Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Momonga sighed, content with the results of the testing Luci★Fer had volunteered himself for. It seems that the illusion powers of Melkira were a manifestation of his personality, and by combining them with golemancy and conjuration, he was able to form an ultimate skill. Creatio Ex Nihilo, as it was called, allowed him to warp reality for up to a minute to bring any living thing into existence. All things he created would revere him as their creator. The skill had a long cooldown, and automatically ended its effect if he moved more than five feet from where it was activated. The name was absolutely perfect to describe the power this skill afforded him. It was a part of the first verse of the book of Genesis, which in Latin translated to ‘Creation out of Nothing’.

Earlier on in their testing, they discovered that the cooldown was proportional to the amount of time it was active. That had allowed them to test the ability more effectively and probe its limits. The implications were staggering, as it effectively made him a Creator God. They had discovered that the created beings could be entirely permanent, yet they still behaved alike to summoned monsters, with Luci★Fer being able to share their senses and direct their actions from afar.

But that was the limit of what they knew at this point, three days after the fall of the Lord of Pride. The raid team was almost entirely recovered from the exertion of the fight, while the others were still well-rested and ready. That was a good sign, as within a few days, they would be facing the Dragon Emperor, Jörmungandr. He had discovered the name from Tsaindorcus Vaision, who had reluctantly revealed his father’s name.

This information had intrigued those familiar with Norse mythology, as the idea of the World Serpent being responsible for the advent of Players in this world meant that it was likely a World-level threat, on a level above even the other Dragon Lords. From the Grimoire, he had known that the Emperor was ten levels above the maximum from YGGDRASIL, but he had not contemplated how it was possible. But with all this information, he now understood precisely why he was so powerful. It was entirely possible that the souls of all the fallen Players in this world resided within him.

By far, the lesser threat was the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord. He may be powerful as a True Dragon Lord turned Undead, but his undead status had in fact made him all the easier to take him. While he was keeping his ultimate skill in reserve for the World Serpent, he and Ulbert both had access to Fallen Down, which dealt immense damage, especially to the undead.

And the archdemon’s apprentices in Renner and Fluder had quickly advanced thanks to one of the spells he had discovered, which had allowed them to slowly advance in casting level, as Fluder was an accomplished Master of the Tenth Tier and studying Super-Tier Magic, while Renner was about halfway through mastery of the Tenth Tier to his knowledge. She, like him, had found Grasp Heart to be one of her favorites, though she still preferred charm and domination magic.

He was not so worried about the part of the raiding team that would engage the Undead Dragon Lord, as they would be fully prepared for that eventuality. The main focus, naturally, was the Emperor himself. Once the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord fell, then the entirety of the raiding party would engage in combat with him. Fortunately, that number was currently about 58 individuals, as the entirety of the Guild, all of the Floor Guardians and their allies from the Theocracy, as well as Rubedo and Gargantua had been chosen to do battle with the World Serpent.

Momonga turned his thoughts to something further away on the horizon, something that Albedo had promised to him as incentive to succeed…

------ FLASHBACK ------

“Beloved, I have a proposal for you.”

“What is it, my dear?” Momonga was no longer surprised by Albedo’s interruptions and had come to enjoy her coming into his study as he worked, hopefully with good news.

“I have picked a day for our wedding, my love. A week after the fall of the Dragon Emperor.”

His jaw dropped, as he was unable to comprehend her reasoning. Smiling, she explained herself.

“I know that you will move the heavens to get what you desire, so this is a bit of motivation for you. Not to mention a show of power that your life continues. What is the phrase? ‘The best revenge is living well’?” At this, he understood and returned her smile.

“Albedo, I find that idea quite… motivating.” She shuddered at the husky undertone of his voice, and promised, “Soon my love, we shall be husband and wife.”

------ END FLASHBACK ------

Momonga looked forward greatly to his wedding, though unfortunately he had not had much time to plan for it, swamped with paperwork and combat as he was. He had seen how joyous Peroroncino and Antilene had been on their wedding day, both before and after. Though he did admit that it was certainly not traditional for an army to crash the wedding, or for the bride to kill her father.

While he was enjoying the relationship he had with Albedo as lovers, he ached to make it more official, to finally find domestic bliss.  He saw how Pero and Antilene’s love had only grown after their marriage, and a small part of him wanted Albedo to be in the family way very desperately.

Sighing as he turned his thoughts back to business, he sent a message to the former Cardinal of Darkness, now the Pontifex Maximus of the Theocracy, informing him of the death of Pride and the fact that the Holy City was now ready to be occupied once more. He even included an offer to help rebuild, as he had done in the Baharuth Empire. Momonga had no doubts that they would accept, with Surshana pushing the Supreme Executive Council to be more open and accepting.

Chapter Text

After much searching, Ainz had finally found the page containing the answer to a very interesting question: Why did the Dragon Emperor bring him and Nazarick as a whole in so late? In his Grimoire, he had found the answer:

“Jörmungandr has been summoning blacklisted player accounts to this world, starting with those who had many World Items. Its intent, once it finishes off the last Transferred Players and exterminates the New World, is to use Wild Magic to return to Earth and bring its creators to power with the stolen World Items. This is its design, as their malicious intentions became manifest in him, their insatiable hunger for more money and power drives him. And once their desire is satisfied, then his purpose is complete. Ainz Ooal Gown and his allies are the only chance of defeating the Serpent, as the sheer amount of data from the Tomb's immensity and the many World Items inside made it difficult to manifest until recently.”

He already knew the emperor was responsible for his appearance in the New World, and that it was a manifestation of the malicious code created by the YGGDRASIL Devs. The idea that the emperor was intending to return to Earth and make the megacorps even more powerful was extremely disquieting. At the very least, he understood where most of the major World Items were hidden. He quickly informed the rest of Nazarick of this, and after a short moment of fear, they returned to their preparations with renewed resolve.

After a very long audience with the Blue Roses, Momonga had had to accept their generous offer of assistance. But he was not expecting precisely who was joining with them, as Rigrit Bers Carau and the former leader of the Thirteen Heroes both joined up to help take down the Dragon Emperor, determined to take justice upon him for his misdeeds, including his role in summoning the Eight Greed Kings, who had terrorized humanity for decades.

The day had come. The chosen warriors of the Alliance were gathered in the Katze Plains, far from established civilization. Ainz Ooal Gown was using one of the spells from his Grimoire, one he had not had to use since the Guild had reunited. Using his tracking spell, he felt for his bond with the Platinum Dragon Lord, who was waiting outside of his father’s lair. Reaching out, he opened a sparkling, iridescent portal, and they went through. Immediately, they could feel a heavy atmosphere in the cave, as the ambient power in the air was so stifling that had they been even ten levels lower, they would have suffocated. Evidently, the amount of World Items hidden in this cave was larger than expected.

As they stepped forward, they were accosted by an unfortunately familiar face: Cure Elim Los Malvar, the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord. Tsaindorcus reared back and asked him, “Why do you align with my father? You despise him and his deeds as much as I do! So why do you stand at his side?”

The undead dragon simply replied, “The chance to kill more foul Players is a beautiful offer, but he sweetened the deal by offering me as much power as I desire, as many souls as I can devour to power my magicks.”

Immediately, those who had been assigned to take on the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord split off from the rest of the group, including Fluder Paradyne and Rigrit.

“How do I look now, my old friend? Am I powerful now?” Fluder Paradyne asked, flaunting his new powers to Rigrit.

“You are fantastic, child. The Sorcerer King has certainly showed you quite the kindness. I admit that you are quite a bit above my level now.” She replied, as she twisted her hand, firing off a bolt of fire.

Fluder smiled and replied, “Well, my next trick will leave me quite vulnerable. If you could protect me while I cast, I would appreciate it, friend.” As he began to cast Fallen Down, Evileye and Rigrit deflected or destroyed as many projectiles as they could, protecting the aged magic caster.

As he unleashed the onslaught, he cast Life Essence and watched as about half of his health evaporated away instantly. Behind him, he felt a similar casting taking place behind him as Evileye’s Talent activated and Fallen Down began to manifest for a second time. Looking to Rigrit, the two nodded and shielded the vampire as the cast proceeded. Soon she was ready, and the spell connected.

But the Undead remained. True, he was on his way out, but he was not at death’s door quite yet. Somehow, it had taken only half of his remaining health rather than instantly killing him by removing the remaining half of his maximum health. But there was no time to worry about this, as Fluder tried to mimic his patron’s favorite and most powerful combo.

“Skill: The Goal of All Life Is Death, Boost Magic: Grasp Heart!” The skill only barely triggered, the bells of the clock muted, but nonetheless it worked flawlessly. As he clenched his fist, the dragon fell to the ground. But so long as he hadn’t fully clenched, the dragon remained alive.

He walked up to the dragon and spoke. “Cure Elim Los Malvar, for the good of the world and its peoples, your life is forfeit. For the glory of Nazarick! For the Sorcerer King!” And as he raised his voice to a shout, he fully clenched his hand into a fist, crushing the dragon’s heart and killing him.

Lord Ainz was quite proud of his student for being able to pull off the ultimate skill of the Eclipse class, even as an Overlord Wiseman. His execution was shoddy and barely salvageable, but it had yielded results. Fluder was more focused on the full breadth of magical power, as compared to the Eclipse class’ heavy focus on Necromancy and Instant Death magic. While Fluder did have many of the same skills, in combat he favored the forms of magic that were simple, but powerful. As everyone regrouped, they could feel a nearby presence. A powerful enemy that was furious at the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord’s demise. Evidently the Dragon Emperor had had plans for his ally, though none could think of any that would go well for anyone save the World Serpent.

Chapter Text

The assembled warriors steeled themselves for the coming fight. Only a small number of them had actually been involved in the fight with the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord, whose corpse now lay strewn on the ground of the cave. Thus, there was little that actually had to be done in order to be fully prepared for the true battle that lay ahead. When those who had been involved in the scuffle had sorted themselves out and returned to their formation, the group advanced toward where they knew the Dragon Emperor waited.

Jörmungandr was awaiting them when they arrived, clearly displeased both at the death of his subordinate and at the fact that there were those who dared challenge him. The fact that his son was aligned with a group of Players was a large part of his current fury. But he greeted them regally, nonetheless.

“Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, I am honored by your presence. To what do I owe this honor? Have you tired of your unlife and come to beg for death? Or do you seek to serve under me?” He asked, sounding every bit like the Emperor he was, even despite his insults.

“No, Jörmungandr. I am quite pleased with my domain and my life. The reason for my presence is quite different from you what you pretend it is. You know why I am here, and what I intend to do.”

The dragon huffed, and replied, “True, Momonga, I know that you have come to slay me and to take the World Items to empower thy kingdom, though to what end, I care not. What does interest me is how you have managed to gather so many Players. To my knowledge, only the Six and the Hero remained in this world besides you. So how then have thy guildmates returned to thee?”

Ainz stiffened at hearing his username but answered just as cuttingly. “It was quite a simple matter, actually. There are powers even above you and me, and one aided me in restoring my Guild and in planning to reform the Old World. I know of many secrets because of their help, including your true nature and full plans.”

At this, the Emperor actually looked terrified, as the idea that there was some higher power watching his actions made him fear for his life in a way that he could not shake off. But within moments, his confidence had returned. Turning to his son he asked, “Oh my little one, why have you aligned yourself with these ones? I know how deeply you despise them and their fell works. We may not be close, but we are still kin. Should we not stand against this menace together?”

Tsaindorcus coldly responded, “These ones are truly noble of spirit, unlike you, Father. They seek power not for their own sake, but for the sake of the innocent and the downtrodden. That is why I stand with them, because we agree that people like you must be destroyed.”

Jörmungandr frowned and seemed almost regretful. But to anyone with half of a brain, it was clearly an act. Soon, he looked up again and began to speak again. “It is unfortunate that you have failed to see the error in your thinking, my spawn. You could have ruled beside me, and I do not mean so in the same way I had promised to Cure,” his voice sounded disgusted as he mentioned the Undead, “You would have actually survived to rule beside me, where he would simply be used to beat these ones down before I drained him and them at once. The fool truly thought I was offering him power, when in truth he would become a part of my power.”

“It is precisely this about you that we despise, the way that you use and abuse others for your own gain, and then discard them. This is what we hate, and what must be destroyed!” Tsaindorcus leapt at his father’s throat but was smacked down with his tail.

At this, everyone began to let loose their full arsenal. Ulbert immediately began to use Grand Catastrophe, waiting for the right moment to unleash his devastation upon the dragon. Shalltear and Albedo had him sufficiently distracted that he had failed to protect the area over his heart. True, there were thick scales, but his Ultimate was powerful. Aiming for the heart, he formed it into a spear-like bolt and unleashed it. The bolt raced toward the dragon’s heart and connected, dealing massive damage. But with Life Essence, he could see that he had only taken 44,000 damage, with almost 5 million HP remaining.

Cocytus, Warrior Takemikazuchi, Touch Me and Sebas were having great difficulty, as the emperor’s natural armored scales deflected all but their most powerful strikes. Peroroncino has having difficulty dealing damage, as even firing energy shots with his bow, he was unable to deal any decent amount of damage. All of the more physical warriors struggled due to his armored scales and his surprising agility. The only reason they were able to get any appreciable damage was thanks to Mare, who was using his Druidry to pin the emperor’s limbs in place. True, he easily broke free, but for a moment his limbs had been stopped, enough to actually deal an appreciable amount of damage.

Tsaindorcus had gotten back up and started tussling with his father, though with little success as his old man was quite powerful. All attempts to use Wild Magic against him were quickly shut down by the true master of the practice. Not that Tier Magic was any more effective against him, as Nazarick’s magic casters were easily being outclassed. Luci★Fer was having difficulty with his usual tricks, forced into a hit and run strategy. He hadn’t been able to summon any golems or use his new Ultimate, but he was confident that he and his friends would eventually beat the emperor. Rubedo, it seemed, had finally found someone that could match her strength, as she was taking heavy blows that were creating massive shockwaves knocking everyone off their balance. Fluder, Renner and Climb were just barely hanging on, as the emperor’s offensive and defensive power eclipsed even the Seven Sins themselves. They could not dish out enough power without getting hit by an attack that they were sure would kill them.

Alah Alaf, Surshana, Ainz and Antilene were gathered in a huddle at the entrance of the cave, talking rapidly in feverish whispers. What they were planning would hopefully help turn the tides somewhat.

Demiurge was quite irritated at how little he was able to accomplish against the dragon, as most of his offensive kit, and even his creator’s own was simply inadequate to take on this foe on their own. He was now quite painfully aware of just how slim their margin of victory was.

Bukubukuchagama and HeroHero were working together, with Hero trying to wear down the dragon’s armor with his highly corrosive acid, while Buku drew his ire towards her to draw attention away from the actual damage dealers. Bellriver was nearby, switching frequently between spell and sword as well as combining the two to try to catch the emperor off guard. So far, it seemed to have very little effect.

Blue Planet was with Mare, working with him to ensnare the emperor. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be tiring, as he was still breaking out of their druidic magic traps with consummate ease. Behind them was Yamaiko, trying desperately to ensure that everyone was healed despite her pitifully low MP. Luckily Amanomahitotsu had forged her a ring that expanded her MP capacity and regeneration speed tenfold, enough to make her more viable on the battlefield.

Tabula Smaragdina was in the back, firing off destructive spells to supplement Ulbert’s efforts, but only a few were actually doing anything more than chip damage at this point. Nishikienrai, like Luci★Fer was also using hit-and-run tactics, but more so because his build focused on stealth attacks and assassination. It wasn’t working as well as it could have, as the emperor seemed to be watching him whenever he wasn’t looking at the chaos unfolding around him. He looked at Momonga in the huddle and wondered what they were doing. Suddenly, the huddle broke, with Momonga and Surshana placing their hands on Antilene’s shoulders, and Alah Alaf on theirs.

“Are you sure this will work?”

“This has to work! It worked against Sloth, so maybe it’ll work against Jörmungandr. If this goes as planned, he’ll be finished!”

They stood there, Alah Alaf with his hands on the shoulders of Ainz and Surshana, as he activated Deus Vitae Vult, the power transferring into them. They continued, activating The Goal of All Life is Death as one, holy and deathly energies mingling as they transferred into Antilene.

She focused on her training as she called upon both of those skills herself as well as the energy flowing into her to enhance the spell she was casting. As she chanted, the familiar feeling of the Super-Tier spell, Pantheon took hold, and she felt the holy and deathly energies of the separate ultimate skills infusing into the spell. With her unique job class, ‘Angel of Death’, the two energies began to fully merge and alter the spell into a new and more powerful form.

As she released the spell, she felt a mighty presence manifest above her, a grim but heavenly power. Looking up, she found the proof of her success and of the Sorcerer King’s theory.

She had managed to summon a Seraph Empyrean, twice empowered by Deus Vitae Vult, infused with the essence of Death itself by her ‘Angel of Death’ class, and further empowered by a triple casting of The Goal of All Life is Death.

In its hands it wielded a sword so dark it appeared to be a hole in the fabric of the world, surrounded by white fire. The hilt of the blade was inscribed with the symbol of a clock, like that displayed during The Goal of All Life is Death, while the blade emanated an overwhelming and overpowering divine aura.

Jörmungandr looked upon the newly summoned angel with fear in his eyes. He knew exactly what this monster was and what it was capable of. But he couldn’t move anywhere, not with Luci★Fer, Ulbert and Demiurge’s use of Dimensional Lock to prevent him from teleporting, as well as Blue Planet and Mare working overtime to contain him.

As the Seraph of Death glided ever closer, the Dragon Emperor became all the more feverish in his attempts to escape, but ultimately was unable to break free of Mare’s handiwork. The Sorcerer King transmuting the stone into steel was certainly not conducive to his escape attempts.

In the end, Dragon Emperor Jörmungandr, creator of Wild Magic, manifestation of the evils of YGGDRASIL and would-be ally of the megacorps had no way to resist. As the Seraph sliced through the emperor’s neck, the clock on the hilt began to move, and every second caused the deafening sound of bells to emanate forth, signaling his coming doom. And as the clock struck twelve, the Dragon Emperor’s life ended, never to be restored.

But what was most interesting was that all of the souls that the Emperor had absorbed, particularly those of all the Players who had met their ends in this world, manifested once again in a heap where once he had been standing. They were alive, and human. True, they were not at their full strength anymore, but the Sorcerer King promised that they could regain that if they swore fealty unto him.

It was no surprise that all of those who could take this offer, did, swearing themselves as vassals to the Sorcerer King in exchange for their lost powers. They found the world they had known then greatly changed, and upon hearing their new master’s future plans, they were extremely excited. After all, they too had suffered under the megacorps.

Chapter Text

Part of their plans had had to be accelerated, as with the addition of the extra Players from Transference, now the planned military outpost would need to begin construction immediately. The outpost, meant to be a place of residence for those of the YGGDRASIL player base who chose to join in the revolution, had been intended to start primary construction far later in their plans. This new development had forced the expansion of the Monument of Ruin into a completed colony to halt, as both Mare and Blue Planet were urgently needed to complete the military base within a few weeks. That was as long as they had been able to prepare a place for them in E-Rantel on such short notice. Within about three weeks, they would have moved into that building, officially referred to as Outpost Alpha, and E-Rantel would be relieved of the pressure of handling such powerful new residents.

That was only one issue that the Sorcerer King and his guildmates had had to deal with upon their return. One of the more minor issues was the restoration of the Theocracy’s Holy City from the damage sustained during both the initial siege, as well as the Lords of Sin rampaging throughout it and the hallmarks of the fight with the Lord of Pride. Fortunately, Surshana already had an army of low-tier undead helping in the reconstruction of the rest of his nation, but the official request did specify the capital needed complete reconstruction. And he did not earn his reputation for generosity through propaganda, he was indeed a generous King, and with the backing of Nazarick, he had already made the world far better than it had been. He would be remiss if he did not aid in undoing his own handiwork, regardless, as he had already practically rebuilt the capital of the Baharuth Empire after his subordinates punished them for their errant leader’s disloyalty and disrespect.

One interesting side effect of Alah Alaf and Antilene using their respective Holy Magic skills was that, according to her, her pregnancy had accelerated by two months in the aftermath, making her more than halfway through the second trimester. It had been suspected that the healing and light-centric magic nurtured and accelerated the child’s growth. Fortunately, there seemed to be no ill effects caused by the high amount of Death Magic energy in her system. In fact, the child was suspiciously healthy, as if it had been strengthened by his mother’s masterwork. Naturally, both Peroroncino and Bukubukuchagama had worried over her, though they were careful not to make her feel as if she was helpless, knowing now from experience that that would only encourage her to engage in dangerous activities for a pregnant woman.

He had learned of this a day late from Ulbert, who was excitedly discussing this fact with Ancient One in the Library as he passed by. The Sorcerer King had been pulled aside for a round of celebration that had quickly turned into several… to the point that he woke up the next day with no memory of the past eight hours before he fell asleep. Albedo was so aroused by their victory that she had been completely insatiable, taking the rest of the day to fully satisfy.

After that day, both of them had been sporting countless new bruises, only some of which were from the fight. Luckily for him, bruises on his human skin did not show in his skeletal form. Albedo was not so lucky, but her professionalism ensured that before she left their room (she almost never slept in her old room anymore), she made sure to place a simple illusion on herself, anchored by her engagement ring.

One side effect of this (that it turned out she had planned from the start) was that whoever wore its partner would be able to see through the illusion. He was not able to look at Albedo for the entirety of that day, which was sad, as the following day was when wedding preparations began, and tradition dictated the bride and groom be separated once preparations began, for good luck. He may not be a major believer in luck but given how much momentum they had going towards their goals, it would be foolish to do anything to jeopardize that now.

As part of his practice learning to be a good father, Ainz had volunteered to watch Bukubukuchagama’s son. He had never been on babysitting duty, unlike the other guild members, because he almost always had a prearranged thing. However, this week he had put his foot down first thing—he was watching this little one and that was final. The thunderclap when he said that was unexpected, but it certainly helped to get his point across. Luci★Fer had recently taken to doing sound effects when people talked, which was usually a tossup between funny and annoying depending on the timing or the subject matter. But that time was absolutely perfect, underscoring just how much he meant that he was watching the baby.

Naturally, both Albedo and Bukubukuchagama had been over the moon about his paternal instincts, both very aware of how he saw the Guardians and how protective of them he was. Albedo had been sorely tempted to jump him again, but a single look from him had persuaded her that now was not the time. Though she was counting on the honeymoon.

Ultimately, there was very little to worry about, threat-wise. The invasion was not for another year, and they had plenty of time to prepare. Until then, it was merely business as usual in the Sorcerer Kingdom. He looked forward to enjoying his first year of married life before things got crazy again. And most of all, he looked forward to building a better world, shining and perfect, for his future children. A true paradise on Earth for all human kind to enjoy, where no tyrant could threaten and control others like in the world he was born into. Utopia.

Chapter Text

Today Momonga had been buried in work all day, as in accordance with tradition, he and his beloved had been secluded from each other for about two days at this point, with the wedding being the next day. He was somehow roped in to give his input on every little thing that had come up, from the specific details of rendering down and processing the bodies of the slain Lords of Sin, to the retrieval of the magic items hoarded by the fallen Dragon Emperor. Much of his time was spent in meetings, discussing topics such as the castle of the Eight Greed Kings as regards their plans, or the progress of colony construction by Mare and Blue Planet’s separate crews.

He dearly longed to spend even a moment with his dear Albedo, but she was bogged down in wedding plans, rarely in the Great Tomb, and far away from him on the occasions when she was there. Wedding rehearsal was not needed, as Peroroncino and Antilene’s wedding had refreshed their knowledge of how weddings happened. Though that was unfortunate, as even then he would have been able to spend time with her…. Oh, he really had it bad. Sometimes, he felt the urge to simply blow everyone off and elope with his love, but he knew that ultimately waiting was the best course of action.

Of course, the few conversations he had regarding the wedding were naturally a breath of fresh air in his day, as he had a lot of opinions on the matter and not much opportunity to discuss them. The bridesmaids would Message him, asking for his opinion on one of his fiancée’s decisions, and while he was happy to be involved in the planning, he would have preferred more physical involvement. As was tradition within the Sorcerer Kingdom, nothing of importance was ever done without style and flair. His casual but flagrant displays of magnificent power and fabulous luxury had become a staple of his kingdom’s culture, as evidenced by Peroroncino’s wedding. For an event they had known was going to end in a bloodbath, they still pulled out all the stops. Such extravagance would only be increased given that he was their King, and such a politically important moment would naturally require even more care and attention to get just right.

His wedding, he knew already, would be attended by diplomats from other nations, wishing to curry favor with the new reigning power, the backbone and leading nation of the Hallowed Alliance of Nations. He had decreed, naturally, that the diplomats would be kept toward the middle, while his guildmates, the nobility of his kingdom would sit with their children to watch the ceremony. Such an event would of course be very formal, as it was a royal wedding for the most powerful nation, with diplomats and nobles in attendance to watch him be married. Every detail would be scrutinized, and all future royal weddings would likely take their cues from his, as the extravagance would become expected, and balloon completely out of proportion.

At last, the day was here. Momonga stood at the altar, Touch Me and Peroroncino at his side. It was only natural that Touch Me had been chosen as his best man, and Albedo had chosen Shalltear as Maid of Honor. Soon, the ceremony would begin, with Ulbert of all people serving as the priest.

As the organs began blaring, he recognized at once the tune they were playing, an ancient piece by his time period: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, by Bach. The fact that Albedo had chosen a religiously inspired piece for her wedding, where an archdemon was the priest and she a succubus, had been far too funny to him. But now, it pulled at his heartstrings, because he knew what it meant. And turning to the door, his intuition was correct. Albedo stood there in the most beautiful white dress, arm in arm with her creator, his good friend Tabula Smaragdina. As she reached the dais, he kissed her brow and led her to the altar before sitting down in the first row.

In his eyes, she was the truest ideal of angel, a pure and noble being that embodied love. Her more demonic nature just made her spicier, and their couplings more passionate. She was evidently having similar thoughts, as she was almost drooling seeing him in his tuxedo. Though she had seen his human form before, after so long without him she was feeling her carnal urges more strongly than normal.

And now came the most crucial part of the ceremony, something which had required weeks of work from Ancient One, as they had to adapt his already existing spell, Oath of Binding. This was because what they intended was far too complex for the spell he had created. The plan had been to enchant the Guild Rings they shared to serve as physical anchors for their wedding vows.

That part had certainly been within the original spell’s abilities, but they wished for the bond to be deeper, strong enough to allow them to share pain and converse telepathically. The latter ability was possible, by embedding a permanent Message spell into the rings that allowed them to talk to each other regardless of distance. And after weeks of work, the former was possible, though Ancient One had fallen asleep immediately after presenting the final product due to lack of sleep, only barely waking up in time for the wedding.

Now as Aura carried their heavily modified Guild Rings up to them, they each took their partner’s ring, and as they swore their vows, the spell infused into them settled as their terms were set. When Ulbert pronounced them married, neither one hesitated, immediately jumping at each other and kissing each other passionately. The crowd, naturally, began to applaud thunderously. The first, second, third and fourth receptions were filled with guests asking things of him, but he could not remember, as one thing dominated his thoughts: He was married now!

The honeymoon lasted for about a month. For the entirety of that time, neither of them was seen, though reports of strange sexual-sounding noises were coming in from all over the world. Their passion inspired a wave of other similar weddings and spontaneous hookups in celebration of the most powerful mage’s nuptials.