Dragon Ball Human

Sherie's reappearance didn't change much. She had always been more of an ambiguous observer than an active participant. 

Bestowing the Furnace of Eight Divisions, taking Annin as her disciple, agreeing to Yamiru's request—these seemed to be rare acts of generosity on her part. Or, as she put it, they were the maximum indirect assistance she could provide without violating the rules. And one of those rules, as both Yamiru and Annin well knew, was this: 

Earth's problems must be solved by Earthlings themselves. 

Sherie could offer guidance, but the six Demon Kings had to be defeated by human hands. 

She could forge tools like the Furnace of Eight Divisions, but the temporal rifts connecting to the underworld had to be mended through human sacrifice. 

These were the two fundamental rules she had imparted to Annin from the very beginning. 

Each demanded Annin stake everything she had. 

To fulfill one meant neglecting the other. 

And Sherie would never create another Annin through similar means. Perhaps she couldn't—or perhaps she simply wouldn't. 

Whoever designed these rules seemed to have crafted them as a spiral of contradictions—like dangling bait just out of reach, forcing Annin to chase it across lifetimes until the fire of hope burned to ashes, leaving only numb resignation to fate's currents. Stumbling, falling, dying—it no longer mattered. There was always the next cycle. 

At first, Yamiru had assumed Sherie was complicit—after all, she was the one who had laid out these cunning rules and dangled the unattainable prize before Annin. 

But when Yamiru, seeking to grow stronger and aid Annin, made his own request, she granted it. 

Without his experience on Planet Salad, Annin's near-demonic strike earlier might have killed him outright. 

Viewed this way... this enigmatic angel didn't seem particularly opposed to the crisis on Earth being resolved. 

"Or is it that she doesn't care who wins or loses—she just wants a good show?" Yamiru thought as he and Annin looked up at Sherie from the furnace's depths. 

"You're not..." 

Before he could finish, Sherie vanished from the furnace's rim and reappeared behind him in the blink of an eye. 

"...thinking something very rude, are you?" she whispered playfully into his ear. 

Annin bowed her head slightly. "Master, I've disappointed you." 

Sherie giggled. "Well, no one saw it, so it's fine, right?" 

Yamiru frowned. "But someone did see." 

"My, my, do you want to make Annin feel worse?" Sherie feigned shock, as if he'd said something terribly cruel. 

"Only by regretting failure can one yearn for victory," Yamiru said. 

"So what you're implying..." Sherie narrowed her eyes, her ever-present smile curling oddly. "...is that I don't actually care whether Annin succeeds. Is that it?" 

The air between the mortal and the angel grew tense. Yamiru knew full well that a single whim could end his life. He also knew that questioning Sherie so bluntly after her help was ungrateful. 

Yet he pressed on. "So, do you care?" 

"Yamiru," Annin interjected, though her tone gave no indication whether she was admonishing him or not. 

"If I didn't want humans to defeat the demons, I wouldn't have appeared before you at all," Sherie said, her smile unwavering. "So yes, I do hope for my disciple's victory. And if you, Yamiru, can contribute to that victory, all the better. Annin has endured enough—I'm glad someone can share her burden." 

Yamiru fell silent for a moment before offering a curt apology. "I overstepped." 

"Not necessarily~" Sherie's grin widened unnaturally. "Given how sharp you both are, you must have had your suspicions for a while now. Especially you, my dear disciple." 

The warrior woman lowered her gaze further. 

"You've resented me in your heart, haven't you? Thoughts like, 'If Master is so powerful, why doesn't she just wipe out the demons?' or 'Must it really be humans... are these absurd rules truly necessary?'" Sherie tapped Annin's forehead lightly with her staff. "No need to deny it. If it were me, I'd have already yelled, 'What's the big idea? If you're so strong, just fix it yourself!'" 

Both Yamiru and Annin listened intently. 

"But to me... whether Earth's people live or die, how they live or die—it's not something I particularly care about," Sherie admitted with a carefree laugh. "Still, I can tell you this: rest assured, my purpose in appearing on Earth aligns with your goal—to eradicate every last demon plaguing this world." 

Hearing this confirmation, Yamiru and Annin exhaled imperceptibly in relief. 

"However," Sherie's expression shifted to one of mild distress, "once this task is complete, what comes next... isn't something I'm looking forward to." She brightened again almost instantly. "So to delay that moment, I struck a little... understanding with a certain someone, resulting in the rules you know now!" 

So she was involved in crafting those bizarre rules. 

"By Earthlings' natural progression, defeating even the weakest Demon King would be virtually impossible," Yamiru pointed out. "That's why you personally intervened—creating Annin and the furnace." 

Sherie beamed. "Well, I couldn't just do nothing, could I?" 

Yamiru realized: she wanted to slack off, but not too blatantly—hence the convoluted rules. But who was this "certain someone" she had reached an understanding with? 

Given the rules' implications, the only party that truly benefited was... the demons themselves. 

Was the other party to this tacit agreement a Demon King? 

The unfathomable Great Demon King Satan, perhaps? 

"Fortunately, Yamiru appeared," Sherie said cheerfully, turning her gaze to him. "Annin's victory might come much sooner now! I saw it earlier—your power has grown leaps and bounds! A human seeking to defeat demons, yet mastering their energy to such an extent..." She burst into delighted laughter. 

"Is this level of power enough to defeat the strongest Demon King?" Yamiru asked. 

"Maybe," Sherie shrugged. "Maybe not. How should I know?" 

"But it's definitely enough to crush Abaddon," Annin declared firmly, her composure restored. "Yamiru, you're his natural counter." 

"Yeah." Yamiru lightly gripped the dragon-shaped mark on his wrist. 

"I think so too." 

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