Fantasy M.A.O.U.

[That Lass Over There]

A lone young woman walked through the woods, unfocused black eyes resting on the curving path ahead. Her head swayed lightly side to side, following a tune only she could 'hear' - one of the only forms of entertainment afforded to them on this months long journey. It was hard for her to believe, but she had begun to miss even the grumbling of the dwarf that had made their first trip feel so dour. Unfortunately, this was a solo mission this time, their party disbanded to each do what they did best.

A large fallen branch in the middle of the path reminded her that this was hardly a well-maintained road, the butt of the polearm resting on her shoulder flicking up to shatter the obstruction before she continued on her way.



"It's strange, though." She said as she observed the scattered debris of her meaningless act of destruction, and after a moment the tune in her head stopped.

... You said something? The foreign thought appeared in her mind in a similar style as the subtle tune before, a strange sensation as always yet unmistakably familiar.

"I want to hear something other than forest noises." She said to her empty surroundings, kicking a pebble with her boot.

Oh. I'm a bit far away for conversation, should I start coming over?

"It's alright, I'll just 'talk to myself'."

__


"But it's strange, isn't it? They only sent us two to take on the new Maou, even though we went as an entire group before."

The others are busy.

"With things more important than taking out the enemy leader? And nobody could substitute for them?" Her pointed remark hung in the air, but no thoughts came to her in response. Her conversation partner apparently had nothing to counter that point with. "Whatever, we're almost there. Let's get ready."



In little time the forest path had given way to an open space before an imposing cliff, handmade walls jutting out from underneath the sheer rock face. Besides looking a bit worse for wear after experiencing what was likely over five years of neglect, the structure looked the same as it had seven years ago when they had been here then as a group. Nervous, nearly spent after over a year of evading and eliminating enemy patrols to sneak to this point, and far out of their league - it was quite different to the appearance of now, where a lone woman stood at the door. She could remember kicking this down to encourage her party with a bit of recklessness, but now she stared closely at a note scribbled and pinned to the replacements of rough craft.

'The door is unlocked. Please, kindly use it like a normal person.'

Pfft.

She ignored the laughter imprinted in her mind as she abided by the request, surprised to find that the door was indeed unlocked - and, for that matter, seemingly untrapped. Perhaps the note was more general, rather than left in expectation of them. It wouldn't make sense if they knew to expect intruders and hadn't taken all possible countermeasures, after all... Though that did beg what sorts were coming to this place that needed such a notice.

__


"... Isn't this too easy?" With nary a trap or big, burly guard in sight she couldn't help but speak the words aloud in disbelief. Even compared to last time where the previous Maou had arrogantly left themselves wide open to ensure a dramatic clash with the party of heroes that had come to challenge them, this was terribly easy without even the illusion of resistance being put up. The only signs of life at all were the distinct lack of dust in the halls and the occasional glimpse out the corner of her eye of a disappearing silhouette.

Another one peeking around the corner, 7 o'clock. She turned around to the detailed point and gestured to the demon girl in a maid outfit to shoo away before continuing down the halls.

All of them seem to be non-combatants. Are we sure the new Maou lives here? Sending her doubts into the void, she couldn't help but impatiently tap the shaft of her polearm against her shoulder at the thought that they had come knocking on the wrong door.

Intel said enemy higher-ups were reporting here at relatively high frequencies, there's not much else in way of explanation. If they're not here, we only intended to do recon today anyways.



The minutes passed by like so as she went deeper into the fortress, eventually coming upon a familiar set of doors at the end of an ostentatiously decorated carpet. It was behind these doors that their 'fight' with the first Maou had been won, cementing their title as heroes. For various reasons, it wasn't a time she looked back upon fondly - not in the least due to the naive expectation of peace that had been shattered. Rather than end the brutal fighting, the loss of the enemy leader only escalated the conflict and influenced a change in who was 'winning'.

Ready.

With that confirmation received, she pushed open the doors to take a look at this new 'Maou' that the demons had found for themselves.

Aron the Aron

 

[Aron the Aron]

​

---

If there was one thing that was absolutely necessary for all Maou worth their salt, it was an opulent throne room to put anybody else to shame. If that was the metric through which all rulers were measured by, then it was safe to say that the previous Maou was in a League of their own. And by that extension, it spoke volumes of the new occupant lazily reclining in it's spacious seat, her feet propped up over an armrest like she was on a humble beach chair rather than a majestic throne befitting her title.

This was the sad situation of the new resident, owner, and Maou of the old Citadel, who had lost track of time waiting on that damned cushionless marble slab she had to call a throne. This whole thing wasn't even her idea, and yet she couldn't really say that anybody else inside the decrepit old Citadel was fit to sit on their tush and look menacing (or 'badass', as she would prefer to say) like she could. It wasn't her fault that maid dresses didn't make for very intimidating outfits!

CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!

Ah, the door was being thrown open (Good thing; that meant the maid staff weren't going to need to replace more doors)! How long had it been since she told everybody else to hide? Two hours, maybe three? Whatever! The Hero that slew the last Maou (details were still pending on why the late Maou was only found with a broken neck later...) had just pushed aside the grand double doors; her raven-like hair swishing about behind her as she made the slow approach to her quarry...

"Aaahhhh, here at last I see!"

... Okay, so maybe there was something in some "Maou Playbook" that said not to sound like she that had just woken up from a nap, but who was she to care about that? She was the strongest living creature as far as she and the world were concerned; rules only applied to people who weren't strong enough to break them!

And since there was absolutely nothing to be worried about, she didn't feel all the need to rush as she stretched like a common housecat.

"MMMMmmmmmmMMmM! Ah~~ Feels good to stretch my legs!" Swinging herself off the throne, the new Maou cleared her throat as she fetched and threw an oversized cleaver over her shoulder.

---

... This new Maou barely wore clothes.

It was hardly intuition that told the Heroine that the new Maou was definitely not human, not unless sporting an ashen complexion and wholly inhuman traits like horns and a massive reptilian tail counted as "human". She certainly wasn't lacking in beauty however, what with a body that could be easily mistaken for sculpted artwork, and the grandeur pieces of plate girding the woman's arms and legs.

She... didn't look like the same Demons she had dealt with before. She certainly didn't resemble the last Maou; them and the one hefting a gigantic greatsword couldn't be further different from each other.

Spoiler

"HERO! I AM THE AZURE DRAGON RHI'A; SUCCESSOR OF THE LATE MAOU- yadda yadda yadda; let's cut to the fun part eh!?"

... wat?

 

[That Lass Over There]

If she were in any other position for this mildly ludicrous scene, she could almost imagine herself laughing. A more than half-nude woman proclaiming herself one of the strongest known dragons? She couldn't hear what was said after - an oppressive shockwave wiped out all noise as the form of an arrow visible only for a split second... bounced off the woman's eye.

From the moment she had opened the door and stepped into the room, her blood had ran cold and her shirt clung uncomfortably to her back, but at that sight she really regretted getting out of the sleeping bag in the morning. By all expectations, there should be a gaping hole where the self-proclaimed dragon's head is, or at least a wounded right eye, yet she stood completely unharmed.



Hedda!

The near immediate follow-up arrow appeared out of thin air and bounced off the underside of the dragon woman's chin, leaving not even a scratch. Absolutely ridiculous; there was no other set of words to describe watching the impossible scene not once but twice. The corners of Hedda's lips twitched up in nervous reaction, her eyes darting around the room but never leaving the lady in front for long.

What are you standing there for?!

Well, yeah, obviously I want to run too, she wanted to complain to her partner, but she refused to send any telepathic communication for fear of any sort of tracing. It didn't seem like the purview of the woman in front, but who could say she didn't have some sort of subordinate nearby capable of such trickery? She wasn't risking her sister like that again.



It'd been two seconds since the new Maou had cut her own introduction short, but it felt like minutes with how Hedda's mind raced. She forcibly pushed the flood of worried thoughts to the side, her panicked partner of no help in these valuable moments. It was always her job to think rationally when they were at their worst.

Going over the details of their journey, the Maou standing in front of them, and the complete lack of resistance they had faced on their way here - abnormal even for the shambles that the demon races had been reduced to in the last several years - her mind tried to assemble some sort of workable picture, starting with the suspicions she had already had about this affair from the get-go.



And, after all sorts of desperate thought trying her best not to end up as laughable as the Maou they had fought seven years ago, she came up with an answer. "... We're, uh, here for the interview. Heard- heard you were short staffed?"

 

[Aron the Aron]

If she were in any other position for this mildly ludicrous scene, she could almost imagine herself laughing. A more than half-nude woman proclaiming herself one of the strongest known dragons? She couldn't hear what was said after - an oppressive shockwave wiped out all noise as the form of an arrow visible only for a split second... bounced off the woman's eye.

From the moment she had opened the door and stepped into the room, her blood had ran cold and her shirt clung uncomfortably to her back, but at that sight she really regretted getting out of the sleeping bag in the morning. By all expectations, there should be a gaping hole where the self-proclaimed dragon's head is, or at least a wounded right eye, yet she stood completely unharmed.

The first arrow that rudely cut Rhi'a off had done little save leave a vague tickling sensation in her eye, not even leaving behind a faint scratch on the soft portion of flesh that most in life would consider a glaring weak point in even the toughest of monsters.

Well... That consideration failed to consider examples of might made manifest like Rhi'a.

Hedda!

The near immediate follow-up arrow appeared out of thin air and bounced off the underside of the dragon woman's chin, leaving not even a scratch. Absolutely ridiculous; there was no other set of words to describe watching the impossible scene not once but twice. The corners of Hedda's lips twitched up in nervous reaction, her eyes darting around the room but never leaving the lady in front for long.

The second rude arrow flung from... somewhere, harmlessly bounced off the mighty Dragon's chin and firmly lodged itself between the soft mounds of her bust before dissipating into nothing like the first arrow. Rhi'a had to at least give some measure of credit for the plan; had she been a lesser Maou she likely would've died instantly to the potency behind such attacks!

Alas, Rhi'a was most certainly not one such lesser creature; it would take far greater forces to entertain the thought of wounding the Azure Dragon, and so far she had been left severely wanting.

After all sorts of desperate thought trying her best not to end up as laughable as the Maou they had fought seven years ago, she came up with an answer. "... We're, uh, here for the interview. Heard- heard you were short staffed?"

"... Ah! You're here because of new the job openings right!? I knew someone would take us up on that; I told them that it'd work!" Rhi'a had done a complete 180 in demeanor the moment Hedda brought up an 'interview', the toothy and challenging grin on her face morphing into one that felt more... carefree for lack of a better word.

"Well! No need to fling little insignificant arrows at me to do just that then! Come on, come on! I'll have the maids set up a room where we can have that interview right now!" Relaxing the grip she had on her cleaver, Rhi'a looked... somewhere in particular, raising her offhand and giving a light wave before returning her gaze to Hedda. Were more of those monster maids watching from somewhere hidden?

"This throne room is far too depressing for my tastes, but eh: what can you do about it? This whole thing was the last guy's idea."

 

[That Lass Over There]

On a small cliff overlooking a sea of trees stretching to the horizon, a girl in a black dress stood holding a metallic red shortbow, arrow on the lax string while she watched a distant scene with closed eyes. Twice, her arrows had bounced off the flesh of the enemy with no apparent effort put into defense, and her frustration and panic only grew with her sister refusing to move.

Why wouldn't Hedda run? Obviously, this wasn't an enemy they could fight. Hedda would die. Hedda always depended on her to provide the killing blow - if she couldn't even do that, she was useless. And Hedda, clever girl, wouldn't tell her what was going on, what she was thinking, making her panic even more. Without a plan, the situation was looking terrible, and her sister's life was on the line.

Hedda! Come on, answer me! What do we do? Why aren't you running?!



Her worries and panic grew progressively worse with the radio silence, and she had dismal thoughts about whether Hedda had already deemed herself 'lost'. Then, it would make sense, that girl was always overthinking things, and was the one who had forced her to agree to that terrible pact in the first place -

Her thoughts were cut off by hearing Hedda's voice as if it were own, speaking with a stumble a sentence too ridiculous to be jest. An interview? With the demons? For what, even?

"... Ah! You're here because of new the job openings right!? I knew someone would take us up on that; I told them that it'd work!" Rhi'a had done a complete 180 in demeanor the moment Hedda brought up an 'interview', the toothy and challenging grin on her face morphing into one that felt more... carefree for lack of a better word.

... She didn't trust it. One bit. The demon smelled of insincerity, and moreover, her sister's life was in the balance. She couldn't believe such a whimsical mood had overtaken the Maou to accept Hedda's nonsense and spare her. Keeping alert, she pulled the string of her bow taut as her turbulent thoughts, ready to let loose at a moment's opportunity.

"Well! No need to fling little insignificant arrows at me to do just that then!"

And, with that, her string snapped after being pulled too much.

She eased her pull on the bow's string before pulling the normal seeming arrow off, letting it go to fade as particles in the wind before reaching behind herself to a quiver with only five arrows inside. These arrows were different from the construct she had just dismissed, handcrafted with distinctive appearance. Black, long, metallic shaft, brown and white mottled feathers for the fletching, and a razor-sharp silver edge that dropped straight to the ground as she pulled the head free of the quiver.

With some effort she pulled the heavy arrow up to be knocked on the string, closed her eyes, shifted her posture, and pulled as hard as she could. In a smooth motion belying the effort and strength used, she stretched the shortbow past its normal draw, the arms bending back dramatically as the arrowhead almost fell off the handle. Her legs spread apart to accommodate the strain. At the moment she reached the apex of her draw, all pretense of stealth was dropped and the ambient mana of the surrounding forest was sucked into a vortex centered on the girl.

And then, she released it.

__

"... Ah! You're here because of new the job openings right!? I knew someone would take us up on that; I told them that it'd work!" Rhi'a had done a complete 180 in demeanor the moment Hedda brought up an 'interview', the toothy and challenging grin on her face morphing into one that felt more... carefree for lack of a better word.

"Well! No need to fling little insignificant arrows at me to do just that then! Come on, come on! I'll have the maids set up a room where we can have that interview right now!" Relaxing the grip she had on her cleaver, Rhi'a looked... somewhere in particular, raising her offhand and giving a light wave before returning her gaze to Hedda. Were more of those monster maids watching from somewhere hidden?

"This throne room is far too depressing for my tastes, but eh: what can you do about it? This whole thing was the last guy's idea."

Hedda couldn't believe it; whether she had actually pressed a button, or simply tickled this monster's funny bone, it seemed like she got to live a few more minutes. That, at least, was a turn of good news. "Aha, the arrows? My sister, well, she wasn't confident about her resume speaking for herself, so she wanted to demonstrate one of her many skills for our new employer-" Smiling nervously and keeping this uncertain facade going for as long as she could to figure out what on earth she could do, she joked alongside the dragon woman, not thinking too hard on the words she spoke with such a light tone.

At least, that's what she was doing, until her keen sense for magical power tipped her off to a massive disturbance off in the distance, something akin to what she and her sister had learned about in stories and only seen the aftermath of: a dragon's breath. Her face went deathly pale as she instantly tossed up every barrier to protect herself that she could, hitting the ground with her hands covering her head.


KAZIA, WHAT THE FUCK?! Abandoning the idea of not giving her sister away when she had already so brazenly lit a beacon at her location tens of miles away, Hedda voiced her ineloquent complaint.


The first second, nothing.

The second moment, still silence.

The third second, some stirring outside as the demons seemed to be getting a gut feeling that something was wrong

The fourth second, a light illuminated the room, having punched far through the structure out-speeding the sound and debris of its violence, arriving in front of the Maou with cracks spiderwebbing the black shaft as it started to shatter into brutal fragmentation -



"... Huh?" Some debris and a hole leading straight outside aside, there was no trace of the wanton force of destruction that should have at the very least collapsed this room and the cliff above in on itself. "... I'm still alive?"

 

[Aron the Aron]

A light illuminated the room, having punched far through the structure out-speeding the sound and debris of its violence, arriving in front of the Maou with cracks spiderwebbing the black shaft as it started to shatter into brutal fragmentation -

"... Huh?" Some debris and a hole leading straight outside aside, there was no trace of the wanton force of destruction that should have at the very least collapsed this room and the cliff above in on itself. "... I'm still alive?"

All things considered: it probably wasn't much of a surprise that things didn't go to plan for Kazia.

When the destructive projectile pierced through an entire old fortress' worth of walls and furniture, the strength behind it was more than enough to level the building once it hit its intended target. Sadly for the shooter: her target was more than a match for the challenge; Dragons were legendary for their physical prowess and near-invulnerability, and for somebody like Rhi'a... well...

The arrow worming its way into her mouth and stopping dead in its tracks before it could tickle the back of her throat and trigger her gag reflex probably wasn't what Kazia intended.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... *CRUNCH*"

... Okay so maybe biting down on an arrow that was meant to replace her head with a crater wasn't the smartest idea, but Rhi'a was the kind of person who could afford to do dumb things and get away with it.

"... *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH*. Hm; bit too salty for my liking... *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH*"

With the WMD safely disarmed courtesy of one Maou's mouth and limitless defenses, the entirety of her castle could breathe a collective sigh of relief at their averted annihilation, and two Heroines could now properly process the fact that one of their stronger attacks had been bluntly shut down by a person who looked like she didn't even try.

 

[That Lass Over There]

Thankfully, she didn't hit her head on a rock when she fell.

Splayed out on the ground, her limbs uncomfortably folded and angled like a ragdoll carelessly dropped to the floor, Kazia watched the dragon chewing her ultimate attack with a constantly shifting expression. Frustration, despair, and a weak cackling laughter washed through her as she came to terms with what she was seeing - that was the strongest firepower she could bring to bear, short a negligible amount for the dedication she had shown in trying to stick to the idea of not killing the non-combat personnel in the castle.

And, as if a joke, it was being chewed. Like a snack. Seriously, how insulting was that?

And yet, her silly brain could only focus on a single detail while parsing the absurdity they had encountered today - She didn't ignore that one.

__


Hedda stood up and looked between the surprisingly small hole up in the wall with the blue sky visible beyond, and the Maou complaining about the poor flavor of something clearly not meant to be edible in the first place. Even if she had already gotten a feeling in her gut about the power disparity between them and this dragon woman, seeing such blatant proof of the impossibly large gap made her twitch.

... So was that worth almost killing everyone here, you bonehead?

I made sure the fragmentation was a small cone spread for that one.

The building would have collapsed! Hedda's complaint went ignored this time, Kazia having something much more important on her mind.

Can you ask her something for me?

The exchange of thoughts happened in less than a moment, leaving Hedda with a stunned look as she considered what she had been asked to say. Feeling like the messenger between two lunatics, Hedda turned fully to Rhi'a and passed the message on as she always did for Kazia, "... Um. My sister wants to know if that was 'insignificant'... and if that suffices for a demonstration of her skills..."

"And, uh, she also wants to know if she can start tomorrow..." With her joking bid at preserving her life for even a few more minutes having somehow evolved into a bit that the other two seemed way more into than the person who started it, Hedda couldn't help but feel like they might be pushing their luck too far. It was already strange that the Maou had been so whimsical as to humor her in the first place, and now Kazia had put extra strain on the situation by continuing her attempts at harm for no clear reason.

And now, her sister wants to spin it under her half-assed justification of the earlier arrows that did just about as much as the latest one?

 

[Aron the Aron]

"... Um. My sister wants to know if that was 'insignificant'... and if that suffices for a demonstration of her skills... And, uh, she also wants to know if she can start tomorrow..."

"*CRUNCH* Honestly? *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH* I've seen worse and done better." The loud noises of Dragon teeth grinding the arrow down into dust finally began to die down as the last bits were consumed by Rhi'a and her appetite for the most inedible of objects. "I'll give you some slack though; not much in this universe can really do much to Dragons such as I!" With Kazia's distraction over and done with, Rhi'a skipped down the steps of her throne, eager to leave the admittedly dark and depressing atmosphere of her throne room. She'd need to renovate it later once she had the time, but more important matters awaited!

"And why not start right now? We can get the tour of the citadel out of the way and show you all the important bits all in the same day!" The grand double doors of the throneroom were of no issue to the almighty Rhi'a, who pushed both aside with a casual push before ushering Hedda hither with a hand. "Plus, I get to introduce you to the rest of the maidstaff in the process; they'll be excited to see new faces around here!"

...

"Also since your sister can obviously listen in on us, tell her that I give the arrow a solid 6/10; it needs a bit less salt next time!"

 

[That Lass Over There]

"*CRUNCH* Honestly? *CRUNCH* *CRUNCH* I've seen worse and done better." The loud noises of Dragon teeth grinding the arrow down into dust finally began to die down as the last bits were consumed by Rhi'a and her appetite for the most inedible of objects. "I'll give you some slack though; not much in this universe can really do much to Dragons such as I!" With Kazia's distraction over and done with, Rhi'a skipped down the steps of her throne, eager to leave the admittedly dark and depressing atmosphere of her throne room. She'd need to renovate it later once she had the time, but more important matters awaited!

"And why not start right now? We can get the tour of the citadel out of the way and show you all the important bits all in the same day!" The grand double doors of the throneroom were of no issue to the almighty Rhi'a, who pushed both aside with a casual push before ushering Hedda hither with a hand. "Plus, I get to introduce you to the rest of the maidstaff in the process; they'll be excited to see new faces around here!"

...

"Also since your sister can obviously listen in on us, tell her that I give the arrow a solid 6/10; it needs a bit less salt next time!"

Hedda winced with the loud crunching now prevalent to her ears, barely able to concentrate on Rhi'a's words with the unpleasant chewing of metal shards drowning out her words between. It hadn't been so bad when she was still recovering from the shock of the missile blasting into the room with impossibly high power, but now it was about as grating as it sounded to be painful on the teeth.

The 'slack' given by the dragon was cold comfort to Hedda who was still coming to terms with the fact that her sister's strongest attack to-date had been eaten. All things considered, though, the young woman dealt with it well as she refused to stand gape-mouthed taking whatever luck had spared her life this day for granted. She focused on the likely intended to be rhetorical question instead, responding to Rhi'a while uncertainly following her beckons. "Well- she's, um, currently immobile? Like, I should probably run and grab her, come back tomorrow when she can move."



Hedda, only after saying it out loud, realized that it sounded like a poorly thought-out attempt to run away from the big scary dragon beside her. Which, as she looked around to confirm that she wasn't being led into some sort of sadistic death trap, didn't sound entirely unattractive as an option... But she really doubted the validity of getting away free just like that, especially after making an attempt on the dragon's life - fruitless as it was.

She wasn't sure how to prove that they weren't going to try and use the chance to escape though, so she could only hope that she'd be given permission to go and make sure her sister was safe before the local disturbance firing off such a spell makes fades away and some animal gets the genius idea to make a snack out of the limp girl laying on the ground in some random neck of the woods.



While Kazia and Rhi'a started exchanging words in a most unexpectedly peaceful manner, a short back-and-forth occurred in the heads of the twins.

No, I'm not flipping her off.

I haven't even asked yet-

I don't want to die, do it yourself later you idiot.