3Chapter one: An artistic Interpretation
Alder
Paintings marked the hallway he traveled, some grotesque, many depicted the various 41 as he had painted them, some were serene, some fierce. Some of the NPC's as they battled various human foes.
He gazed up at his latest completed work.
As thanks to one of the last whom remained within Yggdrasil. Momonga sitting on a throne with a heart in his outstretched hand in remembering his favourite spell, a beautiful woman draped in white with the lower half of her body, a spider. Her legs jet black and hairless. It rather reminded him of a black widow. Webs covered the background of the painting.
As he gazed at the painting he realized a flaw in it.
The world item in Momonga's rib cage was missing. He suppressed a flash of irritation. It's too late to try changing it now, soon the world would end.
He was lucky he supposed, to have a job that he could do even whilst in a game. The ability to decorate and design painting was handy when your an artist.
Many of his commissions came from other players or the internet at large.
Five minutes left.
He sighed and pushed his way through the 9th floor, a steady click of heels followed him, a level 1 NPC maid, who held a few pieces of his art equipment.
It seems his last painting would remain unfinished and the final and 10th floor would never see even a single piece. He scowled through his headset. That painting had taken him longer than he would have liked. And it was to be the last one on the 9th floor.
He cursed angrily, muttering his displeasure. He cut to his personal room, taking one last look at the painting. He'd have to recreate this one from scratch after all. Lupusregina Beta with a dark look stood in front of a large pale moon, aggressive posture and looking as if she's on the cusp of taking her second form. Her eyes glowed a menacing red and a sadistic smile graced her lips. The background was unfinished but it looked like the beginnings of a swamp or marsh.
Two minutes left.
[Message]
"Did you finish?"
"No, I'll have to recreate it from memory."
"I'm sorry. You had fun though right?"
"Of course, Momonga. My time here...it was the best."
"I'll have to commission a painting of Nazrick to remember it by."
"I'll send you copies of all the paintings from here. It's the least I could do, Guildmaster."
"All of them!? That's too generous! Thank you."
"Goodbye Suzuki. I'll email you them tomorrow."
"Later Mathew."
The painting did not fade out. In fact nothing happened at all. Did the shutdown get pushed back?
If the room had not been totally silent he might've missed the soft thrum of a heart beat. He turned around, curious of the sound. The maid stared back at him, her expression intense.
As if realizing she had unintentionally caught her master's attention she bowed quickly.
"My greatest apologies my Lord! I didn't mean to disturb your attention."
Her face had moved organically, her apology had been specific, and now she was waiting on me.
He forced his face to relax.
"It's- he cleared his throat- "it's nothing. Fetch me a glass of water and a set of brushes if you would?"
She straightened and said "Of course my lord!" Turned on her heels and left without another word.
His breathing evened out, shoulders relaxed.
This was far more real than a DMMORPG could fabricate.
His throat was on fire. The more he thought about it the worse it got. As a Vampire he was supposed to drink blood.
As soon as the maid returned he sent her off once again for something to quench his thirst.
Mathew gazed back at his painting or should he go by his character name, Alder instead?
Who was he now if he was a True Vampire with -400 karma? Was he evil? Did it matter to him?
When the maid returned he felt remarkably calm. Thoughts and ideas were examined and discarded in moment.
"Go and tell Momonga I will speak with him in the morning. I have a painting to finish."
Rivera
Convincing Momonga to destroy Gargantua was difficult. Eventually she wore him down enough.
'He isn't useful unless he's activated.'
'He's too large to kill opponents. Any skilled player will have the speed to dodge his slow fists.'
'His creator isn't here to care anyway.'
'So long as it isn't above level 80 we can have nearly 10 more NPCs instead of one useless one.'
She herself had only made two NPCs and Alder had made five level ten NPCs. A band made of doppelgangers. The Doppel Effect or something.
As she made her way past the remodeled third floor and entered the second, she was greeted by her silent sentinel.
Michael Myers. The killer of a cult classic movie.
She had been inspired by old movies when she was creating NPCs. Dressed plainly the level 79 NPC looked unassuming, but his build was anything but normal. With very low attack and speed his defense was ridiculously high, higher even than Albedo.
With equipment that slowed and debilitated in an area of effect the maze like catacombs were a perfect fit for the NPC. Much like the Minotaur of old if you wondered about in its maze it would eventually find you.
"Follow me, Michael."
There was no verbal acknowledgment only the soft tapping of his feet.
Next to Neuronist Pankill's wonderful room was the home of her second creation. As Rivera stepped inside she took notice of the smell. He was already cooking. Good.
"Greetings and salutations, my lady." His voice was elegant, hypnotic, and cunning.
"Good evening, Dr. Lecter. Are you well?"
"I'm as well as I possibly can be, and yourself?"
A small smile.
"Hungry."
"If you'll sit over at the dining room table. I'll have something ready soon. "
Hannibal brought out a large human like arm. The fingers were deftly removed and stripped of its flesh.
Excellent.
Later…..
Momonga
How on earth could his friends be so incredibly nonchalant about all this!?
Alder-san and Rivera-san must be crazy. Alder-san had barely gotten up from his art project and Rivera-san without so much as a blink had taken control of the situation and ordered the NPCs about as if she had done this sort of thing for years!
Well… Alder-san had always been an odd recluse due to his hobbies and was one of his weirder guildmates. Rivera-san was more of a roleplaying enthusiast. She always seemed to revel in crushing invaders or raiding. From what she told him of her real life she was a student in America, middle class and never really left wanting.
Rivera-san was a lot like Ulbert-san in that they both enjoyed banter, playing the evil character, and acting as an evil overlord.
'If you are embarrassed about your NPC just destroy him, the solution is simple.'
He was sure she was just joking, Ulbert-san told similar dark jokes.
He and Rivera-san walked down to the 6th floor and on the way he threw all of his nerves at her.
'What do we do if they try to attack us?'
She had rolled her eyes and said 'We created them to be loyal to Nazarick and its creators. Why would they rebel?'
One by one she had calmed his fears as they walked through the 9th floor to the 6th.
"Should we get Alder-san to come to this gathering?"
Bringing her hand up to her chin she adopted a 'thinking pose' that looked oddly familiar.
"Probably not, he'll want to finish his painting. Becoming a vampire probably doesn't even register as an important enough to warrant him stopping."
Momonga shook his head as he imagined it.
After meeting up with the guardians and creating a plan to hide themselves they were about to leave when a maid with short brown hair approached and bowed.
"Masters please forgive this one's interruption, however Alder-sama wishes for it to be known that he will be finished with his painting soon and will speak to you in the coming morning in your office Momonga-sama."
"Thank you-" he quickly tried to remember her name when Rivera-san saved him "Increment relay to him that we look forward to seeing his completed work. Also be sure he eats and drinks regularly… He often forgets when he's deep into his craft."
The maid bowed and left with a quick 'Affirmative!'
He's not sure how he'd have done this without his friends,... probably with a great deal of panic.