Chapter 1: Chapter One – Noir Argent

What a complete waste of time this was… I’ve spent over a decade trying to force faith into what is now just effectively a small child to no avail. Though, in truth from the beginning this was an experiment, though their insistence in calling me a ‘self-proclaimed’ deity and referring to me by that disgusting title ‘Being X’ did make me mad on a personal level. There were numerous experiments like her, at least a few dozen over the last few decades, however only she succeeded in truly pissing me off. Truly a devil in both mind and soul, one truly deserving of the deepest pit of hell I can possibly send her to.

Tanya Von Degurechaff, the Devil of the Rhine as she was called, a truly fitting title. Though her successes were all thanks to the grand divine miracle I blessed her with. Yet despite that, and despite using it to bring her this far, she still spat in the face of her creator. When she was finally killed by the monstrosity that is Mary Sue now, I had considered giving her a slight mercy and letting her live so that the experiment may continue but… I have grown tired of her, each and every day she strays only further from faith. Each and every day she makes me more and more pissed off. In truth, I’ve had enough of it. So when she ended up taking a powerful beam of pure magical energy straight at the chest, I simply watched as she took it, falling to the ground to her death, unconscious.

All that's left now is to send her to he-

[Notice: Commencing Soul Transfer between universes…]

Ah alright, it's only taking another soul. That system was made by the original creator of all worlds in order to funnel souls between them at times. I only rule over a number of worlds myself, and I use said system to transfer souls like this devil’s when I desire it. Of course oftentimes it will take a soul for itself, and frankly I don’t really mind, it's just usually one so-

[Target Selected: Commencing Soul Transfer of individual named ‘Tanya Von Degurechaff’]

Transferring who now?

[Beginning Transfer to Central World]

Huh?!

This system was designed by the original creator of all the worlds to transfer souls between them. I myself am not the god of all universes, but I am the god over a number of them. However when the system takes a soul from my domain to another there’s literally nothing I can do. Normally if I really want I might be able to squeeze her out of any other world, especially should it have a deity that I can somehow communicate with however…

They’re sending her there.

The world of complete and total fucking anarchy! There’s no way in hell I can even reach it! And If I did, there’s countless beings there that could easily stop me in seconds. One of that world’s Demon Lords could easily outdo me in strength, not to mention the True Dragons… It would take the entire army of heaven, at least my heaven to take down probably just one awakened Demon Lord. Of course the heaven of that world is… much, much scarier and much more powerful.

I have no time to think of this! I need to get that soul! I cannot let them take her after so long! She’s mine! She cannot escape my divine punishment after so many years of ignorance!

[Notice: Interference Detected]

[Alert: Refrain from interfering in the transfer process]

I will not let you take that sinner!

[Warning: Preparing Termination Procedures]

Yeah, yeah sure. I’m a deity! A god! You cannot destroy me in my own domain!

[Commencing Termination of Interference]

This is my Domain! You will not interfe-!

[Interference Terminated]

[Warning: No suitable route for excess magicules from Termination Subject]

[Transferring excess magicules into Transfer Subject]

[Commencing Soul Transfer - Successful]

[Commencing Reincarnation…]

---

Tanya was standing in a strange place she could not recognize, it was a strange place that didn’t feel real in any physical sense to her. She felt different as well, the former constant presence of Being X she felt was gone along with her Type 95 Computation Jewel. Even without the Jewel she was able to have a vague sense of him watching her, but now even that was gone.

The only thing she knew for certain was that she almost certainly had died. She was hit straight-on by a pure beam of magical energy, cracking her Jewel and knocking her unconscious. If she didn’t die from the fall, the following explosion from the destabilized Type 95 would’ve killed her. Even if she had survived all of that, Mary Sue would certainly just kill her while she was unconscious regardless.

The next thing she noticed was that her appearance had changed. She seemed slightly older, no, rather she seemed to appear as if she hadn’t been facing years of malnutrition and war. Her body appeared to look like she likely would have by the point of her death if it weren’t for her poorer upbringing in terms of nutrition.

In regards to her clothing, that too was altered slightly. She was no longer wearing her combat outfit, nor did she have any of the equipment that came with it. Rather she was wearing an altered version of the formal attire, though it was black instead of green and it came with a cape of sorts colored similarly.

Her hair was a similar shade of black, aside from a single section of hair in which a number of strands were a red color, and although she couldn’t see it, so too did her eyes change to be black with golden yellow irises. Aside from all of that, she was much the same girl that had died just a few moments ago from her perspective, although her face, even without the changes to her hair and eyes, seemed to give off an intimidating, albeit sadistic feel to it, even more so than before.

Before she could find out what was even going on, her thoughts were interrupted by a demon standing behind her. The demon was tall, especially in comparison to Tanya and wore a neat, albeit somewhat torn suit, one you’d expect on some upper class or noble family of some kind. In terms of appearances, he in many ways resembled Tanya in her new form, especially the eyes and hair which shared practically the same coloration.

The demon took a step towards Tanya, giving a slight and polite bow before addressing her, “It is good to meet you, I’m certain you have a few questions and I will do my best to answer them, so long as you do your best to answer some of mine.”

Tanya was taken slightly aback, though her time handling business interactions and superior officers in her past two lives made her good at hiding fluctuations in her emotions when she needed to. This whole situation was strange to her, enough so that it made the battlefield look completely logical.

“Alright then, I’ll do my best, though I can’t guarantee you I can answer them if I don’t know the questions.”

The demon nodded before continuing, “Well introductions are in order, I am one of the Primordial Demons, I don’t have a name in the true sense, however I have many titles. Most notably black, though you may call me Noir if you’d like.”

“Well it's… certainly interesting to meet you… Noir… I’m Tanya Degurechaff, although strangely I don’t feel like that's my name currently.”

“Currently? So you’re a reincarnated otherworlder then? Interesting. I had suspected as much considering the context of your arrival, however I needed confirmation.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘reincarnated otherworlder’ though reincarnation is certainly something I’m familiar with. If I had to guess, I assume you mean I lived a life in another world and was reborn into this one?”

“That is precisely what I mean, I presume that applies to you then?”

“I suppose it does, though where exactly am I? Is this hell of some kind?”

“While you’re certainly not wrong, you aren’t truly in hell. Rather this is a projection of hell, in truth we’re communicating through your unconscious mind. Think of it like a dream almost.”

“Then where am I really?”

“You’re currently sleeping unconscious in the middle of a cave somewhere. I’m not precisely sure where just from your surroundings though.”

“I see… So what did you want to know from me?”

“Right to the point I see, well in truth, I’m not sure if you’ve realized it yet or not but you’ve been reborn as a demon.” Noir slowly walked past Tanya, who turned their head to face him as he moved forward, then turning to continue speaking, “Well, you were born as an Arch Demon to be exact. The strange thing is, while it's not uncommon for otherworlders to arrive here with a large quantity of power, you were born with an abnormal amount of it, making you an Arch Demon at 0 years old. A feat demons even a few millennia old have failed to achieve.”

“Well what's your question then? If it's how I achieved this strength, I’m sorry to say but I have no clue. In fact the fact I’m a Demon at all is quite a shock, although it does explain a few things.”

“I see… Unfortunate. Though I suppose it's to be expected of an otherworlder. Most don’t have much memory at all of their transfer process from what I hear. Must be the same with you. Any idea, however, how you were born with a physical body already?”

“Is that not normal for demons then I assume? Also unfortunately no, I’m not sure why either.”

“You’re correct, it is abnormal. I don't even have a permanent physical form like that, although I haven’t truly tried or have had a reason to really. In truth I hoped that something from your past life or in the process of your death would provide greater insight on some of these things, though it seems there is truly nothing you remember or know.”

“I’m sorry… I guess?”

“There is no need to apologize, though there is one other manner we must discuss, though judging by your last answers I am certain you have no real explanation for this either. You see most beings, especially magic-based or spiritual ones like ourselves have a spiritual composition. This in part determines many things such as our auras, our powers, our strengths, our potential, even appearances to a degree, among many, many more things. The only cases in which auras are closely similar are in the cases of parents and children as well as close relatives.”

“What does this have to do with me though?”

“Well you see, your magical/spiritual composition is strangely similar to mine. So similar in fact, that if demons gave birth by conventional means by human standards, you would likely be considered my daughter. Of course that's not really how it works, but the similarities are incredibly abnormal. Surely you’ve even noticed the visual similarities? Though now that I mention it, you may not even be able to see some of them without a reflective surface of sorts.” The demon shakes his head before finishing up, “In truth we’re closely bonded. In fact, it's the sole reason I’m able to communicate with you like this.”

“So… we’re related somehow? I still don’t get what you gain from telling me all of this, as you figured out yourself, I have no solution or answer as to why this has happened.”

“Oh yes, I’m well aware of that. In truth I just wanted to inform you. I will likely be watching your journey once I let you back to consciousness. I believe that through observation, given enough time, the true nature of our similarities will become revealed. Perhaps it will help reveal some of the fundamental truths of this world and beyond. As such I want to offer you a sort of partnership or friendship if you will.”

“A friendship? What does this entail? What do you gain?” Tanya began considering everything about this demon, though little pointed to him being a threat outside of just his sheer power and the fact that he was a demon, although now she was too.

“Oh don’t worry, I long lost the desire to gain more strength or any subordinates. In truth I will simply help guide you on occasion. All I want is for you to survive and perhaps even grow stronger so I may observe and learn more. You hold quite a bit of potential, I’m almost as curious to see what you do with it as I am curious to find out the truth behind your existence.”

All Tanya could frankly think about is how this could be both problematic and beneficial. She knew nothing of the world she was going into, and she had no idea if Being X was still kicking in it or not, though she felt the latter was true. Either way it seemed if she refused the demon would just watch her anyways, so somewhat reluctantly she nodded, “Alright then, I’ll accept. Is that all you wanted?”

“Yes, that's about it, though to help you, I’ll help you earn the skill Magic Sense. It's a basic skill, however it will help you quite a bit. Aaand… there! You should now be able to use it.”

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“Huh? What did you do? I don’t feel any different.”

“That's in part because you’re still unconscious. What I did was directly give you the skill magic sense through our connection, though that's about as much as I can do. Magic sense is a very simple skill almost anyone is compatible with. Unfortunately I cannot give you any complicated or incompatible skills through this method, and Magic Sense is about as much as I can do for now.”

“Thanks… I suppose… Though I still can’t entirely trust you as an ally.”

“That's to be expected, I don’t much trust you either. However I seek knowledge and you seek help, so I feel like our arrangement is mutually beneficial for the time being. Anyhow, it's about time you wake up, don’t want some monster coming along and ruining your fun. Good luck out there, I’ll be watching, and we will meet again.”

With that Tanya jolted awake, looking around to see she was now in a cave with glowing crystals and large clusters of herbs with the occasional lake or puddle around. She wasn’t entirely sure whether or not what had happened while she was unconscious was a dream or not, however given her vivid memory of it and the fact her dream replicated her new visual appearance perfectly before even seeing it likely proves it was real.

Dusting off her now black uniform from having laid in the bare cave floor, she begins to head in a random direction, with no clue how to exit the cave. As a demon it seemed she didn’t quite get hungry or tired, at least not from walking around normally. She quickly noticed the vast amounts of mana surrounding her, copious amounts of it, especially when you consider in her old world, for there to even be a thin layer of mana in the air it would be considered rare.

She quickly learned how to use the ‘Magic Sense’ skill given to her by Noir, and it helped greatly in fully understanding how the magic of this world, with it being so dense and plentiful, interacted with everything else. From what she could tell about herself, she easily had well over 1000 times the mana she had in her past life. With how much mana she has, she not only no longer needs a computation jewel, but it's likely any compensation jewel she did have would simply explode at the first attempt of using it, even the Type 95 would become overstrained and explode.

She then needed some other way to funnel her strength, and so while wandering the cave this became her primary goal. She assumed with this much magic everywhere that magical spells like existed in the legends of her last world likely existed, though those required years of training most likely. Instead she placed her bets on ‘Skills.’ She had been given this ‘Magic Sense’ skill, and so she wondered if she had any others, or perhaps if she could acquire more.

After a bit of experimentation, she realized that through doing a process she could really only describe as ‘looking deep inside herself’ she managed to find out what skills she had, even their classification. Magic Sense, it seemed, fell under the ‘Extra Skills’ category. Within that category was a number of skills she could recognize as being potential recreations of actions she could do formerly with her mage gear. The most notable cases were especially Gravity Manipulation, Multilayer Barrier, and Strengthen Body, though she also held the Extra Skills Sage and Magic Manipulation.

From these Extra Skills she eventually found out a few things. First was how to recreate the barrier from her last life, especially using Multilayer Barrier, which rather than using a single barrier made of direct magical energy, used a number of thin barriers to create the effect. In truth she knew she wasn't using it to even a fraction of its full efficiency, with her theoretically being able to even go so far as to make it a passive and incredibly thin barrier covering her entire body rather than directly mimicking her barrier from her last life, albeit several times stronger.

She also rediscovered flight from Gravity Manipulation, though without the stabilizers and aid from her mage equipment, flying in a stable manner, at least one that allows her to have high speeds and maneuverability is incredibly difficult. Strengthen Body meanwhile, does about what the name suggests and allows her to, much like her old life, enhance portions of her body with her magical energy to rapidly heighten her strength, though her current physical strength seems to exceed any human from her old lives.

What really seems to stand out are the ‘Unique Skills’ which as the name implied, likely seemed to be skills only one person could hold. She held four Unique Skills, Merciless, Oberst, Transcending Eye, and Divine Nullification. Each one of them sounded incredibly interesting to her, though she had no real way of testing any of them considering how situational they sounded, though she could certainly guess.

From her predictions, she assumed Oberst was likely something to do with leading or commanding troops considering it translated directly to ‘Corporal’ in German, her original world’s alternative to the primary language of her last life. Transcending Eye, she assumed, simply gave her the ability to see more, though from her attempts it seems it's more limited, perhaps being able to see into items or people rather than her environment. Divine Nullification, she hoped, was able to completely nullify all holy-affiliated magic or power. If that was the case, she easily had a strong defense mechanism should Being X return. That only left Merciless, of which she had truly no clue what it did.

Lastly seemed to be resistances, a form of skill which as the name implies, gives a resistance to a certain element or effect. After a bit of searching within herself, she eventually found a few that she believes she has, Holy Attack Nullification, Mental Influence Nullification, Spiritual Attack Resistance, and Thermal Fluctuation Resistance. If this proves to be true, it effectively confirms the fact that it was not Being X that sent her here, and likely that these skills and resistances were chosen off of her subconscious will or past experiences rather than any random chance.

The last thing she noticed was her lack of a name. While she had the name ‘Tanya’ in her past life, she didn’t seem to have a name in this one. She had felt it before on instinct when speaking with Noir, however now she was certain of it, though the question remained how such a thing was ingrained into her soul like that.

After a while she seemed to lose track of time, she was certain it had been at least a handful of days, however after she realized it, it could’ve easily been upwards of weeks she had been in that cave, walking aimlessly and likely in circles. Eventually though she sensed something that seemed to lead to something albeit she didn’t know what.

Initially this presence felt like a sort of pressure, one akin to that experience when high in the air on an airplane or when deeper underwater. However through magic sense and her own experience with magical signatures, she was certain that this was an aura of some kind, and a massive one at that. In fact it seemed the aura was spread out throughout the entire cave. It was strange, and likely not the best direction to head, however after anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks in the cave, Tanya was willing to take the risk and head towards the source.

After what was eventually an hour she stumbled upon a glowing orb, though it was what was in that orb that surprised her more. The only real words that she could describe it as in that moment was ‘Big. Fucking. Dragon.” Walking closer, mostly because she was confident she could get away if needed, the dragon took notice, looking up and then moving its head closer to the approaching demon.

“Oh, you’re approaching me? It's quite rare for anyone to come in this cave, let alone approach me directly, you must be quite brave. I can already tell you’re powerful too, you have quite the bit of magicules, not to mention you aren’t immediately dying in my presence like many people would.”

“Oh you talk! I just kind of expected you to just be a dragon. Well my name is- Well frankly speaking I don’t think I have one. How did you tell I have a lot of magic though? I presume that's what magicules are?”

The dragon stared at her for a moment, looking confused before just staring and muttering, “Are you stupid or just an amnesiac?”

“I believe I’ve been referred to as an ‘Otherworlder’ if that helps.”

“Ah! That makes a lot more sense, though you seem to have been reincarnated, I’ve never heard of otherworlders being reincarnated before, especially not as Demons with a physical form. I presume you were recently reborn then? Even as a Demon in hell you would at least know that much if you were even decently aged.”

“To be honest, I woke up in this cave about a week or two ago.”

“I see, well I am the Storm Dragon Veldora! One of the many True Dragons which inhabit this world! The strongest beings in existence!”

(‘A Storm Dragon eh? I’m not sure what's about this ‘True Dragon’ business, but it seems there's such a thing as a non-true dragon. If they’re truly the strongest beings in existence, then that would make them basically gods… Though, they aren’t proclaiming themselves as such, so I have no real reason to be opposed to them, at least not this one specifically. If anything, he seems… stuck. If he's truly so strong…’)

“Then how are you stuck here then? If you’re one of the strongest beings in existence?”

The dragon panicked slightly at the sudden comment but shook his head, “You see I was trapped here 300 years ago by the Hero with their Unique Skill, Unlimited Imprisonment. Since it locks away my skills and abilities, I’ve really not been able to do anything at all frankly.”

“I assume it's not possible to just break it then?”

“No it's not, it uses something about a complex web of subdimensions to trap me in or whatever. Frankly I don’t understand it, but I don’t need to in order to understand that I’m stuck here until I run out of magicules and die.”

“There’s that word again, ‘Magicules,’ what does it mean?”

“Oh Magicules are particles that effectively control magic. Many beings live off of magicules in a way, much like yourself as a Demon. They exist pretty much everywhere, and a count of one’s magicules is usually pretty accurate to their strength.”

“I think I understand it now. You said you’ve been here for 300 years, you get many visitors?”

“You're… actually the first one…”

The mighty dragon tapped the tips of his fingers together while looking away, causing Tanya to mostly just look confused.

(‘Well if he’s been isolated for so long, it might not be hard to befriend him. Such a thing would likely come in beneficial if he ever is released somehow. Question is do I want to befriend him? No, I definitely do. His claim to be one of the ‘strongest beings in existence’ isn’t backed by nothing, his aura easily encompasses the entire cave, perhaps beyond. This Dragon is certainly a powerhouse. If he ever does go free, I want to make sure he’s on my side. Wait, can he listen to my thoughts? Given his power it's possible… Well considering the fact he’s still pouting to himself, he probably isn’t listening even if he can.’)

“How about I come and visit a bit then? You seem lonely, I can certainly come and visit every now and then when I have time. Unfortunately I don’t intend to stay in this cave forever, but I’ll try to come back when I can.”

“Really?! I-I mean yeah that's fine if you’d like. How about this, as a show that we are friends, I will give you a name. You may not know this, but giving a name to Monsters or other entities like demons causes them to increase their power and potentially evolve into a higher version of their race. Being named by one of the great True Dragons such as myself will likely only prove to make you stronger!”

“Ah I see that explains it. I was curious as to why I could simply instinctively tell I didn’t have a name in this new life.”

“Well, do you accept them? Giving you a name also comes with my Divine Protection, which means certain people will be less likely to mess with you, especially within my domain of the Great Jura Forest that surrounds this cave.”

(‘So the cave is surrounded by a forest in his domain then? Good to know, I can probably stay there for a while so I can refine my skills before heading off into society again.’)

“Yes, I accept.”

“Alright then I shall name you… Tanya.”

(‘Excuse me?’)

“Is there anything wrong with that name?”

“N-No it's just… That was my name in my past life, it's just strange for you to pick it again here.”

“Well you see every creature that gains strength from being named has a name that will make them the strongest. I’ve become very good at determining that. Though I will say, you have a very unique case. Most of the time the names are unique and don’t follow regular human naming, however yours is more or less a regular human name.”

“I see… so I’d become the strongest with the name ‘Tanya’”

“Exactly! So do you accept that as your name?”

“I suppose so…”

“Great! Then your name is Tanya!”

Suddenly she felt a power rushing through her as her body glowed, growing a bit older, now as if she was somewhere from 16 years old to her late teens. She felt her magical power increase greatly as well. She even gained a small bit of breasts, though she despised them, having preferred and enjoyed having a flat chest in her past life. She also felt the name ‘Tanya’ be ingrained on her soul where no name was present previously.

After a few moments it seemed to die down as she looked up at the dragon, now looking down curiously, “Hmm that was unexpected. You outright evolved into a Demon Peer. You barely have the strength to even be one. How many untouched magicules are locked deep into your soul? It's strange. Regardless, while you barely have the strength to be considered a Demon Peer now, that's what you are, and I’m certain your magicules will grow to fit that role. Though… You better keep your promise!”

“Yes, yes, of course. I’m going to be spending some time in the forest to refine my skills, until I leave I’ll be able to come by at least somewhat frequently, afterwards I’ll do my best to make frequent visits.”

“Yes, thank you Tanya. It will be good to have some company for once…”

With that, their meeting ended, Tanya, now a Demon Peer, headed out in the opposite direction in the cave. After about another day she finally found the exit, a rusted and locked door which she easily just forced open due to its age. Now looking onto the horizon she saw trees for as far as the eye could see in a new world free from Being X or any self proclaimed gods. That she knew of at least.

(‘This will be truly interesting. Third time’s a charm indeed.’)

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