7

The four who had gathered at the table probably should have plunged into a discussion of the problem that had fallen to their lot. But instead they only continued to sit silently, periodically exchanging glances with each other.

The click of a flip-off lighter cap brought Mashu out of a strange trance, forcing her to turn to the source of the sound. It turned out to be Animusphere, lighting a cigarette.

"You smoke?" Mashu asked. However in spite of the question asked, there was no interest in either of her tone or gaze.

"Hm?" Only after having made a couple of puffs in silence, did Animusphere realized that she was asked a question. She turned her gaze to Kyrielight, then shrugged. "Yes... I tried to stop... But it seems to have been in vain, huh..."

Her voice sounded hoarse, as if she was tormented by thirst. But other than that, Mashu did not see any other consequences from the resurrection used on the Chief.

Resurrection, ha...

"So..." Da Vinci tried to start speaking. But like several times before, only beginning her narration with an introductory word, she stopped as if unable to determine the topic of conversation, after which she became silent.

Dr. Roman continued to look at the table thoughtfully, watching the ashtray slowly fill up with cigarette butts produced by Animusphere. As Mashu noticed the ashtray was already half filled and yet she herself had not paid attention to this even when Animusphere, with the persistence of a smoking locomotive, continued to smoke one cigarette after another.

'I wonder, how long have we been sitting like this?' Noticing many cigarette butts lying in the ashtray , the girl thought.

"Resurrection means..." After several attempts to start a full-fledged dialogue, Da Vinci managed to gather her strength and utter a complete sentence "Hmm... Are you sure that Lev did not lie?"

"I don't know" Almost in melancholy, taking another puff Animusphere shrugged. "No idea. And it's all the same to me, to be honest."

Such a load from knowledge turned out to be excessive for a girl - even Mashu herself did not fully understand how she was still conscious. First, the explosion, then the death of her friends, colleagues and subordinates, the battles in the Singularity and then the man who was like her father tried to kill her - not just kill but to torture her with a fate worse than death - only to be killed by her subordinate and savior all at once, who turned out to be a powerful mage, if not a god, who ressurected her. Breaking all the known laws of magic in the universe after it turned out that she had already died long ago.

To be honest it was more surprising that Animusphere could still react to the world around her and not that she continued to smoke cigarettes after another, as if drilling one point in space with her gaze.

"Hm, the resurrection..." Da Vinci repeated again. She looked at all the people in the room, which is composed of their newly assembled company of four sitting together, planning to discuss the situation that had arisen with her senpai... With Momon... With Ainz Ooal Gown?...

"Technically if your body was destroyed but your soul managed to reyshift, then you did not actually die. It's just that your physical shell was destroyed." Da Vinci, thinking about the resurrection , tried to come to a logical explanation of what had happened. "Recreating the body and bringing the soul back into it ... I think it is possible."

Mashu understood why the Da Vinci was so desperately trying to rationalize what had happened.

Even gods and True Magics did not have the ability to resurrect the dead. Gods and Magicians who stood above Servants just as much as Servants stood above ordinary magi. The very thought of a being whose abilities allowed him to wield a power superior to the power of the gods was unthinkable.

"So he was able to recreate the body and return your soul back into it." After coming to some inner decision, Da Vinci nodded to herself a couple of times. "Such abilities are worthy of admiration and envy, but they are possible according to what we know."

Mashu saw what Da Vinci was trying to do. She desperately clung to the immutable truths that she knew to keep her mind from falling into a pit of doubt and madness. However the demi-servant herself did not try to either support or refute Da Vinci's conclusions. She did not want to immerse the girl opposite her in despair, but she herself...

Memories of how senpai's body collapsed, letting bones to appear, arose in her mind. However, there was no blood and no screams of pain, senpai hadn't even winced at it, as if his own crumbling body didn't bother him. Rather he watched it as if it was an expected outcome and having come to a definite decision- started it. And then…

Instantly, the situation around Mashu changed. It was as if all the light of the world had faded and the whole of life ceased to exist. The sky became as black as an abyss and the earth cold and dead, as a grave. All sight and hearing from Mashu were gone, her body betrayed her, and her legs could not support her. She fell to the ground and the last thing she managed to see was a the black abyss of despair and death wove into a figure that Mashu saw before finally falling into oblivion. After that her mind could not stand such a shock and retreated, allowing her to fall into a dreamless sleep.

But even this state did not last long. After just a few minutes, Da Vinci brought her back to her senses, telling her that, the terrible creature that seemed to be absorbing the light by its overwhelming presence was her senpai, Momon. And he, judging by the state of Animusphere, possessed the power of resurrection. And if Da Vinci was able to reach for a rational explanation of this ability, then Mashu took it immediately. Unlike Da Vinci the Shielder saw the bare power of the creature that had become her Master.

'Master, hmm...' The girl turned to her inner feelings. Apparently Momon, or now Ainz, artificially limited the flow of mana into her body and since then has not increased the amount of energy sent to the girl. However the energy itself has changed. As if it had become darker and colder, as if the indifferent waters of the river, separating the world of the living and the world of the dead. The quality of mana itself has changed, although before the transformation Momon's mana was of the highest quality. Now to Mashu it seemed that a crystal clear power was flowing inside her, as if directly connecting her soul with the Root, penetrating her body completely, infusing strength into her muscles and her circuits. 'But he warned that a contract with him is a bad idea...'

Mashu thoughtfully leaned back in her chair.

"Hmm in this case his skill is at least equal to mine." Da Vinci concluded, and then she ran her hand through her hair, ruffling them more than smoothing it. "And that amount of mana..."

After these words, all four of them who sat at the table was startled. Da Vinci and Romani felt the manifestation of Ainz in the world, but even the seemingly completely blind to the external world Animusphere and Mashu twitched at the mention of Ainz's power, because they were there at that moment when he took his true appearance.

"May he be a god?" For the first time since the beginning of the meeting Romani gave his voice, causing an approving thought from Mashu. The pure volume of his power suggested that Ainz was something close to a divine being, but his appearance and the sensations created by his presence narrowed the possibility of candidates by a lot. "Perhaps Hades?"

Such a thought was not without logic. Hades was the god of the dead and was one of the three supreme deities of Greek mythology, so his strength and presence should be akin to the sensations emanating from Ainz. "But why Ainz Ooal Gown?"

Neither the name nor the nickname 'Ainz Ooal Gown' were mentioned in any mythology or historical chronicle. So it was strange that a God would choose a nickname for itself consisting of random words.

Once again the lid of the Animusphere lighter clicked, setting a new cigarette on fire.

"What other options do we have?" Romani certainly didn't want to sound rude, but given the circumstances the tone of his voice was more strained than it probably should have been.

No one answered this question however, of all those who were present here, only Da Vinci participated in the dialogue. Animusphere just continued to smoke cigarette after cigarette, while Mashu herself thoughtfully watched the conversation, thinking about how her life had to change.

Should it have? Strictly speaking, no, there were no precedence for this, but one thing was to make a contract with one's senpai, and quite another with a divine spirit.

"What should we do, then?" Da Vinci's voice was strangely, but obviously interested. "If he really is Hades then this creates so many questions... Was he called as a Servant, and if so who called him - and how did they call him? Why was he called and for what purpose did he go into Chaldea? How could he become a Master and most importantly does he plan to help us with our problem?"

As Mashu found out on awakening, the moment when Mashu returned to Chaldeahumanity was already destroyed. Fiery hell reigned outside the Chaldeas' shields, there was not a single sign of intelligent life and any attempt to leave the building would be the last stupid act a person would have done in their life. As it turned out after a change occurred in the singularity in Fuyuki, new singularities began to emerge throughout human history, changing history again and again. Because of which the current history of humanity was altered into their current state.

"If he really is Hades, then he should help us..." Da Vinci sighed. Despite the habit of recent years to portray all those associated with the world of the dead as antagonists, in the original ancient Greek myths, Hades was possibly one of the most kind and understanding of the gods. However given the scale of Zeus' rampages, he was regarded so in spite of the fact that he kidnapped his wife and forced her to marry him by deception.

'Tricked into marriage...' Mashu looked at herself. But he tried his best to dissuade her though...

It only remained to determine how much about Hades was true, how much was fiction and how much was fiction that became true. If this of course really was Hades at all.

"What other choice do we have?" Romani looked at Da Vinci, as the only one that participated in the dialogue. "Not that we have so many other possible options..."

Mashu only looked at the two people leading the dialogue, then shook her head.

In fact, the fact that behind the barriers of Chaldea, there were now only a raging firestorm and the centers of civilization showed no signs of life then they were already too late. And yet thanks to Chaldea's existence, perhaps they still had a chance of winning. However without senpai... Without Ainz, what could they do? Even taking into account Da Vinci's abilities and the abilities of Mashu herself, they were only two Servants who were facing an impossible battle with an unknown number of enemy and in unknown conditions. Perhaps even the presence of a divine spirit such as Hades did not guarantee them victory in this battle. However ,the help of a God could at least prove useful to them, in the current situation they could only hope for any hand extended to them, especially from the god of the dead.

"We'll have to turn to him anyway." Da Vinci sighed then shook her hair and folded her arms in front of her face. "But what if he doesn't help us?.."

"Well then..." Despite his usual appearance, Romani looked irritated. "We will cope on our own, what other choice do we have?"

The room sank into silence for a few minutes, everyone present trying to understand the situation in which they were all in, before a dry cough interrupted the thoughts of the three who had not paid attention to Animusphere.

Putting one hand on the head, and the other on the table, she coughed hysterically. An unkempt, half-burned cigarette fell to the floor, continuing to light the girl's legs with its smoldering coal.

"Severe nicotine poisoning." Da Vinci instantly recognized the cause and so she reached out her hands to the boss. "Now you will feel better ..."

After Da Vinci's magic had taken effect, the Animusphere almost immediately calmed down. Taking some breath tests several times the girl than pushed the Servant's hand away from herself, then sighed slowly.

"So it means..." - Despite the fact that the Animusphere's voice was still hoarse and her tone was fraught with bravado, Olga Marie was able to pull herself together and look around to everyone attentively. "I am still the director of Chaldea and therefore having listened to your suggestions my solution is..."

Sighing a couple of times the Animusphere exhaled in such a way that it seemed to Mashu that she herself was taking a puff from a cigarette - the girl's breath in front of her was so saturated with nicotine.

" Chaldea is not currently in any condition to refuse or neglect the help of anyone. Be it a divine spirit or a human being." The Animusphere paused for a moment, closing her eyes then looked around at all of those present. "If he does not agree to lend help to us let it be so. But if he agrees he will become the main aid to us in the matter of saving humanity. No objection is accepted."

Although Olga Marie noted this, it did not look as if anyone planned to object to her.

"Excellent." Having noted this on her own the girl nodded to herself. "Regarding the real nature of the forty-eighth master... We will not ask him about it."

After that Mashu wondered why they would not do that but realized almost instantly. For whatever reason Ainz did not want to disclose his nature. The most important thing they could hope for was his favor and assistance in the event of a problem, so they should avoid any possible provocations on Ainz. If he did not want to tell them about his nature, then their duty in this case was only to nod along and not provoke him.

"However, regarding the rest of the people here..." The Animusphere stopped at half the sentence.

The explosion organized by Lev killed many people, however, a small number of Chaldea's employees survived and at the moment is ensuring the continued functioning of the institute. They were only a few of them but that was all Chaldea had at the moment. Even if 'all' meant only a small group of frightened to death people on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The emergence of a new, powerful, divine ally could provide moral support in this case... However the emergence of an ally like Momon... Ainz, especially if he does not act friendly, could be the nail in the coffin of any hope of saving humanity and the fragile chain of people who worked at the moment to maintain Chaldea's incessantly, it would simply have collapsed and any chance of preserving the working capacity of the institution, therefore the salvation of mankind, would have been lost.

"We ... We will not interfere directly with his actions." The Animusphere having thought for a second, nevertheless tried to express her opinion. "However our immediate goal is to restrict Ainz's contact with the rest of the people except for us... At least until we are convinced of his intentions."

This was the most logical course of action, so there was no objection yet again.

"Fou." Four's quiet, snorting sound came to Mashu. The little creature looked slightly worried, a very rare sight to Mashu. If she thought about it, she never saw Four concerned at all. And very rarely was he seen in public, especially when Mashu was not alone.

"Four!" Mashu stretched out her arms to the creature and raised it closer to her. He usually didn't like when Kyrielight allowed herself such actions, but this time he only meekly allowed her to twist him like a kitten in her hands, after which he settled more comfortably on her hands when she brought him closer to her body. Other participants of the discussion noticed the appearance of the animal, but at the moment they were too concentrated on their discussion to respond to it.

"Four, do not run away from me like this anymore," Mashu expressed herself to the pet. This morning when she met senpai, Four escaped from her immediately. As soon as he felt the presence of Momon... Although if you think about it that way, perhaps it was the right thing to do in those conditions.

"You after all, felt something in senpai, yes, Four?" Mashu looked at the creature, the one, who was much smarter than anyone could have imagined but that did not possess the ability to answer her, continuing to remain silent.

However after a second, the fluffy beast in the hands of the girl tensed at the same time as the three people sitting in front of her tensed as well. Mashu herself also felt that her connection with her Master had increased. A sign that he had left the anomaly, which he had gone into a couple of hours ago, after he had brought Mashu and the Animusphere away.

Instantly, Animusphere and Romani, who were simple normal people, breathed heavily from the presence of a creature with such a volume of power close to them - and Mashu herself felt how, as the Master traveled closer, the pressure of a power emitted by an unknown source increased on her shoulders. Under these conditions, only Da Vinci could maintain her composure - although even in this case, Mashu saw the woman sigh a few times deeply, calming herself. Even Four in her hands tensed, anticipating the appearance of an unknown spirit next to him.

A moment later, a light knock on the door spread through the room, and then slowly the door of the room, which was temporarily assigned as a meeting room, opened.

Immediately Mashu was able to see him. Her Master and senpai, Ainz Ooal Gown.

His appearance was that of a skeleton - bare bones and a skull with two red lights flickering .like a flame, in his eye sockets - however, it was impossible to call him just a skeleton. Each part of his figure exuded an unbearable burden of pure power and embodied the mighty figure of a God — no, something more than just a God.

His height exceeded two meters with a large margin - even with the high ceilings and doors of Chaldea, he looked like a giant in the world of the Lilliputians - which, however, only added to the regality in his posture and movements.

His bare bones were dressed in a robe with an opening on his chest, exposing the empty thorax and spine and converging at the level at which the average person had a mid-belly hiding his belt and legs. Even Mashu, who had never learned to recognize the value of artifacts in her life, could say with absolute certainty that each line of embroidery on his robe was infused with more power than any magical catalyst in Chaldea and the cost of the creation itself was likely more than any country on Earth could afford.

"Hmm," Appearing on the threshold Ainz sighed, after which, as if finding something with a glance — although it was impossible to determine exactly where he was looking because of the absence of both eyes and facial expressions — he stretched his bone arm forward. Instantly on one of his fingers a ring flashed. After which, as if nothing strange had happened before, the feeling of overwhelming superiority disappeared.

"This ring is intended to protect against espionage." The spirit that appeared stated in a deep, inspiring voice. "However, as I see it, it can also be used this way."

Mashu blinked several times and then slowly exhaled her breath, which she held in herself for all this time. After the action of Ainz, his presence ceased to express itself. In the room, it became suddenly brighter and Mashu herself was able to take her eyes off the figure that no longer stood out in her sight. Of course Mashu could still ,at a glance, identify both the incredible power hidden in the creature in front of her and the value of the robes worn, but his presence stopped blotting out everything else that she could see or feel.

"May I have the pleasure to greet you in this world today?" Realizing that the meeting with the divine spirit had begun, the one that was least affected by the presence of an impressive figure, Da Vinci, took the dialogue into her hands. "Lord Ainz Ooal Gown..."

"Please," He interrupted her almost immediately. "Just call me just Ainz."

"Well, Ainz," Da Vinci nodded then looked at the man attentively. "In that case, allow me to thank you for helping us solve the problem with the singularity."

"It was nothing, it was my personal decision." Contrary to the expected response from a creature possessing such power, Ainz was extremely restrained and modest in the conversation. "Besides I was also involved in the situation. I just acted in my own self-interests."

" Nevertheless, I should thank you for your actions." For Da Vinci herself communicating in this style was also unusual, but she did everything possible to prevent the only possible chance of saving mankind to leave, by avoiding causing any offense.

"Okay," Having resigned himself to the girl's words, Ainz nodded. However, even in this movement, the dignity of a real king was visible. "However I suppose that this is not all that you wanted to tell me."

"Yes, of course..." Gathering her thoughts as if preparing to jump into the water, Da Vinci exhaled. "To tell the truth, we all would like to know about your future plans..."

"My plans, hm?" Thoughtfully Ainz put his hand to his chin in a completely human gesture. "First I suppose it will be necessary to deal with the emerging singularities. However up to this point it most likely will be best to look at Chaldea. Yet taking into account your reaction to my body it may be worth putting an illusion for this..."

"So, you are still going to help Chaldea?" Da Vinci looked seriously at the man, if you could call a skeleton, a man.

"Yes, perhaps," Ains however just calmly nodded at that then looked at the girls in front of him. "But I suppose you want to ask me why."

Despite the fact that the goal of four people in front of him was to avoid any provocation on their part, after Ainz had guessed about their thoughts, it was useless to argue about it, so she only nodded.

"Hmm, in that case..." Ainz thought about it then turned his head slightly toward Dr. Roman who was silent up to this point. "I suppose Dr. Roman may know something about this."

"Eh, me?" Surprised, the man pointed to himself and looked at Ainz. "But I didn't do anything..."

"You gave me advice." Although Ainz's expression was completely absent, Mashu could have sworn that he was smiling now. "Which led me to my current decision. In that case, I suppose we can say that all this is thanks to you."

Da Vinci and the girls who were silent before, turned their eyes to the man, who was in thought after his advice was mentioned. But after a couple of seconds the face of a doctor cleared after which an understanding appeared on it.

"Back then in the room!" The man slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, realizing what the skeleton meant, to which Ainz nodded favorably.

"Yes, that was what I meant by that." The burgundy lights in the sockets of the skull went out and Mashu was able to determine that such a gesture was equivalent to closing the eyes for a normal person. "So you can say that I helped you because I am returning an old debt. Of course it would not be right to say so completely. Perhaps it would be better to say that humankind has become or perhaps will become the source of the thing that I would like to preserve by all means."

"And," After this, Ainz turned his head slightly again, this time towards Animusphere. "I promised the girl that I would help her in her difficult task of managing Chaldea and I'm not used to breaking my promises."

After that Mashu shifted her gaze to Olga Marie in order to see that she had begun to redden to the very tips of her ears and was desperately trying to hide her face in her palms. When did he promise her that?!

"In that case..." As if trying to walk on thin ice, Da Vinci tried to change her tone to be a bit more relaxed. "Perhaps you should not use illusions? I think I can create something like a pseudo-body... Although it will take time for me to do something that will not collapse when you use magic of a higher strength, so something that I can give you right now... It cannot use magic that is higher than, I suppose D rank?"

"D rank?" Ainz said as if calculating something in his head. "Does this mean... Second rank?"

"That will be quite a bother, but I suppose, this is the best that I can count on in these conditions." As if weighing everything internally Ains sighed then bowed. And he really bowed, it was not a symbolic bow of a king who acknowledged the existence of a servant but a real, full-fledged bow out of respect. Of course even so he retained the dignity of a king, but it was unlikely that he did it on purpose. Rather this type of regal behavior was entangled in his very essence so much so, that he simply could not behave otherwise. "Thank you very much, Da Vinci."

"Of course, Ainz..." The girl said a little more relaxedly, slowly returning to her usual behavior. "Of course, whatever you want at any time!"

"Then let's go!" Jumping up from her seat, the girl was next to the divine spirit of unknown origin. "Come, I will take you to my workshop!"

And yet ,even so, Mashu could easily see how wary Da Vinci was, while trying to appear careless.

"Of course, let's go..." But not confirming her fears, Ainz behaved more than calmly. Following the leadership of Da Vinci, he followed her without any objections or problems.

For several seconds there was just silence in the room, before Mashu realized that the two most powerful magi she had ever seen, left her company and only then did she realize that Four had disappeared from her hands. Looking around several times the girl did not find him, after which in the absence of other options she decided that he ran away from Ainz after seeing him again.

"By the way, Olga," Romani's voice distracted her from the search for the beast. "Regarding Ainz's support for you... What exactly did he promise to you and how?"

After these words the girls, whose face was still red, and Mashu, who did not fully understand the situation in which she found herself in and how she should now act toward senpai, felt that she would not like the consequences of the story...

Name: Mashu Kyrielight

Race: Heteromorphic

Title: Shield that forgot its name

Occupation: Servant of Ainz Ooal Gown

Residence: Chaldea, Mashu Kyrielight Room in Residential Wing

Karma: +200 (Good)

Racial level: Homunculus (1)

Demi-servant (2)

Class level: Shielder (15)

Lord of the Shield (5)

Warrior (10)

Scientist (2)

Others (5)

Total: 3 Racial levels + 42 Class levels = 45 General levels

HP: 80

MP: 60

Physical attack: 40

Physical defense: 0

Agility: 20

Magical attack: 0

Magical defense: 80

Resistance: 40

Special abilities: 0 (?)

Ability: Lord Chaldeas

Power Level: 20

A simple ability that creates a shield in front of the user. The shield has a strength in proportion to the characteristics of the one using it and is able to absorb a certain amount of both magical and physical damage. However it protects the user on one side only, therefore a player who has bypassed from the flank of the user can still attack the user without any difficulty. The shield itself also does not have any special strength or any additional effects, so this ability has a rather limited range of use and due to the general weakness of the ability, it is used only in the early stages of the game.

Skill: Transient Wall of Snowflakes

Power Level: 40

A skill that can temporarily increase the physical and magic resistance of the user and his allies if the user uses only one large shield and does not use weapons. The ability can be quite effective, especially for the commander build with a focus on tanking. But the restriction, on the lack of weapons greatly reduces the practicality of its use and requires high skills of the user. Bukubukuchagama had a similar ability.

Skill: Obscurant Wall of Chalk

Power Level: 40

A skill that can give invulnerability to a user's ally for a very short time. Unfortunately this ability with all its effectiveness can be applied only to one ally, cannot be applied to the user and also has a very long recharge time, due to which its efficiency is not very high.

Player Comments:

- Who ever thought of making a tank build without physical defence?!

- It looks more like a mob for farming than a real build.

- The ability is quite useless, only if you urgently need something to block a blow, and all the normal skills are on cooldown.

- Someone wanted to make a build to troll mages, but because of its agility it can't even reach them. Just garbage.