Evening came easy, darkness stretching - out and consuming the sky as sunlight abandoned it retreating into the other side of the world, what few light rays remained were blocked off by the dense forest canopy, it was best that way – let what will happen here be unheard by the larger world. Luther confidently strolled along an unmarked path with a soft smile on his face, carrying Angel Halo gently in his hands, he had cut a precisely clean hole in the scabbard to let one of the central eyes look through, no longer impeded by simple fabric. There was a certain skip in his stride as he quietly whistled to himself keeping within line of sight of the sealing blade. He passed through the shrubbery into a small clearing far away from the harpy whose voice had drilled on their ears. The man wondered what became of her merely hoping for the sake of this village and Luka that she wasn't harmed. Any guardian will no doubt fight with full strength upon hearing that their people were harmed and he doubted the Harpy Queen would be any different.

Chambers noticed the gazes of the villagers shifted toward him staring in awe like he was some heaven-sent savior, which wasn't far off the truth, he had certainly made himself a center of attention after that endeavor to capture their hostage and the screaming match he went into. They were gathered in groups, armed with sharp and blunt instruments of any kind – cleavers, hammers, sickles, and more, some even had actual weapons, but whatever they had was useless if they didn't know how to use them, especially regarding battling much stronger opponents that could even fly.

"Excuse me, traveler!" A voice called out to him – one of the village women he guessed, its familiarity barely touching the edges of his memory, he couldn't lay his finger on it to who it belonged to. The Stand user heard many of them speak before, yet paid no mind to the details nor names. Nonetheless, he turned to meet…Martha, if his mind didn't fail him.

"You're Luther, am I correct?" She asked in an uncertain voice, his passive frown must have returned to him. Luther held back a sigh; he knew that his expression failed to put anyone at ease, it was something that came to him one day, and decided to stay.

"Yes, are there any problems, is the harpy being too loud again?" The Spin user responded in a calm and polite tone, if he couldn't help but frown all the time, might as well make the best of the situation and keep whatever part he could control pleasant, which evident by her chuckle he succeeded in just exactly that.

"No, last time I checked she was asleep…it just your friends have been waiting for you and that purple-haired fellow said he can't start until you come back with that…weapon of his." She said remembering the unpleasant design and pointed toward where he presumed his friends rested, Luther could've sworn he heard her quietly muse on how it could fit into the sheath and whether or not it was actually staring at her. He nodded at the information already knowing this, partly the reason why cut the session with Angel so short.

"Wait a bit!" However before he could walk off to join Luka and Alice, the woman stopped him once more. "…We can't thank you enough for helping us after knowing what we did, without you and your companions we would've let this village fade into nothing like many have done before. So once again…thank you, you are true heroes."

"Not a hero, have no blessing and I don't intend to get one, besides you're amending your mistakes and what kind of people would me and friends be if we didn't stop this injustice?" Luther winced, it was another lie, he couldn't be called a true hero not even close. To be so would imply altruistic intentions, his were far from it – a need to distract yourself and to give his half-angel friend much-needed experience and encouragement, maybe a part of him was selfless but it was drowned out by personal needs.

"Right…we've been discussing certain things in our village…what happens after this entire raid? Do we take our men back and that's it? What do we do with harpies afterward? They could stay and fight or take revenge…" Martha trailed off, mumbling to herself.

He understood her concern, practically waging war and attacking a leader of an entire group of monsters when you're just villagers wasn't a good idea at all, they'd all would have been better off calling for help from the militias in larger cities. No doubt they would be willing to protect an important luxury good supplier, although what would the cost be then? A takeover, discount, or some trade deal that ends up screwing over the village?

"Ah…and why are you asking me this?" Chambers inquired, though the man could sympathize with their situation, he had no qualifications in determining their decisions, much less if there is a possibility to change this village's fate for the worse.

"Well, you're to only one that seems well-adjusted to this." He wanted to laugh at this response, he really did if only they knew of the emotions that surged in his heart they would be disgusted instead of bothering to ask, he thought. In hindsight he considered her argument silently, Luka was too optimistic and naïve to give a proper answer, Alice would likely only offer bitter remarks and criticism and so he was left for pickings.

"In all honesty, I cannot answer that, I'm no leader figure and no knowledge of the true workings of your village and how much you all have suffered. We're only here to aid, what happens afterward is Happiness Village's responsibility, you did promise to do this yourself…" Luther paused gauging the woman's disappointed reaction. "But I can offer a piece of advice - don't be rash about it, rushing into a conclusion will end in mistakes and those can prove costly in a situation such as this, tell that to your fellow villagers and if they don't consider it, then tell them I said it… just in case."

She clapped her hands and nodded in acknowledgment. "Thank you for advice; you truly are saints for helping us."

'Don't be rash about it', heh, you know about that very well, don't you Luther…? With that she left him alone with his tired thoughts and heavy heart, life had a way of rearing its ugly head just to make him feel awful in some way, be it a small or large way. He met Angel Halo's crimson eye on the hilt, its look no longer roused any feelings of discomfort, and instead, it was welcoming, almost reassuring if a terrifying eldritch blade was capable of portraying such emotion. A single whistle and he continued moving, already spotting the faint glimpse of his friend's forms, he could spot that famed purple hair for a mile away and Alice's choice of attire always stood out from the Human masses.

"Oh, Luther! Been wondering when you'll show up." Luka waved over to him, his already obvious presence added on by his loud boyish voice, waking up Alice from her drowsy trance as she mumbled to herself about a 'good dream' and sneering at the loudmouthed hero before noticing Luther approach with Angel Halo in hand.

"Finally decided to show up? Took you long enough, it's not like there is a time-sensitive issue going on…no…and here I was thinking you'd finally runoff." The Monster Lord japed much to the chagrin of Luka and Luther. She suspiciously eyed the eldritch blade in his hands. "Not much where you'd be able to run away with that in your hands."

"Come on Alice, it's not like we were going anywhere that soon and I'm sure it was important someway, look there is a smile on his face already." Luka pointed out making his older companion consciously feel the slight subtle curvature of his lips, taking in the fake hero's words. Perhaps he was right, maybe he did feel better, and he was certainly calmer. As it turns out the company of hundreds of angels made you feel less lonely, funnily enough.

"Still, you made me wait. I'll find a way to get some payback…" Alice grumbled and then yawned, truth to say there wasn't much to be angry about, except the interruption of her journey into Neverland and Luka's overly preppy attitude that always seemed to want to combat her own. They were night and day – his optimism versus her cynicism, always like this no matter how many times she teased or brought him showing the darkness of this world such as this village

"Here, thanks for letting me borrow them." Luther rolled his eyes, ignoring Alice, lightly handing the prison sword to the fake hero whose face scrunched, but the thick shade kept most of his facial features from betraying the emotions hidden within the boy. The fake hero promptly shook his head along with any suspicion, attaching Angel Halo's sheath to his belt. He felt no need to ask for what reason to ask why Luther needs the strange sword - trust was enough, although Luka's lending did not go unnoticed by Alice.

"What were you doing with Angel Halo? Last time I remember you aren't a swordsman unless that's another skill that you've been hiding for some reason? And you Luka, why didn't you tell me about this sooner, you had most of the evening to do so?" Alice curiously fired off her questions stunning both of them into silence, she doubted whether it was anything too dangerous, Luther wasn't a character that was purposely evil, secretive but not malicious even good-hearted sometimes. Yet with manners dealing with Angel Halo and him, it being lent in secrecy, something far too common for Luther, she couldn't help but suspect foul play.

"Ah! don't look at me like that!" Luka raised his arms in defense from her studying gaze he hated so much, whatever he requested was unlikely to be granted, especially now, however, he held no regrets in giving Luther his sword, the increase in his older companion's mood was astonishing, gone was the miserable man replaced by someone more confident. The fake hero felt no need to reveal their rather personal talk, bitter words weren't needed for either of them even if the chance that the lamia was so cold-hearted was so small. "It was just the spur of the moment thing, I didn't ask why he needed it. "

Sorry about this... Luka inwardly cursed as her gaze shifted towards Luther, somehow appearing more inquisitive than before, understandably so since Chambers rarely showed interest in Angel Halo in fact at some point he could even say he avoided it yet this sudden behavior change brought questions, he could only hope Luther had an answer to them in a way that wouldn't disclose what happened.

"I wanted to study it – the material it was made up of and how it worked, not every day that you come across something like that, evidently I came back with little results." It wasn't exactly a lie this time, his constant questioning and conversations with the Angels could be called study under the right circumstances. Technicalities were the second-best only beaten by truth, so he took the best he could. He wondered if perhaps a small tease might settle her suspicious demeanor better. "Why are you so worried? You think I'd find a way to break it?"

"Hah! As if you could muster up the strength to do that, you'd have better luck declaring a rebellion against that pathetic goddess and surviving than putting a single dent in it." She mockingly laughed. The expression on her face lit up, though what Luther heard wasn't exactly pleasant to know, he hoped it was part of the joke. He sincerely did. "Seriously, even with my full power, I am unable to so much as scratch it."

Oh, oh shit…what am I going to do now? Luther frowned; the news didn't shock him as it could have, in sheer hindsight it was to be expected. Being crafted from unknown powerful materials made to contain hundreds of angelic beings created by one of the most powerful angels in this world's existence, it was no wonder the damn container was so resilient, its selective intangibility also didn't help to make it more fragile.

"Wait, really?! Who even made this weapon?" Luka exclaimed loudly, in shock, it was almost unthinkable that Alice had an object some who practically oozed power like her couldn't even scratch, let alone destroy it.

"Actually, I don't exactly know," Alice admitted as she frowned. That little piece of information always slipped her by after learning of its inner intricacies. No matter who any older Monster refused to answer her about its origin and all she was left with was rumors. "All I know is that it was created a long time ago by a powerful figure, the name of which I have not heard once, it could have been a Monster, a Human, or maybe even an Angel."

Luka glanced to the blade, his face scrunched up remembering the particular detail of what its materials were and the bone-chilling moans and groans of pain that echoed once he first held it. Curiously they stopped after a while, but its existence was disturbing. "Whoever they were, they must have been very cruel to make this…well at least it can be put to good use, right?"

Luka…you have no idea what just said, getting called cruel by a child you sacrificed your life to shelter and protect…Lucifina's rolling in her grave right now. Luther grimaced from his remark almost letting his figure slump down in sheer disbelief as he refused to blink for even a second while deeply staring at the boy. Worst of all he thought, the trapped angels knew who sealed them inside and most held hatred for their older sibling, some were still in great despair and the others left felt tired, long wearing out their contempt over the decades. The man could only hope they never figure out Luka's identity, their hatred could be rekindled if that were to ever occur and the end may not be so pleasant to witness. Thankfully that ring is keeping his Angel powers sealed…wait, no…Shit!

"Chu." Tusk's presence entered his mind only confirming his assumption, he was never really alone, it would pose problems if Tusk was part of him.

I don't doubt they wouldn't be able to sense it once he goes unconscious in combat, he would hand over one piece of the puzzle required figure that Lucifina's is his family. But can I even keep them from knowing, a simple mention of her name from Luka's lips, and it will end terribly. Chambers let out a small groan and rubbed his face.

"Oh, sweet child… you have no idea how the world really is, how adorable." The purple lamia said in faux gentleness pinching his cheeks like he was some adolescent; he furrowed his brows lightly trying to push her hands away. "I don't know whether to be jealous or pity you."

"Maybe it wasn't cruelty, but rather a necessity that drove them to this." Chambers proposed, particularly remembering a detail they brought up, a detail some of them heard from the seraphim –an apology, something which couldn't have been from an unapologetically sadistic action, but he doubted that fact calmed the angels one bit.

"Entirely possible, it is the strongest weapon around, all in my possession." Alice boasted her regular smirk returning to her face. "Be glad I let you use it, even the likes of Heinrich relied on Angel Halo's strength."

"T-the Le-legendary Hero Heinrich u-used this?!" Luka suddenly squeaked out in an extremely high-pitched voice, his eyes swinging wide open as he unsheathed the unholy blade which eyes meet him flashing, now marveling at its glory like a small child that got a brand new toy, he couldn't believe that he was holding such an important artifact – a weapon of his idol figure. Some of the villagers' attention was drawn in by the sputtering excitement he exuded. "Haa...oh!~"

"Jeez, calm down before you faint," Alice advised, patting him on the back, she couldn't help but smile from this childish display, though his hectic hyperventilation was beginning to make the boy too bright red for their tastes. "Breath…one…two, there we go…"

She pulled up two fingers in front of his face. "Now tell me how many fingers am I holding?"

"Two," Luka whispered, his voice still raspy from his mouse-like squeaking and rapid breathing, having calmed down and having gained even more respect he gently put the sword neatly back into its scabbard. In their excitement, they failed to notice that those few last stretches of sunlight had already left them along with locals beginning to subtly and slowly approach them.

They were listening to all of that, great… Luther sarcastically remarked, glancing around and spotting one of them get closer than the rest, she was a bit older looking than her peers but her stride and stance gained more confidence.

"Eh…excuse me I'm sorry to interrupt…whatever you were doing, but isn't it the right time to begin? Every one of us is ready" Her question brought the rest of his friend's attention to their surroundings, Luka awkwardly coughed and shuffled around in the meanwhile Alice was unfazed staring into the darkened sky.

"Mhm, yes it would seem so…" She curtly responded, turning back to Luka and Luther without saying another word, many of the villagers gathered even closer awaiting the time to finally strike as they whispered amongst each other, nervously gripping on to their improvised weaponry. "Well, time for your little suicide mission…"

"Oh, right, hehe." Luka nervously chuckled rubbing away the sweat on his forehead, in truth he was both excited and scared of the outcome, even with Alice's own advice the possibilities were still unpredictable in the end, anything could happen. Fate had its way of constantly proving mortals wrong.

"I'm perfectly ready. " The stand user put his arm on his purple-haired companion's shoulder reassuringly." Don't worry about it Luka, I'll have your back."

While his assurance made the Monster Lord roll her eyes, the fake hero straightened out into a more confident posture, his main hand on the hilt firmly grasping it. Luka stepped forward past Alice and scanned through the crowd, everyone has armed themselves as best they could, although lacking armor and skill their size won't prove to be a substantial enough force by itself, that's where he and Luther came in, and based on the wariness he could sympathize with they knew this as well.

"Let's head on further to the east, just don't push yourself please." The purple-haired boy called out to the people moving forward with their plan, a strenuous wariness filled the air as some of them did not share the same confidence as their others or the fake hero, but followed after regardless.

The trek there wasn't physically difficult or demanding, just that with every step taking one couldn't help but feel pessimistic, nighttime and rather morbid scenery that the forest took on didn't aid in soothing their nerves. Something so basic as a cooing of an owl or faint buzzing of insect wings heard plainly as they silently marched toward the winged monster village kept them on their toes, some paranoia gripped their hearts. Luther remained fairly composed, taking Luka's right side, his sixth sense, and Tusk pushing away that paranoia and telling him no enemies were around, but still kept his hands on his steel balls. Stars that illuminated the dark sky brought comfort and reminded him of his powers, he idly wondered in his fast-paced walk what the connection was, was his Tusk capable of more?

Luka followed the villagers ahead of them; he was less twitchy than before. There wasn't a clear path to the Harpy Village, he had no bearing on the specific location and so had to rely on the guidance of his fellow humans, although he quietly speculated if Alice was capable of sniffing them out, with how much she boasted about her capabilities it seemed obvious. He glanced to his left, Alice- his monstrous companion appeared untouchable as always, unbothered by anything, she was in no real threat whatsoever.

They stopped for a moment, but it was not to catch their breath. On the horizon they spotted the shoddy, barely existent fortification made of large wooden palisades that were scattered about in different sets varying in quantity, small huts were rested on the trees surprising being held by tall branches, from their small view no harpy or man was left awake. No one seemed to be aware of their arrival.

"This is it, a little bit further and you'll come into the harpy village." A girl pointed to one of the many open entrances, Luka took a deep breath and nodded, but Luther was faster to step forward.

"Let's try to get this over with…" Luther said, the tone of hastiness was noticeable to them all, he had no intention of delaying this any further. That is to say, it wasn't like desired a complete disregard of caution, the man believed there was a time and place for everything and right now a balance was needed – too fast and the harpies will wake up from their carelessness, too slow and sunlight will do the job for them.

"Right, we'll go defeat the leader and then send the signal, you can all gather a bit closer, I think. Once she is defeated and they're all left panicking I'm counting on you." Luka summarized the plan once again for them and for his own sake, he didn't exactly count how many times he repeated it in his mind, but he was sure it was a lot. The steps sounded simple enough, but their execution would prove to be challenging, the only comfort he had in this endeavor was Luther's presence and Angel Halo's power.

"Be careful, if it's too dangerous, run away!" They recommended him as if his small traitorous thoughts weren't enough, still was the only chance they had, he couldn't imagine what would happen if he failed – they'd all be figured out, and…he shook his head, ridding himself of that outcome.

"If we fail, please…run away yourselves." The last thing Luka wanted was to further endanger them than they already have done, charging into a monster village even if their leader and guardian were beaten was still a risk for someone like them. He took a step forward to meet Luther's side. "Alright, I'm off."

Before he could take another step, a tug on his shirt stopped him dead in his tracks, it was Alice with what was for the first time Luka was seeing a concerned expression, directed at none other than him. "Hey, Luka…make sure you come back. Don't lose in a place like this. Put that training to good use."

"I won't lose!" He instinctively promised and blinking, stopping for a moment to confirm what he heard, and yet she said another thing that stunned him, nearly leaving his mouth agape in surprise. He had never anticipated her to behave like this, but to say that concern was unpleasant would be lying for him.

"And you Luther, watch yourself out there and keep him safe, I'll be observing." She finished closing her eyes, to this, she only got a silent nod, a strange attentive stare that ended in a shrug as the pint-sized hero and the Spin user non-verbally agreed to charge ahead, seemingly thinking in a single mind.


Luka and Luther were now alone with fresh cold air rushing past them as they ran as quietly as they could, taking careful measures to not step on anything that could make a noise, they were only accompanied by each other and whatever animals, birds, or bugs hid in the forest. They jumped over any log or rock that was in the way, trees were easy enough to avoid, all of that training didn't disappear anywhere. The cover of night was the only ally that would stay by them for the entirety of this raid as they would be but two black blurs amongst many other dark silhouettes.

Their quick pace however didn't last long as they approached one of the fornications, their bodies forcing them to take in more air to feedback the oxygen lost over their sudden decision to dash leaving them free to speak, the opening to the village was getting so close.

"I never quite imagined she'd speak with genuine concern and sincerity..." Luka mentally stumbled over, searching for the right words to put his thoughts. "It's just uh…ah…"

"Unexpected. What, you'd rather have her constantly tease and berate you?" Luther glanced around, he didn't sense Alice anywhere nearby yet, so he let his tongue slip a bit. "Everybody has multiple sides to them. You just have to spend some more time to get to know them better, some people take time to open up."

"You know, it's good when she is nice sometimes, it's like her bitterness makes those moments special like you've earned something…I think?" Luka unassuredly said with a shrug as they both squeezed through a hole in palisade walls, finally entering properly entering the village, the details they spotted earlier becoming clearer even in the nighttime. Barely any sounds reached their ears save for the forest ambiance, quiet enough to hear their own breathing.

On closer inspection their houses were huts of varying sizes perched atop trees which were stronger than expected, they looked basic at least compared to the homes of Happiness Village, some of them only had thatching as their roofs, certainly, nothing looked permanent here and if not for the ladders shoddily attached to the trees it wouldn't be possible for any human without good climbing skills to head up there.

"What makes you say that?" Luther asked peering around the corner spotting some more huts, they both knew what to look for, the largest hut housed the queen.

"I don't know…pilgrims tend to visit our village to stop by and trade since we're close to the Temple. I always get to speak to them, get some piece of advice for training, or just general small talk. They often tell me some heroic tales or what happens outside the continent. One of them was a poet…maybe, she spouted some fancy lines, didn't really listen to them…" Luka sheepishly admitted, letting out a small but nervous chuckle. "But one line struck to me, something about a flower that blooms once a year being more beautiful than an eternal one, it sort of fits, don't you think?"

A loud crack, unfortunately, resounded through the monster settlement as Luther cursed, in his carelessness, he stepped on a lone stick as if it was placed directly in his path. "Damn, should watch my feet a little more…anyway, I could see a striking similarity between what the poet said and Alice, although is it that rare that she shows some kindness toward you?"

"I wouldn't say rare, she has already done so much for an 'observer', her training has helped me improve than I ever did in my life, even if she is a bit of a cruel teacher, she challenges my thinking and corrects me sometimes and it's still hard to believe she handed a weapon that my favorite hero wielded." The fake hero responded, still feeling excited goosebumps run up his arms as he gripped the hilt of the cursed blade, his mind being reminded of many of the legendary hero's escapades and his tall tales.

"You really think Heinrich wielded Angel Halo?" Though knowing what Alice told Luka was the truth, he still had a hard time believing that

"Remember when you talked about everybody having multiple sides?" The purple-haired boy smirked at his older companion. "Well a little detail I managed to figure out, she never seems to lie when she is boasting, I don't exactly know why…maybe it's because of her pride not letting her."

"See? You're getting somewhere." As Luther finished his sentence he spotted the thin outline of what was the largest house he had seen in this small village, it had the appearance of a permanent residence as well with some exits and entrance that any winged creature could easily fly into, the tree was a type of oak, comparably massive and its branches were thick enough to support many of the huts they passed along.

"Chu, Chu." Tusk emerged from his side, pointing behind him, senses raged in his head –informing him of the two energy signatures approaching them, possibly still oblivious to their presence, and he hoped it would stay that way a bit longer. There still might some harpies awake, do we hide or fight? They might still smell us out, best we seal them off quickly. We only have one chance at this, no saving and loading…

"There it is I can see it." The man pointed to the large shelter, his companion squinted and then glanced around comparing the size to the other buildings in place. Luther bit his lip, the more he waited the closer those harpies got them – it was only a matter of time till they're found out, no point in hiding now, he needed a way to notify his friend of the incoming danger without drawing suspicion. "Still this isn't over yet, keep your guard up, who knows what's lurking in the shadows and I don't mean Alice."

Luka fiercely nodded, drawing out Angel Halo from within its small scabbard beginning to wearily look around only to spot two figures emerging from the shade, with a simple tap from the elbow he alerted his friend, a presence that was most comforting in this mission. He swung his head to the side, the rest of his body closely following suit as two strange figures entered his vision the fake hero gripped his sword tightly.

"That is…" Luka started, awareness increasing tenfold. The two faint silhouettes remained shrouded in darkness much like them, but he could discern a most obvious physical trait – fluffy wings that could only belong to the harpies in this region.

"Yep." Luther continued staring, neither of them made a single move as if their inaction would make them blend into their surroundings, however, reality did not follow the whims of simple mortal wishes, no environment around to protect them, no being that wanted or could save them, only pure agonizing silence as the heroes saw the monsters get closer and closer knowing the only course of action they could take is preparing for battle. Their only hope was that the aftermath was left silent.

"I swear I heard some noise there sis! Do you think somebody is escaping?" A very squeaky juvenile girl's voice coming from the smaller figure edging closer to them only shattered what little hopeful doubt trapped within their skulls, details suddenly became clear as day revealing a much younger pink feathered harpy and an older brown feathered one with a more preannounced body.

Now this reminds me of something, a standoff, just with less posing and stands…where's that cool anime music when you need it? A more witty part of Luther's mind tried its best to make him smile with its fruitless attempt at humor, however, the other part worked quickly to devise a plan of combat, to take them out quickly before they could call the others. Getting swarmed right now would be a bad idea, the only way to escape unscathed then would be to go full-lethal.

The Spin user shivered at the thought, it was hard to imagine doing anything with those nails of his to these people despite their transgressions, and some of them were children….

"Now, now, let's not be hast-"The older sister made a hard stop as her distracted attention became a razor-sharp focus as her eyes met the two men ahead of them. Both groups were left at a shocked standstill, with both of them carefully observing each other, waiting for anyone to break the nerve-wracking stillness.

"Oh look at that, I was right!" The younger sister giggled, bouncing around with infectious joy, flapping her rather pinkish large wings revealing that she was wearing no clothes to both of the males much to their dismay.

"No, not exactly, they're not from here…" Her older sibling however didn't share that demeanor fully, they were strangers, armed much like the rest of those so-called adventures that came here, but unlike them…perhaps it was simply the night covering them all that was giving this strange sensation that they were more dangerous and competent, not easy prey. Even the purple-haired boy, who appeared adorable, had this predatory glare scanning for any sign of weakness seen on many of her fellow monsters, the terrifying blade in his hands did not help the case of calming her. Worst of all was his older companion, that cold apathetic stare of his sent shivers down her soul, something just wasn't right with the man.

"Ooh…does that mean they're free to take?" However there was a disconnect between her and her sister, that child-like excitement had only increased, opting to completely ignore the strained reactions of their unexpected company.

"Yes, they are sis…" She shook her head, dismissing her traitorous doubts, maybe it was just the dark and they were as weak as the previous interlopers, her bubbly and youthful sibling certainly felt that way.

An innocent giggle came from the pink-feathered harpy, she pointed over to Luka with a wide smile, a strange mix of deviousness and innocence was beheld within it. "Then I'll take that one!" Her enthusiasm had finally managed to break through to her older sister whose doubtful countenance faded into a soft lecherous smile direct at the cold man who returned

"It's never too early to learn how to catch a man, guess our little intruders had the same idea. I think I'll have his friend.. I'll show you a direct example and maybe brighten up that sad sad expression…" They unabashedly exchanged remarks and tips unaware that their prey was listening in, discussing their own plans.

"For the sake of the mission, take them out quickly and without hesitation, they'll likely still not call their fellow harpies at this point…" Luther made a loud click with his tongue and sighed, his expression remaining unmoving for the whole duration except for a spark of bitterness and sorrow at that offhand comment about his face. Monsters were getting too predictable. "Because they most likely want us for themselves."

"What makes you say that? They could still call for help." Luka's hands rapidly shifted around Angel Halo, holding it more comfortably, imagining a battle between them and an entire horde of Harpies including their leader didn't give his thoughts any ease. A chance is still a chance no matter how minuscule so the idea of rushing them sounded appealing if a bit unchivalrous.

"Simple deduction from the way they're talking about us, and your worry is the exact reason why I want to charge and take them out quickly, sooner we do it, the less risk there is." Luther calmly whispered in his regular cold tone, though Luka could still sense the same unease within Luther that existed in him as well. The boy hoped his friend possessed some plan to defeat them without alerting anyone else as elementary as it might have been and it seemed his prayers were answered. "Those harpies don't look experienced, especially that young one…"

"And?" Luka sucked in a breath in anticipation, waiting for his hard-hearted friend to elaborate further. Several fireflies flew around in a bright dance.

"Divide and conquer, my friend. Divide and conquer." Luka looked like he was about even inquiry further as to what he meant, but he decided to preface before the fake hero opened his mouth. "We each charge one of them with that we separate them, making them weaker. I doubt they can put up a fight alone." What he said next was done in cold logic, but nonetheless sent shivers down Luka's spine with how unfeeling he sounded, not a single faint sign of pity or mercy in his words was left. "The kid is easy pickings, should be sealed within at least two hits from Angel Halo while the other might take more, so you-"

"Charge the young one and you take the older one." The purple-haired boy finished with a grimace letting out a small ground, staring at his soon-to-be opponent, whose bubbliness made it even harder to accept what he was about to do, but it sounded logical enough – shatter the weakest link. He preferred to face someone more competent like the older sister. However, he knew perfectly well that complaining and having preference was not an option here.

Luka pushed through an optimistic smile whispering back. "Y-yeah, I'll be fine with that." No longer did Luther act as a safety measure, for now, they fought as equals, and between seeing his friend's capabilities, fighting alongside him, and having a weapon Heinrich used in his possession all this time, he didn't know what to be giddier about. Luka could almost start bouncing around from excitement like a giddy child who just got his hand in the cookie jar, if weren't for the immense pressure his responsibilities put on him this would've been the best day in his life.

No more words were spoken as they nodded to each other, turning to their assailants, both took the appearance of nightly predators within its dark shade, a shame they failed to notice it. Spin surged through Luther's legs vibrating, bouncing from his muscles to the hard ground, they lit up, being cloaked in starlight which matched the serene and mysterious night sky. Remember -keep the charge low, don't want to repeat the Granberia incident, not here.

"Ready?"

"Ready." As soon as Luka uttered his piece both of their shoes immediately lifted off from the dirt, launching them forward becoming mere barely visible blurs, living projectiles. Chambers took the lead with superior speed and power flowing through his appendages. He lunged at his target.

"Here's ho- ah!" The older Harpy was cut off from finishing her advice by Luther suddenly leaving her breathless and sharp and numb pain in her stomach. Great force forced her talons to fly into the air following suit after her body, and wings spread out in an instinctual attempt to glide in the air and decelerate but failed to decrease their speed. It was too fast for her to react, such strength she had never seen before in Humans, or anyone else besides the Queen in the village.

They both dropped into the ground, Luther using the Harpy as a cushion to soften the blow of the impact. She saw stars in her vision, not sure if they were a figment of her blunt trauma or real, her head hurt, felt like it was about to split, no emotions came to her except the sudden sting of pain and regret, they were left far enough away from her sibling. Her vision and hearing remained clouded, all that was left a The harpy couldn't move a single muscle, not from the weight on her body no…if she really wanted to she could have kicked him off easily, but it felt as though energy alien to her own ran through her, turning her legs, and arms against her, refusing to move even under the most desperate command.

"Let me go!" She would have shrieked out more were it not for the hand that had clamped around her mouth, sight began to become more available to her but still blurry, all she saw was the same man holding her down in a position she wouldn't have minded to be in under much different circumstance. The harpy eyed curiously and wearily at the glimmering starlight on his scarred face. Who knew that such strange beauty could hold such power? At the corner of vision past the gap between his arm and chest, she saw her sister…she should have listened to her first instinct and called for the Queen or any surrounding aid.

"Help me, sis!" Her younger sibling cried out being struck down by a bright purple shape that had sent her flying as well, now cornered, her back against the tree. The Bubbly Harpy from before was all but gone, changed into a naked cowering pained mess against a hero who was constantly whispering and muttering apologies in a quivering tone. The fake hero approached her in an unbalanced gait, eyes stained with nothing more than pity.

"Pl-please don't k-kill me …" She begged, her weak voice barely audible to the boy through her thick pink feathered wings.

"N-no hesitation…sorry..." Luka remorsefully raised his blade, preparing to deliver the final blow, his hand shook slightly at her freighted gaze. This was the end for her, all at the hands of one she saw as a possible husband.

Get off, get off, please don't do this! Sororal instincts kicked within in the older one, she tried writhing and shaking off the man on top of her just to only be able to move her shoulders in a hopeless attempt at rolling him off, all to protect her sister, potential mates didn't matter when the actual family was in danger, but it was all for nothing, no amount of sheer determination or strength helped her push through and take her sister side, to prevent her death, and that soul-piercing glare of her opponent mocked her efforts the most - she failed as an older sister, as a guide to this world.

This isn't good…more noise and they'll surely wake up. Damn it Luka take out that raving pipsqueak quickly before it's too late! Chambers released a minuscule growl, checking back to the winged monster he was holding. Liquid ran down his left hand covering it before he noticed…she. The man felt his soul dip into the murky waters that were sympathy, he understood her desperation – the harpy did not know how Angel halo worked. He and Luka were not defending anyone anymore, there was no little child to save from an abduction, they were the invaders now about to seemingly kill one of her loved family members right in front of her, anyone worth a damn would try to fight, same as her.

I promised myself that I won't do anything I will regret, and then this happens. You're not making things easy for yourself. Luther stared down at his catch, rough exterior letting up a slight bit, arms becoming lax. They're not going to suffer from permanent damage, just a…shake-up, but this doesn't make it any better.

"Relax, your sister is not going to die, the sword doesn't kill." She shook her head in disbelief and contempt as tears continued to roll down his hand onto her chin. Luther sighed and moved his right hand around her waist, lifting her as he stabilized his legs on the ground, turning to his young companion who was about to deliver the coup de grace. He tightened his hold on her shaking body as Spin increased in its surge to strain the muscles. "She will be sealed into some bird, safe and sound, your Queen should easily be able to release her back to her old self after we are done negotiating."

The fake hero let his blade fall like a guillotine as a muffled scream he could barely hear echoed behind him, his juvenile opponent turned into a bright light which dissolved into pixels leaving behind a tiny confused pink bird which looked up at the purple-haired boy, fear being replaced by confusion and wonder. She jumped around in the tall grass, stretching her wings before glancing at her captive sister.

"See completely fine," Luther said, observing the small bird fly over and land on her sister's left shoulder, chirping along the way, she nuzzled into her cheek. He felt the older harpy relax in his grasp, no longer screaming into his palm, but it was not the end of his annoyances as the pink bird flew over to him and furiously started pecking his face, though not being able to do so much scratch with its weak beak. Chambers groaned hastily moving forward toward his travel companion. "Come on Luka, the faster you seal her, the faster we can go find the Queen. We can't waste any time."

Luka nodded with more conviction walking to Luther and aiming Angel Halo at the brown-feathered Harpy's open chest, all that was needed was a little thrust and it would go inside her heart – a killing blow with any normal weapon. He looked at the Harpy's countenance, she had the same expression as her younger sisters did, one who flew into his face, interrupting his positioning and making him needlessly wave around the chunk of eldritch material to scare her off.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't hurt, but expect a feeling of weakness." The man calmly reassured the Monster in his hands, Luka and Luther once again exchanged nods and at that moment the fake hero plunged Angel Halo right through the monster's heart. She vanished into a slightly larger bird with a flash of light, falling gliding to the ground without the support of her captor holding her up.

"Again, sorry about this, we can't risk you running away unsealed and waking everyone up…we only need to meet with your Queen." Luka apologized, doing a polite short bow to both of the sealed Monsters.

"Exactly, we don't want to hurt or kill anyone here," Luther added, his cold voice taking a more concerned tone, he saw how both transformed birds eased up. "So please, leave us to our business, we promise we have no ill will toward this village," They considered his request quietly, singing a song between each other that only they could understand, after a minute they flew away into the night leaving Luther and Luka relatively alone.

"Somehow this ended up being both worse and better than I expected," Luka remarked in a tired voice, they moved on coming closer to their destination – the Harpy Queen's supposed home.

"You're not alone in feeling this…what's done is done, if we let them run away, they would have most likely called for help…chances of them listening are low since we, in their eyes, 'attempted to kill them' ." Luther sharply pointed out, wiping away the salty tears still left on his hand, he gave an absentminded stare to his surroundings. A moment of oddly painful silence passed between them.

"Do you think what we're doing is right?" Luka quietly asked, returning the unholy blade into its scabbard, shakiness in his voice from before remaining.

Chambers stopped dead in his tracks, his frown returning to a more neutral expression, yet his attention seemed caught on something else, too distracted to look at the boy ahead of him. Regrets will do no good right now, he knew this well. "Don't tell me you're reconsidering this, we're so close to finishing this, do you want to be caught, or better yet, what are going to tell the villagers? To pack up and leave? I know what we did wasn't exactly kind, but we have no other choice but to continue.

"I know, I know, it's just…" The fake hero stared at his trembling hands, hopelessly chuckling a little before rubbing his face and swallowing the lump in his throat. "That small harpy… I met her eyes once, and she looked at me with so much fear… I hesitated," He sighed, through the gaps of his finger he spied Luther taking his side, feeling a reassuring arm on his shoulder blade. "I'm supposed to be a hero, but I feel like a villain…maybe there is some other way to solve this mess."

"You mean like an actual negotiation," Luther suggested to which Luka nodded in response. " That's possible, but at this point, it's not up to us to decide if that's a possibility, the Queen's disposition on our trespassing will determine how we act, but if that's what you want, we'll try that first for your and everyone else's sake."

"Right, we'll do that, we can make things better!" The fake hero stood more confidently than before, making his regularly mute friend chuckle at his new grandiosity.

Luther and Luka stepped foot near the large tree that housed the Queen's nest, a multitude of ladders led up to several different entrances; unlike most of the town, this appeared to have its structure more permanently built – the privilege of being a leader was evident. A complete home invasion was out of the question for the two men, not only could that soil their chances of peaceful negotiation, but Luther knew better as well…the Harpy Queen wasn't sleeping. Her bland energy signature paced around from corner to corner of a room, almost as if she was waiting for them, despite his outsider knowledge this still felt like a bad omen.

"Let's try knocking politely," Luka suggested, already walking closer to one of the ladders, but before he reached them or Chambers could stop him a loud sound of a door slamming open up above disturbed them off their uneasy nightly peace.

The travelers hesitantly glanced to the house's main door, where she was standing with a composed frown on her face – the Harpy Queen. Her appearance compared to that of her underlings was much more regal. From her silk clothes and gold jewelry – an ornate circlet on her head, a red gem necklace, and blue gem bracelet, to her very body features – multi-shade colored feathers that were extremely fluffy in comparison to the others, long locks of light purple hair and piercing green eyes capable of cutting into the souls of men, befitting of a queen.

"So, you're the leader of the harpies?" Luka inquired, deeply hoping for the sake of time and his sanity that was true, he didn't care how strong she looked or what she was capable of. All that mattered was being able to peacefully speak with her.

She perked her head up indignantly. "Yes, I am the ruler of this village and you two are the invaders, I can already assume what you want from me."

Luther grimaced, hiding away his arms into his coat and preparing the rotation of his steel balls. She already knows we've sneaked into her village, this isn't good…wonder what else does she know, did those harpies tell on us already?

"We want you to release the men your people have captured and have them returned to Happiness Village." The fake hero confirmed her assumption while his fingers cautiously danced around the hilt of Angel Halo, making her frown intensify. "If you keep this up, humans will never be able to peacefully live with monsters."

"It is because humans aren't able to peacefully live with monsters that we are forced to do this, my village cannot exist without men, this is something of critical importance to us as well." The harpy queen explained, she silently blamed it all on the religion that had deeply rooted itself into the continent, the reason why men were so prudish when it came to Monsters. Despite her unmoving presence, she looked as if she was about to attack them at any moment; another reason given was all that was needed for her to strike…

"Yes, yes, we have heard that one before many times," Luther responded in a quiet dismissive tone, shaking his head and sighing, his actions only slighting her more. His next words gave her pause "But don't you think it's the same for Happiness Village, after you take the last man from there, they'll cease to exist as well as, no Humans will want to move there because of your village being close, to save the one you'll doom another village."

"Are you really that cold-hearted, to let a village die out like that?" Luka asked, his cute tone of voice could pull the heartstrings of men and women, though the harpy before them had long hardened her heart with righteous anger to face them.

"Unfortunately, It's either them or us that, and as the leader and guardian of my people I cannot let this village fall, the humans on this continent will not be willing to mate with us regardless of what we do, so why does it matter?" She irately replied, crossing her wings as she stared them down, not completely sure of why she hasn't dealt with them –they were nothing but rats to her, that sought to end her by sneaking in the middle of the night, they knew nothing of how many times her people were refused, from Sentora to the so-called "Ilias" continent.

"I have full knowledge of the faith here," Luther started; the Harpy Queen waited impatiently of what more he had to say. "Yet, do you not think even for a moment that the constant kidnapping had given enough reason by itself not to have them interact with your people, have you not tried to speak with them before deciding to let your Harpies run about randomly taking people?" Chambers promptly shut his mouth afterward, dreading her reaction, he did not doubt that his words would seem antagonizing and accusatory to the already agitated Monster, but still, he felt an unreasonable urge to point it out.

Her eyes twitched at his question, she gritted her teeth, they truly had no idea of the struggle she went through to settle here and keep her town afloat. "Enough of this pointless talk!" The Harpy Queen shouted, flapping her powerful wings that blew a gust of wind toward them.

"Wait, hold on…I'm sure we can still come to a reasonable conclusion." The purple-haired boy tried to speak up but was shut down by another audible holler, her talons scratched at the bark of tree branches.

"I do not have to reason with you!" She fumed, angrily listing off all of their transgression against the Harpy Village. "You have trespassed into this village, attack my subjects and one of my harpies is missing…and it can't just be a coincidence."

"In case you haven't noticed, you're the ones that attacked first, whatever reason it was, however valid it was, it does not change that fact. This is merely a counterattack –you can't say you weren't expecting someone more competent to show up after all this time." Luther felt an elbow slam into the side of his chest; he glanced at the culprit – Luka who looked at him with a shocked expression and a headshake, all that that the boy wanted was for his friend to shut his snarky mouth, a first for him.

"Don't, please…" Luka took his friend aside, his voice proved to further cement the regret building within him now, his made points didn't help at all soothe the anger. "You promised that we would negotiate and I know you didn't mean it." He said, drowning his friend deeper in guilt as stood frozen. "Remember our deal; I'll fight her, stay back." Luther took a couple of steps in compliance, keeping his hands on his spinning weapons.

The harpy queen dropped down to meet face to face with the pint-sized hero "You would fight a queen alone?" She walked forward assertively with a permanent glare directed at them both. "Are you conceited or just that idiotic?"

"Why are you complaining, would you rather fight both of us at the same time?" Luther asked, no doubt in his mind that it might come to this conclusion, but if Luka sought to prove himself further he would not intervene. "Besides, I cannot guarantee you'll come out of this confrontation alive with me around unlike my friend, and we don't want to kill anyone here." As he uttered those words the fake hero drew out Angel Halo before the ruler, who stopped in her approach, staring right into the cursed sword.

"Ah…I see. Then let me show you the power of the Queen of Harpies." She started spreading her wings out, the atmosphere around them took a more oppressive tone, yet her flaming anger turned to something more smoldering, perhaps she overestimated how malicious they truly were if they had 'that' in your possession and full knowledge of it worked. "Do you know that punishment for your crimes is rape, and possibly, death depending on what you've done with my missing subject?"

"I will personally oversee your punishment."

Great…she knows what we did, explains why she was so angry from the beginning, guess negotiation wasn't even on the table, to begin with…damn it… Luther frustrated, huffed, cautiously observing both of their battle stances. At least Luka can get some more battle experience, probably should've just shut up and offered some peace deal, or maybe not…maybe it was all pointless to try...guess we have to do it the good old fashion way. He noted the quantity of the Harpy Queen's energy, it was much larger than Luka's, yet its flow was restrained, she was still holding back on the boy.

"Hyah!" Luka didn't waste any words in response, instead, jumping right at her and attempting to slash at her throat, his speed was impressive enough to catch her off guard managing to deeply graze her neck as she lifted off the ground. She winced, her eyes dulling slightly, getting hit by Angel Halo was a strange sensation. There was no regular pain, just a feeling of numbness and cold…colder than the night surrounding them all.

Wait, she is flying…this didn't happen in the story. The older man's frown deepened, suspicion grew within him as his hand twitched on the holstered steel balls, glancing back to his fellow compatriot. She is more pissed off than in canon, of course, she wouldn't hold back as much, let's hope Luka's dogging can make up for it, if not… Luther unbuttoned one of the steel, letting glide in his hand. He had no real desire to fight the Harpy Queen, her actions were ultimately pragmatic, not born out of any malicious intent for Happiness Village, and damaging the Queen may prove to be problematic once actual negotiations come…if it even comes.

"You are an impressive swordsman, to be able to use a technique like that. I dread to think of the one who taught such a skill." The Harpy Queen remarked, as a high-ranking monster she recognized the skill – Demon Decapitation, a Cursed Sword technique, created by and for Monster use. Many Monsters that practiced with a blade first learned this simple skill after learning the general basics. Yet, in her entire life, she had only witnessed a handful of humans use such skills, but never with this much proficiency and for good reason, it proved to be too physically demanding for them.

"Perhaps, you were not as arrogant as I imagined, having that sword in your possession and knowledge of the Cursed Sword Arts you truly are special…however, on my pride as a queen and for the sake of my people I will not allow you to win this bout." She proclaimed and flopped her wings, sending a large gust of wind to the fake hero.

Luka's legs remained stable, enduring and opposing the large force. Damn, she is flying just like that previous harpy and I can bet she faster too…oh what are you doing Luka, fighting a queen alone? Luka grimaced, he could already tell that he no doubt be forced into a defensive position, not something his style of the fight was prepared to deal with as explained by Alice in one of their training sessions.

The harpy queen flew toward him, mustering up great speed. Luka however faced faster opponents in the form of a very powerful harpy and cautiously slashed Angel Halo right at her so that she would inevitably meet it if she continued her attack while still keeping it close. This probably the best way to fight her…I can wear her down with Angel Halo, right?

She smirked as she lunged past it and to his side, seemingly flanking him. Her sharp eyes winded as they met another defensive strike from her opponent forcing her to fly far back away from him, she intensively gazed at his Fool's guard, he was baiting her in...The nerve… Very fast for a human, I can understand why however was his teacher wanted him to learn the Cursed Sword techniques, but he is at a disadvantage – I can fly and he should know well that fighting style doesn't do well on defense compared to something more traditional, this battle should be over fast, I simply need to overwhelm him…that shouldn't be hard to do against a Human.

The winged monster knew what to do in response to his guard, once more she raised her wings flapping them to blow the gust of air, stronger than the one before. Luka's limbs froze stone-cold, only seeking to push to on the dirt below as hard as he could against the current which ripped away several large scraps of grass from the field, he stabbed his sword into the ground to gain further support against the wind's assault, praying for it to stop, the boy diverted his eyes to his opponent, lamenting what he saw.

She knew what I was trying to do…The harpy queen dived to him moments after the gust of wind stopped its attack, his muscles barely could move from their position to react properly at their current position, blade too low to aim to let her impale herself, and so jumped back and did a preemptive slash, but unsurprisingly even to himself he missed. She didn't relent charging the flanked hero, his blade did little to dissuade her of that decision. Soon enough Luka was forced to the ground by her, a position he was very familiar with, his opponent glanced at Luther who remained motionless, distracted even.

"Still, to even consider fighting a queen is far too brave, foolish, even with that sword…" Her right foot glided down from his chest to his pants attempting to proficiently undo the buckle on his belt all while slowly masterfully messaging his crotch, her other foot keeping him pinned. "Allow me to start punishing you, tell me do you enjoy this?"

"A-ah!" Luka moaned out from the pleasure pressure, all it took were several masterful strokes to make him hard. His arms were free to wave around fruitlessly to push the legs off finding out that this particular harpy was much sturdier than her lesser counterparts. The boy took a second to relax, staring into his opponents piercing and teasing eyes, an object poked his side – it was Angel Halo, at half hand's reach, blinking repeatedly once it entered his vision

"Is this all you can muster up, I'm disappointed…" She remarked, her frown turning into a smirk. "Oh, well you and your friend will make nice mates in this village, the quality of your scent is undeniable and strong too, still struggling." This didn't last long as she suspiciously eyed the cocky smile on his face, it was already too late before she noticed another peculiar detail.

"Got you right where I want you." He swung Angel Halo in his prone position, the large blade reaching and phasing through her abdomen as it sliced it through. She immediately flew up, shuddering from the sudden feeling of coldness, and lambasted her carelessness to leave Angel Halo so close to the boy, now they were back where they started, except her energy was now lower.

"Clever trick, don't think I'll fall for it again." She huffed, her breathing had become more labored as energy fled from her body, the harpy queen had heard of the sting that Angel Halo possessed, though she had never felt it before like this, except that little scratch on her neck that was a sample of what it was capable of. Sure, it felt like nothing for now, but if this continued…she wasn't sure if she would even have the energy left to go all out.

"Oh, yeah! I'm not counting on that again, truthfully I prefer to not be caught like that again." Luka bashfully admitted as he began circling the Harpy Queen, keeping his guard steady and his feet quick. He rushed to her sword ready to strip her of her power, with a thrusting motion he tried to stab her chest. She flew higher, far away from his reach.

They stared at each other, waiting for either of them to make a move

"That's not up to you to decide, is it?" She maliciously grinned, landing and spreading her wings far out, only making herself a large target for the boy, the atmosphere grew heavy with her energy. "Besides your body is telling me something different, you want it, come and get me…"

Luka stood still, weighing his option, he could charge once more and possibly reach in her time just before she could fly away, yet everything screamed that this was wrong to him – why was she standing still when their entire fight consisted of her flying and avoiding his attack? It was suspicious, very suspicious, as lucrative as attacking appeared, he could not risk being pinned or held by that Harpy, knowing she'd likely throw away

"I shouldn't attack, right?" The fake hero idly glanced at his weapon, the many disturbing crimson eyes moved up and down, almost imitating a frantic nod. Luka decided to take that as confirmation, still unsure whether or not his sword was sapient, preparing another cautious stance against the powerful monster. He couldn't make any mistake here; each one can prove costly, after everything he has been through getting beaten here without even getting onto Sentora would have been something he would never forgive himself for doing.

"Are you going to ignore my invitation?" She got her response in the form of him continuing to hold his stance and a steady nod. Perhaps she made it too obvious of a trap? The Harpy Queen had no worries, it was still worth a try, whatever kept him cautious it didn't matter, maybe he was just finally starting to understand who he was exactly facing. "You're pretty careful, for someone who has done such a reckless act - thoughtlessly attacking a queen.." She noted as she flew into the air once more – the natural environment of her people and the largest advantages she had over the fake hero.

"Shall we continue this farce?" The regal monster inquired and huffed flapping her strong but soft wings, the pressure on the atmosphere ever so slightly increased just more, she was only just above the ground.

"This fight won't last as long as you think it will." Luka charged right at her, his speed growing as he started to steadily approach his physical limit. He stabbed, this time aiming preemptively above, the cursed blade barely nicking her leg.


Time passed uneventfully, they were trapped in an eternal dance moving and maneuvering around each other, baiting any attack that they could exploit, neither one of them getting a lead into the battle only exchanging those very few scratches or soft messages, it was growing increasingly frustrating to both of them. The Harpy Queen stuck to the skies, where it best suited her leaving her young opponent no real way hurt her only to strike at the air, yet he wasn't lazy on his defense either, any time she attempted a pleasure attack she was met with a slash or stab that threatened to drain away from her energy, and any attack that could prove to actually knock him down was avoided.

Dodge, stab, push, dodge, stab, push, a pattern that never seemed to want to end, a torturous and tiring standstill that had to be broken by any means, they clashed and charged at each other many times, although their efforts were mostly useless, only serving to tire themselves out more. It was a war of attrition, one she couldn't even imagine a human being able to contend with her in such a contest of stamina.

Come on Luka, you can do it…Luther watched it all unfold from the sidelines, his hands on his hips as he impatiently tapped his foot on the green grass below, their bout was nerve-wracking for the man, he knew that any moment that Harpy could go all out and there would be no hope left for his friend. If she fights with full strength, even I'm not sure I could take her on with lethal force, let's hope her arrogance hasn't run dry yet. His fingernails were left spinning as if begging him to be unleashed upon his enemies in what he could call bloodlust. He felt Tusk manifest on his shoulder, nuzzling into his scarred flesh to comfort him and to push him away from that dark emotion.

Relax…relax…now only if they could do that! Luther glared at the battle, they were practically on a timer

"Just lose already!" The Harpy Queen growled using her wings to push gusts of wind toward Luka, who outran it, hiding behind a tree and letting take the brunt of the force. "You can't hide from me."

I know, but I can make you come to me. Luka waited, holding Angel Halo tightly in his clutches and trying to catch his ragged breath, this was more tiring than Alice's sadistic training exercises, but without them, he wouldn't be able to last half the battle. It took a while, but he realized many of these trees were thick enough to provide cover from her wind attacks and give time to recover, even if it was a brief reprieve. A strange thing the boy could note as at her attacks fluctuated in a manner of haste and strength, sometimes he could get it – when he was using the more thinly plantlike for cover she held back mostly to not knock down her subject's homes, and at other times they were left unexplainable for the boy…

Need to finish this fast, this battle is getting too loud for my taste's Luka lamented, his opponent was growing progressively more annoyed at his evasive movements, not that he can blame her, he was dealing with the same problem after all. But their bout had grown from relatively silent and peaceful to loud and raucous, he couldn't deny that the "excitement" was getting to him, yet if this noise didn't stop then they would act like this entire village's alarm clock instead of the Sun.

"I'll corner you, can't run forever!" The fake hero heard her muffled voice behind his thick cover; many times he listened to her, determining distance, and can confidently state this was the closest she had ever gotten while he was still taking the cover, perfect time to strike. He peeked around the corner ever so slightly; eyes fell on her hastily approaching form. One…two…three!

"Hyah!" Luka sprung into action, jumping from behind his improvised shelter, using Demon Decapitation to rush into her neck. A single mistake could determine who had the upper hand in battle, and his royal opponent had made one by advancing to him so recklessly. He slashed her throat, stunning her for a very short time. Finally another clean hit after so many failures.

It wasn't enough to follow up with another hit, but he took most of what can get from this situation, however, it didn't feel wholly right…Oh no. Luka quickly spotted her murderous glare and without any further delay, another large flow of wind hit him directly, sending him flying.

No, no, no, no… His legs were in the air pointing right at the night sky that calmly mocked his decision to strike her and expose himself so openly, every single time he got ahead she only took it back, and vice versa, was this standstill truly unbreakable?

That was a question he had to think about later, now his only worry was landing correctly on his feet, acrobatics wasn't an activity that had done a lot off, but regardless he twisted his body, leaning his thighs and feet to the side to flip upright before rolling and landing on the hard ground stumbling a couple of times in the process, but Angel Halo remained in his hand. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" Luka couldn't help but let out a relieved laugh.

The fake hero faced the Harpy Queen who looked satisfied with her, there was no cover he could run and duck under anywhere near him, the full force her dives and conjured up wind would no longer be held back by the fauna…Thank you Nature for your sacrifice, heh…this is bad.

"Chu! Chu!" Tusk yelped at its user, unlike many of its soothing coos this one took a more worrying and hectic tone, that brought intense despair, moreover as he saw his Stand pointed over to something quite distressing – the locals and their kidnapped men approaching, they were getting so close, at their rate they could freely interfere with the bout in a minute, and all he was doing was standing frozen like a statue.

"What in the bloody hell is going on?" A tired voice demanded to know.

"What's all of this racket?" A man hollered in confusion and many more exclamations followed from both men and harpies, the crowd was staggering, it all hammered on his ears like a bomb was set off right next to him. Though the size could have been the entire village for all the Stand user cared for, what mattered was their intent and if he could stop them.

"The Queen! Look, she is fighting some boy over there!" One of the many harpies called to her fellows, pointing over to the classic bout between hero and monster happening in front of them, both Luka and their Queen were stationary, contemplating their next moves. They all knew this fight would have likely gone on while they were all still asleep, they would have missed this completely if it was just a little bit quieter, worst of all t

"Shit…can I even hold them back from aiding their precious queen?" Luther asked his stand, which gave a reassuring yes to him in its signature way, they looked on as the group of Monster and Human got closer to him, no doubt shocked at the scene before them.

"You there, why didn't yo-"A blue feather harpy flew close to the stand user abruptly stopping upon noticing his identity, her eyebrows narrowed at his presence. "Wait…you're not from here, what are you doing in our village and why is the Queen fighting someone?"

"Who cares? All that matters is that our leader is under attack!" A smaller more hasty harpy jumped around in a panic and like that the peaceful night that once was comfort was replaced by rowdy ceaseless noises, whispers, frustrated and confused exclamations were spoken, in one fell swoop the entire village came to life, regrettably so for Luther's and Luka's sake, he wouldn't be surprised if the Happiness villagers still hiding heard the massive commotion. Chambers observed the loud masses, counting up the amount of Harpies gathered, they still were all sleepy, the ensuing battle failed to completely wake them from their slumber, some of the younger ones looked like they had wanted nothing but to go back to sleep.

I'm going to have to hold them all back… that could, unfortunately, leave me with no possibility to aid Luka…most likely and can I even stop them without seriously hurting any of them…? Luther's grimace deepened, which would destroy any semblance of a chance of a peaceful resolution, but he had to try something. They always said I am not exactly an approachable person, hell, even Luka admitted a similar thing to me

"Let's defend our Queen, the boy may have that strange sword but he should be no match for us all and our leader." The harpies gathered in disjointed march that was slowly moving toward the winded Luka, the men hesitantly joining in lacking a bit behind, some of them took the side of their, their improvised ringleader was harpy whose feathers were as black as night, she was the largest of those gathered

"I am afraid I cannot let you interfere. You will not go any further, unless..." Luther stood in front of the ringleader to safeguard any attempt of attacking Luka, his voice was cold and neutral but sounded like it could change to a malicious tone as if a demon was wearing his skin as a cloak and was waiting for any excuse to break out. He gave his best spiteful glare to the black-feathered Harpy who stopped the march, yet refused to back down from his oppressively close presence.

"Unless what, what will you do against all of us?" She asked, but couldn't find in herself to smirk at him, a part of her deep inside told her he was dangerous and his threats weren't complete falsehoods. "My, my, you do look rather nice in this light, wouldn't mind taking you after all of this is done. Such a wonderful face, I can't wait to see it twist in pleasure." The Harpy tried touching his cheek with her wing, feeling him up, then immediately flinched away – the man was cold to touch like a block of steel. He remained motionless, not even a single twitch, a thick mist of freezing water vapor emerged from his mouth and nose.

He put his hand on her shoulder, firmly grasping it while his other drew out a steel ball and spun it on his finger right in front of their faces "Unless you want to get all of your wings crippled and faces pelted with steel I suggest you stop and watch…" He said making sure his voice was loud enough for all to hear.

"Like, we would be scared of someone like you." A particularly brave Harpy spoke up, exchanging glances with the man, fueling several other exclamations of bravery marching closer to his young companion. Luther sighed, lightly swinging his finger that held his steel weapon towards the monster that dared to defy him, she instantly regretted it, ducking behind some people in fear of the incoming projectile that never came breaking her bravado.

"No, Stay back!" The familiar commanding tone of the Queen drew the attention of all of those around, that peaceful silence the night took on returned as nobody dared to speak a word, even her opponent took that silence as a break to collect his stamina. "None of you will interfere, for my honor as your Queen, I'll show you what we do to those that break our laws myself… and that means all of you." She plainly said glancing toward, the frustrations and chill in her sent shivers down her people's spines, although the raggedness of her breaths was only causing concern.

"You have proven yourself to be quite the nuisance to subjugate, resisting and avoiding my given pleasure, certainly I can commend you for getting this far, but…" She flew higher to assert her dominance over the purple-haired boy, all of her behavior leading to a bad omen in Luka's perspective. "Your resistance will end here, if I cannot make you submit through pleasure then I will beat you unconscious."

Luka felt dread in case him as soon as she uttered those words, he could feel the pressure in the atmosphere get heavier and heavier on his body, the hard ground turning into quicksand as his legs sunk below, the boy's gaze shifted over to Angel Halo, it's eyes rapidly shifting to his opponent and left side and glowing.

The Harpy Queen twisted in the air in a form of graceful acrobatics and with great speed turned into a blur for the pint-sized hero, he could barely determine her movement, but it was obvious that she was heading toward him until it wasn't…she vanished just as he raised his sword to guard, appearing at his left side to kick him, the hit launched him a fair distance away forcing him to roll to safety, barely managing to land kneeling.

He looked up, another blur came at him, and the eyes of Angel Halo pointed toward him this time, his opponent disappeared into thin air, reappearing behind him to give another powerful kick to his back, sending forward into a ditch.

Dear lords above…this is horrible, please don't tell me she has gone full power... Luther watched in despair at his friend getting thrown like a rag doll knowing there wasn't anything he could do with breaking the unofficial agreement of non-aggression with the crowds of harpies, he saw many of the men and some harpies stare at the scene with looks of pity. They knew what both of him and Luka were here for, to rescue the kidnapped men on the behest of the nearby villagers, and to see a boy who barely appeared to be a teenager get hit like that was nearly gut-wrenching and torturous. Gathering sympathy here Queen, it's a shame I can't clip those wings of yours, would make the fight much easier.

"Give up already, you wouldn't need to feel this pain…I can make it all better." She suggested, a mere look of sadness crossing her expression at Luka's pathetic state, he appeared as he could barely stand up, much less move. "All you need to do is to give up."

Oh, Ilias it hurts so much…I need help… Luka's body felt like it was on fire, everything hurt, his muscles were slack almost completely refusing to move, his breathing rapid and rasping in pain. He glanced with his blurred vision to Luther, his only ally who looked busy with holding back the crowds that would have otherwise swarmed them both, in all honesty, it was preferential to this agony, the Queen's offer even seemed very tempting to him. The boy's head fell, Angel Halo entered his vision, meeting his own eyes, thoughts idly wondering on the blade's nature, their eyes shifting nature were suspicious…

You, you guessed her movement just before she did it…The fake hero swallowed to lump in his throat and took in a sharp breath, the sword's eyes flashed once more confirming his assumption" I c-can't tr-trust my senses, th-they're too sl-slow…know this – I'll believe your judgment, if you're there, please help." He whispered over to Angel Halo, its green eyes glowing golden light, as foreign energy started to flow into his system, feeding his body the necessary power to heal and move, to stand in defiance.

"I'm not done yet…" He stated, surprising his watchers and opponent, the Harpy Queen kept her expression neutral, however. Luka was left standing more confidently as his sword continued to feed him the power that it had consumed from his opponent.

"Such endurance and persistence, shame you're using it in such a way, you'd make a fine mate" She flapped her wings reaching for the air again and charging at him.

Left now... Luka followed the movement of Angel Halo's irises, swinging to his left, he could no longer see his assailant in any shape or form, blind guessing, intuition and his sword's advice was the only he could properly stand a chance against her. He drove her from attacking for a small second before she flanked once more.

Right…Luka swung right, not knowing if he managed to hit his target, but he could guess he had the very least of preventing her attack as evidence of not being launched into a nearby tree yet.

Behind… The fake hero turned around, for a short time actually, seeing her body and crossing eyes with the Harpy Queen, who seemed shocked that he knew where she would appear, this didn't last long as disappeared once more and at that period he idly wondered where it was going to be next, was she going to try to kick his ribs again or perhaps the spine this time? Angel Halo immediately answered his question.

Fr- ugghh! Before he could even react, a large force smashed into his abdomen, pushing out all the air and a bit of blood out of his body and sending him flying and crashing into the ground.

"Chu!" Tusk practically screeched in despair, trying to fly forward to aid the boy in some way, however small it may be, but was blocked by its limited range.

I don't know how long I can take this…Luther stared agape as he saw Queen Harpy Luka's body lying on the ground, there was barely even a twitch in his muscles, he almost looked dead to him. Chambers listened to loud whispers exchanged between each other, none of the human's had appeared to accept this abuse, he could wholeheartedly agree as all he wanted to do was put his hand on that Harpy's neck and wri- Calm down Luther, attacking now will turn every single one of those around against me…but I can wait my turn? He observed how his nails had begun spinning again and this time he could safely say it was for good reason, it was so easy to just point a finger and fire as he felt his instincts scream at him to do so, but he restrained himself at the sight of his young hope-filled companion moving once more.

Somebody, please… Luther, Alice…Luka lay there, passing between unconsciousness and consciousness, his ears could barely any noise as his head rang but the whispers of the villagers' doubt of the Queen's intentions fueled his determination, his body felt nothing but numbness, the fake hero knew that his cursed blade, his only guide, was far out of his reach, perhaps it would come to him once more? It nudged a little closer to him, he could just about barely reach it.

"Now, are we done here, have you had enough?" The Harpy Queen asked, almost not expecting a proper response at this point. She frowned, maybe she did do more harm than necessary, yet he was an enemy, somebody who attacked and sealed her people, a little roughing up wouldn't do anything bad if he was taken care of later.

"N-no…" He refused even his beaten-down state, many couldn't handle it looking away from what was about to happen next. Luther took one step forward and then another, he ever so slowly approached the Harpy Queen, his hand twitching, nobody dared to stop him – the Harpies thought he was marching off to death while the Men sympathized with his decision.

"Then know this, I don't wish to do this out of a sense of cruelty." The Harpy Queen shook her, ascending into the sky like a rocket, it was clear to all of her subjects what she was going to do next.

Luka observed her ascent through a half-closed eye and sighed. This was the end for him, wasn't it? All of his training, everything he had fought for, his friend, the friendship had steadily created with Luther, ended by a monster he was hopelessly outmatched to, to think he could have one was ridiculous. Perhaps Alice was right, he shouldn't have helped the village and moved on, or perhaps shouldn't have even left his hometown, stayed there with his dreams where he was safe.

But then what? He'd become another simple bystander that let the world go on its course, he'd break his promise to his mother who he made when she was dying…Luka glanced once more at his nearly victorious opponent, she was about to dive right at him – the curtain call. What do I do?


"You have to realize that you're fighting beings that are often superior in speed and strength, beings that most likely will do worse things to you than you can ever muster up the wickedness to even consider, and you need any advantage you can get. It's a kill or be killed situation"

"You want to achieve your dream? Be fierce Luka..."


The fake hero remembered those word that Luther said to him while he was at his most doubtful, and he finally fully understood that his friend was completely right, skill wasn't the only thing that was needed to travel across in hopes of fighting the Monster Lord, but also fierceness and unending determination – the qualities of a hero. Each encounter with a monster, each person in need was a test of that.

Get up, get up and fight! He commanded his body, whatever pain he was feeling, however, his body refused to function it didn't matter when everything – his friendships, training, the people in need of saving, his dream was at stake. A righteous mind puts an ideal above their own life, so let him become righteous…Pray, Let my body continue resisting, even if my bones are broken. Through sheer willpower his body listened, the blood pumped, the limbs obeyed his orders. He wasn't going to let anyone stop him, not even a queen.

"I shall not lay down, I will not surrender." Luka grabbed Angel Halo firmly in his hands using it as support, it felt right…the sword of Heinrich, a legendary artifact he never would have thought could've ended up in his possession, no doubt he'd lose it if he lost here, Alice wouldn't let him keep it, all the more reason to fight.

The fake hero watched as the Harpy Queen finally dived toward him, her movements were easily predictable, he knew exactly where she would end up being, admittedly he still wasn't even standing, but had his weapon and that's all that mattered right now. He lightly stumbled over trying to keep himself up without the prison blade's help but got quickly used to it, there was a matter he needed to attend to, namely the feathered projectile about to crash into him, and so…

Be fierce, Luka. He jumped lunging right back into her, positioning his sword into a Longpoint stance so that she would skewer herself on it. Time slowed to a screeching halt the Harpy Queen had no time to react to his sudden grit and defiance, her momentum was too strong to properly turn away, so she was left in sheer dread as she watches the blade agonizingly get closer to her chest, all she could is brace herself and keep her energy to together as much as possible.

The blade cleanly phased through, taking a large chunk of her power as it left her chest, she felt her heart flutter as her muscles became loose, losing strength she fell to as her opponent landed stumbling on his feet behind her. The Harpy Queen's stood up from the crash, her legs shaky barely capable of lifting her, if it wasn't for how light her species were they would have failed long ago. Unnatural and powerful constitution continuing to support her despite how drained she felt, just enough to immediately turn around to the fake hero.

"I won't lose, I can't lose, not now!" Bright piercing emerald came out from the boy's eyes entering her vision, creating a thin wisp of green light as Luka charged her without letting a single second of recovery to his opponent. She attempted to flee from his attack, but he was too fast, she felt another draining slash to her shoulder. "Come on is that all you got?!" He yelled, one slash came after one another – turning him into an unrelenting blur, a maelstrom of sword slashes and stabs.

Regardless the regal monster powered through the assault gaining steady lift off staring into the boy's eyes, gone was the pathetic and weak lifelessness in them replaced by glowing green eyes that held such unique ferocity she had never seen in her lifetime.

"Don't think I'm letting you fly off like that, not making this mistake again!" Luka threw himself at her in the air with all the might he could muster in his oxygen-starved pained body to slash her throat, if he wasn't for his current single-mindedness he would have noticed that his opponent's shocked expression turned into a hopeless smile. In a sharp gasp, she felt the attack connect.

The Harpy Queen fell out of what altitude she had gained which left her crashing and lying in a small ditch motionless from the lack of power left in her body, in her blurry vision she spotted Luka stumbling over right above her. She could do no more than keep her form stable. His arms and shoulder hung low, his shoes dragged through the mud. The willpower he had mustered to endure the exhaustion and pain slowly fading away as he held his weapon in a loose grip aiming it at her head. Her mind screamed in desperation, demanding to know why she, a queen of monsters, lost to this barely adult human.

Their eyes met and she finally understood it - she wasn't fighting someone who was doing so for his safety or some for the sake of some quest, but an ideal, something which was enough to make men disregard the pain, their own life to continue fighting, otherwise the boy would have long succumbed to her will.

In her arrogance she failed to notice it sooner, I was already fighting a losing battle because of that, it's too late, the only thing I can do now is try to run with the little amount of power I still have left… She managed to get out frown as she considered such shameful action. Maybe losing to such a human isn't so awful, if it didn't mean dooming my people.

"It's over…" Luka with a deep haggard rage-filled breath raised his sword to deliver the final sealing blow.

"Stop right there, don't kill the queen!" The fake hero could barely hear a voice, most likely belonging to one of the kidnapped villagers, there were others but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Luka let his gaze wander to the side, spotting the large group of human and monster alike rushing toward him and the queen. He didn't care about their objections, while unsealed she remained a threat to him, he could still be beaten and raped, the threat he had to eli-

"Oi, Luka." The boy alertly yelped as he felt a reassuring hand grasp his shoulder, its presence was a familiar feeling of a calming cold that eased him bit by bit, his mind finally pieced together that all of that belonged to Luther making him breathe a sigh of relief, although his sword remained pointed at his assailant. The villagers were coming toward them and quickly, he had but a moment to decide the fate, all it took was one small push.

"That's enough, you can relax." Chambers said. It was more of a strict command than a suggestion. His hand holding back the fake hero from moving the slightest bit forward to his enemy.

His eyes are glowing, and not his even his 'usual' angelic way either, something is fishy…While he was ultimately glad for Luka coming on top during the nerve-wracking bout, he couldn't help but frown at his friend's shell-shocked state and having to seal a queen wouldn't do them any favors of peacefully resolving this matter, it would take the likes of Alice to undo Angel Halo's power. I'll worry about it later, right now he needs to ease off and step away from that Harpy before he does something stupid.

"But she still hasn't been sealed, who knows what she could still do to me or you for that matter." He refuted struggling in his friend's one-handed grasp, Luka's shaking body was already losing all the strength it had left and Angel Halo didn't seem too keen on lending it anymore. He needed to finish this here and now before his legs broke down and before the other harpies could stop him.

"Do what? Look at her, she can barely move as it is…" Luther pointed out lightly tugging his younger companion back. "Just stop…please, the battle is over, no one here will rape or beat you …I won't let them." He quietly whispered over, sending a contemptuous glare toward the approaching monsters to ward them off the boy.

Luka collecting himself laid his eyes on the queen harpy lying on the ground before him proving that Luther was correct. The Queen was left with barely any energy at all and closed eyes, she didn't appear to possess any capability for movement besides the rising and falling chest from her breathing. He wasn't even sure if she was awake or even if she was, could hear and see them because they were completely sure they were reacting to either of their presence. Almost like she was accepting her fate…

"Oh, that's f-fine…" The ethereal green glow in Luka's eyes vanished, his expression no longer filled with desperation and fear. He slumped down, legs giving out completely under his weight letting him fall backward, hitting something soft as arms wrapped around his chest. Even in pain, he felt tired, very sleepy…

"Here we go, I got you, don't worry about it, you can rest easy, now it's my turn." Luther dragged him and Angel Halo away from the incoming crowd, the men of the village both young and old created a disconnect barrier between the fake hero and the harpy while some helped the harpies gathered around their queen…none of them dared to attack Luther who gave them the best death stare he could muster up, while some had flown away from the villagers in fear of the other invading human was capable of.

"My queen, are you alright, can you hear me?!" The villagers frantically ran around their leader, relieved to see her still live, they gently lifted her, but it seemed she preferred to stay silent.

"What have you done?" One of the many harpies demanded to know, getting no response from the two invaders other than scoff and an intense glare that silenced her.

I'm just glad that she is alive…" Many more declarations followed after, but Luka and Luther paid no mind to them, their thoughts preoccupied with more important topics.

"Th-the signal, yo- you have used it." Luka reminded his ally and handed him a strange metal cylinder with a pin out of a small bag on his belt.

"Right." Completely understanding what he meant Luther took the metallic cylinder that seemed made of an unknown alloy, it had inscriptions he couldn't quite read written on its side and a pin on its top, he idly noted that its appearance was very similar to a modern-day grenade and pulled on its pin. Colorful fire and sparks spewed out of it, telling him that didn't have much time to throw it, but had no worries –it was one of his specialties after all.

Chambers casually chucked the flare grenade into the air. It spun around before blowing up into a long-lasting blinding flash of light of shifting colors that could have put any firework back in his world to shame. Everyone covered their eyes from the large flare signal, even the Queen was woken up from her imposed slumber to hide from such an intense light. It faded, sparing them from such visual torment. However, soon enough this disturbance was followed after on by a myriad of yells and battle-cries in between the loud marching, from every single corner of the Harpy village emerged the women of Happiness Village with improvised weaponry surrounding and bringing shock to the men and harpies, but brought peace of mind to Luka who finally let sleep take him.

"F-father!" A young girl called out for her parent, breaking formation and running toward the stunned man and hugging him. "You're here, I missed you!"

"Mark, oh thank goodness I can finally see again!" Martha came up to her son who seemed slightly embarrassed at the sight of her, a harpy took his side to comfort him. "Are you okay, how have they been treating you? Who is this?"

"I..uh...Mother.." Mark barely stuttered out of shock and bashfulness but composed himself at the touch soft of his monster partner. "Let me introduce you to my wife, Piana, and uh…this our daughter, Pipi." A small winged child poked her head from behind the man's legs, gazing at her untold family member.

"Grandma?" She bravely walked over to the older woman and flapped her wings as a friendly gesture to her, the older woman resisted the urge to just pick up the innocent feather child and dance around over how adorable she looked. Martha always wanted grandchildren – more family to fill the void her husband's death left, she couldn't complain about not specifying the species properly, but she didn't mind having such an adorable grandchild, being able to easily point to which traits the small harpy inherited from her son.

Everywhere Luther glanced much of it was the same – reunions between old family members with some new additions of the Harpies acting as either the wives or daughters of the men. It was all taken indifferently, some cried in the joy of being able to witness their family members, others were still confused or bashful to properly interact with one another without becoming stuttering messes or awkward tension as old wives met new, and the rare bunch…

"That's right the harpies are our family now." An old small man, confidently, without any shame striped to the center of the ongoing commotion.

I don't think revealing you've cucked them so openly is a good introduction of things…Luther laid Luka down on the grass field, his gaze shifting between all the innocent monster children with a grimace. Damn, those kids are going to have a hard time interacting with their new family, just because of how they were conceived.

"Chief!"

"You!" The village chief's wife pointed at him accusingly as if she was about to strangle him, fuming with frustration that was shared by some of her fellows. "Why didn't you come back, you know many days, weeks, and months I've spent thinking you died?! Why didn't you come back, you seem fine and unharmed now!"

"Eh…uh…hoo boy, am not getting out this alive, aren't I?" He worried, inquired as he slowly started to back away from his angry wife; no one was willing to defend him from such a scorned beast.

"No, you're not, unless you explain to me and all of these wonderful people, why have none of you returned home once, to tell us anything, else I'll tear your scrawny dust-filled neck from your body!" She threatened, already grabbing onto his collar, many of the men winced at this and others felt the pain too from their own wives' reprimanding.

"I can explain…" A quiet voice interjected, indirectly demanding silence and respect, it belonged to the harpy queen who was barely lucid, not capable of standing without the support of her subjects. "They were not allowed to leave in case any of them tried to escape, in fact, none of them tried to leave…" Her simple words spelled death sentences for some of the men, who had already begun praying to live another day, their only protection was the new Harpy wives they had, the queen wasn't spared from angry looks as well. "We were forced to this because we need as many men as we can get, being a species only capable of producing women."

The village chief glanced up from her husband who she was about to hit him with her cane. "Then why didn't you tell us at all, your people went to kidnap ours immediately. I'm glad they're all fine, but still!" She tapped her large cane against the grass in anger.

"And how would have you responded then?" Her question brought great pause to the elder. "For most of my life, my people have faced refusal after refusal of aid for the simple reason that we are Monsters, we grew tired of it and decided to take matters into our hands. Let me ask you this: what choice did we have, what would've done in my stead when every human has been disappointedly hostile or barely neutral? It was that or die out."

"And you'd have caused our village to die out, nobody else wanted to settle here due to all the kidnappings." One the human women mentioned, most refused to speak a word at the utterance of such a fact, the thought of extinguishing the existence of one village to save their own didn't bring any relief to the harpies

"But we didn't mistreat any of them, they're all fine, aren't they?" One of the harpies innocently asked, gaining support from her brethren and the men and dismay from the human women.

"Yeah, they made me feel young again! Every night…" The village chief agreed to let out a perverted laugh before being clobbered by a large stick. "AH! That was a joke, please! Have mercy!" He faced another hit to the forehead before being let go.

"Maybe…just maybe I could understand your reasoning, and could say I might have done the same in your stead…but!" The elder stood straight up before the harpy queen with crack noise as her back did the same. "Don't mistake my understanding for acceptance, am still absolutely livid…" She earned a weak sympathetic nod from the Queen.

"Listen up, I'll only say this once!" Luther yelled, catching everyone's attention, they all looked at him in fear or wonder, or perhaps even both in some folks, the look of lust as well from some of the harpies wasn't lost on him either. But he cared not, just wanted to get his message. "Before you continue any further, I know some of you might be or get mad, however under no circumstance I want to see anyone attacking and trying to kill each other, you're on thin ice." He pointed at the older woman who made herself even smaller. "Just…argue, scream at each other if you want to, but don't turn this into a blood-fest, else you lose mine and my friends' support."


Many disputes continued afterward - heated, dumbfounded, calm, and collected all of these emotions were expressed in these disorganized arguments and Luther had to passively listen to all of them, ensuring that neither side decides to be violent. Thankfully some of the families, which he noted were smaller or had a previously unmarried man, managed to establish a stable ground for forming a proper connection between harpy and human, he was sure Luka would have loved to see that, but he didn't disturb the boy's well-earned nap.

"What a mess." Alice finally manifested herself next to Luther, yawning loudly and crossing her arms. "These people can't talk it out with a dumb rock to save their own life, much less with the Harpies.

"Agreed." Was all that Luther responded with, palming and massaging his face.

"How is our little sleeping prince doing?" Alice's signature grin slipped into a frown at the sight of Luka's beaten state, his pained raspy breathing brought no relief to her. "To think that the queen would fight in such a manner and still lose…he either is showing potential I couldn't even see in him or…I'll have someone to reprimand over their incompetence after this journey is over." She concluded, pulling up his armor and clothes to reveal his bare body and the damage had taken in the fight.

"How bad is it?" Luther asked, he could hazard a guess as to how bad it was as he remembered how the boy could barely stand upright at several times, how Luka cried out or whimpered in pain at every movement or hit on him, only stopping after the fake hero finally managed to score a direct hit on the Queen.

She let her fingers glide over the bruising, her eyes shone brighter than before, analyzing the physical trauma he received on his limp body, none of it was pretty to look at to the Monster Lord. "Cracks in the ribs and spine, some fractures here and there…it's amazing he had managed to continue fighting in such a state, inhuman almost…nonetheless impressive."Alice's curious observation caused Luther to shudder in second-hand pain.

"Ugh…didn't think it was that bad," Luther admitted, shaking his head and attempting to purge the small desire to skewer the Queen with his nails...

"Figures, the bravado that the resident idiot hero here put up certainly gave me that impression too, the difference between him there and now is rather staggering…" The Purple Lamia said, her hands began to glow in an ethereal light, some type of mist emerged from them entering the boy's body. "So fragile and unaware…" The discolorations and bruises on Luka's skin slowly vanished along with his paleness, he lost the pain and raspiness in his breathing, becoming more sedated as he slumbered away deeper into his dream, muttering something about fending off an evil dragon from a kingdom.

"Are you…healing him?" Luther inquired, dumbfounded at the act of kindness that Alice showed, his memory might have failed on some little details of the story as he never remembers Alice healing Luka ever, granted, most of Luka's serious injuries happened after he got his Angelic healing-factor unlocked.

"Yes, it would be awful to have him wake up in such a sorry state, not only would he be dragging us down on this journey since I doubt he could properly move now…" Alice frowned once she saw his skeptical expression. "What's with that look? I'm not cruel to leave him be like this if I can help it, all the torment I've inflicted on him, as he called it, has been nothing but simple teasing and harsh training, not my fault he is a wuss when it comes to that." Her countenance became a twisted smirk in an instant. "Unless you object to what I'm doing…but then you'll have to carry him around everywhere and fight for him for a long time, of course as a good friend I'm sure you'd be willing to do that."

Luther promptly shut up, while Luka may have had his sympathies, but carrying him around for goodness knows how long and fighting his battles seemed moronic when a better alternative was present. Instead of pondering on that further, he realized he was distracted from his self-imposed goal, deciding to look back to the villagers arguing, it was much quieter than before, the more peaceful families had already started some form of small talk between each other, as awkward as it was, while the more aggressive one didn't seem to have enough energy to yell anymore at each other. One man had grown brave enough to step forward.

"All of us have some family here in this Harpy Village and can't exactly leave them, so why don't we just combine the villages." That man suggested, jumping and shrinking away from the malicious stares he got from some of the women present. His village chief however was more courageous.

"Yeah, everyone would be a big family, wouldn't that be the best for us all? Someone would need to fight." The old man wholeheartedly smiled as he messaged his red and bruised neck that his wife was done strangling, all of the men agreed with this, wanting no further conflict and to return to their peaceful, bliss-filled lives, even if they had to now worked to earn them and in all honesty, they missed their human family, it was an emotional gap the harpies could not quite patch up.

"Since my son is married, and I'll have a bunch of grandchildren, I wouldn't really mind it," Martha said, being of the only few women who immediately agreed to their proposition, they seemed hesitant in wanting anything awful to happen.

Alright, things are going smoothly enough, good…I don't think my heart can take more "excitement for today, now only if those Harpies stop staring at me like that…Luther shuddered in discomfort, he didn't want any of them to try to seduce him, because he knew it wasn't likely they would try to capture over the reasons that he had asserted dominance through intimidation and the fact that their union might make them all think twice before blatantly disregarding their agreements

These small exclamations and agreement of wanting a union had woken up the Harpy Queen out of her general stupor, indiscernible emotions crossed her countenance, a mix of sadness and hope from remembering the older days of when her people were rejected, compared to the present, but she forced out a glower as her mind reminded her of several key details. "What you suggest I'm willing to consider, however, I must know this. One of my subjects left the village in search of a mate and to this hour hasn't come back, this has never happened before and I have a feeling that your village is responsible for, explain…" She lightly demanded, the women of Happiness Village stumbled over their words, unsure of how to respond without drawing her ire.

"It was me." Luther walked to the Harpy Queen, facing her, his gait mechanic like that of an emotionless robot, barely any fluidness in his actions. The Queen tried to speak up but was stopped by him wiggling a single finger, asking for at least a single second to preface. "First of all, your harpy subject was looking for a mate, yes, unfortunately, she tried to find a mate in a boy that probably wasn't even fertile in front of me and my compatriot. Now we may understand your circumstances, yet her actions were against a minor were reason enough for us to intervene, besides not fully knowing this little situation between your people and the villagers of Happiness Village we did the impulsively admirable thing and stopped her, ultimately capturing her… she is fine…alive and well enough."

"Well enough? "She asked in suspicion, it was already enough irritation that she was captured, but that particular mix of words did anything but ease her, the harpy was sure if it wasn't for her weakened state and possibility of a peaceful outcome she would have pinned him against the ground to interrogate him.

"I kind of blew a hole in her wing to stop from escaping." The man raised his arms in defense before she could spout any frustrated outburst in regards to him hurting her people, some of the Harpies gasped in shock. "As I said, besides that damage, she is completely fine, nobody hurt her any more than she was brought into the village, I made sure of that." He looked around to gauge the people's reaction, they were rather mostly neutral about the news, some of course were angrier than others but lacked the courage to denounce the man standing in the center. "In this hour your subject remains tied up to a tree, most likely asleep."

"Eh…no longer tied to the tree." A woman interjected, hoping that her given information would help reduce the regal Monster's anger. "We tied her to the bed after she fell asleep, slept like a baby since."

Luther stopped for a moment, puzzled, he stared at the woman who spoke up and then glanced at Alice who shared the same disbelief. "Anyway, if you're going to direct your anger then do it to me, you seem to be a leader who cares deeply about her people, so I offer my deepest apologies for any trouble that my actions have caused ." He bowed apologetically before showing his determined expression. "But I still believe what I did was right, if, admittedly, a bit excessive and impulsive."

"And you cannot complain of what happened to your subject." Alice stepped in. "Considering you were going to punish Luther and Luka for trespassing into your territory and attacking your people, it would be very hypocritical for you to not expect much of the same when she stepped into their territory to kidnap a child and still be mad about it." She added, her commanding presence silenced all whispers more than Luther or Luka ever could, even the Queen was stunned by her.

"Hmm…then what of Silvia and Oriene, I do not see them anywhere, what happened to them?" Right about as she asked two small birds flew over to the queen, one pink, the other brown, landing on her shoulders and nuzzling her into her cheeks, she didn't push them away. It was pleasant and their smell felt familiar.

"Well, they're right there on your shoulders, since you already know what Angel Halo does I don't think you need any further explanation." He told her. "Also, they're expecting you to unseal them, but I doubt that would be possible today, sorry there…"

"Very well, that is satisfactory to hear, as far as I can gather you tried you." The Harpy Queen stated and all of the human men and women could breathe easier as the tense atmosphere lifted little by little. "Let me hear your proposition."


The argument possibly lasted for hours, Luther wasn't keeping track of time, just inattentively staring at the night sky as he rubbed Tusk's chin, from memory he could tell how different the pattern of stars was, the constellations that were typically seen in his world weren't there. Some had even considered going back to their homes to witness the outcome tomorrow. Shouting did happen, typically from the more spurned and zealous parts of the villagers and harpies, they were the last ones to accept this proposal. He could point out every hypocrisy and fallacy in their arguments, most of it stemming from emotions and not from a world of sound logic, and the opposition was quick to point it out, but let to more senseless arguing. Thankfully Luka's senses were far too disconnected from reality to properly hear this audible torture, a very envious position were it not for the injuries he had sustained to get him like this. Alice as well had opted to not participate in this mess.

"Chu…" Tusk wrapped around its user's arm, cooing weakly out of pain, he could perfectly understand what it meant even without his link. The other men and women were feeling much the same- dead inside, exhausted, just wanting to go to bed and sleep away their migraines. It was begging him to intervene, say something that would put them to rest, and be finally finished with the whole debacle, and who was he to deny his very soul's request?

"And what do we get out of this? You've simply stolen them, and then demanded we share." The village elder's wife harshly pointed it out. "Don't give that excuse, saying you didn't have a choice when there was a choice clear as day to simply ask!"

The Harpy Queen growled in rage, about to scream back and possibly do harm to her disregarding her current lack of power that she had supported by her Harpies. Before she could refute, Luther stepped in between them. He was a mysterious sort, and possibly powerful as well- that was as much as she could confidently say, noticing he was never really afraid of her or at least never outwardly showing fear, unlike his companion's constant nervous appearance. If she could ignore his transgressions against her people then she would dare call him rational, unlike many of the hairless apes she was talking to.

"Stop, I've heard enough and I'm sure many of my peers have as well, evident by the collective headache we have been experiencing." Chambers said shortly and quickly, that left no impression of wanting a debate, voiced filled venom no doubt caused by the constant droning on his ears. "My point is this: You're wrong, Happiness Village and Harpy Village can both benefit from this."

"How, what is your reasoning?" Both of the leaders asked in at once unknowingly.

"Let's start with your people." Luther turned to the village elder, towering over her, but trying to remain neutral. "This union could provide you with more workforce for further trade, you also have to consider that uniting with the Harpies would make him less likely targets for other attacks…and just face it, either we and the Harpies came during a really bad time, or Happiness Village has no defense, even something like Iliasville has a defense militia."

He then turned to the Harpy Queen. "Your people would benefit from keeping your stolen mates. "She tried to interrupt him but he continued. "No, I'm not judging you for that, just stating what would happen if you refuse, our job is to help this Happiness Village get them back…then you'd gain access to an important luxury resource that people pay good money for and the capability to trade with humans using the Happiness villagers as a medium and by the looks of your settlement's huts and fornications, you're in desperate need of that."

"Did I make myself clear? Is this reason sound enough for you to throw away that hatred? Because your people don't seem to be so intent on arguing anymore" Luther's questions gave great pause to the angry crowds that previously bickered without end, the leaders of the villages considered his points carefully becoming more aware of their own people's opinion on the matter as they finally witnessed the desperation in their faces that wanted them to stop and make peace.

"Yes, perhaps I am wrong…this would go nowhere but to bloodshed if it continued." The village elder concluded, her followers also appearing regretful about their close-mindedness regarding most of their fellows.

"Chu, chu!" Tusk jumped around in happiness that loud noises that kept it awake ceased, it danced around for a long time and then lied in its user's soft hair using it as a makeshift bed to fall asleep on making Luther let out a small, barely noticeable chuckle.

"Peace and unity would be better." The harpy queen agreed, their ceaseless arguing turned into a civil discussion of terms and obligations quite fitting to the pleasantly cold night they were all awake to feel, attempting to balance out the gains and losses of each requirement for one another bringing relief for Luther's and Alice's sanity and good news to the sleeping Luka.

"Then it is settled, we won't forcibly kidnap from the Happiness Village anymore." The harpy queen stated, a soft satisfactory smile creeping up her cheeks, after years of the same behavior from humans before they were enlightened by the pleasure it was refreshing to see them change their mind by themselves.

"Hmh…and we will send men from our village to marry the harpies, in return, your people must also help us with the farming and beekeeping as well as helping defend us and you will gain the obligation to request any particular resources you might need." The elder finished the agreed terms, their argument finally coming to an end with large applause and calls for celebration followed after it, many suggested organizing a festival between the two races, some already going back to get alcohol and other pleasantries.

"Finally these idiots finally came to a conclusion," Alice commented, nodding along with their decisions to unify. "Certainly, I would never expect such a thing to occur…yet this is good to see…"

"Yes it is, now excuse me. I'm going to let them have their fun and retreat to somewhere, preferably to a bed if possible." Was all that Chambers responded with, making her scoff and laugh, regardless she understood his exhaustion and left him be.

Drinking along with them in that festival sounds nice, but…Luther frowned sighing before heading back to Luka to pick him up so that he could place in a more suitable resting spot and far away from any mischievous Harpies. Something was bothering him. They're united, sure…but for how long? They're on a fickle timer and all because of that damned genetic quirk that Monsters possess, those Harpies will outbreed and outnumber the Humans, no doubt about it, to the point where there will be no men anymore. Happiness Village would likely disappear, if not in name then in spirit and the Harpies would likely go back to their old ways only being slightly less hesitant about interacting with humans properly. This union is nothing but a temporary solution.

He groaned, a realization striking his heart. A solution you helped bring…are you proud of yourself? Maybe…maybe there would be some way this could be fixed more permanently, maybe-

No, no, no Luther…this isn't your world, meaning it's not your problem to solve, besides you've tried solving problems in your world, and look how you ended up, the world put you into the grinder and spat at you for trying to help your fellows. Luther's figure slumped, his feet practically dragged across sweet grass below him. What would you be able to do if you tried? Some breeding program? Altering their very genes, bringing in more people... get real…there is nothing I can do and nothing I should. I already played my part and it's all up to them, their responsibility.

This festival left him with a bitter taste, or at least the idea of what it meant for the fate of both villages, enough to push him away from all the pleasantries said event promised no matter how deeply he desired to drown out the sorrow, all Luther wanted now was to slip into Neverland, dream away his frustrations, perhaps Angel Halo could help conjure up some sweet dreams for him.


Luther's notes: Happiness Town.

A town located east of Iliasburg, it was and still is one of the most noteworthy landmarks of the continent mainly for their production of Happiness Honey - a world-renown delicacy, much more superior in quality when compared to other producers, often ordered and used in high-quality restaurants or other tourist attractions, even noble houses have known to trade for it. This has made this settlement, comparable to its size, an economic powerhouse.

The other reason it is noteworthy is for its recent developments, after the union between the Harpies and war against heaven the village has quickly expanded its borders and increased workable lands at the slight cost of the natural landscape. The village had become known as another open safe haven for Monsters willing to abide by its laws and so many Monsters and Humans flooded into it to find themselves a proper peaceful home. Ultimately it heavily impacted their infrastructure, proper roads were paved to the other cities, the selection of buildings expanded meant for more than just housing or inventory, walls were built in some places, stocked with guards to keep out any occasional malicious outlaw or 'feral' Monster. With the large increase of population a new less centralized governing system was required, the relative authority of the elders and the queen was replaced by an official council, though they still contained those very same members.

I can conclude that they are prospering, and it will most likely be so for many years to come with the very low amount of failures or hurdles that they had to overcome. That is not to say that there aren't any problems, certainly, a handful of them hangover the town's fate, not immediately, but if not dealt with could lead to its end.

As is obvious from their history Harpies still make up the large majority of the Monster present, they're known for being rather fecund when compared to other species with their propensity to breed in large amounts. Meaning that most likely in a couple of years the Harpy count would likely overcome the Human ones, even when accounting for migrants. The issue stems from a general problem that all ordinary Monsters possess general their inability to sire males to their overly dominant genes (Thank you Dark Energy…) if this isn't dealt with it will spell the end of the human population after several generations, as the number their numbers will most likely dwindle easily because of active Monster are in their 'strategies' when it comes to finding partners.

Admittedly, this is a problem most Human and Monster mixed communities will face, dare I say the entire world if it isn't solved, fortunately, I've begun a side-project altering the dominance of the X chromosome within the Monster species, it has already entered prototype stages and I have gotten massive success since my very baby boy is the penultimate product of my research.

Though this may bring up more issues, as a whole if this project was finished in its current stages the Human would inevitably cease to exist being practically biologically assimilated into the many Monstrous species, another issue would be over-population considering how eager the Monsters seemed to be to reproduce in comparison to Humans. It would occur a lot faster than on Earth given this world's smaller size and previously mentioned features of Monsters.

All in all, I can determine that the project must be tweaked in order to address these problems, perhaps somehow letting Monsters have full-blooded Human children occasionally, decreasing the fertility rate more (I doubt any Monster would mind at all). Any solution to these problems is entirely within my grasp with the tools I have at my disposal.

My only requirements that I give myself are restraint and patience, I will not fall to Promenstein's level of unethicality, no matter how much she may suggest it may improve the efficiency and speed of my progress.


AN: We are done with the Happiness Village sub-quest, the only thing that remains is the send-off the villagers will give to our protagonists, and then a short visit to Enrika will happen, afterward the Iliasport eventually getting to the damned meeting Alma scene.

Speaking about Alma, fun trivia, Luther's biggest regret after the end of SoD is introducing Alma to jazz and swing music.

Now yes, I gave Luka a shounen protag moment and for a certain reason you will find out later, or somehow end up figuring it out.

Reviews:

-Dinosaurchicken: Yeah, a lot of things are fucked in MGQ, but I think it contrasts well with some of the more lighthearted moments in the game, creating a type of believable balance in the world that the world is both wonderful and awful at the same time. Thank you for the compliment, I'd fear I might have failed in regards to Luther as a character, I want him to be flawed, that makes them more believable, the whole fact that some people are disagreeing with his actions just affirms in my mind that I've done a good job at that.

-lytsadboi: The queen would have been too if she ended up beating Luka, the poor hero spared her of a worse fate.

-The-4uditor: He who pointed the finger, pulled the trigger.

-mario986: Luther's religious views aren't exactly going to come up any time soon, besides him renouncing the Ilias faith. But if you absolutely must know then he is an Agnostic, someone who believes that God or Gods presence and nature is ultimately unknowable by limited human perception, therefore denouncing any organized or unorganized faith in a particular god as they could prove false.

-Goqqi: Yes, I ultimately sought a mixed reaction from Luther, to one there are his moral principles and emotions that urged him on to punish said Harpy, and the other is the consideration of her species circumstances and belief in proper justice that held him back. I finalized what I want from Luther - have him be a dualistic individual, he is both selfish and selfless, distant, yet attached, that is what I seek.

Just as it was put in this chapter: "a flower that blooms once a year being more beautiful than an eternal one" as cheesy as it sounds often or not suffering tends to give the happy moments in life more value, as it teaches you to have respect for what you have when you lose something or suffer.

-doomqwer: Oh, just you wait until the Alma chapter, it will end badly for both Luther and Alma.

-Astrogamer: This is not a complete transformation of character, he still inevitably retreat into the shell of apathy in some circumstances, his character development will a long road to follow, I can only hope it won't bore you.

-Bibliotheca Mundi: Yes, wholeheartedly agree, Angel Halo is best girls, you don't even have to choose between them all since they're linked.

-Guest: Open-minded, but not sensitive to character emotions... I get it, that is something I struggle with too, character emotions and interest are hard for me to grasp if I'm not the one writing them. Luther was filled with rage over the fact of seeing a minor nearly kidnapped where he wouldn't undoubtedly get his innocence completely shattered, like something straight out of a corruption doujin. He didn't read it happen, he saw it happen in front of his eyes, any respectable sort would at the very least be frustrated at this. Even then you might have misunderstood what he meant by 'grabbing some poor fucker', he was directly suggesting that she should at least rape someone who is not a minor and then bring him back.

Then there is a hole to your argument, you forget that the prey and predator in this circumstance are both sapient creatures, capable of controlling their instincts to a certain extent through willpower and rationality, you also have to consider that people have a preference when it comes to food and it's quite telling if that preference also includes fully conscious and sapient minors, hell Harpies don't even have to feed on semen to survive, that's just part of their diet. Personally, if Monsters did exist, invoking the whole predator vs prey dynamic I'd advocate for culling the extremely dangerous ones.

-Somedude469: Yep as I mentioned in the other response, balance hurt with comfort. Regarding the encounter between Alma and Luther, I can attribute a quote to it. "Hatred of the invading enemy is the most sacred and humane feeling. But it is born with such pain of heart and torment of the soul that God forbid anyone to experience it a second time." - Pavel Batov's memoirs.

-AcausalTrilby: Yep, it is kind of strange that MGQ glosses over some facts, though I think the reason why the whole effect of 'kidnapping a minor' debacle or any rape isn't really that much serious is because of the nature of the world. In a world where there are Monsters that constantly rape humans, you'd be less surprised of that happening. It would be like hearing that a person died from sickness when there is a deadly plague in your country. So a regular response would likely be "Oh no, that's horrible, what's new...?".

Thank you for the support and I'll see you next chapter.