Luka awakened in the middle of the night in a bed. His body felt extremely heavy, and he was even more exhausted than after his fight with Zion at Mithra. He felt a bit surprised for a second, before memories of his evening with his partner Morrigan came back in force. Uncomfortable with the remembrances, he tossed and turned around a few times.

"Oh hey you're awake!"

"Gah!"

Luka had a knee jerk reaction in front of the pair of glowing blue eyes that were staring at him from extremely close. The only other thing he could see in the dark was a clear white, insane grin right under them. It was at that moment that he realized he was in Morrigan's room, where the air was heavy with the promise of unspeakable pleasures. He also only realized now that he was still completely naked, further adding to the discomfort.

"Sheesh, it's me, you should relax. Is it because of what happened this evening? Sorry if I went a little overboard, but I got a little cranky after getting insulted by the other Morrigan. For a moment, I was worried you wouldn't wake up."

Luka slowly exhaled. "It's just… I'm a bit disturbed."

Morrigan slightly raised her hand. The room went from pitch dark to slightly illuminated, as if it was under a clear sky with a full moon. The succubus had her body concealed by a sheet.

"Awww, come on! Don't tell me you never did some dirty talking before! I mean, I know some guys get turned off, but a masochistic hero like you is certainly used to it, no?"

Luka scratched his head in wonder, before pinching the bridge of his nose as the realization hit him. "I was talking about fighting an alternate version of you and then ending in your bed right afterward. What we did together…" A blush appeared on his face. "Yeah, I liked it even if you were a bit harsh."

"I would have sucked you dry if you told me you were unsatisfied with me." Her hands glowed slightly for the shortest time, making Luka shiver from pleasure. "Although I had no doubt you enjoyed it, considering how much you moaned like a little slut. And besides, I am a legendary succubus! I would be a shame to my specie if I left my partner disappointed!"

Noticing the lack of reaction from Luka, Morrigan eventually decided to stop teasing the hero and to go straight at the heart of the issue. "You're having difficulty wrapping your head around the existence of two Morrigans, one total bitch who would kill you at the drop of a hat, and one who's the best lay in existence."

"I wouldn't have said it like that, but yes, pretty much." Luka laid back on the bed and looked at the ceiling, ignoring the half hearted glare. "We're dealing with time travel and inter dimensional invasions in the middle of an apocalypse created by a bored, fickle pseudo goddess. I'm currently repeating an adventure I've already done for a reason I can't quite comprehend myself and must do as closely as possible compared to the last time." He started trembling. "This whole situation is insane, and now I feel like I'm about to lose it!"

Morrigan scoffed and sat on the bed japanese style. "It's only because you're a prisoner of your weakness."

"Huh?" Luka sat up and turned toward Morrigan. When he looked at her, his face reddened once again as the now exposed succubus was filling his field of vision. She was only wearing her gloves and her stockings.

"Then it's lesson time I guess." Morrigan leaned toward him, further showing off her not so modest assets. "The reason you feel you're going crazy is because you are forced to do like you did in the past. And the reason you are forced to do like you did in the past is because you're not strong enough to break those barriers that keep you on this path. And I don't mean any offense by that, considering how strong those currently are." She repositionned herself on the bed and sat cross-legged. "But the facts are there, you -and by you I unfortunately mean we, as we follow you- are currently forced to go on destinations you already went to, just to help people, because you have to."

"Even if I had the choice, I would still help them!"

Morrigan smirked. "It would be different. If you were stronger, you would be able to make this choice yourself, rather than having it forced upon you. You would feel free to do as you please. You would help them because it is your choice rather than because you must. Can you call yourself living if everything you do is predetermined? Can you say you're even alive when someone else pulls every strings of your own life? Your every move? Your every thoughts?" She then proceeded to twirl a finger around, creating magic shackles that attached Luka's arms to the bed above his head.

"Hey!" Luka struggled for a moment, and easily broke the bindings holding him into place.

"See?" Morrigan changed position again. "There's no problem when you're powerful enough to make your own choices. You also had the possibility to wait to see what I would actually do."

She stretched, before pointing toward the door. "Lesson's over. You can now leave and return in your cold room alone." Her tone became less childish and more lascivious as her mouth got close to Luka's ear. "Or you can lay back and enjoy the pleasures I will gladly offer you."

Luka thought the situation for a second. "Or… I could return to the tranquility of my room and avoid getting molested further by you."

Morrigan chuckled. "That's just playing on the perspective. But you're free to think what you want, and do as you please here! There's no trap!"

The hero looked at the door leading him outside. He then glanced at the succubus, who languidly licked her lips. He looked back at the door, and Morrigan exploited his distraction to pounce on him and straddle his body.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Here's a small free extra lesson. You're not the only one who's free to do as you want, and being indecisive at the wrong moment will lead to others forcing their choice on you. And as it happens, I'm a bit hungry…"

Before she could further molest him, Luka focused his energy through his body and violently raised himself, throwing the succubus off. She landed on her posterior in an undignified manner with a small thud.

"Ow. I deserve that one." She massaged her behind in a dramatic fashion. As Luka got up with a clear intention to leave, she held out an arm. "Are you sure you don't want an extra round? I'll be nice, I promise!"

Luka looked at the succubus on the ground. Even after what just happened, even knowing how unpredictable and dangerous she could be, he still desired to indulge himself in her body. She was an ancient and powerful sex demon first and foremost after all. It would have been a shame to pass on an occasion to enjoy her honed skills.

"Fine, but no using your aura."

She got back to the bed and took a lascivious pose while licking her lips.

"Deal, now get over here…"

The next morning, Luka got up with difficulties, as he was still exhausted from his times spent in Morrigan's embrace. The succubus had brought him to heaven several times with her skills, and a part of him wanted to get back to her to appreciate her touch once more. He left with regret, but considered that he would likely have the occasion later.

After taking a shower in his own room, he made his way to the royal room, where Mephisto and the Grand Noah queen were waiting to debrief their latest encounter. Upon arriving, he could see them drinking tea cordially with the Grangold King and the San Ilia pope. He also realized that what he initially thought to be furniture was a part of Leviathan, the admiral of the Navy. The huge blue sea dragon was also here for a reason, towering at one of the end of the table, her trident in one hand. Mephisto grinned as her eyes laid on the hero.

"Ah, I see you managed to recover quite well from your encounter with Morrigan! I hope you still have some energy left in you, for the upcoming road is a long and hard one!"

The Grand Noah queen shook her head disapprovingly, but didn't say anything.

Luka raised his eyes. "Shouldn't we talk about the fight first?"

"Right." The yoma cleared her throat. "Save for Freya, the elf queen, nobody suffered any wound. While our strategy was effective, we were too slow to entirely define it and to put it into action.

"We had several hours in front of us between the moment we were informed Morrigan would attack and the fight itself." The Mecha pope sounded angry about the whole situation. "The first issue stemmed from an inability to deploy our strike team. To make it simple, most of the team is made of harpies, and we weren't sure if Morrigan was still a carrier of the AKQL5 virus. It could have been a disaster."

"We went through several other plans. Overwhelming physically someone who can drain her opponents through direct contact was seen as a horrible idea. And several monsters were also missing, limiting our options. Furthermore, we needed an assault that would incapacitate a fast moving target effectively. We realized we were lucky to have that many rangers, mages and makina users who were remaining in the castle, but we can't rely on that."

Mephisto sighed. "Also, we were lucky that it was Morrigan who could be distracted and that the fight happened in a town. Can't say it would have gone well if it was the like of Sun Wukong in a cavern or a castle. This is why we are now working together to further define several strategies based on the archetype of monster you get to face and the environment."

Leviathan bowed. "I heard of what happened at Enrika. We are discussing the need to train some additional soldiers to fight at sea, as additional constraints are imposed by the environment. I only require your confirmation to start training a selected group of recruits."

Luka nodded. He felt slightly overwhelmed by the situation. He was a hero, used to swing his sword at the target in front of him. The strategic needs for his adventures remained best left delegated to those versed in the art of warfare.

The Grand Noah queen took the relay. "We finally wanted to know about the composition of the party for the next part of your adventure. Freya is out for a few days, and while I am still interested to travel with you, I do understand if you wish to have someone else accompany you for a reason."

The hero had already made his choice some time ago. "Promestein will replace Freya. Ilias may not like her, but she's still a skilled magic scholar. I will confirm it later with her, but I'm confident she will be interested in field study."

"Perfect. In that case, the reunion is closed."

Mephisto leaned toward the hero.

"And, Luka… You might want to take a few more baths before seeing Ilias. Succubus pheromones stick to the skins like glue, I speak from firsthand experience." Everyone stared at Mephisto, who realized her gaffe a bit late. "I experimented with those to see what possible use they could have besides as an aphrodisiac."

Luka awkwardly nodded and got back to his room to scrub himself clean. By the time he was done, he felt like he had scorched himself by sliding face first over gravel.

In the meantime, the remaining members of the council looked at each other. Mephisto leaned back on her chair. "How do you think he's doing so far?"

The Grand Noah queen answered. "He seems relatively fine for now. I was worried after his outburst in Tartarus, but it seemed it was a false alarm after all. I still wonder why made him blow up like that, but I'm not sure I would like the answer…"

"Same." The Mecha pope nodded. "I was worried after his fight with Morrigan that he could go insane, but it seemed her... company helped him calm down."

"So far, he always accepted everything without questioning it and handled everything well. Should we really fear for his mental fortitude?"

"We had a lifetime to train to keep the lid on our emotions. Even if he's the most powerful being in the castle and our best hope against any external threats, he is still a young man who's been thrown into the fire and has the fate of the world on his shoulder. We cannot carry it in his place, but we can and we will help him support it."

"I agree." Mephisto pulled out a paper. "Now, let's get started on preparing the first sea crossing. I don't think Morrigan will show up again, but something bad is bound to happen…"

In the early hours of the evening, the group made from Luka, Ilias, the Grand Noah queen and Promestein went on its way toward Iliasport. The small goddess was ranting the whole time about succubi while embellishing her participation in the Enrika battle in front of Promestein. The angel scientist was busier walking around and taking sample from time to time.

"-and even as elves were falling left and right, she could never manage to reach me because my holiness was too powerful to her, so-"

Luka and the Grand Noah queen silently looked at each other. They had initially commonly decided to humor the goddess, but upon hearing her talking nonstop for several hours, they were starting to regret this decision. The duo remained impressed by Ilias's ability as a narrator, as she managed to turn a five minutes skirmish that ended in a skeet shooting in an epic fight that lasted for several hours.

As the sun was setting down, the group started setting camp. Iliasport was still not within sight when they took a break for the day.

"I never understood why we bother sleeping outside when we have the Pocket Castle and all its comfort available." Promestein had stated matter of factly.

"Because we get to enjoy the starry sky and some form of tranquility."

Promestein was about to say something, but stopped when she remembered how often she was interrupted when working in her laboratory. A small group meant her work was less likely to get interrupted.

The Grand Noah queen took a small medal with an etched sigil at the center from her dress. When she threw it on the ground, a decently sized tent formed where the medallion was.

"…How?"

"The perks of being the queen of Grand Noah. I have some paperwork to do, I will join you for dinner."

In the meantime, Luka had made a campfire and had started cooking. The conditions to ask Promestein the question that had been keeping his mind busy for a while were ideal.

"Promestein?"

"What is it?" The scientiset sounded particularly disinterested

"I never asked you about the dimension you came from."

"You already did." Promestein shrugged, as she answered in a monotone voice. "It is a world where the Goddess Ilias was victorious over the original Monster Lord, thanks to the Seven Archangels and the Secong Generation Seraphim. The law of Heaven became the law of the world, and almost all monsters were exterminated afterward."

Ilias raised an eyebrow. "Almost?"

"A few monsters were willing to follow the law of Heaven. Uriela accepted them under the condition that they proved valuable. Ilias disregarded this small peccadillo."

The small goddess jumped up in surprise. "What? I mean, how could the alternate version of me accept leaving monsters alive?"

"I never understood either. I didn't even get to use them for experiments, but she said they were part of her plan."

Luka was trying to kindle back the fire with a branch. "I got it already, but I wish to know more about the daily life there."

"It's not so different of what other angels told you about their past life in Heaven."

"Yeah, but what about mankind."

"I…" Promestein looked down. "I am ashamed to say that I never studied the question in depth. I was always too busy filling in the requests made by my fellow scholars."

"Luka, what are you trying to do?" Ilias was frowning, as her tone had turned particularly defensive. "Any and all my creations in my world would be safe under my guidance. Are you considering that Promestein, of all angels, may know better than me how a world under my management would fare?"

Luka shrugged innocently. "She used to live there."

Ilias sneered. "I'll let you know my vision then. In my ideal world, not a single harm shall befall my creation. I will love those that love me back. I only ask for the smallest bit of gratitude in exchange."

Luka chuckled. "In the end, it is not so different of your religious precepts." He stopped stirring suddenly as a realization hit him. "Wait, you said you would exterminate all monsters?"

Ilias looked at Luka wide eyed. "I did not expect the son of Lucifina to be so daft. Monsters are the source of all the suffering in the world. Peace with the Dark Goddess was never an option once her abominable goons started exploiting my creations for their own enjoyment." She haughtily looked at the hero. "My creations will be safe once all of them will be exterminated."

"Except from themselves, that is." The Grand Noah queen came back from her tent while polishing a small medal. "Your cooking smells divine. Did you consider becoming a chef?"

Ilias sounded indignant. "Are you telling me that my creations have a tendency to destroy each other? Do I need to remind you of your legacy?"

"There's no need for that." The queen made a dismissive gesture. "You told yourself that monsters are the greatest threat to humanity -which I don't approve, but that's another issue entirely-. However, some humans actively search for the company of monsters. And not always the kindest type of company, I lost an advisor that way who was looking for something slightly rougher than usual." She shivered. "Anyway, that would mean humans are self destructive, isn't it?"

Ilias chuckled. "They won't have access to monsters anymore. No monster, no pervert to search for them."

"They will just throw themselves on something else for relief. Food, alcohol or worse… And when it comes to inflicting harm, I would have thought that after watching over humanity for millennia, you would have seen that some humans can be just as cruel as monsters. Some will harm others for its own sake. Some will even come to harm other under the pretense of helping them." She blew some air on the small medal and continued rubbing it with a cloth. "This is why laws exist."

Ilias pondered the situation for a moment. "Then… They will only get to enjoy the leisures I personally approve. And I will make sure that nobody harm each other." Ilias started smiling, her wing flapping heavily. "Since I'm omniscient, maybe I should personally decide how each person will bring the best to society!"

The grand Noah queen was still looking at the medal she was polishing as she answered distractedly. "This is an absolutely horrible way to rule."

Silence fell heavily on the camp, only broken occasionally by the cracking noises emitted by the campfire. When the queen finally turned away from her work, she could see that Ilias was absolutely dumbfounded. "You either become insane from all the micro managing, or end up with a stagnating kingdom. When everybody follows you blindly, creative sterility is bound to happen."

Once the meal finally got ready, everybody ate in silence. Promestein had taken notes upon notes and was still writing in her pad, distanced from the heavy ambiance between the three other party members.

After a while, the queen excused herself and left to sleep. Gradually, everybody left the campfire, leaving Luka alone with his thoughts.

It looks like she didn't take the queen's remark too well. I can understand her desire to protect every one of her creations, but she'd be acting like an overprotecting parent on a whole new level! Has she always been like that? Still, I could get some ideas of what the Angel World is like from their discussion, but I don't know about how mankind is treated there. He sighed. Guess I should stop thinking about it until we reach Esta. In the meantime, I'll get sure she feels better. Each time we talk, I feel like her dreams are stomped a little harder. I hope she will feel better eventually…

Well, tomorrow will be another day. A better one I hope.