The Shadow of Nazarick

by VastErimos

After Momonga saved his life, Vaughn decides to be the head of all intelligence gathering for the guild. What happens when they are both teleported to the new world?

1. Chapter 1 - End and Beginning

Tarou Arima sprinted through the door to his apartment ensuring that the door was closed behind him.

As he ran through the kitchen he glanced at the clock with it reading 22:12, 'Shit! It's the day of the shut-down and of course they needed me to fill in for someone.' He thought to himself as he made his way to the room at the end of the hall where his VR chair was situated.

While today was the last day of the DMMORPG Yggdrasil, Tarou could be spiteful when he wanted to be, and he had a long list of enemies he had to get even with in the last two and a half hours that the game would be online.

As he contemplated the most time efficient route to accomplish his goals for the third time that day the loading screen finally ended and his best creation to date stood before him, a semi-corporeal being wreathed in shadow wisps, he wore a leather looking combat robe with black and gold accents, under his pointed wizards hat was no true face just two piercing yellow eyes peering back through the shadows. This is Vaughn.

Vaughn was the first and last character Tarou had ever made but he looked nothing like the first time he was loaded up. For the first 8 years of playing Tarou had built Vaughn up from scratch to level 100 so many times that he had lost count not because he was targeted for PKing but because he reset over and over again to test every single race, and job combination all while looking for secret racial classes.

Which led to the current iteration of Vaughn, once he discovered the Shade race he received a notification from the devs informing him that he was the first player to ever find every single race that they had put into the game, and for that he received the tome that was strapped to his avatars hip. A new world Item known as the Tome of Wisdom, while the Tome was equipped he had an enhanced version of the Overlords Dark Wisdom that made it so that he could cast upwards of 1,200 spells that weren't limited to his spell caster classes, this allowed him to learn spells from the divine casters list as well as a few class restricted spells.

However the requirements to equip the Tome were what restored Tarou's faith that the devs were all heartless bastards, in order to equip the Tome you had to be level 100, of those 100 levels you could have no more that 3 races with a total max level of 40, one of which had to be an Undead Race, and the other 60+ levels all had to be in spellcasting classes or spellcasting adjacent classes.

Once it got out that he had a new World Item he became a very frequent target of attempted PK in an attempt to take it from him, this nearly pushed him to leaving the game as he saw it as the only way to stop the assholes of the game. At the eleventh hour though help came from an unforeseen direction.

*flashback*

A shadow demon was laying on the sand of one of the deserts of Midgard as he was surrounded by 17 other players. They had trapped him out here where there were no shadows for him to escape through or hide in. A dwarf player who was wielding a battle axe was gloating over his prone form, "I still can't believe that the stupid devs made a whole new World Item for this low level, inhuman piece of garbage." and so on and so forth, Humanoids will always be superior to Heteromorphs, blah blah blah.

As Vaughn let the monologuing voice drift into white noise he checked his health bar only to see that it was telling him that he could only withstand one more hit from even the weakest of creatures. As he started to once again consider just quitting a pop-up window appeared in his field of view [Momonga Invited you to join his party. Accept Y/N].

He thought for a moment before he saw in the distance a sight that made him immediately accept. As soon as he did he watched the completion of the distan super tier spell "Fallen Down!" a distant voice called. The dune that he was laying on was engulfed in radiant light that quickly reduced half of the players to nothing more than ones and zeros and the other half were immediately hit with another attack "World Break!" a far closer voice shouted as the eight remaining players all dropped to zero HP. Vaughn thanked every single star in the smoggy sky that Yggdrasil didn't allow friendly fire.

Vaughn sat up and quickly downed his only remaining low tier health potion. As soon as his HP had gotten out of the red he stood and looked at the two individuals that were approaching him. On the left was an Overlord wearing an academic looking robe with the hood up, and on the right was a tall individual wearing a blueish silver set of full plate armor with a large sapphire planted in the center of the chest plate whose helmet hid the avatars race rather well. Although Vaughn didn't know them personally he knew of them

"Y-you're Momonga, guild leader of Ainz Ooal Gown, and Touch Me one of the founding members of the guild, as well as one of the very few world champions, right?" Vaughn said with a slight tremble in his voice.

After hearing the fear in the Shadow demons voice Momonga held up his hand "Yes that's us. You don't need to be afraid, but not many know that Touch Me was one of the founding members of Ainz Ooal Gown, how did you know that?" the Overlord asked while tilting his head slightly.

"I've been around for a while and I like to keep my ear to the ground," Vaughn replied beginning to relax "you never know what little tidbits can go for a high price."

"I see you're an information broker, is that why these fine men and women were beating on you? Sell their information to somebody else?" Touch Me asked, sending a smiley emoji to show that the question wasn't serious.

Vaughn shook his spectral head, "They're trying to get this." he said reaching into his inventory and removing the Tome of Wisdom. Upon seeing the book both of the other players froze. Vaughn quickly put it away and turned to look at the still frozen players. "Uh guys? Are you lagging out or something?"

A moment later both of the other players shook their heads and Momonga spoke, "sorry we were just stunned that someone with such a low level would have a World class Item. No wonder they're after you. How did you get that if I might ask?"

"Well I got it when I hit level 31 and received a notification that with that level up I had officially discovered all of the playable races the game has to offer. This Tome was my reward for being the first player to discover all of them on a single game save."

Momonga nodded as Touch Me folded his arms "And once any of those anti-heteromorph guilds caught wind that a lower level player had a new World Item they immediately decided that it should be theirs." the Paladin stated as though this same thing had happened on a regular basis before.

"Yeah truth be told I'm sick and tired of all this bullshit, I think after today I'll probably just quit the game." Vaughn said with a sad emoji.

Momonga and Touch Me looked at each other for a moment before turning back to him, the Overlord stepped forward "May I ask you a question?"

Vaughn looked warily at the man before him. After a moment he decided to give him the benefit of the doubt seeing as they just saved him. "You can ask, but I'm not going to promise an answer."

Momonga nodded in understanding before asking "What do you do IRL?"

Taken aback Vaughn looked to Touch Me for an explanation only to find the large man studying him like a book. "I work on building windows, usually stuff for the residential sections of the city." he finally answered, confused what that had to do with anything.

Momonga and Touch Me both nodded as though they approved of the answer. Before they each made a few motions in the air before two new notifications appeared before Vaughns eyes [Momonga has sent you a friend request! Accept? Y/N] [Touch Me has sent you a friend request! Accept? Y/N] confused Vaughn just accepted both and then turned to look at the two guild members.

"Expect an email in the next couple of days from us. Don't lose hope." Momonga said with a resolute nod before the two began to walk away.

Sure enough three days later he received an email from Momonga with an official offer to join the guild Ainz Ooal Gown. Excited to play for the first time in months he jumped into his VR chair and loaded up the game upon entering the game he was immediately loaded into the conference room on the ninth floor of the Underground Tomb of Nazarick. After a round of introductions he decided to put his knowledge of playable races to use so that he could pay back the kindness shown to him by the guild.

Keeping the restrictions of the Tome of Wisdom in mind Tarou built the final version of Vaughn to be a master of deception magic using all of his previously gained knowledge to build the perfect information gatherer, spy, saboteur, and magical thief.

Several months later Vaughn finally asked the guild master and Touch Me a question that had been weighing heavily on him. "Why did you save me that day?"

The two looked at each other for a moment before turning back and replying in unison "helping someone in trouble is always the right thing to do!" and while they sent a smiling emoji Vaughn didn't need it he could hear the smile in their voices.

*end flashback*

Now Tarou had 15 people in three separate guilds to pay back with interest. "Let's go, for one last ride" the man said wistfully before stepping into the body of his other life.

22:37:24 was the time listed on his heads up display as he approached his first target. In the world of Vanaheim Vaughn crept ever closer to the guild base of Swift Song, a primarily elf guild whose guild master, and three of his lieutenants were among those who nearly forced him to quit four years prior. Looking at the guild base it was painfully obvious that the player count for the last day of service was very low, in fact Vaughn only saw two people standing on the roof of the treehouse like guild base watching the fireworks that were firing off to celebrate the good run that the game had had.

Vaughn melded through the shadows to the entrance and used his Master of Shadows job trait Shadow Sence to know where every shadow within 120 feet of him was at. Because he knew that what he was looking for was near here somewhere but not exactly where. After the pulse Tarou smirked in his VR chair as he felt the shadows in the 'safeway', a secret passage that was required by the devs as a safe passageway that could lead to the heart of the guild base, most often the treasury. Phasing from shadow to shadow like a, well, shadow he quickly arrived at the treasury and immediately grabbed the guild weapon so that he could destroy it at a moment's notice. Once that was secured he began looting everything that was in sight. Before he even got through half of the gold and items that lay in the room he heard the doors to the treasury slam open.

The shade turned to see the gaucking face of the guild leader staring at him in disbelief. "This is to teach you to never look down on others, and to always think before you act." Vaughn said, sending a smile emoji "[Draining Shadows!]" as he used this ability the guild weapon was engulfed in wisps of shadowy energy before crumbling to dust as it was the two players in the room were ejected into the forest as the opposing guild master received a very pleasing notification, well pleasing to Vaughn at least. [The guild weapon has been destroyed! Because of this the guild Swift Song has been disbanded. The guild master will retain 30% of all remaining funds in the treasury, the other 70% will be split amongst the party that destroyed the guild weapon.] Before the surely furious guild master could respond Vaughn sent a winking emoji before casting greater teleportation and changing position to Midgard.

Looking at the clock it read 23:03:43. 'Not bad,' Vaughn thought to himself 'one guild down in less than an hour. If I'm lucky I can clear the second no issue.' The shade repeated the process with the guild Ironstand dealing with another three of those who took pleasure in his pain so long ago.

As he teleported to his final destination he found that his pattern had been discovered and all of the online members of the former guilds Swift Song and Ironstand were waiting at the Dwarven style fortress that was the guild base of the Immortals of the Sword. "Wow you guys don't waste any time getting together with old friends." Vaughn quipped checking the time 23:34:51. "Swift Song hasn't even been gone for an hour and Ironstand, I'm not even sure how you guys managed to beat me here, I left your place not even two minutes ago."

Out of the gathered guild members a dwarvish player stepped forward and his face was one that Vaughn had hoped that he would find tonight, this was the guy who was monologuing about heteromorph inferiority four years prior. "Your wanton destruction ends here and now vile creature." the dwarf said "this uncalled for destruction and theft is proof that all you heteromorphs are the exact same and need to be wiped out."

"Uncalled for? Do you not know who I am or what you did to deserve this punishment?" Vaughn asked, allowing a bit of cold fury to work its way into his voice.

"I don't keep track of how many of your kind I've PKed over the years but they all deserved it." the dwarf said and if the software had allowed for facial movement Vaughn was sure that the man would be wearing a self-satisfied smirk.

"Well then, maybe this will remind you all what you did." Vaughn said as he pulled the Tome of Wisdom up from the sling holding it at his waist.

The gathered players all recognised the presence of a World Level Item but only those who had been present four years ago knew who it was that had possessed it "It's you, you filthy demon." the elvish player who formerly led Swift Song said.

"Yes and now it's time for me to return the favor 100 fold." Vaughn said as the World Item opened flipping through its pages, "Maximize Magic: Complete Darkness!" as the casting finished the entire courtyard was filled with a black smoke that kept anyone from seeing even a foot in front of them.

"You heteromorphs really need to learn your place. Maximize Magic Winds of Loki." the dwarf replied. As the smoke cleared they could all see the shade standing there holding what appeared to be two swords made of pure negative energy. The solo man waved one of the swords egging them all on to attack him.

Unbeknownst to any of the other players they weren't actually fighting with the real Vaughn. In the moments it took for the dwarf to react he had silently used a body duplication skill and had slipped unseen through the shadows into the guild base. 'Man this would be so much harder if I had to trick more than 10 people, this is why now is the only time I can do this on my own.' he thought as he made his way through the fortress.

30 minutes later the dwarf and elf guild leaders were just finishing up on killing the surprisingly difficult to kill caster. As the elf sheathed his blades and waited for his experience notification he looked at the dwarf who hadn't moved in the last 15 seconds. "Are you alright old friend?" he asked.

The dwarf slowly turned to him and said "I just got a guild disband notification along with one that said that the treasury had been completely emptied before the guild was disbanded." as both of them turned to the entrance to the former guild base the last they saw of the man they thought that they had killed one last time was the him giving them the bird as he fell into his own shadow.

23:57:13 Nazarick exterior

Vaughn stepped out of the shadows as he quickly grabbed the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown from his inventory and teleported to the throne room where he found the man he had been looking for. "Sorry I'm late Guild master had a few loose ends that had to be tied before midnight." he said, projecting a sweatdrop emoji.

Momonga sat on the throne and waved him off "It's fine Vaughn, I'm just happy that you made it at all."

Vaughn picked up on the bitterness in his friend's voice, "Did anyone else show?" he asked.

"HeroHero did for a little while, but he wasn't able to stay for long." Momonga looked over at the last of his guildmates "So what was this business you had to deal with? You've been on for nearly two hours."

Vaughn let out a short laugh "Well in the final moments of Yggdrasil, Ainz Ooal Gown has three fewer enemies."

23:59:51

Momonga laughed with his friend. "You never cease to surprise me." he said.

23:59:54

"Let's try to meet up IRL." Vaughn said as he closed his eyes waiting to get booted from the system.

23:59:56

"Agreed."

23:59:57

23:59:58

23:59:59

00:00:00

…

…

00:00:01

00:00:02

00:00:03

Vaughn opens his eyes expecting to see his dingy apartment but finds that he is still in the throne room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. "What the Hell!?"

Real Name: Tarou Arima

In-game Name: Vaughn

Alias: The Shadow of Nazarick

Age: 28

Birthday: 29 November

Race/Species: Shade

Gender: Male

Personality: Believes heavily in Karma or the process of getting what you give

Eye Color: Yellow

Hair Color: N/A

Hairstyle: N/A

Skin Color: Black Shadows

Body Type: Average

Height: 180 cm

Weight: 43 kg (he's only semi-corporeal)

Likes: Plotting, gathering information, exploring his own possibilities

Dislikes: Pointless violence, lack of data, being forced into doing something

Personality

Backstory: Vaughn was once, many hundreds of years ago, an elf who sought after the secrets of Necromancy. As this unholy magic was shunned by most societies he practices the dark arts in secret. After a number of years he found a ritual that would allow him to greatly increase his necromantic potential and he prepared for it rigorously. Unfortunately he let something slip to a friend, a minor detail that caused his ultimate downfall. As he was finishing the ritual from the tome that he still carries with him the elven authorities interrupted him at the most crucial of times and caused his spell to backfire and change himself. Now a Shade, a being between life and death, he was hunted until his body and soul were split. His body was continuously punished in an attempt to get the tome that meant everything to him while his soul sought out those who could and would help. After some months the soul found two individuals, the God of Death and the White Knight of Justice. Pleading his case before them his words moved the heart of the Knight, and telling his story his dedication to Necromancy impressed the God. "We shall aid you," the Knight had said before the God finished the statement with "In exchange, you shall become my Shadow, my eyes behind every tree, my ears behind every wall. If you can accept these terms I shall reunite your body and soul." Eagerly the soul of Vaughn agreed, "Thank you, oh Supreme One, for this most gracious offer. From this day forward I will be of the utmost value to you." With that, the God, the Knight, and the disembodied soul returned to the mortal plain just in time to prevent the final end of the body. As the sword of Justice arched through the air, the spells of Death flew and tore the mortals torturing the body asunder. As soon as the body and soul were once again one the shade knelt before the God of Death. "I hereby swear my undying loyalty to you, oh mighty God of Death, and to the home of your family of Ainz Ooal Gown, the Great Tomb of Nazarick." Pleased with the vow of fidelity, Death bid him "Rise and Follow". Decades passed and as Vaughn proved his worth, the God of Death elevated him to the 39th seat of the 41 Supreme Beings of Nazarick.

Residence: 9th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick

Alignment: -250 Lawful Evil

Class Build

Total Level: 100

Class: Caster

Job Level: Necromancer 10 lv

Sorcerer 10 lv

Arcanist 5 lv

Warlock 10 lv

Shadow Caller 10 lv

Shadow Warrior 10 lv

Shadow Dancer 5 lv

Master of Shadows 5 lv

Racial Level: Shadow Demon 15 lv

Wraith 15 lv

Shade 5 lv

Main Equipment: Robes of Vecna (Divine Class Item)

Hel's Hat (Divine Class Item)

Wee Jas Gloves (Divine Class Item)

Boots of Chermosh (Divine Class Item)

Tome of Wisdom (World Class Item)

Main Weapons: Magic

Misc. Equipment: tbd

Misc. Weapons: N/A

Trinkets: Pendant (The pendant once given to him from his now long dead wife, who was burnt at the stake for defending him when he was first discovered.)

Player Stats

Guild: Ainz Ooal Gown

HP: 85

MP: 100

Physical Attack: 75

Physical Defense: 90

Agility: 80

Magic Attack: 100+ (exceed limit)

Magic Defense: 90

Resistance: 95

Special Ability: 100+ (exceed limit)

Total Stats: 820+

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