HuniePop: Dimensional Crisis

Chapter 11: Guardians of the Multiverse

The morning breeze swept through my hair as I inhaled and exhaled at a steady pace as I was trying to take in my surroundings. Some people could call it self-meditation, but this was really a way to hone my powers. Grow stronger. I did this a bunch for the last five years in every sort of scenario: A rainstorm, a snowfall, in front of the fireplace, even an earthquake, given where we lived. But, now more than ever, I had to try and push beyond those limits in order to be strong enough the next time we went up against Ichigo and her crew of Dark Enforcers. But there was still a problem. Every time that we went up against Ichigo, there was always that dark nullification magic. If we were to have any chance at victory, one of us had to at least be stronger than the dark magic was. As things stood right now, I was the only one who was close to being strong enough to push through. However, as I was trying to hone my powers, I felt a small tug on my sleeve and opened one of my eyes to see Lara standing right next to me, looking a bit sleepy.

"Daddy, what are you doing?" Lara asked as she rubbed her eyes and sat down in my lap.

"Just trying to think, sweetie. What's wrong?" I asked.

"...I had a nightmare," Lara replied, making me chuckle in response. Lara usually used that response as an excuse for either me or Nikki to hold her in our arms until she felt safe and secure, usually after a tense situation had taken place. Then again, given what had happened last night, I didn't blame her that much.

"You sure it was just a nightmare, sweetheart?" I asked as I rubbed Lara's little head.

"Daddy... why did da mean wady try to hurt da queen?" she asked. Aw, geez, how do I explain this to her?

"Well… the former princess caused a lot of trouble… and after her mother punished her for her crimes, she felt like she had been treated unfairly and decided to act on her anger rather than learn from her mistakes…" I explained.

"Why?" Lara asked.

"...Because... she was raised wrong, sweetie," I said.

"Well, I think dat da queen's a nice wady," Lara said as Nikki walked up to us, rubbing her eyes.

"I think that a lot of people would agree with you, honey. Now, get dressed and get ready for breakfast, OK?" Nikki said before Lara got up and went to put her normal clothes on while I stood up and gave Nikki a good morning kiss.

"Good morning, beautiful," I said.

"I swear, your smooth talking always makes me feel warm and bubbly inside. So, how are you feeling?" Nikki asked.

"I feel fine. But, after what happened last night, I've been trying to hone my powers and grow even stronger. The next time we fight Ichigo and her crew, we'll be twice as strong as before," I said before Nikki sighed and rested her head on my chest as we both stared out at the town.

"Max... what is going on with our lives? I mean, I don't regret anything, but things have just become so complicated as of late. I was kind of hoping that things would just settle down after the whole space adventure with Celeste," Nikki said.

"Me too. But, that's just the thrill of the adventure, right? You gotta roll with the punches and the kicks that life throws at you and you'll live life to the fullest. Dad used to say that all the time," I said, only for Nikki to roll her eyes in response.

"You say that all the time and it's starting to get a bit old now," Nikki said, only for me to bring her in close and smile.

"Well, it's good advice. And my parents rubbed off onto me a lot. Besides, you've been married to me for 5 years. I'm pretty sure that you should be used to it by now," I said before I brought Nikki in for another kiss. However, as we were in the middle of the kiss, I suddenly heard someone clearing their throat and turned to see Demiurge standing near the bed.

"Yes, well, I do apologize for the intrusion, but Lord Ainz has requested your presence, Maxwell Smith," Demiurge said, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"Right now?"

"Preferably, yes," Demiurge said. I only sighed before I started putting on my armor.

"What is it that Ainz wants to talk about?" Nikki asked.

"I'm afraid that's between Lord Ainz and Maxwell," Demiurge replied as I finished putting on my armor and then kissed Nikki on the forehead.

"It'll be fine, Nik. I should be back in a few minutes," I said before Demiurge and I departed to Nazarick to meet up with Ainz.

Ainz' perspective, Outside the Great Tomb of Nazarick

There was a storm brewing on the horizon. I could sense it. The amount of dark magic that was abundant around the Great Tomb of Nazarick had grown considerably ever since the worlds had merged and it was starting to get to the point where I was starting to feel a bit uneasy. Another thing that was worrying me was the fact that some of my spells didn't work last night, though it wasn't difficult to understand why. My abilities were probably nothing compared to that of a goddess and speaking as the strongest thing in all of YGGDRASIL, it would become a major problem if something wasn't done quickly. As I was standing outside the Tomb of Nazarick, I heard the sound of someone teleporting in and turned to see Demiurge and Max suddenly warp in.

"You summoned me?" Max asked.

"I did. There's much that we have to discuss about what occurred as of late," I said as we both started walking together while Demiurge silently followed us.

"So, what exactly did you want to talk about?" Max asked.

"For one, do you recall the woman with the short blonde hair that fought alongside Anomaly last night?"

"You mean the one in the orange armor with the creepy-ass look on her face? Yeah. Why? Did you know her?"

"Unfortunately, yes. She goes by the name Clementine. She was… she is a warrior that I came across in my travels a long time ago and a bloodthirsty and ruthless one at that… so ruthless that I saw it only fit to end her life when we first clashed," I explained.

"And now she's teamed up Ichigo, Ezili, and their whole band of crazies…" Max said.

"It would seem so. Which brings me to my next subject: What is the history between you and Ichigo?"

"She's from Hiro and Zero Two's original Earth. They fought alongside each other up until Hiro and Zero Two destroyed VIRM and got transported to our dimension. And… I'm guessing that Ezili told Ichigo that they were both alive and blamed me for bringing them there. That and she thinks I'M some kind of threat to the multiverse," Max explained.

"And she decided to ally herself with a goddess just to smite you?" I asked.

"Look, I don't exactly know all the details about why she wants to kill me, but I do know that she was a bright and courageous fighter when I met her and I don't understand why she just decided to ally herself with the people who are anything but good. I mean she's hanging... with..." Max started to say before he suddenly trailed off.

"What?"

"She's working alongside an assassin, a general, a broken soldier, a psychotic warrior, and a disgraced princess… and she probably doesn't know all that much about their histories or anything like that because she was probably never told about things like that. Ezili's trying to write them off as heroes just so Ichigo doesn't get suspicious about their mission. She manipulated Ichigo into thinking that I'm the sole reason the multiverse is starting to fall apart and she's aiming her at me like a damn howitzer!" Max exclaimed, only for Demiurge to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"A what?" he asked.

"A howi- Oh, wait, I forgot you guys don't have those here."

"Regardless, if Clementine has joined their ranks, then you will most certainly need someone who knows how she fights to accompany you. As such, I've elected to come along with you and your allies to fight the impending apocalypse head-on," I said.

"Lord Ainz… while I do admire your willingness to act, I feel that this is something that we must at least discuss with the others before we rush to any decisions," Demiurge said suddenly as he tried to lead me away to talk matters over privately, but I stood in place.

"There is no discussion to be had, Demiurge. If the strongest are required to stop the crisis at hand, then we must lend however many hands we can to ensure the safety of Nazarick, as well as the multiverse as a whole," I replied.

"As true as that may be, leaving Nazarick completely defenseless is… unsound, to say the least. Even if the greatest threat at the moment is the dark goddess, what if our own enemies decide to attack Nazarick in our absence? We would be risking Nazarick's safety if we send our best to confront the threat," Demiurge stated. I did admit that he made a valid point, but I couldn't just stand by and watch as everything was turned to ash or whatever was supposed to happen.

"Then just have Ainz pick two of the Floor Guardians out and have them accompany him. The rest can stay and defend Nazarick in his absence. I mean, given how strong everyone is, three absent persons won't take too much away from Nazarick's defenses, right?" Max asked, leaving me stunned. Not at how logical and reasonable his suggestion was, but at the fact that DEMIURGE didn't think about that in the first place. But, I wasn't really one to insult Demiurge's thinking either way.

"Your reasoning is sound. Demiurge, make arrangements for the Floor Guardians to meet in the throne room later so we may decide who shall accompany me," I said as Demiurge bowed.

"Of course, Lord Ainz," Demiurge said before he disappeared, leaving me and Max alone at the moment to think things over.

"Sooooo... Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

"Partially. I was hoping that you could fill me in on a couple more things, if you don't mind, of course," I replied before the both of us began to walk and talk about every bit of information that we could. With any luck it would help us for whatever came next.

Ichigo's perspective, Unknown Location

Nothing but failures. That's all that my "team" was. Elsa and Clementine were too volatile, Malty and Mary were too fixated on their own personal vendettas rather than the bigger picture, and Sylvia was often distracted by... whatever. Nothing was getting done and every second we wasted was costing us the time needed to save the multiverse from absolute destruction. As of now, we had taken refuge in an abandoned castle far away from Melromarc and were awaiting further instructions from Ezili when she had returned. However, things were beginning to get a bit tense as Malty was getting increasingly impatient and had started pacing the room impatiently while the others were just trying to get used to their surroundings.

"Urgh… why are we just sitting here? We should be out there destroying every last one of those traitors instead of sitting here in the dust, twiddling our thumbs!" Malty whined.

"With what army exactly? There's only 6 of us against thousands of them," Mary replied.

"6 of us plus a goddess who wields immeasurable power. Although, I am curious as to where she goes every now and then..." Sylvia stated, only for Malty to scoff scornfully in response.

"Do you HONESTLY believe that we need to do anything with her holding our hands like we're little children?! We came close to weakening the Shield Hero and his allies last night and all that she did was put everyone to sleep!" Malty argued before I stood up angrily and glared at her menacingly.

"If you think that anything credible is coming out of your mouth after the stunt you pulled last night, Malty, you are sorely mistaken," I said, only for Malty to confront me directly rather than stand down.

"Oh, I'm sorry... Did you forget that I spent several months moving from place-to-place all because that damned Devil of the Shield?! The only reason I allied myself with you was so I could take back my rightful place as queen of Melromarc. And to bring peace back to my people!"

"Except this is bigger than your personal vendettas! The whole fate of the entire multiverse is at stake and if we don't do things the right way, everything will fall apart fast! I hold superiority in this team, so you will do everything as I direct you to do it!" I yelled as Malty gritted her teeth and picked up her sword in response. Elsa, Sylvia, Clementine, and Mary just stood by and didn't even try to stop either of us as things prepared to get ugly.

"And what if I don't want to?" she asked as I formed a sword.

"It is not a good time for you to test me... WHORE," I snarled as I waited for Malty to make the first move. However, just as Malty took a step forward to attack, Ezili suddenly came out of nowhere and gently put both of her hands on our shoulders to get us to stand down.

"That's enough, both of you. I understand that things are tense at the moment, but it serves nothing for you to be fighting each other. Malty, even if you were wrongfully deposed as First Princess, Ichigo is the leader of this team, so you must follow her directions to the letter. The time for you to reclaim what you once lost will come. Until then, you must be patient," she said, prompting Malty to lower her sword in response while I did the same.

"A shame that didn't go anywhere. I was hoping to at least join in on the fun," Clementine said before I turned and shot her a look.

"SHUT. IT," I growled before Ezili grabbed my shoulder and lead me away from the group and into another room.

"Ichigo, you seem a bit tense as of late. Tell me what's bothering you," Ezili said as I sat down on a pile of rocks.

"This team that we've put together… It's not as stable as I once thought it was. We've barely made any sort of progress on stopping the 'Chosen One' and the people we've recruited are more concerned with their own personal vendettas than with the fate of the multiverse! You saw how Malty acted last night! Her attitude isn't really befitting of a benevolent princess, is it?!" I yelled in frustration before I grabbed my head to ease my sudden headache as Ezili sat down beside me.

"Yes... Malty's behavior is different from what I've told you… but you must understand that she was wrongfully deposed and has been treated like a criminal for several months. In that time, she has become bitter and resentful towards her mother. Anger often clouds our judgement and that also extends to you, my flower. Besides, you yourself have your own vendetta that you wish to fulfill, yes?" she asked. It pained me to say that she was right. Telling Malty that she shouldn't be worried about her personal desires for revenge was hypocritical on my own part.

"It's just… I want Hiro and Zero Two to understand that the person they're fighting alongside isn't all that he says he is. Hell, I trusted the man with my own life and I didn't know everything about him..." I said.

"They will learn the truth. It may not be instantaneous, but they will learn. For now, try to work with the hands that we have at the moment," Ezili said reassuringly.

"…I just feel that things would be going a lot better if my Squad were here helping us."

"Perhaps. But they refused to believe what you had learned, did they not?" Ezili asked before she disappeared and left me alone. It may have been true that Goro and the others didn't believe what I had learned, but back then, we hadn't even begun to realize that our ruined Earth wasn't the only Earth within the vast multiverse. It all started with me and Ikuno making a significant discovery while we were still reeling from the "deaths" of Hiro and Zero Two...

Earth-2139, 5 years ago…

It had been 5 days since Hiro and Zero Two's sacrifice to save Earth from the hands of VIRM. Most of us didn't know what to do after we had taken the time to grieve, but it hit the Squad the hardest, losing two of our own. I know that we were doing a good job at rebuilding our broken planet so far, but there was still a lot to be done and it was hard to do anything with heavy hearts. I spent most of the last five days just sitting alone in silence, reminiscing about the memories we had made with them while occasionally crying at certain points. And there was also Hiro's final message, which I repeatedly played over and over just to here his voice again. As I was watching the recording for the hundredth time, someone gently put their hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Ikuno standing behind me with a somber expression on her face.

"Hey," she said quietly as she sat down next to me.

"Hey," I replied shakily as a couple more tears ran down my face.

"Goro's been asking about how you were doing. He seemed a bit concerned..."

"I'm fine. It's just... I really don't know what to do right now. Have you heard anything from Nomad or his team?" I asked.

"Not really. No one's heard from them ever since APE collapsed. I'm not sure if they even survived VIRM's onslaught, but you never know," Ikuno answered as I turned off the video display and tried to stifle my sniffling.

"So… how have things been going outside?" I asked as Ikuno helped dry my tears.

"Kind of good, but also not. Things are kind of a mess what with the Bird's Nest running out of energy and we can't seem to find any viable replacements at the moment. And Haichi and Nana are still trying to piece together the new organization of leaders… if there are any adults left," she replied, prompting me to bury my face in my hands in frustration.

"Everything doesn't feel the same without them… I was really hoping that…" I started to say before I began to break down again, prompting Ikuno to hug me in reply.

"I know… I was hoping that they would've made it back as well…" she said before I tried to pull myself together and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"I'm so sorry… I just need to get mind off of this or I'll be a mess all day. Was there anything else that you wanted to talk about?" I asked.

"Well, see… that's going to be a bit harder to explain…" Ikuno said before she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small blue disc the size of her palm that had small light-blue wires pulsating with energy.

"What's that?"

"I think that I saw Haywire use one of these back when they escorted us to the hangar way back when. It seems to be some kind of short range teleportation device. Or… at least it was until I did a bit of reconfiguring and toyed around with it for about an hour. And then… well, I'll just show you," Ikuno replied before she placed the disc in the center of the room and gently touched the top of the disc. After she stepped back, the disc slowly hummed to life before a portal suddenly opened with a bright flash of light that forced us to shield our eyes until it died down. Within the portal laid a view of the inside of some building, but outside the window was a whole city laying underneath a starry sky, vibrant and full of color. It looked almost too good to be true, but when I took a step forward and reached out towards the portal, my hand went straight inside of the portal and I ended up falling right through the portal and into this new and unexplained world. All the sights that I saw before my eyes were so hypnotizing that I could only stand in place and stare in amazement before Ikuno pulled me back into our world and shut the portal down.

"Wha… what was that?" I stammered.

"See, that's the thing… every time I turned this thing on, it was different each time. My guess is that the places within the portal are different places in time or just different Earths altogether," Ikuno explained.

"Are you suggesting that Nomad and his team aren't from this Earth?" I asked.

"I mean… it's possible, but I'd have to run some more tests before I can be certain," Ikuno replied as she picked up the disc and started to walk out before I quickly grabbed her arm.

"…Ikuno, if it's not too much trouble… maybe I could help you. You never know how dangerous it might be to operate by yourself," I said.

"...I mean, it would definitely be a good idea to have a little bit of help just in case... OK, but there are a few conditions that I have if you're going to help me. One, you need to get out a bit and two, PLEASE spend some time with Goro. He keeps stressing about you and it's starting to get me worried."

"I thought that you were jealous of me and him being together?"

"Only a little. But I got over it. Come on, let's meet up with the others and see if we can get some lunch," Ikuno chuckled as we both left. As Ikuno was rambling on about her findings, my mind drifted towards the thought of Nomad and his crew. If they weren't from our Earth, then where did they come from? And if they were indeed from a different world, was it possible that Zero Two and Hiro weren't actually dead? All of it just seemed like wild ideas at the time, but I had no idea that soon all of my answers would be answered... for better or for worse.

Nikki's perspective, Earth-12/Earth-13, present day

"Yeah, no. That's total BS and you know it," Zero Two said to Raphtalia as I was washing Lara's hair. Me and the girls were taking some needed "girl time", as we call it, to take a much-needed bath and just chat amongst ourselves about whatever. And, given what we went through last night, this was needed. On top of that, the queen was kind enough to let us use her private bath, which was flipping HUGE, almost like a Japanese hot spring. Also, whatever kind of herbs and scented oils the queen used in this bath really put me at ease, because the scent was so pleasant and soothing. However, the calmness of our surroundings was followed by a moment of tension when Zero Two started grilling everyone about their love lives... like she always did.

"I'm telling you, it isn't like that! I am the Sword to Master Naofumi's Shield!" Raphtalia complained.

"Then why do you blush around him so much when he praises you?" Zero Two asked with a smug smile, making Raphtalia blush madly at that claim.

"It's true, Big Sis Raphtalia! You always blush around him when he praises you or pats you on the head! And you always get upset when he pats ME on the head!" Filo argued before Raphtalia covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"Well, at least Naofumi is so much more humble than Kazuma is. He always acts so full of himself like we don't matter and his opinion should outweigh all others..." Megumin said gruffly, prompting everyone to look at her with raised eyebrows.

"Really? 'Cause he strikes me more as the pessimistic type rather than the narcissistic type. He's been mostly negative about everything since he's joined us..." Tiffany said.

"Yeah... but Kazuma can sometimes be so boastful if he wants... and depraved on occasion. You know, one time he put on this magical choker and he made me, Darkness, Megumin, Yunyun, and Wiz do a bunch of dubious things until it finally came off. And the worst part is that his wish was to be comforted!" Aqua stated.

"It is true. Kazuma sometimes acts like a complete scoundrel... but even his insults just make my skin feel all tingly as if…" Darkness started to say before Audrey loudly groaned in disgust.

"Oh my GOD, will you please shut up about your stupid fetishes or whatever?! NOBODY CARES!" she yelled.

"Right… so what about you Emilia? What's your relationship with Subaru like?" Zero Two asked.

"Well, Subaru's a very loyal and trustworthy friend even though I don't understand some of the things that he says, but he and I aren't really together…" Emilia said.

"It's true. Subaru's always so kind and optimistic, even if things seem to be at their bleakest," Rem added as she tried to hide her blushing. As they were talking, I noticed that Tanya was sitting all by her lonesome, looking glum and disheveled for some unknown reason.

"Uh, Tanya? Are you OK over there?" I asked.

"I'm fine. It's just… I feel so dirty being in here with all of you…" Tanya replied glumly.

"Why?" Visha asked.

"…I honestly don't know," Tanya said before an eerie silence fell over everyone until we heard the door opening and turned to see Albedo walk in with a disgusted scowl on her face while Shalltear and Aura followed her in.

"Hey! We're not interrupting anything are we?" Aura asked.

"Uh… what the hell are you guys doing here? And why the hell are YOU here you fuckin' perv?!" Audrey asked, upsetting Aura.

"Excuse you, but I'm a girl, too! You don't need to be constantly flashing around that barbed tongue of yours, you... you... jerkface!" Aura snapped back.

"Just… ignore her. She's always like this," Tiffany said calmly, quickly shutting down the argument before Aura removed her towel and got in the bath with us. Sure enough, as she was getting in, she didn't have anything out of the ordinary for a girl other than a flat boy-like chest and she sat down next to Tiffany while Shalltear sat next to Raphtalia and Aqua and Albedo sat next to me. It was easy to tell that Albedo wasn't pleased with being here what with her scowl and the dark, foreboding aura she was giving off. I'll be honest, I'm not great at starting conversations with these sort of people. I mean, I USED to be bad at starting conversations with most people, but people who were in a bad mood were the WORST people to start a conversation with and Albedo was giving off some serious murder vibes right now. But, conversation was usually an icebreaker and I had to break up the tension a little.

"Soooo… uh… it was wonderful weather that we had this morning, wasn't it?" I asked with a smile. Albedo only turned to me with an unamused look in response, her yellow eyes glowing eerily.

"Do not speak to me, you lower life form," she said coldly. Well, that didn't work. And now my entire body was cold.

"Oh, don't mind her. Albedo always has a certain distrust towards humans, despite the fact that she'll never explain exactly why. Aside from the fact that we've had to contend with humans before, that is," Shalltear said as she started to wash herself.

"I'm only here because Lord Ainz commanded us to 'improve relations' with our so-called 'allies'," Albedo replied.

"Are you an angel?" Lara asked.

"No… I'm a succubus…" Albedo replied, not even turning her head to face us.

"Waz dat?"

"It's a kind of monster that you are too young to learn about, sweetie," I said.

"So... where is the father right now? Last I saw him, he was discussing matters over with Lord Ainz about what to do next and was hoping to at least get another sip of that delectable blood of his..." Shalltear said as she licked her lips a little.

"Ugh, Shalltear, can you keep that yourself? There are kids in here with us and they don't need you filling their heads with all that nonsense!" Aura said in retaliation, even though I was a bit curious as to what Shalltear was talking about. As for Darkness, she was way more curious and got uncomfortably close to Shalltear.

"And what exactly were you doing to Max while he was imprisoned?" Darkness asked, prompting me to cover Lara's ears in response just so she wouldn't lose an ounce of her innocence. Zero Two also did the same with Rose.

"Well, we had him chained up in our frozen prison… and that's about it, to be honest…" Shalltear replied.

"So… why exactly are you here other than to 'improve relations'?" Raphtalia asked.

"Well, Lord Ainz had a discussion with the Floor Guardians not that long ago about who was gonna go with you guys if this 'crisis' or whatever it's called gets further than our Earth and well... Albedo and Shalltear ended up winning the rights to go along with Lord Ainz. Of course, that's pretty much to be expected when these two are head-over-heels for Lord Ainz," Aura explained.

"Well, of course I'm going to accompany Lord Ainz into the unknown! It's only logical that he sees just how loving and supportive the Guardian Overseer is! Besides, if it comes down to it, I can provide him with sexual relief if he requires it," Albedo stated, making everyone except Aura (and the kids because they couldn't hear with their ears covered) turn toward her and look at her in confusion.

"Oh, please! If anyone's going to provide him with pleasure, it will be me and you know it!" Shalltear argued.

"Um... I'm sorry but have you both SEEN what he looks like? Like, have you physically taken a good look at him?" Zero Two asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Albedo asked with and angry stare.

"…He's a skeleton. How the hell would that even work out between you two? Does he just… you know… conjure one up?"

"You don't know what he's capable of…"

"OK, can we PLEASE talk about something else?! I don't need that sort of mental picture in my head!" I said before we all heard the door opening behind us and we turned to see one of the Queen's Shadows peek in on us.

"Pardon me, ladies, but Lord Ainz and the rest of your associates have asked for your presence at the earliest convenience at the tavern, I daresay," the Shadow said before she left. We all decided to just go ahead and meet up with the rest of the team, so we finished up in bath, dried ourselves off and then went straight to tavern where the others were waiting for us.

"So, how was it?" Max asked as I sat down beside him.

"It felt very relaxing… for the most part," I said as I held my head in embarrassment.

"Let me guess… Zero Two was asking about everyone's love lives?" Hiro asked.

"Hey, you try talking with a bunch of people you've only known for a few days and see if YOU think of something good to talk about," Zero Two retorted.

"I mean, we tried but Kazuma wasn't really that talkative about anything," Max joked, earning a dirty look from Kazuma.

"So, what all's been going on with you guys?" Tanya asked.

"We were merely conversing about the alliance between the denizens of Nazarick and yourselves, as well as the possibilities of the crisis reaching far beyond our Earths," Demiurge replied.

"It might be inevitable that it will extend further than we suspect, Demiurge. The only question is whether or not the crisis will halt once we stop Ezili," Ainz stated as a waitress brought us some drinks.

"All the more reason we need to seek out more heroes that can help us fight back. Ezili's building an army and we need every available helping hand that we can get," Max said as he took a drink.

"I mean, you could say that the hands we have right now are pretty powerful. One of us is literally invulnerable to every kind of physical attack possible," Tanya stated.

"And you have a goddess on your side as well!" Aqua added, although everyone just looked at her funny.

"Are you... referring to someone in particular?" Mare asked.

"Seriously, will you just shut up about the whole 'being a goddess' thing?! You act like it's your whole identity or something!" Megumin complained.

"But it IS my identity! Why doesn't anyone believe me when I tell you that I'm a goddess?!" Aqua whined, causing Kazuma to snicker in response.

"OK... switching topics! I've been thinking for a while and I think that this team we've made needs a name. We need an identity that people will remember throughout history when we save the entire multiverse," Zero Two said as she picked up a drink.

"Why? We aren't looking for recognition or anything by doing this…" I said.

"Why not call ourselves 'The Council of Ainz Ooal Gown'?" Cocytus asked.

"Uh… that makes us sound like we're a cult or something. Any other ideas?" Zero Two asked.

"Zero Two, we aren't asking to be recognized for doing this. We're doing it because someone has to step up and protect those who are unable to defend themselves from what's coming. They need to be shown that there's nothing to fear because we're here to protect them. They need more than just guardians. They need heroes," Max said. I swear, my husband let Captain America rub off onto him so much, what with the inspirational speeches and all. I mean, sure, they weren't as good as his, but they were pretty damn close. And I wouldn't have it any other way. As for Zero Two, she couldn't help but smile at his speech regardless and lifted her glass.

"You know what? You're absolutely right. Which is why, henceforth, we shall be known as the 'Guardians of the Multiverse'!" Zero Two said as she raised her glass high.

"Uh... I think that name's already been taken," I said.

"Nope, it's never been used."

"Pretty sure it has."

"Nope, this is the first time it's been thought of!" Zero Two insisted.

"Also, did you not just hear what I said?" Max asked.

"Yeah, but 'Guardians of the Multiverse' rolls off the tongue a lot better than 'Heroes of the Multiverse', doesn't it? Besides, heroes and guardians are basically the same thing. And also, a few of us (I won't name who) don't exactly classify all that much as heroes," Zero Two said.

"That... is actually a good point..." Max replied.

"I think that it suits us. To say that we're guardians will show the innocent that we will shelter them from whatever may threaten them. It will make them feel safe," Emilia said.

"I agree. Such a name sounds noble," Cocytus added.

"OK, then who exactly's gonna be the leader of this team?" Naofumi asked.

"I figure that Max should be the leader," Tanya replied.

"Why? I mean, not that I wouldn't want to be the leader, but you and Ainz both outrank me," Max said.

"Because you proved yourself stronger than me and Ainz? Last time I checked, the strongest person was usually the best type of leader," Tanya replied.

"Well, first of all, that battle between me and Ainz ended in a stalemate. Second, I feel that both of you have more experience in leadership skills than I do," Max said.

"True, but after what you've done to help Nazarick and to cease the conflict between us and Mirellia, I only find it fitting that you lead the team," Ainz replied.

"You know what? Let's put it to a vote. Who thinks that Max should be the leader of this team? Raise your hand," Zero Two said before everyone except for Kazuma and Albedo raised their hands in agreement, prompting Max to sigh in reply and stand up with a drink in hand.

"OK, well... I really don't know what to say but... all I do know is that the fate of the multiverse is resting on our shoulders and... whatever happens... I can't think of anyone else that I'd rather fight alongside than any of you. Um… A toast. To the Guardians of the Multiverse," Max said as he held out his drink and we all clinked our mugs together.

"To the Guardians of Multiverse!" we all said before we took a drink of the ale.

"Not a bad speech. I give it a 5. It sounded a bit like something you'd say before the final fight," Zero Two said once she was finished drinking, the ale dripping down her chin.

"OK, what exactly do you want from me? I'm not exactly the type of guy to make speeches," Max replied before we suddenly heard the doors of the tavern suddenly opened and a group of knights walked in before they then approached us.

"Shield Hero... the Queen requires your presence and the presence of your allies immediately," one of the knights said.

"Why? What's happened?" Raphtalia asked.

"The Queen and the Goddess Adora believe that they have located Ezili and her cohorts," the younger knight replied, drawing looks of shock and concern from everyone before we all went straight to the castle and headed for the throne room where Mirellia, Melty, and Adora were waiting for us.

"You've located Ichigo and Ezili?" Hiro asked.

"Yes, we have. They seem to have taken refuge at an immense wall that was built during the ancient times when the Waves of Calamity first began. There wasn't anything guarding it when our scouts spotted them, but I believe that she is expecting us to make an appearance," Mirellia replied.

"She'll definitely be expecting a fight. If she's trying to call us out, then it's best that we head there and stop her while we can before this escalates any further," Max said.

"And what about the crazy evil darkness magic goddess?" Kazuma asked.

"I will handle my sister. All that must be done is that we must subdue Ichigo however we can and stop her allies," Adora replied.

"Well, let's get to it then! The world's not gonna save itself, people!" Zero Two said before we all left the throne room and made our way to the battle.

Hiro's perspective, several miles away from the Wall of the Ancient Times

The army of soldiers behind us spanned to the left and right for about a few miles as we advanced toward the wall. Even from a distance, the wall looked immense, almost tall enough to pierce the storm clouds forming above the top. Most of the wall looked torn down or showing signs of weathering, but it still looked sturdy against the wind. Travelling alongside Mirellia's army aside from us were the other Cardinal Heroes and their parties, as well as the Pleiades, all armed to the teeth and ready to fight. Once we were a good enough distance away from the wall, Nikki came to the front and took out a pair of binoculars before she started scanning the wall for anything out of the ordinary.

"Nothing. No army of the undead. No army of any kind. Just a wide open plain stretching all the way to the wall," she said as she handed Zero Two some binoculars.

"And the 5 nutjobs working with her are just standing right at the bottom… MENACINGLY," Zero Two said.

"What about Ichigo and Ezili?" I asked as Nikki looked towards the top of the wall.

"I see them. They're at the top of the wall," she said, pointing to the top of the wall where Ichigo and Ezili were standing as they stared down at us.

"OK, so what's the plan?" Naofumi asked.

"Ichigo's our top priority, so we need to get to the top of the wall and take her down. Ainz, Tanya, Naofumi, and Hiro, you're with me. Everyone else will need to keep the rest of the fight occupied down here until we can take Ichigo down," Max said.

"Well, if you're going up there, you'll need me to go with you for a bit of divine protection," Aqua said, only for Kazuma to push her out of the way in disgust.

"Uh, no. YOU are gonna stay down here and do whatever the hell it is that you do and I'M going up there with him!" he said.

"Um... is there a specific reason why?" Max asked.

"Look, I have Stealth, Steal, and a whole bunch of other skills that you might need! Plus, I want you to know that I CAN be useful, OK?!" Kazuma yelled, making Max recoil a bit.

"I never said that you weren't..."

"And you'll probably need me too!" Subaru added as he stepped forward.

"All that you have is a sword and a shield, Barusu..." Ram stated.

"Yeah, but they always underestimate the normal guy, right?" Subaru replied.

"Weird analogy, but alright," Max said before a loud explosion suddenly rang out, drawing everyone's attention as they looked towards the top of the wall and saw Ezili firing off a large, purple beam that arched straight into the ground, blackening the soil in front of us until the light finally died down and thousands of zombified hands started bursting out of the ground. We all stared in horror as thousands of dead soldiers crawled out of the ground and stood in front of us, growling and grunting while their eyes glowed a ghastly purple. However, before one of them could take a step forward to attack, Adora unleashed a blast of light that forced the zombies to stay back and shield their eyes until Ezili teleported in front of Adora with a wicked smile on her face, causing Adora to stop flashing the light.

"Hello, sister. It's so nice to see you again after so long... I see that you've been just as busy as I have..." Ezili said wickedly.

"Ezili... stop this at once. This will not end in your favor if you continue," Adora warned.

"On the contrary, sister. It is you and all of your foolish allies who will not taste victory today. For my apprentice intends to finish this façade once and for all... and together, we will finally finish what I started. Nothing can stop it. Not even you," Ezili taunted.

"What you have done... all the lies and deceit that you've filled her head with... It will not stand. She will eventually realize that you are not what she believes you to be."

"Then that will be my problem to deal with. But, for now, let your so-called 'Chosen One' and his allies fight their own battle. You and I have unfinished business..." Ezili said before she conjured up a blade of darkness and attacked Adora, signaling the undead army to attack us. However, Adora effortlessly deflected her sister's initial attack and unleashed a barrage of sun bolts that decimated most of the undead army, giving us enough room to breathe for a moment before Mirellia pointed to the wall, signaling for us to attack.

"Press forward! Get to the wall!" she commanded before we all charged forward and started fighting our way through the undead horde while Ezili and Adora battled it out above us. For the first few minutes of the fight, Max and I resorted to using our shotguns while the others resorted to using melee weapons for the time being. Cocytus and Rem were both able to scatter most of the horde and provide protection for the soldiers behind them while Tanya and Visha provided aerial support by shooting any undead when they came in too close to the unprotected soldiers. As for Albedo, she was wildly slicing and decapitating any undead that came in close contact with her alongside Shalltear and Audrey. However, things took a turn for the rather dangerous when Max nearly ran out of shells and resorted to using his arm blade and the Peacekeeper to cut down most of the horde while I was forced to reserve my remaining ammo and punch my way through any undead with my gauntlets. As for Nikki and Zero Two, their energy weapons quickly made short work of the horde as we advanced towards the wall while Naofumi kept blocking attacks. But as we got closer and closer to the wall, the horde got more and more dense to the point where we could only move inch by inch as some of Mirellia's soldiers held them back with shields and the rest stabbed the undead with lances.

"Keep them back! Don't let them through!" Motoyasu yelled as we all struggled to keep the undead back while Itsuki and several other long range weapon users shot beyond the shields to thin out the horde.

"Everyone push back with all of your might when I give the signal! As source of thy power, the Queen orders thee: decipher the laws of creation! Surround my targets in a cage of ice and hold them there! All Drifa Icicle Prison!" Mirellia yelled before we all pushed the undead back at once just as large clusters of ice encased the undead in front of us over a large area while also preventing the ones in the back from pressing forward.

"A wise course of action, Milady! Allow me to thin out the herd! Meteor Fall!" Ainz shouted before a large meteor suddenly came hurtling through the sky, blinding us temporarily as Albedo got out in front.

"Wall of Jericho!" she yelled, causing a large wall made of green energy to suddenly sprout up from the ground just as the meteor slamming into the undead horde, decimating every last one of them all the way to the wall as the Walls of Jericho shielded us from the blast. Once the blast died down, Albedo dropped the Walls and we saw that the way was clear with only the Dark Enforcers left to fight us. Max immediately jumped out in front of the soldiers and met Malty head on as they both clashed swords with one another while Tanya took on Mary in an aerial battle and Elsa and Sylvia engaged Emilia and Narberal Gamma.

"You should've killed me back at the castle while you had me where you wanted, 'Chosen One'!" Malty said as she tried to stab Max, only for him to dodge her attack and punch her straight in the face, drawing a bit of blood.

"I could've... but that's not what your mother would've wanted..." Max replied, igniting Malty's rage as she rushed forward and wildly swung both swords.

"Do I look like I give a damn what my mother wants?!" she screamed as Clementine came up from behind Max and stabbed him in the side with one of her stilettos, piercing through his armor. Luckily, she wasn't able to do any more damage than that due to Naofumi charging in with his shield and ramming her while Raphtalia helped Max fight Malty until Nikki and the others arrived.

"Get going! We'll hold them off here!" Nikki yelled as she engaged me, Max, Subaru, Kazuma, Tanya, Ainz, and Naofumi made it to the wall. The only problem was that we had no way to get up to the top… or so I thought.

"Let's not delay any longer! Mass Fly!" Ainz shouted before an aura surrounded all of us except for Tanya and we started floating upwards. As we were on our way up, my only thoughts were what would happen if we couldn't stop Ichigo here and now. The last thing that I wanted was to lose a friend today, whether it be Max or Ichigo. But I was also concerned that Ichigo might not want to be saved, even if what she was doing wasn't right. I didn't know what Ezili had told her, but I was hoping that she would see reason.

"Hiro. You good?" Max asked, bringing me back to reality.

"I'm fine. It's just..." I started to say.

"We'll save her. I promise," Max replied, prompting me to give him a thumbs-up in response before we reached the top of the wall where the rain was pouring and Ichigo was waiting with her right arm morphed into a sword and an angry look on her face.

"Took you long enough," Ichigo said as she walked to the side, scraping the tip of her sword across the ground as she kept her eyes on us.

"Ichigo, listen! You need to stop for a minute and look around at what's happening! You're hurting innocent people!" I said.

"And yet, you stand beside criminals, murderers, and devils. All led by HIM," Ichigo replied, pointing to Max as everyone prepared themselves for a fight.

"Ezili is only using you to further her own agenda, Ichigo. She wants to destroy the multiverse and reign over what remains and she'll get rid of you once she has what she wants. We're trying to help you!" Max argued, only for Ichigo to scoff at his words.

"Help? Like how you 'helped' Hiro and Zero Two by taking them away from their home? Their family? Ezili told me what you did to them. You stole them from us. Brainwashed them. All so you could add them to your own personal army and destroy whatever you wish… Killing you is the only way to undo the damage that you've caused," she said.

"I'm afraid that you've been horribly misinformed. The people you fight alongside have done nothing but cause pain and misery to others just for their own gain. If you continue down this path, you won't like where it will lead…" Ainz said.

"Enough talk. It's time to end this for good," Ichigo snarled. As much as I wanted to try and talk her out of fighting, I could see that a fight was unavoidable either way, as did the others since they readied their weapons and waited for her to make the first move. Without any warning, Ichigo suddenly darted forward and knocked Naofumi backwards before she clashed swords with Max and created spider legs to combat Ainz and Subaru while she created shields to protect her from any shots that Tanya took as she flew around to get a better shot. As the rain was falling and lightning lit up the sky above, I was able to fire off a stickybomb that stuck to Ichigo's leg before it exploded and threw her off balance, giving Naofumi a chance to trap her in a Shield Prison. However, the Prison didn't hold together for long as Ichigo sliced through the metal with ease and tore it apart before she created a gatling cannon and started firing at Tanya while she created a shield on her other arm to defend herself against Ainz. While she was distracted, Kazuma disappeared into the shadows to try and flank Ichigo, but as she got Ainz away from her, she grabbed the seemingly invisible Kazuma by the neck and threw him against a pile of stones, knocking him unconscious while me, Subaru, and Max hung back for a minute to rethink our strategy.

"OK, this isn't really going like we thought it would, is it?" Subaru asked.

"Not really. Are you having any visions? Do you know how this fight ends?" Max asked. For a brief second, Subaru remained silent as Ainz, Naofumi, and Tanya kept fighting Ichigo. However, a shocked and frightened look came over his face just as Ichigo created a grappling arm and grabbed Tanya before she started pummeling her in the face, making Tanya drop her rifle before Ichigo tossed her aside.

"I... I can't see anything past this point... How..." Subaru said as Max tried to conjure up any sort of elemental ability. But all he could create were a few weak flames, which was admittedly better than before but still wasn't enough for him to work with. Even worse, Ichigo was getting more and more aggressive by the second while Naofumi's shields were starting to become ineffective and Ainz was starting to get pushed around a little, though thankfully not too much at the moment.

"Shit... we're gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way," Max said before he drew both his arm blade and the Peacekeeper before he leapt back into battle right as Ichigo fired off a plasma shot that hit right the area in front of Subaru, which knocked him backwards and knocked him unconscious. As things escalated even further, Ichigo tossed Max back toward me and shattered Naofumi's shield back into its base form with a chained mace and then grabbed him by the neck before tossing him away so she could focus her efforts on Ainz, who was still standing despite Ichigo's relentless assault with only a sword in hand.

"I must give you credit where it is due, Ichigo: you are a capable warrior. I can see why Ezili was so taken with you. Nevertheless, you have no chance of defeating me. Many before you have tried and failed," Ainz said as he forced Ichigo to her knees. However, Ichigo's eyes suddenly flared purple before she punched Ainz so hard that his ribcage visibly fractured, shocking us.

"You put too much confidence in yourself," Ichigo said before Ainz summoned a few bolts of Dragon Lightning and fired them straight at her, only for the bolts to dissipate before they could even hit her. Ainz quickly followed it up by conjuring up an uncountable number of bone spears that he launched at her, but Ichigo incinerated every last one with a laser blast before she sprang forward and punched him in the jaw hard enough to crack it and launch him backwards, knocking him out. Both me and Max were appalled that Ainz Ooal Gown, basically the strongest and most invulnerable guy out of all of us, got easily tossed aside by Ichigo, a girl wearing a high-tech suit that also had the power of dark magic that was somehow stronger than he was. But both of us couldn't worry about that right now. It was down to just the two of us and we had to do something. Unfortunately, as we rushed back into battle, Ichigo let out a scream of anger and knocked Max to the ground before she tried to stab Max in the head, only for Max's helmet to block her attack before he kicked her off and I followed it up by blasting her with my shotgun. But Ichigo refused to stay down and grappled onto Max's helmet before she ripped it off and fired a high-powered laser that Max blocked with his left gauntlet, only for the laser to tear through his armor, destroy his arm blade, and char his arm, making him yell in pain before he narrowly blocked another laser blast that did the same thing to his right arm. I quickly rushed back in and unleashed a flurry of punches to keep Ichigo occupied as Max weakly picked up the Peacekeeper and tried to use it to defend himself. However, Ichigo managed to get in a good shot that knocked it out of his hand and over the ledge before she knocked me away and fired another high-powered laser that almost tore through the back of Max's armor if I hadn't leapt back in and punched Ichigo repeatedly. As I was fighting, I could feel my horns and fangs growing as my anger rose with each punch as Ichigo tried to block each of my attacks.

"You have to stop this! There isn't any virtue in any of what you're doing!" I yelled as I kept Ichigo pinned down. However, as I was punching Ichigo in the back, I failed to notice that her chest was glowing until she unleashed a powerful kinetic burst that launched me backward into a pile of stones. As I struggled to get back to my feet, Ichigo let out an angry scream as she formed a large sword on her left arm.

"ENOUGH OF THIS MADNESS! IF YOU MUST DIE, THEN SO BE IT!" Ichigo screamed before she lunged straight at me. However, in the span of only a few seconds, Max quickly pushed me out of the way and put himself directly in the path of Ichigo's wrath, flashing me a quick somber smile before Ichigo's sword tip came bursting out of his chest, making him yell out in pain as blood poured out of his mouth and chest and he struggled to get free. The pure shock of the situation left me completely afraid and speechless as Ichigo briefly held him off the ground, some of his blood splashing onto her face. Although he was able to snap the sword off of Ichigo's arm, Ichigo suddenly grabbed Max by his neck and started punching him repeatedly until his face was all busted up and forced him to the edge of the wall. Max quickly grabbed his shotgun with whatever strength he had left and aimed it right at Ichigo, but she dodged the last shot he had and sprouted spider legs that she used to stab him in the lungs, making him drop his shotgun before she grabbed him by his head and made her look her in the eye. Then, with one final roundhouse kick, Ichigo sent Max over the edge right as I got back up and pushed her out of the way, even though I was already too late as he fell off the wall, his eyes staring at me in sadness and disbelief until he disappeared under the mist. Tears started running down my face as I stared down at the mist-filled valley below, but my sadness quickly turned to rage as I yelled with vicious fury and pinned Ichigo to the ground again, only for her to knock me back with her plasma cannon. I barely had enough strength left to fight anymore and Ichigo could only stare down at me in disappointment and anger as she took a breath and stood up.

"It's done. It's over," Ichigo finally said as I struggled to get back up. But she slammed her foot on my chest and held me down as I started crying.

"Why? WHY?!" I yelled in anguish.

"I saved all of us! Why can't you see that?! Why are you so damn desperate to fight me?! He's the one who caused all of this! I HAD TO STOP HIM!"

"He wasn't a threat to anyone! Ezili's been filling your head with all that poison and you just choose to blindly follow her!"

"And who were you choosing to follow Hiro? A man who has tipped the balance of the multiverse far out of proportion! This whole crisis started because of him and everything will burn unless we bring it back to order! Why can't you understand that I'm trying to keep us all from dying?!" Ichigo yelled.

"This is not... gonna go the way you think! Ezili is just using you! When everything is almost ash, she'll turn on you and dispose of you just like the rest of us!" I yelled in reply, only for Ichigo to scoff as she picked up Max's helmet.

"You're delusional. We'll talk more when you come to your senses," she said before she flew off while I laid on the stone wall in defeat until Ainz and the others finally got back up, safe for Kazuma.

"Damn... she hit a lot harder than I... Wait, where's Max?" Tanya asked. All that I could do was sob as Naofumi helped me up.

"He's gone... I couldn't..." I tried to say before I completely broke down. The others did their best to try and calm me down as Ainz helped us slowly descend the wall into the valley where Mirellia's army was waiting for us, the undead having mysteriously vanished along with the Dark Enforcers. As we finally touched down, Nikki and Zero Two came walking up to us looking a bit worn out with their outfits looking a bit torn.

"Hey, we heard all that commotion on top of the wall. What exactly went on up..." Zero Two started to ask before she noticed that I was crying and Max wasn't with us. Unfortunately, Nikki also noticed and a tear came to her eye as she slowly put together what was wrong.

"Hiro... where is Max?" she asked as tears ran down her face while I crumpled to my knees.

"I'm sorry..." I said as Nikki dropped to her knees and started crying like I was.

"H-he can't be... Please, God, no..." Nikki tearfully said as the others tried to console us as the rain continued to pour all around us.

To Be Continued...