YAY, a new crossover that absolutely nobody asked for: Maruyama Kugane's Overlord novel series and God of War (2018). For the best reading experience, I suggest you have at least a basic familiarity with the characters and plot events of both before diving in.

This story opens in Overlord Volume XII: The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom, Chapter 1. There will be a focus on the characters from that arc for the first few chapters of this story. The crossover and the action is a bit slow in the coming, so please sit tight. These early "slow" chapters are laying the foundation for the real good stuff later.

At any rate, I would love and appreciate any constructive feedback you, dear readers, are willing to give. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!

{Kalinsha, fortress city of the Roble Holy Kingdom...}

"So… you are the Demon Emperor, Jaldabaoth?" asked Calca Bessarez. Against the dark clouds that brooded over Kalinsha, she and her white horse stood out like a star against the night; her golden hair, crowned in a silver circlet, flowed over her shoulders and down the back of her royal white garb. Next to her, astride a grey horse, was Kelart Custodio, her priestly robes of white, black, and blue covered in the back down to waist by her brown hair, broken only by a white hairband. The two of them were on one side of a central plaza of the city. That plaza had been recently painted red with the blood and viscera of fallen soldiers. Two ravens perched on some of the corpses, pecking at an evicted liver with their beaks and watching.

In the middle of the plaza, a tall, slender figure stood calmly, dressed in a sharp red suit and tie, facing the Holy Queen Calca. The short dark hair of his head swept back from beneath the grinning blue mask he wore, and his ears were long and pointed, like an elf's, but his true nature was betrayed by a tail that protruded from beneath the back of his well-fitted coat. On the other side of him, in her full armor and her sword Safarlisia drawn and ready, stood Remedios Custodio, the Paladin-Captain of the Roble Holy Kingdom, and Kelart's elder sister by two years, embodying the perfect image of a valiant paladin-knight. She breathed slightly heavier than usual, having just recently exerted herself in battle against the strange man.

The crimson man shrugged with insulting nonchalance at Calca's question and clasped his hands casually behind his back. The reaction was odd, given that Remedios had been trying for some time to strike him down with her sword. "Indeed. I must say, you are more courteous than your sword-swinging pet here. She charged right at me without so much as 'how do you do.' If she mistook a far weaker person for me, that would have been unfortunate for them. I never expected such savagery could be condoned in an otherwise civilized nation. Now, so I do not myself succumb to an error of mistaken identity, you are the Queen of this 'Roble Holy Kingdom,' I presume?"

"I am," replied Calca.

"Don't tell him anything, Your Majesty!" said Remedios angrily, trying to threaten Jaldabaoth with her blade. "Let me just send him back to the pit of hell from which he spawned, before he-"

"Remedios, let us speak," said Calca, her usually gentle voice firming up for that order. The Paladin-Captain felt warmth subsume her body as Kelart began silently cast buffing spells on her, and only them did she understand. Calca was playing for time.

The Demon Emperor tapped the eye socket of his mask. "As I am not so savage, I am happy to talk for a while. Ask me whatever you wish. Oh, and please, do prepare yourselves with whatever spells you are casting. What a magnificent sight it will be when all your preparations come to naught against my power, and I claim your lives and your land! Imagine the despair it would inspire in your people! The hopelessness!"

"I won't allow it!"

"Remedios, please," said Calca briskly. "Step back."

"But what if he-"

"I will do nothing until we have finished, or until you attack first," assured Jaldabaoth. "I give you my word."

"What good is the word of a vile fie-"

" Remedios. "

"I- Understood."

Remedios backed away from the unmoving Jaldabaoth, joining her younger sister as the latter whispered something in her ear.

"Jaldabaoth," said Calca. "Why do you come here yourself? Cannot your demi-human army fight for you? Or do you crave parley?"

"I am not here to parley, I am here to kill you. Think how much more despair it would cause when I vanquish you, not some blind arrow or sword in battle! I am also here to ensure my errors in the Re-Estize Kingdom are not repeated. It had not occurred to me then that there was anyone capable of contending with me, so now I am here to ensure that no one of the same calibre as Momon exists in this land."

"There could be someone. You never know," mused Calca.

Jaldabaoth chuckled darkly. "Your Majesty, I have satisfied myself that everyone in this city is doomed. If there was anyone in your realm who could defeat me, why have you not brought them here?"

Remedios could take no more. "DO YOU TAKE US FOR WEAKLINGS, YOU BASTARD?!"

Kelart made brief eye contact with Calca as she finished her casting. While Jaldabaoth's mouth was covered by the eerie grinning mask, one could feel the smirk of confident disdain form beneath it as he replied to Remedios. "Of course." He turned to face the Holy Queen once more. "Anything else you wish to know, Your Majesty?"

"Well… I think it's time that our「Angels advance!」" The Holy Queen's voice filled the plaza, and a host of summoned angels took flight, summoned by the small army of priests and paladin-knights brought along by the Holy Queen and now thronged outside the plaza. Remedios gripped her blade, its edge bright with righteousness. The battle was joined.

Bladed wings sprouted from Jaldabaoth's back in a blur, impaling five once-hidden adventurers who tried to close in from behind and kill him. With their last breath, one of these adventurers struck him with an axe, but not even the fabric of his coat was torn by the blow. The two ravens took flight from their gory feast, alighting on a nearby building.

With a mighty cry, Remedios leapt at the Demon Emperor. Jaldabaoth's wings flexed, throwing the dead adventurers at her. "[Flow Acceleration]! [Holy Strike]!" Infused with the power of her Martial Art, she evaded the flying corpses with heightened speed, closing the gap between herself and Jaldabaoth. Her holy sword blazed through the air as it came hurtling down upon her foe. Remedios' strike met a set of claws freshly raised from the Demon Emperor's hand with a metallic clang, not hitting him at all. He stepped back however, and the angels attacked.

"[Penetrate Magic - Holy Ray]"

"[Twin Penetrate Magic - Holy Ray]"

Three beams of radiant energy shot at Jaldabaoth, one from Kelart's raised palm, and two from Calca's. The attacks dissipated harmlessly as they struck him. The paladins of Remedios' order readied to charge into the fray.

"Let the angels fight!" cried Remedios.

Lightning arced across the clouded sky, dark and angry, and the rain began to fall, as the angels strove against Jaldabaoth. "Hnngh… pathetic gnats…" A sweeping blow of his fell talons destroyed several angels, but they began to wrestle with him rather than attack, slowing his movements and diverting his guard from the real threat. Remedios closed with him again, going for an opening in his defense.

"[Holy Strike]! [Cleansing Edge]!" cried the Paladin-Captain, calling upon the greatest power she possessed. Safarlisia surged anew with blinding radiance, and then brighter. With all her might, Remedios hewed at the Demon Emperor. With a pained grunt, it seemed he was cast backward, crashing into a building on the opposite side of the plaza. Remedios looked at her blade. Her instincts told her something was wrong.

"Damn!"

"You did it, Remedios!" cheered Calca.

"It's a ruse! He flew away!"

"He's escaped?"

"We need to destroy that building! We should use the [Holy Fire]! And quick!"

The building exploded into a ball of fire and a hail of splinters and rubble. The voice of Jaldabaoth, far deeper and filled with an even greater menace than before, resounded from it with a hideous laugh. "Playtime is over!" A vast demon, wreathed in flame, arose from the wreckage, Fire shot from its nostrils with every breath, and flames licked about its feet. Two wings, like vast shadows, unfurled from its back, and a long barbed tail, made as if of molten metal, swung idly behind it as the great demon took a thundering step forward. A sizzling sound followed the Demon Emperor, as the falling rain boiled on contact with him. Steam rose in clouds all around, and obscured the plaza.

Calca hesitated in a moment of shock at this new sight. "Priests, send the angels to guard Remedios!" she ordered at last, as she and Kelart drew back. The celestial summons charged against Jaldabaoth, stabbing at him as they tried to shield Remedios. Jaldabaoth laughed again. With a deafening crack, the angels vanished into shimmering sparks. In a single strike, faster than sound itself, Jaldabaoth had destroyed every angel save for the Principality of Peace.

"Behold my true nature!" said the demon, lifting its arms and spreading its bat-like wings. With a roar, Remedios, against all sound judgment, charged and with her sword, stronger than adamantite, struck at the feet of Jaldabaoth. With a clang, the shining blade bounced off uselessly. Again and again, she hewed and slashed.

Jaldabaoth did not even look at her as he spoke. "You have the greatest weapon of your realm in your hand. I have found mine, heheheh!" The Demon Emperor shoved Remedios aside with ease and strode for where the Holy Queen stood. The two ravens cawed and crowed from their lofty perch. "Yes, it will be an excellent weapon."

Desperate spells and swords crashed against that hideous body in wave after wave, achieving nothing. "Paladins! Form a shield wall! Let Her Majesty and Lady Kelart retreat!" ordered Remedios. Jaldabaoth kicked aside the shield wall of paladins with insulting ease, even as they stabbed and slashed with their swords and spears. "Stop! STOP! STOP! STOP, FOR GODS' SAKE!" cried Remedios, her voice cracking, knowing nothing better to do than to try again and again to even break the impenetrable hide of the Demon Emperor.

"Hmmph… [Greater Tele]-" As the Demon Emperor began to utter a spell, he was stopped. The clouds parted and swirled, and falling through them, a dazzling column of blinding, colorful light fell upon the space where Jaldabaoth had emerged with a thundering crash. The shockwave of the impact tore out the cobblestones of the plaza and knocked over Remedios and her paladins. While untouched by the shockwave, Calca's horse reared in terror at the noise and light, and the Queen lost her hold on the reins. She fell to the ground. Kelart's horse also panicked, but she managed to regain control of it. Even the Demon Emperor staggered slightly, and he spun around. "What is this?" The twin ravens alighted upon a nearby lamppost to watch the spectacle up close.

The prismatic light dissipated, leaving behind a man, hooded and cloaked, not as tall as Jaldabaoth, but far taller than any normal human. The stranger reached for his side, brandishing a mighty hammer in his armored gauntlet. "Leave," he said, his voice low and coarse.

The Demon Emperor simply laughed and raised a palm to the stranger. "[Fireball]!"

The stranger dashed aside just as the mote of fire was about to hit him. Bright blue runes shone on the surface of his hammer. He landed away from the fiery blast with a smirk on his bearded face. "Fine.【Eldingar drepa】!" said the stranger, pointing the hammer at his foe. A potent beam of lightning shot at Jaldabaoth, coursing through that dreadful body with a deafening crackle.

Even as sparks and arcs of lightning still surrounded him, Jaldabaoth retaliated. "[Flamewing]!" Two great lines of fire leapt up, moments from sweeping over the stranger on either side.

"【Skýjum-lögun】!" As the waves of fire closed in, the stranger dissolved into a thundering cloud, racing around the feet of Jaldabaoth. He reformed in the air behind the mighty demon. As Jaldabaoth spun around to face him, the stranger brought his hammer crashing down upon the Demon Emperor. With a heavy crunch, the hammer struck a wing raised to block the strike. Even as the blow maimed it, the flaming wing slashed at the stranger, knocking him from the air and sending him tumbling onto the ground. Jaldabaoth staggered back from his wound as the stranger got to his feet. Molten blood from the demon spattered the pavement.

Remedios, having recovered herself, rushed back to Calca and Kelart's side.

"We have to retreat! This is our chance!" she shouted. Her voice caught Jaldabaoth's attention.

"[Teleportat-]" The Demon Emperor was once again interrupted, as the stranger's hammer crashed into his abdomen with tremendous force, sending him crashing into the buildings of the plaza. The blue runes of the hammer shone as the stranger's hand recalled the weapon. With a mighty roar, Jaldabaoth charged forward with thundering steps to close the gap, and the stranger moved to meet him, as his hammer coursed with lightning.

Calca gave the order to retreat. The priests and paladins of the Holy Kingdom quickly fell back in good order from the plaza, speedily summoning a fresh host of angels to serve as a rear guard as they made their escape from Kalinsha. Calca, Kelart, and Remedios led the retreat. The earth shook and groaned, as blazes of fire and lightning lit up the storming sky. Passing through the city gates, Calca stopped momentarily near a dead tree outside. Twin ravens perched on the tree's upper branches, but she did not notice them. Her mind was elsewhere, looking back to Kalinsha, everything in it but its great stone walls aflame. "What will become of this world?" she said forlornly. "Is it just an arena for the gods?"

Author's Note: Queen of Clubs canceled.