Overlord: Götterdämmerung

by Well-Rounded Idiot

On Ragnarök, prophecy foretells that the Aesir and the Jötnar will do battle against each other for mastery of the Yggdrasil. It is also foretold on that day that the battle between Thor Odinson and Jörmungandr Lokisson will shatter the branches of the World Tree, sending its sundered limbs adrift into the river of time, into the worlds of strange powers never before seen.

16. War and Peace

{The peak of the Mountain, two days after Kratos' journey to Helheim…}

"So… the rune stone," grumbled Kratos.

Ainz, who had come alone, looked the dark stone over in his skeletal hand. "We found it, below Týr's Temple. We could make nothing of it."

"Lemme take a look at it," said Atreus, sullenly. Ainz gave the stone one last glance before handing it over. As soon as Atreus touched the stone, it began to erupt into a glow of golden runes.

Ainz nodded. "You are full of surprises."

The boy smirked. "Guess that'll happen when you're a god, huh?"

"Boy…" growled Kratos menacingly. "That is enough."

"Whatever. Let's get this door open. I'll paint the rune, and Father, you can use the chisel." Atreus went up, and painted a complex rune on one side of the gateway.

"Your Majesty, if I may ask, what do you want in Jötunheim again?" asked Mimir, from his perch on Kratos' belt.

"To establish contact with the Giants there. Diplomatic contact."

"Right, right... I wish you all the best," replied the severed head. It was a polite nothing. "The Giants could use some friends in this day and age. Definitely make use of, er, the other me to get the negotiations started. The Giants and I already have a long history of mutual respect and friendship. You should hear the story about how I got these eyes of mine. It was when-"

"Another time," said Kratos. "Our focus is on Jötunheim of the present, not the past."

Ainz nodded. "Is the boy finished?"

"Yep," answered Atreus.

"Hmph." Kratos approached the gateway arch, and with three quick taps of the chisel, the painted rune glowed gold. The threshold of the Jötunheim passage shimmered and shifted, before exploding into a shower of sparks. Through this golden window was a vast bridge, built by larger-than-human hands, leading to the foot of a vast five-peaked mountain, like a Giant's fingers scraping the sky: the highest peak in all the realms.

"We made it…" whispered Atreus.

"There it is. Beautiful, isn't it? Why, I remember once-BROTHER, FROM BEHIND!"

Something, or rather, someone took hold of Kratos, ramming him forcefully against the arch. Kratos saw him: the haggard stranger, bare-chested and gangly: Baldur, son of Odin. The thin man smiled manically as he attacked recklessly. "Miss me?" He punctuated the greeting with a firm blow to Kratos' face. Kratos tried to strike back, but Baldur blocked the punch, then catching a falling stone from the shuddering archway and smashing it into Kratos' face. He took up a large pointed fragment of rock that had fallen, driving it into his foe's side, pinning him against the arch. Baldur laughed some more as Kratos bled. "Allfather was right! Shoulda figured you'd be back sooner or later."

Fighting through the pain, Kratos ignored Baldur. "Boy, run! Cross the bridge!"

Atreus did not, instead nocking his bow and loosing several arrows at Baldur, each hitting home in his neck, the last through Baldur's cheek and into his mouth. "NO! I'm a god too! I can do this! Get off him!"

"Really?" grinned Baldur. He bit down, breaking the arrow lodged in his mouth and spitting it out like one might spit out a poorly-made meal. In one quick motion he backhanded Atreus, sending him tumbling away, stunned.

To Kratos' unsurprise, Ainz was nowhere to be seen. He was gone. Where, when, and how he had vanished, all unknown. There was no time to search for a fickle undead, however. With Baldur momentarily distracted with Atreus, Kratos had a chance to fight back, knocking Baldur's arms out of the way. But the Aesir god was too quick for him after that, striking him in the abdomen again, and then kicking him at the knee-joint, forcing Kratos to drop to his knees and use his arms to keep himself from collapsing.

Mimir interjected. "Baldur, let him go! Take me instead! I'll do whatever you-"

"Ah, shut up!" sighed Baldur, kicking Mimir in the head, silencing him. He began to barrage Kratos with punches and kicks, berating him more. "All this time I thought I needed you! But you're just meat… Turns out, the boy's the brains!" He struck again. Kratos ducked, launching himself upwards to headbutt his foe, and taking him by the throat and the belt, roaring as he hurled Baldur against the Jötunn-made archway. The impact was more than the ancient structure could bear, and it cracked, tottered, and crumbled into ruin, the stones almost burying Kratos and Baldur. The magic window to Jötunheim dissipated as well, the enchantments in the archway having been broken. As the dust settled, Kratos grunted and lifted a massive stone off of his chest. Atreus had recovered.

"NO! You broke the gate," he shouted angrily at his father. "That was our only way to Jötunheim!"

Baldur groaned as he flipped another fallen stone off of himself. "Oh… you stupid son of a bitch!" Both he and Kratos struggled to their feet. To suppress the bleeding from his wound, Kratos pressed a hand to the gash.

"Get out of here, boy," he muttered. Baldur simply laughed.

"Yes, by all means, Junior, run away! Let daddy do all the heavy lifting for you." The provocation worked. Atreus said nothing, simply yelling and charging at Baldur, before Kratos stopped him.

"Let go!"

"Calm down, boy! You are not ready for this!"

Atreus furiously punched at Kratos' wound, eliciting a shout of pain from his father. "I AM ready!" Kratos pushed him back to the ground, before his eyes widened. Atreus was nocking another arrow on his bow. He was aiming it towards-

"Wait… boy!"

"Þruma!" The arrow pierced Kratos' shoulder, its electricity coursing through his body, stunning him.

Baldur applauded slowly, sarcastically, laughing the whole time. "And here I thought my family was fucked up…" Atreus charged at him again, knife in hand. Baldur grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off his feet, not even flinching as the boy drove the small blade full force into his shoulder. Baldur laughed again. "Aww, your father is right, boy. You are far from ready." The Aesir god pulled the knife out of his shoulder. "Now would you be so kind as to hold this for me?" he cackled, stabbing it into Atreus' own shoulder. In one quick motion, Baldur slung Atreus under his arm like a sack and made his way towards the cliff face, turning toward Kratos again. "Thank you," he mocked, waving goodbye to his opponent. Baldur jumped, the boy in hand.

Ripping the arrow from his shoulder, Kratos stood up. "ATREUS!" he shouted, running to the cliff, and without hesitation, jumped off in pursuit of Baldur.

Ainz reappeared, the magic concealment of [Perfect Unknowable] dissipating. A great dragon swooped up from below, Baldur, Atreus, and Kratos on its back, as it flew away towards the Lake of Nine. He sighed internally in satisfaction. Very clever, Odin, very clever, but I see through your tricks. You won't have provocation out of me so easily as that.

{The Royal Suite, the Ninth Floor of Nazarick, at that same time…}

Albedo sat at Ainz's desk in his absence, as was the norm. Mountains of paperwork, the product of her sophisticated system of bureaucratic governance, practically filled the top surface of the desk. But all of that was far from Albedo's mind now. She was listening to a new set of orders from Ainz himself, being conveyed by [Message].

"I understand," she said.

"Do you wish only for me to defend you, or shall we need more of the Floor Guardians?"

Albedo had a hopeful look on her face that quickly deflated as Ainz responded. She nodded. "Understood. I will pass on your orders, and we will arrive there at all possible speed, my Lord. I live to serve only you, my Lord."

The [Message] ended, and Albedo sighed, dreamily. "My Lord… my Love…" With a breath, she regained her composure. Now she cast [Message].

"[Shalltear, Cocytus.]"

"[Shalltear Bloodfallen, I hear and obey.]"

"[Cocytus. Hears. And. Obeys.]"

Albedo spoke, her natural authority sharpening her tone of voice. "[Gather your weapons and armor, as applicable. We are to travel by [Gate] to Týr's Temple in the Great Lake to protect Lord Ainz. There may be a fight on our hands.]

"[At. Once. Lady. Albedo. I. Will. Arrive. To. The. Ninth. Floor. In. Five. Minutes.]"

"[Same for me. Bet you won't be ready before me, Albedo.]"

"[This is no time for games, Shalltear. You have your orders. Execute them.]"

"[I'll be there shortly.]"

Albedo nodded. "[End Message]." She looked at the maid of the day. "Lumière. Bring me my armor."

{Týr's Temple…}

Baldur laughed, as he smashed Kratos' head against the central pedestal of the Realm Travel Room, the shining image of the Yggdrasil tree looming overhead. "Too late! The gate's locked in, and when it opens, the full might of Asgard will fall upon you. It's. Over."

In spite of this, Kratos refused to give up. "Is it?" Forcing Baldur's hand off of his head, he punched the Aesir, sending him rolling away out of sight. He took his bifröst out of his belt, slamming it into the slot for which it was designed, but not before Baldur was on to him again. The Realm Travel Room rotated slowly, towards the violet travel crystal, which stood before a door decorated with a gilded meadhall marked with the rune ᚷ: the Asgard gate. As the two gods struggled for control, Kratos won out, pulling his wrist out from Baldur's grasp, bringing the bifröst back to its slot. The Helheim door was dead ahead. A sickly teal vortex opened, and a gust of cold wind dragged Kratos, Mimir, Baldur, and Atreus into the frigid light. They were gone.

The Realm Travel Room stopped rotating, and all was still.

With a mechanical lurch, the rotation resumed, halting at the violet crystal of Asgard. A purple light shone through the gap where the two sides of the door met. The gate was flung open by mighty, thundering hands. A veritable giant of a god, bearded and angry, strode in, a thundering hammer holstered to his belt. He was followed by a much smaller god of average height, dirty-blond hair combed back and braided, dressed in a fine white tunic, with a horn slung to his belt, and a shortsword on the opposite side. His eyes shone the same purple color as the travel crystal. A battalion of ghastly warriors flanked them, strong and deadly, armed weapons of every kind and make - pale swords and wicked spears, crossbows and javelins, maces and shields.

"Where are they?!" roared Thor, hefting his hammer. The smaller god crossed his arms.

"Baldur must be truly gone in the head, now. We should tell Allfather so this doesn't happen again."

"Nah… Baldur's got problems, sure, but he wouldn't make things up like this, and he's not one to lie," replied Thor. "If he says he can bring me the man who killed my sons, I believe him. Allfather certainly does."

"True… true…"

"Means something's wrong… but what?" Thor turned to face the spectral warriors. "Einherjar, look around! Find them!" The force of Einherjar dispersed throughout the magnificent obsidian structure. Thor chuckled as he took a flask from his belt. He popped off the cork, and took a deep swig of the mead within. Wiping his beard and lips with his arm, the God of Thunder took Mjölnir, his thundering hammer, in hand. The din of battle erupted outside. "That was fast. Good."

{Týr's Temple, the Outer Bridge…}

Thunder rolled outside, the clouds dark and brooding over the land. The rain fell heavily.

"These. Are. A. New. Type. Of. Undead. Lord. Ainz."

"It would seem so, Cocytus," replied Ainz. He took up the backline to support his Guardians with powerful spells. Albedo stood next to him, and further ahead, Shalltear and Cocytus. "We should take the bodies back home for examination. Has anyone sighted the strange dragon?"

"No, Lord Ainz," came the unanimous response.

Cocytus flicked his halberd, Decapitation Fang, away from him, blood splattering on the surface of the bridge, as two of the Einherjar fell before him, dead. Several crossbow bolts struck his exoskeleton, glancing off the tough, cold, organic material. Towards the central dome, a squad of more undead stood, reloading crossbows. They loosed another volley, at Albedo this time. All but one ducked down to reload. The last one's head exploded, and they collapsed, victim to Albedo's projectile reflection skill. The door to the central dome structure opened, and out stepped the slender god with violet eyes, holding his sword by the scabbard in one hand. He scowled as he approached the squad of Einherjar. Another volley of bolts, this time at Shalltear. All but two of the bolts bounced off her red armor, and those two lodged themselves in the chinks. Unhurt, but annoyed, Shalltear glared at the Einherjar as she pulled out the bolts from her armor.

The temple dome doors opened again, and Thor thundered out, hammer in hand. The Einherjar crossbowmen halted their shooting, and looked to Thor for orders. He gave none.

Ainz and his three guardians closed to within twenty feet of the Aesir. Neither side said anything, as thunder pealed overhead, and the pitter-patter of rain began. Hostile silence pressed in from all around. Shalltear broke it. "Care to explain the attacking?"

The purple-eyed stranger smirked. "Care to explain the trespassing on the sovereign territory of Asgard?"

"This is Midgard, not Asgard. This is the Sorcerer Kingdom, not Asgard."

"Asgard's territory is everywhere, actually, all Nine Realms. You just happen to be taking care of this little part of it for us. I suppose you'll want to be thanked."

"We are not your tenants," said Albedo. "You insult us with such an insinuation!"

Thor rolled his eyes. "I don't give a flying shit about your kingdoms politics. I came here to turn the man who killed my sons into a bloody pulp, but he's not here. I'll have to make do with you Midgard fuckos for now." The God of Thunder prepared to hurl Mjölnir at the Guardians, lightning cracking along its massive head. Ainz focused his mind, ready to cast [Grasp Heart] the instant Thor attacked. It would certainly not kill, but it could put the Aesir god out of the fight momentarily, enough for a powerful attack.

A flock of ravens appeared in the intervening space, swirling around, before dispersing, revealing an old man, one-eyed, wearing a brown cloak and blue tunic.

Odin, newly arrived, stood with his back to Ainz, facing Thor and the other god. "Hey, hey, hey! What're you doing that for? Stop that. Put that hammer away. Put that sword away. Now." He spoke in an scolding, corrective voice, as if to a misbehaving pet. Scowling, Thor obeyed. "All of you, go home. Leave. Git."

The purple-eyed man seemed shocked at this. "But Allfather…"

"I said leave. Go. Scram. I'll manage just fine here."

With emotions varying between shock and annoyance, the two Aesir and the Einherjar withdrew, leaving just Odin with Ainz and his guards. He spun around to face Ainz, a bright sparkle in his one blue eye. "Sorcerer King Ainz Gown, I feel fortunate to have showed up when I did. Looked like things were gonna get ugly. Excuse Thor and Heimdall, they can be a bit rowdy and stuff."

"Thor said he was here to avenge his sons. What happened?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about. They went a bit over their heads and stuff, but it's no great loss. They weren't that useful anyway. Thor's in a bad mood because of that, and I think he was about to show you what his bad mood does. Don't hold that against him or even me, honestly. Look, Ainz, can we talk? Though first, I'd feel a lot better if your followers here didn't act so ready to murder me. I'd hate to think what would happen if Thor and the others had to start asking questions to find out where I was and such. Let's have a nice chat, and go about our day, what do you say?"

Ainz contemplated his options. Attacking here would be bad, I think, even if we can win. We might be able to beat Odin or take him hostage, but what about retaliatory attacks later on? The Sorcerer Kingdom is at a huge disadvantage in the long term in a war against Asgard, even if they don't have Odin. For now, I think peace, even just another truce, would be beneficial. "Albedo, Cocytus, Shalltear, stand at ease." They obeyed without hesitation, but still held their weapons. "We will talk, but about what?"

The Allfather clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! As you recall, we arranged a truce between us earlier. A temporary thing. I think now's a good time to make a plan for a lasting peace."

"I am listening."

"Good, because I have a little proposal. Let's start with an alliance between Nazarick and Asgard. You help me, I help you, where trade and fighting and other things are concerned. We will, of course, need to seal this alliance with a close familial bond."

"Bond?"

"Marriage. Closest bond known to god and man, am I right?"

In spite of himself, Ainz was bewildered by what Odin was saying. "Well, I am not particularly, um…"

"It should turn out just fine. Living life together is a great way to form the relationship needed for a successful alliance."

Ainz's mind raced. What is he on about?! I'm not into men, let alone wrinkly one-eyed wizardy ones! YAAAAGH!

Odin continued. "Being unmarried myself, I propose a match between me and your hulder, assuming she is not already spoken for, of course. I'm open to alternatives if someone already has the privilege of calling her his wife.."

"What?"

"Your hulder. I believe she serves as your head of government, your… what was it… Prime Minister? Albedo?"

Albedo's halberd clattered to the ground as she heard this, and Ainz's lower jaw would have very well joined it. He's crazy. He's insane. He's mad. He's madder than mad. What is he thinking?!

Ainz's silence was filled with the sound of creaking metal. Albedo had balled her hands into fists, exerting monstrous force on her gauntlets, the rest of her body visually shuddering in rage, but she did nothing more. Ainz dared not turn around, and Odin seemed to take no notice of Albedo's restrained fury at all. He simply looked Ainz in the eye sockets, awaiting an answer.

At last, Ainz found the voice to speak. "I… do not think that is possible." He let the words flow naturally. "Instead of the marriage, Nazarick will perform certain favors for you as part of our alliance."

"Favors, you say? I'm listening."

"If we encounter any of your known enemies, we will relay their location to you. My second proposition assumes Asgard has farmland."

"And if it does?"

"Then Nazarick will ease the burden of labor on your people, and furnish Asgard with a force of undead farmers. Asgard's food security will be greatly improved, its economic opportunities expanded. We rent out such workers to the kings and nations here in Midgard. In the spirit of continued friendship, we will award Asgard with a discounted rate, to be paid annually in gold, silver, or copper, whichever you use." Spies AND leverage over Asgard that they'll be paying us to keep! This is brilliant!

"I'm intrigued…" The Allfather stroked his beard in thought. "What if Asgard could purchase the necessary spells from you instead and pay the cost upfront?"

Damn you! "Not feasible."

"A pity. Instead of providing farmers to us, what about something else entirely?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"There are dangerous people afoot in the Realms, for both of us. Powerful ones. I think that if we join our forces together, we could beat them and keep the peace."

That's– "A sound idea…" Ainz pondered the proposal for a moment. Then he recalled Albedo's secret unit, a powerful search party for his fellow comrades from YGGDRASIL. "We could create a special peacekeeping squadron that we can allocate our forces to, half of it would come from us and the other half from Asgard, that we could call up jointly or separately as needed."

"Yes… yes… That's a good idea. I like it."

"Good." Ainz felt a brief wave of relief, as it was quickly suppressed. Unfavorable conflict averted. "If there is nothing else, then I believe we have ourselves peace."

"An eternal peace."

"'An eternal peace.' A phrase almost too good to be believed." Don't tell me this old guy actually believes he's fooling anyone with this? What's going on in that bald pate of his? Anything?

"Then let's make it believable. Seal the deal? Like before?" Odin smiled innocently, and extended his hand for a handshake.

Ainz took Odin's hand, and shook it.

{The Throne Room, the Tenth Floor of Nazarick…}

Ainz, Albedo, Shalltear, and Cocytus passed into the great hall, lined with banners showing the symbols of the Supreme Beings, their creators and masters. Reaching the foot of the dais, upon which stood the mighty Throne of Kings, all four of them knelt.

"Albedo. Shalltear. Cocytus. Pandora's Actor. Well done, all of you." From his seat on the Throne, Ainz Ooal Gown dismissed his Mirror of Remote Viewing.