"I am not — "
"Woo ahhh……"
Shalltear and Aura stare at each other with sharp eyes and on the other side Mare is panicking.
Momonga finally comes to his senses and deliberately uses a low voice to warn the two:
"…… Shalltear, Aura. Stop your quarrel immediately."
They surprisingly shivered, but bowed their heads:
"I'm sorry!"
Momonga leisurely nods while accepting their apologies and turns to open his mouth:
"You came, Cocytus."
"Receiving orders from Momonga-sama, of course I would come at once."
White mist drifts out from Cocytus mouth, followed by *paji* *paji* sounds of the moisture in the air freezing. It was cold enough to match the flame of the Primal Fire Elemental. Just being around temperatures this low would have various detrimental effects, the body can catch frostbites from it. But Momonga doesn’t feel anything. It should be mentioned that everyone present has fire, ice and acid resistance as a way to deal with these attacks.
"Lately there has been no intruders, it is very relaxing, right?" "Indeed — "
His jaw issued a *Kakaka* sound similar to a wasp’s intimidation, but Momonga think that Cocytus is laughing right now.
“-That being said, there is something I need to do, therefore I cannot relax yet.”
“Oh? There is something you need to do? Would you tell me what it is?”
"Yes, training. It comes in handy any time, anywhere."
Although his appearance doesn’t show it, Cocytus belongs to the warrior class. Both his personality and settings are designed accordingly. If the guardians were ranked by their use of weapons and attack capability, it can be said that he would be second to none.
"You’ve done all this for me right? You've worked hard."
"It was worth working so hard, just to hear these words. Oh, Demiurge and Albedo arrived."
Following Cocytus sight towards the arena entrance, one can see two shadows approaching. Walking in front was Albedo, followed by someone looking like an attendant. Arriving at a certain distance, Albedo smiles and bows deeply towards Momonga.
The man also bows elegantly:
"I made everyone wait, I am very sorry."
About one meter eighty tall, with a dark skin suggesting regular exposure to the sun, a partial Asian looking face and nicely combed black hair. Behind the round glasses, his eyes were so squinted they weren’t visible. It feel as if his eyes weren’t opened at all. Wearing a British suit, of course with a tie, he looks like a capable business man or professional lawyer. But even if he is dressed like a gentleman, one can still feel the sinister side he is hiding beneath it. Behind his back is a silver tail, covered with metal plates and six long spikes at the end. Shallow black flames are constantly flickering around. This man is the "Infernal Prison Creator” Demiurge, the guardian of Nazarick’s seventh floor. This demon’s role setting was “Commander of the NPC defences”.
"It seems like everyone is here."
"— Momonga-sama, it seems that there are two who have not arrived yet."
A penetrating and fascinatingly deep voice came out.
Demiurge’s words have a permanent special skill. This skill is called [Domination Mantra] and it instantly turns people with vulnerable hearts into his puppets. But this special ability has no effect on the people present. To have an effect, the other party must have a Level of 40 or less, so for the people present it makes his voice sound quite comfortable at most.
"No need. These two guardian’s priority is only to work under certain circumstances. So far the situation does not require them to come." "I see."
"…… Looks like my ally has not arrived yet."
Hearing these words Shalltear and Aura instantly freeze and even Albedo’s expression seems a bit stiff.
"…… Well, this guy is not only guarding me…… But also guards a part of my floor." "Yes, true.."
Shalltear exposes a stiff smile and Aura is doing the same, while Albedo is constantly nodding in favour.
"……The Lord of Terror. Yes, better to inform the area Guardians as well. Ask Akaira and Gelante to inform the area Guardians. Tasks are now given to each floor’s Guardian."
In The Great Tomb of Nazarick, the Guardians are divided into two types.
The ones in front of Momonga are responsible for one or several of the floors, the floor Guardians. The other ones are responsible for guarding the fields, special areas on each floor. In simple terms, the area Guardians are managed by the floor Guardians and are responsible for guarding a particular area. There are a lot of them, so they are not very important. Basically, by mentioning the Guardians inside Nazarick, one usually refers to the floor Guardians.
All the floor Guardians listen to Momonga’s command and after seeing everyone assembled, Albedo gives the opening instructions:
"Everyone, please offer your loyalty to the supreme ruler."
All the Guardians bow their heads with Momonga not even having a chance to interrupt. Everyone has started to form a line with Albedo standing in front and all guardian arranged one after another behind her. Each Guardian is showing a serious and respectful expression. One could see that the atmosphere was serious. Standing closest to him Shalltear steps forward:
"First, second and third floor Guardian Shalltear Bloodfallen, comes to see the Master."
On her knee, one hand on her chest and giving a deep respectful salute.
After the monarch and subject ceremony by Shalltear, Cocytus steps forward:
"The fifth floor’s Guardian Cocytus, comes to see the Master."
Like Shalltear, he knelt in front of Momonga in a ceremonial manner. Then came the dark elf twins:
"Sixth floor’s Guardian Aura Bella Fiora, comes to see the master." "Same.. same sixth floor’s Guardian Mare Bello Fiora, comes see the master."
Same as the others, they were kneeling and offering a respectful salute. Shalltear, Cocytus, Aura and Mare's body were different, so the steps they took was different, but the location of their knees were constant and quite neatly arranged.
Followed by Demiurge gracefully taking a step:
"The seventh floor’s Guardian Demiurge, comes to see the Master."
With a cold tone and elegant posture, Demiurge heartily salutes. Finally, Albedo takes a step forward:
"Guardian Commander Albedo, comes to see the Master."
Momonga smiles towards Albedo, who is kneeling like the other Guardians. However, Albedo continues her report with her head down and in a clear voice to Momonga:
"Except for the fourth floor’s Guardian Gargantua and eighth floor’s Guardian Victim, the Guardians of each floor have come to kneel down… as Master requested. We would all go through fire and water without any hesitation for you."
Facing six lowered heads, Momonga seems to be unable to issue any words and his throat makes a *gurgle* sound. An abnormal pressure shrouds this scene.
What pressure… Perhaps only Momonga is feeling this way.
─── I don’t know what to do.
This scene will probably happen only once in a lifetime. Momonga’s mind is in chaos and accidentally activates a special ability that emits an aura, shining like a brilliant light.
Having no time to cancel it, Momonga desperately searches his memory for a movie or TV series with this kind of scene. He wants to find a move in line with the current situation.
"Raise your heads."
*Sa~~* Everyone raises their heads. Because the action was so neat, Momonga almost asks them if they ever practiced this together.
"So…… Firstly, thank you all for coming."
"Please do not thanks us. I'm only Momonga-sama loyal subordinate. Momonga-sama is our supreme ruler."
It appears that no other Guardian intends to deny Albedo’s answer. She really is a worthy Guardian Commander. Faced with the serious looking Guardians, Momonga’s throat is getting stuck and suddenly he gets a kind of choking sensation. It is the pressure of being a leader, a tightly compressed physical sensation. His commands will affect the future, so he feels a little hesitation about his next step. The Great Tomb of Nazarick might get ruined because of his decision — uneasiness crosses his mind.