The Holy Fool: Darkness & Hellfire (A reverse isekai GameLit)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

After a lifetime of fighting as the Hero of the Holy Gods, Althea finally managed to beat down the Darkness and Hellfire God. However, as she gave him the final blow, thinking that it was the end of her fight, the very Holy Gods that she had been fighting for, descended and betrayed her, taking her Holy Power and leaving her to die along with the defeated God, who only called her a foolish girl.

From the darkness of death, she finds herself alive again in a completely unknown place, surrounded by artifacts she had never seen. Paintings that glow from black mirrors, large roads full of artifacts called ‘cars’, and an impossibly large city are the things that she is now faced with.

Having her Holy Power replaced with Darkness and Hellfire, she has to choose between living free, getting vengeance, or becoming a hero once again in this strange world.

Information

Status: Completed
Year: 2023
Author: spjones

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.3/ 5.0
Followers: 1,368
Views: 900,656

Chapters(166 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

JolteonRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Like a typical Isekai, the MC is thrown head-first into a world they don't understand, full of strange objects powered by unknown forces, and with a society entirely unlike her own. This world is earth. The author does an amazing job of showing how Althea is trying to integrate into a new culture, and learning to find her true self, independent of any outside force.
Memento_Mori22Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
So far I'm really liking the story. It seems well thought out and there's definitely enough intrigue there to spin out the story to a wide variety of places. The MC is incrediblely human and likable, but there's definitely a good amount of badassery afoot to revel in.
I feel like it's a bit too early to tell what the story's like based purely on the plot. I'd be interested in knowing whether other people have access to the same system and what the ultimate goal of the MC will be. Whether they meet crazy new characters or just want to be left alone, it all seems good.
But I think the true standout of the story is how realistic and full of life all the characters are.then again it's really just a lot of attention and love from the author and a real commitment to show and not tell.
Plus the novel belong to the rare genre of reverse isekai done exceptionally well.
The author deserve a a head pat for such great work.
LootingPillagerRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This is a fun story where out MC, Hero of the Holy God's, finds out her world was never what she thought it was. Now on another world she us just trying to find a place to become a normal woman. If you include being a stranger in a strange land, with no money, no friends, and surrounded by things like these weird "phone" things she just does not understand.
We join Althea in making friends, and enemies. Going to magic academy. Fighting in dungeons and being lost in a modern world.
This is a fun story that I am glad I found.
Hope you all enjoy as well.
ReaderGuyRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I happily read these chapters as soon as they are live and they come regularly. It is a fun lightweight story and I like the minimal usage (and logical usage) of a techno-litrpg component - I usually dislike the litrpg side of royalroad (hint: most stories are equally good when you skip the boxes). In this case it is minimal and works.
I guess the only part that is lacking is an understanding of the real magical system that undergirds the techno-litrpg system.
It is also a bit jarring that's the hero is in any way concerned with killing some psychos when she went full homicidal maniac on half her former planet.
SchlossgespenstRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
I loved the premise and characters the start, and couldnt wait to have more time to read when at work.
At around half way through though the story changed its focus. Even though I missed some of characers that appeard way less because of that, I tried to like it and did so at first. But it got repetitive and kinda generic fast.
At some point I was close to dropping the story, but noticed that im almost finished and read the rest. After that it got better with every chapter and the End was actually a good read again.
Overall though it was a nice read!
MerrillzRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
Very rarely do stories make me angry like this one has. It started off so well. I couldn't put it down and was losing sleep because of it. But, I started to slow down around chapter 80 and in the early 100's I was having trouble reading on. I couldn't put my finger on it at first so I spent some time reflecting on the story. And the more I thought about how the plot and MC developed I found my answer.
The turning point in the story was when the MC murders a bunch of cultists. I had been reading about a Solider that has been slowly realizing that maybe following orders blindly is a bad thing, and that maybe there is more to life that being a killing machine. But, instead to revert right back into that killing machine undoing 60+ chapters of character development. To make matters worse a few chapters later she turns into a murder tool again for the "good team". Instead of killing demons in the previous world now she is killing the holy cultists in this one. Somehow I ended up reading a story where the MC has negative character growth and it made me angry.
DaitenguRoyal Road
★★★★ 3.5
It was alright. It would have had a higher rating, but the story talks about a huge big bad or seven as the endgame to defeat, but the novel never goes there. As is, it reads like one novel down, one or two more to go.
I also found the MC not understanding things to be realistic, even if frustrating. Though she often just doesn't care to know things, so we're left in the dark for a long time, or just never find out.
Example: I had no idea where the MC was living until the author brought it up near the end of the story, even though it could have been dropped when she met the president if not way sooner.
Salad CannibalRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
The old hero of the "good" gods is now hero of the "bad" god in a modern world. That premise is so good! Then why is the story so awkward?
The pacing is really slow with strange skips. The main character discovering technology is funny at first, but becomes annoying with time. Outside of the two main characters, all the other feel flat, and even between those two the relationship feels awkward.
Despite my complaints, setup is good, power fantasy is powerful, progression seems to go somewhere fun. Would continue if I had more time.
But please author, when you first introduce demons, describe them in the story instead of just saying in a later author note that they look like Diablo's demons.
PureiteeRoyal Road
★★★ 3.0
Haven’t made it very far into the story so could get much better later on, but overall everything feels very artificial. Actions seem to exist to get the main character from point a to point b, side characters are one dimensional, and dialogue is pretty clunky (it sounds like what a 50 year old thinks a 20 something year old talks like). You can pretty much guess where the story is going for the next 100 chapters because nothing story wise is very subtle. If there is actually a deep plot with creative twists then that would be cool but I won’t be reading to find out.
Jaller ObrimRoyal Road
★★★ 2.5
The Verdict: A strong start that loses steam, may be worth reading if you have the time.
Style
2.5/5 - unremarkable
comments: writing style is solid and competent, but seems to be lacking something.
Story
2.5/5 - readable
comments: binged 1-78 in a couple of hours and thouroghly enjoyed myself. Somwhere in the ch120s though, I noticed that I was no longer looking forward to the next chapter and by 130 I was actively avoiding reading unless I had nothing else. As it stands I leave the story having read up to 142 and completely lost interest.
Grammar (and editing)
3/5 - better than average
comments: no obvious flaws in grammar or editing
Character Score
2.5/5 - it was fine
comments: It almost felt like characters started to lose depth the further into the story I got. From interesting and relatvely unique characters to somewhat plain and flat anime characters.
Prior Review, Chapter 78
Pick it up and enjoy the ride
The Verdict: A well written story with a memorable MC and interesting world. Pick it up and enjoy the ride
Style
0.5 - absolutely awful
1 - subpar
2 - tolerable
2.5 - unremarkable
3 - fresh
4 - excellent
5 - masterclass
comments: Well written
Story
0.5 - absolute dumpster fire
1 - painful to read
2 - barely readable
2.5 - readable
3 - pleasant
4 - page turner
5 - masterpiece
comments: binged all the way to current in a couple of hours. an isekai is nothing new, and a reverse isekai is only somewhat less common, but this one is very well done and a compelling read.
Grammar (and editing)
0.5 - kindergarten
1 - English as a second language
2 - subpar
2.5 - average in all respects
3 - better than average
4 - approaching professional quality
5 - professional
comments: no obvious flaws in grammar or editing
Character Score
0.5 - insufferable
1 - shallow
2 - unremarkable
2.5 - it was fine
3 - unique
3.5
4 - remarkable
5 - natural 20
comments: veteran of a holy war, betrayed by her own side, transported from a world of sword and sorcery to the modern world. What'