After a few hours of flight on the Garuda Girl, Luka arrived in sight of the large mountain chain that was circling the infamous Puppeteer's Tower. If what Alice had told him was right, it should be right at the center of the mountainous ring… Except he couldn't see any building. All of his senses told him there was nothing there except a wasteland of rock and dirt. As he looked down, the hero could see a square moat half-filled with a toxic liquid which likely surrounded said tower, but otherwise… The place was as barren as a table after one of Alice's meal.

He and his lone companion descended from their mean of transportation, both on guards and their weapons at the ready. Both the wind and the flow told Luka that there was absolutely nothing here. Still, he stepped closer and swung his sword a few times where the tower was supposed to be, and his weapon only met air. He kept walking in front of him for a small minute, swinging his weapon periodically until he could hear an exacerbated Salamander.

"Sooo, yeah, there's absolutely nothing here. Happy now?"

"Yes. I think… But where is it then? I don't think a tower like that simply disappeared!"

"Teleportation, or abandon then destruction, or even a magical accident… It's not possibilities that are missing."

"Maybe it even grew wings and flew away!"

"Your remark will be noted." Undine sighed at Sylph's intervention. "Also, please be careful with that liquid at the bottom of those pits. This fluid is extremely corrosive."

Luka nodded. "When you say corrosive…"

"Enough to turn you into a skeleton in a few seconds, and dissolve those bones in a minute. And this won't be as pleasant as what could happen with Erubetie."

The hero gulped loudly and carefully jumped over the chasm. The liquid looked a sick green, and a corrosive smell reached his nostrils, making him cough in disgust.

"I don't think we'll find anything more here."

Luka could feel Gnome silently approving. While the Earth Spirit seemed to appreciate the desert and its tranquility, he could tell that she definitively didn't like those wastelands in the slightest, and he understood why: If the desert of Sabasa and its emptiness was the eternal majesty of the world dwarfing and outlasting the insignificant human life, this place was the grim decay reminding everyone of their own mortality.

"You know that you will maybe live hundreds of years thanks to your angel lineage? You're a little too young to concern yourself with the transience of humanity in this world."

"Gah! Don't surprise me! I was thinking!"

"Then think less loudly. There are people in there now."

"Aren't we just renting the place though? Do you think he could make us pay for that?"

"Sylph!"

Luka chuckled at the idea. Salamander groaned.

"Please let's just get out of here and report to the king. He might be happy to know they disappeared. Although whoever is going to get stuck with them will probably be slightly less so..."

"Right… Let's leave."

Before climbing back on the Garuda Girl, Luka checked on Granberia. The dragonkin was standing not far from him, her arms crossed and her eyes darting around to check on any threats that could show up. Even if she looked as ready as ever, the hero could tell that she wasn't as comfortable as usual: Her posture was slightly hunched over, she was regularly sighing or groaning, and she even showed random outbursts, swinging her sword a few times at an invisible enemy before sheathing her sword with a disapproving whistling noise. She hadn't said a single word during their exploration.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened to them?"

Initially, all the four Heavenly Knights were supposed to come to investigate, but Tamamo had her hands full simply reining in Minagi, Alma Elma was in Succubus Village making preparations with the mayor to welcome the Lilith Sisters, and Erubetie had to make sure Kanade wouldn't accidentally get carried away and kill anyone again. Only the dragonkin was free, and the latter acted unusually nervously, which didn't put Luka himself at ease.

"No. I only see the lack of enemies, just like you." She snarled. "They probably heard we were coming and evacuated to attack an easier target."

"Right, let's go see the king then." Luka hesitated for a moment to bring up Sara to tease Granberia, but the dragonkin's violent mood pushed him back like a forcefield.

It only took a small additional hour of flight before the building of the main city of Sabasa appeared. Luka could see their arrival stir up some activity on the ground, but otherwise, even from high up, the hero could tell that the inhabitants didn't seem particularly concerned.

The duo landed in front of the castle and was instantly greeted by a guard who bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, hero Luka. The king is impatient to hear the report from the Monster Lord."

The hero nodded and followed the guard. As he entered the castle, he felt an unusually oppressive ambiance. Was it related to the appearance of the Ancestors in the other regions? Apparently, the ancient monsters had decided to take themselves one region each, and so far… It wouldn't surprise anyone if Hiruko or Saja suddenly appeared in Sabasa, and the ones informed were resigned to this idea.

When Luka arrived in the throne room, the king looked slightly morose and the ambiance was unbearably heavy.

"Watch out, something is off."

"I can feel that too."

The king himself was as impressive as usual, even if his usual charismatic aura was lessened by his downbeat attitude. Still, he smiled upon seeing the hero.

"Ah… Hero Luka, Granberia. I thank you for coming here today. Did you find anything about that tower? Court mages couldn't tell anything about what happened here."

"Unfortunately no. We present our apologies but there is simply no sign of where they could have disappeared to."

"I see…" The king groaned. "In any case, the attacks ceased. Maybe Tamamo would be able to tell something. I have work to do. I wish you well."

Luka and Granberia bowed and stepped away. Once they were sure they were out of sight of the king, the hero inquisitively looked at Granberia.

"Your thoughts?"

"The same as yours."

"Hero Luka?"

The duo turned to see one of the king's minister stepping toward them. Luka could see a certain anxiety in the eyes of the relatively old man.

"Sorry, but…" The man took a careful look around him, and continued with a lower voice. "I must talk to you about… It's about a small problem with the king and his daughter Sara."

Luka tried to sound as sincere as possible when he heard the new. "She disappeared again?"

The man nodded. "Nobody knows how and when it happened, but… the king is afraid something big is afoot, and he doesn't have any clues as to why… There were those rumors about those powerful monsters, but supposedly they wouldn't lower themselves to take someone hostage to ransom them to their family, but I have my doubt..."

"I see…"

"However, since you're busy dealing with those monsters yourself…"

"I'll see with the king what I can do." Granberia walked away from the duo to go straight back to the throne room to the man's surprise. Luka held him back.

"Don't worry. She's already figured that one out."

"Very well… I defer to your judgment… Now, if you would kindly follow me to the barracks so that I can give you more details…"

Luka followed the man impatiently. That whole issue was going to get solved soon anyway.

Granberia stepped back in the throne room at a brisk pace, attracting surprised looks from everyone present. Before anybody could react, she trusted like a gale and cut the king vertically in half with her sword. The next second, tentacles came out from both halves to attempt to grab at the dragonkin and to reconnect with each other. Granberia imbued her blade with fire and slashed at the remains which collapsed in a burning heap. She moved back from her target, groaning in disgust. The next second, a childish, feminine voice echoed from somewhere.

"I didn't expect you to find out that fast… Would you care to tell me what gave it away?"

Granberia remained on her guard and looked around in a hopeless attempt to find the source of the voice. "As soon as we entered the castle, the ambiance was unusually tense. Then you talked about Tamamo and didn't respect any protocol."

"Oh, come on! He talks like that about her in private! I had that one right!"

Granberia backed away slightly, surprised. Was she really trying to make excuses? As she cleared her mind, she realized that she had a bigger issue at hand.

Nobody had reacted. Not a single guard had stepped forward. Their expression hadn't changed in the slightest. They didn't look brainwashed either, but when they started stepping forward, their movements looked uncanny. She slashed at a soldier that got closer, and, just like the king, tentacle sprouted from the two parts.

Granberia murmured under her breath. "I guess we'll do it your way then…"

In a storm of blades and fire, she cut apart every soldier and minister that tried to jump on her. Several moved back, afraid of the flames, but most of the monsters were attempting to directly attack her.

"Why am I bothering having them keep a consistent appearance again?"

The creatures that attacked Granberia were now only barely looking human, turning more eldritch by the second. Tentacles sprouted from their bodies and tried to wrap the dragonkin in the blink of an eye, pulling her sword away from her hand. She directly tore the limbs with her claws, and rolled away from the large group to grab her sword just in time to parry a large chitinous claw. She cut down her opponent's arm, pulling a panicked scream from her target even as the creature still continued to attack her.

Her enemies were looking like possessed infected, emitting strange guttural screams as their bodies distorted into parodies of humans: Their skin had turned a red hue, their arms had turned into claws or tentacles, and every cut limb that wasn't cauterized immediately revealed several tentacles that were all too eager to grope Granberia. Their face kept a humans structure, but their eyes were bulging from their skulls, their tongues were hanging loose, and their head were bobbing on their necks while their armor collapsed to reveal more unpleasant limbs. All of them were extremely resilient, and moved unnaturally fast as well.

The dragonkin didn't hold back in the slightest, however. Even as her once human-looking opponents kept degenerating, she kept all of her target at bay with every one of her skills at her disposition.

"Vaporizing Rebellion Sword!"

She cut down apart two of Hiruko's eldritch creations in a storm of fire and steel, her blade passing through their flesh like butter. However, several moved back and started fusing in a gurgling noise, creating a large mass of flesh and tentacles that was now slightly taller and way thicker than her.

"Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust!"

She directly slashed at the eldritch abomination that was growing several eyes over its body. Even as it absorbed more of its allies and grew in size, Granberia didn't relent and repeatedly slashed through the monster while occasionally parrying a claw or a tentacle that was straying closer. The creature moved backward in an attempt to dodge her attacks, but it didn't quite fully evade the assault of the dragonkin.

Finally, Granberia put an end to the existence of the abomination with a burning vertical leap, cutting it clearly in two. As both parts collapsed, she struck its remains a few times to be sure her target was dead. She slowly breathed in and out before hearing a low growl.

"I thought you were an honorable fighter who would let me transform before attacking!"

Granberia growled at the ceiling. "I'm fighting honorably, not stupidly!"

"Whatever! Here's your prize for killing the first one!"

The door burst open and another creature entered. It would be impossible to differentiate it from the last one, if it was not for its massive size: it reached the ceiling of the throne room, and was twice as large as the doorway it just crashed through. One tentacle instantly wrapped around Granberia, and the dragonkin felt a pleasant sensation spread in her body as her energy was being drained. She struggled a bit, but the material refused to give up. Eventually, she calmed down, apparently resigning herself to her fate.

The next second, her whole body ignited.

The creature dropped Granberia as it screamed in a panic.

That was effective. I really have to thank Tamamo later.

She shook the sensation in her limbs and held her guard up, steadying herself against the next assault from this new opponent.

As Granberia rushed toward the throne room, Luka followed the scholarly man without hesitation even as they were going deeper into the castle.

"I apologize, but we need to discuss it in private. We're afraid it could start a panic otherwise."

Luka nodded, even as he was descending in the of bowels of the fortress through narrow hallways. The scholar swiftly opened a door, and the hero briskly walked into the black room before the door closed behind him. As soon as he was bathed in darkness, Luka heard Salamander sigh.

"Really, Luka? REALLY?"

The hero didn't answer, instead reflexively summoning the power of the Four Spirits.

"Ninefold Raskshasa!"

The door disappeared into a storm of fire, and Luka attempted to run out only to have a mucus-covered tentacle wrapped around his ankle.

Gah! I didn't feel her bloodlust!

Before he could do anything, several more tentacles grabbed and bound him. The hero closed his eyes as he prepared an attack to free him.

"I wonder if you'll taste more like an angel or a human? The Monster Lord keeps saying that you were delicious…"

The next instant, the black room was bathed in a blue light as a comet appeared from the void to crash on top of the small silhouette.

"Gah! I forgot that you were Lucifina's son…Hey! Come back here! I'm hungry!"

Luka rushed out of the room in a heartbeat. All the lights underground had been doused, the wind wasn't flowing, and only his angelic senses allowed him to feel any presence in the dark. He could feel several… Creatures stumbling toward him while some others waited in ambush in dark corners.

The hero raised his sword as he kept moving forward. First priority: Reaching a more fitting area to fight Hiruko. He regretted his plan to rush in to bust in the Ancestor. The latter had planned her trap better than he had anticipated.

As he reached the staircase, one of the abomination jumped at Luka with its claws extended in an attempt to pierce him through. The hero attempted to raise Angel Halo to defend himself, but his sword was blocked by a pillar. Luka screamed in pain when his chest was pierced, and he stumbled backward, the creature on top of him. The smell of rotten flesh filled his nostrils as some mucus was dripping of the creature.

"Gnome!"

Summoning the power of the earth, Luka threw the creature backward. The latter disappeared in the darkness in a sucking noise, and several other tentacles grabbed him just afterward. The hero managed to cut them apart with a series of rapid swings before it could block his sword arm. Just as he attempted to run away, another monster jumped in his way. This time, instead of attempting to swing his sword, he gathered all the power of the earth he could in his free hand and directly tossed the abomination behind him.

"Come on! You'll melt in pleasure if you stop fighting! It will be amazing!"

Luka rushed upstairs when he felt his skin tingle. He looked up to see blue runes flying in front of him. The next second, a powerful stream of water absolutely flooded the stairway and tossed him back like a broken doll, making him drop his sword in the process. The hero felt several tentacles grab him even as he attempted to struggle against the incredible current.

"Aaaand the meal is served."

Luka only saw a large mouth filled with even more tentacles ready to swallow him. A mix of fear, disgust and desire seized him as they wiggled around excitedly. The hero kept struggling, and although a few tentacles tore from the power of the earth, several more simply kept dragging him even as water kept rushing in, almost threatening to crush his lungs under the pressure.

Suddenly, all tentacles released him and started trashing frenetically. Luka was trying to get his bearings, unable to understand what was happening as he was tossed around that mouth-like organ. Eventually, he heard a powerful crashing noise, and, the next instant, he was swallowed in a bit deeper before being spat out in one of the monster's spasm.

He emerged from the water at high speed, and landed in a narrow hallway that was gradually flooding as water was sprouting from the hole he came from. Water kept erupting more strongly periodically, and, suddenly, Angel Halo popped up like a missile to embed itself in the ceiling. Using the walls to support himself, Luka jumped up to pull out the sword just in time to parry a tentacle that was attempting to grab him. Two more limbs as large as the hallway appeared on each side of the corridor, crashing through the stone floor and completely blocking his way. Several other tentacles sprouted and attempted to grab the hero as the latter used his full power to make a hole in the wall and escape through here.

A panting Luka briefly meditated as he reached the other side of the wall. He couldn't spare a single more second as tentacles kept trying to attack him, either following him through the hole created or coming from the floor below to drag him down. The only exit the hero could access were the stairs leading to the throne room from which he could hear the sound of metal clattering. He decided to rush forward, at least to get his opponent to show up in a more open space.

As if on cue, the floor he was standing on collapsed. Luka barely had the time to jump before a tentacle grabbed a large slab and crushed it in the blink of an eye. The hero rushed upstairs and instantly saw Granberia facing an eldritch abomination that reminded him way too much of Promestein's chimeras. Even as the dragonkin kept attacking with her large burning blade, new limbs kept appearing. The hero directly charged the monster as well, knocking it down and surprising Granberia.

Before the Granberia could even open her mouth, several tentacles started flooding the room. However, instead of attempting to grab the hero or the dragonkin, they made a beeline straight for the other creature which didn't even attempt to struggle. Too surprised to react, both Luka and Granberia remained immobile as the creature disappeared into the darkness. After an instant, the ground started rumbling as parts of the wall collapsed.

"She's going to crush us! RUN!"

Luka's legs obeyed Granberia before his brain did, throwing him across a window. As he landed flat, he fully appreciated Gnome's power which toughened him against the glass shards accompanying him during his fall in the castle's backyard. As he stood up, several walls of the castle started falling apart, reveling a large blob of flesh and tentacles that was now occupying the place. The duo slowly backed away, aghast.

"She's… Huge… And tough…"

Luka could hear the civilians scream in panic on the other side of the fully expanded monster, making him frown in anger. He had to make sure she had her full attention. He looked at Granberia and nodded.

Wind.

The mass of flesh looked around, its senses overwhelmed by the change in environment.

Earth.

It shifted its biology to protect itself against the sun, using a thick layer of mucus.

Water.

Eyes started sprouting to scan its environment.

Fire.

Only then did it notice the two warriors brimming with energy.

It was already too late however.

"Quadruple Giga!"

The elemental blasts hit the large mass of flesh straight into its body, knocking it backward and disintegrating large chunks from its body. She stumbled for a bit, and Luka sighed in relief…

...Until a few more eyes sprouted, staring at the duo without blinking.

Several newly-spawned tentacles once again attempted to grab the hero. Luka reflexively struck back the first few of them, holding them at bay before Granberia jumped in and cut them all apart in a single blow. Several more spawned and slapped the dragonkin away before returning their focus on the hero. As soon as she got up, she noticed that Hiruko wasn't even trying to attack her, fully concentrated on trying to eat Luka.

A few seconds later, another quadruple giga cleaved the large blob of flesh and tentacles in two. Both sides fell apart from each other in a squishing noise, and Luka's nose scrunched up in disgust at the smell of burned rotten flesh while he freed himself from the now limp tentacles.

"Did that actually kill her?"

Granberia hesitatingly shrugged. She was still holding her sword high in front of her, ready to attack the large blob of flesh if it as so much as twitched. Luka carefully stepped over one of the larger tentacle as he examined the monster. How did she grow that big? He shook his head and sighed. The answer was a little too obvious...

The hero's attention was attracted by a deafened squishing, scrunching noise. Focusing his senses on the carcass, he noticed some movement below the flesh right under him. He recoiled in fear, and Granberia stepped in as soon as she noticed, ready to strike the carcass too. As the noise continued while no signs of threats appeared, Luka decided to eventually dig a large gash into the surface flesh, continuing until he eventually saw a small bundle of teeth and tentacles gnawing enthusiastically onto the flesh.

"Mmh? Oh, thank you for freeing me, now if you'll excuse me…"

The small bundle of organs that made for Hiruko resumed its nauseating meal under the duo's completely dumbfounded expression. Getting sick of the spectacle, Luka violently grabbed the creature who emitted an indignant noise as she was pulled out from her food source.

"Hey! It's rude to interrupt a girl in the middle of her meal, you know!"

A haughty, imperious voice echoed across the place. "And what type of lowlife would consider that abomination a meal?"

Luka jumped in surprise and looked at the source voice to see the black-clad vampire queen, followed by most of Sabasa's citizens. Of course, the fight had attracted everyone's attention, and all of the city's inhabitants had come in to see what had happened. The hero could feel Hiruko glaring at Fatima, even if her current form didn't have eyes. She jumped out of Luka's grasp, and shifted her body in a slurping noise to take on her human form.

"It's easy to give such a lesson when you're always surrounded with sycophants, isn't it? When was the last time you had to hunt down your own prey? I can be just as refined as you given the chance!"

"Then could you please at least put on clothes?"

Hiruko glared at Luka. "I could have generated them… If someone hadn't interrupted me during my meal! Aren't you considerate of others, mister hero?"

Granberia sighed before glaring intensively at her. "You devoured a castle worth of humans. You are in no position to talk."

The scylla looked genuinely surprise by the accusation. "What? Those guys? I didn't eat them…"

"What?"

Hiruko happily moved through the sand of Sabasa by propelling herself at an impressive speed thanks to her tentacles. For her, the sand was just like water, a perfect fluid to move through.

She nostalgically toured through her old playground. Of course, after so much time, the place had changed quite a lot, with the city having grown bigger while a few other settlements had popped up here and there, while a few others had disappeared or fell in ruins. Even some geological formations had moved or changed after so much time, sometimes thanks to wind or magic.

Her leisure stroll took her a few days, but she didn't exactly care. She was free to do as she wished, her stomach was filled, and she made herself invisible with a mix of spells and her own biology. Even Tamamo No Mae wouldn't find her if she tried.

Once satisfied, she started moving with the same grace toward the pyramid. That place looked impressive, and it had been built not long after the Monster War for Sphinx's lover. She could as well pay her a visit after so much time.

When Hiruko entered the pyramid, a mummy appeared and bowed.

"Greetings. Are you here for the Dragon Seal Trial?"

"Nope! I am just passing by to visit an old friend!"

The mummy slightly recoiled in surprise. "Very well. Please behave yourself."

Hiruko happily sauntered forward deeper into the chamber until she could finally reach the deepest room, where a huge lion with a woman bust at its top and with several snakes coming from her sides were waiting.

"Sphinx! Come here! How are you doing?!"

The addressed monster raised an eyebrow in surprise. "And you are…?"

Hiruko bounced and hugged Sphinx, bringing her face barely an inch from hers and surprising the large monster.

"D'awwww… Don't tell me you don't recognize me! I missed you so much!"

Sphinx reflexively recoiled in fear when she understood in whose grasp she had just fallen. Her descendant had warned her about the Six Ancestors, but even then, Hiruko's return surprised her.

"I do recognize you, my lord… I was surprised by your visit."

"D'awwww… You probably felt alone after so much time."

"Not at all, even if I… Appreciate your company." Hiruko's tentacles were enthusiastically petting Sphinx, covering her in mucus. She subtly shook some from one of her hand. "May I know the purpose of your visit?"

Hiruko dropped on the floor, and retracted her tentacles to Sphinx's relief. "I was just passing by… Actually, would you mind helping me for something? I think your pyramid could come in handy for my little plan."

"I apologize, but I'd prefer if this place remained calm. It does remain a tomb, after all."

Hiruko shrugged. "Fair enough. I guess I'll just take them in myself then."

Sphinx corrected herself in a hurry. "But you are free to use it if you desire. Sabasa is yours to do with."

"Great! In that case, I'll bring a few prisoners. Feel free to have fun with them! I'll also seal the entrance in your stead, so that you don't have to bother managing it."

And so the next weeks, Sphinx was forced to deal with Hiruko's victims. At first, the Ancestor brought in a group of kitsunes and a stunned alchemist. Then the princess of Sabasa. Then the princess' father and his ministers, all exhausted and covered in mucus. Fortunately, her own skills in summoning as well as a few magical treasures allowed everyone to eat and drink reasonably. Even as Hiruko happily brought in more people, Sphinx could only hope that they made for everyone the scylla was playing with.

"Are you serious?"

Hiruko shrugged. "I didn't want to make Tamamo mad by killing some of her friends. I wasn't even going to dissolve you either."

"Then why did you attack people in the first place?!"

"Because I wanted to try to get the hero for myself? I mean, everybody told you you were a tasty morsel." She punctuated her sentence by licking her lips. "So I wanted to have my luck at getting you for myself, and I knew I had to get you riled up if I wanted you to come!" She pouted and crossed her arms under her small chest. "You arrived earlier than I expected though… And I nearly choked on that damn weapon of your… How did you get something so disgusting? Bleeh!"

As Luka checked his sword still in shock, Granberia cleared her throat to attract the scylla's attention.

"You will be charged for the damages you dealt to the city. You'll either be imprisoned or put in the Monster Lord's service until you repaired everything."

Hiruko pouted. "I wasn't told that."

Luka blinked in shock. "Wait what?"

The disguised scylla suddenly generated herself her usual set of red clothes. She checked her boots, then her ribbons in her hair and smiled, satisfied with herself.

"Better… Now… I think you'll want to free everyone? Well, I'll have to accompany you then…"

Her small smirk didn't please Granberia who growled at her.

"I didn't eat dragon for some time now…"

"You try anything again and I'll behead you."

Hiruko looked down and raised both of her hands. "Just joking."

Behind them, the vampire queen sighed. "Please end this farce and bring back the king of this city and his daughter." She then made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "And have the Monster Lord turn this one into takoyaki, I don't know…"

Luka nodded, and the trio made their way to the Garuda Girl even as Hiruko hummed an happy air while shaking her head, smiling blissfully. The large bird monster slightly recoiled in front of the scylla, making it the first time Luka saw her being scared. He rushed to her side to pet her in an attempt to sooth her. Fortunately, she didn't react more strongly when Hiruko climbed on top of her, soon followed by Granberia and Luka herself. The dragonkin was glaring at the scylla, daring her to act up. Unconsciously or not, Hiruko ignored her.

The flight from the city to the pyramid happened in silence, as Luka wondered if the Ancestor would try her luck again or if she had already given up on eating him. Granberia herself was still at the ready, and Hiruko was looking around and occasionally sighing nostalgically occasionally. She pointed at an apparently random spot.

"The last time I went exactly here, I was fighting your mother after I had caught and munched an archangel. She beheaded me, and I had ripped one of her arm off before we both fell back."

Luka remained silent, too disturbed to say anything. He didn't even notice that the pyramid was in sight, only reacting when the Garuda Girl was slowing down. The entrance was magically sealed, and Hiruko disarmed the spell with a simple gesture.

"I'll be right back! People will ask too many questions if they see me near you!"

Luka nodded as the scylla became invisible in the sand in the desert. The hero better understood why she had made it her playground, and, for a second, was glad that she didn't try that trick on him. He might just have lost if he did.

As soon as the door opened, sighed of reliefs and grateful hailing echoed from the tomb as everybody recognized the hero Luka. A man dressed out in a noble's robe called out to him.

"Thank you for helping us, hero, but… The king is in the royal chamber and cannot move on his own. I think he's been poisoned!"

The duo nodded and briskly moved inside the tomb, even as people continued exiting it. Fortunately, the stream split to make way for them. Luka thought that they did it by respect for him, but his brain reminded him that Granberia was definitively intimidating them. When they reached the deepest room, he could see the king lying on a stone altar, surrounded by ministers, Lucia the alchemist, and Sphinx the mistress of the pyramid. The last two of them shifted their gaze uncomfortably. The king groaned.

"For the last time, I haven't been poisoned, I am not sick, and I am not dying! Dealing with that Ancestor simply drained that much from me!"

Sphinx sighed. "I already told them he's… As fine as someone can be after being attacked by one of the Six Ancestors, but they're too concerned for their king."

"He only needs fresh air and tranquility, please let us alone."

Luka was almost surprised to see the ministers caving in to Granberia's words. After a minute, only the five of them were in the room.

"Thank you… I take it Sabasa is safe?"

Luka grimaced. "The castle got destroyed in the action."

The king dismissively raised his hand as he sat up. "Don't worry about that... It was getting old, and we needed to rebuild it anyway..." He groaned again as he stretched. "I can't say what was worse between what this… Scylla did to me and dealing with my ministers. They keep telling me that I should get a doctor in my entourage to watch over my health… I hate it when they try to force me to deal me with someone I don't need to see under the pretense that it is for my own sake."

The room fell completely silent for an instant before Sphinx politely cleared her throat.

"Not that I do not appreciate your company, but... You should return to the city of Sabasa before everybody gets worried by the disappearance of their king. Also, I apologize, but the spells I could use to cure you of your… Condition would make matters worse very soon." She grimaced. "Just know that I share your pain."

Luka had the utmost difficulties staying still as Granberia carried the king with Lucia, leaving him and Sphinx alone. The large monster sighed.

"I do not know if I am proud that a descendant of my bloodline survived a tryst with one of the Six Ancestors or ashamed that it happened in the first place. I take it you know everything."

"Yes, and I don't want to think about the details... Besides, I prefer to hurry and not leave her alone for a single second longer than I need."

The faster she is contained the better. Even if she didn't kill anyone she still creeps me out.

Sphinx bowed. "A fair decision. I wish you well on your travel."

When Luka emerged from the pyramid a few minutes later, he could see the princess Sara giving a small speech to Sabasa's ministers, while Granberia was standing up proudly, her arms crossed, and a few powerful looking kitsunes were patrolling near the group. Once everybody was ready, Granberia readied her sword and made a solemn declaration.

"I will guarantee their safety until they reach Sabasa. If an Ancestor didn't kill anyone, then the Heavenly Knight and the Monster Lord's forces will make sure that none shall die from the aftermath. Let's move out!"

Luka smiled. It looked like Granberia had recovered her moral thanks to that fight. A few minutes later, people were becoming less and less visible, and Hiruko instantly emerged from a dune, surprising the hero.

"Wouldn't it have been more simple to teleport to the Monster Lord's Castle directly?"

Luka's expression instantly decomposed. He still had forgotten to ask Tamamo for a way to directly teleport back home. He forgot that Granberia could also have teleported him. And now, he had to pay the price: Accompanying Hiruko, the Ancestor of all scylla, during several hours of flight on a very limited space, her body almost glued to his.

A few hours later, Luka started getting more and more relaxed as Hiruko didn't try anything funny on him. She simply enjoyed the flight, or counted a few anecdotes about the Great Monster War, the other Ancestors, or angels. While some were enjoyable, others were simply too much information as the Ancestor thoroughly counted her sexual escapades in great details, while a few were extremely gruesome description of how she melted angels with her tentacles as they moaned in pleasure, reminding him all too often that she was one of the most dangerous monster to walk the planet.

Eventually, as they started flying over the Northern Sea, she stopped talking and started looking inquisitively around her, as if she was looking for the source of a strange smell.

"Wow, does Little Miss Hentai thinks Luka smells like fart?"

"Real mature Sylph… But I think there's indeed a problem in the air. You can't tell what it is?"

"Mmmhh Not as far as the wind can tell… There's no threat around us within a few miles."

Luka felt Salamander groan. "Really Sylph? What about the demented glutton right in front of us?!"

"She wouldn't be looking around for herself then?"

"Wow, Sylph actually make a good point."

Hiruko suddenly turned toward Luka and reached for the back of his neck with a tentacle, surprising him.

"Gah! What are you doing?!"

"Wait, your body is so wrong and twisted! You should be dead!"

"What is she trying to do?!"

"Wait! I think I understand what she means. Give me a second to check something…"

"I don't think so! Luka, break away!"

"SALAMANDER! DON'T IGNITE-"

Luka suddenly closed his eyes as he felt an extremely sharp pain take over his body as if he was set on fire. He twisted in agony, and, for a reason, the Garuda Girl kicked him away in a screech. The hero could feel the air move around him, and tried desperately to summon the Four Spirit to protect himself, even as his body simply refused to answer. He eventually hit the water in a painful impact, and the last thing he heard before falling unconscious into the depths was another splash.