And here is another chapter of everyone's favorite whacky tale of evil and such!
Sorry for the delay again, quite a few things got mixed up…me finally getting into finishing a JRPG I had delayed for way too long, the cliffhanger-ending emotionally destroying me and even more 'cause the next game doesn't come out in the west until almost the end of the year, and then dealing with the aftermath of the virus slowly settling here where I live. Which all created some annoying writer blocks that I seem to have thankfully recovered from.
But hey, you aren't here to learn about my problems and worries, you're here to read some more Evil Shenanigans, right? If so, then enjoy this one! A little bit longer than usual for extra-fun :)!
As always, thanks to anyone who helps filling out this story's TvTropes' page!
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 7: To Fight with Evil
September 6th, 2023. Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture. Ruins of Atsuta Shrine, 11:10…
Vassago Casals would be the first to admit he wasn't exactly the nicest or most loyal of persons. In fact, more often than not, he probably would be quite the opposite, unless he was amongst equally messed-up people.
Even so, he could swear with all his dark soul that, if he hadn't already promised eternal allegiance to the Overlord, he would have done so right there on the spot.
After all, how else could he react upon seeing such a magnificently horrifying visage?
As the legendary form of the Yamata-no-Orochi roared to the heavens once again, the head atop which the mighty form of the Evil One stood opened and released a beam of raw lightning, the massive concentration of electricity violating several laws of physics as it moved in a perfectly straight line and engulfed the shocked Heroine…or it would have, if she hadn't turned into light and evaded it at the last second with her superior speed.
Instead, it just shot into the distance, crashing somewhere in the countryside and exploding, the distant cloud visible for kilometers in every direction.
Vassago…no, PoH, couldn't help it anymore. He laughed; something akin to a demented cackle erupting from his throat as he raised his arms into the air, butcher knife in hand while the Minions around him looked up in awe.
"Truly, our lord is unmatched in this world! His power and Evil are just…incomparable! All hail the Overlord!"
"Yesssss!"
"Overlooooord!"
"All heile!"
"It's hail…I think?"
"Woof, woof!"
"Not-Wolfie thinks so too!"
"Now then…let's show these losers to fear the big boss!" grinning madly, the skull-masked man jumped on top of a burning car (Courtesy of the Minions) and dramatically pointed forward as the small goblin-like creatures laughed madly while causing random destruction through the street and, in the Reds' case, setting things on fire. "Behold and fear; people of Japan! Tremble before the might of the Overlord! He has resurrected the Yamata-no-Orochi and now he shall use it to bring down chaos upon your pathetic lives!"
PoH's mad cackles brought even more panic and despair on the few people that were still stupid enough to not run for their lives and just try and hide in a corner, or those that had taken refuge inside their homes hoping to survive (Hopes that had been replaced with existential despair upon seeing the legendary monster's powers a few seconds ago).
And as one of his newest and most loyal servants acclaimed his malevolence, the Overlord in question was…giving his new 'pet' a mental tirade.
"No! No! Bad evil dragon-snake-godly thing! No shooting beams of super-lightening that could level a city while inside a city!" Kazuto raged/panicked while stomping on the giant snake-head he was standing upon, a testament to how much his sanity had been warped by his upbringing in how he was barely fazed by the action, even as he could swear Yamata-no-Orochi sheepishly growled at his anger. "…also, since when could you shoot lightning at all?! That wasn't on any of the myths I read about you!"
"Thi-this is terrible, Suguha! Because he used Susanoo-sama's power within the blade to resurrect it, the Yamata-no-Orochi has gained the power of the Storm!" Sanrei warned his partner at that very moment, not knowing how it was answering the Overlord's current questions. "It may be even more dangerous than when it was slain because of that!"
"The-then we're doomed!" screamed 'Leafa' out loud while staring up at the titan in horror, her gaze shooting back to the distant aftermath of the beam she had barely avoided more out of instinct than anything else. "The-there is no way I can fight such a thing! Hell, I doubt I could have defeated the original if it took a God to beat it! I have to ru-run!"
"You can't do that! You're supposed to be the Last Heroine! What do you think is going to happen with everyone if you leave the Overlord in control of such a monster and just run away?!"
Startled for a moment at her partner's words, Suguha's eyes swept over the landscape, seeing the relative chaos surrounding Atsuta Shrine, the Minions randomly setting things on fire or destroying cars and trees for fun. Thanks to her inhumanly sharp vision, she saw in utmost detail how the waters of Hori River had seemingly darkened and started churning, as if reacting to the presence of the godly monster, increasing the panic of the terrified people of Nagoya.
Many had abandoned their cars and were just running away screaming, children crying while their parents tried to carry them away, what looked like a pair of siblings running together while trying to not let go of each other's hands…
Ever so slowly, she felt something within her clenching angrily at the sight, before she turned to glare at the titanic enemy with sunlight-burning eyes.
Suddenly, all her fear and horror at how stupidly outmatched she was had vanished and been replaced with righteous fury at the evil abomination and its even more twisted master for everything they had caused.
It would only be hours later that the young kendoka would think how strange and wrong that sudden change had felt, but, at that moment, nothing in the world seemed righter than raising her light-created blade and screaming at the top of her lungs while pointing at the bane of her existence.
"OVERLORD!"
"What?! Leafa?! Why is she trying to get my attention?! Doesn't she see the giant 8-headed serpent that I'm trying to prevent from rampaging through the damn city?! Is she a masochist or what?!" mentally screamed the Master of Evil, while outwardly all he did was direct a cold yet dismissive look towards the floating Heroine. "Oh, is that you, 'Heroine'? I hadn't even noticed you…tell me, have you come to bask on the magnificence of my newest servant? Or do you simply wish for death that much?"
Gritting her teeth, the blonde wielder of what remained of Amaterasu's power adopted a fighting stance with her blade, wings flaring out with power as bright as the morning sun.
It still seemed to pale before the colossal form of Yamata-no-Orochi, the evil snake-dragon looking down menacingly at the small form of the Heroine with clear contempt.
"She has come to meet the end at your hands, Overlord!" a familiar voice declared from the side, making 'both sworn enemies' blink and look to see a menacing form hunched and hugging the top of the closest serpent-head to the one where Kirito stood. "You shall meet your demise today for daring to defy the Overlord, Hero!"
"J…you're alive. That's…acceptable." deadpanned Kazuto while looking at the evil creature doing its best to look intimidating (And failing) while gripping onto Orochi's head for dear life. "…what the hell are you doing, though?"
"I…I'm afraid of heights, my Overlord."
An awkward silence passed between the three intelligent beings standing up there, Yamata-no-Orochi even looking away in strange empathy with the monster's shame (With the heads that weren't carrying him, that is). Back at the Netherworld Tower, Gnarl, Keiko and Kayaba blinked before sending a disbelieving look at Ryoutarou, who simply shrugged.
"Hey, don't blame me! I may have made him, but I didn't give him any detailed things like his personality, likes, or fears…that's all on him!"
"…maybe you should consider that a bit more carefully the next time you fiddle around with high-level alchemy…" 'Heathcliff' mumbled while doing his best to not facepalm.
"That's…not your fault, I guess." conceded the Overlord before turning around to the awkwardly floating Leafa. "Okay, so…can we ignore that bit and go back to the part where I kill you?"
"I guess…wait, what?"
And that was when one of the heads suddenly lunged fiercely towards the blonde girl, who barely turned to light at the last second and dodged upwards, then fell down and slammed her blade of light right into the closest eye to her.
Sunlight burst forth and exploded angrily, finding the path of least resistance to the monster's brain through the soft flesh around the ocular globe. With a feral grin, Suguha removed her sword upon feeling the head under her going limp…
"I got her, Overlord! EYE-BEAM OF DEATH!"
…and was promptly hit by a pair of burning shafts of searing heat pierced through her left arm and her waist, filling her with utter agony.
"AAA-!"
"Suguha, watch out!"
Sanrei's warning came too late, though, as her pained scream had barely begun when the head Jerry had been standing on (Aka, gripping onto for dear life), came forward and swallowed her whole, even as the one that she had killed fell down.
Ominous silence filled the area while everyone that had witnessed the scene stared, while the alchemic monster's eyes stopped shining.
"Victory for Evil, my lord!"
"I…you…great work, J?" was all that the young Overlord could say while still staring at the happily swallowing snake-head, his brain trying and failing to catch up with whatever the hell just has happened.
Once again, everyone else back at the Netherworld gaped at the screen, before staring at the resident alchemist, who looked oddly surprised but also quite hyped.
"…I'm going to guess you didn't give him the laser eyes either, Klein-san?" Keiko questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Nope, didn't even know he had the power of doing that! But man, that was SO cool I'm totally gonna try and put it on all my high-tier creations from now on!"
"…is he even aware that his creation just helped to kill what most likely was an innocent girl trying to do the right thing?" wondered Kayaba while looking back at the screen.
He was sure many would have called him a hypocrite for that thought, but hey, at least he wasn't going to find joy in all the ways the Cardinal System would have killed the players while inside SAO! He had standards…even if those would be questioned by anyone sane of mind.
Meanwhile, back at Atsuta Shrine, Vassago Casals laughed mightily at the sight of his boss' victory, the Minions laughing along as they redoubled their efforts to cause as much chaos and destruction as they could. Sinon just grimly nodded up at him from where she was still standing near a trembling brown-haired girl.
Around the city, people that had witnessed the horrifying visage gasped in shock or started crying, seeing their last hope extinguished.
At a certain house, a chestnut-haired girl that had been following the chaotic event through a grainy footage someone was streaming from their phone stumbled back while covering her mouth in horrified denial.
"Well…that was it. I just…killed the Heroine. How…anticlimactic." still in clear shock, Kazuto took a moment to appreciate the disgusting and strangely twisted feeling inside him, taking solace in that at least he was still capable of feeling horrified by his actions. "Though…it feels strange. It's almost as if…I'm disappointed about…something else? It's not because it wasn't an epic fight with her, nor because I wanted to kill her with my own hands, thank the Gods, but what is it? It's because I…I…wanted…her…?"
"Is everything okay, my lord?" Gnarl's oddly worried voice got the Evil One out of his confusing thoughts, making him remember that he was, indeed, still standing atop a giant eight-headed (Now 7, technically) snake-dragon, in the middle of a city, and he was supposed to be the Big Bad about to start his reign of evil. "You seemed out of it for a bit there."
"Yes, sorry Gnarl, I was just a bit…disappointed, you could say." quickly excused the young Overlord while crossing his arms. "I mean, from everything I had come to expect, that the Hero just fell so easily and suddenly…"
"Ah, yes, I think I can get you now, my Overlord. Indeed, those pesky warriors of 'Good' always seem as unkillable as cockroaches sometimes, don't they?" darkly chuckling at some half-forgotten joke, the Hellspawn let out a toothy grin. "However, when the odds are so in the favor of Evil, even they fall like any normal ant under our mighty boot."
"Guess that's the harshness of reality for you." sagely added Ryoutarou while shaking his head. "Because really, if this was, like, a Shonen anime, this moment when all hope is lost and the villains are sure of their victory would be when the protagonist pulls a Deus Ex Machina out of nowhere to beat-"
The black skies suddenly RUMBLED with the powerful sound of thunder, interrupting the Evil Alchemist's declaration. As one, the lightning shining in the distance stopped…and then started shining all over the clouds atop the destroyer Atsuta Shrine, of a sharp bluish color instead of its previous dark one.
Before everyone's wide gazes, a massive thunderbolt fell down like the hammer of an angry God, slamming into the center of Yamata-no-Orochi's body and making the remaining heads of the monster scream in agony.
Almost by instinct, 'Overlord Kirito' was smart enough to jump as hard as he could, dodging the experience of feeling thousands of volts rushing through his body. Wincing at the agonic scream he heard as he started falling, he realized Jerry hadn't been so lucky.
Thankfully, Klein's 'failsafe' for him in case this originally devolved into an aerial battle had been apparently waiting for this moment, because the rhino-sized rhinoceros beetle (And yes, that had been made on purpose) of jet-black carapace flew by in time to catch its master, making him barely hang into his new ride to stare in awe at the spectacle he was witnessing.
Every single person in Nagoya stared with bated breaths, even as the point where the seemingly endless thunderbolt had connected with the dragon exploded in quickly vaporized gore, the divine thunder connecting with the tip of a mighty blade.
It wasn't a katana, like many would have originally wrongly thought if they didn't know their history, and that even Kazuto had thought so upon seeing its broken form, thanks to videogames usually classifying it like that.
But for anyone that knew its folklore, the most known blade wielded by Susanoo, perhaps even more than his original one thanks to the great legend behind it, the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, was a straight, double-edged sword. And even above, that, the now fully restored 'Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds' had several 'fangs' of mystic steel that clearly weren't part of any normal 'Tsurugi' sword, growing at opposite intervals in both edges of the azure and golden blade. The blue electricity surrounding it like a living aura made the more commonly known Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi to seemingly bloom with divine majesty.
And holding it mightily as she emerged from the guts of the screaming dragon, the Heroine Leafa floated proudly, the light of her wings stronger than ever as lightning crisscrossed the sunlight that formed them and her eyes burned with the might of the Storm God.
Back in Yuuki Asuna's room, the girl fell to her knees in utter relief, mumbling how she should have never lost her faith in 'Leafa-sama' as she stared at the image on the screen with happy tears.
"[Yes…this power…the power of the Storms! The Might of the Angry Heavens and of the Raging Seas!]" speaking with more power than ever before, Sanrei spoke like a judge bringing down the ultimate sentence. "[Now, Suguha! Show them the Might of the Last True Hero!]"
Letting out a raging shout in response, the blonde warrior swung down her new blade, cutting through the seemingly unstoppable flesh of the legendary monster and shooting upwards, slicing through scales and poisoned blood that all but vaporized before it could touch her.
To its credit, the Yamata-no-Orochi fought back fiercely. With reflexes faster than those any being its size should have, 7 heads overcame the horrifying pain caused by the divine lightning and retaliated, 4 of them twisting upon themselves and trying to bite into Leafa's form while the other 3 unleashed their own corrupted lightning in the hopes of destroying her.
Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi came up to meet them at every turn, though, the majestic blade charged up with Susanoo's divinity splitting giant fangs and massive muscles as if they were hot butter, the dark electricity simply vanishing upon crashing against Suguha's aura while the Yata-no-Kagami upon her back shone stronger with every passing second.
Unleashing yet another scream from the depths of her soul, the Last Heroine shot upwards, her wings cocooning her as she became all but a bullet of light and electricity, piercing through three of the mangled heads and shooting towards the heavens just as the storm above unleashed torrential rain on top of thunder and lightning.
For a single second, it seemed as if the torrential water joined the light and electricity to create a massive, ever-spinning ball of elemental wrath high above the evil dragon.
Then, with all the rage of the thundering skies, it exploded downwards, covering the entirety of the Orochi's form and drowning its pained screams as its body was mangled beyond recognition.
And as fast as it had come…the raging waters and heavens stopped, the clouds returning to normal unnaturally fast while the rain stopped and the tides calmed down, an impossibly perfect circle of sunlight opening its way through the peaceful heavens to illuminate the devastated remains of Atsuta Shrine.
Yamata-no-Orochi's corpse lay atop the destroyed landscape, missing most of its heads and the entire neck of one, its torso nothing but a destroyed mess of gore and organs.
Slowly floating down, the sunlight seemingly absorbed into her body, Leafa's feet touched the ground near the dead legend, her still burning gaze roaming over the massive serpent…before she lashed out to the side with her blade without even looking, perfectly deflecting the twin beams of burning red energy that would have pierced her side otherwise.
"…ah, dammi-"
Jerry was unable to finish his curse, as his brutally burned body was unceremoniously bisected along with the charred head inside of which he had been hiding (And the only reason he had survived the previous blast), the alchemic monster's torso flying upwards while his legs collapsed backward.
"[Did you really think the same trick would work on us twice, demon?!]" Sanrei challenged even as the creature's black blood evaporated from the Kusanagi's blade, leaving it spotless once more.
"JERRYYYYYYY!" screamed Ryoutarou while falling to his knees, the only one back at the Throne Room able to react at the sudden and unexpected dramatic change of events.
"…well, guess we really did jinx it by bringing up Shonen Tropes." mentally deadpanned Kazuto while his new 'mount' flew around the Heroine's landing area, grimacing slightly upon seeing her bisecting his 'bodyguard' without so much of a word. "Still…what the fuck is wrong with me? Why do I feel so…pumped up, all of a sudden?"
Yes. The young Overlord couldn't deny it…that same disappointment he had felt barely minutes before when he had thought his enemy had been beaten without any real effort had morphed into the exact opposite now. He didn't know exactly WHY he was so excited, especially when he had seen the girl just take down a legendary monster in barely a minute, but…the prospect of defeating her now, of dominating her after witnessing such power…it made the darkest part of his soul squeal in glee.
He had a subpar armor and weapon. He was riding a fucking giant beetle he was sure would be cut faster than paper before the legendary sword in her hand. She could turn into light and electricity, and react fast enough to cut through laserbeams, apparently. And yet, all that he wanted was to go down there and face her until she was on her knees, begging for mercy.
Was this a combination of his old gamer pride and the mentality of an 'Overlord' he somehow knew was a part of him, no matter how much he rejected it? The Evil One wasn't sure, but he was just becoming fully aware of how much of a stupid idea that really was when he saw Leafa's unnatural eyes move to meet his shining-golden ones, his ride having subconsciously followed his unseen commands and gotten closer to her.
Eldritch evil burned in one of his hands, ready to call forth hellfire and death, while he grabbed the jagged blade he had rescued from the armory earlier that day with the other, a miasma of darkness seemingly oozing from his body.
The Heroine's eyes narrowed, her wings of sunlight gleaming strongly while she adopted what he vaguely recognized as a basic kendo stance with the Kusanagi.
Almost as if summoned by their Master's will, the Minions came, those that had been on standby and even those that had previously been spreading chaos, all of them sans the ones who had been personally assigned to the 'PoH' and 'Sinon' squads surrounding the area, climbing over the debris or the dragon's corpse to stare eagerly at the blonde warrior, burning hands, primitive weapons, poisoned junk and glowing evil ready to be unleashed against their Overlord's enemy. After all, the first Rule of Evil was that there was no such thing as a fair fight, right?
"Yes…this is what I wanted…" darkly chuckled Kazuto while his legs tensed, ready to jump off his mount and face the Heroine head-on, despite how his common sense was screaming at him to just retreat already. "Are you ready to end this, Heroine Lea-?!"
"…uAAAAAAH!"
And with that scream, lightening and light EXPLODED from the girl's body, making her convulse in place and then freeze, most of her armor now smoking as if she had been thoroughly fried. Then, her wings faded and the mirror floating over her back fell, her nerveless fingers letting go of the storm-commanding blade as she fell on her side, mouth slightly open.
All the Minions blinked, confused, looking at each other as if asking what the fuck had just happened. Overlord Kirito wasn't much better, all but tripping off his giant beetle while his entire 'dark aura' vanished and, once again, felt that crushing feeling of total anticlimax hitting him like a freight train.
"…what the hell?"
"[Suguha?! Partner?! What's wro-?! Oh shit!]" panicking like never before, Sanrei tried its best to wake its partner, only to realize too late what was wrong. "[N-no…her body had yet to finish fully adapting to Amaterasu-sama's divinity! Shoving Susanoo-sama's on top of it overloaded her! S-so once the high of the power was over, she shut down?! Dammit! I-I need to get her out of…! Oh.]"
The sudden self-interruption came because, suddenly, the last Sun Spirit had become aware of a shadow looming over her partner's body, causing it to 'look' back in time to see the Overlord's armored form towering over Leafa's fallen form.
"I may be feeling terribly disappointed, but I'm not an idiot. And most certainly not the kind of cartoon villain that would waste a chance like this."
"[No, stay back you mons-!]"
Completely ignoring Sanrei's voice, Kazuto let raw evil fill his hand and slammed it over the blonde girl's face, the sinister glow of 'Domination' causing her body to convulse once again.
Unlike the previous time he had used that particular power, though, the young Overlord suddenly felt his Will slam against a massive barrier, causing him to frown.
Pushing harder, the Evil One suddenly found himself standing in some sort of strange 'field', a dome formed by sunlight and raging waters standing a few meters before him and covering whatever was inside from his gaze.
Standing between him and the 'barrier', though, a small shining sphere of energy that he vaguely realized was alive in a way was glaring at him without eyes, seemingly ready to fight him off.
"Stay away, Overlord! I'm Sanrei, the last Sun Spirit, and I won't let you get even one step closer to my partner without…!"
Barely acknowledging his existence, Kazuto backhanded the glowing orb and made it crash on the far end of the field, where it let out a pitiful moan while the barrier before him started to collapse.
"…am I really going to turn this girl into a mindless puppet as I did to that Sugou guy just because she's in my way?" stopping for a moment to ponder that, the black-haired boy could only sigh within his armor. "What am I thinking, of course I am…I just saw her Solo what would have been an Ultimate Raid Boss with little to no effort. So, unless I want her to kill me, sorry Leafa, but say goodbye to…your…free…"
As soon as his eyes looked past the now collapsed barrier, Kirigaya Kazuto's entire world seemed to freeze and stop making sense. The urges of the ever-whispering Evil on the back of his mind were suddenly forgotten, Keiko and Gnarl's worried voices being ignored, and whatever Kayaba was trying to say about his surroundings just not mattering.
How could any of it do, after all, when laying there before him, hugging herself and looking utterly lost and shaken while staring at nothing with empty eyes, was Kirigaya Suguha?
"Su…Sugu…?!"
"Must…defeat the Overlord…must…protect everyone…mu[st…must…]" for a moment, a small hint of light seemed to return to the girl's eyes, even as her unseeing eyes stared in a random direction. "Onii-chan…fi-find…Onii-chan…"
The girl's body…'twisted', so to speak, parts of her flesh shining and seemingly becoming some majestic material that made the boy's skin crawl, before it once again returned to looking like normal flesh with a flash of sunlight and lighting.
Shaking his head, still half in denial and half-trying to make sense of what he was seeing, Kazuto reached out, no longer with any evil intent, just trying to rouse his adoptive sister from whatever painful trance she was in…
And then slammed back into reality when something made his head snap to the side, his power screaming as it surged forth and he became keenly aware that there was something embedded on the side of his helmet.
Even as a shield of dark power formed around him and ate the next 3 projectiles that came his way, followed by the Minions screaming and proceeding to unnecessarily suicide-shield him with their bodies, the young Overlord realized through his brain's ringing that someone had just tried to freaking headshot him.
"Snipers!" screamed Vassago while coming from somewhere behind the groaning boy and throwing something in the air, creating a cloud of dark smoke that covered them from the shooters' view and gave the Red Minions a good excuse to throw fire against the nearby buildings. "Boss, we gotta go! I think the damn JSDF is here already!"
"Wha-what…? N-no, wait, the Heroine…!"
Head snapping back where he had been staring, 'Kirito' was treated to the sight of 'Leafa' drunkenly rising into the air, her Mirror wobbling on her back as her wings seemed to struggle to keep formed and her grip on her Sword barely strong enough to not drop it.
"[I have to…get us out of…here…!]" Sanrei growled as he puppeteered her partner's body out of harm's way, squealing in fright when a bullet flew quite close to 'their' chest. "[Hey! We're the good guys, you morons!]"
"Ugh, and I'm out of bombs…whatever, boss! We will get her next time!" as he said that, 'PoH' started dragging the still half-stunned Overlord back with him, even as he kept his shield raised to prevent more bullets from hitting them. "That battle earlier destroyed the Gates, but another one just came up right over the-!"
"Explodie thingie coming!" shouted Rubber-band as he rushed past them with Not-Wolfie, causing the pair's eyes to widen and move just in time to see an Honest-to-Evil ROCKET flying their way, the projectile seeming ready to…!
Explode in midair with a thunderous sound, apparently, just as 'Sinon' all but slid into the scene, crossbow raised while stopping before her master and, without a second thought, shooting once again.
The evil-enhanced bolt flew deadlier and stronger than any bullet, piercing straight through the skull of the agent with the RPG that had just shot, the man still recovering from seeing his rocket detonating before reaching its target and, as such, not even acknowledging how his head exploded like a watermelon. His screaming companions, however, most certainly did.
Shocked, Kazuto looked how Shino seemed stunned for a moment, before quickly shaking her head (And…wait, why as she carrying an unconscious teenage girl over her shoulder?!), turning around and helping Vassago drag his stunned form towards the closest gate.
Even amidst all the utter chaos, though, he was still able to look up once again, just in time to see his adoptive sister's form shakily turn into light and speed away into a random direction, vanishing from view in less than a second.
"Su…gu…"
At that moment, the ringing in his head combined with the shock seemed to become too much and, unceremoniously, the Master of Evil passed out, just as his servants dragged him through the Netherworld Gate.
By the time the chaos had settled, the Minions died or fled, and the cloud of darkness mostly dissolved, all that was left for the JSDF agents to go through was a totaled Atsuta Shrine (Still partially on fire thanks to the Reds' last barrage of fireballs), and a kaiju-sized multi-headed corpse of a snake that smelled terrible thanks to being half-charred.
Sitting on an armored vehicle after listening to that report, a certain bespectacled man cursed as he slammed his portable PC shut, before quickly ordering a search of the area to try and recover anything that could help them get any damn clue about where the hell had those 'monsters' gone. Included the so-called 'Heroine'.
Back at the Netherworld Tower, though, Ayano Keiko was the first one to reach her Overlord's side while the two new servants gingerly put him on the ground and the Minions made worried noises around them, the twin-tailed girl ignoring how Pina tried to reassure her by rubbing against her side as she took off his dented helmet.
Kazuto's face was exposed, looking shockingly fine and not sporting any injury despite his current state.
"What the…? That had to have been one hella caliber bullet! But…he doesn't look as if he even has a concussion…"
"The Overlord is way above your simple human standards, Vassago. Also, this armor may have been of subpar quality, but nothing from our armory would easily succumb to simple human weapons." Gnarl grumbled with pride while grabbing the helmet and seeing the crushed bullet that had slightly deformed it. "Still, the fact that he didn't instinctively block it with his powers is worrying…what happened with the damn Heroine that had him so stunned?"
"Hell if I know…one moment he was over her looking as if he was going to rip out her soul or something and next he had stumbled back as if he had just burned his hand something fierce." frowning, Vassago crossed his arms, seeming deep in thought. "Guess the bitch was stronger than she looked even in that state, huh? Thank God that RPG didn't hit us, though…we would have been goners if he was too weak to block it…nice save there, girlie!"
"…I just…did what I had to do." muttered Shino while looking at her right hand, where her crossbow was still firmly held, feeling…weird.
Mainly, because she had just killed someone in quite the gruesome way…and she only felt pride at having protected her Overlord.
Huh…so this was the power she had always wanted, eh? Honestly, she knew at an intellectual level that she should feel horrified…but at that moment, hilariously, she could only feel deeply satisfied.
But she was still totally caught off-guard when her master's mistress lunged forward and trapped her in a hug, surprising most of the people present.
"Wha…? Silica…sama?"
"Keiko is okay for you, Shino-san…and thank you. Thanks for saving my…Kirito-sama's life. For letting him come back to m…us."
"…it was an honor to protect my master, Keiko-sama." softly replied the girl while the power vanished from her eyes and hair at the young mistress' honest thanks.
This warmth she felt right now…she hadn't felt it ever since she was a kid; when her father was still alive and her mother still a normal and functional person. It was quite ironic that she was feeling it again while surrounded by evil beings whose objective was to take over the world after she had just helped with what had to be the most insane terrorist act in Japan's recorded history…but she wasn't complaining.
For the first time since she had shot that man as a kid, Asada Shino felt as if she truly belonged somewhere…
"Ah, what a disgustingly touching moment…the only reason it's not making me puke is that it's all about over our Overlord's safety." confessed the Hellspawn with an oddly proud look.
"Yeah, well…I hate to be the one to break the tender moment, but…Sinon-kun, who is that girl you're carrying over your shoulder?" Kayaba felt the need to ask while pointing at the unconscious freckled girl.
"Oh…I had honestly forgotten I had her there…this new strength of mine is amazing." Mumbled the evil servant before shaking her head at the curious looks everyone was giving her 'captive'. "This here is our new evil blacksmith."
"…what."
Nobody was quite able to answer Heathcliff's dry statement, though, as at that moment Ryoutarou rushed past them and towards where a few Minions were gingerly dragging something to them, which, much to the group's shock, they recognized as the burned upper body of Jerry.
"Jerry! Jerry, talk to me!" the bandana-wearing man cried out while kneeling beside his best creation to date, holding his head like one would cradle an injured puppy. "Pa-pal…hang in there! We will fix you up!"
"….Ryoutarou-kun, he was cut in half and he was mostly fried by some bullshit Shonen-level attack even before that." deadpanned Vassago with a small shake of his head. "That thing is more than de-"
"Fa-father…?" weakly whispered the alchemic monster while his non-burned insect eye blinked, disregarding the shock it caused to everyone in favor of looking up at his creator. "Is…is the Overlord safe…?"
"Ye-yes…yes he is, Jerry! And you're back home! You did it, bud!"
"The-then…I'm glad I managed to…serve my purpose…" coughing up some blood, the light slowly seemed to extinguish from Jerry's remaining eye under Klein's horrified gaze. "Long…live…the Overlord…"
There was silence for a moment, once those final words escaped the now-defunct creature. Then, Tsuboi Ryoutarou cried like a kid whose favorite pet had just been run over by a truck, several of the Minions joining him for no apparent reason.
Nobody present was quite sure how to react or what to say, though for very different reasons depending on the person, but before they could even attempt it…the bandana-wearing man stood up, a raging fire in his eyes as he cradled the half-corpse of his 'child'.
"Damn you, Heroine! I don't care how hot you are…Jerry's sacrifice shall be avenged! I swear in the name of the Overlord, my creations will END you!"
Thunder and lightning filled the background at Ryoutarou's dramatic declaration, courtesy of several excited Minions asking Cardinal to project the special effects (And making Kayaba recall telling the System to not listen to the creatures as soon as he could).
"…I was about to comment on how unbecoming of someone serving the Overlord that sappy attitude was being, but seeing you turn it into an evil wish for revenge was something that really touches this old Hellspawn's rotten heart, young Klein." Gnarl sniffled in an oddly 'touched' voice, before his face morphed back into his usual grin. "Now, I feel we should all get ready to recover from this ordeal…besides causing a ton of chaos and destruction (Which is always enjoyable, mind you), we didn't really get anything out of this incursion…well, except maybe a blacksmith, which, if young Shino is accurate and that girl is, maybe an unexpected boom."
"Ah, we also got one entire Yamata-no-Orochi head. The Minions brought it through the portal because they thought it looked 'scary cool' during the chaos at the end." Yui's unexpected words made more than one of the present people jump, especially as the virtual little girl had projected herself out of nowhere amongst them. "I'm not quite sure what it will be good for, but their evil applications are probably many, being part of a giant dragon and all that…"
"…hmm, when you put it like that, we DID get quite a haul, didn't we? And the Overlord even technically defeated the Heroine again despite her getting the sword!" openly laughing at how much more 'positive' things now seemed, the Minion Master suddenly seemed to recall something. "Ah…yeah, I think we should probably move the master out of here and into his room. Wouldn't want him to wake up on the ground in a bad moo-"
"Not necessary, Gnarl, I'm already awake." Kazuto grumbled as she stood up with an annoyed grunt, his eyes opening as he looked around at everyone before something akin to relief filled them. "Good, everyone made it back…oh, except Jerry. Sorry about that, Klein, his sacrifice won't…why are you all staring at me like that?"
"Uhm…Kazuto-sama?" apparently being the first one to dare and speak, Keiko looked oddly shy as she looked at him, though there was a tinge of red in her cheeks as she stared at him. "Your…eyes."
Blinking in confusion, Kazuto turned around towards the nearest reflective crystal, which just so happened to be the 'techno-magic' crystal from which the also-kinda-mesmerized Yui was staring at him.
His own face stared back…except that his irises had turned a deeply molten gold in color, like he knew they sometimes did when he put some of his power through himself.
Except that he wasn't using any of his power at all at that moment.
"Well…that's just great. Okay, don't start panicking, Kazuto, you got bigger problems than a maybe-permanent change in eye-color. Let's ignore all the possibly-disturbing implications of that for now…" quickly deciding as such, the young Overlord turned around, ready to give orders to his followers…before pausing and noticing a certain detail. "…Sinon…why do you have an unconscious girl over your shoulder?"
"Ah…I got us a new blacksmith, Overlord-sama!"
…his life was just going to keep getting more and more complicated, wasn't it?
To say Yuuki Asuna was nervous would have been a severe understatement.
Ever since her close-encounter with Overlord Kirito and, more importantly, being saved and returned to her family by her Heroine, the brave Leafa-sama, the young heiress had changed dramatically.
Specifically, she did her best to spend as much time as she could with her family, sometimes even outright skipping the rules that had been carefully set on her house by her mother during her upbringing. However, given what she had been through, neither her parents nor her brother had been able to deny her, even taking some extra time off from work just to make sure she had no 'sequels' from the traumatic event she had experienced.
This had managed two things…to bring the Yuukis back together as a family in a way they felt they hadn't in a long time…and also for the others to notice that the girl had developed a small…obsession, with her savior.
At the beginning, Kyouko and Shouzou had indulged her when she asked for help learning how to better manage things online to look for information about 'Leafa-sama', thinking a hobby would help her recover from everything faster. However, by the time a slightly worried Kouichirou had nervously commented how she had a wall of her room filled with pictures, printed drawings and articles from the blonde archenemy of the Overlord, she had somehow already created and steadily improved a 'fan page' for the Heroine and become her indisputable biggest fan.
And her mother couldn't even try and cut her off, because not only was she STILL keeping her grades as high as always despite everything, she also was showing a much more driven and determined attitude on life…never mind the possible trauma she could still had left from being kidnapped by literal monsters and brought face to face with an honest-to-God 'supervillain'.
In the end, they had decided to just let the whole thing play itself off, Kyouko being the only one of the three really worried that this could somehow negatively affect Asuna, but…it wasn't as if this admiration of hers wouldn't fade with time, right?
Now, though, while still looking on her Leafa-themed portable PC to see if there was any info of what happened to her savior after she stumbled out of Atsuta Shrine's ruins and vanished, even as she half-hugged her limited edition Leafa-plushie and made sure to save copies of the best shots from the fight to print later and add to her Leafa-sama Mural of Glory, her family may have thought that…'maybe' they made a mistake.
"I hope Leafa-sama is okay…I-I mean, I know she won't be beaten by anything; she even overcame the legendary Yamata-no-Orochi after all, bu-but…" sighing to herself as she closed her computer, Asuna couldn't help but look out of her window in worry. "Please, be okay, Leafa-sa-"
It was at that moment that her idol all but crashed onto her bed, having materialized over it in a flash of sunlight that went through her open window, leaving the Yuuki Heiress staring open-mouthed at the scene.
"[Thank Amaterasu that I remembered where this place was…! Hey, you! Yuuki Asuna, right?!]" materializing as a small shining ball being reflected within the Yata-no-Kagami's depths, Sanrei was quick to snap the shocked girl out of it. "[Please, my partner…the Heroine, that is, needs your help! She's still out cold from before and I couldn't risk flying us further away in this state!]"
"A-ah…ye-yes!" all but screamed Asuna while jumping to her feet, looking around panicked. "Wha-what should I…?!"
"[First, please turn her around so she's not sprawled like this on your bed, okay? Then bring something cold and some water! Fast!]"
Ten minutes later, the chestnut-haired girl felt almost like in a dream as she passed a wet cloth over her idolized heroine's face, her mask off to the side and most of her majestic armor off as she was half-covered by her sheets.
Sanrei, as she now knew the 'talking ball of light' (Or Sun Spirit, as he had introduced himself) was called, let out a relieved sigh, seemingly relaxing now that his partner was no longer looking as if she would convulse to death.
"A-are you sure this is okay? Shouldn't she…go to a hospital or something?"
"[Believe me girl, a hospital wouldn't do her any good and just bring about more troubles for both of us and our fight against the Overlord, never mind putting lots of innocents in danger.]" quickly clarified the Sun Spirit while, almost casually, giving the room around them a quick assessing look. "[My partner will be fine after resting a bit, her body will fix itself back to at least working condition in just an hour or so and then she will be able to walk back home on her own two feet…]"
"Ah, that's great to hear and…!"
Trailing off and ignoring Asuna's following relieved words, the last servant of Amaterasu took in everything he was seeing very fast.
Lots of pictures of Leafa, merchandise he was pretty sure not even her had heard existed, a filthy-rich house…and, from what little he could recall of Yuuki Asuna from back when they had saved her, the girl was the daughter of a very influential family, one that very clearly wasn't fond of the Overlord at all even before he kidnapped their youngest member.
In the past, the entirety of the country, the Gods, and the armies of Good had to ally themselves to have the chance of beating the previous Overlord. While the current one wasn't even remotely as strong, Suguha only had him and the power the Regalia were granting her…but that quite clearly would not be enough. After all, if it wasn't for dumb luck, she would have died earlier that day.
So, if he wanted her to last at the very least long enough to have a final battle with the Overlord in which they could hopefully take him down with them…she needed HELP.
If Sanrei had a mouth, or eyes, then when he 'turned' to look at the Yuuki Heiress at that moment, he would probably have sported a wide smile and friendly closed eyes.
"[Say…Asuna-san, was it?]"
"Ye-yes, Sanrei-sama?"
That respect…felt actually quite nice. Yeah, this girl would most certainly do for a supporter of Good!
"[See, there is a faster way for her to recover…I'm going to turn off her Hero powers so that the burden in her body becomes even smaller. But…can I trust you not to reveal her identity?]"
For an instant, all Yuuki Asuna could do was staring in frozen silence to the oddly chirpy spirit.
Then, she all but teleported to the Mirror's side, the stars in her eyes so bright Sanrei almost believed they weren't just some convenient hallucination that reflected her excitement.
"YES! Wi-with my life! I would never betray Leafa-sama's trust!"
"[…then without further ado, let me welcome you to the fight between Good and Evil, Asuna-chan.]"
And with those words, a flash of light covered the room and the surprised chestnut-haired girl was no longer staring at one of the 3Sacred Treasures of Japan. Blinking in confusion, she turned around…just in time to see someone groaning as they sat up on her bed, the long golden locks gone and replaced by much shorter dark hair even as the once green eyes opened to reveal much more average, bluish-gray eyes.
In fact, the girl she was staring at was actually shorter and probably younger than her…though a 'certain part' of her still dwarfed her own very obviously.
"Ugh…m-my head…Sanrei, what happened? And where am…? Eh?!" eyes shooting open upon catching sight of the other girl in the room, Suguha all but fell off the bed in surprise. "Asuna-san?!"
"…Leafa-sama?"
"[Yes…this feels like the beginning of a fruitful friendship!]"
The young kendoka's following scream of frustration seemed to disagree with that.
When Shinozaki Rika opened her eyes, she knew something was terribly wrong and that her life was in mortal danger.
It was not because she woke up in a sinister and eerie place, surrounded by magma and noticeably hot instead of her bed, no. Neither was it the fact that she clearly remembered WHAT had happened before she lost consciousness. Or the many yellowish eyes she could see staring at her from the edges of the room, accompanied by inhuman and…stupid-sounding giggles.
No, it was because of the presence she felt staring down at her, the same overwhelming one she had felt earlier, and that had stolen her breath away. Shaking slightly, she didn't even need to look to know who was standing near her body, and she wondered if maybe she could just pretend she was still unconscious to…
"I saw your eyes open, Shinozaki Rika. Do not waste my time and stand up."
…yeah, she figured that would be the case. Doing her best to remind herself she kind of wanted to live long enough to maybe move out of her parents' home and not be turned into dust in the next seconds, the normally outgoing girl forced her face to be as neutral and calm as she could as she slowly sat up and turned to look at 'Overlord Kirito'…and froze, eyes widening and mouth opening slightly at the sight.
Because standing before her was not the overwhelming and terrifying form clad in armor and oozing a power that could make her choke on air. Instead, there was a teenager that looked to be around her age, short dark hair framing a surprisingly soft-looking, almost feminine, face. All he wore now was an elegant robe that seemed crafted of some fancy material, like something a noble from ancient times would wear.
However, there was no mistaking the soul-chilling golden eyes staring directly at her, nor the voice that had just spoken, even if it lacked the supernatural echo it had possessed before. The one standing before her was the infamous Overlord himself.
If she hadn't felt so terrified for her life, Rika would probably have felt quite a bit disappointed. Sure, the guy was a bit cute, but his looks were, like, totally at odds with the image of the cruel and mighty Master of Evil she had just seen resurrect a beast from legend and then fight on a level unseen outside over-the-top anime for children.
Given that she, indeed, valued her life, though, and that the many monstrous critters around were all clearly under his control and giggling darkly (Except for the old-looking one standing right at his side), she decided to just lower her gaze and mumble a quick, calm and decisive declaration.
"Ple-please, don't kill me, oh great Overlord-sama!"
"…I won't if you prove yourself useful, girl." Kazuto grunted with narrowed eyes, looking at the girl having all but jumped to the typical 'Dogeza' position alongside begging for her life. "Now stand up."
Even as he said those cold and calculating words under the approving gaze of Gnarl, the young Overlord couldn't help but despair inside himself.
Really, at that moment, all he wanted was to go to his room, scream on his pillow and pass out, his brain still trying and failing to come to terms with the true identity of his 'archenemy'. But, because Shino had involved another innocent that clearly didn't fit there at all with this whole mess, now he had to be there, at yet another part of the Netherworld Tower he literally never visited, to 'test' if she was 'valuable' for the position she had claimed to be.
Which she very clearly wasn't. In fact, he was pretty sure anyone with an ounce of common sense would have realized the girl had just said the first thing she had thought would save her from being killed…something that brought worrying implications about how much whatever Gnarl had done to Asada Shino had messed with her perception of the world.
Still, that was a problem for another time, and as the brown-haired girl stood up and did her best to not look him in the eyes, he had already decided on a plan: Once she utterly failed on the so-called 'test' of her capabilities, he would order her to be 'abandoned in the wilds' as punishment for 'wasting his time'…and then do an anonymous call to the authorities to inform them about a lost person, so that they saved her before she starved or was attacked by some wild animal.
Before that, though, he took a step forward, making Rika recoil even as he casually pointed behind her.
Turning around, the SAO Survivor found herself staring dumbfounded at the contraction of dark rock and black steel, upon which a seemingly endless source of red-hot magma poured.
She recognized it, to an extent, having played as a blacksmith in a few MMOs in the past. It was like…the overly dramatic and terrifyingly evil version of a forge you would expect some villain from a medieval setting to have.
"The Forge is one of the most important, yet sadly currently unused, parts of the Netherworld Tower, little human". Gnarl chuckled sinisterly while walking past Rika, startling her at the creature suddenly talking clearly to her. "If you're truly the blacksmith you claimed yourself to be to Sinon, then you will prove it to the Overlord now. Succeed and you will find a place amongst the greatness of Evil that shall soon rule over this world. Fail and…well, I don't think I need to say it, right?"
"N-no, mister demon…not at all…"
"I'm a Hellspawn, actually, but that will do…now then…" ignoring how the girl mumbled an apology and did her best to ignore his Overlord's gaze on her back, the Minion Master walked forward and gestured for a few Browns to get the oversized smelter running, which they did with glee. "Here…this hammer belonged to Giblet, may Evil keep his soul, the previous Forge Master. Sadly, he was quite horrifically killed during the attack of our previous master to this land, leaving the Forge without anyone to harness it…until now."
"I-it's…quite the thing…" Rika muttered while gingerly holding the dark and twisted-looking tool, her grip on it so tight it hurt, realizing she would need to use it to keep herself alive. "But…even if we have the metal, wi-without other materials…"
"That's covered, little human…we have what possibly may be the greatest quality materials that this forge has seen." even as the Hellspawn said those words, several Minions rushed forward while laughing maniacally, Kazuto's eyes widening on the back as he saw them tossing one oversized and wicked-looking fang and several dark pieces of what looked like jagged dark glass into the smelter. "A fang and scales from the legendary Yamata-no-Orochi. And, as for the catalyst…"
"For the Overlord!" declared a Minion before jumping headfirst into the molten metal, causing the girl to scream and the Overlord to cringe in the back.
"Wha…?!"
"For evil!" screamed a second one as he followed cue.
"Yaaay!" was all that the third one said before him and several others also forfeited their lives for seemingly no reason.
Yet, Shinozaki Rika stared at the macabre show with enraptured eyes, able to see, amidst her horror, how some seemingly 'dark aura' flowed from the burning creatures and into the bubbling metal, infusing it with some mesmerizing dark power that made her skin tingle even from that distance.
"The souls of the Minions make for quite amazing material, you know? But I digress…" with just the barest hint of an evil smile, Gnarl motioned forward, even as the levers needed to pour to burning dark substance were presented to her, along with the molds available. "Show us your prowess, young Shinozaki."
"…Overlord-sama?" whispered the girl while doing her best not to shake.
"Yes?"
"What…what would you need the most, right now?"
Dark silence was what met her slightly trembling question. And then…
"…a sword." finally declared the Master of Evil, causing her to finally look at him to see the unnatural glint in his golden eyes, burning brighter than even the magma around them. "A blade worthy of the Overlord. A weapon that can cut down the mightiest of enemies, that I can proudly wield while guiding the Armies of Evil towards our rightful victory, one that truly reflects my greatness above all the pathetic mortals in this world…can you forge something like that, Shinozaki Rika?"
Mentally nodding to himself at the overly dramatic and over-the-top speech, sure that there was no way the girl wouldn't just quickly break down and beg for mercy now, Kazuto opened the eyes he had closed for a moment there at the end…to find with surprise how she had walked to his side with a determined and grim look, before holding one of his hands in her own and looking it up and down, as if trying to calculate something.
Then, under the curious and judging gaze of Gnarl, she turned around, poured the dark metal into one of the molds and knelt down.
Once again, the Forge of the evil tower was filled by the sound of red-hot metal being stuck down. And as it did so, more of its bizarre and, at times, quite silly rules were shown.
Nobody, even Gnarl (As he didn't care) had really thought much about it, but Giblet had been just a Brown Minion, even if one of the oldest ones. He never had been quite really adept at what most normal people called 'forging' or blacksmithing at all. At the end of the day, Giblet had just been lucky enough to stumble upon a particular thing he was very passionate about and, hilariously, a few neurons above the average Minion to realize that just that seemed to be enough for his 'job' to work.
The Forge and the smelters within it worked on Evil and ancient forbidden magic, in the end. As long as the intent and dark wishes were provided, alongside the raw materials, all it needed was to be guided towards its goal to fulfill the purpose it had been built for.
At that moment, all Shinozaki Rika was focused on was not to die, regardless of what she had to do for it. And if that meant providing a self-proclaimed Evil Lord with powers straight out of a dark fairy tale with a weapon that would no doubt turn him into a greater threat to the world? She would do it, as selfish as it was, because she was just a scared teenager that wasn't thinking straight or in the long-term consequences of her actions.
Such 'evil' was extremely simple and primal, but for the Forge, it was more than enough. And despite probably having been useless for actual blacksmithing, the previous experience of the girl in videogames allowed her to have a clear image of what she wanted to make and some vague, fantasy-weird ideas of how to make it.
Suffice to say, nobody was more stupefied than the Overlord himself when, after the 10 longest minutes of her life, the girl shakily stood up, steam coming off from the weapon she had just submerged into the ice-cold water that somehow retained that temperature despite being situated in such a hot chamber.
Turning around once again, Rika faced the Overlord, bit her lips, and took a few steps forward, before falling to Onee knee while raising the result of her efforts and presenting it to Kazuto.
Blacker than the night itself, straight and deadly, with an edge that somehow seemed to have absorbed the power of the 8-headed monster he had accidentally resurrected earlier in the day, and a guard that looked like the open jaws of a snake. Even more, when his hand closed around its hilt and he raised it, the black-haired boy realized how heavy it truly was (Probably why the girl had been struggling to keep it raised, now that he noticed), more than what the average person could comfortably carry, let alone wield. And yet, in his unnaturally strong hands, it felt like the perfect fit.
With a single slash to the side somehow making the air hum and his dark powers to eagerly 'purr', the young Overlord couldn't help the next words he said out loud.
"It's…perfect."
"Re-really?!" feeling oddly prouder than she ever had in her life, Rika stared in awe as the Dark One raised the blade, the very one she had just created, before his face, the edges reflecting his face and hers from opposite sides as he did so. "I'm…glad that you feel satisfied, Overlord-sama."
"Can you…forge armor like this too?" couldn't help but ask the boy while looking her straight in the eye, his earlier plans momentarily forgotten in his awe of the majestic blade.
"I thi-…no, I…I know I can." answered her while tightening her fists.
"Then rejoice, Shinozaki Rika…you have earned yourself a spot amongst us." declared the young Overlord with a dark smirk as he put a hand over her shoulder, blade touching her cheek with its flat side in an almost tender caress, before freezing upon recalling he was not, in fact, trying to kidnap more innocent people into his 'evil team'. "Uhm…that is…"
However, he couldn't even properly voice his hesitation before the last thing he expected happened…that is, Rika furiously blushing and looking down while mumbling some unintelligible nonsense.
What the hell?
"I-it's an honor to hear that…ma-master…"
…what the fuck?!
"Truly, this day just keeps looking more and more like a victory, master!" rejoiced Gnarl while raising his hands, several Minions celebrating around the area, a couple doing so by even jumping off into the darkness towards their deaths just for fun. "Next time we face that damn Heroine, her end shall be inevitable!"
…and just like that, his headaches had just returned tenfold. Great…
Any cliché lines about how one couldn't tell the difference between day and night within the Netherworld Tower…would have been moot at this point, given all the techno-magical upgrades done to the evil lair guaranteed anyone who cared could tell the hour by just asking Cardinal for a display at any time.
However, that may have very well been the case for Tsuboi Ryoutarou, who had been locked inside his Alchemy lab for countless hours (Just three) now, his face one of grim concentration while he delved deep into his vast (Aka a few days old) knowledge of the forbidden arts.
"Jerry…we will avenge you…"
Even as he mumbled those feelings-charged words, the 'Evil Alchemist' brought up what he needed to finish the most complex alchemical experiment he had made to date (Which wasn't saying much, given he had done all of, like three of them, the second one being endlessly repeated to create the monsters that aided on that day's attack). Something he had 'borrowed'…without really asking permission for it (But hey, they were bad guys for a reason, right?).
Within his hands, on top of the extremely complicated transmutation circle, was one of the oversized and charred eyes of Yamata-no-Orochi.
As soon as he put it on the center, the many flasks and jars containing sinister catalysts and unknown reagents, most of which the former office worker didn't even know how to pronounce the name of, started shaking and shining, even as he backed away with an inhumanly serious look on his usually carefree face, a book with detailed instructions open in one hand while he raised a small bag filled with unknown powder over the eldritch ritual.
"By combining the most complicated rituals in this evil book, the weirdest-looking stuff in this lab, and the materials locked under super-rusted locks in that cabin over there, plus all the knowledge anime and videogames have given me on demonic rituals…I shall create a new kind of monster! So powerful that it will be the beginning of an elite army of them to end the Heroine and bring forth the Overlord's glory! Be proud, Jerry! Your siblings shall help us take over the world!" the bandana-wearing man screamed to nobody, even as he opened the small bag and threw all the powder on it at the eye in the center. "Now, in the name of Evil, the Overlord, Satan, the Onis, Angra Mainyu, and Cthulhu…arise, my new servant!"
Under any other circumstances, any idiot chuuni enough to shout those last words would just have looked extremely stupid for any onlookers.
With all the extremely powerful materials involved, the actually accurate alchemic circle, the horribly designed yet suitably evil ritual, executed within the Netherworld Tower, though? Well…as mentioned before, Evil sometimes ran more on willpower and simplistically dark intentions than most believed.
And so, Tsuboi Ryoutarou's rage and wish for revenge mixed up with the extremely unstable ritual, causing eldritch whispers of darkness to cover it like electricity and tiny hands, even as more than one of the diabolical entities he had summoned gave a cursory wave in his direction out of boredom.
The result was a supernatural explosion of evil energy, which condensed all around the lab and made the robes of the self-proclaimed 'Klein' to whip violently, even as he saw a figure slightly taller than him rise majestically within the dark power.
Eyes of a demonic orange opened, with slitted irises unlike Jerry's insect ones. Long bluish hair, like the color of an angry sea, sprawled on the back of the creature's head, even as the same scales that had covered the majestic monster of legend the Overlord resurrected earlier now covered the long snake tail that formed most of the lower half of it…of her body.
Because despite the small fangs visible in her mouth and the unnaturally dark skin, the body of the creature now was unquestionably female. The supple breasts, dangerously enchanting curves, and the fact that she was naked made that very clear.
"Oooh…I see…I see now…my purpose…my revenge…I shall make them a reality for you, my master!" swore the newborn monster girl while looking at Ryoutarou with utter adoration.
For all answer…the man fell to his knees, tears streaming down his eyes and the most disturbing smile he had ever had on his whole life filling his face, making the snake-girl panic and ask if her creator was hurt or anything, going so far as to hug him against her naked chest…
"…this truly is the best job I could have ever landed." was all that he could think while his unbridled tears of joy kept falling down.
Meanwhile, in the highest room of the tower, a young teenager blinked and looked down, her usually twintail-styled hair currently down as she tilted her head to the side, the silky black nightgown she was wearing seemed to absorb all the pale light of the room.
"Did you feel that, Kazuto-sama?"
"…it came from the lab, I believe, probably just Klein doing something crazy again. I will check on him in the morning." Kazuto mumbled from where he was lying with his head on the girl's lap. "…you know you don't have to do this, right, Keiko?"
"I wanna do it, though!" happily smiled Keiko while ruffling the boy's hair. "Even if I wasn't your mistress, you looked very stressed ever since you came back, so I figured pampering you for a bit would be good. You had a quite tiring day, after all, even before you tested Rika-san for her new position…she looks like a nice girl, by the way!"
Any intentions of reminding the girl that she technically was supposed to be his 'mistress' in name only until he found a way to get her back home died on his throat at the reminder, which made him once again think back to the end of the 'fight' from earlier…to the reveal that had shaken him more than all the evil bullshit he had to deal with since he had the 'disgrace' of becoming the new Overlord.
Then, he was abruptly broken out of his once again dark musings by the last thing he was expecting: Keiko leaning down and tenderly kissing his forehead, freezing him in shock even as she leaned back again, her face bright red but a soothing smile filling it.
"I won't pry at all if you don't want me to, but…I'm here to listen to any of your worries, Kazuto-sama."
In the face of such a pure smile, something that he honestly didn't think belonged on the face of someone meant to be the 'mistress of the Overlord'…Kirigaya Kazuto could only sigh and blurt out the thought that had been haunting him all day.
"Keiko…the Heroine is my cousin."
"…what?" was all that the young girl could say as her smile froze on her face.
It seemed like this was going to be quite the long night for everyone in the Netherworld Tower…
Author's Notes: And done! Well, they're going to have to deal with quite a few things, eh?
Several developments went on this chapter, but I won't bore you all now detailing them, as I'm sure you will have more fun drawing your own conclusions until they're brought up better next chapter :P
Only things I can't resist being, well…we got a new evildoer in the team, Klein finally has some luck, and Sugu has met her biggest fan. Chaos shall ensue.
And with that, I bid you farewell until the next update, over at 'OPG: Chains of Fate'…that one is going to be quite fun tense, I bet.
Until then, this is Saint, signing off!