It was just a normal day in the vast city of Lugnica, with many people going on with their day, at least that is how it should have been. From one moment to another, this beautiful world lost it's color as everything came to a halt and time stopped to move forward. Reason for this rather strange phenomenon was a certain undead magic caster that was standing in the middle of the street with it's heteromorphic friends.
'W-What is going on!? What the hell happened. Where are w--?'. As Momonga was about to fall into panic, a strange sensation of calmness forcefully washed over him. "Are you all ok? Do any of you feel strange?", asked a deep and unknown voice. To the undeads momentary shock, he quickly realized that it was his own vocal expression. The other heteromorphs turned to look at him with a bit of confusion. Momonga made a fake-cough into his fist and then addressed the current situation. "Well, we seem to be in some kind of city. The environment here doesn't seem to resemble Helheim. Nor do I remember a city like this in any of the 9 Worlds."
Variable Talisman, who was still sitting on the ground, finally decided to stand up, though his lazy attitude didn't really change at all as he spoke up. "...Yggdrasil didn't have such fine details, or the ability to smell things.". His voice sounded a bit raspy, as if he was speaking through a small wooden pipe. Right after his statement, he tried to dust off his armor while Yamaiko nodded. "This place seems far too real to be a game. I mean, the technology in our time was advanced to some degree, but to make a game so hyper realistic, they would've needed to work on this game way before Yggdrasil itself even released. Could it be…...that this isn't a game, but reality? It sounds absurd to even say that, but I can't really come up with a better explenation.". The voice of hers sounding a bit more authoritative, but other than that, her voice didn't change to much. The giant crab Amanomahitotsu perked up at the statement of Yamaiko. "You mean like in those isekai novels which were really successful in the 21st century?"
'Isekai? Maybe Amano and Yamaiko is right, but if this all really is a reality now, would that even be so bad? Even though I don't know anything about this current place, it certainly looks better than our old world...'. As the overlord was aboutthink how bad this situation really is, he got interrupted, or rather startled by Shizyuutensuzaku's enthusiastic cheering, as if he had hit a jackpot of some sorts. Thankfully though, he was forcefully calmed right after his little startled state. "YES. PLEASE LET THIS BE TRUE, I NEVER WANT TO SEE A SINGLE ONE OF MY ARROGANT, APE-MINDED STUDENTS EVER AGAIN. PLEASE, IF THERE IS A GOD, LET THIS BE REALITY!". An audible sigh could be heard from Yamaiko and Momonga, but deep inside, they both understood why Shizyuutensuzaku was cheering so much. "Well, we should probably go somewhere a bit more private and disguise ourselves before Momonga dispels the [Time Stop] spell. We don'treally know how the local population here will react to our appearances, nor do we know their strength. Even if they don't really seem to be able to withstand time related spells.". And with all in agreement of Yamaiko's statement, the group made their way into one of the nearest alleyways.
As they individually searched for clothing or gear to cover their heteromorphic features, meanwhile also figuring out how the new inventory works, they came across a problem. 'How the hell should we cover up Amano? He is a giant crab and doesn't really wear anything that covers his features...Hmmm, maybe some kind of big gown or big blanket would do the job?'.
Momonga pulled out a low-level big brown gown, which Amanomahitotsu quickly put on. "Haha, you look like a big bean bag!" Amanomahitotsu quickly looked at the laughing, monkey-faced nue and stepped on it's snake tail, which led Shizyuutensuzaku to let out a yelp of surprise, as it didn't hurt, but the sensation still startled him. "Are we all prepared?", asked Yamaiko, wearing just a yellow mask. Similar to Variable Talisman who was wearing a green mask, as both their equipment was already covering most of their heteromorphic bodies. Momonga had also put on a mask, though it looked a bit more eccentric with it's blue jewel-like eyes and unnerving smile. Along with that, he was also wearing some metallic gloves and closed his robes to cover his rib cage with his World Item. Shizuutensuzaku, similar to Momonga, was also wearing some gloves and a plain red mask, but to cover his legs, he was wearing armor which seems to consist of red ruby like crystals with fine golden linings which matched his overall style, while his tail was neatly under his coat.
With a final confirmation from all, Momonga let time flow again as the world regained it's color and the masses started to move again, going about their day, not knowing of the new powerful beings who appeared in this world.
"What should our next step be? Our first goal should be to assess how strong the locals of this world are and if there are any potential threats. We also nned some kind of hideout to retreat if any danger arises.", said the undead overlord with a strange calmness that even surprised himself. Just as Shizuutensuzaku was about to suggest a test of their abilities on some kind of animal or beast, a voice interrupted their discussion.
"Hey hey, what's this? Four rich-lookin' people in an empty alleyway? Seems like it's our lucky day, guys.". The group of heteromorphs quickly turned their attention to the entrance of the alleyway to see 3 strange looking thugs.
The first one to the left was a big guy with purple hair and eyes, wearing tan clothes with an orange sash around his waist, a green west and some black shoes.
Then there was the slim guy in the middle with very white skin had black eyes with visible sclera on three sides of their irises and long grayish blue hair with pink at its end. He was wearing a tattered uniform with chains around his wrist and throat. Additionally, he also had a large yellow earring on his left ear.
The last thug which was on the right of the three was very small in height, having brown hair which was strangely shaped like a mushroom and large black eyes with a pink robe of sorts.
'Hm, they seem to be thugs. Looks like the greedy nature of humans is still present here. Anyway, we should be careful….'. Momonga took some steps towards the group of thugs and spoke in an intimidating and commanding voice, truly fit for an undead ruler. "What may it be that you three….. gentleman desire?". 'Wait, they mentioned 4 rich-looking, but there are 5 of us….Could it be that they didn't notice Amano because of his robes?'.
The middle one, which also seems to be their leader, looked at them with a greedy look as he stretched out his tongue, a greedy smile plastered on his face. "How about you four leave us with all of your belongings before someone gets hurt? That's what we desire, right boys?". With that statement, he pulled out a knife, the short thug smirking along.
Before Momonga could even speak up, Shizyuutensuzaku quickly stepped forward, a menacing red aura around the nue. 'Eh? What does Shizyuuten plan to do?', as Momonga wanted to stop the angry nue, Shizyuutensuzaku had already stepped past the undead. "I have a counter-offer. You three will scram, or I'll personally kill each of you.". The three thugs got a bit nervous which was obvious, but they didn't back down. "So you three have chosen to die today…". And before they could even realize what Shizyuutensuzaku said, the nue was already in front of them, killing the slim and short one with one punch and ripping the big guy apart like a piece of paper.
The heteromorphic group was shocked, but not at the act of murder that Shizyuutensuzaku just committed, but rather that they didn't care at all. 'Normally, such a sight would've already made me vomit, but now, it's as if I watched someone squish an ant. It was a bit sad, yes, but I don't seem to care at all.'. The undead was about to question his own humanity, with his friends doing the exact same thing, but their collective moment of thought got interrupted by a particular young girl who jumped from building to building above them. With their thoughts interrupted, they looked at the current situation again, especially the 3 corpses on the ground.
"We should probably dispose of those before someone sees us.", said Shizyuutensuzaku who cleaned his gloves with a piece of cloth he grabbed from his inventory while turning around to look at his friends as he finally turned off his [Aura of Intimidation].
And as if Shizyuutensuzaku predicted the future, a female voice spoke up from behind Shizyuutensuzaku, located at the very entrance of the alleyway, "What is the meaning of this?". They all looked at the source of the voice to see a half-elf girl with long silver hair and purple blue eyes, wearing a white and purple outfit along with a white flower accessory in her hair.
The nue quickly spoke up at the accusatory look of the half-elf. "All we did, or what I did, was self-protection. These four thugs threatened our lives if we didn't comply with their request". With that statement, Shizyuutensuzaku also pointed at the knife the corpse of the leader was still holding.The half-elf girl, even though still a bit hesitant, seems to be contemplating her next actions. "W-Well, if it was self-protection, then I guess...But you four should try talking next time instead of using violence...And you all probably need to report this to a knight, or you 4 will get in really big trouble.".
It amused the group of Heteromorphs to see the concerned look of the half-elf girl. "…..It seems you are mistaken about one thing, Miss. We are actually five, not four.", said the lazy voice of Variable Talisman while standing up, as he was sitting on one of the crates in the alleyway the whole time. He then pointed at Amanomahitotsu, who was standing at the back of the group, almost blending in with the alleyway, even though he didn't possess any real stealth classes.
"Oh, I-I am sorry for not noticing you…", said the girl in an apologetic tone, but before Amanomahitotsu could wave away her concerns, she stiffened up as she remembered her true reason for even coming into this alleyway. "Did any of you maybe see a short girl, jumping from building to building?"
'Ahh, so she is searching for the whereaboutsof that little blonde girl. Maybe it's a friend of her?', mused the undead in his head as Yamaiko spoke up in his stead. "Yes, we've actually seen a blonde girl jumping on the rooftops above us. Why do you want to know that though?". To the answer of Yamaiko, combined with the soft voice of hers, the half-elf relaxed a bit. "She stole a very important thing from me and I really need it back.".The half-elf spoke in a nervous tone and as if on cue, some kind of spirit materialized besides the half-elf girl. Momonga along with Shizyuutensuzaku and Amanomahitotsu got a bit cautious, but refrained from attacking. "Could you maybe tell Lia which direction she went?", asked the spirit to the group. The spirit itself looked like an American Short hair cat with gray-white fur and bluish eyes, but unlike that certain cat race, the spirit was flying and rather small.
As Yamaiko was about to respond to the flying spirit, something fell from the sky and landed right behind the group inside the alleyway. A bit annoyed at these sudden appearances, the group turned around to see some kind of knightly looking man. He had fierce red hair and deep blue eyes, wearing a whitish knightly looking attire with lilac accents at the edges, looking at the group of Heteromorphs with caution as his sword seemingly begged him to be pulled out, vibrating a bit, which confused Momonga and Amanomahitotsu, but also awakened the collectors instincts of the undead overlord. The Knight then spoke up in a voice which contained both respect for the group but also caution, probably caused by the dead bodies on the ground.
"Could you five please identify yourselves?"