Lion King DxD

Prologue

"Thank you, Bediveere. You were my last as well as best loyal knight."

It was the culmination of a life's ambition, a perfectly scripted play, carried out to perfection in a fashion that would make Shakespeare weak at the knees.

There was no pain, unsurprising really, even as her regal and majestic body began to fade away.

She swore she could hear the voices from the past, people and soldiers who fell due to her selfish desire. Despite the eerie silence that had fallen over her surroundings. She almost wished she could see their faces, looking on in awe as the Goddess Rhongomyniad who wanted to 'Salvage' the entire world was dying.

All a lie, all a means to an end, to ensure that the world no longer deteriorated into a never-ending cycle of hatred and bloodshed, where people  would no longer live in fear.

'Shirou...' she wondered, about her best friend with a small smile resting on her face.

And with that she closed her eyes for all eternity.

Or, that's how it was supposed to be.

The last thing she remembered was cold and loneliness as her body became numb. Artoria Pendragon felt a warm breeze flow by her and she opened her eyes and looked around.

"Where am I?" She was in the middle of a forest, surrounded by trees as the light of the moon illuminated the area around her. The Lion King looked at herself, still wearing her royal garb, "How? What is going on?!"

Where was she? Who brought her here? Artoria's mind was filled with dozens of questions and she didn't know where to get answers for them. However, all of her thoughts were stopped as she felt a strange presence, almost as if something was calling her. Artoria rose from the ground, as a green light started to form a strange being.

"Artoria Pendragon."

It was strange... as if dozens of people were...... talking at the same time. Artoria could only note that the male voice was the loudest among them. She didn't know why she froze at one place, unable to move or even utter a word at that moment.

"I have an offer for you."

The Deity continued to speak his will. She couldn't hear what The Deity was saying, as if they were just moving their mouth and yet, she understood everything.

"Protect, those who you love..." It said to her, which confused her more.

But before she could grasp the situation or get in control. She felt a tug at her body, and looking behind she saw a huge portal opening and an invisible force started to forcefully throw her away. Her armour, majestic fur manifested themselves little by little, she felt her magical reserve and powers returning to her slowly but steadily. And before she knew it, she was in the sky falling at a rapid speed. Her senses quickly acted on impulse as she braced for impact and something hard hit her back.

Artoria groaned in light pain and put a hand on her back.

"What the fuck?!"

"What the heck was that?!"

"Ara, whatever this might be."

She looked up to see a bunch of people looking at her weird and.... surprised. The surroundings seem to be some sort of a forest. And also a church nearby.

They... weren't normal to say the list. The mana they were releasing proved them to be more than humans.

Glaring at them she couldn't help but warn, "Who are you?"