Devourer of the Nine Worlds

Devourer of the Nine Worlds (九曜の世界喰い) is a World Enemy boss that bears its origin from YGGDRASIL in terms of lore and backstory.
== Appearance ==
This World Enemy was described in the novel to be in form of a gigantic monster that toppled the World Tree YGGDRASIL.
In Mass for the Dead, it appears to have biology similar to those of insects, namely having a larval phase and slowly developing into an adult organism. In YGGDRASIL, only the adult phase of the Devourer is present with no indication of it having a larval phase to begin with. According to Momonga however, it had background material that indicated that it was designed after insects such as butterflies or moths.
== Personality ==
According to the protagonist, the Devourer of the Nine Worlds has no real intelligence at least at its larval stage. The World Enemy is only focsued on reaching adulthood, driven by a desire to devour the boundaries between worlds, the worlds themselves, and sometimes even the energy sources that reside within the worlds themselves...but it does not appear to have any intelligence or emotion. 
From a third party observation, how it eats can be described as "sloppy." The Devourer of the Nine Worlds seems to be drawn to areas with a large number of prey, but it doesn't eat every single one, and seems to be somewhat capricious.
However, due to the matter of its "lines" mentioned occasionally and voice, then its possible that the Devourer of the Nine Worlds has hidden intelligence within it, or that this intelligence may be awakened by meeting certain conditions during growth.
== Background ==
Created by the Developers of YGGDRASIL, the incredibly powerful last boss of the main campaign storyline in the game was known as the "Devourer of the Nine Worlds."
The World Tree YGGDRASIL held countless leaves, each representing whole worlds, which were consumed by this world-eating monstrosity. The remnants of these leaves (worlds) that were devoured would go on to form the two hundred World Items of Yggdrasil. This was the backstory upon which the players from each world must carry out their duty of protecting the Nine Worlds against the Devourer of the Nine Worlds.
== Chronology ==
=== The Dark Warrior Arc ===
While there was a conversation going on between members of the Swords of Darkness, Ninya brought up the likelihood of their group facing a powerful race like dragons. However, her companions dismissed that scenario to be next to impossible as the chances of their encountering dragons were extremely low. Still, it caution Ainz to think about the World Enemies of YGGDRASIL. He initially thought about the Devourer of the Nine Worlds, but decided to set it apart from the rest of its World Enemy counterparts for unknown reasons.Overlord Volume 02 Chapter 2: Journey
=== The Bloody Valkyrie Arc ===
Ainz recalled a brief history about the existence of the World Eater, noting as to how it happens to play a very major role as the final enemy to be defeated in YGGDRASIL's main storyline campaign for players after they had embark on a long journey over the nine worlds and vanquishing other boss monsters before it.Overlord Volume 03 Chapter 4: Before the Death Match
=== The Half Elf God-kin Arc ===
Whilst finalizing his plans to take a paid vacation to the Elf Country with Aura and Mare, Ainz Ooal Gown was nervous of successfully passing the plan through the "Last Boss" Albedo, a boss he regarded in his opinion to be more fearsome than facing the Devourer of the Nine Worlds.Overlord Volume 15 Chapter 1: To Take a Paid Vacation
===Mass for the Dead Arc===
Upon encountering Enhela in the "Chaos Environment", the protagonist and Darkness grew wary of him, as the priest was out of place in the dimension that only they should be able to traverse. Even more peculiar was that Enhela lacked a protective gear to allow one to function on the "chaos environment".
Likewise Enhela noticed that the protagonist lacked wearing protective gear and this was enough to convince him that he and the adventurer shared a bond and allegiance to the same entities. Since the protagonist lacked an understanding of what he was talking about, Enhela then told his 'brother' about the true god he worshipped.Mass for the Dead Chapter 16: Name of God
After Enhela was driven away by the attacks of the Pleiades, protecting Darkness, news of this was brought and the name of Kuyō to Momonga and the Floor Guardians. While the NPCs did not recognize the name, Momonga was all too familiar with it, causing him to be emotionally dismayed. He did not take Enhela to be just an idle threat, but a very serious one. While the Overlord did not know Enhela and the protagonist's relationship with the World Enemy, Momonga decided to use the latter as bait to draw Enhela and his master out.Mass for the Dead Chapter 17: Eve of the Storm
During a massive spread of miasma spewing out of all know Cracks outside Nazarick, causing entire populations to revert into savage Contaminated Beasts, Enhela revealed himself to be the mastermind behind the crisis, claiming that the power to control the Cracks and the contaminants was borrowed via "divine authority" from Kuyō. The entire plot was all an elaborate ploy to locate the Great Tomb of Nazarick by extending his Divine Right throughout all the Cracks to determine the one Crack that was in the sought dungeon with the afflicted being not only collateral damage but part of a long-term plan by Kuyō. 
According to Enhela he himself has not actually conversed with Kuyō, and only acts upon his faith and self-interpretations of his god, which he believes gave his role as Assistant Priest of the Pontifex Maximus in order to strengthen humanity through using a survival of the fittest tactic. This is done by controlling the Cracks to spread miasma so that its mists infect humanity, turning them into feral and yet stronger creatures before eventually curing the small numbers of them to evolve the human race.
However he changed tactics after he sensed the protagonist was a creation of Kuyō as well. While he was not sure what role the homunculus had to play he knew that his aligning with the Sorcerer Kingdom whose actions were advancing things way too fast as it was already deduced a cure for the miasma and planning to mass-produce it. Because of the protagonist's many number of investigations of Crack phenomena, Enhela believed it was his role to disturb them and cause the simultaneous pollution scenario. 
After being refused by the protagonist to join him and bring his faith to Kuyō, Enhela directed his power to taking over Nazarick, forcing all the NPCs to evacuate. During the usurpation, a disembodied voice rang out which was suspected to be Kuyō's. Due to these actions Momonga confirms that Kuyō is going against Nazarick's interest. Enhela having hacked into the master source of the dungeon gained full control and gave them an ultimatum, either the protagonist joined him and used his own divine right or else Nazarick would be destroyed.
Despite Kuyō being a World Enemy, Momonga thinks all is not lost. Since Kuyō has yet to appear, Momonga suspects that the entity is either unwilling to show itself or is unable to do so, thus giving some hope to the denizens of Nazarick as they prepare to launch a raid to retake their home.Mass for the Dead Chapter 18: Salvation of Mankind 
After the protagonist slays Enhela, a pre-recorded dialogue from the in-game Devourer plays as Momonga's forces retake Nazarick. A month later, Nazarick's top brass staged a Round Table Room meeting concerning the Devourer. Albedo volunteers to form an investigation team to learn about the creature, while Cocytus brings forth an issue concerning the Unidentified Beast and the Holy Kingdom Debris. The protagonist was able to confirm that the remains were actually molts from the Devourer. Momonga felt weird as the Devourer is never stated to have a larval form from what he knew in-game, although he's not surprised as its non-publicized backstory was based on insects, such as butterflies or moths. 
As Demiurge wonders why it has not attacked Nazarick right away, the protagonist explains that the creature was multiversal and it is out consuming worlds to assume its true form before it returns. He also speculates that anything that was devoured by the creature would be contained in the Sea of Possibilities before vanishing, although he is unsure about it, and compared it to a natural disaster rather than a creature. The protagonist further speculates that it could easily gain sentience the more it grows. Momonga doubted that it could even gain sapience as it was a video game boss, although he does not rule out the possibility that it could gain sentience like a Non-Playable Character would in the New World, and was worried about the prospect that there are other World Enemies like it manifesting in the New World, as it would not be possible to deal with them without the help of his other guildmates.Mass for the Dead Chapter 19: The Battle to Conquer Nazarick
A year later, with Kuyō being still an imminent threat, Momonga pursued a path to strengthen diplomatic ties with the nations in the Quadripartite Alliance in order to use the humans as shields and spears against the World Enemy. Furthermore, he hoped he could find friendly players and cooperate with them against Kuyō as they faced mutual destruction as the Devourer of the Nine Worlds could destroy the world.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Father and Son Play the King of the Undead
Kuyō was mentioned by Momonga in his inner dialogue as he considered the threat of the Theocracy, given that the nation could still be hiding a player in its midst.Mass for the Dead Special Event: Valkyrie Oblige 
== Abilities and Powers ==
The Devourer of the Nine Worlds is an unimaginably powerful creature that even a legion, comprising of six parties of six players each, would stand little chance against it. Like other World Enemies, the Devourer also possessed complete immunity to players who attempts to use the respective power of each World item on it.
According to Enhela, the Devourer is an existence that exceeds the Six Great Gods, who can't even compare even if they tried, and it also transcends the likes of the Eight Greed Kings and Thirteen Heroes. Given it is implied that those were all YGGDRASIL players, they would most likely stand no chance against the World Enemy on their own.
It has certain dietary requirements such its prey must be eaten alive and be on the other side of the Cracks. Due to this its hypothesized that the Sea of ​​Possibilities itself is its stomach, and its prey will be digested over time.
Once materialized into the New World, the Devourer is able to manifest entities directly from the Sea of Possibilities, of which included Enhela and the protagonist, and plant them directly into various New World institutions with false memories, making it look like as if they were always there. It can grant its loyal creations with powers such as "Divine Right" which enables a user to manipulate and control the Cracks in the New World, which is only given to Enhela but can be potentially given to the protagonist, supposedly in exchange of his loyalty towards Nazarick and converting him into a follower of the World Eater. However, the protagonist gains the power and retains his loyalty towards Nazarick. Another ability granted is the balance-breaking "Hacking" ability which can override the master source of a dungeon and allow a user to assume total control. It is also multiversal and can be out devouring multiple worlds rather than just the New World.
== Trivia ==
* The Devourer of the Nine Worlds is most likely based on Níðhǫggr, a dragon in Norse mythology that is said to gnaw at the roots of the world tree and in some translations herald Ragnarök, the end of the world.
* It is heavily implied that the non-canon timeline occurred because an instance of the World Enemy spawned directly next to Nazarick and was pulled into the New World alongside the Guild base during the transition.
* In Mass for the Dead, the World Enemy is foreshadowed in the opening game trailer.https://youtu.be/0ZotMbjzXJE?si=yTvFo83swr6sE_Kk
* In the game, the World Enemy is said to be in full control over the Cracks, save for one which exists in the Throne Room.
* According to Enhela, the Devourer is out consuming numerous worlds other than the New World during the non-canon timeline and likely will not return personally for some time.
* The followers of the Devourer of the Nine Worlds appear to refer it in masculine pronouns. Using "His will" and "His priesthood" in reference.
== Quotes ==
* The following two are also recognized as the Devourer of the Nine Worlds's boss dialogue in YGGDRASIL by Momonga when it was still a video game character. They are also written in full English rather than Japanese in the in-game script.
** (To all of Nazarick): "How many goodly creatures are there here!"
** (After Enhela is killed): "How Beauteous mankind is!! O brave new world."
==References==
== Gallery ==
Category:Monsters
Category:Insects
Category:Bosses
Category:World-Enemies
Category:Deities