"Mmmh."

In her Magical Academy located north of Grand Noah, Mephisto was checking the equipment that she had spread over her desk: A magical beacon for teleportation, the stone shard that would allow her to pass through the protection of Grand Noah's colosseum, a communication gem to talk with someone a whole continent away and her old, trusty wand were perfectly aligned in front of her, clean from dust and ready for use.

She had been as surprised as anyone when Alipheese the Sixteenth had been sealed by the assault of a strange monster that called itself the White Rabbit a few months ago. She was even more surprised the Fifteenth Monster Lord reappeared not long after to claim the throne, supported by the unsealed Lilith Sisters. But she took their return in stride, and served her as she used to. Soon enough, she, like many other monsters, was given special instructions. In her case, she had been ordered to do the utmost to serve Grand Noah while reporting on the country's activities. By loyalty for the throne, she applied the order with the utmost celerity.

However not everybody had chosen to be at the returned Monster Lord's side. Alma Elma, the succubus queen and one of the Sixteenth's Heavenly Knight, had decided that rather than following orders, she should go on her own. While she didn't openly rebel against her new lord, her might coupled with her desire to remain free could make her a dangerous spanner in the works. And recently, the Monster Lord had asked Mephisto's assistance to capture her.

The plan to get the whimsical succubus queen back into the fold was simple. Since the Monster Lord knew that Alma Elma would show up for the final of the Queen's cup to fight Luka, they would send Granberia to convince her (by force if necessary) to bring her back. The Dragonkin had expressed concern over the fact that should it come to a fight, she doubted that she could beat Alma Elma. When she got pushed for further details, she became flustered and could barely articulate a few words in. Luckily, a little push on her pride as a warrior had solved all issues, at least for now.

Once they'd get Alma Elma back, dealing with the aftermath would be a footnote… If everything went according to plan. Mephisto herself had indeed a doubt that Granberia would be able to beat Alma Elma should the succubus rally the support of the hero's group. She felt that too many parameters were out of her control, and she was growing worried about the lack of information that had filtered from the Monster Lord's castle those past weeks.

Besides, the Lilith Sisters had become more distant lately. A part of her was glad that those succubi behaved more formally (and even moreso properly), but she hadn't reached her venerable age by ignoring changes in her environment. Something that changed the perception the succubi had of her had happened, and they didn't consider the need to talk to her about it. She had no idea what happened, but she took the decision to start carrying a few additional wards against wind and pleasure magic around should her fears come to concretize themselves. Maybe she should disappear once her mission was complete. But that would be violating the contract she established to do her utmost best to help Grand Noah.

But she couldn't even do that if she was dead, unless a copy of her was always available to the queen of Grand Noah. An idea wormed its way through her mind. Since one of their enemy was a puppeteer skilled with dark arts, could there indeed be a copy of her using her power, running around and impeding the Lilith Sister's plans? Mephisto ground her teeth. If she used an hex against her own power and tried to track where the spell was going, she would be able to see if someone else was indeed using her own power to frame her.

Mephisto started looking on the shelves in her office. She took a small black cubic stone that was the size of an eye and placed it on her desk. This was a tool for casting hexes, not for communication, and this was the only item that could work for her plan. She then proceeded to cut one of her finger and let a single drop of blood fall on the cube. It sizzled for a second before disappearing.

Shen then traced a serie of runes on the ground around her desk to siphon immediate magic. That way, her analysis wouldn't suffer from a white noise caused by the ambient mana.

She gave a pinch in the gem, and felt a sharp pain in her side. She just hoped she was not needlessly hurting herself, as her magical senses couldn't pick the spell going into any direction. And yet, she felt it affecting something else. Her first impression was right. Someone else was using her own power. She prepared a spell to destroy the gem should that other person decide to use her own spell to make her suffer. Surprisingly, nothing happened, until the gem vibrated a few times. Then again. And again. After the third time, Mephisto noticed it wasn't shaking at random, but in a certain pattern. Was that person trying to communicate?

She then recognized an old code based on timing that had been developed a long time ago. And apparently, whoever ended up targeted by her spell presented herself at Mephisto. Using the gem as a telegraph, she asked more details to the victim of her hex. Said victim kept insisting she was herself from a future time and was accompanying the hero that would soon face the succubus queen.

Then to prove it, she guessed what Mephisto was currently doing in her office and what would be the next entries in the diary she kept hidden on herself. When Mephisto asked the other one what else would happen next she got a "you don't want to be re-educated", which confirmed her that her interlocutor was another version of her, and that the next plan was likely to go very awry. The gem then fell silent, frustrating her.

As she considered what she just learned, she decided to search for in her magical catalysts collection to contact someone else who would be interested by this information. She pulled a small lock of white fluff, and sacrificed it at its burned on the gem. She then grabbed the gem with both hands, and, with every effort she could gather, managed to push it a small centimeter across the table before stopping. She waited for a second, and the cube slid a few inches as if someone hit it softly. She tapped three times rapidly, then twice on it. The cube shivered once rapidly. Good, it looked like her interlocutor had the reactions she expected of her… And minded her enough to reflect the hex on the catalyst and not its caster.

She then used the cube to tell everything she learned while using the same code she did earlier with her counterpart. Sometimes the cube moved a little, as her interlocutor demanded confirmation on what she just told. As she tired of this argument, she told her interlocutor to go check for herself.

The cube stopped moving for several minutes. Mephisto was packing her equipment when suddenly the cube propelled itself at an almost relative speed at a wall, shattering itself in a thousand pieces in the process and leaving a not so subtle dent in the process. She smiled as this reaction could only mean one thing. Her interlocutor was going to take actions.

Mephisto took a paper and wrote a few instructions for the last year students present in the academy. She then reorganized the shelf a last time before preparing to teleport to Grand Noah.

This time, she was confident that everything was covered.

Luka and his party were in higher spirit the next morning when they started making their way to Grand Noah. Lucifina and Freya were enthusiastic to the perspective of fighting in the colosseum, and seeing them in a good mood was welcomed by Airy and Luka.

The large streets of the city of Grand Noah were filled with activity. Humans and monsters alike had come for the Queen Cup, and were busying themselves gossiping and spreading the latest rumors about the war with Grangold. The complete destruction of the village of Lima was a matter that seemed to come back way too often on everyone's lips. Knowing the truth only made it more uncomfortable.

"So how do we get into the colosseum exactly?" Freya utterly failed to sound disinterested.

"We go to the queen, ask for the right to examine Esta, and get it from Mephisto under the condition that we prove ourselves by participating in the Queen's cup challenge."

Freya snarled. "I still can't believe my first participation the colosseum will be for a farce."

Luka shrugged. "We will still face serious challengers. They shouldn't be a problem as we are now, but we still have a show to put on."

The Elf queen's mood had somewhat been spoiled, but she was still eager to show off in the arena.

Once the group gained access to the castle, the conversation with the queen proceeded exactly as the party expected. Of course, Mephisto had appeared midway to tell them they could show they were worthy of trust if they fought in the colosseum for the Queen's Cup. Lucifina-chan accepted with an enthusiasm that had startled even the usually impassible yoma. Since the tournament was going to happen the next day, everybody decided to make use of their free time after having signed up the group. The two queens decided to go visit the town on their own, while Luka used the excuse of wanting to bond with his new mother to keep an eye on Lucifina-chan. Secretly, he was worried about what would happen should she be left alone in such a large city. He didn't want to run the risk of seeing piles of dead bodies randomly pop up.

Airy and Freya were standing in front of the colosseum. The elf queen was in awe as she watched the exterior of the absolutely massive arena, her mouth slightly agap.

"You really love the colosseum, don't you?" The fairy queen had a small smirk.

Freya haughtily sneered. "I don't see why I, as the elf queen, would have any interest in a huge waste of natural resources dedicated to an ode to human's and monster's more savage tendencies.

"As the Elf Queen? Indeed, you have no reason. But as someone who's been raised by the Amazoness tribe and learned everything about the art of fighting with almost every weapon imaginable, and who prides herself with a bow?" Her smile grew sympathetic. "You should sometimes learn to accept your hobbies. Don't pretend to diss those interests simply because they don't match the ones that the Elf Queen is supposed to have. As the leader of the elves, you have enough issues without forcing yourself to pretend you dislike something."

"I know... I already have to do something about the reputation of elves being lewd to deal with. That, and…" She gestured at the town, ashamed. "This world's version of me is probably readying her attack on this town that the other version of you will lead. I don't know if we can do anything about this, and even less if we should."

"We shall ask Luka later. In the meantime, how about we go watch one or two fights for ourselves?"

Meanwhile, Luka was trying to explain what was happening to Lucifina-chan at a bar. The angel was already frowning, displeased by Luka's choice for a resting spot.

"Luka, mommy didn't educate you to go into this kind of place!"

"I know and I apologize, but I really needed to find a place to set down to talk with you." Luka sounded exhausted, his voice monotone. He wanted to make himself clear without hurting the seraph's feeling, and was taking the time to carefully choose his words.

"What is it? Mommy will always support you!"

"And I wanted to tell you that I appreciate that and always welcome your help, but I just wish it was less… destructive."

"But… Why?" Lucifina-chan looked on the verge of tears.

Luka shuffled awkwardly. At least nobody was looking at them. "Because I don't want us to kill monsters… Because we will need their help and we need to be known as better than killers to get it…" An idea crossed his mind, and he cleared his throat before continuing on a more solemn tone. "Because the biggest killer known in history was Black Alice. Do you want to get associated to Black Alice?"

The small seraph pouted and puffed her cheeks. "I know everything about destroying monsters and enjoy it. I don't want to be upstaged by a baddy monster lord!"

She's to killing what Morrigan is to sex.

Luka massages his temples. "Look… Can you at least try to do an effort for me?"

Lucifina-chan brought a finger to her chin while looking at the sky.

"Okay!" Her cheerful answer surprised Luka.

Wow, that was easier than what I thought.

But in exchange, you will find yourself a good wife before the end of your adventure!"

Then again, maybe not.

The next day, Luka and his team were ready for the fights. He had the occasion to see Alice and her teammates again as they also had signed up for the competition. However, she got defeated in the elimination pool while the hero reached the finals without difficulties. At the final match, the mysterious "Kyuba" manifested in front of an unsurprised group, her blue cloak waving in the wind.

"Ooooh." The succubus queen shivered in delight when she saw Luka. "I didn't expect someone so powerful to show up…" She licked her lips, her crimson eyes fully focused on the hero. "Maybe I should fight seriously after all."

In the blink of an eye, the succubus was straddling Luka, surprising everyone. Fortunately, she was almost instantly knocked away by a stalagmite that spawned from the ground, courtesy of Airy. Freya instantly shot an arrow at the succubus queen, but only manage to cut a few of her long purple hair. The succubus queen giggled as she looked at the hero.

"Awww, don't you want a one on one? I'm fine with taking all of you at the same time, but I'm afraid you wouldn't enjoy it as much…"

She rushed once again at Luka, but got intercepted by Lucifina's sword. She repeatedly struck the disguised seraph with her fist, but each of her attack got parried or dodged. In the meantime, Freya exploited the opportunity to charge an elemental arrow while Airy danced, summoning an elemental wave that swept back the succubus. Luka and Lucifina pushed on with holy infused blades, knocking the succubus down fast.

Surprisingly, she managed to get up and landed a few punches on Luka before Lucifina-chan struck her in the head with her sword, knocking her out cold for good.

Luka slowly exhaled. He had forgotten that the Succubus Queen was one of the opponents that had held back when he originally faced her. While each memeber of the group was as powerful as her, her pleasure skills could have proven a threat to each of them as well as himself.

The crown was cheering the champion of the cup with abandon, and Mephisto suddenly appeared as Alma Elma got up.

"I suppose I should thank you for baiting this traitor." She turned toward Alma Elma. "Now, if you will follow us."

Alma Elma chuckled. "And why would I come with you? As clever as your little trap is, I have no reason to follow you."

Mephisto stepped back. "Well, if I can't convince you, maybe she will." She placed the teleportation on the ground.

And here comes Granberioooooh crap.

The dragonkin wasn't alone.

Micaela was reading the last of the three books as fast as her intellect allowed her. She devoured the information Tamamo, Promestein and herself had felt the need to consign into a book in this dying world she visited with Luka. She had learned much more information on the Ancestors and the Apoptosis than she imagined.

Of course, some of that information was unwelcomed. She could have lived without learning more about the sexual practices both groups had. It had dug up bad memories of her first hand experiences with the former, and the latter had disgusted her.

The key information she had, however, was that apparently that other version of her had learned more from Ilias about the Seven Archangels project, as well as about the subsequent second generation seraphim that would have filled the ranks. That plan hadn't been put into application because Ilias would apparently have required a lot of energy that she couldn't gather because of the sheer pressure the Dark Goddess and her Ancestors kept putting on. There also was the lingering fear that their deployment would have destroyed the world harder than the fight already did, and she had doubts she would be able to control all of them. In any case, she finally had some basic information about them. With what she had already seen and Promestein's own knowledge, maybe she'd be able to extrapolate more on their abilities. There were mostly sketches and a short summary of planned abilities, but these datas would be more than enough should those from the Angel World decide to attack them.

What she had read on the apoptosis didn't reassure her in the slightest. She knew about their role as the antibodies to prevent the spread of chaos brought by travelers between dimensions, but she then found out that as the chaosization of a world increased, so did apoptosis presence, and to prevent further contamination, they eradicated everything on more contaminated worlds. What did make it horrible was that the inhabitants of the world realized their world was falling into chaos when the apoptosis emerged from Tartarus and slaughtered everyone indiscriminately, killing more than half of its inhabitants in a single night. Maybe keeping observers around each Tartarus would be necessary…

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by someone knocking at the door. She opened up to see the large fox-like centaur body of Nanabi behind the entrance. The seven tailed, yellow-ish kitsune bowed respectfully, but her empty looking eyes ticked Micaela that she was not going to like what she was going to hear.

Instead, the kitsune just handed a book. "You will love the one at the page one hundred and thirty seven. Have a good day." She then bowed again, and left without ceremony.

Micaela looked at the back of the fox centaur as the latter left, then at the book. It was a collection of children's tales written by an artist that had travelled through the world, several hundred of years ago. If Nanabi, of all persons, had given her that one, this was certainly not by chance. She opened it at the page recommended by the kitsune.

The story of the drunken snake

There was once upon a time a huge snake that was terrifying the population of a small village. This snake was so strong that no hero could stand to it and so ravenous that it ate every villager it came across and every field in its way. That snake wanted nothing more than to fill its stomach.

One day, a smart hero saw this and devised a clever strategy. The next time the monster would come, every villager would hide food while pots filled with alcohol were placed at the center. The snake drank everything, and fell asleep as soon as it came back to its lair. Then the hero followed her and slew her. He then claimed the treasure in her hideout behind the waterfall and shared it with the villagers who were happy. And thus ends the tale of the drunken snake.

The end.

The seraph couldn't refrain from grimacing. "Really?"