Yogai Shiei was finishing up some paperwork to take to Alevia-sama. He worked directly under her, and acted as an aid should Maou-sama be absent. Otherwise, he was employed as the castle doctor; being a medic in the Overlord's Army. Today Alevia-sama was particularly busy and he didn't have any patients, so despite Maou-sama being present he was working hard. The royal couple sat together on a plush loveseat, surrounded by stacks of paper.

“Thanks Yogai-kun, you're a life saver!”

Shiei bowed, “I do my best,” he smiled to himself, it was a nice feeling as a medic to hear those words. He left the room once more, he had left the file room in a hurry so some things needed to be put away once more. But as he made his way there, he noticed a strange woman walking down the hallway in his direction, looking at the castle décor curiously.

“Er...may I help you?” he called out to the suspicious character.

Their eyes met and he felt a chill run down his spine, this wasn't someone to underestimate.

“Yo! I'm just here to check this place out...It's not everyday you find something like this floating around the Astral Sea.”

“Hah...?” Shiei replied, not quite following.

“What, am I not supposed to?” the woman replied, her jagged teeth making her innocent smile more frightening than reassuring.

“Well, generally no...Are you looking for an audience with Maou-sama? We're rather buis-” he began, but the woman cut him off.

“So there IS an Overlord here! Yeah, take me to them!” she said excitedly.

A bead of sweat appeared on Shiei's brow, he was locked into her pace now.

“V-very well...But you must understand, Maou-sama is quite-” he tried again, but the woman acted like she couldn't hear him, and continued walking in the direction he had come from.

Flustered, Shiei chased after her. He managed to outpace her leisurely gait and made it to the doors he had just left before her. He threw the door open, managing to hide his panic with a quick cough before clearing his throat.

“What's wrong, Yogai-kun?” Mao began, picking up on his subordinate's odd behavior.

“Heh? So you're name's Yogai, nice to meet you!” came an unfamiliar voice from behind Shiei.

A woman of medium build, narrow at the shoulders and wide at the hips with long glossy black hair that came down to the middle of her back, with a section half covering one eye. At first she almost appeared human, but Mao quickly picked up on the well hidden seal on her manacapacity. This appearance was likely a facade, but that being the case he couldn't help but wonder why she had left her teeth as they were, they were clearly inhuman, interlocking and jagged. She wore hooped earrings and a casual outfit, jeans and a double sleeved shirt. She walked past Shiei with confidence and faced the royal couple. Before anyone could react, she cocked a hip to one side, made a peace sign over one eye and said:

“Overlord Girl, Chiana has arrived! Good to meet you, I assume you're the Overlord of this place?” actual stars made of light magic spun in the air around her for the duration of her pose. They flickered out after she finished, but no one knew what to do about the change of tension.

Mao cleared his throat, “G-greetings, Overlord Chiana-dono...I-Is there something you needed from me?”

“Well, your name would be a good start. Though honestly other than that I just came to check out the Astral Sea around here, things looked interesting so I thought I'd stop by and see what was up,” she threw him a winning smile, then suddenly looked surprised, “Oh! I'm still in my disguise! Let me fix that!!” she snapped her fingers, and Shiei was thrown into the hallway by the sheer force of her manacapacity unsealing. A violent purple aura hung about her for a few moments before she reached equilibrium with the environment. Shiei crawled back into the room and beheld her in her...new...form? The only thing that had really changed was her ears were now long and pointed, a single horn sprouted from the side of her forhead not covered by her bangs, but it was certainly not much of a change considering he knew what Maou-sama's full power form looked like. That said, he supposed it was entirely possible she wasn't in her full power form either. If that was the case, she was a truly frightening entity, as in this form her power was easily on par with Maou-sama's.

“Right...” Mao replied, probably having feelings similar to those of his subordinate.

“I am Otomi Mao, Overlord of this Makai.”

“I am called 'Alevia,' a pleasure to meet you Chiana-chan.”

Chiana looked surprised at Alevia for a moment before she suddenly rounded on Mao, a mischievous grin on her face.

“Maou Mao? That's too funny! I think I'll call you 'Mao-mao' from now on!”

If he wasn't terrified this flippant Overlord could turn him to ash with a look, Shiei would have indignantly told her off, such a nickname was an insult to his king after all. Mao himself however simply sighed.

“Do what you will.”

“Hee hee, thanks Mao-mao, I'll do just that!” she then rounded on Alevia-sama.

“So what are you then?”

“That is something I myself only have guesses at. Perhaps it is most easily surmised at 'this netherworld given form.'”

Chiana's eyes widened and she leaned back in thought, “Heeeh...That's neat. So that means Mao-mao's married to his netherworld in a way more literal sense than any other Overlord I've met so far!”

The two blushed, to be told such outright was a bit embarrassing.

Chiana turned and paced the room a few times over, then turned back to the royal couple.

“Yeah, there's someone I think you should meet! Can you leave this netherworld? Actually...I probably should have asked that first.”

“For a short time I think it is possible...” Alevia replied curiously.

“Nice! Then I'll give you guys this,” Chiana handed Mao a sealed letter, it seemed to be an invitation of some kind.

Mao opened it and scanned the contents, his eyes widening.

“A banquet of Overlords?!” from Mao's understanding in limited interactions with fellow overlords, it was an extraordinarily rare circumstance.

Chiana gave him another winning smile, “It's not a huge deal, I just invited my friends. We share info now and again, so I thought you'd like some input considering I'll be hangin' around this neck of the woods for a while.”

Mao paled a bit, “Ah...I see, well I don't see why not.”

“Great! Ah, we have a tradition of bringing two retainers per Overlord, so besides Alevia-san you should decide who will come with you.”

Mao's gaze drifted to Shiei, who had finally recovered enough to stand dutifully. “Well, that's not a very hard decision.”

“Fantastic! Well I guess I'll be on my way then-” Chiana started.

“Don't be in such a rush, it's rare we get such visitors,” Alevia said sweetly. Chiana froze, then nodded, “Alright, show me what's special here!”

Mao stood up, Alevia taking his hand and following suit.

“Then first our own banquet hall, since we're on the subject.”

“I-I'll see that things are ready for you!” Shiei said, eager to be out of Chiana's presence to collect himself again.

After he had gone out of earshot, Mao spoke up.

“So then, how many others will be coming to this banquet?”

“Eleven Overlords, excluding us. I don't know how many retainers will come along though, that depends on the Overlord.”

Mao let out a low whistle, “That's a few more than I'd expected.”

Alevia nodded in agreement, up to this point they had only met three other Overlords, one of whom had since been defeated by a human hero. Since becoming an Overlord, Mao had instinctively obtained knowledge of the Hero System, a kind of anti-Overlord structure that seemed to operate as naturally as gravity, baked into the universe at its core. Overlords who acted cruelly or overstepped their bounds were often felled by these Heros, who seemed to appear at just the right place and time, and possess just the right abilities to counteract the overwhelming power of the Overlord they appeared in response to. Interestingly, this had led him to a theory about Priripon, as the Magical Girl race was born in response to the Overlord who had appeared before him and was defeated by the ancient Pririponians before they evolved into their current form. Perhaps the first Magical Girl was in fact a Hero, and it was thanks to their heroic capabilities that what Mao had come to learn as a great magical impossibility had been overcome: changing one's physical construct entirely. If this was the case, it would explain the natural distrust and secreted knowledge of Mazoku present in their libraries.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Back to the topic at hand, the Overlords Mao had made brief contact with were of Mazoku base, rulers of other Mazoku countries and frankly too busy with their own affairs to give much heed to Mao other than those brief exchanges of greetings. Mao had only realized they were so 'near' in an astral sense because of his research into the strange structures in the Astral Sea near his Makai.

In short, he didn't quite know what to make of other Overlords, especially given one had so recently fallen to a Hero. His impression of that Overlord hadn't been so negative, but looks and first impressions can be deceiving. Chiana certainly didn't make things any clearer, as she gave off a flippant and carefree personality while at the same time putting out a magical aura so sinister and ominous that one couldn't help but keep their guard up.

“I must admit I'm a bit nervous,” Mao said.

“It'll be fiiine, they're all good friends of mine! I mean, there are a couple trouble makers but, I've got them covered with some really good guys!”

Mao didn't know whether to be reassured or more worried.

“One of them is really good friends with a hero!” Chiana added.

That puzzled Mao, as his understanding was that Heroes would only appear when they were needed, though he supposed if a Hero's capabilities would protect against another kind of threat there was no rule preventing them from appearing to prevent it. If that was the case, he wanted to meet this Overlord-Hero duo indeed.

“Very well, I look forward to it then.”

Chiana looked excited, but waited for Mao and Alevia to lead her to the banquet hall with grace. Mao still didn't really understand the energetic self-proclaimed 'Overlord Girl,' but he was starting to get the feeling she wasn't of a bad sort. Alevia felt similarly, if she had any concerns it was that from her wording there may be a being of similar stature to herself attending the banquet. She had maintained a collected end-of-the-line kind of persona, as she had felt that was right, but when the reality of something on par or potentially stronger than her was seemingly on the horizon, even she felt a little nervous. Mao picked up on her unease and squeezed her hand, it was a first for him, and in a way a relief, even Alevia got nervous.

Chiana watched over them and smiled, “The air in here tastes great!”

The couple blushed deeply, and hurriedly led her to their banquet hall.

On arrival at the hall, it was decorated with teal paper snakes, and paper shide streamers. Three long tables stretched across the center of the room for the castle staff, and a shorter though still lengthy, table sat perpendicular to them at the head of the room, with two larger and more ornate chairs at its center, the king and queen's.

Six banners flew from the rafters above the staff tables, bearing the crests of noble houses and the Overlord's Army, a seventh flew behind the king and queen's chairs depicting the crest of Makai Alevia, a fern and edelweiss backed by a black spear.

Chiana let out an impressed whistle, “You guys are doing it up, real royal taste. I love the East meets West feel you've got going Mao-mao!”

Mao bowed slightly, “Thank you kindly.”

Chiana then made her way over to the long table at the head of the room, and sat in the chair to the right of the King's, “Mind if I have a seat?” she asked, while already seated.

“Go...Go right ahead,” came Mao's exasperated reply.

Shiei entered the room followed by a small entourage of Mazoku in matching uniform, bearing platters of food.

“For today's guest of honor, the great Lady Chiana,” Shiei said elegantly, bestowing the platter he carried to Chiana, the Mazoku behind him followed suit, serving Mao and Alevia.

Chiana leaned forward and rested a hand under her chin, “I came to play, and got served a formal dinner! Becoming an Overlord was defintely the right call,” she said with an indulgent grin.

As they ate Mao gave into his curiosity and tried asking Chiana about her own Netherworld.

“Hmm? My place? Let's see...Well, to begin with unlike a lot of the little Netherworlds around this part of the Astral Sea, we're pretty big. Like Earth big. Over there we've got four big landmasses and an ocean. I'm one of nine Overlords there.”

Mao's eyes widened, “Nine?”

Chiana nodded with a yawn, “Yep, there're nine of us. The mazoku there call us 'The Nine Cardinal Demon Emperors,” I represent the center point.”

Mao wondered if that was why she was able to wander around so freely, the center was usually indicative of importance or power, and his impression of her so far fit this bill. Assuming she was as bored of her own world as she seemed, perhaps it was inevitable that she would begin to wander and make friends in all kinds of places.

“How many of you will be attending this banquet?” Mao asked, thinking he might get a better idea of Chiana by meeting the other eight.

Chiana grinned, seemingly reading his intentions, “Sorry to disappoint, but only one other besides myself. Though, not because I didn't want to invite them!” she said quickly, “They're just busy that day. But I'll throw you a bone and at least give you a name: Realmweaver Kyoki.”

Mao and Alevia blinked, trying to imagine how one would gain a title like 'realmweaver' was frightening in some ways and impressive in every way.

“Do you have such a title?” Alevia asked Chiana, correctly assuming that 'Overlord Girl' was an icebreaker she had taken a liking to.

“Hmm, it doesn't stick as well but I've been called 'Arbiter Chiana' from time to time.”

Mao was convinced, since it would seem she had many friends in many places, and was representative of the 'center' it only made sense that she was treated as a judge or adjudicator among them, and likely even her own people.

The impromptu banquet carried on, Mao and Alevia making small talk with Chiana, but Mao didn't know how far to push her for information, and before they could learn anything more, she stood up.

“Ahh, that was a great meal! Thanks for the hospitality!”

She looked around, then made her way for the door, Mao said nothing and followed her, since she seemed to have some idea of where she wanted to go.

They ended up at the castle battlements, with a clear view of the World Snakes, Mao's barrier against Priripon invasion.

Chiana stared up at the undulating magical constructs, resting her arms on the balcony and chin on on hand.

“It's beautiful,” she said warmly.

Mao was taken aback, “Th-thank you very much.”

“You don't see barriers like this much, I can feel your desire to protect oozing out of them.”

Mao was about to say something self derisive about them not keeping the Magical Girls out successfully, but Chiana kept speaking.

“And not just the Mazoku, but even your invaders. It keeps a full scale invasion at bay while allowing small forces through so that you can take a chance at saving them. You're a true Overlord, greedy enough to want happiness for everyone, strong enough to get it done.”

Mao stayed quiet, he didn't know about that. He did hope it was true though. Before he could ask anything else of her, Chiana the Overlord Girl was gone.