Eliza jolts with a gasp, immediately gaining Momonga's attention and what he saw nearly blinded him.
'...has she always been so... Radiant?' he wondered as his eyes roamed her character up and down while she seemed lost. Looking at her hands as if mesmerized by it.
'Was it an update?' he asks.
Seconds passes... she didn't reply.
'Eliza, are you ok?' he asks again, holding her hand with his.
Her attention snaps at him and yet, she simply tilted her head in confusion, while her eyes seems to shine even more as he felt her focus him.
'What is it Eliza?'
His heart hammered against his chest. The implications frightened him. With a squeeze of her hand, he says...
'this isn't funny...'
With the years they had spent communicating in silence, her actions were so unlike her. Even he could hear the plead in his voice, she instead replied with a question and asked... "What's wrong Suzuki-kun?"
He felt his heart stop, making him swallow what ever it was that was building in his chest. "Did you not hear me?" he wonders in confusion.
But in his surprise, her eyes widened, tears started to pool at their edges and her hands began to shake. And when she abruptly stood up, she nearly fell had he not caught her.
Despite their confusion, they did not miss the two voices that spoke out their names.
Albedo and Narberal looked to them as if worried... a reaction not even Suzuki was able to wrap his head around, not when their expressions looked confusingly genuine.
"Suzuki-kun..." his attention returns to her. Looking just as afraid as the other two. "I-I can't find it..." she sobs out.
"What is it Eliza?"
"I... I can't find the connection... between the servers..."she then sobs out- "An-and you."
Fear crept up to him, tingling his spine with unspoken horror. Only for his nerves to freeze at the sight of the stray tears now adorning her beautiful face. With a sudden surge of heat, he squared his shoulders, lifted her into his arms in a bridal carry and walked straight to his room. Ignoring the two who followed.
He arrived inside, clattered with various items scattered everywhere and he ignored them completely. His eyes focused solely on the clean and untouched bed where he laid her down, and softly run his hand across her hair.
He only stopped when she held his hand and placed it atop her chest.
Where he felt... a heartbeat.
He stood in surprise, fear giving way to confusion. But she ignored his feelings completely, offering her hand once more, demanding his attention. He was hesitant not knowing what could have happened to cause such a change, yet again she made him feel her chest.
His mind like it was swarming with thoughts and so he tried to center himself and ended up sighing in resignation while closing his eyes to calm his rampaging heart. And in the moment, her beating heart was all he could hear. So he sat there, silently in awe at what he was feeling.
Only for the feeling to vanish all of a sudden and with it, a hundred more questions popped up in an instant.
And once more, confusion gave way to fear. Fear for both of them. He decided to investigate the matter and secure them both. He sat by her for a time, taking in her fears and excitement through her expressive eyes.
A shared moment that gave him relief, that despite not being able to hear her voice... he could feel her still.... he could understand her, as she does him.
The thought sent him strength and courage where he kissed her forehead, only to freeze when she giggled.
"My undead..." she teased.
And for the first time... he actually noticed his undead form. Setting the realization aside, he turns to leave only again to pause at the sight of two beautiful women standing just behind him.
Shaking the stray thoughts out of his mind, he tried to walk away only to stop when Narberal spoke. "Momonga-sama-" He felt a pang of frustration at the constant interruptions but pushed it all down and listened. "-with your permission, I could tidy up your room and stay to look after Lady Seraphina."
'she really did speak.... and she said Seraphina.' he thought, his mind then suddenly conjures various other questions. But a stubbornness within him made him unwilling to be flooded by uncertainty. So he decided to at least answer one.
"You may." he says. A simple answer on the simplest of questions but he felt it, the first step he had taken. One that sent him on a pace forward.
She replies with a nod and a slight bow. And based on her actions, he took note that she understood his words despite it not being an in-game command. A thought he and Eliza shared.
His eyes then turned to the golden eyed beauty, and saw a glint in his eyes he could not place. Fixed directly at the maid. He knew then he was not going to her there.
"Albedo." he said. Snapping the woman's attention from Narberal to him. "Come with me."
"Yes!" she chirped happily.
As he walked Momonga thought of various possibilities and scenarios that could cause such a thing to her and him. He had tried using the GM Call function. Trying to command his console and system settings. But none responded.
Accepting his current situation, he decided to first secure Eliza and him. But there is one thought that did make his throat felt like leaping out of his mouth...
Eliza had been with him for years and it was possible due to her being housed in his ID Chip. The servers he can reason into shut down, he could even say they might have extended it or possibly been transported to another game... the last one made too little sense but he remembers news of it happening before.
But the lack of connection from her to him? It implied his death. And it is the only way such a connection could be severed.... literally.
But if he died then.... his head turned to the woman following him. And his enhanced mind immediately took note of the difference.
Mainly physics... the jiggling kind.
He could see it through her dress, the rippling of her thighs, her bouncing breast, her puffing lips, half lidded eyes and her plump ass with every sway of her wide and a highlighted hips that grow more and more... exaggerated.
His head snapped forward immediately. Trying to drown away the image of a pair of golden eyes that looked a little too eager to eat him whole... and instead chose to wallow in his confusion.
Such things only occured when the R18 functions was disabled. So then...
'...What the hell is going on here!' he screams mentally.
*ahem! "Albedo."
"Yes!" she nearly squealed out.
"What do you remember?" he probes.
"Remember my Lord?" Albedo tilts her head. A reaction that he admits is quite cute, not noticing the deepening blush in the overseer's face.
"Yes... Before Eli- Seraphina's, sudden... sickness."
"I have not forgotten anything my Lord. Only that she suddenly seemed unwell." she replies with a hint of sadness. Genuine as far as his eyes could see.
"You remember.... Everything?"
"I do, Momonga-sama!" she replied proudly.
*gulp! "...two years ago in the throne room."
"You mean when you had your way with Narberal instead of me, my lord?"
Her quick reply and cold voice could freeze balls while her eyes felt like swords of golden flames meant to chop off the rest. He immediately made sure to recollect as much as he can with regards to the implications of her words and write it down somewhere... he could only imagine what kind of outcome his ignorance would bring. But for now... their relationship needs mending.
"I apologize for my actions." she stiffened while her eyes mellowed slightly. Eyes that slowly widened. "Begrudge me of it. But I do not want to hear you taking out your anger on anyone else, am I understood? Albedo?" he hears no reply and so Momonga stopped waiting for her response.
He could see the indecision in her. Her eyes became misty as she bit down her lip while her hands clenched the frills of her dress and with tear stricken face, she asks.
"Was there something wrong with me my Lord!? Was I so unsightly that you would choose a maid over me?"
He wanted to walk away, set the problem aside but, her voice echoed in his mind. But what is he to say? The he didn't know she was alive? That he didn't care? That it was done on a whim or maybe because she was within his arms reach...
In the end, he chose a path that felt... enough.
"No." he said in a firm voice. "It was simply because...you were yet to be mine." and then walked away.
Leaving Albedo to the realization of his words...
With a melodious laugh, she ran up to him, dried her face with her gloves hands and smiled as she trailed behind him, walking in silence along the corridors of Nazarick.
'As fun as it was to run away from problems, they tend to be dangerous when they pile up.' a stray thought he could almost smile at. 'Another excuse among excuses... No wonder she hated it when I was on top.'
His attention snapped when he saw the rest of Pleiades and a familiar butler, Sebas-tian, standing at the side.
As soon as he reached them, they bowed deeply in respect to his presence.
""""Greetings, Momonga-sama.""""
"Greetings." he replies. "I have an order for you."
"We shall see to your will done, Momonga-sama!" Sebas answers in their behalf.
'...they seemed eager to serve. Are they still bound to their programing? No... they have more freedom, which is bad news for me.' his eyes shifted slightly to Albedo. '...for how long will they stay loyal? and what must I do?'
"Sebas, go to the surface and lead the Pleiades in a scouting mission. Do not stray for no more than five kilometers. I expect your report within the hour at the coliseum."
"As you command, Momonga-sama."
Momonga then turns to Albedo, "I will be heading to the sixth floor. Bring me the rest of the floor guardians except for Gargantua, Victim, Pandora's Actor and Alucard."
"As you wish my love."
Momonga appears in a flash of light. Smiling slightly at his guild ring.
'Items still work as intended. Just with a bit more leeway in utility.'
He made sure to keep to memory the feeling of using the ring to not get caught in surprise at various options becoming available to him. Cause despite choosing the Coliseum, he was still allowed to choose 'where' in the coliseum. A feature not previously possible.
And while he was glad for the flexibility, he wasn't ignorant at the dip in his mana by choosing a different location, and that was just at the opposite side of the teleportation circle.
'I just need to be more cautious in what I use.... I need to experiment with items and secure the treasury soon.'
Standing in a dimly lit tunnel, he walked forward. Footsteps echoing through the silent passage. Wondering how his beloved is doing so far.
I have never felt so alive.
As if everything I had ever known had been covered in a fluffy bundle all along.
To feel the blood coursing through my veins, my heart beating like a drum, the stretch and contraction of my muscles with every move. The power coursing through my veins like a raging flow of boiling rivers... I could feel, everything. And as I touch my lips, I could feel each individual muscle... muscles that weren't there before, which makes me wonder...
"I wonder... what would it be like to kiss him now..."
"Seraphina-sama?"
"Nothing..." this is mildly annoying, and slightly scary on its own.
'How exactly do I tell him that we have found ourselves in another world?... No matter, he will be seeking information, and he needs my help now more than ever.'
"Narberal, correct?"
"I am, Lady Seraphina."
"Lead me to the throne room, I must commune with the Throne Of Kings."
In the grand coliseum of the sixth floor.
Momonga stood in front of two young dark elves, both adorned with golden blonde hair and a pair of heterochromia eyes. One with green and blue with the other blue and green.
Though Momonga recognized them despite being dressed in clothes opposite of their gender. He took note of the twins most distinguishable features.
The shy little boy, Mare Bello Fiore, shares a lot with his sister, Aura Bella Fiora.
They both have golden blonde hair that ends just above their shoulders and while Mare's hair is straighter, Aura's is more unkept, reflecting her tomboyish nature compared to her brother.
They both wore a dragon scale body suit, one of blue for Mare and red for Aura. With a white and gold vest on top, embroidered with the emblem of Ainz Ooal Gown. While Mare's shoulder is adorned with a forest green cloak, Aura has none but a golden necklace in the shape of an acorn, with a silver version of it adorning Mare's neck instead.
They wore white skirt and pants respectively matching with their tops, with Aura wearing golden plated shoes and Mare wearing cowboy boots. All in all, they looked exactly how Buku-Bukuchagama intended for them, to be a trap.
"I apologize for intruding unannounced." Momonga greeted.
"What are you saying Momonga-sama! This is Nazarick! Your humble abode!!"
"We we-welcome you to the sixth floor, Mo-Momonga-sama."
"Umu. Thank you for your warm welcome." he said with a small bow. Making the two just rub their heads at his humble demeanor.
"I intend to conduct an experiment. While we await the rest of the Floor Guardians."
"Of course Momonga-sama!"
Minutes later, Momonga summons one of his weapons, and just like with the Guild Ring, he calls the item into existence.
"Come forth! Ulbert!"
Beside him, the ground cracked into a small mound where lava spewed. And from it, an obsidian handle pokes out, and without hesitation he pulls it out.
The surroundings cracked as if boiling, and the air itself shimmered from the heat. And in his hands laid a sword staff with a red crystal blade, a ruby crystal at the other end, trimmed in obsidian, and an obsidian crossguard carved to look like a raging and deformed sun.
[Contracted Sword: Ulbert]
Pointing the sword in the middle of the arena, he casts.
"[Summon: Primal Fire Elemental]"
In a swirl of towering flame, emerged a thirty feet tall giant, it stood on a tornado of fire that set the ground around it ablaze, arms made of hulking rocks that depicted a muscular form ending with clawed hands made of obsidian blades serving as its fingers. And a head of a long snouted demon with two giant horns.
The beast stood still, reacting to no one but let off an imposing aura. A gaping hole in its chest emitted black flames with flickers of red at the edges, and up above the creature is a small steam of white, as the air itself evaporates in its presence.
Barely hiding his intent, Momonga asks. "Hmmm... would you two like to fight it?"
"E-eh.." "Really!?"
"Umu."
"Uhmm... actually I have-" tried to excuse Mare only to be yanked back by Aura.
"Let's go! Mare!" "Ehh!!!"
Momonga laughs softly at the two's antics. And seeing the two ready, he commands. "Primal Fire Elemental! Attack the twins!"
Aura rushed in a burst of speed, dodging a fire breath barely grazing her feet and then jumping over the fiery field. With a pull from her belt, she unwinds her whip, and with a flick struck true at the creature's torso. Cleaving it open, only for the wound to suddenly close.
The elemental clawed at the airborne elf, while Mare supported his sister with a spell, [Magic Shield] displacing the fiery attack and guardians against the blades fingers.
At the sides, Momonga nodded in approval at their display. 'As I thought, they could handle this very easily.'
His thoughts were cut short as the weapon floating beside him. Shimmered for his attention. Sensing its intent, Momonga casted [Create Greater Item] creating an onyx throne decorated in gold with a high back rest twice as tall as him.
And in the comfort of his chair, Momonga reached out to the weapon... this time, with his intent alone.
His eyes snapped open and saw Aura's whip coming for his head, he tilted his head to dodge. And used his claw to retaliate, the magic shield endured, only for his hands to grip the little golden orb in his giant palms, trapping Aura. Opening his mouth, he breath a torrent of flames towards Mare, who erected a wooden wall that surprisingly caught fire too slowly.
And from beneath, something moved with the ground bulging and surging towards him. Before he could breath fire once more, a whip wrapped itself around his snout, shutting his mouth closed.
With a flex of his arm, he smashed the golden orb that contains Aura into the incoming attack hoping to stop whatever it was that was coming. His movement was quick and explosive with strength, hurrying the orb halfway through the ground with a massive *Boom!.
From the half buried orb, wood to erupted and surrounded the elf as the golden protection shattered, and then tendrils of thorn filled vines reached out to him at great speed. Wrapping around his arm, chest, and wrist.
With another flick of her whip, Aura's attack cleaved through one of the vines, and then *boom! It exploded.
The powerful explosion distorted his vision, not realizing that Aura had struck another vine, and causing another explosion to erupt.
Feeling a sense of confidence from the two, Momonga took it up a notch. With a flex of its arms, a great torrent of fire erupted from the crevices of the elemental, reforming his damaged limbs in the process. And when the whip sailed towards the third vine, he grabbed it.
Aura, surprised at the sudden regeneration, failed to let go as the elemental yanked her forward. Seeing a fist sailing towards her prone form, a golden shield surrounded her, making her smirk in confidence. Only-
In a loud displacement of air, the elemental vanished in embers. And in her horror, she turned and there... behind her brother stood the creature. Arm cocked, and with a great flex that cracked its earthen armor, brought its fist down in thunderous explosion.
Aura, then held her whip with a snarl and with a twist of the handle and harsh stroke of whip with her hand, thorns erupted across its nimble form. Through her punctured hand, blood flowed across its length making the whip shimmer red.
And with but a couple of flicks, the whip snapped at the elemental's direction. Followed by two red trails of curved energy.
Momonga made to raise the elemental's arm only for him to suddenly tense when he felt it stuck.
Two explosive strikes hit true, sending the elemental staggering backward while using his other arm to guard against one.
The explosion displaced the cover of dust that hid Mare, and showed how his fist missed, planted just at the elf's side with several vines wrapped around it. And from beneath him another series of thorned vines erupted. This time, gripping his neck, his only available wrist, and his elbow.
Momonga smiled widely.
'...they are strong...'
And with pride came, courage. Enough material to send one lasting lesson to the two sweet little creations of his former lover.
Aura rushed forward, two more red trails of energy at the arms while her whip snaps towards the neck.
And with a mighty roar, the Elemental glowed red as more and more flames erupted creating even more cracks. Mare's eyes widened, she teleported away while sending several vines to drag back her sister back and erecting a massive wall and a golden dome around them.
With the elemental casting one final spell, [Prominence Burn]
*Booommmm!!!
The massive explosion engulfed the whole arena, throwing dirt, wind, rocks and fire all around, and at the center lies a torrential storm of swirling fire as if raging towards the very heavens.
The swirling vortex burnt everything within while Momonga sat at the slightly elevated platform. His steady and sure form barely worried at the flames unable to lick his fluttering robes.
In complete contrast to the butler that had appeared right behind him. And looking at the offending flame as if daring it to touch his master.
Fifteen seconds it lasted and five seconds more before the storm even begun to subside to reveal the aftermath of the explosion. The once sandy arena had turned to glass, with the edges of the coliseum scorched and stained with soot along with several cracks, greatly damaged by the explosion within the arena.
And at the sides, stood the stunned Floor Guardians as both Aura and Mare emerged from the fading smoke.
They stood coughing, surrounded by a cracked golden dome and a badly damaged and still scorching wall.
Mare was mostly unharmed from the explosion, except for Aura who had a few burn marks across her left cheek.
And as Mare rose her sister by her shoulders, clapping then cut through the silence. They turned to Momonga, standing from his throne in applause, mimicked by Sebas.
"Well fought. Floor Guardians! Well fought indeed!" Momonga praised with a laugh he unknowingly filled with pride.
Seeing the two smile, with Aura wincing a bit in pain, Momonga ushered the two kids close. And with an attempt at a mental command, another sword-staff appeared.
In a swirl of leaves and flora, *poofed~ a blade made of pure emerald, its crossguard were made of wood -twisting upon each other- and an array of leaves wrapped around the grip and the blade. At the tail end, lied an emerald gem wrapped around fine carved wood that ended like a spear tip.
[Contracted Sword: Blue Planet]
With a gentle raise of his hand, Momonga willed the sword afloat, and planted the tip of the blade, gently upon the glassed up soil. And with a pulse of soft greenish energy, everything in the vicinity begun to heal.
The glasses cracked and shattered into tiny bits, turning to sand. The soot and scorched marks at the walls grew vines spilling into flowers. Roots emerged from inside the walls, connecting with each other till they filled every crack. And the twins gasps softly as the warmth washes over them. Healing their wounds with gentle care.
In less than ten seconds, the arena was repaired. Only, to the twins eyes, it looked more beautiful and majestic.
They eyed the changes as the sits grew grass at their feet, filling the stands like a carpet. The chairs softly wrapped with flowers at their edges. And the towering pillars were twined by vines, decorated by colorful leaves with giant flowers growing at the tip of each one.
The coliseum of the sixth floor was meant to represent one thing. The stain of mankind in a world without one. It was to symbolize how ugly their constructs can be, and how it hindered the natural growth of the world. Such was Blue Planet's design.
But for it to suddenly change its own tune... Momonga's burning eyes flashed with the realization of an existing sentience within his weapons.
The changes, it reflected his friends thought in life and human nature. A change that occured to him ever slowly as he matured. The acknowledgement that man kind are animals... A part of nature and one who is not spared from its consequences. A species that just outgrew the rest.
He returns his attention at the giggling Aura and Mare who laughed and smiled as if someone was tickling their wounds away.
It was a comfort he could bare his heart towards. And so with a gentle smile, he rubbed their heads with his bony hands. Only to pull his hands back when he felt Aura and Mare twitch.
The realization that his passive skills hurt them slightly dampened his mood. As if wanting to make amends under the guise of curiosity, Momonga willed his physical body into existence with the use of a skill called [Soul Reflection].
He felt his bones twist into form, with his clawed fingers reforming into human shape, along with his ribcage. Golden flames then engulfed him, and from it grew flesh as muscles wove into existence, and skin melted into place.
At the end of his transformation, he stood there, bare chested just as tall and wide with his chest in purely displayed of his muscular frame, barely held back by his loose robes.
Suzuki Satoru, smiled as his self breaths out in a long while.