The Grand Catastrophe

Side Chapter: Inveria

Pain, heat and the cracking of something precious. That was all life was for a split second, maybe two. He could feel His mind searing with pain. That was all that he was for as long as he could recall.

Then it all stilled. He blinked his eyes, and looked around from the fetal position that he had taken without thinking. He was in a room, his room. Yet it wasn’t. He made a confused sound as he looked down at himself, and noticed something.

He wasn’t himself, no, he was, she was. She was Keno, she was James. Keno fully stood up, and reviewed her memories. As her mind delved into itself, a white-hot spike of iron pounded into her mind, and she could feel herself nearly pass out from this new sudden pain. She opened her eyes, stood up without thinking, and reeled back, her face facing the ceiling of her mother’s room.

“Oh, I’ve been isekai’ed,” was all she said before rushing to the mirror on the side of the room, ignoring the zombies that both sides of herself wanted to ignore.

There, standing in the mirror, was a pretty little girl. Her hair was a pretty golden-orange tinge. Her eyes were bright, bloodred. Her face was rather fey-like. Her teeth, after she opened her mouth to check, were pointed, at least the canines were.

She also noticed that her tongue was rather long. And she slightly distracted herself from her worries by playing with it a little. After what seemed like an hour of simply standing in front of the mirror. She sucked in a breath she felt she still needed, and looked to where her parents and maids were.

There, in the middle of the room, shambling on his feet, was Keno’s father. Besides him, trying not to fall down, was her mother. They looked old, older than she recalled ever seeing them. Not elderly, but rather middle aged. The two of them had been in their 30s when she had suddenly been turned, and the city fell.

She took another breath, and looked down at herself. As she did so, she walked out of the room, locked the door, and made her way to her own room. Once there, she decided to try and cast a spell. One of the only 5 she knew was perfect for this.

She looked up from herself and around the room. It was just as she had left it, including the washbasin under the windowsill. The ceiling was tall, with tall windows to complement it. The curtains were thick, and let little light in when closed. The bed, on the right side of the door when you came in, had a canopy as well, with dark drapes as well.

She then moved over to the basin in front of her, and pushed her hands out slowly. Now trembling with anticipation, the part of her that was James came fully afore in her body and mind.

“{Create Water},” she intoned, and a puddle’s worth of water generated itself under her palm, and fell into the basin.

She smiled, but not before her mind was struck again. She staggered, and yelled something to the affects of, “For fuck’s sake!” she stopped a split second later, and sighed as her mind was seared with magic. All her spells, how to use them, and some other such things related to her magic, appeared in her mind.

She blinked, and looked into herself again as she just had. She had 5 spells, but a 6th one had appeared in her mind. When she realized the meaning of this, dread filled her, and James' mind shuddered with knowledge.

This was wild magic locked into her soul with her special talent. At least, if the knowledge of the hit isekai, “Overlord,” was to be believed. James had loved the show, and the light novel. So much so that he, she, they read the bonus novel. Keno Fasris Invern was the last royal, and last sapient being in the nation of Invern.

“How do I get rid of this?” she asked herself and she looked down at the water in the basin.

Ainz popped up in her head after a beat. If she waited for him to show up, which was a coin toss if he actually did, would he actually help her? There was also the undead member of the group that she forgot the name of. What about him? Could she ask him for aid?

“What if I cast the spell on itself?” she asked herself as she began to pace, “No, then the spell would destabilize itself, it would break. It would explode. There would be no place for the energy to go,” she spoke to herself.

She then looked up from the floor, and made her way outside of her room. There, she walked down the hallway until she found a guard. Now that she was thinking with her head, the adult mind of James had taken the wheel. Not that the two of them were different minds. There was just a different vibe to her now.

As she walked down the halls, she noticed a guard. The guard himself was also a zombie, but that wasn’t new. Her memories from Keno said his name was Dunkon, and she smiled a little at the memories of him giving her a piece of candy once.

The hallways were rather tall as well, with red and white flowery wallpaper that looked a bit tacky. It felt so strange to see the normal halls, and then just a zombie version of a good acquaintance. Keno blinked at the lack of any true emotions, and walked right up to him after she shook it off.

“Dunkon,” she addressed him, and the zombie looked down at her and groaned, “I think this should work. Vampires have charm, but maybe since you’re a zombie, I can dominate you like a lich can? Let me try Dunkon,” she spoke more to herself than to the ex-guard.

She got really close to the zombie, almost touching him. Then, she looked in herself, like when she was searching for her talent, and spotted something. That something wiggled, and she opened her eyes, now actually glowing, and spoke. Her voice was several octaves deeper than normal as well.

“{Lesser Dominate Undead},” she ordered, and she felt her somewhat larger than before mana supply dwindle a little bit.

His eyes shifted colors. Before, they were cloudy. Now, they were bright with unlife. She could also feel something there. It was what seemed like a connection to him. It stayed after she waited for about a minute or two.

“Great!” she shouted, and hopped once in joy, “now all I need to do is dominate everyone in the city…” she mumbled the last part.

Why was she doing this? She wanted to make sure no one set foot in her city without her knowing, for one. For another, practice made perfect, and she was a vampire and also a sorceress. The stronger she got, the more magic she would have. At least, from what she knew of how DnD worked. Then again, this was only based on it.

It seemed to be working somewhat though. Dragons, from what she could gather, gained more magic spells as they grew older. Their magic came form their bloodline, which was their race. If her magic came from her, then making herself, or rather her racial level, stronger then she should also gain more powerful magic. Or at the very least something like that. She sighed, and looked to her hands, so much research to do.

…