352 Reveal ; Interference

A/N:- We're back! And, I've got some good news for you. It's time for the most ambitious crossover in the history of anime fanfiction. This volume alone is going to feature at least 9 confirmed works. Don't worry though; everything is interconnected thanks to my overcomplicated thinking nature.

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"Albedo," I voice roughly as I use my senses to check for any presences outside the throne hall, only to find none. Good, I can proceed.

"Yes, Lord Victor?" responds the breathtaking beauty reverently.

"There is a new spell that I discovered while being away," I start, "The effects of the spell are rather intriguing and will generally allow for easier intelligence gathering in the future."

Hearing my words, Albedo's expression brightens as she gazes at me with a curious glint in her eyes. "Are you planning to show me the spell?"

"Indeed," I respond, immediately after which Albedo steps closer and hurriedly asks, "Am I going to be the first one to see it?"

Looks like someone is excited.

"Not exactly. I acquired this spell while making contact with Aletia," I explain.

"Oh," Albedo utters as her excitement lessens a bit.

"Anyway," I say, "I will use the spell now."

"I am honored to bear witness," she says with a bright smile as she takes a few steps back.

Originally, I wasn't planning to let any of Nazarick's residents know of my other form, but hiding it from each and every individual would prove to be tiring. So, I ultimately decided on revealing it to a select few. For all I know, this might work out in my favor in the future if I happen to somehow screw up.

Admittedly, there were some other factors that lead to me making this decision as well, one of which was that I simply can't stand being this close to an insanely beautiful woman, yet only be able to interact with her in the form of a 'boner-less' skeleton.

Another reason that I decided on this is to see how exactly would Albedo react to me having a human form, and judge if it would be fine to reveal the matter to the other residents later on from her reaction. (I am totally not taking advantage of the fact that she very obviously has the hots for me and is highly likely to not be antagonistic.)

Now then...

Profile - Origo.

Light flashes for a moment before I sense my body changing as usual.

Immediately, Albedo is shocked speechless as her eyes widen marginally. The sight appears to be more than a little surprising to her as she remains still, appraising me carefully.

This lasts for an entire minute before Albedo's lips part slightly as she begins to slowly laugh in a low voice; eerily, I must say.

Her widened eyelids slowly begin to narrow as a ruddy hue creeps up her face.

Ignoring her rather concerning reaction, I begin to calmly explain the 'spell'. "As you can see, this spell allows me to assume a humanoid form with proper flesh and blood. It also features other normal functionalities such as assimilation of food and... human desires."

Hearing the last two words, Albedo's eyes shoot wide open as a hopeful expression appears on her face.

"Unfortunately, now isn't the time to investigate the spell in detail."

As expected, Albedo's mood turns sour upon realizing the implications behind my statement.

Still, as much as I'd like to pin her down and take her right here, there are more important matters to take care of at the moment. For instance, there is the whole 'game' that I'm currently supposed to be playing.

I've actually been having my doubts over the usage of that particular word for this Platform. As I had concluded earlier, this is a Platform like any other apart from a few oddities, which has been the case for every Platform I've been to anyway.

Game - A term that I am all too familiar with. Ultimately, it's a system of actions that a player can perform to obtain joy and possibly a reward. It's not unusual for games to be competitive in nature. I wonder if the same can be applied to this 'game' I am in.

More often than not, a game has a clear winning condition as well as a losing condition.

Right now, I have a vague idea of how I can win this 'game', but not how I would lose. I can make a few educated guesses regarding what would be considered a loss: My 'death' in this Platform, the destruction of my base, total annihilation of my servants, and such.

The reward for finishing this game isn't something that I can pass on, so I must try my best to finish this 'game' as efficiently and effectively as possible.

With that said, if there is anything that needs to be done to keep most of the losing conditions I mentioned away, it would be being cautious.

Admittedly, I have been lacking in that regards recently.

For starters, I need to take care of enemy forces that may attempt to gather intelligence on us. The less they know, the better.

Through my casual stroll outside of Nazarick, I was able to uncover a few important pieces of information, such as the existence of a kingdom nearby.

According to Satoru, Nazarick was the base that he and his guild members used in a game he used to play. If so, then it wouldn't be out of the question to think of this place as an actual game world.

Usually, in fantasy games, especially MMORPG's, there are some NPC's with extreme backstories regarding the legends of their past.

Depending on the game, these backstories can pose huge trouble for us.

"Albedo," I say upon reaching a conclusion, "Nazarick is currently in a precarious position. We must prevent those in these unfamiliar lands to obtain any information on us at all costs. Therefore, I order you to gather any personnel needed to aid you in establishing counter-surveillance measures immediately."

"Yes, Lord Victor," the woman responds in a sharp tone as her expression turns solemn.

Now, I can only hope that my subordinate's strength and abilities will be enough for this. If worst comes to worst, I will take a strong stance in this world and destroy everything in my way. The good ol' punch your way through all troubles.

"Excuse me," Albedo utters respectfully as she bows before slowly walking down the stairs toward the doors that lead out of the throne room.

Thus, I am left alone in the throne room. I suppose I can now leave the game. Since time would be almost frozen here, it should be fine. Though, I am curious about the extra details; for instance, will my familiars remain here?

Well, I'll find out soon enough.

'Nora, I would like to leave the game now.'

{Understood. Initiating ejection…}

In just a few seconds, my vision turns dark as I feel a sudden pull on my body and my senses turn askew. After a short while, my disoriented senses are reformed, which I can tell by the sensation of a hard floor against my back.

I am back. My vision is gone once more, meaning that other than when using my enhanced senses, I won't be able to see.

Present in the room I have awoken in, is Jeanne, whose eyes are shut. The Time-Key is also here, functioning without any issues, as far as I can tell. Seeing that neither Aurora or Tiamat is present, I can only assume they stay in the game. Though, I am not sure about Tiamat's case for obvious reasons1.

"Jeanne," I call out.

In an instant, her eyes shoot wide open as she hurriedly rises to her feet, "My Lord, you are back!"

"Yes. How have you and the rest been faring?"

"There haven't been any issues so far," she responds.

"Good."

Having said that, I get up from the ground and make my way to where the rest should be. In the living room, Nao, her brother, and Shinoa are seated on the sofas as they converse among themselves. From what I can tell, Shinoa is speaking of the Platform she was from prior to 'falling' into this one.

"Good morning," I state as I step forth into the living room. Jeanne remained where she was, most likely because of my instructions to guard the Time-Key – it is something of great importance, after all. Also, despite my greeting, I have no clue what time of the day it is at the moment.

"You finally woke up," Nao remarked, while the other two refrained from saying anything. Perhaps, they are feeling awkward due to how limited their interactions with me have been? Though, in the case of Nao's brother, he is still recovering mentally, I suppose. Being experimented on sure doesn't sound like a pleasant experience, to say the least.

"Why are you back?" Nao asks after a brief moment of silence.

"Would you rather me not be back?" I question while feigning a hurt tone.

"You know what I meant."

"Well, I could just leave the game, so I thought why not?"

It's at this moment that Shinoa decides to speak her mind, "Uhm, you still haven't explained what this 'game' is."

Oh, right. Hm… I should probably keep the details to myself.

"But I did, didn't I? Basically, I enter another world and complete some missions in order to reach the ending. Once that happens, I will be rewarded handsomely."

Shinoa seems confused as she slightly tilts her head to the side with a contemplative look on her face. I'm sure this all sounds weird to her. Unfortunately, unlike the rest of the girls who have had a long time to get used to these shenanigans, Shinoa was frozen here. Truth be told, I find her amusing and would like to know more about her. Not to mention, her potential as an ally when considering her combat ability.

"Your life is so weird," Shinoa remarks.

"Can't disagree with that."

{WARNING: Foreign system interference detected!}

What? What the fuck is happening? 'Nora, can you hear me?'

{Yes, Father. I have already analyzed the interference and noticed that it's not malicious in nature.}

'Excuse me, but I'd much rather be no interference at all. Can you tell me what's it doing?'

{Currently, the profile module is being modified.}

Isn't that the thing I use to switch between Overlord and Origo modes? Why is that being modified? Forget that; who is doing this!?

{Profile module has been updated. Current version: 16.03.}

'That's neat and all, but what was the previous version?'

{Version 12.01.}

Well, shit. I appear to have benefited from whatever this was? 'Can you tell me what has changed?'

{All profiles have been merged and usable anywhere. Individual profiles have been improved as well.}

I'd be damned. Did this mean that I can use the magic system from the game outside of it? Deciding to give it a try, I make use of one of the spells.

{Greater Agility}

As expected, I can feel the sensation of the magic taking effect.

{Another wave of interference has been detected!}

Are you fucking kidding me? I've just got to hope it's another good one…

{Father's eyes are being modified.}

'Oh, cool. I'm already blind anyway.' Only for my eyesight to be suddenly back. Except for the fact that I am seeing very weirdly. Pretty sure that this is not what my vision normally was like.

{Father has received The Eyes.}

'The Eyes? Is that supposed to be the name of a skill, ability or whatever? Because, aren't those supposed to have some adjective to make it sound much more glorious than what it actually is, if not just summarize what the skill can do.'

{Analysis of The Eyes is not possible at the moment.}

'Very surprising.' I sarcastically remark. This is all happening too suddenly. Why is my life like this?

{Father, the one that behind the modifications has left you a message.}

'Oh?'

{Message: I am waiting for you.}

Great. Just perfect. I try to think of anyone that could do something like this. There is either Infi or Irene. The latter seems highly likely considering that she is 'the soul of the system' as she claimed to be. However, that's just a guess. For all I know, this could be some completely different person that suffers from Yuno's obsession syndrome.

"Hey, are you all right?" Shinoa's voice reaches my ears, causing me to focus back on reality, only to find her peering into my eyes.

"Yeah, sorry for dazing out."

"It's fine. You should probably get some rest."

That… sounds like some good advice. I can't even begin to think of all the troubles that would come with an enemy being able to modify my system. Makes me wonder if I should depend on it less henceforward…

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After spending an entire out of the game (quality time with Nao and Shinoa), I decided that heading back in would be for the best. After all, there isn't really much for me to do outside of the game.

So, after using {Creation} to create whatever resources the others wanted, I headed toward the room the Time-Key was placed.

"Jeanne," I call out to the deligent woman.

"Yes, My Lord?" She responds as reverently as ever.

"I'm counting on you once again."

"Yes! I'm honored."

Her antics are something that I find absolutely adorable for whatever reason. So, I decide to give in to my desires a bit as I appraoch her.

Jeanne visibly tenses up, but I don't react to it as I place my fingers under her chin. "I've already told you this, but you can relax."

"My Lord..." She mutters as her eyes begin to shake.

"Or else..." I whisper and move my head beside hers so that my lips are aligned with her left ear, "I might punish you like so."

The next moment, Jeanne lets out a muffled shriek as I playfully nibble the top of her ear.

"Now, be a good girl."

With that said, I back away from the blushing mess of a knight(?).

Here I am, back in the throne room. Not a single moment has passed since I left, which is good, because I can only imagine what sort of commotion would rise from me going AWOL on Nazarick…

END NOTES:- Nothing much happens in this chapter, except for a little teasing of what's coming2. I am very excited about writing this volume, because the grandness of the upcoming arcs will be unlike anything from the previous four volumes.