The environment of the Eighth Floor was a silent wilderness filled with swirling yellow sand.
The vast majority of the Ainz Ooal Gown Guild's funds had been spent on the Eighth Floor.
As the final line of defense within the Great Tomb of Nazarick, it was usually not open to the NPCs of the Great Tomb.
Its level of mystery was such that perhaps even the author themselves hadn't fully decided on it.
Draco wasn't sure what the Eighth Floor was supposed to look like either.
He could only lay it out according to his own ideas.
Arriving at the Eighth Floor, Draco found the pink, kidney-shaped Victim.
"Victim, I remember your original residence was the tree of life, wasn't it?"
"Yes, Lord Draco."
"Take me to the location of the tree of life; I will summon your residence for you."
Under Victim's guidance, Draco arrived at the center of the wilderness.
"Lord Draco, this is the place."
There was a massive basin here, perfectly circular in shape.
"Stand by here."
"Yes!" x2
Draco went to the center of the circular basin and took out the precious materials purchased from the Dia Merchant Guild.
In a matter of moments, an ultra-large magic circle appeared in the center of the basin.
To activate 「Territory Summoning」, a massive amount of energy was still required.
But this time, since he wasn't summoning Nazarick but only the tree of life, Draco's own MP was sufficient.
As the skill activated, layers of magic circles began to stack, and brilliant magical runes bloomed in the air.
Accompanied by a "rumbling" roar, the massive tree of life slowly emerged from within the formation.
Draco flashed back to stand beside Albedo.
Soon, a towering giant tree with a strong metallic feel stood tall, emitting a dense elemental aura.
The entire tree of life was encased in a mysterious black metal, upon which complex and profound runes were carved.
Although it was shaped like a tree, it gave off a wonderful feeling of a blend between machinery and art.
"So the tree of life looks like this. It's different from what I imagined."
Rubbing his chin, Draco sized it up with great interest.
In short, it was a leafless black mechanical tree.
Logically speaking, 'those existences' of the Eighth Floor and the ceiling of Nazarick's combat power, Lupusregina Beta, all lived here.
The defensive level of the tree of life should be very high, otherwise, it wouldn't be able to contain those fellows.
"Victim, how about taking me inside for a look?"
"It would be my honor! Please, My Lord."
Victim walked to the edge of the tree of life and lightly touched the black metal trunk with his hand.
Instantly, a door of light appeared, and Draco and Albedo entered under Victim's lead.
The scene inside the tree of life once again overturned Draco's judgment.
Inside was a world of crystalline bodies, with crystals everywhere, and even a building constructed of pure energy.
"Tsk tsk tsk, is this the charm of pay-to-win?"
The world here seemed out of place with Nazarick, and one could even say it was out of place with the game world.
Various rooms were spread throughout the tree of life, clearly special residences prepared for 'those existences'.
The top floor was Victim's residence, which was quite normal, similar to the Ninth Floor at the beginning.
Draco spent some gold coins to renovate it for Victim.
According to Victim himself, his original task was to watch over 'those existences' within the tree of life.
Now that it was empty, he had become idle.
Draco didn't have much of a solution for this either.
There really wasn't anything that required Victim's use.
After leaving the tree of life, Draco led Albedo toward the Sakura Sanctuary where Orel was located.
That was a special area that could not be traversed even with a guild ring.
One could only walk there.
On the way, Draco suddenly thought of something that was terrifying upon closer reflection.
"It seems Victim's existence wasn't to deal with invaders, but rather for 'those existences' within the tree of life."
Such a suspicion made Draco feel a bit creeped out.
The secrets of the Eighth Floor were truly too many... The Sakura Sanctuary was located at the rear of the Eighth Floor.
Stepping onto the suspended stone steps and heading all the way up, there was a massive platform in the sky.
In the center of the platform was a giant crystal ball, surrounded by over a dozen light gates of various colors.
This was the control center for Nazarick's teleportation gates.
At this moment, Orel was standing quietly before the crystal ball, silently watching everyone in Nazarick.
When Draco stepped onto the empty platform, he brought Albedo to Orel's side.
"Lord Draco!"
Orel gently gave a slight bow to Draco.
"Mm, you two step aside first; I'm going to summon the Sakura Sanctuary."
The two immediately flew into the air, moving away from the spot.
Draco once again set up a magic circle.
The magic circle was quickly completed, and an intense light shot toward the horizon.
Draco used flight magic to fly to the side of the two women, quietly waiting for the descent of the Sakura Sanctuary.
"Rumble!"
Soil began to appear around the platform, gradually expanding to form a floating island in the sky.
Next, a massive, towering cherry blossom tree rose from the ground.
The branches of the cherry blossom tree swayed, its canopy obscuring half the sky.
A gentle breeze blew past, and brilliant cherry blossoms drifted down, spinning and dancing in the air, a sight of incomparable beauty.
Beneath the cherry blossom tree was a shrine often seen in Japanese anime.
Such a scene was quite a match for Orel in her shrine maiden outfit.
When the light of the magic circle dissipated, the full view of the Sakura Sanctuary was summoned.
On the floating island, birds sang and flowers were fragrant, appearing completely out of place with the wilderness below.
There was even a clear spring flowing on the island, slowly running to the edge to form a small waterfall.
"The environment here is quite nice; I expect a lot of money was spent to create this as well."
Draco thought to himself.
The three returned to the platform, and as they felt the constantly falling cherry blossoms, Albedo's expression seemed very enjoyable.
She unconsciously wrapped her arms around Draco's arm, her face beaming with a sweet smile.
Draco didn't push her away.
He simply opened the system interface and renovated the interior of Orel's shrine.
Afterward, Draco found a patch of grass to lie down and rest, enjoying Albedo's lap pillow service.
Meanwhile, Orel sat beside Draco, quietly accompanying the two.
Everything seemed so harmonious... (Divider)
The matters of Nazarick have been roughly settled.
Next, the progress will speed up again; the Demon Lord will be appearing soon.
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