AN: This chapter is an inversion of something I usually do, being one chapter that was originally planned to be two chapters. It's a bit long as a result.
Volume 9 of RWBY is airing at the moment. I may include information from it if relevant.
On the other side of this crossover, MGQ just finished a crossover with Monster Musume TD. I'm not particularly interested in gacha or tower defence games, but I might include any relevant information from it that I see in Youtube videos.
Pyrrha looked down at the Six Orbs assembled on the table. For all their important, they still appeared relatively plain.
"Are we certain this will work, when one of them is from a different world… in a different time… to the others?" she asked.
Unfortunately, the person to answer this question was the last person she wanted anything to do with.
"Oh, most definitely!" Black Alice said, smiling as usual. "Both sets of orbs were made under identical circumstances. And from what I've heard of the history of this world, nothing has happened which would affect the orbs differently. In particular, the Blue Orb of this world, up until its destruction, was being kept safe by the Queen of the South Sea, just as it is in my world."
"Thank you…" Pyrrha said, trying not to give any important information away. "I'm glad… to hear that…"
Fortunately, others came to Pyrrha's rescue at that moment.
"Now that we have all six, it's time for us to go to the Holy Wings Shrine," Luka said. "Or are there any other preparations we need to make?"
"No, the hatching ritual is simple enough," Alice said. "The Six Orbs and the Garuda Girl's egg at the shrine are what's important. The only other requirement is some energy from two different monsters, and we've got several times that amount here."
"Was that requirement to prevent one monster from monopolising the power of the Garuda Girl?" Ilias asked. "Because it occurs to me that one of those two monsters could just be strongly loyal to the other, defeating the purpose."
"Well, who knows what the Garuda Girl's creators were thinking," Alice said, shrugging. "What matters is that we can perform the ritual now."
Ruby raised a hand. "One question: where exactly is the Holy Wings Shrine? All I heard so far is that it's in an uninhabited spot of the Gold region…"
"It's in the arid western part, and closer to the north coast than the south," Alice replied. "The quickest way to get there would be…" she swallowed, "to teleport to the Gold region's Tartarus and then head northeast."
"Then it won't be long until we get to ride the Garuda Girl to Hellgondo," Heinrich said. "Hmm. I can fly using Sylph's power, but riding another being through the sky is bound to be a different experience."
"Y-Yes…" Ilias said, looking down at the table awkwardly. "This, too, is part of your training…"
Pyrrha exchanged glances with Jaune, who was sitting next to her.
He can't possibly believe this, if he ever believed it at the start, Pyrrha thought.
Maybe he… likes to play along with this act? Jaune thought. Maybe that's why him and… her get along?
But in the end, it wasn't a mystery they could solve today. After some more discussion, Pyrrha's group was teleported out of Grand Noah Castle and to the Gold Tartarus.
-ooo-
In a certain abandoned village—of which there were many, thanks to the recent conflicts that ravaged this world—two legendary succubi sat around a table and peered into a crystal ball.
"I can't make out their faces," Morrigan complained. "They look like ants. Sis, can't we make the image a bit clearer?"
"As I've explained to you several times, this is the best quality we can achieve," Lilith said patiently. "If we sent the scrying spell any closer, there's a good chance of it being noticed. We mustn't underestimate our targets' senses."
"Yeah, yeah…"
The two succubi watched a group of tiny figures within the crystal ball. Due to the distance, it was only possible to recognise these figures by their body shapes and the colours of their clothing. The group was travelling across a desert beneath the light of a scorching sun.
"They really are a weird group," Morrigan commented. "You've got humans, former humans who're monsters now, a half-human half-angel, monsters including two different Monster Lords, and angels, and they're from more worlds than you can count." When Lilith raised an eyebrow at this, Morrigan hurriedly said, "Figure of speech, okay!? Obviously, I can count that high! …Anyway, it's hard to believe a group like that actually exists."
"It's one reason why they may be willing to ally with us, once they accept it's their best option," Lilith said.
"Hmm…" Morrigan said. "I keep wondering though, will they? After all we've done to them and their world—the world most of them came from—will they really forget all that and start being buddy-buddy with us? And yes, I know part of that's my mistake…"
"It won't be an easy process," Lilith admitted, putting a hand on her cheek in thought. "But they're willing, however reluctantly, to work with the eighth Monster Lord—with one of them, at least."
Morrigan frowned. It was incredibly annoying to keep track of all the different versions of people running around. Just another reason why that needed to be simplified.
"And we don't need them to be friendly with us at first," Lilith said. "We only need them to be willing to work with us. Then we can gradually work to improve relations."
Not like that's something I'm good at, Morrigan thought frustratedly. Maybe I should work on improving that…
Morrigan and Lilith continued watching their surveillance targets for roughly an hour.
At one point, Morrigan stood up to grab some steak out of a pot, still warm from cooking, and began munching on it. She asked if Lilith wanted anything to eat as well, but her sister refused.
At another point, the third of the Lilith Sisters arrived. Astaroth greeted her sisters, reported that the Heavenly Knight of Water was still remaining at Undine's Spring, then sat down to watch the crystal ball with the others.
Towards the end of that hour, the surveillance targets reached a tiny patch of greenery nestled against distant mountains. Here there was green grass and lushly leafed trees and streams of cool water. In the centre was a ring of six pillars—though half had collapsed due to the ravages of time—and in the centre of this ring was a stone altar with a large egg resting on top.
"It's only a little longer now," Astaroth said. Then she seemed to realise something. "Once they have a Garuda Girl, won't it be much more difficult to observe them? They'll be able to fly so fast our scrying can't keep up."
"We would still be able to track them by predicting where they're going," Lilith said. "Similar to how we can now track them despite them now making use of teleportation. And… if my guess is right, then they won't be able to hatch the Garuda Girl just yet."
Morrigan opened her mouth, about to ask what her eldest sister meant, when she felt a sharp sensation of danger. In the next instant, she and her two sisters burst out from the house they were in, breaking through wooden walls with their own bodies.
Immediately after that, the house vanished in a pillar of blinding golden light. And despite being outside the light pillar, Morrigan felt burning pain on her skin.
Despite the abruptness of the attack, Morrigan did not loser her cool. She conjured up an aura of wind that greatly boosted her speed, as did her sisters.
"You should have stayed put, foul succubi. Then your end would have been quick, without suffering."
"You'll be ones suffering once we…" Morrigan shot back, only to falter. "Once we… bring… you… down…?"
The speaker was a brown-haired angel with three pairs of wings who wore a green dress and carried a golden spear in one hand. Near her was a cybernetic angel in a military uniform who carried a flag, and a robotic angel whose body bristled with weapons. All three were flying high in the air. Morrigan recognised them as the Three Seraphs: Eden, Zion and Gnosis. She did not fear them, not with her sisters at her side.
Except that the Seraphs were not alone.
"You have committed far too many atrocities, Lilith Sisters," said an angel with green-tinged dark hair that fully covered her eyes. She pointed her mechanical staff down at the trio of succubi. "That ends today! You will never prey on another soul ever again!"
"…Raphaela," Lilith said. She was visibly nervous, something Morrigan had only seen a handful of times in her life. "I never expected to see the likes of you here."
"Even that devious fox of yours can project herself into another world," Raphaela said. "As the Celestial Realm's master of sorcery, it is only natural that I can do the same."
"Don't associate Tamamo with us," Astaroth growled. Her fists were raised in a fighting stance. "Our mistress is Minagi."
"Fox, succubus, what does it matter!?" Zion said. "You're all going to perish in the end!" She clenched one fist that was wreathed in flames. "Some of you sooner than others!"
"All weapon systems at full capability," Gnosis said, her eyes glowing red. "Ready to eliminate the heretics."
No more words were exchanged. None were necessary.
The Lilith Sisters took flight, rocketing up from the ground and charging at their four angelic opponents.
"HAAAAAHHHH!"
Morrigan fired two jets of electric-blue energy from her hands. An average angel would have been instantly crippled by a single hit, with death from excessive pleasure following seconds later. Even a Seraph should have at least flinched from this attack.
Yet when the blue jets struck Zion, they simply scattered in a shower of green sparks. Then Morrigan had to quickly dodge a supersonic punch from Zion.
"Futile!" Zion declared. "With Archangel Raphaela shielding us, your petty tricks will never work!"
And their attacks are strengthened, too! Morrigan thought, feeling the tremendous energy flowing off her opponent. A single good hit would be the end for me—but I won't make it that easy for her!
Morrigan pushed the power of the wind to its limits, dodging a barrage of punches, laser beams and areas of intense gravity. She sometimes threw out an attack of her own, only when she could do so without being punished, but Zion kept shrugging it all off. And it didn't look like Morrigan's sisters were doing any better.
"Cease dodging, succubus!" Zion yelled. She swung all three of her left wings, scything through the air with destructive force. "You're just delaying the inevitable!"
The Morrigan of a few months ago would have countered with a biting insult, probably sexual in nature. The current Morrigan knew better than give away her plan to an enemy.
The only thing she did do was conjure up miniature whirlwinds, letting them pick up dust from the ground, and throw them at Zion. The dust obscured the angel's vision, the roaring of the whirlwinds attacked her hearing—even if Zion was practically invulnerable right now, her senses could still be hindered.
"GRAAAAAH!" Zion roared. "I KNOW YOU'RE STILL THERE, SUCCUBUS!"
Zion lashed out with the flag she was holding, now imbued with a holy aura that made it deadlier than most proper weapons. But even if she could still sense Morrigan by her dark energy, she could no longer see how her body moved. It was therefore easy for the youngest of the Lilith Sisters to avoid the flag.
"Calm yourself, Zion!" Eden ordered. She herself was doing her best to impale Morrigan's eldest sister. "The succubi are trying to draw out this fight, until our Archangel can no longer maintain her presence here!"
…Damn, I can't fool this one anymore, Morrigan thought grimly. Then I'll just have to do the best I can. That projection won't last forever, if I can just keep her occupied until then—
Suddenly, a barrage of holy arrows filled Morrigan's vision. They were so dense that they obscured the village with their golden light. There was no way she could dodge this.
Morrigan did the only thing she could possibly do: devote a lot of her energy into conjuring a powerful gale, in the hopes of intercepting as many arrows as possible. Her sisters joined her, making the atmosphere so violent that it tore apart the few houses still standing. With the combined efforts of the three, they managed to blow away all of the arrows that would have struck them.
…Yet all this meant the Lilith Sisters couldn't focus on their existing opponents.
"DIE, SUCCUBUS!"
Morrigan was already twisting her body to the side. Instead of striking her head, Zion's lightning-clad fist grazed her wing. Even that slight contact caused half her wing to explode into gore.
"Ahhh!"
However, Morrigan was used to pain. Using her remaining wing and the wind that surrounded her, she ducked and weaved through the air, evading Zion's follow-up attacks.
But we can't win—not with a fucking Archangel here! Not when she can attack us on top of buffing these three!
Morrigan saw Lilith struggling with Eden. Her sister was grasping Eden's spear tightly to stop it piercing her body, even as the angelic weapon burned her hands.
She saw Astaroth fleeing desperately from Gnosis, even as crimson blood streamed from a mangled leg. The robotic angel pursued her mercilessly, all the while firing an arsenal of high-tech weaponry.
Now I really wish… that hero's party was working with us…
When Morrigan was at the very limits of her endurance, about to suffer a mortal blow from Zion, she felt the unmistakeable pulse of teleportation.
You're kidding me, did they actually come!?
Seven pairs of eyes looked towards the site of the teleportation. It was clear that nobody currently involved in this battle had been expecting this.
"On the Monster Lord's command," said a red-haired, green-scaled dragonkin wielding a massive greatsword, "I am here to assist her allies!"
Granberia charged forward at such speed, even a top-tier succubus like Morrigan was impressed.
Crying out in alarm, Raphaela thrust her staff forward. The head of the staff glowed, then shot out an enormous beam of light…
…a beam that struck nothing except the rubble of the village. Granberia had dodged it by strafing to the side, and she was still charging.
"""Archangel!"""
But before the Three Seraphs could help their own ally, they were hit by a transparent wave of magic from behind. Morrigan looked to the side to see that Lilith was holding her hand forward.
Thanks for the dispel, Sis!
Morrigan regenerated her wing and resumed her own battle. Charging up both her hands with pleasure magic, she flew at Zion faster than any bird, faster than most bullets.
Zion quickly unleashed an explosion from her metal hand, forcing Morrigan to swerve away—but not before seeing the panic on the angel's face.
"What's wrong!?" Morrigan laughed. "Not so tough now, without your Mommy helping you!?"
"Silence!" Zion shot back. "I can crush the likes of you even without Archangel Raphaela's support!"
"Let's see you try! I'll have you screaming in no time!"
With renewed vigour, Morrigan clashed with the Seraph above the ruins of a village.
-ooo-
Granberia swung her sword down. The shield of light stopped her sword for an instant, only to shatter into a thousand glowing particles.
"S-Stay away!" the angel said in a panic.
With a swing of her staff, Raphaela cast two spells simultaneously. One was a wide arc of light that sliced through the air in a straight trajectory. The other was a barrage of four arrows, which shot out in different directions at first, only to begin homing in on one target.
"Not enough!" Granberia roared.
Granberia jumped to avoid the arc, then destroyed the arrows as they arrived using two quick strokes of her blade.
Raphaela flew higher, no doubt hoping to stay out of reach of her sword-wielding opponent. But Granberia focused wind magic beneath her feet, creating temporary footholds that let her kick off the air itself.
I trained to be able to fight any and all enemies, Granberia thought, even those blessed with flight!
As she hurtled towards the angel, Granberia focused wind magic on something else: the blade of her sword.
"Lightning Sword Flash!"
A sword enveloped in a raging tornado thrust forward. The angel conjured up another barrier of light, which also shattered, yet it diverted Granberia's sword slightly. The thrust which would have pierced the angel's chest instead pierced her left arm.
"OH!"
Despite her wound, the angel used her right arm to raise her staff to the sky. A storm of pure-white lightning bolts rained down all around her, forcing Granberia to retreat more than ten metres away.
Victory is possible, Granberia thought. Her power surpasses mine, but her skill in close combat is comparatively lacking. If I can keep pressing her, she won't have the opportunity to cast any major spells!
But when the holy storm subsided, the angel said something that threw Granberia off her guard.
"You… You seem to consider yourself an honourable warrior. Why are you allies with the likes of the Lilith Sisters?"
Granberia tightened her grip on her sword. "They are not what I would consider allies. The Monster Lord has agreed to cooperate with them—to a degree—and I merely follow her orders."
"Hmph… regardless, you are not going to abandon them during this battle," the angel said. "I did not expect that in the first place, but… you have left me no choice."
That raised Granberia's alertness to its maximum. I must defeat her as soon as possible, even if it means suffering some wounds…
"I am different from Uriela, who would have enjoyed prolonging this fight," the angel continued.
Granberia swung her sword, launching a curved blade of water from it, yet that was merely a distraction. She ran forward across footholds of air, sword ready to deal the finishing blow—
—and then she saw that smile.
-ooo-
Morrigan cast a storm of wind blades, leaving several more gashes on Zion's flesh.
"You're slowing down!" Morrigan cackled. "Is that an invitation? Do you finally want to taste my skills now!"
"We didn't come here for your depravity, succubus!" Zion shouted. Despite her many wounds, there was still plenty of fight in her. "We came here to punish you for bringing darkness to the Celestial Realm!"
"…Wait, what?" Morrigan said, genuinely confused. She dodged an ice-empowered punch from her opponent. "We haven't done anything like that!"
"Don't lie!" Zion said. "Beasts formed from pure darkness invaded our holy sanctuary! Only the Dark Goddess and her minions could do such a thing!"
"Beasts… of pure darkness?" Morrigan said. Then it clicked. "Wait! You're talking about the Creatures of Grimm!?"
"We have nothing to do with those ugly beasts," Lilith said, still fighting Eden. "Those come from the world of Remnant!"
"And it was your faction who took in someone of that world!" Eden yelled. "You colluded with her, corrupted her into one of her own!"
Why are they bringing her up now? Morrigan wondered. Sure, Cinder happened to have a Grimm symbiote in her, but the angels shouldn't even know about that part unless…
Astaroth laughed, having apparently come to the same realisation. "You hypocrites," she said. "You blame us for working with her, but the only way Grimm could have gotten into your home is if—"
A woman's moan filled the air. Both the Lilith Sisters and the Three Seraphs froze, their argument forgotten.
Morrigan was intimately familiar with those kinds of moans. However, this particular moan came from the last person anyone would expect.
"How… How the hell did Granberia just lose… in that way…?" Morrigan said weakly.
"Did… Did one of your stray attacks hit her…?" Eden suggested, also bewildered.
All six turned towards the area where Granberia and Raphaela had been fighting. Then there was a chorus of shocked gasps.
Granberia lay on the ground, twitching… and floating above her was, quite unmistakeably, a succubus.
"How… can this be…?" Gnosis said, her mechanical voice still filled with emotion.
The succubus didn't resemble any Morrigan was familiar with, and she literally served the ancestor of succubi. This one had deep purple skin, dark hair streaked with vivid green and purple, and gold and purple horns. Her wings were unlike any other succubus', each consisting of a long tendril with triangles of green and purple membranes along its length. Her tail had a spaded tip that, once again, was half green and half purple. Tattoos with strange designs adorned her skin. Her only clothing was a skimpy black ensemble of straps and leggings—relatively normal, by succubus standards.
And as Morrigan continued looking, she noticed some familiar traits. One was the staff the succubus held, even if its design and colour scheme had changed. Another was the way her hair fully concealed her eyes.
"Archangel… Raphaela…?" Eden murmured. "Just what… is that form…?"
Raphaela lowered her head. If her eyes were visible, Morrigan suspected they would now be filled with shame.
"Goddess Ilias works in many ways," Raphaela said. "But rest assured, I am still your ally. And more importantly, we must complete the task the Goddess assigned us. We must eliminate the Dark One's agents in this world."
"Go!" Lilith commanded.
Despite her surprise, hearing her eldest sister's voice made Morrigan spring into action. She and her sisters dashed towards where Raphaela and Granberia were.
Lilith punched Raphaela in her wounded left arm, causing the Archangel—if that title even still applied—to recoil from the attack. At the same time, Morrigan and Astaroth picked up Granberia—weakened as they were, it took both of them to manage the dragonkin's considerable weight.
Then Lilith laid hands on her two sisters' shoulders and chanted the incantation for a teleportation spell.
The last thing Morrigan saw was the Three Seraphs, rushing at her with furious expressions…
-ooo-
Then Morrigan found herself on the barren, yet comfortably familiar landscape of Hellgondo. And now that she could no longer run on adrenaline, she dropped Granberia and then let herself collapse, face directed towards the cloud sky.
"Ugh… can't believe all that just happened… today was supposed to be an ordinary, boring day…"
Lilith looked around. "It doesn't look like we're anywhere near the castle. I was aiming for there, so we'd receive help as soon as possible."
"You did well to get us here, sister," Astaroth said. "Without your quick thinking, we'd all be…"
Astaroth suddenly fell down onto her knees. Both of her legs were injured now, as was her tail, and while some of the wounds had partly healed… it was clear that battle had exceeded the limits of her regeneration.
"Astaroth, do not force yourself," Lilith said gently. "We're in a safe place now. I'll just send out a telepathic call for help, and then we have only to wait."
The Lilith Sisters were in quite the sorry state now. Their clothes had been almost totally destroyed by that intense fighting, the only exception being some remnants of Lilith's sweater. Yet the resulting sight couldn't be considered erotic in the slightest, since the sisters were covered in dust and blood and burns.
Heck… Morrigan thought, feeling around her mouth with her tongue, some of my teeth got knocked out, even. Must've been when Zion landed that one good punch on my face…
"I know we have to leave Hellgondo again eventually…" Morrigan said quietly. "Today, we had to do it to be in range to scry our targets. But… when we go out again, can we bring backup?"
It was a pathetic admission for one of the Lilith Sisters, the succubi who'd slain countless angels in the Great Monster Wars. But it was an admission of the painful truth.
"We won't even be able to go out again for a while," Astaroth said. She looked at her mangled legs and tail, and winced. "Dammit, that was a close escape…"
"We can report to our mistress everything that we saw today," Lilith said. "This information is something they'll want to know."
"And we'll have to bring her back to the Fifteenth," Astaroth said. "Just have to hope the Monster Lord doesn't get too angry at us…"
The Lilith Sisters looked down at the still-unconscious Granberia. Judging from the look on her face, she wasn't going to wake up for a few hours, possibly even a few days.
"She saved us…" Lilith said. "Without her help, Raphaela would have been able to disrupt any attempt we made to teleport away. The only thing we could have done, when faced with an Archangel… would be to die pathetically."
It was ironic, in a way. Granberia had never trusted the Lilith Sisters, would expect them to try something untoward with her unconscious body.
But no matter what she thinks, we've got our own standards, Morrigan thought. We'd never mess with someone who saved our lives.
Right now… we owe her one.
-ooo-
Meanwhile, unaware of the cross-world conflict that had just taken place, Pyrrha was staring at the altar. The Six Orbs were arranged in a circle on the altar… yet the egg in the altar's centre showed not a single crack.
"It doesn't seem to be working…" Pyrrha said. "Does this mean the different origin of the Blue Orb really is an issue?"
"It… shouldn't… be…" Alice said, staring at the egg intensely, as though hoping that would somehow help the egg to hatch. "We did the ritual properly, even tried out a few different pairs of monsters… If there was a problem with the orbs, any of them, we would've noticed by now…"
"Then is it because the ritual area is ruined?" Sonya suggested. She gestured with one hand at the surrounding pillars, only half of which were even still standing.
"Those are just cosmetic, for giving this place the right atmosphere," Alice said. "There has to be some reason for this…"
"Could it be… an issue with the mana from the environment?" Ilias suggested. "From how you described this ritual, it uses mana from the environment in addition to mana from those performing the ritual, and mana from the orbs. And the last time we tried the ritual and failed… I felt something off about the mana flowing towards the altar."
Alice frowned. "But this place, the Holy Wings Shrine, was built in a place where mana easily gathers. How could that have… changed… unless…"
"The Great Disaster," Black Alice said. For once, nobody looked nervous at her words, too focused on the present situation. "An event that literally reshaped this world. Wouldn't it be more surprising if that hadn't changed the flow of mana?"
"That would make sense…" Alice said. She shot a brief glance in Heinrich's direction. "But then what can we do? If we still want to try the Garuda Girl ritual, we'd need to find wherever in the world is a suitable spot now, and rebuild this shrine—at least the altar part—over there. We don't have the time for—"
A person suddenly appeared nearby. Pyrrha instinctively switched Miló and Akoúo̱ to their sword and shield forms. Her companions did likewise… and then they all went still when they saw who the newcomer was.
"Nero?" Luka said, holding his sword in both hands. "What are you doing here?"
"And why'd you have to pop in like that?" Sonya said, her staff held high. "Can't you make a normal entrance?"
"My apologies if I surprised you," Nero said. He adjusted his glasses with one hand—Pyrrha wondered if that was actually necessary, or simply to show off. "Just now, I was observing a certain major event, after which I had to rush here before you could leave."
"Major event?" Ruby said. Even as she put Eclipse Rose away, she sounded alarmed. "Has there been another attack!?"
"We can't waste time here, we have to get back to where the fighting is!" Yang said.
"No, no, you misunderstand," Nero said, waving his hands. "While it's true that fighting has happened, it's not the sort you're imagining…"
Over the next few minutes, Nero described a fearsome clash between representatives of darkness and light. All of those involved were familiar to Pyrrha's group.
"The Lilith Sisters against the Seraphs…" Alice said. "And they both brought powerful backup… Is Granberia alright?"
"I can't observe Hellgondo too closely, the security was tightened after my last infiltration…" Nero replied uncertainly. "However, she was the last time I saw her."
"If that Archangel can project into this world, like Tamamo could, then she remains a major threat," Ilias said. "And what's this about her transforming into a succubus? Are you certain that's what you saw, instead of her simply demonstrating skill with pleasure attacks?"
"I'm entirely certain," Nero replied. "I'm not sure how that happened either, but it's something I felt you needed to know. And that isn't even the most important thing."
"What could be more important than a battle between such powerful people, the kind you hear about in legends?" Heinrich asked.
Heinrich and Black Alice briefly became the targets of gazes from those around them.
"Those powerful people are from multiple different worlds," Nero explained. "And they all play important roles in their worlds. A major battle like this will distort the space-time continuum and accelerate chaosization."
Pyrrha recalled, with awful clarity, that world beyond the third Tartarus, that dying world that had crumbled away before her eyes. She envisioned that death spreading to this world, to the world she knew and loved, to all the worlds. And from the horrified exclamations she heard, she was far from the only one.
"Damn those idiots!" Sonya shouted. "Don't they realise the consequences of their actions!?"
"I believe they do, but… there's no changing what's done," Nero said. "This just makes it more urgent for you to hatch Galda—the Garuda Girl, and continue in your quest."
"We tried, but this stupid ritual isn't working!" Chrome said. "We tried it again and again, even I contributed at one point, but apparently the mana from the environment is disturbed!"
"Oh, that's right," Nero said, coughing. "I believe I know the reason for that: the Snow Continent."
"That was an entirely new continent… it makes sense that it would disturb the flow of mana in the world," Lucia said. She stroked her chin with a tentacle, deep in thought. "But what then? We can hardly remove a continent from the world."
"Actually, it's worth pointing out that it's technically possible," Nero said. "If Neris and I were to combine our power—"
"No!" "Are you crazy!" "Even if you could, that'd wreck the world!"
After hearing that barrage of negative feedback, Nero wilted like a plant deprived of water.
"It was just to clear up the facts…" Nero said. "Th-Then, there's another option. According to my knowledge, the simple appearance of new land shouldn't disturb the world's mana in a way that would affect this ritual. I believe there's something in particular on the Snow Continent which is causing this disturbance."
"Another detour…" Luka grumbled. "At this rate, we might as well try going to Hellgondo ourselves."
"Hey, you've snuck onto Hellgondo before, even getting to my castle," Alice said, pointing at Nero. "Can't you help us get there?"
"…Unfortunately, I can't do that," Nero replied. "There are things I can do and things I cannot. And… I believe that you, all of you, must go to the Snow Continent to see what lies there."
"I don't suppose you could just tell us what that is?" Ilias said.
"You wouldn't fully understand unless you saw it with your own eyes," Nero insisted. "In that respect, it's different from a mere battle that I can recount to you. Now, I must be going…"
Nero disappeared just as unceremoniously as he had arrived.
"Gone again," Sonya said, glaring at the spot where Nero had just been. "I swear, he's just as bad as that White Rabbit. If those sorts refuse to ever explain things properly, then they should just stay out of our business!"
"In a way, he just proved his own point," Selene said. "I've heard about him from your stories, but until I met him just now… I had no idea just how enigmatic he could be."
"So what should we do now?" Pyrrha asked. "Should we do what he advised and go to the Snow Continent, or should we fall back on one of our backup plans?"
"Hmm… first, let me try contacting Alma Elma, Tamamo and Erubetie," Alice said. "It hasn't worked the few times I tried before, but there's no harm in trying again."
Alice slithered off into the nearby trees.
"Then while she does that, how about we review what we know about the Snow Continent, and compare that to what we know about Hellgondo?" Luka suggested. "The Snow Continent is located in the western seas, and southwest from where we are now. It doesn't have any natural ports, it's never been explored… as far as most people know. But when Micaela…" he hesitated briefly, "was with us, she mentioned that angels lived there."
"And that Eden, now the only surviving Seraph of this world, was their leader," Ilias said. "If we could find her there, I might be able to convince her to help us, which would be a great boon. But I won't claim that's a certainty… we have no knowledge of how the angels in that isolated land would react to monsters."
"What about the sea around the Snow Continent, the climate?" Jaune asked. "Those things being rough is why we're planning so much about how to get to Hellgondo. Is the Snow Continent just as bad?"
"I might be able to offer some insight," Vega said, raising a hand. "When I was still a knight of Grand Noah, I recall hearing about a plan to explore the Snow Continent. It was to be done in collaboration with Grangold—this was before that country was manipulated, of course. The plan was eventually abandoned, but that was due to financial concerns. And the plan was based on sailors who'd seen the Snow Continent from afar, and they didn't mention anything about rough seas."
"So getting there would be easier than getting to Hellgondo…" Ruby said. "If it's inhabited by angels, then is there any chance those Three Seraphs made contact with them?"
"We can't rule out that possibility," Ilias admitted. "It might make things more difficult…"
The discussion continued for several minutes, with ideas being tossed out and then shot down. Eventually, Alice came back, her serpentine tail wagging conspicuously.
"I've got some good news," Alice said. "I still couldn't get a hold of Erubetie or Tamamo. But I did manage to open up a telepathic link with Alma Elma, and she said she can come here! She should arrive at right about… now."
With a soft whisper of wind, a purple-haired and -winged succubus appeared. Pyrrha had just barely seen how she'd arrived—by dropping straight down from the sky.
I suppose that's an improvement from before, for me… Pyrrha thought. But I still have a long way to go, she could have taken us all down easily if she was hostile… Well, most of us…
"Thanks for coming here, Alma Elma," Alice said.
"It's no problem at all," the Heavenly Knight of Wind replied. "Normally, I would be chasing after the Lilith Sisters, but since they just retreated back to Hellgondo, they're now out of my reach. So until they show their faces again, I can lend you a hand. Just so long as I'm having fun while I'm at it."
Alma Elma's eyes roamed over the various members of the group, causing Pyrrha to stand protectively in front of Jaune. Interestingly, she took on a more serious expression when she came to Heinrich and Black Alice—apparently, even one of the strongest monsters in this world could be put off-guard by them.
"Then, Queen Succubus, we must ask your help in reaching Hellgondo," Ilias said. "You may not be able to assault the monster continent on your own, but we will be fighting alongside you, and we will assuredly not fall behind. Now is the perfect opportunity, with the Lilith Sisters and the Four Heavenly Knights all out of commission—if for various reasons, in the latter case."
"Could you not manage to hatch a new Garuda Girl?" Alma Elma asked, raising one gorgeous eyebrow. "That is why you came all the way out here, right?"
"Yes, well…" Luka said. He gave a quick explanation of the ritual's failure and Nero's words.
"Nero… the one who snuck in one day, pretended to fight Granberry seriously, then ran off with her?" Alma Elma said, glancing in Ruby's direction. "How long ago was he here?"
"It wasn't even ten minutes ago," Ruby answered. "Why, do you want to go after him?"
"While I'd love to say I want to find out more about this mysterious man…" Alma Elma said. "There's two small problems. First, I can't sense a single trace that he's been here, that anyone's been here other than your group. And second, Granberry told me about him, once. She said she'd fought him almost completely seriously… yet he was still holding back his full power."
Pyrrha recalled her own brief encounter with Granberia, then recalled Nero's casual statement that he—by joining forces with his sister—could destroy a continent. She shuddered with a very existential feeling of terror.
"So if he says you should go to the Snow Continent, that probably is a good idea," Alma Elma said. She tilted her head, as if thinking. "If it doesn't take too long, I could bring you there and help out there. It'd be faster than having to sail in a slow, boring ship."
"Still, having to make another detour…" Sonya said. "What if war breaks out again while we're away?"
The discussion picked up again with renewed vigour. Yet after another quarter of an hour, they came to a decision.
"Then let's head for the Snow Continent," Luka said. "We can fix whatever's stopping the Garuda Girl ritual, potentially pick up a new ally, and see whatever it is Nero wants us to see."
In truth, this is the only option we could have picked in the end, Pyrrha thought. All of us know Nero's power, and more importantly, many of us have been helped by him at some point. He's yet to lead us astray.
But… just what is it that we'll find on the Snow Continent? We've already seen global-scale wars, other worlds, the death of a world… just what could we possibly find next that is so important?
AN: The battle in this chapter is something I've been planning for a while, though the details have changed. Originally, more Heavenly Knights would have gotten involved. Uriela would have been the Archangel to help the angel side (leading to Granberia vs. Uriela, inspired by previews of Part 3), but then I decided Raphaela made more sense. This lets me include something introduced in the collab and also makes the story diverge from canon in interesting ways.