Chapter 14

Buku's heart stopped for a moment as she heard the Voice of the World declare.

This could mean only one thing: Momonga had died. Otherwise he would've warned her beforehand. How did this happen? She didn't even have the faintest clue; Momonga was in his office and throne room and there was no breach.

{ Nazarick!? } She screeched so loudly in her mind that even the maid present reeled from the psychic emanations.

{ Master… he... he… died. } The manas was in a state of disbelief. { One minute he was there and then… nothing. }

{ What was he doing!? Was there any breach?! } Buku demanded, as she forcefully calmed herself down. With Momonga gone she was in charge and the last thing everyone needed was a panicky leader doing nothing to calm the situation. Things were bound to descend into chaos pretty damn quickly and she needed to be ready to get everything under control.

'Master was experimenting with timelines and then his presence faded. Rubedo is not present anymore either. Her physical form is immobile and without any energy signatures. Mistress Buku, we need to find him.' Nazarick was still panicking and she wasn't the only one.

The news about Momonga dying traveled like a shockwave through the skill, leaving a tornado of confusion in its wake within the tomb.

{ Get your shit together! Since we know fuck-all about what happened there is nothing we can do at the moment regarding Momonga's death! Put a gag order on everyone connected to Nazarick and ensure the outside populace knows nothing about it; claim that he was just naming one too many citizens and needs to rest. News about his death must not spread and call a meeting now! Once everything is under control we can start figuring out how soon he will return and what caused his death in the first place. } Buku gave an order and teleported to the main meeting room, taking the seat of honor as she channeled her energies into the room to prepare.

One by one the high lords and high executors appeared and took their seats, tensions running high. Buku was most concerned about Milim and Momonga's three consorts, as they were the most likely to act irrationally after his disappearance. As much as she was in shock herself, Buku could push her feelings aside for now and not let her friend's death overwhelm her, but she wasn't sure about the others.

Milim was mostly confused and uncertain, her youthful gaze turning to Veldora for answers as he was the most likely candidate to know how soon Momonga would be reborn. Albedo outwardly was the most calm one, her lips tightly pressed together and the steely gaze turned to her. As the now-leader of Nazarick, Buku could sense the rage that was barely contained within the succubus, seated deeper than anything else. The same rage that was threatening to take over Shion and maybe even Shalltear, as both women wore their emotions on their faces, on the brink of causing wanton destruction.

"First of all, we know that Momonga is truly immortal and he will return, so let's not treat his departure as a permanent thing." Buku addressed everyone.

"And what if it was Ker and she managed to kill Momonga permanently!?" Albedo growled.

"It is only an assumption that she can kill Momonga permanently and there is no proof she was behind it. From what we know, Momonga was doing the time stuff and something went wrong," Buku replied.

While the true Supreme Leader was absent, Albedo would be Buku's second in command, and it was paramount for the Hegemony that she and the prime minister got along and could work together. The last thing Buku wanted was to start making changes in the hierarchy and make the impression that she was taking over permanently.

"Perhaps we should interrogate Chloe, as she is the most knowledgeable on time travel and the danger it poses. Our current research has shown no inherent danger of time and sub-reality travel on particle level at least," Pandora suggested, none of his usual theatrics present. The doppelganger was just as shaken as everyone else if not more, his beloved father gone and untraceable.

Buku hesitated. Chloe was like a daughter to her and she didn't want to be harsh towards the girl, but if she hid critical information then she could be responsible for Momonga's death. Ultimately, she needed to put her personal feelings aside and get the truth out of her.

"Very well," She agreed and Chloe appeared in the conference room pale as snow.

"Chloe, I will ask this once. Is there anything you didn't tell us about time travel?" Buku's tone was calm, reassuring even, but the way she worded the question sent the point home. If Chloe had lied or hidden critical information there would be hell to pay.

"I don't think so. My time traveling ability is very limited, only allowing me to travel to one point in time and that's it," The girl replied.

"Momonga is gone because he was searching for that friend of yours and you know nothing!?" Shalltear raised her voice. "We should get the answers out of you by force!"

"Shalltear, calm down. There is no reason not to believe her right now." Buku reprimanded the vampire. "If she doesn't know about time beyond her abilities, then it is entirely possible that Momonga discovered something beyond even what she knows, and thus interrogating her would be useless."

"Lady Buku…" Shalltear's furious gaze said it all.

"I am not shielding her. But I won't let you or anyone else torture Chloe on assumptions alone. That said, I am well aware that her contribution to Nazarick is almost nonexistent." Buku glanced at Chloe who seemed on the verge of fainting. She was powerful as a hero but without Chronoa, Shalltear alone could get the upper hand.

"Lady Buku, she clearly is resp -" Shalltear stopped and exhaled deeply. "Fine. I will find a better way to relieve my stress. I have just the tool for it." She added.

At first, Buku assumed the young vampire talked about her extensive collection of sex toys but then it dawned on her what was meant. Chloe was out of Shalltear's reach but Luminous was left in her care, which meant that Chloe's friend would be the one to pay for Chloe's perceived crime.

And there arose the dilemma. She could give the order to Shalltear and likely the other two of Momonga's consorts not to take anger out on Luminous and spare Chloe from seeing her friend getting broken by three women who were rather skilled in causing pain, but that would alienate the trio and she personally didn't care about Luminous either. She was a decently powerful vampire, but that was it.

"Ohh, I will use the tool as well and I'm sure Albedo will too." Shion joined in, picking up on Shalltear's intent.

"If time permits. Keeping up with Nazarick and Tempest in the absence of Momonga should be our top priority, vengeance comes second." Albedo nodded in agreement.

"Chloe, is there truly nothing you can say?" Buku asked again, this time with the additional incentive as useful information would be enough to stay in the hands of the bloodthirsty trio.

Chloe looked down, her hands slightly shaking, "No. I barely understand how I move through time and there is nothing that, I think, would cause death as I am usually already dead when I do so."

"Hmm, perhaps that is the issue, and only the dead can travel through time. Though this is nothing but a theory without any way to prove it." Buku tapped her cheek.

"I will try to understand my skill better and perhaps find something." Chloe looked up.

"Good. I'll see you get what you want if you do. Next topic. Veldora, how long does it take for a true dragon to be reborn?" Buku skipped over the issue and let it resolve on its own.

"Dunno. Sometimes a year, other times a few decades, depends on the will and how badly the soul was damaged." The dragon replied being less stressed about the death of his friend and brother than the most people present. It was a bad thing overall but he had died plenty of times and it wasn't the end of the world or of Tempest. "Nazarick is still around, which means his soul hasn't entered the cycle of reincarnation that strips souls during transfer, and thus he likely hasn't died in the truest sense. Where he might be that is outside of the Voice of the World's reach is unknown though."

"Lord Momonga won't take that long. He set his rebirth parameters to weeks and months, not years." Ramiris joined in. As one tasked with overseeing the system, she had seen all the details Momonga put in for his evolution and knew his parameters inside and out. If anything she knew Momonga better than most inhabitants of the room besides perhaps Nazarick herself.

"Months is a much better timeframe than decades, that's for sure. I want everyone to do their usual duties so Tempest doesn't fall apart and use your abilities to search for clues on what happened to Momonga. Dismissed," Buku declared and left the conference room to collapse in her office chair.

'In what sort of trouble did you put yourself it this time?' She could only speculate on what had happened.

<X >

The first thing Momonga noted was that his skills were gone. He wasn't connected to Nazarick anymore and both Omnipresence and Omniscience were states of his very being now.

Strangely he felt no fear, no anxiety. With Omniscience not restricted by the world system he knew that he was near the very end. This was the place where everything would end up, as what is born must die. Even death itself was to be destroyed into nothingness. There was a subtle current moving through and around him, although his sense of direction was gone.

In the darkness moved creatures indescribable by mortal mind, consuming the flowing scraps of existence and one another. They could not be measured by size but somehow Momonga could rank them by the presence they held. The smaller ones hid and fled as larger ones consumed and destroyed.

He couldn't dwell on his current circumstance for long, as his attention was drawn by a familiar presence.

'Rubedo.' He felt his trustworthy servant surround him. Her presence was incomparably immense compared to his. It was but a tiny fraction of her that was ever present in the physical realm, the rest resided in the void. Like a human looking through the keyhole and pushing a few strands of hair through the tiny opening. That little of her could get through and possess the body made of caloric stone, the rest couldn't fit through without possibly causing immense damage. Should he let her fully through, could she consume the world or even perhaps the universe instantly?

'Master, I found you. We need to get you back!' Rubedo was agitated, to say the least.

He couldn't help but see a protective sister in her. They shared a deep bond and, perhaps due to this bond, he could be here so deep in the void and not lose himself.

'Something pulled me here and that something is still watching. I think I need to communicate with this being before I can go back,' Momonga replied. He could still feel the presence. It was deeply connected with the void yet distinctively different, which meant it wasn't the sentience of spacetime but something else. And it had been watching since he had begun traveling the timeline, it was the same as before.

Rubedo shrunk her presence as much as she could and hid within him, radiating primal fear unlike one Mononga had felt before.

'Rubedo?'

'Grandfather.'

'Grandfather? Is something big coming?' Momonga tensed up as his mind jumped into overdrive thinking of ways to avoid whatever danger was coming.

'No. No, grandfather is not coming. He is always everywhere.' She shivered from within him. 'Yog-Sothoth.'

He knew that name. That was the name of a fictional character from ancient horror stories that had found their way into even Yggdrasil, often as obscure references to unfathomable entities. Momonga recalled a quest to sacrifice a human player to Yog-Sothoth to receive the elder summoner class which he helped Ancient One with.

Lights. Thousands of orbs of light appeared all around him as the presence grew to an unbearable degree, threatening to crush his mind. Everything he had faced before paled in comparison. Rubedo's powerful full presence was but a speck of dust in the infinity of the cosmos that was the entity that had engulfed them both.

'I asked if I was doing something wrong and you did not reply,' Momonga decided that he was past the point of fear and all he could do was face the entity head-on and hopefully still exist in the end.

"Time is not your domain, gatekeeper," Yog-Sothoth spoke both in his mind and all around him as his spatial sense emerged and the tapestry of loose spacetime weaved around and through him.

"It isn't, but I had reasons for my investigation. Have I broken any laws?" Momonga asked.

"Tapestry of existence is not for daylight Gods to temper with." The orbs dimmed and grew brighter as if the entity used them as eyes and blinked from time to time.

"It is not my intention to change the tapestry of spacetime. Just find a way to navigate between timelines if such a feat is possible in fear of others using the same," Momonga replied calmly.

"Games of daylight Gods are of little concern. You are a curious one. We will speak again. Consider this gift our first interaction. I will come when she is ready to embrace me. You will get your prize if you remain." The lights faded one by one as Yog-Sothoth's presence departed.

At first, Momonga wasn't sure what to make of it but his Omniscience gave him the feeling that each word of this entity, the reason behind spacetime itself, spoke.

The first and most obvious one was 'the gift.' He had finally found a place where he wasn't restricted anymore by the Voice of the World. A place where even the Gods wouldn't dare to seek him out. A place where he could grow and train. A place so deep in the void that nothing, barring the strongest void creatures, would dare to approach.

Him being called the gatekeeper was also obvious. Death was the gate that all life must approach and he was inching closer to becoming a God of Death.

The rest was harder to decipher but he assumed that the prize would be the ability to move through timelines with relative ease. The question was what Yog-Sothoth meant by 'she.' It likely wasn't Rubedo, considering he would've referred to her by name.

'I'm sorry, master.' Rubedo spoke up, her voice small and frightened.

'About what?' Momonga inquired.

'About not being able to shield you. Grandfather is beyond… everything. Beyond void. Beyond being and not being. After experiencing ordered existence I understand.' Rubedo replied.

'I see. But he seems reasonable, if a tad cryptic,' Momonga replied, finally understanding what she meant by 'in the center of infinity there are things no mortal should know about.' The mere idea of Yog-Sothoth and possibly others like him was terrifying. If even his rough estimate was true then this entity dwarfed the ordered reality itself and everything that is, was but a plaything or curiosity for the other gods dwelling in the deepest depths of the void. If he hadn't had Omniscience, he was fairly sure his mind would've been broken trying to comprehend what he had seen, never to be fixed again.

'Grandfather… terrifies me.' Rubedo slowly separated from him and unrestricted her presence acting as a shield around him to scare off smaller curious and hungry entities around them.

'Then let's not get on his bad side.' Momonga eased up. 'I think it is time to return to the surface, but I plan to return here to train.'

'Then I will shield you both here and in the ordered universe!" She enthusiastically replied.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by aidan_lo, KieraKieraARTS, Malguis, Sluethen, IAMTHEPLOKOKIOPO, fvvck, Alassandro, clagan, Working_Stiff and CakeEight.

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