Leaving home for Thanksgiving is fun but kind of tedious. I hope it was enjoyable for the rest of you.

Please Enjoy

"And you are certain you wish to come with me?"

The voice of the overlord Ainz Ooal Gown traveled through the night air, breaking the silence he'd been sitting in after he'd emerged from the darkness of a Gate. He'd come back to the Re-Estize Kingdom far sooner than his initial plans would have forced him to for one reason alone.

"Yes."

And she was right in front of him, her reply too simple for even the most scrutinous of men to question.

Just as they'd agreed upon, Ainz arrived seven days after his last talk with Evileye (Waiting for night to fall out of concern for her having a potential daytime weakness), and wasted no time in asking for her official answer to his proposal. To his glee, if you could call the weird satisfaction he felt such a thing, her answer was exactly what he wanted to hear.

Now would come the hard part: Integrating yet another new face into his dysfunctional family.

After the formalities it would take nothing more than another simple trip through a Gate to bring his new ally home. She had very little to take with her. The entire process went smoothly, enough so that Ainz almost considered it a trap and Evileye couldn't help but compare it to a knight whisking her away like a princess in an ancient fairy tale.

That was if you could imagine the princess as a vampire who could fell a nation and the knight as a necromancer with the power to…

She shook her head and cleared those thoughts from her mind, they were distracting and quite frankly far more embarrassing than anything else she found herself wondering about. She had to remind herself that this was still something of a business partnership, not an undead romance novel.

Who would read something like that anyway? Then again the skeleton had indeed shown some level of attachment to her, so maybe it was possible...

The vampire felt her cheeks grow hot and, with a sigh, tucked those feelings away with her fantasies, instead deciding to focus on what awaited the two of them when they finally made it to the other side.

It was a tomb, no surprises there. A tomb that appeared to be a good number of structures lying openly on the surface and a thick wall of grassland covering the walls to camouflage it from the outside. Anyone passing by would likely see it as nothing more than a hill, assuming they saw it at all. How Ainz and his subjects managed to remain hidden all this time suddenly made more sense.

"And this is...Nazarick, you called it?"

She'd been paying full attention to the lecture on his home the last time they spoke but it didn't hurt to show a little more interest.

"Indeed, a great tomb that my companions and I call home."

After hearing that response the vampire simply hummed in acknowledgement, her mind going back to what she could clearly see in front of her. The surface area was impressive and the buildings didn't seem to have degraded much if at all, definitely fitting of a deceased king. But of course the outside was of little concern, it was still a tomb, what really mattered was what was beneath the surface. Ainz told her that there were multiple floors, though he'd intentionally avoided giving any description of them nor tell her how many there were.

If she had to guess there were at least three: One to house his army, one for his "guardians" and the last as his own private quarters, where the final battle would take place should his home be raided by intruders. If she was lucky there would probably be a dark corner she could tuck herself into to avoid unnecessary confrontations, but if not...

Where exactly would I go?

The embarrassing thoughts came back all too quickly as she considered the answer to that question. Assuming the layout was as she imagined she would likely be with the rest of the guardians, but then there was a slight chance that she'd be stuck with Ainz…

She put her hand to her mask, wanting to somehow cover her face even more than it already was. She wouldn't make it if she couldn't keep her imagination in check.

"Are you nervous?"

The lich, having noticed her actions spoke suddenly, his voice shaking Evileye from her speculation. Was she nervous? Yes. She was. But he didn't need to know that.

"If so then it may be best to skip introductions for now and get straight to the business side of things."

Despite how terrifying his voice should've been it still came out as...Gentle. Obviously the vampire couldn't back down.

"No, just curious."

Evileye matched his tone, she didn't think Ainz would use a sign of weakness to gain leverage over her but that was no reason to let her cool facade slip up even more. Their trip to the Theocracy had exposed her enough already.

"I see…"

Ainz gave a slow reply, keeping his gaze on her out of genuine concern. This was as awkward for him as it was for her, that said he was worried that an unforeseen factor might force the vampire to change her mind and that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs. Eventually though, he had to keep moving and so he nodded to her as if satisfied and began walking towards the main entrance of Nazarick.

On the other side of the spectrum Evileye felt quite a bit of relief as she followed him, it was times like this that made her glad that she wore a mask at all times, she was sure that Ainz would have found a fault in her expression otherwise.

That was too close...

These awkward interactions would be just the first of many and the pressure made the vampire want to explode. Pretty concerning considering she hadn't taken a single step into the tomb yet.

Luckily a much needed break in the tension surfaced with the appearance of a new character.

"Hey, was hoping to see you out here."

When they'd finally reached the doors a large man appeared from the darkness, his voice having caught the duo wholly off guard.

"Oh, sorry, did I make things awkward?"

The two undead didn't need to answer, while neither of them were capable of showing any true expression, the way they simply stared at him was enough of an answer.

The new appearance realized this and instantly looked back to Ainz, continuing on with his thoughts before things could get any worse.

"So Ainz I was talking to Seashell awhile ago and I had an idea that I thought I should mention to you. You know being an advisor and all I thought it was smart to tell you about my plans. While I'm not being hounded by Alfredo anyway."

The man spoke again, moving into the moonlight where he could be seen more clearly.

Evileye had to do a double-take. He was...Massive. That was the first word that came to her mind. He was larger than even Ainz who dwarfed most other men, but unlike him this man had the flesh and muscle to accentuate his size even more. And he didn't bother to cover it up either.

"Albedo would not appreciate you calling her that."

Ainz's reaction, as expected, was far more impassive, now of all times was when he least expected his fellow player to come have a serious discussion with him but there was no point in playing dumb in front of Evileye. So he gave a flat reply regarding the nickname for Albedo, ignoring the man's initial statement.

"Yeah, I know, good thing she's not around."

But he seemed not at all bothered with having his idea glossed over, instead the giant turned his attention to the vampire who'd been staring at him intensely since the moment he opened his mouth.

"Yo."

Evileye twitched visibly, unnerved by how casually he spoke to her. She had no idea what 'Yo' meant but she automatically linked it to some form of greeting.

"Hello."

She did a slight bow out of respect, not yet knowing what to make of the person in front of her. She half expected him to simply continue what he'd been saying to Ainz but that hope was misplaced.

"No need to be so stiff, we were comrades in the Theocracy, weren't we?"

Then it clicked, she'd seen someone of his size before and that small bit of information instantly gave away his identity: The suit of red armor that so graciously offered his seat with Ainz to the vampire princess, pulling her along and sitting her in that carriage before she could even come up with a suitable complaint to stop him.

The man who was directly responsible for the closeness the two had forged in so short a time.

Here he was now, not an inch of that armor in sight. His upper body and more importantly, his face now revealed. She took in the details rather quickly, the messy dark hair, permanent scowl etched into his face and of course the one feature she was actually able to recall: The ever so important eyes: Large, orange, beast-like eyes that seemed to glow in contrast to the darkness surrounding him.

Odd...This man was clearly inhuman but nothing aside from his eyes gave it away. He wasn't a vampire like her, obviously, so what was he? Maybe a hybrid race? The look of his eyes were familiar but not enough to place off the top of her head.

Too late to worry about that now...

"Yes...I'm sorry, but your name slips my mind."

There would be a time for questions such as that later, for now she stuck to basic mannerisms, he didn't seem to bear any hostilities and it wasn't as if she could run away if she managed to offend him. To Ainz's dismay, he seemed more than willing to indulge in light banter.

"I didn't really introduce myself at the time anyway. The name's Tan."

The vampire cocked her head slightly to the side.

"Tan…?"

"Is it weird?"

Yes, it definitely was weird but not more so than "Brain" or "Climb". She didn't care to mention them now.

"Simplistic." She replied, forcing the warrior to shift a bit before responding.

"I prefer simplistic, not as tedious to say as the great 'Ainz Ooal Gown' and his seven titles that must be said every time you address him."

Had it not been for her current predicament Evileye may have felt the urge to laugh at his statement but...That was blatant disrespect wasn't it? She thought so and looked to Ainz for just a moment, yet the skeleton simply continued staring at Tan, not giving any indication of how the comment impacted him. It was worrisome but she decided that if he gave no noticeable reaction then it was best that she didn't either.

"I understand, Tan. Please call me Evileye."

"Very cool alias, I haven't been able to think of anything fitting for myself...Ah, I have a habit of giving people nicknames, I hope you don't mind."

His voice sounded far too inviting, like that of an old friend. It was too unsettling. Evileye didn't know much about him but his relaxed posture and casual tone unnerved her far more than the clumsy suit of armor she'd met initially. Anyone who could look Ainz in the eyes (Lights?) and be comfortable with talking to him like he wasn't a big deal was a terrifying individual.

She didn't want to know what kind of man he really was.

"Of course not, thank you for the courtesy."

And that line seemed like more than enough to end the conversation and get that man's attention off of her. He turned back to Ainz enthusiastically, proving again that he wasn't even slightly shaken up by the necromancer's glare.

"That's all I came to say, maybe we should talk about the 'plans' after you give our new friend the grand tour?"

Evileye didn't like the way he phrased that statement but she wasn't willing to risk getting involved in the conversation again.

"Finalize your ideas with Demiurge first, I will not jeopardize anything we've worked on already."

Ainz did not seem amused but gave in regardless, fearing that Tanabe talking for any longer would seriously ruin everything he'd worked for. To support that theory a grin came to the warrior's face right after he'd received permission to have his ideas heard.

"Nice, I'll leave you to it then."

And, with a bow, Tan retreated back into the darkness, seemingly vanishing as quickly as he appeared.

The ensuing silence was to be expected, the skeleton was clearly upset and Evileye was quite shaken up.

From Tan she received the same feeling that she got from Ainz: A presence she couldn't hope to compete with. As if some great and powerful being had descended to live amongst them and no matter how human it seemed there was still a sixth sense that screamed at her to run. What...Was he? No, what were THEY?

That was a question she didn't dare ask

"I apologize for that disturbance...And our companion's attitude, he enjoys making things 'interesting'."

Ainz was the first to speak up once his thoughts were sorted, it was a pain even trying to imagine what ridiculous idea the dragonkin would throw at him next.

"Not at all, at the very least he seemed friendly, I'm glad to have met him sooner rather than later."

And again Evileye gave a response that would make him smile if he had the ability to do so, he was more than grateful that she had the patience and resolve to take such things in stride, it was a welcome respite from servants who took everything he told them as a divine decree.

"Glad to hear it. Then, shall we get going?"

"Of course."

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The women Evileye had once associated with were faring no better than the vampire herself was at the moment, in particular Rigrit had found herself in a very difficult situation.

Assassins were not too hard to run into, even less so in a large territory where adventurers and mercenaries were always within arms length, but being stalked WITHIN the territory was a pain, especially when there was more than one.

It didn't take long to realize she was being followed, she it figured out soon after leaving her old friends behind. By who and for what reason she had yet to learn, but there were two and they were distinctly different from one another.

The first was exceedingly good at keeping themselves hidden, the only thing giving them away being a hint of murderous intent every now and again, subtle enough that it felt like a knife was pressed against her back at all times. A warning, not an active threat. She never got a glimpse of this person.

But the other was the exact opposite. Where the first had been subtle and nearly undetectable, the second actively let off their killing intent like a fountain and whenever Rigrit checked to see if she was being followed there was always a robed person in the distance behind her. So obvious...It was almost sickening.

One was warning her and the other openly taunting her, like a twisted game of hide and seek. Were the two connected in some way? Not likely but she didn't rule out the possibility.

I'm getting too old for this.

Rigrit sighed, this had gone on for several days now. After realizing that she had no hope in talking her long time friend out of leaving her team behind Rigrit took her interests a bit higher up the totem pole, to the royal family. Being a retired adamantite ranked adventurer herself she had no trouble getting into the palace for an audience, they were after all in dire straits and having a legendary hero around was a good way to lift spirits.

That was when she felt the presence of the First, but at the time she'd chalked it up to a wary guard who just didn't trust her.

Unfortunately that visit had ended with even worse news than she thought: Not only did all the important figures seem deluded into believing that their city was safe, but the only people who seemed to know any better had refused to speak up throughout the entire conversation. Gazef stood tall and proud with little emotion on his face, but a weariness that no amount of sternness would hide, clearly he had seen something that'd put heavy stress on his mind. Aside from him there was only one other person who held the same suspicion, and she'd been glaring at the elderly adventurer since the moment she walked in.

The Golden Princess? Rigrit new better than to fall for that act, those eyes were not that of an innocent young girl, they held a coldness far worse than even that of a heartless assassin, there probably undead with a livelier glare than that. Those were all the signs she needed to abandon hope for the Kingdom, she gave a few of her own thoughts towards strategy and defensive placement then promptly left as quickly as she'd arrived.

And then that's when the second assassin came to light, with a far more imposing presence. And just like that, she became a mouse in a labyrinth.

So how did one stave off the impending danger that loomed over them at a moment's notice? For a veteran like herself the answer was obvious: Play the fool and wait for an opportunity to flush them both out.

She was not so weak as to have any genuine fear of being attacked by a random killer and her experience spoke for itself, all she had to do was continue living normally, not daring to leave the Kingdom and give away where she might've been heading.

The patterns between her stalkers were easy to track: The First kept their distance, watching her throughout the day then leaving at regular intervals for god knows what, then returning again as things got late to watch her briefly before leaving for good.

The Second took things more directly, only appearing every so often but getting closer and closer each time they crossed paths, even going so far as to come within arm's length in a crowded area, an obvious and fruitless attempt to get the elderly woman to overreact and cause a scene. A sick game, that's all it was.

And so Rigrit gave them what they wanted to see, an average old woman going out to see the people, have a calm conversation with old friends, go home for the night when it was still clearly daylight...She hoped they hated the quiet life as much as she did.

Then today, of course, she decided to make her move. She was out for an average evening stroll, making sure it was dark out and that there were few people around. Given the patterns of the First, they would likely be very intrigued to see why she'd break her pattern for a nightly stroll.

And the bait worked perfectly.

Without warning she broke into a sprint at a speed that contradicted what one would expect from someone of her age.

Luring her stalkers out wasn't too hard after that.

She kept running, through alleyways and across roadways with little concern for who might have seen her, coming to a stop only when she was sure there were no longer any civilians around.

She had forced the First to chase her tirelessly, hiding their presence had become out of the question as a result.

"Well now, you don't need to be shy when there's no one out here to see you aside from little old me."

Rigrit spoke out into the night air almost tauntingly. The feeling came again, but there was no one in sight that stood out.

"All alone here, I think I'd pretty convincing target, and oh don't worry, you should know I have no traps set up."

Another callout from the old woman, she saw no pressure in playing the game of cat and mouse on her own terms.

"Well if you insist."

Not to be undeterred by the ruthless accusations of a lowly human, Solution made herself visible. Sebas had strictly told her to remain as a spectator but now that she'd been found out, the smarter option was to simply kidnap Rigrit now before things could get out of hand.

"Pretty for an assassin aren't you?"

Rigrit eyed her stalker closely, this...Was not how she expected the person to look at all. One glance and she could feel that evil aura seeping from the body of the blonde...Maid?

Now there was no doubt, the person before her was definitely inhuman.

"My my. This is a pleasant surprise isn't it?"

She should have expected an eventual appearance from the Second but a sickeningly sweet voice caused her to turn in shock instead.

Ahead of her, coming from an alley a hooded figure approached her, a dagger spinning around their finger like a toy. The second and more aggressive of her stalkers made themselves known first. Having uncharacteristically hid themselves from her perception.

Or maybe they were waiting here the whole time.

The thought made her want to scoff, she was already disgusted enough with the thought of being relentlessly hunted by a few mercs who were scared of an old woman, especially when she could still feel an almost inhuman level of bloodlust from the person who stood before her now.

Was this a trap? That thought plagued her mind for quite awhile, for her to be pincered like this when she decided to go out for a run on a whim made her look less experienced and more foolish. Then again it wasn't as if she had much choice, not when they'd refused to make a move until now.

Fortunately, the moment the Solution noticed the outside bloodlust her smile vanished instantly, and Rigrit could tell that her assailants were not familiar with one another.

So they are separate…

That thought was cut off though, her head almost joining it. The few moments she took to understand her situation was enough time for the hooded figure to instantly go for her throat.

She was not fast enough to completely avoid the attack. She would have suffered for her negligence had it not been for Solution's intervention, having closed the same distance herself and stopping the incoming blade with her own.

Rigrit didn't need to die, not yet. Not until Ainz himself proclaimed her as a liability that needed to be removed. And then she'd enjoy the resulting meal.

"Oooh, you're quick, where'd you learn to move like that?"

The hooded figure spoke again, the only thing visible being the sickening grin to match their voice.

Solution didn't respond, instead breaking the stalemate that held them at bay and placing herself between her target and second assassin.

"If you wish to remain living for as little time as you have left then I recommend you stay there and do not attempt escape."

Solutions voice was ice cold, and she ignored the glare she received from the proud adventurer who would have easily claimed that she needed no help.

In the end they were all enemies, but no one would steal her prey, much less another pathetic human.

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When invited into the dark lair of a lich who defied all conceivable logic, what would one expect to see?

Legions of undead, decrepit sanctums filled with various traps, horrific creatures sewn together from the unfortunate victims who once stalked it's halls. That was the story any veteran adventurer would likely tell you and to be fair, that would be exactly what you'd see in just about any dungeon inhabited by powerful undead.

Being one of those veteran adventurers, Evileye thought no different.

Most undead weren't particularly fond of company anyway, for what reason should she consider this an exception? More likely than not she was simply walking into a dark crypt, she wouldn't complain though, the gracious host was after all a skeleton overlord, a grand palace wasn't exactly the kind of home she could expect to see.

With that sort of mentality in mind, it should go without saying that Nazarick left her speechless.

First were the floors that actually looked as though they belonged in a tomb, unexpectedly well maintained, but they fit the bill of an undead's headquarters all the same. Then a lake, easily explained away as an underground reservoir, but by the time she stepped foot onto the frozen terrain of the fifth floor she'd found it very difficult to apply a reasonable explanation for her surroundings.

An illusion?

That thought was the first and most reasonable explanation she could give. If what she was seeing was fabricated then...No, mental attacks were typically ineffective on an undead like herself, and even if her vision was being tricked, her other senses were definitely not. Through her equipment she could feel the sickening cold piercing her skin, the icy air prickling her lungs. It couldn't have been an illusion, she would have noticed the signs the signs by now. Furthermore, what would Ainz hope to gain by tricking her in this manner? He had already proven himself to be far too frugal to waste resources in such a way.

No, what she was seeing was very real, but then that brought another serious question to mind: What form of magic could be used to sustain such conditions for long periods of time?

She was still holding onto that thought when they crossed into the next floor: A dense jungle, completely unaffected by the environment they'd left behind. Did that short magical transit truly take them so much further down that the cold wouldn't reach them? Again, she found herself unable to sit on a single thought for long, because even more shockingly than the environment change there was another key factor on this floor that befuddled her even further.

There was a sun. A big round yellow sun hovering in the sky six floors underground.

By now she had become less concerned with how such contradictory environments could coexist and more worried about whether or not she could be sure that she was still within the same "tomb".

Ainz seemed to notice her doubts, giving her what he thought was a simple explanation, that the sun was artificial and that it simulated the day cycle of the outside world. Obviously this explanation was only simple for him and those who understood how the original Yggdrasil worked, for Evileye it only managed to destroy her predetermined outlook on the world and push Ainz further into the "God" column. Such notions would have been ridiculous to her before but what could she really say at that point? He made a sun and stuck it underground like a giant candle. She'd seen her fair share of dungeons with outlandish environments in the past but to believe that everything she was seeing was within the same dungeon…

She decided to simply chalk it up to illusory magic after all, that or some advanced form of alchemy. If she did that then she could at the very least continue to look at the tomb under the lens of logic and rationality.

That was of course until they stepped into the active volcano that was the seventh floor with literal demons walking around like average everyday citizens and well…They were forced to stop the little tour and give Evileye time to rationalize what her life was turning into rather than whether or not what she was seeing was real.

Entering Nazarick for the first time would blow just about anyone's mind really.