Asuka giggled happily as she adjusted her dress a bit.
She was holding hands with Kaji and Second as the trio walked in the busy main shopping district of Tokyo-3.
Second offered to buy Asuka an ice-cream, and she accepted gracefully, although she felt that the offer was a bit childish considering the circumstances.
Kaji seemed to get a bit offended that Asuka had locked his elbow with the larger man while she was talking to him about going to a high-class restaurant after visiting the jewelry shop.
Kaji looked a bit jealous and offered to move in to live with Asuka if she wished so, as long as she accompanied him instead. Asuka hesitated while Kaji smirked victoriously at Second.
However, Kaji seemed to disappear into thin smoke as Asuka turned to turn Second down.
She realized that she wasn't in the main street anymore, but rather, she had been led to a shady side-street that was filled to the brim with trash and overwhelmed with foul stench.
Asuka tried to call Second by his name, and then tried to reach for her phone to call Kaji as nothing happened… Only for her to realize that she was in her red plug-suit that didn't have pockets.
The dark monster approached her, its ivory-like bones gleaming with baleful white light amid a shroud of darkness.
Asuka backed away in fear, but she stumbled and fell to her back as the trash on the floor turned to slick, dark tentacles and tripped her over.
She tried to crawl away while she was facing towards the monster, limping and dragging her body with desperation in her movements while her mouth failed to scream.
She felt something let a wet crunch like a chicken-bone breaking, and she looked down to see that her ankle had dislocated from the fall and was at an unnatural angle to the side, causing Asuka's fear and revulsion to rise alongside an instinctive panic over the loss of her mobility.
The Monster approached her…
Asuka was utterly terrified and put her hands on her head to protect herself in what feeble manner she could while the shadow and darkness shrouded her and blocked her surroundings from view-
The Monster reached for her…
…And Unit-02's fist punched through the veil of darkness, managing to hit center-mass on the bone-made monster.
However, instead of being flung aside like trash, the undead horror's darkness expanded and Unit-02's arm began to rot and melt into corroded, blackened mess- First starting at it's fingers, and then spreading across the EVA's leg, until the entire Unit-02 was but a pile of corroded dark slag.
The monstrous creature advanced again on Asuka and she screamed in despair and rage.
A gigantic children's plushy doll clad in a simple, almost crude dress rose from behind Asuka to stand in front of her, and it threw its wooly arms wide to protect her.
The Monster touched it, and the doll melted into slag while letting a horrible, gurgling noise.
However, what hurt Asuka more than seeing her precious doll broken was hearing its last words-
'Who are you?'- The last words Asuka's mother had spoken to Asuka before withering away in her madness mere months later.
Asuka sobbed and covered her face with her hands while she curled into a ball on the dark marble floor, waiting for torment to end… And a hand was placed on her head.
However, instead of being laden with death and corrosion, the hand was soft and warm.
She looked up and saw the familiar face of Second's fleshy body, and the man was stroking her hair while he had a gentle expression on his face… Before the face started to droop and melt like a wax candle, gradually revealing ever more of the vile, dark skeletal creature beneath.
The red, ominous glint of the S2 Organ seemed to cast everything into a red shadow… And instead of screaming in her rage, or screaming in her despair, Asuka was dragged into the bony creature's gaping, fanged and unnaturally widening maw while she whimpered like a scared teenager.
She fell into the darkness and her body impacted against something hard…
.
.
Asuka woke up from the floor of her apartment after falling from her bed.
'...Just a stupid dream… A stupid nightmare…' Asuka was feeling shaky and nauseous, and her head ached as she had hit the back of her head against the hard-wood floor.
She stumbled up and hobbled her way back to the bed, and took a sip from a glass of water she had by her bedside. '...Haah… I wonder if Shinji's struggling with this sort of shit… The wonder-boy, the pride of NERV, the can-do… that idiot…'
Asuka groaned in her anger before tossing and turning a few times in her bed… And after a long while, she managed to get some shut-eye.
The alarm clock rang five minutes later.
Asuka's blood-shot eyes opened. 'Fuck school.'
.
.
Momonga was feeling quite thoughtful as he wrote down some locations of note that the teacher droned on about. He had clad himself in his 'fleshy overcoat' again by teleporting inside the meat-suit.
The teleportation hadn't been as smooth as Momonga would have wanted, mostly due to the fact he was fairly sure quite few of his bones were in places where they weren't supposed to be inside the body.
Nonetheless the 'dressing up' gave him an idea, which he had gotten earlier but one that he had neglected due to Ritsuko's technical babble about the 'meat suit's complexity- Which was, putting the 'meat suit' into his inventory and then equipping it from there like if it was a gear item.
The result had been quite positive, although Momonga lamented the fact that if he equipped the item in such a way he wouldn't be able to use his 'cosmetics' slot since the 'meat suit' slotted itself there.
Nonetheless Momonga was quite glad that he had found a way of rapidly switching between 'no flesh' and 'flesh', as it allowed him quite bit of leeway when it came to acting and moving- He could move among the crowd and in public places in his fleshy overcoat, and complete his objectives that he didn't want NERV to know about when he took the suit off and thus removed their spying and tracking.
Not to mention that properly 'equipping' the suit also increased its connectivity with Momonga's 'skeletal body', allowing him greater sensory input- Which he had used to great effect by going out and having dinner in a noodle stall. 'It was pretty tasty… Never knew meat would taste that good… I'm really looking forward to bumming another curry meal from Shinji later today…'
Most of the class seemed to be quite drowsy and a couple of boys in the back were outright asleep behind their laptops, but Momonga didn't feel the need to intervene- While it was quite rude towards the teacher, he had gotten a good grasp on the class dynamics after a few days. That was, that history lessons were seen as quite boring to most of the student population.
However, it looked as if Shinji and Rei were quite awake, although Shinji seemed a bit sad and more than a bit afraid, yet quite resolute. Meanwhile Rei was as emotionless as ever, although this time she was staring at the back of Shinji's neck instead of looking out of the window, like she usually did during the class.
'...It is said that history does not repeat itself but it loves to rhyme…' Momonga pondered about the new world's history and contrasted it to his knowledge of Neo-Japan's past. He drew himself back to the lecture as he realized his thoughts had started to drift as well… Before he sighed and put even that thought aside. 'I'm procrastinating again…'
'...With Gendo and NERV 'allied' to me, I can start searching for Nazarick properly… I need to figure out how to word the search request for Misato in a way where she'll arrange a global search for it, while also not trying to wreck the place if she finds it…' Momonga contemplated his current problem while he wrote down what the teacher taught- Something about Russia being split in two after Antarctica melted and Second Impact effectively broke Eurasian continent in two, splitting the nation with a new sea that stretched all the way from the north coast to Siberia.
However, Momonga had other things to think about. 'Not to mention, once NERV finds Nazarick, I'll have to see about either fortifying it or trying to move it somewhere else… A static fortified position is very easy to pummel into submission from afar. The N2 bombs NERV dropped on me seem quite potent, so it's possible they might be able to breach a few of the topmost layers with only that- First three levels were just a tomb without the neccessary bunkering, ballistic interception and counter-artillery projection capability to withstand prolonged artillery barrage in a conventional war. Then again, it never really needed that since it wasn't as if that was a concern in YGGDRASIL…'
'Assuming of course that Nazarick managed the transition without major alterations to its structure.' Momonga sighed as more and more problems seemed to come up to counter his slowly-forming plans.
He was deep in his thoughts so he didn't even notice as the teacher responded to a knocking from the door, and the old man moved to talk to someone in the hallway.
The old man let out some kind of yelp, although Momonga didn't pay much mind to it.
Roughly two minutes later the teacher came back, although his movements were a lot more robotic than before, almost as if he was shocked.
"Ah, I'd like to… Ahem, ahem, ahem… I'd like to announce that we'll be getting another transfer student… Um…" The teacher seemed to be quite uncertain and had utterly red cheeks. "She's… well… I… I'm not sure who told me, but I know she's from… Norway, I think. Please treat her well."
The teacher turned to bow towards the doorway, and a woman walked in.
"Greetings, I am…" The woman introduced herself to the class while Momonga was deep in his contemplations.
'...Not to mention, I need to figure out how the Exchange Box rates work, and if the payments have been made to sustain Nazarick's operation… The base needed to be paid for once per month to remain in full operation, and it's past the date already, I think… It won't outright delete the base if the payments are missed once or twice, but it severely reduces POP monster respawn rates and removes most of the effects of the dungeon-floors, effectively making it very easy to conquer…' Momonga kept wondering about the mechanics of the guild base in relation to the New World mechanics. 'If local currencies can be fed into the Exchange Box it might actually be worthwhile to establish trade relations with NERV after finding it, or if the box doesn't recognize local yen as money of worth then I'll have to figure out some sort of material exchange… Then again, YGGDRASIL had real money to in-game money transfers, so if Yen could be used to pay for the monthly costs it'd be quite easy to sustain the guild base with all its functions. After all, my monthly NERV's allowance is about six times as much as what I made when I was working in Neo-Japan… Of course, assuming no inflation or deflation regarding the differences between timelines. Although, if I compare the purchasing power of Yen on a microscale, ie, the worth of a single cup of rice and water in Yen, then this place is experiencing quite powerful deflation…'
The transfer student finished her introductions and Momonga glanced at the chalkboard to see that the transfer student had written her name on it… Before Momonga's thoughts ground to a halt and her head finally lurched from his Nazarick-centered thoughts.
The transfer student was looking at him from roughly ten centimeters away. And she had a massive blush on her features while her face was contorted to an incredibly creepy expression.
"I found you, my destined soul-mate. Suzuki-kun." The woman practically panted while her eyes blazed with unbridled lust and immoral desire as she climbed onto Momonga's desk and then over it to his lap. Or more accurately, straddled onto his lap. A strand of hair on her head seemed to stand upright to form a heart-like shape above her head.
Momonga could only stare in shock at the woman as he realized that he had failed to register her familiarity over the fact he had fallen deep into his thoughts, and that the woman on his lap was clad in high-schooler outfit that looked outright fetishistic on the woman's curvy body.
Not to mention that she had somehow managed to hide the horns that usually surrounded her head, as well as the pair of black-feathered wings that normally came from the back of her waist and covered her sides.
Momonga glanced at the chalkboard in shock to confirm that his eyes weren't just malfunctioning thanks to him falling too deep into his memories. And he almost wished he hadn't, as the weight of his sins and actions crashed on his mind as everything in the immediate moment came clear to him.
Indeed, there was a name of 'Albedo Satoru' on the chalkboard.
"I found you~ Suzuki-kun~" Albedo purred as she took advantage of Momonga's distracted state to kiss him directly on the lips.
'Wait- wait wait wait!
.
.
"...What exactly happened there?" Gendo sounded a bit uncertain, which was already a huge warning sign to anyone listening, while Ritsuko sweated visibly as she was sitting behind her office table in her lab with both Gendo and Fuytsuki present.
The commander had barged into the chief science officer's lab pretty much as soon as Second had been approached, and let Ritsuko know what exactly was going on.
Misato had been recalled from her half-day vacation and she had obeyed the order, alongside an appropriate amount of cursing, and she had been sent to prepare NERV HQ for a potential combat situation- And also to go grab Asuka, who had fortunately decided to ditch school.
"I haven't managed to make a 'AU Field Detector', or rather, 'Pattern Red' detector just yet. However…" Ritsuko stared at the previously-recorded footage that showed a woman appearing into a hallway from seemingly nowhere and knocking the door.
The door slid open and a elderly man stepped into the hallway… And the woman put a finger on the man's temple, causing the man's expression to turn utterly blank as if he had become comatose- Until the woman pulled the finger away from the teacher's temple and the teacher stumbled back into the classroom.
The footage showed the woman introducing herself, and then she approached 'Second' in… a straightforward manner.
"...Right." Ritsuko sighed as the footage showed Second waving his hands around in panic while the woman on his lap had put both of her hands on the 'man's cheeks to keep him still while the kiss turned from lewd to outright depraved one, all the while the class around him was in quite the uproar. Mostly with the boys crying rivers of blood. "...I think it's fair to assume she is the Third Demon."
"Quite so, considering she introduced herself using the same 'surname' as Second's cover-up. Thus we have decided to 'ID' her as 'Third'." Gendo told Ritsuko. "However we're running low on escalation options at this point- We cannot let Second dictate the terms of our relationship. I need you to rush whatever developments you have made in Anti-Demon technology into a system that can be equipped on an EVA."
"The system is not quite combat-ready though. It lacks a sufficient delivery method- Ammunition is already prepared, but the weapon system lacks crucial capability. Namely the ability to suppress Second's portals." Ritsuko was quite nervous as Gendo seemed more hasty than before- A clear sign that the man was feeling the pressure Second was putting on him. 'Why is he so nervous? Second is supposed to be allied to us now… Ah.'
Ritsuko realized why exactly Gendo might be nervous. '...The First, Second and Third Demons. Second Demon died, and I experimented on its corpse. It must have figured out what happened, and brought in the Third Demon… But is it a bodyguard or a signal of escalation? If Third is capable of fighting on the level of the First Demon then we're shit out of luck…'
'...I see…' Ritsuko looked at the sight of the classroom on the laptop that was linked to the school's CCTV system, and noted that Second had put his hands on the Third Demon's shoulders and pushed her off, but had remained in a disoriented state with a sizable amount of lipstick all over his face.
It wasn't enough to quell the ravenous-looking woman who responded by tying her arms around Second's head and burying his head on her considerable bust, which caused quite a bit of clamor in the classroom. Although for some reason the teacher merely looked out of the window as if he was in trance.
"I suppose that the theory about Demons having close relationships holds water." Ritsuko noted at the sight.
"Quite so. What do you need to finish the weapon?"
"Time."
"You ask for the one thing I cannot give."
"The strongest blow is useless if the hit doesn't connect." Fuytsuki noted from the side, making it the first time he had spoken since entering the room in Gendo's shadow. "Gendo, I advise caution. Being hasty is dangerous, specifically since I heard that we're allied with Second at the moment- It just might be that Second is only testing how strong our resolve and trust is, and if we strike too early we'll only stumble and fall. It's become clear that the only thing that can fight Second and his kind is EVA's, and only if they are properly supported and armed with weapons we currently don't have. Not to mention the problem of morale- From what I've seen it's unlikely that Second Child and Third Child would lift their hand against Second unless Second was the one to initiate the hostilities. Thusly we'd need to finalize the Dummy Plug program before we can even consider opening hostilities with Demons- Appeasement is our best and only option right now."
"...Hm." Gendo seemed to pause from Fuytsuki's words. "I see… Thank you, old friend. I fear I have fallen into Second's trap in my overthinking. Moreover- Ritsuko. My psyche may be externally compromised by my recent contact with Second. I need a thorough psychological examination after this conflict is over."
Ritsuko stared at the commander for a while as Gendo seemed to collect himself. '...Gendo is admitting mistakes? Did the moon explode or something? Perhaps cows grew wings and flew?'
She shook her head to clear it of stray thoughts. "Alright. I'll see what I can do."
Gendo looked vaguely, minutely relieved after her words, which made both Ritsuko and Fuytsuki more concerned than ever.
.
.
"U-umu, umu…" Momonga was stumbling back towards his apartment after the history class ended, marking the end of the school day and allowing the students to disperse into after-school clubs, none of which Momonga was part of.
Albedo was clinging to his side while still in her high school-clothes, and was causing quite a few of the passer-by's to give Momonga and Albedo a bit of a stare and stink-eye. '...She really doesn't look like a teenager, and that outfit… Then again… I don't want to throw stones there either…'
[Emotion Suppression] was currently working overtime and on triple shift in a attempt to keep him sane while Momonga fumbled for his apartment-keys after somehow managing to stumble back to his apartment complex with his brain in auto-pilot. 'Is Albedo's behavior like that because I altered her backstory? Is this all my fault? Tabula-san… I'm so, so, so sorry… I ruined your favorite NPC… Nazarick is here somewhere, right? That means- I need to- But then- If- Gendo and NERV, and…'
He barely registered the fact that Albedo reached between her breasts and pulled out an apartment key, which Momonga realized was a duplicate of the key he had been given by NERV. 'H-how did she get that?'
Albedo swiped the door-lock with the key, causing the apartment's door to open. Although she swiped thrice as she first tried to swipe the door, then the space between the door and the doorframe, and finally swiped the card-reader with the key.
"Su-zu-ki-san~ I don't have much time to spare, so let's be quick~" Albedo purred as she pulled Momonga into the apartment without further ado.
"U-umu…"
Albedo's overly innocent smile couldn't hide a thoroughly ominous aura around her body, causing Momonga's psyche to both die a little from seeing the consequences of his actions, as well as his face to pale from the intimidation in Albedo's overly sweet voice.
"Listen, umu…" Momonga sweated a bit as Albedo grabbed his hand and tried to pull him towards the bedroom. He tried to resist with physical strength, but failed as the woman easily pulled Momonga after her, so instead he teleported out of her grasp and back to the middle of the room.
Albedo paused as soon as she didn't feel Momonga's hand in hers, and she turned around very, very slowly until she looked over her shoulder at Momonga, causing her amber-yellow eye to glint in the room's shadows.
'I have to collect myself. This could get dangerous.' Momonga reached to the side and put the lights on. "Albedo. Stand down."
Albedo kneeled down on the floor almost instantly- Although before she did that she approached him with movements that were almost too fast for the eye to see… And Momonga looked down to see that Albedo had sat down in a seiza-like pose so that her head was on level with Momonga's waist. Or rather, his crotch, and her face was almost against it.
"Wait- Haah…" Momonga teleported again while holding his head in exasperation. '...I added 'She loves Suzuki Satoru unconditionally', but I suppose that the fact her Racial Class is 'Succubus' is, um, adjusting the exact meaning of those words… Specifically since her earlier 'fluff text' read that she was a massive slut… Anyway, the fact she has managed to come this far and found me on her own means she's at least as intelligent if not more so than my summons, and thusly it's likely that the NPC's of Nazarick are no longer just mere 'NPC's but rather more sentient creatures- That being said, I should be able to still command them to some extent due to my status as the Guild Master. However, I would need to kick other players off the guild in order to make modifications to their NPC's, since the dev console doesn't seem to work here… Which means I won't be doing that. This is worrisome…'
Momonga opened his character sheet mentally and took off his fleshy 'overcoat' and equipped his class-gear and pulled the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown out of his Inventory. "Albedo. You are the Guardian Overseer of Nazarick. Calm yourself."
However, it looked like Albedo did the exact opposite, although in somehow an even more disturbing way.
Which was to say, she froze utterly still while sitting in seiza-pose, her face turned ashen-gray, and her amber-like irises wavered as she spotted Momonga's 'Avatar form'.
And then Albedo's face became streaked with tears and snot while she shook on the spot.
'U-umu?' Momonga hadn't expected a reaction like that and just stood frozen still in a pose he had named 'idle regal stance' back in YGGDRASIL.
"Mwhoh… Mwhomwhongha-shamaa…" Albedo cried while she was shaking like a leaf in the wind, tears and snot running freely down her face and into her lap while she stared at Momonga's face with wavering eyes. "I… Ish finhally founds you… Y-yoush alivesh… A-and M-Mwohmongwa-shshama was S-shusuki-shama… I… I'm sho hapieh…"
'U-umu, I'm not good with crying women…' Momonga was thankful that skeletons couldn't sweat as he was fairly sure he'd have severely dehydrated his body by now from awkward and nervous sweating alone. "Do not cry. I am here."
Albedo tried her hardest to stem the hiccupping and sobbing, but failed after a herculean attempt and ended up prostrating towards Momonga while shaking. "I- I… I beg for a painful sniff… death, my eternal master… I failed your order-"
'Right. 'Unconditional love' and 'extreme evil karma' don't mix to make sensible people…' Momonga sighed as he spotted another problem he'd likely encounter in the future. But first he needed to take care of a more immediate problem.
Namely, the amount of spying gear in the immediate space, that being his room. "Calm down. I will not order you to such a fate over that small slight- Rather, it is I that should face the blame after giving you such an unreasonable order. Peace, Albedo. We have much to talk about. But before that, [Scroll of Dampen Noise], [Scroll of Hidden Mana], [Scroll of…"
Momonga kept tossing scrolls into the air where they spontaneously combusted to imbue their obscuring effects all the while Albedo shook on the floor.
She quivered for a while even after Momonga had finalized his preparations, before she finally managed to gather her wits, and sneezed in an almost adorably cute manner to a napkin that Momonga provided.
"How did you get here? What about your wings and horns? Where is Nazarick?" Momonga asked.
"I… We…" Albedo seemed to struggle to answer, before she lowered her head in shame. "We found ourselves strangers in a strange land. The Swamp of Helheim was nowhere to be seen, instead it was replaced by ice and frost… We thought that the Supreme Beings had decided to move the Great Tomb to Niflheim, so we waited, and waited… And waited, and hoped, and despaired…"
Albedo's voice seemed to break a bit. "I knelt with the maids in the Grand Hall for a week, waiting for my lord to return to his throne, like he always had. But he would not come- The time for the Great Tomb's maintenance grew near, yet my lord would not Return. When the payment was missed, we knew something was amiss- That… That… That we… sniff… T-tht-that…"
The woman's voice broke entirely and she began sobbing once again while she fell down to prostrate towards Momonga. "W-we thought that all of the Supreme Beings had found us unsightly and wanting, and decided to leave us, discarding the Great Tomb to the icy wastes in order to build a new, greater Tomb with more capable and more powerful servants…"
Droplets fell to splash on the wooden floor of the apartment as Albedo cried while speaking… And Momonga finally broke from his frozen state to kneel beside her and put his hand on her shoulder to reassure the crying NPC. 'She… It's almost like she's an actual person…'
Albedo shook even harder for a moment before she put her hand on Momonga's and took a deep, shaky breath while lifting her face from the floor to show that it was streaked with tears and miserable. "M-my lord… W-we sent the Pleiades and Sebas Tian out to search for the Supreme Beings after the monthly payment was missed and much of Nazarick was disabled- W-we hoped that there was something we could still do, plead for forgiveness and vow to do better, to be of any use to our lords, even if it was to cut our own throats so that the Supreme Beings could consume our bodies… B-but instead, Sebas discovered a large city full of humans… And it became clear…"
'Umu?'
"It became clear that the filthy humans had somehow pulled Nazarick from its just place to somewhere near their nests. Entoma found another of their disgusting villages, as did some of the other Pleiades- Sebas was most capable of blending in with the humans out of all of us, so he went into the biggest city we could find, and found a magical box that showed our beloved lord fighting some sort of creature for the amusement of the humans-"
'U-umu?'
"We recalled everyone who we sent out back to Nazarick to consolidate our forces so we could strike out and obliterate the disgusting nest and eradicate every single filthy ape-creature in there… But before we could, a tragedy struck. In our foolish bloodlust we forgot that if the foe was mighty enough that it could force our beloved lord to play the role of a gladiator, then the enemy would be more than capable of destroying us all…"
'Umu? Doesn't that mean…'
"...And that was proven true when the enemy found Entoma out, as she had found and had been infiltrating some sort of dungeon in the middle of the sea that our scouting POP monsters had spotted. The last communication we got from her told us that Humans had box-shaped tracked POP monsters of their own, and that they shot projectiles that dealt physical and fire damage, but after that all communication ceased. We couldn't contact her after that, even when we boosted [Message] using Nazarick's system."
"I… see." Momonga contrasted Albedo's words to what he knew from Gendo and listened closely. "What happened next?"
"We suspected that our attempt to order Entoma to withdraw was intercepted by the enemy and they had found her that way." Albedo bowed her head until her temple was touching the flood. "A few minutes later Nazarick's roster showed that Entoma had died. The order to reach out to Entoma mid-mission was mine- I swear I shall bear the full responsibility for my failure to save her. We considered trying to [Message] our lord, but the decision was vetoed as it could result in our lord being exposed to more danger, like Entoma had before she disappeared."
"Umu, it's quite alright. She was killed, and I have recovered Entoma's gear and body, and found the responsible people… Well, metaphorically speaking." Momonga felt quite conflicted and shocked, and worked on auto-pilot. "I have forged alliances with local groups, as well as gotten a grip on local power-levels. Your decision to withhold attacking was sensible one- The local groups have quite powerful items in their arsenal. Including weapons that are capable of one-shotting me. That being said, they have some weaknesses that can be exploited to great degree- But we have to be smart about this."
Albedo seemed quite shocked and her eyes roved all over Momonga's body, almost as if she was searching for damage.
"I'm at full health currently. But more importantly- How did you find me?" Momonga stated numbly and followed-up with a question to both keep Albedo occupied and pump her for information. "I haven't been keeping a too low profile, but I haven't been too high-profile either, I think. Did you find my summons?"
"Sebas Tian painted a picture of the battle between our lord and the enemy's gladiator, and we contrasted landmarks, local infrastructure and vegetation to what knowledge we had. We couldn't find parallels except to some hushed, vague references to the 'land of the gods'- However, since we were in a land infested with humans, that couldn't be where we had landed. Instead we sent Sebas out again to procure what maps and local geographical data he could get his hands on, and we sent every single covert-operations POP monster we could afford in Nazarick's powered-down state to shadow Sebas so he wouldn't share Entoma's fate." Albedo bowed her head back down. "The order was shared between me and Demiurge, as my failure as a Guardian Overseer weighed me down. The expedition was successful, although a number of the POP monsters were lost in a diversionary attack against the box-like human POP monsters that patrolled the hive."
'Does she mean battle tanks with 'box-like POP monsters'? Don't tell me that they ordered Eight Legs Assassins or something squishy like that to attack tanks head-on… Death Cavaliers could pull that off because they have a high amount of piercing damage in their lance and are tanky enough to survive the approach, at close range anyway, but… Eight Legs Assassins are squishy and only have a pair of slashing daggers and webs… The best they could do was immobilize tanks…' Momonga realized he'd need to seriously revamp Nazarick's strategic and tactical doctrine to properly use the POP monsters and mercenary monsters within the dungeon to fight modern militaries- Not to mention fighting EVA's and Angels.
"...Afterwards we matched the geographical and architectural data from Sebas's painting to somewhere in 'Japan', and…" Albedo seemed to be in great pain as she spoke, although the pain seemed to be emotional rather than literal. "I entered the country using [Scroll of Gate], burdened by my failures to decipher my lord's implacable wisdom from hints that he gave, for failing to move out to assist him as soon as we arrived. The failure rends my soul, not to mention that I had been struck with an odd, wanton and craven desire for a soul-mate in my heart… A human soul-mate. Demiurge had found my odd craving for someone with a human-sounding name extremely concerning, and he suspected that I had been compromised by our enemy, somehow. My lacking strategic acumen supported that idea. So we both agreed that I'd be the one who would be sent to Japan to search for our Lord while the rest of Nazarick reinforced the location to the best of our capacity."
Albedo's words turned quiet. "...That way, if the odd yearning was a plan of my lord, then it could be revealed, and if I were to die then nothing of worth would be lost- I am glad beyond words to know the former was the case, and saddened that latter did not.."
"So you [Gate]'d to Tokyo-3? I imagine the light-show a week ago would be hard to miss…" Momonga commented idly. "With the whole Angel situation and EVA's and whatnot…"
"Angels? Ah… Humans have allied themselves with those accursed holy creatures. Of course- That makes sense!" Albedo seemed to connect the dots. "How vile…"
"Ahem, that's… not exactly correct. I'll explain later." Momonga coughed to his fist. "Continue."
"I only arrived in this place a few days ago, after I interrogated a few locals and found from them that this place seemed to be some sort of 'fortress city' with an underground 'fighting arena'. They called it Geofront. I figured it'd be the arena where the humans had caged our lord..." Albedo's voice was a bit uncertain. "I then began searching for my lord in this city, Tokyo-3… Until I caught a glimpse of someone who set my heart aflutter, and made my succubus blood boil. And I used one of my [Scroll of Invisibility] to follow him. E-even if it meant I would have to pause searching for my lord… A treacherous thought which gnaws at my heart, that my feeble nature would prove stronger than my duty to my lord… And yet, we're here. I initially thought our glorious lord had been captured by the filthy humans, but I'm overjoyed that our fears were unfounded- And… that… m-my lord and my love… Are one person… haha…"
Albedo began to shake harder and her words mixed with strange panting that made Momonga feel a bit uneasy.
"I see…" Momonga nodded as he contrasted the timelines from what he had experienced to what Albedo talked about. 'So NERV has been honest with me… Mostly honest, anyway. I need to visit Nazarick post-haste and get its operations running, everything else can wait… I should probably send a brief message to Gendo, however, so that he won't overreact and assume I've gone on a warpath. Depending on Nazarick's finances I may have to work with NERV to fund the tomb's functions at least until I establish doctrines and strategies to the point we can conquer a plot of land that we can exploit for sustained funding…'
"Come to think of it, you haven't told me what you did to your horns and wings? I remember you had them." Momonga asked half from curiosity and half to occupy Albedo until he formalized his plans.
"I would not be able to infiltrate human filth-settlements while I had them… So Demiurge suggested that I'd remove them. I agreed as just penance for my failure to command Nazarick's forces in our lord's absence." Albedo prostrated towards Momonga again. "If this humanized form causes offense to my lord's eyes then I shall accept any further punishment my lord wishes to impart upon me."
"No, no, that's not an issue… How did you remove them, exactly?" Momonga started to get a bad feeling, and the feeling was justified as Albedo pulled a bloody hacksaw from somewhere from her side, and then reached further into her 'side'. 'So she has Inventory as well… So I'm guessing that the NPC's were transported here in full configuration… That being said…'
Momonga was feeling quite conflicted about the bloody pair of wings that Albedo was offering towards him like a cultist would offer a severed limb to one's god. 'On one hand, it was her decision and technically necessary since I don't think Albedo had any camouflage-abilities, but on the other she vandalized Tabula's beloved NPC… Er, herself… But if she's a person now, does that mean she should have control over her own body? …Haa, then again, I shouldn't be the one to point fingers in there, since I altered her to my own whims back in YGGDRASIl's closing minutes… Not to mention, if she used 'damage' to alter her body then it should be possible to just simply heal her…'
Momonga sighed, although this time with 'emote' as he didn't have a fleshy body equipped that could do so naturally. "Very well. Can you cast [Gate] and lead me to Nazarick? I'll send a message first, though… [Message]- Gendo-kun. I'll be gone for some time. I'll contact you when I return. Our deal continues otherwise."
'...I see. Very well. In that case, NERV will be ready for your return…' Gendo's voice was quite calculated and stern, and surprisingly stable considering that Momonga's earlier [Message] to a human, that being Ritsuko, had resulted in the woman screaming and muttering something about voices in her head before figuring out Momonga was speaking to her.
"Now then… Stand tall, Guardian Overseer of Nazarick, Albedo!" Momonga announced to Albedo while holding his skeletal hand towards the woman who flinched… Before she seemed to realize what Momonga was saying. "You have not failed- Your mission has been successful, and I return to Nazarick! Stand tall, for the stigma of your failures is forgiven, and your vigil rewarded!"
"M-mhomongha-shama…" Albedo stood up and wiped her face quickly to clear it of tears that nearly began pouring down her face, before adopting a more serious posture more befitting of her role and rank. "The Guardian Overseer of Ninth Floor of Nazarick is ready for your orders, my lord."
"Good. In that case… Take us home."
.
.
Roughly an hour later, in Central Dogma's command bridge, an alarm was sounded.
A Pattern Blue- The Seventh Angel had been detected