Chapter 10

"Hell yeah!"

Oshikuru giggled as he pictured in his mind the faces of all the players he had just escaped from.

"A 666 PK streak… I really am the best!

If Nazarick falls, AOG can't complain about me, I've eliminated almost all of the major players in the invasion and about a third of the total.

According to Momonga, he and the others have a plan to repel the assailants, so I shouldn't worry too much about it though…"

He stood up, yawned and checked the time. "22:44… nice, for once it's not too late! Though I wonder how long it'll take for the siege to be over."

Stretching a bit, the man reached for the fridge and took out a glass bottle full of tap water. He had never minded drinking directly from the sink, but lately it was too warm for his tastes, so the problem was solved by shoving a bottle in the refrigerator.

Oshikuru gulped down almost half of the bottle, now close to be empty. "Aahh, so refreshing!" Then he refilled it and put it again in the fridge while releasing a loud burp.

Humming the very same song he had played earlier in the battle to buff his army, Oshikuru leaned back into the gaming chair and started spinning as a beyblade.

"Yuppie!"

Then he grabbed a few cookies and started munching.

"What now…

Might as well get back to Yggdrasil, I need to make sure Ambition wasn't followed, though I highly doubt it one can never be too sure…

If they fail to claim Nazarick, my base could be the next target. I should improve security, even if it's well hidden.

Yes, let's go home!"

He reactivated the neuro-nano interface and connected it to the gaming setup, quickly leaving behind the small room to enter an endless world, crossing the line between reality and fantasy.

LAST SAVED LOCATION: OWN GUILD BASE, LITTLE HELL. PLEASE CONFIRM TO PROCEED.

"Where else could I go, you stupid shitty devs?!" And he clicked on "confirm".

Oshikuru, in his King of Hell form, appeared in the centre of a large, circular dark cave. It was so hot in there the temperature would have made a human pass out IRL.

And it was only getting worse.

Once he showed up, the great hall came to life as magical green flames lit up

countless torches embedded in the walls of lucid black obsidian, illuminating the many dragonhide banners of Oshikuru's Guild hanging from the vaulted ceiling.

Three azure katanas had their pointy ends touching in the exact middle of the emblem on a black circle's background. Around it, the banner consisted of light green flames among which emerged eight black broadswords, also pointing to the middle of the emblem.

The banners' edges were simple black, thick lines to which were attached some little draconic spikes, on which were now perched so many devious imps and a few vampires in bat form.

Both species immediately dropped to the bare, flat rock floor to kneel before the King of Hell.

From the ceiling came down also seven Hellflame Falls, forming as many pools of molten crimson lava which bubbled up until from them emerged seven new Evil Lords: Greed, Sloth, Pride, Envy, Wrath, Lust and Gluttony. Each obeyed their owner and released greenish flames which formed a long carpet through the hall until a staircase of pure white bones.

Above the eight steps was an imposing yet bowed figure, Ambition the Prince of Hell, to the left of a swords-and-skulls made throne, full black but releasing the green halo of a sinful, suffering soul. According to lore, it was Oshikuru's, but he had never felt affected by the Hell's Throne, which formed after he finalised the deal with Ambition.

The King of Hell lazily flapped his mighty wings up to his throne, where he sat down caressing a blackened dragon skull.

"Ambition!"

"Yes, Oshikuru-sama!"

"I trust you had a safe and most importantly undiscovered travel back home, haven't you?"

"The orders have been carried out without issues by your faithful servant, Oshikuru-sama!"

That's not a thorough answer.

"So, are you sure nobody could follow you down here in my realm?"

"The orders have been carried out without issues by your faithful servant, Oshikuru-sama!"

Ah shit, here we go again. Those shitty devs could implement the NPCs with a little more flexibility and conversational skills… well, I could probably do it too, but that's just a waste of my precious data crystals. Anyway, if he'd been followed, no way this place would atill exist, so everything must have gone smoothly.

"Good job, Ambition. But I see you are still lacking mana. Why didn't you go to the Torture Chambers to restore your magical strength with a Bloodbath?"

"Forgive your foolish servant, Oshikuru-sama…"

"It's fine. While you're there, order the Lord of Pain to fill a Cursed Bathtub with blood and have it brought to me." Since I forcefully logged off, my own mana is still low.

"The orders will be carried out immediately by your faithful servant, Oshikuru-sama!"

And he flew off, reaching a gate behind the throne, to its left. A [Black Hole] would be triggered by the glowing green runes carved into the plain arcade if anyone touched the door or said the wrong password, with the right one being "Three Sword Style", used to open almost every secret door in Little Hell.

That one gate could be easily identified as the one leading to the Torture Chambers: on the right side it was painted an oddly shaped demon flailing two screaming humans, on the left a chained up angel as it was being raped, eaten and tore to pieces by a number of imps.

Always on the back wall, but to the throne's right side, there was a far quieter private room, belonging to the King of Hell himself.

Inside was a sumptuous bed whose entire linen had been realised with white or golden angels' feathers, hair and skin.

The extremely comfortable bunk was surrounded on all sides by a blackwood wardrobe decorated with dark green magical flowers, source of a scent extremely relaxing to negative karma beings and highly poisonous to the counterpart. The furniture was filled with Oshikuru's in-game clothes, few locked chests with precious data crystals and simple sacks holding those he now considered trash items.

The room's high vaulted ceiling was completely occupied by a [Memory Mirror] which currently showed the Arch Devil beating the shit out of Zeus Enalios.

The floor was a mosaic of jade and obsidian tesserae which continued to the large restroom, where everything was shaped after beautiful naked succubus.

On the wall opposite to the one the Hellking's Throne was leaning on, it was located the only entrance to the samurai's official in-game residence.

A tunnel led to a simple firepit belonging to the massive Greater Evil dungeon, placed deep inside Helheim. Oshikuru had been the first to find it and finish all quest, earning a prize that he turned into something far greater, a true game changing item.

However, claiming all of the place would paint a giant "kick me" note on Oshikuru's back for all his enemies to see. So the demon samurai added a new, well concealed section to the Greater Evil dungeon, while also creating many extra hidden spawning camps on both Muspelheim and Helheim itself.

As a result, nobody ever understood where his base actually lay, and many quested in the Greater Evil dungeon passing right next to it.

Since there was no reason to jump right into a firepit, nobody had ever stumbled into it, also thanks to the absolute absence of magic items and NPCs through the 3 km long irregular corridor. As the demon samurai had learned long ago, even if a spell could hide something, that very own spell attracted the attention of adventuring players.

On the other hand, a physically hidden empty space was impossible to find unless accidentally fell right into it.

If anyone did, after a dark and tortuous tunnel, he'd find himself before a level 70 Giant Fire Worm all coiled up in a hellfire pit, with a chest bound to its head. That served as a decoy, for it seemed like the only reason such a long and empty tunnel could exist in that place.

Yet, instead of attacking, if anyone said: "Glory to Lord Oshikuru the one true King of Hell", then the monster would turn into the living frame of a huge gate which automatically opened.

Still, going though that without being the demon samurai or one of its NPCs would trigger fifty level 50 War Devils to block the trespassers while the red alert would sound in the Throne Room, advising Oshikuru and all his minions about it. After the corridor full of War Devils and deadly traps of all kinds, there was the actual entrance to Little Hell's Great Hall.

Into the obsidian Portal to the Dark Side were carved eleven pentacles. Inside every one was portrayed an infamous character turned to evil: the Witch King of Angmar, his eight fellow companions, Darth Vader and the Green Goblin.

All pentacles bore gleaming green runes which cursed all trespassers, turning their karma values to -500 and thus preventing usage of holy magic for as long as they remained inside Little Hell.

The door would open itself to whoever arrived in front it, welcoming him to the large Throne Room where the King of Hell was now happy seated.

Oshikuru had just remembered about the six World Items he had stolen during what was already known as Nazarick's Great Siege. The demon was now eager to study the objects since he hadn't had the time to do so while fighting earlier. (Of course he couldn't use them in battle, since individuals can't activate more than 1 World Item in a clash, unless it's against a World Enemy. AN)

Now, let's give a good look at these, but first, I wanna bask in a little bit of glory.

"Admire, my fiends, the rich loot of your victorius king! Six World Items he has claimed from the battlefield, together with the lives of no less than 666 enemy players! A feat nobody else could even dream to accomplish! Only I am worthy of being the King of Hell, the strongest of the strongest, and the one you call master! Rejoice in knowing you serve Lord Oshikuru, the one true Champion of Yggdrasil!"

The NPCs' reaction was priceless, though the real way they wanted to celebrate their Supreme Being's incredible success would have been even greater.

But he wasn't done.

"Still, I wasn't completely alone in that fight! Some among you have served me well, unleashing hell on the battlefield against my enemies!

As I have proved to be the greatest among the gods, they showed relentless determination in the last fight, stopping an endless wave of enemies and killing so many among them! Plenty of servants have given their lives to protect me and that sacrifice shall never be forgotten!

Most of the present NPCs were actually happy of having survived. While it was a great honour to die fighting for Oshikuru-sama, it was better to keep serving him and to keep on living. That was the general feeling while the minions were mechanically praising all those who had died.

Then the King turned to the Prince, just returned from his Bloodbath together with the Lord of Pain, a greenish demon in charge of torturing enemies and of easing the pain of his companions.

Those two were holding a heavy Cursed Bathtub. Pitch black, with horrendous gargoyles engraved on the magically enhanced obsidian, it was filled with the finest blood available.

Only the best for Oshikuru-sama! Thought the Lord of Pain as he and Ambition carefully carried the bathtub so as not to spill a single drop of the nourishment for their beloved King.

"The orders have been carried out without issues by your faithful servants, Oshikuru-sama!" And both kneeled.

"Ah, thank you, my favourite fiends!" Stated the demon samurai causing all the other NPCs to glare at those two who instead seemed to be in seventh hell.

Oblivious to the hidden reactions his words had caused, the Arch Devil slowly dived into blood, painfully extracted fom high level humans, dragons and other monsters. The ritual took place as his skin sucked it all into his body, suddenly recovering all mana and thus activating a Despair Aura level I, from which the lesser imps in the hall were heavily damaged.

Oshikuru cursed in his mind. I forget about this every time! well, whatever, at least they don't die, and handling pain is a part of being alive… oh, about that.

"Rise, Lord of Pain, you who have the duty and honour to torture my enemies and heal me, together with your fellow fiends. An applause to the Painmaster!"

The cheers to him were truly meant, since all the present had been healed or anyway someday might be helped by the Lord of Pain, now happier than ever.

"Still!"

And silence fell.

"As only one can be king, only one can be prince! once again, Ambition gave his all to me, guiding well my forces in my name, managing to survive while all the others died. Salute the Prince of Hell!"

This time around the fiends' applause was totally fake, as each of them envied and hated the one on top of them. Bound to Oshikuru's will, the NPCs had to obey Ambition, but in their minds each one couldn't wait to see it dead and hope to claim its place as the highest servant of the Supreme Being.

That was pretty good!

Now, where was I… ah, right, the six World Items. Let's give a look at them!

Oh, I can't believe I got my hands on a Seed of the World Tree once again! It was necessary for me to empower the Hellking's Eye and reach the top, but it's useless now. I'll put this on sale, whoever's the highest bidder will get it.

Now, what's this… ah, Downfall of Castle and Country, another piece of junk. As if most high-level players couldn't already mind control whatever they wanted… you too are going to the online store.

So far, no luck.

What else… oh, Longinus. Powerful, but not for me, thank you. I'm not suicidal, especially now that the World Disaster Class is mine!

Well, at least you'll fetch a high price.

I swear if the next one isn't… of course. Ahura Mazda. Aaagh!

I'm only getting things useful to those who are up against heteromorphs… it makes sense of course, but I'd like something I can use.

Still, everyone will want this. Big money!

What about you? Oh, World Saviour. Extremely powerful in the right hands, if one is patient enough, but again, no good for me. Looks like the only thing I'll get out of this is cash. Not that I'm complaining about it, though…

Ok, last but not least… ah, finally something good. Actually, the best! With Ouroboros, I can complete my remake of the Swords of Greater Evil! Hehehe, this one's mine! At least until it disappears after I abuse its power, but that's a given!

Very well then, I'll use Ouroboros to end what I started. I've finished the game at this stage!

An evil smile appeared on the Hellking's face, terrifying even his fiendish NPCs.

As soon as he was done turning a World Item into something more powerful,Oshikuru admired the shining eight blades in front of him.

His minions couldn't fully grasp what their master had just accomplished, but they physically felt the surge of unlimited power that emanated from the Hell King's last creation.

"Oshikuru-sama… Oshikuru-sama! Nothing can stop you now, please unleash your terrible strength on the Nine Realms and bind everyone to your will… then make me more powerful!"

That's what all of them thought.

Now I really am overpowered. I can never let anyone know I have managed to craft such a thing or the shitty devs will certainly cancel my account before I can say shit. Ah, I have the most terrifying weapon in Yggdrasil but just can't use it, unless I want to get banished from all servers!

Also, with the aura it just radiated, I'm lucky the shitty devs are focused on the Great Siege like everyone else right now…

Besides, how long can it still last?

What time is it… oh, 00:30 am. It must be close to coming to an end, I'm sure Momonga will contact me soon.

In the meantime I'll put these five World Items on sale…

No, wait, I have a better idea.

Since I no longer need data crystals, I can just relax for now and get some enemies off my back, maybe even turn them into allies… yes, I'll return each World Item to its previous owner in exchange for a peace agreement to the least, and a defensive alliance if I ever get caught… After all, I'd rather not have my base assaulted by fifteen hundreds enemies or even more. Little Hell is almost impossible to find and quite easy to defend, but alone against many, even I would end up being defeated. Today's fight proved it.

Unless of course I choose to use my newest trump card… which will get me expelled from Yggdrasil.

But with a few guilds by my side, I'm sure I could resist. And if Little Hell ever gets discovered, I'll take over the whole Greater Evil dungeon so I can make it extra harder for anyone to get through. It'd be fun, but I'd rather keep quiet in my Little Hell…

Hey, it IS too quiet down here.

Fucking NPCs, why are they all standing still and staring at me?! I'd be fired if I did that at work!

"Oi, wake up, you fools!

Someone get the bathtub back to its rightful place!

Everyone else, start sparring without killing each other!

Don't you dare be lazy ever again! Someday Little Hell might be found and besieged like Nazarick, so each of you must be ready to give their best to defend our home!

On with it!"

The NPCs hurriedly executed the Hellking's orders, out of loyalty, admiration and fear of him. After all, those few who displeased Oshikuru-sama ended up becoming food for the other demons, which was an extra motivation for them to hate each other, with only Oshikuru receiving their undying love.

Oblivious to this, he kept talking to himself.

Yeah, as soon as the invasion is over, I'll call the guilds I stole these five World Items from and settle this. I'm sure they'll be pretty happy about it, if I'd ever lose my world items and be given it back immediately afterwards in exchange for a simple defensive alliance, I'd be so relieved. Well, they might hate me a little, but this is war, they'll come around even if they're mad once they realise how little I'm asking for and how much I'm giving.

Though the ones who lost Ouroboros will be furious. Well, they shouldn't have brought it on the battlefield if they didn't want to lose it. After all, I've left the Swords of Greater Evil back in here with some guards exactly because I knew there was a chance of me getting defeated and I didn't want to risk them being stolen from me. And now, I've made them the most powerful weapon in the history of Yggdrasil!

It's so annoying I can never use that move though… although I guess I could just do it on the very end of the game. Someday they'll shut down the servers, that's the sad fate of every game, and in the last few hours nobody will care if I show off my unlimited power!

Yes, I'll do that, sharing it live so that everyone can see I am the strongest of the strongest!