Crossover anime, starting with Hachiman Hikigaya replacing Subaru Natsuki!

"Ah, um."

"Kousaka Kyosuke had mixed feelings. He looked around distractedly, trying to gather as much information as possible. Otherwise, if he continued to listen intently to the vampire, he was afraid that he would lose his temper and kill him."

"In that case, the only outcome would be being surrounded and killed by other vampires, and drained dry."

"The creatures in the city did not stay indoors, but walked cautiously on the streets, basking in the sun, but dared not make a sound, being extremely cautious and contradictory."

"So with a little analysis, it's easy to figure out that the creatures are out and about because of the demands of the vampires."

"If they come out and move around, vampires can freely identify which prey they want without having to go into each house to check, and it's also very convenient for them to catch and eat it."

"The people here seem to have more dignity than those on the livestock farms. They can walk upright, don't wear collars around their necks, and there are no other symbols of slavery. They seem to be living better lives."

"However, in the face of a precarious and miserable situation, this side is actually better off. At least on the ranch, Demiurge and the Death Knights are slaughtered in batches, while only the gluttonous Edoma does as he pleases."

"But in the land of vampires, no one knows if they might suddenly be spotted by a vampire while walking around, sucked dry, and left hanging precariously on the city wall."

"Kousaka Kyosuke, feeling chilled to the bone, finally endured the unbearable listening until the vampire beside him lost interest in him and ran off to another place."

"He finally had room to explore information—Kousaka Kyosuke casually stopped a middle-aged man with a pale face."

"The other party saw him getting along well with the vampire, and must have thought he was a vampire too. In that case, they definitely wouldn't dare to question or tattle, and would honestly tell him everything."

"Have you seen Lady Shalltear...?"

The middle-aged man's pupils contracted, and he hurriedly shouted, "Long live the great Lady Shalltear! Long live the great Lady Shalltear!"

Kyosuke Kosaka slapped his forehead. He had asked a stupid question. How dare a mere "reserve food" presume to discuss the progenitor of vampires? Even if a vampire asked, he would only offer flattery and wouldn't get any useful information.

"Self-reflection," Kyosuke Kosaka asked cautiously, "Answer me, human, have you ever dared to hope that the Kingdom of Yestize, the Bahars Empire, or the Slane Theocracy would defeat this place and rescue you back to the human world? —As long as you answer truthfully, whatever your answer, I will forgive you. But if I discover that you have lied, you are dead."

"This question will let him know most directly whether the thousands of people here have any knowledge of the outside world and whether they know about the three major countries of mankind."

"Under Kyosuke Kosaka's deliberately cold and piercing gaze, the middle-aged man, who had been looking panicked and numb, suddenly filled with tears upon hearing the names of these three countries. He then covered his mouth, knelt down, and began to sob softly."

"Long live the supreme and unparalleled Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown of the Sorcerer Kingdom! Waaaaah... Spare me! Spare me! These three nations have long since ceased to exist in name only. Even the second-ranked city of the Empire has become your gathering place. What hope is there? What hope is there?!"

"Kousaka Kyosuke was stunned."

"When he was in the capital, he was so worried about the livestock farm that he looked through the history books of this world, but they never mentioned that the three great empires had ever been destroyed or enslaved by the undead."

"So...this is the future!?"

"Let alone Hachiman Hikigaya and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, even if it were Miyuki Shirogane, he would probably have discovered this from various clues long ago. It's only now that you've realized it... It seems you really are just an ordinary person, a truly ordinary high school student, Kyosuke Kousaka."

At Advanced Nurturing High School, Ryuen's eyes gleamed. "So, what are you going to do next?"

675. The Truth Behind the Great Tomb's Destruction

"By combining direct questioning with indirect inquiry, and adding a bit of my own imagination, I gathered more and more information, and eventually the puzzle was complete, forming a small but fully functional map."

"Kousaka Kyosuke was initially shocked, then pondered intensely, then broke out in a cold sweat, and finally felt like he was being pricked by thorns."

Here's what happened:

"Thirty years ago, the same year he moved to the capital and met Ivilua, a new ruin suddenly appeared in the world. The Empire sent three teams of Steel-class adventurers to explore it, but they were all wiped out."

"It was only later that we learned that there were a large number of undead in the ruins, the most powerful of whom were as terrifying as demon gods, and the supreme being Ainz Ooal Gown, who was the leader, possessed power far exceeding that of gods."

"Ainz Ooal Gown established the Sorcerer Kingdom, forcing the Empire to recognize them as legitimate states, and thus waged war against the Kingdom."

"In that war, Ainz Ooal Gown only cast one spell, which instantly wiped out tens of thousands of soldiers, and then used those soldiers as sacrifices to summon a terrifying demon god."

"Later, Ainz Ooal Gown, who called himself the Sorcerer King, conquered all races, including lizardmen, elves, dwarves, and even dragons, who were forced to become his subjects."

"Of the three major human nations, the former emperor of the Empire, Blood Emperor, was the first to surrender, making the entire country a vassal state of the Magic Kingdom."

"The kingdom resisted stubbornly, and in the same year, the Magic Kingdom launched a second war, killing more than half of the population. Cities and towns, including the capital and border areas, were invaded and massacred."

"After that, the entire kingdom submitted to the Sorcerer Kingdom."

"The Slane Theocracy refused to surrender and fought to the last moment. In the end, it seems that some secret weapon or trick leveled the entire country and wiped it out in a single day."

"The whole world has now fallen into the hands of the Magic Kingdom."

"From that time until the next ten years, people lived a fairly good life. The Sorcerer King restricted the undead and ordered them not to disturb living beings at will."

"Although occasionally some undead can't control their appetites and secretly eat people, they are a minority. Under the rule of the undead, people can only pretend not to see it and maintain stability for the time being."

"During those ten years, the Sorcerer King also vigorously developed the adventurer industry, claiming that 'adventurers should explore the unknown areas of the world,' which caused an adventurer craze, and the industry was filled with all kinds of intelligent creature races."

However, this period of good fortune did not last long.

"In the tenth year, thanks to the relentless exploration of these energetic creatures, the world was free of unknown territories, and everything was crystal clear."

"At that time, the servility of adventurers had been exposed, and they felt it was an honor to be the Sorcerer King's dog. They believed they had met the Sorcerer King's requirements and rushed to report the good news."

"They thought the Sorcerer King would be overjoyed, but they were wrong. The Sorcerer King not only did not reward or honor him, but also returned to the ruins and never came out again."

"From that day on, the attitude of Shalltear and the other undead leaders under the Sorcerer Kings towards living beings became visibly worse."

"As time went by, the longer the Sorcerer King stayed in the ruins, the worse the attitude of the undead became."

"Until the eleventh year, Shalltear and the other undead leaders completely erupted, using the banner of 'It's all because of you' to label all creatures as 'the lowest and most despicable slaves,' 'two-legged sheep,' and 'storage food,' dividing and enjoying them like commodities."

"In the blink of an eye, the peaceful days vanished, leaving people with only the reality of suffering and waiting to die day after day, without dignity or hope."

"Initially, there were certainly some ambitious people who were dissatisfied with this treatment and took the lead in rebellion, but one person after another died in the rebellion. In the end, the remaining people became numb and completely succumbed to this precarious and false existence."

"The number of humans and other demi-humans sent to this place by Shalltear was about 100,000 twenty years ago. Now, they have been eaten by vampires and only a few thousand remain."

"This is what Kyosuke Kousaka saw in his thirtieth year."

"Undead leaders like Shalltear and Demiurge each lead a territory and gather their 'property,' which consists of creatures other than the undead."

"Outside the territory, there is no longer any living space for any creatures. You can't find a single person, only a large number of low-level skeletons wandering around."

"The creatures are rapidly marching toward extinction... under the rule of the undead."

"This world is heading towards destruction, becoming a world inhabited only by the undead."

"..."

"Kousaka Kyosuke was having difficulty breathing. His composure, which had allowed him to 'escape the livestock farm and return to the kingdom to seek help from Evilue,' had completely vanished."

He suddenly felt as if something heavy was pressing down on his shoulders, making him afraid to lift his head. Perhaps it was the pressure of the world.

"Ha! I knew it! Lord Ainz is the strongest! He's practically invincible! Conquering the world is a piece of cake for him!"

At the top of the Great Tomb, Shalltear was the first to jump up, cheering with joy, even though she already knew about this from Demiurge's explanation.

But when she heard the natives recount Ainz's great achievements, it made her seem even more noble and magnificent as the supreme being!

The guardians, including Cocytus, Albedo, and Mare, were overjoyed and immediately congratulated the Supreme Being.

As for violating Lord Ainz's policies and reducing creatures to the lowest level of slavery, they were not afraid at all, because how could Lord Ainz not know what they, the guardians, had done?

Since the future Ainz-sama didn't stop it, it means he wasn't against it.

Moreover, the sin of forcing Lord Ainz to never leave the Great Tomb is one that foolish beings would be guilty of even if they were to die a thousand deaths!

"..."

Ainz Ooal Gown understood.

He was initially puzzled. Although he had indeed become much more cold-blooded and ruthless after becoming an undead, it didn't seem to warrant giving orders for so many people to be treated that way by Demiurge.

Now everything is clear.

In the future, after unifying the world, he sent adventurers to explore the world, essentially to see if any guild members had traveled there together, but they were in unknown territory, which is why he didn't find them.

But no.

After the adventurers extinguished his hopes, he spent his days in the Great Tomb of Nazarick reminiscing about the guild members, which led Shalltear and the others to take their anger out on the natives, resulting in this incident.

"I see... none of them came?"

Ainz Ooal Gown sighed heavily.

At this moment, he felt no pity or concern for the innocent people who suffered because of his willfulness; he was only concerned about the fact that he had become all alone.

676. We assemble, we unite, and there are traitors among us.

"Ainz Ooal Gown... the real mastermind, the biggest culprit."

As they digested the information about the Magic Kingdom, the eyes of the intelligent beings sharpened.

Even the Elf King, who knew perfectly well that the Elven race was under the protection of a certain leader of the Undead, was determined to form alliances with other creatures to plot a great cause and lead his entire race in rebellion against the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Because the consequences of surrendering are already clearly laid out before us.

Even if they have protection, so what? Whether they live or die depends on the other party's whims. Besides, that Mare clearly doesn't care about the Elven race, otherwise there wouldn't be elves living such miserable lives in the Vampire Land.

Besides, after surrendering, who is the Elf King, him or Mare?

He was now under someone else's roof, and in that time he would be nothing more than a high-ranking slave who had to grovel before others, and he would certainly be stripped of the Elven race's rule.

Without his prestigious status and power, he could only eke out a living and had fallen to such a state. He might as well fight to the death!

In the original future, all races and nations were defeated one by one. Their alliance this time is unprecedented, so they may not be as helpless as in the original future.

"Write a few letters and send them out to me as fast as you can!"

"Humanity will never be enslaved! The Empire will never surrender! We unite, we fight, and the Empire will surely prosper forever!"

The Blood Emperor's thoughts differed from the Elf King's. He quickly analyzed all the pros and cons and realized that he could not accept this future. However, what he could not accept was the loss of his country, not the loss of his power.

Since they have already lowered themselves to become a vassal state, why are they still being trampled on and enslaved after going back on their word?

He raised his arms and shouted, "In the name of the Emperor of the Empire, I hereby swear that I will never surrender!"

He surrendered in the future, which would damage his current prestige. Since that's the case, he might as well take this opportunity to show a tough stance and regain some of that lost prestige.

Using magic, the Blood Emperor's voice echoed from the palace, breaking the people's stunned expressions. A moment later, a deafening shout resounded through the sky, "Oh—!" The tone was enthusiastic, and the crowd was excited.

Many people are cowards, surrenderers. They tremble at the sight of an enemy with overwhelming power and dare not resist.

But that was based on their wishful thinking.

The deathly future that Kyosuke Kosaka witnessed and heard shattered all their hopes and made it clear to them that no one would have a good end under the rule of the undead.

With nowhere else to retreat, the only option left is to fight.

From the palace to the capital, and then to the whole country, there was only one person who did not join the wave of shouts at this moment.