Fanfic / Sovereign

A new journey begins...

Sovereign is a Crossover between Overlord and Fate/EXTRA. It is written by TheStrangerThatCameFromNowhere.

Set after the events of Extra, Hakuno Kishinami is named the victor of the Moon Cell's Holy Grail War. However, as he's a self-aware NPC and not an actual participant, he is about to be deleted by the Moon Cell after he attempts to access the Moon Cell's core. Since he is still the victor of the war, the Moon Cell, despite attempting to delete him, bequeaths the Regalia to him. Through this, he enacts a Quantum Slide into a different world.

12 years later, after having established himself an accomplished player in the video game Yggdrasil, Hakuno Kishinami awaits the end of the game after it is announced its servers will shut down. He rules the Dungeon known as Seraph, which is protected by the NPCs, all designed after the Servants of the Masters he defeated in the War. When the fated time arrives and he awaits the end, he finds that Seraph has been transported to a new world, and the NPCs have all become Servants.

It is not long before Hakuno finds himself involved of the events of this world, unaware that a friend and teacher of his is also in this world as well, having already made his mark in its history.

On January 6, 2023, the story was rebooted on Archive of Our Own under the account name Ishtar_Collective (a shared account between TheStranger and SkyRig).

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This story contains examples of the following tropes:

• 20 Minutes into the Future: The intro to Chapter 3 is more or less a historical document recounting the first-known involvement of Seraph in the New World. It also mentions that, at the time, Seraph was thought to be a myth until the events later known as the War of Arcology.
• The Ace: The strongest of Seraph's Floor Guardians are the major Servants of Extella and its sequel: Nero, Tamamo, Altera and Charlemagne.
• Action Girl: While we haven't seen them take to the field, the female Servants are all equally as combat capable of the Floor Guardians of Nazarick, perhaps even more so since their bodies are their NPC counterparts, and therefore have access to Yggdrasil's system of magic.
• Adaptational Badass: Since the bodies the Servants inhabit are their NPC counterparts created by Hakuno, they all have access to Yggdrasil magic, making them much more powerful than they were previously. Hakuno is especially noteworthy in that, while his character build is weaker than Momonga's, who built his character with role play in mind, he's definitely much stronger than he was in his home series.
• Adaptation Deviation: In the New World, purple and red potions exist by the time Hakuno arrives. The purple potions did not exist in the New World until Momonga gave Nfirea and his grandmother tools and materials from Yggdrasil, several months after his arrival. Red Potions also did not exist, as the blue potions seen in the story were all failed attempts at recreating the red potion. It's implied that this is due to Momonga arriving in the New World 200 years before Hakuno's arrival.
• Adaptational Heroism: Some of the Servants that have been confirmed to be under Hakuno's employ are historical villains, a few even enemies in the Fate series from which they appear. Case in point, Gilles and Archimedes.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed. Extra's version of Kayneth is stated to be every bit as egotistical, if not maybe worse than in Zero. He was the only magus who wanted to return to the traditional ways of Magecraft, while everyone else had accepted their ways were outdated and became Spirit Hackers. He also had low opinions of Leo and Rin, the heirs of their respective families since they came from prestigious backgrounds yet abandoned the traditional ways. The only reason Kayneth is considered to be nicer is because of his reason for wanting to win the Holy Grail in the first place: he wants Sola to be happy.
• Adapted Out:
  • Gilgamesh. Hakuno did attempt to create an NPC counterpart based off of him, but since Hakuno was very meticiulous about recreating the Servants as NPCs, he realized that nothing short of World Items or God-level Items would suffice as his equipment, hence he scrapped any plans he had for the Gilgamesh NPC. Word of God says another reason is because Gilgamesh would have been a very unruly NPC for Hakuno to handle.
  • The Great Tomb of Nazarick is also seemingly removed from the story, since this story's Momonga follows his Satoru Suzuki counterpart from the bonus light novel.
• Affectionate Nickname: Hakuno has a few from different Servants, including the usual "Praetor" and "Husband" from Nero and Tamamo respectively. He also gets one from Charlemagne, who calls him Haku.
• Alternate Timeline: Not unusual for Hakuno's story, since the Extra storyline is known for its multiple timelines. Hakuno's journey in the Holy Grail War is considerably different from his video game counterparts, in that among the participants of the Grail War were Kayneth El-Melloi who had Charlemagne as his Servant. Tamamo was also present, no doubt for the same circumstances as Extella. Gilles de Rais was also Monji Gatou's Servant instead of Arcueid. Archimedes was also summoned in the Moon Cell Holy Grail, serving as the Servant of Kiara Sessyoin. Altera was also one of the Servants who participated in the Holy Grail War, but Charlemagne mentions she was unique from all the others.
• Badass Crew: Seraph is host to many powerful individuals, including Hakuno himself. There's also the Adamantite group Ainz Ooal Gown, which has Evileye and Momon.
• Benevolent Boss: Hakuno is this in the same way Momonga was to the Great Tomb of Nazarick and his allies.
• Berserk Button: Any atrocious act that Hakuno is aware of becomes one for him, no doubt due to his karmic rating being the polar opposite of Momonga.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Charlemagne may be a goofball who has thing about calling things awesome, cool and uncool, but the moment you earn his wrath, you better start praying to god for mercy. Cause he certainly won't show you any.
• Big Damn Heroes: Charlemagne and Robin Hood, who on Hakuno's orders defend Carne Village from the raiders.
• Blindfolded Vision: Medusa's Servant attire has her wear a blindfold mask over the upper half of her face, which is expected since she can turn anyone to stone with those eyes.
• Breather Episode: Chapter 2 is Hakuno getting to know more about his situation following Seraph's arrival to the New World and having tea with Medusa.
• Call-Back: When Hakuno accidentally takes a nap as Yggdrasil is about to be shut down, he wakes up and is greeted by a concerned Nero. This is a Tear Jerker for anyone who played the Flame Poem arc of Extella where the Mind of Hakuno ends up in a catatonic state at the end, leading to a very despondant pitiful sounding Nero pleading for them to wake up.
• End of an Age: Ainz Ooal Gown in Yggdrasil, like in canon, though it is done entirely off-screen as the story's focus is Hakuno.
• Expy: Archimedes is this to Demiurge, as both serve as the strategist of their respective masters.
• Face Death with Dignity: Since he was a self-aware NPC-slash-cyber ghost, Hakuno couldn't leave Yggdrasil after he migrated to it thanks to the Regalia. Unlike in the Moon Cell, where his being in the game is the reason behind his survival, he accepts his oncoming deletion when the servers shut down because he's made so many good memories as a player. He even spends what he assumes will be his finaly moments with the NPC recreations of the Servants he fought in the Holy Grail War.
• Foil: Hakuno to canon Momonga. Both are the leaders of their respective groups, with Hakuno being the Dungeon master of Seraph and Momonga the Guild Master of Ainz Ooal Gown. Both are seen as Benevolent Boss' by their respective NPCs. They also contrast each other, with Hakuno dressed in white and with a Karma of Positive 500 while Momonga wears black and has a Karma of Negative 500, the highest and lowest karmic values in Yggdrasil respectively.
• For Want Of A Nail: As Word of God states, since Hakuno takes Momonga's place as the protagonist for the events of Overlord, key events will change, specifically mentioning how Charlemagne and Robin Hood being the ones to save Carne Village will affect the village differently. There's also the fact that Momonga is a 200-year-old denizen of the New World by the time Hakuno arrives, and is all but stated to be one of the members of the Thirteen Heroes.
• Guide Dang It!: The Yggdrasil game had this built into its core gameplay. Of the three common playstyles, it encouraged exploration the most and thus there were many hidden secrets to be found in the game. Information was the most precious commodity among the Yggdrasil community and that websites purporting to have the "inside scoop" were often wrong or worse, purposeful red herrings. This caused many players to refer to the developers as "shitty devs."
• Half the Man He Used to Be: The knight that tried to kill Enri, rather than get his heart crushed, is cut diagonally in half by a very pissed off Charlemagne.
• Hidden Depths: Hakuno is a hardened veteran of brutal combat by way of the Holy Grail War, but he's lived an honest and wonderful life in Yggdrasil.
• Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Elizabeth has a beautiful voice, but she and Nero are terrible singers.
• Home Base: Seraph is more or less the Great Tomb of Nazarick for Hakuno.
• Infinity +1 Sword: World-level Items are the strongest pieces of equipment. In-Universe, they're Game-Breaker items to the point where the players were practically demanding that they be nerfed. Altera is stated to be the only NPC/Servant in Seraph that has one.
• In Memoriam: The NPCs of Seraph are all modeled after the Servants Hakuno faced in the Holy Grail War, many of whom made a great impact on him, including Charlemagne and Robin Hood.
• Large Ham: Nero. This is a given, since she's both an Attention Whore and a playwright, albeit a terrible one.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: Charlemagne's explanation for why he serves Kayneth when he meets Hakuno in the Holy Grail War is this, despite the fact that Kayneth is a terrible Master.
  Charlemagne: He may be uncool and hard to deal with, but Master, deep down, wants nothing more than to be with the person he loves. He's by no means a good person, I'll be blunt with you on that, but the fact that he will go to whatever lengths to make Sola happy... A mere shadow of Rex Magnus I may be, I am still the King of the Franks. And I will do whatever I must to honor my Master, even if I have to do some uncool things!
• Mythology Gag: Quite a few, including Medusa running an antique shop. It's also worth noting that Enri mentions a character named Fei possibily keeping Nfirea out of trouble. Anyone who's read the Web Novel of Overlord will know that Fei was the prototype character for what would eventually become Nfirea.
• The Namesake: One of Hakuno's classes is called "Sovereign." To the NPC population and the Servants, he is the Sovereign of Seraph.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Hakuno is this, even more so than Momonga himself. Like Momonga, he managed to hit the Level Cap, but his stats are slightly lower than Momonga, who by the way modeled his character with role play in mind. This is justified by Hakuno being more concerned with the adventure more than anything else and wanting to make good memories of his time in Yggdrasil.
• Ominous Floating Castle: While it isn't ominous, Seraph is a three-ringed Dungeon that floats high in the sky. It also serves as something of an Eldritch Location, with each floor modeled after the stages in Extella: The Zero Dark as Altera's floor, the Millennium Capital for Tamamo and the Golden Capital as Nero's floor, which is also where Hakuno's Throne Room of the Sovereign is located.
• The Paragon: Hakuno and Charlemagne, and presumably other Servants, have a Karma of Positive 500 ~ Extremely Good, which is the highest value of the karma system. This means that neither of them will stand for any sort of atrocity being committed in front of them.
• The Perfectionist: By at least one aspect. Hakuno was very meticulous in recreating the Servants as NPCs, crafting their personalities and histories with incredible detail to the point where they could easily pass as a Servant. It was also because of this meticulousness that Hakuno ultimately decided to scrap his designs for a Gilgamesh NPC, as nothing short of World and God-level Items would be suitable for it.
• Polyamory: By the time the story begins, Hakuno is already married to Nero and Tamamo.
• Praetorian Guard: Charlemagne and a few other Servants serve as Hakuno's Royal Guard, with Charles himself as captain.
• Red Baron: Each Servant has one, with Charlemagne and Karl sharing the title of "King of the Franks" and Nero the "Emperor of Roses." Hakuno is also known by many of the Servants as the Sovereign, which also doubles as a sort of Title Drop.
• RPG Mechanics 'Verse: In the New World, adventurers can be analyzed into Yggdrasil classes with sufficient examination, but they frequently exist in impossible combinations, and they have no awareness of game concepts like Character Level (at least not in a concrete sense). In addition, they are capable of learning "Martial Art" skills which exist outside the level progression, and which game-based characters like a Yggdrasil player cannot learn regardless of effort. The Light Novels also make it clear that natives of the New World, while substantially weaker than Players, do not suffer a Level Cap like they do.
• Spanner in the Works: Hakuno replacing Momonga as the protagonist, much less the fact that all of Seraph is one giant opposite to Nazarick. What kind of changes they'll make, however, is up in the air.
• The Strategist: Archimedes is this to Hakuno, which is a given since he's the famed Greek Scholar who set a whole fleet of invaders ablaze with nothing but the sun and mirrors.
• Supernatural Martial Arts: The "Martial Arts" used by Natives of the New World, which is exclusive only to them. No one from Yggdrasil is capable of using them, either.
• Terrifying Rescuer: Averted. Unlike with Momonga, who Enri was naturally freaked out by because he's a magical skeleton, she only feels comfort and awe in the presence of Charlemagne, who is referred to by the narration as a paladin by Enri.
• Too Awesome to Use: The red potions, or Minor Recovery Potions from Yggdrasil in the New World. Thanks to the actions of a member of the Thirteen Heroes that's implied to be Momonga, purple potions were developed quite early, and red potions were only recently developed. The problem is that, while adventurers can purchase blue and purple potions^note for blue potions low-rank adventurers would have to skip on a couple meals whereas purple potions are expensive enough that only orichalcum and adamantite adventurers can buy them, the red potions are said to be purchased by only the wealthiest of merchants. To put it into perspective behind their value, when Enri is offered a red potion by Charlemagne, she is floored by his giving it to her when it can easily help pay for a family for three years and isn't so much as bothered by wasting it.
• Undying Loyalty: While some of the Servants under Hakuno's employ are morally questionable (looking at you Gilles!), they are all loyal to the Sovereign.
• Wham Line: Chapter 2 delivers one rather early. The ending of the chapter shows us a glimpse of two adventurers traveling through a forest. Their appearance raises some flags as to who they are, especially since they're Adamantite Adventurers. But the name of the group was unexpected:
  The indominatble Ainz Ooal Gown.