"Now, everyone. To our supreme leader, the ritual of fidelity." Albedo said.

A vampire lolita fell to one knee and placed a hand over her heart. "The guardian of the first, second, and third floor, Shalltear Bloodfallen I bow before the supreme one."

A massive, four armed figure encased in armor fell to one knee and placed a hand over his heart. "The guardian of the fifth floor, Cocytus. I bow before the supreme one."

"The guardian of the sixth floor, Aura Bella Fiora."

"A- Also the guardian of the sixth floor, Mare Bello Fiore."

Both young, dark elves fell to one knee and spoke together. "We bow before the supreme one."

"The guardian of the seventh floor, Demiurge." A demon with glasses, tie, and a pin stripe suit fell to one knee and placed a hand over his heart. "I bow for the supreme one."

"The leader of the guardians, Albedo. I bow before the supreme one." A beautiful succubus with horns and black feathery wings knelt down before him and placed hand over her heart. "Other than the guardian of the fourth floor, Gargantua, and the guardian of the eighth floor, Victim, all the guardians have gathered to bow before you. Please bestow your orders upon us, Supreme One. We offer our complete loyalty to you."

Momonga stood before them. It seemed the NPCs were all loyal to him. That was good, even knowing he could use magic, and even with the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown in his possession he would have had to flee if they had decided to turn on him. As incredible and seemingly impossible as it might be, he was coming to accept the fact that this was real. The game world of Yggdrasil had somehow become real. Magic existed. The NPCs had come to life. He was no longer Suzuki Satoru playing an online DMMO-RPG. By some miracle he really was Momonga, Guildmaster of Ainz Ooal Gown.

He had no idea how this was possible. The most likely explanation would be had suffered a stroke or other ailment and fallen into a coma. All this was playing out in his own mind while he lay in a hospital bed somewhere. The next most likely scenario was he had died while on line and this was either heaven or hell. Given what a boring existence he'd had as a corporate drone he wasn't sure which he deserved. For him his 'real' life had always been absolutely pointless and without meaning. It was always the hours spent in Yggdrasil that had mattered to him. His fellow guild members had become his true friends, he had no family and the people at work were just associates who he never interacted with outside the company. Creating and building up the guild was his life's work. Conquering the original dungeon, creating the guild weapon, beating off an attack of more than 1,600 players… these were the things he was proud of. Not of meaningless reports and reaching arbitrary quotas of quarterly sales. His online life had always been the one that was more important and more 'real' to him.

Wow, that sounds pretty pathetic doesn't it? He thought to himself. But he was honest enough to admit that given a real choice, he would choose this to going back to what everyone called reality. The fact he would choose this world, whatever it was, didn't mean it wasn't scary. He didn't know if there were other players in this world, or what existed outside the walls of Nazarick. He didn't even know if the NPCs would continue to follow him once they realized he had no idea what he was doing. He would just have to try and be the leader they needed.

"Raise your heads. You all did well to gather here. Thank you."

"Your thanks are wasted upon us," Albedo said. "We have all pledged ourselves to you. Momonga-sama, you may find us lacking. However, we vow to work hard and to live up to the expectations of the supreme beings who created us."

"We vow this to you," the all said together.

Seeing their devotion he couldn't help but feel pleased. "Wonderful, floor guardians! I am confident that all of you will be able to fulfill your duties without fail!"

These few words were enough to cause all of them to look up with smiles and faces full of pleasure. Momonga was truly glad to see he could make them happy with honest praise.

"Well then, right now, the Great Tomb of Nazarick is caught up in an unknown situation. I have already sent Sebas out to investigate our surroundings." He turned to his right. The combat butler and commander of the Pleiades combat maids bowed to him. "Please give all of us your full report."

"Hai, Momonga-sama, the Great Tomb of Nazarick is no longer surrounded by swamp. It seems we are now located on a small island roughly three miles long and half a mile wide."

There were gasps from all the floor guardians.

"An… island? Are you certain of this Sebas?" It was a ridiculous question. He would not have reported it if he weren't. But the idea was so shocking he had to ask.

Sebas gave a single nodded. "I am, I confirmed the water which surrounds us is salt water. We are located in the midst of an ocean. In the hour's time I was able to traverse the perimeter of the island and confirm its size. What is more I discovered something."

"Oh?"

"I found the wreckage of a ship, it is unlike any I have ever seen before, Momonga-sama."

In Yggdrasil the ocean going vessels were mostly longboats or cogs. Players who took the occupation of pirate were allowed to upgrade to carracks and galleons.

"Take me to this wreck."

"Hai."

"Wait! Momonga-sama!" Albedo jumped to her feet. "There is no way for us to know what possible enemies there may be! Please take us with you so that we may protect you from any possible harm!"

"I agree," Demiurge said. "This is a unique situation. Caution is called for."

"I have the staff and Sebas will accompany me."

"Even so, Momonga-sama," Albedo argued. "There is no way for us to truly know what the danger is. Please allow us to accompany you so that we may lay down our lives in your defense."

She did have a point. It was probably a good idea to be cautious. On the other hand, would they respect him if he were afraid to step outside without all of them acting as bodyguards?

"Very well, one of you may accompany us. The rest of you are to alert your subordinates and ready Nazarick for a possible surprise attack."

"I will go," Albedo said before anyone else could even open their mouths. Shalltear glared. "Carry out our lord's command, return to your posts and kill any intruder who dares to violate the sacred grounds of Nazarick!"

The other guardians bowed and hurried away.

XXX

Outside it was nighttime. Besides he constant roll of the surf and the occasional caw of a sea gull it was quiet. There was a half-moon out and the night sky was clear and full of stars. Sebas had stated these were not the constellations of Yggdrasil. Momonga thought they were also not the ones from the real world. He couldn't be completely sure, but he at least knew where the big and small dippers were, and could not find them.

The beaches of this island were all rocky, with very little sand. The only vegetation was grass and shrub. There were a couple very small hills, neither more than thirty feet high. There were no buildings or walls or even trails. The only inhabitants seemed to be the sea gulls and crabs. The length of the island stretched from south to north. The tomb entrance was near the southern tip of the island, and only about thirty feet from the water's edge. The ground it was on was not much above sea level. Flooding might be a problem during storms, or if there was a significant high tide. The more serious, and immediate, concern was that the tomb was exposed. The local vegetation did absolutely nothing to hide it.

Momonga used message. "Mare?"

"Y- yes Momonga-sama?"

"The entrance of Nazarick is visible and must be concealed immediately."

"I- I understand, uhm, it might not be enough to hide it with just an illusion."

"What do you suggest, Mare?"

"Uh, well, if we're on an island, a fog back might make the most sense."

"Very well, please see it now, Mare."

"Yes, Momonga-sama!"

Momonga told his companions about the order he'd just given. They both simply nodded.

XXX

The shipwreck was about a half mile from the northern tip of the island. The vessel had obviously been here for a long time. It was broken open and lying on its side. Moss was growing in patches and the hull had decayed exposing the interior through two gaping tears. There were countless smaller holes as well. The ship had been roughly forty feet from stem to stern, making it bigger than most longboats and about as large as some of the bigger cargo ships.

"I don't believe I've ever seen a ship like this," Albedo frowned. There's no mast for a sail and no benches or openings for oars. And what sort of wood was it made from?"

"I agree it's very strange," Sebas said. "Not only the design, but the fact it is not made of wood." Sebas stepped up to the ruined hull and snapped off a piece of it. "It's rusted, but it was metal, this entire ship looks like it was made from metal, and its bridge had a glass screen."

Albedo took the piece of corroded and metal and studied it. "A ship made of metal? Was it a creation of magic?"

"Very possible. I've heard of magical galleys that could travel the skies to Asgard. Perhaps this was one."

"Momonga-sama, what do you believe?" When he did not reply. Albedo turned to him. Her master was standing there staring at the ship. "Momonga-sama? Is something wrong?"

"This is not a galley used by the gods," Momonga said in a very quiet voice. "It's a simple fishing boat."

"A fishing boat?" Sebas said in surprise. "I've never heard of a fishing boat this size, or one constructed from metal."

"That is because this vessel did not come from Yggdrasil, it is from a very different world. It was not powered by sail or by oars or even by magic, it likely had an engine using gas or diesel."

"I am not familiar with diesel," Albedo nodded her head in embarrassment. "If this ship had gas, was it a living thing?" She eyed the wreck with a hint of nervousness.

"No, it was never alive, though in its own way it would have been a wonder in Yggdrasil."

He had not grown up near the ocean, and except for a few vacations and business trips had never seen it. But could recognize a common fishing boat from his world. Did that mean this was Earth? He couldn't assume that, but it did seem very likely this world had some level of modern technology. On the prow was a plain wooden board with what he assumed was the ship's name carved into it. The symbols were not Japanese kanji, and they were not English either. He'd learned English in High School and used it occasionally at work. Three of the letters looked like the upper case T, Y, and O, but the other five were not from the English alphabet.

More important than the unknown language were all the holes scattered all over the vessel. From their size and perfect roundness they could only be bullet holes. This fishing boat hadn't wrecked here in some storm, it had been attacked. And attacked using firearms. Why had the ship been attacked? How long ago? What had happened to its crew? There was no way to know the answer to any of these questions, but what was obvious was this was a very dangerous situation and he would need to tread carefully until he knew more.

"We need to return to Nazarick and learn more about this world we are in."

As they headed back the fog began to rise and engulf the island.

XXX

Captain John Warwick was sprawled out in the captain's chair of the Evil Witch. The only other person in the cramped bridge was his second in command, Mark Welch. They both had their rifles with them, just in case, and Sote was manning one of the gun turrets. He didn't expect any trouble, John couldn't even remember the last time they'd had any kind of action. The Delta was an empty, boring stretch of water. So far as he was concerned these patrols were a waste of battery power. But Bloody Billy wanted him out here, so here he was.

"Hey, John, we got fog off the port bow."

"That so? Pretty rare for this time of year. What's the radar say?"

Mark bent over to look at a round screen with a swirl of green images in it. "Looks clear, the fog's out by Cutler's Point."

"Fuck it then, nothing to worry about."

Mark silently nodded. The Evil Witch kept steaming through the Delta without a care in the world.