The Antichrist Cometh

by GoodguysRoverated

What happens when you take a normal man who's never had anything, and give him God-like power? Simple: he decides to take EVERYTHING. Vampire Momonga! Villainous Momonga! Darker Overlord story!

38. PvP

Chapter 37: PvP

Hey there folks! Welcome to another episode of 'What's the author's excuse this time?' Long story short: computer trouble, sent it to Texas to get fixed, got it back, all my files were deleted and I had to rewrite this chapter from scratch, so I might've rushed this one a little bit. Sidenote: this is the longest chapter I've written to date. Almost seventeen-and-a-half thousand words.

---

"Who dares challenge the Immortal Emperor?"

Ever since he had come to this new world, Lucifer had always, ALWAYS, been in control. Everything he'd done, every plan, every lie, every action had taken him one step further towards his goals. Suzuki Satoru had been a loner for most of his life after his mother died, watching as she worked herself to death and getting hauled off to the orphanage shortly afterwards since he'd never met his father (most of this is actually canon, I just made some assumptions based off the canon facts). But with being a loner came a…unique perspective, not to mention skill set. All that time sitting off to the sidelines, watching people, observing people, studying people, he'd learned from an early age what people were like, how they thought, how they could be expected to act, and how they interacted with others.

More importantly, he learned how to manipulate them.

Those skills suited him quite well as a salaryman, allowing him to manipulate whoever he needed to get what he wanted, climbing up the corporate ladder enough to live comfortably but not enough to draw attention to himself. That's how he was had the cash to throw at a game like Yggdrasil in the first place. His antisocial proclivities, however, led to some problems such as his inability to connect with others and his borderline sociopathic tendencies. He didn't really see people as people.

"Me."

To him, human beings were no different than the NPCs that gave out fetch quests in Yggdrasil. They were as predictable as they were meaningless.

With all that being said, due to his ability to predict almost any outcome, he was used to things going according to plan. So, when an unexpected anomaly by the name of Touch Me came racing towards him with sword in hand, Lucifer was caught completely by surprise.

"Touch Me?"

"[Paladin's Charge]!" Touch Me's response was to attempt a shield charge at him. While a mortal's charge would be laughably slow to Lucifer, Touch Me's attack came at him with the speed of a bullet. In a panic, Lucifer reached out and grabbed a Death Knight who had been unfortunate enough to be close by and used it as a human shield. The resulting blow killed the Death Knight instantly and pushed Lucifer back several dozen yards. Incidentally, the moment the Death Knight died, countless other combatants emerged from the same wooded area Touch Me had come springing from, all charging into battle with the forces of the Eternal Empire.

"Touch Me, what the hell are you doing?" Lucifer shouted angrily as he tightened his grip on Guilty Ordinance. Now that he wasn't under attack, Lucifer was able to get a good look at Touch Me. While the armor was similar to what he had typically worn back in Yggdrasilit was actually a lower quality armor that Touch Me had worn prior to receiving the title of World Champion, as that particular suit of armor was locked up back in Nazarick. Additionally, his shield was of a MUCH lower quality, appearing to be the work of this world's dwarves and the sword, much to the Immortal Emperor's chagrin, was one of Re-Estize Kingdom's treasures: Razor Edge. Finally, there was one more sword at his side which looked like it had come from Yggdrasil, but Lucifer couldn't be certain until it was removed from its scabbard. "How are you here? Why are you-"

"So, it really is you, Momonga," Touch Me muttered quietly so that only Lucifer could hear. "I had kinda hoped that maybe I was mistaken and that it was by pure coincidence that this Dark Lord that has taken the world by storm resembled you. But that was just wishful thinking I suppose. It was foolish to hope despite all the evidence that pointed to you. Oh well."

"What the hell are you-"

"Enough! I came here to put end to this madness and that is exactly what I'm going to do!" Touch Me yelled as charged at his former comrade.

"Dammit Touch Me!" Lucifer snarled as he pointed a single finger at Touch Me. "[Maximize Magic: Thousand Bone Lance]!"

---

"Watch out!" Lakyus exclaimed as a soldier of the Slane Theocracy attempted to stab Tia in the back only for Tina to pounce on the would be killer and slit his throat.

"Do you guys have any idea what's going on?" Gargan shouted as she pulled her war pick out of the bleeding chest of yet another enemy.

"Hell, if I know!" Evileye yelled while maintaining the barrage of spells she was casting to keep anyone else from attempting to attack her team. "We should try to find Momon or the enemy leader or….. or … I don't know, someone! Someone has got to know what's going on!"

"What about the Immortal Emperor?" Tia inquired.

"He looks like he's got his hands full," Evileye responded with a gesture towards Lucifer bombarding his opponent with thousands of rib-like spears.

---

Momon wasn't taking his attackers very seriously. While they would've excelled as assassins striking from the shadows, they weren't very good in a straight up fight. So Momon simply kept dodging as the members of the Holocaust Scripture attempted to strike him with their daggers and spells, occasionally counterattacking when their attacks left them open allowing him to slowly whittle down their numbers and frustrate the hell out of them.

Nabe, on the other hand, had turned livid the moment someone dared to strike at the Supreme Being, and had shed all forms of pretense and holding back. Nabe was gone, who stood in her place was Narberal Gamma of the Pleiades. She was also murdering the fuck out of anyone who DARED to attack the forces of the Eternal Empire. All things considered, apart from unleashing her true power, this behavior was fairly normal for her.

"Stand down, Dark Knight!"

Momon turned to see several members of the Black Scripture led by the Cardinal of Earth himself approaching as the remaining members of the Holocaust Scripture backed off. Ruvik, Zur, Quaiesse, and Oras took defensive positions around the Cardinal and Lady Kaire when they came to a stop 5 feet from the disguised doppelganger.

"Cardinal Raymond," Momon greeted. "I must admit, I'm a tad surprised to see you on the front lines. Why have you sought me out?"

"This is your only chance, Momon," the Cardinal of Earth stated. "You may not have been born as a natural human, but you are still a human. If you want to escape from under the boot of your creator, now is the time."

"Mortal scum," Nabe growled as she stomped towards the cardinal.

"I am willing to extend this offer to you as well. Lady Nabe," the Cardinal of Earth informed her. "You may not be a human, but this would be overlooked if you and Momon assisted in defeating the Immortal Emperor."

"If I know Nabe, your answer is coming in the form of a lethal spell," Momon predicted.

"You do know Nabe," the Pleiades maid smirked as she charged up a spell.

"We refuse, cardinal," Momon declared. "Now if you don't mind getting out of my way, there's something I need to take care of."

"That's that then," the Cardinal of Earth sighed as he backed away. "Lady Kaire, if you would."

"Of course, sir," Kaire said as she stepped forward, prepared to use Downfall of Castle and Country. In retaliation, Nabe cast [Dragon Lightning] at the old woman to stop the item from being activated as Oras and Quaiesse raced forward to protect her. In that moment, several things happened at once. Ruvik's spear erupted from Oras' chest spraying blood everywhere, Zur cast [Fireball] setting Quaiesse on fire, and, with nobody to repel the oncoming spell, Kaire was fried by Nabe's lightning. All 3 bodies hit the ground at the same time.

"Wha-What?" the Cardinal of Earth stammered.

What the hell? How were they all defeated so quickly? What just happened? I kept my eyes on Momon the entire time waiting for him to try something, but he didn't move! Wait, the attacks came from behind…..

When the Cardinal of Earth spun around, he saw Ruvik pulling his bloodied spear out of Oras' chest and Zur smirking at him with [Fireball]s readied in each hand.

"Zur….. Ruvik… You too!" the Cardinal of Earth muttered. "Not only Corvo, but you two have betrayed us!? WHY!?"

The only answer he got was Momon cutting his head off.

---

Over the past 24 hours, the National Liberation Party had been discretely moved back into Re-Estize capital posing as merchants, Holy Kingdom refugees, nobles replacing those who had fallen in the battle of Katze Plains, bodyguards for Marquis Raeven, and any other sort of person that wouldn't raise suspicion upon entering the city., They had spread out upon entering the city throughout the entirety of the capital in several safehouses and the homes of civilians sympathetic to their cause.

Sebas himself as well as several other members of the NLP were holed up inside an old fortress that had been used by the Eight Fingers. There were rebels disguised as Royalists and mercenaries patrolling the area.

"Such a shame," he sighed as he peered out the window of the tower he and Freddon had set up as a command center. The situation in the capital had deteriorated even since the last time he was here. It wasn't too much of a shock to him since he had been back here to rescue Princess Renner, not to mention his master had expected this to unfold, but for many of the rebels, this was ether their first time in the capital or the first time they'd been back since the mass evacuation when the rebels fled to set up their base in E-Pespel.

It was depressing to see how far the once vibrant heart of the Re-Estize Kingdom had fallen. People didn't stay out on the streets and kept their heads down. Buildings were partially destroyed, some from the Demonic Disturbance and some from when the riots first started. Armed mercenaries patrolled the streets at the behest of the nobles, bullying, intimidating, beating, robbing, and, some cases, killing whoever they wanted, except for the nobles of course. They wanted to get paid after all. Corpses were hung up and put on display in public as a warning of the sort of fate that awaited those who betrayed their king. Those were the lucky ones.

Between the rebels controlling several cities and the countless villages that were in open revolt, the taxes that were coming in simply weren't enough to sustain the kingdom. So the nobles, afraid of running out of money to pay their mercenaries with and partially because they'd wanted to do this for a long time anyway, had done away with Princess Renner's reforms and made slavery legal again. Wagons full of prisoners were coming and going from the city to be put to work generating revenue in order to sustain the remaining nobles' lavish lifestyles and to ensure their mercenaries stayed loyal.

Sebas scowled as he witnessed several mercenaries single out a young man on the streets and, upon discovering that he discovering he had no money to steal, stripped him naked and started beating him in the middle of the street. He wanted to go down there and wipe that scum off the face of the earth, but the was the leader of the NLP. He could not afford for the authorities to know he was here. If they found out, they would put the whole city on lockdown. Not only would his people be hunted down, but Zanac and the nobles would flee resulting in complete failure and probable heavy losses for the NLP.

"Freddon," he called to his second in command, forcing himself to turn away from the dismal scene and resisting the urge to jump out the window to kill the thugs. "Have the Zuranon cultists given us an update on when we can expect the Death Knights from the Eternal Empire will be ready?"

"Yeah, I got the report right here, gramps," the dark-skinned adventurer replied. "They're nearby, but they plan to move into position under the cover of night to catch Zanac's lackeys off guard."

"I see," Sebas mused. "We have about 5 hours until the sun goes down. We will need to hurry if we want to get everyone ready in time."

"Sirs!" an NLP soldier said as he ran up to the 2 and saluted. "I was asked to inform you that Princess Renner and her escort have arrived!"

"Good, bring them in," Sebas commanded before turning to Freddon. "Freddon, send out some messengers, would you? We need to make sure that everyone is ready by the time the sun goes down."

"Sure thing, boss," Freddon replied as left the room. Minutes later, Princess Renner along with Brain and Climb entered the command center.

"Greeting Sebas" Renner said as she approached.

"It's great to see you again, sir!" Climb cheered. Brain merely gave him a two-finger salute.

"It is good to see that you made it into the city safely," Sebas greeted.

"It wasn't easy," Brain murmured.

"We had to take a lot of passageways that had been used by the Eight Fingers prior to their disbandment," Climb sighed. "It felt like we must've been walking around in those tunnels for hours."

"I apologize for the inconvenience, but Princess Renner's safety is a top priority," Sebas declared. "We cannot under any circumstances allow King Zanac to get his hands on her."

"Not to mention that foul man, Count Ritton," Brain growled.

"Ah, about that," Sebas interjected. "It seems that in the time we've been away from the capital, Ritton has become the de facto leader of the nobility and Zanac's right-hand. He's been made a duke for his efforts in suppressing our movement."

"Huh, I've been calling CUNT Ritton this whole time," Brain smirked. "Guess I'll need to come up with something different now that he's Duke Ritton. Douche Ritton, maybe?"

"Climb, I'm going to have trust you to protect the princess when the fighting starts," Sebas proceeded, ignoring Brain's quips.

"What's the plan?"

"When the fighting starts, the undead will take control of the city gates, preventing our enemies from fleeing," Sebas explained. "Look out this window. What do you see?"

"The Royal Palace," Climb answered as he peered out the window, seeing the lights of Princess Renner's former home in the distance.

"Exactly. I've scouted out a path along the rooftops I will be able to use to race from here to the palace and into Zanac's chambers."

"Why not do that now?" Brain inquired.

"I intend to take him alive. He must face justice for what he and Ritton have done. With the battle grabbing our enemies' attention, the guards garrisoning the palace will be drawn out making it easier for me to infiltrate the palace. Once Zanac is captured and his noble supporters killed, the mercenaries will have no more reason to fight with their employers removed from power. Without the support of the mercenaries, the remaining Royalists will be overwhelmed."

"I see," Renner mused. "We simultaneously remove the enemy's leadership and their motivation. An excellent strategy. But are you sure that you can take care of the remaining guards in the palace on your own?"

"Of course, milady," Sebas grinned. "I would not have suggested this strategy otherwise."

"Don't worry princess!" Climb exclaimed. "Sebas is strong! I have no doubt that he will be able to succeed!"

"The old man hasn't let us down yet," Brain added.

"Very well," Renner finally said an angelic smile. "I'll leave it to you then, Sir Tian."

---

Lucifer growled he rolled out of the way of yet another one of Touch Me's attacks and cast a [Gravity Maelstrom] in retaliation. To his surprise, however, Touch Me took the hit, not even attempting to defend against it, and delivered an upward slash to Lucifer's face with Razor Edge, which had for some reason had started glowing blue in the World Champion's hand, before swiftly backstepping several feet. Lucifer stumbled back and hissed as he felt a singular drop of blood slide down his face and onto his upper lip before smirking.

That weapon, even with its strange ability to bypass his defenses, was barely doing any damage to him.

"I'm surprised Touch Me," Lucifer chuckled. "If you were planning to kill me, then why did you bring such a weak weapon to our duel?"

"True, this weapon won't do much damage to you. But in the hands of one who knows how to use its special ability, it can harm you in other ways," Touch Me retorted as he sheathed the no longer glowing item away and drawing his other sword. A sword that was clearly more powerful and almost certainly from Yggdrasil. "This weapon, on the other hand, should do just fine against you."

Lucifer frowned in confusion at Touch Me's statement as he quickly checked his stats. There didn't seem to be any debuffs applied, nothing was disabled, the only thing that didn't add up was…

Lucifer stiffened when he saw it. The amount of remaining MP he had at his disposal had been cut in half.

Dammit, I was so focused on my HP after that last hit that I neglected to check my MP!

"It seems you understand now," Touch Me mused as shifted into a defensive stance.

Well played Touch Me. I can't afford to go casting spells recklessly now. You've limited my primary means of defending and attacking, which means I'll have to be more tactical and resort to more unorthodox methods.

"Why do this, Touch Me?" Lucifer inquired as he subtlety prepared a spell behind his back.

"I should be the one asking you that!" Touch Me bellowed. "The moment you stepped out into this world, all you've done is spread death and destruction! Why!?"

"What was I supposed to do!?" Lucifer shouted. "They would've found Nazarick eventually. I did what I had to do in order to protect what was left of our treasured Ainz Ooal Gown! You and the others abandoned me and turned your backs on everything we built! What the fuck is your excuse!?"

"It was just a game, Momonga!" Touch Me retorted. "You always took it so seriously! It was as if you had no life outside of it!"

Well, that stung.

"You should've done what I did," Touch Me continued as he began slowly circling Lucifer the way a wolf circles its prey. "When I got here, I hid away, kept to myself, and tried to find a way back home! I lost everything when I was brought here! My wife! My kids! My family! Don't you want to go home? Don't you want to get back to everything you left behind?"

"There's nothing for me back there!" Lucifer spat, rotating where he stood in order to keep Touch Me in his line of sight. "Yggdrasil was EVERYTHING to me! The GUILD was EVERYTHING to me! It was all I had!"

"That's no excuse for tearing down everything the people of this world have built! No matter how awful things might be here, this isn't our world! We have no right to force change upon them! [Paladin's Charge]!" Touch Me roared as he charged at the Immortal Emperor.

"[Wall of Skeletons]!" Lucifer chanted as the wall of corpses appeared between the two.

"That won't stop me!" Touch Me growled as he smashed through the wall and right into the [Explosive Land Mine] Lucifer had silently cast during their exchange, blowing him back through the wall and right into a waiting Lucifer.

"[Hell Flame]!" the small black flame latched onto to Touch Me, just like it had latched onto the Principality of Observation so long ago. Unlike in the battle against Nigun's angel, however, the target was not killed. The fire exploded on impact leaving black flames to scorch everything around it. Touch Me was surely injured, but this was far from over.

Dammit, I fucked up! In retrospect, I should've used an attack that would deal additional blowback damage, getting him away from me. Now I'm exactly where I don't to be: within range of his sword.

"[World Breaker]!"

Fuck.

Before Lucifer could move out of the way, he was hit by Touch Me's strongest attack: [World Breaker], a skill that could only be used by a World Champion of which there were only ever nine of in all of Yggdrasil. There was a burst of light so bright that it could probably be seen from orbit as Touch Me's blade struck Lucifer. Needless to say, the attack hit like a truck-kun and the Father of All Vampires was sent flying as a significant portion of his health was depleted.

Lower quality items or not, Touch Me has always been a master of PvP, even without that cheating bullshit he used to pull. At least here he can't use those glitches and bugs to his advantage without his gear.

A few moments later, Lucifer landed on the bridge that led into the Elf King's mountain palace. After taking half a second to wipe the blood from his chin, he looked up to see that Touch Me was already making a bee-line for him.

"[Dimensional Slash]!" Touch Me exclaimed as he sent an arc of energy at his one-time guildmate with a swish of his sword. Lucifer instead of using more MP to teleport away from the attack, used one of his racial abilities, [Bat Travel], to transform into a cloud of bats and retreat further into the palace with Touch Me hot on his heels.

His advantage: the limitations on my primary means of attack and defense as well as the fact he's cut off my means of support. My advantage: he lacks the proper gear so he has to rely more on his skills and whatever meager advantages his preparations provide him.

Nobody could see it, but a determined smirk made its way onto Lucifer's face as he flew deeper into the maze-like corridors of the palace.

I'll have to whittle his health down a bit before I can even think of using up more MP. Let's see how he likes being on the defensive!

---

With the Death Knights and other imperial forces preoccupied battling the forces of the Slane Theocracy and the Black Scripture, they were unable to push through to their master as Theocracy mages began summoning Archangel Flames to combat the undead.

With this distraction, no one, not the forces of the Eternal Empire and not the forces that had allied with Touch Me, none of them noticed the wheezing Cardinal of Light, who was clearly out of shape, jogging towards the deceased Elf King's palace with some strange sort of pyramid in his hand.

---

Corvo was silent as he carved his way through the Theocracy's soldiers, targeting the mages to prevent them from summoning more angels to combat the undead. He wasn't entirely sure where the rank and file soldiers had come from, but based off of how Zesshi had rushed on ahead, he'd wager that these were the forces she had led into the Elf Country finally catching up with their commanding officer.

Of course, none of these soldiers thus far had been a match for him. So far, this battle had been nothing but a systematic slaughter of the rank-and-file for the Vengeful Spirit. The only reason the Theocracy had yet to retreat was because of the remaining members of the Black Scripture led by Memento Mori, some of the elite members of the Holocaust Scripture, and the Valkyrie Knight Angela Pious who was racing around the battlefield like a berserker. Not to mention the Archangel Flames and Dominion Authorities unleashed by Garuna of the Black Scripture that focused their efforts on the Death Knights and Skull Knights respectively. Still, despite the enemy's tenacity and dedication, it would only be a matter of time until they were pushed back and those troublesome elements were exterminated.

"Onward, men!" a Skull Knight bellowed. "Our god demands the deaths of these lower lifeforms! Nema Dracul!"

"Nema!" the monsters of the Eternal Empire chanted fervently, their ferocity increasing tenfold at the mere mention of their master. The theocratic remnants began to find themselves on the backfoot. Corvo grinned as he decapitated three soldiers and stabbed a fourth with single horizontal slash of his blade.

The battle won't take much longer at this rate. Once the Black Scripture and the primary threats have been eliminated, then there will be nothing to stop me from assisting my master.

Of course, the moment Corvo started thinking optimistically, several dragons swooped down with each one unleashing a stream of fire upon the Eternal Empire's forces, killing many of the undead and halting their advance. Upon closer inspection, Corvo quickly realized that those were the Dragon Lords of the Agrand Council Alliance along with an old woman on the Platinum Dragon Lord's back.

Of course. When it rains it pours.

In a conventional war of attrition, the Imperial Forces would eventually overcome the Dragon Lords. This would result in a moderate amount of losses, but nothing too serious for the empire. However, due to the dragons maintaining air superiority, their effectiveness was halved as many of them had no effective ranged attacks.

Well then, I suppose I'll have to close the distance.

And so, with supernatural strength and speed, Corvo jumped using a Dark Paladin's head as a springboard to reach the tall trees where the elves had built their homes. The elves, who were doing their best to stay out of the conflict, were peeking out through the windows of their homes and scrambled back when Corvo landed on one of the rickety wooden bridges that connected the entirety of the village. The Vengeful Spirit paid them no mind and raced towards the dragons with a combination enhanced physical abilities and [Blink]. Without the dragons realizing he was there, Corvo landed on one the large obsidian spikes protruding from the back of Cythonan, the Obsidian Dragon Lord, before summoning a weapon he'd kept hidden from the Theocracy: The Crimson Painter.

The Crimson Painter was a powerful steampunk styled pistol capable of dealing massive damage and stunning its targets for 2 seconds with every shot. However, it could only fire 4 shots before requiring the wielder to reload. What? You didn't think that CZ was the only one with a gun, did you?

5 dragons, 4 shots.

Corvo didn't waste any time. He shot at a single wing on Suveria the Blue Sky Dragon Lord, Eserth the Green Crystal Dragon Lord, Gorsis the Red Sigil Dragon Lord, and Zydrayis the Platinum Dragon Lord. Each one of the dragons were destabilized mid-flight and were sent roaring in pain down to the surface, all landing with loud crash onto the battlefield.

Interestingly enough, the old human woman riding on the Platinum Dragon Lord's back had managed to stay mounted onto him despite the crash.

"You'll pay for that human!" Cythonan bellowed as he started spinning in the air, flinging the assassin into the air. Cythonan wasn't done however. As Corvo plummeted to the ground, Cythonan turned around and flew towards the falling freeloader with the intention of burning him to a crisp.

"[Dragon Fire]!" the Obsidian Dragon Lord roared. Corvo almost smirked as he saw the flames come bursting out of the angry dragon's maw.

"[Windblast]!" Corvo exclaimed, sending the gust of wind at the dragon's flaming jaws redirecting the [Dragon Fire] back down the throat of the overgrown lizard from whence it came. Cythonan roared in pain as the fire imploded within him, resulting in the dragon lord being sent plummeting to the ground with much of the volcanic glass spikes that were his namesake being broken off upon impact. Corvo landed on his own two feet, glaring bloody murder at the downed interlopers who would DARE to try to kill his master while equipping his mask and pulling up his hood. Dragon Lords or not, Corvo could only think two words to describe the beings before him who were preparing to face him.

"Mortal scum," he snarled as his dispelled his human appearance and revealed the purple flames of a Vengeful Spirit.

"I don't know what manner of undead abomination you are," Suveria growled. "But you will regret crossing us."

"Cthonan, are you okay?" Eserth asked as she inspected the injured dragon lord.

"Hard….. to… breath…," Cthonan wheezed painfully, coughing up smoke intravenously as he struggled to stand.

"Take five, old man," Gorsis said as he moved into a defensive position between him and Corvo.

"Rigrit and I must go after the Immortal Emperor. Can you three handle this?" Zydrayis inquired gesturing towards Corvo.

"C'mon, who do you think we are?" Gorsis smirked, prompting Zydrayis to start making his way towards the lake.

"Yes, yes. We'll take out the trash," Suveria sighed without averting his gaze from the black skull wreathed in purple flames that was Corvo's face. "Good luck Zydrayis, try not to make too big of a mess."

"Indeed," Eserth stated as she moved to stand by her Suveria's side. "We owe this creature for what he's done to our comrade."

"Revenge solves everything," Corvo muttered before [Blink]ing towards his draconic opponents with his gun in one hand and his blade in the other.

---

A cloud of bats sped down one of the dark and damp hallways of the Elven Palace before turning abruptly and going into what appeared to be the servants' quarters. The two elves who had been hiding in there screamed in terror as Lucifer Dracul materialized from the bats before them. Two quick blood snacks later, as well as the HP recovery they provided, Lucifer pondered his current predicament. Touch Me was a master of CQC and bladework so attempting to duel him with Guilty Ordinance, no matter how powerful it was, simply wasn't an option. Not to mention that in the event that the son of a bitch managed to take the weapon and use it himself, Lucifer would be utterly and thoroughly screwed.

Although I might be able to use it for some quick hit and run attacks to chip away at his HP. But what if that's what he's expecting? That's not the gear he used in Yggdrasil though. Could he be vulnerable to spells that stop time? Dammit! I just don't have enough information!

Lucifer growled and started pacing the room trying think of a way to defeat his best frie-….. FORMER best friend. As he paced, his boot nudged one of the elven corpses. He was about to kick it out of his way when he paused and stared at it.

Yes. That would give me an advantage.

"[Create Vampire Knight]," Lucifer commanded with a smirk. While Vampire Knights were relatively weak, even when compared to Death Knights, Lucifer was unwilling to spend more mana on what was essentially a reconnaissance mission. "You are to face Touch Me. You will not survive. Try not to die too quickly." The undead servant bowed and exited the room, proudly embarking on the suicide mission his creator had given him.

---

Touch Me had his guard up. The labyrinthian halls of the palace meant that Lucifer could be around any corner. The whole experience was nerve-racking, every little sound caught his attention, the dancing shadows cast by the torches on the walls had his eyes constantly roaming for fear that the slightest missed movement might be all that the Immortal Emperor needs to gain an advantage.

Say what you will of Momonga and his evil deeds, but he has always been a master of analyzing PVP.

A burst of movement caught Touch Me's attention. With a practiced pivot on his foot, he swiftly turned to face the approaching threat which happened to be a single Vampire Knight scrambling towards him, jumping from wall to wall and floor to ceiling like an insane frog. The undead summon lunged and made a quick swipe at Touch Me's neck with his sickle only for Touch Me to lean back just enough to dodge the blade before turning back to confront the Vampire Knight.

A Vampire Knight? While they're annoyingly difficult to hit, they're weaker than Death Knights. I could kill this with one good hit, although it's dodging capabilities might buy it some time. A delaying tactic in an attempt to escape? No, he would've fled into the forest if that were the case. Or maybe…..

Touch Me focused on the Vampire Knight's slit like visor, finding a slight red glow emanating from the undead's eyes.

Dammit! He's using [Undead Slave Sight] to see through the eyes of his summon and preform reconnaissance! I bet he's using [Appraise Gear] to figure out my capabilities! Best way to handle this….

Touch Me unleashed a flurry of strikes so swift that even with its impressive evasive capabilities the Vampire Knight was destroyed in a matter of seconds.

…..is to kill it quick!

---

Lucifer snarled as he felt the death of his summon, forcefully deactivating [Death Seer]. Admittedly, the Vampire Knight had survived seven seconds longer than he thought it would and retrieved vital information for him, but he was unable to complete his examination. The most import tidbits of information he'd gained from the encounter was that Touch Me's sword siphoned an amount of HP equivalent to the damage caused to the opponent with each strike much like Shalltear's Spuit Lance and that his shield was capable of reflecting magic attacks back at the caster.

And of course, it was the fucking cape that would give him protection from Time Stop abilities.

I'm lucky that Vampire Knights are so weak, he won't gain much HP from killing it. Still, this means using summons against him will do more harm than good. It also rules out using my [Ultimate Vampire Form] due to the passive spawning skills it comes with. Killing creatures that Yggdrasil weapons don't count as enemy NPCs, such as bats, won't provide him with any HP though. It's also fortunate I've been able to blindside him with my magic up until this point, preventing him from using his shield. Still, I shouldn't risk using any of my more powerful spell until I get rid of that shield of his. But entering a head to head melee with him will get my ass kicked, so for now I'll stick with hit and run attacks until I get an opening.

"[Cremate]," Lucifer cast on the remaining elf corpse.

No evidence.

And with that, Lucifer tightened his grip on Guilty Ordinance and exited the room to face his opponent a few halls away.

"[Bat Swarm]! [Bat Travel]!"

---

Touch Me heard Lucifer cast the spells, but that didn't alleviate his unease as suddenly found the hallways full of bats. It was so full of bats it was a shrieking black smoke had filled the palace. Except, of course, smoke typically didn't try to bite people. Typically, the [Bat Swarm] spell was used against large groups of enemies, dealing small amounts of continuous damage, but dealing damage to everyone caught in the swarm save for undead, automatons, golems, and other creatures that were either bloodless or dead. Touch Me growled as he sliced away at the bats as they tried to sink their fangs into him while keeping an eye out for any irregularities. After all, Lucifer was using [Bat Travel] somewhere in this cloud of bats, blending in with the rest of the little winged bastards.

Then he heard it. The swish of a blade shortly followed a jolt of pain across his back. He turned around just in time to an arm wielding a sword dissipate back into the cloud of bats.

That was Guilty Ordinance! Dammit, I told Zydrayis to let me use it! Stubborn dragon. That dealt a lot of damage, as expected of a guild weapon.

Touch Me abandoned his attempts to kill the bats and became solely focused on finding the [Bat Swarm] that was Lucifer. If the bloodsucker got too many hits on him with that weapon he'd be able to abandon caution and defeat the former paladin of Ainz Ooal Gown without conserving his magic. Since [Bat Swarms] were wild and disorganized only seeking the blood of their enemies while [Bat Travel] was like small swarm of bats all moving in the same direction, all he had to do was find the order amongst the chaos. It was easier said than done, seeing as the whole mess just looked like a flurry of dark winged objects buzzing around like a swarm of flies.

It didn't take long though. Out of the corner of his eye, Touch Me saw the black and gold blade of Guilty Ordinance materialize seemingly from out of nowhere to take a swipe at him at him from the side. Touch Me allowed the attack to hit his shoulder, dealing significant damage, but allowing him to get under the Dracula's guard and strike.

"[Sacrificial Lunge]!"

"Sunuva bitch!" Lucifer snarled, and with the damage he sustained causing his [Bat Travel] to end prematurely, his momentum sent him soaring down the hallway. If Touch Me got his hands on Guilty Ordinance then Lucifer would have no chance of victory, so he quickly but the sword back in his inventory. This action, however, gave Touch Me another opportunity to attack.

"[Paladin's Charge]!" the paladin shouted as his shield rammed into Lucifer's chest and slammed him up against a wall, holding him place. "[Centurion's Strike]!" The follow-up attack resulted in Touch Me delivering quick stab to Lucifer's chest with his sword.

Fuck it! Magic it is!

Lucifer reached past Touch Me's shield and grabbed his head with both hands as his enemy prepared yet another attack.

"[Fallen Down]!"

"[World Breaker]!"

---

The white light that fell down from the sky was and struck the mountain that loomed over Crescent Lake was one hell of an attention getter. Almost every head on the battlefield, even those of the undead, whipped around when the Elven Palace exploded as if the mountain had been a long dormant volcano finally erupting. The top of the mountain was completely destroyed and debris was sent flying for miles, likely flooding the interior of the palace as the waterfall that once fell into the lake was now flowing into the ruined palace. Of course, the undead recovered from this shock first and thus took advantage of their opponents' lapse of attention allowing them to push forward.

In Corvo's case, he took advantage of the Dragon Lords' momentary distraction to close the distance and cut off Suveria's wings. The Blue Sky Dragon Lord let out a roar of agony and fury as his head snapped back towards the Vengeful Spirit who was moving on to target Eserth.

"You bastard!" Gorsis bellowed as he intercepted Corvo with a blast of [Dragon's Fire] forcing to him to change course.

"Damned undead! How dare you!?" Suveria roared in pain. "You will suffer for this and be made to grovel before us as all creatures did in the time before the time of Tier Magic!"

He's one of those types. Lovely.

"Laying it on a little think, aren't ya Suveria?" Gorsis mused. "Your wings will grow back. This thing just got lucky."

If there was flesh covering Corvo's face, his eye would've been twitching in annoyance. Were these Dragon Lords seriously looking down on him even after he'd incapacitated one of their comrades and crippled another?

If there was one thing that all dragons truly had in common, it was arrogance. Then again, that isn't unexpected when you're the apex predator in practically every medieval fantasy setting.

I will crush them. They will pay for looking down upon a creation of the Supreme One.

Then again, the NPCs created by the 41 Supreme Beings of the Great Tomb of Nazarick weren't much different in that respect.

Corvo charged forward to annihilate the remaining Dragon Lords with malicious intent. Gorsis roared and let out another torrent of [Dragon's Fire] prompting the Vengeful Spirit to send that attack back at him with a [Windblast]. The Sigil Dragon Lord, however, had learned from Cthonan's mistake and knew to shut his mouth and let the fire wash over him. Unfortunately, this obscured his vision long enough for Corvo to close the distance and hop onto his face.

All Gorsis could feel was blinding agony as Corvo JAMMED HIS GUN INTO HIS FUCKING EYE and pulled the trigger several times. After that he felt nothing at all, although his comrades felt despair as his lifeless body toppled over.

"Dammit!" Suveria cried as he turned around and fled into the forest. "You'll pay for this you freak!"

"Suveria you coward!" Eserth shouted as the Blue Sky Dragon Lord disappeared into the elven forests. Her rage dissipated however as a certain purple-flame covered skull turned its head to her as if daring the Green Crystal Dragon Lord to face him.

"Damn him," Eserth muttered as she glanced back at the still wheezing Cthonan. "I-I don't suppose I could convince you to allow me to flee with my comrade here?"

Corvo's fleshless face seemed to scowl. These filthy, overgrown lizards DARED to attack his master and now this one had the FUCKING GALL to ask for mercy!? Every fiber of the undead assassin's being screamed for her immediate destruction following forcing her to watch the slow and painful death of her 'comrade,' but these were just his fantasies. Corvo was made to be callous and, more importantly, logical. The logical part of Corvo knew that his master was in danger and that took priority.

"Fine," he growled. "Go. Flee. But know that you and your entire pathetic country will suffer for your actions here."

"Th-thank you," Eserth stuttered as she began dragging Cthonon into the forest. "Should your your emperor shows us mercy, I promise that I will personally rewar-"

"You will die painfully by my hand when he orders we take vengeance upon you," Corvo snarled as he stalked off towards the ruined Elven Palace, leaving Eserth to drag Cthonan into the forest.

"TRAITOR!" the captain of the Holocaust Scripture, Oskar Atrenn, shouted as he led his men into battle against the undead freak.

"Let's get this over with," Corvo sighed, annoyed by yet another interruption.

---

The Cardinal of Light's breathing grew more and more erratic as he continued to climb over the wreckage that was left in the wake of the duel between Lucifer and Touch Me. His hands were bleeding as he kept his frantic gaze on the epicenter of the destruction. He could hear them moving, likely to continue their battle.

"I will kill him!" the Cardinal of Light wheezed. "I NEED to kill him!"

---

Zydrayis and Rigrit, who was still on his back, were almost to the coast of Crescent Lake. The bridge was too small for a dragon so he would have to swim to the palace to join the fight. Normally, Zydrayis would fly over there, but that damned undead had crippled his wing with his… whatever that thing was.

Of course, it was that moment that Rigrit threw up a magic barrier which blocked a powerful spell from nearby.

"You two are in an awful hurry, just as always," Zur sneered as he approached them from behind.

"Zur," Zydrayis growled. "I expected better from you."

"Come now. I didn't exactly make my beliefs a secret when we last spoke," Zur retorted as he dispelled his false flesh, revealing the skull that had inspired many a Zuranon cultist.

"Yes, I seem to remember you two nearly bring the roof down on us with all your shouting last time," Rigrit added sarcastically before growing serious. "Zur, I know you're angry over the way the world treated you and Evileye, but surely this can't be what you want? I thought you wanted to stand in the sun with the rest of us, not drown the world in Lucifer's darkness."

"I suppose it looks dark to you who have always lived in the sun. Change is scary after all for it is unknown what that change will bring. But to someone like me, who has always lived in the dark, I can finally see the sun and it is more beautiful than I ever imagined," Zur drawled. "It is not the dark we fear, but the unknown that we cannot see in the dark."

"This always happens when you two get together," Evileye sighed as she stepped forward to stand next to Zur. "You always start talking like this and no one knows what the hell you're talking about!"

"Immature as ever, brat," Zydrayis smirked. "Don't tell me you agree with Zur?"

"I still have my doubts about Lucifer himself," Evileye admitted. "But I believe in his empire. It's better than having those Theocracy assholes deciding our fates!"

"Evileye, you can't seriously-"

"I told you what happened to my home back when I was human!" Evileye shouted as she tore off her mask and threw it to the ground, shattering it into a thousand pieces. "With his rule and his power we can make sure nothing like that ever happens again! No more wars to fill nobles' coffers! No more slavery! No more villages being wiped off the map with people just shrugging and saying: 'Oh well, that's just the sort of thing that happens.' We can finally have a peaceful and civilized world!"

"The Evil Deities and the Eight Greed Kings came from Yggdrasil!" Zydrayis roared. "Everything that has ever come from that world has brought nothing but death and suffering! We'd all be better off without them!"

"Would we?" Zur sneered. "Or would the dragons be the only ones better off? After all, your species were the only ones able to use magic with your Wild Magic before those of Yggdrasil taught us the Tier System Magic. Suddenly, your kind wasn't at the top of the food chain anymore."

"I will admit that I may be biased," Zydrayis growled. "But that doesn't change the situation! Lucifer is evil! He has committed countless atrocities since his arrival in our world! Millions have been killed by his command!"

"And if heard correctly, millions more were saved," said a voice that came from above Zydrayis. He glanced up and finally noticed that there was a petite female dressed in black and white sitting on his head. How the hell did she get there?

"Zesshi," Zur murmured.

"Not that I care, mind you," Zesshi continued as she hopped down from the increasingly irate dragon lord. "But you should at least take a look in the mirror and admit how full of shit you are."

"Oh, she is sassy as hell," Rigrit chuckled. "I like her."

"Not helping," Zydrayis sighed before glaring at the heterochromatic half-elf.

"You keep going on about good and evil but let's be honest, we've all got blood on our hands," Zesshi drawled. "Especially you Zur. I almost didn't recognize you without your skin."

"Charming as ever, Zesshi."

"Anyway, Zur made a death cult, Rigrit's a necromancer, Evileye's a bloodsucking vampire, you play guardian of the world and kill anyone you don't like, although I would like to point out you never did anything to stop evil that wasn't related to Yggdrasil, and I'm a government sponsored sociopath," Zesshi listed off. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure none of us should be appointed as judge, jury, or executioner."

"So, I should just let him continue with his conquest? Is he a better man than I? Is he truly the lesser evil?" Zydrayis inquired. "What is the point that you're trying to make?"

"There is no point. I just wanted to point out that everyone here is full of shit and none of us right," Zesshi deadpanned before smirking and drawing her scythe to point at the Platinum Dragon Lord. "Especially me. Zur and Evileye believe in their cause. Me? I just want to stay alive and the best way to do that is to prove that I can be a valuable asset to the Antichrist."

"….. I don't like her as much anymore," Rigrit muttered.

"So you're going to fight us because you're selfish!?" Zydrayis shouted.

"More like desperate and scared."

Zydrayis had had enough. He unleashed blast of [Dragon's Fire] as Rigrit leapt off him and began firing off spells like it was the Fourth of July. On the other hand, their three opponents charged forward each with their own battle cry.

"For the new world!" Zur shouted.

"For the Eternal Empire!" Evileye cried.

"For saving my own skin because Lucifer scares the shit outta me!" was Zesshi's longwinded exclamation.

---

Lucifer spat out a glob of black blood as he pushed a collapsed pillar off himself, only to get drenched by the waterfall that, with the destruction he and Touch Me had caused, was now falling into the palace through a massive hole that was the result of the upper half of the mountain being obliterated.

Lucifer sighed as moved out from under the waterfall and began to examine himself. His armor was badly damaged, his cloak was slashed to ribbons, strands of his wet hair hung plastered to face, and he was covered in filth.

A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see Touch Me pushing the remains of the Elf King's throne off his body. His armor was beaten and his cape was torn. A chunk of his helmet was missing, revealing an orange exoskeleton and a blue compound eye similar to that of an insect. Lucifer took a small amount of pride in the fact that Touch Me's shield had snapped in two.

With the armor on, he can pass for a human. I wonder: if the Theocracy realized that he was an Insectoid would they even consider working with him?

"Well Touch Me, it seems we've made quite a mess of the place," Lucifer chuckled.

"Indeed. It's a shame," Touch me replied as he gripped his sword. "But this is nothing compared to damage you've already done."

"Damage?" Lucifer hissed. "I'm creating a better world. You're the one working with genocidal fanatics and slavers!"

"This is not our world!" Touch Me shouted as he tossed away his broken shield. "We have no right to interfere! This is no different than one of those corny movies where aliens try to take over the world! We're the aliens!"

"We are now a part of this world whether we like it or not! What would you do? Hide away in a hole and wither away?"

"That's why I've been searching for a way home!" Touch Me bellowed, surprising Lucifer.

"You can't honestly want to go back there!?" Lucifer exclaimed incredulously. "Do you seriously want to go back to where toxic air and orphans lying dead in the streets are the norm!?" (Not making this up. This is canon for Japan in Overlord)

"I miss my wife! I miss my kids! Don't you want to go home Momonga? Don't you miss anyone?"

"There is nothing for me on earth," Lucifer snarled. "I watched my mother die from being overworked when I was young and I never knew my father. I thought I had friends in you and the others, but I can see now that I was wrong. I will not go home. I will not abandon our creations as you have. They are all I have, and I will create a new world where we will be free."

"Are you INSANE!? They're goddamn NPCs! They aren't real!" Touch Me yelled, momentarily stunning the Immortal Emperor. "They're lines of code and other techy mumbo jumbo! You would really choose a bunch of video characters over real people!?"

"They are real to me," Lucifer growled. "And I will make sure that nothing can threaten them by removing ALL threats to my empire! Including you if you continue to stand against me."

"Then you truly have become a Dark Lord straight out of the movies," Touch Me sighed as he drew both swords, the one he had been using up to this point and Razor Edge, and pointed them at his adversary. "There's no point in talking anymore."

"No. No there isn't," Lucifer drawled, mentally going over their stats.

I've got about a quarter of my health left. Touch Me's got a little more HP than me, but not by much. I can still pull this off. I've managed to conserve some magic, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to finish this.

"[Lancelot's Wrath]!"

"[Wall of Skeletons]!" Just as before, a barrier went up hiding Lucifer and blocking the attack.

"[Paladin's Charge]!" Touch Me yelled as he shoulder-charged through the bones and struck at the vampire hiding behind it. However, the moment his blade pierced Lucifer, he dissolved into a puddle of black blood.

"I'm sure you remember my [Bloody Body Double]," Lucifer sneered from behind him. [Bloody Body Double] was a spell that left a replica of the player behind that could use any of the player's spells and abilities, but its HP was dependent on how much of his own HP the player sacrificed. In this case, Lucifer created a body double by sacrificing 1 HP resulting in his clone having exactly 1 HP. This also meant that Touch Me only gained 1 HP by striking the body double. "[Maximize Magic: Gravity Maelstrom]!"

The attack struck Touch Me point blank sending him soaring through the air. What happened next wasn't something Lucifer had foreseen. It wasn't an attack or a skill from Yggdrasil, it was something anyone could've done as long as they had the proper strength and aim. Simply put, Touch Me threw Razor Edge at Lucifer resulting in the blade embedding itself in the Dracula's shoulder.

That's another hit to my MP.

Lucifer growled as he pulled the sword out of his shoulder and quickly threw it into his inventory before redirecting his attention to the now charging Touch Me.

"[Lancelot's Wrath]!" Touch Me's attack struck true allowing him to run the Immortal Emperor through before quickly backpedaling to avoid Lucifer's follow up attack: [Ray of Negative Energy].

Sunuva bitch! Even with my undead traits that still hurt like hell! A few more hits like that will be the end of me. Should I use [The Goal of All Life is Death]? Normally, I wouldn't consider it with everyone here, but I guess I really am that fuckin desperate. No, Touch Me wouldn't give me the time I need to use it or grab a cash shop item to speed it up. Wait, what the hell is that over there?

On the other side of the room, the Cardinal of Light stumbled in clutching a golden pyramid shaped item and wheezing like he had just run 10 miles while leaning on a pile of rubble for support.

Hello, walking health pack.

Touch Me, however, had noticed the cardinal's entrance but still had his full attention on Lucifer. Almost single-mindedly he continued his attacks one after the other in an effort to keep Lucifer from feeding on him to heal.

"Get back cardinal! It isn't safe! [Celestial Smite]!" he bellowed as several arcs of holy energy sprung from his sword towards Lucifer, forcing him to evade and break off his pursuit of the blood-filled snack on the other side of the room.

"[Triple Maximize Magic: Hemorrhagic Spear]!" Lucifer exclaimed as three large icicles that appeared to be made of frozen blood appeared around him and shot towards the paladin. Touch Me slid under the attack and charged towards him with [Lancelot's Wrath] again. Deciding he didn't particularly feel like getting stabbed again, Lucifer forced Touch Me to back away again with "[Negative Burst]!"

Once again, Lucifer took his eye off of Touch Me to see what the Cardinal of Light was up to, only to see some sort of staff extend from the bottom of the pyramid he'd been clutching making it resemble a highly ineffective spear. It was in that precise moment that Lucifer finally realized what it was that the Cardinal of Light was wielding and what he intended to do with it.

Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

"Oh, Holy Six," the Cardinal of Light muttered in prayer as he pointed Loginus at the now thoroughly terrified Lucifer. After all, Loginus was the weapon that would instantly and permanently kill any player in Yggdrasil. If it was used in the game, the players would curse and rage at the loss of their avatar before probably creating a new one unless they simply rage quit. In this new world, the consequences would be far more dire. Touch Me was too focused on Lucifer and was thus oblivious to what the Cardinal of Light was doing. "Help me find the strength to do my duty. May my aim be true, for I am your instrument. May the Antichrist die, for it is your will. May humanity find victory through my sacrifice, for I am your chosen."

Snapping out of his stupor, Lucifer raised his hand to strike down the miserable little mutt-worm that dared to destroy him.

"[Lancelot's Wrath]!"

"[Grasp Hea-" Lucifer was interrupted as Touch Me stabbed him once again. But instead of pulling out his blade to attack again, he started pushing with his sword and, due to the blade being stuck in the vampire's chest, forcing Lucifer further and further away from the cardinal in an effort to protect him.

Unfortunately, the angle at which Touch Me was pushing still left him vulnerable to Loginus.

"[Touch of Undeath!]" Lucifer hissed with black blood dribbling down his chin from his mouth as he activated his skill and grabbed Touch Me's head with both hands. The mere act of holding onto Touch Me while using this skill was slowly weakening the founder of Nine's Own Goal.

Then it happened. The pyramid on the end of the staff opened up as the Cardinal of Light began to glow gold and a beam of pure golden energy shot towards Lucifer at a breakneck speed. He had about 5 seconds to come up with a solution to save himself. Hundreds of possibilities raced through his head in just under a second. Finally, he settled on single plan.

I don't have much MP left, but I still have enough for this.

"[Stop Time!]" Lucifer yelled without deactivating his [Touch of Undeath] skill as he continued to weaken Touch Me. While Touch Me was completely unaffected, the Cardinal of Light and the golden beam emanating from Loginus were completely frozen.

"It seems you missed something, Momonga," Touch Me growled as he continued to push his sword deeper into Lucifer's chest, dealing more and more damage. "One of the basic requirements for PvP in Yggdrasil: Always have countermeasures against Time Stopping abilities!"

He could feel Lucifer's attempts to push him off, which were becoming more effective as [Touch of Undeath] continued to sap his strength. Now the question was: who would succumb first? Would Touch Me's strength be sapped away by Lucifer leaving him unable to continue the fight or would Lucifer be defeated by the continuous damage he was taking from the sword digging deeper and deeper into his chest?

At least, that's how Touch Me understood the situation.

With that said, with all his focus on his enemy, he still failed to notice the use or even the presence of Loginus. In truth, Lucifer wasn't trying to push him off, but push into a certain position. Ideally: between him and Loginus. Lucifer's undead emotion suppression, which had been going haywire throughout the entire fight, was now in a cycle of continuously breaking and reactivating as sheer fucking panic began to take over as the timer for [Stop Time] began to run out.

….20….

"It must be hard on you!" Touch Me shouted. "You were famous in the game for your ability to plan for almost everything! The Antichrist of Yggdrasil they called you! That's why I'll win! You weren't' able to plan for this!"

….15….

"And what about you?" Lucifer snarled. "While I relied on plans, you relied on your cheating glitchy bullshit! You can't do that without your armor, but you haven't changed your fighting style! You've fought recklessly as always!"

….10….

"You believed no one in this world could challenge you!" Touch Me cried. "Your overconfidence is what led to this! If you had brought any of the Floor Guardians with you besides Corvo, I wouldn't have even attempted this!"

….5….

"Believe me I've learned my lesson," Lucifer hissed. "But overconfidence is one of your faults too. You too believe that no one from this world can threaten us."

….0….

"Now, I know better."

Time resumed. While Lucifer had remained in the same spot this whole time, he had rotated 90 degrees. Whereas before the beam would've struck him with nothing in its way, it now had something between it and Lucifer.

Touch Me let out a gasp as he was struck from behind and immediately felt all of his remaining strength evaporate. He didn't even manage to pull his sword back out of his opponent when he started to glow gold and collapsed on the floor. Simultaneously, the Cardinal of Light fell onto his back gasping for air as he too began to glow gold. After all, the price of using Loginus was that the wielder would suffer the same fate as the victim.

"So much for that," Touch Me murmured as his body began to vaporize. Lucifer ignored him and pulled the sword out of his chest before falling his knees. "You could've come with me. We could've gone home."

"Are you still on that?" Lucifer spat as he pushed himself back onto his feet. "Nazarick is my home, not that worthless hellhole we were born in."

"It isn't as bad as you make it sound," Touch Me said weakly, his legs now fully evaporated. "Sure, it's far from perfect and life is hard. But there are good things there too. Family, friends, and if you ever paid attention to the news then you'd know that-"

"I have no friends!" Lucifer hissed as he kicked Touch Me's dissipating body away, resulting in Touch Me's arms disappearing entirely, before stomping over towards the fallen Cardinal of Light and stomping repeatedly on his chest. "You're dying, but I still have plenty of time to hurt you!"

"No," the Cardinal of Light wheezed. "It was supposed to hit you. You were supposed to die!"

"You failed," Lucifer stated. "And now, because of your failure, the Slane Theocracy will burn." And with that, Lucifer stomped once more on his head, turning the cardinal into nothing but golden dust floating up into the atmosphere.

"That wasn't necessary," Touch Me said. "He was dying anyway. You didn't need to do that."

"Do you still presume to tell me what to do?" Lucifer drawled as he once again drew Guilty Ordinance and stalked towards the defeated paladin. "This is my world now. There are none on this planet that will ever be allowed to even THINK that they may oppose me. But I must thank you, Touch Me. Thank you, for showing me that I was stuck in the past, believing you all to be my friends, believing you had betrayed me. But now I realize that I was clinging to a fantasy. You were nothing more than an ignorant child's imaginary friends."

"Momonga….."

"And like all children must do when they grow up," the Antichrist continued, raising the sword so that it was pointed down directly towards Touch Me's face. "there comes a time when one must cast away childish things."

"… I-"

Lucifer would never know what his old guildmate was about to say nor would he ever care. The blade came down like a guillotine and Touch Me was erased from this world in an implosion of golden dust. Lucifer continued to stare at the spot where Touch Me's body had been just moments ago when a loot drop appeared its place, just like any other PK back in Yggdrasil. Not even a second later, Lucifer received a notification that he had not seen in a very long time:

-LEVEL UP-

"…"

Lucifer had no visible reaction and instead opted to put Guilty Ordinance away before collecting Loginus and Touch Me's loot drop before trudging towards the exit.

---

Corvo was in a state of minor panic when he finally made it the ruined palace after slaughtering the entirety of the Holocaust Scripture. His panic began to subside, however, when he caught sight of his creator emerging from the dark halls of the palace interior and approaching the exit.

"My lord!" Corvo exclaimed as he rushed towards him. "What happened? Was the traitor defeated? What is the extent of your injuries?"

Lucifer didn't answer him. What he did instead was grab the Vengeful Spirit by the throat and slam him up against a nearby wall, creating spiderweb-like cracks in the area around where Corvo made impact.

"Corvo," Lucifer said in a quiet, monotonous tone. "Would you care to explain as to why I was not informed the HE was here or that HE was working with the Theocracy? Were you keeping this information from me on purpose?"

"N-no! Of course not, Supreme One! I would never! The Theocracy's plans here were kept secret even from the Black Scripture!"

"And why did none of our Shadow Demons report on this?"

"They should've! I don't know why we wouldn't have received the information!"

"I see," Lucifer droned as he released his servant's neck, dropping him to the floor. "Corvo, as of this moment, today never happened. Understood?"

"Y-yes my lord." Corvo replied shakily before scrambling to his feet.

"Good."

---

Vega snarled as he dodged another strike from Angela. Although she was not at her best, and hadn't been since the loss of her wings, she was still the fearsome Valkyrie Knight of the Roble Holy Kingdom. Then again, Vega was not at his best either as he was worn down from the battle with his father, not to mention Angela had several Archangel Flames assisting her and countless Theocratic soldiers fighting at her side. If it wasn't for the assistance of the Death Knights and the adventurers of Blue Rose (sans Evileye) he likely would've been defeated already. However, the number of Death Knights with him was slowly decreasing as they were whittled away by the Dominion Authorities which had cut them off from reinforcements.

Normally, Vega would've been ecstatic over the opportunity to take vengeance against the bitch for the death of his mother. But to be honest, he'd had his fill of revenge today with his father. Couldn't this have waited for another day?

Why is she so pissed anyway?

"You will pay for what you did to my sister, elven filth!" Angela cried as she thrusted her Sacred Blade at his chest only for him to deflect it with his axe.

Ah yes, that's why. She wants revenge too.

Just as Angela prepared for another attack, however, a loud voice echoed throughout the battlefield. In fact, one could hear it even from the other side of the forest. Even Pontifex Maximus himself in the city of Humanika thought he heard someone whisper to him at that moment.

"Enough."

The fighting halted abruptly when Lucifer, closely followed by Corvo, emerged from the devastated palace. No one had ever seen the Immortal Emperor in such a state. His robes and armor torn, covered in blood and grime, and his face twisted into an angry scowl. Normally, the Immortal Emperor's face was fixed with a half-lidded soulless gaze and a cold smile. But now his eyes were burning into the hearts and minds of all who dared turn to look at him. Literally burning. His usual red irises were gone, replaced flaming eyes that saw through shadow, earth, flesh, and internet browser histories. (That means you dear reader, you sick fuck).

Angela scowled as she finally turned her attention away from Vega and started yelling at the remaining members of the Black Scripture who were all staring at Lucifer with fear.

"Garuna!" she shouted, snapping the schoolgirl uniform clad summoner out of her stupor. "Direct all of the Archangel Flames to kill him! Throw everything we have at him! He's weakened! Although Lord Ainz has fallen, we can still finish what he started!"

"Wonderful, another stupid speech," a cold voice inquired as she felt someone touch her shoulder. Angela spun around in fright to see that Lucifer was now right in front of her.

How- When did he-

"[Death]." And with that, Angela was dead before she hit the ground. The remaining Theocratic soldiers that had been fighting at the Valkyrie Knight's side started scrambling away as they were consumed by sheer terror. Two of them weren't able to move fast enough and found themselves snatched up and quickly used as bloody health packs as Lucifer drained the life out of them by drinking their blood, tearing their throats out in the process.

Ah, that's much better. Sweet, sweet HP.

"Dammit!" Mori cursed before charging towards the Antichrist axe first. "You heard the lady! Garuna, direct all of the Dominion Authorities and Archangel Flames to kill him! Cedran, protect her!"

"Mori, stop!" Garuna exclaimed, but the behemoth of the Black Scripture continued nonetheless.

"This is our last chance! If we fail here then there is no hope for-"

"[Grasp Heart]." With that, Memento Mori, the man considered to be the strongest of the Slane Theocracy's Black Scripture, was dead. Lucifer didn't even spare the corpse a glance and continued forward towards the remaining filthy muttworms that DARED to take part in this attempt on his life. "Vega, see to it that the rest of the Theocracy's soldiers are rounded up. Try to keep them alive….. for now."

"Y-yes, your majesty."

"Garuna! Run!" Cedran shouted as he got in between the two.

"You don't actually think there's any chance of escape, do you?" Garuna countered before, with a wave of her hand, directing all of her summons to attack the Immortal Emperor. "I know our chances are slim, but the only way we'll have any chance out of this alive is by taking that bastard down!"

"This is a bad idea," Cedran grumbled. "But it's not like we can outrun him." However, it turned out that the Dark Lord had run out of patience.

"[Maximize Magic: Black Hole]." Just like that, all of Garuna's summons were gone, sucked into the swirling black vortex of annihilation that appeared as a result of the Dark Lord's magic. Before either of the remaining Black Scripture members even had time to process that fact, Lucifer had already disappeared and reappeared behind Garuna before promptly grabbing her by the throat.

"Garun-!" Cedran didn't get to finish his shout due to the blade that had just skewered him from behind, courtesy of a certain Vengeful Spirit. Cedran had just enough life left in him to watch Lucifer use [Touch of Undeath] to paralyze her before dropping her like a sack of potatoes and stomping off towards the Platinum Dragon Lord's ongoing battle.

"Come Corvo."

"Yes, my lord."

Vega could do nothing but stare during this entire debacle that took only about 2 minutes. He almost didn't notice the remaining theocratic soldiers throwing down their weapons in surrender and begging for mercy.

"Senator Connard," a Skull Knight spoke up, snapping Vega out of his trance. "What should we do with them?"

"C-capture them up," Vega stuttered before shaking himself and regaining his composure. "Capture them and put them in chains. Don't rough them up too much. Ultimately, their fates lie in his majesty's hands."

"Understood. You heard him you maggots! Round em up! Don't let a single one of those lower life forms get away! For the Emperor!"

"Nema!" the dark army chanted in response.

---

The fighting between Zydrayis and Rigrit against their former comrades (and Zesshi) was intense to the point that even the other members of Blue Rose who had rushed to assist their comrade were unable to assist, mostly due to the powerful attacks being unleashed by the Platinum Dragon Lord which resulted in shockwaves that even kept the Death Knights at bay. So, this kept anyone who couldn't fight at least at Evileye's level from being able to intervene.

Of course, this was all made irrelevant the moment HE approached them.

Those spectating the battle, undead and adventurer alike, all backed away as the Immortal Emperor approached. The aura he exuded combined with the look on his face, which almost made those familiar with his expressions actually miss his usual soulless stare, made even the unshakable Death Knights distance themselves from their master. The first of those who were still fighting that had noticed his approach was Evileye, although it was this momentary distraction that led to her being impaled by one of the Platinum Dragon Lord's claws.

"One down," Zydrayis grumbled as he shook the dying vampire off from his claw before turning towards Zur and Zesshi. "Two to go."

"Shorty!" Gargan roared as she and her teammates raced towards their fallen comrade. They stopped dead in their tracks however, when the Immortal Emperor appeared seemingly from thin air and crouched down next to Evileye. The petite vampire was coughing up blood and clutching the massive wound in her chest. If she were human, she would've instantly succumbed to those wounds. The first thing that went through Lucifer's head was to crush the adamantite ranked adventurer in an attempt to continue to vent his rage. But, luckily for her, his emotion suppression finally succeeded putting an end to such thoughts and those who saw him relaxed a bit upon seeing the livid expression on his face recede into one of annoyance.

With logic reigning once more, Lucifer removed one of his gauntlets and slit his wrist with his teeth before raising his arm so that the dripping wound was directly over Evileye's mouth.

"What are you-" Gargan began only for Lakyus to hold out her arm to stop her friend. "Lakyus?"

"Just wait," Lakyus said. "I don't exactly know what's going on, but I don't think he's going to hurt her."

"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood will have eternal life," Lucifer murmured as the convulsing Evileye unknowingly partook of his blood. "And I will raise them up on the last day." Evileye's convulsions stopped almost instantly and the massive wound in her chest began to heal as her body began repairing itself at a rapid rate. With his work finished, Lucifer stepped away from her and started marching towards Zydrayis and Rigrit, who had ceased their battle with Zur and Zesshi to observe him.

"You," Zydrayis growled, setting eyes upon the latest scourge produced by Yggdrasil for the first time.

"You may tend to your comrade now," Lucifer stated as he passed the other members of Blue Rose, ignoring the Platinum Dragon Lord. "She will survive, but I imagine she would appreciate her friends' presence when she regains consciousness."

I imagine she will quite confused when she realizes the extent of the changes my blood has made to her biology.

"Ye-yes!" Lakyus stammered. "Thank you, your majesty."

Lucifer did not reply, his attention now fully on the only two remaining threats on the battlefield. Zydrayis had sustained some minor damage while most of Rigrit's robes had been burned away revealing the leather body armor she wore underneath.

"It seems that Ainz was quite accurate when he claimed to be a match for you," Zydrayis snarked as slowly began to move into a better position to strike. "Even if he wasn't able to finish you, he still managed to deal quite a bit of damage."

Lucifer silently stared at the Dragon Lord before turning his attention to Zur and Zesshi.

"I am pleased to see you again Zur."

"Thank you, my lord."

"For all the crimes you have committed against the people of this world, all the death and destruction, all of your warmongering; you will be destroyed," Zydrayis spoke up irritably.

"I must confess, I am surprised by your assistance in this battle, Zesshi Zetsumei," Lucifer noted with an eyebrow raised, paying no attention to the dragon.

"Yeah, well, I just thought this would be the best way to stay alive," Zesshi replied nervously. "Cause, you know, I don't want to die. So… yeah."

"The taint of Yggdrasil will once more be purged!" Zydrayis continued even louder. "Although your followers will remain and the battle to return your empire to the ashes from whence it came will be long, your evil will not hold sway over this world! Although your abilities as a necromancer are unrivaled, your undead hordes will return to the grave once you are dead and with your armies decimated, the world will unite to finish the-"

"Are you done?" Lucifer interjected.

"What?"

"I said: Are. You. Done?"

"How dare-"

"I've heard too many damned speeches about how 'you're good and I'm evil' for one day. Quite frankly, all you have accomplished today was wasting my time," Lucifer sneered, his usual mirthless smile finally returning. "But on the other hand, you've also succeeded in wasting your own time. Did 'Ainz' tell you the specifics of the items he used to cut off my means of communication and teleportation?"

"What are you talking about?" Rigrit inquired with a growing sense of unease.

"Each item is quite specific if you examine their details. For example, you could have two items that disable teleportation. However, one releases a purple gas to put this into effect while the other one erects a large dome around the area that is a very light green hue that would be almost completely undetectable unless you were looking for it, especially in a lush environment such as this. If you can identify that, then you know where to look for the item is at will be exactly in the center of the dome it is generating."

"What in the name of the gods are you blathering about?" Zydrayis growled, feeling the same riding unease as Rigrit.

"If one has memorized items from Yggdrasil, or at least has extensive knowledge about them, they would be able to find the items that 'Ainz' used by identifying the effects and destroy them, dispelling the spells the put in place."

"No," Zydrayis whispered as it dawned on him. "You couldn't have! You've been too busy fighting Ainz! You wouldn't've had the time to find those items!"

"You are correct, you overgrown lizard," Lucifer smirked, slowly clapping in a mocking manner. "This must be what it's like to watch children solve math problems for the first time."

"If you didn't find the items then why are we talking about this!" Zydrayis roared, prompting Lucifer to stop clapping. "Are you just stalling? Trying to prolong your miserable life?"

"A bit, but that's not the point," Lucifer's grin widened just a little bit more. "I have one last little conundrum for you to solve, Zydrayis. Then we can finish this."

"Spit it out then!"

"Where's Momon?" Lucifer asked, his grin widening inhumanly.

---

"Last one," Momon muttered as he pulled a glowing piece of parchment covered in arcane symbols. "Gate of Janus, the item that's blocking our long teleportation capabilities. [Greater Break Item]!"

Momon watched with satisfaction as the item exploded into a cloud of golden dust. He had not been ordered to track down and eliminate these items. But he knew, or at least was able to logically assume, that it had been expected of him.

After all, we wouldn't be able to serve the Unsterblicher Kaiser to the best of our abilities if we couldn't think for ourselves.

---

Now that everyone was actually looking for it, many noticed as the world around them became a tiny bit less green.

Lucifer grinned.

I know my creations well. Who better to track those items down than the Guardian of Nazarick's Treasury?

"NO! Zydrayis bellowed as he charged towards the Immortal Emperor. However, he was stopped dead in his tracks as several [Gate]s opened around him and Rigrit. From these swirling voids emerged figures that anyone even little familiar with the leadership of the Eternal Empire would recognize.

Cocytus, Demiurge, Sebas Tian, Aura Bella Fiore, Mare Bello Fiore, and Shalltear Bloodfallen.

"To think such lower life forms would dare to even THINK to attempt to kill the Father of all Vampires," Shalltear hissed. "You will BEG for death before I'm done with you!"

"THEY ALL DESERVE TO DIE!" the usually docile Mare yelled.

"Damn, Mare," Aura muttered. "I don't think I've ever seen you this angry. Not that I can blame you in this case."

"Sebas, I would propose we kill this arrogant lizard slowly and painfully," Demiurge suggested, sounding even more malicious than usual.

"For once, I completely agree with you," Sebas growled. "Let's make this quick. I have to be back in Re-Estize in an hour."

"No. Further. Harm. Will. Come. To. You. My. Lord." Cocytus swore.

"Thank you, my guardians," Lucifer said as turned around and opened a [Gate] of his own. "I will leave this matter in your capable hands. These two are not worth my time."

"You-you're just going to walk away!?" Zydrayis roared. "Come back here, Antichrist of Yggdrasil! Face me!"

"That old title. I will have it erased from this world. No one will ever remember that stupid term. There can't really be an Antichrist without a Christ," Lucifer muttered so quietly that no one was actually able to hear him. "But the Devil doesn't need God in order to have a purpose."

And with that, Lucifer was gone with Corvo following him through the [Gate]. The assassination attempt was a complete failure. What happened to Zydrayis and Rigrit? Their fates were so gruesome and horrid that the author would get in trouble for posting such horror on this website and the story might very well get deleted. In other words: I'll leave that up to your imagination.

---

Evileye awoke with a start, clutching desperately at her mangled chest. Or rather, what she presumed to be mangled. Upon waking up, she was hit with a number of surprises. One: she was in one of the elven treehouses, lying on a bed. Two: she could hear the sounds of celebration outside. Presumably, this meant that the battle was over and the elves could now properly celebrate the fall of their former despotic ruler. Three: after feeling her stomach and finding no hole, she discovered that her injuries had been healed. Still hurt like hell though. Made her wish she could pass out again. She'd been having the loveliest dream too. She and Momon were living in a cozy little house in a village, they had so many children, and Evileye herself had been taller and more mature. She'd looked how she believed she would've looked had vampirism not stopped her from maturing. She and Momon were also naked, so she was missing that too.

Her musings were brought to halt when the door opened, allowing her friends into the small room.

"Well, well, well. Look who's finally awake!" Gargan cheered. "You had us scared for a minute back there shorty."

"How am I alive?" Evileye asked, feeling too weary to get out from under the blankets.

"The Immortal Emperor showed up and made you drink some of his blood," Lakyus answered. "It was really weird. I thought that he would just use some healing magic on you, but apparently not. Do you have any idea why he'd do that?"

"I heard that when a powerful vampire let's a weaker vampire drink some of their blood, it makes the weaker one stronger," Evileye groaned as she sat up to stretch. "I've never seen it happen though. Until Lucifer and his minions showed up, I had never met a vampire stronger than me."

When Evileye finished stretching, she found that her comrades were staring at her in bewilderment.

"What?"

"Uh…." Tia and Tina droned.

"Is something wrong?" Evileye pressed, throwing the blankets off and shifting to get out of bed.

"It's not that. It's just, how do I put this," Lakyus murmured.

"Shorty, you're not short anymore," Gargan said.

"What are you talking abou-" Evileye didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to. She felt it the moment her feet touched the floor. Usually, she would have to hop down from a bed like this due to her diminutive stature. But now she could get stand up from her bed with no trouble.

Now that she was standing, she could feel many differences in her body. Her center of gravity was off, she was now only an inch shorter than Lakyus, her hair had grown longer while she was unconscious, and she had filled out quite nicely in those areas that tend to attract the attention of the opposite gender. Her small black dress was tearing at the front, unsuitable for containing her newly grown breasts, and the bottom of the dress only covered half of her nicely rounded butt. She'd even noted, with no small amount elation and pride, that her bust was bigger than Lakyus's, if only by a little. While Evileye continued to examine herself in awe, Lakyus couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"Wait 'til Momon gets a look at the new you."

---

Lucifer let out a noise that was somewhere in between a groan and sigh as he made his way through Nazarick's familiar halls with Corvo right behind him. The silence between them persisted even after they entered the throne room and Lucifer took his seat. For nearly half an hour, Corvo simply watched his creator sit there staring blankly off into space.

"My lord-" Corvo eventually began in an attempt to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Quiet."

"Yes, my lord."

What Corvo didn't realize was that Lucifer had spent this entire time reviewing how his stats had increased from his level up and using the skill points he gained to further improve his abilities. He was still figuring out where to allocate his remaining skill points when the doors to the throne room flew open and Yuri Alpha burst in.

"My lord!" she cried upon seeing the state of his cloak and armor. "Are you alright?"

"I've survived worse, Yuri," Lucifer lied as he rose from his throne. "I trust that there is a good reason for this intrusion?"

"Ye-yes, my lord," the maid recomposed herself and bowed. "Lady Albedo has requested your presence."

"It will have to wait-"

"I must insist you go see her!"

"Oh?" Lucifer narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "And why is that?"

"Lady Albedo is resting in Jigsaw's lab," Yuri explained. "She finished giving birth to your children a little less than half an hour ago."

Lucifer's face quickly changed from annoyed to a simple blank stare.

"I see. I will go see her soon," Lucifer stated as he rose from his throne. "Corvo, please inform her that I will be there shortly. Yuri, come with me. We need to make a stop at my quarters."

"As you wish, my lord."

---

Albedo was exhausted. Exhausted. The only times she'd felt exhaustion before was when her master…..no…. her HUSBAND had consummated their love. Repeatedly.

Albedo let out a blissful sigh. Her husband. HER husband. Just the thought of him was enough to send a shiver down her spine. She wished she would see him again soon. He should've been back well over an hour ago and his absence was making her anxious. What if something happened to him? What if their children would have to grow up without ever knowing their father? What if-

Just as her thoughts begin drift down this darker path, her prayer was answered. The hidden library passage into Jigsaw's lab opened and the Lord of Nazarick was at her side before she even realized it. The first thing she noticed was that he wasn't wearing his usual armor and had instead donned a regal cloak and tunic of black, red, and silver (Dracula's outfit from Netflix's Castlevania). The second thing she noticed was that he appeared weakened. While there was no physical evidence of damage on his face or clothes, he just seemed tired.

"Are you alright, dear?" she asked.

"I should be one asking you that," he deflected as he loomed over.

Albedo let out a petulant huff at his response but decided not to press any further. For now.

Her attention was immediately diverted when one of the two bundles of joy (evil) she held stirred and turned to come face to face with his father for the first time. The children were perfectly identical to one another. They were pale, had small nubs on the side of their heads where horns would eventually begin to grow, and had small tufts of black hair atop their heads. The only difference between the two was that one had his mother's gleaming yellow eyes while the other had his father's burning red eyes. The yellow-eyed one was staring up at his father, his face scrunched up in concentration as if he were trying to memorize his features. His red-eyed counterpart hadn't given any indication that he'd noticed his father and continued to try to attack his mother's long flowing hair with an evil little smile on his face.

"Aren't they perfect?" Albedo cooed.

"Yes," Lucifer confirmed quietly. "Absolutely perfect." There was something unnatural about the way he said those words that any sane person would find unnerving. But to Albedo, her beloved's response had sounded unnatural in the most perfect way imaginable.

"They still need their names," Albedo sighed as she hugged her children just a little bit tighter, eliciting an annoyed look on the yellow-eyed one's face while the red-eyed one started trying to bite her.

Lucifer bent forward and placed his hand on the on with yellow eyes. The child's eyes shined with curiosity as he reached out and held onto his father's arm, as if pleading with him not to go anywhere.

"Hades," Lucifer smiled. "Your name is Hades Tabula Dracul." The child babbled something nonsensical in response, but it seemed that he was aware that he was being addressed.

Intelligent for a boy not even a day old.

Lucifer then reached out towards his other son who stopped trying to attack his mother, spun around quicker than any newborn should be, and immediately chomped down on his father's hand. This elicited a chuckle from the Dark Lord, who simply allowed the boy to continue his attack.

"Oh, you're going to be a handful. I can already tell," the Immortal Emperor murmured. "Malice seems a fitting name for you. Malice Ulbert Dracul." The infant's response could best be described as an evil baby laugh.

"They're perfect," Alebedo choked out, crying tears of joy. "Aren't they perfect my love?"

"Yes," Lucifer replied softly, the look on his face finally befitting that of a father seeing his children for the first time despite his unchanging clinical gaze. "Absolutely perfect."

---

Bonus Story: Hail Satan (60 years into the future)

In the center of the Eternal Empire's capital city known as Burzgoth stood the massive Imperial Citadel. To the public, it was where the Imperial Senate was held, it was the home of the royal family, it housed hundreds if not thousands of departments that were vital to the empire's growth and stability, and was overall viewed as the beating heart of government. Every decision that affected the empire as a whole came from this massive tower.

Or so everyone thought.

While it was true that the building was integral to the empire, it was originally built with the intention of hiding the true heart of the empire: The Great Tomb of Nazarick. It was built overtop the entrance to the great tomb and only a handful of those who were not originally from Nazarick ever set foot in its sacred halls with even fewer aware of its existence at all. Many of those who ever set foot in its halls believed it to be their God's sanctum or that they were secret rooms within the Imperial Citadel.

In Nazarick's throne room, the Immortal Emperor sat with his eyes closed and the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in his hand. One might think he was sleeping if it wasn't for the expression of utmost concentration on his face. He could sense something was happening a solar system away. Something big. Something… interesting.

There were 3 that stood out on this particular planet he was watching. 2 entities comparable in power to himself, one of light and one of darkness, and one that was human yet seemed to be both mortal and immortal at the same time. Whoever this human was, she'd assembled an army to face these entities.

"My own gift to them… used against me."

Then Lucifer felt it: A burst of energy swiftly followed by every living thing on that poor unfortunate planet swiftly being snuffed out of existence.

It made him smile.

"No…. no…."

"You thought there was no greater punishment we could bestow upon you?"

"I'll come back. I'll tell the rest of the world of this massacre! Build a new army!"

"You do not understand. There is no one left. You are all that remains of humanity."

"This planet was a beautiful experiment, but it is merely a remnant of what it once was. We will learn from this failure. I hope that you will learn from yours."

"No! You can't leave! You can't leave! COME BACK!"

"Still demanding things of your creators."

With that, the beings of light and darkness soared into cosmos leaving the human howling in despair and the moon broken.

But Lucifer didn't care about that.

The Immortal Emperor's attention wasn't on the entities, the human, or even the planet itself. What caught his attention were the billions of lives that had been ended. Billions of souls tossed into the void without a second thought and abandoned in the nothingness without care. All those souls were crying out in terror, hate, despair, pain, confusion, and rage. All their screams, prayers, and pleas for mercy would go unheard by their gods.

It would be such a shame to let all those souls go to waste.

Lucifer felt himself leave his body as he stretched his presence across space and time until he found them, projecting himself to appear before them. To the souls that were sent into the void, into nothingness, it seemed that after many years of endless suffering, an avatar of shadow and blood appeared unto them. To Lucifer, it took 10 minutes to appear before them. To the souls, it seemed as if a thousand years of agony had passed before he appeared.

"Poor little souls. Tell me, who has done this to you?"

TRAITOROUS GODS!

THE BROTHERS GRIMM!

MURDERERS!

THE DECEIVER!

THE HARLOT!

MOTHER OF LIES!

SALEM!

"If I gave you the chance to take your revenge, what would you give me in exchange?"

ANYTHING!

EVERYTHING!

Lucifer's grin widened. Those were his favorite words.

"Then consider this the first of the many gifts I will bestow upon you, my servants."

While his physical body tightened his grip on the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown with the Jewel of Death glowing brightly upon it, his shadowy projection reached out towards and fed upon the negativity their deaths had produce. He grasped their desires and from them forged a womb of suffering and wrath. And from that womb was born a new realm just as merciless and brutal as the tragedy that had befallen them.

Hell. This was Hell. There is no name more fitting for this new scar in space and time than that.

HELL.

The billions of souls that swore their allegiance to him were unceremoniously thrust into this new realm and began to take physical form, even the blinding pain of their rebirth granting them sensations of sick pleasure and joy after spending so long drifting in nothingness. The last thousand years spent wallowing in pain and rage giving shape to their new bodies which were never meant to be a fresh start for their new lives, but rather instruments and weapons in their quest for vengeance. Claws sharp enough of the slice through metal, mangled limbs, fangs, jagged exoskeletons and savage musculatures. They were born not for life but for war, bred to kill and be killed. More importantly, they would be useful to Lucifer who stood atop the highest point in the Deepest Pit at the very center of the newborn realm. From there he worked his dark magics on his newly created puppets, further corrupting them into whatever he desired and turning them into true demons, for what else could such monstrosities be called?

He filled the realm with an unquenchable bloodlust, driving his new creations to wage perpetual war on one another. The next thousand years were filled with his demons killing, eating, burning, and enslaving each other while the Immortal Emperor simply watched. Mighty fortresses and horrifying factories were constructed, terrible scars were left across vast stretches of the ravaged hellscape, statues and monuments were built to worship the Dark God that had freed them from the void, and many Demon Lords rose to hold power over the endless hordes of the unending night, dividing their territory among the 9 circles.

That's when Lucifer decided he'd left them to their own devices for long enough.

"Enough.

A single word was all it took for the endless battles to cease.

"Remember your oaths to me. Bow to your master!"

Hundreds of the Demon Lords as well as their millions of servants immediately stopped what they were doing, turned in the direction of the dark heart of their world, and kneeled to their Dark God. Many, however, refused to kneel.

"Never again will we kneel to the likes of you or the Brother Gods!" This single statement marked the beginning of the final conflict for that fate of the Dark Realm. A conflict which would take another thousand years. The rebel demons rallied behind a Demon Lord known as Vograath and proclaimed him to be their Dark Lord, their Satan. Satan Vograath and his servants fought for chaos, the democratization of terror, destruction, and unending debauchery.

Those who swore themselves to the Dark God, their Satan Lucifer Dracul, devoted themselves to order, hatred, ruthlessness, domination, and vengeance. The final battle took place on the battlements of the Cordis Autem Tenebris, the greatest of the dread fortresses built on the site that Lucifer had spent a thousand years standing upon. Its base covered the entirety of the Deepest Pit and its towers reaching heights untold.

The battle did not last long after Lucifer took to field. Vograath fought with ferocity and skill that reminded him of Touch Me, but Lucifer had long ago overcome old weaknesses and had become more powerful than any player or NPC to ever exist in Yggdrasil. The fighting ended when the now undisputed Dark Lord raised Vograath's head up high by his unbroken horn for all to see, the filth's tendril-like tongues dangling out his mouth.

"HELL! IS! MINE!"

That declaration ended the conflict once and for all. The demonic hordes and the Demon Lords were now united under a single Dark Lord whether they liked it or not and Lucifer's reign as their master would never be questioned again. Thus, it was the Demon Lords who had supported their eldritch patron from the very start that were the first to start chanting.

"Hail Satan!"

These praises became louder and as all of Hell joined, they too screaming praise and worship to the blood red skies.

"Hail Satan!"

"Hail Satan!"

"HAIL SATAN!"

"HAIL SATAN!"

"HAIL SATAN!"

"HAIL SATAN!"

"Father?"

Lucifer opened his eyes back in Nazarick to see his daughter, Desdemona Bukubukuchagama Dracul, standing before him. She was wearing a black dress based off of her mother's white dress and just as attractive as the woman who'd given birth to her (much to the dismay of her father and brothers who did their best to keep unworthy suitors away from her). Unlike her older brothers, she had heterochromatic with one yellow eye and red eye. Her usual blank kuudere expression was replaced by one of slight concern.

"Mother asked me to come get you for dinner," she continued. "You've been sitting here for a little over half an hour muttering to yourself."

"Apologies for making you worry," Lucifer said as he rose from his throne and patted her on the head. "On opportunity arose and I simply HAD to take advantage of it.

"Hmm," she grunted, looking at him suspiciously. "How many people had to die for this opportunity'?"

Out of all my children, she is the one argues with me the most.

"Many, although this time I had nothing to do with their deaths," Lucifer replied truthfully, causing Desdemona's expression to soften. "Come now. Let's not keep your mother waiting."

---

Another chapter done at long fucking last.

I'm pretty sure there's only 2 chapters left to go until this story is over.

Hail and kill motherfuckers!