Overlord's Kingsglaive

Episode I: Pilot

YGGDRASIL.

It was the name of a popular Dive Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Infamous for its lackluster sharing of information from developers, in favor for players discovering what the game had to offer for themselves, it was best known for its freedom of "player choice" in all forms of the word. Customization, character design, jobs, races, classes; the list went on.

In the 12 years the game had been active, players spent several hours to explore all that YGGDRASIL had. Information was widely considered to be of equal worth to gold, especially when it came to items of incredible rarity, such as pieces of equipment, ore, minerals. Among the most rare were World Level Items, and above them, The Twenty.

The players themselves were as diverse as the world they explored. Of course, the characters they created were the most heated discussions one might find on forums and discussion boards. Namely, the fact that you were stuck with the character you created and unable to create a new one if you were unsatisfied. In other words, if you created a human character but later decided to play a monster character instead, you were stuck with your human character. The playerbase was divided into two camps: human characters and monster characters. Depending on the region you were playing the game in, translations for monster characters would be demihuman, grotesque or heteromorphic.

Whether it was out of simplicity or for hardcore PvP competitions, monster characters were treated no differently than in-game enemies one might encounter out in the field. Worse, monster characters, when slain, would offer experience points for their killer to take. This led to many human characters often going on the warpath, hunting down monster characters for the sake of leveling up quickly.

During this time, a group of monster characters appeared. Originally possessing only nine members, it expanded and became one of the most well-known and infamous guilds, with their base of operations, to this day, considered to be invincible.

They were called – "Ainz Ooal Gown."

...Six years following the game's launch, and garnering enough sensation and praise to become synonymous with the term "DMMO-RPG," a limited time special event was held. Players who completed this event were offered a special item that couldn't be obtained by any other way. Its rarity was enough to be considered god-tier, or perhaps even World Level. The reason? It allowed for players to not only change their character, but give them access to a brand new class, developed specifically for players who wanted a healthy balance between sword action and magic casting.

This class was called "Devil Buster."

In the lore of the game, the Devil Busters were humans who had forfeited their very being in exchange for incredible power. Forgoing all reason, giving up their humanity, they became something else. They became a demon, wearing the skin of a human. They raised havoc, doing as they pleased, all for the sake of killing other demons who dared to oppose them. Gameplay wise, this class was considered a human character, but it had an advantage that others didn't have.

That was to say, access to Racial Skills.

For this reason, the Devil Buster class was considered to be the game's first true "half breed character."

The year is now 2138. The date is September 19.

Today is the day that the world of YGGDRASIL would be deleted, both from reality and the video gaming world…

~ Overlord's Kingsglaive ~

In the poisonous marshes of one of the Nine Worlds of YGGDRASIL, Helheim, there lay a great structure that resembled a tomb, showing signs of age and decay. Cracks ran along the walls and pillars, vines and greenery sprawled across the floor, and cobwebs were often found, tucked away in the corners and shrouding the many coffins that lay vacant. Guarded not only by undead, but also by the field enemies known as mermen, it was home to the monster character guild "Ainz Ooal Gown."

The Great Tomb of Nazarick, the headquarters of this once famed guild of tyranny and infuriating rage-quits, was divided into ten levels. Each was guarded by NPCs, all hand-crafted by the guild members. The NPCs, like the player characters themselves, could be customized and outfitted with equipment. Some players took great lengths and showed incredible amounts of detail in designing these characters. Of course, the amount of levels these NPCs could be given, and the number of NPCs that could be created, were determined by the guild location itself.

Nazarick was considered to be one of the most difficult dungeons to be discovered, though there were quite a few that were even harder than the tomb itself. As a result, when Ainz Ooal Gown conquered it and made it into their headquarters, the rewards spoke for themselves. Several NPCs were created, but only a small majority were designed for combat and defense, with the most powerful tasked with protecting the floors each was stationed.

Once, Ainz Ooal Gown had been invaded by a large raid party, composed of over fifteen hundred players in total. The farthest any players had reached when invading the Great Tomb of Nazarick was the sixth floor until this raid party emerged. Even so, they too had failed, having only managed to reach the eighth floor.

To this day, even when YGGDRASIL was about to be shut down, many players raged about the loss of experience points and valuable equipment. Many had even quit the game outright, having spent everything they had to prepare themselves for this raid.

Over the years, members of Ainz Ooal Gown had resigned from their positions. In a kind gesture of good will and faith, they gave their belongings and equipment to their Guild Leader – a monster character named Momonga – and then quit the game entirely, deleting their account and even their character.

It was strictly forbidden for anyone to create a second character. Even if you restored your account, you wouldn't be able to create a new one to replace your lost character.

Even now, Ainz Ooal Gown consisted of a bare handful of players, yet they had not logged into the game for a very long time. In spite of this, not a single player since the failed raid party has dared attempt to invade the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

A flash of blue light flickered in the courtyard that led to the entrance of the tomb. It was a showy way of announcing that a character had logged into the game. The light faded and revealed the player: a human character dressed in attire fit for a nobleman, including a white cravat with a jeweled brooch and a knee-length coat with unique designs. However, there was also a flair of delinquency in this character as well: unruly dark hair that belonged to someone who just got out of bed, an eyepatch over their left eye and fingerless gloves.

Despite being a human character, however, not a single field enemy made any move to attack him. The reason for this was because he was recognized as friendly and non-hostile. Their programming did not see him as a threat, and thus left him be.

"Hasn't changed a bit." the player said as he gave his surroundings a quick look before letting a sigh. "Wish they could've teleported me in the guild home instead of in front of it, though."

~ Overlord's Kingsglaive ~

Ainz Ooal Gown, fitting for its status as a monster character guild, was composed entirely of monster characters. There was seemingly no exception to this. If there were any human characters in Nazarick, it were the Homonculus Maids that basically served as background characters of little importance, when compared to the NPCs tasked with guarding the floors they were stationed at. They also had rules for people to join their guild:

1. The character had to be a monster character.

2. They had to be a functioning member of society. People with part-time jobs were occasionally accepted, but only because they showed long working hours and dedication to their job.

3. Acceptance of the applicants had to be done by majority vote among all 41 members.

Thus, it was mind-boggling how the unofficial 42nd member of Ainz Ooal Gown was the same human character who appeared in the courtyard.

Skye was an exception to the rules, for a few reasons. Skye was not a functioning member of society. He was a college student named Sora Amamiya, who was home-schooled all his life. Born into a middle-class family, he was neither rich or poor. He lived a fairly comfortable life, in spite of the fact that he had been born with a disease that had paralyzed him from the waist done. He was effectively bound to a wheel chair for all eternity. His only true comfort was playing YGGDRASIL, having gotten into the game around the same time the limited time special event for the Devil Buster class was being held.

The character Skye was a Devil Buster. Initially, it was a human-esque character called a Homonculus. While not strictly a demihuman character, it wasn't a human character either. At best, it was the most human looking of the many monster characters. He was Level 41 when he completed the event. After changing into a Devil Buster, and effectively becoming a "half breed" character, his Level and stats had all recent to a starter level.

That being said, Devil Busters gave players access to a wide variety of Racial Levels they could choose from, even though it was a human character. Not only that, but upon having their race changed, all their stats were given a +10 boost, along with two unique skills available only to Devil Busters.

Many players didn't want to use the item [Contract with Darkness], as doing so would erase all their hard work and dedication. If anything, the item was used as a trophy. Sora was one of the few who didn't see the harm in starting over from scratch and seeing what the class had to offer.

Back to the present matters, Skye had been accepted into Ainz Ooal Gown based on a technicality. Since his character was a "half breed" and therefore technically a monster character, he was eligible for one of the rules. He was barred from the second rule, namely because he was young and partially because of bias, having somehow made close bonds with three guild members: Touch Me, Ulbert Alain Odle and Yamaiko. Touch Me because Skye often joined him on his crusades to protect monster characters from their persecuters (and thus earning the ire of many human characters as a result), Ulbert for their shared investment and exchanging of ideas and Yamaiko who considered him a student.

Through much persuasion and a meeting with Skye personally, he was welcomed by the guild, but otherwise remained an unofficial member. The unknown 42nd Member of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Skye entered the first floor of Nazarick, then used one of the rings on his person – [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown]. With this item, anyone could traverse the Great Tomb of Nazarick unhindered. His destination was the Round Table room, which was more or less a conference room meant to hold major discussions about future plans.

It was a large circular room, and as the name implied, a large round table sat square in the center of it all, with over forty chairs – each one meant for a guild member. Adorning the plain yet marvelous walls were embroided flags bearing the custom crests of each member. When Skye entered the Round Table Room, there were only two monster characters present – a small lump of bubbling black muck of filth and a skeleton donning regal robes with a dark halo behind him.

The Elder Black Ooze was HeroHero, one of the remaining active guild members of Ainz Ooal Gown. He had not logged into the game in the last two years. The undead, more accurately Overlord, was the Guild Leader of Ainz Ooal Gown. Momonga.

"Ah! Skye-kun! You came!" Momonga's voice was laced with cheers as a smiley-face emoji popped up next to his character. Since Momonga was undead, the facial recognition program of his hardware rig was useless and had to rely on his voice and emoji selection to convey his thoughts. "I was hoping you would."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." Sky said, his character grinning. "So, is it just HeroHero-san?"

HeroHero shook his head. Small bubbles popped and spewed. "Nah, Bukubukuchagama-chan was here earlier." Skye took notice of how exhausted he sounded. Almost as if he were running on fumes. "And before her was Ulbert-san."

"I'm just glad they could make it. Same with you, HeroHero-san. What're you doing standing around for, Skye-kun? Take a seat!"

"In a bit. I want to say goodbye to the NPCs first."

HeroHero created an emoji next to him, showing a question mark. "Not that I don't understand, but why?"

"Well, today is the last day we'll get to see them again." Skye reasoned. "You guys poured your hearts and souls into making them all. Come on, HeroHero-san. Don't tell me you don't want to see Solution one final time before YGGDRASIL shuts down?"

HeroHero seemed to consider his words before letting out a sigh. "Sorry, but I feel so tired. I really don't want to move around too much. Maybe you could do it for me? Again, really sorry. I'm just so exhausted."

Skye nodded in understanding. Like many who left the guild, HeroHero had chosen to prioritize real life over the game. No doubt the poor man must have been running himself ragged, whatever his job may have been. It actually made him worry what the private sector would be like, once he got a job. Given the current state of the world… Well, he wasn't really looking forward to that. He ended that line of thought there and bowed his head before he teleported again.

His first stop was the third floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

~ Overlord's Kingsglaive ~

Shalltear Bloodfallen was the NPC tasked with protecting the first, second and third floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Arguably one of the strongest non playable characters in Nazarick, it made sense to have her guard all three floors. Her design was simple: pale skin, silver hair, red eyes and a beautiful black dress with an umbrella. Her creator was Peroroncino, Ainz Ooal Gown's resident pervert and expert in all things eroge. He was also one of the best archers and long range fighters, courtesy of his weapon being a magic bow that could only be repelled by spells.

Each floor was unique, designed to be different and matching the theme of the guardians who protected them. Floors one through three, however, were designed to look similar, with only a few areas within being unique, as they housed other NPCs that, while not as powerful as the Floor Guardians, were just as dangerous to deal with. These floors were designed to be like catacombs, patrolled regularly by swarms of undead mobs. The areas housed on these floors were a room completely devoid of any light (and filled to the brim with cockroaches), a rope bridge that was highly unstable and hanging above mountains of corpses, a vault of sorts (home to Shalltear Bloodfallen herself) and finally a windowless chapel.

Shalltear was not located on the first or second floor, the latter of which was where she should be stationed. Instead, Skye found her on the third floor, inside the chapel where she sat on a wooden bench comfortably while being tended two by her servants – beautiful women with snow-white skin, bloody red eyes and dressed in tattered wedding dresses. The Vampire Brides, who remained faithfully by her side.

Like the field enemies in the courtyard and the skeletons that roamed the halls of the catacombs, the Vampire Brides did not register him a threat. Rather, instead, they bowed their heads humbly. Shalltear also recognized his presence and did the same, albeit in a curtsy.

Skye smiled widely, remembering the times Peroroncino would talk his head off. If he could do it for real, the perv would make Shalltear a real person and adopt her. That being said, however, if what he remembered was accurate, the NPC was also programmed with every possible fetish on the planet, as well as numerous risque articles of clothing that wouldn't look out of place in a racy H-game.

Such odd, yet fun memories. It was a shame that Peroroncino wasn't here, having been one of the guild members who quit the game after handing over all of his equipment to Momonga after leaving Ainz Ooal Gown.

"You don't need to be formal." Skye told Shalltear. Not that she could respond. NPCs weren't designed to talk unless they were programmed to. And even then, despite all the advancements and player freedom YGGDRASIL offered, giving an NPC a voice and facial recognition was not one of them. At best, they could make only pre-set expressions. "Still, good to see you're doing well."

Skye didn't treat the NPCs as clumps of data that just did their jobs. He considered them to be actual people, especially since everyone in the guild put so much time and effort into designing them. That, and as much as he hated to say it, they offered more company than other players. Sometimes, Skye would just hang around in the Great Tomb of Nazarick whenever Momonga wasn't online and just sit with one of the Floor Guardians, often talking about his day, his family or just what he had done recently.

...thinking back on that now, Skye might need to get out more. Well, not that he'd actually want to. The world today wasn't pretty, with the sun barely ever actually appearing and plant life practically declining to unheard of levels. That, and the place where he lived was hardly exciting.

"You've been here for...what? Seven? Eight years now, Shalltear?" Skye asked despite knowing he would receive no response. "Time really does fly. Hell, I joined the guild only six years ago, but it feels like a lifetime now." His smile turned sad. "You probably might already know, but...YGGDRASIL is going to shut down today. This world isn't going to exist anymore. And I guess, that means, you and everybody else isn't going to be here for much longer, either."

Shalltear's expression didn't change.

"Thinking back on it now, it's kind of sad." Skye muttered sadly. "Everybody worked so hard to create the Great Tomb of Nazarick and you guys, and in a short while, it's going to be gone. I wonder, if you could talk to me right now and tell me anything, what would you tell me?" No response, as he expected. "Ah, well. It doesn't really matter, I guess. Me and Momonga will be staying behind to see this thing through. I wonder if anyone else will be coming?"

"Still… Thanks for everything, Shalltear. It's been really fun!"

Skye left the masoleum that was the third floor, going to go see the rest of the floor guardians and bid them all a heartfelt farewell. He never noticed Shalltear's expression changing, tears rolling down her cheeks and her body shaking like a leaf.

~ Overlord's Kingsglaive ~

As it turned out, unfortunately, nobody else could come by. HeroHero left not long after Skye had finished saying his goodbyes to the NPCs. Momonga was left by himself in the Round Table room, staring at the empty spaces where his friends once sat. Wonderful memories played out in his head, but they soon turned bitter.

"Let's meet again, huh?" Satoru Suzuki questioned. In a rare burst of emotion, anger surged through his character as it slammed its skeletal hand down on the table. "Don't fuck with me! How could you guys just abandon all of this?!"

Seconds later, Momonga calmed down and released a tired, emotionally exhausted sigh. That was wrong. He knew none of them would just outright abandon the game. They just had to choose between a fantasy world and the real one. The choice was obvious. It was a game, and they could return anytime they wanted once things calmed down in real life. But that didn't play out the way Momonga wanted it to. Everyone was committed to reality.

The only person who was willing to come back, not burdened by real life, was Skye, and that was only because he was a college student.

He sighed again, this time more deeply. I hope one day, we do meet again. Skye appeared in the room as he stood up. The half-breed character looked around the room, and his face turned somber. "No one else came?"

"No." Momonga confirmed sadly. "HeroHero-san left just now. Work's taken its toll on him. Poor guy sounded so exhausted." He stood up. "We've got ten more minutes or so before the game ends. How about we wait in the Throne Room?"

Skye whistled. "Want to finish it in style, Momonga-san?" He nonetheless approved. It seemed only fitting that they wait for the game to end in the heart and soul of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Momonga moved to leave, but he paused briefly to look at the weapon that floated atop a small stand in the corner of the room. It was a golden staff with a design similar to that of the Staff of Hermes, with curved portions around the center rod, similar to those of a snake. The center piece bore several snake heads, and in their mouths, different colored jewels.

This was a Guild Weapon. A custom-made item, one of the few classified items capable of matching a World Level Item. [The Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown] had already been created when Skye joined, and it was no easy effort either. It took painstaking months of grinding, guides and raids to complete. Every component that made up this Guild Weapon was a God-Level Item. Just a mere step below World-Level Items.

Momonga wondered if it would be okay to take the staff with him. Since today was the last day, even if the others did find out, his guild mates would probably forgive him for wanting to be selfish. He grasped the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and added it to his person.

"Let's go." he said softly. "The symbol of our guild!"

~ Overlord's Kingsglaive ~

The Tenth Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick was the deepest depths of the guild dungeon. It was also, by far, the most elaborately designed. Its interior was enormous: a space wide enough to fit hundreds of people with room to spare, and ceiling so high that you had to look all the way up. The walls were white, adorned with a variety of golden embellishments. Hanging from the ceiling, rows of opulent chandeliers crafted from rainbow-colored gems gave off a fantastical brilliance. From the ceiling to the floor, a total of forty-one giant banners with different patterns decorated the walls. There was a low stairway that had about ten steps at the innermost area of the room, lavished with gold and silver, and at the top stood a majestic throne that seemed as though it was cut from a gigantic crystal. On the wall behind it was a huge dark red banner embroidered with the guild's coat of arms.

Momonga could never once feel tired of such a grand display. In fact, the situation only made it all the more impressive. Skye walked with him as they made their way to the Throne of Kings that sat in the far back of the room. A World-Level Item that was proof that Ainz Ooal Gown had conquered this dungeon. At its side was a woman who's beauty could not be compared: long black hair and eyes of molten gold with a face built of perfection, a white dress and black wings spreading out from behind her back. On either side of her head was a horn.

Her name was Albedo. Overseer of the Floor Guardians, and the NPC created by Tabula Smaragdina.

Her design was easily one of the best crafted non playable characters in the Great Tomb, though that was hardly surprising. The attention to detail that Tabula had was only matched by Whitebrim's love of maids. Momonga had taken his place on the throne, and looked every bit the lord of absolute evil the human characters of YGGDRASIL made him out to be. Even Skye had to admit, his character and the overall atmosphere fit well together. It looked as if he were a true ruler of death. Since he had no place to sit, he decided to rest himself against the side of the throne, resting his back against it.

"Bow down."

With a command and a wave of the hand, the maids and butler that followed Skye and Momonga kneeled with respect, hands placed over their hearts. The maids were the Pleiades Battle Maids, tasked with protecting the Ninth Floor in the event raiders reached that far and would defend it while the rest of Ainz Ooal Gown prepared themselves for a final confrontation. Sebas Tian, the butler, was the head of the maids and the NPC created by Touch Me. A dashing gentleman with a sharp beard and snow-white hair and a glare that would freeze any real man solid were it directed at them.

Skye sighed. "Only five more minutes to go..." he muttered in sadness before he looked back at the Throne Room. More accurately, he gazed at the flags that bore the crests of all 41 members of the guild. "In five minutes, all of this is going to go. This went from going out with a bang to a real sap fest."

"Have to agree with you there." Momonga nodded in agreement. "Still, it was fun." He looked at Tabula's NPC. Out of curiosity, he decided to open up her settings, only to cringe. "Eck! So much writing! Tabula-san really did love detail, didn't he? Erm, skip, skip… Eh?! She's a bitch?!"

Skye's eyebrow rose. "s'cuse me?"

"...is this what they call gap moe? Even so, Tabula-san..."

This really was in poor taste. Not to mention, it really didn't suit someone like this at all. Then again, he didn't read the whole thing. Maybe he should change it? It was the last day, and he doubted Tabula would find out. Even if he did, his friend was sure to forgive him.

...right?

Still, what should I change it to? After a few moments of debate, he used the Guild Weapon to open up the edit menu. Normally, Momonga would need an administrative editing tool, but the Guild Weapon functioned as an equal substitute. He deleted the line "She is also a bitch" and replaced it with a short and simple line.

Silently, he snickered to himself.

Closing Albedo's menu, he reclined in the Throne of Kings and looked up at the throne room. He counted off each flag, recalling the guild's beginnings as Nine's Own Goal, then to the founding of their guild. Such memories were bittersweet, each reminding him of a friend he had lost. He wished everyone could have come, even those who had quit the game to focus on real life, but he supposed that was just wishful thinking.

At least the only three people left active in the guild came back, if only for a short while.

"Yaaawn… Man, I'm so sleepy!" Skye moaned. "I'm going to catch some Z's..."

"Eh? While you're still in the game?"

"I'll probably wake up when we get a forced log-out. It'll just be a short nap is all."

"Whatever you say..."

Skye grinned at him, then closed his eyes. Shortly after, Momonga heard him snoring softly. "He actually fell asleep." he muttered in amazement. That was fast.

"...it was fun." Satoru Suzuki smiled sadly behind his character, watching the countdown slowly reach it's end. "It really was a blast."

23:59:58

23:59:59

Momonga closed his eyes, waiting for the log out to happen-

00:00:00

"Lord Skye! !"

Without warning, Skye screamed as his whole world burned.

-episode end-

When I closed my eyes, I waited for my world to end. And when I opened them again, I found himself writhing in pain. By the end of it, my world had become a new reality. Nazarick, the NPCs, everything was now alive.

But something went wrong. Momonga isn't waking up. And Nazarick is in some new location. A place unknown to me. A world outside of YGGDRASIL. A world with its own dangers.

Next Episode: New World Order

Name: Skye
Gender: Male
Race: Heteromprhic - Automation (formerly), Human - Devil Buster
Height: 145 cm
Family: unnamed parents
Occupation: High School Student, Part-Time Worker
Karma: Positive 100 ~ Neutral Good
NPC: The Bride
Hobby: Going on adventures

Racial
Devil Buster (15)
Vampire (5)
Mage (5)
Demon (15)
etc (20)

Job
Swordmaster (10)
Thief (5)
Sentinel (5)
Rune Master (10)
etc (10)

Note:

The Devil Buster Class - The Devil Buster Race is only available as part of a Limited Time Special Event. This class was meant for versatile magic and sword playstyle. It can only be accessed through an item gained by completing the event. Using the item will reset your character entirely. Your character will be reverted to Level 1, but you will keep all your weapons and items. Your starts will be reset, but you will receive a +10 stat bonus for the reset. Additionally, your race will change as well. EXAMPLE: playing as a heteromorphic character such as an undead or dragon and using the item will turn your character into a human-based character.

Neurotic Disability Disorder - A rare disease that began to appear around the late 2080's. Symptoms appeared at a very young age, ranging from between three to five years of age. Individuals infected with {NDD} suffer from a lack of feeling or control over certain parts of their body. Examples include being unable to feel anything in one's hand and incapable of moving the fingers, thumbs and wrists. In extreme cases, patients may be paralyzed from the waist down. In spite of the various medical advancements in these last few years, there is still no treatment or cure for {NDD}.