Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord. That belongs to Kugane Maruyama, and all illustrations are made by So-Bin.
"What in the flying fuck did we just agree on, you lot?"
The others ventured over to survey the situation.
"Appropriate choice of words." Peroroncino muttered to himself.
"What are you on about, Peroroncino?" Tabula demanded. "What happened?"
Momonga brushed off his robes in the wake of the explosion. Not that such high-quality gear could ever be dirtied.
"Something amazing, actually." The guild master boasted, perfectly fine after taking such trifling damage.
"Yeah, pretty amazing." Peroroncino interjected. "You exploded. You telling me that was all according to plan, eh?"
"Not exactly."
"So your test thingy was a failure, then?"
"Not at all."
"Hm." Doubtfully.
"It was something, but a failure it was not."
"Right, right, go on. I believe you."
The two stopped bantering when Punitto Moe planted himself directly between the two, swiveling his floral head from one to other in a deceitfully fragrant yet potent glare.
"What. Happened?" Punitto ground out thickly.
"You tell 'em, Momonga." The Birdman swiftly removed himself from the confrontation, neatly avoiding the scowl sent his way.
"Only an experiment." Momonga assured his friends, who had all gathered about like the true, nosy busybodies they were. "A successful one, too."
"You were trying to blow yourself up?"
"Not on purpose, no- "
"Then how the hell was it a success!? You exploded, Momonga!" Punitto yelled at him.
Bustling over, Yamaiko made to appraise Momonga's status, though she noticeably did so next to the pair, allowing him to receive the full brunt of Punitto's wrath.
"I was experimenting with meta magic, and it was a success too, if not in the way I'd hoped."
The Death Vine stared at him.
"The first thing you do, immediately after we decide not to mess around with things we don't understand, is experiment with magic? Are you insane?"
"Momonga's status is normal. Just missing some mana."
"Thank you, Yamaiko. Your work is appreciated, as ever." Punitto's brow twitched.
"It's what I do."
Tabula placed a hand on Punitto's shoulder, calming him before his rage boiled over. Again.
"If I may?" The illithid intervened. "What exactly were you trying to do that you were blown up because of it?"
Momonga welcomed the chance to back away from the lashing vines of the still furious druid.
"I attempted to apply meta magic to a dud spell, and while the results were... unexpected, they weren't a failure, either."
Intrigued, the other casters present paid closer attention, their interests garnered.
"Out with it, then." Said Blue Planet, in distinct contrast to his earlier fury with Tabula's mistake.
"I triple max boosted the third-tier spell Fly."
"You what?" Punitto asked disbelievingly. "You dumped three, maximised, tenth-tier spells' worth of mana into experimenting with magic?"
"Yes?"
Silence greeted the Overlord, who had already realised that he hadn't thought his experiment through at all, and was desperately trying to think of a way to escape the situation. Unfortunately, his friends weren't so kind.
"Do you are have stupid?" Punitto finally lost it.
"Um, pardon?"
"Is you have the dumb? Can you even brain, today?"
"What the- "
"Work with me, Momonga! I'm trying to communicate with you on your level!" Punitto bellowed. "Experimenting with magic!? You're as bad as Tabula!"
Momonga had the decency to bow his head in apology, feeling a void open up within him. In hindsight, he couldn't come up with a reason for why he'd recklessly forged on ahead with his wild experiment, and was unable to defend himself.
"I'm sorry, everyone." Momonga apologised sincerely. "I have no excuse."
Meanwhile, Punitto had been forcefully calmed down by Yamaiko, who was doing a spectacular job at keeping the guild healthy and relatively sane, barring her own trespasses.
"Just... don't do it again." The Death Vine deflated like a wilting flower.
"That's it?" Ulbert complained, incensed. "Where's all that blazing wrath that ripped us a new one, huh? Blue Planet?"
"Watch it, Ulbert!" Punitto growled. "I've not forgotten your stunt just yet."
"Because I set the bar for all the stupid shit we do all the time?" Ulbert rolled his eyes. "It was inevitable, honestly. It's best we get this out the way now, get it out of our system, so we can be productive later without any distractions."
"What's that mean?" Nishikienrai spoke up for the first time in a while. You almost forget the ninja is there.
"Look, we just got superpowers. Us doing dumb shit was a given." Ulbert shrugged, making his point clear. "I'm only saying this because I think we were doomed to have a meltdown like this, anyway. I know us. This was going to happen, eventually."
"That doesn't make it okay."
"No, but it's done. We're gamers turned 'Supreme Beings'. We need to sort ourselves out. Not only magic and skills, but our mental too."
Silence greeted Ulbert.
"That... is very mature of you, Ulbert." Peroroncino praised the demon. "Good job, buddy."
"Eat a dick."
"And now everything's back to normal again. Yay!" Bukubukuchaguma steamrolled her way through the players.
Punitto finally regained his cool and laughed at her sledgehammer intervention.
"Okay, I get it. I need to relax, and I will, so long as no one gives me a reason to lose my shit again." Punitto offered a truce with his friends who he had nagged to death in the past.
"No, it's fine." Momonga hurried to make amends with his friends. "I was totally out of line. Experimenting with magic without consulting everyone first was a mistake, one I won't be repeating anytime soon."
"Ever. Right?"
"You know me. Would you believe me if I said so?"
The players laughed off the previous tension and worry that had had built up when they watched their friend glow with powerful mana and explode right before their eyes. Luckily, it seemed the explosion was purely superficial, as they hadn't found a little pile of bones with a skull on top as the only remnant of their friend.
"What, no bonk for Momonga, then?" Peroroncino commented.
"First of all, Bonk heals with the life attribute, meaning its deadly to him as an undead." Listed Punitto. "Second, with friendly fire off, it might deal extra damage as a holy item, and lastly, it might deal bludgeoning damage. That's a lot of damage to risk for a small rebuke."
"Whatever. Lame."
"What was the point of your experiment, anyway?" Amanomahitotsu asked the Overlord.
"I was trying to see if meta magic could be applied to the spells they were normally incompatible with."
"I guess it can't be done, then."
"I wouldn't say that. At least, it wasn't nothing."
The others mulled over the results of his experiment, forming their own theories about the magic.
"In the game—again! In the game, meta magic just wouldn't apply at all, and the spell would activate as normal, but something different happened here." Tabula provided his analysis. "Which means some kind of interaction did take place."
"This is more exciting than flailing about practicing abilities I know by heart. For that matter, did everyone else figure out that we completely and totally understand our bodies and skills like the back of our hands?" Nishikienrai asked the collective, to which he received a unanimously positive response.
"Testing things we know is lame, but finding something new? Now that I can get behind." Touch Me joined the discussion. "How much more study do we need to do before we're ready to go outside?"
"Loads!" Punitto butted back in. "We haven't checked the Source Menu yet, nor the extent of the changes within Nazarick. We also need to learn everything we can about the NPCs before we ruin our relationship with them. There's plenty of research needed before we're safe to leave the Tomb, that and we still need to secure the entrance somehow. Heck, we still need to sort out our lore."
"I know, Punitto, but that's not as fun."
Momonga observed the bickering and bantering between his comrades, his closest friends in the guild, and in this whole new world. This was what he missed most, these moments amongst his friends, when they would grind, raid, camp, and talk for hours on end.
Sometimes everything went fine during their guild operations, and they celebrated with the spoils of victory. Other times things wouldn't turn out so well, and they'd collapse into arguing and moping about until they pulled themselves together for a severe counter attack.
This was what he wanted, Momonga decided. If they really were immortal, he could do this forever with his friends by his side, and if their ultimate plan was to summon the rest of their friends, then Momonga could dedicate himself to that, even if it took an eternity.
As it was, he was also looking forward to when they would leave the Great Tomb, and step foot into the wider world properly for the first time, their night time flight not withstanding.
Breaking out of his reverie, Momonga realised that his friends had splintered off into small groups again, only this time he was left alone with Peroroncino, who was waving and grinning widely beneath his gilded mask.
"Took you long enough." Peroroncino laughed. "I thought you were dead on your feet."
Momonga groaned at the awful pun.
"Don't." Momonga begged comically. "If there's one thing I didn't miss about you, it was your dumb sense of humour. What happened to all the perverted wise-cracks? At least those were funny."
"They're coming, don't you worry."
"That was terrible."
"Bah! What would you know? Your 'humour' consists of laughing over the bodies of our enemies."
Momonga accepted the comment completely. He had no sense of humour, which always amazed him when his friends said he was funny.
"Maybe because it's bone dry?"
"Now that was horrible."
The two friends meandered their way over to where Bukubukuchaguma had partnered up with Nishikienrai, the two performing some unknowable and convoluted test that boggled the mind.
"Is this the part where I say 'stop hitting yourselves'?" Peroroncino asked quizzically.
The Elder Slime and Half Golem paused from continuing that very act, the two having been conducting a strange test indeed as both players were punching themselves in the head.
"Oh, Momonga! Nice timing. Quick, punch yourself in the face!" Bukubukuchaguma demanded the Overlord, oozing directly in front of him.
"But... why?"
"No questions! Just do it!"
Momonga sighed. At least this wasn't inherently dangerous, but it looked like he would have to wait until after to find out why it wasn't stupid.
He clenched his fist and raised it until he was staring at the magically conjoined knuckles and digits of his skeletal extremities. Deciding to get it over with, and knowing from observing the duo's earlier efforts, Momonga punched himself in the head as hard as he could.
"Anything?" Bukubukuchaguma piped up hopefully.
"Nothing at all." Momonga relaxed himself, having instinctively taken a tense stance, despite having no muscles or tendons to clench. "But why, though?"
"We're finally laying to rest that old proverb. Axiom? Saying." Nishikienrai nodded affirmatively. "Laying that old saying to rest.
"If you punch yourself in the head, and it hurts, are you too weak or too strong?"
"..."
Momonga and Peroroncino glanced between the slime and the ninja, both of them having made their own conclusions, on both the saying and the two idiots before them.
"Which is it?" Bukubukuchaguma asked excitedly. "What do you think?"
"I think you're both stupid." Peroroncino declared, buffing his claws on his feathered chest.
"Huh!? You want to find out the hard way, little brother?"
"Why are you the one that always gives the best openings!?" Peroroncino cursed, taking to the air.
Momonga chuckled at them, although he gave the obvious answer.
"Whether or not it hurts depends entirely on your attack and defence stats, right?"
"Well, yeah, but we already knew that. Give us some credit." Nishikienrai chuckled. "We had to test it out though, now that our stats have tangible value."
"So, which one was it for you?" Peroroncino asked, brow raised, to which the ninja only chuckled nervously.
"Turns out my attack stat is seriously higher than my defence stat." He lifted his mask to show them the fractures in his stone-like jawline. "Don't worry, it'll heal. I just don't want to piss off Punitto again."
"No! Tell him this one. He'll totally understand." Peroroncino cackled. "Seriously, this one's funny. It'll put him in a better mood, trust me."
"Nah. Too embarrassing." Nishikienrai shrugged it off.
"Have you discovered anything else, yet?" Momonga asked his friends. "Aside from me blowing myself up, has anyone else learnt something?"
"Tabula hit a big one earlier. Did you know the game rules still apply? You'd think that becoming real would allow us to shake off those game restrictions, but they're still there! Can you believe that?"
"Game restrictions?"
"Yeah, like class penalties and stuff. He couldn't equip a sword, just kept dropping it"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Crazy, right? I guess when we got isekai'd everything about us became real. You should try it out. It's weird as all hell."
Momonga searched in his inventory, mentally perusing its contents within his mind. He found a legendary class sword that he'd looted from a failed invasion a few days ago and shoved his hand through reality into the void where his inventory was located.
Drawing the blade, Momonga admired the effort put into the aesthetics, but was curious how the game restriction would activate.
"So, how does it work? I'm holding it now, aren't I?"
"Give it a swing."
Momonga waved the sword in front of him, but it only whistled in the air, remaining in his grasp.
"Don't play with it. Attack. It'll happen."
Momonga took a stance that he'd seen Touch Me and Takemikazuchi perform a thousand times before, channeling his inner role player as he imagined himself a warrior. He held the sword behind him and swung it forward as hard as he could, imitating a broad, decapitating strike.
The blade flew through the air in a blur, smashing into the arena wall some forty metres away beside him with a clang.
Nishikienrai whistled.
"That was a decent toss, Momonga. If Bukubukuchaguma was a little taller, you might have hit her, too."
As it was, the slime was pooled on the ground at their feet, having reflexively dodged the sword as it ripped itself from Momonga's hands to be sent spinning through the air.
"I didn't even feel myself let go. What the hell?"
"Yeah, it's like that with all the restrictions and penalties and stuff. Try to do something that was a no go in the game, and it always fails." Said Nishikienrai. "One of the oddities of being isekai'd as a game character, I guess, is that it comes with a bunch of extra rules."
"But there's something I don't get." Said Bukubukuchaguma, pulling herself back together. "If game penalties still apply, then how were you able to use meta magic on a spell that couldn't be buffed?"
"It didn't work for him, though."
"Neither of you are wrong, exactly." Said Momonga. "It didn't work, not because it was penalised, but because the two weren't compatible."
"Huh?"
Momonga summed up his previous experiment, but this time he took the information about Tabula's discovery and added it in.
"I tried, and failed, to enhance a spell that couldn't be enhanced. Not in the way I tried." He explained. "But something happened, meaning while it didn't work, it wasn't because it was impossible, or a game restriction. Which means it was only because I didn't understand the nature of how the magic would react.
"But with Tabula's discovery about the game penalties still being active, I think I've come up with a theory that could be quite beneficial in the long run."
"Oh, what's that then?" Peroroncino asked curiously.
"I think, that if it isn't expressly forbidden, then it is allowed."
"..."
Peroroncino burst into a flurry of hysterics, cawing loudly as he laughed.
"Haha! Yes, how did I not see it sooner? It's all quite clear to me now!" Peroroncino gasped for breath between bouts of laughter. "'If it's not forbidden, it's allowed!' Genius, Momonga. The enormity of your intellectual prowess escapes me!"
"It's not that funny." Momonga faux coughed. "But maybe I could have worded it better."
"No, I get you." Nishikienrai mused contemplatively. "If it isn't expressly forbidden, like a game penalty or class restriction, then it can be exploited. As in, if it wasn't intentionally coded to be prevented, then we can work around it."
"Exactly." Momonga was glad that his idea made sense to someone else.
"Does that mean we're going to be backlogged with bug finding and exploit hunting?" Bukubukuchaguma whined. "I want to explore! Not get bullied into research by Punitto and Tabula! You know how they get!"
"No, this can be something we develop on the side." Momonga agreed with the sentiment, curious about the outside world just as much, but still had to concede to Punitto's wisdom.
They had needed this practice. They had needed to get used to their new bodies and abilities, even if it was all instinctual and had only taken a few minutes to work out the kinks, it was safer to be fully aware of themselves than to stumble into the outside world with half a brain between them.
Very soon, however, they wouldn't be able to restrain themselves, and would undoubtedly leave to explore the beauty of the world as soon as possible.
"Hey, what happened to your twins?" Nishikienrai queried the slime.
Ice flooded through Momonga's non-existent veins. Had they seen him blow himself up? Were they watching his friends' informality and unimpressive, un-supreme-like behaviour?
"They're up there in the VIP box." She pointed out the two blond specks high in the Amphitheatre's seating.
Bukubukuchaguma waved a pink limb at the top box, where Momonga could see two tiny excited elflings waving back madly.
"Should they see us like this?" Momonga asked, worried. "Does this not make us seem like we're not supreme beings?"
"Don't worry, I explained it to them. They know we've been isekai'd, so I let them know that we're testing out our power in this world."
"Did they know what it means?" Peroroncino asked his sister.
"Yeah, they did. I guess Punitto's theory about them getting their information from us is true. It's not exactly a common concept, right? But it does make sense if they got all their knowledge from us."
Momonga accepted the explanation, glad that she had at least explained it to them, although he was a little embarrassed about having others witnessing his screw ups.
His friends didn't count. They were just as bad.
The other guild members must have concluded their tests, or had otherwise become bored with the mundane practice, as they made their way over to Momonga's group.
"Everyone's coming over. Good, I'm glad this shit is done with." Peroroncino stretched his wings to their limits, his full wing span great enough to encircle all eleven of them if they clumped together.
"I don't know. It was pretty entertaining seeing everyone's screwups." Nishikienrai chuckled.
"Ha! Yeah, you right."
Momonga ignored the giggling idiots in favour of addressing the guild.
"Is everyone comfortable with their forms now?"
"Super." Said Ulbert.
"Then we should return to the Meeting Room. Our plans don't require an audience." Momonga hinted at the Twins cavorting above, the two elflings having decided it was okay to throw around skills and abilities as well, mimicking the guild members training.
"They're just kids. Shouldn't it be alright?" Bukubukuchaguma asked.
"Don't forget they're not actually kids, and that doesn't mean they won't report it to the others. I'd rather our incompetence be kept to ourselves." Momonga disagreed.
"If you say so."
"We'll continue this in the Meeting Room. Let's go." Momonga teleported out of the coliseum.
Returning to his place at the head of the round table, he was quickly rejoined by his friends, who teleported into their respective chairs.
"Right, let's go over everything once more." Punitto took charge of the meeting, embracing his role as strategist.
Everyone groaned in unison, realising they were about to be subject to another endless talkfest.
"And that's what happened." Momonga concluded.
"Ah, I see what you did there." Ulbert smirked knowingly.
"To summarise: class restrictions and penalties are still in play, if it isn't expressly forbidden in Yggdrasil then it's permitted here, stats matter, flavour text is important, magic is dangerous, try not to kill yourselves.
"Is there anything else?"
"We're strong as all hell, and easily have the power to conquer the old world a million times over?" Amanomahitotsu suggested.
"That one's a given."
"That's all, I suppose."
"Wonderful." Momonga held a hand out towards a small alcove in the wall of the Meeting Room, summoning the Guild Weapon to himself. "Next order of business. Confirming the status and operations of Nazarick."
"We can do that from the Throne Room." Said Touch Me, standing up soundlessly in his form fitting full plate armour. "The Source Menu was locked to the throne itself, if I remember rightly."
"Indeed." Momonga stood as well, as did the other players. "We'll start there before we decide anything else."
"Oh, before we go, Momonga." Said Tabula, approaching the guild master. "Where would be a good place for Albedo to stay?"
"A place for Albedo?"
"I never assigned her any quarters, you see."
"You mean she's homeless?" He asked, crossly. "Why would you do that to her?"
"This was a game, Momonga."
"Oh." Momonga sighed. "Right."
To the only person who had never truly left, it was sometimes difficult for Momonga to separate fact from fiction, when Yggdrasil had been his life.
They had only recently become real beings in their game avatars, but to him it felt like he was finally alive. He also knew that Ulbert felt the same, as his exuberant demeanor was more energetic and livelier than he had ever recalled seeing from him in years, having only left the game in order to survive.
"We can assign her a suite on the Ninth Floor. The ones near the guest quarters, would be best. If she asks, her placement is meant to watch over any guests we might have." Momonga suggested.
"Are you considering inviting outsiders into our home?" Blue Planet asked, as the fairy floated lazily in a reclined pose.
"No. But that's the excuse I came up with. I'm not terribly fond of the idea of inviting strangers in here, regardless."
"Yeah, I get you." Peroroncino added. "I like the idea of keeping this little slice of heaven to ourselves. I mean, look at this place."
The birdman spun around, whipping up a gale with his loose wings.
"This would cost — I don't know. What, a couple hundred million for this room alone? Look at that statue! Solid gold."
Momonga glanced at the statue out of the corner of his eye, before he had to do a double take.
"Hey, you're right. Holy shit, this is gold!" Amanomahitotsu inspected the statue in question, pressing an indent into it with his claws. "It's soft!"
"Or, you know, you could be strong enough to drop kick it into outer space." Nishikienrai peered at it intently next to the crab monster. "But you're right. This is solid gold."
"How'd we forget that?" Yamaiko plucked a single Yggdrasil gold coin out of her inventory, rolling it in her palm. "Come to think of it, aren't there literal mountains of gold down in the Treasury? Are we billionaires now?"
"If I remember correctly." Momonga croaked hoarsely, having completely forgotten about the immeasurable wealth below them. "There's about three hundred and sixty-seven trillion gold coins in the Treasury."
"W-what?"
"H-how many zeroes is that?"
"Twelve zeroes after the one."
"That's stupid. Why was that even an amount we could have?"
"I'm surprised that you're surprised. We always had this much."
"It only seems like a lot now, but in Yggdrasil—well, it was still a lot, but gold was easy to come by, and shit was expensive. Besides, your average divine class items could go for a billion a piece." Tabula discounted the value of the gold.
"Not that we can spend it on anything anymore. All it's good for now is guild maintenance, crafting, defence upkeep, and NPC resurrection. On second thought, that gold is quite valuable." Touch Me pondered over the value of their newly acquired wealth.
"You think we can dive in and swim in it like they showed in old anime?" Nishikienrai asked. "Scrooge McDuck style?"
"Like what?"
"Nah, gold is a solid metal. You'd smush yourself to pieces trying to dive in." Peroroncino denied.
"Maybe if I was human. I bet it would be easy enough now." The ninja boasted.
"You can all goof off later." Momonga rebuked his comrades, no matter how much he would like to try it himself. "Right now, we need to check the guilds functions from the Throne Room. Let's go already. No more distractions."
Momonga teleported himself to the Throne Room and appeared upon the dais at the end of the hall, followed moments after by the others.
Dwelling deep within the Great Tomb of Nazarick, beyond the Hall of Lemegeton, lay the Throne Room
Every single structure, item, fixture, and architectural marvel within this hall was itself a work of art. The room was gigantic, great enough to comfortably fill with hundreds of people, with a towering ceiling held high above them by massive glittering pillars.
From these giant pillars hung massive banners that nearly stretched from ceiling to floor, all embroidered with the unique insignia of the individual guild members. They shone and sparkled in the light, as the material of these tapestries were made from was not fabric, but woven precious metals.
At least, according to the lore behind them.
The room was illuminated by countless chandeliers, each not unlike the one that hung in the Meeting Room. These ornate light sources had been forged from end game materials, the prismatic ore crystals mounted upon them that gave off light were just as capable of radiating deadly attacks, as the chandeliers themselves were a part of the guilds defence network.
The crowning jewel in the room was the enormous obsidian throne upon the dais. The Throne of King's, a World Item, was just as integral to the guild as its heart, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.
One function of this World Item was that it could be installed into a guild base, making it so that the guild related systems could only be accessed from this point, but also granting certain protections to the guild from other World Item effects, including divination type attacks and other external strikes.
However, it wasn't the Throne of King's that had caught Momonga's eye, although it was very well designed, it wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as the beautiful creature that stood next to it.
"Albedo." Momonga acknowledged the Guardian Overseer.
The woman in white shone like an angel, yet it was easily apparent to all who laid eyes on her just how shallow that description was. The demoness had wickedly curved horns protruding from her temples, yet their full, round shape enhanced her femininity. The golden catlike eyes hinted at her infernal origin, glowing with an ethereal yellow malice, that did nothing to detract from her divine beauty.
"Momonga-sama." The Succubus in question knelt gracefully, silky black locks cascading along her slender shoulders to fill the dips and valleys of her voluptuous body. "And the Supreme Beings of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. How may I be of service to you, my masters?"
"Rise, Albedo." Said Momonga. "We've come to assess the guild Source Menu. Has Tabula explained the situation to you?"
"He did, Momonga-sama. May I be of assistance to you in some way?"
"Currently, no. But if you have any ideas, feel free to speak up." Tabula answered instead. He stood to one side as Momonga took his place on the throne. "Anything?"
"Hmmm. Yes, it's all here." Momonga reached into the air and tapped something invisible. A large array of displays shimmered into existence before the players, each displaying some aspect of the guild's status and functionality.
"That's good." Punitto breathed out a sigh of relief. "Is everything the same, or has it adapted as well?"
The players crowded the throne, edging out Albedo who could only view the players in wonder. The displays were similar in make and design to how they had tailored it during the game, although there were a few notable changes. They could no longer access the Cash Shop from the guild base, nor were they able to purchase additional NPC levels for extortionate amounts of real-life currency from the guild menu, either. They could still assess guild health and see the auto repair function and full repair cost. The entire guild defence system, trap system, mercenary NPC system, pop mob system, golem control system, and every other possible guild function could all still be accessed, proving the guild Source Menu was still available.
"Good. Good." Said Momonga, relieved. "That was one of my biggest concerns, so I'm glad that's cleared up."
"Was something the matter, Momonga-sama?" Albedo asked, concerned. "If there is, then you need only give the word. All of Nazarick is at your disposal, my lords and ladies."
"There's no need for that." Tabula disregarded her pledge. "This isn't something that can be solved by numbers, or power. The transition has changed things, but seemingly for the better. We're only checking to see where the buck stops."
"Very well, Tabula-sama." Albedo bowed. "Is there anything else I can do for you, masters?"
Momonga glanced away from the displays and looked at the supplicant succubus. The demoness may have her head bowed, but her rosy cheeks and lidded eyes were far from submissive, they were ravenous. Notably, towards Peroroncino, who was doing his best to avoid looking anywhere in her general direction.
"That is all, Albedo." Said Tabula, sternly. "However, I did speak with Momonga about getting you a room. If you would follow me?"
Tabula strode from the throne room, broking no argument from his creation as she left soundlessly, although she pouted the whole way down the hall, glancing back shamelessly at the players. They departed through the large double doors, which closed automatically in their wake, yet another function of the game that had carried over to the new world.
"Was it just me, or did she seem really insistent about serving us?" Nishikienrai asked nonplussed.
"Must be you." Amanomahitotsu replied. "She was friendly, though. I have no idea what he meant when he said she was evil."
Ulbert shook his head in disagreement.
"You have to watch out for that. She seems nice, but only to us. To outsiders, to humans, she'll be a nightmare. We're her masters, so of course she's friendly to us."
"Friendly. Right." Peroroncino said sarcastically. "I could practically smell her 'friendliness'."
Bukubukuchaguma smacked her brother over the head in admonishment.
"She's a succubus, you leave her be, little brother." The slime chastised the raptor. "But I'm proud of you, too. You didn't ogle the shit out of her."
"Yeah." Peroroncino replied softly. "It was strange to me, too."
"I thought you would have made an ass out of yourself, but you handled it just fine. What gives?" Blue Planet chuckled.
"I'm not sure." The Birdman mumbled. "She just didn't seem that attractive, to me."
Everyone, including Touch Me who had wondered far over to the other side of the hall, whirled around on the spot.
"What?" The group of players asked in concert.
"Are you okay?" Bukubukuchaguma placed an appendage on her brother's crown, attempting to feel his temperature through his insulating feathers.
Yamaiko appraised the defective pervert's status, rings of magic glowing about the pair.
"I'm fine, you pricks." Peroroncino fluttered away. "But I'm a little weirded out, too. I think she's hot, but..."
"I remember you used to go on and on about lewding her and the maids, and what not." Said Ulbert. "I never remember you being picky."
"Yeah, me neither." Peroroncino responded, contemplating the change.
"Moving on." Punitto commandeered the conversation, although he squinted at Peroroncino out of the corner of his eyes. "The guild systems seem to be fully functional."
"Everything appears normal. Relatively." Said Momonga, standing from the Throne of Kings. "If we're done here, we should wait for Tabula. We still need to check the guild for any changes."
"Is that even necessary?" Amanomahitotsu asked, gesturing with his mega claw. "If you account for friendly fire being disabled, most of the guild isn't inherently dangerous. Besides, can't you already sense the guild?"
"Sense the guild?"
"Yeah. Like our skills and stuff. I've got a sense of the guild's layout in my head, along with all the traps and NPCs."
"Huh."
The players contemplated Amanomahitotsu's words, sensing the guilds floor plans and trap placements in their minds, along with area gimmicks and the NPCs on their floors going about their routines.
"Oh. That is convenient." Ulbert commented. "We can cross that one off the list, then."
"What's left on this list of yours, Punitto?" Bukubukuchaguma asked. "Haven't we covered everything?"
"The important things, yes." The druid acknowledged. "Really, all we need to do now is familiarise ourselves with all the NPCs' lore, somehow call a meeting or explain things to them, and secure the entrance to the Tomb."
"Do we need to learn the NPCs lore right now? I feel like we can do that one in our own time."
"I guess." Punitto conceded. "Does anyone have any ideas on securing the entrance?"
"What about burying it?" Yamaiko suggested.
"And risk tripping the Ariadne System? No." Momonga rejected the idea handily.
"Partial burial, then?" Amanomahitotsu compromised. "Enough to disguise it, but not block the entrance."
"It could work." Blue Planet mused. "We could dig up some illusion items and cloak it."
"Anything with a level over eighty out there could chance seeing through it."
"That's if they're that high a level, or have the right skills, or have levels or skills at all. Making a lot of assumptions here."
"The possibility can't be denied."
"What about spawning a forest?"
"It'll tip off the locals."
Momonga sat silently and listened to his friends' bandy about dozens of ideas, every one of them as effective and appealing as its predecessors.
"Why not build hills?"
"That's even worse! Locals will spot that miles off. Same as the forest."
"A rising crater, then?"
"What the hell's that?
"We raise a crater, with the Tomb entrance in the middle. The edges only have to be tall enough so that anyone standing far away can't see the entrance. We set the outside incline of the crater walls as shallow as possible, stretching out like half a dozen kilometres, or as far as possible. The gradient will be so tiny that no one will notice that the ground is sloping. They won't even notice there's a hill."
"Too much effort, and not certain enough to work. We don't know if they have the tech or the magic to notice that shit right away."
"Well then, where's your idea, genius?"
Momonga tuned out the impending argument. All the ideas seemed fine to him, and it sounded like they could all be stacked, making the area as secure as they could hope without being discovered by any local powers.
How effectively they could conceal and secure the Great Tomb of Nazarick's entrance hinged upon how advanced or powerful the local peoples might be. The best idea yet would be to raise the Tomb to high alert and station perimeter guards, and an early warning scout system.
"We know too little about the outside world to make any such alterations to the entrance. Anything we do might set off an alert. But not doing anything risks discovery." Amanomahitotsu considered all the ideas.
"I still think an illusion is still our best bet, for now." Blue Planet waged. "It might be seen through, but its better than nothing, and without knowing what's out there we can't gauge what the best defence would be."
"Momonga, what do you think?" Punitto pushed the idea forward.
"It'll have to do, for now, and we can always make changes later. Until we know more, doing anything too overt might draw attention, but not doing anything risks discovery, too." Momonga answered. "Let's go with that."
"Alright. Anyone coming with?" The Fairy Elemental asked the players. "Help me find an illusion item in the Treasury."
"Sure. I'm down." Nishikienrai volunteered happily. "I'm gonna try diving in the gold."
"Oh, me too." Peroroncino jumped in, along with most of the other players.
"I will stay and wait for Tabula." Momonga sighed.
"You can message him, you know?"
"Yeah, but it feels rude to just leave and flick him a message."
"If that's what you want, go ahead." Peroroncino shrugged, before vanishing soundlessly in teleportation, following everyone else who had already left.
Momonga sighed again, out of habit than any necessity.
"How are you handling the transition, Momonga?"
"Gah! Oh, you're still here, Touch Me."
The silver paladin approached from behind one of the massive pillars that held up the vast ceiling.
"I thought you might like some company while they go for a swim." Touch Me climbed the dais to stand next to the throne and ran his gauntlet covered fingers over the obsidian material.
"Sure." Momonga agreed happily. "I'm fine with the changes. Strange not having a body though, er... I mean flesh. What about you, Touch Me?"
"As well as I can be. Physically, I've never felt stronger. But leaving my family behind does weigh on me."
A brief silence settled over the pair. Momonga could hardly relate. He had no family to leave behind, and if anything, they were here with him, and planned to somehow summon the rest. He couldn't quite understand Touch Me's feelings, not when Nazarick was his home.
"You'll see them again someday, Touch. We'll make sure of it. We'll see them all. Our friends and family."
"Of course! I just feel tense, though. Wondering how much time we have. What if something happens to my family that I left behind? Do they even know that I'm gone, or will they find my body rotting at home? I almost can't bear to imagine the pain or worry my family is going through, about what happens now that I'm gone."
This was another factor that Momonga hadn't imagined. What had happened in the old world? Were their corpses rotting away in their old homes? Were they just gone, body and soul, with no trace left behind? How long had they been gone, and how long until somebody noticed?
"I don't know." Momonga answered apologetically. "But no matter what, we'll do our best to find out, and bring them here alive. We have resurrection magic; worst-case scenario."
"Now you've gone and given me worse ideas!"
"Ah, forgive me!"
"Never mind that for now, Momonga." Touch Me shrugged it off. "What are we going to do while we wait?"
"Not sure." Momonga replied. "Whatever, I guess."
Momonga contemplated the oddity of Touch Me easily dismissing the idea of his family, something he had always rambled on about in the past, but attributed it to being a very sensitive a topic as leaving them behind in another world. He paid it no mind, not wanting to upset his friend again, and thought about what they would do while they waited for Tabula to return.
Momonga searched through his inventory, looking for something interesting to play with in the meantime. He ignored all the consumables, weapons, one use items, and whatever crafting materials he had, and chanced upon a scrying item. He withdrew it from his inventory and set it up next to the throne.
"What's this one, then?"
"It's a Mirror of Remote Viewing. I want to see if I can use it to scout around the Tomb."
"Good thinking. How does it work?"
Momonga paused, not knowing the answer himself.
"I have no idea. Let's try it out!"
The two sat around playing with the mirror, wasting time and chatting inanely about things they'd like to try in their new bodies. It wasn't long until Tabula returned through the entryway, without Albedo, but was followed instead by the NPC who Momonga immediately recognised as Touch Me's creation.
"Where did everyone go?" Tabula asked as he marched through the Throne Room.
"Swimming." Touch Me replied, receiving a raised brow in return. "In the Treasury."
"Ah." Tabula nodded. "Why?"
"They're looking for an illusion item to hide the entrance until we come up with something more permanent."
"I see. And this?"
"This is a Mirror of Remote Viewing." Momonga answered. "Although its functions have changed, so I'm trying to get it to work."
The NPCs knew that they were in another world from Yggdrasil, and that some things had changed, so Momonga had no qualms about explaining away his ineptitude at using the item.
"You don't seem to be doing too well."
"What gave you that idea?"
Momonga bantered with Tabula over the mirror's current functionality, or lack thereof, while keeping an eye on the NPC beside them.
The butler looked like how Touch Me had described, an uncanny resemblance to his real body. While there were some slight embellishments made to slim him down and bulk him up, they were still eerily similar in appearance. The butler was a monk, as far as he could recall, whose name was a play on the old butler naming trope; Sebas Tian.
"Sebas." Touch Me greeted his creation.
"Touch Me-sama." Sebas bowed deeply in return to the two players. "Momonga-sama."
"Ah, I see what you mean, Touch." Momonga acknowledged the physical resemblance between creation and creator. "He does take after you."
"Thank you for your kind words, Momonga-sama." Sebas bowed deeply in gratitude.
"Charming, isn't he?" Tabula remarked. "He is remarkably similar to you, Touch Me."
"Right?" Touch Me gestured to his creation. "A gentleman through and through."
Momonga tuned the others out as he returned to getting the mirror to work. It responded to his hand gestures, yet there must have been another link, as the image also changed as he moved his eyes around the screen. It was currently displaying the entrance at the outer mausoleum, where the stairwell to the First Floor of Nazarick was located.
"A Mirror of Remote Viewing, eh?" Tabula duplicated the magic item with magic. "Perhaps I may have more luck."
The two magic casters attempted to use the mirrors to view the outside world, finding it a little difficult to manipulate an item that was no longer point and click.
"There!" Tabula exclaimed. "Too easy."
"What?" Momonga huffed. "How'd you figure it out so fast?"
"My Alchemist levels grant me passives on perception and insight. Hints, tips, and tricks are a part of the package." Tabula explained smugly.
"Yeah? Now teach me how to do it, too." Momonga conceded defeat.
"It's all mental. No physical gestures required."
"But it responds to my movements?"
"It responds because you expect it to respond. You're bad at it because you're only using gestures. Focus your will onto the image, not the mirror."
Momonga instantly bent the mirror to his will, moving the picture in and out of focus and soaring around the surrounding area to observe the local plains.
"I see. Thank you, Tabula." Momonga praised his friend.
"This does show the need to conceal the entrance though, doesn't it?" Touch Me commented.
The players took stock of the images displayed by the two mirrors and agreed with the necessity of covering the Tomb's exterior. They were incredibly exposed, jutting out of a flat plain like a nail begging to be hammered down.
The guild's exterior comprised a central mausoleum, the surrounding cemetery, and four tombs in a cross pattern, all of which could be seen from absurdly far away. The general layout extended in a fifty-metre radius from the mausoleum, which itself was over fifteen metres tall, and were all pale stone colours upon a lush green field.
The Grenbera Swamps of Helheim had hidden them well, but the empty grasslands they found themselves in now highlighted their exposure.
"How about sending out some pop mobs to patrol the area? We could have a perimeter stretching out for miles." Tabula suggested.
"If they obey us too, then I don't see why not." Momonga agreed. "They're generated by the guild, not NPCs, so I'm not as against sending them out into possible danger."
"Do they respawn, though?" Touch Me asked. "Using them as fodder is alright, I suppose, but only so long as they respawn. They might be one use only now."
"Consumable mobs, huh?"
"Something else we need to check. Wait, can't that be done here?" Tabula brought up the Source Menu near the throne.
"Oh, is it there?" Touch Me peered over the Illithid's shoulder.
"Yeah. See that? Mob cap." Tabula pointed out. "Wait a minute. Upkeep?"
"For higher level pop mobs and traps. That could get expensive very quickly. Our gold gen has effectively dried up."
"What about the guild farms? There's just so much to keep on top of. Damn!"
While the two players were pouring over the Source Menu, Momonga had gone back to operating the mirror. Soaring across the plains like an eagle, he scried the surrounding plains far and wide to gain a better understanding of the immediate area, surveying the land for possible defensible positions or points of weakness.
However, the flatlands offered no cover for as far as three kilometres out until the nearest brush and forests, and while no enemies could ever sneak up on them, they could be scouted from very far away.
Zooming out a little, Momonga scoured far over the nearby woodlands, looking for any signs of life beyond greenery and tiny birds. He would settle for any kind of creature, anything to prove there might be alien life here in this new world.
'Or are we the aliens here?' Momonga wondered. 'Oh, what's this?'
He spotted plumes of thick smoke coming from a clearing amidst light forest, some distance away from the Tomb's entrance, and willed the mirror to take his sight to that area.
To his astonishment it was a small settlement of medieval houses and barns, many of which appeared to be on fire.
"A village?"
"Gah!" Momonga twisted away from faces of the two players who appeared over his shoulders.
"Are those people? Are those humans?" Tabula's jaw dropped, an odd sight on his tentacled face.
"I get that it's part of the isekai trope, but really?" Touch Me asked. "What are the odds?"
"I have no bloody idea." Tabula responded, frowning. "But if I had to guess, they would be astronomical. Ignoring the typical 'isekai trope' of being dumped into another world, the odds of human life evolving elsewhere are incalculable."
"I was being rhetorical..."
Momonga ignored the two in favour of zooming in further over the village. The smoke was quite thick and dark, pouring heavily from multiple buildings, and the small figures of people rushing about were all in a panic.
"Zoom in closer." Tabula leaned forward towards the mirror.
The small human shapes resolved themselves into typical village people and knights in shining armour, the latter running the former into the ground upon horseback with cleaving strokes of the sword.
"What?"