35 Chapter 12

Peter woke up with a scream, resembling a howl, and jerked upright in bed. With no idea where he was or what had happened, he hurriedly surveyed around the room.

It didn't take long for the memories to come back. He and his team had been ambushed by a blonde, rather scantily clad woman and an old man in a dark robe. He got immobilized with a mortal wound and was forced to watch how Ninya was tortured. Then there was some sort of dream or nightmare. He saw the torture of his friend and teammate on repeat, unable to stop it, only able to spectate.

He was deep in this endless cycle when a skeletal hand pulled him out of it. The dream changed to him becoming some sort of beast and hunting prey in a forest. The thrill of the kill, the wonderful taste of flesh, something he could never forget even if he tried now.

"Where am I?" He asked out loud as the memories of the dream faded.

Peter slowly got out of the bed with a slight wobble. To his left was a cupboard with a large mirror on one of two doors.

"Huh!?" The first thing he noticed was the animal ears poking out of his blonde hair. There also was a fluffy blonde tail he had failed to feel when he stood up. He had changed!

"What is going on? Why am I this… am I still dreaming?" Peter pinched his arm to be sure, feeling the slight jolt of pain.

"Nope. This is real." There was no helping it. He needed to dress and explore the place or realm he was in. No doubt some sort of afterlife at least.

Inside the cupboard, he found what he was looking for, namely a pair of pants, a simple shirt, and boots. As he dressed he noticed a bell on the table and a note under it with simple instructions. 'Ring the bell for assistance.'

"Nothing to lose I guess." He followed the simple instructions, picking up the bell and ringing it with his apparent newfound strength.

A moment later a beautiful red-haired girl in a maid's outfit entered the room. Although she had a hat, he could see that she had animal ears as well.

The first thing Peter noticed was that his sense of smell had become leagues better. He could smell the girl's natural scent over the fragrance she wore, and his instincts knew that she and him were the same species.

"Heya, finally awake. Took you long enough." The girl greeted him cheerfully.

"Where am I? Who are you? Is this some sort of afterlife? Why am I like this?" He waved at himself.

"You are in Nazarick. I am Lupusregina Beta, but you might remember me as Lucy. And no, this is not the afterlife, you were made reborn by Lord Ainz, the absolute ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick," Lupus answered all his questions in order.

"Lucy? But how?"

"I'll answer everything on the way. First, we are getting you something to eat by decree of Lady Buku." Lupus motioned for him to follow, moving aside to open up the doorway.

"Wait. I am not going-"

He didn't manage to finish the sentence as Lupus grabbed him by the throat, pushed him against the wall, and lifted him off the floor.

"You are going to do exactly what I tell you and do it without complaining. I have no time or mood to play around. Got it?" She stated in a tone that drove the point home in spades.

"Y-yes!" He gargled in response. This maid's power was so overwhelming, and her intent so hostile, that Peter's instincts screamed for him to comply. It was either comply or die.

"Good, now come." She let go of him and opened the door.

Peter did as told, and after a few steps, his curiosity got the better of him. "If you truly are Lucy, then are you reborn as well?" He asked while following the maid through a corridor.

Various nonhuman and seemingly human creatures passed by or guarded doors, he cautiously observed. There was something unreal about the place he couldn't put his finger on.

"No, I was playing a role. Itsuki was played by your new master Lord Pero the God of Murder, and Akari was Lady Buku the Goddess of War. We were on a scouting mission to know more about this world." Lupus explained.

"Yeah, none of that makes any sense. What about the others?" Peter asked. If he was reborn maybe the others were as well.

"You'll meet them in the cafeteria. What doesn't make sense?"

"The God stuff and you said this world. I… sorry my head is still kinda…"

"It's simple. You and the rest of your team will serve Lord Pero. You were brought back because he requested it. Oh, here it is. Don't take too long." Lupus opened the door to a bustling cantina.

The place was packed with young attractive maids and masked manservants, either eating or carrying plates with massive portions.

Lupus led him to the buffet and told him to pick what he wanted and then join a pair of odd creatures sitting at a table a distance away.

He hastily picked a few rare steaks and some vegetables and rushed over to the table, both with marvelous looks and a delicious scent. As he sat down he recognized the pair by the scent alone since both looked nothing like their old selves.

"Dyne, Brita!?"

"Hey, Peter. Huh, are those wolf ears?" Brita, now a blue-skinned six-armed woman with tusks at both sides of her mouth, asked as she leaned over and patted him.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing!" Peter leaned away.

"You look so petable. Like a wolf puppy." She teased, leaning forward even more to reach his head again.

"Not funny." He growled, slapping her arm out of the way.

"Come on, don't be grumpy. Those ears are too cute."

"Have you seen Lukrut or Ninya? I didn't get any answers from the lady who led me here." Dyne asked to avoid a potential fight between the two as Peter let out an animalistic growl and showed his teeth.

"No. But if we are here they should be too, right?" Peter returned his attention to the meal and bit into a piece of meat with animalistic vigor.

"I hope so. Ninya… I don't know if you were still alive-"

"I saw what that beast was doing to…to…" Peter looked up remembering a strange detail. "I think Ninya was a girl."

"So that bitch left us all alive long enough to see what she was doing to Ninya. I don't know if we can ever return home, but if we can I want to find her and rip her heart out with my bare hands." Brita twisted four of her hands into fists.

"Get in line," Peter growled. "I knew Ninya a lot longer than you!"

"We should concentrate on our new circumstances for now." Dyne tried to be the voice of reason. Now a nature elemental, he felt at peace with his environment and circumstances, which was certainly not the case for his two more bloodthirsty friends.

"Yea. Yea. Let's eat and go meet Akari, whatever she is now." Peter agreed.

There were so many questions that needed answers, and maybe Akari would provide at least a few. They all knew they were lacking in information, uniting once more to determine all they could.

After the meal, he and his friends were led by a maid trio towards the office of a woman they supposedly knew.

Just before they met her, Lupus barked out an order. "You will show Lady Buku utmost respect and only address her by either Lady Buku or my Lady, is it clear?"

"Yeah." "Of course." "Perfectly." He and his teammates replied. They knew by now better than to reply with anything but compliance, for now at least.

"Good." Lupus nodded as another maid knocked on the door.

They came face to face with a dark elven woman of unreal beauty.

"Lady Buku, we brought Lord Pero's new servants." One of the maids explained as all three of them bowed.

Peter repeated the motion just in case and waited for Akari to speak.

"I'll take it from here. Lupus, Entoma, Shizu, you can wait outside." Buku stated.

The maids did as told and left them alone with this woman. Buku stood up and walked around the table sitting down on its corner, crossing her arms.

"So you three are finally back. My brother is busy with internal matters so I'll be taking care of you for now."

"Are you really Akari?" Peter asked and realizing he forgot to add her title, hastily corrected himself. "Lady Buku."

"Yes, I was playing Akari. Anything else you want to know?" Buku asked. She didn't seem to be in a good mood but it was clear she was hiding the fact.

"Why were we brought back?" Peter asked the question all three of them wanted an answer to.

"Because my brother and I didn't account for the ambush that happened."

"Where is Ninya? Didn't you bring her back as well? What about Lukrut?"

"They are on a mission to the capital of Re-Estize and likely will be back in Nazarick tomorrow. At least for a day. I guess I'll just bring you all three up to speed on what has happened since your deaths."

The tale Buku told about what happened after their deaths was hard to believe. The city one of the New Gods saved with a single spell, the capture of the woman who murdered them, and her subsequent torture. Even Ninya's resurrection and voluntary race change.

In the end, Peter knew there was no going back to the old life he and his teammates had once known. He and his teammates weren't humans anymore and could not just walk the streets of E-Rantel.

'At least Ninya is doing good and Lukrut is keeping an eye on her. I may need to kick his ass if he isn't doing a good job with that.'

<X >

The moment she did her last hit, Ninya rushed back to the manor to see how her sister was doing. Both Lord Demiurge and Lord Sebas had permitted her to take some time off, now that the cleanup within Eight Fingers was done and it was back to political machinations for their other pawns to execute.

In the rush of the moment she didn't even knock and just barged in.

Tuare was sitting in the bed, clutching the corner of the blanket and staring down. Her face was partly covered with her golden hair.

"Tuare! I am back. Did anyone give you something to eat?"

"Celi…" Tuare looked up. Her stare was blank and lifeless.

"Tuare. It's…I missed you so much." Ninya ran over to her, embracing her sister tightly.

"Celi. What happened to you?" She questioned, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Me. I am fine. I was an adventurer. I was searching for you all this time. And the Lord I serve, he helped to find you. Everything will be great from now on." Ninya cried over her words as she hugged her ever tighter.

"Celi…" Tuare gasped.

"Sorry. I sometimes forget that I'm stronger than I used to be." She immediately let go.

"Celi, you have horns." Tuare glanced up for a moment.

"Ohh…" 'No! No! No! I forgot to switch to human form.' Ninya paled, grabbing at the demonic features of her current form.

"Did something happen? Did you agree to something bad to find me?" Tuare questioned her.

"I…a lot of things happened. I wasn't forced. I am not human anymore by choice." 'Please don't be afraid of me. I am still your sister.' Ninya tried to make her smile look assuring.

Tuare slowly raised her hand and inched it closer to Ninya's horns. She gently dragged her fingers over the left one and tilted her head.

"After years there among them, I wouldn't want to be one either. Celi, tell me what happened to you. Was it because you were searching for me?" Tuare's voice was still quiet and nearly emotionless.

"No! You are not responsible. That monst- a human woman, tortured me to death and killed my friends to capture a boy we were guarding. I did this willingly to become stronger. I can now protect you. I'll have a home where you will be safe. But…" Ninya paused.

"There will be almost no humans around. Most are very inhuman-looking. The only one is my friend and teammate who pleaded with my master to resurrect me. He is a good guy." 'Lukrut would not try to flirt with my sister. He knows what has happened to her. He is not that ignorant.'

"So that young woman and that older Lord of the house, they aren't humans? Is he your master you are referring to?" Tuare inquired.

"No. Neither of them are. And they both also serve my master and his friends. There is just one thing you should know. You have to show the utmost respect to the rulers of my new home, and follow all their rules."

Tuare silently nodded, taking Ninya's hands into hers, and looking down, closing her eyes.

"Tuare?"

"Thank you for not giving up. You saved me from hell. I hope you understand that I don't want to tell you everything they did to me." She spoke after a moment.

'I know enough. That fat pig died too fast. I should have given him to Lord Demiurge. He knows better how to deal with pieces of shit like them.' There was no point regretting what she did, the man did suffer at her hands and jaws, immensely. He clearly wasn't the only one who had abused her sister. All the trauma Tuare had suffered was laid out clear as day when Solution inspected her.

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'll be there for you. Now we should prepare. I am taking you back to Nazarick. My living space isn't big, but it will be enough for us, and as for food, you won't believe how good everything tastes!" Ninya put on a cheerful face and pulled her sister out of bed.

It was time to return to her true home. It was time to return to Nazarick.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by Saphire_Drake, clagan, Antilene, shynavyseal, aidan_lo, Sluthen, x4x, and NuggetLover.

AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader (gives access to chapters months ahead of regular readers).