A Theory on Godhood: An Overlord Story

by Konahrik3115

The entirety of Ainz Ooal Gown, all 41 members, find themselves transported into a whole new world on the last day of Yggdrasil. How will a guild of 41 all-powerful heteromorphs change and influence the events that happened in canon, while also creating entirely new events to explore? For you, the dear reader, this is a tale best told as a theory, a theory on godhood.

57. The Black Dragon, Part Three

Battle of Nazarick

Nidhoggr growled in a mixture of agony and irritation. He brought down his colossal claws, crushing Gargantua underfoot. The rocky floor guardian stood its ground, holding up the World Enemy's foot like Atlas and the world on his shoulders.

It managed to shove off the foot, raising another fist to smash Nidhoggr's snout when he dove in to try and bite the golem's midsection. The tip of his snout deformed, but quickly regenerated. Gargantua did not let this impede its onslaught, as it began to unleash a hail of strikes.

Each punch could have easily sent hills flying, breaking Nidhoggr's scaly coat apart with little effort. When Nidhoggr tried to press the golem away, it merely grabbed his clawed paw and began tearing off his fingers.

"Do not think this false Titan of yours will prevail against me, wretches! From the earth it was forged, and to the earth it shall be destroyed!"

With monumental effort, Gargantua was toppled over by Nidhoggr's tail, which swung around and hammered it into the dirt. Before it could rise, the black dragon slammed his fist repeatedly downwards, taking out chunks of its body.

Gargantua needed no time to recover, grabbing Nidhoggr's fist and using the momentum to yank itself back up. With a simple twist, it broke the dragon's already injured hand, nearly tearing the limb clean off.

Utilizing his tail once more, Gargantua was thrown off. A stream of fire blasted over it, melting the surface level of the golem to a glossy sheen but doing little else. It stomped directly in the blast, paying the flames no mind.

Once within striking distance, a stony fist rocketed out to hit the joint that connected the World Enemy's left wing to its body. A sickening crunch indicated whatever passed for bones instantly broke, and the golem reached for the extra limb.

A maw of endless teeth chomped down at the golem's shoulder, halting its advance. It was picked up and shaken about, a temporary chew toy that could handle the punishment. As it was tossed around, more flames spilled out of the back of Nidhoggr's throat.

While it retained no discernible will of its own, the floor guardian had enough of being used so blatantly, grasping the side of the World Enemy's jaw and tearing out a sizable chunk. A low groan and a fountain of tar staining the dirt were evidence of Gargantua's indomitable might.

Finally, the golem was flung away, bits and pieces falling off when it crash-landed a fair distance away. It was able to rise again with superficial damage, unyielding in its approach.

Momonga's jaw fell open at seeing such an extraordinary struggle. The pure shock of witnessing a floor guardian, one that never would have seen the light of day in Yggdrasil due to guild base restrictions, actually take on the game's most powerful boss was a view unlike any other.

The NPCs were, likewise, similarly impressed at the display. However, it would take time for Gargantua to close the distance again, being thrown far enough to give the black dragon breathing room.

That would prove to be a lethal detriment to the guild that day.

Taking advantage of the temporary astonishment, the black dragon blasted a beam of emerald napalm directly toward Shalltear, who had managed to achieve flight once again after being blasted out of the sky previously.

Before any of them could react, the True Vampire was eviscerated. Her entire body was reduced to ash in a breath. Being a level one-hundred being, Shalltear's body persisted for a single second, her bones startlingly apparent against the intense heat.

However, Shalltear did have the benefit of being equipped with an extra-life item. She was able to briefly resurrect, giving her just enough time to escape the inferno. She quickly dodged to the side, her crimson armor scorched and her hair on fire. Her left arm was missing, cauterized to her very cells.

"No!" Peroroncino cried. His bow snapped to attention, magnificent wisps of mana congealing to form a torpedo-sized arrow.

"[Magic Infused Arrow: Wrath of Atum]!"

The arrow glowed with a light that could rival the sun, beams of plasma arcing while the arrow sailed toward its target. It struck the side of Nidhoggr's neck, spilling out waterfalls of tar from the open wound. Alongside the tar was a stream of magma that the black dragon prepared to fire to finish off the True Vampire a second time.

In addition, Aura and Mare immediately attacked Nidhoggr's head, their dragon mounts striking at the eyes. Shalltear hovered weakly in the air, bobbing weakly to safety while the twins bought her time.

In firing that blast of fire, the very air itself was burned to a crisp, making it inhospitable for organic creatures to breathe. One could easily suffocate on the smoky combustion of such an attack.

All around him, Momonga's friends started coughing from the horrid air. Those who did not need to breathe were fine, but they'd need to purify the air if possible. He heard a couple of [Dispel Danger] spells being uttered to combat the effects.

Under normal circumstances, something as trivial as choking on smoke would not be an issue. When dealing with a World Enemy however, this rule was thrown out the window. Whatever side-effects that came from their attacks were heightened to a degree that it could ignore resistance, and make immunities the new baseline for resistance. None would walk away without a scar.

In other words, no one could truly be "immune" to a World Enemy's attacks. They could only be resistant, and to increasingly diminishing effects.

Using [Life Essence], Momonga was able to check the health of the final boss of Yggdrasil. He mentally swore when he saw that despite Gargantua's onslaught, Nidhoggr's health had been reduced by about forty percent.

Shalltear is badly wounded and Gargantua needs time to come back. Our summons are moot at this point, we cannot fly, and if we aren't careful, the NPCs won't be the only ones taking casualties. We need to end this fight now.

"Touch Me, the heart is exposed. Can you use [World Break] to deal a killing blow? What about [World Catastrophe], Ulbert?" He asked over the messenger. Some of the wendigos tried to attack him while he spoke, but summoning a horde of equally powerful undead to hold them proved enough to hold them at bay.

Ulbert grunted. "It'll be tight timing and I'll be out of the fight afterward, but I could. [Life Essence] is showing he still has a massive block of health."

"He might use a legendary resistance to negate your attack too," Touch Me offered, slicing down his group of wendigos that swarmed his legs. "We need to get him to use all three of them, pronto!"

Momonga nodded in understanding. "Then that is exactly what we do. Hold your ultimates in reserve. The rest of us will do what we can to hold the line!"

His friends cheered at that, their desire to defeat Nidhoggr emboldened by the possibility of slaying such a powerful World Enemy. Though the threat of death loomed in the back of his mind, Momonga felt secure in the knowledge that a variety of methods existed to resurrect everyone involved in the titanic battle.

Temperance the Core Spawn Seer dissolved into a puddle of shadow. He raced along the ground and up the right arm of the Black Dragon. He eventually reformed on the tip of Nidhoggr's nose, and Aura and Mare backed off to let the player do what he needed to do. Temperance raised an arm towards the sky and his index finger extended.

"You made a huge mistake coming here, thinking we'd roll over and die so easily! We are Ainz Ooal Gown, the strongest force in this world, and taking your ugly head will be our proof!"

That index finger of his both lengthened and widened, flattening out into a crescent that glittered with a honed edge. Temperance tore that finger off, taking with it an extension of his arm that thinned out to become a handle, twisted in its design and leaking liquid darkness.

Hefting the Hag's Finger over his head, Temperance slammed the blade down with all his might, the razor blade sinking deep into the corrosive flesh of his foe. A cyclone of tendrils swirled out, wrapping around the snout of Nidhoggr and digging deep into the gums of his teeth.

"[Black Sea of Infinity]!"

The clouds over the sky were sucked into the cyclone, stained midnight by the power that drained directly into that abyssal funnel. The black lightning raged against that cage that Temperance made, only enhancing the power that went into such a spell.

Solidifying into a drill, the funnel dug deeper into Nidhoggr, tendrils of shadow constricting his mouth shut and crawling down his neck. Once they reached the upper back where the wings were, there was an audible blip.

Nothing happened. Temperance had successfully forced Nidhoggr to utilize one of his legendary resistances to negate the shadowmancer's trump card. Had the trump card activated as intended, whatever area Temperance's power touched would have instantly dissolved into a sea of ink and spawned several high-level eldritch horrors, while simultaneously banishing the area into an alternate dimension.

It was, in essence, similar to [La Shub-Niggurath], only it did not require sacrifices to spawn the monstrous creatures from beyond the stars. It was more an area denial spell that not only erased an entire portion of land mass in its casting but also spawned in those monstrosities to kill off whoever was caught in its radius.

More dragon heads spawned from Nidhoggr's exposed skin, automatically firing beams of fire at the Core Spawn Seer. The player maliciously cackled, dissolving in and out of shadow while he reaped the dragon heads.

"What's the matter, you oversized millipede? Unable to catch a true dark lord such as I?!"

The World Enemy's reply was to turn his head and open his maw, freed from the constraining wisps of Temperance's trump card. A focused beam blasted from between his teeth, clipping Temperance on the shoulder. He tumbled down the shoulders of the mountainous beast before he was caught by Aureole Omega in mid-air.

"A fool blabbers. A dark lord acts."

Nidhoggr flapped his wings, having repaired his damaged one and acquiring altitude above the battlefield. The whirlwinds made from each movement shoved those who could fly directly into the ground, causing mass cratering across the battlefield.

"Damn it all! This smug son of a bitch thinks he can stroll up to our front porch like he owns the place?! Come at me, motherfucker!"

Suratan's rage spilled out over the group [Message]. Momonga watched as the bulky sasquatch leaped into the air, propelled by his insane strength. In one hand was his signature crystalline war ax, Suck the Blood and Eat the Flesh, and in the other was a flaming broadsword, Crush the Bones and Drain the Marrow.

The sound of the berserker's roar echoed across the battlefield, latching onto Nidhoggr's ankle with both weapons. The Sasquatch's body glowed a heated orange, the result of his skill, [Einhenjar's Rage], activating.

Using his weapons like ice picks, Suratan scaled the leg of the dragon, crushing the skulls of the dragon heads that rose from Nidhoggr's skin to slow his ascent. Often he would cut swathes of carnage with one swing of his sword.

Watching in amazement, the guild saw their friend steadily climb higher, lunging like a ravenous beast chasing prey alongside the mountainside. His black armor blended in with the World Enemy's tar skin, so the only way any of them could even see where he was at a time was because of his weapons.

With a final jump, Suratan achieved his apparent goal. He latched onto the membrane of Nidhoggr's right wing, clutching for dear life. He reared back Suck the Blood and Eat the Flesh and struck with a force that could level a fortress in one blow.

From the impact sight detonated shards of crystallized blood, scattering in all directions and piercing the membrane. Each time the World Enemy flapped his wings, the holes would get larger. A shockwave cleared away the dragon heads that tried to blast away the raging berserker.

Nidhoggr howled while his wing disintegrated, sending him careening into the earth once again. An earthquake from the resulting crash nearly knocked the guildmates and their NPCs off their feet.

A dust cloud that suffocated the sky billowed upwards, obscuring the body of Nidhoggr. However, his eyes could be dimly seen through the veil, lighthouses that projected their light for the whole world to see.

Overpowering that dim glow was an entirely different light show, one that progressed to the top of Nidhoggr's head. It crackled with orange plasma, a dull drone that increased in tone. Blasts of that plasma raced across the Black Dragon, incinerating the wendigos that tried to reach the source of that maelstrom.

At the crest of Nidhoggr's brow, Suratan stood, brandishing his weapons with murderous intent. He was the seat of the hurricane of fiery orange rage, his black armor bulging from the latent power that coursed through him at that moment.

He roared to the skies, a battle cry that would honor his brothers and sisters in Ainz Ooal Gown.

"Take cover!" Was the only warning any of them got, which prompted everyone to assume a defensive position. Bukubukuchagama was automatically in front of him, raising both of her divine tier shields to block what came next.

"RIP!"

Suck the Blood and Eat the Flesh dug into Nidhoggr's eyebrow, spilling a copious amount of corrosive blood into his left three eyes. A spire of crystal formed out of the blood, becoming a pylon for the energy that built up.

"AND!"

Crush the Bones and Drain the Marrow was stabbed into the other brow, igniting the blood as if it were gasoline. An inferno combusted into existence, merging with the hurricane that Suratan made from the force of his fury.

"TEAR!"

All three of these phenomenal forces merged into a singularity of white-hot rage. Momonga recalled seeing an image once, of what a thunderstorm looked like over a volcano while it was erupting. The Hand of God seemed to touch down on earth in that one photo, a destructive instrument to reshape the surrounding land.

That barely held a candle to what the Yggdrasil Berserker just unleashed.

A dome of energy formed right on top of the Black Dragon's head. It spread at the speed of light, bands of plasma burning everything in its path. Anytime a wendigo was caught in the blast, the ashes left behind would crystallize into spires that channeled the red lightning, further spreading the effects.

Momonga ducked as best he could behind Bukubukuchagama's shields. He knew that if he did not have the protection that he did now, even he would be instantly devoured by the berserker's power. Even still, it was quite a sight to behold the pace of the expanding dome.

Looking all around, he saw his friends were in similar shape. Some were fortunate enough to have complete immunity to divine-type electricity, so they were able to weather the storm without much concern. Others had the defense to simply tank the damage or were close to a guild tank that could absorb the worst of it.

The NPCs, on the other hand…

The Pleiades sisters were shielded by Aureole Omega's spiritual magic, [Tatsuki's Blessings], which negated all harmful effects in a certain radius. However, all the sisters were crammed together to make use of the spell.

Pandora's Actor and Sebas were back to back, the former having shapeshifted into Nearata and the latter using Qi to redirect the attack away from his body. Being dragons or dragon-related, they had the stats needed to handle any damage to their health pool, though they would need time to recover.

Aura and Mare, thankfully, managed to fly just above the radius of the dome, though their mounts still suffered on their underbellies. The elves did their best to heal the damage, though it was somewhat difficult during mid-flight.

Cocytus and his Frost Virgins had formed dense walls of ice against the blast, yet they were cutting it close with how thin the wall was in the aftermath. Coincidentally, Shalltear had ended up behind that wall with Peroroncino, which relieved Momonga to no end.

That bloodthirsty maniac! [There is always Rage] is one hell of a trump card to pull out already, but what should I expect out of a world champion runner-up?

He sighed, recognizing that Suratan had merely done as he always did: clear the room. He did tell his friends to use their ultimates to wear down Nidhoggr's legendary resistances, so he was not surprised his hot-headed guildmate took that to heart.

When the smoke cleared Suratan staggered towards them, dragging his weapons heavily behind him. His armor looked dirtied but otherwise intact, but the guild could sense his exhaustion over the group [Message].

"Pretty sure the lizard ate some of that," Suratan remarked wearily. "We got a few seconds tops before he gets back up from that, so however the fuck you decide to do it, figure out who's next-"

FWHOOM!

A beam of immense heat fired from directly behind the Sasquatch player, engulfing him in a field of jade light. He disappeared entirely, leaving a smoking pile of his highest-quality gear behind.

Momonga's jaw dropped at the suddenness of his friend's death, a pervasive chill coating his entire body. The shouts of his friends rang hollow in his ears, a distant ringing drowning them out. Suck the Blood and Eat the Flesh and Crack the Bones and Drain the Marrow were startlingly apparent on top of the pile of loot.

Suratan… But he–He had a resurrection item, didn't he? No, he should have, but he didn't–Why didn't he have it equipped?!

Already his emotional inhibitor began to activate, the rage and sorrow beaten back mercilessly by his undead nature. It was entirely possible that by fighting a World Enemy, resurrection might be negated in a certain area.

It was a small comfort, but it did mean that once Nidhoggr was defeated, any resurrection items should be reactivated. That comfort was swiftly destroyed when he recalled Shalltear was resurrected by her item when she was killed.

His emotional inhibitor went into overdrive again, his fists clenching and unclenching from the spurts of extreme emotions. Jo-Bro was swearing in the background, stomping the ground and cursing out the sasquatch. Yamaiko was crying, berating herself for not knocking her friend out of the way, the voice of Takemikazuchi pathetically small for the larger-than-life warrior.

Luci*Fer glowered in simmering anger, Wish III burning blue from his outrage. HeroHero cracked the knuckles of his mech suit, coated in a thick film of acidic slime and ready to avenge their guildmate. Shijuuten Suzaku cloaked himself in a blizzard, his eyes frosty with twilight blue.

Running through their heads was a single, unified thought. Nidhoggr must suffer.

"How quaint that he gave his all to harm me, and I was forced to bear the brunt of his assault. Alas, blood for blood, as Ragnarok would demand of it."

Nidhoggr's snout rose above the cloud of dust, curls of steam emanating from his eyebrows. Several teeth were knocked loose, and two of his left eyes were dark. This damage was not regenerating, much like the right eye had not when it exploded for some inexplicable reason.

His green heart pulsed radioactively, a sign of his enduring life force. With his uninjured leg, the black dragon limped forward, clearing the cloud entirely to showcase his unholy glory.

"Tell me, godlings, do you feel pride in what you have accomplished this far? Does your heart race with the notion that you might slay me here and now? Of somehow circumventing your doom? What utter foolishness…"

Despite the clear taunt, Momonga could tell that the World Enemy was beginning to feel the effects of their battle. Where previously his health refilled at a staggering rate, now it stopped fully. The physical marks did not go away, and when Momonga used [Life Essence] he was surprised to see that Nidhoggr's health was steadily depleting.

He knew it was not just him noticing this, as his friends could tell from their own [Life Essence] spells. The utter gall of such a creature to still mock them even as it was slowly dying.

Nidhoggr limped another step, shaking the earth itself beneath his behemoth mass. A stream of tar leaked between the teeth, outlining a cruel smile. The black dragon laughed shakily, its eyes flickering.

"It is as I told the Son of Pan in the forest. Whether I win or lose here, the result is the same. One way or another I will get what I seek. It is only proper that I do a final send-off before you recognize the futility of your situation."

How he talked produced a profound unease that Momonga could not comprehend at first. Normally someone did not taunt another opponent unless they were intending to elicit a certain response out of them. That was just PvP one-oh-one.

Momonga's heart dropped when he realized that. We're being manipulated.

Without warning, Nidhoggr swiped at the air with his undamaged wing, striking the flying group of Pleiades and scattering them. Using the wing as a sort of scoop, he smacked down a particular pleiade once they were separated. They crashed into the dirt with a horrid crack, the battle maid gasping.

Mekongawa and Ankoro yelled in horror, their superior eyesight spotting who exactly the black dragon singled out from among the group. The bright-red hair and wolfish ears peeking out from beneath her cap made it abundantly clear.

Lupusregina never got the chance to scream, swiftly crushed underfoot by several tons of mythic strength. Only an insect would receive such a mercifully quick end.

The anguished wail that rose from Ankoro's throat was unearthly, unsuitably human. It was the sort of wail that only a loved one could deliver at the loss of their child. Mekongawa unleashed an animalistic roar that heralded a blast of fire, striking with remarkable power against the black dragon.

In this, Nidhoggr began to act more rashly than he did before, stomping towards the sibling pair. That carefully controlled personality was thrown to the wayside, the head of an ugly beast rearing itself in his personality.

Ankoro's rope lashed around his neck, steaming from the contact and cutting into his skin. With a simple yank, the werewolf scout was tossed into the air, thrown off-balance in free air. The maw of the beast opened wide, tongue lashing to constrict Ankoro and drag her down his throat.

With supernatural agility, the werewolf was able to orient herself by using the segment of Gleiphnir. Instead of falling into his mouth, she tumbled down the side of his upper jaw, utilizing one of her imperial gold daggers to slice deeply into his flesh and prevent her fall.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Ankoro wailed hysterically, tightening the rope and carving a sizable scar. When it became evident Gleiphnir could never cut entirely through the dragon's neck, Ankoro unwound it and instead lassoed the tongue of Nidhoggr, taking the very tip as recompense.

Deterred by the damage was taking, Nidhoggr shook his head and dislodged Ankoro from his jaw. In free fall once again, his jaws snapped and swallowed her whole. The light of Gleiphnir marked her progress down his gullet, the light of the rope showing through his desiccated skin.

Mekongawa's fire was a torrential beam of hatred that spewed from his mouth, the blast striking the guild's shared foe right above his chest cavity. Flecks of dragon flesh melted, pooling beneath the crystal heart of the black dragon and decreasing his health ever further.

The pets which Mekongawa had summoned were similarly bloodthirsty, scaling across limbs and testing through dragon heads to rip Nidhoggr to pieces. The flames of the chimera piled on, setting the entire inner body on fire.

Pride and sorrow surged in Momonga from watching the siblings pay their diligence to whittle down their enemy's health. Once again, his emotional limiter kept his mind clear while he and the others closed the distance, seeking to get as close as possible to finish the fight.

Tentatively, he tried to cast [Flight] on himself and his guildmates. His efforts were rebuked as the spell failed, which indicated that Nidhoggr's spells were still in effect. However, a shimmer over his body weakly flared when he cast the spell.

His health is diminishing enough that whatever effects he has in place might be failing. We need to keep at it!

By this point, Gargantua had successfully reached the World Enemy, grappling with his serpentine neck to strangle him. Nidhoggr choked, raking his claws against the golem's stony body. Deep scratches were left behind, exposing parts of Gargantua's magical core. This did not stop the golem, unable to feel pain and entirely hellbent on ending the fight once and for all.

"Touch Me, give me a boost!" Momonga said. His friend acknowledged his request, rushing over to his position right at the hind legs of Nidhoggr. Placing his hands on the ground, he made a cup that Momonga could put his foot in.

With his strength, Momonga was hoisted at mach speed, his robes whipping around him as he soared into the air. He landed on Nidhoggr's lower back, far away from his friends who circled back to the front of the black dragon to target his heart.

"Nidhoggr, whatever future you may represent, whatever past you have endured, I end it here and now!" Momonga shouted. He saw the pets of Mekongawa beeline for him, intending to assist him, but he waved them away. He knew that he would need space where no one else would be caught in the crossfire.

Because he had activated [The Goal of all Life is Death] already but not utilized it, that trump card would need to cool down for one hundred hours. He would need to call upon another one of his ultimate skills to wear down a second legendary resistance.

"[Anathema]."

Chains of umbral energy wrapped around his forearms, and a spectral coffin appeared before him. Inscribed on the lid was a three-pronged symbol, like a bastardized cross that someone attempted to convert into a pitchfork. The lid slid ominously open, spilling out a smoky haze that lingered on his clothes.

From out of the coffin stepped an angelic being, dressed in charcoal gray robes. Eight wings of smoke billowed from the back, and six arms held different artifacts of religious importance. The head was covered in a deep hood, though Momonga could make out several eyes and tongues spread haphazardly across the face.

In one hand was an aspergillum, another was a flaming sword, the third was a scythe, the fourth was a curved dagger dripping with blood, the fifth was a weighted scale, and the sixth was empty. The palm of the last hand was upturned, a runic symbol etched into ashy flesh.

Momonga pointed down at where they stood. "Fetch me his soul."

The angel obeyed his simple command, rising into the sky and shaking the aspergillum so a rainfall of holy water fell upon them. The holy water conveniently fell around Momonga, leaving him safe from the angel's effects. All armed hands raised above the angel's head, the weapons gleaming with a vengeful light.

It swooped down and dragged all available weapons across the back of the dragon, working its way up to where the wings were to start killing its intended target. Momonga imagined the angel would cut its way to the heart from the outside, digging a hole directly through the World Enemy's body.

As expected, the damage dealt by the angel was ignored, creating sparks as if it was striking against metal. This meant to Momonga that his plan had worked. By using [Anathema] to summon Azrael, the archangel of death, any damage would be negligent, the second legendary resistance used up by Nidhoggr.

He must have tanked Suratan's trump card because he figured he could survive damage spread out over a larger area of effect, instead of single points of contact like Temperance and I.

That being said, Momonga recognized through [Life Essence] that Nidhoggr possessed a decent amount of health left. Even with Gargantua doing its best to remove his head from his body, Nidhoggr resisted with strength that only a World Enemy could boast of. His friends could try to get in close to damage the heart, but with the two kaiju-sized beings wrestling with one another, the situation was precarious.

Ruminating on this, Momonga remembered that he had not seen a specific NPC join the fight, one that would prove just as beneficial as Gargantua was. Indeed, if Gargantua was like a battleship built to handle the punishment, then where was the cannon that pierced the enemy's naval blockade?

Where was the guild's most powerful single NPC? Where was Rubedo?

Off in the distance, the ground rumbled like thunder where Gargantua had emerged from the tomb. Though it was a fair distance away, Momonga strained his "eyes" as best he could to see what the new commotion was.

It was not just him either, as the group [Message] filled with chatter from his guildmates. He did not have the same sort of incredible vision as his bestial friends, but the shape that was coming out of Nazarick was large enough that he could see it with the naked eye.

"Apologies, my lords. Commanding Gargantua required deft focus. Nigredo and Citrinitas aided me in suiting up," the quiet monotone of Rubedo echoed over a new [Message] directed towards both players and NPCs alike.

From the dirt rose a giant mech, though it was only about three-quarters of the size of Gargantua. Humanoid in stature, it was painted in the color scheme of the guild and heavily armored in mechanical plates. The symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown was emblazoned on the left-hand side of the chest.

Two cannons that glowed with blue mana sat on each shoulder of the mech suit. On the left forearm was mounted a third cannon, a turquoise crystal situated in the back of the mech's hand. In the other hand was a supersized version of Rubedo's traditional ax, the edges glowing crimson red.

A visor lit up on the mech's face and a pair of horns folded up to complete the look. The butt of the ax slammed into the ground, a distinct hum as the mech suit's systems all finished priming up.

"In the name of Ainz Ooal Gown, you shall be punished. Prepare for extermination."

Panels on the back of the legs and its shoulders opened up, jets propelling the suit faster than something of its size should move. Nidhoggr had managed to shake off Gargantua, baring his fangs at the approaching contender.

"How woefully wasted you were in the other timeline, Rubedo. And how woefully wasted you shall be in this one as well."

His jaws widened enough that he could swallow the entirety of Nazarick, and a funnel of green napalm blasted out from the depths of his throat. The jolting movement made Momonga stumble, grasping on for dear life. Over the left flank, he could see his friends scrambling to get out of the way. Albedo dared to fly to him, diving in and whisking him to safety amongst his friends on the ground.

Rubedo was able to expertly dodge the blast, the jets allowing for reflexive lateral movement. Every time Nidhoggr moved his head to follow her movements, the propulsion system built into her mechanical suit allowed her to dodge far ahead of any curve thrown toward her.

What helped as well was that Gargantua was not thrown as far away as before. It was able to reach the Black Dragon quicker, grabbing his jaws and hitting them closed. Bursts of fire exploded between his teeth, knocking out a few more.

With the extra time, Rubedo arrived at the bulk of the battle, raising her ax in a wide, over-head arch that accelerated due to rockets built in the back of the head. Nidhoggr took advantage of Gargantua grabbing his jaw, and yanked the golem in the way of the blow.

CRACK!

A chunk of Gargantua's upper back was cracked, shards falling away to expose more of his core. Rubedo readjusted, her jets maneuvering her to the side of the World Enemy's head. The butt of her ax smashed deeply into one of Nidhoggr's eye sockets.

Through a mental command, Gargantua shoved Nidhoggr's head deeper into the ax's bottom, a well of blood geysering all over Rubedo's mechanical suit. A shrill roar burst from the Black Dragon while he thrashed about.

Eventually, he did manage to shake off Rubedo, the warforged jettisoned back with her suit's mechanical propulsion systems. While repositioning herself, both canons on her shoulders and the one on her arm lit up with dark-blue runes.

Beams of energy fired out, slicing through Nidhoggr's hide like a hot knife through butter. Much like the black dragon's fire, the point of impact exploded, eviscerating fields of flesh. Before the beams of light shut off all the way, Rubedo was flying up in the air and peppering the rest of his body with swarms of [Magic Missiles] that were enhanced to the highest degree.

Both constructs were ripping into the World Enemy, dealing damage equivalent to entire legions of players all by themselves. Rubedo especially was highly effective, utilizing the stat boosts granted by the Caloric Stone which served as her power source. It was her very heart.

The mech suit that she piloted was a special aspect that she took advantage of with the stone powering her. It was, in essence, her special trump card. An ability like hers made her nearly invincible, boasting a wide array of weapons and abilities that proved able to take on Yggdrasil's most powerful endgame boss.

Jam-packed into every conceivable panel of her suit was some sort of weapon or magical device best suited for the battlefield. The three canons were receptacles for the tenth-tier spell [Dragon Primed Laser], panels on the chest opened to reveal honeycomb missile launchers. On the legs were hidden anti-gravity blasters. The very core of the mech could power an anti-magic field that negated magic to a certain stat threshold. Even the materials were prismatic ores, reflective plates which exploded with force against whoever struck them.

Nidhoggr roared, swiping at Rubedo who buzzed around him. When the tip of his claw scratched her mech's knee, the entire tip was blown off with brutality. Gargantua made its way up the top of the back, gripping both wings and stomping its foot down at the base where the wings connected to the dragon's body.

In one fell swoop, the wings tore with wet, cracking finality. Nidhoggr's roar of pain reached a new pitch, spitting up globs of blood. He panted heavily, his body physically disintegrating at a rate that was comparable to his previous regeneration.

Rubedo landed heavily in front of him, her rocket-powered ax thundering with murderous intent. One-half of his horns were chopped off, leaving the dragon's head lopsided. Were it not for the seriousness of the situation, some of the guild mates might have laughed at how their enemy's head tilted awkwardly.

His body was battered and broken. Even now, [Life Essence] revealed that his health trickled away without the massive blocks of damage being dealt to him. Not a single meter of his body was left untouched by the guild's wrath. By now, a weaker creature would have succumbed to their wounds and pleaded for mercy.

And yet… Nidhoggr laughed in their faces. Choking on his own blood, limbs weakly holding up his physical body and the stumps of his wings bleeding profusely. That laughter was not the reaction they expected. Despite all the punishment he had taken, Nidhoggr chuckled hauntingly.

The stare of his remaining eyes pierced the hearts and minds of Ainz Ooal Gown. Momonga, who could only take in the sight of the two NPCs manhandling Nidhoggr, felt a chill up his spine. The Black Dragon's tattered lips drew back in a mocking smile.

"Et tu, Bellriver?"

"Worry not, my lords. I shall dispatch him," Rubedo flew over to the top of Nidhoggr's head. Once she landed, she shoved the handle of her axe through the eye sockets, gripping both hands and heaving upwards. The mech suit groaned with the weight but held, slowly lifting the head at a backward angle. The jets in the suit activated, providing more leverage to pull back on Nidhoggr's head.

Momonga recognized what Rubedo was trying to do. She was going to snap the neck using the handle of her super ax. So much force was exerted that he could see what passed for muscles and tendons tearing beneath the skin. It rippled in waves, bunching up as each fiber ripped to the immense strain.

And still, Nidhoggr laughed. He laughed and laughed at the NPC's efforts. His neck was lifted so high that they could see his crystalline heart. It pulsed madly, cracks appearing on its faceted surface. Fractals of light spilled out, emerald embers that signified his life force.

The light stemming from his heart poured out in dangerously bright waves, pulsing to a certain rhythm that Momonga did not understand at first. All he could hear was the deriding sneer of Nidhoggr while Rubedo got closer and closer to breaking his neck.

"Rubedo, wait-" Momonga began, an ominous feeling he didn't understand gripping him. He tried to warn Rubedo not to go through with her execution, but by the time the words came out of his mouth it was too late.

Nidhoggr's laughter was abruptly cut short. His skull imploded, the top half deteriorating around the shaft of Rubedo's ax. The entire body fell apart in clumps. Bits of it crumbled into the base components that originally made it up. All the stone and wood and tar that held it together reverted to their original forms, leaving only the crystalline heart behind. That inorganic artifact beat to a faster rhythm, increasing in pitch.

Momonga deduced then the purpose of the heart staying behind. His inhibitor flared to keep his emotions in check. "SHIELDS! SHIELD YOURSELVES!"

He threw up an Aegis of Athena, and his friends likewise ducked into cover or made their own. Rubedo jumped back, her jets propelling her to safeguard her masters with her own body. Gargantua did much the same thing, crouching onto the heart and turning around so that its back faced Nazarick.

It was in the nick of time, as the heart detonated with tremendous potency. Gargantua tanked the majority of the blast, shrouding what would have otherwise been a spectacular explosion to rival a hydrogen bomb. The intensity of the light, however, made the stone partially translucent. Momonga could see from between Rubedo's legs the core of Gargantua starting to crack as well.

The shockwave reduced anything standing to absolutely nothing. The air stagnated, stinking of sulfur and ozone. What was once a blue sky turned a putrid brown, forced into a conical shape from Gargantua covering the heart of Nidhoggr.

When the ringing subsided from their ears, Momonga called out to his friends over the messenger. "Is everyone? Do we have sights on Ankoro at all?"

"Dammit, I don't see her! I don't see my sister! First Lupusregina and now her…" Mekongawa's voice cracked. His friends offered comforting words to the chimera beast master.

"Ankoro got swallowed, didn't she? Oh, Mekongawa…" Bukubukchagama said sadly.

Coup De Grace chuffed, his eyes blinking furiously. "We must scout ahead and find hers and Suratan's belongings. It is only right we gather everything in case… In case they can't-"

"Oh hell no! Suratan, Ankoro, and Lupusregina didn't die for good! Momonga, we got ways to bring everybody back, right? This is real life, I know, but surely all our resurrection items work, right?!" Jo-Bro frantically chimed in.

Now his friends were eagerly awaiting his response. Momonga thought hard about the question, an answer forming more readily now that the insanity of battle had cleared from their heads.

"Of course they will. Even still, we cannot take chances. We will not use our regular resurrection items. We will use Hygegia's Chalice to restore them. Nidhoggr will not have their souls," Momonga's voice took on a keen edge.

Whatever fearful reservations they had disappeared. Having calmed his friends down, Momonga, while not truly relaxing, lowered his guard. At least he would have if he did not hear someone squawk in alarm.

"Shit! Look at Gargantua! Something is floating above it!"

All eyes focused on where Gargantua was. It was unmoving, not given any orders to retreat by Rubedo's mental commands. Hovering above its prone form was a black orb, motes of energy sprinkling down from it. Momonga wondered what the object was, but his curiosity was satisfied when he saw a familiar pair of emerald-green eyes like a serpent's flair up.

Disturbingly, the orb did not remain as it was for long, as the spherical shape contorted into something new. The vague outline of a shadowy being with those same eyes now stood on Gargantua's back. Every so often, the skin burst with multicolored light, smaller orbs filtering about. Tendrils expanded from the shoulders in an approximation of wings.

Both groups glared at one another, neither side moving a centimeter. Momonga's flaming eyes met with Nidhoggr's. They locked gazes, and the skeletal overlord communicated all of his hostility for the World Enemy at that moment.

For his thoughts, he was met with passive amusement. Nidhiggor turned and faded away, his immaterial form vanishing into motes of darkness. They floated away on the wind opposite Nazarick towards the Forest of Tob itself. Then it was just the guild and their NPCs, left to watch idly the world around them.

On that day the green fire of Nidhoggr's wrath had clashed with the members of Ainz Ooal Gown, and none were left without a scorching scar, an eternal reminder that this was no longer a game.

---

Battle of Sprigganson

Svend guided his neighbors and coworkers through the hole left in the village's perimeter. The soldiers of Lord Blue Planet covered the group's rear, holding the undead at bay. With the timely arrival of the dryads, the soldiers did not have to handle the bulk of the fighting by themselves. This also granted the Dryad-Born the reprieve they needed from mana exhaustion.

It'll be at least a couple of days for them to recover from the stress. Though I have no idea where we'll go after this.

Indeed, he watched as a horde of the horned undead tore apart their settlement. No building was left untouched in their wake, reduced to kindling to feed a fire that started somewhere in the settlement and spread into an inferno. Some of the other dryads were working overtime to help Tulipa move her tree out of the settlement as well, hence his primary reason for allowing others through the breach.

"Twenty-three, twenty-four, and twenty-five!" He shouted to another Dryad-Born next to him. The man nodded and went through himself, leaving just Svend at the breach to see the last of the survivors out. His grandfather and father were at the front of the massive caravan of people, leading their new saviors Arthur and Umbarth to the grove of the former Demon Tree.

He yelped when a spear stabbed the wall next to his head. He managed to duck at the last second, narrowly avoiding the weapon. He saw another of the horned undead flying in the sky, generating more spears from its forearms. He raised his hand, trying to fruitlessly summon magic of any kind to knock the beast out of the sky. When that failed, he hefted his ax in defiance.

The beast snarled in derision, swooping down with talons outstretched. People were still trying to make it through the breach in the perimeter wall, clipped by the massive abomination while it aimed directly for Svend.

"Seriously, again?!" he said, crossing his arms over his chest. The magic Umbarth enchanted him with flared to life, a thin wave of light blasting out and setting the undead on fire. It overshot its target and crashed heavily into trees far off in the distance. Svend breathed a sigh of relief, counting off the last of the people in the procession.

That should be about four hundred and fifty-three people. I think we've lost about seventy-five in this attack, but the toll would've been worse without the soldiers here beside us. Where are you, Lord Blue Planet?

The soldiers had reached him now. They completely forgoed their box weapons, using their short swords to engage in close-quarters combat with ferocious undead that got too close. Six dryad sisters with spears were with them, jabbing away the undead with deadly precision. One of the undead, shaped like a rotted wolf, leaped over its brethren, tackling a dryad and pinning her to the ground.

Svend threw his ax with a well-timed throw, the blade embedding itself alongside the right side of the jaws right as it opened them. The beast squealed but was quickly dispatched by the soldiers of Lord Blue Planet. They showed no mercy, viciously ripping it to pieces.

The dryad who was pinned was helped up, and she grabbed Svend's thrown ax. She roughly shoved it into the young man's arms. "Tulipa would never forgive me if I let you wander around unarmed. Throwing your ax was idiotic!"

Dumbly, he nodded. "I'll have to remember that for next time."

He was shepherded out, making him one of the last people to see the ruins of his proud home. The flames consumed the sacred place, centuries of history and tradition devoured in the maw of the blaze. Its heat sweltered to such a degree that it felt like his face was melting.

Wasting no more time, he remained at the rear with the other dryads and soldiers, keeping an eye on the swarm that reduced Sprigganson to ash. A haunting, halting cry rose from the corpse of his home, and a new wave of undead surged from the broken walls.

"Umbarth, there is a batch in the back. Have Starfall ready?"

"Always! I was just thinking it looked boring as a spear!"

Behind Svend, a flash of amber light emerged. It sailed over his head, taking the distinct shape of a golden hammer that impacted the direct center of the horde. Branches of orange energy forked out, incinerating the undead. Unfortunately, for everyone that was slain another two took their place.

The golden warrior swore. "Oh come on! That was a critical hit! Ah well, good thing I can make more than that."

With a snap of his fingers, the hammer duplicated itself. Several copies of the hammer flew around, bashing in the heads of the horrendous beasts with unerring brutality. Now the tide stemmed, the abominations held back by the number of hammers that homed in on them and took them out in a singular blow.

In doing so, Svend and the warriors with him had time to rejoin the herd without fear of being dragged off from behind. His family was at the front, leading all of them, and Tulipa had gone off to rejoin Naaru and Pinison, her sister. They would reunite when they arrived at the Demon Tree's grove.

He hadn't been there as a living being, his corpse held by the ones who initially kidnapped their people for their nefarious purposes. From what Pops told him, it had been purified by Lord Blue Planet. Any trace of corruption was purged and the magic that sustained it made life flourish in a way that they had never seen before.

Surely that will hold back the undead. We can wait them out until either Arthur and Umbarth defeat them, or until Lord Blue Planet and his friends arrive. What could be holding them up that they didn't immediately come?

His answer came in the form of the ground shaking. He fell to his knees, scrapping them in his struggle to remain upright. Many of the people in front of him were not so lucky, with women and children collapsing on the uneven terrain. Cracks in the earth split their path, showering them with a mess of dirt and roots.

"More?! Are there more coming from the ground? Do we need to divert paths?" Svend asked, bracing himself while the earth beneath him swirled with malice. Again he could sense a vast cavern beneath his feet churning, emptying itself in a way he did not understand.

"No, not us or them! They're being swallowed up by the ground too," a dryad pointed out, "This earthquake is not of their making!"

As she said that, spires of earth rose from the ground, cutting off the path of the undead. They howled in surprise, clambering over the rock but again getting pushed aside by the volatile ground. Above in the canopies, the leaves swayed with an unnatural rhythm and were then blown away altogether.

Distantly, Svend could have sworn he heard a… roar of some kind? Not in the air, but in the earth itself. It vibrated in a way that spelled doom upon them, promising all manner of horrors if they didn't keep moving.

"We need to get the people to the grove faster! Isn't there another way we can move quicker?" Svend shouted, the cracking of rocks and shattering of trees nearly drowning him out. He had to cover his head to protect himself from falling debris.

"Not a group of this size! I don't think the Brightness Dragon Lord can move us all without harming himself!" a dryad explained, helping up one of her sisters who'd tumbled into a sinkhole.

Svend didn't think he heard that right. "What? A dragon lord?! Where is there a dragon lord around here?"

"That would be me!" Umbarth declared, floating down and recalling his hammer to his hands. "And she's right. The cost of the Wild Magic to transport you all would severely weaken me. Arthur is going to keep leading the people. He's fast enough to catch anybody who's falling behind."

He tossed his hammer again, the beautiful weapon duplicating once more to slay the onslaught that made it over the jagged rock that sprouted up. With him alone, they could easily hold back the swarm. The people were already protected by the spell that Umbarth-no, the Brightness Dragon Lord had placed upon them. They just had to prevent being overwhelmed.

Under any other circumstance, Svend wouldn't be sure whether to kneel or grovel at the dragon lord's feet. He'd heard stories passed down from wandering traders of such legendary beings, creatures that could rival even gods in their might.

The Brightness Dragon Lord must have picked up on his thoughts from his expression. "Don't worry about etiquette right now. You want to protect your friends and family right? We get them to this super grove of theirs first!"

Starfall the hammer reappeared in his hands with a flash. Raising it in the air, beams of light fired out that sliced through tree and stone alike with ease. Against undead flesh, it may as well have been paper. Hundreds of the undead were sliced into bits, dissolving into a gooey substance and sinking into the ground. Even then, the black tide kept growing, having completely washed away the remains of the Sprigganson Settlement.

For what felt like hours, they marched on in the forest. Svend fought for his life amidst tumultuous terrain and ravenous monstrosities. More often than not, a soldier of Blue Planet or one of the dryads had to save him, his experience in battle rearing its ugly head. While he did manage a few lucky blows against an undead that drew too close, he was blindly swinging his ax in their general direction. Combine that with having to practically walk backward, and it was any wonder how he would have survived on his own.

A bulk of their fighting power in the rear came from the Brightness Dragon Lord. His heavenly aura set many undead on fire just being in his mere presence. The unearthly metal of his hammer was a deadly deterrent, magic, and brute force merging to form a weapon worthy of a legend. It was celestial in a way, shining with brilliance like a star.

Up ahead, he could see Arthur leading the refugees alongside his father and grandfather. The strangely-armored man struck with a discipline and grace that implied decades of swordsmanship under his belt. Each curve of his blade was followed by lightning, jumping amongst the undead that dared to attack from the front.

A particularly large undead with the skull of a basilisk blocked the group's path. It relished in the cries of fear from the people, barrelling down on them with malicious purpose. When it reared up on its hind legs, it stood nearly five meters tall, overshadowing Arthur.

The mysterious warrior was tranquil, chasing forward and unleashing a flurry of strikes that diced the beast to cubes. Other undead lunged towards Arthur from all directions, intending to pile onto him. They would suffocate him beneath their repulsive bodies.

"[Lightning Strike]!" was his response, forks of electricity arcing off his sword and bouncing around. The raw power he exhibited reduced the abominations to ash, preventing them from melting into sludge and returning to the ground.

Naaru purified the earth as they walked, leaving a trail of greenery that repulsed their enemies. They could not trample that sanctified dirt without being burned, Nature's Revival made short work of them while they writhed on the ground. Tulipa was right beside him, using her spear to aid his future grandfather-in-law.

Again, Svend felt the earth below rumble, causing another earthquake that nearly tripped him. He could feel the ripples deep below, something gargantuan far away causing a disturbance.

It couldn't be the Demon Tree. It is already dead. Whatever it is, it has the power to tilt the whole world on its side. Could that be what is holding up Lord Blue Planet?

He held no illusion that the teacher of Grover Sprigganson did not possess powerful enemies. He also knew based on what he heard that the ancient being would never neglect his followers. It may have been incorrect thinking, but he imagined whatever was causing the earthquakes could be holding back their sovereign.

"What could be strong enough to fight against a god?" He muttered to himself, his voice deadened by the battle. Then he smirked to himself ruefully. He was asking too many questions today. His enchantment activated again, burning another undead that tried to pounce on him in his distracted state.

"Eyes on the prize, rookie! I can see Arthur waving at me! I think we're getting closer to that grove the old man was talking about!"

Sure enough, the grass turned an unnatural shade of green. Beds of flowers cropped up that sported an ethereal sheen that was pleasing to the eye. With every step he took, Svend felt slightly more rested and stronger, like mana was infusing into his body. The trees themselves were sturdy and glistening with fresh bark. Flowers of all varieties bloomed there, the freshness of nature growing and overpowering the stench of decay.

Earthquakes had ravaged some of the grove, but it was untouched for the most part. What made it even greater was that when Svend looked back at the undead, their pace slowed down. Whereas they had previously been excitable and vicious, now they were unsure, cautious. One tried to step within the bounds of the grove and was promptly swallowed up by a tangle of vines that sprouted from the trees.

In the time it took for Svend to fully comprehend what he was seeing, the beast was dead, swallowed up in the curtain of vines. The other undead backed off completely, stalking alongside the perimeter with hateful eyes.

Svend breathed a small sigh of relief. "And we're not even in the grove proper. This is just the outreaches as far as I understand."

"Yeah, it's quite the cozy spot," The Brightness Dragon Lord agreed, "How did this come about? I feel like this would be the work of the Arboreal Dragon Lord from the way everything is growing."

"No dragon lord, but the teacher of our god. Lord Blue Planet. He came here to save us from these creatures the first time and ultimately made this place. Or so I've been told. I was dead for all of it."

"Ah. Death is rather inconvenient for keeping up with the news."

"You think so, huh?" Svend asked the dragon incredulously. He shook his head, chuckling slightly. He stamped out his humor, focusing on the situation at hand. It was easier to breathe here now that he had a chance to stop running. Disgust welled in him with how he saw those… those monstrosities lurking along the grove's edge.

The people roamed about the grove, tightly packed together but filing into the ring of trees where the Demon Tree had once been. It would be nowhere near spacious enough to comfortably place everyone, but the area surrounding it could hold capable fighters on their own. Women, children, and the wounded would be placed in the inner sanctum for the time being.

While this was going on, Svend sensed the same "emptying of the earth" that he had felt previously. He still did not comprehend it entirely, but he guessed it to be more of the undead burrowing around in the Underdark, that accursed place where no sane man ever went. Curiously, he did feel the sensation directly under his feet, but rather around the perimeter of the grove itself.

Another undead got brave and tried to cross the border. For its trouble, it too was strangled in the magical vines that killed the first one. A certain smug satisfaction filled the young man at seeing this.

This satisfaction turned to confusion when he saw more and more throw themselves against the border. With no regard for their lives, the undead leaped at the vines and allowed themselves to get strangled, piling on the corpses. Even then, their bodies did not remain for long, melting into sludge that soaked into the dirt.

Svend's brow creased. "What the hell? Surely they realize they can't bypass the barrier of this place. They're far too weak!"

"Then they must have a different aim to sacrifice themselves," The Brightness Dragon Lord agreed, "If they can't come in directly from the front-"

CRACK!

A new set of vines rose from the dirt surrounding the perimeter. The ground shook with an unknown force, rocking everything around them all at once. Svend had to brace himself against a tree, seeing more roots emerge from the dirt where the undead dissolved into compost.

When he looked around, he saw the same was happening all across the grove's border. The undead threw themselves at the vines, died, and then immediately rose again as a set of corrupted roots that pushed back against the vines.

He took solace that if the root strayed too far inwards, it began to burn. Unfortunately, he realized the root's intention was not to reach into the grove. Rather, it seemed like an entire network of roots was condensing directly under their feet, lifting upwards.

The way the undead slithered across each other and tightened the weave they formed. A colossal hand was taking shape directly beneath their feet, tightening its grasp around the bowl that was the former Demon Tree's grove.

They're going to try and lift the entire place and upend it!

Svend tried to warn the Brightness Dragon Lord who now floated and was throwing his hammer every which way to stop the assault. Likewise, he saw the warrior Arthur zipping all around the perimeter and striking the roots with his blade. For each root he cut though, another took its place, calcifying.

The entire world tilted on its axis, and Svend held on for dear life while the ground emulsified. The trees of the grove made a safety net to hold the place together, though it did little when the grove itself was being pushed over by the undead. Pretty soon the tree became a ledge for the young man to hang onto.

Screaming people fell past him directly into the hungry maw of the ravenous abominations. They did not remain there for long, as Arthur caught people mid-air and transferred them to a sturdy tree to rest on.

He summoned another blade from an immaterial aether. It was an ornate sword, curved like the one strapped to his waist. He slowly drew the blade, an ominous black cloud spilling out. Out came a Ruby blade, a golden band near the tip glittering with innate power.

An unnatural air surrounded Arthur while he drew the sword, making Svend's skin crawl. He knew not what power the weapon held, but his gut feeling was that it must never touch him in any way. The consequences would be extremely dire.

"Umbarth, help the boy up and watch over the others! I'll clear the way!" Arthur commanded, assuming a stance. A circle of undead formed around him, the beasts recognizing the warrior's power. They did not have time to prepare an attack, as Arthur swung with grace and speed they could not follow.

When the sword connected with their bodies, a strange sheen enveloped each undead. They did not make a sound when they fell, misty outlines of their body remaining in place. Those wisps screeched out in agony before being absorbed into the sword. Whatever effect took place terrified the undead, who now scattered to get as far away as possible from the swordsman. He remained on the ground, catching anyone else who fell and returning them to stable enough ground.

"Up you come, little mortal!" The Brightness Dragon Lord called, floating over and lifting Svend. He'd been in too much awe of Arthur to notice the disguised dragon. He stood shakily on the trunk of the sideways tree, and other survivors likewise did the same. Some of the soldiers of Blue Planet and the dryads that had been with him fell. A lucky few managed to land on trees on the way down, while others were quickly swarmed and absorbed into the mass of roots.

Bursts of light shot out from those unlucky few, but the sheer horde overwhelmed those individuals anyways. Their light was quickly extinguished.

"The world has gone sideways with madness, when does it all end?!" Svend cried, "My home is gone, my family is in danger! Where the hell do we go from here if even this place can be uprooted?!"

His questions weren't meant to be answered by anyone. How could they? Yet the Brightness Dragon Lord hovered nearby, contemplative in his stance. It was hard to tell with the full armor he was wearing, but there was something on his mind.

Starfall returned to the dragon's right hand, having realized the futility of trying to kill off the neverending tide. "Man, I was hoping I could just one-shot this entire group. I guess that just goes to show the Black Dragon counted on people like me being in the area. I'll have to take one for the team then."

The Brightness Dragon Lord's attention focused on Svend, making him squirm. "You have a knack for sensing what they're about to do. How deep does it all go? How entrenched are these vermin?"

Taking a moment to steady himself amidst the screaming and tearing of earth, Svend reached out with his senses to do as the powerful being asked. As he thought, the roots created a hand large enough to grasp the grove and tilt it like a bowl. Reaching out further still, he could trace every root and how deeply they ran below ground.

A startling realization reached him the longer he tracked those lines of the root. Each one ran individually into a place below even the Underdark, reaching into the bowels of the world itself from a place that his senses could not detect. After only a few seconds, a vast nothingness filled his mind, meaning he could follow along no more.

"It's almost… hundreds of meters within the Underdark. They come from a place I can't even detect, so there could be even more. What do you plan to do?" Svend asked. His mouth dried a bit when he saw the golden armor of the dragon lord bursting at the seams with light. The plates bulged, struggling mightily to contain a body that should not fit in a suit of armor.

The visor of the dragon's helm was blinding. Svend had to cover his eyes so that they didn't get scorched. "Tell Arthur to pick me up after I'm done with this! I'm gonna need an emergency evac when I'm done."

Then the dragon dramatically bowed. "Catch ya on the flip side."

His body engulfed in pure light, Svend watched the dragon lord descend with incredible speed. With every second his armor was shed to reveal a growing, invincible body. Wings grew out of his back, his neck elongated and his mouth became a snout. A tail sprouted from between his legs and his fingers darkened to become talons.

Within the blink of an eye, a white dragon of indescribable beauty and devastation landed among the undead. Arcs of power coursed about his body, the same Wild Magic he used to safeguard the people on their way to the grove. It was hard to make out finer details because of the sheer brightness he radiated in droves.

"[Judgment]!"

There was a horrifying screech intermingled with the blinding light. Svend practically had the light seared into his skull even when he turned away. An intense sensation of heat washed over him, almost boiling his skin off his muscles. The sound of crystal cracking filled the air, a thousand little tinkling cracks that rang across the forest.

Every cell within his body hummed with energy, ready to explode with inexplicable violence at the faintest hint of… something. Svend got the instinctual sense that whatever magic the dragon lord used was not meant for him, only activating when in contact with its intended target.

He heard another man screaming out the Brightness Dragon Lord's name. Was that Arthur calling for him? He did not know, only that there was a tingling sensation that pervaded Svend.

Just as quickly as the light began, it ended. The Dryad-Born man peeked out over the side of the tree he was standing on and gasped at the sight that greeted him. Every one of the undead had calcified into bone-white statues of themselves. The roots that were previously lifting the entire grove were the same way, left hollow by the Wild Magic.

A lake of those calcified undead surrounded the body of the Brightness Dragon Lord. He was back in his humanoid form breathing heavily. Arthur was crouched over him, shaking his comrade and trying to get him to sit up.

"Umbarth, you idiot! What the hell do you think you were doing?!" Arthur spat, glaring daggers at the dragon. "I did not come all this way and go through all the trouble of a World Pact to have you accidentally die now. Are you out of your mind?"

The Brightness Dragon Lord said nothing. With a thousand-yard stare, he gave a simple thumbs up. Arthur facepalmed in exasperation. Svend couldn't help himself, laughing at the gesture. Then he realized just how startlingly loud his voice was.

Svend fell onto his rear, slicking back his hair with his sweat. The events of the day caught up with him, making him so sore he didn't think it was possible. He brought his knees up to his chest and rested his forehead against them.

Hesitantly, he reached out with his senses. The unnatural presence of the roots was gone now. They no longer writhed in his mind's eye. Instead, there was a hollow emptiness in the dark below.

He wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse, but he could only deal with one life-ending event at a time.

---

Battle of Carne

"[Turn Undead]!"

A flash of holy light filled the center of Carne, making the undead flower-headed beast raise a hand to shield its nonexistent eyes. It did not turn away from the source of the light, but it did miss its mark wildly. The scythe landed heavily next to the small child.

Tsuare saw an older man with gray, shaved hair, and a mustache and goatee. One of his eyes was dull, damaged from some bygone battle based on the impressive scar that overlapped it. His robes flapped in the wind, his hand raised to put out more of the light.

Several other men were behind him, their hands alight with blazing mana. Numerous fireballs fired out in quick succession, alongside a host of other elements that pelted the monstrous beast. It was forced back, buying the men time to get closer.

With one arm the veteran man scooped up the crying girl, running towards a safer area of the village center and depositing her there. Two of the men stayed behind to watch over the sobbing villager, while the veteran and his men fanned out in a semicircle.

"Do not let up! We must buy the women and children time to escape!" The veteran shouted, his men responded with a resounding "Yes, Captain Rowan!"

The flower-headed beast snarled. "Will… kill all of you… There is no light… strong enough to destroy me… here."

A mess of tendrils sprouted from the creature's back, twisted spines upon vines that dripped venom. Much like the hand cannons of the mercenaries, each spine blasted out and struck a mage with deadly precision.

However, this quickly stopped as accurate fireballs caught the tendrils on fire, igniting the back of the beast like dry kindling. It did little to harm the creature, which roared in outrage and morphed both hands into serrated sickles.

On the roofs of the nearby houses, several more of the horned undead appeared, solidifying out of shadow and pungent rot. Their flaming eyes were wide with sadistic glee, highly uncharacteristic of most undead that slaughtered others with cruel indifference.

All of them roared at once, a harsh, grating sound that was unnatural even for undead. The grip of the Death Lords loosened enough that Tsuare could finally free herself. Her arms were sore from their domineering grasp, which she suspected wasn't even their full force.

Now they finally release me. Did they hold me because they wanted to see what would happen? Did they know someone would come, or were they protecting me from doing something utterly stupid?

Glancing at the Death Lords yielded no answer save confusion. The intelligent gleam in their eyes was unnerving, for they studied her every move. It seemed like since the start of the siege, they'd done nothing but be hyper-aware of her actions. Why?

Though she was hesitant to ask, she knew nothing would be achieved if she didn't at least try. She pointed at the rooftops where the horned undead now noticed her presence and stalked closer.

"I don't know why you won't listen to me, but right now it doesn't matter. Whether you decide to help me or not, I will kill as many of those as I can. The choice is yours, as you've shown clearly."

One of the Death Lords grumbled, taking a single step forward. It brandished its blade at her, but then one of its brethren made a gesture to stop. That one stared at Tsuare the hardest and then looked among the others in the group. Tsuare didn't completely understand what was happening, but she got the feeling that they were all agreeing to something.

Nodding, the Death Lords raised their blades and roared back in challenge at the new undead. Though the Death Lords didn't dissolve into darkness like they usually could, they did not have to. The horned undead delighted in their challenge, and leaped from the rooftops to meet the Death Lords in battle.

From there, chaos took over.

The Death Lords were far stronger than the horned undead, the latter ripped to pieces with a single strike of the formers' swords. Swarm tactics were a favorite of the horned undead, six of them for every Death Lord scrambling around to kill them.

Tsuare herself leaped into the fray, Heatstriker gleaming with purple-hot intent. Though these unknown abominations were leagues more powerful than her, Heatstriker had no problems cutting into their flesh.

One of the horned undead attempted to gore her from the side. Using [Agility Boost], she was able to dodge to the side. its antlers were promptly sheared off and its head was relieved from its body in two strokes of the blade.

Another one yanked her from behind, hoisting her up and slamming her down, winding her. The beast moved to cave her chest in with a hoove, Tsuare narrowly rolling out of the way and chopping at the ankle.

The beast resorted to an awkward four-legged stance to balance itself. Before it could reach Tsuare again, a fireball went straight into its eye socket and charred the inside with bouts of crimson blaze.

When another horned undead tried to strike while she was down, it was similarly pelted by blasts of fireballs intermingled with elemental magic of different varieties. It quickly backed off, hissing in agony.

Her blue eyes met with a dull gray, the veteran man glaring daggers at her. After a moment though he nodded at her, to which she reciprocated. A mutual understanding passed between them.

Tsuare scrambled to her feet, parrying a mace formed out of another horned undead's right arm. She cut at the thin strand that made up the "chain", the mace whistling off into the distance from its momentum. Taking advantage of it being weaponless, she sank Heatstriker deep into its chest, twisting the sword with a sickening crunch.

Her foe dissolved into a puddle of inky blood that sank into the dirt. A Death Lord covered her rear, blocking an attack from a particularly cunning undead. She turned in time to see the lesser creature be smashed into a paste by the Death Lord.

All around her, the Death Lords put up similar battles, faring well enough against their opponents. Yet, she noticed a similar kind of struggle like when they faced off against the mercenaries. She felt that meant they were of a similar strength, which did not bode well with the near-endless tide of them that continued pouring into the village.

The Sunlight Scripture mages, likewise, were holding up well under the onslaught. More of their numbers made it to the battle. Their group reinforced, the initial group of magic casters was able to push them back and make the village center safer.

"Show these bastards what we're made of! Do not relent! Do not surrender!" the veteran hollered. At one point an undead got in too close to use magic safely. He pulled out a dagger from his robes, landing a targeted stab into the nostril. With a swift twist, the undead fell.

The mixture of fire and holy magic was a massive boon. Whatever composed the newcomers were especially flammable for even undead, and the holy spells employed blinded them enough that mages could get in close to finish them off. As a group, the Sunlight Scripture easily held the highest body count so far.

It wasn't until the flower-headed undead decided to intervene that the flow of battle switched. Previously, it had been hounded by a Death Lord, the greater undead trading blows that would kill weaker beings in one hit.

Transforming its arm into a flat spear, Flower bypassed the thick plates of the Death Lord and stabbed deeply into what was underneath. The Death Lord gasped in an alien way that Tsuare had never thought an undead capable of. The Weeping King's chosen thrashed violently, its armor melting from within. The core of the Death Lord was exposed, a beating core of violet energy.

With another stab, the Death Lord ceased moving. It fell over, limp and corroding all across its hideous form. Within seconds, whatever Flower had injected into the Death Lord consumed it entirely, leaving behind only a sticky mush.

Another one is down… This creature is strong enough to destroy even a Death Lord, just like those nobles. Though It is not without severe injury.

Tsuare saw the wounds pulsate with fiendish light, oozing dark blood. A gash in its stomach leaked part of its entrails, and one of the petals of its head was torn clean off. Chunks of flesh had been cut off deep enough that charcoal bone could be seen. That it was standing at all was a feat in itself.

The creature did not seem at all perturbed. Rather, it seemed to take pride in the new battle scars it earned. This pride was short-lived, as they rapidly closed shut with only faint lines to mark where they had been.

This enraged the creature, roaring while it charged into the fray of Sunlight Scripture mages. One man tried to warn his teammates of the incoming threat, only to lose his head in a vicious backhand from the creature.

"Shit! Caleb's down, Caleb's down!" another mage shouted, blasting a stream of fire. The flower-headed beast slashed the man, a shower of blood dousing the undead. When it aimed to slay a third mage, several angels swooped down from the sky and bombarded it with blasts of holy light.

"Captain Rowan, sir! We need to apply more magic enhancements!"

"Blast it all, do it! Place them on me and get out of here! Find Aeliana and get to safety!" Rowan barked. His mages balked at the order but quickly backed down at the side-eye their captain gave them.

A single mage scooped up the tiny girl and vanished between the houses, the remaining two holding up their hands and furiously chanting spells to aid their superior. The angels kept the undead busy, consistently blinding it but doing little other damage.

Tsuare recognized what she needed to do. "I need most of you to hold back the other undead. Keep them from interfering with this. You, come with me! We need to buy that man time!"

The Death Lord she pointed out bellowed, lowering its helmet and stampeding with bull-like ferocity. It completely blindsided Flower, tackling it through a nearby house. A cloud of dust obscured their wrestling forms.

She approached the veteran man, raising her hands in peace. The sounds of battle quickened her pace, so she spoke quickly before the glaring captain decided to kill her on the spot.

"Somehow I've been misled. These horrors are not with me. Let me make amends, let me help you. I don't care what it takes, I'll do it, even if I have to give up my own life to do it."

The captain glanced her up and down much like he did at the wall. He then looked around at the Death Lords who kept the village center clear of the unnatural undead. He seemed to quickly reach a decision.

"Fine. Nfirea and Enri get your ass first after the Sirs are informed of this. You've cost a lot of lives today. I'll make sure you live with that until you die."

Tsaure couldn't bring herself to speak, a spike of shame in her heart. To keep herself from breaking down, she listened to the sound of the remaining mages casting their spells.

"[Lesser Dexterity], [Lesser Strength]."

"[Alah Alaf's Blessing], [Holy Flame's Guidance]."

Captain Rowan's mages finished, dashing off between the alleyways as he ordered. Just as Tsuare and the captain were left alone, the house the Death Lord and Flower were in exploded, the former tossed out like a sack of potatoes. Flower emerged, hacking up pieces of its innards.

With a smirk, the captain ignited twin fireballs in his palms. "Tsuare, whether I make it out of this or not, I sure as hell know my fate won't be as bad as letting this thing free. Together then!"

[Agility Boost] activated and she hefted Heatstriker. "Together then!"

Flower screeched at them, molding its arm into a lance that it jabbed at Rowan first. A wall of light materialized to protect him but near-instantly shattered. He was bought only seconds, having to duck at the last second. His fireballs sailed out, striking the knees of the undead.

At the same time, Tsuare aimed Heatstriker at the creature's neck. The purple edge gleamed with intense heat, striking the skin but barely sinking an inch. She cursed, drawing her sword back to stab instead.

She was smacked away, spittle flying from her mouth. When Flower tried to focus its attention on her, a beam of light set one of its facial petals on fire. When it turned to attack the mage, Tsuare struck at the back of the knees to sever the tendons that allowed it to stand.

They went back and forth like this. Tsuare would be on one side while Rowan stayed on another. Flower tried to perform the same move where it could fire out spines to attack both at the same time, only for the Death Lord to jump into the fray and start brawling with them as well.

This enraged the alien undead, having to morph its arms into shields just to defend itself. Flecks of flesh were torn off with each blow of the Death Lord's sword. It was forced to its knees, granting Tsuare and Rowan the opening they needed to strike at its vitals.

Frustratingly, Heatstriker could not easily slice through the fetid body. A well-aimed stab at the neck made a shallow cut, and she was quickly forced to backtrack when a tendril inside the undead's mouth lashed at her.

Rowan's fireballs sizzled the skin but did little else. The Death Lord was doing the bulk of the work, forcing the monstrous being to remain still while it absorbed the damage. They were so focused on their task of trying to kill it that they did not notice more of the lesser horned ones closing in.

Tsuare gasped when she felt an intense pain on her leftmost flank. A smaller undead had transformed its fingers into a dagger, impaling her through the side. She quickly sliced off the offending limb, and the undead's head ignited in a blaze of magical fire.

She shot Rowan a thankful glance. The Death Lord that had previously been wailing on their opponent was being swarmed by a half dozen of the smaller horned beasts. It was forced to defend itself, leaving only her and the Sunlight Scripture veteran with Flower.

It rose back to its feet. "Tired… of this… Your corpses will feed the hatchlings…"

Within the blink of an eye, it was in front of her. Before she could react, it picked her up by her midsection, exacerbating her new wound. It slammed her into the dirt, forcing blood from her mouth as she heard some of her ribs break. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the captain slashed across his chest by a barbed tendril that grew out of the beast's back.

The tendril steamed and wilted, so it could only deal with that one superficial attack. Rowan was forced to retreat, creating distance so he could charge up more spells. Flower focused its attention on her, taking a special sort of relish in tightening its grip around her midsection.

Blood welled up in her mouth, choking her. Her vision began to grow hazy, and yellow spots danced in her sight. Every breath she took was shallow, razor blades seemingly tearing up her lungs. What thoughts she could conjure were sluggish, drained of energy. When the light began to dim, she distantly figured that her end was approaching.

Cecilia...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The pressure of the beast's grip let up, giving her much-needed room to breathe. A feminine war cry from above and the sound of wet crunching filled her ears. The beast shrieked, scrambling off her. Tsuare tilted her head ever so slightly, seeing it cradle the stump of its now detached arm.

A strong pair of arms hoisted her up, giving her a better view of her tormentor. It roared in outrage, limping to attack her and her mysterious savior. Instead, a web of sticky, white fluid enshrouded its body, rooting it in place.

From in-between houses, she saw the one called Nfirea and two of the mercenaries flanking him. Despite the hair covering his eyes, his aim was true, the smoking barrel of a vial-fed hand cannon showing him as the source of the fluid. The two mercenaries continued to pelt the beast with their hand cannons, only serving to annoy it than harm it.

Fire, as usual, proved most effective. Rowan was able to jump back in with the new reinforcements, covering Tsuare and the one who grabbed her. She assumed that the one dragging her to safety was another of the mercenaries. It wasn't until she was laid against the side of a house that her savior was revealed to be Enri.

Covered in soot and her clothes torn, a thin line of blood ran across her forehead. There was a nasty tear in her shirt right above where her heart was, yet there was no visible wound. Enri's eyes were bloodshot. It was obvious the village chief had been through hell.

Guilt stifled her heart, and she tried to mutter an apology to her. She was sorry for attacking the village. She was sorry for not realizing sooner the deception that brought her here. She was sorry she would likely die here, and in so doing evade true justice.

Her head was tilted back, liquid poured into her mouth from a crystal vial that Enri pulled out from her pocket. A surge of energy coursed through Tsuare's limbs, most of her wounds closing up. Able to breathe easier again, she patted down where her wounds had been, confirming she was nearly good as new.

She smiled softly, but her enthusiasm was squashed by the harsh glare of Enri. "You have a lot to answer for after this. For now, stand up and fight!"

"Right!" Tsuare agreed vigorously, Heatstriker glowed with heat that matched her renewed warrior's spirit. Leaping to her feet, she charged back into the fray, taking care to dodge as best she could the mercenaries' shots with [Agility Boost].

Flower roared at her, failing to connect any meaningful strikes with the web fluid that constrained it. A new arm had quickly regrown, though Enri put her impressive short sword to good use, slicing off the new limbs. While she lacked any technical skill, her sword more than made up for it. Its unusually sharp edge gleamed with a hunger that seemed almost alive, cleaving through flesh and bone like it was paper.

That sword can harm the undead when Heatstriker couldn't. Is it enchanted in some way against them specifically?

Tsuare herself had to practically see through the beast's skin, the smell of cooking flesh almost making her gag. She had to power through her reaction, working to kill the unusually powerful undead that could fight Death Lords equally and slay them.

Those surviving Death Lords were kept busy by the horned undead, the latter swarming like insects all over her liege's entourage. With hit-and-run tactics she could tell the skeletal beings were worn down, the sheer numbers slowly overwhelming them.

This essentially left Tsuare, Enri, Nfirea, Rowan, and the mercenaries to defeat Flower. They continued to wail about the abomination, fighting for their lives and the lives of those in the village. The beast's roars melded with Tsuare's, all her rage and bubbling feelings of betrayal leaking out.

"It's starting to give up! Don't let up!" Enri shouted, stabbing her short sword into the small of the creature's back. It weakly chittered in response, shrinking in on itself from the assault.

Rowan rushed forward, hands alight with holy magic. "[Searing Light]!"

With both hands placed on its head, twin beams of light projected from the veteran's palms. This combined with the continuous slashing from Tsuare and Enri further shrank the undead. A feeling of elation at possibly defeating this monster filled Tsuare. Just a few more hits!

Further and further inwards Flower went into itself, to the point it was only half its size. Several of its distinguishing features melted into its body, coalescing into a ball of black tar. This should've been a sign that the beast was in its death throes, but an unnatural unease settled in Tsuare's stomach the longer Heatstriker dug into the putrid flesh.

After a particularly vicious strike, she saw her sword's purple edge bounce harmlessly off the slick surface of the now orb-shaped undead. It roiled with sickening motion, disrupted only by Enri's short sword. The unease sank deeper.

Just as all three of them struck at once for a final death blow, the sound of tearing flesh echoed through the air. A stream of sticky warmth swam down the front of Tsuare's ruined chest plate, and she hacked up another goblet of blood.

I… I thought I was healed.

The culprit was revealed to have been a spine that shot out from the orb-shaped undead and impaled her directly where her left lung was. Her grip slackened, Heatstriker slipping out of her hands and landing pitifully at her feet. Enri and Rowan were, likewise, impaled as well. Enri sported a spine through the center of her chest, miniature thorns dotting the surface. Rowan was stabbed directly through his stomach, leaving the older man gasping. Whatever protections were placed upon him by his Scripture burned the spine but did not wither away.

"Enough…" the undead said, reforming into its true form and expanding quickly in size. The shell that imprisoned it shattered, sending shards everywhere. Nfirea was hit, a piece lodging itself directly above his right eye. He fell with a cry. The mercenaries did their best to shield him and, once they were certain the man was safe, charged Flower.

With a flick of its wrist, its hand transformed into an ax and bisected the two mercenaries. With the force behind the blow, the two mercenaries were flung aside easily. They crashed against a nearby house with dull thunks, not rising again from where they landed.

It loomed over all of them as a vicious tree. The spines retracted, and they fell to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Tsuare was left choking again, covering the hole in her chest with her hands in desperation. Enri fell without a sound, her short sword thumping to the ground. The weapon was swiftly kicked away.

Rowan crawled over to Enri, twin rivers of blood streaking his mouth. "No, no, no!"

Flower chittered softly. It raised its hand, morphing into a broad sword to deal a killing blow. Rowan had successfully crawled to Enri and was now shielding her body with his own. In doing so, his body caught the brunt of the strike, a waterfall of blood cascading over the prone body of the village chieftain from Rowan's split chest.

THUNK!

The hole in the Sunlight Scripture Captain's stomach widened, nearly conjoined with the new hole from the massive weapon. The edge, unfortunately, struck deep enough that it chopped both of them. Tsuare let out a soundless cry, and Nfirea's voice cracked from the despair of the sight.

Her sight fading, Tsuare struggled to reach Heatstriker. In her rapidly diminishing awareness, the battle sounded distant, another place entirely. The screams of the people and the halting calls of the undead merged into a hellish nightmare that plagued her last moments of life.

The Death Lords, where are the Death Lords? Why do they not come to me? Have they finally abandoned me like everyone else?

Fingers centimeters away from the handle of her beloved sword, Tsuare made one final effort to reach out and grasp the weapon. It was in vain, as the foot of Flower crushed her hand with a sickening crunch. The pain barely registered. A grunt was the best she could squeak out as a measure of her pain.

She was unceremoniously flipped over onto her back. The sun, so bright and warm, was blocked out by the ugly visage of the undead. The petals of its face twitched with a foreign emotion. The tip of its broad sword arm tapped her forehead.

"Perish then…" It said in a low growl. The tip of its blade split the skin of her forehead open, slowly driving down to cleave her skull and end her suffering. It was done with methodical slowness, and evident sadism based on how the beast shook with excitement.

I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die.

Before it could finish the job, the sword suddenly halted, streaks of blood trailing down her face. The beast tilted its head at her and then looked to the sky. Now it no longer shook with cruel sadism, but instead outrage. The way the petals rippled like it was murmuring was a mesmerizing sight.

It roared at the sky, the haunting tone echoing across the entire village. The calls of the other undead joined in, and quickly silenced. Thudding feet thundered across the dirt, earth uprooted as it was dug up. From her place on the ground, she could only see Flower and his frustration. It gave her a dismissive snort, then vanished from her sight. Within moments Carne was quiet. There were no longer the cries of the unholy, just the victims of her assault.

At this point, the best Tsuare could devote to contemplating what she had done was the slowing rate of her heart. The blood rose from her nostrils and mouth. Shattered armor dug into her weak flesh, reminding her of what she'd done. Her fault. It was her fault. It was all her fault.

The last thing she saw was a pair of diminutive, green people hovering over her. They shouted something to the people behind them. A flurry of activity erupted around her almost corpse. And over those green people, she saw the hulking shadows of her guard. Then her eyes closed, and she saw no more.

---

Hello my dearest readers,

After many anticipated months, this chapter has finally arrived! I finished my internship and thus had some time back to wrap up this chapter. I hope you have every bit as much fun reading this as I did writing it. There will be an epilogue chapter showing the aftermath of such an explosive finale, and then we march onwards to Act 2. I do have a few announcements to make, however.

The first is that I now have an official artist! His name is Lyron and he has made me such a wonderful compendium of art that is composed of many notable individuals, items, and even places that have appeared or will appear in ATOG. I will happily share the link with you guys if you message me at my gmail of Dynobot0102. Word of caution, as that folder does have some massive spoilers in it, so proceed with caution if you ask for it. The second announcement is that I will be crossposting this story to Archive of Our Own, so if you guys don't like FFN that much or want more places to enjoy ATOG, you can do so there as well. Because that website allows links, I will post the discord link and the link to the art folder there. Expect it all to be crossposted by next Friday.

My third announcement is that once I finish up this epilogue chapter, I will take some time to work on my first officially commissioned side story that one of my readers requested. It will focus on Ulbert's adventures in the Abelion Hills, meeting the ba-folk who reside there. If you guys want to commission side stories as well, all you need to do is seek me out on the Discord server or send me a Gmail!

As always, I'd love to thank my beta team on the Library of Ashurbanipal server, who rip and tear me to pieces to bring you all the best quality content. Couldn't do this without them. I'd also like to thank you, dear readers, for sticking with me so far and enjoying this story. None of this would be possible without your love and support either, for I would have given up long ago.

Until you find the other eight!