Highschool DxD / Overlord Crossover

I'm now going to be posting as I complete chapters rather than trying to complete the entire story and then post after a number of incidents of hardware failure where I lost all my progress on several stories. My updates are irregular due to college work and the many curveballs that life deems fit to throw at me. (2 notebook failures, 1 laptop failure, 1 software failure on desktop, stories having been deleted on USB reformat, ect.) I have literally lost hundreds of thousands of words (hundreds of pages worth of content) across numerous titles, some of which might never be published now because of it.

Notes: This is set before Issei's initial encounter with the supernatural world and Raynare. Note that the event's surrounding his introduction to the supernatural world will differ from canon.

In this the clan is named Nazarick and only Momonga's alias is Ainz Ooal Gown rather than the whole of the clan. In this Ainz is Issei's alter ego in-game.

This story is one crafted to the fullest of my ability, initially I was thinking of making it as a joke but decided to take it seriously. I hope that it is at least okay enough to put up. I have never written a speech before and my first language is not English so please keep that in mind as you read this chapter.

In this Issei is not evil, even if it may seem so at times, his views and that of those around him are simply twisted. He's embraced his role in the game as a monster in his pursuit to become a hero, just because he's willing to do certain things in game doesn't mean he would do them in the real world. In real life he's a much different person from who he is in game, the little parts where you see Ainz act a different way than he usually does are representative of that. That being said if you want a grey, complex, borderline evil protagonist that exists in the fringes of morality between the thin line of good and evil you will likely love Issei's alter ego of Ainz.

Issei is Ainz in this, yet you don't need to watch or read Overlord to appreciate the story, even if it does contain major elements from it as I will spoon feed it all to you. This chapters covers the prologue and is set in this universe, next chapter or the one after it will transition it to the Highschool DxD universe where a majority of the content will take place.

Even though what I said is true Issei in this story frightens me a bit, because his methods, his actions… are all too believable…

Warning: This chapter and subsequent story is to be rated M for language, violence, and gore.

If I ever incorporate any future lemons to the story later on, lemons will most likely be given their own separate story in order to not hinder the viewing pleasure of others, or I will give fair warning to their inclusion in a chapter. The romance and subsequent relationships though will still remain in the story…

Official Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD, Overlord, or any other referenced or related works in that may appear in this story, those belong to their respective owners. If there ever is an OC inclusion in this or any of my stories, the resemblance of a name and/or physical appearance to anyone living or deceased is completely coincidental. What I do own is the story concept, story board, the story itself, and any OC's I do create.

The rights of any pictures or art I will ever use go to their respective owners, if said artist would like the picture removed from my profile, for that is where it will most likely be, please say so instead of jumping to conclusions of infringement.

Chapter I

When My Heart No Longer Beats

-X-

Yggdrasil - A game that had become one of the most popular Japanese DMMO-RPG's (Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) of recent times. Its unique combat system and character creation differentiating it from the numerous other titles in the genre. It's unique combat system could be adapted and applied towards nearly everything as could the skill set. The character creation was incredibly in-depth, allowing your character to look as realistic or unrealistic as possible, quite literally allowing you to play the game with your own face and base expressions or to be a 9-inch fairy with six wings who used its tiny fists to beat others to death.

The novelty of the system however was that anyone could quite literally do just about anything. They could pursue almost any career, live any lifestyle, chose any discipline. Its flexible system allowed players to select a number of races, jobs, and customization options.

The land was split into nine "worlds", upon which numerous smaller kingdoms resided. Yet there were undisputed lords to each of these continents and all other kingdoms soon became cities under their rule. Each lord received the right to name their kingdom as well as received the divine blessing of a celestial being representative of a constellation.

The lands upon which these kingdoms or "worlds" resided upon were; Asgard, Álfheimr, Vanaheimr, Niðavellir, Midgard, Jötunheimr, Niflheim, Helheim and Múspellsheimr.

Eight of the worlds were led by an admiralty who ruled their kingdom alongside the NPC's with a gentle hand in order to maintain power and diminish the chance of enticing revolt among the player base. This admiralty usually consisted of the main guild of the kingdom with representatives of smaller guilds which had formed cities in their kingdom participating alongside them. The Lord of the Kingdom usually consisted of the leader of the main clan of the kingdom and wielded a substantial amount of power in the admiralty.

It was a system that functioned efficiently in-game as the power that many of the people wielded was monitored and kept in check due to the numerous guilds that looked over them and called them out at the first signs of apparent corruption.

However there was a world that was often overlooked by the other Kingdoms, Niflheim. A place usually geared towards grinding, filled with high level monsters and dungeons that could easily crush even the most powerful guilds that attempted them. It was deemed unconquerable and was a land with no real kingdom that was listed as an end-game territory, it only being for the brave of heart or the foolish as while its rewards were great its price was too steep to be considered seriously.

For every death you would lose a tenth of your overall gold, all the items on your person sans what was equipped, and five levels per death would be lost with a character being reverted back to level one if their level was under five. If this weren't enough any cavern based dungeon gave the blindness ailment which meant that you had to explore the cavern without your HUD or mini-map. This and the numerous other threats and challenges posed by The Dark Lands of Niflheim made it the ultimate challenge for players that had reached end-game, yet few dared brave the consequences that were to be wrought from such a thing.

Even the most skilled of players thought that it was literally designed to be insurmountable, a place that was specifically crafted to kill you over and over again and mock your efforts as you attempted it. It was separated into nine different rings, each more perilous than the last and were said to be representative of each of the circles of Hell. In order to proceed to the next one you needed to conquer each dungeon in a ring, defeating the boss within before confronting one of the Seven Demon Kings of Sin. It was also the only lore breaking location in game as the way it was structured was reminiscent of the hell in Dante's Inferno of The Divine Comedy. It was said that the person that would conquer all of the circles would then be able to challenge Lucifer to battle and claim his throne as their own.

However in this seemingly perfect world of magic and adventure there was mass discrimination and sabotage for a particular group. This was towards the members of the Heteromorphic Race, a race that was seen as undesirable among the player base and were PK'd unrelentingly due to the fact they were often seen as monsters and other Players would suffer no penalties for killing them.

This group was forced to reside on the fringes of the Dark Lands and were often hunted alongside the many monsters that resided there, entire villages being slaughtered under the misguided thought of being a monster den. So the race that had the smallest player base also became the most persecuted, with many of their members not even reaching level 30 before quitting due in part to their persecution and the unforgiving nature of Niflheim.

Then he arrived - a member of the Heteromorphic Race that had grown in power in relative obscurity within the hellish depths of Niflheim. His guild conquering the six hundred and sixty six dungeons Niflheim contained and crushing the Sins into dust. He singlehandedly slaying Lucifer and his shadow Loki and taking the throne of Niflheim and Hell as his own. His clan Nazarick becoming the stuff of legend and he being labeled the game's newest antagonist now that the last one was defeated.

Renaming his Kingdom Nazarick, his vast undead armies consisting of the Heteromorphic Race became a very real threat to the other kingdoms. Each member of his clan had undergone the trial and tribulations of Niflheim and emerged victorious, their levels easily in the 100+ range, with higher members in the 200-350 range. With those in his court being listed as powerful enough to conquer the trials of Nifelheim singlehandedly with their level in the upper hundreds while his own was said to be near the unofficial cap of 999.

Comparatively the most skilled of players outside of Nazarick was at around the low hundred range with the highest, the Lord of Asgard also known as the Hero of Light being only at 327. Barely being able to make a commander position in Nazarick which required a lvl higher than 300. To put it in perspective the Hero of Light only barely managed to reach The Third Circle before his forces had all perished and he fell to the Sin of that respective domain.

The Overlord, as he was starting to be referred to was called Momonga by his court and Ainz Ooal Gown by the rest of his people and followers. He with Nazarick tamed Nifelheim from the treacherous land it once was and made it into the true home of the Heteromorphic Race. He was praised by the NPC's of his kingdom as a benevolent god, ironic considering his hellish appearance being akin to that of a Linch King. However his people's persecution and that which he himself had experienced from the other races upon his time playing the game made him resentful of humans, a notion that seemed to be shared by his creations and many of the players that were part of Nazarick.

Thus he decided for them to embrace their given role as what the humans saw them as, monsters. Sending forth his armies he declared war on the entire world. He promising to repay his race's suffering tenfold and bring each kingdom under his control one by one.

The dynamic shift actually ended up saving the game from being shut down due to its prior declining population and dated interface as an expansion to the game was released and caused a resurgence of players at the prospect of a full scale magical war between Humans and the Heteromorphic Race. The expansion evened the playing field for the humans as it offered the introduction of holy and divine items as well as introduced gods to counter the fact that the top 1% power wise were all part of Nazarick. If that weren't enough a new NPC race was introduced – the angels, or the Denizens of Valhalla which lent their aid to The Empire of Man. If one were also to take into account the fact that humans also outnumbered the Heteromorphic Race 8:1 it would seem that Heteromorphic Race was at a distinct disadvantage, however this was not the case.

Shortly after the expansion was released Ainz Ooal Gown became the first player to ever slay a god, he also claimed the celestial constellation of Virgo as his kingdom's own. The fact remained that World Items were simply much more powerful than holy or even divine, they having been labeled Balance-Breakers since they could alter the balance of the game and the majority of said items were in Nazarick's possession.

Thousands of player's attempted to storm the powerful guild's headquarters, they numbering in the tens of thousands, with NPC's at the hundreds of thousands. The numerous kingdoms attempting to defeat the enigmatic Overlord, yet one by one they all fell. The forces only reaching the eight floor with 1,500 players as their numerous NPC's had perished reaching Nazarick's fabled Guild Building. The majority of the player base being crushed by the floor guardians of each level before the remaining 1,500 players were confronted with a strange creature the likes of which they had never seen.

The creature named "Victim" had the appearance of a 1m long bright pink fetus with an angelic halo and featherless stick-like wings. It was a divine being – an archangel, a member of the heteromorphic race, and most significantly a living sacrifice. The creature, a unique NPC created by Momonga was listed under the epithet Sacrificial Fetus, however what really affected the other players was that it did something that no player had witnessed before.

It displayed emotion…

The being was fiercely loyal to The Supreme Beings or the court of Ainz Ooal Gown and was incredibly humble and modest of his role as a living sacrifice. It said that it bore them no ill will yet it was by his master's will that they died alongside itself and asked for their forgiveness before sealing their fates with its own death. The creature's behavior sparked controversy among the player base after video was released by the players that had been defeated as it had seemingly displayed real emotion, something that technology was as of yet incapable of. The video of the being sacrificing itself and what it said soon became viral as the prospect of the morals of artificial intelligence in video games and other mediums for the first time was brought into question.

The game's developers feeling the pressure came out with a statement stating that they had not created "Victim" but rather he was created by a player using their open source programming software. At this point Victim had a large following online, one that spanned beyond the game and became the post child for the regulation on artificial intelligence and the implementation of emotional algorithms.

However it was to their great pleasure that they found out that Victim was in fact revived by Momonga himself. Momonga then went on to explain that Victim was in fact his creation and that Victim was simply the overwatcher of the forces of the eight floor and that it was forced to act after the other NPC's on the floor were slain. Momonga explained that like many of the members of their race Victim would have been discriminated against solely based on appearance and would have be slain without hesitation as a monster.

Immediately people grew outraged as they discovered that this was an issue of racial discrimination in a micromanaged world on the basis of appearance. Soon Victim and Momonga had received ample backing, with many people calling Victim "cute" and "fascinating". While Momonga after detailing the kingdom that he had built in order to protect his people received much support and was congratulated even by government officials for his efforts and re-structuring. People then started pushing the developers to do something to correct the balancing problem in game and chastised them for marketing such an issue rather than correcting it.

The other kingdoms on the other hand were shunned for their actions, in particular those that had actually managed to reach the eight floor and "slay" Victim. Losing wide support the admiralty started falling apart and Momonga soon took advantage of this and swooped in and took over three of the eight kingdom governments without much resistance.

The Dark Lord seeing that the circumstances were to his advantage started manipulating the situation in his favor as he played the race card and started preaching peace and equality. The people wanted change, the people wanted progress, and he would be the one to deliver it onto them. He stating that he did not wish to wage war, but that his hand had been forced by the actions of others and the inequality and persecution his people suffered from. For that end goal he was willing to see the entire world of Yggdrasil burn to ashes, to reset the game in order for the whole world to start over from a scratch.

His most famous speech was at none other than the temple of Valhalla itself, where the heavens touched the earth. A place where angels and men were as one, he having interrupted a media-covered event in between the eight great kingdoms.

The Temple of Valhalla, an architectural wonder of such startling beauty it would invoke a sense of awe into any that gazed upon it. The temple's grand looking spires piercing the heavens and its intricate mosaics coming to life as paradise itself seemed but a hairsbreadth away. It adorned with mosaics, inlays, inset marble friezes, and grand sculptures in honor of all lesser gods and holy men.

Ainz having walked unarmed into the temple of Valhalla, knowing full well that as this was a heavily publicized event that they wouldn't risk the bad publicity of killing him even if he was alone. Which he was not as several of his forces were shadowing him as a precaution.

The entire kingdom was watching this summit and he had decided it was time to strike at the heart of the matter, to use everything that humans held dear against them.

Upon his entry immediately the "God-kins" drew their arms whilst the angel's crafted javelins of light as the two factions barely refrained from invoking their judgment upon him. The people however looked on in fear or as he noticed was most commonly the case – curiosity.

Unfazed and comforted by the knowledge that he could easily kill all those in attendance with but a single attack he patiently waited for the floor to be open for opposing viewpoints. Taking the stage he commenced a speech of such grand eloquence and fervent passion that it shocked those in attendance. After all this was just a game… wasn't it?

"Throughout this war many harsh and startling truths have come to light, so I know this may be a bit much to ask, but all I ask is for you to lend me your ears rather than bare your blades against me." He said in a tired tone that caught many off guard.

"I come armed with a righteous cause, a cause as holy as the very ground I stand upon – one representative of not just humanity, but of equality" he said softly, yet his words echoed in the hearts and mind of the people in attendance. The demi-human race of angels paying particular attention to his words out of an almost morbid curiosity whilst also feeling that in some way his statement regarding equality also encompassed them.

"My people have been labeled aggressors. Naaaayyy!" he shouted passionately "We do not come as aggressors. I speak for my people in saying that this is not a war of conquest; rather we are doing what we have always done. We're fighting in defense of our homes, our families, and our posterity. My people have asked for mercy only to receive none. My people have begged for their lives, for the lives of their children, only to yield no quarter! We ask no longer! We beg no more! Now we defy those that have oppressed us! Those which have entrapped us in our own flesh or lack thereof and called us monsters! I ask you good sir," he said as he pointed at human male that was actually a human custom NPC amongst the crowd that he himself had created for this very occasion, "Who is the monster? I who rest upon the frames of my forefathers who gave their lives guarding their people from "just" and "righteous" heroes. Or the king that sits upon a throne of gold built from the sweat of the common man's brow, the riches of corruption, and the blood of the youth who go fight wars in faraway lands where the fruits of your labor shall never grow?" he asked the man who simply took off his hat and lowered his head solemnly.

"Do you think life so trifling, peace so arbitrary, that you would seal your fate for a meager paltry and betray the will of God in exchange for the constraints cast upon you by the twisted ideologies of man!?" he said angrily as he looked upon the angels pointedly at that, they averting their eyes shamefully at that.

"There is no moral issue here. It is wrong – devilish even – to deny us the right to exist on the basis of race. This is not by the will of god! This is not a holy war - rather this is a war of ideology. The argument is that we are inherently evil, that we lack a heart to feel love, that we lack the capacity to feel emotion, that we're not truly alive…" His voice tapering off to a whisper as he hung his head in sorrow, his voice drifting off near the end.

"Then why I ask you do I feel pain?" he asked as his hand rested over his heart, "Do I need tears to convey my sorrow? Does it lessen the reality of our suffering if we lack a heart?" he said with heartfelt emotion, so much so that the people that were watching the proceedings could feel the weight of his words.

"You have labeled me a vile monster, a great king, a powerful lord – yet I am none of these. For I stand before you as nothing more than a servant." He proclaimed, confusing many at what he meant as they continued to listen on with rapt attention.

"I serve a greater calling, one unfettered by titles yet bound by a righteous cause. 'I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him' – John 13:16." He said with an inward smirk as he observed the frightful and spooked expressions of the angels at hearing the sacred text be employed by the being before them. Startled even more so to hear that it was being used to so eloquently describe a member of the race that had been shunned as nothing more than demons by their kind.

"I speak for my people, I am a messenger and their word is my own. This is my message and you too are my people, for I refuse to believe that lack of flesh differentiates me from your own. Look into your graves kingdom of man and tell me what you see!?" he roared as his voice grew in strength and his will lashed out at the audience.

"That which is inhuman cannot be divine, so how can you sanction to the oppression of a people!? How can you justify the persecution of an entire civilization before your Almighty God!? I have nothing to offer; not the blood of the living, or tears of sorrow, nor the sweat of arduous labor. Yet I still breathe a prayer…" He boomed, his powerful voice echoing in the stunned silence that greeted his proclamation "…men pray for many things; fortune, forgiveness, strength – I pray for one. I pray for understanding - for with that I am convinced that all war would end, all discrimination cease, and peace shall reign eternal over this earth!" he thundered, his cry ringing true in their ears as many among the audience even those looking on from abroad found themselves roaring in approval.

It was the greatest speech in Yggdrasil's history. With but a few powerful words and his dark charisma he soon had the majority of his audience swayed to his side. A ruler's loyalty lies with his people and in war their primary interest is to lessen the loss of life that his people may experience. If a million must perish so that a hundred thousand of their own people may live – then so be it. However if with words alone he could disarm his enemies, cripple their armies, and conquer their kingdoms - then what ruler would allow his people to die needlessly?

"Romans 2:11*, Colossians 1:16-17*, Proverbs 20:10*" With three verses he had caused the armies of heaven to lay down their arms as they hung their heads in shame and begged God for forgiveness. With that the angels declared their withdrawal from the war and shed their sin. Each leaving a single black feather in their wake, thousands of which descended upon the temple of Valhalla on that day.

They offering their unofficial support to his cause and closing the doors of heaven to the Kingdom of Man. Thus the valiant warrior and the "righteous" hero should receive no salvation so long as they impeded on the will of God on earth, as long as they waged this war of oppression.

He himself actually did not truly believe all of this, but he did in fact want to help the people of the heteromorphic race. He also recognized that humans as a whole weren't the problem, but human players or "God-kins" as they were referred to, were the ones that had caused this mass divide. He was merely apathetic towards most human NPC's.

His words served to divide the already fragmented human forces with the vast majority of human NPC's and the more foolishly good players being swayed by his silver tongue and his promises of peace and equality. Yet others remained steadfast in their beliefs and called him a monster and an opportunist, they pointing out that it was him in fact that had declared war against the eight great kingdoms. He rebutted by simply pointing out that his motives for war were righteous and that his hand had been forced due to their maltreatment.

Most unsettling of all was the fact that the three human kingdoms that he had under his control he allowed to remain semi-independent and placed NPC's in charge of the government. He adopting a system not to unlike that of the Confederal System of government for the three nations under his control and allowed them to rule themselves under several stipulations set forth by him. With them corroborating with representatives of his kingdom for the mutual benefit of his growing empire… at least this was what the public was allowed to see.

Truthfully the system was more akin to the Unitary System of Government under the guise of a Federal System with enhanced freedoms provided to the kingdoms under his control. Namely he treated them like territories rather than countries or "Worlds" as they were referred to and allowed them to continue their feeble existence under a puppet government which he had instilled. This allowed an easy and smooth transition to his ideals as the monarchy were in fact NPC's created by him and thus answered to him. Soon enough the countries had been assimilated as part of his massive war machine.

With sympathy for his cause running high and Victim having gone viral as an international sensation and the poster child of the rights of artificial and simulated intelligence, resistance to his cause was waning. Half the world had already fallen to his grasp and with his undead armies and high level generals it wouldn't be long before he had the entirety of the world in his grasp, and best of all the people would love him for it.

By being a monster he would become what he had always wanted to be recognized as… a hero.

Ainz to a journalist questioning him on his thoughts on Valhalla after the speech:

"In the past this grand establishment upon which I find myself in today was created in honor of god, the death of a civilization marking its creation. It being formed from the stone of its numerous ruins, its foundation carved out on this hallowed ground. The dead are plentiful in this holy place, the spirits of the dead numerous. I can see them with these hollow eyes of mine, I can hear their cries! Do you not hear them as well? Are you deaf to their words, blind to their suffering!?" – Ainz Ooal Gown

Ainz's speech is inspired by…

*The Bible

*William Jennings Bryan

*Patrick Henry

*Martin Luther King, Jr.

*Lyndon B. Johnson

*Winston Churchill

*Frederick Douglass

*And finally my own educated mind…

…and I asked upon the common man what is the most fearsome of monsters; He who kills by the will of god? He who topples nations through bloodshed and war? He who thinks nothing of his fellow man and kills indiscriminately? - And the answer I was given shook me to my very core.

"That is not the will of monsters – that is the will of man… The most frightening of all men is he who has no need to raise his hand as with his word alone he can kill, with a whisper he can overthrow, and with a promise he can conquer. For when there appears such a man, one that can kill but with a word and conquer without resistance then we should fear - for that is the day that we shall find ourselves in the presence of a god…" – Kain 14:12, Scriptures of Momon*

*Legend*

*Romans 2:11 – For God shows no partiality.

*Colossians 1:16-17 – For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

*Proverbs 20:10 – Unequal weights and unequal measures are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

*Scriptures of Momon - The concise accounts of Momonga's (Ainz's) rise to sainthood.