How long had it been since that decisive day... Months? Centuries? Millenia? The Dark Goddess couldn't say, imprisoned in her new world with only the smallest hints as to what happened outside. Sometimes, the barrier weakened following the death of powerful monsters, whether the phenomenon was natural or artificial. While such events gave her the opportunity to take a peek at the world, their cause was a concern for Alipheese who wondered if Ilias didn't decide to violate their treaty.
In the meantime, her descendant had placed a gargoyle to keep an eye on the gate located at the Navel of the World that led to Heaven. It was acting as another guardian who made sure the goddess wouldn't consider sending angels on the world and try to come back on the promise she had made.
And indeed, to the surprise of absolutely no one, that goddess of light was still trying to work toward exterminating monsters. To that end, she was inspiring visions into humans she selected as her heroes to push them to kill the current Monster Lord, or at least to stand against her subordinates and attack them. She also gave them her "protection", a spell that made their semen ill-tasting in hope of repelling monsters. Fortunately, most of them were failures, more often than not ending outright killed or eaten alive and making the Dark Goddess smirk: Ilias had just foolishly doomed those humans to death instead of giving them a chance to live in pleasure. A shame if anything…
In the meantime, Alipheese could see the more devoted members of the church of Ilias striking out everything pertaining to the Six Ancestors from their records, up to their name as they started twisting tales of the origins of monsters to draw Alipheese as a rebellious subordinate rather than as the equal of Ilias. She was surprised to see that Tamamo No Mae was also hiding their names, until she realized that it would also help her to hide better. If anything, Ilias' plan was an horrendous mistake: She was both incidentally giving Tamamo a better opportunity to hide, while simultaneously taking away chances for her forces to fight back should the Six Ancestors step in once again. How would they be able to fight an enemy they knew nothing of?
The first noticeable event happened a few hundred years after she was sealed. During the reign of the Third Monster Lord, Ilias raised an alarmingly large army of heroes, had them train through visions, and then started a bloody conflict between monsters and humans. Thousands of lives were wasted in what basically amounted to a smaller version of the Great Monster War, until they even managed to break in the castle and pulled out the Monster Lord as well as several of her retainers to execute them publicly in a vulgar display of cruelty as they begged for their lives. However, if that disaster had greatly displeased Alipheese, it had done even more damages to Ilias and her own image.
As it turned out, a lot of people had been shocked and outraged by the behavior of these so-called "heroes". It was one thing to defend the weak and the orphan against monsters. It was another to hunt them in their dens. And, even after everything that had happened, assassinating children in front of their parents' eyes in cold blood in public crossed several lines. The population was outraged, openly criticizing the church and insulting the heroes in the process. Several turned on the population that they were supposed to protect, while a large number of them was utterly disgusted by their fellow's behavior and disappeared from public eye.
The situation utterly degenerated when several human kingdoms jumped on the occasion to not-so-unjustfully accuse the church of using heroes to requisition resources and bully the population to increase their own wealth. A full on civil war blew out, pushing humanity back by several hundred years and only ending when the pope of the church was killed in the same way the Monster Lord was. When the last embers died, it was clear Ilias and her heroes had done more damage to her own reputation than the Dark Goddess herself could ever hope to do.
The situation of the Goddess of Light was only made worse when the seal ended weakened by the monster blood spilled. Alipheese personally exploited the opportunity to send a message to Ilias to remind her of their pact. She would never forget the startled face of the goddess when she appeared in front of her. In the meantime, Minagi plagued the dreams of heroes and clerics with nightmares often involving their goddess turning on them or of being killed by their fellow humans. A large number of them took their own lives in fear or remorse, and an even greater number fled into the wild in hope of escaping their fellows' wrath, only to end victim to a vengeful monster.
And last, Ilias' plans to extinguish the bloodline of the Dark Goddess had utterly failed. One of the Monster Lord's daughters had been snuck away in the middle of the night before her execution and had completely disappeared from prying eyes. The only clues to her whereabouts were twenty dead bodies and a bit of golden fluff on the floor of the monster's cell discovered the next morning. She reappeared fifteen years later with the intent to rebuild the society of monsters, and announced that while humans were welcome, she had the means to destroy anyone who would ever consider harming her or her fellow. Even from her spot beyond this world, Alipheese felt Ilias' shock from her failures and hoped that this genocidal maniac would keep that lesson to heart.
As time passed by, both societies rebuilt separately. There occasionally were a few frictions and sometimes both groups warmed up to each other, but it was nothing important or even noteworthy...
…Until a few hundred years later, when Alipheese the eighth -who would later be known as Black Alice-, ascended to the throne after mother's ill-timed passing. The precise moment the childish-looking Monster sat herself down, the Dark Goddess could see in her the combination of the worst traits of the Six Ancestors: Minagi's carelessness, Kanon's cruelty, Kanade's appetite, Saja's pride, Hiruko's inattentiveness and Tamamo's own deviousness. Her worries soon proved right when she declared war on humanity simply for fun, before periodically disappearing to accompany one of the numerous heroes walking the road with the plan to slay her.
The man, Heinrich, seemed unremarkable at first until he started gathering the power of the four elemental spirits and successfully use them. The simple fact that they accepted to lend him their power was a sign of the current crisis, as even she had some difficulties dealing with them. With their support, he had become powerful enough to stand on his own against every monster that crossed his path. Fortunately, he seemed more dedicated to spreading an ideal of peace than to the destruction of monsters.
In any case, if, a few hundred years ago, Ilias was responsible for the growing conflicts between humans and monsters, the Dark Goddess was forced to recognize that her descendant was responsible for the woes of the world this time. Humanity and monsters were once again at each other's throat through most of the world, as the central continent of Sentora was torn once more by conflict. The faith in Ilias also became more prevalent, demonizing the Monster Lord further to show the evil of monsters to restore their place as the real leading force of the world. As the more level-headed figures disappeared mysteriously, Alipheese wondered if Ilias didn't actually have a hand in making things worse. Although it could be her own descendant's plans as well...
But even amongst the chaos, a few oasis of peace like Remina still persisted, monsters and humans happily cohabiting together. And besides, the younger sister of Black Alice herself was officially standing against her, becoming a rallying icon against her sister's tyranny and attracting a growing number of monsters. She also had been approached by Tamamo, who offered her advices to soften the impact her older sister had to be able to rebuild the society.
However, the Dark Goddess was completely blindsided by the resolution of the conflict. Black Alice ended up fighting the hero that she always accompanied, during a fight that utterly wrecked the Monster Lord's castle. And after the hero incapacitated her with an extremely powerful attack boosted by the power of the four spirits, he seemed ready to offer her his hand. However, Ilias suddenly appeared from nowhere and stepped in to carry her away. She didn't attempt to slay her. She brought the Eighth Monster Lord to Heaven. She then fully exposed her plan to Heinrich, and, accidentally, to the Dark Goddess herself, telling how she intended to use her to absorb the dark energy released by the death of monsters to become the most powerful being in creation and prevent the Great Seal from being broken.
Alipheese was aghast that her old enemy found a way to circumvent the seal. However, it was mitigated by the fact that Ilias herself paid an impressively hefty price for her actions. Heinrich rebelled and challenged her authority. The Dark Goddess expected her to send her two seraphs to get rid of the impudent… Except that she saw them fighting each other in a combat that was too brutal to be mere sparring. As she looked at them, she understood that Lucifina had openly rebelled against her creator, and that only Micaela managed to hold her back for a time. That sight brought a sinister smirk on Alipheese's face. Instead of her two master pieces, Ilias was forced to send angels from lower ranks to deal with the rogue hero. Even without the Four Spirits to support him, the man was a force to be reckoned with, killing angels left and right and only stopping altogether because his body simply gave up, corroded by the holy energy pouring from so many dying angels. Ilias imprisoned the man's soul into a shrine in Hellgondo, and as Black Alice started draining the dark energy in the world that came from monster's natural death, Alipheese became unable to keep an eye on the world.
The next years were worrying for the goddess of darkness. She was now alone, and could only wonder how her children were doing. However, deep down, she was also reassured by the fact that with one of her greatest warrior ready to oppose her, Ilias would reconsider destroying the world twice.
The next thing the Dark Goddess saw from the world was the slaughter of Remina. Headed by angels and strange unnatural monsters she never saw before, the long-standing symbol of coexistence that was the city was razed to the ground. It was clear the goddess of light was finally initiating her genocidal plan, and she could feel Black Alice absorb the energy that should have gone to the seal. Maybe it wouldn't have been enough to break them, but it would have allowed for a warning. Her hope rose again when she saw Micaela flying down from Heaven, absolutely furious and followed by quite a small numbers of angels. Ilias had both her two most powerful lieutenants now… And the world became dark once again.
She was back into contemplation, when, only a few decade later, she could start seeing what was happening through the world again. She had difficulties keeping a scrying spell running on the world, as the darkness born from the death of monsters seemed to flow unnaturally, although it was now pouring into the seal again at a relatively slow pace. She tried to examine the phenomenon in more depths when she understood its cause.
That darkness was not exactly coming from somewhere on the surface of the world. It was pouring from the gate that led to Heaven. It came from Ilias' realm. The Dark Goddess pushed forward with her will and could see a ridiculously tentacle-bloated Black Alice slowly disintegrating in front of a duo who stood exhausted and battle-weary. She instantly recognized the purple and red, white-haired lamia as her descendant. Even if she was looking different, she had the same aura, the same symbiotic flower in her hair, and the boy… The boy reminded her of that hero, Heinrich. The same small build, the same purple hair, the Four Spirits accompanying him, and the blue eyes... Different but familiar. However, he was also surrounded by an angelic aura that she recognized all too well: It was Lucifina's. The Daystar somehow had a child with a descendant of that hero Heinrich, and that child was now storming Heaven with the help of her own descendant, no doubt fighting against Ilias' own forces. Alipheese pondered the implications of that new alliance when a familiar voice she hadn't heard for centuries echoed in her mind.
"Greetings mother. It looks like the seal has become weak enough to allow us to communicate again."
"I noticed such, thank you Saja. I am currently looking at what is happening in Heaven."
"What is happening in Heaven? Ooooh… Niiiiice." Minagi's sensuous voice filled her mind.
"Mmh. It looks like the goddess' plan backfired. She apparently got eaten by that Black Alice. Figures… She's dead anyway" Kanon's satisfaction was obvious.
Alipheese saw some movement come from the remain of Black Alice. The gooey shape cleaned itself, and revealed a passably aggravated Ilias.
"I'd expect you to know better than that considering how many angels escaped us alive." Even from her different dimension, the Dark Goddess could feel Kanon's aggravation at Hiruko's words.
Alipheese frowned as Ilias transformed into a ridiculous, primordial form that combined her dark power with her own light powers. Still, the hero and her own granddaughter stood against him, before being reinforced by a powerful-looking succubus, the living proof that Ilias couldn't manage to extinguish the monsters she hated the most. Just as she left, too wounded to continue, Tamamo No Mae stepped in, laying a verbal smackdown as she tore apart large chunks of the goddess' body. Eventually, she backed away as her power waned and forced her back to her sealed form. A slime then arrived to protect the duo, followed by a dragonkin swordsman that simply seemed to refuse to die, no matter how hard Ilias attacked her. She alone was the proof that this generation of monsters had nothing to envy to her own in term of power and skills.
Then, just as the dragonkin collapsed, an angel stepped in against her former master. It took Alipheese a moment to recognize Micaela -no, it was more correct to say that she had difficulties accepting what she was seeing.- The seraph struck her old lord with her most powerful attack twice and left while saving the dragonkin, clearly too exhausted to continue fighting. The simple sight of one of her oldest enemy saving a monster shocked Alipheese, who could only distractedly follow the remainder of the fight as she was taking in what just happened.
Eventually, the hero and her own descendant unleashed a powerful strike that could only be compared to the past attack from the hero Heinrich that had destroyed the Monster Lord's castle, but on an exponential scale. The feedback of the spell alone was enough to break off her vision, and when she restarted her scrying spell again, she could only see a distraught Monster Lord bringing the hero back to her castle.
She switched her focus on the weakening seal. Black Alice and Ilias' disappearance had resulted in the release of more than five hundreds years worth of dark energy born from the death of monsters. She could feel it steadily pouring from the Gate of Heaven. The seal was going to break under the energy. It would take months, maybe even years as that damn gateway was acting like a bottleneck, but it would break none the less. She took the opportunity to look at the world, focusing occasionally on her descendant as she waited.
She appreciated the sights of the world that had changed so much since the last time she saw the place. Its inhabitants were at peace for once, even as monsters and angels lived together. She enjoyed seeing her granddaughter being elated as the hero came back and they travelled the world together like a happy couple. She wondered what would be the fruit of the three-day long coupling between her granddaughter and the son of the Daystar. The resulting monster would be fascinating. She passively waited, relieved by the survival of her kin even as Ilias was now dead. Her release could wait a few longer months, the world was no longer threatened after all.
However, not every one of her daughters was as patient as she was.
"I want that hero."
Minagi had thoroughly enjoyed the sight of Ilias getting trounced by her own grandson. The boy, who apparently answered to the name of Luka, seemed to wield the sword expertly, had angel blood inside him, and had that bit of innocence she always enjoyed but too rarely saw in her perverted victims. After so much time sealed, she definitively needed some company.
The succubus started making her plans. How could she get him? She was still stuck beyond this stupid seal, but the spell was weakening enough to influence someone from afar… Areas with a dense population of succubi would be easier to affect thanks to the natural magic… But the ones living in Succubus Village included a queen class duo and a skilled magic user, which could prove problematic to her attempt to excite them even a little without getting noticed.
She continued checking elsewhere. Even if peace was present between most humans, monsters and angels (she salivated when her eyes laid on a valkyrie), she kept her focus on her plan to get the hero. She could get as many angels as she'd want later simply by showing up, but the prize that was the hero would require more effort. After a small while, she noticed a group of wandering succubi near a small coastal village. Well, how fortunate… The perfect tools to create the trap to attract the hero presented themselves. Now, how to get sure he would be the one stepping in instead of one of the other Monster Lord's goons?
She checked around for opportunities again when she saw Grangold's laboratory, where Spider Princess was imprisoned. Listening to passing conversations informed her that the so-called Heavenly Knights would rush in should the Spider Princess be set free. Well, she now had her diversion…
She waited for the middle of the night to subtly influence the mind of the man leading the team. She didn't do much, she only slightly inflamed his lust toward monsters, which automatically got directed at the Spider Princess. The man seemed disturbed, sweating heavily. Apparently, his fear of being devoured was holding him back as well. She kept pushing until he eventually gave up to his desire and started freeing her while his team was trying to hold him back. She inflamed their lust as well, which was barely enough to confuse them but enough to allow her first victim to carry out her plan. As soon as she was freed, Spider Princess was held back by a web of spells from the scientific team who knocked out their leader while trying to move back from the escaped threat. While the situation degenerated, she checked on the Monster Lord's castle. Tamamo and her fellow "Heavenly Knights" were indeed mobilizing themselves. Good, it looked like the first step of her plan worked…
She returned to the pack of roaming succubus, and influenced their minds in the same way. It only took a minor push before they jumped onto the village next door and started assaulting the local inhabitants in their way. Even better, one of the local magi rang a magical alarm, ensuring that someone would come to save them.
She checked the Monster Lord's castle again. Barely a minute later, a messenger informed the Monster Lord and the hero that a pack of succubi was assaulting a small village. The two members of the duo prepared themselves, and Minagi frowned when she realized the Monster Lord, Alice, would be present in her little game. Well, she'd find a way to get rid of her once they were there…
In the meantime, she enjoyed the sight of her children feeding on men, sometimes until their partners died, before the hero finally stepped in with the Monster Lord. He instantly sealed several succubi in a storm of attacks that reminded her of Lucifina, tacitly confirming her that he was a first-rate prey. She prepared her own spell to catch the hero in a web of dreams when most of the succubi were already sealed by the hero's strange sword.
She was surprised by the sheer effort it cost her to simply put the hero through this after a simple, illogical artificially-induced dream about food sent the Monster Lord away, chasing non-existing parfaits. Well, she made sure the hero's mind was filled with nothing but him thoroughly ravished by different monsters until his mind gave in to the pleasure. She was once again surprised by his willpower as he kept refusing to give himself over to her projections. Eventually, she decided to appear herself, and violated the hero repeatedly in hope of breaking him.
She was taken by surprise by a powerful strike when the hero somehow managed to gather enough willpower to break out from the spell and slash at her. The feedback reached her beyond her seal, and knocked her back from her usual sitting position. Even if her plan failed, she was ecstatic. Did a man ever refuse her like that and survived? She couldn't remember, and it only reinforced her interest in the hero. At that precise moment, nothing else mattered.
I will get him eventually. He will be mine…