Alma Elma, Tamamo, Micaela, and Luka were now standing in front of the hole in the middle of the desert that made for the Gold Tartarus. While the two former members were particularly curious, the two latter ones were not particularly eager at the perspective of going back in, as memories of the latest disasters were still too fresh. Micaela was grinding her teeth, while Luka seemed paralyzed by a mix of fear and apathy, which attracted Tamamo's attention.
"Sooo, that was that nightmarish?"
"I'd put it only slightly below Grangold…" Micaela muttered, her teeth clenched. "But then again, the world there was about to be destroyed, and sneezing would have been enough to tear it apart. This one's more stable… Right?"
Luka nodded while keeping his mouth shut.
"D'awwww, don't worry Luka." Tamamo gently wrapped her tails around the hero who was now sitting on the ground. Her smile slightly tensed as she remembered what was on the other side. The twilight of an era, and the cause of her presence in the Monster Lord's castle. "We won't stay there for too long anyway. We get the Blue Orb from Black Alice's castle, and get back as soon as possible."
"Way to jinx it, Tamamo."
"Why, do you have something better to say?"
"…Sorry."
"…It's not like I have a choice anyway, do I?"
"No, you don't. Not this time." Micaela sighed as she leaned over the gaping hole. "You're the only one with the ability to do it. Trust me, if we knew another way, we would take it. But everybody will agree if I say that Black Alice won't wait for a few years while we create a new orb before assaulting the world… Or more likely, she'll wait for the last moment and toy with us a bit longer before killing us."
Luka got up and shook off the sand from his cape. "Then let's do it, just…"
"Yes?"
"When we meet her, remind me to attach Astaroth to a mast and send her to the Angel World for breaking the blue orb." The hero grinned darkly. "With a little luck, she might even score a few kills and get Uriela recalled…"
Everyone humorlessly chuckled as they started making their descent to the bottom of the hole. When they reached it, Tamamo's nose scrunched up in disgust.
"It smells like dried blood… Quite a few powerful monsters died here."
"Welcome to Tartarus, where the walls are made of an unidentified material, the ground of metal, the furniture is creepy as hell, there's a part of Sabasa's desert right over there, and the locals are on the aggressive side." Luka pointed at a few apoptosis as he ended his sarcastic greeting. The first one looked like a woman made from a leather ribbon, while another consisted of a woman's torso atop a giant harp.
Tamamo threw a talisman at the assailants, and a storm of rock shards blasted them apart, knocking them unconscious and clearing the way for the party. She then started her examination of the different elements of the Tartarus itself, occasionally humming to herself.
"Wait, I just realized, you never examined the one near Remina?"
Tamamo's ears drooped while Alma Elma also looked down.
"No, we… didn't exactly have time. I had to support the relief effort after the Great Disaster, then the Fifteenth decided to do an exploration without telling me first just when things started to look up, so I had to assume regency while taking care of her daughter, juggling with both duties while also taking care of my own race…" Tamamo grimaced. "Those were not good times. And when she came back, I was relieved for exactly half a second before I felt the Lilith Sisters accompanying her. Then they talked about destroying the world to save it."
"Ouch. And I thought I had it hard for dealing with the conflicts between angels and elves…"
Tamamo made a dismissive gesture. "It was in the past… This is why I prefer moving forward." She pointed to a place where the walls of Tartarus collapsed to reveal large, purplish slabs. "Now this is interesting…"
The kitsune sauntered toward the place. An apoptosis looking like a robot in a capsule moved to intercept her, but the strange monster got wrecked by Alma Elma in a heartbeat, without even getting a glance from the kitsune who, for a reason, licked the floor in front of her allies. She clicked her tongue twice and turned toward the other party members who were looking at her expectantly. She shrugged, and the party started moving again until they reached the large door that would lead them to the ruins of Remina and to another dimension. Tamamo licked it again.
"Strange…" She started fanning herself. "I want to test something. Luka can you please open the door?"
The hero obliged, and the door instantly rose as he touched it. Tamamo delicately extended a tail through it, which resulted in the door slamming shut violently, cutting the kitsune's tail in the process and making her yelp in a mix of surprise and pain.
"Ok… Noted… This door is just a door, and yet, it can tell when you open it for someone else without intending to pass through yourself." Tamamo regenerated her cut tail in the blink of an eye. "Also, there's no reason it should open for you specifically."
"Hmmm, his lineage? I mean Marcellus also can open these apparently... In fact, he seems to be able to roam between dimensions."
"Then how he can do that himself? Why him specifically, I mean the only reason he would be able to do that would be if someone else gave him the ability… And I don't know who… or… why…" Tamamo trailed off as her eyes widened.
"What?" Micaela tilted her head as she realized Tamamo's reasoning. "I mean, he only killed a Monster Lord in the original world and in this one. Who would want to have a tool that could be used to weaken monsters on this world without theoretically increasing the spread of chaosization, that is until he gets carried away because he has a family he still cares about, which would create further issues for themselves?"
Luka looked down, ashamed by the obvious answer. "My father is a tool. One used by the most powerful angels that ever existed, but a tool none the less."
"That's a bit harsh."
"And I apologize, but it's entirely appropriate." Tamamo fanned herself and shook her head. "Just… Let's move on before we go crazy thinking over that. The faster we deal with this fetch quest, the better."
Luka opened the door and crossed it, and this time it waited for everyone to pass through before closing itself. The party was greeted by the sight of a soldier guarding the entrance of the chaosized castle of Remina, which rock towers were parly covered with strange purple vines. Tamamo poked the man with her tails, but he proved unresponsive to her stimuli.
"We won't learn anything from that one. Let's move o-Ooh sweet Dark Goddess, what's that mess?!"
When the party entered the castle, the first thing they saw was several bodies in different state of dissection incrusted into the walls of the castle into a morbid fresco. All that still had a face had a contorted expression of pain, screaming in agony. The only thing that made the scene bearable was the lack of a real smell, and it only further unnerved the party when they noticed.
Tamamo closely examined the bodies while keeping her face behind her fan, as if to protect herself from a possible attack. She was disgusted by what she was seeing, and even summoned the power of the earth to help her steady herself. After a minute, she gave up, and started moving at a brisk pace through the castle, followed by a group that was also all too happy to get out. After a silent minute, they reached the now-familiar corridors of chaos, the dirt path in the middle of the void almost seemed welcoming after what they had just seen.
"Before you ask. I didn't learn anything from what we've seen that you didn't likely already learn. What's between worlds should remain there, and, after all that, I understand better why you don't want to travel through Tartarus." Tamamo slowly exhaled. "I would need years and more equipment to learn anything useful… And time is something we don't have right now."
The team silently agreed, and made their way to the magic circle that would teleport them to the dimension where their goal was located.
The place they arrived to was barely different from the one where the Tartarus was located in their own world. It still was the middle of a desert, with a few rocks barely moved around as a result of five hundred years of erosion and wind.
The group silently crossed the desert eastward eerily silently. Luka was his morose self. Micaela kept nervously looking around at signs of possible erosion. Tamamo was cranky as they were in one of the darkest period of monsterkind. Even the usually teasing succubus queen was remaining silent out of a mix of concern for her friends.
Fortunately, they reached their destination without trouble. Succubus Village was now in sight. As soon as they stepped in, they could hear the sound of panic through the town as Lilith&Lilim, the twin succubi, appropriated the ritual room for themselves for reasons quite unclear. Luka and his party ignored it, and stepped in directly into the mayor's house, also ignoring the maid at the entrance. The mayor herself looked like a relatively young country woman, with her long brown hair and her linen apron.
"Greetings, may I help you with any… thing?" Her eyes instantly widened as they locked onto Tamamo. The kitsune moved close to her and gave a small, predatory smile before remaining immobile for a few seconds.
"Would you kindly lend us the boat for our trip to Hellgondo?"
The woman nodded, slightly terrified. She handed the small kitsune an authorization.
"Thank you."
Tamamo turned back and started walking out a few steps before she noticed that none of her partners were following her.
"Come on! Let's go!"
They followed suit without a single word, making their way to the boat. Without even slowing her pace, Tamamo showed the paper to the sailor and climbed aboard the ship, and the latter departed barely a few minutes afterwards.
Micaela woke up in the middle of the night, as the ship was slowly making its way through the Northern Sea. She silently got up, ready for a fight, as an eerie silence filled the cabins. Her senses couldn't even pick the sleepy breathing of her partners, only the sound of the waves crashing on the boat and the creaking noise of its wooden structure. She made her way to the bridge, all senses alert, carefully examining each corner, expecting an attack from every shadow. Deep down, she felt slightly ridiculous: If someone like that had managed to come aboard this boat and kill her allies, she would have already been dead as well. The reason of their absence was likely more mundane.
She still felt a wave of relief when she reached the bridge and saw them: Luka was leaning over the rail on the side, Tamamo was doing the same on the front bridge, and Alma Elma was practicing her moves, stretching herself occasionally. The succubus being nocturnal wasn't surprising in the slightest, the two others, however… She made her way to Luka and joined him in his contemplation.
"Are you alright Luka?"
"Like an overused child's ball being played with by a bunch of orphans in a muddy street under a rain-filled sky after being pierced by an old geezer who's raving like a maniac about the future generations." He slowly turned toward his parent and swallowed loudly. "S-Sorry, I don't mean that for you or Tamamo, I…"
Micaela chuckled and gave a small smile as an answer. "That's… quite a rich image there. But I understand how you feel, and…" She sighed, as she carefully considered the next words that would come out of her mouth. "Sooo… You're feeling that you're tossed around like a ball."
Luka nodded. "Everything used to be simple. Each time I went somewhere, troubles popped up, I fixed it with my sword, then I learned that there was an issue elsewhere… I was carried by the flow of my adventures. Now, the path is predetermined by what I already did, I already know how it should go, and yet… I feel like I completely lost control. I… Don't know where I am in my life."
"You're on a boat to Hellgondo in a parallel dimension during the period of reign of Black Alice, with the mission to snatch the blue orb from her treasury to awaken the garuda girl."
The duo turned to see Tamamo joining them. The kitsune was looking fully focused. "And you're accompanied by two ancient sworn enemies, as well as a succubus queen with whom you're in good enough term to be kept alive after requesting her company for a night."
Luka turned a deep shade of red, which amused his two partners. "But let's focus on what's important shall we? I'll just ask one question: Do you think you're freer right now than you were on your original adventure?"
Luka shook his head negatively. "I remember discussing it with Morrigan some time back. I'm more powerful than I was back in my original adventure, and yet… I don't feel it helps me in the slightest…"
"Would Micaela be there if it didn't? You told me about what happened at Mt Saint Amos. Of course, power is not the all-solving hammer that the youngest of the Lilith Sisters told you it is. It's more complex than that, between all those interlopers and the chaosization acting like a countdown to oblivion, we can't just rely on raw power to pull us through. We have to be crafty, discreet, and even then, our victory is everything but certain."
Luka sighed. "I wish I could just have enough power to prevent the Great Disaster. It would spare everyone so much pain..."
"And I wish I could step in and, with your support, kill Black Alice and end her reign of terror prematurely. If it worked like that, we would basically prevent Ilias from acquiring her, avoid having an empowered Monster Lord on a rampage, and then solve everything ourselves in less than a night, right?"
Luka nodded.
"But it doesn't, so I'll be content with snatching the Blue Orb and beating the Three Nobles of Black. Doing anything else right now would be a waste of time at best, and an invitation to disaster at worst. Heinrich will deal with her anyway, and what should happen afterward will happen as it should..."
The smallest trace of doubt in her voice didn't escape Micaela, who decided to remain silent.
Tamamo yawned. "Now, how about we all go to sleep? I'd appreciate if everybody was in good shape for the next days. Crossing through Hellgondo will still be a small challenge, and I'd wish to continue training you in acting and other court manners."
"Do you really think that's still relevant?"
Tamamo's ears flickered in amusement. "Well, it can be useful if you want to mislead your enemy by pretending you're in disarray when you're about to spring a trap…"
Micaela groaned.
"…And in any case that could help you should you get married to royalty. You won't marry the elf princess, but who knows? If another royal strikes your fancy, you better be prepared to act accordingly." The kitsune's ears flickered. "Unless your partner completely disrespects the formality of a court and don't care about the traditions, that is."
"I wouldn't mind marrying Luka-boy if it means I get to keep him for myself… If he wants it, that is."
Alma Elma licked her lips with such exaggeration that it made the kitsune chuckle.
"I'm pretty sure you could put that tongue to better use. Good night everyone."
The kitsune left the bridge, soon followed by Micaela. Only Alma Elma and Luka were still on the bridge. The succubus queen placed herself behind the hero and gently massaged his shoulders.
"Come on, Luka boy… You should relax."
"Sorry Alma Elma, but I'm really not in the mood right now." Luka still unwound under her touch.
"I'm not even talking about that -although I would gladly ride you until you fall unconscious if you ask-, I'm talking about appreciating those little moments." The succubus sensually sighed in his ear. "I feel like an oddball in your little battle harem, you're aaaaall so stressed with the future that I feel like you're losing sight on what's important. Even Tammy-chan is as tense as a wooden staff, no matter how much she tries to hide it." She continued her little massage on the hero, focusing on his back. "You really have to learn to appreciate the instant."
Luka sighed. "Not everybody is a succubus hard wired for that, I already got this lesson, and the future is more important anyway."
"Oh, I don't mean the opposite. But how are you supposed to fight to the future like that..." She focused her rubbing on the hero's hips. "The wind around you is all twisted and messy from all your stress."
"Really? I mean… I didn't notice…"
"Oooh, trust me, there are a lot of things you didn't notice…" She stopped her massage and gave a small flick on the hero's neck. "How about mister crabbypants go get some rest tonight? I know I'm going to." She started stepping away. "My door's still open for you. If there's anything I can do to make you feel better, I'll be sure to do it right."
Luka also left the bridge to return to his cabin with his body more relaxed, but he still had a lot of difficulties sleeping that night, as the picture of Sonya being killed by his father when they evacuated Tartarus filled his vision each time he closed his eyes.
His thoughts also drifted toward Morrigan, and the discussion he had with her in the past. He wondered where the succubus was. After all, she had left the Pocket Castle after Grangold, and didn't reappear since then… Did she leave them to go back to her family? Would they even welcome her?
The party landed in front of the cave that led to Hellgondo. They carefully examined the entrance before stepping in, as the local monsters could still present a minor challenge to their party if they kept attacking.
They didn't have to wait long before being attacked by monsters wandering the place. A small yoma made of mist, and a kirin wielding a staff attempted to ambush them from a dark corner located behind the entrance. The party was hit by a powerful lightning bolt and a wave of choking smoke as they stepped in. Alma Elma cleared the smoke with a gust of wind, while Micaela and Luka jumped on the kirin who managed to parry the attack from the first with her staff before being tossed in a wall by the second. She got up and prepared another spell, but was hit by a wave of light cast by Micaela's blade, knocking her unconscious.
The mist monster surrounded herself with an aura of fire and cast a fireball which Tamamo dodged before riposting with a talisman that blasted her opponent with a hurricane. Before the monster could recover, Alma Elma reached her and knocked her unconscious.
Micaela loudly exhaled and meditated a second to shake off the after effect of the thunderbolt.
"Off to a good start… Let's hope that- Oh come on!"
Several ghost like monsters arrived, hovering over what seemed a wave of small, angry spirits.
"Turn back and leaaaave…"
Several dark bodies emerged from the floor to claw at the hero's party as they ended their sentence. All of them got wrecked in the blink of an eye by a combined mix of holy sword clashes and flying talismans. Their summoners barely had the time to cast another wave before being knocked down by the same assault themselves.
"Ok, so which way is- ARE YOU KIDDING ME ?!"
Ignoring the fate of their predecessor, another small wave of yomas came to block the invading party. Micaela parried a spear wielded by one of the kirin and counter-attacked, slashing at her opponent with a holy blade.
"Tamamo! Can't you do anything about that?"
The kitsune grabbed an opponent with a tail and threw her back at another pack of assailants. "I never came here, I spent my time between Yamatai and the village at the time. I don't have my own private room in the castle yet, and my name doesn't mean anything!" She punctuated her sentence by casting a small tornado with her fan. "Soooo, sorry, it's going to be the hard way to cross this place. But hey!" She punched a kirin in a stomach with her imbued fist, knocking the wind from her opponent before finishing her by throwing her into a wall. "They'll end up calming before long. Trust me."
The monsters didn't. When the team was finally done crossing the tunnel leading them inside Hellgondo, they were exhausted and covered in a mix of blood as the sun was setting down. Micaela was out of breath, and briefly considered using her seraph form before realizing how awful an idea it would be. The last thing they wanted was being noticed by Ilias.
"Please tell me Remina isn't far."
"It is, but there's a small shrine not far east."
The party made their way to the shrine. It was a large, white building made of stone, with an altar and an Ilias statue inside. There was no priest inside. Everyone laid down on the cold stone with relieved sighs, exhausted.
"Why were there that many monsters in this forsaken cavern…"
Tamamo grimaced. "Well, it's the only pathway to Hellgondo. It would made sense for it to be well-defended." She turned toward Luka, who was lying face down, breathing heavily. "I don't think we'll train this evening…"
Micaela groaned. "Only dinner and shut-eye for me. Please, someone close that door and place an alarm on it."
Tamamo obliged, and joined back the trio who took position in front of the altar. They silently sat around and ate their prepared rations, too exhausted to cook this time.
"So. Tomorrow we take the smallest break at Remina, go to the Monster Lord Castle to grab the blue orb after beating the Three Nobles of Black and get back home as fast as possible. Any objection?"
The only one came from someone so far that it didn't look important.
For now anyway.
Luka and his friends got up early the next morning and directly started making their way at a brisk pace toward Remina. A few of the local monsters tried attacking them on their way, but they got pushed back easily and curiously stopped getting in the party's way altogether after a small hour, when the party was in sight of the city itself.
Tamamo and Micaela looked melancholically at the city as memories of better times filled their minds. The place had nothing to envy to any of the modern capital of the human kingdoms, its white paved streets clear from refuse or garbage while its large, solid buildings only showed signs of degradation inherent to their aging. Humans and monsters alike where going about while discussing the recent news: The name of the rising hero, Heinrich, was on almost every lips. Even amongst monsters, he was thought as the man who would rid the world of Black Alice and restore the peace between both factions on the main continent. Sometimes, the party could also hear about how he could be a good match for the princess of Remina, the beautiful Edina. Upon hearing that, Tamamo made a strange grimace.
"Before you ask, yes, Heinrich and Edina did end up having a child that was your far parent. The reason why it's not mentioned into any record is that… Let's just say that the cliché of the hero spending a night with the princess before going to fight the Monster Lord has a solid basis… Edina was extremely restrained compared to several of her parents, and people prefer when their several indiscretions aren't made public."
"Is it safe to assume you have both a role in their happening and the fact that they were kept out of the public's sight?" Micaela didn't even turn to look at the kitsune's expression.
"In less than a third of the case. That still makes for a lot of awkward stories…" A bead of sweat ran along her cheek. "And since nobody kept track of what the illegitimate children became afterward, it's impossible to know if someone else can still pretend to the throne. Not that there's a throne to pretend to anyway…"
"So I'm technically the only confirmed heir of Remina?"
"We'll have to do an inquiry, but that wouldn't be impossible…" Tamamo stopped herself. "Wait, maybe we went the wrong way earlier when we supposed that angels gave that travelling ability to Marcellus. I mean, since he's technically Reminan royalty… Wait, I don't know how it'd work."
"And even then… what about his equipment?"
"True… We'll talk about it later. We have to have our mind cleared for the Monster Lord's Castle. And let's hope that we don't end up accidentally running into Black Alice on our way."
The party quickly bought a few supplies. Not that they were needed, but both Micaela and Tamamo insisted on being cautious and well prepared for their adventures.
Crossing the continent didn't prove as harrowing as the cave, as monster presence was sparser and most of them were too careful to engage the wary-looking party in a fight. The group arrived in sight of the Monster Lord's Castle at the beginning of the afternoon, its foreboding towers being concealed by a supernatural mist. Curiously, there wasn't a single monster standing guard at the entrance.
"This… Doesn't actually reek of a trap." Micaela looked at Tamamo, as if to ask an explanation.
"I also wondered about that…" Luka awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "That's… Really careless. I mean we managed to infiltrate the castle back then and I don't think this time will be any different."
Tamamo opened the door without hesitation. "That's because she's a psychopath who sees everything as a game. It required her to be brought to her knees by Heinrich before she finally started taking things seriously."
Luka raised an eyebrow. When the party entered the castle, none of the monster stepped in to stop them immediately. The party barely attracted a few glances, and it was mostly monsters who tried gauging Luka to see if the man was a good possible partner. "So she's like an unconscious child?"
"Oh, quite the opposite. She's extremely sharp and I used to joke she inherited my smarts… Then it was less fun when I realized she also inherited my manipulative tendencies, Kanon's cruelty, Saja's domineering attitude, Kanade's appetite, Minagi's whimsicality, and Hiruko's curiosity, all balled within someone who had the power inherent to the Dark Goddess' heritage."
"And then Ilias had the extremely good idea to save her… No, I never understood why either. I'd say the only one who did at the time was Lucifina."
Two monsters with amazonian builds stood in the party's way. The first was a brown demon wearing a leotard sling. The second was a purplish succubus revealing an only slightly less revealing bikini and boots. The former got overpowered in the blink of an eye by Alma Elma, while the latter's assault against Tamamo was met with the latter's tails, who then proceeded to use her furry limbs to grab her opponent's wrist and throw her on the ground before slamming them on top of her head.
"Mmh. We're fortunate the situation in that tunnel doesn't repeat. With that many powerful monsters, we could find ourselves overwhelmed."
"Then let's hurry. Follow me."
Luka directly continued without sparing a second glance at the enemies that were down, and progressed upstairs. After only another easily dispatched group of monsters, the group was reaching the treasury where the blue orb. Of course, it was guarded by a trio of powerful looking monsters: A brown lamia wielding a trident, a purple haired succubus clad in black, and a vampire in a red and black outfit with a top were standing at the ready. The lamia raised an arm to stop the party.
"Behold! We are-"
"The Three Noble of Black, we know. You're Black Mamba, the succubus is Black Dahlia, and the vampire is Black Rose. I don't suppose you would be so kind as to let us in if we say we only need the blue orb?"
Everybody looked at Luka with a surprised expression before awkwardly looking at each other. Then in the blink of an eye, the succubus jumped toward Luka, before being intercepted by Tamamo's tails, as the lamia's trident started clashing with Alma Elma's fists, and the vampire cast a thunder spell toward Micaela who just took it head on before charging her opponent.
Luka summoned the wind to catch up to her aunt then the fire element to deal with the vampire. The latter dissolved into a swarm of bats to reposition herself, but Micaela casted a blade of lights that removed a few of them and forced her opponent to return to her true form while slightly dazed. The opening was exploited by the duo who pushed their assault on her, forcing her to keep moving back while being unable to cast additional spells. Her eyes glowed for a second and slightly stunned her opponents, but the distance she managed to put between them was covered in less times than what she needed to cast another spell. She took a single glance at her partners before realizing that this battle was already lost.
Black Mamba was getting overwhelmed by Alma Elma. While their raw power was roughly equal, the succubus queen's speed gave her an alarming advantage over her opponent. Her fast assaults more often than not connected with the lamia, who didn't manage to hit her opponent back. She was not putting too much power into it, instead focusing on gradually wearing down the lamia whose moves were becoming clumsier by the second. Eventually, Black Mamba threw herself at the succubus queen and wrapped around her opponent, and realized her two mistakes when she saw that the succubus queen still had both her arms free while her body started glowing. The lamia felt her energy being drained through all her body when Alma Elma grabbed her by the throat. She could have won this contest of strength if she hadn't been already worn down by her opponent's assault, and collapsed fast into a pile of coils.
Black Dahlia's situation wasn't any better. Her rushed assault earned her the dubious honor of being entangled inside Tamamo's tails, who threw her down a few times before releasing her when the succubus started using her whole body to drain the kitsune's energy. One of her wing was already limp because of the kitsune's treatment. She casted a wind blade which connected with her opponent. Tamamo recoiled slightly and threw a few talismans that the succubus managed to dodge with difficulty, only to be hit straight in the stomach by Tamamo who was now looking like a ball of fire. The kitsune threw another talisman, and this time, the succubus was blasted by a storm of rock shards, knocking her down.
"Retreat!" The Three Nobles of Black teleported away in another part of the castle in the blink of an eye, leaving the party alone.
Micaela slowly exhaled and meditated to recover from her few wounds. "Well, if anything Black Alice was as good as any Monster Lord when it comes to choosing heir lieutenants." She turned Luka. "Did you seriously just try to negotiate with them though?"
"Well, it was worth a try…"
Alma Elma chuckled. "I must admit… That was actually pretty fun."
Tamamo didn't make any effort to hide her own amusement. "Let's just grab the orb and go."
The kitsune took the blue orb from one of the chests, and the party moved back at the entrance at the Monster Lord's Castle. Luka pulled out a harpy feather to go back to the Pocket Castle and…
…Nothing happened.
The hero focused his mind toward another destination and tried again, but only got the same result. His difficulties didn't went unnoticed by his other party members.
"You can't teleport away?"
Luka groaned. "It always worked by the past! Why not now?"
Micaela analyzed the situation. "Try the Succubus Village of this world."
Luka pulled out another harpy feather, and this time, the party was teleported away to be brought in front of the hamlet.
"Alma, please go check on Tartarus. On the double."
The succubus nodded and disappeared into the blink of an eye. The party waited for a few, extremely long minutes as they all nervously fidgeted around.
The succubus queen was back only a minute later with a dark expression covering her face. "The Tartarus we came from disappeared."
Luka's jaw went agape in surprise, while Tamamo sat down in shock and Micaela groaned. "That's what I feared."
"We're now stuck here."