Chapter 5: Calcium-Deficient Bones
Suzuki Satoru felt no emotion whatsoever. He was growing impatient, waiting for the sound in his head that would notify him he'd been logged out of Yggdrasil—but it never came.
"Damn developers! I wasn't expecting much from them, but they still managed to disappoint me," he sighed.
He slowly opened his eyes, looking around and realizing he was no longer standing on the swamps surrounding Nazarick. Instead, he found himself in a dimly lit cavern, faintly illuminated by crystals embedded in the ceiling.
The cavern was fairly spacious, stretching several kilometers from corner to corner. There was no vegetation—only carved stone—which gave the place a majestic appearance, albeit one that paled in comparison to the grandeur of the throne room.
"Hm... what is this?" he glanced down at his body, confirming that he still had his overlord avatar, Momonga.
"Is this the beta for Yggdrasil II?" He vaguely remembered hearing about a new game being developed by the company behind Yggdrasil, though nothing had ever been officially announced.
Some people said they were preparing to launch Yggdrasil II, while others called for entirely new IPs. Clearly, Momonga was far more interested in the former. Yggdrasil had been his home for many years, and he'd grown somewhat dependent on it.
Even after his friends had left the guild, he never allowed their legacy to fade away. Though he couldn't log in every day, he always found time to return to that fantasy world he called home. It was a fact—those precious moments were now in the past, but the atmosphere of Nazarick still lingered.
Sitting on the throne and taking a brief moment to breathe, recalling all his memories, allowed him to recover somewhat from the exhausting days working for a black-hearted megacorporation.
Of course, there were also days when he'd go out and complete quests, defeat bosses, or simply explore the Nine Worlds. That was the most beautiful thing about Yggdrasil—after so many years, he still found something new to do. It was a world full of wonders, and deep down, he hoped it would never come to an end.
—It was thanks to your company that we were able to enjoy this game to the fullest... Next time we meet, I hope it's in Yggdrasil II—he recalled the final words Herohero-san had spoken before logging off.
Maybe we will meet again...He was now fully resolved, unsure if it would ever happen, but a new hope began to form in his heart.
He would rebuild Ainz Ooal Gown to its former glory—no, he would elevate it to even greater heights and await the return of his old comrades.
"Graw...!" Loud cries suddenly echoed around him, cutting through his thoughts. Huge numbers of monsters were falling with little effort, and the familiar sound of his experience bar filling up snapped him back to reality.
He didn't need to think much about what was happening. Before the servers shut down, he had activated all of his aura-type skills along with the guild staff.
His long-buried chunni side had resurfaced, wishing to be seen as a true overlord of death in his final moments.
What was causing so many monsters to fall was his passive skill, [Despair Aura V, which had the ability to inflict instant death.
Under normal circumstances, achieving this kind of result would have been difficult unless the monsters were weak enough. But right now, his skill was being enhanced by multiple passive abilities that amplified its effects.
Even level 100 enemies would be affected to some degree as long as he was holding the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.
The sound faded into whispers before disappearing entirely after a few seconds.
—Tremor.
The cave shook from side to side, but this didn't bother Momonga in the slightest.
Cracks split open in the wall, releasing a wail from beyond the grave. Behind them, a membrane resembling flesh swelled and then shrank back again, exuding a crimson light that pulsed like a furious heart.
It would've been a grotesque and intimidating sight to most, but after so many years playing Yggdrasil, Momonga had grown somewhat desensitized. It was impressive and highly realistic, yet still different from the grand boss appearances in the original game.
The fleshy membrane behind the wall seemed to give way moments later, allowing what could only be described as a massive claw to emerge.
With a single motion, it tore its way out, slicing through flesh and stone like butter. The wails intensified with the movement—then suddenly fell silent.
The creature had broken free, collapsing helplessly to the ground. Like a newborn, its limbs trembled as it slowly pushed itself upright, but by the time its body stood tall before Momonga, all signs of weakness had vanished. Its stance was firm and radiated power.
As if taking a cue, another similar being emerged from the hole and took its place beside the first.
Momonga waited patiently. Though it wasn't quite the same as the auto-generation of dungeon monsters in the original Yggdrasil, it was similar enough not to raise any alarms.
Once the monsters finished spawning, he was able to see them more clearly—two skeletal giants shaped like hounds. Their bones were black and gleamed like obsidian.
Taking a moment to analyze the enemy before him, Momonga could say with certainty that he had never seen a monster quite like this. Its structure bore some resemblance to the level 80 skeletal dragons that roamed Helheim, but it lacked the wing-like protrusions.
I should finish this quickly. I don't know how long this beta will last, and I wouldn't be surprised if any items we obtain can be carried over to the official release.
His Overlord avatar was currently level 101. Previously, he hadn't ranked among the powerful PvP players due to his build being somewhat impractical for that type of combat, putting him just above average. However, in PvE content, it was a completely different story. As a necromancer, he had one of the best possible builds.
He had a wide array of summons, spells, and highly useful abilities for exploration content. In fact, he was the player with the most spells in the entire game, thanks to his unique skill,Dark Wisdom.
He chuckled internally, remembering that official forum post where many players had agreed to gather in Asgard and throw a huge farewell party before the servers shut down. When he first read the announcement, he briefly considered going—but dropped the idea after reading the fine print.
Although all races were welcome without discrimination, only players without equipment were allowed to enter—supposedly to prevent indiscriminate killing. Now Momonga clearly saw their true colors.
The organizers and the GMs involved simply wanted to weaken the players while arming themselves to the teeth, so they could exploit the event and gather as many resources as possible before the official launch.
He was deeply grateful for his paranoid side.
Given their skeletal form, they must be some kind of undead monster...he thought.
He tried to access his skill bar—but found nothing.
At first, this made him feel slightly uneasy, but he quickly let the thought go. As players advanced, they eventually stopped casting spells through the interface and memorized spell cooldowns and activation requirements by heart.
The lack of an interface wasn't a problem for Momonga at this point; he had known every parameter of his avatar for a long time.
He raised his arm and activated a spell particularly effective against the undead—a ninth-tier fire-based magic, the second most potent weakness for the undead, surpassed only by holy-element spells:Vermilion Nova.
The chamber trembled as if something that should not exist had manifested within it. Light was swallowed by the space, only to shatter into a million razor-edged shards.
A pillar of fire erupted beneath one of the beasts, engulfing it in a blazing surge that surged upward to the ceiling, exploding in a rain of crimson embers. These tiny flames drifted down like frost, devouring everything they touched.
The flames burned so brilliantly that shadows were denied the pleasure of existing beneath their purity, and the very world seemed to bow under their intensity.
The oxygen in the chamber was completely consumed, making survival impossible for nearly all forms of life—yet the unquenchable flames continued to dance, fueled by the Supreme One's boundless mana.
Unable to withstand such overwhelming power, the floor gave way, and within a fifty-meter radius, the flames pierced downward with alarming ease, melting everything in their path. Still, the worst of the spell was suffered by one of the targeted monsters.
Vermilion Novahad manifested directly above it without warning, completely trapping it in searing flames. Even with the unmatched agility it had been granted, there was no way it could have prepared for such an assault.
As a final attempt to survive, it channeled all its energy into its bone armor, which could disperse and reflect magic—but it shattered instantly, and its newly formed body followed, disintegrating into nothing.
The outcome was unexpected. Momonga withdrew the spell, staring in astonishment at the destruction it had caused.
"Did the devs change Vermilion Nova's animation?" As one of the most powerful ninth-tier spells, it was a staple in Momonga's expeditions, and he was certain what he had just witnessed was different from the magic he was used to casting.
If any adventurer could have heard the Overlord's thoughts, they would have bitten their tongue in sheer frustration. The undead's astonishment wasn't directed at the spell's overwhelming power—capable of melting through multiple floors and obliterating a juggernaut with ease—but simply at the fact thathis spell looked more 'realistic' than usual.
The remaining juggernaut stood frozen, eyes wide, as if trying to process what had just happened. Its gaze searched desperately for its brother—the one whom the Great Mother had entrusted with eliminating the parasite bold enough to provoke her wrath.
What kind of power was that? Did he even have the strength to face it?
Involuntarily, he took a step back.
The moment he realized this, his mind went blank. He had felt fear—a primal fear inherent to all living beings in the face of something inevitable: death.
As if something clicked in his mind, that fear was immediately replaced by absolute rage, a thirst for destruction and vengeance. He was a champion born with the sole purpose of eliminating his enemies; feeling fear was worse than an insult.
He would tear its limbs apart and crush them; he would make it suffer in agony before ending it.
Lost in his thoughts, Momonga failed to notice a figure darting toward him at lightning speed.
Massive claws slammed into his chest—an attack charged with the full might of the beast—but they bounced off on impact, forcing the creature back several meters from the sheer force of the recoil. The second creature had launched itself at him during his moment of distraction, yet not even the faintest scratch had been left on the Overlord's bones.
"[Time Stop]" The world around him froze.
"[Mana Essence, [Life Essence]"
Its level must be around 55, maybe a bit lower,he deduced, comparing the data that appeared before him with the standard benchmarks of monsters he could recall.
A small chuckle escaped him. Momonga had gone a little overboard this time. When he first saw them appear, he thought of them as a challenge and had been ready to enjoy the battle. However, the truth was that even if he chose to stand still and do nothing, they wouldn't be able to harm him in the slightest thanks to his [High-Level Physical Immunity].
There was such a vast gap between them that, if he wanted, he could abandon his defenses and magic altogether, fight using only his staff, and although it might take some time, he would still be able to eliminate the monster with ease.
But he wasn't interested in doing that.
"[Delay Activation, Triple Maximize Magic, Fireball]"
Although no damage could affect an enemy while time was stopped, he knew that all he had to do was delay the spell's activation until the momentTime Stopended.
While the combo sounded simple in theory, the trick was in the timing—something extremely difficult to pull off. Only about 5% of all magic users could execute it successfully. After extensive training and practice, Momonga was part of that 5%.
The gray world quickly returned to its natural colors, and the juggernaut that had attacked Momonga was immediately greeted by three fireballs—each as massive as a house.
His first instinct was to take them head-on. As a dungeon champion, his body had the ability to reflect any magic thrown at him.
The fire struck, completely engulfing him before detonating in a series of explosions. He felt a pain beyond comprehension and instinctively knew he was dying. He couldn't see clearly, due to the natural color of his bones, but he knew they were being scorched black.
Incomprehensible.
He turned his head toward the place where the tornado of flame had erased his brother mere moments after being born.
Crackle!
As he felt his bones crack under the pressure of the intense heat, he turned to look—truly look—at his killer for the first time, and he understood.
Standing before him was the very embodiment of the end.
...
"Was that it?" Momonga walked over to the remains of the monster, which had disintegrated into nothing after taking the full brunt of his spell. Unfortunately, where his reward should have been, there was nothing but scorched, melted earth.
He cursed inwardly. He had hoped to gather some good items during the beta, but it seemed this would be far more difficult than he had anticipated.
More tremors began to shake the dungeon once again.
Thousands of cracks opened up around him, and just like before, monsters started emerging from them. Their eyes glowed red, utterly devoid of sanity—unlike the juggernauts from earlier.
Flying beasts, plants, shadows—a massive variety of species began pouring out, and the most surprising part was that none of them matched any monsters Momonga knew.
"Ha, ha...!" His laughter echoed through the chamber, nearly drowning out the roars and howls of the creatures. He made no effort to stop—relishing the moment.
The thrill of discovery, of witnessing something never seen before. It was one of the main reasons he had decided to create an account in that game in the first place.
Though faint, he could feel that emotion awakening in him once more.
The monsters around him charged from all directions—thousands of attacks aimed squarely at him—but it didn't bother him. In fact, he felt a spark of excitement. He truly hoped no one was watching him right now, because what was about to happen would make even Ulbert shed a tear of pride if he were here to see it.
He raised both arms, welcoming them to their doom.
"![Negative Burst]!"
His body was engulfed by a sphere of incredibly dense dark mana, which expanded rapidly, swallowing the entire dungeon floor.
The negative energy disintegrated the monsters' bodies on contact, causing their magic stones to fall where they stood. The walls of the dungeon darkened, light itself seemed to be devoured, and a wailing moan of fear and agony echoed through its foundations.
That pain traveled far—beyond the distant floor on which he stood. All of her children felt it, from the first floor to the deep floor seventy, where Momonga now stood, and even deeper still—they recognized the pain that had been inflicted on the Great Mother.
Fear!
What kind of being had the power to harm the Great Mother so?
Had the gods dared to break their pact? If so, why hadn't the Mother acted to defend herself? In any case, if a god had truly descended into the depths, the Great Mother would be allowed to bypass the rules—and give birth to a Child of Darkness.
Though the weakened Mother gave no command, they began to flee. Their minds, though stripped of individual will, still retained a sliver of free will—and that tiny thread screamed at them to run, to escape as far as possible from the being that had harmed their creator.
This instinct was especially strong in the monsters of the upper floors—the weakest within the Great Mother's food chain, where her power barely reached.
Meanwhile, the xenos—the conscious beasts, those closest to the three champions of the ancient era and most deeply bonded with the Great Mother—suffered more than any others.
Driven mad by the pain, they all emerged from their hiding places and rushed toward the surface. They had to flee the Great Mother herself, or their minds would be consumed by the same spiraling torrent of negative emotion into which their creator now descended.
They longed for the surface from the depths of their souls, yet feared it just as deeply. They had once experienced the light of the sky—and it had brought disaster upon them. They had chosen to remain passive, to wait for time to grant them the chance to gaze upon the sky once more.
Who would've thought they'd have to abandon that hope so soon? Some of them were deeply reluctant, but their choices were stark: flee, or lose the one thing that made them unique—their consciousness.
Everything around them had been blackened by the energy of his[Negative Burst], corrupting every inch of that floor. The walls of the dungeon, once heaving with fury, had calmed and returned to the eerie stillness they held before the spawning began.
It was a complete massacre. Thousands of monsters perished in less than a blink under his power.
An indiscriminate slaughter.
"That was easy," he whispered, gazing at the magic stones scattered near his feet.