/outside throneroom/
Momonga along with Sebas and Pleiades maids stood in front of a giant, menacing door adorned with intricate depictions of demons. The door exuded an aura of dread, while the demon illustrations seemed to issue a silent warning "Anyone who crosses this threshold must be ready to confront the monstrous entity that lies beyond."
The Door was unlike any other in Nazarick. it was more than a physical barrier it was a symbol of warning to any intruder who dared to intrude on the guilds ground that beyond this lays the throne room of the guild where the final confrontation of the guild would occur. This was the ground where the guild would take its final stand against any would be conqueror. sadly, so far none had made it to this doors and thus this door remains unchallenged.
Momonga reaches out to the door and opens its and the door opens to the throne room where Momonga had just been an hour ago when he logged in. Albedo still remained stood beside the throne with her ever-present maternal smile, unmoving like a doll, a very beautiful doll of the highest grade.
once the door was fully open, he strode to the throne and took his throne and his guild weapon ever-present on his hand. he was followed by Sebas and the Pleiades Maid who followed Momonga to the base of the throne after which they were made to kneel with the [kneel] command by Momonga along with Albedo.
Momonga stared at Albedo with slight agitation and could be seen to be in deep thought. after a moment Momonga used his Guild staff to open her character setting he skimmed through Albedo's backstory and his attention was quickly brought to the last line of her backstory which stated she was a Slut.
upon seeing the last line in the backstory of the overseer Momonga's agitation skyrocketed to anger. Anger on tabula about his eccentric nature and his weird fascination with morbid feature and Gap-moe but he had enough for the day, and he quickly removed the line about her being a slut and closed her setting. if he was not so agitated, he may have put "she loves Momonga" to replace the deleted lines but Momonga was not in a playful mood. he was angry at tabula for his recent antic like giving an NPC a WCI but his other actions had caused Momonga's mood to sour but he decided to let it be as the world was about to end anyway, so he decided to at least Savor the final moment of his beloved game and he would deal with tabula later, maybe when they setup their IRL guild meetup. But for now, he would spend his final moment in the guild not clouded by hostile thoughts of strangling the tentacled guildmate.
he decided to say his final words to the leader of the floor guardians and decided to make it quick "guardian overseer, Albedo, lead the guild well in my absence" not in the mood for an elaborate speech after seeing tabula's treatment of his NPCs
he checks the clock and sees 11:59 PM the final minute of the world had come and Momonga was satisfied of how things turned out, at least HeroHero showed, and they had decided to meet IRL and maybe invite other guild members on a later date. He would also have a long chat with the tentacled guildmate about mistreating his privilege as a member and his eccentric type of making npc backstories.
His train of thoughts on how to make his tentacled guildmate to feel his wrath came to a halt when he saw the time slowly countdown the last 10 second of his beloved world slowly tick away.
11:59:50
A memory of meeting his saviour save him from being bullied when he just started the game flashed through his mind
a shining knight charged at the human player while shouting "Justice" and the subsequent friendship that formed.
11:59:51
A memory of meeting 7 other similar player in the same situation as he was at the beginning which led to them forming a clan called nine's own goal.
11:59:52
A memory saving other heteromorphic player from the prejudice of human player emerged which earned them a reputation of an evil clan among the human centric player but also made them the shining dark knights for heteromorphic race.
11:59:53
A memory of discovering a unconquered tomb in the middle of the Niflheim which he and his friend conquered and made it into their main base of operation.
11:59:54
A memory of their guild starting to rise in fame or rather infamy as the evil guild which the guild member took to like fish to water.
11:59:55
A memory of the guildmembers designing various NPC to act as line of defence for their base of operation and each NPC was the personification of their creator and suddenly the memory of seeing tabula creation surfaced. which he quickly supressed and shelved for later.
11:59:56
A memory of grinding resources, crafting materials, endowing spells to gems and it all accumulating into the creation of the guild weapon, the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown , the nigh World class item, which carried the will and essence of the guild and its members and very thing that gave Momonga the will to maintain the guild for so long.
His grip on the staff tightened.
11:59:57
A memory of the grand invasion of Nazarick by 1500 player with the goal of conquering the guild base and breaking the guild weapon to make the guild disband through force, the anticipation of facing the massive number of player, ready to fight tooth and nails, the subsequent failure of the invasion and the guild motto being formed "Ainz Ooal Gown knows no defeat!"
11:59:58
A sad memory of guildmembers slowly fading out as they abandoned the game one after another. Followed by struggle of maintain guild ranking as a solo.
11:59:59
Momonga closes his eyes waiting for the game to auto logout as the server's shutdown.
00:00:00
Momonga eyes closed held his breath hoping to prolong this last moment of his guild last a little bit longer just by a miniscule amount, but he would cling to every moment he could grasp like a drowning man would struggle for just a single breath clinging to every hope of survival.
The GuildMaster's eyes remained closed hoping that the world he loved would exist as long as his eyes were closed and it would all disappear as soon as he opens his eyes, like the Schrodinger's cat experiment and he was set have his eyes closed to the reality that his beloved guild, no, his beloved home had disappeared.
But his attention was grabbed by the sudden voice of an unknown female beside him, Momonga thought he had passed out and it was the sound of a nurse trying to get him to consciousness but he refused to wake from thoughts of his home anytime soon until a gentle touch on his solder and the same female voice was heard again and this time he heard what the voice said "Lord Momonga, are you alright?" which made Momonga open his eyes to reality and what he had expected was to be greeted with the sterile environment of a hospital which he was admitted to due to his sudden emotional unconsciousness.
But instead his eyes opened back in the throne room of his guild, still very much there and every single detail unblemished the giant hall still lit by an aura of royal authority and oppressiveness, his body still sat on the alabaster stone throne. unmoved from the position he took for his final moment in this world and Infront of him stood or rather kneeled Sebas the head butler of Nazarick and his Subordinates the Pleiades Maids, knelt like the ever-loyal servant they were created to be.
His attention was then again grabbed by the unknow female voice that was just beside him but he did not recognize the voice for the love of God it sounded so unfamiliar yet the voice held a tone of reverence and maternal care
Momonga shifted his attention from the kneeling butler and maids to the source of the unknown voice and as he laid his eyes on the source of the unfamiliar voice his eyes were met with slit yellow eyes like that of a cat and a face that could only be described as if an angel from heaven had come down to kneel beside him at his face level, as his eyes traced the facial feature of the angelic beauty his eye were drawn to her horn that jutted out the side of her head coloured as if the Luster of pearls were used to paint her horned which surrounded her head like a crown and her hair the colour of the twilight with Luster like stars were caught in the locks of her hair.
Momonga took another minute to look over her feature again and the ever nagging feeling he had seen her everyday presented itself in his gut like an uncomfortable case of bloat but not a unease but instead the opposite it was like seeing a friend he had known for years. yet he could not pinpoint where he had met such a beauty in his life as he rarely interacted with any person let alone any female of her angelic beauty to have such a feeling of familiarity.
Suzuki Satoru never being in such close proximity of such a beauty did what any man who was questioning reality would do and blurted out the first thing that was on his mind. "Beautiful" in a voice he did not recognize the voice that sounded his thoughts was of a rich baritone that sounded regal and authoritative even when speaking in casual conversation, the voice commanded respect a voice that he would associate with wise older men who had gone through life and had harnessed the knowledge gained through life and could make the world tremble by its speeches.
upon the word leaving his lips the reaction was immediate as the familiar but unrecognized female sprouted a tinge of pink on her porcelain white skin which gave her natural beauty an even greater alure. her angelic face had been transformed to that of a graceful maiden goddess that could bend the world to her will with simply offering the forces of nature her gentle smile. the laws of nature would bend and break themselves to simply touch the cheeks of such an eternal beauty. The very fabric of Momonga's being was soothed by the gentle face and the gentler smile of the being Infront of him.
then the creature spoke again "Lord Momonga are you alright? you seem to be spacing out suddenly? is there something not to your liking or is there some fault in our presence that causes you distress?" now looking concerned and at the verge of tears.
the face of concern and misting of the eyes of the goddess on earth caused Momonga to suddenly snap out oh his stupor along with feeling a pang of guilt for causing such a beauty to wet her eyes and change her beautiful smile to a face of concern and finally recognize that he was still in his guild base, the great unconquered of Nazarick.
Momonga slowly came off his shocked induced stupor and his thought ran at speeds that would shame the fastest moving jet and with his mind processing the ongoings he slowly analyzed his surrounding and found nothing out of place but suddenly he recognized his vision was now totaly clear like he was seeing with his own eyes instead that of a game avatar as he could not see any user interface in his vision which was a constant when he was in the game but now it was all gone only thing seen by him is what was Infront of him unobstructed by the UI of the game his field of vision was also wider than it was in-game like it was his true vision. his attention was again kidnapped by the beauty beside him and as soon as he took the full picture of her being Infront of him, he recognized her.
her yellow slit catlike eyes, the porcelain horns, the midnight black sparkling hair and angelic face along with her long glowing white dress and her black wings which sprouted from her lower back and the gift given to her by her creator held by her on her right hand had given him hint of who she was but he decided to verify his doubts just to be certain and asker her "Albedo?"
hearing the name being spoken the woman quickly responded confirming Momonga's hypothesis on her identity by saying "yes, Lord Momonga? how can this overseer of the great tomb of Nazarick be of service to the supreme being." which shocked Momonga as he had never heard any of the speak before and neither did he know of any mod that could simulate such soothing voice which could calm the rampage of a heart of raging men just by asking to them to calm down but soon a green aura flashed on his being and a sense of serene calmness took over him.
due to his sudden calmness, he thought of verifying his doubts and said in a confident voice to the head butler still
kneeling before his throne along with his subordinate maids "Sebas Tian?" Momonga's voice sounding like a question but could be interpreted as the lord trying to hail his butler.
the elder head butler hearing his name called responded in a crisp and sharp manner befitting the position he holds amongst the service NPC archetype of an elderly gentleman butler always prim, proper and sharp saying "yes, my Lord, what is your command."
hearing the crisp response Momonga spoke his command to the butler in his best impression of a person of higher class "Sebas, I suspect something is wrong with the ga.. world, take one of the Pleiades maid along and scout world outside the tomb but do not go further than 10 km from the Tomb entrance, scout for any form of life form and if intelligent life form are present try to persuade them to come to the tomb and if they prove hostile, abandon the mission and return to the tomb. report your finding to me when you are done with the task. use message to contact me if something unforeseen occurs. understood?"
Momonga had tried to imitate the style of handing task to subordinate his manager had done to him when he was at work and in response Sebas replied with "understood, my Lord, i shall take solution with me on my mission, i reckon her stealth can help me avoid unnecessary conflict if we encounter anything hostile"
Momonga nodded and turned to the Pleiades maid and ordered them "The rest of you split up in the 9th an 10th floor and see if there are any anomalies and while you are at it check up on the other maids and see if they are alright."
hearing their orders, the head butler and maids acknowledged their command and headed out of the throne room.
that left Momonga alone with Albedo.
Albedo was still knelt before him which prompted Momonga to order her to stand up, which was promptly complied to by the kneeling beauty.
Momonga then asked Albedo "guardian overseer, Albedo, come closer and give me your hand."
Albedo stepped closer and raised her hand which Momonga promptly touched which lead to the beauty to flinch like she was hit. seeing her reaction Momonga quickly realized he had his death touch passive was still active which causes damage to any living organism to suffer damage constantly. which he quickly deactivated and noticed that he could now instinctively perform all the in-game action which was usually controlled using the user-interface. he decided to think about it later and the matter at hand would need his total attention.
Momonga looked at the succubus and said "apologies, Albedo it seems my passive was still active." and continued to hold her hand and was shocked the hand felt so real and his hand could feel the skin like it was a real human. his friend and guild strategist once told him When you have eliminated all which is impossible then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth while quoting a old detective novel from the 20th century.
once he was done examining Albedo's hand he let it go and he looked at her and saw the woman had slight blush on her cheeks which she quickly suppressed and went back to her neutral smiling face.
Albedo finally spoke "my lord, is something troubling you?"
Momonga taken aback by the once silent mannequin like NPC talking decided to tell her what he was thinking "hmm... I feel different somehow, Albedo. do you feel any different?" purposefully answering in a vague manner and see what she would answer to his question.
Albedo looked concerned and spoke "no, I do not feel any different, my lord. although I did feel you change something in my being"
Momonga concluded that it must have been his erasing the backstory from her setting, which quickly reminded him of tabula's other NPCs and decided to see how they were and decided to tell her.
Momonga cleared his non-existent throat and said " Albedo, call all the floor guardians except the 4th and 8th along with the treasury guardian, pandora's actor to the colosseum in 2 hour and have Nigredo and Rubedo meet me personally along with yourself in 30 minutes in my office. for now i will retire to my room will the time of our meeting. Also put Nazarick on high alert until i say otherwise" after saying that he quickly vanished leaving the succubus alone on the throne room.
after the GuildMaster left the lone figure of Albedo quickly carried out the order an called the floor guardians and the enigmatic treasury guardian to the colosseum in 2 hour and then proceeded to go to her sisters' dwellings.
/5th floor/
Albedo arrives at the entrance of her elder sister's room who was a homomculus an artificial being, who was the area guardian of a section of the 5th floor. the entrance was nothing too noteworthy just a white all with a wooden door and a pedestal with a baby doll sat on it which she took and proceeded into her sister's room aptly named Nigredo, a dimly lit room with black tartare curtains, a table with a number of chairs surrounding it, a bed on a corner of the room and the centre of the room with where an empty chair where Nigredo would usually be sat awaiting invaders to step in to her room and be promptly.
Albedo saw her sister in her usual black sundress that came to her ankles frayed near the bottom sat on a chair with her elbows resting on a table and her hand covering her face, her shoulders shaking and as Albedo drew closer she could her sobs from her sister. shocked by her sisters sobbing she quickly approached her sister and once she was a few feet away she called out to her sister "Nigredo, what is wrong, sister?"
The sobbing woman hearing her name being called turned her head to the source of the voice and once her face was fully visible to Albedo, she was shocked to see her sister's teary eyes but smiling face as when Nigredo was created by their creator Tabula Smaragdina she was made to look like a creature of horror with long hair covering her face with the absence of skin on her face being a key aspect being a identifying her along with her beautify blue eyes.
But the woman now Infront of Albedo was not a monstrosity that would haunt anyone who gazed on her face as Albedo as expected but a woman with similar facial feature to Albedo with pale skin, soft feature and striking beautiful blue eyes which were the only thing that indicated the women was Albedo's sister and the only thing distinguishing the two sisters was the absence of horns and different colour of apparel.
seeing her sister's shocked face Nigredo figured it was due to her change in appearance and said "the pain... it's gone... the pain i suffered since my creation... the torment i suffered my whole life is gone." as fresh tears stream down her cheeks and a happy smile on her face with a feeling of relief.
Albedo shocked by the revelation of her sister's suffering quickly asked "Rubedo you've changed? what happened to you? and you were in pain why?" still shocked at the change of appearance and characteristic in her sister.
Typically, Nigredo would attack anyone who entered the room be it invader or guildmember unless she was presented with the baby doll present on the alter outside her room. but it seems she was changed, and Albedo suspected it was done by her master since he was the one who ordered her to collect her sisters and meet him.
Nigredo with a sense of relief and joy happily said "Yes, dear sister, Lord Momonga changed me! he used his powers to take away my pain which i have endured since my creation by our creator, Lord Tabula Smaragdina, I cannot explain how relieved i am since Lord Momonga's blessing and he also removed my violent tendencies which lead me to attack any who entered my room!" sounding very greatful to their master.
Albedo hearing about Her sister's torment since her creation was saddened which turned into joy Lord Momonga helped her sister overcome her torment, which cemented the thought their lord was a merciful master in her mind.
Albedo decided to inform her sister about the summon from their master saying, "maybe you can show how grateful you are to Lord Momonga as he has called for you, Rubedo and i for a meeting in his office." with a loving familial smile to her sister.
Nigredo hearing she was summoned by the merciful deity who give her relief from her torment nodded enthusiastically saying "yes, dear sister, i would love to thank our merciful lord in person." feeling indebted to the lord of Nazarick.
Albedo nodded and said, "let us get our youngest sister, Rubedo and then head to the private office of our master, shall we?" sounding enthusiastic herself and thankful to her master for freeing her elder sister from her torment as she led her sister to the eighth floor.
/Rubedo's Chamber/
The pair of siblings had arrived on the eighth floor and quickly approached their youngest sibling Rubedo's chamber, who was a automaton like one of the Pleiades maids and were standing Infront of the entrance, a large marble door surrounded by thick wilderness beyond which the youngest sibling was supposed to be present.
The two siblings entered the chamber expecting to see their youngest sister in her inert state ready to be activated and protect their Home if any would-be conquerors, like she had done during the 1500 player invasion as the strongest being in the whole of Nazarick.
what they had not been expecting was an activated Rubedo running around the empathy chamber like a overactive child, giggling and jumping around the empty but well-lit large Chamber which could easily fit 2 colosseum from the 6th floor that would act as the arena for invader, filling the empty chamber with childlike noise and clinking of metal Armor with every move Rubedo made.
Rubedo appearance was that of an young adult with platinum blond hair unlike her sibling but with similar facial feature to her siblings, pale skin, delicate feature with a childish smile on her face and innocent curiosity in her red eyes, dressed in a red metal Armor which was form-fitting and tailored to the female figure, accentuating curves while maintaining flexibility with strategic plate Armor pieces protecting vital areas, such as the chest, abdomen, shoulders, and thighs, while chainmail provides additional coverage and flexibility with a dark blue cape over her shoulders with metal gloves and thigh-high boots complete the Armor set which only enhance the warrior's look but also offer additional protection and functionality.
This shocked the Two elder siblings seeing the most powerful NPC being such a playful and active.
the pair of elder siblings were soon taken out of their shock, when the ball of energy had noticed their presence in her chamber and quickly approached them, at a speed faster than most normal human would have trouble keeping up with and drew her two elder siblings into a fierce hug.
the two elder sisters were surprised by the sudden hug by their youngest feeling the sensation of the youngest's metal armour against their body but soon reciprocated by hugging back the youngest sibling engulfing the youngest lovingly like one would after being apart for a long time. The hug lasted a few minutes during which the elder sister were enjoying the closeness among themselves but soon they would notice the youngest was shaking with tears pouring down her eyes which turn to sobbing. Which confused the two older women to first be confused which turned to concern for the wellbeing of their youngest.
this lead Nigredo, the eldest to ask her youngest "Rubedo, why the tear, dear?" still in the hug and looked towards Albedo with questioning eye. Albedo too was confused as this was the second time today she had see her sibling shed tears.
Rubedo between sobs answered, "I can finally move on my own! i am no longer imprisoned in my own body just seeing the world go by not being able to move a muscle, just stuck in a single position like a puppet with its sting cut." shocking the two older siblings. they had assumed Rubedo would be unconscious during her time of her deactivated state like she was asleep, rather than fully conscious, imprisoned in her own immobile body.
Albedo overcome with sorrow upon hearing even her youngest had suffered without her knowledge in a soft voice spoke "Rubedo, my dear sister, had i know you were suffering sooner i would have begged the supreme beings to alleviate your suffering even offered my being to replace yours if i could, forgive this worthless sister of yours." with tears streaming down the eyes of the succubus, feeling like she had failed her duty as an elder sibling.
Nigredo too had salty tears streaming down her eyes as she too felt like she had failed as the eldest of the three siblings. suffering her own torment while her youngest had too suffered like herself.
Albedo as the guardian overseer was privy to the protocol regarding Rubedo's activation Knew that her activation would be only permitted during the most dire moments like with the legendary invasion was perplexed to see Rubedo was active asked in a soft voice "But how are you able to move now Rubedo? your activation can only carried out by one of the supreme beings under only certain circumstances?" curious how her sister was active and moving about and was concerned if it was related to Lord Momonga's weird feeling he mentioned in the throne room.
Rubedo hearing her sister's question answered with a cheerful voice "I was activated by Lord Momonga. He also removed my deactivation protocol from my system." surprising the two elder sisters as it was the second time today, they were witness to their lord's boundless mercy on them.
Rubedo then eased her hug on her siblings as they ended their group hug and her expression changed to a serious mood and asked Albedo "By the way are we expecting invader, since i was activated and the tomb was set to high alert." losing all her childishness as she was prepared to slaughter any invader that dared defile the sanctity of her home.
Nigredo too was reminded of the high alert state the tomb was put on, but it slipped her mind as she was so lost in the feeling of relief being freed from her own torment and left her post empty and quickly added to the conversation saying "yes, Albedo we must not tarry any longer, Lord Momonga must be waiting for us in his office. So, we can return to our post ready to face any invader that dare defile the sanctity of our home." with equal enthusiasm as their youngest.
Rubedo, hearing Lord Momonga had summoned them for an audience was delighted and added in a slightly cheerful tone " Lord Momonga summoned us! why did you not start with that we cannot have lord Momnga kept waiting."
in a childish impatient tone and started to drag her elder siblings towards the exit of her chamber and to their lord's private office.
Although they soon found themselves at the wrong location as Rubedo had no idea about the layout of the tomb as she was confined to her chamber most of her life. which lead to Albedo to take charge and lead her siblings to their lord's private office.
/Outside Momonga's Office/
The three siblings arrived at the door of their merciful Lord and before they entered the office Albedo decided to tell her siblings a few things to keep in their mind as they talked to their master.
Albedo cleared her throat and spoke " Nigredo and Rubedo once inside you two will let our lord know how grateful you are for the mercy he bestowed upon you two and act according to how you would to a supreme being... No! you must be even more diligent as he was the leader of all other supreme beings and i wall also be there as the overseer of the tomb, careful not to displease our master as he can just as quickly take back the mercy he showed as he bestowed upon you."
Directing her sister in the proper manner to act before their lord and warning them to not draw the ire of their lord like she did when she spoke out of line in the throne room and was punished with his Undead touch passive, although lord Momonga had apologised after stating he forgot it was active but Albedo knew it was a warning to her for stepping out of line and speaking without being spoken to first.
Nigredo and Rubedo hearing their sister's words nodded stiffly as they were not too keen on being returned to their previous state of torment by drawing any displeasure from their lord.
Rubedo cheerfully said "we will give him all the respect he is due as the leader of the supreme being and more as our saviour from our torment dear sister Albedo." but a hint of fear could be heard in her voice as she was reminded her gift of mercy could be taken aways just as swiftly as it was bestowed upon her by their master.
Nigredo placed a hand on her youngest sister to calm Rubedo's nerves as well as her own and said "yes, nothing but the utmost reverence will be shown to our Lord and even more, worry not Albedo." as Nigredo steeled her nerves and nodded to Albedo.
Albedo satisfied by her sister's word and action decided to prepare to announcer their entrance to their lord by knocking at the door of his office
*Knock Knock*
after knocking on the wooden door Albedo announced "Lord Momonga, I have brought Rubedo and Nigredo for an audience as you ordered." and awaited a response from their lord. Each Moment felt like an eternity waiting for a response from their lord.
After what seemed to be an eternity the voice of their lord a deep baritone voice of authority called them in saying "Come in. I have been waiting and wanting to have a talk with all three of you."
the three siblings share a final glance at each other and entered the private office of their master, fearing what he would want to discuss with all three creation of Tabula Smaragdina.
End chapter