I Died and Was Reincarnated as a Goth Femboy

The oppressive gloom of the ogre-infested woods seemed to press in on them from all sides. Every snapped twig sounded like the crack of a bone, every rustle of leaves like the approach of some hulking, green-skinned monstrosity. Bombom, for once, was quiet, his usual bravado tempered by the grim reality of their mission. He had his hover-drone active, but he wasn't narrating, merely letting the silent, tense footage stream to his viewers. SynchroNoice, walking so close to Gluteus that he was practically stepping on the back of the knight's sabatons, let out a nervous "boop" sound every few minutes, a strange, rhythmic counterpoint to the forest's unsettling silence.

They walked for what felt like an eternity, the endless sea of dark trees threatening to swallow them whole. Then, through a gap in the gnarled branches, they saw it. A light. Not the faint, dappled sunlight of the forest, but the bright, warm glow of civilization. They pushed through a final, thick hedge of thorns and stumbled into the open, their eyes widening in collective disbelief.

It was a city. A massive, sprawling medieval city, complete with towering stone walls, a bustling marketplace, and a magnificent castle with high, slender spires that pierced the sky. It was a place that shouldn't exist, a perfect, pristine relic dropped into the middle of a cursed, monster-filled wilderness.

DragonSlayer's jaw dropped, his usual cocky smirk completely gone, replaced by an expression of pure, unadulterated shock. "H-hey guys," he stammered, his voice barely a whisper. "T-this is... this is the city of Gravemire. The capital of the old kingdom. From 1200 B.C. It was... it was destroyed by the great ogre horde."

Lyrielle, her own eyes wide with a strange, nostalgic sadness, nodded slowly. "Y-yes," she confirmed, her voice soft. "I remember studying its fall when I was a child. I was only 120 years old then."

The party, who had been staring at the impossible city, suddenly turned to stare at her.

"W-what?" DragonSlayer asked, his brain struggling to process the casual statement. "One hundred and twenty years?"

"H-hey," Bombom began, his own mind reeling. "How old are you now?"

"H-hey, Bombom," SynchroNoice piped up, ever the unhelpful sidekick. "Don't ask a woman her age."

Lyrielle blushed, a deep crimson that was visible even in the dim light of the forest. She looked down at her feet, her long, fiery blonde hair hiding her face. "Six hundred and fifty-three..." she mumbled.

Everyone's jaw dropped in unison.

"W-what?!" Bombom gasped, his mouth still hanging open.

Gluteus Maximus let out a deep, rumbling laugh that seemed to shake the very ground. "Hohoho! Elves are clearly very different from humans, Bombom. They live for centuries, their lives a slow, graceful dance with time."

Bombom's eyes shifted, his perception of the shy, timid healer in his party completely upended. He had been treating her like a cute, delicate girl, someone to be protected. But she was ancient. She had forgotten more history than he had ever learned. She had seen empires rise and fall. A new, profound sense of admiration and respect for her bloomed in his chest. She wasn't just a powerful healer; she was a living piece of history, a warrior with centuries of experience hidden behind her shy smiles and blushing cheeks.

"So," DragonSlayer said, finally shaking off his shock and getting back to the problem at hand. "What do we do now? The enemy is probably a powerful being, powerful enough to create an entire realm that changes time, and even make people from the past appear in the future."

"Yes," Gluteus nodded, his expression grim as he scanned the city walls. "It is probably best that we stay low and do not attract much attention. That includes you, Bombom."

"W-what?!" Bombom yelped, his ego wounded.

"Gluteus is right, Bombom..." Lyrielle said gently. "At this time in history, Lilies were not involved in fights... they never were... but..."

Bombom sighed, the fight draining out of him. He understood. In this hyper-realistic illusion, his very presence was an anomaly, a beacon that would draw unwanted attention. "I got it," he grumbled. He rummaged through his purse and pulled out a large, plain brown blanket, draping it over his head and shoulders to hide his distinctive features his out of place outfit. "That will do," he said, his voice muffled by the thick fabric.

They walked toward the city gates, the illusion so perfect they could smell the scent of baking bread and hear the distant clang of a blacksmith's hammer. They passed through the gates, the guards in their archaic armor giving them nothing more than a passing glance. They walked through the bustling streets, their modern gear and strange appearances surprisingly unnoticed.

And then, as they reached the central castle, the world flickered. For a single, terrifying second, the pristine, vibrant city vanished. They were standing in a field of ruins. The castle was a crumbling wreck, its stones covered in moss and thick, grasping vines. The sky above was a bruised, angry purple, and the air was filled with the stench of death and decay, a single broken statue of a man flexing his muscles catches their eyes. Then, in a blink of an eye, the illusion snapped back into place. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the castle stood tall and proud before them.

"It seems he's not all that strong," Bombom said, his voice a low whisper from beneath his blanket.

"Yes," Gluteus nodded. "He is likely getting weaker. The illusion is unstable. We must find him, and quickly."

They approached the main market square, a vibrant hub of activity. And then they saw them. Three massive ogres, identical to the one DragonSlayer had fought, were rampaging through the square, swatting aside the city guards like flies and grabbing terrified civilians.

Before anyone could say a word, before a plan could be formed, Bombom's instincts took over. He threw off his blanket, his S-Tier Lily form a brilliant, shocking splash of color in the drab, medieval world. He charged.

"B-BOMBOM, YOU CAN'T!" Gluteus roared, trying to catch him, but it was too late.

Bombom appeared in front of the three ogres, a defiant smirk on his face. "Hey, you green things!" he yelled. "You're super ugly. Didn't your mother ever tell you that?"

The lead ogre, who was about to bite the head off a screaming merchant, paused. It looked down at the small, beautiful creature before it and let out a booming laugh. "This one is funny," it rumbled. "Let's turn him into our pet." The other two ogres laughed and nodded in agreement.

The first ogre lumbered toward Bombom, raising its massive, tree-trunk of a club. It swung down, a blow that could shatter a stone. But just as it was about to connect, Bombom's muscular shadow erupted from his back. It caught the club in one massive, phantom hand, stopping it dead. Bombom, who hadn't moved, just looked down at the floor in a cool, nonchalant pose.

The shadow wagged a finger at the stunned ogre in a classic "nuh-uh" pattern. "Tsk, tsk, tsk," it seemed to say.

"Stop doing that!" the ogre roared in frustration. It tried to pull its club back, and the shadow let go. The massive weapon, propelled by the ogre's own immense strength, flew backward and slammed into its own face with a comical thwack. The shadow let out a silent, maniacal laugh.

The ogre, now thoroughly enraged, clapped its hands together. "Layer Expansion: Swamp!"

The pristine cobblestones of the market square began to dissolve into a murky, foul-smelling bog. But as the transformation started, the shadow just laughed again. It reached into Bombom's back and pulled out the second shadow, the ethereal, blue-haired boy. The boy just smiled, and the swamp transformation instantly stopped, the ground solidifying back into stone.

The ogre stared, its piggy eyes wide with shock. "W-WHAT?! HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS?! Y-YOU'RE ONLY A HUMAN!"

The blue-haired boy just pointed at the ogre and laughed, a silent, melodic sound. As he did, the world around the ogre changed. For the party, nothing seemed to happen. But for the ogre, the warm, sunny market square was replaced by a dimension of infinite, crystalline ice. It was frozen solid in an instant, its expression of shock and rage preserved for eternity. The blue-haired boy smiled one last time before melting back into Bombom, and the ice dimension vanished. From the party's perspective, the ogre had simply, inexplicably, turned into a giant, green ice statue.

The other two ogres stared at their frozen comrade, their jaws dropping. "W-WHAT HAPPENED?!" one of them roared. They looked at each other, then knelt and slammed their massive fists on the ground. The earth began to shake, and the cobblestones beneath Bombom's feet split open, a massive, earthen mouth rising up to swallow him whole.

"N-NO, BOMBOM!" Lyrielle screamed.

But before the jaws could close, the muscular shadow erupted from the ground, punching its way out of the earthen prison. It hovered in the air for a moment, smirking down at the two remaining ogres. It flexed its impossible muscles. "You think you're a monster?!" it seemed to roar.

The shadow flew at them, a blur of motion. It unleashed a barrage of punches, so fast and so powerful that they seemed to ignite the very air around them. The ogres were engulfed in a storm of phantom fists, the impacts burning their tough, green hides. After five seconds of the relentless assault, the ogres were gone, reduced to nothing more than two piles of fine, gray ash.

The shadow returned, melting back into Bombom's form. The sudden, overwhelming expenditure of power was too much. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious, the world fading to black.

His team rushed to his side. "BOMBOM!" Lyrielle cried, kneeling beside him. She quickly pulled his shirt off to check for injuries, and the entire party gasped. On his back, where the two shadows had emerged, were two large, raw, open wounds, as if something had violently torn its way out of his very flesh.

But as Lyrielle reached out, her hands glowing with healing magic, the wounds began to close on their own. The torn flesh knitted itself back together at an impossible speed, and within seconds, his back was as smooth and flawless as it had been before, as if nothing had ever happened.

The party was left staring, completely shocked, at the sheer, terrifying power of their leader, and the mysterious, rapid healing that followed.