-Day 28 (Friday), Daniel's P.O.V.-

I didn't have the time to teach Goliath any magic, which was a bummer, but I could at least leave my secondary body with it. Between the two of them, they would be able to keep everyone safe. I, on the other hand, would travel at maximum speed to find Estoma, and hopefully convince him to join my side.

Now, you might be wondering: 'can't you just get stronger and wreck anyone?'

Yeah, I could. But no one would really recognize me for who I am: the true heir to the throne. Only one who had personally known Machrosias would be able to support that theory, and as it stood Estoma was my best bet at doing so. I didn't even need him to fight with me, just supporting me was enough.

I ran off early in the morning, near sunrise. No one had to really know about it anyway: my secondary body was just as good as me, with the only difference being the HP being half of mine. It didn't really matter if he could avoid getting hit.

As it was Friday, I took also a moment to roll my dice and see what happened.

Reward 1: +1.000 Gp

Reward 2: +1.000 Gp

Reward 3: +1.000 Gp

I furrowed my brow a bit, but accepted it nonetheless. Sometimes luck just wasn't on my side. Oh, well. I could buy something nice with those Gp, at least.

As I ran, I took some time to experiment a bit with some not-combat magic. I would've liked to have more tricks that weren't just meant for destruction: I was already on my way there with Motus and the Temperature control spell, but I would've liked a bit more. I started experimenting a bit with my elements, trying to see what I could find. One nice trick I found was that by combining Motus and Aer, I could make Sonus. Yep, movement and air made sound: who'd have guessed?

Still, Sonus was a fun element to use: It had some combat applications, like confusing my enemies and deafening them, but what did I want to do with it? Well… I'd found a way to activate the Game's music at will. I just had to play a small part of a song, and the system would replicate it, allowing me to follow along almost instinctively. In other words, I could broadcast battle music for everyone!

It did take a while, but I had managed to fine-tune my spell so that only I would hear the music, unless I chose to undo the light layer of Vacuos around me.

Using magic like this didn't get me any skill, interestingly enough. It probably had something to do with the way I did it.

Nonetheless, I followed the directions Meidi had given me the night before and blazed my way through Edrua's eastern side. She wasn't able to tell me exactly where he was, but before he completely disappeared he was seen in Miunachem, one of the bigger cities of Edrua. From what I understood it wasn't quite NY-levels of big, but it was definitely one of the most important. According to her, it was situated about five kilometers south the mountain range that split Edrua in two. The reason for that was that once a year there was an expedition towards the Molten Wastes (the proper name for the volcanic side of Edrua), to collect various minerals and materials that could only be found there.

T there was supposed to be an expedition soon, but since the last Overlord died it had to be abolished due to the immense power that the beasts in the Wastes possessed: without anyone strong enough to repel them, the situation was too risky.

With that little bit of exposition aside, I would like to mention that I was currently in my human form. The reason for that… well, let me run the math for you also this time around. The fastest speed a human could reach is 45 Km/h, and that came with the peak AGI score of 25 for a human. That meant that each point in AGI allowed a person to run at 1,8 Km/h faster.

My base AGI was 602, and that put my maximum speed in that form as 1.083 Km/h. That was just a bit less than 673 miles per hour, if you didn't know. I was lucky that the Game could translate it for me if I asked.

In other words, if I were to turn to my dragon form, I would exceed Mach 1, reaching supersonic levels.

I wanted to listen to music, even if it made my travel slower.

Truly a Supernatural Body, am I right?

Edrua was rather big, it seemed, as I had been running for several minutes now in the direction of Miunachem, and still hadn't spotted it. "Could it be that I'm going the wrong way?" I though, as I gave a look at my trusty minimap. Sometimes I forgot that it was there, but in all seriousness: that thing was much more useful than you'd expect for something I barely ever mentioned.

Whenever I wanted to reach a particular place and I had directions for it, a marker would form on the map to show where it was. From what the minimap said, I hadn't strayed from my path.

And in fact, there I could see the city! It was absolutely massive, bigger than anything I'd seen in my life… not that I'd ever seen any truly big cities. I lived in the middle of nowhere before all of this, so it was a novel sight for me.

One thing that quickly attracted my attention was the northern edge of the city: there seemed to be multiple vehicles stationed there. They had a steampunk style, with some uncovered gears and bronze/copper colors. Most of the city had a similar pallet, in fact. I couldn't distinguish individual faces from that far away, but I could still see the mass of demons milling about there. As I got closer, I realized that they were all listening to one demon in particular, who was standing in front of the horde.

As I got closer, I strained my hearing.

"-An' just 'cause we ain't found a new overlord yet doesn't mean that we're gonna just lay back and take this! This city deserves better, I say! So I promise to y'all that I'll make sure you're all safe in the Wastes, and when that's done I'll make sure no one thinks of neglectin' us ever again! An' for ev'ry one that just got 'ere, my name is Reidar! Me an' my trusty sword'll make sure that no one disrespects Miunachem EVER AGAIN!"

"Huh… that's some passion right there. I honestly hope that he isn't thinking of going for the position of Overlord…" Just then, I glanced at my quest. The third entry had changed.

-Get rid of Reidar

"Motherfucker. He doesn't even sound like a bad guy! Wait, maybe I can reason with him."

With that hope firmly set in my mind and heart, I waded my way through the demons. Some gave me some curious looks, and even flirty looks in two separate occasions… moving on.

I found my way through the demons, and finally found Reidar. He sported fiery red hair cascading down his shoulders into a spiky mess that looked absolutely awesome to me, a shirt with some brass protections sewn onto it, and grey pants stained with oil. Over his shoulder was slung a sword. I couldn't see much about it except for the handle, but what I could see was astoundingly well-made.

As soon as I approached, Reidar turned to me with a slight smile.

"Can I help ya?"

It was probably best to just get to the point. "I hope you can. Are you planning to become Overlord?"

"You know it!" He replied, with a smile and a thumbs up. "So, if ya have any issues ya can be sure that I can deal with it."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Reidar. I am Daniel, and I am also planning to become Overlord." As he went for his sword, I quickly put my hand up. "No need for that, I'm not here for a fight."

He narrowed his eyes, red like all other demons, and spat out a reply. "Then what do ya want?"

My eyes rolled a bit. "Oi, there's no need to be angry. I'm not your enemy—well, in a way I am, but I'd rather not be." His eyebrow rose a bit, so I cut to the chase. "Look, I've seen the passion you put into helping these people –" I swept my hand to point at the mass of demons who were behind me "—and I respect it. I don't want to fight you. But I don't want to give up on being an Overlord either, so I have a proposition for you."

He nodded, his glare softening just a bit. "A'ight. I'm listenin'."

"How about we take down all the others together?"

Reidar looked at me like I was stupid. "Ya takin' me for an idiot? Who's to say that ya ain't gonna stab me in the back as soon as I turn 'round?"

"Eh," I shrugged. "Can't tell you that. You wouldn't believe me anyway. But I'll tell you this: you're the first aspiring Overlord I've met that I actually think would be fit for the job. I mean, Veryon sent a hitman at me and Ingemar is just… Have you ever seen him?"

Reidar grimaced, and nodded. "Yeah, prick showed up 'ere one day and started spoutin' shit 'bout him bein' destined to rule, or whatever. Kicked his ass outta 'ere 'fore ya can say 'punt'."

I nodded gravely. "He deserved no less. I found him in a burning village southwest of here, I don't know exactly what it was called. Point is, he was in the middle of the town, surrounded by a bunch of succubi, and boasting about his 'victory'. What a sorry character." I shook my head fervently, returning to the present. "Anyway, I know that you can't trust me, but I promise you this: if you help me defeat the other runner-ups, we will have a good, old-fashioned duel. Whoever wins gets to be the Overlord, no strings attached. You in?"

Reidar's stare bore into my soul. "On one condition," he said holding up one finger. "We'll have ourselves a spar. Right here, and right now. If you're strong enough to be a challenge, then you're strong enough to be worth workin' with."

I rolled my shoulders a bit. "I think I can oblige, but let's move a bit further, aye?"

He didn't answer, zipping away and stopping around one hundred meters in front of me. I returned a grin, and let my dragon form come out. Reidar grinned too, though his grin was more malicious than eager, and he drew his sword.

The light glinting off the sword's dark-red blade gave me a sense of unease for some reason, but I pushed past it. I did activate Armor of Agathys, though. Just for safety.

I rushed forward, prompting Reidar to get his sword ready to parry. Just as I was a few paces in front of him, I used Flash Step to appear behind him, and with a fluid motion struck with a blackfire-empowered Prop Shredder. My blade spun upwards, throwing Reidar in the sky.

Critical hit!

I didn't let the notification distract me, and followed up with a Giga Agidyne. He could take it, I was sure of that.

I didn't expect him to come barreling towards me, though! He shot himself through the air towards me, forcing me to back off. As soon as he reached the ground we locked blades. Our speed was around the same, and so was our strength; our difference was that his skills were way better, while I had higher precision.

Just as we came to a stalemate again, Reidar's blade came right in front of my eyes, filling me with dread the likes of which I'd never felt before. I wasn't sure before, but now I was certain: I had to avoid getting touched by that sword, in any circumstance.

That little moment of hesitation was enough for Reidar to gain the upper hand in our lock, and he pushed me away. I landed a few meters away, a thin cut on my chest.

Just that scratch took almost 7.000 Hp out of me. That confirmed it: that sword was enchanted, probably something against dragons.

It just meant I had to not give him any chance to strike.

He came at me again, but this time I was ready, and ducked under his blade. A knee coming for my face was quickly slapped away, and I punched Reidar in the stomach with all my power. The magic in my fist, my Attack Boost, and my new Megaton Press all collided into him, sending him flying.

I activated Bullet time, and took that brief respite to run a little experiment: Vitium mana had a part of… 'negativity', you could call it. From what I'd read, it was one of the main elements, and the opposite of Ordo: Perditio. I extracted that element, and combined it with Motus. The result was Vinculum, the concept of lack of movement.

I combined the Vinculum mana with something I already possessed and ignored: my Mana bullet spell. I pointed my free hand at Reidar, who was just about to straighten himself, and peppered him with my newly named Crawl bullets.

He flinched just a bit, but took the impacts in stride and jumped down to the ground. His movements were just barely slower than before, but it was still perceptible. Fair enough: I'd just made that spell in a few seconds, it was bound to be weak.

He went for another swing, but as soon as I parried it I realized that it didn't have much of his strength in it.

Reidar gave me a knowing smirk, and moved back a few steps. "A'ight, I'm satisfied."

I blinked. "Already?"

He shrugged, already walking away. "Yeah, man. You're strong, I'll give ya that, but I ain't got the time to stick 'round the whole day. Got business planned, if ya forgot." He turned back for a moment. "One day, though, we'll need to finish this." He lazily waved at me, and returned to the crowd.

I was stunned, to say the least. The fight had just barely gotten started, and yet he was already leaving?

…Well, looking back to the crowd of demons he was supposed to protect, I couldn't fault him: he would need his full strength if he wanted to defend them all. Which reminded me…

"Hey, Reidar. Wait just a moment."

He quirked an eyebrow, but waited as I approached him. My hands lit up with greenish light, and the wounds on the both of us faded. By the time I was done, Reidar's eyes were wide open.

"Man… that was cool. That was healin' magic, yeah? Ain't seen it with my eyes 'fore now."

This time it was my turn to shrug. "What can I say? I'm pretty versatile. You'll find me a great ally." I was about to leave, when I realized the reason why I was in Miunachem in the first place.

"Say Reidar, can you help me find someone?"

"That depends…" he put a finger to his chin in though. "Who 're ya lookin' for?"

"One demon called Estoma."

Reidar, along with all the demons in hearing range, froze up.

"Did I hear that right?"

"He's looking for Estoma? That Estoma?"

"Kid's got some guts…"

Those and more whispers piled up from the surrounding demons. Reidar pulled himself out of his funk after a moment, and wrapped his arm around my shoulder… squeezing a bit my wings.

"Look, man. I ain't got the slightest as to why ya'd go see that ol' fogey. Buuut… well, it's yer funeral." He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, and scribbled something on it. He then passed the piece of paper to me. There was an address written on it.

"Just for the record… this idea o' yours, whatever it is, is pro'lly dumb." Just as he was done talking, he disappeared.

I sighed, and made my way within the city. Might as well get to it.

-At the same time, a certain someone's P.O.V.-

"Good, he seems to be taking this somewhat seriously, at least. The earlier this is over, the earlier I will be able to consider this mess none of my business. Though his continuous worry for those companions of his is slowing him down immensely… At least with this new ally he has a better chance to get it done sooner."

A small grin grew on my lips. "I have already waited several centuries, what is a few more days, in the end?"

My grin faltered a bit as I observed the sphere of white and black smoke. "It seems to be getting worse… Words may not be enough to return him to normal soon. I can understand his motivations, but… I was too hasty. Too impatient to be done. I should have seen it coming, yet did not."

A dry chuckle came out of me. "Maybe I cannot fix it, but I know just who might. Time to give my dear daughter a visit…"

-Another certain someone's P.O.V.-

"What do you mean 'he escaped'?!" His fist slammed down on the desk with enough strength to crack it.

"Just what I said." I shrugged. "That big armor came back and said: 'he escaped'," I mocked his gruff, echo-y voice as well as I could. "Then, he just left again. I think he's trying to find him again."

His hands went up to his head, and he sighed. Maybe his head hurt?

"You mean to tell me, that we sent one of our strongest out there to find him, and he managed to escape?"

I nodded.

"Great… that makes it so much worse. He's actually strong enough to avoid capture, that makes him a way bigger threat than expected… I'll have to spend more resources on tracking him down, or even have to find him myself!" He slumped down.

I never really understood why he always had others do things for him. He was strong enough to take care of it, right?

His eyes landed to me, and he perked up a bit. "Say…" he began "Would you do your big bro a favor?"

I tapped my chin, taking my time. "I don't know… would I, now…?"

"…I'll throw in some sweets for you."

I shook my head. "Sorry, that's just not enough to make your little sister run around alone like this!"

"Fine!" Yay! He caved in! "You can have 'that', just please get this done. There's not many others who I can trust on this."

I gave a thumbs up. "Alright, big bro! Just leave this to me! I'll get it done in a jiffy!"

I left the room, and my friend got ready to close the door.

"Don't you slam the—"

SLAM!

"—door. Damn it, Metili!"

I climbed up on my friend's shoulder, giggling all the way.

"Come on, buddy! We're off to find a big bad guy!"

-Back to Daniel, a wee bit later…-

After roaming the city for… more than I'd care to admit, and getting the wrong directions more than once, I managed to find the address Reidar had given me, close to the western edge of town.

It was a small, unassuming, home with a lot of plants on the front. It didn't particularly interest me, though I could appreciate their caretaker's ability. Hopefully it was Estoma's house.

I gave a few knocks to the door, and waited

"Just a moment!" Emerged a melodious and calm voice from the house. The pitch was definitely male, though still on the higher end of the spectrum.

The door opened, and hadn't it been for the red eyes, I would've expected the man to be an elf. Very tall, blonde hair, pointy ears (though those were standard-issue for all demons), thin build, a couple of flowers in his hair… Well, I wasn't going to judge. Dude can do whatever.

"Hello, my friend. I don't think we have met before, though… What brings you here?" He asked with a calm and sincere smile on his face.

"I was told to come here, so I'll just ask: are you Estoma?"

His smile froze for a second, and the air around him became much more chilling. "No, of course not. But I don't see why you would need him. I am more than able to help you, after all. No need to bother him."

I almost took a step back, before realizing it and stopping myself. My eyes locked on the bastard who dared to stop me.

"I'm sure you consider yourself very skilled and all, but this is not something that involves you. My business with Estoma is a personal matter that needs him specifically. Now stand aside." With that, I let go of my mana.

Normally the Game… or Yggdrasil, I suppose, would allow me to keep my mana contained. Letting is out was akin to unfurling my wings, but more. It exerted a sort of 'pressure' on others, and beings who could sense mana could also tell how powerful someone was by a combination of their mana's pressure and their physical appearance. My body at this point was in peak shape, and my mana was on the high end of the spectrum for a normal demon… unless one were to count the really magically-inclined demons. In that case I was about average, but still. The combination of both aspects would make any lesser demon cower.

I debated activating the 'Doomslayer' title, and did so after a moment. The change was immediate.

"I- er… This really isn't a good idea… Are you sure we can't avoid this? I really don't want to disturb him…"

My glare intensified.

"Just a minute!" He whimpered, and rushed inside again. What a pansy.

I waited a minute.

Then two minutes.

At the three-minute mark I lost my patience, and marched inside. I had no time to waste, after all: there was a fiery ghost knight on my tracks, and I had people who might have to meet him before me. While Goliath could fight off a number of demons, it wasn't that powerful.

I dashed through the house, locking onto the elf-looking demon's magic signature like a beacon. It was… rather deep in the ground. And getting deeper.

"Wait, is he trying to escape?!" I thought, enraged. He would pay for that.

As much as I searched, though, I couldn't find any set of stairs or secret passage that could've led him down. Considering my choices, I tried to let out a small Agi. A magical barrier absorbed it, disappearing a second later.

Growing suspicious, I concentrated on the area around me.

*ding*

Protection Barrier – Legendary rank

-A spell devised by ? to protect ?'s home.

-It can absorb any damage lesser than ?.

-It will power itself through the power drained.

"Dammit all. Gotta find another way through… wait. I can't, but maybe someone else…"

With rising excitement, I pulled up the menu, and scrolled through the list looking for someone in particular.

After paying the meagre sum of 1.500 Gp, my new ally appeared. His pristine white robes hid his face from me, but there was no need for introductions. I already knew all about him.

The Mentor for the Italian Assassins, Borgia's nightmare…

"…Ezio Auditore. It is an honor to meet you."

As I spoke, I remembered that being of Italian origin Ezio may not have understood me. That doubt was dashed away when he nodded his head. "Likewise," he uttered.

The way his voice sounded was… off in some way. I was certain that he'd spoken in English, and yet there was some sort of echo in Italian. Maybe the Game was translating for me?

*ding*

Racial trait discovered!

Demonilingual – Capable of being understood and understanding any intelligent being

"Fantastic. I love this so much. Hope that the echo is only one-sided, though."

Forcing myself out of my thoughts, I gave Ezio a concise explanation of the situation. "I'm sorry to put pressure on you, but I'm trying to follow someone who might've escaped through a secret passage. As I'm not well-versed in finding them, I hoped that you would be willing to help."

Even though I couldn't see under his cowl, I could tell that Ezio was giving me an inquisitive gaze. "I can aid you, though there are many questions I must ask later," he said. Without waiting for my answer, he strode around the room.

After no more than ten seconds, Ezio began poking around the fireplace in the living room. I was about to ask what was up with it, when a slight click came from the assassin's direction, stopping the words in my throat.

The fireplace and wall folded into themselves, revealing a stairwell. Peering down showed seemingly no end to the steps. It didn't have enough space for my wings, so I wouldn't have been able to glide down. Jumping might've been a choice, but I wasn't too sure in my ability to resist such a fall. Plus, I still had Ezio here.

Well, the last part was rather easy to deal with.

"Ezio, I thank you for your help. As it stands, I need to go down quickly. As such, I would need to leave you behind. If you wish to return home, I will consider the contract complete."

Surprisingly, Ezio shook his head. "I still require some answers. You can rush ahead if you want, I will follow behind you… I doubt that this chase will take three days, at any rate."

If that was what he wanted, I wouldn't stop him. Instead, I readied myself to cast as much protective magic as I could on me. Armor of Agathys was one I stacked up a dozen times, and I had Defense Boost ready at a moment's notice.

I launched myself.

The fall was shorter than I expected, not giving me the time to actually cast anything.

-1.495 HP!

It… wasn't that bad, in the end. I had already an insane durability, so it wasn't much of a problem for me to recover from that drop. Still, it was another reminder that I wasn't human anymore. Could I even die by natural means anymore?

That was a chilling thought. One that I didn't want to dwell on much longer. Instead, I kept my senses locked onto my target's mana, and followed him. Or at least, I tried to. There was no light around me, so I had to make do with lighting up my hand.

A noteworthy peculiarity of my flames: while they would automatically be blackfire in my demonic form, I could make them become normal fire if I concentrated on it. My mastery of fire magic made that a breeze.

While there were no more stairs, the corridor kept going down at a decently steep incline. The polished rock gave way to dirt and moss, along with the smell of soil becoming more pronounced. Step after step, I could also feel the humidity growing thicker, forcing me to feed a bit more mana in my flame to keep it lit.

I noticed the elf-man's mana stop moving, prompting me to go a bit faster. Maybe he realized I was following him? Or maybe there was something blocking his way? It didn't matter. I needed to complete what I came to do, not waste time.

Confusion gave way to amazement, and then to horror. A new mana signature appeared near to the elf's, and… it was titanic. Bigger than anything I'd ever seen, except for Thanatos and Loki themselves! I… I'd finally found Estoma. And I was regretting it, just a bit.

Nonetheless, I steeled my nerves and marched on.

When the end of the corridor came into view, I nearly sprinted towards it. I thought against it, though, as I could see light coming from it. I let the flame die out, and peered outside.

The view was breathtaking: crystals of all shapes and sizes jutted out of the ground from all directions, bathing the cave in an ethereal lilac glow. In the center was a hill, covered in all sorts of plantlife, and one last crystal. This one was much bigger than all the others, possibly being twice as tall as me and three times as wide. There were several smaller crystals sprouting out around it.

Just as I was about to take a step inside, the ground shook. The land split, and part of it rose up, forming a head on a very long neck. The cracks continued, circling around the whole hill, and leaving gigantic legs in their place. The ground-based monstrosity's eye sockets lit up with the same lilac glow around it, and they readily locked onto my position.

Without much else to do, I tried to Observe it.

Estoma – Magic-infused dirt; Ancient golem

Lv: Somewhere in the middle 1000s range.

Hp: Not your business

Mp: Even less so

You look familiar…

There was only one thought that could sum up my thoughts right then and there:

"Shit…"

Late? Yeah. Do I give a damn? Nah. Quarantine is a bitch to suffer through, and I just couldn't get the creative juices flowing. I have done a good amount of work also on the next chapter for Multiversal Assassin, so there's that at least.

I need to study for my finals, though, so if there's no updates beyond that one for the next month or so, you know why.

Onto the reviews real quick.

Ethhar: "While I appreciate the suggestions, I doubt that Daniel will be creating revival spells of that kind. I'm planning on them being a very scarce resource, only grantable by god-level entities. Not really getting there anytime soon. Some spells have prerequisites that require prerequisites themselves!"

Justsomeguy16: "Welp, we have even more characters to deal with now! Yay! Yeah, Daniel's very powerful, I'll shamelessly admit it. But there's things that will very easily swat him aside, don't worry. We should be getting some of that next chapter. For the ranged option… well, I personally love DOOM (if that wasn't noticeable), so I'll be absolutely taking inspiration from that. Heavily. Though he kinda does have a gun he's ignoring? Ah, well. He might remember about it at some point."

And that's it. Hope to hear from you all as soon as I can!

Xeno out!

P.S. Sorry for the less than average length. I was already having trouble hitting my minimum, so I thought it would be better to stop now rather than keep padding it.