Hello Scrolls and Nazarins, Mr.Bones I bring you another chapter of the final stretch of my Fanfic: The One Who Came Back.
The Traveler arrives in Nazarick, who is he? Why is he here? What will Ainz do?
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 38: High Alert
Albedo was furious – 'His home!' – she thought – 'Who is he? He can't be one of the 42 Supreme Beings; none of them were human. Could he be a former minor god? Records state that the Great Tomb was conquered by the first nine; could he be someone who lived here before?' – Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an alarm.
'Message to all Guardians, message to all Guardians, intruder located approaching the Great Tomb of Nazarick.'
"He's here. Shalltear, assume your position, do not attack without provocation. All guardians, equip yourselves with your best gear, the entire Tomb is on high alert". Ainz ordered quickly and firmly.
Shalltear rushed through the door straight to the Teleportation area. Along the way, her armor was already fully equipped.
'Aureole!'
'Yes!'
Shalltear appeared in the middle of the floor before the exit and flew to the door, where she could see into the distance. Beyond the Tomb's threshold, there was a figure approaching.
"How did he bypass the surveillance?"
"We don't know, Lady Shalltear. The Hanzos and Shadow Demons are patrolling continuously, and he was only noticed a few thousand meters away". one of the vampire brides reported, ready for action.
He walked toward the Tomb, showing no signs of haste, and the delay was affecting Shalltear. Her master had ordered her to stand guard, not to attack. It was agonizing.
The human stopped right at the portal of the Great Tomb, as if examining the pillars, and then shaded his eyes as if trying to see into the distance. Shalltear was highly visible at this moment, standing on the staircase that led to the underground tomb. The human seemed to speak.
"Hmmm, I can't hear anything. Silence was cast in the area... would it be prudent to avoid casting magic spells?"
"No, milady, we were not instructed to anticipate such a thing."
"Very well, but we didn't hear what he said. S-SPEAK LOUDER!"
Again, the human appeared to shout something, but nothing was heard.
"Did anyone hear anything?"
"No, my lady, perhaps he is too far away?"
"Nonsense, I can hear a pin drop hundreds of meters away. What... is he waving?!"
Shalltear was extremely annoyed; she couldn't send the Vampire Brides. It was her duty to guard and receive those who arrived at the tomb during the alert, and she would not stoop so low as to approach the Traveler. After considering, she said.
"Come, up, here." she spoke through clenched teeth, "W-What is he doing?
"He's running, Milady, very slowly... very, very slowly", replied the vampire bride, watching the clumsy trot of the human.
The Traveler took his time, but he eventually reached the base of the staircase.
"Hello, ladies, good afternoon to all. Could you please tell me if this is the Great Tomb of Nazarick?"
"Politeness first; tell us who you are."
"My mistake, I apologize. My name is Hellsing..."
"LIAR! I KNOW THIS IS NOT YOUR NAME!", the vampire shouted impatiently.
"I apologize, miss, but I don't lie, I swear by Santa..."
"You can swear by any god you know, I still call you a liar! How dare you profane the name of the Great Tomb of Nazarick with your mouth full of lies? How dare you defile this sacred ground WITH YOUR LYING PRESENCE!?"
"Well, actually, you invited me in."
Shalltear then realized the foolish trap she had fallen into; as a vampire, she should have known not to invite certain people into her abode.
This was too much for her - "do not attack without provocation" - it was evident that she had been provoked. She launched herself at the Traveler without warning, her transformation almost complete, nails like razors, mouth open with huge fangs, but still maintaining some of her Gothic Lolita appearance.
"Stop, Shalltear!"
The vampire stopped at her master's command, mere inches from the intruder's face.
"Return to your position", said the Supreme Being flanked by the Guardians and the Pleiades, the greatest forces of Nazarick.
"Well, it seems we finally meet. The time for deceit is over, so I'll be courteous. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, the lord of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. What brings you to our doorstep?"
"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown. I am a storyteller and go by many names, but you can call me TW. I seek refuge in the Great Tomb of Nazarick."
"Refuge, you say? But what could warrant our protection, and what do you offer in return?"
"The world; to me, the world is a threat, and what I offer is everything" my friendship and total submission.
"You offer NOTHING, YOUR LIFE IS WORTHLESS!", Albedo yelled, wearing her full armor and pointing her bardiche towards TW.
"My life is worthless, but the knowledge I possess might be useful to your lord. Allow me to share all that I know, and after that, if you judge me to be useless, you may end my life."
"I will be the judge of your worth", said the Supreme Being.
"If it's not too much to ask for your hospitality, could we do that over lunch?"
Immediately, everyone present emitted their murderous intentions, an aura capable of crushing even the strongest human warriors, but apparently, it had no effect on TW.
"Please, stop. I sense your intentions, but I am immune to this type of attack."
"Such audacity, showing us one of your abilities we had already noticed", at that moment, everyone stopped emitting the murderous aura in embarrassment.
"I apologize, I only wanted to offer something in return for my simple request, so I will offer something again. Before, I mentioned that I don't lie, and that is the absolute truth; I am physically incapable of lying, I swear by Santa..."
"We shall see about that, come with me", said Ainz, surprising everyone.
The Lord of the tomb led the way inside, followed by TW, who was completely surrounded by protectors and could hardly move in the corridors.
After teleporting, they walked a long path, not heading to the throne room or Ainz's office. This was the way that led to the... cafeteria.
"I believe it should be more than enough for you, right?"
"More than enough, my lord", said TW, heading to one of the tables while the off-duty homunculus maids emptied the place upon seeing their lord, the Guardians, and the Pleiades armed for combat.
"Will you join me, sir?"
"Yes, please", Ainz gestured for him to sit, taking a seat opposite of TW.
"My Lord, let me bring a chair worthy of your presence!", Albedo intervened.
"I will bring a Throne", Demiurge said.
"I will be your chair", Shalltear said.
"Please, this simple chair will be enough", all the Guardians rushed to pull it for their master, but the young elf was faster and had that honor.
"Thank you, Mare."
"I-I am at your service, Ainz-Sama."
"Well, Mr. TW, what would you like to eat?"
"A hamburger, fries, a portion of bacon, and a soda."
"I'LL GET IT!", Lupusregina exclaimed, rushing to the kitchen.
Now, it was evident that he was a player; only a player would know such words.
The atmosphere was so tense that anyone else would have fainted, but the guest was casually tapping his fingers on the table to a melody.
"I hope you enjoy the meal; it might be your last", Ainz warned nonchalantly.
"Ah! I believe it will be a meal befitting the master of this guild."
At that exact moment, Lupusregina, who was coming out of the kitchen with the food, turned back upon hearing those words, returning with a slightly different hamburger, probably without the "special sauce" she had added before.
"Ah! Thank you, Miss Lupusregina. Would you like to join us? Please, help yourself."
"HOW DARE YOU! I AM LUPUSREGINA BETA, ONLY MY LORD CAN COMMAND ME IN THIS HOUSE."
"It wasn't a command; it was an invitation. Please, have a seat and have something to eat if you wish."
"I would never dishonor myself in such a way, sitting in the presence of my master - nhon, nhon, nhon - it would be an absur-... WHAT?!", The maid realized that, for some reason, she was sitting and taking a bite of bacon. Everyone was astonished at what had happened; the maid, as audacious as she was, would never do such a thing willingly.
"What did you do to me?!
"I used my influence; I can make people do certain things naturally."
"Mind control?", Ainz inquired.
"No, not hypnosis; it's more like if I provided them with a very convincing argument. I could never enter here just by asking; I would be killed immediately."
"You possess strange powers, don't you?"
"What did you do to me...?", Lupusregina murmured.
"Yes, because I am a blessed human."
"All humans think they are worthy of the attention of their gods" Albedo spat.
"No, no, I meant it literally; I am blessed, almost like cursed. I cannot lie, I am resistant to certain things, and I have this... influence."
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!", the maid finally shouted, slamming her hands on the table and standing up.
"I apologize; it was rude of me. Please sit down, and I'll explain. Tell me, what do you know about magic? What is magic?"
Lupusregina felt embarrassed by her outburst, looking around until she reached her master, who gestured for her to continue.
"Magic is when we use mana to perform magic."
"Right, but that's incomplete. Magic is the ability to manipulate reality using mana. When you create a Fireball, where does it come from?"
"Out of nowhere", the maid replied, conjuring a fireball in her hand, "it just, puff, appears.
"No, it comes from somewhere; the mana is just gathering the necessary elements for the fire. If you were to summon Napalm, the fire would have more elements, just like The Fall of the Sky would bring a giant rock from somewhere, probably from space. Have you noticed that summoning circles are similar to teleportation circles?
"So, a summoned creature comes from somewhere else?"
"Yes, from a different plane of existence, brought here by magic."
"But Ainz-Sama continuously summons undead."
"In this case, Lupusregina, your master uses bodies, altering their form and nature, manipulating matter itself."
"But your explanation is also incomplete" said Ainz "magic is also the ability to alter reality.
"Yes, as expected of the Lord of the Great Tomb", all the Guardians were disgusted by the attempt to flatter their master, "There are spells that transform things, like the Ring of Wishes and the magic that changed the oceans; I believe someone in the past wished for all the water in this world to become drinkable."
"What's the difference then? It would just remove the salt from the ocean water", Lupusregina said between bites of bacon.
"Yes, but that would kill all marine life; that's not what happened; they were changed too, becoming able to live in freshwater, that's why there are sharks in rivers."
"My magic comes from that kind of magic, but it's a class of its own; I am capable of manipulating luck."
"Luck is just an abstract concept", argued Demiurge.
"No, it's not. Luck is the alteration of the probabilities of something happening. The lucky effect may be minuscule; in Yggdrasil, a 100% increase in luck would only change the chance of obtaining something from 0.1% to 0.2%. However, at higher levels, it's tangible in this world. That's why things happen around me, benefiting me. I can't turn it off, but I can influence luck in others to a certain extent."
"In contrast, you also need to influence bad luck, right? Karmic balance, Yin-Yang...", Everyone was proud of their master's sagacity, showing profound knowledge in an obscure and unknown area to them.
"Yes, to avoid harming those around me, I infuse bad luck into amulets that I can use."
"The incidents in the Dragon Kingdom...", Sebas murmured, who until then had remained impassive.
"Some places deserve to burn", TW spoke somberly, remembering the brothel.
"But all this doesn't explain how you know my name!", Lupusregina pointed out; until now, only Shalltear's name had been mentioned.
"Oh, yes, you caught me... that's because your father told me your name before you were born", TW said with a smile, but a gloomy look in his eyes.
"Who are you?", Lupusregina was scared for the first time.
"I, who am I?", the lights in the dining hall began to flicker and fail, something that should have been impossible. Everyone raised their weapons, "I am the imminent danger, the one who lurks in the shadows, I AM THE FEAR THAT DWELLS IN MEN'S HEARTS, THE BEAST IN THE FOREST, I AM..."
"Totally Wild, known as The Beast, the twenty-seventh Supreme Being", Ainz said nonchalantly, as he looked at his hand and admired his imaginary nails.
"MOMONGA!! You ruined my entrance!"
"You've always been quite theatrical, Wild. All this verbosity tires me."
The Guardians couldn't believe it. Another Supreme Being had returned, a human, but who was Totally Wild?
"Why all this, Wild? Why didn't you come earlier? Why are you human now?", Ainz asked.
"Well, Momo... I mean Lord Ainz, as I said before, I was cursed. I lost my glorious Wendigo form and was reduced to this. I arrived in this world about a hundred years ago, but I only recently learned about an undead magic caster casting high-level spells here. There are no news broadcasts, you know? Besides, I was afraid; it could have been anyone. I didn't know much about what had changed in the guild since I was kicked out."
"kicked out!", everyone was astonished.
"A traitor! We should kill him NOW!", Albedo shouted, seeing an opportunity.
"STOP! No one will attack without my order, WITHOUT QUESTION. Totally Wild is under my protection until I decide otherwise. There is still much I want to know. I think now would be a good time to go to my office and have a conversation."
"As you wish, Santa...", they then got up and headed to the exit.
"You!", Albedo said with disdain, "You mentioned Santa several times, you swore by that name, and now you call our master by that name. What does it mean?"
"Ah! I forgot that the translation magic that permeates this world doesn't translate foreign names. That's how I used to call your master before, Santa Muerte, which means Holy Death."
Reluctantly, the Guardians admitted that it was an appropriate title for their Master.
...
Author's note
Hello, I finally brought the identity of the Traveler or TW as I will call it from now on, the explanations will come in the next chapters, I hope they seem coherent.
About how you call Ainz, Santa Muerte, and I did a poll months ago asking if it would be offensive to use that term, the staff supported the use.
Here the NPCs don't recognize what it means because, remember, they're Japanese, so when I put "Santa" in quotes it means it's in another language, does that make sense? hahahaha I think I just made it more confusing.
About TW's appearance, I want him to be a Wendigo xaman, big body type and deer skull head, a classic appearance, I hope you think it's cool