time in YGGDRASIL III

Mere hours remained until YGGDRASIL's final shutdown. Players were still allowed to log in and watch the in-game timer if they wished. But no dungeons were open besides player-run ones. And all events have been locked off. Only safe areas remained open for all players, while player run area and dungeons could only be accessed by guilds attached to them. However very few players were online, and even fewer choose to remain online till the timer went to zero and the game closed down. The announcement read that all players would be officially logged out after the timer reached zero. Any attempts to open up the game would be simply met with an error message. Finally, refunds were given to players who had paid for the time that lasted beyond the final month, just to avoid complaints from players. It truly was the end of the massive DMMO-RPG. 

Of the few players that remained, only four were in guilds. One was Ainz Ooal Gown. the only was the Imperial Unit. only two were online in each. 

"Crazy to think this is closing." Momonga heard HeroHero say as he looked at the elder Black Ooze player. "I had a lot of fun. I regret not being able to be around much at the end" Herohero admitted while the slimy Ooze of his hand reached out on the large circular table where the members of Ainz Ooal Gown used to meet up. Either for planning or general chatting. But with just the two of them, it seemed a little to big. "It is alright Herohero. We were all busy." Momonga tried to bring ease to his guildmate, knowing the man was already bitter about his black mark company and how busy it kept him to the point it affected his physical health as well. More than even other members. 

"Perhaps, but you were the only one of us that kept the tomb going." Herohero sighed deeply "I wish there is a YGGDRASIL two. Then we might all be able to meet and play together again, just like we used to." Momonga held up a skeletal hand and a chat sweat mark emote appeared in front of him "That sounds unlikely to me. I would hate to see what kind of changes they make to a sequel to our beloved YGGDRASIL." while the idea of a sequel was unheard of by Momonga, he did not hate the idea of playing with all his friends in a game like this again. Ainz Ooal Gown, its members, the NPCS, and the Tomb of Nazarick. All were what was most important to him in this life. He would never forget it. 

"I apologize for always complaining about work to you and the others. But I am glad we were able to enjoy YGGDRASIL to its fullest." Herohero brought up a menu but of course, only he saw it. "Thank you Momonga. For everything." Momonga was not sure how to say goodbye, he wanted to say something. But knowing Herohero had a grueling day of work ahead of him, he simply said "Goodbye, my friend." Herohero signed off, for the last time. 

Momonga leaned back "at least stay till the end." he said what he actually wanted to say before, but it was too late. He brought up a friends list, no one was online, well except one other player. The Argent Silver. He could also see the message 'one other player nearby' though he could not see it since only he and Silver exchanged friend messages. Of course, friend was a loose term, it was only there for the rare two times the two guilds worked together on raids too hard for them to take on alone. He figured the other player was a guildmember of Argent Silver, even if he could not see the username. 

With very little time remaining Momonga got up and began to walk around. Exploring the tomb that houses his infamous guild. 

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Argent Silver and Lherich, otherwise known as Tanya and Rerugen, were simply exploring the base of Fort Gegen Gott. they were the last members of The Imperial Unit. Rerugen only because of the threat Tanya held over his life now. Of course, he was happy that after today Tanya would no longer bug him. When she messaged him that he made sure to promise to be in YGGDRASIL on the last day, even if he could not remain for all of it. He had one regret though, but he would rather not think of it 'They are in the past' is what he told himself. 

They passed by NPC's, the last proof their other members used to fill the halls of the fort. Vikki and Deimano followed behind them, silent as neither NPC could speak unless spoken to. And even then they would not add much. When the two entered the top floor finally Tanya said "Thank you for joining me one last time Major Lherich. If only the others were here, perhaps I should have tried to get them more thoroughly under my thumb as well." she was joking at the end. But she had wished that the others were here as well, emotions were a crazy thing that she wished had stopped plaguing her since her last world. Would have made things easier later on considering what she has to do.

Rerugen chuckled with a small sense of dread, "No offense, but I am glad to be done being scared of a brat like you as well. Though I do share your wishes that everyone else could have joined us one last time." while he was only on two times a month to keep up his deal with Tanya after the things she found out about him, he was saddened by each members departure. Especially when it eventually included his fellow commanders. 

Adelhime went first, now having a more active career in the science field. Then Kouven, which Rerugen was not as sad about. Then Weikarn and Wae*mu left mere days apart, Weikarn and his wife were having a child soon and wanted to focus on his family. While Wae*mu was finishing up her doctorate and planned on getting back in the game after she had a stable job at a hospital, but of course, she never came back and the last message they got from her was of a ring on her finger and a final goodbye. Finally, Rovel left and never revealed why. It was a mystery but it was out of their hands. 

Both remaining members of The Imperial Unit walked past the war room. All the way into Tanya's office. Zewuart was waiting, in the same position he was left in, with arms behind his back as if he were a butler waiting for more orders. He was as without commands NPCs do nothing in YGGDRASIL. Vikki stood by the door as did Deimano. Tanya's avatar sat down on the large chair behind the desk, while Rerugen sat on a smaller but decent chair facing her. 

"So I guess this is it." both stared up at the timer. Less than twenty minutes remained, closing in on ten minutes. "Major Lherich, thank you for your service" Tanya was genuinely thankful. Rerugen folded his arms in front of him "And to you Argent Silver. Despite being more evil than I could ever hope to be. I did not hate my time here. On the contrary it was more-" the avatar shook its head "no, both were enjoyable. Thank you." he opened up the menu "I suppose you don't mind if I leave early? Not that I mind the wait. If you want to give one last order."

Tanya's Avatar gave the most serious expression the game provided. Rerugen tensed up, fearing he may have angered her somehow. "Rerugou." She stated his real first name, now he was really fearful. That was until a scroll appeared in Tanya's hands. "What's that?" he asked as Tanya smirked "This is Adelhime's masterpiece. The final project he and I worked on together. I have something I want to ask you. I promise I will give no more orders. It is a choice you have to make."

Rerugen was confused, who would not be? Suddenly a gift message appeared for him, from Argent Silver. He opened it, it was an exact copy of the scroll Tanya had. "Check out what that is. Does not matter what your reaction is, this item will be useless to you the moment you sign out. It is a spell, it only has three uses. And once the last bit is used up, the player can never use the item to reverse the effects. Even if it is from another scroll. Adelhime called it, 'divine S-command' silly to think about really." 

Rerugen read the spell and his avatar's mouth opened wide. "This is…how did the admins never ban you for this?" he was stunned beyond words. "We only made two of them. And we never used them. In truth, I need to test if it even works. But not here. I don't want to waste either spells usages." she looked directly at him, her serious expression never ceasing. "Rerugou, there are ten minutes remaining. I cannot fully explain to you everything unless you remain till the end." with a shaky and confused tone Rerugen responded, "Why?"

Tanya knew very little about the new world besides that they would be sent there if they remained till the end of the countdown. And that the NPCs would remain. But even how the NPCs would act. Loyal or simply monsters that would attack her on sight? She did not know. And having another player there could be helpful. But beyond that, she had a plan, one she needed specifically him for. But, she did not want to force him. In fact, a part of her hoped her cruelty to him would get him to sign off without a second thought. She always thought of another plan whenever one fell through or failed completely. She would make do. "Because. If you choose to stay you may regret it. For a multitude of reasons." 

Rerugen made a 'tch' noise and gave a frustrated expression on his avatar. "Why the hell even tell me if you think I'll regret it?! You've forced me to come back here to do the grunt work every month when I am busy in my real life. All just to hesitate now? At the very end?" Tanya was a bit surprised, he was telling her off but not for the reason she expected. "Major Lherich." she went back to using his username. "What if I told you, that if you waited until the end you would not ever have to worry about the job and the world you hate so much." 

"What do you mean?" it was true, he disliked the real world. It was why he was not mad over Tanya forcing him back into YGGDRASIL. Well, he was a little mad but not as much as he thought he should be. He liked the game world far more, but the game would shut down, and there was nothing his leader could do about it. Tanya held up a hand as if to stop whatever thoughts he was having "But in doing so, you will be put into a more dangerous world. And be forced to make a decision on what I tell you when we get there."

Rerugen leaned down and laughed nervously while a hand covered his avatar's left eye. "Y-you sound crazy. Well, you always do. But this is a whole new level." she could not blame him. "You have seven minutes left. log out at any time. But know it will be too late the moment the countdown reaches zero. I will not be angry if you leave. I fully understand. However," with a smile she said "if you leave. Then I wish you a happy life. As we will never see each other again." of course, Tanya only meant this version of Rerugen. 

The two sat in silence. Tanya just waited. Whether she would be alone by the end or not. Was irrelevant. She had to be there. She refused to lose. 

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Momonga eventually made his way to the chamber where the combat maids, the Pleiades, as well as their leader Sebas, were stationed. The maids and Sebas bowed, as was their set command. "You were supposed to be the last line of defense between invaders and the throne room. "And yet only one guild ever made it this far." he thought back to the Argent Silver and her guilds invasion of the tomb. The only players to ever make it to the throne room. In fact, they were the only guild to ever make it past floor one. Nostalgia for this memory faded, and he commanded the Pleiades to follow him too. They made it to the throne room, and Momonga still held the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. the item he and the guild worked so hard to make. 

Waiting there was Albedo, the leader of all the guardians. The Succubus made by Tabula Smaragdina just remained idle, while smiling. Momonga sat down on the throne, where he got to see the status of all NPCs within Nazarick. As he started at Albedo he said "Tabula created you and yet your only time in combat ended with your destruction. I apologize." it was just an NPC, so it should not matter. But Momonga felt it necessary. 

As he went through Albedo's character list his all-bone mouth opened agape. 'Tabula, why is her character explanation and back story so long?!' he has forgotten how detailed oriented Tabula was sometimes. A thought came to him, normally you could not edit NPC's set personality when it is already finished except by the player who made them. But using the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, he could overturn this. And so when he was able to edit Albedo's character, he added as a joke 'She is madly in love with Momonga' he knew it was silly. But surely Tabula would not mind. At least he hoped so. 

Only seconds remained on the countdown. Momonga looked at the flags that filled the throne room. Each with the insignia of all 41 members of Ainz Ooal Gown. "if only we could have adventured together one last time." as the last few seconds went by he closed his eyes. And waited for a message to appear saying the server disconnected. 

And yet it never came. Momonga opened his eyes. He was still in the game. 'What weren't the servers disconnecting along with the game shut down?' he was thinking that perhaps there was a delay, so he decided to try and contact the admins. 'What?' and yet he found he could not open the menu. He quickly open the chat box, but the option to message admins or make a report was gone. In fact, his entire chat log was gone. 

Suddenly he heard a womanly voice say "Lord Momonga. Is something wrong?" slowly he looked up, and saw a worried Albedo looking at him. He looked at Sebas, who was also staring at him with confusion and worry. "Are you okay?" when Albedo talked this time Momonga noticed her mouth moved. And that she had a voice. NPC's were not supposed to have either. 

'What is happening?' he thought as he met Albedo's gaze. 

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Tanya and Rerugen sat in silence. Ten seconds counting down the clock. If he intended to leave, Rerugen would have to do it now. And yet he had dropped the Menu option. Whether it was out of curiosity or his own deep-seated fear, he had chosen to remain. "Don't regret it in five seconds," Tanya said as the last five seconds started.

Three….

Two….

One….

Tanya looked around sure enough the base was still there. Rerugen was still there. His long ears twitched, as did hers. They felt it as well, that the difference in their human ears from these ones. "How are we still here? YGGDRASIL should have been shut down by now." Rerugen was perplexed. Tanya added after attempting to open the menu "Seems we are locked out of opening the game menu and a few other things as well." 

"Did…did you know this would happen?" the question Tanya had expected from him. She nodded "I told you not to regret it." Rerugen sat down after Tanya said that. He shook his head and aimlessly said "This is unreal…no it has to be a dream. Or maybe psychosis?" Tanya shook her head "There is more Reru-" the other player's hand slammed down in front of her on the desk "Don't act so casual about this?!" 

"Master Lherich, please don't be so aggressive in front of Mistress Silver." hearing a new voice, even Tanya was taken aback. With shocked silence, they stared at Vikki. An NPC battle maid who was looking quite cross with Rerugen. "It is unprofessional." This time they saw her mouth move. "W-what?" Rerugen managed to get out. "Even I did not know this." Tanya was not sure what to make of this, the NPCs could talk now without it just being a dialogue box. In addition, they seemed loyal. "Grand Commander Silver. Are you alright?" Zewaurt said behind her, still standing at attention with his hands behind his back. Hearing Zettour's voice after all this time felt odd. And yet it was also familiar in a good way. 

Deimano approached Rerugen "you need to calm down commander Lherich. Shall I brew us some tea?" a calm voice from the demon NPC did not calm Rerugen's nerves. "Hey that is my job!" Vikki cut in. "Deimano? My NPC…what is this. Argent Silver what is happening?!"

Tanya waved a hand in front of her "I did not know this would be what happened. If these three are like this it is probably the same as the others. Also, you may call me Tanya from now on." she motioned to the seat he was on before. "We have to discuss something like mentioned before. Vikki. Fetch the higher-ranking soldiers that are here. Have them meet us in the war room. We will join you shortly." Vikki bowed "of course Mistress Silver." seems the NPCs still called her that, but that was fine. 

She stared at Zewaurt "understood I will stand guard outside till you are done." Deimano casually rubbed the back of his head "I suppose I will claim at seat in the war room then." the two left leaving Tanya and Rerugen by themselves. 

"Sil- no, Tanya. What is this?" 

Tanya pointed at him "I will explain all I can. Afterward, I need you to make a decision. Whether to agree to join me. Or to oppose me." 

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And now for a special Isekai theater!

A version of Tanya and Ainz that looked like their Isekai Quartet versions stood as a curtain rose. 

"Why are we doing this again" Tanya asked as Ainz shrugged and said "Supposedly this is happening every once in a while at the end of chapters to discuss what is coming or what happened. Maybe depending on how the readers react it will happen more often."

Tanya's eyes narrowed "Readers? Oh right, those people." She stared at the fourth wall shaking her head. "I already hate doing this."

Ainz sighed "Still can't believe you will try to kill me later."

Tanya leaned back while crossing her arms "Blame the self-proclaimed gods if you care so much." 

Ainz poked his boney fingers together and said "do you hate me?" Tanya groaned a little and pointed with frustration at Ainz "You're supposed to be a big scary undead overlord! Act like it not a little girl!"

Ainz turned his back to her "Maybe you should act more like you look as well." 

Tanya grabbed his robe "WHAT WAS THAT?!" Ainz sweated rapidly "Nothing I swear!"

While Tanya chased Ainz around the stage with her rifle. Viktoriya and Vikki carried out a large sign that said…

Up next-the undead king arc!

Viktoriya looked at Vikki "it is like staring at a mirror. Say, I kinda wonder if we look exactly the same in a maid dress as well." Vikki giggled "I would be glad to lend you one."