I was Betrayed then Reincarnated as a Kitsune

Chapter 1: Prologue

As everything around me fades to black I hear laughter coming from the people who should have been my teammates. In all my life I never would have thought that I would die in another world, especially by the hands of people who should know that I’m the reason they were having such an easy time in the dungeon we were currently in. Once my consciousness cut out my last thought was about the people who helped me when we were first summoned to this world and what their reactions will be when they learn what happened. After a while I felt myself waking up and the first this I saw when I opened my eyes was a vast starless sky and a beautiful full moon shining its silver light and illuminating the world. After getting lost just staring at the moon for a while I voiced my thoughts to the sky,

“So am I dead or is this a dream?”

{Unfortunately for you, your human life has come to an end.}

When I got an unexpected answer to my question I jumped up and turned around to see the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She had long silver hair that seemed to shine like the moon above our heads. She wore a stunning dark blue kimono that accentuated her beauty and made her light color hair stand out even more. After recovering from my surprise, I noticed that the woman who spoke to me wasn’t human. Instead of ears on the side of her head she had a pair of fox ears and at her back were 9 long, silver tails. Looking into her eyes I noticed that they shone with a faint golden light. While I was trapped in my thoughts, she spoke to me again.

{It seems like you were purposely pushed into a trap by your companions and killed almost immediately.}

“So that really was the case, huh. Well, it’s not like I didn’t expect something like this to happen eventually” I said shrugging my shoulders.

{You are taking this surprisingly well for someone who just died} the woman said with a hint of surprise in her voice.

“Not really, I just don’t think my mind has had the time to really comprehend this whole situation. If we wait a while, I think I will start freaking out.”

{Fair enough, so while you are relatively calm, I will introduce myself, my name is Tamamo, and I am the Goddess of the Moon of this world.}

After introducing herself, she gave me a welcoming smile that instantly made my heart race faster that I ever thought it could. Shaking my head to get my thoughts in order I returned her greeting, “My name is Jason Strider, summoned person and former member of the hero’s party.”

{Its an honor to meet you, Jason. Now that the introductions are over let me ask you, do you want to start a new life in this world or move on to the afterlife?}

While her question surprised me a little, I was kind of expecting it. Back on Earth I loved novels like this and always secretly wished to find myself in a situation like this. “Before I answer, is there any demerit to either option?” I asked even though we both already knew what I would choose.

{Refusing would mean that your soul would be sent to the afterlife for a few thousand years after which your memories and experiences would be erased, and your now fresh soul would be placed into a new body as a different person. Accepting would allow you to keep your memories as well as any skills you earned while alive. The downside to this option is that your levels would be lost, you would need to start life again as a baby and in this particular case you would no longer be male.}

“All of this sounds fine enough but why the last thing?” I asked confused.

{All souls have an affinity for a body and the only body that has a good affinity with your soul is a female.}

“Is there a way to wait for a male body that has an affinity with my soul?”

{There is, but I don’t recommend it because you will be waiting for about 45,000 years and by the time that happens you would have gone mad.}

Mulling it over again in my head, I came to the conclusion that I’d rather keep my sanity and just accept the offer. “If the option to have a new life with my memories and skills is there I’ll accept.”

{Perfect!}

She said this with such a cheerful smile that it caused my heart to start racing again.

{Now that you have agreed I will go over the more specific details such as where and when you will be reincarnated.}

I nodded my head in understanding and waited for her to continue.

{You will be born in a hidden demi-human village in a forest on the borders of the Celestia kingdom where you were summoned. It has been two years since you were killed in the dungeon.}

“Two years! But we’ve only been talking for a few minutes.” I said shocked.

{This is my home in the divine domain, time flows slower here that it does there. Now hold still for a moment.}

As she said this, she placed her hand on my head and I felt a massive amount of power condense around us.

{Congratulations, the process was successful. You will now be reincarnated as a denizen of our world. As a small bonus I granted you my divine protection as well.}

“What kind of effects does that have?” I asked while feeling a warm sensation in my body.

{I’ll let you find that out on your own but let me warn you now, since you have received my divine protection that means you will be my partner for eternity.}

After she said those words I was left completely stunned. “What do you mean by partner. Didn’t we only meet just now?”

{That’s the rule the gods of this world follow. If we find a soul that we feel a strong connection to we grant them our divine protection and claim them for ourselves.}

“While I don’t particularly mind, I wish you would have at least warned me before hand.” As I realized what I was saying I felt my body start to heat up to an unbearable level and I started to feel extremely sleepy. Before my consciousness cut out, I could hear Tamamo saying something.

{Good luck in your next life, I hope you can make it an amusing one.}

After hearing this I completely blacked out.

Chapter 2: Waking Up

After a while I started to return to consciousness and noticed that I could hardly move. All I could see was darkness and I could feel a large amount of pressure confining me. After some time, I could feel the pressure pushing me somewhere when suddenly the darkness around me suddenly turned to a light so bright I thought I would go blind. The sudden and drastic change in my surroundings along with the extreme brightness surprised me so much that I let out a sound of protest to whoever decided to make a light that bright.

“Ugyaaaaa!”

When I heard my voice, I reopened my eyes in surprise only to be blinded again. After repeating the same actions for a few minutes my eyes started to get used to the bright light enough for me to see my surroundings. There were several people moving around and making so much noise that I thought my eardrums would rupture. While I was trying to get my bearings, I felt a floating sensation and realized I was being carried somewhere. When I looked up, I saw a lady with red hair and fox ears on the top of her head. The place she brought me to was a bed with another woman with black hair and tail. She looked quite exhausted and was breathing heavily but when she turned her face to me, she had a smile that was so warm, it could turn winter into spring.

The red-haired person placed me into the arms of the person I could only assume was my mother and her smile brightened even more. In the comforting embrace of my mother, I started to get drowsy. Before I fell asleep, I heard the red-haired lady ask a question to my mother.

“Lady Amagi what will you name this child?”

“Her name will be Luna.”

Once I heard that, I fell asleep again.

[Red-haired person’s POV]

My name is Anastasia, an assistant shrine maiden at the shrine of the moon. My main job is to take care of the head shrine maiden, Lady Amagi. Today a great thing happened, Lady Amagi gave birth to her child. The child, named Luna, is quite adorable and I can tell she will grow into a beautiful person in the future. I can also tell that she is a special existence in this world. The reason I know this is due to one of the effects of my diviner class. Diviner is a rare class that lets someone get small glimpses into a possible future. This ability comes with a secondary effect of giving a very strong intuition. Once I laid eyes on Miss Luna my intuition told me that she will be the center of many major things to come. While holding Miss Luna in her arms Lady Amagi asks me,

“What is wrong Ana, has your diviner skill shown you something?”

“No Lady Amagi, the skill hasn’t shown me anything specific, but my intuition tells me that Miss Luna will have many difficulties in the future.”

“I see, then once she is ready, we will have to rigorously train her so that she can overcome these difficulties.”

“Certainly, my Lady.”

Chapter 3: Status

When I woke up again, I found myself inside a crib in the same room as before. I couldn’t see anyone, but I could hear them in the next room over. It seems that either my mother or the red-haired lady was sleeping next door. I was confused at why I could hear so well, then I remembered what my new mother looked like and figured that I was reincarnated as a kitsune. Further proof of this was the fact that I had a really fluffy tail that looked like it would be the perfect body pillow. I tried moving it and it was surprisingly easy. When I moved it in front of me to feel it, I was shocked to find out that it was softer and fluffier that I thought possible. While petting it, it felt like my hands were sucked in and I couldn’t stop. After a while I forced myself to stop making a mental note to try and avoid getting addicted to that feeling. I then decided that it was high time to check my new status and see what I had to work with.

Name: Luna

Race: Kitsune

Sex: Female

Level: 1

Class: Quad-mage

HP: 10/10

MP: 100/100

Vit: 1

Def: 1

Res: 1

Str: 1

Int: 10

Agi: 1

Skills: Presence detection, Trap detection, Trap disarming, Trap creation, Dagger LV. 3, Short sword LV. 3, Archery LV.1, Poison crafting, Appraisal LV.10, Mana Regeneration LV.1

Magic Skills: Ice Magic LV.1, Lightning Magic LV.1, Healing Magic LV.1, Space Magic LV.1

Race Skills: Illusion Magic LV.1, Spirit Vision, Fox Fire, Fox Transformation(Sealed), Enhanced Senses, Night Vision, Enhanced Physical Strength(Sealed)

Unique Skills: Status Effect Immunity, Ice Mist, Language Comprehension, Infinite Inventory

Blessings, Divine Protection, and Titles:

Divine Protection of the Moon Goddess, Reincarnated, Fated One of the Moon Goddess

Well, I can’t really say I’m surprised after seeing these numbers I was just born today after all. It seems that the language comprehension and inventory skills that summoned people receive have become unique skills. I can also tell that my skills as a scout are also all accounted for although the level has gone down. It seems in this life my main focus will be on magic. It seems that I also have two rare elemental affinities in ice and space. Now the part I was looking forward to, appraising the new skills and titles.

Illusion Magic: Magic that allows one to control illusions. Superior form of Illusory Magic. At a high enough level, can create illusions with physical form.

Spirit Vision: Allows one to see and communicate with spirits.

Fox Fire: Exclusive skill for kitsunes. A special type of flames that hold the power of purification and curses.

Fox Transformation: Exclusive skill for kitsunes, allows one to transform into a fox form. Sealed due to bodily limitations.

Enhanced Senses: Sense of sight, hearing, and smell are enhanced.

Enhanced Physical Strength: Enhances strength and agility. Sealed due to bodily limitations.

Night Vision: Allows one to see in dark places as if it were day.

Ice Mist: Allows one to shroud oneself or an area in an icy mist, targets trapped in this mist will be affected by reduced vision and a decrease in agility. Range of mist expands based on INT stat.

So, the race skills are skills that are exclusive to specific races and can also be further divided into exclusive race skills like fox fire and fox transformation. The ice mist unique skill also looks like it will be fun to mess around with both in and out of combat. Now onto the titles and divine protection.

Divine Protection of the Moon Goddess: Doubles amount of EXP needed to level up, status increase by 4x per level, speeds up skill acquisition and leveling, removal of level cap, allows for communication between individual and granter of divine protection(Sealed)

Reincarnated: Carry over previous life’s skills and memories.

Fated One of the Moon Goddess: Given to the one who is eternally bound to the Moon Goddess Tamamo. Once certain requirements are met increase number of tails(9 max), boosts power in accordance with number of tails, grants true immortality, ascend to godhood.

Well two of the three of these are extremely shocking to say the least. The Reincarnated title is a bit self-explanatory but the other two are a lot to take in. I get that a divine protection would be ridiculous because it is something that is given to you by a higher existence but still, 4x increase in stats and faster leveling and acquisition of skills is crazy! Sure, I must put in double the effort to gain levels but at a certain point in time that will just be trivial. Although it’s sealed at the moment, that last effect is also welcome. I was prepared to have to go this whole second life without getting to talk to Tamamo again, but now I don’t have to. As for the last title, I have no words. It’s honestly a bit much to take in.

Before I started to get too absorbed into my thoughts, I heard a strange noise come from my stomach. I guess I haven’t eaten anything huh. Well, seeing as I’m a newborn I might as well do what newborns do best. I took in as big a breath as my tiny baby lungs could hold and let out a loud cry.

“UGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Before anyone asks about any pride as a grown up, I raise you this question, “Pride, what’s that, is it tasty?”

Once I made enough noise, I could hear someone getting closer then saw the figure of my mother come near me and pick me up. She rocks me back and forth a bit trying to calm me down before figuring out what to do.

“Is my little Luna hungry, then let me fix that for you.”

My mother said this as she pushed my face into her chest. After a while I couldn’t take it anymore and stopped. Then immediately after I got drowsy again and started to fall asleep in my mother’s arms.

Chapter 4: What I’ve Learned

It has been about a week since I reincarnated. During this time, I have realized just how boring it is to be a baby. I have little to no control over my body yet, I am unable to stay awake for long, and I am at the mercy of the adults around me. I tried testing some of the new skills I got, and they turned out pretty interesting. The first skill I tried out was Spirit Vision. As the name suggests, this skill allows me to see spirits. They appear as small balls of light with different color depending on the element. Watching the spirits float around is like watching fish in a fish tank and has been one of the few sources of entertainment I have at the moment. I also tried my Ice Mist unique skill but couldn’t really get a feel for it yet because Anastasia noticed the drop in temperature and came running.

I also tried to use my magic and learned that out of all the magic I can use my ice magic and illusion magic are the best. If I had to rank my magic on how easy it is to use it would be: ice, illusion, lightning, space. I’m not sure how proficient I am with healing magic because there is nothing for me to use it on but if I go with my gut feeling, I would put it between lightning and space. If my mana pool wasn’t so small, I could practice more but there is only so much I can do right now.

Aside from all of the testing I did, I also tried to get any information I could regarding the world during my two years of being dead. From what I was lucky enough to overhear is that the hero party still hasn’t defeated the King of Fiends that is the reason that they were summoned to kill in the first place. I am honestly surprised that it is taking them as long as it is to finish their mission, but then I remembered what the two who are leading the summoned heroes are like. The person who had the Hero class, Shin Grayson, is an idiotic narcissist. The one who got the Saint class, Sara Grayson, is the hero’s twin sister and is just as narcissistic as her brother. Shin is the muscle while Sara is the mind.

If I had to guess the reason it is taking them so long to kill the King of Fiends, it would be because they do not want to lose the privileges that they received when we were all summoned. When we were brought to this world it was explained to us that we were stronger than the average people of this world and our aging was stopped for as long as the King of Fiends remained. The reason we were given for this was so that we could train and remain at our peak physical condition until we finished our mission. I honestly find it stupid to stall this for so long. There is nothing stopping the native people of this world from summoning more people to fight if the current summoned people refuse to do so. The longer they put this off, the more they will be resented in the end, this world isn’t as nice as Earth. I wouldn’t risk being lynched just for the sake of longevity.

I also learned that my father is a general of the beast kingdom Savanna and was recently sent to the front lines to defend the kingdom’s border from the fiends. It seems that he is a part of a unified army made up of several elites from many countries to defend against the fiends. This unified army is made up of all the races that live on this continent and is sent to guard the borders of the Land of Fiends and to clear a path to allow the heroes to get to the King of Fiends. I have a feeling that the unified army is having quite a hard time due to the heroes taking so long.

“I hope someone comes along to light a fire under the heroes so that they get their job done soon.”

I say this as I go back to watching the spirits float around and try to come up with something else to keep me entertained.

Chapter 5: The Front Lines Side Story 1

[General Deacon POV]

“General Deacon the heroes have finally arrived!”

My subordinate rushed into my tent shouting news that all the unified army has been waiting to hear. Once he finally calmed down a bit more, I asked him to relay the information in more detail.

“Sir, the heroes have arrived along with reinforcements from the Celestia Kingdom. They even sent the Princess Knight with them.”

“This is welcome news indeed. I’ll head over to them to greet them and get them caught up on the current situation. With their arrival we will finally be able to finish this and go home.”

Once I told my subordinate to go and take a rest, I left my tent to go meet the new arrivals. When I found them, I got the feeling that our troubles were far rom over. While most of the heroes looked ready and prepared for the battles ahead, there were a few who looked like they never trained at all. I decided that my first action should be to find the Princess Knight and ask what her plan of action is. When I found her, I called out to her.

“It’s good to see you again Princess Nia, I’m glad you could finally bring the heroes to the battlefield.”

“Yes, it’s good to see you as well, General Deacon, I hear its been rough out here on the front lines recently.”

“Indeed it has. The fiends have been attacking more frequently and with more numbers. We repelled a large horde a few hours ago so everyone is getting some rest.”

“I see, I apologize for our delay, but now that we are here, we can finally make the final push to the King of Fiends and end this. I’ll go and tell my forces to go and join the lookouts to allow your men to get the rest they deserve.”

As she said this, she came closer and whispered to me,

“Later I will come to your tent. There are some things I need to discuss with you and the other generals.”

“I understand, I will gather them and await your arrival.”

“Thank you, General Deacon.”

After thanking me she went to the place where her men were setting up camp. I started walking back to my tent and called a few people to bring the message to the rest of the generals. After 20 minutes of waiting the other generals arrived and I explained to them that the Princess Knight had something to discuss with us. When she arrived, she asked the Demon and Elf generals to set up a soundproof barrier to keep what we were discussing from leaking out.

“I’m sorry for asking for all of this secrecy but it is extremely important that this information is kept from others. Especially the Saint and Hero.”

“Are the Hero and Saint really that untrustworthy?” Asked the Dwarf general.

“Yes, they are that untrustworthy. Those two are the whole reason that it has taken us this long to get here in the first place.”

“Are they that afraid to head into battle?” Asked the Elf general.

“No, they are in no way afraid to head into battle, it’s just that they don’t want to. The Hero would rather go around seducing women, and the Saint wants to keep the anti-aging perk of being summoned.”

“How selfish of them. Someone need to teach those brats that there is more to the world than just them!” The Demon general growled while the others nodded in agreement.

“Oh, believe me, we tried. It was even more troublesome at first. Most of the summoned acted the same way at the beginning, but eventually came around when it really hit home that the fiends were a real threat. The only ones who continue to be a problem are the Hero, Saint, and one of the Alchemists.”

“Have none of the other summoned tried talking sense into them?” I asked.

“There was one at the beginning. He was the one who got most of the others to drop their delusions about our world and take it seriously.” As she said this, I could see a hint of sadness flash across her face.

“What happened to that person?” Asked the Elf general also noticing her sadness.

“He was killed by a dungeon trap two months into their training. Many of the heroes and I think that the Saint and Hero have something to do with that though.”

“Why do you suspect them? I can understand wanting to place the blame on someone, but dungeons are dangerous for anyone. Especially when it comes to dungeons with traps.” Said the Dwarf general.

“He was part of the Hero’s team and possessed the Scout class. Not to mention he was also quite good at detecting and disarming traps so I find it difficult to think he would end up dying to one.”

“I see, were the two of them questioned about it?” I asked.

“Of course, they were, and as you would expect, they denied doing anything. Though I did notice during their questioning that the Saint had an unrestrained smile that spoke more than any answer we would get out of them. Honestly, I would rather send those two back to their world or have them detained, but they are necessary to end the King of Fiends, so we can’t do that.” While saying all this Princess Nia’s words became more and more bitter.

“Thank you for letting us know about all of this, Princess. We will keep a watchful eye out for these two. What can you tell us about this problematic Alchemist?” Asked the Demon general.

“The problem with him is that he is an unrestrained pervert. I have lost count of how many complaints I receive about him from just about everyone. You lose sight of him for one second and he starts harassing the nearest woman.” As she said this, she showed an expression of pure disgust.

“I see, I will send out a warning to the female soldiers to be on the lookout.” Said the Elf general showing the same face as the Princess.

While the generals and the Princess were having this discussion, there was a darker topic being discussed between the Hero and the Saint.

“Brother did you see that fox person earlier?”

“I did, why”

“Don’t you think his tail would look good on me as a scarf?”

“It would, do you want me to go and cut it off of him for you?”

“I would like that very much, but you will have to do that later. We can’t just cut off his tail and run, as much as I would like to.”

“Why can’t we, it’s not like they can do anything to us right?”

“While that is true, they already have us in a position where we can’t do anything but do what we are supposed to do in this world. As much as it frustrates me to admit.”

“Then when do you want me to do it?”

“He said earlier that those disgusting fiend things have been attacking more frequently, right? So, during the next attack find an opportunity to kill him and take his tail.”

“OK then I will do that.”

Author's Note"

Here is an extra long chapter for your enjoyment my friends.

Chapter 6: The Beginning of the Final Offense Side Story 2

[General Deacon POV]

It has been a week since the heroes arrived at the front lines. During this week we have faced six large hordes of fiends. While fending off these attacks, I have noticed that a large amount of killing intent has been directed at me. At first, I thought it was the usual that anyone would feel on the battlefield, but now I’m not so sure. It seems that it is only directed at me and always from behind. I hope this is just an effect from spending too much time fighting off the fiends and not some other, more dubious plot by the untrustworthy heroes.

Right now, I’m heading to a meeting of the generals and the leading heroes to decide when we will make the final push to the King of Fiends and end this. When I arrived at the meeting tent, I noticed that all we were missing were the two main powers of the heroes, the Hero, and the Saint.

“Where are the Hero and Saint?” I asked the Princess Knight.

“Those two won’t be joining this meeting because if they did it would go nowhere.” Said the Princess Knight not hiding her disdain for the two.

“I’m honestly surprised that they have even been fighting at all considering what we have been told about them.” Said the Elf general.

“I honestly believe that they are planning something though what it is, I have no idea.” Said the Demon general.

“So, I’m not the only one who noticed that. It seems that every time we fight, they get closer and closer to where you are fighting General Deacon.” The Dwarf general said while running his hand over his beard.

“I’ve also noticed that, while fighting, a large amount of killing intent is aimed towards me from behind. I thought I was just getting tired of the battlefield, but it seems that I was mistaken.” I said.

“Have you done or said anything to the heroes that would make them target you?” Asked the Princess Knight with a serious expression.

“Not that I know of. I haven’t even spoken to any of the other heroes except for the ones who provide logistical support, and I highly doubt any of them would come to the front just to target me.” I said while trying to think of any reason for the heroes to attempt to harm me.

“I see, then I will try to post some lookouts near the heroes camp and see if they can overhear anything.” Said the Elf general putting this topic to rest for the time being.

“With that out of the way, when should we start going on the offensive? I think it’s high time we did so.” Said the Demon general with a look of impatience.

“I suggest that we start the preparations now and then proceed within the next three days. I already have my scouts going out and noting any major places we should attack or avoid. They should be back by the end of the day.” Said the Elf general.

“Good, if any of your scouts find a trace of the King of Fiends, have them alert all of us immediately. The sooner we find it, the sooner this will all be over.” Said the Dwarf general with a tired look on his face.

“I agree, we really need to end this fight.” I said with clear impatience seeping into my words.

“That’s true, especially for you General Deacon. I heard from one of you subordinates that your wife just gave birth to a daughter. I really hope that you can make it back in one piece. I can tell you will be one of those overly doting parents that will give your child anything they want without a second thought.” Laughed the Elf general with a wide smile on her face.

“Hahahahaha! Indeed, maybe in the future she can marry one of my sons and then we can finally join our families together.” Exclaimed the Demon general.

“We may be old friends, but I will never let my daughter marry one of your sons or anyone else.” I said with a sour look on my face.

“Look at him. He hasn’t even met his daughter yet and he’s already doting on her.” Said the Dwarf general while wiping away tear from laughing so hard.

After saying that I felt a chill run down my spine. It was a feeling different from the killing intent I’ve been feeling for the past week. It was like something was telling me that not letting my daughter marry might not be a good idea so I thought to myself that I will only accept the best of the best for her. After that thought crossed my mind, the chill vanished as if it were never there.

“Is something the matter General Deacon? You’ve gone pale.” Asked the Princess Knight with concern.

“It’s nothing, I will just have to discuss this issue with my wife when this is all over.” I said trying to change the subject.

As I said this a messenger appeared and brought news that the Elf general’s scouts had returned.

“Tell them to come report their findings immediately.” Said the Elf general all the laughter vanishing from her face.

After that the scouts came in and laid a map out on the war table with the entire land of fiends drawn on it.

“Through the use of flying familiars as well as on the ground support, we have concluded that, if everything goes well, we will be able to reach the King of Fiends in about a year. We can decrease the time if we just rush and disregard all the sacrifices that will occur with this option.” Said the scout that came to report.

“Alright everyone, tell your forces to start their preparations, we set out two days from now. We take the slow approach to this and try to keep as many of our people alive as we can.” I said, “What’s one more year of fighting if we are this close to the end goal?”

“RIGHT!”

As the other generals left, I asked Princess Nia to stay behind for a moment.

“Princess Nia, I have a favor to ask of you. Not as a general of the unified army, but as a friend.”

“What is it Sir Deacon?”

“If I fall at anytime in the future, please look out for my wife and daughter. I know this request makes it seem like I plan on dying soon, but I must ask this of you. From the discussion we were having earlier it makes it clear that I am the target of the heroes for a reason I have no knowledge of so please, accept this request.”

“I understand, Sir Deacon. I will accept this request, not as the Princess Knight nor the third princess of the Celestia Kingdom, but as Nia your future sister-in-law.”

“Oh, now that is a surprise. Your father finally allowed you to get engaged to my youngest brother?”

“Yes, he did, although it took a lot of convincing.”

“Then this is another reason to make it back alive and celebrate.”

“Indeed, it is. Now I must go and get my forces and the heroes ready.”

As she left, I felt a little more relieved. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that, at some point in this year, I will fall.

“Oh, Goddess of the Moon, hear my plea and grant us victory over our advisories in our coming battles. Please bless our allies and curse our foes.”

As I finished this short prayer, I headed over to my men to get them prepared for the fight ahead.

Author's Note:

Here is another long chapter for everyone. I've been in really good shape this weekend and inspiration just keeps coming. I think I will write at most two more chapters about the goings on at the front lines and then go back to our main character. Until then, I hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 7: Reasons and Curses Side Story 3

[General Deacon POV]

The fighting here on the front lines has been fierce. Following the projections of the scouts, we have been steadily taking ground. We haven’t taken as many losses as we thought we would thanks to the heroes. Over this past year that we’ve been fighting together, I’ve come to respect them. The exceptions to that are the Hero and Saint, though. Over the course of this offensive, they have become bolder in their attempts to kill me on the battlefield.

I have asked several of the other heroes if I’ve done anything to earn their animosity, but none of the others know why they are targeting me. I’ve become so fed up with the attempts on my life that I have had to hold myself back from killing them both. It’s really troublesome that they are needed to finish off the King of Fiends. The only saving grace is that they only ever try to kill me on the battlefield, never in camp or on the march.

After another week, we finally caught our first glimpse of the King of Fiends. It is truly a grotesque monster. When one of the heroes first saw it, they started panicking and asking for the reason they were going to fight what they called a Shoggoth. Later when I asked that hero what a Shoggoth was, they explained it was something out of literature from their world. They went on to explain that there were many kinds of horrors like this in this specific kind of literature that, if they were ever seen, it would cause the person to lose their sanity.

When I learned of this, I was going to spread this information to the rest of the united army but was stopped when I was told that this specific creature was not one of that kind. I relaxed a little after learning that. I don’t know what we would have done if the King of Fiends was a creature that would deprive us of our sanity upon sight.

That same night, while I was walking to the meeting between the generals, I overheard a conversation between the Hero and Saint.

“Brother, why is it taking you so long to kill that stupid fox guy?”

“It’s taking so long because he is always surrounded by people, and I can’t get a good opportunity to sneak up on him. When he is by himself, he always manages to avoid me by putting a group of fiends in my way.”

“I see, then after the next battle, if you can’t manage to kill him while he is distracted, we’ll have to resort to trying to kill him when we camp.”

“But wouldn’t that basically scream, ‘Hey, we killed an important person’ and force this whole army to hunt us down?”

“No, it wouldn’t. Remember, brother, you are the Hero, and I am the Saint, even if we killed everyone in this army after we kill the fiend things, the whole world will praise us as heroes and give us whatever we want.”

“Not to mention that even if that did happen, I have a plan to get us out of here quickly.”

“Really, what is it?”

“You will just have to wait and see, brother. Remember these army people don’t seem to trust either of us very much. There could even be some listening to us right now.”

“I guess that’s right. Can you tell me why you want that guy dead again?”

“It’s because I want his tail to use as a fashionable scarf.”

“Riiiiggghhhttt, I remember now. I’ll never understand why you like stuff like that though.”

“You don’t have to understand, brother, you just have to do what I say and get me what I want.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever.”

As soon as the Hero and Saint walked away, I felt an indescribable amount of rage build up inside me. It continued to build so much that I lost track of where I was headed. I was brought back to my senses when I found myself in front of the meeting tent. I tried to calm myself down before entering, but I found little success.

Once I entered the tent, everyone present immediately noticed that there was something wrong.

“Hey Deacon, what’s wrong, why do you look like someone who’s about rampage?” Asked the Demon general.

“It’s because I’ve finally found out why I’m being targeted by the Hero and the Saint.” I said not even trying to conceal my hatred for the two.

“And what is their reason?” Asked the Elf general.

“It’s because that danmnable Saint wants my tail as a scarf.” I yelled, my anger growing even more as I said those words.

Everything in the tent went silent. The shocked expressions on the faces of everyone would be quite funny if the situation wasn’t what it was.

“So, let me get this straight, the Saint wants the Hero to kill you so that she can use your tail, as a scarf?” Asked the Dwarf general, astonished.

“That’s what I heard her say just before I walked into this meeting. And that’s not even the worst part about this. She also told the Hero that, if he fails to kill me during the next battle, they will start trying to assassinate me in camp as well.” The frustration starting to show through my anger.

“Those two realize that if they somehow manage to kill you, they will be hunted down after they kill the King of Fiends, right?” Asked Princess Nia.

“Apparently, the Saint believes that everyone will treat them like gods because they saved the world. Didn’t the ones who performed the summoning ritual explain that the heroes are usually sent back to their world or stay but lose all their enhanced powers after the King of Fiends is defeated to them?” I asked.

“They did, I even made sure I reminded them of that when we first arrived on the front lines.” Said Princess Nia with a perplexed expression.

“The only way anyone will treat them like that after this is if they somehow earn a Divine Protection, and I highly doubt that either of those two would ever earn that.” Said the Dwarf general.

“Exactly, no one has had a Divine Protection since the time of the first hero 600 years ago. And if anyone has, I haven’t heard about it.” Said the Demon general.

“Now that I think of it aside from when they’re trying to kill you, General Deacon, has the Hero or Saint even really fought this past year? Do they even have the strength to kill the King of Fiends?” Asked the Elf general.

After she asked this everyone went pale.

“Princess Nia, immediately have one of the most trustworthy heroes appraise the Hero and Saint please.” I asked with a bit of panic.

“Right away.” She said as she rushed out of the tent.

Twenty minutes later Princess Nia returned with a hero I recognized as a blacksmith. After securing the tent again we asked the hero what the results were.

“Hello generals, I’m Blake Smith, I heard from Princess Nia what was happening, and I immediately went and appraised those two walking piles of trash. Honestly, I’ve wanted to get back at those two for so long for what they did to my friend Jason, that if there is anything else you need me to do, ask me anytime.”

“Thank you, Sir Blake. For now, all we need to know is if those two are even strong enough to fight the King of Fiends.” I said.

“All right then, here I wrote down their statuses here. If you want my opinion thought, I bet they could have beaten that disgusting thing a year after we were summoned.” He said this as he pulled two pieces of paper out of nowhere and placed them on the table.

Name: Shin Grayson

Race: Human

Sex: Male

Class: Hero

Level: 100

HP: 50,000/50,000

MP: 2,500/2,500

Vit: 2,000

Def: 7,000

Res: 5,000

Str: 6,000

Int: -250

Agi: 3,000

Dex: 3,000

Skills: Light Magic LV. 10, Swordsmanship LV. 10, Increased Stats VS. Enemies of Humanity, Status Resistance LV. 10

Summoned Skills: Language Comprehension, Infinite Inventory, Frozen Aging, Appraisal LV. 10

Unique Skills: Holy Sword

Titles: Narcissist, False Hero, Enemy of Women, One Hated by Gods

Curses: Hatred of the Moon Goddess LV. 10, Hatred of the God of Summoning

Name: Sara Grayson

Race: Human

Sex: Female

Class: Saint

Level: 100

HP: 30,000/30,000

MP: 20,000/20,000

Vit: 2,000

Def: 3,000

Res: 8,000

Str: 2,500

Int: -25

Agi: 950

Dex: 700

Skills: Healing Magic(Holy) LV. 10, Purification(Holy) LV. 10, Mana Regeneration LV. 10, Increased Purification VS. Enemies of Humanity, Status Resistance LV. 10

Summoned Skills: Language Comprehension, Infinite Inventory, Frozen Aging, Appraisal LV. 10

Unique Skills: Holy Magic

Titles: Narcissist, False Saint, One Hated by Gods

Curses: Hatred of the Moon Goddess LV. 10, Hatred of the God of Summoning

Everyone in the room was shocked. While the numbers were as expected for heroes except for Int. The most surprising things were the titles and curses.

“Sir Blake, do you know the effects of these titles and curses?” I asked, hoping to get more information.

“I for one would like to know how they managed to get a curse from a goddess and manage to level it up. I didn’t even know divine curses had levels.” Said Princess Nia, the surprise written all over her face.

“That’s the best part about all of this. When I read the descriptions and effects of these, I could barely stop myself from laughing.” Blake said with a wide grin on his face.

As he said this, he pulled another piece of paper out of his inventory.

Narcissist: Given to those who believe they are better than others. Makes bearer more susceptible to unfortunate events.

False Hero: Given to one who has the class: hero but doesn’t embody the role of hero. Make bearer’s stats rise slower while leveling.

Enemy of Women: Given to one who only see women as objects to be collected. Makes bearer impotent.

One Hated by Gods: Given to one who has been curse by multiple gods. Condemns bearer to torment after death leading to the complete destruction of their soul.

False Saint: Given to one who holds the class: saint but does not embody the role of saint. Makes bearer’s stats rise slower while leveling.

“These titles are quite horrible. I’m honestly surprised they have made it this far.” Said the Elf general.

“My guess is that most of the negative effects of these titles are reduced until they complete their mission to kill the King of Fiends.” Said Blake giving his opinion.

“That is probably the case. What about the curses?” Asked the Demon general.

“Here they are.” Said Blake producing a fourth paper.

Hatred of the Moon Goddess LV. 10: Given to those who have angered the Goddess of the Moon so much that they managed to level the curse up. Decreases Int. stat, increases sense of pain 10x, severely weakens bearer during night(severity increases 10x during full moon).

{I curse both of you. You should be thankful that us gods can’t descend to the world very much, or I would have come down there and killed you myself. I guess I’ll let my partner take care of the both of you when she becomes strong enough.}

Hatred of the God of Summoning: Given to summoned people who willingly disregard their mission of helping the world for selfish reasons. Once mission is fulfilled, denies the choice to return to the previous world, reduces stats to that of an average five-year-old child, makes bearer unable to level up.

{The both of you are disgraces of summoned heroes. I don’t even know how the two of you managed to get the Hero and Saint classes. Not to mention you two managed to make Tamamo angry enough to give your curse a level. Even us gods were surprised by that. Also, to the general of the beastkin, know that the Goddess of Fate is on your side. She is going to make sure you survive this endeavor with the false Hero and Saint, so do your best.}

“Well, this is a lot to take in.” I said.

“That’s weird, this second message wasn’t there when I wrote this down.” Said Blake with a confused look on his face.

“It looks like the gods are looking favorably on you Deacon.” Said the Demon general with a grin.

“I guess so, though now that I think of it, I have noticed things go strangely well when I was avoiding the Hero when fighting fiends.” I said thinking back on every time I got separated from others during fights.

As we were about to continue the meeting, the soldiers on patrol blew the horn signaling an enemy attack. As we ran out the tent, one of the patrol soldiers ran up to us.

“Generals, it’s the King of Fiends! It’s leading the charge!”

“Sir Blake go round up the heroes, this is the final battle! Hurry up, go!” I yelled as I readied my equipment.

“Sir, yes, sir.” Blake said as he ran off in the direction of the hero camp.

“It’s time my comrades, lets finish this.”

Chapter 8: The End of the Battle and a Self-Destruction Side Story 4

[General Deacon POV]

We have been fighting the King of Fiends for the whole day. While we are holding back the smaller fiends, the heroes were taking on the King. As the sun starts to set, I can see the Hero unleash his holy sword skill and bring down a massive pillar of light, splitting the King of Fiends in half. After the light fades, the Saint uses her Holy Purification to finish it off before it could regenerate. As the golden light of purification covers the King of Fiends, it lets out a scream of pain and fury.

“SSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

The scream is so loud I and almost all the other beastkin become disoriented. I can feel my eardrums burst and I become dizzy from the pain. While recovering from the dizziness, I see the light fade and a discolored corpse is all that remains of the King of Fiends. A strong wind then blows across the battlefield and the corpse crumbles into a pile of ashes. Once the King was killed, the rest of the smaller fiends begin to fall as well.

I pull out a healing potion and drink it. Once I finish drinking it and the healing kicks in, my hearing starts to slowly return. When I can clearly make out words, I hear the Demon general say,

“I guess we lucked out this time since all the fiends died after their king.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we all would have lasted if they didn’t.” I replied.

After saying this all the heroes, except for two, are bathed in a blinding purple light.

[Blake Smith POV]

When the purple light died down, me and the others find ourselves in a white space. In the center of this space stands an old man with a pair of horns on his head. Once everyone calms down the old man speaks to us,

“Welcome, oh great heroes, to my realm in the divine domain. I am the God of Summoning and I thank you all for killing the King of Fiends and cleansing the world of its miasma. Since you have accomplished your mission in this world, I will offer you all a choice. Will you return to your previous world, or will you choose to remain in this one?”

After a moment to contemplate his question, someone asks him a question.

“What happens if we choose to go back to our original world?”

“You will be sent back to the moment you were summoned and all of the power you accumulated in this world will be gone, though you will retain your memories and be blessed with good fortune as compensation.” He said.

“And if we stay here?” Another asked.

“You will be sent back to the place you were when the King of Fiends was killed. You will start to age again, and your stats and levels will be lowered a tiny bit so that you are on par with the higher ranked soldiers that you fought so long with. This will be done so that countries are discouraged from taking you captive and using you as tools for war. I will give you all an hour to decide. Of course, you are also free to choose before this hour ends.”

After saying this the God of Summoning moves over and sits on a throne that wasn’t there previously. After seeing this I dive into my thoughts. What do I want to do? Is there any reason for me to go back? The only thing that will await me back there is a monotonous life where nothing changes. Sure, my family is there, but they will probably understand my choice if I stay here. I have felt more alive in this world than I ever did back there.

“I guess I’ve made up my mind.”

I walk up to the God of Summoning and tell him my choice.

“I see, then welcome to your new home Blake Smith.” He says with a smile.

“Here is a little bit of advice, make you home in the capital of Savanna, if you do you might meet an old friend of yours.” After telling me this, I get surrounded by the purple light again.

“Wait, what do you me..” Before I can finish, I find my self back in the field.

[General Deacon POV]

After the purple light fades, most of the heroes have disappeared. Of the 31 heroes, only two four are still here. There are the false Hero and Saint, the problem Alchemist, and the blacksmith, Blake. I run up to Blake and ask him what happened.

“Sir Blake, what was that purple light just now and where did all of the other heroes go?” I asked with concern.

“General Deacon, that light just now was the doing of the God of Summoning. He brought all of us into the Divine Domain and asked if we will stay in this world or go back to our previous one. It seems like only me and these three troublesome people are left.” He says while looking around.

“We might want to wait here and rest for a while, he gave us an hour to choose so more might appear here.”

“I see, then I will announce to the rest that we will rest here for a few days and then start the march back.” I said when the Saint walks up to us.

“Hey, Bloke or whatever your name is, where did everyone go?” She asked, with an annoyed face.

“Oh, weren’t you brought with us and given a choice to go back?” He asked with clear sarcasm while trying to suppress a grin and failing miserably.

“No, we weren’t.” She said, her face growing more annoyed by his grin.

“Oh right, I guess you weren’t.” He said, while starting to laugh.

Just before this conversation continued, I felt a large amount of killing intent from behind me. I turned around and saw the Hero running toward me and swinging his sword down. Before I can pull my sword from its scabbard, the Hero trips over a corpse and lands face firs in the dirt, sliding a bit from the momentum.

Before he gets back up several of Princess Nia’s soldiers run over and restrain the Hero. While this is happening, Princess Nia and the other generals walk over.

“Grab the Hero and bring him back to base, someone bring me some sealing restraints for the Saint as well.” Princess Nia orders.

“Right away, Ma’am.” Said a soldier running off.

“What is the meaning of this!?” The Saint yells while running over to the Hero.

“You two are being detained on the grounds of attempted assassination of General Deacon.” Said the Elf general.

“We never tried anything of the sort.” The Saint yells angrily.

Everyone in the area stops and stares all while thinking the same thing.

“Then what was the Hero doing just now?”

When someone voices this thought, the Saint gets flustered then tells the Hero to use light magic to blind us. Nothing happens. We are all just staring at the Saint and Hero. Suddenly Sir Blake starts laughing uncontrollably.

“Hahahahahahahahahaha, this is hilarious! Hey General Deacon, remember what their stats were? His Int. stat was so low it was in the negatives. Even his most basic magic would cost mare mana than he has currently.” He says before laughing some more.

“Pfft. Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Oh, right that was the case wasn’t it. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!” I think back to before the battle started and remember the statuses of both idiots.

“Princess Nia, remember we will need to protect these two until we return. As they are now, they are now as strong as five-year-old children.” I say, reining in my laughter.

“That’s true, isn’t it. Heheheheheh.” Princess Nia says chuckling.

After a few more minutes the soldier returns with sealing restraints and places them on the Saint.

“You can’t do this to us, we’re the Hero and Saint! We saved your world for you, you should all get on your hands and knees and worship us, you ungrateful mongrels!” She screamed while being dragged away.

At this point I’m glad my ears are still healing, or that would cause them to start ringing. It’s sometimes a real pain to have such good hearing.

“Everyone with that taken care of, we will all take a few days rest here then start the march back home. This has been a long battle, but we’ve made it through.” As I finished relaying orders, the entire battlefield erupted into cheers.

“YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”

That night, the generals were holding a closing meeting to discuss the time it will take to return to our home countries as well as what to do with the Hero and the Saint.

“So, by the projections, we should arrive at the border of the beast kingdom in six months since we no longer have to worry about being attacked.” Said the Demon general while taking a drink of dwarf whiskey.

“Yes, though that is only if we rush and only take the minimum number of brakes on the way.” Said the Elf general, while sipping her wine.

“Before we all get too drunk, what are we going to do about those two prisoners of ours?” I asked.

Before anyone can answer, someone asks for permission to enter. Once they come in, it’s revealed to be Sir Blake.

“General Deacon, I was going through my inventory earlier and I found a message written for you.” Said Blake, while scratching his head, clearly confused.

“It wasn’t in there earlier, so I don’t know where it came from.” He said.

“Let me see it.” I say as I take the message from him.

{Hello General Deacon, this message is from the Goddess of Fate. I’m glad to see you survived the ordeal with the King of Fiends. Regarding the false Hero and Saint, you and the other generals are to bring and hand them over to the main office of the Adventurers Guild in the Celestia Kingdom. After doing that, give the medallion that the blacksmith Blake has just been given to the Grand Master, he will understand what to do from there. Once that has been done, tell your daughter to go and become an adventurer when she becomes 15. At that time, give her the other letter that Blake has.

P.S.: Tell that Princess Knight that, since her love life has been so entertaining, I will give her the Blessing of Fate.}

After finishing the message, I turn to Sir Blake and ask; “Sir Blake, is there now a medallion in your inventory?”

“There shouldn’t be, just give me a second.” He says as he starts moving his finger in the air.

“Well would you look at that there is one. Here you go.” He says while handing me the medallion.

It’s a small golden circle with a picture of the moon on one side and the symbol of the Adventurer’s Guild on the other.

“The message says to hand over the two idiots to the main office of the Adventurer’s Guild along with the medallion directly to the Grand Master.” I relay the instructions from the message to everyone gathered here.

“Who is that message from anyway?” Asked the Dwarf general.

“It’s from the Goddess of Fate.” I said.

Everyone’s faces become stiff.

“Oi, really, that’s some serious stuff right there.” Said the Elf general, her eyes still wide in shock.

“I guess those rumors that the Adventurer’s Guild has a connection the to gods is true then.” Said Princess Nia.

“Guess so.” Said the Demon general agreeing with her.

“Sir Blake, the message also said you would get another message to hand over to me.” I said, looking back at Sir Blake.

“Looks like it. I wonder who Luna is?” He said, handing over the other message.

“That is the name of my daughter.” I said, clarifying.

“I see, on another note, can I ask a favor of you, General Deacon?” Asked Sir Blake.

“What is it?” I asked, tilting my head.

“It’s nothing important, it’s just, before sending me back here, the God of Summoning told me to make my home in this world in the capital of Savanna. So, I was wondering if you would be able to assist me with that.” He asked.

“I don’t see why not. Once we get back, come with me, I will let you stay with my family until you can find a place.” I said.

“Thank you very much.” He said, bowing his head.

“Think nothing of it.” I said.

“Well, with this taken care of, let’s conclude our meeting here. Everyone, have a good night.” Said Princess Nia as she left the tent.

Once everyone left, I laid down on the mat and started to drift off to sleep when the thought I was forgetting something came to me.

“Eh, it probably wasn’t that important.”

After mumbling this, I finally went to sleep. The next morning, I would wake up with a very flustered Princess Knight running around and remember,

“Oh right, the Blessing.”

Author's Note:

Here is the last of the side chapters for now. Next time will be back to the MC's POV. To be completely honest, I was surprised at how fun it was to write these side chapters. For some reason they were super easy to write, and before I knew it they got longer and longer. While I can't make any promises, I will try to keep the chapter length the same to maybe a little shorter after this. If you have any questions about anything please ask and I will try to answer without spoiling what I want to happen as much as possible. Thanks for reading and see you all again soon.