….
The Ascendance of the Overlord and the Shield
I don't own the Overlord(オーバーロードŌbārōdo?) Light novel, manga or anime series created by Kugane Maruyama.
I do not own the Rising of the shield hero (Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari) Light novel, manga or Anime series created by Aneko Yusagi
Review replies.
To everyone that replied to my questions about how the curses series functioned, thank you so much it helped me immeasurably and I may have come up with something that works with Ainz and his suppressor.
Pickled.
Thanks! I took the fact about the seven hundred players from the web novel as it has a few more facts about his world item than the LN. It was specifically said that his WI was responsible for taking out just under half of the 1500 players that invaded Nazarick. If people aren't happy about me using that fact I'm happy to go back and take it out, it was only meant as an off hand comment to demonstrate what it was capable of.
Dan05
Thanks I am trying to develop her in a different direction as she isn't with Naofumi so it's pretty much a given that she would change at least somewhat.
As for the shadow demons, I'm actually not sure how they function, summons come from a place, where or what that place is, who knows. If this was D&D… demons would be summoned from the 9 circles of hell/ Muspulhiem. Assuming the demons have to take over something just like undead to stay permanent in a world, I'd say it would be the local shadows around them.
NightHawk The Warrior
Yep Ainz is an undead and as such has a natural weakness to the holy, good and fire elements. That said the holy/cardinal weapons are only that in name until they're upgraded, they don't naturally have the holy element at the start. So the answer is Yes, definitely they could become a threat to Ainz later down the line.
Chapter 5: Raphtalia
When Ainz stepped out of the [Gate] he was met with a surprise he didn't expect. Kneeling before him was a human, the form was androgynous and covered in a black cloth material that showed no skin. But something was telling him, this was the same girl who had watched him in the royal court.
"What do you want?" The Overlord asked, walking past the shadow to his fortress.
"I dare say It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Sir shield hero, I have come as a representative of her Majesty the Queen, who humbly begs your forgiveness for not coming herself.
Ainz said nothing, waving away the concern, prompting them to continue.
"She wishes to confirm your intentions with regards to the country of Melromarch." they questioned in a feminine voice, following behind Ainz at a distance; clearly on alert.
"You have been watching me for the last three days, why contact me now?"
The shadow stopped suddenly in surprise then continued as if nothing happened "An understandable concern. After your performance in the throne room and the subsequent explosion in front of the castle wall, we... forgive me for being so blunt, but we believed your nature to be overall… hostile; I dare say. But your interactions with the child this past afternoon while numb emotionally made us reevaluate our preconceived notions of you, thus we choose to approach you at an opportune moment."
"I see. Please, if you would. Could you confirm something for me, this county is a matriarchy, correct?"
"Yes." The shadow replied succinctly, bobbing their head slightly.
"Hmm, then the King falls under the Queen in terms of political position and standing. If that is the case, was it the will of her Majesty to have me framed for the sexual abuse of her daughter? Or was this some I'll conceived ploy by an over ambitious child?"
"I'm afraid it is the latter Sir shield hero, Princess Malty was working in conjunction with the church to initiate your current circumstances."
"The church? Then I can assume that this has something to do with me being the shield hero?" "It seems I was right to have the hanzo delve into their inner workings."
"It does, I dare say. Melromarc is predominantly a human supremacist nation so it was to be expected that you would be treated improperly."
"How so? I do not fully understand what you are implying?" He questioned with a raised brow on his non-existent face.
"My apologies, allow us to explain. The shield hero's prior to yourself were more accepting of demi-humans and therianthropes, this was seen as an 'issue' by the Church who preached in the name of God that humans were superior."
"How idiotic." he mumbled flatly, finally reaching the fortress door. "Do you wish to come in? I want to continue this conversation but I have another matter to attend to." He asked the shadow still standing a few steps back from himself.
"That door can only be opened by you or the girl if we are not mistaken; please allow us to remain outside while you conduc-" suddenly the shadow stopped mid sentence and went for the knife hidden on their back
"S-S-Suz-Suzuki?" A soft, meek and barely audible voice questioned from behind the door as it opened slightly; a teary eyed child looking out from behind.
"So she finally said it, it feels kinda wired hearing that name being said out loud again." Ainz turned and knelt down to look at the girl.
"Raphtalia, may I come in?" He asked as softly as he could. In reply she looked at the figure standing a distance away and asked in a nervous voice. "W-who is th-that?"
Ainz turned to look at the shadow once more, confirming that they had reverted to their normal posture, he answered the child's question.
"They're… an acquaintance. Could I ask you to move out of the way please?"
"Mmm…" she hummed and lightly ran to sit on the couch inside.
Ainz got up and turned back to fully address his guest. "If you do not wish to enter that is entirely understandable considering your warryness and my own, but I am not one to leave a guest without comfort. Please, take a seat. I will be back out shortly. [Silent: Create Greater Item]
The shadow jumped aside and grabbed the knife on their belt as a blue shimmering light appeared next to them. When the light finally dissipated, the shadow was surprised to see an elegant piece of black furniture just sitting there.
They looked back up to where the shield hero was only to see a closed door.
…
The Overlord quickly walked inside and knelt down to look at the girl for what felt like the hundredth time today, internally wondering what he was going to do next.
She stared up at him - even when he kneeled he was still taller than her - with the fear of being abandoned like before shimmering in her eyes. She didn't want to go back to that cage, not now, not ever, she was free though so maybe she could just run and hopefully find Sadeena. But, as if sensing her anxious thoughts Ainz did something unexpected- at least to her. He picked her up, gently and carefully, resting her on the cold metal plate of his forearm, raising her up to sight line with himself as he stood up.
"Are you alright?" He asked, holding her back with his other hand so she wouldn't fall backwards.
"I- no. I don't know…" she uttered quietly, placing her hand on one of his shoulder pauldrons for balance.
"Can you tell me about your nightmare?"
"Mmm-mmm." She hummed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.
"I see." He muttered quietly, walking towards the stairs.
"W- what are you doing?" she asked with hints of surprise.
"Taking you back to bed, I'm not sure what you want me to do if you won't tell me about your nightmare, I can't tell you how to overcome it."
"I... okay."
"Good." he nodded and continued up the stairs.
Once he reached her alcove he placed her on the bed gently, turned around to the large open space and cast [Create Greater Item]. A shimmering light brightened the already illuminated floor then a second later the light dispersed, in its place was a basic, ornate steel chair.
"That's cool!" the girl exclaimed, briefly forgetting about her emotional whoas.
"Thank you." he returned, picking up the chair and moving it besides the large bed.
Raphtalia looked on with curiosity watching as he slowly removed his helm, she hadn't seen his face yet and genuinely wanted to know what he looked like under that armor and… it was kind of a let down honestly.
In a word he was gruff. Definitely not a knight in shining armour.
"Not what you expected?" the Overlord asked.
"N-not really." she replied somewhat nervously.
Ainz let out a small chuckle and stated "It's fine, I take no offence."
"S-sorry…"
"Apology accepted. Now, can you tell me about your nightmare?"
"Oh... yes Sir." she replied, losing the awe-full atmosphere that momentarily surrounded her.
The Overlord sat patiently letting her work through it at her own pace, she had broken down into tears multiple times even before she began the retelling of her parents deaths, the memory seemed to be especially hard on her so much that he had to give her an item others would see as a detriment to her mental health.
If he had any other options like the spell [Lions heart] he would have used it on her but he was not a paladin and any scrolls he had would not be useful in this particular situation thus he pulled the [Ring of Undead] out of his inventory.
Most players would wear this item at lower levels as at that point their character resistances to panic, fear or berserker and other such status effects would be very low, often getting them killed in serious situations such as low level raids and dungeons. It was kind of overkill as instead of simply granting the user more resistance to status effects related to emotions it would make them immune which was why it was named as such.
The only reason he had one of these rings was because he won it in a duel. Even after all these years he still couldn't figure out what the idiot's reasoning was. Maybe the fact they were clad in full divine gear made them overconfident but the fact was they were still only level 96, it should have been obvious that they stood no chance of winning in a 1v1 situation, even in death that guy was still disappointing they only dropped this - until now useless - ring.
Upon Raphtalia equipping the item its effects were immediate, the tears leaking from her eyes stopped - hanging there like a remnant of emotion and the quick, heavy breathing that plagued her body became calm and resonant.
"I feel weird." she stated in an almost monotonous voice.
"That is just the effect of the ring, can you continue?"
"Yes." She replied flatly with eyes that almost seemed dead as she began to retell in finer detail of what she remembered of the wave and her parents. The time after that when she encouraged her village to rebuild and the evil knights that came after, the ones that killed all the men and sold the rest into slavery.
She further explained that after she was sold to the slave merchant she was purchased by another. A man on the kinder side that treated her well and only wanted her as a house servant. It didn't last long though… she was returned a few days later, even now she couldn't figure out why they did that.
She was then sold to another but the same thing happened again.
The third time was undoubtedly the worst out of them all. She was taken to a dungeon where she was able to meet with some of the people she hadn't seen since that day the knights came. She remembered being happy that she was able to find Rifana once more, but that happiness was only an illusion as in the weeks to come both of them would be tortured for hours on end by a fat man with a whip who hung them both up and beat them until they were covered in blood.
She told Ainz that the fat man had marked her with something that would activate when she did not show pain, she tried to remain strong for as long as possible but the whip and the mark were driving her insane. The only thing keeping her so, were the thoughts of returning home with Rifana.
Although the tortuous circle would continue with no end in sight, the sessions continued to get longer and longer, the pain growing in strength with them, she could only hope that someone would come and save them, the villagers or maybe Sadeena.
Unfortunately Rifana was getting sick, she could barely move or eat, she tried to comfort her friend whenever she could but there was nothing much she could do. Later one night the fat man walked into their cell screaming at Rifana to get up only to find that she was dead, at the time Raphtalia had not registered what was going on even as she was dragged out of the cell by the yelling fat man.
The fat man was mad, finally sick of Raphtalia's... lack of reaction to his entertainment sessions - not once had she cried during her torturous sessions with the man she had resolved herself never to do so again - he brought her a crystal ball that showed her images of her devastated village, it was ruined and collapsed, nothing remained, it even may have been unrecognizable if not for fact that the flag that the nice governor had given them, the flag that was a symbol of the town and the people in it, one that signified their independence, a beacon of hope… was laying on the grown torn, trampled and scorched.
This finally broke her, she felt she failed them; the people of her village, her friends and most of all her parents. They entrusted her to guide the village forward, to protect it… it was gone. And just like that of the flag that was ruined on the grown the dam that was her resolve was torn to ribbons, in her mind she finally began to cry, tears let loose by devastation and despair; of her friend that she now knew to be dead, of the village she would likely never get to see again.
…
"It was for his own entertainment." she stated in a cold distant voice that didn't fit with a normal ten year old girl.
"I see. I'm sorry you had to go through that." the Overlord replied. It was the only response he could give. He didn't know what else to say, this girl had suffered through so many traumatic events that he was honestly impressed that she was still sane.
"May I have the ring back?" He asked, holding out his hand. She hummed in the affirmative beginning to remove it slowly. As soon as the ring left her hand the emotions connected to the memories she just shared flooded back into her mind all at once and with a wide eyed "Ehh?" she collapsed onto the bead.
"Wait… What just happened?" he quickly cast [Life Essence] and found that her health had dropped slightly leaving him more confused. "Was it mental backlash? Hopefully I didn't just turn her into a potato…" the Overlord let out a tied sigh. At least now he had an excuse to look inside her memories, not that he needed one.
[Control Amnesia]
Ainz, having cast this spell many times before, was confident in his ability to sort through the memories of the girl without breaking her mind any further than it already was. From what he could tell everything was intact, the grey or murky frames that represented missing or forgotten memories were few and far between.
"She probably just fainted." he thought in conclusion.
The efficiency of this spell was rather on the low side and as such he could feel his mana slipping away as the seconds passed by, he wanted to do three things while he was here inside her memories - confirm exactly what the wave was, look at what the girl had experienced first hand and finally who this Sadeena woman was that she briefly mentioned.
He started with the most recent memories first as it was the most efficient way to use the spell - the further one went back in someone's memories the more mana would be drained per second.
He stated with the memories of the "Fat man" as she called him; an accurate description. The Fat man was clearly some type of noble if the way he dressed was anything to go by. He was not here to watch the girl get tortured so after memorising the man's face he quickly moved on to the wave.
The memory started with Raphtalia looking happily at a girl of - from what he could tell - a similar race to her with deep grey blond hair and bright summer yellow eyes, he knew this to be Raphtalias friend, the one that died in the noble's dungeon, 'Rifana' he thinks she called her.
The two talked for a while, some of it a bit uncomfortable for him personally; being the shield hero. He moved the memory along at an accelerated pace until something notable finally happened. Suddenly, there was a loud bass, sound that spread throughout the area turning the sky red above them.
Swirling rifts of colors multitude spanning hundreds of meters in diameter opened up moving across the sky like a storm would roll over an open field. Out of the rifts dropped monsters of varying shapes and sizes - undead zombies wearing armour of ornate design, wolves that reminded Ainz of a barghest without the chains and large wasp-like monsters that descended in hordes numbering in the hundreds if not thousands.
"So this is a wave..." he thought, watching from Raphtalia's perspective as they ran back to the village, Rifana hand in hand. The two spoke before hugging each other and splitting up, running in opposite directions.
Raphtalia quickly moved to what Ainz could only assume to be her house. It was plain and unassuming on the outside but the Overlord paused the memory upon seeing the inside, it resembled that of a low noble's house - completely different from that of a normal peasant - unsure of what that implied, he moved on.
The girl ran through all the rooms of the deceptive house looking for her parents, she found them staring out upon the village as its occupants desperately tried to fend off the monsters of the wave.
Her father and mother kneeled down in relief and embraced their daughter tightly just before a large crash broke them apart. Something had fallen on their house, crashing through the living room not five meters from their current location.
All three of them looked at the monster and flinched in fear. Towering over them at three meters tall the monster poked a head over the dividing wall that seperated the rooms, then another and another, all three heads focused on them with three sets of eyes, malice burning like inconfinable flames. The girl's father broke from his momentarily stunned state and quickly refocused on trying to keep his family safe, smashing the window closest to him with his bare fist while dragging them through.
Ainz ended the memory there, he knew what was about to happen so he saw no reason to continue, his mana had just passed the thirty-five percent mark and he still had another memory to see.
He had no idea what he was looking for, Raphtalia had not given him a description of the woman so he skimmed back and forth through the girl's memories until he found someone that stood out.
He continued to scroll through memories with an almost carefree attitude until, suddenly he stopped on a memory that took place a day before the wave finding someone that definitely stood out. Standing atop the seaside cliff with Raphtalia by their side, surrounded by both children and adults alike was a woman unlike anyone he had seen in this world so far.
She was beautiful, that fact was beyond undeniable, a mature kind of beauty comparable to the likes of Yuri Alpha. On top of that she dressed in a way that left nothing to the imagination but even so, he suspected that her choice of outfit meant something perhaps religious in nature, another point of curiosity were the navy blue markings that flowed up her body like water, hugging every curve as if to accentuate them; starting at the base of her heels and stopping just under her chin.
In the woman's hand was a weapon slightly taller than herself, if Ainz was to describe it to someone he would say it was somewhere in between a spear and maybe a harpoon or trident, it displayed features of all three.
"Sadeena?" Raphtalia tugged at the silk white cloth that hung from the hips of the woman, in response she knelt down and looked directly into Raphtalias eyes.
"What is it little Raphtalia?" She asked, gently smiling while petting the top of the tanuki girls head.
"You know, you don't have to go, we still have plenty left."
"Oh... I know, but it's better I go do it now while we still have supplies left, I thought you would have learned that by now."
"Mmmm." She hummed, pouting childishly.
Sadeena chuckled, smiling as she stood up, turning around to face the mass of villagers that had gathered to see her off. "Well I'll be seeing you guys in a week or so try not to get up to anything while I'm away."
"Don't worry we won't, just make sure you come back to us safely." stated Raphatalia's father.
"Right, will do." she said, giving a smug salute as she fell backwards over the cliff.
Raphtalia looked over the edge to see the rippling water of the place her friend had dropped into. There was another large splash of seawater, then a black fin and soon after a tail then the full head of a… whale
"See you soon Sadeena!" The girl exclaimed, waving her hand back and forth happily, the rest of the villagers following suite.
"I'm so confused." The Overlord stated in thought, ending the memory there, returning back to the real world with more questions than answers and barely fifteen percent of his mana left.
"Was she some aquatic form of a lycanthrope or was it simply a part of her race? But that would make her a heteromorph… Hmmm it might be worth talking to Beloukas about it."
Ainz angled his head upwards to look at the girl soundly sleeping on the bed, "Thank you." he stated softly, changing the item attached to his wrist to the {Rejuvenation Shield}. This was the equip effect he received from sacrificing the used [Wand of Resurrection].
Though to call it a shield would be a stretch, it was more like a large intricately decorated goblet made of gold and silver. After admiring it for a moment - having not seen it before - he pointed his arm towards the girl and commanded it to {Light Heal}. The shield surrounded itself in a gold hue that began to gather inside the sizable cup section and after a second the light drained out and moved up his gauntlet discharging towards the girl in a quick burst.
The girl grunted lightly as the golden light surrounded her and seemed to move inside her. He watched excitedly as the girls health bar rose quickly and unexpectedly kept going, changing the red bar to that of a golden colour.
"It over healed her!" He exclaimed in genuine excitement but that emotion was quickly cut off by his suppressor.
"Hahh." he sighed. "This is surprising, though I guess it is to be expected from a world item, normally only [Hygieia's chalice] would be capable of something like this but since it only seems to apply to a single low level target it's somewhat balanced… somewhat."
That lead to another question, could it heal him?
The item he sacrificed to the shield was of the holy element and as an undead could hurt if not kill him should he attempt to use it on himself.
The Overlord looked at the shield, wondering just what it was capable of and how far he could push its power… following that line of internal questioning how far could he push himself with it, just how far could he go, could he become stronger than a Raid Boss or even a World Enemy, could even gain their exclusive spells and abilities.
Theoretically he could if the shards worked like they said they did, the war mage job class was an example of this working in real time
As much as he wanted to answer those questions, the answers meant nothing if Nazarick and his family were not there with him...
…
"My apologies for the wait, it took longer to calm her down than I thought." he explained to the shadow, noticing that they were sitting comfortably on the black leathered couch in a manner that gave nothing away. They're clearly very well trained.
"It was no issue, this item you created is rather comfortable, I dare say I even enjoyed it."
"I see, then I hope you won't mind if I make my own."
"Please by all means." The shadow gestured in a manner that said 'go ahead'.
"Much appreciated." He gave voice in thanks, nodding his head and pointing towards the empty patch of dirt in opposition to and casting [Silent: Create Greater Item] creating a double wide chair of the same appearance to the one the shadow sat on.
"I believe we were discussing the church? Ainz asked, taking a seat.
"Yes." They replied.
"Do you know what they have planned?"
"Not currently, no. They seem to have put any plans they had on hold for the moment as they were not expecting someone like you to become the shield hero."
"Someone like me?" He asked, looking directly into the shadows eye's.
"My apologies if I have offended you. I meant your power, you far outclass any hero that has previously been summoned at the time of summoning and your lack of empathy - as we stated before - was… disconcerting to say the least."
"I see that is an interesting curiosity but why do you think that to be the case, from what you have told me I can only ascertain that every other shield hero was like the Sword, Bow and Spear heroes summoned this time round."
"Despite my line of work, that is a question I do not have an answer to."
"Did they just make a joke?"
"Umu… very well, if you don't mind I'd like to circle back around to why you were her in the first place."
"Understood." they nodded. "First we would like to reiterate that Her majesty had nothing to do with your framing. In fact to say she was rather disappointed in learning of the events that transpired would be an understatement. Lord Aultcray was acting in opposition of her Majesty's orders; those being to treat you well - he was never meant to be in control.
Her Majesty had placed a noble she trusted implicitly on the throne temporarily while she seeked the aid of other countries to discuss the summoning of you heroes; unfortunately this noble perished while fending off the first wave."
"That is rather convenient. Don't you think?" he asked incredulously
"That is how it looks to be true, but an investigation was conducted into his death and we found that he died fighting the wave boss after it tore through his torso; his death was caused by blood loss."
"I see and this "wave boss" as you called it, was it a large beast with three heads?"
"Yes, it was. How did you-"
"Know about it? The girl told me, it plagues her nightmares, she relives the wave over and over again each night. I'm sure you understand what that must be like."
"That explains her nervous personality and timid nature."
"Yes." he nodded. "And while I have questions as to where this nobles' guards were or if they even existed in the first place, I don't really care." Ainz explained.
"To be expected." The shadow thought.
"As to your first inquiry, the people responsible for causing this incident are to my knowledge still suffering for their actions; the people of this country are safe from me. No, it is mainly the leadership I take issue with. Thus far they have shone nothing but incompetents." Once he finished his criticism he casted a [Silent: Time Stop]. The world came to a greyed out stand still along with the shadow in front of him, confirming at least that they did not have any resistance to temporal magic.
[Message]
("Hanzo where are you currently?")
("Close by my lord, we have finished our tasks, do you require something else of this one?")
("Yes") he replied.
("I have another job for you, I am currently sitting across from a shadow I am unsure of their detection abilities so I would like for you to personally enter their… shadow and map their intelligence network until you find the head, once you do so, leave a few demons with them and return to me and report.")
("At once my lord!") the hanzo exclaimed in confirmation.
"I… please allow us to apologize on behalf of-"
"Stop." He ordered holding his hand up. "Are you somehow the cause for their actions?"
"Not entirely…" They replied
"Then don't be accountable for them. They took me from my world without any form of consent to save something I care nothing for, and then falsely accused me of sexual assault; as I'm sure you can understand I fully expect those responsible for such a brainless act to be punished serverly. Does her Majesty wish to be included into that?"
"No, she wouldn't."
"I see and now that you have confirmed my intentions, is there anything else you would like to discuss?"
"No, not currently." they said standing up and looking at Ainz who had done the same. "Her majesty and I would like to thank you for your time and once again apologise for how you have been treated." they bowed politely.
"I as well thank you for your time and her majesties concern, this meeting has been very insightful, I look forward to meeting her in person once she returns
"As does she, I'm sure."
Ainz nodded. "Good, now that business is concluded I'd ask you please stop spying on me. It's not that you are ineffective at it, it's that if the one that is being spied on knows they're being spied on... well it makes the effectiveness of the spy drop dramatically, as I'm sure you can understand."
"Un-Understood Sir shield hero, I will make note of it for future reference." they stated, their diplomatic tone filtering momentarily in confusion unsure of whether or not to take his words as a compliment or an insult. Instead of trying to figure it out they gave a curt bow and simply said "farewell", leaving in a cloud of white smoke.
As he watched the shadow disappear into the night towards that of the castle wall he sent a message to the hanzo. ("Did you get in?")
("Yes! We did my lord. But they seem to perceive my existence and are acting erratically in what this one believes to be an attempt to shake us off, We will take extra steps to conceal ourself at once.")
("Please do.") Ainz replied, ending the message there.
The Overlord sighed to himself and dispelled the two unnecessary items behind him. "It seems tomorrow will be a busy day."
Well that's it for now… it took me far too long to write because i was worried about how to handle the discussion between the shadow and Ainz, it was even a bit longer but it was getting to the point of ainz just releasing important information and that's not what Ainz is. then even after that the retelling of raphtalias story was… well it wasn't how i wanted it to come out but its all i had.
Also I've been thinking about this for a sometime and while I do want to add Filo to the group I'm kind of stuck on her character. Because of Ainz being what he is I think her personality would change entirely and so it would only be filo in name. My question is do i add filo who will only be filo in name or make an entirely different OC or just not bother at all.
Please leave a review. I really do want to know what you think even if its only a single word.
