Fire burning everywhere.

The ashes of what used to be a prospering village.

Wooden structures fueling the fire.

The dry weather only help it burns faster.

*Clang*

The sound of metal hitting the ground resounds throughout, breaking the unnatural silence looming over the area.

"W-What happened here?"

Darla asks out loud, but nobody answered. She walks through the used to be houses, trying to take in the fact that her home, the small, happy village she grew up in is now nothing more than a dying big bonfire.

"Mom!"

She runs to her mother's house, or at least, what little remains of it. The charred corpse of her mother lies there, it's almost unrecognisable, but still provoking the memories of her childhood. Her father died on a hunting trip, so her mother had to take care of her every needs. The flirting she received from the other men in the village, she turned down all of them, dedicated herself to her daughter. In the end, she couldn't even see her daughter becoming the first female knight captain in many hundred years.

Tears flow out of Darla's eyes, her heart clenches and she let out a painful scream.

If only she was here sooner.

If only she rushed back home immediately instead of participating tjose stupid celebration banquets.

If only...

*ROAR (or whatever noise you think a dragon, manticore and griffin chimaera makes)*

...that monstrocity hasn't exist...

She burries her mother's corpse and makes a small tombstone for her. She slowly walks back to where she dropped her sword, picks it up and swear to the sky:

"I will take down that Monster."

.o.

After three months of continuous fighting, the battle ends, and the result is clear. She has slain the chimaera and avenge her village, but she is also at her limit. With her left arm torn out by the talons, half of her face burnt from the flames and multiple fractured bones, she won't live much longer. Using her final shreds of stamina, she makes her way to the grave of her mother and collaspes next to it.

"Mom... I'm sorry..."

Then all fades to black.

.oOo.

When she regains her consciousness, she was staring at a pure white ceiling with stone-like texture. Her body feels stiff, her mind is a mess and the strange periodic noise filling the room does wonders on her confusion. She tries moving her body, but it felt like she is moving through drying mud, almost impossible. She remembers her state after defeating the chimaera and where she went afterwards, but the other memories feel distant, almost like they were striped away. After a few minutes of stabilizing her mind, she slowly remembers who she is.

"Derlene..."

She shoots up, remembering everything about her life, well, second life. Her father served in the Dungeon War and passed away, leaving her and her mother alone. Her mother, being the good parent she is, never let her feel lonely or out of place, even if her... schoolmates tell jokes about her father everyday. Then one day, when she was walking up the stair to her class, she slipped and fall down the stairs.

"She's awake!" The sound of a nurse talking loudly can be heard.

*Click*

"Derlene!"

"Mom!"

"I'm glad you woke up." Her mother says in tears.

"How long have I been out for?" She looks weaker than in her memories.

"It has been five years."

"What?"