???
White and shiny, everything is so white and shiny with a faint mist everywhere. That's what Solo sees all around him. Confused and mesmerized, he thinks to himself if heaven is real and if he is in it now.
Trying to remember his life, he cannot find anything remarkably good in his 34 years of living. He's not a bad person, but he is also not a saint. Just a regular millennial who spends most of his time looking at a screen other than eating, shitting, working, and sleeping. Wait, actually he's doing the first three while looking at the screen also.
He remembers his last memory was he was on a holiday in Japan. Which is quite an achievement with his so-so wages as a freelance online journalist. Even though he's not an otaku, he is quite an avid consumer of Japanese culture, so he really enjoys what is supposedly a 5-day vacation.
But on his third day, he finds himself inside a situation that he is very familiar with. A crossroad, a cat crossing by, and a truck closing fast. Knowing what will happen in the next few seconds, Solo's quick thinking starts to weigh his options.
Try to save the cat and most likely get crushed horribly with a big chance of death and a very small chance of getting isekai'd, OR WORSE: being heavily injured in a foreign country that is notoriously expensive, especially with his overdue insurance Just watch the cat die like the other 5.4 million cats that die annually in USA only because of traffic accidents
Solo realistically chooses option number 2, he is more of a dog person anyway.
He takes some steps back and stands next to an iconic Japanese red mailbox.
Meanwhile, the truck driver is an experienced driver in a country that is famous for its insanely difficult driving test and even more insane legal lawsuits for pet protections. Knowing he doesn't have enough time to brake, he realistically turns his wheel. Preferring to hit the mailbox on the side of the road.
"Eh?"
Late to realize that there's a person standing next to the mailbox, the truck driver and Solo look at each other's eyes during the final moment.
"THAT FUCKING TRUCK-KUN!!"
Realizing that he is now in fact dead. Solo scream echoing all around the white and shiny place.
"...Oh, you poor hero… beset by confusion."
A sweet and beautiful voice is talking to Solo; he looks around and sees the voice coming from some bright lights floating in the air. Solo has difficulties seeing the blinding light source. Faintly, he can see a woman's figure coming floating from those lights. When the bright lights are gone, he can clearly see the figure of a beautiful and voluptuous woman wearing what looks like a sexy fantasy goddess cosplay, screaming divinity all over.
Solo's eyes are wide open seeing the floating lady.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, that isekai shit is for real? Am I really in it now??" Solo mind screaming frantically
With what seems to be a dramatic purpose, the lady slowly opens her eyes as she starts to talk.
"I welcome thee to the Goddess realm, oh my fated and divine He… ro?"
As the goddess fully opens her eyes, she raises her eyebrows, looking at the man in front of her.
A 30-something man with a beer belly and a hairline that is starting to recede. Solo is not the most handsome man, but he actually is not that bad, judging from his so-so dating records. He just needs to pay attention to his appearance. But paying attention to appearance is costing a good amount of money, and Solo's current appearance is clearly showing his current wallet.
The goddess seems to try to not bother with it and continues her sermon.
"O Hero, I know thou hast a lot of questions about what has happened. I am the goddess Celes, and I am here to explain to you everything. But before that, let me know thy name, oh fated hero."
"Uh… my name is Alex Solomon. But I prefer to be called Solo since there are already too many Alex..."
Hearing the name, the goddess raises her eyebrows again. She suddenly flicks her finger, summoning a female angel that pops out of nowhere. The goddess is busy whispering to the female angel. Solo silently judges the situation in front of him as an unprofessional, out-of-character situation.
Not long after, the female angel nods to the goddess and disappears.
"Apology for the intrusion, Ehm… O Alex Solomon, as you may know, your life in the previous life is regretfully ended. And yet, it seems the universe, as mysterious and powerful it is, comes to work to answer the prayer of countless bla bla bla…."
As the goddess continues her sermon, Solo thinks to himself that this is usually the part where he presses the skip button repeatedly. But boy, looking at the goddess's beauty in person sure is different than the one on screen, so this time he doesn't mind spending time listening to the tutorials.
Celes raises her hand, and a beautifully crafted doorlike portal rises from the floor. Solo notices a shiny crystal ornament on the top of the doorframe, and that specific crystal starts spinning, giving energy to the portal until Solo can see a blue and green planet in the middle of space. Just like Earth, but the shapes of the continents are way different.
"And this is planet Talvaris, a beautiful world where so many races are living in harmony with each other. That is, of course… until the Demon King and his army were freed from the Divine Barrier that was keeping them to stay inside the Demon Territory. Fortunately, after saving my divine energy for countless years, I can finally activate these portals to send you, O fated Hero, who will save Talvaris and its people from certain doom."
"And I guess those are the demon realm?" Solo pointing to a small continent covered with thunderclouds on the south part of the planet
"Correct, O wise hero…"
Solo sighed while watching the new planet in front of him. A small smile on his lip while remembering his life on earth. It was nothing special, but it was not a bad life either; he has some good friends and a pretty nice and loving family. It's regretful, but he can accept it. He hopes that his next life on the new world can be more exciting and meaningful.
"But before you descend to Talvaris, I will bestow upon you three gifts that will help you on the journey to defeat the Demon King."
Celes clasps her hands and starts to chant some spell; above Solo's head suddenly shines a holy light with some feathers falling gracefully.
"The first gift is from the universe or also known as "system". The system will decide a unique skill that specifically suits your character and expertise based on your previous life.
Slowly some magical panel starts to materialize in front of Solo. With his heart thumping, Solo wonders what kind of unique skill he will get.
"Will it be an attack skill? Defense skill? Some OP max-level stats right from the beginning? Oh please god, please not one those rewinding time if you're dead skills. That one is too depressing!" Think Solo
When the magical panel finishes materializing in front of him, Solo's face turns confused and full of disbelief. Making the Goddess worry
"O Hero, please tell me what ability thou received from the system."
"It's... It's a… Is it a Google??"
What's showing on the floating panel is just a normal home page of Google.
"T-the description said.. its the ability to access Earth networks… Oh fuck no! No! No! This is just like the bringing-your-smartphone thingy! That's practically useless in a fantasy world!"
"W-Worry not, O Hero, there are still two Goddess gifts that I will bestow upon thee that will be a great help on thy journey."
The goddess starts to wonder if this is a mistake.
"Now Hero, choose two skills that you think will suit you for your adventure to defeat the Demon King.
Several generic RPG icons, like swords, shields, staffs, and others, magically pop up in front of Solo. Solo knows this part, but he is still upset with his useless previous skill.
While Solo is busy with his own mind, the female angel from before reappears next to the goddess and whispers some information with a worried face. After some nodding, the goddess's face turned sour and furious at the same time.
"I FUCKING KNEW IT!!"
The goddess's scream startled Solo. The goddess flicks her finger and makes the magical panels in front of Solo disappear, leaving only the Google panel from the system.
"You there! Tell me something! Are you Japanese?"
"Uhh… no… I was just on vacation in Japan. I—does it matter?"
"FUCK! FUCK! THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MATTER!"
Showing her ungodly side, the female angel tries to calm the goddess and explain something.
"B-but dear Goddess, you said this time you want something different. Not the usual Hero characters."
"YES! But it doesn't mean you can disregard the Japanese part! And you definitely cannot disregard the teenagers' part! Japanese teenagers are naïve! Vanilla! And... and… those chuni always obey the fucking fantasy rule! My Rules! But look here! You bunch of useless angels are giving me this ugly old pig instead!
"Hey! Who do you call a pig!?
Celes points his finger angrily, shooting a magical beam at Solo.
"Be quiet, you fucking pig."
A magical beam shoots through Solo's shoulder; it hurts and stings a lot, and blood starts rushing from the wound.
"Y-YOU FUCKING BITCH! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"
"You dare call me a bitch!?"
Another magical beam shot out from Celes's finger. This time Solo, who got hit, went down to the floor with a smoke pop surrounding him. It hurts all over again, but Solo can still feel all his limbs. He tries to raise his body using his green hand on the floor. Wait! Green???
Solo rushingly touches all his body parts; his ears are now longer, his nose is somewhat round and flat, and all his limbs are now green and stubby. From the shiny floors he tries to see his own reflections. It's not his face anymore; it's the face of a green pig monster that he is familiar with, an orc.
"Oink oink! Oink!"
"Hehehe, oh come on, don't be upset. You didn't change that much from your previous form, pig!" She snickers.
Solo tried to approach Celes angrily, but a magical shield blocking him to go forward. He tried to smash the shield, resulting only in some flickers on it.
"D-Dear Goddess, you shouldn't waste your power like that."
"It doesn't matter, we're still in the Gods' realm, so it doesn't cost me that much divine energy. Now hurry up and find me a new hero! And execute the operator who chose this pig!
"R-right away, Goddess! …but what should we do with the current… pig?"
"Just erase him! I'd rather spend my remaining divine energy for a proper hero!"
Hearing their conversation, Solo knows that he is now in imminent danger. He's looking around to find a way out, but as far as he can see, there is only unlimited nothingness beyond the place he stands. The only way that is available for him is the portal. It doesn't take him long to decide and start running towards the portal.
"G-Goddess! Look!
"NO!"
By the time Celes reacts by summoning other angels to stop him, Solo already passed the portal, making the crystal on top of the portal spin even faster. None of the angels can stop him.
"YOU FUCKING PIG! MY PORTAL!! NOO!"
Solo starts floating and moving automatically, heading towards Talvaris. He can still hear the Goddess screaming angrily. He doesn't really understand what he has done, but he sure is glad to make the Goddess upset. He turns his body, facing the portal, and points his middle finger to the hysterical goddess!
"I WILL KILL YOU, YOU STUPID DIRTY PIG! I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!"
The female angel is busy operating several computer-like magical panels in front of her.
"G-Goddess, the portal energy will be depleted in 80 seconds. But we still have a connection, we still can erase him!"
An evil grin showed on Celes's face, and she was about to give the kill order, but an idea suddenly came to her head, making her evil grin even bigger.
"No, I don't want to make it too easy.. I have a better idea. I still have the energy to give him the two "Goddess gifts," right? Now listen and do exactly as I said. For the first gift, make him unable to level up"
"...done!"
"And for the second gift, make him unable to die unless being killed by a Hero weapon"
"...done"
"Also change his summoning coordinates to the Demon Territory"
"Updating… and Done! Portal energy depleted in 3, 2, 1"
The spinning crystal on top of the portal is now becoming slower, and everything in the portal doors is becoming dark, including the energy crystal. Everything is quiet.
"Portals is off now, we have lost connection to Talvaris… My Goddess, may I ask… What's on your plan?"
"Fufufu, it's simple. By being a weak orc that is unable to level up, he will live a living hell in that cannibalistic demon territory. And since he cannot be killed by anything other than the Hero weapon, he will just be used as an infinite food source by other demons, hahahaha!
"What marvelous thinking, O Goddess, that's why you send him to Demon territory."
"WelI, I also don't want to give him a chance to find the Hero weapon in elf territory and commit suicide. Now give me the calculations, when can i activate the portal again."
"Please give me a second… Calculating… You will have enough divine energy to activate the portal again in about… 130 years."
"Wha—Why? Why so fucking long?"
"My Goddess, since this time we didn't turn off the divine barrier on the Demon Kingdom, there won't be any Demon Invasion in Talvaris. Our program calculates that without any major war happening, it will take this long to refill the divine energy.
"Oh dear me… what a blunder…. Tch, fine, but at least I'm happy to know that that pig will suffer way longer than what I intended. Alex Solomon.. nobody can call me a bitch. I will see you again after your 130 years of suffering. At the end, you will definitely pray to me to end your pathetic life"
130 years later
Malvorath Continent, 1312 EC
Ravendawn Kingdom
King Luxtor, the king of the southernmost territory that shares border with the Demon Kingdom, watches from his balcony as his army is busy with war preparations. There's no spirit or hope in his eyes. Before, the Ravendawn Kingdom was always respected for its tough and battle-hardened army, who always served as the first line of defense of civilization. Sure, they are always be the ones who get hit the hardest, but other kingdoms in Talvaris never fail to give them any kind of support they ask to suppress the Demon Kingdom invasion. New weaponry, the latest magical technology, foods, and reinforcements are always pouring from all around the world to the Ravendawn Kingdom.
But 130 years ago, during King Luxtor's great-grandfather's rule. Somehow the invasion never happened. The Divine Barrier that separates the Demon Kingdom from the rest of the world keeps standing still and strong. The Oracles of Celes Church later receive divination from the Goddess, saying that the prayers of the Talvaris people are giving her enough power to keep the Divine Barrier intact. The whole world rejoices, Ravendawn kingdom included.
But the joy of peace doesn't last long. Since many kingdoms almost emptied their coffers to increase their military for facing the Demon Army. They need to refill their coffer back, and one of the fastest ways is to take the neighbor's coffer. Kingdoms start attacking and absorbing each other, either by force or shrewd politics. And Ravendawn Kingdom is one of the victims. But because of its undesirable location, Ravendawn Kingdom was allowed to stay as the ruler of its southern territory, even though its status now is just a mere vassal of Vandoria Kingdom in the northwest.
"Father, I'm leaving now."
"Please, my son, reconsider this. You don't need to be on the front line."
"I know, but this is the only way to increase our kingdom's reputation. Without any member of royalty in the rank, they will deny any achievements even if we win this war."
"What achievements? This is the Demon Army we're talking about! And look all around you! The so-called reinforcements from other "ally" kingdoms are basically just a slave army with outdated equipment and inexperienced low-rank nobles as their commander."
The young prince smiled at his father.
"But still, Vandoria promises us to take off our vassal status if our family directly manages to hold off the Demon Army. We need this father. And who knows, maybe this time the Goddess's miracle will happen again and no Demon Army invasion will happen again. Goodbye, Father, may I return with victory"
The young prince leaves his father as King Luxtor's eyes start tearing up.
"Oh Goddess, many times I have curse you for what had happened to my family. But this time I ask you for forgiveness, and please… bring my only son back home.
Solis Continent
Divine Empire of Celeste, Celestial Palace Main Hall
Far from the Demon Kingdom border, in the great hall of the celestial palace, a magical circle that is drawn in the middle of the hall glows shimmery. Next to the circle is a beautiful young priestess. Her whole appearance was screaming, "I'm the saintess." Meanwhile, the emperor and other officials are watching her nervously. After some exhausting prayer, magical circles start to spew light all around the hall. The officials and soldiers inside the hall were covering their eyes from the dramatic bright light.
Not long, the bright lights are gone, and there's a young man standing in the middle of the magic circles wearing modern earth clothes. This young man is your cliche Isekai MC, the only black hair in the room, young, definitely attractive but pretend to not knowing it.
"Wh-where am I?" said the young man. "Hell yeah! Finally it's starting; my isekai life is starting!" Think the young man
"O Hero from another world, welcome to the Divine Empire of Celeste."
"Empire of Celeste? I never heard about that country before." Said the young man. "Oh, she's cute! She must be the saintess. I wonder if she'll be a party member." Think the young man again
"My name is Isabel, saintess of the Divine Empire of Celeste. By borrowing the power of the goddess Celes, I summon you, O Hero from another world, to save our world, Talvaris, from the apocalypse."
The cliché conversations keep going on until Isabel lets the Emperor takes over the conversations.
"O Hero, I am King Gregory, leader of the Divine Empire of Celeste. I welcome you to my humble castle. Please tell me, what is your name?"
"My name is Nobuyuki Sora, I'm a high schooler from Japan."
"I am very sorry to have you taken from your world, Nobuyuki Sora, but as the Saintess has mentioned, our world is in great peril. Right at this moment, in the far south of the world, the army of humanity is preparing to hold the dreaded Demon Army invasion… but not many of us feel that the army of humanity will fares well… including me."
Great Demon Gate
As the so-called army of humanity, there are not many humans included in the ranks. Most of the soldiers are beastmen from various races, wielding old and outdated equipment. On the rear, Crown Prince Luxius of the Ravendawn Kingdom is examining the battalion formations. The army is composed as this.
3000 Foot Soldiers 800 Archers 150 Magicians 400 Cavalry 80 Wyvern riders 120 Avian warriors 35 Ballista
A messenger running fast to report to Luxius
"Sir! All of the mercenaries have disappeared! They're most likely running away during the long march!"
"Those gold-grubbing cowards! And what about the Vandoria army? Where are they?"
"Uhh… they are here now… But their messenger said that their regular army is being occupied by an unforeseen event. So instead they send their brave militia who volunteered for this war."
Luxius looking at the corner of the formations, a bunch of peasants trembling and terrified while holding a pitchfork, shovel, or whatever household things that they can use as weapons.
"Those are just villagers being rounded up for war!"
And now, the army of humanity consists of
3000 2200 Foot Soldiers 800 500 Archers 150 Magicians 400 250 Cavalry 80 60 Wyvern Riders 120 Avian warriors 35 Ballista +300 Peasants Militia
The Demon Kingdom borderline is easily distinguished by the Malvorath Mountain range, a colossal line of spiky mountains splitting the Malvorath continent into two. In the middle of it is the entrance to the Demon Territory, the Great Demon Gate, an ominous gigantic gate with demonic sculpture carved all over it. Modern man will easily remember the Gate of Mordor by looking at it.
Everyone at the Army of Humanity is being nervous no matter what races they are. Deep inside, everyone prays that the Goddess will show them another miracle by keeping the gates locked, nobody wants to fight the Demon Army.
"Look up there!!"
Suddenly a huge blue light starts forming in the sky and slowly forms into a ball shape before it starts descending into the Demon Territory. It's so bright that it can be easily seen from miles away. But during its descent, the blue ball of light collided with the Divine Barrier, an invisible wall covering the whole Demon borders. After the collision, the blue ball of lights disappears, replaced by what looks like a faint invisible force field starting to disintegrate; the process of disintegration starts enveloping the whole border.
"Oh no… the Divine Barrier is collapsing."
When the last of the Divine Barrier disintegrates, all of them looks at the Great Demon Gate with fear.
VOOOOOOOOOMMMMM
The sound of an otherworldly trumpet blaring from behind the gate, followed with a loud clunk from the sound of the gate being opened. The massive gate starts splitting in two and pushing outward.
Some of the soldiers start to run in fear, especially the peasant militia, leaving their formation behind. Luxius has no interest to handle the deserters and choose to rally the remaining soldiers instead.
"Everyone! Ready your weapons!"
Sounds of unsheathed swords echo around the formations. Wyvern riders and Avian warriors starts to ascend to the sky. Bow and ballistas are being loaded and aimed at the direction of the gate. Magicians busy chanting their spells.
Huge dust clouds start forming due to the friction of the massive gate with the ground below. Making the spectacles even more ominous. The gate is now fully open, leaving only dust clouds covering whatever behind. Every soldier is now being sweaty from fear.
HRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMM
CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP
They can hear a lot of otherworldly noises coming from behind the gate. Followed with the silhouette of a massive army being formed on the dust clouds. Both of the sounds and the silhouette are getting bigger and bigger.
Divine Empire of Celeste
A messenger cutting the King and the Hero conversation short
"Your Highness, our comm crystal just received a report from the Army of Humanity."
"Let me hear it."
"The Divine Barrier has fallen, and the Great Demon Gate is being opened."
All the audiences in the hall are gasping.
"From behind the Great Demon Gate, the Demon Army are coming with big and hellish looking monsters and contraptions that they never have seen before. Hundreds of demonfolks wearing the same uniform wielding strange demonic staffs, countless hell chariots and demon elephants with demonfolks riding them, and also some of hell dragonflies floating in the sky."
Isabel is trembling from the report.
"Demon elephants? Hell.. dragonflies? There's never been a record about those kinds of demons or demonic beasts. Is the Demon King summoning a new species from hell?"
"A-and the one leading the demon army is… none other than one of the Demon Dukes himself, L-Leviathan."
All the audience are panicking and murmuring, hearing the name of one of the legendary Demon Dukes.
"L-Leviathan? From the beginning? "No way… This is too early," said the king, sweating a lot.
Sora watches the reactions of the crowds and starts feeling a bit worried; he wonders if the isekai world he's in is nightmare mode level.
"And here is the message from Leviathan himself," the messenger continued.
Great Demon Gate
"Heed my words! Heed my words! My name is Leviathan, and I am here to deliver upon you the message from the Demon Kingdom!"
A tall man wearing a sleek clothing and glasses, walking calmly, closing in to the Army of Humanity. He doesn't wield any weapons, but behind him is a company of demonfolk infantry, brandishing M4A1s, accompanied by dozens of Humvees equipped with .50 cal M2 Browning machine guns and a platoon of M1 Abrams tanks and four AH-64 Apache as support.
Leviathan clearing his throat
"People of Talvaris! We come in peace."