Chapter 28: Sit down for a midnight snack

Note: Lemons.

"...Interesting." A man reached to touch a tree-stump in a slowly darkening forest.

The 'fallen' tree was quite ordinary. However, what was not ordinary was the ruined, twisted and ominous detached classroom that had somehow relocated itself to the small forest behind Kuoh Academy.

Yet, the building didn't interest the figure that was slowly circling the tree stump nearby.

"...Quite so, quite so... So, a power that alters reality itself? I didn't know Sirzech's faction had someone like that in their pocket… Or perhaps whoever did this belongs to an entirely different faction?" The figure reached to touch the upper half of the tree that was near the trunk.

Both the upper half and the lower half of the tree seemed utterly normal, and it was as if it had existed like that naturally, due to completely mundane and normal reasons. It was as if the two parts had never even been connected to each other, despite the cuts on both sides being perfectly mirrored. It felt like the mirror image of the cuts was just an utter coincidence, and the tree trunk just happened to grow like that and the upper part had always been like it was ever since it had come to be.

"...But why would someone go as far as to rewrite reality to one where this particular tree had been cut like this?" The man reached to trace his finger across the edge of the cut part of the tree. "Is it trying to send a message? To whom? And what is the message?"

"...Do not attribute to intelligence what can be explained by coincidence and stupidity." A deep, rumbling voice could be heard coming from the man. "...Seeking hidden messages from paintings made by tipping paint cans over canvas is for philosophers seeking distractions and fools, and both are wasting their time. Focus!"

Vali Lucifer was confused as he pulled his hand away from the tree, but listened to the words of Albion, the White Dragon Emperor, that came from a white gauntlet in his hand. He had materialized the gauntlet so the dragon sealed within it could also sense the disturbance in reality that still lingered around the fallen tree. "You're still angry that the Red Dragon Emperor disappeared."

"I am. However, he'll reappear soon, and for someone else. If his previous Wielder had been so pathetic to die to someone other than us, then he was not a worthy enemy in the first place, nor was he worthy of wielding Ddraig's power.." The dragon's voice was resolute and dismissive but Vali had known him long enough to know better. And long enough to know that he shouldn't dispute the prideful dragon's words.

"Heh… well then, let's keep going. Kokabiel isn't going to contain himself, and if let loose for too long, there's no doubt he'll try to bring his harebrained idea into fruition." Vali dusted himself off and turned away from the tree stump, still disturbed but figuring out that if he kept an eye out and stayed on his guard, he might be able to complete his mission without running across whatever had 'cut down' the tree.

.

.

"Hmm…" Momonga was lost in his thoughts as he walked back to his manor, leaving Yuuto and Asia to their apology-argument. He had pulled his helmet off so he wouldn't cause anyone to mistake his identity, but he wanted to perform some durability experiments on items created by [Create Greater Item], so he didn't break it. 'I managed to gather from Asia that something had knocked on the window of the room where she had been… I'm guessing she had been in kitchen to grab something because Rias and Akeno didn't come with her, so she hadn't been in the second-floor room where the two are waiting for the Exorcists to wake up… and because whoever had alerted Asia hadn't told her to come in person, means that whoever alerted her is probably not part of my Peerage. Ravel is, umu, somewhere in here, I think, but I don't think she's the type to use subterfuge for her messages, and thus...'

Momonga wasn't overly shocked that the building and its surrounding areas were under observation, and judging by how the 'alerting' had been made to draw the Peerage's healer to 'Momon's and Yuuto's duel, their observer was friendly and likely sent by the Underworld.

He sighed as the picture came clear, which wasn't too hard since he had heard the girly squeaks that had come from somewhere during his duel with Yuuto. 'So, Serafall is skulking around the estate… I'm surprised she came here herself. Her stealth is… not optimal. I'm not sure if I should consider that as her not having a skill like [Perfect Unknowable], or her deciding to not use it.'

'Well, I might as well try to bait her out…' "Haah… I'm sad. I'm sure Levi-tan would have liked to see that fight. If she had been present I would have had the confidence to go all-out, and unleash my true, hidden, dark and cool form." Momonga told a coat hanger by the door as he stepped through the manor's back door. '...Ow, my self-image… Ugh, I need to be more careful when speaking like that… Invoking the Chuuni causes severe self-damage to my psyche…'

Moreover, while the skeletal figure of 'Momonga' inside his mind flinched and the businessman-suited figure of Suzuki Satorou inside his mind groaned every time the 'power' was called forth, and even more worryingly, Momonga could feel something waking up inside his head from repeated use of the 'forbidden power'. And he didn't like it one bit.

The fact he was already considering his 'chuuni' to be a 'secret power' was highly concerning.

He could have sworn he heard a voice that sounded like a disappointed and self-loathing wail that was quickly extinguished, likely by slapping a hand over one's mouth, and Momonga sighed internally as he received confirmation of his theory as the voice had come from somewhere deep in the backyard of the mansion, or likely one of the bushes on the far edge of the garden where the estate merged into the forest behind it. '...I'm not sure I'm happy with 'magical girl Levi-tan' seeing my 'duel', nor with her skulking around here… although it's not like I can do anything about it since technically she's here to observe me in case 'the supreme being' attacks… I'll just have to redouble my care when it comes to maintaining my cover. It's already clear that I can use minor and even somewhat major spells without anyone getting too suspicious or outright turning on me. So I should be good as long as I don't use spells related to necromancy or suchlike.'

"Ara, you have a hidden form? And you can only use it when Serafall-sama is present?" A girl's voice entered Momonga's head, and he instinctively jumped back, collided with the door with a cacophony of colliding black metal plates, and slammed it shut, effectively cutting off his easiest escape route. "Ara, ara, ara? Wait… Is that blood? Is..."

"I, well, it's blood, sort of, umu… Ah, don't worry, I'm actually unhurt under all this armor. I was just dueling with Yuuto and got hit." Momonga felt apprehensive as he watched Akeno walk from the kitchen, likely having intended to go towards the stairs with a tray of food in her hands but having stopped to look at 'Momon', or rather, at 'Momon's current bloody and armored state. "I was actually trying to see if Levi-tan was present, and found out that she is, err, hiding somewhere nearby. She's a fan of fancy and ominous catchphrases."

Akeno dropped the tray in shock and Momonga managed to catch it just in time thanks to having [Perfect Warrior] still active and thus having massively boosted strength and agility.

"W-whoa!" Akeno jumped back a bit, surprised by the speed. "Ara, I didn't know you were that fast, Momon-sama!"

"Well, I'm still a bit on edge after sparring with Yuuto-san." Momonga replied while holding the tray holding confectioneries and drinks. "Were you going to see the two Exorcists and Rias?"

"Yes, I figured that since Rias's stomach started to growl and she's angry like a hornet then she'd like something sweet, ufufufu..." Akeno's smirk turned a bit fragile. "Ara, please don't tell her I said that. My, I didn't think we were getting stalked by Maou, but if it's Serafall-sama stalking you, I guess we're going to be all right… or all dead, depending."

"My lips are sealed about Rias's sweet tooth.." Momonga sighed and handed the tray back to her. "I imagine she probably wouldn't like it if I intruded? Ah, and don't worry about Levi-tan, I'll deal with her."

"I imagine Rias-chan would explode under normal circumstances if you intruded or if she learned Serafall-sama was stalking you, 'normal circumstance' being 'earlier today', but I'm not so sure about Rias-chan's mood anymore." Akeno took the tray. "Ufufu, I don't think we've had this much 'crazy things happening per unit of time' before the Rating Game. But it looks like Rias-chan is starting to adjust. Having a chance to scream at you helped her mental fatigue immensely... You make an excellent stress doll for Rias, Momon-sama, ufufu..."

"What about you, Akeno-san?" Momonga asked, blushing a bit. 'It looks like Akeno is starting to get more comfortable with me if she's willing to tease me like she teases Rias.' "Er, I mean, how are you doing, not if I make a good stress doll for you…"

"Ufufu, just call me Akeno-chan, or just ditch the honorific." Akeno chuckled. "We've already slept in the same bed, no?"

"Well, you're Rias's girlfriend but…"

"Ara, I'll stop you right there." Akeno spoke over Momonga with unusual seriousness that made him listen to her. "It was fun to see Rias-chan squirm for a while but I think she'll just get hurt if that particular tidbit circulates further."

"I understand, I won't tell oth-"

"I don't mean that, Momon-sama. I'm not Rias's girlfriend, and no, I'm not trying to deny it or mislead you." Akeno rolled her eyes. "We're just really close friends. Friends without benefits, mind."

"Ah, but.. back then… When Rias and you, umu…"

"Ara, Momon-sama's mind is in the gutter." Akeno flicked Momonga's nose with her finger while shifting the tray to one hand. "Don't worry about that. Unless you like to see two girls scissor each other? Ara, perhaps I'll show you what it looks like tonight? I'm sure Xuelan-chan would be interested..."

Momonga felt his fleshy body blush from Akeno's teasing. 'This girl… is completely shameless. I wonder if it's because this world is pretty much as close to an eroge as a not-virtual reality can be?'

"Ufufu… you're cute when you blush. I first thought you were too scary to tease, but it looks like that once the initial scare goes away, and I stop worrying if you'll chargrill me any second for looking at you the wrong way, you're surprisingly innocent. Besides, it's not like I could stop you from turning me into a 'grilled Akeno' again even if I tried." Akeno continued, chuckling to her hand despite her fatalistic words, which caused Momonga to rub the back of his head in shame. "But I'll be insulted if you say that Rias-chan and I are girlfriends in love. We're the best friends, but that's about it. And no, I'm not in denial about it. If you're dense enough that even this won't get through then I'll deliver this message with a pickaxe the next time."

"Understood, ma'am." Momonga felt a bit wary. "Umu, and also… if you'd like to do something about that whole 'grilling' thing…"

Akeno lifted her eyebrow and Momonga hastily corrected himself. "I mean, if you want us to talk about what I did, and how you're feeling about it, I'd be more than happy to listen. And I promise I won't willingly attack you again, unless you force me to in order to protect my Peerage or myself, or you consent to it beforehand."

"Ufufufu, your promise would be more gallant if it didn't have enough holes to count as a strainer." Akeno chuckled. "Fine, fine… Oh, also, what's with the armor? Are you perhaps trying to become a gallant hero? Or since your armor is black, perhaps a villain?"

"Well, I challenged Yuuto to a duel for the ownership of the two swords the Exorcists dropped…"

"Ara?"

"...And I lost, but Yuuto let me keep the swords." Momonga finished the now-shocked Akeno. "Did I say something weird again, Akeno?"

"Ara… You know, I'm starting to wonder if you're actually secretly a therapist or a mind controller who lobotomizes your subject's traumas away. Perhaps the Great Red actually made you into his therapist instead of an Anti-'Being'… Ufufufu, anyway, Yuuto was… a bit angry with holy swords. To the point he swore to destroy all holy swords he'd come across or die trying, in fact. That he'd win and let you keep the Holy swords… Ara, ara, ara… Perhaps I'll have to avoid you from now on." Akeno chukled to her hand again. "If I look the other way, you'll resolve my personal issues and seduce me before I manage to so much as tell you to buy me dinner first. Ufufufu…."

"It's not like you make your mental baggage hard to see, you know, with your fatalistic remarks… It's like you place absolutely no value on yourself…" Momonga's words were cut off as Akeno placed her hand on his mouth and pushed her body against his.

"Ara, ara, ara… see, what did I just tell you?" The girl chuckled at Momonga's sudden freeze, although the girl had an expression on her face that clearly indicated that he should stop. "I'd like to postpone my therapy session for later, thanks."

"Understood… well, just seek me out when you're ready to talk. Or if you wait too long, I'll come looking."

"Ara, ara, ara… Careful there, or you'll end up gathering a harem of mentally unstable or traumatized girls and taking advantage of them, and making your harem so big you'll need to appoint a manager." Akeno poked 'Momon's chest-armor, amused by Momonga's reaction to her statement. "Ufufufu, I wondered if you wore your armor to be a hero or a villain, but now I know you're a cunning and evil villain wearing a gallant hero's suit…"

'...Calm down, my racing heart, she's not talking about that…' Momonga felt his host body's heart beat wildly with nervousness over Akeno's words going in a dangerous direction. "Umu, well, ah, did you happen to see where Yubelluna-san was?"

"Ara? Already looking for your next victim?" Akeno looked like she was only barely holding back her giggles after seeing Momonga's expression. "I think she's in her room, getting ready."

"Ready for what?"

"You'll see, ufufufu…"

For some reason Akeno's words didn't reassure him one bit.

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Momonga could still hear Akeno's ominous chuckle as he knocked on the door with Yubelluna's name on it. He had dropped off his armor into his research room, downed yet another healing potion with a heavy heart, and had taken a quick shower to clean off the blood that had been all over his host body.

"Hm? Come in…" A female voice came from the room so Momonga opened the door and stepped in.

"Hi, Yubelluna, I was wonder- whoa!" Momonga's voice turned high-pitched as he noticed what the woman was wearing.

"Ah, welcome, welcome, Momon-sama…" Yubelluna seemed amused by 'Momon's reaction to her choice of dress, or lack thereof as she sat on a comfortable-looking chair and was doing her nails while wearing just racy thigh-high stockings and garter belts under a almost completely see-through nightgown.

She had crossed her legs, but seeing 'Momon's blush, she uncrossed them and re-crossed them so the other leg was on top.

"My, you're cute." Yubelluna let a small chuckle. "Oho, perhaps I was too hasty in thinking you had gone to your 'destroyer mode'? Or did someone else take care of your 'destroyer mode' before I could? I thought you'd just stare at me flatly and ask if I was trying to catch a cold…"

'...I'm not that oblivious, am I?' Momonga paused his thoughts to quickly go through his previous interactions with the violet-haired woman. '...I've been reluctant, but I don't think I've been oblivious? Also, what's that 'destroyer mode'...'

He put his thoughts to words, and Yubelluna tilted her head. "Ah, that name came after you, hm, recruited me and Akeno-chan. We figured that whatever the Great Red had done to you, had imbued you with a sort of anti-undead destroyer mode that turns you from cute, a bit gallant but reluctant young man into an emotionless, relentless destroyer when you're pushed to combat. Kind of like just now, when you just casually grilled those two girls and then recruited them."

Yubelluna paused. "...Hm, come to think of it, is killing someone with fire nonconsensually and then recruiting their dead corpse going to be your modus operandi for getting new Peerage members? So far that's four already…"

"No, at least if I can do something about it." Momonga sighed. "...Speaking of recruiting through fire, want to talk about it? I actually came here to ask you about something else, but… It's not like I can't see that you're acting abnormally."

"Oho? How is that, then? Perhaps you knew me before without me knowing, and can tell me acting normally and abnormally?" Yubelluna lifted her eyebrow curiously. "Were you perhaps stalking me, hm?"

"N-no, I was just talking to Akeno, and realized that my actions might… well, be quite disturbing for the people around me. I'm not trying to justify my actions, because I don't see anything truly wrong with them, but I was wondering if we could talk about our morals and methods." Momonga explained. "To a degree, ends justify the means, but at the same time I understand that my Peerage isn't thinking the same way. So I was wondering if we could talk about that, and also see if we can learn more from each other. Despite our, umu, physical relationship I have come to realized that I barely know anything about you, Yubelluna-chan."

"Oho? You're using a philosophical discussion about ethics as a cover for getting to know me better. Interesting." Yubelluna put her bottle of nail varnish away and spread her fingers, letting her now-painted nails to dry. "I wonder, was that all you were planning on doing~?"

"Yes, actually, I was wondering… While I know next to nothing about you outside surface attraction, I have a feeling the same might apply to you. So I was wondering if you were interested in learning what makes me tick, and see if you're still interested in maintaining our… relationship?" Momonga figured that showing some 'vulnerability' would help endear the woman towards him.

According to Touch Me-plushie, loving relationships were built on mutual trust and to 'Momonga' showing vulnerability to another was the ultimate expression of trust, while Suzuki Satorou felt much the same albeit he felt that there was more to it than just that.

Albeit, the 'vulnerability' in this case was pretty much acted out, and was more like Momonga trusting a 'sniper' outside his mental 'home' not to take the shot when he placed a mannequin in front of a back-lit window. In this case Yubelluna being the 'sniper' and the 'mannequin' being his cover persona.

Thus, no matter which way the conversation would go, 'Momonga' would only gain from the interaction. He'd either deepen Yubelluna's trust in him, or he'd learn that her true loyalties lied elsewhere, in which case he could fall back to his more proactive means of ensuring loyalties, like lobotomizing her loyalty with [Control Amnesia]. Although it would mean he'd need to lobotomize Xuelan as well, as the other girl would be able to recognize the sudden change of behaviour instantly and become suspicious.

Having a loving relationship with the girls would deepen their loyalty to him which would give Momonga wiggle room while he was figuring out just where the group would stand as far as their mutual loyalties went.

He still wasn't sure if he saw the group as his 'guildmates', or merely as analogues to them. Or if he saw them as more than that. The last possibility had started to intrigue Suzuki Satorou while Touch Me seemed to be approving, and Peroroncino-plushie had been pushed back to the horny jail after the shirtless wrestling match over if he found Gasper attractive or not, with the results coming off as incredibly indecisive, which had worried Suzuki Satorou to no end.

However, the Overlord standing on the barren mindscape that made Momonga's mental image had been content over the direction of the events and the string of manipulations that he had woven, which would tie the Peerage closer and more dependent on him.

However, he still held his clause that if the group or their members became an active hindrance, he'd get rid of them.

'Momonga' ignored the pointed, disappointed stare Touch Me-plushie leveled on the back of his skeletal head.

"Oho? You'd wish to have a philosophical discussion about our morals and a heart-to-heart at the same time…" Yubelluna seemed a bit more hesitant. and stood up from the chair. "Interesting. I'm not sure if I'm going to like what I'll find… or if I'm going to be alive at the end, but sure, let's go with it."

"Ugh, not you too… Akeno is fatalistic enough, please don't…" Momonga grumbled, rubbing his face. "Listen, we're in a relationship, right? I just want to talk, get to know more about you." '...And know what makes you tick. You've already betrayed one master you were intimate with, what's stopping you from betraying the second?'

"Ho? I figured you wouldn't go as far for a mere Pawn. Or a concubine, perhaps? Hm, indeed, if we are to have a chat, then I do wonder what I am to you?" Yubelluna noted while walking closer, and 'Momon' kept his eyes resolutely on hers. "Hah, don't worry about your… recruitment methods though. It's hard to shake off something like what happened earlier, but I'm a big girl, I figured that I could live with it. After all, I was mostly expecting, nay, wanting for you to just kill me and be done with it back then. I confess I was in a bad place, but I feel much better now."

"You know, hearing you say that won't make me happy, and I won't be happy until… Hmg?"

Momonga somehow expected that Yubelluna would be more interested in kissing him on the lips than opening up her heart. '...Then again, she just jumped beds from one master's to another's, so I shouldn't be surprised… I shouldn't take this physical interaction to mean too much either, elsewise I'll be too enamoured by her actions to look deeper. Besides, it's not like a skeleton like me would be too interested in doing 'that'… or would I?'

He considered just stopping his attempt to prod through the bold woman's brains with words and instead using [Control Amnesia] as a shortcut even with the caveat that it'd force him to lobotomize Xuelan as well despite her being innocent to the whole thing.

However, Touch Me-plushie looked like he'd have a word with 'Momonga' if he didn't at least try to understand the violet-haired woman traditionally, so he discarded the idea… for now.

In a way, it was almost as if he was vetting a new player into Ainz Ooal Gown, or rather, getting to know someone in order to make friends with them. Or perhaps go even further.

For a moment Momonga paused to consider just who he truly was and what he wanted. It wasn't as if he was just a skeleton, albeit the host body he was 'wearing' still felt a bit alien to him. However the longer he used it, the more 'homely' the body became and the more he started to consider the fleshy parts of his body to be part of it, instead of being just a layer of disguise over his bones. He wondered if it was Momonga becoming less like 'Momonga' of YGGDRASIL, and returning towards being 'Suzuki Satorou' of Neo-Japan, or if it was the two sides of his personality starting to shift towards a more unified, singular personality.

'Suzuki Satorou' was no evil mastermind, and neither was the character 'Momonga' a supportive and meditative co-worker and a friend. Rather, what he had been in YGGDRASIL was Suzuki Satorou role-playing as evil mastermind while being a supportive and meditative friend and guild leader to Ainz Ooal Gown. And 'Momonga' was his avatar that he crafted, and who had become part of his 'reality' in the new world.

Indeed, in a way it could be said that being dragged to the new world by Ddraig had split his personality apart to two different faces of same being, each face looking at different directions, but with time, the two were starting to merge back together into more coherensive being that was slowly starting to manifest both Momonga's cunning and power, and Suzuki's camaraderie and team-building- instead of just Suzuki panicking while supplying the 'two' with his YGGDRASIL knowledge, while Momonga used his powers and the Overlord's roleplaying and acting ability to make things worse.

In a way, the apple had not fallen far from the tree as both Momonga, or rather back then only Suzuki Satorou, and Pandora's Actor, the NPC he had created in the Treasury of Nazarick, and whom he low-key considered his 'son' of sorts, were both actors- while one was overacted and dramatic to cover his calculating and deeply analyzing persona, other was using calculating and analyzing persona to cover his frustration and loneliness.

Momonga felt that if he hadn't been strapped with the Peerage and 'losing' access to most of his powers by having powerful enemies loom over him in search for an 'evil necromancer', he'd have likely associated himself with the Lich he had created, and sought friendship and comradery from 'his kind', and from his creations... and in doing so, he'd have likely doomed the new world he was in to a dark crusade of sorts.

Indeed, it seemed like the intelligent Undead he created looked up to him as if he was truly what the flavor text belonging to character 'Momonga' stated, but raised to mythological heights by being the master of Nazarik by the sole factor of being the last player logged in the guild during the shutdown of YGGDRASIL.

Ie, the Undead he created saw a master in Momonga, a king, a conqueror, and a lord of souls. And acted accordingly, if the Elder Lich misinterpreting his simple orders as the start of a conquest and war was anything to go by.

Yet, Momonga had gone a different path. In one he would have sought to make friends with his worshippers, his intelligent Undead creations, and dragged himself to a never-ending self-destructive war in order to not disappoint 'his new friends' by acting out his true self instead of fulfilling what 'his new friends' saw in him.

But in the path that he had gone down he instead had tried to make friends with his peers, who truly were his peers if not in power then in the fact they retained their free will to choose to be with him, or not - at least in confines of the Peerage system anyhow. Yet the fact Yubelluna and Xuelan had betrayed their 'former' master also made it clear that the system did not force blind loyalty from its subjects.

In a way the fact the bond could be broken made the friendship that had started to form between Momonga and the Peerage feel much more real.

Momonga recalled the plushies inside his head, and the 'fights' they've had, and knew that as much as the mental projections felt 'real' inside his head, they were but his own emotional conflicts given shape, and given form of his friends whom he most associated with the trait the plushie represented. It was no grand realization as he had known as much from the start, yet acknowledging it made the 'suggestions' forwarded by 'them' much more palatable and considerable.

The character of 'Momonga' was heavily leaning into role-play, as was Suzuki Satorou's true character, so it would be only natural for his mind to be a grand act of role-playing as well, turning his subconscious conflicts and desires into a grand conference between plushies representing different emotional stances on the issue.

Yet, the feeling made him feel lonelier than ever. To realize that he sought his friends back so much that he'd create mental plushies of his friends in Ainz Ooal Gown to play house with, all of it inside his head.

'Haa… I'm just a messed-up bag of bones and fleshy bits, aren't I…' Momonga sighed as he dragged himself out of his considerations before he could get too deep into looking to his own soul. It was said, after all, that the deeper one looks to the abyss, the deeper abyss looks back at them. And he wasn't sure he wanted to find what lies at the bottom, not just yet.

Meanwhile in the real world, Yubelluna had pushed 'Momon' away from the door and was working on kissing him towards her bed, using the quick pecks like hounds to drive sheep towards their grazing area.

Momonga blinked as he realized what was going on.

"My, you're back already?" Momonga's sudden 'mental insight' hadn't gone unnoticed by the violet-haired woman who paused her kisses to place a hand on his chin. "I thought you had gone 'offline' for a second there."

"I was just… contemplating what I was, and what I wanted. You know, regular things one does." Momonga shrugged. 'Hm… well, I might as well try to give it a shot, see what happens… And it's not like I can take the back-seat much longer with just letting things happen around me and reacting to them, I need to be a bit more proactive…'

So, to that end he placed his hands on Yubelluna's waist and drew her a bit closer. "Oho?"

"Well, we can have a heart-to-heart like this too, right?" Momonga reasoned as he guided the woman to lie on the bed. "You won't mind, I presume?"

"...Oho, I'll look forward to seeing if you can formulate proper speech soon let alone have a nuanced conversation about our respective feelings." Yubelluna chuckled to her hand while locking her legs around Momonga's waist. "Then again, if last night was any indication… maybe you could? Although I somehow don't feel as if you enjoyed the last night too much... For a while back then I thought I was bouncing on a 'Momon'-sized love doll instead of you, since you seemed about as emotionless and had about the same stamina. Remember, points for stamina, points off for 'skill?'"

Momonga blushed. 'I wasn't that bad, was I?'

He recalled last night. '...I was, wasn't I… Although, in my defence, it's not like that I had much experience, or… yeah, I didn't even think about doing much of anything and the girls just worked their way around it. And 'I' was just letting 'Peroroncino-plushie' enjoy himself while thinking about the whole 'YGGDRASIL magic and local magic' thing… I'm the worst, aren't I? Four girls threw themselves at me and all I could think about doing was wondering if [Create Greater Item] could restore my fleshy body in case it was utterly destroyed, or if the locals had a more efficient way of restoring bodies...'

"Well, I think it's high time I did something about it, then?" Momonga offered, giving himself a mental thumbs-up for moving out of the spectator seat of events and edging to the driver's seat.

"Ohohoho? Did you take my words back at the school to heart? Am I the one who's going to stop thinking when you're done?" Yubelluna seemed to take as much joy as Akeno in teasing him, at least if the woman's giggling was anything to go by. And when combined with her mature figure and bold actions, the impact of her teasing was much more pronounced.

Indeed, so pronounced that Yubelluna's grin widened when she noticed what was bulging against her lower stomach.

She tried to reach for it but Momonga grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head.

"My, you've gotten stronger." Yubelluna noted, and the act seemed to excite the woman. "Are you perhaps taking things more seriously this time?"

"Maybe." Momonga sighed internally and felt relief that he hadn't accidentally crushed the woman's hands. 'I almost forgot I still had [Perfect Warrior] active… eh, it should only last a couple of minutes or so, after which I can just stop keeping it up, and it'll go down. The thing has a minimum upkeep time…'

He masked the thoughts by kissing the woman in a way that forced the back of her against the bed, and the pair of legs around his waist seemed to tighten to the point Momonga was fairly sure he'd have bruising unless he had the warrior-spell active. 'Hng, on the other hand, let's just keep [Perfect Warrior] up… If Rias's bone-cracking is any indication, if I manage to get Yubelluna 'interested' I don't think my 'caster' body will be able to stay intact… I really need to get my [High-Tier Physical Resistance] up… Bah, and I need to stop thinking about that. This is about Yubelluna and me, not about my magical research.'

"Ohohoho, me like." Yubelluna's face was flushed as Momonga relented the kiss, and her almost childish 'praise' made him blush as well. However there seemed to be an underlying wariness to her posture, which made Momonga slightly happy as it seemed that the can of worms that was likely the woman's mental state was starting to show signs of opening.

'Either she's a total nyphomaniac who can't live without a man in her life, or her head is seriously messed up from the whole 'Riser fiasco' if she's already willing to jump into another man's bed, to the point where she literally jumped to her earlier lover's killer's bed, even though as far as she knows we aren't 'technically' the same person… albeit, if I think about it, there's a high chance that it was my [True Death] that killed Riser, so she's quite literally sleeping in the bed of her previous lover's killer… Oh. That… doesn't make me happy, actually.' Momonga felt no insignificant amount of shame for the actions that he had performed that had left Yubelluna like she was. 'I wonder though, could I leverage that a bit to see if I can get the can of her emotional baggage to pop open entirely?'

Figuring that she needed to be a bit more in 'the mood' to breach that subject, Momonga started moving his hands down the woman's sides and to her waist after letting her hands go, which shot instantly around his neck and pulled him into another deep kiss.

He felt something wet as he moved his hand down even further, causing him to lift his eyebrow at the woman after he managed to disentangle himself from the kiss. "You're pretty eager."

"Or you're that good." Yubelluna purred, gasping at the feeling of a physical reaction the words caused, and which rubbed against her stomach. "My, and also easily flattered. Hoho...~"

'This minx…' Momonga pulled the nightgown from around the woman and she literally tore his garments away, making him wonder if she had a skill that broke clothing or if she was just that experienced.

He didn't have time nor the desire to contemplate either possibility as the woman reached to guide his blade towards her scabbard, and he sheathed himself slowly as it looked like she was plentily oiled already.

"Hnm… Haa…" Yubelluna's moan entered Momonga's ears and he hugged the woman close, causing her breasts to push against his chest while he kissed her.

"Am I… getting better?" he asked while he started to move slowly, causing the woman to let a heated, frustrated growl.

"Faster, harder!" Yubelluna bit the nape of Momonga's host body's neck, nearly drawing blood and causing him to instinctively slam his body down on her. "NGH! Y-yes, more, yes!"

Figuring that the woman was more in the category of 'harder' than 'gentler', which he in retrospect might have been able to tell from the woman's reaction to pinning her hands, Momonga went ahead and leveraged the strength and agility [Perfect Warrior] gave him.

"NGH! HNG! H-NG!" Yubelluna's moans were luckily mostly muffled as she tried her best to imitate a vampire by biting his shoulder hard enough that Momonga wondered if she tried to tear off a chunk from it.

He felt that he had reached the end of the scabbard and was poking the tip of his blade against the innermost gate, causing the woman's reaction to turn much less controlled, which was impressive by itself since she already looked like she was barely keeping herself from tearing into Momonga like a hungry, violet-haired lynx.

"AAHA! AH! YES, IN!" Yubelluna's scream could probably break ordinary windows as she finally tore her teeth free of the shoulder she had sunk them into, leaving a bleeding mark.

Momonga could feel that his host body was reaching the edge, so he tried to pull away, but before he managed to get even halfway out, Yubelluna had locked her thighs tight around his waist, pushed her feet against his butt, and had forcibly locked him 'in'. He could have leveraged the [Perfect Warrior] to escape, but the woman's desperate action to keep him in caused something to snap and he turned the escape into assault, driving the blade in to the hilt and causing the tip to kiss the gate inside Yubelluna's deepest reaches while the two lips far above locked into a hungry brawl.

Almost instantly afterwards the troops flooded through the battering ram into Yubelluna's innermost courtyard, spilling back to the fortifications after the courtyard had been packed full, and staining the sheets below in flood of the woman's excitement and Momonga's host body's sauce.

The scream of ecstasy that left Yubelluna was muted into Momonga's mouth, but he felt quite happy that he managed to elicit the feeling from the woman. '...It looks like she's really pent-up… I don't think last night satisfied one bit, even if she pretended otherwise… Although, I doubt this is nearly enough…'

Momonga grabbed the woman's arms again and pinned them over her head again, pulled out before she could object, turned her around so she was facing down the bed, and re-entered from the behind while pushing her against the bed.

He used the woman's surprise and her sudden lack of vision of what was happening behind her to mask him getting a 'mana potion' from his inventory and popping it, then getting another one and placing it to the side. '...Well, if it's come to this, I might as well use these in their intended use. Heh, and all this started from me wondering if Yubelluna knew about health potions… Didn't think I'd be soul-searching as a prelude for lovemaking… this eroge world...'

"Oh? Ohoho?! You're… NGh… NAh… getting bolder, Momon~¨sa~maAaah! D-didn't yUhng… just comeNGh!" Yubelluna seemed surprised and her words were barely coherent through the thrusts that banged the gong with each swing and knocked the wind out of her at the same time.

"Stamina, remember? Oh, and also those, umu, potions." Momonga muttered the last part in a low voice, although it seemed like Yubelluna had heard him as she slammed her hips against his, and turned her head towards him despite him pinning her head down.

"Oho, ohoho? Then you were planning on this happening the whole time?" The look in Yubelluna's eyes scared Momonga a little, but it was too late to back down now, and if Momonga could tell even with his limited 'physical relationship' experience that if there was a point of no return, he had crossed it a long while ago.

'Well, captain goes down with the ship…' Momonga felt his host body running out of breath as the previously one-sided thrusting turned into a much more two-sided affair, two bodies mushing together to the point he was unsure where one started and where the other ended.

The woman's long, shapely legs seemed to be everywhere, and he caught himself having her breasts on his face at one point, so he decided to play with them.

The woman herself seemed to go into an utter rut from the action, not content with having a 'full tank' on the inside but rather going non-stop to the point where she was bursting from the seams as the invaders of her innermost sanctum were directly reinforced at least thrice before Momonga lost count.

He had thought that he was about to win as the woman seemed out of it after nearly passing out during their latest siege, but she had spotted the spare 'mana potion' that Momonga had brought out just in case, and before he managed to intercept, she had gulped most of it down.

When he had gotten to her, she had lunged on top of him and had deposited the rest of the 'potion' into his mouth through mouth-to-mouth method, causing almost-surrendering slag below Momonga's waist to harden itself almost instantly to steel again, and Yubelluna found that the effect the potion had on herself wasn't enough to save her from reaching the top of the mountain, only making the journey longer, and the end of the pair's journey over the tops of an entire whole mountain range caused the woman turn from a prowling and skirmishing lynx into a sack of quivering meat, which was soon afterwards turned to a storage solution for Momonga's brand of yogurt, again.

"Nh… hhaa… ahn... " Yubelluna slumped on top of Momonga after the two had decided to take a break, and she decided to show dominance by lying on top of him like a worn blanket. It did little to stop her from being kissed by Momonga while she recovered. "B-better… Technique needs some… haah… work, but… the strength is there, the stamina is… mmh, filling, and... and… mmh… the passion is there too… hohoh, I thought that the last part of that list would be the hardest to… mm… ahn… unlock, but… you're full of surprises."

"Thanks, Yubelluna."

"...Call me Bellu-chan in private. Really private." The woman muttered half-heartedly, then froze for some reason.

"Something wrong, Bellu-chan?" Momonga asked, and then realized that the woman had flinched from hearing the name. "Ah… emotional baggage. Let me guess, Riser had called you that?"

Yubellua looked like she regretted telling him the pet name, but thanks to the physical exercise it wasn't as if she could sprint away. Or even wobble away. Or that running away from her problems was even in the woman's nature. "...Yes."

"You know, I'm going to get jealous at this rate… although, the real question would be, do you see me as a replacement for Riser, another Riser, or are you just jumping to my bed for some other reason?" Momonga felt that the situation had proceeded to the point he could start working the woman's brain and broach some more sensitive subjects. "It's not as if I hadn't noticed the signals you were giving off, even the ones you might not have noticed yourself…" 'I didn't actually notice much out of the ordinary, but I guess she won't know that I don't know if I won't tell her… If she's actually seeing me as 'Riser' in a way, she might do something drastic when she learns that's not actually the case. Better snip that idea out of the bud at the start.'

"I'm not jumping to your bed to replace Riser with you." The woman seemed troubled. "I feel, I… well, Riser, I, we were… close. In retrospect I think it's a bit early still… but, on the other hand… I know he's..."

"I know." Momonga told her. "I was merely wondering if you were feeling if you were betraying Riser by being with me and feeling guilt for it, or if you think that if you're close enough for long enough, I start 'manifest' the parts of Riser's soul Beelzebub theorizes are inside of me, and turn to 'Riser'?"

"...And if neither was true?" Yubelluna's voice was wary. "Would you believe me?"

"Well, yes. But I don't think that's the case here." Momonga pat the woman's head, causing her to blink in confusion, and then in resignation. "After all, in the first scenario you wouldn't be happy, and in the second scenario you'd be looking at me and seeing something you wanted, and not what I was. That won't make me happy, and you'd be living a hopeful lie. And if I break 'character' from what you expect 'Riser' to be, then you'll betray me and go look for the next Riser-y person…"

A slap rang in the bedroom, and Momonga reached to rub his now-stinging cheek.

Yubelluna looked absolutely furious. "And what, jump into their bed as well?"

"I figured, but didn't want to presume."

The second slap caused Momonga's other cheek to sting as well. 'Ow. Well, it's not like negotiations like these are completely safe affairs...'

"You see, I was quite curious about you. You chose to jump into my bed, someone whose body's previous 'owner' had killed Riser. Surely you'd hold a grudge towards 'Issei' for, hm, breaking Riser, so you deciding to be with me feels quite suspicious, and the soul-shard theory makes me quite unhappy as well." Momonga explained. "After all, do you see Riser wearing Issei's face, or someone else entirely? If so, what drew you to that 'someone else'?"

"...I see someone who acts like how Riser did from time to time, and I know what it means. No, I don't see you as replacement of Riser, nor his reincarnation. I'm not that naive, Momon." Yubelluna hissed. "My decision to 'jump to your bed' was because I know Riser won't come back. He's dead, and even if his body still moves, he is buried. Even if his soul is put together somehow, and if his 'body's crimes against the Underworld are absolved, his Peerage will never be the same, nor will he be."

"And if he was?"

"Then I'd tell him I have moved on. That he needs to find someone else, and that I loved him when he lived, but I can no longer be with him. Too much has happened, too many bonds were broken permanently- and we both know he won't return, so your question is unfair."

"And if he did resurrect perfectly, and I traded you back to his Peerage?"

"I'd hate you for it. Do you really think of me as a piece of meat you trade between Peerages out of spite or misguided chivalry? Did I misjudge you?" Yubelluna growled after Momonga grabbed her hand after her third slap. "You don't realize it, do you? You're not good because you're like Riser, but because deep inside you, beside whatever the Great Red did to you and beside the two personas you apparently inherited, you're a good person like Riser was. Even though you try to act to fit the part you are supposed to be playing in a given situation, your true nature slips through every now and then. Did you think I wouldn't notice the change in your actions, going from noble and refined in the underworld to that of a confused and clueless boy in the human world?"

'Oh….'

"...And I don't cling to futile hopes or fleeting illusions, so I won't just sit and wait for Riser to return to me, or try to turn you to him. I respect him and his memory that much." Yubelluna hissed. "Even though I have only known you for a few days, I can tell that you're someone worth following from what little I've seen, and a good person that I might one day find myself loving. I don't claim I've fallen in love with you right now, but you're intriguing, and if everything works out I could very well see myself falling for you like I had fallen for Riser. So call this me staking my claim."

"...Am I intriguing enough for you to jump to my bed?"

"Is having casual sex such a big deal?" Yubelluna countered. "You seem to make such a grand deal about it. Did you, or did you not find what we just did fun? Or were you just pretending that the two of us going at it like rabbits during the spring wasn't a quality time?"

"Well, in truth I'm just a bit confused by how bold and straightforward you are, is all. In truth, I expected to find a can of worms after analyzing your behaviour through the light of my own thoughts, and try to dig the worms out. But it looks like the can was misleading and I've only managed to dig my own grave." Momonga sighed and released the woman's hand. "...I'm sorry for doubting your resolution. It looks like I'm not that great of a relationship doctor after all."

"Phah. You seem to think that I'm some teenager who needs to have their hand held and nose sneezed after breaking up for the first time." Yubelluna waved her hand, and Momonga lifted his eyebrow at the tone. "...Fine. I'm not entirely over Riser, but let's just say that if you keep being you, I'll be over him before you know it. Everyone has their own quirks and dark places, but I feel that you at least try to be a good person even if your 'evil' slips up every now and then. Maou knows Riser did let his evil slip more than a healthy amount. Besides, and I won't lie, sex is fun, and abstinence is not."

"Ah…" Momonga realized that he had given Yubelluna's mental fortitude far too little credit. "I understand. I feel I have gravely misjudged your persona, and I hope you understand where I was coming from just now, and forgive me for my baseless claims?"

Yubelluna swirled her hips around his, causing Momonga's host body to gasp for air. "Fine, but at least find a better subject to argue about in the future. It's not like there are relationships without their hurtful arguments. Moreover I confess I'm still a bit scared of you, but honestly it's more about me not really knowing if you have full control over your power than you deciding to deliberately harm me out of malice. When you're in 'destroyer mode' the situation is different, but I'll try to be an asset and not a hindrance, because I feel that's the only emotion you feel when you're in that mode. Even though I still instinctively flinch when you create fire, I know it won't go away with sweet words but with only repeated exposure until I no longer fear the flame in your hands."

"Something like that won't scare you too much?" Momonga was fairly surprised, considering the reactions the rest of his Peerage had had about subjects similar to what the woman was speaking of.

"Well, life is about compromises. If you have a power that can bring us all home at the end of the day, I won't mind getting a bit singed, or sucking the scary mode out of you afterwards, or whenever we like it." Yubelluna reached to grasp Momonga's host body's meat sword that had recovered. "Here, let me give you a demonstration, and let's see if Xuelan-chan was being truthful…"

Momonga sighed.

'Yeah, I was utterly outmatched from the get-go. This woman is a minx, and an intelligent one at that…'

"Slurp!"

"Hng!"

It was Momonga's turn to groan.

.

.

"Noo, ducky! That is not a pond! Don't swim in it" A furiously blushing magical girl was trying to shoo a duckling away from a pond that had happened to spontaneously form in the woods behind Momon Phenix's estate after Magical Girl Levi-tan had peeped on 'Mo-kun' and his 'afternoon activities'. Although she had to mostly do lip-reading as it seemed that the violet-haired girl had cast a privacy ward that blocked sound from getting out of the room. Not that the two's lips had parted many words to the room, as they had been too busy letting out moans and doing other things.

Levi-tan panicked as she realized something. "Uwaah! I need to train So-tan! Otherwise she'll break in half! Mo-kun, please take it easy on her… although… hehehe… I wonder… Ehehehe… ehehehe… Hehe… Oorr… Mo~kun~ perhaps~ I don't have to train ~her~"

The duck let a confused quak as the magical girl stopped chasing it, and seemed to be utterly lost in her own world.

And for some reason even the young bird was intelligent enough to see that the lookon the magical girl's blushed, dreamy, and partially shadow-covered face meant nothing good, specifically when one looked into her eyes...

.

.

"Ugh… this is so boring…" Ravel complained.

The twin-drilled blonde-haired girl grumbled as she used her magic to reform the gate to the 'Momon Phenix estate'.

"...I'm still feeling sick to my stomach that I had to call that boy 'niisama' in front of mom." Raven grumbled as the gate began taking its earlier shape, the molten slag reforging itself to steel under her mastery of magic and flame, and the metal drew itself to the shape of pipes that joined together to form fencing and a gate. "Why do I have to do this? This is a servant's job… I hate this, urgh…"

A part of her mind knew that her particular mastery was quite useful for steelworking, and out of everyone occupying the estate she had the highest level of control over her magic. Thus, she was pretty much the only one who could restore the gate before any passer-by would notice the pile of molten slag and glassed pavement, and get curious.

"Uuurgh…" The gate took its final shape and began cooling down, accompanied by an annoyed growl from Ravel.

She turned to look at the mansion her mother had given as a 'wedding gift' to the boy who had been hastily adapted to the Phenix family, and felt like growling again. 'He's nowhere near being a replacement to Riser, no-one can replace nii-sama… Momon is just… Clueless, idiot, foolish, harebrained, idiot, letcher…'

She had been quite close to her brother, Riser, and the loss affected her hard. The fact a clueless human-raised boy had been just grabbed out of nowhere and placed into the family to 'replace' Riser grind her gears fiercely.

She didn't much care about the explanation of 'Momon' having parts ot Riser's soul, because, allegedly, having a part of Riser wouldn't make 'Momon' into her beloved brother. And the horrifying not-Riser confronting the rest of the family just made her hate, hate, the 'Supreme Being' who had done that to him.

She didn't believe the explanation that 'Riser's negative traits were re-absorbed into his body and he began worshipping the 'Supreme Being' that Beelzebub had toted. In fact, she believed that the 'Issei' boy had deliberately killed Riser and then used some black magic voodoo to force Riser to betray the rest of the family against his will, and somehow bewitch Ravel's mother to adopt 'Issei'.

'Grr… My plan to have him shop with me for underwear and use the chance to push us into a changing cabinet, then stab him to death when he was busy groping me, and then use the groping as an excuse for my actions was a failure... ' Ravel growled furiously. 'Moreover, that blonde boy wasn't even fun to shop with… Did 'Momon' realize my plan and deliberately pushed that boy onto me? ...Wait… Maybe he's the 'Supreme Being' and is using Riser-oniichan as an unwilling puppet with his black magic?'

She paused as she contemplated the possibility. 'Hm… The timing was so coincidental… Beelzebub-sama believed that 'Momon' was sent to fight the 'Supreme Being', but perhaps… the egg came before the chicken, after all?'

She was facing towards the estate as she thought about the theory, and never noticed as the still-unlocked gate opened quietly behind her, accompanied by a shadowy form slipping through the opening like a drop of oil slipping through a strainer.

"What if- ghuh!" Raven felt something grab her head from behind, and her consciousness fled her with just one last thought flashing through her mind, accompanied by a feeling of dreadful epiphany before her body failed her. 'He realized that I realized his true nature! And he must be able to read minds if he knew of my first plan, and… when I realized... he disposed… me… dammit... Mom- please…'

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