AN: For various reasons, I could write far more this week than normal, so here's another chapter.


A short while later, the four heroes and Druella were standing at the bottom of the crater. The ground here was covered with only short grass, lacking anything to provide cover or concealment. At the rim of the crater was a row of faces—Elt, the other slum-dwellers and a still-restrained Kirsch, all watching this fight from a safe distance.

"Alright, are you all ready?" Druella asked, still infuriatingly casual at the prospect of fighting four heroes at once.

Wilmarina was the first to respond, and she did so not with words but with action.

"HAAAAAHH!"

Leaving behind a trail of frost, Wilmarina charged at Druella with Orufoyu in hand, ready to cut off the lilim's head.

If we can just win here—If we can just win here!

Recent events proved Wilmarina could not win in the field of politics. But fighting monsters was what she'd been trained to do ever since she could hold a sword or cast a spell.

If she could slay a lilim, it would devastate the morale of the monster army, ensuring Lescatie's army had a chance of defeating them.

If she could slay a lilim, it would be a feat unsurpassed in recorded history, giving her the influence needed to save Alameria and otherwise sort Lescatie out.

With those thoughts in mind, Wilmarina brought Orufoyu down in a slash that could have split a large boulder.

Druella parried the slash. She didn't stop it with superior strength or magic, she parried it with unmistakable skill.

Wilmarina didn't let that unsettle her. She continued moving her sword in a lethal dance, performing a dozen additional blows within the next second.

Yet not a single blow found its mark. Druella effortlessly parried each and every blow, then retaliated with one quick thrust that Wilmarina desperately blocked. However, the force behind that thrust still pushed her back several paces.

It was then that Mersé Dascaros entered the fray.

"Eat this!"

Mersé swung her halberd in a powerful arc. Druella elected to dodge this by stepping back instead of parrying.

But this did not reflect weakness on Druella's part. Her next move was to hold out her non-sword hand, creating tentacles of shadow that reached out towards Wilmarina and Mersé.

"You won't corrupt us!"

"Get lost!"

Wilmarina and Mersé lashed out with their weapons, severing the tentacles and reducing them to black particles.

Suddenly, Wilmarina felt a spell hit her from a completely different direction. Her immediate fear was that it was another one of Druella's attacks… but then she recognised the feel of this magical energy.

"Hey!" Mimil called out from behind. "At least wait for my support first, idiots!"

An arrow shot out from… from an area of grass seemingly devoid of any people. Druella intercepted it with a shadow tentacle, and the arrow exploded with green light as it struck.

Primera Concerto Wilmarina thought. I didn't think she'd be able to hide that well outside of forest, in grassland like this…

Wilmarina had to focus. Her three allies might not be from the Holy Ice Flower, but she had to try to work with them. That was their only hope of defeating a lilim.

Mimil cast another support spell on Wilmarina and Mersé—this one felt like it would enhance the power of their attacks, unlike the previous spell which was for protection. At the same time, Wilmarina met Mersé's gaze and they both nodded silently. If Primera was doing anything, it was impossible to perceive.

Throughout these preparations, Druella did not attack. She held out her rapier in a combat stance, so it wasn't as if she'd let down her guard, but it was still irritating to see her so casual.

Then a second arrow shot towards Druella, this time from a completely different direction. Druella turned to the left and conjured up a red magic circle in mid-air. On hitting the magic circle, the arrow reversed direction and hurtled towards the one who'd fired it.

Mersé ran towards Druella and swung her halberd—but her aim was the ground, not the lilim who'd proved unexpectedly skilled in fencing. Mersé's halberd scattered an enormous cloud of soil and grass into the air, making it impossible for most to even breathe, let alone see.

The cloud dispersed a moment later, being driven off by a magical gust of wind. However, it was enough of a distraction for Primera to shoot another arrow and Mimil to cast a spell.

"Permafrost Prison!"

Druella took flight in an attempt to avoid the arrow and a growing mass of ice. She succeeded with the first, but the ice managed to engulf one of her feet.

It took perhaps two seconds for Druella to melt the ice with fire cast from her left hand. However, that was enough.

Wilmarina's Orufoyu was now glowing as brightly as the sun, having been infused with over half of her spirit energy reserves. She raised it high and then brought it down.

"FALL, PROGENY OF THE DEMON LORD!"

A titanic wave of azure energy burst forth from the legendary sword. It struck Druella and an entire quarter of the crater, blasting debris into the air and sending tremors through the ground.

Wilmarina panted in exhaustion, but she did not lower her sword. It was still unclear if her enemy was still alive—Wilmarina's attack had disturbed the flow of energies so much that even a lilim would briefly be undetectable. Fortunately, a quick look around confirmed that Elt's group was unharmed—she'd been careful to keep them behind her, but if her attack had hit them...

"...Wow," Mersé said, also keeping her weapon at the ready despite her admiration. "Now I know why everyone says you could beat the Demon Lord."

Mimil cast a spell on Wilmarina that slightly alleviated her fatigue. "They also say that monsters are just lustful brutes who can't learn any real skills."

Primera popped up from the grass nearby, an arrow nocked to her bow. "It's not over yet."

The second, larger dust cloud dissipated. A glowing purple barrier of magic came into view… but it was like nothing Wilmarina had ever seen before.

That's...

Barriers were typically rounded, sometimes to the point of being complete spheres. Druella's barrier was long and tapered to a point, almost like an enormous carrot in shape. The point of the barrier was facing towards Wilmarina. Finally, Druella was crouching within the shield, and both she and the sliver of ground around her were intact.

"...But she's good as well, there's no denying that," Mersé continued bitterly. "I've been training and fighting for almost a decade, but I never even knew that was possible."

"That's because actually doing it is practically impossible," Mimil explained. "Sure, a barrier of that shape can better resist attacks coming from a single direction, allowing most of the force to just slide off. But forming a barrier like that is orders of magnitude harder than a round one. Even if you could do it, you'd have to have absurd skill and reaction time to actually block an attack with it. If you're a second too late or form the barrier in the wrong direction, you'd get killed."

"That's right. I had to practice thousands of times before I could do it properly."

Druella had now released the barrier. Even now, she infuriatingly refused to attack.

She has enough leeway to just converse with us, as though this was just friendly sparring…

"Who taught you such skills?" Wilmarina asked. If her enemy was so willing to converse, she might as well exploit it. "Was it your parents?"

"Oh, no, they really don't want to encourage their children to fight," Druella replied casually. "And I didn't exactly seek this out, at first. But my older sister, Athaena, had other ideas."

Wilmarina exchanged glances with her fellow heroes. It was well-known that the Demon Lord and the Fallen Hero had produced multiple offspring together. However, confirmed details about the lilim were scarce, with most of it being unconfirmed rumours.

"Just so you know—" Druella's words caused them all to flinch, afraid she'd spied on their thoughts, "—Athaena is the second-oldest out of us. And she's basically dedicated her life to fighting and becoming as strong as possible. She spends eight hours a day practising on her own, against others or in actual combat with bandits, pirates or other criminals. A lot of people in Royal Makai actually think she might be on par with our parents, purely in terms of fighting skill."

Wilmarina tried her best not to shudder. It was possible that Druella was trying to terrify them by exaggerating her sister's prowess.

"And she expects us to reach a minimum standard as well," Druella continued, her tone one of a student annoyed by their studies. "At first, I only trained hard enough to meet that standard. But… then I started wanting to surprise her, to show her that I could actually beat her once in a while." She scratched her cheek with apparent embarrassment. "Not that I ever did… but I still surpassed her minimum standard. That's why, even though this is hardly my specialty, I can fight you all to a standstill."

There was silence for a few moments. Wilmarina saw various emotions on the faces of her allies: fear, suspicion, self-doubt. If she had a mirror or some other reflective surface, she might have seen much the same in her own face.

She's someone we do not trust… that's the fundamental reason for us fighting in the first place. And yet… why do her words affect us so…?

Eventually, Druella said, "So… do you want to continue this?"

Wilmarina remembered where Elt was, somewhere along the crater's rim behind her. She didn't turn around to look, not daring to show such vulnerability in front of a monster. She also remembered Alameria, cold and lonely in a death-row cell back in Lescatie. These caused her to tighten her grip on Orufoyu's hilt.

"...Yes," Wilmarina said.

"A battle's not over yet as long as both sides can still fight," Mersé said.

"I still have plenty of spells to try out on you," Mimil said.

Primera remained silent, but the drawing of her bow was the only response necessary.

Druella nodded. "Then come."

Once more, the four heroes and the lilim clashed.

-ooo-

As Wilmarina was sent flying through the air, Mersé closed in on Druella.

Never thought I'd be fighting a lilim in person… or that she'd have a better family than I do!

Her mother—also one of the reasons she didn't see humans as inherently better than monsters—had run off with another man when Mersé was six. Due to the resulting stress, her father had died a few years later and without remarrying. Perhaps Mersé had half-siblings on her mother's side… but they would no more be her family than any random stranger on the street.

But I won't let that stop me! If you want Lescatie, prove you can take it, and keep it!

Mersé thrust her halberd at Druella, who attempted to parry it. As soon as their weapons made contact, Mersé triggered one of her signature spells.

"UUUOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!"

Threads of magic went through Mersé's body down her feet and deep into the ground. These allowed her to push with the same implacable force as a stampede of elephants, as a landslide.

Druella's rapier and right arm were pushed back… and then she thrust her left palm forward, sending out an invisible wave. The threads of magic in Mersé's body snapped instantly.

Mersé spat towards Druella's face, hoping to at least distract her.

The distraction failed utterly. Druella shifted backwards, grabbed Mersé's arm and then pulled.

Hand-to-hand too—!?

With a resounding crash, Mersé was slammed into the ground by an over-the-shoulder throw.

-ooo-

While the melee fighters kept Druella occupied, Mimil checked her reserve of spirit energy.

At this rate, I might not even last a minute longer… and some of the others will also run dry soon!

If they were to have any chance of winning—something that seemed more unlikely with each passing second—they had to use every trick available.

Mimil raised her staff. "Befuddle my enemy—Army of One!"

Eight illusory copies of Mimil appeared throughout the crater, then they began moving in different directions. These illusions contained far less energy than the real Mimil, so they wouldn't work on a skilled opponent… under calm conditions.

In this chaos, even a lilim might be fooled!

Mimil began casting another spell, causing the heart-shaped head of her staff to glow brightly. Her illusions copied this action.

I hate everyone else in Magitec, I hate the nobles trying to use me, I hate those fools who call themselves my parents. Maybe Lescatie would be better off with monsters in charge.

But there'd be resistance to that, inside and outside the country. Are you prepared to stand against that, Druella!?

"Penetrate the deepest darkness… Lance of Light: Maximum Intensity!"

The nine Mimils shot out rays of light from their staffs. Only one of these had actual destructive power…

...and it was the one that Druella blocked with a shield formed from shadows.

Then Druella sent out a barrage of shadow tentacles. One of these managed to snatch the staff out of Mimil's hands.

-ooo-

Primera loosed a light-imbued arrow, severing the tentacle holding the little brat's staff. Then she began moving to a new position, since even if she was hidden by magic, shooting would still give away her position.

My parents… they had to run away for the sake of their love…

Wilmarina and Druella locked blades. The former was imbued with a glacial aura of ice, so the latter had summoned up a comparable amount of blazing fire to match it. Primera used this opportunity to shoot a paralysing arrow at Druella's legs.

But if they could have made it to a monster country… would they have been accepted? Would they have lived in peace? It doesn't matter now.

Druella incinerated the arrow and used a flick of her rapier to toss Wilmarina at Mersé. With the opening thus created, she cast a spell whose only visible sign was her eyes glowing red. Then all of the little brat's illusions popped out of existence.

I've been attacked by monsters… and I've been attacked by humans. Really, it doesn't matter to me which is in charge.

Primera loosed three arrows in quick succession. Druella put up a conventionally round barrier to block these, then sent the barrier flying forwards as a blunt weapon. Primera had to leap to the side to avoid it, leaving her vulnerable.

But I have people here I want to protect! Unless I'm sure they'll be safe, I won't give up!

Primera drew her dagger in one hand and covered the edge in a trapped gale, increasing its cutting power. But before she was forced to use this backup weapon, Wilmarina and Mersé attacked Druella again.

-ooo-

Within a side room of the Fullmoon Church, Sasha sat on a wooden bench, embracing a number of orphans with her arms and wings.

"When are Big Bro Elt and Big Sis Primera going to come back?"

"Mimil too… She keeps saying she doesn't like playing with us, but she obviously does, really."

"Will you have to fight again, Big Sis Sasha?"

Sasha patted the head of the boy who'd asked that question. "No, I hope not. If all goes well… maybe I won't have to fight again."

A short time later, two of the older girls entered the room. They were carrying trays with wooden bowls of piping-hot stew.

"Alright, it's our turn now!" Lisia said, setting down her tray.

"You've had long enough with Big Sis Sasha!" Emiyu added, also setting down her tray.

The orphans who were clinging to Sasha's wings just tightened their grips. They shouted back "No!" and "Still my turn!"

"Now, now, children, there's no need to argue," Sasha said.

It was ironic. These children had literally been raised by a priestess in a church in one of the most Order-adherent nations. Yet they were now accepting of a monster, even enjoying that it gave her soft feathery wings to better hug them with. Even slum children who didn't live in the church would probably accept her, once they learned what had happened.

But what of the children of the higher classes? They know nothing about what monsters are truly like, and are generally content with their roles in the Order's hierarchy...

While pondering this, Sasha felt numerous presences suddenly appear within the church. The others had returned… every single one of them. That was something to be thankful for, at least.

Sasha told the children to stay put again and then returned to the main room of the church. She saw that none of them had any physical injuries, but almost all of them had been changed in spirit.

Elt and the other regular humans showed a mix of fear and awe. Sasha was quite familiar with this, it was the usual reaction of regular humans who saw heroes in battle.

The five heroes all looked dejected to varying degrees, with Wilmarina and the still-restrained Kirsch looking the worst. It reminded Sasha of her own feelings after realising that the aristocracy of Lescatie would never spare a single coin to improve the slums. The four who'd fought were sweating and panting with fatigue, but none of them were injured.

Only Druella appeared to be the same as before, physically and mentally.

"...Welcome back," Sasha said. "I presume you've settled your differences?"

"If by 'settled our differences', you mean 'got our asses kicked'?" Mersé replied, dropping down on a church pew with a thud. Her halberd was practically slipping out of her hands. "Then sure, we definitely did."

Wilmarina stopped in her tracks and looked at Druella. There was none of the anger and determination from before, just… crushing despair.

"How… How is it that you haven't conquered Lescatie yet…?"

"Because taking over by force is not what we, the monsters, want," Druella replied. "If it was, we could have sent in my sister instead. I accepted your challenge today because I hoped to prove our intentions."

Sasha was slightly confused by one part of this answer, but she could ask for clarification later. The important part was that they all understood the truth now: monsters, at least the ones currently aiming for Lescatie, were not some ultimate evil that left no room for negotiation.

"Alright, let's say we accept that's true," Mimil said. "What are your specific plans to actually convince Lescatie to make peace with monsters? It took some pretty unique circumstances for us here to do that. How will you get tens of thousands of people to do the same?"

"Truth be told, my side has already done that in half of Lescatie's territory," Druella replied.

That surprised everyone else, Sasha included. All of their worrying and planning about how to stop the monsters—until quite recently, in some cases—and they were already too late.

"Though it's only the small to mid-sized villages at this point," Druella clarified. "Anything more would be impossible without drawing attention."

"But still… it's only been a couple of weeks, at most…" Sasha said.

In response, Druella snapped her fingers to conjure up an image. The image depicted a village of humans… now with monsters among them. The humans lacked any visible signs of injury or illness—or fear or terror—and their buildings were in far better shape than expected.

"Convincing humans of our intentions is easier than you'd think," Druella said, sounding a little triumphant. "After all, unlike what you might think, we don't demand that humans become monsters and incubi. And the humans living out in Lescatie's outskirts live hard lives, hardly ever seeing the Order do anything for them."

With the exception of Druella, everyone in this room had been raised to follow the Order. Not a single person disagreed.

In a sense… Lescatie has been treating them as an expendable buffer against attack, Sasha thought. But if monsters truly were the corrupting horde that the Order portrays them as, this would be incredibly foolish… And now, the people of the country are starting to throw off that role.

"Approaching them honestly, and making their lives more comfortable, has been working well," Druella said, dismissing the image. "But even if we monsters could reach all the villages, that would still be less than half of Lescatie's population. Convincing the rest would take a lot of help from within… and that's where I'd like help from all of you."

This was met with a considerable, yet understandable amount of uncertainty. Some probably doubted whether or not they could be of any help to a lilim. Others, like the recent arrivals, probably still doubted Druella's intentions.

The first to respond was a middle-aged man with greying hair.

"Not sure if we can do anything that matters," said Old Henley. He'd shown some desire for Druella before—an unavoidable reaction around a lilim—but that was entirely gone now. "But if you want us to spread the word, we can try."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll all be able to make a difference," Druella said. She pulled out several sheets of paper from her shadow and handed them around. "Here are some ideas on what you can do."

The papers were handed out to the various heroes, with the obvious exception of Kirsch. Sasha was about to point out that most of the slum-dwellers were illiterate, except Druella had already started explaining her ideas for them out loud.

She's thought of everything…

Sasha began reading the paper given to her. It was mostly as expected: reaching out to more of the slums' inhabitants to convince them that monsters weren't the enemy. What came as a surprise was a suggestion to invite high-ranking individuals in Lescatie—the exact choices were left up to her—to the Fullmoon Church, then reveal herself as a monster.

Almost any noble or priest would fall for that offer, Sasha thought. With the current state of Lescatie, they're scrambling to bring any unaffiliated heroes to their side. They'd be eager for a meeting even if it meant having to visit the slums… and that would force them to see, however briefly, the consequences of her negligence…

Sasha would have to send the children away first, for their own safety. But it was a promising idea nonetheless, even if success was not guaranteed.

Although, speaking of children...

Eventually, the heroes finished reading their papers and Druella finished her verbal explanation.

"You've… put a lot of thought into this," Mimil admitted grudgingly.

"Most of these aren't my ideas," Druella said. "They're the product of many of Royal Makai's brightest minds working together. And if you're wondering why I haven't revealed these before, it's because it would be a little presumptive to act as if you were already working with me."

Though in my case, it wouldn't have been much presumption at all… Sasha thought. Not after all of the help I've given monsters…

Wilmarina set down her list of ideas and sighed. "As galling as it is to say this… your plans have a chance of succeeding. In part, because… Lescatie is in such a sorry state that many would willingly submit to monsters."

"Hey, we're not asking anyone to do that!" Druella protested. "And for those who'd like to do that, it should be their own choice."

Wilmarina turned bright red and slapped her hands over Elt's ears, as if doing so would somehow erase his memories of what had just been said. The young man also blushed, but this probably had less to do with Druella's words and more to do with feeling his childhood friend's chest on his back.

That thought drove Sasha to pull Wilmarina away. And as she did, Druella burst into giggling—an unexpectedly innocent sound.

"Sorry, sorry," Druella said. "Anyway, it's quite late now. I must return to my camp. But if you'd like to talk to me again, you have the means. And, in case you ever feel hungry tonight, please accept this."

Druella pulled out a large sack from her shadow and then teleported away, leaving a silent and very uncertain crowd behind.

The silence was eventually broken by Mersé turning to Sasha and saying, "So… I have a feeling I know the answer, but do you have any booze here?"

"...No," Sasha replied. "Only three adults live here, none of whom has a taste for alcohol. That said… I can understand why you'd make that request."

"Well, I'm sure I could get it somewhere in the slums if I really tried," Mersé said. She looked down at Druella's paper again and shook her head. "But, uh… now's the time when we all have to be sober."

"And some of us can't even drink yet, idiot," Mimil said, though it was obvious to all that her insult had no real force behind it. "Anyway, what's in the sack?"

Wilmarina reached out with her sword and sliced open the sack. From the sack spilled forth hard biscuits, blocks of cheese, dried fruits and salted fish.

"..."

Everyone in this room had been raised to believe monsters only gave gifts to spread their corruption. It was common sense that eating monster food would transform a human into a monster.

But at this moment, no one suggested that they should throw out this food. Wilmarina herself simply pulled back her sword with a bitter expression.

Right now, there are far more people in this church than normal. And several of them are heroes who've just burnt through a lot of energy. Druella's gift… is undeniably thoughtful.

The first to reach for the food was Elt. He picked up one of the cheeses and hesitantly offered it to Wilmarina. The blue-haired hero accepted the cheese and—with a mix of embarrassment, suspicion and barely concealed happiness—started nibbling on it. Various people snickered, though they quietened up when Wilmarina glared at them.

Then the others all began helping themselves to the food. The sight of heroes eating food that had more attention paid to storage than to taste, and doing it with their social inferiors, would have been horrifying to Lescatie's high society.

As no one would release Kirsch from her restraints, Sasha chose to feed her. The newly turned cursed sword was still so stunned by what she'd witnessed, she didn't even protest being fed monster food. She just chewed each dollop of food as it entered her mouth.

Eventually, dinner was finished and Kirsch carried back down to the church's basement again. For lack of an actual prison cell, this was their best place to keep her for the time being.

Elt stood up and asked, "So… how do people feel about… going through with this?"

Several people, some subtly and others not-so-subtly, looked towards Mersé and Wilmarina.

"Well… I've got lots of soldiers to think about, and by extension, their families and friends too" Mersé said. "But if I can pull this off, they should be willing to change sides. You think so too, right, Elt? You're their brother-in-arms while I'm just their superior."

"I think they will," Elt replied. "It's just a matter of getting the timing right… What about you, Mary?"

Wilmarina blushed a little again—now that things were relatively calm, she apparently felt embarrassed at this nickname being used in front of others. She did not reproach Elt for it, however.

"...I will try. Recent events have made all—almost all of the Order of the Holy Ice Flower disillusioned with Lescatie's leadership. Our efforts at internal reform have not worked. But even then… convincing the others to side with monsters won't be easy. Because…"

"Because heroes are trained to be the ones who actually fight monsters," Mersé said. "Whereas normal soldiers are basically trained to be distractions. Maybe to keep watch while the heroes sleep."

There was clear bitterness in Mersé's voice. Sasha wondered how many times she must have asked for more support for the soldiers, only to be rebuffed each and every time. It would have been similar to Sasha's failures in getting support for the slums, except the soldiers were actually meant to help fight against monsters.

Perhaps Lescatie was always doomed to fall, if it has degenerated to this extent…

"I won't deny that," Wilmarina said sadly. "However… Lescatie has betrayed us as well. And with these, I should be able to convince the rest of my knight order."

Unlike the other heroes, Wilmarina hadn't just been given a sheet of paper about how to change the attitudes of Lescatie's people. She'd also been given three small yellow gemstones, each carved into the shape of an eye. These gemstones had previously been scattered around that otherworldly crater to serve a particular purpose.

"I'm going through with this as well," Mimil said. "Those idiots in Magitec should easily fall for this trick…"

"But what will your parents think?" Sasha asked.

Mimil's expression darkened. "My parents? Well… they're focused on the more important things in life, like drinking and looking all fancy. As long as they get to keep their comforts, they won't care. And they're not going to complain about me being in danger, since Druella's plan would be safer for me than being a hero."

Everyone else looked discomforted by these words. Sasha, in particular, wanted to just pick up Mimil and tell her she didn't have to even participate in Druella's plan, that she could just laugh and play like any child her age. But doing that would make Lescatie's youngest hero splutter with embarrassment.

"But that doesn't matter. What matters is how we handle those other heroes, the ones none of us has any real connections with…"

The discussion continued for long into the night. Sasha had to leave at one point to tuck the children into bed, then leave again to order them to stay in bed. All the while, rain continued hammering down on the church's roof.

But for the first time since her parents' deaths, Sasha began to have hope.