is a Japanese light novel series written by Ennki Hakari and illustrated by KeG. It began serialization online in October 2014 on the novel self-publishing website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. The series was later acquired and published by Overlap under their Overlap Novels imprint in June 2015.
A manga adaptation with art by Akira Sawano is serialized online via Overlap's Comic Gardo website since February 2017. Both the light novel and manga are licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. An anime television series adaptation produced by Studio Kai and Hornets aired from April to June 2022. A second season produced by Aura Studio aired from July to September 2026.
Plot Upon awakening, a gamer finds himself in the body of the avatar he was using in an online game: a powerful knight named Arc whose appearance underneath his armor is that of a skeleton. In unfamiliar territory, he decides that it would be best to hide his appearance by never removing his helmet. After he spots a group of bandits attempting to rape two women, Arc kills the bandits and escorts the women to a town, where he becomes a mercenary.
On his journey, he discovers a wounded fox with green fur. After he heals it with magic, the fox indicates that it wants to travel with him and he names it Ponta. As "spirit creatures" like Ponta rarely bond with humans, Ponta's presence signals to others that Arc is trustworthy.
Later, Arc learns of this world's slave trade, where humans have captured and enslaved elves. After Arc intervenes in a battle to help an elf warrior named Ariane Glenys Maple save a group of captured elf children, Ariane hires Arc to help her free enslaved elves who are being held in the city of Diento. While invading the slave warehouse, Arc encounters a catgirl ninja who gives him information about humans involved in the slave trade and about other captured elves being held in the local lord's castle. After Arc and Ariane free the captured elves in the warehouse, they free two female elves in the castle. After they escape the castle, Ariane asks Arc to accompany her back to their lands. Arc is reluctant and shows why by removing his helmet, revealing his skeletal form. While initially shocked, Ariane realizes that, despite his appearance, Arc is not evil but under a curse, and she promises that the elves will keep his secret.
At the elvish settlement of Lalatoya, Arc is welcomed by Elder Dillan and his wife. At a meeting of Elders in the elvish capital city, at which the information about human Nobles being involved in the slave trade and the clear violation of the Elf–Human peace treaty is discussed, it is decided that while no direct retaliation against the humans will be made, the secret operations to free enslaved elves will continue. Dillan offers to hire Arc to continue helping Ariane, and as payment provides him with information about a magic pool in Dragon Lord country that may lift his skeleton curse. Arc agrees, and he and Ariane, with Ponta, begin their quest to free the captured elves and end the slave trade. They are joined in their mission by Chiyome, the ninja Arc had previously encountered, who is engaged on a similar mission to free her fellow beast people who have likewise been enslaved by humans.
Meanwhile, King Karlon of the Rhoden Kingdom, who, thanks to the events in Diento, has learned of the possible involvement of nobility in the elf slave trade, dispatches his daughter Yuriarna on a diplomatic mission to the Grand Duchy of Limbult (which trades with the elves and where his older daughter Seriarna is the ruler's wife) to arrange a meeting with the elves. However, her older brothers Sekt and Dakares both have ambitions to inherit the throne and are vying for power. Yuriarna suspects Dakares of being involved in the slave trade and Sekt of knowing about it but trying to use it for his own advantage... and that both will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, even if it means eliminating anyone in their way (a fact proven when Sekt has Dakares assassinated and then frames him for the attempted murder of Yuriarna).
As Arc, Ariane and Chiyome's quest progresses and they gain friends and allies while traveling to different kingdoms across the world, they learn that the slave trade is merely the tip of the iceberg and that the Holy East Revlon Kingdom, ruled by the ruthless Emperor Domitianus, and this world's main religion, the Holy Hilk Kingdom, may be behind all the evil they are fighting to overcome.
Characters
A man who wakes up in the world of the fantasy video game he has been playing to find himself transformed into his avatar, a heavily armored skeleton named Arc. Since the series begins with him waking up in this world, there is no information as to how he was transported to this world or his real name, appearance, or past in his original world. His armor makes his appearance tall and imposing, and his physical strength is shown to be quite superhuman. He also alters his speaking voice to sound deeper and more masculine, as befits his game character. He has a strong moral sense and is always ready and willing to help or defend endangered or oppressed beings, whether humans, elves or beast people; he also is extremely polite (which, considering his size and supposed status as a "knight" due to his armor, surprises most ordinary people) and never hesitates to admit when a person is his equal (such as the ninja Goemon) or superior in any way (such as Ariane, Glenys and Chiyome). He can get very excited at certain things, but he is quite unflappable in battle. There are people who knew his true identity as an Undead, and they believe his alibi or cover story of finding a cure for his "curse" is the reason he's using Holy magic despite being Undead. /
The second daughter of Elder Dillan Tahg Lalatoya and Glenys Alna Lalatoya, she is a female elf warrior of the elf capital city of Maple (elf names use the name of their registered village/city as a surname, hence her surname of "Maple"; however, in Volume 6 of the light novel series Glenys tells Arc that Ariane has changed her home registration from "Maple" to "Lalatoya"). In the light novel series, she is described as having amethyst-colored skin, golden-irised eyes and white hair (in the light novels, these are the unmistakable signs of a "dark elf"), while she has pale skin and pink hair in the anime. While the circumstances of her first meeting with Arc differ between the light novel and anime, both versions have her hiring Arc to assist her after he aids her in battling slavers who had captured elf children. While she is a skilled fighter, she feels inferior to her older sister Eevin, who is also a warrior. She has a deep distrust of humans because of the crimes committed against her people; however, through her association with Arc she may be modifying her outlook (although she remains cautious and defensive). She has a physical intolerance for alcohol (two glasses of strong liquor are enough to make her drunk), and in the anime she sometimes forgets that beneath his armor Arc is a skeleton (causing her to freak out and try to explode him when she sees him without armor). Her feelings about Arc seem complicated; she continually acts as though exasperated with Arc and occasionally needles him, but in Volume 2 of the light novel series when her sister Eevin teases her about having a man in her life, "For a moment, the face of a skeleton outfitted in majestic armor flashed through Ariane's mind", in Volume 4 she is extremely distressed when his exposure to the waters of the magic pool render him unconscious for five days, and his culinary skills astonish her (apparently she either isn't very good at cooking or just doesn't know how).
A cotton-tailed fox with greenish fur and a white-furred underbelly, referred to by elves and beast people as a "spirit creature". While Ponta's gender is unknown in the light novels, it is referred to as being female in the anime. In the light novel series, Arc finds it imprisoned in a cage, while in the anime he comes across it in the forest; in both cases, the creature has been injured and he uses his magic to heal it. In return, it becomes attached to him and joins him as his inseparable companion, and he names it Ponta. Because "spirit creatures" like Ponta almost never form attachments to humans (and rarely to elves), Ponta's connection with Arc reassures elves and beast people as to Arc's good intentions and reliability. Its favorite perches are either on top of his helmet or on one of his shoulder pauldrons, although it has taken to riding on Ariane's shoulder at times.
A beast girl and one of the six ninjas of the Jinshin clan on an ongoing mission to locate and free enslaved beast people. Though physically the size of a young girl, she is extremely fast, skillful in combat and adept at using a type of Water ninjutsu. "Chiyome" is not her actual name, and Arc deduces that she was given the name in honor of the famous kunoichi Mochizuki Chiyome. Chapter 2.5 of Volume 5 of the light novels reveals her real name: "Mia", and her backstory reveals that she is an orphan (her father had been enslaved by human and worked to death and her mother had been killed protecting Chiyome after their escape from captivity) and had been taken into the Jinshin Clan at her own request. Arc and Ariane assist her and fellow ninja Goemon in freeing the enslaved beast people in Olav and totally destroying the slave markets. As the light novel series progresses, she at first provides them with intel as to the location of human nobles involves in the elf slave trade and later joins them full time on their travels, becoming close friends with Ariane along the way. Naturally, in both the light novels and anime she freaks out when she first sees Arc's unhelmeted face, but she overcomes this and accepts/respects him as an ally and friend. Arc also sees her as a good friend, but her sometimes stoic demeanor and attitude make him unsure of her feelings towards him.
Danka Niel Maple, an elf warrior from the city of Maple. His mission was to investigate the town of Diento to find the location of captured and enslaved elves. While initially suspicious of Arc, he comes to respect Arc's abilities and accept him (for the time being) as a comrade-in-arms (although, in Volume 6 of the light novel series, he makes it clear that, despite Arc's officially becoming a member of Lalatoya, he still views Arc with suspicion).
Dillan Tahg Lalatoya, the Elder of the elf settlement of Lalatoya and the father of Ariane and Eevin. In the light novel series, he is described as "a twenty- to thirty-year-old elven man with long, green-tinted blond hair", while in the anime he is tall, green-blond-haired and slenderly built with a short Van Dyke beard. He officially hires Arc to assist Ariane with her mission of freeing enslaved elves and later acts as an envoy to various human kingdoms (much to his wife's annoyance, since this takes him away from home for long periods of time).
Glenys Alna Lalatoya, the wife of Elder Dillan who physically appears to be in her 30's but is (according to her) 100 years old (in the anime, she says that she "just turned 170 this year, and that number isn't changing", causing Ariane to tell Arc that her mother is really 245 years old). She is described in the light novel series as having "amethyst-colored skin and...white hair tied back in braids", while in the anime she has the same pale skin and pink hair as both her daughters. While an excellent homemaker and housekeeper, she is also a master of swordsmanship and tells Arc that she trained both of her daughters, and with her uncanny skill and speed has no trouble in easily vanquishing the larger, more physically powerful Arc in practice combat sessions. In the light novels, she appears to act as Elder of Lalatoya whenever her husband is away on Council business and has become both Arc and Chiyome's combat trainer.