A/N: SO! It already looks like this is gaining traction way faster than I expected but no matter, words flow from me as though a waterfall of overly long paragraphs and poorly described scenes! Anyway thanks for reading I just love to get my concept out there instead of driving me nuts at night.
So without further delay.
Chapter 2
To Endure the pain.
Empty halls decorated with treasures that would make even a dragon drool uncontrollably, immaculately decorated with ebony-colored marble pillars spaced at even intervals each one enough to kill a dwarven craftsman from jealousy alone. This was the Great Tomb of Nazarick's ninth floor and as Momonga slowly walked down this hall he could not think of the many wonders that he passed, no he only thought of one thing. How eerily quiet the home he and his closest friends had spent the better part of twelve years building and protecting had become. With none of his friends nor their Npc's to wander the halls it quickly became a place full of memories gone and legacies trashed.
Reaching the double doors to the throne room Momonga glanced at the three-meter tall onyx doors, the left engraved with the image of an angel and lined with gold it spoke of purity. The other door was the image of a demon its grotesque visage lined with bright red metals showing it to be a truly evil thing.
Momonga sighed, the door like many things in Nazarick was hurtful to remember, this door in particular extremely so with the entire tomb being designed in such a way that no matter if you brute-forced your entry or snuck through the entire floor you would always end up right here.
Pushing the doors apart he gazed around the massive throne room, with sides wide enough to fit an ancient dragon and long enough to force any intruder to do only one thing. Stare in awe at the large throne of black crystal so tall the ceiling looked as though it was made solely to accommodate its grandeur.
"Haa I'm sorry Ulbert that I ever disapproved of your grand creation." Originally the throne room was designed to be a final stand where every member of Ainz Ooal Gown would congratulate the invaders before launching one last attack to determine the tomb's fate. But now this plan would never see the light of day as not a soul was still here to enact this nostalgic idea. Sitting on the throne Momonga's grip tightened on the staff he held beside him, sad the plan would never be enacted he refused to ever let a soul touch the ground reserved for his friends.
With one swift motion of his free hand, a small translucent panel appeared before him the only remnant that this was all once a game, Momonga had discovered that with the aid of the throne and staff, he could still use the guild masters screen. Flicking through the pages of options he stopped with practiced ease right on his selected menu, the guild members list. It took ten straight days of summoning but he'd finally used all the corpses gathered from Carne village however unexpected to him he later found each summon now counted as a member of the guild.
Flipping through the list he found his selected target the only soul eater out of the hundred and twenty summons all the others were death knights. Tapping the name the screen shifted to show the undead horse's character sheet.
"Hmm the stats are identical to Yggdrasil's but for some reason, they have an experience bar?"
In Yggdrasil summons couldn't gain levels or experience but seeing the proof Momonga had to accept this new fact, and he was ecstatic to do so.
"If my summons can gain experience as their summoner could I use it to create stronger undead?"
The thought of using a death knight as a proxy to summon an overlord wise man drove Momonga mad with excitement. Flicking the menu to the top he tapped on a death knight, his first summon, it had accumulated well over a hundred kills since its creation. His intuition was proven right and Momonga pumped a fist into the air, right below his summons icon was a little green bar and a flashing thirty-five.
"IT LEVELED UP YES!"
His excitement peaked before vanishing with no sign he was ever even happy at the discovery of a lifetime. "Haa I hate this damn emotional suppression all it does is ruin my good mood." Tapping the flashing number the green bar quickly drained as the previously glowing thirty-five was replaced with a solid thirty-six. Brushing the screen away and standing from the throne Momonga activated his guild ring and vanished, time for him to test a theory!
The familiar coliseum of the sixth floor was a welcoming sight indeed though Momonga figured only he could think so with over a hundred death knights standing to attention at its center an undead horse leading the formation.
"Move over to the walls." His command acknowledged the small army walked to the surrounding wall turning to face their creator and awaited the next order stock still. With the center cleared Momonga raised the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown "{Summon Primal Elemental Ice}!"
In an instant, the arena froze over as a massive being so cold the very oxygen in the air seemed to freeze solid and drop to the sandy floor. The massive being of pure cold before him was a primal elemental all of which were level eighty minimum, with a massive difference in levels killing this being would be impossible for a death knight. Even with his boosts as a necromancer, the death knights were still only around level forty-five fighting a primal anything would normally be impossible.
However, with a mental command to the spirit of ice, the massive freezing aura disappeared revealing the cracked and frozen ground beneath it. With another command, Momonga ordered the Primal ice spirit to ignore what he planned to do forbidding any retaliation.
"Kill the primal ice elemental!" As one over a hundred death knights roared in unison so loud Momonga was sure it would kill an average human. Charging forth the behemoths of violence rushed the ice elemental "{Life Essence}" casting his spell Momonga watched as the primal ice elemental's health was chipped away.
Each hit the death knights gave caused seemingly no change in the elemental's health and even as all one hundred and twenty struck together it still only fell as minuscule fragments. Momonga sighed knowing this was going to take forever, teleporting from the coliseum he reappeared outside a simple wooden door a small sign hung overhead reading LIBRARY. Opening the door he half expected to see the overlord librarian only to be met with a silent reception desk as he cursed the lonely silence of the tomb.
Resolved to his fate Momonga began to search through the many shelves and piles of books, while they were organized by categories such as fiction, spells, and player guides he was clueless after that. Stopping next to the shelf labeled as guides he began his search.
"Come on! Come on where is it? I know we had more than a couple how can they all be gone!"
The book he was desperately looking for was 'Variable Talismans guide to tanking', as one of Ainz Ooal Gown's many tanks he alongside Bukubukuchagama, another tank in the guild, had written a basic leveling guide for players wanting to play a tank class. After five solid minutes of searching, he eventually came across his prize, while Momonga wasn't a min-maxer even he knew how to make a half-decent build for the complex PVP of Yggdrasil.
But that was for mage classes so when it came to melee builds he was utterly clueless on what to do, and not wanting to waste his progress with the death knights he thought to research leveling now. Book in hand he stood and prepared to teleport back to the arena only to hesitate, right at eye level he read the spine of a book. "A farewell to Nazarick" grabbing the book he turned it to its cover emblazoned in gold with a red background was the symbol for his guild.
Teleporting to his room he tossed the level guide to his bed never noticing it bounce and fall to the floor, sitting at his desk he stared unmoving at the gold inlaid book he still held. Turning the cover he read the first line, 'To Momonga thanks for all the years of fun man!' Momonga slammed the book shut. Miming a cough into his hand he steeled himself for what he may find while reading the book, nonexistent nerves steeled he reopened the cover and began to read the first page.
"Hey, man first of all sorry I know how much you loved this game and with everyone leaving I thought it best to try and get some thoughts on paper so that we never forget even a single guild mate. Oh and don't worry I already got some last words from the guys who already left!"
Momonga heaved despite having no stomach to do so, the thought of one of his guild mates making this was about to break him but he pushed on and kept reading.
"Suratan left yesterday he was going on and on about how he'd miss us and the game and to contact him in real life, but right before he left I managed to ask him what he thought about you! So don't go and get all weird on me these were his words, not mine."
"Oh, Momonga? Oh he's a great guy who always listens to what you have to say plus he's smart as hell in combat, he even sided with me on adding an academy for new members, although he does suck at remembering names and I guess we won't be getting any new members anymore.
Making that academy pretty useless huh?"
"Well that was kind of boring but it's really what he said about you! Anyway in good news today we finally found a new prismatic ore mine, although I was going to tell you later anyway so I guess writing this wasn't necessary."
Momonga flipped to the next page.
"Got some new statements today, first up, Peroroncino!"
"Great guy though he's pretty obsessed with the game but hey who wasn't when it first came out? I mean it though, if he wasn't here we'd have never gotten this far good guy."
"See all good things, but seriously man take a damn break from the game once in a while!"
Turning to the next page Momonga was interrupted by the knowledge that his Primal Ice Elemental had just been killed. Closing the book and placing it in his inventory for later he grabbed the guide off the floor and teleported away.
E Rantel Around Noon
Clementine cursed under her breath as she dove behind an alley, ever since arriving in the town she'd seen a huge influx of high-ranking adventurers and according to her 'sources' both of the kingdom's adamantite teams were present here as well.
"What the fuck is happening around here at this rate I'll be discovered long before I meet my contact!"
The original point of meeting in the town was its lack of strong adventurers and proximity to the Katze Plains, but now it seemed there would have to be a change in plans. Jumping she grabbed a windowsill and threw herself onto the roof of the clustered buildings, she was already late by two days and despite her careless attitude she loathed to think of running from two powerful shadows at once. Dashing to the edge of the roof she leapt across the busy street below clearing it with little hesitation, hoping any observers would just think her an adventurer late for something she ran. Jumping from roof to roof with practiced ease she moved through the city eliciting some yells from overly observant guards as she ignored them and moved on to the next roof.
The city's design included three walls, an outermost wall over thirty meters in height that protected the town as a whole, a second wall separating the poor from the noble district, and a final wall surrounding the castle and any other government buildings from everything. Leaping onto the second of these walls was a huge risk but her goal lie right along its outer side, dodging patrols and nosy nobles' gazes she somehow remained hidden in plain sight. Jumping from the fifteen-meter-high wall Clementine looked for anyone who could have possibly spotted her.
Certain of her ability to remain hidden no matter what she stood and walked through the empty field. To see a field of grass inside a walled city was almost unheard of outside of noble manor lawns or the royal family's private garden, but here it was a given because this was the graveyard of E Rantel. Meant to hold the thousands of dead a siege-prepped city could accumulate it was the largest graveyard in the entirety of the kingdom unless you counted the Katze Plains but no one ever did. Walking past tombs and gravestones alike she skipped with glee, finally getting a chance to meet her contact she could hardly contain her excitement at getting to play with an old friend.
Late or not Clementine didn't care she had the item they requested and hadn't been followed, despite the situation going on in town. Skipping past more gravestones she made her way to the largest of the mausoleums in the graveyard and without hesitation or fear walked into the darkness inside away from the light of day the tomb's halls were bathed in shadows as only the occasional [Mage Light] spell illuminated the path. Undisturbed by the lack of sight Clementine walked through the dusty tomb as if it were her childhood home and she'd returned for a visit, stopping by an unmarked grave she tapped the lid of the coffin.
Normally when someone heard tapping from inside a coffin they would ready clubs and [Fireball] spells for whatever may lay inside, however, Clementine only pulled out a small ring with a small insignia engraved on its face. When a bony hand pushed the lid to the side she still held firmly onto the ring practically shoving it into the face of the rising skeleton, and defying all logic instead of leaping to tear out her throat it nodded and calmly stepped out of the coffin. Stepping in herself she found the bottom of the coffin to have been replaced by a staircase and a well-lit one at that descending the flight of steps lead to a large circular chamber with a dozen empty doorways spaced at even intervals.
"Oh come now is this any way to greet an old friend and such a lovely one at that?"
Clementine shouted into the dark hallways.
Leaping a step back she giggled to herself as five [Magic Arrow]'s pierced the ground where she once stood, stepping from the darkened halls a dozen skeletons each clad in rusted plate armor wielding either bows drawn taught or swords at the ready.
"Come now Dale this isn't like you to be so angry!"
Stepping from behind the wall of shield-wielding undead a hunched figure clad in dark robes walked into the light of the chamber.
"I've told you before I go by that name no longer! Now, why have come you are disrupting my work!"
"Aw Khajiit, don't be like that, you know I would never come empty-handed to see my favorite necromancer!"
Reaching in her cloak she quickly tossed an object to Khajiit, catching it just as quickly, his hands moved almost on their own as he looked down at the shimmering necklace. "{Wall of Skeleton}!"
A boom resonated in the chamber its echo deafening the pair with the shock wave nearly knocking over the observing skeletons. Clementine retrieved her stiletto from the massive wall of skeletons that shot up from the ground and giggled.
"Fast as ever now take a good look at that shiny piece I just gave you."
"Vile woman I know of the Crown of Wisdom, so why you thought such a useless trinket was worth the trouble of coming here is beyond me!"
"Oh but it's not useless dear Khajiit! It is just what you've been hoping for!
Do tell, do you know of the boy with a talent that lets him use any magic item?"
The city was like a hornet's nest of activity over a third of the adventurers in the kingdom and even some from outside its borders now walked these streets. The reason? A bounty had been placed on the large undead forces wreaking havoc and it didn't take long for word of the massive reward to spread like wildfire.
Evil Eye sighed, she knew the truth of that awful request, but under strict orders from both Lakyus and princess Renner, she'd been forbidden from warning any lower ranks against the quest. And so this was the result, hundreds of adventurers piled into shops and taverns alike literally crowded shoulder to shoulder buying up everything in sight.
"I swear if this gets any worse I'm gonna need a [Fly] spell just to get to the inn's bar!"
Pushing through the crowds she felt a massive hand grab onto her shoulder, on instinct she prepared to fire a [Crystal Lance] into a would-be mugger only to stop as a familiar face greeted her.
"Whoa shorty calm down I've been trying to call out to you for a while now"
It was Gagaran dressed in full bright red armor like always, lowering her hand she realized she was so deep in thought about the request she'd passed the entrance to the adventurers guild. "Sorry Gagaran I was thinking about this job, I mean just look around there's no way any of these people can handle this!"
Gagaran shook her head "I know it would be a damn shame for so many newbies to get hurt but that's why we have to focus and kill that thing before it gets any worse than it has."
With affirming nods the veteran adventurers turned to enter the guild hall, inside was no better but upon seeing the twin adamantite plates the crowd inside parted like waves in the ocean. Here for a reason, they wasted no time in the lobby and walked straight for the stairs to the second level, and more importantly the meeting room. Opening the meeting room door gave no relief from crowding as seated around the long table inside were twelve people only seven of which Evil Eye recognized.
The first three were obvious as it was her team of Blue Rose, Lakyus sat with the twins on either side of her, making to join them Gagaran and Evil Eye sat in the only empty seats. The Next she recognized was the local Guild master Pluton Ainzach a stocky man sitting at the table's head he'd once been a mithril-ranked adventurer himself retiring shortly after gaining the rank. The next three Evil Eye recognized were the team leaders of Rainbow, Kralgra, and Sky wolf, with no remaining orichalcum adventurers in town this room held more power than the entirety of the kingdom's armies put together.
Seeing them seated Ainzach slammed his palms on the table stopping the small conversations and whispers in the room. "Alright, now that we're all here I'll begin, first off I'd like to introduce Silver Thread Bird, an adamantite team from the Empire" gesturing to the five men Evil Eye didn't know, they all stood.
"Greetings we look forward to working with you all I am Freivalds bard and leader of this humble team" pointing to a tall beast of a man "This is Fan Long our beast lord, next to him is our assassin, Keila, to my right is Unkei our monk and beside him is Powapon a Totem Shaman."
Introductions finished the five sat back down and Freivalds nodded to Ainzach for him to continue. "Alright then next I must insist that what is said here not leave this room, as you all know two and a half weeks ago the Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff, left to investigate a series of villages being attacked along the border with the Baharuth Empire. Thinking it was just the work of soldiers he left with only one hundred fifty men and none of his usual gear, instead of soldiers pillaging however he found a lich who then summoned a large undead that killed all but three of his men and gravely injured Gazef in their escape."
Ainzach paused and lowered his head, Evil Eye knew what was coming next but braced herself despite this.
"This was all a lie, Gazef died to the monster and since then the castle has tried to silence what occurred as best as possible even offering a request to slay the beast."
Shock spread throughout the people in the room Gazef Stronoff was supposed to be on par with an entire adamantite adventurer team and to be killed outright bode ill of the strength the undead possessed, raising his head Ainzach's face grew grim as he looked over those in the room.
"That's not all, since then over two hundred twenty soldiers have died in attempts to either defend the nearby villages or lure the best away. And with the last survivor's report, he claims there now may be over ten of the monsters roaming from village to village."
The room lost it, slamming her hands on the table Evil Eye stood, one death knight would be a challenge unlike any other they had faced but to fight ten at once was suicide. The death knight was meant to be a monster of legend something told to children to keep them from misbehaving not a real threat, this many at once was unthinkable and could spell doom for the kingdom as a whole.
"What the guild master says is true, even some villages on the Empires side have been destroyed as the beasts roam regardless of borders."
Freivalds words did little to calm the room but they did confirm Ainzach's warning and everyone's fears. Pulling a map from beneath the table Ainzach unrolled it, showing the area between the two nations, and on it over a dozen red X's had been marked, no doubt each one a village confirmed to be gone.
"While I know this sounds impossible I ask you to still help and not just for the good of the people of both nations, but for the good of humankind if these things are allowed to roam it could lead to the Katze Plains expanding over our very homes. However, if that isn't enough to convince you might I add that the current reward is one hundred platinum for each party member per proof of the beast killed."
Pluton Ainzach's words quieted the room, on average the reward for an adamantite level request was around fifty platinum, total. To be offered double that per person was insane and more than enough to live the rest of one's life on, the real question racing through everyone's minds however was whether should they risk it knowing it may be the last request they ever took, one way or the other.
"I'm in, risk be damned" the leader of Rainbow shook his head "Dumbest thing I've ever done but fuck it!"
"We wouldn't have come all this way just to turn around our tails between our legs Silver Thread Bird is in too."
"I will never abandon my home, and I know my sisters agree with me that this undead menace must be stopped here!" Lakyus' words were met only with smiling nods as her sisters silently agreed.
"I've gotta talk with my team but I know they'd kill me for turning down that big a reward, I'm in too" Kralgra's leader shook his head seemingly regretting his decision already.
"If we're all gonna die anyway might as well die putting up a fight, I guess Sky Wolf is in too"
Knowing they all agreed the room turned to Ainzach awaiting his next words "Alright then, here's the plan so far."
Later that night.
Nfirea Bareare the most prodigious potion maker in the kingdom could normally be found moving from beaker to beaker in his lab ninety-nine times out of a hundred. So to see him face down in his room was unexpected unless, of course, you knew what he knew, that being the love of his life his childhood sweetheart had been killed by undead roaming the countryside. And so he cried and cried and cried and cried, so much so that he'd passed out face down in his attempt to not disturb his grandmother working downstairs. She knew his sorrow as she too wept when news of the village's destruction came to them, but even so, they had a shop to run and orders to fill so she kept on working throughout the night desperate to finish the order.
Wiping her brow Lizzie Bareare smiled at her finished work, it had taken three sleepless nights but it was done. Over two hundred glass vials each filled with a bright blue liquid lay in boxes aligned in neat rows, blowing out the candles of the lab she yawned, tonight she would sleep like a baby knowing the job was done. With her grandson in his current state the delivery itself would have to wait for the morning sun to arrive, heading to bed she double-checked all the building's locks and then Nfirea himself.
"Poor thing for that girl to have gone such a way, I can't imagine what you feel right now" Brushing some hair out of his face she left him to rest.
Sitting up Nfirea sniffled, he knew what he planned was crazy and he hated even attempting such a thing alone but he had to see her. Grabbing a pack from under his bed he walked to the window and quietly opened it, with one look back he silently apologized to his grandmother before climbing out the window. Not turning back he ran from his home and headed straight for the open gates to the world outside the safety of the walls. Unbeknownst to him as he left the front-facing window someone else entered the shop's rear door.
Clementine cursed, she'd missed the brat somehow, and now her only lead was gone, she'd been watching the boy's house for over two days now knowing he was inside, and aside from the occasional customer coming and going not even the elderly woman he lived with had left. Cursing again Clementine made to search the house once more never making a sound despite her frantic search. Standing in some kind of workshop she was ready to give up but knew she couldn't after all everything she'd done to gain her precious freedom was now at stake. Zuranon was probably her only choice when it came to fleeing the Slane Theocracy, their many underground networks were vast, and sometimes literal, necromancers loved old caves after all.
Turning to leave she stopped when a blob of acid streamed past her face impacting the wall behind her, facing the foe she laughed. barely standing eyes streaked with tears stood an elderly woman, her arm outstretched covered in magic circles no doubt preparing to fire another [Acid Arrow].
"What have you done to my grandson?! Where is he?! where have you taken him?!"
Laughing to herself Clementine realized that while she couldn't find her target, at least she could have some fun for the night before she went back to her search.
By morning when the adventurers guild came to collect the much-needed healing potions they were aghast to find nearly every wall painted with blood and the famous Lizzie Bareare on the ground, every one of her organs removed and thrown across the room until she laid there like an overturned bowl. When her grandson the equally famous Nfirea wasn't found they feared the worst, never finding his body they could only hope the young man still lived despite the gruesome scene before them.
Just Outside Nazarick.
Momonga stared at his latest haul piled high out on the tomb's front lawn, over the last nine days he had sent out death knights to every village he could find. The first five or so were in a much similar state to Carne that being burnt-out husks full of corpses, to the weary traveler a nightmare for him a gold mine. Now with over six hundred corpses and two hundred death knights some of which were now just under level sixty, he felt confident he could hold back at least a couple of high-level players. The death knights would never be able to take down a max-level player at their current level, but they could certainly hold several back. And likely long enough to allow Momonga to kill any would-be intruders or at least get them to flee.
Refocusing Momonga opened a {Gate} and ordered the corpses be placed in the frozen hellscape that was the fifth floor. While he could use his mana to make more death knights than his ability gave for free, the cost would quickly drain him not long after he began summoning. Plus it would give him time to plan out proper squads when the time came to summon stronger and more varied undead, his only other summons so far being the one soul eater he kept as his new XP battery.
With the raided villages all picked clean of corpses, even those buried in the dirt, he was forced to attack the occasional living village. He originally loathed the idea of attacking innocent bystanders but felt he had no choice after he'd found that only an insane amount of corpses could be used to make higher-tier undead permanent.
And so resigned to his decision he could at least let those he attacked have mercy with quick and painless deaths, though the death knights seemed to hesitate at this prospect. But none of that mattered now for in one of the many ransacked homes he'd found a map of a nearby city, one whose graveyard was almost a fifth the total space the city took up.
Bodies stored and accounted for, he reaffirmed the twin black dragon's order to keep a lookout and message him should any foe come to face them, and stepped through a newly opened [Gate]. Time to go grave robbing.
Elsewhere.
A sight unlike any other, walls decorated with solid gold, chairs whose armrests flared out in platinum wings, and the centerpiece that all eyes would be drawn to, a marvelous wooden table its top lined in a bright red metal that could only be adamantite. Not a soul would dare question who belonged behind that desk, at least not to his face, yes this was the office of Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix the current emperor.
Given the title The Bloody Emperor at a young age, one would expect a towering man of muscle ready to kill all in his way. The truth was a lot more mundane however as he was a bureaucrat through and through and most of his killings, even that of his fathers, were no more than words on paper for him. Yes, behind this desk was a man of the pen not the sword and it showed, skinny and pale you could tell at a glance he had never worked a field in his life.
Jircniv sighed, the mounting paperwork was the least of his concerns right now. Recently a swarm of undead had arrived at the border between the Empire and their enemies to the west, originally thinking nothing of it he ignored it expecting adventures to deal with it. However, when reports of villages getting wiped out from only two undead came across his desk he knew the problem was much bigger than he thought.
"Are you sure what that man described is this death knight thing?" he spoke to the elderly figure across him. "Come to think of it don't you have this same monster locked beneath the mages guild?"
"Yes your majesty we have one safely locked away, but as for the reports I doubt it. While its description does fit the destruction does not, when a death knight kills it is always brought back as a strong zombie, who in turn can animate more zombies."
"So you're saying it isn't one simply because Re Estize isn't a second Katze Plane?"
"Precisely your majesty, while these beasts' collective strength does worry me some, I feel strong adventurers or mages capable of flight could easily quell the incursion."
The elderly man's words were like gold to Emperor Jircniv, for this man was the Empire's premier magic caster and a scholar on the level of the thirteen hero's from two hundred years ago. That and the man practically raised him since birth as his piece of shit father never cared to even hold his only child. Familial troubles aside Jircniv did greatly weigh the man's words on nearly every major decision.
"I will take your words into consideration, you may go now."
Leaving through gold inlaid doors the elderly man left, waiting in the hall were four figures in hooded robes. These four were his top disciples and each capable of the magic of the fifth tier, thus making them national treasures to be utilized with utmost care.
"Sir Paradyne, what did his majesty wish to speak to you about?" The eldest of the mages asked.
"A matter of grave consequences has appeared before his majesty and he simply requested my input on the next path of action."
Fluder Paradyne was a man of the magical arts and while he did care for the boy now crowned emperor, he cared not for his problems, lest they be of a more magical nature. Turning past the next corridor he sighed, the prospect of the undead attacks being the result of a death knight was intriguing of course, but they were likely no more than bardic words from scared villagers.
Outside the palace, his carriage awaited him and his entourage, richly decorated with white and gold throughout it spoke of his position and wealth surely any who saw it would know right away the owner and not from any emblem nor color. No, unlike others this magnificent carriage was pulled not by two horses but rather, by a pair of golems in the rough approximation of horses.
"Take us to the mages guild I have work that I must finish and further delay will not be tolerated" he yelled to the driver.
Staring down at his mentor's carriage leave Jircniv sighed at the now-empty office around him, not one for gaudy displays he almost hated the room he stood in, but upon reflection, this was more a result of the constant work brought to him here than of a distaste for its decorum. Grabbing the next report from a neat stack atop his desk he sighed, ever since his purge a few years back the many nobles who handled these problems were now dead or in exile.
Wishing he'd kept a few nobles to lower his workload he began reading the latest report. "Gods damn it, yet another village gone, at this rate, we may end up in the exact situation I've been forcing the Re Estize kingdom into." He held his head in his hands "Baziwood get in here I would like your input."
Opening the doors and stepping in came a tall man dressed in dark full plate armor save for his helmet. "You called your majesty?"
"Yes now sit, I wish to know what you think of the current situation from a military standpoint," Jircniv said motioning toward the seat opposite his desk.
Sitting awkwardly as his armor made the chair creak he hesitated in thought. "While I know of your plan for the kingdom the threat in between us is something no ordinary soldier could handle." He paused again "If you truly wish my opinion I say delay our next invasion but allow the kingdom to deal with the majority of the problem."
"Oh? And what of the villages we continue to lose possibly even right this moment?" Jircniv's reply implied interest yet disdain at changing a plan years in the works.
Regardless Baziwood continued "Evacuate those villages closest while the Royal Air Guard leads the monsters back towards Re Estize. That way we minimize our losses and continue to cripple the kingdom's food production."
"Yes, yes brilliant this is why I wanted you in the Imperial Knights! We could even send out a missive claiming our troops have suffered far too much combating the beasts, further ennobling the kingdom's forces in our stead!"
Standing to thank one of his most loyal knights he gazed back out the window, the sun's setting light bathed the room in a golden glow. Yes by using these beasts he could crush the kingdom without ever losing another soldier again. Thanking whatever force brought this calamity to his enemies he smiled, now he could focus on the real issues his nation faced, rather than worry about petty fights no more than shows of power every year.
A Dark Room Somewhere Underground.
Eyes shooting open a man screamed as he awoke, pain shooting through his whole body the only thought running through his mind.
"Where am I, what happened?"
Looking around the dim room he saw bare stone walls, a simple wooden door, and a lone table its surface covered in dark red bandages and glass vials. Trying to recall what he remembered last the pain began to overwhelm him and he cried out. Crashing open the door flooded with light as an obscured figure walked over to check on the sudden yelling.
"By the gods he's awake! Quickly get the priest he may still be able to talk if we can heal him quickly!"
Rushing to the table the figure grabbed a vial half full of blue liquid and removed its top.
"Here drink slowly this should ease the pain but it won't do much else."
Gulping down the strange liquid the man slowly began to recognize the figure standing beside the bed. He could recognize the cardinal of fire anywhere but a question remained, why was Berenice Nagua Santini one of the six highest authorities in the Slane theocracy feeding him a health potion? With little time to think a new figure emerged from the doorway, this one he recognized much faster he was her superior after all. Pushing past Berenice came the fourth seat of the black scripture Divine Chant, placing her hand on his chest she cried out.
"Come on I won't lose another person today [Heal]!"
The power of a sixth-tier healing spell washed over him as he slowly regained his senses. However, that's when he noticed a certain lack of feeling, in both legs and one arm. Throwing the simple wool blanket off of himself he gazed at his body underneath. Burn marks and scars ran across every inch of his body as where once was a pinnacle of strength among humanity a former black scripture member, now laid half a man.
Seeing this he screamed in horror as a million thoughts rushed through his mind. And like a candle being blown out in a storm Raymond Zara Laurenson collapsed.
Sitting at a small, round table Berenice, Divine Chant, and two others talked in hushed whispers. The darkened rooms around them matched the equally dark looks on each of their faces. The situation outside was bad and the first to speak on it was a man in full armor a spear as tall as him resting behind his chair.
" With Raymond alive I say we head for the nearest city, and from there work backward to collect any survivors or treasures not already destroyed." This was the captain of the black scripture, or what remained of it anyway.
Enraged the last man slammed his hand on the table, small cracks appearing in the wood, he was Dominic Irhe Partouche the cardinal of wind. "You dare suggest we leave the treasures of the gods unattended for even a moment! To say such a thing is blasphemy and high treason!"
"Treason? Treason! Our entire government is on the brink of collapse as our capital burns and our citizens eat what little else remains from stray pets to abandoned slaves!" The Captain shouted back.
It had been only four days since several explosions destroyed the palace and once home of the gods. The massive blasts killed all but five people present at the palace and what few remained unaccounted for they hoped had fled rather than perished in the hellfire. The surrounding town fared even worse however as unlike the palace's enchanted walls the dense city below was only made of stone and wood.
Speaking up Berenice tried to quell what would be the fifth argument since Raymond was found awake. "Calm yourselves, now is not the time to bicker over idiotic matters. The truth of our situation is as the Captain has put it, nothing remains in this city and lest we act fast others will only follow in the chaos of such a sudden loss of power."
Rationalizing the harsh reality of their situation was hard enough without these two bickering like children at the dinner table. Silence filled the room as Dominic looked down, they all had lost family and friends in the disaster but fear and panic had no place in their attempts to rebuild. In a desperate bid to keep them moving the Captain spoke again.
"If no one objects then I say we start now, food dwindles, and keeping Raymond alive is too much of a burden for us. If we leave him with Dominic and Berenice with the next town's mayor, Divine chant and I could search at a much faster pace."
Pondering his words Dominic spoke up "If me Berenice and Raymond can get to a stable town we could convert it into a new capital and establish relief efforts from there. Starting with finding any high-ranking officials or relics of the gods, that way any dissenters vying for power can be quelled quickly."
"I agree, if power is established before word of this spreads too far we could avert an even larger disaster, once Raymond awakes I say we leave." Berenice's words were precise as she hated to agree with Dominic, good idea or not.
"If we're finished here I'm gonna go check on Raymond and make sure my magic did anything." Standing from the table Divine Chant turned and left the room.
Entering Raymond's room Divine Chant sighed, of the fifty some people she'd tried to heal nearly all of them had died, some in much better conditions than the one Raymond was found in. Following the immediate aftermath of the blast Divine Chant rushed to heal as many as possible, but not knowing so many were affected, she wasted most of her mana long before finding the leader of the six scriptures.
However, as if by divine providence someone had healed the absolute worst of Raymond's wounds long before she got there. However, while it did save his life the much lower-tiered healing did not regenerate his lost limbs, and since the damage was technically 'healed' already she could do nothing to return his missing extremities.
Activating her holy necklace she watched the dark room become bathed in light as Raymond's health aura was shown to her the necklace, a divine item once worn by one of the six great gods, she offered a silent prayer before looking over at the sleeping man's condition. With no visible issues, she pulled over a wooden chair and sat beside Raymond's sleeping form, and quietly wept at the memory of what happened in the city only a few days ago.
It was blinding at first, a flash of light so bright it encompassed the city as a whole and turned the night into day. What came next was the heat, gods it burned, anyone not lucky enough to be indoors or behind cover was set aflame instantly, few survived this with all others being burnt regardless of protection. Next was a shockwave so strong that every building for half a kilometer from the blast was leveled not even foundations remaining. Last and worst of all was the air, sweeping along behind the shockwave was a torrent of poisoned air so deadly those who didn't have antidote potions on hand died in minutes.
And yet she called all those killed in that first instant lucky, those just outside the blast still risked poison and burns but not enough to kill. So in agony, they sought help unaware that the temples so close to the holy palace were annihilated like everything else. In the days to come food would all but disappear as the poison tainted every vegetable and loaf of bread in the city. No food in pain and desperate to flee chaos took hold, the cities guard all but gone looting and murder spread to every nook and cranny as people fought for scraps.
The only reason she'd survived the blast was that she, alongside Dominic and Berenice were discussing matters of the church in the basement meeting room. Casting so many spells to try and save the three she nearly fainted from using so much mana, later they would find the Captain only alive thanks to the divine equipment he wore. A day later and full of mana she sought any survivors from the palace ruins only to find Raymond half dead mere meters from the blast's epicenter. Praying that tomorrow they would leave this place she fell into a deep sleep the exhaustion of the past days crashing into her like waves on the coast.
Elsewhere a woman looked over the ruined city from atop a hill before turning away. With a golden opportunity presented before her, she walked away thanking the few kind souls she'd met in the time she'd been held captive by her duties. "I hope you don't waste the life I saved Raymond, lead what is left well and I may return one day. But first I have unfinished business to attend to."
Closing a pair of heterochromatic eyes she smiled, her father would die by her hand, and now free from her chains no one would dare get in her way.
A Few Kilometers Outside E Rantel.
Momonga hesitated as he held out the book, the last time he read from it he nearly broke down crying despite his emotional suppressor. With a sigh, he turned to the last place he left off and began to read.
"Hey again Momonga, everyone was so down today but I had no idea why. So asking around I found out Tabula left today and I have gotta say, I'm gonna miss him. I wanted to wait until the end to give his little quote thing but I guess now's is the best time so here it is."
"Man this place has been a dream come true, I mean seriously you take everything we've done and line it up and you get like the world's best fantasy manga. Well, you'd have to edit it so we don't look like we're in a game but come on man. Like Momonga for example! The dude fits the evil overlord motif to a tee and with him comes the whole big bad evil that is Nazarick and it rocks. If it weren't for him at the center we'd probably collapse on the spot, or as soon as Lucifer gets up to his damn pranks again."
"See man no need to mope so damn much alright? I know I'm waiting to give you this book but if I hear one more time how much you're gonna miss someone who left I'm gonna hit you with it."
Momonga frowned as he remembered the day Tabula left gifting his inventory right before he did so, his last words echoing in his mind.
"Hold onto it I'll be back someday, promise!"
Flipping to the next page he read on.
"We did it, I can't freaking believe it, we did it. We, as in only thirty of us, killed the world eater! I mean come on! That has to be a record! Only thirty people took out one of the hardest world enemies and not one died in the process, If that doesn't earn us a new world item I don't know what will!"
Momonga chuckled to himself, that fight took six hours and in their celebration, they found out that not only did it not earn a world item, but another guild had accomplished the same feat with only twenty people.
Closing the book on a high note Momonga didn't want to waste his joyful memories until his emotional suppressor kicked in that is. The joy of past good times gone only left an empty bitter feeling in him, why did he have this awful ability if all It did was force away what little joy he had left? Annoyed he stored the book away and retrieved the mask of envy, he didn't want a repeat of the last people who saw his face, and certainly not in a large city. One whose military could be much stronger than the simple village guards his death knights had fought up to that point.
Casting a simple illusion just in case he forgot his mask again he canceled his [Fly] spell. It wouldn't help to blend in if he just flew over the city walls and ignored all customs and laws. Nearing the city's main gate he looked over the simple disguise one last time, gloves check, mask check, illusion check! Satisfied he began the short walk to his first non-violent encounter with this world's population.
To call him nervous would be an understatement, as his mind raced through the hundreds of things that could go wrong as he neared the busy gate. People and horse-drawn carts moved back and forth nonstop showing just how many people lived in the city behind the massive walls surrounding it. Nerves steeled he stepped into the mass of people slowly walking towards the open gates, each step forward like the beating of a drum as he walked until finally, he stood before two bored-looking guards.
"Reason for your visit?" the first man said, his partner clearly not paying attention to any of the passing people.
"I've come to visit a family member's grave." Momonga had practiced what exactly he would say when people questioned why a strange masked man asked to see where all the corpses were kept. Knowing he would forget any kind of lie he decided to tell the truth, sort of.
With a slight scowl the guard paused as he looked Momonga up and down, either not caring or simply not wanting to slow the line he waved him past "Sure, welcome to E Rantel."
Satisfied at his calm entrance Momonga strode confidently into the main street leading to the rest of the town, taking a look around he inhaled ready to explore the vast unknown of the city. While crowds weren't uncommon back on earth, to see so many people outside without gas masks or bulky protective suits was refreshing, if a bit surprising.
Immediately realizing just how massive the city was from the ground he followed the masses of people as they went about their day, originally he had expected to find everyone staring at him like a maniac the way he was dressed. With one look around however he quickly saw several people in mages' robes, colorful armor, and even the occasional shady figure in a hooded coat. This truly was a fantasy town full of strange people and their many adventures, willing to take a gamble he walked over to one such figure. Standing alone by what he assumed was a light pole of some kind, was a short hooded figure in bright red robes face obscured by a mask much like his was.
"Excuse me, would you happen to know if this town has an adventurers guild?" Momonga's question confused the person as they tilted their head and took a step back.
A voice like that of a young girl's replied: "Yeah, uh, we have one it's past this street on the right side, a bunch of people in armor coming and going can't miss it."
Glad someone could help him Momonga started to leave but turned back "Thank you for the assistance, miss?"
"Evil Eye an adventurer and you are?"
Momonga paused for a second, he could give his in-game name and leave it that, or now that he was alone even use his real one, but something deep down snaked its way up, and before he could think he blurted out a name. "My name is Ainz Ooal Gown, again I thank you for the help miss Evil Eye."
Walking away in the direction she indicated, Momonga cursed internally, while the idea of having the name of his guild spread far and wide did entice him, if even one player from Yggdrasil was here they would certainly recognize the name of one of the most prominent player killers in the whole of the game. And while he was confident the twin black dragons and the army of death knights would allow him to easily kill any player, possibly even two or three at once, any more than that would certainly mean doom for both him and what little remains of his friend's legacy.
Cursing his rash actions he followed Evil Eye's directions quickly spotting the tall building like she had said men and women in various forms of armor and equipment surrounded the building. Deciding to see a fantasy trope in person Momonga pushed through the crowd, inside the building he look around only to be met with walls of people and deafening conversations. Not being one to hold up a line he was slowly dragged by the crowd before stopping at a small clearing surrounding what seemed to be a notice board of some kind.
Placing his hand inside his robe, he disguised the opening of his inventory, pulling out a small pair of glasses he read the many sheets of paper lining the board, on it were the various requests made by the inhabitants of the town ranging from simple herb gathering all the way to a quest to slay a basilisk. But what truly caught his eye was at the top of the board, lined in bright red borders on high-quality paper a request to slay numerous strong undead that had recently devastated over a dozen villages. Momonga upon seeing this immediately gulped, regardless of anatomy, while he had ordered the death knights to attack a few villages they were few and he'd ensured personally not a soul stayed alive to tell of his deeds.
If this post was meant for him then already Nazarick was in trouble as no doubt people were searching for not only the death knights but whoever created them as well. Not wanting to draw any attention he quickly left the guild pushing past the streams of people, panicking he turned down an alley almost breaking into a sprint in his attempt to leave as fast as possible, only to come crashing into a young woman in a cloak. While he was a mage build his stats were still that of a level hundred player so when the short woman collided with him she fell flat on her back.
"You son of a bitch watch where you're going!" she cried as she slowly stood up.
Still wanting to flee the adventures guild as fast as possible he offered a short "sorry" before fast walking away.
Until he heard the woman's voice call out behind him "Hold up a second, even if you're that big you're clearly a mage." she lowered her stance and placed her hands in her cloak.
"So how the hell did you knock me down? I'm one of the strongest people in town, which raises the question, who the fuck are you?"
Pulling her hands from her cloak she drew two stiletto blades and smiled wide in a way that did not fit the image of a sane person. Taking a step back Momonga hesitated, if he caused a fight here it would no doubt draw attention, plus if what the woman said was true she could be on par with him in strength or have some unknown ability that could kill him in a single strike. Not wanting to test his defenses on a resident of the new world quite yet he took another step back breaking into a full sprint away from the woman.
"Ha, I knew it! No mage could move like that!" she yelled taking off after him.
While he was certainly fast, much faster than the woman following him was, she somehow knew his every turn before he even made it, even as he lost sight of her behind the alleyway's many corners she reappeared just as quickly. Ducking behind another corner he wondered just who the hell this woman was, while her speed was lacking to keep track of him this long meant she had a huge amount of skill an advantage he didn't have, and Momonga loathe to alert the town to his presence was unable to call on his skills. He had seen combat hundreds of times and knew exactly what to do in a fight, but most of those tactics relied on magic to fight or flee, so unwilling to give away his abilities he continued to run.
Or he would have if he didn't run into a dead end, turning around to find a new route he stopped, waiting at the end of the alley was the woman grinning ear to ear as a single bead of sweat fell to the ground.
"I've gotta admit not one person I've ever met could outrun me before so are you gonna tell me who you are? Or am I gonna have to find out from in between your dying screams?" She said brandishing her twin blades.
"Who I am is not for you two know, and I intend to keep it that way!" Realizing he had fallen right into her trap Momonga cursed, it was likely that even if he tried to teleport away now she would have likely already used a skill like [Dimensional Lock] to prevent it in the first place. So with no other option, he would fight, and quickly at that, no stranger to PVP he raised his arm and cast his strongest spell.
"[Triplet Maximized Reality Slash]!"
Casting his strongest non super-tier spell three invisible blades shot from his hand flying toward the approaching woman. Only for her to shout out "[Greater Evasion]" as all but one of the supercharged spells missed their mark, shooting forward and past the woman entirely carving through a wall and out into a busy street.
Only losing a hand she was lucky, those walking to and from the adventurers guild not so much. Bodies cleaved in two, limbs torn from their owners, and heads split open like ripe watermelons, it was carnage as the tenth-tier spells cleaved space itself in half. When the spells finally stopped their path of death by crashing into the front doors of the adventurers guild, well over a hundred people lie dead or dying as screams of agony replaced the many conversations that once filled the courtyard.
"Interesting, to think the flavor text of the spell would be so literal when brought to life."
Momonga said as he gazed at the chaos he caused, however, he felt no guilt, not even as he noticed a child clutching their parent's headless corpse. No the only emotions he felt right now were intrigue, and pride, pride that this was his magic, his abilities, and his strength. If this woman really was as strong as she claimed and while her speed was lacking, the ability to track Momonga for as long as she did and even lure him to a dead end spoke of some credibility in her words. "You wanted to know who I am, it's simple really." he kneeled face to face with the woman still clutching her missing hand.
"I am stronger than you, that's who I am, you thought I fled in fear didn't you? Wrong, I simply wanted to avoid attention but now look at what you've made me do."
Momonga grabbed the woman's head forcing her to face himself, grimacing in pain she scowled at him and spat at his masked face.
"Wrong choice." Momonga dropped her head and stood back up raising his hand to cast another spell. But instead leapt back as three massive crystals crashed into the ground where he once stood, looking up he saw the masked girl from earlier. With little time to think and still unwilling to test his defenses he cast a spell "[Fly]." Rising into the air he dodged another set of flying crystals, crystals that seemed a little too familiar.
"I knew something was off about you the moment you spoke to me, so I followed you, what the hell was that spell you used on those poor people!"
Momonga sighed, his cover may not have been blown quite yet but if he was forced to fight an aerial battle surely the whole town could simply look up to see the culprit. Looking at the floating figure of Evil Eye he felt a little disappointed, he could have used her to learn the culture of this new world but it was too late now. '{Silent Death}' but nothing happened.
Panic was immediate, for her to resist an eighth-tier instant death spell meant she had to be around level ninety minimum, but she didn't even notice it. '[Silent Death]' nothing, so it was true, she was strong very much so, and not wanting to risk any further fighting Momonga had to act fast.
"That woman down there attacked me, and in my attempt to defend myself, she dodged the spell that is all. While I'm truly sorry for the damage caused I can't see a reason as to why you would think to attack me?"
Evil Eye lowered her hand, she knew he had been attacked but the sheer destruction his unknown spell caused snapped something inside her. "Fine I won't attack you, but in exchange I demand you turn yourself into the guard, many people have been hurt by your actions and you must take responsibility!"
"Hmm I'm afraid that won't be possible, I am simply too busy to spend my years inside a prison cell."
"Then ill drag you to one myself. Dead or alive!" With those words, Evil Eye rushed at him her arm surrounded by magic symbols. "[Sand Field All]!"
Like an explosion, a massive ball of swirling sand appeared covering the two from view and pelting them with sand particles. Moving at speeds that would break a lesser person's bones the two circled each other, each one ready to dodge the first spell cast. Momonga hesitated, while he knew everything about his seven hundred spells, he at least knew of the basics of over two thousand others and this strange sand cloud wasn't one of them. Silently he cast his buffs he knew, it would eat at his mana to do silently but he needed the edge in combat with an unknown.
'[Magic Casters Blessing, [Infinity Wall, [Life Essence, [Greater Full Potential, [Freedom, [False Data Life, [Greater Resistance, [Paranormal Intuition, [See Through, [Mantle of Chaos, [Indomitably, [Greater Luck, [Draconic Power, [Greater Hardening, [Penetration Boost, [Greater Magic Shield, [Mana Essence]'
Buffs cast Momonga seemed to glow as the magic surrounded his body, but he was concerned, his opponent stood still the same moment he did no doubt casting her own spells. Thinking to himself he wondered if perhaps this was? No, it couldn't be a player, he'd done nothing to show that he was hostile and a player brought to this world would no doubt be just as confused, wait, the name he gave her. Momonga wanted to hit himself, no wonder she was so intent on fighting and going so far as to follow him, any human player who heard the name Ainz Ooal Gown would surely curse its members, they were one of the biggest Player killers back in their golden years.
Tired of waiting a burst of crystals shot towards him, no doubt another unknown spell he dodged, fighting now truly started the two shot into the sky.
Momonga wasn't one to go easy on someone but he knew so little of his opponent aside from her being
human and likely specialized in earth magic, casting his first spell he would have to be a test shot to find the weaknesses in her equipment.
"[Triplet Maximize Call Greater Thunder]!" As the spell shot to her he expected to see her tank it or even activate an item and negate it outright, what he didn't expect was for her to look shocked as three lightning bolts crashed into her body faster than she could react, killing her instantly.
Watching as her tiny body crashed to the ground in front of the adventurers guild Momonga stood there stunned, had he miscalculated? For what he thought to be a level ninety player to die instantly from a ninth-tier spell was impossible, unless, she faked dying! Falling outside the range of [False Data Life] was possible and she had done it, not one to fall for traps Momonga thought of how to punish someone waiting on their opponent. He snapped his fingers, and a series of magic circles began to surround him and towered overhead reaching high into the heavens, any mage over level seventy-one would instantly recognize the use of super-tier magic. Knowing that Evil Eye would soon rush up here to stop his spell he readied to cast a spell in turn, only for the full cast time to run out.
Sighing at was surely a very inexperienced player, he hated to use one of his four super-tier spells a day to punish a lack of knowledge, but it would be wasted anyway, so he released the magic.
"[Fallen Down]!"
Light, that's all anyone saw, as a pillar of pale blue light rose past the clouds and surrounded the guild below. Then nothing, as a flame so hot stone evaporated and even adamantite armor melted where its owners once stood, spreading out the flame consumed nearly a fourth of the city before it stopped. Where once a bustling city district stood was now a crater of cracked and burnt earth, not a soul left alive, and gone with it unbeknownst to neither Momonga nor the city every high-ranking adventurer in the kingdom and some abroad.
Running for her life Clementine clutched her bleeding stump when a flash of light behind her engulfed the city and a boom so loud was heard she was certain her ears were bleeding. But she didn't care so she kept running glad the spectacle of death had distracted the city guard from a living fugitive.
Stepping out of the tavern half of the guild hall, Blue Rose watched as a pillar of flame screamed toward them, they had assumed the commotion to be a bar fight. However, upon seeing a blood bath on the street and Evil Eye getting struck down by lightning they feared the worst. Only now, their ashes feared nothing as they floated away.
Watching from her balcony, princess Renner could only stare as a flaming tower consumed a portion of the city and vanished leaving a crater, this would ruin the kingdom and she knew it. Falling back onto her sofa she questioned what could have caused such a disaster, now she would have to rework all her plans to ensure her darling Climb became hers.
Far Away Inside a Floating Castle
A massive platinum dragon opened one of its eyes. "So they have come again, this time I will not hesitate to stop them." Lifting its massive head it gazed upon a gleaming suit of full plate armor four bright weapons laid next to it.
"Yes, this time I will not allow the world to be brought to ashes" The massive dragon declared as two red flaming lights appeared inside the suit's helmet.