The eight-chapter is finished! Honestly had a bit of a blast while writing it, I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do since this more of the happier ones (not that the story won't have a lot of them, it's just not very present in the Ilias continent arc).
"Uhh…" Luka groaned as he marched along with his companions towards their destination, it wasn't the exhaustion from the slight lack of sleep that was the cause of his suffering although it did have a role in it, the more important part was the training he was subjected to, if one were to ever gaze underneath his clothing they would find some bruising.
Luther was only slightly merciful as to not use his powers when throwing his metal balls. If it were otherwise Luka's journey would've been long over. In a way the boy regretted ever speaking to the man about his anxieties, it would have saved him a lot of trouble and pain.
"Are you alright? You seem tired…" Alice asked, her tone of voice indicated that she was more suspicious than worried, though because of the boy's nature there was a hint of concern, it was hard to hate or dislike him even for her.
Before answering his monstrous companion Luka met the cold grey eyes of Luther, whose body and face language told him to follow up on their agreement.
Luka ran, zig-zagging in between the trees with Luther right behind him armed with his infamous steel balls, the bite of which the boy had come to loathe. While he learned quickly it took his instincts a full minute to get used to the fact that this wasn't a test of endurance, but his agility. It wasn't as simple for the fake hero to focus on dodging Luther's attacks at least in this case, he could do it only when his companion was throwing one projectile, but not when he was throwing two, especially once some of them started to bounce back into his hand.
He needed to be better than agile: he needed to dash, use obstacles to his advantages and feint his movements, all to finally goad out his training partner's attack and be finished with this session. That's when he heard Chambers come close enough for his plan to work, all he needed to do was get close enough with Angel Halo and he would win. At the corner of his vision, he spotted that Luther was about to throw a steel ball, with a burst of speed he sprinted, the ball barely nicking his heel.
There was a second steel ball going toward him after the first one, if this one didn't bounce back then his friend would be left defenseless. As predicted the second steel ball came to him aiming for his head. Luka hid behind a tree, the steel projectile scratching the bark and flying further away. Afterward, Luka spun around his cover, Angel Halo in hand, to face his training partner who was left without any visible weapon. The boy swung a downward into Luther, but before the unholy blade could touch the man he stopped.
Luther shuddered from the proximity to the blade, seeming afraid of it which confused Luka for a bit, but he ultimately assumed it was from surprise or shock. The hero moved the blade away from his friend leaving a little breathing room between them. Regardless of Luther's apparent surprise Luka could see smudged of pride and approval within the man's bleak eyes.
"You managed to make your opponent lose their defense and struck at the opportune moment all while managing to avoid their attacks, you did well…" The fake hero's heart fluttered at the praise, it also might have been the physical stress that played a part as well.
"Remember most monsters have some advantage over you either by being faster, stronger... having more arms or legs or simply being able to use magic. You have to fight smarter not harder, try to corner them as you did with me and when you do, don't relent, not even for a moment, of course, all in moderation, you don't want to disregard defense." His words while they sounded cruel to even commit to the boy were ultimately necessary, if his friend wasn't holding back he would be dead if he fought like he regularly did and he doubted the enemies he would face would give him the same mercy.
"Thank you…" He huffed out, maybe it was more taxing than he imagined, playing such a long drawn out cat and mouse game. He groaned from the pain before chuckling to himself. "I'll definitely remember this."
"Great, if you want to train again don't hesitate to tell me." Luther went to pick up his steel balls popping them back into the holsters. He glanced at the boy who looked like he wanted to say something.
"Alice…" Luka reminded me. "Are we going to say anything to her about training?"
"If you want to, be my guest." Chambers knew the boy specifically hadn't mentioned anything about his anxieties in the question, and why would he? It was likely Alice in this current state of their relationship would mock him and bring him down even further. "Would you have her be awake during the night as well?"
"Ah… no, maybe I shouldn't say anything, I know it's bad to lie, but she is…a little too much for me to handle for more than a day." The fake hero confessed, although there was another reason. He valued the separate time he had spent with Luther even if it was a little painful, and there would be no doubt that the man before him would retreat into silence if there was someone else around them as he always seemed to do.
"Then we won't mention this, lie if we have to..."
"Oh, it's nothing I just woke in the middle of the night and had a hard time falling asleep again," Luka answered as best he could, he had shamefully confessed it was one of his better lies, but at least it served a steady nod from Luther, yet there was something disturbing about Alice's amused countenance.
"Could it be that you're excited or nervous? There must have been too much energy in you, you can also ask me to help you with that." Yet again the lamia proved too able to break his composure with mere words. Luka could feel his soul die a little as he was reminded of her previous antics and at this rate, he might as well reach the monster lord's castle as a soulless husk driven by determination and embarrassment.
"Uuu… why do you have to say such things?" Luka bewailed, the boy wasn't the only one suffering. He could see a certain degree of disappointment in his friend's stone-cold expression. Luther wasn't as detached as he first thought, there were emotions hidden underneath that permanent cold glare, something which the fake hero managed to pick up on a bit during his training.
"And why do you insist on coexistence? That's just how we are, that and it's easy to make you squirm for me." She smiled, it looked sickeningly sweet to the one beholding it, the very fact that she could tease the innocent boy without much effort on her part brought great pleasure
"Do you just bother him because it's easy or is there something else behind your actions?" Surprisingly this time it was Luther who spoke, it was hard for the man to believe that the monster had managed to get some infatuation with the boy this early on to enjoy simply teasing him, at best he could say that Alice found Luka endearing, yet naïve.
"How else am I supposed to entertain myself when he is not fumbling around with monsters?" She huffed, but her exasperated expression vanished as soon as it appeared. They were nearing the mountain range and with that the location of the supposed bandits who were harassing the humans nearby, the famed dragon, vampire, and lamia…
"How much are you willing to bet that there are a dragon, lamia, and vampire, what are you going to do if that's the case?" Alice directed a question at both of them. Luther didn't answer, but he ultimately knew who the bandits were, nothing but children playing pretend, of course, he didn't fault Alice and Luka for not knowing it, after all, they didn't possess any outside knowledge.
"I'll still fight." This was Luka's answer, it seemed all more confident or rather determined than the last time he answered.
"Tch, so persistent… you don't gain anything from this and here you are risking your life." Alice crossed her arms annoyed by the sheer stupid selflessness that the boy displayed. It didn't make any sense for her that any living being would possess such utter disregard for their wellbeing.
"It's my duty, If I can't even protect people, then how will I achieve my dream?" The fake hero replied he was sure it was enough to convince the purple lamia, but despite his assurance, she only wickedly smirked.
"You won't." The Monster Lord sardonically remarked.
"I'm sure it isn't anything serious…if it comforts you, Alice, know that I will not let Luka lose" Chambers chimed in, although his light attempt at humor seemed lackluster due to the one-note tone of voice he delivered it in.
"You are either confident in your assumption to be correct or you assume to be strong enough to fight these monsters." Either way, it implied sureness to the point of arrogance for the human, first was to think that you're completely correct, second was to think that a mere traveler would be able to take on three high-level monsters without as much as a second thought, it shouldn't be possible even with his abilities after all he had barely managed to stop Granberia's basic attack, even rupturing his leg muscles in the process.
"Yes." He had no reason to worry and to his words, Alice had no response other than disbelief.
They continued to travel eventually reaching close to their supposed destination, the green and lush plant life turning to more golden and brown color sand and mud with the barren mountain and hill covered ridge joining the scenery. As Luka strode along the base of the mountains a realization slowly dawned on him when looking around.
"Crap…we don't know where their hideout is and Amira didn't exactly specify the location." The boy sheepishly scratched his head.
"This huge mountain range will take forever to search, Are you still going to do it?" The Monster Lord doubtingly inquired, she would be both baffled and annoyed if he did take his time to actually commit to such a course of action and if that were the case she would give up, flat out tell them where the monsters are and let them march off to certain death…it would be much more entertaining to watch.
"Ergh…what should I do…" Not that Luka wanted to search for a long time anyway. Certainly, he was also opposed to the idea of wandering around aimlessly, it was purely a matter of duty that drew towards that decision, but it didn't necessarily mean he wasn't going to complain about it.
"It's not going to be as hard to find them as you think. They're more likely to come to us because they are bandits and that means they're looking for loot, it'll be even faster if they're monsters since they can smell us." Luther closed out his focus on the other senses, he didn't mention that he felt an actual large presence besides the muddled energy of the wildlife lingering around their vicinity and there was a good possibility that was one of their marks. All the man had to do was subtly lead them on to its location and the rest would flow smoothly.
"Let me get this straight: you're going in, willingly walking into an ambush with the possibility to be caught by surprise by one of the strongest monsters that this continent has to offer? '' Alice blinked, calmy breathing while counting to ten. One of the few things she could conclude about the group was their tendency to make suicidal decision after suicidal decision…she seriously thought that if it weren't for her they should already be dead after the whole fiasco with Granberia in Iliasburg, although their determination and grit certainly did impress her if only minuscule amount.
"What other choice do we have? We don't know where they are, so it's going to be the same regardless. The very least we can do is be prepared. " Chambers understood her skepticism, even though he would state the same thing at first glance, that it didn't seem all too wise. There might have been a better course of action, but they didn't have the time, nor patience to pull it off. Yet none of this really mattered as the monsters that were there he could confidently say don't pose a threat whatsoever to him or Luka for that matter.
"I think Luther's right, it would be better to expect an ambush and we don't have much to go off to surprise them ourselves." The fake hero cautiously glanced around as his hand nervously wrapped around the hilt of Angel Halo readying it to be pulled out at moment's notice.
"Besides…" The older man un-holstered his weapon, spinning it in front of them. He had caught the eyes of Luka and winked. "We'll be ready."
Luther's words however didn't convince the purple lamia, her belief of the plan's stupidity was strong, and could she blame him for being stupidly suicidal? Maybe…it would only be right for her to consider that the human didn't possess her senses and therefore couldn't determine the actual threat he was in…or did he know something she didn't? Was there some knowledge that he had? That wasn't possible…no, perhaps just fluke.
Alice shook her as she watched the man casually tread with Luka in tow going in further into the mountains, she followed them with the impression that her amusement will end once they face at least one of them…at the end, it didn't take long for the group to encounter someone small who suddenly jumped in front, Luka and Luther. Someone who Alice hadn't expected, but finally smelled regardless she vanished leaving them to deal with this 'threat'.
"Ya! You two give me your money!" This monster would've been threatening if it wasn't for her high-pitched voice and her cute if a bit ridiculous appearance.
The monster was a small goblin girl that looked to be a brown-haired child, matching Luka in terms of height, with tanned skin, a horn on her forehead along with red markings on her face which contrasted with her bright blue eyes, on top of her head was a broe helmet. She wielded a hammer that was at least twice her minuscule size.
"So…you're one of the bandits?" Luka was a bit flabbergasted while Luther appeared to be more or less amused.
The boy was expecting a more intimidating opponent as per Alice's own concern. He was less worried than he was before even having the composure to confirm if Alice had disappeared or not. One of Luka's conclusions as to why he was fighting someone so comparatively weak was that this goblin was a possible minion, a confirmation was required.
"Indeed! I'm the Goblin Bandit of the Four Bandits" The goblin monster didn't seem to be bothered by the purple-haired boy's confused and slightly disappointed reaction or that she was outnumbered two to one. She stood proudly in spite of that with her war hammer beside her, it was surprising she could even use let alone lift it with her non-muscular look.
"Eh…? The four bandits?" Luka observed vigilantly in the light of the fact that this monster was part of the bandits that have been harassing the surrounding inhabitants and not just some simple minion, his hand shuffled around his sword hilt once more while his companion didn't show any amount of anxiety that he himself had.
"If you get it, then give me all your money!" The Goblin Girl repeated her demand as if her title magically changed her non-intimidating presence; she was still adorable in face of her own threats.
"Well, I trust you can handle yourself." Luther lazily stepped back away from issuing conflict, cold yet curious eyes still on them.
The man's knowledge told him that this monster won't be any problem for his young friend to handle especially after practically beating dodging lessons into the boy, an act he feels slightly guilty for performing as he was sure there were some bruises left over which could cause problems depending on if Luka got hit or not.
"Oh, so you're running away and leaving your friend behind. That's fine with me- run you coward!" The older man's actions only served to increase the monster's bravado of confidence.
"No, not running away…" The man plainly answered, his bored expression and tone had caused some of that goblin's self-assurance to vanish.
"No he isn't, he just believes in me." The fake hero smiled. "I'm Luka, a hero and we have come to stop you bandits."
"Eeeehhhhh? You believe in someone like him? "She tactlessly pointed up and down to Luka's scrawny form. "Someone as weak looking as you?"
"Sh..Shut up!" The boy childishly retorted pointing back at her intent on showing the hypocrisy of her observation in his own unique way. "You look weak too!"
Luka huffing from her insult and finally ascertaining the threat he drew out Angel Halo of its sheath. Lowering his body into a stance so that the half-ring tip of the cursed blade was pointing at the monster's neck he was ready to strike, the presence of his sword had earned a reaction from the monster beside his own uncomfortableness and Luther's flinch.
"That sword! It looks so gross!" The Goblin Bandit exclaimed as she saw the melted black statue of a sword mentally swearing that she saw one of the eyes move around, occasionally glancing toward the hero's companion.
Luka relaxed a bit, lightly shifting his attention to Angel Halo seeming to agree with his opponent.
"Hmm..." The monster frowned, her eyes shifted between the unholy sword, its user, and the user's friend considering her options as she muttered. "What should I do? The sword looks so gross, but I want to play with a wielder, but…
"Alright bring it, Hero! This Goblin of the Earth of The Four Bandits shall be your opponent!" She announced shifting the weight of her massive hammer around.
"Adding 'of earth' this time?!" The fake hero remarked, assuming that Goblin implied that she was capable of using earth magic, he readied himself to dodge any incoming attack, but was surprised and confused to see her pick up some of the sand of the ground.
"Eat this! Sand Hurricane!" She throws a handful of sand at Luka who managed to shield his eyes and mouth blocking most of it, in spite of its grandiose name her 'attack' didn't do any damage only managing to dirty his clothes and severely disappoint her opponent.
"What the…is this just sand?" Luka exclaimed, wiping his eyes and spitting some of the sand that got in his mouth - his opponent falsely saw this as an opening.
"Ah, an opening! Feel the wrath of the earth!" The Goblin Girl raised her weapon to the sky preparing to unleash her strength she slowly approached the purple-haired boy. "Earth Crashing Goblin!"
The fake hero wiping away the last of the sand stared as the monster ever so sluggishly marched towards him appearing to struggle with the weight of her weapon, inch by inch she shuffled forward to Luka who perplexed checked whether the ridiculous scene before him was real that someone considered using an attack with such long set up a time after doing something pathetic like throwing sand at him.
The Goblin Girl got close enough to try to slam the heavy hammer, but her opponent merely stepped back before the hammer could even touch him. The weapon without a proper target slammed into the earth causing it to crack under its force.
"Such a slow attack will never defeat me…looks like Earth Crashing Goblin was defeated!" Luka childishly beamed, it was rather obvious from his adversary's display that he had nothing to fear from her, the only threatening thing from her was getting hit by a slow-moving hammer which it did happen would be no one else's fault but his.
"I won't lose to you! Ya!" Picking up her hammer again she swung around repeatedly at a much faster speed leaving both Luka and Luther to watch as her hammer threw her around repeatedly.
Enjoy this while it lasts Luka…this is probably the best relief we are ever going to get in this world, it's starting to go all downhill from there. The older man chuckled at the goblin's ridiculous actions only lamenting that it's going to be more difficult to handle once he leaves this continent.
The Goblin continued to attack without direction until suddenly one of her feet had managed to trip on a rock making her tumble down with her war hammer, stopping any manner of future violence.
Luther winced from the sudden fall, he felt Tusk materialize beside him preferring to sit on the man's shoulder.
"Chu..." The older man could feel his stand's worry for the child's; it wanted to fly toward the poor thing.
She'll be fine… Chambers comforted his stand, he knew that the pain the monster felt was fleeting and soon she will be running away mocking them.
"Are you done?" Luka asked the monster lying on the ground, there was a tinge of sympathy within the boy for how she wasted all that uncontrolled effort and failed to get a single scratch on him, it was obvious that she was untrained or smart enough to use something lighter, her blind swinging in attempts to hit had reminded him a bit too much of his hopeless fight against Granberia.
"Ye…Yeah" She slowly stood up, losing any sign of confidence, her hammer leaning against her small frame, there was a small bruise on her forearm which she was gripping, her sniffle turned into a full weep. "Waaaaaah!"
"Where is your hideout?" Luka asked with a small degree of shame, the last shreds of an idea of a menacing bandit vanished with her breaking down in front of him, it almost felt like he was solely responsible for her pain.
"Over there…there is a cave over there." The monster crying pointed at a large entrance cave further into the mountain range, she was getting to a point where she could dash away easily even with the massive weight of her weapon weighing her down and her despair turned into laughter.
"A lamia, a vampire, and even a dragon! Haha, there's no way you can win!" Turning a complete 180 laughing she ran away while yelling juvenile obscenities at the young boy, losing any amount of pity that her pain gained.
As the goblin girl disappeared, Alice returned not really knowing what to make of the childish display and fight that occurred other than being slightly baffled, but her composure hadn't faded away.
"Looks like you found out where their hideout is." Alice didn't want to think of the possibility of Luther being correct- something wasn't right, it wasn't a matter of being humiliated, she doubted whether the man was the type of person to do so. It was a matter of her own pride in her senses as a monster to be outdone by a human in terms of intuition. It was ultimately shameful, but she still had a chance, even the bandit herself spoke of the ones that smelled.
"Yeah…" Luka paused, his face betraying that he looked hesitant in speaking his mind. "I know…maybe this is wrong for me to say this and I should be thankful for an easy fight, but I'm still disappointed."
"Ho…you're not the only one here." The Monster Lord admitted while it was a little bit amusing to seeing the Goblin flail around it was nonetheless only that, an amusement that was overshadowed embarrassment and dissatisfaction, she had expected that the monster would at least be able to put up a fight before being inevitably defeated instead it was a pathetic struggle that ended with the girl not even doing so much as touching Luka.
"Lamia…dragon and vampire…so those monsters are there." The fake hero gazed into the bandit's hideout entrance.
"So I was right, you should really give up, do you really want to die that badly?" It wasn't an official bout between her and Luther, but Alice had to admit that she did feel a bit more excitement competing with the man, a diversion to entertain herself, even she did have a handicap in the form of her advanced senses it was very worrying to see that Goblin girl as it almost practically spelled disaster for her side of their little bet, but in the end, it proved to be just confirmation.
"Just I said before: I don't want to die. The people in Iliasburg are in danger, they need my help!" Luka stayed defiant against his monstrous companion's doubt. Was his heroic nature really that much of a bother to?
"What an idiot…risking your life for others…" Alice shook her head in disagreement.
"Come on, let's go already," Luther called out to them, already marching off in the direction that the Goblin Girl pointed at.
"Hey wait up!" Luka yelled for his friend who slowed down in his advance.
"That eager to die, by my guest…" The Monster Lord exhaled.
The adventurous group gazed further into a shady cave far into the mountain. It was musky and comparatively damp to the outside sandy and dry environment, all the more the plant life had decided to take shelter from the hotter rocky fields alongside the monster bandits that called it their sanctuary. Luther could see as to why it was their choice, it was relatively hidden away, and if it wasn't for his senses or that they were directly informed of its location he likely wouldn't be able to find them without any thorough searches.
"So that's how it is..." Alice sniffing the air mysteriously remarked much to the confusion of the fake hero.
"What do you mean 'so that's how it is'?" Luka inquired, curious as to his companion's strange muttering.
"It's nothing, I'll be waiting here. Just finish up and come back." With the increasing proximity, her scent became more accurate, stronger. Its clearness was likely hidden by the moistness of their supposed home. In a way she was correct, there were a lamia, dragon, and vampire hid, but they possessed no real danger, they were just a bunch of children that needed to be taught a lesson for wasting her time
"Oi, oi what are you saying, I thought-"Luka nearly shouted before he felt Luther grip his shoulder, it was a bit ridiculous for the boy to hear Alice change her tone so quickly a bit suspiciously might he add.
"Calm down, we'll be fine." The older man spoke standing over the fake hero like a weary guardian; his presence had managed to ease the boy a bit.
"Chu." Tusk also tried to reassure the boy but its user doubted whether Luka could have heard it and if he did it likely it ended with him being wholly confused on the stand's seemingly incoherent noises.
Luka and Luther stepped further into the vast dank place breathing in its wet atmosphere, they heard several droplets. Perhaps it was creepy surroundings or perhaps the knowledge that someone was hiding and no doubt waiting for them added that strange eeriness.
"Sorry for not following your advice…you spent a long time trying teaching me." Luka felt like he needed to apologize but just out of earshot of the bothersome lamia unless he wanted more trouble, however small he kept his voice down it still echoed throughout the hollow area.
"Hmm, I don't blame you for not fighting seriously, she was just a child and not even that capable, nearly knocked herself out with that hammer...can't exactly expect someone like you to beat up children, monster or not," Luther murmured. The boy beside him could hear a slight chuckle.
"What about the others, could they be…" The fake hero was interrupted by higher-pitched cackling.
"Chu…" Something was there and the stand was directly looking at the rock she was hiding behind. The sound of slithering on rocks was heard by them, soon enough a small lamia appeared from the shadows.
"Lamia Bandit of the Water of the Four Bandits has arrived!" The new monster loudly announced, her long tongue haughtily waving around, yet in spite of her title and loudness, she was very tiny compared to the likes of Alice. The small lamia's appearance altogether wasn't as intimidating or unique as the Monster Lord's: her hair color, as well as stature, was similar, she was wearing barely any clothes, only a few straps of cloth on her flat chest and large piece covering part of her lover's half.
"So you're…a lamia?" The purple-haired boy was the first one to break the silence as he asked as looked up down at her monstrous form unsure of the sight before him.
"Fufu…do you want me to coil around you?" Luther Chambers, Luka, and Tusk uncomfortably stared in silence for a moment and any of them could swear that somebody within the cave awkwardly coughed. It was enough that her attempt at seeming haughty and seductive was bad at best, but to hear come from a child was uncomfortable to say the least.
"Eh? What's with that disappointment?" The lamia pouted indignantly crossing her arms and pumping up her lackluster chest, she appeared to be on the verge of attacking.
"How can you have that face when facing me?" Frustrated, the tiny Lamia charged at the group full speed intent wrapping around on at least one of them.
"Always be alert!" However, Luka snapped awake, reciting an important lesson he learned from training as if it was life or death. He immediately grabbed Angel Halo and as the monster got close enough he smashed it like a blunt weapon into her side making her fly and crash into a nearby cave interior.
Holy shit…Chambers and his stand watched in horror as the small monster hit the ground from the impact, there was a brief time he was even more worried when he saw no movement, but the man eventually heard crying as he saw her get up, her face showing pain as the monster gripped her head. The lamia's previous confident monster's presence had vanished and in its place was a scared, hurt little girl that was shaking in front of her oppressors.
"Chu…" This was probably the most somber tone the Stand User heard his stand ever speak. It tried moving to the injured girl but was seemingly stopped by an invisible barrier, its limited range that it could go from its user, such disconcerting weakness…yet it noticed that it could move just a bit further little a by little then Tusk knew why – Luther was walking, his pace was slow and he gestured Luka to back away for the moment.
Alright, I was wrong, unlike its game counterpart there is nothing remotely funny or relieving about this situation, it's just an inn-…well is she really that innocent considering how willing she is to perform such a deplorable act? How can I pity such a being? The man glared at her for a bit, but ultimately his gaze softened at the sight of her looking up at him in fear…this was not wanted, to be viewed this way brought feelings of self-disgust within him, she no doubt saw him in the same light he once did the roper.
But…is that really her fault? Her culture, instinct, and livelihood are already dictated by her monstrous species and without that, she is just nothing more than a child as are the others, socially unaware of how their actions and lifestyle affect others. It wouldn't be much different from a human growing up in an environment where murder was acceptable, they wouldn't know any different from that life they live with no critical-thinking to ever question that… Luther was only half a meter away from the frightened and crying monster child and unexpectedly to her knelt down to her level letting their eyes meet, there wasn't a hint of violent intent in the older man's eyes.
He slowly held out his hand toward the small lamia that was distrustful of him.
"It's okay… I'm not going to hurt you, neither will he…" Gone was the previous stone-cold countenance that monster saw replaced by a kinder if a bit parental aura that surrounded the man. Teary-eyed the monsters continued to stare at the man who hadn't moved an inch; he was waiting for her to respond either by turning away or accepting his hand.
"Y-you're lying!" She nearly shrieked, nudging away from Luther, Luka had tried to say anything but was stopped by another light sign telling him to wait.
Not surprised she doesn't want to trust me, I'm friends with the guy that just knocked her into the wall and in her eyes I just let him do that…I have to show her she can trust me, but she has to take the first step, but how…? A stray thought hit him and he couldn't believe he was going to try this outlandish idea…Hamon, his mind screamed for him to not after so many awful experiences regarding its use, and in the end, the idea seemed too manipulative for his liking - exploiting her instincts, but if he could convince her for just a second he was sure things would go smoothly and if it didn't he would stop immediately.
Soon enough the stand user focused on the breathing required on the technique, its pattern was distinguishing enough to be very memorable, granted being put into a life-threatening situation that relied on its very use played a large factor in that. A glimmering silver mist closely surrounded the man's body illuminating the walls of the cave.
The child lamia immediately gazed up at him, the man's presence as warm as his current demeanor towards her, his scent turned fragrant, a cross between a flower and sweet caramel to the monster's sensitive nose. His aura radiated an energy that was so genuine when it reached her and her monstrous form accepted it. She could trust him if only to bathe within that sweet peculiar warmth.
Luka stared at both of them unsure of what to do, there was guilt starting within him starting from the very moment he knocked the monster aside into a wall. For starters he was quite surprised he was capable of that, a bit too late he might've struggled on the ground before he could get his hands on Angel Halo again, and then there was the elephant in the room – the lamia was a child as well, not some an almighty being which was fishy to him…
As the spin user reached out to the child monster again something happened which made Luka gawk, the lamia ignored the friendly gesture, instead, jumping onto the silver covered man. Luther flinched barely remaining on his feet from the sudden contact, she had wrapped around his chest, her form almost snuggling into him. Chambers fully stood up, his hands holding up the snake part of her body. Hamon filled his muscles with life energy enough to turn the small weight of the monster into something comparable to a feather.
"See nothing bad is going to happen to you." He reassured the monster he was holding, the man hadn't expected such a reaction, the worst he could've guessed was her turning lustful and attacking, but this outcome wasn't unpleasant…he could feel the smooth green scales of her snake half and the not too tight hold she had on him.
"Thank you…" She murmured her pain disappearing along with her salty tears the longer she spent in his arms.
"Chumimi~in!" Tusk danced around on its user's shoulder at the success, the sheer joy radiating from the stand and comforting someone made him feel a little bit giddy if he could go through some of his other feelings and the commitment of focus to Hamon breathing.
There was only one word to describe the sight in his arms. Adorable...
Though it ultimately did beg the question for the man, just why did this lamia react differently than Alice to his Hamon? He believed the answer laid in general behavior or hunger, seeing as humans were seen as food and it seemed the Ripple enhanced his scent given its life empowering properties in only made sense. So…does that mean she isn't as hungry as Alice was or have I brought out child instincts…eh that's a stretch, I have no conclusive evidence to actually state that confidently. It could be interesting to figure out…maybe…
"Luther! Are you alright?" The purple-haired boy inquired, his friend looked back at him going back with the monster neatly resting in his arms in spite of Luther's comforting presence she recoiled slightly into him at proximity to Luka.
"Yes, I am…and I believe we have something to say to her…" The older man responded, in all honesty, there was a reason why he had done this, while empathy was part of it, he still felt that he was to blame for all of this, he was the reason why Luka reacted in such a manner, a lesson taught by him during that night.
"Luka, I was only joking about beating up children, didn't expect you to actually do it." He followed up with a wry quip before groaning from his own awful attempt at humor
"Hey! It's just-"
"Right, my advice for fighting…good reflexes by the way, but it's my fault too, should have mentioned being aware of the context. I mean you can't go mercilessly sealing monsters that are surrendering or are weaker than you." The fake hero solemnly nodded to Luther's words, although he wouldn't exactly agree about sharing blame it was clear who struck who in that situation.
"Why did you hit me? " The Tiny Lamia asked appearing as if the monster was going to burst into tears once again if not for the comfort the one holding her
"It's because you attacked me," Luka answered, bemused at the monster's lack of self-awareness, it was clear that he was only acting in self-defense even if it was a bit overkill.
"But I wasn't going to hurt you!" She countered Luka's relatively calm response with an outburst.
"How was I supposed to know that!" All signs pointed to the start of a shouting match between the monster and the fake hero, but the older man intervened.
"Enough." Luther lightly patted his hand on the lamia's head, soothing her. "Please forgive him… you just startled him, that's all."
Luka calmed down with the lamia child letting silence fill the dank cave, sighing he apologized. "I'm sorry for hurting you, but… you're not exactly innocent here. You and your friends have been causing trouble for the people in Iliasburg, as a hero, I couldn't ignore that."
"At least you said sorry." She pouted before meeting eyes again with her gentle holder. "Are we in trouble? Do the people there hate us?"
"Oh no…not exactly, we'll talk about this after we gather your friends, okay?" If Luther was a less guarded man, his heart would have shattered from the mere face the lamia was giving him, hadn't been for Hamon that was gently coercing through him she would probably have been weeping again.
"Are you going to hurt them too!?" The monster child shook in the older man's grasp, yet she remained attached around him and despite the question, Luther could feel minuscule amounts of trust within her that made her doubt that.
"What, no!" Luka and Luther answered in unison, this denial relieved their newly found monstrous company.
"We'll try not to hurt them…" Chambers added, but then bit back his tongue, he wasn't sure if what he just said could sow doubts nonetheless she didn't seem to be all bothered by his words as she rested her head against his chest.
"Quick question, are there any adults here?" The purple-haired boy nervously asked the lamia.
"Nope, it's just me and the other that live here." While it may have revealed information that was calming to the boy, her answers opened up a myriad of questions that weren't too comfortable for either of the males to ask.
Living in a cave with no adults around, banditry…oh no. In the end, Luka and Luther came to the same realization that what they did was merely a method of survival for the monster children, likely only done out of necessity, them taking satisfaction in it could have also been a factor of boredom that played its part. It wasn't like it was possible for them to just get aid in this continent considering the faith in Ilias was strong here. The fake hero had wanted more clarification, yet he saw the look on Luther's countenance that was so recognizable, a look even the people sometimes wore in his home village, a look that spoke 'Do. Not. Ask.'
"And what about you being the 'Water Bandit of the Four Bandits' do you have any special attacks?" It was out of truthful curiosity and an attempt of changing the general topic to one that has a possibility of a less depressive answer that Luka had asked this.
"No, I don't… we are only pretending to be the Four Heavenly Knights." The Small Lamia said. Finally, something Luka could understand clearly, he had also spent days in his childhood pretending to be a great hero in many of the stories he had heard – a simple, fun, and engaging past time that made many fond memories in those times.
"You look up to them?" Luka smiled as he moved away from the dangerous topic regarding the monster bandits' circumstances.
"Yes, they're the strongest monsters around; each one could take on entire armies!" She excitedly exclaimed, remembering the many thrilling tales and rumors surrounding each one of them some more than others.
"Hmm…interesting" What she thought about it wasn't all that much different from his discovered stories: just replace the monster with a human and the human armies with a monster hoard. The comparison between the heard legends wasn't too far different at least it seemed that way to the boy from the small interaction, perhaps there was the reason for that.
With the help of the lamia, they headed a direct path towards one of the other bandits, the monster, in Luther's hands, nose's was a worthy ally to have, yet they had to rely on the other senses to catch one of the bandits due to the lamia's unwillingness to help them any further than that. Suddenly the group saw two red orbs stare at them from the dark, the figure that was stalking them jumped out in their path.
It was a small blond girl with pigtails wearing practically nothing but except white panties and a dark mantle around her shoulders which would have covered up most of her body if the monster let it, of course, her wide mouth smile revealed the bloodsucking fangs that all of her species possessed. Bats flew around her body creating a blur of brown and black, her beaming grin died down and changed into a puzzled expression when she spotted her scaly friend wrapped around one of the intruders who was holding her up to his chest.
"Eh, I thought you lost! Why were you the one to catch someone with such a sweet scent?" The vampire girl pouted, throwing her arms about, she appeared to have attention centered on the silver aura covering the older man.
"Except she did lose, I'm just holding her." Chambers said adjusting his arms around the lamia he considered letting her go before, but the lamia refused to release him even after stopping his Hamon for a small time, and besides that reason, he had grown a bit comfortable having the small snake monster cuddled in his arms.
"So you were captured, ha! I'll rescue and prove that the Vampire Bandit of Wind is the strongest!" The Vampire boastfully said, causing her friend to glare and the rest group present to awkwardly glance at each other before continuing, neither of them was convinced she was willing to back down, especially if it entailed trouble for the monster.
"Please just stop, we don't want to fight you." But Luka tried regardless if only to fulfill the lamia's request, yet the vampire smirked at this, the fake hero's words sounded like the addition of defeat.
"Ho… then I shall feast on you!" The Vampire Child dramatically declared.
"Guess there is no helping it." The fake hero heaved a sigh drawing out Angel Halo to fight the monster that looked a little hesitant in the face of the sealing blade but attacked anyway. Before Luka could strike at her she turned into a cauldron of bats joining the ones that were already there.
"Dammit." Luka slashed again, confirming to himself that there was no way to hit his opponent when she was in such a horde of bats surrounded him encircling, trying to bite into his body but his clothing kept them mostly at bay.
Luther backed away from the small confrontation sitting against one of the many rocks and cradling the small monster as he focused on his breathing and deciding to have some small talk, Tusk had followed suit as well wedging itself right among them. As his energy had rippled out across his adventure with the girl wrapped around him he could feel a faint 'link' if he could call it that forming between him and the monster, it was indescribable like he just about could feel her very soul, the essence of made her 'her'.
This is strange…something to think about for later, I'm definitely not doing anything of that sort here. Chambers flinched, immediately shut off his Hamon and the Lamia shuddered and glanced at him as if something was missing. This experience was a bit too close for comfort, a contact he was not nor will be ready for. In spite of the lack of warmth and pleasant scent that Hamon brought the girl, he was holding remained pleasantly still likely staying because of trust.
"Ugh, I hate it when she does that, especially in the tag. You aren't able to touch her at all, no fair!" The tiny lamia frustrated and shook her head in disapproval.
"Oh, often play games?" Luther humored the lamia, thanks to his knowledge when it came to dealing with children it was often the better choice to play along to get their attention and trust, besides he didn't have anything better to do than watch Luka swat around bats.
"Yeah… What else would we do in this place when it gets boring? It's not always fun, sometimes the others cheat, but I'm good at hiding and seek. My nose is strongest, hard to get away from me." She smiled, proudly tapping the tip of her nose.
"That's nice, but aren't you worried about your friend here? She might get hurt with the way she is going about this." He got his response in the form of the snake tail tightening its already strong grip on him.
"Nah…she is too much of a scaredy-cat to actually take a hit." The Tiny Lamia confidently replied yet her actions spoke something else, slight worry for her comrade outlaw. Luther uncomfortably shifted under her hold.
"Do you mind letting go, can't carry you around all day." He complained lightly prying away her tail or at least trying to without getting caught. It was pleasant enough to have a light hug, but it started to turn into a painful squeeze with one doing it most likely not noticing the pressure she exerted.
"No!" Thankfully for him while she didn't wrap around even tighter around the man she did hold onto him at that with the top half pulling him into a full-body hug. Luther was starting to regret his choice and while he wanted to be freed from the scaly grasp he had no intention of relying on the spin to release him, making her cry again would just be counterproductive.
"Think about this, if the others see you holding onto me like that, you'll have to hear them whine about it now being fair and then be jealous for the entirety of the day or even the week." He had to play into the child's natural desires and instincts, nobody regardless of their age wants to deal with their friends' annoyances and he doubted if the lamia was any different.
"It's worth it…" She mumbled out letting her forehead rest on his chest, it was hard for Luther to imagine someone so comfortable with physical contact with a stranger, he only did to calm her and his guilt down, but this began to be too much for him. Nonetheless, he continued with his attempt at convincing the monster to let him go.
"But… you can do both this and not be bothered, all you have to do is…let go eventually and act like nothing happened." He offered and it looked like she considered his suggestion, he adjusted himself breathing out a sigh of relief as he felt the pressure on his body being released.
"That's much better..." A moment's pause passed between them. The tiny lamia looked back at the commotion between the fake hero and vampire.
"Hey look, I think she is going to reform!" She whispered over to Luther as he watched his companion try to swipe away the bats that started to gather, condensing around Luka's back as the pale arms of the vampire girl manifested. The rest of the Vampire Child's body reappeared as she grabbed onto the boy's shoulders.
"Mhe hehe!" She laughed while Luka was trying to shake her off, the monster intended on sucking his blood when the purple-haired boy stopped moving.
"Get off already…" Luka dropping his sword he suddenly grasped the unsuspecting vampire's hands pulling her up from his shoulders, finally facing her directly. He held her far above the ground as she flayed around, her bats following her example of being helpless by immediately losing their fighting spirit and flying away.
"Hey! What are you doing?" She desperately asked, continuing to uselessly struggle in the boy's casual hold, the fake hero appeared unsure of what to do.
Her minions had abandoned her and her superior monstrous strength was easily undermined by someone who looked like he hadn't even gone through puberty. It was hard for a child to stay composed under these conditions - it was unfair, that a random boy and his friend decided to barge into their super-secret hideout ruining all their fun…the worst part was seeing her friend get coddled by someone with such sweet energy!
"Why are you being so mean?!" The vampire started to tear up as Luka awkwardly held her small bits of regret slowly manifested within him.
"Crybaby…" The tiny lamia whispered under her breath earning a small eyebrow-raiser from Luther, she knew from experience that her vampiric friend could be a bit of a sore loser when it came to any games or competition and in a real fight which this barely could be compared to one, a tiny grab was nothing compared to the slam that she received!
"Ah…Sorry…" At the risk of breaking his promise or making himself feel worse the boy gently let the vampire kid down onto the ground leaving her to regather her composure and willpower with childish anger and contempt wiping away the bitter tears of defeat.
"Grrr…I won't forgive you for that! If it's come to this…I'll show you my true power!" She furiously stared at Luka, her eyes subtlety flickering with dim light.
"She is going to use her hypnosis…it's really not that much, all he needs to do is turn away." The vampire's scaly friend commented, to which Luther silently nodded in agreement.
"Just wait a second, I'll focus all my magic! Once I'm done just look into my eyes." The vampire announced and Luther felt a small increase in her aura, although it was barely visible and if he wasn't looking he likely wouldn't have noticed.
"Did she just-"
"Yes, your friend here just announced her attack…" The man dryly answered before facepalming both from second-hand embarrassment and to hide from her attempt at mind control.
For a very short moment the dank, musky, and dark insides of the cave were filled to the brim with a white flash moment coming from the vampire monster's eyes temporarily illuminating any unlit space and enthralling anyone looking at it under her control…that is if anyone did look at it…Everyone save for Luka hid their sight beforehand not giving said an inch of a chance of control.
Luther and his temporary companion stared in dread at the boy who stood quietly, carefully examining his surroundings, they couldn't believe it, that the boy, the fake hero was dumb enough not to catch up on the vampire's special attack announcement, but they were more bemused as it appeared that hadn't even done anything to the boy despite him staring point-blank into the monster.
"Huh?! Why didn't it work? You were looking directly into my eyes!" If the walls could hear the cave would have immediately collapsed from the volume and frequency of her howl, her opponent however seemed to be in a completely opposite emotional state, perfectly calm if a bit puzzled.
"Eh…I just blinked…" He casually shrugged unaware of the impact that his revelation had on the crimson-eyed monster who was speechless at his response. Their silent bout was interrupted by a familiar high pitched cackling whose origin was none other than the tiny lamia. She continued to laugh, only stopping to get some air much to humor and slight annoyance of the one beside.
"He…he, he blinked! The mi-mighty B-Bandit of the winds spe-special attack stopped by blinking!" The scaly monster barely breathed out before returning to her uncontrollable laughing fit, each second only served to increase the sinking feeling of embarrassment that her vampire friend experienced, but the lamia couldn't help it, hypnosis- the very skill that her friend had boasted. The blond-haired vampire's cheeks turned red as she sunk into her dark mantle, hiding away from the outside world.
This is…just…bullying, isn't it? Luther wordlessly stared at the mocked monster and back at the one beside of him that was dying of laughter, it didn't help when the awaited crying fit finally came from the vampire and it seemed he shared the same emotions in this situation as Luka who was awkwardly shuffling around, they communicated the same feeling to each other when their eyes met- pure discomfort.
"Sh-shut up! Stop laughing! At least I didn't get knocked aside like some ball!" The vampire defiantly bawled, tears freely rolling down her cheeks. Using the very edge of her supernatural speed she rushed far away from the mocking cackle that was only beginning to die down.
Luka and Luther were left alone with dying hilarity coming from their scaly 'friend' surrounding them. It eventually stopped, returning to the previous ambient atmosphere that the cave had, from the small water droplets slowly raining down from stalactites to the soft sound of blowing wind coming from the only entrance.
"…It wasn't actually that funny…" The Tiny Lamia admitted, ashamed of the extent of mockery she portrayed toward a person she called 'friend'.
"That was honestly horrible…" Luka agreed, picking up Angel Halo on the ground while closely observing the path that his adversary fled. He sighed realizing that letting her run off was probably a poor decision considering he was supposed to be stopping them and letting them run away.
"At least you're being self-aware; just try to be a bit more considerate next time, please," Luther added his expression shifted to being of cold disapproval that didn't help the lamia feel any better, granted through experience he could tell this mockery was more of small amount spite and frustration rather than full-blown malice so he couldn't go off on a tangent about her behavior even he really wanted to, although it seemed he didn't have to teach any lessons…
"Chu…" Neither was his stand supportive of the idea of chastising seeing the current state of the lamia child, Luther could sense the pure
"Of course I am! I've made her cry and run off!" Much to her credit, she didn't begin crying from this chastisement but nonetheless was flushed red. "And now she is out there somewhere running around, alone…crying…and aren't you supposed to catch us or something?"
"Well, that is a problem, but maybe…" Luka hummed, his assumption could be possible but relied on whether on how mean-spirited the purple lamia was. "You think Alice might stop her?
"Alice…? Is she the one monster that came with you here, I can smell her…she is strong, like very strong…" It was strange for her when she first noticed it; at the start she only smelled Luka and Luther due to her enticing scent, yet now the only thing that was on her mind was that monster's scent, it commanded respect from her and she couldn't help but accept it.
"Yes, she is with us...sort of…" The fake hero provided an unclear answer, he wasn't clear on what to refer to her as in this case…while Alice did nothing to help him in battle; she did offer him training and Angel Halo, so there was some benefit that she gave.
"Oh?"
"Well, not really an ally, more of an observer." Luka clarified observer wasn't the right word for it. Alice was more of a passive benefactor in his journey.
"Let's go already, no use sitting around here anymore, I'm sure Alice won't let some crying monster child run around alone, not even she would that heartless, one more left to 'convince' to stop." Walking further in Chambers called out to them at this point he wanted to end this as fast as possible and could only hope that the fourth fight won't end up as awful as the others.
"It's not my fault it ended up like this…" Luka reminded, but his friend wasn't listening as he strolled on through the lamia following him like a lost puppy.
Not much time had passed until finally the fourth and final member of the Four Bandits appeared jumping out in front of Luka and Luther very much like her comrades. She was a very young dragon pup, but still nevertheless a bit more powerful than the other children.
"Goa!" She made her entrance with a battle cry, her assumed opponent, Luka, hadn't lowered his guard over the course of the trip to her.
"The last of the four, this Dragon of Fire of The Four Bandits shall be your opponent and free my friend from your control, you wile bullies!" The dragon pup fiercely pointed at the awkwardly standing group.
"Y-you got this wrong, we aren't bullies-"Luka tried to argue but the dragon monster yelled louder than him.
"Liar! You've attacked and made fun of my friends. Prepare to taste the bitter taste of defeat!" At her words, the tiny lamia could only stay crestfallen, silent while she let them both deal with her determined friend.
The Dragon pup garnered different and mixed reactions from the males present: while Luka was a bit disheartened that his effort at reasoning with the monster failed it seemed to him that may actually get a fight decent enough to satisfy his slight desire for combat which had been very much starved beyond belief with soul-crushing, embarrassing disappointment and shame. Luther stared blankly, this was about as much as he could expect to happen after the debacle with the Vampire, and Tusk seemed amused by the misunderstanding.
At the end with a rush filled with hopes of true combat, Luka got the first strike hitting a downward slash toward the dragon pup's head, yet was confused when his blade hit something hard almost bouncing off entirely away from his enemy.
At that moment one thought went through his head as he saw the monster enduring the blow. Right, I remember from the stories – dragons often have high defense, a simple attack won't do especially against those scales…
Before Luka could follow up or think of a plan his draconic opponent took a deep breath and spewed out a comparatively thick cloud of flame toward the boy's chest, yet despite its quantity, it lacked concentration and heat enough to damage him. There was a delay between her movements afterward which allowed Luka some breathing space to consider his next course of action…
"Got to go!" Luka sprinted past the dragon pup leaving her and her lamia friend in the dust as to what he just did. The only one that had any knowledge of Luka's sudden decision to flee was Luther who was wearing a small smirk on his face.
"Hey! Come back here, I'm not letting you run away like a coward!" It didn't take long for the dragon pup to quickly chase after the fake hero, in the end, Luther and the tiny lamia were left alone watching their friends' hasty leave.
"She is going to get herself hurt and it's all my fault." The tiny lamia dejectedly said looking away from Luther.
"I won't exactly say that, you know Luka's sword?" This self-loathing was beginning to slightly unsettle Luther. Some small comfort was needed to undermine this and the information of the fake hero's eldritch blade's true purpose wasn't known by the monster bandit's exactly, revealing it was the least he could
"That weird thing in his hands?" She inquired curiously, there was no real way she could properly call the weird amalgamation of angel statues a sword, it's the only feature that gave that feeling was its vague sword shape and even then it would be a bit of stretch.
"Yes, it's special as it seals energy instead of actually killing people so your friend here isn't actually in trouble." The spin user clarified although this conversation brought some unpleasant memories regarding the interaction with the angels, their abominably fused form sealed within the blade… By itself, the very encounter wasn't that disturbing for him albeit only for a little bit, no… the most disturbing thing about it was the very idea that he left somebody alone to suffer for an unknown period of time...
It's necessary it's either them or this world…Luther felt Tusk creep behind his neck nestling against it along the way, he felt the stand's comforting thoughts and emotions how it helped push the self-disgust out little by little, myriads of points to considered popped into his head as his brain went into overdrive. Hamon… it's capable of so many peculiar things from healing and increasing the body's capabilities to making me a honey fly trap. If I recall correctly…it seemed to soothe the collection of angels there even after my escape, maybe if I… hmm…
"But if that's true, why did it hurt me?" The lamia monster snapped the man out of his pondering making him a bit indecisive when it came to answering the question before getting his bearings straight.
"Well, you kind of did slam into a wall." He sheepishly reminded the lamia seeming a bit distracted in the process...
"Chu…" Tusk glanced one last time at the path the fake hero ran by, it's simple blue that was in the place of eyes showed concern for both Luka and the Dragon Pup.
"Well, well…what have you been doing?"
What kind of story would this be? The hero running away from the mighty dragon, well it is to lure her into a trap of sorts…that only makes me feel like a villain, but I can't put to waste what Luther taught me. Luka grimaced as he glanced back at his pursuer that was hot on his tail, there was still no way she could catch up to him given his own speed and a head start nonetheless her determination was admirable.
"Even if you run away, you won't be able to hide because I'll smell you out." He heard her yell out, it wasn't like he was planning on hiding even if he didn't know about her capabilities that would have been too cowardly, and running away was already straining his instinctive mind. The fake hero's body wanted to turn back and fight, it screamed at him that what he was doing was wrong as he suddenly turned a corner around a pillar of mossy rock.
No, can't do that, I need to think, so many stories and legends surrounding the defensive power of dragon's scales…the hero has to use a weapon or technique and there has to be a weak point somewhere. Luka made his conclusion; if a regular attack didn't do much then he would have to all-out he had to use Demon Decapitation.
"Got you!" His turn had cost a bit of his momentum allowing his monstrous opponent to catch up with him, yet her lunge proved to be a fatal mistake as Luka jumped away from her trajectory making her land and flip on the rocky floor of the cave.
Her neck has a very little amount of scales, this is not going to be pleasant… He readied his sword as the monster quickly got up.
"I'll beat you right here." She tried slashing with her claws but her attack was telegraphed enough to be easily avoided by a simple sidestep. "Why are you so annoying?!"
This continued with Luka occasionally tapping the monster with his blade to keep and increase the distance until he deemed it enough.
"Enough with this, fight me like a hero you call yourself to be." She taunted…being in a good position for his technique. It didn't matter if she would be fully aware of his attack, he just had to be faster.
"Alright, I'll fight you fair and square." Luka bounced on the balms of his feet tensing in anticipation for when she would leave herself open, he had perfect distance and target this attack might have seemed a bit too much for someone her age and size, but he finally had his direct heroic clash with the dragon, and it felt right…
"Finally…" With fierce speed the dragon pup charged once more at Luka, claws open to tear apart her friends presumed tormentor.
It just so happened that her desires will not be fulfilled today as her opponent appeared to mimic her decisions to charge by jumping straight at her, moving with such unexpected swiftness he might as well be vanishing from her view, and then the dragon pup's neck was hit with tremendous force and speed.
And with his last attack The Hero defeats The Dragon…Luka's attack connected first 'decapitating' his opponent, sealing most of her energy in the process, the fake hero neatly landed on his feet without getting hit, he breathed out in relief once he glanced back and saw the dragon pup lay on the ground lacking any energy to get up immediately as she once did before.
"Waaah!" However much to Luka's chagrin, his childishly determined opponent began to cry, at this point, it was in the least bit expected from the child bandits, a repeating trope for these monsters and to add to his suffering, his monstrous tormentor in the form of a purple lamia finally decided to show up right behind him.
"The battle between the bully hero and the dragon is finally over." Alice sardonically commented, her slithering movements being highly audible. "And I never imagined your numb skull was capable of thinking of such tactics, even if it was a simple one such as running away, you've at least proved yourself to be more than some barbarian…though not by a lot."
Luka sighed, once again even if with the praise she had managed to insult him in some way, turning around to look at Alice he was slightly surprised to see Luther and the other company she had gathered: The Vampire and Goblin were joined by the Dragon Pup in their frightened act of his monstrous companion and him awhile the Lamia Child closely stuck around using Luther as cover.
And Luther was as always…quiet and lost in thought with an indifferent expression.
"So…you gathered them here?" Luka asked in spite of its answers obviousness, but the fact that the monster took her time to gather all the kids was a bit unbelievable for him, the kids huddled around and spoke in extremely hushed whispers.
"What? Do you have such little opinion of me that you think I'll carelessly let them run around?" Alice indignantly glared at Luka before shaking her head at such a rude assumption.
"…Scary lady…" He heard them mutter out, they weren't exactly happy with Alice here and it all pointed to something that wasn't pleasant for them – a stern scolding.
The main conundrum for the boy now was: what now? It wasn't like he didn't expect to win, just that the true identity of the ones causing trouble for Iliasburg had shaken him up a bit and not in a traditional sense.
"So…what do we do with them now? " Luka could immediately predict the consequences from his question – it wasn't at all going to be pleasant. Luther immediately frowned in expectation of something awful and the makings of a smug grin on Alice's lips were unmistakable.
"You were the one who wanted to root out the bandits - Sell them, violate them, kill them or eat them, do whatever you will with them." The Monster Lord replied with sadistic mockery and a cacophony of scared screams and crying from the monster children followed, pleading them not to do anything at all while Luka argued against the purple lamia's attempt at traumatizing the monster bandits.
All except a single one of the bandits was convinced of their supposed malicious intent, the tiny lamia looked expectantly at the facepalming Luther who eventually returned her gaze with comforting but short head pat. He recognized what just happened: Alice uttered a single sentence had managed to put such a large mess to deal with for Luka and Luther all for the sake of 'spitting' both the fake hero and the child bandits for wasting her time with these 'annoyances' if only he could pinpoint a way to properly calm the children down. What do I do?
He was uncertain on how to proceed with relieving the monster children, that was until the man felt his stand shift around his bag. Chambers frowned; he was sure that he had nothing that could help his tiring situation but his link with the stand told him otherwise, Tusk continued searching until they both felt the familiar touch of a plastic wrapper – he immediately knew what it was.
Candy…the universal bribe of all children, who knew that stashing this stuff would prove useful. Luther strolled to four bandits in a non-threatening manner; each step he took was slower and lowered the height difference between them all as he knelt down, though each of the monster children that now surrounded him still showed distrustful of his presence although not as much as Luka or Alice.
"It's alright…no reason to be afraid. We are not going to do any of that sort to you. Everything is going to be fine." His soothing comments had managed to reduce their pleading and weeping to sobs.
"Right, we only want you to go to Iliasburg to apologize, you caused them a lot of trouble…do you understand?" Luka could only hope they would agree, stop crying and go willingly, it was getting on his guilty consciousness and nerves.
"I'll apologize…" And many other lines followed although they were still crying even with their compliance this didn't continue for long as their attention was most peaked when Luther pulled out some pieces of caramel candy and held it out for them, they eyed at it once the sugary smell hit their sensitive noses.
"I have candy if you want any. I promise you nothing bad will happen, so here's a token of peace." He took one of the cubes popping it into his mouth. They followed his example, each one cautiously taking their self-assigned pieces. This hesitation didn't last once the sweets hit their tongues' taste buds and melted bringing sugary sweetness and with that their anguish vanished.
"Do you have any more?!" Luther heard one of them excitedly ask, unfortunately for them there wasn't much left, it was his private stash that he forgot about after all. He turned to see Alice approach him intently eyeing
"You had candy? And didn't even tell me about it, do you even know how droll and annoying it was to sit beside a cave and catch these brats? Give that to me…" Alice demanded making the monster children back off slightly out of fear. For now, she offered the peaceful alternative if he would somehow refuse the demands of the Monster Lord then simple hypnotism should do it, there was nothing horrifying about partaking in some caramel.
"Oh come Alice, don't be like that, it's his candy if he wants to give it to them then let him, besides is it really right to take sweets meant for children?" Luka's intervention only caused one of Alice's eyes to twitch.
"Candy is candy no matter who it belongs to, is it wrong for me as a connoisseur of good food to seek it especially after I cleaned up your 'attack' of the bandits and you should consider that if they even deserve any of it after what they've done to bother the people of Iliasburg." She refuted, mimicking Luka's voice with her last point given, each one only making the four bandits feel more disheartened.
"Now Luther, we can either do this the easy way or hard way, the choice is yours…" The purple lamia flashed a sickly sweet smile that promised him an unpleasant experience.
I'm sorry little ones…don't want to get hypnotized Chambers glanced at the children's disappointed expression and sighed. He already completed his self-assigned mission - at least managed to stop them from crying and they could bear a little bit of juvenile disappointment over a full-blown weeping fit of four monster children.
With a stiff upper lip Luther reached into his bag and pulled out three hard caramel candies that were unwrapped by Tusk in his bag handing them over to the obviously satisfied Alice all while the others watched in either jealousy, small amounts of contempt from the monsters and a feeling of defeat from Luka.
"There we go, that wasn't so hard, was it?" She savored the taste with a large crunch. "These are good! Did you make these?
"No I didn't, but I do know how to make more."
"Do you have any more?" This time Luka was the one to ask, a desire to taste this sweet partly because of his own curiosity and envy and that there weren't too many chances in his own village of eating something as sweet candy.
"Unfortunately that was the last of my supply and I don't think I'll be making any more anytime soon…" The older man grimaced once he saw the surrounding disappointment increase, the only person in the cave that held some semblance of satisfaction was Alice who appreciated her victory with a large grin.
"I think we're done here, as much as I wouldn't like to say this you're a bit in trouble here and I don't think you'll get out of it without our help, so please… come with us." Luther stood up gesturing toward the exit, nobody out of the bandits was to deny his outstretched aid, even if with his statement of the predicament they seemed determined to comply and repent, he did after all show kindness to them…
"We…are sorry…" The tiny lamia hung her head low, her outlaws in arms followed their friend's example by either mumbling an apology or staying silent.
"It's not us that you have to apologize to, but thank you anyway." Luka notified the monsters to which they solemnly nodded.
"Right, right, we've stayed here long enough, it's already begging to get too damp for my nose, seriously how do stay here?" The Monster Lord complained glaring at growing moss that dominated the cave's interior like it had personally insulted her, the rest of the group could only either awkwardly chuckle or stare off somewhere from her stuffiness.
Journeying back to the city proved to be a bit more lively than usual, with the some of the normally empty presence filled with the group's new upbeat company, while usually there some periods of silence during travel time the monster children added to the number of topics that could be discussed, most of which were light-hearted, but there were hints of nervousness hidden within their stride either from Alice's and Luka's presence given by the way they preferred to keep their distance or from the potential guillotine that awaited them.
The four bandit's tension wasn't gone unnoticed by Luka, Alice or Luther in fact it remained throughout the start of the departure from their hideout, it was clear enough for them that the children weren't completely fine, even if they hadn't mentioned it.
"Are you sure everything will be fine, I don't think the people in Iliasburg like us very much?" The Dragon girl was the first to reveal her group's discomfort, none of them could be blamed for having such doubts to a certain extent and her company listened intently.
"Yeah…I think they're scared of us." Her vampire friend clarified with her own assumption, for her it was easy to see why that would be the case as did the others.
"It's always easy to steal from them, especially if they run away." The Goblin Girl added just before enough could any further, her own experience regarding her previous "robberies", many humans ran away from the simple sight of them and they hadn't even fought any of those proclaimed "heroes" they have been hearing about.
"It's natural to do that, their fault for being complete cowards to just drop everything and run. " Alice grumbled. It was frustrating to see people cower against monsters that weren't even strong either taken down via single blows or none at all, did these humans not have a lick of pride in their fiber?
"Why do you do that, doesn't that only make it worse?" Luka asked, he knew that the longer this continued, the more people noticed, the fear grew to turn to hate, and eventually the surrounding humans would have sent someone competent to deal with them, at least it was expected of them and the end...wouldn't be pleasant to think about.
"Nobody ever wants to talk to us, they run, try to attack or ignore, so it's hard to ever get any help, sometimes we get too hungry." The tiny lamia's words silenced put the group into an uncomfortable silence, in the current state they were in it was hard for Luka, Alice, or Luther for that matter to imagine like that, however it served to explain their actions even if the circumstances were unpleasant.
"Oh…" Luka immediately regretted inquiring them on their banditry, yet one more question remained.
"What about your pa-"The fake hero felt an elbow lightly dig into his ribcage, grasping his wound he looked to see that the perpetrator was none other than Luther who had fierce look in his eyes that told him to stop and Alice's side glance only showed a bit of disappointment the boy's lack of tact.
"What about what?" The purple-haired caught the nonverbal suggestions of his companions and decided to comply.
"Oh…nothing, just a passing thought." Luka seemed to immediately diffuse the created tension of his companions as he saw them return to their usual calmness.
Luther looked onward to the encroaching city of Iliasburg with slight worry in his heart. It was only a matter of time till he and the rest of the company will have to witness 'the grand apology', after everything that has happened he could only hope events still stay predictable enough, that his presence didn't butterfly effect a random hatred for monster children…as for the rest. As long as the man could keep everything in check he reckoned that he would have easy enough time in this continent, it's the rest of the damn planet that gave him unease, but for now, he could have his 'rest'.
One can only hope…
AN: No Luther's notes this time around, they'll still be here but there is not really that comes to mind when relating a note to this chapter.
More one thing about Luther's notes that I need to clarify, they are written after the end of SOD, I didn't mention this prior since I thought it would be obvious considering the Hamon note couldn't be possibly be written after Luther was nearly raped and then went to get blackout drunk. (Problem that comes with this is trying not to spoil things)
After this, we'll be exploring Harpy Village incidents among other things...
Unfortunately...I'll be taking a month-long hiatus due to academic reasons and to sort out my sleeping schedule...god knows how long I've spent slamming my head against the keyboard during night time. (I might still rewrite chapters a tiny bit during that time.)
Reviews:
-Najee: While technically other being is capable of suffering from critical ecstasy it doesn't appear to be as intense as it is for Humans who completely surrender, also being a battle fucker logic wise wouldn't really do well against long-range attackers or people who could just force your body to move. I'd imagine that generally, Humans in MGQ would develop a fighting culture related to preferring long-range since that seems to be the logical conclusion when it comes to dealing with beings that prefer grappling.
For now, the scene with Luka and Luther remains my most enjoyably written part of SOD, this idea came to me a awhile back once I realized that EXP lore-wise actually means something and Luthy-boy here is actually stealing it from Luka this eventually lead to the idea that the fake hero would be bothered of constantly getting saved.
-Guest: Not going to lie, I don't think you understand Promenstein or character relationships all that well. Just because character's shared interests doesn't mean they're going to fall head over heels over each other, the best I can expect from Promenstein is for her to view Luther as a potential colleague given his knowledge of the scientific world.
-doomqwer Oh, I have other things planned for Angel Halo...
-Kapellan23: I have already PM'd you an answer but I'll put this here: I specifically remember someone disproving the fact that Ilias created humanity in chapter 3 of MGQ, that could be just me misremembering things, which I'm not surprised. But I checked the wiki since I didn't wanna play through the game just for one piece of information that may or may not exist and found this on Ilias' own article.
"Unsatisfied, she came to a world with primitive life and slowly changed its creatures and landscape into her own image, artificially producing humanity at which point she dubbed her work "complete". At the same time, her dark counterpart also gave birth to monsters in a quicker and more controlled manner, an ability that Ilias was jealous of."
So it turns neither of us is fully correct in that assessment and that's alright.
The part of humans in MGQ being weaker is me using some form of logical reason regarding Ilias' own design (keep the guys that worship you weak so that they continue worshipping you for protection) and bias over the Humans in MGQ who weren't exactly that useful in my opinion.
I'm glad to get these reviews. If you don't see me respond to yours I have probably PM'd you my answer.
Thank you for the support, I'll see you next chapter.