This should've been an end to her evil reign. Years of conflict, years of pain. The demon lord's dominating reign over the world of Enatis has ended with one final blast.
The hero shot her attack, a powerful inferno directed solely towards one person. Its heat can be felt from anywhere that can witness its glow, illuminating the sky. It sends our villain flying off, and should be more than enough for a killing blow.
...Yet that's not what happened at all.
Instead, on the brink of death in a field on fire, the demon lord refused to die. Despite the damage surrounding her, she wasn't going to stay laying down here. She was more than willing to fight, even if her body certainly wasn't. In fact, she would've walked right back and taken on the hero once more if it weren't for two things.
One, she was blown very far away. The impact of her landing caused a great crater that destroyed about half an acre of land. The second is that her loyal servant arrived, preventing her from throwing her life away.
"Please my lady." She said. "We cannot afford to just attack when we are at our weakest." As much as it pained the demon lord, she knew that a tactical retreat was their only option. However, everyone in the land was aware of what they looked like. Blending in would be near impossible, unless they were in a world where their legacy was unknown.
Fortunately, the demon lord known as Pluto would have the ability to create such a situation. A spell she learned from her army's greatest witch, it took the remainder of her strength to open up the portal needed. If she had more power, as well as more time, she would've been able to ascertain where this would lead the two.
However, the screams of a man filled her ears. It was clear that this place wasn't as out of the way as she would've liked. Angry people wanting to end her life would soon be upon them. Thus there was little choice but to jump in before it was too late.
Pluto and her sworn retainer took their leap of faith, and found themselves in free fall through the portal's tunnel-like world. Or rather, the world between worlds. A serene place, where little could be heard. Where one could simply look at the blue hue of the only stuff to look at. Which would be the apparent tunnel walls. But this peacefulness wouldn't last, as her power was weak when creating it. The structure began to distort and threatened to end their own lives before they had the chance to begin a new one. Fortunately for them, their trip was a short one, and they fell to the hard... Pavement?
Gingerly, Pluto put herself up back onto her feet. She served the surroundings. This world that they had found themselves was nothing they could've ever imagined. This land was hard, but not with dirt or rocks. Instead, it was solid yet gray.
As a test, she snapped her fingers and attempted to create a spell. Yet very little dark energy emerged from her hands. It was clear that she brought them to a world where magic was either in short supply, or didn't exist. Already their plan had hit a snag. She was planning on bring her and her retainer to a world where magic could be used. But she didn't have enough time to search out a source before they were forced to pick the first place available. Admittedly, whether there were worlds that had magic like her own, was still up for debate. For all they knew, Enatis was the only location with such power.
As of now, they had yet to be spotted by anyone from this place. That meant it was time to take advantage of this, and take the time to learn of the ways of this world.
***
Interesting... It seemed that most people in this world don't base their lives around agriculture. Not only that, but where they landed was known as a country called 'Japan'. For Pluto, that sounded like an outrageous notion. Why have country lines, when one could go out and conquer the world?
World domination aside, it also seemed that they needed a more permanent place to live in. Staying at an inn was only going to do them good for a couple days at best. After all, they don't have money, and magic is in short supply. Of course, being individuals with less than stellar morals. Stealing a few bucks here and there was enough at the moment.
But if they really wanted to sustain themselves, then at least one of them would need to find a job. Though without any proper past, what could they do to get accepted? Sure, they had found a way to procure paperwork to identify themselves within the country. Complete with names that fit the area, so as not to arise any suspicion.
Thus, Pluto became 'Rame Maou'. Because apparently having your family name literally mean devil when one was a demon lord was just too much of a temptation. And her retainer, formally known as Arae, became 'Mifuru Miyagi'. A much more subtle name compared to that of her master.
Names aside, it wasn't as if they could easily waltz into any workplace and get hired. Most of her skills were useless in this world called Earth. Seeing as magic seemed to not exist, something that they were going to have to rectify if they wished to not only return back home. But also to satisfy Rame's desire of revenge to the hero that nearly destroyed her. She knew she needed to get stronger, and one cannot get stronger if they don't even spend a second practicing.
But where could either of them find work? There had to be places that required little to no experience looking for employees. Or perhaps, as she would find while heading out on a search, a place desperate to find a new worker.
"Help Wanted..." She read out the sign in front of the convenience store near the building that she called home. A place that was not easy to procure the ownership of. Sure, it wasn't all that great of a building. Small, run-down, and in a place far from the bustle of the city. There were plenty of marks on it, that gave reason for its low cost. But one can only pickpocket so much, and it certainly couldn't be enough to put on a down payment or even pay rent.
Thankfully, the landlord seemed to be a nice person. He allowed them to live there and delay the next two months payments. Though, that act of kindness seemed a little too good to be true. He seemed to be a relatively old man, one whose best days with the ladies would most likely be past him. Could this be debt to force her to give him a 'favor'? Or maybe he has ties to criminals organizations? If they didn't pay up, then the Yakuza may come knocking on their door demanding the money, or else. Either way, with a job that hopefully won't be an issue.
And now it was staring her right in the face. Walking into the store, she saw a man running the register. He was notably older than this apparently human body she gained when coming here. At least ten years older.
"Hello?" She said to him while entering. "I'm here for the sign?"
"Finally, someone who wants to work here." He said. As it turned out, he was the manager of the night shift. Another thing that Rame wanted that seemed to be in short supply. The time in which she worked was would have to be more during the night. It's not as if sunlight hurts her like a vampire. It was more that she felt the little magic she still had was weakened during the day. So the girl came to the conclusion that it was best to be active during her best.
"So, what is expected of me?" She asked, while he interviewed her for the job.
"Honestly, as long as you can make the hours, I'll hire you." That was easy for her. These times were perfect for what she was looking for.
"I can do that." She answered with a smile. It was something that she picked up, as people seem to enjoy when you look happy. That certainly made it easier for her to get acclimated to this strange land.
"That's great." He shook her hand, the job was now hers. "Oh, I hope you don't take this the wrong way. It's not for me, but I was wondering what you're thoughts on dating coworkers was."
"Dating?" She didn't understand what he meant by that. "I don't think I'm that good at guessing people's ages."
"Huh?" That made him wonder just how naive a girl could be. "Um, how old are you?" There's no way she was even of teenage years if she didn't know what he was talking about.
"20?" She wasn't actually sure how old this body actually was. It seemed the same as her demon form, but was lacking some of the more notable features of being nonhuman. Like her horn, that was her favorite. Either way, she used the age that she was as the demon lord. It appeared to be the most accurate compared to the humans that she did see.
"Okay..." According to her identification, that was what it said. "Never mind, forget I even asked." He simply just chalked it up to her being her way to say she wasn't interested. Though he took hope that she might change her mind when she met Juuto, the soon-to-be new manager of this store.
***
And thus, we now return to the story at the present time. The story of how the devil took a job at an 8-Twelve convenience store. The first and last step on her path for revenge. For she was to find something new she'd want to pursue in life.
Too bad it wasn't going to be the most noble of things to want to desire.