Main Chapter 1 - Catastrophic Introduction.
For the longest time, Momonga had longed for his friends' return. To reunite and reignite the friendship so strong in the past. However, with each day's passing, more and more left YGGDRASIL to handle the hardships in their dystopia lives in the real world.
The guild master could only recall the good times they spent together in his memories and the joy of simply just interacting with one another.
Alas, the time of YGGDRASIL, too, had come to an end. After years of decline, they finally decided to shut down everything.
On the message board of the last remaining batch of players, one joked about this fate being a comeuppance for the dubbed 'Shitty Developers'. But even so, none of the veterans could help but teared up.
In the end, the once most popular DMMORPG would fall like the rest of the forgotten pile of its predecessors.
Momonga sent messages to the former members, hoping for them to sit until the end together. However, he was met with minimal replies, and only HeroHero actually showed up. At first, they thought of bringing the guild weapon along, to perhaps edit some of the NPC's bios, but in the end, they decided not to make changes to their friends' creations.
The two players glided around the hall of their creations, revisiting as many rooms as possible, relieving some of their greatest moments together.
An hour passed, the final minutes were approaching.
As the two stood in the throne room, they bid each other farewell and vowed to meet one another again in another plane of existence, perhaps possibly. A sudden sound of explosion came from afar. Being well-versed in in-game knowledge, Momonga could say for certain that it was an effect he had never heard of before. A blinding white light then emerged and quickly expanded, engulfing the two, generating from their own bodies like they were attached to a massive flash bomb.
Eventually, their awareness started to fade, as if some arcane lullaby was coercing them into a deep slumber.
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"What the?!"
Normally, when one regains consciousness, one would temporarily feel like some parts of the body is not quite fully functional yet. Be it the lack of clear sight or perhaps even being in a dazzled state. However, that was not true for Momonga.
He can see everything as vibrant as ever if not more. His mind raced, trying to rationalise the situation he was in. Instead of his room in the real world, he found himself lying on the brunt carpet of Nazarick's throne room. Looking around, the banner which bore the insignia of his friends, along with other decorations, no matter how minor, had been utterly destroyed in some ways.
The walls of the high ceiling that was as white as untainted marble just moments ago were now aged and stained by burn marks. Chandeliers above ceased to emit a fantastic, dreamlike radiance. Some of them even fell down to the floor, joining the rubbles of other things. Had it not been for the undead's innate ability to see in the dark, Momonga would not be able to see a thing.
"Is this some cruel joke by those shitty devs?" was Suzuki's first thought. He could feel anger flare up, like the scorching blazes of the Sun's corona. He wanted to shout, to curse how anyone dared to destroy the memories of his friend right before his eyes.
However, his anger suddenly vanished as it had never been there, leaving only the lingering feeling of sadness.
Had his emotions been suppressed? The dive gear is definitely not capable of emulating this kind of emotional tampering.
He tried to contact the GM using the skill [GM Call], but it did not work. He could not even leave the game as the HUD was nowhere to be seen.
After trying several combinations of forced exits, Momonga realised that he truly was stuck in this game. Could it be that the server wasn't actually closed down? Is it possible that this is a beta version of YGGDRASIL 2 only accessible by most loyal fans that stayed till the end? No, it could not be.
Looking at his boney hands, everything feels more dynamic, more real. Connecting the dots, he started to realise the most extraordinary implications of his situation.
Taking a deep breath even though he did not have any lungs, the overlord walked towards the [Throne of kings], hoping to glean more information with the help of that administrative world item.
Once seated, a hologram-like window appeared for the overlord to see, just like back in YGGDRASIL. It displays the statuses of the NPCs on each floor. To his distress, all of their names were in red, signifying that every last one of them had been slain, even ones stationed in the most obscure and secretive locations of the tomb, but a part of Momonga expected so, considering the conditions of Nazarick.
What's more unsettling was the cost of reviving them. 'Floor guardians' had been increased by at least a hundredfold. Area Guardians and normal NPC like the Pleiades' costs were also increased, however, only twice or thrice the original. Lesser NPCs like the non-combat maids were unaffected.
Switching from filter: 'NPC' to 'Members', he couldn't help but smile. His friend's name showed in green, with a full health bar and all. However, the world item did not show his location.
"He couldn't have gone far... maybe he's on some floor?"
He tried activating [Message]. The spell itself worked; however, he still faced a predicament. Normally, there would be an interface for chatting, but nothing of the sort was appearing.
"What if I just think about HeroHero-san...?" The guild master focused hard intent to send chanting of "HeroHero-san HeroHero-san, HeroHero-san, HeroHero-san". However, after about two minutes of nothingness, Momonga decided to give up.
He will physically search for his friend. After all, it's not like he could've gone anywhere far...
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He began his search, beginning from the treasury; since HeroHero possessed [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown], he, too, should be able to enter via teleportation. But upon reaching his destination, he could rule out that possibility almost instantly.
The entire room was filled with purple miasma, so thick and dense that it looked like a solid object. These noxious gases are the result of the [Blood of Jormungandr], a defensive item that would normally go off if the password entered was wrong. Had he not been an undead, even he would drop dead in mere seconds.
Slowly approaching the door, Momonga noticed that it was gone, hence why the gasses were released. Still, he decided to move forward; there was something from the treasury that he wanted to get.
But things would not go his way; everything in the treasury was gone, and not a single coin remained. Items were also all gone, including equipment from his friends and the golems equipping them.
He wanted to release his anger by shouting, anything. But the emotion suppressor kicked in once more.
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The eighth floor, where the most powerful entities were kept, was also in quite a sorry state. But a part of Momonga felt relieved because had there been anything alive left in it; it might pose more problems for him. Moving towards the Sakura Sanctuary, the once stunning scenery of pinks and greens was replaced with a dark and morbid atmosphere with withered plants all around. The guild weapon stored in it was also gone.
"If it was destroyed, then [Throne of Kings] would shatter... that means someone took it then?"
Shaking his head, he decided to refocus. His first priority was to search for his friend. Perhaps once reunited, they can ponder about this together.
So he continued to check; 7th. 6th. 5th. 4th. Everything was in ruins of course, and no signs of his friend.
However, upon entering the upper floors, he came to notice something. There were footmarks and handprints in various parts, and anything of value was taken, unlike the lower floors where it was left broken on the ground.
There were also rotted bodies of humans; death delivered not from monsters but their own kind. Judging from their equipment, they could either be petty thieves or treasure hunters.
[Mass Ignition]
The bodies of the invaders lit up before being totally consumed, turning to ashes in but a minute. "So I can still use my spells." he muttered softly before continuing on. But it seems the closer he gets to the entrance, the more corpses and skeletons there were; before burning them all away, something most curious occurred.
He could feel his passive skill, [Undead Blessing] telling him about nearby undead, and soon enough, one of the corpses slowly stood up, followed by many, their movements resembling puppets being controlled by an amateur. But upon seeing that Momonga is a skeleton, it did not poise to attack and just stood there like a statue.
"Interesting."
Normally in YGGDRASIL, zombies would attack indiscriminately unless interrupted by outside forces such as passive skills, for example. And their spawn location would be designated and not spawn naturally from fallen players or NPC carcasses.
However, these zombies not only showed some resemblances of sentience but also rose from death, just like their name.
[Create Low Tier Undead: Elder Lich]
One of the inanimated corpses melted into a tar-like substance before re-forming into a YGGDRASIL-like elder lich, however, instead of a generic face, he retained his original albeit very distorted appearances.
"Your... Orders...?" the newly made undead spoke in a rather dried voice, showing intelligence, unlike the wandering ones, which Momonga expected. Even back in YGGDRASIL, this kind of zombie can speak, but only using generic voice lines.
"Clear the area of other undeads."
"As you wish..." With that, he began to work, launching fireballs at point-blank range to completely disintegrate others. Even the zombies see this all happening; they made no attempt to run away or defend their peers. It seems attacking one does not means attacking all, unlike in the game.
Quite satisfied with this development, Momonga continued walking, only to stop at only a step. His feet stumbled upon something; unlike the other debris which just shattered under his feet, this 'something' did not.
Bending down, Momonga noticed that it was a ring of bronze colour, with no inscriptions nor physical special effects.
[All Appraisal Magic Item]
Then, the information flooded his mind. Dubbed [Condensed Chaos Beasts Essences], this 'ring' has an ability to induce a state similar to 'berserk' to any living things near it. Prolonged exposure will result in said target never recovering from this state and even mutating into something...primal.
"Could this be the reason why they killed each other? I don't think we have an item like this in YGGDRASIL... it would be too useless..." Saving those curious thoughts for later, he left the floor for the above, shoving the ring into his pocket dimension.
Upon reaching the entrance, Momonga found himself not able to get out due to some form of purple-coloured seal blocking his path. A seal that even his [Greater dispel] could not break. The only thing capable of doing that are world-class items or perhaps something equivalent unbeknownst to the guild leader just yet.
[Blessing Of Titania]
A tiny, balded fairy dressed in leaves of blue appeared. It smiles and radiated a gentle glow of the same colour, awaiting command.
"Show me a path to get out of here" the overlord commanded.
The fairy contemplated for a moment as it flew in circles before making a pouty face, shaking its head and disappearing.
The reason Momonga did that was that there was a certain system in YGGDRASIL which prevented dungeons from being constructed in a way that would be absolutely inaccessible. While the seal could be destroyed, seeing how there is no alternative route to enter, it would still be illegal in the game and automatically removed.
"So magic and monsters work the same, but everything about the 'system' seems to not work... But is that really the case? Or am I missing something...?"
After a few brief seconds of contemplation, he decided to use the [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] once more to teleport directly to the other side of the seal, which is technically a part of the tomb.
Instantly, the scenery before him shifted as abrupt as switching pages of PowerPoint. Basked by the gentle light of the clear night sky, Momonga was absolutely astounded at the view, so opposite to the real polluted world. Nazarick, once situated in a swamp shrouded in noxious purple mist, was now in the middle of a plain with but a sparse amount of trees for all to see.
"What kind of crummy seal was that... warding against physically entering but not teleportation..."
But without knowing the layout inside, one could not normally translocate past the barrier unless, of course, with the help of items or special skills. So the seal wouldn't be so useless against lower-levelled entities.
Walking away from the entrance for a few minutes, he still found no signs of HeroHero.
"Maybe he already went somewhere...? But would he really leave without me...?" Out of a massive repertoire of spells that Momonga knows, none of them was named 'locate person' which was why he usually enlisted help from a certain NPC back when he wanted to find someone in YGGDRASIL. But that is not an option.
"Is it possible that he was teleported someplace else...? Now that I think about it, the position I woke up in wasn't exactly the same that I stood..."
Since there was no way to confirm, he decided to go back inside once more, in case his friend returned by himself. He would not stay idle of course but planned for defences before heading out to search if too much time had passed... If he wasn't interrupted, that is.
"Greetings sir." a male voice suddenly spoke from quite a distance away. Glancing towards the source, Momonga saw a blonde teen with blue eyes, with his sword sheathed and only a torch in hand.
"Interesting."
Humans interacting with undead on friendly terms weren't totally unheard of in YGGDRASIL but were very limited in number due to PKers and general toxicity in the community. However, that wasn't the main concern of Momonga.
The boy spoke perfect Japanese... Or rather it was auto-translated as his mouth and words did not match.
"What should I say..." He pondered, recalling times when he roleplayed as his avatar, he would say...
"Are you not afraid of me... human?" But without realising it, he actually muttered that out loud.
"There certainly was a time I was scared" the boy said as he looked at the night sky thoughtfully, perhaps recalling moments of his brief life. "But after co-existing with them, I understand that there are both good and evil in every race, including the dead."
"So co-existing is a new concept? I need more informatio.n"
Nodding at the youth's answer, Momonga stepped closer "Then are you not afraid that I would be the latter?"
With a smile, the blue eyes youth answered, "Certainly sir, but it is my duty to assess whether you are or not."
"How... commendable. I'm not familiar with this part of the world, so I have to ask, could you be a... patrol of settlement around here?"
The boy bowed, "Thank you for your kind words sir, but any of my peers would have done the same." He paused briefly to catch his breath, one of the downsides of being a human. "My name is Climb, I am an enforcer of Carne village, a frontier territory of the Congregation of Nobles."
"I am... Momonga" He thought of using a fake alias as "Momon", but decided against it as there was no merit in doing so... Or it could be that the former salaryman just did not have enough time to think.
"I see... Sir Momonga... Might I ask where you are from? Judging from your luxurious attire, could you be a noble?"
"A noble...?" Should he affirm or deny? Back in his real life, the only 'nobility' there was would be the elites of the titanic cooperation; the nobility of old remained only in the dictionary as relics of a bygone era. Not convinced that he would be able to act the role, he decided to- "Ah, nothing of the sort, master Climb, I'm simply a cog of a machine that is a company."
"A... company?" said Climb; although his translated words were brief, his mouth moved for a long enough time to speak the exact phrase four times.
"Was that a translation error? Or could it be that the word for 'company' in his language really is that long? I should explain a bit more in detail."
"Yes, master Climb, an organisation where each person contributes their heart and soul for the greater good of all." By 'all' he meant the executives, but it seems that was lost in translation, seeing how Climb's eyes glistened.
"You are commendable, Sir Momonga." the boy said as he smiled, returning the earlier praise.
Not catching this, the player simply waved the praise away, "It was nothing special... As for where I'm from... I would assume it to be very far away." Shaking his head, he continued. "The fault lies in a faulty teleportation device which made me end up here, but it seems fortune is still on my side as I meet you, master Climb."
"Maybe my mistress can help you with that... She is well-versed in geography and foreign affairs. If you could wait here for just a moment, I can take you there. "
"My apologies for troubling you, master Climb. But I must accept your offer." While meeting with a knowledgeable person might spell disaster for him, he needed as much information as possible. And as long as he withheld information on his end... he shouldn't face many problems... Or so he thought.
"It's no trouble at all." Climb smiled as he began to walk in the direction of Nazarick. "There's a dungeon not far away from here."
"A dungeon? you don't say..." The sarcasm behind his word was quite apparent, but the boy was oblivious to that fact.
"Yes, according to people in Carne, it was discovered some twenty years ago, but people at that time have something more concerning on their minds."
"Did...something happen twenty years ago?"
Climb went silent, the colour drained from his face as he unconsciously looked away.
"Ah, my apologies, I did not intend to jolt bad memories. I will ask of you no more on this matter"
"... You're too kind..." after several seconds, the boy regained his composure and continued. "About this dungeon... the entrance is sealed with a barrier which opens every once in a while. Treasure hunters utilise this window to take as many valuables inside as possible, but most groups ended up turning on one another, which is why we called it 'Tomb of Betrayal'." Climb paused before looking at the expression of Momonga. However, he could glean nothing from the skeleton. "I understand that this would sound distasteful to you... but after they rose once more as mindless zombies... it's my duty to... exterminate them before things get out of hand."
Upon hearing the last remarks, Momonga was truly confused. "How was that distasteful...? It's only natural to clear problematic monsters... If anything, I should thank him for keeping the entrance clean..."
The prolonged silence made Climb assume the worst. His mind raced, to find as delicate words as possible to justify himself.
"Ah!" Momonga finally realised the problem. "Please don't be alarmed; just like you humans don't consider monkeys to be your kin, we, at least from my region, do not consider mindless zombies to be our kind."
"I see... the elder lich in our village also said something similar..." the boy muttered.
"They did?! Good job me!"
"Now then, I shall-"
"Would you allow me to assist you?" He wanted to ask the boy something else, but that have to be momentarily postponed.
Without hesitation, Climb replied, "You're too kind."
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Pacing back and forth, the two stood in front of the entrance. Soon enough, the barrier disappeared, allowing the two to enter.
"This smell... brunt flesh? Is there someone inside?" Climb whispered as he unsheathed his blade. But Momonga knew the source all too well. After all, he had already [Message] the script to his summon.
"Careful; whatever is ahead is not a mere zombie." The overlord said in a worrying tone.
While Climb could only see as far as his touch would reach, Momonga could clearly see his elder lich slowly approaching.
"Hello? Is someone there?" Climb called out, but the only response he received would be a fireball thrown directly at him.
Even though he was trained in combat, a projectile of such velocity could not be so easily evaded. But before it could hit, a translucent blue dome emerged, nullifying the fire.
"T-Thank you sir Momonga."
"Don't be too hasty" the overlord replied with an unusually stoic voice, "Now, what do you plan to do?"
"Fireballs can only be used by elder lich... therefore the one before us is sentient, diplomacy must be the first step..."Even though his tone sounded uncertain, there was an uncanny amount of determination in his blue eyes.
Whilst the boy's statement was not true, as there are many types of undead capable of casting fireball, it is not Momonga's interest to correct him. "Even though he tried to attack you?"
"Even so, my mistress always taught me that escalating into violence should be the last resort." Climb said as he smiled as he called out once more. "We've come in peace."
"Peace?" the hooded figure revealed himself before the light; his voice was so coarse that even the screeching noise of chalk would be a far better alternative to listen to. "You... are not treasures hunters... Apologies... I was mistaken."
Glancing briefly at the expressionless Momonga, the teenager asked, "Are you... perhaps a keeper here?"
"... I've noticed that you are the same human that cleaned up this place from time to time... and for that, you have my sincerest thanks... Now, if you would... your duties are hereby relieved... I shall take care of it from now on..."
"Um...if you don't mind..." Climb spoke, resulting in a wave of physical hatred from the elder lich. Even though Momonga commanded him to act cordially, the living still irritates him.
"...What is it?" the unnamed lich said dismissively.
"I have been clearing the entrance for years now, and I've never seen you. Are you truly the guardian of this place?"
The lich went silent as he shifted his gaze elsewhere momentarily before speaking in a monotonous tone as if reading a script. "There was... much to be dealt with... in the lower floor."
"I see no reason why we should linger here further, master Climb, since this place has an owner. Should we not act prudent and leave?" Momonga added as he turned around.
"Very well." Climb said reluctantly before bowing, "My apologies for the intrusion."
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"Sir Momonga... Thank you!"
"Eh? For what?!" His only aim was to stage reason to ward off people from the tomb until he figured out what happened, or alternatively until he found his friend. His mind ran through several outlandish possibilities before he dumbly waved his hands and eventually said, "No need to thank me."
"I must inform my mistress of this development, perhaps we could muster some forces from the adventurers' guild."
"Huh? what are you talking about Climb-kun?" But before his question could be satisfied, the boy continued.
"It's getting late quick; while the village is not far from here, it would be best if we set up a camp and wait for tomorrow..."
"Is there something particularly dangerous at night?" The reason behind the question was because Momonga recalled one of his guildmates discovering a special encounter that would occur once very specific conditions have been met; wandering in a party of two at night was one of the many.
"Not quite... Sir Momonga. While there are indeed more monsters at night, I don't believe they will be able to match your strength." the boy paused as he tried to search for the right words. "There's a new breed of monster that... excretes its waste in large quantity as a liquid at night... the path we must take would be filled with those so-"
"If that's the reason, then it would be unnecessary. " Momonga said as he pulled out a mirror from his pocket dimension. Thankfully, at least his in-game inventory remains intact. Since he's the kind of person to store many things inside it for the sole reason of 'just in case', common magic items even the useless ones, are in it.
The mirror floated into the air, but instead of the reflections of the ones in front of it, the mirror's surface began to liquidate and reform into a perfect view of the scenery from a bird-eye view, like that of a drone monitor.
"W-What is this?!" Magic items were not news to Climb; after all, it was exchanged commonly in Carne, but he had never seen anything of this calibre.
Momonga fiddled with it for a bit, and the display brightened enough for the boy to see. With a swipe motion, the scene started to move. "You can control the view by waving your hands like this," explained Ainz. "If you could find your village in this mirror, then I can take you there."
Still baffled by the development, Climb took about a minute to digest what was before him. It honestly gave him chills. If something like this exists, then could his life always be observed by malevolent forces that are not the gods? How could he sleep knowing that someone might always be watching him?
(Oh Climb, someone IS always watching you~)
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Village of Carne, Calling it a 'village' would be quite misleading.
Two layers of walls of wood and stones stood proud around the residence area. It has paved roads and even a well-oiled sanitation system. The streets at night were lit, and well-organized militias could be seen patrolling night and day. Its market offered a great selection of magic items, so much so that nobles from afar would visit this place in order to shop.
So how come this seemingly grand place was referred to as a mere village? A simple answer would be; politics.
To begin with, people of Carne had not always enjoyed this kind of life as the village itself was founded about a hundred years ago and had not seen much development as its main economy was producing wheat and paying taxes to their lord. However, everything would change twenty years ago.
When the catastrophic event twenty years ago appeared and shook the globe, most places fell to ruins, but not the village of Carne. Nearby villages that were destroyed migrated and joined forces, erecting fences and fending the onslaught of monsters.
However, provisions were still a problem, and a rationing system was implemented in the early days, but such concerns would not last for long.
The aged Emperor of Baharuth Empire, even though seeing his nations quite literally in flames, still saw an opportunity to toy with his counterpart in the late Re-Estize Kingdom. With full support from his council, the scheme started by the Empire supplying food to remaining frontier settlements, including Carne.
While the merit of this plan was unclear, even to those at the Emperor's side, the end result makes Carne village even more popular as a refugee's heaven. After about a year and a half, they have began to be self-sustained in produce, thanks to the cooperation from the Wise King of the Forest.
Skipping to seven years later, when the Catastrophe had been resolved; Carne, having people from many places, prospered beyond its late founder's imagination. Newly re-established merchant guilds rent many warehouses in the 'village' and circulation of goods with Carne as its centre began.
It was around this time that the Empire stopped supplying food, mostly because a certain Emperor was found dead by poisoning and a new one had been crowned in his place, but that is a story for another day. However, at that point, the 'village' has no need for such aid any longer.
The prosperity would even be more apparent when a group of necromancers moved to the village, offering skeletons as workers. At first, the villagers were sceptical, not because of the fear of using undead, but because they were afraid that the untiring skeletons would take all their jobs.
Their concerns would be shortly addressed, however, after realising that these necromancers can only control at most ten per person. They must be directly supervised as they have no intelligence.
Sometime later, the village would be joined by liches, and other sentient undead beings once thought to possess nothing but hatred for humanity.
The Theocracy was fuming after hearing of such blasphemous development, but it, too, was busy with something else.
The growth of the village would continue very smoothly until four years ago, when the Theocracy launched their first-ever raid on the village which ended in a disaster for them. After which, second, third, fourth and many more attacks came, but the villagers always stood victorious.
Finally noticing that one of its villages has developed beyond the point of 'village', the administration of the Re-Estize re-name the region to 'Autonomous Frontier Territory of Greater Tob'.
But only a month after that, the Kingdom collapsed, and in its place stood the Congregation of Nobles, a republic with Marquis Raeven at its head. This decision would not come without repercussions as many northern lords broke away and formed their own alliances, which the Marquis was keen to cull. Some even attempted to persuade Carne to join them, but the village never agreed, fearing Raeven's wrath, even reverting their name to Carne village even though they have about 10k in population, people from all over the continent.
It all sounded like a pipe dream, but this fantastical development can only be possible by the Catastrophe. But what exactly is it?
Momonga and Climb walked through a [Gate], they did not arrive immediately in the town of course, as a sudden black void-like hole appearing mid-air would not induce a cry of welcoming.
As the identity of Climb was confirmed by the gatekeepers, the two were allowed in without much hassle. Walking on well-lit paved roads, the two ended up at a bronze statue placed not so far from the gate which was being rubbed clean by several skeletons.
"Uwa... that looks kinda disturbing" He recalled some h-scene mentioned by Peroroncino, where the female(?) lead was enlarged to the size of a planet, only to get 'rubbed' cleaned by several smaller cosmic entities
To clear his thoughts, he decided to ask "Who would that be? And I see you... employ mindless skeletons?"
"That's the late Emperor of the Baharuth Empire, this village's supply issue was solved by him during the Catastrophe." Climb answered. "The undead were rented from necromancers living at the other side of this 'village'"
"Is that so...? And another thing, I believe you mentioned that your mistress is well-versed in geography. Might I have a few words with her?"
Climb nodded, "I will arrange for your meeting tomorrow. Might I guide you to the inn? Or would you like a tour?"
"Thank you for the offer, master Climb, but I will take it from here."
With a mutual smile, the two parted ways.
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After a walk in a seemingly random direction, two things were immediately apparent to Momonga, first, he could not read; it seemed texts were not auto-translated for him. Second, the ratio between beauty to not so beautiful people seems to be very off, unlike in his real world. He wondered if this world's beauty standard would be higher.
"Hello, kin! I've never seen you around here before!" a skeleton dressed in garbs that resembles a western barkeeper approached Ainz. "You are naturally born undead too correct?"
"I...suppose?"
"Good timing my kin! Might I interest you in today's offer of luxurious shelter for only a mere silver?" The skeleton said while making weird motions as he moved closer.
"A silver...?" the only coins Momonga had in his inventory were YGGDRASIL gold coins, which he was uncertain whether it could even be used.
"Surprised by the price? I would be too. How could such a gentlemanly undead offer his most luxurious room for such a price? He would definitely go bankrupt! But worry not my dear kin, it is my destiny to serve the ma-"
"Will you please shut up?!" Momonga accidentally made an outburst. The skeleton's mannerism, the way that it's speaking, reminded him of his chuunibyo years.
The skeleton bowed before slipping into the darkness.
"Now then... where do I go"
From a distance away, there was a tavern, or was it a tavern? He couldn't quite tell, but there were people drinking outside so it should probably be a tavern.
Upon entering, Momonga was immediately greeted by-
"Why hello there kin! I know you would came!" exclaimed the skeleton he met before.
He wanted to close the door and leave but stopped mid-way. Apart from the chattering of the patrons, there was a distant voice, a female telling tales of something. To hear what it's about, he walked towards the source, which was another room of the tavern.
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"'-Look now, Remedios," uttered a female with brown hair and eyes dressed in weird flamboyant attire, sitting on stage with a magical voice extender; Momonga guessed her to be a bard. However, her buffed appearance doesn't quite fit the traditionally weak profession. "Look at the tragedy soon to befell us." she continued in a masculine tone. "An army of beasts will soon reach the keep. An army we could not match."
The 'bard' then closed her eyes, changing her tone back to her true voice as tears ran down her face. "B-But my lord, should you not run with us? Should you not serve your duty and protect the princess and the prince instead of dying in asinine!"
"...My duty is to the people, if they would be annihilated, I too, shall go down with them." the bard spoke as she unsheathed a blade which glowed in gentle yellow light.
"Take this sword of all holy, and strike all that is baleful. Show the sinned monster that even they would not eclipse the pride of Roble, carry on my legacy, protect those you must!"
"I...swear on my name." she said as she waved her sword in the air, creating a wind that extinguished all the lights in that room.
A totally silent one then dominated the room. As several guests nodded at one another, one after the other, they started applauding.
"WOOOO ROMI~"
"ROMI CHAN KAWAIIII"
"hehe...I get good place to sit this time... hehe... she smells so good..."
"I think I saw her panties when she was doing that motion"
"Really, what's her colour? Was it as black as her stares?"
"You sick bastards, did none of you pay attention to what she's telling? It's so damn funny; how could you think of anything so sinful."
"Um...are you sure you are really listening? Isn't her story about a fantasy adventure in another world?"
From what Momonga gathered, none of the crowd was here to listen to what story this woman had to say... Well, save for perhaps one similar-looking woman who re-ignites the lamp of the room by a snap of her finger, who quickly teleported out of the room before anyone noticed.
"Thus concludes act 3 of..." The feigned smile by the bard finally stopped as she twisted her face in disgust. "Urgh, none of you vile pigs is listening anyways, just throw the coins in the box and fuck off."
"YES MISTRESS!" the crowd cheered before doing as she commanded and homogenously exited the room, creating a human tsunami.
The 'bard' then clears the stage of props, mostly by kicking them off before finally noticing the overlord.
"Why are you here undead? Just because this town tolerates your kinds doesn't mean I do, get the hell out!"
"Your story..."
"What about it?"
"Could it be...your life story"
The 'bard' then immediately stopped what she was doing and walked towards Momonga. "To think the first one to realise that would be an undead... that just entered no less."
"Were you some sort of knight? Why then-"
"I. AM. a paladin," she said as she strode forward, placing the tip of her blade on Momonga's chest. "Don't get all friendly with me, skeleton, a word more, and this will be your undoing."
"Now now big sis, there's no need to be so hasty." a woman's voice spoke from behind, whilst the doors magically closed. "Kelart Custodio at your service." she said before making a curtsy.
"She seems nice... maybe I should..."
"What are you talking about sis?! Yesterday you were-"
Kelart immediately teleported behind her sister, gagging her mouth with her hand. "Apologies, master Momonga, my sister has too much of a drink for her own good; why don't you rest for a bit and let your little sis handle this one?"
Practically pushing Romedious out of the room, Kelart turned back toward our beloved protagonist. "Now then, master Momonga" she smiled conspiratorially "I had been informed of your...strength to refuse the technique of 'full-of-energy marketing'. Do you have particular expertise in this field?"
"She really is nice!" Momonga thought. "Since we are alone, maybe I should ask her about this catastrophe everyone is talking about."
While Momonga seems to be intoxicated by her obviously fabricated veil of deceit, the one attired in priestly robes has nowhere of a priestly heart.
"Hm... Miss Kelart... I am new to this part of the continent, I've heard talks of Catastrophe but what exactly was it?"
"Hm? What is this... You don't know?" the priestess asked in a truly curious tone.
"Yes, I was mistakenly teleported here from another continent... It would take time for me to get back it seems."
"Eh~ Really now? That is most interesting." said Kelart before she gets closer, perhaps a bit too close. "I would be happy to tell you aaaalll about it if you give me some coins. You see, my throat is particularly dry and drinks here are quite expensive.
Reaching for a pouch of coins in his inventory, Momonga grabbed one with a hundred YGGDRASIL gold coins. "I have these coins, are they of use in this part of the world?"
Kelart leaned closer, taking one and looked at it quite intensely. "One of these is equal to one copper coin. Drinks are ten silvers so you'd need to give me 130 of these beauties."
"Ah yes, of course." without much hesitation, he handed more 30 coins over.
"Mhm~ this should be enough. Pleasure doing business with you master Momonga. Now for the story," the priestess closed her eyes, taking deep breath.
"The Catastrophe wasn't one gigantic natural disaster or something as meaningless as that... Well, I don't quite know what exactly happened as I was two at the time, but after that, 'cracks' appeared all over the place.
"What are these cracks?"
"Well, it's hard to explain. But imagine a glass panel that's broken by a pebble. Now imagine the shape of the shattered remnants appearing mid-air and started pouring all sorts of demonic beasts." She paused as she backed away, turning both her tone and face serious. "But not just that, these 'cracks' also release fumes which corrupted everything exposed to it long enough. Even the trees turned twisted beyond recognition and unable to bear fruits before withering away, I've personally seen an entire city of good people turned into beasts. Chaos Beast, we call them"
"Chaos Beast?! I've definitely seen that name today..."
"I'm sorry..."
"Oh don't be." Kelart dismissively said before continuing, "My nation had constructed a wall so wide that covers much of our border. But it's ineffective against this crack... rather, it doomed us all... Most of our forces were stationed on that wall, and were trapped before dying to either the beast or themselves."
"We held out, as best as we can. But alas, after fifteen years of fighting, our capital eventually fell." I boarded a ship with many paladins... to escort my prince and my princess to a safe place, and we were given refuge in Re-Estize, the capital of Re-Estize Kingdom buuuuut after only like two months, the nation collapsed, I will spare you the horrors of what happened in the capital, but we made it out and relocate ourselves here."
"Do you happen to have a map? It would do me well to know the general location of nations around here."
"Sure." the priestess said, producing a map and spreading it on a table. "This is outdated, but we are here, which is a part of the Congregation of Nobles. Now, this map depicts Re-Estize kingdom so basically cut it in half horizontally, and you get the breakaway states in the north." Seeing Momonga nod in understanding, she continued. "Downwards we have Slane Theocracy, crazy people. Don't ever negotiate with them. Now on our right is Baharuth Empire. It's governed by a very benevolent emperor"
Then Kelart proceeded to talk about the further states, Argland Council State, Draconic Kingdom, City-States Alliances and the Elven Kingdom.
"Most places are still plagued with 'cracks', this region is probably the cleanest... Still, don't you find it curious that this place resolved their situation quicker than anyone else?"
"Now that she mentions it... it really is strange... I don't see anyone particularly strong around here... But they could be someplace else... speaking of which-"
"How are cracks sealed?"
"Well, there is no 'sealing' per se; cracks can only be resolved by killing enough monsters that appeared from it. Or so I've heard, this information might not be accurate. Is there anything else you want to know?"
Momonga considered for a moment "...Not for now, thank you."
"Alright then, if you have anything else just search for me." said Kelart as she rolled her map and reached for the door handle. "Thank you for the coins... I truly meant that."
Author's Notes.
Q: Why does my Momonga not care about other players?
A: He's too fixated on something else, namely finding HeroHero and the story of this world.
Q: Why the hell is fan's favourite paladin (sarcasm) now a storyteller?
A: Might be explained in her extra chapter... when I ran out of other characters to write about, that is.
Q: Why am I so cute?
A: Because you are my dearest reader, thank you for reading!
I'd like to drop a poll about whose memoir I should write, but for the first one... I decided to be selfish. Next Chapter, Memory of Chaos: Climb... 4k words should be enough to tell his alternate biography.
If you want to see any characters appearing, you can tell me! I will definitely consider it.
