Chapter 108: Patch the stab-wound with sea salt

Serafall Leviathan woke up.

Or rather, the Maou who had accepted the title 'Leviathan' opened her eyes after staying up all night in some overly decorated gold-and-red bedroom Sona had led her to.

Of course, Serafall hadn't actually slept a wink, and had instead spent the night in quiet solitude, otherwise known as brooding, even though Sona was sleeping next to her and had clung to her back like she used to, back when she was still a child and slept with her 'big sis Sera-tan'.

Serafall wasn't blind to the mental manipulation Sona attempted with the sleep-over. Even more so when Serafall used the 'gift' 'The Supreme Being' had given her- The pink ero-fairy.

True to it's name, the moans and panting of two women, one of whom Serafall recognized to be Lady Phenix, had haunted her through the night and had hammered home both the fact that 'Momon' had used Serafall like a fiddle, and that he never had any intention of staying 'faithful' to Serafall and his budding relationship. Not that she expected the latter, but it was still a point downwards.

Moreover, she felt absolutely abhorred that Momon decided to indulge in such acts even when the Underworld was in shambles, the Human World lied in ruins, and the devils needed leadership more than ever before- Something that Maous should assume, yet Momon had handily practically eradicated Maou's leadership while leading 'True God' in their place… Yet Momon had spent the night in his bed, screwing with women, instead of leading those who had pledged their faith to him.

'Absolutely despicable… I mean, I guessed as much, but I just didn't realize he'd be this despicable…' Serafall fumed while bunching her hands up. '...Grayfia tried to make a run for it, but she wouldn't be able to get away with the angels prowling about… And based off Momon's methods, I have no doubt as to what her condition would be if she was caught by him… At least I can help Sirzechs-kun and honor his memory by making sure his wife won't get turned into a cum-balloon at the end of her escape attempt…'

Serafall was fairly sure that Grayfia hadn't seen it her way, but she had figured that water-prison and small incisions with Sitri-family certified finger-waterjet to sever tendons would be enough to make the gray-haired maid at least think first before attempting to escape. After all, the energy-draining rack and having to heal the wounds would slow down the 'Strongest Queen' somewhat and allow her time to properly formulate a proper escape plan.

'Those wracks were from the old war… I'm surprised the Phenix still had them… But I suppose most of the noble families would have retained theirs even if high-class devil confinement dungeons were supposed to be centralized instead of being personal torture-dungeons…' Serafall sighed while Sona slowly stirred from her sleep, likely woken by Serafall's slight movements. 'The wracks down in the dungeons were fitted for high-class devils, which means Grayfia will eventually overpower them through her natural power over-growing what the wrack can drain, and allow her to escape… Er… actually… If Sirzechs-kun is dead, Grayfia's Queen-Piece would have dropped from her… In which case she would probably only classify as 'High-class devil' in terms of power…'

Serafall wanted to kick herself over her mistake. 'I bet Momon planned for this…'

"Kukuku… You're in a bad mood, Sera-tan…" Sona chuckled as she woke up and tied her hands around Serafall's waist while the two lied in bed. "I wonder, did you see your plans unravel before your very eyes? Or perhaps realize that there is no escaping the Supreme Being's majesty?"

"No…" Serafall huffed, and sighed as she realized that she had sounded like a petulant child being asked if she had hurt herself while doing something stupid.

"Ahaha…" Sona cuddled Serafall's head against her chest. "You're adorable, Sera-neesan…"

"Nghh…." Serafall whined in order to not be tempted by Sona's cutesy act. "He killed, like, hundreds of devils indirectly, and everything is going wrong because of him! Sirzechs said that he was a Not-Gonna-Say-Its-Name-Ha-Ha thing, but there's no way… He's even more evil than the Outer Beings!"

Sona tilted her head and took Serafall's temperature with the back of her hand.

"I'm not sick!"

"You're speaking all sorts of feverish mumble-jumble though… Did you not sleep last night? Are you feeling drowsy and you're speaking nonsense because of it?" Sona lifted her eyebrow, seemingly serious now in a tonal whiplash that caused Serafall to stumble mentally before she realized that Sona had taken a page out of their mother's book of psychological manipulation and mental warfare, and Sona was trying to keep Serafall in a emotionally fragile and unstable state.

"Underhanded, Sona! Don't think that you managed to deceive me!" Serafall turned around so that she was on top of Sona and pinned her against the bed. "Be serious! Momon-kun… The stuff that he has done…"

"Ah, come off your high horse, Serafall." Sona looked reprimanding, causing Serafall's resolve to wilt a bit before she realized that the manipulation attempt had changed from appealing to her cutesy side to serious to now reprimanding. "Do you really think that such things as living or dying are an obstacle to the Supreme Being?"

"No… He did order the Three Faction's losses to be resurrected, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he had them all killed in the first place! Nor that he did that in order to become a savior of the Underworld and basically become the leader of all Three Factions!" Serafall complained.

"So this was not actually about the lives 'lost', but rather about you and the other Maous losing power and position over Underworld's rank-and-file, huh?" Sona covered her mouth with her hand and looked to the side. "I'm a bit disappointed in you, Serafall-san… I thought you were nobler than that…"

"Gnuuuuu!" Serafall felt as the words stabbed into her heart and caused her to both be unreasonably angry at Momon who had corrupted Sona so, and at herself as she felt the accusation strike just a tiny bit true. And she felt annoyed at Sona for failing to see what was happening. "It's not about that! It's Mo-kun being turbo-sneaky and stabbing everyone in the back!"

"Come now. A Maou of all people is criticizing someone for being sneaky and stabbing someone in the back… Didn't Sirzechs-sama and Beelzebub-sama try to stab Momon-kun in the back during the peace conference? And didn't the entire civil war happen because you four came together and stabbed the old Maous in the back?" Sona looked disappointed in Serafall, and the latter felt her resolve shaking. "Besides. You've chosen your side. Unless you are willing to 'be sneaky' and stab Momon-sama in the back now and run away back to the… I suppose we should call the now-toppled government the 'New Old Maou' faction, you're already his."

"I… But…"

"Haa… Regardless, I love you Se-tan. But you're a big birdbrain from time to time. But I love you nonetheless." Sona hugged Serafall and the older sister realized that Sona had changed her tactics once again. "So remember that you've made your decision, stood beside Him, and for all intents and purposes you're already his… Kukuku… Or I suppose if you wanted to be broken in person, then perhaps go and take the issue up with Him? You already know that you won't be able to win against Him, but I suppose that he could break your mind and pelvis if you went and annoyed Him with your hypocritical 'sensibilities'... I went through that already, and I can tell that it's worth it in the end…"

"Ngh…" Serafall whined as Sona hugged her head against her chest. "I'll swear I'll protect you no matter what… So please, come to your senses…"

"I've already come to my senses, realized the majesty of the Supreme Being, like Ravel has… Well, your turn will come soon." Sona smirked, causing Serafall's unease to worsen.

'I'll get you for this, Momon-kun… I'll get answers even if I have to flay them from your skin… Grr…'

.

.

Momonga was… experiencing emotions.

He couldn't really pin down which one he felt at the moment, as the strongest emotion of the moment seemed to shift every few nanoseconds or so, leaving him in a thoroughly shocked state.

Indeed, he had attempted to read Rossweisse's 'backstory' using [Control Amnesia] and see what she knew about Odin, about the exact sequence of events that had led to the death of Momonga's child, and read whatever else she might have had in her head.

He had then planned on 'writing' a big pile of phobias to her 'backstory' to make it easier and more fulfilling to torment Rossweisse to death for what she had done to him… But something had happened.

Momonga reached to cover his bony, fleshless jaw with his skeletal hand.

'Hm…' Momonga looked down and noted that he was, currently, floating roughly two feet off the ground and he was skeletal.

On closer inspection the skeleton looked like his 'avatar' from YGGDRASIL except that it didn't have any gear equipped and was 'naked', so to speak..

Moreover, the colors around him seemed to be muted and ethereal somehow, like if reality was starting to blur into a mist-like mass.

One more glance downwards told him that the body that Momonga had 'acquired' was on the floor, and more specifically the 'Issei' body was crumpled beside wrack-tied Rossweisse, and both were motionless and in a heap like marionettes with cut strings, deep in the Phenix dungeons.

"So… Did I just die?" Momonga asked aloud while his mind was doing it's best car tire impression as it was spinning out of control. "Ah… Of course. Odin. He must have predicted that I'd try to read Rossweisse's mind and booby-trapped her… I… Haa… This is precisely what I was trying to avoid. I got angry, and did something stupid, and now I'm dead. For real. Incredible. Status screen up, and… I have zero health remaining, and my mana is slowly getting drained. Awesome."

"Uhuuu…. Uhuuu…" A ghastly wail caught Momonga off-guard and he focused on the sound… And saw Rossweisse.

Or more specifically saw a slightly transparent ghost-like form that looked like Rossweisse.

She was floating roughly two feet in the air as well, and was on her knees while crying miserably.

Momonga sighed as he focused his attention on the woman for a while. '...And it turned out that she was not lying. I managed to read her backstory before whatever Odin had put in triggered… She… She really thinks that I am some sort of gallant knight, and the child… never existed…'

He began to turn away in order to ponder on his next move, assuming that he had a way of thinking his way out of death, but before he could do that Rossweisse let out another wail.

"Momonga-sama… No, Suzuki-sama…" The content of Rossweisse's wail caused Momonga to freeze up.

"Eh?"

.

.

Rossweisse felt like her heart would burst. 'No… Yggdrasil… My people… And the pain, the loneliness…'

'Lord Odin warded me against mental manipulation when he made me his spy… Was this something he planned would happen?' Rossweisse had realized too late that Momon had intended to read her mind, and was too late to warn him that Odin had reinforced her mental defenses with his runes.

The mental manipulation Momon had intended had been rejected, but thanks to the power of the 'reading' had only managed to partially reflect it.

Thusly Rossweisse had felt as Momon had gone through her memories in a flash… But at the same time she had felt her own mind get projected into Momon's for a while, allowing her to see into his memories like he saw into hers.

The two souls mixed together for a briefest moment, and a second anti-mind control rune had detonated to eject the 'intruder' out of her head… And as a result had ejected both Rossweisse and Momon from their bodies as both had been reading each other's minds for a moment and mixing together.

And due to that defense Rossweisse's head was swimming with foreign memories, memories of an odd salaryman doing his best while grinding through sixteen hour workdays, and a skeleton who went to kill gods, to Momon who was living his eventful life in the Underworld… Before she managed to piece together a rough timeline of what had happened.

'Lord Momon- No, Lord Momonga, er, Lord Suzuki? Who was the first? Who was the last? …No, more than that… Lord Momonga is not from our, er, reality?' Rossweisse's head spun as she contemplated the sight of a world without a clear sky, a world which was cloaked in smog and nuclear ash, a world in which systematic, automated emotionless cruelty had reached a point of extreme efficiency at the expense of 'living parts' of the society-mechanism, or in other words, at the expense of the living beings.

And then she realized that the sight of the 'skeleton' was some sort of projection or fantasy, yet somehow more 'real' than just imagination or delusion… Before she came across a faint memory of some sort of device with cables and metallic parts, which caused her a feeling of fright on an instinctual level as she remembered that 'Suzuki' had jabbed the device to his neck before the 'dream' had resumed.

'Some sort of… He thought it was a 'game' but it feels so real…' Rossweisse shivered as she remembered all sorts of things in said 'game', but didn't really understand even half of it. 'So much death… And Suzuki-sama, no, Momonga-sama got killed so many times, and then that knight with a funny name, Touch Me… He rescued Momonga-sama… And… Ah… So that's where Momon-sama's gallant knightly attitude comes from…'

She felt as if she had seen something incredibly private and felt a bit afraid of the retribution she'd receive as she whimpered on the 'ground', or rather floated two feet off the ground as a disembodied spirit. "Momonga-sama… No, Suzuki-sama…"

"Eh?" A surprised sound came from nearby and Rossweisse lifted her head to see a now-familiar skeletal figure.

In a normal scenario she might be surprised, even a bit afraid of the sight of a tall, skeletal figure with a crooked skull and red-blazing dots as eyes in empty eye sockets… But right now Rossweisse could feel nothing but sadness when she looked at the sight of 'Momonga'.

"Lord Momonga… I'm sorry, I didn't have time to tell you… Lord Odin warded my mind against mind-control and mind-reading…" Rossweisse felt miserable as she had seen what 'Momon' had intended for her, and she accepted what would have been her fate. 'As befitting of a hypocritical, lying, despicable valkyrie like me…'

"You… Know my name?" The skeletal creature had covered his mouth with his bony hand and was quite motionless. Rossweisse looked up and Momonga turned his head to the side, almost as if he was nervous, afraid and ashamed. Then the two red dots that made his 'eyes' in the empty eye sockets turned to glance at Rossweisse in a hesitating manner that was almost cute.

"I saw you… All of you, when you looked and saw all of me." Rossweisse felt her throat dry up, even though she didn't 'truly' have a throat right now. "I saw… I saw Momon-sama, as Suzuki Satoru… wading through that corporate hell… And then as Momonga-sama wading through hell as a non-human… Saw Momonga-sama being rescued by Touch Me-sama…"

"I… see." The skeletal form seemed to be utterly shocked, which Rossweisse could understand. "Did you… see all of me?"

"Yes… I'm sorry…"

"Haa- And what do you think of what you've seen?" Momonga seemed to sigh even through skeletons didn't have lungs, and then reached to scratch his eyebrows even though he didn't have those either. "...For what it's worth, I saw into your memories as well. That… My, no, our child… Never existed…"

"Please, I'm sorry for lying to you, Momonga-sama…"

"No, you were drunk, so I shouldn't have taken your words at face value… And then you were afraid that I'd discard you if the truth came to light. I suppose your fear was justified…" Momonga seemed to wave the issue off and the pair of red-gleaming beads that were his eyes narrowed down on Rossweisse in a way that let her know her fate would be sealed if she spoke the wrong words. "That being said… You've seen my past. That makes you a liability…"

"Momonga-sama! Please… Please reconsider… You're in so much pain…" Rossweisse had seen the recent-past in the memories as well, and knew that 'Momon' was 'The Supreme Being'... Or rather, that such a title had been tossed onto his shoulders due to Maou's intimidation and the actions of his 'summons' or rather 'subordinates' that he hadn't intended to act the way they had.

And she knew that Momonga would see her as a liability as she had been used by Odin to spy on him, even though she hadn't realized it. "I know… You've been forced to become the 'Supreme Being' even though you didn't mean to... And… It's so sad…'

Momonga seemed to pause as he had been lifting his hand towards Rossweisse.

"You don't have anyone… Even though you're surrounded by people, you feel so alone…" Rossweisse realized that the hand might have been intended to kill her, but she knew why he'd do that. She knew Momonga had been forced into a perpetual lie, into an existence that was like a rope-walker trying to not only walk forwards but balance a bonfire on his hands. And a smallest break in the 'character' could lead to his death. 'I… I understand that this is not the best time, but… If you wanted to talk to someone, someone who knew your story… I… well, I'm not the best psychologist, but…"

"Haa… " Momonga seemed to be frustrated for some reason. "...You… Do you think that-"

"I know this is not the best time to talk about it, but… The stress you've felt, ever since Ddraig-sama dragged you into this world… Please, you must realize that it'll eventually cause you to pop, Momonga-sama!" Rossweisse knew that she didn't have a big chance of convincing him to spare her, but at least she could try to make up for her mistakes by attempting to push Momonga to open up more, to start prying open the shell that he had been building around his true self and which was slowly choking him until he'd really become a monster like 'The Supreme Being' instead of only acting the part.

"And you think that you can stop that, hm?" It looked like her words caused anger in Momonga, and Rossweisse knew that approaching such a subject would be a touchy thing, even more so when she was more than a little suspect herself.

"I can try, but that's not what I mean…" Rossweisse wilted a bit. "You have so many people around you, your fiancees… But none of them see the real you… You're not a bad person, Suzuki-sama… But if you don't heal your heart, you'll eventually become the monster your, um, 'summons' think you are. So much evil has been done in the name of the 'Supreme Being' but… You have the power to make it all right! You have the power to not become what they expect you to be, a monster! I believe in you, Momonga-sama! I know you, I know you won't let 'Touch Me'-sama down!"

"Haa…" The skeleton covered his face with his hand and seemed to change the subject almost as if it was too much for him to think about- Something that Rossweisse understood. There was no way that the mental trauma Momonga, no, Suzuki Satoru had suffered could be mended with just a few passing words. "Those feelings I saw in your memories… Do you truly-"

"Yes. I, um, love you, Momon- er, Momonga-sama…" Rossweisse felt her cheeks blush even though she was ethereal. "Erm… I always wanted a boyfriend who'd be kind, gentle, calm, intelligent, rich and successful… but… Er… It's more like 'I just want a boyfriend' and all the other stuff just kind of dropped because… I was too tied to my job and couldn't really socialize… And before I realized I was too old already and stuff just… didn't happen… Hehe, I just realized that we were kinda the same… Suzuki-sama?"

"Haa…Something like that…" The skeletal creature had come closer and had reached for Rossweisse's head, and began stroking it. "I will layer you with tracking spells, and I will know if you talk about me, my past, to anyone. If you so much as breath to anyone what you've learned of me, you will die an agonizing death. Do you understand?"

"Ah… Yes. I do. Please do it if it makes you feel more at ease. But… I… Even after what I found out, I don't hate or fear you. And I'd like it if our relationship continued… If you'll have me." Rossweisse felt a bit afraid by the skeletal figure's words, as it was effectively what Odin had done to her except worse… But at the same time she understood why Suzuki, or Momonga as the skeletal figure reminded her of the 'other' form he had taken, was doing what he did.

He likely felt that he'd have no other options, likely thinking that she was somehow still trying to fool or manipulate him like so many others, and in which case he'd be at a massive disadvantage.

Yet, Rossweisse had no intention of blabbering about Momonga's past, or his abilities, weaknesses or other things. But she understood. '...He looked into me, into my memories, but… Trust doesn't come so easily… Er, not to mention what happens if someone gets me drunk… I don't speak for drunk Rossweisse. No-one speaks for drunk Rossweisse. Drunk Rossweisse does what drunk Rossweisse does…'

She realized that the head-stroking had continued but no magic had come, and she realized two things- One, Momonga was possibly hesitating, and two, it was likely that he couldn't cast anything, as the two were but ethereal projections of a soul and not truly 'living' in a traditional sense.

"Gnooo…. Gnoooooooohh…. Gbghg… Brn… Gnooo…" A snore that was occasionally broken by a mumble and popping of a snore-bubble broke the two of them from their awkward staring match.

Rossweisse looked to the side to see a massive ghostly apparition sticking its head through the wall, in a coma-like sleep and with a small bubble of snot steadily inflating and deflating from it's massive snout. Although the 'ghost' managed to only partially enter the dungeon as the red dragon was so massive that it couldn't fit into the (relatively) small cavern-like room, and so it looked like the massive dragon's head and neck were coming through the wall.

"Is that… Ddraig-sama? I read about him, when I was researching dragons…" Rossweisse blinked at the dragon who looked like an old grandfather taking a much-needed afternoon nap. "Ah! No- Momonga-sama, we can't stay like this for long… If we stay out of our bodies for too long, we won't be able to go back and we'll die for real!"

"I… see." Momonga 'blinked', or rather the red dots in the empty eye sockets dimmed for a second and re-ignited. "How… How exactly are we supposed to get back into our bodies?"

"Odin-sama put a number of traps into my head when he sent me as an envoy. I didn't really think too much about it since I was a bit, um, distracted thinking other things- Sorry, I didn't have time to warn you about, erm… that…"

"I know. I saw that memory too, of Odin putting those wards into your head. And it's not like I expected you to give me a heads-up before I'd begin reading your mind in order to… er, nevermind… You probably know…"

"Yes… I, uh, am glad if you don't, er, do that whole torturing thing, thanks…" Rossweisse blushed to her hairline from the embarrassing memory while her face paled a bit from the sadness and anger Momonga had been in, when he had read her mind and had decided on such a punishment for her. "E-erm… Anyway, I figured that we should just lie down into our bodies and I'll perform a quick ritual…"

She quickly went over the 'returning' ritual to a traditional spirit-walk by undoing a 'turn ethereal' rune, except that this time there was no such rune to anchor the souls into bodies and thusly Rossweisse needed to try to perform the ritual for both of them at the same time while adapting her rune-magic on the fly as while she couldn't cast magic, she could still craft runes with the little ambient energy that the two of them radiated. "Er… The worst scenario is that it doesn't work or we'll swap bodies, so…"

"Please be careful…" The groan was that of a long-suffering office-worker and Rossweisse steeled herself.

"I'll do my best, Suzuki-sama!"

"Also, please don't call me 'Momonga' or 'Suzuki', specifically in public..."

"...Alright, um… Momon-sama… Here I go…"

.

.

Momonga gasped for air as he returned to his senses and realized that he was lying on the cold cobblestone floor of the Phenix dungeon.

He reached to pat his chest in near-panic and realized that he was, in fact, alive. Or as alive as an undead could be.

Or rather, he was no longer the odd skeletal ethereal projection floating in the air.

Rossweisse let a small groan as she woke up as well, still tied to the energy-draining spiked rack that was likely extremely uncomfortable even with most of it's torture-implements retracted. Even more so as the rack had fallen over in the ruckus and the woman was lying partially on her side on the floor.

Momonga lifted himself up, and then made a motion to reach for Rossweisse's head with the intention of putting a 'tag' on the woman combined with [Remote Mine] that he could observe through [Planar Eye]... And hesitated. 'Just now… Rossweisse… The memories, and…'

The whole thing in the 'spirit realm', if he was honest to himself, was something that he had been utterly unprepared for. Even more so if Rossweisse actually managed to read his memory like he had read hers, and with her basically narrating his life, Momonga had no reason to doubt her.

He still felt more than a little intimidated by the fact that someone knew who he was, who he really was, and that the one who knew that was Odin's unwitting spy… But with Odin dead Momonga could feel a bit more at ease that the information would not go directly to his enemies. And that Rossweisse was, ironically, innocent to the whole thing.

At the same time… Rossweisse had seen what Momonga had done- What he had failed to stop. And had accepted it, accepted him even though he had failed so much and so many already. Knowing, or rather, believing that Momonga had the willpower, intention and strength to make right what he had wrought.

Not to mention, if Rossweisse truly wanted Momonga dead… She could have just not re-attached him to his body, and left his soul to truly split off his 'body', and eventually die.

He hesitated for a moment… And then redirected his hand from it's original course, Rossweisse's head, and instead grabbed the latch of the torture-rack and lifted it to allow the woman to slouch off the torture device.

Momonga caught Rossweisse before she managed to fall flat on her face, and supported her as she twitched weakly.

"Ehe… I… Think I managed to… attach you… But…" Rossweisse mumbled with a delirious, weak voice. "The Devil Piece… interfered with… me… Sorry, I don't think… I'll be able to… haa… Figures… Just when I'd get a… boyfriend…"

Momonga cast [Detect Health] instantly on the woman, and saw that she had 'zero' health remaining, and felt a small spike of panic despite being confident that he could save her even if she died. 'Oh. So she managed to attach me to my body, but failed to completely attach herself… But that isn't a problem now that I have my body again…'

Momonga grabbed a healing potion from his inventory and poured one of the last vials of the red liquid down Rossweissei's throat before she had a chance to go still and 'die' again. 'If this doesn't work I'll just have to allow her to die and then use [True Resurrection]... I could just let her die in the first place and that way I wouldn't have to spend the potion but… That's not what kind of person I want to be… Cold, calculating, emotionless… That's not what the guys, my friends in Ainz Ooal Gown, would have wanted, I'm sure of that… That kind of monster is not what I want to become, like Rossweisse said… Ainz Ooal Gown might have been a guild for non-humans, but that doesn't change that all we did was play a game together, and were just humans pretending to be monsters… Ironic that I'd start a path to become a monster pretending to be a human… But I still have time to change… It's not too late for me… Is it?'

He sighed in relief as Rossweisse's health went up from zero to roughly one-quarter, and the woman stirred slowly.

"Ah?" Rossweisse seemed to be surprised to be alive, blinked, and looked into Momonga's eyes. "Um… My lord…"

Momonga claimed her lips before she could talk, however, and the disoriented mumble turned into a happy murmur as she leaned into the gentle kiss after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Mn… Chu… Momon-shama…" Rossweisse seemed to relax and finally slouch against him, alive but exhausted.

"...I think I need a vacation. A long one. Perhaps you'd like to come too?" Momonga sighed as he was well aware of how messed-up the situation was, and was feeling more than a little shaky over the near-death experience. 'If Rossweisse was the martyr and zealot I initially thought she was… I'd have died right then and there… With no way to reconnect with my body by myself I would have eventually dissolved… And she even prioritized saving me instead of prioritizing saving herself, which would have led to her death if I didn't have healing items from YGGDRASIL or resurrection items and spells…'

He noticed that something was oddly off, and then realized that whatever Odin had put into Rossweisse's head must have trigger some sort of force-pulse as the torture-racks of the other valkyries in the room were knocked over as well, and some of the women had hit their heads and were unconcious, while others were mumbling in a frightened manner among themselves.

However… One of the racks was empty.

'...Hold on, wasn't that the one into which Grayfia had been tied to?' Momonga scrunched his eyebrows before the door to the dungeon blew open with enough force to knock the on-closer-inspection-already broken door off it's hinges and slammed it against the dungeon's wall with enough force to cause it to get submerged into the stone.

"MASTER! PLEASE DON'T DIE! HOLD ON! WE BROUGHT HEALING SUPPLIES AND- Ah." A gaggle of maid-masquerading Cherubim Gatekeepers practically burst through the destroyed doorway, each carrying bandages, healing items, med-kits, unconscious Asia who was wearing hospital-clothes and was being carried like a suitcase, Gasper who was wearing the same and was in the same state, a big crate of tantric energy boosters, and other items that looked like oriental ointments.

Momonga blinked before he remembered that 'One' had been in the dungeon when he had tried to read Rossweisse's mind, and the 'maid' had likely seen Momonga collapse into an unresponsive heap and had subsequently panicked.

"Umu, I'm alright now. Don't worry- ehg!" Momonga fell on his back as the six Cherubim Gatekeepers charge-hugged him, each of them crying their hearts out in clear relief and in a startling change of behavior as they had attempted to stay cool and composed before. 'I wonder if that emotionless behavior of theirs was partially because I was keeping my emotions under a tight control when I made them, when I was sort-of ambushed by that white-haired guy…. Va-something… I imagine that the Cherubim Gatekeepers would take that as a clue to try to hide their own feelings like children mimicking the motions their parents make… Haa… Yet another reminder of how much a failure I am… Rossweisse was right, I need therapy…'

However, the situation was once again threatening to escalate and Momonga had no time for such luxuries as taking a break for a session of self-loathing. 'Grayfia must have been able to escape the rack during the ruckus and heal herself, and it isn't a big leap in logic to assume that she's either going to nab someone as a hostage and make an escape… Or try to 'lower the gates' and sabotage this place so that Beelzebub and Asmodeus, and Sirzechs if he somehow survived that backstab, can pull a surprise attack from within…'

"Listen, I am happy that you are concerned for me, but can, hm, two of you look after Rossweisse? Bring her to an empty bedroom in the Peerage quarters, get her something to eat and drink. The rest of you scatter and search for Grayfia- She escaped." Momonga pushed himself off the jubilant and shaky pile of 'maids'. "If you find Grayfia, take her into custody but don't kill her and try to subdue her without causing severe injuries. Go."

The maids nodded with motions that looked more like blur than something a normal human could constitute as a 'nod', and all of them were looking both clearly relieved and also a bit ashamed.

The maids burst into motion and Momonga moved to act as well. 'Right… [Widen magic: Detect Life]...'

Momonga tried to roughly guess which health-sign belonged to whom as he had no idea how much 'health' Grayfia would have after the dungeon-visit, so it was a bit hard to discern which health 'number' the detector showed belonged to her. 'I have a good idea on the 'max health' of my Peerage members and some others… But if they are injured or over-healed somehow then their 'health' changes and it becomes hard to pinpoint exactly who the health belongs to…'

'Hm?' Momonga lifted an eyebrow as he felt his [Detect Life] glitch a bit, like if it tried to figure out the health of something but failed. 'Anti-divination countermeasure? Hm… So, I'm guessing that's Grayfia… There's a fairly high health-sign right next to that glitched health pool, don't tell me that Grayfia managed to get a hostage…'

Momonga sighed and walked off, leaving just a gaggle of seriously frightened and wrack-bound Valkyries in his wake.

.

.

"G-ghaa… Hng…" Grayfia groaned as she collapsed on the floor of a room which looked like some out-of-use storage room filled with crates covered in spiderwebs and preserving cloth.

She turned around and dragged herself so that she was leaning her back against one of the crates, feeling like she had crawled through hell.

Her arms and legs ached as she had been forced to heal herself in a hurry and with limited energy to do so. The rack she had been tied to hadn't been enough to entirely drain her power, so she had instantly healed herself and bolted for it when she was presented a chance.

Whatever Rossweisse had done had detonated the power that Hastur had tried to inject into her, causing both to be stunned while an ethereal blast knocked the torture-racks loose and allowed Grayfia to wiggle out of hers.

She had hesitated for a brief second, wondering if she should try to finish off Hastur while the body he chose to don was seemingly unconscious or dead… But decided against it as her power was only a sliver of what it'd be in a more recovered state, not to mention that she severely doubted that something as mundane as a dagger to the heart or some such would be enough to banish an Outer Being.

So Grayfia made a runner, and ran until her barely recovered stamina failed her and forced her to seek a hiding spot from which she could start her escape properly. 'First things first… I need to contact Beelzebub, figure out what happened… If… Sirzechs… If he's really dead…'

Grayfia felt hot tears rolling down her face as she had felt the Queen Piece fall from her chest when her husband and King had fallen, and as such she knew that Sirzechs was dead… But she didn't want to abandon hope, abandon a possibility that Beelzebub had some trick up his sleeve to deceive Hastur in some way. 'I need to… Let Beelzebub know I managed to get away…'

She gathered what power was left in her body to create a communication sigil aimed at 'Beelzebub', hoping that her barely directed connection would find it's goal or that Beelzebub would realize that she was trying to connect with him… And the sigil stabilized, allowing Grayfia to sigh in relief as Beelzebub had heard her desperate signal.

"Beelzebub- Grayfia here. I managed to escape Hastur's dungeon- Rossweisse did something and managed to stun it for a moment and I escaped in the confusion." Grayfia spoke to the hovering holographic glyph that looked like a playing card made of green light with Beelzebub's sigil in it. "I… I don't think I'll be able to escape alone. There are too many, and while I don't feel that teleportation is blocked, I doubt that it isn't at least trapped or worse, tracked… I need help."

"I… see. So you were allowed to escape." A voice that came through the sigil belonged undoubtedly to Beelzebub, but Grayfia found herself shivering from the emotionless sub-tone of the voice. It was a tone that she had not heard for hundreds of years. Not since the Civil War when Beelzebub had gone to a manic state where he could utterly ignore the ethics and morals of what he was doing in order to accomplish his goal- No matter the cost.

"I escaped by myself, with Rossweisse's aid. I am no traitor!" Grayfia realized instantly that her situation was suspect. "I need a distraction, something that will draw Hastur's eyes to something while I make my escape… I think I could grab Rias as well, and-"

"I'm sorry. But I cannot risk that. He baits us, he is trying to lure us, me, into a final battle… A final battle for the Underworld. No, he will be denied that. There will be no conclusion, the last page of the book will be stuck, so that the book remains forever open… No rot was seen in the flesh, no corpse was unearthed, for the son was with the family all along…" Beelzebub's voice became more and more maniacal with each word that came through the sigil, causing Grayfia's hair to stand on ends. "I'll take care of Millicas, don't worry. It is my responsibility as a Maou to take care of Devils. I'll make sure that your and Sirzechs's son won't suffer. I cannot grant greater kindness in the face of the darkness that is about to consume us all…"

"Wait! What are you saying?! Beelzebub! Hold on- Darkness? What are you going to do?! What about Hastur?!" Grayfia screeched into the sigil, ignoring that the room had seemingly become quite dark for some reason. "Dammit! Hastur is going to wake up soon! Rossweisse's magic can't last for long- Just get me some sort of distraction and I'll get out of here, the Phenix territory, and I'll talk with you in person! Wait until then- And don't you dare touch my son!"

"I know that it sounds cruel, but it is the kindest fate that any who oppose an Outer Being can hope for. A peaceful death. If I fail, if I fall… If he reaches the climax of his act, and takes away his mask in front of all… The Underworld will end, as surely as the Human World has ended. I'll have to prepare for that." It sounded like Beelzebub was no longer talking to Grayfia, and was talking to himself. "I have to make sure that the Underworld's last page, our end, is prolonged as long as possible so that Asmodeus can talk to the other Pantheons… This is no longer a fight for our survival. It is a fight for everyone's survival…"

"Dammit! Beelzebub! What about Sirzechs- Why did you stab him in the back?! Is… Is Sirzechs dead? Beelzebub! Beelzebub!" Grayfia pleaded, but the sigil flickered and then was snuffed out, which meant that the 'call' was terminated from Beelzebub's end.

Grayfia turned around in rage and slammed her hand against the crate against which she had been leaning and caused the wooden storage item to shatter into splinters. "Dammit… Hastur… I will not… I will not forget this… I'll kill you… I'll kill you, and then I'll castrate Beelzebub… Millicas… I'll keep you safe…"

She bent over while kneeling on the dust-covered floor of the storage room and covered her face with her hands, uncaring that the motion rubbed dust into her face. The tears that fell down her cheeks washed the dust away.

"Grayfia…" A familiar voice caused Grayfia to freeze up and hiccup.

'It… It can't be…' Grayfia turned around as if she was possessed, feeling her eyes almost bulge out of their sockets in shock and renewed hope while tears flowed down her face.

Sirzechs was in the doorway to the storage room.

He looked just like he had done before, in his usual clothes and with his long, brilliant red hair flowing gently down his back.

The animalistic, uncontrolled rage that Grayfia had seen on his features before Beelzebub had stabbed him was gone and was replaced with quiet determination and internal suffering, like a king that had failed his people, and Grayfia felt her fear get washed away.

"Sirzechs- Sirzech! Dear!" Grayfia stumbled to her feet and threw herself at her husband and King, uncaring of how unprofessional her behavior was. 'The Piece- Ah… So that was what Beelzebub did… He distracted Hastur by removing Sirzechs's Kingship somehow… Hastur would have thought that Sirzechs died when the Piece dropping from me, as I was his hostage… and since he had seen Sirzechs fall in front of him…'

'And since the sigils could be eavesdropped, Beelzebub had to play it like Sirzechs wasn't going to come…' Grayfia's shoulders shook from the sudden feeling of reassurance and safety. "Ah… Sirzechs… You came to rescue me… Listen, Hastur… He's stunned, I think… We have to use this opportunity and slay him!"

"It's alright… It's alright…" The familiar, smooth voice was like honey to Grayfia's ears after the night of torturing uncertainty.

The man lowered his head a bit, and Grayfia closed her eyes while she tilted her head to kiss him on the lips in a gentle, loving way.

Grayfia realized that her actions were utterly unbecoming of the 'maid' persona that she had liked to don, and didn't care. Neither did she care as she moved her hands to hug Sirzechs, and felt the man tie his hands around her waist in turn.

But she knew that the place and time were not suitable for such acts, not when enemies prowled all around, and pulled back with great difficulty. Only to be stopped by the fact that Sirzechs didn't let go of her, and she shivered from want in turn.

"Sirzechs… I love you… But we must go… Hastur will be here soon…" Grayfia opened her eyes to look at Sirzechs's eyes… and saw that the eyes were glazed over.

No, she saw that Sirzechs's eyes were dull, like if he had gone blind. "Sirzechs! Your eyes- What…"

She looked to the side and realized that Sirzechs's face was pale, and while the man's hair was flowing freely down his back, on closer inspection the hair was thin and it's luster was dull, like the hair of a dying elder.

Grayfia coughed and felt something slimy on her lips, so she turned her face to the side and spat out… And realized that she had spat out yellow phlegm.

A series of wet coughs wracked her body and she leaned against Sirzechs's body as her legs felt weak, and she realized that Sirzechs's body lacked heat, and felt more like that of a week-old cadaver.

Grayfia looked up in horror and saw as Sirzechs closed his eyes, coughed, and the man's skin which was now strewn with boils and pustules began to flake, revealing bits of bone and rotting flesh.

Grayfia's eyes widened as she realized that Sirzechs…

"You're not Sirzechs…"

She fell to her knees alongside the body of her 'husband', then fell to her side as coughs wracked her body and strength fled her limbs.

The withered, diseased body in front of her became still, it's facade broken and only a corpse remaining where there had once been strength and power.

Grayfia noticed that the wall of the storage room had a mirror, which showed her reflection even though the mirror had a layer of dust on its surface.

She realized that she was alone in the room.

And she saw through the mirror that her face was streaked with boils, bleeding yellowish pus-blood from cracks, and her hair had mostly fallen from her head with just a few strands of absolutely white, dull hair remaining to decorate the wrinkled, bald head and equally wrinkled features that were like that of a old woman.

Grayfia saw through the mirror as the flesh of her arms began to slouch off, and looked down to see that Sirzechs had turned into a swarm of rats which had began gnawing on her body and had crawled under the skirt of her maid-dress to bite at her skinny, skeletal and withered legs.

She felt weak, and her body refused to obey her.

The agony was unbearable.

Her body would not rise, her arms shook, and the old, wrinkly skin of her hands flaked off to show aged, yellow bone like that of a skeleton long-dead in it's grave.

Grayfia realized that she was too late.

She had not escaped, like Beelzebub had predicted.

She had been allowed to escape, and Beelzebub had realized that. And had prevented the damage from spreading, preventing Hastur from reaching him through Grayfia.

'Ah… So you were right all along… Beelzebub… I'm sorry… Millicas… Please… Die before… This becomes your fate… as well…' Grayfia's thoughts were fading in the despair and pain that she felt.

And the door to the storeroom, which she realized had been closed the entire time, opened.

.

.

Momonga was holding onto the doorknob of a storage room inside which he had detected the 'glitched' health-signature, alongside another life-signature who he guessed was Grayfia's hostage.

He opened his mouth, and closed it.

Momonga saw an old, withered and diseased woman lying dying on the floor of the old, decrepit storage room.

And lurched above her, shambling like a zombie, was a tall and lean male figure that was adorned with dull, plagued-over golden chains, covered in partially shed and dull feathers, and with multiple pairs of wings that were broken and horrifying. The body might have been strong once, fit and full of power, but now the skin was drooping and the meat was long withered, leaving the body's feathers ruffled and useless.

The creature turned it's bird-like beak towards Momonga, and he looked into it's dull, unseeing eyes.

"P-Peroroncino?" Momonga managed to open his mouth and utter the name of his long-gone guild-mate, whose distorted avatar was now before him. "Umu? What are you-"

The visage was gone, leaving just the sight of the dying old woman on the floor, and made Momonga wonder if what he had seen had been real while his mind raced with yet another event he had been completely unprepared for.

'What… what was that?'

.

.

Grayfia's barely-seeing eyes widened as she saw Momon's mere presence drive away the creature that had tormented her.

The creature that came to those who spoke his name carelessly.

The creature that had donned the visage of a dead beloved, and visited them at time of grief.

The King in Yellow…

'Was… Odin wrong all along?'

Grayfia realized that...

'Was... All of this our fault?'

Her body grew cold and still.

'Was... Momon-san innocent after all?'

She passed out.