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Chapter 167 ~ The New World

“Sato- I mean, Momonga, are we not…”

Yuuji turned to look at the Overlord by his side, sitting on the obsidian throne World Item named “Throne of Kings”; a world item Ainz Ooal Gown received upon clearing the Underground Tomb of Nazarick dungeon in a single attempt. 

The appearance of his dear friend in this form was one familiar to him, as he had seen it often through the anime. However, aside from his appearance which was much more intimidating and impressive in reality, the aura and presence Yuuji would expect Momonga to exude were… absent.

Another evidence that proved they were still in the Yggdrasil game. 

Momonga nodded with a slight sound of bones hitting bones as he responded.

“Yes. We are still in Yggdrasil. As you can see in the top right of your screen where the server time is, we have around 10 minutes before the server shutdown.”

Yuuji did not miss the slight disappointment and sadness within his voice as he spoke those last few words. 

A game he had called home for more than a decade. A place where he could belong when reality did not give him that. A place where he could be his best self. And a place he could be with his dear friends.

And now, such a sacred, beloved space would reach its end. No matter how much Yuuji and the rest of the group chat members had help him and become his new family, the past wouldn’t be so easily forgotten. No, it would never be forgotten. 

But, at the very least, Yuuji hoped Satoru would slowly accept the fact and move on. 

“I see… Then, perhaps we can use this chance to get our bearings and familiarize ourselves with our powers and… memories.”

Yuuji sent an emoticon of a winking face holding a thumb up, to which Momonga rescinded with a chuckle and a thumbs up. 

Then, Momonga turned towards Lelouch, who seemed to be slowly recovering from the pain. 

He was truly shocked when he saw the three suddenly appear by his side, and with such striking appearance. 

From a first glance, Momonga could make an educated guess of what their race and class could be. However, apart from that, he had no idea what their builds were or what kind of equipment they’re wearing. 

“Does your head still hurt, Lelouch?”

“Nggh… It’s starting to not hurt as much… But the phantom pain is still there.”

He held his head with his gloved hand and shook his head. This… This was the first time he had ever felt such tremendous pain in his head. Did Yuuji experience this every time he teleported to another world for the mission…?

Satoru nodded towards Lelouch. Then, he turned towards Aika, trying to see if she was also still in pain.

“Aika, how about you? Are you- E-Eehhh…? W-What is she doing…?”

“Guhehehe… Guhehehe~ Oh nyooo~ Hubby, you can’t~ Ahn~! Just where are you touching me~? Not there~ Don’t tease me~”

Hearing her little chuckles and murmurs, the three boys all turned to look at Aika, and they saw her facing away from them, hugging herself while wriggling in place, giggling creepily. 

And while Momonga couldn’t show any expression due to his skeleton features and Lelouch due to it still being a game, Yuuji could tell they were making a weirded out expression right now.

“Aaahh… Well, let’s just let her live in her wonderland for now…”

Lelouch and Momonga nodded… They still have around 8 minutes now, so they still have a few minutes to spare. 

Yuuji couldn’t help but smile helplessly at Aika… Wondering if she too was super horny since they haven’t seen each other in so long. 

And with her new appearance… Yuuji could barely hold himself back. If possible, he’d like to spend his first night in this new world with her. 

Yuuji shook his head, keeping the lewd thoughts he had in the back of his mind for now, and turned towards Momonga. 

“Momonga, as you can see, we have received the supporting items from the group chat. And… we also have the “memories” about being a part of Ainz Ooal Gown…”

There was silence as Momonga slowly processed Yuuji’s words. 

He turned to look at the line of flags, hung across the throne room; each one depicting the symbol of his dear friends. 

And then, he saw three “new” flags he had never seen before. 

The first one was that of an angel’s wing and devil’s wing. The second, a pair of devil’s wings with a heart in the middle. And the third, a pair of angel’s wings with the symbol of Geass. 

It was easy to tell which one belonged to whom. And the fact that they existed here meant that…

Satoru let out a sigh, at least inwardly as he could not truly sight in the game or as a skeleton. 

Then, he looked back towards Yuuji and nodded. 

“I understand… Please don’t mind it. I… understand how the group chat works. But… I’d like to hear your stories soon.”

Yuuji and Lelouch both nodded to his request. 

Momonga then leaned back to his throne and looked at the server time, slowly ticking down to its last minutes before the shut down at 00:00:00.

‘It has been… a journey. I used to think this would be the end… But.’

He glanced at Yuuji, who was now busy snapping Aika out of her daze, and Lelouch who was fiddling with his system UI. And a sense of relief, excitement, and nostalgia filled his chest.

‘It’s yet another start… A start to an even more adventurous journey.’

He turned his gaze back towards the flags. The flags of his friends. 

Touch Me. Nishikienrai. Hero Hero. Bukubukuchagama. Peroroncino. Warrior Takemikazuchi. Tabula Smaragdina. And many more…

Including the three who had left the guild early and were now replaced by Yuuji, Aika, and Lelouch. 

His dear friends…

‘I’ll be keeping your legacies… And keep moving forward with my new friends. I hope you don’t mind.’

He closed his eyes, reminiscing the precious memories he had with his guild mates, friends, and families in this game. The happy. The sad. The excited. The disappointment. Everything, now beautiful memories he will never forget and would forever fuel him in his life.  

Then, he opened his eyes, and turned towards his new, dear friends. 

“It’s time. Are you guys ready?”

“Yes.”

“Uhn~!!!”

“We are.”

Yuuji, Aika, who was clinging onto Yuuji’s arm, and Lelouch all nodded. 

And soon… the server time ticked until there were only seconds left. 

23:59:56

23:59:57

23:59:58

23:59:59

00:00:00

……

…

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00:00:01

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Carne Village. 

It was a village located on the border of the Re-Estize Kingdom, near the edge of its border with the Baharuth Empire, close to the southern tip of the Azellerisia Mountain Range. 

A small, quiet village just outside a patch of woodland named The Great Forest of Tob, a place that brought the village both bounty and danger. 

Considering its size and its location as a frontier village of the Re-Estize Kingdom, its population was unexceptional. A mere 120 people, distributed among 25 families. 

The village made its living from the resources of the woodland forest and agriculture, taking advantage of the vast land around them. 

Apart from doctors and herbalists who’d sometimes come to collect herbs from the Great Forest of Tob, the only visitors to the village were the yearly tax collectors. 

It was a place fairly cut off from the rest of the world. 

Without technologies found in cities, or even simple magic items such as items that would create magical illumination of [Continual Light], the villagers within this small patch of civilization worked according to the whims of nature around them. 

They would start working early hours in the morning, the moment the sun peeked out from the horizon, up until it set fully on the other side of the world. 

Today was no different from any other. 

Waking up early in the morning, Enri Emmot went to the well to carry water. The beautiful, blonde-haired girl with untanned, surprisingly pale skin despite her farmer lifestyle, a slender figure, lithe arms, and slender legs despite her quite sizable womanly features both front and back, quickly made her way to the well. 

After filling up her bucket with water, she hoisted it up and made her way back home. And she would be making the same trip twice more, totaling to three times, to fully fill her house’s water tank. 

Despite her lithe figure, the slender, plate arms of the young woman belied the true strength and muscles she had beneath those pale, soft skin. Long years of farm life and helping out with chores and manual labor had made sure she had grown some muscles, making her quite fit and lean, despite the suppleness and softness she still retained as a young girl. 

As Enri made her way home, she couldn’t help but dread the fact that she would need to make the same trip twice more. If she had a bigger bucket, even if it were to become a bit heavier, she would’ve taken it if it meant decreasing the number of trips she had to make. 

Suddenly, she heard a sound that snapped her out of her idle daze. She turned to look, and immediately from but a glance, she could feel the tension in the air, and seeds of fear began to sprout within her heart. 

Her ears picked up sounds of woods being broken as well as… A scream.

A chill ran down her spine. 

No… It must be a mistake. She must be mistaken. It couldn’t be a human voice. Why would a human suddenly make such terrifying cries?

And then, she noticed one more thing that made all thoughts disappear from her mind. 

The fact that the screams… came from the direction of her home. 

Casting away the bucket of water, Enri ran. She ran as quickly as she could. 

And perhaps lady luck pitied her so much that she gave her the luck to not trip over her own long skirt and help her keep her balance to keep on running. 

The sound rang out once more. And this time, she could not deny it anymore… It was a human scream. 

Her heart sank to her stomach, yet she kept running, no matter if she could feel her legs burning from the acid her muscles excreted due to the inability of her breath to catch up to the demand of oxygen she needed to run so quickly.

She ran, ran, and ran. 

The neigh of horses. The screams of humans. And the cracking of wooden structures. 

The sounds became clearer and clearer as she neared her home. 

And she soon saw someone… and another one in armor, swinging a sword at him. 

The villager collapsed to the ground with a howl of pain, and with a single thrust to his mortal chest, the howl vanished, and the man dropped to the ground, like a puppet that had its strings cut off. 

“Morga-san…”

In such a small village, even someone unrelated to her family or work would be as close as kin. As such, she knew full well who the villager that had been cut down was.

He was a loud person, a rambunctious one. But he was a good man deep down… He had done nothing wrong that would deserve a steel blade through the heart. 

It was unfair. But, Enri gritted her teeth and continued to run. Run towards her home. To find her family, while praying to whatever Gods may listen to the prayers of a little, village girl like her. Pray that they will be safe. 

“Dad! Mom! Nemu!”

Enri opened the door with a shout, and she saw three familiar figures with unfamiliar looks of fear etched on their faces. 

“Enri! Are you alright?!”

Her father held her tightly in his arms. They were strong, brawny, tough arms from all the work he had done in the field. But now, they were trembling… It was as if it took him everything to hold her tightly. 

“Aaah… Enri…”

Her mother also embraced her. Her gentle, lithe arms now seemed even weaker as she trembled all over. 

“Good! Now that Enri’s back, we need to flee as well!!!”

They couldn’t stay any longer. They need to flee, lest the steel blades would find and pierce their chest as well. 

The family of four immediately grabbed each other's hand and ran out of their home. But just as they were about to leave, a man, a fully-armored knight bearing the insignia of the Baharuth Empire, stood at the doorway. A long sword in hand. 

The Baharuth Empire was the neighbor to the Re-Estize Kingdom, and the two had frequently waged war upon each other. Most of the battles have been mostly limited to the region around the fortress city, E-Rantel and had not reached the village. 

That is… until now. 

The cold eyes that pierced through the vision slits of his helmet froze the entire Emmot family. 

And just as he was about to enter the house…

“UOOOOHHH!!!”

“KUUH!!”

Enri’s father lunged at the knight, toppling him over and causing both men to stumble around the ground. 

“Damn you!!!”

Blood streamed from the small cut on her father’s face, a small wound that he must’ve suffered from bull-rushing a man in full plated armor. 

He continued to struggle against the knight as he held the knight’s hand from drawing his short sword, while the knight held his hand which was holding a kitchen knife.

The sight of blood and struggle for life stunned the two young girls of the Emmot family. 

“Enri! Nemu!”

The cry of their mother snapped both daughters out of their frozen fear. And as they turn to look, they could see their mother, shaking her head while wearing a heartbreaking expression on her once beautiful, gentle face. 

They ran. The three of them ran as quickly as they could as to not let the ultimate sacrifice of their beloved father and husband go to waste. 

Guilt and hesitation clawed at her heart, drawing fresh blood and leaving a scar that would probably never heal. 

The neighing of horses. Angry shouts. Clash of steel. And the smell of iron and burning flesh. 

All of them assaulted Enri’s ears and nose from the direction of the village. 

The fear was enough to freeze her in her step… If not for the small hand that spurred her on, her little sister’s hand, she wouldn’t have the ability to keep on running for long. 

Suddenly, her mother, who was running ahead of her, suddenly froze, turned around, and doubled back, her hands frantically gesturing to her children to run somewhere else, and far. 

Even without a word, Enri knew what she had done… 

She bit her lips, held her little sister’s hand tighter, and continued to run as she forced back the tears in her eyes in futility. 

She continued to run… And steeled herself to make the same decision as her mother for her little sister.