*
"To think the strongest being in existence was this close. I challenge you, for it is my one dream to become the strongest." (?)
"Interesting. But can you match my power at all? I govern over the laws that make up this world, and the world itself as well." (Z)
Standing before her on the street was a short girl with dark reddish brown hair like an early sunrise, she wore dark blue overalls with a dark yellow shirt and denim jeans underneath, her age roughly 15 or 16. Her skin wasn't as smooth and soft as one of her age, instead there were many rough spots and calluses that showed off her hard work and training like a glimmering trophy. It was truly admirable to have such a young and hardworking adventurer, people were largely accepted as adults at 15 unless they were a longer living race of humans.
On the other hand was Z, the former mad God that had barely regained his sanity... I mean her. She used to be a vague and blurry ill-defined silhouette of a pitch black man, similar to those mannequins that appear outside of fashion shops. She held unrivaled power until Emily came and reduced her into this state, she no longer had the power to control any physical laws of the world, but she still had plenty of power to morph her body into that of a young girl's with pure white hair and shiny sparkly eyes.
She was dressed in a white one piece fluttery dress with a mesh wicker basket holding vegetables. She was out shopping when she encountered this girl on her way back.... This week was her turn to do the shopping, though she usually has to do the weeks of her housemates as well, because she was the weakest there... One could say it was domestic abuse since she was coerced into buying the groceries through violence, though she was living in their mansion for free.
'Huh~~ What kind of mortal treats their God like a grocery delivery service? I'll have to bother her and crash into her bed tonight to relieve my fatigue...' (Z)
From the outside it was a very strange lifestyle, but in exchange for helping buy the groceries, she would bother Emily at night by cuddling her from the back or front and reducing the space on emily's bed. Frankly, it was to act like a nuisance since Emily didn't want to buy the groceries on her turn. Fez fulfills her duty responsibly as well, Emily was the only one who would skip out sometimes, so the both of them would bother her.
One couldn't tell if it was a reward or punishment for her. On one hand, Emily was happy that cute girls wanted to share her bed with her, on the other she greatly valued the space on her bed since there was too much merch on her bed in her past life, leading to it becoming very cramp in her salaryman days. Since there's no more merch in this world, she was really happy with the large space she had on her bed.
Out of all the luxuries she bought with her wealth amassed from unknown origins, her mansion had the pragmatic idea of having many unused rooms so anyone could stay over if they wanted, her food standard hadn't raised at all and she still ate normal stuff like a middle class family. The only thing she splurged on was the beds and nothing else. Occasionally there were thoughts on going to a high end restaurant, but it would strangely and fortunately lead to an inspiration to cook herself. As such she was presently learning to cook as hobby. Back to the present...
The girl with dark reddish brown hair started to have her mana flare up, leading to a visible red aura. The mana converged and solidified into an opague construct, a shining Ruby red gauntlets and greaves set, and a piece of head armour shaped like a lavalier from Emily's previous life. It had a shining blue crystal with white rune patterns near her cheek and went from under her chin to over her ear and then upwards and backwards like a sharp demon horn or bull horn.
Particles fickle like snowflakes but red like blood feel from the sky and slowly assembled into a sword, her hair turned slightly redder into a shade akin to strawberry. Her overalls and dark yellow blouse under the menacing and ominous armour created a ridiculous contrast, and so a crowd had gathered around them thinking it was some kind of performance. Sensing that something non-hostile was coming, Z chan stepped to the side.
A girl with beautiful jett black hair had appeared, her face was beautiful and youthful but with a hint of maturity added, she was wearing a casual white blouse with a couple black striped from the top left to bottom right and a black star on the bottom left. She still wore a short pleated skirt as if it was an addiction with her, but this time it was white instead of black. Her hair colour was also changed as it was originally black with hints of white at the end, now it was full black. Her signature large bang was tilted to her right as usual and she arrived with all the strands fluttering.
Even though she was closed friends with all the origin users, a small bit of insecurity and trust issues had her surveilling the safety of everyone she knew. She was just too scared to lose any of them, so she arrived next to Z chan to make sure nothing had happened. Z chan would usually be home at this time. Seeing that she was okay, Emily had felt a little embarrassment from getting so worked up, but she didn't fail to see the armoured girl across from them.
"I'm sorry but has she caused you any trouble?"
"...." (?)
She was visibly terrified, her expression depicted the end of the world as she froze on the spot and merely pointed at Emily.' Huh. So she can judge people's power at a glance, then why did she want to pick a fight with me? I may be slightly weaker than origin class users but that doesn't mean anything to normal people. I would be immeasurably higher than them like Emily is to me... ' (Z)
Emily, of course, could already read her opponent's skills. Though she was intrigued that a skill she has never seen before popped up, she didn't really care since she was the strongest being. She would really only bother with those that try to harm her friends and family. Since it seems nothing has started yet, she would try to defuse the situation. It seemed that she still held to her values as a human and didn't flick away the girl out of existence.
It wouldn't be hard either, to erase her out of everyone's memories after removing her. But if she were to exterminate all the bugs like this, soon there will be no one left on earth. Everyone commits sins, it wouldn't be fair to judge them by herself, she would leave things to the law to keep society in balance from crime.
"Ah! I'm the hero, Veliane from the neighbouring country Miliad! Just because you're at the center of commerce doesn't mean you're the center of the universe. If you're this strong, you can only be demons!" (Veliane)
'Little did she know, this was basically the center of the universe with me and Emily being here.' (Z)
***(Emily)
Her legs were shaking like a fawn and I'm afraid if we continue talking she would pee her pants... Anyway, she thinks we're demons huh. The demons have already begun isolation since the last time I was there. Something about their extinction becoming nigh since they were weak without their demon king? Anyway, if they stay where they are I would leave them alone.
The humans still think the demon king is alive and are preparing their army to intercept the demon army at any time in a defensive battle. Generally, each demon was much stronger than a human since their levels were significantly higher, so they must have thought a siege would be in the human's favour. Since a defensive battle like a siege would even the odds. So right now, they're stuck in a stalemate with both sides holing up in their own territory.
Well, once time passes and they forget about each other's existence, they should attempt diplomacy when they rediscover each other's species. I suppose this 'hero' though not recognised by the world and system itself, is recognised as a hero by her country. She seemed to be ordinary with ordinary stats, so I'm surprised by her bravery to pick a fight with Z chan.
Snapping my fingers, I teleported the 3 of us into a nearby restaurant and the groceries back home for Kurisu with [Reality displacement Ex]. It was a gamble, but I had to get us out of the public eye. Though weird to say, 2 beauties like us with full black and full white hair would catch a lot of attention. Anyway, would she get shocked from the teleport and pee herself, or would the restaurant atmosphere calm her down? Fortunately, it was the latter, I just wanted to talk... Not humiliate her...
She was surprised for a second before she started fidgeting in her seat. The yellow lighting and cool air of the restaurant was very comforting along with the red Velvety cloth that covered our table and seats. She made herself comfortable before looking at us nervously, she looked like a small animal that was about to get devoured even though she was around her height and physical age... Z chan spoke first in a soft tone.
"Uhh... We're not demons. I can't say what we are, us ladies should keep a few secrets, right? So could you please pretend you don't know us?" (Z)
It had been such a long time since she broke out of her archaic speech, but I guess it was to calm down Veliane. Veliane wasn't a bad person after all.
" Then... If you guys aren't demons, why aren't you heroes? We need all the help we can get to kill the demon king and protect humanity... If you guys were heroes im sure I would have heard of your names." (Veliane)
Her expression morphed into a solemn gaze as she retained her seriousness. Even though I had only met her for around 5 minutes, I felt like I've know her for years. Well, things won't always go our way, she must have had a tough time getting this far. After all, heroes were just a title declared by a country's ruling structure, they were the warrior picked to be the strongest in the country and sent to kill the demon king. Other than our country, the kingdom of Ilnoa's King Bavner, the rest aren't aware of the existence of the hero origin class.
Everything had ended before she got here. From the death of 2 or more [demon Lords] to Fez's short period of rule. We can't just tell her now 'Oh we killed the demon king, and by the world's rules I am now both the hero and the demon king! So you don't have to fight anymore.' Job security was an issue in any world, she would lose her job and struggle in this growing economy. In the past before I defeated the demon king in my first iteration, the economic and national growth of the kingdom was curbed by the demon army's advances. Funds were all sent into developing the military more than ever before.
Now would be a harsh time for Veliane to get into the work force unless she becomes an adventurer. Well, I guess she still has a backup job after all. But getting someone fired doesn't feel nice on my conscience, so my point still stands! Hmm... Now, how do I deal with this...
I can't bring myself to say power isn't everything... Since I drove myself this far to obtain power... Hmmm..... Before I could get over this problem, Z chan spoke up.
" Is there something wrong with living how we want? We're not breaking the law or hurting anyone." (Z)
"... You're gifted with more power than me, wouldn't that make you responsible for the lives of those weaker than you! " (Veliane)
It was simple notion of noble duty, her voice exuded charisma yet her crisp voice tone conveyed her melancholy and disappointment at us.
" To some extent, yes. I worked hard to get this power and protect everyone around me. But I won't go out of my way to fight a war for the country."
"This isn't only about the country... This is about the entire human race... Even then, if you live like this then what would you make of my life and my duty?" (Veliane)
"Well I'm not a demon, but I am a [demon lord]. Your job is to kill me, are you willing to fight me now?"
I let off my [wicked will], causing my aura to sweel up slightly and give off a faint purple hue in the air around me. Before I had notice, she had already disappeared.... She must have ran away... I only let off my aura inside my body and it seeped outside slightly, so it shouldn't have alerted anyone in our surroundings... If I had actually let the aura touch Veliane, she would have passed out immediately from the pressure. It meant that she escaped with her own abilities, maybe a teleport ring.