"Haa…" Issei breathed out as he sat on the throne of the throne room.
Albedo was standing beside and slightly to the front of him, and the rest of the Guardians were not yet present.
'...I feel that I would be shaking in my boots if I still had a fleshy body… It's strange to not feel fear, not really… Oh who am I kidding…' Issei tried to reassure himself that he wasn't actually a quivering pile of bones and increasing amounts of self-doubt. Unfortunately, it didn't work. '...Yeah, not happening. I wish I couldn't feel this terrified… Telling the Guardians that I am not 'Momonga' feels like a huge mistake in terms of my future prospects… I'm going to double-die for sure… But it's not like I could lie, not with my acting ability, nor would it be a life worth living…'
Issei gulped audibly, even though doing so required conscious effort- He had made his mind, but his primal instinct to survive did not share the opinion.
Albedo froze a bit beside the throne as if she was being reprimanded, and Issei realized what was going on- It wasn't hard to deduce after what had been going on with the people in Nazarick so far.
"Albedo, I wasn't… You're doing fine. I was just… uh… practicing?" Issei tried to reassure Albedo that everything was alright, and it looked like Albedo let her posture relax just minutely. '...I'm not sure what I should feel over having such power and influence over a beauty like Albedo… I once claimed to Rias-buchou that I wanted a harem so that I could do whatever I wanted to them…'
He glanced at Albedo's back which was partly visible as her dress showed her shoulders and upper half of her back. It was clear that she felt the gaze somehow as Albedo's breathing quickened. Issei looked away quickly before the earlier incidents could repeat. '...Yeah, getting 'whatever I want to do' done to me in turn really gave me perspective… I never realized how… violating… it feels…'
Issei felt as if he was maturing a bit, but at the same time felt a bit of frustrated resignation that such a thought was coming to him a moment before he'd die. Or perhaps the fact the final hour was approaching him was giving him a new perspective. '...Well, it's not like the kendo club girls would have accepted my apology for causing trouble…'
Issei sighed again, feeling as if his stomach ached from his survival instincts screaming at him that doing what he was about to do was a bad idea.
"My lord? Would you like for… um…" It looked like Albedo was not quite sure what to do about Issei's constant sighing.
"Don't worry about that either. I was practicing there as well." Issei wanted to come clear with his actual 'self', but it was nonetheless embarrassing to be sighing like an old man while someone like Albedo was present.
The double-doors of the Tenth Floor's Throne Room opened before Issei could recollect his thoughts, and he sighed internally. '...Well then… Here we go…'
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Aura walked into the Throne Room beside Mare, and after Cocytus but before Demiurge and Victim, as was befitting of the two's 'rank' as the Guardians of the Sixth Floor.
'...It sounded like Lord Mo-um, Issei-sama had something serious to say…' Aura contemplated the earlier announcement and felt a bit of dread in her stomach. '...Is it about what happened just now? I-is Mare going to get punished for acting so childishly in front of Lord Issei? O-or am I getting punished for us reminding Lord Issei of the stuff he forgot, about the time he called himself Momonga?''
Both outcomes were unlikely, but the lack of context for the summons combined with the oddness of Lord Issei's behavior in front of the two Guardians in the Sixth Floor was making Aura nervous. 'U-um… I thought Lord Moo-Issei was a dreadful, frightening lord of terror, as befitting of the leader of the Fourty-One Supreme Beings… B-but that acting just earlier… And back in the First Floor, at the entrance… w-what is going on?'
She wanted to turn to Demiurge and ask, but the smirk on the demon's face told Aura that he had already deduced the purpose of the meeting and then some, both relieving Aura's growing stress slightly but also making her quite nervous by making her wonder if she was supposed to have pieced together the story as well.
Lord Issei was sitting on the Throne of Kings while in seemingly deep and grave thought, radiating an aura of absolute doom as befitting the Ruler of Forty-One… Although, Aura squinted her eyes mentally as the dominating aura seemed to have changed. Instead of the previous radiation of all-engulfing despair and fear, the Supreme Being's aura radiated certain death and doom- Which made Aura's worries even more pronounced. '...T-this feels like an execution… This is bad… Someone screwed up in a major way!'
She glanced at Albedo out of instinct, considering the scene back in the Sixth Floor, and resisted the urge to sigh as Albedo seemed to be in high spirit while her cheeks were slightly flushed and she had ever so slightly unfocused expression as if she was struggling to keep hold of herself- And if Albedo's doom was at hand, Aura knew that she would not fail to show appropriate despair or stoicism if such was required of her.
On the other hand, Demiurge was smirking. 'S-so surely it can't be that bad, right?'
The Guardians gathered in front of the Throne, and kneeled in front of it in unison. "The Guardians of Nazarick answer the Supreme Being's call."
"Yeah… Thanks for coming." The Supreme Being waved his hand a bit. "You don't have to kneel for me, you know?"
Aura, naturally, stood up in response to the Supreme Being's veiled order as did the other Guardians.
"Alright… Wait, there aren't chairs here… Hm, this might not have been a good place to hold a meeting." The Supreme Being covered his face with his hand as if in exasperation. "Right, sorry… Is there something like a conference- Oh. I think I saw… Right! Follow me."
The Supreme Being stood up from the throne after speaking those words, and motioned for the Guardians to follow as he walked past them.
Demiurge's grin widened somehow and he adjusted his glasses, and made to follow as if he had predicted the Supreme Being's movements.
Aura felt jealous over how easily confident Demiurge was.
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Demiurge sweated gallons internally. 'I can't make sense of any of it! W-what is this?! This… This genius… These hints… These clues… T-truly magnificent, but please… My feeble mind can't figure any of it out!'
The demon widened his smirk while his calm pose radiated confidence that he did not feel as he followed in the Supreme Being's footsteps, memorizing each step, each tile He stood on, the exact time between steps, each word and gesture, cross-referencing all of it to deduce a trace, a hint, anything.
But nothing made sense. '...This… Of all people, there are only two types that I cannot predict… Absolute idiots, as their actions would be unpredictable to the extreme, and Supreme Beings, for their intellect far surpasses mine to the point my feeble ponderings would only be like a puppet's unwitting motions on strings…'
The group left the Throne Room and entered the Ninth Floor. Demiurge motioned for the Pleiades and Sebas to follow as they had been waiting outside the Throne Room.
To Demiurge's not-quite-surprise the Supreme Being led the Guardians into… The Grand Meeting Room of the Supreme Beings.
"Ah, good. Now then… Go ahead and have a seat. You too, um, Pleiades." Lord Issei looked slightly uncomfortable referring to the Pleiades with the name of their 'group', and motioned for them to sit in the seats that lined the large circular table in the somewhat utilitarian room, at least in comparison to the other rooms of the Ninth Floor, and the Guardians moved out at once before their brains properly translated the orders and realized what was being asked of them.
Demiurge, naturally, moved to stand behind the seat of his creator… And then his overstressed brains processed the order in full. 'T-that I'd sit in the seat of Ulbert Allan Odle-kakka… W-what?'
Demiurge realized that he had almost hesitated before acting- A millisecond's pause, but naturally the Supreme Being saw it and gave Demiurge a reprimanding glance.
The demon sat on the chair instantly, and the other Guardians followed suit after their own internal struggles. The Pleiades, meanwhile, looked utterly uncertain before slowly inching towards the table and almost hesitantly sat on the very edges of the chairs, as if desiring to stain them with their bodies as little as possible.
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'...I wish I had Demiurge-san's confidence just about now…' Issei felt slightly envious of the self-confident and self-assured way Demiurge moved and walked as he glanced at the devil at the same time as he took a seat. "Right, now that we've gathered… I have some grave news for all of you."
The Guardians instantly looked alert.
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Cocytus's body tensed.
He was like a strung bow, a flail in motion, a blade unsheathed and prepared to strike.
'I have failed Him twice over… There will not be a third time…' Cocytus wasn't sure what the meeting was about, but he was ready no matter what would come.
His blades were sharp, and his mind even sharper, forged by the clarity of defeat and failure, and he heard every tone variation of the Supreme Being's voice. It spoke of doom, death and despair, and Cocytus was ready to dish all of them at the slightest hint.
And so, he waited for the motion, waited for the signal…
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Albedo resisted the urge to blink or to glance at Demiurge. 'What is this? Something… Something feels strange, dreadful… '
She had some theories as to the contents of the meeting, none of them good, but all necessary. 'Maybe this is a formal announcement for my punishment? Or that the enemy has made some sort of advance under our noses? O-or…'
The last thought was more terrifying than all else before it. '...Perhaps Lord Momonga… Lord Issei… has declared that he will leave, like the other Supreme Beings…'
Albedo wanted to put her hand on her chest to calm her racing heart, but showing such a lack of professionalism would not fly when her lord was making a serious announcement.
Instead she waited, she dreaded, and she feared…
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Shalltear bit her extended vampiric teeth a bit nervously as she tittered on the spot, feeling extremely conflicted about sitting on her creator's seat. On one hand, it was a sacrilege to sit on such a precious item, but on the other, defiling something so 'holy' was exhilarating. But on the third hand, she had no idea what was going on.
She had failed to penetrate through the barrier that blocked the first floor, so initially she had thought that the call for the meeting had been to renounce Shalltear's lacking skill and power, but since the other Guardians were present, then either the renouncement had turned to a outright rejection of Shalltear's role as the Floor Guardian of the first three Floors, or the meeting was about something else.
Both options terrified her, but considering what had happened earlier… A small, hopeful and foolish part of her mind was wondering if Lord Issei had decided to have the Promised Date with her even though she had not completed her part of the deal. It was a foolish voice and expectation so Shalltear promptly curb-stomped the childish idea, but couldn't stop herself from feeling like a maiden in love. Which was what she felt, but it was inappropriate to feel that way in the presence of the Supreme Being.
So Shalltear reigned herself in with near-visible effort while having her hands on her lap, patiently waiting for the Supreme Being's decree, condemnation, or words of triumph.
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Issei steeled his mind and opened his mouth. "...The truth is… I don't have amnesia."
The Guardians seemed surprised, some more than others.
"Ah… So the enemy has been dealt with." Demiurge adjusted his glasses. "I am most glad about this news."
"No, that's not the case." Issei interrupted Demiurge, causing the devil to freeze still as if he had been suddenly overcome with abject terror, stuck to the pose where he was adjusting his glasses. "I am not Momonga."
"Yes, Lord Issei." The Guardians chorused in return.
"No, that's not what I mean- I was never Momonga. He… I'm not sure what happened to him, but I think he died and I took his place." Issei clarified, and glanced at Albedo as he thought he had seen a motion.
Albedo had an… interesting expression from the news.
It was partly professional calm, part absolute terror, part abject misery, and a deep, confused blueness on her face as if she was holding her breath for too long. "Breath, Albedo-san."
Albedo let out a mechanical breath out and took one in, slightly alleviating her blueness but not alleviating her strange expression and growing shakiness.
'Um… Are there paper bags or something- Albedo looks like she's having a panic attack!' Issei paused to stare at Albedo for a moment.
Demiurge, meanwhile, seemed to have lapsed into deep thought and was not saying anything, and instead was clearly waiting for Issei to continue.
Shalltear had tilted her head, but her expression and body language was otherwise unchanged.
Cocytus… was utterly normal, albeit Issei could tell that he was strung like a bow ready to release and visit violence upon anyone at a moment's notice. However, none of the hostility seemed to be aimed at Issei, surprisingly enough.
So, Issei decided to continue as it looked like he wasn't being clear enough, considering the strange expressions. "Ahem, like I said, I arrived here yesterday. I woke up in Momonga's body, and before that I was known as Issei Hyoudou. I lived in Kuoh, Japan… um, and I was part of Rias Gremory's Peerage. And I was a 'devil', a… well… I'm not exactly sure of the details, but is it something like a mythological race?"
The Guardians nodded, with some having more confused expressions than others.
"There was a Rating Game, it's sort of a game between devils, and I was defeated… And then I woke up here." Issei finished. "I'm glad that you've been really accommodating towards me, but I don't have amnesia, and I am not Momonga."
"I see… Fascinating." Demiurge noted. "Should I believe then that this is our lord's new 'backstory'?"
"Um… Something like that." Issei blinked a bit. "You're taking this far more calmly than I expected…"
"I am unworthy of such praise, my lord." Demiurge bowed slightly towards Issei.
"Ahem… And about going forward in the future, well…" Issei looked around the table to meet confused expressions across the board, with Pleiades looking like they hadn't understood anything and were going with what they knew, and the Floor Guardians looking like they had listened but were struggling to process the information.
The nervousness Issei felt threatened to overtake his clarity, and after a moment it did. "Ahem… It looks like you need a moment to process this. So let's get to our… your… future once you have had a moment to think about this, alright?"
Demiurge had paled slightly when he heard the words just now, but bowed towards Issei again after standing up from the chair and seemingly made to leave alongside the rest of the Guardians. "Of course, my lord. Please call for us when-"
"You know, you can stay here and talk amongst yourselves about what you've heard, and I'll just… Ahem, be somewhere. Please excuse me. Send a word to me when you've come to a conclusion about, well, who I really am." Issei stood up, feeling his terror reach a breaking point as the truth was out and the executioners were processign the information, and the combination of the two was driving his self-preservation instinct over his rational self.
Demiurge looked like he wanted to say something but chose not to, and instead nodded deeply towards Issei as the undead no-longer-devil stood up and promptly moved to leave the conference room.
Issei lifted his hand to stall Yuri as she seemed to stand up from the edge of her seat in order to follow him.
The maid sat back down while having a confused and slightly sad expression, further driving Issei's paranoia and fear and causing him to almost flee the conference room instead of walking normally- And after what felt like eternity, Issei was out of the conference room.
A few quick steps, a small sprint, and a few more steps in increasing dread and shakiness later Issei was in front of his given quarters, and he quickly slid in… Before flopping over to the bed and hiding under the blanket to shiver in terror.
It was an utterly foolish and even unsightly gesture, but it gave Issei a moment of peace, a moment of perceived safety, during which he realized that he might have screwed up in a major way… But at the same time, the part of him that had felt stifled ever since the 'amnesia' story came up felt strangely free.
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Almost as soon as the door of the Conference Room of the Supreme Beings closed, a snap-like sound rang in the room.
The sound came from the necks of the Guardians and Pleiades who turned their heads to stare at Demiurge, with various degrees of wariness, fear, terror and uncertainty now on their faces.
Demiurge himself had sat back down and was scribbling something to a notepad he had brought out from somewhere, and his paleness was slowly starting to subside while he muttered to himself.
"Uh… Demiurge… What was that? I didn't really get… uh…" Aura was uncertain what she should do with what she had heard while she sat down on the edge of Bukbukuchagama's chair, with Mare sitting on the other edge. "Momonga-sama is dead?"
"Indeed." Demiurge adjusted his glasses but kept scribbling to the notes and laying them out on the table.
"But… I saw his name in the Throne of Kings?" Albedo's voice was odd. Aura glanced at her to see that Albedo was looking like she'd pass out from lack of oxygen at any second while she had an expression like a wife being told that her husband had passed out, and she had spent the last years in bed with said husband's identical brother. "L-lord Issei… H-he is not Momonga-sama?"
"Indeed." Demiurge noted while he pulled up a paper and compared it with what he had just written… "And he is disappointed in us."
"Demiurge. San?" Cocytus voiced up. "Explain."
"Hm, let us go from end to the beginning- Did you not hear our lord's last words? Indeed, He said that we should speak amongst ourselves regarding the news we have received just now, and the conclusion of this talk… Will decide if the Last Supreme Being will leave us or not."
The atmosphere in the room changed in an instant.
"Explain!" Shalltear leaned forward, a hint of desperation in her voice. "What do you mean?! Stop speaking in riddles!"
"Indeed, Lord Issei said, 'Let us speak of our… your… future once you have a moment to think about this'. In other words, whether our future with Lord Issei is shared, or if we have seperate futures- In other words, whether Lord Issei stays with us, or leaves us." Demiurge lifted his notepad to show a manuscript of the Supreme Being's words, written with neat, thin and absurdly accurate letters. "Now then, to the matter at hand… We have failed Lord Issei's orders to quite an absurd degree."
"What?" A collective shout of shock rang in the room.
"Indeed, we have considered Lord Issei to be 'Lord Momonga, but he calls himself Lord Issei'" Demiurge noted while holding his finger up. "Therefore, Lord Issei has chosen to adopt a new backstory, much like how each of us have a backstory crafted by the Supreme Beings that forms our past and shapes our future."
"But… Why is Lord Momonga still the Guild Leader of Ainz Ooal Gown? Why do I still love Momonga-sama?!" Albedo sounded desperate.
"Indeed… And yet, Lord Momonga is dead. And not. As befitting an Undead, no?" Demiurge smirked as if Albedo was missing something elementary. all the while the demon was giving the stack of notes to Sebas who had moved to look over Demiurge's shoulder at the notes with a thoughtful expression on his face. "At the same time, His acting is perfect- No, I should not say 'acting'. Rather, Lord Issei is behaving like himself, and not acting like Lord Momonga. Indeed, as He said, he did not have Amnesia- Such a thing was not necessary. His backstory, simply put, had changed."
"Uh… Strange… But I thought something else had happened." Shalltear piped up. "But… I could have sworn…"
"Yes?" Demiurge turned towards Shalltear and she promptly shut up before blushing and looking to the side. "Did you see something? Please tell me if you did so. The presence of the Last Supreme Being amongst us is on the line- Now is not the time to hold secrets, no matter how big or small."
Shalltear broke under the stares as Aura and Mare added theirs to the mix. "I… Back at the Sixth Floor… When Lord Issei told me to get rid of my pads… H-his acting was precisely like Peroroncino-sama's so I… For a moment I… And then he touched me and… It was incredibly lewd…"
"I see…" Demiurge seemed to pause for a moment, and then cross-referenced his notes, which Sebas had helpfully arranged on the conference table so all Guardians could see them.
"Ahem… Also, Lord Issei knows how to access the Treasury. This seems… unusual, if that backstory just now was to be Lord Issei's, ahem, 'real' backstory and he had no prior contact with Nazarick." Solution spoke up after holding her hand up and getting a nod from Demiurge.
"Ah- And! Lord Issei cried a lot when Mare-sama cried on the SIxth Floor!" Entoma seemed to snap into motion and waved her sleeve-covered arms in the air in order to give her words urgency. "It was really weird!"
"...And he said that the sky of the Sixth Floor is really pretty… Like Blue Planet-sama…" Aura paled slightly as she recalled the event. "And he comforted Mare and opened his heart to us, like Bukubukuchagama when she was distressed and she'd talk to us…"
"And thus, 'The Final Era Cometh.'" Sebas spoke as he looked over the papers. "Those were the last words Lord Momonga spoke before he became Lord Issei."
"...No." Albedo interrupted, causing Sebas to give the Guardian Overseer a surprised look. "...Sebas-san might have heard those words, as they were spoken by Lord Momonga with a clear voice, but… since I was closer to Him, I heard Him whisper something before Lord Momonga became Lord Issei."
"Yes?" Demiurge had his quill on top of the notepad, ready to transcribe as Albedo recalled the words.
"'Is this how the Pharaohs of old felt when they were buried with their treasures, facing the final journey surrounded by their loyal servants and treasures amassed in life as their crypt is sealed? Ah, Ainz Ooal Gown, it was fun… let's meet again in the next game.'" Albedo spoke while her eyes were closed, her face growing more and more pale with each word.
"Indeed… And Lord Issei was defeated in the 'Rating Game' before 'he came here'..." Demiurge muttered. "And that seal at the entrance… Ah..."
The scribbling of the quill stopped as if Demiurge had realized something, and the demon stared at the paper without heeding that the quill was causing a blotch of ink on the notepad.
"Demiurge-san?" Albedo asked, shaky as she seemed to have also started to connect some invisible dots.
Aura had heard each word Albedo and Demiurge had spoken, but had not understood any of it. 'Pharaoh? Ainz Ooal Gown in the 'next game'? Is that referring to the Great Game of the Supreme Beings?'
"'Japan'... 'Land of Supreme Beings'... Sealed crypt… The First Floor's, the crypt's, seal… 'buried' with their treasures…" Demiurge whispered as if he was making some grand realization and his mind was nearly gone. "The meeting of the Supreme Beings… Loss of equipment… Us in the conference room… Lord Momonga's death yet he walks…"
The demon looked like he'd faint.
Sebas opened a bottle of smelling salts and prepared to present it to Demiurge.
The Pleiades looked desperate.
Albedo shook from head to toe.
Cocytus was still looking like he was ready to strike, but no longer sure at what exactly.
Victim was upside-down on his seat.
Mare tilted his head to one side, and Aura tilted hers at the other while they sat on the corners of Bukubukuchagama's chair with their hands on their lap.
"This… It… It can't be…" Demiurge drew red lines on the papers with a quill that he pulled from somewhere. "But… With acting… The familiarity… The emotions in the undead, which shouldn't be able to express emotions to such a degree… That can't be… But it makes sense…"
"Uh… Demiurge-san? Can you explain a bit?" Aura held her hand up as if she was a student. "I don't understand a thing."
"I. do. not. understand. either. but. I. shall. follow. the. Supreme. Being's. Orders." Cocytus noted.
"This… Lord Issei is not Lord Momonga- And neither is he truly 'Issei'- Rather, it is the 'backstory' of who 'He' has become! And the backstory, in turn, is an allegory and a telling of what happened between the Supreme Beings!" Demiurge said something that made no sense.
Both Aura and Mare looked resigned while Shalltear tilted her head much like how the twins were tilting theirs. "Please… Can you simplify it a bit?"
"Ha…" Demiurge seemed to gather his wits with some effort. "In that case, I'll be direct-"
The Guardians tensed up as Demiurge spoke.
"Lord Issei is the combination and manifestation of all Forty-One Supreme Beings, sealed into Nazarick by our enemies!"
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Issei sneezed, which was odd as he had been unable to experience involuntary movements until then. But it gave him hope. '...Is my body starting to become normal? I had to sneeze manually earlier, but now…'
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"...What?" Albedo froze still. "How?"
"Or, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that Lord Issei is 'Forty' Supreme Beings combined into one entity, as Lord Momonga sacrificed himself to become a host for the other Supreme Beings…" Demiurge theorized. "There are some things that don't quite match, but my feeble mind unfortunately can't construct a better theory- Lord Issei's plans and actions are truly unfathomable, as befitting one that embodies the Ainz Ooal Gown, so I find it difficult to ascertain even the simplest layers of His plans."
"...How. reliable. is. this. theory?" Cocytus asked. "I. do. not. understand. your. reasoning. Demiurge. san. but. I. know. you. are. far. more. intelligent. than. I. so. if. you. believe. this. to. be. the. case. then. I. shall. believe. you."
"I would say that this theory is… Eighty-nine percent reliable." Demiurge said after a moment of thinking. "Alas, my earlier theory was quite incorrect, as the Supreme Being pointed out. I had thought that the enemy had been defeated, therefore Lord Issei would change his name and backstory back to 'Lord Momonga' and thought that the change was to confuse our enemies, but now I know that neither of those are accurate- For Lord Momonga no longer exists the way we believed, and at the same time he exists in one manner. Yet even though he is 'dead', that does not mean he is not 'alive'. At the same time, our enemy still exists- But as Lord Issei pointed out, the enemy has 'buried' us to the Tomb, and sealed us with the 'Pharaoh', or as far as I understand the term, with our lord."
"In other words, the enemy who took Lord Issei's equipment, and mine as well, exists outside Nazarick, and has both sealed and buried us." Albedo noted, clearly to distract herself as much as to point the fact out. "We knew this before, but it is reassuring to know that the enemy no longer lurks in the halls of Nazarick… This makes it easier to organize ourselves once Shalltear manages to break the seal."
"Uhh… The seal is really hard, though… It might take a long time for me to break it." Shalltear looked quite ashamed.
"It is an issue, but it might be impossible to break the seal. After all, Lord Issei was defeated… No, it should be said that Ainz Ooal Gown was defeated by our enemies." Demiurge paused to raise his hand as the Guardians let out a chorus of shock and outrage. "We know that the Supreme Beings were defeated once before, in a mine of some sort. This much was written about the history of Nazarick, so we know that other, hostile Supreme Beings had some military success against Ainz Ooal Gown… And strategically speaking, even though the Siege of Nazarick ended in the victory of Ainz Ooal Gown, the Supreme Beings would have lost a lot of money in repairing the defenses that the intruders destroyed and re-summoning of the dead Guardians, myself included. Moreover, the number of attacking Supreme Beings, feeble as they may be in comparison, suggests that Ainz Ooal Gown was beset by enemies from all sides."
"How can you say such a thing! That the Supreme Beings would lose-" Shalltear looked outraged, even though it was clear that the outrage was mostly acted as she could likely tell the truth in Demiurge's words- But it was bad etiquette to insinuate that the Supreme Beings were not undefeatable.
"I know that what I say is sacrilege of the highest degree. However, the fact that such an event took place in the first place suggests that the Supreme Beings of Ainz Ooal Gown were facing much hardship… And that many of the Supreme Beings disappeared during that age of hardship and struggle, even as they built Nazarick from the dungeon that it was before." Demiurge noted. "Therefore it is possible that, as Lord Issei's backstory suggests, Ainz Ooal Gown allied themselves with a faction of 'Rias Gremory'- In fact I remember Him asking me if I knew anything about it… Ah, such an elementary clue to miss… Ahem, and that combined with details about a 'defeat in a Rating Game' suggests to me that Ainz Ooal Gown, unable to be defeated by enemies outside Nazarick, instead sealed Nazarick away alongside the 'souls' of the Supreme Beings of Ainz Ooal Gown."
"...Ah." Shalltear blinked. "Does that mean… When the Supreme Beings disappeared one by one they didn't actually leave, but rather, they became part of Nazarick, and now Lord Issei has become the avatar of Nazarick as the Last Supreme Being?"
"Most likely, albeit I would rather consider Lord Issei to be the avatar of Ainz Ooal Gown, the essence of all of whom Lord Momonga condensed into His body at the last moments of Nazarick's existence before it was sealed… Therefore it is also possible that the Guild Item of Ainz Ooal Gown was stolen, and it was used to seal the entrance of the First Floor. As we are speaking of the Supreme Beings, it is unwise to think of concepts such as time as certainties and not a liquid that can be manipulated at will." Demiurge noted. "I do not know how the enemy managed to avoid triggering Ardiane-system by completely blocking access from and to the Tomb, but it is presumably linked to why the enemy has likely not destroyed the Guild Item of Ainz Ooal Gown, as its destruction would… Ah."
"...Destruction of the Guild Item of Ainz Ooal Gown would result in Ainz Ooal Gown losing ownership of Nazarick, and the guild disbanding…" Albedo was pale. "In other words… It would result in the Supreme Being's essence, embedded in the framework of Nazarick, being destroyed, unless…"
"Unless all of Ainz Ooal Gown was one entity. Therefore, the destruction of the Guild Item would likely not destroy the guild as well." Demiurge noted. "I know not why it would prevent the destruction of the guild, however, but since Lord Momogna chose to take this action I it signals that He found some arcane way of circumventing the restriction placed by the Guild Item. As since a Supreme Being has done so, it therefore must be true."
"There is much we do not know." Albedo agreed.
"...S-sorry, but does this mean… Issei-sama is partly our creator?" Yuri lifted her hand a bit to ask a question.
"...It seems to be the logical conclusion." Demiurge noted. "His seeming amnesia is, as he has pointed out, not amnesia but rather the result of all Ainz Ooal Gown coascenling into one place… Such a collection of brilliance, thought and purpose must be confusing even to the Last Supreme Being Himself. But as you have pointed out, Solution-san, Shalltear-san, Aura-san, it seems that Lord Issei is gradually starting to remember whom he had one been."
"I… see." Yuri was clearly conflicted over the news and she looked down while she was letting steam from the top of her head. "T-that means, that I… thought about my esteemed creator in such a way… uuuu…"
Lupusregina looked like she was barely holding back giggles but nonetheless reached to pat Yuri's hand in a reassuring way.
"However… This poses another worry. Namely, that while Lord Momonga's decision to condense the essence of all Forty-One Supreme Beings into himself, becoming the Forty Supreme Beings in one person by sacrificing his own self, saves the essence of Ainz Ooal Gown… But the fate of Nazarick is still an unknown factor." Demiurge's look hardened. "I suspect this was also part of the reason why Lord Issei spoke about whether we'll talk of our or your future… Namely, that if the Guild Item is, or was, destroyed… How will we react towards Lord Issei? As far as I am aware of the ancient past, Nazarick was a wild, untamed and hostile place when the Supreme Beings decided to take it as their home, and shape it to the glory it is now."
"You. suspect. that. we. would. betray. Lord. Issei. opon. the. destruction. of. the. Guild. Item." Cocytus voiced what the Guardians around the table thought.
"Indeed. That seems like the logical next step." Demiurge gave a sharp glare around the room. "I trust that we are of one mind in this?"
"I. would. rather. die. than. contemplate. anything. else. than. servitude. to. the. Ainz. Ooal. Gown."
"...However, it may not be that it is something we can clearly think of, once the item breaks. Assuming it has not broken yet." Albedo voiced. "I feel… conflicted."
Demiurge sent Albedo a sharp glare while Cotytus's eyes locked to Albedo with deadly intent, causing Aura to freeze still on her seat as she expected a sharp 'schwing' sound to ring in the room at any second and Albedo's head to roll.
However, such an event did not come to pass as Albedo seemed to get a grip on herself. "I was ordered to love Lord Momonga… Yet I feel… this feels… so strange…"
"...Hm. Indeed, and with the light of recent findings, I suspected that you would feel so. After all, Lord Momonga is no longer truly among us… And instead, Ainz Ooal Gown, under the name of Issei, holds reign in Lord Momonga's body." Demiurge noted. "Indeed, were you ordered to love Lord Momonga's soul, or his body?"
"I… don't think Lord Momonga made a difference in the order…" Albedo looked confused.
"Then, what would be the likelihood that Lord Momonga ordered you to 'love him' so that you would stay loyal to Him, as the Guardian Overseer and the leader of Guardians, even through the possibility that the Guild Item breaks and you see Him as a stranger, as an enemy to defeat?" Demiurge leaned slightly towards Albedo. "After all… Through your commands as the Guardian Overseer, you could rein us in should any of us turn our blades on Lord Issei, and through us, we could order the lesser creatures of Nazarick to stay their blades should Lord Issei no longer register a 'friend' to our senses… Actually."
Demiurge paused, and then turned to look at Cocytus. "The training Lord Issei asked you to perform."
"Ah." Cocytus seemed to realize something. "Lord. Issei. asked. me. to. train. him. in. the. ways. of. the. warrior. Nigredo. attacked. Lord. Issei. out. of. instinct. and. I. allowed. it. in. order. to. train. Lord. Issei. as. a. Warrior. He. learned. the. art. of. dodging. as. if. he. had. done. such. a. thing. in. the. past. I. found. it. strange. since. Lord. Momonga. was. a. Necromancer… But. now. it. makes. sense. if. Warrior. Takemikazuchi. sama's. essence. inhabited. Lord. Momonga's. Body…"
"However, I saw that Lord Issei's bones had minor damage. Therefore-"
"Ah!" Cocytus's eyes widened, making it quite the strange sight considering his insectoid nature. "Lord. Issei. was. hurt. by. attacks. made. by. the. inhabitants. of. Nazarick! Therefore, we. can. attack. and. damage. friendly. targets!"
"Wait-arisu! That, in turn, suggests that the Guild Item of Ainz Ooal Gown is no longer intact, if we are capable of inflicting damage on 'friendly targets'… Or at least, targets that we consciously consider 'friendly', yet are not subconsciously so!" Shalltear seemed to have an epiphany and finished while slapping her hand against the table, and then hurriedly swiping and cleaning and patting the spot on the conference table as she realized she was desecrating the legacy of the Forty-One. "Ahem… I didn't find it odd either! I mean… Now that I think of it, I don't think we used to be able to damage 'friendly' targets in the past, but now it seems really normal and even natural-arisu!"
"In. other. words. the. guild. item. used. to block. Nazarick's. entrance. is. gone. The. enemy. failed. to. break. Nazarick. with. force. but. managed. to. seal. us. away. and. threw. away. the. key. while. trying. to. set. us. hostile. to. one. another." Cocytus finished the logical chain of thoughts. "This. is. distressing."
"...A-a-a-a-and at the same time, o-o-oddly… r-reassuring…" Mare stammered, making it the first time he spoke during the meeting. "d-d-doesn't this mean… t-t-that Bukub- s-sorry, that I-Issei-sama w-won't l-leave us? S-since h-he c-can't l-leave, r-right? H-he's sealed up here, w-with his 'l-loyal servants a-and treasures', like L-lord Momonga said?"
"...Hm." Demiurge thought for a moment before freezing up. "Ah. I see… Indeed. In other words, this isn't about whether or not Lord Issei leaves us… But rather, if we decide to have him leave. Or, to use the right words, if we decide to kill him."
"Absolutely not!" "Rejected!" "T-that's bad…" A chorus of voices came around the table in an instant and Albedo coughed to her hand to cause the room to quiet down.
"Of course that was not an option. However, considering that Nazarick and Ainz Ooal Gown have seperated the moment the Guild Item was destroyed, and since Lord Issei is still in the process of shaping his 'new' backstory and reforming his memories from the time he was Forty to Forty-One different Supreme Beings, it is likely that He is not certain as how we'd react…" Demiurge explained. "After all, the gap in intelligence between us and Lord Issei is as vast as the difference between a worthless, inbred idiots and a World-class Genius, so therefore it makes sense that it would be somewhat difficult for the Supreme Being to ascertain what fools like us would do. After all, we might as well be primates in comparison to His intellect, and such primal creatures can be… unpredictable."
"In. that. case. we. should. ask. Lord. Issei. to. return. so. we. can. pledge. our. loyalties. to. Him. to. reassure. Him. that. we. understood. His. message." Cocytus's voice left little wiggle-room and he was eyeing the other Guardians with suspicion, as if expecting one of them to voice discontent and offer to slay Lord Issei- A offer that would likely be met with a instant decapitation by Cocytus's blades.
Demiurge nodded. "Indeed. This seems the appropriate response. However… I feel as if this room is not the correct place to do so."
"How. so?" Cocytus clicked his mandibles while Mare slinked deeper behind his staff, clearly terrified of Cocytus's presence.
"Lord Issei led us to the Conference Room of the Supreme Beings so that we could realize that we, the Guardians of Nazarick, are our separate entity. We are the 'lords' of Nazarick with our free wills, so to speak, and on technicality, we are the 'rulers' as of right now much like how the Forty-One used this room to plan their actions." Albedo spoke, this time with a stable voice as if she had overcome her earlier hesitations, although the contents of her words almost caused a round of objections from the Guardians and the Pleiades.
However Albedo held her hand up to stall them so that she could continue. "Lord Issei led us here and left us here, while he departed and allowed us to go over the news he brought, allowing us to make our own opinions… He has signaled that He will be our lord only if we accept Him. Therefore, it is up to us to signal to Him that we will once again, and forever more, accept Him as our lord in this new power paradigm that we have found ourselves in. That He is not our lord because he decrees so, but rather, because we wish him to be."
"Agreed." Shalltear voiced.
"What are we waiting for?" Aura asked while standing up. "Actually, Victim-san, I don't think we asked what you were thinking about…"
".em nihtiw ti fo tbuod yna reven saw erehT .nwoG laoO zniA htiw eil seitlayol ym ,yllarutaN" (Naturally, my loyalties lie with Ainz Ooal Gown. There was never any doubt of it within me.) Victim floated a bit up and down as if he was nodding.
"In that case… Sebas-san? Please ask Lord Issei to meet us in the Throne Room at his convenience." Albedo turned to address the butler, who bowed deep and departed. "Guardians, Pleiades, let us move to the Throne Room. Our Lord waits for our answer, so let us give Him one befitting His glory and Wisdom!"
.
.
Issei was wondering if he was getting allergic as he had been sneezing a lot in the past few minutes, at least before he found a long, golden strand of hair on his bedsheets… And he promptly blushed to his eyebrows, at least mentally, as Issei realized that he must have breathed in Solution's hair, which clued him that the maid had been in his bed as he had offered her a choice to use his bed if she was feeling tired.
The memory of the offer to Solution caused Issei no small amount of mixed feelings in light of recent events. Even more so since it looked like Solution had taken up the offer. But he had some more pressing matters to think of, so he stashed the embarrassment and odd excitement to a later date- If there was one '...Ah well… Any moment now… Someone will come and lop my head off… Or perhaps I'll get tortured to death… Should I just try to perform a suicide? It'd be painless… But can an undead really die?'
A knock came from the door and Issei froze in his bed.
He contemplated for a moment if things would resolve themselves if he just ignored the knocking, but his rational self got the upper hand and he stood up from the bed. "Come in."
Sebas opened the door and bowed deep towards Issei. "I bring news from Guardian Overseer Albedo, and the other Guardians. Lord Issei is expected at the Throne Room at his convenience."
'...Um, so Albedo and the others are waiting for me?' Issei tried to decipher Sebas's overly formal words. Moreover it looked like Sebas's body language had changed. It was more relaxed, somehow. Issei wasn't sure what it meant. 'Is he more comfortable around me? Or is he getting ready to strike? I can't read his pose…'
Nonetheless, Issei had few options so he quickly dusted his clothes and motioned for Sebas to go ahead and move while he walked behind him.
Sebas opened the door for Issei and then moved to follow Issei a step behind and one to the side, as if he was a servant… Or a guard delivering a prisoner to the chopping block and was positioned so that he could intercept should the prisoner attempt to flee.
The walk to the Tenth Floor went by quickly, and Issei noticed that Sebas was subtly moving to guide Issei towards another entrance to the Throne Room, this time one that led to the room from the side of the Throne… And Issei almost stopped as he saw that all of the Guardians were present and were standing in front of the throne some distance away and in a half-circle.
"...Ahem." Issei paused to cough to buy himself time as Sebas seemed to walk to the front of Pleiades who were some distance away, leaving Issei to stand in front of the Throne. "So… Ahem. Have you talked about what I told you, and reached a conclusion?"
"Yes, Lord Issei." Albedo spoke.
"...You don't have to call me 'Lord', you know. I am not your lord, I'm just… Issei."
"Yes, Issei-sama." Albedo curtsied slightly. "As to our conclusion… We have reached a conclusion, found in unison and based on what you have told us."
"...And? What is going to happen now?" Issei felt a bit wary. The fact Albedo and the Guardians were acting cordially and even using such pointless words as 'Lord' and whatnot was somewhat relieving in terms of him not dying, but at the same time he had seen what passed for normalcy in Nazarick and small details like small courtesies might not be enough to determine what was going to happen.
"We pledge ourselves once again, the Guardians of Nazarick, to Ainz Ooal Gown, to Issei-sama!" The Guardians went to their knees in an instant, and Issei fought against the urge to dodge as Cocytus's lessons were still fresh in his mind.
"...Eh?" Issei let out a small sound while his mouth was open. "Wait, I'm not really… Ainz Ooal Gown? I'm Issei."
"This is true, Issei-sama." Demiurge lifted his face, his eyes covered by the reflection of the glasses on his face. "Yet, we accept this change in paradigm as the situation has changed in a major way from what we had once believed certain, and once again embrace you as our one and true lord even if we are no longer bound to do so by strands of the Great Game."
'...R-really? W-wait… w-why?' Issei was frozen completely still. '...But, I… Great Game?'
"I…" Issei wasn't sure what to think, so he sat down as his head was spinning. However, he noticed a bit too late that he had sat down on the Throne of Kings as it was directly behind him. However, it looked like the Guardians took it as a sign of some sort. "In that case… I'll do my best to be a fair and good lord to you… But you really don't have to call me that."
.
.
Albedo felt a wave of relief wash down her spine as Lord Issei took a seat upon the Throne of Kings once more.
"...I'll do my best to be a fair and good lord to you." Lord Issei spoke while he radiated a aura of terror and slowly rising hope, a curious mixture that caused Albedo's heart to pound faster in her chest. "But you don't have to call me that."
"Yes, my lord!" Albedo spoke before her brains registered the words, and opened her mouth to correct and chastise herself-
"You know what, fine. If that's easier for you, then go ahead and call me what you want. But rest assured that I'll do my best to be just to you all." Lord Issei gave Albedo a look. "Now then… Let's talk about our future."
"Yes- Lord Issei!" A relieved chorus came from the Guardians and the Pleiades.
And after a long day of strange, mixed feelings and uncertainty, Albedo felt that she was at peace.
'The Lord of Nazarick sits upon his throne, once more, forevermore…' The thought clearly ran through the Guardians's minds, even though none spoke it aloud, even as Lord Issei began to speak of daily routines and other things of comforting mundanity.