World Enemies in Teyvat

Chapter 1: Musings & A Fairy

"Did you… say something?" Momonga asked the NPC in front of him. Who instead of the confident smile that used to adorn her face, now sported a large scowl at the Undead's question.

"What, was I supposed to stay mute for some reason?" The Dragon asked with thinly veiled annoyance as she crossed her arms in front of her breastplate, looking straight into the magic caster's eye… holes.

The Player raised his arms at the NPC's accusation in defense of himself as he spoke with a apologetic taint to his voice.

"No, I didn't mean…" Momonga froze as he began to realize the ridiculousness of the situation.

'Wait a minute, am I really having a full-blown conversation with an actual NPC?! How is that possible? This is beyond the limitations of the current Yggdrasil!'

Yet before he could panic even further, an outside force calmed him down almost instantaneously. Causing the undead to look down at his, now unraised, hands.

'How am I calm right now? I do remember that in the lore of the undead that they have a skill called {Emotional Suppression}, but it was never implemented into the actual game… And Yggdrasil 2 is yet to even be up for beta-testing, so this removes that possibility. Could this be that isekai trope that Peroroncino told me about before? No, how could that be?'

As Momonga, the Devourer stopped wearing a scowl on her face as she looked confused at the Overlord before coughing slightly behind her fist to pull him from his thoughts.

The newly crowned World Enemy, startled, looked at her in confusion before nodding, seemingly to himself.

'Right, she's still here, and unless she was programmed to do that when a conversation takes longer than usual due to a Player taking a long time to respond, this means that she really did speak. Wait… there's only one method I can use to determine if this is really an isekai situation and not just the devs pulling a last-minute stunt.'

Momonga shook his head in affirmation of his self-formulated plan before looking at Nidhoggr.

"Excuse me, err…" At his attempt at starting a conversation, he forgot one vital thing. What should he even say?

'Should I call her by her name, or her title? And more importantly than that, if she really did become real and this is not a game anymore, then wouldn't she attack me?! I did defeat her after all, and if the lore really became true if the {Emotional Suppression} becoming real is any indication, then wouldn't that mean she is hostile to me?!'

As his {Emotional Suppression} made it's presence known for a second time since this anomaly happened. The NPC around whom his downward spiral of thoughts were centered around, spoke.

"Nidhoggr."

Momonga looked up as he heard her speak once again.

"Excuse me?"

The World Eater sighed and spoke once more at the Undead's question.

"You can just call me Nidhoggr, I don't know why you're so shaky about this since you earned more than enough right to call me by my true name considering you were able to single handedly defeat me and bind me to your service."

Momonga nodded as she helped solve his dilemma before the last phrase she uttered struck him.

"Wait, bind you into my service?"

The dragon scoffed before she replied, "What, want me to reiterate? Or do you just want the loser to speak at length of how she was defeated, her powers stolen from her to strengthen the victor, and is now bound in servitude towards the being who shamed her so?"

As the dragon's accusatory tone returned, Momonga realized several things during her entire tirade.

'Wait, so this is how she remembers what happened afterwards? So she believes that I became a World Enemy by absorbing her strength, and not through the World Item? And she became my NPC by binding her into my service? So she doesn't remember anything from my meeting with the devs, fascinating… Wait…'

"Then, shouldn't you try and attack me, the one who, in your own words, stole your powers and forcefully made you into his servant?" If Momonga had the necessary organs, he would've gulped as he wanted to understand her thought process. All the while, he was mentally running through all possible plans to escape in case she turns into an enemy once again.

Fortunately for him however, the dragon responded to his enquiry, tilting her head in confusion in the process. "Why? As much as I perhaps should, you defeated me fair and square in a battle on your lonesome, and despite having the power in that situation to kill me, you instead let me keep my life, even if it means becoming your subordinate in the end. As much as I despise becoming someone else's servant, especially to one such as you who was a long-term enemy of mine, you did the one thing no one else among your Kin could boast of, and that was defeat the greatest enemy of your kind without relying on the assistance of your brethren."

Momonga blinked at the unexpected response and looked at the woman intently, hoping to discover any sign of deceit on her part. Yet, he could only find somber acceptance of her situation in her body language. Before shaking his head and looking at her once again.

"I see, well, it's good to know you don't hold any hostile intentions towards me…" Momonga looked at her once more before adding.

"But I do have a favor to ask of you however."

Nidhoggr tilted her head before silently giving him the message to go on.

"Could you remove your gauntlet and give me your hand?"

The dragon blinked in confusion at the undead's request. Before nodding slowly as she slowly removed her gauntlet and extended her naked hand towards the Player.

As Momonga took her hand, he studied it for a bit. It was soft and delicate, akin to that of one of those female executives on Earth who have never held anything beyond the size of a pen unlike the rest of the common populace, and even then that was in rare occurrences due to the advancement in technology. Her nails were slightly long and were painted pitch black, accentuating the woman's pale white skin even more.

He turned her hand and pressed his bony finger towards her wrist, and it was there that he found what he was looking for. And if he had a heart, it would have skipped a beat in shock.

'A pulse… an actual pulse. And this can't have been implemented, especially when considering the harsh laws implemented to make sure Players don't confuse reality with games… So I was really isekai'd then… But this begs the question, why here? And why with her exactly? And for what purpose? Peroroncino told me before that in the manga he read that the characters would usually get summoned to defeat a Demon King of some sort. So is there really a threat to be vanquished, or is this situation just coincidental with the end of Yggdrasil? Or what about…'

Before Momonga's thoughts could spiral down, the Dragon, who's hand is still firmly in the grasp of the Player, coughed slightly to remind him of the situation.

This was successful as the undead guildmaster's red eyes turned invisible and visible once again, akin to blinking, before releasing the woman's hand immediately.

"Ah, my apologies, I got lost in thought, thank you for going along with my whims."

The senior World Enemy nodded her head blankly while looking at the spot Momonga touched, seemingly looking for something there. Before giving up, donning her gauntlet on her hand once more while sighing.

"While I don't understand why you gave me such a weird request, it would be for the best that you deactivate that you limit that touch of yours from its effects unless you want everything you come into contact with to decay."

Momonga tilted his head in confusion before realization struck him like lightning.

'Oh crap, my Undead Touch was active! Wait, this also means that friendly fire is active, if her being my subordinate means she's an ally is any indication… Wait, this isn't the time! I did attack her just now, even if by accident, I should apologize or else she might go back on her word and attack me in retaliation!'

Momonga's experience as the Japanese man Suzuki Satoru kicked in at full steam, causing him to instinctively bow as an apology towards the female dragon, after disabling his ability of course.

"I apologize if I have caused you any pain, Nidhoggr, and I hope you can forgive me."

It was at that moment however, that even the Devourer looked in total shock and surprise at the undead actions before she started speaking while flustered.

"I-it's fine! J-just remember that next time and we'll be good! You really don't need to bow to me, alright!?" She grabbed the undead's shoulder before attempting to gently hoist him up, an easy thing to preform considering she is only slightly shorter than the 2 meter undead being.

Momonga, seeing her attempts to raise his body, nodded in appreciation before standing straight once more, looking into the eyes of the frantic woman.

"Even so, I made a mistake, and it's only natural to apologize for it. But still, thank you for accepting my apology."

Nidhoggr looked into the Overlord's skull before sighing deeply, before reassuming her calm exterior once more. "It's fine, but considering the situation we are in…"

Momonga nodded before replying, "Yes, in regards to that, I can confidently say that we are no longer in Yggdrasil, and quite possibly, an entirely new world detached from it."

Nidhoggr looked at him in a serious manner before speaking, "While I don't know how you figured it out so quickly, but you are right, I don't feel any link towards this world, so it's safe to say that we really are somewhere far beyond Yggdrasil."

Momonga started stroking his chiseled bony chin as he pondered her words. 'Link? …Ah, I guess it's about her lore abilities, wasn't it said that before she was the Devourer, she was responsible for managing all the worlds of Yggdrasil? Guess that means she always instinctively knew where she was in Yggdrasil, and if even her lore became real, then it's not a matter up to debate if what I hypothesized was true or not considering she just confirmed it.'

After shortly letting his mind wander, he heard the faint sounds of bubbles popping behind him.

He and Nidhoggr, who also heard those noises, looked towards the source of it. In the midst of the calm waters of the sea, multiple bubbles were rising to the surface, akin to someone drowning.

Before Nidhoggr could comment on the situation, Momonga used [Silent Magic: Fly] and carefully went towards the anomalous spot. Fetching, or rather rescuing, the source of the bubbles, which was a small white-haired petite female child dressed in a white jumper and a night-blue cape flecked with the designs of stars and constellations.

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Nidhoggr was currently living a day that she would most definitely consider to be among the top 10 weirdest periods of her life, and that says a lot considering she is a direct offspring of the very Mother Of All Dragons and has existed before Yggdrasil sprouted its first world.

She was a hatchling given by her mother to the Creators of Yggdrasil, to become a Guardian and a Watcher over the young World Tree, to interfere when only threats threatening the existence of the young universe arrive. A duty she at first carried out with great stride and zeal, but after eons upon eons carrying out this lonely mission of hers, she realized one thing.

Why should she subject herself to this torment of forever becoming a spectator ?

Watching over the universe known as the World Tree, Nidhoggr became disillusioned with it all, regardless of the many beings that live on it, many of whom, despite being puny and insignificant in comparison to the rest of the world tree, considered themselves gods and kings. And so, she did what she should've done a long time ago when she was first tempted by the prospect.

She began to devour the leaves of Yggdrasil. World by World, she devoured them methodically and systemically, absorbing the strength within each of these realms and continually growing stronger from it.

She became so strong that even when the Creators of Yggdrasil attempted to stop her, they failed miserably.

Alas, despite believing she had the last laugh after witnessing them escaping with their tails between their legs after she defeated them, with them only dealing minor wounds that caused some parts of the leaves she had consumed to be regurgitated (which became the now known World Items). She began to realize that she should've killed them instead when she had the chance.

Soon, when she only had nine more leaves to devour, she found out that the Creators made a contract with certain… Other Beings.

They weren't of one race nor were they even of the alignment, yet there was only one thing that truly united those abominable monstrosities.

A desire to have fun.

When the Creators realized they were to be defeated, they made a contract that would allow those wretches to seek their fun within the realm of Yggdrasil under two conditions.

One, they shall inhabit weak Avatars and use them to interact with the World Tree and can only strengthen those puppet bodies while within the confines of Yggdrasil, using only what is available there. And two, is to get rid of her, the now-known Devourer of Worlds.

The Other Beings accepted the contract with utter glee, and came in waves. They created Avatars made from different races, whether it be homomorphs, such as humans and elves, demimorphs, like goblins and orcs, or the heteromorphs, such as dragons (like herself) and the undead.

And they did what they had promised to do in the contract, and that was to defeat her. Yet, perhaps even they were unaware of the failsafe she had in store that would ensure her continued survival.

That she will only truly die if she were to be defeated in single combat.

Though the Creators made them promise to use Avatars and strengthen them while within the confines of Yggdrasil, those Avatars could never grow powerful enough to match her. And so, those Beings banded with one another to kill her, and kill her they did. But because of her failsafe, she would return again and again.

Through this, she was able to adapt herself to the varying tactics deployed by the Other Beings to defeat them, create or allow the creation of beings like her to help her in the process of destroying Yggdrasil, the World Enemies.

For a time, she was victorious, but it wasn't for long, slowly, the Other Beings learned of her tactics and countered them with their own, soon, there were times were her defeat was always guaranteed, and the only thing that caused her to escape the "final death" was her failsafe, becoming an eternal toy in the process, to be killed again and again for the sake of doing so.

Death was never a true end in Yggdrasil, and her actions of consuming the leaves of the World Tree made sure of that as the natural laws were deformed beyond recognition, causing all the beings with any modicum of power to always survive regardless of their circumstances, never giving them the reprieve of the "final death". A thing that wasn't possible for her due to the failsafe she created for herself to ensure none would be able permanently kill her, and the Other Beings, who were never part of Yggdrasil to begin with, and its laws having only affected their Avatars, which can always be remade and rebuilt.

And soon, to her fortune, it seems the light at the end of the tunnel seems to shine. For the Other Beings grew bored.

Eons upon Eons that consist of nothing more but them always killing her or her subordinates, or those other entities that were born within Yggdrasil and sought their own dominion, creating new wondrous structures and civilizations and destroying them. Trying out everything that Yggdrasil had to offer, has made them bored with the World Tree, and soon, with no possible way of them permanently defeating her, they began to leave Yggdrasil for good, seeking entertainment in other realms instead.

Nidhoggr believed she was successful, and that when they all leave for good, she would be able to finally devour the last nine remaining leaves and permanently destroy Yggdrasil for good before moving on to the next 'World Tree', a new universe. Alas, she should've known that fate was never on her side.

Because the one thing that could finally kill her, has occurred.

When she saw Momonga, the Guildmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown, a guild that consists only of a small group of heteromorphic Other Beings, she believed it was only a final last ditch effort by the sole remaining member of the group that proved to be greatest of annoyances, both to her and to other Other Beings. Who, surprisingly, despised the small guild as much as she did, if not more, for reasons unknown to her. (She did hear rumors of the homomorphic and demimorphic Other Beings despising them for simply being heteromorphs, but it's something she considers utterly ridiculous, after all, they all aren't even either this or that, and by the way they act, they all are probably closer to being heteromorphs in their true nature than what their Avatars entail, so what's the point of such useless racist purposes?)

Yet, she soon realized it wasn't a mere last-ditch effort, but the day that the Undead Overlord, Momonga, finally decides to put an end to her permanently.

She had attempted to finish him off as quickly as possible, but the Other Being dodged, blocked and curved around her attacks, both physical and magical ones in nature, with the grace of a master combatant. He summoned many of his undead minions, both weak and strong, to attack and distract her.

She, in the end, was forced to use many of her abilities and techniques to dispose of the minions. Which after careful consideration now, was according to the Overlord's plans. Who counted on her doing so, and exhausting her in the process so that he could finally finish her off.

And he did, using that terrifying skill of his, the so-called {The Goal Of All Life Is Death}, a fitting skill with a fitting name, she supposes, for the being who among all those she encountered, mortal and immortal, human and inhuman, that truly symbolized the End.

And she was too late in destroying him before he cast that skill of his, causing her world to turn black as she lost all senses, and with her failsafe finally being destroyed, she instinctively knew that this was the final death she attempted to run from.

And thus was the end, the true end, of the Devourer of the Nine Worlds, Nidhoggr.

Or at least, it should've been.

Whereas she thought she was going to forever float in that sea of darkness, she felt her soul slowly being pulled back. But it wasn't because her failsafe protected her, no, it was because of the same Other Being who defeated her.

As she felt being pulled in towards her body, she felt a great part of her strength pulled away from her without her being able to do anything about it, but she knew where it was going to. It was towards the Avatar of the Undead Overlord.

And soon, with half if not more of her true strength absorbed from her, she was forced into her draconic body once more, or rather, towards her body that was forcefully morphed into a dragonoid appearance instead of its full draconic glory.

And even worse still, she felt her very soul, branded by the Overlord, forever marking her into his service.

And thus, not only was Nidhoggr killed, but she was forcefully resurrected, had her strength taken from her to strengthen her killer, but was also forced to become his subordinate. She was shamed thrice in one singular day.

Yet despite that, she wasn't angry, or to be more precise, she wasn't as angry as she would've been. She was still furious over what has transpired, and how all those eons of planning and binding her time till the perfect opportunity for her to accomplish her goals have gone down the drain. But at the same time, she was utterly impressed by how the Overlord was able to single-handedly defeat her in combat despite his Avatar being much weaker than she was.

And so, she decided that instead of making a fuss about it, she would go along with the Undead's whims and see where it leads her.

To her shock however, a few moments after she was resurrected, she, along with the Other Being, were transported to a world unfamiliar to both her and to the Overlord as well, if his reactions to this new environment were any indication. This alone surprised her even more, as she believed that this sudden shift was caused by him if the rumors of his eldritch-like genius are any clue behind the mind of this Undead. And the surprises continued even more from then on.

When she first gave her input to the Overlord's musings, he looked at her in shock, as if he didn't expect her to speak. She at first grew angry at him, which she now can say was a mistake to show such pride against the one who defeated you, but as she thought about it some more, he was more rather shocked by her being able to speak rather than her supposedly speaking out of turn.

'Perhaps he didn't expect me to know the common tongue?' She mused to herself, after all, why else would he be surprised by her ability to speak to him? After all, she recalls that many of the ancient races such as the Undead and Dragons, like her august self, have the skill to "Speak Evil Tongues", which would allow them to use the primordial languages with same ease as that of simply breathing, regardless of the fact that some races don't even need to breathe.

After which, she had to pull him from his own thoughts as he seemed to sink into them, something she feels will be a recurring theme for as long as she's with him.

He then surprised her even more by his following actions, from hesitating to call her by true name and seemingly being shocked by the fact she became his servant. Both of which are facts she found quite hard to believe.

After all, the Undead in question was someone who, while not ranking extremely highly on the charts as one with a powerful Avatar, he was considered by many as one of the most intelligent, cunning and sadistic creatures to ever grace Yggdrasil.

So to witness him acting so awkward socially and seemingly being so unaware of himself enslaving the Devourer herself, was quite confusing.

'Perhaps, he's simply enjoying watching me retell how he defeated me in such a humiliating manner?'

This was the only possible explanation considering how she, and many others, viewed the Guildmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown.

And with what she is currently witnessing, it was, very frankly, quite difficult for her to find any overlap between that image of the Overlord she once had and the one before her right now.

But the list of bizarre events didn't end there, oh no, it was just the beginning. Because the man(?) presented her a very weird request.

"Could you remove your gauntlet and give me your hand?" She didn't know what to make of that request, and was confused by it. Regardless, however, she complied and removed her gauntlet, extending her hand towards the Other Being.

He began by grasping her hand and studying it, which, while she would never admit it, was quite embarrassing. Nidhoggr wasn't human, nor was she a member of any of the other races that required articles of clothing and armor. As a Dragon, she found it quite pointless, viewing it as nothing but a hindrance to her.

As such, when she was forced to adopt this dragonoid appearance of hers, while she still held onto her beliefs, she viewed it as momentarily necessary considering that while her smooth skin isn't much weaker than that of the strongest celestial metals as of the moment, she isn't as strong as she was in her true form, so using armor for now was required.

Yet, despite this, when Momonga began studying her hand, she felt quite… naked, in a sense, akin to a dragon stripped of its scales, which considering her current situation, is closer to reality than she would prefer. Especially since whatever scales that are left on her current body are located deep behind the armor, forever hidden from view, a mark of greater shame to herself since it could be considered the same as not being able to display her draconic heritage.

The Overlord began to get lost in his thoughts, again, after placing a skeletal digit on her wrist, in the position she recognized as to where the pulse of a being can be determined. A weird thing to do in her opinion.

'Does he think I'm undead of some sort? Why would he want to feel my pulse? If it was to check my health, as unlikely as it is, shouldn't he use his magic instead? It's a much better method to determine the vitality of a being.'

But before she could delve deeper into her musings, she began to feel uncomfortable in the spot where Momonga was currently touching her. After a moment, she began to realize this was due to the negative energy the Undead Overlord was emitting through his touch. It wasn't enough to cause her harm or any visible harm, but it was slowly making her uncomfortable the more this went on.

And so, like before, it became her mission once more to pull the Other Being from his thoughts once more. After she successfully did so, he retracted his hand and thanked her for accepting his request. A weird thing to do since he is her master currently, so it's only common sense for her to obey him.

And using the moment, after she donned her gauntlet once more (an unnatural sense of relief overcoming her for some reason), she used the current situation to recommend him to disable his Undead Touch, both to observe and gauge his reactions.

After all, was he aware of his skill currently being active and still touched her hand, in a show of dominance to make their positions in this hierarchy clear… Or was it for some other nefarious reason?

And following this weird pattern of events, he once more pulled the rug right from under her feet, and apologized. No, not only by apologizing, but by bowing to her. Quite literally, giving an actual BOW towards her person.

Nidhoggr wasn't unfamiliar with the differing meanings behind one bowing to another. Whether it be to ask a request, give gratitude or reverence, or to show extreme remorse, she wasn't a stranger behind such customs, her own subordinates and servants, including the other World Enemies (sans the former Other Being who ascended to that status using one of the numerous World Items before being killed by his Kin and forced to permanently destroy his Avatar by them) using such actions to show deference to her.

But to see the opposite happen? To see the superior bowing towards the subordinate? It confused her by the unnaturalness of it all, the only times that she notes where such events occurred are extremely rare throughout the course of history in Yggdrasil, and when it was done, it was because of grievous events occurring.

Not because the superior or king in question accidentally made the subordinate uncomfortable.

Following this, she immediately tried to help the undead to stand straight once more, both to stop this unexpected event from happening and to recollect herself.

When the man did so, he thanked her for 'forgiving him' (a thing which considering the dynamic of their relationship she finds to be quite unnecessary), but to present him findings to her, that he is quite certain of the two of them having been displaced well beyond the boundaries of Yggdrasil. She agreed and confirmed his theory with her own ability that allowed her to be linked to the World Tree, but was still confused by how he came to such a conclusion when the only thing he did as of that moment was observe her pulse for a few minutes.

Fortunately for her, a weird anomaly in the nearby waters, a spot of rising bubbles, attracted the attention of both her and the Undead. Allowing her reprieve to collect her thoughts and findings about Momonga as the skeleton in question used his magic to traverse the waters and collect whatever was making those bubbles.

'It's weird… too weird. The Momonga that I and the rest in Yggdrasil know of, is an Undead Other Being with unnatural cunningness and intelligence that he could almost be considered omniscient from how deep his knowledge and foresight runs. So much so that his strength in the arcane fields and his brilliance sets him apart from the rest of the Other Beings, a feat that is extremely commendable on its own considering that they themselves could defy the laws of logic with their simple presence. Yet the one before feels too… normal, not in the sense that he's weak or he's not wise, even without knowing or hearing of the man before, I would still be able to realize that the title of wiseman is an insult to his true intelligence. But his mannerisms feel like that of an ordinary man, despite the fact that regardless of how he acts, he still carries that aura of regality I witnessed in the kings and queens of the races in Yggdrasil.' Nidhoggr sighed once more before scratching the back of her head with a frown coloring her features.

'Was it all an act to simply make me lower my guard? And if they are, then for what purpose? …Or were the rumors of his idiosyncrasies simply embellished and over-exaggerated?' She then slowly saw the Undead being who was the subject of her current thoughts return, with what seemed to be an unconscious white-haired fairy in his arms. She sighed to herself before making her way towards the Undead, who was currently busy trying to force the water out of the small fairy's system while laying her on her arm.

'But regardless, I will have more than enough time to make proper conclusions about his character in the future, it's not as if I have anything else to do in the meantime.'

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'This isn't really a good start to any isekai adventure to begin by having someone nearly drown in front of you.' Momonga thought to himself while using one hand to gently push out the water from the young child's(?) body, controlling his strength in the process so that he doesn't accidentally kill her, while using his other arm to gently hoist her near his torso.

'Should I try to use the healing magic spells I just received? Would they even work? I mean, would drowning even qualify as an injury to be healed? Or should I try to use a [Cure Abnormalities] spell instead if it's counted as a status effect instead?'

Seeing that the fairy was still not showing any reactions despite nearly removing all the water in her small body, he chose to perform the latter plan.

"Here goes nothing… [Cure Abnormalities!]"

And as if on cue, a blue aura covered the fairy. After which, she began to breathe normally, before her eyelashes began to slowly flutter open, signaling her awakening.

"Is… Is Paimon still alive?" The fairy began to slowly come to, her vision blurry as she tried to get up from whatever she was laying on. Which, by slowly caressing whatever it was she was sleeping on, was quite sturdy, more so than any stone she touched before, it was smooth yet hard, akin to steel or some other kind of metal, yet it was quite warm and comfortable, unlike any other place she slept on before.

"It's a good thing you are awake, I had thought you already departed to the other side." A deep baritone voice chuckled as it echoed in her head, and while her vision was slowly recovering, she felt the voice coming from above her. Perhaps it was the one who rescued her from nearly drowning?

"Oh, um, thank you, I guess you were the one who rescued Paimon from nearly sleeping forever." The fairy tried to start flying again, to which she succeeded, and attempted to step away to face her savior properly, someone that, after witnessing how he looks, regretted almost immediately.

"Eeek! A monster!" Paimon began to backtrack in the air away from the skeletal monster that she now realizes was cradling her in his arms just a few moments ago. She tried to fly as far away as possible before the monster catches up to her and quite possibly, turns her into a snack, only to feel her movements slightly restricted, as she could float anymore all of a sudden.

When she began to look behind her, she noticed her cape being held in place by a woman dressed in clothes as equally fancy as that of the giant skeleton. All the while, her captor was looking at her with bored eyes, and with the woman's white smooth horns and other inhuman features, made it seem as if she was judging the small fairy.

Paimon, believing that the monster may try to attack the lady as well, tried to warn her as quickly as she could.

"What are you doing?! Don't you see that big giant skeleton over there? We should run away before it chooses to eat us both up!" The fairy tried to explain in a panic to the woman, who's only response to the small creature was a snort and smug smile.

"Trust me, if there's anyone who will eat you…" The woman's smile became inhuman in nature, extending well beyond the normal limits and showcasing rows upon rows of extremely sharp teeth with each time she opened her mouth to speak in a tongue that Paimon can say for certain that while she couldn't for the life of her ever recall to have ever heard that language, she could feel it in her bones, as if their very meaning was engraved onto her mind.

"T̸̫̝̩̹̘̊͛̅̿̑h̸̨̳͙̰̀͂̕͝͠e̵̢̜͌̿̀n̴͖͠ͅ ̵̧̛͋̊i̵̤͛͂̓͐͝t̸̨̤̳̅ ̶̹̒w̸̧͎̉͌̐͑͂o̸̲̙̱͍͂ͅu̴̺̓̏̍̚ḽ̸̌̑̄͝ͅd̴̲̗͍́̏̓ ̵̨̥̞̹̠̒b̴̨͎̫̖͈̉̑͐̅̏e̸̬̘͒͗̄̓̕ ̷̫̰̝̞́̎̃m̸̨̀̌̈̉̕ȩ̷̛͊̏̀~̴̩͎͌"

To say that Paimon was utterly terrified would be an understatement. She realized that even the lady was just as monstrous, if not even more, than that freaky giant skeleton. But knowing that any more escape attempts or words coming out of her mouth may result in that crazy woman eating her instead, she only gave a small whimper of fear before closing her mouth, tucking her small legs and hands to her small body, making the small bunny look more like a tiny animal caught in the headlights.

Fortunately for her, before her captor could make due on her promise. The skeleton put his hand on her shoulders while giving her a small glare, which after a small staring competition between the two, the woman looked away first and sighed, releasing the small fairy from her hold.

While Paimon felt it was her chance to run away, she felt that it's for the best that she doesn't make any hasty decisions else this time she wouldn't simply be caught but killed immediately. And besides that, a small part of her felt that she at least owed a few words of gratitude towards the giant undead for stopping the crazy monster lady from eating her.

"U-um, thanks for helping Paimon. P-Paimon's name is Paimon! What are… your names?" Ever the conversationalist, Paimon tried to begin by introducing herself to break the ice and show she doesn't intend on running away. And hopefully gaining the names of the two in front of her in the process.

"So that's how it is…" The white-haired woman gave a small chuckle that sent shivers up Paimon's spine, seemingly having caught on to what Paimon was planning by introducing herself, before coughing slightly in her fist.

"Then let me introduce myself first. I am Nidhoggr, Former Guardian of Yggdrasil, Leader of the World Enemies & the Devourer of Worlds. A pleasure to meet you~" 

As bombastic as the bizarre titles the woman gave were, and the weird names she has never heard of before such as 'Yggdrasil' or 'World Enemies' (Thought the latter title felt as if it meant she's probably a bad guy), she felt that the now-named Nidhoggr wasn't lying and that every word she spoke of was true, making her feel as if she really escaped a fate worse than death just a few moments ago.

Looking towards the giant skeleton who just saved her twice in a row, both from drowning and from nearly getting eaten, she waited in anticipation of what the identity of the companion of Nidhoggr was.

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'It's one obstacle after the other…'

Momonga sighed inwardly to himself at the recent turn of events. From waking the fairy up using the spell, her running away as soon as she gazed upon his face, and was nearly eaten by Nidhoggr in the process. He felt that if he was still human, he would've received the worst head-ache known to man over the shit-trifecta of events that recently happened.

Soon, the fairy introduced herself as Paimon before asking for the names of both him and Nidhoggr. And as to be expected of the World Eater, she gave some of her titles along with her name, further instilling greater fear into the poor fairy's heart, who turned with both curiosity and anxiety towards him, waiting for him to introduce herself. But…

'Should I introduce myself as Momonga?'

It's not as if he didn't feel any semblance of attachment to this name or to his actual human name, but the former was one he used when in Yggdrasil, when he was accompanied by his friends/family. Heck the only moments his name was uttered in the recent years since he became the last active member of the guild was when it was said by PKers who wanted to kill him, in NPC dialogues, and recently when he was speaking with the devs just a few moments back. Suffice to say, he only believed that name was special because his friends were around, and it has always felt more like a handle than a proper name (especially since it means 'Flying Squirrel' in Japanese).

And he himself didn't feel any attachment to the name Suzuki Satoru either. The only one he cared about, or cared about him, who knew that name, was his mother. Who died when he was still in elementary school, and the only ones who have ever used that name since were his bosses, his co-workers, and the few flings he had in life, which never resulted in anything noteworthy.

But… There was a name he was attached to, more so than his actual name and his in-game username. Ainz Ooal Gown.

It symbolised the greatest era of his life, of a family he found on his own and cherished as if they were his own blood. Even when they all left him for years now, he felt closer to them and to their memories together than to anything else he had left in life. And so, if he's to live in this new life, he will use that name and spread it across this world with any achievements he would make while in this New World.

"I am known as the Overlord of the Great Tomb, Vanquisher of the Devourer of the Nine Worlds and the Guildmaster of the greatest guild to have ever existed in Yggdrasil. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, but please, call me Ainz."

Both Paimon and Nidhoggr were surprised by his introduction. Paimon for introducing himself with that second title, which when remembering the introduction of the woman, meant he defeated her, and Nidhoggr for introducing himself with the name Ainz Ooal Gown, but when considering who he is and what he represents…

'I suppose it's only fitting that the last remaining member of that den of monsters gets to use that name.' She shrugged to herself before smiling ever so faintly, wondering what else is in store for her in this new world (playground) with the now-known Ainz, and the small fairy Paimon, who may or may not end up as either her emergency snacks.

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"Other Beings":

The only thing that is certain about them is that they are extremely powerful and intelligent. Yet the only thing they chase in their existence is entertainment to stave off the boredom, willing to destroy entire worlds and universes to appease such boredom.

The only ones who come close to these monsters in similarity are Them, the ones knows as the Outer Gods.

No one knows of the true relationship between the Other Beings and the Outer Gods, but many speculate that they are similar in being but different in their goals. While the Other Beings are eldritch lifeforms who's collective goal is to simply do whatever they desire to entertain themselves, even if it means putting themselves in weak Avatars to do so. The Outer Gods prefer to accomplish their respective agendas individually across the realms, whether that be recruiting more acolytes for their cults, acquiring more blasphemous treasures, enjoying the entertainment provided by the dying civilizations they corrupted, or just slumbering for eons on end till something worthy of their attention awakens them.

In essence, they are paradoxically extremely different yet extremely similar to each other. Yet one can only hope, their goals don't ever align, for the good of everyone else and the rest of the cosmos.