Chapter 11: A Day in Elysium

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Overlord: Celestial Crusade

It was morning

Aethaion and Emmef were on the opposite sides of the bed, with both being silent and looking down "So...we just fell asleep while hugging each other? Are you sure about that?" he asked while not looking at her.

"I swear on your name, my Lord!" said Emmef pleading "After all," she said and she blushed while having a lustful face ",I would remember it forever if we did passionate love, fufufu." she ended up explaining while chuckling.

"Anyway, we have to go back to Elysium Fortress to both explain our situation to the others and check on Mimir. Let's go to the Adventurer's Guild and notify them of our absence." he said. After some minutes passed, Aethaion and Emmef came out of the Adventurer's Guild and went behind it, making it sure no one saw them "Gate" said Aethaion and both ended up at the throne room where Jasmine and Marie seemed to be worried.

"Lord Aethaion?! Is that you?" asked Marie confused and he nodded.

"Thank goodness, you are back!" said both Jasmine and Marie in relief, much to Aethaion's curiosity.

"What's wrong you two?" he asked curious but then realized "Is it about the talking head, Mimir?" he asked with a smile, with both looking at each other for a second.

"That's right, my Lord!" said Marie and Aethaion scratched his head from feeling awkward.

"Um...I brought him here. Gather all the Virtue Lords immediately!" he ended up demanding, with both sisters bowing and leaving the throne room, with Aethaion sitting down on the throne and Emmef being on his right.

Ten minutes passed

The throne room's gates opened, with all seven Virtue Lords entering the room and bowing before Aethaion and then, Soprhosyne raised her head and gasped.

"L-Lord Aethaion, y-y-you are a human!" she said shocked while pointing at him with a trembling hand, with all the other Virtue Lords raising their heads and being also shocked and confused, with Aethaion sighing.

"This is why I wanted to talk to all of you. You see, my dear Virtue Lords, I decided to become an adventurer in order to learn as much as possible about this world and to also gather this world's currency, with Emmef assisting me. Do you have any discomfort with my appearance?" he explained and ended up asking, with the Virtue Lords looking at each other for a second.

"No, my Lord!" they shouted in unison, with Aethaion having a sense of relief upon hearing that.

"Also, we have a guest here and we are waiting for his full recovery. As long as he is here, you will treat him with utmost respect and care! This is all I wanted to tell you, dismissed." he ordered and allowed them to leave.

"As you command, my Lord!" shouted all in unison and left, leaving Emmef and Aethaion alone, with Aethaion sighing and holding his head.

"I will now leave so you can rest, so see you later, my Lord." said Emmef bowing her head and teleported. Aethaion was now alone in the throne room along with the sisters Jasmine and Marie that were silent and he looked at them.

"*Now that I see them as a human, they really are very beautiful. I created all the throne and bath NPC at our first year of having Elysium Fortress as a Guild Base and I didn't bother to memorize them.*" he thought while looking at them from head to toe while they weren't looking and an idea came to him "Jasmine, Marie, I will walk around the base. Notify the bath maidens to prepare a nice, hot bath for me with all comforts in one hour." he ordered them.

"As you wish, my Lord." said both of them and he teleported, with the place he arrived to being Leto's floor who was drinking along with the giants and ogres on the highest mountain's peak that upon noticing him, they stopped everything and bowed before him.

"Welcome to my humble domain, my Lord." said Leto greeting him with great respect in her voice, with Aethaion smiling.

"*Wow, she is quite big and beautiful now that I see her like this* It's alright, stand up all, I didn't want to disturb you in your relaxation time." he said and she raised her head, with everyone else then standing up "You must be wondering why I'm here. Well, now that I'm human, I want to experience what I couldn't do before. Also, you promised me a drink, remember?" he ended up asking and she grinned.

"As if I would! Alright, you buffoons, time for a kickass party!" roared an excited Leto to the excitement of the others. Everyone were drinking or dancing and Aethaion finished a cup of sake in one try and made everyone cheer for him, with him becoming slightly dizzy.

"T-Thank you for the drink, Leto, but I have to move on. See you later." he said waving his hand and teleported, with him being at Panisher's floor where the sight of the forest made him close his eyes for a moment "*Ah, how beautiful. Forests were scarce in the other world, so experiencing one is so refreshing.*" he thought and then picked some flowers and smelled them, feeling relaxed.

"Oh, Lord Aethaion!" said an excited Panisher whose face was suddenly close to Aethaion's own, with him being startled and taking two steps from shock while the flowers he was holding fell from his grasp.

"Hey, Panisher, you scared me." said Aethaion nervous, making Panisher chuckle.

"Hehehe, sorry, my Lord. I just like to do that per Lord P00(p)rifi3r's will." he said with a big smile on his face.

"Yes, he gave you his own personality which is befitting as you are his creation. If he was here, he would be thrilled." said Aethaion and had a bitter smile on his face and he saw Panisher being like that too "W-Well, I will be going, be well!" said Aethaion as he waved his hand and teleported. He found himself in Kratos' floor and he was looking for him and after a while, he saw Kratos meditating and before he could leave, Kratos noticed him.

"My Lord! Welcome to my floor." he said honored while bowing, much to Aethaion's awkwardness.

"You don't have to be like that, relax." he said and Kratos stood up. Aethaion took a look around "Now that I'm taking a better look, it's kind of hot here but then again, it's a floor that maximizes your abilities. Sorry, it could have been better." said Aethaion while ending up apologizing, with Kratos shaking his head.

"You are wrong, my Lord. I have been created to be in it and to be honest, I'm not so fond of bright and fancy places, so this simple looking dungeon like floor with just torches is perfect." explained Kratos in his usual calm tone and Aethaion smiled.

"*Now that I look at him, he isn't as scary as I thought and his armored body is nice* You are right. Anyway, thank you for having me." said Aethaion and teleported and Kratos took again a meditating position. He then appeared to Themis' room and to his surprise, he saw her painting something while singing happy, with him heart and mind being overwhelmed by the beauty of it all while his smile almost reached his ears.

"You really love arts, Themis. Also, from what I see, you excel at them." he said while startling her from behind, with her flapping her feathers once from the shock.

"O-Oh my, Lord Aethaion, you startled me." she said while ending up returning to her usual calm self, with Aethaion trying to peek at her drawing, with her trying to prevent it from being seen by side stepping in each of his attempts.

"What did you draw there?" he asked curious, with Themis slightly blushing "If you don't want me to see it, then I will stop, I'm sorry." he said apologizing and her wings stood up.

"N-N-No, my Lord. O-Of c-course you c-c-can see it." she replied while trembling from anxiety and she went to the side, leaving the drawing free for him to see. Aethaion's eyes then widened upon seeing himself in his human form wearing a toga in Themis' floor and having a ray of light from one of the windows showering him.

"Themis...this...this is amazing!" he exclaimed greatly amazed, with Themis feeling happy "You did an amazing job!" he said and he petted her hair, with her feeling nervous and blushing while her feathers were flapping uncontrollably, something he noticed and made him stop.

"T-T-T-Thank you, my Lord." she thanked him and he curiously touched and began feeling one of her feathers, making her blush even more and tremble "M-m-my L-L-Lord, t-t-they a-a-a-r-re sensitive!" she ended moaning, with that shocking Aethaion who took a step back.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know!" he shouted apologetically and then had an idea to ammend things "Hey, Themis, could you sing for me?" he asked and her eyes widened, with her smiling.

"Of course, my Lord." she replied while lightly bowing. For half an hour, Aethaion was greatly enjoying Themis singing and dancing and when she stopped, he clapped loudly and she bowed like a stage star.

"It was breathtaking, Themis. Thank you for such a great performance and I hope we can repeat that again." he said and waved his hand goodbye and then teleported to Sophrosyne's floor, with her face sparkling from happiness upon seeing him.

"My Lord and Father!!!" she shouted excited while running slowly toward Aethaion and ended up hugging him, with him petting her head and she stopped hugging him.

"I'm happy too for seeing you, Sophrosyne. Are you well?" he ended up asking and she nodded "That's excellent." he said happy and relieved "You see, these clothes are made from magic energy and I was hoping for you to recreate these clothes with physical materials and apply some enchantments if possible. I know I'm asking too much, but can I count on you?" he asked with a nervous smile as he felt he was asking much from his creation, only for Sophrosyne's face to sparkle from enjoyment.

"Are you kidding me?! Me making clothes for my Father and Lord?!The best thing I could possibly be asked to do!" she gasped and exclaimed in excitement and her eyes glowed, with Aethaion's clothes having a harmless white wave pass through them "I will have them ready until midnight!" she declared proudly and Aethaion walked at her and hugged her, with her blushing a lot.

"Thank you, my daughter Sophrosyne." he said in a warm tone and left, with her being frozen in place from the sheer excitement overwhelming her mind. Aethaion was then at the throne room "*I could have went to Nerida, but things would be awkward since Emmef surely must have revealed what happened* I'm back, is my bath ready?" he asked eagerly.

"Yes, my Lord." answered Jasmine and Aethaion began heading toward the bath room.

Upon entering, the bath maidens bowed "Welcome, oh great Lord Aethaion!" they said in respect.

"Stand up, girls." he said and then wondered "By the way, is the talking head, Mimir, here?" he wondered while looking around.

"Yes, my Lord. When he appeared to the throne room, he explained the situation to the Head Maidens and they brought him under our care. Do you wish to see him?" she asked.

As she was talking, Aethaion was stunned "*Oh my, all these bath maidens are gorgeous! The well endowned bodies with togas, the beautiful faces and stimulating voices....I did a very good job if I say so myself* Alright, lead me to him." he ended up asking after thinking how beautiful the maidenes were, with the maiden then walking and while following her, both ended up in the huge golden tab where Aethaion saw Mimir being held in the lap of a white haired maiden and a blonde haired one was fanning him with a large palm tree leaf "It seems you are living the life, Mimir." commented Aethaion smiling.

Upon hearing him, all the maidens present bowed while the two that were taking care of Mimir stood up "It's ok, relax, everyone." he said and everyone resumed their activities. Aethaion then erased his clothing slowly and entered the bath, with him having a face of pure bliss "*Ah, it's perfect! The temperature is perfect while the herbs inside give off a nice fragnance and both my mind and body relax to the point of feeling like they could melt at any moment* So, what do you think of my guild base's luxuries?" he asked while leaning on the tab's edge and urging a maiden to bring him closer a fruit plate from which he grabbed a cluster of grapes and ate one.

"I gotta say, Celestial One as these maids refer to you, this is a well maintained guild base, even I'm not aware of everything from the game, so I am impressed." Mimir praised. "While I do not have a body to fully immerse myself into these waters, feeling the nice steam on my face is better than nothing I say!" he claimed and Aethaion smiled.

"Please, call me Aethaion. Also, I'm glad that you are enjoying yourself as much as possible even under these circumstances." he said glad "I believe that as a previous GM and developer, seeing NPC coming to life must have been extremely shocking, am I right?" he asked curious.

"It's something I thought that would never happen, true AIs have been a stuff of theories and all, considering the world we used to live in being comprised of corporations ruling the world and governments basically being non existent. I can see a change to them with my remaining Bifröst eye, but I can't quite make out what that change is. As you would've guessed, the settings you imbued these NPCs personifies the personality of the NPC itself. If only Heimdall were to see this, she'd be even more fanatical."

Aethaion looked up and recalled things about his old world and became saddened for a moment, only for him to then look at Mimir "Anyway, I believe you would love to meet the main NPC of my guild, am I wrong?" he asked eagerly, like a kid waiting to show to a friend a prized collection.

"Gah, may as well lad, time to meet your so esteemed Virtue Lords!" Mimir declared happily.

"Then, let us go." he said and left the tab "Tell to the Throne Maidens to inform Takara Kōun and the Virtue Lords minus Sophrosyne to come before me as soon as possible!" he ordered and one of the bath maidens run quickly past him. Half an hour passed, with Aethaion being on his throne and Mimir on a high quality pillow and then the gates opened, with the six Virtue Lords appearing while from the Treasury came Takara who lined up with and bowed at the same time with them "Everyone, this is Mimir, someone from the same world as me. Like I told you before, you will treat him with utmost respect and care." he declared.

"Yes, my Lord!" they all shouted in unison serious.

"So, what do you say?" he asked happy while looking at Mimir whose gaze was fixated on the present NPC.

"Curious." Mimir calmly said as his right eye began to glow more brightly. "This is very curious indeed." he then said thoughtfully, making Aethaion puzzled.

"Hm? What is so curious, Mimir?" he asked a little bit worried without hesitation.

"I-it's nothing, simple curiosity is all. Now, lets introduce the six before us, shall we?" Mimir asked as his remaining looked towards the direction of Aethaion.

"You are right, you heard him everyone." he said and picked gently Mimir's pillow and first stopped before Leto.

"Hello there, I'm the Storm Giant Leto of the First Floor. It might be rude to say, but you are quite handsome, not like the Lord, but enough to have some drinking time with." she ended up saying grinning fired up and then Aethaion moved on to Panisher.

"Hey, Hey! I'm the Satyr Panisher of the Second Floor. You have a cute but creepy face!" he said smiling while having his face close to Mimir's and then returned in line, with Aethaion smiling nervously from that and Mimir seemed to not take it personally. Aethaion quickly moved on and was now before Emmef who wasn't wearing her adventurer clothes, being in her usual state.

"Hello, Sir Mimir. I'm Emmef Elataf, the Star Genie of the Third Floor, nice to meet you formally this time." she said with a happy but calm tone while bowing her head, with Aethaion then moving on to Kratos.

"I'm Kratos of the Fifth Floor, a Sacred Flame Bearer. I'm glad for meeting another Celestial Being and acquaintance of my Lord." said Kratos in his usual stoic tone, with his flaming wings growing a little which could be interprented as if he was happy and then, Aethaion stopped before Themis.

"Hello Sir, I'm the Lorelei Themis of the Sixth Floor, nice to meet you!" she introduced herself with a calm voice while bowing elegantly with her dress and then Aethaion moved to Nerida who bowed completely.

"I'm the leader of the Virtue Lords and Guardian of the Seventh Floor, Nerida the Half-Elemental. Welcome to our Guild, Sir Mimir." she said with a serious tone in her voice.

Aethaion then went in front of Takara Kōun "I'm Takara Kōun, the Inari's Attendant guarding the Treasury. Oh my, Sir Mimir, you are such a cutie even with one eye that I would really enjoy your night company." she said while licking her lips and having her hands on him, making Aethaion pull him away from her grasp.

"So, what do you think Mimir?" asked Aethaion who couldn't wait Mimir's general opinion.

"Gotta say, extraordinarily crafted NPCs, and a lot of Greek mythology themed too! Leto, dead giveaway as the titan mother of Apollo and Artemis, Kratos the Greek personification of strength itself! While I can not exactly believe the others have any connections to any mythological figure however, Lorelei Themis specifically the name Lorelei. If this is correct, it refers to an old German folklore of a enchanting female associated with the rock of the name, however she has been accused of bewitching men and causing their death and was sentenced to visit an church, where she was escorted by three guards but asked to climb a rock. She does so and falls to her death as it was on the side of a cliff I believe, the echo of her name engraved on the rock itself." Mimir explained before realizing what he explained. "OHHHH, sorry Themis, I hope that didn't anything!" Mimir began to panic at his mythological explanation on the name.

"Don't worry, Sir Mimir, because it doesn't matter to any of us how the 51 Celestial Ones got inspiration about our creation. The only thing we care about is that they created us and we love them immensely for that. We don't care at all about our appearance and powers and their source of inspiration, only that they poured time and effort for that." she calmly explained while smiling, with Aethaion being genuinely moved and almost ready to cry.

As he was struggling not to cry however, an idea sprung to him and he gasped "Everyone, I have an amazing idea! One that would be exciting for Mimir here." he said and got everyone's attention "Dear Virtue Lords and Takara Kōun, I declare the creation of the Elysium Tournament!" he declared passionately, surprising and confusing everyone present.