I Died and Was Reincarnated as a Goth Femboy

"They're trying to summon something!" Ryo hissed, his playful demeanor gone, replaced by sharp focus. "We have to stop them now!"

Kenjiro's adrenaline surged. This was it. A real fight against real villains. His body might be weak, but his spirit was that of a titan. He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and unleashed a mighty war cry that had once echoed through countless gyms.

"THE MONSTER IS GETTING OUT OF THE CELL! BIIIIIIIIIIIIRL!"

The five mages, startled from their trance, whipped around. Their eyes, glowing with violet energy, fixed on the intruders. Without a word, they all thrust their hands forward, launching a volley of crackling fireballs.

"Incoming!" Gluteus roared.

Kenjiro yelped, his bravado instantly evaporating as spheres of flame hurtled toward him. He scrambled for cover, diving behind the one person who was an impenetrable wall of steel: Gluteus Maximus. The fireballs exploded harmlessly against the knight's massive shield.

"It is always a good thing to protect your big assets, Sir Bombom," Gluteus said, his voice a proud rumble, not even flinching from the fiery impacts.

Kenjiro, peeking from behind the giant's leg, went crimson. "SHUT UP AND FOCUS ON PROTECTING ME, NOT MY BACKSIDE!"

While Gluteus tanked the hits, Ryo was already in motion. His hands glowed with an icy mist as he channeled his power. "Mirrors, mirrors, on the wall, let's make these edgy losers fall!" he chanted. Large, perfectly smooth sheets of ice materialized in the air around the mages, positioned at specific angles. Ryo then unleashed a barrage of razor-sharp ice shards, not at the mages, but at his own mirrors.

The shards ricocheted off the ice surfaces, multiplying and changing direction, creating an inescapable kill box. The mages, caught completely by surprise, were riddled with the icy projectiles from all sides. Four of them dropped to the ground, their dark robes pooling with loot.

The fifth and final mage, however, clung to life. With a final, desperate snarl, he pulled a pulsating, dark artifact from his robes and hurled it into the center of the glowing circle. "For the master!" he gurgled, before collapsing.

The effect was instantaneous. The ground began to shake violently. The magical sigil on the ground blazed with an infernal light, and a palpable wave of pure evil washed over them. Something massive, something ancient and malevolent, was clawing its way into their world. A huge, demonic hand breached the surface, followed by a horned head with burning red eyes. It was ready to burn everything around it.

And then, just as suddenly, a brilliant golden light filled the clearing. A giant, ornate cross, seemingly made of pure sunlight, plummeted from the sky and slammed directly onto the emerging demon's head, driving it back down below the circle with a sickening crunch. The cross pulsed with holy energy, shattering the summoning circle and sealing the portal shut.

"Just in time," a calm, melodic voice declared.

A woman walked into the clearing from the edge of the woods. She wore the pristine white and gold vestments of a high priestess, her blonde hair seemed to shine, and her blue eyes held a serene but powerful light. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman Kenjiro had ever seen.

His brain rebooted. The demon, the mages, the danger—it all melted away. This was his chance. He ran towards her, striking what he hoped was a cool pose.

"Hey girl, you free?"

The priestess didn't even glance at him. She walked right past him as if he were invisible and stopped in front of Ryo.

"Good thing I was tracking this energy signature, Ryo," she said, her voice crisp and professional. "Who are these guys?"

Ryo grinned, gesturing to the party and putting special emphasis on Kenjiro. "The usual crew, plus our new S-Tier beauty, Bombom!"

The blonde woman finally turned her gaze to Kenjiro, her blue eyes scanning him from head to toe. Her expression remained unimpressed. She stepped closer, touching his arm, then his shoulder, her touch light but analytical.

"This is your S-Tier?" she said, turning back to Ryo with a dismissive air. "He's cute, I suppose, but he feels incredibly weak."

After a brief, tense conversation with Ryo about the incident, the priestess gave a final, disdainful glance at Kenjiro and then simply turned and walked away, disappearing back into the marsh as mysteriously as she had arrived.

Kenjiro was left standing there, his heart sinking. He had been shot down, dismissed, and called weak by the most stunning woman he had ever laid eyes on. Revenge suddenly felt like a distant second priority.