*Sometime in the distant past in Faerun...*
...
An extraordinarily odd team of Adventurers ate in silence around a campfire, three out of four of them casting judgemental glances and looks of contempt at each other.
One of them was a Drow Priestess, who left her clan because of her desire to learn about the world and meet people who could rival her. She got her wish when she joined this oddball group, but she quickly came to regret her decisions a few seconds in when she realized just who she was travelling with.
Another was even odder. This Cthulhian-like magician was a Ultharid, a paragon and noble amongst normal Mind Flayers. The only reason why he was even here with these people he, more-or-less, hated was because he learned the truth about the Elder Brains and how they took everything from a Mind Flayer's Brain upon their death, but that Mind Flayer did not become a part of them; only their ideas and discoveries were assimilated, and their individuality and personality were lost. To avert this undesirable fate, he had resolved to make himself into a Elder Brain so he could maintain his own individuality. In order to fulfill that dream however, he needed meat shields that would protect him from dying a horrible death from the countless beings ready to rip a lone traveller asunder.
However, both paled in comparison to the sheer oddity that was the Beholder floating near them. This one was of the Elder Orb variety, and had lost some of its various eyes over the many years that it lived, including its central antimagic eye. This in turn allowed it to learn Arcane Magic, which prompted its former Beholder "allies" to kick it out for xenophobic reasons understood only by the Beholder race.
Obviously, the others knew that the Elder Orb only wanted to join this weird alliance because it wanted people around to take the hits for it while it went around learning magical secrets, for unlike its younger kin, it learned that people are better used as pawns instead of just killing them on the spot for "being different."
The last of these adventurers was actually what one might expect from a normal group of adventurers; he was a Human Paladin, and was actually quite pleasant to be around. He didn't carry any prejudices or scorn towards his fellow party members, and actively tried to be friends with them, even if he was shot down every single time. His only, and quite frankly simple, ambition was to help people in need and drive off evil wherever it could be found, even though he was surrounded by three people whose race was famed for their evil.
The Paladin was a little dim at times, to say the least, but he had his moments... and he was probably the reason why this group hasn't already strangled, maimed, vaporized, or otherwise murder each other in the most gruesome ways possible yet.
Currently, the group was more interested in eating rather than talking to each other, until finally, the Paladin spoke up:
"So... How are you all right now?" he asked, getting the others to shoot a glare at him.
The Ultharid stopped eating his brain-soup, and said, "Orthalamas, you'd think you'd get the message that none of us are interested in talking or learning about each other, much less you."
"Oh, come on Svessk!" Orthalamas said, somewhat pronouncing the Paragon's name correctly. "Anyone can get along if they just tried!"
The Drow Renegade rolled her eyes, "Orthalamas, none of us care. We just stick to each other because we somehow manage to survive things together when alone, we would've died."
"You too Laele!?" Orthalamas said in shock, getting the group to sigh.
The Elder Orb simply just looked at the group with the eyestalks that it could see with, and every single one of them had a look of absolute contempt on them.
"Dhall, back us up here for once and say that none of us except for the idiot Paladin over there is interested in learning more about each other," Laele said to the Beholder, hoping that he wouldn't just remain silent or reject their plea.
"... I don't care. I have experience in ignoring little insects like him. He's your problem," Dhall responded, not taking a side in this arguement between his party members.
"Ugh... You never help us out unless it benefits you, you greedy sack of shit!" Laele said.
"Of course. Are any of us really together except for gaining something that we want but can't get alone?" Dhall remarked.
"No, I'm here to help those in need!" Orthalamas said, almost immediately disproving Dhall's point.
"... Shut up Orthalamas. You don't count," Dhall thinly hissed at the Paladin, before returning to his meal.
"... Ouch. You could've been nicer about it..." Orthalamas mused, trying to continue a conversation with Laele and Svessk.
"Orthalamas, be honest here, just what is that makes you so insistant on trying to 'befriend' us?" Svessk questioned, honestly wondering what made the Paladin so stubborn.
"Nothing! I just thought that since I'll be with you all for quite some time, I should get to know you all!" Orthalamas simply said, giving an answer fitting of a "Good Guy."
Laele just sighed at that, "You're a special kind of stupid, aren't you Orthalamas?"
"No I'm not! Remember when I killed that Demon with a loophole in his incantations?" Orthalamas quickly shot back.
"Yeah, that was more out of sheer luck rather than intelligence," Laele promptly said.
"Then what about the time I tricked a group of Goblins into burying themselves in that one unstable cave system!?"
"Goblins aren't usually that hard to trick, that proves nothing here."
"... W-well then what about the time I!..." Laele and Orthalamas continued arguing over the Paladin's intellect, as Dhall and Svessk began to secretly laugh at this.
*Present; With Vaskul and Chrome*
...
Vaskul was simply travelling, thinking about his next scheme to kill Zoma, when a certain Imp manifested in his conscious...
Friends. Was all she simply said, You had friends.
"Well of course I had allies," Vaskul rasped back, the effects of him overusing Necromancy and other Forbidden Magics starting to affect Chrome's voicebox, "At a certain point in their existence, even if it's just for one time, a sentient, or non-sentient, being will inevitably work together with another being, whether they realize it or not. Why do you ask such an obvious question?"
No you numb-skull! I was talking about as in actual friendship, as in, you liked them! You didn't disregard their lives or think of them as inferior, you genuinely wanted the best for them despite them being so selfish and spiteful towards you. You even tried this with a Beholder, and you taught me that Beholders hated all creatures different from them! Chrome berated the Lich, getting more specific this time, Also... I never thought you were the type of person to be a Paladin. What happened back then to make you into what you are now?...
"Beholder?... Paladin?... Ah, my days as Orthalamas, before I met Kyous... Wait, how do you even know that?"
Oh, you know... I know things. Secret things; things that you never wanted me to learn. Chrome giggled as Vaskul seemed to get more than slightly annoyed with her for once in a long time.
"No, you do not know any Dark or Forbidden 'Secrets,' because I don't teach you with limits as to what you should know in mind. I just teach you whatever makes you stronger and smarter, and it's actually starting to pay off in this body as it's adapted to my level of magic to an extent. I know absolutely everything there is to know about you..." Vaskul remarked, missing her point entirely.
And I know everything you know. Not a single secret or pivotal life point's hidden from me, just as not a single part of my life is hidden from you, Chrome smugly countered, For example... Your idea behind possessing me. You don't really intend to kill me off at all. Maybe do the Lich Ritual or something like that for me, but you don't want to send me to the grave permanently. You just wanted to drive me crazy and see if you could mold me into the same type of Necromancer that you and your Master were. Something along the lines of me taking up the mantle of "Dread Necromancer" or something like that to replace you when you're gone from either being dead for good or being a God.
Vaskul stopped right in their tracks. "... Come again?"
You heard me. I know everything about you. Every magical secret, from making Helmed Horrors, to reanimating the lowly Zombie up to the likes of Nightshades, to the secrets about your life you wanted to forget... such as what you really did upon becoming a Lich... It sounded like Chrome would've had a smirk right now, had she been in control.
Vaskul only seemed positively and absolutely livid right now at his apprentice when she mentioned what he did when he first became a Lich.
Oh! And you know all those times you teased me or make stupid jokes that pissed me off? I know what pushes your buttons now as well, Vaskul! Who would've thought puns about the dead and Skeletons could annoy you so easily as well? Chrome only enjoyed this, knowing that she wouldn't really die off anytime soon. She just had to wait until she could take back her own body...
The Demilich only sighed, and just continued on walking after that exchange. He was somewhat proud yet pissed off his own apprentice managed to figure out how to take advantage of her current situation.
Said Imp still had more to say though, asking, I wonder though... There was a certain point in your life, before you pursued Estark's power, when you joined up with a gigantic army to invade Hell and the Abyss. Why did you follow all of those Warriors, Mages, Gods, and Kyous into the Nine Hells? It seemed pretty odd to see sides that were usually conflicting fight together against the Devils and Demons.
"There was, well... rumors, of an uneasy alliance of sorts between the Abyss and Hell. They both eventually came to an agreement, apparently, to try and take over the Multiverse and then fight it out between each other to determine who would rule. Kyous heard of this, somehow, and was determined to spread the truth around, getting me and billions of others who fought for the Gods to join in on breaking this alliance before it could truly begin. In the carnage, many Demons and Devils were destroyed, among them including Demogorgon, who was unsurprisingly backstabbed by Orcus at the last second, Asmodeus, who was ganged up by both Gods, Invaders, and Archdevils who wanted to become the new God of Sin. While granted, the two would naturally be able to wipe out their challengers, even they had limits as to how much they could fight before somebody got the drop on them. These two major losses among many others led to another fullblown war between the Abyss and Hell, and pretty soon the invaders retreated back to wherever they came from, letting Hell and the Abyss fight it out to this very day... I'm not sure whether or not this alliance Kyous was talking about was true or if it was just an elaborate prank he set up, but I can't say it wasn't a sight for the ages to see Demon Lords, Archdevils, and Gods alike get slain and killed for good in combat," Vaskul mused, reflecting on those dark times. He couldn't quite recall if Kyous had gone insane by that point yet, so if the Worm really was telling the truth about the "alliance" or just tricking everyone into a War was unknown to him.
Okay then... So explain why you became like... what you are now, when you had such a good life going for you after this war! Chrome questioned.
"That war happened after I became a Lich, but before I realized Good and Evil are just illusions and are subjective to the people; I quickly realized after that terrible war that letting myself be limited by morality and other such concepts would only stand in my way. And after those wars, I simply decided to leave for Nadiria and search for Esturk and more about Overdeities. You see, I knew about Ao and Azathoth's existence back then... And after that war, I think I wondered... 'Why must this always happen to me? Why can't I just be left alone to learn and study without having to fear the next omnicidal lunatic or conquerer-wannabe?' From that, I believe I realized that becoming an Overdeity would give me peace, it would give me so much power that I could just think away anyone who so much as tried to bother me, much less destroy me. I might not learn or figure out the reason for existence, or any secret of the Multiverse I haven't learned yet from gaining that power, but with so much power, and my immortality, I would have more than enough time to watch the world change around me, to learn and experience new things without fearing my destruction or having to serve a Master," Vaskul faintly smiled, remembering how his long quest for Godhood had started now. Now, it was only a matter of time and patience before he could get the Secret of Evolution from Estark, and become so powerful that he would never have to fear someone attempting to slay him while he was studying and learning... At least, that's what he thought. He wasn't sure what exactly he'd do after he gained the Secret of Evolution, but that was his plan as of thus far.
I see... And that's it? That's the "reason" why you've been pursuing this Emperor of Hell the whole time? Just for power to reassure yourself that no one would kill you?
"Yes. Call it petty, call it insane, call it whatever you like. I will not stop until I have that same absolute power Ao and Azathoth have!"
Chrome just sighed in Vaskul's mind. She would've initially thought it'd be some other reason like taking over the Multiverse or destroying all life, or perhaps he was still like that Paladin Orthalamas deep down and wanted to end all evil and suffering but no! It was something far more mellow and simple than what she thought her Master would've desired. And that's assuming that's actually what he intends to do after gaining the Secret of Evolution; for all she knew about his current plans for it, he'd wind up doing absolutely nothing with it like those two Overdeities he abhorred oh-so-much for their lack of action.
"Now... Does that answer the questions you already knew the answer to, my 'dear' apprentice?"
Yes, that answers my questions about your past anyways for now. The last question I have is what we're going to be doing now and where we're headed.
Vaskul hummed as they travelled down the road, "Right now I'm heading to the Ruins of Remina. I recall hearing Ilias mention something about destroying it while I was in the middle of research or something else more important, and if that's true, then maybe she or her Angels left behind some Holy Energy for others to take advantage of. If there is, then maybe I can harvest it to make... another Orb of Light, or something like that, to use on Zoma, drastically weakening him long enough for me and other supporters to kill him."
Huh... Well, that'll be interesting to see! Good luck Master Vaskul! Chrome cheered him on; it seems she got over her anger towards him taking over her body now that she's managed to learn every single spell and secret he ever knew. Now she could help her sister with her condition, or at least make it into a blessing to be embraced rather than a curse to be cured! Or she could use it to achieve massive leaps into Necromancy and other Dark Arts...
Oh, the possibilities are just infinite with this amount of knowledge! Chrome privately thought happily as she laid back out of Vaskul's active conscious, I could even... Even revive Shirome with this magic...
*Archfiend's Castle; Meeting Room*
...
The room was silent as Zarlox, Golok, Großmesser, and Atlas sat on one side of the "Council" Table, while the Vampire Queen, Shirohebi-Sama, and Spider Princess sat on the other.
Right now they had learned of Sigmus' scheme to counter the gigantic threat that was Zoma with another gigantic threat in Nokturnus. Well, most of them did. Golok was asleep right now, but nobody cared since he was a complete dumbass most of the time.
... Zarlox did not take this news of trying to summon Nokturnus well, to say the least.
"To hell with the Archfiend and that bitch!" the Yellow Bull-Demon shouted, slamming his trident down, "I'll be damned if I serve them when they're thinking that bringing the Dark Dream to this world is a good idea!"
The Vampire Queen calmly raised her hand, trying to calm Zarlox down, "Now now, don't lose your head over this. Let's think rationally here and assess the situation."
"What is there to assess!?" Zarlox shot back, seething, "We are quite clearly following two batshit insane morons who think that summoning a nihilistic and omnicidal Demon will help the current crisis we have with Zoma!"
"I am of a similar mind with Zarlox right now," Shirohebi-Sama interjected, "We have next to no knowledge about the Dark Dream aside from a few records that date back to when he originally appeared in the Great Monster Wars, and every one I read through claimed that Nokturnus answers to no one. Even Mortamor and Nimzo, who mostly tried to pull off their schemes in the Dream World, did not dare to go anywhere near anything related to Sabasa when Nokturnus wandered the desert. From that, and the myth that whoever summoned him was killed nearly instantly, we can assume that summoning Nokturnus will likely result in our deaths, which is exactly what we don't want to happen and are trying to avert."
Großmesser belched, disgusting a few of his allies, before saying, "Vell... Arh ! Ve cerdainly... *Hic* haffe ein zituazion on our hands right now!... Put, I'm cerdain zat it vill all turn out vell for us in zee end, as long as ve uze our *Belch* Prains."
"Brains are the exact opposite of what you have, you drunkard!" Zarlox sharply remarked, pointing at Großmesser's barrel-sized mug.
"Ah, tis but a pint!" Großmesser laughed as he sent an Imp to get another refill, "I am not drunk at all!"
"That can debated," Shirohebi-Sama simply said, disgusted by the Demon's lack of self-control.
The Spider Princess cleared her throat, getting the council's attention as she said, "Back to the topic at hand... How are we supposed to deal with this obviously stupid plan that the Archfiend has set out for us? We can't just attack or fight him over it; we've seen what he can do against the current Monster Lord and the Heavenly Knights all at once."
"That is an extremely hard question," the Vampire Queen mused, "As far as I can tell, we're all likely to die either fighting this plan, or fulfilling it. It seems as though a civil war might be inevitable if we can't mend things now."
"And there will be a civil war if the lesser Monsters catch onto the implications of this plan! I bet you Baramos doesn't even have a plan as to how to get Nokturnus to fight Zoma, for all we know, the two could just team up if they have the same exact goal, and then there would be absolutely no hope for us at all!" Zarlox said, assuring everyone that he would definitely turn on Sigmus and anyone who supported him if they still had no idea what to do for a sanesolution.
"That... is a terrifying possibility, one I'm afraid might actually happen if Zoma turns out to be an omnicidal maniac unlike Sigmus," Shirohebi-Sama said.
... A small silence passed, and Zarlox got out of his seat.
"To hell with this. I'm going to get out of this hellhole world, and return to Nadiria. For all I know, Nimzo or Mortamor could be alive again somehow, and when I'm there when Zoma comes along, they'll be the ones who get made examples out of. It'd make sense for all the weird shit that's been going on lately. Or maybe the Nine Circles of Hell. Maybe the rumors of Asmodeus' death aren't true, and I can hide out and make myself look like cannon fodder over there," Zarlox stated, stretching his wings.
The Vampire Queen got up as well, "Wait. Don't run away yet. If you're going to run like a coward, at least do it after you confirm that the Nokturnus ritual plan is in fact what we're going to do."
"Running away like a coward!? I'm being smart here! You're all being cowards for not standing up and refusing to partake in this stupid idea of Sigmus' like I am! For all I know, maybe summoning Nokturnus will grant you all a painless death, but I'll be damned if I make it easy for him or Zoma to claim my life! We must think of a different tactic, a smarter one to ensure our survival!" Zarlox shouted.
"Cowards?" the Vampire Queen hissed, "Are you even listening to the words coming out of your mouth? We're at least trying to do something about Zoma! If that means we have to sacrifice a few things to save ourselves, or risk our lives, then so be it! It's better than doing nothing and letting ourselves be dominated in fear and despair, or just be another number in Zoma's death count!"
"Vampire Queen, he does have a point when it comes to the fact that as long as we live and inspire or influence others, someone will be there to one day be born and eventually kill Zoma for us," Shirohebi-Sama pointed out, "But summoning a Demon like Nokturnus is hardly going to help the situation. So he does do what we ask and kills Zoma, let's propose that. What then? What do we do to get rid of him then? I assume the ritual Sigmus is using will have to allow Nokturnus to have free reign and will over himself, otherwise it wouldn't work for he wouldn't answer a ritual that binds him."
"Can we all consider the fact that this all might just fail and Nokturnus fails to answer us at all? Why then, should we not try? If he doesn't answer, then oh well. Time to think of another plan. But if he does answer? Then why not try to summon him near Zoma so he's even more likely to fight the Master Archfiend even without us?... And we can handle him. He barely went out of Sabasa when he was summoned there, I'd assume we'd just have to stay out of the region he's summoned in until he decides to leave," the Spider Princess said.
The argument just kept on getting worse from there, until it seemed that Zarlox and Vampire Queen would come to blows when...
"Enough!" Atlas boomed out from his seat. Though he was sitting down, the giant cyclops was still far taller and threatening than everyone else in the room, "You are all squabbling like little brats. Sit down and talk this out before someone has their grey matter decorate my mace."
And at that threat that the cyclops might've been able to pull off or not, everyone decided to stop getting at each other's throats and think rationally.
The threat of Violence is always the answer along with actual Violence, Atlas thought smugly in his head, If it's not working, then quite clearly I'm not being detailed or violent enough.
... However, the room was taken up by silence for a while, with everyone thinking on what exactly they should do...
Eventually, Großmesser yawned and broke the silence, "Vell, vy don't ve chust ask zee Bozz himzelf? I'm zure he hates ze idea of zummoning Nokturnus as vell. If ve haffe him und zat little girl of his here as vell, ve can zink of zomething good much more fasder."
"Are you joking? With Zarlox and Shirohebi-Sama both talking about how horrible of an idea this is and thinking about betraying him to flee to another world where they can regroup? He'd kill them on the spot!" the Spider Princess said.
Großmesser shrugged, "Zen don't talk apout it ven he or zat little girl's around. It's not zat hard."
"Easier said than done..." Zarlox muttered.
At this point, Golok had finally woken up, and wondered what was going on. He was quickly filled in on the whole idea of summoning Nokturnus to kill Zoma, or as he had simply put it, "Summonin' a weirdo to killz anotha' weirdo."
"Iz don't a get whyz we all be arguing 'bout dis though," Golok wondered aloud, "Can't we just uh... Iz dunno, make somebody else dooz it for us? Make 'em summon dat weirdo instead'a risking our own libes?"
... Another silence took the room at that remark.
"... How did you, of all people, think of that before we did?" the Vampire Queen said in exasperation towards the Gatekeeper.
"I'ma thinkin' dats what ya'll call 'Troll In-gen-nui-i-tay!'" Golok said in pride, trying to pronounce "Ingenuity" to make himself sound smarter.
"Yet you still sound like a complete dumbass," Zarlox remarked.
"Stills don't s'cuse you fose not thinkin' dis brilli-ant idea o' mine!" Golok taunted.
Zarlox just sighed, knowing that none of them would ever live it down knowing that some dumbass like Golok came up the idea of making some other idiot do the ritual for them before they did...
"Wells? Howz 'bout it den? We gonna do it or what?" Golok said, a smug smile on his face.
The "Council" members looked around at each other, and then at Golok. Reluctantly, they sighed and nodded.
"... Yes, this idea is far safer than just doing ourselves," the Vampire Queen admitted, "So we will try this idea."
"I'd prefer to just run, but, I suppose if I'm not immediately threatened by Nokturnus or Zoma when they come around, then I'm fine with this..." Zarlox muttered.
"Yah! I'z dun did it! Iz outsmattered ya'll for once!" Golok laughed as the Council was adjourned. It was probably a matter of time before he return to complete dumbass mode and forgot about this one victory of his, but until then, they'd would just not use the front gate as often when he was on duty.
*Tamamo; Maou's Castle*
...
The Nine-Tailed Fox silently thought about what had happened so far according to Kyous, and what she should do.
According to that odd Mage... We have a potentially omnicidal Master Archfiend by the name of "Zoma" who can easily kill everyone on this world, the Archfiend Baramos is a part of a rare and highly feared species of Demons known for being hard to kill off permenantly, there's a "Black Slaad," whatever that is, roaming around causing havoc, and finally, Vaskul wants to gain a completed form of Esturk's power... How wonderful. At least I know about Vaskul and Baramos already from past experience and encounters... More or less.
She only sighed as she walked down to the library to see Kyous. She didn't exactly hate or dislike him in particular, he hadn't done anything bad... yet. It was just that... He struck her as... well.. Insane. He seemed and acted like he was completely crazy. Because of that, she couldn't help but be slightly put off and wary of him. Sure, he acted nice, he didn't really insult or try to hurt anyone's feelings, but he just talked and sounded so... off, that it was hard to feel like he wasn't crazy. He always acted as if they were children compared to him in a way, as if they didn't know or see the amount of things he had.
... And that was without mentioning the disturbing amount of insects and arachnids that crawled in and out of his robes and mask, and the strong earthy scent that he had. It was completely and utterly disgusting, especially when the leftovers of his food and drinks were eaten up by those insects. Even Alma seemed turned off when she noticed the sheer amount of worms and other bugs that wriggled and writhed around him at all times, and she had gotten into some fairly... Odd, things at times. Literally no one in the castle other than Tamamo really wanted to be near the freak, and for good reason. It wasn't worth trying to seduce or even befriend a freak with strong unknown magic and apparently endless swarms of insects and arachnids crawling around him at all times.
Eventually, Tamamo arrived at the library, and sighed, preparing for another session of talking to this bizzare mage.
"Hello? Kyous? Are you around here?" she whispered out.
Soon, the Masked Mage appeared from behind one of the many bookshelves and peered at her, walking until he was out of the library so they could talk at normal volume.
"Yes, Ms. Tamamo?" the Mage politely inquire, though she couldn't help but notice his tone wasn't... Natural. It was uncomfortable listening to him, even if he was being polite.
"I was wondering if I could ask a few questions, if you don't mind," she asked.
"Oh, sure! Go for it! Please ask away. I don't mind at all..." Tamamo noted something was distinctly wriggling underneath Kyous' robes and mask...
"Well, first, I was wondering if you knew the best way to defeat Zoma," she asked, deciding to get the biggest threat out of the way first. As far as she knew, something called a "Master Archfiend" was far greater than someone simply called an "Archfiend."
"Ohohoho, my~! Zoma... Oh, I remember him... What an insufferably powerful entity he was," Kyous jittered slightly, giggling madly as always, "Yes... The Master Archfiend... He will be the biggest challenge you have ever faced in your life. There is no doubt about it. Estark, Vaskul, Baramos Sigmus and Black Alice, Karnax... All of them pale in comparison to Lord Zoma. Only Nokturnus, the Dark Dream, is capable of fighting Zoma at full power... Even Erdrick, the Ancient Hero of Alefgard, needed the Orb of Light to weaken Zoma enough to kill him."
Tamamo had no clue who Erdrick was or what Alefgard was, but she did know who Nokturnus was... She didn't like the idea of thinking that Nokturnus was roughly the equivalent or below Zoma in terms of power at all, but, she didn't really have another reference to go by when talking about otherworldly beings.
"That didn't answer my question. How do we defeat Zoma?"
"Eugh... defeating the Master Archfiend?... I'm not sure actually... I believe a powerful source of untainted Light can weaken him, but I've no clue where to find a pure source for it. If we can remove Zoma's Cloak of Darkness, that should remove his immunity to most attacks and regeneration. I think so anyways... I don't know how much of Zoma's abilities and magic relies on that Cloak, if at all."
Tamamo tapped her fan. This... Wasn't good. The only source of Light she knew was Ilias and the Heavenly Host, and they were anything but untainted and pure. About the best thing for that sort of thing would be their feathers and other such things...
... Angel Halo could potentially tear through Zoma's supposed Cloak of Darkness, but that renders the user weak to Zoma's full power and their allies unable to help as much... Plus Luka is using that at the moment for his adventure. What other possible Holy Sources are out there?...
"Alright, second question," she said, "What else do you know about the Archfiend, Baramos?"
"Hm... I have never faced off against a Baramos, nor do I ever want to... All I can say from what I know is that they regenerate and will come back several times after their first death to get revenge on the ones who killed them. The best idea I have is to just burn, electrocute, slash, and hack at them until they die. Just keep hitting them at a rate where they can't regenerate, and they should eventually die. Eventually. After that, when they come back as an undead form, I'd say just do the same thing again. Kill them off enough times, and they will eventually kick the bucket for good. I think. Maybe. I don't know really."
Tamamo blinked. That was a surprisingly simple answer. Just keep attacking Baramos until he dies like any other person? That's easy!... When said though, in reality... Well, she knew firsthand that he wasn't going to just roll over and die, but! If they could just think of a strategy that could put an end to him, and prevent Black Alice from interfering, they could kill him and stop his goals from causing another war!
And then they had to probably defeat his undead forms if what Kyous said about that was true, but that would come at another time when he wasn't about to take over the entire world and more of him being focused on getting revenge on his killers, which would honestly make him far more easier to manage.
"I see... right, what do you know about the Black Slaad?"
"Ah, Karnax, huh? He'll be hard for you to deal with, Ms. Tamamo! But, all I can say is that you probably won't even need to kill him. Just... scare him off, make him feel like his life is threatened. I know this Slaad personally, and I know for a fact he's a coward. He won't put the effort into fighting prey that's too much trouble than they're worth, even if in reality he could actually kill them fairly easily."
Yet another thing that sounds so easy yet is much, much more difficult to apply in reality. How am I supposed to scare something I haven't even met or talked to, much less fought, into leaving this world? Tamamo thought, thinking deeply on what Kyous told her.
Kyous paced around while she was thinking, as if bored. Eventually, he decided to ask his own question, "I must say Ms. Tamamo, I find it very odd to see that Remina is the only town here on Hellgondo, and abandoned at that. Do you mind if I head there for a bit and then return? I wish to go and study that area to see if I can see why it's been abandoned and figure out why no other areas in Hellgondo have been made into Towns."
Tamamo snapped out of her musings after that, "Remina?... Sure, just be careful for any Monsters that decided to live in the ruins there."
"Thank you, Ms. Tamamo. I'll be off then! Farewell for now!" Kyous waved her goodbye, and walked away quickly, seemingly excited to see and study the area.
The Kitsune only hummed, still thinking on what exactly was wrong with Kyous. So much to think about from just three questions... I can only hope I can find an answer for all of them and any other problems that come.
*Master Archfiend Zoma; Unknown Location...*
...
The Demon King looked on emotionlessly as more and more darkness swirled around him, wreathing him in eldritch and primordial power. And, as time went on, ice crept onto his robes and armor, making them a sickly blue, and the darkness only used it as another vessel along with the Master Archfiend's aura and robes, enhancing and pushing the already Godlike Demon far beyond anyone's wildest dreams and imagination.
It was only a matter of time before the Master Archfiend made his move, and when that finally happened, no one could hope to stop him.
In the meanwhile, he had allowed the world to remain blissfully unaware of its impending demise.
But, he already had a few precise guesses as to what some were doing here right now... They were either:
A. - Despairing in hopelessness and awaiting their dooms.
B. - They were still recovering from whatever else was out there. Impossible, due to the fact that they've had more than enough time to recover and adapt to it, and that the world they were on wasn't exactly filled to the brim with deadly threats.
C. - They were patiently waiting for the right time to strike, watching his every move. Most likely working for either Vaskul or the local Masters/Gods of this world, and they were going to relay any plans or ideas he had to them. He currently assumed this to be the most likely thing, due to the fact that even this world's whorish mockeries of Demons shouldn't just kneel over and not go berserk when a Demon Lord is around, and the fact that he was most likely the biggest threat to face this world yet. Of course, he could be wrong. He could be completely wrong, and it was in fact something else entirely. But right now, he thought that this was the accurate thing to go with.
And, if they were spies and watching him? Then oh well. He couldn't care less. All he wanted was the fear and despair of the masses to feed off from, to cover the world in eternal night and rule everything with an iron fist as he once did. Then, once his rule was restored, he'd most likely take on a new apprentice to replace the failures of King Hydra, Baramos Bomus, and Baramos Gonus, and have them become the "Archfiend" that will make way and expand his Empire to cover all of creation. There will be no Hero like Erdrick to stop him this time; no Orb of Light or Sword of Kings to strike him down from power and cast his soul to drift along the eternities of the void.
Zoma tittered slightly as he considered the possibility that the "spies" his theory proposed were only here to find out about his strategy or plans. He didn't really have a plan at all. He had no need for one. Why come up with a long, elaborate plan when he could just teleport all over the place and kill anyone who opposed him, thus securing his rule? Why do all of that when he could show his power to the crowds and see the hope drain from their eyes, and see their reaction to any Heroes who attempted to strike him down, only to be killed?
Honestly, with joys and beauties like destruction, death, and despair, why would anyone want to pursue something else? Why struggle to survive, knowing they will inevitably die? Why persist and vainly keep something up to last against time, when it has proven again and again that all Empires, Wonders, and Golden Ages fade and crumble away along with the hollow hopes that thrived with them. He knew this, just as he knew everyone who dared to work against him.
Ilias, with her hopes of wiping out the Monsters and keeping Humanity faithful and loyal to her...
Alipheese and Luka, with their blind dreams of uniting Humans and Monsters in coexistence, a dream that will end with Humanity's predictable xenophobia and overzealous judgement...
Kyous and Karnax, with their random and chaotic behavior, they will surely fall into something they cannot stop...
Baramos Sigmus and Black Alice, with their vain attempts to kill him by summoning the Dark Dream, will be inevitably killed by their own ritual or by his own hands...
Vaskul, with his attempt to become an Overdeity, has already been robbed of his body. The little Imp he possesses will never be able to stand up the Master Archfiend...
All of these hopes and dreams... Will be crushed and broken. They will be wiped out, and Despair shall take their place. He knew that he will do that and so much more. Nobody will stop him.
"Why does this world persist knowing their impending fate? Their deaths are their unavoidable fate, their sorrows as vast as the void, their agony eternal like time, their hatred always used to forge more weapons that lead to more misery! Why persist knowing this? Why bother with enjoying things like love and compassion when things like hatred and selfishness will always outlast them and thrive? Destruction to all is my greatest joy; there is no greater beauty than the dying, and I shall see to it that it dominates over this world and all others under my rule!"
Author's Notes:
Well, I'm back again with a new chapter, and with it, one step closer to the end. How will this all end? Who knows? (Except for me that is...)
Anyways, I don't really have much else to say other than that. I might start up a new MGQ story, or maybe not. You guys can tell me your thoughts on this story and more in a review or PM!
And, without further ado, I bid you all a good day!