Hello everyone once again, this is Saint with his first Update on this 2020!
And yes, I know I'm very late…sorry about that. A ton of things mixed together, from responsibilities to personal problems, that made me write almost nothing during January, despite OverGamer being the easiest to write out of my current stories. And then my birthday near the end of the month delayed me even more, otherwise, this would have been done before it ended…once again, I'm very sorry about that.
But you're not here to hear me ramble excuses, I'm sure, but to read random 'Evil' shenanigans. Enjoy the chaos now!
And as always, filling this story's TvTropes' page is greatly appreciated!
Disclaimer: Neither SAO nor Overlord belong to me. I'm just mixing the characters and plots for fun because I'm weird like that.
Chapter 6: A Race for the Storm Blade!
September 5th, 2023. Netherworld Tower, Japan. Lower Corridors, 07:25…
Kirigaya Kazuto didn't like the fact that his first worry in the morning wasn't that his so-called 'enemy' had apparently embarked on a cliché quest to find the country's most legendary treasures and gather them to obtain enough power to destroy him and 'save the world'.
He was pretty sure that any normal person would consider that the biggest thing to be worried about…even if a normal person realistically would never have to worry about such a thing.
But no, he was the fucking Overlord, which meant that his first worry in the morning, besides getting a slightly clingy Keiko off his arm (She had started sneaking on his bed lately, to 'keep him warm as practice', something he had no doubt was Gnarl's suggestion) was being told apparently one of his newest 'subordinates' had been left alone for a few days deep within his evil underground tower doing something dangerous with no supervision.
"Please, Kayaba, enlighten me once again, because I'm sure you were supposed to be some sort of genius last time we talked…why did you think it was a good idea to essentially let Ryoutarou have free reign on the abandoned Evil Alchemy Lab, of all places?"
Forget the fact that alchemy had been an actual thing in the past or that they had an abandoned EVIL lab of the stuff on the tower whose door wasn't even locked, one didn't even need to know what the things within did to deduce it was extremely dangerous!
"I…was tired, and assumed he would give up and grow tired of it after an hour or less?" lamely confessed the creator of FullDive with a small shrug, having the decency to look at least a bit ashamed under his 'evil hood'. "I swear, I was the most surprised when that random Minion told us he hadn't been out for a couple of days and that they had been bringing him breakfast there…"
"…great. Just, great…Akihiko-san, you know I half-respect you being the only moderately 'sane' person here despite the fact that you were about to become one of the greatest mass murderers in modern history before I stopped you, but I swear, if we find that guy has given himself some incurable disease or accidentally made a new biological weapon, I will…feed you to…"
Whatever threat the young Master of All Evil was going to deliver died in his throat as he and Kayaba entered the alchemy lab proper and stared at what was inside.
The few Minions going around weren't anything strange, even if a few of them were carrying vials filled with multicolored liquids or strange unidentifiable things that they knew shouldn't be trusted to the stupid creatures.
An array of strange creatures standing around, either being poked by more Minions, having a few riding them or, in a couple cases they didn't want to think about, posing dramatically with them, however, was much more attention-grabbing.
Disbelief filling them, Kayaba and Kazuto walked through the bizarre spectacle, the genius' eyes stopping over what looked like a centaur with a lizard's head and claws instead of hands looking stoic while two Minions jumped on his back and cheered something along the lines of 'Evil Horsey!'. The Overlord, for his part, found his attention drawn to what looked like a pink alligator with wings and a horn that was lazily chewing on a Minion while other two were pulling on his legs to try and 'save' him, despite the obvious fact that most of his upper body had already been more than smashed.
A small explosion near the deepest part of the room drew the pair's attention, their gazes moving in time to witness a tall and imposing form of dark-gold color rising from a cloud of smoke, humanoid and imposing, like an Olympic Athlete with a body carved of steel-like muscle. Its face was vaguely insect-like, and two glowing red horns grew from the sides of its head, giving it an almost demonic appearance.
Standing just before it, Tsuboi Ryoutarou cursed with a disappointed look in his face, now wearing what looked like a red and black robe that just screamed 'dark magician' to anyone knowledgeable in modern fantasy media.
"From the depths of the darkness, I have been born by your power, father!" declared the creature with a deep and malevolent voice, clearly filled with intelligence far above any of the other beings in the room, even though the dark aura quickly vanished. "Now, please, give me a name so I can scream out at my enemies to fill them with terror as I end their lives in your name and that of the Overlord!"
"Eh, sure, your name is…Jerry." waved it off the man of the bandana as he looked down at the book he had apparently left open in a nearby table, clearly disinterested as he checked the notes. "Now go and get some clothes or something while I try to figure out what I did wrong…"
"As you command, father! The Forces of Good shall all fear the might of JERRY!" roared the newly baptized creature before it ran out of the room past the stunned duo, followed by a few Minions that seemed to think he was amusing enough. "For the Glory of the Overlord!"
"For the Overlord!" chorused the smaller creatures as they rushed after the naked monster through the hallways.
"…did that just happen?" asked Kayaba to no one in particular as he stared at where the bizarre group had just run off into the hallway.
Kazuto decided to take the more direct and active action of walking up to the mumbling Ryoutarou, trying to keep the 'calm and serious' façade of an evil Overlord before his 'subordinate', despite how much he wants to scream at that moment.
"…Ryoutarou?"
"Oh! Hey boss!" greeted the man as he abandoned his mumbling with a massive grin, before hesitating as a nervous look appeared on his face, as if he had just remembered who he was talking with. "Ehm, I mean…great Overlord-sama? Sho-should I bend my knee or…?"
"You're in your…new working area, I guess, so formalities would only delay your new…evil duties, at least while in here." improvised the boy with what he hoped sounded like sound evil logic, before gesturing around. "I see you have been…busy."
"Oh, you bet! This place was a bit of a mess, but I found the journal from the previous alchemist and after 12 hours of nonstop reading I managed to device how Evil Alchemy works!" proudly declared Ryoutarou as he showed the strange book which, for some oddly convenient reason, was fully written in Japanese and perfectly conserved despite being probably hundreds of years old. "After that I started drawing some Transmutation Circles, getting recipes and measures, grabbing the ingredients that were in the shelves and…well, I started doing stuff."
"…did he seriously just go off half-assed ideas inspired by manga and an old book and managed to do REAL alchemy?!" mentally screamed Kayaba while his conceptions of the World were shattered…again.
"…I can see that, yeah." commented the young Overlord while staring at the monsters around the room, and their varied state from looking apathetic, casually killing Minions or mingling weirdly with the goblin-like critters. "Are you…in control of these things?"
"Eh, yeah, more or less." waved if off the man of the bandana while once again checking something in the book with a frown. "All of these chimeras seem to see their creator, which is me in this case, as some sort of authority figure or 'Father', if you wanna get poetic. And because they're all mostly animals they obey quite easily…in fact, Jerry back there was my first attempt to create an 'intelligent' one…"
"…is there any reason why you gave him such a…stupidly unfitting name, by the way?" numbly questioned Kayaba while ignoring the annoyed look Kazuto gave him at his words, even though Ryoutarou's only response was to look sheepish.
"I…was a bit disappointed by how he turned out and I had been watching this American cartoon about a cat and a mouse last night while having dinner (Internet down here is amazing, by the way!), so it was the first thing that came to mind." explained him with a depressed look while pointing at one of the 'crystals' that had been installed through most key points of the Netherworld Tower…and that he had apparently been using to have Cardinal stream some television for him.
The worst part was, he couldn't even blame him for it…he had done so dozens of times since they finished connecting the Servers to all the 'techno-magic' systems they had created.
It could get boring between hours when you were down there planning 'world domination', after all.
"…do I even want to know why he was a 'disappointment'?" asked the young Overlord despite his better judgment.
"I was trying to create a cute Monster Girl, but I got him instead!" cursed Ryoutarou as if it was the greatest disgrace in the world, not noticing when Kazuto was unable to resist the urge to double-facepalm behind him while Kayaba suddenly seemed in need of a drink. "But I won't give up! The great Klein-sama will crack all the secrets of evil alchemy and create his own harem of Monster Girls!"
"…'Klein-sama'?" grumbled the black-haired Heir of Evil with a raised eyebrow, while trying very hard not to think about the second part of his new subordinate's statement.
"Oh, it's the name I use when playing MMOs with my pals. I figured, since I'm now one of the bad guys I can't go around announcing my real name to the world, and if my boss had an evil name already then I should use one too!"
"…that's…sensible, I suppose." mumbled the young Overlord while suppressing a sigh, remembering that he had no room to talk given how 'complex' his own 'evil name' was. "Just…make sure those things stay under control and don't make too many, okay?"
"As you command, boss! This was the last 'practice batch' anyway, the Minions already took most of them to the monster pens before you arrived." explained the new 'Evil Alchemist' while walking up to a nearby and newer-looking transmutation circle that looked…amazingly complex, if he had actually been the one to draw it. "From now I'm going to try and refine the process I used to make Jerry…and this time I won't stop until I'm able to create cute monster girls!"
"Yeah, you…do that. Just…don't blow up anything, okay?"
Having said those words, Kazuto turned around and walked out of the room while trying to ignore the headache that was already forming. After a few more seconds of hesitation, Kayaba joined him.
"…we have monster pens?"
"Apparently, we do. And don't look at me that way, I may have lived here for a few years, but a lot of that was grumbling and complaining about by 'evil education' and not exactly exploring or asking about every twisted thing there is in this tower." growled the black-haired boy as they walked through the dark and sinister corridors that made up most of his evil fortress. "Now quick, let's go and find Asada-san and Casals-kun. Right now."
"Ehm…any special reason for the sudden hurry?"
"I left Ryoutarou alone for two days and now he's an Evil Alchemist and we have several chimeric monsters to add at our Evil Legions of Darkness." dryly commented the young Overlord while Cardinal informed them that one of their 'targets' was on the nearby training room. "Given how my life has been going so far, I want to find those two before they end up making us look even more like some Super Sentai Villain Team or…"
BRRAAANG!
A sound that sounded surprisingly like a gunshot if it had been fired from the throat of a dying cat and the sight of a grinning Minion's head exploding into burning flesh greeted the pair as they entered the training room, freezing them in their tracks.
"…good shot, girlie. You certainly have a talent for this." praised Gnarl's chuckling form from the opposite side of the room, standing beside a dark figure from where black smoke seemed to emerge.
"Heh…heheheh…I can't believe it! To think it would feel so cathartic…and to wield this power…it's as if my whole life till now has been nothing but a lie…"
Breaking out into another fit of dark giggles, the form of Asada Shino immediately drew Kazuto's attention…and mainly because, besides the obvious psychological changes, the girl looked remarkably different.
Namely, her glasses were nowhere to be seen, her eyes and hair had turned an electric blue (…was there actual bluish energy coursing through it at intervals?), and she was wearing a black and form-fitting suit and grey leather armor that he was pretty sure no Minion would have been capable of making, so he had to wonder where it had come from.
The most dramatic change, though, was probably the fierce and almost shark-like smile she was sporting after having clearly blown up the heads of several Minions with…her hand?
Which was…twisted in the classical childish 'gun' gesture and…glowing with black energy…
What the fuck had Gnarl done?!
Before he could scream that question out loud, however, the girl's eyes finally caught sight of him, widening before her previous look vanished as if it had never been there, replaced by a cheerful (And quite beautiful, if he was being honest) smile as she raised her hand and waved his way, as if she was suddenly seeing something that brought nothing but joy to her existence.
Also, her hair and eyes returned to normal as soon as she stopped channeling that weird dark smoke-power or…whatever the hell that was.
"Oh, Overlord-sama! Good morning!"
"…good morning, Asada-san…" carefully replied Kazuto while Kayaba walked up to one of the headless corpses and touched the stump where the head used to be, mumbling about impossibly perfect burns. "Are you…okay?"
"Better than ever! I feel like a new person, in fact! Let me personally thank you for letting me serve you, Overlord Kirito…I will follow you until the end, no matter what." grinning sinisterly as soon as she said that, the girl once again raised her hand in that childish 'handgun' gesture, as if she was remembering something funny. "Also, please…just call me Sinon."
"Isn't she amazing, Master? Gotta say, I had some doubts, but she turned out even better than expected!" boasted Gnarl while looking quite proud of himself.
…oh yeah, he was totally going to have a LONG talk with the Hellspawn as soon as he could. Honestly, at this point, he actually feared whatever he could find if he went looking for Vassago, but he knew he had to do it.
Being the Overlord was getting really fucking tiring…
It was still early morning as the sun started warming the fields of the countryside, near a small mountain. Nothing but nature could be seen in every direction, one of those areas that people rarely visited in the modern age despite how many they still were even in a country as advanced as Japan was.
Still, it was exactly that desolation what allowed the Heroine Leafa to be standing there, surrounded by many destroyed trees, patches of scorched earth and burned rocks.
Surveying her surroundings, the girl empowered by the remains of Amaterasu's Divine Energy declared a single thing.
"…practicing my powers is terrible for the environment, isn't it?"
"Eh, it's fine, partner! We're getting you ready to save the world from the Overlord and his forces of darkness, after all! A few dead trees and pieces of obliterated landscape can be forgiven by the Greater Good!"
"I'm sure many associations that care about protecting the ecosystem wouldn't agree, but sure…" sighing, the blonde heroine stared at the rising sun from behind her half-mask, the light of the star not damaging her eyes in the slightest as she observed its majestic glory…and realized something. "Wait…it's already morning."
"Yes, I believe the fact that the sun is coming out makes that very clear…ah, man, doesn't it feel amazing? We're actually recovering power just from basking on its rays! Amaterasu-sama's blessings are truly amazing~"
"Tha-that's not the issue, Sanrei! I…we came here to train last night…" looking down at her hands with clear confusion, Leafa bit her lips. "Why am I not tired at all?"
"Ehm, you have a piece of Divine Essence inside you now?" commented Sanrei as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, making the teenager blink in shock. "What were you expecting? You already went to top-human condition with my power alone, but the Boost we received from the Mirror was the literal power of a Goddess, Suguha. I told you already, human limitations have very little hold over you now…they will less and less as we collect the remaining Treasures too."
"I…so…I'm becoming, less human? Is that what you're saying?"
"Well, technically? But hey, you should be proud! How many people can say they get to become Pseudo-Gods to save the world from Evil?! Why, it's probably one of the greatest honors ever…!"
Ignoring the ramblings in which her so-called partner sank into, like usual, Kirigaya Suguha canceled her transformation, slowly accepting what she had just been told and that, in a way, she already knew.
Like Sanrei had said, she had realized she had turned quite a bit 'superhuman' when she first got her powers from him. Even without being transformed, suddenly everything she did in life had seemed much easier, from kendo to math, all her actions seemed oddly sharper, more refined…
It was easy to ignore, to dismiss, to try and focus on other things…at least at first. Then, she had started seeing her grades go up at a shocking rate and her sempais from the Kendo Club lay beaten at her feet time and time again. She had even won the nationals and had more than realizing that she was no longer playing on the same league as the rest…but then the Overlord had resurged, she had tasted his power firsthand and had been forced to push it all to the back of her mind in order to seriously prepare for her supposedly fated battle.
Now, though? Even there, in her 'human' form, she could feel the rays of the morning sun invigorating her, as if she hadn't just spent the entire night swinging her blade and training the powers of the Sun to obey her. The small aches and pains that she had developed from the whole ordeal were already being washed away by the dawn of the new day, as if they had never existed.
What was she now? Part-God? Did that make her a demigoddess or something like that? And…what would happen when she got another of the Regalia? When she got all 3 of them?
Would she even still be Suguha at all? Or would she have become something else…?
It was scary to think about but, despite that…she couldn't stop. It was no longer just about her big brother, wherever he was…saving Yuuki Asuna had made her realize that, especially when she had delivered the girl safe and sound to her family.
The Overlord needed to die so a world where families weren't broken by some horrible whim of Evil could exist. Humanity had enough problems by themselves without a literal nigh-cartoonish incarnation of everything they thought was wrong with the world trying to take over it all. Especially being as deadly as he was evil.
She knew, that if he was ever allowed to come even close to the level of his predecessor, the one she had seen within the Mirror's vision, that she would never be able to beat him. That the world would be consumed by darkness.
And that's why, no matter what, she was going to see this through till the end. Because, by a twisted joke of Fate, the destiny of the world had come to rest on her shoulders. And despite how much anime hyped it, a teenager that was still finishing middle-school wasn't someone who should have such burden or knew how to deal with it better than the endless more capable, trained or competent people filling the planet.
Beggars couldn't be choosers, though, so the world had to make do with her, and she would do her best to live up to it or die trying…quite literally, in fact. She was sure the Overlord wouldn't leave anything of her behind if she lost, after all.
But, maybe, if she managed against all odds to emerge victorious…maybe she could finally find Kazuto. And when that happened, she was going to hit him for having been an idiot and never calling at all, before hugging him so hard she may crush his ribs and telling him how she never wanted him to go away again.
In the end, that was her final goal, after all, and nothing would ever make her waver in…
"…and the prestige that comes from protecting everything that's good in the world! Also, weren't you gonna have breakfast with your mom today?"
"…crap, I totally forgot!" screamed the young kendoka before transforming once again and shooting like a literal flash of light back towards her home at Kawagoe. "Shit, shit, one day she's home resting and I almost mess up preparing breakfast for her!"
Even as his partner panicked and got them back to her abode in a few instants, Sanrei the Spirit couldn't help but let out the mental equivalent to a chuckle.
Truly, the girl had her heart in all the right places. While she was not ideal, she truly was a better candidate for being Mankind's Last Hero than he could have realistically hoped for, especially with how lost humanity was lately.
Hopefully, once she had mastered the Sun and they collected the Sword, she could become able to relax.
The Power of the Storm would certainly get them one step closer to slaying the Overlord, after all…even if probably would send her a step further away from her Humanity.
But that was okay, in the end.
All could be sacrificed for the Greater Good of the World, after all.
It was already midday by the time everyone had gathered on the Netherworld Tower's Throne Room and, despite the seriousness of the situation, Kazuto couldn't help but feel that everything was a bit…too silly.
Even if one ignored the Minions, which already looked like the dumber cousins of some Gremlin-reject, doing their usual stupidities around the room, now one could add Silica happily leaning against her throne and humming a happy song about the glory of Evil as she petted the now Doberman-sized and very blue Pina (Why had nobody found that weirder?) while Gnarl nodded in approval from the other side.
Also, Ryoutarou…or Klein, he supposed, looking weirdly proud of being at the head of his small monster horde, each one weirder than the last, with a now armor-wearing Jerry standing proudly alongside his 'father', chanting about the glory of the Overlord.
Shino…or Sinon now, as she insisted, may have made for a more menacing and 'serious' visage (Despite dressing up like some evil fantasy female) if she wasn't giddily making the 'handgun' gesture with her fingers and looking oddly proud of it, as if it was the greatest accomplishment in the world, nevermind the way smile toothily every time she noticed his gaze on her, puffing out her chest as if to seem more dignified (Or something).
And to top it all off, there was Vassago…or PoH, as he had humbly asked to be called, dressed up in dark light armor with a leather bag on his side filled with Gods knew what that he had gotten from somewhere in the tower, with a black poncho-like hood covering most of his face and what looked like some demonic kitchen knife he had pilfered from the armory. Along with a crossbow and several bolts he was pretty sure were poisoned. With a freaking skull-mask to finish the edgy getup. As in, the thing was actually made of some beast's bones, if Gnarl was to be believed.
With him, the Overlord himself, sitting on the mighty Throne of Evil while Kayaba stood stoically behind him in his full 'Heathcliff' regalia, they all looked like some bad parody of a Tokusatsu villain team.
It was both sad and terrifying, to know that they kinda had as much destructive potential as one of those, perhaps even more.
"Okay…now that we're all here, we can begin." declared Kazuto with his best 'cold and evil' voice, which was amazingly convincing even in his own ears. "Yui, show us what Cardinal has found."
"As you command, Overlord-sama." declared the virtual girl while materializing near the center of the room with her usual monotone, making those who hadn't seen her before blink in surprise as she made several techno-magical projections to appear floating above the room's core. "As you may already know, the Heroine Leafa, a direct threat for our master's plans of unknown origin, was recently seen entering Ise Shrine and talking with the Supreme Priestess. She was guided inside and then, after a while, she exited it and vanished into the sky exhibiting powers she supposedly didn't have before."
"Turning herself into light, huh?" mumbled Vassago while raising an eyebrow behind his mask at the video playing before them at that moment. "A lot of people would dismiss it as just a fancy-looking anime trick nowadays…but if she can actually do that, the implications are honestly quite terrifying."
"Few things in the Universe are faster than light, after all." added Shino while subconsciously reaching up to adjust glasses she was no longer wearing, freezing for a moment before continuing as if nothing had happened (Despite the small blush appearing on her face). "If she really has achieved such level, then there is next to nothing we could do against her…"
"Thankfully, Cardinal has determined she most likely isn't able to fully control this power." explained the former MHCP-001 of Sword Art Online as a few more images were shown. "If our deductions are right, she gained this power from one of the 3 most revered and famous treasures of Japan, the Yata-no-Kagami, a legendary mirror heavily tied with the Goddess Amaterasu. If so, this divine power clearly wasn't meant to be wielded by a human, which means…"
"She can't use it to its full potential! So she must be in the middle of some crazy training-arc to get herself up to snuff with it!" finished Ryoutarou with an excited tone. "She probably, like, can't see anything at all when she turns into light right now, that's why she had to stop when she came out of the temple before continuing upwards! So she can't use it in battle right now!"
"That's…yes, that's a surprisingly accurate deduction, the same one at which Cardinal arrived." commented Yui with a raised eyebrow. "How did you arrive at it, Klein-san?"
"It's exactly how it would go in a Shonen Manga." nodded the man of the bandana as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe, his creatures seemingly praising him for it.
Given that he had been technically right, nobody decided to comment on the…'logic' behind his deduction.
"…be that as it may, yes, the so-called Heroine must be currently trying to master the new powers she had obtained, probably in a hopeless attempt to slay our Master." Yui actually stopped for a moment to let the Minions laugh evilly at that, as if it had been the funniest joke ever, before continuing. "Therefore, Cardinal has suggested that the best thing we could do is act now and get ahead of her by taking control of her next objective before she can."
"Hoh, good thinking. Instead of acting like the retarded villains of the stories our good Klein just cited, we're actually going to be proactive and NOT give our enemy time to get stronger before attacking." chuckling darkly, Vassago clearly seemed amused by the whole thing. "Your pragmatism and evilness truly are worthy of respect, Overlord Kirito."
"…thanks for the praises, PoH, as unneeded as they were." casually replied the black-haired boy while resisting the inherent urge to scream how it had been Kayaba's stupid System who had come to that outcome, not him, and cursing that he now had to roll with it to not seem out of place. "If little Leafa-chan is truly going after the Three Sacred Treasures, then us taking the other two for ourselves would obviously be the smartest thing to do. And, once I have crushed her beneath my feet, taking the Mirror from her to complete the set."
"Then, which one should we be going for, master?" asked Shino with an eagerness that was slightly creepy, her eyes almost shining at the prospect of proving her loyalty. "Is it the Jewel? Or perhaps…?"
"The answer should be obvious, Sinon. After all, 'Leafa-chan' made the terrible mistake of not even trying to do this discreetly and clearly didn't consider the consequences of letting us know that the Regalia are real." standing up, the dark smile on Kazuto's face was only half-fake, as the half-forgotten child in him twitched eagerly at what he was about to say. "And she did just so rudely destroy my sword during our first meeting, after all."
"…what are your orders then, Kirito-sama?" spoke Keiko (For the first time in the meeting) with a soft and devoted voice, looking up at him as if he was the only light in her life.
"Today, we make all the preparations we need…and, tomorrow, we march for Atsuta Shrine."
Several roars of approval coming from Minions and monsters alike filled the room and, for a moment, the young Overlord felt as if he truly belonged there, amongst the madness and evil that was now his life.
…Gods, he had become really messed up, hadn't he? Still, he needed to keep up the 'act', and make sure these idiots didn't actually threaten the world with their Evil (Or for their stupidity/desperation/amusement in the case of his human followers), so…
"Heh…Klein, prepare your monsters! We're going to need them to cause a lot of panic and I would prefer it if they didn't eat the Minions…too much."
"As you command, Overlord!" grinned Ryoutarou while giving out a thumbs-up.
"PoH, Sinon, go with Gnarl. He will get you up to speed with how the Minions organize…get yourself a 'team', mix them up however you want, I don't care, but be sure to get a group of them that you're comfortable commanding into a possible combat situation."
"Your will shall be done, my lord." nodded Gnarl as he hopped down the steps of the Throne and headed down a corridor. "Come along, humans. Knowing the Minions, quite a long and stupidly tiring time awaits us."
"Heh, well then…I guess It's showtime." darkly chuckled the foreigner while turning around, almost seeming to melt into the shadows as he walked after the Hellspawn.
"I won't disappoint you, Overlord. That, I swear." added Sinon before she spun in place and hurried after her fellow servants of evil.
"Hmmm…I like that girl." laughing in a way that made Kazuto feel strangely nervous, Keiko stood up and gave him an adorable smile before casually mounting on Pina's back, the monstrous cat mewling weirdly as his owner pet it. "I will be up in my room resting and…thinking about some things, Kirito-sama. If you need company, know I will be waiting for you!"
With those words said in the most adorable tone she could manage, the youngest human inhabitant of the Netherworld Tower let her strange 'ride' carry her out of the Throne Room, the black-haired boy staring after his 'mistress' all the while.
Was it him or was she growing oddly beautiful lately…?
"…well, that was amazingly convincing of you." commented Kayaba once they were alone in the room, taking off his hood and giving him a deadpan look. "Any ideas how you're gonna prevent your forces attacking a very famous cultural spot to turn into a massacre?"
"Believe it or not…I have a plan. A very stupid one, but one nonetheless." sighed Kazuto while feeling the beginnings of a headache now that he wasn't 'acting' anymore. "Now, if you will excuse me, I gotta talk with Klein before spending the next hours refining it to hope this doesn't go horribly wrong."
"…what are you going to talk with him for?"
"If my life keeps following the same old clichés, the Heroine is totally gonna show up just before we get the sword, training incomplete be dammed." explained the young Overlord as he walked off his Throne and headed towards the corridors. "And I need to see if he can even the playing field…not gonna let her be the only one able to fly anymore…"
And with that ominous declaration, as he was left alone in the Throne Room, Kayaba Akihiko wondered if perhaps things hadn't already spiraled way too out of control.
September 6th, 2023. Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Atsuta Shrine, 10:30…
"Well…here I am. Man, mom and dad are right, I must be letting the whole SAO thing affect me too much, if I'm recurring to praying at this point…"
Mumbling to herself, Shinozaki Rika still walked through the outer edges of the famous Atsuta Shrine, one of Japan's most popular spots for those looking at visiting 'mystical' spots. Or were just hardcore fans of myths.
Then again, the reason may also be related by how the not-far-away Grand Ise Shrine had recently been visited by the so-called 'Heroine' Leafa, the enemy of the evil 'Overlord Kirito'. Which had led to quite a lot of zealots to rise and many skeptical to wonder if it wasn't a sign that times were not only changing, but that old legends were actually true.
Regardless, the brown-haired girl wasn't there because she believed that maybe the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was actually real and was being kept deeper into the shrine, on the areas the public had no access to. At least, not entirely.
Sure, the chance that maybe the legendary sword that Susanoo had extracted from the corpse of an 8-headed snake-dragon was lying not far from her was cool, but in truth, this was just another of the many attempts Rika had been doing to try and not feel as 'lost' as she did.
She was, after all, one of the people with the doubtful 'luck' of having been part of the SAO Incident. The girl could still remember the despair she had felt during those short 2 hours or so after hearing Kayaba's 'Tutorial' before waking up with extreme confusion in a hospital bed, her worried-sick family arriving not long after that.
Then, the news, the disbelief and the uncertainty and people going crazy in denial, despite the supposed 'proofs' of the contrary. In an ironic way, she had thought, she probably owed her life to that same evil Overlord everyone either feared or denied the existence of, because she was pretty sure she wouldn't have been able to clear the game without dying. At most, she may have become a supporter, like a blacksmith or similar, a role she usually played in the few online games she had tried in the past.
And despite that, despite the fact that she should feel happy and relieved that she hadn't gone through all of that, ever since she woke up she had felt…oddly depressed. The therapist at whom her parents had made her go said it was just normal to have some lasting trauma for having thought she was in a hopeless situation and that she was going to die, but deep inside the girl felt as if that wasn't it.
As strange as it sounded, Rika couldn't help but feel she had lost something important that day, something that would have changed her life and that she would never be able to get back, by having escaped that Death Game before it even began.
It was crazy, senseless and very stupid, really, but she couldn't help but feel that way, and not knowing why was driving her nuts. It had gotten to the point that recently her grades had been a bit affected by it and she had to make some complicated excuses for her parents to not discover why. Maybe it was silly, but she really didn't want to go to the therapist again…she had gotten more than enough whispers and second looks from her classmates even after stopping the first time.
Stupid immature idiots…as if it was her fault that she got trapped that day! She hadn't even gotten to do anything there, yet they acted as if she was a bomb about to go off sometimes…
That was why she had started doing weirdly random things like the one she was currently doing, trying to get her mind off that nagging feeling that she had missed out on something important in her life. First, she had tried to play videogames hardcore-style, without much success. Then she had tried her hand at cooking which…less than stellar results, and her mom telling her that she admired her enthusiasm but that she was not allowed in the kitchen again until she learned how to not set a frying pan on fire.
This now was her latest attempt at finding a hobby that made her annoying brain calm down, visiting shrines. It went way slower than anything before, though, and had coincided hilariously with the time the now famous Leafa had appeared at Ise Shrine, so maybe it was a sign of Fate? Rika wasn't sure, but she knew that she could at least try and see what came out of it.
"Well, I'm here so I may as well pray to the Gods and the Sacred Sword…" muttered the teenager as she stopped on the furthest place the public was allowed to go, giving a quick look to the guards ensuring nobody crossed the barrier past which, on the distance, she could see the Honden, aka the most sacred building of the shrine-complex. "Gods in Heaven, hey, it's me, Rika. I know I'm not the most devoted believer, but, if you can hear me, perhaps you could help out with this uncertainty in my heart? Please? I hate feeling so lost and not know why…"
As expected, nobody answered her, and, despite knowing that wasn't really the point, the brown-haired girl wondered if perhaps she shouldn't be praying to the Overlord instead. After all, there was actual tangible proof of His existence, and he had kinda indirectly saved her life, hadn't he?
"Heh, sure, I already wasted the entire day coming here and there is class tomorrow, so what do I have to lose? Oh, Evil Overlord, could YOU lend me a hand to deal with…?"
Anything else Rika was about to think of during her 'prayer' was brutally interrupted by the noise generated when three different Netherworld Gates exploded from deep within the earth, two at her sides and one near where the screaming guards fell to the ground as it tore a section of the metallic fence they guarded apart.
Stunned and only vaguely realizing she had fallen on her ass from the shock, the psychologically lost teenager stared in a mix of wonder and horror as the eerie blue glow of the gates burned space itself and led hordes of Minions emerge, people already screaming and trying to flee the area doing so even faster upon seeing the goblin-like critters rushing out while laughing sinisterly.
The brown-haired girl, however, felt actual fear when some started emerging riding what could only be…monsters, like those emerged from some RPG or myths of old, strange chimeric beasts that growled, jumped or roared as one or more Minion rode into battle atop them.
"For the Overlord!" screamed Rubber-band as he emerged atop Not-Wolfie, his trusty rubber chicken in hand and raised high into the sky. "Make them fear Evil!"
"FOR THE OVERLORD!"
A cacophony of sound followed as the monsters dispersed into the temple, people screaming and fires starting as the Reds madly chucked fireballs into nearby buildings while in their sinister mounts, even as quite a few Browns tackled random tourists and started jumping on their backs, apparently having more fun annoying than actually hurting the humans.
Then, the three gates shone once again, two very human-like figures emerging from the ones at Rika's sides.
There seemed to be nothing human on the madly laughing and skull-masked one, though, especially when he casually grabbed something from his hip and tossed it to a fleeing crowd, black smoke exploding and knocking people unconscious in an instant as they twitched feebly on the ground. Also, there was a tall, golden demon-like thing with horns and blood-red armor emerged just after him, huffing sinisterly as its insect-like eyes looked all around.
As for the girl in the revealing cliché evil-clothes…well, her hair and eyes were glowing an electric blue. Also, she very casually raised a crossbow and shot a bolt filled with dark energy towards a very specific building, which was almost 500 meters away, making it explode with uncaring easiness. A nearly psychotic smile appearing on her face at the action also convinced the wide-eyed teenager that she was not very 'human' at all.
And then, for the last one…HE came.
Even as a part of her brain thought with panicked laughter that her prayer had been answered in a very twisted way, there was no mistaking the dark-clad form emerging from the Gate that had destroyed the fence earlier. Even if the armor was different, with purple accents, and he no longer wore the mantle, the horned helmet and the golden eyes that shone with impossible malice like that of no other being in this world confirmed it for her.
Overlord Kirito, the self-proclaimed Master of Evil, stood in person barely a few meters away from the paralyzed girl.
"Good shot, Sinon. Cardinal telling us when the building they had hidden most of the alarms and communications facilities at would be empty made things easier." casually spoke the Evil One while staring at the burning wreck in the distance, seemingly uncaring of the chaos around him. "Now we have more than enough time until someone nearby actually calls the authorities to get this done without annoying interferences."
"It was my pleasure, Overlord!" boasted the 'blue'-haired girl even as another 'bolt' made of that weird dark energy bleeding off her hands materialized in place. "This is a piece of cake!"
"Yup, like stealing candy from a baby, just way more amusing." darkly chuckled the skull-masked man as he twirled his massive butcher-knife in his hand. "Also, telling the Minions to not kill anyone just so their horror and fear could grow and they spread it to everyone else they knew? Just so everyone can fear you even more for when we take over? You truly are more twisted than I imagined, boss!"
"…your praises aren't needed, PoH. We just need to get this over with." casually pointing forward with a hand coated in glowing green energy, Overlord Kirito let it hit one of the still-fallen guards, the man screaming for a moment before his eyes glazed over and he stood up like a zombie being moved by a very poor puppeteer. "You keep an eye on the Minions and Klein's pets, this is their test-run so we don't want any nasty screw-ups. Sinon, provide them some cover and cause chaos, but remember, don't actually kill anyone. This is all about sending a message, after all."
"What about me, great Overlord?! My blood burns to make you and my father proud!" proclaimed the demonic humanoid monster while flexing his muscles.
"…you're coming with me for the sword, J. Consider yourself my…bodyguard of sorts." evenly replied the Dark One as he turned around. "Now let's be off. This armor's quality leaves a lot to be desired and I want this done as soon as possible."
"Gnarl-san did say we need a new blacksmith for the soul-forge at the Tower…" mumbled Shino while rubbing her chin even as their 'master' and a very eager monster walked deeper into the temple, the enthralled guard guiding them inside.
"Yeah, well, I don't think evil blacksmiths fall from the sky, Sinon-chan, we sadly don't have the same luxury of an anime's plot-convenience." snorted Vassago before walking forward, an eager look on his face as he walked past the Minions that were fucking tea-bagging the fallen humans. "Squad, with me! Let's show these idiots to fear the Overlord!"
"Yay!"
"For the Overlord!"
"Time for Evil to triumph!"
"…well, they certainly seem energetic." tilting her head to the side, the girl with electric blue hair and eyes looked at the chaos around her for a moment before a fetid smell seemed to fill the area around her. "You know what to do. Inform me if anyone suspicious gets too close or tries to get through a lateral area of the Shrine."
Laughing in approval as they shimmered in and out of visibility for a moment, the Greens under the long-ranged fighter's command walked away, before a pair of Blues assumed relaxed stances on her sides. Nodding in approval, Shino turned around…and looked straight at that frozen form of Shinozaki Rika lying between the two summoned Netherworld Gates.
For a moment, time seemed to stop as both girls deadpanned at each other, letting the one on the ground to notice with surprise that the other looked younger than herself, before the one choosing to call herself Sinon slowly raised her hand…
"N-no, please, don't kill me!" pleaded a suddenly panicked Rika while waving her hands crazily, even as the two Minions at Shino's sides looked curiously as their leader stopped. "I…you don't want to do that!"
"…I wasn't actually going to kill you. Sure, I may be evil now, but I think that would actually reopen my trauma and that would be annoying after getting the power to overcome it." shrugged the servant of the Overlord much to the brown-haired girl's confusion. "I have no problem blowing things up or with the Minions, though, and the latter only because they can come back easily enough, but…sorry, I'm rambling. Why exactly did you say I didn't want to kill you?"
"Ehm…uhm…because I…totally am an Evil Blacksmith and could be useful to your master?" hesitantly brought up the not-quite-as-terrified-as-before Rika, a mix of what she had thought earlier about doing in SAO and what she had heard the Evil One saying making her say the insane claim.
Of course, it was stupid, crazy, and obviously a lie, so there was no way she was going to belie-
"Huh…well, isn't that convenient?" blinking in shock, the brown-haired girl couldn't help but STARE as Shino said those words and brought a hand to the side of her head. "Gnarl-san? Yui-chan? Did you catch that? What should I do?"
Suddenly, the teenager was feeling that maybe she should have just stayed at home and accepted to go to the therapist that morning…
At the same time, far away, in the city of Kawagoe…Kirigaya Suguha froze in the middle of buying groceries, feeling a dark spike of Evil burning in the distance.
"Man…this is almost depressingly easy." muttered Kazuto as he sent another orb of darkness towards one of the priests that had tried to stop him and Jerry from advancing, the guard that had been guiding them unconscious and on the Floor as he had not known where to go once they had cleared the entrance of the Main Shrine. "In videogames or even a story, the legendary sword would be protected by powerful monsters or some ancient guardian…but here is just normal people and security measures I can one-shot with my magic."
"Well, humanity has decayed a lot since the times of old, my Overlord." sagely commented Gnarl from his place back at the tower's Throne Room, where he, Ryoutarou, Kayaba, and Keiko were watching the many projections showing the 'battlefield through the eyes of their lord, Shino, and Vassago. "At least it means you will reach your objective with no trouble!"
"Not gonna lie, I can get why the boss feels as if it cheapens the experience, but hey, if it gets us to win faster and more easily? I'm all for it!" shamelessly declared the resident alchemist before looking at the other screens with pride. "That said; look at my babies going at it! They're scaring the hell out of everyone…oh! One just wrecked a police car that just showed up! Man, it's hard to believe I make them!"
"Indeed…you have proved yourself a capable alchemist, young Klein. Truly, it fills my evil heart with joy to see such promising competence in the matters of Evil amongst humanity." sniffed Gnarl with clear pride.
For his part, the black-haired Master of Evil could only mentally groan, wondering how his life just kept getting so stupidly crazy without any hint of stopping soon. Three random people had been brought to his tower and somehow turned into actually competent aid in his 'efforts' to 'take over the world', and so efficiently that they had actually managed to perfectly pull this off while he masked his attempts to minimize damage and injured as 'being even eviler'.
The worst part was that it was working. And that really scared the young Overlord, because it made him feel as if the other shoe was about to drop and something about to ruin everything or needlessly complicate his plans…again.
And despite that, despite the feeling never quite vanishing, Kazuto finally arrived at the deepest part of Atsuta Shrine's handon, ignoring the feeling of how slightly-off the armor he now wore felt as he saw several priests standing 'against' him and praying endlessly as they blocked the way to the altar.
"Out of the Overlord's way, humans!" sneered Jerry as she rushed forward, easily throwing the men away as if they were ragdolls, before digging into the altar with animalistic glee. "Grrr…where is the sword?!"
"Please, J, don't rush uselessly. The sword isn't there. It's way too obvious and, as 'well-guarded' as this place is, it's clear they wouldn't want to risk having it out in the open." easily deduced the dark-armored boy as he walked forward and closed his eyes, letting his power flow all around him, the sheer presence of Evil that, as much as it annoyed him, existed deep within his soul letting his senses expand beyond the reach of any mortal.
He felt the fear of the people all around the shrine, desperate and panicked before his Minions and servants.
He felt Vassago's joy at causing such destruction and panic, probably going a bit more overboard than he should.
He felt Shino's…amusement? At something she was doing, and an odd source of fear mixed with a lot more confusing things standing near her that he didn't recognize.
He felt Jerry's eagerness and annoyance, such a young yet sinister creature, wanting nothing more than to make those he was created to serve proud. And also the despair and horror filling the priests that had just been knocked down…
And there, under all of it, so faint that he would have almost missed it, he felt…a spark of Something that clearly didn't belong in this world.
Gripping it tightly, Kazuto pulled, dark energy exploding from his hands and tearing what remained of the altar and the very ground of the temple apart.
Practically being ripped from its place underground, a safe that was surprisingly high-tech-looking comparing to the rest of the shrine's looks was all but torn apart, the hissing sound of something sealed on void forcefully being opened filling the air. Ignoring that and the despair-filled prayers of the priests, the young Overlord walked forward, peering inside and staring at a long object half-covered by a ceremonial cloth.
Looking dull and ancient, a katana that seemed to hold itself together by a miracle rested there. Anyone looking at it would have thought it was some forgotten relic or some piece of useless junk.
However, the dark-armored boy could feel it. Feel the untold power hiding behind the mundane façade, the colossal energy beyond human understanding just waiting to be awakened.
Even as his hand started reaching out towards the blade, though, Kazuto found himself hesitating for a moment.
His 'true objective' was supposed to be preventing Gnarl and the Minions from being fully unleashed into the world. He was supposed to 'pretend' being the Evil Overlord out to conquer the world, so…wouldn't actually taking the power of an ancient legendary blade actually made things worse?
Wasn't he taking the 'act' of being evil a bit too far…?
"Kirito-sama?" Keiko's worried voice managed to bring the young Overlord back from his mental dilemma, making him realize he had spaced out for a few seconds and that everyone back in the Netherworld was probably looking at him in confusion, even Jerry looking quite apprehensive near him. "Are you okay? You looked lost all of a sudden and weren't answering us…"
"I'm…fine, Silica. I was considering the full weight of what I'm about to do…after all, this relic, this treasure was meant for the so-called Heroine to wield against me…and yet here I am, taking possession of it for myself." quickly improvised the dark-armored boy as he finally took a hold of the blade. "Truly, Evil Always Finds a Way."
And as soon as his hand fully closed around the sword's handle…Kazuto's entire world dimmed away, something that felt weirdly like a roaring storm over a raging sea threatening to drown him, angrily rejecting his hold as his Darkness tried to make it submit, to make it obey its New Master.
Enraged, the remnant of a Will within the blade burned, sacred energy ready to incinerate those of wicked heart that dared to touch the…!
Nothing happened. Kirigaya Kazuto's hand was untouched by the purifying light even as the Evil within him recoiled in disgust, yet confusion too. The boy raised a metaphorical confused eyebrow.
The Will of Susanoo's power sealed within the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi had a second to feel utter shock before raw Darkness flowed through its master's untouched hand and into the Sacred Treasure, turning the enraged sea's water muddy and the lighting of the storm jet-black.
Jerry had a moment to blink before Evil magic BURNED from the sword, consuming it and the young Overlord before exploding outwards, followed by one…several unholy roars…
At that moment, the Heroine Leafa gasped for breath as she materialized on the skies near Atsuta Shrine in a flash of light. Normally, she wouldn't be exhausted at all having come there, but she had been forced to run in her human form for quite a few streets to find a place deserted enough to dump her groceries and then had flown randomly in a few directions when she realized she couldn't quite pinpoint where the brief flash of Evil Power she felt minutes before had come from (Turns out, being able to turn into Light wasn't very helpful if you didn't know exactly where you had to go, speed notwithstanding).
Suguha would have felt embarrassed…if she had had any time to practice that particular aspect of her powers at all. Between there not really being any monsters or evil beings left in the world nowadays besides the Overlord and his Minions, Sanrei had said it wasn't strange that she had no way to finely train that ability.
Really, it had just been dumb luck that her previous stop had been above a park just as she heard a girl sitting in a bench shouting about her friends having been attacked by the Overlord's Minions at Atsuta Shrine. Deeming that her panicked tone was sincere enough, she had taken a moment to look up the right direction and then flown as fast as she could.
Seeing quite a few fires over the shrine's area, combined with the screams of people running and the vaguely familiar sound of Minions laughing let her know immediately that she had made the right choice, an angry look appearing on her face as her wings flared mightily and her blade formed in her hand.
Descending like a meteor of justice just outside the temple, the Last Heroine sent several minions flying into the air out of the sheer force, before spinning faster than any human should have and bisecting most of the ones still falling.
Ignoring the shocked and awed shouts of the people that (Stupidly) had crowed outside the temple and wondering why the hell there weren't more police forces around cordoning the zone off…when a screaming Minion riding a pink alligator with wings and a horn rushed out from within the temple's grounds and sent her flying backwards, her head barely avoiding being chomped down by powerful mandibles as she kicked the creature, its rider falling off with a squeak even as she blasted them both to oblivion with raw light.
"Wha-what the hell was that?!" mentally screamed Suguha while trying to calm down her heart.
"Monsters?! But how…they all went extinct long ago! Unless…don't tell me the Overlord has a new Alchemist?! Dammit, he's getting stronger AND obtaining new followers faster than I thought!" cursed Sanrei while the few people that had been close by kept running away after seeing the thing that had attacked the famous Heroine. "Also, he didn't even wait for you to master using the Mirror's power and he's even trying to steal the Sword?! Truly, his evil knows no bounds! But joke is on him, because no one with an evil heart can touch the Regalia without...!"
"As stupid as it sounds, I'm actually relieved my archenemy isn't acting like a 2-dimensional cliché bad guy…that makes this more real in my head!" growled the blonde girl as she readied her blade while ignoring her Spirit's usual ramblings, eyes locked into the several Minions rushing around within the temple's grounds and, to her slight shock, a hooded figure with a skull mask staring silently at her in the distance. "Okay…that guy seems like he's important. Let's deal with him right away and…!"
The world shook with malevolence. Squeaking, 'Leafa' lost her footing and almost tripped, before feeling her heart skip a beat in fear as an unholy sound exploded from the depths of Atsuta Shrine, just as a massive wave of Evil Power burst towards the heavens.
A cacophony of roars the likes the world hadn't heard in ages was heard through all of Nagoya as the transformed form of Kirigaya Suguha stared up, towards something titanic that moved within the diminishing wave of darkness.
One, three, five…all of Eight colossal and horned snake-like heads emerged, their reddish eyes each bigger than a car as the impossible monster roared once again, all of the heads' loooong necks joining together into one massive body before it divided once again into 8 long tails.
All of the city seemed to tremble as the skyscraper-sized abomination stopped its scream, full-blown panic now extending through the entirety of Nagoya as there was no way of missing the kaiju of hell.
And even less its extremely iconic appearance…
"N-no way…it can't be…" whispered the Last Heroine while taking several steps back. "That's…that's…!"
"Yamata-no Orochi! The 8-headed dragon from whose corpse Susanoo-sama extracted the Kusanagi!" mentally finished a panicked Sanrei from within his partner's mind even as Suguha paled completely at the confirmation that she was staring at a divine beast. "Don't tell me…the Overlord somehow used the sword to resurrect it?!"
As if it had been waiting for the last Guardian Spirit to say those words, the titanic form of Yamata-no-Orochi lurched forward, letting the blonde girl see a certain figure standing atop the left-centermost head.
Surrounded by darkness, Overlord Kirito (For she would always be able to FEEL it was him despite the different armor) stood upon the evil dragon's head, looking like an envoy of destruction ready to bring nothing but ruin upon this world.
And meanwhile, the aforementioned Master of Evil was…screaming his soul out within his mind.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST DO?!"
Author's Notes: I don't want to say that you don goofed, Kirito, but…you kind of did, yeah.
Can the Heroine face this terrible threat our main character has accidentally unleashed?! You will find out…next time! Together with more insight into the new 'evil recruits' inner thoughts about their new allegiances towards the Forces of Darkness and to help taking over the world :3
Once again, sorry for the delay of this chapter coming out, I wanna say it won't happen again but with life nowadays you never quite know…still, gonna do my best for it, as next is OPG:CoF getting updated!
Until then, though, this is Saint, signing off!