Shalltear grinned as she slashed in half the weak angel, she wasn't sure why they were helping the humans, but her lord seemed adamant about the capture of this group.
When she first arrived to the village her Lord was already done with the cleanup of the weak knights, she almost felt like despairing for being to late to help him when a new group arrived. She did not understand much of the political talks her Lord had with the humans but, by the end of it, they were fighting some weak divine magic casters, finally giving her the occasion of showing off.
'Puny angels! Die!' she gleamed in savage pleasure as she split a row of low-level angel in a thousand pieces. Her Lord had ordered her to capture the humans alive for questioning, so her bloodlust needed to be sated by the angels.
As the last of the summons fell, her Lord stepped forward, his magnific visage hidden under that ugly, in Shalltear's opinion, mask.
"To meet divine casters from Yggdrasil so easily must have truly been a struck of luck on my part… or maybe this is a common sight around here… either way, your summons have been disposed of, now submit or you will have to incur in my wrath."
He commanded making Shalltear's back tingle with excitement, for all Lord Momonga was her uncle in a sense, she could not help but lust after his magnificence, even if she knew she could not ever aspire of being his wife, as that honor belonged to Lady Bukubukuchagama herself.
"You! You damn monster! I will not be defeated by the likes of you!"
The human roared as he took out a familiar artifact from his uniform. Shalltear immediately recognized it as a Sealing Crystal, they were often used as trump cards capable of containing even Super Tier Spells. She knew that if the human wanted to use it, she would have to act first and kill him, she could not risk harm coming to her Lord.
But, before she could even move, the world around her froze. She took a moment to recognize the effects of [Time Stop] and, in that time, her Lord was already next to the leader of the humans, snatching the Crystal from the insect's hands.
"Shalltear, make them submit, but do not harm her, I have much to ask them… I will contact Cocytus… use the ring a gave you to travel back to the Frozen Prison on the 5th floor and put them in a cell."
He ordered eliciting a smirk from the vampire as she glanced down at the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown on her finger, a symbol of her Master's trust in her, something she will treasure till the end of time.
…
After delivering the prisoners to the 5th floor she immediately teleported to the Throne Room. Apparently, Demiurge wished to speak with all of the guardians. Unfortunately, her Lord already left for his chambers.
"So? What is this all about?"
She asked tiredly as she exited her [Gate] not expecting to be the last to arrive. Demiurge didn't seem to care much for her tone and instead addressed the Guardians as a whole.
"I apologize deeply for taking you all away from your duties."
The archdevil began with a small bow.
"But I thought it was imperative for me to share the wise words of Lord Momonga with all of you."
That seemed to get most of the Guardians', Shalltear's included, attention.
"On the night Lord Momonga first left the tomb, he flew into the sky to assess the situation for himself, and… while gazing at the starred sky, declared its beauty… then, as I foolishly asked if he wished to take over this world, the last Supreme Being told me…"
The guardian of the 7th floor paused as he prepared to retell the words of their last Supreme Being.
"That would be pointless… even a world as beautiful as this… without her… it's worthless…"
The words echoed in the silent throne room as their weight assessed on all the Guardians.
"Now, I am not sure who Lord Momonga is referring to with that 'her' but I have my hypot-"
Demiurge could not finish speaking that the blonde tomboyish elf interrupted him with her loud voice.
"Isn't that obvious?! Dad was surely referring to mom!"
Shalltear felt like chuckling at the baffled expression that just appeared on the archdevil's face, it was kind of hilarious to see such an foreign expression appear on the usually stoic face of the 7th floor's guardian.
"AURA… ARE. YOU. PERHAPS. REFERRING. TO. LORD. MOMONGA. AS. YOUR. FATHER?"
The booming voice of Cocytus asked, seemingly outraged at the thought of such arrogance of such a claim.
"Of course he is! He and mom, Lady Bukubukuchagama, had been together since like forever!"
That seemed to take aback all of the present Guardians apart from Mare and Shalltear herself who, of course, knew of such a thing.
"Is… is that so?..."
Demiurge muttered seemingly uncomfortable at learning of such a thing only now. Cocyrus remained silent as did Sebas, while Albedo seemed to be forcing her face to stop trying turn into a scowl, much to Shalltear's amusement.
"Y-yes, w-we have b-been designated a-as the c-children of p-papa, I mean! L-Lord Momonga and Lady B-Bukubukuchagama… me, b-big sis Aura and b-ig brother Pandora."
Adorable little Mare confirmed his sister's words while Demiurge seemed to assess after the revelation.
"I see, are there anymore children of the Supreme Beings you are aware of? And, most importantly, has Lord Momonga recognize any of you as his direct heir?"
He asked, absolute seriousness on his face. That was indeed a big deal as not even Shalltear knew such a thing.
"Eh? No, I don't think so, nobody ever told me anything about this! I surely don't want the responsibility!"
Aura cried out in shock and denial.
"We have been designated as Guardians, so I don't think there ever was any intention from Mom and Dad to make us heirs or anything like that… though, now that I think about it…"
She continued bringing her gloved hand under her chin as if in deep thought, in a pose strikingly similar to Lord Momonga's.
"Before all this mess began… dad said something about we having another sister…. That our mom was… carrying around? I'm not exactly sure what he meant…"
The tomboyish dark elf recalled the words of her father.
"I see… so, the other Supreme Beings, or at least Lady Bukubukuchagama, are still in contact with Lord Momonga… I imagine there must be a reason behind their prolonged absence…"
The archdevil concluded much to the hope of everyone present. Even if no one ever stated it out loud, the main reason the inhabitants of Nazarick used to justify their creators' absence was their inability to keep up with their standards. Making them, in short, failures.
"Ah, forgive my question, Aura, Mare, but I would like to know… were the two of you and Pandora's Actor, created like the rest of us or physically conceived from Lady Bukubukuchagama?"
The demon asked the two twins who seemed confused at is enquiry.
"I… am not sure what you are talking about… we were created and designed as everybody else in Nazarick for all I know, not sure about big brother Pandora…"
The dark elf answered unsurely much to Shalltear's amusement, for all Aura pretended to be a responsible adult, she was still so naïve in certain areas of life, it was kind of cute, a word the vampire never thought she would associate with the boisterous dark elf.
"DID. THE. OTHER. SUPREME. BEINGS. LEAVE. DUE. TO. THE. SAME. REASON. AS. LADY. BUKUBUKUCHAGAMA?"
Questioned the insectoid warrior in a hopeful tone.
"I can only hope so Cocytus, that would mean we have no fault in their decision… though, I can only speculate on what that reason might be… Judging by Aura's words I can elaborate many hypotheses."
The archdevil pondered his words, Shalltear could almost imagine the gears furiously turning inside his head.
"W-What do y-you mean Demiurge?"
Innocent little Mare asked, curious to know what his fellow guardian seemed to have realized.
"I can't possibly pretend to be sure of what Lord Momonga meant by his words, but the upfront and more probable conclusion would be that him and Lady Bukubukuchagama had engaged in some unknown form of reproduction… carrying a child is a term mostly used among beings to refer to a female who had been impregnated and will conceive a child in due time."
Demiurge explained, much to Albedo's, no longer hidden, chagrin and Shalltear's surprise. She never thought the Supreme Beings would engage in things like that, even though her creator seemed extremely fond of the activity.
"Lord Demiurge, are you trying to imply that the Supreme Beings retired to an unknown location to assist Lady Bukubukuchagama in conceiving this child?"
The calm and deep voice of Sebas asked.
"Please call me Demiurge, and… I would not be so arrogant to think I know what the Supreme Beings planned on doing, but seeing the timing, that is a possibility."
Demiurge answered cautiously.
"I never heard of a Supreme Being ever conceiving a child in such a way."
Sebas exposed his limited knowledge, no one disputing his claim as all the presents haven't heard of such a thing either.
"M-maybe i-it is a very r-rare thing? T-that's why a-all the Supreme Beings w-went alongside her?"
Mare offered his opinion much to Shalltear's surprise who didn't expect the shy boy to say anything unless questioned directly.
"That is indeed a possibility… but still, this is nothing but speculation, be it as it may, coming to this world was not the will of out Lord, and whoever is responsible for this might seek the destruction of Nazarick."
Demiurge's words immediately put everybody else on edge.
"How did you come to such a conclusion Demiurge?"
Asked a surprised Shalltear, the devil's eyes immediately darted toward her.
"Think about it Shalltear, our Lord was the only one present in the tomb at the moment, Lady Bukubukuchagama was about to give birth to the probable next heir of Nazarick and all the other Supreme Beings were probably protecting her."
Demiurge explained it like he was talking to a child, which greatly irritated the vampire even if she could not argue with his logic.
"If someone wished to attack, this was the right moment to take us at our weakest, separating us and Lord Momonga from the rest of the Supreme Beings… whoever is responsible for this is clearly seeking our destruction and Lord Momonga knew this well, that is why he had been so insistent on finding any trace of the nine worlds here… He wishes to return and be reunited with the other Supreme Beings."
Albedo spoke for the first time since the meeting began, her cold words were matched by her stare.
"Exactly, Guardian Overseer, this is why we need to step up our game and use any means to return to the nine worlds, we cannot be assured that the remaining Supreme Beings would not be in peril as well without Nazarick, it is our upmost duty to serve and sacrifice ourselves for them."
The demon declared as everyone nodded in agreement.
XxXxX
Momonga glanced at the female before him. They were facing each other in the cemetery, not that he cared much about stopping the undead invasion. If he could safely retrieve the boy those fools abducted, he would gladly leave the rest of the city to burn.
Normally such thoughts would make him feel disgusted with himself. This, though, was no normal situation. He had already been separated from Katsumi for half a month and he was willing to do pretty much anything to go home to her and his daughter. He was beginning to forget how her warm embrace felt, her heartbeat against his chest, the peace of mind her mere presence brought.
All he could feel by now, was coldness and loneliness. Things he thought he had long forgotten, ever since she came into his life.
And now, they had been separated, by some fucking twist of destiny or cruel joke, he did not care.
He returned to his senses when the woman rushed him, probably angered by him ignoring her. 'Fuck this shit' he thought as he dropped his swords, he had no need for any façade now, he just needed to get this over with as soon as possible.
The woman tried to pierce his armor with her stilettos but it proved as useful as throwing a rock against a castle. Emboldened by his lack of weapons, she tried to pierce his eyes next. A foolish mistake, as she now was just too exposed. He just used his arm to trap her against him.
"W-What?!"
The disgusting human cried out as he increased the pressure on her chest and waist.
"You know, I really don't care about what you did to those adventurers… you could even burn the city down for all I cared… but you… you had to take the only boy I needed for myself… you just had to get in my way."
With every word his frustration grew as did the strength of his grip.
"No… wait! Wait! Wait! Let me go! You fucking BASTARD!"
She shouted while trying to slither her way out of his grasp like a snake in a death grip.
"No, I don't think I will."
He continued to increase his pressure until he heard a muffled scream followed by a loud snap, the body went limp in his hands. He dropped the unmoving woman, for all she was clearly unhinged and annoying, he could not deny her possible usefulness.
He felt no need to bring justice to those she killed as they lost any of his sympathies when they dared speak of his friends and beloved as if they knew them. 'Replaceable… damn scum' he found his surging anger pushed down by his Emotional Suppression.
His musings were interrupted by a loud thud in the distance. 'Mare is probably done with those weak Skeletal Dragons' he thought as a new figure appeared in front of him.
"Hey dad! I got the stupid human!"
The loud voice of Aura reached is ears as she placed a tied up bald guy in front of him. 'Well then, let's see if this endeavor had any worth' he knelt down to get face to face with the human while removing his helmet. His appearance and general aura always helped him to get people to do his bidding.
On his part, the human tried to get away from him, terror in his eyes as they darted from Aura to the woman on the ground and then Momonga himself.
"I really did not want to get involved in any of this… so let's fix it, let us make a deal… cooperate and if your information turn out to be useful, I will let you go, I will even resurrect your Skeletal Dragons, what do you say?"
He used all his skills acquired in years as a salaryman to push his way into the human's mind. Not that he needed much convincing, Satoru held all the cards here, from now the human could do nothing but hope he was useful enough.
Either way, Satoru had no intention of honoring the deal. It was an hard rule in the unforgiving business world, if a party was weak and defenseless at your feet, there is no obligation to give anything but you can take everything.
"Here dad, this is what he was using to summon those weak ass overgrown skeletons!2
The tomboyish dark elf excitedly presented him with a strange dark orb.
"Language Aura."
He admonished making the child cower at the scolding. He felt like sighing, he did not know why but the two of them continuing to refer to him as their father really pulled some strings in his nonexistent heart. Was this because he was about to become a father for real and he was reflecting this on Katsumi's NPCs?
"But thank you, you did a good job."
He said more gently while ruffling her hair, much to her enjoyment.
He then proceeded to take the offered orb from her outstretched hands. Yggdrasil had stuff similar to this, but orbs were not meant for summoning, so this was definitely an item native to this world.
He set it aside in his inventory, he would have time to experiment later.
"Coming back to you, tell me, where are you from?"
He asked the tied up human who was trying to slither away while he was speaking to Aura.
The man ignored him continuing his useless struggle until he was yanked back by his collar, courtesy of Aura.
"OI! Don't be rude, you dolt!"
She cried out indignantly.
"Dolt?"
Satoru almost chuckled as that was the last insult he expect to come out from the dark elf's mouth.
"Eheh, dad doesn't like when I swear so I took some of Stupidtear's favorite words."
That almost brought out a chuckle from the undead, they truly were their creators' children. But that thought brought nothing but melancholy right now. His gaze shifted once more to the wannabe necromancer.
"So? I will ask once more, where are you from?"
The human tried to glare at him, though he was shacking in ear.
"Slane."
He finally barked out.
That was surprising to Satoru, apparently this Slane Theocracy did enjoy messing up its neighboring countries considering he did not meet only one but two active cells in less than a month since he arrived here.
Thanks to the now deceased Sunlight Scripture, he became aware of the country's controlling habits and its religious fanatism, not counting its humancentric mindset.
A little more persuasive questioning and mindreading brought out many more secrets. Considering the Sealing Crystal and other items that were said to being considered relics of the gods, he could assume with almost certainty that these gods were from Yggdrasil. Possibly mobs or NPCs, if not players.
That wasn't much of a lead as he already knew by experience that things from Yggdrasil could be brought to this world. That didn't give him much of an idea on how to send said things back. But that was, unfortunately, all the leads he had at the time.
He also wanted to investigate these so called Thirteen Heroes that girl masquerading as a boy spoke of. He would need to speak with Demiurge once he came back.
"Aura, tell Shalltear to open a [Gate] to the Frozen Prison and bring these two there, the woman should have her spine broken so be careful to not kill her."
He ordered as the Dark Elf saluted.
'Not bringing back any bodies will not seat well with the Adventurer Guild, but I don't really care, getting fame and prestige was never one of my goals to begin with' Satoru thought as he moved toward the crypt, he had yet to recover the boy he came here for in the first place.
XxXxX
Albedo gazed at her naked form reflected in the mirror before her. She currently was in her Lord's personal room, waiting for him to return and be of service to him, if he wished so of course!
Though, she was perplexed, to say the last few days' discoveries were unexpected would be an understatement. She would have never imagined someone like Lord Momonga and Lady Bukubukuchagama were in a more than friendly relationship.
She had done her research after that, she personally went to Ashurbanipal to consult the Supreme Beings' wisdom on the matter. And indeed, many a Supreme Being spoke of Lord Momonga's and Lady Bukubukuchagama's relationship in their journals. Though no one spoke of any pregnancies or anything remotely similar. But that was easily explainable by the fact none of them returned to Nazarick to update their personal journals in a long time.
She needed a confirmation on something, she wanted to know how exactly Lord Momonga was able to reproduce with another being. The love burning in her heart demanded for her to carry his child as well, even if she could never be his bride, if she could just be loved by her Lord, she would be satisfied.
But that brought up another problem, many know of Lady Bukubukuchagama's nature and form, so very different from her own. Did her Lord not find her attractive? If, above all other female Supreme Beings, he chose the one less humanoid, did that men he found humanoid creatures not attractive?
That could turn out to be quite annoying, the race changing items in Nazarick were few, even more for high level beings such as herself, but the most threatening thing was that there were already many females resembling Lady Bukubukuchagama more than she did. The most notable one was certainly Solution, even though Lord Momonga never showed any preferences toward her.
She looked down at her assets. Her race was meant to be well endowed as her main source of power was to drain living beings of their life force. So, naturally, her body was created to entice living beings and not unliving ones.
She would need to ask Demiurge for advice as she knew he was planning to perform some experiments in the breeding department. Though, she needed to be careful as she didn't know if he would support her desire to become Lord Momonga's lover. After all, it could be seen as a disservice to Lady Bukubukuchagama, and she was pretty sure she could not get either Aura or Mare to support her.
Fortunately, Lord Momonga decided to take them with him while visiting the nearest human settlement, so she was left almost free reign over Nazarick.
Sending Shalltear out as well was a great occasion for her to move freely around the tomb too. The sole thought of the small vampire quite enraged the succubus. The smug little imp did nothing but mock her and flaunt her relation to Lord Momonga, as her creator, Lord Peroroncino, was apparently the younger brother of Lady Bukubukuchagama, making Lord Momonga her uncle in a way.
She immediately confronted Aura and Mare about such claims which turned out to be true according to the twin Guardians of the 6th floor.
Demiurge, of course, found this development more than fascinating, and embarked on the research to look for more familiar relationships among the Supreme Beings, in hope of understating the nature of their own creation better.
She was only mildly interested in this, as her only concern was the potential relationship between her own creator, Lord Tabula Smaragdina, and Lord Momonga. She knew for sure that he didn't see eye to eye with few Supreme Beings and him and Lady Bukubukuchagama had argued in the past, but the details of that occasion were almost none.
That said, if she wished to compete and gain Lord Momonga's affection, she would need to step up her game as her opponent was none other than a Supreme Being.
But she knew, in her heart, that she would succeed. For her love would not stop growing and she would claim her beloved sooner or later, no matter the cost…
XxXxX
Satoru smashed his fist against the wall of his room as violently as possible in his rage. The passive Emotional Suppression kicking in to calm him. But as soon as his blazing rage subsided, it returned with a vengeance, causing him to fall in a loop of maddening anger and freezing cold calm.
He could not believe he had been so stupid as to send Shalltear alone on a mission. The fact she was the strongest floor guardian fooled him in believing she could deal with anything short of a raid boss. He lacked to take in account the fact that whoever caused this in the first place might as well still be around, or, if not them, something else from Yggdrasil. And indeed, it turned out someone had a mind controlling item, but not any item, a fucking World Item!
And now he found himself with an unresponsive Shalltear who was blocked in the middle of nowhere and, worst of all, humans were aware of her presence.
He already massacred all the teams they sent for he could not risk anyone activating her aggro. But he could not leave her like this, it was his carelessness in the first place that led to this, and now he needed to take accountability for it.
And the only way to counter a World Item was other World Items. Though, he had none that could possibly disrupt the mind control. He could only use them to ensure such a thing did not happen again.
It was time to visit the treasury and prepare for the ensuing battle.
…
Of all the things he expected to find when he entered the inner mausoleum, his three surrogate children was not one of them.
"Oh Vater! I-I didn't expect to meet you here!"
The doppelganger saluted seemingly nervous.
"Dad!"
"P-papa…"
The two twin dark elves greeted him while fidgeting on the spot like two children who just o got caught with their hands in the biscuit's jar.
"What are you three doing here?"
He asked, in no mood for any of whatever this was, the three seemed to take note of this, tensing up even more.
"I-"
Aura was immediately interrupted by Pandora who stepped forward.
"It is my fault, Father! I let them in!"
He declared with his bald head bowed.
"W-we just wanted to see m-mama!"
The youngest of the three siblings added in panic making Satoru raise an eyebrow. He looked around in the sudden and blind hope of seeing Katsumi hidden in a corner, but he could spot nothing out of the ordinary.
That was until his eyes fell on the golem just behind the three. 'I see…' he thought as the figure of a slime saluted him from behind the NPCs, frozen in time like a statue, which wasn't far from the truth.
"W-we wanted to ask for forgiveness from M-mom and uncle Peroroncino…"
The usually cheerful voice of Aura came out as little more than a strangled admission.
"Ask for forgiveness?"
He questioned, his interest momentarily distracted from his primary objective.
"Stupidtear is an undead and yet she got mind controlled… that is the lamest thing ever… but still, we knew she was stupid like that and didn't watch over her…"
Aura explained sadly.
"She is family, and we are supposed to look over her."
Even if the gesture of desperation was exaggerated, Satoru could find no fault in Pandora's words.
"Yes! M-mama said so!"
Mare added shyly.
'That sounds like something Katsumi would say' Satoru admitted as he looked at the tears gathering in the two elves' eyes. For all he mostly treated them as masses of data he could not deny their human emotions. The evidence was in front of him, and yet, he was resilient to accept it. For accepting it would make the inevitable separation all the much harder.
"Family, eh?"
He muttered as the phantom sensation of his fleshy hand caressing a swollen belly, in the hope of feeling a kick or something, came back to his mind.
Family, family was everything, and he would do anything to come back.
"You have done nothing wrong, feel free to visit as you wish, you have my permission."
He said much to the three's delight. The sheer happiness and relief in their eyes were kind of touching, for all he could not see them as his biological children, the affection they bore for him and Katsumi was real and tangible.
"Father, did you come to see Mother too?"
Asked the doppelganger with an indescribable hint of something in his tone.
"Partly, yes, but I came here mostly to retrieve the items I will need to face Shalltear."
He said a half-truth as he didn't exactly come here to gaze at the statue of her beloved's in-game avatar.
"B-but Papa… y-you can't put yourself in d-danger! Let u-us handle S-Shalltear! T-this is why we c-came to ask for M-mama's blessing in the i-incoming battle!"
Little Mare protested taking him aback. That would be indeed the optimal solution he hadn't thought of, just let the Guardians face each other and gank on Shalltear. However, as soon as that image entered his mind, he dismissed it immediately after. Katsumi poured her heart and soul in these NPCs, considering them her and Satoru's children… to let them go and have a to the death confrontation against what was basically their cousin… didn't sit well at all with him.
'Family is everything' those were words Katsumi said more than once in all the years they had been together. That was the principle that allowed her and her brother to survive all this time, even if on their own. To betray that, would be like betraying Katsumi herself. So, he steeled his mind.
"That won't be necessary, I will do it."
He said with finality in his tone.
"But Dad-"
Aura tried to protest but was shut down when Satoru gave her a glare.
"I will not stand and watch as Kat-… my children kill each other mercilessly due to my mistakes."
He stated clearly without leaving space for any more rebuttals
"Pandora's Actor, retrieve the World Items and hand them over to the guardians, we need to ensure everyone's protection from whatever affected Shalltear, you will also need to pretend to be me for a time while I go and face Shalltear, otherwise some of the guardians might interfere."
He ordered receiving a seemingly reluctant nod from his creation.
'I will need to use some of your items, my friends, I hope you will not mind, this is an emergency after all' he thought as he already made a mental list of all the Cash Items and other things he would need to counter Shalltear's abilities.
Luckily for him, Taiyou was obsessed over her and could not shut up about all the trump cards he put on her to make her virtually a pain to fight. Suddenly Satoru felt glad for indulging into his ramblings, for if he hadn't, he would have surely perished going blind into such a disadvantageous battle.
"Aura, Mare, you two will accompany me… in case of failure I want you to enact a certain plan I will now explain to you… it is imperative you follow it to the letter."
The two children looked shaken at his declaration but didn't say anything. His gaze fell for a moment on Katsumi's avatar, maybe this would be the last time he would gaze upon it. But he already made up his mind.
He would protect his family, be it by blood or otherwise, and then return to her and embrace his daughter. No matter the price he had to pay.
XxXxX
The vampire was slumped against the counter, completely wasted or, at least, pretending to be.
Aura couldn't blame her, she couldn't even imagine what a disaster like that would feel like. Not only she failed in her mission, but she also forced her Lord to intervene and risk his life to save her.
For all the dark elf was still annoyed at her surrogate cousin, she could not help put feel pity for her and how she was dealing with it.
"You know undead can't get wasted with alcohol, don't you?"
Her words made the supposedly older girl flinch in her seat.
"A-Ah? S-shorty! What are you doing here?"
The undead asked, lowering down for a moment the mask of her drunk persona.
"Yo!"
The dark elf cheerfully jumped on the stool next to the vampire. Though, inside, there was no cheerfulness, but as an older sibling she had to guide by example like Mother said.
"What do you want?"
The vampire asked, seemingly annoyed, even though her low tone lacked any of the superiority she displayed before the incident.
"Can't I come here just for a drink?"
The dark elf questioned before gesturing the bartender to approach them.
"Hey Clavu!"
She saluted the mushroom headed heteromorph who bowed politely.
"Good afternoon, Lady Aura, I am afraid I was forbidden by Lord Momonga to serve you or Lord Mare anything containing alcohol."
The bartender said politely making Aura shrug.
"Yeah, I know, I don't even want any of that stinking stuff, Dad didn't have to go out of his way to tell you… do you have any Asgardian Peaches Juice?"
The beast tamer requested prompting the bartender to present her an empty and perfectly clean glass as he moved toward the back of the bar to gather the requested liquid.
"I don't know how stupid you think I am, but I know you can easily get that stuff on the 6th floor… now… why did you want to meet me? Do you want to mock me? Or maybe berate me?"
The vampire lamented, forcing her gaze away from the 6th floor guardian who lost any pretense of cheerfulness.
"I came here to see if you were doing okay."
Those words made the head of the vampire snap in her direction, surprise, and shock all over her face as their gazes met, crimson meeting blue and green.
"We are family after all, we need to stick out for each other, so… if you want to vent or speak about anything… I am here to listen and not to judge."
Aura would normally never bother with anything as troublesome and elaborated as this if it was anyone else. But alas, she was her father and mother's daughter, and so, she would love her family no matter what, like her mother, and be there for them anytime, like her father.
"W-why would you do… a-all of this… for me?"
The shocked vampire asked, her aggressive tone totally gone as she expected to know her motivation. Aura bit her tongue, forcing herself not to ask the undead if her brain rotted in her skull. 'Patient, just like Dad… be patient' with those thoughts she took a deep breath.
"I remember once, when Mom came to me, she seemed very shaken by something, though she didn't elaborate on what it was… all I know is that she told me that I needed to care for my family with all I had, to protect them by any means, and always make sure they had someone to go to when life got complicated… just like she and uncle Peroroncino did for each other."
The dark elf said as the fellow guardian's crimson eyes widened at the mention of her own creator.
"If the Supreme Beings said so… no, if my own mother said so, it means it must be the right thing to do."
She said as the bartender came back and slowly poured Aura her desired juice before leaving the two guardians to their own devices.
"I…"
The vampire weakly began as she seemed shaken and reduced speechless by Aura's words.
"Take your time, I understand it is not an easy topic."
The dark elf said gently as she sipped her juice. Silence persisted for a few minutes with the vampire biting her inferior lip more than once, her half-finished drink laying aside forgotten.
Finally, the pale guardian seemed to make up her mind and locked their gazes once more.
"I… I screwed up… no, I-I totally failed… in the worst of ways… I have been given everything by Lord Peroroncino… and even with all this power, I turned out only to be a… a… failure… and now Lord Momonga d-doesn't even w-waste enough t-time on me to g-give me a p-proper punishment… h-he must h-hate me so m-much!"
Her voice began to break on the end as if she was hiccupping even though no tears could pour out of her eyes due to her being undead.
Aura bit her lip, she was not ready to deal with any of this. 'Damn, Mom and Dad must be so amazing to deal with stuff like this all the time…' she could not help but think for a moment before returning to the current situation.
"Hey, c'mon, calm yourself."
The small dark elf tried to comfort the vampire with a fe pats on her back, they did nothing as the vampire continued to whimper inconsolably.
"If it can help, I know for a fact Dad doesn't hate you at all."
That seemed indeed to attract her attention.
"R-really?"
She asked, a minuscule spark of hope in her eyes.
Finally seeming to have gotten a grip on something, Aura immediately latched on it, nodding energetically.
"Yeah, he came to us after the battle, before resurrecting you, and told us you were not at fault for what happened, he said… he should have known better than to send someone against unknown odds… that we should learn from this and not repeat his mistake."
The dark elf explained much to the vampire's shock. Though Aura was pretty certain her father did everything fine, at most she would say he overestimated Shalltear, but that was not even be considered as an error. Of course, she did not voice her own thoughts to the clearly broken vampire.
"B-but! No! It is my fault! I could never shift the blame on Lord Momonga!"
The strongest floor guardian protested, much to Aura silent agreement.
"I agree with you on that, but still, Dad thinks so… now you can only learn from this and start bettering yourself, that is the only way you can atone for your mistakes… sulking here wil not help the situation, you are only showing how little Dad can rely on you… you should… I don't know… try to write a essay where you analyze the mistakes you made and how you could have acted better, and then present it to him."
The dark elf proposed the first thing that came to her mind.
"B-but I don't remember anything…"
The vampire whined. Yeah, Aura forgot about that detail.
"Oh, c'mon! I'm sure you will be able to come up with something!"
The tomboyish elf exclaimed as she could not think of anything else at the moment.
The vampire glanced at her before averting her gaze and looking almost embarrassed.
"Will you…"
The vampire mumbled something, but it was too low for Aura to hear.
"Eh? What did you say?"
She asked unsure of what her fellow guardian just asked.
"I said! Will you… help me with that?"
The words seemed to have been dragged out of her throat by force as she refused to speak them voluntarily.
Aura felt like facepalming at that. Who was supposed to be the oldest between them again? This was just such a pain!
But she could not leave Shalltear like that, she could not bring herself to squash that hope in her gaze.
"Fine… I will lend you a hand…"
She reluctantly accepted the request. 'Is this like you should feel when having a little sister?' she secretly wondered in her mind.
XxXxX
Satoru observed the burning city from afar, his fist clenched in absolute rage.
But his sudden surge of emotions was not caused by the loss of life happening before him, but by the fact that today marked his third month's anniversary since he got stuck here. And, if time flowed with the same regiment here as it did in Japan, it would mean he surely had lost the birth of his daughter. Not to think about the grief and stress his disappearance surely caused Katsumi.
It was that sense of desperation that brought him to accept Demiurge's plan.
Thanks to the capture of both the scripture and those two idiots from the cemetery, they have gathered a huge amount of intel on the Theocracy as well as on their so called gods, even something on the Greed Kings. The common trope between these characters was their arrival from seemingly nowhere, bearing with them untold amount of power.
He was sure of it, they came straight from Yggdrasil, he still needed confirmation on if they were players, NPCs or game bosses, but the important thing was that they were not the one puling strings here.
If they were from Yggdrasil, there was no way any of them could have transported themselves and others to this world. There simply was no item capable of that.
No, that meant that whoever or whatever did it, originated from this world and, for some reason, called Yggdrasil's stuff here.
Now, the only thing he needed to figure out was, who or what called them, and by extension him, here. Find them and force them to send him back.
It was in hope of reaching that goal that he approved Demiurge's plan to launch an assault on the Re-Estize's capital, seeing if they could drag out anyone else possibly correlated to the transportation, and, also, to gather intel on the Thirteen Heroes and check if there was any hint of Yggdrasil beings being part of the group.
If that was the case, he would finally get a confirmation to his hypothesis of the transportation happening every two hundred years or so.
To ensure Nazarick protection, he made sure no mention of both the Tomb or the Guild would be made during this assault. He even went so far as using the Death Knights made from the corpses obtained during the Lizardmen's extermination. Just in case there existed a spell to check where the undead originated from.
He had been too careless when he first arrived here, as he was convinced, he would soon return home, he even proclaimed his name to the entirety of Carne Village. Fortunately, a few uses of [Control Amnesia] made sure no one remembered him. Now he replaced everyone's memory of him with his fake persona, Momon.
Though, the Warrior Captain Gazef, had surely reported his name to the king and possibly nobility as well. So, this attack also served for him to take care of any loose ends, and either kill or use [Control Amnesia] on everybody remembering his name.
He shook his head as this was Shalltear's and Pandora's mission, he had other things to worry about, like controlling his undead horde to maximize the damage they made before retreating.
He had also been surprised as he lost a few of his Death Knights to the inhabitants of the kingdom. He made sure to take note of everyone who managed to kill a Death Knight for future reference and research.
As of now, only three managed in the feat. One was the Warrior Captain himself, who seemed to sport a new set of weapons with him, the other two were two blonde adventurers, a cleric swordswoman around the 5th tier judging by her combat style, and the other an arcane magic caster also around the 5th tier. He would make sure to have either Albedo or Demiurge check those two out.
He made sure Momon would make an appearance, but he had been far too busy fighting the so-called Demon Lord Jaldabaoth, Demiurge's fake persona, to do anything else in the battle.
Jaldabaoth's use was twofold. First, he would act as the main scapegoat to put the fault on. And secondly, to act like he was the only one summoned instead of Nazarick.
He was the bait for the summoner to come out, if the summoner knew of Nazarick, they would want to check why their spell only summoned a powerful demon instead of the whole Tomb.
His thoughts were interrupted when Pandora, dressed as Momon, and Demiurge, impersonating Jaldabaoth, descended on the battlefield again like a meteor, disrupting the battle going on there.
'It must mean they are done with their respective objectives' the undead wondered as he observed the scene from above, hidden by his [Perfect Unknowable].
Both Momon and Jaldabaoth were sporting fake injuries as if they had fought for the last couple hours.
"You… are truly something else, Momon… it has been a long time since I had such a fierce battle!"
Proclaimed Jaldabaoth as Momon gave him a nod in acknowledgement of his words.
"Indeed, I could say the same."
The dark warrior answered in his usual calm tone.
"But, alas, I now have achieved all of my goals and shall retreat."
The demon's declaration was met by protests and threats from most of the presents until Momon explained why that would be the best outcome for them.
"Now, I would like to leave you all with a message… tell whoever called me to this land… that I shall not stop rampaging and destroying until they show up and beg for forgiveness for what they have done! Let it be known that the Demon Lord Jaldabaoth is not to be forcefully summoned to satisfy anyone's whims!"
With those words, which echoed all throughout the capital thanks to a spell, the demon teleported away, signaling for Satoru to force his troops to retreat.
The hook was thrown, now only time would tell if the bait would attract any large fish.
With that the undead teleported away without a second thought. If he remembered well, Demiurge also captured some of the local inhabitants for experimentation. He didn't know what kind of purpose they would have in achieving his goal, though the demon's ways were seldom easy to understand, he was just glad the devil continued to serve with great devotion him and his friends. When he will eventually come back to Japan, he will have to thank Ulbert for his great work.
XxXxX
Arche looked around her, no matter on what angle she tried to see it, this seemed awfully like the Empire's Grand Arena. On the brighter side, it seemed like they were outside once more, so a simple [Fly] should make short work of their predicament.
She could not even give voice to that thought that something fell from the sky like a thunderbolt, landing in the middle of the arena. A young, tanned elf child with unruly blonde air stood up dusting off her clothes.
"Greetings! Invaders of the Great Tomb of Nazarick! We thank you for your participation in today's exciting event!"
The child cheerfully announced.
"But enough of this! Let's announce today's match! On one corner, a group of foolish human invaders and on the other, the Ruler of the Great Tomb! The Supreme Being! The one I am most proud to call Father! The true and only Lord Momonga!"
The metal gate on the other side of the arena rose to reveal a skeletal being wearing only a pair of pants and a strange chained chocker around his neck.
The undead marched toward them without uttering a single word much to the excitement of the young elf.
"Your introduction was most kind Aura."
The dark tone sent a shiver down Arche's spine, she was sure no human could posses such a voice tone.
The undead ruffled the elf's child hair as she moved behind him, the gesture reminding Arche of how her mother used to do the same with her, only for her to feel disgusted with herself for even thinking of such a comparison.
"It isn't really my style to do things like this and dirty my own hands, but there is something I would like to check, and it is not easy to find good guinea pigs in a safe environment."
This time, the undead spoke directly to them as he stepped forward.
"Wait a moment! Lord Momonga!"
Her leader, Hekkeran, called out the undead before a battle could begin. And against all odds, the monster stopped.
"Yes? Is there something you would like to ask before you die?"
Asked the undead with a hint of curiosity in his tone.
"We apologize for the intrusion, we had no idea this tomb was still inhabited! We would like to bargain safe passage out of here! Tell us the price!"
Her leader tried to start a parley, something Arche thought to be a smart move, if this monster was intelligent, and he seemed to be, there was certainly a chance of them getting away.
The undead waited a few instants before answering with a shake of his head.
"I am afraid there is nothing you could offer me, short of a spell capable of traveling through dimensions, that would even interest me, unfortunately you have barged into someone else's home without permission, and now it's time to pay the price."
The monster answered calmly. Arche would have normally pondered his choice of words or if such a spell even existed but there were bigger problems to deal with at the moment.
"What if we had permission!"
Her leader tried desperately to stop the ensuing battle.
That seemed to give pause to the monster, he stopped in his tracks, seemingly deep in thought.
"No, who would give you… that is impossible, but…"
She could only gather a few of his broken thoughts as he thought out loud.
"And let's hear, who would give you the permission to come here?"
He asked, his attention focused again on Foresight.
"Don't you know her? She seemed to know you."
Hekkeran asked trying to confuse the waters, Arche understood his game, they were only left with a way to get out of here, bullshitting their way through, just as long as it got them to get out and never return. It was a dangerous game, but it was worth it, in the end, even if they failed they would still fight till their last breath.
"No, that's…"
The undead seemed shocked at her leader's words, as much as a skeleton could show shock, and even the elf child seemed taken aback. 'Good!' Arche thought in victory, they certainly just threw the right hook, now they needed to push it just deep enough before fleeing.
"Tell me about her appearance!"
The undead immediately ordered with urgency. Arche never thought undead could be so emotional, whoever this being was, she certainly seemed to be important.
"It was kind of dark and we didn't manage to see her well, she was moving all over the place as if she didn't want to be seen, we only know she is female due to her voice."
Arche could feel her throat go dry at her leader's words, they were so close to getting away.
The undead seemed to analyze the information for just a few moments before coming back to them.
"And what else did she tell you? Certainly not just to come here."
He asked, impatience in his tone.
"Before that, I want an assurance we will be able to leave safely!"
Her leader demanded as he was sweating bullets by now, like everyone else in Foresight.
"Yes, yes, if you truly were sent here by my wife, you will be able to leave unscathed, no… I will reward you beyond your wildest dream if that's the case! Now tell me, what did she say?!"
The undead asked, he was now hanging from Hekkeran's every word. Even the elf child next to him was looking at them with an intensity Arche never thought possible before.
"She said… to give her greetings to Momonga and their daughter Aura."
Hekkeran said slowly but with a certain finality to it.
"That's it? Me and Aura?"
The undead immediately asked, his tone unreadable.
"Yes."
Her leader immediately confirmed as silence descended between the two groups for almost ten seconds, even if for Arche they felt like ten years.
"I see…"
The undead finally said prompting Arche to feel relief wash over her, they were safe now.
"It was such an unbelievable story since the beginning… still I had my hopes up."
He continued as the relief the blonde caster felt was replaced by dread as a wave of chilling air invested her.
"You! YOU FUCKING BASTARDS! YOU COME HERE INVADING THE SACRED GROUNDS WHERE I SHARED MY PRECIOUS MEMORIES WITH MY FRIENDS AND BELOVED AND SULLY THEM WITH YOUR FILTH! NOT ONLY THAT! YOU LIE ABOUT MY BELOVED AND TRY TO TRICK ME USING MY LOVE FOR HER AND MY CHILD AGAINST ME! YOU WORTHLESS SCUM! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL!"
The shouting of those words was accompanied by a wave of dark energy incomparable to anything Arche saw before. The very ground cracked under the pressure of that aura and Arche felt like her very soul was being teared apart.
And, as it came, it vanished, leaving only a fading sensation of dread fluttering around the arena.
The undead was now silent, somehow Arche would have preferred for him to continue screaming, that chilling cold silence terrified her more than everything else he did.
"Death is too good for you…"
The words were spoken with utter calm and yet Arche felt like either throwing up or pissing herself or maybe both.
Then, in the glimpse of an eye, the undead disappeared from their view and appeared in front of Hekkeran grabbing him by the throat.
"[Paralysis]"
Their leader dropped on the ground, unmoving, seemingly dead if not for the spasming of his eyes.
Though, that woke everyone up as Imina shot a bunch of arrows at the undead and Roberdyke used [Holy Light]. The arrow simply jumped off the undead as if they were made of paper while the spell disappeared even before reaching him.
Arche did not cast any of her spell in fear of hitting Hekkeran.
"Arche! RUN!"
Imina shouted toward her.
"BUT-"
She tried to protest.
"You are the only one who can escape! Run and search help!"
Ordered Roberdyke and so she did, she casted the quickest [Fly] of her life and left the arena.
She didn't know for how long she managed to fly as her vision was blurred by the tears running down her face, but at a certain point she felt an unknown object grasp her ankle and bring her down from the sky violently.
She slammed on the ground screaming as she was sure she at least broke a leg and maybe an arm from the impact alone. She tried to use all the strength her desperation gave her to crawl away, she didn't manage to crawl far as she soon came to realize her leg was indeed broken.
She barely managed to reach the roots of a gigantic tree and set herself in a seating position.
As she was busy gasping for air, her gaze met a pair of heterochromatic eyes, one blue, one green. The elf child was staring at her, whip in hand, probably the cause of her fall in the first place.
"I hoped, you know? For just a moment, I hoped I would see Mom again."
The child said weakly as her gaze fixed on Arche.
"To be a complete and happy family once more, but it seems, it was not meant to be."
The child continued as unshed tears gathered in her eyes.
Arche knew that look, she saw it in her own eyes every time she looked in the mirror, every time she met her sisters before departing. The look of loss and the desperation to get it back, she knew that look too well.
"Never give up."
She said those words without knowing why, encouraging her killer to seek out her dreams wasn't such a smart idea after all. But Arche wasn't seeing her enemy now, she was just seeing a child who lost something a child should not lose.
The last thing she saw before losing consciousness, was the gloved hand of the blonde child reaching for her.
XxXxX
Seven months and counting, that was the time he lost in this accursed world.
Seven months of him needed to be next to Katsumi. Seven months of him needing to be next to his daughter.
That pain would only get worse, with each passing day.
He worked so hard to be better, to become someone respectable in order to make Katsumi and his daughter proud of him. Even though the former would probably say she already is.
"Lord Momonga, Demiurge reported that everything is ready, the attack on the fake Nazarick is being used both to misdirect our enemies toward a fake location and to further push the story behind the Jaldabaoth persona."
Albedo reported taking him out of his train of thoughts.
That was good though, he initially was against having people come to Nazarick as it would expose their location. That was when Demiurge proposed to create a fake Nazarick on another location with just a single room with a teleportation trap brining the victim to the true Nazarick.
That had indeed been a good idea as when the disappearance of the humans would be linked to the Demon Lord Jaldabaoth, the coordinates they would get would only bring to a fake Nazarick constantly under surveillance to check on who showed up.
For a brief instant he felt his rage rush up through his body like an eruption at the thought of those damned invaders, but it subsided almost immediately. It would be no good to lose control like he did last time.
They were near something, he was sure of it! He would continue to create chaos and destruction until whoever brought him here showed themselves and then he will finally return home. And if they could not send him back… no! he shouldn't even think about that possibility! If they brought him here, they could surely send them back!
If he still had a human body he would probably be in overventilation by now, luckily for him his body was at least perfect to show a constant poker face and put off his adversaries.
Yes! This would be the good one, even if the stunt in Re-Estize didn't work, surely forcing two nations on the brink of destruction would attract someone's attention!
Now that he thought about it, he should check on that caster, Fluder was his name. He tasked him with finding all he could on transportation magic and the strange Wild Magic dragons in this world seemed to use.
He never spoke with the caster in question as he sent Pandora in his stead, just to be sure. But apparently, he was judged trustworthy both by Pandora and Demiurge. The other pawn needed for this plan to succeed was apparently in Albedo's hand, some princess or something, he couldn't care less, the only important thing was that she did her part.
Once the disaster happened, he would wait to see if anyone would show up at the fake Nazarick. If nothing happened, he would be forced to try and go either for the Theocracy or the Holy Kingdom. Something he was reluctant to do due to the possibility of finding players, or what remained of them, there.
God, he was discussing the death of hundreds of thousands, no, even millions, all to attract the attention of someone who might not even exist in the first place… but the cruel truth was, he couldn't care less how many died or suffered, as long as he could return home, he would pay the price eagerly.
His beloved and his daughter awaited him, he knew it! He often wondered how his daughter would look and behave, he liked to think she would either be like Aura, Mare or Pandora. For all they were NPCs, they have started to grow on him, he was sure that if Katsumi was here, she would adore them and dote on them.
They might not have been his own by blood, but he certainly came to see them as his own children and wouldn't mind bringing them back with him if at all possible.
But still, he should stop daydreaming and focus on the massacre to come.
'Katsumi… wait for me… I'm coming back to you two' he declared as the image of his wife to be came back to his mind.
XxXxX
The barely ten years old black-haired child launched her gasmask managing to hand it on the back of the door on her first try. She smirked satisfied with her result. 'I have optimized time! With this I have gained ten more seconds to spend for my free time' she felt like chuckling at her cunning idea.
"Hey pipsqueak! What are you doing still here? Your mother is waiting for you in the kitchen, lunch is ready."
The voice of her uncle made her almost jump in surprise as she turned around with a frown.
"Uncle Taiyou! Don't scare me like that! You do it all the time!"
She protested as her uncle only smirked in response prompting her to huff indignantly and rush toward the kitchen.
"Hey mom, I'm home."
She saluted her mother who was busy reading something on the net as usual.
"Welcome home Satsuki, how did school go?"
The brown-haired woman asked putting away her holophone. Satsuki sat down in front of her plate.
"Augh, it is the green stuff again?!"
She complained out loud receiving a glare from her mother which immediately shut her up.
"No complains young miss, those are good for your growth, when you grow up and have a job and a house of your own, you will eat whatever you want, till that moment I am queen here."
Her mother admonished even as Satsuki already began to eat her food.
"Riku brought me an artificial flower today."
She said nonchalantly. That boy was just off in her head, always looking at her until she gave him a challenging look then he would turn elsewhere.
"Wow, really?!"
Her mother asked surprised, Satsuki had no idea what the big deal was, it was just a present, she didn't even like flowers, she would have gladly accepted something good to eat, or a recharge on her Olympus account.
"Yeah, it was nice."
She just said without giving it too much thought.
"Tsk, you are so cold, I would have loved for boys to give me some presents when I was your age."
Her mother complained.
"Nobody would, you just looked weird with that mass of pink hair, you were also a little chubby making you look like a slime overall… Satsuki is just cuter!"
Her uncle shouted from the other room.
"What did you just say?! Did I hear that right stupid brother of mine?!"
Her mother answered back indignantly. 'He is so dead…' Satsuki thought, offering a silent prayer for her uncle's soul as her eyes fell on one of the images of her mother hanging on the wall.
"I still can believe you dyed your hair pink, it looks so weird."
Her comment managed to shift her mother's attention from her uncle to her.
"I had them for most of my life, also your father loved them."
She retorted amusedly, her gaze seemingly lost in a world of her own.
Satsuki's eyes returned to the picture at the mention of her dad. There he was next to her mother, he was quite plain looking in her opinion, the only thing she seemed to inherit from him were his hair and his cheekbones.
Satsuki never got to meet her father, something happened a couple months before she was born. She asked her mother many a time, but she always refused to elaborate on the matter, she always said she would tell Satsuki when she was older.
Though, Satsuki was a smart child, she knew that whatever happened, her family got a lot of money for it since her mother never worked ever since Satsuki was born and even her uncle did far less work compared to the average man.
"Also, Anko is coming to dinner this evening."
Her mother added on the side. Satsuki sighed, she both loved and dreaded her mother's friend. She would dote on her almost obsessively, but she was also one of the few people who would tell her some stories about her father.
"Kay, I will make sure to be presentable."
She promised as last time someone came over, they found her in her pajamas much to her mother's embarrassment.
"Make sure you do! I swear, every time you have a session on that game you seem to lose any comprehension of social norms and time… you are just like him."
She started with a berating tone only to end up ruffling her hair fondly.
The passion for online games was apparently one of the things she and her father shared. She wonders just how good he was, or if he was just another noob for her to kill with her broken summoner build.
"I will be careful this time mom, love you!"
She said hugging her mother before running off to her room, ready for a new gaming session with her group of friends. If she remembered well, they had to raid that stupid dungeon all those guys said was impossible…
'A worthy challenge for Momochi!' she excitedly thought as she connected to her VR chair and opened the app, ready for another adventure.