Provoking the Pride

Leisurely lying down on the roof of one of the many houses that littered the area, Noheme pondered. Since when exactly did her life become this uneventful and boring? She had far too much free time for the type of person she was. And yet, the world had entered a fairly peaceful era after the whole incident involving another kingdom and Infinity Clock. Even a monster army approaching from the Fat Monsterland was stopped and eventually also completely eradicated. Wiped off the face of Earthland, she could no longer even toy with them even if she wanted and that was truly something saddening.

It was like the Universe decided to start taking away one toy after another from the Joyan female. Why was it so? She could only ponder, as there was no one who would give her answers. At least not an accurate one. There was probably plenty of individuals that would give her some sarcastic ones that she did not exactly wish to hear. With a sigh, she would lay her head down on one of her nine tails, having it act as a fluffy pillow which allowed her to freely gaze up at the skies. They were blue and with only very few thin clouds soaring across it, ones that would soon tear apart into complete nothingness.

Her vixen ears twitched few times with few seconds in between each motion. Despite the peaceful nature this place and moment seemed to bring, there was an awful lot of noise right now. She knew that the Hunting Village could get rather busy at times, but this was something else entirely. Well, not that it was her business. She had no ties to this place and found the effort of getting up from her lying down position to not be quite worth it. After all, it wasn’t like there was a cute girl waiting for her on the ground or something. No, instead she just scratched the back of her head and continued on with her doing absolutely nothing. Though in a moment of such relaxation, she allowed some of her rather overwhelming magic to leak out and be detected by any nearby mages.

Normally, it would not have been possible for her magical energy to be released like that. The reason why almost no one could feel it in the first place was that the vixen has managed to ascend past what was often thought possible. That was the power of those labeled as H-rank. Well, it was only natural for her to reach such a level of power in such a short amount of time. She was a goddess after all. And it was perfectly fitting one such as her to stand at the top of society, the one summit that was towering above it all. That said, she didn’t use this to her advantage all that much.

Perhaps she just grew lazy after she reached what appeared to be the peak of her power. Back then, she would often go on different missions in different lands, often also accompanied by someone else. She had saved this world more times than she could count. And at some point, it all just kinda stopped. She no longer had anywhere to reach. And that was it. She had not seen anyone she was with back then for the longest time, even Cirven. And in the end, she settled down for the role of a watched that would try to ensure that the new generation would grow strong from the shadows.

Blah, what cesspool of nonsense that is. For a while, she actually convinced herself that she had a goal like that indeed. But it was all lies. The moon goddess could not care any less about this world and its people. All she ever cared about was herself and her own realm. But the world she ruled had fallen apart at some point or another, most likely due to Lilith’s fault. Oh, how she hated that Miracle demon. And there still wasn’t a good chance to have a revenge on him either. All of that combined resulted in her physical form lying right here, on this roof. Doing absolutely nothing.

With a yawn, her ears twitched once more. There was a noise as if someone was trying to reach the rooftop she was on. Lazily, her eyes would roll to the side as another form leaped up indeed. A hooded figure, to be precise. But one that did not hesitate in showing who was really hidden beneath the cloak. To Noheme’s surprise, a rather pretty maiden with perfectly white hair. “Oho?” Well, this was unusual. When she came to this place, another girl approaching her was about the last thing she expected. This was quite pleasant nevertheless.

A question was asked and instead of replying in words, the vixen would slowly get up from her lying position to standing on both of her feet firmly, her figure appearing much greater than any human due to the volume that all nine tails swaying behind her body added. In her hand appeared a small fan that she opened and position in front of her face, her grin now hidden and only the emerald green eyes staring back, piercing the other female intensely. For the simple sake of entertaining herself, she allowed the situation to continue few more seconds without making a single sound.

And then, in an instant, she was no longer there. Instead, she stood well inside of the girl’s personal space. Abilities that allowed for instant transition were her favorite in these kinds of situations. Her tails were surrounding the hooded figure from all sides, as they extended far and allowed no room for escape. And the hand which was free of holding anything cupped this new female’s chin. “My, my~. Don’t you know that you should introduce yourself first before asking others who or what they are? It’s a common courtesy~.”

This was the sort of fun Noheme liked to have. Teasing others, making them feel hopeless or empowered based on her actions. Making little puppets of the mortals and being entertained by their reactions. But if there was any comfort for the other woman, it was the fact that no more magical energy could be sensed anymore. With an activation of a spell, the fox girl entered a charged state and her abilities turned on again. That meant her overall magical power became so strong, regular beings could no longer feel it. Only those on the same plain of existence as the goddess herself could.