1 Prologue (1)

Walking along the corridors of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Sebas crossed through another teleportation gate, the last in his journey to the First Floor. Walking across the threshold, Sebas fixed his uniform and dusted any debris that could have fallen on it – not that it was disheveled or dirty in any way after the teleportation. Sebas always took great caution to keep his suit pristine and well-kept at all times, his suit bestowed upon him by his Creator, Lord Touch Me, would never be tainted or wrinkled. Alas, his Lord's words had made Sebas experience something akin to nervousness.

His Lord, the last of the Supreme Ones, Momonga, had uttered unexpected words about a situation that had suddenly and profoundly changed, which had led to his current unusual assignment. Sebas was to go to the surface from his post in the 10th Floor, something very unusual.

Sebas had spent his entire life on the tenth floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, fulfilling the primary function entrusted to him by his creator. Protecting the Throne Hall and the Holy of Holiest of the Great Tomb, the Hall in which the Forty-One Supreme Beings once proclaimed the power of Ainz Ooal Gown, is his duty. Sebas and the six Sisters of the Pleiades then performed a sacred function, their duty the most enviable of all, for they were to give as much time as possible to the Forty-One before They assembled for the final battle.

Only Albedo's, whose duty was to fight side by side with the Forty-One, and Pandora's Actor, the personal creation of Lord Momonga outweighed theirs. A creation that Sebas had never met in person, whose duty was to buy as much time as possible in the treasury, allowing the Forty-One to return and strike another blow, in the very back of the enemy… This was the first time that Sebas had done anything other than his duty, so perhaps it couldn't be helped that he would be 'nervous'.

Sebas had never left the confines of the Great Tomb, but he knew of exactly what lay beyond — the swamps of Helheim, full of creatures of level eighty and above. A swamp where the water was drenched with poison, the air covered with an acid mist, and the ground was full of steel grass that could easily pierce or destroy ordinary armor at a misstep.

It was one of the Great Tomb's best defenses, few were able to pass through these swamps to pose a danger to the Great Tomb and Ainz Ooal Gown.

Master Momonga, however, ordered Sebas to survey the lands around the Tomb as He had felt a great disturbance – and Sebas was willing to sacrifice his life if he had to, to do so.

Sebas traversed the final spans of the first floor, to the stairs leading to the surface, before appearing at the Tomb's threshold, glancing ahead and pausing for a moment. "Now… That's unusual."

As far as Sebas knew – the Great Tomb of Nazarick was located in Helheim's marshes, not…

In a void of nothingness.

Sebas shook his head, trying to see if his mind was affected by the illusion, as his resistance to those was great, but Sebas did not possess powers like [True Sight]. Of course, he could use his powers to forcibly clear his mind, and unless his opponent was using Super-tier magic or a World Class Item so he did so, and nothing changed. It should have cleared his mind of the illusions affecting his perception – however, the picture before him was unchanged.

The Great Tomb of Nazarick - at least its upper mausoleum and the ruins of the colonnade, along with the smaller mausoleums around it, were all in their place. The building standing on mounds exactly where they had been located in the past… Except, the mounds only extended a few paces from the walls of the Great Tomb, its farthest walls – beyond that, there was only emptiness.

A black, impenetrable void.

"This is definitely unusual… " Sebas was not blessed by his Creator to be as clever as Albedo, Pandora's Actor, or the Demiurge, but for a moment he allowed the thought that even they could not easily make sense of the picture before his eyes. Only their master, Lord Momonga, the Leader of the Forty-One Supreme Beings, could discern anything about the situation at the moment.

After all, he was the only one who could tell that something has happened, all the way back in the Throne Room even without casting a single spell. Truly, His Master's intellect is a frightening thing.

However, the current situation was definitely… Interfering with Sebas's order.

His original order was to go around the Great Tomb within a one-kilometer radius to scout out the surroundings, but his order didn't quite detail what he needed to do in case he simply… Couldn't.

Unfortunately, Sebas was incapable of following Lord Momonga's orders, given his inability to teleport and fly, so he could not leave the confines of the small clearing holding Nazarick in the middle of the void… Unless he was supposed to simply fall down, perhaps to make up for his failure to comply with a simple order from his Master.

Death in service was the ultimate reward for any member of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, but such a reward was no excuse to violate orders. And unfortunately, if he fell into the void, he would definitely violate his orders to return to Lord Momonga along with the information he was due to receive.

Sebas took a couple of steps forward just in case, then checked the void with his foot just in case the void was simply an illusion. Unfortunately, he had to note that the void was indeed empty and was not capable of holding his weight. Sebas shifted his pensive gaze forward after that, staring into the void, before noticing a small dot of light in the distance.

Slowly the dot began to expand, as if it were getting closer to Sebas, and before long Sebas could determine that the dot was colored red – then to determine that the dot was not some formless light. It instead has a proper shape… A dragon. A big red dragon.

Sebas frowned slightly.

As he stuck his foot out into the void to pass the walls of Nazarick, he felt the 'terrain effects' that the void possesses try to affect him. Sebas could identify 'mana absorption', 'energy absorption', 'life absorption', and 'experience absorption', a very dangerous cocktail of negative effects. But since Sebas had enough protection against such things, he paid no attention to it.

"So that dragon also possesses the abilities to ignore these effects. Either that, or it is simply a very foolish being indeed…" Sebas slowly nodded at his deduction, as he watched the approaching, enlarging figure of the red dragon.

Much closer now, Sebas could make out some details of the red dragon. As quite obvious now, it is a huge red dragon, with a large horn on the end of its muzzle and only two pairs of wings… The most stereotypical a dragon could perhaps be.

Sebas had once heard that the Supreme Beings, Peroroncino and his Creator, Touch Me, talk about how 'the Great Red Dragon is such a pain'. Apparently its regeneration being the most infuriating? But he had never personally seen such a dragon.

If the dragon coming towards him really was the Great Red Dragon that the Supreme Being has talked about, then Sebas did not consider himself strong enough to fight someone his Creator, Lord Touch Me, considered a 'pain'. But as diligence demands, he first assessed the strength of the creature before him, using his senses of Ki.

The dragon indeed appeared strong in his senses – in fact, considerably stronger than he was, so Sebas did not consider himself capable of defeating the dragon if it comes to a fight. Perhaps the Dragon could even need three of Nazarick's best warriors at one time, Sebas, Albedo, and Cocytus, to defeat. In such a fight, Sebas assessed that their odds of victory would be quite high – perhaps even an eighty percent chance.

If Sebas were to fight the dragon alone however, then even using his full strength, given that such a dragon must have possessed numerous strong and hidden abilities – he estimated his chances of victory at between five and ten percent.

The words of his All-Seeing Master, Lord Momonga, about not starting a battle if it was not necessary, and about attempting a peaceful dialogue, made Sebas nod in awe at his Master's foresight. As expected of his Master, he was already aware of the fact that a creature of this world would be so strong.

But his Master's order is law– and Sebas needed to, in the event that the creature was intelligent, to invite him to a dialogue without starting the battle first.

Sebas thought about how to go about completing his order for a moment, before, when the dragon approached close enough to hear Sebas' voice, not daring to attack first, he addressed him, "Good day. Excuse me, Dragon, but my Master would like to speak with you…"

***

The one they called the Great Red, the Dragon of Dreams, and the Dragon of the Apocalypse spent his days as he always did – wandering in the Inter-world rift, the Dimensional gap, doing his duty.

The Great Red had no particular empathy for the inhabitants of Draconic Deus – or, as the younger races more commonly referred to this place, Earth, but he was not entirely heartless. If he had been, he would have allowed Ophis, the Ouroboros, the Dragon of Infinity, to continue their meaningless existence in this void, experiencing and feeling nothing.

But Ophis was weak. For a lesser race, perhaps, she was incredibly strong – but she was weaker than the Great Red, that was why he could her off the Dimensional Gap. She only wished to exist in the void – but she did not realize that by doing so, her existence would not last.

For creatures like him, the passing of time was no-issue. Thousands of years have merged together until the distinction between them vanished, as it would for an eternity more… But eternity of existence did not mean that time stood still.

The lesser races did not see, did not know, did not understand that time were passing through their fingers. They did not see that they should use their time better as the inhabitants of other worlds – worlds beyond the Gap were waiting for their moment. They were preparing to strike, and they would strike – so soon.

For the lesser races, though, whose perception of time was laughably lacking – what for the Great Red was a swift blow, for the lesser races was a matter that their descendants would meet in thousands of years.

For the Great Red, there was no difference between 'tomorrow' and 'in a thousand years' – both were swift events. But the lesser races, so limited in their perception, could not perceive it. The lives were so short, only a hundred, or two, years long.

And here, in their perception, Ophis had stayed for a 'long' time on Earth, and the Great Red have always been in the inter-world rift – and that 'in the past' it was the other way around. For Ophis and Great Red, it was no more than a few moments.

Great Red had come to the Dimensional Gap to repel an attack on his fiefdom, Draconic Deus. And Ophis, who did not seem to heed his words, in her desire to exist in the void, she had fled away thinking that he was there to fight her… Now, as far as the Great Red himself knew, she was gathering forces to try to drive him out of the inter-world rift.

At least, the last time the Great Red had been interested in the matter, it had looked like that.

No more than a mere few hundred years have passed since then, and he doubted that Ophis has had time to change its mind in that time. Though perhaps he should have checked in on her – the lesser races were very weak, but sometimes, among them there were those that could pose a threat to the Great Red. Especially if there were many of them and with Ophis on the wings… it would be quite troublesome.

However, before he could think on that idea more, an unexpected feeling interrupted his musings.

Feeling anything in the inter-world rift was itself unusual. Nothing existed in the inter-world rift, as existing in the inter-world rift drained any creature of their life, and even the most powerful could endure only short periods of existence here. Only the Great Red and the Ouroboros could exist here forever, thanks to their powers, abilities, and draconic nature.

Such a thing was already treated as common sense to anyone who know of the Dimensional Gap. And that if the Void doesn't destroy the being outright, then that Great Red would – everyone knew this as fact. The only exceptions to this were Ophis, whose brief battle with her, ended in her escape, and Tannin, both for the same reason, but with the latter being much more annoying. The young dragon could withstand, thanks to his dragon nature, the forces of the Gap, but was ten thousand years younger than the time when he could interest the Great Red in a battle.

However, the feeling that spread through the Dimensional Gap told the Great Red that someone new had come to his abode.

The feeling disappeared a moment after it had appeared, but it left behind a trace, an awareness of the location of the anomaly, and something that would more properly be described as the 'smell' of… Of something possessing a draconic nature.

It was a scent different from Tannin's and Ophis' - the one who appeared in the rift was much stronger than Tannin… Still not strong enough for the Great Red, but still extremely strong, perhaps on the level of one of the two babies, Albion and Ddraig?

Furthermore, there was something else, the smell was definitely of a Dragon, but there is something else there as well… Someone dragon-like, connected to the dragons, but not a dragon…

Maybe one of the [Longinus] hosts in which one of the little ones was sealed in? The last time the Great Red knew of them, their hosts were weak enough, but that was – five hundred years ago? Something like that, but if Great Red remembered the humans correctly, those usually lived for considerably less. So, perhaps one of them got a great host who managed to unleash the full power of his [Longinus] and decided to challenge the Great Red himself?

The Great Red would like to take a look at such a fool…

Gradually, however, as he approached the place from where he had felt the feeling coming from, his thoughts began to change in another direction. From a distance he could see a small, relative to his own dimensions, that is, clearing of land. An island floating in the inter-world gap, consisting of what could be called earth and water, as if it were a piece of small marsh that had been cut from some other picture and thrown away by a child into the Gap.

But that was not something that interested the Great Red much, such things happen from time to time, as people experimented only to have their surroundings be swallowed by the void.

It was the structure on it, the columns and ruined crypts of an ancient mausoleum or tomb, the sight of which the Great Red could not match his knowledge to. The architecture was a bit like the Greek pantheon the last time he saw it, but with European influences.

In addition, the Great Red literally felt nothing of the soaring tomb, and if his eyes could not see, it would be as if there were nothing there.

That in itself said enough – there were few powers in the world capable of defending itself from his gaze, maybe some Old Gods of lesser races at the peak of their powers could do such a thing. But to hide an entire mausoleum from him?!

Besides, his instincts were screaming at him that what he's seeing was not all there is to it to the Mausoleum. Even if he could not see anything under the thin layer of soaring earth, the Great Red could literally feel that if he wished, he could enter the mausoleum and be in a place that he could not dream of.

And it was frightening.

The Great Red approached a little more to take a closer look, before with a surprise he heard the voice. "Good afternoon. Excuse me, Dragon, but my Master would like to speak with you…"

The Great Red moved his gaze hurriedly, with perhaps a trace of panic from his surprise, trying to find the source of the words. Before, after a while, he found it.

Concentrating his gaze, he was surprised to see a man from the lesser races, a man with gray hair, straight sharp facial features, a gray beard and mustache on his straight face, standing on the marshy soil. The Great Red was poorly versed in the appearance of lesser races, but could guess, judging from his hair, that he was quite old.

However, the Great Red could not sense anything from the speaker. Standing right in front of him, he was invisible to the Great Red's perception, perhaps he could even attack the Great Red, and he wouldn't even understand who exactly attacked him at that moment.

It wasn't until a few moments later that the Great Red's brain informed him that the creature of a lesser race had said something, and then another second later that the Great Red realized exactly what he had said.

'Master…' The Great Red frowned momentarily. Few could appear in the inter-world rift on their own, much less hide from the Great Red's gaze – so this Master, the lesser race being spoke of, must have been powerful. Perhaps he was the bearer of the draconic [Sacred Gear] that the Great Red had sensed a little earlier?

Someone on the level of those little ones could perhaps survive the inter-world rift for a time – but to hide from the Great Red?

No, the situation didn't add up – a bearer of the Sacred Gears holding Albion or Ddraig wouldn't hide their presence. Those little guys were inexperienced, but they weren't shy about fighting and wouldn't just disappear…

After a moment, the creature of a lesser race - the Great Red considered the creature most likely to be a human male – put two fingers to his temple next to his ear, and began speaking.

"Yes, Lord Momonga?"

There was silence for a moment, in which the Great Red, flying close enough to hover over the roofs of the mausoleum and the crypts surrounding it, silently continued to watch the man. All the while feeling as if he were missing something extremely important.

"There was no territory found around the Great Tomb, only emptiness, but I did locate a representative of the intelligent species." The man talked calmly, as if he were talking about something trivial, like the weather yet with his head bowed so that the Great Red could see that he was talking to his superiors-perhaps to this 'Master' of his.

"As far as I can tell, this is the 'Great Red Dragon'…"

The Great Red found himself opening his eyes in surprise. He was the only being known by that name, he was the Great Red, no one needed to mention that he was a dragon, as he was the only one who bore that title. But the way the man spoke his name… It was as if the speaker wasn't sure exactly what he was seeing.

Absolutely everyone knew that it was the Great Red who had existed in the Inter-World Gap for the last hundreds of years. Only those who had existed for the last hundred years with absolutely no contact with Earth… Or those who had come from another world would not know about it.

The Great Red did not notice the moment when the man stopped talking, but after a moment he felt a portal open near him, and then the Great Red turned sharply around and froze.

It was a creature like a skeleton, but not a human skeleton animated by dark magic at all, but a skeleton whose bones had never held flesh in the first place. Wrapped in a dark purple robe, marked with gold edging, held over his shoulders by two large shoulder pads fashioned from the white bone of an unknown beast, the skeleton surveyed his entire form.

Its face was inlaid with two red spheres that glowed with unholy fire from within, perhaps as a mockery of eyes, while his head were concealed by a hood of purple, with golden symbols woven on it.

On each of his fingers, but one, was a ring. It and each of the items of his clothing, including the rings, exuded an incredible amount of power, as if he were fully clothed in divine relics. As if each of his fingers held a Mjölnir and his clothing consisted of the Shrouds of Turin.

But that was the least of the problematic things the Great Red could see. In his hands shone a massive golden staff that exuded an unholy aura, with distorted hundreds of faces in agony, created from a tangle of golden serpents that atop created the likeness of a crown. Each serpent diverging from the center, each one holding one gem in its mouth.

The feeling the staff gave off was even stronger than all his clothes combined, as if he were holding a [Longinus]. But the most striking thing, the thing that made Great Red pause, is in the center of his belly. Beneath his rib cage, the creature held a red orb, and one glance at it was enough to make the Great Red's mind fog.

The thing he saw – was not a mere object. It was a world.

An entire world, compressed into a small sphere like a toy, and displayed inside the body of the creature before him, for the amusement of the twisted being before the Great Red, like a trophy… Like a trophy that had been changed into a weapon, the world before it was not merely compressed into a single sphere, it had also been changed to become a weapon… A weapon against dragons.

And its powers made the creature that knew no fear, feel fear for the first time in its eternity of existence.

The picture formed in the Great Red's mind a moment later. The insensible strange place, the scent of a draconic being, the breach in the Dimensional Gap… all were things to lure him. As the Great Red had anticipated, they, the beings of another world, had come, all to invade Draconic Deus, in pursuit of their twisted goals and desires.

And the Being before him already possessed a world that embodied a weapon against dragons… He was here to kill Great Red.

And when the Great Red felt fear – he turned it into anger.

***

Momonga exhaled as each of the now living Floor Guardians swore an oath of allegiance to him. He still couldn't put his head around the fact that the game he had been playing for twelve years, Yggdrasil, had turned into reality… If it was actually reality, and not just the product of his fevered dreams of his demented mind. A product of a man's great grief, which had fallen asleep in the last moments of Yggdrasil's existence and was now generating visions for Momonga that he desperately wanted to believe in.

Momonga shook his head – reality or dream, doesn't matter in the end, he could only live through it. Turning his gaze to the Guardians, frozen after their introduction to him, as if awaiting his verdict… Something that he didn't have in mind in the first place!

'What do I do?!' Momonga's thoughts were panicked for a moment, before he breathed out and instantly taking control as he felt his panic disappear, as if cut off in an instant.

'I don't know why that kept happening – but thanks to that, my image is still intact.'

"Fine, my Guardians." Momonga tried to give a confident look to match his tone and was glad that his skeletal form could not sweat in terror or tremble with panic, or else he no doubt would be shaking.

"Lift your heads – verily, I have been blessed with such fine subordinates…"

At these words, Albedo and Shalltear flinched slightly, but did nothing more, allowing Momonga to exhale.

'Okay, by all appearances things are going well, and they obey me, but… What next?!'

Momonga thought for a moment, he had absolutely no idea what orders he was supposed to be giving the Guardians at this point, but a moment later his panic disappeared, allowing him to grasp the saving thought. "Hmm, Sebas hasn't come back with an answer yet…"

"I apologize for his tardiness, Lord Momonga," Albedo replied instantly, bowing her head even deeper, "I will instantly dispatch a subordinate and bring him back to punish him for not appearing before you…"

"No need," Momonga waved his hand aside as if to easily dismiss the thought from the table, and mentally rejoiced that he had once participated in Ainz Ooal Gown's RP actions at Ulbert's insistence. "I can just contact him. [Message]."

In an instant, his [Message] reached Sebas, causing Momonga to inwardly exhale in relief. He hadn't been able to contact any of the players he knew before, but apparently this ability had changed so that it now allowed him to contact former NPCs. It would be very embarrassing if that didn't work. "Sebas?"

"Yes, Lord Momonga?" Sebas instantly answered him in a short, professional tone.

"Umu, what did you discover during your inspection of the new location of the Great Tomb? Were you able to encounter anyone intelligent? Can you identify them?"

"There were no grounds to be found around the Great Tomb, only emptiness, but I was able to locate a member of the intelligent species." Sebas's answer made Momonga freeze for a moment, "As far as I can tell, it is a 'Great Red Dragon'."

And Sebas' next words cause a great amount of panic to swell up.

Momonga blinked a couple of times before a wave of calm suppressed the panic that had arisen in his soul. "Of course, I see, I'll be there in a moment."

Momonga, after finishing his talk with Sebas, glanced at the Floor Guardians in front of him, knowing that he would need their help if what Sebas said is true and there's a Great Red Dragon just outside Nazarick.

"At this moment, Sebas is faced with, umu, unintended consequences." Momonga nodded gravely, then glanced at the guards. "Prepare for the invasion- I will go personally to reconnoiter the situation."

A moment later, Momonga used the [Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown] and immediately disappeared in a whirlwind of teleportation, transported to the first floor of the Great Tomb.

'What, the Great Red Dragon?! They're all supposed to be in Muspelheim! What's a farm boss doing here?!'

After another moment, Momonga's panic receded, allowing him to take a measured and sober assessment of the situation. "Hmm, if the NPC's originally tied to the guild base got the ability to leave their posts – it makes sense that other NPC's, including mobs, got exactly the same opportunities… I wonder why Nazarick were suddenly moved into a void, but it's not that urgent at the moment, unlike the Great Red Dragon… "

Momonga exited the tomb and hid behind one of the many pillars in the Mausoleum outer yards. Carefully peeking out from behind the pillar, looking at the frozen lizard flying above Nazarick, noting that his gaze really only saw the black void outside the outer ring of Nazarick's walls. "Hmm, looks really like the Great Red Dragon… Why is one here, though?"

The Great Red Dragon was one of Yggdrasil's many dragon bosses, from the Great Dragons expansion – there were dragons of all colors, including metallic ones. Ultimately, all of them were bosses, even if they were not the hardest. Each of these dragons possessed tremendous characteristics, higher than those of the average boss, which in turn greatly exceeded those of most players, but in return they were limited in their abilities.

The Great Red Dragon, for example, could breathe fire, attack with a tail and paws that deal bludgeoning damage, claws, and teeth that slash and stab, fly, and had excellent defense thanks to its natural scaly armor and high regeneration. But other than that, there was nothing special in its abilities. It was just a big damage sponge that dropped not half-bad loot – in other words, it was a 'farm boss'.

No one seriously counted on the fact that he could kill a group of players prepared to face him, it was just another mob – albeit a strong one. Of course, its characteristics far exceeded those of the average level one hundredth player, so even having prepared for its attacks no one was recommended to attack it alone, but overall it was a simple boss.

However, this was only true for YGGDRASIL – in this new world, this dragon could simply look like the 'Great Red Dragon' but instead be the local counterpart to a World Enemy. For all Momonga knows, the dragon could possess power dozens of times greater than the combined power of the entire Nazarick…

With that possibility in mind, Momonga should be careful and tried to engage in dialogue instead of attacking and try to determine what exactly this creature was and how exactly it ended up here.

However, just in case, Momonga applied a defensive spell on himself. "[Body of Effulgent Beryl]."

As far as Momonga himself knew, usually, the Great Red Dragon attacks first with its fire breath, something which was completely blocked by his usual equipment. But thanks to [Body of Effulgent Beryl] Momonga could also completely defend against any single crushing or bludgeoning attack, that is, the next paw or tail strike. The creature's claws and teeth dealt slashing and stabbing damage, against which Momonga was highly protected against by his racial resilience.

Judging from the fact that the dragon did not react to Momonga's actions, it was not aggressive, but Momonga preferred to be prepared just in case, so he used [Gate] to teleport behind the creature's back. He did so just in case it did decide to attack, to put it in an awkward position.

For a moment after teleporting, Momonga marveled at the size of the creature – it was much harder to appreciate the dragon's size in the game… A pause that made it too late for his mind to register that the dragon had turned toward him and exhaled flames.

The player instincts of Satoru Suzuki, who was controlling the avatar named 'Momonga' instantly oriented themselves for a fight. "[Flight]!"

The firestorm that burst from the dragon's throat slammed into Momonga's body a moment later, but Momonga's equipment's effects immediately blocked the creature's attack, allowing Momonga to emerge from the attack without a scratch. Some part of Momonga wondered how much damage the Great Red Dragon would have dealt him if he were without his equipment.

When he had fought it in the past, its attacks had dealt Momonga great damage, when he had not yet put his full equipment in order. He was curious, but now he was not prepared to risk taking damage from the dragon, especially since that damage was fire, Momonga's main weakness.

"[False Data: Life], [False Data: Mana]." Momonga's words coincided with Sebas's actions, which leapt from his position on the ground as soon as the dragon had moved to attack his Master. He moved with such speed that he crashed like a bullet, or cannonball, into the dragon, making it tilt in flight like a boat rocking in a storm.

"[Life Essence], [Mana Essence]." Momonga's magic instantly hid his own parameters, just in case the dragon could see them, and allowed him to look at the dragon's parameters – more specifically, its HP and Mana values. It is without specific information in numbers, but it allowed him to see those as two huge lights, one blue, one red, each overlapping and yet completely separate, allowing Momonga to see clearly the differences between them. With some relief, he found out that the Red Dragon was not some World Enemy but instead exactly what he appears to be, the Great Red Dragon.

'Hmm, about the same as the Great Red Dragon… In that case, it most likely also possesses the same abilities.'

The staff of Ainz Ooal Gown that Momonga released from his hands glowed a moment later – after which a huge flash of fire covered the creature's body. Momonga can see through his abilities that this did virtually no damage to the dragon.

'The same resistances as well…'

The dragon, however, having recovered from Sebas's blow, began to turn its head toward him, apparently realizing that its fire had not worked on Momonga. Now it seems that the Dragon was planning to rain fire down on Sebas and wagging its tail sharply, wanting to blow Momonga off, probably along with the staff hovering beside Momonga.

'Good thing I prepared myself,' Momonga inwardly nodded to himself as the tail approached,

"[Body of Effulgent Beryl], [Grasp Heart]!"

The dragon's tail slammed into Momonga, but failed to damage or move him thanks to the effect of his magic once again, causing the dragon to flail in place, clearly not expecting to encounter such an obstacle in its path. After which a heart emerged in Momonga's hands – from the looks of it, the heart did not belong to humans, but Momonga was not educated enough to claim that for sure. 'Hmm, it worked differently before… But I can experiment with that later.'

A moment later, Momonga squeezed the heart in his hands, causing the dragon to freeze, judging by the way it clenched its paws, in a fit of pain, but that didn't stop Sebas. Who immediately crashed into the creature again, causing the dragon, frozen and unbalanced by the pain Momonga's spell had caused, to lose control of its flight.

'It's to be expected that instakill won't work against him. Though weak, it's still a boss' Momonga nodded.

'Although, [Grasp Heart] can hold a target for a few seconds anyway, so it's not a waste.'

Momonga's staff glowed, followed a moment later by the glowing form of a humanoid giant, seemingly woven from flickering flashes of different colors flowing into each other.

'Primordial Star Elemental.' Momonga nodded. 'A good choice for this fight. If the dragon is indeed a Great Red Dragon, the Primordial Water Elemental could do more damage with icy attacks, but it is incapable of flying. Something which would make it almost less than useless in this great void, unlike the Primordial Star Elemental.'

Momonga suddenly had a strange feeling as if someone was thanking him for his actions, which was weird since there was no one else in the void besides him and Sebas. But before he could think about it more, Momonga returned his full attention to the battle, "[Obsidian Sword], [True Dark]."

Moments later, an obsidian blade lashed out and slammed into the dragon's body, but didn't do much damage. 'I see, like in YGGDRASIL, physical damage that is not strong enough to pierce armor still does some damage. Sebas doesn't do much damage either, but any damage is still good, at least it keeps the dragon's regeneration occupied. As for it resisting damage of the 'none'-type from [True Dark], that's a nasty discovery. In YGGDRASIL, the Great Red Dragon didn't have much defense against that… Though I sense the place is trying to use various types of debuffs on me, but thankfully my immunity from those, protects me. I suppose if it existed in this place, it should also have some protection from attacks of similar nature.'

A pillar of darkness engulfed the dragon's body, then Sebas struck another blow, pushing off the soaring island of the Great Tomb as he struck, sending the dragon's body down, still lost in its control. But before it could fall down, Sebas pushed off the falling body, then with an acrobatic trick flew easily in an upward arc, ending up back in Nazarick before he could also fall into the void.

The Primordial Star Elemental, meanwhile, rushed down after the creature.

"Sebas, stay where you are," Momonga commanded the NPC, or former NPC, Momonga wasn't going to think about what was happening about that right now. "[Flight]!"

Momonga could have used [Mass Flight] to go with Sebas to the dragon, but Sebas' mobility and speed in flight under Momonga's control would have been low, so he preferred to go by himself. Taking advantage of the fact that as a mage he could be far away and didn't need mobility as much, plus he spent significantly less mana on [Flight] than on [Mass Flight]. Both didn't require much from Momonga, but he still preferred not to unnecessarily waste resources.

Momonga rushed down into the void a moment later, feeling his staff instantly follow, using Momonga's own functions instead of his spell, before seeing the dragon desperately tearing at the Star Elemental with its claws.

Momonga's gaze could tell even without determining the target's HP that the fight didn't come easily to the dragon. The dragon's scales were scorched and burned by star fire in some places, but were already beginning to recover. A dragon's regeneration was truly terrifying.

"[Triplet Magic: Summon Undead X]" Momonga used the next spell, which immediately summoned three soaring 'Elemental Skulls' that immediately used their spells to attack the dragon with [Polar Claw], the strongest non-super-tier ice magic. The original Star Elemental exploded in a flash of light, self-destructing and doing a lot of damage to the dragon, while also blocking its regeneration completely for a short time. After which another Primordial Star Elemental appeared next to the staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Momonga only nodded at this, already having a pretty good idea of exactly how the battle with the dragon would proceed. "[Create High-tier Undead: Eternal Death]!"

And as expected, Ainz Ooal Gown would emerge victorious once again.

***

The Great Red fought for his life in the hellish fight that had gone full tilt in seconds.

After the undead appeared, the Great Red had attacked instantly. However, as if in mockery, the strongest being of Draconic Deus could not even scratch the undead, which first shook off the True Dragon's fire as inconsequential. After which, when trying to strike the being, the Great Red had run into an insurmountable obstacle, which he could not even move.

And then came the pain.

The gray-haired man struck with such speed and force that the Great Red did not even have time to defend himself. Then his body was consumed by fire, then darkness, then his scales were slashed by a blade that continued to strike his body even now. And then came the cold and scalding fire of stars, and when the dragon managed to destroy the star creature, it exploded with icy fire, burning his scales before the creature was beside him again, just as it had before.

And then came the unbridled fear – an irrational sense of fear and helplessness crept into the Great Red's mind. The creature who knew no defeat, who knew no fear and weakness, wanted to escape – to escape, anywhere, to flee to earth from the creature that came from another world. Then, as if some thread inside his soul had been severed – and the Great Red, the Dragon of the Apocalypse, howled in terror.

It wasn't Ophis that was weak – it was all of them, all of them were unprepared for the emergence of creatures from other worlds… And because of his pride, the world might pay an unimaginable price.

The Great Red channeled all his energies into escaping. To warn all creatures of Draconic Deus of the terror that was coming for them, forcing all his strength toward forming a passage to Earth.

All of it came to naught as something descended upon the dragon's shoulders, cutting off his portal.

"Hmm, it was definitely the [Gate] spell…" Right behind him, the skeleton's voice sounded calm, as if he wasn't fighting the Great Red at this point, but merely noticing an amusing detail of the surroundings. "Hmm, I suggest you surrender… If you understand me, of course."

Great Red realized that he could no longer sense his connection to the Dimensional Gap, as if the whole of it were completely locked off from him. And that the creature who had so easily dealt with the Great Red was offering him to surrender.

It was his utter defeat.

Perhaps, purely in terms of power reserves, he still had plenty of them, his regeneration was healing his wounds quickly, and he had enough energy to fight like this for a long time – but he had already effectively lost. The creature in front of him had brushed aside all his attacks and possessed an incredible arsenal of abilities. He was also easily capable of creating creatures of inconceivable power with a single wave of his hand that could deal grave damage to him. He was covered with divine artifacts from head to toe and held an entire world inside him – in a sense that no writer could ever dream of…

And it was offering him surrender.

As if it was tired of fighting the True Dragon – as if the protector of Draconic Deus was less than a fly, an annoying creature that the alien invader was just too lazy to waste time destroying. It was as if he were suggesting that the Great Red simply step aside, like a mindless beast, to bend his knee and not interfere in the conquest of his world.

A cruel joke and at the same time an ultimatum that combines the arrogance and confidence of the strong, more irritated by the need to kill the Great Red than frightened by it.

If the Great Red could have laughed, he would have laughed. But instead of agreement, he only lunged at the creature again.

"Umu, too bad, I would have liked to have some information." The creature merely sighed, as if watching a foolish student unable to understand a simple lesson. "[Triplet Maximized Magic: Reality Slash]."

***

Half an hour later, Momonga could finally take a relaxed breath – though he didn't need to do so in his new body, but it was how he dealt with the stress before. Now that the battle's done he needed to do something else, sending a [Message].

"Cocytus?"

"Yes. Lord. Momonga?" His message's recipient replied instantly, before snapping his mandibles, a sound that transmitted even through [Message].

"Prepare a place on the Fifth Floor to store a very large body." Momonga glanced at the gigantic body he was holding aloft with magic at the moment.

"You may also remove the alarm for the time being – I have dealt with the enemy."

"Yes. My. Lord. We. Watched. That. Happened. A. Great. Victory. My. Lord." Cocytus replied seriously.

Momonga blinked, then turned his head before realizing. "You've asked for Nigredo's help?"

"Yes. My. Lord." Cocytus replied again, flicking his mandibles, "For. Us. There. Are. No. More. Great. Honor. Than. To. Watch. On. Your. Battle."

'If only it was something exciting. Though, actually, that might be a good thing…' Momonga shook his head, then turned to Cocytus again,

"The body…"

"We. Have. Prepared. The. Place. Lord. Momonga. All. Clear. For. Moving." Cocytus answered once more, whereupon a [Gate] opened beneath Momonga, and he slowly sank into it.

The dragon had fought desperately to the end, and was generally strong – Momonga had to heal himself several times, and he wasted almost all of his mana and daily limits. Even all of his staff mana and limits were spent, with him needing to change his armor numerous times during the battle. But in the end, he won.

The dragon was strong but fought very straightforwardly. His fighting style was a bit different from the 'Great Red Dragon' that Momonga himself knew, like this one having a high resistance to parameter reduction from negative energy or trying to use [Gate] during the battle to escape. Such strategies showed that the dragon was not completely irrational, since he chose to retreat when he realized that he was at a disadvantage…

However, in the end, he was limited in the abilities that he could use – with his attacks consisting almost entirely of physical and fire ones. Even so, as fitting as a boss, the creature's characteristics really were immense.

It could kill most of the undead that Momonga summoned with one punch, and could take out a Primordial Star Elemental with two or three punches. Plus, the amount of HP and regeneration of the creature itself made the fight much, much harder. Momonga wasn't saying that it was hard to beat him, but if Momonga hadn't known the tactics to do it, and if he hadn't had that much of an arsenal of abilities, he might have lost.

Though, what clinched Momonga's victory in the end was the fact that the dragon in front of him didn't seem to have much experience in combat. Something which led Momonga to two opposing possibilities.

Either the creature in front of him was much stronger than everyone else around him, which was why he had never had to learn the art of battle… Or, alternatively, the creature in front of him was a novice, not having had time to learn anything yet.

And while Momonga would have been happy to discover that is in fact the former, that such creatures were quite rare, he was not foolish enough to discount the latter. Still, if he had fought two such bosses at once, however limited in their abilities, he probably wouldn't have been able to win – so he couldn't simply discount the second option.

The first creature that Momonga discovered outside Nazarick in this world turned out to be a 'Great Red Dragon' – a mere coincidence was unlikely in this case, so perhaps similar creatures existed everywhere in this world? It was a dangerous and disturbing thought – until he could disprove or confirm that thought, he had to be careful.

Of course, other than the general level of strength of the place he had found himself and Nazarick in, the other pertinent question is – where, in fact, was he?

The surrounding emptiness stretched as far as he could see – which even during the battle with the dragon, Momonga had never seen anything else around, which left him questioning exactly where he was at the moment.

Judging from the fact that the dragon attempted to cast [Gate] – there must be some other place than the endless void, somewhere the dragon was headed… But after encountering a creature of great power, which Momonga only defeated because he had prepared for the battle initially – and the fact that the creature had few ways to attack – he was not prepared to set out blindly. Especially knowing the possibility that there are creatures in this world with at least 'farm-boss' level of power, and thus there is quite likely someone stronger…

Unless the strongest creature in this world has decided, for some strange reason, to stroll through the void and attack the first person it meets.

At last, Momonga had fully passed along with the dragon's body through the portal, and then emerged in the wake of it, glancing around.

The fifth floor was a frozen wasteland, just as he remembered, allowing him to use it as a kind of refrigerator for the dragon's body. Of course, in YGGDRASIL, slain enemies were simply supposed to drop items, after which suitable players with the right skills could strip the creatures' corpses. But if this place was in fact a separate world and not YGGDRASIL, then it made sense that once a creature died its body had to be stripped by hand.

Come to think of it that way, what else could have changed with the world?

Momonga leaned on the staff – after depleting his mana and daily abilities, the only use for the staff was to increase the parameters and enhance Momonga's own abilities, including mana regeneration and so on. That was the only reason he was able to maintain [Flight] and cast [Gate] at the end of a draining battle.

As he looked thoughtfully at the dragon corpse, and he wondered what drops he could expect, he almost missed as Cocytus approached, whereupon he knelt down on one knee as he approached Momonga. "My. Lord. What. Do. You. Desire. To. Do. With. The. Body. Of. The. Defeated?"

Momonga thought about it for a moment, then unconsciously rubbed his chin in thought.

The simplest and most logical thing would probably be to try various experiments with the dragon's corpse – but he wasn't ready to test how resurrection works in this world right now. The dragon might have been a 'farm-boss', and even if it were revived still hostile – the forces on the Fifth Stage would quickly be able to pacify it, especially with the terrain effect of this floor.

Still, Momonga was not prepared to risk resurrecting a rather powerful creature within Nazarick at this point…

Next was, perhaps, processing the dragon's body for reagents. Its blood, meat, bones, eyes, scales, wings, claws, teeth, heart – every organ and inch of the Great Red Dragon's body was a very valuable ingredient for crafting.

That's probably exactly the order Momonga would give – but before he did, he hesitated.

The 'Great Red Dragon' of this world was slightly different from the ones Momonga himself knew of – and just as Momonga's magic had shown to be different from the way it worked in Yggdrasil… In that case, perhaps Momonga should have done at least one test before giving the order to recycle the body after all?

Although it was a 'farm-boss', the Great Red Dragon, or its counterpart of this world, there is one last possible use for the body, [Dark Wisdom]. While it's definitely not a player, hinted at by his abilities and the fact that players couldn't choose a dragon race – along with as many other facts like his predictability and inexperience in combat. However, as proved earlier with [Message], which was meant to communicate between players could now work in relation to NPCs a possibility exists.

In other words, the difference between NPCs and players was at least blurred, maybe even erased – which meant that Momonga had a chance that the most important ritual for his style of play would work.

Momonga held out his hand, then placed his hand on the dragon's muzzle, and uttered, "[Dark Wisdom]."

***

Once, no more than the cosmetic aura of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, which represented dozens of souls screaming in agony, now it had taken a much more sinister role. And so, as Momonga activated his ability, another face was added to the choir of agony, the face of a man who subtly resembled a dragon in his appearance.

***

The dragon's body instantly seemed to shrivel up, as if it had aged hundreds of thousands of years, not as dragons age, growing stronger. No, the body withered as if it were human, the scales began to be covered with wrinkles that instantly scarred even the beast's impenetrable scales before the monolithic frame of the body cracked.

However, when the viscous scarlet blood was about to spill onto the ground from the cracks that cut through the creature's body, the cracks continued on and on and on, tearing the dragon's body apart. Before long, all of it collapsed into dust, in an instant turning into dark particles that immediately rose from their place, spinning in the invisible wind, instantly enveloping Momonga's body until his figure was completely hidden beneath them.

Cocytus remained silent on one knee – it was his Master's action, which meant that what was happening was fully in line with his predictions and plan.

Momonga, however, thought quite differently. 'Aw, crap, this looks very scary in reality!'

Momonga's mind forcibly calmed down a moment later, allowing him to silently begin to pick up on the details of the process. 'Umu, so this works differently in this world and apparently has the ability to affect at least some creatures. I didn't feel like my level or parameters increased, not that I would know how that would feel, but my instincts were telling me that I would know. Still, the main effect of the ritual was to be able to learn a new spell from a slain enemy whose body you sacrificed in exchange for it… Hmm, so this dragon had spells that I don't know? It showed nothing special during the battle, perhaps it was some kind of regeneration or self-enhancement spell that I didn't know before? If so, it's extremely unfortunate, a low-rank enhancement spell is far worse than being able to harvest a dragon's body… Well, it's only a farm-boss, I shouldn't expect something great.'

The dragon's body, now fully turning to dust, completely transformed into a black vortex that swirls around Momonga, before it began to approach his body, gently touching his bones and soaking into it.

***

The Great Red possessed an affinity for magic that only dragons could possess – if he wished, he would become an incredibly powerful mage…

If he wished for it, that is.

The Great Red had never met anyone strong enough to fight him – except for the Ouroboros, but that was the only case, and Ouroboros eventually lost and escaped from the Great Red. So, there was no reason for him to find any other way to become stronger.

Indeed, the Great Red never studied spells, for he did not need them.

Except for one.

One spell that the Great Red has used in the past. Though he could indeed appear in his form at any time in any of the worlds and many would be afraid to fight him, sometimes the best approach was not to win the battle, but to avoid it entirely.

The Great Red possessed one single spell.

In another world, in another story, he would have used that spell for the sake of his enemy and her ward, a boy with one stupid and, frankly, lustful dream.

However, it was a different world and a different story.

The story of Ainz Ooal Gown.

***

Momonga blinked as he looked at the vanished body as it completely transformed into black ash that soaked into Momonga's body before exhaling. "Umu, I have a strange feeling, as if it was inevitable…"

Momonga sensed that he had received a new spell from the body of the slain dragon.

The spell – [Create Body].