Chapter 1:
Teleporting into the hallway in front of the meeting room Guifei let out a sigh. She was an hour late. In her defense, she had a lot of appointments today, but they all sounded like cheap excuses when she reminded herself of the importance of this meeting.
Scrolling through her [Friends List] she frowned. Only two had come to the meeting.
Realistically, this was more than she could have hoped for.
Scrolling through her Items List, she chose her desired item as well as a music box. She selected Epic Entrance#7 and let it run for a few seconds. At the fifth second, she slammed open the doors and posed with her hands coming under her chin, activating the item to shoot out blue sparks behind her.
"I HAVE ARRIVED!!"
The occupants in the room- a skeleton in a regal black robe and a slime- stared at the one who barged into the space in the midst of their conversation. It was a petite woman with long midnight black hair wearing a provocative black dress that had a slit exposing her black-clad stockings with fluorescent blue suction cup designs. She had shoulder-length evening gloves with the same design, and a headdress that had two blue protrusions on either side. Finishing off her otherworldly and enchanting appearance was a blue halo above her head.
Momonga, the skeletal overlord, and HeroHero the Elder Ooze stared for a few seconds longer before they turned back to each other. "So anyway, I told him to go f**k himself, threw my letter in his face, and walked outta there without explaining myself." HeroHero went back to his story.
"That's amazing. I would've loved to see his face as you walked out." Momonga chuckled, making the Tears of Joy emoji.
"Yeah, I really should have hidden a camera behind me. I could hear him screaming after me though so I'm satisfied." Winky emoji from the slime.
They continued their chatting while studiously ignoring the girl who was growing increasingly irate over being ignored. If her face was not frozen in a visage of bemusement, her otherworldly electric blue eyes would be narrowed to slits and her soft lips would be pouting in an attempt to appear intimidating.
"Are you guys really ignoring me?"
They didn't react.
"I'm right here!"
They kept ignoring her.
"I said, Acknowledge Me!" Finally, they looked at her.
"Oh, Guifei! Didn't see you there. When did you come in?" HeroHero said, sending a cheeky smile her way.
"... Don't you f***ing lie to me." Guifei hissed out as she made her way to her seat.
"Now now, an Idol shouldn't be cussing like that. What would your simps think?" asked the evil lich patronizingly.
The idol in question simply turned her head away with a 'Hmph!'.
"Really, the silent treatment? Now that's a bit childish isn't it?" All Momonga got was more silence.
"HMPH!"
"Oh dear, and I was just about to send you a box of chocolate - from that brand you liked. Looks like you don't want it then. Guess I'll have to mail it to Ulbert."
Guifei remained silent for a little longer. "W-Well, if you ask me so nicely how can I not say yes? That goat would neither appreciate the treasure you give him nor understand the efforts to put in to acquire it. Rejoice, for this Jade Beauty has chosen to accept this tribute and spare you from her thundering fury."
All three burst out laughing due to the over-the-top nature of their charade.
"Why were you so late today, Guifei? The rehearsal should have ended hours ago." Momonga asked after they all calmed down.
"Yeah, the rehearsal itself went well. The problems came after." Guifei grumbled.
"Oh?" The slime hummed.
"I was just about to Log In when I got a call from my manager. Apparently, some sponsors were upset that we didn't advertise their names properly, as if signing their names on everything was not enough. And I got called specifically because I refused to wear their chosen dress for the concert."
"So you got in trouble for that?" Momonga asked, astonished.
"No. Thankfully, my manager was able to explain to them why I couldn't wear a micro bikini on stage."
"Oh, the woes of being beautiful; surrounded by perverts." The slime had no business being so smug.
"Tch. If I wasn't making so much money I would have walked out a long time ago."
"And become a full-time streamer? Those sponsors would cry."
"I feed on their tears."
Chuckles resounded throughout the meeting room. It was no secret that Guifei hated her sponsors. As a famed genius musician, Guifei would often be the first choice to compose music for their content. She had produced music for movies, games, and songs and anything she took part in was guaranteed success.
The price was that she often had to deal with constant harassment from her sponsors. Or they would want more involvement in the projects in an attempt to claim credit, sometimes forced to comply with their often bizarre plans due to her contracts.
Some days she lies awake imagining how they would have managed anything without her genius.
"Enough about me. HeroHero, you said you finally quit your job?" Guifei asked the slime.
"Yup," HeroHero said happily. "I finally landed a better job, so I handed in my resignation and walked out." The slime sounded happier and more energetic than the last time they met.
"I'm glad. Does that mean you will be staying for the end?"
"Can't." The slime shook his head. "I'm starting tomorrow. Thankfully, I know some people there so I'll have some help."
Momonga and Guifei were both disappointed, but they understood how important this was for their friend.
They spent the rest of the time talking about this and that. From chatting about their daily life, or complaining about their work, they enjoyed each other's company.
"Ah! It's late." HeroHero exclaimed. "Sorry guys, I'm gonna have to leave."
"It's fine, HeroHero. We understand." Momonga waved away his concerns.
"Try to get the summer off. We can hold an IRL meet." Guifei said as she waved.
"See you guys then." And with that the slime left, leaving Momonga and Guifei alone.
"...Did anyone else come?" Guifei asked.
Momonga remained silent. She already knew the answer.
"Do they not care?" Momonga asked. "This is everything we built! Years of blood, sweat, and tears, and only the three of us came to see the end."
"It's not like they didn't want to come. They probably were too busy." She tried to placate her friend.
She knew. Everyone was too busy. They had jobs to do, families to take care of - an actual life.
Even she wouldn't have come today if it wasn't for Momonga. She knew how important this game was to him; YGGDRASIL may be her favorite game but it wasn't the only game she liked, just one of many.
For Momonga? It seemed like the only thing that seemed to bring some light into his life.
And that worried her.
"Maybe," Momonga said. He couldn't accept it in his heart even if he understood it in his mind.
If he could spare a few hours a week then the others should be able to log in once a month at least. Even Guifei, a career musician and a streamer, made time to Log in every once in a while.
Momonga buried the spark of resentment and stood up abruptly, catching Guifei's attention. He walked to the display holding the [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown]. Taking the staff in his hand he turned to Guifei, "The ending of Ainz Ooal Gown should be far more grand than two people sitting around chatting." Hearing that Guifei got excited and followed her Guild Master, eager to see what he had planned.
They walked through the hallways, passing by the homunculus maids as they went about their assigned patrols. Everywhere she looked, she felt nothing but pride mixed with melancholiness.
The passionate discussions with Whitebrim over the designs of the maids, the color palettes of the very hallway they walked, and even the decor.
She had taken a part in everything. And now, she will witness all of it fade away.
"Ah!" As she followed behind her friend dejectedly, she caught sight of the figure approaching her. Long wavy blond hair that went down to her feet, wearing a dress that showed generous cleavage and her legs, two golden bangles on her wrists, olive skin, amused yellow eyes, and a predatory smile. She had a golden piercing on her chin and scales under her eyes. On the sides of her head were three pairs of black horns with pink tips. She also had a long blue serpentine tail with black spikes at the end.
This was Vritra, her very own NPC.
Normally Vritra would be guarding the third floor, but last month she had taken her NPC on a walk throughout Nazarick, visiting every floor. She would have returned Vritra to her own floor but she had to attend an emergency meeting with her manager and had forgotten about it.
This was lucky as she was debating whether or not to quickly teleport over to the third floor and get her.
"Stop." Vritra stopped in front of her at her command. She took a moment to appreciate the beauty crafted by her hands. Guifei wasn't sure she would be able to keep her hands to herself if she didn't know she would get automatically logged out if she tried to subject the NPC to her… fantasies. "Follow."
They once again began their march, the two players followed by an NPC. After over a minute of silent walking, they stopped again as they came across a group of NPCs.
The first was Yuri Alpha, a beautiful girl wearing glasses with her dark hair in a bun. She seemed like the spitting image of what people would imagine to be the ideal maid, if you ignored the spiked gauntlets on her arms and her armored maid uniform.
Next to her was Lupusregina Beta, a dark-skinned beauty with red hair tied in two long braids and wearing a cap that hid her wolf ears. Her skirt had a long slit that revealed her thigh-high stocking-clad leg.
Next came Narberal Gamma. She looked similar in appearance to Yuri Alpha as both had dark hair and wearing the standard maid attire, yet Narberal seemed younger and looked like a cool beauty rather than Yuri's reliable older sister look.
Solution Epsilon was the lewdest of the group. Her uniform was short enough that it would have left her legs exposed if not for her armored leggings and the upper portion exposed a distracting amount of cleavage. She had blond hair styled in drills similar to every stereotypical Villainess noble girl.
Next was CZ2128 'Shizu' Delta, who was a short pink-haired girl with a delicate doll-like appearance. Her left eye was covered by an eyepatch and she wore a camo-themed scarf around her neck.
Entoma Vasilas came the last of the women and she was also somehow the most… bizarrely cute of them. She had mauve 'hair' styled in buns and her maid uniform was crossed with a long-sleeved kimono. Talismans covered her stocking-clad legs.
The older gentleman standing at the front of the group was wearing the stereotypical butler uniform. He had neatly combed silver hair and a perfectly groomed mustache and beard. He seemed like the personification of the 'Refined Daddy' archetype.
Six exotic beauties and one dashing older gentleman. They were the six members of the Pleiades Seven maids and the Head Butler.
Momonga gave them the order to follow them and they began their walk. They stopped in front of the entrance to the Throne Room.
"The End of Ainz Ooal Gown should be grand and memorable." He said in his deep, authoritative voice before pushing the doors open and entering the room.
Inside there was only one figure standing next to the throne. A bewitching beauty in a pure white dress, the black wings and curved horns on her head showing her inhumanity.
Momonga made his way up the dias and sat upon the Throne of Kings while the rest stopped before the throne.
Momonga looked down imperiously at her and the NPCs and gave an order. "Kneel!"
Guifei only giggled as she followed the NPCs and made her character kneel.
"Assistant Loremaster of the Realms Beyond, Chief Priestess of the Outer Gods, and Concertmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown, Guifei of The Everlasting Flame, I wish to hear some music as this world fades into oblivion."
"As you wish, my dear Guildmaster." Suppressing another giggle, Guifei removed a large black pipa from her inventory and sat in seiza position. She opened her menu and started changing some settings. Normally bards like her automatically played pre-prepared music from their instruments so that it was easier to cast their bardic spells. She on the other hand was going to play the pipa normally.
This feature was recently added to the game by the devs so people would buy their overpriced version of the VR Glove.
As she closed her menu while mentally reviewing some appropriate songs, she heard a loud groan. She saw him with his face in his face as he released pitiful sounds from his mouth.
"What's wrong?"
"No-Nothing! Nothing at all. Everything is just perfect." Guifei had no response to his lack of explanation but she definitely didn't buy it. "Ah, it's just that… um… I was just surprised to see a World Item in Albedo's possession. I wasn't aware it was taken out of the treasury, you see…"
Looking at Albedo she noticed that she was indeed holding a World Item that looked like a scepter with a floating orb, although its name escaped her at the moment.
That didn't explain his apparent panic.
"N-Nevermind that! Are you prepared?"
"... Yup. I'll be starting now." She decided to drop it as there wasn't time to get sidetracked.
She strummed the strings, playing a few notes. "The Nine Realms were born from the seed of chaos, nurtured by conflict, and now face the End with quiet resignation. The halls of Valhalla and the forests of Alfheim have gone silent, the forges of Nidavellir produce no craft, the mortals of Midgard no longer sing their prayers to the Gods, and the giants no longer roam the frozen wastelands of Jotunheim."
"The Vanir have lost their sight, Nidhogg falls to his final slumber, Surtr's flames have burnt out, and Hela joins her subjects in Death."
"And throughout all this, Nazarick stands unbowed. Ainz Ooal Gown still stands." She picked up the rhythm, going a bit faster. "The records of Nazarick will be everlasting, and they shall look upon our works in awe."
"Here and now, I offer a hymn to the World Tree and the Blind Dreamer. Let the Gate be opened. Let the Flames of our Legend surpass the Nine Realms. Let this Tomb become part of The Everlasting Dream."
And with that, she Sang.
She sang for The Chivalrous.
She sang for the Anarchists.
She sang for those who Loved the World.
She sang for those who Hated All.
She sang for those who were Lost.
Momonga sat on his throne, lost in the memories of the past. The victories, the losses. Everything was tainted with the bitter taste of loneliness.
And just as she finished the last song, the songstress glanced at the timer on her HUD. Only a few seconds left until the end.
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THUD!