Ruler of Glaciers Cocytus.

The bewitching scent of some kind of perfume hung around her.

"...Something stinks," Aura spat. Then, she followed up with, "Don't tell me you started rotting because you're undead?"

Perhaps she saw Momonga reflexively raising his hand to sniff himself, but Shalltear furrowed her brows unhappily and replied:

"...Is that not quite distasteful? Momonga-sama is undead as well."

"Hah? What nonsense are you talking, Shalltear? Momonga-sama is no mere undead being. He's more like a super undead, or a godly undead."

Momonga was somewhat baffled as he heard Shalltear and Mare going "Ah," and "Mm," respectively. The fact was that in YGGDRASIL, he considered himself to be an ordinary undead creature… which was what Momonga thought as he rounded his shoulders.

In any case, there were no such things as super or godly undead.

"But, but Nee-chan, maybe you shouldn't have said that…"

"Is, is that so? All right, then, ah, take two, then. Ahem… Don't tell me you started rotting because you're a walking corpse."

"That… er, well, that seems okay, sort of."

After agreeing with Aura's take two, Shalltear placed her slender hands on the sides of Momonga's head, as though to embrace it.

"Ah, my master, my beloved master, the only one whom I cannot rule over…"

Her carmine lips parted, revealing a moist, slick tongue. The tongue moved like a living creature as Shalltear lovingly licked her lips. Her fragrant breath wafted out from her open mouth.

Although she was perfectly suited for the role of an alluring seductress in all other ways, she was far too young for it. The discrepancy between her expectations and reality was laughable. In addition, she was far too short. When she reached her hands out to hug Momonga, it looked like she wanted to hang from his neck instead.

However, this was too much affection for Momonga, who was not used to girls. He wanted to take a step back, but in the end he decided to stand his ground.

Is that how she really is? That thought echoed endlessly in his head. However, when Momonga thought about the fact that she had been designed by his comrade Peroroncino, he mused that she might have been designed with such a personality. After all, Peroroncino loved H-games and proudly declared that they were his life.

Shalltear Bloodfallen was made by such a rotten individual.

She was a "True Vampire", the Guardian of the First to Third Floors of the Great Tomb of  Nazarick.

At the same time, she was a girl created by an H-game aficionado and her character design was filled with nods to various H-games.

"...That's enough out of you…"

Shalltear reacted to the low growl for the first time. In a mocking tone, she told Aura, "Ara, are you still here, shorty? I couldn't see you, so I thought you were gone."

Momonga did not wish to add to what Shalltear had just said.

Aura's face was twitching uncontrollably, and then Shalltear ignored her and said to Mare, "It must be pretty tough for you, having to deal with a weirdo sister like that. You'd best leave her soon, lest you become a weirdo like her."

Mare's face blanched instantly, because he knew Shalltear wanted to use him to start a fight.

However, Aura simply smiled. And then—

"Shut up, fake tits."

— She dropped a bombshell.

"...What the hell are you talking about—!?"

Ah, her character's broken down, Momonga muttered under his breath.

Now that Shalltear's true nature had been revealed, she dropped the cultured act.

"Hmph, it's so obvious — damn, that is one weird chest, how many pads did you stuff in there?"

"Uwah—uwah—"

Shalltear was waving her hands in panic, as though she could disperse Aura's words with them, while she had a suitably childish expression on her face. On the other hand, Aura grinned evilly.

"You packed so much in there… I bet it shifts when you run, right?"

"Kuhii!"

Shalltear made a strange noise as an extended finger poked her.

"I was right, wasn't I? Kukuku! Where have they gone—!? So that's why you didn't run, even though you were worried, and instead you used a 「Gate」—"

"Shut up, shorty! It's not like you have anything of your own! At least I… no, I've got a lot more to show off!"

Aura simply grinned in the face of Shalltear's desperate counterattack. A shocked Shalltear stumbled back, and reflexively covered up her chest. It was a sorry sight.

"...I'm only seventy six, and I've got lots more time to grow, unlike an undead with no future like you. Ah, how sad — you will never grow again~"

Shalltear moaned in frustration and took another step back. There was a desperate, harried look on her face, which only made Aura smile in a frightening manner.

"To think you're actually happy with that bust of yours — hmph!"

Momonga imagined he could hear Shalltear snapping.

"You shitty brat—! It's too late to regret your words now—!"

Roiling black mist boiled off Shalltear's hands. Aura readied her whip in anticipation. Momonga and Mare, watching from the side, were at a loss for words.

The scene before Momonga's eyes was vaguely familiar, and he wondered if he should stop them.

Peroroncino-san, who designed Shalltear, and Bukubukuchagama-san, who designed Aura and Mare, were younger brother and elder sister, and at times they would argue in a friendly manner, like what was happening now.

Momonga recalled the forms of his former comrades as he stood behind the quarrelling pair.

"What. A. Ruckus."

The inhuman voice came just as Momonga was reminiscing about the past. The strange, monotonous voice finally silenced the two of them.

As he turned to look at the voice's origin, he saw a heteromorphic being shrouded in chilled air.

It stood two and a half meters tall, and resembled a bipedal insect. It looked like some fiend had melded a praying mantis and an ant together. It had a tail that was twice as long as its body, and it was covered in sharp spikes which resembled icicles. Its powerful-looking mandibles looked like they could sever a man's arm in a single bite.

It grasped a platinum halberd in two of its hands, and in its other two hands were a masterfully-made mace wreathed in a black aura, and a gnarled-looking broadsword which did not look like it could be sheathed.

It was surrounded by a frightening aura of cold. Its exoskeleton was a dull blue color and sparkled like diamond dust. Protrusions which looked like icebergs bulged up from its back and shoulders.

He was the Guardian of the Fifth Floor, the "Ruler of Glaciers", Cocytus.