Outsider Chronicles: Overlord Age

O...K, I wasn't expecting this. When I was reborn into a world that I'm pretty sure was Mass Effect, I was gearing up for some serious fun watching people fumble, even if I would be getting on a bit when it finally rolled around. What I wasn't expecting was to end up in an entirely new world after my favorite video game ended. Well, this is gonna be fun

OK, I admit it, this is gonna be really, really odd. The Mass Effect thing is literally so I can throw the MC off and screw with his head, although it may come back into play later on. I'm not sure how long with will last, but whatever. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Hmm, I think I might be in trouble. When I died from a crashed Xbox electrocuting me, I probably should have seen this coming. I mean, I was playing Mass Effect! How much cliche could you get for the start of an SI insert? Then again, unlike those, I woke up as a baby, not on Eden Prime, so I guess thats something.

To be perfectly honest, other than the advanced technology and the fact that we had colonies on other planets, growing up in this new world wasn't actually all that different. I went to school, did homework, played games and did everything I did last time through. Still, I'd learnt from my mistakes last time through and so focused on improving myself. That is until I was 22 and a new type of game was released. Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, or DMMO-RPG's, weren't new, hell, there were a good number of fun ones and the current version of WoW held the distinction of being the first of its kind. However, in 2126 a game was released that blew it and everything before it out of the water and turned me into a full on Gamer geek once again. YGGDRASIL, a truly massive game with an incredible amount of player freedom, a constantly evolving world and an amazing community. It had a frankly obscene number of races, classes and jobs to choose from and I frickin LOVED it. It hit every single nerd button I had and, for a couple of years, it consumed my life. I did eventually drag myself out of that pit though and became a contributing member of society. Well, as much as a full time author is, but I did occasionally work as a screenwriter as well.

Anyway, I had a ton of fun playing a Yasha, a type of Demon with shape shifting racial abilities and a great affinity for magic, and screwing with people with my shapeshifting abilities, usually by disguising myself as a Human type race, falling in with a hunting party and then slaughtering the lot of them once the mission was done. In fact, I actually tended to work as a mercenary for hunting parties to earn my gold and EXP...right before turning around and tearing my clients apart as soon as we parted ways. Hey, it may be dirty, but it was way better than some of the Human Race players treated my fellow Heteromorphic players.

Oddly enough, despite the fact my clients always ended up getting torn apart by a giant monster, no one ever seemed to notice and I had a steady supply of customers and even invites to join various Guilds. I turned them all down though. Like I said previously, I much prefered playing as a lone wolf. That is until one day when a group of particularly dim group of Human players who kept hiring me and then getting torn to bits. Apparently they wanted my help dealing with a group of Heteromorphic players who kept striking into Human lands and slaughtering anyone who tried to cross them. Considering the only thing these idiots had going for them was deep pockets, I'm not sure what they planned to do, but I'd yet to get board of slaughtering them, so I agreed to tag along.

"How in the hell did they manage to get lost in their own territory?" I growled as I stomped through the forest where my current pray were prone to appearing.

It also happened to be my current employers territory, which is why I was so annoyed that they had somehow managed to get lost. I was currently using my Tracking skill to track down my future doggy chow, grumbling all the while. Considering how high my skill was, it didn't take me long to find them in a nearby clearing.

"How the fuck did you lot manage to...get…" I trailed off as I entered the clearing and found my clients facing down a group of nine non-Human players, "Huh, guess you didn't need me after all."

I quickly scanned the newcomers levels and let out a huff when I saw they were all much stronger than my current companions...who were currently sneering, posturing and making threats. True, they greatly outnumbered the strangers, but numbers likely wouldn't mean much here. Especially not when I recognized the group. They were one of the strongest up and coming Guilds that had managed to take over one of the most difficult dungeons in the game with only nine players. Yeah, these idiots were doomed.

"HA, now Asura has arrived, we can finally get this party started and show you scum who's boss!" shouted the leader of my soon to be chew toys.

I sighed.

"You idiots do realize that these guys are much stronger than us, right?" I asked, "And I really don't feel like getting smacked down a level."

"Awww, we can take um!" said one of the other members, "After all, we're the heroes!"

I let out another sigh.

"Right, thats it," I said, "RPing is one thing, but I'm not losing my EXP to idiocy. Transform, Hellhound."

"Huh?"

My body began to glow and morph, rapidly growing a thick pelt the colour of smoke, my face bulging out into a powerful muzzle full of razor sharp fangs, my normally yellow eyes turning red and my humanoid frame contorting into the shape of a massive wolf the size of a horse with yet black fur and a massive set of claws and teeth that I quickly put to good use turning the idiots into mulch. They were so surprised they couldn't react before I'd finished them off. With the last one taken out, I turned to the nonplussed would-be pray and sat on my hunches.

"Um, good doggy?" said a Warrior in white armour.

I just let my currently canine tongue loll out of my mouth, showing off my massive fangs and lava-like drool in a doggy grin.

And thats how I met the members of Ainz Ooal Gown, one of the strongest Guilds in the entire game. I'm honestly not sure how it happened, but I ended up tagging along with them to finish the quest they were on and ended up adding the lot of them to my Friend List. They were just so much fun to hang around with. I even ended up joining the guild, ending my reign as the most powerful solo player, but gaining a reputation as one of the most powerful and dangerous mages in the game. Hell, even Momonga didn't hold a candle to my sheer destructive power, although that was mainly because he was a necromancer and, as such, relied more on summons. I on the other hand was an Elemental. That basically meant that my main method of attack was throwing meteorites around and blowing people up with fireballs.

It says something about a game, especially an MMO, when it can remain strong and at the top of the charts for 12 years. WoW was proof of that considering it was still consuming countless lives, although Yggdrasil now had it beat. However, all good things must come to an end and eventually, the player numbers began to slip. The fact that the devs had moved onto other things by this point meant that the game was slowly dieing. Hell, even Ainz Ooal Gown was hemorrhaging members by the end and they were one loyal lot. I suspect that the announcement of a new, very similar game being announced by the Devs didn't help the longevity of the game and, frankly, I was looking forwards to it as much as everyone else. However, I'd poured a lot of time and money into Yggdrasil, so I'd be sad to see it go. As such, I was currently wandering through the world, occasionally teleporting from area to area, taking in the sights and remembering all the good times I'd spent in this world.

I reached the top of a cliff and stopped, knocking my fist on a tree with a slight smile as I took in the view.

"I'll miss this when its gone," I muttered, "Even if the new games even better, I think this world will always have a special place in my heart…"

I let out a sigh and glanced at the clock. Half an hour until timeout. I brought up my console, intending to logout, but before I did, I noticed a name still logged in on my Friend List. It was the Master of Ainz Ooal Gown. I snorted. If I knew him, he'd be staying on until the Servers shut down. I hesitated for a moment, before shrugging and activating a teleport spell to the Great Tomb of Nazarick instead of logging out. Since we both shared a rather unhealthy love for the game, it felt right to spend the last few moments hanging out and reminiscing.

I brushed past the undead guards outside the Tomb and teleported deeper inside, reappearing outside the meeting room that had been distressingly empty of late. I stuck my head into the room, but it was empty. I noted that the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown was missing from its pedestal though. I quickly checked my friend list and saw that, yes, Momonga was still online. I spent a few minutes wandering the corridors, but I quickly realized he must be in the Throne Room. A quick teleport later and I appeared before the throne room doors and pushed them open. As I expected, the hulking skeletal form of Momonga was sat on the Guild Master's throne, with Sebes, the Pleiades and Alberdo.

"So, one last night as the Guildmaster and you spend it in here?" I asked as I walked up the hall.

"Asura, it has been a while," said Momonga.

"Yeah, I know, but you know how intense working on a movie can be," I said.

"Still, it was more than worth it," said Momonga, "I hear it wrecked the box office as well."

"Yep, one of the highest grossing films of all time," I said with a smirk, "Ain't I just the best?"

We both burst out laughing.

"Well, its good to see you again if nothing else," said Momonga.

"Yeah well, considering how much money and time I've pored into this game over the years, I figure I might as well get everything out of it I can," I said as I lent against the throne.

"I wish you'd arrived sooner," said Momonga, "It would have been fun to reminisce."

"Yeah well, I was out exploring," I said, "Found some interesting stuff to."

"I see," said Momonga, "Do you want your old gear back?"

I snorted.

"Not much point when the servers will go down in a few minutes," I said.

"I suppose," said Momonga.

He sat back in the throne with a sigh.

"Its been a long 12 years," he said, "Still, it was fun. In fact...it was a blast."

I nodded.

"Yeah, that it was," I said as I closed all three of my eyes as the clock ticked down to midnight…

And then it ticked over to one after.

"Huh?"

I opened my eyes and stumbled slightly as, instead of my usual depth perception, I found myself with a third field of view. Despite my avatar having three eyes and my ability to control the third one, it wasn't actually functional as anything but a focus for certain spells. Now however, it was like it had suddenly become fully functional and, while my brain quickly adjusted, for a moment I was nearly sick from the sensation.

"What in the world?" said Momonga from next to me, "Did they push back the shutdown?"

"I...don't think so," I said, "I feel...strange."

Momonga raised a hand and moved his fingers to summon his console.

"Hmm, I can't summon my console," he said.

It was at that point that I noticed that the NPC's were moving and exactly what was going on hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!" I thought, "How did I miss that!?"

"My lords, is something wrong?" asked Alberdo, staring at Momonga worriedly.

Momonga twitched slightly.

"I can't contact the GM," said the Overlord.

"Don't bother trying," I said as I rubbed my head.

"Huh? What do you mean Asura?" he asked.

"I mean that something extremely strange is going on," I said, "I think...that somehow we've been transported to a new world."

If Momonga had an eyebrow, it would probably be raised.

"And why do you think that?" he asked.

"Because I can feel my magic and see through my third eye," I said, "That is impossible within the game. Also, there's no way that lot could move without being ordered or set to do so and you have done neither."

I jerked my thumb at the Pleiades and Sebes, who were shifting on their feet. A couple of the more fiery members looked a tad insulted, but refrained from commenting. Momonga stared at me for a moment, before turning to examine the former NPCs.

"Sebes, head outside and see where we are," he said, "Pleiades, strengthen our defences. Until we know whats going on, we need to assume that our security is breached."

I pushed off the throne that I had been leaning against as my body regained its equilibrium.

"While their doing that, I'm going to go and do my own reconnaissance," I said, "Call me if you need me."

Momonga nodded and I teleported out, reappearing at the gates. I paused and examined my new appearance in the highly polished silver plates that made up the doors locking mechanism. As a Yasha, despite technically being a heteromorphic race, my base form resembled a Human, albeit with a third, vertical eye in the center of my forehead with eight red, wavelike designs radiating out from it, the lowest two stretching down to my cheeks and the upper two vanishing into my hairline, pointed ears and a pair of smooth, black horns curling from my forehead. My hair was silver, with thin, jagged red lines running through it and my eyes were golden yellow with slitted pupils. My current equipment was a simple navy blue kosode top and hakama pants, a white scarf with red eye shapes at the ends and a pair of straw sandals. There wasn't anything special about the gear since my high level stuff had been left with Momonga when my workload eventually consumed all the time I would have spent playing the game.

I shook my head and turned away from my reflection, making a mental note to retrieve my gear from the Vault, before taking off and flying high above the clouds.

"Hmm, lets see what I can see," I muttered, "Farsight."

My eyes glowed and my vision expanded out, sweeping across the land. I briefly paused when I reached a village, but quickly moved on since there wasn't really anything particularly interesting going on in any of them. I was able to confirm that we were indeed in the New World from canon though when I spotted a few familiar faces in the nearest city. I didn't stop though, instead choosing to send my vision even further afield, beyond the three known kingdoms and out to sea. My Farsight ability was tied to the moon, with the phase determining how far the spell could allow me to see. Combine that with the Pendant of Clear Vision I was wearing and my vision easily eclipsed virtually all scrying spells in terms of range. It wasn't really that useful though, except for keeping an eye on possible threats.

Eventually, my vision reached another landmass and a village a short distance inland before reaching its limit. However, despite that, I could still get a good look and what I saw made me do a double take. It looked like a group of travelers, consisting of a group of armoured men in heavy looking plate armour and a group of robed individuals with pointed ears and tattoos who were chained up. And being dragged along since most of them seemed to be either trying to get away or dazed from a previous attempt.

"What the hell?" I muttered, "That looks like...Transport!"

An eye shaped portal appeared behind me and closed around me, warping me to above the village I had seen the fight taking place in. I shifted into the form of a raven with red eyes and red, eye shaped markings on the undersides of its wings and flew down, landing on a post near the road as the group rounded the corner.

"Release us Shem!" shouted one of the captured elves, glaring at his captors, "You have no right to take us like this!"

"Shut it Knife Ear," sneered the leader of the Knights, "All Mages belong in the Circle and you damned Dalish are no different."

I blinked a few times and facepalmed, something that I admit must have looked pretty strange seeing as I was currently a crow.

"Something tells me this is gonna be a right pain in the arse," I muttered, "Then again...SQUARK!"

There was a puff of feathers as a bolt of white light hit me and forced me out of my transformation.

"What the hell?" I muttered, "That felt like…Holy Smite. Interesting..."

Holy Smite was a low level skill from YGGDRASIL that allowed those in the Warrior class to cause minor Holy damage and remove buffs from the target. However, because it was so low level, it quickly became obsolete and was replaced by much more powerful and useful skills. The only reason it had worked to knock me out of my transformation was because the Raven From was meant for fast traveling by air and, as such, had incredibly low defence. Plus, I was technically weak to Holy attacks, being a Demon and all.

"Well, looks like this is our lucky day," said a voice, making me look up.

A group of five Templars were advancing towards me, swords out and ready, leaving three of their fellows to watch over their prisoners.

"Not only did we bag a group of Knife Ear Apostates, but we even found another one lurking on the roads," said the leader.

I snorted and got to my feet, brushing myself off as I did and using my bowed head to hide my third eye as I used an Illusion Skill to hide it. I could easily flatten these morons, but I wouldn't fight if I could avoid it.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I ain't a Mage," I said.

Technically, that was true. I may be a Magic Caster in terms of my class, but there is no way in hell I could be considered a Mage by the rules of Thedas. The Templars didn't look convinced though.

"Don't bother lying to us Mage," said the leader, "I can sense your Mana."

I raised an eyebrow. Well, wasn't that interesting.

"In that case, you must know that you don't have a chance, right?" I said.

I had more mana than Momonga and was tied with him as one of the strongest Magic Casters in the Guild. However, the main difference between us was the fact that, while he mostly focused on support and winning through clever usage of information, I just overwhelmed my opponents with high level, wide area attacks. During one of the Goblin Invasion events, I had once destroyed nearly half of the vanguard of the invading horde with a single spell. True, that was after cranking up my power with countless buffs, some incredibly powerful gear and making use of some of my Guildmates spells that could amplify the power of my own spell, but it was still an impressive feat. With that in mind, these five idiots didn't really intimidate me. Hell, my physical and magical defence would probably be enough to neutralize any attack they could try.

"And why would I think that?" asked the lead Templar, "Mages can't possibly hope to defeat the Makers chosen warriors!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Mage Sight," I said and the Templars lit up.

The Mage Sight spell was what allowed the caster to see any buffs or debuffs on those around him or her. The moment I cast it, I figured out why these idiots weren't running. I had assumed that he'd used Mana Essence or a similar ability, but it turned out, it was more akin to Detect Magic, a spell that only revealed the location of nearby magical sources, not the amount of power they had. I sighed.

"Right, that explains it," I said, "Alright buddy, since you apparently can't detect my power, I'll give you this warning. Leave now and I won't turn you all into red smeers."

The Templars didn't seem to take my warning in stride however, in fact, they seemed more insulted.

"DON'T YOU LOOK DOWN ON US YOU DAMNED KNIFE EAR!" roared one of the younger looking Templars and charged, his sword raised.

My response was to backhand him without looking. As I was a Magic Caster, my strength stat wasn't that high, but the Yasha Race stats were fairly well balanced between Magic and strength stats, so even without training the stat, I was capable of some pretty impressive feats of strength. Like literally knocking the idiots block off.

"Oh dear, I guess you all want to die here," I said with a dark grin as the Templars stared at the now headless body, "Very well, I will oblige. Crimson Lightning!"

Blood red energy sparked around my hands, before leaping at the Templars.

"Hah, you're wasting your time," said the leader, "Magic won't...GAHHHH!"

The lightning struck and immediately proved him very wrong. After a couple of seconds, the Templars were thrown backwards as the spell dissipated, smoking and quite dead. For a moment, there was silence, before one of the remaining Templars who had been left to guard the Elven prisoners drew his sword.

"YOU BASTARD!" he roared, "YOU'RE DEAD!"

"He just saw me take out an entire squad of his fellows with one spell and he thinks he can take me?" I muttered as I shrugged off a Holy Smite, "Whatever, I can't be bothered with this. Deadly Wind."

I waved a hand and a black wind appeared and hit the charging Templar. Instantly, his armour and weapon began to corrode, falling apart in seconds, followed by his body. Within moments, there was nothing but a skeleton left and even that was dissolving as it collapsed.

"Hmm, interesting," I muttered as I stared down at my hand.

Despite the fact I had just killed six men in rather gruesome fashion, I felt nothing. Momonga had an excuse since he was undead anyway, but I was not. Still, I suppose I was a Demon, so its not totally out of the question that my morality and empathy for Humans had taken a nosedive.

CLANG!

I blinked and looked up to see a startled looking Knight staring down at his broken sword. Apparently he had just tried to attack me while I was distracted and, since his sword was low class trash, it had broken against my skin, likely thanks to my racial Armoured Skin ability that served to protect from physical attacks that weren't enhanced by Magic. Or really sharp swords.

"Well, that was rather dumb," I said.

The Templar laughed weakly, right before his upper half was immolated by a massive fireball. With the annoyance dead, I turned to fix the remaining Templar with a flat look.

"You want to pick a fight too?" I asked.

His response was to drop his sword and run away as fast as he could. I snorted. That was the first intelligent decision I'd seen from a Human all day. I turned to the chained Elves, who flinched away under my stare.

"You...what are you?" asked the oldest woman amongst them who was wearing robes I vaguely recognized as being those of a Keeper, "This feeling...are you a Demon?"

I blinked in surprise.

"Oh my, you can see through my Transformation Skill?" I said, "Impressive. I guess the people in this land are not as pathetic as I thought. Release Transformation."

There was a pulse of magic and my horns and third eye reappeared. Immediately, the Elves recoiled.

"What manner of Abomination are you?" demanded one of the Elves.

I laughed.

"I am no Abomination," I said, "I am a Yasha, a high level Demon, well beyond any pathetic little Spirit that dwell in the Fade!"

Well, actually, I had no idea if that was true or not, but since Templars could actually kill most Demons and Abominations, it was probably true.

"A Yasha...I do not believe I have ever heard of your kind," said the Keeper, narrowing her eyes, "Why are you here?"

"I was curious," I said honestly, "I have heard rumors of the strength of the Templar order and wished to test them. Unfortunately, I am disappointed."

I sneered down at the bodies.

"I see," said the Keeper, "And what of us?"

I stared at her for a moment, before pointing at the group. They tensed as a red glow appeared at the tip of my finger.

"Break item," I said and their bonds turned to dust.

"Do as you will," I said as I turned away, "I don't care in the slightest."

I sensed a slight buildup of magic behind me and glanced back to see the Keeper smack down one of the younger elves arms.

"Very wise," I said.

I tilted my head on one side as I heard the chime of Communication Magic.

"Asura, please return to Nazarick," said Momonga, "We need to talk. Come to the Arena as soon as you are able."

"Alright, I will be right there," I said, "I believe I have some information as well."

I cut of the spell and summoned a portal into existence, ignoring the Elves startled gasps as I stepped through. I'd be back soon enough though, I was eager to test my power against the Blight.

And done. Well, that was kinda fun. A nice long chapter to start with, although this probably won't be continued past the first two chapters. On the other hand, I could be totally wrong, in which case, YAY!

So, what do you think of Asura? Suitably op for an Overlord story? I'd say so. I'll come up with a way to nerf him like Ainz does with Momon...sort of.

Assume that most of the events of Overlord are canon unless I state otherwise since we'll mainly be focused on Asura fucking with Thedas. With a little help from a few of his comrades from Nazarick of course.

And with that, I'm done. Don't forget to review on your way out!