A/N: Sooooooooooooooooo... I am back.

And I am sorry XD.

Sorry for many things, actually, but namely the whole 'hEy gUyS i'M dOnE sChOoL sO i CaN uPdAtE oNcE a WeEk nOw' and then barely two weeks later just taking my longest hiatus yet. Yeah...

I was unfortunately blindsided by a few things, some work-related, some more personal... all very distracting, to say nothing else.

Not all unpleasant though. I spent some time on some other personal projects, like my own original novel I started writing last year but had put on the back burner to concentrate on this fanfic. (I've churned out about thirty pages these past few weeks: not much, I know, and most of it remains largely unedited. but its a start)!

It was nice to write something for myself again, leisurely, and not have to worry about re-examining everything with a magnifying glass in preparation for a self-imposed deadline for others to read. I'll most likely mention my novel and its progress again briefly in future chapters of this fic, because it is an exciting endeavour for me :p and it's not entirely irrelevant, as it's a fantasy/adventure that draws inspiration from many shows and videogames alike, especially series like Overlord and Black Clover. Maybe some of you would be interested in checking it out at some point once it's ready.

But I can hear it already:

"is this dude serious? hasn't updated in two months, returns with a mere 5,000 word chapter, and he has the AUDACITY to plug his own work?! Heeeeeeeeeeeell no!" (- you, probably).

So I'll stop for now, sorry :p

On a more serious note, I'm feeling better now. Thank you for your continued patience, on with the story.

Chapter 23

"Albedo's Resolve"

POV Ainz

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Deep breath.

Exhale.

"Come Neia, we're leaving," I whisper into Neia's ear, giving her a gentle push off of me before standing up.

"W-where are we going, Ainz-sama..?" she asks, looking up at me from the ground with a flushed expression. perhaps regretting our separation.

I offer a melancholic smile and silently extend a hand down towards her. After a moment of hesitation, she grabs hold and I hoist her to her feet.

"...Home," I finally reply: "[Gate]".

"Ah!" Neia gasps excitedly, flashing a broad grin—but perhaps upon noticing my morosity, it quickly fades.

I narrow my eyes towards the opaque vortex, beyond which I'm certain the guardians of Nazarick are waiting—like lost and abandoned cattle...

"..."

"A-Ainz-sama..?" Neia ventures cautiously.

"...It's nothing, let's go".

If I spend any more time just staring at it, I might end up changing my mind...

Seizing Neai's hand—with far more force than was warranted—I lead her through the [Gate].

Wuuuuuong!

The world melts away, folds in on itself, and from the encompassing darkness there comes a light, paving the way for a very familiar environment.

Click Click!

My shoes tap against the marble floor of Nazarick's throne room, compelling eight miserable faces to swivel my way in disbelief.

I purse my lips in disgust. Of course they're still here, waiting, just as I had predicted. How pathetic.

I stare down at their now-bowed heads, dipped and trembling, the whole lot of them.

Not even Albedo or Demiurge have the gall to meet my eyes.

They know better than that, at least.

I hear Neia gulp behind me before she shuffles forward, seeking refuge at my side.

I place a hand on her shoulder—an innocuous reassurance that did not go unnoticed or appreciated by the guardian overseer, as I watch her shift agitatedly in place.

"What is it Albedo? Already trying to devise a plan to kill her off as well?" I ask nonchalantly.

"!"

I manage to catch a glimpse of the overseer's eyes widening fearfully before my view of them becomes obstructed by the top of her head.

"N-no, of course not, Ainz-sama, I would—!"

"This is Neia Baraja," I begin, silencing the stumbling succubus: "I'm sure some of you are already familiar with her: she was a very important asset during the time I spent in in the Holy Roble Kingdom, and has devoted herself wholeheartedly to the promulgation of my greatness. She'll be living in Nazarick for the time being".

"I-I will be..?" Neia exclaims in surprise.

I nod my head unequivocally, eliciting a fierce blush from the speechless captain.

I redirect my gaze to the kneeling guardians:

"And not that it means anything to any of you, apparently, but: Neia Baraja is under my protection as an honourary member of the Sorcerer Kingdom. Should any harm befall her, those responsible will be punished accordingly".

The guardians all nod emphatically.

"E-eh..?" Neia squeaks in confusion as I grab her hand again and lead her forward at a brisk pace, stepping past my prostrating subordinates without a second glance.

"I-I-I look forward to working alongside all of you!" Neia exclaims over her shoulder before I drag her out of the throne room.

Creeeeeak!

As soon as the heavy doors fully close behind us, I release Neia's hand and brace myself against the corridor's wall with a shaky sigh.

Ah… I feel so tired all of a sudden… perhaps I had been careless and expended too much mana during my rampage..?

But no, I barely depleted half of my mana pool. And mana fatigue is a very distinct sensation, much different from this… this dissociative heaviness. It feels like I'm unravelling...

"A-Ainz-sama!" Neia exclaims in surprise at my spontaneous deterioration, rushing to my side.

I wave her off dismissively.

"No, I'm fine, really… just a little tired, pardon me," I assure with a smile—unconvincingly, apparently, if Neia's reluctant expression is of any indication.

"I think I should go and rest now… I will send a maid to escort you to your chambers, so please wait here," I quickly add to change the topic: "Welcome to Nazarick, Baraja-san," I smile.

"A-ah… yes, thank you, Ainz-sama! For everything!" the captain sputters with an awkward bow.

I purse my lips guiltily. I wonder if she would be saying that if she knew about what I had just done..?

No, I don't want to think of that. But it's not like I can keep something like that from her for long... I'll have to tell her sooner rather than later, I suppose.

With a wave of my arm, I quickly teleport myself to my chambers, away from all prying eyes.

I let out a heavy sigh and eye my bed desperately.

There's so much to do, and even more to think about… is it really alright for me to sleep at a time like this..?

That's assuming I'd even be ABLE to fall asleep if I tried...behind my droopy eyelids, my mind is still buzzing with unconducive thoughts of the future.

In all likelihood, it will only become harder for me to fall asleep in the coming days, once I start setting things in motion.

... After I make some tough decisions.

...

And so the throne-room doors shut, separating the guardians once again from their Supreme One.

Though they could still vividly sense him just beyond the door, so painfully close, they might as well be separated by an infinitely-expansive chasm.

"He… he hates us…" the beast-tamer whispered in a soft, broken tone.

The guardians all shuddered.

"Yes… yes, it would appear so…" Albedo mumbled forlornly, staring blankly at the vacant throne.

It was over, the succubus figured. All of her dreams, all of her ambitions, were now gone: irretrievable, swallowed up by this depthless chasm, the edge of which she herself was teetering precariously.

She furtively glanced around her at everyone else. Surely, they must all despise her too. It was her idea, after all, to kill Jade. She was mostly responsible for their current situation. There was nothing left for her on this side of the rift, it seemed. But perhaps that was for the best.

She had hurt Ainz-sama—the man whom she supposedly loves—in countless ways in such a short period of time. She had tricked him, lied to him, gone against his word, and gone behind his back.

Those aren't things you do to the people you love, under any circumstance. She couldn't help but wonder what was WRONG with her.

"S-so… what exactly do we do now..?" Shalltear murmured in a dazed stupor.

But her question went unanswered, for not even Demiurge could think of a way to salvage their blunder.

Hmm?

Albedo looked down at her hand, trembling, clutching her war axe, holding it close to her chest. Its cold edge glistened tantalizingly.

When had she conjured it..? She did not mean to…

Or perhaps she did, subconsciously. There was, after all, nothing she could do now. Nowhere to go, except inside the chasm, of course.

And so in trance-like capitulation, Albedo began to slowly raise her weapon's edge towards her throat.

She felt nothing as she did, except for the distant prick of the onyx blade against her flesh.

It was over. She was sure Ainz-sama wouldn't even bother resurrecting her if she did something like this. Her death would likely elate him, she realized.

Removing herself from his life was the best thing she could do to make up for her sins: to do that which her kind-hearted master could not bring himself to carry out. It was the least she could do, a paltry atonement on her part—but it was something.

The axe neared ever closer. Its immaculate edge pricked the skin of her neck and she shivered in anticipation, taking a moment to swallow one final time before pressing it in deeper.

She felt her skin break open, and a tear—not born from physical pain—rolled out of her closed eyes.

Yes, this was the least she could do now.

!

But her hand was suddenly stayed, impeded by a firm grip.

The overseer's eyes flashed open in surprise.

Fwishhh!

A cold expulsion of air blasted her face at point-blank range, and the overseer felt her eyelashes begin to frost over.

"What. Were. You. About. To. Do. Exactly?" the insect warrior spat out, his mandibles clicking in a disparaging rhythm mere inches away from Albedo's recoiling face.

"C-cocytus…" the overseer stammered shamefully.

"How. Cowardly." the guardian reproached in a tone more biting than the chill of his breath. Like an adult confiscating an unsafe toy from a child, he ripped the axe from Albedo's trembling grasp and tossed it to the side. She winced as it clattered clamorously across the floor

Cocytus stood up with a huff of disgust and turned his back to the trembling overseer.

All eyes were on her, widened in sympathetic disbelief, only adding to her humiliation.

"You. Do. Not. Get. To. Take. The. Easy. Way. Out." Cocytus hissed, turning back around with his arms folded disapprovingly over his chest: "You. Do. Not. Deserve. Nor. Have. The. Luxury. To. Act. So. Selfishly." he added relentlessly.

The overseer could no longer contain herself, her white-hot embarrassment.

"Then what the hell do you propose we do, Cocytus?! There's nothing, we're finished!" she wailed, boiling over from what she believed, for her own sake, to be an unnecessarily drawn-out beratement.

Though deep down she was only frustrated with herself.

"There. Is. Something. We. Can. Do." Cocytus assured with a resolute nod, and everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"Something... we can do..?" Demiurge ventured hopefully.

The fifth-floor guardian hummed thoughtfully, taking a step back, turning his back to the kneeling collective.

A prolonged exhale of cold air ruffled the tense atmosphere.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he turned back around.

"There. Is. Only. One. Thing. We. Can. Do." he assured unequivocally, staring down at the overseer with a determined glare: "We. Must. Continue. To. Serve. Ainz-sama. With. All. Our. Hearts. As. We. Always. Have. And. Devote. Every. Fibre. Of. Our. Beings. To. Better. Serve. Him" he revealed plainly.

The succubus clenched her fists at such an obvious, uninspired suggestion.

"Cocytus… I fear that that won't be enough this time!" she admitted crestfallenly.

The dark elves' ears drooped in gloomy concurrence. Shalltear's face was buried in her hands. Both Demiurge's and Pandora's Actor's faces were inscrutable masks, stiffened by concentration, hopelessly deep in thought.

"Perhaps. Not. But…" Cocytus trailed off candidly.

"But," another voice rang out, drawing everyone's attention towards the throne-room's entrance.

"But," Sebas repeated: "at the very least, it would be a good start. Our predicament may look hopeless now, but I sense that things can and will get better. it may take months, years, or even decades of unfaltering loyalty on our part, but... I believe that if Ainz-sama truly lacked the capacity to forgive us, it's unlikely that he would've spared us to begin with. Though we are undeserving, Ainz-sama has given us a chance at redemption. Would it not be another inexcusable blunder on our part to squander such a precious opportunity and just give up?" he pointed out while stepping forward.

With a gentle smile, he extended a hand down towards the fallen succubus

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise, sparkling moistly with hope, though there still remained a looming cloud of pragmatic skepticism to dampen their newfound optimism.

As benevolent and altruistic as lord Ainz was, could they actually still have a chance at redemption..?

The dark elf's ears perked back up. Shalltear found the composure to peak through her fingers. Demiurge and P.A shook their heads, managing for the first time in quite a while to evacuate their headspaces.

"Cocytus… Sebas…" the overseer whispered, glancing back and forth between the two of them and wondering how they could remain so strong in such a hopeless situation. A bit tentatively, she reach up and grabbed Sebas' hand: with a reassuring squeeze and a gentle tug, he helped her to her feet.

"Don't… don't you hate me now?" the succubus murmured.

Sebas shook his head: "hate you? No, nothing like that. No more so than I hate myself, at least," he whispered sardonically, releasing the overseer's hand to clench his own shut.

The overseer's heart plummeted. Perhaps out of all the guardians, Sebas was the least deserving of their Lord's scorn. He and Cocytus both, actually. They were reluctant, but she had played to their subservient natures and preyed upon their doubts to convince them that Jade was a legitimate problem.

And now, to hear that he did not loathe her—and she was almost certain that she would loathe him if their positions were reversed—well...

She felt truly, truly awful.

"Sebas… Cocytus… all of you… I'm sorry for—" she began, but Sebas raised his other hand to stop her.

"To apologize now would only be an insult to our pride and dignity. It's just as Ainz-sama pointed out: I made a choice," he assured, pausing for a moment to look around at everyone: "we all did. We are all culpable".

"Do… do you all feel the same?" Albedo asked the room, doubtfully.

How could they not despise her?

But to her surprise, everyone immediately nodded their heads with a resolute sincerity that sent a warm tingle rippling through her chest.

It would seem that they didn't actually hate her after all.

The demon cleared his throat.

"I am at least equally responsible for what happened as you are, Albedo, and so to condemn you would And so I too shall take a moment to ask for everyone's forgiveness…" Demiurge murmured, taking a moment to straighten his tie before rising to his feet: "And perhaps now, more than ever, we need to work together".

"I agreeEEEEEEEEEE!" Pandora's actor followed suit with a dramatic cry: "as if I could hold a grudge against such raaa~aavishing BEEEEEEEEEEEEUATY anyway!"

"M-mhm! I-I don't hate you A-Albedo-san! A-And I-I definitely don't want Ainz-sama to hate us! S-so we should stick together-!" Mare cried tearfully, scrambling to his feet.

"M-mare…" Aura squeaked in awe. With a shake of her head—not wanting to be outdone by her brother—she too jumped to her feet with a smile.

The vampire was the last to get up.

"Well, I suppose we can forgive you this once, Albedo. BUT, the fact remains that you were still the one who set everything in motion," she snorted with a nonchalant sneer: "I still think you should be held accountable for your actions in some way..."

"Shallty…" Aura groaned warningly.

And yet, contrary to everyone's expectations, Albedo dipped her head forward.

"I couldn't agree more, Shalltear-san," the succubus concurred, much to the Victorian-esque guardian's astonishment: "I should—no, I MUST be punished, thoroughly, for putting all of you in such an unfavourable circumstance due to my… jealousy," she confessed shamefully: "I failed all of you, as both your leader and your comrade. Although it's true that you all could've refused my plan, I all but coerced you into it. I thrust what I had come to learn upon all of you in a fear-mongering and self-servingly biased fashion," she confessed glumly.

"..."

The overseer smiled at her comrades' conflicted silence.

"Glad to see we're all in agreement. So I implore you all, collectively: devise a suitable punishment for me, AND Regardless of what you come up with, I've already decided on a punishment I will self-impose from this day forth," she quickly added before anyone could say anything: "I… I've decided to give up on my pursuit of becoming Ainz-sama's wife—".

!

And as soon as the words had left her mouth, her breath hitched. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders: it was done. she had verbalized the potentially self-destructive thought she had been mulling over in the back of her mind these past few days

Now shared with others, the thought was no longer hers alone. It was made real, irrevocable.

And she was okay with that.

"A-Albedo…" Shalltear murmured in disbelief. Though she should've been thrilled by such news, she was not. The succubus' sincerity completely took the wind out of her sails.

"I only ask," the overseer prattled on, disturbing the sombre silence once again: "that you temporarily put your grievances with me aside for now, Shalltear, until we manage to salvage our relationship with the supreme one. I know that's a selfish request, but… as Demiurge said, we need to work together now, united as one. I… I need to do right by Ainz-sama, and all of you…"

Everyone nodded with contemplative sympathy—bittersweet tears—brimming in their eyes.

"Thank you all, truly…" the succubus whispered with a heavy sigh.

Never becoming Ainz-sama's wife, huh... could she really adhere to such a punishment..?

Yes. She had to.

Even if by some miracle Ainz-sama were to forgive her and there was a chance… she could never forgive herself. She didn't deserve him.

Surely there was someone out there who would be a better fit for him. There had to be.

A melancholic smile etched its way onto the overseer's otherwise stoic (or perhaps 'numb', would be a better word) countenance as the image of a certain woman flashed through her mind.

Yes… at this rate, perhaps he would end up with her after all.

Albedo shook her head. No, she would not consider such things. Just because she was accepting the fact that her relationship with the Overlord would not, or should not, develop beyond that which it already was—a comical instance of unrequited love—did not mean she was willing to entertain such torturous thoughts. Her heart could not take that.

And so she shook her head, taking a moment to look around at all of her compatriots before taking a deep breath. Come tomorrow, no more mistakes or slip-ups. "Well then… let's get to work, shall we?"

POV Ainz

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Another sleepless night for me, I guess: where time seems both infinitely quick and painfully slow—a dissociation brought on by terrifying uncertainty, and perpetuated by the sheer sleep-repelling sense of dread fostered from the sheer discrepancy between my inner perception of the passage of time and reality. On one hand, after being deep in thought for what feels like an eternity, I'll emerge from my spiralling headspace only to discover a mere five minutes have passed. And yet other times, after gazing vacuously at the ceiling for what feels like a few seconds, I'll blink away the numbness only to discover an hour has passed.

Head buried in my pillow; tossing and turning; sweating profusely.

And to combat this insufferable limbo, what have I, the supreme and infallible ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, resorted to?

Well… behold! my unparalleled genius—!

"...One-thousand-six-hundred and thirty-two Manglyan Sheep… one-thousand-six-hundred and thirty-three Manglyan sheep," I whisper to myself hopelessly while staring blankly at my room's ceiling.

"..."

Oh who am I kidding, I've already tried this before and it didn't help at all!

I flip over too quickly out of frustration and accidentally bash my head against my bed's headboard.

"Yowch, that's hard…" I exclaim, rubbing my temple (a reflexive response, it didn't actually hurt at all) while tapping the solid piece of oak with my knuckle.

!

"Ah, maybe if I do that a few dozen more times, I could knock myself out..?"

I laugh quietly. Much more likely than that, I would end up destroying the headboard before I even incurred one health-point worth of damage, let alone knock myself out.

That isn't how I need to be 'using my head' right now.

"Haaaaaah…"

All this restlessness, spawned from a single question:

What comes next?

And just as elusive as sleep itself, so too is the answer to such a question. In the four hours since I first laid myself down on this bed, constantly dwelling on this thought, I'm no closer to figuring anything out.

The future… what does it hold for me and Nazarick?

I turn my head to the side and mournfully eye Jade's diary, innocuously perched upon my bedside table.

I read through it all, every page I had skipped earlier, thinking it might help. Distract me, comfort me, guide me, inspire me… do something that could help answer the burning question of what now?

And yet in so doing—intrusively reading the words that were likely only ever written for herself—I was instilled with a peculiar sense of intimacy, and thus I continue to dither.

The guardians of Nazarick... I have no idea how to feel about them: I can neither hate nor forgive them. So where does that leave me, exactly?

In a peculiar and awful middle-ground, that's where.

Maybe… Maybe I just need a break. To collect my thoughts. Ah, but there's a troublesome thought, chock-full of complications.

Leaving Nazarick.

!

I bolt upright in bed, compelled by the anxiety created from the mere consideration of such a concept.

"[Greater Elicit Emotion]," I quickly chant, donning my undead and unfeeling form. The pit in my stomach promptly dissolves.

I stare down at my skeletal hands appreciatively.

Well, getting to sleep is officially out of the question, and I certainly don't want to be at the mercy of my rampant imagination for hours to come so… I suppose I'll head to the library. Maybe a change of scenery would do me some good right now. Maybe I can find a good book to distract me…

!

A change of scenery after all, is it…

Ah, no more thinking about things like that. One thing, and one day at a time. There are plenty of things I need to investigate before I can, in good conscience, even consider pursuing a change of scenery.

First and foremost, I need to figure out who left Jade's diary at my doorstep and tipped me off to the guardians' betrayal.

That'll be the first order of business tomorrow: and I think I have the perfect plan to determine who it was.

POV Zesshi

(the next day)

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.

.

"The Sorcerer King did what now?" I ask in shock.

The Black Scriptures captain lets out a despondent sigh and shakes his head.

"He completely wiped out Roble's capital city. Over a hundred thousand casualties, most of which were civilians—gone, in the blink of an eye. It's a city of the dead now," he explains.

I bite my lower lip. Just what in the world did he hope to accomplish with such a gruesome display of wanton destruction..? I mean, I'm not going to paint myself a hypocrite by pretending to condemn his actions, but… it doesn't seem like something a man as mild-mannered and cunning as himself would do out of the blue.

Perhaps I was wrong about him after all? Maybe he's forsaken his ambition to conquer the continent peacefully. But then again, if I was mistaken on what kind of a man he was, I likely wouldn't be alive right now… so then what? Is this all apart of some grander scheme I'm not privy to?

Maybe I should ask him myself? He did leave me a few scrolls to contact him with if something came up.

I glance back to the captain, kneeling at my feet.

"Who knows about this incident?" I inquire

If word of this incident gets out to the nobles, or Gods forbid the general population, it will utterly cripple the Theocracy's vassalization process.

"Who knows about the incident, you ask?" the captain parrots with a tired smile: "just about everyone by now, I'd expect. The first ones to discover the atrocity were merchants who travelled to the Roble city this morning: word spread like wildfire along the commercial channels, and by midday, long before even I caught wind of things, every shopping district in the kingdom was abuzz with the news".

I click my tongue in annoyance. Well there goes that hope…

I clench my fist. Ainz Ooal-Gown-dono… what the hell are you playing at?! I must be missing something...

!

Don't tell me! Could this be… an elaborate plan to test my merits and my loyalty..?

That sneaky—! Yes, that must be it! So that's what this is about, it has to be.

And to think, I was just about to contact him and ask about his intentions! I would've made a fool of myself!

I sneer triumphantly.

"Zesshi..?" the captain asks, noticing my expression.

"It's nothing".

"... Do you know something? Why he did it?"

I narrow my eyes. Perhaps I underestimate his cleverness.

"I have my suspicions, but nothing concrete. For now, I'll need some time with the pontifex to consider some things. In the meantime, you can go: gather some men, holy men if you can, and do some reconnaissance in the city—try to mitigate the deterioration of the Sorcerer King's image to the best of your abilities. Report back by sunset," I order.

"...Understood," the captain says with a bow of his head, glancing furtively towards the hazy-eyed man sitting beside me with the slightest of scowls.

"Now now, that's no way to look at our esteemed pontifex. Show some respect," I tease.

The captain rises to his feet, wiping wearily at his face.

"I'll show no respect to a puppet when the handler of its strings stands before me," he snorts. Turning around with a flippant wave, he exits the throne room.

"You two, go with him," I bark, addressing the entrance guards. At their hesitation, I place a hand on the pontifex's shoulder, drawing him from his stupor.

"Yes, leave us," he orders quietly.

After exchanging confused looks, they both bow and quietly depart.

"Good boy," I whisper in the pontifex's ear with a sly grin,

Just you wait, Ainz-sama, I'll pass your silly little test, you conniving overlord… and then, once the Theocracy is fully under your control, and I've earned your trust, I'll make myself home at Nazarick by your side and then I will convince you to bestow your seed upon me and—!

!

I place a hand to my chest. What… what is this… beating? My heart..?

I close my eyes and focus on the feverish rhythm pounding against my palm.

Is this what's called excitement..? I thought myself long since incapable of having such feelings. It's been so long since anything's made me feel so… invigorated.

I finally have a purpose again, a chance at finally attaining my lifelong dream…

Ah… I can't recall the last time my heart raced this quickly… it's a bit uncomfortable.

I take a deep breath to subdue my pulse.

Ainz-Ooal Gown-dono… I'll make you mine if it's the last thing I do.

...

A/N: Again sorry for being gone for so long, and sorry this chapter is short... it's really more of a setup, to get this story on all interested parties' radar again, and ease myself back into the right headspace for this narrative.

As an additional aside, I forgot to mention in the last update, that throughout April I went back and re-edited some of this story's chapters (the first six or seven, I cannot recall). I spent many hours polishing and editing them-the story and plot remains unchanged, obviously, so it isn't necessary that you go back and read it again. but some of them REALLY needed some cleaning up as far as I'm concerned. I'm almost surprised any of you stuck through with this story O_o. The zesshi vs lupusregina fight in chapter 6, which, at the time, I was extremely proud of, was particularly HORRENDOUS. It is MUCH better now, so if you're a long-time reader and ever feel bored, I'd suggest going back and reading it.

It was both uplifting and discouraging experience to revisit the older chapters and see how terrible some parts were... uplifting, because it means I've grown a lot as a writer (something which is often difficult to notice in oneself), but it was also discouraging, because I can't help but wonder If I'll look back at these more recent chapters in a year's time and cringe all the same.

I intend to go back and revisit chapter 7 onwards at a later date, but for now, clearly, I need to focus on continuing the actual story before backtracking again.

Thank you for your continued patience, see you next chapter.