For the Grand Noah Queen, that day had been like any other day so far: She got up early, took the better part of an hour to prepare herself before meeting her ministers in a breakfast to share the latest news. Then she sat on her throne and welcomed the people's grievances: Today, most of them were from people expressing their concern after the assault from a particularly powerful monster on Grangold. And each time, the queen offered the same reassuring speech talking about a few of the emergency plans they had at the ready to minimize damages before reassuring them once again that they were counting on the hero Luka and the Monster Lord who had already saved this city in the past.
As she took her lunch with her ministers, the attack on Grangold was the subject of conversation of the day. There was both the fear of knowing that there were more monsters like that out there, and the sheer reassurance from the extremely fast and firm answer from the hero Luka backed by the Monster Lord. Of course, a few of the more… Imaginative people attempted to spread rumors that all those attacks were staged by the Monster Lord and her cohorts to have the whole of humanity dependant on her. Those theories were disregarded and treated as insulting: Without even considering that said Monster Lord could already have done so during the war against Ilias since she was the first to recover, wouldn't she need to move personally to make herself look like the hero?
Those people only saw in this the proof that her plan was too smart for most of humanity. The others only shrugged it and returned to their daily lives while ignoring their fellow's inane rants.
And it was at that precise moment that a magical alarm rang: One of the Six Ancestor was detected. Thankfully, the nature of the ringing announced her that she apparently hadn't attacked anyone yet.
A second later, a magic orb appeared and projected an image of a blue, planturous slime wandering through the streets that the Grand Noah Queen recognized. It was Kanade. The Ancestor was ignoring the passerbys that stared at her or stepped away from her, apparently too focused on something else as her serious expression could attest. One of the minister rushed at the queen in a panic.
"She's coming for us! Evacuate the queen!"
The queen was still focused on the orb. Indeed, Kanade had stopped in front of the guards guarding the castle. The queen couldn't hear what they said, but apparently, the soldier had tried to turn the slime away conformingly to his order, which she refused to do. To the guard's credit, he didn't immediately flee and instead simply opened the door.
"No. She doesn't look hostile. If she wants to see me, she will see me."
"But… Your safety my queen!"
"And what of the people when she gets angry that I fled her without reason? I'll go welcome her in the throne room."
The moment the queen managed to free herself from her minister, two panicked guards opened the doors and loudly announced the slime.
"Her magnificence, the Ancestor and mother of all slimes, Kanade herself!"
The slime bowed as the queen stepped forward. The human woman could see that the expression of the slime she thought to be focused was instead perfectly neutral, as if she couldn't bother to show her emotions. Even her red eyes only seemed to show indifference. The red power gem in her forehead was slightly glowing, and two tentacles that made for her hair were swaying behind her.
"Greetings. I wanted to meet the Grand Noah queen to talk about the newly founded Environmental Protection Program."
As she talked, a copy of the slime left her body without the latter noticing. The Grand Noah queen kept an eye on her movement while simultaneously staying focused on what the Ancestor was saying. Even then, she noticed the smiling, salacious smile the new slime had.
"Indeed, How can I help you on the matter?"
Just as she expected, the new copy licked her lips and started leaning toward one of her minister. The man barely leaned back, but made no attempt to shove her off or avoid her entirely. Was it fear or desire? Another identical copy appeared from her and started to make her way to another minister while the first was getting it on.
"I wanted to know more about your motivations and actions for deciding to start such a program. I heard it was a request from the current slime queen."
"It is slightly more complicated than that. While she was the one to attract our attention and is one of the most proactive members in the program, the reality is that we all discovered the growing damage people were suffering from pollution, with her kin in particular being more sensitive to its effects. We decided to join efforts to act on multiple fronts, from clearing polluted areas to waste management while informing people of the threat at hand… It is everyone's fight for a better future."
The cycle repeated itself until every one of her colleagues was under one of Kanade's copy. She made the utmost effort to remain focused and diplomatic in this situation as the voice of her interlocutor was almost drowned by squishing noises and moans.
"What are its results? And do you meet any difficulty with that program?"
"…It is too early to tell. May I suggest you consulting the Slime Queen herself?"
"Mmh. I will. Thank you for your time." Kanade bowed and turned her back.
As the Slime Ancestor left, every one of her copy fused back with the one she had been talking to, leaving the dining room a mess that looked like the aftermath of a party in Succubus Village more than a royal lunch. After a minute, a few guards and a magical advisor arrived to clear the mess.
The Grand Noah Queen sighed took a small sip of her glass of wine, ending it. "Please send a message to the Monster Lord with the appropriate information."
"As you wish."
The court mage bowed, soon followed by the guards. At the moment she heard the door swung close, the Grand Noah queen leaned back on her chair and sighed heavily as sweat started pouring from every pore of her body. She took a short look at the bottle of wine, and raised a trembling hand toward it before stopping herself.
She had endured the death threats of a chimera and imminent destruction at her hands, and she was now fine with seeing her every day in the streets. In the meantime, that… boorish slime had just come to ask her for a few questions and left without ceremonies. So why did she feel even more threatened than the last time? Well, first, her power was even more palpable than the chimera knight… The feeling of pressure was even stronger, and the queen wondered if the slime was ever aware of her sheer might compared to anything that existed on the world.
The Grand Noah Queen slowly got up and walked to a window overlooking the city. Well, her arrival had apparently brought up quite a lot of attention if the people staring… Correction, lustfully gazing at the slime were any indication. Getting sure those people understood the threat she represented was up to her, and she could only hope that her slime counterpart could manage to rein in her great Ancestor.
There was no point thinking about it. The queen poured herself a large glass of wine. She definitively deserved it.
"…"
Alice was particularly busy massaging her face as she was sitting on her throne. She sighed once, twice, repositioned herself several times, but she never managed to make herself comfortable. Close on her side, Tamamo was looking at the monster in front of her with a mix of contempt and disdain one would use when someone they didn't particularly like embarrassed themselves. Which was exactly what had just happened.
"What?"
The simple message they received earlier that one of the arachne lord had come here to make a personal request had hinted the duo that it wasn't going to be a good day: The Spider clan had always been marginalized for its predatory nature, and had often ignored any societal codes from other races to try to eat them. Other insect races barely tolerated them as they were part of their family, weaker monsters feared them because they knew they were seen as prey, and more powerful monsters considered them as opportunistic backstabbers. This segregation was the result of a two-ways effort.
And the latest reigning queen, Spider Princess, hadn't made things better. Not only she was reveling in the cruelty her kin was known for, she even pushed her subordinates to be more aggressive. This reached a critical point when they joined Black Alice and attacked Grangold to feed on the city's population. While several of the clan members had made some effort to integrate themselves in that new world, several had left in the wilderness or were still hunting down humans.
And then Kanon attacked and ate Spider Princess. Alice still remembered the conversation that had followed with Tamamo.
"Good riddance."
Tamamo frowned. "This is not how a leader should speak of its subjects, no matter if they were rebellious!"
"Oh, please, I can tell that you're glad we won't lose any more time with her too…"
"Maybe, but never say that in public! We don't want to hurt our relations with the spider kin now!"
"Like we will ever see them. Why would they even come to the Monster Lord' Castle…"
"Well, if they have a request, we will have to listen to them…"
And then that arachne lord came here and asked for their share of the compensation for the death of their beloved leaders. Neither Alice nor Tamamo could believe their chutzpah. Or was it just a lack of basic self-awareness? In any case, the Monster Lord herself just wanted to be done with that one as fast as possible. Luckily, they had already prepared an answer several days ago.
"We offer our most sincere condolences for the death of your beloved leader." Alice had the most difficulties keeping a neutral tone, as she hesitated between laughing and being sarcastic. "We are also aware of the… Colossal debt of blood that the Spider clan has contracted during all those years, and we cannot decently offer you reparations for the damage you endured."
"What?! I thought that debt was cancelled after the war with Ilias?! And then our leader died!"
"Your debt wasn't cancelled, it was merely suspended under the condition that the behavior of your clan improved and was to be renegotiated… However, Spider Princess wasn't disavowed by her subordinates even when she was imprisoned, no new leaders were chosen, and none of you ever disparaged the cruel actions all of you committed. All of your crimes were swept under the rug by your leaders with the hope that they would be forgotten, and while you were mostly forgiven, those debts were never cancelled in any way."
The Arachne Lord snarled. "This is an outrage! This is disrespecting Spider Princess memories!"
Alice dramatically turned toward Tamamo. "Can we have a reading of her legacy?"
Tamamo summoned a scroll from the library. She stumbled as she seized the parchment, as the end unwrapped and rolled on the floor in front of her for several seconds, almost reaching the feet of the spider a few meters away.
"Before I start, I want to inform everyone that those… events were only those recorded by a direct witness at the time. Those are not mere hearsays." She cleared her throat.
"Johannes 1435, Spider Princess accessed to the throne of the Spider Clan by recognition from her peer after a successful raid on the town of Yamatai. The next month, a bid is make for the crown of Insect Queen. The reunion between the four candidates ended in a fight between their races that resulted in the disappearance of the Roach Queen. Spider Princess is then evicted of the region of Yamatai by the joint effort of a large number of Yokai supported by mercenaries from Grand Noah as she destroys several habitations in a tantrum… She resettles in a network of cave south of the Gold Region and uses her new base as a staging point to launch several raids resulting in the confirmed death of over a hundred humans and more than thirty monsters… I could go on and detail them, but I will only remind everyone that the latest actions of the Spider clan fall under high treason as she joined force with Black Alice, who herself served Ilias in an attempt to slaughter everyone."
The spider swallowed loudly as she was starting to sweat heavily. "…I guess we have no chance to be compensated then."
"I suggest consulting the leaders of the other races. Maybe they will be more willing to help you, and should enough come support you to tell us that they confirm that your clan was wronged, then indeed we will likely compensate you personally."
The Arachne Lord remained silent upon hearing that. She moved sluggishly around, and both monsters could tell that she was giving up on her request.
"I… See… Thank you for your time." She bowed and left, shuffling away awkwardly.
Once the spider had left, the duo sighed.
"They'll never get that compensation."
Tamamo shook her head negatively. "I did the math on my spare time. If we base the values of the debts on previous alike cases, they would have to spend at least five times what they would get. Their clan is absolutely broke, and the best they could offer in this era of peace is their service as mercenaries."
Alice nodded in acknowledgment. "Then make sure someone keep an eye on them. We don't want them to join Kagetsumugi."
"Mmh. Apparently, the latter's activities calmed down considerably. I suppose hearing that a legendary monster from old times got her rump kicked by her enemies did that."
The Monster Lord chuckled back. "Right… Also what is this I hear about Holy Energy clumping in the castle? Is there a problem with Micaela… Or is it something related to Luka?"
Tamamo shrugged. "Actually… Neither. Let's go check at the entrance."
Alice slithered from her throne as Tamamo walked to her side.
"You remember the angels that Luka sealed when they attacked the castle? Well, they're gradually coming back. And… They're not all exactly happy with the new peace."
"Mmh. Yet another issue to add on the growing pile…"
"Indeed. And their current new leader, Mariel, feels completely overwhelmed by the situation she's been thrown in. She's trying her best to get everyone under her control to act responsibly but… She's still seen as a young'un archangel by too many of her peers, so asserting authority is quite difficult. Soooo…"
Eventually, Alice and Tamamo arrived at their destination. An angel with short, gray her and dressed in a black bikini was laying on the round, her limbs restrained by seals as she was surrounded by powerful monsters. One was holding her own arm in pain, while another was shaking periodically, as if electrified.
"You only lived because Ilias tolerated it! You will die because she demanded it!"
Alice heard whispers around her. Apparently, nobody had told the angel that Ilias was dead. She inhaled and looked at Tamamo, who silently mouthed the angel's name.
"Archangel Ariel. You are accused of attempting to assault the Monster Lord's forces to damage the relationships between monsters and angels. How do you plead?"
"I am an archangel of Ilias! You lowly monster have no right to judge me!"
Alice sighed and closed her eyes as she turned away.
"Contact Mariel. As the new leader of angels, the responsibility of socializing that angry one falls on her. In the meantime, give her a cell."
She could feel the archangel's confused glare in her back as the latter was carried away.
"You know… Maybe we should try to see if we can convince some angels to live in the Monster Lord's Castle. Besides Micaela, I mean. Having them be permanent residents. That would strengthen the relationships."
Alice shrugged. "By convincing I hope you mean only finding actual volunteers and not something else. Also they would have to behave themselves properly and be pretty open to the idea of coexistence, we don't want some angels who come here to pretend to be nice by day and try to assassinate monsters by night."
"Agreed… That's getting already complicated."
A minute later, a succubus teleported a small distance in front of the duo and bowed.
"Greetings, Monster Lord. I carry a message from Grand Noah."
"Speak."
As the succubus reported the local queen's encounter with Kanade, Alice's expression gradually decomposed into pure confusion.
"That… Did this really happen?"
Tamamo nodded. "I can imagine Kanade doing that. But if it means we don't have to fight her…"
"Warn Erubetie and drill every lesson about her ancestor into that wobbly skull of her. In the meantime I…" Alice paused for a few seconds, as she searched for her words. "I will let her pull that one through. I don't think bringing the Monster lord's authority or the hero on the table is going to make anything better."
"Agreed."
Not so far from the throne room, in one of the caves under the castle, Luka was meditating under a waterfall, only protected by a towel. His eyes closed, he focused his other senses on the environment around him as his mind ignored the noise made by the cascading water itself. He could feel the gentle wind breezing around Sylph, Gnome's firm walk across the ground, the ripples made by Undine floating downstream, and Salamander's heat radiating in wave from her body. And yet…
"Are you sure this actually helps? I mean, I don't feel anything different than usual…"
"It's to teach you to eliminate background noise, and help clear your mind to not be troubled by the smallest change in your environment."
"For once, I agree with the lizard's training method."
Luka's shoulders slumped ever so slightly as he tried to relax a little more. Nothing seemed any different from all the other times he ever reached a serene mind in a fact… Except for the fact that his life wasn't threatened for once, that is. The sensation of the water on his skin was nice, soothing. Not as nice as Alice's own touch, but…
Focus… You don't want to show them that…
Gradually, his senses completely occulted the sound of the rushing water, until he could eventually hear his own breathing as well as the spirits wandering about. Sometimes Salamander and Undine were discussing about the evolution of their trainees and of their fellows. Sometimes he could hear Gnome slap Sylph. He focused on his breathing, staying calm and becoming perfectly regular, until the smell of lavender filled his nostrils. Surprised, he opened his eyes to be greeted by the sight of a generous chest. As he recoiled to avoid this unexpected assailant, he slipped in the water and heard a giggle when he rose out of the pond.
"Surprise!" A naked Alma Elma was now standing on the side, somehow entirely dry.
"Alma!" Salamander frowned. "Did you really have to interrupt Luka's training?"
"I'm not interrupting anything. I'm helping you preparing Luka against Minagi."
"That's… Huh. Actually that's a pretty good point. Maybe you should try punching him down there at the same time to give him the full experience."
"Salamander! Please, don't motivate her!" Luka was floating at the surface of the body of water, his face completely red.
"Aww, come on! That wouldn't be the most embarrassing thing we saw happen to you! Between all those tentacles, and those weird angels…"
"I never asked for any of this!"
"…And all those times with Alice!" Sylph dodged an incoming slap from Gnome. "Yah! Missed me!"
Luka groaned.
"Just come out of there before you shrink, or else Alice will get annoyed."
"…I'm fine here."
"Really?"
As an answer, Luka dived under the water. Salamander turned toward Alma Elma to see the Succubus Queen now protecting herself with a towel she didn't originally have as she was walking out of the cavern. The Fire Spirit shook her head disapprovingly.
"I swear, this girl will get Granberia killed one day… Freaking succubi…"
Luka came out from under the water using some river weeds to protect himself.
"You trained succubi in the past Salamander?"
"Quite a few actually. They're skilled fighters when they want to do something else than senselessly rape men… Which still made for the end goal for most of them anyway. So much wasted potential…"
"Well, I understand them. You can only want to train so much to be a barbarian before remembering that there are other ways to reach their goal."
"Like what? Seducing your opponent into doing your bidding? That worked so well in the past, didn't it?"
"Because waving your sword like a barbarian is enough to build a world?"
"Aaaand here they go again." Luka lifted a rock under which a bathcloth was hidden. Under Tamamo's advices, he had hidden several spare set of clothes in strategic locations through the castle in case of accidents. Some monsters could be a bit mischievous.
He sighed as he put on the cloth, the two spirits arguing in the back as a background noise. Sylph and Gnome looked calmer. The little fairy even looked unusually sad.
"Awww, pleaaase…" Her expression illuminated when she noticed the hero approaching. "Luka! You have to convince Gnome to come play in the Forest of Spirits!"
"…"
"Awww, but you must feel lonely being all alone there!"
Gnome shook her head negatively.
"Sylph has a point though. Why do you spend your time wandering in Safaru Ruins? Don't you get bored?"
Gnome shook her head negatively again.
"She says that she enjoy the tranquility, and that she feels free to craft anything she wants there!"
Gnome frowned.
"But she said she would also enjoy having you see them."
"Sorry… But once again, we were all too busy saving the world. Want me to come later once all that is done?"
Gnome nodded.
"Awww… I'll come too and bring all my friends!"
Luka could feel the Earth Spirit start to panic when Sylph mentioned her fairy friends.
"I think she'd prefer it it was in small comitee."
Gnome frantically nodded.
"Well, in that case, we'll be the only ones to come."
Luka could feel the grateful relief pouring from the Earth Spirit.
When he turned away from the duo, he almost ran into Salamander and Undine.
"Luka, finally, tell us: What is the most important in this world between being the strongest defender of the world and a snake-tongued smooth talker!"
"She means between a violent barbarian and a proficient politician acting in everyone's interest!"
"Both." Luka answered without the shadow of a doubt. "I mean, I kept hearing it, and we both saw it repeatedly. I save the world, and the kings and queens of this world do their best to make sure my effort doesn't end in vain."
The two spirits looked at each other, confused by this answer.
"We didn't expect something soooo… Insightful coming from you."
"I spent some time at the castle's library, sometimes with Tamamo, Micaela, or quite a number of different monsters."
"Of course…"
Luka raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong Salamander?"
"Nothing!"
The hero decided to shrug off the unusual behavior of the Fire Spirit. "In any case, I'll probably do some physical training with all of you if you don't mind. I still have to remain sharp after all.
The Four Spirits all nodded and disappeared, and Luka could feel their power again in his body. He started making his way to his room at a strolling pace.
"You know, I don't think we ever took the opportunity to socialize that much in the past…"
"And remind us whose fault is it, almighty hero?"
"Right, sorry… Still, I'm glad I had the occasion to talk with you for once."
"Yeah… And besides, you always had to save the world. Which is why we were with you in the first place. So let's train again, we still have four twisted legends to take down."
"Actually, if you don't mind… I might take a day or two to see how Erubetie is doing with her Ancestor. I'm a bit worried…"
"Mmh. Maybe we should travel to Grand Noah just for leisure for once? I'm sure Alice would appreciate it too…"
"Aren't you worried about the other Ancestors? I mean, we did expect all of them to show up, and instead they're all lying in wait, and… You know what's more dangerous than a hungry murderous nymphomaniac demigoddess? A hungry murderous nymphomaniac demigoddess with a plan!"
"Hold it steady. We don't want to lose a drop on the floor. That one is extremely corrosive."
Lucia slowly poured the green, glowing mixture into a test tube her assistant was holding, then in another, and again until six were filled. Once she was sure all the substance was transferred in its new containers, she carefully placed her own dish onto a ceramic table. In the meantime, her assistant placed the test tubes in a centrifuge. She sighed in relief when the machine started with a whirring noise.
At first, she was passably worried when she had returned to the old Biolab in the Forest of Spirits. The place hadn't been cleaned or maintained for several months, and there were still a few of Promestein's old chimerical experiences wandering around. When she had stormed the place with a small team of kitsunes led by Yao, she was surprised to see that the machines were still intact and ready to be used. Getting started only took her a little time, and as the foxes themselves quickly learned how they did work, they were as much assisting her as they were guarding and keeping an eye on her.
Of course, they were still reporting her activities to their superiors, not only because of her reputation as one of Promestein's assistant, but also because they had to request specific, not easily available supplies.
She was fine with their deal. If anything, it could help bolster her reputation as someone doing her best to help people around the world.
After a few more minutes, the centrifuge stopped itself and beeped. Lucia checked the content of the vials, and was satisfied with the result. She carefully poured their content in a flask, and checked again to see a lack of impurity.
"Mmh. If we let it rest for a day, we will be able to test it. I really hope that balm will actually work this time… Let's take a rest."
The group had secured several of the rooms in the manor that, for a reason, was used as a front for the lab. That task was harder than initially expected, as the place was filled with traps. Still, it was easier than going back to San Ilia for each night, and once the rooms were cleared of all the termites, they were pretty comfortable, although the ambiance remained unarguably creepy and disturbing.
As a consequence, Lucia was passably creeped out when she was awakened in the middle of the night by a loud banging noise. At first, she ignored it, thinking that her kitsune companions were going to take care of any intruders. However, the noise repeated itself a few times. She carefully checked outside her room, and didn't notice anything at first. In fact, none of the foxes were here either. Lucia then carefully entered the hallway, and carefully pushed open the door of the first room that should be occupied. The kitsune inside was missing. Lucia carefully scanned the content of the room: There were no weapons, but there was still food and other personal belongings. They had not left her alone. She considered trying to call out to them, but was concerned that she would only indicate her position to possible attackers in doing so. Fortunately, Yao had given her means to contact the kitsunes and herself in case of emergency.
Breathing heavily, Lucia returned to her room as the loud metallic noise echoed again. She could hear her own heartbeat as she searched the communication orb she was given. She attempted to flow magic through the item to activate it, but was unable to join anyone. The tool wasn't defective, which was an even worse scenario as it was a silent confirmation that it was a coordinated attack and not just a wandering raider. She swore under her breath and raised a shield. Time to get out of there...
She was walking at a brisk pace through the hallway when she noticed that the noise had ceased. Her fear grew by the second as she reached the lobby to see a complete absence of guards or bodies from possible attackers. She briefly scanned the place with a magic stone, and started walking briskly towards the entrance of the manor once she had the confirmation that her enemies somehow made the mistake to let the entrance free. In a minute, she would be out of this damnable place, and in one more, the Monster Lord's lieutenant would be informed.
However, the handle was apparently fused to its support, and the door refused to budge an inch. She shook it with her arms, then with a tentacle she summoned, then she attacked it with a spell. The door didn't react in the slightest.
"Mmh. That holds well. I Didn't lose my touch."
Lucia turned and gasped in surprise when she saw a small face very close to her. She almost stumbled as she recoiled, amusing her interlocutor to no end.
She took the opportunity to examine her. The intruder looked like a relatively young girl, clad in a red coat trimmed with white fur and matching red, leathery boots. Her brown hair were turning a lighter shade at their tip, and were adorned with two red ribbons and covered with a simple round hat. Her yellow eyes seemed to brim with power and curiosity, and she was currently in a coy pause with her hands behind her back.
"I apologize. I heard that there was a laboratory somewhere around here, and I wanted to visit it... But where are my manners?" The girl proceeded to curtsy while two tentacles appeared from under her skirt to wrap around her legs. "My name is Hiruko. I am glad to meet you."
The alchemist gulped loudly. Yao had told her about the Six Ancestors, and as such she knew that the apparently defenseless girl was extremely dangerous. She had no doubt that she had come here to avenge her sister.
"My name is Lucia. I... I manage the laboratory..."
"Hoooh, you created it?"
"No, it was Promestein's work." Lucia couldn't tell if her interrogator was mocking her, or was genuinely curious.
"Would you please kindly show me around? I am curious as to the technologies developed there."
Lucia nodded, not believing her luck for the moment. It looked like her death would only come later. Any opportunities to save time was welcome. "Certainly."
The alchemist took the time to tour the laboratory, secretly hoping that someone would come in to check why nobody was responding. As time passed, however, she started feeling reassured. The Ancestor seemed completely honest in her dealings, and was interested in knowing more about the chimeras that had been developed. She apparently had experience herself with artificially-made creatures.
Eventually, the ambiance became almost casual, and the two started discussing different matters on chemistry and biology, until the subject of conversation switched to Lucia herself.
"I saw you summon those tentacles earlier... I didn't see any human use anything like that. What are these exactly?"
"They're alchemical additions grafted through genetic modification."
"Sooo, they're integrated to you on a genetic level... Can you remove them?"
"Maybe? I mean, it's hard to explain how they're connected to me..."
Hiruko looked lost in thoughts for a moment."Mmh. I'm sure I'll figure it out."
Lucia suddenly felt a pleasant electric shock run through her body. She complerely lost control, and fell on the floor while her worms and tentacles expanded around. In an heartbeat, her panic came back, stronger than ever as even her jaw was half-clenched.
"Sooo, what have we here exactly?" Lucia could briefly see one of her tormentor's pink tentacle before feeling one wrap around one of her own. "Sheeesh, you're so tense... Why don't you relax? Here, I'll try to make it pleasant... Ooooh, that's interesting!"
Lucia could only regret having to endure Hiruko's groping attention for so long before falling into unconsciousness.