs to your girlfriend, then who was that girl you met up with last night?"

Cold sweat breaks out on Guiche's face as the girl turns towards him. "What is he talking about, Guiche?"

Trying to save his hide, Guiche denies everything. "Absolutely nothing, Montmorency. After all, I-..."

"I cannot tell lies in front of your eyes?" I swiftly interrupt. "When you said it last night, I thought it was a bit tacky. It hasn't gotten any better the second time."

And right at that moment, the brown haired girl from last night arrives on the scene. I couldn't have timed it better myself.

Now all I have to do is watch how everything plays out. Taking Siesta's arm, I quietly start shuffling backwards, dragging her along. In my experience, it's best to watch an explosion from a safe distance.

With a loud smack, Guiche is hit by a double-slap to the face. Huffing angrily, the two girls leave. Ahhh, teenage love. It just warms my heart to see it play out to its logical conclusion. A satisfied smile appears on my face. I was right; I do feel much better now. Turning around to take my leave, I'm stopped by Guiche's voice. "Stop right there."

"What is it now?" Really, this kid is working on my nerves.

"Because of your meddling, the reputation of two ladies has been damaged. How will you take responsibility?"

I can only stare at him. "Did getting slapped also deal damage your brain?"

Guiche's eyes narrow. "It would seem that you don't know the proper etiquette for addressing a noble."

"Oh, I know perfectly well how to address a noble. Once I see a noble, I'll be sure to let you know."

"It seems you need a lesson in respect. Perhaps a duel will teach you how to speak to your betters, commoner," Guiche says haughtily.

Well, there really is only one proper response to such a request. I laugh at him. Rather loudly, too. "You? Teach me a lesson? It seems you really did suffer brain damage. Grow up, little boy. I believe you have wasted enough of my time."

Still smiling, I really do walk away this time.

"W-What? I knew that you'd be too frightened to face me! Admit it, coward!" Guiche desperately taunts me. Perhaps he believes that beating me up will save his own face? That logic seems a bit faulty to me, but then again, these so-called nobles are pretty stupid, anyway.

I pay his childish taunts no mind, but what he says next makes me freeze. "I bet you're just as worthless as your master!"

My smile disappears. "What was that, rat?" Turning around, I narrow my eyes at him. I thought he had been humiliated enough, but it seems I was wrong. Insulting Louise was the final straw. I will suffer his foolish tongue no longer. "Perhaps you are right. I believe a lesson in respect is in order."

Smirking, Guiche answers, "I'll be waiting for you at the Vestri Court. Don't keep me waiting, commoner." He then stands up and leaves.

Next to me, Siesta is staring at me with wide eyes. "So," I address her, "where exactly is this Vestri Court?"

Siesta quivers as she answers, "Y-You... You'll get killed..."

A displeased frown appears on my face. Did the people here really have this little faith in me? "I highly doubt that. Now, about the Vestri Court..."

However, Siesta quickly hurries off.

At the same time, Louise managed to push her way through the crowd. "What do you think you're doing?" she hisses, as she attempts to drag me by my arm, with little success.

"I can ask the same thing of you. What exactly do you think you're doing?" I ask.

"I'm trying to save your life! If you hurry and apologize to Guiche now, he might still forgive you."

I can hear the concern laced in her voice. So, it seems she does care about me after all. It's all very touching, but I have no intention of apologizing to anyone. I shake my arm loose, and say, "I refuse. Now, where is the Vestri Court?"

Louise voice becomes pleading. "Don't you understand? A commoner can never beat a mage! You'll be lucky if you even manage to come back alive!"

I allow a small smile to grace my lips. "Your concern is touching, but unnecessary. And if you point me to the Vestri Court, I'll show you why."

While Louise doesn't seem entirely convinced, she must have seen that I'm being serious, as she wordlessly beckons me to follow her. My smile widens into a grin. On second thought, this 'duel' might actually be a good opportunity for me to showcase my power. Well, a little of it, anyway. This duel will be many things, but a real fight won't be one of them.

When I arrive at the Vestri Court, a large crowd of students has already gathered there. The students step aside as I approach, and soon I'm standing in the middle of the court with Guiche, surrounded by students on all sides.

"I commend you for not running away, commoner," Guiche said, while twirling his rose-shaped wand.

Having donned my helmet once again, I narrow my eyes, which are now glowing a bright red. "Stop talking and begin the duel, rat. I'm tired of hearing your voice." My voice has become deeper as well, taking on an echo, and with no small amount of satisfaction, I see Guiche flinch.

Quickly putting on an air of fake confidence, he points his wand at me. "Very well, then. If you are so eager to fall, commoner, then who am I to deny your request?" He flicks his wand, sending a bronze petal flying through the air. Where it landed, a bronze golem rose from the earth. "My name is Guiche the Bronze. As such, the bronze golem, Valkyrie, shall be your opponent."

Bronze? How pathetic. My armor is made of arcanium and imbued with the power of the Abyss. Something as weak as bronze cannot even scratch it.

The Valkyrie immediately charges towards me, its fist aimed at my stomach. I don't even bother to block it. Slamming its fist against my armor, its arm is shattered by the force it put behind the blow. At the same time, the enchantment on my armor activates. A shell of flames covers my body, blasting the golem with the hellish fire of the Abyss. Its scorched and blackened remains are launched through the air, landing before Guiche's feet in a heap of scrap metal.

"Was that all?" I say in a bored tone of voice, dusting some soot off my armor.

"W-What?" Guiche stutters, his eyes glued to the scorched remains of his Valkyrie. Even the crowd has gone silent. "B-B-But that's impossible! You're just a commoner! Commoner cannot use magic!" Guiche shrieks.

"I have said no such thing. Now, continue the duel. Otherwise, you'll die here," I say with a cold voice, as I reach for the sword on my back with my right hand. Panicking, Guiche frantically waves his wand around, and six more petals are launched, turning into six more Valkyries, this time all equipped with different kinds of weapons.

My hand closes around the hilt of my sword, and something changes. My body feels as light as a feather, and even my armor seems almost weightless, as power that is not my own flows through my body. It would seem being a familiar has a few perks as well.

The six golems surround me, and then all attack me at once. Dashing forward, the golem in front of me is sliced apart in an instant. It's strange. My body feels much lighter than normal, and I'm moving so fast that everything else seems to be standing still. I whirl around, cleanly bisecting the golem closest to me at the waist, then moving on to the next, cleaving it in half from head to crotch.

Two more slashes, and another two golems bite the dust. The last one leaps backwards, jumping in between me and Guiche.

Guiche himself is trembling, hiding behind the skirt of his last remaining Valkyrie. Fitting, I suppose. I glare coldly at him, as a cruel smile plays around my lips. My initial reason for not killing these students still stands. However, that does not mean that I will allow him to walk away unpunished.

Raising my left hand, I call forth the magic within me. When I was still the Overlord, I had to rely on the relics of the previous Overlord in order to do magic, as I could only do some minor magic myself. However, that is no longer the case. It is another gift I obtained from spending so much time in the Abyss.

Tapping into the darkness that exists within me, the same darkness that all Overlords possess, I gather it in my left hand, the spell taking the form of lightning. It is called 'Evil Presence'. Supposedly, all Overlords can use it, but I never managed to learn it before getting locked up in the Abyss. The spell overwhelms the mind with pure evil, inflicting great pain without actually damaging the body. By putting more power behind the spell, it burns away any semblance of free will, turning the target into a mindless slave. And by using even more power, the spell can even kill, as the strain it puts on the target will prove too much for his body to handle.

Since I don't intend to seriously harm Guiche, I only use a fraction of my power. Pointing towards the golem standing between me and Guiche, I let the spell loose. Even though I'm holding back, the golem instantly falls apart, as the magic sustaining it has been burned away. For Guiche however, things wouldn't go as fast. The boy collapses to the ground, curled up in a fetal position, as pain wracks his body.

After watching him squirm for a while, I lower my arm, and the stream of lightning stops. It seems Guiche has passed out, as he remains completely still. Making my way over to him, I kick him in the stomach. A groan escapes his lips, and he rolls onto his back, his eyelids fluttering.

"Wake up, rat. I haven't given you permission to pass out," I say, while looking down at him. My voice turns mocking. "If you are the standard for the nobles of this world, then the nobility here is truly pathetic." I look up from Guiche's quivering body to glare at the crowd surrounding us. The students closest to me back away quickly, their fear apparent on their faces. "You were so proud of your own power, so arrogant, and yet, you only dare challenge those you deem weaker than yourself, those who cannot defend themselves. That is not strength, that is weakness. You nobles are so full of yourselves, and yet you lack the power to back up your claims. That is the true face of this world's nobility. No power. No honor..." A distasteful sneer creeps across my face as the stench of urine reaches my nose, originating from a rapidly expanding stain on Guiche's pants. "... No dignity." I put my sword back in its sheath. "Let this be a lesson: I will crush anyone who gets in my way. And next time, I will not be so merciful."

Having said what I wanted to say, I turn and leave, unobstructed by the crowd of students, who seem to be trying their best to stay as far away from me as possible. Good, they learn fast.

I stop at the edge of the court, looking up at the academy's main tower. "I hope you enjoyed the show," I say to the mages who have been using a scrying spell to watch the duel since the very beginning. I laugh as I continue on my way.

I have already put some distance between myself and the Vestri Court when I stop again, allowing a small strawberry blond haired girl to catch up with me. "I trust that this was enough of a demonstration, Louise?" I say to the panting girl as she reaches me.

"That was... So you really are..." Louise manages to say between gasps for air. She looks up at me with a mixture of newfound respect, disbelief, and just a little bit of fear.

A genuine smile appears on my face. "You wished for a powerful familiar, did you not? Rest assured, for you have gotten exactly what you desired."

A/N:

And in this chapter, we see that being 'uncorrupted' does not equal 'being good'. The Overlord was actually fairly mild in his punishment, when you consider the alternatives. Guiche is still breathing, his limbs are all still attached, and he still has his free will. All he has is a trauma, so he's still pretty lucky.

But aside from the duel, not much happens this chapter. In fact, the first two days after the summoning are pretty uneventful. However, things should start getting more interesting now.

Next chapter involves Fouquet, and things will go quite a bit differently than they went in canon.

The first Minion Hive should appear the chapter after that, but it might make an early appearance, depending on the length of the next chapter.