If you notice any errors, please feel free to give me constructive feedback. English is not my first language, so if you notice any mistakes, please mention them in the comment section at the end of the chapter. I do not own Overlord. All property rights belong to their respective creators. Let's begin the story!
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Chapter-38
Dragon's Soul;
Chaos Sea, Ninth Floor,
The Eternal Flying Castle of Utopia – Avalon;
New World,
Overlord Verse;
Arrodes, after the task delegation war, made haste to find his master and creator—Mors. His Great Master, Mor Initium Kai Telos, was commonly addressed as Mors; at least, that was what Arrodes had observed, along with many other titles used by the players and Supreme Ones of Vanitas Regnum Anta.
He arrived at the edge of the waterfall, stepping through the portal that led into a Door, deep within the Dragon's Soul—a private castle belonging to his great master floating freely in Ninth Floor. Entering a vast chamber known as the Key of Stars, Arrodes paused to take in the sight. The room was immense, its walls lined with countless doors of varying shapes and sizes, some suspended mid-air. Wisps of light drifted lazily through the air casting a faint glow on polished marble floors.
Above, a grand glass dome displayed constellations that shifted subtly, and at its center stretched the image of an immense tree whose branches reached into the stars. At the roots of this mystical tree lay a colossal, slumbering beast. The painting of the mystical tree and stars left Arrodes in awe for its realistic feel. 'The tree is most probably depiction of Yggdrasil but what is that blue orb?' Arrodes wondered as he gazed at the enormous blue orb with many green and brown patches upon it – conveying its existence as a planet, floating above.
Arrodes shook his head, dispelling the lingering distraction, and made his way out of the castle. He emerged into a small garden set beside the grand structure of the Castle, both perched upon a floating island. Before him stretched an endless expanse of sky—no horizon, no land, only clouds drifting lazily across a vast azure sky.
Not far away, another fragment of land drifted in the sky, small and empty save for a single wooden door and a patch of grass that filled the land.
Tilting his gaze upward, Arrodes caught sight of a colossal dragon coiled gracefully around the spiraling towers of the castle. Sunlight glinted faintly across its black scales as it lifted its head, and a faint smile crossed Arrodes' lips.
The dragon stirred, its enormous body wriggled through the sky. With a grace of a dragon, it flew high to the sky, and dived back, making an arch above. It descended in a graceful arc. With a slow, deliberate motion, it glided effortlessly through the open sky until its vast form hovered before him. Its face loomed like a living mountain, yet its golden eyes were calm.
"Greetings, Deicide," Arrodes said, his tone carrying both respect and familiarity as he gazed upon enormous figure.
"Greetings to you as well, Greater Demon Arrodes," the dragon replied. Unlike Arrodes, the Dragon's voice resonated within Arrodes' mind. As the dragon communicated through telepathy.
Arrodes bowed in formal greeting, and the dragon mirrored the gesture with a slow, deliberate dip of its massive head.
When the exchange ended, Arrodes studied Deicide, curiosity glinting in his crimson eyes. "But tell me, Deicide, why are you here? And not by Great Master's side?" His tone held genuine puzzlement at the sight.
The dragon remained silent at the question before letting out a deep sigh. Its expression only deepened Arrodes' confusion. Seeing this, the Dragon named Deicide shook his head and finally spoke.
"I was left by Great Master to guard his castle before he left," it muttered, then its massive form shimmered and shrank, morphing into a small wolf-like creature with dual-shaded fur. Comparable in size to a wolf pup, it stretched lazily, its black-and-white coat gleaming in the sunlight.
Arrodes stared at the pup, taken aback by the sudden transformation, when a voice entered his mind—Deicide speaking through telepathy. "It's a polymorph skill of dragons, one I inherited from Great Master. Easier for me to travel this way," the young creature explained.
Arrodes only shook his head at the childish display, though his question still hung unanswered. "I suppose that's true, but you've yet to explain why you are not at Great Master's side after he was enraged," Arrodes pressed, irritation creeping into his tone.
The wolf pup dipped its head, avoiding his gaze in silent shame. But Arrodes' patience, however, was wearing thin at the evasive replies.
Deicide lifted his head, sensing the ominous aura seeping from Arrodes. Though confident in his ability to fight a Child of Yggdrasil and drag the battle to a stalemate, there was no reason for such a clash. Shaking off the distracting, shameful thought, he decided to speak plainly.
"While I was left to guard Great Master's castle, some time later I sensed a strange disturbance in Avalon. Curious, I attempted to teleport to Master's side to investigate," Deicide said, his voice low.
"It was then… with the rest of Master's NPCs and servants scattered across dimensions he created, that I felt it firsthand. I felt what you and others couldn't begin to comprehend…." His breathing slowed, the memory threatening to eat away at his mind. Arrodes watched in silence, trying to piece the events together.
Arrodes remained quiet to let the dragon continue its tale, to let it confirm his hypothesis, of the possible course of events, that played out.
"I was struck by a power that nearly consumed my mind and my very essence. It was destructive… that I barely survived with my Level-100 status. And even now, I carry unnumerable debuffs, each one eroding and cleaving away at my health, mana, stamina… and even sanity."
Arrodes understood the situation. Avalon, created from the remnants of a World, was classified as a World Item. Only World Enemies, World Champions, World Class Skill holders, and World Item holders were immune or mostly unaffected by its power—though only World Enemies were truly unaffected.
Unable to find the right way to express himself, Deicide blurted out, "I was scared of Master—I couldn't approach him in his rage. His fury burned everything in its path. The whole floor was set ablaze… even the Dragon's Soul caught fire, as the flames of destruction threatened to consume everything here. I barely survived. Though… Great Master has calmed now." His gaze lingered on the Dragon's Soul, preserved in pristine condition, as if what happened had been nothing more than a dream.
The floor, separated by a dimensional barrier that mostly blocked the effects of his outburst, it left the NPCs in other floors with only mild symptoms. Since the floor was part of the Guild Base – A World Item, its restoration required neither gold, nor player intervention. The Guild Base repaired itself, restoring everything to its set condition in record time.
Arrodes remained silent, listening to the dragon's account, yet still failed to grasp the fear it spoke of. Everything within Avalon – NPCs, pets, structures, all existed to serve and, if necessary, sacrifice themselves for the Great Master's cause. It was still quite a diluted way of thought process among the NPCs, as to them, everything in existence only existed, because of the graceful nature of their Supreme Lord, and it was their privilege and duty to sacrifice their meaningless existence to serve the Supreme Ones.
While, pets from Yggdrasil, unlike the NPCs, were not blindly self-sacrificial, though pets still possessed self-preservation characteristics, albeit for situations when their master's weren't in harms way or were in danger. As long as their master wasn't endangered, they lived to their nature as species with self-preservation instincts.
Shaking his head to dismiss such unnecessary thoughts, which would only delay him from serving his master, Arrodes picked up the wolf pup into his arms and cast
******
Chaos Sea,
Ninth Floor: The Eternal Flying Garden of Utopia – Avalon;
New World,
Overlord Verse;
Kai lay slumped on the floor, eyes fixed on the ceiling, indifferent to the aftermath of his outburst. Throughout the destruction and the seamless restoration carried out by Avalon's autonomous functions as the World Item, and he had not moved an inch. Whether it was the influence of his character lore and race setting or simply the exhaustion of a burned-out soul, he made no effort to shield himself. Though the flames had failed to harm him – As the flames were born of him.
Yet his stillness was unnatural, unlike him, and unlike any sane human's instinct in such a situation. As he made no effort to shield himself from the flames, letting himself burn and possibly take damage, coupled with pain that was now transmigrated to him.
Ordinarily, someone unaware of the true nature of their surroundings, without exact measure of their strength would have fled from the fire, perhaps testing its prowess before daring to endure it. But Kai, fully unaware of the nature and the prowess of the flames, simply watched the inferno with a detached fascination. It was the first time he had witnessed such flames or used it. It was unlike his old self who loved to explored the unknown, it was far from the curious and eager self who once sought to try anything new. Even his love for magic and his meticulous preparations for arrival in the New World seemed muted, as though that old self had been buried beneath layers of disinterest.
He refused to dwell on the New World, on Players, Dragon Lords, or Yggdrasil itself. 'Fuck Ainz Ooal Gown and the Dragon Emperor, who supposedly summoned players to this world,' he thought bitterly. The future was uncertain, and his mind drifted instead to his past, his second life, which he had treated with casual indifference. His nonchalant attitude, where he treated it as nothing more than a stepping stone toward what he believed would be his true calling: that of a Sovereign Overlord in a fantasy world.
He had been given much in both lives, yet it was always taken from him in the end. He wasn't sure if the trade-offs were worth the sacrifice. But from a neutral point of view, an immortal Dragon-Demon life in a fantasy world sounded far better than a happy life in a dystopian one as a mortal. But to Kai now, it didn't matter. He felt betrayed and it was quite simple to him. 'Hmm. It's the same age-old question about crying in a Lamborghini,' he thought.
The excitement he once felt for his plans had soured, leaving him indifferent. Lying on the ninth floor of his guild, he thought of her. He had long kept his distance from love, armed with his experience in the field, he preferred to avoid its pitfalls. Decoding himself and his priorities, he had streamlined his life, and had even removed or suppressed those unnecessary flaws. With his years of experience built in the field, he had learned his fair share of errors that he had to deal with.
Yet in his esoteric nature to seek the Big O, in his life, she had managed to pull him in with her nested layers of presence in his life. That he never knew existed. With the way she made him feel wanted without guilt or manipulation, as she never expected anything from him. Threw him off his bound, as he looped to infinity. While, she saw him for who he was, changed her life to fit his, while he had given her almost nothing. She was the girl who crossed the world for his attention and found joy in the small things he enjoyed.
Kai wasn't sure where to go from here, as he remained pathless. He questioned his existence and the universe. It felt as though the universe had played one cruel prank after another on him. Every time he managed to get a grip on life, every time he was close to building something worth holding onto, it was ripped away by some badly timed twist of fate. A cruel jest from the universe. Yet, it happened every single time, he was close to figuring out his life.
He cursed the universe and the supposed imaginary deity who might have been responsible for pulling the strings of his life. All in jest, as they jested through trying to balance his chaotic life, where they had only managed to twist it further, bleeding the joy from his life, as they had fu*ked the soul out of his life in due process.
Lying sprawled across the floor, drunk on grief and intoxication, he muttered to no one, 'I don't know what I'm supposed to do… Fu*ked by the ghost of you. Oh, take me back to the night we met.'
'When the night was full of terrors, and your eyes were full of tears, from the thrill and glee. After you've fu*ked my life to your heart's desire.'
"Oh, take me back to the night we met." He muttered, sprawled across the floor, his mind filled with destructive ideas, and plans.
"I had all and then – Most of you – Some and now – None of you." He exhaled a laugh without humour. "Take me back to the night before you fu*ked my life."
His thoughts grew darker, more dangerous. Images bloomed in his mind—of setting worlds aflame, of burning not just this planet but the whole universe. His gaze even drifted toward Earth. Then, inevitably, his mind turned to Yggdrasil. If the Great Tomb of Nazarick had arrived in the New World alongside him… could he storm it? Conquer it?
"Take me… to the night we met," he whispered again, though now the words carried an indifference.
******
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**The End**
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