Alfen walked back into his home town. He wore an orange brownish cape, that was enscribed with the runes and history of his people. He was praised as a great warrior as he walked through the town. His gloved hands clad in monster blood. He had recently defended the town from a small horde of beasts. The towns people praised him in song.
But Alfen had no care. He didn't exactly care about his townspeople. A young boy clung to his arm, a young boy with black hair. This was the child he had grown friendly with. Though he didn't know the boys name.
"Thank you for protecting us, Alfen!"
He didn't respond. But he kept moving. He trudged into his house and took off the gloves he made out of bandages, his knuckles bloodied and bruised. He had killed the beasts with his bare hands. The townspeople believed him to be the reincarnation of a great warrior. But he knew he was none of the sort. He was something…different.
Though his hands were bloodied, and bruised, they were supposed to hurt. But they didn't. In fact, nothing hurt. He could just keep moving. He never got exhausted. He never felt pain. The truth is, he wasn't actually from this town. He was born in the imperial city of Opal. He was born and raised as a soldier. Some of the sword techniques he uses were the ones he saw other soldiers use.
He continued staring at his hands as he reapplied his bandages. He picked up a piece of bread and ate it in a single bite. He placed his sword on the wall. He heard a knock on his door and opened it. The boy was there. But he had a panicked look.
"A-A-Alfen! One of the children were taken again! By the goblins!"
"…alright."
He walked to the back and picked up his sword, no sheath. He walked past the boy. And ran. Taking off into a full sprint. He was fast. Nobody could keep up with him. He was angry. He was angry but he couldn't show it. This was a repeated occurrence, children kept getting stolen. And he had to stop those beasts every time.
A slight red aura manifested, covering his body as he sprinted into the forest. Though he didn't seem to notice. The animals in the trees ran away from him as he paved his way to the goblins den. He hopped from side to side as he continuously slashed his sword from side to side. Slicing apart goblins. His pace kept up, faster and faster as he blazed through the den. He finally finished off the last goblin before coming face to face with a large ogre.
He swung his sword at the ogre but it just bounced off.
"…flimsy."
He spoke as he discarded his weapon. The ogre smiled with a devilish grin.
"Very, yes."
He swung his fist at the ogre, making it stumble just a bit.
"Quite forceful, human have yes."
He punched it again. Hitting it harder. This time he stumbled just a bit more. And again. This time he stumbled a bit more. He punched him again. More. Again. More. He kept hitting the ogre. The ogre didn't feel like punching back. Until Alfen knocked him fully over. The ogre quickly got up.
"Quick, is the human."
The ogre swung down at Alfen, slamming him into the floor. Alfen held the ogres hand up before it completely smashed it in and hit it back with his feet. Jumping forward and smashing the ogres head into the floor. He started beating the ogres head in, ogre blood splattering everywhere until it's head was completely gone. He sighed and stood up, the bloody aura around him growed just a bit stronger as he grabbed the two children that were trapped and ran out. More time had passed than he thought.
It was now night time. But he saw a smoke signal in the distance. That was conveniently coming from the village. And then more went up. He started to get worried and ran. He continued carrying the children until he walked into the village and saw it burning up into flames. Soldiers standing around decrepit corpses of children, the elderly and women and men he had known that were burning. Imperials. Standing in the center was a man clad in pitch black armor covering his body. Purple energy coming from the creases of its armor.
It had four arms. Holding a giant sword with all of them. Silver hair flowing from the back of its helm.
"There he is."
It spoke in a raspy voice. The thing stepped forward and looked towards him before taking the children from his hands.
"Thank you for bringing me the rest of these children. It makes the job easier."
It tossed the children into the flames. Alfen watched, he was horrified. But he couldn't do anything, like he was paralyzed.
"You thought a soldier with your potential could run away from me, Ultima, without punishment? You think you could run from me, the last? The undefeatable? You will run, young man. And you will never come back"
Alfen had no choice but to listen. He ran, he didn't think about coming back. He had regrets, but he didn't have a choice. He was going to be killed. But he heard soldiers running after him. He needed to kill them.
He turned around and dashed into the air, smashing the soldiers heads in while throwing them into each other and continuing to run. And off he went, into the woods.