"So, this is our new home, 'eh? Neat-o."

"It is, indeed, quite a sight."

A silver-maned butler and a tan-skinned maid occupied the summit of a long, stone barricade, 'Quite the contrast…' the man reached for the handkerchief kept in his welt. With its pristine fabric, he wiped the beads of sweat piling on his forehead. He breathed in the simmering air of the caverns around him. If the man were human, his lungs would have shriveled up before he could even gasp for air, "Are you alright, Regina?" he asked. He offered his spare handkerchief to the woman beside him.

"Who do you take me for, Lord Sebas? A little bit of heat won't hurt me!" the maid flexed her right arm, "Even the Spa Resort's sauna is more of a danger than wherever we are!" Nevertheless, she took the handkerchief. Her drawn-out skirt fluttered like a maddened ballerina during a grand performance. The elongated slit along her left leg allowed for some restless movement, "Though I must admit, this place would be of great use if I am ever to forget my dryer," if she were a child, Lupusregina had no doubt that her frame would be swept up by the restless draft.

Her superior chuckled, 'You're always able to find some solace in situations such as these, Beta,' Sebas tore his eyes off the maid to adequately scan the tomb's new habitat.

Before their teleportation, Nazarick's horizon was coated with lemony trees. Their lush leaves quivered with excitement. They always stood tall and faced the sunrise with undying anticipation. Often, on his days off, Tian would gaze at their beauty with Tuare at his side. Now, such a view was unfathomable. Far off, Sebas could still spot a thick grove, but its magnificence was comparable to that of a rotting corpse. The trees that covered the ground miles away were but a carcass of their proper selves. Their leaves decayed on the floor below them, like tears, shed after a heartbreak and their bark was as pale as Shalltear's Vampire Brides. Sebas pulled out a sheet of ordinary paper from his inventory, 'As expected,' he let go of the file before the flames glued to its surface could dirty his gloves, 'Perhaps it's some sort of high-level lumber. On the other hand, they may not even be plants,' Sebas was overwhelmingly familiar with golems, it wasn't insane to suspect the ashen timber some.

"I bet Guren would absolutely love this place-" The redheaded maid ran along the crescent wall of rock. Her heels clicked and clacked, but the sound of her voice easily dominated its echo, "-last I heard, it adores lazing around in its lava pool."

A fiery basin as expansive as the Great Lake plagued the tomb's eastern front, 'It's still smaller than the Rivers of Lava, but it's not that far off,' the Iron Butler walked towards the wall's precipice, 'Who knows what dangers lie beneath,' Occasionally, the flaming pool would belch clouds of night-like gas. It was quick to evaporate, but Sebas's instinct told him to stay clear of it, 'Oh?' the man's attention was swept up by the movement within the lake. Titans composed of charred rock wandered through the marsh. Glowing red markings covered their every appendage and the single scarlet eye located at the center of their heads pulsated like a heart. The cracks in their body periodically scooped up some lava but it was quick to slide off, it was almost as if their skin repelled the fiery liquid.

"Say, Lord Sebas, this is your second time doing this, right?" Lupusregina ran towards her superior, "-Prettae ironic, don't you think?" the smile under her nose shined nearly as brightly as the lava around them.

"Indeed… though I hope it doesn't become part of my routine," the Pleiades' commander sighed, "-now, let's report our findings to Lady Albedo. I'm sure she and Lord Ainz are waiting."

Thud, thud, thud.

The dull footsteps of a young adventurer echoed across the halls of a winding maze, 'That makes ten,' the teenager undid the ribbon keeping the bag in his hands closed. Clink. He let go of a small pebble, letting it fall into the pouch where nearly a dozen more of its kin lay, "I've spent the last four hours here and barely have enough to meet today's quota… You gotta keep going, Bell," his contracted shoulders sank deep into the cavern's obscurity, 'There ya go,' with his back against the wall, the immature explorer fell to the ground. He took a small sip of the vile cradled in his backpack, "Blegh," healing potions never were his jam yet he was beginning to appreciate their sour taste.

"Gouugyuh!"

A rock the size of his fist crashed a mere millimeter away from his face, "What the hell?" before his attacker could pull any other moves, the adventurer retrieved the dagger on his belt.

"Oh, it's just a Goblin," Bell's gaze fell onto the burning eyes of a small imp-like creature. Its shadow melted into the abyssal darkness that surrounded it. He could only spot its claws, but the countless hours he spent listening to his advisor's guidance asserted his belief, 'That shape… Yup, it's definitely a Goblin.' he'd seen an innumerable amount of these rascals, yet the horrors they were capable of vividly lingered in his mind. He recalled the harrowing screams of a young Prum. His mind couldn't help but return to the moment when he witnessed a fellow adventurer get devoured by a pack of these devilish creatures. The girl's party lay dead all around. Although they bore no consciousness, Bell could tell that the monsters enjoyed tearing her limb from limb, he wished to help, but there was nothing he could do. Ever since that moment, no matter how small an enemy seemed, Cranel always always fought with vehemence.

"Ouurhg!"

He snapped out of his mind's prison. The short monster disappeared into the black pall, its figure was nowhere to be seen. Bell's body froze, 'W-Where'd it go?' the hallway around him split into two gorged divides, he could either retreat from whence he came or rush down the path opposite of where he saw the monster, 'It has to be here somewhere,' he raised his dagger close to his chest. An eerie song of emptiness reverberated in his ears and drew sweat from his pores. The only source of light on his person was a smaller-than-average magic stone lamp. Its brilliance only enveloped a small radius, no bigger than an umbrella's reach. There was nothing scarier than an unseen threat. Bell looked left and right but the Goblin was nowhere to be seen, 'Did… it… runoff?'

"Guess it di-" Specks of dust invaded his nose. Bell raised his dagger high into the air, barely in time to catch the green mulk of mass falling from above. The Goblin slid through his blade, a river of black blood covering its sharp edge along the way.

Poof

"Have Goblins always been that sneaky? No… The Dungeon's been acting up for quite a while now, something's not right. I should head back," Bell picked up the monster's magic stone and sheathed his weapon, "Ah, god, that hurts!" he lifted his hand to his left ear, "...Seems like it did land a hit on me after all. I need to be more careful," his ear had turned into a bulging mess, lumps of blood and flesh laced its surface. When he stared at his palm, the only thing he could see was a puddle of blood, "I should've hung onto that potion…" Bell rummaged through his leg holster, he could feel a couple of bulbous containers wrapped in leather, 'These are the potions Miach gifted me. It'd be insulting if I were to use them for an injury as minor as this… ' Instead, he pulled out a roll of gauze bandages from his backpack. The dressing was as smooth as cotton and as stretchy as nylon. He'd obtained it from a supply shop on North Main, his jaw fell to the floor upon seeing its price, but having no mage at his side left him with no other options.

'I could return to the lower fifth, but I would have to be extra careful. My leg's not fully healed yet and it'll take a long while for the potion I just drank to take effect,' a bandage cut from the same cloth clung to his leg. The patches of dried blood were few and far between, but Bell could still feel a small prickling sensation whilst walking, almost as if his leg were asleep. He knew that if he ran into another pack of War Shadows, he wouldn't be able to resist.

"Let's head ba-"

Bell fell to the floor.

His chest throbbed and his eyes, driven by panic, nearly bent backward, "Wh-" not a single word could climb out of his parched mouth, it was almost as if an insurmountable and primal dread prevented him from doing so. 'W-What's going on?' he tried to stand up, but it also ended in failure. His legs were injured, yes, but he'd managed to get to the fourth floor all on his own, why did they suddenly give up now? He put as much force as he could on his knees. A fierce stinging pain gnawed at his legs, but he didn't care, he had to get away. He tried and tried but the unliftable weight atop his shoulders pinned him to the ground.

'What's going o-'

"Gyahhshar!" A haunting scream filled the halls of the fourth floor, akin to an avalanche of grief and pain.

'I-Is someone else he-?' the breakfast he'd eaten -courtesy of Syr, draped the floor, "Buagh!" the walls of the Dungeon began to convulse, it was almost as if they were having a seizure. Bell reached for his god-gifted potions, 'Have I been poisoned? No, there's no monster this high up capable of paralyzing its prey… Still, I must try!' Perhaps this was an enemy attack: neutralizing it was his highest priority. Miach's potions were bound to help, he didn't have time to waste, and he didn't know when a monster would appear.

Crack

Bell's pupils shrunk. The strain on his body was too much to handle, yet the unnerving curiosity within him propelled him to force his head.

Crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack crack

Small microscopic fissures began to surface from every corner of the room. In an instant, its blue hue was suppressed by its graded counterpart. Howls and growls drowned out any and all cries for help Bell could've articulated. A thrashing march shook the halls. Bell couldn't move his head, but he could lift his visage. An army of Kobolds, Goblins, and Dungeon Lizards crawled out of the many holes in the Dungeon's walls. The Upper Floors' corridors weren't as wide as the deeper floors, yet here they were, hundreds of them, their bodies melded together in a visceral sea of fur, scales, and hide.

Clink

Bell dropped the potion. Rather, he focused his efforts on crawling, 'No no no no no no no… THIS CAN'T BE!' He clenched the small piles of dirt spread across the Dungeon's floor. He anchored his limbs into whatever he found on the cavern's bed, 'This isn't the Dungeon's spawn rate!' Was this how he was going to die? The abundance of monsters was heading his way with no signs of ever stopping. There was no way the Dungeon classified him as such a threat, so why the sudden avalanche? 'They're getting closer!' Honestly, it'd be easier for Bell to escape if he were to cut off his limp legs. At the moment, they were more useful as sandbags than as limbs meant to drive him forward. He covered his vulnerable head with outstretched arms. The young adventurer gave up any hope of escape, now, his only wish was to survive.

THUMP… Thump… thump…

"H-Huh?" The monsters disappeared. The only proof of their existence was the gouged-out pieces of wall and trail of unending footprints, "W-what… was that? Are… they going deeper?" Bell knew the path they were taking like the back of his hand. A left, a right, and another left. That was all that was left of the Dungeon's fourth floor, any further, and one would end up in the maze's next segment.

"Wait what?" He could talk again!

"I-I need to get out of here, I must report this to Ms. Ein-"

Once more, Bell fell to the ground, this time, however, unconscious.

"...We're underground?"

"So it would seem, my lord," Nazarick's Overseer eagerly eyed her master. His luminous eyes loomed over the unending documents she presented.

"What an interesting change of pace, don't you think so too, Albedo?" his prime minister nodded. Ainz threw the document aside. The countless files disappeared into thin air, '...I'll have a proper look later, for now though, I'll just teleport them to my desk.'

"I assume you've followed proper procedure?"

"Of course, Lord Ainz-" the Succubus' wings fluttered alongside the harmonious hum of her voice, "-Nazarick's Defense System has been raised to its truest form. I've also paired with Shalltear to modify our Patrol Tactics."

"What about our guests?"

"They've been escorted to the 9th, per your instructions. The Holy Kingdom's Cardinal is safely guarded by both Delta and Beta, the Emperor of Baharuth by Alpha and Gamma, and Renner by Epsilon and Zeta."

"Good. Have we received the Guardians' notice?"

"Forgive me, my lord, but the only one who's submitted their word so far is Shalltear-" Albedo hung her head low, "-I can order an immediate progress report if you so wish."

"That won't be necessary," Ainz's skeletal fingers tapped the throne he sat atop. The restless cacophony echoed all across the hall, clashing against the swaying waves of irredeemable silence, 'If I had a nickel for every time my home has been teleported to a different location, I'd have two nickels… which isn't much but it's still odd.'

"If… It'd ease your worries, master, we can reenact the process we undertook after arriving in the New World-" Albedo lifted her head. She could see the weariness on her lord's unmoving skull, such was the depths of her love, "-say the word and we can erect mountains of impenetrable stone, courtesy of Mare."

"No… Let's change our approach. I shall send you the plan's layout later tonight-" Ainz stood up. His subordinate was quick to follow suit, "-also, summon Demiurge to my office. I wish to discuss our next move."

"Of course, my liege!" Albedo blinked. Her master disappeared. She lifted her head. The obsidian crystal above her lord's sovereign seat pounded in sync with her heavy heart, "I wonder: what will await us this time around?"

I wanna thank big chief: tangerine99 on Ao3 for beta-reading this, massive thanks, homeboy.