Lumière was never alone since waking up as her avatar.

If Jack was not with her, then she was attended to by three maids. Never the same three maids—Nazarick had forty-two Homunculus Maids that were created by Whitebrim, Herohero, and Coup De Grâce—each morning they would bring her breakfast. While she ate, the three maids would work together to carefully brush Lumière's long hair.

The only time the maids would leave her was if Jack was there to attend to her in their place.

It was a huge contrast to what she was used to.

In her previous life, she was consistently alone. She had siblings and parents, but it had been years since she even talked to them. She was born with a weak body and had regular trips to the hospital.

Her parents were politicians. Her tragedy made for a good sob story and boosted their ratings. They spared no expense for her treatments, indeed, she was their darling poster child to win over sympathetic voters.

But that's all she was to them.

When her condition got worse, she lost her immune system and had to be placed in a bubble.

She wasn't able to have direct skin contact with anyone else since she was eight years old.

At first they made the effort to put on the suits and hold her hand.

At first...

Then they got busy and she never saw them again.

They paid for her isolated bubble. They paid for the doctors to check up on her and refresh her medicine. They paid for her to live. They paid to sell her story.

The only company she kept were those she met online.

She had longed for social interaction and human contact. That was why she had joined YGGDRASIL in the first place—to find people she could chat with. It could be overwhelming at times; there were days when she muted herself because she couldn't find the energy to speak, but it was so very worth it.

She only wished it was more physical. She wished... she wished she could reach through the screen and touch her friends. Have them touch her. Hug them. Hold hands with them.

Anything...

Anything to make her not feel so very alone in that tiny little room she was confined to.

Now not only did she have constant company, but she was able to touch someone—and have them want to touch her.

She loved holding Cheshire in her arms. She loved feeling his soft fur, and hearing him purr.

It was such a marvelous sensation. Such a simple pleasure that she never had a chance to partake in previously.

Jack was nearly always at her side as well since coming to that world. When the maids attended to her, Jack would hover in the back like a shadow, ready to assist in any way.

At first, Lumière had been nervous about his yandere tag, but he was only ever kind to her.

She had worried he would be aggressive, instead, he was very gentle. He never tried to grab her like some yanderes would in the games she played. The more time she spent around him, the more comfortable she felt around him.

A week into the new world—new life—the angel started to have thoughts.

Hopes.

That maybe, just maybe, she could have contact outside of someone brushing her hair or holding her kitty.

It had been... oh, gosh... how long had it been? She couldn't remember the last time someone held her hand, let alone hugged her.

Now blessed with a healthy body, and (relatively) settled into her new life, the thought of getting to touch another person made her bubbly with nerves.

Can I touch him too?

She wanted to try something.

A hug.

She hadn't felt a hug in... in so long.

She was tempted to ask Momonga, but she felt too shy. Momonga had repeatedly admitted to feeling awkward when people got close to him suddenly at work in real life. She didn't want to infringe upon his space by asking such a personal thing.

And Jack... supposedly... cared about her, right?

So it would be completely okay to ask him, right?

The angel fidgeted restlessly in her bedroom. A maid had wheeled in a cart full of yummy things for Lumière to enjoy that afternoon.

That was another joy she got to partake in.

Food! She actually got to eat food. She was on an IV drip for so long she actually choked the first time she tried to eat. What a novel experience. Chewing! She had to chew food. She admittedly pigged out the first day in Nazarick, requesting anything and everything.

She then threw it all up barely an hour later because she did not understand how to stop eating. Having a full stomach was a weird feeling. How did people get anything done when their stomach felt so heavy and their body became lethargic?

When she explained what happened to a panicked Momonga—the maids alerted him that she had gotten sick—he got a good chuckle from it. He was swift to add that learning how to eat in moderation was a skill she'd have to acquire, and ordered that all of her meals be carefully monitored going forward to prevent over-eating.

The angel did not want to throw up again, so she readily agreed. While it was sweet of Jack and Cheshire to tend to her while she was sick, she did not want a repeat. Eating food was great. Having it come up was not.

Additionally, over the past week, she and Momonga had focused on adjusting to the new world while their subordinates methodically surveyed the surrounding land. Lumière spent most of her time in her tower, going through her inventory and testing out some of her strictly-RP inventions.

For example, she created a ring that would allow undead to consume and taste food. Whatever they ate would be directly converted into MP like a mana potion. It had been created for RP sessions; it had no game-value so there was no way to see if it worked or not in YGGDRASIL. The only thing that claimed it worked was the flavor text that she had written in.

According to Momonga and Jack, the ring still worked. Both were able to consume and taste food.

Lumière had created a lot of items for RP sessions that relied solely on flavor text. She spent most of her time going through her inventory to test out each one.

On that day, however, her thoughts were preoccupied with wanting to see...

Would it be okay?

She was anxious: her stomach filled with butterflies, her heart(?) uncomfortably light, and she had a weird desire to hide under the covers. Her wings fluttered, beating quickly in tune with her rapidly increasing heart rate(??). She sat on her bed as the maid wheeled in the cart and Jack began to set up the food at a small table. Cheshire floated around Lumière, his long tail gently brushing against her cheek.

When the maid left, Lumière sucked in a sharp breath.

It should be fine, right?! It's not—it's not an abuse of power, right?

That was something that held her back. She created Jack—would he feel obligated to say yes to her no matter what?

What if he didn't actually like her, and she was jumping to conclusions? What if she misread his bio and instead he actually hated her and was only pretending to be nice? What if—

The angel buried her face in her hands, her wings batting even faster.

"My dearest lady?" inquired Cheshire, the fairy-transformed-into-a-cat hovered around her. "What is wrong?"

"Lady Lumière?" asked Jack, alarmed. He kneeled in front of her in an instant. "Dearest lady, what is wrong?"

Lumière peeked out from behind her fingers, feeling her face grow hot. "I—Jack?"

"Yes?"

She opened her mouth to speak, lost her nerve, and promptly buried her face in her hands again.

I can't—I can't do this! It's too embarrassing. I'm so afraid he'll say no or—

"My dearest lady, we are here to serve you. Anything you desire we will do everything in our power to get," assured Jack.

He's always so calm and cool, Lumière admired.

Slowly, nervously, the angel lowered her hands. Her cheeks and pointed ears were tinged red, her big blue eyes were wide. "Um—can—Jack—can I t-touch you?"

Jack immediately said, "Absolutely."

"Can I—can you—would you be comfortable if I asked—if I asked you to hug me?" she squeaked out.

"I would do so in a heartbeat," he said as quickly as he could.

"Then... would you please hug me?"

Jack was so fast, he was a blur. He pulled her into his arms, and she shuddered at the sensation.

Close, close, close, close—!

She stiffened, trembling from the overload of sensations. She could feel his arms surround her: gentle and strong. She could smell him, and hear the crinkle in his clothes as he held her. Her heart dropped painfully before it started to beat in overdrive.

It was—too—much—!

Her eyes rolled back as darkness descended upon her vision.

Lumière had fainted.

"AHHH! NOOO!" Cheshire cried out. "LET HER GO YOU IDIOT!"

"My lady! I'm so sorry—!" Jack panicked, quickly releasing her back on the couch.

Cheshire plopped on her lap, reaching up to use his paws to touch her face. "She's out cold. Damn it, Jack."

"I—I—"

"Get out. Go tell the maid outside to fetch something warm and energizing to drink," Cheshire ordered, his feline eyes narrowed as he glowered at Jack.

"... Okay," said Jack. He left the room.

Jack quietly shut the door behind him.

Jack sank to the floor, burying his face in his hands. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

He could still feel her warmth in his cold arms. Could still smell the scent of her bath soap. Could hear the soft rustling of her dress.

He held himself, trying desperately to relieve that sweet, sweet memory.

"Ahhhh... my dearest lady... oh... my dearest lady... I love you so much..."

Cheshire phased through the door, noticed Jack on the ground, and sighed. "Please fanboy elsewhere. You're going to get in the way."

Jack flinched, cleared his throat, and straightened himself back up. "... Apologies."

"Uh-huh. Go. Get. The. Drink."

Jack cocked his head, wisely not saying anything else to the fairy.

⁽ˇ́˙̫ˇ̀˵⁾

I can't believe I fainted, Lumière fretted when she came to. Cheshire used his telekinesis to float a warm drink into her hands and encouraged her to take it easy. Lumière could only gulp it down, unable to say anything in response to his doting concern. Jack, blessedly, did not comment on what happened and instead politely served her afternoon snacks.

She was mortified. Utterly humiliated.

She knew it had been a while since she was held, but was she truly that... pathetic?

Cheshire and Jack were so nice about it, however—

Ahhh! I'm so embarrassed!

She wanted to crawl in a hole until the memory was a blur.

The action itself wasn't bad. She enjoyed it. She wanted to do it again.

But she really didn't want to faint, and oh no what if they thought she was a bother—?

Why couldn't there be a walkthrough or guide she could read up online about this? How did she get another hug without passing out? Would it even be okay to ask for it?

She could hold Cheshire without much issue, but that was mostly due to the fact that his presence was the same as a purring heating pad. He'd crawl into her lap without her even noticing. He was tiny, quiet, and fluffy like a pillow. He had laid on her stomach every night she had slept in that new world. His touch, she was comfortable with.

It was the same as bath time. The maids helped clean up her wings, and their touches didn't bother her because it felt no different from when the nurses or caretakers would give her sponge baths in her previous life.

There was a difference in intention and presence. Cheshire was more akin to a pet that comforted her, and the maids were doing their duty to assist her (Lumière literally had no idea how to take care of wings and the maids apparently did).

But a hug?

A hug was... special. Intimate.

It was not necessarily because it was Jack hugging her—Lumière was quite certain she would have fainted if Momonga did it as well—so much as that kind of affection was so much.

She didn't know how else to describe it: it was just intense. A lot. Big. Heavy.

Wonderful. Addicting. Warm.

The angel was in a dilemma for her new craving. She wanted more, yet was uncertain how to go about asking for it. Or if it would even be okay to ask for it.

So she turned to the only person she could.

The following day, she enjoyed a private meeting with Momonga. The two needed to discuss what else they had discovered since coming to the new world.

Momonga learned that his emotions were being regulated—he guessed it was part of the undead passive—and he had access to all of his spells and abilities. Lumière had confirmed that many items she had created for RP worked as stated by the flavor text. They talked quietly about what else they planned to research in the coming week. When the conversation came to a natural lull, Lumière took the opportunity to hesitantly broach her plight.

"My friend?"

"Mm?"

"May I—" She fiddled with her fingers, her wings flapping. "May I seek your advice? Not, um, as a leader of the guild but as my friend."

"Of course," assured Momonga. "What can I do?"

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I—I've never been able to do the things a lot of people have."

"I know," said Momonga. "You were sick."

"Y-Yeah. I always, um, wanted to, but, um..." Her wings fluttered quickly behind her. "Here I can. There's—there's a lot I want to do."

"I understand," he said. "You should do it. No holding back."

"That—I—" Lumière shifted nervously. "I don't know if I should, morally or not."

"Morals?" Momonga repeated in confusion. "What does that matter?"

"I—it's—I want—I want hugs."

Momonga shifted his weight on the couch. The two were seated in her room at the tower, a cherry fire crackling in front of them. "... Okay?"

"I fainted when Jack hugged me," she confessed in a whisper.

He did not have a face anymore, but the angel could tell he was looking at her pityingly. "Oh, Lue..."

"I—Is it even okay to ask for more?" she fretted. "What if I want even more?"

"More than a hug?" he asked. "Like...?"

"Like—like—" Lumière gestured wildly with her hands, struggling to find the right words.

Momonga waved his skeletal hand. "Lumière if you want to do it, then do it. Ask for as many hugs or whatever from whoever. Clone Cheshire and have a—a—a cat cuddle party or whatever if you want."

"What if I want s-something more intense?" Lumière pressed. Recalling Jack's settings, she said, "Like—romance?"

Momonga stiffened in surprise. "Romance...? Er..."

"With—With Jack," she hurriedly added. "For example."

"Oooooh," he sighed in relief. "Oh. That's right. He was created to be your main—er—what was it? L-I? For the RP sessions?"

"Yes. Um, his flavor text was designed so he would—he would—er—you know," she stumbled, her face feeling hot.

"Ah. Okay?"

"I dunno if that's—if that's morally okay? They clearly have free will."

"If you both want to do it, then do it," he dismissed. "What else matters?"

"But—But—But—"

"Do it," he said. "It's not like you rewrote someone else's creation..."

"What?"

"Nothing!" Momonga glanced away. "Have you visited outside yet?"

Lumière shook her head, letting her friend change the subject. "No."

"It makes for a good view," he said.

"It does? The world is... pretty?"

"Yes, nothing like our home world," said Momonga. "Ha... it's a shame the others couldn't come."

"We'll have to make sure we see the whole world in their place then," said Lumière. She giggled. "Maybe we should take it over—that'd be a fitting role for our villainous guild."

Momonga chuckled briefly. "How evil."

Of course neither of them really considered that an option. Not only would such a thing be difficult, but it'd also cause too many issues. One, how were they supposed to rule a world after it was taken over? Maintaining public order, managing the government, stopping rebellions before they started—so many problems cropped up when various countries were brought together under unified rule.

Especially if that rule was forced upon them.

Lumière might have enjoyed playing conquest games like Warhammer and Civilization, but those were games.

It didn't matter if she lost in them—losing here, though?

Unacceptable.

⁽ˇ́˙̫ˇ̀˵⁾

After being properly encouraged by Momonga, Lumière decided to take action.

"I want more hugs," she told Jack and Cheshire later that evening. "I—I know that might be bothersome, but I hope—"

"It's not a bother," both of her creations rushed to say.

"I'm not... accustomed to them," she said, her wings hugging her waist as she held herself. The angel could not bring herself to look either of them in the eye, instead, she steadfastly stared at the fireplace. "But I want to be. I hope... I would like... if you two would please... initiate? When it's only us... I want..."

She wanted to say more, yet she could not find the right words to do justice to how badly she wanted it.

It was a desperate, fervor desire.

She didn't care how embarrassed she felt admitting it, she wanted it that badly. She wanted to be held. She wanted to have someone pat her head. She wanted to be kissed on the nose and cheeks. She wanted to sleep in between friends. She wanted to dance with someone. She wanted to jump into their arms and be twirled around.

She wanted to be touched with love and affection.

Cheshire floated and draped himself over her shoulders. Lumière was startled at his sudden touch, but she did not have a chance to react because Jack was already carefully taking her hands in his. He kneeled in front of her as she sat on the couch at the same time Cheshire nuzzled into her cheek.

"Just as badly as you want that, we want that as well," he said. "You are our dearest lady."

"We would love to hold you and be held by you," Cheshire purred into her.

"We are yours," said Jack. "If you allow us, we wish to stay with you forever."

Lumière trembled, her vision blurring.

If this has all been a dream, let me die before I wake up.

She squeezed his hands, her throat too tight for her to do anything else but earnestly nod.

And if this is real... Thank you. Whoever caused this... Thank you...

⁽ˇ́˙̫ˇ̀˵⁾

Seated, Momonga gazed at the mirror directly in front of him. The image reflected in the mirror, about three feet in diameter, was not Momonga's. Instead, it reflected a grassy plain from somewhere else, as if it were a television. The grass calmly swayed in the breeze.

Showing the flow of time, the sun that had just started to rise over the plain. The pastoral scene coming into view was a far cry from the hopeless landscape of the Great Tomb of Nazarick's onetime world, Helheim.

Momonga lifted a hand and slowly moved it to the right. The view reflected in the mirror slid to the right as well.

It was a Mirror of Remote Viewing. Since it would display a specified location, it was an item that PK (player killers) or PKK (PK killers) would find handy, but because players could conceal themselves easily enough with anti-intelligence magic and it was vulnerable to counterattacks from reactive barriers, it was also an item of dubious utility.

But as an item that could display what was happening outside, there were plenty of reasons for Momonga to use it in his current situation. As he watched the grassy plain go by from overhead, he thought it looked like a location from a movie.

"So if I move like this, it'll scroll the screen. And I can switch the angle like this..." Drawing circles in the air, he kept changing his view. For hours now he'd been using trial and error to search but had yet to find any sentient beings. He silently focused on the monotonous task, but since all that came up was the same grassy plain, his motivation began to dwindle.

"Ooooh," went Lumière.

The two of them were seated on a couch in the tower. Momonga had his own office they could meet at, yet he found himself preferring the library/lounge in the Hidden Tower. It was cozy with a wide comfy couch and had a pleasant atmosphere to it. Not to mention, Momonga had come to enjoy the smell of the cherry wood burning in the large fireplace in front of the couch.

Lumière tried to use the mirror earlier but had little luck which was why Momonga was testing it out with her watching.

They weren't the only ones in the room. Sebas stood off to Momonga's right, and Jack off to Lumière's left.

After a while, something that looked like a village appeared. It was about six miles south of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. The village was surrounded by wheat fields, and there was a forest nearby. Picturesque was definitely the word for the scenery. At a glance, it didn't look as if the civilization were terribly advanced.

As Momonga zoomed in, something seemed off. He let out a soft huh and asked, "Are they having a festival?"

Though it was early morning, there were people going in and out of houses, running. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry.

Lumière's eyes narrowed as she peered at the village. "They seem kind of... frantic."

Jack and Sebas both leaned closer to the mirror.

"Looks like a massacre," observed Jack.

Knight-like figures in full plate armor were brandishing swords at simply dressed people who seemed to be the villagers.

Lumière gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth.

Jack was correct. It was a massacre.

The villagers fell one by one each time a knight raised a sword. They must not have had any means of resistance. All they could do was flee while the knights just chased them down and killed them. Horses the knights must have ridden in on were standing in the fields eating the wheat.

"Tch!" Momonga clicked his tongue and went to change the view. His hand slipped and a different part of the village showed up on the screen. Two knights were breaking up a struggle between a villager and another knight. They forcibly dragged the villager away and made him stand up, with one knight restraining his hands. Then, as they watched, the other stabbed him with his sword. The blade went clear through the flesh and came out the other side. The sword didn't stop there. The knight stabbed once, twice, three times, over and over, as if taking out his anger. Finally, he kicked the body away, and it fell, gushing blood.

"Oh no," whispered Lumière, her eyes wide.

Momonga glanced over at his companion, puzzled by her reaction—then confused by his lack of.

Was it because he was an undead and she an angel? Or did it have something to do with their karmic value? Or...?

The villager's mouth worked frantically, spilling a bloody froth. His eyes were already glazing over, and it was impossible to tell where he was looking. Still, he clung to life and was able to get some words out. "Please, my daughters..."

"Momonga," Lumière whispered. "We should help them."

"Why?" he shrewdly asked. "They're of no value to us, and it could put us at risk by revealing ourselves to a potential enemy."

"But—" Lumière's wings fluttered.

Momonga didn't like disagreeing with his friend, but he had to put their safety first. He was making the right call... right?

He hesitantly glanced at the other figures in the room. Jack, who was nodding in agreement at his choice, and Sebas who—

For a second Momonga thought he saw Touch Me, Sebas's creator and Momonga's savior, behind Sebas.

"When someone's in trouble, it's only natural to help them."

That had been Touch Me's mantra, and what the brave paladin had told Momonga when he first saved Momonga.

Gah, thought Momonga. Fine.

"I suppose a test run is necessary," reluctantly muttered Momonga. "Sebas, put Nazarick on the highest alert level. We're going ahead. Albedo is standing by in the next room; tell her to fully arm herself and follow—but no Ginnugagap. Also, prep reinforcements. If something happens and we become unable to retreat, send in a party with good stealth abilities or invisibility. Lumière—"

Lumière stood up, eyes bright. "Yes! Albedo as tank, you DPS, and I as the healer—"

"Wait, my lady," protested Jack. "It's far too dangerous."

Momonga hesitated. Jack had a point about the danger. Would it be too much of a gamble for both of them to go? Lumière was a healer and could, theoretically, resurrect him—

Lumière looked pleadingly at him.

Oh no, thought Momonga as soon as those big blue eyes hit him.

How could he say no?

"It's fine," Momonga said. "But I agree that Lumière is a high value target. Jack, you must prioritize her safety above all else. She is our safety net and must remain alive regardless of cost."

"I—yes," said Jack anxiously.

"I should join as well," said Sebas.

"If you escort us, then who will relay orders? If there are knights rampaging through that village, there's the possibility another group could appear near Nazarick while we're gone. If that happens, we need you here."

The scene in the mirror changed and he saw a young girl send a knight staggering with a punch. Then she took a younger girl—was it her little sister?—by the hand and tried to escape. Momonga immediately opened his item box and took out the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Meanwhile, the girl's back had been cut. The spell slipped out of his mouth. "[Gate]"

They traveled by way of the most reliable teleportation spell in YGGDRASIL. It could cover any distance and had a failure rate of 0 percent. He opened the portal for them to step through, and he, Lumière, and Jack walked through.

⁽ˇ́˙̫ˇ̀˵⁾

It was the scene they had been watching before.

Two scared girls. The older one, probably the elder sister, had golden blonde hair in a braid. Fear had drained the blood from her healthily tanned face. Her eyes brimmed with tears. The younger one had buried her face in the older girl's back; her whole body was trembling like a leaf caught in a storm.

Momonga looked coolly at the knight standing before them. He must have been thrown off by them teleporting in; he'd forgotten he'd been swinging his sword and was just staring at them.

The Overlord opened his empty hand, stretched it out, and promptly cast a spell. "[Grasp Heart]"

Magic tiers ranged from one to ten, and [Grasp Heart] was a ninth-tier spell—one that caused instant death by crushing the enemy's heart. It was a devastating move in YGGDRASIL and was Momonga's preferred way to start a 1v1.

The reason he favored that as his opening move was that even if his opponent resisted it, there was a stun as a secondary effect.

Jack had a special ability—[Shadow Sneak]—that instantly procc'd on stunned enemies. It allowed him to deal critical true damage with his next move against them.

If Momonga and Jack did not do enough damage against the enemy with such a powerful combo, then Momonga would order the retreat regardless of what Lumière wanted.

As soon as Momonga cast the spell he felt an odd sensation of something warm being squashed in his fist.

The knight silently crumpled to the ground.

Momonga immediately realized he had killed the knight. He had felled it in literally one ability.

In that instant, two thoughts crossed his mind.

One: the enemy was weak enough to instantly die from a ninth-tier spell.

Two: Momonga was entirely unperturbed from the fact that he had killed the knight—a human.

Those two thoughts filtered through his mind before he moved on.

It would seem that Momonga had quit being human in body... and mind.

How else to explain his calm state despite having literally murdered a man?

As Momonga strode forward to the other knight, Lumière approached the girls.

She smiled kindly at them, her angelic wings unfurled. Her passive, [Hope], caused the girls to feel an unnatural sense of calm. She raised her right hand and cast her best small aoe (area of effect) healing spell. "[Dawn Drop].

A trickle of blue light fell from the sky, landing on the ground in front of the girls and creating a brief puddle of light. When the light touched the girls, all of their injuries and fatigue vanished away.

Momonga was pleased to confirm that his friend's healing spell worked on them. He decided to continue testing what else they were capable of. He did not aim to kill the remaining knight. He chose to use a low-tiered electric spell. "[Dragon Lightning]"

White lightning shot from the end of his finger pointed at the knight like an electric discharge from a cloud.

The energy took the form of a dragon and lit the knight up glaringly white for just a split second. Morbidly, it was beautiful.

The flash dimmed and the knight fell to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

Momonga was utterly astounded that such a low-tiered ability had killed the knight. "How weak... They die this easily?"

Seeing that his opponents were so fragile sent all his worry out the window.

For only a moment because Momonga was a cautious man by nature.

It was possible that they specialized in attacking. They could be glass cannon variants, or perhaps those knights were simply exceptionally weak.

Not to mention he had to account for physics now. In YGGDRASIL, an attack that chopped a player's head off would just be counted as a critical hit and deal a lot of damage, but in the real world it would be instantly fatal.

Momonga decided to be cautious. It would be stupid to die from carelessness.

First, we need to test more of our powers. He used a skill, [Create Middle-Tier Undead: Death Knight]. That was one of his special abilities. He could create all sorts of undead mobs, but Death Knights were his favorite tank. Its total level was low at 35, and its attack level was even lower, comparable to a level-25 mob. On the other hand, it had good defense but still only about what a level-40 mob would have.

In terms of stats, it was useless. Fodder for warlocks to use as a sacrifice to summon Arch Demons.

However, the Death Knight had two handy special abilities. One was that it would pull all enemy attacks. The second was that it could withstand any attack once, with one HP (hit point) remaining.

The perfect bait for powerful enemies.

When the [Create Undead] skill was used in YGGDRASIL, the monster would instantly shimmer out of thin air near the player, but it seemed to work differently in that new world.

A black fog oozed out of the air and covered the knight whose heart had been crushed. It puffed up but then began to melt into the corpse. Then, the corpse abruptly stood up with jerky, inhuman movements.

A black liquid gurgled noisily out of the slit in the knight's helmet. The viscous fluid flowed to cover the entire body without missing a spot—it was like seeing someone get eaten by a black slime. Once the darkness had enveloped it completely, its shape began to warp and change.

After several seconds, the darkness drained away and what was standing there could definitely be called the vengeful spirit of a Death Knight.

Momonga could feel the mental connection to the summoned monster. He used it to give an order. "Kill the knights"—he pointed at the knight he'd killed with [Dragon Lightning]—"who are attacking this village."

The Death Knight ran off like a hunting dog on the scent of its prey.

Watching his Death Knight get smaller and smaller in the distance, Momonga was made vividly aware of a difference between this world and YGGDRASIL—the difference of freedom. A Death Knight was supposed to stand by its summoner (Momonga) and intercept enemies. It wasn't supposed to take orders and act on its own.

Momonga glanced at Jack in the corner of his vision, watching the undead hover near a nervous Lumière.

If they all have free will... How will they change from their original program?

Would they... remain loyal?

The thought chilled Momonga, but it was a thought that he could not afford to ponder. For the moment the NPCs of Nazarick were loyal to him and Lumière.

Hopefully that would always be true.

That was exactly when Albedo stepped out of the [Gate], covered head to toe in thorny raven-black plates.

"My apologies. Getting ready took some time." From beneath the horned close helmet came the charming voice of Albedo.

"Oh, that's fine. Actually, your timing's perfect."

"Thank you. Then, how will you dispose of these lower life-forms that are still alive? Would you rather I dirty my hands in your place?"

"My lady has gone through the trouble of saving these vermin," Jack informed her. "We are saving this village for her."

Momonga nodded. "Our enemies at the moment are the ones in the armor like that guy lying over there." Albedo indicated her understanding, and Momonga looked elsewhere. "Now that we have a party, let's move slowly to the village."

"If I may be permitted to say something, Lord Momonga?" Jack politely inquired.

"Speak," said Momonga.

"There is no need for us to venture into the village so soon. Would it not be best to wait to hear back from your Death Knight? Furthermore," Jack glanced at Lumière, his expression impossible to read behind his mask, "if I may be so bold as to suggest wearing disguises?"

Albedo was suddenly nodding furiously. "Yes, mere cretins are not worthy to gaze upon you, my lord—"

"Hmm, hmm," said Momonga. "The disguises are a good point. But we must still move closer to the village to survey the threats. We will move to the village, slowly, and cautiously."

Jack and Albedo bowed.

"Should... Should I summon an acolyte?" Lumière hesitantly offered.

"No. We do not know the extent of our enemies," Momonga disagreed. "Save your spells and mana."

Lumière nodded curtly, folding her white wings against her hips.

⁽ˇ́˙̫ˇ̀˵⁾

A couple asked what kind of yandere Jack would be. That will be answered by chapter 5.

Answer: Albedo.

Question: If you were a Supreme Being what would be your race?

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