A/N: HOWDY!
So with the coming of the spring and summer months, I wanted to do something special for my readers.
However, as anyone whose read this story consistently knows I'm shit at keeping a schedule so the true update is going to be a while.
In the meantime however, I'm going to release side story chapters to fill the void.
Chapter ??
A flash followed by a shockwave.
Sebas was in far too foul a mood to act with any civility towards these humans.
He swiped sending a projectile to the side.
Flash, boom.
For how weak they were physically he had to admit their weapons were far more advanced, he estimated the current barrage to be no lower than sixth-tier equivalents.
That was worrying for a number of reasons the main one being that despite his lack of magic abilities he could still sense magic, these projectiles weren't.
His assumption was that they were just cloaked with counter-divination wards which would explain his inability to breach them as he had no divination abilities higher than the fifth tier.
It would also explain the human's abysmal state, if they were a nation of mages and artificers then low physical stats were to be expected.
Another volley, flash, flash, boom, boom.
Enough of their games he'd end this swiftly.
Crouching low he pulled inward readying a punch toward the strange armaments.
A sonic boom echoed and his fist flew forward tearing the metal to pieces and the humans inside into mist.
His instincts flared, and he ducked.
An object flew a millimeter above his head only narrowly avoiding taking it with, he felt sweat on his brow.
This new projectile moved too fast for him to see and he'd only just avoided its path.
"So these are what Demiurge warned us about.
Troubling indeed."
A second shot was fired but instead of dodging he stood stalwart against the weapon and activated a skill.
"[Deflection]"
Like a beam of pure light, it came toward him, aimed center mass the projectile would've struck him clean in the chest likely killing him.
Again his every instinct flared telling him to dodge away but he remained.
If they ever hoped to return to the Supreme Being's side they would need to withstand this gauntlet of unknowns and push through to wherever he awaited them.
The light reached Sebas and his skill activated.
Like a river's flow being diverted the projectile was pulled away from Sebas' chest and while he was able to estimate the strength of the unknown weapon he wasn't able to negate all of its damage.
As it passed his chest it tore into the hardened flesh of his shoulder and forearm tearing them away in a spray of gore.
Luckily the maid Pestonya could easily heal a wound of this caliber however Sebas would still be forced to flee lest a second shot renders him defenseless.
He ran, as cowardly as some would call it he recalled the words of his lord 'knowledge is the heart of battle and even a loss can be valuable.' he shed a tear remembering the words of Momonga.
Demiurge grit his teeth in frustration.
Gargantua, a creation of the highest order had been killed.
How lowly humans, not even level two had managed this was more than impossible it was absurd.
Like some kind of sick joke, the guardians had been torn from the one they lived to protect and were being cut down one at a time.
Even if they destroyed a city and wiped its population from the world they would suffer losses too hard to replace.
It was a war of attrition and they were losing even if only by a fraction of a percent but a loss was a loss and in time they would dwindle to nothing.
Gargantua was only the first of what he assumed would be a long list of casualties.
A [Gate] opened nearby and Sebas stepped out clutching a stump where his arm once was.
"So even you are not able to resist their weapons.
Tell me did you get an idea of their strength?"
"That is what troubles me the most.
As you know my appraisal skills are subpar among the rest of the guardians."
Demiurge nodded.
"Well if I am correct there are two possibilities, the first, is that the majority of these humans are mages of some kind possibly related to a field of crafting. This would explain their weapons and weak appearance.
The second would be that the weapons are wholly non-magical and are somehow bypassing our abilities through sheer strength alone."
Demiurge planted his head between his hands.
Nothing made sense in this world and even if trickery was at play this news was devastating.
Every test was a failure, every interrogation met with silence, and with every failed attack the sense they'd displeased the supreme beings grew.
Demiurge stood and straightened his tie.
"Pestonya is waiting to heal you in the medical tent."
Sebas bowed and left the small room still clutching his dripping appendage.
In the center of his tent lay a map they'd spent countless hours making, it was dotted with hundreds of red x's.
Each one was a reminder of how he'd failed.
Stepping over he marked the city known locally as Neo-Tokyo with yet another red x.
Only a handful of the cities on this map had actually been conquered most simply because Nazarick's presence hadn't yet been known.
The initial chaos of their arrival had led to many cities being utterly annihilated, Shalltear's in particular hung heavy in his mind, initially he'd expected a missing population to only be noticed after traders and nomads found the ruins and spread the word.
How wrong he was.
At first glance, it appeared as though every human they came across was capable of the third-tier spell [Message] which would easily explain the swift response of the nation's military.
However, upon inspection Demiurge realized the error they'd made.
An entire network spread across the land like a spider's web and when one looked closely it only grew in complexity akin to a never-ending fractal.
Not only had the first few cities told their military but from investigations they'd told not just the world at large but they'd shown the chaos live.
Only through the help of the automaton maid Cz Delta had they even come to learn of this.
Computers weren't a foreign concept to Demiurge but seeing the maid who was designed to interface with all technology short circuit shortly after finding the video helped him realize the gravity of the situation.
These humans were advanced far beyond even Nazarick, a statement that made him retch upon utterance.
Satoru clutched his abdomen as a bright crimson flower began to bloom across his stomach.
A piece of shrapnel no larger than a fly had struck him seconds into his flight from the combat.
And yet, not a thought was focused on his pain for he couldn't help but wonder why, why had so many Yggdrasil entities come to life.
First, was Shalltear tearing through his neighborhood before the corporate police managed to draw her back, he shuttered at the blood he'd seen, an action that shot pain through his body.
Then, came the trash mobs of the game, things like basilisks and Nagas they were easily pierced by bullets and tank shells again saving the city from destruction.
And lastly, Sebas, seeing the elderly butler tear through steel like tissue paper was unnerving.
Why was it that everything he'd seen had either come from Helhiem or more importantly Nazarick itself?
someone standing over him snapped his thoughts back to the world at large.
"Minor surgery is needed to remove the object but we expect a full recovery!"
Only now did Satoru observe his surroundings, the crisp white walls, immaculately cleaned floors free from any dirt, and the hum of high-powered lights.
He was in a hospital and if the nurse's attitude was anything to go by one far too rich for him.
"How did I get here?"
The nurse looked up from a tablet.
"You alongside several others were brought in from a devastating gas explosion you're lucky to be alive.
Before you ask no you won't be charged a dime!
On behalf of Tokyo Inc, we sincerely apologize for this inconvenience!"
The woman bowed deeply as she spouted the obvious script.
So that's how things were, why he'd been treated at all instead of letting a witness die was beyond him but he wouldn't complain. It had been a few years since his last check up so a freebie wouldn't hurt.
He still recalled what he saw as he lay bleeding on the street.
It was for less than a second but he saw himself, he saw Momonga.
America, The White House.
Four people stood around the president's desk, each one held a look as though death stood not a foot away.
"Mr. President, we have news about the attacks along the east coast."
The president nodded slowly urging the man to continue.
"Eyewitnesses of the attackers report, well sir, they say it's zombies."
A fist hit the desk like the boom of a gun.
"Damn the Japanese!
First, they send that robot now this!
How soon can we get a retaliatory force ready?"
the first man stepped back replaced by one much older.
"The Secretary of Defense recommended that with the successful test of the antimatter missiles, we should move towards more practical applications."
"I'd call him an idiot for starting world war four but let it be known the Japanese struck first.
Tell the secretary he'll get his strike."
Japan.
Life after a divorce is always hard.
Life after the death of a loved one is even harder.
To have both happen in the span of only a month is more than enough to break even the strongest of people.
Ryotaro Okiayu fired a volley down the street.
His rifle would normally feel heavy whenever he was ordered to carry it but today it felt so much lighter.
He fired again and a woman missing a third of her head lost the remainder in a shower of grey matter.
He wanted to laugh. Not a chuckle you give a joke made by your boss, no he wanted to roar with excitement.
Zombies, actual god damned zombies were roaming the streets.
Hell, he could even spy a few skeletons in the mix shambling around against all natural laws.
He raised his gun only to feel a thump against his side.
A skeleton holding a rusty sword had struck the side of his armor, it didn't even leave a scratch.
He fired into the skull of his attacker tearing it to pieces.
His squad was doing much the same tearing the hoard to pieces in seconds but he alone was enjoying it.
A thought crossed his mind amidst the chaos and gunfire.
'These are awfully similar to Yggdrasil'.