The sky was dim, and the blood-red moon looked eerily ominous.
This was a different plane of existence, a place known as the Demon Realm.
The ruler of the Demon Realm was the Demon Lord.
And beneath the Demon Lord, there existed a second-in-command.
She was the Demon Lord's trusted aide, a woman who possessed authority, magical power, and beauty—someone both feared and revered by all.
Her name was Jahy.
A beautiful, mature woman with dark skin, purple hair, and golden slit pupils sat upon a throne.
An overwhelming aura of authority radiated from her entire body.
Jahy wore black long boots and extremely short shorts, while her upper body was wrapped with nothing more than two strips of cloth.
It was easy to see that, despite being the Demon Realm's second-in-command, Jahy was quite frugal when it came to clothing.
The pair of cat ears atop her head made her—despite her overwhelming queenly presence—look somewhat cute.
As Jahy sat on her throne, she suddenly felt vibrations coming from the castle.
However, as a powerful second-in-command of the Demon Realm, she showed no panic at such a minor disturbance.
Instead, she looked toward the entrance with clear interest.
Before long, her subordinates came rushing in, completely flustered, shouting as they ran.
"Jahy-sama, please save us!"
"She's here!"
Not long after her subordinates burst in, a golden sphere of light flew in as well.
As the light dispersed, a magical girl with blonde hair and a pink dress appeared.
The magical girl stared at Jahy with icy eyes, her expression extremely serious.
Seeing the magical girl land and fix her gaze on her, Jahy slowly rose from her throne and spoke with blatant disdain.
"What's this? Just a little girl?"
She stepped forward, and as she passed by her subordinates, she scolded them.
"How utterly useless."
Jahy spread her demonic wings, preparing for battle, and addressed the magical girl.
"The Demon Realm is no place for a little girl like you. Leave immediately—"
Jahy was in the middle of her usual pre-battle trash talk, preparing to deal with this intruder as she always did.
But this time, the magical girl didn't play by the rules.
She actually broke etiquette and launched a sneak attack during the speech phase.
Before Jahy could react, the magical girl had already flown over her head, heading straight for the throne behind her.
Behind Jahy's throne, there was a black cloth.
When it was lifted, a massive red crystal was revealed.
This crystal was the Demon Realm's magic crystal, supplying endless magical power to the entire realm and maintaining its stability.
The moment she saw the magic crystal, the magical girl hesitated not at all and launched an attack.
Her wand struck the crystal, releasing a blinding flash of light as cracks rapidly spread across its surface.
Everything happened far too suddenly—Jahy only realized what was happening at that moment.
By the time she tried to stop it, it was already too late.
As the magic crystal that sustained the Demon Realm was destroyed, the realm itself underwent drastic changes and began to collapse.
A violent tremor shook the entire Demon Realm, and Jahy felt the magical power within her body rapidly draining away.
In a daze, the ground beneath her feet split apart.
Jahy's body fell into a pitch-black abyss below.
As she plummeted downward, she shouted unwillingly,
"You fight dirty!"
In a moment of dizziness, Jahy's vision became clear once more.
She realized she was now in a small river, with clear water flowing over her body, snapping her back to her senses.
However, the once mature, onee-san-like Jahy had shrunk after leaving the Demon Realm and losing her magic.
She had turned into a small loli.
Jahy felt incredibly weak, the abundant magic that once filled her body now reduced to barely a trace.
Sensing something was terribly wrong, she raised her hand and wailed,
"What is this?!"
...
Elsewhere, Tanaka Masao had just left Eriri's house and returned from Tokyo to Chiba.
Considering that he was trying to lose weight lately, he decided to walk home.
As he walked, Tanaka Masao leisurely admired the scenery along the way, feeling quite relaxed.
Looking down at a clear stream by the roadside slope, he couldn't help thinking to himself,
[This water is so clean. It doesn't look polluted by radiation at all—feels like you could drink it straight.
Is it because, compared to Tokyo, Chiba is basically the countryside, so the environment's way better?]
While thinking that, Tanaka Masao suddenly noticed a figure in the middle of the river.
Looking more closely, he realized it was a child.
As a warm-hearted citizen, Tanaka Masao naturally chose to act without hesitation.
He rushed down the slope, shouting as he ran,
"Little sister, don't be scared! Big brother's coming to save you!"
Only when he got closer did the flustered Tanaka Masao realize—
The river was very shallow, barely reaching his ankles.
The little loli kneeling in the water was completely fine.
Feeling awkward, Tanaka Masao slowed his steps.
[Didn't notice earlier, but this river's super shallow. Should I just quietly leave now?]
He abandoned the idea of leaving and decided to go check on her anyway.
That was because the little girl in the middle of the river seemed to be spacing out.
He couldn't tell whether she was looking for something or if something unexpected had happened.
"Hey, little sister, you—"
Just as Tanaka Masao was about to ask what was going on, something shiny on the ground caught his eye.
He bent down and picked it up—it was a necklace set with a red gemstone, extremely beautiful.
"Looks pretty valuable—lucky!"
Tanaka Masao completely forgot about worrying over the strange little girl.
All his attention was now focused on the dazzling gemstone.
At that moment, a sharp scream suddenly came from the middle of the river.
"What is this?!"
The scream startled Tanaka Masao so badly that he almost dropped the necklace.
Only then did Jahy notice there was someone else nearby.
Turning her head, she saw a completely unremarkable mob character.
But the instant she saw the necklace with the red gemstone in his hand, her emotions flared violently.
The magic crystal, as the core sustaining the Demon Realm's power, was normally never allowed to be touched by anyone.
As for the crystal embedded in that necklace—it had been gifted to her personally due to her outstanding service in the Demon Realm and the Demon Lord's trust.
It was more than just a symbol of honor.
Now that she had left the Demon Realm, she could only obtain magical power by relying on magic stones.
That small fragment of magic crystal was now her final source of power—utterly priceless.
"Hey, human! Put down the magic stone in your hand at once! That belongs to me!"
Tanaka Masao looked at the aggressive little loli in the river, then at the necklace in his hand.
Only then did he notice that her outfit looked… rather shabby.
Those mature-looking clothes weren't exactly something a child could pull off.
He guessed she was probably cosplaying—this world's otaku culture was different from his previous life, so he had no idea who she was supposed to be.
But based on words like "magic stone" and "me" spoken in an archaic tone, Tanaka Masao concluded that she was just a little girl who had entered her chūnibyō phase early.
Thinking that, Tanaka Masao couldn't help but feel like teasing her a bit.