"Huh." Momonga stared a bit at the screen of Throne of Kings after he had barged into the Throne Room and somewhat unceremoniously booted Albedo off of it.
Momonga was so worked-up over the prospect of Nazarick getting invaded again, and this time by the 'new-world' enemies that he had first-hand experience on, that it had driven his paranoia to new heights.
He had completely ignored Albedo's sudden paling and twitch-jumping when he had barged into the room, as well as her questionable moaning when he had grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off the throne to put her to the side.
'...Right. Hm…' Momonga stared at the floating holographic orange-tinted screen which showed the battle happening inside the Fourth Floor of Nazarick. 'So, an Angel vs Shalltear, Aura, Mare, and Gargantua… Gargantua's not doing all too well, it had lost quite a bit of health before I managed to restart Nazarick's systems from dormancy, and Shalltear is, uh, what is she doing inside that Angel? She can break free, right? I think she had a number of movement-restriction negating effects precisely because she's mostly melee combatant and getting movement-shackled is a sure-way of getting yourself kited to death…'
"A-ahem, this feeble servant apologizes for her unability to lead-"
"It's alright, I forgive you, Albedo." Momonga cut Albedo's shaky apology off, and then motioned for her to get up as she had started to prostrate towards him. "Hm- The floor guardians are at their respective Floors- Why? It would be much more effective to combine their efforts rather than have them fight one by one…"
"M-my lord, I do not understand? We were ordered 'to our positions' by our lord?" Albedo lifted her face from the floor, her features pale and streaked with tears while her amber-like eyes were shaking. "Did we-"
"No, no… It's quite alright. Fine." Momonga wanted to groan in exasperation considering the situation, but Emotion Suppression brought him back from the brink before he could show his emotions to the NPC.
Or rather, before Momonga would show weakness to the very much dangerous Shield Lord-class Succubus who guarded the Ninth Floor, who apparently was of the opinion that 'she had failed Momonga'- Yet Momonga was keenly aware how easily that feeling could flip over to 'her feeling as if Momonga had failed her' should he say the wrong thing and break the illusion of control. 'Right, I need to adjust my expectations. Pandora's Actor hinted to the NPC's thinking that this whole invasion is a test… Eh?'
Momonga stared at the screen which showed new 'signatures' appearing to the Entrance of Nazarick first floor- Or rather, around the sink-hole that remained of the mausoleum above the ground. 'Wait, are those…'
Momonga froze utterly still as he stared at the sight of three EVA's being dropped from some sort of huge airship, cables attached an all, and landing in superhero-landings near the sink-hole while the airship started to hover and started to make an approach to the entrance.
The three EVA's activated in unison and charged towards the sink-hole before jumping in just as the airships started to land around the sink-hole on the ground.
"Hm? Ah- Aura, Mare, Shalltear. Brace for impact- You're getting reinforcements, maybe. It seems that NERV has sent help. Or at least, most likely reinforcements. Umu… Right- Change in orders: Fall back for now and keep your distance." Momonga gave hasty orders as he realized that if the EVA's were to come into contact with the denizens of Nazarick then there would be blood- And he was well aware how shaky his position in the New World was now that Nazarick was discovered.
And thus, Momonga could only stare in deep, paranoid thoughts as the trio of Evangelions landed to Fourth Floor and engaged in a staring match against the Angel that had paused its wrestling match with Gargantua to gauge the newcomers.
A few scenarios passed by Momonga's head in quick succession, starting with Gendo having somehow found out where Momonga was and betraying him by herding an Angel to break Nazarick's defenses before sending EVA's to finish the job- And if that were the case, Momonga considered just ordering the NPC's in the Fourth Floor to retreat to Fifth and let the Angel and the EVA's duke it out before sallying forth to finish off the victors…
At least, such were Momonga's plans before the green-violet EVA he recognized to be Shinji's charged the Angel and stabbed it with a huge knife. 'So… They are here to help?'
The Angel flicked its tail-fin and whacked the orange-red EVA-Unit-02 in the chest, causing it to be knocked off its feet and land in a heap some distance away, and Momonga could instinctively hear Asuka's indignant screeching even if he didn't have audio-feed from the inside of the entry-plug.
Meanwhile Rei's Evangelion was standing underneath the large sinkhole-like tunnel the Angel had bored through the three floors, arms raised as if to receive something… And a huge chain-shotgun-like contraption fell from the hole, fed by a large cabe that made Momonga wince internally as he recognized the cable as the same kind that had fed power to the Positron Rifle.
Unit-00 swung the huge weapon around, braced it against its arm, rotated a cylindrical magazine at the bottom of the gun, before aiming at the Angel and firing as soon as Unit-02 and -01 dodged out of the way.
A incandescent blast of energy shot out of the weapon like from a high-pressure fire-hose, and impacted against the Angel's side to gouge a huge hole into it.
The Angel screamed in pain and anger at such a high volume that Momonga could have sworn he heard it even through to the Ninth Floor, albeit he realized in retrospect that it might have just been echo from the voice-feedback of the monitoring system causing echo in the throne-room.
Then the EVA rotated the magazine again, and fired once more- This time shooting out a sharp jet of what looked like molten copper that pierced right through the Angel's fin before it could swat at Unit-02 again.
Thus distracted, Asuka's Unit-02 managed to hit the fish-like Angel with her box-cutter like proggressive Knife and slice its guts open.
"My lord? Orders?" Albedo reminded her of her presence and Momonga realized that he had been distracted from his orders by seeing three EVA's suddenly drop by into Nazarick.
"Ahem…" 'Right, umu, the NPC's are expecting all of this to be under control and be part of some kind of test, in which case… errr… U-umu! I got it!' Momonga panicked for a moment before Emotion Suppression hit him and brought a moment of stability- Which he used to construct a semi-sensical collection of the events around a single narrative. '...I hope they won't ask too many questions…' "Ahem, Albedo. Do you recognize the enemy in the Fourth Floor?"
"M-my lord, I have never seen such a thing. I opened a [Message] to Demiurge in the Seventh Floor to ask if he had seen anything like that, and we concluded that it was likely a 'World-class Enemy', or… an Angel, as our lord has described them." Albedo lifted herself slowly to her feet, as if she was unaware how she should act around Momonga after his outburst. "Therefore, we believe that this enemy was driven to us by our Lord to test our mettle, and… I am ashamed to admit, but we are not strong enough to fight these enemies in Nazarick's dormant state."
"Very good. Realizing and admitting one's weakness is strength- As long as it is done to one that you absolutely trust. I thank you for your trust in me." Momonga turned Albedo's speech around, as he had plenty of practice on such a thing with Shinji and co. 'Good, that's one check-box, I think…' "Now then. I've not only lured one of the Angels here, but also the allies I've made. Observe:"
Momonga waved his hand and the orange hologram turned towards Albedo, showing her the battle between the three EVA's and the Angel while Gargantua was sticking to its orders to stay back and not interfere alongside Aura and Mare, both of whom had started to eat snacks while sitting on top of the now-tumultuous water.
"A-ahem, my lord…" Albedo started to bite her lip in an uncertain way as she looked at the view… Before she seemed to realize something. "That- Ah… I understand. Indeed, it is quite an intricate plan: To show us at our weakest, and lure the enemy at us- Before unleashing our true power on our enemies when they have weakened one another! Indeed, it all makes sense… From our lord's caution towards the 'allies of convenience', to our seemingly foolish orders to hold ground while having both hands tied behind our backs…"
'...Er, did she buy it?' Momonga flipped the screen to check up on the situation… And immediately felt like covering his face with his hands. 'Oh no…'
Indeed, the screen showed a red-armored, white-winged and leech-faced creature clinging to Unit-02's face while the EVA was desperately trying to peel it off.
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Aura was about to take a bite out of a dried mushroom as the twins sat on the water's surface on the Fourth Floor, as she saw something that caused her eyes to widen in surprise and fear…
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Asuka screamed as the face of Unit-02 bled and rend while the leech-like monster gnawed on the EVA's head.
A surge of pain ran down her own face every time the monster took a bite out of the EVA or stabbed it with its odd lance that seemingly not only damaged the EVA, but also drew from it's LCL-blood, making Asuka panic.
"You- You damn… Leech!" Asuka had covered her face instinctively, which had caused the EVA to slap its hands on its face and pin the vaguely human-sized monster in place… Only it was persistent like a bug, and could burrow into EVA's flesh even when it was being squished due to the monster's unnatural strength. "What the fuck are you?!"
"Asuka! Move the hands out of the way! I'll get it off." Shinji's concerned voice came from the intercom and Asuka bit her lip in anger to not lash out- Again.
'And of course the- OWWWWW- Wonderchild comes to the rescuueeee- aarrgh!' Asuka wrenched the hands of the Evangelion off of its face while half of the screen turned dark, signifying that the monster's trashing had managed to destroy the EVA's left-side eyes.
"G-Hguh!" Asuka vomited blood while her left eye closed out of instinct, and she resisted the urge to once again slap her hand on her eye to cover it with all her might, knowing full well that if she indulged the urge she'd trap the monster against Eva's face once again.
Unit-01 charged in, and jabbed its knife between Unit-02's face and the monster, making a deep gash in the EVA's face but managing to separate the monster from the EVA. And also allowed Asuka to double over in her pilot-seat and cover her face while growling in pain. "What the hell is that thing?! It came out of the Angel when I sliced its gut!"
"The Seventh Angel has been neutralized." Rei's ever-calm voice came through the intercom, and Asuka glanced to the side to see that Unit-00 was standing on top of the massive, twitching fish-like Angel and had fired straight down with the huge 'AD-gun' that had been dropped from the sink-hole.
The massive gun had succeeded in blowing a gaping hole right through the Angel's head and had caused it to go still.
On the other side of the battlefield the odd stone-made creature that had been fighting with the Angel remained as motionless as it had become when the trio of EVA's had entered the sinkhole, while the odd leech-like monstrosity continued to fight the EVA's like some sort of demented blood-hungry combination of a murder-hornet, leech and a mosquito.
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'...Of course. Shalltear was eaten by that Angel, and when Asuka sliced its guts open… She got splashed with its blood and entered a frenzy. During which she would always target the nearest visible enemy… Or, since this world doesn't have friendly-fire restrictions, anyone nearby…' Momonga felt quite exasperated while he looked at the visual feed. "Right. It seems that Shalltear has- umu?"
Momonga paused while he contemplated Albedo's words. 'Wait, waitwait, 'unleashing our true power on our enemy when they have weakened one another'? That was the original plan if Gendo was here to kill us all since we wouldn't have a choice, but- It's way too early for us to take the initiative on that! If that happens now it will really be 'us against the world', and while that would be alright in terms of individual strength, they have nukes! And stuff like that Positron Rifle! Not good!'
"Right, but not quite." Momonga lifted his finger to scold Albedo, well aware that if he showed weakness by telling her that he hadn't planned for Shalltear to frenzy then Albedo might pick up on the weakness and assume that he wasn't what she thought he was. "Indeed, Shalltear is frenzied and has attacked our allies. While it would be beneficial for us to destroy our enemy and our temporary ally at one fell swoop… There is a problem. See that weapon right there?"
"Ah- yes, lord?" Albedo gulped uncertainty while her face changed color from slowly returning healthy hue to deathly pallid and slightly green. "M-My lord, you mentioned the danger the enemy's weapons would pose…"
"Indeed. And, I also knew that you'd come up with a plan like that you came up with just now- That of weakening our allies by pitting them against our enemies and then taking them out in one fell swoop. I knew you'd see it that way. However, it's very easy to underestimate an enemy you don't truly know. This is a good learning opportunity- A reckless charge would not work against the enemies and allies we face in this world." Momonga reached into his Inventory and brought out Entoma's corpse, all the while feeling an increasing amount of apprehension and dread. 'Hrrgh… I don't have options… but… It has to be done this way, otherwise she'll think that my plan has a flaw… I'm sorry, Peroroncino… But before I allow this, I need to be sure NPC's can be resurrected… Dammit, I think Gendo's callousness is starting to rub on me…'
Momonga tapped a side-panel of the Throne of King's interface and opened the option to revive Entoma.
The necessary funds were drained in an instant from the Treasury as the prompt was confirmed, and Momonga saw as Entoma's 'icon' changed from 'Dead' to 'Alive' in the NPC-roster of the Ninth Floor.
A summoning circle formed on the floor of the throne room… Before a flat, chittery voice came from it. "Entoma Vassilia Zeta… Reporting."
Momonga furrowed his brows, metaphorically speaking as he was in his skeletal avatar, at the kimono maid-dressed girl with vaguely insectoid appearance.
It seemed that Entoma's steadfast act evaporated in an instant as she realized where she was. "I… Wait, I was just… E-eh!? Momonga-sama!? Wait… ah!"
Entoma had appeared in the center of the room… Yet, Entoma's 'body', or rather the body Gendo had given to Momonga, remained on the floor. Yet, it looked… skinned somehow. 'Entoma's old body doesn't have its skin, er, carapace anymore? Did it just disintegrate? Why did the rest of the body stay though? I thought the bodies of NPC's disintegrate when they are resummoned…'
Momonga wanted to scratch his chin in contemplation at the odd sight while Entoma hurriedly prostrated towards him, clearly expecting a lecture or tongue-lashing of some sort. Although for some reason she sent a surprised, almost frightened glance at the screen showing three EVA's.
'Normally the bodies and gear of NPC's disintegrate when they are resummoned, I confirmed that during my exile in Kyoto's woods… Odd.' Momonga thought while thinking about the oddness of the situation.
Albedo was clearly having similar thoughts as she looked back and forth from Entoma to the dead body on the floor…
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"AD-rifle is performing as expected." Gendo noted from a command vehicle that was perched near the sinkhole that had resulted from the Angel's digging-effort in Siberia. "Well done, Doctor Akagi."
"Hm… What's the abbreviation from? 'Anti… Dat shit'?" Misato commented as she sat in the command vehicle as well, alongside Ritsuko and a group of technicians which kept the command uplink between NERV Japan's MAGI and the EVA's going. "We didn't have time to prepare many weapons. I hope that will be enough… Also, what the heck is that flying thing? And that rock-giant-thing?"
"...Well, whatever they are, 'that flying thing' is clearly hostile." Ritsuko noted calmly while sipping steaming tea. The tea itself was likely just lukewarm, but the freezing temperature outside caused the inside of the command car to drop to a few degrees below freezing even though the command center-trailer was heated.
Misato mentally thanked Shinji once again for the foresight of not only grabbing her comfy winter jacket, but also a pair of thick winter pants as in retrospect going to a freezing tundra in stockings might not have ended well for Misato's butt.
Gendo, however, seemed to be utterly unaffected by the temperature as he was in his usual suit, with the red-tinted visor on his face and expression completely unaffected by the cold.
"How many rounds do we have left for the AD-rifle?" Gendo asked Ritsuko, ignoring Misato's question.
"Two magazines after the current one, so around ten shots. I had to stretch the materials a bit for the last magazine, so its 'AD-field' penetration ability might drop somewhat…" Ritsuko was looking at her laptop before scrunching her eyebrows… And then widening them in shock. "Hold on, the containment field of the warhead- It collapsed just now?!"
"Quite so." Gendo merely breathed out through his nose in a halfway amused manner. "It would have been too easy to use the enemy against itself in retrospect. However, this experiment has revealed a few flaws in Second's armor… Good job regardless, Doctor Akagi."
"What?!" Misato was on her feet instantly. "The gun stopped working?!"
"No, the AD-gun is still working, but the special AD-warheads, um, now lack a special spice to penetrate AD-fields. It should still work against a regular AT-field… Ah." Ritsuko paled a bit as she looked at the command screen which showed the combined sensor auspex of the three EVA's, or specifically, them struggling against a flying armored leech-like thing.
"Yeah- But what is that thing?!" Misato pointed at the winged harasser and at Unit-02's face which had been partially gnawed off, revealing flesh and LCL-blood that was flowing down like a small waterfall and dyeing the water below red.
"...In all likelihood, that is a Demon." Gendo spoke. "Indeed, we have seen the Second Demon, the Third Demon… This one would be the Fourth Demon."
"Wait- It's like Second? Where is he? Can he calm that thing down before it kills one of the EVA's?" Misato growled as Ritsuko and Gendo seemed both quite troubled. Or at least, Ritsuko looked troubled while Gendo was quite contemplative.
"It's likely that Second, or indeed, Fourth is testing our mettle. Much like Angels, we can't fall into the assumption that the Demons are equally strong… Or that they are not growing in power as they appear." Gendo noted. "Second did much the same, removing Unit-01's engine and massacring our command center staff… But it seems that either Fourth is incapable of doing that, or is more interested in eating the EVA, or its pilot, alive rather than killing it outright."
"And, demons?" Misato poked her finger on the screen showing the battle from EVA's point of view. "This is really not a good time to be filling me in on these things! Dammit, stop keeping me in the dark! I'm the Chief of Operations for fuck's sake! I can't devise a strategy if I'm drip-fed information on what I'm expected to command the EVA's against!"
"Second, and that woman that appeared to his class a day ago, are not humans nor Angels. But rather, they are Demons." Ritsuko explained. "Nothing else makes sense, really… They're too far removed from Angels, and it'd explain why they are so easily opposed to the Angels… As well as due to some other factors that need to stay secret for now. They operate under vastly different rules- Whereas Angels reject, Demons embrace. To destroy them intent and deception are needed, elsewise they will merely adapt themselves to resist whatever seeks to damage them. That is why it has been so difficult to find anything to fight Second with."
"Great. Thanks." Misato sighed and covered her face with her hands. "Dandy. So… 'AD'?"
"Anti-Demon." Gendo spoke in turn, and then turned towards Ritsuko. "The warheads collapsed, which means Second, or indeed Fourth Demon, took proactive measures to counteract our weapons. This implies that Fourth is likely playing around with the EVA's, and is much stronger than it appears while being at far higher control over itself than what it's letting on- Or Second has used his teleportation ability to simply remove the AD-materials from the ammunition. We are at a disadvantage."
"Maybe there's a mole in our ranks that slipped something?" Ritsuko asked. "The cat is out of the bag now, but I swear I kept the development under highest secrecy as far as the warheads are concerned. The damage-system selection shouldn't raise that many eyebrows, even if it is odd that a single weapon can fire blasts, needle-like shots, wide molten metal arcs or jets of liquid nitrogen or bursts of napalm…"
"It's unlikely that the information slipped through a mole. Second's net of spies and information-gathering means are beyond our full comprehension- It's likely that he can read our minds just as easily as he can speak to them. He spoke to you, no?" Gendo noted to Ritsuko, causing her to pale and grab her head in sudden panic. "Secrecy is unlikely to provide cover for our plans. Only inevitability will."
"Yeah, multi-function rifle, and mind-reading, great, but can we focus right now on how to not get the EVA's butchered?!" Misato slammed her fist at the table as Ritsuko seemed to fall into a state of panic, prompting Misato to bring the conversation back on track- The speak of inevitability and whatnot was causing her a headache, but she bet her luck on using a big gun to kill whatever sought to destroy them this time. "I ordered a bunch of weapons with the second flight, what's holding them?"
"China's not too happy with us flying multiple military super-freighters over its airspace, unannounced, at full-speed burn, with three EVA's strapped to them." Gendo noted. "There are some… Diplomatic delay regarding the second flight as the Chinese managed to scramble their fighters to delay the second wave. The first wave managed to pass the airspace before the interceptors managed to respond."
"Diplomatic issues? Diplomatic issues?! Now of all times?!" Misato covered her face with her hands for the fourth time in the past few minutes, and then turned towards the techs that were clearly waiting for orders. "Fine. Screw it. We'll have to make do with what we have- Staff! Send the rest of the ammo magazines down now. Asuka! Catch the magazines and feed Rei's gun, Shinji, cover the two- Oh what now?!"
The trio of Misato, Ritsuko and Gendo turned to look at the screen once again, and…
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Momonga wanted to ask her what was going on, but refrained from doing so as he was mentally struggling over the situation still- And even more, mentally struggling over the situation he knew he needed to make as he looked at the battle happening in the Fourth Floor. 'Shalltear's Frenzy isn't controllable. And can't be dismissed, dispelled, or otherwise disabled as far as I know… I could go to Fourth Floor and try out some of the pacification ways, but if they don't work then I'll give off the air of not being in control… And right now, weakness is the last thing I should show.'
Momonga knew he couldn't stop it. Shalltear had become frenzied, had attacked the EVA's. And while Momonga was quite confident in Shalltear's 'stats' as far as fighting players went… He knew from experience that the three EVA's were more than well experienced fighting superior opponents, specifically those that just dumbly charged at them like how Shalltear was doing in her frenzied state.
Of course, Momonga was fairly sure that Shalltear would be able to fight one or even all three EVA's and win… If she was fully sane and could use her build optimally. As it was, she was mostly designed to fight 'unholy' opponents, which EVA's didn't exactly match, and Momonga didn't remember Shalltear having any abilities that would enable her to pull the 'heart trick' that Momonga had used to disable Unit-01.
Yet at the same time Momonga knew that if he teleported out to the Fourth Floor and ripped the hearts of the EVA's out, or disabled them in order to save Shalltear, then he'd only make things worse- Not only because he'd instantly sour his shaky relationships with the outside world, specifically after NERV had rode to Momonga's 'aid', at least as far as he was willing to conclude, his interference still wouldn't solve the issue of Shalltear's frenzy. And while he had a decent idea on how to fight her if he had time to prepare equipment and battlefield, he had no illusions as to how it'd go if he barged into battle against Shalltear unprepared- Namely, he'd get slaughtered in moments, as Shalltear had been more or less purpose-built to hard-counter Momonga's build.
'I'm sorry, Peroroncino… Forgive me. I have no choice… My words are my noose, and I'll have to sacrifice her to keep my legitimacy. She'll be brought back just as she was once this is over.' Momonga flipped the screen once more to show Albedo and Entoma what was going on in the Fourth Floor.
'...Dammit all…' Momonga wanted to lash out, rage and despair… But forced himself to stay calm with the help of Emotion Suppression while he laid back, adopting the posture of a stern lecturer like he had seen the teacher in Japan adopt when dealing with rowdy children. "Observe. Shalltear has fallen to her frenzy, and attacked our allies and has lost control over herself. You know what will happen next."
Albedo paled and began to shake while Entoma froze utterly still as she had lifted her face from the floor.
Momonga looked at the roster of NPC's, feeling an intense wave of shame and thus was unwilling to look at what was happening.
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Shinji was clearly struggling as he had brought up the Eva's AT-field and was holding it up so that the hostile leech-thing couldn't latch onto him as well, as it was not only fighting like a leech, it was flying like some sort of murder-hornet.
Unit-00 glanced at the 'rock-golem' and then jumped off the dead Angel's back. "Shinji. Move the enemy into my firing line."
"Got it! Asuka-san, please help me! I can't hold it alone!" Shinji allowed the AT field to relapse, and the flying made a beeline at Unit-01's face… Only for Unit-01 to slap its hands together and catch the monster between them as if it was a fly.
However, Asuka was well aware from experience that such a attack would not be enough to finish the monster off, and moved to clasp Unit-02's hands around Unit-01's so that the monster would be only able to gnaw at Unit-01's hands instead of prying them open and escaping, unable to overcome the grip-force of two EVA's.
"The additional ammo boxes will be coming down soon! Don't worry if you don't catch them, they're water-and-impact proof- But more importantly I got new intel from Gendo: that leech-thing is probably something like Second, so it's not going to go down without a fight!" Misato advised through the intercom. "Second's nowhere to be seen and like Second when we had first contact with him, that thing doesn't look like it's interested in talking, and it doesn't seem like Gendo has any aces up his sleeve to convert it to our side, so blast it to bits! Dammit I'll not lose another EVA to one of those things's whims! One Second is more than enough already!"
"We got it! Say when you're ready!" Asuka screeched at both Misato and more importantly to Rei through the intercom.
Asuka glanced at the communicator showing live-feed from the other entry-plugs and noticed as Shinji's expression turned pained and pale, since the EVA's pain-feedback would have forced the boy to feel the monster's trashing between 'his' hands.
"Owie, owie, owie…." Shinji let small yelps as the two EVA's ran while faced towards the third EVA, hands in hands… Much to Asuka's embarrassment.
"Oh quit whining…" Asuka growled quietly. "And not a word of this to Kaiji. Or, erm… Second. You and I did not hold hands, period, you idiot!"
"Open hands in three, two one-" Rei's voice disturbed Asuka's demands and the two of them prepared to open the EVA's hands so that Unit-00 could fire the 'AD-gun' at the leech-monster from point-blank range…
Only, a thin yet long, scaly tail rose up from the water all of a sudden and tied itself around Unit-00's throat from behind, and pulled the EVA off its feet.
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"Wha- Shalltear's in trouble!" Aura screamed in fear and pointed at the sight of the two titanic monsters trapping Shalltear between their hands and running at the third, which had just finished off the fish-monster, and was starting to lift it's gun towards Shalltear- Or rather, towards the titanic hands that had caged Shalltear.
"B-b-b-but M-m-m-Momonga-sama told us to stay back, and not-"
"Yeah! But- Still! It's Shalltear! She's a brat, idiot, leech, but- She's one of us! A not-exactly-sister-sister!" Aura shook Mare by the shoulders. "We have to help!"
"B-but…" Mare shook harder than ever. "W-what if it's Momonga-sama's plan? S-Shalltear-san failed to keep the enemy at bay, so…"
"Eh- But…" Aura shook from head to toe.
"A-and Shalltear-san was ordered to fall back but s-s-s-she didn't… W-was it because Momonga-sama k-knew this would happen i-if she didn't?" Mare looked away, looking sad and disheartened over the sight of the two titans running at the third, all the while forming a cage for Shalltear out of their hands.
"But- but! Butbutbut…" Aura bubbled on the spot while she tried to figure out what to do. 'Momonga-sama… He did order us to fall back and stay back. But at the same time, is that what he expects us to do, really? Shalltear was trapped inside that monster, and there's no way she could have clawed her way out of it without getting blood all over her in the process… So that was an order which was practically impossible to carry out, and he must have known she'd frenzy no matter what. Shalltear's frenzy can't be controlled, it has to be just endured until it ends or she dies. In other words, Shalltear either dies, or we disobey Momonga-sama's orders… Orders… dies…. Wait-!'
"Mare! Remember when Albedo and Demiurge sent Entoma and the others to scout what's going outside?" Aura turned back towards Mare as she had turned to look at the titans.
"Y-yes, and…"
"Don't you get it?! It's all a test! This whole thing! Momonga-sama said that those big guys were 'reinforcements, probably', which means they're allies… " Aura spoke quickly, causing Mare to shake a bit. Which was in no small part because Aura was shaking him by the shoulders while she was thinking furiously. "In other words, Shalltear frenzying is all according to Momonga-sama's plan, and now he's testing if we'd forsake Shalltear like Demiurge and Albedo forsook Entoma to her fate in order to keep the losses to the minimum! Momonga-sama knows Shalltear couldn't get away from that fish-thing without frenzying, so he gave us a deliberately impossible order!"
"S-so… we-"
"But Demiurge was reprimanded for letting Entoma die! Momonga-sama showed her body which means he knew what was going on all along, so it was a test for Demiurge and Albedo and they failed because Entoma died! In other words- Momonga-sama knows that those titans are allies, told us that as well, but Shalltear is frenzied and can't tell the difference now… So we have to either forsake Shalltear to her fate, or rescue her and hold her still long enough that she comes to her senses! Momonga-sama expects us to choose- Disobey a nonsensical order, or adapt to the situation! And the example he showed with Demiurge tells us which answer Momonga-sama expects us to make!" Aura finalized her speech, hoping against hope that she managed to make sense of the Supreme Being's commands. "Because Momonga-sama has to work with those 'allies' and whatnot he can't be leading us all the time, which means we'll have to work without Momonga-sama's wisdom and competence when he's not present… In which case we can't get into the habit of obeying our orders without question or thought, as the orders would come from Albedo or Demiurge, and those two's orders could have a flaw- This is just Momonga-sama's way of telling us that, to force us think about our orders instead of following our orders no matter what!"
"Geez, Momonga-sama's plans are so deep and multi-layered… If that was a plan that he expected me and Mare to figure out, I can't even begin to imagine just how deep and complex tests he has devised for someone like Demiurge…' Aura jumped on the spot while Mare's eyes began to shine in newly-reinforced faith on their lord and ruler. 'Eh, on the other hand, Shalltear's test is likely something like figuring out how to put a square peg in a square hole and a round peg in a round hole,and she'd probably fail that…'
Aura shook her head as time was of the essence before Shalltear would get grilled, and she shook Mare's shoulders. "Listen, you grab Shalltear. I'll put out some beasties, and you'll hold Shalltear with the roots and all? If we can calm the situation down and Shalltear can ride down her Frenzy… Then Shalltear won't have to die!"
"I-I can't… H-hold her for long…" Mare slinked a bit, but lifted the staff towards the titan with an odd weapon. "S-Shalltear is hard to hold down… I'll have to use high-tier restraining spells and they have diminishing returns if I use them multiple times… A-and she has natural resistance against movement-restraining skills…"
"It's alright, I'm sure we'll manage!" Aura was already sprinting off while commanding the Great Sea Serpent she had brought out earlier to spring forth from the underwater ruins.
The sea-serpent launched it's long body from the water and tied its tail around the weapon-carrying titan's neck and pulled it underwater- For a moment, as the ridiculously long serpent was instantly caught by the titan, which pushed the weapon it was carrying against the Serpent's body and fired, causing a shotgun-like blast to shoot out in crescent arc and split the serpent in two.
Aura winced as she looked at the animal getting one-shot, and wondered just how much damage it would have done to Shalltear if the titan had been allowed to fire at her. 'Well, I can resummon the animals daily so it's not a problem that they're getting killed… But sheesh! Momonga-sama wasn't kidding when he said that the locals have some scary weapons…'
A swarm of roots rose from the sea and forced the two hand-holding titans to stumble back in order to draw their weapons from their shoulder-towers… Only, the motion allowed Shalltear to rip free from between the Titan's hands and charge once again, covered in blood and pieces of flesh that she had ripped from the hands that had held her captive.
'Well then…' Aura winced internally for what she needed to do… Before she jumped from the surface of the water, grabbed Shalltear mid-flight, dodged the leech-like suction-cup mouth that Shalltear tried to latch onto Aura with, and kicked her towards Mare. "Mare!"
"G-Got it!" Mare lifted his staff, causing a dome of roots to envelop Shalltear as soon as she hit the water and submerged under it, washing the blood off her body. "E-eh- um! I'll… do my best…"
"Do that! I'll just be here!" Aura reached into her zoo and launched a swarm of skull-headed hornets at the Titans, figuring that any 'regular' beast would be just too tiny in face of the gigantic monsters to make any effect other than at best nibbling at their heels… before she paused.
'Wait… 'Reinforcements, maybe'? In other words… Allies, but if I attack them, then…' Aura blinked as she realized that she had almost made a crucial error- And called the Skull-Head Hornets back while hopping on the back of one.
The buzzing was quite loud and the seating wasn't the best possible, but it allowed Aura to float up to roughly waist-height of the Titans, all three of which had now recovered and were pointing their weapons at Aura… And Aura threw her hands wide, as if protecting Shalltear and Mare behind her. Or rather, the dangerously bulging and spasming dome of roots that Mare was keeping up to contain Shalltear… For the moment.
'...This feels really counterintuitive… But I have to trust Momonga-sama's words…' Aura gave the titans a defiant glare, all the while feeling a trickle of sweat down her brow from the fact the massive cannon-thing was aimed right at her heart. 'Those guns are apparently super-scary, Momonga-sama said they could one-shot him so they have to be like, World-class equipment or something… And he said that those Titans are 'Reinforcements, maybe', so if I pull the wrong move, they'll be enemies… In other words… I have to trust our lord's word that our 'allies' are actually allies!'
.
.
"Rei! Wait!" Shinji's voice came from the intercom of Unit-02. "Asuka! I- I don't think he's hostile! It's a human!"
"Riding that ffffucking wasp?! Really?!" Asuka was feeling more than a little squeamish over seeing the buzzing things after one buzzing, biting and flapping thing had eaten half of Unit-02's face. "Shoot it! Shoot them all! Kill them with fire! Flammenwerfer! Where is flammenwerfer when you need one!"
"...Shinji-kun?" Rei sounded a bit puzzled and ignored Asuka totally, causing the latter to growl into the intercom.
"Misato-san! You said that the thing that attacked Asuka was like Suzuki-kun- There's got to be a reason! Suzuki-kun's not like that-" Shinji moved to speaking to the command staff that were likely still huddled in a command car at the sinkhole's entrance.
"Shinji-kun… Second, he massacred Central Dogma's staff. There's no knowing what those… things… are thinking or doing, other than that they are dangerous." Misato's voice was quite unreadable. "I've lost Unit-01 and the command staff to Second once. I refuse to lose Units 00, 01 and 02 to Fourth. Finish it off."
"The situation's different! Dammit, there's a boy here and he's protecting that… Fourth, right?" Shinji sounded quite exasperated. "Rei! Put the rifle down! Or at least point it down! It looks like that boy is trying to stop the fighting!"
Unit-00 glanced at Unit-01 briefly… Before it slowly lowered the gun's barrel so that it pointed towards the water instead of the open-armed wasp-rider.
"Wha- Shinji! Rei! What are you-"
"...Captain Katsuragi. Shinji- What are you doing?" Misato's voice was cut short by Gendo's voice, which was quiet yet carried a tone of finality that sent cold wave down Asuka's spine, even if the words were not directed at her.
"I am trying to stop this bloodshed! They're trying to negotiate, clearly! Second is… well… Not a good guy, I guess… But he's not a mindless monster! If Fourth is like Second, then this has to be a phase or something! Like last time, right?! We can turn this around! Father- Please!" Shinji pled on the intercom, causing Asuka to twitch violently in annoyance over the brat pleading over the life of the bug that had gnawed half of Unit-02's face off.
"...Very well. You get one chance. However, you are not to make deals with any of them, and if you do, know that you alone will bear the weight of your promises- NERV will have no part of them. We'll use that time to deliver additional weaponry, as well as N2 mines to blow the entire cavern to cover your retreat. Captain- Proceed." Gendo's voice came from the intercom once more, but Asuka shivered from the cold and uncaring undertone of it even if she wasn't the intended recipient.
"...Well then. Shinji, do your thing. Makoto! What's the holdup with the Chinese?! Diplomatic incident?! Reparations?! Tell that prime minister to stuff that diplomatic-" Misato's voice was cut off as someone clearly shut down the intercom, possibly Gendo.
"Right… You better know what you're doing, wonderbrat." Asuka whispered to herself as she moved Unit-02 slowly to be side-by-side with Unit-00… Just in time for the two massive ammo-crates to fall from the sink-hole and land with a huge splash.
The wasp-rider put his arms on the creepy skull-like headed wasps's head for a moment as the splash clearly agitated them, but the tanned boy got the insects under control and resumed hovering… Only, he glanced behind himself at a dome of roots and paled a bit, before turning back to glare at the trio of EVA's defiantly and arms wide open.
Unit-01 took a small step forwards while lowering its arms… And then stopped still.
The moment where the three EVA's stared at the wasp-rider and the bulging and slowly breaking root-dome seemed to stretch for eternity… Until Unit-01's intercom lit up again.
"Right- Asuka- um… Do our EVA's have speakers, actually? I've never needed to use one, so, um… I can't find one…" Shinji stumbled over his words a bit, making Asuka groan in annoyance.
"The second row in the middle, on the left side of the seat… The one with the 'microphone-and-speaker' icon in it?" Asuka sighed at the intercom while lowering Unit-02's prog-knife just a bit. But not enough that she wouldn't be able to slash it up instantly if any of the wasps wanted to have a go at her face.
"Um- Right! Right- Can you hear me, uh… friend?" A bit of an uncertain voice echoed in the cavern, distorted with a metallic undertone and static from the EVA's loudspeaker.
The boy froze still for a bit… Before he said something.
The distance was too great to make much sense of it, and the buzzing of the wasps effectively meant that even EVA's receivers were unable to pick much of it… But it seemed that the boy was quite agitated yet was capable of communicating.
"Asuka, cover me and I'll get closer-" Shinji spoke to Asuka, but Rei put Unit-00's hand on Unit-01's chest to stall it.
"Unit-02 lost half of it's face when it got close to one of those. Be careful, Shinji-kun." Rei's tone was utterly bland, but Asuka saw through it easily.
'Damn lovebirds… Oh nooo, not even a 'are you alright, Asuka-san' when I get half of Unit-02's face gnawed off, but oooOooo, 'Shinji-kuun, please be carefuuul, you might get a booboo in your face…' Asuka fumed internally but moved to put Unit-02's hand on Unit-01's back and shoved it forwards. "Go get it, loverboy. I'll cover you."
"Shinji-kun, I-" Rei was clearly shaken by the sudden change in Asuka's mood, and Asuka doubled down on it.
"Shut up and step up, doll- Didn't you hear the Commander? This is Shinji's show and we're just extras. Shut it." Asuka moved Unit-02 to take slow strides behind Unit-01 as it stumbled forward… Before it managed to stop just a few feet off the wasp-rider who had been reaching for a whip on his side as the titanic mech was stumbling towards him.
Only, some part of the underground city, that in closer inspection was stretching across the odd lake that was deep enough to reach up to EVA's thigh, seemed to give under Unit-01's weight and caused the Unit to fall to its knee… And almost hit the wasp-rider with the EVA's face.
Asuka drew air between her teeth as she saw Unit-01 put it's face so close to one of the buzzing things, half-expecting Shinji's screams to fill the intercom network, while Rei let out an uncharacteristic yelp and jumped to the side with Unit-00 while lifting the rifle up to cover Unit-01… Only for Unit-01 to lift its arm up in response and stall Unit-00.
"It's alright, I stumbled- I mean you no harm. Who are you?" Shinji spoke through the speaker while holding EVA's face level with the wasp-rider.
Asuka didn't hear the response as the EVA's external microphones wouldn't transfer sound between the EVA's in order to reduce echo, but Shinji clearly did hear the rider as his expression lightened considerably.
"Guys- Listen! He says that we're allies, as in NERV is their allies, and that his lord said that to him, and that we're a test for him or something." Shinji spoke to the EVA-only intercom and alternated between speaking to the two other pilots and the wasp-rider. "I'll try to get more info- Wait… Ah! That, um, Fourth is apparently called 'Shalltear' and is experiencing, um, some sort of madness, I think, and is attacking everyone until she calms down- Can we help?"
The tanned boy narrowed his eyes at Unit-01 for a while before closing his eyes, then put his hand on his chin and tapped his cheek with his forefinger a few times in deep concentration. And then the boy put both of his hands on his head while jumping a bit on the now-clearly agitated wasp.
"I… U-um, he's saying that 'Momonga-sama's test is too hard, my head is going to explode'- erm…" Shinji paled a bit while relaying the message to the two pilots. "Listen, um, he says that… er… 'Hold Shalltear down, but don't get blood on her'- Right? Guys, did you hear that?"
"What- Hold that thing down and don't get wounded?" Asuka blinked in confusion.
"...We are currently on the aerial superfreighter's power supply, so if we reroute all power to AT-fields we should be able to hold Fourth down… Assuming that we wouldn't come under attack while doing so. This might be a trap." Rei noted, bland as ever. "Shinji-kun?"
"Wait, why am I making the decisions?!" Shinji panicked all of a sudden. "Misato-san?!"
"I think she got roped off somewhere just earlier." Asuka commented a bit dryly. "This mission was FUBAR from the start so I'm not surprised…"
"Fine- Right! This is a bad idea, I can feel it in my bones, but… Haa… haa… I can't be afraid, I can't be-"
"Listen, Shinji, it's enough that I get to listen to you repeat that mantra on repeat every single time you think I can't hear you, but I seriously don't need it right now. Shut it!" Asuka growled at Shinji who seemed to shudder violently in response.
"It's alright. I believe in you, Shinji-kun." Rei spoke to the intercom, causing Asuka to sigh heavily in annoyance while Shinji seemed to gather his wits.
"Right- Umu. Ahem. Listen- We'll help contain S-Shallfear. We'll just surround it, and then we can hold it still- Ahem, sorry, yeah, 'Shalltear', not Shallfear. No, not with our hands, we have, umu, a power field or something like that?" Shinji spoke to the tanned boy who had gone from riding the wasp to standing on its head, making visible veins start to pop up on the wasp's head, somehow. And then the boy had puffed both of his cheeks in a clear attempt to stem laughter when Shinji had gotten the Fourth's 'another' name wrong.
The wasp-rider turned to bark orders at the dome of roots… And Asuka spotted a cowed-looking girl standing next to the root-dome who was pointing a gnarled staff at the dome like if she was some sort of wizard. While clad in a miniskirt and white stockings. 'What the heck…'
Asuka shook her head to clear it of odd thoughts while Shinji spoke to her and Rei, instructing them to surround the root-dome which had broken entirely during the speech and hurriedly re-formed, only to begin straining harder in a shorter amount of time.
"Right- Command, can you hear us?" Shinji spoke to the intercom. "We need all the power you can get us. We're going to uphold our AT-fields for a long time, and we have to probably hold them at full power. This is important."
"To all units on this network- Vice commander Fuytsuki is assuming command of the operation." A familiar voice belonging to NERV Japan's second-in-command came through the EVA's intercom network. "The Chief of operations and Commander are both busy trying to avoid a diplomatic incident which would end up with your outpost in Siberia turning to a crater by the Chinese air-fleet. I'll take over command of field operations in the meantime. Chief technician Makoto- Pilot Ikari has requested power and has a plan. Can you give what he needs?"
"Yes, sir. Shinji-kun- Ask when you need the surge. By my estimates the power-lines are going to melt in half an hour, they aren't rated to hold this much current and I'm not sure how long the nuclear reactors aboard the air carrier hold either. But I'll give it my best shot." The voice of the chief technician came from the intercom.
"Thanks, guys. Right- Asuka, Rei, let's do it!" Shinji's expression hardened a bit while his face paled to the complexity of a sheet of paper. "Right, it's now or never…"
"Asukaaa- Power-Barrier-Up!" Asuka screamed a name for her 'special move' while she moved to the position Shinji indicated, and pointed both of the EVA's arms at the dome of roots that had been re-formed once during Fuytsuki's speech… And which now broke again, for the last time.
Asuka tried to not think about how she masked her own fear with the corny battle-shout and the false bravado it provided for her when coming face-to-face with the red-clad monster again.
The red-armored leech-thing that had been held within the nest of broken roots instantly bolted for the tanned girl with gnarled staff who huddled low in fright, but the monster impacted against the AT-field projected by Unit-02.
"Hurry up, wonder-brat and doll! I need you two to form barriers or it'll just slip off!" Asuka screamed at the intercom to cover her instinctive surge of fright from seeing the monster that had eaten half of her beloved Unit-02's face.
"Right- Umu! Here I go!" Shinji spoke next and lifted Unit-01's arms to project a similar AT-field barrier, while Unit-00 placed the AD-rifle carefully against its back so that it wouldn't get entirely submerged while the EVA lifted its barrier.
The trio of AT-field barriers flashed with hexagonal shapes and rainbow-like colors as the Fourth, or as Shinji had called it, 'Shalltear' raged and tried to lash and stab at the barriers… But failed to break through it.
"How long does it take for Shall- um, it to stop being mad?" Shinji asked with a strained voice, and Asuka realized that the wasp-rider had ditched his wasp and the insect had gone somewhere, and the tanned boy was standing on Unit-01's blade-like horn that was pointing out of the EVA's head.
The boy said something, sat down on Unit-01's head… And pulled out a bag of what looked like dried fruits.
"He, um, I think he said that it takes ten minutes as long as Shalltear doesn't get blood on her again…" Shinji translated for the two other pilots. "A-and that, um, that the boy is, er, a girl. And Shalltear is a girl too. And that girl with skirt who's beside the roots is, er, actually a boy."
Asuka glanced at the 'boy' who was sitting on Unit-01's head, or rather, the girl in boy's clothing. The tanned tomboyish girl flashed a charming, innocent smile at Asuka as she realized Unit-02 had turned its half-eaten head at her.
'What the heck is this madhouse…' Asuka sighed while masking the small blush that had threatened to rise to her cheeks in response to the charming smile.
.
.
Momonga stared at the screen showing the trio of EVA's suppressing Shalltear's rampage.
"U-umu…" He wasn't exactly sure what was happening… Before he re-checked Shalltear's stat-page, and saw that the Frenzy-state he had thought incurable, in retrospect, had a timer.
'...I forgot? I forgot that Frenzy isn't permanent like Madness? I… Forgot one of the NPC's skills and debuffs?' Momonga was frozen utterly solid on the Throne of Kings. 'And… I… I would have… allowed one of the NPC's, one of the creations of my friends, to be killed in order to save my credibility?'
He looked down at his bony hands… And quickly hid them to his sleeves as he realized they were shaking.
[Emotion Suppression] suppressed the surge of emotions, only for them to return- This time more vibrantly, as if the ability was struggling to overcome the feeling of shame Momonga felt.
Not only that he had thought of the NPC's like he thought of Gendo, that every word he said to them would be analyzed a thousand times, every meaning cross-referenced… And then exclusively used against him at every opportunity.
Not only that, but…
'...This time, this month I've spent in Japan… Away from the game, away from my friends… I… I forgot something?'
The feeling was utterly terrifying for Momonga. 'No, no, no… Gendo's callousness might have rubbed off on me the wrong way, and the paranoia of having to watch my every move… but… This… This cannot stand. I… What kind of a person have I become… Or was I like that from the beginning, but merely thought myself otherwise? And now it was revealed, when my actions have real consequences for me?'
For the first time since his 'arrival' to the 'New World' Momonga felt something.
The old, powerless feeling he was so familiar with.
The realization that he was, after the power was stripped from him, after the facade broke… He was just another salaryman. A face in the crowd, only distinguished by his obsession in a niche gacha game, into which he spent his entire fortune, and around which he had formed his entire persona in order to escape the mundanity of his life.
The thought terrified him, so Momonga dove right back into his cocoon, dove right back into the safety of the effect rather than the cause.
'...I can't believe I forgot that effect, that the Frenzy-effect is on a condition-refreshed timer. It is a small grain of sand to forget, but each rockslide begins with the smallest push. What will I forget next? Blue Planet's face? How he loved the night sky of YGGDRASIL, virtual as it might be? Touch Me's virtuous policies, or the guilt he carried? How much health a healing potion would restore, and what exact ailments it would remove?' Momonga was stuck on the spot with a surge of fear and dread. 'What would I sacrifice to keep myself safe? I was ready to let Shalltear suffer instead of me… Thinking that she was 'just a NPC', something that I can just re-summon? But… She's a creation of Peroroncino, and, and… Are NPC's just that, NPC's here? My summons acted almost as if they were sentient, and those that were capable of conversation like those few lesser liches I made, who were seemingly sentient before I set them off to search for Nazarick…'
Momonga was so horrified by his own actions, by what he had become from what he had perceived himself as, that he failed to see the look on Albedo's face and heed the words she spoke as she said something.
That was, until [Emotion Suppression] brought Momonga once again to a normalcy, like a wounded yet devoted patriot charging a machine-gun nest and getting shot, only to throw a grenade at it at his last breath.
"...So brilliant, my lord." Albedo was gushing, and Momonga felt the shame return as he saw that Albedo had stars in her eyes. "This plan… This effect, and the message- It was all planned by you, my lord?"
"...Of course." Momonga's words left his mouth as little more than a whisper while his body was utterly unmoving, lifeless in both literal and figurative ways even if his health was at full.
"...What happened?" Entoma asked while tilting her mask-like face and putting both of her 'hands', or rather, insect-like claws against her cheeks in confusion. "I don't get it."
"Aha… Of course, our lord and master knew our hesitation and arrogance when it came to the denizens of this place. Entoma-san, you learned the strength of the local monstrosities firsthand. Rest of us… Indeed, Shalltear, Aura and Mare took the enemy lightly and were shown the error of their ways. Even after removing the limit that was Nazarick's dormant state, Shalltear was arrogant and allowed herself to be caught and almost killed." Albedo turned to lecture Entoma.
"U-umu…" Momonga tried to listen in to the conversation in order to stabilize his mind. 'Huh?'
"Our lord obviously lured the enemy you saw here- We needed to see their danger first-hand, and he also invited our new 'allies' to show their power as well." Albedo continued. "I must confess that I too had my doubts… But it was correct of our lord to show that our strength is not enough to face our new enemies if we act foolishly."
"U-umu, indeed, that is… quite so." Momonga commented idly while he and Entoma were nodding along to Albedo's explanation-. Entoma nodded as if she got something out of the explanation, and Momonga just nodded along as if he knew what he was doing.
"But… What about Aura and Mare?" Entoma asked, puzzled, while tilting her head to the side. Momonga almost saw question marks float above her head, but dismissed the illusion from his head.
"Um… Aha! Of course- They were there to show us the power of cooperation! Indeed, our lord asked me 'Why are the Floor Guardians on their Floors instead of working together'... And…" Albedo closed her eyes and crossed her arms while adopting a proud expression… Which became a bit fragile instantly afterwards. "Indeed, ahem… And to show the error of our ways in practice, after that disastrous mission Demiurge and I sent you to, Entoma."
Albedo seemed to hesitate for the briefest moment, before prostrating towards Momonga. "I understand this lesson, my lord. And why you have brought Entoma back to life now of all times, to witness your genius strategy in action- Both for her to see how battles are fought correctly… And for me to repent for my failures, to see the one I have failed. I will bear the full weight of the responsibility for my actions and flaws. Entoma- Rest assured, you will not face a similar situation you did ever again. You will not be abandoned to the enemy, and we will stick together, no matter what. Please forgive me."
"E-e-e-eh?! ...It's alright, if- If Lord Momonga agrees." Entoma looked from side to side in panic while her mask-like face remained in her single expression, and she had her claw-like 'hands' on her mouth as if she didn't know what to do when the Guardian Overseer bowed to a 'mere' Pleiades.
"Of course. Cooperation is important. After all, me and my friends… We always worked together, even if we bickered on occasion. No raid was conquered solo, no World Boss killed without a partner to look out for ambushers." Momonga let his mouth speak of his memories while his mind was hit so hard by Albedo's words that he briefly wondered if Albedo had caught onto his cowardice and was speaking to him by pretending to speak to Entoma. "I hope that Nazarick's denizens will follow our example in how you behave around each other. Alone, we are weak, barely a prey. Together, we are a force to fear."
Entoma seemed to sob a bit and Albedo put her hand on Entoma's shoulder. "Come. Your sisters want to see you. My lord… May I presume that the lesson is now over, and, ahem… That those titanic creatures will help hold Shalltear's frenzy at bay until she recovers from it?"
"Indeed. Now then, I should see to speaking with Aura, Mare and my allies, and talk to them about this incident. You're free to resume your duties… However, my ally can be fickle at times, so retain your alertness as long as they are within our premises." Momonga recognized Albedo's request, and made a conclusion that his body language might have shown through even if his body was that of a skeleton. 'Yet, she isn't attacking me, or turning on me… Ha… Hahaha… Was that, all of that, all that paranoia… Just for vain? Or… Was it becauseI wrote into her backstory that 'she loves Suzuki Satoru unconditionally', so… Even if she knew the true me… Wait…'
Momonga resisted the urge to double over in a combination of shame and relief hitting him at once, and managed it easily as [Emotion Suppression] caught the feeling since it was not nearly as strong as the absolute avalanche of shame before it. 'If Albedo knew I was not what she sought, that I was not the 'Supreme Overlord Momonga the Unerring and Wise' or whatnot… If she knew I was just 'Suzuki Satoru' then as long as her 'programming' held, she would not betray me… Ahh, I feel like such a piece of human filth…'
However, instead of wallowing in his self-pity and loathing, Momonga stood up from the throne. "Ahem, now then. If there's nothing else, then I have things to do."
"M-Momonga-sama, I have a question?" Entoma lifted one of her sleeves to a question while she had visible question-marks floating above her head.
'Oh no.' "Go ahead, Entoma-san." Momonga braced for the worst.
"U-uu… Those 'titans', I think I was killed by one… Are we now allied with them?" Entoma tilted her head the other direction.
Momonga froze up entirely on the throne, but managed to keep his jaw from dropping.
'...' There was a lot of empty noise in Momonga's head. 'Gendo said that SEELE was responsible for killing the… Hold on, I think… hm… Wait… Kaji spoke to SEELE, I think, when I was eavesdropping on him in an alley. A lot of what he said didn't make much sense, at least as far as I understood things back then… But he mentioned that SEELE lost an EVA but managed to kill two Angels? As far as I'm aware the Angels haven't come in pairs, but that doesn't mean it isn't the case… Hrgh, I need more information, but if I ask Entoma straight then it implies I am not fully on top of the situation… But at the same time, what happened just now… Is that as much an issue as I think?'
Momonga thought about it for a long time… Before deciding to take a leap of faith by asking Entoma, instead of pretending he knew what was going on- To take a leap of faith away from the paranoia he had grown accustomed to when interacting with Gendo. "Hm. I believe that you were killed by an organization known as 'SEELE'- as far as my allies told me anyway. I was not present when you died, so I do not know exactly who killed you- Was it one of those on the screen here?"
"N-no, it was a big, multi-limbed titan, roughly the size of those but it had six legs and a l-lance and a shield…" Entoma was making gestures on what kind of thing killed her, even going as far as to pull centipede-like legs from her back to mimic having six legs and waving her kimono-sleeve covered hands in lance-like arcs as if she was jousting with a flying cockroach that she made with a talisman.
'Hm, so it's not Shinji, Asuka or Rei…' Momonga thought while letting his rising anger sizzle to a medium-heat instead of boiling over as the feeling of betrayal had been replaced with rage in an instant after [Emotion Suppression] had cleared the previous emotion. 'That doesn't leave many others, as far as I know anyway. There might be any number of pilots and EVA's… Or, maybe it was that odd eccentric pilot, Mari. Although, I'm not sure she fits the image of someone who'd be proficient with Lance… Although, Kaji did mention 'Mari' in that conversation that I snooped into… I need to look into this more. Not to mention, this is a good indication that Gendo is definitely keeping a lot of things from me…'
'However, now that I have access to Nazarick's systems and resources… The balance of power continues to shift. And if I can convert the three pilots that I'm familiar with to my side…' Momonga thought about his situation… And then made a motion to calm down Entoma as she had made a grand show of equipping the cockroach with a bug-machine gun of sorts and was doing a show and dance of jousting with it using another bug as a lance, as if she was the presumed EVA fighting with a cockroach that was representing herself in the battle.
Albedo clapped a bit as Entoma finished her dance, and Momonga clapped his hands together once as a gesture of support while Entoma performed a picture-perfect Japanese curtsy.
"Excellent show. Now then, I believe that I have some leads to pursue and allies to… interrogate… so please return to your sisters. Rest assured, your past death will not be in vain, and your killer is going to suffer." Momonga promised Entoma, who curtsied again and left the Throne Room with a small skip in her steps. 'That being said, if Mari killed Entoma, I need to be wary… It implies Mari is in SEELE's pocket. This might be a lead in a much bigger mystery that is about to unravel…'
"I'll see to our allies. Good deduction, Albedo. And… Thank you." Momonga took a step forwards from the Throne of Kings, pat Albedo on the shoulder, and teleported off to Fourth Floor.
He was looking away so he did not see Albedo's expression.
Maybe it was for the better.