chapter 16
*Viajero Gris: Thanks for your kind words brother and this is one of the few chapter I wrote as during my free time as currently I am preparing for my finals so I am unable to write or update as much as I used to but please enjoy it .
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In the center of the room, a gigantic circular table shone with an obsidian gleam. Around it were forty-two magnificent seats. Most of them, however, were empty. Once, all the seats had been filled, but now only two figures remained.
One wore extravagant raven-black plated armor with purple and gold trim. The shoulder spikes were perhaps a bit over-embellished, but strangely, it suited the wearer. The head of the figure in question was of a dragon with a pair of horns forming a natural crown and hard scales covering the skin. Reddish-black flames burned in his gaping eye sockets, with vertical pupils giving the feeling of looking into one's soul directly. A black-red halo shone behind him.
The other one wasn't human, either. More of an amorphous black blob, almost like coal tar. His constantly shifting surface meant that he had no fixed shape.
The former was a mixture of Undead, Angel, Demon, and dragon—an abomination of nature with the power of multiple alpha races in the racial hierarchy: a dragonic overlord. The latter was an elder black ooze, a slime race with some of the most powerful acid abilities in the game.
The first one was a unique monster, known as a World Enemy, the strongest boss in the game, requiring at least 30 max-level players to defeat, and even then, victory wasn't guaranteed. The latter race occasionally appeared as monsters in the most difficult dungeons. The elder black ooze had the ability to corrode weapons and armor, making them famously hated.
But these two weren't monsters. They were players. The races players could choose from in Yggdrasil were split into three main categories: basic humanoid races (humans, dwarves, elves, and so on); subhuman races, who weren't pretty but performed better than humanoids (goblins, orcs, ogres, etc.); and grotesques, who had monster powers and got more ability points than other races but were penalized in other ways. Including all the elite races, there were a total of seven hundred at the users' disposal. Naturally, elder black oozes were one of the elite grotesque races that players could become.
The Dragon spoke without moving his mouth. Even for what had once been the pinnacle of DMMO-RPGs, it had still been impossible to animate expressions to align with conversation. "It's been a really long time, HeroHero. Even though it's the last day Yggdrasil's servers are open, I didn't think you would actually come."
"For real—long time no see, Momonga," another adult male voice answered, but compared to the first, it sounded pretty cheerful although with the hint of exhaustion in the voice. "It's been since you changed jobs IRL, so… how long ago was that? Two years?"
"Yup, I think that was it. Man, it's been that long. Damn. Looks like my sense of time is a little sluggish after having a more relaxing life with the new workplace."
"Oh, is that so? What about your health? Is it better now?"
"My health? It's pretty much like I'm in a completely new body. Seriously, my company's health policy for employees has done wonders. Can you believe it? Monthly health checkups with a paid leave in a week. Pretty neat, right? Not to mention cheap meals at the office. Although they don't taste good, they're still better than those protein pastes. I gotta say, accepting the new job offer was the best decision of my life. Otherwise, I'd still be working my ass off and getting whipped like a slave."
"Wow…" Momonga leaned forward to exaggerate his surprise—this conversation was making him feel quite happy for his friend. "It's quite amazing."
Momonga was already pleased with HeroHero's euphoria. The follow-up sounded exactly as joyful as he said things were. HeroHero's satisfaction with his job grew steadily: how his subordinates had excellent communication skills, his bosses praised him for meeting his quotas, how often he could go home early because the workload was less, his improved health due to reasonable working hours, and the healthcare benefits for employees. At some point, it was like a some flood gates were open inside HeroHero, and Momonga shifted to a listening role as the compliments and praises flooded out.
The conversation these two were having was an everyday occurrence in Ainz Ooal Gown. There were two requirements that all the members of their guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, had to meet. One was that members had to be working adults, and the other was that they had to play grotesques. Since that's the type of guild it was, real-life work woes were a common topic of discussion, which was fine with the others. Although it was a new experience to hear joy about real life instead of the usual complaints.
Enough time had passed that HeroHero's muddy flood of exultation had calmed to a clear stream. "Sorry, I don't mean to just brag. But I can't really talk about this stuff IRL or people might strangle me out of jealousy." A part of him that must have been his mouth wiggled as he chuckled at his own humor.
Momonga took it as a joke and said, "Indeed they might do that. And don't worry about it, HeroHero. You accepted my invitation to come tonight even though you might be exhausted after work, so listening to you is the least I can do—I'll take as much as you're willing."
HeroHero gave a loud chuckle. "Really, though, thank you, Momonga. I'm glad I was able to log in today and see you after so long."
"It makes me glad to hear you say that!"
"But I should probably get going soon…"
HeroHero's tentacles began moving in midair. He'd opened his menu. "Yeah, it's getting late. Sorry, Momonga…"
Momonga paused for a breath so as not to betray his emotions. "Ah, that's too bad. Time really does fly when you're having fun…"
"I really wanted to stay till the end, but I have to prepare some files for tomorrow's meeting, so I'm a little tired because of it…"
"Yeah, I can imagine. Log out and get some rest."
"I'm really sorry… Momonga—err, no—Guild Master, what are your plans?"
"I think I'll hang around until the forced logout when the servers shut down. There's still some time left, so there's a chance someone else might show up."
"I see… Honestly, I was surprised this place still even existed!"
Times like this, Momonga was truly grateful that their expressions were fixed. Otherwise, his grimace would have been immediately apparent. In any case, his emotions would have been evident in his voice, so he had to keep his mouth shut to suppress them. Hearing something like that from a guildmate after having worked so hard to maintain their base precisely because it was a place they had all built together elicited feelings in Momonga too mixed to explain. But those feelings vanished when he heard what HeroHero said next.
"As the guild master, you kept it going so we could come back anytime, didn't you? I really appreciate that."
"Well, we all built it together, you know? Making sure members can come back anytime is the guild master's job!"
"I think having you as our guild master was what made this game so fun for us. I hope to see you again… in Yggdrasil II!"
"I haven't heard any rumors about a sequel… but yeah, I hope so, too."
"If it happens, let's definitely play together! Anyhow, I'm falling asleep here, so I'm gonna log off. I'm glad I got to see you at the end like this. It's been great playing with you."
"…" Momonga choked up for just a moment. Then he managed his final goodbye. "I'm glad I got to see you, too. Nice playing with you."
Ba-ding! A smiley emoticon appeared over HeroHero's head. Momonga opened his menu and picked the same emoticon.
HeroHero got the last word in. "See you again somewhere."
With that, the last of the five other guild members who had made the farewell gathering disappeared. Silence returned to the room, a silence so deep it was hard to imagine anyone had been there. No echoes, no vestiges of anyone's presence.
Looking at the chair where HeroHero had been sitting until a moment before, Momonga murmured the words he'd suppressed. "I know you're tired, but it's the last day—the servers are shutting down. Won't you stay until the end?"
Of course, there was no reply. HeroHero was already back in the real world. Momonga heaved a sigh from the bottom of his heart. There was no way he could have said that. It had been evident from their short conversation and the tone of HeroHero's voice how sleepy he'd been. A guy that is happy with his life, exhausted from work had read the email Momonga had sent and came out for the last day. That was more than enough to be thankful for. Any further requests would have overstepped the bounds of nostalgia and just made Momonga into a nuisance.
Momonga stared at HeroHero's empty chair and then shifted his gaze. There were forty other chairs. The places where his guildmates used to sit. He looked around at all of them before coming back to HeroHero's seat.
"'See you again somewhere'…?" See you again sometime. See you later. He'd heard those words many times. But they almost never came true. Nobody ever returned to Yggdrasil.
"Where and when exactly are we going to meet, huh?" Momonga's shoulders shuddered violently, and the true feelings that had been building up all this time suddenly gushed out. "Don't fuck with me!" he roared, pounding the table with both fists.
The game's system registered his motion as an attack and began computing countless parameters, such as his armed gauntleted attack strength and the table's defense stats. The result appeared above the place where his hands had struck: "-80."
"This is the Great Tomb of Nazarick! We built it together! How can you all abandon it so easily?" A sharp whistle sound coming from the corner of the room seemed to penetrate Momonga's anger, attracting his attention.
As he looked in the direction where the sound had come from, he saw Eilifr waving his hand, while leaning against the wall and commenting, "Looks like someone's having anger issues," with a smiling emoji appearing above his head.
Seeing one of his guild mates, Momonga was filled with joy and couldn't believe it. He asked, "Eilifr, is that really you? Where have you been? I thought you had also abandoned the guild like the others."
Eilifr, listening to Momonga's questions patiently, replied, "Oh dear, looks like you missed me, Momonga. As for where I was..."
"Well, the game is about to shut down soon, so where would I have gone other than..." Eilifr pausing for dramatic flame.
"Guild hunt." Momonga, hearing this, was flabbergasted. Why go on a 'hunt' when the game is about to shut down anyway? But knowing Eilifr's personality, he expected an answer like, 'because I want to,' so he changed the topic.
"Eilifr, are you also going to stay in the game until the automatic logout?" Momonga asked, hoping for a positive answer.
"Is that even a question to ask? Of course, I am. Other than teasing you and bragging about the new world items I've collected," Eilifr said, giving a playful elbow jab.
Momonga, excited, suggested, "How about we talk while going to the throne room?" He stood up, seeing a nod of agreement from Eilifr. In the direction Momonga faced, a staff hung on the wall.
It was based on the god Hermes's staff, caduceus, and consisted of seven intertwined snakes. Each writhing snake held a different-colored jewel in its mouth. The grip was made of a transparent crystalline material that gave off a pale glow. Anyone who saw it would know it was a top-tier item—it was a Guild Weapon, so named because each guild could have only one. This staff was the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown.
It was meant to be wielded by the guild master, so why was it on display here?
Precisely because it was the symbol of the guild.
If the Guild Weapon were destroyed, it would mean the collapse of the guild. So, in most cases, a Guild Weapon was stored in a safe place, its mighty powers untested. Even the weapon of a top guild like Ainz Ooal Gown was no exception.
That was why even though the staff was made for Momonga, he had never once held it.
He reached his hand out and then stopped himself. Looking at Eilifr, he asked, "Should we take the guild weapon with us?"
Eilifr shrugged. "I don't see the reason to deny it, so why not? After all, it was made for you."
Agreeing with Eilifr, Momonga reached out and grasped the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. The moment it was in his hands, it began radiating a shimmering, dark red aura. Anguished human faces would occasionally form, warp, and dissipate, seemingly so real one could almost hear their tortured cries.
"…Maybe we went a little overboard."
"You can blame Ulbert and Tabula for that," Eilifr said, letting out a little chuckle.
Momonga and Eilifr left the room they called the Round Table. Unless they specified a different location, anyone with a guild member ring would appear there when they logged in. If anyone else was coming back today, they would be standing by in that room. Momonga and Eilifr walked silently through the palace.
It was a majestic, ornate world reminiscent of Neuschwanstein Castle. Chandeliers hung at regular intervals, shining warm light from the high ceilings. The polished floor of the wide hallway reflected the light as marble would, gleaming as if it were full of stars. Upon opening any of the doors to the right or left, the grandeur of the furnishings inside would take one's breath away.
If any nonmember came here, they'd be amazed—amazed that such luxury could exist in this legendary place, the notorious Great Tomb of Nazarick, where the largest armies in the game's history have once arrived on their punitive expeditions only to be completely wiped out everytime.
The Great Tomb of Nazarick was originally constructed with six levels, but after Ainz Ooal Gown conquered it, it was dramatically transformed. At present, there were 108 underground levels, each with its own distinct features.
Although after acquiring developers tools kit, they had made all the floors more into independent realms in themselves. But due to game limitations, they could design only some parts of the floors, while the rest had default settings with random designs, buildings, etc. Although time constraints could also be blamed for it.
As they walked, Eilifr began recounting his guild hunt, sharing tales of battles and the rare items he had acquired. Momonga listened attentively, occasionally interjecting with questions or comments. Despite the looming end of the game, for a moment, it felt like old times—two friends enjoying each other's company and the world they had built together.
It was not long before a grand staircase with its primarily golden carpeting came
into view. At least ten people could walk abreast down it with their arms
outstretched. Momonga and Eilifr slowly descended to the deepest level of the Great Tombof Nazarick, the 108th level.
The stairs led to an open hall where he found several people.
The first one they saw was an old man superbly dressed in a traditional butler
uniform. His hair was completely white, as was his beard, but his back was as
straight as the blade of a steel sword. Conspicuous wrinkles in his chiseled
Caucasian features gave him an air of kindness, but his penetrating eyes were
like those of a hawk targeting its prey.
Behind him, trailing him like his shadows, were six maids. These, however,
were equipped completely differently from any normal maids.
They all wore armor based on manga-style maid uniforms featuring metal
vambraces and greaves of silver, gold, black, and other colors, with white lace
headpieces instead of helmets. They also each carried a different weapon.
Basically, they were Battle maids.
Their hairstyles were varied as well: a chignon, a ponytail, a straight cut,
braids, rolled curls, a French twist. The only thing they had in common was how
beautiful they were, but even their beauty came in various types: bewitching,
wholesome, Japanese…
Naturally, they were also NPCs, made to intercept raiders.
In Yggdrasil, there were perks for guilds who possessed a base of castle size
or larger. One was that there were NPCs who would protect said base. The Great
Tomb of Nazarick at first had only undead mobs. Which could be up to level 30 and it didn'tcost the guild anything if they died—they'd just respawn after a set amount of
time.
The only thing was that the appearances and AI of these auto-spawningNPCs couldn't be edited, which made them too weak to repel other players. Although with 'some donation' Eilifr was able to convince GD to increase the spawn mobs level cap to level 50 and allow them to have different spawn mobs for different floor levels.
And then there was another perk: the right to create the guild's own NPCsfrom scratch. Even a weak guild that occupied a base of at least castle size wouldget at least seven hundred levels to create custom NPCs as they liked. Sincethe level cap in Yggdrasil was 100, one could, for example, make five level 100sand four level 40s.
And for this type of NPC, it was possible to adjust theirlooks, AI, and gear for those who could equip it. With this system, guilds could station guards far stronger than the auto-spawning mobs at key locations.
Of course, there was nothing forcing people to create NPCs with combat in
mind. There was one guild, the Great Cat Kingdom, that made all their NPCs
cats or other members of the Felidae family. It wouldn't be mistaken to say that
this ability was meant to bring out the personalities of the guilds.
"Hm." Momonga brought a hand to his chin and looked at the butler bowingbefore them. He didn't come here very often, since he normally used teleportationmagic to go from room to room. That must have been why the sight of the butlerand maids here made him feel so nostalgic.
"I think his name was sabes tian, created by Touch Me and other were Battle maids." Eilifr commented
"Ahh yes I remember now" Momonga recalling past dispute over their names
"Hmm did you forgot their names?" Eilifr asked with curiosity as he thought Momonga who is addicted to this game might as well remember majority of NPCs name to their details.
" Yeah, it has been quite time since I walked through this part so it's little hard to remember their names but I have to say you do have quite a Sharpe memory" Momonga try to rationalise, although it make him sad that he can't even remember their creations names.
"Of course I remember them afterall I was the one who gave them their last final update after their creators stop logging back for a long time " Eilifr stated, with a hint of pride evident in his voice, as he further elaborate about their new job and racial levels while sticking to their creators original design while making their level 100 character build.
Sebas and the maids were meant to be the last line of defense against raiders.
Not that anyone thought it was possible to repel players who managed topenetrate this far, but at least NPC guards could buy some time.
Or atleast that was the plan before Eilifr updated them and now with their compatible builds complementing eachother they might as well deal with two parties of level 100 players (twelve people).
That said, noplayers had ever gotten to final level, so all the guards had ever done waswait.
Momonga thinking for a moment ordered the maids to "Follow me" .
"Might as well move them a little" Eilifr commented.
Momonga and Eilifr continued talking while multiple sets of footsteps sounding behind them.
Presently they arrived at a large domed hall. Crystals in four colors on the
ceiling gave off white light. There were seventy-two alcoves dug into the walls,
most of which contained a statue. There were seventy - two in all, each in the form
of a demon.
This room was called Lemegeton after the famed grimoire also known as The
Lesser Key of Solomon. All of the statues, carved out of The Caloric Stones,were golems based on Solomon's seventy-two demons. The only reason there
were seventy-two instead of sixty-seven was that Eilifr still continue the project after the person making them gotbored partway through.
The crystals on the ceiling were monsters. During an enemy raid they couldsummon the primal elementals (earth, wind, fire, and water) and simultaneouslybombard the enemy with wide-range area-of-effect magic attacks.
If all of themwere mobilized, it would be enough power to take out two parties of level-100players with ease.
This room was the very last line of defense before entering the heart of the
Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Momonga and Eilifr took the servants with them as they crossed Lemegeton to stand infront of a large door. It was a huge—probably more than sixteen feet tall—
double door with extraordinarily detailed carvings: a goddess on the left and a
demon on the right. They looked so real it seemed like they might jump off the
door to attack.
Despite that, Momonga was fairly sure they didn't move. "If abunch of heroes manage to get this far, we should welcome them. A lot of peoplesay we're evil and whatnot, so let's lie in wait for them here like final bosses."
The suggestion was adopted by majority rule.
"Ulbert and you are really the most obsessed with the word evilout of anybody in the guild." Momonga commented
" Although I appreciate your praise but I don't think my passion for evil can ever be more then his afterall that guy was just too hard core of a chunibyo…" Eilifr said in humble tone with nostalgia and a hint of sadness in his voice.
Momonga touched the massive door lightly and it opened automatically but slowly, with appropriate gravity.
The previous room had already been as tranquil and solemn as a shrine, but
the scene here surpassed even that. The new atmosphere exerted a physical
pressure; the exquisite workmanship could be felt weighing on one's entire body.
The room was huge—a hundred no thousands of people could come in and there would stillbe space left over—and the ceilings was so high that Momonga can fit in room in his true dragon form .
The walls were primarily whitewith ornamentation done mainly in gold. The magnificent chandeliers that hung
from the ceiling were made of jewels in a rainbow of colors and cast a dreamy
sparkling light. On the walls, hanging from the ceiling to the floor, were large
flags, each with a different crest—forty-two in all.
On the far side of this lavish gold-and-silver room was a short flight of tenstairs. At the top was a throne carved out of a giant crystal, its back practicallytall enough to reach the heavens. Behind it was a large scarlet tapestry bearingthe guild's crest.
This was the most important location in the entire Great Tomb of Nazarick,
the Throne Room.
A "wow" escaped Momonga's lips as he admired the overwhelming room.
He was sure the workmanship was the best, or maybe second best, in all of
Yggdrasil. That made it a perfect place to spend the last few minutes of the
game.
It was so large, the sound of his footsteps seemed to vanish into the room as
he entered. His eye landed on rows of red armour knights they were the protectors of throne room, all were equipped with different weapons like sword, spears, shield and other.
This knight are Automations created by Eilifr. While making guards for one of his floor with futuristic mechanical designs theme in mind their some extra guards which were left so he put them in throne room as they quite fits the context of loyal knights protecting their kings and overall fit with the esthetic.
After that Momonga eyes landed on the female NPC standing next to the throne. Albedo the overseer of the guardians but . Momonga attention was more on to the object in her hand a strange wand-like object. It was abouteighteen inches long, its end tipped by a black orb that floated there with nosupports
"Iknew there was one World Item here, but why are there two?" Momonga thinking out loud unexpectedly got an answer.
"Oh that's tabula present for her as a last parting gift. " Eilifr answered Momonga's unasked question.
"And why didn't you stop him you know that unacceptable to move thetreasure everyone collected together around on one's own." Momonga wassomewhat offended and felt he should probably take it back.
" Oh come on. how can I be so heartless to stop a departing father from giving his sweet precious daughter a last parting gifting." Eilifr said with a exaggerated gesture.
" And he gave me permission to change some settings of his NPCs as a good will so I just couldn't refuse." Eilifr said while doing a a total 180 change with a wink emoji.
Sighing at his friends antics he just continue moving towards the throne of kings after reaching the stairs he ordered the NPCs " Stand by" as footsteps of NPCs stop. Then,they continued climbing the stairs and stood before the throne.
Momonga scrutinized Albedo without reserve. He never really came to this roomand couldn't remember ever taking a good look at her.
"Ogling her already huh that's why I advised you to get married already." Eilifr seeing an oppertunity to teased Momonga took it without missing a beat knowing Momonga was quite a shy guy around ladies.
" No actually...no ahem I was just wonder what herbackstory was" Momonga answered composing himself.
" Is that so? then go ahead. I am sure you will love it. Tabula leaved a special gift for you." Eilifr said encouraging Momonga to check albedo background setting.
Momonga now filled with curiosity, accessed the menu to look up her info.And there certainly was info—writing flooded his field of vision.
Herbackstory was the length of an epic poem. If he were to take his time reading it,the servers would shut down before he was done.
If Momonga's expression could move, his face would have been screwed up
in disbelief. He felt more or less like he'd stepped on a land mine. How could he
have forgotten tabula nick name 'setting maniac' and his obsession with
backstories? He was extremely disappointed in himself.
But still curious he looked it up, so he resigned himself to browsing the
bio. He barely even skimmed it, scrolling in one big swipe to the bottom. The
last thing it said caught his attention: "By the way, she is deeply in love with Momonga."
His eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Huh? What the heck?" he yelped in
suprise . No matter how many times he doubted his eyes and reread, the
words didn't change. And so he look towards Eilifr for confirmation, who just nodded in affirmation.
Eilifr seeing Momonga confused in a teasing tone said "Well, if you don't like it you can change her setting, although I wonder how tabula would feel about it ..."
Momonga just accepted what it is and reply "Nah, it doesn't matter yggdrasil is shutting anyway." saying that Momonga sat on the throne while Eilifr created a equally majestic thrown beside Momonga's thrown with spell [Creation].
Thy Iron Throne, a jagged and imposing seat forged from the swords of defeated enemies, with sharp, uneven edges and a dark, menacing appearance, exuding power and dominance making Eilifr look equally intimidating as Momonga as he was the substitute guild master. Because vice guild master seat was already filled and Eilifr refuse to accept position that were already assigned to someone else, even if it is a NPC, so they made a new term just for him.
Momonga giving a command [Bow down] causing all NPCs in throne room to kneel. As Momonga and Eilifr checked the in game clock it was just a minute left before game shut down seeing it Momonga lean back to the throne remembering all the memories with his friends.
He looked at Eilifr, who was examining one of the intricate carvings on the wall. "Do you remember the time we defended Nazarick against that massive raid? We were outnumbered, but we still won."
Eilifr chuckled, nodding. "Of course, I do but which one are you referring my friend. Because last time I check either we are raided by large hordes of player or some noobs with a party or two but I can still certainly say that every moment in this guild were the one of our finest moments. Everyone gave their best, and it paid off. We showed whole Yggdrasil power of hetromorphic pla- No of the true might of Ainz Ooal Gown."
A silence settled between them as they reminisced. The end of Yggdrasil loomed over them, but for now, they were together, celebrating the legacy they had created.
"Do you think there will ever be a game like Yggdrasil again?" Momonga asked, his voice tinged with melancholy.
Eilifr shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. But even if there is, it won't be the same. The people, the experiences, the memories—those are just never same. But who knows? The future might hold new adventures for us."
As Momonga looked at Eilifr. " Thank you for being here, Eilifr. It means a lot."
Eilifr just nodded. "Always, Momonga. Always."
The room fell silent again, each of them lost in their thoughts. The countdown to the server shutdown continued, the minutes ticking away relentlessly.
As they check the count down they saw the time: 23:57. The servers would
shut down at midnight
Or atleast that one of them thought
23:59:35, 36, 37…
Momonga and Eilifr counted down along with the numbers.
23:59:48, …
But both for different reasons.
23:59:49,50...
As they closed their eyes waiting for surver to end.
23:59:58, 59—
And with end come the blackout
0:00:00… One, two, three…
