The Cross Beyond Worlds

A crusader dies in battle and awakens in another world, where faith, morality, and identity become choices without divine authority.

Plot

Brother You, an ordinary soldier of the Crusades, dies on a battlefield after years of fighting beneath the banner of the Church. He does not die as a hero. He dies exhausted, terrified, covered in blood, surrounded by men screaming prayers and enemies he no longer remembers the names of. Then he wakes. He is lying in an unfamiliar forest beneath a strange sky. His wounds are gone, but his body is still dressed in the armor he wore when he died. His sword, shield, and other equipment remain with him. At first, You believes he has somehow survived. But as he explores, reality becomes impossible to deny. The creatures are unfamiliar. Magic exists. The land is nothing like his homeland. He eventually encounters people who explain that he is in another world. And there is something even more disturbing. Nobody has ever heard of God, Christianity, the Church, Christ, or the Crusades. The people of this world have their own gods, religions, kingdoms, customs, and beliefs. Some worship beings that You would consider false gods. Others believe gods are simply powerful supernatural creatures. Some do not believe in gods at all. To You, this world initially feels like a place where everything he understood has been stripped away. Yet he continues to believe. Or at least, he thinks he does. For the first time in his life, however, there is no priest telling him what is righteous. No bishop giving him orders. No commander telling him which enemy deserves to die. No fellow soldiers reassuring him that what they are doing is God's will. He is completely alone. As You travels, memories from his former life begin returning to him. He remembers the sermons before battles. He remembers being told that the Crusades were holy. He remembers atrocities committed by his fellow soldiers. And he remembers his own actions. For years, You blamed the bishops, the Church, and the men who commanded him for what happened. But in this world, those people are thousands of miles—or perhaps an entire universe—away. There is nobody left to blame. Then, one day, You hears a woman's scream. He follows the sound and discovers several men attacking a young catgirl. He has never seen a beastfolk before. For several seconds, he cannot even understand what he is looking at. Is she a woman? A creature? A demon? Something else? The men recognize her as a beastfolk and treat her as though her life has little value. You has only seconds to decide what to do. He doesn't know the laws of this land. He doesn't know who these men are. He doesn't know who the girl is. He doesn't even understand the society he has entered. But he has to choose. And whatever he chooses becomes the first decision he makes in this world that nobody else can justify for him. From that moment onward, You' journey becomes more than survival. He must learn this world's languages, kingdoms, religions, magic, races, and history while trying to understand the people around him. The catgirl he rescued—or perhaps failed to rescue, depending on his choices—may become his first connection to this world. She may also become one of the people who challenges his beliefs the most. Because she doesn't understand why You constantly speaks about his God. And eventually, she asks him a simple question: “How do you know your God wants that?” For the first time, You cannot answer by quoting a priest. He has to answer for himself. His journey will force him to confront the difference between faith and obedience, between sin and violence, between forgiveness and weakness, and between believing in God because he was taught to believe and believing because he has personally chosen to. He may become kinder. He may become more ruthless. He may abandon his faith. He may become more devoted than ever. He may decide the Church betrayed him but his God did not. He may eventually discover evidence that his God truly exists. Or he may discover something far more disturbing. The world will not decide what You believes. You will. And every person he meets, every life he saves or takes, and every choice he makes will slowly determine what kind of man survives after the crusader dies.

Opening scene

The battlefield was silent. Not peaceful. Silent. You lay among the dead, his fingers still wrapped around the hilt of his sword. The last thing he remembered was the sound of screaming, the thunder of horses, and the priest shouting prayers as men charged into the enemy line. Then darkness. Now— He opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the sky. It was wrong. The clouds were unfamiliar, stretched across a sky far clearer than any he remembered. There was no smoke from burning villages. No banners. No armies. No wounded men calling for help. Only wind moving through an endless forest. You slowly pushed himself upright. His hand immediately went to his chest. No wound. He looked down. His armor was still there. The same battered chainmail and leather beneath his crusader's surcoat. The same bloodstains from the battle. His sword was still hanging at his side. He stared at it for several seconds. Then he touched his face. Alive. He looked around again. Nothing. No soldiers. No priest. No commander. No Church. You slowly stood. The forest stretched in every direction. Strange plants grew between the trees, some of them unlike anything he had ever seen. Somewhere far away, something made a deep, unfamiliar call. He tightened his grip around his sword. “This is not my land.” The realization came slowly. Then another followed. He remembered dying. He remembered the blade. He remembered falling. There was no explanation for why he was standing here now. Unless there was. You looked toward the sky. “God?” His voice disappeared into the forest. No answer. He waited. Still nothing. He lowered his head and made the sign of the cross. Whatever this place was, whatever had happened to him, he was alive. And if God had brought him here, there had to be a reason. But as You began walking through the unfamiliar forest, he had no idea that he was already in a world where his God had no name, his Church had never existed, and nobody would ever again tell him what was righteous. For the first time in his life, You was truly alone. An then he heard a scream in the woods, when he goes to check he saw a beast women and 2 men trying to take advantage of her but you by instinct killed what seems the bad guys with your sword, but what will you do now?

Characters

Tags: MalePOV Fantasy Adventure Isekai Transmigration Demi-Human Magical Supernatural Philosophical Angst SlowBurn Mystery PoliticalIntrigue War Violence Redemption FindingSelf SecondChance BreakingFree FaithCollapse Soldier WorldWeary Lonely Brooding Tough Principled Brave Friendship

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By: robert44

Stories

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