It was just another day for most of the population of Yamatai Village, where everybody was going about their daily lives. Farmers were picking rice from the fields, a metallic echo resounded regularly as the smith worked on a new weapon, and children were happily playing with nekomatas wandering about. When one looked closer, however, it was clear the population was slightly tenser than usual, as the rumor that the gods were no longer supporting them had started to spread. Those stemmed from a few disturbances at the local shrines, which would make for a fitting work for a wandering hero.

In one of the shrine, a small figure was nervously fidgeting with a fan, while her nine golden that were usually swaying like the breeze were moving sporadically, affected by nervous tics. That figure was usually consulted by people in need of her wisdom or looking to be reassured, but in these trying times, most people were turned away with no answer. It was as if life had left her, turning her in the process from a figure of motherhood and wisdom to that of a nervous child stuck sulking in a corner. Maybe it was time for her to change…

Tamamo sighed as she felt some movement outside. The signature of the newcomer was one she hoped not to see again. Still, it was better if she went to greet her directly at the entrance of the shrine. The faster she was out of there the better, since she had an idea on how her visitor could want to pass time while waiting, and she didn't want that to happen. Both her bodyguards were standing behind the traveler, carefully keeping their eyes over her.

"What do you want, Lilith?"

The purple haired succubus smiled warmly at Tamamo. "Aww, don't be like that, we're just worried about you…"

"Worried about me?" The kitsune's eyes narrowed. "Since when do you worry about others? You only care about yourself! I don't even know how the Dark Goddess managed to convince you to come here for her insane plan!"

Lilith looked hurt by Tamamo's declaration. "I am loyally serving my lord. I only expected the same of you."

Tamamo scoffed. "And that's why you're here, aren't you? I already told you… I cannot go with a plan that includes murdering everyone and destroying the world... I want to believe it will live through it."

"Actually… We're here to tell you that you should come back at the Monster Lord Castle. You will not be forced to participate in any way, but your presence is required now more than ever."

Tamamo sighed. "I suppose you'll try to bring me by force if I say no."

Lilith recoiled, as if she was insulted. "We just want you to come back on your own free will, we won't fight you if you don't want to come back to Monster Lord, I swear!"

"Astaroth's presence on top of the shrine tells otherwise…"

A voice echoed from further up. "I just wanted to take a sunbath. It's pretty sunny here compared to Hellgondo."

Lilith sighed before looking straight in the kitsune's eyes. "Very well… The truth is that there has been a few unexpected developments, and we think your presence in this place could threaten the population."

"From you, who won't hesitate to use them as collaterals?" Tamamo declared matter of factly. "And I can protect them. So please just leave."

"Kagetsumugi has started moving. She razed a whole village."

The kitsune's eyes widened in shock. She shook her head as she focused on the new issue. "Where and when?"

"She has transformed several past Monster Lord into puppets. She sent one against the hero's party, although they managed to defeat her quite easily. Then she herself attacked some of his allies that were positioned at Luddite Village. They suvived, but the village fell." Lilith's expression softened. "We're afraid she starts striking at any isolated figurehead that could get in her way as a revenge for feeling slighted by the Monster Lord. You could be the next one."

"And let's be honest." Astaroth slid down from her landing spot and gracefully landed behind the bodyguards, who repositioned themselves to face this new possible threat. "At your apex, you would have swatted her in the blink of an eye like the fly she is. But in your current situation, if you try to also defend the villagers, this won't end well."

Tamamo closed her eyes as she started pondering situation. Lilith interrupted her train of thoughts not before long. "I swear we will do our best to defend this village. We know how much you love it. Astaroth will personally guard it." The red haired succubus nodded, confirming what her sister just said.

The kitsune realized she was stuck in an impasse. On the one hand, if Kagetsumugi or one of the seraph attacked Yamatai Village, it would likely be to eliminate her personally, and the village would suffer her presence. In this case, it was unlikely she would be able to defend everyone, so she was only putting the town's inhabitants at risk, on the other hand… Lilith told her exactly what could make hear leave this place. Even amongst succubi, she had a way with words that rivaled her own. She had played these little games enough to know that the succubus probably passed over a few important details to make her do what she want. However, she herself felt from here that something horribly wrong happened in the Natalia region. She wanted to stay her to defend the village, but if she was overwhelmed, there was no guarantee help would come, while if Astaroth was the one guarding the place, her sisters would definitively arrive within a minute. Eventually, she felt her heart tighten in front of the choice forced upon her, but she decided to accept the offer.

"Very well. Let's go."

Lilith smiled warmly, and both of them disappeared without fanfare as they teleported away.

Astaroth started rubbing her gloved hands together while licking her lips. That would make up for the disappointment that was Luddite Village. "Great. Self delivering food coming soon! When do I start getting worshipped?"

The four tailed samurai shook her head. "Just… Please, do refrain from draining anyone to death. We will be at the entrance of the shrine."

The succubus nodded without even looking at the kitsune, before wallowing comfortably on a large pillow "Wow, I didn't expect it to be THAT fluffy! Why didn't I ever ask Tamamo to craft me pillows with all the fur she sheds?"

Micaela looked at the sword in her hand with a sour expression. She then looked at the one lying on the table in front of her. She looked back at the sword in her hand. This merry-go-round went for a few minutes before she started talking to the small group in front of her while showing off her weapon.

"This is the Sword of the Heaven. A weapon handcrafted by the best smiths in Heaven specifically for me, with the rarest resources available. These include meteorite imbued with holy energy by Ilias herself, a few of her own feathers, and other materials that are lost to time. It was made with the intent to make a weapon capable of striking down the Dark Goddess and her Ancestors without even so much chipping away. Some of the angels involved in its creations even died in the process of crafting this blade." The weapon whistled in the air as she made a few swings with it. "As I said, this is my signature weapon. Nobody, save for those immediately related to me can wield this sword. Over the year, I managed to hone my skills with this blade to turn it from a mere tool of death to a part of me. So far, nobody did manage to match my skills in a swordfight. I simply could not consider fighting without it." She gave Luka a sidelong glance. "I am ashamed to say that part of the reason it took me so long to make up my mind to join you on your adventure was that I considered that using this easily recognizable sword would bring more trouble to the group than it could solve. After all, all those invaders looking for me would instantly be able to notice it and attack us as soon as it appeared."

She sighed as she pointed to the weapon lying on the table. "And yet, you found a weapon that outclassed it." She grabbed the copy of Excalibur, made a few swings with it, and sheathed it back before taking it. "Since the day I received the Sword of Heavens from Ilias, I did not consider changing of weapon once. In all those millennia, it always diligently served me." She put the blade on the table. "So please, be careful with it." Salamander bowed, and took the blade away respectfully under Micaela's eyes. If there was one monster in the castle that knew the value of the weapon, it was the Fire Spirit.

Micaela looked at her three future road companions. Promestein had left the party, saying that she had experiments to do with what she found, and that she could no longer afford the time to explore herself, in the process leaving an open space for the first seraph. The latter was equipped with the best gear the Pocket Castle had in its coffers. Under her usual green clothes, she was wearing an Archangel Bra that came from Grand Noah's treasury, and a pure white veil to protect her head. Her back was covered by a mirror shield, which had elicited a sad sigh from the seraph when she saw it. She had fallen silent for a minute, paying respect to her now dead sister who had been its former owner.

"I spoke with my younger counterpart. She told me about… Way too many things for me to be comfortable with, and that's saying a lot. She didn't even go into all the details." She looked down. "This is insane. Strolling through worlds isn't going to be the strangest thing that will happen, is it?"

Luka shrugged, not knowing what to do. "It depends of your definition of strange."

Sonya ground her teeth to dust. "If I remember correctly, our next sidequest will speak for itself."

"Oh yeah, the Grandeur theater." Luka chuckled. "That's… something."

Micaela scowled at them, as if her gaze could pry secrets from them. She soon stopped herself, trusting the judgment of the Daystar's son.

In the meantime, Ilias was still trying to hide in a corner, trying to conceal herself from the seraph. This didn't escape Micaela, who chuckled upon seeing the small goddess. "I told you, I'm not going to harm you. Consider this adventure an occasion to atone for what you planned." Ilias meekly nodded, and joined the group back, as if an invisible force was pushing her against her will.

The seraph became serious once again. "Let's not lose any time now. Luka? Lead the way."

The hero nodded and started making his way out of the castle, followed by the other party members. As soon as he was outside, near the now destroyed Luddite Village, he pulled out a harpy feather from his bag and teleported the group to Sabasa.

"Yaaaay. More of crossing the horrible, scorching desert with crazed monsters attacking us and sand getting everywhere." Sonya sarcastically exclaimed herself while raising her club while starting to walk.

Micaela chuckled darkly. "Oh, you think crossing this stretch of sand is difficult? Back during the Great Monster War, Sabasa was one of the favorite playgrounds of monsters. In fact, I remember Saja baiting angels in the dunes, where Hiruko was waiting patiently, concealed to every possible senses. As soon as an unfortunate victim arrived, her tentacles sprang from of a dune and grabbed the unfortunate angel that would become her next plaything. She then proceeded to violate her while extremely slowly dissolving her. And then she used her victim's scream to attract more angels who wanted to rescue their fellow, but those only ended as more food for the scylla ancestor. In the end, every angel was ordered to avoid Sabasa altogether under threat of beheading, but I don't think most of them actually realized that this sentence could never be carried in the first place if they were captured there.

Sonya gulped loudly and was sweating heavily. She couldn't tell if it was because of the story she just heard or because of the heat.

"Wow, you just sounded like an old lady."

I just said that out loud, didn't I? Oh crap. Oh crap! OH CRAP!

Micaela only barely glanced at Luka before continuing, as if the hero didn't say anything.

"I'm surprised you talked about the Ancestors despite my orders. I remember explicitly ordering to never say a word about them and to forget how harrowing the Great Monster War was. It's important to keep this image of superiority over monsters."

"And I'm still surprised you destroyed most books that held information on them. I always thought the best way to keep humanity away from monsterkind was to show how the original monsters were sadists that treated humans as nothing more than cattle in the best of their days. I mean look at Sonya's reaction. I remember hearing Tamamo say that this was one of the greatest service you ever did her."

Ilias looked down, mumbling about crafting herself a fur coat.

Eventually, the party reached the city of Grandeur. This place was famous for all the artistic entertainment it had to offer within its large theater, for welcoming the smith's headquarters and also for having the dubious honor of being the base of operation of the mafia.

A guard welcomed them as the group entered the town.

"Welcome to Grandeur. Don't cause troubles. ~Saki, sparkle!"

Micaela raised an eyebrow. "What?"

The guard awkwardly cleared his throat. "Sorry, this happens from time to time, we can't fully control that, it's like a hiccup."

Another guard intervened. "That's because you spent your last three days watching Saki at the theater."

"Shut up man! If Sarge learns that, I'm good to spend the whole month on guarding the entrance! Saki sparkle!"

"Who's Saki?"

The first guard sighed. "She's the new idol at the theatre. She's extremely popular, but some performers complain that she's hogging the stage for herself. But each time the manager tries to change the program and bring in another performer, he gets jeered and Saki has to come back."

"Then let's see what we can do there."

Micaela already started making her way to the theatre when she was interrupted by Ilias.

"Wait. Isn't Luka supposed to be the one leading this party?"

Micaela looked ashamed for a split second. "I apologize. Old habits die hard."

The small goddess looked at Sonya. "Are you okay with that? You haven't said anything for a while."

"I am surrounded by an avatar of the Goddess of Light, her first lieutenant, and the son of the second. I thought we reached the apex of insanity when we went back in time. I… as a mere mortal human, I have difficulties taking it in."

Luka kept his mouth clamped shut, silently letting Micaela take the lead. There was... something... in her that inspired him to follow her. The hero couldn't tell if it was fear or respect, however.

The team had to jostle its way to the building, as it was surrounded by a thick crowd that kept chanting Saki's name, and was growing more and more hysterical by the minute. As they finally entered the building, they could see the source of the town's trouble, happily singing and dancing on the stage.

~Give you a hug. ~Fingers wrapped around your heart. ~Give you a hug. ~Don't ask why, just press your lips to mine.

Micaela was dumbfounded at the situation, and her eyes kept themselves stuck to the pink haired succubus idol singing and dancing on the scene. Her senses only picked the smallest hint of magic, and it was largely insufficient to brainwash the population of a whole city. In fact, it was barely enough to slightly influence the spectators. The public was just that eager for the entertainment she provided.

The seraph started a declaration in a low, monotonous voice. "Lo and behold, for victory is mine as only one of my innumerable daughters turns every last one of your town's followers away from you and your sham of a religion, as they stand eagerly, waiting to enjoy the pleasure she has to offer. Admit your rule's weaknesses in front of your pet's desire for gratification, and give up as you should let them do as they please."

Ilias recoiled, offended by Micaela's words. "Did you just quote that shameless harlot Minagi?"

Micaela slowly nodded, and pointed at the idol. "Please tell me this is one of the more ridiculous situations we will have to deal with."

Luka awkwardly scratched his head. "I'm… not sure myself actually. There was that time with the sukiyaki party… And the magical girl tournament…"

Sonya sighed. "It's a shame I didn't win that one."

"Considering how it's powered by grudges, I'm not sure it's a bad thing. You'd have been exceedingly powerful."

Ilias and Sonya looked at each other, surprised by Luka's comment. They grinned evilly, as they realized the same idea came to their mind.

"Oh yes, but you still took time to properly congratulate the winner, right? Everybody could hear you when Succubus Witch required your assistance to recover energy."

Luka jumped up in panic. "Why are you talking about this right now?"

"Oh, because we all know how you love being congratulated by the monsters you saved. You took the time to fetch thanks from nearly every inhabitants of Succubus Village after all."

"Wait, who told you, you weren't even there!"

"Well, she probably talked with Cupi. You at least remember that her name is Cupi, right? I'm not sure you do, considering how much you keep going around…"

Luka started sweating. While Micaela remained apparently indifferent, he could feel her glare intensifying each time one of his friends told about his special requests.

"Can we just hurry and deal with the succubus on the scene?"

Ilias chuckled. "Oh, are you in a hurry to deal with her in bed?"

That's it. It's going down.

Luka groaned and stepped on the stage alone, with the crowd booing him as soon as he got near Saki.

"Excuse me. Can you stop hogging the scene? Other artists would like to perform."

"Ah! But I'm only performing because my fans demand it!"

"Sakiiiii!"

"Huoooohuuuu!"

Is it me, or they're even crazier than last time?

"You will have to get me off stage before I abandon them!"

"Well, in that case..." Luka rose his hand. Several flash of light filled the theater, blinding everyone temporarily. When it ended, most of the public was lying unconscious. Saki's jaw dropped on the floor. She emitted several small vocalizations in shock.

"Your fans are taking a rest. I think you're better taking one too."

"Did you just cast a depowered Holy Light to incapacitate everyone? I'm not even sure Lucifina would have done that!" Ilias was also shocked by what just happened.

Luka made a dismissive gesture toward the rest of his party. "They'll be fine. And they'll be happy once Saki comes back with new shows to put on." He turned back toward Saki. "Anyway, come with us, we have no reason to stay any longer in this town." The hero started walking toward the exit of the building, bringing along the almost catatonic succubus.

Sonya raised a finger. "Shouldn't we-"

"No, we're leaving now."

Micaela trailed a little behind, looking at the hero's back with a growing feeling of fear in her chest. She whispered for nobody in particular. "What's gotten into you, Luka?"

"Sooo… Can we talk about that?"

The White Rabbit was squatting on top of Reaper's shoulder, looking at the orb that was currently showing Luka's adventure in Grandeur. The black figure herself had a slightly surprised expression.

"That's… worrying. He never showed such signs of instability before."

"Then again, he never recruited Micaela before. Do you think she could be the cause?"

"Correlation doesn't mean causation. But in substance, this is indeed correct. The hero is starting to reasonably stand up to his allies, yet he's fearful of Micaela because of his past intercourses with monsters, resulting in an additional burden that was reinforced by her threat."

"And removing her would be a bad idea. She may slightly increase the spread of chaosization by accompanying Luka, but it is negligible compared to what her death will do." She looked up. "That's some good priority from the Ilias from the Angel World." She stood up and took a halo out of one of her zippers to place it on top of her head. "Kill key characters that originally survived! Don't assault Hellgondo to kill the Monster Lord that should be dead! Empty humans settlements one by one!" She then looked down at the Reaper. "Do you think it's better or worse than keeping the Monster Lord around and frolicking merrily, dryfishing people because they're at the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"Based on the impact both have on chaosization… They're both as bad." The landscape scrolled to center on a small lamia, who was accompanied by a two tailed silver kitsune and a pink slime that tried looking like a rabbit. They were currently wandering in Monte Carlo, far from Grandeur where they were currently supposed to be.

"Ooohh… That's not good. I might have to step in there."