"Only two more like that and we're good for tonight. Good job everyone."
Meyin checked once again the workers around her. All of them, humans and monsters alike were tired, but none of them showed an expression of discontent. They were discussing happily, satisfied of their work.
She moved back and a small smile appeared on her face as she looked at the result of her work: The support structure of the new castle was now fully in place, with marble pillars and walls standing tall in front of her on a floor made of the same material. The basement had already been constructed and looked brand new as well.
The rebuilding of Grangold's castle hadn't accumulated a single delay yet thanks to the use of new magical techniques to create reinforced material, and the solidity of the construction was on par with palaces built at time of war.
The magus sighed happily. She was just a rank and file mage recently promoted from Grangold academy, and she had been attributed the responsibility of overseeing the reconstruction of the castle at night. She had been honored by that decision, and her effectiveness eliminated every rumor that the king had played favorite instead of chosing someone competent.
What it didn't stop however were the numerous rumors that the castle's history was cursed. Sure, the city had already been attacked a few times since Grangold had way too often been at war with Grand Noah or even against the Monster Lord, and the palace had been razed every time. And then there was that more recent incident with the ant girls rebelling and wrecking the place. Most of the construction had taken heavy damages from their rampage, and when the last of the rubbles had been cleared, it had been decided to rebuild most of the palace. At first, the project made progress at a steady pace and looked promising…
…Until the castle got attacked once again by those damn spiders. Even if the seat of power had been temporarily relocated in a warehouse, they still ransacked the place and finished destroying what little the ant girls didn't.
In hindsight, Meyin understood the source of the rumors. She just considered these superstitions ridiculous.
A strange feeling suddenly surprised her as a magical shockwave passed through her. Then a few more followed. They didn't hurt her, but she was still slightly shaken. Did something explode in Hellgondo?
She decided to return near her colleagues to see how they felt. While the work was still progressing, several persons were discussing whether or not they felt those strange shockwaves. Just like her, all those that had a magic affinity had felt the event while the others just shrugged it off. As discussions and confusion were spreading like wildfire, she asserted her authority.
"Let's return to work and finish this, we'll only have for a few minutes after all and the sun is starting to rise. Everybody will be free afterward, and we'll provide magical check-ups to get sure nobody got affected."
Everybody nodded and returned to work, although the ambiance was heavier than before. Ant girls were placing the last pillar under her gaze, and she almost felt relieved when the pillar was positioned correctly. She could now freely leave the place, her work done. As people were starting to pack up, she noticed that there were less workers than at the beginning, as some equipment wasn't manipulated by their missing users.
"Where is team four?"
Only one person shrugged as an answer. She then asked everyone the same question individually, and none of them could answer. After a few more minutes, she decided to start checking through the construction site with some support from a few ant girls. After scouring the surface, she decided to look inside the basement. They had no reason to be there, but maybe they had decided to check if the foundations were doing alright…
She summoned a small magical light as the place was completely black, with only its entrance illuminated by a small pair of lights to warn everyone of the danger related to the presence of a large hole in the floor. As she stepped downstairs, still followed by the ant girls, she started hearing several slithering and cracking noises. She enhanced the power of her crystal to better illuminate the place, and was surprised by the spectacle revealed in front of her.
Large vines and roots were occupying the place, apparently growing from a spot beyond her field of vision. Meyin didn't see the men and monsters that she was looking for, but saw several human-sized flytraps and pitchers that didn't reassure her in the slightest. She slowly started moving back.
"What's that thing?! It wasn't here yesterday! No plant can grow that fast?!"
The ant girls didn't answer. When she looked at them she saw that the insect monsters were hypnotized, their hollow eyes fixated on the formations progressing toward them like so many snakes.
The mage reflexively summoned a ward to protect herself against spores and pheromones before casting a fireball on a flytrap that threatened an ant girl. The plant formation shivered as the projectile hit her, but in the end Meyin only caught its attention and the one of every other man-eating formation.
In a panic, she started running toward the stairs that led outside. Just as she reached the lowest step, one of the man-sized flytrap's jaw snapped around most of her body, leaving only her head and arms free. She felt a hot substance pouring over her body but no pain. Instead, it was almost… Pleasant. Even then, she kept trying to claw her way out of the plant, but her skills barely scratched its surface.
She looked one last time at the night sky outside as she was slowly pulled away in the darkness. Despair seized her as she already imagined the grueling fate of being slowly dissolved as she was turned to nutrients.
She used the last of her energy to cast the most powerful flare she could at the plant.
The noise from the explosion could be heard from Gold Port.
"That didn't take long."
Luka was walking through the hallways with Alice as he was finishing to dress up. Like every resident of the Monster Lord's Castle, Luka had the displeasure to be awakened by what sounded like a chain of explosion. While the hero only had a doubt about the cause of the event, Alice was certain that it was the Great Seal shattering.
They started looking for the kitsune when a messenger informed them that Grangold was apparently under attack from a strange plant that made the construction site of the castle its new home. Since one of the Ancestors was an alraune, the connection was obvious.
Alice groaned. "I thought that seal would only break in two weeks."
"Maybe Tamamo overestimated their resistance."
"By the way where is she? I thought she'd want to give you a final advice before you finally jump into combat against her dear sisters."
"Yao said that she said she had to fetch a little something."
"A little something alright."
Luka quizzically looked at Alice, an eyebrow raised. As the lamia ignored him, he just shrugged it off and continued moving forward.
Eventually he arrived at the entrance to see the three other Heavenly Knights ready, waiting for him. All of them showed a certain determination, which still surprised Luka in Alma Elma's case.
"You didn't happen to have seen Tamamo either?"
The knights nodded negatively.
"Damn it… Well, no point in waiting."
Luka opened the castle's door to see a vampire servant with the Garuda Girl. Alice sighed as the members of the group got onto the large bird monster.
"I really wished I could accompany you, but… I was repeated I simply can't take the risk."
"Me and the knights will come back safely Alice, I promise."
"You better. Or else I'll personally skin that plant alive and turn her into soup."
Luka nodded. He started climbing up on his mount when he felt a sudden shift in the wind and looked up. There was a strange monster in the sky, and before Luka could wonder if it was one of the two flying Six Ancestors, he recognized the form of an avian harpy carrying a small monster in her talons.
"Is that…"
"Definitively little Tamamo."
The harpy slowed down only when she got closer to the group and dropped the kitsune on the floor. The latter thanked her transport and released something she had held with her tails during her whole trip.
"You know, teleporting back at the castle is always an option."
Tamamo seemed out of breath as she answered. "I didn't want to take the risk, sorry. Still, I'm glad I made it in time." She showed up the large metallic case in her hands. "Lucia told me that she didn't know if her product would support it. It's quite unstable."
"I suppose that's why you left… What did you have her create that was so important?"
"Alchemical firebombs. Don't touch them."
Tamamo opened the metallic case to show glass orbs the size of her hand that were apparently filled with a strange, purple liquid and encased into a strange, foamy substance.
"We already had problems in the past when Kanon made some of her children grow up excessively. Between the fact that some of them were resistant to magic and their sheer number, we had to look for an extra solution."
"I'm… Not sure I'll be able to use them." Luka shook his head. "I mean… This seems downright cruel. And besides I don't know if I'll be able to take them without breaking them."
"Consider them as a last resort." Tamamo closed the case and held it out to Luka, who was still reluctant to take it.
"I will use them then if it means the husband of the Monster Lord come back alive." Erubetie grabbed the case with a tentacle made of her slime.
Tamamo nodded as a thank. Right afterward, Luka and the three other Heavenly Knights took to the sky on the back of the Garuda Girl, leaving the kitsune and the lamia behind.
Alice sighed again. "I still wish I could be with him."
"And I wished my sisters weren't free two weeks earlier than I expected with a clear intent to murder the population of a whole city. But the world isn't made of sugars and rainbows, is it?"
Alice chuckled at the kitsune's sass. "That's actually pretty funny. Still… I wished I could do more."
"Well, we can still set down in the throne room to watch him."
As they started making their way, they continued discussing.
"Right... Also, maybe I should try to see how our prisoners are faring? I don't think they changed their mind yet, and we'll probably have to do some work to resocialize them. Any idea?"
"I started a little something, and I have a plan to really, really hurt them... And I need your help for that one." Tamamo showed Alice a predatory smile that made the lamia recoil slightly.
"Do you intend to torture them?"
"Sort of. I have in mind a simple, old and very, very effective strategy. Let me explain to you."
Tamamo spent less than a minute explaining her plan to Alice. The Monster Lord was completely frozen when the kitsune was finished.
"That... I'm certain it will be very effective, although... I thought you'd have something more complicated and devious on the mind so..." A smile appeared on her face. "Nevermind. I'm in. I just want to see the results afterward."
"Mmmh mhmh, I knew you'd accept it. Let's check on Luka. You probably want to see how he's doing."
An orb appeared on the armrest of the throne, and both monsters intensively looked at it.
In Grangold's Magical Academy, Spider Princess was half-asleep in her magical cell when the power supplying her prison went out. She carefully got up and examined her surroundings: There wasn't a single soul in the room, and not a single light illuminated the hallways. Even the usual wards present to slow her down were deactivated.
She silently stepped away from her cell. Was that a trap by that devious fox to eliminate her once and for all? All her senses were in alert. She felt that something was wrong, but couldn't quite understand what was happening. Beyond her cell shutting down, the only unusual sign was a pastoral scent mixed with the ozone inherent to the magical activity.
She slowly crept through the open hallway. The place was indeed perfectly empty. All lights were off, and there wasn't a single guard patrolling the building. There wasn't a single conversation reaching her ears either. The only thing she could notice was slithering, scratching noises echoing through the place.
As she progressed through the hallway, she noticed several vines growing unnaturally fast through across the walls. Several of them were covered with carnivorous organs, and Spider Princess decided to carefully remain as far as possible from them.
"What is going on?"
As time passed, she felt herself tensing up to every single smallest sound. Each time she came across an intersection, only one way was possible and the vines were closing the path behind her. It's as if her liberator was playing a twisted game with her, enjoying the sight of her skittering around… Her supernatural senses indicated her that she was forced deeper into the laboratory. Her benefactor definitively didn't intend for her to leave the place for the moment.
Eventually she arrived in the room she guessed her savior intended for her to reach: It looked like a large demonstration room, with all its exits locked by vines or other plant formations, and a large pink flower was present on the top of a stage, with another almost identical one being present attached to the ceiling.. The flower on the ground opened to reveal a green-skinned, blue eyed woman.
"Finally. I wanted to meet you, but you took so much time I was starting to wonder if I should start my little party without you."
Spider Princess frowned. She just met her benefactor, and was already sick of her: While she was grateful, her pride was already put in jeopardy by the fact that she was saved from a monster that was not of her own tribe, and the first thing said monster did was slinging an underhanded insult. She decided to leave her the benefit of the doubt.
"Did you free me for my power?"
"Indeed. I would be interested in recruiting you as muscle for my army."
Spider Princess scoffed. "Muscle? I am Spider Princess! I am destined to be the next Queen Insect. You're an alraune! You're only food for my children! Kneel before me, and MAYBE I will let you live!"
Kanon's eyes narrowed as her aura started flaring, throwing the spider into a panic as the room filled with an overwhelming power.
"Learn your place, insect."
The large flower on the ceiling suddenly sprayed a large amount of pollen, surprising Spider Princess who started coughing uncontrollably and moving sluggishly. She didn't even notice when her upper body was swallowed by the flower, and didn't struggle in the slightest as her body was lifted off the ground.
Kanon sighed as her flower started chewing on her prey. Such a disappointment… It looked like those new monsters had no respect for the older generations. She had hoped to recruit the spiders to her cause through their leader, as it was clear her own kin had became too pacifist and too complacent to be useful. But the damn monster was simply too high on her own horses. If anything, it did justify her decision to take the whole city for herself and herself alone. She was fine with her sisters visiting her, but all those other weaklings could go die. Maybe some of them would get to enjoy a pleasurable death, but… They might not even deserve it after all. They were all already attacking her relentlessly like so much vermin. Those people were so ingrate and annoying… They could line up to enjoy unmatched pleasure as she feasted on them, but instead, they had doomed themselves to horrible deaths.
The alraune's flower closed around her female body as she focused her senses back on the sources of the attacks. First, she would have to capture all those little preys scampering around…
Initially, Luka was half-expecting Alma Elma to tease him for being surrounded by three of the Heavenly Knights on the Garuda Girl. However, each time he looked at the succubus, the latter showed a determinate expression just like his other companions. Sylph's voice echoed in the hero's mind.
"Wow! Even miss Queen Succubus is taking that seriously! This is going to be epic!"
"Sylph… We appreciate your natural-born enthusiasm, but I don't think this is one of those situations where you can fool around. Please don't disturb Luka during the fight!" Luka could feel Undine's exasperation in her voice.
"Whatever! It's just another day for Luka! He'll go pif-pow, then that monster will attack him, then Luka will heal before going kapow and finish on a BLAM!"
Luka chuckled.
"That's… Quite imaged. Still, let's remain focused. Those are not regular monsters we're facing."
"Right… Is that really Grangold in sight?"
From the sky, Luka and the Heavenly Knights could see vegetation cover several buildings. Spiders and mages were casting spells at the infestation in an attempt to slow down its progression, but even from here it was clear that their efforts were barely effective.
"Using those alchemical spheres is already quite tempting…"
Luka ignored Erubetie and lowered the Garuda Girl. As he got close to the city, the hero could notice the carnivorous appendages attempting to grab spiders and humans alike. He felt bile rising through him as he saw a panicking ant girl disappear in one of the pitcher.
"Do it. Just keep a few for Kanon herself. Let's try finding the king in the meantime."
As Luka started searching for the king, Erubetie started throwing spheres down on particularly large carnivorous plants with extreme accuracy. Each time a projectile hit its target, Luka could see the plant shaking as if it was in pain before starting to wilt at an extreme speed.
However, several plants returned their assault by starting to shot spines back at the Garuda Girl. The latter made effort to dodge the incoming attacks, but eventually a large vine came from nowhere and struck the bird monster, knocking the party down.
"Sylph! Gnome!" Luka summoned the power of the Four Spirits to control his fall and land like a leaf, while Granberia landed on a knee before slowly getting up. Erubetie soon followed suit with the case containing the remaining bombs while Alma Elma used her power over wind to land naturally near the party.
The hero looked at his surroundings. Luckily, they had landed on the edge of the expanding vegetation, although Luka could notice several carnivorous flytraps snapping in the party's direction. Erubetie shut them up by throwing another incendiary sphere at them, and they started mimicking a pained cry as they burned.
"…That was… Uncanny. Still, we now have to search the king." The hero turned toward Alma Elma. "Can you go find him?"
The succubus giggled. "That won't be necessary."
Luka turned to see the King of Grangold, the Ant Queen and several mages arrive. The leaders smiled warmly when they saw him. As the leaders made their way to the party, the mages started focusing on holding the plants back.
"Ah! I'm glad you arrived so fast. As you can see, we're attacked by that Ancestor…"
"Kanon, the ancestor of all plants."
"Thank you. She apparently made herself at home in the basement of the construction site of the castle. We attempted to push through, but the plants are growing faster than the speed at which we destroy them. With your help, we should be more successful."
Luka nodded reflexively. The hero was slightly taken aback by how calm and composed the king was considering that his city was under attack from an apparently unstoppable force.
Then again, that's the third time.
This year alone.
Luka looked at the forest standing between him and his target: The place looked like an open encyclopedia on carnivorous plants and other toxic vegetation. The hero shivered as he pondered how many people already lost their lives in this green nightmare.
"How are we supposed to go through this mess… How many more of those fire spheres do we have?"
Erubetie checked the content of the case she was still carrying. "More than half, around ten."
"We can't rely on them alone to make our way through this mess."
A large fireball passed by and incinerated several plants. "We will help you at the best of our abilities, but…" The king launched another fireball at a plant that was getting threateningly close. "I'm afraid we would end up as dead weight once in front of the Ancestor."
Luka nodded. Besides, he didn't want to see more innocents die today.
"Where is the Garuda Girl? With her, we should be able to get around all that mess and strike directly at her..."
"There's something blocking her."
"Then we'll have to cut down a path ourselves." Granberia readied her sword.
"…Or we can just jump across everything. It's not that far."
Everybody looked at Erubetie, who simply shrugged. "What? Alma Elma can fly, I can bounce, Granberia has the muscles and Luka has the spirits."
"Did remaining isolated herself with you for so long actually damaged her brain? Wait… Do slimes even have a brain?"
"I must admit… I would have thought it would come from you considering how bold it is."
"I thought it would come from Sylph!"
Luka looked at the sky before being interrupted by Salamander again.
"Wait, you don't tell me you're seriously considering that plan? It's simply dumb!"
"On the bright side, it's probably the last thing she will expect."
All the Heavenly Knights nodded. "Jump and strike once you're falling. The last thing we want is to fall into a conveniently placed carnivorous plant."
Luka closed his eyes and flexed his legs, accumulating the power of the earth before jumping extremely high, even surprising himself when he realized he was now several times as high as the highest building. He then used the power of the wind to orient himself toward the castle, and was soon followed by the other Heavenly Knights before falling down like a comet on the entrance of the construction site of the new castle, scorchiing a large area around him where he landed.
Soon afterward, Granberia landed and joined him in cutting a path through the plants inside the infested building. When he checked behind him, Erubetie and Alma Elma were also holding back some aggressive plants with a series of wind spells or a slime barrier.
Progressing through the infested castle was a slog for the group. It seemed that for every carnivorous vine cut down, two others came out to attack them. Venomous thorns tried to dig through their skin, and other brambles periodically snaked on the ground to make them stumble. It was clear that Kanon was attempting to wear them down with her plants before revealing herself.
Luka carefully checked around him. There was no plant stranger than the other that could be the core of the Ancestor. Was she hiding herself?
Eventually, the hero noticed Granberia starting to move more sluggishly even as she cut down plants after plants.
"Granberia?!"
"I'm… Fine…" The dragonkin started swaying back and forth, which attracted Alma Elma's attention. The succubus caught her companion as the latter threatened to fall.
"I'm fine, I'm just…" She shivered uncontrollably.
Erubetie checked the dragonkin as well while Luka defended them against any plant. "You inhaled an alarming amount of toxic spores. Let me purge your system."
"MOVE!"
The group scattered as an exceptionally large flytrap tried to gobble them up. Erubetie opened her case and extended one of her slime limb to throw another fire bomb straight into the gullet of the plant. The latter took fire as flames escaped from its maws while it shook and made a screeching, agonized sound.
"Damn it, we really need to stop those attacks."
"STOP KILLING MY BABIES WITH YOUR POISON!"
As plants stopped attacking, Luka turned across to see Kanon and her flower standing on a slightly elevated place where the throne was likely planned to be. The alraune looked exactly like the pictures and projections given by Tamamo, and the hero was thankful for the kitsune's work to help him prepare against her.
Kanon herself was looking absolutely furious, her expression a frown of rage while her blue eyes were slightly glowing.
"That damn fox… I can't even have fun without dealing with some of her goons! Is it too hard to ask for tranquility in this damn family?!"
Even after hearing about the alraune's cruelty, Luka was aghast at her disregard for the violence of her actions.
"You're attacking people! Why?! Do you really think we will let it happen?!"
Kanon scoffed. "When there are preys, do predators feed or do they let themselves perish?!"
"Cut that crap! We both know you don't need to eat them to live!"
The alraune responded with a cold, condescending laughter. "Do you seriously want me to only live on water and nutrients from the soil?" She leaned forward and frowned. "I suppose I'll have to teach you a lesson for trying to give orders to an Ancestor. Show me your strength if you dare!"
The plants around the group started moving more threateningly as even more man-eating appendages appeared.
Luka summoned the power of the Four Spirits as his companions prepared.
This was going to be a tough battle.