Valkyrie Memories

Valkyrie Memories (ワルキューレメモリーズ) is a game event in Mass for the Dead that was released on December 15, 2022 to December 31, 2022.

Background
Shalltear, who was visiting the Azellisian Mountains for a certain purpose, coincidentally, while there, she meets a girl who gives off signs of being a strong person who stands out from the crowd.

Shalltear having been ordered to search for information on a girl who may be related to a "Player", she however has an unexpected situation with the girl――

Incident
Shortly before the brainwashing incident in the Katze Plains, Shalltear Bloodfallen together with Lupusregina Beta, both wearing Christmas Costumes find themselves at the Azerlisia Mountains, escorted by a pair of Vampire Brides. The group are in the mountains for a certain purpose, prompted by Shalltear and it is revealed she purposely had Lupusregina guide her to the cave where the Pleiades had their last adventure.

The cave area where the Pleiades had battle a powerful Chaos Beast is devoid of snow as the beast has long since been defeated. The area is now under the control of Nazarick. with summons standing guard at the Crack where the Chaos Beast emerged. One of Demiurge's subordinates, Evil Lord Envy is in charge of managing the area. The group enter the cave where they are greeted by the Evil Lord who has been keeping the number of Chaos Beasts that emerge from the anomaly in check. The reason for Nazarick's interest in this particular Crack in the mountains is that unlike the other Cracks discovered by Nazarick, this one is unique in that it does not spawn regular Chaos Beasts, but "Ice Chaos Beasts" in the very image of the Frozen Giant that the Pleiades had previously defeated.

Shalltear having heard about the Crack, wishes to use the monsters it spawns as training to regain her levels. Due to the aforementioned strength of the Ice Chaos Beasts, defeating one of them requires at least three people and are quite stronger compared to the other run of the mill Chaos Beasts. According to Cocytus, he hypothesized that it could be due to the Ice Chaos Beasts being a different type and specialize in gaining experience in battle. What make this Crack appealing for training purposes, is that multiple Ice Chaos Beasts can emerge. This is made possible due to Demiurge experimenting in partially burying the Crack with dirt, and combined with the quality of the miasma-contaminated causes multiple spawning. Unfortunately the technique has only been achieved at the Crack in the Azerlisia Mountains as when tried in the Crack in Nazarick, only was met with failure to produce a similar effect. Hence why Shalltear traveled this way to train.

Before the Crack explodes to releases its monsters, Envy compliments the Floor Guardian's attire, asking if she selected to wear it against the Ice Chaos Beasts' ice attacks. Shalltear admits that she wore it for cold resistance and is a costume given to her by Peroroncino. From what she garnered from Momonga her costume is related to something called "Christmas". Not only that Shalltear's costume gives her a bonus to experience gained when defeating ice-type monsters which the vampire believes is proof that her creator anticipated a situation where she might need to regain her levels.

In Nazarick, Momonga sitting in his office contemplates on Shalltear's choice of equipment, particularly Peroroncino Christmas Costume. He dismisses the idea that his friend had foreseen such a situation when he gave Shalltear the equipment, as NPCs don't normally do leveling. Most likely the guild member of Ainz Ooal Gown acquired it because he liked he design and bought it from another player, ignoring its abilities. Since Shalltear thinks too highly of her creator, Momonga refrained from telling her as he didn't want to take away her joy.

Back at the cave, Shalltear with her Christmas Costume and also a collar given to her by Momonga hopes to gain enough experience to restore her levels in the battles to come. Soon enough the Crack explodes, releasing three Ice Chaos Beasts. Lupusregina seeing the number gets nervous as the last time she fought this type of Chaos Beasts was a hard time. Shalltear tells her not to be afraid as they are fighting for their master and tells her subordinates to begin the hunt.

Due to Shalltear's enthusiasm, the group slay a decent number of Chaos Beasts, and end their culling session more quickly then expected. Shalltear is disappointed that the training is over as she and her team leave the cave and into the mountain wilderness. Lupusregina admits that it may have been quicker this time, because last time she had CZ2128 Delta sniping at the Frozen Giant, and whose bullets don't penetrate that deep, which explained why the Pleiades took longer to defeat it. The Vampire Brides take this as a sign of Shalltear's superiority and begin complimenting their mistress, when sounds of blades clashing are detected.

Shalltear curious of the nature of the sound orders, the Vampire Brides to hide whilst she and Lupusregina go invisible to investigate. Creeping towards the sound the ladies, hiding in the shadow of a rock, find a battle in process between a strange human girl with white hair wielding an axe and fighting two vultures. The two note the unusual appearance of the girl, unsure if she is fully human, and curious as to why a human would be in the mountains where the dwarves dwell. Shalltear wonders if the girl might be a member of a new race they do not know of yet. The mystery girl's battle continues, who slaughters a pair of perytons. The speed and level of strength displayed by the stranger shocks Shalltear. Lupusregina noticing her shock, is told by the Floor Guardian that the girl is incredibly strong, and maybe could even surpass the Pleiades which stuns the maid.

The axe wield by the strange girl continue to be swept around, slaying numerous foes which appear to be Contaminated Beasts. After kill a peryton and a vulture, the girl muses that the situation outside is more worse than reported, and not a outright lie or exaggeration by her superior who previously told her to be careful. Thinking back the girl wonders if the person's concern was genuine, though given the level of strength of the foes' she is facing the girl dismisses that there could be anything that dangerous. Her train of thought is interrupted when another rabid vulture tries to attack her, and is quickly silenced. The noise of the beasts she is fighting is irritating her, but is at least grateful that she decided to equip herself in her current apparel as a countermeasure against the cold of the mountains and allow her to enjoy the scenery.

The girl detects that she is not alone when another girl appears. Studying her the girl asks who she is, wondering if the stranger was following her. The stranger apologizes for appearing before the girl in a disrespectful manner, offering her name Shall, a rookie adventurer.

Whilst Shall makes her introductions to the mystery girl, in the Great Tomb of Nazarick, Momonga and his aides, Demiurge, Albedo and Aura gather in the Round Table Room, secretly observing the encounter in the Azerlisia Mountains. Momonga viewing the progress Shall is making, is content that they avoided a situation of a battle. Demiurge standing beside his liege is of a different opinion of Shalltear's assessment of the mystery girl, as the Floor Guardian is not a full warrior type, hence declaring that the she could be stronger than Lupusregina could be just an exaggeration. In Albedo's opinion, the fact that Shalltear senses that possibility about this strange girl, should be more than enough to regard her as a threat.

Momonga and the others are taking Shalltear's opinion that this newcomer could be on par with the Floor Guardian of the 1st through 3rd Floors. There is a possibility that they dread, that this girl could be in a player so they must use caution. Albedo praises Momonga's shrewdness as the best would be to gather as much information from this girl even if it means risking Shalltear's life. Momonga privately has no intention of sacrificing Shalltear, even if it means obtaining valuable information that could benefit Nazarick as he will always choose to safeguard what is precious to him.

Aura raises a question as to why her master allowed Shalltear to initiate contact with the girl as the dark elf is worried that the vampire could do poorly in collecting information directly rather than indirectly. Momonga admits that is a good point, though unlike Aura, Shalltear is not very good at stealth thus would be noticed by the stranger and most definitely be hostile. Plus if the girl is a player and watch from a distance, there is a strong possibility that they could lose track of her. Albedo supports her master's decision for initiating contact hence why the Overseer Guardian reached out to her sister Nigredo to set up this surveillance so that they could monitor the situation and place magical countermeasures against detection. Demiurge comments that this will in a way obstruct the surveillance of this possible player, providing her false information on Shalltear. Aura now understands that with both sides using anti-surveillance tactics the only way to read this new target would be to permit direct contact.

Additionally Momonga hopes that Shalltear can put her acting skills she cultivated in E-Rantel as "Shall" to good use. Not only that her identity as an undead will not be compromised as she possesses equipment that prevents undead detection. From Demiurge's observation of the reaction of the mystery girl, she appears not to be an enemy as she is perplexed by Shalltear's presence and is in the midst of looking for a rational course of action. For now they will allow the two ladies to converse to obtain any useful information, while the rest of Shalltear's team in the mountains hold back in a safe distance until they they believe it is safe to withdraw.

Aura still wants to help Shalltear in some way, though is cautioned by Demiurge from doing so as they need to stay vigilant as there is a remote possibility that this could be a trap and the girl is bait to draw opponents like the Floor Guardians out and attack Nazarick. Truthfully Momonga believes that they need not worry as an undead like Shalltear cannot be affected by mental magic or special skills. Even so he wants to play it safe, hence why Aura was included in this meeting, as she is to provide them insight on Shalltear's condition and alert them to anything that seems amiss.

Switching back to the mountains, Shall introduces herself to the strange girl, who calls herself Anne. Anne asks what Shall wants with her as she deduces that that other girl only approached her because she wants something. Shall expresses that she came out to greet Anne out of concern, curious if she is being chased by someone due to her skittish behavior. When Anne refrains from answering, Shall praises Anne for her combat abilities, which is saying something as she herself is a novice adventurer and opens about herself visiting E-Rantel. However feeling that she is lacking, Shall reveals to Anne that she has been traveling to gain some more experience alone and away from her current partner.

The undercover Nazarick agents opens a conversation with this topic, hoping that Anne might reveal how she got so strong herself. Anne appears to accept Shall's background story though the other girl feels somewhat suspicious of Shall's cautious way of speaking, Curious Anne asks Shall how strong she is compared to her. Shall gives an honest answer that Anne appears to be stronger than her and those she met in the city.

Their conversation is interrupted when a vulture swoops down to attack. Anne is annoyed by the intrusion, but Shall thinks it may be a good opportunity to see her new associate's strength up close. Interested Anne invites Shall to join her in a the bloodbath to come. In the end they fell every wild beast that dared to attack them, the last being a peryton. Shall who has been observing Anne's skills knows for sure that the human girl is far above the Pleiades, but whether she is on par with a Floor Guardian is still debatable.

After quickly killing a rogue vulture, Shall commends Anne for her strength. Anne who has also been watching her new friend comes to the conclusion that the adventurer is likewise strong, and wonders if Shall is really weaker than her. For Shall, she begs Anne on how she got so strong, but Anne is mute on the subject, claiming she doesn't know. In truth just before meeting Shall, Anne confesses that she can't seem to remember away from before when they just met, hence her history is a blank. Due to the circumstance, Anne does not wish to reveal what little she has about herself as it may trouble those that she is in the care of.

Thinking about this new development, Shall weighs the options of using memory magic, though is not confident that she will be able to read lost memories. In any case she dismisses the option of using magic on Anne, as that would constitute an attack, which goes against Momonga's orders. Plus if she incapacitates Anne, it could be a ruse for this girl to make Shall lead her to Nazarick. Feigning concern, Shall asks if there is a way to recover the girl's lost memories. This surprises Anne on the level of Shall's concern for her well-being, but believes that she should not force herself as she takes faith that the gods will guide her.

Nevertheless Shall offers to help speed the process as she wants to know how Anne got so strong. Thus the vampire opts to forcefully coax Anne's memories out for some useful information.

While alone, Shall discreetly contacts Momonga via [Message] to inform them of her new associate's supposed amnesia and her proposal to remedy it. Momonga after listening to the news, has no problem with her seeking consultation and permits her to proceed. Though the Overlord is worried if Shall is taking a risk by speaking to him, with Anne nearby, but the undercover Floor Guardian has foreseen this. She informed Anne of her cover story of being cursed and incapable of doing magic other than [Message]. Additionally she moved some distance from her to keep their conversation confidential. Anne so far does not suspect anything suspicious. In regards to the amnesia Anne is suffering from, Momonga asks for time to discuss with Demiurge and the others.

At the Round Table Room, Momonga gathers the Floor Guardians to hear their opinions on Shalltear's proposal. The Floor Guardians find the development a bit troubling as there is not guarantee that they will obtain any useful information with such a damaged girl. Albedo recall how Anne has faith that "gods will naturally guide [her]" draws some worry. Demiurge is also of the same mind as from her words it makes Anne sound like an adherent of the Slane Theocracy. Though it may be possible that she could just be a follower of the Temple of the Four Great Gods which is a faith prevalent in the Re-Estize Kingdom and Baharuth Empire.

Having not much to go by on their mysterious girl, Momonga decides to contact the protagonist to investigate the temple forces of E-Rantel. Momonga takes the time to question Cocytus on their course of action, which the Floor Guardian of the 5th Floor commenting that while he finds it hard to believe that there is someone as strong as Shalltear, letting their guards down on Anne would be foolish. As none of the other Floor Guardians have no complaints due to Momonga's irrevocable judgement on the continuation of observation, they proceed to discuss how to proceed when Anne regains her memory.

Shall having finished contacting Momonga and letting him ruminate on the policy towards the humans, returns to Anne. Shall offers a way for Anne to regain her memories by reliving her experiences. Anne is confused as she cannot exactly remember any experiences from before, which Shall answers that they will need to go through the process of revisiting places she visited before losing her memory, eating foods she tasted before. etc.

The idea is that the stronger the experience, the stronger memory will be stimulated and be regained. Even if Anne cannot remember, Shall surmises that there must be a subconscious desire that can trigger an emotional experience. Anne is still unsure, but does agree that she had the feeling of wanting to be alone and hence went far away and went to the mountain as it was devoid of people. Seeing it as a good place to start, Shall asks what else appealed to Anne about the mountain, perhaps something she was looking for.

Anne thinks for a minute before saying that she enjoyed the scenery, which Shall thinks that must be the most important experience for her. Anne wonders if that is true then maybe they will need to climb up to get a better view of the mountain range. Shall is ready to start climbing, though Anne is worried about the dangers as the further they go up, the greater the occurrence of magical beasts. But Shall is undaunted as she is confident in knocking them out their their way. Anne watching her new friend's enthusiasm, makes her wonder if this is why Shall is so strong. The two women with a goal now, the climb the mountain range to the highest peak.

The two women walk side by side, with Shall embellishing her trial of being cursed with a magic seal that prevents her from doing magic and her previous life as a noble. Shall also adds how she has no regrets as she met her current partner, Ku. All the information that Shall is giving her is just to lighten the mood and hopefully gain Anne's trust and open up to who she really is once her memories are restored.

On the other hand Anne, notices that Shall likes to talk a lot, though goes with the one sided conversation despite the annoying prattle as Shall is going out of her way to help her. The two travel higher and higher up the mountain. encountering more ferocious magical beasts that have been reduced to Contaminated Beasts, but they are quickly mowed down by the two. At the top of the mountain, the two ladies are able to take in the sight of a sea of clouds. While the view is nice, it unfortunately does not have the mind-jogging effect on Anne's mind as expected. Shall is befuddled as she was sure the scene would have elicited some reaction other than being just nice.

Anne is apologetic on the lack of success, however something in the sky catches her air. The adventurer peering up, muses it to be just a Crack, which to her are common everywhere nowadays. To Anne though she feels as if there is something she is suppose to remember. This brings some hope to Shall, wondering if the phenomena is familiar to her. Anne is not sure, believing that she would need to get closer to confirm. The Crack in the sky, while being closest is an impossibility for Shall, the human adventurer, due to her magic being supposedly sealed. Thus Shall opts to take Anne to the Crack in the Great Forest of Tob. Before heading there, Shall decides to inform Momonga of Anne's memory stimulation and to alert the agents of Nazarick in the forest to hide to avoid being exposed to humans.

The duo soon arrive at the empty forest, Shall claiming she was aware of the new Crack location from an acquaintance. They then approach the Crack in the forest, which Shall inquires to Anne if she is getting any flashbacks from seeing the phenomena up close. Anne though is still not sure as while she finds the anomaly familiar she feels something missing. Anne apologizes as she feels that she has disappointed Shall again. The adventurer is not unhappy as it was worth trying and claiming that due to being the 'daughter of a noble' it would be unfitting to be angry over a trivial thing. Secretly though she is greatly irked by all the trouble she went through for Anne finding it insulting as Momonga has taken an interest in this matter.

To Anne hearing such benevolence from a member of the nobility is quite a rarity, but attributes this to Shall being an exception and from a distant land. Before the two could proceed to the next experience for Anne, the Crack became active, as it was the scheduled time for the Chaos Beasts to spill. Seeing Anne's shock at the event, the adventurer explained the basics to her peer and the Chaos Beasts that will emerge which she is confident will be no problem to Anne given her strength.

The miasma soon being to fill the forest and three beast-type Chaos Beasts appear leading Shall to be longing for another fight. Her enjoyment is cut short when Anne mentally freezes at the sight of the monsters and begins clutching her head. Stuck between finding what's wrong and the approaching beasts, Shall then takes it on herself to fight by herself.

Shall using only her physical abilities cuts down the foes, before turning her attention to her distressed peer. However Shall only gets scraps of words such as "lost", "protect", and "country", none which make sense to her ears. The vampire considers killing Anne if she is more trouble than worth, but soon enough Anne screams and goes in a berserk rage and attacks Shall. While Shall believes that killing Anne by herself is possible, such an option is would be a nuisance as it would not allow her to gleam by new information about her new friend. Thus she decides to 'play' along with Anne. The two clash in an even battle, impressing Shall, however the Floor Guardian after crossing attacks with the human can safely say that Anne while a formidable existence in this current land, is not stronger than her. But to be safe, Shall thinks it would be best to kill the girl. Before Shall can follow through, gets an uneasy feeling from her opponent. Cautious she retreats away from Anne who then unleashes a special technique at the adventurer that Shall recognizes with a shock.

After that episode, the match between the two has been decided. Anne quickly regains consciousness, after being severely injured yet still alive. Seeing the devastation she did, to the area and Shall, the other girl ask for forgiveness. Her concern is brushed away by Shall who understand that the other girl was not fully in control, and in fact voices her disappointment that she was not able to fight Anne at her full potential. To Shall the amount of damage Anne inflicted was minor to her, her only concern was that very idea that Anne was able to use the technique she saw. Despite seeing this odd spectacle, Shall is not convinced that she uncovered all of Anne's trump cards and it only reinforces her creed to follow Momonga's advice on not letting her guard down.

Anne offers to heal Shall of her injuries, but is declined and is told to focus healing herself. The application of healing magic is used, and Shall observes that Anne belongs to the faith magic system, before directing her query to Anne on why she went crazy. As it turns out Anne, explains that she received a jolt of her memory after seeing the Chaos Beasts, which caused a migraine in her head, making her lose control. This worries the human as who fears that she might lose control if she sees another Chaos Beast. Worried for Shall's safety, Anne believes that they should stop trying to recover her memories and considers that it be possible that the people who she was under the care of didn't try to restore her memories as they knew this would happen.

Even though there is the risk of death, Shall is not dissuaded, but Anne is insistent that they halt their attempts as Anne thinks that she is stronger than Shall and could do serious harm to her new friend. This in mind, Shall reluctantly agrees to stop in her attempts and instead ask the wisdom of one of her acquittances. Excusing herself from Anne, Shall reports to Momonga on the situation in the forest.

At the Round Table Room, Momonga concurs with Anne's assessment that they should halt recovering her memories. This disappoints Shall as she has yet to truly gain any useful information on the mystery girl. To the contrary, Momonga who has been observing the battle via his surveillance magic learn much. From what she can detect, Anne is similar to an existence of a "player" and while her memory is lost, it still is prudent to maintain a guard around her especially with the possibility of her going berserk. Hence Momonga thinks that it is better to avoid needless battles with Anne as it is too ambiguous to rely on Chaos Beasts to try and restore the girl's memories.

He is told by his subordinate that Anne intends to return to the place she was before meeting Shall. The more Shall interacted her, it seems to be a case of a girl running away from home, and walking aimlessly in search of a quiet place like the mountain peaks. Evidently they can be dealing with a lost child situation, and it seems that this lost child does not know the way home. However Shall was told by Anne that is she returned to E-Rantel, someone will hopefully retrieve her. But since Anne doesn't remember which direction the city is, sh has asked Shall to guide her.

Momonga taking this all into consideration, orders Shall to cease prying into Anne's memories as it appears evident that a powerful organization is backing the mystery girl and could be watching her like Nazarick. If this organization proved to be an enemy and attacked them, it would be fine and give Nazarick justification to retaliate. Alas the same cannot be said if Nazarick were to take hostile action first which would give the unknown organization a pretense. Right not the wiser action would be to cut their losses with Anne in the intel gathering, and while it may seem a bit cowardly, no benefit is worth the risk. The undercover Floor Guardian agrees with Momonga's orders. Despite the seeming failure in her mission, Momonga asks her not to despair as returning Anne to E-Rantel might yield some new information.

Aftermath
At the fourth wall of E-Rantel, Shall and Anne finally arrive to the city. There they are met by the protagonist and Surako, who Shall introduces to Anne as her acquaintance she was in contact with via [Message]. The pair greet Anne, offering their condolences in her being unable to achieve her goal. Appreciative to the concern, Anne asks if they need help with anything but is declined. The group is joined by Saint Clementine, who at first is glad to greet Shall to the city once again, only jumps at the sight of Anne who addresses her like it is their first meeting. Clementine though attitude shows she is scared and while polite quickly excuses herself, claiming she is tired and immediately leaves to the confusion of the adventurers present.

Anne also turns to leave as she must meet her retriever. Anne still thanks Shall for taking good care of her during their encounter. The girl admits that she was out in the wilds to be alone, but found some joy in spending time with the adventurer. Before leaving Anne gives Shall a hug as a thank you, and whisper her real name as Antilene. Shall watching her new associate depart, is proud to say she succeeded in acquiring new information.

In a discreet alley in the city, Antilene waits for her contact to arrive having heard from the Scripture that it was the chosen meet up. To her surprise the one who approaches her is not who she expects. It is revealed to be Enhela Read Gahi. His presence is considered at oddity in the city, as Antilene is used to guarding him and not the other way around.