Greetings one and all to my new story, based on a relatively new series that I've discovered and taken a liking to in recent months. There's more to be said, but I'll leave that for the author's notes at the bottom of the chapter. In the meantime, please enjoy. First things first, though….

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Overlord, the Light Novels, the anime, the manga, or any other portion of the business surrounding it. I wish I did though; I'd have certainly kept the licensing away from those clowns in Yen Press. I honestly believe that this series is going to rot on the vine because of them.

FAIR WARNING, this story will contain significant spoilers for the series Overlord. Furthermore, this story will be written assuming a certain amount of knowledge about the series, so some things may not be clearly explained because of this. I'll try to give some exposition for those who are reading this because of me and not because they've actually seen and enjoyed the series, but you've got to meet me halfway here. If you have not read Overlord, I urge you to do so. It's quite nice. Sure, it has its issues but hey what doesn't?

The translated Light Novels can be found on skythewood. Google 'skythewood Overlord' and you'll find their translation in short order. There is also an anime version, but I'm not honestly sure where to find it in good quality so you're on your own there. Regardless, this story will be written based on the Light Novel, rather than the anime, so those among you who have watched the anime already may notice some differences to what you're familiar with.

XXXXXXXXX

Chapter One

XXXXXXXXX

The year is 2138 AD, a place and time where games known as DMMORPG's not only exist but flourish. Meaning Dive Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, this form of entertainment became well known and very popular all across the globe. But among all the numerous titles now available, one stood out in many ways. The very first DMMORPG, YGGDRASIL.

Developed in Japan, and based primarily on Norse Mythology, the game was a massive hit when it first hit the shelves in 2126. Dive technology allowed a player to plug themselves into the game and engage in a truly first person experience by connecting a special console into the neuron nano-interface- an intra-cerebral nanocomputer network composed of the latest cyber technology and nanotechnology. Allowing for over seven hundred different racial classes, more than two thousand different job classes, and unprecedented amounts of player freedom to customize almost anything imaginable, YGGDRASIL was something that nobody had ever seen before. Even after several years passed and other DMMO games attempted to follow in YGGDRASIL's footsteps, the original article stood head and shoulders above all competitors.

But times change, technology advances, people move on, and what was once considered an unstoppable juggernaut was overtaken despite numerous attempts to stave off the inevitable.

Alas, the inevitable had arrived. Once considered utterly without equal, age and advancing technology had brought a titan low. YGGDRASIL, a game once considered to be the pinnacle of the gaming industry, was shutting down its servers once and for all after twelve years of service. Today at midnight, YGGDRASIL would end forever.

XXXXXXXXX

The room was nothing short of luxurious. White marble columns stood at the walls of the circular chamber, surrounding a massive round table of obsidian luster. Forty one chairs stood around the piece of functional artwork, though calling them chairs was an insult to the quality of the materials and artistry used to create them. Until now only two of the chairs were occupied, but a figure materialized on the third, stirring no small amount of interest from those that were waiting.

"Well well, look who's here! I thought we had long since seen the last of you Herohero-san! Looks like our little band has increased to four."

"That's a bit of a rude way to put it, Tigris Euphrates-sama. Although, I will admit that I'm really surprised too. I didn't expect this many people to show up, even if it is the last day. Regardless, it's certainly good to see you again Herohero-sama."

"I don't really mind, it certainly has been a long time Momonga-sama, Tigris Euphrates-sama."

The newcomer to the conversation, Herohero, was far from human. In fact, it looked nothing less than a large pile of black goo that piled atop the seat it appeared upon. The surface of the lump, with the texture of tar, constantly quivered and never maintained a consistent shape. The only part that wasn't constantly shifting were two small, round pits that could perhaps be considered eyes.

The second speaker, Momonga, was at the same time more and less human. A skeleton wearing a jet black robe with gold and violet trim, there was not a single scrap of skin or flesh adorning his frame. The only indications of the creature being anything but a corpse were the red lights that burned in the eye sockets.

The one who spoke first was equally strange in a different way. Where the other two were roughly human sized, this figure towered over the two of them. Around ten feet tall when standing, his skin was a fiery red, his ears long, pointed, and pierced by a number of small golden rings, and his hands sported black nails that resembled talons more than anything else. His mouth was a wide wicked smile showing sharp teeth, his eyes were a burning yellow with slit pupils, and his short beard was black as coal and neatly pointed. Upon his head sat a turban of luxurious indigo cloth embroidered with golden script in some unknown language, and he wore a vest of the same color and style. Ornate rings adorned the ring finger on either hand, and his bare arms each had an armband of a deep green crystalline material encircling the biceps. Baggy pants of vermillion fabric embroidered in gold, a sash of dark golden cloth, an opulent necklace embedded with numerous jewels and curl-toed shoes of incredible quality completed the ensemble. He sat in a chair large enough to accommodate him, arms crossed, looking like some figure of Arabian myth.

Momonga was the one who kept the conversation going. "I think this is the first time you've logged in since you changed your job in real life right? Let's see, it would be about two years now right?"

The giant chuckled. "Has it really been so long? I've only logged in once every couple of months recently so I haven't noticed. They must be putting your nose to the grindstone Herohero-san."

The ooze let out a small, melancholic sound. "Has it really been that long already? Wow, I've been doing so many overtime shifts I've lost all track of time."

"Isn't that a dangerous sign? Are you okay?"

The ooze seemed to turn his 'head' towards the skeleton. "Physically? I've been run ragged. I'm starting to think about seeing a doctor. I hate this, but I still have to earn money to make ends meet so I've been working for dear life while being whipped like a slave."

Tigris Euphrates shook his head. "I do not envy you my friend."

Without being prompted, the ooze continued on in a gloomy voice, letting loose a tide of complaints of impudent subordinates, plans that were altered overnight, criticism from superiors for failing to meet his quotas, weeks pulling all-nighters to deal with unbelievable amounts of work, health issues, and the ever growing numbers of prescription drugs he was taking. Herohero's woes were let loose upon a captive audience like a burst dam.

While there were many who wanted to avoid talking about reality in the virtual world, this group was an exception. Their guild, Ainz Ooal Gown, had two conditions that one must fulfill to join. The first was to belong to one of the heteromorphic races; the second was to actually have a job and a life beyond the game.

With these conditions in place, complaints and talk about real life were regular topics of discussion.

After a fair amount of time, Herohero's tired rant ebbed and soon came to a halt. "I'm sorry for all of my endless complaining. I don't get many chances to vent on the other side." Herohero wiggled what seemed to be its head as if to bow.

Momonga quickly replied "It's okay, Herohero-sama. I was the one who asked you to come, even though you were exhausted."

Tigris added his own two cents. "There's nothing wrong with letting loose your troubles, but you're lucky Luci Fer-san was not here to hear all of that. You already know what he'd tell you."

Herohero only sighed. "Yes, I know. He'd tell me to quit, he'd say 'if it's really that bad then find a better job, it's not that hard'. The problem is that I know he's right, but finding a job isn't that easy you know? Especially if my superiors from my current job gave me bad references."

"You know what he'd say to that too."

The lump of midnight ooze seemed to slump. "You're right; he'd tell me to go into business for myself. But I can't do that. I can barely keep up with the work I have now, how much more work would I have to do to actually start and run my own company? How would I even get started? There are all kinds of issues with that idea. It can't be helped, I can't do it. Anyway, why are we talking about him? Is he here too? You mentioned something earlier about there being four of us."

The skeleton nodded. "That's right; including me you're the fourth person to log in today. Luci Fer-san is walking here right now. He said he wanted to take in the sights of Nazarick one last time before the server shut down so he teleported to the entrance and is taking the long way down. I thought it was a pretty good idea, but decided to wait here instead. If anyone else logged in, what would they think if there was nobody here to greet them right?"

An emotion appeared over the slime's head, the closest thing an in-game character could manage to smiling. "That's true, you've always been caring Momonga-sama, always doing your best to make sure that the rest of us could enjoy the game to the fullest." The head of the slime tilted around as he took in the room. "Honestly, I'm surprised that this place is still here."

At that moment, Momonga was truly grateful that he couldn't show facial expressions. He didn't want Herohero to see the face he would make at those words. He said nothing in response, not wanting those emotions to show in his voice.

Their other companion however had no such restraint. "It's true; Momonga-san is largely responsible for keeping this place up. I've helped out every now and again when I had some time, and Luci Fer-san helped even more than I did, but if it were not for our Guildmaster's efforts we can't be certain that this place would still exist."

Herohero looked between the two of them and said the only thing that came to his mind. "Thank you."

Momonga tried to control the surge of emotion that rose up within him when he heard his friend's heartfelt words. "As the Guildmaster, it is my duty to maintain and supervise this place so that anyone can come back whenever they please. We all built this place together, it would reflect badly upon me if I were to let it be destroyed without even trying to keep it going!"

Herohero's voice, which before held only melancholy and exhaustion, finally regained a bit of vigor. "Thank you very much, Momonga-sama. And you too, Tigris Euphrates-sama. I'm glad that I logged in and got to meet up."

"I'm glad to hear you say that."Momonga said. Tigris Euphrates nodded in silent agreement.

"But it's getting late, and I'm afraid it's about time for me to…."

A tentacle emerged from the slime and moved in the air, touching something invisible, operating his console.

"Ah, you're right, it has gotten quite late." Momonga tried to restrain the trepidation he felt. He wanted his friend to stay, at least for a little while longer. There was less than an hour left to go before the server shut down. He personally intended to stay on until he was forcefully logged out, and was immensely grateful that two of his comrades intended to stay with him. Now he desperately wracked his brains to find a way to make it three.

Alas, he couldn't come up with anything. To Momonga's mind, saying anything more would make him seem like a nuisance.

Thankfully, he didn't have to say anything.

"Hang on there a moment, Herohero-san."

The ooze stopped moving as he looked over to the hulking form of Tigris Euphrates.

Herohero was pierced by those inhuman eyes as his comrade continued "Just a little while ago you were all thankful towards us for keeping the Great Tomb of Nazarick up and running. By rights, you should pay your respects to Luci Fer-san too before you go shouldn't you? This is probably the last time we'll meet for a very long time, perhaps ever as much as I don't like to say it. He'll be here before long, you can spare a few minutes can't you?"

Momonga once again felt gratitude deep in his heart. His friend Tigris Euphrates had deciphered his desires without any kind of communication between the two of them, and employed a snare of words to keep their friend here until the end. There was a little more than half an hour left until the server shut down. If Herohero could be convinced to wait until Luci Fer made his way to the round table room, which admittedly wouldn't take much longer, he could probably be convinced to stay the rest of the time under the reasoning that it would only be a few more minutes. Using Herohero's words of gratitude against him, to make him feel like he was obligated to stay, Tigris Euphrates had certainly learned that from the very man they were now waiting for.

Herohero seemed to bunch up under that stare. "Well… I suppose, since this is the last day and all, I guess I can wait a little while longer. It would be nice to see all of my old comrades again before I go. The ones that I can see anyway…." Momonga was once again happy that his in-game avatar didn't show facial expressions, he wouldn't want Herohero to think he was enjoying this. Keeping him up so late just for his own selfish reasons, he felt a little ashamed but reasoned it away quickly enough. He wished he could show Tigris Euphrates his gratitude without Herohero figuring it out though.

Tigris' attention was all on the ooze however. "Honestly Herohero-san, from what you've told me of what you're going through I think that Luci Fer-san has the right idea. If it's really that bad you should quit before you do any permanent damage to yourself. Assuming it hasn't done that kind of damage already."

The lump of ooze seemed to shrink. "Y-you think so too, Tigris Euphrates-sama?"

The massive red man nodded. "Yes I do. I can see what it has done to you already. They have you so broken to the yoke that you're thinking of them first and foremost even now, and are prepared to leave your friends with little more than a litany of real world complaints and a quick goodbye, not thinking of how this is the last day of the game we all love so much. So lifeless, so empty. What happened to the Herohero-san I used to know? The terror of our enemies and anyone else that we thought deserved it? Where's the guy who would storm a guild of level seventy players alone and surprise everyone with the boatloads of treasure that they had collected and a new Guild Weapon for the trophy room in the treasury? What happened to all that energy?"

Herohero's response was a deep sigh, full of melancholy and not much else.

Before the high tier slime could muster up an answer, the door opened and a figure walked in. Well, sort of.

In basic proportions he wasn't a very imposing figure. Perhaps five feet tall, with pale blonde hair that fell to his shoulders, bright blue eyes, and a faint smile frozen upon his lips. The figure's marble white skin seemed to glow faintly, filling the air around him with quiet strength. He wore a garment that was reminiscent of a roman toga, white cloth with faint golden embroidery suggesting swirling, unknown characters. It went over one shoulder, leaving much of his chest bare, and descended to his knees. Each finger was adorned with a ring, each heavy with different gemstones, and delicate golden bracelets hung upon his wrists. A pair of anklets in the same style, but made of some dark, dark green material were the only thing he wore on his legs, his feet were bare. Around his neck on a thin golden chain hung a heavy amulet, a thick golden oval adorned with numerous patterns and nine different colored gemstones, eight around the circumference and the ninth in the center.

Only four things made one realize that this was no child. The first was the aforementioned faint glow that surrounded him, the second was the fact that his feet did not touch the floor but rather floated a few inches above it. The third would be the twelve shining white wings the sprouted from his back. Smaller pairs of wings spread from the top of his back to either side of his head and shoulders, and more pairs of smaller wings curved downward around his feet and legs from around the base of his spine, while the four pairs of larger wings sprouted from the middle of his back and protruded out to either side of him. The last thing that wasn't quite right was the horns. Two thick, ridged, white horns curled up from his temples up into the air and away from his body.

Here was the fourth member of Ainz Ooal Gown present upon the last day of service, Luci Fer.

He sent a glance around the room before a smiling emoticon appeared above his head and a smooth, mellow voice slithered around the room. "Well now, it appears that one more has decided to join us in our last moments. A pleasure, Herohero."

The blob of ooze moved in what might have been a bow. "I-it is good to see you again, Luci Fer-sama. I heard you were walking all the way down here from the entrance?"

Luci Fer nodded. "Yes. It has been quite a long time since I've actually looked at all the things we built. The Floor Guardians, the Area Guardians, all the elaborate traps and the luxury locations here on the ninth floor. So much work and so much money, all of it about to be erased." He once again looked around the room, carefully taking in every detail. "This room is no different, I distinctly remember all the time it took for us to gather the materials to build all of this, the design work on the table, the manufacturing of the chairs, and of course the elephant in the room." He lifted one glowing hand and pointed at an item on the wall. "The item that we all worked so long and hard to create."

The item in question floated in a long rectangular recess in the wall opposite the door. Made of a golden material, it was based on Hermes' Caduceus, topped by a hemispherical design dominated by seven golden serpents. Each snake held a large spherical gem in its jaws, each a different color, and more gems decorated the body of the staff. It took the entire Guild years to build, each member doing their part in gathering materials and arguing ideas, finally resulting in this finished product. The Guild Weapon, the symbol of the Guild, the icon of the Guildmaster, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Luci Fer walked around the table, or at least that's what it looked like. He walked as though the floor was several inches higher than it actually was. "I think it would be a crying shame to allow so much work to never be used. What do you say? I think Momonga should take up the Staff. It's not like any harm can come to it now."

Momonga was taken aback. Although he was the Guildmaster, he had never once even touched the Staff. The Guild Weapon was the symbol of the Guild, and in a both a metaphorical way and a very literal way the embodiment of the Guild. If the Guild Weapon was ever stolen or destroyed then the Guild would be dissolved. For that reason the Guild Weapons that the various Guilds created were always locked away behind the heaviest security, their potent abilities never seeing the light of day for risk of what could happen. They were normally only used as part of a Guild's last resort or brought out by the extremely foolish. "I would never think of taking up the Staff Luci Fer-sama. We always decided things by majority vote, so I wouldn't dare-"

Before Momonga could complete his sentence, a rumble came from the Arabian giant "I agree with Luci Fer-san's proposal. That makes two votes out of four. Herohero-san, what say you?"

The ooze looked this way and that, taken aback by the sudden turn of events. "Well, I don't think it's that big of a deal. Not now anyway. What could possibly happen to it now? And even if it did, would it even matter?"

Luci Fer nodded. "And that makes three out of four Momonga, motion passed. And I agree with Herohero's statement. The only risk at this point would be if somebody decided to challenge the Great Tomb of Nazarick right now and managed to make it all the way down here before the server shut down, which will be in… about twenty minutes. Honestly, if somebody managed it I think I would give them the Staff without a fight. They would certainly have earned it."

A deep rumble came from Tigris Euphrates, and a quiet chuckle from Herohero. Momonga didn't think it was so funny, but he understood the point. The skeleton stood. "Very well, since the majority of the Guild has decided that the time has come to wield the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown I shall not shy away from it. However, I don't think I could comfortably wear such meager equipment and handle the staff in good conscience. This outfit doesn't have enough swag!" Momonga thrust his arms up in the air as he roared out his declaration and his equipment changed to the very best he had available. Elaborate rings upon his fingers, a cloak that looked like a piece of solid midnight. Boots, gauntlets, circlet, amulet, every piece of equipment the Guildmaster donned was a Divine item, the very highest quality available. Momonga vaguely noted all the icons in his HUD that showed how his stats had gone through the roof as he reached out a hand and tentatively took the Staff in his grasp.

Although the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown was made with him in mind, this was the very first time he had actually equipped it. As such he was slightly taken aback by the red aura that the Guild Weapon emitted in his hands, looking profoundly sinister as the occasional human face appeared in the glow, apparently screaming in agony. "Sick details."

Luci Fer nodded. "Ah yes I forgot that it had these visual effects programmed into it. I think it was Whitebrim that did that particular feature, at the urging of Ulbert Alain Odle."

Momonga nodded, he honestly wasn't entirely sure if Luci Fer was right or not, but he wasn't going to let anyone know that if he could help it. He turned away from the wall and almost took a step back. Herohero and Tigris Euphrates had stood up without him noticing and were currently leaning forward to get a closer look at the staff.

Herohero seemed a little bit in awe, his voice filled with a different kind of melancholy to what it sported before. "We really did spend a whole lot of time on this thing didn't we? And now it's all about to go down the drain. It's not fair."

Luci Fer shrugged. "It was inevitable. YGGDRASIL did a number of things that put it ahead of all competition at the time of launch, but the business side of the game had a number of flaws. I've told you all time and again that this would happen eventually if that didn't change." He let out a brief sigh. "I always hate it when this happens, when I've been proven right no matter how much I wanted to be wrong."

Nobody bothered commenting on the statement. He DID say that YGGDRASIL would eventually go bankrupt as a company, a number of times, but nobody really wanted to believe it.

Herohero seemed to look down at himself. "Honestly, I'm feeling a little underdressed now." With Momonga's change of wardrobe, all three of his fellow guild members were clad in nothing but Divine equipment.

Tigris Euphrates just shrugged. "Do something about it Herohero-san, it's not like you don't have this kind of stuff too." Luci Fer nodded in agreement. "This is a funeral, of sorts, there's no reason not to look our best."

A few moments passed before Herohero's mass shifted into a different shape. The ooze swelled and elongated upwards as eight tendrils emerged from the sides to hang just above the floor, each one a bit thicker than a human arm. Heteromorphic players had a number of advantages, higher stats in general in addition to the abilities of monsters, but they had disadvantages as well. Suffering from the elemental weaknesses of the monsters that they played as would be one example. Another problem, at least for the extremely inhuman races like slimes, was that they didn't have the same kind of equipment set-up. A slime couldn't really wear a suit of armor, or bracers or greaves. There were some characters who took levels in shapeshifting classes that let them take on a humanoid shape, but others did what Herohero did now.

Instead of a slot for armor or bracers or something of a similar nature, they worked with the larger number of accessory slots they had instead and used them to maximize the traits that they already had available to them by playing a heteromorphic race. A number of jewels glimmered across Herohero's form, two on each of the eight tendrils and several more around the main 'body'. They were small portions of the rings, broaches, amulets, and other trinkets that Herohero had equipped that emerged from the surface of the slime. Most players could at most equip three or four pieces of equipment like this, but an ooze doesn't have things like fingers or a neck to hold him back.

Many of these seemingly insignificant pieces of jewelry had effects far beyond what most would guess, most of them being the highest Divine class equipment, with a small majority being merely Legendary class. They all shared a purpose though, greatly strengthening and improving Herohero's greatest weapon- his own body. With these items strengthening him, Herohero's unarmed attacks would be comparable to even the greatest of Divine weapons.

Tigris Euphrates chuckled. "That's more like it, there's the terror of the newbies that I knew so long ago." He reached a hand out and into a small dark portal that appeared as he accessed his item box and pulled out his own weapon.

A long, curved sword, a talwar with a black grip, a long spike extending out of the pommel and a shining golden hilt decorated with mesmerizing patterns emerged from the portal and was slid through the sash at Tigris Euphrates' waist. The blade couldn't be seen behind the gorgeously crafted scabbard of crimson leather and orichalcum gilt that sheathed the weapon but the entire thing gave off a faint silver glow. This wasn't the only weapon that Tigris Euphrates regularly used, but it was certainly his favorite.

Luci Fer in turn produced his own masterpiece. A shining golden trident appeared in his hand, almost as tall as he himself was. The body was engraved with small characters, only visible if seen in the right light, leading up to a giant black, perfectly spherical gemstone. From the gem emerged the three prongs, one straight up, the other two emerging at a forty five degree angle before turning to run parallel with the central shaft. Each of the three points was made of green crystal so dark that it was almost impossible to tell them from black. Despite the size of the weapon Luci Fer handled it with ease.

Momonga felt invigorated in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time. He flourished the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown to the door. "To the Throne Room! If the world is ending then we shall meet it properly!"

The three gave a cheer as they followed behind him out the door and Momonga could not easily describe the feeling it gave him. This was the largest gathering of the Guild that they've had in years, but it was only a little while before the end. He wasn't sure whether he was happy or sad, it was a strange mixture of both that he couldn't really put a name to.

As they walked down the marble corridor, they passed by one of the maids that kept the ninth floor in order. She immediately stepped to one side and bowed low. Momonga took in the incredibly detailed work on her uniform and thought of the Guild member who designed it, Whitebrim. He always said things like 'a maid's greatest weapon is her uniform'. Momonga couldn't help but wonder. "Herohero-sama, is this one of yours?"

The group stopped as Herohero took a closer look. "No, I don't think so. The outfit is Whitebrim-sama's work, but he designed all of the maid outfits. However, it certainly isn't one of mine. Let's move on. Thanks for all the hard work."

With Momonga leading, the group came to the stairs that led to the tenth and deepest floor of their Guild headquarters, and were immediately welcomed by a group of seven; six women and one man.

"Ah yes, the Pleiades, the last ditch defense to buy us some time. I almost forgot these were here." Once more the last members of the Guild stopped to admire what their compatriots had created in days gone by. Six gorgeous women, each in a different style of maid outfit, each with a different style of hair, body, and overall feeling. Herohero wasn't the only one who barely remembered them. Tigris Euphrates asked "That's the butler right, what was his name again?"

Momonga activated the stat window to check, since he himself could not remember, but before he could read the name that appeared the answer was given by another as Luci Fer spoke up. "His name is Sebas Tian, the one and only NPC created by our departed former Guildmaster."

As the other two let out brief 'ahs' of remembrance, Momonga couldn't help but comment "I forgot that Touch Me-sama created this guy to look just like him. Still, as nice as it is to see all of this again, we've got to hurry if we want to get to the Throne Room before the end. All of you, Follow!"

With that spoken command, the seven NPCs left their post for the first time since their creation. The four continued on with their new entourage in tow.

The tenth floor wasn't very large, and while it had other facilities available they were ignored by the four as they made their way towards the heart of the tenth floor and the heart of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Before long they came to the final room before the actual Throne Room, the area that was named the Lemegeton.

Momonga took in the opulent room. Seventy two alcoves were placed in the circular walls of the room, with sixty seven filled by high quality golems made of priceless materials, and a grand chandelier decorated with numerous crystals dominated the ceiling. Anyone who ignored the luxurious fixture was in for a surprise. It was in fact a monster capable of using extremely powerful spells of almost every element. Between the chandelier monster and the golems, there was enough firepower in this room to slaughter several parties of level one hundred characters.

Tigris Euphrates sighed. "I forgot that this was left unfinished. Nubo-san's laziness is remarkable, giving up on the project when he was so close to being done." Nubo was the main golem maker of the Guild, and it was his idea to make the Lemegeton golems as Nazarick's last line of defense. Seventy two golems modeled after the seventy two demons of the Ars Goetia, all made of the highest quality materials and craftsmanship. Sadly, he got tired of the project and quit after making sixty seven.

They crossed the Lemegeton safely and approached the door to the Throne Room itself. At this door, a massive piece of gorgeous artwork depicting a goddess on one door and numerous demons on the other, Momonga hesitated. It had been a long time since he had come this way, he wasn't overly familiar with exactly how the security systems of this room worked, and he remembered the person who had created this door. Momonga looked back at the man in question and asked "Luci Fer-sama, you didn't do anything weird with this door did you? No nasty trap that makes all the golems attack the first person who opens it, nothing like that?"

The shining, floating figure put a hand to his chest and an emoticon appeared above his head to indicate shock. "How could you believe that I would do something so pointlessly cruel Momonga? Do you not trust me?"

"Not really, after that golem incident. You know exactly what I'm talking about. And you seriously didn't place some last moment trap?"

Luci Fer's only reply was to sigh. "That was an accident, I keep telling you. I haven't got a single level in any kind of crafting class, when someone like me makes something like a golem, there's a serious chance that things will not go as planned no matter how much I try." Then Luci Fer raised his head and his contrite tone vanished. "Besides, if I was going to perform some last act of malice I would have done it by now. I thought of things like PK'ing you guys down to level one, or going to the round table room, renouncing my Guild membership and stealing the Staff to destroy the Guild in our last moments, but I've decided that such actions would be in bad taste. You need not fear any kind of cruel, last minute treachery on my part. The door is perfectly safe to open."

The other two remained resolutely silent throughout this exchange, even though Momonga looked to them for aid. He wanted to say something about how the fact that Luci Fer admitted to having thoughts like that undermined the sincerity of his words, but they honestly didn't have the time to argue. Momonga turned around and pushed the door open to enter the very heart of Nazarick.

The Throne Room was a massive chamber of dark blue crystal walls stretching up to a ceiling that could not be seen in the darkness overhead. A long stretch of corridor led from the door to the main audience chamber, numerous flags hanging down from either side. Each one bore a sigil belonging to one of the forty one members of Ainz Ooal Gown. The four, followed by the seven NPCs, set a quick pace down the red carpet to the Throne itself, a luxurious affair of the same dark blue crystal, set upon a massive dais, and attended by a lone figure in white.

She was a relatively tall woman, with golden irises and long black hair, wearing a white dress that left her shoulders and the top of her chest bare save for a golden necklace like a spider web. At her temples two horns sprouted, but unlike Luci Fer's they were smooth and curled around to the front of her head rather than up. The horns and the pair of jet black feathered wings extending from her lower back and reaching around to her front made it clear that she, like everything else in Nazarick, was not human.

And in her pure white hands she held a large black wand, with an equally dark sphere hovering perhaps an inch away from the end. "AAAGH!"

The other three darted away, looking at the source of the sound. Tigris Euphrates.

An emoticon denoting anger appeared above the red giant's head as he beheld the wand and the one that held it. The giant rumbled "I'm an easy going person, but there are things that I will not tolerate. Tabula Smaragdina, you have gone too far!" He moved to the figure in white, the Overseer of the Floor Guardians, Albedo, and held out his hand. "Surrender the Ginnungagap." When the figure did nothing, he growled as he thought out exactly the order he had to give. "Surrender primary weapon."

Upon hearing the words, Albedo obediently handed the black wand to Tigris Euphrates before standing at attention once more.

Herohero was the first to ask. "What was that all about, Tigris Euphrates-sama?!"

Tigris Euphrates stuck the wand through his belt before turning to answer. "Is it not obvious, Herohero-san? We all agreed that the World Items we collected were to be used as the majority agreed upon. I certainly don't remember ever attending a vote to give the Ginnungagap to Albedo, which means that Tabula Smaragdina did it on his own. Normally I wouldn't really care, but I can't abide THIS one being just given away like that. I was the one who got it after all."

It took a moment of recollection before Momonga remembered that his friend was right. It was Tigris Euphrates who had obtained the Ginnungagap from Trinity several years ago. That had been a lucky break, and a major victory against one of their rivals. In different times, Momonga would have done something about this, demanding that they return the item to the Treasury, but at this point it didn't really matter. If Tigris Euphrates wanted to hold his greatest triumph in the last few moments, he could do so. Looking around, he figured that Herohero and Luci Fer felt the same. At the same time though….

"I can't remember; what kind of settings did she have?" With the question uttered, Momonga stepped forward and accessed the Overseer's programming. And was then immediately shocked at the massive amount of text that was revealed.

The other three crowded in behind him. "I'm not surprised, Tabula Smaragdina was rather… stringent with his settings. I don't think we have time to review all of this in the time we have left."

Momonga silently agreed, there was way too much to thoroughly go over, he quickly scrolled down to the end where a sudden line made him stop in his tracks.

'She's also a complete nymphomaniac.'

All four were completely silent upon seeing that line. Then everyone started laughing. Momonga's cringing chuckle, Herohero's quiet tittering, Tigris Euphrates' booming guffaws, Luci Fer's mocking snickers. Then Momonga got an idea.

He raised his arms, theatrically, hamming it up. "My fellow members of Ainz Ooal Gown, I believe that as Guildmaster, I cannot let our friend Tabula Smaragdina-sama continue to suffer this embarrassment." He then used the Staff to activate his privilege as the Guildmaster for the first time, allowing him to unilaterally edit any NPC's information. He quickly erased the line that had everyone in stitches and replaced it.

'She's also completely in love with Momonga.'

Upon reading the new line, the laughter started anew. Momonga spread his arms to his sides, basking in the revelry as he announced "As his Guildmaster, I shall bear the shame and embarrassment instead, laugh at me if you must. Tabula Smaragdina-sama, if you object to this treatment, feel free to say so!" He then held a hand to his ear as if waiting for a reply. None came, of course, but it amused his friends anyway.

Normally Momonga wouldn't do things like this, but it was the last day, and on top of that there was a sort of atmosphere between the four of them. A line had been drawn, between those that were here and those that were not. Somehow their thirty seven absent friends were becoming the butt of the jokes and a source of amusement. Normally this sort of thing should be discouraged, but as Momonga looked at this three laughing friends, he decided not to do anything. No real harm was being done, right? It wasn't like they were here to be made fun of. Momonga figured that it was okay as he strode forward and took his place in the throne, a smile on his face even though no one could see it.

After a few moments the laughter died down. Luci Fer was the first to regain himself. Of course. While Herohero and Tigris Euphrates were still laughing at Momonga's antics, the shining figure floated over to the throne beside Momonga and asked "Momonga, while you are on the throne you can access the settings for pretty much anything in Nazarick, right?"

Momonga felt leery about where this was going, but nodded the affirmative. "Yes."

Luci Fer nodded in turn as their two friends finally regained themselves and joined them on the dais. "Ah, wait one second." He turned to the eight NPC's in the room and barked out "Kneel!"

Upon receiving the order, the six maids, the head butler, and the Overseer all fell to one knee. Luci Fer nodded "Better." Then turned back to Momonga "Could you do me a favor and bring up Shalltear's settings please?"

Momonga wasn't sure what Luci Fer wanted to do, but rationalized that it didn't really matter. Luci Fer could undoubtedly be one of the most spiteful members of the Guild, but they had less than five minutes left. He couldn't possibly do any harm in that amount of time, right? A little bit curious himself as to what would turn up, Momonga once again used his Guildmaster privileges to access the character settings of Shalltear Bloodfallen, and was floored by what he discovered.

Herohero and Tigris Euphrates crowded up to the other side of the throne from Luci Fer to look at the window and while neither of them said anything, they did make a sound. Momonga figured they were probably gagging, or close to it. Shalltear's settings were nothing short of filthy.

"Let's see, necrophilia, a foot fetish, bisexual, wow, Peroroncino set no small number of kinks into her. I'm almost impressed in a weird way, but for that to be true I'd have to be surprised. Anyway, scroll down to the bottom."

Stunned by the sheer unapologetically perverted settings for one of the most powerful NPC's, Momonga did so without complaint.

"Now, type this in. 'Has fallen completely in love with Luci Fer'."

"What? Why?"

The winged figure shrugged. "I figure if we're all giving ourselves girlfriends out of the NPC's at the last moment then I should grab the kinky one. Now do it."

There were things that Momonga could have said to this, but the mood was festive and he didn't want to ruin it so he silently complied with the request. The moment that he saved the doctored settings he heard what sounded like a camera shutter before he closed the window. He looked over to his right. "What was that? Did you just take a screenshot of Shalltear's settings window?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

A smiling emoticon appeared above Luci Fer's head. "I'm going to send it to Peroroncino in the morning. He made Shalltear to be his ideal lady friend, giving her a ridiculous number of outfits and pretty much copy-pasting a book of sexual fetishes into her personal settings. Now I've taken it from him, and I'll be sending him proof that even if he creates the girl in question she'd still rather have me than him. He has nobody but himself to blame for not showing up today."

Before Momonga could say anything else Luci Fer looked to Herohero and Tigris Euphrates, who at this point had started laughing again. "While we're at it, either one of you feel up to taking Aura? Or maybe one of the others? There's not exactly of a shortage of women in Nazarick if you look around."

Herohero and Tigris Euphrates, both still fighting off the effects of their laughter, politely declined. "No thank you, Luci Fer-san, hehehe, but I thank you for the kind offer. Sadly, there's not much time left for those kinds of antics."

Everyone looked up at the clock, on the top right of every HUD. They all read the same. 23:58:55

The fact that they had only a minute left before the server shut down, less than a minute now, was sobering.

Herohero and Tigris Euphrates regained their seriousness and stood up straight on the left side of the throne, facing the kneeling NPCs. "So…" Herohero timidly started. "This is it, then. Goodbye everyone, I hope we can all meet again in YGGDRASIL 2."

Tigris Euphrates shrugged. "That would be nice but I'm not sure if it will actually happen. I haven't heard anything about any company picking up the rights for a sequel."

Momonga sighed "We can only hope that such a thing happens. Until then, I can honestly say that these years with all of you and all of our absent friends were some of the happiest years of my life. Thank you all."

Luci Fer said nothing, until the clock said 23:59:50. "Good bye everyone. I'd say it was nice knowing you all but we all know it would be a horrific lie."

23:59:59

Tigris Euphrates retorted almost immediately, deadpan. "Good bye you lazy, big nosed, rubber faced bastard."

Luci Fer turned to the red giant "What?"

Momonga noted the time. 00:00:03. "What?"

Albedo raised her head. "What is it Momonga-sama? Luci Fer-sama? Tigris Euphrates-sama? Is there something wrong?"

Everyone in the room turned.

And spoke in unison.

"What?"

XXXXXXXXX

And that's the first chapter ladies and gentlemen. I hope you all enjoyed it so far.

With that said, a more personal note. Yes I'm back. I'd say sorry it took me so long, but I can't exactly say that honestly considering that I have no regrets. Things happened, events unfolded, and my muse for writing decided to pull a vanishing act. But I'm still alive.

The next chapter might take a while. I'm going to be going slow deliberately until Overlord Volume Nine is completely finished. I like to get as much information about a series as I can before I start writing, you never know what little tidbits might change something or give ideas, and to be frank the more details I can get on the world of Overlord the better. It's been made clear that it's a big world and so far we've only ever seen a relatively small portion of it. I'll want as much as I can before I seriously get started, because Volume Nine is probably the last that we're going to get for a very long time.

Next up on the agenda, a small little section about some Overlord lore. I'm well aware that there are people reading this that have only watched the anime and haven't gotten the same sort of detail that readers of the Light Novels enjoy, in addition to people who haven't even heard of Overlord before now. So I'm going to be posting bits of information that don't really come up in the anime so that I don't have to find a way to fit it into the narrative.

ITEMS

YGGDRASIL has an extremely open-ended crafting system, nearly anything is customizable. Furthermore, numerous items can be converted into data crystals and then inserted into other pieces of equipment to give that item special effects. A variety of factors, such as the levels of the person crafting the item, the materials the item is constructed from, and other factors all dictate how much data a given item can take in. With that said, items get broken down into a number of ranks. From lowest quality to highest quality they go Lesser, Low, Minor, Medium, Major, Greater, High, Highest, Legacy, Relic, Legendary, and Divine.

One should note that Divine items- weapons, armor, accessories, etc, are quite rare. It's not at all uncommon for a level one hundred player to not have even a single Divine item. So the fact that the four members of Ainz Ooal Gown featured here are covered with the things from head to toe says something about them.

Given all the open ended customization, a literally infinite different number of items can be created, limited only by the imagination. YGGDRASIL's crafting system allowed a player to create items that were tailored specifically for themselves and as such every piece of equipment can be considered unique.

Guild Weapons, such as the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown are a bit of a special case. They are one of the few exceptions that go higher than Divine class. Seeing as how multiple Divine items went into its creation, the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and other Guild Weapons are generally considered to be in a class of their own.

In addition to that there are the Artifact class items. The name is basically a miscellaneous catch all. An Artifact items means that it cannot be altered, so there are strong Artifacts and weak Artifacts.

There are other exceptions to this little system, but I'll bring those up when they become relevant.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, feel free to leave a review to tell me what you thought about the chapter and what you think of the story so far. I'll see you all again in the next chapter.