“A Demon Lord has appeared!”

“Have we angered the gods?!!”

“We’re doomed! We’ve been abandoned by the gods!”

Opening my eyes from the blinding white light that had enveloped me a second ago, I look around to see what all the noise is about.

“A Human?!!”

“Avert you’re eyes, or you’ll be cursed!!!”

“I don’t want to die!”

What is this?!! Everyone around me for a while now has been spouting nonsense. Rudely pointing their fingers and screaming out with spite. Although my eyes are still adjusting from being blinded, I can still vaguely make out human shaped figures. Could it be that they’re afraid of me?

In order to confirm, I ask a nearby person what’s wrong.

“Hey, you over there what’s with all the screaming?”

“He, He spoke to me?!! Oh god why?!! What have I done wrong?!!”

With my eyes finally adjusted, I saw the man fall back in fear, covering his eyes while shouting. However, there was something else that caught my attention.

“Pointy ears… they’re elves?”

Mumbling to myself with a dumbfounded expression, I look around once again.

“He’s casting a spell! EVERYONE RUN!!!”

“AHHhhh!!! My soul is being sucked away from his evil eyes! Save me!”

A woman falls to the floor screaming, while others are running for their lives. I know I’m not the best looking guy, but I know I’m not that repulsive you know. Despite my unusually pale skin, and ghoulish eyes, I think I’m doing relatively fine you know. With a gaze I watch my surroundings while everyone runs out in panic.

Checking out my surroundings closely, I finally realize I had been teleported inside of a large room where there was likely a ceremony being held. Long benches enough to hold at least 4 people were lined up one after another in rows. The room was about the size of four football fields. Up on the ceiling there was a large portion of the roof missing, as if it were intentionally done. The walls were made of stone. Vines wrapped around the walls, flourishing with the growing moss. I stood on a stage, with the full moon peering down on me. Behind me was a magic circle drawn. The scale of it was at least 10 meters wide. Silently thinking to myself, I hoped everything would be alright.

Watching as the elves run out of the sacred marital grounds was simply astonishing. As the elder of this elf village, such an uproar has never happened in my 700 years of living. Sensing the distress I stop a youngster nearby, to inquire about what’s happening.

“Young man, tell me, what’s with the sudden commotion?”

“E-elder?!! Elder! You mustn’t go in there! A Demon Lord has arrived and has begun casting spells! We must hurry and escape!”

Letting go of the young man, he begins to frantically run away.

“Demon Lord…?”

Strange, I felt a small disturbance in space, however such a power couldn’t compare to that of a Demon Lord. At best his ability is on par with an infant. However with so many people running out, could he have suppressed his power? Indeed that would be troubling if he were in fact a Demon Lord.

Taking small steps forward I quickly cast the Magic spell, [Bright Flare]. It isn’t an attack based spell, but something I use only for calling the elite warriors during a time of duress. As the bright blue flare lights up the evening sky, hundreds of my village’s finest warriors appear almost instantaneously.

With haste I instruct them to suppress the being that seems to be in the marital grounds. If he shows any hostility then we will fight back with all our strength. With my old age, I’ve gained much wisdom. Although I may not be as old as the High Elves that never age, I’ve fought my share of battles. That being the case I must ascertain his objective first as long as he doesn’t pose a threat. If he turns out to be a Demon Lord, giving even a moment’s time for the villagers to escape is infinitely better than being utterly wiped out.

Unknown footsteps begin to resound in the distance after a few minutes. Quickly, one after another elves armed with bows and swords storm the room, surrounding Tetsu. From behind the formation, the figure of an old man makes his way to the front.

This does not look good at all. What’s with all these people with weapons? Couldn’t that loli goddess have sent me to a better place than this?!! At this rate I’ll die before even a day has passed here!

Thinking such negative thoughts, an old man takes a few steps forward and then talks to me.

“Tell me… are you… a Demon Lord?”

The old man stroking his chin asked as such, after which I replied back.

“No?”

The old man who seemed extremely cautious of me immediately raised one hand into the air, and then swung it forward.

In that instant, I knew something bad was going to happen. Reacting to the hand that had swung forward, I quickly jumped back, and in front of me appeared a volley of arrows piercing the ground where I had stood before.

“H-hey now, let’s not get carried away ok…?”

Sweating bullets, my voice came out slightly shaky with my impending doom…

Walking forward into the marital grounds, my elite warriors were on standby staring down the young man on top the stage with the moonlight shining down on his figure.

Having skin and eyes similar to those of the deceased, I had begun to wonder if this person was indeed a Demon Lord. His appearance was dark. The pressure he exuded was almost as if he belonged to another world. Sensing no hostility I boldly took a few steps forward.

“… are you perhaps… a Demon Lord?”

“No?”

I couldn’t sense any magic nor power coming off from him. Was he skilled enough to hide his presence? However I felt slight unease from his answer, so I had decided to test the waters.

Raising my hand, I signaled the archers to fire a single volley of arrows in order to see his reaction. Almost immediately he jumped back avoiding the oncoming arrows. He has good instincts. However if he were a second slower he would have been struck by tens of arrows. Was my judgement perhaps wrong?

I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die! This isn’t looking good at all. With these thoughts pouring into my mind I braced myself for death. But, the old man turned around completely exposing his back, and with a quick wave of his hand all of the people armed with weapons scattered. Safe…?

“So, tell me, who are you, you certainly don’t seem human. But you aren’t very strong either.”

The old man had begun approaching me, this time in a solemn subtle voice. Climbing onto the stage, he stopped just a meter away from me.

“You’re not going to kill me?”

“I have no reason to kill someone who poses no threat.”

Looking at this old man, I could see that he was serious. So I decided to answer him. Maybe I could get information about what kind of world this is?

“Although I might not seem like it, I’m human. Also I don’t know where this is, or what I’m doing here so please spare me.”

Immediately kneeling down I give the old man dogeza while expressing myself as nonthreatening as possible, all the while cursing my unhealthy days of gaming.

“It would seem you’re telling the truth. Do you know how you got here?”

At his next question, I hesitated before answering.

“…… I’ve come from another world.”

“Another world… then perhaps, were you summoned by the gods?”

“Gods? You mean there is more than one?”

At his words, it occurred to me. Nothing had been explained to me, prior to being thrown into this world. Why didn’t I think to ask questions! In the first place I don’t even know the name of this world! Retorting at myself inside my mind, the old man begins to chuckle.

“Ho ho ho! It would seem that I’m right. Very well, come with me.”

Walking out of the ceremony like structure, we walked into a clearing of houses, all built from wood. Surrounding the vast houses were trees that grew further than I could see. The old man led me into what seemed like another ritual ground. In this particular area, was a Large tree which seemed to extend well into the clouds above. This area had been enclosed, with a small temple like structure at the base of the tree.

“In this world are many monsters and demons, as well as many other races.”

Inside of this ritual ground like place, the old man had begun to draw a magic circle on the dirt floor.

“You will have many encounters, and each one will make you stronger.”

After a moment, a large complex magic circle was completed.

“Please stand in this circle boy.”

“Eh… it’s not going to kill me is it?”

“No, it will merely bring you outside of this forest.”

Nodding, I immediately understood his intentions. It was likely that if I stayed, I would be imprisoned.

“Boy, before I send you to the outside world, I’ll leave you with some advice. First take these; it’ll come in handy later.”

Materializing a bag from space, the old man threw it at me before explaining anything else.

“In order for you to live in this world, you will need strength. Above that you will need knowledge. I advise you to head over to the Adventurers Guild, and learn what you can.”

Standing on top of the magic circle, a pale blue light began to shine from underneath.

“Inside of that bag contains a small Mithril dagger. Etched onto it is a symbol known only to us of the elf race. When you become much stronger than you are now, and if you want to come back that dagger will allow you passage to see me.”

The light from the circle had become much more intense, my vision began to blur once again.

“If there is a next time, you will want to change your hair color. Black is considered as ominous, and is detested by us of the elf race. Ho ho ho!”

With his words, I was once again teleported before I could thank him…

“Elder, the commotion has been settled. We’re currently on standby, what are your orders?”

Appearing from the shadows an elf knelt before the Village Elder.

“For now, return to your original duties.”

“Understood.”

In an instant, just as he appeared, he was gone.

The Elder walked towards the temple, and went inside. Inside the temple was a giant crystal, surrounded by numerous chains and magical arrays. In the center was a person, seemingly frozen in time.

“Could it have been the wheels of fate? However, it is not yet time…”