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Interlude: One Fae-Queen (182)
🕑 Added 2022-07-21 11:59:20 +0000 UTCIn YGGDRASIL, there were many bosses – perhaps even more than the simple mobs.
Mobs, after all, were usually not opponents in the full sense of the word, but simply a source of resources, an additional danger, and sometimes just some irritant to players – especially for those who’ve reached the maximum level.
Killing mobs is called farming, after all.
Bosses, on the other hand, were in a completely different category. When Players finally got to the coveted level 100 – and, of course, finished the class quests designed for them and picked up the appropriate equipment, their main attraction would then be PvP. But not all players liked PvP. There would always be a decent portion of Players who did not want to do that. Players who simply were not attracted by battles with other Players, for many reasons, and who weren’t seduced by all the kinds of Guild Wars.
In that case, bosses were the answer.
Trying your hand against someone who was much stronger in game design, but who could be defeated even so with the right strategy and tactics, is great fun. For a bored Player who has already figured out all the interesting quests and does not want to get involved in endless grind associated with building a base or endless clan and PvP squabbles, it was the only challenge left.
Considering the fact that even in YGGDRASIL, a game seemingly specially made to make a person pay for every opportunity that he had not foreseen in battle, designing a boss specifically geared to kill Players is a matter of course. So bosses in Yggdrasil were many, and their tactics and abilities were as varied as they come, and all the Players loved it.
Players that love base building, love the rare drops they offer for their created NPCs. Those that liked PvP loved the rare weapon drops or even just the materials to make better weapons. And then lastly, those that like PvE loved the challenge,
After the appearance of any new Boss, the next day at the latest, the forums would be ablaze with new threads. Those that claimed and bragged that they have killed the Boss, various posts about the Boss’ abilities and weakness, or even just information about the Boss’ location. Separating the truth from lies is the mark of a Veteran.
Of course, not all the Bosses were unique. Of course, simple and unsophisticated bosses based on the same mold certainly existed, it wasn't that hard to create yet another Warrior with huge health and huge attack. But most Bosses, even if they were similar in design, still differed from each other in some way and each could be a very unpleasant surprise to an unprepared player.
But it was impossible for any company in the world to create even a hundred completely unique bosses a month, so it was obvious which bosses were similar to each other in one way or another. Usually such bosses were created in packs, like the ‘Thirteen Great Mages’, or ‘Seven Cursed Knights’, or the ‘Four Royal Fae Figures’.
Medb was part of the latter pack, a Boss pack divided into the Kind and the Unkind. Fairies were one of the races available to players with their features being their basic magical resistance, mana, a dozen unique classes, like every other race actually, and several innate abilities. Medb was one such leader of the fairies, the Queen of the Unkind – a mighty boss…
And one of the most disliked NPCs in the entire game.
In any poll, she was frequently competing solidly for the top positions of most hated NPCs, competing with the World Eater, the Lord of Álfheimr, and Samson, and Players had every reason not to like those.
Her quests always came with at least a few unpleasant features that, of course, the Player was never warned about. Furthermore, in her dialogue, she treated the player with disdain and contempt with most of the quests involving problems with the Players' favorite characters came down to her in one way or another. If you have any attachment to any characters in the game, Medb would probably have a quest to either kill them, or make them permanently hostile to you.
And, in the end, she was extremely difficult to kill in combat. And if the player died in combat with her, the player could not get their equipment back, since the battle with her took place in a special zone that was impossible to reach except by engaging her in combat.
In other words, Medb was hated by almost all YGGDRASIL players, and not without cause.
And so what would a Player of Yggdrasil do, if by some eldritch powers, they managed to summon this Medb as a Servant? The first suggestion of any Player, would have been to get rid of her – no Player could even guess what diabolical scheme her mind might have devised when confronted by a Player. So, better safe than sorry.
Well, they were right in one thing at least, it was impossible to guess what goes on in Medb’s head. What is happening right now, no one could have guessed for a thousand years.
“So, Ainz…" Medb tried to keep a detached, cold expression on her face as she looked ahead, failing miserably to anyone not named Ainz. "I'd like to ask you a question… What…”
Slowly, Medb swallowed a nervous gulp, involuntarily averting her gaze and trying to keep the blush from creeping up her cheeks, or at least further up. “What girls do…”
Every word came out with difficulty, her speech was choppy, and even without looking in the mirror she could feel that right now her face could have been the color of a tomato. “Do… Y… You… L-l-li…”
Medb paused, and then exhaled several times, gathering her thoughts as if she were about to step into the void. Turning to the side like a blushing maiden, she blurted out her words. “You like?”
Then, having said the words, she froze, obviously waiting for an answer and still unsure whether she had the guts to ask, or whether she herself had just imagined what she had said.
“Of course I like Medb, Queen of the Unkind Court, the most beautiful of all fairies, whom I shall love and cherish, keeping her beautiful crystal heart in my arms, black as the moonless night…" Medb nearly fell to the ground when she heard these words, before turning to the speaker, Ainz, who was standing before her on one knee, glowing brighter than the brightest sun.
"Really?!”
“Of course, the loveliest of all fairies, which is much better looking than Titania. For I dislike old women like that and am disgusted by their slovenly figures, for I consider large breasts and hips to be repulsive features, which belong on a cow rather than on a figure as beautiful as Lady Medb's..." Ainz's voice sounded back, making Medb freeze before her radiant smile disappeared from her face and she sighed.
“Ok, enough.”
A moment later, she raised her fingers in the air and snapped them. The sound caused Ainz, who was kneeling in front of her, to melt into the air like a mirage, turning first into a blob of ethereal white light and then into nothing.
Medb, however, made her way to her allotted bed, and then collapsed on it with her eyes closed.
Using illusions for training was still completely useless for her confession to Ainz. Even if she created her most powerful illusion spell, the Real Illusions, which had their own consciousness and form. They simply knew from the start what she wanted to hear, and they answered her exactly as she would have wanted or hoped, not at all what the real thing would say.
The real Ainz was not an illusion under her control, and it would not have responded that way!
It would make her heart flutter if Ainz even uttered a simple praise her way… but what if Ainz hated her, or worse rejected her confession!? How was Medb supposed to live if that was the case!
She couldn't even practice her confession, no, worse, she couldn't even ask Ainz about his relationship and what he liked, so how was she supposed to move on in, in that case!
In a completely unladylike gesture, Medb snorted, before rolling over from her back to her stomach and throwing her legs up with hands under her head, making her resemble some teenager pondering the object of her affection. The only thing missing was a diary in front of her or at least a cell phone, before she exhaled loudly and said softly the name of her beloved, as if to summon him by repetition alone. "Ainz, Ainz, Ainz…”
Given Medb's very appearance, however, the resemblance was even more striking than one might have guessed.
Technically speaking, of course, Medb was about six thousand years old, a period of time far exceeding the very notion of ‘adulthood’, but in all that time Medb… Just hasn't been able to form the ability to communicate like a normal functioning adult.
When you are a divine ruler, created by the gods, or, more specifically, by beings superior to the gods, to be even more specific, the Lady of Vanaheim, Skadi, out of nothing – this happens.
Her husband, the King of the Unkind Court, Finvarra, was also created this way. The two of them were a reigning couple that did not come about as a result of their marriage or their ascension to the throne together, no, they were simply originally created this way and Lady Skadi created them this way.
So Medb was originally created fully grown in her role as Fairy Queen, and has not moved on from that, and such a thing… Has not been particularly conducive to her personal growth.
For thousands of years she had acted as a queen, and for thousands of years that was enough for her role.
She was the perfect queen, appointed by Lady Skadi herself – how could she behave any other way than as the perfect queen?
So she had interacted with the others the same way always – having learned the way she needed to behave, Medb behaved that way with everyone. The other fairies, her husband, that fat bitch Titania, in the end, also with Lady Skadi herself, who, after having created her, had lost all interest in her, Medb was alone – acting in the only way she knew.
Medb was, quite simply, alone.
Unlike Titania and Oberon, created by the Lord of Alfheim, who ended up with a very successful marriage and happy family, Medb and Finvarra were simply created as such. They communicated with each other maybe three or five times, total, always in different castles and doing different things. And according to Lady Skadi's judgment, there was no one else equal to her, she could not treat anyone else as equals.
And when there are no equals around you, just servants who look at you with admiration, envy, and underlying hatred; enemies who would do anything to destroy you, or silent gods who look at you as if you were dust, so insignificant that they were not even going to clean it up, thinking it was not worth the effort… It made for a lonely life.
All in all, Medb was lonely, unsocialized, and yet bound hand and foot in her role as Queen, sitting in her palace and on her throne for days and nights on end until the world itself ends.
Was it any wonder that when the first new faces appeared in her palace, she reacted in a rather… ambivalent manner?
Usually people came to her to collect a reward – sometimes to offer their services, sometimes their goods, but she was Queen! She was not a peddler behind a market stall, she was not a damsel in distress, she ruled over thousands and thousands of servants!
How dare these mere mortals, if somewhat death-resistant, approach her!?
And typically, Medb sent such new faces away – not without using them first for their worth, though. She has removed problems or threats to her rule, as a Queen should, using them, and she has certainly succeeded in doing so.
Sometimes those sent away did not return… But often those people, having accomplished her tasks, did return – angry. Screaming that she had tricked them, or asking for even more rewards!
They had asked Medb for a task, and she had paid them a fair price for their services, and nothing more. They were vagrants – albeit powerful once, and she was the perfect queen, created as such by Lady Skadi, that when they returned to her, they would demand additional preferential treatment and satisfaction for their wounded egos, Medb was not concerned. She has given them the agreed-upon payment, and that was all they could ask for.
They came for a job, and she gave them a job – no more and no less.
But sometimes they would come back especially angry, and it would end in a battle. With varying degrees of success – on their part.
Sometimes – and not a few times! Thanks to her perfect existence because of Lady Skadi's powers, Medb won. But not always, and as much as it galls her to admit, the times that she did win were far and few in between.
She has been killed many times – in a variety of timelines with a variety of methods. Assassinations, riots, and sometimes simple unsophisticated assaults – and almost always it was the actions of self-described ‘higher beings’ that led to her death.
Those damned ‘Players’.
And this, in turn, could not help but affect her perception of these ‘higher beings’ themselves. And so what was once a fair, from Medb’s perspective, trade, services for a reward, began to morph into what players later dubbed ‘Medb's quests’.
Some of the creatures that in one world-line destroyed her, sometimes even came to her in another timeline, as if nothing had happened! Counting on her mercy and help!
Oh, she helped them as much as she could, for there is no better teacher in the world than pain, defeat, and humiliation!
And so it went on, and on, and on, until…
Until Momonga, now, however, called Ainz Ooal Gown – came to Medb.
Medb rolled over onto her back again before she exhaled.
Oh, what she would give to not hear that vile name – Ainz Ooal Gown, again! Oh yes, Momonga was the king of Ainz Ooal Gown – or something like that? As far as Medb herself had heard, he was a ‘Guild master’? But what was the difference between that title and King, Medb did not know – but the other members of Ainz Ooal Gown did not evoke much love in her.
Oh yes, they were as powerful as the most powerful of Higher Beings can be, each of them a colossus, casting its shadow over the world, but that didn't make Medb love them any more.
Some of them had killed her in other timelines – what was there to talk about in this case at all!?
But of all of them, one, Momonga…
Medb rose from her bed before she looked into the eyes of Ainz, no, Momonga, an illusion only she could see, who was looking at her – and exhaled. “Tell me how to tell you how I feel?”
“How exactly should I tell you that you were the only ray of light in my dark, bleak world?” Medb looked at Ainz, desperate for him to be real at this moment.
“How can I tell you that where hundreds fell, where they cursed my name, where they gave up and hated me, you were the only one who didn't do it for my reward? How can I tell you that you were the only one who was always on my side, and when my reign began to fall apart in my hands, you were the only one who stayed by my side?” The illusion of Momonga didn’t respond or emote in any way, but Medb can’t stop the outpouring of her feelings now.
“How can I put into words those feelings, that moment when I first saw that there was someone beside me who reached out to me, when I was left alone, when Lady Skadi – that fucking bitch Skadi! When she toppled me from my throne, when she stripped me of my right to rule, when the whole world turned its back on me – you were the only one there for me?” Medb's mind was flooded with memories that made her look at Momonga’s image with a look of love and adoration.
“When the whole world was against me, you were the only one who reached out to me… You were the only one who stood beside me, who let me know that I was more than just 'Queen', more than just 'Skadi's Servant,' that I was worth something on my own… That I was more than a doll on the throne… that I was Medb.”
Finishing her words, Medb sighed and closed her eyes, "How can I ever express my love for you when I've never even seen anything like this in my life? I've seen nothing outside my palace, my throne – how senselessly I sat in my place and lost more and more, understood less and less! Only to find myself destroyed, reduced to ashes – left as a stupid girl with a huge, but oh, so unpleasant reputation under her belt that she cannot even confess her love to the only thing she has ever loved…”
Opening her eyes, Medb exhaled, looking lovingly at Momonga… in his human body?
Hmm, strange that she had created Momonga in his human body. The human appearance of Momonga – that is. Referring to him as Ainz, as she should have been – brought back unpleasant memories and associations from thousands of other 'higher beings' that were far less pleasant to interact with than Momonga. But Medb didn't care what form Ainz wore, as long as his soul and his essence were the same.
Snapping her fingers, Medb glanced at Momonga's form…
To find it still there.
Medb, frowning, snapped her fingers once more, glancing at the illusion that refused to disappear, did she cast the spell wrong?
But she looked back at the illusion, which had finally disappeared, and nodded and plopped down on the bed.
Well, anyway now that she’s here… Apparently, she needed to take her unique chance that Ainz had given her and start her social skills training? No, she must see this as a chance to get his heart – by any means necessary!
While killing other girls – and men, if she found those, wasn’t her first choice, but if she had no other choice? Well, Medb might not have acquired any social skills during her reign – but she has mastered many of the other skills necessary for kingship at the highest level!
Unlike many others, Medb was not a fan of polygamy.
***
Quietly escaping Medb's gaze, Ainz returned to his room before walking to his bed and plopping down like a piece of driftwood.
Well, at least he could tell for sure that his joke about an all-consuming harem was not a joke at all, but a bitter prophetic truth. Whether this was something positive in Ainz's case, however, he was not sure.
In the sense of predicting the future, it was definitely a useful ability – but too much knowledge carried many sorrows as well…
Shaking his head, dismissing those silly thoughts, Ainz made himself comfortable on his bed, covered his eyes, and then rubbed his temples.
Having dealt with Scáthach – as far as his actions could be called that… At least, by assigning her an overseer, it should deal with her ‘issues’ for the time being. Ainz contemplated doing the same with Medb. After all, if one way of dealing with problems had already proven effective – there was no point in coming up with another way from scratch. But Medb was no Scáthach.
Ainz wasn't sure what level of power Scáthach possessed, judging by her characteristics, she clearly wasn't a pushover – but Medb was in an entirely different category of powers and Servants.
In YGGDRASIL, Medb was a boss, not someone on Cainabel’s level, a disappointing event MOB, but a full-fledged boss. Ainz could even compare her to Angrboda in terms of strength! Not that he'd seen the two in combat, but people on the forums agreed that Medb is stronger than Angrboda.
In a straight battle, Angrboda could probably crush Medb easily – but then as fitting as a Boss of the Fae, fighting Medb is anything but a ‘straight’ battle.
True, Angrboda concentrated on participating personally, both taking damage and dealing it in equal measure – Medb summoned a huge number of weak mobs, hiding behind them and using various abilities from behind their backs, making life difficult for the player.
Another reason why Medb was so disliked by players is that she always used her Charm V Aura without switching it off. Which causes players who enter her palace for the first time to be instantly charmed if they aren't protected against it, with their Avatars permanently frozen in a charm. Luckily, she cannot command them as a mob, that would put her on the level of a World Enemy. Unluckily for any affected Player, they might as well just kill themselves, if they could, that is. As it is a passive ability, the effect would never end.
Ainz thought that it was a bug, but the sadistic developers liked it so much that they didn't fix it. And so he'd seen many desperate cries for help from newcomers, disregarding the advice of their elders, stuck in a permanent stun-lock, asking to get them out of the palace of Medb.
Considering that players rarely helped each other for free in YGGDRASIL, this did not add to Medb's popularity…
Had it not been for Ainz's racial immunity to charm magic, Ainz himself would have fallen into that trap at some point – in which case his future attitude towards Medb might have changed a great deal…
In any case, knowing of the dozens of similar shenanigans Medb had done to the Players, Ainz could not simply send an untrained Servant to watch her. And so, he had decided to supervise her personally – at least until he had gathered information about her to choose another suitable Servant…
And, of course, as soon as he appeared in Medb's room, she had to witness such a scene! With Medb calling his name like a forlorn lover! "Ainz, Ainz, Ainz… "
What was he supposed to do in such a case!
Of course, the fact that his presence was exposed caused him to curse his laxness. After all, he had neglected the most basic principles of intelligence gathering, the preparation for protection against surveillance and the counter-spells watching the watchers. A mistake he had made only because he was used to Servants being weaker than him, and he should not have felt bad about it…
But it wasn't just a Servant – it was Medb! Then again, perhaps that was why he didn’t cast any protection…
In game, when one tried to use even a simple information gathering spell – or even a personal evaluation ability, on her, it would give out random results and the mocking message ‘Looks like your information is in another palace!’ So, he took the only action he could – he removed his invisibility spell and prepared to make his excuses… only to be met by an unblockable, savage attack.
Before he could even open his mouth, he was instead confronted with a declaration of love from Medb!
He would have reacted to her declarations – he would have expected a trick or attack or some sort of cruel joke, but the more Medb spoke, the more Ainz became immersed in his memories.
A great many quests – especially towards the end of YGGDRASIL, he had completed mechanically, without reading their descriptions, without listening to what the NPCs had to say. He had simply aimlessly grinded another hundred knights or gone to some location to do something in it. The final branch of Medb's quest was one of those that he had completed that way as well.
But the more Medb talked, the more Ainz remembered – that it fits what he did in those quests…
In the final branch of her quests, Medb's husband, Finvarra – also a remarkable NPC, in a bad way, at the behest of the Lord, or rather, the Lady of Vanaheim, Skadi, overthrew Medb. After which, the player was faced with a choice.
If the player first completed Finvarra's quests, he was tasked with finding and killing Medb – quite a number of players specifically did the almost equally nasty NPC quests from Finvarra because of this, just to be able to kill Medb.
Ainz, however, doing all the quests on automation, got to the rare situation where he had all of Medb's quests done, including even the side quests, but didn't have time to do any of Finvarra's quests. Something which gave him a rare opportunity to actually overthrow Finvarra and return Medb to the throne. A quest which Ainz took.
Not because he felt any love for her, but simply because of the coincidence that he ended up killing the King, putting Medb back on the throne, now as sole ruler of the Unkind Court.
It was only the retelling of this story from the mouth of its direct participant, Medb herself, that allowed Ainz to remember those quests.
The unspoken – well, spoken through Medb – after such a thing made him largely think and try to remember what other quests he had completed in the past, without paying attention to their descriptions…
But in any case, his past accomplishments could be left for later, Ainz was far more worried at the moment about the situation with Medb, who also seemed to want to jump into his already uncontrollably growing harem.
And that was assuming that she would agree to be part of the harem rather than do anything unexpected. As far as Ainz remembered from the lore, Medb had her own harem of admirers, being ‘one of’ of the ‘admirers’ this time, would probably not be very pleasant for her…
And Ainz would really hate to once again waste her already not-so-numerous resources on resurrecting the murdered.
Medb had to be supervised by someone – but who exactly? As Ainz just learned not moments ago, doing so himself was out of the question.
Servants not from YGGDRASIL, Ainz could discard easily – but if the Servant was from YGGDRASIL as well… especially because they would know how to handle Medb.
Angrboda? Not even funny. Medb wasn't even a heteromorph, just a ‘demi-human’ like all fairies, and that's not to mention the fact that Angrboda thought she was already in a relationship with him. Ainz somehow didn't want to convince her otherwise… Yeah, Medb would be dead before day’s end.
Cainabel? Ainz didn't know how Medb herself would react to that. Besides, Cainabel was more than busy with her current social circle, in the form of Altera and Alice, forcing Medb into them as well. Ainz didn't want to…
Hmm!?
Ainz smiled a little at the genius idea that had just occurred to him.
Someone that he could send to Medb as an overseer…
Baal!
He seemed like a pretty reliable guy…
***
Servant: Medb
Class: Foreigner
Status: ??? (Incorrect summoning)
Gender: Female
Alignment: Chaotic-Good
Attribute: Earth
Power: B
Dexterity: B
Stamina: A+
Luck: EX
Mana: *
Noble Phantasm: EX
Comments
Bob
Lol basically, mana: yes.
Draxis
I have a distinct feeling that Baal will be dreading having to deal with Meab. Especially as seen in this chapter that her Obsession/Love has dramatically risen terrifyingly to catastrophic levels. Hopefully so in the interlude after this one since it seems that Karna is the winning vote here.
Russian Reversal
Essentially infinite. Ainz has *, but it doesn'y mean all his Servants have *. cause the final amount of mana they could use depends on their parameters, rather than Ainz'.
Techrono
From what I remember it's essentially that. Unquantifiable.
alassandro
so does * for mana just refer to having essentially infinite mana? or is it because the mana comes from Ainz (e.i still infinite just difference source)?
