hackslashbash: Reuploaded 16/10/2019
23:59:58
Tiamat and Momonga waited with their eyes closed for the countdown to end.
Once the clock hit 00:00, they would be forcibly logged out of the game, and the night would end there.
At least that's what should've happened.
Tiamat shut her eyes and waited for the darkness to come as her chest constricted and her lips trembled; the dam holding back her frustrations suddenly breaking as it failed to contain her feelings, and she sobbed.
Nazarick meant a lot to her, but to Momonga it meant everything. She wept for her friend who had sacrificed all his time, money, and effort for the game.
She heard a small gasp below her.
'Idon'twantittoendIdon'twantittoendIdon'twantittoend. Pleasedon'ttakeourhomeaway.'
Her sobbing grew louder as she tried to hide her voice under the palms of her hands.
Wait, why were her hands wet?
"Hannah," a deep voice to her right called her name. An unfamiliar voice, who…?
She slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry from tears, but she could still see Momonga's avatar, the Overlord, his head awash with a green aura, as he reached his hand out to her and pulled her to him.
Tiamat trembled at the cold touch of undeath, and as soon as his skeletal fingers touched her hand, she slapped it away out of reflex.
'The game doesn't support physical sensations.'
"Hannah!" Momonga raised his voice a little, concern for his friend leaking through.
Tiamat flinched, covering her ear with her hand as the ringing inside grew louder and louder. She didn't remember setting her headphone volume that high; all these sounds were starting to give her a headache. She needed to lower the game's volume as soon as possible.
She accessed her status and was surprised to see that she couldn't access the 'Settings' button.
'W-What…'
Momonga got up from the Throne and moved to put his hand on her shoulder. Tiamat took a shaky step backwards. She didn't recognize the voice that was uttering her name.
"A-Are you really Suzuki? Your voice..." Tiamat asked softly, her eyes bewildered as she looked around her.
Once she felt that the head-piercing ringing in her ears had diminished, she looked around the Throne Room, her eyes widening as she was overwhelmed by a clarity beyond what a game was capable of producing.
The chandeliers gleamed with reflected light too vivid to belong in even a DRMMO.
As she shifted her feet and heard the soft ruffling of the carpet rubbing against her shoes, she looked down and noticed that she could see the individual fibers of the crimson carpet.
'There's no way a game should be able to do this. They even have laws against making things too detailed!'
"Ann! Look at me, are you alright?!" the Skeleton before her was awash in a green aura as it panickedly called out to her.
The distress in that voice was unmistakable. Even if it was as different as it was now, she knew for certain that tone could only belong to Suzuki.
Her doubts wiped away, she moved forward and grabbed his cloak in desperation.
Her heart was beating quickly, too fast even, as she tightened her fingers around his cloak, as if she was trying to find answers in those empty sockets of his. Answers that she knew that he wouldn't have.
"Suzuki, why is this happening? Why am I seeing things so clearly? Why do you sound so different? Why—"
"Ann, calm down," Momonga delicately put his hand on her shoulder. "Everything is going to be okay."
Tiamat noticed that she was hyperventilating.
'Why, why, whywhywhywhywhy?'
"Ann. You need to breathe," Momonga brought her in closer as he rubbed small circles around her back.
She could feel the cold undeath of his skeletal hands as they gingerly rubbed her back.
The act of comfort only caused her to begin crying again.
"Is everything alright, Lord Momonga?" a sweet yet worried voice rang out clearly from the right side of the Throne.
Tiamat wiped her eyes and slowly turned to the source of the sound. Her mouth fell open when she saw that Albedo had moved without being commanded.
"Is Lady Tiamat injured?" Albedo rushed over, her wings trembling in panic.
"My. Lady!" an alarmed sound came from the large icy insect Cocytus, his pincers clacking against each other.
"Lady Tiamat," a man's voice came from below the Throne. She saw Demiurge who had stood up and was walking over to where she and Suzuki were standing. Demiurge's eyebrows were furrowed in frustration and distress as he agonizingly asked, "What is wrong, My Lady? Are you hurt? Did anyone try to hurt you? Please tell us so we can punish them and rectify their mistakes."
NPCs weren't supposed to talk on their own, and they definitely shouldn't have been able to move without being commanded. Moreover, their expressions looked as if they were...alive.
Tiamat looked away from Demiurge, and buried herself in Momonga's robes, trembling.
Everything was weirdweirdweird. She felt like she was back again in that foreign mansion filled with unknown people and unknown men with unknown drinks and she was terrified.
Momonga felt his own worry mount up as he saw his friend in a completely broken state. She was supposed to be strong and cheerful, not the quivering wreck she was now.
"What is it, Ann?" Momonga caught her trembling hands in his own. "Please tell me why you're so scared."
"It's w-weird…" she whimpered, her head still covered in his cloak, "E-Everything is w-weird, make it stop, pleasepleaseplease…"
"Ann, take a deep breath," Momonga gently pulled her out of his robes.
She took several gulps, her chest heaving as her lungs greedily drank in the air around her. Once Momonga saw that her shoulders had stopped shaking, he calmly continued.
"What's weird, Ann?" Suzuki softly asked her.
"The Floor Guardians, t-they shouldn't be able to move on their own, r-right?" she looked up into Suzuki's steadily pulsing red dots as she lifted a finger pointing towards the Guardians and Maids that were before the Throne.
At her question, Albedo immediately slammed her head into the ground. "I'm sorry, My Lady! It was impudent of me to speak before the Supreme Beings without permission. If you would allow me to correct this mistake, I will be forever grateful!" the Succubus resolutely declared as she pulled a giant black axe seemingly out of nowhere.
"No no no! you don't have to go that far Albedo. She was just shocked, that's all," Momonga frantically tried to get Albedo to put the axe away.
After Momonga finally convinced Albedo that she didn't do anything wrong, Tiamat took in the rest of her surroundings. The Pleiades Battle Maids stood attentively on the right, as well as the Floor Guardians who were all looking at her, visibly distraught, very emotional, and very real.
For some reason, their distress brought a pang of pain to her heart.
As she slowly recovered from her initial shock, she noticed that her body felt much different from her real life body. She felt lighter and as she glanced over her limbs, she noticed the absence of aches and scars on her arms and legs.
Faced with all these startling transformations, a hazy hypothesis began to form in her pounding head.
First, she believed that they were no longer in YGGDRASIL. Now she had to confirm that fantastical notion…
After she took a few more deep breaths to expel any remaining panic, she tried to assess the situation.
"Albedo," Tiamat impulsively called out, having decided on a course of action.
The Succubus immediately straightened her back, "Hai!"
Tiamat flinched; she hadn't expected such an energetic response.
Letting go of Momonga's skeletal hands, Tiamat walked in front of Albedo and looked the Succubus in the eye in a moment of bravado, "Albedo, could I hug you?"
"My Lady?" Albedo's eyes were filled with a mixture of worry and confusion.
"I-If you don't want to, it's okay…" Tiamat let out a shaky smile.
Of course no one would want someone as disgusting as her to touch them.
"No! I apologize for the misunderstanding, My Lady! I really want to!" Albedo hurriedly responded.
"Um, okay, then here we go," Tiamat walked towards Albedo and enveloped her in an awkward hug.
'Why did I decide on hugging of all things…?' Tiamat inwardly groaned.
Pushing aside the unwelcome thoughts of her impromptu decision, Tiamat focused on what she was feeling.
As her arms wrapped around Albedo and rested on the Succubus's back, Tiamat noticed the softness of her skin, the silkiness of her dress, and Albedo's warm breath on her cheeks.
Tiamat knew that these sensations were impossible to replicate in YGGDRASIL; a game constricted by laws in how realistic they were allowed to make things.
At that moment, she knew for sure that they were no longer in a game.
As Tiamat reached this revelation, Albedo let out a weird noise.
She pulled away from the Succubus and looked at her with worry.
"Albedo? Are you alright?"
Albedo trembled as she hugged her arms around herself, and Tiamat felt even more guilty.
'I shouldn't have forced her to do that…'
"No…" Albedo's body trembled.
"I'm so sorry!" Tiamat apologized, sincerely believing that she had hurt Albedo. "I knew I shouldn't have done that without asking you! Plea—"
"No, your touch is like fire against my skin! Ahn~ how I long for you to touch me again!"
Tiamat stared blankly at Albedo, and then turned around to look at Momonga.
'Didn't we delete the 'slut' part?' she silently mouthed, the distant screeching of a Vampire Loli echoing in the background.
Momonga slowly shook his head and mouthed something, but Tiamat couldn't make out what he was trying to say due to his lack of lips.
One day they would realize that Momonga had forgotten to hit the 'Save' button. But that was a story for another time.
She slapped her cheeks with her hands, trying to focus herself on the task at hand.
The world they were in was real.
Nazarick was real.
Nazarick was real.
Her home still existed, it was not destroyed.
She still had a place to call home. A wry grin emerged from her face.
"Momo-chan! All of this," her voice regaining its usual cheer as she waved around her, "It's real. It's all real!" her bright laughter filling the Throne Room.
Despite lacking a mouth, she could see that Momonga had a wide grin on his face. All of a sudden, an emerald sheen shone from him and his joy seemed to be subdued.
"Sebas," Momonga calmly called, a hint of happiness still lingering in his words, "I want you to check the surroundings of Nazarick. If you find any hostile creatures, do not engage and immediately return to the Sixth Floor to report your findings."
"Your wish is my command, Lord Momonga," the Butler of Steel bowed before leaving the Throne Room.
"Battle Maid Pleiades," Momonga continued, "Watch over this floor while Sebas out. You will receive further instructions later. And as for the Floor Guardians, Nazarick is in a state of emergency! Guard your respective floors and beware of intruders. We will meet again on the Sixth Floor once Sebas has returned."
"As you will, My Lord."
They quickly dispersed from the Throne room, leaving only her, Momonga, and Albedo. The last among the three had a furious blush on her face.
"I want to apologize again, Albedo," Tiamat turned towards the Succubus, "I know that some people don't like to be touched, an—"
"Nonono, My Lady, please don't apologize! You're welcome to t-touch me anytime you wish!"
Tiamat looked at Momonga, pleading for his help.
Momonga cleared his throat. "Albedo, this is my order for you."
Albedo immediately straightened herself and composed her face, although a hint of red still remained. "Yes, My Lord!"
"I want you to gather every Floor Guardian, except for the fourth and the eighth to the fighting arena on the Sixth Floor after Sebas has returned."
"Understood," She bowed and left the room.
Now it was just her and Momonga.
"What happened Momo-chan?"
"I do not know myself. But I want to check something."
"What?"
[Can you hear me?] Momonga's voice echoed in her head.
"Oh my god! What the hell was that?!"
"Umu," He nodded. "It seems that the『Message』function still works."
"T-that was『Message』? It sounded like you were talking in my head."
"There is another thing I would like to test," he continued. "You have the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown with you, right?"
She looked down at her left hand, and on her forefinger, the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown delicately rested, gleaming with an unearthly light.
"Yup..."
"Try teleporting to the Sixth Floor."
"W-what? How in the world-" but Momonga was long gone before she finished her sentence. She was left all alone in the Throne Room.
Tiamat took a deep breath in.
'It's alright. You can do this,' she thought as she tried to imagine teleporting to the Sixth Floor.
In an instant her surroundings changed from the throne room to one of the entrances of the arena on the Sixth Floor.
'Well, that was easy,' all she had to do was visualize the Arena and poof she went.
"So we can use our items in this world..." she jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of Momonga. "It seems you have no problem with your guild ring as well, right?"
"...yes," Everything was going too fast for her to follow. Just a few minutes ago, she was feeling sad and dejected. Now she didn't know what to feel. Was this a curse or a blessing? Should she feel relieved? Was she allowed to be relieved?
"Then, let us go..." Momonga walked in front of her, leading the way to the Arena.
As they walked towards the awe-inspiring stone structure, Tiamat looked up.
It was far, far different from VR. Countless stars twinkled in the night sky, unhidden by the smog that had plagued Earth so. She could only open her mouth in awe.
It was truly beautiful. If only Blue Planet could see just how well he'd done on the Sixth Floor.
At that moment she remembered. She was a fucking Dragon. She could actually fly. Although she had used a ton of cash items to sculpt her character into a more human appearance and lost a lot of her draconic body parts in the process, she still had access to her wings, albeit less effective.
"Momo-chan, I'm gonna go outside real quick," she mentioned, and without waiting to hear his response, she quickly teleported to the first floor.
If Blue Planet's artificial creation looked like a masterpiece, just how beautiful would the real thing be?
Unable to contain her excitement, she ran across the stairs at the entrance of the tomb three at a time. Somebody called out to her, but in her excitement, she didn't notice.
She stepped out of the entrance and looked up at the night sky
Her breath caught in her throat.
'My God.'
It was beautiful. The air was fresh, with no toxic gas or dust storm to sully it; she could even smell the scent of the grass surrounding Nazarick. She lifted her head to see the clouds slowly blown away by the wind, while a large moon illuminated the pillars at the entrance of the tomb.
It was a divine sight.
IRL she couldn't even walk outside at night because of the environment everyone lived in. To be able to bask in the moonlight and view the sky clearly was a whole new world for her.
Is this what Earth used to be? The mega-corporations foolishly abandoned and tore apart such beautiful natural masterpieces just for the sake of their own comfort?
"My Lady," a voice called out from behind her. He was accompanied by the Evil Lords of the Seventh Floor: Wrath and Jealousy.
"Demiurge?" she asked unsure whether it was him or not.
He slowly stepped out into the moonlight, and she could see his features much more clearly. He was definitely handsome, with an edge of cruelty underlying his looks. Ulbert's masterpiece indeed. As soon as she called his name, she could see excitement practically pouring out of him, as well as worry.
'I wonder why…'
"Are you alright My Lady? Do you have any problems or injuries?" he worriedly asked.
Oh. In all her excitement, Tiamat had forgotten the scene she caused in the Throne Room. At that moment, she remembered how she clung onto Momonga.
Unknowingly, her cheeks and ears blushed a deep red, the same color of her hair.
"I'm alright Demiurge, thank you for your concern," she covered her face in embarrassment and turned around so her back faced Demiurge. She was a grown woman crying in public; what had her life become?
Demiurge cleared his throat, "Are you going outside, My Lady?"
"Ah, yes. I wanted to look at the stars for a short while, Demiurge. Don't worry, I will go back to meet you all on the Sixth Floor."
"I would advise against that My Lady," Demiurge fixed his glasses. "We are currently in unknown territory. If something were to happen to you... No, we would gladly lay our lives and perish as your shields." He immediately knelt, Wrath and Jealousy followed.
How could he say that?
Perish as her shield. As if she would let them. A foreign sense of possessiveness ran through her body.
If anyone dared to hurt the members of Ainz Ooal Gown, even down to the smallest cockroaches…
She. Would. Hunt. Them. Down.
Without her realizing, her passive aura leaked out. Demiurge, Wrath, and Jealousy, as well as the other denizens guarding the first floor, felt a chill run down their spine as the once cold room was suddenly stifling with heat, even though there was no fire. Her eyes turned from amethyst to a golden amber with vertical slits for pupils.
The aura of a Supreme Being.
'Truly those who named her the weakest were foolish,' Demiurge thought to himself.
"Demiurge..." Tiamat let out a low growl that Demiurge's ears strained to catch.
Afraid that he had angered one of the Supreme Beings, the only two who decided to stay with them, Demiurge raked his brain on what he might have said to have angered the soft-spoken Dragoness of Nazarick, and found none.
"My Lady," He fearfully responded.
"Don't you dare say that you'll perish in front of me again," she growled again, trying to contain the boiling anger and sadness the thought provoked.
"My Lady?" Demiurge questioned. The Guardians existed to protect the Supreme Beings, in fact, all of the members of Nazarick existed only for the Supreme Beings. To be able to lay down their lives for their Gods, was there any greater honor? Wasn't that the right course of action?
"You? Perish? No! If anyone even thinks about hurting you or any creature in Nazarick down to its smallest spiders, they would have to go through me first. I will fight until they grind me into dust," Tiamat bristled. Letting out her anger, she slowly breathed in and out to calm herself.
'They're still here, they're unharmed. They're yours to protect. They're safesafesafesafesafe.'
The sheer joy Demiurge felt from her outburst couldn't be contained as he smiled from ear to ear.
What an honor! To belong to the Supreme Beings. Lady Tiamat actually considered them hers, as it should be. His life belonged to them, no, every fiber of his being belonged to them. And the fact that she acknowledged that couldn't make him happier.
"I understand, Lady Tiamat."
Her aura died down as quickly as it came. With the pressure released, Wrath and Jealousy let out breaths they didn't even know they were holding.
"Alright Demiurge, Wrath, and Jealousy, I'm glad you understand. I'm just gonna take a quick look at the sky. Just five minutes. I promise. I'll come back right after."
"Then," he bowed, Wrath and Jealousy doing likewise. "Have a safe trip My Lady, and please come back quickly. I will search for you if you don't return in five minutes."
She smiled happily at Demiurge. "Yes! Thank you! I'll be back soon!"
Then she leapt into the sky. She felt the urge to just glide around but ignored the urge and continued to soar closer and closer to the sky and stars, until she was just under the clouds, and took a look at the new world around her.
She continued around her in awe as she lost track of time, and kept on stargazing until Demiurge picked her up to return to the Sixth Floor.
(ง •̀ω•́)ง
DEMIURGE POV
Lord Momonga and Lady Tiamat had fetched him from his floor and commanded him to 'follow' until they reached the Ninth Floor.
As ordered he 'waited'. For whatever reason, his Gods had brought all of the Floor Guardians to the Throne Room. There must be something important to discuss.
He and the others continued to 'wait' while the two Supreme Beings talked. As a good subject he decided to listen attentively, for a good subject should know what his masters were thinking.
But to his despair, the words he heard sounded like farewells. It was as if the world was going to perish, and they would not meet again.
Would they decide to leave them behind like the other Supreme Beings, or would they decide to stay?
Of course all the other Floor Guardians and even the Pleiades were thinking the same thing.
Don't abandon us.
For the purpose of their existence was to fulfill the Supreme Beings' wishes. For they were mere subjects and they were their Masters.
What good were subjects without a Master to follow?
Still, he continued to 'wait'.
Because it was not his place to barge in on the Supreme Beings' conversation.
Until he smelled tears and heard a small sob in front of him.
Concerned, he raised his head, only to find his Lady, one of the Last Supreme Beings, crying. He could hear the raw pain in her cries. His Lady was crying, but he was ordered to 'wait'. Therefore he had to 'wait', no matter how much he wished to address the problem. He wanted to wipe away her tears, to find the cause of her misery and end it.
He believed, no, knew that everyone in the room desired the same thing.
His Lord embraced her to ease her pain, but this only made her cry harder.
Rage filled his vision.
Who? Who dared to cause his Lady, his Master, his Goddess, such distress?
He would personally end those who caused his Goddess such sorrow. He would ensure endless misery and pain to those who even thought of harming her.
His second thought was concern.
Was she hurt? Was she in pain? Who was she crying for? And why did she cry?
Mulling over his situation, he found a loophole. He wouldn't disregard his order to 'wait', but he was still allowed to speak. So he raised his voice to question the well being of His Goddess. He knew he was speaking out of turn. All those who raised their concerns knew. But they had to know.
He had to know.
Before he could receive an answer, he received another order to 'guard' Nazarick. With a heavy heart, he left. Because he could not abandon an order from his Lord.
As it was impossible for Shalltear to guard all three floors simultaneously, he offered to help her by sending his demons and himself to guard the first floor.
He was slowly making his rounds around the first floor to make sure nothing was out of place and that no intruder had entered Nazarick.
Halfway through, he felt a familiar presence. His Goddess was here by herself on the first floor. What was she doing? Didn't she know that it was currently dangerous to roam Nazarick alone?
Then he saw her running towards the front door.
She was abandoning them. She was running away from them.
To his eternal shame, that was what he had thought at first.
He called out to her, but she didn't respond. Excitement covered her features as she lifted her long gown and ran barefooted towards the door. Her tail thumped up and down on the floor in excitement, eyes lighting up in awe when she saw the night sky.
How beautiful was his Goddess.
The pale moonlight shone upon her form, and her amethyst colored eyes that shone like finely cut gemstones under the moonlight. The golden scales that adorned her dress glittered.
It turned out she really just wanted to see the view outside.
He felt foolish and ashamed to have distrusted his Goddess so.
He asked whether she was alright, and His Goddess blushed beautifully, like the color of her hair.
It was a sight he would never forget.
Then, he offered his life as her shield. He would perish to ensure his Goddess's survival as the situation could not be addressed yet. The world that Nazarick was in now was different. Unknown threats loomed just around the corner and without enough information, there was nothing he could do but to offer himself to protect her.
Then her eyes slowly turned into molten gold, and a slit formed in each eye. The gaze of a predator.
She was angry at his proposal. It wasn't because she was offended that he offered to protect a Supreme Being. Which would be blasphemy, for he knew how strong she really was despite the title those fools had given her.
She was angry because she thought someone was going to harm him, to take what was hers. And when she called him hers, he was filled with absolute joy.
His Goddess said they were all hers.
Which was a shame, because he wanted her for himself.
But that's alright. He'll learn to share someday.
(ง •̀ω•́)ง
A/N: Welp that was a lot of reviews! Thank you very much for those who reviewed and followed this story. I made this story just for fun, because sometimes I wanted to read a reverse harem OC who is strong and could handle herself. Hey, it's 2019. Why are there so many shitty reverse harems where the MCs are so. fucking. Generic. Thank you to those who pointed out that this story needs improvement(s). I really appreciate it, and I will try to edit the story asap. And if you wanna send flames, I don't mind. Lol. That means that you're angry enough that you actually cares. You Tsundere~
Oh yeah, yadayada english is not my native language, blablabla it sounds like justification. Because no it isn't. A good piece of literature is not just the story line, or the character development, but also the language in which you choose to deliver your story. So please find those mistakes and let me know! I've actually written up to chapter 3. So if you want more, you can just tell me. Toodles!
7/25/2019: I changed my mind. I don't think I'm going to write reverse harem by using the plot I made. If you come here expecting heavy romance, you'll probably be disappointed. If, and I repeat, IF the story does end up having any, it's going to be a reaaaaaaally slow development. Btw, if we do head towards romance then it's gonna be with bone daddy. Sorry if you think I misled you into thinking that we are heading towards reverse harem.
