Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord.
Chapter 1: A Second Chance
Sitting alone atop a magnificent throne of obsidian, Momonga let out a small sigh as he leaned his skeletal back upon the gigantic world item, attempting to spend the final moments of Yggdrasil as comfortably as he could.
He tried his best to ignore mundane issues from real life such as the fact that work would start at 4 am the following morning, therefore only leaving him around four hours to rest once he logged off. The reason was because this was the final time he would get to be a part of this world...the final time he could call himself Momonga. So in light of the past 12 years, he wanted to dedicate every ounce of his attention to a place that contained his fondest memories even if it was a virtual one.
Despite all the time that had passed, Momonga could still imagine the chatter and laughter from his fellow guild mates as they interacted. He closed his eyes and smiled warmly as familiar memories of his friends surfaced one by one, allowing him to relive everything that they had experienced together.
Eventually his mind settled on one particular strong and fond memory from when it all began, something he had experienced when he was weak and constantly hunted by other players. Had this particular incident involving a heroic paladin not happened, Momonga couldn't say with confidence that he would still be around. The way he had seemingly appeared from nowhere in order to save him despite them being strangers.
"He was always going on about justice haha. I wonder how Touch Me is doing nowadays?" Momonga whispered as his gaze naturally landed upon a particular flag inscribed with the Paladin's emblem.
Although he didn't know much about their former clan's leader outside of the game, Momonga was aware that his friend was apparently fairly well off in real life. Not only was he married to a lovely wife but eventually became a father too. Furthermore, Touch Me also had a stable government job which supposedly had something to do with law enforcement. To be honest, Momonga had to admit that there was times when he felt a certain level of jealousy towards his friend, especially when he found out more about the astronomical difference between them in real life. After all, Touch Me had it all whether it be riches, fame and family. Heck, he was even better than Momonga was in the game, even when the latter dedicated almost every second of his free time trying to get better at the virtual game.
But ultimately in the end, his sense of admiration always prevailed and overwhelmed every other negative emotion. To be able to hold onto such a respectable set of ideals even in game was truly awe inspiring after all.
Momonga had never admitted this out loud to anyone before, but he always had a childhood dream of becoming a hero. Even in the real world as a kid, Satoru would sometimes dream about eventually being someone rich enough to provide assistance to the poor. He had always thought that if you were in a position of power to be able to help someone, then you were fortunate. Perhaps it was because he wanted to feel loved and needed considering his loner status in real life, but there was something about seeing other people's smiles that really warmed his heart.
Of course, reality turned out to be extremely different from his hopeful imaginations, and the once colorful world of his childhood had gradually turned black and white. Forget helping others...he was almost at the point of asking desperately for help.
So when Momonga met someone who embodied those qualities that he had once sought out himself, it went without saying why he respected Touch Me so much. Sure there were times when his attitude would cause conflict with other members, most notably Ulbert, but he never saw his actions as incorrect and even strived to mimic even just a fraction of his heroics.
There was no way Momonga could ever become someone helpful in real life given his situation, so Yggdrasil was naturally the only place he could.
"But its a little too late for that now." Directing his gaze toward the top left corner of his UI, Momonga watched in silence as the final seconds of Yggdrasil drifted by.
23:59:58
"I wish I got to experience what it feels like to be a Hero to the humans instead of an undead overlord."
23:59:59
In this split second, two things happened far too quickly for Momonga to register. The first of of which was the disappearance of a small buff icon resembling a throne on his screen.
The second was a message that disappeared so fast that he missed it entirely.
"...has logged in"
00:00:00
Momonga blinked several times just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. You see, his view had drastically changed over the course of roughly about 1 second, from originally his guild throne room to...what looked like the middle of a rocky road in the middle of goodness knows where. The scene was certainly not one he was particularly familiar with for never in his lifetime had he ever been in such a wide open green land filled with lush green trees on the sides.
Whats even more odd was the fact that...
"Wait a minute...was the game not supposed to end at midnight? Did the game developers make one last special event or something?" Momonga murmured to no one in particular as his mind went on overdrive, desperately doing it's best to come up with a plausible explanation for his current situation. How else could he have been forcibly teleported to the middle of nowhere?
But just when he arrived at one possible outcome, another more eye-catching detail caught his attention.
His vision was as unhindered and clear as it was in real life...meaning it lacked a few bits of information that he should have otherwise been able to see in game.
Aka the player UI.
His hp/mana bar, player name, level, mini map, server chat and even the clock were all gone, ultimately returning him back to square one with the most fundamental question once again taking the forefront of his mind.
"Where am I?" Momonga whispered in utter confusion, raising his long skeletal fingers to scratch his character's bony skull completely out of habit. But when he completed said gesture, he let out a small yelp in surprise.
Because his fingers had made contact with flesh.
"Whats going on? Am I not in game right?" Hurrying to confirm his growing concern, Satoru immediately withdraw his hands, bringing both of them up for inspection. As he had feared, two normal human hands filled his vision. Furthermore, as he lowered his gaze to inspect his current attire, the black-haired man found himself dressed in his usual work outfit which consisted of a set of black business pants and a blazer which was worn atop a wrinkle-less white t-shirt with a grey tie. It was the standard office dress code and needless to say, it was what he had worn to work today.
"So I'm not Momonga but Satoru right now? But this place looks nothing like reality?"
The skies were far too blue and the vast expense of nature that lay before him looked far too green for his reality to match. Heck, it would be a miracle to be able to breath without a gas mask in his world yet...here he could enjoy endless mouthfuls of fresh air without tasting even the slightest trace of pollution.
Something was wrong...very wrong.
Satoru decided to take a different approach by using the process of elimination. After all, if this was the game, he should still be able to use certain abilities or perhaps a console command of some sort.
Message: GM call!
But there was no response. Heck, rather than no response, it was like nothing even happened. You see, even if one was unable to get through to GMs in game, the player would at the very least be notified visually of it as well as hear the usual sound of phone dialing during the calling process.
But right now, not a single thing happened as Satoru mentally repeated the GM call signal over and over again. All he was doing right now was wasting brain power since it didn't seem like this particular console command even existed.
But he still had a few more tests to run through first before coming to a final conclusion. Next, he wanted to try and see if he could access any items that his character should have possessed. Taking a deep breath, Satoru reached out into the space directly in front of him with his right hand whilst visualizing a dimensional portal in his mind, a process he would commonly repeat in game to draw out certain items when the need arose.
However this experiment proved futile as well, with his hands touching nothing but the cool morning air that surrounded the man.
Finally, Satoru decided to try and confirm the last aspect that was bothering his mind. Was he able to use any magic? This idea seemed rather ludicrous seeing as how his previous two experiments ended up in failure, but it was still something worth finding out now.
In light of that thought, the black-haired man decided to focus his mind and cease any unnecessary movements much like he would when preparing to cast a spell in game. Then by directing all his inner strength towards his right hand, Satoru thrust his arm forward before yelling out the spell he had chosen in as dramatic a fashion as possible.
Maximized magic: Call greater thunder!
Zero, Zilch, Nada.
The only sound that echoed in the otherwise quiet area was a couple of crows flying overheard, squawking loudly as they did so. If Satoru didn't know any better, he would have thought that the passing birds were calling him an idiot.
AHOOOOO! AHOOOOO! AHOOOOO! (Author note: AHO means idiot in Japanese.)
"Hmmmm, so I truly am in my normal human form huh? I can't do anything that Momonga can do...not even a magic circle formed when I was trying to cast the spell." Satoru grit his teeth as he stared as his open palms, still having trouble coming to terms with his current predicament.
To be honest, Satoru was feeling extremely worried...almost horrified. After all, he was a man who didn't really do well in the face of unexpected events, instead preferring to plan out and stick to a familiar routine day in and day out. So when something like this happened out of the blue, it wasn't difficult to explain why he was sweating buckets without the slightest clue on what to do.
And before you ask, yes...he already gave his cheeks a good pinch.
This was without a doubt...reality or at least his new reality anyway. Rather, it seemed more accurate to describe it as a mix for he was still the same old regular guy from his own world but for whatever reason...he had been thrown into a fantasy world that seemed somewhat similar to Yggdrasil. Although he had never seen this particular landscape before in game, the general feel and beauty of the scenery greatly resembled the game.
Somehow he had gotten himself transported into an alternate reality.
But see, this was precisely what caused several shivers down his spine. In a world where he knew little to nothing, there was simply no telling what sort of challenges he, as a regular human being, would have to face. For instance, if magic existed in this world, then it was safe to say without a hint of doubt that he was screwed. Not only did he not have the means to retaliate from a magical point of view, but Satoru was also not the most physically gifted individual from even his own world standards. He had never received any form of combat training whatsoever, nor could he even run fast. You could even give the man a gun and he would have no idea how to use it. In order words, he was absolutely defenseless right now and any false moves could be his last.
Fight or flight...it was funny how both didn't really seem like an option to Satoru right now.
Either way though, he couldn't just dawdle all day for a slight grumble of his stomach followed by a bone chilling morning freeze ultimately reminded him that he now had 2 basic human needs that needed tending to.
Warmth and food.
The problem was, he had neither.
"Welp, no use sitting here. Might as well see what I can do." But it was then that it dawned on him that he was currently sitting on a rather hard seat...one that oddly brought about a sense of comfort to him despite its uncomfortable surface. Spinning around on this particular seat, his eyes grew wide with recognition at the giant, almost monument-like structure.
"This is...the Throne of Kings?"
It wasn't normally something that brought about a sense of joy within him for he originally saw it as nothing but an additional piece of furniture within the throne room. But right now, it was a sight sweet enough to almost bring a tear to his eye, for it was about the only thing in this world right now that was familiar to him.
Scanning his environment, nothing else from his guild could be seen. Not the tomb, and certainly not any NPCs.
He was alone.
"So why is the Throne of Kings here?" He pondered whilst inspecting it's obsidian surface closely as though hoping to find the answer inscribed upon it's surface. In order to get a better view of the giant object, Satoru stood up and backed off a couple of steps. Yet when he did so, the giant monument erupted into million specks of light before it's particles gathered on Satoru, bathing him in a warm and comforting protection. In an instant, the blinding spectacle had vanished, seemingly seeping into his body before filling him with renewed vigor.
But that wasn't the end of the good news, for a message filled his vision.
The effects of World Item: Throne of Kings has been activated.
Your wish has been granted Suzuki Satoru, go forth and venture on your journey as a hero!
Below are your stats:
Name: Suzuki Satoru
Total Level: 1
Exp to next Level : N/A (Max has been reached)
Race: Immortal Human
Job Level: Cheater (1)
Unique Skills (3/3):
-Compliance with Law (Unique Armor)
-Enforcement of Law (Unique Weapon)
-A Knight's vow (Two-time use skill)
Be sure to memorize this information, as it will disappear in 5 seconds.
"What?! It'll disappear? Errrr... Lets just memorize the skills first then!" Satoru eyes darted across the screen at the speed of light, doing their best to capture and remember the most important parts only. "Compliance with Law? Isn't that Touch Me's armor?"
Before long, the imaginary window vanished from sight, leaving Satoru was still a bit dazed from the events that had just transpired. With the Throne of Kings gone, the black-haired man had a couple of minutes to spare to himself, trying to go over everything he had just learnt.
So apparently he possessed some form of power in this world, albeit a somewhat strange one and he wasn't sure if it would really even work or if it was all some sort of elaborate prank. Either way, he was certain the time would come for him to test it. In fact he would love to use it right now just for a trial but every single one of his brain cells, that weren't out of commission from shock, were dedicated on their mission to memorize and ingrain all the information he had just received into the back of his mind.
After all, it would totally suck to forget one of his skills now and not be able to ever use it again, especially since he apparently only had 3. Before he could lose himself in thought again however, his stomach once again growled angrily, showing displeasure at it's lack of attention.
"Right, I still gotta do something about food and shelter." Once again scanning his every direction, Satoru managed to get a better grasp on his bearings. Perhaps due to his currently elevated position atop a mini hill of some sort, the black-haired man even managed to spot what seemed like a small settlement just a little ways off in the distance. It didn't look to be particularly big and it's rather...bland and old design once again reinforced the idea that Satoru was in fact in an alternate universe. Although he could only speculate as he was much too far for an accurate inspection.
"Might as well head over there and hopefully get some sort of help from the villagers." Satoru murmured before taking a step, only to realize an irregular weight hanging off his shoulders. "Hmmm what is this?"
Initially horrified that some sort of monster might be clinging to his back, Satoru breathed a rather loud sigh of relief when he realized it was just an ordinary backpack.
"Perhaps this is another gift from the Throne of Kings?"
With curiosity dominating his mind, Satoru opened up the bag cautiously, which looked like something that belonged in his modern day world, only to find contents which oddly brought a smile to his face. After all, he had managed to find several common yet useful items, all of which he recognized as belonging to Yggdrasil.
To take a quick stock of his items, there were:
-5 Minor Healing potions
-Several magic scrolls
-1 revival wand
-A rather large trench coat
-A small pouch of 20 Yggdrasil coins
-A small quantity of apples, strawberries and bananas
"Wow!" Satoru exclaimed with gleaming eyes, particularly at the last set of items on the list as he could already feel his mouth watering at the deliciously ripe selection of fruit before him. You see, in Satoru's world, raw fruits and vegetables were luxury goods that only the rich could afford to have regularly. For someone who was doing everything he could to get by, such delicacies were certainly not on his everyday menu hence the reason behind his rather childish behavior at the moment.
Deciding to sate his hunger immediately, the man found a nice patch of soft grass before beginning his feast, eating much slower than he normally would in order to savor every bite. However, he did decide to save a bit of the fruit as he had no idea of knowing when and where he could purchase his next meal.
Once Satoru satisfied his stomach, he threw on the large trench coat before once again setting his eyes upon the not-too-distant town, completely ignorant of the fact that he was making his way towards his very first fight.
"What is going on?" Having made his way into the town, Satoru glanced around in confusion at the lack of life. Although he had only just arrived at the very outskirts of it, he was certain that he had seen people wandering about their business when initially scouting the area atop the mountaintop just half an hour ago.
So why was there not a single soul around?
To be completely honest, the boy was feeling fairly nervous right now. It didn't take a genius to figure out that something was...well fishy for a lack of a better word, and Satoru knew that he could potentially land himself in some sort of mess fairly soon. Doing so could prove to be fatal especially in a world where he knew close to nothing about.
Power, Magic, items, resources...he knew none of this. As this was a completely new world, he would have to effectively refresh his standards of what was normal and what was not. Heck for all he knew, people might possess strength equal to that of an elephant or maybe everyone could fly by farting...who knows? The point was, anything was possible and he needed to stay alert if he planned on proceeding.
Opting to stay cautious, Satoru decided to stay close to the shadows, only moving from the covers of one building to the next when he was absolutely certain that the coast was clear. For some reason, he noticed that he was a lot more nimble than he remembered, with his sprinting being fairly agile and quiet.
He still wasn't sure where he was supposed to be going of course, but figured that if something were to happen, it would be at the town square (thanks to his extensive knowledge of animes and manga). All of a sudden he caught wind of several men yelling, the noise being fairly close to his position.
Immediately ducking into cover, Satoru turned a few corners while staying close to the walls of some neatly aligned houses, eventually getting close enough to the source of noise to be able to understand it.
"I'll admit you are powerful and a competent fighter, but this girl may get badly injured if you dare take another step."
After making sure that he was in the clear, Satoru carefully peeked from the corner of his hideout only to find a battle taking place. Amidst a ring of soldiers who donned what looked like silver plate armor decorated with blue cloth underneath complete with a helmet, sword and a shield with golden engravings on it's surface, there were a group of people dressed in nothing but ordinary...if not poorly maintained clothing. They were probably the villagers of this town.
'But why were they being treated like prisoners?' The black-haired man pondered as he surveyed the armored group in detail. They were clearly soldiers no matter how you looked at it but Satoru didn't have a clue which country they belonged to. He didn't mean to look down on them or anything but the dorky helmet they wore really made them feel like poorly designed mob characters in a game.
Shaking his head, Satoru had to momentarily remind himself that he was not in a game, and that a simple swing of those silver swords that those soldiers wielded could spell the end of his life. And it would really suck to get owned on his first day in this fantasy world.
'Still doesn't explain this situation though...' If they were soldiers, why were they attacking what looked like an ordinary village? One could only assume that this village belonged to a different country than those soldiers, but usually one had something to gain from invading. Otherwise it would be a simple declaration of war, but that seemed kind of weird too considering the fact that there were only about 20 or so of them. 'Hmmmm...I would like to get a clearer picture of the situation before jumping in but...it seems kind of clear which side is the victim and which side is the oppressor especially when it seems like only one person is capable of holding their own against the soldiers.'
"You cowards, do you feel no shame in holding a defenseless villager hostage?" A beautiful young woman with flowing long blonde hair yelled at her opposition but her emerald eyes couldn't hide the worry that she felt every time she glanced at the sword that gleamed menacingly just inches away from the hostage's throat. "How dare you treat unarmed villagers in such a fashion."
"Hahaha we are enemies on the battlefield regardless of whether they are armed or not. Besides you were the one who fiercely knocked my men down one by one when all we want is take you all back to our kingdom as prisoners." Although the soldier's features were heavily obscured by the helmet, Satoru still frowned at the smug cruel grin that enemy commander wore. His tone was more than enough to suggest that he was enjoying this situation. Rather than tending to his injured men, he was instead relishing in his sadistic nature whilst holding a sword at a hostage's throat.
"I wouldn't have attacked your men if you guys didn't come to kidnap everyone here." The blonde-haired girl replied whilst readjusting her grip on her great sword which had a blade that Satoru could describe as black as the night.
"Haha, fair enough. I guess anything goes in war." The commander replied cockily before directing his gaze once more on the female warrior. "But that is enough idle chatter as I too have a mission to complete. Either you drop your sword right this instance or this girl breathes her last. Take your pick!"
"Don't worry about me Lakyus-san, do what you have to do to..." The hostage yelled but was silenced with a slap to the face.
"Onee chan!" A very small child with reddish-brown hair from the huddled villagers rose to her feet despite protests from her fellow town members. "Let my sister go!"
"Don't Nemu! Be quiet."
"Hohhh, so you have a sister huh? Bring her over!"
A soldier brought over the screaming and kicking child to the commander's side, his smirk clearly displaying his enjoyment of what was to come. Now that he had both sisters as hostages, he once again began to negotiate with the blonde warrior.
"It was Lakyus wasn't it?" The commander remembered what the hostage had called her. "Are you perhaps more inclined to lay down your weapon now? Or do we need to send both these sisters to the afterlife before you are satisfied."
"...You cowards." Lakyus gritted her teeth in frustration, knowing that her back was against the wall.
"Tell you what, I'll make you a deal." The commander said before offering as genuine a smile as he could. "If you surrender yourself to us, we shall not lay a finger on any of these villagers and will even leave at once. What do you say?"
"No, don't Lakyus-san, you aren't a part of this village, don't worry about us!"
"It's okay, everything will be fine Enri-san." With those words said, Lakyus let go of her great sword, allowing it to drop with several loud clangs on the rocky floor before lifting both her hands in defeat. "I surrender."
"Heheh, looks like we have not just a heroic warrior here but a smart one too." The commander responded with victory written all over his ugly mug before signalling for several of his men. "Tie her up and bring her to me."
A couple of armor soldiers confiscated her weapon before binding Lakyus's hands with a coil of thick rope, shoving her towards their commander.
"Now that the fight is over, let us start over with the pleasantries. My name is Belius and I am the captain of this squad. It is a pleasure to meet you Lakyus."
"I will never associate myself with someone who would resort to hurting a small defenseless child." The blonde-haired beauty glanced away in defiance, obviously disgusted by the individual before her.
"Hahaha, I like your spirit. Hmm..." Belius paused for a minute before his face twisted into a evil grin, forcing her to face him. "Now that I take a closer look, you are quite an attractive woman, perhaps even of noble birth considering your fancy clothing. Perhaps I shall take you back home with me."
"Tchhh. You promised to leave the village alone and leave once I surrendered, so follow through with your promise already."
"Oh my, aren't you a foolish one? Did you know that promises can be easily broken?"
"But you..."
"Let's go boys, slaughter every last one of them!"
"You lying piece of trash!" Lakyus tried to get up but was quickly pinned down by a couple of soldiers, and could only watch mortified as the armed soldiers gradually advanced on the defenseless villagers. "Please don't!"
To be honest, Satoru was ashamed of himself for watching the situation from the safety of his cover instead of jumping out to help sooner. If Touch Me saw him acting in such a way, he would surely scold him for being such a coward and not helping others immediately in the face of danger.
Truth was, a part of him was still horrified of jumping out there. After all, he had never been in a school fight before let alone an all out battle where he could potentially die. He hadn't seen the soldiers fight yet so he had no idea what they were capable of, but something in the back of his mind told him that a soldier of any kind would probably be more adept at combat than he was.
But as he watched the scene unfold all the way up to Lakyus's surrender, Satoru could feel an immeasurable sense of guilt rising up from his chest. No only did Lakyus step up and do what he couldn't do by defending the people but was also willing to give herself up to the enemy in order to save people from a village that she wasn't even a part of. In more ways than one, she really reminded Satoru of a certain Paladin he had respected in Yggdrasil.
Perhaps this was the real reason why Satoru felt attracted to Lakyus and not just because of her breath-taking beauty.
"Lets do this! Saving someone who is in trouble is common sense after all!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Satoru charged out from his hiding place, heading straight for the pinned Lakyus. There was way too many soldiers for him to handle all alone and it was likely that he would just get cut down if he tried to protect the villagers. Therefore it was in his best interest to free Lakyus who had a much better fighting chance than he did.
"Uroohhhhhh!" Silently cursing himself for not exercising more back in the real world, Satoru placed every ounce of strength into his feet, relying on the element of surprise in order to push away Lakyus's captives.
His war cry apparently had it's intended effect as the two soldiers he was targeting stood dazed whilst he rapidly closed the distance in between. In just a couple of seconds, Satoru was within attack range, carefully aiming a kick at the exposed area of both soldier's helmet. Although extremely sloppy and probably looked laughable in the eyes of a warrior, Satoru's wild attack paid off, sending both grown men flying backwards into the rocky road.
Unfortunately it was a double edged sword as Satoru tried desperately to hold back the girly scream that threatened to escape his lips from the pain that the impact had caused his feet. He had probably angled the kick wrong and ultimately nicked his shin against their metallic helmet.
'Be a man! Got stay focused and look cool!' He mentally yelled.
He quickly kneeled down and gently helped Lakyus up from the floor, knowing full well that her movements were hindered due to her hands being tightly bound.
"Are you alright? Does it hurt badly anywhere?" He whispered as calmly as possible, hoping not to let any of his nervousness show.
"Thanks for helping me, but where did you come from? Who are you?" They were currently face to face and Satoru found it a little difficult to direct his gaze away from her attractive features, instead opting to focus on untying her hands.
"I'm Suzuki Satoru. Don't worry, I'm not your enemy but I need your help with the soldiers once I untie you." Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he tried desperately to free Lakyus from her constraints. The enemy was still here and somehow he had a feeling that they weren't going to be nice enough to wait for him to finish before attacking.
"Watch out Suzuki-san!" Lakyus yelled out before roughly pushing him to the side upon seeing a soldier raising a sword offensively behind him.
Although he was the original target, Lakyus had pushed him out of the way but the soldier had already commenced his attack. It was already too late to stop the blade's trajectory which was currently heading straight for her instead.
'Crap! She'll get killed at this rate!'
But there was simply no time for him to react as he watched helplessly on his back as the soldier's swing continued to descend downwards.
However, the strangest thing happened milliseconds before the blade reached Lakyus.
"What's going on?" Satoru said out loud in confusion, hoping to hear an answer from someone else. "Its almost like..."
Time froze...
Whether it be the villagers, soldiers, the commander and even Lakyus, everyone had halted in place without exception. What's more, Satoru himself couldn't move a muscle, only able to study everything within his peripheral vision.
"This is..."
"What's wrong Suzuki Satoru?"
"Whose there?!" Robbed of the ability to move just like everyone else he could see, Satoru couldn't even speak but somehow his voice managed to project itself upon thinking. Like he could convey his thoughts out loud.
"I am a part of you, Satoru."
"Part of me?" Satoru questioned the robotic voice in return. "You don't sound like me."
"Trying to be funny I see. No matter, I can tolerate your jokes because I can see them coming from a mile away."
"Fine but you still haven't told me who you are."
"Like I said, I am a part of you. But if I had to be more specific, I am the dormant powers that lie within you, the powers you yourself wished to possess in order to protect others with. The reason I am talking to you right now is simply because you felt a very strong urge to protect someone just now, a feeling strong enough to force me to awaken from my slumber."
"Strong urge to protect?" Satoru would have raised an eyebrow if he could.
"That's right, her name was Lakyus was it not?"
"What has this got to do with her?"
"So are you telling me that you are fine if I unfreeze time right here and now? If I do, Lakyus will surely receive a fatal wound. But I guess you don't mind..."
"Wait wait, alright, I know where you are going with this. I admit it, I want to save her especially since she just saved me. But I'm powerless to do anything on my own."
"That's why I'm here to guide you, at least until that happens."
"Until what happens?"
"Never mind that now. For now you shall focus on the task at hand and save the one you desire."
"But I just told you that I'm powerless!"
"And I just told you, then I'm here to guide you. Don't be such a worrywart and let me help."
"Fine, what do I need to do?"
"Just sit back and watch."
"Okay..."
"Activating unique skill : Compliance with Law!"
A bright aura of light erupted from Satoru's still frozen body, slowly encasing him in a refreshing and invigorating layer as though a layer of comforting warmth slowly spread across his skin. Eventually the light reached his head before enveloping his entire body.
Then without any form of warning, time unfroze.
Clang!
The shrill sound of metal against metal filled the ears of everyone present in the village followed by a loud gasp that came from behind Satoru.
Lakyus who had mentally prepared herself for the end, opened her eyes only to find an individual clad completely in a shining platinum white armor in front. Since he was facing away from her, she couldn't see the suit's every detail but a powerful yet gently aura could be felt from the mysterious individual. It was as though they radiated an aura of a hero like one you would find in a fairy tail story.
Nonetheless, Lakyus found herself overwhelmed with awe as she herself had always been a fan of the many tales his uncle had told her about powerful adventurers and fairy tale heroes. And the Paladin that filled her vision seemed to embody that image.
The silver knight immediately knocked the attacker unconscious before spinning around to face the blonde-haired beauty. Satoru, who was currently encased in the armor, quickly spoke up to alleviate her confusion.
"Uhmmm...Lakyus was it? It's me Suzuki Satoru. Sorry if I shocked you or anything."
"Suzuki-san?"
"Yup, errrr let me quickly untie you." Satoru freed her bound hands before offering her a hand up. "I hate to ask this of you so soon, but would you help me rescue those villagers?"
"Yes!" Lakyus responded enthusiastically, her eyes still gleaming in awe at the Paladin. Never in her wildest dreams, did she expect to meet such a interesting individual right at the start of her journey to become an adventurer. But she would have to set those thoughts aside for now because there was a more important issue ahead of the pair.
"Ready Lakyus?"
"Whenever you are Suzuki-san."