Overlord: The Demon Valkyrie Raid Boss

Chapter 3 - Excella

Asta went cold.

He might be max level but the figure standing in the room before him was strong enough to be a raid boss in one of the games later expansions. He stood no chance against her.

Asta fumbled back on the bed, sitting up and pressing himself against the wall as much as he could.

And how was she here?

Why was she here?

The demon queen's eyes had not left him since he had seen her, staring intensely at him.

Asta could feel his heart beating out of fright. Had she ever looked so terrifying before? Seeing her this close while she wasn't trying to kill him was a first. The level of detail in her expression, the movements of her pupils...it was like she was real.

And how was she in this game to begin with?

Asta's heart froze.

Did it have something to do with what he had done?

Excella took a step towards him making Asta throw up his arms in defence, but an attack never came. Instead, he heard what he could only think were sniffs.

As he slowly lowered his arms, he could see that Excella's expression had completely changed. Tears were streaming down reddened cheeks, the intense stare completely gone.

"I'm so happy you can finally hear me!"

The raid boss, the Demon Valkyrie Queen collapsed to the floor literally letting the flood gates go.

Asta panicked once again. She was an NPC from Yggdrasil, one that had killed him many times over, but right all he could see was a crying girl.

"Uh...um...it's going to be all ri..." Asta's hand passed right through her.

"Of course...you...can't...touch me." Excella wiped her eyes and once again looked up at him. "Not after what you did."

Asta looked down, placing a hand on his chest. That was right, the stupid thing he had done on a whim, the thing that had driven all of his friends away and left him alone.

After countless tries and weeks of attempting to defeat Excella his guild had finally emerged victorious. But as Excella lay dying on the ground Asta had pitied her. Had Excella met someone who would have accepted her, her story would have turned out very differently. And so, when she had been defeated, sobbing quietly as the final wisps of life left her, Asta had felt that he wanted to save her, that perhaps she didn't need to have a sad ending.

And so, perhaps unconsciously, he had used the guilds only World Item to save her.

It had merged her soul with his own and just like that all of the effort his guild had put in, not just for claiming a World Item but also for defeating a raid boss, was for naught.

In Yggdrasil Asta had not been able to talk to Excella or hear her. He didn't even know she was there. For all intents and purposes, she had died that day.

Countless times he had wished he could have taken it back.

"H...How can I hear you?" said Asta, finally calming down a little. Excella didn't seem to want to cause him harm. If anything, she seemed incredibly happy to see him.

"It must be this new world," she replied. "I've tried to talk to you countless times before now. But when you woke up just now was the first time I've tried since coming here."