A/N: Just a little fore warning, keep reading into the next chapter. I'm not actually as retarded as I seem.
I followed those tracks for a decent amount of time before realizing the gravity of what I was about to do. If it all turned to shit, or if there was no one out in the front of the tomb, I was going to have to invade Nazarick. Me. A lone man was going to invade a tomb that an army of fifteen hundred hadn't been able to conquer. What can you do in that situation except laugh?
So that's what I did. I laughed a good long time at the pure absurdity of everything that had happened to me since I got to the world. I mean cause why not, right? I get sucked into a fantasy world, fight and kill a bunch of blood hungry knights, save a kid, meet a group of adventurers, try to save a woman who turned out to be a vampire, fight said vampire before escaping down a mineshaft, and now I'm off to in get into the most dangerous dungeon probably ever created. Because why fucking not?!
But I knew that complaining about it, though it gave a therapeutic feeling, wasn't really going to help me. So after calming down, I decided not to take a step further until I had a plan.
I couldn't fight my way through. Momonga was a powerful mage on his own but, if everyone NPC in the tomb was a strong as Shally, then I'd be better off just digging my grave right here. I thought about surrendering but I really didn't trust that I would be treated humanely. Call it paranoia but something told me if I did that I'd end up being either a Vampire's servant at best, or a mindless skeletal soldier in their undead army at worst. So I decided against that as well. After some more thought, I finally came to the only real choice I had. I would have to sneak into Nazarick.
It just made the most sense. Fighting through was suicide and and surrendering was too risky. I guess in hindsight, I could've just stayed with Shalltear and hoped Momonga would return later on, but in my defense I wasn't sure if the coma Shalltear in was permanent and I didn't want to risk having to fight her when I could hopefully avoid a fight all together.
So the question then became how the hell I was going to do that. I had luckily been told that Nazarick security was going to be raised to maximum. So there would be absolutely no room for error. I stepped away from the tracks and sat under a random tree before pulling off my cloak. I was going to go over everything I had so see what I could work with.
As I began to rummage through my supplies I thought back to my conversations with players who had tried to conquer Nazarick years ago. Trying to remember anything they said that could help me now.
"Well we were pretty much fucked to begin with."
That's a comforting thought.
"I got about halfway through before Momonga appeared right in front of me."
Useless.
"TouchMe, took me out from the back. Like he just popped up."
Damn it. Nothing was coming to mind at all.
"It was the weirdest thing, one minute I'm trying to fight HeroHero, the next Yamiako just comes down from the top. And she was supposed to be on the third floor on the fourth!"
My thinking halted as I finally understood. Perhaps there was a way to get around the temple quickly. Thirteen floors was a hell of a distance to go so it made sense. I thought back to that particular conversation.
"What I wouldn't give for a ring like that."
"It was a ring?" I asked as he downed a tankard of ale.
"Yeah. Be my guess, both HeroHero and Yamiako had one."
Ok. A ring I needed to be on the lookout for one. Of course with my luck it probably was going to be long to some twenty foot tall monster who eats children and shits despair. But just in case, I pocketed an extra ruby gold ring.
I turned my full attention back to my pack.
Several dozen healing potions. Nice, I kept those out. Several daggers that could replace the ones I lost. Grabbed a few of those. Then after a few more moments of searching, I came to exactly what I needed.
I pulled out a set of perfectly folded clothes. Each one dark as night and made up of an insanely comfortable fabric that felt like a breath fresh air as I slipped them on. The new clothes themselves were a custom made set called Shadow Suit made by Radara. Just who was Radara? An old friend that I used to run with back in the day and more specifically a master thief who was supposedly impossible to detect back in Yggdrasil. How'd I get his clothes? A story for another time. All that mattered was that I had them and they might be just what I needed to survive what I was about to do. I ran through my cloak again digging deeper and deeper for anything else that might help me. I packed several necklaces into my bag for backups in case it all went to shit, and then finally I folded up my cloak and slipped into said bag which I then wrapped around my torso, fashioning it so it made absolutely no noise as I walked. Ok. This might actually work.
I slipped on the final article a clothing, a mask with two white slits that allowed me to see and soon enough the suit's power took hold. A god level ability that turned the user visible for twenty four hours maximum.I became unseen not just to the human or monster eye, but to anyone who could sense any type of mana or life force. I filled the suits pockets with potions, necklaces and daggers, thanked Radara, wherever he might've been, and after taking a deep breath continued on my way. Though now with no noise, and leaving no trace that I was ever there.
It took me a good long while to finally get to where I was going leaving densely packed forests behind for rolling grasslands that almost gleamed in the sunlight and dance as the wind blew through the glades. The sight was pretty damn calming honestly. Really helped me come to terms with what I was about to do. The footprints I had been following had disappeared once I had stepped onto the grass but nevertheless I kept moving in one direction. Running up and tumbling down a multitude of hills, taking care not to accidentally move in another direction but not truly worrying about it. After all if I got lost, I would just get a better vantage point a few hundred feet up in the air. Luckily for me, there was no need because after a few moments later, Nazarick finally came into view. And I was almost knocked off my feet at the sight.
Standing firmly at the bottom of an almost completely circular valley, it was perfectly situated for any invading army that had the balls to attack it. With just one stretch of flat land that led in and out of the Tomb's grounds. The Tomb itself was a marvel to behold. It stood just as tall as the highest building back in E-Rantel yet somehow looked even more grand. Made of pure white stone, that practically radiated power and influence it rightfully gave any onlooker a sense of awe and foreboding. Doubly so for me since I was going to have to be the first person to infiltrate it. Before that though, I looked around for any possible villages or farms. None appeared. It seemed Nazarick had been placed pretty far removed from any signs of civilization. I say placed because I was pretty sure that back in Yggdrasil the tomb had been situated in some sort of dark swamp so for it now to be standing here in the middle of some hill ridden grassland meant that whatever brought me here also brought the entirety of Ains Ooal Gown. The guild, not the person.
That last little bit had been scratching at my mind for a while now. Why was Momonga now calling himself Ains? It didn't really seem to makes sense. That would be like if I started to call myself Knights. Oh, I don't I ever mentioned what my little group was called back in Yggdrasil. We were the guild Knights Reign.
Anyway, I pushed such thoughts to the back of my head. If I lived through what I was about to do, then I would ask all the questions I damn well felt like. My eyes scanned over the sun bathed area surrounding the tomb looking for any signs of traps, monsters, or NPCs who were probably both. None came to light, but I knew that didn't mean they weren't there. Before I could start my mission though, I took a deep breath and scratched the back of my neck through the black fabric that hid it. There's was no going back from this if I took another step forward. Either I find Momonga and some answers, or I end up in the ground or worse. Despite the options, there was really no inward debate about stopping. It just served as a reminder as to not get killed.
"All right, Nazarick. How bad can you actually be?" I said to myself as I leaped off from my vantage point and started sliding down through the sea of green that held us apart.
I regretted that decision almost immediately as about half way down a small army of creatures became visible. I couldn't very well stop myself so I whispered the word "Fly" and took off into the air, silently hovering over a large congregation of various species of nightmare inducing monsters and demons talking amongst themselves.
"So what do you think?" A winged minotaur asked expelling what looked like ash from his breath.
"I think, you should focus." A tiger like creature replied annoyed.
"You're not curious about who captured Reina and Remna?" The minotaur asked back.
"Outside of him attacking Nazarick, I couldn't care less about him."
"But what if he's the same person who turned Shalltear traitor? What if he unleashes her on us?"
"Then we fight Shalltear." The other demon replied simply. "Asking about it is neither our place nor going to help us in the long run. As long as we make sure no one gets inside Nazarick then I consider out job accomplished and Demiurge or Ains won't have our heads on spikes."
I felt the tiniest ounce of pity for them as I flew right over their unsuspecting heads and closer toward the entrance. Many of the other demons where engaged in conversations similar to theirs and it actually made me feel like a badass, hearing them talk about me with curious and fearful tone.
"They said he fought against Lord Touchme in a tournament." A wolf like being said.
"But then why didn't he kill Reina or Remna? He clearly wasn't a friend of Nazarick." Another vampire similar to the Brides pointed out. "Right?"of
"Who can say? Perhaps lord Ains will be able to figure it out."
Of course, if you listened long enough the conversation always drifted back to how amazing Ains is. Which strangely enough, made me wonder how my NPCs would have talked about me if I actually had made any back in Yggdrasil. Would I be talked about as a walking god? At risk of making my ego even bigger, I pushed through the air as quickly and quietly as I could before finally reaching the monstrously sized gate that led inside the tomb. One problem though. Even if they couldn't see or hear me, they would definitely be able to hear and see a gate opening by itself. So that was a conundrum. Perhaps they had a back door?
Not a moment later the doors began go open out towards me and out walked a very interesting creature. A gargantuan blue armored insectoid who looked like some nightmarish cross between mantis and ant. Sporting a tail that was just about as long as he was tall and clutching a large halberd that seemed to weigh little more than a feather in his hands. As he looked in the exact direction where I was floating, I panicked. Worried that I had somehow been spotted. Much to my relief, it simply turned out to be a passing bird of sorts flying just a few feet behind me. I thought I heard some for of a chuckle come from the creature but I honestly couldn't be sure. I did however get a sudden rush of energy at the thought of facing this guy in combat. Call it a warrior's hunch but I pegged him as a swordsman like myself, and honestly, it would be nice to see how much I could do if I gave it my all. I pushed that thought back for now. Odds are I'd meet him later either when I try to escape or hopefully under friendlier circumstances.
"Listen up!" He called out towards the congregation. Every conversation stopped almost instantly and everyone of the demon's attention was on the newcomer and I guess technically me considering I was floating above his head.
"Lord Ains has ordered that Nazarick's security be set to maximum. I'm sure you all remember what that means. You see anything, and I mean anything suspicious you contact, Albedo, Demiurge, or myself. From that point, every floor will be locked down." He shouted out towards the crowd. "I'll be frank,We don't know what to expect here. With Shalltear gone rouge, and the lack of a reason why, it's worrisome. But let me make one thing clear to all of you."
"We still have a job to do. Lord Ains is the last of the Supreme Beings. And I have have no intention of letting Shalltear, or anyone else take him from us. I hope I can ask the same for you!"
A loud chorus of grunts and growls of agreement rang out from the crowd giving him his expected reply.
"Very good. Remember, anything….." I didn't here what else he said as my brain froze. I looked to the now open door inwardly slapping myself.
"What the hell am I doing?" I took off into the temple before he could finish his sentence. Thankfully the hallway leading deep into the Tomb, was lit up by a hallway of torches that seemed to extend on into oblivion.
After maybe half an hour of heading in a straight line in a seemingly endless hallway, worry began to sneak back into my mind. How long did this floor go? Was each one bigger than the last? And where the hell were the guards here? They couldn't have all been outside could they? Were they all in the next floor down? All of which paled to how I was going to get my hands on a teleporting ring. I mean honestly, god knew where those things were or if any of the NPCs had them and even if one did, the odds of actually running across them so early were astronomically low that I might as well be banking on a giant meteor to just crash into the Tomb.
Then, I heard what sounded like two kid voice echoing from further down the hallway, I once again prayed not to be spotted somehow and just hovered motionless about ten feet overhead letting the voices get closer and closer until they were just a few feet away from me. Thanks to the torches, I was able to get a decent picture of the two.
They were dark elves, still children by the look of them. Each sharing the same face as the other which made me guess they were either twins or just the same character preset with slightly different alterations form the other. Both had golden hair though styled differently Once you look away from their faces though you could start to see the differences between the two. Though similar in size, one was dressed in what looked like a red and white suit with brown gloves and the other a blue undershirt hidden under a white vest and matching skirt. Before I could really start to listen though, my jaw threatened to fall straight to the floor. The both of them were carrying several artifacts/ weapons that radiated an overwhelming tide of magic.
At first I panicked that I might've already been found out and that these two brought those damn things to kill me but as I finally started to really listen to their conversation it became apparent that those items weren't met for me.
"Do you really think Lord Ainz will need our help?" The one in the skirt asked in a strange combo of worried and depressed.
"Shalltear's strong but Ainz is stronger. My guess is all we're going to be doing is watching and making sure she doesn't try and pull a fast one on him." The one in the tunic replied with a lot more energy compared to the other.
"But if that's true, why is Lord Ainz asking us to bring World Level Items?
"WORLD LEVEL?!" I inwardly screeched.
"I told you these aren't for us, I just gave Demiurge one and when we get outside you hand Billion Blades to Cocytus."
"Oh….ok." The skirt one said with a head droop.
"Why are you so worried for?" The one in the tunic asked.
"It's just…..what if I mess up and let Lord Ains down? I don't want….."
"Will you get over yourself?" The tunic one asked giving the one in the skirt a light flick on the head. "What's on your finger?"
The elf in the skirt looked down to her hand and my eyes caught glimpse of a small shimmer that came from her ring. "You think Lord Ains gives those out to anyone?"
"N-No…."
"Mare, Lord Ainz trusted you with a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown! None of us have something like that."
My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when I spotted the very ring she mentioned. Astronically low, sure. But not impossible. Though god knows my head hurt just thinking about the odds. The first pair of servants I come across inside Nazarik and one of them happens to have a shortcut on them. Where was this luck when I was fighting Shalltear?!
"That should be all the proof that you need that you'll do fine." The elf in the tunic said growing a rather infectious smile that the one called Mare soon returned.
"I see. Thanks Aura."
"Hey, big sisters take care of their little brothers. Now let's hurry it up. Odds are Ainz won't be down in the treasury for long."
The whole scene may have actually been a little heart warming if it weren't for the fact I had realized something. "Wait, the one in the tunic's a girl?" My train of realization continued. "Wait, THE ONE IN THE SKIRT'S A GUY?!
I glared down towards the two as they continued to walk back towards Nazarik's entrance. What was the point of that? Cross dressing, childlike warriors?! I mean what kind of weird, out there, people would do something like that?
"Japanese." I grumbled. To my instant regret the one in the tunic, Aura, stopped and stiffened.
"Mare, did you hear something?" She asked her blue and green eyes darting all across the room.
"I don't think so. What did you hear?" Mare asked as I started sweating up a storm and inwardly calling myself every curse word under the sun.
"I'm not sure. " Her eyes stopped right on me. That was it. I was spotted and now I was going to die. I waited for some sort of attack whether from Aura or Mare for what seemed like an eternity before deciding to test my luck and seeing if it held. I was hovering pretty close to some high up torches. If I could slowly drift to the away from the fire she might just think it was just the torch or wind or something.
Look, I'm no Da Vinci. I know it wasn't a master stroke of genius but you try coming up with a better plan in the heat of the moment.
So I slowly eased myself away from the fire, never taking my gaze off Aura and inwardly jumping for joy when her eyes didn't follow me. I kept my pace slow though, at risk of having her actually somehow spot me before looking over to Mare. Specifically, the ring around his finger.
Radara once mentioned that if your stealth stat was high enough you could pretty much steal the clothes off of an NPC's back in Yggdrasil. And since I had Radara's suit which pretty much maxed out my stealth, I pegged my chances of stealing a ring from one would be even better. At least if that particular saying held true in this world. Just to be safe though, I pulled the spare useless ring from my pocket that luckily matched the one he wore in color.
So without really having a backup plan, I floated down to Mare, taking a silent breath as I touched down right beside him. His eyes still seemed focused on Aura who had returned to scanning the room rather than just one area. I knelt down and began to slip my hands over to his hand that had lowered down to his side fist unclenched like he was getting ready to summon something if the need arose. Again, no pressure. I bit down on my tongue in nervousness as I lightly wrapped my in index finger and thumb around the ring band.
"You're sure you didn't hear something?" Aura suddenly asked back to her brother causing me to nearly fall on my ass in surprise.
"I don't think so." Mare looked around himself including right at me though his eyes didn't linger like Aura's did. "Should we tell the others?"
Aura gave one last look around as I slowly continued to slip the ring from Mare's finger. Holding my breath for the entire way as time seemed to move at a standstill. Just as Aura finally looked back to her brother the ring left his hand, I slipped the fake onto his hand, closed my fist around it tightly as I once again floated back up into the air.
"Nevermind. We'll tell Cocytus to seal the front of the Tomb until we get back." Aura said walking under me and past her brother who quickly followed. I kept on floating struggling to keep my breath to myself until I felt they were safely out of hearing range, and a few minutes further just for good measure. I finally sucked in as much air as I could in a series of rather loud sounding sighs before looking back in my hand. Great, so now all I had to do was pray that I don't get sucked into some sort of monster pit once I activated it.
I slipped the ring onto my finger and started to think about the floors I could start with. I really had no knowledge of the place and as far as I knew, Ains could've been anywhere. Then it hit me, a tomb as grand as this with thirteen colossal floors as bound to have a throne room. And if Ains wasn't there already, he'd definitely return to it soon enough. I gave my self a metaphorical pat on the back, as I sent a command to the ring.
"Throne Room, please." I shouted from my mind.
Next thing I know, the dimly lit never ending hallway vanished and I found myself in what looked like a white meeting room filled with a large round wooden table with forty one chairs huddled around it. I was confused at first. Definitely a lot more thrones than I was expecting until I saw a particular door that stood out from the other thirteen. It stood maybe twice their size and seemed emit power just by standing there. I pulled open said door with a little bit of effort and finally saw the pies de resistance.
"Now, this is a Throne Room." I thought to myself as my draw dropped. The chamber was colossal. Putting to shame any other royal or throne room I had seen in YGGDRASIL littered with dark columns that stretched almost a hundred feet high to touch the ceiling and several doors that probably led to smaller chambers of either his NPCs or the rest of the guild members.
Interestingly enough, I hadn't realized until now that the only guild member the NPCs tended to talk about was Momonga or Ains and now that I had, I wondered if he was the only one who actually stayed in YGGDRASIL when it shut off. Maybe he was just as alone and confused as I was.
I walked forward with muffled footsteps and got closer to the legendary Throne of Kings when I took notice of the forty one banners that hung around it. One for each guild member. I stopped on Momonga's which sat closest to the throne and just stared at it before looking over to the pure black obdsidian throne. The damn thing alone was just as impressive as the room.
I took another step closer to it wondered briefly if they'd sense someone else sitting in it. The chair looked surprisingly comfortable and after giving another look around, everything in the chamber looked like it was facing it. Tailor made for being a seat of power.
"Of course the NPCs would sense someone else sitting in it." I thought, putting that idea back in the trash where it belonged. Deciding it was best just to wait out for now, I sat myself down on the floor and waited. Soon, Momonga would be back any minute and then we could finally talk this shit out.
Time passed though. A lot of it. I didn't have my watch on me so I could be exactly sure how much but I could tell. Momonga or someone should've been here by now. Unless he was about to do something.
Suddenly, I heard a door open from some far flung corner of the room. Keeping my cool I slowly walked behind a column just in case and began to listen for anything in particular.
"Interesting, so the man who fought Reina, Remna, and presumably Shalltear has crossed paths with Nazarick before." A strange raspy almost spider like voice said as their footsteps echoed.
"Yes, he's the same man that Lord Ainz and I came across back on our mission to E-Rantel." A femine voice that I recognized as Nabe agreed.
"And what did you make of him?" The man asked.
"Honestly, he didn't seem to stand out that much from the other humans but after our bout, I got the impression that he was holding back. And with what's happened to Shalltear, perhaps considerably so."
"Indeed, and if this Haon is actually from YGGDRASIL like Reina and Remna say then it would be best to tell Lord Ains once Shalltear is dealt with."
"Dealt with?" I thought. That didn't sound good.
"So you believe he was telling the Brides the truth?" Nabe asked.
"From they described yes. Though his behavior of fighting the two then semi healing them is confusing." There was a brief pause as I assumed the male began to ponder. "Lord Ains himself seemed to be surprised when arrived in this new world. I imagine a lowly human like Haon was doubly so after coming here and perhaps he seeks to win Lord Ains favor."
"Will we offer it?" The woman asked.
"I fail to see why he would. Confused or not, Haon has declared himself an enemy of Nazarick with his attack on Shalltear and the Brides and should be rightfully treated as such."
"Fucking beautiful. I try to be a nice guy and it doesn't help at all." I mentally growled frustrated. As their footsteps continued across the room, I peaked my head around the column to see two figures standing just outside of another door.
"That will be all for now Narberal. I or Lady Albedo will contact you for anything else."
"Understood."
Albedo. I recognized the name of the woman who Momonga brought with him for scouting out Shalltear. The woman would lead me right to him if he wasn't there already. I creeped up closer to the duo just as a man in a crimson suit and bladed tale began to disappear behind a door that would doubtless begin to close any second. I caught glimpse of a woman in a maid outfit that reminded me of the one Shalltear had been traveling with and saw why she was so familiar. So Nabe had been working for Ainz the entire time and Momon….Momonga. That part wasn't hard to piece together.
I slithered around her taking care not to somehow tip her off and slipped through the door just as it finally shut behind me. This room really contrasted with the throne chamber. It felt more like an associate's lounge with close to a dozen chairs and couches surrounding the center where two figures sat waiting for Demiurge. The giant insectoid warrior from outside and a succubus looking woman wearing practically the same garb Reina and Remna had. Again, looks sexy but I fail to see how that helps in combat.
There was a real tense atmosphere to the three. Like something big was about to go down and I would be correct. A small window portal hovered in the air, showing Momonga in a brown cloak walking through the woods.
"Great. So this was a complete waste of time." I thought inwardly smacking myself in the head.
"Now then, care to tell me what's going on?" Demiurge asked taking a seat besides Albedo.
"You already know the answer to that." Albedo replied. "Everything you need to know was said by Lord Ains over a message."
"I was referring to why you let him leave without support." He specified.
"It was the master's call. I simply obeyed it. As I hope you intend to."
"Why did you not protest?!" Demiurge asked clearly confused. "We could've sent in minions in case this is a trap. If all the Guardians fought together there isn't a force that could stop us.
"I couldn't begin to guess the reason behind his decision, but it is obvious lord Ains is lying to us. Don't pretend you didn't notice it."
"Yes, you are right."
"Then why did you let him leave without support?!" Demiurge yelled clenching his fists. "When Lord Ains opted to go to E-Rangel without support you strongly objected to it. So why would you possibly ok with him doing the same thing now?"
"Because he was adamant about defeating Shalltear with his own too hands." Albedo replied. A smile then grew across her lips that for one reason or another scent a shiver down my spine."His determination was intense. And as a woman, seeing my love so resolute I couldn't bring myself to oppose him any further. It may have been irreverent of me but I decided I don't really care."
"So just to be clear, being unbelievably stubborn was actually a turn on for women? Christ, was I raised wrong." I thought amused by her statement.
"So you based your decision on emotion rather than logic." He growled. "Did you forget he's the last of the Supreme Beings?! It is our duty to keep him from danger. Even if that danger comes from his own actions."
Holy shit. This guy was serious.
"He may scold or even kill us for it. But we must do something!" He stood up.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm sure it's obvious…" He began before a large axe thrust itself in front of him.
Coincidentally, I was standing right under it when it started coming down so had to leap out of the way and roll behind one of the couches that littered the room.
"So, this is why you ordered me down here."
"That's correct."
"You're a fool! What if lord Ains perishes? Are you prepared for the consequences of that outcome?! We pledged our loyalty to him. Once he's gone there will be no one left to serve!"
"He will return to us. I'm sure….."
"YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY KNOW THAT!" Demiurge screeched rather loudly causing me to rub my ears in annoyance.
"Got some lungs on ya. Jesus…." I thought to myself.
"You should have faith in your master." She glared back to Demiurge coldly. "As a guardian is that not also one of your duties."
That seemed to get to him, he froze a few seconds before gritting his teeth and sitting back down. "Fine. I will not intervene. But if something happens to lord Ains I will insist that you step down as leader of the guardians.
"Okay. So Succubus is leader of the floor guardians. Neat." I said giving another look her direction and hoping she didn't return it.
"That's blasphemy Demiurge." The big guy growled speaking for the first time since I got here.
"It's fine Cocytus." Albedo replied though keeping her eyes on Demiurge. "That would make the most sense after all. But I have faith." Her eyes then turned to the big blue warrior. "What do you put our lord's chances at?"
He responded quickly. "Three to seven. Three in lord AinZ' favor."
Albedo kept her light smile but I did notice her postures tensed up a bit at the odds. Clearly not liking them. "I see. Then let us watch as the battle unfolds." Her eyes shifted back to the portal. "And watch our master beat the odds.
I finally stared at the portal myself as I processed everything I had learned. So Momonga was going out to some how force Shalltear out of her trance. That made sense I guess. I had a hunch Shalltear was far more powerful than I had glimpsed but to hear these guardians say his chances were that low was a little shocking.
I mean sure, Shalltear is probably a hell of a force to confront when she's at her full power and I'm not sure if I could come out on top if I used my own. But I had fought both of them now and from what I could guess. Ains was the clear favorite.
The battle would later go on to prove my point. I'm sure you know exactly how it went but if not, I'd highly recommend reading my other work Conquests of Ains Ooal Gown to paint a better picture. But if not, allow me to summarize the battle as it played out.
You see, Shalltear had the advantage in power. And from what I saw as the fight dragged on, she was no fool when it came to fighting. She was quick witted and could try new things on the fly. A truly deadly combination to anyone except for Momonga.
Out of all the members of Ainz Ooal Gown that I had met, and I had met a few. He stood out to me the most. Not because of his skills, or even the fact that he was guild leader. The most striking thing about him and the most dangerous was his strategical skills. If you were a possible enemy, he learned everything he needed to know about you. How you fought, what you fought with, your strategies, your backup strategies, if possible he never showed up to a fight without having a nearly full proof plan to win it. You could fight your hardest and damage him sure, but that wouldn't be enough. No to beat him you needed to think purely outside the box. To be as unpredictable as possible and Shalltear, despite all her strengths, was fairly predictable if you survived long enough to notice it.
Minutes passed and from what I saw, Momonga hadn't lost a step. Hell, he may have even gained some. Having gained the weapons of all his former teammates, he proceeded to throttle Shalltear completely, leaving absolutely no room for doubt who was the victor of their fight before finally finishing the job and the whole mirror portal was drowned out in a bright white light.
"It's finished." Cocytus sighed in as much awe as the other two doubtlessly were. Honestly watching their faces throughout the fight and their attempts at predicting was kind of fun. Especially when Momonga brought out his teammates weapons. They were probably just as surprised as Shalltear had been.
"Indeed." Demiurge nodded in agreement. He looked over to the still seated Albedo and bowed his head. "I owe you an apology Albedo."
"You owe me no such thing." She replied standing up. "In truth I was worried just as much as you and it took everything I had not go out after him."
"I see." Demiurge spoke as a small smile passed between the two. "Well in any case, we best get started on transporting the gold to the throne room."
"Agreed." Albedo said moving after Demiurge and Cocytus to another doorway that probably led to the treasury.
I was confused at first. What on earth would they need gold for? The answer came pretty quick as I remembered you could resurrect someone if you had enough of it. Kind of a metaphor for the rich if you ask me but that's neither here nor there. I thought about following but decided to head back to the throne room and once again waiting it out for Ains. I picked myself up just as the trio of guardians disappeared behind another door. I creeped back to the one I had walked through and opened the door.
I froze when outside I nearly ran into Nabe or Naberal as she was actually called who stood directly in front of the door. Her eyes went right through me as she tried to figure out how the door had opened and sidestepped quickly as she nearly walked into me.
"My lords?" She asked to the empty room clearly confused as I could practically feel her guard rising. Thankfully a new voice called out to her from outside.
"Naberal, they need us down in the treasury."
Naberal looked around yet again glancing past me another two or three times before coming back out. I followed and dove out of the way just as she turned to close the door behind her. She nodded to her fellow maid and moved to follow but I could tell she knew something was up.
"Damn it Momonga, get your ass back here!" I ordered biting my tongue in annoyed nervousness.
Once again, I waited around the throne room though this time I did get to watch other NPCs carry in ton after ton of gold. So that passed the time better. Soon enough there were mountains of gold inside the throne room and I was standing rather awkwardly close to the throne as several guardians and maids talked to each other eagerly awaiting their lord's return.
Again I would've rather talked to him alone but I was getting to fed up with waiting. Besides, I was getting hungry and honestly I felt so good that I wasn't even worried about being spotted.
Then it happened, the door directly across the chamber from me opened and three figure entered the room, two smaller familiar looking elves and one large cloaked skeleton who looked exactly the same as the last time we met face to face close to probably two years ago. Every conversation ended as he strolled closer and closer to the throne to where he was standing directly in front of me and turned around to face his subjects
"Everything is ready then?" He asked. A series of nods went through the onlookers. "Good, now we can try to resurrect her. Albedo watch her name while I perform the ritual. If she's still under mind control when she returns, I may have to do the unspeakable."
"Don't worry about it." Demiurge spoke up. "If that comes to pass we will be the ones to act."
Another round of nods rolled through the room as Ains hesitated. Only after a swift conversation with Albedo did he agree.
"We won't fail you. All we ask is that you stay by our side. It's far too lonely when no one is here." She said bowing her head.
Well that statement was a punch in the get. It looked like it was to Ains as well as he looked up to the flags of the other forty one members. "You're right. It's lonely when everyone else is gone."
For the first time since I got here, I thought about my own guild mates and wondered if I'd ever see them again. I'd promised I would but with everything that's happened now, I in all likelihood might not be able to. My trance was broken when the spell was cast.
"Shalltear, Resurrect!" Ains commanded as a bright energy force emitted from the staff and spread out all over the room. The countless gold pieces began to liquify and run towards the center of the room becoming small and smaller and taking the shape of a small humanoid form. The gold's color began to fade becoming paler and paler as more distinct features on the body appeared before finally disappearing and hardening back into solid skin. Shalltear was once again amongst the us though my feelings about it were a little mixed. On one hand, she was still the monster I had fought but on the other, she looked nice naked so I wasn't too mad.
"Albedo."
"Be at ease lord, she's no longer in revolt."
"Wonderful." He sighed in relief. He then did a ridiculously cool spell that pulled a fabric out of the air and threw over Shalltear's body as she began to move and wake.
"Shalltear, can you hear me?" Ains asked as the vampire opened her eyes.
"My lord?" She asked back far more tired then when I had met her. But that was be expected, she'd been dead after all. After a brief hug between the two and almost turned sexual with the lack of clothes, it was revealed she couldn't remember why or how she had been mind controlled. That's when things started to pick up real quick.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Ains asked to the sitting vampire.
"Well, I was hunting humans in the woods an…" Her voice faded as her eyes widened in realization before clenching her fist. "Haon."
Ok, so she remembered my name at least.
"Haon?" Ains replied clearly surprised by the name. "You met him?"
"Yes. He and I fought after he soundly defeated Reina and Remna." She said lightly rubbing the same eye I had stabbed during that battle. "He was more resourceful then I had imagined."
"Is he the one who cast the spell on you?" Demiurge asked.
"Spell?" She asked back seemingly not remembering. "No, the last thing I remember was chasing him through the mines then the forest. "What spell are you talking about?"
"My lord, you seemed to recognize the name. Is he familiar with you?" Demiurge asked over to Ains.
"Naberal and I met him out on the road to E-Rantel. Why ask that?"
"Because, according to Reina and Remna. He's also from YGGDRASILl."
The silence that engulfed the room was almost laughable. Everyone just sort of stopped breathing at the same time and froze for almost half a minute. No better time then for me to reveal myself.
Now I couldn't just spring up behind them. That would probably get me killed at once. So I would have to wiggle my way past the surprised figures back to the far end of the throne room close to the main entrance. Before I could do that though, I looked over to Mare who looked like he just straight up wanted to die as he clenched the fist where his ring should've been. No doubt realizing that it wasn't the same one Ains had given him. And the nice guy in me kicked in. I looked down to the ring I had taken off him. It would be completely retarded for me to give it back.
"M-My lord?" Mare squeaked up to the still frozen skeleton. Ains looked over to his guardian.
"I uh, I-I…." He looked completely ashamed as he fumbled over his words. He looked down to his hand taking a deep breath to say whatever he meant before stopping. The ring that he had supposedly lost was still wrapped around his finger. He stammered continued though now much less depressed and a more shocked. "B-But…How….."
"Mare, what is i…"
I clapped one single time from behind a column as I took of my camouflaged mask and deactivated the Suit's ability, getting the attention of every guardian and maid in that room. Each had their guard up and were looking all around the chamber when I finally became visible again. With a deep breath I turned and walked back out to the center of the chamber. Each one of the guardians had a different reaction.
Shalltear stiffened and looked like she was ready to claw my eyes out.
Albedo glared daggers at my face from across the room as she moved closer to Ains.
Demiurge straightened his glasses.
The dark elf twins just looked shocked.
Cocytus didn't portray and facial features but if I had to guess he readied himself for a fight.
And all of the battle maids scowled especially Naberal.
"Momonga." I said in as close to a greeting tone I could come to. "I'd like to talk to you."
A/N: Tada! Like I said, just keep going. All will be explained.