50 Chapter 50: Who happens to be your girlfriend

Momonga opened his eyes and saw that the naked body of Lord Phenix was starting to stir from its deathly stillness.

"Hm… hm." Momonga stood up after having knelt beside the body and grabbed the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown that still floated above the man's body.

He offered his hand to Lord Phenix who reached and took it.

"How are you feeling, Lord Phenix?" Momonga asked.

"I am unsure… What happened? You're… Issei Hyoudou, of Rias Gremory's Peerage? A Pawn, correct?" Lord Phenix asked, clearly confused and lost.

'Good, it's performing as it should…' Momonga used the wordless link between the two to send a small congratulation to the disguised Overlord for its acting. He glanced to the side and saw a flash of blonde hair which told him that Lady Phenix would be watching the two, so he put up an act for her. "In one way, yes, but in others, not quite. I believe some explanations are in order. You've been held captive for roughly little less than a week now, and were killed a day ago. I erased those memories because I presumed that the torment must have driven you insane, and trust me, you're better off without them. I resurrected you afterwards. It seems that there might have been complications though, we'll have to go over your physical and mental state."

"I… see." Lord Phenix feigned wariness, then spotted Lady Phenix who was trembling in the corner with her back against the wall. "Ah… Dear?"

Momonga turned towards the woman as well as he heard a whimper from her direction.

"A-ah… aha… ahahah!" Lady Phenix's eyes were wild and blood-shot, and she had deep gashes in her face that had come from her manicured fingernails. "Ahahahahaha! AHAHA!"

'Oh…' Momonga blinked as he glanced over the room which looked corrupted and blackened by negative energy.

He then realized that the Auras of the Overlord Wiseman, namely [Black Halo] and [Aura of Despair: IV] must have been active from the moment it had been created. Indeed, while [Black Halo] only imbued negative energy to everything around the undead, the level ninety-five Undead would have unlocked the second-last stage of the [Aura of Despair], which had a chance to inflict Insanity upon anyone venturing close to the creature.

It seemed that the wards of the study managed to hold the Aura's effect from affecting the rest of the house, since Momonga glanced out of a small window and saw the wings of the mansion looked like they had before and hadn't been turned into a horror-show thanks to [Black Halo].

However, Lady Phenix who had been in the Aura's effect, had been hit by the full force of it. She had managed to survive the [Black Halo], likely because of her 'high level' as far as Devils went, but 'Insanity' would not care about the target's level, only if it had skills, passives or gear to resist it.

"Ah, Lady Phenix." Momonga went over to the woman and patted her shoulder to see if she'd break out of her state. In YGGDRASIL Insanity could only be cured by a third party, but he knew from the Madness debuff affecting his Peerage that the skills wouldn't translate perfectly from one world to another. "Are you alright? Please answer me. The resurrection had… issues, but Lord Phenix lives again."

"Ahiha, hahaha- The skeletons, the plushies, ahaha, it's all dust, dust, dust as we began, and to dust we return, Ahahaha!" Lady Phenix shook from one side to the other while her wild eyes stared at something past Momonga's body. "We were never alive, for we were always dead and undead, ahaha! Dear, you're not here… Ahaha! I traded Ravel away for nothing! My only daughter became a skeletal tentacle monster's plaything for nothing! And she loves it! Ahahaha! I want to be one too, I don't want to think anymore, the monsters eat at my mind through my eyes! Ahaaa!"

'She's utterly insane.' Momonga sighed as Lady Phenix's babbling made absolutely no sense.

He grieved the loss as he reached to his inventory for a [Scroll of Cure Insanity] and cast it on the woman. 'I'll have to see if I can start manufacturing more Scrolls… Surely this world's reagents should be capable of holding at least some tier of spells?'

"Lady Phenix, are you awake- ufmh!" Momonga paused as Lady Phenix lunged at him and hugged him against her chest, shivering from head to toe.

"T-the darkness… T-the eternal nightmare… T-that Grand Game of insanity and death… I-it was all a dream, right? W-we aren't puppets on the Supreme Being's game, Momon-san? P-please, this… this is madness! That can't be true! It has to be false!" Lady Phenix almost crushed Momonga's host body with her desperate hug. "This- ah… No! Nono! I, I interfered in the ritual! Momon! Please, is- is everything going as planned? Is, is my husband…"

"Lord Phenix made a recovery. There were some... complications as well as a particularly nasty trap set by our enemies, but he's alright now." Momonga explained while patting the woman's head, as far as he could anyway as her high single-drill like ponytail made it a bit hard not to mention the woman was hugging his face against her breasts, which in closer look slightly surpassed even Akeno's. "Look over there."

"Caitlin…" 'Lord Phenix's voice was soft as he called for the woman who froze with her hands still around Momon's shoulders. "I'm not sure what happened, but I'm here now."

'Hm, good method acting, Overlord Wiseman.' Momonga nodded mentally as Lady Phenix disentangled herself from Momon and lunged at her 'husband'.

'Lord Phenix' patted the woman somewhat awkwardly as she cried to his chest. "There, there…"

"I, I was so afraid... " Lady Phenix cried to the man's chest, causing him to wince.

'Oh, yeah, healing items and undead don't mix.' Momonga nodded. "Lady Phenix? Lord Phenix? May I have your attention. I have bad news."

Lady Phenix froze. "No, nonono… P-please tell me everything is alright, that you, that he won't disappear!"

"We should listen to, hm, Issei?" 'Lord Phenix' turned Lady Phenix so she faced Momonga.

"Thank you. I go by 'Momon Phenix' nowadays, Lord Phenix. I was adopted into the family by Lady Phenix when you were gone. She can fill you in on further details. But, I must reveal to you a worrying detail- Whilst Lord Phenix is back amongst the living, he is not quite alive." Momonga told the woman while channelling his Chuuni to appear mysterious, or at least he hoped it would appear so. "He is, in fact, undead."

"A-ah…" Something seemed to break inside Lady Phenix. "B-but.. but…"

"I don't seem to have a Phoenix's powers anymore." Lord Phenix nodded thoughtfully. "In addition, your tears burned me quite badly, Caitlin."

Lady Phenix shook like a leaf while her eyes were wide and blood-shot, tracing between Momonga and Lord Phenix. "B-but, he's warm, alive, right?"

She pat the man's chest.

"The state of his physical body may be one or the other, but his soul remains undead." Momonga kept piling on the lies, leveraging from his 'leveling up' lying ability. "Moreover, there's a high chance that his body will break down eventually. For now, Lord Phenix, please be careful when handling healing items, receiving bludgeoning damage and being around fire, as undead have weakness against all three. It would be unfortunate if your body caught fire from a candle and you died from such a trifle."

"Aha- ahaha…" Lady Phenix's laugh was starting to border on hysterical. "Ahahahaha! L-like how your condition is, Momon-san? Like how you are Undead as well?"

"Excuse me?" Momonga paused as his plans grind to a sudden halt.

"Rias-san told us… back in the swamp. That's how you rescued Ravel, right? You turned undead so the undead didn't sense you when you rescued Ravel." Lady Phenix covered her face with her hands and 'Lord Phenix' pat her shoulder carefully. "You're alive now, but undead when you die, right, Momon-san?"

"...That is quite correct. Who else knows?" Momonga resisted the urge to narrow his eyes while he took Rias's place in his mental 'value ranking' and lowered it from 'possible ally' to 'unreliable external factor'. 'Hm, so Rias is unable to keep secrets entrusted to her. This may pose a problem. I'll have to see about fixing that… I won't be able to outright discard her since she's Sirzechs's sister so her value as a hostage remains. But I'll have to find out why she decided to reveal my secret… And see if I need to, hm, work on her loyalties.'

Momonga decided to take care of the issue later as he had one in front of him. It looked like Lady Phenix had created a set of simple clothes out of thin air for her 'husband' while Momonga had been deep in thought.

Lady Phenix then explained that the rest of his Peerage and Diehauser Belial knew about his Undead state thanks to Rias's loose lips. '...This may pose problems in the future… At least it looks like Gasper has remained loyal despite knowing of my 'undead nature' as he hadn't blabbered about me.'

Momonga was fairly surprised that Lady Phenix seemed to take the whole 'undead business' with remarkable calmness. 'Looks like Rias's blabbering might have actually helped me, considering the circumstances when the truth came out…'

Likewise the fact the rest of his Peerage hadn't turned on him instantly, specifically regarding Yubelluna and Xuelan, also raised their collective value in Momonga's eyes. 'Interesting… I wonder if it's because I have a 'living' outer shell? Appearances are important, after all…'

"I see. Does that cause an issue between us, and between you and Lord Phenix?" Momonga asked calmly, causing the woman to pause for a bit. 'It's fortunate that I summoned an undead creature to plant into her husband's body, it should give her further reason to sympathize with the living dead…'

"No… I- I think it won't." Lady Phenix shook her head while she paled. "Momon-san… you're frightening me."

'Lord Phenix' placed his hand reassuringly to Lady Phenix's shoulder and she leaned against it, unknowing that the Overlord Wiseman sent Momonga a wordless message through their link that he was holding her still and ready to execute her with [Negative Energy Touch] if ordered.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to. My nature is… A bit of a sore point. You'll understand." Momonga realized that while he wasn't so upset with Rias that [Emotion Suppression] would activate, his mood would likely affect his posture and tone. "I was quite worried that you, as well as the rest of the Underworld, would try to kill me if that tidbit about my nature got out, considering the 'Supreme Being' situation. I'm glad that it isn't the case though."

"A-ah… I understand…" Lady Phenix seemed to breathe easier as Momonga put a lid to his presumably frightening facial expression. She entwined her fingers with her husband's while she shook her head to clear it. "I admit it was quite a shock to find out, but… I feel that your heart is in the right place. And I feel that I would have likely done as you did, given the circumstances…"

Momonga nodded, then turned towards the disguised Overlord Wiseman. "Lord Phenix, I'm sure this is quite confusing for you, so I feel we should leave this place and you two should catch up on the current events. If there are complications feel free to contact me."

Lady Phenix squeezed her 'husband's hand on her shoulder and 'he' squeezed back reassuringly. "We'll do that. Thank you, Momon-san. For everything."

She seemed to hesitate speaking her next words, even to the point that she just looked down in shame and her face turned red from despair and embarrassment. "I… I should ask about the reward you'll expect of us, from me for doing this deed…"

'Technically I don't need anything… since with Overlord Wiseman taking the reins of the family, I already have everything she could offer me. Still, some pressure won't hurt, as it would drive her further into debt with me.' Momonga nodded. "Well, I'll see about it sometime soon. Lord Phenix?"

"Momong- Momon-sam- san?" The disguised Overlord seemed to catch its tongue twice before it got Momonga's cover name out. Momonga waved off its instant apology through the mental link. "My apologies, my… death must be still affecting my body. I'll have to re-practise public speaking, it seems."

"Please see me if your body has any complications. But for now, I believe you should rest. I'll be training my Peerage, so send me a word if you need something or you have questions." Momonga nodded and 'Lord Phenix' nodded back."

"Come, our quarters are close…" Lady Phenix took her 'husband's hand and led him away from the now-corrupted and ruined study that reeked of negative energy.

Momonga followed them, already thinking about the training he'd put his Peerage through.

But before that, he needed to find Rias Gremory.

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"Ah…" Lady Phenix sat down on a chair by the bedside while her husband crawled to the bed and lay down on it. She had just managed to finish her explanation of what had happened since the man's abduction and now just sat beside him while holding his hand. "H-how are you feeling, dear?"

"I'm… surviving. I must confess this is quite overwhelming." Lord Phenix nodded severely. "I'm quite glad Momon-sam- san erased my memories of what happened to me during my captivity. Based off your explanation it must have been… unpleasant. How are the rest of Lo- my children?"

"Ravel is here, and it seems she's… developed some sort of affection to Momon in her own cute way. She's always been the kind who likes something but lashes out when asked about it." Lady Phenix traced her husband's knuckles with her finger, stalling for time. "Ruval's with Tannin, with his little brother… and Riser's…"

"Lost." Lord Phenix agreed easily, causing Lady Phenix to tilt her head. "It seems that my undead nature is affecting my mental state. I can't get as angry as I could have before, and I feel the same would apply to happiness. It's… an interesting feeling. The lack of them."

"Ah…" Lady Phenix flinched as if struck. 'Momon did say that there were complications, and it seems that his undead status was just one of them…' "Curse that 'Supreme Being' for forcing this on us, for causing this… For everything!"

"You cur- Hng- dear, please don't speak like that." Lord Phenix's face contorted in rage for the briefest of moments before it returned to serene. "That kind of talk is causing a spike in my mental state, and it's quite… unpleasant."

"A-are you alright, love?" Lady Phenix felt quite worried.

"I am, but it seems that insulting the 'Supreme Being' causes a physical reaction. I imagine it's something akin to saying 'God' to a regular devil." Lord Phenix mused, causing Lady Phenix to flinch from the spike of pain the taboo word caused. "Oh, sorry. I didn't notice it slipped."

"It's fine, my love." Lady Phenix sighed while her face fell. "Listen… I must speak about the price I promised in exchange for having Momon resurrect you."

"Oh?" Lord Phenix turned to look directly into Lady Phenix's eyes. "I hope we have the assets to cover it. I imagine something like that couldn't be cheap, even if we are quite well off."

"I… well, I guess that is one way of saying that, but... we do have the assets…" Lady Phenix felt tears building up in her eyes and she looked away. "I'm sorry… I..."

"Caitlin... " Lord Phenix reached to grab her shoulder. "Please tell me what you promised so we can fulfill the contract. I know how sacred the concept of contract is to the devils, to the point they- we have a racial need to honor the contracts we've agreed to."

"..." Lady Phenix didn't notice the odd way her husband worded the contract 'law' as she tried to find the words to describe her situation. "I… Offered Ravel's hand to him. It- it seems Ravel seems interested in Momon from what little I've gathered, even if she pretends to not to… she likes to cry the wolf, you remember how it is… but… In addition, I…"

"Yes?" Lord Phenix seemed to ignore Ravel's trade as Lady Phenix felt her body shake and her eyes filled with tears.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't know what came over me! I just… I wanted to see you so badly! Momon, he could, he could resurrect you, but was hesitant, so I just…" Lady Phenix took a shaky breath, then let her head fall against her husband's chest, drawing strength from the touch.

"It's quite alright. We'll draft up the papers for Ravel's engagement after I get up and…" Lord Phenix just nodded and tried to get up, only for Lady Phenix to put her hand against his chest, stopping him.

Lord Phenix's hand reached to stroke her hair, and Lady Phenix forced the words out of her throat.

"I… promised I'd be Momon's mistress in exchange for reviving you… And he didn't say no, he just told me to reconsider and I told him that again…" Lady Phenix got out before she turned her head away, feeling such intense shame that she couldn't look her husband in the eye. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

Lord Phenix's hand stopped stroking Lady Phenix's head and then withdrew as if the touch burned, causing the woman to freeze still. "I… see. So He has laid a claim on you… I place no blame on you, of course, as your contract led to my sum- hm, resurrection. But… Indeed, it seems that because of the price you paid, you are mine no longer."

Lady Phenix shivered from the voice which was entirely unlike what she had ever heard from her husband- but on the other hand, she hadn't done a deal like she had behind her husband's back either.

Lady Phenix tied her arms around her husband's shoulders and tried to kiss him, but he moved his head back, rejecting her. "Please! Even if it's just for one night, even if it's just tonight, I need you! I-if I'm to become Momon's… I… I can't just... "

"Indeed, we can't, for if we lied together now you would break your promise immediately after he delivered on his." Lord Phenix placed his finger on Lady Phenix's lips to stop them from searching his while he scratched his chin with his free hand. "I'm sorry, my lady. I thank you for your sacrifice, and Ravel of hers, but nonetheless I must stop you."

"D- dear…" Lady Phenix felt her strength leave her arms and legs. "I… w-what have I done?"

"I must confess I am a little angry. However, it seems that my undead emotion scale seems to limit the anger so it won't rise too high." Lord Phenix scratched his chin thoughtfully, utterly calm despite Lady Phenix's news. "I am, however, glad that you told me of your deal beforehand. I'd be hard-pressed to explain my actions to Momong- Momon-san if we lied together and he came for what was his, only to find me with my 'fingers in the pie', so to speak."

"A-ah… ahahahah!" Lady Phenix felt her mind breaking a bit from the fact her husband could make a jest, even if it was lame, under such circumstances. 'Ahaha… he's making a joke to make me feel better for betraying him so badly… But, why isn't he feeling angry that I'm going to… Oh. Undeath. He can't feel that anger anymore…'"...I'm so sorry, dear… I… I'll try to talk to Momon, negotiate for some form of alternate payment, perhaps bring up a mention that it's immoral for a 'mother' to lie with her 'child', even if Momon's adopted to us now and bears no blood relation… or that Ravel should already cover the price of your resurrection…"

"You'll do no such thing." Lord Phenix's voice was severe. causing Lady Phenix to jump from her desperate plans. "It's unbecoming for a noble devil of a noble house to re-negotiate a deal they've already agreed to, and when the other side has already delivered their part in full. However, if it pleases you and is beneficial to us then I can converse to Momon later about trading you back to me. We are nobles, not street scum who back off deals and shank their business partners once payment comes due. Indeed, and to that end, it might be best if we parted ways for now."

"A-ah…" Lady Phenix flinched as she realized how unbecoming her behaviour must look. 'First I betrayed my daughter by offering her hand without asking her, then I betrayed my husband by offering myself, then I nearly betrayed my new master by trying to lie with my husband when I had traded myself to another, all within the span of a day…'

"I… I...just wanted for us to be together again… For us to be family again…" Droplets of water fell freely from her eyes, staining the shirt her husband wore and drawing a pained hiss from the man as the healing tears burned him. "No! No! I didn't mean to... I'm sorry, I'm so… sorry…"

Lady Phenix's fear, stress, despair, relief, and finally shame from the last few days came to a peak and her vision swam, which wasn't helped by the fact she hadn't slept a wink during the past two nights.

And then her consciousness fled her, replaced by an image of two skeletal creatures staring each other with eyeless sockets while a bird-god stood above a a pit of doom and a white knight stood guard before the memories of Lady Phenix's love- a maddening, impossible vision, which was soon replaced by an image of a violet-clad skeleton opening its arms wide and spreading a eternal night on all creation with a grand flourish.

"...I'm... so… sorry... "

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Overlord Wiseman scratched his chin, thinking about the situation while mimicking the pose he knew his Master took when He contemplated his grand, multi-layered and unbelievably complex plans. His plans were nowhere near His in any metric, but he hoped the pose would at least help him think. 'Hm, indeed, so it is done, and so has Master decreed.'

He lifted a bell by the bedside and called a servant to carry the unconscious female devil on his lap to where she belonged, and walked by the window to scheme. 'Hm, she must have some sort of place in the Great Game for Him to catch her eye. That, or she was a vehicle to justify my summoning to the political structure of the Underworld… Hm…'

'These memories will prove quite instrumental to my task… ' The Wiseman considered its options as it lifted the fleshy hand that covered his true one. '...Indeed, I'll have to see about speaking to Sirzechs Lucifer and then to other Pillar families. The task my Master laid before me is not impossible, but without using my abilities will become non-trivial.'

The not-skeletal creature nodded its fleshy head once more. 'I was foolish when I assumed He wished to become a Ruler of this world… Indeed, His wisdom far surpasses mine- why should the Supreme Being wish to erase everything, as that would deprive him of souls to torment? Why should the Supreme Being take the throne over maggots, when he can merely pull the strings from behind while peasants take care of the daily grind?'

'I was naive to think that he wished to be the destroyer and the King… Yes, that Elder Lich's actions from my memory make sense now. Master created it to make an opposition, while he took the role of a hero who opposes it, and created me to consolidate his political power so he rules all but holds no throne, free to act as he wishes and not bound by chains of political power struggles or held back by political ramifications.' The Overlord Wiseman's… No, 'Lord Phenix's normally jovial features split into a cruel grin. 'Yes… To take over the World, and All Worlds, and rule them as the Shadow King, the one behind all but known by none…'

He clicked his heels together out of instinct, suppressed the sudden urge to shout something in german, and exited the bedchambers while a pair of maids scooped the unconscious insect called 'Lady Phenix' up from the floor, and he instructed them to attend to their mistress before He would attend to her.

'I shall take this world, for 'Momon', for Him, for the One True Lord!'

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Momonga was seriously starting to doubt the 'Phoenix' healing abilities as he had been sneezing for a while.

Moreover Asia, Xenovia and Irina had sent him a seriously weird look when he had passed by them.

He guessed that it might have been because of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown which he held in his hand, but wasn't entirely sure as the girls had been staring both at it and 'Momon' with equally stunned looks.

Then he came across a hallway with a view towards the lake.

'Geeeeh?'

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