Even if he barely had the time to recover from the latest series of events, Luka was glad to be back on the road: The hero feared that staying as is would result in him ruminating over the tragedy that had befallen Alice. He was still wondering how it could have happened in the first place, and he could tell that the small Monster Lord's death had affected his current allies as well.

Micaela's mood was still slightly somber, although the main reason was that she was worried about the longer term impact the reunion with Ilias and her fellow angels would have. She'd probably have to come over to guarantee their successful reintegration back into the Pocket Castle to smooth things out. Still, she had chosen to accompany the group for now.

Tamamo was smiling, but her eyes were now carrying an untold sadness, and her fellow Heavenly Knight had noticed the disappearance of the kitsune's signature playfulness in her behavior. Alma herself was focused on their next goal: Bringing Granberia to their side.

To this end, the group brought Salamander. Luka was concerned about what would happen when the two fire spirits were going to meet, but he also was the first to acknowledge that right now, Salamander was the monster the most likely to convince the Heavenly Knight of Fire to join them. And should that fail, Tamamo had created another simple but foolproof plan with the Fire Spirit and Luka's help.

The group was soon standing in front of the Gold Volcano, ready for a fight. Alma Elma remained behind, not wanting to further push Granberia down the road of her succubus-caused depression, leaving the dragonkin to the other party members.

"How can you enjoy living there?" Luka was sweating, but thanks to the protections he brought, he was not suffering excessively from the heat. "It's incredibly hot!"

"Because I'm the Fire Spirit?" Salamander raised an eyebrow. "I mean, Sylph lives in a forest with pranksters, Gnome lives alone with her mud dolls in the desert, and Undine take care of her brethren in her spring. We all live far from humans in environment that match our element because we feel more comfortable like that. Besides…" She started grinning. "I'm also known for teaching advanced fighting techniques to everyone who wants. If they can't beat the challenge the volcano represents, then they're unworthy of my teachings."

"That's one way of selecting your students…"

Salamander nodded. "I'll handle the first part of our meeting. Stay sure that Alma Elma doesn't come in and further traumatizes Granberia."

"I think she got it anyway."

After a few minutes of crossing through the lava-filled area, the group arrived in sight of the resident Fire Spirit. Granberia was sitting in front of her, with her back turned toward the group, her legs crossed and her eyes closed, listening to the lesson her mentor was giving her. She turned when Salamander stopped, and went wide eyed upon seeing a second Fire Spirit.

The spirit accompanying Luka gestured for her partners to stay back while she continued. Both spirits met midway and silently gauged each other for a minute, before the resident Salamander threw a series of punch at her counterpart that the latter countered with the same series of attack. They exchanged identical blows for a minute straight, and, from the spectator's perspective, it looked like someone fighting their reflection in a mirror. Eventually, the spirit that accompanied Luka added further power in her punches and threw her opponent back across several meters. As she got up, the resident Fire Spirit shook herself, turned toward Granberia, nodded positively, then turned back toward the group.

"Ok, you are indeed another me. We're listening to you."

"I'll try to make it short."

Even if she hadn't accompanied Luka much on his adventures lately, she knew enough about the hero and what was happening to explain it to her counterpart. Contrary to every other times the young man explained his past adventures, the reactions were a bit more stunned. Even Salamander realized her tale sounded strange to her own ears. Even the deaths of the Monster Lord and her daughter looked secondary contrary to those two words.

"Time travel… This is a joke, right?"

"I just realized what I was saying."

"Me too." Micaela checked around. "Why didn't we talk more about it?"

"I…" Tamamo deflated. "Can't explain either. Still, are you willing to join us back? We're now the highest recognized authority amongst monsters on this world, and we will need every support we can gather."

"Wait, first…" Salamander pointed at Luka. "Should we even do a pact? I'm not sure it's necessary."

Luka closed his eyes as he tried remembering keys information. "Yes. It is necessary to prevent the spread of chaosization."

"Very well… Normally I should fight you, but…" The resident Fire Spirit sighed and gestured with an arm toward her counterpart. "You already beat me in the past. I'll spare you the trouble and just join you."

She moved toward her counterpart, and, right after Luka blinked, there was only one Fire Spirit holding her head in pain. "Ok. That's strange, and now I feel weird. How does that even work?"

"Well, to put it simply, I created a tethering system that saves the profile of everyone acknowledging the owner of the Pocket Castle at his or her leader, and should someone with an existing profile come, it will fuse with her counterpart and mix the best of the two.

"And how does it exactly recognize the profiles, physically and mentally fuse them and knows what to keep?"

Tamamo awkwardly grimaced. "Those are pesky details. Don't sweat it."

Salamander crossed her arms in annoyance. "The Great Spell Crafter cannot manage to explain clearly how her magic work here. Can we assume that the only reason it's working just fine is only because of a miracle performed by the Dark Goddess?"

"Youuuu actually wouldn't like the answer. I'll just say that I wasn't the one who actually worked on that part. And that it's old. Very old."

"Terrific." The now combined Fire Spirit turned toward her pupil. "Will you join us? We need you back at the Monster Lord's Castle."

Granberia was absolutely dumbfounded by what had happened in front of her. Salamander might have helped her overcome her trauma, but what had just happened was already threatening to throw her into the deep end again.

"I'm… Not sure…"

The Dragonkin looked extremely shaken. Salamander hoped that they didn't just worsen her pupil's state of mind. She turned toward Luka, who nodded.

"Granberia." Luka unsheathed his sword. "I challenge you to a fight. Shall you win, you will be free to do with me as you please. Shall I win, you will join us and serve us!"

I can't tell if I sound cool or incredibly stupid.

I just challenged a master swordsman in her domain. The answer is definitively somewhere in between.

The dragonkin closed her eyes, and, when she opened them again, Luka could see the fire of a warrior's heart burning inside them, consuming the doubts that had been slowing her. She roused herself and pointed her huge sword toward the hero.

"Very well. I accept!"

Both warriors stood at the ready as the trio that accompanied Luka moved back.

"Prepare yourself! Thunder thrust!"

Granberia charged at lightning speed at Luka who barely managed to parry the attack. The hero then exploited his momentum to attack the dragonkin's back, but his blade was met with hers. After she pushed his blade back with raw power, both opponents broke away and gauged each other.

"Sylph!"

Luka charged at Granberia while kicking up a large gust of wind in an attempt to destabilize the Heavenly Knight of fire. However, she managed to hold steady and parried the blade aimed at her head.

"Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!" She launched a powerful flurry of fire infused blows, but only one of the attacks connected to the hero, who dodged the others in a lightning fast dance. Still, a gash had appeared on the side of his armor and the power of the strike almost made him lose his footing. He saw Granberia charge at her from the corner of his eye.

"Gnome!"

The next second, the fighters had locked their blade together in a contest of strength. Luka was slowly pushing the dragonkin back thanks to the support provided by the Earth Spirit. He carefully weighted his footing as he kept pushing: The last thing he wanted was to stumble in front of the dragonkin should the latter decide to remove her blade.

As if on cue, Granberia twisted her wrist and Luka almost fell forward. He used his energy to roll forward in a smooth motion, and the dragonkin's blade only met air as she slashed at where the hero was half a second ago. She threw her blade backward, and managed to deviate an opportunity attack from Luka.

"Undine!"

The two warriors started exchanging attacks once again in quick succession? Every attack was parried or blocked, as their opponent's roughly equal skill put them into a delicate stalemate. Luka broke away from the fight as he started to lose patience: The dragonkin's defense was a great challenge to overcome, and one he had to break alone when he had come to rely on others to support him.

"Come on! Is that all? Show me your spirit!"

The hero focused on his breathing as he tried to keep his head cool. Giving in to frustration would only open himself to attacks from the dragonkin.

"Gnome!"

He fully focused his assault on raw power in what looked like a chain of brutal but clumsy attacks that Granberia easily dodged as they dug into the half molten ground and left large scars. The dragonkin sneered.

"Mmmh. A pathetic display. I expected better from the hero."

"Undine! Full power!"

The hero sprayed a powerful stream of water onto the ground where he left scars on the ground, petrifying the scars he left and creating a thick mist from the vapors.

Granberia closed her eyes and focused her serene mind to look for the hero. His bloodlust was heavily palpable and almost overwhelmed her.

"Sylph!"

As she blocked an upcoming attack from behind, Granberia lost her footing on the crumbling, uneven ground while Luka appeared to glide weightlessly across the arena. The hero slashed at the dragonkin's legs, making her yelp in a mix of pain and surprise.

"Clever… Very clever…" Granberia parried another attack aimed at her side. "But that won't be enough! Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!"

"Gnome!"

Instead of trying to dodge, Luka put all his might into a single vertical attack to power through her assault. Surprised, Granberia interrupted herself and jumped back. Luka's slash echoed through the ground and kicked up an impressive amount of dirt and dust from the arena.

"Heavenly Strike!"

The hero proceeded to summon forth a holy blade and slashed at Granberia's head as the dragonkin was trying to remove dirt from her eyes. The attack connected, but barely stunned the monster who answered by throwing a wind blade in Luka's direction, knocking the hero back. The dragonkin growled while the hero meditated to heal himself.

"Let's finish this… Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!"

"Grand Lion!"

The attacks exploded against each other as they met, kicking both opponent away from each other. However, thanks to the power of the Earth Spirit, Luka managed to keep standing. He pushed his assault and charged the Heavenly Knight who was still thrown around like a ragdoll. When he reached her, he threw another identical attack which knocked her out. He then prepared a third identical attack, but instead planted his sword near her head.

Luka slowly breathed in and out as he recovered. Tamamo was wide eyed at the sight of the unconscious Heavenly Knight.

"Wow, for a moment, I thought you were going to really kill her."

Me too.

Micaela patted her nephew on her back and smiled warmly.

"Anyway, congratulations are in order. Thanks to you, we now only have to recruit Erubetie to get all the Four Heavenly Knights. And then maybe we'll get answers from the White Rabbit soon…"

"I am already here, and I want you to know that you are mean for asking me to appear here of all places!"

"Right on cue." Micaela closed her eyes. The necessary annoyance was back…

The White Rabbit jumped from behind a geological formation and tap danced on top of the lava-covered floor for a few seconds while trying to fan herself with her coat, before sitting on a chair that appeared from nowhere. She then shook off some soot from her charred coat, and took a whiny expression.

"Geeeze, all that heat is bad for my fluffy fur!"

While Granberia looked dumbfounded at what was happening, the other companions present looked just annoyed, except for Tamamo who walked to the strange monster while hiding her determined expression behind her fan, only showing her narrow, inquisitive eyes.

"I know what you are. I know your role. First, tell me what happened with Alice. Now." Luka swore he could feel the world quake as Tamamo pronounced each of her words.

The White Rabbit grimaced and turned away, nervously fidgeting.

"Weeeell, I was supposed to guide her to Grangold since she was supposed to follow that path, which I did, and then she got captured by ant girls, which I had planned for, and then the twins attacked me, which I didn't, and then the other Tamamo No Mae decided to start a soul transfer and kill every one of their prisoner, except they were in a hurry and the Lilith Sisters didn't check who was there, which I never anticipated… Soooo… It was a series of small unfortunate events that lead to the end of the Fateburn bloodline from this world.

"From this world? Oh, right, The Eighth and the Seventeenth are still around."

"Correct! It's kinda the fault of the latter! I can't predict the movements from the invaders from the other worlds, and if I was available I would have brought her to safety! Someone should really have a word with her father!"

"Mmmh. You're quite loquacious for a monster who's supposed to only guide."

"I'm in a good mood, and I think you all deserve a little help. So I decided that I'd answer any question you'd have! Not that there's a lot of things that I can tell Luka doesn't already know… But dtill!"

Luka brought up the next question. "Did you have anything to do with Sun Wukong attacking Mt Amos? That was a little too convenient to be fully random…"

"She was going to attack the place anyway! I only made sure that the circumstances were ideal to make you look like a hero to convince Ilias to join you back!" She placed her hands on her hips in an outraged posture. "So you should thank me!"

"And we thank you." Tamamo bowed. " But it doesn't prevent us to scorn you for making us run through another pointless challenge."

The White Rabbit pouted and whined.

"There's one thing that's bugging me…" Micaela turned toward Luka as the White Rabbit tilted her head. "I noticed something strange about Luka recently, and when we discussed with Salamander I discovered what it was. It's as if I kinda ignored the whole time travel aspect he regularly spoke of."

The White Rabbit's ears went limp. "I really hoped you wouldn't ask about this one, but I'll explain it anyway and keep it simple: the chaosization surrounding Luka created a mental censor that obscured the most dangerous data about him and, should they be brought up, would be treated as unremarkable. The first information was the fusion that happen each time you re-recruit a party member, but I'm not the one who created that system in the first place."

Tamamo nodded.

"The second was the time travel done by Reaper, which I can't take credit for either. The goal is twofold. First, it prevents most people from going insane by asking themselves how does that work, and secondly it prevents them from seeing the full scope of possibilities. It's limited since Luka can only be brought at the beginning of his adventure, since his loop is related to his contact with Ilias on this world." She cringed. "The thing is, that protection got blown away by the chaosization wave produced by the death of the Sixteenth -my condolences by the way- and now, it's open for everyone to see, just like you noticed."

Luka scratched his head. "Strange… I don't remember it happening like that last time…"

"Are you sure you remember it correctly? Not that it would be easy in the first place…"

"I mean… First, why does it happen to me, and second, that seems a power a little too specific and too convenient for chaosization to do it just like that."

Tamamo clapped her fan shut. "Good point. You'd need a conscious effort to transform it to give it that purpose. I didn't study chaosization enough by myself, and besides, you'd need a large mastery over spacetime magic and soul magic to pull something like that. There aren't a lot of people who have those, and I wonder who would do that for you."

The White Rabbit tried whistling innocently. Tamamo frowned.

"Ok. You deserve a hug. But I don't know if I will sincerely cuddle with you or crush you for toying with someone like that."

"Hey! Reaper is also responsible! Also, you're one to talk, miss go-ruin-your-kingdom-for-me-because-it's-fun! And before you do anything rash, please at least listen to what else I have to say!"

"Speak fast, please."

"Last small issue you're more or less responsible for but that you didn't notice, not that I blame you for it. The Spirit of Chaos used her power twice to respectively prevent the expansion of a Tartarus and the birth of another one." She grimaced again. "Problem is, she didn't so much remove the chaosization than dissipated it around the world. While it slowed down the local destruction of the world, it still increased the chaosization process at large."

Luka sighed. "So we can't rely on it to solve our issues."

"No you can't. But the source problem are the event themselves. The Small Monster Lord's death and the invasion of angels from another world are what created the issue. Just deal with them the best way you can."

"Great. That's all?"

The White Rabbit nodded. "Unless you have more question, that is."

Tamamo and Micaela nodded negatively. Micaela looked tired, while Tamamo looked like she was about to lunge at the monster.

"In that case…"

In the blink of an eye Luka crossed the distance that separated him from the monster and beheaded her in one smooth motion. Her body collapsed, under the slightly shocked eyes of Tamamo and Micaela, before disappearing through the ground.

"That was unnecessary."

"And it's useless. But that feels good." Luka sighed as he sheathed his sword back. "Don't look at me like that, you both wanted to do it."

Micaela breathed in, but Tamamo interrupted her.

"No, no, he has a point."

"Fine… It looks like Granberia and Salamander are feeling better anyway."

"Do you really think we can get Erubetie's support as well now?"

Tamamo nodded positively. "We need to. I was a contestant to Sixteenth's ascension to the throne. If the three other contestants recognize my authority, the only ones would could place a legitimate claim to the throne would need to challenge me. And the only monsters I fear are the Eighth, which everyone will rise against anyway, and the Seventeenth..." She turned toward Luka. "But she never even tried anything. You dealt with her. Does she actually want the throne?"

Luka shook his head negatively. "She's definitively not interested. I have no idea what her plan really is and if she even has one."

Besides trying to get in my pants, of course.

"I'll trust your judgment on that one." She turned toward Granberia and Salamander. "Are you all right?"

"Hueeurgh… Why me… Why does it hurt that much..." The Fire Spirit was still lying down on the ground.

"That's because you're trying to think out what happened. Don't."

Granberia stumbled a bit before managing to stand up, and slowly made her way to Luka before kneeling respectfully.

"You beat me." She presented her sword. "My arm is your."

Luka solemnly nodded. "Very well then. First, you will help us to convince Erubetie to join us."

"I'll go back to the Pocket Castle in the meantime if you don't mind, I want to see how the reconciliation is going or if some arbitrating is needed." Micaela grimaced. "I think Ilias humbled herself a great deal after being forced to fend of in the world, but I wish I would be able to say the same about Eden."

After recovering a bored-to-death Alma at the entrance of the volcano, Luka and the three Heavenly Knights accompanying him made their way to Undine's Spring with the hope to convince their fellow monster. The knight of water was even more morose and unresponsive than last time, as she also had learned of the fate of the Monster Lord.

After an hour of debating every aspect of why she should join them, the Slime Queen gave in. She told them that it wasn't so much that they convinced her, but that she thought that they'd stop bugging her that way. Once they were outside, Alma proudly exclaimed herself.

"The Four Heavenly Knights are back together!"

"Too bad that the first thing we're going to go is split from our helpful partners." Tamamo grimaced. "Luka, if you don't see any inconvenience, we're going to be away for a bit. As I said earlier, the only chance we have to prevent a disaster is if I lay claim for an emergency regency period, and I am definitively going to need everyone to help me."

The hero nodded. "I understand. Do you think you'll be able to get every monster's support to help us?" His voice was filled with hope.

"No guarantee. I am sorry, but we will first focus on getting sure that everyone doesn't run away to support Black Alice or the Lilith Sisters." She turned toward the succubus queen. "And of course, I also count on you! You're the succubus queen, you'll have to act like it!"

"Awww…" Alma pouted, before her face illuminated. "And what if you bring in my self from this world while I stay behind to protect Luka?" She licked her lips as she looked at the hero. "I'm sure you would approve..."

Tamamo tilted her head as she questionned sarcastically. "And I suppose you can get her here just like that?"

"But I'm already here!"

The party turned to see a second Alma Elma. "I've kept an eye on you after the colosseum, and I must say…" She licked her lips, in a mimic of her other self. "I would gladly accept if you make it worth my while…"

Well that's convenient.

His succubus companion pouted. "He's mine."

"What about sharing him?" The succubi gauged each other before turning toward Luka. "I'm pretty sure you would enjoy both our companies at the same time. All the more if we work together...

Tamamo suddenly jumped up and swatted both succubi on their head with her fan.

"Awww, what was that for?"

"For even thinking about doing THAT." She shivered while grimacing. "Now I feel I need a shower. Eww, eww, EWWW! Seriously, why do succubi have to be so gross?!"

Granberia was looking downward, pinching the bridge of her nose as she kept muttering "What did I do to deserve this…" while Erubetie somehow managed to keep an indifferent mask.

Actually I might have accepted the offer.

"Anyway, is it all good for you Luka?"

"As long as we can keep contact, I'm fine."

"Right. Maybe we should create a telepathic link then. Please relax, that will only take a minute." Tamamo closed her eyes as she held Luka's head. The hero focused and let himself open up to her mind…

…And the next instant, the kitsune got propelled into a tree at high speed, crushing it in the process. The other knights looked at Luka, who was as surprised as to what happened.

"I expected this!" Tamamo raised a hand from behind the tree stump. She slowly rose and dusted herself. "I forgot about… what we talked earlier. Of course your mind would be protected like that in the first place."

She condensed a stone in her hand and handed it to the hero. "There. You'll be able to contact us any time you need. Just… be responsible and take care of yourself. We'll be back as soon as we can."

She shared a final, well understood look with him. Both felt like as if they found someone that really understood them: Someone that pushed forward as their reasons to live were crumbling apart around them.

As Tamamo joined the three other knights, the other Alma Elma blew a kiss to him.

"Don't forget your promise! I will get you!"

"You'll get him later! Focus for now!"

The Four Heavenly Knight disappeared as they teleported away. As Luka stood there, clutching the stone in his hand, Alma Elma lowered herself and sensuously whispered in his ear.

"How about you get with me for now instead?"

Luka barely reacted as he accepted the offer.