It had been many years since Tanya von Degurechaff had been born, someone who throughout her life continued to refuse the will of God to her very last breath, in fact, she refused to believe ‘God’ even existed in the first place, referring to the entity she encountered as ‘Being X.’ This Being X had grown tired of it, and despite his best efforts, he came to the realization that trying to convert her was a lost cause, and while he debated what to do about the glaring issue of faith he was facing across his domains, he knew for certain what he would do with her.

Numerous times she had rejected his grace, his mercy, his miracles. Over and over again she spat in the face of her creator. He had no reason to give her any mercy. He had shown her little before, however he made certain that she would always face just enough hardships to be a struggle and leave her on the edge of death, no longer did he intend to do that. Killing her wasn’t particularly hard, all he had to do was send the mage Mary Sue after her and it would be it. One inconvenient ‘malfunction’ of her Type 95 later, and White Silver was struck down once and for all.

As the being already began to lose interest in the dying mage, he heard a rather feminine albeit androgynous voice ring out from both everywhere and nowhere simultaneously, [Notice: Commencing Soul Transfer to Central World…]

The announcement was a bit startling, however it was nothing new. Despite the many worlds he dominated, the being only controlled what was a measly handful of the dozens, if not hundreds of worlds the true creator, a dragon called Veldnava made. Among these endless worlds, he also created a system for the cycling of souls, intended to allow souls to flow between worlds. He had been using this to reincarnate people, such as Tanya into other worlds under his control, something he could only do thanks to his Ultimate Skill, Lord of Rebirth, Osiris. Where and how he actually got the skill, he could hardly remember, but he knew it was far from its full power, large fractions of it seemingly gone. At its full strength he suspected that he could have full control over the soul transfer system, however for now he’s limited to just being able to utilize it. In cases such as this, he believed, there wasn’t much he could do but allow it to take the soul of whatever it wished, though it was rarely ever something the being cared too much about.

[...Target Selected: Tanya von Degurechaff. Commencing Reincarnation]

“Huh?” The being couldn’t stop himself from making a confused noise in shock at the voice. He quickly panicked, realizing what the system was doing, what it was taking from him, the years of effort and his threat of eternal damnation would all go down the drain if he let the system do as it pleased. 

Throwing caution to the wind he resisted, utilizing his skill to full power as he just barely managed to hold back the soul from its transfer, though the effort to prevent it from being snatched away was vast, and eventually so too would the system threaten to strike back. [Notice: Continued resistance to the Soul Transfer System will result in retaliation and potential destruction of entities deemed a threat to the System]

It was an automatic defense system, mained to prevent anyone from forcefully damaging or taking control over the system. Had his ultimate skill been at full strength, he may have been able to stop the transfer with a snap of his finger, however it was not at full strength, and still he failed to completely stop it. After what felt like an eternity of struggle against the system the being, for a brief moment, unlocked the full strength of the skill, unlocking the full control over the system he lost. Even more so, he remembered everything, and he realized this was about more than mere spite. In the next instant he was gone, his soul and body torn to shreds by the very system he nearly regained complete control over. 

Despite his apparent destruction, his abundant magical power still remained, and having been taken in by the system, it had nowhere for it to go, instead funneling the excess magical energy into the transferred soul as it resonated with power and the transfer process fully began.

[Commencing Soul Transfer to the Central World. . . Successful]

[Confirming Race. . . Successful - Arch-Demon]

[Confirming Family. . . Failed]

[Confirming Family. . . Failed]

[Confirming Family. . . Failed]

[Compensating Family. . .]

[Closest Demonic Family Found - 2 Options Viable]

[Selecting Family . . . Successful - Black]

[Finalizing Reincarnation. . .]

---

A small demon, formerly Tanya but now left nameless in her new form, woke up in a familiar yet unfamiliar place, as if vague portions of her memories had been blended together to create a surrounding which she never quite had ever been in, but still held a vague familiarity with it. Immediately she assumed it to be a dream, primarily as some of her surroundings were ‘incomplete’ and by proxy, incomprehensible, and in some places memories blended into a wobbly or otherwise blurry section of view. Overall it seemed to be some fusion of the various official military command buildings she had spent much time in, connecting various portions of her memories there together as if to try and reconstruct a generic room fitting of the theme.

It only took the demon a few moments to notice another demon of similar appearance nearby, he was much taller than her, wearing a torn yet vaguely formal attire, giving off an aura of elegance one would expect from some form of nobility. His large wings were torn near the bottom and his eyes were fully black with gold irises and red pupils. While she didn’t notice it immediately, aside from the difference in hairstyle, clothing, and other natural features, the two were basically identical to each other, not only in hair and eyes but in the magical aura they emitted too.

The demon girl wasn’t quite sure how to handle the situation, from what she could assume, this was likely whatever ‘hell’ Being X had in mind for her, judging by the demonic presence the being in front of her gave off. Her immediate instinct made her assume it was Being X himself, though part of her instincts told her that it wasn’t.

The demon in front of her didn’t give her much time to contemplate her options or her situation as he made a polite bow before standing up straight again and speaking, “Forgive the abrupt interruption, however I could not simply ignore someone as… ‘unique’ as you are. I’m curious, what do you know about your situation?”

The demon rolled his hand a bit as he spoke, laying it flat in the air as he finished speaking, to allow the demon girl to respond, “I’m… not quite sure what it is you mean by that.”

The demon nodded, “Ah yes, forgive me, I should’ve been more specific. You see you were reincarnated here as a demon quite suddenly. Where you came from or how you were born, I’m not sure, but I can only assume you’re an otherworlder of sorts, am I incorrect?”

The demon girl was now even more confused as it seemed this demon, while knowing more than she did, didn’t actually seem to understand her situation fully either. It was certainly not Being X, but perhaps she was ‘reborn’ as a demon in whatever he called hell? She decided to contemplate it later as she replied to him, “I suppose that’s correct, at least I assume so. I had thought I died just a few moments ago so I suppose it fits…”

The demon in front of her placed a hand on his chin and made a slight nod, “I see, it would appear you don’t know too much. It’s a shame, I was hoping you could shed some light on your unique circumstances.”

She was even more confused now, “What do you mean when you say ‘unique?’”

The demon waved his hand as he replied, “Let me explain, you see firstly you were born as an Arch-Demon, something which in of itself should most likely be impossible. Secondly you awakened with a physical form. Lastly you bear an almost terrifyingly close resemblance to myself.”

She thought about what he said for a few moments before continuing herself, “So an Arch-Demon…? A physical form… And well, I suppose I do see the visual similarities, not to mention our mana signatures are surprisingly similar.”

In truth the mana signature was really only 50-60% accurate to each other, however considering mana signatures were unique to each mage, or in this case any person with magic, having anything more than 20% similarity was incredibly rare. Even in the cases of identical twins, the similarity range only tends to be from 30% to 40%, mostly because mana is determined by more than just genetics. 

The Demon decided to shed some light on some information of Demonkind as to help her better understand her situation, “You see demons like you and me have various stages of evolution. While this is mostly determined by our age alone, other factors can influence it. An Arch-Demon is one of the highest ranks of demonkind, one which I am on the higher edges of. Of course, as a newborn demon, regardless of your stage in evolution, you are still fairly weak. In fact you barely classify as an Arch-Demon, though even still in terms of strength that makes you quite strong. Furthermore, most demons don’t have permanent physical forms like you seem to have manifested. Your form seemingly manifested solely out of your magical essence, meaning it's one of the truest representations of yourself, seemingly using myself as a base.”

She turned her head, “And what does having a physical form mean exactly?”

“You see with a physical form, you can actually reside in and interact with the main physical world. What you see now is merely an illusion created from combinations of your memories in a dreamspace of sorts, as a member of the Black Demon Family I’m able to establish a strong enough connection to communicate with you here. When you wake you will be in the real world, deep within a cave within the Jura Forest.”

She generally seemed contemptuous with this information, she did have a few more questions, but not only was she unsure of what exactly to ask, but she had a feeling that asking too much might stain their potential relationship and make her come off as needy and unreliable. From her position, this demon is a potentially powerful resource. He’s seemingly strong and has at least decent knowledge. Assuming this world is generally unfriendly to demons, he may be her only ally for a while.

The demon continued after a few moments of silence, “How about this, we make a deal. I am deathly curious about your situation and our connections so I’ll become an aid of sorts to you, helping you out when you need it and gradually feeding you any information you might need about the world as well. In exchange you do the occasional favor for me and tell me anything you may find out about your unique situation as well as your connection to me.”

She didn’t see many downsides with the arrangement, she wasn’t sure what the ‘occasional favor’ might mean, but not wanting to risk it out into an unknown world alone she took the deal. For the next few hours the two continued to discuss, primarily about the nature of the world and especially its functions such as skills, evolution, naming, and other various laws of this world, all vital information to the currently nameless demon girl.

---

The girl woke up in a cave as she had been told, however it was strangely lit up. It certainly had its dark parts, but for the most part the cave was illuminated by the various crystals lining the walls in shimmering rainbow colors. The air was thick with mana, which she was told was truly called ‘Magicules.’ She seemed to retain some of the abilities she was able to use through the Type 95, how she wasn’t sure, but she speculated she may have a number of ‘Skills’ which replicated its effects.

As she was told, Skills are the very fabric of one’s strength, at least outside of sheer magical capability and strength. They were basically the backbone of just about any powerful individual, especially monster races which relied almost solely on them. Humans rarely got skills, though otherworlder humans, even those who weren’t reincarnated like her (which she was told was in of itself, a rarity) had a number of skills gained from the process of being sent here.

When she had asked about ‘god’ or rather the existence of one, she was told that the closest beings to gods were the True Dragons, siblings of the actual creators of the worlds, Veldnava, who himself had apparently died long ago. She wasn’t quite sure how much she believed about it, but considering all she had experienced, she was no longer completely doubting the idea, especially since she no longer had to out of spite. She was, however, quite satisfied to know that ‘Being X’ was certainly not a god in any way.

For now, though, she needed to find her way out of this cave, and furthermore she needed to figure out exactly what her skills were. For now she had numerous directions to go, though two key directions made themselves clear. In one direction the magicules in the air gradually seemed to be getting denser whereas in the other direction, they gradually got less dense. On one hand going towards the density may lead her to some being or source of the magical power, however on the other hand it may in truth be magical power flowing from outside instead. With both options equally likely to lead her deeper into the cave, she decided to head towards the magical density, crystals appearing more abundant the deeper she went, and even magically-enhanced herbs seemed to be present.

After a while she noticed a glowing orb at the end of one of the cave’s tunnels, within it being a shadowy figure several times taller than her, rivaling the size of entire buildings. Realizing she had headed in the direction of an entity and likely deeper into the cave, she was about to dash away while she still could, however noticed something: Whatever was inside was sealed.

She wasn’t fully sure how she could tell just by looking at it from a distance, however as she focused her mind onto it, she could analyze it to an extent, realizing that whatever surrounded the shadowy entity it was called ‘Unlimited Imprisonment.’ Whatever she was doing was likely the effects of one of her skills, further proving to her that she needed to figure out what they were.

Before she could decide on what course of action to take (though she was certainly leaning towards booking it), a loud voice rang out through the cave, “You. Demon. Step closer.”

The voice was demanding and for most, intimidating, not to mention the aura emitted from his surroundings, however the demon girl, having stared war directly in the eyes and proceeded to punch it in the face in her last life wasn’t easily intimidated, though she did contemplate fleeing still.

The voice spoke out again, “Come closer, I will not harm you.” There was a slight hint of annoyance in the voice now, but it seemed to be trying to keep it suppressed.

Still though, Tanya didn’t move as she tried to use whatever skill she had to analyze the entity creating the voice before deciding her course of action.

Now annoyed and slightly desperate the voice spoke again, “Seriously, I get you’re intimidated but just get over here!”

Sighing, the demon approached the voice as the form of the shadowy figure in the orb became clearer, standing above the demon was now a massive dragon, powerful in its sheer presence. Had the demon not already known he was likely sealed away and unable to hurt her, she would’ve likely fled out of there at the first sight, however she was confident in the fact he was certainly ‘imprisoned’ as the skill was called.

The dragon sighed as the demon finally approached before speaking again, “I am Veldora the Storm Dragon! One of the few True Dragons which exist in this world! You are quite strong to have survived within the presence of my aura.”

The demon was quite shocked to see she was already speaking with one of the de-facto ‘gods’ of this world, however if he was imprisoned like this, it either meant one of the other True Dragons had done it, or these ‘gods’ were not as powerful as such a title implied. However, there was also the possibility that this Dragon wasn’t a True Dragon at all, merely faking it to intimidate her.

Wanting to test that question, the demon spoke, “Well then how come you’re sealed away like this?”

The dragon began to stutter, “I-I uhm… well…”

The demon looked up, unimpressed.

“Well you see, I… may or may not have… accidentally… decimatedanentirecityandcausedtheherotosealmeawayfor300years.” The dragon replied, speaking the last part as quickly as possible out of both nervousness and a blind hope that the demon wouldn’t notice.

The demon, however, certainly noticed, simply blinking at the dragon as he tapped his fingers together with his head tilted down. She sighed and spoke, “Do you… want me to help you out?”

Letting out the dragon was a risky move, however the dragon seemed to be in a desperate, if not outright lonely position. Personally she had no direct care for the dragon’s feelings, however if he was truly a True Dragon, and even to an extent if he wasn’t, he would still prove a potential devastating ally if what she was told about True Dragons was true. If the dragon had been here for 300 years, then helping him escape would allow her to forge a ‘friendship’ or rather an alliance with the dragon, which may serve her well in an unknown world.

Voldora folded his arms and gazed more directly at the barrier surrounding him rather than the demon, “If that’s even possible. My skills are locked so I can’t do much, and I doubt you have much that can remove it.”

Ultimately the demon knew he was probably right, if a powerful ‘True Dragon’ wasn’t able to break the barrier, what could she do? Though if she couldn’t do anything then… “Why exactly did you call for me then by the way? If it wasn’t to free you then you must have had some reason to call.”

Veldora looked again at the demon, “Ah yes! Well you see…” the dragon lowered his head and tapped his fingers together again, “I’ve been… incredibly lonely.”

“Eh?”

Veldora looked up to face her again, “In truth you’re the first one I’ve seen since I was sealed away 300 years ago, so honestly it's quite refreshing to have someone to talk to again.”

The demon seemed to get a grasp on the situation, the Dragon was basically incredibly desperate for any interaction. In other words, he was easy ally material, so long as she could maintain a consistent relationship with them. “All right, I don’t mind having conversations with you, however just so you know I can’t stay here forever so how about this, I come here and visit every so often and in exchange me and you become-” The demon wasn’t quite sure how to put their relationship. Were they ‘friends’ or ‘allies?’ It didn’t matter to her, in the end both had the same outcome, it was merely a matter of what the Dragon would take better. He seemed informal to the point where it was a surprise he was supposed by such a grand and powerful dragon, ultimately she decided, “-friends. How about it, Veldora?”

Veldora pretended to think for a few moments, in reality he was frankly happy at the offer but didn’t want to come off as too clingy or desperate, “Friendship between a demon and a dragon… I like it! However… If we are going to be friends, you need a name, I presume you don’t have one?”

The demon shook her head, however she wasn’t going to complain or stop the dragon. People who receive names tend to owe a debt or at the very least remain loyal to their namer, however since there was nothing binding that bond outside of sheer respect and admiration which usually comes from it, she had no problems being named. In truth, she was ecstatic to get a name, considering the potential power she stood to gain from being named, especially from such a strong being.

Veldora didn’t spend too long thinking of a name. Names have effects on the power of the monsters they name, and there is always a name with a maximum effect and a minimum effect. Deducing it was hard for most, but for Veldora it was a fairly simple task, though never had he seen such a common name be the most optimal for a person. “Your name shall from now on be Tanya!”

“Eh?!”

The demon, now once again Tanya, was shocked to see the same name returned to her. In the next moment her body would surge with power as she evolved from an Arch-Demon to a Demon Peer. She was still on the far lower end of Demon Peers, but she had high potential for rapid growth. Her appearance seemed to mature as well. Her former form was effectively a direct replica of her body from her last life, aside from her hair being black with a red stripe at the front and her eyes being the same as Noir’s. Her uniform originally had even stayed the same, albeit switching from green and red coloring to black and red. Now she was a few years older, likely in her mid to late teenage years, her breasts even stuck out a slight bit to show her maturity. To her relief they were still fairly small, but it was a clear sign that visually she had certainly matured.

Veldora seemed concerned, “Do you not like your new name? I’m sorry, I picked the name that would provide you the most growth.”

Tanya waved her hand as she gathered herself, “No, no, of course it's fine.”

Veldora nodded, “I see, well then. From now on I, Veldora the Storm Dragon, shall become sworn friends with you, Tanya the demon! Kyahahahaha!”

Veldora was highly proud of it, and Tanya couldn’t help but let out a smirk, though it was much rather for the fact she had successfully befriended a true dragon rather than out of sheer ‘friendship.’

Aiming to further their relationship, Tanya spent a brief while discussing random topics with Veldora. Ultimately they didn’t talk about anything of vital importance, though Tanya did learn more about True Dragons, as well as how to properly detect her skills. She was even able to learn the skill Magic Sense which allowed her to have a much greater sense of her surroundings through the use of mana. For now she was intent to leave the cave, and after saying her goodbyes to Veldora she began to do just that.

The forest she was informed about by Noir was the Jura Forest as Veldora told her, and it was under his domain. His presence has not only deterred nations from conquering it, but also has kept monsters, regardless of how strong, in check, meaning once she was out of it, she’d have time to gather herself and assess her abilities before deciding on what course of action to take.

The cave itself was equally as calm as well, and while she did notice the occasional monster, they didn’t seem to take notice of her, or rather if they did, they just didn’t care. Finding the exit of the cave took a while but she quickly stumbled upon a giant old door, likely having been untouched since Veldora was sealed away. Slowly opening it, Tanya stepped outside, taking in the deep natural smell of the forest as she looked around, seeing nothing but trees for miles outside of the occasional mountain in the distance.

Even outside of the cave, the forest seemed abundant with the gradual spread of Veldora’s aura, likely functioning as a protective shielding for both the forest and the monsters within it, deterring aggression. Despite her confusion on how a dragon that had been sealed away powerless for 300 years could deter intervention or aggression in the forest, she decided to carry on and figure out her skills.

Despite taking a few days, she gradually seemed to get a handle on how it seemed to work and managed to determine what exactly her skills were. After feeling confident that she had discovered all of her skills, she began to list them off;

[Extra Skill - Gravity Manipulation] This skill seems to allow me to fly much like I was able to with mage gear. It seems to have a bit more ease of movement than I had before, however I still need to get good at using it for complicated maneuvers.

[Extra Skill - Magic Manipulation] Seems to allow me some control over the magic around me, allowing me to an extent to disrupt the flow of magic as well as any magical signals, assuming this world has anything like it.

[Extra Skill - Multilayer Barrier] Seems to function similarly to my barriers as a mage. Theoretically I may be able to create a barrier which naturally protects my skin directly, however I find that for me at least, its much easier to maintain a barrier like the ones in my past life.

[Extra Skill - Strengthen Body] Allows me to enhance the strength of any part of my body, again reminiscent of what I could do in my past life with mana. Similarly, this skill doesn’t seem to have a direct limit, meaning so long as I have the magicules to spare I can easily enhance my physical capabilities several times over.

[Extra Skill - Sage] This skill is fairly simple really, it just seems to increase my mental capacity for thought and allow me to think and respond much faster than before. I considered myself a fairly fast thinker before, but this certainly amplifies that greatly, if I’m ever in combat this will certainly help me make quick responses to my opponent’s moves.

[Unique Skill - Merciless] This one doesn’t seem to take any direct influence from my abilities as a mage, though if I had to guess it may have taken it from my actions as one. Seemingly if anyone loses their will to resist I’m able to basically just kill them at will, regardless of if they recover their will or how long it’s been. It certainly has its potential, though if I get someone to the point of giving up, they’re probably going to die regardless, though it may be good to manipulate them under threat of death. I’ll see what comes up before I assess this skill’s usefulness.

[Unique Skill - Oberst] Seems to be a skill that provides strength to those under my command as well as generally has a number of sub abilities which aid in leadership of what I can only assume to be a de facto army judging by the name. It’s currently useless, but if I ever find myself with any subordinates or followers it may have its perks then.

[Unique Skill - Transcending Eye] This seems to be the skill I have been using to analyze things like Veldora’s Unlimited Imprisonment. It can seemingly analyze both living creatures and magical objects and detect things like skills and status. It can even theoretically bypass any skills or abilities which normally would’ve blocked analysis so long as I’m generally stronger than them.

[Unique Skill - Illusion Master] Similar to my illusion magic I had as a mage, this seemingly allows me to create visual illusions which, due to their magical nature, seemingly can fool even those with Magic Sense. Unfortunately, though as was generally expected, these illusions are non-collidable.

[Unique Skill - Magical Enhancement] Similar to my old life when I enhanced weapons and bullets with mana, this seems to allow me to funnel magicules into an object and increase aspects like strength, durability, sharpness, and more.

However, there’s one skill which I’ve grown to adore above all else:

[Unique Skill - Divine Nullification] As the name suggests, it allows me to disrupt any sort of ‘divine’ or ‘holy magic’ that's within a certain range of me.

Even more so, it seems I have resistances:

[Thermal Fluctuation Resistance]

[Natural Effects Resistance]

These two are nothing special, likely taken from formulas I could make in the past. The first one does allow me to be immune to heat or cold, so its effective in its own right. However the following resistances are what really is useful to me:

[Holy Attack Nullification]

[Mental Influence Nullification]

[Time Alteration Nullification]

[Spiritual Attack Resistance]

In the event that I cross Being X again, however unlikely it seems, I have effectively immunity to everything he could do against me. 

With her skills assessed and the extent of her power truly realized, there wasn’t much else to do than to push forward. Being X had said no third chances, however that’s exactly what she got, and this time, she won’t be bound by the whims of a false god.