(Warning: Only read this fanfiction after reading the light novels and/or watching the anime. I do NOT own Overlord, I'm just a fan writing a story.)
(A/N: Video by Kiranime.)
"Text" - Character speaking
Text - Thoughts
[Text] - Spell/Item/Skill
(~~Text~~) - A shift in time/location/POV
It had been roughly three weeks since Tashimī saved Carne Village, and the story of the Dark Prince has been spread across the land. However, many people did not believe that an undead would save humans out of the kindness of their hearts, so many scoffed at the story and believed it to be completely false.
Currently, Tashimī was wandering through the illustrious halls of the 10th floor of Nazarick, taking in the amazing sights that were displayed across the walls. The Dark Prince always loved class and riches; it reminded him that he was a being with unrivalled power, and that he could take whatever he wanted with a flick of his fingers.
However, though Tashimī enjoyed the sights of the grand hallways, he had more pressing matters to attend to within the 10th floor; his father, the ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, had summoned him to his office for a personal discussion that would only involve himself, his father, and the Pleiades battle maids. Though Tashimī was not 100% certain as to why the Battle Maids were summoned for their meeting, he had a theory that he believed was very likely to be the case.
(~~Tashimī POV~~)
After fifteen minutes of walking through the ravishing hallways that glistened a beautiful shade of amethyst, the Dark Prince finally arrived at the doors to his father's personal office. Taking a few moments to prepare himself for the meeting, Tashimī raised his fist towards the door and offered three light knocks.
Tashimī's father had told him many times that there was no need for him to knock, mainly because he was the future ruler of Nazarick and the office would belong to him one day. However, the Dark Prince thought it would be rude to not show his father, the very being who brought him to life, the respect he undoubtedly deserved.
After waiting two minutes for someone to answer, a small maid with vibrant blonde hair finally answered the door, her eyes widening at the sight of the Prince of Death standing before her. In a moment of pure terror, she lowered herself before Tashimī and began to shower him with apologies for her inability to answer his calls sooner.
???: "I-I-I apologise for my l-lateness, your m-majesty!"
Tashimī: "Do not worry Cixous. Just try to be more efficient in your work next time."
The homunculus maid, now identified as Cixous, released a small yelp from her lips as her face became flushed and hot; she had not expected the Prince of Nazarick to bother remembering the name of a lowly servant, especially when he has much more pressing matters to attend to. However, the Dark prince had once more shown his infinite generosity through his words, and Cixous could only grab her cheeks to hide her embarrassment from her master.
Tashimī: "Cixous, is everything alright?"
Cixous: "Y-you actually r-remembered my name!"
Tashimī: "Well, of course I did; it would be quite difficult to forget a lovely maiden such as yourself."
Once more, the small maid released a flustered yelp that permeated the room, quickly covering her mouth in surprise at her foolish display in front of the prince. Regaining her composure, Cixous offered a small bow towards Tashimī before apologising.
Cixous: "I-I'm terribly sorry, my lord!"
Tashimī: "Do not be sorry, Cixous; I love seeing my workers so uplifted and joyous whilst they are performing their duties."
Before the young maid could respond to her master's heartfelt words, they suddenly heard a loud cough from the other side of the office. Turning their heads to the side, both Tashimī and Cixous witnessed Momonga clearing his throat in an attempt to gain their attention. However, as the two individuals gazed upon Momonga's skeletal form, they saw a look of uninterest and slight displeasure at the thought of his meeting being negated for idle chatter.
Realising that they have been conversing before the ruler of Nazarick, both the prince and homunculus maid shifted their forms towards the draped lich. As Cixous offered a deep bow towards the Supreme Being, Tashimī merely stood straight and offered a small nod towards his father as a sign of understanding.
Cixous: "M-m-my deepest apologies, L-lord Momonga."
Tashimī: "Yes, apologies for wasting time father. Shall we begin the meeting?"
Momonga: "In a moment, my son; the Pleiades have yet to arrive."
Nodding his head towards the maid as a sign to leave, Cixous quickly lowered her head in respect before leaving the room. After she left, the room fell completely silent for a few minutes before Tashimī decided to start conversation with his father. After all, they are related, so they should try to bond with each other.
However, before Tashimī could utter a single word, a loud knock was suddenly heard from the other side of the door. Turning his gaze towards the large wooden doors, Momonga saw a group of maids enter the room and bow before him. This group of maids was in fact the Pleiades, the battle maids of the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
Though not noticeable on the surface, Tashimī could tell that none of the Pleiades were bowing before him; none of them had ever met the Dark Prince in person, and appeared to have doubts about whether he was worthy of being the Prince of Nazarick.
However, Tashimī did not care about their opinions of him and quickly returned his gaze towards his father as he awaited for him to begin the meeting. Holding his gaze with his father's, Tashimī offered another short nod towards Momonga before clutching his staff within his right hand.
Momonga: "Well then, I suppose now would be a good time to properly introduce you to my son, Tashimī. He is extremely powerful, and a great asset to Nazarick."
Tashimī: "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Pleiades."
(~~Pleiades POV~~)
The Pleiades watched the young prince with great intent, their eyes remaining on his draped skeletal form for a few moments before they finally offered their own introductions; they may not fully trust the prince's power, but they are loyal to the Supreme Beings. As such, they must show respect to their offspring, even if they don't view them as worthy.
Offering a meek bow towards the Dark Prince, the Pleiades remained unmoved by the 'kind' words of their prince. After all, strength is not forged from honeyed words. However, as they straitened their forms once more, the battle maids noticed Yuri Alpha offering the prince a genuine and warm smile.
Noticing her sisters' judgemental gazes from the corner of her vision, Yuri Alpha quickly dropped her cutesy smile and returned to her formal demeanour. Noticing this sudden change, the Dark Prince looked towards the other Battle Maids with a disappointed glare that caused their spines to straighten.
Tashimī: "I may not be able to speak for Miss Alpha, but I must make my personal opinion on the situation known; Yuri Alpha is allowed to present herself in any way she deems comfortable, as long as it remains formal enough during meetings."
Yuri Alpha: "I-I...thank you, Lord Tashimī."
However, though Entoma and CZ had both bowed their heads in understanding, both Lupusregina and Solution continued to glare daggers towards the young prince. Noticing their hostility, Momonga was quick to continue the meeting before the battle maids lost their composure.
Momonga: "We must proceed with the meeting. Pleiades, I have summoned you here because I want to test the power of Tashimī; I want to see if he is able to overpower such a well-coordinated team without much effort. "
Yuri Alpha: "M-my Lord, you want us to f-fight the young prince?"
Momonga: "Correct."
As Yuri Alpha stood wide-eyed at this new information, Lupusregina and Solution were ecstatic to know that they would soon be able to torture the person who dared to disrespect them; he probably wasn't even that powerful, so why should they worry.
However, once the two battle maids returned their gaze to the Dark Prince, they were instantly frozen in place; though Tashimī had no flesh upon his skull, it was easy to recognise the aura of sadistic pleasure that was currently enveloping the young prince.
Knowing that the prince was seemingly having the same thoughts as them, the two battle maids almost scoffed at his 'overconfidence'; it was almost as if he knew he could win, and that filled both Lupusregina and Solution with distain for the draped skeleton standing before them. Deciding to hold their tongues before their master, the Pleiades watched as Momonga stood from his seat and placed a hand on Tashimī's shoulder.
Momonga: "Myself and Tashimī shall head to the sixth floor. You shall join us as soon as you can so that we may begin the test."
Pleiades: "Yes, Lord Momonga!"
The group of maids watched in silent awe as their master disappeared from sight, taking the young prince with him, as they began to prepare for their training session with Tashimī. However, the rest of the Pleiades noticed Lupusregina and Solution offering each other a sadistic grin as they began fantasising about tearing the prince apart.
(~~Tashimī POV~~)
Tashimī waited roughly twenty minutes before the Pleiades finally arrived at the sixth floor fighting arena. Watching them intently as they approached him and his father, the Dark Prince took note of the threatening aura that surrounded Lupusregina and Solution; Tashimī was very much aware that the werewolf and slime especially were not very fond of him, but he was sure that he would prove himself to them after their 'training session'.
Noticing his father cast [fly], Tashimī watched as Momonga began to float towards the VIP booth of the fighting arena before sitting down in an ebony throne, Aura and Mare standing beside him with pride evident on their faces.
Suddenly, Momonga's booming voice cascaded across the entire arena as the Pleiades prepared themselves to fight the Prince of Death. However, though his skull did not show it, Tashimī was currently wielding a large smile that threatened to crack his skull in half; he was fully aware that the Pleiades were too weak to even scratch him, considering that not even Rubedo or Sebas at full power could damage him.
Ignoring his self-monologue, Tashimī took a casual stance against the Battle Maids, causing a look of slight unease to protrude from Yuri Alpha, as the rest of the Pleiades merely offered a light scowl at the prince's 'overconfidence'. However, little did the Pleiades know that Tashimī was anything but overconfident; it was literally impossible for him to lose the fight.
Yuri: "Why is he so....confident?"
Lupusregina: "What was that, sis? Su~"
The group of sisters attempted to whisper low enough so that Tashimī could not hear their discussion. Sadly, the prince's hearing was extremely refined, allowing him to hear low whisper within a few miles of him as if they were yelling in his face, meaning he could hear exactly what the Battle Maids were saying.
Yuri: "The young prince is just standing there, no stance or defensive skills active, leaving himself wide open to any attacks we may throw at him."
Solution: "Oh, He's overconfident! That'll make tearing his limbs off even more enjoyable. He He~"
CZ: "I'm afraid your assumption is incorrect."
In a moment of bewilderment, the entire Pleiades shift their gaze towards the small automaton who was currently locking eyes with the Prince of Nazarick. Finally noticing her sisters staring at her, she tore her gaze away from Tashimī before elaborating on her previous comment.
CZ: "From what I've heard from the guardians, mainly Demiurge, Prince Tashimī is very enigmatic in nature; he is able to predict people's actions in great detail, as well as create entirely new strategies and combat systems within mere moments. He is a fearsome opponent, and could probably defeat each of us singlehandedly within one minute. "
As CZ finished her analysis of Tashimī, the rest of the Battle Maids were left speechless at her words; Demiurge had personally bragged about the young prince's capabilities as both a warrior and a tactician, and believed him to be unmatched in battle. Furthermore, the Prince of Nazarick was also able to predict his opponent's movements, allowing him to easily counter any attacks directed against him.
Attempting to compose herself and find her words, Lupusregina became a stuttering mess as she enquired her sister with a look of pure horror, desperately clinging to the false hope that she had misheard her sister as she was describing the unnatural power of the draped skeleton before them. However, her hopes were soon crushed as she began to interrogate CZ for answers to her question.
Lupusregina: "H-hey CZ, y-you're just j-joking right!?"
CZ: "No."
Narberal: "W-well what are our chances of victory?"
There was a long pause as the small automaton girl began to make obscure calculations within her mind, attempting to offer her siblings an answer to their questions, before they began to battle their master's son. However, as CZ finished her calculations, her eyes slowly fell towards the bland dirt of the fighting arena as a look of pure dejection enshrouded her face.
Waiting in pure suspense, the Pleiades became nervous as they saw their sister look at the ground in, what seemed to be, a moment of grief and sadness. As CZ finally answered their question, the other siblings' faces changed from slight worry to extreme horror and despair.
CZ: "Our chances of victory fall below 3%"
Lupusregina: "W-w-what!?"
Solution: "There's no way he's that powerful! You must have miscalculated!"
CZ: "There was no miscalculation. He is far too powerful for us to face him in direct confrontation. We must keep our distance and hope he does not hold ranged magic."
However, before the Battle Maids could think of a strategy, they suddenly heard the commanding voice of their master once more as he yelled towards the arena from the VIP booth. Raising his right hand towards the sky, Momonga quickly brought it back down in a sweeping motion before allowing the fabled words to leave his none-existent throat.
Momonga: "Let the battle commence!!"
As soon as the fight began, the Pleiades began taking their formation; Yuri Alpha stood directly at the front of the group, as she focuses on using her fists for close ranged attacks, whilst Entoma stood roughly 4 metres away to her right with a large insect protruding from her arm. Meanwhile, Lupusregina was standing to Yuri's left with her weapon drawn, eyeing the young prince with a look of pure hatred, as Solution stood directly to her right. Finally, Narberal Gamma stood at least 15 metres away from the rest of her sisters near the far end of the arena, with CZ lurking in the shadows with her custom rifle drawn towards Tashimī.
Suddenly, Narberal began to cast a spell towards Tashimī, desperately hoping to catch him off guard to give her sisters a chance to attack him when his guard is down. Raising her finger towards the draped undead, Narberal chanted the words of her spell and released it.
Narberal: "[Chain Dragon Lighting]!!"
Though [Chain Dragon Lighting] is designed to be used against groups of three, Narberal decided to focus all three strikes of lightning into a single stream of pure energy with the hopes that it would deal a noticeable amount of damage to the young prince.
Surprisingly, however, Tashimī merely stood in place and allowed the spell to make contact with his skeletal form, a large blue glow protruding from his body as the immense energy from the spell was released. Gaining a small grin of her face, Narberal instantly called towards her other sisters to continue the chain of attacks.
Narberal: "CZ! Focus your MP into your rifle and shoot Tashimī before her has time to recover! "
CZ: "Understood"
Aiming her rifle towards the gust of smoke that had formed from the source of the spell's impact, CZ began to force roughly 80% of her MP into her rifle, allowing the weapon to received a myriad of damage bonuses and [Debuff] effects, before steadying her aim. Within mere moments, the automaton pushed her finger against her rifle's trigger with all of her might, causing a large crystal of pure magical energy to shoot from the tip of the barrel and zoom towards Tashimī at incredible speeds.
As soon as the bullet cut through the black smog, CZ could feel it make contact with something within the general area of the Dark Prince's original position. Assuming that she made contact with Tashimī's form, she quickly called for Lupusregina and Solution to confront the young prince, hoping to prevent his injuries from recovering in time.
CZ: "Contact has been made. Solution, Lupusregina, I suggest you both ambush the young prince with a direct attack."
Lupusregina: "No problem! Su~"
Solution: "With pleasure!"
Using one of their legs, Lupusregina and Solution both rushed towards Tashimī with immense speed as a terrifying smile formed on their faces. Closing the gap between themselves and the Prince of Nazarick, Lupusregina raised her weapon towards the shadowy figure surrounded by large gusts of dirt that continued to revolve around their form. Following her example, Solution stretched her hand into a large whip of slime before pushing into into Tashimī's chest, a sadistic smile evident on her illustrious face.
Finally, both sisters jumped back over two metres before yelling towards their older sister to deliver the final blow, their eyes filled with hope and self-worship at the thought of defeating the foolish prince that allowed himself to be humiliated by the Pleiades.
Lupusregina/Solution: "Now, Yuri!"
Not offering her younger sisters a response, Yuri ran towards the heavy abundance of smoke as fast as possible, using every ounce of her superhuman strength to reach the Dark Prince before he could fully recover, and outstretched her gauntlet-covered hand in the shape of a fist directly into Tashimī's face. Releasing a powerful yell from her soft lips, Yuri forced her monstrous punch forward with the intention of punching through the young prince.
Feeling her fist make contact with Tashimī's skeletal form, a large gust of thick wind began to expand behind the older battle maid's target, making contact with the large wall of the fighting arena and leaving a monstrous crack. As the thunderous winds continued to protrude from the impact of Yuri's punch, the entire arena began to quiver and shake under the pressure.
(~~Pleiades POV~~)
Finally, after taking one large leap backwards, Yuri Alpha landed over twelve metres away from the blast zone as she fell to her knees, gasping for air as large beads of sweat protruded from her face; due to her using roughly 20% of her stamina to reach Tashimī before he could recover, and finally releasing the other 80% into her catastrophic punch, the older sister had expended all of her energy with the intent to finish the Dark Prince before he could use a single attack.
Yuri: "*Pant*...I-I think...*pant*...I t-think we got him."
Entoma: "Awe, I never got to fight the prince."
Lupusregina: "Woohoo! We got 'em! Su~"
Narberal: "If that hadn't finished him I wouldn't know what we'd do; [Chain Dragon Lightning] is probably my most useful offensive spell against creatures such as Tashimī."
The other Pleiades members could do nothing but nod their heads in agreement; Yuri, Lupusregina, Solution , Narberal, and CZ had all used their most powerful techniques and skills against the Prince of Nazarick, meaning that any other attacks would most likely be useless against him. As such, they were happy to see that they managed to defeat him before he could cast a single spell.
However, as the Battle Maids continued to contemplate their current circumstances, Lupusregina suddenly began to rant about the fight, mocking Tashimī for his lack of skill and interaction. Though Yuri wanted to scold her for speaking about the prince in such a manner, she could find a good enough reason to; the prince had failed to even land a single hit on them, meaning he could barely compete with level 50 enemies. This made Tashimī seem somewhat incompetent due to Momonga describing him as a 'great asset to Nazarick' yet being unable to defeat even a single member of the Pleiades.
Lupusregina: "I must admit, I expected much better from the so-called 'Prince of Nazarick'. Oh well! It just goes to show what happens when you get cocky! Su~"
Narberal: "Surprisingly, I actually agree with you this time Lupus."
CZ: "...."
Solution: "Indeed. In the end, he was just a weak and feeble little insec-"
???: "Is that really all you have?"
Instantly, the Pleiades stood completely still, their eyes widening in terror, as they heard a rough and familiar voice protruding from the dust that had finally began to dissipate from the arena. Slowly, each sister of the Pleiades shifted their heads towards the source of the terrifying voice, their entire bodies shivering from the sudden shift in the atmosphere, and waited for the voice to speak once more to confirm their worries.
After what felt like an eternity of staring, the dust had finally settled within the arena, revealing the wielder of such a crackling voice; a skeleton, standing almost as tall as Momonga, draped in a mystical black garb with empty soulless eye sockets that seemed to stare through their very being. In the hand of the undead was a long staff with a mysterious energy originating from the tip of the spear-like head.
The moment that the undead came into view, the Pleiades began to step away in shock. The skeleton was none other than Tashimī, the Prince of Nazarick, who continued to stand in the same position he was in during the beginning of the battle.
Upon further inspection, the Battle Maids quickly realised that not only was Tashimī unfazed by their attacks, and held no physical evidence of damage, but he also seemed to be standing in the exact same spot he was in before the battle began, meaning that Yuri's full-power attack wasn't powerful enough to even move him.
The sudden realisation sent chills down the girls' spines, and their faces quickly became devoid of any sign of colour at the sudden realisation that the young prince had allowed their attacks to hit him as a sign of his strength. Not only that, but Tashimī also seemed to be in a state of extreme disappointment, meaning that the combined efforts of the Pleiades had failed to satisfy him.
Lupusregina: "W-w-w-what!? H-how are you still s-standing!?"
Narberal: "Our attacks hit him dead on, and it still wasn't enough!?"
Yuri: "I knew he was overconfident for a reason."
Tashimī: "Yes, I'm afraid to inform you that your pitiful attempts to defeat me during our 'battle' were completely wasted; the truth is none of you are even remotely powerful enough to leave a single scratch on my physical form. Not only that, but I'm also highly resistant to magical attacks, meaning that Narberal and CZ wasted precious energy that they could have used to rush me at both sides whilst Lupusregina and Solution draw my attention by rushing towards me from the front. Honestly, you would have had a much better chance at victory if you had used such a strategy."
Solution: "I-I...what!?"
Solution was left bewildered by Tashimī's statement; 'why was he offering them a strategy to defeat him during their battle?' However, after considering the many possibilities for the Dark Prince's didactic words towards the Pleiades, one idea instantly formed within her mind. An idea that caused her to physically shake with rage.
Tashimī didn't view them as a threat.
The very thought of being viewed as a mere insect was enough to make the slime woman lose all sense of logic. Releasing a powerful scream from her lips, Solution began charging at Tashimī with full force with the intention of making physical contact with his skull; she wanted to see him hurting, screaming, begging for mercy!
However, as the slime maid was a few feet away from her target, the prince instantly vanished from sight at such an incredible speed that not even Ainz, Aura of Mare could see read his movements. Filled with immense fear, Solution began to frantically search her surroundings in a pitiful attempt to catch the draped skeleton before he could attack her.
What Solution didn't know was that Tashimī wasn't planning to take her out first, and had already formed an elaborate plan within his mind to separate the members of the Pleiades from each other, then pick them off one by one before they can regroup.
Suddenly, the Pleiades heard the prince's voice begin chanting a spell, causing them to stiffen as the frantically search for the source of the voice in an attempt to stop Tashimī from casting the spell. However, their efforts proved fruitless as the screeching voice of the prince seemed to be originating from all around them.
Tashimī: "[4th Tier Magic: Labyrinth Mist ]!!"
Within mere moments, the entire fighting arena was blanketed by a thick smog of black ashes that caused both Lupusregina and Narberal to cough frantically as the life-threatening chemicals quickly entered their lunges, causing them to pass out due to a lack of oxygen in their bodies. Luckily, the rest of the Pleiades were immune to such a status effect as they did not require air.
However, they still couldn't see through the smog, even after casting a myriad of high-tier detection spells, and were left completely defenceless against any surprise attacks from the Prince of Nazarick. During those soul-crushing moments within the tar-like mist, every single member of the Battle Maids who was still conscious had the same thought...
Pleiades: We severely underestimated our opponent....