A wave of sadness rushed over her as she surveyed the devastation. Ash and soot from the dying fires were floating in the air towards her, but somehow seemed to avoid where she was standing. She could hear a small crashing sound as one of the still standing buildings gave up its struggle and collapsed. The village had been a large one, with maybe three thousand inhabitants, almost enough to be called a town. It had been a farming village that probably didn't even have weapons beyond those used for hunting. Until a year ago, the people of the village had lived in peace and harmony with its neighbors.

Then there were the bodies. Some of them had been charred beyond recognition by the flames, while others had been hacked to pieces by frenzied people not accustomed to wielding weapons. Few unlucky ones had been made into an example. What remained of them was hung on the smoldering ruins of the gate of this poor village; a gate that had most likely not been closed for hundreds of years. She wondered idly if it was even capable of closing, with rust corroding the hinges. Now the inhabitants of the village would never know. The attackers had been thorough and not a single person was spared. The purge had been complete.

'Is this what happens when the so called forces of good win?' She thought sadly, and not for the first time. This was not the first time she had come upon the remains left behind by the purge. She had seen similar sights too many times already, and she was always too late to help. She'd walk among the wreckage and use her magic enhanced senses to try and find survivors. She so desperately wanted to find survivors, but she never did. One thing the angels were good at was leading these purges.

The former inhabitants of the village were a race of demi-humans. Part of their ancestry was human, but they were unfortunate in that they also had demon blood in their veins. This didn't really show much, the only differences were different shaped pupils and some individuals with stronger demon heritage growing a pair of leathery wings or horns. They were some of the most peaceful inhabitants of this world, which already was a backwater planet that had not seen real war in eons. They barely qualified as demons but that barely was enough for the forces of 'good' that were reveling drunk in the sweet taste of victory.

As she tried futilely to find survivors, she remembered what had led to this carnage. The War in Heavens had raged for uncountable eons, claiming countless lives on all sides. Powerful individuals came and went, and if you asked anyone taking part, they would tell you that the war would rage on forever. What had tipped the balance had started as a rather harmless experiment. Harmless experiment that had resulted in something that no one could have imagined possible. The thirteen hells had been destroyed, taking the armies of Fallen, demons and devils with them. The four sided war had suddenly become three sided and the balance of power had been broken.

The demons and angels had always been the two sides most eager to carry on with the war, while the two other sides mostly just observed, only taking part when their own interest were threatened by the flames of war. There had been some alliances but those had lasted mostly for short periods of time. With the destruction of their arch-nemesis, the forces of 'goodness' and 'order' had decided to take advantage by making sure the demons never rose up again. Their solution had been the complete eradication of demons on any world within their reach.

They angels called it the Holy Purge. Their armies scoured all the worlds they controlled for any beings which could be classified as demons and eradicated them. On worlds where they didn't hold enough power to bring in their own troops, they sent some of their angels to preach the 'evils' of demonic races, inciting the populace to do the dirty work for them. The angels always had their representatives present to cast the first stone, to fire the first arrow and to draw the first blood. This incited the mob into a frenzy, allowing them to let their bestial natures take over.

The result was what she saw around her. Peaceful communities destroyed for no other reason than having the wrong ancestors. She shed a small tear for the dead and wished them better luck in their next lives. She also felt the rush of guilt washing over her. 'This is my fault.' She thought.

Trying to find survivors was her way of trying to find redemption. There was a reason she always arrived late. What would she do if she did arrive in time? Should she kill the mob that was whipped into a murderous frenzy? Just pushing them away would only lead to more resentment and they would be back once she was gone. It wasn't the fault of the mob, not really. How could a group of inexperienced and powerless peasants resist the honeyed words of the angels and their preachers? She suspected the mob might even be under a spell. They weren't exactly innocent, but it was not really their fault either, at least not enough to deserve death. Even if she did lead the demons away from here, they would be hunted down mercilessly by the angels. One or two people she could protect, but thousands?

So she arrived late, hoping to find survivors. Unfortunately the angels had access to same detection spells she used, and the purge was always complete. "Nothing this time either." She mumbled as if talking to herself.

Suddenly an androgynous voice coming from her chest answered. "I can't detect any mana or ki either. As magical beings, they should have enough natural mana in their bodies for me to detect even untrained children. I understand that you feel responsible, but you can't keep doing this to yourself. I can see it's breaking your heart. You're simply torturing yourself at this point. You did not cause this atrocity!"

"I have to keep going! Even if I can save just one, then the pain will be worth it. Please, I don't care which deity of this world is listening, just let me save one!" Her desperate plea echoed among the ruins of the village.

Either because her yell stirred something, or because her pleas reached one of the local deities, she could hear a faint cry of a child coming from somewhere in the ruins. "What in the name of…?" She mumbled.