"So let me get this straight, you've messed with Albedo's settings?"
Silence filled the throne room. Momonga already said it once and he will not repeat himself again. He wasn't expecting- no, no one was expecting this turn of events.
Luka sighed and shook her head. While it is true this was unexpected, to change the settings of an NPC created by another player just because you didn't like the background is kind of...
Momonga on the other hand waived her worries off, it wouldn't be that much different from the game... so far from his interaction with Albedo anyway.
"Yeah, right--" Luka was already grinning from ear to ear, ready to tease her brother even more.
But with a cough coming from Momonga, his signal is clear that it was enough joking around.
"I yield, I yield. What do we do now then? But you have to admit it's pretty cool to actually be our avatars! I mean look, I can fly!"
Sure enough, Luka stretched her wings and flapped it on the side of her waist. Momonga grew quiet and paid no attention to her, too lost in his own thoughts once more.
It shouldn't be possible for this to happen. For the game to be their reality is like a story straight out a fantasy novel. And if they really are inside the game now, does that mean there are other players stuck too? His grip on the guild's weapon, Ainz Ooal Gown, tightened.
[Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown. A god-tier item that is created by and the symbol of the guild]
"So that's the rumored weapon. I heard you guys even used your day offs and got in plenty of trouble in your personal lives to actually gather the materials and create it. Can I touch it?" Luka's eyes were sparkling as she gawked at the staff. Now if her brother would let her handle the staff even for a second she would definitely be satisfied. That is if Momonga agrees.
"...No."
Luka put her arms behind her head and let out a displeased grunt earning a laugh from Momonga. He then stood up from the throne and beckoned Luka to come closer to him. Thinking about his item storage, a small black portal opened near his arm. Momonga reached his arm inside and grabbed what looks like to be a ring that's a bit bulky for Luka's taste.
"Here, take this." Momonga handed it over to Luka.
[Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown. A gold colored ring with an amethyst in the center of it. Upon closer inspection, the guild's insignia is imprinted in the gem in black. It has a special function that lets the wearer teleport in/out the tomb and also at any location inside Nazarick.]
"I never thought I'd wear this." Luka carefully slid the bulky ring to her finger. The ring then adjusted it's size to fit the hybrid's finger. (Which made her hate the ring's appearance less now.)
"You've become part of Nazarick. I don't see the reason why you shouldn't get one of the rings." Momonga glanced down at Luka "...Did you really expect me to teleport and leave you here inside the throne room alone? It's about time we go to the Amphitheater."
=========
It was a success. Even without the User Interface functioning usually like in the game, they were able to teleport using the ring. That would also mean it would be possible to use items as well.
As if reading his thoughts, Luka opened her dimentional inventory and tried to grab one particular item inside. Rumaggaging for a while, she finally took out a small vial of a color chaging potion. It was one of those give away potions that lets you change the color of any part of your avatar for a set amount of time.
Momonga took interest at this as well and waited for Luka to use it. With one gulp and an image in mind, they waited for the results. Luka stuck out her tongue which is now colored in deep sea green.
"Oh, it worked."
So things still do function as it should, like the game without the interface.
"We can experiment more on that later. You've heard about the Colosseum before, correct?"
Luka furiously nodded at this. Her brother and his guildmates talked about it once but no one would give her any screenshot of the place with the message that 'you can see it for yourself' copy pasted in more than one line sent to her chats. She skipped her steps as she followed her brother towards the entrance, and the moment they were in the center, she couldn't help her excitement any longer. She spread her wings to fly around and gawk at the size of the place.
"It's huge!!" She exclaimed, flying a few rounds around the arena.
Momonga appears to be stoic with his skull face, but he was smiling proudly at the praises Luka is throwing here and there about the colosseum. He scans around looking for the twins as he lets Luka have a little more fun looking around.
'The twin dark elves that Chagama set up should be the guardians here...' Momonga thought to himself. As if on cue, a figure jumped from the elevated platforms of the arena down to where he stood. The person had rushed towards Momonga and welcomed him with a smile.
[Aura Bera Fiora. A dark elf created by Chagama. She has dark skin, pointed ears, golden hair and heterochromia- her left eye being blue and right being green. Her outfit consisted with a red dragon scale leather covered by a white and gold vest with a matching set of white trousers and golden plated shoes. Around her neck is an acorn necklace.]
"Aura" Momonga greeted.
'Now where's the other twin?' He thought.
"Mare! You're being rude to Momonga-sama!" Aura called and turned to the elevated platform she was standing on earlier. Another person had jumped from the said platform and landed rather clumsily on the ground.
[Mare Bero Fiore. The younger dark elf twin of Aura created by Chagama. He has the same features as his sister apart from having his left eye being green and right eye blue. He sported a blue dragon scale leather for his inner clothing and wore a skirt rather than trousers. He sported golden plated boots that reached up just below his knees. Indeed, Chagama has a thing for traps thus the reason behind the creation of the twins.]
As soon as the two had composed themselves in front of Momonga, he called Luka over to introduce her.
"Luka. Come forward." He glanced towards his little sister who is still preoccupied about the structure.
In a few moments Aura and Mare felt a strong gust of wind from behind them. Luka had spread her wings and flew a short distance to where her brother and the two other guardians were standing- earning a somewhat surprised gasp by the twin guardians.
"Aura, Mare. I'd like you to meet my younger sister, Luka." Momonga motioned towards the young hybrid who is currently dusting herself to look presentable towards the two.
"Hello!" Luka's skeleton side had a faint flash of blue as she greeted.
'Momonga-sama has a little sister?'' The twins thought, shocked at the sudden revelation.
"It's nice to finally meet more of the guardians. Aura and Mare was it? I hope we get along!" Luka added and smiled sweetly at the two. From appearance, she doesn't seem far from them. She was a couple of inches taller than the twins much to her delight.
The twins glanced at each other before beaming at Luka.
"It's nice to meet you too, Luka-sama!"
The hybrid smiled back before glancing towards her older brother. With a nod, he explains to the three that he wishes to experiment on something whilst suggestively tapping on the item he held.
The staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.
As Momonga explained his intentions further (and adding some facts about the staff), Luka's gaze fell upon her right wrist. She examines the three dark circular tattoos around it. Her eyes trailed from her wrist to the top of her palm wherein a black gem is embedded to her skin. It glimmered slightly as she lifts it closer to her face. She wonders if she's still able to do the same as she had in the past.
"I'd like to run some tests with it"
"Of course! We will prepare immediately!"
Luka tore her gaze from the gem and towards the three. Momonga had also informed the twins that he had called the other guardians to meet here within the hour. Aura seemed to be a little down with the idea mentioning 'Shalltear' though Momonga feigned ignorance with the matter.
'Shalltear...' Luka wondered, her gaze still lingering around the arena.
"Luka. Come here." Momonga waved his skeletal hand motioning for her to stand closer to him.
Momonga had to lower himself to his knees just so he could talk to his little sister at eye level. He asked if Luka remembered how to conjure magic in the game. She furrowed her brows for a moment before answering that there was an icon on the console- a command that lets the user use abilities. Momonga nodded that she remembered correctly. However, that icon no longer exists although if focused, one could sense the magic's attack range, cool down rate and MP. Understanding what he meant, Luka closed her eyes to try and as soon as she felt her power, nodded back to her brother.
Not soon after, two beast henchmen under the twin dark elves perched four target dummies in front of the two necromancers. Momonga pointed the staff at two of the dummies and glanced over to Luka who nodded in understanding.
"Summon! Primal Fire Elemental!" Momonga then lifted up his staff as magic gathered around one of the orbs decorating it and aimed for the two dummies.
"Summon! Primal Ice Elemental!" Luka in turn raised her right arm and pointed her finger at the two other dummies. A dark circle formed at the end of her finger while a black laced magic stream surrounded her right arm. The gem on top of her palm glimmered as the magic is being casted.
Two Elementals emerged from the dummies- facing each other and staying still. Aura and Mare stared in amazement.
"If I recall correctly, you haven't reached the maximum level." Momonga mused, looking at the summoned ice elemental.
"Are you trying to rub that to my face?" Luka replied, pouting.
Momonga chuckled.
"I am not. But how about a little showdown on summons?"
Luka reluctantly nodded even if. It's obvious her brother would win at this state, seeing as his summon is a few levels higher than her own. She had been on the same level as them before, until there was the news that the level cap had been raised. At that time she had barely enough time to do anything else except school work. The realization that she's a few levels behind her brother ticked her off a bit and it shows with the pout on her face. Luka is now just a level or two higher than the floor guardians.
"Fire Elemental! Attack Ice elemental!"
"Ice Elemental! Beat the Fire Elemental!"
And thus the summons engaged in a death battle. A battle where in its obvious who would turn out to be victorious. Luka closed her eyes and sighed. Within a few seconds, her summon had been destroyed.
"It seems I would need to teach you more lessons in the future." Momonga kept his stare on his summon.
"Shut up." Luka retorted. She knew her brother very well and right now she knew he had a smug look on his face.
"Aura, do you want to try fighting it?" Momonga motioned over his summon.
======
As expected, fighting the Primal Fire Elemental is a piece of cake for the twins. The experiment is a success. Magic skills could still be used in the game however...
"Still can't contact the GMs using the message functions..." Luka mused while watching the fight.
"You took the words right out of my mouth"
Momonga was about to give up until Sebas had unexpectedly replied to his message skill. Not wanting to lose composure, he replied immidiately. Whilst the two converse, Luka puts her attention back to the twins who effortlessly killed her brother's summon. The twins then trotted over to them, panting a bit from the fight.
"Great job you two." Luka was the first to greet them. Momonga already finishing his conversation with Sebas as the twins approached closer.
"Thank you very much! I haven't exercised this much in a while!" Aura chimed, wiping a sweat off her forehead.
"Then you must be thirsty" Momonga reached inside his inventory again. Retracting his hand, he was now holding a pitcher full of water. Following the lead of her brother, Luka also opened hers and grabbed two cups- one on each of her hands. Momonga poured water in the cups and Luka handed it over the twins.
The two were at a loss for words at the kind gesture. Drinking the whole glass in one go, the twins then beamed on their leaders.
"I thought Momonga-sama would be a lot scarier... "One of the twins commented causing Luka to snicker.
"He could be scary if you preferred it that way" Luka commented, a smile on her face as she turned to her brother.
"But the Momonga-sama in front of us now is fine! The absolute best!"
Luka smiles fondly at the two before following her brother walking up to an elevated platform.
It seems most of the NPCs respect Momonga as their leader. That's a given, but she had her doubts that it may not be the case. Just like how the few were hostile at her at the beginning. Maybe this was the reason why Momonga wanted to play the part of the leader correctly?
Moments later a portal opened and a lady in a black-reddish dress walked out of it.
"Oh? Am I the first to arrive?" She radiated an aura of nobility that Luka got struck in awe...until it was immediately shattered once the lady in red started bickering with Aura. Mare seemed so confused being in the middle of the two that Luka felt nothing but pity towards the younger twin.
Thankfully the pitiful scene is cut short with the arrival of the other guardians. They all have so much different appearances and niche going on that Luka might've stared for too long on each one of them. She felt their gazes landing on her momentarily before switching on to her brother. Even though Momonga is respected, would those 'settings' apply to her as well? What was this feeling of uneasiness in her gut? She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and tried to calm herself.
"Now everyone. To our supreme leader, the ritual of fidelity." Albedo spoke, as the guardians line up and start to introduce themselves.
The first to take a step forward is the lady in the black-reddish dress.
"The guardian of the first, second, and third floors, Shalltear Bloodfallen" She introduces herself as she bows.
[Shalltear Bloodfallen. A true vampire created by Peroroncino. Has an appearance of a fourteen-year-old girl, pale shiny skin, scarlet red orbs and attractive facial features. She has silver hair tied to a ponytail with a large red ribbon. She adorned a dark red dress with a big heavy skirt- her top having a short tailored jacket with laces. Her hands had long laced gloves, and seem to be quite bountiful in some areas as well.]
"I bow before the supreme one"
As Shalltear looks up, Luka notices one of her fangs.
"The guardian of the fifth floor. Cocytus. I bow before the supreme one" He beetle one spoke.
[Cocytus. He has an appearance of an insect and is by far the biggest of the guardians Luka had yet to meet. He walks on two feet and is believed to be a fusion of a mantis and ant. (Far from Luka's assumption as a beetle. Being not too fond of them). Created by Warrior Takemikazuchi. He also has a long tail and is covered in sharp icicle-like spikes. He has four hands and one of which holds a halberd. Did I mention he's blue?]
"The guardian of the sixth floor, Aura Bella Fiore"
"A-Also the guardian of the sixth floor, Mare Bello Fiore"
The twins stepped up and took a bow.
"We bow before the supreme one" the two simultaneously stated.
The man in the red suit stepped up next.
"The guardian of the seventh floor, Demiurge. I bow before the supreme one"
[Demiurge. Creation of Ulbert Alain Olde. A demon with dark skin and has combed black hair. He wears glasses- hiding his eyes from view. He adorns a British red suit with a tie and looks to be like a gentleman. He also has a tail covered in metal plates.]
And finally there's...
"The leader of the guardians, Albedo. I bow before the supreme one"
Other than the guardian of the fourth floor and eight floor, all the guardians are present. Luka looked over to her brother who had a dark depressing aura surrounding him. If you didn't know him, you might as well think he has a menacing aura surrounding him but in reality, he was probably sweating buckets.
'Brother please keep yourself together...' Luka could only hope for the best.