Pain split across her back and she felt warmth and life slowly leaving her body. The feeling brought her incredible level of despair. She knew she didn't have the strength to keep running, and even if she did, the wound would soon take its toll and make all her effort pointless.

It was in this moment that Enri Ermot realized that she was about to die.

All she could do now was hope that what little time and vitality she had left would be enough for her sister Nemu to get away. At most she would probably be able to buy her another minute to get away, and that was if her body didn't give out on her or she didn't lose consciousness. Still, this would be her only shot, and every second she bought for her sister would up her chances of survival exponentially.

Enri stole a glance at the knight, who's sword was already raised and ready to come down again. Even a young woman like her, who had only seen a sword a handful of times in her life, could tell that his grip was sloppy, like he was holding a club instead of a blade. Regardless of his lack of form, it made things significantly harder on her.

A slash would do a lot of damage; cut muscle, sever tendons, and break bones. Oh well. She would have to make do regardless. She had no other choice. Time slowed to a crawl as she waited for the inevitable, and her one and only chance, to come... but it never did.

"[Gate]."

With that one word, a faint whispering echo that could barely be heard amidst the distant sounds of carnage raging on in the village, time actually seemed to freeze entirely. The air itself went still and everything became deafeningly quiet, as if the world itself had become paralyzed with fear. Glancing behind her, she saw the knight's blade still hung in the air and his eyes were widened, and even Enri, someone who had abandoned all fear of death just a moment before for the sake of a loved one, felt chills down her spine. She dared to look away, to see what could have caused one of the marauders slaughtering her village to become so stricken with fear.

In an instant, she realized it.

Before them was a shimmer in the air, and at the center of it was mass of writhing shadows. Like hands upon an ethereal doorway, they parted the air and created an endless black space that could only be described as abysmal. From the nothingness, a looming figure stepped forth. At first it was only a shadow, somehow cast upon the darkness itself, but it quickly took on a far more discernible form.

Out of the portal came a tall man wearing a long, billowing coat, dyed the color of freshly spilled blood. Beneath that, he wore a black robe, etched in gold and with a white bosom tied down by a simple red knot, and a set of blindingly white gloves on each hand.

Her eyes drifted up towards his face, and before her was a vision.

His skin was beautifully pale, contrasted by a pitch mustache and fresh stubble that grew from ear to ear. The features of his face, while impassive, were sharp and pristinely handsome, as if they had been frozen at the absolute prime of life, and all framed by a gorgeously wild mane as black as the shadows he had come from. But what struck her most were his eyes.

Two pools of red that seemed ablaze with fire. They were beautiful and stunning to be sure, but only so long as their gaze was directed elsewhere; a fact she became all too aware of.

The towering figure, still wreathed in billowing shadow, regarded her with those burning eyes of his. In that moment, Enri felt a crushing pressure unlike anything she had ever experienced before. All the air in her lungs left her, her heart seemed to stop, and her mind went blank. The world, the knight, even her precious sister, all ceased to exist; all that was left was her and this terrifying visage she had locked eyes with. It was a moment that seemed to stretch on into eternity.

This is Death. Those were her thoughts, and perhaps they were the only thoughts she could form in her current state. In an instant, she came to regard the man before her as nothing less than an embodiment of Death itself, come to whisk her soul away to whatever afterlife awaited her.

And just like that, an eternity passed in an instant. The crushing gaze had turned away from her and she was only left mildly shell-shocked by the experience; something that served well to distract her from the gaping wound still on her back. Instead Death had shifted his focus away from her and towards the knight behind her. And that was when it occurred to her:

I'm still alive, so why is Death here for me now? And why is the knight able to see him too?

The only answer she received was a wail, and she was not sure from whom it came. Her? Her sister? The knight? It didn't matter. A gloved hand extended past her and towards the knight behind her, fingers outstretched as though reaching for something.

She wanted to look back, but fear kept her eyes from going any farther than the outstretched hand in front of her. She wasn't sure why, but she felt that if she turned any more, the sight that would greet her would be far more gruesome.

"[Grasp Heart]."

With that dreadful statement, Death clenched his fist. What followed was the sound of crunching metal; something Enri had never heard before in her lifetime, but still recognized nonetheless.

Against what might have been her better judgement, she let her eyes drift away to where the knight had been standing. He was laying on the ground, limbs splayed and blood pooling out from his helmet.

He was dead. She had no doubt about this.

In any other circumstance, Enri might have cried out with joy. The knight who had been chasing her and Nemu was dead. Her wound was still a concern, but at the very least her little sister could run to safety, and that was what mattered. But this was not the time for such celebration. Death was still there, and she could feel his eyes on her again.

She turned and saw him looming over her, drawing ever closer. Once again, the world around her began to fade away. Rather than face that terror again, she shut her eyes as tight as she could and once again made to shield her frightened sister, who held on to her even tighter.

It felt terrible, knowing that no matter what she did it wouldn't be enough to protect her sister. With the knights it was a different story. Much as she was loathe to admit it, they were human. Even if they weren't, they were still flesh and blood; something she could struggle and fight against with some slim chance of success. But against this man, this thing that could just reach out and take life with a gesture? She didn't have a prayer. She could only hope that Death would be kind to them.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and then-


Author's Note: And that's it for this little teaser. This is my first project here on FanFiction, and I'm hoping to make it something memorable, so wish me luck with that, because I could really use it. I'll be using this to test the waters and familiarize myself with the site's features and see if there'll be any hiccups in the transference process, and I'll (hopefully) be able to post the first proper chapter by the end of the month. Until then, enjoy this fragmentary piece of crap.

Also I'd like to give a quick shout-out to a few of the many, MANY wonderful authors out there that inspired me to start doing this:

KhaosKhan, whose story 'The Overlord of Blood and Bones' was my original inspiration for this.

lalunaticscribe, the author of 'Hostis Humani Generis' and one of the best writers I've ever seen on this site, with 100 stories under her belt.

ainzOoalGo, the author of 'Light's downfall', one of the best Overlord AUs available at the moment in my humble opinon and a brilliant writer in his own regard.

And finally, the legend himself, Maruyama Kugane! The author of Overlord and the reason why this particular plane of existence even exists in the first place. May he grow rich and famous for all he has done for us for many years to come. Amen, Hallelujah, and Peanut Butter.