"…You actually want me to step in on that one?"
Reaper nodded. She herself preferred a more passive approach to the hero's adventure to minimize the spread of chaosization inherent to outsider interactions, but there was a time where a direct intervention was indeed needed.
"They already lost track of their path once, and their leader is too disturbed to keep the group on it. I only want to make sure nothing happen to them in the meantime."
The White Rabbit was seating across her on an invisible lounge chair.
"I already have to deal with those pesky twins… Geeh, I wished their fathers taught them to mind their own business…"
"Then just ignore them."
The White Rabbit looked at the Reaper as if the latter just told her to kill herself.
"Just ignore them? Why don't we ignore everything and just let all those idiots break down everything further! For all their good intention, they only make things worse. Ooooh, look at us, we're doing what the hero did because it is what true history's about…" She dramatically sighed. "They're almighty idiots. They have the power of the gods, but don't understand anything about what they're really doing. Although I'm not sure if it's better than those who do but don't care."
"We still need both of the small ones to make their way through the adventure alive. Can you still do it?"
The White Rabbit put her hands on her hips, falsely outraged. "Of course I can!"
"Then I suggest you get started soon on this task."
"Sure, but before I do, there's something we need to talk about before it's too late."
"What is it?" Reaper felt slightly surprised, as the White Rabbit sounded more serious than usual.
"Should we really keep doing that with the chaos surrounding the hero? It's currently creating more issues than it's solving, and I'm pretty suuuure that whole mess with the second heroine unable to follow her path is related to that."
"We keep it at the same level. If possible."
"Fine. I just wish to remind you that should it fluctuate even so slightly, one of the filter is going to break, and then-."
Their discussion was interrupted by the fall of a certain naked purple haired young man in the middle of the small sanctum in the void, followed inexplicably by his clothes.
"Speak of the devil... It took him longer than expected to arrive here."
"But you were right on the cause of death. It seems Alma Elma has been quite thorough with him."
"Well, in any case, I'll be on my way before I'm late. See you soon!"
The White Rabbit placed her hat on the ground and then jumped inside it before the headgear disappeared.
Reaper then turned toward Luka. The hero was still lying face first on the ground. "Now, you know the deal. Don't forget to put your clothes back on. Reappearing in front of the castle in your birthday's suit will only get you back here again in record time."
After a long day, Micaela enjoyed the moment of tranquility that had finally arrived to soothe her heart, as the waterfall slammed with all its power all over her nubile body, blocking the sound of the daily activity of the Pocket Castle to her ears. This last day had mentally exhausted her. She has been too used to Heaven's dictated and ordered lifestyle, and then to the tranquility of Enrika. But both times, she had ignored the turmoil of the world below or around her. By joining Luka, she accepted to deal with its suffering on a regular basis, no matter how dangerous, insane, or downright stupid the reality at hand could be. And if what happened in Yamatai then in that fortress were anything to go by, the world had kept a full closet of weird things to throw at her. Still, she had managed to reach her goals for today.
Morrigan had indeed been identified as the one who told everything to the Monster Lord, likely through her link with her sisters. Killing her was out of the question, but Micaela was sure that one of the castle's more devious inhabitants could find some use for her. Her actions couldn't even really qualify as a betrayal, just someone wanting to help her family and her world… Some people that Micaela certainly didn't want to deal with. She already had dealt with them enough in the past to take a stance against them, and if what she heard about their actions was correct, it was the right one.
She was relieved to have contacted Tamamo and that the kitsune joined them of her own volition. Even if she herself hadn't brought much more information about the Monster Lord's plans on the table, the Lilith Sisters still had one of their best asset denied, and Micaela was pretty sure that the two remaining Heavenly Knights would join Luka's party sooner or later. Furthermore, they could start working toward developing a strategy to deal both with the invaders from the other worlds and the Chaos Goddess herself together. She still disliked the kitsune after so much time, but working jointly with her was a necessity at that point.
In the end, the mix of shock and humiliation was a small price to pay for these victories. Furthermore, those happened in a relatively safe environment. She felt more prepared to deal with future stupid surprises like that should someone decide to make it their signature style. On that matter, Esta was coming next…
Micaela opened her eyes and stepped into the water, ignoring the few onlookers that had gathered. It was time for the First Seraph to don the persona of a strategist. She put back on her clothes, and wordlessly made her way to the Council room.
The room where the party held its usual strategy meeting was filled to the brim this day. When Micaela opened the door, all the leaders of the human kingdoms were already there, as well as Promestein and Luka. She sniffed a bit the air in displeasure, as an all too powerful heady scent was encompassing her nephew. A bit later, Tamamo and Mephisto finally arrived, the latter only after she got sure that a certain blue haired succubus could not threaten the anonymity of their latest recruit. Micaela glared at the kitsune, as if to defy her to express anything about her nephew who didn't notice the silent hostilities.
"Let's get straight to the heart of the problem." Mephisto cleared her throat and started reading a bunch of papers. "We are to check on Esta and the Tartarus located there soon. Last time Luka entered the village, he had been projected into a vision of what Heaven was by one of the Seven Archangels identified as Raphaela, before an ancestor identified as Saja invited herself in the conversation. They basically offered him the perspective to join a world with perfect security or with full freedom respectively. He then investigated the Tartarus directly by using a boat, and once he was back on the coast, Gnosis came out to attack the party. She then relented when she heard Luka had been invited to Heaven, and then said she hoped that the hero would make the good choice."She looked interrogatingly as the hero. "Did I happen to miss anything?"
Luka shook his head negatively.
"In that case…" Mephisto put down her papers and crossed her hands in front of her face. "I shall remind everyone that we already crossed swords with Zion and Gnosis and forced them back. The consensus so far is that the Goddess of Light from the Angel World will react quite negatively and quite strongly to the opposition we offered against her pawns. Is it validated?"
Everyone solemnly nodded.
"Then the debate is open as to what we should expect this time."
Micaela was the first to give an opinion. "We dared to lay hands on her creation. She will deploy a lot of efforts to exterminate us."
Mephisto rubbed her hands together as the first suggestion came to her mind. "All three seraphim?"
The seraph nodded. "And maybe some of those Archangels as well, unfortunately. If Ilias is really angry, even up to their leader could be dispatched."
Mephisto shook her head negatively. "We're powerful, but we cannot afford to face that. A direct fight with all of them would be disastrous for us, but also for the world. Even one could be a danger."
"Why not skip Esta altogether?" The Grand Noah queen was genuinely curious.
Luka sighed. "Because the White Rabbit told that if I don't exactly follow the path as I did, the chaosization could further worsen."
"And how reliable has she proven herself so far?"
Luka looked at the table for a moment, lost in thoughts. "As fickle as she is, she didn't lie a single time to me."
"If I may?" Promestein shakily raised a finger.
"Go on. But try to keep it short and simple please."
"Thank you." The angel scientist proceeded to pull as thick as her head. "I did a few analysis on interdimensionnal movements through Tartarus and between dimensions." She then started to flick her book's pages.
"A few analysis? It looks like you consigned every information that could be."
"That book is only the first of five parts… Ah, there it is. I will skip the details, but to put simply, an item moved through dimensions will naturally generate ripples that will destabilize the area with an effect roughly exponential to its power level."
"…Strange, we didn't notice anything." Luka scratched his head in confusion. "I mean, there was quite a difference between the first and the last time we explored a Tartarus in term of party power level, and we didn't notice anything new."
"Precisely. That's because you have a dimension travelling ability certainly related to your ability to open doors. I have not determined its root cause, since I couldn't dissect your body..."
"And you never will."
"...But it's pretty safe to assume it is related to your father. This effect extends to the people you travel with, but once again, I can only conjecture on how and why that work. Back to the matter at hand: the more ripples are generated, the more apoptosis will get attracted and the more powerful they'll be."
"An action leads to an opposite reaction of equal force?"
"That is quite a simplified version of the third law of forces to describe an extremely complex situation, but it's not entirely inaccurate." Promestein repositioned her glasses and smiled. "I wonder if you can draw the conclusion by yourself?"
Luka closed his eyes. "If it happens every time there is a move between dimensions, then it will happen when the seraphim comes through. If it's exponential, it means that if they try to bring in even more soldiers, they will have to deal with even more apoptosis on the way and risk arriving already exhausted or worse…"
Promestein nodded. "They're limited in the forces they can send without issues. If they decided to send everyone, they may end up killed and even destroy the connection with this world. And it's been established that Ilias want to save every souls loyal to her, so she will avoid any outcome that increase the chaosization rate to a dangerous level. And it is not taking into account the troubles potentially shaking Angel World we couldn't know about, although we can't rely on anything in that regard..."
Tamamo chuckled. "Poor Ilias, having her hand forced like that… She must be fuming."
Micaela ground her teeth. "On that matter, we should check on our own little goddess. Even if she left us, I still feel worried for her."
"Don't worry about that." Mephisto started fiddling with her wand while smugly smirking. "Our insider told us that they were currently doing fine overall, but that Ilias is currently feeling tortured by her decision. We'll certainly be able to get her back to join us in better spirit later."
"Mmmh. We'll also have to find and get back Alice the Sixteenth." Tamamo frowned. "I wonder where she is?"
"Our observers saw her near the Gold frontier a few days ago. We didn't see her since."
"Back on the matter at hand…" The Grand Noah queen was polishing a small medal. "We made limited progress on finding out about the forces that this Angel World can send at us in Esta."
"The two seraphim we wrecked will come with a thirst for our blood… And we already saw all three together in the past in the ruins of Ilias Temple... which we didn't visit yet. You understand what I mean." Sara looked around her, and everybody nodded at the princess's words.
"So we confirm we'll face at least the three seraphim… But if they know we have an army, they certainly won't send them alone. Could they be supported by several troops and archangels? What do we know of their fighting strategy?"
"Sorry. I didn't ask the Second Chief of Heaven Under Ilias and the leader of the Seven Archangels, the great Micaela herself." Promestein smugly smirked.
Everybody turned toward the First seraph who managed to keep a neutral expression. She remained immobile for a full minute, before starting to explain a plan in an equal, monotone voice.
"Two equal forces. One will attack the army on the other side of the portal, the other will keep a path through Tartarus safe to allow for the evacuation of the wounded. The three seraphim will be part of the assault wave and aren't really fit to command large scale parties, so one of the Seven Archangel will lead each group. Deployment in a crescent to surround the city. Tartarus will block assaults from the back, preventing succubi and harpies from flanking so there's no need to keep a melee interception force behind, only rangers and support parties to shield the army against wind and darkness. Also water, since there's a lake at proximity that could be used. Esta is a large town, and the best way for angels to get the superiority in this situation is to destroy every building that could block their move and be used by monsters specialized in ambushes such as scyllas. The three seraphim and the Archangel go for the biggest resistance point, which will be the town hall. Once that point is annihilated, complete the surrounding operation and kill everyone. Now, on to whom shall lead the assault…"
Promestein showed Micaela several sheets filled with informations on the Seven Archangels. These were the results of Promestein's own knowledge and of Micaela's imported searches from the now dead world.
"Uriela is likely to do it. She's a warrior at heart, and lives in the Noah Region. The support will either be Gabriela, who's a powerful healer, or Raphaela, who tends to the spirit of everyone."
"Why not one of these twins or the caster? Proximity has an important role in who will come, but so has surprising the enemy."
"Because she's the one with the greatest leading and tactical abilities of the group. She's also the one that was the most involved directly in the few fighting operations that happened after the Great Monster War. And she also is just as impulsive as Zion, maybe even more."
"That makes sense. Now, on with how we'll counter them… First we have to keep in mind that they know I'm here, which means any plan I create will be an I know you know I know you know repeated ad nauseam. I don't think a ranged ambush will work fine again either. I am open to suggestions."
The council discussed every possibility to prepare a battle plan against a full on assault from angels. After an hour, a strategy had been agreed upon. The group also decided to take a break for a few days so that everyone available could warm up and be ready for the big fight. The main advantage of having a Pocket Dimension in that case was that it made training far from prying eyes extremely easy, after all. As the reunion ended, everybody left to either take a rest or to communicate new developments to their friends. Luka and Tamamo exited the room side by side.
"Sooo, about that special training your aunt wants me to give you… I have a few ideas to get started." She licked her lips.
They heard the sound of a sword unsheathing, and turned to see Micaela examining her copy of Excalibur while humming distractedly.
"Mmmh? Oh sorry, I just wanted to check that weapon again. I didn't use it much yet, but I'm pretty sure soon enough I will have a good reason…"
Tamamo gave an exaggerated sigh. "I already got your message, I only wanted to see how much you trusted me with your nephew given we're now on the same side."
Micaela sheathed the sword back. "Look… I know your past, so I don't think you can blame me if I don't feel half as comfortable with you as others do. And then the first thing I see you doing when you join us is…"
"Completely ridiculous? I admit it was a mistake on my part to try to beat Sun Wukong in a silly contest to try to get her to switch loyalty, but the results were good enough. The Demon Cow Queen plan fell apart, and Sun Wukong is now going to closely stay around us to look for fun…"
"And that is supposed to be good how exactly? The one who wrecked Heaven isn't exactly known for her reliability."
Tamamo gave a little laughter. "Because we don't want her as an ally. We want her to wreck our enemies."
"I see what you mean. Still, be careful Luka, that sly fox has more than one trick in her bag."
"I won't bite, besides, it's not like it will be really private. And no, I don't mean it like that, I'm not Alma Elma. Follow me."
Luka followed Tamamo through the castle. The duo ended in the casino, who was currently managed by two men who were replacing Lazarus and Merlin.
"Let's get started on the basics, or more exactly on how to keep a neutral expression." Tamamo pulled a pack of card from a table and invited Minamo and Izuna to join them. "We're going to play poker with special rules. Each time someone lose fifty coins, they remove a cloth."
Luka moaned in despair.
The kitsune smirked. "Don't worry, I never lost yet."