Originally, a dungeon in the game Yggdrasil, the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick had since been conquered and turned into a base by the infamous guild Ainz Ooal Gown.
From then on, the 41 members of the guild poured their time, efforts, and even money into the process of developing Nazarick into what they envisioned as the perfect base for their guild.
In this way, the tomb was expanded from its original 6 floors to 10, each filled with NPCs created by guild members.
As the guild became infamous in the server, many players turned their sights to this mysterious base, intending to invade and destroy it.
But the journey through Nazarick was not an easy one.
The first floor was an enormous cemetery, filled with thousands of tombstones scattered across the ground, each harboring undead monsters that would attack anyone who passed through them.
After finding one specific tombstone, an invader could then jump into the hole in the ground to reach the second floor.
There, one would see a region filled with thick magical fog that would disorient any living being that passed through it. As one walked through this floor, they would encounter many traps, and if they were lucky, they would eventually see an enormous, dilapidated black castle.
This was a haunted castle, full of powerful undead who guarded it, and the residence of Shalltear Bloodfallen, the guardian of the first three floors.
After entering her room, one would see a gigantic portrait of her on the wall.
By walking through this painting, a person can then enter the third floor.
There, one would see a big river that released poisonous fog, with waters filled with uncorporeal undead that would try to drag anyone who passed into its depths. If the invader successfully followed the river and jumped from the waterfall at its end, they would reach the fourth floor.
The fourth floor was a big lake guarded by many aquatic monsters and the gigantic golem, Gargantua. To delve deeper into Nazarick, one would need to be baptized into these waters, reaching its depths before emerging into the frozen hell that was the fifth floor.
There, one would need to march through its frozen plains until they reached a cave hidden in the snow.
After passing through this cave, an invader would be greeted by a great jungle. This was the midpoint of the journey, and because of that, the sixth floor was the most normal-looking out of all the floors. The environment was warm and inviting, lulling the invader into a false sense of security that would be quickly shattered by the many powerful beasts and plant monsters that lived in the jungle, all under the command of the twin guardians.
In the jungle, there was a big tree constantly on fire, and by passing through its cracked trunk, one would emerge into the flaming hell that was the 7th floor.
The blazing heat on the floor meant that only creatures resistant to or immune to fire damage could stay there for a prolonged period of time.
9 volcanoes constantly spewed lava through the floor, filling it with heat and noxious gases that made the place the closest thing to a true hell in the whole tomb.
In the depths of one of the volcanoes, one could find a door, and by passing through it, one would reach the 8th floor.
This floor was the masterpiece of Ainz Ooal Gown, and its last line of defense against invaders.
Ainz Ooal Gown was a guild that had gotten notorious in Yggdrasil as a group of evil villains, which, with rare exceptions, was embraced by its members.
Maybe because of that, they were constantly at odds with the strongest guild on the server, Seraphim.
Seraphim was a guild composed only of players belonging to angelic races. They tried to maintain a pure and altruistic image among other guilds, which made Ainz Ooal Gown an eyesore for them.
So they formed an alliance with other guilds that had suffered at the hands of the evil guild, forming a group of 1,500 players to invade Nazarick.
They were very strong, carving their way through the first seven floors without significant losses, but once they reached the 8th floor, they all died.
This had to do with a loophole discovered by the members of Ainz Ooal Gown, which led to the creation of a death trap on the floor, one that only required the sacrifice of its level 35 Floor Guardian.
Victim was created with a specific build that allowed them to exploit this particular loophole. Once activated, all invaders on the floor would die, without exception.
But even without it, this floor was still a fearsome place.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that if the beings on the 8th floor wanted to, they could take on the rest of Nazarick in a fight and win without much trouble.
After appearing on this floor, Ainz looked around.
It's as beautiful as always.
He extended his hand, watching as a cherry blossom landed on it.
His field of vision was filled with cherry trees in full bloom, each radiating a soft pink light that illuminated his surroundings.
Wherever he looked, there was lush vegetation and antique wooden structures.
This was one of the 5 heavens located on the 8th floor, the Cherryblossom Sanctuary.
The 5 heavens were the main regions on the 8th floor, each inspired by myths from different cultures.
The Cherryblossom Sanctuary was inspired by old Japan, so it was filled with monsters ranging from yokais to samurai and ninjas.
As he was thinking about where to find someone, he saw a group approaching quickly.
The one leading the group was a young woman wearing a miko outfit.
He waved at her, and in the next instant, she teleported right in front of him.
"Hey, Ainz-sama! What brings you here?" She politely bowed while keeping a bratty smile on her face.
This was Aureole Omega, the youngest out of the Pleiades, and also the strongest. Not only was she one of the rare level 100 NPCs in Nazarick, but she was also the Area Guardian responsible for the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary and the NPC in charge of the teleportation gates in Nazarick.
No teleportation in Nazarick could happen without her knowledge, and she controlled the many teleporting traps scattered through the tomb. So he wasn't surprised by how quickly she found him.
Incidentally, Aureole Omega was also the only human NPC in the tomb, albeit one granted eternal life, which led some of the more human-hating NPCs to refer to her as an Immortal rather than a human.
"I came looking for Thalia. Do you know where she is?" He spoke the name of one of his creations, the one he assigned to the 8th floor.
"Ah, her. She has been locked in her studio since yesterday. Do you want me to show you the way?"
Sensing the worry in her voice and guessing its reason, he laughed to himself.
"She can be a handful, can't she?"
"Indeed." Aureole agreed without hesitation. There was no ill intent in her tone, only the helplessness of someone who didn't know what to do with her colleague.
Thalia was an eccentric woman whose mind was constantly filled with new ideas that she couldn't always keep up with, so she had the habit of isolating herself to work them out, which could come across as rude to others, and Ainz could only hope that Aureole Omega could tolerate this quirky creation of his.
"Please, show the way."
With these words, they began walking through the Sanctuary.
It was called a Sanctuary because of its religious motif, but it functioned more like a small, charming rural town.
Charming as it may be, its inhabitants would probably terrify any visitor from the outside world.
A group of Red and Blue Onis, all over 4m tall, guarded the gates of the town, using their clubs to block the entrance, but after seeing Ainz and Aureole Omega approaching, they all bowed their heads, opening the gate for them.
There, most of the houses and facilities were made out of wood, with cherry trees planted at regular intervals.
On the streets, Hanzos, Shoguns, and Kenshins, wearing their traditional attire, patrolled.
From the roofs of the houses, Red Tengus, the strongest in the Tengu series, silently observed the streets below while holding their big bows, ready to fire at any enemy that may appear.
Ainz found it invigorating to see so many creatures of myth living in the same place. It gave him a certain sense of unreality.
Sometimes he still struggled to accept that this was now his reality.
He looked at the group accompanying them as they walked through the town.
These were some of Aureole Omega's subordinates. They looked like men and little girls wearing masks, but Ainz knew that these were Uma-no-Mitami and Ootoshi, level 85 vassals who, when working together, could probably defeat him in a fight.
Vassals were monsters that could be summoned when one had their data book by spending gold using the mercenary system.
When summoned in a guild base, such as in Nazarick, these monsters would automatically attack any invader that appeared, so Ainz Ooal Gown had not saved on summoning a whole lot of them.
Different from custom NPCs, such as the Area and Floor Guardians, these vassals couldn't be changed, and didn't have access to the same classes and equipment as players.
Another difference was that, save for those acquired through the cash shop or during special events, these vassals would be at most level 85.
High-level vassals were a rarity in most floors, usually relegated to being bodyguards of the Floor Guardians, but on the 8th floor, they were common.
None of the vassals Ainz saw on the way were weaker than level 70, and he knew that on this floor, there were hundreds of them.
There were thousands of monster data books in the library on the 10th floor, probably so many that even if he spent all the gold in the treasury, he wouldn't be able to go through them all, but out of these, the number that represented high-level vassals was very limited. Which was why he had been very happy to receive 10 data books for Hanzos as the reward for registering Nazarick as his Territory.
And that was also the reason why he was so interested in capturing Quaiesse of the Black Scripture, for, if his talent could be used when summoning Vassals, then he wouldn't need to spend so much money and waste data books to get a lot of subordinates, which was a great temptation for a miser such as himself.
It didn't take long for them to reach their destination.
"It's here, Ainz-sama." Aureole pointed at a particular house on the outskirts of the Cherryblossom Sanctuary.
"Here, huh?"
This house didn't stand out from the others they had seen on the way, save for the statue at its entrance.
Standing there was a perfectly sized wooden statue of him.
"Is this one of her works?"
It was incredibly detailed, down to the wrinkles on his clothes and the orbs in his staff.
"It is. She made it right after your last visit, Ainz-sama. She… hum… said that she wanted to have a reason to leave the house, so she carved this statue to be able to see your likeness whenever she did." Aureole said, feeling embarrassed.
"Is that so?"
Her reasoning aside, I must say that I'm impressed.
But maybe this is to be expected from her, since she is the most artistically inclined of the sisters.
"Well, let's see her now."
He knocked on the door.