Harbingers of Change

Chapter 9

Only a few minutes had passed since the announced changes, as Momonga saw his friends teleport in front of the throne. And not only saw but felt it as well. The feeling of knowing everything that happened in the great tomb all the time felt overwhelming.

The activation of Dark Sage was an instinctual one, but luckily provided the much needed brainpower boost to deal with all the information. There was no time to tinker and test how everything works as talking with his friends took priority.

He pushed Nazarick’s background process to his Dark Sage skill and just like that, the strain was gone.

“So, glorious leader, that voice did its work. What’s new on your side.” Pero says while walking closer to the throne.

Before he could get too close, Albedo stepped in his way, momentarily surprising the trio.

“Is something wrong Albedo?” Momonga asked because of the overseer’s sudden actions.

“No, my lord.”

“Then step aside, we came to talk with Momonga!” Buku said in her normal voice.

As Albedo stepped aside with a professional smile, Momonga couldn’t help but to notice her momentary wary expression.

Buku ignored the succubus and continued speaking as if she wasn’t there.

“So we are adjusted to this world. What now? We are here to stay, right?”

“I think so. At least I plan to stay. I understand you want to get back home to your old life and I promise to look for a way to help you.”

“And how is that going to happen? Do you think our old bodies are just waiting for us there? Don’t give me false hope, OK!? Better help me understand what my new abilities are. I have this skill Predator but couldn’t use its Mimicry subskill.”

Duty bound to help his friend, Momonga looked at what abilities she had. The main one she asked about was Unique Skill - Predator. The skill let her absorb almost everything, store it, analyze it and then use it in various ways, one of which was Mimicry - a side skill letting her copy the looks and abilities of creatures she had consumed.

Before answering his friend, Momonga observed her other skills as well, just in case. There was the usual thought communication and teleport that most high-ranking Nazarick’s denizens got at this point and she shared the unique skill with Albedo - Walls of Jericho.

There were skills exclusive to her, such as Universal Sense, which let her observe everything around her directly, a necessary skill for a slime that lacked the regular sensory organs. She also had a self-explanatory skill called Regeneration.

Finally she had the Unique Skill - Invincible. Essentially, unless she was attacked directly at a soul level, pretty much nothing could harm her.

“Does your Predator skill have any forms stored?” Momonga asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“So there is your problem. First, you need to consume a creature with a form you want to use.”

“Wait, I need to eat them?” Buku asked as her gelatinous body let out a vibrating shudder.

“Oh no worries sis, we can find a dead bitch or two somewhere for you to use.”

“Fuck off with your smartass comments. This is serious. If I want to look like a human then I really need to eat one?”

“Seems so.” Momonga said, leaning forward on his throne.

“That is fucked up, you know!?”

“If it is any consolation, I can kill a human for you to consume, sis.”

“Pero, I would still need to eat it. You know, for now, let’s just forget about it. What are we going to do next?”

“Hmm, we likely need to gather information about the outside world. How strong are we compared to everything else? How do we defend against potential threats? Information is key. ” Momonga said and then turned to his second in command.

“Albedo, what is the latest update?”

The succubus quickly jumped at a chance to be useful and inserted herself in the conversation.

“Yes, Lord Momonga. Kyouhukou’s children and shadow demons have explored about five kilometers deep into the cave system. We still haven’t found the exit, but air pressure changes indicate it shouldn’t be too far off. Also, one of Kyouhukou’s children came into contact with a dragon who seems to be imprisoned in some sort of force field and attempted to communicate via telepathy. There were a few encounters with local life forms, but none seem to be sentient and posed no threat to anyone besides the roaches.”

“Dragon! Let’s go see it.” Peros said with a childlike enthusiasm.

Curiosity got the better of Momonga as well, but his paranoid and careful side didn’t want to repeat a possible careless mistake of jumping into a situation without thinking.

“Albedo, you said this dragon was imprisoned?”

“Yes, Lord Momonga. Not counting the constant magical energy that emanates from it, the dragon has not moved or showed any sign of being able to leave.”

The overlord could see Albedo’s beautiful face twist in a worried expression once again. He made her worry once already and he surely didn’t want to take unnecessary risks if possible.

“Albedo, prepare our escort to approach this dragon.”

“At once my Lord.”

There was no doubt in his mind that Albedo would go overboard, but better safe than sorry. While they waited, Momonga quickly glanced at Peroroncino’s new abilities.

The Unique Skill - Sniper was not a surprise. The avian prided himself on his skills in long distance combat and could strike a target kilometers away. Unique Skill - Analyst was not a big surprise either, giving him the ability to know his enemies and gave him the instinctual ability to assess the situation, not to mention that it sped up his reaction time and thought process.

The final one was something much more interesting - Unique Skill - Purifier. His sun power based gear had given birth to an ability that let him boost power of his already impressive offensive abilities by adding sun based attacks. Of course, one could see the main flaw right away. Nighttime and being indoors made it a lot less useful. Pero could use his magicule reserves to fuel it, but the rate was not as efficient.

“Lord Momonga, the team is assembled. I will go gear up with your permission.” Albedo said, interrupting Momonga.

“Of course, carry on.” The overlord responded.

The anticipation to interact with a being native to this world was steadily growing.

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Predictably, Albedo went overboard with the escort. Not counting her, Demiurge and Cocytus were there as chief defenders. Additionally there were about eight assault fodder squads that would serve as sacrificial units in case of danger.

Letting someone die for him didn’t sit right with Momonga, but at least they were just respawning pop units and in either case he had already given Albedo the order to avoid any personnel deaths if possible no matter how low in status or easy to replace.

The air in the cave was heavy and damp, but leagues above what he was used to on Earth. Not counting their own servants everywhere, the cave was devoid of life, but there were fields of strange herbs growing everywhere and the otherwise dark cave walls were decorated with glowing ore.

One moment, Pero motioned for everyone to stop and knelt down, picking one of the herbs.

“Albedo, can we gather some samples of these herbs and that glowing stone and get it analyzed by the alchemy department?”

“It will be done, Lord Peroroncino.” Albedo responded and motioned for one team to carry out the order.

While they were walking towards the imprisoned dragon, Momonga decided to inspect what skills Cocytus and Demiurge now had. Most low tier pop monsters only had inventory and thought communication with an odd low tier skill sprinkled in here and there.

Demiurge, as the demon of the highest tier, had a predictable set of skills. First was Extra Skill - Hellbringer that let him create and manipulate hellfire around him in a wide area. Next one, Unique Skill - Aspect of the Devil, stored various demon forms and let him change his body to suit his needs in any given situation and also stored most of his innate abilities. Finally, the Unique skill - Lord of Evil let him create and command various demonic creatures. Not to mention that the amount of magical spells he knew were the highest among floor guardians.

At this point, it was easy to make a connection that skills reflected both the personality and previous abilities of an individual, but there was still a need for extensive research to get even the basics of how these skills were assigned recorded into a comprehensible form. Momonga knew that as the Overlord of Nazarick, he could copy and store skills of his subordinates and assign them to himself and others, but there were limitations on who could receive what skills.

He still had nine ultimate skills to assign from all the world items transformed into them, but for now he was reluctant to give them even to Pero and Buku, as they could be assigned to a single person and couldn’t be copied even partially. Since they could be given almost instantly and no matter the distance between him and the one who would receive the skill, a hesitation to give them out was not that big of a risk.

Next came the skills of the guardian of the fifth floor of Nazarick, Cocytus. The tall, light blue carapace clad insectoid personified the word warrior, so even without looking deeper into it, a fair guess was that most of his skills will be either weapon or warrior based. He towered over everyone around him with a weapon in each of his four arms.

Of course the first skill Momonga detected was Unique Skill - Weapons Master, letting him summon and use any weapon with absolute proficiency. There was a long list of various weapons Cocytus could use under this skill, but for now, the overlord decided to not memorize it. A new skill was Unique Skill - Master of Ice, which gave the mighty insectoid a set of frost based abilities. Finally, he had Unique Skill - Executioner. It was an ability that let him strike the weakest point of his opponent, bypassing most of their defenses.

While walking towards their target, Momonga felt more and more magicules in the air. This dragon was radiating power more than anything found in Nazarick. It was hard to make an estimate, but his best guess was if there was ever a need to fight a dragon of such power at least five of the beasts from the eighth floor would be needed.

The magnificent beast surely lived up to the aura it exuded. Towering over them like they were nothing more than bugs, the dragon was at least fifty meters tall in a sitting position. He clearly noticed the approaching group, eyeing them intently and then moving his mighty paw in a greeting.

{ Can you hear me? } A deep and powerful voice suddenly resounded in his head.

Momonga stopped and looked up at the dragon, mimicking his hand movement. Before he could try to respond using the thought communication, Pero shouted,

“Holy shit, that dragon looks magnificent.”

{ Heh-heh-heh… Eh-ha-ha. Ahh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!} A laughter with three distinct levels filled their heads, as it stood upward in a clearly boisterous position and then pointed at Peroroncino.

{ I like this one. }

The dragon seemed to be in a good mood and didn’t show any sign of aggression, so Momonga, wanting to use the situation, stepped forward and said,

“I am Momonga of Ainz Ooal Goal. I hope you don’t mind us intruding a bit.”

{ No no, not at all. I am the Storm Dragon Veldora, one of only four true dragons. You have roused my curiosity. You see, I cannot sense almost anything outside this prison and no life forms have been near me for at least a century. Who are you all? }

This dragon, Veldora, seemed to be interested in communication and, by his overly eager tone, clearly in need of it. He seemed a perfect opportunity to find out more about the world. Now the question was, what should he reveal to this dragon?

“We are from a place called Nazarick. May I ask what a true dragon is?”

{ I have never heard of such a place, but then again, I’ve been in this prison for three hundred years. You don’t know what a true dragon is? Are you all otherworlders? }

“Otherworlders?” Momonga asks curiously. A safe assumption that there were others like them, maybe even others from Yggdrasil.

{ They are known as “visitors,” or “otherworlders,” and they bear knowledge of things that do not exist in this world. They acquire, as I hear it, some manner of special power when they make the journey here. Beyond that, there are records of transmigrants, who—as I said—bear knowledge of other worlds. Although I imagine not all of them choose to openly identify themselves as such. }

“I see. Yes, in that sense, we are otherworlders.”

{ A curious bunch you are. I am of the dragon race—one of only four in the world, both unique and the most perfect of my kind. You will hereby know me as Veldora, the Storm Dragon! My lifespan is infinite, my flesh unfathomable! As long as I will remain intact, I shall be ever alive! Ahhhhh-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!! }

Veldora surely thought highly of himself. Momonga slowly got answer after answer about the basics of this new world. Veldora was imprisoned in an unbreakable invisible prison by a hero three centuries ago. What happened to this hero was unclear, but since Veldora described her as a slender young woman, there was a chance she simply died of old age.

There was something peculiar in the way Veldora described the Hero. It almost sounded like he found her attractive and was distracted by her appearance during the battle between him and the girl.

While Veldora rambled about anything he could think of just to keep conversing, Momonga slowly approached the invisible barrier. His Dark Sage could not figure out how it worked. It somehow let through magicules and air, but his hand could not be moved through.

It felt like a net made out of mathematical paradoxes that needed to be solved to remove the barrier. While he was busy figuring out the way the dragon was imprisoned.

“Sounds like you are into slim ones, just like me!” Veldora’s monologue was interrupted by Pero.

{ Erm… I am not into anything, you know. As a spiritual being, I don’t reproduce and have no need for such things. }

“You look me in the eye and tell me you weren’t distracted by that hot piece who imprisoned you.”

Momonga snapped out of observing the barrier just in time to see Veldora avoiding Pero’s stare. Did this godlike dragon end up imprisoned because he was distracted by some girl’s ass?

{ I was distracted by her fighting ability! }

“Ok, ok, no need to explain. I bet that fight was epic.” Pero said to not embarrass the dragon any further.

Pero quickly guided the conversation in a different direction, asking questions about world culture and what to expect outside and got at least some useful information.

Clearly, humans existed in this world, the same as various monsters. Above regular monsters were beings called Majins. He and most of Nazarick could be considered Majins. Above that came Demon Lords, Heroes, and, of course, Dragons. Veldora didn’t go into the details but if someone of his power took notice then surely there was a need to be careful when dealing with these beings.

It clearly meant threats existed out there and Nazarick needed to make carefully calculated steps. Luckily, outside the cave was a wide area known as the Forest of Jura and was considered Veldora’s domain, thus uncontested by other powers of this world. Clearly, this fact could be used in favor of Nazarick.

Even with Veldora imprisoned, he was considered enough of a threat for even the Demon Lords to avoid openly invading his domain.

The conversation between Pero and Veldora had taken a turn to entertainment and by the sounds of it. Pero promised to play shogi and bring some manga to entertain the imprisoned dragon.

With all the newly gained information, there was a need to plan the next steps. Befriending this creature was beneficial no matter how you looked at it,and Peroroncino’s initiative to be his friend was a smart move in and of itself.

Momonga also couldn’t help but hear Buku mumbling under her breath.

“Idiot brother making another brigade of jackasses…”

The dragon waved almost a shy goodbye as the group walked away. Momonga could sympathize with his loneliness and, if nothing else, planned to research ways to remove the barrier at some point. Of course, he would not even attempt it before it was perfectly clear Veldora was on their side.

Edited by Edgy.