An angel was running alone in a thick forest, her wings burned. She was followed closely by a wall of light so intense, everything it touched was torched and instantly disintegrated. She looked at the uneven ground in front of her, and saw several bottomless pit that seemed filled with a dark, thick mud. Her legs kept bringing her forward faster and faster, but the wall kept moving and slowly caught her back. As she stepped on a patch of uneven ground, the floor gave up and revealed another dark, muddy pit, almost making her fall. Fortunately, she managed to catch herself up in the blink of an eye and started running again, a bit more wary of the ground.
The more she ran, the more unnatural her environment grew. Some trees were distorted, and several patches of grass had a strange, purple-ish color. She didn't have the time to examine them any further and stood focused on her goal of escaping. Eventually, the forest made way for a lifeless wasteland. Those pits were still sporadically present, and the wall of light was still following her closely. Even as the sky turned from blue to an uncanny star-filled purple, those dangers were still present.
She was running in what looked like an endless plain made of large, purple slabs for an undetermined amount of time when she noticed that there was nothing to run on in front of her, only an endless black void that was actually progressing toward her. She took a moment to consider her options when the slab she was standing on simply disappeared. She fell into the black mud, and found herself starting to choke. She swam up and caught her breath, but tentacles formed and tried keeping her under as if to drown her. Even as her lungs kept screaming for air, she kept struggling. She saw the wall of light and the endless void approach, and everything connected at the moment she lost consciousness.
Micaela awakened from her nightmare, and instantly started analyzing everything about her and her surroundings. She was alone in her seraph form in a comfortable bed located in a stone room, with her body feeling extremely heavy and covered with several vine-made bandages. On the side of her bed was several containers filled with various products that were identifiable as powerful healing herbs and balms, as well as queen level alraune honey. Her last memories were about fleeing Adramelech while bleeding, and finding herself surrounded by several worried queen class monsters while carrying Luka and Ilias out of Tartarus. She relaxed as she realized that, by all logic, she has been brought back to the safety of the Pocket Castle and was being taken care of. There was nobody else right now actually watching over her, so in all likeliness, her status was pretty good. She managed to sit up, but felt that she was still too exhausted to go for a walk. Furthermore, she had grown unaccustomed to walking around in her seraph form. So she continued focusing on remembering what had happened beforehand.
She remembered their predicament taking a turn for the worse when Sonya, Luka's childhood friend and a human priestess, turned into a powerful apoptosis and tried draining her power. Luckily, Luka had managed to free her before she could do long lasting damages. Micaela remembered that afterward, Sonya went to chase Luka while she herself was forced to fight Adramelech, and yet, she didn't see the transformed girl when she grabbed Luka. She seriously doubted that he killed her, and yet… Would there be any other reason that would make him go catatonic?
Lost in thoughts, she didn't instantly notice the door opening, and only saw the one behind after the newcomer had been observing her for at least a few minutes. It was a small mermaid with white hair and blue eyes. She remembered it was El, the mermaid queen Laura's daughter. The seraph smiled at the young girl.
"Greetings El, how are you doing?"
As an answer, the small mermaid jumped away while shouting. "Mooom, the angel girl is awake!"
Micaela sighed. She thought she was better than that with children. A minute later, Laura and the Grand Noah queen arrived in her room, the former closely followed by her daughter.
"You should not overexert yourself. This will only slow down the healing process." Laura's tone was a bit scolding, which in a way reminded Micaela of herself. The mermaid queen checked the seraph's wounds. "Although you healed extremely fast anyway."
Micaela gave a tired smile as she laid back on the bed. "How long have I been out?"
"Two days." The Grand Noah queen sat on a chair while Laura checked her patient. "And before you ask we didn't make any progress. Luka's currently too depressed to move, and he's spending most of his time at the bar with the two dons to give him company. A few monsters also tried to throw themselves at him, but he didn't react once. Some even tried to use seduction magic, but he's as responsive as a rock."
Micaela frowned. "Nobody molested him at least?" She winced in pain when Laura used a recovering spell on her.
"No, every monster are keeping an eye on each other to get sure that nothing bad happen to him, although some did try to grab him for themselves. Some succubi in particular wanted to take him on the spot, but they always got mobbed before they could do anything."
Micaela chuckled. "That'd be almost endearing …" She grimaced. "If that wasn't done for sucking his energy out by raping him… I'll check on him later. What about Ilias? Is she safe?"
The queen grimaced. "Most angels are on a… vacation."
-One day earlier-
"I wish to leave. I don't think Luka is neither able nor willing to protect me as he should."
The Grand Noah queen sighed. When that angel soldier came to her earlier to say that the "gracious goddess demanded the presence of the royals of this world," she knew it wouldn't be for anything good. And one hour later, when all the human lords, when Ilias and Eden were around the table…
The bombshell in itself didn't surprise her. Even if she knew that the goddess had a tendency to twist the narration to her favor, it was clear that something had gone VERY wrong in the exploration of the Tartarus. Between the shellshocked hero, the unconscious seraph, the missing priestess and the furious little goddess, everything indeed pointed toward a huge scale disaster. And none of the three survivors had said a single word on the matter yet.
The first issue that had come to the table was the fact that Sonya's true nature had been concealed to the goddess, who always thought something was wrong with the girl. It was a miracle that the secret had never been blown wide open before, but they paid the price for thinking that they could keep it under wrap just like that to deal with it later.
The second was that Ilias herself had been out of her league in the latest fights. She once again voiced her suspicions that it was the result of an attempt to kill her indirectly, but everybody reminded her that she had been equipped with the best gear in the castle, and that furthermore she had been offered to be taught by the best teachers available, which she had refused each time for the not-so-hidden reason that those teachers were all monsters. In spite of the attempts to reassure her on the matter, she refused to concede any point.
"You are free to leave, but I really invite you to consider the security you get by remaining in the castle." Like everyone, the San Ilia pope wanted her to stay, not for the least because a lot of angels were threatening to follow her.
"I already had been considering this decision since the moment I set foot here." Her tone was extremely condescending. "This place was made by monsters, for monsters, and nobody did anything about any of the defiling abomination living here. The only reason this place has a chapel is to mock my religion." She looked at every lord with a severe gaze. "Then I got traumatized and toyed with, and the criminals that laid hand on me had been forgiven as if it was nothing serious."
"They would say otherwise." The Grand Noah queen checked through her files. "It's true that community service is a light sentence for harassment, but we are short on effective manpower, and it's the best way to get monsters to serve the interest of the common good, all according to your plan." She tried to butter up the small goddess.
"Can you tell me what monsters actually did for me?"
"Some offered to teach you their skills."
Ilias scoffed. "Jokes unworthy of a goddess."
"They protected you during fights."
"Fights that they were responsible for."
"They're cooking for you."
"My angels can do that just as well."
"They manage the castle so that you can fully enjoy its amenities, and they also do most of the intelligence gathering with the intention to guarantee your safety."
"Because that ended up well."
The four human lords looked at each other. It was clear that nothing they could say would change the mind of the goddess, and nobody wanted to spend days after days negotiating with her. They decided to relent.
"Well in that case, we wish you the best of luck on your trip. However you should tell Luka of your decision before you leave." The Grand Noah queen was already busying herself by checking another file.
Ilias was dumbfounded by their reaction. She expected them to appeal to their goddess harder than that, or at the very least to negotiate a deal to convince her to stay. Instead, it was almost like they didn't really care about her and her angels.
She preferred keeping up a façade for the moment. "Perfect, I am glad we found an agreement over this. Just know I might consider coming back should you give proper deference to your goddess."
"Before you go, we're sorry but we will have to reacquire the equipment that was gifted to you. While your fellow angels have done their duty to pay off theirs, we simply cannot afford to let you leave with this precious gear."
"We also will no longer cover your expenses and the incidents you could be responsible of. Based on the accounts registered by Mephisto, you should be able to hold as is three months in the wild."
"Last, we wish to remind you to be careful, we won't be able to guarantee your safety should the Lilith Sisters, the seraph from the Angel World or Black Alice's goons attack you."
Ilias started trembling when the weight of her decision finally hit her. Still, she accepted it with as much nobleness as she could gather, and gave back her equipment. She was sure that her angels would find gear just as good if not better in no time.
An hour later, most angels were packing their equipment under Eden's instructions. The halls of the castle were currently empty, as most monsters stepped aside to let them leave. A few angels were taking longer because they were finishing shadowy deal with monsters, and Ilias was glad that she would no longer have to deal with the creations of that shameless pseudo dark goddess any longer. She looked around, and could see Lucifina-chan sitting on the shoulder of a statue, swinging her feet.
"I'm going to stay here!"
Ilias was shocked by the decision made by the seraph. Pictures of her betrayal five hundred years ago crossed her mind. She had difficulties not trembling in fear when she asked why.
"Because Luka must always have a mommy to watch over him. And it's funny living there!"
"But… There are monsters living here! They can attack you!"
"I know!" Lucifina closed her eyes and answered with a big, goofy smile. "That'll be even funnier!"
With the mental images still flashing in her mind, Ilias gave up and let the small seraph do as she please. Her mind focused on Luka, who was now getting wasted in the bar over the death of his childhood friend. Maybe she should just leave a letter for the hero. After having pulled her through the mud, definitively did not deserve her august presence a second longer.
When she was exited the dimension of the Pocket Castle in the early hours of the evening that day, she didn't feel the relief she expected but rather fear and confusion. She already had ideas for what she was going to do next with her angels. And yet, she felt like she was making the biggest mistake in her life.
"So in the end, only Victoria, Cupi and Lucifina-chan stood with us. And the two formers explicitly told us they were ordered by Ilias to keep an eye on us, even if we think there's something else."
"Great…" Micaela closed her eyes. "Eden's strategic genius at work, everyone. Leave the Pocket Dimension accessible only by you and an army willing to protect you, to go in the wild where a bunch of legendary succubi and psycho angels are roaming. Great plan, really." She turned toward her two listeners. "I'm ranting, ain't I?"
The Grand Noah queen politely ignored the self deprecating remark. "One of them is still reporting on what they're doing. The group had taken control of Mt Amos and uses it as a pilgrimage point for those that want to be enlightened by the true teachings of the Goddess of Light. Mephisto had already drawn several plans to rescue them when the need will arise. We hope we'll be able to win their support back then."
"If only I knew about Sonya being an apoptosis…"
The Grand Noah queen kneeled while looking down. "We sincerely apologize for failing to communicate this key information. We are getting overwhelmed with a growing number of issues ourselves."
"…And most of all, I didn't think that information would be relevant until we reached Ilias Temple. She never had reacted beforehand to the fighting between extra dimensional factions after all." Mephisto came in, half walking and half stumbling into the seraph's room, her wand still smoking. "Sorry, we had a small problem with our informant network."
"Do you know what happened to her?"
Mephisto scratched the back of her head with her free hand while the queen got up. "Apparently, and if what Ilias told me is right, Luka's father came from the middle of nowhere, cut her down, and left just like that."
Micaela nodded as she absorbed the information. She then looked at the wall with a thousand yard stare. "I have no difficulty accepting it. One month ago, I'd have laughed at you for thinking you could take me for a fool like that and today I have no difficulty accepting the out-of-nowhere explanation."
"I swear it is the truth."
"I don't doubt your words." Micaela was still staring at the wall in shock in front of her. "This is why I'm stunned. I never thought I'd have to deal with anything like that."
Mephisto announced in a bombastic tone. "Welcome to Luka's army! We hope you will enjoy your stay once you'll be out of this shock." She then calmed back when she remembered how dangerous the target of her piques could be. "Anyway, I just come back from checking with our network what are the news in Grand Noah to prepare our adventures there, and they're bad."
Micaela groaned. "Let me guess. Tamamo No Mae is nowhere to be found."
Mephisto nodded. "The Mighty Fox made way for the Hungry Red Sky Oni. Minamo confirmed her identity through her succubus aura and refuses to do a visual check."
"Astaroth… I can't blame her." She looked at the ceiling before asking nobody in particular. "Why did the old coot left?"
"We can't find the reason for now. Our ninja asked the bodyguard, and apparently she left after a conversation between her and the Lilith Sisters. Also the succubus didn't drain anyone to death so far."
"Wow, she's either taking a liking to the village, or she seriously want to please Tamamo. That's good to know. Is there anything else to know?"
"We're preparing ourselves to help the navy deal with pirates -it should only be a small skirmish-, and my parallel self should be puppeteering the Grand Noah queen to pull strings behind the colosseum to trap Alma Elma. We also expect to encounter some servants of Black Alice, as two of them are manipulating plants and insects in a war against each other while a third one is trying to rally the Demon Cow Queen." Mephisto sighed. "We also have a new issue. Finoa has been razed to the ground."
Micaela nodded and looked into Mephisto's eyes. "And it didn't happen last time?" It was more a confirmation than an actual question.
"No it didn't. The only thing we know is that everything has been magically set on fire. The youngest inhabitants appeared in Yamatai without explanation. We suspect the Lilith Sisters since Astaroth is also there, but it doesn't match their modus operandi at all."
"We'll see about that once there. Our first priority is…" Micaela sighed again and deflated. "To pull Luka out of his depression while I craft myself an angelic concealment ring. I lost mine when fighting Adramelech." She looked at Mephisto. "Only a holy resistance ring would be powerful and fitting enough for that end. But only a small handful of them had been crafted in the Monster Lord's castle, and most have been lost to time."
"We have three in stock."
"I'm not surprised anymore."
"We also have a pleasure resistance one that could be useful should you personally decide to deal with the Hungry Red Sky Oni by yourself." Mephisto smirked.
"I will take you on the offer."
A few minutes later, Micaela was working on the holy resistance ring. She plucked one of her feather, and magically added it to a mirroring spell put in the ring. That way, her own holy magic signature would be contained to her body and her angelic features would be hidden. This prevented her from using her more powerful holy skills, but she was still a swordmaster it was a good tradeoff for remaining mostly concealed.
All the while, her mind was filled with plans to pull Luka up from his depression: With all the energy she had spent those last days, sacrificing more to give a part of her will to the hero could prove dangerous for her. Using her powerful commanding skills would also take a lot of energy and could actually represent a risk to monsters. She doubted she could be able to take the lead in his place, and furthermore, this could also make him think he was becoming unneeded and further worsen his state of mind. A psychological shock maybe? Scaring him into following her could backfire into so many ways it was not even worth considering. Guilt tripping him could also worsen the issue…
As she thought about it, an idea started making its way through her mind, and she felt dirty just thinking about it. She had no doubt that if THAT failed, then nothing else would work. And even if it worked, her pride and her image would take a hit. Then again, she remembered that every inhabitant in the Pocket Castle might have seen the incident in the Crystal Mine, so there wasn't a lot more to lose in that regard.
She looked at her finished handiwork. She tested it to confirm it was indeed fully working, and took a second to appreciate the fact that she managed to reach one of her goal today. Now it was time to deal with the other…
Micaela swore under her breath for the first time in forever. She'd have to talk to Mephisto and a few other people about her idea first. Contrary to what she often heard, keeping your allies in the dark about your plans with the intent to surprise your enemy more often than not made things worse.