I saw hell.
A lone figure stood in the desolate street, his shroud swaying in the wind, his bright red hair illuminated by the rising sun.
Another town, engulfed in flames.
This was a common sight in the age, unguarded towns in the wilderness ripe for being destroyed.
With no castle walls surrounding most towns, they were bound to fall at some point, and only the larger towns were blessed with anti demonic barriers.
Bodies were littered across the street, the only remaining features that showed they were once human were their skeletons.
Flesh was eaten straight to the bone, and whatever flesh wasn't eaten were charred remains.
A gruesome sight if he wasn't so accustomed to it.
Memories playing in his mind, reminders of his time as nothing but a cleaner.
Please, help me!
It hurts!
Save me! Please!
Mommy! I want my mommy!
Please! Help my child!
Help me!
Voices from long ago echoed in his mind, probably the same words yelled before these villagers met their gruesome fate.
If only I had arrived sooner.
He glanced around, looking for any survivors, but this once bustling town was eerily quiet.
The buildings were nothing but rubble now, a slight warm glow to the wood, embers dancing in the wind, illuminated by the morning sun.
A scowl came upon his face, humanity was still at the bottom of the food chain no matter what world he ended up in.
This certainly was the age of demons.
He had hoped to restock on supplies at this town, but from miles away, before he could step foot in the town, he saw smoke rising into the sky, as well as the stains of demonic mana.
He gazed at a broken piece of glass along the street, seeing his reflection of his unhuman-like feature.
What an ironic twist of fate.
His attention snapped to the tree line above the town as he detected large traces of mana.
Stepping out of the forest were five robed figures, each holding intricate staff's, with masks covering their features.
"Demons… Today must be my lucky day." he said in a low voice to no one in particular. His stance changed, preparing himself for a fight, formless swords ready to appear from his mind. Demon's were known for hiding their mana signatures until they were ready to kill. No wonder he couldn't detect them until they decided to show themselves.
There was a silent standoff as the demons seemed to take the lone traveler as a significant threat, avoiding jumping the gun too quickly, detecting powerful mana from the lone traveler.
The self designated leader of the group stepped forward. One might mistake him as a human if it weren't for the horns donned on his head.
"An elf? This is a rare sight." The demon spoke to the traveler.
The lone traveler scoffed, even if his ears were pointy, and his lifespan was significantly longer, he still considered himself a human.
He was just stubborn that way.
"Hmm? A holy shroud as well? This is an even rarer sight." The demon pointed his staff directly at the elf.
"Kill him." The demon commanded.
Large concentrations of mana formed in the demon's spells, each preparing to cast their own unique forms of magic, intent on killing the elf in front of them.
The elf sighed, he truly hated demons. They couldn't be reasoned with, and their intense desire to eat human flesh was sickening.
They only deserved death.
In an instant five swords shot at super sonic speed towards the five demons, cracks of the sound barrier breaking causing large blasts of wind. He could see the slight widening of eyes underneath their masks before four of the demon's heads were cleaved clean off their bodies, unceremoniously falling onto the ground, their bodies falling apart into black ash.
The leader demon barely had enough time to raise a defensive barrier, shimmering blue in hexagonal shapes.
After a moment of the sword clashing against the barrier, sparks flying off the barrier, it pierced clean through the barrier to the absolute shock of the demon.
The last thoughts of the demon leader recognized the figure below him more clearly now, as well as his unique way of killing demons.
His head soared through the air as his body collapsed to the ground, his last thoughts cursing himself for not recognizing The Wrought Iron Magus sooner.
The final demon's body vanished into ash as the elf turned back towards the town, not detecting any more threats around him.
The fight was over in an instant.
Other mages might be appalled at his brutal efficiency of killing demons, but to him, demons deserved nothing less than brutal annihilation.
He relaxed his body reaching his hand up to his ear, feeling how long and pointy it was, sometimes in disbelief that he wasn't dreaming.
Even if it had felt like an eternity before he was reborn as an elf, he still felt a desire to help those in need, even if he was branded a traitor at that time.
The rope felt tight around his neck, as the people watching his execution cursed his name, he still found it upon himself to smile.
He had saved everyone from that nuclear meltdown, but as an outsider he was deemed suspicious, and was branded as the mastermind behind the incident, though not that he cared.
He had saved everyone after all.
The board beneath him dropped as his neck snapped, ending his life, his smile never leaving his face.
"Why do I think about these things now?" He asked out loud to himself. Those memories were lifetime upon lifetimes ago for him, yet they stayed fresh in his mind.
He walked deeper into town, gathering what corpses were left, bringing them to an open field outside of town and buried the remains of the townsfolk.
Death was the same no matter what world he ended up in.
He had thought such acts of heroism were behind him, after being forced to kill for what felt like a millennium, but somehow he was freed from his chains to Alaya.
Yet, even with his newfound freedom, old habits seemed to die hard.
He continued on his journey, leaving the smoking remains of the town behind him, only one task in his mind.
To kill the Demon King.
Authors Notes
I wanted to try writing something new in a while. After watching and reading Frieren I was thinking what if EMIYA was transported to this world as an elf.
I don't have much confidence in my writing but I at least wanted to get my thoughts written out.
Leave a review or PM me if this kind of story is interesting to read. I do have a story thought out so hopefully this isn't just a one-shot.
If enough people are interested I'll continue this story.
Please let me know if I made any grammatical errors.
Thanks for reading!
Until next time!