Tamamo No Mae was comfortably resting in her large bed, with kitsune handmaidens going about around her, doing everything to make sure that that their lord was comfortable. The room itself looked extremely old, done in the classical style of Yamatai with the furniture to match. In reality, however, every piece of furniture actually concealed an impressive amount of high tech equipment that were both facilitating her life and following any and every of her vital signs.

She was still having difficulties recovering from the disastrous loss of her projection in Grangold. Its destruction by her counterpart had created a powerful feedback on her body and her mind. While her magic mastery and her sheer power had minimized the damages done, it was still an attack like she hadn't faced since the Great Monsters War.

And, most of all, the feeling of defeat was bitter in her mouth. Her usual haughty smirk had departed her face, leaving it open to receive a rage-filled perpetual frown. Even her handmaidens were more careful and distant than usual, not that she blamed them: She had already killed several human volunteers in her recovery sessions, and in the last case in a particularly gruesome way as she burned out his soul when he was still alive, resulting in a cacophony of screams that filled her bedroom for several minutes.

She carefully took a sip of her favorite tea, and lifted herself from her bedding to go to her luxurious desk. Her mood had only worsened after the Lilith Sisters failed to report in the aftermath of the disaster. For all she knew, the whole world could already be destroyed she wouldn't be aware. All that mess because nobody took a second to check the content of Grangold's cells… If she knew the Sixteenth was present, she would have told Lilith to bring her back to the Monster Lord's castle. Her mother's idea to push her away was a farce that now had birthed a disaster. Well, that pacifist was going to be punished hard enough with the new plan…

She felt light headed as she sat down, and she couldn't let her feelings obscure her judgment. Entertainment before work was in order if she wanted to perform well today. She snapped her fingers, and, in the blink of an eye, a handmaiden was near her, humbly looking at the ground.

"Mistress?"

"Have new subjects been brought in recently?"

"Several. Mostly a few discontent humans, but also a few angels as well. They got sent by mistress Hiruko as a recovery gift, and are currently waiting for processing."

"Anything particular about them?"

"Four of the angels come from the same group and have a strong bond. Their leader has taken an in human protégé.

Tamamo's smirk reappeared on her face. Good, it looked like an opportunity to entertain herself had arrived…

"Send the five of them to the arena C-37."

"Your will is done, mistress."

Tamamo blinked, and the next second, she was in an observation point, looking down at her future source of fun: In an immaculate, perfectly white room, four angels were looking at each other, worried, and the strongest looking one was holding hands with a frail-looking human. She already enjoyed their fear and their confusion. A second later, her voice echoed in the room.

"Greetings, and thank you for participating in today's experiment." She relished as she saw them looking around, terrified as they were unable to see her. "Starting in a few seconds, an electric shock will periodically zap you. Said shock will be stronger and stronger as time pass. As soon as two of you are dead, the others will be free.

She carefully looked at what the camera inside the room was showing. At first, the angels seemed confused, but not particularly scared. They jumped, startled, when the first shock crossed the room. They once again looked around, more afraid this time. Then a second, stronger shock shook them. Tamamo knew that it wasn't strong enough for them to be really painful, except for the human, meaning that sooner or later his lover would decide to act.

And his partner indeed had already noticed his pain. She was holding him tighter in her arms, and her three fellows seemed at a loss as to what to do. Another shock made the human cry in pain, and this time, his partner shouted to the others to act. Good, it seemed her link to him was indeed strong… Stronger than the one that linked her to her fellows? It was time to see it for herself.

Another shock crossed the room, and this time, the leader had to use her skills to reanimate her lover. The cell degenerated into panicked shouting, and soon enough even insults started flying as one of the angel pointed to the human. One of the angels collapsed in crying while the leader cradled the man. Another one of the soldiers jumped at her and got pushed back. The third soldier grabbed her aggressive fellow who hit her back as she started to snap. The next wave of current was strong enough to bring the man on the brink of death, while the weakest of the angel started to retch uncontrollably.

Tamamo couldn't even tell which angel had assaulted their leader, but their brawl was becoming vicious. One of them was starting to bleed heavily from the head.

A last shockwave ran through the room, killing the man in the process and the more weakened of the two angels. Her assailant backed up, horrified, and threw herself at the wall repeatedly to kill herself. Only the leader was still conscious. Tamamo teleported behind the entrance of the cell as it opened up and slowly clapped while smirking haughtily.

"Congratulations. You managed to overcome this conundrum." She gestured at the exit. "You are free to go out and to enjoy the life in Yamatai for yourself."

The angel snarled before charging at Tamamo. The kitsune nonchalantly dodged her, scratching her face with her claws before binding her with her tails. She then brought her assailant's face closer to her, enjoying the terrified expression of the angel in the process as she tried to struggle out of her grasp..

"Ooooh, an angry one… I offer you freedom, and this is how I'm repaid." She shrugged indifferently. "True, I might have put you through a small challenge…" Her gaze turned more severe, and the angel completely froze in a primordial terror.

"But, I want you to remember that in the end…" She proceeded to lick the bleeding face of her opponent, savoring the taste of blood and putting the angel in a magical trance. "This is only justice for what your kin has done."

The dazed angel moaned, completely under the kitsune's thrall. Tamamo teleported with her new toy back into her room, and sat on a chair while her tails were still draining her victim of her energy. She took a look at the past reports from the Lilith Sisters as she hoped to find a way to contact them. She browsed distractedly through the documents when she ended once again on their report concerning the hero. She smiled at first, as the perspective of getting to play with the son of the Daystar crossed her mind. Then she found something that disturbed her slightly.

She reread the line several times, and it wasn't an illusion from her mind. How did she miss something that huge and that important? She would have ordered the Lilith Sisters to capture the hero at all cost if she knew. How had her mind, the most brilliant of all monsterkind, been tricked to disregard this as a mere detail? She sent a telepathic message, calling the head researcher affected to the study of Tartarus. A six-tailed kitsune wearing a white labcoat and a protective mask appeared in front of her.

"Mistress Tamamo?"

The Ancestor showed her the report. "Tell me, Ernea. You all read that report?"

"Yes. We all did indeed. Every one of us involved in the project, your majesty, and her majesty's sisters did.

"Read this page again please."

The kitsune went wide eyed. "Wait… This is impossible! And how could we all miss that detail?! I mean, I apologize mistress but nobody should have-."

"Thank you, you can stop here and return to your post."

The kitsune bowed and instantly disappeared, slightly afraid for her life. Tamamo No Mae sat on her bed in a meditative posture and focused inward, her tails delicately letting go of her entranced toy. In a heartbeat, she entered a mental world that looked like a council room. A minute later, four others minds joined it, then a fifth, more powerful and primal, and finally a sixth, more childish.

"Sorry, I thought I was almost on Eden but it was just an archangel… Wow, you're angry. Bad news?"

"I only noticed something in the Lilith Sister's report about the hero. Something that, for a reason, hadn't been given as much importance as it should have for a reason that has yet to be established."

"What is it, if it's so important?" Minagi was already growing impatient after likely being interrupted in her favorite activity.

"Basing this information of the report from the Lilith Sisters, the hero Luka had travelled back in the past."

She could feel several of her sisters almost losing their connection in the surprise. She could then feel them physically scramble around as they were looking for their own documents. Saja was the first to voice her concern.

"This… We all read that report and we never even discussed about it, as if that information didn't appear."

"Actually we did even discuss it." Minagi's cool headed nature helped her see through. "I remember when I passed by to see you after their report from an encounter with Zion near Mithra Castle. We just never considered it more than as a detail at that time."

"And why would that be?"

"I don't know. I remembered that we were more focused on that White Rabbit."

The assembly fell silent. Tamamo was the first to speak up. "I think we underestimated that… abstract concept that passes itself as a monster."

The Dark Goddess continued. "We have new plans then. Tell the Lilith Sisters to have everyone available focused on capturing the hero. Have your team search information on the White Rabbit. All projects that use resources that can be put to one or the other end are to be placed on standby."

"I will."

"I want to make it clear. This is an absolute priority. If the hero can indeed do that, he will be able to solve any and every one of our issues, deal with the fools of the Angel World, and then the Chaos Goddess herself without trouble… Farewell."

As soon as the mental connection cut, Tamamo projected her mind to the other world, scanning for the Lilith Sisters. After much difficulty, she managed to find them and could pinpoint their location, strangely enough, in Succubus Village. She gave them their new instructions, and asked them about the current situation with the Monster Lord.

In the next instant, Tamamo tore apart her new toy with her tails in a fit of rage.

Uriela was walking back and forth in the arena of her colosseum, as the crowd of humans, angels and monsters sang her name while booing the monster she was facing. Her current opponent, a succubus-like yoma, was breathing heavily and was covered in wounds while glaring at her. The angel spat onto the ground in contempt. Since her fight in Esta, every challenger that came to her seemed boring, insipid and lifeless, and this one was no exception: The fight had started barely thirty seconds ago, and her opponent didn't even manage to attack her. The yoma was trying to hold on for dear life, and was already resting on the scythe that had been given to her as a weapon. She should at least have been thankful to be given such a chance, but instead, she only had hatred in her eyes. Well, there was no point in drawing this out…

Uriela charged straight at the yoma at a blinding speed, and the monster only managed to parry the attack at the last moment. The angel started remembering the events of Esta as she pushed her assault. How she regretted not being able to go back to face the hero… She was sure that even alone, he would be more challenging than twenty of those apoptosis they had to regularly clear. Uriela lost herself in that memory for a single instant, which the yoma exploited and used to hit the angel in her face. The attack barely grazed her, leaving a small trail of blood, but it was enough to make the crowd gasp in shock. Uriela herself was surprised to have been distracted so easily by her own thoughts. The yoma herself had stopped into her assault, before restarting as she saw the shadow of a chance.

Just as she raised her scythe, Uriela tackled her in a rage and pummeled her with her fists. As the monster started crying in a mix of pain and terror, the angel punched her straight into the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Uriela stopped herself and saw the monster slowly choking into her own blood. This fight had made her angrier than she imagined. She made one step away from the still conscious monster, took a good look at her pathetic appearance, and brought her heel on her face, creating a shockwave and splattering the monster's head around the arena.

The crowd exploded in cheers, but Uriela wasn't receptive to their support. She wordlessly got backstage and took a thick towel offered by an assistant who bowed gracefully.

"Do you wish for anything more, my lord?"

"No. You can take your leave."

The angel stepped away, leaving Uriela alone. The Archangel teleported herself away back in her residence. Once she was back in the huge, golden room filled with weapons and armors that made for her bedchambers, the angel snapped and screamed her rage. She felt herself rusting, and the frustration born from a lack of challenge was starting to break her mind after being teased like that.

Uriela stepped around a bit, and, after a while, sat in a meditative posture with a rosary in her hand. She needed to calm down and remember what was her role: To serve Ilias, to be her shield against monsters, darkness, and those that wanted to harm her creations and to be her vengeful arm against those that dared getting in the way of the Goddess. Why, even after so much time, did so many people still try to stand against her? Didn't they realize that they were only wasting the time of her servants? Didn't they realize they were only delaying their salvation? Why would they even reject her wisdom?

"I am her sword. Ilias is my guide."

She slowly breathed out as repeating the mantra had a calming effect on her. Her sisters often told her to relax and take more time to enjoy what the world had to offer. Metatron, in particular, was sometimes getting on her nerves as she often told her to "find a good man and forget herself in the moment." Her last three attempts had been more than disappointing. Nobody had the spine to stand to her. If she got her hand on that hero on the other hand… Yes, things might change. She might follow her partner's advice.

Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a telepathic communication from Micaela. Her leader sounded passably disturbed.

"Get to the Goddess's temple office. We have an emergency meeting."

Before she could answer anything, the connection cut. Uriela got up and teleported herself into the council's room antechamber. If Micaela called her like that, it was certainly a direct order from Ilias herself. No delay should be suffered.

The place itself was covered with tapestries representing the Goddess in the most glorious ways, and a few seats were lining up the wall. She opened the richly adorned door, and saw that most of her fellow Archangels were already standing at their place around the large marble table at the center of the room. Only Micaela and Ilias themselves were missing, their larger and more elevated seats still empty.

As someone versed into fighting, she had a more utilitarian sight and found the room slightly gaudy. Every single inch of the wall was covered by stained glasses or tapestries representing the Goddess. The place was strongly illuminated by both candles and magic, without a single spot hidden in shadows.

Eventually, Micaela appeared on her seat in the blink of an eye. The next second, two messengers appeared, bowed, and started talking in melodious voices in perfect synch.

"Please welcome her majesty, the one and only Goddess, the mother of all creation, our mother Ilias!"

Right as they ended, Ilias appeared on her seat with a haughty smirk, her head comfortably resting on top of her hand.

"Greetings, my dear servants. Micaela has called everyone today to share with you some insight she recently acquired." The goddess then turned toward her lieutenant. "If you would kindly further develop."

Micaela bowed respectfully. "Thank you, supreme one. Following our unfortunate setback in Esta, I reexamined the reports sent by Zion and Gnosis on the hero's actions with the hope to find a weakness that would have escaped us." Her expression became somber as she looked down. "It appears a key information had been disregarded in the past."

"What is it? We all read that report and I can say that all the information here has been treated adequately."

Micaela glared at Metatron who just interrupted her. The small angel shamefully looked down.

"To cut it short, her report talked about the presence of two Morrigans. I will pass on the lengthy investigation process, but after crossing this information with the elements coming from our different encounters with the hero, Her Majesty deduced he somehow managed to travel back in the past, and, more precisely, at the beginning of his adventure."

Everybody gasped. Ilias enjoyed the dramatic effects her lieutenant's words had and took the relay.

"Needless to say, I want this skill. It will guarantee our victory over those shameless abominations from this hell-bent place, and help us a great deal in our dealing with the Chaos Goddess. We will be able to save everyone. After all, we will have all the time to turn them back to the right path..." She turned toward Uriela.

"Consider this an occasion to atone for Esta. You will have the support of the seraph as you require. You are allowed to use every resource available to reach your goal."

Uriela bowed. "I will bring you victory, my lord."

"I suggest gathering the support of the angels in Snow Heaven. It is time for them to enter into our fold. Dismissed."

Ilias disappeared into a pillar of light, soon followed by each of the Seven Archangels.

Uriela flew at high speed to Esta. As soon as she reached the town, she saw the three seraph kneeling in front of her.

"Welcome, my lord. What can we do for you."

"I have received instructions from the Goddess, and I expect your full support."

Eden looked up, shining with fervor. Zion was already grinning madly.

"Please, share her word. We will follow it."

"Ooooh, my, how exciting!"

"Indeed."

"…You know, maybe we should get him for ourselves. We'll be able to have as many parties as we want."

"Shall I send my dolls?"

"No. Let's wait a little more…"

"Too late."