Author's Notes.
Regarding the whole Overpowered issue I saw on a review:
I understand what you mean. Yet you have to keep in mind there's not really much "op" going on right now.
It may seem like it, but in truth It's the start of the story, so everything's gotta get set up: the world, magic, power-levels and all. So far, Asmoday has only used a 4th tier spell, and killed a Demon. Of course, she's not gonna be weak, neither is Momonga in the original story, what she did up to know are feats even he however could easily replicate (in some form), but it'll take time for problems, threats, be they physical or emotional to arise. (hell, it took Overlord 10 volumes.)
She has to showcase her power so that the reader may understand, or try to understand them along with her. So that new plot points may branch and eventually develop. Power can't solve everything however, and it sure as heeellll won't.
Plus, hey. Asmoday's a Dragon, they're already some of the strongest around in the original YGGDRASIL, with this Chapter once again showcasing that. I couldn't possibly do them dirty.. you know? Even my sometimes co-writer loves 'em, so gotta do what you gotta do.
Hopefully you'll keep following the start of the story, trust me when I say that if you stay tuned the later chapters might just be more of your type of read.
Oh, also, the chapter's a bit shorter this time because I didn't have much time to write, sorry about that. I might catch up on the next.
.
.
.
.
CHP.3 - "Not a Good First Impression".
.
.
.
.
The first to make her way to the Arena was Shalltear Bloodfallen, Guardian of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Floor of Nazarick. She was a True Vampire with platinum blonde, almost white hair and blood red eyes.
Momonga and Asmoday had been sitting on a small stage he had summoned. They'd do their next speech from it, something which was quickly put on hiatus when she noticed her current appearance was not really suited to her tastes. Sure, in game it might've been, but now.. not quite in some aspects. She temporarily left to another room to try and change it, as she could in YGGDRASIL, telling Momonga to message her whenever all the Guardians arrived.
As she moved to the exit of the Arena and towards the halls in order to go, taking the longer path instead of teleporting since there was a bit of time left and she knew of a room with a mirror near, a swarm of black butterflies and bats seemed to spawn out of nowhere and form a humanoid figure with a puff skirt in the middle of the Arena, which soon transformed into Shalltear herself.
"My Lord Momonga!" The petite vampire-girl threw herself at the Overlord in a hug without noticing Asmoday leaving, something which slightly set her off for some uknown reason. She wasn't the most patient or forgiving person, let alone calm, but this was kinda weird altogether, though she let it slide since nothing currently going on was normal. She would greet her later.
"Shalltear," came the rich voice of the Skeleton, "I'm happy to see you so cheerful." he spoke calmly, but in truth he was panicking from her physical contact and her.. shaking?
Was she feeling cold? Vampires shouldn't get cold though. She was also red all over, maybe she caught a cold..? Who knows.
The second to come was Demiurge, also known as the strategist of Nazarick, accompanied by Albedo, both Demons though of different subspecies.
Demiurge was not only Guardian of the 7th Floor, but also the Leader of the Defense in case Nazarick was ever attacked. He had a brown-ish skintone aswell as the same colored hair and wore an orange suit, while his ears were elf-like and he had jewels instead of eyes covered by a pair of glasses. He also had a tail, one made of metal and full of spikes of the very same material, quite infamous it looked. He was an Archdemon for a reason after all.
Albedo however was the epitome of beauty, a Succubus. She had black wings at her wide hips, wore a long white dress with yellow linings, and had white horns and black hair aswell as yellow-ish eyes.
They both made their way to where Momonga and the now thankfully-detached-from-him Shalltear, as he put it in his thoughts, was arguing with Mare and Aura about something trivial. He could swear he heard the word "boob" multiple times, though perhaps they were talking of a "blob" instead, a rare subspecies of a slime.
Yes, likely so. Surely.He told himself.
"My Lord." They both bowed before Momonga.
"Ah. Albedo, Demiurge. Good to see you well." His voice sat atop the arguing of the other present parties, making itself known.
"It is good to see you aswell, Lord." Spoke Demiurge, a smile on his face.
Indeed he was happy that the Leader of the Supreme Ones, even if he was the only one of the 41 who did, had at least remained with them as an act of mercy.
"I agree with Demiurge, my love and Lord!" Arrived the feminine and cheery voice of the Succubus.
Albedo was also the Overseer of the Guardians and one of the highest-ranked NPCs in Nazarick, and now for some reason seemed to be in love with Momonga, something he learned but a couple minutes short of Asmoday's awakening, though he couldn't fathom the reason why.
I don't get it. Was all he could think.
The next one to make an appearance was Cocytus, Guardian of the 5th Floor, a teal insectoid created with the concept of "Warrior" in mind by his designer and programmer, Takemikazuchi, a good friend of Momonga and Asmoday's.
Luckily the little banter the two elves were having with Shalltear subsided quite easily and Cocytus made his way to Momonga without saying as much as a word, until he got into the same kneeling position as all the other Guardians had been when greeting him.
"My. Lord. I. Have. Answered. Your. Summons. Permit. Me. To. Express. My. Gratitude. In. Seeing. You. Remain. With. Us. Unlike. The. Other. Supreme. Ones." cold air erupted from what humans would call nostrils, though as an insectoid they couldn't quite be called that.
As his name implied, "Cocytus", he was aligned with the Ice element, something which initially wasn't meant to happen. Or rather, he was aligned with Cryo, an even more "primal" form of the Ice element, all thanks to a small gift from Asmoday, who was the Dominion Holder of that very same element.
In YGGDRASIL there existed many elements, but as the game progressed eventually the Devs introduced the "Dominion System", a way in which a player could gain a major affinity and exclusive skills in a set group of similar elements known as, Pyro – Fire and derivatives, Dendro – similar to Life and derivatives, Cryo – Ice and derivatives, Hydro – Water and derivatives, Geo – Rock and derivatives and lastly Anemo – Wind and derivatives. Those players would come to be known as Dominion Holders, Lords over their hard-won Element, and receive an official title along with skills and spells personal to them, aswell as one Absolute Authority over the purest form of the element they ruled over, the "Imperium". [EN: Latin, "to command", ability to exercise control without peer over something through Authority given.]
Of course, only one Dominion Holder could exist at a time for each and every of the seven elements, though some remained unclaimed to the last day. Quite a cool mechanic that was. One of the abilities being a Lord allowed you to use was that of infusing an Element in its most pure state. Asmoday tried in her usual experimental fashion to use it on an NPC to see what would happen, with the blessings of Takemikazuchi of course.
And so Cocytus went from being a purely physical and element-less NPC who would only use sword-skills and katanas to what he was today, and Takemikazuchi himself, whose already incredibly high opinion of Asmoday was boosted to even greater heights, was quite pleased with the result.
To think that his friend was now not only the Lord of Cryo, but also the Lord of Anemo.. a sort of pride swelled within Momonga.
He looked down at Cocytus as that thought ended.
What does he mean?
He was wholly indulging in his own thoughts and didn't really follow him but it seemed important so he had to find a way of getting out of this without letting Cocytus realize.
"No worries Cocytus. You may rise, I appreciate you being here." A bony hand signed for him to rise.
Another gush of cold came out of him as his spear-like weapon was planted to the ground, "I. Shall. Always. Respond. To. The. Call. Of . The. Supreme. One."
Supreme One huh? That's the second time I've heard that. Came the Overlord's inner voice.
The last NPCs to arrive were also the final. It was them, Fafnir and Tiamat, some of the most important personal creations of Asmoday herself. Though there was one.. missing still.
A black haired man and a pale blue haired teenage girl entered the Arena as all the Guardians' eyes rested on their forms. They were Dragons, one of the power peaks of YGGDRASIL, and they were powerful and high-ranking ones aswell.
The way they strolled in, their unbending but calm demeanor was quite different from the other Guardians. When they got close to him and they didn't bend the knee like the others did but instead wore a neutral face with eyes of concern instantly Momonga knew four things.
Firstly, they would be troublesome if handled the wrong way.
Secondly, they wouldn't submit to him, but given what Tiamat had shown about an hour ago he could see them doing so to Asmoday, which she seemed to consider their Mother given how Fafnir was technically her brother.
Thirdly, they seemed concerned and on-guard. Geniunely so. Perhaps they expected to be greeted by the sight of their "Mother", the fact that his friend had become a girl, no matter how fast he seemed to adapt to it still stunned Momonga, but instead she wasn't here, so it was somewhat reasonable.
And lastly, they didn't know of the other NPCs.
Or at least, didn't act like they met up often, which from the little of the enourmous backstory Asmoday had gifted them with that Momonga remembered, it seemed to mean they acted in accordance with their lore as well. Quite literally, given how he remembered an exact line Asmoday coded in them, "Though they would if necessary - they didn't, like all of Elenesyia, have major interactions with the NPCs of Nazarick. As such they know little of them but that doesn't go the same way for the two Dragons, given that.." And his memory cut-off, a shame.
The fact they didn't go down kneeling was reason enough for the other Guardians to seethe in almost uncontrolled rage. Something which put Momonga slightly on edge.
Initiating a fight with two of the most powerful NPCs in Nazarick, made by an absurdly powerful friend of his, who seemed to cherish them just as much as him even before all the craziness, would be foolish if not outright idiotic.
So he instead chose to quell the unrest as fast as possible.
"Lord Momonga," the word and greeting came out of the Dragoness as if it was a foreign concept. All the while her and her brother's eyes tore through his own as if digging deep in his nonexistent undead soul.
"Tiamat, Fafnir. I am glad you could come." He geniunely was, though the reason wasn't entirely innocent of course. This meeting was set up so that he and his bestfriend could ensure the NPCs' loyalty after all, it wasn't entirely innocent in the slighest.
A serious Fafnir answered with a nod and a second before Albedo could voice her complaints in a most likely violent and troublesome way he stopped her with a raised hand.
"So are we." responded the voice of Fafnir, though he kept gazing everywhere looking for something rather than at Momonga himself.
A moment passed as all of them stared at eacher.. then two.
"Lord. Are we waiting for something?" Came the voice of the Archdemon, Demiurge. He could feel a slight demonic presence, being one himself he was attuned to them, though it felt more like the remains of one and not a particularly strong one either, Mid-Rank, level 50 at max, so he instantly ruled that out - leaving him with nothing.
"A-Ahem. Yes, indeed we a-" Momonga's answer was interrupted as a new, silent but definetly there presence appeared on everybody's mental radar.
A figure, a bit taller than medium-sized in height and with a scarlet dress shrouded in shadow was slowly coming towards the entrance of the Arena.
Without delay every Guardian aswell as the two Dragons, considered Guardians of Elenesyia, tensed up. Everyone invited was already in the Arena itself, meaning that something uninvited had shown up.
As the figure stepped into the light, glowing crimson slit eyes and a girl with internal red and external jet-black hair on the shorter side was revealed.
Immediatly Shalltear recognized her as someone she hadn't ever seen at Nazarick, in other words, an enemy. While the two Dragons seemed to have a small realization as they widened their eyes.
"Shalltear don't!" Momonga almost shouted as she lunged herself towards the figure without a second thought, though his warning seemed a bit half-hearted for some reason.
The girl's mouth moved into an amused smile as she started and kept up her strive towards Momonga, fearless of the incoming Shalltear.
As the vampire was but a couple meters away from tearing her to shreds, the girl's eyes glowed an incredibly dangerous, bright scarlet.
Next Asmoday did something she couldn't quite explain the reason of. Perhaps it was a sort of petty "revenge" for how Shalltear had ignored her, and the fact that stuck with her still puzzled her..
"[Domination]". She tugged on a minor aspect of her Dragonic nature, bypassing the restrictions that YGGDRASIL normally required to do so, which allowed her for a moment to use the full extent of one of her [Battlelust] -derived Authority,『 Crimson Welsh Drake: Y Ddraig Goch 』.
Instantly her presence slammed into everybody like an airplane flying in wall, as some faltered off their feet because of the spiritual shockwave. Even Momonga, though slightly. Asmoday seemed far too into it, forgetting to exclude him out of the range.
Well, that about sums up the effects of Domination in her lore and confirms my theory.. Momonga thought.
Immediatly the incoming vampire and all the other Guardians fell to the ground trying to catch their breath and having their vision flicker as the air became saturated with Mystical Energy, save for the two Dragons who seemed to have been spared.
".Who..are you..?!" The choking Shalltear spoke as she held her hands to her throat. Not able to activate the effects of Asmoday's ability in time.
"Ahem..Hemh.." Gasps was all that could be heard from her fellow Guardian Demiurge.
Coughs erupted from everywhere, from beings who weren't even meant to breathe while the girl kept making her way to Momonga and passed the two now-still Dragons and winked at them.
"We'll talk later. I promise." She said in a hushed voice with a motherly and affectionate tone istinctually.
Eventually she found herself in front of Momonga, who strangely seemed unaffacted from her use of [Domination]. Something that kind of puzzled her, just as the effects of the ability itself did, though at the same time made her proud of her friend. If only she knew that he had to use a couple buffs to do so. Yet he was a Sorcerer nonetheless, so no cheating there.
"You never do half-measures, do you Asmoday?" He spoke through the damage with sarcasm.
That name sealed the thoughts the Dragons held from when she walked past them.
"Never!" She answered in a cheerful voice with a smile, hoping Momonga would understand she had her reasons to bump it up a notch more than what they had discussed previously. Namely, Shalltear.
As she concealed her presence once more, the heaviness and sense of water-less drowning completely lifted.
The two stared at eachother in silent comunication, he relented and his gaze went to the Guardians who were still recovering.
They eventually all rose to their feet and their confused glances were all Momonga needed to understand the situation.
"You may not recognize her, but this," he moved to direct their gaze to Asmoday by moving his arm, "is the YGGDRASIL 'God of War' and sole Dragon God, elite member of the 41 in our prime: Asmoday. Aswell as my closest friend."
She waved at everybody, though the gesture received only fearful eyes from the now-recovered Guardians, Shalltear especially.
Confusion, but no doubt in the slighest was on their faces, after all this information came from the Supreme One himself, but as the guilt of having attacked and not recognized her was forgotten in the moment, all everybody could think was..
"..Lord Asmodeus..? But how...?" Came Demiurge's whisper as his awe took him.
"Hm?" Asmoday raised an eyebrow and voiced as she stopped waving and her face became more neutral.
Demiurge slowly turned to everybody and though Shalltear was currently not moving an inch he was able meet eyes with all Guardians, who were still starstruck. Eventually he noticed how their gazes all had the same question lingering in them.
".. My Lord Momonga.. I must beg your forgiveness if this sounds outrageous but.. ", his pointed hand and gaze landed on Asmoday, "Hadn't Lord Asmodeus.."
"..perished?"