Chapter 2:
This was meant to be the last day of YGGDRASIL. At midnight, the servers would be shut down, and any remaining players would be automatically logged out.
THUD!
So it surprised Guifei when she opened her eyes to see herself still in the throne room instead of her room.
She looked around and saw Momonga doing the same.
She was still in seiza position on the cold floor in front of the throne with the pipa in her-
No. The pipa was not - in fact - in her hand. It was face down on the ground. How clumsy of her.
'Did the devs delay the logout?' Guifei thought as she tried opening her menu, but no window appeared. 'What? Is my HUD glitching?'
There was a pounding in her head, a distant echo of drums, and a cacophony of muted screams.
And then the world went sideways.
"My Lady! Are you alright?!" A panicked voice of a woman came from behind her followed by a hand on her shoulder.
It seemed it was her who had fallen.
"My Lady!"
"Lady Guifei!"
Multiple screams of concern echoed throughout the throne room. None of which she recognized. She felt hands grab her and help her sit up from her shameful position on the floor.
"Are you alright, my Lady?" Vritra, her NPC was cradling her to her chest. She felt her mind focus, the mist clearing from her mind.
"I'm fine. I was just dizzy."
She was momentarily struck by the beauty of the olive-skinned beauty. Even her stern gaze did not detract from her beauty. In fact, in Guifei's opinion, it only added to it. It was then that she noticed that she was cradled by the NPC with her head right next to her large bosom.
As if sensing the direction her thoughts were going Vritra smiled mischievously. A pink tongue darted out briefly, wetting her lips and she looked at the girl in her hands like a morsel to be consumed.
The ravenette sputtered excuses as she tried to deny… she didn't know what she was denying but one thing she knew about Vritra's type was that she would get eaten alive if she showed any weakness.
It was then that it struck her. The NPCs were moving unprompted, changing expressions and even speaking. This was impossible. It was almost as if…
Guifei was interrupted by a loud sensual moan. Turning to the source she found…-
"Momo what the hell?!" Hearing her scream the skeleton quickly retracted his hand making Albedo whine in disappointment.
"Well?" Guifei was now standing with her arms crossed while tapping her foot.
"Ahem! One moment." Was it her or did her friend's voice sound deeper and more regal? "Sebas! I want you to leave the Tomb and do a quick scout of the area around the guild. If you encounter intelligent life, invite them to the base. Avoid conflict as much as you can, and take the Pleiades with you as support."
"As you wish my Lord!" The response from the butler startled the raven-haired songstress and she watched in shock as he and the combat maids simply walked out of the Throne Room as they were ordered. As far as she knew, the NPCs were not capable of following complex commands or even leaving the base.
"As for the rest of you," Momonga continued as he stroked his bony chin, "Gather all Floor Guardians except for Victim to the 6th Floor in an hour. This should be enough time to do a quick sweep of their respective floors."
Albedo, as expected, verbally acknowledges the order and immediately heads to leave the room. Just for a brief moment as she passed Guifei, a dark look came over her face which disappeared almost as instantly as it came.
As the doors closed, the skeletal Overlord turned to Vritra, who was still standing next to her mistress. "I have some matters to discuss with my guildmate." seeing Vritra making no moves to leave he added, "Privately."
Vritra looked conflicted and turned to Guifei.
"I will be fine." She put a reassuring smile on her face. "You have your orders, go."
Vritra was still reluctant but nodded nonetheless and left.
As the doors closed for the final time, Guifei wanted a few seconds to make sure nobody would suddenly burst in, and turned to her friend.
"What's going on Momo? I can't open my Menu and the NPCs are walking around as if they weren't just a lump of data a minute ago!"
Guifei considered herself a rational person, able to handle any unexpected situation due to her vast improvisational skills developed over the years of being a streamer and a musician.
But how was she supposed to react to something so nonsensical as being trapped in a video game with her friend surrounded by NPCs who were no longer digital programs? So it was no wonder that she ended up having a panic attack.
Moreover, if she didn't make it in time for the concert she would lose her perfect record. She might even lose her job, and her studio apartment, and be forced to live on the streets!
She knew what happened to the homeless! She was not going to a 'recycling plant'!
Momonga quickly went to his friend and embraced her, holding her much smaller trembling frame.
"Yu, calm down! Everything will be okay. We will figure this out." She wanted to lash out but Momonga's use of her real name stopped her and she fell back to her breathing exercises. She leaned into his embrace and stayed there until she felt calm enough.
XXX
"I'm fine now. Sorry about… just now I…"
Momonga put his large bony hand on Guifei's shoulder reassuringly. "It's fine. I understand."
…
"We got transported into the game world in our game avatars, didn't we?" Guifei asked. "Of all the cliche third-rate light novel scenarios…"
If Momonga noticed her blatant attempt at changing the subject he chose not to mention it. "All evidence points to it. I can't contact the GM, the NPCs are alive and capable of feeling, and our sense of touch is just the same as our original bodies. Every point should be impossible, but so far I can't find evidence to the contrary."
"Is that why you were groping Albedo?" She asked with narrowed eyes. "'Cause you seemed a bit too into it."
"I was testing the R18 protocols! It was purely for science!"
She said nothing and simply raised an eyebrow in doubt.
"I had no impure intentions, this was all to gather valuable information!"
"You didn't even check over me when I collapsed!"
"Considering how you were burying your face into Vritra's chest, I don't think you have any right to criticize me."
Guifei's cheeks reddened at the reminder but she, as a mature adult, refused to acknowledge his words and merely raised an eyebrow in defiance.
"A-Anyway! All this proves that we are no longer in the game but in a different world. Otherwise, I would have been automatically booted from the server."
For the sake of her friend's piece of mind, she graciously decided to drop the matter.
She did however give him a mental thumbs up for his good taste. Honestly, she would have done the same.
"Moving on! I believe we should be able to use the abilities of our avatars, so we should head to the 6th Floor."
"Lots of open space and minimal risk for collateral damage, so we don't need to hold back. Great idea Momonga." She was impressed by how he was able to come up with such a plan so quickly. No wonder he was unanimously voted as Guild Master.
"How long are you going to keep doing the voice, by the way?"
"My what?" Momonga asked, confused.
"You're the voice, you know, the whole Overlord Lich character voice you do?" She didn't want him to damage his vocal cords. 'Wait, since he's a skeleton now, how is he making sound?'
"Am I doing it right now?" He made some more noise, singing a few notes. "Huh. I didn't notice. I can't change my voice back. This seems to be my voice now."
It was then that Guifei noticed something. "You sound calm about it, aren't you even the least bit concerned?"
Momonga took a moment to answer. "I am concerned, and a bit scared, but since… the change, my emotions don't go beyond a certain threshold. I believe my character's passive skills helped me keep calm."
"Ooh, that sounds helpful." She could think of various situations where that kind of skill would be helpful. If she had a skill like that she would have been able to avoid most of her blunders when she first started as an idol. "But I also have Mind Defense skills, how come they didn't work for me?"
"My defenses are higher than yours. And it's not like they didn't work since you seem to have recovered quicker than one might expect."
Hearing that made a shiver run down her spine. Why was she so calm?!
She was in an entirely unknown situation, with no answers in sight. The NPCs were alive and she couldn't guarantee they would be loyal to her as they are now. She lost everything she worked for, and yet all of this seemed an afterthought to her. Even her initial freakout seemed like an embarrassing over-reaction!
"...Yes, this will be useful." There was no point in another freakout, and it would only end up causing Momonga to worry. She would have to make the pragmatic choice and postpone her justifiable freakout to when she had some privacy.
"You were talking about doing some tests, right? How do we go about doing that?"
XXX
In a flash of light, the figure of Momonga appeared at the entrance to the Colosseum on the 6th Floor. A few seconds later Guifei appeared in front of him with her back facing him.
"Well, the teleportation rings work as intended." The ravenette said, hiding her excitement behind a mask of nonchalance. "For a moment I was afraid I would end up with half my body inside the wall."
"Eh, what kind of-" Momonga started but abruptly cut himself off. "... Never mind, don't talk about scary things like that." He passed the smirking girl and entered the Colosseum and began to look around.
"If I remember correctly this floor should be supervised by the twins…"
"I don't see them. Should we use this opportunity to test the Message Spell?" Guifei suggested as she also failed to spot the twins.
"Yes, thas is-"
"Lord Momonga!"
Up in the stands directly opposite them, they saw a small figure waving at them. The figure then jumped off the stand and, instead of falling to their death, performed some acrobatic spins before landing safely on the ground. The short figure then immediately ran in their direction at speeds that surpassed even most of the cybernetically enhanced athletes leaving a dust trail in their wake.
When the figure got closer, they noticed that it was a young girl wearing a white suit. The girl skidded to a stop before them, the dust trail unnaturally dissipating before they could come in contact with it.
"V!" The girl put up twin victory signs.
The first thing she noticed was that she was short, only reaching Momonga's waist. She was a good two feet taller than the newcomer. Standing next to Momonga she felt tiny.
The girl was tomboyish in appearance, with golden hair and heterochromic eyes. She had long, pointy ears and dark skin, denoting her dark elf heritage. She was wearing red dragon-scale leather armor under a white and gold vest embroidered with the sigil of the guild. Around her neck is a golden acorn necklace.
"Welcome to our Floor, Lord Momonga, Lady Guifei!" She greeted them cheerfully. "How may I help you both today?"
"We are here to experiment with our magic, and wait until the meeting starts," Momonga said. "As such we will be imposing you for now."
"What are you saying Lord Momonga? You are the lord and master of this guild, you may ask for anything and we will rush to fulfill your commands."
"Thank you, Aura," Guifei said. "But where is Mare? I expected to meet both of you."
"Ah, well," The young elf now identified as Aura hesitated. "He is standing right… here?" She looked behind her to see no one there. Outraged, she turned to the stands.
"Mare! Get down here right now! You're being rude to Lord Momonga and Lady Guifei!"
Squinting her eyes Guifei could see a figure up in the stands crouching down so only their blond head was visible.
"But Sister, I'm scared!" came the pitiful reply.
"Get down right now or I'm coming up there!" Satisfied with the resulting 'Eep!' coming from the stands Aura bowed to her guests.
"I apologize for my brother, he did not mean any disrespect!"
"It's fine, Aura. Nobody is upset about such a small thing." Guifei said distractedly as she kept her eyes on the figure that was running towards them.
The figure was of a young dark elf similar to Aura but was wearing blue dragon-scale leather armor under a white vest similar to Aura but with an addition of a skirt. They also had heterochromia but the eyes were the opposite of Aura.
The figure running cutely towards Aura and her guests while nervously clutching a magic staff was her younger twin BROTHER.
Guifei blushed and looked away. She had forgotten Bukubukuchagama's weird trap fetish. She couldn't believe she had fallen for that.
Stopping in front of the two Players, Mare bowed deeply.
"I am sorry for being late." The cross-dressing boy shyly said, "Welcome to our floor, Lord Momonga and Lady Guifei!"
Aura looked ready to give him another scolding but Momonga put a stop to that. "Thank you for receiving us Aura, Mare. As I have told Aura, Guifei and I will be testing some spells until the meeting starts."
Hearing this, Mare seemed confused. "Lord Momonga needs to train?"
"Of course," Guifei said."No matter who it might be, if you neglect your training you will see yourself falling behind and inevitably defeated."
"My Lady is so wise!" Mare gushed loudly, causing Guifei to push her chest out in pride. Mare would have delivered more words of praise but was interrupted by Aura.
"Lord Momonga! Is-Is that-," She cried, pointing a shaking finger towards Momonga's staff. "the legendary staff that can only be wielded by the one who rules supreme over Ainz Ooal Gown?!"
Pleased with the twins' interest in the Guild Staff, Momonga raised it into the air.
"Umu. [The Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown] is the result of months of tireless work by my fellow guildmates. To gather the materials for its creation we challenged the greatest foes of the Nine Realms and conquered all the horrors between Heaven and Hell. The seven gemstones each count as separate divine artifacts and the passive abilities are themselves incredible. With the legendary materials and powerful enchantments used to create it, the result is a weapon that can be counted among the ranks of [World Items]. Furthermore-" Momonga cut himself off as he met the star-struck eyes of the twins and the amused eyes of his friend.
"Ahem. Well, that's how it is." He coughed again to hide his embarrassment. "Now, let's do some experimentation."
A few minutes later saw some dragonkin monsters putting up straw targets for the two Players to use.
Guifei stepped forward confidently. "I'll go first if you don't mind."
She took a breath and closed her eyes. She remembered all the cliche fantasy novels and tried to look within herself. It did not take long before she felt it. It felt like dipping her hand into a pool of warm, viscous honey-like substance. She thought of a spell she could use and felt a handful from the pool bubbling forth as if it was rushing to answer her call.
"[Flame Arrow]" An arrow of blue flame appeared over the ravenette's shoulder before it shot forward and struck a target which then proceeded to burst into flames.
'That. Was. So. Cool.' Expertly hiding her giddiness at having performed REAL magic, Guifei repeated the process and tried to use a different spell.
"[Flame Lance]" She raised her hand and in her hand appeared a lance of blue flames. She aimed and threw the lance where it landed between three targets. No sooner than it landed it exploded taking out all targets in a small radius.
She heard clapping behind her and when she looked back she noticed her audience looking at her in awe.
She wisely chose not to mention that she missed her throw and that she had forgotten the effects of the last spell.
"Good, the power output seems to be at acceptable levels." She said, trying to hide her embarrassment.
For the final test, she chose a spell that she was more familiar with.
"[Abyssal Starfall]" Behind her, a dozen holes in reality formed. Each hole was the size of a dinner plate. From these holes, shining star-like projectiles were shot out, the projectiles rising in the air before showering the targets in a five-meter radius. Ten seconds of barraging the targets later, all that was left was a circular field of obliterated targets.
Quickly hiding the awe she felt for the results of the spells, she smugly turned to face her spectators and was not disappointed to see the stunned look on their faces.
Well, the stunned look on the twins' faces. Momonga's face was an impassive mask but she knew him well enough to know that he was singing her praises in his heart.
The dragonkin behind them were more expressive, showing their support by clapping, yelling, and jumping.
It was always nice to have a receptive audience. She would have to do something nice for them later.
"I guess it's my turn then." Momonga stepped forward clutching the Guild Staff. Following his words the dragonkin cleaned the field and replaced the straw targets.
"[Fireball]" Starting with the most basic spells he watched as the target was burnt to embers. He then began using similar low-tier spells.
As this was going on Guifei used this opportunity to get closer to the twins.
Moving closer to Aura she said, "You two seem to be having fun watching Momo."
"Yes! It's incredible how the Supreme Ones cast even the simplest spells with such elegance." Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the 'Supreme One' twitched at the words.
"[Summon Primordial Fire Elemental]" In a burst of flames a towering giant monster made of flames appeared in the middle of the Colosseum. This caught everyone by surprise and the twins squealed in delight.
"That's amazing, Lord Momonga!" Aura ran up to Momonga, Mare following behind him.
Momonga looked down at the twins' delighted expressions and asked if they wanted to fight it. Instead of looking intimidated at the idea of fighting a two-story-tall flame monster, the two looked positively thrilled.
"Can we?!" Aura asked excitedly. Momonga simply chuckled and nodded.
The two then brandished their weapons, Aura carrying a whip while Mare readied his staff.
"Wait a minute you two." They turned to Guifei who had taken out her pipa. "If you too wouldn't mind, I would like to enhance you both. It's not that I doubt your skill, both of you are Bukubuku's greatest pride, I simply want to try a spell I haven't tried in a long while."
"W-We would be honored, my Lady!" With Mare's vocal assent Aura could only give a hesitant nod.
With clear consent given, Guifei plucked the strings on her instrument. "[Call of The Water Pheasant]"
In YGGDRASIL, bards would only need to activate their skill and music would automatically play. You could also use virtual gloves to play the instruments yourself to activate the skill, but few had the money or the musical talent to use them during battle.
As she played the notes, she saw the twins covered with a bronze-red glowing aura. Mare was left in awe as he felt the increase in his magical abilities and Aura clenched and unclenched her fists as she felt the power swelling in her small body. She looked at Guifei who gave her a supportive smile and nodded her head with resolution. She turned around and cracked her whip, ready to face the elemental creature.
They both engaged in the summon, Aura serving as the main DPS while Mare provided defense and supporting fire. The way they fought and expressed themselves was far more natural than in the game. Aura's acrobatic movements especially were graceful yet too natural to be part of any modern game even by 3D tracking. More evidence to prove that this was no longer a game.
As if she needed anymore.
"Looks like it's over. And quite quickly.." Momonga said as he watched Aura end the battle with an overhead strike.
"Of course it was quick! A mere Lvl. 90 elemental against two Lvl. 100 NPCs empowered by my Love? Their victory was decreed by the Heavens." Guifei boasted and flipped her hair.
The twins came rushing up to them, faces flushed and eyes begging for praise. Which Guifei didn't hesitate to give.
"That was amazing you two! A very impressive showing!" She praised them as she ruffled their hair. "Oh! All that exercise must have left you two parched. Let me fix that."
She held her hand in front of her and willed her inventory to open. A hole in space opened before her and Guifei could immediately identify all the contents with minimal mental effort.
Without a pause in her movements, she reached into the hole and pulled out a pitcher full of clear golden liquid. This was [True Ambrosia], the reward for a particularly annoying quest chain in Asgard. It was a top-tier HP and MP regeneration item and according to the lore, entire kingdoms had gone to war over a single drop.
She then took out three ornate silver chalices with gold decorations and gave one each to the twins and Momonga. After taking out a chalice of her own, she poured a glass for each starting from Momonga and ending with herself. Magically the amount of liquid in the pitcher had not decreased a single milliliter.
The easiest way to get children to like you: bribery. Children and politicians tended to be the same in that regard.
The twins were awkwardly looking at the chalice and at each other instead of drinking it. Guifei was confused initially but quickly understood their hesitation. Turning to Momonga Guifei saw him stand awkwardly just like the twins despite seeming as if he was relaxed and in deep contemplation.
It took a second for Guifei to understand why everyone was acting that way and she immediately wanted to bury herself in a hole.
The twins not drinking was obvious, it went against etiquette to drink before your superiors. As for Momonga, he was a skeleton. How was he supposed to drink anything without it all spilling all over him? It was the same as telling a guy in a wheelchair to 'walk off the pain'.
The solution was simple of course. Guifei would simply take back the glass from Momonga and apologize for her mistake. She could handle a bit of embarrassment.
Nodding to herself at her ingenious solution Guifei drank from the chalice first. It had a citrusy flavor, not the cheap artificial flavor from juice boxes you get from the store, nor the tangy flavor of the fruit grown in specialized private greenhouses which a fan had once sent her.
No, this taste was pure and more… natural. The tangy flavor was sharp, but not overwhelming.
Drinking it the raven-haired girl felt refreshed and more relaxed than she had ever felt before. As if the past couple of years of stress completely vanished.
Guifei opened her eyes. 'Ah.' The chalice was empty. 'I feel like I'm forgetting something…'
"By the Supreme Ones, this tastes amazing!"
"Y-Yes! I-I feel like I could fly right now!"
"Umu. Quite refreshing."
The twin cries of delight brought her out of her stupor. She looked at the twins' delighted and flushed faces and her face turned as white as a sheet.
With robotic movements, she turned her head towards Momonga who held an empty chalice in his hand.
"Y-You drank it?" Guifei stuttered.
"Was I not supposed to?" The Overlord asked, seeming confused.
Looking over his form, he didn't seem to have spilled anything. No suspicious spots on his robe. In fact, by his words, he could even taste it.
"Uh, no- never mind."
'No need to overthink all this magic mumbo jumbo.'
As she collected the chalices and put them back, a rift opened in front of them. From this rift, came a beautiful young preteen girl wearing a soft black evening dress that looked like a Victorian era cosplay. With her pale skin, silver hair tied in a ponytail, and soft features, she was the picture of a pure noble's daughter right out of an anime.
However, her pale skin and blood-red slitted eyes were dead giveaways of her true identity as a True Vampire. An evil and sadistic creature of the night that feasted on the blood of maidens.
The vampire's eyes zeroed on Momonga and she rushed at him. Dropping the umbrella (which somehow turned into a cluster of butterflies) she embraced him with her arms around his neck.
"Oh, Lord Momonga, my love. The only man I cannot control." She uttered those words while staring lovingly into Momonga's eye sockets.
"Shalltear…" The girl giggled when Momonga said her name. Her crimson eyes shined brighter as she turned her head to see Guifei.
"And greetings to you as well, Lady Guifei. As always you look… absolutely ravishing this evening." She said with a sultry smile.
Guifei had to suppress a giggle as Shalltear's attempt at looking seductive was destroyed by the reality of her looking like a child hanging from her parent's neck.
"And you're cute as always, Shalltear." The vampire's face reddened in embarrassment and she giggled in glee.
However, not everyone seemed happy with the vampire's presence.
"Stop bothering Lord Momonga, Shalltear!" Aura demanded angrily.
A flash of annoyance appeared on Shalltear's face before it was replaced by a mocking smirk. "Oh? If it isn't Shorty. Apologies, I didn't notice you."
Aura grit her teeth and leveled a glare at the vampire, but she wasn't done. "My, how aggressive! I pity you, Mare, for you to be stuck with such a crazy girl." The pitying look she sent towards the boy turned Aura's from hate to murderous.
Aura ground her teeth and then hissed out her words loud enough for everyone to hear. "Fake Tits!" This caused Shalltear to reflexively cover her 'bosom' in shock.
Guifei herself nearly reacted the same as she used to use pads in her teenage years.
"Wha-!"
"I knew it!" The young elf crowed triumphantly. "You stuffed so much that you couldn't run without them falling out and had to use a [Gate] to come here."
"Grrr, It's not like you have any yourself!"
At Shalltear's retort, Aura only smirked. "I'm only 76, I still have time to grow. You on the other hand have no hope with that undead body."
The vampire peddling lies and illusions could not refute those words and resorted to threatening the other party with violence. Aura continued to goad her and poor Mare was stuck trying -and failing- to calm his sister down.
"Such. Insolence. In Front. Of. The. Supreme. Beings." These words of reproach were spoken by a large armored blue insectoid heteromorph, Cocytus. He had four segmented arms and was carrying a halberd in one.
"She started it!" Both girls yelled at the same time while pointing at each other. They then resumed glaring murder at each other.
Seeing as Cocytus was ready to send both girls into the Ice Age, Guifei decided to step in. She clapped her hands to gain their attention. "All right, that's enough!" All three whipped their heads towards her in surprise.
"Aura. Shalltear." Both girls stiffened as their name was called out. "I understand you both have your differences, but starting a fight over a few petty insults is simply childish and shameful - especially in front of your Lord. I expect you to make up with each other," Guifei gave the girls a sweet smile, "or else I'll have to punish you two."
Both girls went pale - paler than usual in Shalltear's case - and bent forward at a ninety-degree angle in a textbook perfect bow.
"Please excuse our rudeness, Lady Guifei, Lord Momonga!" Both begged in unison, trying desperately to hide their trembling.
Guifei nodded and looked over to Momonga who seemed surprised but quickly gathered himself. "Umu, as this is an emergency, no punishments will be given today. However," A dark aura briefly appeared around him before disappearing and the red glow of his eyes intensified, "further disruptive behavior will be met with disciplinary action."
"Yes, Lord Momonga!"
It was after getting these two to calm down that the remaining attendees of this meeting came.
"I apologize for the lateness everyone."
It was a glasses-wearing man in an orange suit. His metal tail and pointed ears denoted him as part of the heteromorphic race. He carried himself with an air of smug superiority.
Following behind him were Albedo, Vritra, and Iniquitous Baptist.
He was a four-armed, mask covered figure wearing elaborate purple robes. He had four purple spikes that floated behind him. Rather than walk, this guy was levitating a few inches above the ground.
As soon as they came everyone lined up in front of the two players and knelt.
From her position, Albedo looked upon her gods.
"Everyone, let us pledge our fealty to the Lords."