Haruto stood on a road near a small village. He was tall, naked, and covered with golden fur. The wind ruffled his thick mane as he looked around.

Two women approached from the direction of a nearby village, clearly there to welcome him. They were animal kin as well, some sort of sheep. They wore simple brown robes, the drab color an unwelcome contrast with the pure white wool that reminded him of clouds.

“You have been chosen to save this world.” The god of the world spoke to him. “Demons have invaded and you are the only chance this world has. Do not fail me.”

He remembered looking up at dark storm clouds while hurrying home, trying to beat the rain, when the crazy truck driver had hit him. He didn’t die instantly and had been forced to listen to the idiot rant about careless pedestrians crossing on red lights. Like he would make that kind of mistake. The driver must not have called an ambulance, since he clearly didn’t make it to the hospital in time.

So, he was reborn and given a divine quest to save the world. Of course, that was expected. He was familiar with the trope, having read all the isekai manga he could find. Most of those heroes were weak minded, unable to do what was necessary. They had only succeeded via luck, plot armor, or bad writing. He would be better.

Haruto held out a hand and summoned a katana, the only proper weapon for a Hero. No shield, those were for the weak, but maybe he could find a cute girl to worship him, like Raphtalia, or maybe blue and pink haired oni twins. He wondered briefly if he could fine a cute goddess like Aqua to accompany him, but the voice that had spoken didn't sound like a girl.

The two women had drawn closer while he was lost in thought and now paused, wary, as he looked over his new sword.

He smiled at them. “Do not fear. I am Kodaka Haruto and I have been summoned by your god to save the world from demons. Please direct me to the castle.”

There should be some sort of translation magic, so even though he spoke Japanese, he assumed they would understand.

“Are you delusional? The gods are dead. Where are your clothes?” The older woman spoke nonsense and covered the eyes of younger, as if to protect her from his majestic body. A mother and daughter, perhaps? The younger girl looked old enough to be an adult.

“No. He just spoke to me a moment ago.” Maybe the woman was a demon, placed in his path to confuse him. The first village in an RPG was supposed to be safe, but that wasn’t always the case.

He leapt forward and swung his katana. It wasn’t a clean cut, but he was just level one. He chopped at her again, then again, before her screaming stopped.

The younger girl wailed and ran. He pursued, a hunter after prey. He quickly caught up and grabbed her blood splattered woolen robe, yanking her back and throwing her to the ground. He put his foot on her chest to hold her in place and brandished his bloody sword.

“Are you a demon too?”

She was crying and shook her head, tears wetting the the ground around her.

“What is your name?”

“K-Kori.” She sobbed, chest heaving under his foot with great heavy gasps. She grabbed at his foot in an attempt to dislodge it.

He shifted more weight onto the leg to hold her in place and stared down into her eyes, which slowly turned from brown to gold, reflective of his cheat skill.

Her crying slowed, then stopped. He could feel her reverence, her adulation, grow under his golden glow.

He directed her into a proper dogeza, to apologize for her mother’s offense.

atomically

This was the first of the opposing Champions to be developed as a character (not counting Wrath). He was originally going to defeat Divya offscreen and face Bonny with two demons and equal power. I've rewritten that outline and they'll both end up facing her separately.

Thanks for reading,
-a