Reality bent to my will and the rift leading toward Yggdrasil appeared in front of me as if I had teleported. The distinction of what I had done wasn't small as I told reality I was there and the reality around me accommodated my will, changing itself so that my will remained true. Of course, in the end, the outcome was the same, so expending more energy to reality warp my way 'across space' instead of regular old teleportation didn't make much sense.
However, I wouldn't deny that it felt good to have such immense power at my fingertips. The connection of the array to the New World at large had already given me a foot into controlling this world. After advancing as many levels as I had, reaching level 320, made taking over this world's will a thought away.
Indeed, the world was now part of my domain. I could have easily swallowed the rest of the timelines of this world as well, but there were some other complications that would take me several minutes to resolve. Since I didn't want Yggdrasil to come up with another plan to thwart my revenge, I decided to postpone it for now.
Besides, the rift was closing as Yggdrasil was trying to make a quick exit, which would delay my arrival by quite some time. Despite my nigh omnipotence, the void wasn't something I could underestimate. Truthfully, I was even more wary of the void now than before. It was almost surprising that Yggdrasil was willing to open a rift in the void just to connect with the New World despite knowing what it represented.
Of course, Yggdrasil also knew that once I had grown to my potential then it would be its doom. It was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Lo and behold I had reached it anyway and even faster due to its pursuit. Not quite a self-fulfilling prophecy but it did accelerate its demise. I entered the In-Between and shuddered slightly as the nothingness washed over me.
Yggdrasil had destroyed the connection and was closing its reality. It's trying to escape with all its might, having already initiated closing the rift before the light had reached the New World. I shook my head, "Why struggle? We both know that you won't be able to escape. Besides…" The nothingness around me vanished as my domain connected to Yggdrasil.
I could feel the World Tree's desperate attempt to shake me off, but with my strength now that already transcended concepts themselves, it wasn't going to escape from me this easily. The strange sensation that had trickled across my skin vanished as my domain protected me from the void. I resembled everything there was and would be in my domain, so sensing the complete absence of everything inside the void felt strange to me.
It was a stark difference to what my insights revealed to me about existence and I could tell that learning more about it would give me some important insights, especially for my cultivation but I did not need to dive into the peculiarities of Nothingness.
Of course, I already knew of the concept as I had pushed my understanding of the absence of matter through the Emanation of Emptiness, but there was a fundamental difference between my understanding of one of reality's concepts and what (didn't) exist in between realities. It was like comparing a blank page in a book with a nonexistent page that had never been and was never an idea. Both kind of represented the same thing but were fundamentally different.
I went off on a tangent as I closed the unquantifiable distance between the realities. I reached the almost closing rift and swung my sword, slicing the closing rift wide open again. The moment I entered I could feel the hostile air. The world tree's crown shook as the heavens and the earth trembled.
The pressure around me increased tremendously as it tried to crush me with its nigh omnipotence. I shook a little before spreading my wings. The air cracked and the ground I had set foot on exploded. A glance around would make anyone believe that doomsday had arrived.
Volcanoes erupted and the heavens were covered in destructive red lightning, targeting me, fully intent on destroying me then and there. My sword deflected the lightning into the ground around me.
Hmm, that reminded me. The World Tree wasn't able to influence any beings above level 100 as they were World Enemies. The laws for such beings didn't affect them and thus were hostile to the will of Yggdrasil. However, this was not the case in my domain. Even if a powerful being was born in my domain I could still crush it without any resistance.
It didn't matter that it was powerful or was born from my world, my laws. My will was still absolute and the same should be for the World Tree. I should have been crushed regardless of whether I had the protection of a World Item. Yggdrasil was obviously smart and conscious enough to deal with a threat early.
Perhaps it was the difference between a tree that birthed worlds and a tree birthing realities? No, that's not it. Yggdrasil was anchored to Satoru's world, restricting its capabilities. Funnily it was bound to a game, which was monitored by developers and players.
With more people engaging with its mirror version the more tightly bound it got with that reality. I could imagine that the bugs in the game were just manifestations of Yggdrasil trying to break free before going with that desperate attempt of using me… It sounded logical, but there was more to it, I could feel it.
My wings flapped sending gusts of chaos toward the tree. The air cracked and laws broke as I vanished between them to shorten the distance between us. Its crown shook incessantly, sending golden leaves toward me. That reminded me, wasn't every leave supposed to be an entire world with only 9 left? How come there were thousands of leaves heading toward me?
My mind shifted gears as I summoned my tree from inside. As soon as I finished my thought, Kabbalah, my tree appeared behind me. The Celestial Radiance, the core of my tree pumped energy throughout its trunk and branches giving it an inherent divine glow. Meanwhile, chaos energy coming from the Chaos Crystal flowed through the tree's channels, giving it a sense of absolute destruction. The buds of my leaves were shining with pure chaos magic and divine radiance, giving rise to endless possibilities guided by my divine will.
As soon as the leaves reached the vicinity of my tree they burst and rained into the soil, nurturing Kabbalah with a rain of potential worlds. Yggdrasil was enraged as it shook violently, causing the world I was standing on to tear asunder. The world turned into pure energy, which shot at me. However, everything turned into nourishment with a flip of my hand. It couldn't accept that its hard work would turn into my strength.
Now, it wanted to hurt me more than anything, but alas there was no way out of it. My sword vibrated in excitement as I swung it diagonally. Yggdrasil stopped shaking and slowly but surely its trunk started to shift. Obviously, just taking out the trunk wouldn't deal with it permanently, so I thrust my sword to the ground, piercing through its roots.
Then, with my hand outstretched, the roots of Kabbalah shot toward the stump, burying into it to suck out the energy out of its roots. I glanced at the beheaded dragon beneath the soil of the world. I had struck it down with my thrust, not realizing that it had been in the way. There was a root in its mouth, but it soon too turned into energy.
My eyes wandered across the nine realms. Everything seemed to have lost its luster and the inhabitants turned to energy as I absorbed everything. Even the World Enemies weren't exempt from this. The gods lamented that they hadn't been able to join the fight against me, but their presence would have hardly made a difference.
I watched as Thor cracked the ground beneath him as he jumped at me. His hammer raised high as thunder enveloped his form. His divine soul burned as he augmented his strike. Once he entered the shadow of my tree, he exploded into a puff of blue trickling electricity that was directly absorbed.
"The nine worlds are ending. Yggdrasil is no more." I announced to the worlds and with the words spoken reality followed them. The last bit of will in the World Tree vanished and I was able to take control of this unclaimed reality of nine worlds. I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep the current worlds alive, so I commanded reality to give the ones alive a gentle goodbye.
Every living being imagined a life full of ups and downs. Timelines that would have happened without Ragnarök started to unfold for them. The gods and the World Enemies weren't that lucky because of their partial independence, but it was all I could do.
As I repurposed the worlds and the embers of the World Tree, I searched for a connection or a hint toward Satoru's former world. Every piece of knowledge that existed in this reality was quickly reviewed, but even after going through everything thrice there was no sign of that world. It seemed that Yggdrasil wanted to make absolutely sure that nothing could connect to that place.
Unfortunately, since it might have given me some clues about my own world, it didn't matter either way. I shrugged slightly before glancing upward. A leaf in the crown full of buds was starting to slowly bloom. A reality that would hold at the very least nine worlds started to be born. Of course, nine worlds were a very conservative estimation as the energy that I had gained just now would be more than enough to construct those. It would only remain at merely nine worlds if my tree suddenly had no more energy to sustain itself.
With access to chaos magic, my core, and my armor producing infinite energy, there was no way I would ever run out. In that way, I was far superior to the World Tree who was relying on the energy from its birth to sustain itself. I continued to grow stronger instead of weakening in time. I would continue to grow and grow indefinitely, which meant each reality, each leaf of my tree could be a reality that was infinite.
I couldn't help but smile even as the husk of the world around me crumbled to pieces. It shook heavily before the storm of the void turned the remnants of this mighty existence to nothingness. I took that as a cue and disappeared toward the New World, using the still-existing connection I re-entered the New World. The rift behind me slowly closed as the world healed and I retracted the array since it had done its job.
"Damn, I was away for that long?" I muttered, knowing that I shouldn't have underestimated the distance through the In-Between. It seemed there were still limits to my powers. Obviously, I had already known that, but that the entire trip took three seconds was unexpected.
I chuckled slightly. I was playing too much. Now, my eyes wandered across the Dragon Lords. The shock in their eyes was clear to see, but I couldn't be bothered with them. My gaze was only attracted to my people. They had already secured the periphery and I instantly gathered them all before teleporting them to the entrance of Nazarick.
With the imminent crisis solved, it was time to talk with Ainz again.
…
For but a moment, Tatsumaki was confused at how she had returned to the surface level of Nazarick. One moment she had watched the World Enemies' siege of Azazel-sama, only for them to be enveloped by a golden sphere. Next, only their prince was left on the battlefield as the obvious victor in this battle.
Although she believed in him, she was still worried and felt guilty that she couldn't be there as his supposedly secret weapon. There was shame in being unable to fulfill her duties, but all she could do was help in whatever capacity she could. She wanted to interfere with the Archangel's siege, but before she could take action Azazel-sama dealt with them on his own.
However, that wasn't the most shocking turn of events. A moment after the golden sphere disappeared, Azazel-sama had turned toward Yggdrasil. A blink later she had arrived here. The confusion of how she had returned turned into vigilance. However, that vigilance didn't last for long as the man she had sworn herself to slowly floated down to them. His entire person was clad in an impenetrable light, though it wasn't glaring instead it felt warm, welcoming, and pure.
The sight was so blissful and pure that she didn't want him to land on the ground lest the worldly would dirty him. There were no words that could escape her as she watched the man she loved come closer. A certain might radiated from him and she had the intense desire to give birth to his children. It was almost too much to bear, but luckily, she was already familiar with these emotions to a lesser degree.
He seemed to notice their dazedness and the light was retracted, revealing his beautiful form to her once more. It was only then that she saw the scene behind him. The World Tree, the existence that was threatening His Majesty's life slid to the side as if it had been cut. The ethereal glow of the tree turned lackluster and its energy drained somewhere. She saw it wither and collapse.
The sight was so beautiful and horrifying at the same time that it was hard to describe. She saw the end of a reality, an existence that had persisted since time immemorial. There was hardly anything that had existed before it. A towering tree that stood steadfast forever. Dragons, Lords, Gods, and everything in between were just a product of this Tree of Life. In a couple of seconds Yggdrasil, the World Tree, which held vast worlds ceased to exist just like that.
Of course, she would lament its death, but nonetheless, she still felt strange seeing it happen, lingering in her mind as something that she shouldn't have seen.
She wasn't able to see what had caused its demise, but a glance at Azazel-sama's calm smile told her everything that she needed to know. The surface of Nazarick was filled with the women who wanted to give their lives for Azazel-sama in the battle, but all of them were too stunned to speak, only able to silently follow his figure with their eyes as he entered the tomb.
It was only when his figure descended the stairs, cutting off their view of him, they were ripped out of their stupor. They quickly followed behind him. No one said anything and even Albedo, Azazel-sama's favorite, didn't speak up.
In fact, there was hardly anyone breathing lest their action cascaded into an unknown direction. It wasn't that they were afraid of what he would do. No, it was more of a stunned daze that still felt surreal to them. Speaking now felt like it would shatter this beautiful illusion. Although Tatsumaki couldn't read the others' minds she knew what they were thinking as it was the only thing that dominated her own thoughts.
She even guessed that she had the easiest time digesting this information. After all, she had known for years that Azazel-sama was the closest to the Supreme Beings, be it in intelligence or prowess. However, to think that Azazel-sama had felled Yggdrasil. It was a feat inconceivable even for all the Supreme Beings combined.
…
Demiurge watched as the prince calmly walked into the throne hall. He wasn't sure what to think about the casual attitude that the angel adopted, but maybe the prince just saw it as something that the Supreme Beings ordained. Of course, it was the only explanation of why he was able to accomplish the feat of slaying Yggdrasil.
He gulped slightly as a dangerous treacherous thought crossed his mind. What if this wasn't predated by the Supreme Beings? The prince was the closest to them after all. Had he ascended to their position? The obvious answer would be yes. After all, he had accomplished what even the Supreme Beings wouldn't be able to do with sheer power.
Oh, he was sure that they could rule the nine realms with enough time, but something as waltzing to existence itself and cutting it down wasn't something they could realize. In fact, he hadn't thought that anyone or anything could ever do it. It was an idea so out of any common sense and logic that he truthfully hadn't even entertained the thought
Yet, here he was. Their prince, the closest to the Supreme Beings, slaying Nazarick's greatest foe. He paid attention to Ainz-sama's reaction in the corner of his eyes, but he didn't react at all. In fact, he seemed to be at ease with the way he leaned against the throne. The other Floor Guardians that stayed in Nazarick during the invasion just looked at the prince's entrance with bated breath.
There was a large crowd following them, having evidently amassed during the prince's tour through the tomb. Despite the mass of most named citizens of Nazarick, no one made any noise. They even opted to silence their steps as they followed the unperturbed prince. Demiurge felt like an army had arrived. His mind wandered to the joke the Ainz-sama and Azazel-sama shared just a few days ago… Ainz-sama didn't make any movements, so he had to be overthinking it… He hoped.
"Azazel." Ainz-sama began, making the prince and his crowd stop before the first step. "You've slain Yggdrasil." He stated. There was no need to question it as they had all seen it. His victory during the siege, his disappearance in the blink of an eye, and then the subsequent fall of the World Tree. It happened too quickly in succession to be a coincidence.
Logically, Demiurge shouldn't have presumed it to be the angel's doing. After all, there was no indication that he had such a power, but it felt fitting for him to have done it.
"Yes, I did." The prince admitted and even though everyone had already come to the conclusion they were still shocked to hear him confirm it. No one said anything until Cocytus broke the silence with an exhale of a large steam of breath.
"Magnificent." He summed up their feelings without conveying any doubt as they knew the angel didn't lie. Demiurge could have thought of other adjectives to describe the deed, unparalleled, transcendent, unbelievable, incomparable, and so on, but in the end, it had a treacherous undertone that made him hold his tongue.
The prince smiled humbly as he made his way up the stairs. "Ainz could we talk for a moment?" The other Floor Guardians tensed slightly at the address without honorifics, but they didn't know how to react since the other person was the prince. On one hand, all of Nazarick should address the absolute ruler with honorifics with no exceptions, but this was the prince.
The mightiest and strongest of the entire tomb. They had no doubt about his loyalty… barren recent interactions and his fiercely loyal entourage that seemed to put him before even the Supreme Beings. Certainly, his status placed him closest to the Supreme Beings, but this didn't mean they would just let him do anything under normal circumstances.
However, his victory against existence itself made reprimanding him even more difficult than it was previously. Besides, considering who it was, he certainly didn't just forget to use honorifics. He did it to convey something.
This train of thought was proven correct when Ainz-sama raised his hand at the gathered Floor Guardians. The action calmed them down and released the tension as they were exempt from making that hard decision of speaking up or remaining quiet. The prince seemed oblivious to their plight as he walked past them and reached the top of the stairs, establishing their equal status.
"Indeed, there is a lot to talk about." Ainz-sama sounded calm befitting to the leader of the Supreme Beings. Even the current development couldn't shake him. It was truly praiseworthy. "Let's go to a more private setting," Ainz-sama suggested as he stood up and walked to the hidden path to the royal sanctuary behind the throne.
Demiurge was sure that choosing the location to be Azazel-sama's home was Ainz-sama's way of reminding where the prince had come from and establishing their shared bond through the ages. Truly, a delicate display of maneuvering difficult situations.
Azazel-sama walked next to him, clearly indicating his own desire to stand side-by-side. Considering that Ainz-sama didn't say anything, it was clear that he had acknowledged the prince.
The prince had become a Supreme Being and was accepted as such by their ruler. Demiurge watched the two enter the hidden path and turn toward the silent mass, which suddenly descended to a rumble of conversations echoing through the throne hall.
He would have to reign them in before it turned into a deafening crescendo that shook the throne hall's walls. The royal maids, Fubuki, Tatsumaki, and Albedo hastily followed the two Supreme Beings, while the other Floor Guardians guarded the entrance and calmed the others.
Obviously, there were more who wanted to follow, but no one dared as they knew they couldn't be presumptuous. If someone was allowed to follow the two it would be those closest to Azazel-sama, so they waited until Azazel-sama's ascension was officially announced.
Surprisingly, after a minute the women had returned. After that they dispersed the citizens of Nazarick, telling them to watch out for any intruders and secure this moment, so nothing would disturb the two. Demiurge was surprised that even they were unable to follow the two. It was unthinkable to have them without a maid to serve or guards to protect them, but if it was a direct order they could only obey. Now, they could only wait for them to finish.
…
Ainz slowly walked through the desire path of this artificial forest. Even though they had created it meticulously to give the illusion of a natural forest, there was a sense of perfect imperfection. They hadn't achieved their goal, but it was still fitting for the prince. Perhaps it was just his knowledge pointing out the perfect 'naturalism' of it all.
"You don't seem bothered at all." Azazel started as they walked side-by-side.
"Should I be? You've won after all." Ainz answered causally as he glanced across the fleeting spirits that used to be just decoration.
"Yeah, I just expected you to be paranoid again-" The prince scratched his head before freezing.
"...Am I that predictable? Well, for you probably. Was it when I arrived with Demiurge a few days ago? Or earlier?" Ainz asked genuinely to which Azazel sighed.
"Yeah, earlier…" Ainz hummed at the admission. If it had been a few days ago, he probably would have feared for his life, but he was strangely calm at this moment. He watched the door of Azazel's home open as they got closer.
"You've hidden how powerful you are. You might not have been an Archangel of Sephira, but you were in the ranks of World Enemies. Obviously, you are much more powerful now." Ainz casually accused, while thinking about their interactions once more. He had thought about them quite often, but with his might at display, they were colored in a different perspective. It was hard for him to describe the feeling.
"You aren't scared that I will try to take over?" Azazel asked, indirectly confirming his statement.
"Should I be?" He questioned as he sat down at the fireplace of the living room down the hall. The fire started automatically as if the house knew that they would spend some time here.
"Nope." The former angel answered as he sat down opposite of him. Two glasses appeared in his hands. One was filled with that tar-like liquid that could allow him to taste again, while the other, the prince's glass was filled with glistering wine. "I just thought there would be more of a reaction coming from you."
Indeed, it was strange. He had been calm after witnessing that scene. It wasn't a calm that was forced by the emotional dampeners but was natural. "If you wanted to take over or do anything really, you could have done it." Perhaps the other Floor Guardians had an inkling of what would be needed to beat Yggdrasil and even he only had some guesses in mind, though one thing was for sure.
He couldn't top that. No amount of planning or preparation could give him enough of an advantage against someone who could do that. There was no point. The gap was too large and this was precisely why he was as calm as he was now. No one could stop him from taking over and since he didn't do it then he didn't want to regardless of the reasoning whether it was his programmed loyalty or something completely different.
"So, even though the threat level I posed grew exponentially, you are less worried about me." Azazel correctly analyzed. Perhaps, if he was dumb as a rock then he would be somewhat worried about how to handle this humanoid weapon and not lose his loyalty, but since his intellect was far beyond his own there was no point in worrying.
"You also realized that I knew you aren't the pinnacle of intelligence you pretend to be…" Ainz did not know that, but it certainly made no difference. Ainz suspected that even geniuses were left behind by Azazel.
After all, Demiurge and Albedo were constantly singing praises about him even though some of his actions didn't seem that intellectual. Seriously, he couldn't see why it was such a genius move to sleep with the queen… but that was probably just his lack of understanding coming to the foreground.
"So…" Ainz began as Azazel brought the glass to his lips. "How was it? The nine realms I mean." Ainz asked wanting to know his perspective on the worlds that he had spent over a decade in.
"..." Azazel seemed to hesitate for a moment as his lips thinned. "I didn't find any other players or connection to the Supreme Beings' world. There was also no player on the way to our world." He finally said with pity in his eyes.
Ainz was stunned for a moment before he sighed deeply. He hadn't asked about that, but that was certainly the information that interested him the most. Ainz watched the fire dancing. The room descended into a pleasant silence with only the cracking of the fire announcing its presence.
Today was truly a weird day for him. Ainz had expected such news and feared it fiercely, yet when it came he just felt relieved.
"So, what now?"
------------------------------
A/N: A little warning. As you might have noticed the novel is slowly coming to an end. There will be maybe a dozen chapters left, but the end is in sight. I have already an idea of what to write next, but this will be announced at a different time.