A wandering spirit floated gently down the river.

It seems lost.

Taking the form of a beautiful butterfly, it looks for home.

"Hm, you look quite young today, Principality," Mustapha Mond remarked with a considerable amount of surprise upon seeing him.

Principality had messaged Mond to tell him that the Dragon Kingdom was going to be a neutral nation in the war between Seraphim and Ainz Ooal Gown. And to prove his neutrality, he was going to return Athalia, which he captured with Final Destination a week prior.

Mustapha Mond obviously thought it was a trap, and so he brought much of his personal guard. However…

It really was just Principality, holding Final Destination in his hand.

And looking far too young.

Principality looked rather upset with him, "You kept claiming your singular chronomancer couldn't rewind my age, but their chronomancer managed to do it in basically seconds. What's up with that, hm?"

…That wasn't possible.

"Principality…" Mustapha Mond put his hand on his chin, trying to figure out how the hell he could wring information out of the now neutral player, "You remember the reputation of chronomancy classes back in Yggdrasil, no?"

Principality tilted his head, attempting to remember memories from a lifetime ago, "Uh… They weren't good?"

Mustapha Mond nodded, explaining the mechanics of the chronomancy classes, "Yes. They were all historically awful classes, due to the many anti-time countermeasures everyone had. They only had a few outstanding abilities, but nothing worth investing a full class tree into. There is a reason you rarely ever saw any chronomancy classes on a player. The developers intended it to be this way as well, and to rub salt in the wound, their class lore was a joke. There are a few historian classes that could get some lore out of player characters depending on their classes. Do you know what the lore for the chronomancy classes were? Time is manipulated just because Yggdrasil felt bad for them. The time stopping of other classes is genuine, but the chronomancy is only able to do it because the very world pities them. The names for all of the chronomancy classes and spells were names that the chronomancy players made up to sound cool, and didn't actually do anything."

If Mustapha Mond had to make an educated guess, the reason for this was likely to avoid time travel shenanigans that usually killed most series that try it. With the chronomancy classes deliberately weakened, nobody could just ask "Why don't chronomancers just do this to avoid this event?" The fact that there were no lore-significant chronomancer characters in the story of Yggdrasil also lended credibility to this line of thought.

Principality blinked, "Wait, so you're saying…"
"We've tried to reverse the aging of various things with Warudo," Mustapha Mond continued, "We cannot get anything to reverse more than a year or two before they physically can't. Because of the ego of the NPC, we've had to modify his memories several times so he didn't kill himself because of his failures."

Which brings up a rather important question. Why could Ainz Ooal Gown's chronomancer reverse Principality's aging? His initial thoughts were that Ainz Ooal Gown had some sort of world item which was actually time manipulation, but the way Principality worded it seemed to just be an NPC who reversed his age. An NPC biography could theoretically change how some things work, as the various animals in Kami no Toshokan were very picky eaters despite being able to be fed anything in-game. However, it had a limit, such as Mustapha Mond's Aldous Huxley not being as all-seeing as he would like it to be. Another thing that had to be fixed with Control Amnesia.

And yet, Ainz Ooal Gown has seemingly broken the rules… Or perhaps their understanding of the rules were less than what they previously thought.

Such thoughts obviously did not cross Principality's mind, as he instead changed the subject by irritatedly asking, "Why didn't you just bring him to me so I could physically see it then, you moron?"

Mustapha Mond hummed, "Well, Bless did want to do that straight away-"

"That's my fucking man," Principality interrupted, "Taken away from us too soon. Who's the bastard who did that, by the way? I'm killing it, since I have the time now."

Mustapha Mond took the opportunity to not elaborate by taking advantage of Principality's lack of focus, "It was the combined effort of the Catastrophe Dragon Lord and the Heavenly Dragon Lord."

Principality raised an eyebrow, "Only those two?"

Mustapha Mond nodded, "Yes. Their wild magic is quite potent, don't you agree?"

Principality narrowed his eyes, "Who else was in the fight?"

"It was just Bless," Mustapha Mond said, "He was admiring the scenery in the middle continent before coming back to Kami no Toshokan, and was ambushed."

Principality didn't seem to believe him, of course. Principality no doubt has killed a number of dragons before. But it wasn't his place to question Mond. He had to pay lip service to his neutrality, of course.

Besides, what was in the past should stay in the past.

Principality held out Final Destination, "Fine. I still don't forgive you for being shit communicators, but Bless and I were good friends back in the day, and I don't intend on disrespecting his legacy, but I want you to keep my words in mind…"

Final Destination activated, spitting out Athalia, who seemed to be unconscious.

Mustapha Mond didn't pay her any attention as instead, he listened to Principality.

"I'll send this message to Ainz Ooal Gown later, but here are the terms of my neutrality. If either of you permanently kill a member from the other guild… I will join against the aggressor," Principality said, holding one of his swords in his hands against him.

Ah, so that was the reason for the neutrality. He feels too strongly for both guilds to fully commit to fighting either one of them, and yet he still believes there is a solution where no blood- significant blood, anyways- is spilt. And so, he positioned himself to a place where if either guild stepped out of line, the might of the strongest would turn against them.

For Principality's objective of a short and tearless war, it was actually quite a good move for him. Triumvirate might be a shadow of its past, but the survivors of the former top ranked guild would be a deadly foe to face, especially when combined forces with another top guild like Ainz Ooal Gown or Seraphim.

And to be quite frankly honest…

Mustapha Mond did not want to find out if Principality still held his title of being the strongest player despite what must've been a hundred years of fighting against weaklings.

Mustapha Mond shrugged, "Your terms have been noted. I shall be taking my leave, then."

Triumvirate for the price of a soul? Now that is an offer worth looking into…

Mustapha Mond snaps his finger, summoning a cloud for both him and Athalia to be carried away into a gate back to Kami no Toshokan.

"My, Lenina! There are quite a few angels in the sky today, aren't there?" Lenina's friend, Bernard, remarked as he pointed towards the sky.

Yes, Lenina did notice the increase of angels heading towards somewhere beyond London. It was rather worrying, because there usually weren't any angels in the sky so clearly going somewhere. Lenina thought they could just teleport.

Benard seemed very interested in the flying angels as he asked, "Do you think they're exercising? Or do you think they're going somewhere?"

Lenina shrugged, "If they were going somewhere, they would just teleport, wouldn't they?"

Bernard sighed, "I suppose, but it would get very boring after a while, wouldn't it?"

"I don't think we know what would be interesting or boring to an angel, Bernard…" Lenina pointed out.

Bernard conceded, "Ah, you're right."

It was mildly worrying though, Lenina felt as though something this out of the ordinary was a sign of something awful happening.

Bernard could see it on her face, "Lenina, do you need a dose of soma?"

Lenina nodded, "It might be for the best, I keep worrying about things I don't have to."

Bernard smiled, "That's the ingenuity of soma, isn't it? Why, just a few months ago, some people calling themselves my 'family' were harassing me for no good reason! It was so distressing, I needed to go on a soma vacation for two whole weeks!"

Lenina covered her mouth in shock, "Family? How scandalous!"

Everyone knew that everyone belonged to the state! The state raised their children in state-sponsored orphanages so that things like abusive parents or stupid kids would be a thing of the past. To say that individuals could outdo the state was absurd!

Bernard nodded, "Yes! Oh, now that I think of it, they were sent to be vaporized a while ago. Too unruly to be civilized, I think."

Lenina sighed, "Oh, how I wish I could've been born a hundred years into the future…"

Bernard nodded, "Yes, if only our civilization started so very long ago… We wouldn't be tortured by the remains of the old world. But until that day comes, would you like to be merry with me?"

Lenina smiled, "Of course!"

On that day, soma intake increased by 43% due to the influx of angels taking the scenic route to Kami no Toshokan.

The World Class Items of Yggdrasil were a most peculiar group of items, as although they are considered the pinnacle of power by almost all players, most of them aren't actually very useful at all. Though Yggdrasil was created by an already significant gaming company, most of the developers working on the game were actually new hires, and their ability to craft such items were extremely unrefined. But they certainly carried a lot of enthusiasm in creating them. As a result, almost a third of all world items in Yggdrasil, and just under a half of all world items documented by players, are considered "Old" world items. Those world items have very simple abilities, which would not look out of place on a high-end raid gear. The only value they have as items are their tags as world items.

None of these world items, both old and new, are created equal. And only very few world items are actually worth using in battle. As world items, they set the standards for the battlefield, but rarely do they ever meet those expectations themselves. For example, some world items are purely for cosmetics or builds, such as the Seeds of Yggdrasil being actually detrimental to your well-being if used in battle.

Some are just far too niche to ever be used in an actual useful setting, such as Eternal Euthymia requiring one of your hands slots to use for a rather unremarkable ability for the user of Eternal Euthymia. Or Inexorable Destiny, whose ability actively discourages team play, which is most of the content in Yggdrasil.

Some are actively harmful to their users, such as Tristeza's Gauntlet which levels the playing field regardless of if it was in favor of the user or not. Or Proof of Glory, which takes aways the user's level for temporary power.

Then there are world items that are uncreative and act as "win more" weapons, such as Billion Blades, whose ability actually needed to be buffed several times because its effect was added to other items. His own Grasscutter, which adds a nice effect to all of his spells, but hardly game breaking. And Star Mantle, which merely made all of the user's ranged attacks inflict a single random status effect, which the pool consists of every single negative status effect in the game.

Then, there are the world items worthy of their title. Whose mere presence warps the battlefield around them like a black hole, forcing every single opponent to respond to it, or face utter annihilation.

Seraphim's Praise The Lord, which forces the enemies to fight on their terms in their own guild base, forcing them to never fly. This has made every single invasion against Kami No Toshokan fail on their first island.

The Yggdrasil Time's Hero's Legacy, which creates a copy of everyone on the battlefield as minions for the user, instantly doubling, even quadrupling, the number of foes the enemy must face. The coding on the copies were actually competent as well, meaning that you were essentially forced to fight a near-peer version of yourself, not even counting the clones of the guildmates, who were all equally deadly.

And, the most pressing world item in their current situation, Ainz Ooal Gown's Supreme Sovereign of Spirits' Mianguan, which creates an infinite source of mana, in a game where mana management was one of the core parts of the balancing of mages. Not just that, but the ability for the user to toss out AoE spells into the backline, draining their own mages' mana as well. With the added benefit that the only class able to fully utilize the world item, The Merciful Spiritual Sovereign, gaining talents that would allow for them to heal while dealing damage at the same time.

If the Supreme Sovereign of Spirits' Mianguan and Praise The Lord were on the same battlefield, Praise The Lord would doubtlessly be the more impactful world item, as nothing in its radius could last in the sky with it there.

Yet, that was the problem. Praise The Lord was immobile and stuck inside of their guild base. The Supreme Sovereign of Spirits' Mianguan could be used anywhere.

Ainz Ooal Gown built a near impenetrable formation around the user of the world item, Vagisilious, as well. Most of their guild are specced in bulky melee, but the mages of the guild are almost all built towards destruction and damage. In a war of attrition, even in a scenario where Ainz Ooal Gown is outnumbered, Ainz Ooal Gown still has the odds in their favor.

Any battle between Seraphim and Ainz Ooal Gown is utterly pointless while the Mianguan is in play. The moment Vagisilious steps onto the battlefield, the scenario has already been determined. Even worse if Ulbert Alain Odle appears alongside her, as the one thing holding a World Disaster or its lesser class, Disciple of Disaster, is the amount of mana each attack requires. A shackle which the Mianguan breaks.

With all of this knowledge in hand, it may seem as though that the final battle has already been decided. However, though the heights of Seraphim are not as tall, the floor of Seraphim is still far ahead of the curve.

They have enough tools in their arsenal to neutralize the threat of the Mianguan. They certainly have enough resources to the point where they can afford several failures, no matter how dire their defeats.

Seraphim has laid claim to this world, and Ainz Ooal Gown shall not plunge the world into darkness. In order to attain total victory, sacrifices must be made to destroy the Mianguan's capabilities.

Now, Mustapha Mond must convince the others of this fact.

Before the guild meeting could start, Mustapha Mond first needed to drag the recluses out of their hiding spots. Namely, their two divination users, Eyesee and Elynas.

Of the two, Eyesee was the more normal person. Her specialization in divination was to essentially place warning traps all over the place to avoid ambushes. Of course, the reason why Eyesee chose that sort of divination style was because she was quite a paranoid person. Never fully coming out of her room without being assured by her close friends that it would be fine and they would help protect her.

Eyesee could protect herself just fine, her other class tree was a damage mage class, but it was just the type of person she was.

Messaging Eyesee, Mustapha Mond said, "Eyesee, the hour of the meeting is-"

"I hear you, dumbass," Eyesee crassly responded, "I'm already on the way."

Well, it was good that the past decade had lessened her paranoia somewhat. She used to always come late to 'avoid' any traps, knowing full well her divination would catch it long before she stepped foot anywhere.

Though, this could be a temporary thing, spurred on by the fact that being with the guild was likely safer than staying in her abode, considering Ainz Ooal Gown was on the table now.

Though, considering she has taken quite well to being his director of the Ministry of Truth… Perhaps it was time to finally let go of the label of paranoia and recluse for Eyesee.

The other was… Elynas.

Elynas, before the transfer, would've been called more normal than Eyesee. She was an upbeat girl, quick to admonish other people in the guild, and taking full advantage of the fact that her quality testing job was full of corruption and not actually doing any work.

Even progressing into the transfer, she still kept the majority of her personality, proving that her attitude in game wasn't just an act.

Then she stared into The Holy Grail, and Elynas died.

Elynas' class was that of a prophet. In the game, it just meant that she could see what enemies were going to do ahead of time, not including players, of course. Some of her spells even allowed her to force some things to happen and claimed it was fate.

In reality, it meant that she could see the future.

At first, it was just tied to her spells, and though Elynas claimed it was jarring to see something happen twice, she managed to get through it and say she was fine. And for a time, it was true.

Then, of course, she saw something she wasn't meant to see.

Things that happened in the game didn't always cleanly translate into real life. But they gained new functions to make up for it. Most of the time, it was just what happened in game but logically more feasible, such as the spell which allowed you to see your stats simply became a spell which allowed you to 'feel' how strong you are.

The Holy Grail was a world item that allowed for the users to be able to see hints about future content from the developers. Things like where the next raid was going to be, what items were able to be pre-farmed to complete the prerequisite quests, and the mechanics of some major upcoming enemy.

It passed hands often, only coming into Seraphim's grasp during the last 2 expansions of the game. But even during that time, it was quite helpful.

Of course, it didn't work after the developers were all caught in the crossfires of an assassination. But they kept The Holy Grail just as a memento of the past.

It was actually not until what must've been the month before they took over the Holy Kingdom that they remembered they had The Holy Grail in one of the niches of one of the smaller islands as decoration. Given the previous function of the grail, Mustapha had gotten Elynas to try and activate the grail, as he couldn't do it himself because it seemed to be disabled.

Elynas managed to share the vision with him before she went insane. But to be quite frankly honest, he wishes she didn't. Now, they were both cursed with forbidden knowledge.

Mustapha Mond could now use The Holy Grail without having to bring Elynas with him. The future he can see is only a glimpse of what Elynas saw, however.

He's only been given hints of what Elynas saw through her maddened whispers. But the word 'fate' comes up quite often, something which lead to their goal of exterminating the Incarnation of Fate's Will cult.

Currently, Mustapha Mond's theory was that "Fate" saw Elynas gazing at it, and ensured that she would not divulge too much. That, of course, was based on the information gained by Zenith, whom blabbed before his death, that Fate was actually a person.

At most, Mustapha Mond believes it might be a world enemy. Perhaps a stronger one than average, but still just an world enemy.

Teleporting himself to Elynas's room in Kami no Toshokan, Mustapha Mond gently knocked on her door, as Elynas hated being messaged, "Hello? Elynas?"

He could feel Elynas's gaze on him as she determines whether or not Mustapha Mond brought her any danger. Then, Elynas called out, "You can come in."

Mustapha opened the door and entered the room. It was a mess, of course. Elynas never bothered to clean her room because she could just manipulate the future to ensure that she could find whatever she needed, or avoid stepping on anything.

It actually took a few moments to find Elynas. She ended up on the top of one of her closets she never used.

Elynas was a short angel, one of the few that actually didn't go for the human+ route, despite the availability of the Seeds of Yggdrasil. Her race was some sort of copied race from some ancient game whose domain went public many years ago. What was it called… Melusine? Well, either way, she was a bipedal short blue deer-like creature, along with the typical wings and halos of an angel. The tattoos on her were white as well, simply to sell the angelic aesthetic a bit more.

"Why do you need me to come?" Elynas asked, her voice possessing no emotion, "You let me skip the other guild meetings."

Mustapha Mond said, "This meeting is more important than the other ones, seeing as it pertains to our new neighbors, Ainz Ooal Gown."

Elynas frowned, "I don't see the point."

"Oh? Would you like to elaborate on that point?" Mustapha Mond asked, hoping to get a little bit more of the future out of her.

"No. Fate will punish me if I do."

Well, it was worth a try.

He smoothly moved on, "That's a shame. That being said, you will have to tend to your divination duties more often. I know you are slowly recovering from the madness-"

Elynas eyes glinted in the light of her room, as though she found something amusing.

"...Or perhaps you are just better at hiding it," Mustapha Mond said, "Either way, we must defend our dreams, otherwise, we will be left behind as history."

Elynas sighed, "Can I ask something?"

Mustapha Mond gestured to her, "Go ahead."

Elynas hopped down from the top of her closet, getting very close to Mustapha Mond, staring him directly in his eyes, "Do you love me?"

Mustapha Mond blinked.

That wasn't quite what he expected to hear.

"Is that a confession? Or perhaps you would just like words of praise?" Mustapha Mond asked.

"You decide," Elynas said, being elusive for no good reason.

Mustapha Mond shrugged, "Romantically? No. Platonically? Yes, I do love you."

Elynas eyes widened, backing off into her wall, "That… That…"

Oh dear, another episode.

Mustapha Mond stayed silent, allowing her to spiral, "Fate… Fate changed? Was it never fated? Could I be lied to? What can't I see? Was I always like this? What's my purpose? Please… Please answer me…"

Elynas seemed to gain clarity as she looked at him again, "Mustapha, do you love me?"

Mustapha Mond stayed silent.

"...It should stay like that," Elynas concluded, "Love is worthless."

Mustapha Mond hummed, "Well, are you ready to depart?"

Quite honestly, he was ready to forget this moment between them. Elynas is right. In this world, love is worthless.

Elynas slowly nodded, "I think… I am."

Mustapha Mond smiled, "Very well. Let us go to the meeting."

Elynas tilted her head, "The meeting already began without us."

Mustapha Mond's smile turned upside down. No doubt those idiots are already causing a ruckus, "Ugh, those fools. Did you keep me here for that reason?"

"Fate would punish me if I didn't," Elynas responded.

Mustapha Mond sighed, "Fate seems to want to punish you for everything."

Elynas looked out of her window, seemingly feeling trapped, "If I said what I wanted to, we would all die."

Well, that was assuring. At least he knew that Elynas would never betray Seraphim. After all, if she did, Fate would punish her.

Where could home be, though?

I don't quite know.

The butterfly found its way into the place it last remembered.

Seraphim was a guild that was started with a very simple idea. "Wouldn't it be cool if we were all angels?"

The guild never began with the intention of being the top ranked guild in Yggdrasil. In fact, it only started to go down that path when BlessThyHearts had a very petty argument while he was in a public raid group in the early days of Yggdrasil, saying that gimmick guilds were destined for low rankings on the guild leaderboard.

After that, BlessThyHearts became a competitive player, dragging everyone in the guild up with him. And though many left the guild when the pivot was made, other more skilled players came in. Though they could never manage to get their hands on any of the top tier exclusive classes like World Champion or World Disaster, it was no exaggeration to say that their players were among the best in Yggdrasil.

Skilled players were never quite the most humble people in the world.

Apollyon, ranked the most eccentric player in the guild with an ego not fitting his skill, began the meeting prematurely by launching himself into a small monologue, "We are gathered here today to discuss our plans on toppeling an upstart guild called Ainz Ooal Gown. The most elderly here among us will remember the day we let our guard down and Ainz Ooal Gown swept us with their absurdities. We will avenge the mistakes of our past, and ensure that we remain the rightful rulers of this world!"

Kinzoku Paipu, a man who has done nothing but sleep for the past decade, scoffed, "Who let the loser speak?"

Apollyon growled back, "This 'loser' you speak of predicted this day would come. Athalia would know the consequences of not listening to me, wouldn't you agree?"

Athalia was sitting at the very back of the church room they were holding the meeting in, nursing her wounds after her defeat in Triumph, "Tch, do you want me to kill you? You didn't warn me about anything, you roleplaying freak."

Pontius Pilate loudly slammed his cup onto the conjured table in front of him, "Now now, everyone. The meeting hasn't started yet. It would be quite embarrassing for us to start arguing before we even started, yes?"

ZAngel, chuckled from the other side of the room, "But it is worth noting that Athalia did lose her battle. Maybe it's time we stop hyping her up as the strongest player we have?"

"Hm, maybe," Hasuru said, "The Dragon Lords were pretty strong, but nothing compared to us. Maybe cutting through butter for all these years dulled her battle senses?"

Hazel worriedly spoke up, "Is it really smart for you guys to be pissing her off like this?"

La Creature patted the back of her companion, "It's okay, Hazel. It's not like Athalia can do anything anyways."

Athalia stood up from her seat, glaring at those who spoke against her, "I don't want to hear you all bitching about my performance when I know fully well you've all only gone into combat against the lowly weaklings of this world. You have the privilege of being a parasite off of my work, sitting in the comforts of our guild base feeling secure because anything that could be dangerous, I kill. So why don't you all keep your mouths shut? It'll help the ambiance here."

Athalia's rant paved the way for every non-participant to toss in their opinions as well.

"Hey! Even I don't think now is a good time or place for a fight," Kolonist, one of Athalia's fellow battle junkies, said.

"Why did I ever join this gang of idiots…" Qwerty lamented, pinching his eyes with disappointment.

Gabot sighed, "Maybe one day, we'll get a day where we don't argue about something pointless."

Taking advantage of the lowering volume of the room, Zaphrael looked to Eyesee, "While this is quite exciting to listen to, we should be focusing on actually important issues. Eyesee, are there any updates on Lucamal and Star Mantle from the Dragon Kingdom?"

Eyesee finished her drink before responding, tossing the bottle into her inventory, "Why do you keep asking me about it? If I found him, I would've told you guys. As it stands now, Lucamal might not even be in the Dragon Kingdom. He might be screwing off somewhere on the opposite side of the continent."

Coolio looked towards Adao, "Say, Adao, your exterminators were supposed to be scouring the entire continent to find him, right? How come Adam hasn't come back to us with anything yet?"

Adao groaned, "You fucktards keep on bitching about results and shit. Athalia was right, you're all fucking parasites. If you want results, why don't you get off your ass and start looking? I'm sure you'll all get your 'results' soon enough, after all, you keep saying you can do it better. Why don't you back it up with some facts?"

Makel rolled her eyes, "How are you this old and still act like this?"

"Adao is right, though," Leo said, "We're going to need some of you to stop chilling in the guild base all day with Ainz Ooal Gown on our ass. In fact, it's probably the most exercise you guys have gotten in the past 10 years that wasn't just having sex with anything that moves."

Shoshinsha sighed, "Who the hell told Ainz Ooal Gown that they had a chance against us? They do realize they lose badly, right?"

"Athalia did," Toltol said with his mouth full of food.

Athalia didn't even dignify him with a response.

Vivar chuckled, "Ainz Ooal Gown still has no chance against us anyways. We'll find their guild base, blow it up, and go home. It's written in stone. Speaking of, Eyesee-"

"I started yesterday, dumbass."

Vivar shrugged, "Well, you should've started a week ago."

The doors to the church loudly slammed opened, signaling Mustapha Mond and Elynas's entry into the room.

"It is time to end your foolish theatrics," Mustapha Mond declared, earning the glares of some of his guild mates, "You have no captive audience to speak to."

Elynas went to take a seat as Mustapha Mond took the podium, still behind the grave of BlessThyHearts.

"Let every fallen soul be remembered in the halls of Kami no Toshokan, carved into the pages of its countless books," Mustapha Mond bowed in respect for their fallen leader, as did everyone else, "And let Seraphim rule for the rest of time…"

Ah! He remembers now! This place!

His name…

My name was…

A beautiful, golden butterfly landed on Mustapha Mond's hand, shortly after the guild meeting concluded.

Mustapha Mond's face softened, "It is a terrible fate to meet, isn't it, Bless?"

He moved the butterfly closer to his face. The butterfly could not move, "Don't worry, my old friend…"

Mustapha Mond closed his hands, the butterfly turning into little wisps of light, dissipating into the air.

As the last remains of BlessThyHeart's soul disappeared, Mustapha Mond saluted his fallen leader, "Though the world of today is much more different than you would've hoped for, I promise you that you will never be forgotten."

Mustapha Mond turned to leave, a determined look on his face, "It is the one promise I can fulfill."

World Item Bios

[The Holy Grail - World Class Item - Within this most sacred treasure, tales of the future reveal themselves. Look into the water, and let your fate be known.]

The Holy Grail Lore

It all started as a joke.

A man from the small world of Brasilia with a fathomless amount of charisma had wanted to play a small trick on his many friends. Nothing serious, and something they could all laugh about when it was all over.

But what should such a joke be like? It shouldn't be immediately obvious, for that would ruin the joke when he tried to pull it off. But it shouldn't be too subtle, or else people may actually miss the joke.

So, after a few moments of deliberation, the man decided he should take an ordinary grail he found at a second-hand vendor and attempt to convince his friends that it was actually an extraordinary grail, a holy grail, that could tell the future.

With a small bit of magic, he made the goblet be able to randomly guess at things that could happen in the future. It wasn't meant to be accurate, of course. It was just random things that he thought could happen in the future.

And so, he donned a white robe, masked himself, and presented himself to his closest friends as "Meme" (It means stupid in his native language.)

He held up his holy grail high and announced, "This Holy Grail can predict the future! Would anyone dare try and test their fate?"

One bold challenger, one of his friends going by the name Lulu, asked The Holy Grail, "Holy Grail, when will it rain?"

The Holy Grail responded, "It will rain… Now!"

Lulu laughed, "How do you expect for it to-"

A raindrop fell on Lulu's nose.

It began raining.

"The Holy Grail tells the truth!" Lulu shouted in shock, "The truth!"

Suddenly, everyone began to rush to ask The Holy Grail questions.

"When will the crops grow back?!"

"In 2 months."

"Will I ever become rich?!"

"You shall strike a vein of gold in a week."

"Will my wife ever love me back?!"
"You will get a divorce tomorrow."

Slowly but surely, every single prediction became true. Bountiful crops in 2 months which fed the entire world. A man becoming the richest in the world due to a lucky mining streak. And a divorce.

People began to worship The Holy Grail as the savior of mankind.

Which is when he decided that it should probably stop.

Meme, the so-called prophet of The Holy Grail, gathered everyone up and revealed the truth.

"I have deceived you all! I have simply infused this simple grail with basic magic!" He said, revealing himself as the popular friend.

"Liar!" Lulu said, "The Holy Grail is the one truth in this world! You should be excommunicated!"

They hated him because he told the truth.

They tossed him out of the community, his boundless charisma working against him as he had already convinced them The Holy Grail was the only source of truth in this world.

They kept asking The Holy Grail questions, and The Holy Grail kept giving answers. Whether they were factually true or not did not matter, for if The Holy Grail said that the sky would be purple that day, then it would be purple that day.

So when The Holy Grail announced that they were to die today, they all welcomed death with open arms.

X

Denshosho's notes: Ah yes, the cult world item. Though, it is actually interesting as Lulu ended up as a trash mob in a dungeon not too long ago. Maybe The Holy Grail is canonically a result of Nidhoggr's actions? Though obviously it's just the devs having fun.

Elynas's notes: Why can I get more out of this? Why would a world item like this ever be locked behind a prophet class? Yggdrasil Devs, are you stupid?

Principality's notes: Blegh, I knew I should've just raided those morons who were publicly broadcasting the fact that they had this. Who was that guild? I don't even remember anymore, that's how irrelevant they are.

AN:

I'm gonna go back and touch up on the earlier chapters, mostly 1 to 12, but probably the entire fic as well.

Not anything major like rewriting the entire thing, that would be a bit dumb. But more like touching up on the grammar of some parts, adding new scenes to foreshadow things like the guild war and actions of the characters now, and just adding parts that I didn't think about until later.

For example, if you would remember the funeral scene, I literally thought "Wouldn't it be cool if Bellriver was incompetent and they were fondly remembering his fuck ups." But then Bellriver never does or signals that he's mildly incompetent. Or the end of Yggdrasil era of gameplay being entirely skipped over because I was suffering from Yggdrasil burnout, but still very important as Principality's entire character of waiting for AOG is because of that era. Or like, literally any roleplaying for the roleplaying guild.

So, yeah, I'll be doing that. It'll be done by the time chapter 24 is out in like, a month. My crackship between Ainz and Furina should also be done by that time.

This 5k interlude is basically just a way of me telling you this without having to do a useless update chapter, and at the same time introducing the players of Seraphim.

So, I'll see you either at the end of June, or the beginning of July most likely.

Also, if you want to remind me of scenes that need some extra attention added to it, or want to suggest ideas that could be added into earlier chapters, feel free to leave a comment or join the Grand Library of Ashurbanipal discord. Because I'll no doubt forget something that I thought of in my head and then forget to write it down.

Also shoutout to Doppel on said discord server for giving me 90% of the names for the Seraphim players.

[FFN, why do you not have right alignment? It's for the vibes of the butterfly .]