Chapter One: The Final Shift
No One's POV
The Texas sun blazed overhead.
But inside Saint Aurora Medical Center, it was cold.
The kind of cold that seeps into your skin when something terribly wrong is about to happen. An unnatural silence blanketed the ER like the air itself knew to hold its breath.
Then came the first shot.
Atticus James – First-Person POV
I was supposed to be home by now.
Still in scrubs, off-duty. I'd stayed to finish paperwork, laugh with a nurse about her playlist, maybe grab coffee before heading out.
But that shot—it cut through the walls and the noise and the mundane like lightning through dry wood.
POP. POP. POP.
Then the screaming. A crash. Another shot.
My body moved before my brain could process it. Training kicks in fast when you're a paramedic, but today... it was something deeper.
I yanked the supply cart toward the hallway and ducked behind it, heart hammering in my throat.
Voices echoed—men shouting, boots slamming down tile, the panicked cries of nurses and patients as they scrambled.
Three men. Armed. Tactical. Not just angry—methodical.
I peeked around the corner and saw them. Black jackets. Assault rifles. No hesitation in their eyes.
They weren't robbing the hospital.
They were here to make a statement.
I worked quickly.
Pulled the injured into empty rooms. Tied tourniquets with shaking hands. Adrenaline drowned out fear.
A bullet had torn through an elderly man's stomach—I pressed gauze hard to slow the bleeding, even as he trembled.
"You're gonna be okay. Just stay with me."
I lied. But he smiled anyway.
One of the gunmen turned the corner.
I ducked back, barely avoiding being seen.
He was heading toward the pediatric wing.
My breath caught.
I bolted.
Down the hall, I saw her—a little girl, no older than eight, frozen in the middle of the corridor. Her pink shoes squeaked as she took one frightened step back.
The gunman raised his weapon.
I didn't think. I couldn't.
I sprinted forward and threw myself in front of her just as the trigger pulled.
BANG.
The impact felt like getting hit by a truck. Fire ripped through my side.
But I didn't stop moving.
I tackled her to the floor, my body curling around hers, protecting her from the next shot, and the next.
I whispered in her ear, "Shhh... you're okay. I got you."
Her tiny fingers dug into my back. I kept pressure on the wound, even as warmth pooled beneath me.
The world was dimming fast.
But I held her tighter.
Until the sirens roared.
Until the boots thundered in.
Until everything went quiet.
The Sky Between Life and Death – 3rd Person POV
Atticus James died on a cold hospital floor—bleeding out, holding a child he barely knew, still whispering words of comfort with his final breath.
But death did not take him immediately.
Instead, he awoke floating above the clouds, wrapped in silence and serenity.
A soft wind stirred the edges of his scrubs—now bloodless, clean.
Before him stood a radiant figure, timeless and still, surrounded by golden light.
God:"You did well, Atticus."
Atticus' POV
I blinked. My hands felt light. Whole. I wasn't hurting anymore.
"...I died, didn't I?"
The figure nodded.
God:"You saved over a dozen lives today. Your name will live on. That girl—Naomi—she'll grow up to become a healer, inspired by your sacrifice."
I swallowed hard. The weight of it hit me like a wave. It wasn't fear... it was relief.
"Good. That's good. I don't need to know what my family went through. I want to remember them happy. Not broken."
The being's expression softened—almost human in its sorrow and respect.
God:"You were never meant to be just a paramedic. You were meant to be a protector. That fire inside you, that instinct—it transcends this world."
He extended his hand.
God:"That's why I'm offering you a second life. A world of your choosing. One where your strength can shape the very balance of good and evil. With two gifts to aid your journey."
I stood slowly.
Everything I was—every sacrifice, every patient I held—rose to the surface.
"Then send me to the world of Overlord. But I want to go as someone... powerful. Eternal. Not for vengeance. But to guard, to shape, to protect again."
I clenched my fist, steady and sure.
"My first wish—I want to become Alucard from Castlevania. His power, his presence, his legend."
"My second—I want to serve Ainz Ooal Gown, not as a pawn, but as his equal in spirit. Let me be his Right Hand. Let me be the Overlord of Life."
The divine being grinned—not out of amusement, but pride.
God:"So be it."
With a snap of his fingers, the sky ruptured in light.
Rebirth – Great Tomb of Nazarick
The air shifted.
Stone. Gold. Marble halls that pulsed with ancient magic.
I stood on the 12th Floor of Nazarick, surrounded by elegance and power—yet none of it matched what now flowed through my veins.
A HUD shimmered in the corner of my vision:
Name: Alucard (Atticus James)
Race: True Vampire Lord
Class: Shadow Swordsman / Soul Warden / Crimson King
Title: Overlord of Life
Affiliation: Right Hand of Ainz Ooal Gown
Location: Throne Hall, Nazarick
Black armor clung to me like a second skin. A crimson cape flowed behind me. I flexed my fingers—and shadows curled around my palm like waiting beasts.
I looked up at the grand staircase.
Everything in me—the medic, the warrior, the man who died for strangers—was still here.
Only now, he had fangs.
I grinned.
"Let the games begin."