Shield Overlord: Rising of the Fallen Hero Chapter 1, an Overlord + Rising of the Shield Hero/盾の勇者の成り上がり Crossover fanfic

Disclaimer: This is a fanfic crossover, I do not own Overlord or the Rising of the Shield Hero Manga/Anime Franchise. Please support the official release.

With the Calamities in Melromarc averted, the kingdom was again at peace. But that doesn't mean that evil has ended, for another rises up and spread fear and read across this unknown world. This time in the neighbouring nation of Greenvale, where humans live along with the Elves of Illurium, Hobbits of the Mellow Plains and Dwarves up in the Golden Hills, but in the middle of those nations, up in the desolate mountains that are comprised with extinct and dormant volcanoes, a large black tower with dark menacing décor stands tall in these intimidating mountains.

Inside the tower at the throne room resides a figure sitting on his dark throne between dark iron lit braziers and accompanied with a beautiful slave girls to keep this resident company and warn from the coldness high up in the mountains. The room is dark so the features of the figure and his slave-girls are unknown. But only one feature can be seen through the darkness is a pair of glowing yellow eyes.

He enjoys the company of his enslaved harem, who all enjoy the company of their Overlord, especially one is peacefully sleeping on her Overlord's lap and getting warm by in his arms. 2 each rest on his shoulder and another 2 lean on his shins as they sit by his feet. The Overlord of the tower is merely enjoying the setting sun through his balcony of his throne room, which is up at the below the peak of the tower where he can get a good view of the nation where the tower's shadow can cast upon, terrorizing the villages below.

"After all these years, I never felt so happy to be evil" the Overlord spoke to himself while stroke his lead slave's hair while she sleeps. "Greenvale is now mine, and no one will ever dare challenge me."

BOOM

Suddenly the sound of doors slammed open echoes up to the throne room, and ascending from the east stairway, 3 warriors run up the stairs and stand towards the Overlord sitting on his throne. One is in a white/light grey tunic with black straps, equipped with black pauldrons and greaves. He has messy black hair, blue eyes, a stoic expression and wields a sword with a blue jewel in the middle of the guard.

The second warrior is a little bit older, about only a year off. He is wearing a brown tunic with a green cape draped over his right shoulder while he wears an iron pauldron, spaulder, vambrace and a tasset on his left side. He has naturally curly blonde hair and gold eyes, he wields a white bow with a yellow jewel in the centre.

Lastly the third warrior who is a few years older than the other warriors. He is wearing a red and white ornate armour with a long red cape. He has long blond hair tied into a ponytail but with strands let loose for form bangs over his forehead and orange eyes. He wields a long spear with a red jewel below the spearhead.

The Overlord looks up at his 3 unwanted guards and raise his hands to dismiss his slaves, who stood up and bow to him and head upstairs on the western stairway. All but one slave left their Overlord, the main one remains cuddling into her Overlord, never wanting to leave his warmth and tender embrace.

"My dear, it's time to wake up." the Overlord gently nudges his favourite slave, waking her up from her peaceful slumber. "We have unwanted guests, and I do can't leave them waiting."

"Huh" the main slave wakes up and turns to the 3 warriors. She glares angrily at them and then turns her Overlord. "Overlord, allow me to dispose of these rude men."

"No need, I can handle it." said the Overlord as he stands up, while holding his slave by doing so before putting her down. "Go with the others, I'll be up in a moment."

The main slave nods at her Overlord and reluctantly heads for upstairs, leaving her Overlord alone with the 3 warriors.

"It's been a while, old faces from that pitiful kingdom that was doomed to fall in the first place."

"Enough of this, give us back the princesses now!" said the warrior with the spear.

"So that's it" the Overlord of the Tower snaps his fingers and suddenly 2 small cages descend from above the ceiling. "Typical of you Heroes, couldn't resist an old fashioned rescue mission. But I doubt you want to save these 2. One of them is rumoured to be a total bitch."

"SHUT UP, RELEASE THE PRINCESSES AT ONCE!" the Spear Hero roared angrily at the Overlord.

But the Overlord only laughed at the Spear Hero's angry demands.

"HA HA HA, Look at you giving me orders." said the Overlord "You think that just because you're a Hero I should bend down and do as you say? Wake up, this isn't a fairy tale. We maybe in another world, but reality is still reality. I answer to no one, I'm my own master and I do not listen to foolish Heroes who think they can win."

"Then we'll fight you" said the Sword Hero as he draws out his sword.

"It was never a choice to begin with" said the Overlord as he raise his left hand, and suddenly a loud horn like sound booms all over. Suddenly a large group of small figures pop out from the shadows, charging and pouncing at the 3 Heroes. "You shouldn't have come here to begin with. Minions, attack!"

The battle within the Throne Room rages on with the Overlord as its witness, the 3 Heroes split up to fight off their share of foes. The Sword Hero's swordsmanship is unrivalled, he swings and slashes the minions elegantly as he hacks them up into pieces.

The Bow Hero keeps a good distance away from the minions, firing his bow quickly and treated every second precious when it comes to firing and loading his bow. He is at a disadvantage in close combat, and the bow is the only weapon he has on him.

The Spear Hero twirls his spear like a Bo Staff, swatting them away while slabbing and slashing with the spearhead. Like the Bow Hero, close combat is not his style and has to keep a distance to get a clean kill.

The Overlord watches, leaning forward to get a better look at the show being performed for him, him and his 2 prisoners dangling in their small cages. The Princesses are gagged and restrained in their cages, only silent muffles escape from their gags so that the Overlord would not hear them scream and curse him, especially from the one claims to be a "total Bitch".

The Overlord's mysterious minions, their features hidden by the mass darkness inside the throne room are easily getting slain by the Heroes. But that doesn't faze the Overlord in anyway, he only sits on his throne, watching those fools fight for their lives as a form of entertainment. He leans back on the back of the throne for comfort, slowly starting to miss the company of his lovely slaves.

Not long now and the minions are defeated by the Heroes, who suffered a few scrapes and cuts on their person. The Overlord applauds slowly to the Heroes' victory, but the heroes know that he is only mocking him with his insincere applaud.

"Oh well done, well done" said the Overlord as he mockingly applaud his advisories. "You managed to survive my minions' attack."

"Is that the best you've got?" said the Spear Hero with an arrogant smirk.

"Unfortunately yes, I do not have any more minions left since I just returned from a raid in the Golden Hills." said the Overlord "That was what's left of my army."

"So you're defenceless" said the Sword.

"Oh I didn't say that" said the Overlord standing up from his throne. "You may have defeated the rest of my army, but I am far from defenceless."

The 3 Heroes does not want to hear any more from the Overlord and charges in for the attack, the Sword and Spear Heroes charge in for the assault while the Bow Hero aims his bow and fires. But as their attacks made contact, they were blocked. All 3 attacks at once were blocked by, and in their look of shock and surprise, a shield. But not just any shield, they recognized that shield, a small simple iron shield with a Green jewel in the centre, then the shield suddenly changes, it grow twice as bit, turns black and now with a red inferno-style markings on it. It radiates a malevolent aura of pure hatred, hatred so corrupt that it burns everything in contact. The Overlord is shrouded by the red flame-like aura, illuminating him for the Heroes to get a better look.

He is a young man with messy black hair, and his eyes are glowing yellow. His face is covered with red glowing veins across his cheek and running down his forehead. He pushes the 2 Heroes back with his now demonic shield and raw strength. The Sword and Spear Hero jumps back and tries to attack again, but failed again as the impact forces them to fly back and land next to the Bow Hero, who knew well that he cannot fight this formidable foe.

"Besides" said the Overlord, revealing himself to be the Shield Hero. "Despite what people think, I believe the Shield is VERY useful."

Shield Overlord: Rising of the Fallen Hero

Chapter 1: The 4 Heroes

Overlord's POV

Now be honest with me with this one and tell me correctly when I ask you. What is a Hero?

If you answered: Heroes are benevolent warriors that fight for justice, honour and the greater good? Well that's but wishful thinking. And if people believe that Heroes were chosen by God to save those when all hope is hanging by a thread, then that's just delusional. In truth, Heroes are self-righteous, egotistical glory seekers who only think for themselves, who rather work alone to take all the glory and ignore simple problems and only appear in exciting and dangerous events like fighting a terrifying monster rampaging a city, or rescuing a damsel in distress kidnapped by a despicable villain who wanted to rule her kingdom though forced marriage.

These Heroes are only found in storybooks. The honest truth, no matter people think or how much hope was spared by terrifying disasters that fall upon them.

Heroes don't exist.

How do I know this, well I was once a Hero...actually I was only a Hero for a Day. A WHOLE Day, and I realised the harsh truth through betrayal, lies and deceit. My name is Naofumi Iwatani, I was but a College student in Tokyo when I was teleported to another world, chosen to become one of the 4 Legendary Heroes.

Heroes, sure does put a bad taste in my mouth. How foolish was I back then.

You see, long ago, a prophecy foretold a calamity plaguing the Kingdoms of Melromarc where the waves of catastrophe opens up in the skies and unleash the horrors at the human and Demi-human populace. Villages were razed, royal armies decimated, innocents lost, the Kings and Queen in their respected kingdoms once put aside their rivalry and pride to fend off these monsters, but them alone aren't enough to fend off what the Waves of catastrophe had unleashed. But hope still hangs on a thread for the prophesy foretells the choosing of 4 heroes that will bring salvation and hope back to the world.

These are known as the 4 cardinal heroes, each wielding their legendary weapons of great power. The Sword, The Spear, The Bow, and the Shield. Guess which one I have. If you think I have a sword, which grant me strength to smite terrible beasts like a Dragon...then you're wrong.

If you think I have the Spear, a weapon with reach that I can pierce though without getting harmed and still fight in battle? Then you're wrong.

And if you think I have the Bow, which I can fire with great accuracy and range, and silently against unnoticed foes that might gain me the reputation as a gallant and charming Ranger? Then you're wrong also.

You see, I do not have those weapons that are obviously best for combat, I have a Shield. The Shield which is used only for defence and useless against combat. And if my knowledge in RPG games is correct, warriors with only the shield are useless, unpopular and weak.

So weak that the Shield Hero was assumed to be the weakest out of the 4, what a joke.

But the real joke here is that people could be gullible to believe in such beliefs, that a Shield Hero would be a total waste. And you'd be right...partially.

This is my story, but not as a Hero that saved the world from a great evil, and those 3 heroes will not be played as the main protagonist in the tale, they can fuck off and die for all I care. Because despite what the prophecy said, or what everyone would believe me to be.

I am not a Hero, and I'm damn glad I'm not.

Because Heroes don't exist.

Malromarc Castle

(Normal POV)

It all started in a Library, Naofumi was searching for some Manga to read in the Library where he found this old yet interesting story book about the 4 Legendary heroes fighting off a calamity that plagued the kingdom for centuries. It piqued his interest, so he decided to read it, the book tells about the origins of the Sword Hero, the Spear Hero and the Bow Hero, but when he was about to learn about the Shield Hero, there as nothing. The pages were blank, perhaps due to how old this book is, the ink on the pages faded off or the pages crumbled away into dust.

Disappointed at this, he stared at the blank and broken pages from this book, letting his imagination what could happen to the Shield Hero and what kind of adventures he'd be happening. But as he daydream about the idea, he was suddenly engulfed in a bright light.

The light fades and Naofumi is no longer in the library, now he stands in dark room with stone walls, iron sconces and tall 3 stained glass window which contain images of ancient warriors each wielding a sword, a spear and a bow.

Interesting thought Naofumi as he looks around until he noticed that he is not alone.

With him are 3 other teenage boys like me, close to his age and were from either college of still in high school. And surrounding them are a group of cloaked men, bowing to a drawn circle that Naofumi and the 3 boys are standing in the centre of.

"Fantastic, the summoning are a success" said one of the cloaked summoners around Naofumi and the other 3. "Brave Heroes, please save us from the Waves of Catastrophe."

"Huh?" said Naofumi as he rubs his head in confusion, he then noticed a slight weight on his arm and suddenly sees a small metal shield with a green jewel attached to his arm. "What the...where this shield come from."

"Sorry but we don't understand what you mean?" said one of the other 3 boys, the one wearing a green school blazer with grey pants a black shoes. He has curly blonde hair and golden eyes. "You said you want us to save you from a Catastrophe."

"The story behind it all is long and complicated" the head summoner tries to explain to the summoned four. "But suffice to say that you 4 are the legendary heroes destined to save us all, and that your were summoned here by an ancient ritual."

4 Legendary Heroes? Waves of Catastrophe? It sounds like that old book I just read in the Library. Thought Naofumi as he looks around. So this means that I'm a Hero too?

"So please, Legendary Heroes, please hear our tale and help us out against this upcoming threat to our Kingdom" the summoners plea to Naofumi and the other chosen heroes.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to hear you out..."

"Forget it"

"Huh?" exclaimed Naofumi as he turns to the Sword Hero, a black haired boy in a blue hoodie and black pants, he is wielding a Sword with a Blue Jewel. The Sword Hero is not happy with the fact that he was summoned without knowing or without his content.

"I also refuse" said the Bow Hero who is not happy also.

"You can send us back to our home world, right?" said the Spear Hero "Do that and we'll talk."

"You summoned the 4 of us without our consent" said the Sword Hero as he threatens the summoners with his sword. "Don't you feel at least guilty about it."

"Not to mention, if you throw us out once we restore the peace, we would've done all of this for nothing." said the Bow Hero

"So how are you willing to accommodate our requests?" said the Spear Hero "Depending on you answers, we may be ended up as you enemies instead of your allies."

Naofumi is dumbfounded at such selfishness coming from these guys, not heroic if you ask me.

Geez, what's with these guys huh? Thought Naofumi with this still dumbfounded look at the other 3 Heroes. They're not only taking this on stride, but they're already demanding for respect and rewards.

"G-Good sirs, before I say any more we would like all to make an audience with the King of Melromarc" said the head summoner. "You can discuss your negotiations with him there."

"Very well then" said the Sword Hero putting away his sword. "I suppose we'll at lease hear him out."

"Sure, why not" said the Spear Hero "Doesn't matter who we talk to, our demands are still the same."

Jeez, talk about being smug and full of themselves thought Naofumi as he and the other Heroes leave the room and escorted by the summoners.

The Heroes walk out what appears to be a castle dungeons where and up the stairways, Naofumi noticed the window and looks out to see this new world he is in. And the sight left him in awe, the city of Melromarc is beautiful, comparing it to Mediterranean town with their red roof tiles and white brick walls, not only that but the air is different than the normal air back home. More fresh and clean without any pollutants from cars and factories.

"Hey, you can sight see later" called out the Sword Hero as he noticed Naofumi at a distance.

"Oh, right" said Naofumi as he catches up to the other Heroes. I don't believe it, I'm in another world, it's like those Isekai Manga and Light Novels that I read.

Naofumi looks up at his shield on his arm.

And not only that, it seems I was sent here as one of the 4 Heroes to save the world from Evil. Thought Naofumi But still, I don't understand the purpose of the Shield, it's not a weapons...more like armour and you can kill with it.

Melromarc Throne Room

The Four Heroes arrive at the Throne Room where they're at the presence of Melromarc's King, he is an old man with long white hair and beard. He is dressed in a Royal Purple robe with gold ornaments and crown with a large amethyst on the centre. There he sits on the throne of Melromarc and begins to welcome the 4 Heroes.

"So, the 4 Heroes of Legend are here, then allow me to welcome you all to the Kingdom of Melromarc." said the King. "I am King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, now please tell me your names."

"I am Ren Amaki, High-school Student and Age 16" said the Sword Hero

"I am Motoyasu Kitamura, College Student and Age 21" said the Spear Hero

"I am Itsuki Kawasumi, High-school Student and Age 17" said the Bow Hero

"And I am..."

"Good" said the King, interrupting Naofumi's introduction as if he wasn't here. "Ren, Motoyasu and Itsuki..."

"Excuse me, your majesty" Naofumi called out, catching the King's attention "Sorry to interrupt but I didn't get to introduce myself."

"Huh, oh yes, forgive me" said the King as he hadn't realised that there were 4 and not 3 Heroes presented to him. "Please, introduce yourself, Shield Hero."

"Thank you, I am Naofumi Iwatani, College Student and Age 2..." said Naofumi

"Now then" said the King as he rudely interrupted Naofumi's introductions. "I suppose I need to tell you why I have brought you here."

Is he ignoring me? thought Naofumi, the rude King explains the reason of the summoning while forgetting that Naofumi is even here.

"My beloved Kingdom of Melromarc and the rest of the world are about to stumble into the path of ruin and despair..."

(Overlord's POV)

That pompous King deliberately interrupted me as if I wasn't here. But he explained everything to us that day. You see the prophets in the Kingdom of Melromarc predicted that the Waves of Catastrophe will arrive to plague the world into ruin and it the waves aren't stopped then its the end of the world. But thanks to these prophets, the Kingdom is prepared for the arrival of these Waves. Every Kingdom in Melromarc has in possession of a Holy Item called the Dragon Hourglass. The sands in the hourglass will pour down until every grain has fallen, that is when the next wave will occur.

Melromarc has experienced these waves before, and they suffered major casualties by fending off the monsters and emerge from them. The first wave was easy to fend off, but each time the waves grow powerful than the next, introducing new monsters to face and thus increasing the number of casualties.

The next wave will arrive in less than a month.

(End of POV)

"...we have underestimated the potency of the waves, after experiencing the other in the past we know that we no longer have the strength to fend off the next, and realised that only the legendary Heroes could counter them." said the King "So we followed the Legend and summoned you here, but now we have no time to lose."

So I was right, it's like the tale from that book, the King's explanation is exact to the letter. Thought Naofumi

"OK, I think I understand" said Ren, though his face shows that he isn't really interested in the slighted. "But you didn't think we could be doing this all for free."

"No, oh course not" said the King's advisor. "Once you dispose of the wave, I assure you that you will be rewarded handsomely."

"Is that right?" said Motoyasu, now he's getting interested when rewards are mentioned. "Well I suppose we don't have much of a choice then. Count us in."

"Long as you don't renege, we'll work for you" said Ren "but don't think for a second that you can tame us."

"Exactly" said Itsuki. "We won't be put up with you looking down on us."

"Y-Yeah" Naofumi said before palming his head at his fellow Hero. Good Lord, are they full of themselves.

"If I trust that we reached an agreeable arrangement, then I would like to ask you all to check your Heroic Status." said the King

"Huh? A status?" said Naofumi turning to the King. "What's that?"

"Yeah, we all want to know that." said Itsuki with a confused look.

"You serious, you should know by now when you first arrived here" said Ren

Oh don't go trying and sound all smart, thought Naofumi with an unimpressed look at Ren.

"Don't you see the icon in the down-right corner of your vision?" said Ren to Itsuki, not noticing Naofumi pulling a face at him.

Naofumi then noticed something, exactly what Ren said there is a green dot with white border corners on the down right corner of his vision.

"Oh yeah, now I see it." said Naofumi

"Now try focusing on it" said Ren

"Ok" said Naofumi as he focuses on the icon. Suddenly a transparent status window appears with the reading of his Heroic Status, along with his HP, MP, Level, and other attributes such as Strength, Speed, Defence, etc. "Whoa, incredible."

Naofumi looks at his status and the status window reads as:

Naofumi Iwatani

Shield Hero Lv1

Equip: Small Shield (Legendary Weapon)

Out-world Clothing

Items

Magic

Skills

Attack: 1

Defence: 35

Agility: 9

Health 22

Mana: 22

Agility: 10

Luck:10

"Ok, this is getting weird now" said Naofumi "It feels like we are all in some MMORPG Game"

"Don't you mean VR-MMO?" said Ren with a raised brow at Naofumi

"Wait, what?" said Naofumi by surprise, causing Ren to sigh and shake his head at the Shield Hero.

"Virtual Reality Mass Multiplayer Online" said Ren "Surely you know that term."

"Er…no, I have not."

"Me neither, all I played was Emerald Online, which is Japan's popular MMO 6 years running."

"Don't you mean Towns and Dungeons, with various expansions and promising updates after being online with 5 years now." said Itsuki casually while the rest of the heroes, including Naofumi are confused.

Naofumi is baffled at what the 3 heroes are referencing about and he has never heard of any of these games or terms before. He ponders and wonders if they're all from their own version of Japan, 4 parallel Japans which is shocking for the newly appointed Shield Hero to imagine. But his curiosity is cut off however when the King suddenly speaks.

"Now then, since you've been chosen as the 4 heroes of legends, keep in mind that you will not be alone in your quest to get strong for the incoming calamities" said the King

"Does that mean we must work together" said Ren, though his expression is pleasing as he's the kind who works alone.

"No, the legendary weapons shouldn't be near with the others as it disrupts the progress of levelling up you status" said King "Instead, I have gather willing volunteers here so they can choose who to pair with the 3 you."

"Er...don't you mean 4 of us?" said Naofumi

"Y-Yes, that is correct" said King as he discreetly compose his mistake so that no one would notice, Naofumi however is getting suspicious, but he shook it off as a common mishap.

The doors of the throne room opens, the 4 Heroes turn their attention to the opened door when a handful of people enter to approach them and the King.

"Welcome all, and thank you for volunteering to be party members of the Legendary Heroes" said the King "Now take your time making a decision and approach to the Hero of your choice."

Naofumi is a bit nervous, sure he knows its common to have party member to assist him on this quest on saving the world, but this is a new world he is in and everyone here are complete strangers. The other heroes aren't nervous though, Ren is indifferent though as he doesn't feel comfortable having a party to assist him since he prefers to work alone. Itsuki is okay with a party but he wants to play smart and see if any who want to pair with him would benefit his progress. Motoyasu however just showed what kind of man he is, a womanizer as his party is mainly female based as if he has his own Harem.

The volunteers made their decision...but none decided to pair with Naofumi, this shocked and surprised him.

"Hmm, it seems the Shield Hero has no party members to join" said King "How unfortunate."

"Wait, how come nobody wants to join my party?" said Naofumi

"Well it's quite obvious" said Ren "You should know, in RPG games Shield-bearers are the weakest class."

"Yeah, that class is so unpopular it was decommissioned in one of the updates in Emerald Online" said Motoyasu "It's very unfortunate."

"Sorry" said Itsuki shrugging his shoulders to pity Naofumi.

"Oh man" Naofumi moaned while he drop on his knees. He grit his teeth at such injustice on how people would overlook and avoid him because of a class he wasn't even given by choice. If he were someone else who can fight then it be a different matter. This is not fair, they didn't even give be a chance, its as if they hate me despite the fact I just got here. "Hey, your majesty! Can't you at least let me have one from their party."

"The volunteers made their decision, I cannot force them to leave their chosen parties so that you can have a few who do not wish be." said the King "It's wouldn't be fair."

"Damn it!" exclaimed Naofumi

"Excuse me"

Everyone suddenly turns their attention to one of Motoyasu's all female party. A young beautiful woman who is at the age rate as the 4 heroes with long auburn hair and green eyes. She is wearing a purple dress with a brown leather cuirass over her chest. She curtsied to the king and smiles politely which enhanced her beauty, even Naofumi was at awe at the auburn haired woman.

"My Lord, it wouldn't be fair for the Shield Hero to venture on without at least one with him" said the girl "I would like to reconsider my choice and assist the Shield Hero instead."

Motoyasu is not happy about this and wanted to protest, but he stopped and remembered that she volunteered to join his party first, only to change her mind later. So it's really her choice and not his.

Naofumi feels relieved to have at least one party member willing to join him.

"Very well, then" said the King as he waves a gesture to permit the girls request. The girl leaves Motoyasu's party, much to the Spear Hero's dismay and stands next to Naofumi.

"T-Thank you" said Naofumi

The girl said nothing, but she smiled to reply his thanks.

"Now that's done with" said the King as he waves a gesture to his chancellor to give each a hero a sack, inside contains a bundle of coins as they jingle inside. "To aid you, each will be given a monthly allowance to help you prepare yourselves. Be in mind that you will get paid monthly so spend it wisely."

Naofumi place puts the money in Items with suddenly a message box appears in his sight.

800 pieces of silver obtained

Naofumi was shocked at the amount when suddenly the King spoke.

"Since the Shield Hero has less party members than the rest, he'll be more compensated on his first payment." said the King, this however did not bode well for the 3 Heroes as they leer at Naofumi since they only got 500 pieces each. Especially Motoyasu as he has to lose a female party member because none would pair with the Weak Shield Hero. "And now I must bid you good luck on your quest, Heroes of Legend. Grow strong for your battles against the Calamities, and bring peace to the world."

Outside the Castle Gates

The Four Heroes left the castle in their own separate ways, all with their own party so they can start their quests and get strong for the incoming wave of calamity. Naofumi is hesitant to leave as he is about to traverse onto an unknown world. No longer is he in Japan and no longer is he a college student studying in Tokyo, he is now a hero with a destiny.

"This is really huge for me" said Naofumi slowly composing himself before turning to his only party member and smiled. "But I'll be fine with you to help me."

He offer his hand to his only party member.

"And since we're working together, an introduction is in order" said Naofumi "My name is Naofumi Iwatani"

the female adventurer smiled and took Naofumi's hand and shook it.

"Myne" the female adventurer reveal her name. "Myne Sophia"

"Nice to meet you" said Naofumi while shaking Myne's hand. "So...any suggestion on where to start?"

Myne took a while to think, only for a moment until she thought of something.

"Well, we could start with gearing up, it'd be foolish to leave the village since the wilds are infested with monsters...even though the nearby monsters are irritating Orange Balloons." said Myne

"Yeah, you make a fair point" said Naofumi as he realised that he's not wearing armour and has nothing but the Shield on his arm. "So we'll head to a smithy then."

"It's not far from the castle, just a few blocks" said Myne pointing at the direction.

"Ok then, lets go!" said Naofumi with newfound enthusiasm, he leaves the castle and begins his new life as a Hero.

But as Naofumi make his firsts steps onto Malromarc, Myne watches Naofumi and smirks discreetly before joining him to the village.

(Overlord's POV)

This is the first time and the last I will believe in Heroes, and when I'll discover the true face of betrayal from those I just met. I didn't know Myne was smirking maliciously and plotting a scheme to harm me, but like I said.

This is the first AND last time I'll be a Hero.

End of Chapter