The next morning, Alice accompanied Luka to the Garuda Girl in front of the Monster Lord's Castle. Even if the hero himself felt slightly nervous, he was ready to take on Saja. Looking at Alice reassured him, even if the Monster Lord looked around nervously.
"Don't worry Alice, I intend to come out fine."
"I know you idiot…" She smiled softly. "I'm sure you'll return victorious."
Luka jumped up in surprise. "Oh crap, I nearly forgot! I didn't ask you or the other knights about the possibility to directly teleport back at the castle…"
Alice grimaced. "Sorry, I did forget as well… It's a more administrative work that Tamamo oversees herself."
"By the way where is she? I expected her to come this morning to give a few more advices or equipment…"
The Monster Lord looked down shamefully. "Nobody can get a hold of her. She's not in the castle apparently."
"Oh… Maybe she decided to take a break in Yamatai after yesterday."
Alice grimaced when she remembered how she pretty much spent those last days ignoring, pushing back or even insulting her own surrogate mother. If the latter was mad at her… Well, she couldn't actually hold it against her herself.
"You're probably right." She attempted to give Luka her most sincere smile. She didn't want to burden him now of all time. "I'm sure things will go back to normal soon enough once you have beaten that yoma and brought her back home."
"Yeah… And when Alma Elma has successfully re-educated the Lilith Sisters, and we're sure Minagi will behave, and after that we'll have to deal with that Kagetsumugi… I'm just digging deeper, Ain't I?"
"Yes you are…" Alice chuckled. "Start by taking her down. If anything that happened with her so far is to go by, she can be reasoned with once beaten. Maybe she will even help us with her sisters afterward…"
Her expression became more serious. "But first, you must fight her alone. She might just end up being the greatest challenge you will ever face. Do not falter. Do not wander…" The tip of her tail opened to show a hole filled with mucus-covered purple tentacles. "Do not fall to her temptation."
"I won't." Luka got up on Galda, waved one last time to Alice, and the Monster Lord regretted letting him go alone.
Well… He was not fully alone. He still had the Four Spirits with him… Still, his absence was something that she would have done without.
She slithered back to the throne room, and, after comfortably installing herself, steadied her breathing. Kanade was to arrive to make her request at any moment now, and Alice didn't want to show any weakness now.
And indeed, the Slime Ancestor arrived a small hour later, her blue, generous body reminding Alice of Erubetie. The Ancestor bowed, and Alice could feel her power when she finally started talking.
"Greetings, Monster Lord. As you know, Undine's Spring and other water bodies in Grand Noah have been purified enough to allow even the weaker members of my kin to live and thrive. However, their options to live shouldn't be limited to a single region. As such, and after discussing the issue with the Queen Slime for a long time, I am currently pleading for your cooperation to make Hellgondo livable."
Alice was surprised by the formal, even respectful attitude of the Ancestor, expecting her to be rude and boorish. Being acknowledged as an authority figure by one of those monsters felt… welcome for a change. All the more when said monster was acting for the sake of her fellows.
"Of course, it is perfectly natural, and the issue has already been discussed. However, the work required to cleanse Hellgondo would be absolutely titanic… I do not want to stop you or even deter you, but are you sure you will be able to do it?"
"Yes. I will do the best for my descendant."
"In that case… I accept. We will see the details later, but we should start with the surroundings of the castle."
"Then in the name of the entire slime race, I thank you for according me some of your time."
The slime turned back and left Alice alone to her thoughts. That exchange went better than she expected… An hour passed by as she dealt with the usual grievances of her people, with the idea to bring humans servant once brought on the carpet, something that she'd probably have Tamamo and Alma Elma deal with.
Simply thinking about the kitsune made her heart sink. Her guilt for having treated her mentor so badly the last days was weighing down heavily on her, and eventually, she took a break, telling her guards that she felt unusually tired. Nobody would question a pregnant Monster Lord who just talked with one of the Six Ancestors.
Alice wandered to Tamamo's room, but felt that the kitsune was indeed missing. She sighed again. The other Heavenly Knights were back on Sentora to deal with their own respective duties.
"May I be of service to the Monster Lord?"
Alice turned to see Hiruko arriving down the hallway. Even if she was still uncomfortable in her presence, she appreciated the fact that the scylla properly showed herself instead of appearing right in her face. Progress…
"Thank you. You wouldn't appear to know where Tamamo is? She apparently left the castle without telling me."
"She didn't tell you? She was doing some research on Remina, and wanted to examine the remainders of the place this morning. But I can find Yao if you wish!"
"No, thank you." Alice frowned. "But I'm surprised. I don't know what she expects to see here. The town had been razed thirty years ago."
The scylla Ancestor shrugged. "Something about the castle which didn't get completely destroyed."
"Mmh." Alice nodded. "Then I'll guess lunch is a fox that will talk then… Wait, what?" She blinked a few times in confusion.
Hiruko raised an eyebrow. "Do you need some rest? The last days were exhausting for everyone…"
Alice raised a finger and blinked again even as she felt her body sway left and right.
"I'm the blueberriest of red balls for the purple mane, but fluff please…"
She eventually collapsed, her fall slowed by Hiruko's tentacles before the scylla laid her down gently on the ground.
"Well, that was easier than Tamamo said it would be. I guess they both really need a break."
Come on Luka… It's only the last Ancestor… You already took down three of them and a fourth one surrendered peacefully…
The Garuda Girl was flying over Sentora when Luka unsuccessfully attempted to clear his mind. A feeling of apprehension had seized him since he took off this morning, and he simply couldn't part himself from it… No, it was more exact to say that this feeling was in him since he learned about the Ancestors. The situation had been unusually tense at the Monster Lord's Castle even as he had time to prepare properly, and he had several quarrels with his wife since then… And that wasn't considering how strangely Tamamo was reacting. The return of her sisters as enemies had clearly made quite the impact on the kitsune…
But all this was to end today. He was going to face the last of the Six Ancestors, Saja, who also happened to be the first to have been created. He remembered the succubus soothsayer's words once again.
The first will be the most dangerous.
The first Ancestor he met, Kanon, hadn't proved more troublesome than her sisters… Hiruko had nearly killed him by accident, Minagi was busy being a torn in their side… In that case, it could be the other first, the first of the Six Ancestors…
"Are you all right Luka?" Undine's voice brought him back to the present. "It looks like you wouldn't even be able to pull of a Serene Mind as you are right now…"
"Sorry… I was just thinking about the fight ahead… I remembered getting my fortune from that succubus soothsayer telling me that the first would be the most dangerous, and since I'm going to face the very first of the Ancestors…"
"I didn't take you for the type to believe in that nonsense… It's always a bunch of bullshit written by a horny bitch at best."
"Salamander! …Although she has a point. You really shouldn't care about something so low considering that you took down Ilias herself. It's surprising that a little fortune reading by a succubus that might have just attempted to get in your pants seems to rattle you so much after that."
"Right… I guess it's also a bit about everything that happened those last weeks as well... Between those Ancestors, my near death, Alice…"
"I don't remember you being so gloomy during our adventures back then! I mean you were just rushing in and kicking asses while taking names! I was right when I told those elves thinking could be bad for you!"
"Syyyyylph… For the love of… Help Luka focus please. We're about to face Saja! We can't afford to go half-heartedly into a battle against her!"
"…"
"Right… Luka, please remain careful. Stand on your guards at all time, this is an opponent that can't be underestimated."
An additional half hour passed when the coastline of Ilias Continent appeared in front of Luka. Even from there, Luka could feel Saja's power. The yoma wanted him to know that she was waiting for him.
"I really hope all that training with Alice and Tamamo gonna pay off…"
Luka heard Salamander sneer.
"What? Ours wasn't good enough for you?"
"What?"
"Salamander, now is really not the time…"
"No, no, I have to know why everyone relies that much on that manipulative bitch! I feel like I'm the only one who remembers that she's one of the Six Ancestors and what she did back then!"
"She did tell us… She doesn't seem happy with it herself and doesn't want to see anything like that happen again."
"And what did she do to that end? Besides hanging back and sending you to do all the work I mean?"
"She informed us in the first place about their return. And she did help me train with Micaela."
"Yeah, it really makes up for all the lives she's taken, the kingdoms she's ruined, the hundreds of people she personally raped, tortured and killed before swallowing their souls…"
"No it doesn't. But it was thousands of years ago, she changed a lot since then, and she keeps being that helpful mother to Alice and tried to foster peace through the world."
"So it's fine because it didn't affect you?! I didn't think you were that selfish…"
"Wh- Where does that one even come from?!"
"Salamander! We really have bigger problems right now! I don't know if you noticed, but Saja's aura disappeared!"
Luka closed his eyes and started focusing. Indeed, the yoma's almost overwhelming aura had disappeared, and he was now flying above a thick forest his memories localized as being between Iliasport and Iliasburg. He tried to use the wind and the flow to discern where his opponent could hide amongst the trees, but couldn't see anything.
He tried remembering what Tamamo told her about Saja: The only thing greater than the yoma's pride was her power, so she would unlikely hide under any form of cover. She was a skilled spellcaster only second to Tamamo herself… Would she hide in the clouds to bomb him to oblivion? His fear increased as each second passed by.
Eventually, his concern proved unfounded as he arrived in sight of Ilias Village. The place looked calm, and the only thing out of place was the large monster standing on top of the temple.
Saja slowly rose, and Luka could flare her aura of power once again.
Holy crap! She's almost as powerful as Ilias when the latter was in her fused form! How did the monsters fail to win with someone like her on their side?!
And yet, she didn't show any signs of aggression nor was she preparing an attack, only showing up with an ever haughty smirk adorning her face. The hero could tell that she wanted him to land on the roof of the temple, and he obliged. She respectfully bowed when he descended of the Garuda Girl.
"I am glad to finally meet you face to face, hero Luka. I expect a lot from the hero that ended the reign of that excuse of a Goddess Ilias and beat my sisters… Don't think I will go easy on you."
Luka simply nodded, not knowing what to say. The yoma's expression became slightly malicious, and Luka suddenly realized that their environment had changed. They were now in a flat white plain, with only a few spare rocks around, and a blue sky. The hero couldn't see the source of light, and didn't find himself blinded either.
"This is a pocket dimension of my own. It may look impressive, but I assure you maintaining is nothing for me. Now, I apologize for rudely bringing us here, but I wanted to make sure you could give your best… No concern for the destruction that our fight will spread, no chance to see an ally or enemy interrupt us… Only us, and our skills as warriors."
She threateningly raised her wings, and Luka steadied his breath as he readied Angel Halo.
"Show me the might of the last hero of Ilias!"
She took flight and instantly dashed at him. The hero jumped back reflexively, and raised his sword to parry a large crystal shard that came from the cloud of dust she kicked up in the process. She emerged head first of the cloud, surprising the hero who barely managed to dodge her flying charge by laying down. However, the shockwave following her took him by surprise and tossed him toward her. As he was still thrown around, she skillfully dashed at him to wrap her tail around his body, only to instantly move back as a large comet crashed where she was a second ago. Luka managed to land on his feet and took the opportunity to better examine his opponent.
He didn't feel a single hint of bloodlust pour from her. Whether it was because she was testing him, had no actual malicious intention or simply because she had a complete control after years of fighting didn't matter, but not being able to detect her attacks that way, even if it wasn't the first time, was still an additional handicap the hero wished he hadn't.
And the air around her was… No, there was no "around" her, she was one with the air, as if the wind was moving her naturally to always bring the yoma where she wanted to be at any time. Before he could ponder the utility of the two related spirits, he saw Saja's eyes glow briefly and only their power made him turn his head and avoid their effects.
She then once again charged at him at a supersonic speed, but this time, the hero managed to steady himself, even hitting her tail back when she attempted to use it as a whip as she passed near him. However, she didn't slow down in the slightest and kept flying at full speed, taking to the sky while leaving behind magic circles in the air as a trail, the closest hundred of meters in front of him. An electric sensation ran across the hero's spine, and he decided to run in front of him, toward the closest circle. Simultaneously, he could feel Saja starting to descend thanks to the high amount of magic the yoma released.
"Sylph, full speed!"
Luka ran like a gust of wind and managed to reach the other side of the circle just as he felt Saja land. The area surrounded by the magic circles was swallowed in a cataclysmic implosion, and, when he looked again, the hero could only see a perfectly spherical smooth-looking crater, with the yoma smirking on the other side.
"Mmh. I should have expected as much." Her voice somehow reached him, even as she apparently spoke normally. "Tamamo and Micaela likely told you everything about me… Not that it matters."
She flew once again toward him, and Luka steadied himself once more. This time, she flew up before reaching him all while exhaling a thick purple mist. Luka imbued his sword with the power of the wind and cleared the cloud in a shockwave, and the monster looked down at him without hiding her amusement. The hero calmed his mind. He had to keep steady if he wanted to stand a chance. So far, only very few attacks connected and neither fighter showed signs of exhaustion or any wounds. Another magic circle appeared above him, and stalactites started raining down toward him at an impressive speed.
"Gnome!"
"Recede inmundissimi spiritus!"
Luka went wide-eyed in shock when he felt the spirit's power suddenly leave him. Several of the projectiles skewered him across his whole body, and the hero felt his blood freeze. Saja then created another magic circle, and this time, a burning meteor dropped on him. The hero only managed to directly step away from the area of impact to be propelled by the explosion. Before he could get up, Saja's tail wrapped around him, blocking his arms again his body and making him drop Angel Halo. The yoma licked her lips while her snakes wrapped behind his head.
"Mmmh… You held for an impressively long time, but I still expected you to do better than that… Bah! Just relax and enjoy now…"
His "training" with Alice talking, the hero slowly exhaled and squirmed slightly to slip ever so slightly down. The moment Saja started to loosen ever so slightly her grip to reposition her tail, he grabbed her under her coils and slipped under her, grabbing Angel Halo in a roll and slashing the yoma across her tail, bringing a small cry of surprise from her.
"Ninefold Rakshasa!"
Saja finally properly reacted and dodged most of the strikes from the flowing blades in a dance of her own before flying back with a single flap of her wings, almost knocking the hero down. She chuckled.
"Not bad… The worthy son of the Daystar… But know that this will be the last mistake I will make."
She disappeared into clouds.
Luka frowned. There were no clouds when they arrived. And if what Saja told him about that dimension of her held any value, there were no reasons for clouds to appear like that. His fears were confirmed when the first drop of rain fell. This was not simple water, but something that reminded the hero of the corrosive, aphrodisiac slime used by several monsters to break the mind of their prey with pleasure as they melted them.
Just how powerful was Saja to make a substance like that rain?
"Undine…"
The yoma's booming voice echoed from far above.
"Recede inmundissimi spiritus!"
Luka grimaced. Summoning the spirits again and again would certainly take more energy from him than Saja used to banish them out. The rain was starting to intensify, and the hero removed his already half-torn cape to cover himself. A mix of frustration and despair was starting to take over him as the downpour started. Maybe Tamamo would have had some wards to protect him in that situation… But the kitsune hadn't shown up to give him anything. No wards to protect him, she hadn't even told him good luck or anything, and his last memories of her would be an expression of worry wondering if he still had a death wish even after finding his perfect place in this world.
And this is how he might just end up dying. In a rain of dissolving sludge, his mind and body corroded and devoured, with a target too strong for him out of reach, unable to rely on the spirits or any allies… What else remained for him?
His lineage...
From the start, as soon as Micaela explained him, he never explored more than that the opportunity given by his angelic powers as he feared that they would consume them. Now, with this new tattoo… Could he afford the risk?"
The hero looked up and was blinded by a corrosive raindrop, making him shiver. He meditated to recover. What he couldn't afford right now was hesitating.
"Sylph, hold back, or she'll dispel you again."
"Bwuh? What are you doing?"
Luka focused his energy… Maybe if he poured everything…
"Infailible and unfailing, the Dance of the Fallen!"
His angelic power released once again, an ethereal wing appeared on his back. He felt a certain heat rise in his tattooed arm, but it wasn't even painful.
Time to see how far he could go.
Luka jumped up, taking into the sky and eventually reaching the clouds themselves without signs of falling down. The moment he reached the clouds, Saja intercepted him and attempted to slam him down by using her wings like maces. The hero managed to dodge them back just in time and flew higher to strike vertically above Saja's guard. The snakes that made for the end of her hair reacted, and protected the head of their master while Saja herself swung one of her wing sideway and knocked Luka in the sky. The hero tumbled away before recovering, and Saja summoned a storm of lightning on top of him.
Luka kept flying around at high speed to get out of the area of the spell and charged the yoma while charging his sword with energy. The yoma avoided the slash that threw an impressive shockwave. She riposted by trying to slap the legs of the hero with her tails while her snakes extended and hissed as they charged the hero's head. Luka managed to dodge the tail and parry the snakes in a series of rapid strikes, and, for the first time, the hero could tell he finally managed to surprise Saja.
The yoma didn't slow down her assault, and instantly attempted to strike the hero down with both of her wings. Luka managed to dodge the attack just in time, and struck back with a lightning-fast attack aimed straight at Saja's wings, but his sword harmlessly bounced back. Saja released a lightning breath, and Luka felt his body spasm in shock under the assault. The yoma once again wrapped her tail around the hero's waist, but this time, both of his arms remained free.
Luka slashed repeatedly at Saja's face as he tried to free himself, and the yoma let him free before slapping him once again. The hero tumbled through the air and cleared his mind, meditating and healing his most important wounds before stabilizing himself.
When he looked at Saja, he could tell that the yoma was now definitively taking him seriously. She wasn't like the other Ancestors who kept taunting, tempting or insulting him. Her bloodlust was still inexistent. She was simply completely and utterly focused on the battle, her smirk replaced by a stone mask as she moved in as few movements as possible. He had barely made a dent in her reserves while his were lowering, and he could tell that contrary to Minagi, she wouldn't stop until she was either sealed or dead.
He could feel his arm passably heating up as he vented holy energy. Well, it was probably a good sign… In the meantime, the yoma was still observing him silently. Her fully focused gaze seemed to piece him as her breathing became faster and faster.
Understanding what was about to happen, the hero charged at Saja who simply opened her mouth. A chill ran across his spine and he suddenly broke his trajectory, and a powerful beam of energy suddenly exited the yoma's mouth while she tried to keep her attack centered on the hero. Luka flew around faster and faster to try to avoid the beam, and, as he realized the yoma's attack would inevitable catch up to him, steadied himself.
The moment the beam touched him, a comet spawned from the sky and hit the yoma directly, sending her spinning uncontrollably. Not losing a second, the hero started preparing his most powerful attack.
Wind.
Saja was still spinning uncontrollably.
Earth.
The yoma finally stabilized herself and was now staring at the hero, her eyes glowing with magic.
Water.
She started charging at him like a lightning bolt.
Fire.
The hero finally released his attack just in time before Saja hit him and broke his concentration. The four elements he summoned exploded and amplified each other to create a cataclysm as powerful as her last attack. The hero lost sight of her when she went past the clouds, and was even surprised when he heard a heavy impact. He sighed in relief when the clouds disappeared, and slowly started descending toward Saja.
He gasped, however, when the yoma rose from the crater, clearly ready to continue fighting. She directly summoned a fireball at him, which he reflexively dodged even as the heat made him swelter ever so slightly. In less than a second, Saja was fighting him once again with all the power at her disposition. She charged him once more with the plan to knock him around, and once again he only managed to dodge her charge without successfully striking her as he passed right by him. He focused on her when his keenest senses warned him of a danger behind him. He suddenly dashed on the side, and an ice bolt flew right by him, scraping against his arm as it flew upward. The hero looked at the source of the projectile and saw another version of Saja. Before he could further analyze what was happening, the first one dive bombed at him while cloaked in fire.
"Flash kill!"
The hero charged through time and space to go past her, and while her attack didn't directly hit him, he felt his whole body being set on fire. He pirouetted into the sky to stop the flames, and finally got to enjoy a second to take a look at both yomas.
Of course, Tamamo had told him… He even saw it happen himself. He had simply forgotten.
"The most powerful mages like me and her can temporarily create a projection. It's basically a temporary body created through magic, acting just like the original. Thankfully, maintaining one require an indecent amount of mana, and even then, she won't be as powerful. Still, it's a good way to get an ally in a pinch."
For the first time since what felt like forever, the hero doubted he could win against this opponent. The succubus witch' warning came back to his mind.
The first is the most dangerous.
Still, he couldn't afford to give up… Too many people were relying on him. He couldn't let them down. He couldn't let Micaela and Tamamo's effort go to waste, nor could he disappoint Alice.
No… His wife wouldn't be merely disappointed… She might end up continue "living". Sure, Tamamo and the other Heavenly Knights would make sure that she doesn't make anything drastic, but afterwards... If the wise Sphinx was still not over her husband's death, what would be the passionate and impetuous lamia's reaction?
Luka felt his hand tighten unconsciously over Angel Halo's grip. Of course, Saja likely didn't care. The Ancestors didn't care for anyone, only for themselves… This was why he was fighting them after all…
Just like Ilias, it was their ego leading them.
Luka dived toward the two versions of Saja. Several magic circles appeared in front of the two monsters, and a dense rain of fireballs flew upward. Luka focused on dodging each and every single one of them until he was sure he was close enough.
"Flash Kill!"
The barriers put up shattered like a cacophony of broken crystal. The shortest instant afterward, a small elemental explosion swallowed the projection. Saja herself summoned a storm of windy blades, cutting apart the hero without harming her projection. Luka remained steady, and soon, another comet came down to crash on the yoma. Saja simply flew back in a heartbeat while her projection was exchanging blows with the hero. The latter was attacking with an extreme savagery, and, for the smallest moment, she regretted not rushing forward to exploit this opportunity and make him her once and for all.
She blinked several times in confusion when the comet crashed where she initially was. It took her a second to realize that Luka had somehow pushed her projection under its trajectory. The hero then savagely beat down the projection in a display of violence that surprised her for a moment before he charged her as soon as his current target disappeared in a puff of magic.
Surprised by this turn of event, she recoiled while protecting herself with a barrier that the hero shattered in a single swing of his sword. Saja used her wings to kick up a large cloud of dust and knock the hero back while lifting herself from the ground, but Luka didn't move back and remained too close to Saja for her comfort. At that precise moment, Saja fully recognized the Daystar in her son, with the sheer skills in melee and violence in the actions… She could still win, however.
She once more wrapped herself around the hero while her snakes bit him everywhere, and she endured the repeated slash across her bodies while she constricted her tail around his waist. Eventually, she released him, confident that the various venoms she had injected in him would wear him off while she continued to trade blows with him, her wings and snakes blocking his sword strikes.
However, Luka showed no signs of slowing down his assault. She inhaled and released another lightning breath in his direction, but the hero simply dashed across so rapidly he ended behind her and slashed at her back.
Saja finally lost her focus and started fighting more desperately, her fear of the Daystar growing by the second as she felt her energy deplete as strikes after strikes from Angel Halo sapped her strength. Her eyes glowed again as she tried to affect the hero with their supernatural charm, but he simply ignored it and continued fighting as if nothing had just happened. The yoma kept defending her body with her wings or her snakes, but it wasn't enough as the sword's sealing ability still affected her. She tried to once again release a lightning breath to paralyze the hero, but Luka simply dodged the attack too fast for the move to be effective.
Eventually, she released her hold on her spell and the pocket dimension the duo was fighting in disappeared. The fighters found themselves back on the roof of the temple. Saja started planning her escape when she felt Angel Halo repeteadly slashing her through her whole body. She shimmered for a moment before she turned into a primal flying lizard with feathery wings, and she then took off from the temple.
"Wait! Get back here!"
Luka attempted to jump up, but found his movements suddenly impaired, as if his body had been wrapped with strings while his mind started wandering. Confused, the hero suddenly found himself struggling to free himself as his angelic powers seemed to suddenly weaken.
Still surprised, he felt his wing disappear while gravity took back its course, and the hero fell to the ground, too busy panicking to summon Gnome before he reached the ground and fell unconscious.
"He's… mostly fine anyway. Nothing too serious."
When Luka opened his eyes, he was in a small bed surrounded by a red-faced kitsune and the priest of the temple. As soon as he tried repositioning himself, he felt his body being overtaken by pain, and had to settle down.
"Where's Saja? Did she escape?"
"Not… Exactly. She isn't far. She expressed her concerns that you would kill her."
Luka raised an eyebrow. "What? Why would I do that? I was simply afraid that she was going to escape to attempt to rebuild and challenge me again."
"As I said, she was too afraid and said that it looked like you wouldn't stop your assault. She was concerned for her own life."
"Then why didn't she even try to surrender instead of trying to escape? I would have stopped then."
The kitsune completely froze while the priest also quizzically looked at her. She awkwardly shuffled out of the room.
"…It's because her ego is so bloated she didn't even consider it…." Luka sighed. "She's right in the next room isn't she?"
The priest nodded. "It's… a strange experience to talk with a sentient flying serpent who, not so long ago, was a monster powerful enough to destroy this village in the blink of an eye."
Luka chuckled. "Tell me about it… What else happened while I was unconscious?"
The priest cleared his throat. "Anera will tell you… Please go easy on her."
The kitsune returned. "She asked you to swear that you won't attempt to kill her."
"I swear."
Another voice answered. "Good."
The sealed form of Saja entered the room. Luka couldn't tell if she was ashamed or not that the issue of her ego had been brought up, or if she was naturally like that. The hero decided to drop the subject for the moment.
"I was also worried by that trap on the roof of the temple..."
When he saw Anera's face turn into a deep shade of red, Luka instantly regretted bringing up the issue.
"I… Placed traps only effective against angels after we got attacked…" She looked down. "…Sorry…"
Luka ignored the kitsune's confession, too shocked by the other information he heard. "Wait, angels attacked the village? What happened?"
Saja answered. "I took care of them."
In front of Luka's confused expression and also glad that the heat was already taken of her, Anera decided to develop.
"About twenty angels attacked the village. Saja stepped in and blasted them, but they teleported away."
Luka frowned. Another issue that they'd have to see with Mariel…
At that precise moment, a small yelp echoed from outside. Anera sighed. "Another angel, but I doubt it's one of our assailants."
Luka slowly breathed in and out. Speaking of the devil…
Mariel was looking around her nervously until her gaze fixated itself on the sealed Saja.
"W-where's Micaela?"
"Under my care. I initially wanted to give her as a gift to Minagi, but I'm afraid that she will need some healing first. I… Might have been a little too rough on her…"
Is she actually regretting attacking her?
"Her life is not at threat for now, but I can't access her for now either." Saja looked at Luka and bowed. "I apologize, I just realized my short-sightedness. May I suggest bringing her to Tamamo?"
Luka groaned as he was reminded that, once again, he hadn't gotten the way to teleport back to the Monster Lord's Castle from Tamamo thanks to the numerous events that had plagued his life since his fight with Hiruko.
"I'll… I'll accompany you as well. I need to check on her myself." Mariel bowed. "If you're fine with it! I don't want to impose myself."
"Sure…Let's get to the garuda girl…" Luka slowly got up as he felt his whole body being still sore. Even meditating didn't remove the dull pain from his muscles. As he exited the temple, he was surprised by the whole population of the village cheering him down. What happened next was a blur for the hero. He remembered being congratulated by everyone, the kitsune telling that she and her mistress will keep an eye on the region for as long as needed, and the next thing he knew, he was on the garuda girl with Saja nestled behind him and Mariel in front.
"I will be glad to be of service to the descendant of the Dark Goddess!"
As he took to the sky, he realized how tired he felt. It wasn't only the fight against Saja, but the whole mess that had been the last weeks. Dealing with the invasion from Ilias and her goons had been simple and straightforward in comparison. The return of the Six Ancestors had apparently brought up several issues that still needed to be solved… But it wasn't his job. He beat them (or, more exactly, the four of them that acted up), and it was now time to rest. He needed it.
As she saw the Garuda Girl take to the sky with the strange trio on its back, the Dark Goddess Alipheese sighed. She couldn't currently name the emotion she was currently experiencing. She was disappointed by the defeat of her daughters at the hands of the hero, and yet… She didn't hold anything against him. She felt more disappointed by her daughters than angry at the hero as she should have been. In fact… She even felt relieved at his victory.
Sure, it wasn't exactly important as he was just an intermediate used by Tamamo for their sisterly squabbles. But still… It was something that she was glad to see end the way it did. Now, maybe monsterkin would finally fully thrive, her younger and older children working together… And maybe she could hope to be visited by Alice and Tamamo again now that the pressure from the other Ancestors was no longer on their shoulders. Maybe she could even check on them right now?
She scoured the castle in an attempt to see what they were doing, and, after a minute of fruitless search, changed her strategy. If she just focused on finding her descendant instead…
When she finally found her, the Dark Goddess was absolutely aghast at what was happening.
"No… No, no, no no!"