Chapter 1:

The first battle

The everyday fights of the Hero and the Demon Lord


Heroes…Demon Lords. The continuous power struggle between these two forces has been going on for centuries. However despite their constant fighting, there has never been a clear winner. It has been 50 years since the last Hero and Demon Lord retired and the world has known a relative peace since then. But a new generation is awakening to their powers, who might be able to finally put an end to these conflicts once and for all…

“Yes! At last, the Hero system activated!” - A young woman, who appears to be around 18 years old, joyfully cries out.

“Ah, I had to keep it a secret that I was the hero all these years… I can’t wait to rub this in the face of that stuck up snob, who always acted like he was better than me at everything. Oh, his reaction is going to be priceless.”

“Ehm, excuse me, Miss Hero?” - The source of the voice seems to be coming from the beautiful sword that the hero is carrying.

“Hm? What is it Holy Sword? And you can call me Yuki.”

“Okay, but more importantly, we should get going toward the castle of the new Demon Lord.”

“Huh? Already?” - the Hero asks - “Isn’t it too soon? I mean, I have been learning swordsmanship my whole life, but I only became a hero officially today.”

“Don’t worry, I have faith in you. Even though I wasn’t activated, I have been watching over you all this time, and I believe you can do it.”

“Holy Sword…” - The Hero is touched by the sword’s sentiment. - “You’re right. I’ve got this. And with such an awesome sword by my side, the Demon Lord has no chance. Let’s go!”

With that the new Hero set off towards the Demon Lord’s castle with the Holy Sword around her waist.

In the meantime, the inside of the aforementioned Demon Lord’s castle was filled with a surprisingly cheerful atmosphere as well:

“Today’s the day. Today is finally the day I have become the Demon Lord! It was so hard to keep myself from telling other people about this until now. Especially that damned numbskull, who annoyed me throughout my entire life.. Well, look at me now! Hahahaha.”

The laughter of the newly appointed Demon Lord echoes through his castle. The Demon Lord himself appears to be a normal human with black hair and a fairly normal build. The only things standing out are his red eyes and two goat-like horns on his head. After he stops laughing, a new voice calls out to him:

“Congratulations my Lord. Now the fate of the Demon World rests on your shoulders.”

This voice is coming from a young woman, who is wearing a maid outfit.

“Thank you…ehm what was your name again?” - The Demon Lord asks.

“Ah, excuse my rudeness my Lord. My name is Tama. My sole purpose is to help you achieve world domination.” - the maid says.

“It’s okay. My name is Natsuko Oshiro.”

The Demon Lord introduces himself as well and after a few moments of silence he asks:

“....So, what am I supposed to do exactly? I mean, I have been studying a lot for this day, I am especially confident in my magical abilities. I’ve spent most of my life learning new spells and deepening my magical understanding.”

“Wow, amazing my Lord.” - says the maid in her usual monotone voice - “I can tell you worked very hard until now.”

The Demon Lord seems quite pleased by his maid’s compliment.

“But I’m sorry to tell you my Lord, that you can’t use magic anymore.”

“Huh?”

“Being the Demon Lord is a purely physical class.” - Tama explains.

“Wait wait wait. What are you talking about? I can still feel the mana inside me, so I’m pretty sure I could cast something.”

“I would advise against it my Lord. It is true that you could still cast spells, for that single moment, before your whole body becomes completely exhausted from going against the Demon Lord system and you fall unconscious.”

“What?! Nobody told me anything about something like that! All the books I read about the previous Demon Lords talk about how they cast fireballs and such. How do you explain that?” - Natsuko asks.

“I’m afraid that those stories are heavily romanticized and don’t really reflect the truth. If you're interested in the specifics of the Demon Lord system, then here are all the rules and details.”

The maid says as she produces a small mountain of documents.

“I can’t believe it… All that time I spent learning magic…” - the Demon Lord says as he falls to his knees.

However he doesn’t have much time to mope around as a faint thud can be heard from somewhere within the caste.

“Ah, it seems like the hero has arrived.” - Tama says.

“What? The hero?! This is bad, this is really bad. What am I supposed to do now? If I can’t use my magic, I’m pretty much helpless against the hero.”

“Don’t worry my lord. With my help, you can achieve anything.” - The maid reassures him.

“Huh? Aren’t you just a maid?”

“Well, it is true that currently my primary function is being a maid. However I am equipped with a number of combat abilities that could even destroy countries.”

“What, really?” - The Demon Lord asks, a bit afraid, but mostly filled with doubt.

“Oh? You don’t believe me my lord? Well, allow me to demonstrate.” - Tama says then extends her right hand towards a wall to the side.

“Wait, that’s not what I-”

Natsuko tries to stop her, however he’s too late. A huge magic circle appears around the maid’s hand and then with a deafening explosion most of the wall gets completely obliterated.

“Wow, that was awesome!” - the Demon Lord excitedly says. - “I’ve never seen magic like that. Such destructive power… You have to teach me that spell. Ah wait, nevermind.”

“Yes, however-”

The maid tries to explain something, but it gets cut short by the sound of the door opening to the main chamber of the Demon Lord’s castle.

“It’s over Demon Lord, your rule of tyranny has come to an end!” - The Hero says as she approaches Natsuko, with her sword in hand.

“Hahaha. Such big words, but I don’t think you have what it takes to defeat me!” - The Demon Lord answers as he turns to face the Hero.

“...”

“...”

Both of them freeze for a few moments as they lock eyes. Then, simultaneously:

“YOU?!” - exclaim as they recognise each other.

“Wh- what are you doing here you gorilla woman?” - Natsuko asks.

“What?! Wait, first, what are YOU doing here? I thought I'd finally be rid of you after graduation. But now you’re here in a… wait what are you wearing?” - Yuki’s sudden anger subsides as she looks her old friend over.

“Pff.” - she has a hard time keeping herself from laughing - “An edgy outfit with a cape and fake horns on your head? What do you think you're doing? That’s hilarious.”

“Wha..” - Natsuko tries to hide his embarrassment - “I’ll have you know that this outfit has been carefully designed with keeping the style of the former Demon Lords in mind. And these aren’t fake.” - He says as he points to his horns - “They appeared on my head once the Demon Lord system activated, signaling that I, Natsuko Oshiro have become the new Demon Lord!”

“What. Seriously? Aren’t they heavy?” - Yuki asks.

“Well, they kind of pull on my head- wait, that’s not important. What are you doing here? I thought the Hero was supposed to arrive.”

“Heh. You’re looking at her.” - Yuki says proudly.

“....” - the demon lord is shocked for a few moments, but then he too laughs up:

“Hahaha. Stop fooling around, there’s no way an idiot like you-” - he looks at his maid, who just quietly nods - “can be the hero…”

“Who are you calling an idiot? Whatever, I don’t have time for you right now, I need to find the Demon…Lord. Wait, rewind a bit. Did you say that you were the…?”

“What kind of sick joke is this?! So it’s not enough that she harassed me throughout my life, now I even have to deal with her as the Demon Lord?” - Natsuko complains to his maid.

“I am afraid that is the case my lord.”

At the other side of the room, the Hero is having doubts as well:

“Is he really the Demon Lord?” - Yuki asks her sword.

“He is indeed the new Demon Lord.” - the Holy Sword answers.

“That four-eyed wuss is the demon lord?”

“What? You know I can hear you right? And I don’t even have glasses.” - Natsuko says.

“It’s not about the glasses, it’s your know-it-all attitude, that’s so annoying.” - the Hero explains.

“You can’t just give new meaning to words! Although I understand that your vocabulary is lacking, but please try to refrain from doing so.”

“Hmm…Wait you just called me stupid again didn’t you?” - Yuki bursts out.

“Oh, you picked up on it? You might be less stupid than I thought you were.”

“Hehe… Ugh, you’re still doing it!” - the Hero complains.

“Ehm, excuse me my lord.” - Tama suddenly speaks up.

“Hm?” - Natsuko turns to her.

“Shouldn’t we get back to the topic at hand?”

“...Ah, you’re right.” - The Demon Lord gets back into character and turns to the hero.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, as the Demon Lord it is my duty to defeat the Hero!” - he exclaims.

Upon hearing this Yuki gets back into a fighting position.

“So Miss Tama, please teach the hero a lesson she won’t forget. But it’s enough if you-”

“I’m sorry, my lord.” - the maid interrupts him - “But I can’t use my abilities against humans.”

“Huh? Wha- why?”

“When my creators made me I kind of got out of control and destroyed most of their civilization, so when they got the chance, they changed my settings so I couldn’t hurt any living beings with my abilities.” - Tama explains

“What the hell, that’s scary.” - Natsuko says, as he sees his maid in a new light.

“Hm?” - Tama turns to him with her usual emotionless look, that now gives a different feeling after her explanation.

“N-nothing.” - he turns away - “Ah, wait. But didn’t you say that you’re going to help me?”

“Yes. And I am, my lord.”

“How?”

“With moral support. Go my Lord. You can do it.” - The maid says in her monotone voice.

“...Thanks…”

“Ehem.” - the Hero clears her throat - “I don’t really get what’s happening, but I guess it’s my turn.” - Yuki readies her sword - “Do you want to give up being the Demon Lord before or after I beat you up?”

“Uhm. Can’t we just talk about this?” - Natsuko tries to think of a way out.

“Too late. Here I come!”

The Hero starts charging towards the Demon Lord with sword in hand. However as she starts to swing her weapon:

“Stop!” - the Holy Sword says as it flies out of Yuki’s hand and begins hovering in mid air.

“What? I was going to use the blunt side.” - the Hero protests.

“That’s not the problem!” - the sword says - “I’m a magic sword. Magic.”

“Yes? So?” - Yuki is confused.

“Meaning, I can help channel your mana for spells. I’m not made for hitting things, are you crazy? My pristine blade would get scratched.” - the Holy Sword explains.

“Huh? But…I don’t know any spells.” - the Hero says.

“Hahaha.” - Natsuko bursts out laughing as he hears what’s happening.

“That’s brilliant. Hahaha. That gorilla woman, whose only good point is her strength, is supposed to use magic. Oh, I’d really like to see that. Like, I’ve known her since we were kids, but I don’t think she ever used a book for reading and now, she’s supposed to learn magic. Haha.”

The hero feels really frustrated hearing the Demon Lord’s insults. She looks down at her hands and says:

“So, I’m not supposed to use the Holy Sword for hitting…” - she looks up at Natsuko, who is still laughing.

“Then I’ll just use my fists!”

The hero exclaims and starts swinging towards the Demon Lord with great speed.

“Wait!” - Natsuko cries out, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any way of stopping her.

So in a moment of panic, he instinctively casts the shield spell around him, to protect himself.

Which goes as well as anyone would expect. For the both of them actually. Since it seems like the Hero’s no physical attack restriction not only includes the Holy Sword, but everything that isn’t magic. Similarly to the Demon Lord system’s rules.

And with that the bodies of the newly appointed Demon Lord and Hero fall to the ground completely exhausted.

“...”

After a moment of silence, the ringing of a bell can be heard throughout the castle.

“Ah, it seems like my shift is over.” - Tama says and begins to walk away.

“Wait! Can’t you at least put a blanket on them?” - the Holy Sword asks as it flies after the maid.

Leaving the Hero and the Demon Lord sleeping surprisingly peacefully on the floor next to each other.

And with that, begins the story of the new generation. Will they finally be able to put an end to the endless conflicts? Or will they give up like the ones before them?...Only time will tell.

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