2 [Prologue] A Clean Slate

I didn't wake up in the hospital, which was probably a good sign.

However, the fact that I woke up at all was troubling. I dove head-first into concrete from the sixth floor.

I patted the ground around me. it was soft, green grass.

Yeah, I was dead, alright.

A ball flew towards me, and I caught it with one hand, right before it hit me. That's odd. Never did I ever have the hand-eye coordination to catch a ball with only one hand. A bunch of kids ran at me, laughing and calling in a strange language.

okay, on second thought, maybe I wasn't dead. Just not on Earth anymore.

That brings the question of where the hell was I?

I threw the ball back and stood up. Around me were clean, white buildings and food stalls arranged around a huge, grassy park area. There were no animals in sight besides humans, and the area I was in seemed like just one of many, each as large as four or five football fields, and each led to another, making it seem as if there were an infinite amount of homes and stands.

As I walked past, I noticed a kid just run up to a food stall and grab a slice of bread, then leave without paying. The owner of the place just smiled and waved at him.

Now that I had looked around more carefully, each of these areas were identical, and the people wore identical clothes and had identical hair styles, even the children. A book I had read in middle school popped into mind.

A utopia? one where everyone was equal and everything was free? I was more and more sure of this as I walked around.

Anyhow, it was clear that I didn't belong here. With my messy hair, hoodie, sweatpants, and sneakers, not to mention the headphones around my neck, I didn't fit in at all. Nobody gave me a strange look as I walked by, which confused me. If they saw someone who was obviously not one of them, why would they not freak out?

I walked up to a stall, and picked up a skewer of what looked like chicken. The owner of the stall didn't even notice me. rather, he seemed to be staring straight through me.

Could he not see me? I waved a hand in front of his face, and tapped him on the forehead. No reaction.

Strange, to say the least. Maybe I was a ghost? that doesn't explain how I caught that ball, though.

The chicken skewer was tasteless and dry, but I finished it because I hadn't had lunch yet. This world was either a successful case of communism, or a utopia. both are very similar to the other, if not the same thing.

I felt really weird walking through and trying each different stall's food, because all of them tasted nearly the same, and it felt so much like stealing.

I couldn't be seen, and I couldn't speak the language. An awful start already.

Walking around surfaced a question in my mind. Who was in charge of this place? if it was a utopia, there's got to be a strong, stable government running it. All i saw was just homes and more homes, stretching all the way to the horizon in every single direction. Where was it all run from?

there were no farms, no factories, and not even telephone lines. There was no possible way that this place was even functional at all, but somehow it was.

I looked down an alley, and a pair of bright yellow eyes stared back at me. I blinked, and they disappeared.

was that just my imagination?

I sat against a wall and let out a sigh. My life had been meaningless and dull for the past couple of years, but I had never felt so alone. I always had somebody who would talk with me, even if she was doing so just to trick me, it was worth something. Now that's gone, too. Nobody even saw me anymore, and I couldn't even understand what anyone was saying. this was the worst thing that could have happened to me. Maybe the gods just hate me that much? Maybe my fate was just beyond twisted?

Well, if fate won't let me have a meaning, I'll just have to overwrite it. And if anything gets in my way, I'll trample it. Be it human, or whatever else resides in this world. Even if I have to end a god, I'll find another reason for me to wake up in the mornings. I'll make sure that by the end of my time, I'll be left with zero regrets. Even if I have to do so on my own, with my powers alone.

And to do that, I'd have to make sure people saw me.

With that resolution in mind, I felt another surge of determination and stood up. I was going to become someone, I'll make sure of it.

As soon as I stood back up, someone put a hand on my mouth and pulled me into the alleyway.

"this is gonna hurt," She said in English, which surprised me. I didn't have much time to be shocked, though, because the next thing I know, the person had hit my head against the wall and knocked me out.

I woke up in the back of a horse-drawn... Wait, could this wooden box on wheels actually be called a cart? My head felt like it was being split in half, whether it was from being knocked out or from the bumpy ride, I had no clue. The person who was driving was the only one around, so I assumed she had captured me.

I sat up against the side of the cart and waited until my head stopped throbbing.

I looked at my captor. She had black hair, wore a black cloak, and on top of her head were two cat ears.

Hold up, rewind.

Cat ears?

Now that I thought of it, she spoke English, too. Either that was a really dumb coincidence/cliche, or somebody from my world had been interacting with the inhabitants of this world.

I was being too calm in this situation. Even if she was half cat, this girl still kidnapped me. I drew in a deep breath.

Her ear twitched at the sound, and she turned around. I started to panic a bit. getting hit in the head really hurts.

Instead of continuing to drive, or trying to knock me out again, she fumbled the controls and had to force the cart to a stop. She looked very flustered.

"What's wrong?" I couldn't help but laugh. "did I wake up too soon?"

"y-you speak our language?" it was her turn to be shocked, now. "but you're a human..."

"why do I feel like my race is being used against me as a derogatory term?"

"I'm sorry, you caught me off guard."

"Isn't that like, a fatal mistake if you're human trafficking?" I honestly didn't feel bad for cracking jokes. She just seemed like such an interesting person to mess with, and plus, she hit me pretty damn hard. annoying jokes were the least I could do to pay her back. "getting caught off guard, I mean."

"I'm still new at this... Wait, why am I talking to you about this? I'm supposed to bring a human back to the Devil and help in her research of the species." Immediately after she had said that, her hands flew to her mouth. "oh no..."

"I have more than one question." This girl was gold. If this were a TV show, I'd be laughing my ass off.

wait, scratch that. I was laughing my ass off.

So there was something other than humans in this world. That's one question answered. And seems like the human cities did end, which was a huge relief. Judging from the fact that we were on a dirt trail in the middle of almost literally nowhere, I had been out for quite a while.

This girl was covering her face from embarrassment. To a guy like me, everything that just happened was straight out of an anime. What kind of a kidnapper accidentally spills her entire plan, and then proceeds to curl up into a ball and hope that her victim runs away?

I tapped on her head, "knock, knock. anyone home? I've got some questions that need answers."

In a small voice, I head her say, "no, please go away."

"At least finish taking me where you're taking me." I sat down right in front of her, legs crossed. "I'm interested in this 'Devil' individual."

"You're not going to run away?"

"how the hell am I supposed to go back there? you think I can teleport or something?"

"good point. humans can't use magic."

That sentence felt like a punch to the stomach. So I was still an average guy here. And I thought I would be some sort of overpowered main character who can wipe out entire cities with a thought. reality is often disappointing.

"Can we get back on the road? I don't want ants crawling up my pants."

"Are you really okay with me taking you to the Devil's castle?" She was asking politely? What the hell?

"you're... not very good at this, are you?"

"But I should always make sure-"

"pretty sure you didn't when you knocked me out back there." I cut off her sentence. "Now start driving, and answer my questions on the way."

After another hour or so of me interrogating this girl, whose name I still don't know because my airhead-ass completely forgot to ask, I found out that six hundred years ago, the humans established an empire so powerful that nobody could oppose them, and then proceeded to develop technology beyond the understanding of all other races, thus resulting in the utopia environment I was dropped into. Along with that little bit of history, I learned that there were three races, humans and non-humans, and in the middle, demi-humans, nicknamed "demons" by the humans. One of those races seemed a lot more vague than the others, but I didn't question it. And as I expected, There were gods that controlled the human empire, and demon lords that ruled the outskirts. The gods answered to a central "God" and the demon lords obey a "Devil."

"The humans have created a city where all residents are equal, get equal treatment, and think equally. Not even the two genders are separated." Was the end of her summarized history lesson.

"That is so wrong, and I have way more than just one problem with those rules."

"Are you perhaps not a resident of the Empire?"

"would you believe it if I said I wasn't?" I decided to hide the fact that I wasn't from this world. I wasn't sure of that yet. "Also, you said city. does that mean the humans have a civilization outside of that city?"

There was some hesitation, but she nodded. I assumed that it was for both questions.

"Well, the Devil claimed that she was from another world." The girl replied. "and she gave us this language, which you speak, so I can believe that you're from somewhere unknown to us, too. And the humans apparently have an Empire outside of that city, but I haven't seen it. This is the first time I've been away from the Devil's protection."

So the Devil was an American? or maybe from another country that spoke English?

"Wait, can I get your name?" I asked. "I don't want to keep thinking of you as 'the demi-human girl who kidnapped me probably with the intention to dissect and torture me.'"

"Those were not my intentions at all!" She violently shook her head, which would have been dangerous on a normal road, but the trail we were on was more dead than me after jumping off the sixth floor.

whoop, was that too soon?

"Then, name?"

"Cassandra." She replied. "but you can call me Cassy."

"I'm Rai, you can call me Rai." I did as much of a bow as I could manage while sitting. "say, you're bringing me directly to the castle, right? so you must be high-ranked."

"I'm just a friend of the Devil from before she took power." Cassy explained. "Which was around the same time humanity became the unstoppable force that it is."

"wait, aren't you pretty old, then?"

"That's rude!" I had activated Cassy's pout mode, which was something I did not regret doing. "Cats have nine lives, you know? I'm only 17."

Which meant she was on her seventh or eighth life, assuming demi-humans have the same 80-100 year life span. Also, she was my age.

"What race is the Devil?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. demon lords are immortal, so she could be anything." Despite being her friend, Cassy still knew nothing about her race. "judging by her eye and hair color, she could be a vampire. I've seen her go out into the sun, though..."

"Wait, aren't you telling me a bit too much? I'm a human, you know?" A thousand thoughts were running through my mind. eye and hair color? Don't vampires have really light hair and red eyes? In that respect, didn't I look like a vampire, then? But I guess walking around in full sunlight destroyed that idea.

"but Rai said he wasn't from the empire, so I can tell him anything." She referred to me in third person, which was kind of creepy, not going to lie.

On the horizon, I saw a castle made of pure white stone emerge. Around it was a full medieval city, walls and all. As we drew closer, I saw that the gates were open and the guards were asleep. I guess nobody really tries to bother someone as powerful as the Devil.

As we drove through, I got a good look at the main street. demi-humans and non-humans walked around, running shops and haggling prices. It was much brighter and more of a positive atmosphere than the dark and scary Devil's castle I had imagined.

Once reaching the castle, Cassy and I left the cart with some servants and walked in the front doors, once again unguarded. Though I doubt anybody could just waltz in here and leave unscathed.

After an uncountable amount of red carpeted stairs, Cassy and I finally reached the top floor. you'd think the Devil could make a magic elevator or something, but no. you've still got to burn out all the muscles in your legs.

"She's a really nice girl, so I'm sure you'll be alright if you just explain yourself." Cassy assured as she pushed open the door to the Devil's room. The lights lit themselves as we walked in. At the end of a long, red carpet, on a throne clearly too large for her, was a pale little girl who looked around 13 or 14, with long, white hair and bright red eyes. She was dressed in casual clothing that looked straight out of a 21st century shopping mall.

I recognized her face immediately.

"Ai?!" I yelled without thinking.

She looked so out of place on the throne, that I almost didn't recognize my own sister's face. it's sure been a while since I last saw her.