Prelude: Landing in the New World

*Edited and Proofread by PervySageChuck 12/21/2018*

One can see two figures in the conference hall of the Supreme Beings of Nazarick. Sitting in one of the 41 chairs surrounding the grand circular table was a being clad in strange armor. His armor was of a majestic quality that looked to be some sort of black armor with gold trim. Black steel plates with exquisitely crafted gold trim depicting flame and dragon-like motifs covered the user's usual vital areas but this was not a set of full plate armor. Red dragon leather seemed to cover the arms, mid-section, and legs with a tattered tabard situated underneath the heavily decorated metal plating. A stylized gold dragon's head served as a large belt buckle and the red part of the tabard drew down to the legs of the wearer. Black tattered cloth hid the legs of the wearer partially but the golden greaves and footwear were visible.

One could not see this person's face for it was concealed under a golden mask. This mask hung from the person's head from a golden circlet which protruded golden spikes that stood straight upward. This made the mask bear the resemblance of a crown. One could not see the eyes of the wearer through the narrow slits the mask had but it did not cover the entire face. The lower portions of the face could be seen including the wearer's lips.

The other one was clearly not human, a black slimy blob which looked more akin to tar sat as best one could describe next to the winged individual. One could only barely describe it as sitting however as the slime's form looked to be almost engulfing the magnificent chair it sat upon with only its rear legs free of the blob's form.

The former was an Arch-Devil. A demon of the highest caliber, a master of intrigue and destruction alike. The latter was an elder black ooze, which was a slime race that had some of the most powerful acid abilities in the game of Yggdrasil.

The Arch-Devil spoke first, "I am glad to see you once again, HeroHero. It has been too long. It's a pity we could only meet again on the last day of Yggdrasil."

"Indeed it had been too long, Tri'ade", HeroHero answered with a voice devoid of life.

"Last time we saw each other was around the time you changed jobs IRL. About two or three years ago?"

The two old friends and guild mates talked and exchanged small talk like that for the next several minutes before the black blob of HeroHero said: "I really should get going to bed it is getting pretty late." The blob's tentacle opened a menu, "Sorry, Tri'ade."

Tri'ade waved his arm to try to dismiss the blob's concerns and his own conflicted emotions of seeing his friend leave. "No, no. I understand. To be honest, with our talk you sound like you need the rest."

"I am really sorry... Tri'ade - err, no - I mean Guild Master, what are your plans?"

"I will stay around until the forced logout. After everything I want to stay here until the last possible second."

"I see... I am surprised you managed to keep the place maintained. After Momonga mysteriously left the guild's membership kinda drifted apart."

"Being promoted to Guild Master due to him leaving was not exactly the way I wanted it to go down. But this place has too many good memories you know? I wanted to keep it around should our members decide to return to Yggdrasil. We all put so much effort into building it. It is terrible to think of it dying from neglect."

"I do appreciate it. I would have hated to see it become a dilapidated ruin like it was before we acquired it as a guild base."

"I have saved screenshots of most of the place. I hope there is a Yggdrasil II. We can hopefully rebuild Ainz Ooal Gown there if... well, if the others decide to play it."

"No word on a sequel but that doesn't mean they are not hard at work making it. I hope we can get back together to play again. But I am getting sleepy. Goodnight, Tri'ade."

"Good night, HeroHero."

Tri'ade was sad to see his longtime friend leave, but he understood HeroHero's reasons. The man was about as tired and lifeless as his character sometimes was due to the long grueling hours he worked. In fact, it was miraculous he even made it to the final day of Yggdrasil to say goodbye. Unlike the rest of the guild who had gone their separate ways. Ainz Ooal Gown was a ghost of its former left and its "guild master" was more of a grave keeper of its corpse than its leader.

Tri'ade left for the throne room but before he did he went to grab the Guild Weapon of Ainz Ooal Gown. The guild had originally crafted it for Momonga's use so it was a magnificent staff based on the god Hermes' staff, Caduceus, and consisted of seven intertwined snakes. It was the symbol of the guild. He had never wielded the weapon, mostly because he had truly felt it was never really his to begin with, despite being promoted to Guild Master and because of the risks associated with bringing a guild weapon into battle.

But tonight was a special occasion so he indulged himself by grabbing the weapon from its display area and strolled off in the direction of the throne room. He headed down the stairs where he saw a butler and an assortment of various maids waiting for him there.

Tri'ade checked his menu to recall the name of these NPC's. Sebas Tian and the Pleiades Six Stars were before him. Sebas, the Head Butler of Nazarick, was in front of the assembly.

I forgot his name was Sebas Tian. Creative name for a butler. The rest of the Pleiades Six Stars are here too. They must be following their last commands in guarding the throne room against possible intruders. Well, no use for them here now.

"FOLLOW."

Tri'ade led his new entourage through the gates of Judgement into the Throne Room proper. Just like the rest of Nazarick, the Throne Room was a majestic spectacle and a massive room. With flags of each of the 41 members of Ainz Ooal Gown hung up on each side with the great flag of the Guild itself hanging above the Throne of Kings.

He walked up the stairs and stood near the throne and issued the command word "STANDBY" to have Sebas and the Pleiades battle maids to wait before the Throne of Kings. Tri'ade sat upon the Throne of Kings and looked upon the NPC standing at the throne side.

Albedo, the Guardian Overseer. Lovely Albedo. She was a succubus, right? But why again did she have black wings? Let us check the settings.

Tri'ade opened a menu with the entirety of Albedo's settings displayed on it.

Jesus! Tabula did always go overboard on his NPC settings. Let me see if I can find out why... Oh, Albedo has a backstory suggesting she was a fallen angel.

"Wait. What's this?"

He saw the last line of Albedo's settings simply saying, "By the way, she's a slut". Tri'ade face palmed after reading that last line.

Tabula, you seriously go into the effort of writing her settings at length then you add in this short sentence calling her a slut?

Tri'ade groaned at the notion not only was it uncharacteristically lazy of Tabula but to call the Guardian Overseer of Nazarick a slut in the last line of her settings was too much. He looked over to the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in his hands and decided to correct his comrade's mistake by erasing the offending short sentence. But rather than hitting 'save edit' he got an idea.

Today is the last day... Let's have some fun.

Tri'ade began writing, "Albedo deeply loves her husband Tri'ade. She is the first wife of the Supreme Being Tri'ade and serves the Lord of Nazarick's every desire. "

The Arch-Devil upon the Throne of Kings was giggling as he wrote the last bit. "I can't believe I am actually doing this... Yet I am. "

Tri'ade dismissed Albedo's settings and other menus he had opened with a wave of his hand. He then sighed then waved his hand downward for the NPC's, "BOW DOWN. I want my last moments to be bathed in a feeling of glory."

He leaned back upon his throne lifting his head to look at the flags of his guild mates. Using the precious last few moments he reminisced in the memory of his dear departed comrades. Noticing the servers only had a few seconds remaining he said, "Well, it was fun while it lasted. But all good things must come to an end"

The Server Wide announcement came "SERVERS SHUTTING DOWN IN 3...2...1.."

It seemed for a few moments, total blackness enveloped Tri'ade's sight until he noticed he was still in Nazarick.

Did they push back the servers shutting down? Let me check my menu.

Tri'ade stood up and tried in vain to use his hands to open a menu to try to use the contact GM feature. The air before his hands remained empty.

"Where is my menu?!"

"Your menu, Lord Tri'ade?" The beautiful Guardian Overseer Albedo spoke up.

"Uh, did... did you just talk?" This is not normal.

"My Lord?"

"Uh..." WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

"Do you feel ill, my lord?"

"Uh..." Wait, her lips are moving too!

"Please Lord, tell me what's wrong?

"Uh..." How is that possible?!

Not knowing what else to do Tri'ade began laughing at the absurdity of his current situation.

"Hahaha! What is wrong? Albedo, did you not notice the change?"

"I am sorry. I did not notice any change. Please forgive me, my beloved."

Tri'ade sat back down on the Throne of Kings and placed his armored hand over his mask. How did this happen? It's like some lame plot from an anime from the early 2000s. Granted I love those anime...Wait, they're staring at me! I need to give orders!

"Sebas, go outside of Nazarick and take any Shadow Demons you need to recon the surrounding area for enemies and if you encounter resistance, retreat. Do not go beyond a 1-kilometer perimeter of the Tomb."

Sebas stood up from his kneeling position. "By your command, my lord, I will return."

"Pleiades, I want you situated at the entrance to the 9th floor. If anyone tries to trespass deal with them. Capture them if possible for interrogation."

The Vice-Captain of the Pleiades Six Stars, Yuri Alpha, a woman with black hair and glasses, spoke for the group of battle maids.

"As you wish, my lord. It will be done."

They are responding to non-scripted commands. It is like they came alive... It is so eerie. It reminds me of the story where the Greek goddess Aphrodite brought life to a sculptor's creation. Question is, who or what is responsible for bringing life to the NPCs?

Tri'ade heard a soft giggle next to him and forced himself to look up. Albedo was just staring at him expectantly with a small smile across her face. It was then he noticed he was alone with Albedo in the throne room and remembered the changes he made to her settings…

Fuck! Is she expecting an order now that we are... alone?

Tri'ade's heart began to race. He had been a loner virgin for the longest time and given up pursuing women. Granted he had justified it to himself in so many ways. A woman is expensive, shouldn't you find a woman you can be friends with and look for more than just sex with? Etc. His hobbies playing DMMO-RPG's all the time meant there were few women who actually shared his interests and if they did, they were unlikely to live anywhere remotely nearby.

"So, Lord Tri'ade. Do you have any orders for me to obey?"

I knew it. Wait, with the Social Order Maintenance Act in place no DMMO-RPG could ever have lewd content. Even if this was somehow an unannounced Yggdrasil 2, it would never have such things in it... This is a chance to test things.

"Hmm, yes. Come here for a moment will you?"

"Sure!" he said excitedly and Albedo moved in front of him with the giddiness of a young school girl. She moved within inches of his masked face. With that, Tri'ade began to smell a faint pleasant fragrance from Albedo.

Smell? I do not know of any Dive technology that could replicate that. Yggdrasil couldn't even get facial animations right when it came out. Well, there are two more things to test.

Tri'ade motioned Albedo to move back a bit then began removing his right armored gauntlet. It was relatively easy, all things considered and it seemed like he instinctively knew how to do it. Tri'ade hesitated for a moment while looking at his hand.

It was somewhat unlike his human hand he was familiar with. The fingers were somewhat longer than he was used to but not freakishly so. It was then Tri'ade sighed in relief that he had chosen a more humanoid form for his main form rather than the Diablo-like form he had originally come up with during his character creation.

Moving on from that momentary distraction he stated, "Albedo, may I touch you?" he motioned with his bare right hand.

"Yes!" Albedo said in almost a gasp and moved closer to Tri'ade's bare hand. With that Tri'ade grabbed Albedo's arm and felt her underneath his hand.

Feeling of touch as well? She also has a pulse she is definitely alive. Wait…

Looking at Albedo he noticed something as he was touching her. She was squirming beneath his touch, cheeks flushed and was making seductive faint gasps of breath.

Holy Hell! Is she getting turned on just by touching her arm? Just how sensitive is she? She is a succubus though, perhaps it's just an act to entice me? If it is an act, that alone looks enough not to pass muster under the Social Order Maintenance Act. Still, if Albedo is doing that now I have no idea how she would act under more... stimulation.

Imagining how Albedo would act if he touched her chest, Tri'ade became very hot under the collar. All sorts of lewd thoughts entered his head. He then shook his head to snap himself out of it.

NO, NO, NO, NO! I still have no idea how much the NPC's have changed. For all I know, Albedo has the same characteristics as a succubus from legends rather than the game mechanics of one. Meaning she could kill me with a kiss…

Tri'ade let Albedo go and she still had a flustered look upon her face.

"Albedo, summon the other Guardians besides the ones located on the 4th and 8th floor. I wish for them to meet me at the Arena on the 6th floor to discuss what has transpired. Have them gather there in one hour."

The seductive maiden who, just moments ago was quivering with lewd anticipation, vanished upon hearing her orders. Albedo stepped back and bowed deeply.

"As you wish, my lord."

Was it really an act? Or is she simply that devoted to following my orders? Hard to tell. Her settings did say something about her having an emotional mask.

Tri'ade put his right armored gauntlet back on his hand and noticed the attached rings on it. One of them was the Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown which all guild members had. With it, he could teleport to the 6th floor with ease. If he could figure out how to make it work.

Do I simply will myself to be there? Do I issue a command phrase? In Yggdrasil, there was a menu selection... Okay, let's try the old "think happy thoughts and you'll fly" method first.

Tri'ade began concentrating on the ring and where in Nazarick he wished to be teleported to. He tried imagining the 6th floor of Nazarick's Arena in all of its splendor, the golems in the arena stands and himself in the middle of it all.

Everything turned black similar to how it did when the Yggdrasil servers were supposed to be shutting down. Then the scenery in front of him changed. His surroundings were the grand arena of Nazarick with him in the exact center of it like her imagined.

Tri'ade took a moment to appreciate the wondrous construction around him and what he just did. Making reality bend itself to his will alone was an exciting thought. He looked at the ring of Ainz Ooal Gown on his hand again.

So magic items work on the same principle as pixie dust in the old stories? Good to know. I wonder if using magic is the same? The experience of teleportation also felt similar to when the servers shut down. Did something else teleport me to this world? If so, what?

As Tri'ade pondered the implications of what he had just learned, he heard something from the stands of the arena. "Toooooh!"

A person Tri'ade recognized as Aura Bella Fiora, one of the Twin Guardians of the Sixth Floor of Nazarick was falling through the air onto the Arena floor. Despite the great height and the giant plumes of sand kicked up from the impact of her landing she gracefully stood, seeming no worse for wear. Smiling after her feat of acrobatics, she made a V-sign for victory.

Aura kicked up sand as she rushed over to Tri'ade. She managed to close the distance between them in what seemed to be a millisecond. Despite that, she didn't look like she was out of breath at all.

"Welcome to the 6th Floor, my lord. We are honored to have you with us!"

"Hello, Aura. Where is your brother Mare?"

Upon hearing this, Aura blinked and then spun around yelling, "Mare! Get your butt down here! You are being rude to Lord Tri'ade!"

A faint whisper seemed to emanate from the VIP Box of the Arena. It was only possible to hear from such a distance due to magic carrying the sound to Aura via her necklace.

"I, I'm scared, Onee-chan…"

"MARE!"

"Okay, Okay! Fine. I am coming."

Mare clumsily climbed over the side of the VIP box and fell to the arena floor none the worse for wear. He adjusted his skirt and ran over to where Tri'ade and Aura were. Mare was by no means Aura's physical equal however and it took a second for him to reach them.

"Hurry it up! We are getting old here!" Aura said, annoyed at the slow pace her brother had compared to her earlier.

"I am hurrying!" Mare bowed to Tri'ade "I apologize for making you wait, Lord Tri'ade."

"It is no issue, Mare. I have come to your floor for a gathering of the other guardians in about an hour's time."

Aura had her hands behind her head as she sighed and said, "Does that mean Shalltear's coming?"

"Yes, it does. However, before they arrive I wanted to practice a few things. Can you set up a few target dummies? "

Aura and Mare had a look on confusion on their faces, then Aura asked, "Practice? For you? A Supreme Being?

Tri'ade chuckled, "Yes, Aura. I wish to do some practice. After all, practice makes perfect."

With that, Aura instructed some of her Dragonkin minions to place some target dummies in a row some distance in front of Tri'ade.

Now to cast some magic. What spell should I start with?

Upon thinking those thoughts the wide array of magical spells that he knew, and their general characteristics like range or area of effect popped into his head like he was recalling something he was intimately familiar with.

Useful. It seems not only my body has changed but aspects of my mind as well? This bears investigating later. Now, let's start off with a divine type spell.

Tri'ade raised his left hand pointing at one of the training dummies and then focused his mind to call a pillar of flames onto it. The result was a 40-foot cylindrical pillar of fire raining down upon the dummy, turning it into ash. With that, he heard Mare speak up.

"Ah...amazing."

Is it so amazing I cast Flame Strike? After all, it is only a mid-tier spell.

"Is it truly that amazing, Mare?

Mare shouted which surprised Tri'ade. "Of course it is! You cast the magic without an incantation."

Incantation? Wait... Is he referring to declaring the spell's name before casting? Of course…

Tri'ade never liked the fact that in Yggdrasil, you had to declare the spell before it took effect. It seemed too cliche for him, like something out of a bad anime. So when he heard he could take an automatic silent spell ability once he got high enough in level for one of his classes he did so. It didn't hurt his build that much. He was basically a jack of all trades build with him being both a Mystic Theurge and an Arcane Warrior. It limited his combat ability in certain fields compared to people like Ulbert or Takemikazuchi, who were specialists, but he could serve in almost any role as a result.

Ulbert even said it was quite devious due to the fact few players didn't really memorize that many spells, only those that they used or expected to encounter. So it enabled him to get the element of surprise in magical combat unless someone had memorized a vast number of spells like Momonga did. The main trade off of the automatic silent spell ability was the opportunity cost. At the proper level, one could acquire it. You could then easily acquire far more valuable meta-magic like automatic quicken spell. Most high-level magic users take AQS right away as it enables most spell casters to get higher DPS ratings as a result, or if a healer a higher rate of healing.

That said, given his ability to cast divine and arcane spells, his spell roster was immense so this surprise factor was invaluable. Aiding this, Tri'ade also had an ability called "Sacrifice to the Dark Gods" which basically involved ritually sacrificing people to gods to gain their favor. Through said favors, he could learn new spells and some other things depending on the size of said sacrifice. The cost of the sacrifice for larger favors tended to rise exponentially so there were diminishing returns. Needless to say, back in Yggdrasil he sacrificed countless people to bolster his list of known spells and for other things.

It was just a game after all and he always liked playing the villain. So, of course, he felt no remorse for what he did back then but now that his game world had become real? He felt uneasy thinking about it. Back on Earth, he tried to be nice and considerate of others but in games, he was anything but that. He had to admit to casting lightning bolt more than once pretending he was Palpatine from the old Star Wars movies.

Tri'ade and Ulbert had that much in common at least, though he felt for different reasons cause he never really fought with Touch Me. It was partly because of this he was voted in as Guild Master after Momonga left to help mediate disputes between the two who were causing a split in the guild.

Let's try casting an arcane spell now. It would suck if my arcane warrior abilities stopped working.

Arcane Warrior was one of the various classes that enabled an arcane magic user to wield martial weapons and to use arcane spells while using armor.

It was a favored class for many jack-of-all-trades builds primarily for this reason. It also had a few select flavor abilities like Arcane Might and Luminous Shield which drained mana for physical combat bonuses. They tended to be of limited use though, given how rapidly they could drain your mana due to the nature of the abilities. Arcane Might essentially imbued your body and weapons with arcane energies giving bonuses to physical attributes which could stack with other spells and added pure magical energy damage to one's weapon. Luminous Shield basically created a bubble shield of concentrated pure magical energy providing stacking armor, spell resistance, and damage resistance bonuses.

Given that most multi-class builds had lower mana pools than specialized magic users, these abilities were costly due to the relatively high mana drain. They would be damn near useless if they didn't stack with other more persistent spells, but the Developers added that in a later patch. Thus it made these abilities useful for short duration buffs, like for example using Luminous Shield when defending against players with strong DPS capability like Ulbert when they began using their more powerful spells or to get warriors like Takemikazuchi on the defensive using Arcane Might.

Tri'ade raised his left hand and pointed to one of the remaining training dummies on the field. However this time he decided to try out an "incantation".

"「Fireball」"

A small globe of fire shot out from his outstretched fingertips and it soon struck the straw man. The impact struck home and the globe of fire expanded outward turning everything in the area into a sea of flame.

Good, it seems my armor is not impeding my arcane casting ability.

Tri'ade continued practicing with his spells to determine basic things like casting time and differences between incantation spells and silent spells.

It seemed like it took the same time to cast spells as it did in YGGDRASIL but it was far easier to cast the spells. Silent spells seemed to need a bit more concentration to cast but otherwise cost the same mana amount.

"Good... Good," Tri'ade said, his voice filled with satisfaction.

"Tri'ade-sama, should I prepare more training dummies?" Aura asked, not truly knowing what her Lord and master wanted from this practice.

"No thank you, Aura. This should be enough practice with evocation magic for today. I need to try something else."

Now I should try some summoning magic... I wonder if my ability to summon angels has been affected? I didn't take any summoning classes. That would normally prevent me from doing this, but in this new world, anything is possible. Let's avoid summoning a Seraphim for now though. I do not know how controlling summons works in this world.

"「Summon Angel Eighth」"

A large angelic figure with four white wings and the head of a lion appeared before him wielding a great shield and a fiery lance.

Cherubim Gatekeepers were level 80 angelic summons which specialized in the role of being a tank for their casters. Lore wise, they were said to be the guardians of the gates of Heaven and resided in the First Sphere just below that of the Seraphim who were the direct servants of God himself.

Tri'ade felt a mysterious connection to the Cherubim. Almost like his mind was linked to the creature. To test this out he gave a move command to a place nearby without saying anything and the Cherubim dutifully obeyed.

Huh, the Cherub seems to act like a mentally dominated slave? I wonder if all summons are like that? The Planar Ally spell has you summon an Outsider but you need to convince them to join you. I might need to experiment with that later.

"Uwah..."

Aura was watching intensely with a look of admiration in her eyes. As a beast tamer, she could never summon outsiders and for her master to easily summon a high tiered angel who in any other circumstances would be opposed to him was mesmerizing for her.

"Aura do you want to do some practice of your own? Do you wish to fight it?"

"Ehhh?"

After a moment's hesitation born from confusion, Aura smiled mischievously, "Can I?"

Tri'ade responded "Knock yourself out. I bet it has been boring without any intruders to fight."

Mare began to quiver and said "I remember I need to do something urgently. Have f-"

Before Mare could back out Aura firmly grasped his arm to prevent his retreat. His sister dragged him in front of the Cherubim Gatekeeper. Mare desperately looked at Tri'ade for help.

Tri'ade clapped crushing those hopes, "Mare you and your sister fight as a team. It would be bad practice if you didn't support her in this fight. Don't be afraid. As long as you two are together, you got this."

Aura got out her whip and held the length of it in her other hand. She then said "That's right you scaredy cat. What do you have to be afraid of when your onee-chan's here? I am the one who's gotta worry about being poked."

Mare brightened up hearing his sister say that and looked to finally find his courage.

"R-Right!"

"Then let the battle commence!" Tri'ade used his mental link with the Gatekeeper to order it to attack the twin guardians.

The Cherub tried to impale Aura with its fiery lance but Aura deftly jumped to avoid its attacks while Mare stood back to support his sister with magic. The Cherub followed up its initial attack with another thrust while Aura was falling through the air. Mare defended his sister by casting Magic Shield upon her blunting the attack.

The battle continued on like this. It was easy to see who the victor was going to be. This was not unexpected, however. Both Guardians were level 100 while the Cherubim Gatekeeper was a level 80 creature. The fight was uneven, to begin with.

While the twins were distracted, Tri'ade decided to try to use the spell Message to contact HeroHero and the GM's.

While HeroHero did log out prior to server shutting down he had hoped his old friend somehow got caught up along with him in it. Selfish as that was, he wished he had someone he could relate with him. Contacting the GM's was just to confirm that this was not simply an extension of a Dive enabled gaming experience.

Both messages failed to connect.

Tri'ade audibly sighed. Disappointing but not entirely unexpected. I am the lone player in this world. Granted there might be other players in a similar situation but I do not know them. More importantly, they might view me as a threat to be eliminated given Ainz Ooal Gown's reputation as player killers.

It would be troublesome if the other guilds suffered a similar situation he found himself in now. While near the end of YGGDRASIL many guilds lost membership, Ainz Ooal Gown's membership was always small to begin with. It would also be difficult to ally with the other guilds given his guild's reputation. In the past, a coalition of guilds teamed up to raid The Great Tomb of Nazarick in an effort to finally crack their legendary defenses.

One thousand five hundred players were involved in that invasion and the raiding group was only stopped on the 8th Floor thanks to Tabula's monster of an NPC named Rubedo and the other defenses arrayed there. It was good that it was stopped there of course. Because if they managed to get past the 8th floor, defeat was nearly guaranteed for Ainz Ooal Gown. The Pleiades Battle Maids were only meant to be a speed bump to allow the guild to make a final stand in the Throne Room.

That was back when Ainz Ooal Gown was in its prime though. Tri'ade was the sole remaining member and had to work hard to just maintain the status quo of Nazarick. While Nazarick was still to be feared strategies of attrition were not favorable. Even if the Great Tomb fended off another invasion they couldn't recover from it. Leaving them perfect targets for other guilds for follow up attacks.

He needed more information before he could realistically plan his next steps. Tri'ade then remembered about Sebas's mission. Tri'ade sent a message to Sebas and it connected.

"Lord Tri'ade?"

"Yes, Sebas. I wish a progress update on your mission."

"Yes, my lord. I, along with the Shadow Demons you assigned to me, have surveyed much of the area around Nazarick. We are surrounded by grassy plains, with no intelligent creatures in sight."

"Grassy plains? Not a swamp?"

"Correct, my Lord."

So YGGDRASIL didn't become real but the Great Tomb of Nazarick was transported to an entirely new reality. Huh... Makes a bizarre sort of sense really. If you consider the multiple worlds theory in quantum mechanics. Though I guess it's no longer just a theory. Might also explain why the NPC's have become so lifelike. Previously they couldn't even handle complex orders or even leave the Tomb.

"Is there something wrong, my lord?"

"No, just considering the implications of this. We are going to have a meeting of the Guardians on the 6th floor to discuss the current situation. Please come back to report your findings to the others. Leave the Shadow Demons on a perimeter patrol and instruct them to report if they find anyone trying to enter Nazarick."

"Understood, my lord. I will be there as soon as I can."

As if on cue, Aura and Mare's fight with the Cherubim Gatekeeper came to an end. Aura's whip slashed through it one last time and it turned into a cloud of white glowing particles. These particles acted like dust in the wind and dissipated quickly. Tri'ade could feel the link to it slowly fading away. The Cherubim really had no chance against the two of them working together.

The twins ran over to him and he then saw the beads of sweat on their skin. They tried to wipe it away but more of it came.

Huh, it shouldn't but it continues to surprise me how life-like they have become.

"It seems like the two of you had a good practice match."

Aura smiled an innocent smile, "That was fun! I haven't exercised that much in a while. It was getting dull around here without any intruders."

Tri'ade smiled at this cause he knew in his heart despite their power they were still just two kids.

Perhaps some regularly scheduled practice sessions would be good for the Guardians... Being ready to defend Nazarick all the time must be so boring without anyone attacking us.

"You two must be thirsty. "

Tri'ade then tried recalling on how he could access his inventory and imagining it in his head. Hopefully, the inventory system worked as magic did. He reached out into the air and felt his hand hit something. He saw his hand get swallowed up by a small black portal and he moved his hand to get a feel around in it.

It was with that motion a hole appeared out of nowhere and he saw numerous items laid out before him. Tri'ade tried moving his hand again and the hole seemed to move with it allowing him to see different items laid out before him.

It works so similar to the inventory system of YGGDRASIL except no menu's. It just manifests into action. Now let us see if I can find that Pitcher and a few glasses.

Tri'ade found the glasses easily enough at first and handed them to the twin's who accepted them with a puzzled look on their face.

Found it!

He grabbed a large glass pitcher out of his inventory. The Pitcher of Endless Water. It somewhat felt cold to the touch and one could see condensation on the surface of the Pitcher.

Now that I think about it I haven't had anything to drink since I came here.

Letting go of the Guild Weapon for a moment he reached back into his inventory and got himself a glass pouring himself some water. Then he went to fill the glasses the Twins were still holding onto which surprised the Twins. This caused Tri'ade to stop.

"What's the matter?"

"It's not good that you're serving us, right, Tri'ade-sama..."

Ah. I am not used to the whole master-servant relationship. Of course their uncomfortable with their master serving them a drink.

"I do not mind something as trifling as serving you two water but if you feel it is important you can serve yourselves."

Tri'ade handed Aura the pitcher and she accepted pouring herself and her brother before handing it back to him.

He looked at the clear water in his glass before lifting up his Golden Mask to pour it past his lips. Tri'ade was amazed at the quality of it. It had none of the filtered taste of tap water. He had never tasted such fresh water. Granted, back in his world one could buy specialty waters but he always viewed them as money grabbing scams and never bought any. Now though, he could see why people would bother paying for such a thing.

"I have to admit Lord Tri'ade, I thought you would be scarier."

"Oh? Do I need to scare you?"

"No! No, you don't!"

Tri'ade was kind of taken aback at Aura's rapid reply. Then Aura muttered something under her breath which he managed to hear.

"Lord Tri-Tri'ade, are we the only ones that you're nice to…?"

"You guardians are the creations of my dear friends. Why would I be cruel to you and not be nice? You are loyal are you not?"

Both twins stiffened at this answer and then bowed. "Of course, Lord Tri'ade. We live to obey."

"Then you have your answer, you may rise."

Good. They don't necessarily see kindness as a weakness. Still, I suppose I've got some learning to do to act the part of a master to them.

It was then that a black portal opened up nearby and a petite young vampire in a black ball gown walked through it. Shalltear Bloodfallen had just arrived, the Guardian of the first three floors of Nazarick.

"Oh, wow! Lord Tri'ade!"

Shalltear Bloodfallen ran over to him like a giddy schoolgirl and tried to hug him with her hands around his neck. The thing was, Tri'ade being so tall, all she did was pull his neck down like she was trying to hang from it.

"The one man I could never rule above! My eternal beloved!" 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.

I did not touch her settings! I did not make her love me. Wait ... her creator was that hentai-lover, Peroroncino. This isn't love. It's lust! Damn him for making a Loli!

While Tri'ade was flustered and flattered by Shalltear's advances, he was distinctly uncomfortable accepting them. So he put his hands on her waist lifted her off of him. She squeaked in delight having him touch her but he simply set her off to the side leaving her with a look of disappointment.

"I do not have time for this right now. Later, Shalltear."

"I understand my beloved. Business before pleasure."

Ugh. I touched Peroroncino's fap material... No, I suppose it is unfair to call her that. I need to find a way to let her down gently.

Looking at Aura, she looked annoyed as she protested, "Lord Tri'ade doesn't want you slobbering all over him"

"Shut it, half-pint!"

"Who are you calling half-pint, fake tits?!"

Aura and Shalltear continued bickering like this when he heard a third voice pop up.

"Stop. Acting. Like. Children. In. Front. Of. The. Master."

The voice was from Cocytus, Guardian of the 5th floor, who had just arrived. He was a large insectiod creature that looked like a hybrid between an ant and a mantis.

"I'll stop once this elf-bitch pays for her insolence!"

"Try it, Vamp!"

Cocytus began freezing part of the arena's floor to try to interrupt the fight and Tri'ade felt it necessary to intervene.

"Enough! Quit your bickering."

Both Aura and Shalltear bowed deeply. Both of them said in unison, "Forgive me, my lord".

Tri'ade turned his gaze to Cocytus.

"I am glad you are here, Cocytus."

"I. Will. Always. Come. When. You. Call."

Precious. Cocytus seems so earnest in that. Maybe they all feel that way? I guess I am the leader of their creators in the flesh. Thinking of me as a sort of God is not far off.

Tri'ade smiled at that thought. It would make things so much simpler for him, he thought, if that were the case. Only Satan rebels against God after all.

"Sorry everyone, I hope you were not waiting too long."

Speaking of the Devil. A Devil was the one that spoke up and he was dressed in an orange business suit. This was Demiurge, Guardian of the 7th floor. If Satan had a lawyer he would probably look like him. He was walking behind Albedo and she took a lead position in front of the other guardians once they had arrived before their Master.

Albedo spoke to her master with conviction in her voice, "My Lord. We, the Guardians pledge our fidelity."

"I am the Guardian of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Floors, Shalltear Bloodfallen. I serve and obey my beloved master. " Shalltear placed her hand over her heart and bowed deeply.

"I. Am. The. Guardian. Of. The. Fifth. Floor. Cocytus. I. Serve. And. Obey," Cocytus began kneeling down and lowered his head in respect for his master.

Both twins placed their hands over their hearts and bent the knee, "I am Guardian of the Sixth Floor, Aura Bella Fiora."

"I-I am also a Guardian of the Sixth Floor, Mare Bello Fiore, we serve and obey."

"The Guardian of the Seventh Floor, Demiurge. I serve and obey " The deceptively devilish Demiurge placed his hand over his heart and knelt.

Finally, the beautifully seductive Albedo did the same as the others, "Guardian Overseer Albedo, I serve and obey my beloved husband. Other than Victim, Guardian of the 8th Floor and Gargantua who faithfully guards the fourth, the Guardians have gathered as requested and pledged their undying loyalty. Supreme One, we wait for your orders. You need only ask it of us and it shall be done!"

With the Guardians declaration of fidelity, Tri'ade smiled wickedly.

Tri'ade, Lord of Nazarick Character sheet

Racial Level

Imp (10)

ArchDevil (5)

etc ? (20)

Job Level

Magician (10)

Cleric (10)

Necromancer (10)

Master of Death (10)

Arcane Warrior (5)

Mystic Theurge (5)

Archmage (5)

etc ? (10)

HP: 80

MP: Maximum

Phy. Atk. 75

Phy. Def. 80

Agility 60

Mag. Atk. 85

Mag. Def. 90

Resistance 95

Special Ability 100