Chapter 10

"Kakuei and Momonga sitting in a tree-"

"Finish that shitty song, and I will cut your ass down and sell your gear." Pero teased before I interrupted him.

"Noted."

Pero, Momonga, Touch Me, myself, and Ulbert were sitting at the guild table. Our guild was huge now, and because of that, we could divide our forces and send them to different places, more specifically, different dungeons.

There were a bunch of World Items that needed to be collected. Some are stronger than others.

The most important of which is the World Savior.

There are many arguments for which World Item is the strongest in the game, and many would say that the World Savior is the strongest of them.

I would agree.

To explain World Items, there were two kinds. Everyday World Items, and the Twenty.

The twenty were one-time-use items that could basically affect the world itself. One such example of this was the World Item: Longinus.

Longinus allowed a player to delete another player, wiping them from existence. This would also erase all of that the player had/was. To expand upon this, if the player were in a guild of 50 players and then got deleted, the guild would have 49 players and only 49 spots available.

It would literally wipe away one of the guild seats.

It came at a cost, though. The item would also wipe the person who used it, meaning it would also delete their character.

This is one of the reasons why no one uses this item. It's insanely strong, broken even, but it came at a massive cost.

World Savior was another of the 20, and just like the others, it would go away after use. But that meant the item would be bound to the player who 'used' it. Once the player died, World Savior would disappear.

Nobody has found it to this day, and all the guilds have been racing to find it ever since the Devs announced all of the 20.

World Savior started off as a typical low-level club in terms of power, but in time, it would rise in strength. Endlessly.

The item had no limits. It would grow forever and ever until someone managed to kill the person who wielded it.

But how could you? Such a feat was impossible.

Which means we had to be the ones to find it. Thus, the reason everyone else was split up in a bunch of dungeons, searching around for it. The other 20 were important, sure, but that item alone could help us defeat Seraphim once and for all.

If one of us had it bound to us long enough, that person alone could stroll into Asgard and wipe the realm by themself.

The second most important World Item that we were looking for was the Downfall of Castle and Country. This world item allowed the user to mind control an NPC. There were no strength limits on it, at least none of the Devs mentioned, so realistically, we could control a Raid Boss and turn them into Floor Guardian for Nazarick.

That…would make us untouchable.

We already had plenty of powerful NPCs. All of the ones from Canon had already been created by my friends and on top of that, I made a couple using the Guild levels. Two spiders that I stationed on the 8th floor. They were meant to act as the true bosses/guardians of that floor. With Victim being the official Floor Guardian due to how broken he was.

If we could add a Raid Boss on that floor as well-

We'd be unconquerable.

They could have every fucking player in Asgard pull up on us, and we'd dominate them.

Especially with those two of the 20.

"So, are we heading out now?" Ulbert asked, looking just about ready to go. I could understand his haste. We couldn't afford to miss out on those two items.

"Yeah, let's split up. Pero, Ulbert, Touch Me, you guys check out Helheim's South. Momonga and I will head to Asgard." I ordered, getting out of my seat. The others also rose, but it looked like Pero was ready to say something.

"You and Momonga huh? You sure you two will actually be looking?" Pero sent a wink emoji, and I damn near facepalmed.

"Why Asgard?" Ulbert questioned, ignoring Pero's foolish attitude.

"It's called 'World Savior.' I would assume something like that would be dropped in Asgard, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but the Devs are assholes." Ulbert sent a laughing emote. "They'd never do something so straightforward."

"...Actually," Momonga spoke up, looking at the Arch Demon World Disaster. "This would be the perfect time to switch up their tactics. They always troll us, so we'd suspect they'd troll us here by putting it in Helheim. But maybe that in itself is a troll."

"Momonga's right." I sent an animated nodding emoji. "I'm sure most people are searching the other realms for it, but what if it's where it should be? Either way, you guys are searching Helheim, and the others are searching the other realms. If we're wrong, you three can pick up our slack. You are two World Disasters and a Champion, after all.

"Fuck it, let's go." Ulbert sent a shrug emoji, stepping out of the door.

"Good luck, and may the light of justice shine down on you!" Touch Me's cave waved in the nonexistent wind before he walked away and followed Ulbert.

"Don't get up to anything nasty, kids." Pero chuckled to himself as he parted.

Now, it was just Momonga and I.

"So, ready to go?" I asked, earning a nod from her.

"Right, to Asgard, we go." I drew Gram and slashed the air with Dimensional Gap, opening a portal to Asgard. "After you, milady."

"Thanks." She walked forward, and I followed closely behind her. As we stepped into Asgard, we didn't waste any time moving toward the Dungeon we suspected World Savior to be at.

Asgard was primarily off-limits to heteromorphic races, and more than that, it was most definitely off-limits to Hell's Paradise Guild Members.

We'd have at least a dozen players on us if we were seen, within minutes. And while I'm sure I could fight some of them off, I'd rather not fuck around and find out.

After a few minutes, we reached the Dungeon and made our way inside. It was a rather hard dungeon, likely requiring at least a party of level 80s to clear. With myself being a World Champion and Momonga being a World Disaster, we didn't need a party to deal with any danger.

We are the danger.

We blasted through the angels within, barely even having to stop as we moved through it. Upon coming across some hidden rooms that gave extra drops if you completed them, we entered and began fighting even harder fights.

The highest of which had been a level 100 Archangel Dominion. Which was rather strong, but it didn't matter.

Momonga basically one-shotted it with a Grand Catastrophe, and then I finished it off with a couple of slashes. We didn't get anything meaningful. Perhaps the drops we got would be considered good to a normal party of level 80s-

But we were so far beyond such meaningless trash.

World Items were what we needed.

— Touch Me —

As he slashed through the last of the Arch Demons in the horde he, Pero, and Ulbert were facing, he frowned internally.

No good drop.

They didn't know where these 20 items were. Typically, they were found in certain hidden locations, but with the game already being out for five years and nobody locating 12 of the 20 yet, it's highly suspected that they are rare boss drops.

Of course, they hadn't seen a lick of luck when attempting to grind for it.

Oftentimes, other players would come by, hoping to grind in the same dungeon as them, but they would have to cut those players down. As much as it sucked to do, it was necessary. Touch Me loved everything he and his friends had built. It made their life so much happier just knowing that even in the trashy outside world, they had friends and a home to rely on in Yggdrasil.

So Touch Me would do whatever was necessary if it meant his friends and his second home weren't destroyed by a bunch of assholes claiming to embody justice, yet discriminating against others strictly because of their race.

It sickened him that they dare call themselves 'Doers of Justice.'

"Touch Me, let's keep moving," Ulbert called. Oh, he hadn't noticed they were leaving him behind.

"Right."

— Bukubukuchagama —

"You all good, Buku?" Warrior Takemikazuchi asked, providing her with some cover from the final level 100 dragon.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She emoted a peace sign. She was at half health, which wasn't good, but their group was powerful. It was her, Take, Nishikienrai, and Ancient One. Which means they had two World Champions.

Honestly, of all the parties trying to find these World Items, theirs was one of the strongest, perhaps right behind Touch Me, Ulbert, and her Baka-nii.

Though, that didn't change the fact that she wasn't a World Champion. Which meant that even though she was typically a tank, she had to take a step back and let Take and Nishikienrai take care of the bosses while providing some support. They were good at it, and the more she tried, the more she realized she was getting in their way.

So she stuck to what she was good at.

Leading.

"Take, Nishi, flank both sides, Ancient one, attack the rear. I'll aggro!" Buku ordered.

""Right!"" They all said in unison, following her orders and getting into position. Buku slithered her slime body forward, earning the dragon's aggro, and as she saw them reach their position, she roared her final order.

"Now!"

Both Nishi and Take used their World Break, while Ancient One covered his blade in aura, and they all slashed the dragon, absolutely shredding its HP down to nothing.

They did it. They cleared out 5 level 100 dragons. Sure, it was at separate times, but that's gotta be a record or something.

Wait…Kakuei exists.

…Nevermind.

"Good job, boys, and that was some good leading, Buku." Nishi praised.

"Thanks, teehee."

She was damn good at commanding people around and formulating the best strategies to go about beating the hardest of bosses. In fact, in the Guild, when it came to raids, Kakuei gave her orders superiority over his. Because he knew when shit hit the fan and times got rough, she could lead them out of it, no matter how right he may think he was.

Kakuei…

It was…honestly endearing. To know he had that much faith in her-

That much trust.

Over the years, she could tell a little after meeting Momonga that the girl had a crush on Kakuei that she didn't quite voice. The other Guild Members didn't see it, but as a girl who worked as a goddamn hentai game voice actress, she could tell when someone was looking for that perfect ending.

Initially, Buku had cheered Momonga on, but as time went on, she started to learn more and more about Kakuei, and he started to trust her more. Whenever they would have Guild Meetings, Kakuei would never end a meeting without hearing what she had to say. Even if she told him she didn't know, he would insist that her thoughts were worth sharing.

The girl who moaned into a mic for a living wasn't just useful for her voice anymore, but instead for her mind.

Is there any question as to why Buku started falling for him?

She kept it a secret, all while pushing Momonga to confess to him. Eventually, Momonga agreed, saying she would do it when they found some time at the meet-up. Honestly, Buku had to think there was a trade-off when it came to Kakuei. He was a good leader, funny, confident, and well organized. Not to mention how much he knew about game mechanics from his time in the beta.

So there had to be a downside, right? There was no way he could have all of that and be attractive, right?

Wrong.

Her heart nearly stopped when she saw him and Momonga walk into the fancy restaurant, and Touch Me had called to him. Even though he was wearing his mask, she could tell he was attractive, or at the very least, above average, and he had a powerful body, likely from his work in construction.

She had to force herself to grab Momonga and sit at a separate table to avoid the pure desire she had for him from spilling out.

At first she had a crush on him, but as she saw him in person, as she heard him talk, laugh, and stood beside him, she realized it was so much more than that.

She wanted him.

"Yggrasil to Buki." Take waved his hand in front of her slime body, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Ah, what was that?"

"No item. Today's been a bust, let's head back to the Guild. We can wait for Kakuei to get back, report to him, then log off."

"Oh…right." She whispered.

They started making their way out, and again, her mind went to Kakuei, but more so Momonga.

They were dating.

They hadn't made it official, but it was as clear as day. The way Momonga practically clung to him, the way he treated her in return, and their insistence on forming their own party to look for the World Item.

Not to mention, Momonga had outright told her.

She wanted to be happy for her, she really did-

And she was.

But it didn't change the pain she felt every time she saw them together. Without her.

— Kakuei —

"This sucks." I frowned, sitting against the tree on the hill in Asgard.

"Yeah, I wonder where the items could be. If they're so rare that they can't drop, then what's the point of putting them in the game?" Momonga pondered, snuggling against me. Well, she tried, there was a barrier keeping her from actually touching me, I guess to prevent people from going too far, but the affection she meant to show wasn't lost to me.

I let out a tired sigh. "We don't even know if they're actually drops." I frowned. The 20 World Items had been in the game since the start of the game, but only 8 of them had been found since Yggrasil's launch. All of them were in various locations or hidden rooms. Some were just straight up in the air, and you'd need to fly to get it.

But now, we had no idea where the fuck they were.

"It's getting late; we should head back to the Guild, then log off," Momonga whispered as she snuggled, trying to force her character closer but failing. It was honestly cute and was the silver lining of this entire adventure.

"Yeah, let's go." I nodded with a warm smile.

We got up from our spots against the tree, and as Momonga started walking, I fell back into thought.

The New World was five years away from being my reality, and I had no idea where the hell these World Items were. This was more than just getting strong. It was the future. The Downfall of Castle and Country was the same World Item that turned Shalltear against Nazarick, and I couldn't afford to let something like that happen.

But if I couldn't find it, what did it matter how I felt?

*BANG*

I punched the tree we had been sitting below as hard as I could. This fucking sucks!

*BOING*

I twitched as a stick from the tree hit me on the head and bounced to the ground. I looked at the stick in anger. I picked it up, ready to eviscerate it from existence-

[World Savior (Rank - World Item) - Behold! A Stick! But not just any stick, THE STICK! Most other World Items are a product of Yggdrasil's leaves, but this item is different! It is a direct branch from Yggdrasil herself! Wield it and let it reach its Almighty Potential! (Item is Soul Bound to Player: KakeuiSolos)]

"..."

"Kakuei?" Momonga asked, walking over to me. "Are you okay? Don't worry, we can-"

[World Announcement - Player: KakueiSolos (Guild: Hell's Paradise) has discovered and used World Item [World Savior] Eleven of the Twenty Remain Unfounded]

"..."

"..."

"HOLY SHIT!"