Chapter 3: Chapter 3
The village had been put to the torch, and only the burned skeletons of the destroyed homes gave any clue as to what it had been like before.
The smell of blood blended with the stench of burning as one walked between them.
Gazef's face was calm, with no hint of any emotions on it. However, no expression could convey his feelings more clearly than this. The same applied to Vice-Captain who walked by Gazef's side.
Over a hundred villagers had lived here. Six had survived. Everyone else had been mercilessly slain, whether they were women, children, or infants.
"Vice-Captain, have some of our people return the survivors to E-Rantel."
"But wait, this is…"
"You're right, it's a big risk. Even so, we can't just abandon them like this."
E-Rantel was directly administered by the King, and protecting its surrounding villages was the King's duty. Abandoning the survivors here would cause a lot of problems for him. One could imagine how the Noble Faction, which opposed the King, would seize on that opportunity to make trouble for him. More importantly—
"Please reconsider. A lot of the survivors witnessed Imperial knights. We can consider that as having fulfilled the first part of the King's orders. I feel we should fall back for now and make sufficient preparations in E-Rantel before carrying out the next part."
"No."
"Warrior-Captain! You should know by now that this is a trap. The timing of the attack came too close to our arrival at E-Rantel to be anything but a coincidence. Their ruthless actions were only committed after we arrived, and the reason why they did not kill everyone was in order to use them as bait for a trap."
The survivors had not evaded the knights. Rather, the enemy had not finished them off. It might be a plot to divide Gazef's strength by having him split off his men to protect the survivors.
"Warrior-Captain, do you intend to keep at it, knowing well that there's a trap?"
"...Indeed."
"Warrior Captain, are you serious about that!? Indeed, you are strong, and you could easily defeat a hundred knights. However, the Empire has that old man. Even you would be in great danger against him. There's also a chance that you might lose against the Empire's renowned Four Knights, under-equipped as you are. Therefore, I beg you to fall back. To the King, losing a few villages is nothing compared to losing you!"
Gazef could only listen quietly as his Vice-Captain got more and more nervous.
"If we won't fall back… then we should leave the survivors behind and launch a pursuit with all of us."
"That would be the wisest option.... But at the same time, it would mean that we would be leaving them to their deaths. Do you think they can survive by themselves?"
The Vice-Captain could not reply, because he knew the survivors' chances by themselves were practically nonexistent.
Without someone to protect and escort them to a safe area, they would be dead in days.
Even so, the Vice-Captain spoke — no, he had to speak.
"...Warrior-Captain. Yours is the most valuable life here.The villagers' lives are nothing in comparison."
Gazef was well aware of the painful decision the Vice-Captain had made, and he was angry at himself for having forced him to say such a thing.
Even so, he could not comply with the Vice-Captain's request.
"I was born a commoner, and so were you."
"Indeed, and I enlisted in admiration of you, Warrior-Captain."
"I recall you were born in a village as well?"
"Yes, which is why…"
"Life in a village is difficult, and death is a constant companion. It's not uncommon for a village to be attacked by a monster and many lives lost as a result, am I wrong?"
"...No, you are not."
"When a monster shows up, the rank and file soldiers are hard pressed to deal with it. If a village does not have the money to hire adventurers to deal with monsters, all they can do is hunker down and wait for the monster to leave."
"...That's right."
"Then, can you say you did not look forward to something like this? Can you say you did not hope for the nobles or someone strong to come and save you?"
"...It would be a lie to say that I didn't. But the fact is that nobody ever came forward to help. At least, the lord of the land where my village was did not pay for adventurers to help us."
"Since that is the case… why don't we prove that we're not like him? Come, let us save these people."
The Vice-Captain thought of his own experiences, and could not say anything in response.
"Vice-Captain, let's show the villagers what heroes who willingly plunge into danger to save others look like. Let's show them how the strong will save the weak."
Gazef's eyes met the Vice-Captain's, and countless emotions passed in between them.
His voice somewhat tired but grateful, the Vice-Captain replied:
"...Then allow me to lead the men. There are many who can replace me, but none who can take the place of you, Warrior-Captain."
"Don't be foolish. My chances of survival are higher. Remember, we're not going to die, but to save the people of the Kingdom."
The Vice-Captain opened his mouth several times, as though to speak, but in the end, he chose to remain silent.
"Then, pick the soldiers who will follow you in escorting the villagers to E-Rantel."
♦ ♦ ♦
The crimson light of the setting sun shone on a group of men upon the plains.
There were forty five of them.
They must have had excellent camouflage techniques given the way they had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Magic was most likely involved.
It was obvious at a glance that they were not simple mercenaries, travellers, or adventurers.
They were all dressed the same way, in armor made of special metals, which emphasised defensive power and mobility. After enchantment, they were more protective than full plate armor.
The bags on their backs were small, hardly the kind one would expect a traveller to carry. Those bags were enchanted as well. Their belts were special, designed to carry potions, and the capes on their backs also radiated an aura of magic.
Gathering this many sets of magic items would be a daunting task, be it in terms of time, money, or effort required. The fact that these people were outfitted in this sort of equipment was a clear sign that they had the backing of a nation, or the equivalent.
However, there were no markings or badges on them which might reveal their allegiance. In other words, they were hiding the fact that they were a black ops unit.
They looked at the ruins of the village with emotionless eyes. Although the stink of blood and fire hung heavy in the air, their merciless gazes seemed to say that this was only to be expected.
"...They fled."
The words were spoken with a hint of disappointment.
"...Well, that's only to be expected. We will continue attacking villages to draw him out. The beast must be lured into the trap."
The man who spoke cast a razor-sharp look in the direction where Gazef's company was riding.
"Show me the village which we will next be using as bait."
Part 3
Momonga pointed his finger, preparing to cast a spell on the strawman in the corner of the arena.
Momonga did not know many pure damage spells. Instead, he focused on instant death spells with additional effects. As a result, he was less effective against non-living entities. He should have selected a simple damaging spell against a target like the one before him, but Momonga's levels were largely in necromancy-type classes, which strengthened his necromantic spells. However, the effectiveness of these spells was several notches below a character whose class levels enhanced combat spells.
He glanced curiously at the children to the side, whose eyes were glittering in anticipation. He felt uneasy as he wondered whether he could live up to their expectations.
Then, Momonga peeked at the two huge monsters.
Their massive bodies were three meters tall, and resembled inverted triangles.
Their skeletal structure was a mix of humans and dragons and covered in corded, sinewy muscles, which were in turn sheathed by a layer of scales that were harder than steel.
Their faces resembled those of dragons, while their tails were as thick as tree trunks. They were wingless and bipedal, like a dragon standing on its hind legs. Their arms were wider around than a man's torso, and each was about half the length of its body. They bore weapons that resembled both a shield and a sword.
These monsters were called Dragonkin, and under the control of Aura's beast tamer skills, they rearranged the Colosseum to her liking.
Although they were level fifty five monsters with no special abilities of note, their powerful arms and prodigious stamina were a match for higher-levelled monsters.
Momonga sighed softly, and then looked back at the strawmen.
It was quite troubling to have people look at him with expectation in their eyes. His objective this time was to verify that he could use magic.
The reason for allowing Aura and Mare to witness this experiment was to impress his power upon them before the other Guardians arrived. In this way, they would learn that opposing Momonga was a foolish course of action.
The two kids did not seem like they would betray him, nor did he feel that they would betray him. However, if he lost the ability to use his magic, Momonga was not confident that they would stay loyal to him.
Aura treated Momonga like an old friend, but to Momonga, it was the first time they had met. He could tell that the twins were the lovingly crafted embodiment of his guild members' hard work.
However, there was no guarantee that their design and programming was perfect. In the face of countless situations and stimuli, a discrepancy or weakness might appear somewhere.
They were intelligent beings who could think on their own, so flaws in their reasoning must exist somewhere. If they were not programmed to be loyal to weaklings, what would that mean for him? In all likelihood, they were not written to be slavishly loyal. That would mean that whether or not they obeyed the order would depend on who the giver was. And it would be bad enough if they did not listen to him, but what if they betrayed their guild leader after finding out that he was powerless...?
It was not good to have too many doubts, but blind trust was not a wise move either.
He would cross that bridge when he came to it. Momonga turned his mind to the present.
Another reason for coming here was that if he found that he could not use magic, he could discuss the situation with Aura and Mare.
The twins thought he had come to test the power of the Staff, so now that its power had been proven, he could cover up any ineffectiveness of his own magic.
It was a pretty good plan.
Momonga could not help but congratulate himself. Had he ever been so cool and calculating in the past? However, there was nobody here who could answer Momonga's question.
He cast aside the doubts in his mind, and focused on using the magic of YGGDRASIL.
There were over six thousand spells in the game, from Tier One to Tier Ten, as well as Super Tier magic. These spells were divided among various types and schools, and Momonga could use seven hundred eighteen of them. A normal level one hundred player would only be able to use three hundred of them, so Momonga was an exceptional case.
Momonga had memorized almost all of these spells, and he considered which one to use now.
To begin with, because the restriction on friendly fire had been lifted, he needed to know how the effective radius of a spell would show itself.
Therefore, he decided against a single target spell, but picked an area effect spell. Next, considering his target was a strawman, he should—
In YGGDRASIL, he could cast a spell by tapping its respective icon. However, there were no icons for him to touch. Therefore, there had to be some other way.
He was not sure, but he had a faint idea of how to use his magic.
It was a power hidden within him. Just like how he had deactivated his negative touch, Momonga focused within himself. An icon appeared, as though floating in mid-air—
And Ainz smiled in delight.
He was fully aware of information like the spell's effective radius, its recast delay, and so on. Knowing this information, being sure of his power filled him with a surging excitement and warm satisfaction. Unlike in YGGDRASIL, he felt that the magic was part of him. This was a satisfaction he could never have experienced in YGGDRASIL.
He channelled the jubilation in his heart — although his mood calmed quickly, he could still feel joy and excitement — into his fingertip, and spoke the words:
"「Fireball」."
An expanding globe of flame shot out from the finger pointing at the strawman.
The fireball struck the strawman unerringly, as he had predicted. It burst, releasing a wave of scorching flame that blew the strawman away. The inner part of the fireball exploded, turning the strawman and the surrounding area into a sea of fire.
All this happened in an instant. Then, besides the blackened strawman, there was nothing left.
"Fufufufu…"
Aura and Mare watched Momonga snicker, clueless as to what was going on.
"—Aura, set up another strawman."
"Ah, yes, at once! Hurry up and do it!"
One of the Dragonkin picked up another strawman, and placed it beside the burned one.
Momonga paced around the strawman, before casting a spell on it:
"「Napalm」."
A column of flame appeared beside the strawman, engulfing it in fire. Momonga paused a beat, then cast another spell on the remnants of the strawman:
"「Fireball」."
The fireball struck the remains of the strawman, scattering its ashes in a puff of smoke.
The recast time between spells was the same as in YGGDRASIL. The actual process of casting was faster than in YGGDRASIL. Previously, in order to cast an area effect spell, he would need to choose the spell, then move the area effect cursor over the desired area. The process now was quicker than that.
"Perfect," Momonga said, his voice filled with the same satisfaction he felt in his heart.
"Momonga-sama, should I prepare more strawmen?"
Aura still did not understand. She was already aware that Momonga was a mighty magic caster, so she did not feel the show before her was anything special.
However, that was the impression Momonga wanted to give them, and from the look on the twin's faces, it would seem he had succeeded.
"...No, there is no need. I wish to try something else."
After rejecting Aura's suggestion, Momonga began his next experiment.
"「Message」."
The first party he tried to contact was a GM. In YGGDRASIL, when one used the 「Message」 spell, as long as the other party was within the game, one would hear a call tone. Otherwise, there would be no sound, and the spell would immediately terminate.
What happened now was somewhere between both of those. It felt like something was constantly reaching out, as though looking for something to connect to. This was the first time Momonga had experienced something like this and it was difficult to describe.
This feeling continued for a while, and in the end, after failing to connect, the 「Message」 spell ended.
A profound sense of disappointment flooded through him.
Momonga tried casting the same spell again. This time, he did not choose a GM.
This time, he picked one of his comrades from the past — a member of Ainz Ooal Gown.
He cast the spell, though his heart was filled with one part of hope and ninety nine parts of resignation. As expected, there was no response. He tried to contact the forty, no, forty one members of the Guild with a 「Message」, but after receiving no reply, Momonga gently shook his head.
In truth, he had expected this outcome and had resigned himself to it, but actually being confronted by that fact filled him with an incomparable feeling of despair.
In the end, Momonga decided to contact Sebas.
—It got through.
This proved that the 「Message」 spell was working, and that most likely, it could only contact people within this new world.
"Momonga-sama."
A voice of deepest respect echoed through his mind. Momonga considered that Sebas might have been bowing to him on the other side of the 「Message」, like in real-life companies.
Just then, Sebas spoke again, as Momonga fell silent from thinking about these ridiculous things.
"...May I ask if something is wrong?"
"Ah, ahhh, forgive me. I spaced out there. That's right, how are the surroundings like?"
"Yes. We are surrounded by plains, with no intelligent creatures in sight."
"A plain… not a swamp?"
The Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick should have been bordered by a swamp that was inhabited by frog-like demihumans called Tuvegs. The swamp was shrouded in mist, and it was poisonous.
"Yes. There are only plains around us."
Momonga could not help but smile.
All this was too much...
"In other words, the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick has been wholly transported to a different place? …Sebas, is there anything floating in the sky, or did anything like a message appear?"
"No, there is nothing like that. The heavens are as boundless as the Sixth Floor's night sky."
"What!? Did you say night sky?... Is there anything suspicious around you?"
"No… I have not seen anything unusual. Besides the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick, there are no other man-made structures in sight."
"Is that so… is that so…"
What should he say? All Momonga could do was grab his head and try to think. But in his heart, he knew that this was most likely the case.
Sebas's silence was a subtle hint that he was awaiting orders. Momonga glanced at the strap on his left wrist. In another twenty minutes, the other Guardians would arrive. If that was the case, there was only one order he could give.
"Return in twenty minutes. When you come back to Nazarick, head to the Colosseum. All the Guardians will be coming, so when you arrive, I hope you will tell them about what you saw.
"Understood."
"Then, gather as much information as you can before you return."
After hearing Sebas's acknowledgement, Momonga terminated the 「Message」 spell.
Just as Momonga was about to sigh in relief that everything was over, he remembered the expectant looks on the twin's faces.
He had already told them he was going to verify the Staff's power, so he had to let them see it. Momonga grasped the Staff, and pondered which fraction of its might he should reveal.
The numberless powers within the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown seemed to be begging Momonga to unleash them.
Right now, he needed a flashy spell.
"「Summon Primal Fire Elemental」."
In accordance with Momonga's will, the Orb of Fire grasped within one of the Staff's snake mouths pulsed with puissance. Momonga could feel the movement of a mighty, invisible power and thrust the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown forth. A vast ball of light bloomed from the tip of the Staff, and a vortex of roaring flame spilled forth from that globe of radiance.
The fires spun faster and faster, until the tornado of flame reached a width of four meters and a height of six meters.
The crimson inferno threw off gusts of scorching air in all directions.
From the corner of his eye, he could see the Dragonkin protecting Aura and Mare with their vast bodies. The searing winds made his cape flap violently. So intense was the heat that it would not have been unusual for a normal person to be burned by them, but Momonga had acquired a complete immunity to fire damage in order to negate one of the weaknesses of the undead, so it had no effect on him at all.
Soon, the vast cyclone of fire, swallowing the surrounding air as it burned hot enough to melt metal, began to flicker and shudder as it took a humanoid form.
Primal Fire Elementals could be said to be among the highest ranking among all elemental monsters. They were over level eighty five. Just like he had with the Moonlight Wolves, Momonga felt a mysterious connection to the Primal Fire Elemental.
"Uwah..."
Aura was watching it intently as she made noises of surprise.
As she looked upon the top tier elemental, something that even her summoning powers would not be able to bring forth, Aura's face bore a look of excited admiration, like a child who had just received a dearly beloved present.
"...Do you want to fight it?"
"Eh?"
"Ehhhhh?"
After a moment of hesitation, Aura grinned innocently. Compared to a normal child's smile, hers was a little — no — the truth was that it was quite scary. In contrast, Mare's smile from the side seemed more like that of a child.
"Can I?"
"Don't worry. It'll be fine even if you defeat it."
Momonga shrugged to indicate that it was all right. The Staff could summon one Primal Fire Elemental a day. In other words, the Staff could summon another such being after one day had passed. As such, defeating it would not be a great loss.
"Ah, I suddenly remembered that I had something urgent to do…"
"Mare."
A hand reached out and firmly grasped Mare's arm, not allowing him to escape. His sister had no intention of fleeing. Aura's smile stopped Mare in his tracks. Perhaps to Momonga it might have been a cute girl's smile, but to the other person present, who looked almost the same as Aura, it was anything but cute, and Mare's face froze solid as he looked on it.
She dragged Mare in front of the Primal Fire Elemental. Mare's eyes looked around, and he looked desperately to Momonga for help.
In response to his hopeful smile that blossomed delicately on his face, Momonga simply clapped.
The flower of hope promptly wilted.
"All right, try your best, you two. Don't blame me if you get hurt."
"Kay~"
Aura responded energetically, in contrast with Mare's nearly inaudible and despondent reply. Momonga felt that as long as Mare was around, neither of them would get hurt. Thus, by the power of the connection between himself and his summoned creature, he ordered the Primal Fire Elemental to attack the twins.
As the conflagration that was the Primal Fire Elemental approached them, the twins met its attack with Aura as the frontliner while Mare was the rear guard.
Aura slashed at the Primal Fire Elemental, holding her whip in both her hands, while Mare used magic to deal damage.
"Well, it seems it'll be an easy fight."
Momonga's eyes left the one-sided battle taking place before him and began to ponder the other things he needed to investigate.
He had already finished verifying that he could use and activate his spells and equipped magic items. Thus, the next things he had to check on were his other items. Scrolls, wands, and rods were particularly important. All of them were magic items that could produce a spell-like effect. Scrolls were one-use expendables, while rods and wands had charges, which they consumed to produce their effects.
Momonga possessed many magic items. He was a hoarder by nature and did not like using expendable items because he felt it was a waste, to the point where he did not even feel like using high-end recovery items when he encountered a boss. This went beyond mere prudence to miserliness, which was why his stock of items was so great.
In YGGDRASIL, all of these were stored in his personal inventory. Then, in this world, where had his inventory and all its contents gone?
Momonga recalled how he had opened his inventory in the past, and reached his hand into the air as though searching for something. It felt as though he was reaching his hand past the surface of a lake, and an observer would think that Momonga's hand and part of his arm had vanished into nothingness.
Then, like he was opening a window, Momonga swept his hand to one side. A hole appeared out of nowhere, and within it were many beautifully-crafted magic staves. It was exactly like the inventory in YGGDRASIL.
He moved his hand in a scrolling motion. In the space revealed, one could see all manner of scrolls, wands, weapons, armor, cosmetic items, gems, potions, other consumables… the sheer number of magic items in there was awe-inspiring.
Thus relieved, Momonga could not help but laugh.
If this were the case, Momonga felt that he could guarantee his own safety even if everyone in the Tomb set themselves against him.
As he absently watched Aura and Mare's intense battle, Momonga considered the things he had learned so far.
Were the NPCs he met programs?
No, their sapience was such that they were indistinguishable from human beings. Programs could not show such complex emotions. He could assume that for some mysterious reason, they had ended up like human beings.
And what was this world?
He had no idea. Since he could use YGGDRASIL's magic here, it made sense to think of this place as being in YGGDRASIL, but after observing various discrepancies, it did not seem like he was in a game. Was he in a game, or a new world? The answer was probably one of those.
How should I deal with future events?
Momonga had already verified that he could use his abilities from YGGDRASIL. That being the case, if the data for the monsters and NPCs of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick had carried over as well, he could be reasonably sure that they were not his enemies.
The thing was, if they were not data programs, but some other kind of being, then he would have to treat them differently. For the time being, it would be best to display the attitude of a superior being and put on an act of stern majesty — provided he could pull it off.
In what direction should I proceed in the future?
He should search hard for clues. Although he was not sure what was going on with this world, for the time being, Momonga was simply a clueless wayfarer. He had to take small steps and carefully gather information.
If this is another world, should I try to return to the real world?
There were doubts in his heart. If he had friends in the real world, then he should go back to it. If his parents were still alive, he would desperately find a way back to them. If he had family members to care for, or a girlfriend...
But he did not have anyone like that.
His life was an endless cycle of going to the office to work and returning home to log onto YGGDRASIL, where he would prepare for his comrades to come back. But now, none of that waited for him. Then, was there any point at all in going back?
But if he could go back, then he should think of a way to get back. It was better to have more options, because the world outside might be a hellish one.
"What should I do…"
Momonga's quiet mumbling carried softly through the air.
Part 4
The gigantic Primal Fire Elemental vanished slowly, as though melting away into nothing. The blazing heat that it left in its wake began to cool off. As the Fire Elemental disappeared, Momonga could feel the link he had to it fading away, like smoke on the wind.
The Primal Fire Elemental possessed extraordinary attack power and stamina, but to Aura, who could ignore the damage of its area effect flames and could nimbly evade its blows, it was little more than a giant target.
Although Aura would still lose HP if she were attacked, Mare the druid would not permit that to occur. In fact, he had cast all sorts of buffs and debuffs to great effect during the battle.
The two of them played their roles as frontliner and rear guard perfectly, with flawless teamwork. At the same time, Momonga could feel the reality of this battle, completely unlike those he had fought in the game.
"Spectacular… the two of you put on a good show."
The twins smiled happily as they heard Momonga's sincere praise.
"Thank you, Momonga-sama! It's been some time since we had to work so hard!"
The two of them tried to wipe off their sweat, but right after they did, more of it beaded on their skin, rolling down their dark skin.
Momonga silently opened his inventory, and withdrew a magic item — a Pitcher of Endless Water.
In YGGDRASIL, there were statuses like hunger and thirst, but neither of those applied to the undead Momonga, so he had no use for items like those. At most, he used them on his mounts.
The glass pitcher was filled with water. Droplets of condensation immediately formed on the surface of the glass; probably because the water inside was very cold.
Momonga then took out a pair of beautiful glasses, filled them with water from the Pitcher, and gave them to the twins.
"Aura, Mare, have a drink."
"Eh? But that's not good, right, Momonga-sama…"
"Y-Yes, I can make water with my magic too…"
Momonga smiled bitterly as he saw Aura waving her hand and Mare shaking his head.
"Think nothing of it. The two of you have always done well. Think of this as my thanks to you."
"Fuwa~"
"Fuee~"
Aura and Mare's ears turned red, and they shyly, nervously reached out to take the glasses.
"Th-Thank you, Momonga-sama!"
"To, to think you would pour water for us, Momonga-sama!"
Was this so delightful?
Aura, who had ceased her protests, took the glass in both hands and downed it in one gulp. Droplets of water escaped the corner of her mouth, down the smooth curves of her pulsing throat and into the jerkin covering her chest. Mare held his cup with both hands and slowly sipped from it. The differences between them were obvious even in the way they drank water.
Momonga touched his throat as he saw the two of them. It felt like there was a thin layer of skin around his neck bones.
To date, this body of his had not felt thirst, so it did not bother him. Although he was well aware that the dead would not feel this way, he could not help but think this was all a joke once he realized that he was no longer human.
Momonga continued touching himself. He had no skin, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, or internal organs. His body was nothing but bones. He vaguely understood it in his heart, but it felt so unreal that he could not help exploring his body with his fingers.
His sense of touch seemed duller from when he was a human being, as though there was a thin layer of cloth between his fingers and whatever he was touching. In contrast, his vision, hearing and other senses were sharper than before.
One might expect a body composed solely of bones to be easily broken, but each bone felt stronger than steel when he touched them.
At the same time, he felt a strange sense of completion and satisfaction, that this was his real body, despite it being completely different from his old one. Perhaps it was because of this feeling that he was not afraid, despite his transfiguration into a set of white bones.
"Do you want more?"
Momonga raised the Pitcher as he asked the twins, who had finished their water.
"Er, thanks! I've drunk enough!"
"Is that so? Then, Mare, do you want some more?"
"Eep! Er, er, I, I've also had enough. I, I don't feel thirsty any more."
Momonga nodded as he took back the glasses, before returning them all into his pocket space.
Aura suddenly whispered, "I thought Momonga-sama would be scarier than this."
"Oh? Really? Well, if you feel that way…"
"Now is good! It's the best!"
"Then we'll leave it at that."
Momonga was taken somewhat aback by Aura's passionate answer.
"Mo-Momonga-sama, are we the only ones that you're nice to…?"
Momonga was unsure how to answer Aura's muttered question. Instead, he patted her lightly on the head.
"Ehehehe."
Aura looked like a puppy that had just seen something she liked, while Mare had a jealous look on his face. Just then, a voice rang out:
"Oya, am I the first to arrive?"
The tone was archaic and formal, but the voice itself sounded like it belonged to a young person. A shadow formed over the ground, and then the shadow turned into what looked like a door, from which a person emerged.
She wore a black ball gown which looked soft to the touch. Her skirt was puffed up into a voluminous bell shape. On top of that was a bolero edged with frills, lace, and ribbons, as well as a pair of long silk gloves. Together, they covered up most of her skin.
Her skin was as pale as wax, and her looks could only be described as stunningly beautiful. Her long silver hair was tied up into a ponytail that descended from one side of her head, exposing her face. Her deep red pupils were filled with a seductive look of delight.
She looked to be fourteen years old, or younger, and her innocent, youthful appearance combined the qualities of cuteness and beauty into a single whole. However, her breasts bulged proudly forward in a decidedly unchildlike manner.
"...Weren't you told not to frivolously use 「Gate」 in Nazarick? We are warded against teleportation, after all. You should be able to walk here, so shouldn't you have come on foot, Shalltear?"
The annoyed voice came from beside Momonga. There was no trace of its previous puppy-like obedience in those cold words, only a burning hostility.
Mare was trembling by the side, and he slowly edged himself away from his sister. In truth, the speed at which the leopard called Aura had changed its spots startled Momonga as well.
The girl who had come here via the highest tier of teleportation magic was called Shalltear. She did not even bother looking at Aura, who was scowling at her. Instead, she swiftly advanced before Momonga.
The bewitching scent of some kind of perfume hung around her.
"...Something stinks," Aura spat. Then, she followed up with, "Don't tell me you started rotting because you're undead?"
Perhaps she saw Momonga reflexively raising his hand to sniff himself, but Shalltear furrowed her brows unhappily and replied:
"...Is that not quite distasteful? Momonga-sama is undead as well."
"Hah? What nonsense are you talking, Shalltear? Momonga-sama is no mere undead being. He's more like a super undead, or a godly undead."
Momonga was somewhat baffled as he heard Shalltear and Mare going "Ah," and "Mm," respectively. The fact was that in YGGDRASIL, he considered himself to be an ordinary undead creature… which was what Momonga thought as he rounded his shoulders.
In any case, there were no such things as super or godly undead.
"But, but Nee-chan, maybe you shouldn't have said that…"
"Is, is that so? All right, then, ah, take two, then. Ahem… Don't tell me you started rotting because you're a walking corpse."
"That… er, well, that seems okay, sort of."
After agreeing with Aura's take two, Shalltear placed her slender hands on the sides of Momonga's head, as though to embrace it.
"Ah, my master, my beloved master, the only one whom I cannot rule over…"
Her carmine lips parted, revealing a moist, slick tongue. The tongue moved like a living creature as Shalltear lovingly licked her lips. Her fragrant breath wafted out from her open mouth.
Although she was perfectly suited for the role of an alluring seductress in all other ways, she was far too young for it. The discrepancy between her expectations and reality was laughable. In addition, she was far too short. When she reached her hands out to hug Momonga, it looked like she wanted to hang from his neck instead.
However, this was too much affection for Momonga, who was not used to girls. He wanted to take a step back, but in the end he decided to stand his ground.
Is that how she really is? That thought echoed endlessly in his head. However, when Momonga thought about the fact that she had been designed by his comrade Peroroncino, he mused that she might have been designed with such a personality. After all, Peroroncino loved H-games and proudly declared that they were his life.
Shalltear Bloodfallen was made by such a rotten individual.
She was a "True Vampire", the Guardian of the First to Third Floors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
At the same time, she was a girl created by an H-game aficionado and her character design was filled with nods to various H-games.
"...That's enough out of you…"
Shalltear reacted to the low growl for the first time. In a mocking tone, she told Aura, "Ara, are you still here, shorty? I couldn't see you, so I thought you were gone."
Momonga did not wish to add to what Shalltear had just said.
Aura's face was twitching uncontrollably, and then Shalltear ignored her and said to Mare, "It must be pretty tough for you, having to deal with a weirdo sister like that. You'd best leave her soon, lest you become a weirdo like her."
Mare's face blanched instantly, because he knew Shalltear wanted to use him to start a fight.
However, Aura simply smiled. And then—
"Shut up, fake tits."
— She dropped a bombshell.
"...What the hell are you talking about—!?"
Ah, her character's broken down, Momonga muttered under his breath.
Now that Shalltear's true nature had been revealed, she dropped the cultured act.
"Hmph, it's so obvious — damn, that is one weird chest, how many pads did you stuff in there?"
"Uwah—uwah—"
Shalltear was waving her hands in panic, as though she could disperse Aura's words with them, while she had a suitably childish expression on her face. On the other hand, Aura grinned evilly.
"You packed so much in there… I bet it shifts when you run, right?"
"Kuhii!"
Shalltear made a strange noise as an extended finger poked her.
"I was right, wasn't I? Kukuku! Where have they gone—!? So that's why you didn't run, even though you were worried, and instead you used a 「Gate」—"
"Shut up, shorty! It's not like you have anything of your own! At least I… no, I've got a lot more to show off!"
Aura simply grinned in the face of Shalltear's desperate counterattack. A shocked Shalltear stumbled back, and reflexively covered up her chest. It was a sorry sight.
"...I'm only seventy six, and I've got lots more time to grow, unlike an undead with no future like you. Ah, how sad — you will never grow again~"
Shalltear moaned in frustration and took another step back. There was a desperate, harried look on her face, which only made Aura smile in a frightening manner.
"To think you're actually happy with that bust of yours — hmph!"
Momonga imagined he could hear Shalltear snapping.
"You shitty brat—! It's too late to regret your words now—!"
Roiling black mist boiled off Shalltear's hands. Aura readied her whip in anticipation. Momonga and Mare, watching from the side, were at a loss for words.
The scene before Momonga's eyes was vaguely familiar, and he wondered if he should stop them.
Peroroncino-san, who designed Shalltear, and Bukubukuchagama-san, who designed Aura and Mare, were younger brother and elder sister, and at times they would argue in a friendly manner, like what was happening now.
Momonga recalled the forms of his former comrades as he stood behind the quarrelling pair.
"What. A. Ruckus."
The inhuman voice came just as Momonga was reminiscing about the past. The strange, monotonous voice finally silenced the two of them.
As he turned to look at the voice's origin, he saw a heteromorphic being shrouded in chilled air.
It stood two and a half meters tall, and resembled a bipedal insect. It looked like some fiend had melded a praying mantis and an ant together. It had a tail that was twice as long as its body, and it was covered in sharp spikes which resembled icicles. Its powerful-looking mandibles looked like they could sever a man's arm in a single bite.
It grasped a platinum halberd in two of its hands, and in its other two hands were a masterfully-made mace wreathed in a black aura, and a gnarled-looking broadsword which did not look like it could be sheathed.
It was surrounded by a frightening aura of cold. Its exoskeleton was a dull blue color and sparkled like diamond dust. Protrusions which looked like icebergs bulged up from its back and shoulders.
He was the Guardian of the Fifth Floor, the "Ruler of Glaciers", Cocytus.
The hilt of his halberd slammed into the arena floor, and the ground around it began to freeze.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone