|| -- Chapter 1 -- ||
Veranda, the Goddess of Time and Space, was bored.
She sat on a large marble throne, surrounded by endless stars and forgotten galaxies. Her throne rested upon an enormous mountain known as the Celestial Summit. Countless twinkling stars and nebulae lit up the navy blue sky around it, creating an unparalleled vista that could make a titan breathless. However, such sights no longer held her interest.
"This sucks... I'm so bored," Veranda said to herself, and she leaned on her hand, sighing. "Isn't there something fun to do?"
She turned her gaze toward her surroundings, eyeing the caldera around her throne, but there was nothing but loose boulders and craggy rocks. Despite the prestigious location of her domain, it had few visitors and even fewer sources of entertainment.
"Perhaps I should destroy this universe and rebuild it from scratch..." she mused aloud.
If she turned back time far enough, she could erase all of existence and restart the multiverse from the very beginning. It would kill all the mortal inhabitants, but a fresh start sounded like fun. She could go for a different aesthetic with the Celestial Summit, too. Instead of the eternal night sky, she could go for something more vibrant and less drab.
"Who am I kidding..." Veranda said to herself. "I've already done that a few thousand times, and it always ends up the same way. This boredom never ends!"
She felt like she would go crazy from how tiresome her existence had become, but just before she reverted the multiverse back to a seed, a voice called out to her.
"I hope I'm not intruding..." A portal opened in front of her throne, and a small imp hopped out. The imp looked around the Celestial Summit and whistled appreciatively. "What an interesting place this is."
"Hm? Oh, an imp..." Veranda scowled at the sight.
Imps were pesky creatures. From a blessing of the trickster god, Eris, imps had an annoying magic unique to their race. They could slip between spaces, worlds, and (occasionally) into the Celestial Summit. Every few centuries, she had to chase off some of the more adventurous imps that came crawling in.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the imp lowered her head and gave a flamboyant bow in front of Veranda. "My name is Trixie. I'm a new imp that wishes to pay her respects to the all-powerful Goddess of Time."
"I don't care what your name is; just get going. A lowly demon is of no interest to me." Veranda gave her a shooing motion, waving her away. "And I'm the Goddess of Space and Time, not just Time. Don't forget my full title."
"Of course..." The small imp bowed her head even further, but she didn't retreat from the throne room.
Veranda stared at her, tapping a finger on the marble armrest beside her, and her brow began to twitch with annoyance. If this imp understood her place, why didn't she leave? Was this lowly creature mocking her? Surely it understood the restraint she had shown by not deleting it from existence when it first appeared.
"What do you think you're doing here, imp?" Veranda fixed an icy stare down at the creature, and all the air within several miles of the celestial summit lowered by a dozen degrees. "Who gave you permission to enter my domain?"
"Trixie," the imp said without looking up.
"What?" Veranda's scowl deepened, and her knuckles went white as she gripped the armrest of her throne. She had vowed not to interfere with mortal creatures, but that had its limits. If this imp was going to be so disrespectful, she'd return it to a pile of primordial goo.
"My name is Trixie," the imp said. "You don't need to call me 'imp' because my name is Trixie."
"Your name is irrelevant." Veranda shook her head in exasperation. "After you leave here, I'll forget you exist. There's no need for me to learn your name."
"Is that so?" Trixie raised her head from the exaggerated bow and smiled up at Veranda. "How about a wager, then? If I win, you'll have to use my name when speaking to me, and you'll remember it for all eternity."
Imps were a sneaky type of demon, and Veranda knew they weren't to be trusted. They loved setting up carefully worded 'wagers' or 'contracts' to ensure they always came out on top. However, that was only because they were the weakest of all demons. If they had true strength, they wouldn't need such underhanded tactics.
"Let's see what we're working with..." Veranda narrowed her eyes at the small imp, and a holographic screen appeared in front of her eyes.
[ Trixie (Lesser Imp) ]
As a goddess, she could analyze the smaller demon with a glance, but when she saw the results of her analysis, Veranda burst out laughing. What she thought was an imp had only been a 'lesser imp' all along. The little demon wasn't even a full-fledged demon.
"Hahaha," Veranda shook her head, shoulders heaving. "Very well. I'll make a wager with you. If you can entertain me, I'll submit and call you by your name. However, I doubt a low-demon could manage that."
Trixie bowed her head, remaining courteous despite the jabs. "We'll see about that."
|| -- Chapter 2 -- ||
Several minutes later, Veranda stepped out of a portal and into a lush forest. Sunlight streamed down through the canopy and cast puddles of light around her feet. Veranda nodded appreciatively at the beautiful scenery. It was suitable for a royal goddess such as herself.
"So, this is your challenge, then?" Veranda asked, and she glanced to her side.
"That's right." Trixie stepped out of a portal of her own, coming out beside Veranda. "If you escape this forest in one piece, I'll admit defeat."
Now that they were closer, Veranda inspected the lesser imp more closely. Like all demons, Trixie had silky black hair, but it was in an ugly bowl cut. Her long, horizontal bangs hung low in front of her eyes, making it difficult to discern where she was looking or the full breadth of her expression.
Veranda couldn't read the imp's emotions, especially with those dark bangs covering her eyes, but she had nothing to worry about. Imps were the weakest type of demons, and a lesser imp was even weaker.
To illustrate this, Trixie's chest was small and barely qualified as B cups. Demons usually prided themselves on having large breasts, yet Trixie wore only a thin sash around her chest. It barely covered her nipples, and it made her lack of a bosom especially conspicuous.
Veranda couldn't help smirking at the sight, and she scoffed internally. Unlike demons, she held no fascination with bust sizes, but even she had magically enchanted her chest to a respectable D cup. Her large breasts were perfectly sculpted and honed over countless timelines. Compared to the imp's puny chest, she could stand tall and proud with her shoulders back.
As always, Veranda wore no clothes or underwear. She boldly displayed her breasts and body for all to see. Where Trixie wore black panties and the dark sash around her chest, Veranda stood confidently in the nude, smirking down at the smaller demon.
"Your challenge is far too easy," Veranda said, and she flipped her golden hair over her shoulder haughtily. "Escaping a single forest is easy for a goddess. I can just teleport out, after all."
"Oh, but that's against the rules." Trixie shook her head, and her eyes glinted beneath her long bangs. "To make this challenge interesting, you must take on the body and mind of a mortal. Otherwise, it wouldn't be any fun, would it?"
"Hm? You didn't mention these rules before, but very well." Veranda's confident smirk remained unfazed. "Even with those restrictions, this won't be much of a challenge. My divine form and abilities are only one aspect of my limitless powers."
Veranda snapped her fingers, and her body shined with a bright light, transforming her into a human. After the shining light faded, she looked the same, but she was vastly weaker than before. Of course, she was still stronger than any mortal. Even if she took on a human body, that didn't mean she couldn't make herself the strongest human to walk the mortal planes.
"Analyze," she said under her breath, casting a spell to analyze herself.
[ Veranda (Goddess of Time and Space) (Human) ] [ Status Effects: None. ] [ Equipment: None. ] [ Power Level: Infinite. ]
She nodded to herself, confirming that she was still omnipotent. Her body and mind were human, but that didn't mean she couldn't use her divine powers. Even if she wasn't allowed to use them in the wager, she still needed to ascend back to divinity, after all.
"It seems you're ready to start," Trixie said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the infinite power that still dwelled in Veranda's human form. "I will retreat to observe from a distance. Have fun."
The form of the small imp burst into smoke, and she disappeared into thin air. Veranda frowned at the sight, as she didn't think a lesser imp would have more than one magic spell. For her to conjure an interdimensional portal and use an intradimensional retreat spell, it put her at the upper limits of what could be considered a lesser imp. However, an imp was still an imp, Veranda thought to herself.
"I'll show her the terror of challenging a goddess. Once I finish this wager, I'll make her regret her disrespectful behavior." Veranda smiled to herself and headed off into the forest. She wandered between the trees while imagining all the existential horror she could inflict upon the weak little demon.
The forest looked similar to one you could find on any arboreal world. The dark green canopy cast shadows over the forest floor and gave plenty of shade from the harsh sun. A light breeze whistled between the leafy foliage and gave a blessed relief from the otherwise warm and muggy summer air.
However, if there was one unique trait to the forest, it would be the lack of bugs and critters. Unlike a normal forest, there was no chirp of birds or buzz of insects. It was completely silent except for Veranda's footsteps and the rustle of branches in the wind.
