"I can tolerate that you recruited monsters to use as fodder in your past adventures, but why do you have to help them again in this world?"

Luka sighed as he was climbing the rope ladder leading him to the higher parts of Harpy Village. While Ilias proved less cold than he initially feared after their initial compromise got revised quite forcefully in his favor, her hostility toward monsters was still extremely annoying to deal with.

"First, because this is what a real hero does."

He did not need to turn to know Ilias was grimacing.

"Second, because if they are still ill when things go south they could stop holding back and spread the disease."

"So why not exterminate them then?"

"Third, getting as much local support as possible is still welcome. The more we help people, the better our reputation. And I want to get sure that when we're going to need their support or when we'll have to tell them to evacuate, we'll be able to convince them."

"A wise decision."

The last statement was made by the Grand Noah queen. Luka initially didn't consider inviting her in the team, but her presence had been suggested by the other royals as well as Mephisto. Remaining passive in the castle hadn't done any good for the queen, and she expressed a desire to be more active in the group. In reality, it was an open secret that she wanted to be there first hand to get her hands on small medals to add to her collection.

Currently she was wearing her royal blue regalia dress over an Archangel Bra. Luka initially feared that the awkward looking clothes would get in her way, but her outfit proved surprisingly practical when it came to crossing and adventuring through the countryside. Unusually, she also had her hair adorned with a magical butterfly Ribbon. She was wielding a copy of the Ouroboros Whip, an infamous weapon that was only thought to be a legend. It was covered in thorns, and emitting a chaotic aura that amplified dark and holy attacks. She proved more than once that she was more than fit to use it in battle, and more than one monster who thought they had found an easy prey ended up begging for her life.

Luka chuckled as he remembered the rumors that the queen's skills with whips were related to her tendencies in the bedchamber. After she dealt accordingly with a drunkard who asked her if she was available for requests, nobody even considered talking about it. At least, not if there was a possibility she was in the same building.

"And last, as I remember saying several times already, unless your omniscience allows us to see what increase or decrease the speed of chaosization, I will do what I always did in the order I always followed. And this last one applies to any future decision."

"Does this include your special requests too? Pervert."

The acerb remark came from Freya, the elf queen. Luka initially thought inviting her would be a good idea when he heard her talk with the fairy queen about her desire to explore the world and to see the good side of what humanity has to offer. She had accepted his invitation haughtily, but when she had answered, Luka had felt a bit of awkwardness in her voice, as if she was ashamed for a reason.

She was equipped with a copy of Artemis, the same legendary bow that Ilias was using. Like the Grand Noah queen, she was wearing a rich, heavily decorated dress that looked complex but did not impede her movements in any way. She remained a warrior first and foremost, after all, and the dress was designed to fit her in any activity.

However, a few issues started happening in Happiness village. The chief who asked them to find the harpy had suddenly lost focus for a moment, and offered to forget about it while asking the team to stay here for a while. His offer would have been considered, had he not been caught gawking at the Elf queen's generous forms when he made it. He ended up asking her to spend a night with her to discuss if the rumors that elves were lewd were true, which earned him a double synchronized slapping from his wife and Freya, knocking him out flat on the ground. Since then, she had mumbled several times that elves were pure and that men were trash.

In the end, I got back on the road with a miniature goddess that hates monsters enough to have planned a total genocide, a monster that still has a slight grudge against humans, and a human who's as wary about Ilias and her plan as one can be. Good choices Luka… Really. Good. Choices. At least this time the team is more balanced…Although I wonder if they will all stay with me for more than a few days for once…

After a while, the group had finally managed to climb up at the top of the tree and was making way toward the house that belonged to the queen. Ilias stopped everyone at the entrance of the place.

"Should the harpy queen decide to attack me, I count on you to defend me. She is not an opponent to be underestimated."

Luka shrugged. 'Don't worry, she's not even there. And we're more than powerful enough to beat her down. Fighting her would at most be barely annoying."

"It can't be more annoying that what happened in the other house anyway. I'm sick of perverts that keep hitting on me." Freya sounded disgusted.

The Grand Noah queen tapped her chin with a finger, deep in thoughts.

"In that case, may I suggest getting a more conservative outfit?" Freya raised an eyebrow in front of her human counterpart. "I mean no offense: it is an exquisite piece of work that perfectly puts your splendid figure into value, and it does manage it in fact a little too much. If years of royal galas taught me anything, it's that the more clothed you are the less likely you are to attract suitors. And even then, I would not guarantee that someone would not find it attractive."

"Mmmh… If you say so. Of all my outfits, this one is one of the more modest. I already requested several dresses from human who were deemed the best craftsmen available, but the products they offered left a lot to be desired. Even after having the amazoness clan punishing them appropriately by disgracing their pride as men, their work did not help alleviating the outrageous reputation that elves are lewd."

Luka refrained from laughing at the conversation happening in front of him. They were discussing fashion in the middle of an adventure focused on saving a monster specie. The scene wouldn't have been out of place in a noble tearoom in Lady's Village.

Ilias emitted an amused snorting noise.

"Save for those skanks that compose the succubus race, I do not think I have already seen someone with such a poor taste in clothing as you, Elf Queen."

Freya snarled and stepped forward as if to attack the small goddess directly, but a hand on her shoulder blocked her. She turned to see the Grand Noah queen who silently told her to let it go, followed by a small smirk indicating that she probably had something planned to humble the angel.

The group was greeted by the sight of Nero drinking tea as soon as they entered the house. The man was still wearing his black outfit trimmed in red while carrying around an oversized scythe. He became surprised when he identified the people that were accompanying Luka.

"Greetings! I did not expect you to come with such company that early in your adventure."

Ilias already looked tired of this situation. "Nevermind, I forgot about him."

The Elf queen looked offended at the man present in the room. "I do not think that my tastes in fashion can be put into question in front of this. This is something the elf princess would have enjoyed in her younger years, when she enjoyed gloominess and death more than what nature has to offer. Also, what is it with that belt between your legs?"

"Gah!" Nero turned awkwardly, his face taking a deep shade of red. "I knew from your reputation that you were quite sharp with words but I didn't think you were downright rude!"

The Grand Noah queen stepped in front of the group and bowed. "My apologies, but we are currently on guard as we are inquiring about the reason behind the harpy's disappearance. We initially heard they were sick because of an ancient virus that resurfaced and we wanted to check by ourselves which of them was the truth."

As she talked, Luka could feel her royal aura. It was not merely just charisma, it was something almost supernatural that was emitting from her: a reassuring power that came from someone who was above the other and would lead anybody looking for guidance to a brighter future.

I always heard about the rumors of royals descending from the ancient proto humans and I got the confirmation with the Grangold King, but I didn't think they were that powerful.

Even Nero seemed slightly taken aback for a small second. He repositioned his glasses as he cleared his throat to announce the issue at hand.

"The queen and her tribe quarantined herself in a tower north of here. She took the decision when it was clear they were contaminated by the ALKQ5 Lust Fever virus, which was used during the Great Monster War by your side." He pointed at Ilias. The latter grimaced awkwardly.

"Yes, but it was spread by a certain trio of shameless harlots."

Nero raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Luka froze. He was unsure if Nero knew about the Lilith Sisters, and what would be the consequences if he learned about them now. Eventually, he decided to spill a part of the beans.

"The Lilith Sisters have found a way to come to the surface of this world, and are working with Alipheese the Fifteenth. They're unconsciously carrying the disease with them." When he saw his interlocutor eyeing him suspiciously, he hurriedly added. "We encountered a wandering harpy who described them and Ilias confirmed their identity."

Nero looked down and dramatically repositioned his glasses once again. "I see. It seems we now have a new unexpected issue to deal with. This is… problematic." He took a large fruit from his satchel. "Anyway, I brought a fruit from the World Tree to cure them. You should distribute it while I inquire further about those new threats."

Luka silently accepted the fruit and the group eventually said their farewell to the strange man. It didn't seem like the conversation happened too differently from last time in spite of the possible early revelation.

Distributing the fruit to cure the afflicted among the harpy race happened without issues. The only notable difference was that the queen herself was fighting more seriously than the last time it happened. While she insisted it was because she lost control, the elf queen indiscreetly stated that it might be because she might have seen the ideal mate in Luka, which would have triggered her reproduction instinct and exacerbated the situation. Like the last time, there was not enough fruit to cure her and she accepted to remain confined in the tower until the group gets her a new fruit.

They considered getting Alrauna to grow a second fruit to cure the harpy queen right now, but the alraune could only create the fruit when she herself was in the World Tree. While leaving to search for the fruit now was a possibility, everybody feared that going to the World Tree right now would cause more trouble than what it was worth.

Afterward, the group made its way to Midas Village to cure the ongoing slug infestation going on there. Every member of the team was quite disgusted with the efforts deployed by the land dwellers to spread their slime absolutely everywhere. Dealing with the infestation itself proved trivial, however. The slug stars that were leading the large group from the tower instantly surrendered upon seeing the group arrive for them. They were relieved when they learned that their only demand was to reduce their reproducing rate to prevent them from overrunning the close village with their sheer number.

Not before long, the group found himself in Tartarus once again. This time, nobody reacted in front of the apoptosis, nor did they when Luka opened the door leading to another dimension. As they reached the other side of the door, the hero saw Promestein exiting a building before going back in as soon as she saw them. The hero's group followed her and entered the building she made her. The various tables and shelves present were covered with various laboratory equipment. The small red headed angel was wearing an overcoat over a schoolgirl uniform while carrying a heavy book.

"Greetings, you don't appear to be apoptosis, how did you get here?"

"Promestein…" Ilias snarled as she recognized the angel scientist that had betrayed her in the past. "How are you still alive?"

"What? Who are you?"

"Don't you recognize me? I'll give you a hint, I'm the most important angel in your pathetic life."

"Librarian Ranuel? No she's taller… Ranararu? Wait…"

She kept quoting several angel's names while the two queens behind Luka were trying to keep a neutral expression. Eventually, Ilias caved in and shouted her name several times.

"It's impossible, Ilias is the one in charge of managing the world, she's a taller, grand figure and she's always in Heaven. The angels punish everyone pretending to be the goddess with death, and this sentence is often carried personally by Eden, the leader of the seraph."

"Do you-" Ilias's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, Eden is the leader of the seraphim? When did that happen?"

"When Micaela took the lead of the Seven Archangels. Don't you remember it? Who taught you history?"

Luka suddenly froze as the realization hit him.

Wait. Promestein comes from the Angel World? HOW DID I FORGET THAT?

Freya started looking concerned, as the hero was trembling with hate. "Are you alright?"

Luka proceeded to throw his head back and scream at the top of his lungs.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

He then proceeded to pass out. The other members of the group were silent, still stunned by the hero's sudden outburst. As they awkwardly looked at each other with Promestein, the Grand Noah queen looked at him.

"That just happened. I am impatient to know what caused this outburst."

Promestein poked at the unconscious hero with a pen. "This happened after I talked about my world. Maybe he got surprised by the idea that several worlds existed."

The elf queen cringed. "I would ask of you to trust us on that one. No, he didn't."

Ilias was still trying to find back her sense of hearing. She was holding her head between her hands, stumbling around as her sense of balance was momentarily off.

"Just… get a phoenix tail and reanimate him."

In the Pocket Castle, Morrigan wallowed on her bed after a long day of work. Since she started helping Amira to manage the intelligence acquired, she had difficulty enjoying her time with the hero. She hated working for someone else, the reverse lamia was unbearably aggravating, and, most of all, she didn't get to screw with anything. She could feel her instinctive, primordial hunger starting to stir.

On the other hand, she had the time to recover nicely and her colleagues were getting less and less wary of her. She was finally getting back the goodwill she wanted from Luka's forces, even if it was in one of the most boring way possible. Even Mephisto was acknowledging that the succubus was definitively skilled when she was focused. In the end, she accepted that those few weeks of work were a small price to pay to get the hero's support. Furthermore, her family would have to acknowledge her work in swaying the hero to their side, and she knew she could use these favors to get Luka for herself and get paid back a hundredfold.

"Look at you, serving other monsters… How far have you fallen..."

Morrigan checked around her. This thought certainly didn't come from her. Was she going crazy? Her own voice sounded in her head again.

"Come on, did you lost yourself so much you can't see the truth anymore? You really became a slave, didn't you?"

Eventually, she sighed as she reflexively brought a hand to her head.

"Hellooo, parallel world me."

She heard a scoffing noise.

"Is that all you have to say? Look at you! You're serving a hero's goons! You're not even trying to screw him senseless!"

"Hey! Just you wait a little! Luka is getting more and more powerful! Soon, everybody will want him in their plan! And besides, the more he grows, the better he'll be afterwards!"

"Pffft, riiight. You just became a slave to the hero. What happened to you? I would currently be making him beg for his mother."

"Well, if you think it's that easy, why don't you try taking on him yourself?"

The other one fell silent for a moment.

"…You know what? I'll take you on this offer. I'll have my fun with him on a bed made with a few angel feathers from those isolated weaklings, and make him scream to heaven while you watch. Unless, of course, you decide to wimp out like the weakling you are."

Morrigan felt the connection with the other version of her suddenly shutting off.

"Shiiiit."

Morrigan got up from her bed and made her way half running, half flying toward the royal room where Mephisto was the most likely to be. She brutally opened the door and saw the yoma and Black Alice drinking tea with Sara and Alma Elma. Everybody was surprised by her intrusion, but she started talking before anybody could react.

"The other Morrigan is going to attack Luka in Enrika."