(A Few Months Ago)
Hinata, Koji, and Itsuki were given Divine power from none other than Zeus, now sent into the world of Axis Mundi; thrown straight into battle.
As towering trees crackled with flames devouring their trunks, they could hear distant screams; human screams, filled with panic and agony from afar.
"Koji!" Hinata shouted loudly.
"I'm here!" Came his voice, strained from a distance. "...It looks like he just dropped us in a random location in this world." Koji staggered to his feet a short distance away, clutching his chest where the Inferno Emberheart was located.
Meanwhile, Itsuki lay nearby, curled on his side, panting like he'd just been dragged out of deep water.
"Itsuki?!" Koji widened his eyes and rushed to him, grabbing his shoulders.
"Itsuki! Hey, look at me!"
"I-I'm scared..." He said, on the verge of a panic attack.
"Hey, calm down man, we're all terrified here. Let's just get down to the bottom of this, alright?"
Itsuki looked up at both Koji and Hinata who stared at him with anxious looks.
"O-Okay..." He hesitantly said, still frantically breathing.
"Aaahhhhhh!" All of a sudden, a distant scream snapped their attention back to the world around them. "Help! Someone, please!"
The three of them turned toward the sound; through the burning trees, they could map out moving silhouettes—people running, tripping, and falling.
Right behind them were things that shouldn't exist. Corpses dragged themselves from the earth with hollow eyes glowing blue. Skeletons clattered forward with rusted weapons in hand, jaws clicking as they advanced.
Itsuki's face was drained of color, evidently so.
"A-Are those skeletons?!" He shouted in horror.
"The undead, seriously? What the fuck?" Koji looked baffled.
Hinata's heart slammed against her chest. This place didn't seem like a battlefield but a massacre.
A child was shown stumbling out of the trees, no older than ten, sobbing as a skeletal hand grabbed her ankle. She screamed as she fell—
Koji moved without thinking.
"Hey, stay away from her, bastard!!"
He cocked his fist back, engulfing his hand in flames before landing a direct blow into the undead, knocking its skull clean off its skeletal body.
The skeleton collapsed into a pile of loose bones, its skull rolling across the scorched ground before crumbling into ash.
Koji stood over the remains, panting as flames flickered around his knuckles like unstable embers.
"Run!" He shouted at the child. "And don't look back!"
The girl scrambled to her feet and bolted into the smoke as her cries faded into the chaos.
Hinata stared at Koji's burning hand in silence, completely shocked by his display of strength.
"...You punched it." She said in awe.
Koji glanced down at his fist, then flexed it slowly.
"Yeah." He muttered, also perplexed. "I... guess I did?"
The realization hit all three of them at once.
This power—whatever Zeus had forced into them—was under real.
But all of a sudden, another sound echoed through the trees, and then another.
Dozens of undead began emerging from the burning forest, drawn by noise and the smell of flesh. Some dragged broken legs behind them while others crawled on all fours, clawing through ash and dirt.
Itsuki staggered back a step as his legs threatened to give out.
"T-There's too many...! I-I don't want to do this!"
Hinata went pale, taking a step back in horror, but something deep down inside of her answered that fear.
A warm feeling spread from deep within her, flowing down her arms as light gathered at her palm.
Out of nowhere, a golden blade manifested in her grasp. It was elegant, radiant, and razor-sharp.
The Holy Blade, Asterion.
Hinata stared at it in disbelief, swinging it a few times in her hands; it was surprisingly light.
"...A sword?"
Koji blinked.
"That must be... the Blade Zeus talked about when he gave us his Divine Blessings?!"
The undead charged, but Hinata didn't wait any longer. Despite her fear and trembling legs, she stepped forward and swung.
A clean arc of golden light carved through the front line, cutting three undead in half at once.
Their bodies froze before dissolving into black mist, erased so completely it was like they'd never existed.
Hinata froze, staring at the empty space where they'd been.
"I-I killed them...!"
Koji snapped out of his shock after witnessing Hinata's power.
"HINATA, LEFT!"
She barely reacted in time, raising Asterion to block a rusted blade. The impact rattled her arms as sparks of holy light scattered before she stumbled back.
Koji surged in with flames roaring around his body as he fisted through the attacker.
"Don't think!" He shouted. "Just move! That's how I always won back at the boxing club in school!"
"That sounds too simple-minded! You're nothing more than an idiot, I'm smarter than you!" Said Hinata, now confident in her abilities.
Itsuki watched from behind them, frozen in place.
His hands were shaking violently.
"I-I can't fight. I can't swing a sword. I'll just get in the way!" He watched them like a frightened child, afraid to get involved.
But Hinata suddenly cried out in pain as an undead lunged past Koji's guard and slashed across her side, tearing through her uniform.
Blood splattered onto the ground violently, snapping Itsuki out of his cowardice.
"H-Hinata!" Itsuki screamed.
She dropped to one knee, gritting her teeth in pain.
Koji turned to face Hinata with wide eyes.
"Shit!"
Something inside Itsuki snapped.
He didn't want them to die. He would do everything in his power to prevent that. The thought alone consumed everything else as light burst from his chest.
A magic circle formed instinctively in front of him, glowing blue and etched with symbols he'd never learned.
He imposed his cravings on the world, overriding the laws of reality.
"Ascension... Heal!" He cried out in desperation.
A greenish-white light surged forward, enveloping Hinata first. Her wound sealed instantly, skin knitting together as if it had never been cut.
The pain vanished, replaced by a warm and comforting feeling.
Koji felt it too—fatigue draining from his muscles as his stamina recovered.
"...What the hell?" Koji muttered, staring at his arms.
Hinata pushed herself back to her feet with wide eyes as she looked at Itsuki.
"Itsuki... was that you?"
He stared at the glowing magic circle in disbelief, tears pooling in his eyes.
"I-I didn't mean to... I just... I didn't want you to get hurt..."
Another wave of undead burst from the smoke, snarling as they rushed forward.
Koji stepped in front instinctively as his fire flared brighter than before.
"Alright!" He said, exhaling with a big smile. "So that's how it is!" He glanced back at Itsuki and grinned. "Guess we've got a healer! Awesome! We're gonna be like a D&D party at this rate!"
Hinata tightened her grip on Asterion, forcing her shaking hands to steady.
Her fear was still there, but beneath it was resolve.
"Make sure to heal us Itsuki!" She said, stepping forward. "I'll handle the front with Koji."
Itsuki swallowed hard enough that one could hear it before he nodded, forcing himself to stay upright.
"I-I'll keep healing. I promise."
The undead closed in from all sides before surging forward as one.
Koji cracked his neck as flames spiraled around his arms and shoulders. The Inferno Emberheart burned brighter from his determination.
"Alright, ugly bastards..." He muttered. "It's time for round two!"
He charged first as fire exploded beneath his feet slamming into the front line, fists blazing and pouncing forward like hungry wolves.
Each strike landed with a concussive blast, shattering bone and sending charred remains flying. Skeletons disintegrated on impact, while corpses were hurled back into the flames like broken dolls.
"Oryaaaahh!"
Hinata followed immediately after. She moved clumsily at first, but instinct carried her forward as she started to swing Asterion and make haste alongside Koji.
"...Don't be so reckless you meathead!"
Together, they could clear the horde of undead as a team.
+
Minutes, or hours eventually passed. Slowly, but surely, the tide shifted.
The front lines of the undead collapsed under the unrelenting assault of all three novice heroes who were just summoned into this world.
The skeletons crumbled, corpses disintegrated, and the mist of erased enemies drifted into the air.
Koji kicked over the last of the fallen as his flames sputtered from exhaustion hitting him.
Hinata's arms shook violently as her grip on Asterion was barely holding. Even her legs wobbled as she kneeled on the scorched ground.
Itsuki sank to his knees behind them as the blue glow of his magic circle vanished before he finally allowed himself to collapse.
Now there was only silence and no more screams.
They had survived together, as a team.
Koji, still panting heavily, slumped against a nearby tree. He flexed his hands absently, checking for injuries. Miraculously, none had pierced past Itsuki's healing magic.
"...That... was insane." He muttered exhaustedly. "I-I think we... actually did it."
"I cleared them," She whispered with a shaky voice. "All of them! Koji was too much of a meathead."
Itsuki just sat, exhausted, staring at the ground. After a while, he exhaled and finally spoke.
"I really did it... I actually helped..."
Koji grinned at him from a distance.
"You did more than help. You kept us alive, bro! Without you, we'd be skeleton chow right now... or undead chow. Whatever, you know what I mean!"
Itsuki's cheeks reddened, and he looked away, embarrassed.
"I-I was just... trying my best..."
Hinata stood up and approached the healer slowly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Itsuki... you were truly amazing. We wouldn't have made it without you. You saved us. You should feel honored that I'm giving you praise. Not many would expect such a thing from someone like me."
Itsuki blushed even redder than before.
"O-Oh, thanks... Hinata."
"Mm." Hinata nodded before going to sit down in her own little spot.
The three of them remained in silence as the smoke still rose toward the sky from a distance.
Koji now exhaled, looking at the burned horizon.
"Alright... so what's next? Because I have a feeling this wasn't even the start of the fun."
Hinata tightened her grip on Asterion as she sat crisscross.
"Whatever it is... we'll have to face it together. That's what Zeus wanted us to do, and that is the only way we can return home. As much as I hate to do it with lesser people like you two."
Itsuki nodded as a worried look broke through his exhaustion from Hinata's comment.
"I-I guess we have no choice."
Together, they realized the world of Axis Mundi was harsh, brutal, and unforgiving. But now, they knew they had the power to survive.
And maybe even win.