Prologue (3)

Momonga spent a few hours figuring out how his new spell worked before finally fitting it into his standard combat strategies before he considered his mission on the Sixth Floor complete. With that done, he returned to his chambers with the [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown].

Momonga was not at all bothered by his appearance – which was odd enough.

Though he had indeed spent an incredible amount of time in the body of his game avatar, Momonga, he was still, remained, and considered himself, at least until recently, a human.

He did not resemble schoolchildren who called themselves 'elves' or 'lords of darkness' while playing games, and never once until then had he thought about something like 'Why are my hands not bone, I am Momonga, am I?' Except when he had a particularly vivid dream about Yggdrasil, confused in his sleep whether his dream was still going on at the moment.

Any claim to the contrary is a filthy lie! He didn't suffer from Eight-Grade Syndrome!

In other words, Momonga completely correlated with his human body… until recently.

When he had found himself in his skeletal body, back in the first moments of this new world, Momonga didn't panic, at least about that, and was easily able to adapt to his new conditions. Except with some strange curiosity he began to notice the features of his 'old new' body, he was seemingly completely unconcerned that his body was now a collection of bones. Without the flesh and skin part, that is – his education at least covered the part where every human does have bones inside their body.

As he began experimenting with his newfound spell, Momonga only strengthened his own relative perception – the bodies he created had almost no effect on his self-perception and did not cause Momonga to feel any 'wrongness'. Whether it was a human, dragon, insect or just a mass of living fire, the only feeling of wrongness he got was trying to use the 'racial skills' of his new body, and his attempt to change his gender.

Strangely, even though the formless mass of fire he could transform into was supposed to be sexless, Momonga still considered himself a man when taking this form. When he tried to take the form of a human woman, one of his past colleagues, he failed. Even when in the sexless form of fire as before, but concentrating on his desire to create a 'female blob of fire', a sense of impropriety forced him to abandon such a thing.

'I wonder if this is solely about my perception and psyche, or the fact that the female body also possesses certain 'racial' or, in this case, 'sexual' skills that I cannot fully utilize?' Momonga thought about it for a moment before shaking his head and raising his gaze to the door of his private quarters before entering it.

Momonga had been in his chambers before, but had done so quite rarely, since the chambers created for Role Play were meaningless to Momonga. Other than the occasional chance to admire the beautiful interior – which Momonga wasn't entirely what they are, only that they looked good.

Momonga's gaze momentarily slid over the expensive wood paneling, the magical chandelier, the desk, the huge bed covered with expensive sheets, Albedo, who was completely naked and now lying on the bed over the sheets, the pillows behind her head…

Momonga felt as if there was something extra in the row of things he had been observing, before determining that it was most likely Albedo's presence. He was pretty sure that he hadn't edited Albedo's data to the extent that he had changed where she's usually located.

Albedo's completely naked figure lay on the sheets, black and purple bedspread with the gold embroidered symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown on top. Her voluminous breasts with pink nipples straight with excitement, heaving in tune with her noisy breathing, and her juices flowing down the inner surface of her thighs…

Momonga instantly felt his mind begin to cloud over, before it was forcefully calmed down

"Hmm, Albedo?"

"Yes, my Lord?" Albedo said with a gasp, causing Momonga's mind to clear once more, as it nearly crashed by the mere tone of Albedo's slightly husky voice… perhaps as expected of a succubus, the ultimate seducer.

"You're… Naked," Momonga couldn't resist pointing out the obvious and most important fact.

"Absolutely, my Lord," Albedo replied, stretching her lips in a lustful and enchanting smile, before suddenly flinching at the same time as her eyes widened in horror.

"Oh no, Lord Momonga, did you wish to undress me yourself?! I beg your pardon, I'll get dressed now and…"

"No, no." Momonga tried to object to Albedo to calm her down, but when Albedo's chest jerked up from her abrupt attempt to stand up, drawing Momonga's gaze back to it and forcing his consciousness to clear again, he spoke slowly.

"Umu, that is, yes, you must get dressed because I… "Momonga's mind once again grasped at the saving thought, saving him from embarrassment. Though what it's saving him from, he rather not know.

"Nigredo is inspecting the other worlds at the moment, and she has discovered a detail that seems important to me, so I have come to inform you that I am departing at this moment and that you… Umu, that you remain temporarily as leader of the Nazarick"

"Certainly, my Lord!" Instantly, Albedo dropped to her knees, bowing her head and putting her hand to her chest… An action that took place while Albedo was still completely naked, causing Momonga to involuntarily draw a parallel with the eroge that Peroroncino had once spoken of. And found that what he saw before him was far better than what Peroroncino had spoken of in the past…

His suppression of emotion again allowed Momonga to shed the rosy haze from his thoughts and respond quickly. "Yes, Umu, have a good day, I'm off."

After another moment, Momonga used the [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] functions and teleported to the Fifth Floor, the Frozen Prison, his mind instinctively knowing that he needed to 'cool off'.

After which he exhaled, shouting inwardly, 'What was that?!'

After another moment, the suppression of emotion helped Momonga look at the situation calmly again. "Hmm, if you think about it this way – the very first experiment I did in this world was to touch Albedo's chest, and she had expressed that she liked it. So, it makes sense that she thought as if something like that would have a continuation. Besides, I changed her settings in the last minutes of YGGDRASIL and prescribed that she was in love with me, so it made sense that she would come to me for that… Ah, Tabula, I apologize, but I defiled the NPC you created, I am very much regretful. Besides that – how am I supposed to react to this now!"

Momonga felt his emotions being forcibly suppressed again. "In the past world, I was a loser with no family or girlfriend – I didn't go on dates and died a virgin… And Albedo does look gorgeous, she was created by Tabula Smaragdina, he completely did his best modeling her appearance, creating a truly world-class beauty. I just panicked, how else was I supposed to react to this?! I need to let Albedo know that her feelings are not real and were something her creator did not plan to put in her, before something irreparable happens… Even if she hates me – better she does it now than after I defile her even more." While Momopnga felt a certain sense of sadness at losing her love, it was something that he must do!

"But even so, I need to gather my thoughts, prepare for her reaction…" Momonga imagined the moment when Albedo's beautiful features would turn into an angry grimace, and she would cover him with insults and his nonexistent… When he tried imagining it as Tabula saying it, he couldn't bear it. The newly existing heart in his new body ached with pain.

"Albedo, I'm sorry, I never planned for it to turn out like this… "

Momonga inhaled and exhaled several times, then looked down at his hands.

His current body was that of a human, Momonga had used his past appearance as a model, without some details like biomechanical changes to his skin or pupils, or a connector for the hardware on the back of his head. It was a regular human body, like the ones he regularly saw in YGGDRASIL.

"Can I even think about touching Albedo?" Momonga was suddenly in the deep throes of depression. He was not handsome, while Albedo was simply incredible – everything from the tips of his hair to… The suppression of emotion worked again the moment Momonga's mind began imagining a completely naked Albedo and her groin region. Something Momonga had not seen in the past except in porn and brothels.

And then Momonga lowered his gaze again, looking at the way the pants that had seemed fitting before were starting to get a bit too tight.

"Well, that's… Expected, I guess," Momonga shook his head.

Though his mind was clearing from the mental effects of arousal, because of what it was, his abilities did not affect his body's natural reaction. A body which was responding to the expected reaction of the normal body of an ordinary man who had just encountered the incredible and aroused beauty of Albedo.

Momonga was suddenly hit with a realization, as he pulled a blade from his inventory and sliced his arm, aiming to hit all the deep veins, then watched as his blood poured from the cut arm. The initial blow did some damage to him along with the cut, but the blood that poured down did not continue to damage him.

"Hmm, as in the original body, human body-related debuffs like [Bleed] don't apply to my body, but the cosmetic effect makes it look like I keep bleeding. Another trick in my arsenal – but I need to be careful. I don't know yet if my blood would be considered blood suitable for activating vampiric abilities or Shalltear's [Blood Madness], for example. Hmm, actually, how much blood could I draw from my body, before it affects my health, if it does at all. Would the blood flow indefinitely?"

Momonga held that thought and set it aside for a while.

Judging by the presence of physiological responses, and the ability to breath, and drink water, his spell-created body could somehow mimic the functions of a full body, right down to bleeding and demonstrating arousal… It might take some more experimentation with this before Momonga could fully get used to his body – but it could wait awhile.

So Momonga applied [Create Body] once more, reverting to his usual appearance and looking at the small pool of blood under his feet before shaking his head. "I escaped from Albedo by saying that Nigredo got some information about the world around us… I should probably at least check Nigredo's progress in that case."

After taking the decision, Momonga slowly moved forward, looking out over the ice-covered mansion of the Fifth Floor, before making his way to the door leading to Nigredo's room.

Under normal circumstances, anyone entering would have to do a certain sequence of actions to ensure that Nigredo would not attack anyone who entered. Something especially important in this 'Friendly Fire allowed' world.

But, given that the Floor Guards had done this sequence before and Nigredo was currently working under the orders of Momonga himself, he didn't need to worry about this. So, knocking for decency's sake, Momonga opened the door leading to the Area under Nigredo's control… Instantly finding Nigredo on one knee, head bowed.

Momonga could trace a similarity in the posture of Albedo and Nigredo, whom Tabula had created as sisters… However, at the same time, where Albedo evoked love and desire, Nigredo, whose face was completely devoid of skin, hardly aroused Momonga himself. He had no desire to check if it would happen if the older sister took on a similar state of dress as his younger – that is completely nude. He really didn't want to know what horror Tabula's mind could conjure up behind her dress.

"Lord Momonga," Nigredo uttered in her low, chested female voice, "You have arrived at the right time – as expected…"

"Yes?" Momonga was inwardly surprised, but did not show it, rejoicing at the fact that if he was not willing to show emotion on his face, his face would show his standard expression… Which meant, none, since his 'real' body was a skeleton without a face.

"Umu, of course. What have you discovered, Nigredo?"

"My Lord, you can see it now," Momonga looked up from Nigredo to see a screen showing… A girl revealing two black raven wings?

'Hmm, she doesn't look like a 'bird man' like Peroroncino… Maybe a fallen angel? Or is it a unique race of this world?'

After another moment, Momonga noticed the fact that in front of the girl, dressed, it seemed, in normal human clothes, was a boy. Judging by his appearance, height, and clothing that suggested something like a school uniform, was a schoolboy himself, with short brown hair sticking out in different directions.

"My Lord," Nigredo never rose from her seat, "I have discovered several worlds in the course of my observation, and I can assume that there are more – I have also examined the various inhabitants and stumbled upon this man."

Apparently the guy and the girl were talking at the moment, however, after exchanging words, the girl took half a step back, after which an object that resembled a spear appeared in her hands. So it seems that the inhabitants of this world had some fighting strength, Momonga was curious what the boy could do.

"And what did you find out?" With a strange sense of detachment, Momonga watched as the guy, seemingly surprised by the girl's actions, took a step back, then nearly stumbled, falling on his back, which made the girl with wings in front of him laugh. Truly, it is important to be alert at any time, as shown by the boy failing to prepare any defense against the girl's assault. Of course, it is very possible that the boy was just acting…

'Hmm, I'm watching, most likely, the last moments of a schoolboy, a young person and feel nothing from this picture… It's like I really stopped being human – although I can take human form thanks to the new spell. Then again, such a sight was a dime a dozen back in the corporate hellhole I called a home – but to feel nothing…'

"According to your orders, I've maintained complete secrecy and was extremely cautious in my assessment, but I was able to determine that most of the creatures of this world are extremely weak," Nigredo's words caused Momonga to calm down slightly.

"The average level of creatures of this world ranges from ten to forty, though I have come across creatures of level fifty or sixty on several occasions. I was also able to detect creatures that were most likely stronger, but remembering your order and not knowing their abilities and counter-surveillance capabilities, I retreated."

'That's not bad, actually.' Momonga nodded. 'In YGGDRASIL the real game didn't really begin until level 70, with the previous levels considered 'training', where any actual battlefield value started on level 90. The information that creatures of this world were weaker than usual is really nice, but at the same time, the information that there is someone stronger than this level still makes me wary. Especially since I don't know how many potential enemies there are.' Momonga would've liked to scout out these 'stronger' creatures, but it's too risky – there's no point in getting more information only to trigger the enemy's attack.

'In the past, Nazarick has been able to withstand the largest raid in the history of YGGDRASIL, involving a total of fifteen hundred members. But such a thing is an inherently losing position, as in this case Nazarick will have to go into siege mode entirely. An alarming news…'

"Umu, but why exactly are you looking at this man?" The girl's spear snapped from her hand, then slammed into the guy's body, piercing through his abdomen. And though Nigredo's observation provided no sound at the moment, from the looks of it, the girl then burst into laughter, while the guy, holding onto the spear, fell to the ground, beginning to cough up blood instantly. "Is he strong?"

'Yup, that's definitely a fatal wound…' Momonga himself was surprised at the callousness of his remark.

"I don't think so, my Lord – my observation revealed that his level is probably below the fifth, while the fallen angel's level is below the twentieth," Momonga only shook his head at these words. The difference in power between levels increased exponentially. The difference between level one and twenty was magnitudes lesser than the difference between ninety-nine and one hundred, but even so, a fifteen level difference meant that the guy had no chance in a battle against the girl… And it seems that Momonga's earlier assumption was correct – it really was a fallen angel.

"But the observation also revealed that this person possessed an artifact of considerable power."

'Hmm!' Momonga suddenly felt more interested in the screen, as he could feel his collector instincts begin to kick in. Collecting new artifacts was always a pleasant addition to Momonga's pastime – especially if it was a potentially unknown artifact from another world, power aside.

"So… What level of power did you detect?"

"I suppose… " Nigredo answered slowly, as if unsure. "A World-Class item?

Momonga blinked.

The whole world seemed to stand still for a moment…

Before the [Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown] appeared in Momonga's hands.

"Seal all exits from Nazarick, full alert, prepare everyone for battle," Momonga uttered commands so quickly that they seemed to merge into a single word, then in one motion changed one of the rings to one that completely protected him from all surveillance and used a spell. "[Gate]!"

***

Issei Hyoudou tried to breathe desperately, finding that he could only get a coughing wheeze instead, trying against all hope to keep the blood draining from his body. Touching the spear that pierced his body burned his hands, but Issei still hoped that he could get it out of his body. But his arms grew weaker by the second and more and more blood gushed out of his body with each shaking fit of coughing in his chest, each one a searing pain in his punctured lungs.

"Really? In one fell swoop?" Yuma's voice – no, not Yuma, the girl he'd gone out with, but the fallen angel Raynare, if that was her real name. She seemed to be both encouraging and almost joyous as he watched Issei struggling to breath and dying.

"I thought you're going to be a problem, but fuck, you were so weak… Yeah, just my luck."

After another moment, the spear that had pierced his body disappeared, and Issei, who had been held in place until then thanks to the spear, fell to the ground. The sudden change in elevation caused him to hit his head on the dirt that had already mixed with his drained blood into the slush.

"Well, that's a job well done, maybe I'll even get some praise from lord Azazel? Time to go, see you later, Issei!" Raynare's mocking voice sounded the same time as Issei heard the flapping of wings, as if someone had opened them, preparing to fly. All Issei's remaining strength was enough to strain his leaden arms one last time to roll over onto his back, to see his murderer, to see Raynare, preparing to fly…

And to see… Death.

A black portal, it seemed, from the sight of which Issei's soul sought to leave his body, taking his gaze into the blackest and darkest depths of space, consuming all light.

'So that's what you are…' Issei chuckled weakly, feeling his consciousness begin to leave him following the sight of Death coming for him. 'A tunnel, at the end of which I will see only light… Ha ha, God, when I see you… Or maybe the devil, perversion is a sin I've been told… I have a few questions about the job of your angels… I would like to lodge a complaint…'

"What the…" Raynare, however, has a wildly different response to the sudden appearance of the portal. Recoiling, as she looked in equal measure of interest, apprehension and fear, before turning around, trying to flee. "All right, fuck it, my job's already done anyway!"

However, Issei could not even try to escape as Raynare had intended to do, forced to watch as the first thing to emerge from the dark passage was… a staff? A very expensive-looking staff, brimming with so much power, that even the dying Issei could tell.

A golden, sun-shining staff as if made of intertwined golden snakes, each rising to the top to form a crown as the snakes faced away from the center. In each snakes' mouth, a shimmering gem of one of seven colors, while the staff itself was covered in a sinister black and red aura. From that staff wafted illusionary figures rising for moments as faces twisted in agony, as if screaming in pain, before falling back into oblivion. And holding that staff was…

A middle-aged Japanese man.

Indeed, a terrifying staff, the mere sight of which sent shivers down Issei's spine, was held by a man Issei could easily have met on the street, in a store or even at school. Only the realization that middle-aged Japanese didn't hold such staffs or appear from black portals kept Issei from exclaiming that this man was a mere passerby…

Other than the fact that Issei's lungs were completely punctured and now filled with blood, and Issei himself was dying, of course.

A moment later, the man turned from Issei to Raynare, who immediately cried out in fear. Issei could see another spear of light in her hands that had earlier pierced Issei's chest, whereupon she threw the spear. But unlike with Issei, the spear of light suddenly shattered powerlessly before it even reached the man a dozen centimeters away.

The man only lifted his hand and spoke out calmly in response – even his voice sounded so normal. "[Mass Hold Species]."

A moment later, Issei realized that he couldn't move an inch, though perhaps the reason was that his body was finally starting to fail after being wounded. But, as the magical circle of hundreds of intertwined symbols that instantly appeared under him and the fact that Raynare was also frozen in place told him, it wasn't. At least it was not just because his body was finally starting to fail.

In a blink of an eye, the man was already standing next to Raynare with a speed that Issei couldn't parse. Then, with a single movement of his hand, he grabbed her and sent her hurtling inside the black portal. After another moment, Issei realized that his consciousness had finally completely failed him, and he was being sent into the darkness… He was finally going to die, he didn't even have time to mutter his last regrets, his full attention on the battle between Raynare and the middle-aged man.

Only to feel a life-giving spring-flavored moisture pouring into his mouth a second later – the pain instantly receding before him, and Issei abruptly opened his eyes. As his consciousness returned fully – the first thing Issei saw was the middle-aged man leaning over him…

The man's eyes expressed nothing.

There seemed to be absolutely nothing in them, nothing human, no compassion or pity, as if he were looking into the eyes of a wax figure that had suddenly descended from its stand.

Issei would have shuddered if he could – but the man, no, the creature with the appearance of a man only picked Issei up with one hand, whereupon Issei realized himself already in flight, approaching a dark gap in space.

A sharp jolt caused the flier sheet that he'd received earlier from the girl who handed them out to fall out of Issei's pocket. But now Issei had very different problems to worry about, the flier falling out of his pocket.

However, the man who instantly followed him in, picked up the leaflet on the flier as he went, before dashing inside after the boy, completely disappearing from the outside world.

A moment later, the black portal closed, as if it had shrunk to a single point until the point itself disappeared.

The only evidence that anything had happened there recently was the tiny hole where the Fallen's spear had pierced the pavement, and the pool of blood, the last reminder of Issei Hyoudou.

***

Rias wrinkled her nose before she sneezed.

"Something wrong, miss~tress~?" Akeno poke out in a teasing voice that many guys would find seductive, but Rias only found annoying at the moment.

"A contract just stopped working," Rias only exhaled and shook her head. "The demon summoning one."

"Did it go out of range?" Her knight, Yuto, asked the most logical of possible questions.

Unfortunately, in the life of demons executing the contracts of humans, there are all kinds of kinks that make their job harder. The person who took the flier, for example, could board a plane and fly to the other side of the world, ending up in the territory of a completely different pantheon. A group which would not regard the appearance of demons in their territory calmly. Not to mention the energy consumption for long-range teleportation, making any possible contract not worth it.

Rias could, in theory, teleport a few hundred kilometers, maybe even a total of a thousand, through several jumps, but such an action would have left her completely without power for a while.

"Then it wouldn't have activated in the first place," Rias frowned as she was in the process of being summoned before the beacon that was supposed to direct her towards the flier suddenly disappeared.

"Maybe it was wards." Akeno made another suggestion.

"Though, it would take a lot of strength for it to be able to block a summoning contract."

"I hope not," Rias shook her head. The Fallen on the edge of the city was an old problem that Rias could never quite get rid of. Because of the potential scandal of a clash between the Fallen and the younger sister of the current ruling Satan under the title Lucifer, the situation could turn very bad very quickly.

The only consolation for Rias in that headache was that the gathered Fallen were weak enough so that at any moment, if the situation called for it, Rias could deal with the enemy with her own strength. To find out that they'd gotten a reasonably strong barrier master from somewhere now would have been unpleasant.

Not to mention, in that case, there was the question of who had actually started to summon Rias. Judging from the fact that the contract required Rias and her power, the wish must have been really significant – if the Fallen found this man and for some reason dragged him under the barrier… Oh, the situation didn't look good.

But because of the political implications, it simply couldn't be handled in one fell swoop by Rias.

"Well, don't sulk, miss~tress~." Akeno melodically spoke again, causing Rias to try on the pillow beside her for a moment, weighing it in the manner of a throwing projectile. Akeno sighed almost despondently at that, hiding her face with her hands.

Rias clutched the pillow in her hands, but still exhaled and placed it beside her. And then, gathering herself again, returned to the discussion that had been interrupted a moment earlier by the call of the contract, which was now clearly not working.

"So, we go back to the question… Who has any ideas where to find strong pieces in anticipation of the battle with Riser?"