"Don't worry, we expected them to pull out that plan."
Tamamo had replaced Yao in Luka's party. The kitsune had brought back good news from the Monster Lord's castle: The Four Heavenly Knights were acknowledged as the official authority in this period of crisis, and, as the main advisor of the Monster Lord for generations and for being recognized by the other contenders to the throne of the time, she had officially been named regent.
However, as fancy as it sounded, she could only regret that the title itself didn't mean that much. Even if no monsters had stepped up to challenge her, they were only following her orders as long as they felt like it, and she knew that pushing them to do anything they disliked could only lead to a revolt that would destroy the civilization of monsters at large. There were still two other Alipheese at large, and while no monster wanted to follow them, they didn't want to face them either.
The only thing she could really do right now was focusing on helping races that had grievances against humanity and had isolated themselves. She had sent envoys to the mermaid and elf queen in the hope to solve this diplomatically, and, while those were away to fulfill their missions, she had nothing to do but to wait. When she remembered the hero's next destination, she decided to join him back on his adventures on the road. Officially, it was because she wanted to personally deal with the last official contestants to the throne, as well as the magical girl ritual afterwards, but in reality, Luka felt that the kitsune just wanted an opportunity to forget the failure of her duty.
Yao went back to the castle "just in case" she would be needed, but it was more likely to make leeway for her mistress.
Right now, the group was standing near the entrance of Lady's Village, better known for being the residence of Cassandra Nereneid and her daughter, contestant to the ascension to the throne of the Fifteenth and also one of the victim of the rampage of the Seventeenth's. That monster had only been beaten down, but since then she and her kin had started to soften greatly: While in the past they ate humans alive, now they were only feeding onto them until unconsciousness. As a consequence, the male population became plentiful as there was no shortage of people coming to willingly feed them. Tamamo smirked. It was ironic that the one place that used to be the most dangerous for humans in the region was now the safest and the most lively one.
The village in itself was extremely rich looking: A few luxurious houses were scattered around a paved road, with flourished gardens standing in front of them. There also was a large green, well maintained hanging garden at the center where a few noble-looking ladies relaxed. Each of them were wearing umbrellas to protect themselves against the sun, and were behaving as if the world itself was an insect, a nuisance to bear with.
The party quickly made its way to the largest mansion, which also was the only with a door kept by a maid dressed appropriately. Tamamo stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"Tamamo, I wish to see you mistress for business."
The maid cleared her throat before answering. "Sorry, but you should turn back, the mistress is not willing to see anyone right now."
"Ran?" Tamamo dramatically clapped her fan open. "I've known you since you were merely a child, long before you entered the service of the Nereneid family. And you know me well enough to remember I'm the reason your mistress didn't kick up a fuss when she lost the fight to access the throne. So if you would kindly open the door before I smash it and most of the manor with your unconscious body, I would appreciate it."
The maid froze, too terrified to do anything, even transform. She was torn between the duty to her lord as a maid and the threat just emitted by the small kitsune.
A voice echoed at the manor to put an end to her dilemma. "It's okay, Ran, you can let them in."
"Are you sure mistress?"
A younger voice echoed. "Mother said it's fine to let them in, so let them in."
"Very well." She bowed. "Please clean your feet before entering."
Luka and his party followed the maid who led them to the large living room. They were greeted by the sight of a small purple blob, and a small green bundle of tentacles, both slightly bouncing around. A haughty voice came from the purple one.
"Oh oh? What a curious company! I wonder, what brings me the honor of your visit?"
"Spare me your sarcasm, Cassandra. You heard about what happened to the bloodline of the Monster Lord." Tamamo sat on a sofa across a large table, glaring at the slime as if to challenge her to say anything that would give her a reason to end the noble's life.
"Ah, yes. I must say, I got quite surprised myself upon hearing this. Be assured that I have not currently laid my sight on the throne. Not that my current predicament would allow me to aim for such a goal in the first place anyway…"
"Considering how some of your subordinates exploited a single moment of your weakness, I say that's for the best. Knowing how to surround oneself with the good persons is the trait of a good leader after all."
"Yes, and clearly, that helped the last two Monster Lords so much."
Tamamo's eyes narrowed dangerously. She slightly changed her posture, preparing herself to lunge at the insolent fool in front of her to tear her apart in anger. The burning fire of her rage was doused by Micaela's voice.
"I apologize to interrupt your conversation, but would you kindly care to explain the cause of your current predicament? Whatever happened may be cause for concern."
In reality, the First Seraph already knew what happened thanks to Luka's explanations, but she really wanted Tamamo to not kill the two sealed monsters in front of them in a fit of rage. Killing in self defense was one thing. Murdering an already weakened victim was another.
"Mmmh yes. You see, that filthy monster who calls herself Alipheese the Seventeenth came here and beat us down, saying she will let us live if we stop eating humans. We obliged for a time, but Candi and the more extremist monsters didn't accept it and she attacked us. She took our power and sealed it in a cake while leaving for the Scenic Mountains east of here."
"Now, we might have done bad things, but Candi is even worse! She will go to the first human city around, and pig out on its inhabitants."
Luka closed his eyes as he answered. "Well, since both Grangold and Succubus Village are empty, the only village that could suffer her attention is this one, and we don't have a problem with it."
Both of the sealed monsters froze. "You guys are joking, right?"
"Maybeee…" Alma Elma answered in a sing song voice. "But some people would consider it justice after what you've done for so many years."
When Cassandra started talking again, all trace of haughtiness had disappeared from her voice. "Please! You have to help us! She's in cahoot with Black Alice herself! You're supposed to help monsters! One of you is a hero! Please, help us!"
Luka dramatically sighed while looking down at the two sealed monsters. "All right, we'll get rid of Candi I suppose…"
"Yes! Thank you!"
The hero got up from the sofa and started walking away, soon followed by everyone. "Come on, let's get sure Candi falls in line."
And mostly make sure that there's only one of them around. That abomination alone represents five percent of our food bill.
Getting to the Scenic Mountains and beating Candi was a cakewalk for the group of seasoned warriors. Alma Elma was impressed by the amount of food the impressively large monster kept gorging, and Tamamo not so subtly implied that the Succubus Queen was not so different when it came to her treatment of men. Alma Elma pouted, but otherwise kept following the group as they went back to Lady's Village, carrying with the cake that had Cassandra and Emily's power in it.
Just like last time, Cassandra's part was half eaten, making her recover only a part of her power and incidentally rejuvenating her. And just like last time, the duo of monsters left with only the smallest of thanks to join the battle royal happening in Goddard's toxic swamp for the new magical girl selection.
Micaela needed a minute to shrug off the insanity, but Tamamo seemed more determined than ever as the group was getting closer and closer to the toxic swamp."
"Finally, I might be able to put an end to this madness once and for all. I should have done that long ago."
"You do know something about Magical Girls and that ritual?"
"Simply put, when a human dies with an unfilled purpose, two things can happen. If that person has an exceptional magic affinity, they can end up roaming this plane of existence as ghost."
"Like Selene?"
"Exactly. She managed to open the Pandora box, and then sealed the beelzebubs in her cabin afterwards, and even if she died after doing the second, either actions require a good skill or a natural affinity with magic. However, those people represent only a small, exceptional part." Tamamo sighed. "Most of the time, that unfulfilled grudge coagulate into energy and will end up accumulating into the Toxic Swamp because…" Tamamo grimaced, and turned to see Micaela with the same expression. "Let's just say that nobody is proud of what happened there during the Great Monsters War."
Micaela sighed. "Let's face it. We thought the inhabitants were corrupted by monsters. You thought they were worshippers of Ilias. Kanon, yourself and Lucifina took your time and enjoyed slaughtering everyone a little too much. Then everybody used a scorched earth tactic on the area and by the end of the day, several thousand humans had died horribly and a few hundred were left to rot into a toxic quagmire."
Tamamo slowly nodded, still grimacing. "Succinct and precise enough. Let's skip the details, but the result was the creation of the magic born from grudges: Humans were so furious against both Heaven and Monsterkind, there was a lot of latent energy, and a young girl decided to try to exploit it while shaping it according to her own vision of good and justice, and somehow formed a written contract with all that festering hatred. On the surface, you had a cute, hyper active magical girl, and under the golden layer of paint, magic powered born of the festering hatred from those who died."
"She wrecked her vengeance on everyone. At first, we didn't even know what was happening. You had a fifteen years old girl running around in a frilly dress, spouting quotes that sounded cheesy even then, and absolutely wrecking angels and monsters alike with an unidentified type of magic. Also, she never, ever died, and came back each time we killed her, that is until she disappeared one day." Micaela looked at Tamamo, as if to interrogate her.
"A very lucky mix of circumstances happened. She ended stuck into one of Kanon's honey trap. What happened next was… horrible. At the time, I just considered it necessary, since we needed to search through her memories to learn about her origin and her magic, but in hindsight, it was just cruel and excessive."
"Kanon in a nutshell." Micaela shivered. "Anyway, the truth blew over a bit later. We also heard about a pupil that kept herself hidden and wanted to perpetuate the cycle, and she inherited the grudge of her mentor, making her just as powerful. Luckily, she kept to herself and calmed down by the time of her death, and the power started stagnating. When we found the spot, Ilias declared it cursed and that it was to be abandoned."
"And the Monster Lord forbade everything and everyone to use it. It was the despair of humans that formed it, and a reminder of our mistake. Nobody was to try tapping in that power. But the harm was done, and this power keep accumulating there anyway, looking periodically for someone ready to fight anyone and everyone standing to them to give it a purpose again, hence the ritual battle royal beforehand. If there isn't anybody then, it overflows and the toxic swamp expands instead."
"By then, we were in the late stages of the war, and the more I think about it, the more I think it might have been one, if not the cataclysm that resulted in Ilias getting ready to do anything to end the war at all cost."
"That's… Horrible."
"This is why me and Tamamo fight on the same side today, Luka. We were part of the conflict that nearly ended the world more than a thousand years ago. Never again."
And yet we're getting closer and closer to it anyway.
When they entered the purplish, gooey swamp, the battle royal was just starting: humans and even monsters were attacking each other with spells and weapons alike to be the last one standing to get the power of grudges. Luka and his partners could feel the powers of the duo they had just helped dominate just about everyone else present.
Alma Elma looked at the fight happening in front of them. "Should we step in?"
"Just make sure that nobody dies or get really hurt. Also, we'll have to clean the premise, so please remove them too."
"Ufufufu…" Alma Elma disappeared, and, gradually, everybody collapsed in a twitching mess of pleasure before being removed from the area. Even the duo they had saved earlier was not spared this fate. Eventually, only the quartet was remaining in the arena when a relatively young looking girl arrived in a frilly outfit that exposed her legs and an alarming amount of skin for someone that young. Her pink hair was tied in pigtails by ribbons and she was wielding a large wand ended by a heart.
"Aaaand we have winners for this year's battle royal! A superb fight, if I say so myself!"
Tamamo closed her eyes "Yep, just like I remember." She then glared at the magical girl. "It's time to put an end to the endless cycle of grudges powering this place."
"Waaait! You can't do that!" The next second, she was entombed in rock, and only her muffled voice escaped it. "You can't do that either! Can you hear me? At least let me out!"
"She'll be fine, don't worry. Now let's get started…"
The party made its way to the highest hill in the swamp. Tamamo focused her mind on the ground as the power of the grudge was rising, eager to serve its new master.
"You might want to get back slightly. It might get very ugly."
She produced a large, red gem which siphoned all the energy that tried rushing at one of the contenders. Four swirls were formed between the gem and various spots on the ground. The gem started pulsing with darkness. At first, it was a faint beating, but after a while, it was as if all ambient light around it was getting absorbed with each pulse. Eventually, the swirling stopped, and the gem also stopped reacting, fully blackened by the magic it accumulated.
Tamamo sighed in relief, but before she could do anything, the gem suddenly started emitting a strange beeping noise. Slightly afraid, Luka recoiled and tumbled down the small hill. The next second, the gem emitted a shockwave that kicked up an impressive amount of dirt.
"Alma! Clear that dust!"
The succubus flapped her wings once, clearing away the dust, and revealing that the three women were now each wearing a radically different outfit.
Tamamo's traditional dress was replaced with a longer one that covered her shoulder and was descending to form a thick, layered frilly skirt. She was also wearing thigh-high boots, and gloves with elongated sleeves.
Micaela was now wearing small boots with thigh-high knee socks, a shirt and a skirt linked together by a leather corset, disconnected sleeves while her head was now covered by a beret adorned by a feather.
And last, Alma Elma had been changed into what was likely supposedly a schoolgirl uniform with thigh high knee socks, a short skirt, long gloves and a shirt adorned with a ribbon. However, because of the impressive assets of the succubus queen, the ribbon was bent and almost facing the ground, while her shirt looked like it was about to fall apart and showed an impressive amount of cleavage.
Tamamo and Micaela were looking at each other while trying to cover themselves, clearly ashamed of their new clothes. In the meantime, Alma Elma was moving over in every way and was trying to appraise her outfit's use for role playing opportunities.
Micaela warily checked around as if she had lost something. "Wait, where's Luka?"
The party searched for the hero for a minute before finding him, knocked on his stomach. He was now dressed into a tight suit which most notable feature was the presence of its underwear over it. He was still wearing his red cape, and when he got up, she could see the first letter of his name emblazoned upon his torso.
"Oh, for the love of…" Micaela pinched the bridge of her nose as she turned away from this sight. "Be satisfied. Although he played no part, had no hand, and was fully innocent for your predicament, the child paid for his mother's sins."
Tamamo chuckled nervously. "On the bright side… the power of grudges won't accumulate in this place any longer."
The first seraph sighed and raised her wand. "Magicaaaal Micaelaaaa CAST OFF!"
Micaela was back into her usual green outfit. A minute later, all four members of the group were back in their respective clothing, occasionally awkwardly glancing at each other.
"Ladies and… gentleman. This. Never. Happened."