Take it all chapter 2
Meeting of the guardians
The shock didn't wear off for Albedo as she stalked the halls to where she and the other guardians were summoned. To her it didn't make sense and the conflicting nature of her base desires to protect and serve her master made her dizzy when it floated back and forth in her mind. She shook for a moment and had to lean against a wall to steady herself, the scene replayed in her mind again as it had thirty minutes ago from her retching and wheeling.
...
"I need you to slap me! Right on my face!"
Her skeletal lord commanded her with a fierce determination in his glowing eyes. The throne room was dead silent as Albedo struggled to say something.
"You-you want me to… you want me to…."
She could feel her pulse quicken as her mind processed that command. At this point it was an unsaid understanding between the servants that none of the denizens of Nazarick would ever bring harm to their masters and creators, the 41 supreme beings that made everything they knew and owed their existence and very souls too. Even those few members that might say otherwise, it was with a laugh because their loyalty in the end was unquestioned. They were simply made to say such things. Even the lowliest and treacherous leach made in Nazarick would willingly give themselves a thousand times over and an infinite existence beyond farther still to save, obey, and CHERISH their living gods. The One who has stuck around nearly every day, watching over them, giving more love and attention to each citizen as she could recall and even now when the other Supreme Ones admitted they would never return.
How she and everyone else knew, it was no surprise. Their lords were muttering about an end for a while. An end to everything. But... Lord Momonga stayed.
And she hit him in the face.
She could feel the icy stares of the maids and butler behind her back. But it was her command. After just a pregnant breath her lord began to laugh too, of relief of all things from the sound of it! The strike itself was weak, from how it felt to her. Perhaps if it was more like a tap, she could have gotten away with it instead? Regardless she broke the taboo and it gnawed away at her stomach.
He commanded it and it turned her into trash.
No, worse than trash. She should have resisted, said no, anything... now she wanted to beg for forgiveness, because if it was a test she most certainly failed. Skin her alive, toss her against some sort of impossible task, or just let her hold and hug him and do whatever she could to make things right...
It was thoughts like that which helped pull her out of the stupor.
Whatever the reason he asked her to do that... it made Lord Momonga happy. Ultimately isn't that all that mattered?
Albedo pushed herself away from her support with a sniff, and looked down on herself.
"It won't do trying to figure out what's going through his mind. More likely than not, any creature half as capable as Lord Momonga or any one of the Supreme Ones would be beyond my understanding." It would have to make do that she probably will just have to get used to this odd adjustment by her leader. One that was slowly becoming a mystery that took over every other thoughts. A small smile made to her face as she walked with new resolve to the amphitheater, she might not understand him but she won't have to. As long as she can be useful and carry out any command, THAT is what must matter. She would have to do everything to make sure she satisfied her masters every need. If she failed this test, she would NOT fail again.
Once she made it down the hall Albedo nearly collapsed again, whimpered out once again with a croak in her voice:
"...I just hit Lord Momonga..."
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"Yeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhwwwwwwwwwwwwn."
"Aura, I can't believe that you sound tired." A quiet voice floated forward. "We haven't done anything too stressful lately…"
"Mare, it's exactly why I'm tired. We haven't done anythiiiiiing."
"I guess. We haven't really done a lot in a long time. I'm glad no one tried to… you know… hurt any of us while all our creators are gone but… I can't help but think that's some sort of sign."
The small rumbles of their talk started to buildup in the open aired coliseum. A coliseum that hasn't seen any actual battle for most of its occupation. The fact that it was on the sixth floor underground probably contributed to the fact, since the forth and fifth floors were fiercely protected. Wait, no, there were times invaders broke through right? Aura, twin to her brother Mare, dipped into thought. She remembered there were actually a few times she fought and unfortunately even lost to protect her station.
It's not like it ever hurt. Her body would just give up and things would go dark… and honestly when it did happen (Aura didn't want to admit) but it terrified her. She vaguely knew she ended up in a void somewhere. She knew every second in there drained her in a way that would have been irreversible if her creators didn't revive her. She even knew - ok she thought - she deserved whatever fate it would lead to for such a failure. Yet every time she was rescued from that uncertainty.
Every time, it wasn't because of her creator but that skeletal guild master Momonga.
He always seemed to be the constant no matter what other Supreme Being came or went. Sometimes even laughing, or with a joke probably to himself more than her. "Dead and back now are you," or "good thing you have uncle Death here to bring you back."
Aura didn't understand what he would go on about but he usually seemed pleased about it for some reason. Maybe… pleased at rescuing her?
Aura's mind would drift, thinking about the other creators. That left a small pain in her heart.
The Great Ones were going to leave. Every day she talked with her brother when Momonga finished doing his semi daily rounds checking on parts of Nazarick. They used that period to take turns leaving their level to do whatever since if their masters who knew everything weren't there, it should be ok to patrol other places to do small luxuries they felt were safe to do.
Like Mare for example, he ran out to the library often and to do what? READ! And he does it all the time! It's probably why he wasn't as bored as Aura who needed to do something with her hands. She would train herself and her pets, explore the forests of her floor, mingle with the others in Nazarick, but not today. She could feel deep down in her gut that everything was going to change.
Aura Bella Fiora came back to from her tangent of thoughts, feeling herself grow stiff. She was laying down on a stone sofa that lined the open air VIP box of the amphitheater. Despite being underground, a soft purple light of a starry night blanketed the building, forest, and all in its soft glow. It just shown how powerful the Supreme Ones were to create this little bit of paradise away from the actual sun, even if Mare had to care for it once in a while as a test and to keep them from being too bored, or so she thought. All this thinking prompted one question to hang near her lips.
"Hey Mare, do you think…?" That we'll never see our creators again? That's what she wanted to ask but a quick sniffle was her response. Looking over she saw he was clutching his book, something about dolls wanting to be real humans, face scrunched up. A few quick breaths and a few fat tears fell down his face onto his dress. He knew what she was going to say. Mare usually was really good with that. It was his questions though that usually threw her off, like his response.
"Is it our fa-fault? Did we do something wrong?"
Aura shot up from her position to stare at her bother. "Mare-!" She stopped right there. Of course it's not our fault, her mind screamed, we done everything we could and more to please them! There's nothing wrong with us! You know they love us and we returned it as much as we could! None of it could leave her mind. Mare looked at her with his large watery eyes and quivering lips.
None of it was a lie, right? So why did it feel like it was one?
Most of the Supreme Beings left after a while, maybe they returned for a day or two only for them never to return. A few even briefer then that. For most, they never even returned to their floors to see their chil- creations. She knew that Bukubukuchagama returned after being gone for years, she just felt it and practically herd her voice through the floors and stones of Nazarick. That alone made Aura grin in a way that was bright enough to light up the night sky, but it quietly slipped away when time passed and she never shown up. Then that happy feeling vanished.
Truth be told, this wasn't the first time they had this discussion. A lot of the Nazarick denizens would hear whispers of dread and despair from somewhere else about how long it has been since they saw their creators. Not one hated the Supreme Ones for it but… it was a lonely existence. When all you ever came to know was to serve them, and they're no longer there to serve, did you exist at all anymore? Of course though it must have been part of some sort of plan, so everyone had to trust it.
Still this is the first time Aura couldn't rush to finish her claim of their love. This was the first time Mare shown his heartbreak. How many years has it been since they even really herd Bukubuku's voice, let alone see her? To play with her in their many dresses and clothes? To feel her pride carrying out her orders?
"I'm sure… it was just something beyond our understanding. Thats all."
Mare wiped his eyes. It wouldn't be worth crying and feeling sorry for himself now. At the very least he could continue their final order. Guarding their level for as long as-
BOOM.
An explosion, kicking up dust and dirt as high as the skybox they were in. Neither of them realized that someone or something snuck in under their noses during their little talk and as soon as all the Supreme Ones left no doubt! Aura felt something bubble up in her. So did some sort of pest manage to get in right when our masters were gone? Well I'll teach them for thinking we're easy pickings now!
The elf rolled onto the floor and quickly made to the edge of the room to look out upon the field below. The question of why and how the explosion happened didn't really cross her mind.
The floor of the arena wasn't as populated or outright dangerous as the other levels above or around. The amphitheater had golems, but they were more like simple one note dolls that were made to cheer when a battle took place there. Most of her pets were locked into their own rather grand size room while a few kept to the swaps, jungle, or lake off in the distance.
Well the Dragonkin (those large lumbering half lizard half person that couldn't be bothered to carry a conversation no matter how much Aura pestered them) that kept things tidy could be what stopped the invader and caused the explosion, but the power seemed like overkill for those small fry. Hugging the wall, she peered down and was nearly paralyzed to her very core. Down there was a face she recognized clear as day, the one that was there to revive her when she fell, the one that actually visited every week and took time to look over her and her brother. Slowly she turned around to Mare, a smile touching her face that only grew wider as it sunk in.
"They didn't leave us. We're not alone!"
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Momonga stepped through the shadows that surrounded him before reaching through to a dark pathway of carved stone and sandy flooring. A breath escaped his nose that he didn't even know he held. The skeletal man held up his left hand (the other was reoccupied with his golden staff that he couldn't leave behind, especially if he needed to use the awesome forces that dwelled within it for any reason) and inspected the item that made the near instant trip from the throne room to here possible; a small ring with a crest of the guild emblazoned upon it.
'It's nice to know my items still work at least. It took almost no time at all to use either.' That in itself was a silent blessing. Unlike it being back in the "game world" as he came to know it, which still needed some outside input like motion tracking gloves to select items on a menu or a physical button to hot key a spell, this was admittedly more... finicky. It took a few minutes of silent fuming getting it to activate. It was only after an intense desire for it to work and where he wanted to go triggered it to work. The question of "where he wanted to go" only came up when he found himself in the middle of a frozen wasteland the first time.
'Right now it's all about figuring out how everything works. Especially now that it's really sinking in that this really isn't a game anymore.' Really it shouldn't have been a surprise. Feeling clothing, smelling perfume (or shampoo, saying that he smelt Albedos hair outright felt too weird), feeling pain, none of those were things you can do in the game. Sure, it didn't mean the developers couldn't. His consciousness WAS connected to the program, but with how highly illegal it was based on the idea that people could no longer tell reality from fantasy was incredibly dangerous at best, so with the possibility that anything could go wrong no game designer would even attempt it even as a proof of concept.
So right now, he needed information. It all hinted on the assumptions so far, how much of the game was now real?
Of course "how" is still the big question as to why everything happened to begin with, but that's for future Momonga to figure out if ever. That cheery thought brokered a sigh. 'Unfortunately not every mystery is able to be solved.'
The skeletal man gathered himself and walked forward out from the stone hallways to the purple lit dirt field of the coliseum. It was a magnificent view but not one he didn't see countless times before. Instead it was the moment to figure out something more important; how to access his spells.
"Okay, so it's probably more intent and maybe some pronunciations…." Momonga mumbled to himself as his gaze trailed down to the dirt floor before him, It seemed like the safest bet to prepare his skillset by starting with something small at least. "Ok intent… I need my items. I have what I need in mind… I want it…" and with that he reached forward.
And a shadow engulfed his hand. 'Ok, good. This is like the game to get into the inventory screen. Just need to feel it out.' He got what he was looking for in just a moment, pulling out from the inky black rift an old tattered looking book. It was a grimoire, one of several he made for himself both in the game and real life filled with notes on spells he unlocked over the course of his game time. Since he knew over 700 of them thanks to some semi-broken game mechanics, it became worthwhile to catalogue what he got including several sections on how to use what spells best. It wasn't pointless even if most spells any player would remember by heart for protection or boosting buffs but some were specialized and needed to meet requirements to use. Frankly, he readily admitted too, his memory sucked something awful. It became a necessity to make notes in the real world and send a copy to the game so no time was wasted digging through the labyrinth of menus that made up the in game help section.
That was the actual stuff of nightmares.
Turning each page one handed with finesse he gave himself a moment to think about what he would try. 'It'll need to be something basic. Relatively self contained. Not leave a lot of damage so no one will be let on that I'm practicing. Oh I think I got it!' Placing the book into a pocket lining the inside of his robes, Momongas gaze returned to the center of the arena.
"If this is like any of the item spells then calling it forward should be easy." A giggle nearly escaped, starting to feel excited on the idea of casting magic. Real magic! Will it look different from how it was in the game? So much to try and experiment with later! "I think this will be enough to act as a final test. A little level one Shock."
Shock was an incredibly low level spell granted to all casters as a basic elemental attack, even if you didn't have the affinity for it. Most people 'forgot' it to make room for other spells in the slot since the typical cap was at 300, although Shock could be upgraded to an absurd degree if you stuck with it. Still, a short quick burst would shoot forward and give a small amount of damage on its target and that would be it.
However that wasn't how it was for Momonga.
Perhaps he wasn't properly thinking of the intention behind the spell. Right after he lifted his hand a shock came out all right, with all the strength of a mythical god like Zeus who decided that particular spot of earth offended him "so fuck it in particular." The bolt ripped out of his open palm, massive and wild as small stray bits flew off in every direction. It was over in nearly an instant, but followed with an earth shaking explosion that sprayed dirt sky high. The dust it left was thick to white out visibility until it settled a minute later. All that was left of the spot was a blackened crater.
For the second time in the past thirty minutes, a strained whine escaped Momonga's throat at what just happened. "Oh my god that was-."
"AMAZING!"
Momonga ripped his eyes off the spot to where the voice came from overhead. He couldn't see where exactly until a white and red blur jumped from a skybox out over the field. It landed with a loud thud on its legs, but in spite of it jumping from several floors up didn't seemed to be effected from the fall in the least. Then Momonga recognized what he saw.
"Oh, Aura! I was actually wondering where you were." He wasn't. Actually he would have rather put off meeting anyone until he had more of a grasp of his powers. The young elf girl smiled brightly, racing up to him but sparing a moment to look at the crater close up.
Momonga watched her carefully as she finished her approach, looking excited to see him. It irradiated such genuine feeling that he couldn't help but lower his defense. Or just a little, he told himself. "You seem to be doing fine. I'm, ah, sorry for what I did to the floor here. I meant just to practice my spells a bit but my mind wandered for a moment. That is to say that something happened. To Nazarick!" He tried not to sputter it out but it happened under her friendly, intense, childlike staring. 'Crap, I'm not sure if I'm even approaching this right.'
Aura blinked a few times then shook her head, keeping a small smile on her face. "Not at all my lord! I'll admit I wasn't expecting anyone to come here but you're the supreme leader of the Great Tomb of Nazarick! Safe to say you can reshape everything here as you see fit. Although… I'll admit I'm a little curious why someone as great and powerful as you needs practice. I'm sure you could turn us all to dust if you wanted to." Her expression feel into something a little more strained, as if she remembered she was actually talking to her god/boss in such a casual manner. Best to keep rolling with it right? Maybe he won't notice or take offense to it.
Momonga nodded. "Well it's like I said, something changed a while ago so I was making sure things were behaving like they should. Case in point, my spell was far stronger than I anticipated. Has anything changed for you in the last half hour Aura?" 'Like gaining sentience and complete autonomy of yourself?' He studied her carefully as her face went into concentration, seeing her eyebrows scrunch up and lips giving a little pout as she thought. "Also where's Mare, was he sent somewhere else? I usually see you two together when I'm here on this level."
Whatever thought she was in the middle of, Aura quickly snapped out of it. Jerking around, she glared at the VIP booth she jumped from and screamed out at the top of her lungs "MARE, GET OVER HERE! How rude can you be when we get a visit from a Supreme One?" Geez she can yell, Momonga thought.
The voice called back was weak and timid. "B-but Aura, I'm scared…"
"MARE!"
"Okay, okay…. I'm coming!"
Another figure in white and green dropped nearly straight down with little grace, nearly falling over on the landing. Aura turned back with a sigh. "Anyways to answer your question Lord Momonga, I'm not sure if I can say I felt or noticed anything at all. Maybe a slight chill a little while ago but I don't want to make it out to be something too important."
"Hmm. I see. Thank you Aura."
The elf grinned and gave a low bow, it almost seemed somewhere stuck between cheeky and childish if her expression wasn't so genuine. Mare finally made his way there, wide eyes never leaving the newly formed hole in the floor of their stadium.
Bump.
Mare tripped over himself as he ran into Aura pushing her forward with a yipe. Momonga quickly reached out and stopped her from hitting the floor. "Woah, mind yourself Mare. Aura, are you-." But stopped himself. He wasn't grasping her hard where his hand met her arm yet he saw her wince. Was it in pain? She quickly righted herself from his grasp, and got down on one knee submitting herself.
"I'm sorry my lord." She began through shaky breath, catching Momonga farther off guard.
"What?"
"You were right to punish me. I was being far too careless and disrespectful towards you. You deserve far more than what I was able to present to you. I... now know your initial spell was a declaration of your strength, and the farther pain was your warning. I thank you for your eternal patience and-."
"Aura!"
Momonga bent down to her level and patted her head. He could feel a slight flinch but ignored it. 'Oh I sure hope that was it. I think it was all because of a damage-by-touch spell that was always active in the game that hurt when I grabbed her.' He wish he had more time to prepare and not have to worry about these things that he took for granted before. This friendly fire wouldn't ever had happened in Yggdrasil. It's opening a whole new can of worms and frankly Momonga didn't like it. 'It looks like if I want to make sure no one turns on me just because they ended up getting caught in the crosshairs, I shouldn't use any big spells anymore.'
Momonga activated his storage portal again, dropping his staff to his side and rummaging around before he pulled out a small red vial. "Aura," he began, never stopping the soft patting on her head, "I'm sorry that I hurt you. As I said, I'm just getting a new feel for my magic. Something happened that, apparently, only I know about. I need you and Mare," he gestured a look at the boy who also wore a shocked expression ready to break down into tears, "to keep that much for yourself right now. I don't understand what's going on right now, and I can't explain it. I might make a few mistakes too along the way."
"Lord Momonga you could never-!" Aura was silenced with a quiet shush and the patting to stop, instead the boney hand moved to her shoulder and the other handed her the potion.
"Drink this and be healed."
She blinked a few times then shook her head, but a small smile returned to her face. "S-sorry Lord Momonga. I mean it's still my mistake so you shouldn't waste it on me… but thank you."
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It took a while for the twins to calm down and heal up. Momonga had to talk to Mare too since he was afraid of getting himself and his sister into trouble. At least that's how the boy saw it after bumping into Aura and causing 'everything bad to happen' in his words.
Okay, so he never read much into their characters. Momonga can admit that. He only understood what the other members told him when they were created and even then that was the very brief edition since it didn't matter that much.
So was it in their nature to be so… apologetic and nervous? Sure Albedo acted weird too but that was totally his fault for messing with her backstory. Oh, and now it's sinking in that he basically broke another living being. Another living being that belonged to a guild mate he looked up too. It's like a step away from brainwashing or rewriting history on an innocent bystander.
Thankfully moods shifted when he asked if they wanted to see some more acts of his power. Worry melted away to wide eyed delight and amazement as fire and summons were pulled as Momonga tried other fields of his power. He even asked if the two elves wanted to fight a fire elemental summon (possible thanks to the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, that absolute game breaking beauty of an item) after observing Mare patching up the floor as good as new with his own druid abilities.
An hour slipped by nearly without Momonga's notice. Really the elf twins were quite fun to be around now that initial awkward seriousness blew past. Apparently neither really expected him to be 'nice' let alone 'fun and caring' as he treated their wounds and fatigue with more potions and a magical pitcher of never ending water specifically.
'Well if I was meeting with the equivalent of my own boss in the same way I'd probably be stressed to hell too. Still I feel they opened up to me pretty fast. Aura practically fell over herself every time I shown some concern when she got a bit too banged up from their practice fights. Mare has been giving me odd looks until I congratulated him for his choice of spell work with a soft pat on the head too. And the reactions! Just doing that would trigger them to give me a look as if I told them I was taking them to an amusement park or something.'
He looked at them as the twins chatted to each other with glee. It really did make Momonga feel a bit warm on the inside, that he was able to start what he hoped was a good connection with his ex - NPC's. 'I hope the others are just as warm to me. Would make everything easier if I got to earn their trust.'
"My my, it appears I'm the first to arrive."
A voice, young and silky, appeared some distance behind gaining the attention to the three from their own thoughts and conversations. Shalltear Bloodfallen, the buxom "true" vampire dressed in some mix between gothic lolita and victorian style sensibilities with a large lace lined skirt and hooded hat, steeped forward from a portal.
'Crap, I forgot some of the characters had that spell. I didn't know it could be used in Nazarick! That's why we had the rings made for free transportation, because we were supposed to ward against that. Well thats just another bit of information for later to make sure I don't drop my guard if some decide to turn-'
"Oh wow, Lord Momonga!" Shalltear excitedly dropped a parasol she was carrying which disintegrated into black butterflies as she broke into a skip like run. Before the undead man could react more than a flinch back, she jumped and latched onto herself around Momonga's waist. "The one I could never rule above, my eternal beloved!"
Third time. THIRD TIME. A restrained sound choked from his throat. This was becoming a habit and he was going to break it before it started. However before Momonga can protest the child looking character, Aura voiced up first with a heated glare. "Cut it Shalltear, I can practically smell your desperation from here."
The vampire froze a moment before she could recover. "Well hello half-pint." She said with a smirk, turning slowly on the spot. "You were so plain I didn't even notice you as I came by. I guess that is the point of why you were made though wasn't it?" The two were shooting daggers into each other. The air was starting to grow thick with something tense.
"…Miss fake tits."
"What did you say!?"
Aura crackled out loud at the growing flush on Shalltear. "I knew it. That's why you bothered to power through with a gate spell. Running down here from your level would shift everything out of the way. Well I got news for you, they're already messed up with as much as you packed them."
"Watch it elf!" Shalltear nearly shrieked, covering up her chest to protect it from the other girls gaze. Apparently talking about one's breast size was something of a trigger button between the two as Momonga noted from the sidelines. "Whatever you might think, at least mine are bigger than those barely noticeable bug bites on your boy chest!"
Aura's smile became razor thin but never fully dropped. "Well, I can still grow and mature in time. You're stuck with what you got though. I really got to hand it to Peroroncino, he's got a sense of humor I thought only Luci-Fer had when it came to you."
The two quickly got into each other's faces, spitting out their comebacks with growing intensity. Momonga stared that the two with disbelief. Sure their creators were brother and sister, they fought at times too, but it was never so extreme! He almost missed the slight tugging on his sleeve as Mare silently scooted to his side during the ensuring catfight.
"Y-you're able to stop them before they go to far right?" Mare practically whispered.
Momonga leaned over to do the same. "At this point I think that's a bit too late. We both might need to step in." Neither moved a muscle however, but stared at both girls waiting until one made a move. It probably made more sense than to prematurely trigger an assault. Both girls continued all the same, fists clenching and twitching as if reaching for an invisible weapon.
Nevermind, this was definitely the time to intervene. Thankfully another voice came, strong and raspy, that did just that. "ENOUGH YOU TWO. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THAT YOU'RE IN THE PRESENCE OF A SUPREME BEING?"
Cocytus, guardian of the 5th floor, marched forward. The massive inset man, some mixture of a mantas and aunt, spoke in an authoritative tone as cold as his own freezing aura that surrounded him. Every step he left froze underneath him.
Inwardly Momonga sighed with relief. Aura and Shalltear instantly stopped what they were doing, muttering apologies to their leader with heads bowed. He really didn't want to be the bad guy here between them. Frankly, he never really knew how to handle girls or women. Jokes or regular conversations aside, it was always when they worked themselves up into something angry that he never got. At least in the real world, it's always been over stupid or petty things and honestly this seemed no different. Not to mention that there was an already set history for them of… some sort… so it made sense to let it play out until things broke or punches thrown.
"Thank you for coming Cocytus and helping cool off the situation." Momonga coughed into a closed fist. The insect warrior barked out a laugh.
"I CAME AS QUICKLY AS I COULD FOR YOUR SUMMONS, AND TO PROVIDE MYSELF USEFUL IS WHY I EXIST." Each earnest word came out with a breath of cold air from his mandibles. "IN A WAY, IT HAS BEEN HARD TO FULFILL THAT SORT OF ROLE THE PAST THREE MONTHS BUT I KEPT MYSELF BUSY WITH TRAINING. I ASSUME THIS IS WHY I HAVE BEEN CALLED?"
"In a way," Momonga agreed. "We're just waiting for the others to arrive. By then I'm expecting some updates, news, reintroductions. Something's different, and I'm curious where everything stands."
"AH, I SEE. IN THAT CASE I'LL START FORMULATING A MORE PROPER REPORT FOR YOU IF YOU ASK FOR IT."
"Uh… yes thank you."
Cocytus straightened himself up, air slightly less chilly than before as he went off to find a spot to ruminate for a bit. Oh he was feeling ecstatic after hearing those words, Cocytus had to stop himself from nearly prancing. He was praised for doing his duty! Momonga in turn decided he was definitely a character. Someone who looked eager to please and obey and thankfully someone he didn't need to watch closely if events demanded it.
Mere minutes later, Albedo and another arrived. He was tall, had sharp features, and wore a thin minimalist red suit. This would be Demiurge. Momonga unconsciously gripped his staff a little more tighter upon seeing the demon of the seventh floor. It's not like he had any reason to dislike this NPC. In a way, this was the first time he was meeting any of them in any capacity that wasn't like a tool. Demiurge had his own aura about him fitting of his station. Every step was calculated. His face was plastered with a knowing smirk.
Momonga felt like he was being studied from head to toe.
He forced himself to relax. If the demon was as smart as he was originally claimed to be, well… he could be incredibly dangerous if he decided Momonga wasn't fit to be in his position as the guild head.
'I need to calm down. I need to fortify myself before these six. They're just NPC's I called to see where I stand with them. Calm down.'
"It looks like everyone I wanted to address is here."
"My lord" a voice resonated out. Demiurge. He was able to passively command anyone of a lesser level to bend to his well with his word, but thankfully that excluded present company. "I believe you called for the floor guardians to be present yet Victim and Gargantua aren't here yet."
"That is true. They have prior orders that supersede these unless they're specifically called on, not to mention Gargantua… well that should be self explanatory."
Apparently the brief moment of silence from all the other floor guardians staring at Demiurge after Momonga made that comment spoke volumes. "Of course my lord." The demon dropped his smile onto something more unreadable.
'CRAP. Did I do something wrong there?' Momonga's fingers twitched on the staff again as the stared back at the floor guardian. 'I would have thought he knew that Gargantua wasn't designed as an actual character with a backstory. It's a golem, a living siege weapon! Or did I make a mistake in thinking that it still held up once everything else changed now? Calm down, calm down!'
Internally, a pressure was slowly building within Momonga. A magical system that governed all creatures to behave and react a certain way, to be resistant to effects, or to passively run wherever they went. A system that ran and held all creatures within their subtype equally without exception. Such as the undead not experiencing fear or any emotions. Yet here we have an overlord, mind in growing turmoil of doubt, and this magic was being prevented from doing its job. Somewhere along the way, it was being prevented from being channeled inward. What doesn't go one way….
Albedo smiled and stood between the two, hand over her heart. "My lord, we floor guardians wish to pledge our loyalty to you."
'…What?!'
"With word that the other Supreme Beings are no longer part of our world, yet you remain and honor us with your presence, it's only fitting we give ourselves to you. Wholly and completely. Everyone, let's begin."
'WHAT?!'
Every guardian nodded with her declaration, and lined up side by side perfectly facing Momonga a respectful distance away. Cocytus, Shalltear, Mare, Albedo, Aura, and Demiurge all knelt and submitted themselves. One by one, they declared their name and station. They marked Momonga as their master and him alone. Demiurge who took the longest to say something by just a moment, did so with a small grin. This time though Momonga knew what it was. Relief.
"The Guardian of the Seventh Floor, Demiurge, presents himself to the Master."
Momonga didn't know what to do. He was stunned still. His skeletal hand now grasped his staff for support least the intensity of their proclamation knocked him over. Never before in anyones life were such words said with sincere devotion, and here they were being dropped on his head one after the other. He could practically feel his phantom heartbeat rattling within him, yet any onlooker would see his imposing figure staring with a glaring intensity.
'Calm down, you can handle this! Calm down! CALM DOWN!'
His internal magical system couldn't handle it anymore. Whatever would usually regulate the undead's emotion was completely sealed up. It was something unprecedented and ironically unnatural that only matched his own unique circumstance now placed upon in the universe. So whatever couldn't go in, it went out. Like a dam bursting, his body was flooded with wild magics that lashed out in every direction yet left no harm. A bright light hallowed behind himself tinged with greens.
The guardians now looked upon him with new amazement on their faces. Whatever he was doing, it was glorious to behold. Like an angel of death who was standing in front of an almost blinding halo of light stood before them. Between all of the guardians, even those who shouldn't be able to feel anything, felt wave after wave of something that soothed their very souls. Some held their breath until the effect slowly dissipated, although wisps of the light lingered on their Lord.
Shalltear had tears swell up in her eyes. Being the only other undead of the group, she was hit the hardest with this foreign feeling.
Momonga felt newly refreshed, unaware what came over him. "Stand now my guardians." It was quiet, but strong. "I… thank you. For coming here; for giving yourselves to me as you have."
Aura was the first to speak and she was quick to do so. "You don't need to thank us! We are all here because you are here. You… are the Supreme Overlord! We exist to serve you and you alone."
The others nodded with determination.
For Momonga, this was the kind of switch he needed. Almost like all his worries were reversed in that moment. It may not be permeant but for now… this is what he needed. Something comforting in the previous abrupt change in his life. Something that even if it's just for now, he can find support in and wasn't going to be so alone in the world. Relishing in the feeling, the guardians must have took it another way.
"MY LORD, I UNDERSTAND IF YOU DOUBT OUR CONVICTION OR ABILITIES. WE ARE NOT LIKE THE SUPREME BEINGS YOU MAY HAVE RELIED ON OVER THE YEARS, BUT UNDERSTAND WE WILL DO ANY TASK YOU SET FOR US, NO MATTER WHAT."
"My beautiful Lord Momonga, we swear to never let you down, no matter what your expectations are. We will always be by your side, and serve you until the glorious end."
"This we swear!"
Momonga was a lot of things. Sedimental was one. Skeptical was another. Yet seeing the creations of his team mates, his friends, make their claim they will always be beside him? That hit hard and filled him with a joy he couldn't properly express. 'Yes, I don't think I could want anything more.'
So he laughed. "This is excellent, absolutely excellent. I have no doubt in my mind that all of you will do that and more where you can. Truly it was something I needed to hear. I want all of you to understand a few things as well. Up to now, I was used to working with my friends. We all had our own understandings and ways to approach things that I came to rely on. I might ask or call for things you may not understand or might seem difficult to follow through. Bare with me when it happens and try to pay attention. Now earlier I… felt a disturbance and set Sebas and a couple battle maids with him to explore the perimeter of the Great Tomb of Nazarick."
This brought mild surprise to the guardians. Whatever Momonga felt must have been serious to send him out with an escort. The sound of footsteps clacked around them. "My apologies for taking so long my lord, we wanted to be thorough in our investigation." Sebas walked forward as if anticipating this moment to appear to deliver the news.
"It's no problem Sebas as long as you were careful out there and nothing attacked you."
"Nothing of the sort my lord." The butler bowed. "Although I must inform you that Nazarick seems to have been displaced. The swamp around us is gone; no trace of it in fact. In its place appears to be nothing but grassland. There are no man made structures as far as the eye could see from above, although its night so visibility isn't as far as it should be. There were some signs of life, but they appear to be simple wildlife than hostile creatures."
"So nothing appeared too out of place, such as the plant life or structures floating off into the distance?"
"Due to how we have been relocated I made sure to approach everything in a cautious manner. However the plant life didn't have any special or dangerous properties and the night sky was as clear and as vast as this floors own sky."
The news was a bit of shock to the guardians, but internally Momonga felt… excited. 'So we're in a completely new place? One that's easy to guard and fortify too.' "Thank you Sebas. This is a valuable start to understanding this disturbance I felt earlier. My guardians, I'll need you to take extra care in guarding your levels and be sure to call for support if the situation demands it. Albedo and Demiurge, your roles of defending and counter offense go into full effect as of now until I feel more comfortable in our new place in the world."
"My lord." Albedo said with underlying glee. "We'll have a full warning system in place in the event we're attacked or infiltrated."
"Good. In addition to what I said about calling for backup, I will undo the seals in place to allow direct access from the Seventh Floor to the Ninth Floor, treating the Ninth and Tenth Floor as one."
Albedo lost her smile in place for shock. "My lord…. You want mere minions and underlings to walk those halls where you and the other Supreme Beings have made your own?"
There was a slight waver to her voice. Such areas were considered sacred to them, and to Albedo above the others. For Momonga it was far less so. The other guild mates and him just didn't want to wade through seas of automatically spawning minions every time they held a meeting or visited their in guild shops for items or anything. Plus if anything made it to that point a bunch of low level fodder wouldn't even hold the invading forces back. However given how delicate things were, having the extra security wouldn't be that big of a deal.
"I'm asking for a regular patrol route for those floors. If something decides to slip through rather than fight, having guards on every level will minimize their chances."
Albedo nodded with determination. "Of course my lord. I will select the finest troops to guard those levels."
Satisfied, Momonga turned to the twins. "Given Sebas' report, we might need to do something about the tomb. Either to be less noticeable or deter potential enemies away from a glance. What would you think would be good to obscure our location Mare?"
Mare jumped at being mentioned and thought for a moment. "W-we could illusion the walls to be invisible. No one will have a reason to come this way."
"I'm not against that but illusions like that tend to be unreliable. A heavy rain might break it and how often it would take to reapply the spells since the strongest only last for an hour or so might require too much constant attention."
Mare deflated a little being rejected like that. Okay, it wasn't a rejection per say but the first time being called out and have it denied hurt his small ego a little. Still he tried again. "Um… what about camouflage it with plant life? If we p-piled dirt onto the walls it would last a lot longer."
"Mare," Albedo said quietly. Her voice sweet yet tinged with an underlying venom. "Are you suggesting to dirty the walls of our Great Tomb of Nazarick, where our Supreme Beings created as their home, to hide like moles?"
Mare stopped, eyes nearly bulging out of his skull. Nearly every floor guardian present as well as Sebas stared at the young elf with intensity. He started breathing a little heavy. How stupid to suggest that! What was he thinking, to soil the very home of the gods-
"It's not a bad idea." Momonga thought out loud. "Also Albedo that was rude; speaking out of turn when I addressed Mare for solutions."
"My deepest apologies my lord!" Albedo bowed deep, face frozen in fear and flushed. The other guardians plus Sebas had the decency to stiffen in fear as well.
Momonga steeped forward and placed a hand on Mare's shoulder. Just another added shock to the guardians who saw the act, Mare included. "It's a good idea but I feel it should be taken a step farther. If we just placed dirt against our walls, we'd look like a hill. If we wanted to blend in, we'd would have to make more hills to not be out of place. If there is intelligent life out there, anyone who knew the area that would happen to come by would know that all of it would be out of place anyways. I believe we should go beyond and dissuade anyone from walking to it entirely if it's possible. Perhaps reconstruct the swap we were once in or a forest with your druid abilities and populate it with your pets Aura. While the inherent danger might eventually prompt people to seek out why it exists at all with stronger forces, it could give us another layer of security to rely on or stop them from exploring all together if it's dangerous enough. Do you think that's at all possible?"
Mare nodded. "Y-y-yes sir! I mean, it'll take me a while to raise that many t-trees. No one else really uses earth magic."
"Don't worry, I'll help out a little there when I can Mare. As long as you think it can be done, it shouldn't be a problem. With that, I want every one of you to take a break before starting your duties. I don't want anyone to push yourselves too hard, especially with all the unknowns going on. Before I retire for a bit myself, I want to ask all of you a question so I can better understand you as well. Shalltear, what kind of person am I to you specifically?"
Shalltear blinked several times before bowing down to one knee. "Well to me my lord, you're everything beautiful in this world. Not only by your looks but how you're able to affect us is breathtaking."
'Well that's a weird way to put it, but it's positive so that's good.' "-Cocytus?"
"EASILY THE STRONGEST OF US ALL AND MORE THAN DESERVING OF BEING OUR LORD." He remarked as he did the same action.
'Well good, two for two and appearing strong is great for leaders.'
It continued on. Mare thought him to be a compassionate person, which was a sweet sentiment from the nervous boy. Albedo flat out told him that he was the man she loved and their greatest master above all else. That definitely drove a pang of guilt into his heart but he had to ignore it for now. Sebas was happy for him sticking with them and thus that was enough to make him the greatest of the supreme beings. Demiurge praised his quick wit and foresight benefiting of the gods so it did seem just a little hammy but was delivered with conviction. Aura's however really stuck out to him though. Even once he left to his private quarters, her voice rang in his head.
"To me… you're a beacon of hope. One I hope lasts forever."
A beacon of hope?
What has he done really do deserve being called that?
Why do any of them think that much of him?
The others didn't react nearly as strongly if all it was just him being the only guild member left.
Crap, now that too made him feel guilty. It wasn't much of a clan if (even as a technicality) you were the only member left. Honestly the name carried years of sentiment and memories with it. It would honestly be a shame if he let it die.
Walking down a bit from the corridor he teleported to, he found his guild bedroom. It was kinda done in an ironic way, most of his guild mates were really into being immersed into the virtual world before. If they could experience what Momonga was right now, they would have probably shat themselves once it really sunk in. A few really wanted to leave the real world behind that badly. It was unfair in its cosmic sort of way to have the skeleton man here as he is over them that took more time to get the little details down, but he greatly appreciated it all the same. Opening the door, a maid quickly greeted him.
'Wow, we really placed them everywhere didn't we? I hope that there aren't others waiting in empty rooms that will never be visited…. I'm going to have to fix that.'
She went to grab his robes but he declined. Rather he told her to seek out the other maids in similar positions and find other jobs to do around the levels for now including his intention as to why. That seemed to be enough. He wasn't expecting to stay that long. As an undead, his body didn't fatigue. His mind however was ready to clock out. Just giving it a shot and not expecting much of it, he laid down in his bed and was out like a light before he knew it.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The lingering feelings of equal peace and pressure vanished with Momonga from the Colosseum. It took several minutes but eventually someone gave a sigh breaking the spell keeping the guardians in place from their positions. Albedo was the first to rise, but Mare was the first to speak to his sister.
"Aura, t-that was such an intense feeling. It was like… I was being crushed but I was happy about it. Or I wasn't as scared as I should have been. L-like everything was going to just be all right."
"I know, when I first met him I thought he was going to be something evil but… I feel so much more relaxed than I have been for a real long time. Like, with Lord Momonga around everything is just going to be okay."
"When he touched me on the shoulder, I thought I was able t-to do anything. Oh… I am going to h-have to make all those trees though…"
Demiurge got up and brushed some invisible dust from his suit. "Leave it to Lord Momonga to be an enigma as a Supreme Being should. I don't know what that spell was, it was too effective to be a normal calming or bravery casting. To think it had such an effect on all of us, nothing short of amazing."
"I CAN SEE IT BEING LORD MOMONGA'S WAY OF SHOWING HOW MUCH HE BELIEVES IN US AND HOW WELL HE CAN READ OUR BODIES."
"Admitting you were nervous my friend? Doesn't sound much like you."
"AND YOU WEREN'T? I AM A WARRIOR, I KNOW HOW TO FIGHT. THIS WAS JUST SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. I CAN'T RECALL A TIME WE EVER HAD A OPEN DISCUSSION WITH ANY OF OUR LORDS AND LADIES."
"That's very much true."
Aura continued. "Honestly the last two hours were so different from the last few years. Lord Momonga came here and trained. With us! He even healed our wounds and gave us glasses of water when we got thirsty!" She pointed to Mare who nodded.
That probably wasn't the best thing to say. The mood went from relief to jealousy pointed to the elf twins. Albedo who was the worst had a tinge of unstableness to her tone. "You had some… Private time… with our Lord?"
Mare blinked a few times, trembling once he realized how things shifted. However a thought popped into his mind. "So that power we felt, that, that must have been his true power! It was a-amazing!"
Albedo blushed as she looked away. "Of course, it is expected of our creator! The one to stay behind for us was the strongest and most compassionate of them all!" The other guardians went blissful in thought of the wild magic that touched them only moments ago while Mare's face dropped in relief. Glancing over, he saw Aura give a small sad smile that had "my bad" written all over it.
Although they were all high on life as it were, to pledge themselves to whole heartedly to their master, Sebas was the first to leave. "In order to fulfill my role as his butler and to stay by his side" where his general words. Albedo followed after him, should their lord request her she had to clean herself or perhaps just present herself as she was. Albedo kept going on a bit too long for any of the guardians to be comfortable with. Sebas unfortunately had to put up with it until she decided to go to her own quarters to "freshen up."
Demiurge felt an odd pang of pity for that man for having to put up with it. She seems rather smitten with their lord in a way he didn't understand, and usually he was the smart one. If nothing else, this day proved to humble him and urged to sharpen his wit. Speaking about humbling, as he noticed, Shalltear was still kneeling where she was when Momonga left. "Shalltear is something the matter?"
Her form shook her head, but she quickly got up and left not even bothering to face them. She just waved and walked. Maybe it was a little childish of her, but she didn't want to let them see her eyes which may have gotten a little red from crying. It was the happiest she ever felt. Not to mention the power their lord displayed… might have ruined her underpants a little. But in a good way! Regardless they were wet and she didn't want them to smell that from her, at least not before it was when she really claimed that skeleton as her own. She swore that was going to happen no matter what now.
Over time, the rest broke up for the night after going through some small talk they never had a chance to indulge in before. Figuring Momonga will call on them once he was ready to put his plans in motion, security was first on the list and could be taken care of easily enough. That left Mare and Aura alone on their level again, the both with refreshed smiles.
No matter what happens now, they felt things were going to be different and better than before.
This they knew.