When Shichen came back to his senses, he found himself in front of a ruin, wearing only simple coarse linen shorts.
The houses in front of him were collapsed and dilapidated, with many corpses buried underneath, their appearances unclear, but he could see pointed ears on the sides of their heads, and red liquid was spread all around, with a very strong smell of blood.
They must be dead.
However, Shichen wasn't concerned about these things now; his mind was solely focused on the robotic voice's words.
"[Go to the world of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End?]"
Is it real?
Instead of making him travel through various chaotic worlds, he had arrived in an anime world?
He knew Frieren: Beyond Journey's End all too well. It was an anime, extremely popular. Those who watched anime knew it, and even those who didn't were aware of it.
Shichen had never heard of any other TV shows or movies with the same name, so it shouldn't be a coincidence.
If it really was traveling through anime worlds, perhaps it wasn't so bad?
Becoming a god or anything like that didn't matter; he just liked doing quests. As everyone knows, gamers are very sensitive to the word "quest."
Although he wasn't sure if it was just Frieren or if all worlds were anime worlds, it was enough. At worst, he could just stay here.
With a clear goal, it was obvious what to do next.
However, Shichen found that he didn't need to search deliberately; with just a turn, he saw his target.
In the open space ahead, there was a petite girl in a coarse linen dress sitting there. She had long, flowing silver-white hair and pointed ears, exactly like an elf in a fantasy world.
From Shichen's position, he could only see her profile, but it was enough to glimpse the exquisite beauty of her face.
"Frieren…" Shichen looked at her, murmuring softly.
There was no mistake; with that appearance, he couldn't be wrong.
As if hearing Shichen's voice, Frieren slowly turned her head and glanced at him, her eyes calm and her face expressionless.
Shichen met her gaze and noticed a hint of sadness in her eyes.
This time, this place… Shichen scanned the surroundings and found that in addition to elven bodies, there were many Demon bodies.
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There were bodies wearing black armor, and bodies with ox-like horns on the sides of their heads… These features definitely belonged to the Demon.
Shichen remembered when this was; Frieren hadn't even become a disciple yet. He hadn't expected to start at this point in time.
"[Discovered the target for the Divine Core Fragment!]
Just then, that robotic voice sounded in his mind.
"[Target character—Frieren.]"
"[Quest: Spend one month with her and gain her trust to collect the Divine Core Fragment.]"
"[Upon completing the quest, you can travel to other worlds to continue searching for Divine Core Fragments.]"
"[Quest privileges: Universal language, immunity to all magic damage, enhanced five senses, extraordinary physical skills, minor life skills (limited to one month)]"
"[After collecting the Divine Core Fragment, you will permanently gain the privileges.]"
The robotic voice in his mind disappeared, but Shichen didn't pay much attention. The dimensional character he had only seen through a screen was now right in front of him; how could he have any leisure to focus on anything else?
Frieren, however, didn't spare Shichen more than a few glances. She withdrew her gaze, placed her hands on her abdomen, and lowered her head slightly, as if lost in herself.
This was an elven village that had been invaded by the Demon King's Army before Shichen arrived, leaving only Frieren alive; everyone else had died.
The Demon King's Army had also been completely annihilated by Frieren.
Her fellow villagers, with whom she had lived for many years, were all gone like that. It was impossible for her to feel nothing.
Shichen didn't know whether he should approach Frieren. He wasn't a Demon, so Frieren wouldn't attack him casually.
There were only two hostile races in this world: other races and the Demon.
But they didn't know each other, and a stranger going up to comfort her would clearly have ulterior motives; no one would believe it was pure kindness.
Fortunately, at this moment, footsteps sounded again, and then a mature older sister slowly came up to Shichen.
Shichen looked at her and recognized her at first sight.
She was very beautiful, with long orange hair braided and hanging down her back. She wore a simple white long dress, and a faint smile played on her face, completely unconcerned by the tragic scene before her.
She was the woman who was about to become Frieren's master, Flamme.
"How tragic. Is this an elven village?"
Flamme wasn't asking Shichen or Frieren. She passed Shichen, carefully surveyed her surroundings, and walked up to the armored Demon body.
"Bazard of the Throne, one of the Demon King's Army generals. It must have been him who led the Demon King's Army to destroy the village, right?"
"Did you do it?" Flamme turned to ask Shichen.
"Huh?" Shichen was startled, then pointed to himself and asked uncertainly, "Are you talking about me?"
"Then who else?" Flamme smiled softly, "Although I can't feel any magic power on you, you're quite unusual."
Unusual? A divine body?
Shichen waved his hand in denial: "It wasn't me; it was Frieren, the elf over there, who did it. I just got here too."
"Is that so?" Flamme then looked at Frieren: "This dying elf is indeed formidable; her magic power is truly astonishing."
"Right, right." Shichen responded proudly, even though it had nothing to do with him.
Flamme ignored him. She looked at Frieren and suddenly sneered, "You, you fought the Demon King's Army head-on, didn't you? How boring. How foolish can you be?"
Flamme's tone was full of mockery; she completely looked down on Frieren for fighting the Demon King's Army head-on.
The Demon King's Army should not be treated as normal creatures.
Frieren still had her head down, showing no reaction.
She didn't care and continued, "Why fight them head-on? Running, hiding, ambushing—aren't there so many choices? I really don't understand what powerful mages are thinking."
Flamme shook her head in disappointment and turned to leave.
"...You should understand." Frieren suddenly spoke.
"What?" Flamme stopped and looked at her.
Frieren still had her head down: "You should be able to understand my thoughts... because compared to me, you are much stronger as a mage."
"Why?" Flamme asked back.
Mages can sense each other's magic power, and the amount of magic power indicates a mage's strength.
Frieren's magic power was astonishingly vast, but Flamme's magic power barely enveloped her.
They were worlds apart.
"Just a feeling…" Frieren said calmly.
"Is that so?" Flamme smiled, then looked at Shichen.
"Want to come along?"
"Eh? Along? Where?" Shichen didn't react, asking blankly.
"Of course, let's leave here first."
"Okay." Shichen immediately agreed.
Shichen had been worried about what he would do if Flamme only took Frieren, but it seemed his worry was for nothing.
"Can you carry her on your back?" Flamme asked.
"I can." Shichen came before Frieren, turned his back to her, and squatted down.
Frieren didn't hesitate either, climbing onto Shichen's back and wrapping her arms around his neck.
Shichen stood up and felt Frieren's weight, small and light, just like carrying a backpack.
"Let's go." Flamme led the way.
Shichen, carrying Frieren on his back, quickly followed her.
Unfamiliar with the place, and with his target right behind him, Shichen only needed to keep following Flamme.
"What happened to the village?" After a few steps, Flamme asked.
"I don't know," Shichen shook his head.
Frieren, on Shichen's back, softly replied, "Everyone died. They didn't even spare women and children... I couldn't protect them, even though I was the strongest in the village."
"What an idiot," Flamme shook her head. "If it were me, I would have fled without hesitation."
"...Put me down, I don't want to go with you." Frieren said this, but she struggled weakly.
"Don't let go. This one is so talented; I'm going to take her as my disciple." Flamme commanded Shichen.
Shichen hadn't planned to let go of Frieren anyway. He asked, "What about me?"
"What?"
"Can you take me as your disciple too?"
"Oh? Why?" Flamme asked with a smile.
"I can't use magic; I want to learn!"
"You really can't use magic?"
"I swear to heaven!" Shichen let go of one hand, held up four fingers, and looked serious.
"You don't seem to be lying. All right, I believe you."
"Thank you, Master! Oh, right, I want to be the first disciple! Frieren can be the second disciple."
"I don't want to be her disciple," Frieren refused.
"That's impossible," Flamme refuted. "Not only did you fail to protect the village, but you almost died yourself. If I hadn't come…"
Flamme stopped and looked behind her: "You're about to die."
Shichen stopped with her and turned to look.
At this moment, three figures in strange attire had appeared behind them, he didn't know when.
They wore armored capes and large-horned helmets, and their identity was immediately recognizable.
They are Demon!