Opening his eyes, he saw a familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling.
Glancing around the room, he hesitated for a moment before realizing—wasn't this the room he had stayed in temporarily? Despite the years that had passed, everything remained the same, as if he had only left yesterday.
"Ugh~"
His face still hurt, and his neck felt like it had been twisted the wrong way.
"Why does it feel like I dreamed about beating up some ridiculous goddess?"
Sitting up, Yazuki mumbled to himself.
But was it really a dream? Maybe it was real, or maybe just a dream.
It shouldn't be possible for him—an all-powerful Demon King—to be unable to tell reality from dreams, right?
The truth was, before returning from the goddess's domain, Yazuki had subconsciously blurred his own memory.
It was a simple trick.
As he had said before, he was sick and tired of dealing with so-called gods. So, he sealed and obscured those memories, ensuring he wouldn't get entangled with them again.
That was why, now, his recollections felt hazy and uncertain, and soon, he would just forget about it altogether.
That aside, how did someone who had ruled as a Demon King in 99 different worlds, amassing thousands of years of experience, suddenly return to this world and lose all his grandeur, aura, ruthlessness, and arrogance?
Weren't those traits deeply ingrained into his soul over countless millennia?
Of course, they hadn't disappeared.
If he were to fully unleash those characteristics, he would become completely incompatible with this mundane reality.
Worse, it would inevitably lead to countless complications—something that clashed with his desire for a peaceful life.
So, he had compressed all those aspects of himself, keeping them sealed away.
Simply put, his human body was like a piece of modern hardware—a normal computer.
Meanwhile, his soul was an advanced operating system, thousands of years ahead of its time. But installing such an advanced system on an outdated machine was problematic.
The hardware simply lacked the capacity to run it properly.
So, Yazuki had compressed his soul, over and over again, until it could fit within this limited vessel, allowing him to function without self-destructing.
The part of him that remained operational was merely his original human nature from before his reincarnations.
In a way, he had sealed away his mature, demonic self and reverted to the youthful, naive personality he had before his journey through different worlds. It was the only way to blend into this world. Otherwise, everything would spiral into chaos.
That said, he was already nearing his limit. He was about to go insane.
Chirp, chirp~
The sound of birds came from outside the window. Looking outside, he saw the sky beginning to brighten. Apparently, he had been unconscious the entire night.
Speaking of which, that damn angel...
She had smeared something sticky on his face, then kicked him so hard he nearly saw the afterlife.
It couldn't have been Eriri—there was no way that proud tsundere would do something like that. Besides, the figure that had kicked him was smaller, more petite.
It was familiar... painfully familiar.
No, it was very familiar.
That flawless kick? He had experienced it before.
It was that useless fallen angel.
She and Eriri knew each other, so it made sense that she would come over to visit.
But did she recognize him? No, if she had, he wouldn't still be lying here. He would have been bound with holy shackles by now.
Getting out of bed, he checked his coat, which was hanging on the balcony. Reaching into a secret pocket he had modified, he counted the feathers.
Not a single one missing.
Good. That meant she hadn't realized his identity. This was purely revenge for the way he had mocked her before.
But still… what kind of revenge was that? It had completely shattered his expectations of a woman's bottom line.
Fine. Revenge is best served immediately.
He wasn't worried about that useless angel using supernatural powers against him.
She wasn't allowed to use them on ordinary humans, that much he had already figured out from their coffee shop incident. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten away so easily.
Still, he needed to make sure she was still at Eriri's place.
--------------
Eriri's Room
The door wasn't fully closed. Through the small gap, a single eye peered inside, scanning the room.
It was a bit messy, and two blonde girls were sleeping in very unbecoming positions.
They had fallen asleep right in front of a massive TV screen, which was frozen on a game's "Congratulations, you have cleared the final stage!" message.
Looks like they had stayed up all night gaming until they cleared it.
The lurking figure's gaze turned mischievous before he disappeared from the doorway. Moments later, the door creaked open as he stealthily crept inside like a thief, approaching the two sleeping blondes.
"Heh heh... Yazuki, your time has come..."
Just then, Eriri mumbled in her sleep, her expression twisting into a dopey grin.
The intruder nearly jumped in fright.
From the way she was smiling like an idiot, she must have been dreaming about something that made her very happy.
"Come on, Paladin! Tank the boss! Mage, watch your positioning—"
The other blonde was also muttering in her sleep.
At first, Yazuki thought she was talking about some supernatural battle. But then he heard certain familiar gaming terms.
Wait a second—wasn't this just an MMORPG?!
He had played this game too. In fact, he had just been scammed in it a few days ago.
Also…
What kind of sleeping posture was that?
The useless angel was wearing nothing but an oversized T-shirt, her smooth, slender legs completely exposed. Yazuki suddenly didn't know where to look.
Then, as he watched, she lazily scratched her belly, looking a bit itchy.
Not satisfied with scratching over her shirt, she slid her hand underneath it.
Her shirt started riding up.
Up.
Up.
Further up—
Wait. Was she even wearing underwear?!
The answer was about to be revealed.
HISS—
A sharp, pained inhale.
What the hell was he doing?!
He pinched himself hard, forcing his mind back on track.
Shameless!
This was a useless angel loli. What the hell was he even thinking?!
In one swift motion, he delivered his revenge—then fled like a madman.
"Mmm…?!"
A sticky, suffocating sensation covered her face, making it hard to breathe. Gabriel jolted awake.
"What's wrong, Gabr—"
Eriri, startled awake by her kicking, turned toward her—and froze.
Gabriel had a pair of boxer shorts over her head.
And Eriri immediately recognized whose they were.
"Wait. WHAT—"
Gabriel pulled them off her face.
For a moment, her throat tightened. She couldn't even speak. Her eye twitched. Her mouth twitched. A vein bulged on her forehead.
Then, outside the room—
"Yazuki-sama, breakfast will be ready soon. We can drive you back to school."
"No need! I'm leaving now!!"
His voice was suspiciously urgent.
No mistake. This was an escape.
"…Haha…I'm going to kill him."
She stormed toward the door and kicked it open—
CLANG—!
A heavy metal bucket dropped from above, crashing down on her head.
The sound was so loud that even Eriri winced.
These two…
They were out for blood.