A cold, white droplet slowly falls from the sky.

I can see an intricate design as I look closer and then it’s gone. Gone with the time, gone as if it were never there.

The fragility of life has never been clearer.

One second, you’re fighting the hero, destined for victory as if it’s the moment you were made for, and the next minute you’re here.

Seriously, what is this place?

I’ve lost count of the days since I was reincarnated to this wretched place, devoid of all power and all sense of purpose.

I am supposed to kill that filthy vampire, but in a world as neurotypical as this, does he even exist here?

Every day I search, every day I look for some hint of murders, of gruesome blood-sucking catastrophes; yet all I see is this sickening bliss.

I feel as if I am the only one around this place with a disposition of contempt; there are songs in the streets, presents on display, yet I feel like an outsider more than ever.

Where do I fit in with such happiness? Where could I possibly belong here?

There’s no time to think like that, I didn’t become the most formidable demon by sitting and wallowing in what I don’t have and how different I am from everyone else.

I want to end them all, I want to end all of this.

That pesky vampire becoming the hero of this world? He is as much of a leech on society as any villain I know, what a joke.

Rage fuels up from the depths of my heart as I think back to the last hero I faced, blinding the world with his ideals when he didn’t realise, he was doing more damage to the world than good.

Life’s biggest problems cannot be fixed with simple solutions, no amount of ideology or speeches will save the ones who are vulnerable.

The idea of a blanket “hero” for a world is ludicrous, we all suffer from different issues – how is one person supposed to save us all from it; they can’t.

I hate them and their dumb mentality. No wonder Death wants me to get rid of him; this time I won’t fail.

I will kill you, Hiro the hero.

I just arrived on this world, and no doubt he has some resourceful connections that run deep here, not to mention unfathomable power.

I have decided I need to network and build up an empire of my own, an empire befitting a demon lord, in order to free this world.

Not to mention, the world is massive, and I have no idea where the hero could be. He might not even be on this continent; I need to get a very informed network of spies in order to make it in this world.

The only trouble is that I have no idea of how to gain power here, everything is foreign. All I know now is that I need to get my skills back; for some reason the system has completely shut itself off here.

I know there is something I must be missing though; the system exists in all worlds. If Death, who is the result of the system itself, has the power to send me here then there is just something to the system that runs in this world that I am not understanding.

I feel a sudden, yet soft, tug on my sleeve.

“Miss, why do you look so grumpy – it’s Christmas! If you’ve been good this year, you will get all sorts of presents.”

I look to my side, there is a girl about a head shorter than me looking up into my eyes in amazement.

Presents for being good, huh? There’s more of this idealistic nonsense.

“And who decides if I’ve been good, little one?”

It feels nice to be able to play the “little one” card every once in a while, not because I’m short or anything - I’m actually perfectly average amongst vertically challenged individuals!

The girl tilts her head in confusion; it’s actually kind of cute, her short brown locks match her soft and pudgy face. I wonder what I look like to her.

“I guess, Santa? Or your parents really.”

Santa? Is that a little like Satan?

“Santa?”

The girl smiles: her two front teeth have recently fallen out so her grin is in this comfy zone between horrifying and horrifyingly cute.

“Santa is the best, he’s like big and all red – he flies around the world and gives people presents!”

That’s a description of Satan if I’ve ever heard one. But what was that? Presents? Like powers? Does the demon above demon lords really come and visit people to bestow them his powers?

It all makes sense now.

That is why I haven’t detected the system; I am without power. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for – to meet that which can give me what I need to defeat the hero.

The girl stands on the tips of her toes so she can get closer to me.

“Do you want to know a secret?”

I bend down a little to hear the girl’s whisper a little better.

“I think my parents are actually Santa.”