"Normal speech"

'Thought'

Written text

[Normal magic]

(Silent magic)

{Change of POV, location or time}

Ohohoh, here it is, the beginning of my rewritten story, say hello to Continental War 2.0; a will immediately say that there will canon divergences related to a certain event I won't spoil (if you read the old version you already know it) so if you find some things or characters aren't as they should be know that there will be a reason that will explain the change, I will reveal all of them sooner or later. Okay now enjoy the new version!

Also I must point out a little thing, I think that in the official English translation of the Overlord Novels they messed up with the names of the kingdoms since in Japanese there is no difference between adjective and noun, to make an example it makes sense to translate a kingdom like Re-Estize Kingdom because 'Re-Estize' is the actual name of the kingdom, while it makes no sense to call a Kingdom Dragon Kingdom since the author probably meant it as an adjective, so it should be Draconic Kingdom, the same goes for Elven Kingdom.

Prologue: The Three Students

{Arwintar's Magic Academy}

-[Fireball]-

A young voice cried out and a giant ball of fire appeared and charged toward the target who happened to be an old man with a long white beard wearing an expensive looking robe; with a mere movement of his fingers the old man stopped the fireball and made it disappear as if it was sucked into another dimension.

"Are you tired? Do you still have mana?"

The old man asked in a deep voice, the young blond girl who casted the spell was panting, sweat dripped down her face.

"I… I can still… do some more…"

She managed to say.

"Stop and rest, mana exhaustion could put your health in danger, you don't want to waste two days of your time resting in bed, right?"

The old man rhetorically asked.

"As you say Master Fluder."

The girl said.

"Walk with me child, we have things to discuss."

Fluder said as he walked away from the centre of the training arena, the girl quickly followed him.

"Your father came yesterday, he demanded more money, I had the guard throw him out, I hope it wasn't a problem."

He said as they exited the arena, the girl's fists clenched around her staff.

"No Master, I only hope he will learn his place sooner or later, I still can't believe it, after you allowed me to continue studying here for free, he had still the audacity to demand money from you for taking me away."

She said.

"Say Arche, how are your sisters?"

He asked changing the subject, the scowl or Arche's face turned into a little smile.

"They are fine, the accommodation you provided for us are more than enough, I must thank you once more from the bottom of my heart Master."

The girl bowed deeply to the old man.

"Enough, I already told you I do not do charity, I helped you because I believe it is a good investment, you possess the same talent as me; you show promising aptitude for the art of magic; by mastering the 3rd tier at the age of 16 you showed me that I wasn't wrong, maybe in a few decades I will finally be able to retire and leave my position to you."

The old man said in a serious tone, Arche rose her head surprised, her Master never expressed the sentiment of wanting to retire before, even less to leave everything in her hands.

"I-I am honored!"

She stuttered; the old man scoffed.

"I'm not trying to honor you, I'm trying to assure the future generations will not lose the knowledge we possess."

He said, she nodded in understanding.

"Still, I won't betray the trust you put in me; I will work even harder to not let you down!"

She proclaimed.

"Good, never stop improving, do always your best and remember that the abyss of magic has no bottom… and, who knows, in some more years you may became next Empress of the empire."

He said, Arche blushed at the thought.

"Please Master don't joke on such things I'm not even a noble anymore."

She said, the man scoffed once more.

"Do you think that when I taught the emperor I didn't teach him that titles without physical power are as worthless as horse shit, no that's incorrect, at least horse shit can still be used as a fertilizer."

His were harsh but truthful words, in that world what counted was power.

"And also there is to take in account an important aspect, the future generations' education; you see even I as the Imperial Court Wizard couldn't educate the emperor as I wanted, after all there is a limit to how much a bond can grow strong, but if the heirs were taught by their beloved mother I think that limit would be almost impossible to reach."

The old magic caster explained, Arche never thought about it but she must admit that he had a point, if the occasion presented she wasn't sure she could be able to resist the temptation, the emperor was a young cunning handsome man after all. But before the conversation could develop in any other way one of the four imperial knights stopped them.

"Lord Fluder, the emperor needs you as soon as possible, a… troubling letter has arrived and the court has been summoned."

Arche recognized the one who spoke as Nimble Arc Dale Anoch also known as Fierce Gale.

"I see, well then Arche go home and rest we shall resume your training tomorrow, and remember, magic-"

The old man began but was interrupted by his student.

"Is the power to bend the world to your will."

She concluded, the old man nodded and left with the knight.

Those words were the first lesson she learnt when she first started studying magic at the academy. But even after reading and analysing many books of famous magic casters she never found the origin of that phrase, she knew it wasn't her master's invention since when she asked him he said it was the first lesson his first and only master taught him.

{E-Rantel's Cemetery}

A gigantic skeletal dragon's claw slammed against the ground missing the two blonde twin girls under it who moved just in time to avoid being hit.

A hammer slammed against the exposed leg of the dragon making it stumble away, the one wielding the hammer was a tall blonde woman that could be confused for a man if watched from afar.

In the sky a short girl with a red hood and a mask hiding her face was casting a spell.

"[Crystal Hard Bash]"

A mace made of crystal materialized in front of the skeletal dragon and slammed against its head making many cracks appear.

"Good one shorty!"

Complimented the masculine woman, the masked caster prepared to use another spell when her gaze was attracted by the battle on the other side of the cemetery, a woman with long curled blonde hair with a black sword was facing against another woman with short blonde hair and two stilettos, one in each hand.

The woman with the sword was struggling against her opponent, she had light cuts on her face and was panting heavily while the other woman was unhurt thanks to her greater agility and skill with short weapons.

The masked woman returned her gaze to the fight against the two skeletal dragons, it had been only through luck that they passed by E-Rantel and she felt the negative energy gather there. She didn't want to imagine what could have happened if the city was attacked by such a force, the sheer number of casualties would be immense to not say how the loss of E-Rantel would result in an immediate surprise attack from the Empire.

For the sake of peace, she had to stop this but to do so she had to use the power she swore never to use in front of any of her companions.

While she fought this internal conflict, the muscular blonde woman managed to land a hit on the head of one skeletal dragon destroying it in the process.

"Ah! ONE IS DOWN!"

She roared, but her happiness didn't last as the other dragon used its head as a hammer and slammed it against the woman sending her fly, the armored body of the woman fell on one of the twins, the both of them now lied on the ground unconscious.

This was bad, they lost their primary attacker against the skeletal dragons, true one was down but they didn't have the power to put down the other one now. The magic caster in the sky decided it was time to end the other dragon no matter what.

"[Crystal Wall]"

She created a wall to separate the remaining dragon from her unconscious companions and the only twin still standing. She was ready to cast another spell to end the dragon now that it lost its balance but she noticed that on the other side of the battlefield the blond woman with two stilettos had managed to bypass her companion's defences while taking minor damage and was ready to plunge the blades in the black sword wielder's eyes.

"[Forced teleportation]"

She managed to change her spell at the last moment and teleport her sword wielding companion away from the deadly strike. The blond woman was teleported next to her unconscious companions, the magic caster decided it was time to end this and descended to reach the remaining members of her group.

"I didn't know you could do such a thing Keeno."

Said the sword wielding adventurer as the magic caster touched the ground.

"I already told you Lakyus, I have many trump cards."

The small caster said.

"Gagaran and Tia are down, what are we going to do boss?"

Asked Tina, the remaining ninja.

"I think our best option is to concentrate our force on that woman and kill her before taking our friends and flee, there is no way we can fight that skeletal dragon without Gagaran, but if we manage to kill the woman whoever is behind this will have to reorganize their plans buying us time to recover."

It was a good plan, but flawed nonetheless noticed Keeno; after all there was nothing that guaranteed that the necromancer wouldn't push the hordes of undead against E-Rantel even if their ally was dead.

"I'm sorry."

Said Keeno to the two now confused girls before casting her spell.

"[Sleep]"

The two girls dropped on the ground unconscious, Keeno dispelled the Crystal Wall allowing the dragon to pass.

"Ah! Even the mighty Blue Rose cannot stand in my way! This is truly the greatest of victories, do not worry your energy will be put to good use!"

From the shadows behind the skeletal dragon appeared an undead, an elder lich 'he must be the necromancer, showing himself only once he is sure of his victory is a bold move' thought the little caster.

"You are a fool."

She said.

"What? Are you still fighting? There is no more meaning! this battle is over!"

The lich roared.

"Yes, now that my companions are unconscious it is really over; now I don't have to hold back any more."

She said.

"Tsk! A bluff! Skeletal dragon kill her!"

The dragon charged toward the magic caster.

"How foolish [Enslave Undead]"

The dragon stopped immediately, the masked caster felt the familiar bond create between her and the dragon.

"W-what is this!? S-skeletal dragon attack!"

The elder lich commanded, he probably felt the bond getting ripped away from him and now was panicking.

"A panicking undead? What a disgrace you are for our kin, die [Crystal Death Lance]"

A lance made out of black crystal impaled the still shocked lich.

"Skeletal dragon finish him."

She ordered as the dragon rose its claw and slammed it on the impaled undead ending his short unlife.

The short caster felt a presence behind her, the blonde woman with two stilettos was charging at her, a wicked smile on her face. The only way the caster could dodge was by teleporting away, but there was no meaning in wasting precious mana 'the very moment you decided to charge you signed your death sentence' as the caster thought that the woman stepped on one of the many mines she placed before starting the fight with the dragon; the trap activated and the woman was encased in a block of ice, only her head wasn't trapped allowing her to breath.

"What is this! Let me out you bitch!"

The mad woman screamed, Keeno didn't even answer, she simply rose her left hand.

"[Crystal Death Dagger]"

The dagger made of black crystal pierced the woman's head leaving a large hole in it and ending her life.

"Now, time to clean up this mess [Crystal Death Hammer]"

The magical hammer slammed on the skeletal dragon's head reducing it to dust and killing it instantly.

'You should learn [Clean], it is a useful spell' the words of her teacher resounded in her mind, he had been right, he was always right… unfortunately Keeno was really stubborn.

{Dark Scale palace, Draconic Kingdom}

Oswald just sat on an elegant chair next to the empty throne, a mountain of paper in his hands that he happily placed on the table before him. He was reaching his fifties and the first white hair began to show between his black hair only few months ago, his hazel eyes scanned the room to check everyone was there; he was the Prime Minister also known as Hand of the Queen in the Draconic Kingdom, as his father was before him.

The other occupants of the table were nobles, for the first decade of his service as Hand they scowled at him every time they saw him, after all he was a commoner, son of a commoner that was given such important position by the queen herself.

As a child he always wondered why the queen never gave his father a noble title, he learned the answer to that question as soon as he replaced his father, the false power of a name changed people; they become complacent, they see themselves as if they were above all and ignore logic and truths only because they come from the mouth of a commoner.

But right now, this wasn't the case; it's been nearly ten years since they stopped doing so, and the reason behind their behaviour surely wasn't the acknowledgement of his competence; no it was fear.

"Presenting Her Royal Highness the Queen of the Draconic Kingdom, the Dark Scale Dragon Lord, Draudillon Oriculus!"

Announced the guard next to the door before a small girl entered the room, she seemed to be 10 or even 8 but everyone knew her appearance didn't match her age. She had long black hair tied in twintails, her eyes were a deep crimson and her skin was as pale as it could be.

Everyone stood up from their seat, some out of respect, the majority out of fear, no matter how much time will pass no one will ever forget what happened 10 years ago.

"Today I was a little tired so I went back to sleep, I imagine it hasn't been a problem."

Normally nobles would have scoffed at her poor excuses but no one dared to voice their protests, Oswald knew the truth, she actually worked a lot this morning and said such a blatant lie only to irk the nobles.

She sat on her throne with the dignity of a true queen before everyone sat once more.

"So, let's start this meeting already."

She said in a bored tone.

To say that her rule has been an easy one would be a lie, she ascended the throne 70 years ago and her politics bashed a lot against what the nobles of the country wanted. Her childish appearance didn't help but she always refused to change to a form that showed her actual age while refusing to tell why.

With to the help of Oswald's father, a wealthy merchant, the queen managed to rule peacefully even with the great tension with the noble faction.

Many years passed and Oswald's father retired 20 years ago leaving his place to his son, personally Oswald didn't feel to be ready for such a position at the time but he accepted to respect his father's wishes.

As he expected his first years weren't easy, while the queen was able to maintain her authority the fact that the nobles combined possessed more than 70% of the kingdom's territory was a large setback to any of her politics.

The great shift happened 15 years ago, the beastmen army decided to invade the kingdom, they numbered between the 50.000 and 70.000, not an impossible number but there is to take in account the fact that any beastman had the power of 5 normal humans; to say their army wasn't able to protect them would be a understatement, they had been completely useless, cannon fodder sent to die. The major reason for this failure was the fact that the nobles refused to send reinforcements from their regions preferring to use them to defend their territory instead of the kingdom.

The turning point happened 5 years later, during a meeting on how to deal with the invading demi-humans approaching the capital; many suggested to ask for the empire or theocracy's help but the queen turned them down and then it happened. A group of nobles known for being almost in open rebellion accused the queen of being the cause of such a disaster and they demanded she stepped down from her position; Oswald would be lying if he said he wasn't scared of his queen that time, her eyes seemed to burn with rage, the nobles were executed few hours later.

The following day the queen was gone, no one knew where she went and many thought she ran away from the political backlash her actions caused; she stayed away for 3 days and many nobles already began to make arrangements for the coronation of a new ruler.

On the dawn of the fourth day the ministers and nobles found the queen seating on her throne.

There had been shouts and insults until the calm voice of the queen silenced them all.

"The demi-human army is gone and their kingdom is going to be annexed to mine."

Oswald remembered her words well, the nobles accused her of speaking nonsense, of how it was impossible to defeat such an horde even if she could arrange a small elite army, the queen ignored all of them.

"I need no army, they are gone, I personally confirmed every last one of their soldiers was killed."

Oswald didn't know if it had been her cold tone or her powerful aura but in that moment no one could master the courage to protest; three days later many different demi-humans chiefs arrived to the capital to swear eternal servitude to the Black Scale Dragon of Death, a title still used these days to make any rebel demi-human submit.

Seeing that display of despair and fear from the proud demi-humans made the nobles wary of the queen and once they realized that the Draconic Kingdom now annexed the demi-human's territories, making the queen the ruler of the 80% of the Kingdom's territory, their wariness turned into fear.

They had already been cut down in numbers by the invasions and internal fighting and no longer had the strength to resist an eventual purge from the queen.

From that day the nobles never dared to oppose the queen ever again.

"Oswald! Oswald! Are you sleeping?!"

The voice of said queen made the prime minister return to reality.

"Of course not my queen!"

He said bowing his head.

"So, what important matters awaits me today?"

She asked.

"Well, we should discuss the result of our new agricultural policy, but before that an important letter addressed to you arrived from the theocracy."

He said as he extracted said letter from the mountain of paper.

{?}

In a dark room a figure wearing a black cloak covering their whole body was working on a corpse in front of them, their hands were covered by black gloves and were filled with various instruments, the majority of them were knives of various lengths and forms.

"Busy again liebe schwester? Is rare to see you away from Vater's side."

The male voice belonged to a figure hidden in the shadows of the room, he wore fancy clothes that once belonged to a certain army feared around the whole world.

The figure working on the corpse stopped and turned toward the male hidden in the shadow, the figure wore a mask that resembled a crow with a giant curved beak.

"There is no time to waste, the stars are right, soon it shall happen."

The voice came out distorted by the beak but it was clearly female.

"Then there is no other way? Those narren!"

The male said with an exaggerated pose, the female returned to her previous work with a sigh.

A.N.

Here it is, the rewrite is taking me a lot more than I initially expected, there are a lot of things to upgrade, and as always I'm in need of a beta reader, so if you are interested just PM me, I have a lot of stuff going on right now in my life so probably don't expect any chapter before September 20th. Review and tell me what you think about the new beginning.