Momonga flexed his arm in front of the mirror, and couldn't help but raise a brow at the amount of muscles he is feeling.
He is currently using [Soul Reflection] beneath his armor, a skill that exist mainly for fun since the introduction of the Matrix. It allows players to actually receive a perfect replica of their IRL body to play with without losing any form of potency regarding combat capabilities.
Though the spell cost a measly 1MP at activation and served more of a joke skill. Now, it serves as something else entirely. He ran his hands across his pants, admiring the soft feeling of the fabric. With a raised brow, his hands clamps down on the floating sword staff next to him. And sighed at the cool feeling of the leather grips. He tested a few swings, and nodded in satisfaction at the results.
He had confirmed that his spells and magic had remained nearly identical to the Yggdrasil System. With but a few more things to take note of -mainly the freedom for possible spell modifications and adjustments with regards to the Cooldown, Application and Activation.
But his physical traits he had yet to fully explore and sadly his duel with Cocytus had him far too engrossed in the exchange to make proper assessments.
As a player with a Divine Race in his hands, he isn't exactly bound to the same limitations as his fellow Players, with him being one of the Five True Gods of Yggdrasil.
And that title is earned, a hard earned name whos power he could actually feel flowing softly within his veins.
Power shone through his eyes, and with firm movements, he grabbed a sword from a stack next to him and with a small grunt of effort, swung his blade.
The force of his swing was so great that much of the bed had been disturbed and the curtains along the windows including several items that made sounds of rattling from the powerful gust of wind.
He looked at his hand and smiled. He felt it all, his contracting and expanding muscles, his blood shimmering to a boil, the recoil in his bones, and the familiar warmth in his skin. Familiar yet... more.
'If I'm this strong now, how much more would I be if I use Perfect Warrior?'
He dismissed his armor, vanishing in a flash of black flames and as he looked at himself in the mirror, he smirked confidently and reflexively straightens his back. His chest puffed slightly against his round shoulders. And as he turned, he admired his form.
It was after all something he worked hard to get. It was a body based and modeled after those fighting games he actually excelled at. Jin Kazama, if he remembers correctly. Bulky but not overtly so, tall and muscular, but also appealing to the eyes.
A physical trait only achieved through artificial means.
'Those body capsules are really ingenious... I can see why war was waged for them.'
With a sigh of regret at losing such a fantastic device, he looked up only to freeze as his eyes landed at the reflection of the other occupant of the room.
There, a small distance away stood Narberal Gamma. And seeing the blush in her face, made him remember how intimately familiar she was with it.
He shook his head, fighting off the furious blush, heat and the flood of memories hitting him all at the same time.
As if to distract himself, *ahem! "...so... What do you think Nabe?" he asks casually, striking no pose, but standing slightly sideways. Enough to give her a clear image of his body and form. Though as casual as he might have sounded, his mind screamed.
'WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING ASKING HER THAT!?'
Narberal blushed...he blushed. And when she shyly looked away, he felt his face nearly explode at how cute she looked.
"Yo-you -look-looked! As-as incredible as I remember my Lord...." she whispers.
The implications had him and her, burning up in embarrassment where they stood.
Momonga fought his rampaging heartbeat and turned to the mirror once more. He slapped both of his cheeks, ignoring the cute yelp behind him.
"[Create Greater Item.]"
In a burst of golden flames, a black armor manifested around him.
It was sleek, yet ornate. Pure black steel trimmed in gold. With various rubies decorating his gauntlets, and greaves, with two on his chest plate and his pauldrons.
It has a red cape, draped on one side but tucked beneath the shoulder guards, allowing the two round pauldrons to showcase their spiked design and with a cape stylishly wrapped around his neck like a scarf.
Tucked beneath his arms is a helmet of the same design. It has a sleek visor, too thin to possibly see through with a long red plum, trailing downwards from the top.
It was the +10 version of his Black Knight Armor. Available only to players with stats that rivals a level 80 melee, free for players who maxed out the Oathbreaker, Cursed Knight and Death Knight classes and races.
After putting on his helm and nodding in satisfaction, he moved towards the door while informing his maid, "Narberal, I will be stepping out for a while."
"The guards have been prepared for you."
'Did she say guards?' "Guards?"
"Yes my Lord."
Momonga instinctively pinch his nose but settled for a sigh. "Narberal, you misunderstand. This is merely a stroll. A short walk if you will. There will be no need for guards."
"But my Lord," Narberal gasps, horrified. "In such an unknown place. Surely you must understand the need for caution!"
"I do but-"
"Then please reconsider!?"
The formality was eating away at his patience. And while he was grateful for the lack of hostile treatment directed at them, he still could not relax when his personal space is constantly invaded by guards or maids constantly bowing everytime he would pass by.
As if to voice his frustration, he said. "Narberal Gamma." she jolted to a stop, her heart leaping at his words. "I am no weakling, nor am I a liability and most of all a child that needs that level of pampering. I can walk this world on my own."
His patience bordered once more into dissatisfaction but Narberal refused to back down and tried to reason with him.
"Momonga-sama, you yourself had admitted to not know what is out there. What if some thing out there does exist that could hurt you!? What if something out there does harm you!? What would happen then!?" she spoke softly.
But Suzuki's patience already tethered on snapping. His eyes begun to burn bright gold once more. But her expression halted any emotional explosion he may have had after seeing the same face of a hurting woman. Reminding him of the hurt he had struck his Overseer with.
The shame, guilt, and heart ache clawed at him. But defiance warred within... with reason after reason popping out to rebuke her claims. But he remained still, afraid that the next words may not be what he truly wanted to say.
Seeing his indecision, Narberal decided to pressed on.
"Momonga-sama!" Narberal pleaded as she knelt, her head bowed deeply. "Please!"
For a time silence permeated the room. But Momonga stood still, waiting for her to continue because he could feel it... her unspoken words just begging to let out.
Narberal herself tried... she kept on trying. To voice out her feelings regardless of her duty. To let him know how afraid she is for him... but something within her kept her at bay... and for the moment, she felt like conceding. But a flash of memory served to aid her.
Reminding her of her creators words as they walked through the Silver City.
'Suzuki-san can be a handful. I don't truly agree with what he did. I can't help but feel that he soiled- violated you out of debauch reasons or the like.' Nishiki Enrai sighed and took back his words. 'But... he didn't, did he. He was in pain, he was scared and most of all, he was stressed beyond what any of us could possibly help him with.'
Hearing his own words, Nishiki could feel how biased he is towards his friend, and it somehow felt wrong when he looks at his own NPC. 'It is scummy of me to say this huh. But, I'm sorry, its just that despite not liking what he did, I sort of understood why. I'm just glad he was willing to take responsibility for it.'
Nishiki Enrai couldn't help but feel dirty about it. To justify what his friend did and to actually accept it. In the end, he could not go against his choice. He after all is now living a good life. Away from the endless hell of acid and steel. He now stands in a place in life worth millions of people's envy and it was only because he was friends with the right person.... he is far too lucky to hold a grudge over a game. That much he knew.
His eyes turned to her once more, defeat and surrender held bare with his slumped shoulders and an audibly defeated sigh. But to leave her as is... it just didn't feel right.
'Take this to heart my beautiful creation. Suzuki needs someone who can tether him to reality. To shape his views into plausible outcomes. To make his dreams real, to make them come true...and that just isn't you.'
'You are to be his rock, to be a pillar for him to rely on when he crumbles. Someone to be there to keep him standing when his knees had all but given out. To lay his head when the world spins too fast, and kiss his pain away if need be.'
'Sad as it is to say, you can't guide him. That isn't you, but you can be all he needs when he needed you most. And... perhaps, one day it would be good enough for you. And maybe one day, you would find what you need should you want it. To be able to be more than what you are, by being exactly who you were.'
"...Suzuki-sama..." Momonga again felt his breath leave him. "Please..."
Her voice was dripping with emotion, just as tears were pooling at the corner of her eyes. It wasn't all she wanted to say, far from enough, far from what her heart is demanding she shouts to his face. But she couldn't, not when she didn't have the courage to do so for herself.
Despite the stoic mask that she wore, her body shook, hands clenched at her apron with a tear dripping to her cheek as she remained bowed to him. Begging that he may hear her.
And while Momonga felt trepidation as he saw an NPC trying to grow beyond what is known of her, Suzuki instead felt curiosity as he saw a girl trying to be more than who she was.
He didn't know why he did what he did. Only that he believed it was right.
He walked towards her, raising her face to his and gently wiped her tears away with his thumb. He then wrapped a necklace around her neck.
A silver chain necklace with a silver shaped feather dangling from it. And in her distraction he slipped a ring at her finger. The ring of Ainz Ooal Gown.
He wrapped her dainty little hands around his bicep and vanished to the first floor of Nazarick.
The two walked through the dimly lit corridor in silence. Both sharing a space, and basking in each other's confusion. All the while remaining attach to one another, with Narberal's hands wrapped around his arm and Momonga's hand atop her own.
And while Narberal was having a heart warming moment in his presence, Momonga in turn was panicking.
Her growth, her freedom and the attempt to impose her voice above his own.... what such freedom entailed is far too much for him. So much so that he started to fear how far he must go for the sake of his and Eliza's protection.
As if to distract himself from his problems, Suzuki instead noticed a nagging problem. The ring he gave her was meant as a precaution. He didn't want to test what the ring's effect would be to those who simply latched on to him during teleportation. He was afraid he might send her to some random location, or harm her in anyway.
So he gave her the ring before activating its teleportation features... only he had not been paying attention to which finger he had put it on.
That train of thought suddenly screeched to a halt as her warmth spread to his. And as he looked to her eyes, Momonga could not help but wonder....
Reaching the stairs to the main entrance, Momonga and Narberal froze as he gazed up at three demons standing at the main entrance of Nazarick. And in a split second, he was standing in front of Narberal, with a great sword drawn.
'The Evil Lords.... what are they doing so far from the seventh floor?'
One of the three demons is a muscular demon with hulking muscles, hooves for feet and clawed hands with a pair of clawed dragon wings. It has a long snouted face and a pair of horns protruding atop his head. By his slightly hunched back burned a flaming mantle, cascading behind him with smouldering scales adding to his fearsome feature.
The other is a woman wearing what can only be described as a dominatrix outfit that hugged her sexual body. With a pair of avian legs and black feathered wings. She has clawed nails stretching from her dainty hands that shone silver beneath the moon light and a pristine skin with a face covered by a beak like mask.
And lastly is an aristocratic male with muscular body matching his own. He wore a blindfold over his eyes with a pair of horns protruding from his wavy shoulder length hair. He wore a fine garment bordering between noble and gothic at the same time with a pair of bat-like wings, and two pairs of fangs poking in between his lips.
The Evil Lords of Wrath, Lust, and Greed stood before him respectively.
"Momonga-sama." echoed another voice and from beyond the three demons, Demiurge appears jogging in their direction. As soon he reaches them, he kneels followed by the others. "May I ask what your esteemed person is doing here my Lord. And most of all, where are your guards?"
"I dismissed their presence, Demiurge." said Momonga while continuing on his walk.
"My Lord if I may, why are you dressed like that?"
He stopped, undecided on how to respond. He had half a mind to just bluff his way through. Hoping not to fan more fires in the wrong direction and just gauge how they would respond to his presence before taking any firm action... but a whisper dissuaded him.
「The highest of expectations had bought down the greatest of men, Suzuki-kun. The questions is... would you be who you want them to see or be who you are and let them see who you truly are?」
The return of her voice made his heart leap with joy. And with an unseen smile, he decided.
"I have come to see for myself what this world offers."
"I see.... truly your attention to detail is impeccable Momonga-sama. I apologize that my presence may inconvenience you, but I cannot allow your noble self to be without proper escort. With your boundless mercy my Lord, if you would allow this one to join you."
His eyes flickered for a moment to the maid next to him and sighed in defeat. There was nothing he had said that he could possibly take offense to. And with Narberal by his side, he should be able to manage being in the presence of another guardian.
"Then let us be off Demiurge."
"Why was Momonga-sama dressed like that?" asked Lust
"I don't know, but there should be reason to it." Greed answers.
They had been confused as to why the Supreme Being was dressed in such a way. But they simply set it aside after hearing about the current situation of their Lady. The halls of Nazarick had been plagued with worry as the the fear and confusion echoed from the Supreme One, crashing against every single soul within the guild.
Word has it that Lady Seraphina had been plagued with sickness. Always losing strength and forced to rely on the powers of the Throne of Kings for sustenance.
And despite wanting to help, they were not only far too insufficient to be of any comparison to a World Item, they also had their duties to see through. So they could only hope that the Supreme One would soon find a way.
Sensing another approaching presence, they stood to the sides and knelt in attention as the presence of another Floor Guardian approaches.
From the stairs walked out Albedo, followed by several hooded Moon Elves wearing dark blue armors. Each with a single pauldron, a pair of gauntlets, enchanted cloth covering their chest, waist, skirt and thighs, ending with a armor shin guard. The rest remained exposed, mainly their hands, feet and midriff.
Of the three dozen elves, all of them had a bow, a quiver of arrow, a short sword and a combat knife and throwing knives across their belt.
These were the summons sent by Pandora's Actor and Alucard to be placed under the authority of the twins. And she had hoped to have them delivered by Demiurge. But as Albedo looked around, she could not seem to find the person she was looking for.
Initially dismissive of the kneeling demons, Albedo decided to turn to them for answer.
"I don't see Demiurge around. Where is he?"
"Momonga-sama had passed through earlier-"
"Ainz-sama was here!?"
"Uhmm... forgive me Lady Albedo but we do not this Ainz fellow-"
"Enough of that!" Albedo screeches in annoyance. "How long has he been gone!? Had they mentioned where they would be headed!? ...what if... did he say something about an inadequacy in our defenses?" Albedo rants with the last question hitting harder than she thought.
"None of those Lady Albedo." answers Greed, "Momonga-sama had only mentioned to see the world with his own eyes."
"Very well then!" she barely acknowledge before heading out herself only to suddenly stop. Her hands trailing at her clothing.
Her clothes were dirty from work, hair tangled at the ends, just like her wings. As insignificant those minor imperfections may be. To Albedo however, even the slightest blemish on her appearance was a mark of failure. She could not show this filthy self of hers to the man she loved so dearly. Not after the thoughts he had unknowingly shared with her in the colosseum.
"I need a bath but, the nearest one is at Shalltear's place." a thought she is hesitant to accept specially with how competitive her creator was with her own for Momonga's affection. After a second of deliberation, she decided to just deal with it.
"I'll have to grab my things at the balcony." Albedo gritted out.
"Albedo."
The voice froze everyone in place, and at the entrance, they turned to see her. Seraphina, standing in all her glory with a smile adorning her beautiful face.
The three demons immediately pressed their heads to the concrete while Albedo made to kneel, only to be stopped as she felt her fingers at her chin.
"You're current attire would suit you better." Eliza remarks, making Albedo's eyes slit with unspoken offense only to hollow in defeat. Losing all their brilliance.
"...is-is this your will, My Lady?" she retorts in an impassive voice. Believing that her Lady hopes for her to show her unkempt self.
But Seraphina simply laughed softly at her reaction and said.
"I want him to see your efforts, your dedication and your hard work. Go child, and give him a kiss for me."
Albedo's eyes widened with a furious blush adorning her face. And with a cute nod, she took off flying in Momonga's direction. While slowly, Seraphina vanished as if she was never there.
Baffling even Demiurge's elite guards, wondering why they could not feel her presence.