For all intents and purposes, she looked to be your average, everyday highschooler. A bit on the short side, but the young features and the diligence she was employing while taking down every word of their current instructor marked her, clearly, as a high school student intent on studying hard.
Of course, her clothing was a bit out of place, but every school has a few people who do everything they can to skirt clothing restrictions, so why couldn't a few members of a class wear clothing that resembled a military uniform? Some people were intent on joining the military, following family traditions or seeking some kind of direction, after all.
Of course, if she had had a choice, Tanya would have worn other clothing. Unfortunately, the wardrobes and dressers that stocked her house were all filled with nothing but carbon copies of her current outfit, and buying other clothing would take money that she would have to earn from a job outside of class.
She'd entertained the idea of working for more pocket change, but there really wasn't all that much she desired that she didn't already obtain through the bizarre, nonsensical rules of this world.
Suppressing a sigh, Tanya wished that she could say that any of her classmates resembled highschoolers.
The group of four looked the most human – besides her own group – but 'human' did not equate to normal or sane. Their clothing looked like it had sprinted here from the nearest convention and latched themselves to the four people most fitting to wear them, and all of them could hardly sit still for five minutes without bursting out about their own interests, bickering with each other, or generally being nuisances.
Their cat was the most peaceful of them, which would make normal people realize that they needed to improve if they were outdone by a cat… and which didn't even occur to the four of them, apparently.
Or the thought had occurred to them, and they just didn't care, which was a concern with those four.
The group of five did at least act normal, for the most part. Still, they were also wearing bizarre clothing, and the class presentations they all did showed that they, too, were all odd – though, not to the degree of the first four, of course.
Their cat could speak better than members of the group of four – and not just the group of four's silent cat – which… boggled the mind, but Tanya was growing quite used to having to ignore the conventions of reality she had enjoyed in her first and second life.
Case in point: the group of seven. They could, barring a few minor incidents, act the most reliably, despite the fact that they all resembled monstrous horrors that would kill or look down on or generally attempt to subjugate humanity for whatever reason suited their whims. They all dressed weird, but that was a given with things that didn't resemble humans.
They didn't have a cat, to the best of her knowledge, but it wouldn't surprise her if one suddenly got shoved into the room and admitted as a student like the silent cat had.
And finally, there was her own group. She supposed that they looked quite weird compared to everyone else in the room, but to her, they all looked impeccable, every day. Their uniforms were pristine and weren't wrinkled in the slightest, and none of them ever spoke out of turn if they could help it – and they could, considering the punishment Tanya would inflict on them if they didn't.
And, if any of them did look out of place due to the things they had suffered or… their age, then no one else mentioned it. No one cared about your looks here – except for Aqua.
She smiled down at the paper as Roswaal continued to talk about the latest subject he was teaching – an interesting mix of logical fallacies, malicious compliance, and mind control magic. Despite the bizarre classmates and the fact that they still didn't know how they'd been brought to this world – Being X was high up on her own list – she was… happy.
Firstly, she didn't even have to worry about violent conflict here, let alone the frontlines of the Empire. She didn't have to fly through the air and participate in fighting she wished had been avoided. She didn't even have to obey the every order of some ridiculous mad scientist obsessed with praising a being that wasn't god – and while she was on leave, too!
Secondly, she was learning a lot here – and not all of it was the usual 'I'll forget this as soon as I can' brand of high school learning. Some of it was applicable to her own situation in the Empire.
During one of Rerugen's Literature classes, they'd analyzed a book about a soldier's experience in the first World War of her original world. While it didn't include any practical advice on how to win her own war, it had given Tanya insights into how an average soldier viewed the conflict. She could use the ideas presented in the book while inspiring soldiers, or she could bring up the thoughts of the main character to her superiors if they ever asked what she thought the regular soldiers thought about the conflict.
And that was just one example. They'd been learning the basics of all of their worlds' magic systems, which was proving to be very helpful in increasing the efficiency and versatility of her own formulas. If she ever had to go back, she'd be more than ready to survive anything that could be thrown her way.
Even Schugel. Even Being X.
She cast a quick glance around her, looking at all of her classmates, before looking down once more and taking even more notes. They hadn't had a test since the last one written by Pandora's Actor, but you never knew when the next one would be sprung on them.
Those classmates… they were, for all of their oddities and idiocies, part of the reason she was happy.
For one, none of them were trying to kill her – though it had been a bit touch and go with Aqua and Ainz before she'd realized they weren't Being X.
For another, she got along with mostly everyone!
Aqua was an outlier, and, thanks to all the time she'd spent rubbing shoulders with her coworkers in her first life and learning to recognize when one disliked her for simply doing her job, she knew that Albedo was hiding a certain amount of malice below her mask of politeness.
As for the rest of them, she had made a point of going to everyone in the classroom and introducing herself during those first few weeks outside of the classroom. Ainz's subordinates were all just as cordial as she was to them – though she got along quite well with Demiurge, owing to the continued interaction offered by their 'teams.'
Rem, Ram, and Beatrice were all a bit more distant, while she had a small positive relationship with Emelia thanks to the girl's position as Class Representative – though Tanya made sure to be as helpful as could be expected, considering the headaches the apparently half-elf woman undoubtedly had to deal with, considering the class she represented.
Megumin and Darkness… well, she tried to keep a polite distance from them both. Megumin, despite her scores being some of the highest when she cared to include mentioning them in her daily greetings, was obviously still a Chuunibyou, if her 'awe' at Tanya's clothing and language were anything to go by.
If this were an actual school and her parents had argued that she should skip middle school and move directly to high school thanks to her brilliance, Tanya would have pointed out that she was obviously not mature enough to reside in even a minimally academic environment.
Really, she and Ainz had tricked her into taking part in that play with little more than five sentences. If she was so immature that she couldn't see through such an obvious ploy, then she really should be in middle school and maturing.
Darkness, too, was odd. From her fetish to the annoyingly constant questions about nobility, Tanya would only happily say that she was a better meatshield than even her own men.
She didn't really know anything more about the other students that weren't in her class, though she did make sure that she at least knew their names. Maybe she'd make an effort to do that during the next month? Ainz had once remarked about the similarity between her own equipment and the tools of 'CZ Delta,' one of the women dressed as maids in the other class, and Tanya would love to bring some sort of advanced gun into her old world if she could.
Regardless of her future plans, that left three other students she knew in the present. Kazuma, Subaru, and Ainz.
Thanks to their general cooperation, similar geographic origin, and battle against that 'Mobile Fortress Destroyer,' all four of them got along pretty well. Those three were also the three she would be closest to calling her 'friends,' besides her own soldiers.
Demiurge was also up there, but Tanya knew that he regarded her as… well, worth less. It wasn't verbal, of course – he was too much of a professional to let something like that slip – but it was…
Probably his gaze. He looked at her the same way that Being X did.
She shook her head again. Not that it really mattered. Being X hadn't shown up once during her time at the school – not even when she'd decided to use a military-grade, highly deadly weapon to try to win a game of dodgeball.
For well over three months, she'd been peacefully attending school, learning, improving herself and her men, and making connections that might prove useful in the future. She'd even learned the basics of some of the other – far more nonsensical – magic that the others had access to.
Though she'd certainly be more happy if the laws of the world made sense or if she was somewhere more fitting for a woman of her talent than a classroom, this wasn't half bad. Not by a long shot.
For a moment, she set her pencil down. Yes, this was, indeed, a nearly perfect way to spend her time-
"Hey Kazuma, haven't things been too quiet lately? After the Mobile Fortress Destroyer came back, that weird clown hasn't done anything that would constitute a challenge in your average slice-of-life anime, let alone this place. Isn't that suspicious?"
Kazuma groaned and got up, ready to berate the goddess… when Megumin piqued up. "Indeed. For my Explosion to go untested for so long… if only we had a suitable enemy to use it on, or a Mage competition to participate in."
Tanya raised an eyebrow – everyone heard her blasts every day at five in the afternoon, all through the nondescript Japanese city they resided in – and as she began to remind her of that fact… she noticed the incredibly worried expression on Kazuma's face.
"Kazuma? Are you well?" she asked. He opened his own mouth, about to reply despite the far-off look in his eyes, when Darkness spoke.
"Indeed… if there were such an enemy, powerful enough to withstand your explosion, I would be forced to sacrifice myself to them, in order to buy enough time for everyone to retreat and for Kazuma to come up with a good plan…" she trailed off, sighing dreamily at the end. Tanya stared at her in disgust… only to realize that the terrified expression on Kazuma's face hadn't yet abated.
She cast him another curious look, but he just turned robotically towards Subaru. "Hey."
He tilted his head, pointing towards himself. Kazuma's head rocked up and down rapidly in a motion that resembled a nod, besides its stiff deadness. "Yeah. They just raised a lot of flags, right?"
He pondered the question, for a moment, and then he smiled, giving him a thumbs up. "They totally did! But it's not like that stuff actually wor-"
"SHUT UP! Of course that stuff works! Do you have any idea how many times-"
Tanya heard Ainz's deep, reverberating voice from across the room. "No, Subaru is right. There isn't any evidence-"
"Maybe not in your fairytale world, but in mine-"
Tanya rose, staring Kazuma down. He quieted, and Tanya sent a look towards Roswaal… who was conveniently writing down instructions on the board and not paying any attention.
She sighed, ready to berate Kazuma… until she got curious.
"Hey. This… 'raising flags' thing you're talking about… is it some kind of trope?" she asked, outwardly calm.
He nodded slowly and cautiously, and Tanya continued. "So, thinking about, say, how long it's been since you've seen your mortal enemy or being happy with your current situation would 'raise' these flags, right?"
Instead of speaking, he just sniffed loudly and planned his forehead on his desk. "Goodbye, easy living."
Tanya looked around, waiting for the dreaded moment to occur, for something to come in and ruin their peaceful lives… and nothing did.
Aqua gazed at Kazuma with a sorry expression when nothing happened. "Nothing bad happened, Kazuma, see? There's nothing to cry about. You really should trust that me, the Goddess Aqua, will scare away all threats-"
RRIIIIIPPP-
The sound of tearing paper surrounded her, rebounding on the inside of her head and directing her attention towards a dark, vertical slash that had been seemingly painted onto the blackboard.
The slash grew in size, until through the hole in space, Tanya saw-
A giant, glowing white orb staring into the room, scanning it for a second…
She reeled away as it blinded her with red light. It let out an ear-piercing shriek, but Tanya heard, through the sound, an unmistakable voice calling out.
"DEGURECHAFF!"
Being X was shouting at her. And he had come for her.
This was it, then. Her time here at the school was over. She'd be dragged back to her own reality. Her memories would be wiped if she was lucky, and she'd be eradicated from existence if he decided that this 'contaminated' his attempts at converting her. The Empire would suddenly lose at least her, if it didn't also lose five of its most accomplished Aerial Mages, two of its best generals, and one highly talented officer as well…
She would have thought all that and more, but she was more prepared than that. She'd been aware that he'd be trying to find her if he wasn't the one behind this.
She rose from her seat, dodging between the stupefied, stunned students, coming to a rest in front of Aqua's desk. She reached into her clothing, and Aqua flinched away, scared-
Tanya dropped her wallet on the desk. She'd skimped on several meals in order to save up this much – it wasn't like she wasn't unused to going hungry – and she would use it now. "Kazuma says you've got buffing magic? Cast all of it on me and my troops, now."
She looked between her and the growing tear in time and space. "Uh… I don't know, that guy looks really powerful…"
Tanya raised an eyebrow. If money didn't entice her, then empty promises were her last bargaining chip. "I'll buy you the best alcohol in the town. I'll convince the Principal to give you some of his secret stash. I'll-"
"Power Up! Blessing! Increase Strength! Increase Speed! Versatile Actor!"
Tanya felt a wave of power wash over her… as well as the odd inclination to dramatically recite lines from that book she'd been thinking about. She cast a glance at Ainz… before sighing.
"I won't ask for help from you. You're smart enough to not want to piss that thing off, which helping me will certainly do."
He hummed for a moment. "Indeed. I… apologize, Tanya. If… he were to prove hostile to myself, however…"
Tanya nodded in thanks, hoping that egomaniac would piss off perhaps the only being that might equal him in power… besides Aqua, but, really would she be any good in a fight?
Ainz looked to his subordinates, who all came together, going through rapid preparations. Roswaal was evacuating the rest of the students. Tanya didn't pay them much mind and looked to her own troops.
They were confused, scared, and not at all certain what was going on, other than that Tanya was being threatened. The brief urge to give them a chance to run away and not involve themselves with her flared up…
And she quashed it. As if she'd throw away her carefully cultivated meatshi- soldiers away like that.
She stared them down, and they quickly fell in line as a giant hand began to force itself through the tear in space. "Men. That is a hostile entity. Our chances of winning are ludicrously small… but we'll try anyway. Our first priority is to reach our equipment. Our second is to put distance between us and that."
They all nodded in unison, and all six of them were off, speeding through the halls and using their Reinforcement Formulas to boost themselves even more on top of Aqua's help.
They had to get to their lockers. Every morning, the six of them were compelled to store their rifles and flight equipment in lockers. That they had their Computation Orbs was good… but it would never be enough against him. Not that guns were likely to add much-
And then they were stopped. A cold stare raked over them, and a voice pierced their ears. "What's going on? Why is the school shaking?"
Tanya blinked… and then she grinned. Right, Naofumi was also attending the school. She wasn't nearly as close to him as anyone in her class, but she had talked with him a few times.
"Oh, that? Yeah…" she thought about what she was about to say, and how it would sound to her men… when she realized that it didn't really matter anymore, if he was willing to show himself before other people to get her.
"I'm actually a reincarnate from Japan," she prefaced – he'd either think she was speaking nonsense or immediately understand – "And that… is a being who reincarnated me and that claims to be god," she said, making sure that she emphasized the last word.
The first time they had had an actual conversation, he'd confronted her about her muttering about Being X under her breath. She'd told him she was an atheist and didn't like religion… and he'd told her that he'd been fucked over by some Popish figure during his own time in an alternate world.
He reacted as expected, his eyes widening. His friends, too, acted aggressively. "God?"
She nodded. "Indeed. He's… weakened himself getting here to get me."
His eyes narrowed. He knew she was baiting her… and he also knew that she knew that he knew that. But this was her best chance at stacking yet more force against Being X, so she hoped that he also hated things that claimed to be gods and not just religious figures misusing their power.
Sure, maybe he wasn't actually all that weakened, but he wasn't just an ethereal voice speaking to her, which meant there was an actual target to hit instead of a voice in her mind.
He tossed a look over his shoulder at his companions, who both nodded without hesitation. Naofumi nodded slowly. "We'll stick with you six, for now."
Tanya nodded, and they were off again, trying to reach their lockers before-
"DEGURECHAFF! YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME!"
Shit. They rounded another corner…
There! They could see their lockers now, all lined up. She tore open the locker – literally. Aqua's buffs really were helping out – and grabbed her rifle, aiming it down the hallway-
And he was there, crawling through the halls on his stomach and breaking everything that wasn't nailed down with his giant body. She squeezed off a shot as her soldiers did the same-
And they did next to nothing. She thought she might have seen welts pop into existence, but they hadn't done anything other than make him more mad.
He grinned viciously, and then… he flexed, causing more of the building around him to collapse. He seemed to be trying to stand up, growing yet larger in size, and Tanya looked down the hall, towards the distant doors-
"Air Strike Shield!"
From in front of the six of them, Naofumi threw a hand forward, gesturing. A glowing shield burst into existence and flew towards Being X.
It hit his chin, forcing his head down, and… also doing no visible damage. Tanya swore again. "Retreat! We need more maneuverability!"
Her troops soon filed out, and Naofumi rocketed after them atop the bird-girl with Raphtalia by his side. She cast a glance over her shoulder…
Only to wince. The school was in shambles, Being X was standing up, kicking it down, and…
Her eyes widened. She could see some other people fighting him. With a curse, she weighed the odds…
Only to groan. She couldn't hide from him – if he'd torn his way across a few universes, hiding here wouldn't help her. No, if she wanted to be free of his influence… she'd have to go on the attack. No matter how pointless.
Tanya nearly cried as she turned around. Even if he wasn't god, Being X still had a ridiculous amount of power compared to everyone here. She was hoping that the people fighting him might be able to do more damage than she and her troops had, because they weren't going to win otherwise.
Her soldiers followed her, and they soon caught sight of exactly who was fighting him. The teachers with combat abilities – Roswaal, Pandora's Actor, and that 'Vanir' fellow she'd caught glimpses of – were all jumping and flying around him, peppering him with great beams of power, flying, multi-colored orbs, miniature dolls, and other great spells.
She narrowed her eyes. Were any other students going to try and fight him, or was everyone else hoping he'd leave soon or be driven off by the teachers?
As they drew closer, speeding along the ground and around the school, Tanya caught a glimpse of a flash of white cloth running towards Being X.
Her eyes narrowed. It must have been either Reinhard or Julius. Subaru had explained to them just how ridiculous Reinhard's skillset was, so perhaps he'd be a great help in the coming battle…
They rounded another corner of the school to see…
Tanya's eyes widened. It seemed that more people were participating in the fight than she had thought. With the teachers taking up the vanguard – including the nurse, Wiz, and… a giant cockroach? – her classmates were attempting to do their best to bind his legs and trip him up. Aqua was hesitantly creating water that Emelia was freezing, covering the ground in ice and giving her material to fling at the entity.
Beatrice, Ram, and Puck were pelting him with their own magic, while Rem danced around Being X's feet, trying to trip him up with her flail. Kazuma was trying to do the same with a shiny, silvery rope while shouting "Bind!"
Nervously, Darkness was protecting Megumin as she chanted, getting ready to cast Explosion, and Yunyun was next to her, casting her own powerful spells. Their small cat was nearby, as was Subaru, who was hanging around them, looking lost, confused, and… resolute, for some reason. They kept having to relocate with how much he was moving about, and Tanya bit down the urge to order them to retreat farther.
Four figures charged in from behind her, and she nodded. Reinhard, Julius, and some old guy, along with that Thief – Chris – that Kazuma had mentioned, were all running in, slashing at his ankles or his robes and trying to damage him with their weapons.
That other Thief, Felt, was running around, communicating orders and requests between the groups. All of them were glowing slightly, just like Tanya was, and she only lamented the loss of her stiped for a moment – it seemed Aqua had buffed everyone anyway.
Tanya's eyebrows rose. Rerugen, Rudersdorf, and Zettour were all wielding rifles of their own – though, they mustn't have practiced in a while, with how… poor their aim was.
Far away from the school, near the athletics track, she could see that the whole of the Nazarick complement, besides Pandora's Actor, watching the fight.
All the while, Being X was trying to talk.
"Would you- I'm just here for her and her lap dogs! Stay out of my way, you-" he said, only to be cut off as Vanir fired a large… laser beam from his forehead while shouting "Vanir-style Death Ray!"
"Get that stuff out of my face, you insignificant-" he tried, only to have to grip onto the crumbling building as Kazuma and Rem combined their attempts and managed to make one of his legs slip for a moment.
"I swear, if you all-" he tried once more, only for Reinhard's lightning quick sword to repeatedly slash and stab into his gut and force him to try and brush the man off.
She nodded. "Grantz, help defend Megumin while she charges her Explosion spell. Viktoriya, save your energy and be ready to intercept any attacks he aims at the others on the ground. Weiss, Koenig, Neumann, on me."
The Shield Hero was also riding his bird, attempting to use that weird ball of shields and chains to trip him up with Kazuma and Rem, while Raphtalia was swinging her sword at his ankles whenever the opportunity presented itself.
They rose up into the air. "Help distract him while I fire on him," she ordered, pouring mana into her Type 95.
She opened her mouth, ready to begin chanting, when-
"Time Stop!"
The world around her began to gray, and Tanya cast a terrified glance at Being X. He was done playing around. He'd…
He looked more confused than Tanya had ever seen him. Her brows furrowed…
"Hey! This thing's happening again! And it's still not me!" she heard a voice shout from below her. She looked down to find that Aqua was looking around confused. Subaru, too, was nervously eyeing his surroundings.
She narrowed her eyes. Wait, during that incident when time had stopped during the test… if Being X was confused by this, and he hadn't been the cause of the stop before…
"You must be the entity that claims to be a god. Being X, yes?"
Tanya whirled around, sensing a buildup of mana as another dark portal opened next to her… and Ainz stepped out, staring at Being X, who was looking at Ainz, nervous-
Nervous? Tanya smirked. She'd never, ever seen him nervous before. Maybe this would be possible, and she'd be free from him soon?
"Though we have been told of you, have you heard of me, Being X?"
He raised a skeptical eyebrow, his nervousness being hidden behind an indifferent facade. "Skeletor, perhaps?"
She heard Aqua and Subaru snort below her… and someone else also made that sound, though Tanya didn't know who it was. She scowled downwards. While she wanted to berate them for laughing at a joke made by the monster in front of them, Ainz commanded her attention.
"Obviously, you haven't. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, Supreme Being of the Great Tomb of Nazarick! I have paused time to hopefully resolve things peacefully, before you are destroyed."
Tanya didn't look at him nervously like she wanted to, only giving off an aura of smug pride with a lazy smirk on her face. She didn't know if Ainz could actually beat him, not even with all of them working together, but she knew that, if he was bluffing, it would only work if Being X bought it. She'd have to play her part… and hope he didn't read her mind.
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm amused that you think you could destroy me, but… fine. What's your proposal, oh 'Supreme Being'?" he asked, showing a complete lack of respect for him.
Tanya thought that wasn't the best idea – he was ridiculously powerful, even if he might not be on the level of Being X – but Being X's ego knew no bounds.
Ainz's eyes began to glow. "I will allow you to retreat, and you will leave this world and the people inhabiting it alone. Forever. A far more lenient fate than many who have opposed Nazarick before have received, but I offer it all the same."
Tanya saw his eye twitch, and he glared at Tanya and Ainz in turn. "How about this: you allow me to take back Degurechaff and her lap dogs, and I'll forget about the rest of you. I'll even promise not to bother you ever again."
They both stared at each other for a moment, impassive, and then Being X looked at her once again. "What's she to you, anyway? Why do you care? Why risk yourselves?"
Ainz stepped forward through the air, moving in front of her protectively. "Hmm. We face no risk from you. However, due to your incursion here, two of my subordinates, the creations of my friends, are forced to fight you, undoubtedly due to their position as teachers here. Additionally…"
His right hand quickly entered another portal before exiting with a golden staff that looked more like a piece of elaborate art than the weapon it probably was. "It is only natural for Ainz Ooal Gown to protect the weak, and though we never really helped out any humans… I think I'll make an exception for her and my classmates."
Being X nodded his head… before-
"HAHAHAHA!"
Tanya's mouth dropped open. He was… laughing at them. At Ainz.
The skeletal man shook his head. "Very well then. If you will not realize the inevitability of your defeat…"
He grabbed onto Tanya, and they both disappeared through another portal. Time began again, with Being X still laughing even as he was attacked.
Tanya could see Ainz's subordinates – from her own classmates to the maids in the other class – advancing on Being X from all directions readying their weapons and magic. "Quickly, Tanya. We must team up with Megumin and begin casting spells while he is beaten down. I can't get a read on his HP, but if our combined attack doesn't work, I have my-"
Being X strode forward, completely ignoring what everyone was doing to him. The ice under his feet disappeared, replaced with a garden. Rem and Kazuma and Naofumi's attempts to trip him up – united into one long rope tied around his ankles – was broken in an instant.
He batted away the teachers with one hand and dismissed Ainz's advancing subordinates with another. When he tried to sweep away Reinhard, Julius and Chris, Reinhard dodged and continued, so he ignored his repeated attacks, still coming for them, advancing-
Tanya powered up a spell, and Being X-
He bent down, standing over Ainz. "You think I give one single flying fuck about some uneducated loser from a dystopian nightmare whose only redeemable quality is his knowledge of a D&D rip off?"
That hung in the air for a moment.
"Huh? Do you?" Being X asked.
Ainz was stunned, and, during the beat of stillness, Tanya tried to lunge forward with her gun.
His petrifying gaze stopped her. Literally. She couldn't move.
He stood up and rolled his shoulders, despite the attacks sinking into his body. "Now, I think…"
He trailed off, looking towards Tanya's left. She looked to find that Subaru was…
Tanya reached out, alarmed – what was he doing with that knife? – but Being X laughed at Subaru's hand, about to plunge Yunyun's silver dagger into his own throat. "Oh, you think you'll just hop back in time and fix everything, loverboy? I give about as much thought to linear time as I give thought to that dumb roleplayer next to you. In fact…"
He smirked, raised a hand, and…
He snapped.
"Witch's Curses are now null and void."
He snapped again.
"Magic doesn't work."
Tanya felt her magic leave her, replaced by nothing but an empty, cold void. Megumin's spell failed…
Her men went flying down towards the ground, and Puck, Beatrice, and Roswaal were all visibly hurt by the action.
He kept snapping.
"Demons are now powerless. Undead are now powerless. Elves and half-elves are now powerless. Humans are now powerless. Insectoids are now powerless. Spirits are now powerless. Anything that is a weapon can no longer be used to harm others. Shields and defensive weapons can't be used for anything. Skills don't function. Anything that isn't a God is now immobile."
All around her, she watched as Ainz's subordinates began failing, falling to the ground, and growing still.
He smiled… only to look down at his feet, confused.
There, Aqua, tears in her eyes, was powering up something. Tanya's eyes widened as she saw power begin to form-
"Gods that are named Aqua… or Eris are immobile."
She too stilled, though angry tears were still shining in the corner of her eyes. He looked around at all the people struggling against his will…
He sneered at the school. "There is no school. There are no students, and there are no teachers." He snapped.
The world around them dissolved, leaving only a white, foggy void that they all floated around in. What suddenly felt much more… important to her was the fact that her mind was… shifting.
She scowled and glared again. When they had been students… had their minds been tampered with, or was Being X-
Tanya's right eye twitched. Being X began…
He began to whistle. Tanya was struggling, and while she was sure that everyone else was trying…
She felt tears pick at the corners of her eyes. Dammit! They'd been close, closer than she could have ever hoped to get alone, to killing him, to finally-
He picked her up, and he set her down. Instead of falling to the ground and breaking something, she stayed still, suspended in the air. If there even was air, in this endless, featureless void.
Soon, she was lined up with Ainz, Kazuma, Naofumi, Subaru. All of them were hanging in the air, unable to move, speak, or do anything but think about how badly they were fucked.
They were positioned so that they could look down – though, did this place even have that concept anymore? – where their subordinates and… friends were being lined up according to where they had come from.
He sighed as he pushed Reinhard into place next to Emelia and Julius, apparently finished. "There. Now…"
He scanned them, until he picked out Aqua. "You… what's your name again?"
She was suddenly able to move. She looked ready to try and fight him, or to say something insulting, but he rolled his eyes. "Alright. Time for threats. Try and fight, and I'm going to kill your friends and forcibly reincarnate them so you can't resurrect them."
Her anger faded… but it began changing into resentment as she spoke. "I am Aqua, of course. A beautiful Goddess who is prayed to often and fervently…" she muttered, pouting.
Her anger was replaced with mild indignation. "And how haven't you heard of me, the beautiful, amazing, A-"
"I don't associate with scrubs."
Tanya couldn't see through Aqua, but she imagined she was on the verge of tears. He sighed again… before gesturing towards Chris and summoning her so that everyone could see her. "And you?"
"Uh… I- I'm just a Thief named-"
He raised a disinterested eyebrow and said, "I know that this dimension has some dumb universal translator built into it, which means that you must understand what 'I'll kill your friends and make sure you can't resurrect them' means. Try again."
She stopped sputtering, and instead cast her head downwards. Her body burst into light…
And then she was wearing completely different clothing. With wings on her shoulders and clothed in a deep purple, Tanya thought that the clothing could be best described as a cross between a nun's habit and cosplay for some member of nobility. "My name is Eris. We're… Goddesses. I'm Aqua's subordinate."
He nodded, while Aqua seemed to be… shocked, if the choking and gasping going on was anything to go by. If Kazuma's stupefied face was anything to go by, this 'Eris' person being the same as Chris was news to them too. "Alright. Which ones are the people you've put into other worlds?"
Both blinked. "Uhm… we only had to deal with Kazuma," Eris admitted. Aqua was still contemplating the revelation about her apparent subordinate, if the silence was anything to go by – and which idiot in their dimension had thought that Aqua was a good superior? She wanted to smack them with every single thing she'd ever learned in school and from working in the real world what a bad idea that was, if the way she acted here was a reliable indicator of her managerial abilities.
His eyes narrowed. "Very well then. There's other Gods and miscreants lurking around here somewhere…"
He sighed. "I'll take care of them later. For now…"
He gestured again, and those two fell back into the lineup. Darkness, Megumin, Aqua, Vanir, and Wiz were all staring at Eris, just as amazed as Kazuma seemed to be.
He gestured again, and Tanya was brought forward along with the other four. "Now, what to do with you all…"
He hummed, before snapping. Tanya felt her head become mobile once more. She opened her mouth, ready to-
And he glared again, silencing her. He took a deep breath. "Now. It's quite obvious that I can't reset everything-"
"Why not?"
He cast a surprised look at Kazuma, who looked… bored. "You're clearly pretty powerful. Why not just reset everything and take her away?"
"You little-"
Kazuma glared at Tanya, moving his head forward to peer around Naofumi. "Hey, I know when I'm beat! I…"
His anger cooled into some mix between sadness and regret. "I just wanna go home…"
There was a moment where she felt pity for him, but then it disappeared, replaced by fear.
Being X was grinning, and Tanya had a very bad feeling about that.
He moved the five of them so that Subaru was right in front of him, only a meter away from his giant, looming face. "We'll start with you. I could read your mind…"
He looked up, closing his eyes and snapping again. "Gods can't read minds for the next ten minutes."
He looked down, grinning at Subaru. "Now. Your opinions on religion, Natsuki Subaru?"
Tanya craned her neck forward, peering around Ainz's hulking frame to stare at Subaru. He looked…
She tilted her head. For some reason, he looked both incredibly relieved and horribly terrified. Tanya didn't blame him, anyone normal in this situation probably would feel like that.
Weirdly enough, however, his feelings looked to be entirely unrelated to Being X, if the way he snapped out of whatever ruminating he'd been doing was anything to go by. "Oh? Uh…"
He shrugged. "People should believe what they want-"
"Not everyone, Natsuki Subaru. You," he said, making sure to emphasize his words.
Subaru's nervous smile slowly slipped off, instead replaced by…
Tanya's eyes widened. Fear, anger, spite, and horrible, horrible sorrow the likes of which she'd only seen on the faces of the most shellshocked infantry troops raked his face until it settled into bitterness. "I don't think, even if you are God, I can believe in you. There's just…"
He let out an exhausted whimper, and Being X's expression soured. He moved the line down, staring at Ainz. "And you, Suzuki Satoru?"
Tanya's brow furrowed… and she guessed that Ainz was his name in the game that Being X had mentioned. "I-"
Ainz quickly cut himself off, surprised. Tanya was surprised too.
He didn't sound anything like he had before. His voice wasn't deep, and it hadn't reverberated around the… space they were in. It sounded…
Kinda wimpy, actually.
He cleared his throat. "Hmm. Based on your appearance, I suppose you stylize yourself as the Abrahamic God, yes? Considering what happened to my original world, I am inclined not to believe in Gods such as you. In my world before this one, I was running experiments to determine if the elemental forces that people believed to be gods were intelligent or hostile…"
A worrying statement, but what struck Tanya was that it was wavering. She could sense fear being frantically smothered under the speech.
He stared into Being X's looming eyes. "I would not bow before you. Ainz Ooal Gown doesn't give in to those that prey on the weak," he intoned, his nervousness gone, for a moment.
He nodded again, his expression more twisted. He gestured, pausing on Tanya only for a moment. "I'm not even going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I know you haven't learned your lesson yet."
He moved on to Naofumi. "And you, Naofumi I-"
PITOO
Tanya gaped, slack-jawed, as the globule of spit landed squarely on the middle of Being X's forehead.
Tanya felt a brief flare of joy. She'd spend every moment of her short existence – which was growing shorter by the second – remembering the look of pure, unadulterated loathing he skewered Naofumi's smirking face with.
Being X moved him down the line without another word.
"Kazuma Satou?" was the only thing Being X asked the adventurer, who shrugged.
"Eh. I acknowledge that you're a God."
He raised an eyebrow. "Truly?"
Kazuma nodded. "Sure. If Aqua and Eris are Gods, I'm sure that Ainz and you probably are too…"
He trailed off at the end, muttering something Tanya couldn't hear. She was sure Being X had heard part of it, though, judging from the way his tone had just become extra gravelly. "What was that?"
Kazuma blinked, chuckling nervously and answering sheepishly. "Ah, well… I just said that I would praise you! Or something…"
That did it. He exploded angrily, shoving his face as close to Kazuma as he could. "BUT!?"
Kazuma's voice wavered. "W- Well… I wouldn't mean it much-"
"WHY NOT?!"
"W- when you've lived with Aqua for a while, divinity seems a lot less indicative of goodness, morality, or… anything worth praising?"
Being X's expression darkened for a moment, and with his darkening expression, so too did the blank void around them grow darker. The power brewing before them was awesome, and the world around them became gray, and then-
And then the building power stopped. The gray-white void around them began to darken dramatically…
Tanya turned around, looking down at the others, and the feeling of dread in her gut multiplied. He could hear the others all also letting out sounds of nervous questioning.
Being X was smiling. Widely.
"Considering," he began, his smile growing more crazed, "that my last project was interrupted by this school, and no one else has come for three of you, and Mr. Kazuma's Goddesses can't do jack shit to me…"
He leaned forward more, grinning madly, his eyes shining. "I guess I can do what I want with you five, right?"
"Uh oh."
She mirrored Kazuma's sentiments with a growl at the back of her throat. This would not be good, not at all.
He straightened up, his expression becoming more concentrated as he stretched. "All right! I've decided what to do with you five heathens."
His smile was back as he backed away from them. "I'm giving the five of you one chance. You can all decide to praise me and accept my help and mean it, or you'll perish in this trial I have planned for you."
He took a deep breath. "And none of you get anything. No magic, no spells, no skills. You're going in raw, baby! Honestly, I'm kinda wishing for you losers to die! That'd be cathartic! Hopefully, it's one by one so I can savor your dread and horror as you all perish, but… eh, I'm merciful. Praise me and mean it, and you get to rule the world you came from and do my bidding for the rest of eternity. Quite the incentive, yes?"
The void around them grew even darker, and an eerily familiar portal began to form in the darkness, and-
Tanya could feel the empty hole in her chest where her mana had been begin to settle into place, and she bit back a scream tearing at her throat. Naofumi's shield rocketed off of his arm and headed towards his friends as he cried out. Kazuma and Subaru glowed red and wailed, and Ainz's form began to grow, somehow, less imposing as he too yelled at the top of his nonexistent lungs.
With that done, they were ushered towards the gaping hole that would send them to their next life by Being X. Tanya cast a look over her shoulder. This was the last look she'd get of her troops and her superiors and Visha before she'd be blasted from reality.
The others were doing much the same, looking at their friends…
"Aqua, if you don't come and find me, you're kicked out of the house!"
"Demiurge! Continue the plan, do not stop everything to find me!"
"I'll find a way home, I promise!"
"Raphtalia, Filo… stay safe! Fight the waves! I'll-"
And then they were consumed by a flash of light.
-OxOxO-
A/N 1: And thus begins a new adventure! Sent into a world both heavily inspired by their own worlds and influenced by my own desires, will these five heroes(?) be able to survive?
Oh sure. But they'll have one hell of a time doing so.
I don't have the firmest grasp on the world and characters of Naofumi and Subaru, but I'll get the hang of it as I work on this (hopefully). I hope you enjoyed!
A/N 2: I got a job! It's retail again, but I get paid. This might change my upload schedule as I try to balance things, but I'll try my best to keep things going smoothly.
A/N 3: If you'd like to donate to support me monetarily, gain access to the monthly poll, and gain access to my (very long) summary of the KonoSuba Light Novels, search for Sugarcane Soldier on the website of the Patrons.
A/N 4: Many thanks to Afforess and Twin for being Super Patrons,
And a big thank you to lekille and WarmasterOku for being Ultra Patrons.