I Died and Was Reincarnated as a Goth Femboy

The armored car hummed along a rough, overgrown path, the civilized roads of the kingdom giving way to the untamed wilderness of the borderlands. The mood inside the vehicle was a strange cocktail of anxiety and annoyance. SynchroNoice, the party's newest and most questionable addition, sat nervously, occasionally letting out a soft "boop" sound to reassure himself. Bombom, meanwhile, was trying his best to ignore him, his attention focused on the dark, foreboding forest that was growing thicker on either side of the path. The Zhereke joke had fallen completely flat, and the subsequent mockery from his livestream chat had put him in a foul mood.

They finally reached the drop-off point, a small, dilapidated clearing where the path simply ceased to exist. The driver wished them luck, a hint of pity in his eyes, before quickly turning the car around and speeding back toward civilization. They were on their own.

"Alright, stay sharp," Bombom commanded, his voice tight. "Gluteus, point. Lyrielle, stay close to him. DragonSlayer, you're on flank. Synchro... just try not to get eaten."

They entered the woods, a place where the trees grew so thick and tall they blotted out the sun, casting the forest floor in a perpetual, gloomy twilight. The air was heavy and damp, smelling of moss and decay. They walked in silence for what felt like hours, the only sounds the crunching of leaves under their boots and the occasional, unnerving snap of a twig in the distance.

Then, they heard it. A deep, guttural roar that seemed to shake the very trees around them, followed by a series of high-pitched, terrified screams. The party exchanged a look. Without a word, they broke into a run, crashing through the underbrush in the direction of the sound.

They burst into a small, unnatural clearing to a scene of pure carnage. A massive, green-skinned ogre, easily four meters tall and twice as wide, was hunched over the mangled carcass of a horse, tearing off huge chunks of flesh with its bare hands and stuffing them into its cavernous mouth. A few feet away, two knights in battered, old-fashioned plate armor were trembling, their iron swords held shakily before them. A woman in a simple dress was huddled behind them, screaming.

The ogre finished its gruesome meal, tossing the horse's skull aside with a sickening crunch. It licked its thick, blood-stained lips and turned its small, piggy eyes on the terrified humans.

"Mhmmm, humans..." it rumbled, its voice like grinding stones. It struck a bizarre, thoughtful pose, one massive finger tapping its chin. "My friends told me humans brains make your brain evolve, so..." It paused, a cruel, hungry grin spreading across its face. "Surrender and let me eat ya."

"Back out, monster!" one of the knights yelled, his voice cracking with fear.

The ogre just laughed, a deep, booming sound that echoed through the clearing. It clapped its massive hands together once, a sound like a thunderclap, and whispered, "Layer Expansion: Swamp."

The ground beneath the knights' feet instantly transformed. The firm, grassy earth dissolved into a murky, foul-smelling bog. Gnarled, dead trees erupted from the stagnant water, and the air grew thick with the buzz of oversized insects. "Now you're in my home," the ogre licked his lips.

It was at that moment that Bombom's party arrived on the scene. DragonSlayer, ever the hothead, didn't even wait for an order. "You're disgusting!" he roared. "Time to die!"

He charged, his body a blur of motion. He leaped into the air, seeming to vanish for a split second before reappearing directly behind the ogre, his sword slicing a deep gash across the back of its thick, tree-trunk-like legs. But the damage was superficial. The ogre, annoyed more than hurt, swatted him away with a casual backhand. DragonSlayer was sent flying, crashing to the ground in a heap.

"Oh~ more food," the ogre smiled, lumbering toward the downed warrior. It opened its massive mouth, ready to devour DragonSlayer's arm. But before it could, a loud, metallic CLANG echoed through the swamp. Gluteus had slammed the edge of his massive shield into the ground, the sound a clear and undeniable taunt.

The ogre paused, its attention shifting. "Oooh~ I was about to eat you," it rumbled, looking from DragonSlayer to the giant knight. "But that man is looking much tastier."

It charged, and Gluteus met the assault head-on, his shield absorbing the ogre's powerful, club-like fists. Lyrielle was already chanting, a soft, green light enveloping the knight, healing the damage and reinforcing his defenses with powerful buffs.

Bombom, meanwhile, had his hover-drone active, filming the entire encounter with SynchroNoice standing nervously at his side.

"See, chat?" he narrated for the stream. "Now it's the time he dies and becomes an onion."

"See, chat?" SynchroNoice repeated in a perfect, if slightly higher-pitched, imitation of Bombom's voice. "Now it's the time he dies and becomes an onion."

Bombom's eye twitched. "HEY! STOP COPYING WHAT I SAY!" he yelled at his new sidekick. He then turned his attention back to the fight. "HEY, YOU DUMB HEAD!" he shouted at DragonSlayer, who was still on the ground, shaking his head to clear it. "GET UP OFF THE FLOOR AND HELP GLUTEUS!"

DragonSlayer pushed himself to his feet, a vein throbbing on his forehead. "YOU DO SOMETHING, YOU INCREDIBLY CUTE THING!" he roared back.

Bombom struck a cute pose, aiming it directly at DragonSlayer, and blew a kiss. "I could hurt my nail~" he cooed.

The shimmering, pink kiss floated across the swamp and hit DragonSlayer square in the face. "Uh?! You thought that would work on me...?" he began, but then his pupils dilated into two, perfect hearts. He shook his head violently, the effect wearing off with a visible effort of will. "Hey, hey, hey! Do that on the enemy, not on me!"

Bombom just sat down on a nearby tree trunk, pulling out his LilyPad to watch the comments roll in, leaving DragonSlayer fuming.

"I didn't want to use this here, but..." the warrior growled. He bit his own thumb, drawing blood, and then smeared it across his face in a strange, ritualistic pattern. A massive cloud of black and red smoke erupted around him. When it cleared, he was transformed. His armor had fused with his skin, becoming a second layer of draconic scales. His features were sharper, more reptilian, and a pair of large, leathery wings had sprouted from his back.

Bombom's jaw dropped. SynchroNoice looked at the transformed warrior, his eyes wide with a mixture of terror and excitement.

The new, draconic DragonSlayer let out a roar and launched himself at the ogre. He was a whirlwind of claws and steel, his sword slicing off huge chunks of the ogre's green flesh. The beast roared in pain, spitting green blood. "Not bad," it grunted. "But how about this!" It clapped its hands again, and the murky water of the swamp rose up, forming watery tendrils that wrapped around DragonSlayer, holding him in place.

"You humans are so weak-minded," the ogre laughed. But as it finished speaking, the figure held by the water shimmered and dissolved. It was just an iron mannequin, a cheap illusion. The real DragonSlayer appeared behind the ogre, his sword plunging deep into its back. He then opened his mouth and whispered, "Dragon's Hell Fire."

An immense torrent of fire erupted from his throat, engulfing the ogre completely. The beast shrieked, a high, piercing sound, as it was burned alive. It stumbled a few more steps before collapsing into the swamp, its body a smoldering, blackened ruin. As it died, the swamp layer around them vanished, the ground returning to the normal, solid earth of the forest.

The two knights and the woman, who had been cowering behind a tree this whole time, slowly emerged, their faces pale with shock. "Thank you," one of them said, his voice trembling. "But we are leaving this place. The ogres are coming, destroying everything. We are no match for them."

Bombom smirked. "Don't worry. I'm going to defeat them."

The second knight looked at him, shocked. "H-hey, aren't you a Lily? Y-you're not supposed to be here."

"Why?" Bombom asked, his smirk faltering.

"It's not a good sign for Lilies to be involved in a fight," the knight explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "These things are for brutes, and weaklings like us."

Gluteus gulped. "Oh no," he whispered. "He said the thing."

Brute. The word hit Bombom like a physical blow. A cold, familiar rage began to build in his chest. But then, he stopped it. He took a deep breath, his expression hardening into a mask of cold, arrogant indifference. "Don't worry," he said, his teeth clenched so tightly his jaw ached. "My minions will do it."

The knights, not sensing the undercurrent of pure fury, just nodded and began to run, the woman in tow, disappearing into the distance.

DragonSlayer, who had reverted to his normal form, walked over, looking exhausted. "H-hey, hey, hey," he panted. "I'm not going to do anything, and I'm not your minion."

"I said that so he wouldn't go around saying things about me," Bombom replied, his voice still cold.

"But Bombom is famous," SynchroNoice pointed out. "Everyone knows about you at this point."

Bombom ignored him, his eyes narrowed as he looked in the direction the knights had fled. "Didn't you look at his armor?" he asked. "It was completely different from what we've seen before. It was more... medieval."

"You're right, Bombom," Gluteus rumbled, a thoughtful look on his face. "I thought my mind was tricking me..."

"I-I can sense some strange magic around here..." Lyrielle added, her eyes scanning the clearing.

"Yeah," DragonSlayer said, catching on. "The knights... they would probably have flaming swords or something, but theirs were just plain iron..."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Bombom said, a new, unsettling mystery now taking precedence over his wounded pride.

The chat, which had been celebrating DragonSlayer's victory, immediately shifted gears.

"Bombom is so intelligent!"

"Bombom has a great eye for detail!"

"Next time, we want to see Bombom cook them."