Disclaimer: I don't own the Negima! Magister Negi Magi series, or any of its translations, characters, settings, or otherwise; nor do I profit from anything concerning it.
Mundus Diabolus
Chapter Three: Mundus Magicus
Before Konoka even opened her eyes, she knew they were in the Magic World. The air itself was brimming with magic – how come she never noticed it the last time they were here? When she opened her eyes, she made sure all of her allies had handled the trip through the gate all right. Thinking back, she felt a little guilty about lying to her grandfather about going to the Demon Realm, but it was for the best.
"Oh, wow! It really is a flying city!" Sakurako exclaimed, running to the edge of the gate port's island to look down below.
"I can't believe it, but we're on Mars," Chizuru said delightedly. "Oh, if only the rest of the Astronomy Club were here…"
"This is amazing," Madoka said in awe. "I can't believe you guys got to live in a place like this for months…"
"It was definitely an experience," Asakura told them, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
Leaving the Magic World newcomers to ogle the wondrous sight, Konoka stood next to Ako, who was looking in the direction of the Gravekeeper's Palace.
"It still feels like yesterday that all that stuff happened," the support mage told her. Konoka nodded in agreement. The memories were still fresh – the sphere of energy that had surrounded the ruins, the hundreds of Magic World airships that gathered together to stop the Rewrite. "Good thing Fate and his group moved out, right?"
"It wouldn't be safe to come through this gate otherwise," Luna said, approaching them. Fate was still a sore subject for her.
"The magic in the air is almost tangible! The readings are off the charts!" Hakase suddenly exclaimed, reading some of her instruments. "I regret not being able to come here earlier, there are so many things to study. What effects does it have on the wildlife? Chachamaru, does it make your body feel different?" She bustled through the ruinous area, placing her inventions everywhere she could. One mechanical contraption vaguely resembled a satellite dish, another looked like an exercise machine, but there were numerous others that Konoka couldn't even describe.
"Hakase, we aren't staying here long," Setsuna advised her.
"Where does she have room to pack all that?" Natsumi asked, eyes wide.
"Her backpack uses spatial-distortion technologies to allow her to carry many things," Chachamaru informed her. "Its function resembles that of Kaede's artifact."
Misora folded her arms. "When are we leaving for Ostia?" she asked, eager to leave the ruins. Three years ago, when they were escaping from the Gravekeeper's Palace, they had nearly made it to the gate port when Cocone was rewritten. It held bad memories for her.
"As soon as Haruna finishes her drawing," Kotaro said, bored.
"Don't rush me!" the artist barked. "It's harder than you'd think to draw a magic airship that'll carry all of us all the way to Ostia." She sniffed. "Now that we don't have the Great Paru-Sama…"
"Don't overdo it," Konoka told her. "It only needs to bring us to Ostia."
"Alright, here we go," the summoner artist said, standing up. "The Great Paru-Sama II!"
"Why am I not surprised at the name?" Yuna asked, rolling her eyes, as they boarded the airship that appeared in front of them. It was stylistically and functionally similar to the original, but Haruna added a few more artistic touches that were missing from the first ship. "Paru, you even added bathrooms and a kitchen to this one? Our flight is gonna be an hour, tops!"
"Well excuse me for making this comfortable for us," she replied, fixing her glasses.
"Could've put a little more space in," Chizuru told her, being pushed against the wall as Ala Alba filed into the airship.
"It doesn't matter, the ship is gonna disappear once we arrive in Ostia, anyway," Haruna said with a sigh.
"Who's driving?" Fumika asked.
"Can I?" Fuka piped up with excitement.
"No way, I'm driving," Haruna said, sitting in the cockpit. "And Chachamaru's my copilot."
"Roger, captain," the robot said, going to her assigned position.
"Get ready to lift off!" Haruna cried ecstatically. "Hope everyone's ready to go!"
Konoka and a few of the others stood on the outside deck of the Great Paru-Sama II, her robes billowing as she watched the expansive floating ruins pass by beneath her. Setsuna, Luna, Ayaka, Misa, and Zazie were standing with her, while everyone else was enjoying the inside of the airship.
"I'm most worried about encountering Cosmo Entelecheia in Ostia," Setsuna voiced, expressing what was on all of their minds. "Fate has confronted us right in the open there, as I'm sure you both remember," she said to Konoka and Luna, who both nodded.
"I wonder how many times Sensei has fought with them in the past few years," said Ayaka. "I'm sure they've been chasing him and the others down, trying to get Asuna and the Key."
"Still can't believe both you guys and Fate managed to lose that Key," said Misa, her arms crossed. Her ornate golden staff lay gently across her shoulder. "Fate probably thinks Negi has it."
"But since we don't have Asuna or the Key, does he have a reason to confront us?" Konoka asked. "He shouldn't have any interest in us being here, especially since Negi isn't with us."
"I wonder if Fate knows where Negi is now…" Luna said softly.
"We have no way of knowing what any of them were doing the past few years," Setsuna said. "Or what his current goals are. However, I am reasonably sure the ones that are most likely to attack us are the Averruncus of Fire and Tsukuyomi, as both of them lust for battle, no matter who it's with."
"All we have to do is get to the Demon Realm, and we'll be safe," said Ayaka. "From those threats, anyway," she quickly amended.
"We will get there," Zazie said with a rare, reassuring smile, as small as it was.
As they had expected, it didn't take very long to get to the city of Ostia, the site of yearly peace celebrations. It was here that Negi and Kotaro fought Jack Rakan to a draw, where Ako, Natsumi, and Akira were freed from slavery, where Asuna was kidnapped by Fate and replaced with Luna…
"What a cool city," Misa said with a grin, looking all around. While very highly populated, Ostia wasn't as crowded as it was the last time Ala Alba was there – it was just a regular time of the year.
"Whoa! Is that a tiger man?" Fuka asked, gaping, as she pointed very obviously to a confused Magic World inhabitant.
"This is a real city in the clouds," Sakurako said cheerfully. "A real fantasy world!"
"It is rather impressive," Ayaka admitted to Konoka.
"Beautiful," agreed Chizuru.
Setsuna had her hand on her blade while Kotaro stood protectively on the perimeter of the group. "This is bad," the Shinmei-ryu swordswoman said. "We're attracting too much attention. Our group is too large. Murakami, please bring at least ten people under the protection of your artifact."
Natsumi blinked. "Y-yes. Adeat," she said, appearing in her ball dress and extravagant, wide-brimmed hat in a flash of light.
"There is no need," Zazie told them, standing perfectly at ease in the center of the small crowd. "I sense no ill will directed at us, nor are there any overly powerful entities nearby. We are safe in Ostia." She smiled. "Let us just enjoy the sights."
"You're being too uptight," Konoka told her friend, even though it was nothing new.
Setsuna nodded her head. "I'm sorry, but only Kotaro and I have any real experience fighting against someone like Fate here, with Kaede, Mana, and Asuna gone… I feel like I have to place the burden of protecting everyone on myself."
"You're worried about meeting Tsukuyomi," Konoka pointed out, as they continued walking to the whaleport. "But Secchan, Eva said herself that so many of us have gotten stronger now."
"Heh, you wouldn't understand the position of us senior warriors of Ala Alba," Kotaro said. "It was always our job to protect you guys back when almost everyone was a noncombatant."
"I won't pretend to be familiar with the struggles you've all had to go through, but rest assured, I consider myself strong enough to help with the protecting," Ayaka stated. "I am the Dark Gospel's personal apprentice, after all. The only other person who can say that is Sensei himself."
"Stop worrying about all of us, tough guys," Asakura said, grinning in their direction. "We're used to the danger."
"The real stuff is gonna happen in the Demon World," Sayo added, flying all around the group, protecting them herself. "Besides, I'm spreading my super-plain ghost aura around everyone. We won't be detected as easily, if there is anything to worry about," she said cheerfully. Ever since creating a pactio with Negi right before everyone returned to the real world, Sayo had benefited in many ways. She was no longer bound to the school, able to move about wherever she wanted freely. The magical binding with Negi also increased her ghostly powers, and with proper training, even Sayo was able to join Ala Alba on the front lines of battle.
"I suppose all of you are right," Setsuna admitted. "Let's just board the whale ship and head to Asphodel as fast as we can."
Konoka smiled as she watched Makie gesture happily to many of Ostia's most interesting sights, telling stories to the newcomers of their adventures there. The former gymnast seemed much brighter than usual. She, too, was happier to be back in the Magic World.
"See that stadium way over there? We saw Negi beat a legendary hero in front of millions of people!" Makie enlightened the former cheerleaders and the twins, to which they were in awe.
"It was actually a draw, dummy," Yuna scoffed. "Rakan probably went easy on him, now that I think back to it…"
"Why'd he fight that guy again?" Fuka asked.
"He was doing it to free Akira, Natsumi, and I," Ako said with a reminiscing smile. "We were slaves here for a little while. Negi was pretending to be his older cousin Nagi, though." Akira nodded.
"Perhaps we can repay that debt by saving him this time," the swimmer said.
"Hey, are you forgetting that I fought there too?" Kotaro interjected, offended. "Now, I bet I'd be a match for Rakan all by myself!" he boasted proudly.
"Don't be such a braggart, Kotaro," Chizuru told him. "If you're not careful, it can happen," she said with a bright, unnerving smile.
"Uh… Right, never mind," he said nervously, shrinking back.
"But Chizu, do you even know what Jack Rakan is like?" Natsumi questioned. She shrank back with just as much fear when Chizuru gave her the same, frightening look.
"What's that about?" Misora asked, amused and slightly afraid at the same time.
"Chizuru is trying to teach Kotaro not to show off too much," Madoka informed her, grinning.
"An attendant threatening their magister with their artifact?" Haruna noted. "That's not something you see every day."
It turned out that there was nothing to worry about in Ostia, as Ala Alba had gotten to the whaleport safely. It was a little more crowded than the city outside, but with Setsuna and Kotaro on guard, there was little to be nervous about.
Most of the girls were quite impressed by the whaleships, however, and ran over to the docks to see them as closely as they could, Chachamaru accompanying them.
"Wow!"
"My, my, how amazing!" Chizuru cried, watching one take off for the clouds.
"They look like real whales," Sakurako said. "Are they the real, living thing?"
"Of course not," Hakase scoffed, pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. "A biological creature such as a whale would never be able to fly, with magic or otherwise. The mass and weight of their bodies would not be able to be held up purely by magic. It's just impossible! They are purely mechanical, though up close I am quite surprised by the craftsmanship of these ships. They seem much more aerodynamic than I thought they would be…"
"But they even make whale noises when they leave!" Fumika exclaimed, completely ignoring the scientist.
"Even though I've been here before, I've never gotten the chance to see one of these up close," Natsumi said. "Straight out of a fantasy."
"I've spent enough time on these things the last time we were here," Asakura said, a little disdainfully. "I was the one who had to go looking for everyone."
Back at the ticket booths, Konoka and Ayaka were handling the purchases. Setsuna stood protectively over them, as always. Konoka thought she was being a little paranoid – everyone's' sensory abilities were at their highest alert, and Asakura even had her camera spy golems flying throughout the city for any sign of a threat. "Honestly," said Ayaka, looking at their excited club mates. "They all act like children."
"Stop trying to act like an old lady," Konoka said to her, chipper as ever. "You're only eighteen."
"Hmph!" she responded, slightly offended.
"Let them have their fun," Konoka said further. "You should be just like them. It's your first time here too, isn't it?"
"I suppose," she replied, and wandered off, allowing herself to look slightly interested.
Satsuki nodded approvingly at Konoka, smiling.
"Are we ready to go?" Zazie approached, wearing a gentle smile herself. She seemed eager – or as eager as the quietest girl in their class could be – to return to her birthplace.
"We've got our tickets," she said, holding them up for the demon girl to see. "Let's get going to Asphodel."
Konoka, Setsuna, Zazie, and Satsuki joined the line boarding the whaleship, sighing embarrassingly as some of their companions made a huge fuss about who went first. Surprisingly, Ayaka had joined them.
"Since Konoka prefers to stay in back, I, Vice President of Ala Alba, should be first in line! It is only appropriate!" the rich Old World heiress said forcefully.
"Can it, Class Rep!" Yuna argued.
"I wanna see the whale's insides!" Fuka shouted.
Tired of all the pushing, Misa held out her hand, wordlessly casting a spell to lower the force of gravity on all the girls who were fighting to get in front. As they floated gently above her, she and Sakurako walked nonchalantly into the ship, the latter sticking out her tongue at the floating girls.
"No fair, Kakizaki!" Yuna yelled. Abruptly, the floating girls fell to the floor, eliciting groans. Sayo passed by above them, giggling, flying right through the hull of the ship.
"No magic in the whaleport!" one guard yelled at them, but he was ignored as the rest of the passengers filed in.
The insides of the whaleships were wide, with plenty of room for the passengers to walk around wherever they wished and windows to view the outside world. There was even a deck that went around the outside of the ship, giving them a chance to see everything below and around them.
"Now this is traveling in style," Misora said, putting her hands behind her head and walking off.
"Ooh, there's a bar here," Sakurako said with a smirk. She was about to make a beeline towards it, but Chizuru grabbed her by the back of the shirt.
"Not a chance," the motherly young woman told her. "You're still underage."
"Actually, the laws in the Magic World are different," Hakase told her, but even the self-proclaimed soulless scientist shrank back when she was on the receiving end of Chizuru's glare.
Just a few minutes later, the ship took off smoothly, gliding through the air as the engines made noises resembling whale songs.
"Konoka." The healer looked to her side, where Setsuna appeared. She didn't even notice she was gone. "Kotaro and I made a full sweep of the ship. There's no one here to harm us."
"Good," she responded with a relieved smile. "You can relax now, you know."
"Sorry," Setsuna replied, allowing a small grin. "It's a lot different working with you than it is with Negi. He worries about everything."
"I know, and I feel like I'm worrying more than I usually do, too!" Konoka laughed.
"Aha! I knew I heard them right!" said the voice of a loud, boisterous male. Both Konoka and Setsuna turned, the latter with her hand on her sword, ready to draw it out at a moment's notice. "Get over here, Lyn! They did say Ala Alba before!"
"Keep your voice down, you rogue," Ayaka reprimanded, approaching them. "Who are you?"
"Kristian Danchecker," the blonde man responded, ignoring her comment. "Nice to meet ya, girly."
"How rude…!" Before Ayaka could explode, Konoka interjected with a smile.
"I remember you," she said. "You're Nodoka's treasure hunter friends."
Setsuna let go of her blade. "It's good to see you two are doing well," she said, as the dark-haired Lyn approached.
"You've met these people before?" Ayaka asked in surprise. Natsumi, Yuna, Makie, Ako, and Akira came over, waving, while Kotaro grinned and nodded his head in greeting.
"Long time no see," the half dog-demon said.
"Your group has gotten bigger since the last time we saw you," Lyn Garland observed. "But you no longer travel with the boy or Nodoka, I see."
"Well, lots has happened," Konoka said sheepishly.
"It's great to see you again!" Asakura exclaimed, coming over and shaking their hands. Konoka was momentarily confused by her enthusiasm, but she remembered that their friends, Craig and Aisha, had sacrificed themselves to Dynamis to save her and Nodoka's lives.
The atmosphere had become suddenly more sullen to Konoka. The treasure hunting party had been reduced to two.
"We haven't seen Nodoka and the others in a few years, actually," Asakura told them. "How's your treasure hunting coming along?"
"It's virtually nonexistent," Lyn said. "Kris is useless in a dungeon."
"Hey!" he protested. "It's really been that long since you've last seen them?" he asked. "Lyn and I just ran into them last month!"
"What?"
"Are you serious?"
"Where?"
"Were they all okay?"
"How much did my big bro grow?"
At this point, all of Ala Alba had gathered around the two treasure hunters, firing questions left and right, more excited than they had ever been. Even Setsuna was in shock, having straightened up with her eyes wide. Kris and Lyn seemed a little overwhelmed, until they all managed to calm down enough for their questions to be answered.
"It was just outside of Granicus," Kris told them. "They were all there. I swear, that kid's gotten even more powerful since he beat Rakan in that tournament. We dealt with some monsters with them. That ninja girl and sniper were pretty scary, not to mention the martial artist. Don't get me started on Asuna…"
"Tell us all about them!" Haruna ordered, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "How were Yue and Nodoka? And Chiu?"
"I was blown away by the power of Nodoka's best friend," the stoic Lyn said. "She was quite a talented witch, close to the level of trickiness that Negi himself was in that tournament. She even had an attendant, that Ariadne girl…"
"What? Yue's got a ministra?" Makie asked, eyes wide. "Beatrix? Or Collet?"
"Beatrix was her name," Lyn said. "That's right. And I regret to inform you, but Collet Farandole, her other ministra, was rewritten by Cosmo Entelecheia."
"We traveled with them for a while," Kris said forlornly. "She was a nice girl. I'm sorry."
Konoka averted her eyes as the others looked down in sadness. Collet was their ally at the Gravekeeper's Palace. It seemed that they had been fighting Fate the past few years, and he still had the powers of the Code of the Lifemaker, despite missing the Great Grand Master Key…
"What about Sensei's childhood friend?" Ayaka asked. "He would be devastated if anything happened to her. The little fire mage?"
"Oh, that girl," Kris said. "She was a scary one. 'Little fire mage?' She's become quite the sorceress in her own right," he said, shivering. "Got quite a few burns from her temper. Her minister's okay, too."
"Even Anya has an attendant?" Yuna exclaimed, pulling at her hair. Makie was in a similar state of shock. "Who the heck is it?"
"Uh… Forgot his name," Kris said, scratching his head. "Quiet kid. About her age. Think he mentioned that he used to work for the Ostian governor-general."
"I hate to say it, but that's pretty hard to believe," Ako admitted, laughing into the back of her hand.
"I'm glad for Anya," Natsumi said, to which Akira nodded in agreement.
"But Asuna's okay? They're all there?" Misora asked, a hint of a desperate tone in her voice. Konoka understood – even though they all knew that Negi and the others had been taken to the Demon Realm, just hearing how they all were just around a month ago was more than they could have asked for…
"Well… Everyone you asked for was all together," Kris said, scratching the back of his head. "And I feel really bad about telling you all this, but… You did tell us what happened to Craig and Aisha, so…"
"One day when we were with them, a girl appeared," Lyn said. "She was clearly an enemy they had confronted before, but before she could do anything, she started casting this spell… Almost like a summoning, but it felt strange. After that, they were all gone. We tried looking for them, but… We were hoping that you knew something."
"Did you happen to learn her name?" Zazie suddenly asked, stepping forward. Both Kris and Lyn gasped and their hands went to their weapons.
"You!" Lyn said harshly. "Everyone, step back! This is the one that took them away!"
"Wait!" Konoka cut in, putting her arm protectively in front of Zazie. "It's a misunderstanding. I think I know what happened." Other passengers were beginning to stare at them. "Did she look just like our friend Zazie?"
"Yes," Lyn said. "The resemblance is unmistakable."
"That was my sister," Zazie said. "The one you call 'Poyo.' I assumed it would be her…"
"What'd she do to them?" Kris asked.
"It was a reverse demon summoning spell," Zazie explained. Konoka understood. It was how she pulled them into the Demon Realm.
"What kind of magic is that?" Lyn asked, her brow furrowed. "They couldn't even fight her off. She was too powerful."
"Thank you for telling us everything, Kris, Lyn," Konoka said with a bow. "But we have the situation under control. We are going to help them."
Lyn regarded her coolly. "If you say so. They are your companions, so I believe you. I'm not even going to ask where she took them or where you're going."
"Huh? I wanna know," Kris said, curious.
"Really sorry, but we shouldn't say," Asakura said apologetically. She winked. "Just trust us to save them."
Konoka needed air. She left all the others to go out on the deck of the whaleship, holding out her hand to let Setsuna know she would be fine. Her robes and hair billowing in the cool air, she gripped the safety railing. The sun was starting to set, and she was tired.
She was happy that Negi, Asuna, Nodoka, Yue, Chisame, Anya, Kaede, Ku Fei, and Mana were all still together, and that they had all grown in power and skill. Yue and Anya had even scored themselves attendants, going further down the road to becoming Magister Magi with Negi, Konoka, Kotaro, Misa, and the Narutaki twins.
But they had also learned that 'Poyo' Rainyday was still their enemy. We may just end up seeing her again in the Demon World, she thought to herself. We'll have to be ready for her.
She looked to her right, suddenly spotting Luna deep in thought as she looked into the clouds. "Luna!" Konoka called, walking up next to her friend. "I didn't even see you there."
Fate's former ally looked up at her with a small smile. "I didn't notice you, either."
"Is something bothering you?" Konoka asked. Eva appointed her as the leader of this whole operation… It was her job to make sure her allies were in top spirits, wasn't it? "Wait, is it Fate?" she asked in surprise.
Luna sighed. "Yes… I still can't help but wonder where he is, you know?" She folded her hands. "I still don't understand why he just won't listen to Negi. I just wish they would stop fighting. And now that we just heard he rewrote another one of your friends… I'm very sorry!" The girl turned to Konoka, bowing fiercely.
Konoka grabbed her shoulders. "There's nothing to be sorry about," she said gently, pulling her into an embrace. "You're on our side now. Fate has his reasons for doing things, and we have ours. And don't worry – one day, we plan to get back all our friends that we lost."
Luna stepped back, wiping her eyes. "I guess you're right. I just want to see Negi again…"
"We will," Konoka said firmly. "And you're helping us find him. Right?"
"Of course," she responded with equal conviction. "I'm willing to put myself in danger just to meet Negi again. My time with him was so short before."
"Glad to have you with us," Konoka said. "I'm very happy that you became our classmate three years ago, Luna."
"Me too," she smiled. "Thank you, Konoka." Reassured, the Magic World native went back inside the whaleship. As soon as she was gone, Konoka let out a breath of relief.
"Whoa, that was hard," she said to herself. She turned around when she heard the door sliding open again, putting on another smile when she saw Satsuki joining her. "Hello," she greeted cheerfully.
The kindly chef of Ala Alba gave her a bright smile, looking at her approvingly.
"I'm kind of jealous of you, you know," Konoka admitted. "You're always so confident and stable." Satsuki simply told her it was what she was good at. "You know, it's a lot harder than I thought to be the new leader of Ala Alba," Konoka went on. "Everyone's looking up to me. It's kind of stressful. I have no idea how Negi did it!"
Satsuki told her she was doing a great job so far.
"But we've barely done anything yet. I can still screw up… What if everyone doesn't come back safe? What would Negi think if we had to leave someone behind? I don't want that…"
You're doing better than you think, Satsuki said. You've been watching out for everyone, caring for your friends. And that's all that matters.
"But Secchan is the one who's been telling everyone what to do, keeping guard with Kotaro. Those two are probably the best fighters out of all of us. But Eva chose Ayaka and I as the leaders! Heck, even Chizuru keeps everyone in line better than I do!" Konoka worried, pacing back and forth.
Being a leader isn't about giving out orders, being the strongest fighter, or controlling everyone, Satsuki went on. It's about caring for your comrades and putting them before everything else. It's something you do very well.
"Are you sure?" Konoka fretted.
Without a doubt, she replied. As they say, the best leaders have it thrust upon them. You'll do a great job. Don't try and compare yourself to Sensei, just be your own person.
"Okay, I'll try," Konoka said. "You give great advice, Satsuki." The chef just nodded and smiled, proffering a tray of nikuman. "Thank you," Konoka said politely, taking a bite. She chewed slowly, and her face suddenly brightened. "These are the sweetest and most delicious treats you have ever made!" She felt like she could take on the world.
Her job done, Satsuki Yotsuba returned to the inside of the whaleship.
Asphodel City was a rather seedy place, Konoka noted, as the whaleship docked. It was surprisingly large, but definitely old with people bustling through its streets. There were plenty of demons here, too – as the gateway between the Magic and Demonic worlds, this was a center of commerce. And while the citizens of Mundus Magicus didn't particularly like the demons, they were useful in a variety of jobs, from mercenaries to bodyguards, gladiators to gamblers, and many more.
Demons were allowed in the Magic World, but very few animal-people were allowed back in theirs. Humans weren't allowed at all.
"Everyone, make sure your cloaks are on," Ayaka told them. She put her own around her shoulders, hood up, but sharply recoiled. "Ugh! These things are filthy!"
"They are made to mask the scent of your human blood," Zazie informed her. Konoka noticed a faint magical aura around them. "Let us go. The ferry is this way."
Giving their farewells to Kris and Lyn, Ala Alba traversed through the demon city. All the girls and Kotaro were looked at oddly, huddling closely together in a group with drawn-up, blood red cloaks, but they were mostly ignored. All the shady types lived here.
Some of the demons they passed were the standard fare that most of them had already met in the Magic World at some point in their travels, so they were used to seeing them. Some demons could even be nice, friendly people, despite their horned, sometimes skeletal appearances, with skin of all different colors (if they had any). The ones in Asphodel, though, seemed to be the roughest of the lot.
It would only get worse once they entered the Demon Realm, Konoka knew.
Ala Alba was ready.
