Harbingers of Change

Chapter 8

Not knowing how long it would take for the entirety of Nazarick to change and the wave of adjustment to reach the throne, Momonga decided that the best course of action was to just sit on it until the Voice of the World reached it.

After a quick activation of his guild ring, Momonga appeared just before the throne and was suddenly met with Albedo, who let out a quiet growl at him. Her anger, fear and uncertainty were visible on her beautiful face, clear as day. She exhaled loudly with the visible frustration fading from her face and then kneeled as Momonga sat down on the throne.

“My Lord! You should have sent me in your stead. We are here so you don’t have to take unnecessary risks!”

Her voice had lost all of its pleasant tone, Albedo clearly straining herself to keep her emotions in check.

“It is fine, Albedo. There is no need to worry.”

“Please, let us be your shields!”

She remained kneeling silently after the exclamations with a single tear hitting the polished stone floor, interrupting the momentary, eerie silence. She was that worried! A realization of just how attached everyone in Nazarick was to him and the other guild members made the overlord painfully aware of how his action impacted his subordinates. They may have years of memories, but every single one of Nazarick’s denizens was alive for less than a day.

Just how hard was it for Albedo and the others, dealing with fears and uncertainties that came with being a living, thinking and feeling being?

Momonga rose from the throne, wanting to console the Guardian Overseer, but patting the head of what at least physically was a grown woman just felt weird, so his hand gently touched Albedo’s shoulder, who looked up with a tear-stained face. 

“Lord Momonga. Please do not leave us! Please do not risk your own life.”

“I will take more precautions from now on. Please forgive me for making you worry.”

“Thank you… What are your orders, my lord?”

Momonga sat back on the throne,

“Inform everyone in the tomb that the voice they will hear soon is not harmful and the momentary paralysis is only during the adjustment time.”

Albedo’s expression changed to a businesslike one and she carried out the order using both Message and the still existing Nazarick control panel.

This was the time to inform his two friends as well. Despite his reluctance to speak with Buku, she needed to know and the idea of making Pero a messenger or arbiter just felt pathetic. He was the leader of both Nazarick and Ainz Ooal Gown. It was time to own up to the role, no matter his inner feelings.

{ Pero, Buku, I have news. Soon you will hear a voice and may feel temporary paralysis as this world will adjust your bodies and abilities. }

{ Explain. NOW! } Buku’s echoey voice sounded loud in his head.

{ Calm down, sis. Let Momo talk. }

{ The Great Tomb of Nazarick is getting integrated into this world we are in and it will move floor by floor. As for now, it is changing to the third floor. Do not worry when it reaches you. You are here because of me and I’m sorry for… }

{ Did you cause us being like this, being whatever the fuck we are now? }

{ No, I don’t think so, but I sent the invite. }

{ Then don’t apologize for something you didn’t do! Shit… Look Momo, I want to blame you for what has happened, but if you didn’t know then it’s not fair of me. But I think you can understand that I’m not thrilled about being a gelatinous blob. Just tell us what you know and what you plan to do? }

{ I know little. The exit from Nazarick is inside a cave system and there is some sort of magical source nearby. For now, I will wait for the entirety of Nazarick to be adjusted. I have this feeling I have to be on the Throne of Kings when its transformation starts. }

{ What should we do? } Peroroncino asked.

{ I think you should just wait for the changes and then we can decide on what to do next. }

{ Got it, glorious leader. I will wait for whatever is coming and then hit you up. }

{ Same. I just hope it will not fuck me up even more! } Buku said.

{ Going by my experience, it will just turn your passives and abilities into skills, so there is no need to worry. }

Getting Buku to listen to him and calm down was a positive turn, meaning there was one less thing to worry about now.

According to the current estimate, the changes should now be starting on the fourth floor. Besides the pop elemental monsters and the floor guardian, Gargantua, who by all means was just a mindless construct, there were no other NPCs.

Albedo, who stood beside him, was monitoring the Tomb’s data in case the floor guardian became uncontrollable.

Momonga glanced at her from time to time, but there was no change in her expression. It seemed like there was no need to worry.

Just sitting and waiting was boring, but because of the Guardian Overseer’s presence, the idea of reading the management and leadership book needed to be put aside.

“Lord Momonga, Gargantua made a sudden movement and looked around.”

This exclamation piqued the Overlord’s interest as he turned to look at the tomb’s floating panels, which showed a live view of the fourth floor. Gargantua was moving around slowly. He raised his enormous stone hand and inspected his stubby fingers, moving them one by one. Then he slowly turned and took a slow, careful step forward.

“My Lord, Gargantua is now capable of independent thought and sent a short response to my questioning.”

“Is there any problem?”

“No, he swore loyalty to you and the Tomb.”

It was an interesting turn. The changes gave life and sentience even if the beings were previously limited to being mindless constructs.

There was another being like that in the tomb on the eighth floor. Albedo’s youngest sister, Rubedo, an angelic construct which was, as of right now, inactive in order to save resources. She was always left in an inactive state unless invaders reached the sixth floor.

A quick decision had to be made. Either to leave her as she was or activate the strongest guardian of the tomb. Many other beings on the eighth floor could be problematic, as most were various beasts roaming there, predominantly programmed as vicious animals tearing at any invader as it took the least amount of data.

“Albedo, redirect all personnel portals from floor seven directly to floor nine and inform everyone that floor eight is off-limits for now. Leave only two working portals with voice activation in the Sephiroth and Cherry Blossom Sanctuary respectively, and cut them off from the rest of the floor for now. I will activate and extract Rubedo myself.”

“At once Lord Momonga.” His second in command responded with a professional smile and began the execution of orders.

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The figure in front of him looked like a typical angel. Long blonde hair, gentle feminine features and, most importantly, six white wings. The only thing that was remotely out of place was the blood-red plate armor and barbed, bloodied sword held by the angel.

Rubedo, the most powerful and most dangerous guardian. When Tabula modified a world level item into a living creature, it was unanimously agreed that only the guild-master could give her orders to prevent any kind of inner sabotage. Her flavor text even said as much. She would take only Momonga’s orders and his new Unique Skill - Master of Ainz Ooal Gown, made sure none beside him could command her.

“Execute order fourteen B.”

“Guild master recognized. Executing activation sequence.” A soft, gentle voice responded as Rubedo lifted her head and opened her bright blue eyes.

Her angelic appearance, however, hid something dark and horrible beneath. Tabula was an artist and his obsession with horror assured that every single creation was more than met the eye. He could still remember how he laughed with his friends when one of the invaders screeched like a little girl the moment Rubedo activated her true, almost indescribable, eldritch form and charged the already exhausted attackers.

Rubedo thrust her sword into the ground and knelt.

“Lord Momonga, thank you for releasing me. I am your weapon to unleash.”

Releasing her? Was she conscious and just unable to move in her inactive state?

“Rubedo, what do you mean by releasing you?”

“Observing, unable to move. Trapped. Waiting for the master’s command.”

“In that case, you have my word. I will not deactivate you.”

“Understood, awaiting master’s order.”

“For now, you are coming with me to the throne room,” Momonga said, taking her hand and teleporting both of them back to the throne.

The changes had reached the fifth floor and, at this moment, Cocytus was the one being changed. Momonga set a mental note to talk with the mighty guardian when he had time and sat down on the throne as Rubedo stood at the side of the throne, unmoving.

“Good to see you, sister,” Albedo said.

“Likewise,” Rubedo responded, not turning her head or acknowledging Albedo’s presence in any other way.

There was no reason to assume the upcoming changes would affect her negatively. Still, a lingering fear remained. That itching what if…

Pushing his fears aside, Momonga returned to observing the process. Cocytus resumed his movement, just as Albedo spoke again.

“Cocytus reports having no issues.”

“Good, the twins and the sixth floor are next.”

Predictably, there were no issues as well. Same with the seventh floor and Demiurge. Next came the eighth floor.

The monstrous, almost world level threats roaming around could become a major problem if they would stop listening to commands.

The tension-filled seconds ticked by as the beasts froze up, one by one. The first one began moving. It looked around, as if confused.

“Albedo, try to contact that one and issue the command to sit down.”

The succubus nodded and not even a second later the mighty, wolflike creature on the screen sat down like a dog and awaited the next order.

“My Lord, Fenrir responded with a verbal answer and swore loyalty to the great tomb and Ainz Ooal Gown.”

Momonga let out a sigh and relaxed. Unlike most of the creatures in Nazarick, the beasts of the eighth floor were made differently. They were a set of weaker copies of world level enemies that were made with little control over them, as any data put in them was used to increase their power, not giving them even any kind of backstories.

With beast after beast professing their loyalty, one of the biggest issues was answered. The entire tomb was loyal to him and the other guild members. His two friends accepting their fate meant there likely would not be any infighting.

Only two floors remained untouched. His two friends should get their transformation any minute now. Time slowly ticked by. Despite the mild paranoia, boredom slowly took over. His gaze fell on Albedo more and more. Despite not having a libido because of his undead body, the human part of him still desired intimacy and companionship.

Albedo, oblivious to her master’s gaze, flipped between screens and, by the looks of it, responded to various incoming messages. Then one moment she froze.

< Target Throne of Kings acquired. Assimilation with target Momonga commencing. Ultimate Skill - Overlord of Nazarick assigned. >

Every single denizen, all their abilities. The entire layout of the tomb, he felt it. The tomb was now part of him.

< Ultimate skill - Overlord of Nazarick connected with Unique Skill - Master of Ainz Ooal Gown. Assigning Unique Skill - Member of Ainz Ooal Gown and Unique Skill - Lord of Nazarick to entities Bukubukuchagama and Peroroncino. Assigning Unique Skill - Overseer of Nazarick to entity Albedo. >

The voice went on to assign similar titles to floor and area guardian. His skill connected everyone to itself. Dark Sage flooded him with the next set of information. He now knew how to assign the stored skills to every one of Nazarick, if they were compatible with it, and that he could add entities to Nazarick.

Then came the list of world-level items from the treasury, all converted to Ultimate Skills and ready to be assigned.

With very little information, such as what was the difference between these skill levels, it was best for now to leave them as is and wait until they are truly needed; just as world level items once were used.

“Albedo, Rubedo, how are you both feeling?”

“I feel fine.” Both respond in perfect union, reminding Momonga that they are sisters, no matter the different ways Tabula made them.

He was about to ask about their skills but then realized that his new skill lets him know all the abilities of his subordinates.

Albedo now had Ultimate skill - Ginnungagap the Annihilator, Unique Skill - Seducer and Unique Skill - Walls of Jericho. A ping of jealousy spiked at the Seduce skill as he, for a moment, imagined it being used on someone and then quickly dismissed his own feelings on the matter.

The remaining skills were rather self-explanatory, Walls of Jericho encompassed all her shielding and defensive abilities and Ginnungagap was the mass destruction ability the world level item once possessed.

Rubedo was a more interesting case. Her Ultimate Skill - Void Lord Zhratgz’a was her true, horrific form and, from what he understood, weaker souls and minds could break by merely observing it. Additionally, she now had Unique Skill - Duelist and Unique Skill - Willbreaker, this essentially meant that fighting one-on-one against her was not a smart thing to do.

Edited by Edgy.