This was supposed to be published last week, but The Author forgot. Sorry.

Interlude IV: Spectators

"Tamamo, did you see that?"

"Clearly, Your Majesty."

Demon Lord Alisfiez and Heavenly Knight Tamamo stared wide-eyed at the crystal ball on the table.

"Garuda girl...How could one be there? From what we have seen of the school and the city, there had been no monsters that we know of, only creatures resembling one."

"A mystery, Your Majesty. I can think of a few hypotheses if I have to, but they won't be any different from wild guesses."

Garuda girls, legendary harpies, thought to have vanished from the world since the tragedy of Remina more than thirty years ago: in the present, Galda who was hatched five years ago was the only one currently alive. It will be a while before she can continue her bloodline.

"But now we can be sure that our world and theirs have some kind of connections."

The image continued. Luka and the pink-haired girl rode on the garuda girl's back, arguing about something, before suddenly stopping. They went on to help a blond-haired man fight humans riding on dragons, which were void of woman-like parts.

"Hmph, what in the world are those dragons, having bridles put on them like animals. They have no woman parts at all; are they even intelligent?"

"I do not know. That world holds many mysteries we cannot fathom. Luka must be quite confused as well."

The image continued on for a while. The appearance of a hat-wearing man on the back of a gray-scaled dragon, which was able to catch up to the newly born garuda girl's speed, seemed to have driven Luka to jump off the garuda girl's back to intercept the man midair.

"That idiot! He's pulling that kind of stunts again!"

"He was like that when I first met him as well; straddling the line between brave and reckless. Since gaining family, that side of him hadn't shown itself, but one's nature does not simply disappear."

Luka faced the hat-wearing man and his wind magic. The fight developed in Luka's favor; he defended successfully and drove his opponent into a corner with his offense.

"Looks like there are humans with some level of skills over there, though not to the level of Luka."

"Obviously. That guy was already inhuman before awakening his angelic power. As long as he has a sword, simply being able to cast a few spells wouldn't be enough for ordinary humans to beat him."

"Hoho~ Cheering on your husband like a good wife, are you not, Your Majesty~" Tamamo grinned, eyes narrowed in teasing amusement.

"I just stated the facts." Alice crossed her arms coolly. "His skills with anything else but sword is garbage though."

Not long after, the hat man fell on his knee, before getting back up with rage.

Then he split into eight.

"! Tamamo, that..."

"Probably magic of that world. If that is a wind spell, which the person seems to be adept at, it might be similar to kitsune's ninjutsu. But creating that many copies is only possible for high class kitsunes..."

For this world where humans had only begun to awake to magic since the collapse of Heaven, to witness that level of magic from a human is a spectacle for the two. Moreover...

"That human has suddenly gotten faster. What did he do?"

"He had been holding back...is unlikely to be the case. I am not sure of it myself."

The man in the crystal ball made use of the many copies to attack Luka in numbers, dealing hits after hits passed Luka's defense, taking control of the battle almost completely.

Alice's posture was stiff, arms still crossed, hands clenching on the upper arms. Her slightly glowing golden eyes glared at the hat-wearing man in the crystal ball.

"Luka, that idiot, what is he doing. It's just a mid-level mage knight...!"

"Your Majesty, Luka does not have the power of Spirits with him, or Angel Halo. Even a mid-level magic user would be a trouble for him since his fighting style is at a disadvantage."

"I know that...!"

Alice knew as well as anyone who was present when Luka decided to end contract with the Four Spirits, that he had intentionally chosen to make himself weak: weaker than any of the Heavenly Knight without the aid of angelic power.

"Lazzaro might be wrong. Maybe he even changed his mind at the end. But what he said still couldn't be ignored, right?"

'You can say that because you're strong! Monsters can tear us into pieces easily! There's no way we can get along with beings so much stronger than us!'

Alice wanted to deny the words, for Luka's sake, but it was not in her nature to look away from reality. Creatures are driven by self-preservation almost more than anything else; as someone born in the society of monsters where only the strong survive, Alice knew that well.

Luka wanted to stand in the same spot as other humans, to be surrounded by beings stronger than himself that were not of his own species, so he could be truly confident in what he preached. At the same time, he wanted to prove to others, humans and monsters, that monsters would not betray the trust human put in them, that such coexistence was possible and a reality.

Of course humans were uneasy with the decision at first; some were very verbal with their dissent, even at present. But that was also a necessary step; when the worry was constantly proven untrue, the trust humans put into monsters were also strengthened, that even without a strong champion on the human's side, it was still possible for them to coexist.

In certain political sense, and to a cynical viewpoint, his decision could be seen as idealistic to the point of stupidity.

That was why Alice had sworn, to him and herself, that she would protect him in his stead. Together, they will prove to the world that relationship other than dominance was possible between the strong and the weak, that strength was not always needed as a bargaining chip, that his ideal, while foolish, was indeed a reality.

In fact, it was thanks to that decision, that the world had not yet fallen into panic from his absent. Because the peace between humans and monsters was not entirely reliant on his presence.

Alice would not say it often, but she was proud to have met and stood beside Luka.

But now, now she could do nothing but watch him being hurt.

The powerlessness: the feeling Alice hated the most, and, as days gone by with Luka not by her side, it was becoming the feeling she most feared as well.

Luka managed to break out of his opponent's formation, but had his sword broken. Then he acted as if trying to focus on something.

"That guy is trying to call on his angelic power."

"Well, now we can be at ease, if only for a bit, Your Majesty."

Though not without its concern, the power would be able to relieve Alice of her fear. The risk of overusing angelic power is a cumulative one; very much preferable to the fatal danger at the moment.

"...Wait, isn't he acting strange?" Alice frowned.

Time passed, but the light of angelic power still did not appear. Instead, Luka seemed to have become weaker, rather than brimming with power.

He fell on his knee, then entirely to the ground.

Alice's crossed arms dropped down. The panic that had been repressed were on full display on her expression.

"Luka!?"

The fallen Luka did not get back up.

"Tamamo, what happened?!"

Tamamo frowned, worriedly watching the image.

"I do not know either. From what I can see, his opponent had not done anything. When Luka tried to call on his angelic power, something happened...That is all I know."

One of the eight hat-wearing man cast a spell surrounding his metal wand with spinning air, acting like a drill. He then walked toward the unconscious Luka.

The table cracked from the force of Alice hands.

"Stop! You, if you dare lay even a finger on him...!"

Golden eyes glowed brightly, black slit pupils widened. If anyone in this world were to become a target of such glare from the Demon Lord, they would be regretting their actions a hundred times over as they pay with their life.

However, the man in the crystal ball did not notice such a thing. He gradually walked toward the fallen Luka with a grin.

Tamamo's fingers tensed on the folding fan. There was no sound escaping from her throat: barely a reaction compared to Alice's own. However, that was simply because of her better restraint. The distress on the inside was not much different.

"Tamamo! Can't we do anything?! We have been researching for two months already! Can't we open even a tiny gap of that dimensional hole or whatever?! Just sending a whiff of my flame would be enough!"

"Your Majesty..."

The hands in black long gloves are trembling, just like the heart that is clenching in the chest of Demon Lord. The man in the image stood over Luka, holding up his drill-like wand.

Then everything was swallowed in bright light.

"What is it this time?!"

"Hm...The crystal ball is working fine. The light is on the other side."

The other side of the crystal ball is bathed in light so bright it hurt even the eyes of the observers from across the dimension, but the golden pair did not even blink of a second as they stare intently at the image.

The short time that seemed hour-long passed, and the light disappeared.

In the crystal ball, only Luka was left, still faced down on the ground. The man wearing wide-brimmed hat had vanished without a trace.

Alice's eyes looked over him from head to toe. There was no visible wound, especially not one that would have been from being pierced by a wind drill earlier. But Alice's heart still would not slow down, until the garuda girl came back down with the blond man and the pink-haired girl, who half-ran, half-stumbled toward Luka. Only after seeing their reactions were Alice and Tamamo relieved from their worry.

The breath Alice let out was both sudden and ragged. Her forehead was soaked with sweat, and her body was shivering. Tamamo looked at her and narrowed her eyes.

'If this goes on, before Luka would be seriously hurt, the heart of the spectators might break first...'

Alice closed her eyes, stilled her breath, then said with a voice that had mostly returned to normal.

"Tamamo. Just voice or a message is fine...Find some way to communicate with Luka as soon as we can."

"We will look for it to the best of our ability."

At the moment, the research institutes all over the world are conducting researches on dimensions as rigorously as they can. But with the Demon Lord's request, finding a temporary measure may have gone up on priorities.

'With our current understanding, that is not feasible yet. In two days we will receive the weekly report. It would be good if we can make enough headway by then...'

At this exact moment, Alice is still supporting herself with her hands on the cracked table, gazing at unconscious Luka being carried to a nearby forest; her eyes looked so fragile the strong front she had kept up for the past two months seemed like a lie.

'How shameful...A Demon Lord has become a woman who cannot live without her husband...'

But for the Demon Lord, that did not matter, as long as the Hero return to her safely.

As the two were deep in their thoughts after the harrowing experience, another small pair of eyes is watching through the slight opening of the door.

"Papa..."