Overlord And The Blue Citadel - Chapter 8

Standing around the World Atlas, Fenrir was looking over his Guardians with a refined expression, that was something Neia could quickly take note of. As her gaze traced over each and every one of them that were present, she could see exactly how immensely small she was compared to them.

As her feral eyes dropped down to the Atlas at their feet, she stared at all the moving pieces between the Re-Estize Kingdom, and even the Slaine Theocracy. Should a Dragon be in the sky, it would fly accurately above the sheet white surface.

For the first time, she began to notice though was that they were not paying attention to her eyes. The Guardians didn’t fear her, they didn’t judge her. If anything they were somehow ‘shipping’ her with their Godly creator, though she didn’t necessarily understand the word ‘shipping.’ It sounded like she was being sent off somewhere, or to him. Yet… As she looked up to him as she stood there beside Fenrir, he was right there.

Thoughts went through her mind as she continued to go back to how he had her drink the Grail. Eternal Youth, immortality. He so easily gifted that to her, as he meant to keep her. She was curious as to what he would possibly offer those he considered lesser than herself.

At the same time, she couldn’t even imagine why he treasured her so. He had only just met her and she was so far below him on a hierarchy. It was as if he was making it so she belonged.

Why was he doing such a thing? Unable to speak of this to herself, she kept it all bottled away. As her gaze fell once more to the Atlas, it made her forever curious about how it worked. Could this thing be another treasure of the Gods? Another creation that took many Gods to create? Or was it merely part of his many homebrew creations? Part of his home?

She let her mind go wild as her thoughts continued along that line.

Whatever this magical thing was, it was capable of seeing and displaying places from vast distances away. Exploration, It was large enough for all of them to stand around the World Item without having to squeeze in close to one another.

Neia found it to be comfortable where she now stood. His hand was once more resting on her shoulder, she could feel the warmth of his hand. She was being touched by the very being who created these angels, the dragon girl, everything here. At least that was her perception.

Hyped, her eyes darted over the display ahead of her. She could see Paladins sending their squires throughout the Kingdom as messengers. Witnessing this, Neia estimated that it would take at least three days before the couriers were able to deliver their intelligence to all of the other camps of the Order, including their Headquarters in the Holy Capital. From there it would take at least two to three more days to mobilize an entire force to the tower.

From the very words of Fenrir, she could only assume this was a vain struggle as only one of the Guardians was supposedly needed to eradicate all of the Paladins.

“Gravelyn,” Fenrir’s voice broke her silent observations, causing Neia to look up at him. “You are to be moved to the Third Floor. You prefer Gardens, do you not?”

“Yes, Fenrir-sama,” The woman in red crimson armor knelt down.

For the first time, Neia was now paying attention to the design of her armor. It had detached armored leggings, her armor covering what appeared to be a long-sleeved black dragon scale leotard. The armor pieces on her arms consisted of large shoulder pads with two irregular shaped horns protruding from each, reminiscent of very pointy carrots, and plating along with biceps her forearm. A single cloth hung down from her pelvis area that was lined with a metallic looking belt. Another was hanging behind her rear as well, like some sort of war skirt, mostly hidden by a black cloak that hung off the back of her shoulder blades. The only skin that was visible were slivers of her upper thigh, her fingers, and her head of long hair and dark blue eyes.

The Champion of Light remained where she was as she finally retook her standing posture.

“Nidrennyius,” Fenrir’s voice once more stole her attention as he was giving orders to his Guardians. “I would like you to investigate the interior of the Tower, see what has changed and what has remained the same. Report to me directly when you’re finished.”

“Understood… The Task shall be completed due haste,” the Many Eyed Ophan replied with a sagely and overlapping tone as it had before during its first appearance. Then, it immediately vanished in a flash of light, similar to Pelleon’s teleportation down on the second-floor hours earlier.

“Nyriane, the area behind the tower, where the beastmen reside… I want you to take the Svartr Corps and scout it out in a few days, then I want you to scout out the Re-Estize Kingdom.” Fenrir wanted to know the situation and she could see this easily.

Neia’s eyes traveled over towards the Harpy which nodded its head.

“Raah! Yes, yes! Raah!” Were the only words that were immediately spouted from the bird-like woman, the Champion of Shadows so she was named. “Raah! Deploying at once, Fenrir-sama!”

Neia watched as the girl hopped off of the platform and launched herself into the air with her wing-like arms outspread. She could see the creature fly off towards the false ceiling before vanishing through a portal assumingly to her floor.

“Helibrimin, Pelleon and Beelzebub, you three will go down to the first floor. Assumingly what we are seeing is the Paladins looking to start mobilizing. Prepare the Werewolves for a systematic mop-up operation should they invade the labyrinth.” Fenrir continued giving his orders out, watching as the three would acknowledge such orders.
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“As you wish!” Helibrimin hissed out smoke from his helmet, pounding a fist against his chest, causing hot steam to woosh out. Like mystical water vapor, he was gone in a wave of heat.

Beelzebub let his head drop in a dramatic bow, holding his heart out in front of him, “I will follow your bidding, Fenrir-sama, for you are the God-Killer.” As he then held the heart into the air, the Arch-Devil vanished into thin air, as if he had never been there.

“Your Order… Has been… Received, Fenrir…Sama…” Pelleon reached out a hand and grasped at the air before vanishing into a flash of light.

She didn’t know how she was going to take this. He was preparing for war with her people? Well, she foresaw the fact that they wouldn’t accept him, not after they had seen a giant wolf try to wipe them out.

The young squire was beginning to wonder how long her people would even last against these beings. Let alone a whole higher level of Angels they had never seen before.

Loki who was dressed in a black dress suit and waistcoat stood beside Moki who was outfitted in white. Their tails were intertwined, and their ears were perked, their eyes locked onto Neia who stood beside the one who was perceived as their master.

“Loki, Moki… You are to infiltrate the Southern region of the Roble Holy Kingdom, you will be briefed later by Neia prior to your departure.” Fenrir looked down to Neia after the cat folk nodded to his orders.

Neia was blinking up at him, she could hardly believe he was sending in a couple of cats to infiltrate a human civilization! They weren’t even giants and seemed more like beastmen than they did demi-human.

As if seeing her distress and confusion upon the topic, Fenrir snickered, “Do not worry… They are masters of Disguise and Trickery,” he’d then gesture back towards them.

Now standing where she had once seen two cat folk, were two generic human disguises. Though they were dressed the same, it was hard to tell they weren’t human by just looking at them.

“This is… Amazing…” Her eyes stared through the two of them for a few seconds before shifting back over to Fenrir. She had no idea how two cats could look like humans, not even remotely. Though she could only assume that it was some sort of magic, or possibly a self-polymorphic skill.

Neia balled her hands together, excited by the possible prospect of asking how to do it. When she turned to Fenrir though, it was as if he was waiting for her to ask the question that was on her mind. Yet it was as if he already knew what it was as if it was expected of her to ask it. “Fenrir-sama, I must ask out of curiosity… Even if it isn’t my place, would they be able to show me how to do that?”

“It’s an ability that they have as Self-Polymorph Mages, they’re capable of changing their shape at will, to whatever they desire within their mass-limit,” Fenrir apprised her of the ability they were capable of exhibiting at any and all times. “Have you tried your hand in magic as of yet?”

“N-no…” Neia immediately felt regret for asking, as it not only bared no fruit, but it gave him a reason to look down on her. Yet as she felt his hand lightly squeeze at her shoulder, she nictitated and returned her gaze to him as if she had summoned her attention.

“No need to feel upset about it, your curiosity is why you are worth teaching. If a pupil or my faithful follower showed no interest, then what kind of followers would I have? I can only marvel.”

His words brought a smile across her lips again. Neia hadn’t known someone who could make her smile this much, even if he had used magical means or fruitfully sweet words.

“Archona, I’d like you to travel to Re-Estize ahead of schedule and possess a suitable host in order to gain intelligence on their current welfare… I want to know everything, even if its the smallest minute detail, it is worth something. This world is new to us, and as we’re out in the open, we cannot be ignorant of the possibilities of other Gods being present. Friendly or otherwise.” Fenrir was giving her a particular task she was capable of, considering she was a Shadow of Death a rare class of Shade which in itself was rare in class.

“Ah… This should be an interesting journey…” The shadowy body twisted and churned in place, almost inhumanely so. It was clear that Archona was not a solid mass, and soon it’d be found that no cleric or priest has the power to exorcise her. “I hope you will look forward to my reports, Fenrir-sama.” A large blazing white smile appeared in the mass of darkness, matching its devilish and sinister eyes.

“Be sure to fit in, Archona, watch and think before you act.”

“Of course… Don’t I always? As expected of the God-Killer to be cautious.”

Neia was catching on to the use of God-Killer, now twice used. Though there might be something special about it, she was curious about what it meant. Did it have something to do with his name?

During the Wars with the other Gods, had he killed others? How many did he kill? Which Gods had it been? There were many curiosities now appearing before her, and Neia was becoming more excited as she had been encouraged to learn.

As Archona seemed to shrink out of existence, into the very darkness of the room, Neia began to notice that all of the Guardians, or at least most of them… Had already left or had been given orders. She shifted her eyes and attended to the last one, Anima Espa, the darkly outfitted Valkyrie.

“Anima, your job is to watch over the World Atlas, I want to know of any abnormalities such as troop deployments outside of the Roble Holy Kingdom and sightings of unknown Beasts.”

“Oh… Possible additions to my Bestiary? Fenrir-Sama, you honor me so with your diligence and caution. Your words are heavy to my heart.” Her eyes took hold of the large circular world Item which was situated at their feet. “I will keep you notified upon your request.”

“So be it,” Fenrir smiled before loosely letting his hand fall from Neia’s shoulder and to his side. “Now, girl… Let’s get some training done, shall we? Then you can hit the hot springs…”

Neia nodded her head eagerly, her renewed soft hair moving each time it bobbed. “Hot-springs Fenrir-sama?” The idea of there being such a thing within the tower hadn’t even crossed her mind. Was there really a natural wonder, something so exquisite, here in the Citadel of Hel?

She had never visited a hot spring before, but she had read about them. Harvesting sulfur from hot springs and geysers was something alchemists had done to acquire the material. From her knowledge, there probably wasn’t a single geyser within the Kingdom.

His eyes moved to Gravelyn, “Perhaps we could use the Draugr to do so, for some ranged practice within the Game board?”

“If that is your wish, Fenrir-sama, then it is my command. For while all others had forgotten my father, you enshrined him.” Gravelyn had spoken of something Neia hadn’t knew.

Gravelyn’s creator had died outside of YGGDRASIL, sometime after quitting the game. His items and gear, which had been given to Fenrir, were placed on display in her quarters.

A hidden room on the First Floor, which hid treasures for anyone to find. And yet, even after the many raid attempts made by other Guilds, it hadn’t been found.

Hearing them speak of Draugr, she raised a brow. She had heard of regular zombies, but never had she heard of Draugr. Though she could only assume they were something that could be summoned, and if it was from the Champion of light, she was wondering what exactly it was.

Neia turned her eyes to Lucifael who was seated on what appeared to be air, floating ever so slightly. She was curious about what the daughter of the God would do, and Angel with black wings.

The fallen angel shrugged lightly to Neia’s gaze, seeming as if she knew there were no orders for her to do anything. She was the supervisor of the Guardians, so she would do as her role implied.

Moving to stand, Lucifael waved one hand and all of the board pieces within the Throne Room moved to either side. Neia was only able to look on in awe as a simple gesture had moved several tons of material from one place to another. The pieces were also sorted by color and what appeared to be rank or shape.

Poking the tip of her tongue out from behind her lips, the Squire walked over to the ledge.

Gravelyn then proceeded to walk off the side of the Colosseum and stiffly land standing up on the game board feet first. There was no reason to take her time as she marched directly into the center of the board.

“What are Draugr exactly?” Neia asked as she looked to Fenrir with an invested gaze, wanting to figure out what she would be facing before whatever it was could be summoned.

“You’ve seen zombies before, right?”

“Y-yeah, I’ve seen them before,” Neia didn’t know exactly what he was going on about, other than the fact that they may be some form of undead. “They’re predictable and form hordes…”

“Draugr are similar in that regard, however, their frozen soul still trapped in their bodies when they died as warriors or of disease rather than on the battlefield. When they died, their soul never left… Pain, agony, hatred for the living, is what drives them. They’re just as deadly as a lich.” Fenrir spoke poetically, for the most part, gesturing out towards the empty board before them.

“And just as intelligent…?” Neia felt her nerves act up, an itchy feeling run up her legs and the side of her face. It was one thing to face the beastmen who she knew would simply devour her, it was another to face a creature that may freeze and trap her soul in her own rotting corpse.

“You’re catching on. You will face them from above, and Gravelyn will command them to hold their ground and move about the board. Think of it as… Live target practice.” Fenrir continued to keep his hand out towards the board, as he told her a bit more of his plans. “Now, take out your bow, and ready yourself against the coming storm. For now, your training will be on the more orthodox scale, but once you’re used to that… You will find yourself fighting in a fashion most suited for you and most detrimental to your opponents.”

Neia placed her left hand on the bow which had since replaced the sword that she had used to train with. Taking it from the scabbard, she let it unfold and form up in her hand.

“Perching yourself in a crouch, on the edge, may give you a distinguishing position over your enemy if you are fighting them at a distance. For now, we will train stationary, once the first wave is done, we will begin having you move about the colosseum and fight while moving.” Fenrir allowed her to sense his calm and even gave her his own confidence in her learning ability. Though he may be looking to train her too fast, it was only training. If she couldn’t keep up, her training will be in turn changed to fit her pace, but still, maintain a challenge.

She could contact the magical energies within the bow as it recognized her as its proprietor, as its wielder. Swallowing slowly, she raised the weapon and went to pull back an imaginary quiver to form an arrow, feeling the mana circulate between her fingers.

Lifting a hand into the air, as if he was about to start a marathon, Fenrir lastly grinned broadly as he watched Neia crouch over the edge, overseeing the board. “Gravelyn, begin the first wave.”