Hello again. I hope you are all safe and sound.

With what's going on over the last number of chapters, this story seems to have crossed far into the other verse. But well, I'll still let this stay here because like I once mentioned, the Overlord - Phantasy Star section of this site is basically on life support.

In any case, let's move on with the show.


[X][X][X]


Ryu was basically helpless now, along with nearly everyone else from his team.

Elder had beaten him up good. Even the combined effort of the team was not enough to match his new power. Everyone but Guardian and Lily were too exhausted and injured to continue fighting. Even the two aforementioned ladies were not in a much better condition. The situation was clearly hopeless, even though Elder's altered Falz Hunar form was visibly damaged.

But then suddenly Ainz had appeared, having somehow blocked Elder from teleporting away and now telling Elder that he had a score to settle.

Guardian and Lily looked at each other. As if they read each other's mind, they both quickly picked up their defeated teammates, taking them all to a safer area. Within his fading consciousness, Ryu assumed that Ainz was going to fight against Elder, and he hoped for the best.


[X][X][X]


"A score to settle with me? I don't remember ever meeting you personally"

"Indeed, we have never met. But you have done despicable things to me, to my daughter, and the children of my friends. Honestly, I can no longer tolerate your existence"

Without waiting for Elder's response, Ainz raised his right hand forward and it was immediately enveloped in bright magical circles.

[Triplet Maximize Magic: Call Greater Thunder]

Crack! Bzzzt!

With a deafening sound, multiple lightning bolts struck Elder without warning. Elder grunted in pain upon receiving the strikes, but still stood strong. In response, he punched the ground in front with a titanic blow, sending geyser-like dark waves homing in on Ainz.

[Wall of Skeleton]

Drrrd!

A wall of skeletons rose from the ground in front of Ainz, acting as a barricade which took the blow for him. The wall soon crumbled, but right before it happened, Ainz disappeared into thin air, having known that the spell he had used to prevent Elder from teleporting away had expired.

[Greater Teleportation]

Ainz reappeared behind Elder several meters away. The latter quickly noticed the former's new position and sent a straight punch which shot out a shockwave.

[Body of Effulgent Beryl]

Clank!

The shockwave hit Ainz directly, but he didn't take any damage thanks to the defensive spell he had just cast. He quickly followed up with an offensive spell.

[Reality Slash]

Ainz waved his hand, sending out a crescent-shaped horizontal wave of energy. Elder evaded to the side, but he still took a hit and his left arm was cleanly cut off. The severed part fell to the ground and disintegrated into a short-lived red mist.

"Hahahaha! Interesting! Interesting!"

With a mist of dark energy, Elder's missing arm was regrown within a second. He then immediately drew out his broken curved sword and jumped straight at Ainz with a clear sign of an imminent gigantic slash.

[Hold of Ribs]

Numerous sharp spikes made of bones protruded from the ground and interrupted Elder's attack, piercing his body from all directions and stopping his movement momentarily. Elder immediately did a sweeping attack, slashing all the spikes off and regaining his mobility.

However, Elder didn't make any further move. Instead, he put his sword back and stood still with his arms folded.

"What's your actual goal?"

Ainz didn't immediately respond, and therefore Elder resumed speaking.

"Your energy is massive, but none of your attacks on me reflected that. You could have barraged me with that slicing attack, but you didn't. And now you're standing there listening to me instead of attacking. It's as if you're trying to buy time"

Once again, Ainz didn't respond. He also folded his arms, and a couple seconds later he began laughing.

"Hmph... Haha... Hahahahaha!"

"Grr..."

Elder clearly wasn't impressed with the response, but Ainz currently only had one thing on his mind.

Panic.

Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap! He knew! What to do, what to do!? I've got to keep his attention somehow!

Ainz indeed was mainly trying to buy time for his plan. He also wanted to gauge how well he could fight against this newly empowered Elder, but that was just a side objective. Having been informed that Dark Falz was a persistent entity which would eventually resurrect themselves after being killed, ideally Ainz wanted to seal Elder instead of killing him. However, that plan needed to be altered and would need some time to come into fruition. Thus, keeping Elder in their present location was necessary.

Come on, Sebas! Give me the sign!

Underneath the stoic skeletal face, Ainz was anxiously waiting for Sebas to give him the sign that the next phase of the plan was ready, but there was no such sign yet. Ainz had to stall for time, but now that Elder knew he was stalling, he had no choice other than winging it.

"What an interesting remark you have made there, Dark Falz Elder! I was merely warming up to see if you are worthy of my full power!"

Elder didn't budge after hearing Ainz's words. He responded with a question, spoken in a straight, unimpressed tone.

"And your verdict is...?"

Without saying a word, Ainz reached his right hand forward, waited for a split second, and clenched the hand into a thumbs down gesture.

"Hmph! I'll make you change your mind then!"

Immediately after speaking, Elder charged straight at Ainz with his clenched right fist glowing. He threw a straight punch directly towards Ainz's face with incredible speed that took him off-guard and made a direct hit. Ainz was thrown back by the force and hit the wall of the arena. However, he nonchalantly stepped back onto the ground as if he didn't feel anything, putting up a brave front.

"Hahaha! Now you see how you don't even compare to the great Ainz Ooal Gown!"

Ugh, that hurt quite a lot even with [Body of Effulgent Beryl]'s lingering protection. I can only take two, maybe three more hits. Just how much stronger did this bastard get!? He's almost like a Raid Boss! Watching Lily getting hurt by this bastard pained me, but I'm sure glad her team weakened him at least this much.

Indeed, Ainz had watched most of their fight prior to him dispelling his [Perfect Unknowable] spell. He had done so to gain information on Elder's new strength and capabilities. While it had pained him to see harm befalling Lily and the rest of his allies to a lesser extent, he had thought the chance to gather information on Elder's capabilities, Lily's use of the swords he had given her, and how they collectively could weaken him, would be worth it. Ainz had also gambled that given Elder's prior behavior, he would spare them so as to not spoil any future "fun", and sure enough the guess was on the mark. Still, even a weakened Elder was quite formidable.

"Wooaaaarghh!"

Suddenly, Elder emanated a massive, dark, flame-like aura from his body and raised both arms above his head. His hands glowed brightly for a split second, and then he clenched the hands into fists and slammed both onto the ground.

The titanic blow shook the ground along with the whole stadium structure. Some sections even crumbled to rubble as a result of that attack. Ainz hoped that Lily and his ARKS allies didn't get buried, but he had no time to think about it because the attack also sent out geyser-like shockwaves moving in an outward spiral motion. It was a familiar move to Ainz, since Elder had used that move when Ainz had fought him as Perfect Warrior Momon.

Ainz flew upwards to evade the energy geysers which dissipated seconds after. Elder, having no ability to fly, drew his curved sword out and threw it straight at Ainz.

[Greater Teleportation]

Ainz teleported behind Elder again, but this time he was just a single meter apart.

[Hell Flame]

A small blood red kindle was conjured at Ainz's fingertip and floated to Elder, who quickly did a back kick as a response to Ainz's teleportation. Ainz took the kick head on and got pushed away, but the damage he received was negligible compared to the previous straight punch.

Vwooosh!

The small kindle became a raging inferno within an instant, wholly engulfing Elder's 5-meter tall body. Ainz could clearly hear a wailing coming from within the flames, but it was short-lived and soon replaced by a laugh.

"Hahahaha! It hurts! Interesting!"

At the same time, Elder's sword returned to his grasp and emanated a massive energy blade at least ten meters long, which somehow ended the inferno engulfing him by absorbing all the flames into the blade.

This is going to be dangerous! Where's the sign!?

Elder turned around to face Ainz, and without warning he did a horizontal sweeping slash at a blinding speed which caught Ainz off guard.

Whoa!

Such was Elder's speed that Ainz could only close his eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable impact. It was perhaps an unfitting reaction for someone like him. Even Ainz had no idea why his reaction was like that. Was it possible that the imminent overwhelming danger, combined with the panic and anxiety he was having, momentarily reverted his mindset back from the majestic Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown, into the regular human Suzuki Satoru of his previous life?

CLANG!

Ainz didn't feel anything striking him. Instead, he just heard a ringing metallic sound impacting. Opening his eyes, which relit the red lights in his eye sockets, what he saw before him was a bipedal dragon with black scales, white hair, and its wings folded over its shoulders, blocking the energy sword with their glowing right forearm. He had not seen that form for quite a long time, but there was no mistake that it was Sebas, having morphed into his true Dragonoid form.

"Are you hurt, Ainz-sama?"

Sebas asked, still with the same voice he had in human form, with just a subtle draconic rumble. At the same time, he deflected Elder's sword away, causing the latter to stagger back. Ainz's emotion suppressor finally kicked in, and he spoke to Sebas in his usual calm and dignified tone of speech.

"I am fine, but why are you here? You are supposed to be on standby"

"I was about to send the signal, Ainz-sama. But I felt that I had to do this to protect the well-being of Ainz-sama. Please punish me as you see fit, if this was a mistake"

Sebas spoke without looking back at Ainz. He stood firm with his head straight at Elder, guarding Ainz while also seemingly prepared to be backstabbed as a punishment in the case he really had made a grave mistake.

"No, Sebas. You have made a good call. Nevertheless, what you said back there, does that mean it is ready?"

"Yes, Ainz-sama. The ship is now as close as it can be"

"In that case… I hope this works..."

Ainz raised his hand forward and casted a spell, for which he had been conserving his mana for.

[Gate]

A familiar dark portal appeared at the center of the arena, and within seconds multiple beings came out of it. The first of them was Shalltear, fully equipped with her crimson colored armor and Spuit Lance. She charged straight at Elder with it pointed forward.

"Heaaaarghh!"

Clang!

Elder blocked the thrust with his armored left arm, but the force pushed him backwards several meters. At the same time, Cocytus came in second, and quickly struck Elder's legs with his massive halberd, causing him to lose balance and fall onto his knees. Without giving him a chance to recover, Albedo who was fully armored and came in third, struck Elder from above with all her might.

"To cause my beloved Ainz-sama pain! Know your place, you abominable life form!"

[Frost of Judecca]

As Albedo shouted, Demiurge came in last and immediately immobilized Elder's limbs with one of his [Skill]. Sebas joined the fray, and what followed immediately after was a total beatdown as four of the close-ranged level 100 NPCs converged on the immobilized Elder, who couldn't fight back.

The [Gate] portal became badly distorted as soon as Demiurge came out of it, forcing Ainz to close it immediately. It seemed that even after the preparations made to overcome it, four persons was the limit. Ainz could cast [Gate] anew to bring in more forces from Nazarick, but seeing the ongoing beatdown, it seemed to be not necessary.

"Ainz-sama. I sincerely hope you are all right"

Demiurge spoke with genuine concern as he approached Ainz. Ainz made a slight nod before speaking in response.

"There is no problem with my body. Just keep maintaining your disabling spell, and reapply [Dimensional Lock], just in case"

"Certainly, Ainz-sama"

Demiurge immediately applied his version of [Dimensional Lock] on the area in order to prevent Elder from teleporting away. Soon after, the huge body of Elder crumbled to dust, leaving a human form Ainz had never seen before. The four who had been beating Elder down pinned him to the ground as Ainz approached.

"Heh, so you really were buying time to call in reinforcements to beat me down"

As Elder spoke to Ainz, his tone of speech was curiously accepting instead of lashing out on the apparent unfairness.

"What can I say? I am a wild-card and strategist at heart. My principle is that if I fought a fair battle, my strategy sucked"

Ainz spoke while looking down on Elder, who closed his eyes smiling in response.

"Hmph, point taken"

"Any last words you would like to say, Dark Falz Elder?"

"Well..."

Elder went silent for a couple seconds, then he spoke.

"If you, or any of your ARKS allies ever encounter her someday... Tell Dia to... not make the same mistake I did"

Ainz had no idea about the person Elder mentioned, but he immediately spoke in response while spreading his arms in preparation of what he was about to do.

"I shall honor your wish, Dark Falz Elder"

As Ainz spoke, a menacing dark aura emanated from his body, especially the palms of his hands. He then began muttering illegible words he didn't understand himself. His muttering was automatic, as part of the [Skill] he was about to use on Elder. He actually had no idea whether this skill would work or not, but there was no loss in trying, and he still had another way in case this failed.

Ainz soon went silent, his eyes glowing so bright that it filled the room as his hands reached for Elder.

[Skill: Dark Wisdom]

The menacing aura around Ainz's body grew bigger, and Elder was now also covered in a similar aura. The two auras were connected above them, and it was quite clear that Ainz's aura began absorbing Elder's. Over the course of the next minute, Elder's body began disintegrating and becoming part of the aura which was then wholly absorbed by Ainz.

After that, there was only silence. There was no trace of Elder left, and the dark aura dissipated from Ainz's body. Ainz looked at his own hands left and right, then he looked straight forward to the Floor Guardians and Sebas who were now looking at him with curious gaze.

"It... worked. It really worked!"

Ainz exclaimed full of excitement. The [Dark Wisdom] skill had accepted Elder as a suitable live sacrifice. As a result, and much to his surprise and jubilation, Ainz had obtained something beyond what the [Skill] would normally grant in increased spell count. It was difficult to put into words, but Ainz was certain that his body now was substantially more durable than before, which would translate into an increased HP pool if his hunch was right. Not only that, but his MP limit had also increased, and its regeneration rate had skyrocketed.

Uwah~! One thing's for sure... If the me right now fights Shalltear again, I'd win with significantly less difficulty. This gain is a lot more than I expected!

"Congratulations, Ainz-sama! With this, world conquest is even closer within your reach"

"Allow. Me. To. Congratulate. You. Ainz. Sama"

"As expected of Ainz-sama. Nothing is more satisfying than humiliating the opponent by absorbing their power"

Several Floor Guardians spoke to Ainz, clearly showing that they were happy for him in their own way. Ainz himself felt delighted about this outcome. However, suddenly...

"Well, well... Isn't this interesting"

"What?"

Ainz heard a voice which was clearly Elder's. He looked around, but Elder was nowhere to be found.

"Is there something wrong, Ainz-sama?"

Sebas asked as he reverted back to his human form. Ainz didn't want to look bad in front of the others, so he replied in denial.

"Nothing. Might be just my own mind playing tricks on me"

"So this is inside your head, huh?"

Ainz heard the voice again, clearly telling the location it came from. In response, Ainz shouted inside his mind.

"Why are you in there!? Get out of my head!"

"Hey, you put me here in the first place, so you get me out of here yourself if you want it so bad"

"Wha-?"

"Hmph! You sound like you don't know how. Guess I'm gonna stay here for a while, eh?"

Ainz froze up hearing what he had just heard. Absorbing Elder with [Dark Wisdom] had given him unexpected power, but in exchange he now had a freeloader inside his head for who knows how long.

"Argh, curses! Now I can't even have a moment of solitude anymore!"

Ainz didn't know whether he should tell his Guardians about the predicament. He was essentially the only one who had a degree of control over the situation, and he couldn't imagine how they would react upon knowing this, should he decided to let them know. He then recalled how Guardian once told him that she had other Dark Falz sealed inside of her, and considered the possibility that she had to deal with similar circumstances.

But before Ainz could think further, suddenly that subject of his musings loudly spoke out to him.

"What, have you just done!?"

Ainz turned and immediately saw Guardian. Her hands were tightly clenched, and her battered and bruised face showed obvious anger. Though before he could respond, Albedo stepped forward with an intimidating posture, pointing her bardiche at Guardian.

"Ainz-sama has risked his well-being to assist you people, and this is your response!? Know your place!"

"Stand down, Albedo! I think she has a good reason for being upset at me. I shall acknowledge that, and I expect you, all of you, to do so as well. Understood?"

Albedo took a couple seconds of silence before she lowered her weapon and spoke.

"As you command, Ainz-sama"

"For now, I want to talk with my allies in private. Secure the perimeter, and kill Darkers on sight with the appropriate Tier Magic spells or magic weapon. Ah! Also, take these. Gifts from our hosts to ward off Darker infection"

As Ainz spoke, he reached into his inventory, and handed the newly arrived Floor Guardians photon armor units that Xiera had loaned him after she gave him and Sebas spares with which to equip themselves. Thankfully all the Guardians should know how to equip the units already, since this had been the topic of meetings several times.

"Certainly, Ainz-sama!"

The five subordinates spoke their affirmations and spread out to the outer ring of the stadium. At the same time, Ryu and the rest of his group approached. They had been healed enough to stand and walk, but they probably would need more rest and healing until they could fight again.

"Guardian, to answer your question, I absorbed Elder into my body. I have now grown stronger thanks to that, and Elder is now out of the picture. I see this as an absolute win, no?"

"No, you don't understand! Now you have doomed an entire universe!"

Guardian spoke with a clearly agitated attitude. It was a first for Ainz to see Guardian like that, and by all means she could be serious.

"I would need an explanation for that"

Guardian, still looking agitated, scratched her head with her teeth gritted. She glanced at Ryu briefly before she began speaking.

"There are things that must happen for his universe to follow the same course as mine, and a number of them rely on Elder surviving and saving lives!"

"Hold it right there. Dark Falz Elder, saving lives? That does not sound right"

"The human host in him recovered some conscience and rebelled against another Dark Falz, saving lives in the process. Now without his presence, important people will possibly die, including the Guardian-to-be of his universe! Oh, do I need to tell you that the Guardian-to-be there is likely his brother?"

Hikaru was the first to react upon hearing the last part of Guardian's speech.

"Wait, did you just say... that Yuka-chan will become like you?"

Guardian made a slight nod as her eyes glanced towards Hikaru.

"That's quite certain, since according to Ryu, Persona was... I mean, impersonated him. Just like they impersonated me in my past. Just to make sure, has he told you about saving the lives of Ulc and Zeno on a different occasion?"

"Huh? Yeah, I mean, I was with him"

"See- Eh, wait, what? Did you say...?"

Guardian turned her head towards Hikaru with her face full of confusion.

"I and Yuka-chan saved Ulc. But none of us saved Zeno. Ryu-niichan did"

"What? How can this be?"

Now Guardian turned her head to Ryu, looking even more confused than before. Ainz, being as confused and also getting a little impatient, spoke up.

"Guardian, I believe time is quite a luxury right now, so please explain the matter which confused you just now, and be as brief as possible"

Guardian quickly drew breath and began speaking immediately after.

"Okay, to put it short, saving the two people I mentioned was my deed alone in the past, but in their universe they took the roles in tandem. Now I don't know who's the Guardian-to-be anymore"

Ainz put his hand over his chin, displaying a thinking posture. Thanks to a few of his friends in the past loving science fiction, he was well aware of the concept of parallel timelines and alternate realities. Though he never imagined that such a concept would come in handy like this. It was for this reason, a seemingly good idea came to his mind as he spoke.

"I see your point, Guardian. But how about you consider it this way? In your world, Guardian is you alone, while in their world, 'Guardian' will become a collective title for Ryu, Hikaru, and the other sibling. Also, you have been speaking as if events taking a different course than what you know will only be a bad thing. We never know what the future has in store, no? Is it not possible that, since there are already differences, things may turn out better than what you think?"

Guardian folded her arms, looking at Ainz with a sharp gaze. Rather than looking angry she now looked more introspective, then skeptical, and then begrudgingly accepting.

"Alright, you might have a point. Emphasis on might. But I still can't help worrying, especially about Melrondia"

Melron...dia?

"Speaking of that name you just mentioned, Elder made a request before I absorbed him. He wanted me to tell Dia to not make the same mistake he did"

Guardian sighed hearing Ainz's words, and she spoke in response.

"Yeah, it's Melrondia. Or maybe the siblings here still remember her as Melphonseana. Elder saved her life and told her exactly that right before taking Dark Falz Double down along with himself. Without him present in that event, should it happen in their universe, Melrondia will possibly get killed by Dark Falz Double, along with several others including the Guardian-to-be"

"Huh... Is that how it is? I couldn't protect Seana, and now thanks to you I can't even protect Dia! I'm really pissed off now, asshole!"

Hearing Elder's voice grouse, Ainz couldn't help feel a metaphorical headache coming on as he continued thinking about this. To be perfectly frank, he really didn't want the topic to continue, so he spoke with intention to divert it for now.

"Ahem! As I said, the future is not set in stone. Should the ARKS from their world arrive, we can deal with things as they come up. Regardless, there is something important I have to tell you"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"The spell I used to bring in my subordinates was badly hindered for some reason. That girl, Xiera, somehow could analyze the spell and make a deduction that moving the ship closer to the planet would mitigate the hindrance. I shall not deny that I was impressed seeing that she was correct"

The eyes of everyone else went wide hearing what Ainz had just said. Indeed, the stalling he had done had been mainly to buy time for the ARKS ship to close the distance to Nazarick. Sebas' task had been to contact the Floor Guardians through [Message] via an item Ainz loaned him and tell them to prepare for battle, while also measuring the distance while at it.

Guardian immediately activated her interface and contacted Xiera, the display screen of whom immediately appeared.

"Xiera! Is it true that the ship moved?"

"Yes, Guardian! I'm sorry for not telling you sooner, but I had my hands full with everything happening! To put it short, the photons of the main engine's warp drive hindered the teleportation magic, and we all know that we can't afford to turn the main engine off during a Darker attack! Based from a quick analysis I proposed to move the ship closer to the planet so the spell would be less strained on distance and be able to mitigate the hindrance"

"I see. Well, it saved us all for certain. So, what's the position of the ship now?"

"We're just outside the planet's atmosphere now. Any closer and the main engine will be exposed to mutated photons. It's probably still not ready for that"

"I see. Anyway, what's the status of the city?"

"The Darkers are diminishing in numbers. At this rate they will be fully exterminated in ten minutes or so!"

"Great. We're returning to the bridge now since most of us are already too exhausted to fight"

"Copy that, Guardian!"

The communication link ended, and Guardian spoke to Ainz.

"Please come with us back to the bridge. You don't want your subordinates to be mistaken as enemies, right?"

"Yes, that would be ugly"

Ainz nodded and put his covers back on as he replied, once again hiding his undead nature. Soon enough, the bridge would become even more jam-packed than before, having additional guests present. In order to prevent tension, Ainz instructed every Floor Guardian to remain silent until further notice, but he still couldn't help worrying that some of them would possibly make a ruckus. And there was also the matter of finding a more private moment to speak to Guardian about the freeloader inside his head.


[X][X][X]


Ryu was one of the last to enter the bridge. He, along with the rest of his team, had been healed on the way, so now they could go into battle again if necessary. But the battle was over and he could easily guess that a lot of talks were imminent, seeing what had happened down there in the city.

As Ryu stepped into the bridge, he noticed that Xiera was not alone. Standing right next to her was another girl. It didn't take long for Ryu to recognize her even though her clothing was different than what he remembered, because her long white hair and red eyes made it obvious.

"Matoi...?"

Ryu spoke a name without thinking. The girl reacted slightly and spoke in response.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do I know you? Or perhaps... the other me knows you"

From the soft voice and apologetic way of speaking, it was confirmed for Ryu that the girl was indeed Matoi, the mysterious girl who had been involved in essentially all major events ARKS had experienced.

"Ah, yes. Indeed"

Ryu spoke with lowered head and one hand behind his head. He just realized that of course the Matoi of this universe didn't know him. It was Guardian whom she knew.

"Ah, please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Matoi, and I'm a Guardian like Melrose. Pleased to meet all of you"

Matoi bowed as she spoke the last part of her introduction.

"I am pleased to meet you too. My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, and these are my subordinates. We came from the planet below"

"Yes. Xiera has informed me about you. You are a very powerful person, and I'm very grateful for your assistance"

Ainz slightly nodded in response, and then he spoke again.

"I apologize for cutting the introduction, but I believe there is an important topic we need to discuss, no?"

Responding to Ainz's words, Xiera was the first to speak out.

"Right! Thankfully, there was no significant structural damage from the Darker attack, so everything can be rebuilt and repaired in no time. But the most important matter is about your absorption of Dark Falz Elder"

Ainz nodded slightly before speaking.

"Yes. Guardian... Melrose complained about it, speaking about things that must happen in the other world. I have spoken my defense, but I cannot deny that my knowledge on this matter is likely lacking compared to other people here. Therefore I would like to know if absorbing Dark Falz Elder shall bring adverse effects to their world as claimed by Melrose"

Being still quite exhausted and knowing that his role was not really in play right now, Ryu decided to not speak unless directly asked. He continued listening to the ongoing conversation between Ainz and Xiera.


[X][X][X]


My Floor Guardians are here, and there's apparently another Guardian. Better address Melrose with her name rather than her title for now. But speaking of which... how many Guardians does ARKS have?

As Ainz silently pondered, Xiera answered Ainz's request for information.

"To be perfectly honest, we don't know. None of us know. We have future knowledge of their world based on ours, and we can speculate what's going to happen next, but in the end what will actually happen, like you said in your defense, is never set in stone. The best we can do is to prepare accordingly in anticipation"

Ainz noticed that Melrose was visibly anxious during Xiera's speech. Matoi seemed to notice too, so she warmly smiled and approached Melrose.

"Melrose, I know that you are worried about the fate of their world. But remember what Xion said back then. She had never seen a future where I survived, yet right now I'm standing here with you. We have defied a grim future and now we're weaving a new future, beyond what omniscience could reach. Who's to say that they can't do the same, along with their incarnation of myself?"

Melrose didn't say a word. She just lowered her head and put one hand on her chest. Matoi smiled again and held Melrose's other hand with both hers.

"At first, I wanted to let them fend for themselves, but now I don't think I can. Your kindness can be a real curse sometimes, you know. Just like back then"

"Don't remind me..."

Melrose averted her eyes as she spoke. Ainz could easily notice her blushing, but there was no use bringing that up so he kept himself silent. Matoi soon let go of Melrose, looked at the group as a whole, and began speaking.

"That being said, what happened just now regarding Dark Falz Elder was unlike anything we could have prepared for. I hope we can work together to prepare ourselves for events from the other ARKS universe which might propagate their impact here"

Hearing Matoi's words, Ainz nodded as he put one hand over his skeletal chin.

"I acknowledge your concern, and I also hope we can assist each other as necessary in the future, near or far"

Right after Ainz spoke, Matoi nodded with a warm smile and Xiera enthusiastically raised her hand.

"Alright! Now that it is settled, there's another important topic at hand! Something that involves you specially!"

Xiera excitedly pointed at someone who was not Ainz. Ainz quickly turned his head to see the one she was pointing at.

"Huh? Me?"

To Ainz's little surprise, it was Lily.

"Yes! You! Your feats in the battle were awesome! There is something ARKS would like to request from you. Would you be interested in hearing me out?"

"Umm... I..."

Lily looked startled and confused, seemingly glancing at Ainz and Ryu, the latter of whom also looked at Ainz, basically giving him the sign that he would be the one to decide.

"Pardon my intrusion, but Lily is my daughter, and therefore important decisions involving her must go through me first. I shall hear you out, but there is no promise that I shall accept the request you are going to make"

Xiera was briefly startled, but she immediately regained her composure and cleared her throat before speaking.

"Alright! Right now, ARKS is developing a new Successor Class to bolster our strength against an ongoing threat. Truthfully, the development is facing a dead end midway, but the feats Lily has done in the battle down there has inspired us! Would you allow us to use her as reference in progressing the new class development?"

In other words, ARKS is going to make a new class based on Lily... no, wait. It's not Lily, but the Starlight Wings! This could be interesting, but...

"While immortalizing my daughter as a class of ARKS sounds intriguing, I need to know what kind of procedures she will have to take in that regard. I shall not allow it if those are harmful in any shape and form"

Xiera, seemingly panicking a little, waved both hands in denial.

"Nonono! All we need from her is to show off her capabilities in a special arena where we can record and analyze data! That's all, I promise!"

"Hmm..."

Ainz briefly went into a thinking posture, then he turned his head towards Lily, who seemed anxious.

"Fear not, Lily. I shall not require you to accept their request if you do not wish to"

Lily quickly shook her head in response.

"That's not it, Papa! It's just that... I don't feel right being highly praised like that, when everything I did was not my own strength..."

Ainz immediately understood what Lily meant. She felt that all the feats she had done had been thanks to the Starlight Wings. Even Ainz himself felt the same at first. However, he had partially changed his mind and therefore he spoke as he walked to Lily.

"Perhaps you were right in a certain way. However, it is a fact that the one that fought down there was your own body and instinct. The Starlight Wings in the end is merely a tool, from which you have drawn its strength. Their praise on you was never misdirected, Lily"

As Ainz ended his speech, Many others gestured their approval with a nod. Even though most of her face was covered by the helmet, Ainz could easily notice that she was stunned by the speech. Soon after, she made a firm nod of determination.

"I'll do it. If I can help a lot of people with this, I'll be very happy to!"

Ainz let out a small prideful laugh and spoke as he gave Lily a pat on her shoulder.

"Then, so be it"

"Thank you for your approval! Now, there is one more topic left! I was about to speak about this back then but the Darker attack intervened, so let me get back into it!"

Xiera spoke, still with excitement. Ainz remembered that indeed she was about to talk in regards to how ARKS would publicize themselves in the New World, but was cut off by the sudden alarm.

"Before I begin, I'd like to make sure. Are you a leader of a country or something?"

Ainz could immediately hear heavy breathing and teeth gritting behind him as Xiera asked the question. Ainz thought that he had to reply quickly before the Floor Guardians made any ruckus.

"Indeed I am. However, my nation was established just yesterday and therefore my territory is still small, officially at least. I do plan to expand my territory and influence because other countries are simply too weak to survive against Darkers and Dark Falz without the presence of a powerful being like I am"

Xiera put one finger over her cheek as she listened to Ainz. After Ainz finished, she nodded and spoke again.

"I see. Then, would you like to be the liaison for the planet? Or maybe we should call it an ambassador? In any case, we would like to spread the news of our existence through you, a renowned being on the planet, should you accept our request"

That's... that's exactly what my world conquest mission is about! So they are requesting me to do something I would do anyway. Can I take advantage of this? Should I...?

"Very well, I shall accept your request. But I would like to make my own request in exchange for my trouble"

Xiera and Matoi looked quite delighted hearing Ainz's answer, while the rest of the ARKS people showed various degrees of doubt on their faces. Nevertheless, Xiera once again spoke in response.

"If it is within our capabilities, we will be glad to reward you for your trouble!"

"Back home, I have a great number of subordinates who are willing to risk their lives for my sake. However, Darker infection can make them go berserk and, in a sense, force them to betray me, which they claim to be their greatest fear. Therefore, I would like to be supplied with as many photon armor units ARKS can conveniently provide, so my subordinates can fight against Darkers without such worry"

"..."

Xiera was silent hearing Ainz's request. Her mouth was slightly agape. It didn't seem like a good sign, and that made Ainz worry.

Was that too much? Is photon armor actually a rare commodity which only ARKS members could get a hold of?

"Is that all? No specifications or anything?"

"As long as they can prevent Darker infections, I have no problem"

Xiera then put up a large display above her, showing a picture of a diamond-shaped device. While the pattern and other details were different and more intricate than the one given by Ryu way back then, Ainz could quickly recognize that it was a photon armor unit.

"This is Solid Barrier series. Simple, compact, and easily mass-produced. Protection is less than a specialized unit, but if preventing Darker infection is all you need, this is our recommendation"

"How many of these can you provide?"

"As many as you need"

Wha...?

"Even in the thousands?"

"Even in the thousands"

Xiera spoke with a straight face, showing that she was not kidding in that statement. Ainz now wondered if he had made a failure on his part, making a request which turned out to be very easy for them to fulfill.

Ah, it's balanced out anyway. No use mulling over it.

"Very well, that will do. Is there anything else from you?"

"Hmm, no! So, can we proceed to the data collection from Lily?"

"If Lily agrees with it, I see no reason to oppose. But speaking of which, what is the name of this class in development?"

"It's Etoile, which means Star!"

Ainz was briefly silent hearing the name, but then he began laughing.

"Ha... Haha... Hahahaha! What a coincidence!"

The others were confused seeing Ainz's sudden laugh. Knowing this, Ainz immediately raised his hand and spoke.

"Disregard my action just now. I was merely reminiscing an old memory"

Without paying heed to the others, Ainz looked up and smiled inside. He remembered the original owner of the Starlight Wings as someone who loved Blue Planet's works and dreamed to be renowned as a star, shining brightly like the ones Blue Planet had created in the 6th floor of Nazarick.

Now your treasured weapon will be immortalized by ARKS who travels among stars, as a class named Star. Would you be delighted if you were here knowing this... Suratan?


[X][X][X]


Afterword:

More Nazarick residents in space!

Anyway, a little pre-emptive answer to a question that might rise after reading this chapter. No, Ainz didn't technically level up by absorbing Elder. He's still the same level 100 Overlord, with some more extra stats granted by the absorption. But I won't stop anyone from thinking that gaining bonus stat is equal to leveling up.

With this chapter, this arc is basically over. The next one coming up *should* be the final arc to end the story whole. At least I planned so, but I feel that in my writing career, the words "plan" and "derail" are soulmates. Eh, whatever.

See you again in two weeks.