Lee stared at the two warrior women before him, brain cells firing in rapid confusion, denial, disbelief, and somewhere in the scramble, awe.
No. No way.
It was the hair. No, the face. The entire woman in fact! He recognized all of it.
The long braid. The glimmering headpiece shaped like metal feathers. The gilded battle gear that showed off far too much skin for any practical armor.
…And that massive sword strapped to her back, capable of transforming into any weapon of war at her will.
Astensia.
It was her!
The golden-haired goddess. Heroine of Blade and War Affairs. Voted Best Girl three years in a row in the fandom polls.
He knew her. Knew that exact look of devotion in her eyes. He'd seen it illustrated countless times in digital art and fan illustrations.
And the woman beside her…
He knew her too.
Her silver hair. Her stark blue eyes like those of a northern war goddess.
The gear she donned was forged in crimson and steel, with valkyrie tattoos drawn in bold red strokes on her arms and face. Her cape fluttered behind her despite the fact there was no wind here at all.
She was Thor.
Heroine of Thunder and Celestial Strength.
The hammer she carried throbbed with lightning, arcs of white current sparking from the head of the weapon. That was Mjölnir-Seraph.
The wiki had said it was capable of crushing meteors with a single blow while shattering deceitful illusions in the same swing.
Lee knew these two women as the first characters written in the novel. Yet somehow, they were looking down at him.
They were real.
And they had just called him…
"Heavenly Hero," Astensia breathed, her hand still outstretched to him with the reverence of someone welcoming a god back from exile.
Lee blinked. Then blinked again. 'This has to be some kind of dream.'
He reached out and accepted her hand.
It was warm. Firm. Stronger than any hand he'd ever held.
Astensia pulled him out of the cramped sarcophagus-like chamber without effort. His legs stumbled, but she caught him gently, like cradling a prince too holy to fall.
"It truly is you, Heavenly Hero! We searched the ends of Cinriten for you," she said, her voice trembling with emotion. "It was Delphina who saw that you were sealed in the ruins of Valorend; hidden where no one would think to look."
'Delphina,' Lee thought. 'That's the Heroine of Foresight and Heavenly Prophecy.'
'Could this really be true?'
Lee was still out of it. He could not fathom if this was reality or not. Did he really just transmigrate into the body of Asleroc Leogardt?
It was the only explanation. Even the place he was standing on: Valorend. He knew it as the Castle of King Alfric Valor, the one who had summoned the Heavenly Hero in the novel.
A battle must have taken place here. The king and the royal family must have not survived.
'How could this be?'
Astensia stepped back and gestured around the shattered chamber of stone and magic. "It was Heilmaster," she declared as Lee realized he had asked that out loud.
"He forced Delphina to reveal your identity and your hiding place. Once he knew, he struck before you could awaken your powers or claim your weapon."
Lee's mouth parted. "Heilmaster?" he echoed numbly, remembering the name of the main antagonist.
Astensia nodded firmly. "Yes. He sealed you here using the Soulbind Sigil of Eternal Drowse. It took Thor and I three months of peril to retrieve the Unbinding Shard from the Crypt of Teeth to release you."
Three months? A magic sigil? Crypt of Teeth?
Lee's heart pounded in his chest. He knew all of this. He'd heard Astensia say words like that before even though it was in writing.
He looked at her.
But the thing was, hearing it in person felt different. Perhaps it was his sense of honor as the Heavenly Hero but Lee recognized her instantly.
This impossibly faithful, proud woman standing tall in the rubble of a forgotten ruin.
She had really done all of that for him?
He remembered Astensia's loyalty being one of her core traits in the light novel. But hearing it from her own lips, it didn't feel like fiction anymore.
It felt real. Like conviction.
"…Thank you," he said quietly.
Astensia bowed her head. "It is our honor, my Worship."
He turned to Thor, who stood by a fractured window arch, arms crossed with an expression of ice on her iron face.
"…Thanks to you too," he added.
Thor didn't spare him a glance. "…I did not do it for you," she said coldly. "I did it for Cinriten."
Astensia quickly raised her voice. "Forgive her, my Worship," she said quickly. "Her words are… blunt. But her loyalty is true. She fought as fiercely as I did to bring you back."
Lee nodded his head. "I understand."
Astensia turned solemn, her tone darkening. "You see, Lady Thor takes pride in the defense of the realm. Since your disappearance, it has only suffered. The Rupturing Abyss came without resistance.
"The Heroines all fell in battle and many vanished into hiding. A few… succumbed to the evil and now rule over Ruptured Regions as Villainesses."
Lee creased his brow at the mention of the word.
Villainesses were the polar opposites of Heroines. Where Heroines defended the realm, Villainesses carved it apart at Heilmaster's whim.
"The people of Cinriten are enslaved," Astensia continued gravely. "Our mana is poisoned, tainted by demon essence. The rivers bleed. The skies tremble. Hope is but a whisper."
There was silence for a short moment.
"All of this…" Thor growled, breaking it sharply, "while you slept."
"Please, Thor. Let us not berate our Worship for circumstances he could not control." Astensia pleaded desperately.
Thor only scoffed and returned her gaze to the broken sky beyond the window.
"Do not take her words to heart, my Worship. Lady Thor is still a loyal disciple to your cause."
Lee lowered his head, taking it all in.
He had read hundreds of isekai stories. He'd dissected tropes. He'd argued online over plot armor and immersion-breaking mechanics.
None of this was new to him.
Yet at the same time, it was.
Because he was actually here.
He was truly inside a fantasy world as the main character. And since the start differed from the light novel's, he was certain that he had entered the game.
He remembered the notification on his phone before he was dragged here:
「 Congratulations on Winning the Competition 」
That had to mean something. Maybe there was never a real game. Maybe it was just a front: some kind of hidden transmigration ritual for only one lucky person.
And that person was him.
Lee Parker.
He had actually isekai'd.
And he wasn't just anyone in this world, he was Asleroc Leogardt. The Heavenly Hero himself.
The main character of his favorite story.
Okay.
Okay. He could work with that.
Exhaling shakily, his head cleared a little.
He eyed Thor, who stood like an angry statue by the archway. Then he turned to Astensia.
"...What now?" he asked.
Astensia looked to the sky outside. "Now… we leave Valorend."
She stepped toward the window beside Thor. "Because once Heilmaster senses you've awakened, he'll send more of them."
Lee frowned. "More of what?"
KRAAAAAAAK!!!
A sound cracked through the air like an infernal thunderclap.
The wall some distance in front of them exploded inward in a blast of molten red light. Shards of stone and flame slammed onto the floor, tossing dust and magic into the air.
The temperature dropped, and the shadows on the wall twisted unnaturally.
Through the smoke, something crawled forth. No—several somethings.
Their forms were grotesque. They were at least ten-feet tall with skins appearing to be made with only muscles stitched with bone.
Their body rippled with twitching demonic runes, and their faces—if they could be called that—were covered in mouths.
Just mouths.
Rows and rows of teeth gnashing and grinning.
Black flame licked their claws, and from their backs sprouted cracked, ugly wings.
Above their heads, Lee saw health bars.
「Demon Spawn – Lv. 12」
「Demon Spawn – Lv. 14」
「Higher Demon Spawn – Lv. 20 – Bleeding Aura」
His eyebrows clenched. 'At least now I know for sure that I'm inside the game.'
"Demon spawns!" Astensia shouted, drawing her greatsword in a flash of gold light. "Stay behind me, my Worship! I will protect you!"