The remaining two Guardians they were talking about were probably the 4th Floor Guardian Gargantua and the 8th Floor Guardian Victim.
Gargantua was essentially a gigantic siege weapon, lacking self-awareness, only obeying the orders of Momonga, the guild master, and posed no real danger.
As for Victim, although it possessed a miraculous skill that could turn the tide of battle, its actual combat strength was very low, only level 35, and thus wasn’t a major threat, so there wasn’t much need to test it.
Of course, this couldn’t be said openly in front of the Guardians, otherwise they would probably all disembowel themselves on the spot to prove their loyalty.
So Momonga said calmly, “No, the tasks of those two Guardians are to prioritize handling specific situations, so under the current circumstances, there’s no need to summon them.”
“I see.”
“Kyouhukou doesn’t seem to be here yet, either.” Luke suddenly said with a strange smile.
Upon hearing this, Shalltear and Aura’s faces instantly changed… though Shalltear’s face didn’t have much expression to change in the first place.
Even Albedo’s gentle smile vanished, and the members of the Pleiades showed complex expressions.
“Hahaha, when Kyouhukou sees your expressions, he’s sure to feel very conflicted!”
Inside the Great Tomb of Nazarick, there were two types of Guardians:
One type was the Floor Guardians, like the ones in front of Momonga and Luke, each responsible for guarding one or more floors.
The other type was the Area Guardians, responsible for guarding specific sections within a floor — put simply, they were like the sub-bosses you had to defeat before reaching the final floor boss.
Just like in the Naxxramas instance Luke used to play in World of Warcraft, it was divided into several wings, each wing having several small bosses and one big boss — exactly like that.
Kyouhukou was an Area Guardian of the 2nd Floor.
Though only level 30, its appearance had a 1000% psychological effect on females — because it looked like a giant cockroach!
“Then, it’s better to notify the Area Guardians as well, and also pass the word to Guren and Grant and the other Area Guardians.
This task will be entrusted to each of the Floor Guardians.” Momonga said.
After hearing Momonga’s orders and confirming their understanding, Albedo gave the next instructions, “Then, everyone, please present your loyalty to the Supreme Beings.”
All the Guardians nodded in unison.
Before Momonga could even speak, they had already formed ranks.
Albedo stood in front, and all the Guardians lined up behind her in a single file.
Every Guardian wore a solemn and respectful expression, completely devoid of the playful atmosphere from earlier.
Shalltear stepped forward, “Guardian of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Floors, Shalltear Bloodfallen, reporting to you, my lord.”
She knelt, placed one hand over her chest, and bowed deeply with respect.
After Shalltear’s formal obeisance, Cocytus stepped forward, “Guardian of the 5th Floor, Cocytus, reporting to you, my lord.”
Next, the twin Dark Elves stepped forward, “Guardian of the 6th Floor, Aura Bella Fiora, reporting to you, my lord.”
They too knelt respectfully and bowed their heads.
Then Demiurge stepped forward elegantly, “Guardian of the 7th Floor, Demiurge, reporting to you, my lord.”
Then came Hatsune, Luo Tianyi, Shana, and Warsong — Luke’s most embarrassing black history, stepping forward, “Guardians of the 10th Floor, Hatsune, Luo Tianyi, Shana, Warong, reporting to you, my lord.”
“Luke-san, how do you feel right now?
I remember you gave all your NPCs names from random celebrities.
Are you enjoying this?” Momonga asked through the private communication channel.
“My feelings right now are a mix of hot, cold, sweet, sour, and spicy — it feels good but also overwhelmingly embarrassing…”
“Haha, really?”
Finally, Albedo also stepped forward, “Guardian Overseer, Albedo, reporting to you, my lord.”
“Momonga, did you forget the setting we just modified?”
“…What do you mean we?
It was clearly you who modified it!”
“Please don’t try to push the responsibility onto me, okay?
Momonga, can you honestly say you weren’t secretly pleased at the time?”
“…Momonga turned off the channel.”
“…”
Momonga let out a small sigh of relief.
Honestly, the joking exchange with Luke had relieved a lot of his tension.
Facing several kneeling Guardians left him at a complete loss.
For a mere salaryman, this was an extremely rare and overwhelming situation.
His mind had gone blank, but after a few exchanges over the channel, he felt much calmer.
No matter what, there was no time to think about how scenes like this played out in movies or TV dramas — so, first things first…
“Raise your heads.”
All of them raised their heads simultaneously, perfectly in sync.
“Then… first of all, thank you all for coming.”
“Please do not say such things as thanks.
We are your loyal subordinates, dedicated to serving Lord Momonga and Lord Luke.
To us, you are the Supreme Rulers.”
Luke glanced at Momonga — surely by now Momonga was feeling the weight of leadership.
Even though the Guardians pledged loyalty to both of them, as Guild Master, Momonga always shouldered the heaviest burden.
Luke knew Momonga wouldn’t push responsibility onto him by saying something like, “Just listen to Luke-san.”
And this was what made Momonga so admirable — everything he did wasn’t out of a desire for power or world domination, but simply because he wanted to shoulder the responsibility for his comrades.
To him, these Floor Guardians were the embodiment of his guildmates’ will.
For the sake of his friends, he had to protect their legacy and fulfill their expectations.
That was why Luke had never thought about replacing Momonga or conquering the world himself.
Would ruling the world be fun?
Sure, it would probably be fun.
But the responsibility would be unimaginably heavy.
Unless you implemented a reign of absolute violence, there would be countless things to worry about.
Such a thing was better left to Momonga and besides, he was doing quite well so far.
At this moment, Momonga was thinking about many things — his greatest fear being that if he led poorly, it might lead to the destruction of his subordinates.
But Momonga and Luke’s silence caused the Guardians to misunderstand it as doubt.
“…Lord Momonga, Lord Luke, it is only natural for you to feel doubt.
Our strength is insignificant compared to yours.”
Albedo’s ever-present gentle smile disappeared, replaced by a firm and determined expression as she spoke respectfully:
“But as long as our lords command it, no matter how difficult the task, all of us Floor Guardians will devote ourselves to it completely — even if it means shattering our bodies to pieces!”
“Here and now, we swear never to bring shame upon the 42 Supreme Beings, the creators of Ainz Ooal Gown!”
“We swear it!”
In unison with Albedo’s voice, the other Guardians shouted as well.
Their voices were filled with power, an unshakable loyalty and determination as hard as diamond, as if mocking the past doubts Momonga and Luke once had about whether NPCs might betray them.
At this moment, Momonga was deeply moved — one could even say his heart was shaken.
Luke’s eyes even grew moist; he too was profoundly touched.
The NPCs designed by their guildmates were so excellent — this was the most brilliant legacy they had left behind, the crystallization of their best memories and heartfelt effort.
Momonga smiled — though his skeletal face showed no expression, the crimson glow in his eye sockets burned especially bright.
His earlier anxiety had completely vanished.