The Wrong Hero

Chapter 1 - An Unexpected Death

IMPORTANT NOTE: I will mention this ahead of time. This fic will be using info from not just the light novels, but from Reprise of the Spear Hero, as well as their web novel associates. Needless to say, spoilers for anyone intending to read any of that.

The smell of iron filled the air. Iron and smoke. The smoke was from the man in the room, Dante MacRory. He'd just lit a cigarette after he sat in his recliner. Relaxing after a long day was important, after all. As for the smell of iron...

"Grr..." He clenched his stomach as he tried to stand. The fridge still had some beer in it, and Dante really wished he grabbed a bottle before he sat down. He brought his hand up to his face and saw it coated in blood.

Guess that's not happening.

Dante had been shot. Movies try to glamorize the protagonist fighting through a gut shot to save the day. Honestly? Big enough round sitting in your stomach will keep you from moving around. Dying really sucked.

"Bet you know all about that, don't you?" Dante turned to the other person in the room, who lay on the ground, staring back at him. The fear and anger still plastered on his face as blood ran down his forehead to the floor. "Probably not. Lucky bastard."

It wasn't all bad. He was able to kill the man before he did Dante in. I should feel at least a little good about that. However, he couldn't help but turn his head to see the two bullet holes in his wall. One of said holes was made after the bullet had passed through some metal tubing he'd set on the table.

"Who the hell can get their hands on armor-piercing pistol rounds and miss two shots at fifteen feet? 'The hell did you get that stuff anyway? Eh, doesn't matter."

Dante wasn't really in any position to judge. Sure, he killed him in one shot after the man missed two and hit him in the gut with the third, but...well, that didn't matter either.

In a few minutes, he would be at peace.

...Thank god.

His vision had started to blur. It started to feel like things slowed down. One last drag on his cigarette, then—oh. He dropped it on the ground.

Damn. Oh well. I guess that's it then.

Darkness finally covered his vision.

And then...

Dante felt his body was moving. It felt as if he was falling. I suppose that's confirmation of where I'm headed.

But then, he slammed into the ground. He let out a groan as he tried to move.

"The summoning ritual was a success!" A voice called out.

He shifted on the floor to see who was talking. Several robed figures stood before him. Dante immediately reached into his jacket for his pistol, only to find it missing.

Right. I dropped it before I sat down. But...what exactly is going on here?

"Where are we?" A voice next to him called out.

He looked over and saw three men with weapons in their hands. No, not men. Two of them looked to be teenagers. They all seemed to be eastern as well. Maybe Japanese?

It was the boy with a sword in his hand who had spoken. He had short black hair and wore a blue jacket. The sword had some sort of blue gem near the hilt. Wait, why does this seem familiar?

"Oh heroes, please save our world!" The robed man in front said.

Dante began to stand as the man continued.