Author's Note:
Welcome both new and old readers! For any new readers that were not here before there were just 5 chapters, then please move on to the main story.
If any of you old readers immediately jumped to the newest chapter, which would be this one at the time of this post, then please go to the chapter labeled "Risen From The Abyss." There's more info about the huge chapter arrangement I had done.
Anyway, thanks for catching up. I'm sure it was quite the journey—especially for the ones who were here before I divided up the chapters. I'll answer reviews that have questions in the next chapter, but regardless, thank you for continuing to read this story of mine.
I've had quite the busy week outside of writing, but I'll really try for a weekly posting this time. On a side-note, May was just about the worst month. I hate exams.
Anyways, I wish all of you good health. For people like me that had just finished their exams, get some good rest—you deserve it.
Let the world-building continue. Adieu!
-Zirmeister
Disclaimer:
This fanfiction is a crossover that directly takes characters and other source material from the two preexisting light novel series Overlord and Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken. Please go support the authors, artists and the other people who have worked on each of the respective works.
"Okay…I think everything is good on my end. Have a look for yourself, Rimuru-san."
"Alright, here goes…!"
With a lot more hesitation than necessary, Rimuru shakily took the hand mirror from Staff and held it in front of his face.
"…Whoa."
Silvery-blue locks covered parts of his face, and overall his hair was surprisingly long even though it was tied up in a braid-like ponytail. When he brushed it aside, he saw that he had golden illuminations in his eyes. They briefly wavered in brightness before flaring back up, making it a spectacular sight for him.
His skin tone was in between fair and pale, as though he was a child that did not receive too much sunlight to tan his skin. The child part though was unfortunately looking to be the actual reflection of his current body's age.
Light red marks washed over his cheeks when he repeated the word "cute" in his mind before he furiously shook his head. He placed down the hand mirror and deeply bowed in front of Staff, who was sitting on a red velvet chair.
"I can't thank you enough for this, Staff-san."
"It's no problem. Ainz would have done the same thing, you know?"
"I did ask him if he was able to find a way for me to become human without having to go through it…my way. But I wasn't too sure if there was even any other solution for me up until now. Are you really sure you and Ainz don't have any broken abilities?"
"No, no, it was virtually no effort! I even went ahead to add an ability that naturally conceals your presence, but you can always turn it on and off like a switch. That's a neat ability, right?"
"Oi, I think you're missing the point."
"Huh?"
Sighing, Rimuru stood up and twirled around to get a feeling of his new body. The Great Sage proceeded to send a mental message to the silver-haired child.
{ Report. Analysis of "Homunculus" body has been completed. All previous Intrinsic Slime Skills have been integrated with the new magical energy. }
Yeah? What about those skills Staff-san wanted to give me?
{ Affirmative. The following skills have been added to your universal skill set: [ Message ], [ Discern Enemy ], and [ Greater Teleportation ]. In addition, the newly added [ Metamagic ] has also been rendered compatible with pre-existing skills after working in tandem with the individual "Staff" and their abilities. }
[ Message ] is basically telepathy, [ Discern Enemy ], well I haven't gotten a chance to use it other than on Staff whose level is actually just measured in magicules, and [ Greater Teleportation ]. Now that one is rad.
"Eh…what is [ Metamagic ] again, Staff-san? [ Great Sage ] kept giving me the same answers, but they were kinda lacking."
After Rimuru brought that up, Staff slightly bowed with an apologetic face.
"Forgive me. The Voice of the World jumbled up the information of each skill on my end, so I can only give you the answers based on the Supreme Beings' answers."
"N-no, you don't need to bow, it was just a question…Supreme Beings?" Rimuru said, tilting his head. He widened his eyes a moment later. "—Oh, you mean Ainz's friends from his guild. I don't mind if you get the information from them. If Ainz speaks extremely highly of them, then they gotta be trustworthy."
"I understand. From what I heard, [ Metamagic ] essentially enhances 'Tier Spells,' which is part of the magic system from Yggdrasil. Ainz and I can use everything within the [ Metamagic ] system, from silent casting to having three spells within one cast, etc."
"That's really broken…"
Staff merely shrugged as she laid back on her own couch. "There's really nothing surprising. By now, [ Triplet ] metamagic is nothing more than child's play at this point. Would you like to see a [ Centuplet Maximize Magic ], for example?"
What does that mean, Great Sage?
{ Report. [ Centuplet ] metamagic will create one hundred of the same object from a spell while [ Maximize ] metamagic will maximize the damage potential of a spell. }
"—Don't use that magic while we're in this wagon, Staff!"
Rimuru frantically waved his hands up and down as soon as the implications settled within his mind. Knowing how straightforward Staff was, he guessed she was actually willing to show such destructive magic right in front of him.
"I am not that uncouth, Rimuru-san. But does that mean you are still wanting to see the magic?"
"I…whatever. Alright, but first we should probably wait for Ainz to tell us what we're going to do next."
Staff looked up at the decorated ceiling, seemingly in thought. She made several pats on her covered thighs as humming noises escaped from her mouth.
"Perhaps…Ainz will try to conquer the world?" she wondered out loud.
Rimuru wore a sheepish smile as he twirled one of his silver locks around his finger.
"Somehow, I feel like you're not lying…"
Stifling a yawn, he stretched his arms up in the air. He expected to hear some bones crack, but he realized that there were no such things as those along with organs, tissue, or anything for that matter.
The homunculus body was cleverly designed in a way that his [ Mimic ] ability would take full advantage of a mannequin created by Staff, followed by several more additions by the woman so that the mannequin would have a closer resemblance to that of an actual human. Additionally, the [ Mimic ] ability was set to be running at all times, and thanks to the magicule cost being practically free, there was no need to take it off.
Rimuru expressed concerns about switching back to his 'Slime' race, but Staff shot it down with an explanation that he could freely switch between races without worrying about the loss of skills whatsoever.
She really did go all out into covering the bases. These guys are really nice people! Though I'm not sure why I look like a ten…eleven year old child?
{ Notice. It is impossible to change the age of the "Homunculus" body. It is surmised that, due to the vast amounts of magicules and foreign magic coursing through, the "Homunculus" was originally intended to keep the same looks from the start and is given endless life. }
In other words, I'm an immortal kid?
{ Affirmative. }
Heh. I guess that's okay. Still can't be as bad as missing my manhood, but Staff-san has already done so much for me. It would be really rude for me to ask for more. Ah well, I'll probably figure something out in the long run as to how I can look older.
His lips curved into a small smile as he began to take a once-over of his new outfit given to him by Staff. He had only asked for simple clothing, but unbeknownst to him, Staff went for the extra mile by applying several different enchantments in case his already sturdy body proved to be insufficient on the battlefield.
The simple white t-shirt Rimuru was wearing was tucked into some black pants that were obviously baggy, giving the bottom attire a lot of creases as a result. The interior provided a generous amount of space for his waist all the way down to his legs, so he did not feel his body being restricted from wearing them.
He then looked down at his obsidian boots that hid his white socks. The boots themselves went up to his ankles before making their way towards the end section of his pants. Due to the amount of details on the boots, this prevented his attire from being completely casual, but it was not like anyone would pay more attention down there rather than his face.
As for extra accessories, he was even given jet-black fingerless gloves which he happily put on and inspected for a minute or two. Out of boredom he took the gloves and put it back on after seeing that it would magically readjust its size to fit the wearer.
I don't know why I find this so honestly entertaining. It's the small things in life, I guess.
Back when he was just a general contractor, he did not think it was necessary to worry about insignificant details such as these, especially since his job demanded him to be constantly hustling from one place to another. Worrying about those sorts of stuff would delay whatever he had planned in his work schedule, after all.
With this responsibility being laid off of him, Rimuru swore to himself that he would not burden himself with duties that he was not totally prepared for. After all, he was now looking forward to a grand journey in this new world with Ainz and Staff.
Asking for a human body, or at least something that looked similar to it, sounded like a difficult task in Rimuru's eyes. The prowess of his own abilities did not dispel the fear of having to kill a human with his own hands, and next to that was the disgust of absorbing an already dead one. But Staff had easily negated the tedious stages of obtaining one in the matter of minutes, using only her own skills in the process.
Now that's out of the way, I wonder what's going on outside? Ainz said he would be handling things, but to deal with someone like Milim and those powerful monsters. I'm a little worried, but I've been getting reassurances left and right from Staff-san that everything is going fine.
He has already been blown out of the park several times, but Rimuru was not dumb enough to notice something different about Ainz's mood lately.
It looked to him that the undead was becoming less talkative over time and had delegated more tasks to Staff. Perhaps he was looking into this too much, but after seeing how stalwart he was when it came to wanting to gather as much information about the world around him, Ainz's reclusiveness was starting to get on Rimuru's nerves a bit.
Just when Rimuru was thinking about getting fresh air, he stumbled backwards when the wagon suddenly stopped moving, falling onto the long couch that was attached to the back of the interior.
"Oi! What the heck was that? Something happening outside? There isn't exactly a window here, so…"
Staff was not looking happy too judging by her frown. Rimuru let the woman pass by, though there was already plenty of space between him and her to move around.
The next action surprised the homunculus.
Before the door could magically adjust itself, it was shattered into a million fragments by what appeared to be a roundhouse kick coming from the woman. Rimuru's jaw dropped at how much of a blur Staff's leg was within the span of a millisecond.
"S-Staff-san, is there something wrong?!"
Rimuru quickly stood up, but was stopped by a hand that was only a few inches away from his face. He started to hear several overlapping voices from outside, but he could not yet discern if they were humans or intelligent monsters of the sort.
"—No, nothing is wrong. I would like to talk to the people who were willing to disturb our moment of peace. I am not mad at all, if that's what you're worried about."
"Uh, that's what people would say if they were feeling exactly the opposite of settling down for peace talks! Why, why not wait for Ainz to return? If I'm hearing it correctly, things seem to have settled down for the most part outside other than this new commotion."
Rimuru looked at the back of Staff's head which shook left and right. She began to step outside of the irreparably damaged door, allowing the homunculus to see that there were small, green creatures waiting outside.
"We are already behind Ainz's schedule after those idiotic summons of mine decided to attack Milim for no apparent reason. The sooner we deal with this issue, the better."
"Staff-san…you're not mad, are you?"
"Of course not. Why would I be? I would only like to have a friendly discussion with them."
After Staff fully left the wagon, Rimuru sat himself upright on the couch and placed his hands in front of his chest, interlocking his fingers.
I pray that the ones outside do not incur anymore of Staff's wrath. Alright, prayers are done. Let's go and see what's all the hubbub.
"—Brother, get back! It's too dangerous!"
"I know that, but if we get our hands on this rogue horse, we might be able to sell it for a good profit!"
"Are you crazy?! Look at how fancy the wagon is. We might end up interfering with some human noble!"
While his brethren were arguing over the prospects of obtaining this wagon and horse for themselves, a goblin who was standing next to one of the front wheels tightened the red bandana wrapped around his head.
He stepped forward, holding a flimsy set of sword and shield that had its edges and surfaces all battered up beyond repair. The other goblins nearby followed him as though he was their leader.
"—Listen to me! Aren't you guys getting too ahead of yourselves? What if there's someone inside? Have any of you not checked if they are actually a human noble to begin with…?"
One of the goblins who were arguing widened his eyes.
"R-right, we forgot to check if there's someone inside. Forgive me for rushing things."
"It's not your fault, brother. Let's not waste anymore of our time and the village's. The elder is probably worried sick about our prolonged investigation. Go check if someone is in the wagon."
"Understood!"
…I still have to wonder, though. What had caused the forest great damage? Not even the Direwolves were capable of destruction on such a large scale. Could it be that Veldora-sama has finally broken out of his prison?
No one, not even his father who was also the elder of the village, could remotely guess as to what the origins of the recent destruction was.
It terrified everyone when they saw the trees which they presumed to be sturdy being ripped apart from the deepest roots. Layers of carved up wood were either cleanly torn off or broken apart into jagged pieces. Some of them had even injured a few goblins, but the goblin in the red bandana could sigh in relief that the casualties had not gone beyond that level of severity.
They were already at their wit's end, and the goblins felt like the Direwolves were watching their every move. It was only a matter of time until the invasive wolves would launch a full-scale invasion on their small village.
Aniki…he had already lost his life to one of the Direwolves when he tried fending off a group of them. We lost many more that day as well. I don't think the village can handle any more attacks. If there's one more, then…
The goblin in the red bandana closed his glossy eyes.
He could not afford to wallow in anymore of his self-misery. There were more pressing matters, and right now he was supposed to be leading this expeditionary force.
But in reality, it was composed by a bunch of ragtag goblins who were using decades-old equipment from adventurer teams who had also lost their lives in the Great Forest of Jura. They would not be able to muster up a proper defense against even one of the Direwolves.
"Hahh…well, what's taking so long?"
The goblin, who was trying to open the door, made a frustrated yell. He jumped off the wagon's stairway and was about to tell him something.
"Brother, the door isn't budging one bit! If it's locked from the inside, then we'll have no choice but to—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a cacophony of thunderous booms reverberated in the air. The goblins including the leader of the group winced in pain while covering their ears.
"W-what was that?!"
The goblin with the red bandana hurriedly turned towards where the door was. Unbelievably, he saw that a huge chunk of it was missing. He shifted his head to where it might have landed and felt his eyes bulging at the ridiculous scene.
"T-the tree is gone…"
There was no tree to begin with as fragments of the door were deeply embedded within the tree's main body, which was now several meters away from where it originally stood. It was ripped off from its trunk which had managed to survive the impactful blow.
To some of the goblins' dismay, out of the wagon appeared not one—but two beautiful looking women.
The goblin leader was able to quickly identify them as human. He guessed the one who was in front of the child to be either the maternal parent or guardian based on how her left hand kept signaling for the child to back up.
But that wasn't right. The strength of the woman was enough to shatter a tree with ease. The goblins could not see any equipment on her either which only terrified them even further. Specifically, the one who suggested taking the wagon and horse for themselves had expertly concealed themselves from the public eye, hiding within the group.
The woman in the fuzzy looking sweater looked left and right before her eyes finally settled on the goblin leader.
"—You."
"M-me?"
"Yes. Why are you in front of our wagon? Is there something you require of us?"
"—Hey! What's the big issue, you guys?"
Suddenly the air became extremely hard to breathe for the goblins. They all felt an excruciating amount of magicules coming from not the woman nor the child, but from a girl who was descending from the skies with a fancy looking person.
To the goblins' horror, they realized that person was none other than the undead.
"…Hm?"
Grrh! Even the way the undead sounds makes me want to run away! Is he a ruler of some monster kingdom I haven't heard about? But that girl next to him is the one that's releasing all those magicules!
Seeing no other option, the goblin leader, followed by his brethren, prostrated in front of the people who descended from the skies one by one. They were at a complete loss, much more so compared to the Direwolves.
No—even the Direwolves could not hope to be this powerful. The goblins could only hope that the concept of mercy existed within these strangers.
"Eh? These are just goblins, right?"
Milim pointed at the green creatures, which made them shiver uncontrollably. She had a blank expression on her face, not showing any form of emotion whatsoever.
"Yes, Milim. They aren't like the ones I have seen before, though."
Ainz swept his eyes over the goblins. Even with his rings helping him conceal his mana along with skills to further support this endeavor, the goblins continued to shake with uncontrollable fear.
It must be Milim's aura, then. I'm also not able to feel the Primal Elementals or Hel's auras from back then, so they probably wised up later on.
Meanwhile, Staff sighed as she held out her hand. Ainz furrowed his nonexistent eyebrows when she saw the Guild Weapon holding what appeared to be Windsor glasses, or glasses characterized by circular eyerims and thin metal frames.
The woman placed the accessory in front of her eyes as she stepped down on the small stairway, followed by someone else Ainz could not recognize at first.
"…Hm? Rimuru? Did you already get a human body, already?"
The one called Rimuru turned to the undead and gave a wide smile. He ran up to him before being completely overshadowed.
"—Hoo, boy. I didn't expect to be this short. But yeah, I did get a human body, or at least a homunculus that looks like one, according to Staff-san. She went all out into this created body, lemme tell ya that!"
Ainz could hear frantic whispers from the goblins, saying things like "He was created, not born?!" and "Is she a powerful sorcerer" along with other sayings that praised Staff's abilities.
To be honest, I can kinda understand their sentiments. Making a homunculus body was not possible to do for any Players if it didn't involve the creation of NPCs and specific summons.
"…Is that so. Well, good for you, Rimuru."
Out of nowhere, Ainz placed his hand on Rimuru's head, allowing his skeletal hand to briefly sift through his silvery blue hair. The homunculus profusely blushed and started to stammer.
"A-Ainz?!"
The undead realized too late what he was doing. He reeled his hand back as though he had just touched an extremely hot object.
"M-my bad. I didn't know what I was doing."
"—No fair! I didn't even know Rimuru could turn into that and you're already giving him headpats? Actually, no, now that I think about it—are you two father and son?"
As soon as Milim said that, she faced the brunt of Ainz and Rimuru who could not help but feel their jaws drop.
They turned to the genuinely curious dragonoid and shouted in unison:
"How did you even reach that conclusion?!"
"—So I'm right?!"
"—Of course not!"
Right now they were too distracted to see five people slowly descending from the skies. For a brief moment, the goblins looked up and paled even further.
"—Ho? Are these to be the new souls that will be spiritually guided?"
After slowly strutting towards the prostrating goblins, Hel crouched down and stretched her fingernails. They slowly morphed into black, elongated claws which lifted up the red-bandana wearing goblin's chin.
"P-please don't hurt us, oh great ones…"
"Great ones? At least you know your place, creature. Now it's time for you to repent for wasting Ainz-sama's time by getting in the way of his divine carriage and—AIIEEEEEE!"
The Goddess shrieked with pain, feeling something grab her ear.
Staff mercilessly pulled Hel away from the surprised goblins and shoved her towards the rest of the Gods who had long since abandoned their Primal Elemental forms.
Then the woman let them have it.
"ARE YOU IMBECILES TRYING TO MAKE A FOOL OUT OF ME OR AINZ?! WHY WOULD YOU GO OUT AND ATTACK SOMEONE WITHOUT ANY OF OUR PERMISSIONS? IT HADN'T EVEN BEEN A SINGLE MINUTE SINCE YOU WERE SUMMONED, YET SOMEHOW, YOU HAVE ALREADY FAILED TO BECOME OBEDIENT SERVANTS OF THE SUPREME ONE! WHY SHOULD I EVEN CONSIDER BRINGING YOU INTO NAZARICK IF YOU CAN'T EVEN DO ONE SIMPLE JOB?!"
Staff's screeching was amplified with magic, making her words have a more profound impact on Hel and the rest of the Gods' psyches. The beginning of despair started to reach their faces. Even the goblins wanted to shrivel up from the aura-induced shout that was not even directed towards them.
Meanwhile, behind the Goddess of Death was another Goddess who was wearing similar clothing to that of a typical dryad, though Rimuru thought her white hair and dark skin tone to be slightly different variables. She started to nervously sweat, and to her peers' surprise, the Goddess pushed the frozen Hel further in front of her group and backed away immediately. She looked down on the ground, refusing to meet eyes with the Goddess of Death who turned around to find who had just stabbed her in the back.
"That was Hel-dono's idea, not me or anyone else here for that matter, Staff-sama. Please forgive us for going along with this foolish Goddess."
"—Prithvi! I saw you as someone I could trust in the most!"
"I'm not the one who telepathically suggested the plan to attack the gir—young lady over there. Own up to your mistakes before you get us all killed!"
"Grk…"
Ainz could only watch in silence as Hel walked to Staff, face cast on the ground. He looked at Rimuru who seemed to be scared stiff by the wild change in the woman's behavior.
*ping* (—Hey, is this thing working? )
( Yes, I can hear you. I managed to hear the notification ping I would get when a [ Message ] spell is sent out. How do you have access to it? )
( Staff-san saw to it that I should have access to at least the essential Yggdrasil spells. But don't worry, I'm not planning to try and copy your skills. I feel like [ Great Sage ] is going to get a smack on the butt for that, considering Staff-san and all. )
( [ Great Sage ]…? Ahhh~ that would be your cheat skill, I presume? )
( Yeah, but do you really have to say that? I mean, don't we all have cheat skills at this point? I thought it was already made clear from the start. )
( True. To be honest, you are quite the trusting person to reveal that trump card of yours to me. Maybe a little bit too trusting, if you ask me. )
( W-well, I just thought you needed to know since I kept saying I wanted to travel with you. A little trust goes a long way, after all. )
( I…suppose you're not wrong on that front. So, what is it you needed to tell me? )
( Oh yeah…why is Staff-san so scary now?! I liked it better when she was just happy and curious about everything, other than her sadistic tendencies that come out every once in a while when she experiments with something new. )
( That…well…okay, I'll be honest with you as well—she is also terrifying. )
( So you have the same feelings as me too…! ) Rimuru continued to have a panicky look on his face. ( I think you should stop her before she gets out of control, Ainz. I heard that they're Gods, right? I remember where Hel came from according to mythology, but I have a feeling that even she is going to experience being erased from existence if you don't intervene right now. )
( I see you're not that surprised. )
( I haven't told you about Veldora-san yet, huh? He kept calling himself the "Storm Dragon God," so I'm starting to get desensitized to this sort of stuff. )
( That would save me the trouble of having to get you used to the presence of these people. Then, I'll see what I can do about Staff and her displeasures. )
"—Furthermore, you have ceased to communicate properly with me. Despite my warnings, you have continued to engage in battle with Milim—" Staff briefly pointed at the dragonoid who only tilted her head, "—who is someone you are not supposed to engage with due to her status as a Demon Lord! With our present circumstances, agitating the current powerbase of this world would be just about the worst thing you can do!"
"My apologies! It won't happen again, Staff-sama!"
Hel and the rest of the Gods emulated the goblins' prostrating pose. They were already cowed into submission by the unbridled fury contained within the woman's voice.
"…Did you not think I would be amiss of the magic you were about to cast in point-blank range towards Milim?"
"W-what magic?"
Immediately a thin crack appeared on one of Staff's circular lenses. For the first time in centuries, Hel felt goosebumps on her skin when she looked up and saw the emptiest expression on Staff's face.
"What magic, you say…?"
Staff looked up, prompting the rest including Milim to do the same. The dragonoid exclaimed as she saw a familiar, round-looking object high up in the sky.
"—Oh! It's that freaky little summon!"
"An Eyeball Corpse…! What is that doing here, out of all places?"
"So you do know that summon, Hel. It's been keeping tabs on your impromptu fight with Milim since then, and from what I've heard through its whispers to me, it seemed like you were going to cast a [ Nuclear Blast ] spell—"
Ainz stumbled backwards, causing Rimuru to instinctively place his hands behind the undead's lower spine to prevent him from falling.
"Ainz! Are you okay?"
"Y-yes, I'm fine—"
"—With [ Maximize ] 'Metamagic' attached to it—"
The undead's crimson eyes were reduced to the barest pinpoints of light within the darkness which surrounded them.
"—And on top of that, you were going to cast them with [ Triplet ] casting magic!"
—Ehhhhhh?! That's just asking for this forest to be blown up! And is a [ Nuclear Blast] spell attached with [ Triplet Maximize Magic ] even possible?! Not even Ulbert-san could have performed a feat like that without having to rely on his [ World Disaster ]. What were you thinking, Hel…
Seeing the troubled reaction from Ainz, Hel began to whimper at the possibilities of being removed from this world.
She would not allow this to happen, not after everything they had done to get here. They were so close to their goal, but right now they had to face their inevitable punishment with whatever dignity was left within them.
"—Staff-sama! I humbly ask for your and Ainz's forgiveness for this insolent action of mine. I have dragged my fellow Gods into this situation, and now I seek to rectify my mistakes as soon as possible. Please grant me whatever punishment you deem is necessary!"
As soon as the Guild Weapon was about to make the decree, she felt something cold touch her shoulder, even with all the layers of clothing she was wearing. She turned to the source, and immediately soon after, her angered expression had vanished without a trace.
"Ainz…!"
"While I think a punishment is necessary, I feel as though it is also my fault to begin with."
"No, it's not your fault!" said Staff and Hel at the same time, anxiety plastering both of their faces. Ainz shook his head as Rimuru sheepishly stood next to the undead.
Taking back the reins of the conversation, Ainz spoke up again, this time with more flare in his voice.
"A superior should be responsible for the mistakes of their subordinates. This carries on over from one superior to the next, and ultimately, it is left up to me. Hel, you have done nothing wrong of the sort as you correctly guessed Milim to be a threat beyond anyone's handling."
"Ainz-sama…"
While the Goddess of Death's eyes were still just as soulless, the rest of her current facial expression reminded Ainz of a certain person who stood next to him in the Throne Room whenever he kept glancing at her during his perusal of Nazarick's console.
"—But, it was not wise for you to use such a powerful spell in the midst of a forest, Hel. Not only would the initial blast be catastrophic to the surroundings, it could have easily resulted in a mass wildfire that would be too much of a hassle for us to handle. Since your intentions were understandable, your punishment will not be so severe, but I must see to it that you are willing to make up for your mistakes."
"I will do anything to wipe the sins I have made on this day, Ainz-sama!"
Ainz didn't really see this as a huge issue. He was already beginning to feel tired when thinking about a suitable punishment.
Luckily, there was someone else he could rely on for this situation.
"…Staff."
"Yes!"
The Guild Weapon was now standing in front of him with an eager expression on her face.
Truly, a woman's ability to switch up expressions in the blink of an eye was nothing short of terrifying.
"U-umu. I will leave it to you to decide. And do not forget—this not only reflects on me, but the entirety of Ainz Ooal Gown. If you are truly a creation of my friends and have heard what they said in the past, then I would like for you to incorporate their own thoughts into what punishment you will decide for Hel, not just mine."
"I…I see. That makes sense. You are the leader of the Supreme Beings, but there is a good reason why they have that very role to begin with. It would be unwise for me to think so selfishly."
"I'm glad you understand. I leave it to you, then."
Before Ainz could stop her, Staff proceeded to perform the "ojigi" pose (お辞儀), a form of Japanese bowing which had her lowering the upper body of her torso.
It was done so to an unnatural degree that made the undead reach out to stop her, but it was too late as the woman quickly straightened her posture and walked to the still prostrating Hel.
"As your summoner and the Guild Weapon of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, I will hand you the punishment that aligns with the values of not just Ainz, but the rest of the Supreme Beings. Your punishment will be having to—"
Hel closed her eyes and waited for the decree.
"—wear a maid servant's dress and become Ainz's personal servant!"
Silence filled the air.
…Eh?
Veldora had been watching the dramatic scenes unfold, and he had gone through what modern human society could only refer to as the "seven stages of grief." All of his swirling emotions were mainly directed towards his sworn friend Rimuru, who seemed to be having a blast in his newfound life as a human-looking child. At the end of the day, he was fuming out of his draconic nostrils as he could not help but feel the disgusting feeling that he had never felt in his centuries of reincarnation: jealousy.
"HOW COME RIMURU-KUN GETS TO HAVE ALL THIS FUN AND NOT ME?!"
The unbridled roar from the Storm Dragon echoed out into the seemingly infinite void of Rimuru's [ Stomach ].
Since all of his concentrated anger was put into that shout, what was left was a deep sense of depression settling on his mind.
"Hahh…Rimuru-kun, my sworn friend. When will we get to share a round of laughter with each other again? You even managed to get the favors of my niece, Milim and have her join your little party. This is not fair…"
Veldora continued to watch the huge monitor with growing despair. The monitor was now showing an odd-looking human woman. He heard both the woman and his sworn friend laughing in the extravagant looking wagon they were in.
Clenching his fists, the Storm Dragon made another promise to himself.
I will break this dastardly [ Unlimited Imprisonment ]! And maybe that undead, yes, what was his name? Ainz…perhaps he can help me with this too?
{ Alert. [ Unlimited Imprisonment ] is near ninety percent completion. }
"I see, Rimuru-kun. The percentage won't even reach a tenth of that unless I work even harder…wait…what?! What did you say just now? Ninety percent?!"
Impossible.
It had taken him an excruciating amount of effort to push towards the tenth percentile. How did it progress so fast without him noticing? Did Rimuru have an ability that could help him speed up his analysis to such a degree?
As though his thoughts were being heard, he heard the robotic voice that he continued to assume was coming from Rimuru.
{ Notice. After the individual "Staff" has provided the "Homunculus" body for absorption, they have successfully imparted part of their soul within the body. }
Veldora's eyes turned into a slit.
He was not the brightest tool in the shed compared to his big brother Veldanava and his terrifying sisters, but even he could figure out what that meant.
Confirming his suspicions, Veldora heard a series of footsteps somewhere to his right. He turned to the right and came upon what looked to be the same woman from the monitor.
In comedic fashion, he kept darting his eyes back and forth from the monitor to the woman who was approaching his position.
"Oi, wait—aren't you that—you're the same woman! Your name is Staff, correct, human?"
He stared closer at the one who nodded in affirmation. Using his Unique Skill [ Investigator ], his golden eyes that were radiating with absolute power felt like wanting to bulge.
"Ha…hyaa-ha-ha-ha-ha! I see. That is merely just a shell, is it not? You are quite the interesting 'Otherworlder.' Are you here with that undead to change the world along with Rimuru-kun?"
Staff crossed her arms. A wide smile started to grow on her face.
"—You could say that. Since I have provided a generous amount of help for you and [ Great Sage ], I'd like for you to assist me in a specific matter."
The Storm Dragon began lowering his gargantuan body. His head was now only a few meters away from the woman who did not budge a single inch.
"I presume it is about those foreign visitors? I have sensed them too, even in this completely separated dimension. They weren't usually a problem when my big bro Veldanava was around."
"Let me guess, did he ever meet a man in yellow?"
"Um…man in yellow…ah, I see! I remember now! He was described to me by my big bro as 'someone who you should never mess with at all costs.' If I recall the details correctly, Veldanava signed a nonaggression treaty with him, but whatever it was that made the man in yellow refrain from coming here with his no-good buddies, it must have been one hell of a deal."
The smile on Staff's face shifted to a more serious demeanor. She cast an illusion spell above her hand, making Veldora move closer for a better look.
"—There are many people who will either provide my master Ainz great help or may work against him in the future. But they can be easily handled since they have already lost a great deal of their power from the world we originally hailed from. Right now, our main concern is towards the beings we refer to as the 'Outer Gods,' and I can feel their presence gradually growing stronger."
"In other words, would you like for me and my siblings to try and wrestle them out of our world?"
"No. They are already here and cannot be moved anywhere else. Presumably, this is their end destination. But if it is going to be like that, then it is imperative that the Pantheon Gods drop their hostilities with each other and towards Ainz before those abhorrent beings come in."
Veldora let out a deep rumble as he tried to ascertain more of the situation.
Coincidentally, when he instinctively shifted his head upwards when he felt something odd, Milim had looked up with curiosity on her face as well, both looking somewhere in the same direction.
Somewhere up there was something foreign. Something that could pose a huge threat if left unchecked for too long.
One could say it was due to Ainz Ooal Gown for having brought them in, but if Staff expressed her and the undead's concerns towards those unfamiliar creatures, then Veldora can only reach one conclusion:
They are looking to get rid of the Outer Gods at all costs…
"Fuu…I see. So that is why you were so eager to break me out. But does Rimuru-kun know of this?"
"Not yet, but we will let him know since it involves not just him, but the rest of this world and its global populace. If even one of them manages to invade this dimension, then I can only fear the worst."
"Are you and Ainz planning to take over the world?"
"That would be an extremely detrimental plan. No—what I am suggesting is slowly moving towards a global alliance that will work together against this common threat. Humans, monsters, Gods—every single living being needs to be aware of the cataclysm that is to come. But since this will cause a global panic if we spearhead our plan in public, I would like to be more discreet about it until the time is right to reveal our true intentions."
"I see. It's a bold plan, but there will be others that will refuse to bend the knee, regardless of whether or not they want proof of the Outer Gods' existence. What will you do, then?"
"I…will leave it up to Ainz's discretion on how they should be handled."
"Hmph. Previously I did not have a single semblance of care for mortals and their petty politics, but I am able to at least see the growing threat. Then, what exactly do you propose I should do?"
"I'd like for you to be the spokesperson for your world when we have a meeting in Nazarick. It will be the first ever 'meeting of two worlds,' in a sense."
The illusion that was still being held by Staff morphed into a peculiar building.
"Is this…a tomb?"
"When we have our own base of operations in the physical world, we will bring Rimuru-kun to the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick."
"Ah, so I've heard! Is it true that this 'Nazarick' was the domineering power in your world?"
"There were others who could prove their strength towards Nazarick, but they're no longer here now. Essentially, Ainz Ooal Gown, the one who rules Nazarick with an iron fist, is the only remaining person from Yggdrasil who did not identify himself as a God."
"You're saying that Ainz has held that much power in his own hands, yet did not step into godhood? Interesting…"
Veldora then had a brief look of sadness on his face, knowing now that Ainz is the last remains of his world.
After hearing much about Staff's stories through Rimuru's point of view, he came to learn a lot about Ainz. Behind the looks of the undead was someone who deeply cared and fought for his friends. That same resolve blossomed into a decrepit looking tomb which seemingly held all the treasures in the Nine Worlds.
But now that Veldora made Rimuru a sworn friend of his, the Storm Dragon was able to see past the vast riches and ancient relics of untold power. The real treasures were the camaraderie and strong, familial bonds formed between each and every guild member of Ainz Ooal Gown.
And Ainz, who was at the helm of the guild and still holds the status to this day, no longer had any sworn friends he could rely on for help other than Staff.
Truly, Ainz is a lonesome person. How pitiful…
Flapping his wings, the Storm Dragon stood up while continuing to look down on the woman.
"Very well! If it is for the sake of this world's survival, I will gladly step back on the world stage! But I have one condition I would like for you to accept if you want my full support!"
Staff tilted her head. She gestured for Veldora to continue.
"This condition is simple. I only ask for Ainz Ooal Gown to be my second sworn friend in this world! Ahhhhh-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
