The 41 Supreme beings are in the new world
Their dominion over the world is pretty much absolute
They have spread across the entire world and each have designed a city where they reside
The worship of them is widespread to the point that there is new holy magic that comes from worshipping them
The magic in the world is finally rebelling against their intrusion into it, and is beginning to push back against them
It's summoning gigantic raid boss level monsters to fight them.
They need to work together in parties of at least ten to defeat each monster
They find out that killing each monster gives them one level.
Each level past 100 represents a huge gain in strength
43 years after the Return.
Momonga stared around the Round Table Room. Even after 43 years, he had never stopped feeling a chill in his phylactery at the sight of his friends all gathered around the table once more. Not just gathered around some virtual reality table, but physically gathered together, glorious and real. He cleared his throat and read out the first order of business.
"I'm sure you remember the report byAnkoro Mochi Mochi of rising unrest in her city. Apparently it was caused by a former Slane Theocracy priest causing trouble, but it has now been dealt with. The bi-annual spawning of a high tier undead at the Grave was presided over by Takemikazuchi, and he killed it without issue. And the last follow-up from last meeting, Luci Fer visited Tsaindorcus and performed the usual loyalty test. Now if anyone has anything new to bring to the table, now is the time."
One by one, the Supreme Being's sounded off their assent that all was going well in their domains, until at last it came to Punitto Moe.
The Death Vine constantly sprouted flowers on his body as he spoke. "As the strategist for Ainz Ooal Gown, it is my duty to constantly monitor threats to the Guild. I confess I have grown lax in this duty. Our dominance seems too evident - the mightiest this world had to offer is a pale shadow of what Yggdrasil regularly threw at us. I think we have grown complacent, friends, and at last our lack of vigilance has come back to wound us."
The Death Vine paused dramatically, before continuing. "Last night Tabula Smaragdina approached me for a private conversation. He said he had been in the midst of another one of his twisted experiments when he noticed odd fluctuations in the magic and energy of this world. He shared his data with me, and I came to the same conclusion as he did."
Punitto Moe held up a gnarled root, and a screen flashed into existence before the tendril. On the screen were two images: one a bar graph showing a huge spike in energy, and the other was a zoomed out viewpoint of the ocean.
"We believe the natural magic of the world somehow gathered together and coalesced into a summoning ritual which took place deep in the West Ocean. We're unsure if this is a natural phenomenon, or if there is some malignant enemy agent at work. But what we do know is that whatever was summoned had a mana reading similar to that of a Yggdrasil Raid Boss."
The room was silent. Momonga looked up from his notes in shock at that last pronouncement. "Are you sure, Punitto? Do we know any underlying reasons why the magic of the New World is gathering like this?"
"Tabula and I are still working on theories for that, Momonga. Our best guess is that it's an attempt by the world to sustain balance. As level 100 players, each of us has a huge amount of mana and magic at our disposal. Perhaps our presence here is overloading the magical ecosystem of the world, and it's attempting to vent energy. We don't know."
Peroroncino looked up from one of his romance Manga's. "Well, do you want me to go over to the summoning sight and take a look? I can be there and back in about an hour. Nobody has better observation skills than I do."
Bukubukuchagama hit him from underneath the table. "Shut up Pero! Always bragging like some kind of punk! Act more mature if you want to be taken seriously."
Momonga smiled at the siblings's bickering, and addressed Peroroncino again. "I think that would be a great idea, Peroroncino. Why don't you leave now, and we will reconvene when you return."
The birdman nodded, and twisted the ring on his finger. With an inaudible pop, he disappeared. In quick succession the other Supreme Beings twisted their rings and teleported out of the room, returning to their myriad tasks until only Momonga and Bukubukuchagama remained.
"Chagama, do you want to observe the gladiatorial fights with me? One of Demiurge's creations is battling adventurers."
The pink slime twisted in her chair a little bit, the motion suggesting a head being shaken.
"I don't feel like watching some poor guys get brutalized by another one of Demiurge's pet projects. Can we go to my city? I wanna show you to my citizens. We can have a holiday!"
Bukubukuchagama pronounced the word citizens with the utmost seriousness, which gave off the overall effect of a small child solemnly swearing to do something. Momonga smiled at the dedication Bukubukuchagama showed to the people of her city.
"Sure, Chagama. I'd love to."
The two of them twisted their rings in unison, and reappeared on the exterior of the Great Tomb.
"Hmm. I didn't realise it was afternoon. I haven't left the tomb in quite a while."
"Momonga! You have to get out more. This world has so much to offer."
Momonga sighed. He wanted to tell her that what he wanted to do most of all was simply bask in the company of his friends. He had gone for 50 years alone. He had already seen most of what the world had to offer. Was it so wrong for him to wish he could stay inside the home his treasured Guild had built and feel joy in seeing it inhahbited and lifely? But Bukubukichagama's mind had wandered onto the next topic.
"Momonga, have you seen Aura lately? Now that she's a teenager she gets into no end of mischief. " Bukubukuchagama's slime body somehow gave off the impression of a nervous mother wringing her hands. "I keep waiting for this phase to end."
Momonga smiled a this friend. "I haven't seen her in a few weeks. Why, what has she been up to?"
Bukubukuchagama seemed to wilt a little bit. "It's not really polite to say… well I'll trust you Momonga! I know you can keep a secret. And definitely don't tell Pero!"
Momonga nodded. "I won't tell anyone."
"Aura has been a bit… indecent. That is to say, she's gone on a bit of a rampage. By which I mean, she certainly isn't holding herself back. Or as a manner of speaking, she certainly seems to be having fun. She's been experimenting?"
Bukubukuchagama's tone gradually raised in pitch as she spoke, turning what had started as an awkward statement into a hesitant question.
Momonga stroked his chin, struggling not to laugh. He was once again grateful for his unmoving skeletal face. "I would assume that would be quite… normal at her age. She has certainly grown from a cute little girl into a beautiful woman."
"Momonga! You pervert!" Bukubukuchagama struck Momonga on the hip with an pendage, causing the Overlord to stumble. Momonga's mind blanked as he realised how what he could be said was interpreted.
"I didn't mean it like that, Chagama! I don't feel anything about that sort of thing anymore. Only that others would find her beautiful and she should defintily have no lack of partners."
Bukubukuchagama calmed down. "No lack of partners indeed. She can only use the same one once or twice before they get worn out. The girl is going through her allowance at the speed of light to purchase for regeneration potions to use on her favorites."
"And who is her favorite?"
"It's always changing. Such a scamp!"
Momonga and Bukubukuchagam had arrived by one of the great Gates outside of Nazarick. As they strolled up the steps to the portal, a thought occured to Ainz.
"You know, I haven't heard much from Mare in years. What has he been up to?"
"Years? You're telling me you haven't seen my darling boy in years? Very lax for a 'Guildmaster!' You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Momonga! I changed my mind. We're going to visit Mare. It's been too long since I dropped by."
Momonga face didn't change, but he felt hurt by Bukubukuchagama's statement. Was he a bad Guildmaster? Perhaps he had been too lax, too willing to sit in the Tomb and be happy. Well, that ended today. From now on, he would devote himself to his duty!
The two Supreme Being's vanished into the portal, and emerged in the city of Bukucha, Bukubukuchagama's own city.
One of the first projects the Supreme Being's had undertaken after joining Momonga in the New World was design their own custom cities, in a great competition. Tabula Smaragdina's eldritch city had eventually been judged the best aesthetically, while Touch Me's was the best to live in.
These culture of these cities generally took after the personality of their patron. For instance, Touch Me's city resembled Sparta, a militant city with a harsh code of ethics. It followed that the worship of Touch Me would be strongest there.
Bukubukuchagama's city was full of wacky architecture, bright colors, and open spaces. The people were happy and wild for the most part, lviing peaceful lives full of frienship, art, and good natured contentedness.
Momonga thought that there could hardly have been a city which served as better propaganda for the benefits of being ruled by the Supreme Beings than Bukucha.
Their step through the Gate took them into the middle of the Central Plaza, which housed a thriving market. Their presence caused a hush to slowly fall over the plaza as more people felt an oppressive aura and noticed them standing at the Gate. Momonga realized his Aura of Despair was turned up too high, and lowered it a bit. Immediately, a sound like a breath being let out resounded, as everyone nearby found that the feeling of crouching down as something vast and malignant and inscrutable passed by them faded away.
After a second, a roar of adulation lifted from the crowd. They were mostly chanting Bukubukuchagama's name, but Momonga heard smatterings of "Lord Momonga!" and "Hail the Supreme One!"
Once there would have been a time when the roar of thousands of their subjects shouting to them would have made both Bukubukuchagama and Momonga cower. But they were not the same people they had once been. More than 40 years in the body of a god will change the personality of anyone.
They lifted their hands magnanimously and saluted the crowd. Momonga heard Bukubukuchagama cast [Wild Revel], a spell meant for controlling the aggro of tough monsters, under her breath.
Immediately the crowd began to party, full of feelings of euphoria and awe. With the citizens distracted by Bukubukuchagama's spell, the two Supreme Beings managed to slip through the crowd and onto the broad steps of the Temple of Bukubukuchagama. It was a bright, tall building, extending over 270 meters into the air.
The entire grounds was consecrated with an AOE [Fervor] and [Revel] effect. It had no effect on Momonga, but Bukubukuchagama seemed to perk up.
"Mare should be right in the center of the temple. Come along, Momonga."
"Chagama, please try to maintain your dignified air. These people think of us as gods."
Bukubukuchagama sent off a pulse of her aura. Some quirk of their transition to the New World had allowed Bukubukuchagama's aura, which was originally an aura designed to aggro monsters and enemies, to make those around her happy if she desired it. Her pulse caused another roar to rise from the crowd beneath them as they felt another wave of jubilation.
The doors to the Temple close behind them as they walked through, shutting off the noise of rapture from the market crowd. Inside the temple, natural light contrasted nicely with bright colors and abundant plants and animals. The main hall was a deep room, stretching hundreds of feet backward. The whole place was designed to resemble a grassy field bathed in light, full of comfortable things. Bukubukuchagama had spent a lot of time designing this place with materials from Nazarick to look as happy and heavenly as she could.
Small and cute animals wandered around the floor, stopping to rest and cuddle up to the devotees of Bukubukuchagama which were spread through the main hall.
"[Greater Invisibility]"
"Why'd you do that, Momonga?"
"I don't want to bother with having to act in front of all your worshippers. Let's just go see Mare."
"Ugh! Momonga, you ruin everything. Acting in front of them is the best part! Fine, we'll go see Mare."
"Thank you, Chagama. I've had enough of acting for two more lifetimes."
The pink slime seemed to pause for a second next to him and adopt a more serious air as they strolled invisibly through the main hall.
She bounced over a sleeping worshipper, and turned her "face" to Momonga.
"Do you ever think about that, Momonga? None of us are exactly gonna die of old age. What are we supposed to spend all this time doing?"
Momonga chuckled. "I know what you mean, Chagama. Sometimes I feel like I already have everything I could want. I'd appreciate having something to grind. Some XP or rare drops or something. I used to spend months focused on nothing else."
Bukubukuchagama said nothing. Momonga wondered if he had said something wrong, but the pink slime didn't elaborate further. Eventually, they reached the end of the great hall, and the grassy fields turned into a river with a stone wall on the other side.
"Chagama, is there dimensional magic in this grand hall? I can't detect any, but the room seems larger than it should be."
The slime lit up again, eager to tell Momonga about her pet project. "Yes, there is! Well-spotted, Momonga! That's why the grass looks like it stretches on forever, even though it's only 20 square kilometres or so. We used illusions to make a fake horizon, and a dimensional skill to make the walls always seem far away."
"Very impressive, Chagama. How come I can't detect any skills?"
"Ah, that's the clever part! I linked the spells into the AOE consecration effects and hid them in the spell matrixes there. Temperance helped me do it. He's very clever with that sort of thing."
Several of the Supreme Being's had quickly picked up their old grinding habits again, though this time they were redirected towards figuring out this strange new world. Tabula, Temperance, Herohero, and Punitto Moe had spent literal years methodically picking apart the strings of the New World and examining what went on in the underbelly. Momonga understood very little of what they had discovered, but he gladly accepted the bonuses which their research brought.
They had figured out that with specific somatic aspects to spellcasting: moving a hand a certain way, making a certain arm gesture, you could reduce the mana cost of your spells. This was apparently due to the Martial Arts magic system of this world. Momonga had painstakingly memorized the gesture for all of his combat spells.
Bukubukuchagama hopped over the wooden bridge, landing on the other side with a cute squeak. "Come on, Momonga!"
He hurried to follow her across. The bridge met the stone wall at a wooden door. Bukubukuchagama pushed it open and hopped through.
The door opened up into a small stone walled room, whose only decoration was a [Gate] floating in midair. Bukubukuchagama paused and waved at Momonga. "Through here!"
She hopped through the [Gate]. Momonga ducked his head under the doorframe, and walked through. The [Gate] opened in a small clearing at the base of a truly gigantic tree which had a neat treehouse built into the side, fifty feet up.
"Mare! Mare, come down!"
After a second, Bukubukuchagama's call was answered "Lady Chagama, is that you?"
"Yes, Mare! I came here to visit you!"
Momonga saw a lithe form hop off of the treehouse with a squeak, and he quickly recognized Mare's form as the young dark elf plummeted towards the ground. He landed with a small oof, and than ran straight at Bukubukuchagama.
"Lady Chagama!"
Bukubukuchagama had wrapped herself around the dark elf in a tight hug.
"He-hello Lord Momonga! What b-brings you here?"
"Hello, Mare. Chagama just wanted to drop by and see you."
"That's right. I couldn't go another hour without seeing your cute face!"
After the introductions were done, the three of them sat down in Mare's treehouse. Momonga could admit to feeling a little uncomfortable. Despite his years of struggling to conquer the New World alone with just the guardians, he knew the guardians mostly preferred their own creators over him. Which was understandable. And it was mollifying that he was universally regarded as a close second place.
But still, he felt like a third wheel, sitting down awkwardly as Mare and Bukubukuchagama cuddled. He enjoyed hanging out with Bukubukuchagama a lot. Her presence made him feel good in a way the other Supreme Being's didn't quite. And he liked Mare too. The boy was helpful, sweet, and polite. But together the two of them made Momonga regret agreeing to come. He could have been sparring with Touch Me, or relaxing in the spa of Nazarick.
Therefore, he was relieved when he received a message from Punitto Moe. He made an apology, and left the treehouse and went to stand on Mare's balcony while he talked to Punitto. Bukubukuchagama and Mare barely seemed to notice him leaving.
Punitto Moe's voice crackled in his ear. "Momonga. Remember that mana signature we found in the deep ocean?"
"Yes. Did something happen?"
"Yes, you could say that. Most definitely something happened."
"I feel as though you are dancing around the subject."
"My apologies. In short: we knew something was summoned, and now we know what exactly."
"How? Did Peroroncino get a good look at it?"
"There was no need. It had already walked out of the ocean. Peroroncino told me it was gigantic, nearly 300 metres tall. He said it looked a lot like one of the earlier World Enemies from Yggdrasil, I forget the name. Byzantine Ghidorahs, or something. In any case, Peroroncino used [Scout's Eye] to estimate its power level. Its on the level of a Raid Boss. I already contacted Warrior Takemikazuchu, Herohero, and Temperance. I think if you and Peroroncino join the fight, it should be enough to take this thing down."
For the first time in a while, Momonga felt something stirring in his gut. Here was a challenge! Momonga was hardly a glory hog, addicted to fighting and forever chasing the next thrill. But being in the body of an Overlord meant his physical pleasures were somewhat muted. Therefore, even he was eager for something to break the monotony of his days.
"Do you think there will be rare loot if we kill it?"
"I'd imagine so. I will send you the coordinates - you should [Gate] there as soon as possible.
A second later, Punitto Moe shared a location with Momonga, and left the call, no doubt to coordinate further with the other Supreme Beings.
Momonga took a second to prepare himself. He ran down a mental checklist of his abilities, of his casting methods, of his items and of his consumables. He had on his good equipment.
"Alright. Let's go. [Gate]."
The shimmering black portal expanded into existence before him, and with barely a second of hesitation, he stepped through.
Bukubukuchagama had been about to come out onto the balcony to talk to him when she saw the [Gate] close.
"Momonga! Oh, he left. How rude! I guess he doesn't want to hang out with me."
Bukubukuchagama made an exaggerated sad face.
Momonga stepped out of the gate onto a dune overlooking a wide beach. The ocean waves rose and fell in a soothing manner, disrupted only by the gigantic Water Elemental standing in the ocean. It was hundreds of meters offshore, and was only knee deep in the water. It was being bombarded by a hail of arrows from Peroroncino, who was high in the air, charging up a shot on his bow.
"[Armor Shredding][Strong Shot]{God Shot][Heavenly Weight][Unerring Shot][Supreme Impact]"
Peroroncino went through his standard array of buffs, before letting the arrow fly. It made a sound like a supersonic jet as it picked up speed, glowing a bright orangey-yellow before impacting on the chest of the Minotaur.
The Elemental bellowed in rage as a portion of its chest disintegrated. It roared, a strange bubbly noise, and the waves gathered around it rose up over it in a wave. When they receded, the wound had vanished.
"Hello Pero! Come on down here."
The birdman archer flew down to see him. "Hey Momonga! This looks a little serious, right? Gets my blood boiling."
"Yes. I'm excited too. Are Temperance, Herohero and Takemikazuchi here?"
"Nope. But Punitto said they should be arriving any moment now."
Right on cue, Takemikazuchi stepped through a [Gate], followed in close succession by Herohero and Temperance.
"Ho, Momonga! How are you?"
"Fine, thank you, Takemikazuchi. Is everyone all prepared?"
One by one, the Supreme Beings sounded off, affirming that they had all their gear and equipment. The air was thick with excitement. After all these years of excitement, they finally had a real opponent to fight.
As soon as Momonga nodded his head and proclaimed that they were ready to go, Takemikazuchi shot towards the monster. With a great slash, he shot toward the monster and impaled it.