Chapter 13: The Undisputed Strongest

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Overlord: Celestial Crusade

Twenty minutes passed since the first round of the tournament

Aethaion along with Mimir were under the care of some maid NPCs that normally live at the guild base's entrance room, with Mimir receiving air while Aethaion was being fed and massaged on his shoulders "Ah, this is the life!" he exclaimed in pure bliss and then looked at Mimir with curiosity "By the way, Mimir, will the rest of your body ever regenerate?" he asked, with Mimir looking at him now.

"I am not particular sure if ya asking me, the class I made, Immortality, is meant to replicate the status of the mythological Mimir, being a headless thing on the waist of Odin being his councillor and someone to speak on knowledge. No... no I don't think so honestly, I mean, we could try to get a new body and call me a Dullahan!" Mimir chuckled at that statement before stopping to actually give that some thought.

"You really are kind of laid back, aren't you?" said a buffled Aethaion "Well, if you want, I can later try to restore it with **Shooting Star.**" he proposed and erased his right glove, with him pointing his index finger on which was a ring that had three shooting star symbols engraved on it that had silver blue gems on them "What do you say?" he asked eagerly.

"May as well, but that should wait for later, the next battle might get interesting." Mimir said as he hummed and Aethaion nodded.

Ten minutes passed

Aethaion stood up and dismissedthe maids that passed through a Gate, with him going near the standby Virtue Lords while holding straws.

"You four successfully passed to the next round.Now, please draw each a straw and pair with your opponent." instructed them Aethaion and they did it, with their eyes widening from seeing their opponent.

"Oh? I will fight the leader? Nice!" said an excited Leto while looking at Nerida while Panisher's face was too close to Emmef's face, much to her dismay.

"The first match will be...Nerida vs Leto!" declared Aethaion after some thought, with them taking their respective spots "Alright, begin!" shouted Aethaion after returning to his seat.

"Sorry, but I fight to win. Widen Boost Maximize Magic: Call Greater Thunder!" shouted Leto while her spell was about to hit Nerida and the whole arena.

"**Triple Boost Wide Maximize Magic: Ice Wall!**" shouted Nerida while pointing her sword up, creating a wide wall of ice composed of three layers, with it having its first two layers shatter easily while she was struggling to maintain the last one, with it shattering after Leto's spell ended and she was sweating a little.

"Heh, you are the leader alright. It would be bad if you could be defeated so easily!" shouted an excited Leto while running toward her.

Nerida was composed and serious, with her pointing her sword at Leto's direction "You are strong too, Leto, and that's why I can't engage you in a physical fight." she said with a voice of alert and a little regret.

"Huh? Too late for that!" she said while closing the distance steadily, with her having her club ready.

"**Boost Maximize Magic: Dehydration.**" she calmly said, with Leto's arm losing strength and her club fell down while her hand was wrinkled and thinner.

"W-What?! M-My arm! What have you done?!" shouted a shocked Leto as she then fell on her knees suddenly.

"I simply made you unable to fight. Don't worry, you will be restored with a lot of water and some rest." she calmly explained and then pointed her now glowing sword at Leto's head "I have won." she said, with Leto grinning her teeth in frustration and then nodding.

"Nerida is the winner!" declared Aethaion and Nerida helped Leto stand, with Leto having a warm smile for that. After both got out of the arena, Emmef and Panisher took their positions while the arena was automatically repaired by itself, with Aethaion signalling the match's start.

"Panisher and Emmef, this will declare the truly strongest thing in this Temple! I'm so gonna keep a close eye on Emmef especially." Mimir told to no one particularly. "Though... I kinda expected Kratos to be here." Mimir sighed internally.

"No Mimir, none of them is truly the strongest NPC of the guild." said Aethaion who happened to hear Mimir's words, with Mimir being visibly confused "Do you know why our guild base was never conquered?" he asked with a serious look "It was all because of that NPC which made our combined counter attack overwhelming. Yes, you never met her, but there are conditions for her to appear, so you won't meet her anytime soon." he explained and he then returned to his excited for the match self, with him looking at Emmef who was avoiding Panisher's attacks.

"You sure are persistent, Panisher. I have used **Extended Boost Magic: Mass Slow** on you, so I already can't be touched by you even though you use your Berserk Drunk skill." commented Emmef calmly.

An angry Panisher then stopped to catch a breath, with him sweating a lot "You are right, Emmef. That's why..." he said and wore the bloody red coat he had all this time hanging on his belt, with him being surrounded by a crimson aura while his teeth and nails grew, his muscles became bigger and his hair longer while his horns became bigger "...I'm going all out!" he shouted in a more monstrous voice.

"He used the **Cloak of Bacchus?!**" wondered a surprised Aethaion "A Divine Item that gives life-stealing abilities and increased strength, but his defenses and resistances will be lowered, like a true berserk." he commented while explaining to Mimir and during that, Panisher focused his strength to his feet and swiftly lunged at Emmef who couldn't avoid it, with her being sent crushing on the crushed wall and having blood coming from her mouth while she was trying to get up.

Panisher was about to unleash another attack, only for her to teleport and stay airborne "To have damaged me...this much...congratulations, Panisher." she said and he jumped high to reach her, but gravity suddenly increased and he was pinned on the ground "Now, time to end this! Wide Triple Maximize Magic: Crown of Stars!" she shouted and had her hands wide, with numerous orbs of light surrounding her and then she pointed at Panisher, with all of them falling down on the pinned Panisher and causing an explosion which later revealed a twitching Panisher on the ground with a bruised and burned body.

"Emmef Elataf is the winner!" shouted Aethaion while healing both fighters who then bowed at him and as Panisher headed back to his seat, Nerida headed down to her own spot in the arena, with her being stoic and serious.

"I knew it would be the two of us in the end, and I wouldn't want it otherwise." said a serious Emmef while looking at Nerida ending up in her spot on the arena.

"I too had this feeling and yes, that's how it should be. After all-"

"Only one of us will spent quality time with Lord Aethaion!" they shouted in unison, with Aethaion taking a step back from awkwardness.

"Ekhem, beg-" he tried to announce but before he could, everyone felt an overwhelming pressure that made them stop.

"I feel a source immense anger and bloodlust coming here swiftly." said Themis who seemed sick and terrified from what she could feel, with Aethaion's eyes widening.

"There is only one that can make even me feel like this!" he mummbled realized and shocked.

The gates of the arena opened violently and a figure was slowly walking "As if you two bitches are worthy of spending time with Lord Aethaion!" shouted a female voice and what appeared was a beautiful, voluptuous woman with purple-grey skin that had black markings at her navel, feet and arms while she also had light blue hair with pink streaks and four black-and-purple jagged horns on her head while her eyes were red and was wearing blue earrings and had a tail. She was wearing a bikini made of paper tassels and a golden collar accompanied with a necklace of jade magatamas while she also had a golden waist armor with series of magatama hanging from it. She also had pink puffy pants and sleeves while she was bare footed. Finally, there was a gold, metallic halo behind her while she was accompanied by a black and red skeletal serpent with three blazing eyes.

"Huh? Who are you-" tried Nerida to ask while pointing her sword at her, only for Aethaion to jump between them.

"Nike Draconis, but how? You are supposed to appear when your sisters have been defeated!" he said confused and she bowed before him.

"It is true, my Lord. I'm shameful to admit it, but my sisters ended up passing out from unknown reasons and I ended up manifesting. When I made sure they were ok, I felt your presence here and swiftly came to your side." she explained with a tone of respect, with Aethaion sighing.

"If I remember correctly, your creator and my best friend, Lov3Ang3l, made them to party hard when there is no work or a supervisor near them, so they must have drunk to the point of passing out." he explained while messing his hair and looked at her "Anyway, it pleases me greatly that you came here so soon, both because your allegiance remains the same and because there is a tournament here." he explained and she looked around with a piercing gaze.

"I see." she said with a tone of realization "You wanted to host a tournament both to entertain the Celestial Being there and to see the full capabilities of the guardians, as expected of my Lord." she said praising him with genuine admiration.

"Excuse me, but you interrupted our fight here." said Emmef whose seemed impatient, with Nike doing a scoffing sound.

"Lord Aethaion, can I fight both of them since I'm here? I believe it would be great for both to restablish my position as the strongest and for the Celestial Being to see one more of your servants in action, what do you say?" she asked respectfully.

Aethaion thought about it for some seconds "Ok, I will allow it, but you have to only make Nerida and Emmef here unable to fight, no killing allowed!" he ordered and she nodded before standing up and heading in the center between the two women.

"You, against the two of us? I don't know who you are, but you are insulting us!" said Nerida offended while pointing her sword at her.

"I agree. No matter how strong you are, even you can't possibly win against two opponents of our level." said Emmef to an indifferent Nike that was stretching herself.

"If you are so insulted and angry, show me through this fight." replied Nike coldly and indifferent, with the two women grinning their teeth.

"Begin!" announced Aethaion, with Nerida and Emmef lunging at her.

"We will go full power, Triple Maximize Magic: Reality Slash!"

"Wide Boost Maximize Magic: Tsunami!" Both women unleashed their respective spells at Nike who wasn't moving at all from her spot, with two of her necklace's magatamas glowing for a couple of seconds.

"Wide Boost Triple Maximize Magic: Reality Slash." she calmly said as she swung her right hand once to cleave through the tsunami and inflict a deep slash on Nerida's abdomen while she also swung her left hand two times, cancelling out Emmef's slashes and then also inflicting a deep slash at Emmef's abdomen, with both women kneeling on the ground.

"Impossible! She casually overpowered the spells of Nerida and Emmef Elataf and made them kneel while greatly damaging them, who is she?!" wondered a shocked Kratos whose fire wings flared up greatly, with Aethaion having a proud smile.

"In YGGRASIL, it wasn't uncommon to have 1 in 100 NPC being exceptional. However, with time, effort, trial and error, money and resources, we all managed to create a NPC that belonged in a category created by frustrated Players for things that they couldn't handle, "Unfair Cheats". Back then, the Ainz Ooal Gown guild, which was one of the top 10 guilds like us, had a floor with NPCs that belonged to that category and like them, our guild was too part of many accusations that of course fell on deaf ears. This is what Nike Draconis is, A NPC whose build allows her to change stat values. What you saw now was her changing her Special Ability, which exceeds limit, with her magic attack and that's why she could overpower their spells." he explained to Kratos, worsening his shock.

Nerida and Emmef were trying to stand up while holding their abdomens "Who..in...the...world...is she?" wondered Emmef who managed to stand up, with her managing to stand up despite the pain.

"I believe that's enough. Any more than that and you will die." said Nike serious, with the two of them smiling.

"You might be right...but we can't give up, not when the man we love is watching!" shouted Nerida while pointing her sword again at her, with Nike closing her eyes in regret.

"My Lord, it seems that they need more punishment, shall I go a little more serious?" she coldly asked Aethaion while looking at them, with him sighing.

"Just don't go overboard, please." he begged her and she was taking a stance to jump.

"Understood." she replied "Widen Magic: Antimagic Field, Widen Magic: Dimensional Lock." she muttered as two harmless waves engulfed the arena, with her then jumping at Emmef with great speed and brought out a golden war hammer which glowed "**Vulcan Slam!**" she shouted as she swung it down at Emmef, engulfing her in an explosion of fire that made her faint and her body was smoking and having burns.

"Oh dear... wasn't that a bit.. ehhh... too much?" Mimir asked Aethaion with a concerned voice, with Aethaion remaning silent and watching the fight.

Nerida put her shield before her to intercept any possible strikes Nike would attempt "So, the defensive type, huh?" coldly wondered and her hammer disappeared "Come out, **Orochi**." she said and brought out a black and red skeletal serpent with three blazing like eyes and she grabbed by its tip.

"*No matter what she tries, I will intercept it with **Aegis** that can halve twice a physical hit and then counter attack.*" thought Nerida as Nike jumped toward her and swung the whip "**Now!**" she thought and blocked it, with her being ready to stab Nike "You are mi-" she tried to say. Nerida paused her attack suddenly, feeling pain and weakness and Nike pulled her back and punched her, sending her crushing on the wall behind Emmef "H..o..w?" she wondered before she fell down and tried not to faint.

"A nice strategy, Nerida." praised her Nike genuinely with a calm tone "However, my Orochi here is a special Divine Item that can act both as a whip and as a familiar and in the latter case, it will reduce the defense of anything and anyone bitten each time." she explained and Nerida fainted, with Aethaion healing both her and Emmef.

Both women stood up while feeling a little dizzy "She is a monster." said Emmef in a low tone of disbelief while looking at her irritated.

"Nike, was it? As the leader of the Virtue Lords, I have to admit that you are indeed strong, no, the undisputed strongest of the guild after Lord Aethaion." she admitted while smiling and Aethaion approached her, with the three women bowing.

"Excellent fight, Nike. As expected, you ended up winning and per the tournament's rules, I will grant you any wish within the scope of my capabilities." he explained, with Nike's eyes widening and then her face was blushing.

"T-Then, I would like to become one of the Throne Room's permanent residents and be by your side all the time!" she asked while surpassing her anxiety, with Aethaion smiling.

"Alright then. From now on, you shall live in the Throne Room by my side! Is that ok with you?" he declared and then asked her, with Nike smiling.

"Just being near you will bring me the utmost happiness!" she declared happy.

"Lord Aethaion, I believe this is...unfair." said Nerida who was protesting in a respectful manner.

"I agree. She wasn't even a participant and came out of nowhere. For fairness, we must have our wishes granted too." added Emmef who was also protesting.

"Ladies, Nike has every right to be here." said Aethaion "She is also a guardian of the guild, but she manifests only when her sisters are incapitated. Also, I gave her permission to fight and you didn't complain at all." he explained smiling, with both seeming to accept it. He then turned toward the others "Everyone, you all showed us amazing fights and I'm proud. I hope that this experience will only help you grow stronger and refine your abilities!" he announced, with everyone feeling immense happiness and he then started walking towards the exit, with the others following him.

As the three women began walking too, Nike stopped suddenly and looked at Nerida and Emmef "By the way, I know that you two love Lord Aethaion." she revealed calmly "However, as long as I'm by his side, I will protect him from you two." she said with a smile of superiority, with her then leaving behind an angry Nerida and Emmef.