The four heroes and Cassandra glared at each other for a few more seconds before the Monster Lord struck. She engaged the fight by summoning a large whirlpool of slime that attempted to swallow her opponents. However, they all dodged or powered through her attack with an impressive ease, surprising her. Then they counter-attacked in a storm of fire and steel as both Lest and Luka slashed at her body at a lightning speed while Kazuya kept shooting her with lightning bullets. While she managed to avoid most of the strikes from the two swordsmen, she completely failed to avoid any of Kazuya's shot and ended up running straight into a powerful holy-infused punch from Hakunen that was enough to make her flinch. As the heroes threatened to surround her, her whole serpentine body uncoiled and struck back like a whip, forcing the heroes to back up before she further pushed them away with a burning nova of fire. As she recovered from the initial assault, she growled at the heroes.
"Did you exploit the moment I confided myself to enhance your bodies with magic? How disgraceful! I won't show you any mercy now! Disruptive wave!"
The movements of the four heroes slowed down as all the magical enchantments they had used to get an edge instantly collapsed under Cassandra's counterspell. Then her eyes glowed briefly and all of them became more sluggish: Kazuya periodically shivered, Lest fell asleep, and Luka felt unable to speak while Hakunen started wandering off, clearly stunned. Feeling her confidence rise, the Monster Lord chuckled darkly.
"I am the Monster Lord! And I will show you why I am deserving of that title!"
Cassandra summoned powerful waves of darkness that swept through the arena and hit the heroes before they could react. Lest collapsed on the ground while Luka himself took a knee to the floor to steady himself as he felt his energy leave him. Grinning, Cassandra attempted to finish off the duo with a downward sweep from her monstrous tail. To her surprise, her limb was blocked in the air for a second during which Luka pulled the unconscious Lest out of her reach before she slammed the ground uselessly. When she saw the torn talisman glide in front of her, she turned around and attempted to punch the monk boy directly in the face. Hakunen slipped under her guard and riposted with a barely effective uppercut. As she felt bullets continue to rain on her, she attempted to grab Hakunen to use him as a shield against his allies. However, the man was too evasive for her and even managed to punch her in the face once again before he jumped back away from her. The two opponents stared at each other before Hakunen started running to take momentum and fly at her with a diving kick. The Monster Lord completely ignored him and instead focused on the man that had kept shooting at her for the past minutes. She dodged the monk as well as most of the shots from her other aggressor by weaving around like a snake. Kazuya slowly started to move back while she charged, but before she could reach the gunman two lightning-fasts sword strikes intercepted her. She casted a holy spell toward the two impudents that had attacked her and continued her progress toward Kazuya. As he kept moving back, the man eventually reached the edge of the platform.
"It doesn't matter if I don't get to eat every last one of you! You're barely an appetizer compared to the world that is waiting for me anyway!"
Before the three other heroes could reach them, she used her tail to swipe at Kazuya and sent him flying into the endless void. The hero didn't even scream as he was thrown away, instead focusing on placing one or two more additional shots in his opponent before falling too far. She didn't take the time to gloat at her victory and instead turned around to finish up dealing with the remaining heroes. Their silence when their comrade died worried her.
And indeed, she found herself faced with a burning storm of rage as the three heroes struck at her with all their might. They didn't even scream in anger, and were instead completely focused on taking her down. She narrowly dodged the first of their assault before counter-attacking with a tsunami of slime that corroded the fabric of reality to reach the heroes. The attack suddenly collapsed to her shock as Lest's blade cut through the wave like it was butter, and the Monster Lord got caught flat-footed by this sudden development, taking several hits before she could calm their ardor with another dispel.
"Enough! Now it's time for me to dispose of- Gnnnnnh…"
Cassandra's upper half suddenly keeled over as she held her stomach while her serpentine half trashed around. While they were surprised, the heroes still pushed on with their assault led by Luka and slashed at the Monster Lord who was seemingly control of her body. As the purple-haired hero struck her body again, a sword held by an arm suddenly emerged from the gooey mass that made for Cassandra's lower body. As pain kept coursing through her, the latter could only stare in disbelief.
"No… Impossible! This cannot be!"
The next instant, a tall silhouette covered in gunk fully emerged from her body. Luka backed away more by precaution than by fear in front of this new monster.
"Right on time... Now, would you kindly finish up whatever you were doing while I clean myself from this disgusting pig manure?"
Cassandra twisted around and rushed at the monster that had escaped her with an enraged scream only to be instantly met with the combined assault from the three heroes. The combined attack knocked her upper half across the platform while her serpentine body unwrapped and followed. Completely dazed, the Monster Lord attempted to raise herself, but she collapsed after a second, only looking up at the three heroes that were looking down on her without hiding their rage.
"Unless Kazuya is back in five minutes, your life is forfeit."
"It's impossible… I should never have been beaten by humans as weak as you…"
"Get over it you pompous victim. This is just another day for us, but this will be your last if you don't help us."
The Monster Lord weakly pointed at Daji who was drying herself with a summoned towel. "…I thought I had eaten her. I felt her signature become beyond weak… she should have been digested."
Daji chuckled. "You've been tricked by a fox. When you're as strong as a lion, make yourself as small as a mouse, then strike when the time is right. I heard that from a certain strategist a few hundred years ago." She then muttered for herself. "Although now, I don't even have the strength to squeak…"
Luka gave the kitsune a hostile glance. "Aren't you the one responsible for opening the way between worlds? It's time to pay the piper, Daji."
Daji conciliatorily raised her hands and looked down in defeat. "I got it, this world showed me time and time again that it is clearly out for my blood, I promise I will behave myself more properly from now on..." She then proceeded to push her breasts with her arm, further flaunting her generous forms. "And I'm sure I will be able to repay you in a way you will find fitting…"
Luka silently turned back to Cassandra. As he examined her, the hero felt pity for her: the monster had let her hunger for power consume everything up to her common sense if she was now wandering alone between dimensions… It didn't balance with what she did to Kazuya though. He was going to miss the man. Unless…
He turned toward Daji again. She was a powerful mage after all.
"Can't you detect Kazuya? And no lies, I won't stand for your honeyed words."
"I got it, please drop the hostility, I want to point out that I'm more than tired… I can try, but it will take time, that place looks huge. Oh, and before anything, I want to make it clear that I don't do it for that grunting sow over there…"
Cassandra moaned pathetically in a failed attempt to retort.
"Now shush, I need to focus to find him, and- he's right under us?"
"What?" Luka raised an eyebrow as Daji got closer to the edge of the platform. The hero still had his hand resting on the pommel of his sword, ready to pull his weapon out in case the kitsune would give him a reason to hit her.
"Oooh… ohohoh… I see…" Daji chuckled. "That dimension is folded on itself geographically, and so is gravity… so anybody who got thrown off the platform would end up on its opposite side… This is giving me ideas…"
"Forget about it, and focus on saving Kazuya."
Or if it's that kind of idea, keep it for later. That could actually be fun…
Daji dramatically sighed and threw one of her tail under the platform. The furry limb expanded to a disproportionate size. "Come on, Kazuya, just grab it, I know you want it!"
After a few moments, Daji yelped in surprise and pulled back her tail: the fluffy tip was turning from purple to brownish. Luka repressed a smile in front of the kitsune's misfortune. The latter groaned and threw all of her tails under the platform while reinforcing her speed with a few spells.
"Come on! I'm trying to help you for once! There!"
A second later, Daji's tails emerged while dragging a struggling Kazuya. She unceremoniously dropped the man as soon as he was over the platform before turning her attention toward her fluffy tails, moaning in an exaggerated fashion as she smoothed them out with her hand.
"I hate when people make a mess of my tails without giving anything in return…"
Once he recovered, Kazuya pointed his gun at Daji for a short moment before holstering his weapon. He then proceeded to make his way in front of the kitsune, stopped within arm's reach, glared at her, then slapped her. The kitsune was still smirking when she massaged her slightly reddened cheek.
"I guess I deserve that one. But you should keep your energy in reserve, there are better ways to spend it."
Kazuya groaned. "Keep it to yourself."
"I was talking about the long way we're going to have to cross through to get out of this place…" Daji was grinning like a cat. "I don't exactly have enough energy to pull the White Rabbit trick again unless you let me suck all of you dry, and I think that this is out of question, am I wrong?"
Kazuya blushed slightly. "No, you aren't. And besides, we still have-"
A thunderous explosion suddenly interrupted the conversation. The three of them turned on the side to see Cassandra lying on the ground with a large mark on her cheek while Hakunen and Lest were both covered in gunk and glaring at her, their weapons at the ready. When they noticed the trio looking at them in surprise, they sheepishly calmed down.
"She tried to wrap around us."
"Too bad, I'm sure energetic young men like you would have appreciated her experience!"
The four unamused men contemptuously glanced at Daji.
"I got it, I'll remain silent and won't act up, you can safely forget about me for the moment…" She pointed at the unconscious Cassandra. "I'm not sure about what you should do with her though."
Luka hesitated for a moment. On the one hand, that monster nearly killed one of his fellow heroes and was the successful parallel version of an already terrible companion. On the other hand… he could still use more help and support.
She doesn't look bad either… In fact, she looks even slightly better than her counterpart from home. She's also quite a powerhouse to keep us at bay like that, and I could always use more company…
…Screw it. I'm bringing her with me.
"I'll carry her then. The only issue remaining is leaving this place… Normally, it's the White Rabbit who pulls me out, but since she's apparently unavailable, we'll probably have to find another way."
Kazuya cocked his gun while looking at Daji to challenge her to say anything. The fox simply raised her hands and started following Luka as the hero started walking toward a freshly appeared magic circle.
"…She's usually there. And I've never seen that before."
After an undetermined amount of time, the heroes had ended in another strange dimension which floor was made of purple slabs familiar to all those that had seen the chaosization affecting the Château des Romances while the walls were covered with purplish vines. What surprised them the most, however, was the large comfortable pink bed that looked completely out of place in this dimension. The four heroes were carefully examining the piece of furniture as if it was a mimic ready to devour them.
"…I'm too exhausted to go in a pink bed."
"What? Are you afraid to get corrupted by a demon in a dream?" Daji was grinning when she uttered her part, but there was an unusual discomfort filtering in her voice. "I'd say there would be no chance here, but I'm too exhausted to do any magical analysis in no small part because of our little load…"
Luka sighed and placed the unconscious Cassandra on the bed, if only to get rid of said load. He didn't want to open that Pandora box, and started feeling more comfortable about his relations with his allies: it was now clear Kazuya was enjoying the same kind of pleasures he did… and suffered just as much of the attention of his partners.
The purple-haired hero cleared his mind and silently started drawing plans of his next moves in his head. The White Rabbit wasn't there to get him out as she usually did, and his introduction in the labyrinth was highly irregular. There were no apparent other ways to escape.
Maybe if Daji recovers enough, she can transform into the White Rabbit again and create a path to our home dimension. However, she'd probably need days to get enough energy, unless we give her some…
…As tempting as it sounds, I don't think that letting her drain us in the middle of this mess is a good idea… Once home though…
He glanced sideways at the curvy, barely-covered kitsune who was vocally defending herself at the accusations Kazuya and Lest kept occasionally throwing, while Hakunen was looking more concerned at the unusual environment. After thoroughly enjoying the eye candy, he returned his attention to the empty bed. Its comfort looked particularly appealing, given how exhausted he was. He needed a moment longer before his brain reminded him of more important information.
"Where's Cassandra? I just placed her on the bed! Did she somehow teleport?!"
The remainder of the team turned around and checked by themselves: indeed, Cassandra had completely disappeared. Luka checked the bed with wide motions of his hand to try to guess if the monster had only made herself invisible, but his arm only met air.
"She was unconscious. She couldn't have teleported away." Kazuya glared at the empty spot.
More to fill the silence than out of conviction, Hakunen haphazardly threw a guess. "…Maybe she was swallowed by the bed?"
Daji laughed. "This is an interesting theory… One I am in fact eager to test if it means escaping this place faster!"
The large kitsune threw herself on the bed in a somehow dignified manner while still flashing the heroes. The bed's elasticity and her own body made her bounce a few times, attracting the attention of her masculine companions to her feminine forms before she completely stopped moving, turned on her side. Before the heroes recovered their composure from the debauched show, Daji had disappeared.
"We have no idea where it leads, and there are now two dangerous monsters on the other side." Kazuya sounded more jaded than worried. "I guess there's no other choice than following them. I'll go first and try to see if I can bring any information back."
The red-haired man laid into the bed, and, after a short moment, disappeared himself. The three remaining heroes awkwardly looked at each other before Hakunen stepped forward with determination.
"I'll help him if he's in danger. He did the same for me, I'll finally be able to pay him back."
The monk boy placed himself where Kazuya was a second ago, going wide-eyed in surprise as he almost sank into the bed. After he disappeared at his turn, Lest proceeded to do the same and followed an identical fate, leaving Luka alone with his thoughts.
In hindsight, this is downright dumb and suicidal. For all we know, it could be a ploy from Black Alice or another powerful monster realizing we're desperate. They could already be crippled by whoever is likely waiting on the other side. It's certainly a trap.
…But it never stopped me in the past, did it? Let's just get it over with.
Finally, Luka himself lied on the bed and closed his eyes. He recognized that his first feeling was right as his body sank into the thick mattress. A supernatural exhaustion took over him, and, the next instant, the hero fell asleep.
When Luka emerged from his sleep, he was greeted by the too-familiar lewd sounds of succubi and humans getting it on while the crystalline environment brought recent memories of some of his latest memories.
Did we end up in the Land of Night? How and why is it still a thing?
"Good evening, hero… May I offer you some company?"
Luka turned around to see the smiling face of Est uncomfortably close to his own. The hero rolled away out of the bed and got up in a smooth motion, eliciting a giggle of amusement from the Queen of Dreams.
"That was pretty cute… Don't you want to play around a little more?"
"No." Luka unsheathed his sword and threateningly pointed it at Est, even if he knew the gesture was futile while the three other heroes joined him. He analyzed his surroundings, and pointed at one of the men that was currently having fun with a succubus. "I thought you agreed to stop trying to expand the Land of Night. Release your prisoners and let us go."
Est raised an eyebrow. "I did stop doing so a long time ago. I simply make sure the desires of the ones that come to see us are satisfied."
The sound of flapping wings attracted Luka's attention, and he saw the familiar figure of Alma Elma and the less familiar one of Nemea landing right besides Est.
"Oooh, Luka-boy is here? Wait…" The succubus frowned. "Wait, you're really there in the flesh… Too bad…"
"Hey there Hakunen… Did you came here to see big sis?"
"Khhhh…" The monk boy backed up as Luka tried to keep track of what the succubi were saying.
"What do you mean? I thought you were waiting for me with Tamamo in the Gold Region, what are you doing here?"
"Weeell, I talked a little with my fellow succubi, and we had a little fun in the Land of Night…" She grinned. "We even discovered that we can feed on people that land there at our will, and even if they die there, nothing more will happen than them waking up in sweat."
"And it spread through word of mouth soooo fast…" Nemea sensually sighed. "So we started handing out… invitations to people interested. A lot of people are willing to taste this experience in a realistic dream…"
Kazuya raised an eyebrow. "Wait, those people voluntarily ended up there?"
"Everybody that ends here today do so of their own choices. They come back because they want. I only brought you in because someone made a request, and I obliged. You are naturally free to leave anytime…" Est pointed at a large floating crystal down a set of stairs, where Daji and an unconscious Cassandra were waiting. She continued in a melodious voice. "And you are free also free to stay or to come back any time you desire… All you have to do is think of me."
Luka looked at the crystal, then at the succubi. He eventually started feeling ashamed when he realized everything Est had just done was pulling him out of his latest nightmare and offer him some comfort the way any succubus would find the most fitting. Even his companions were blushing in a mix of visible arousal and embarrassment.
"Don't you want to stay here? You could an eternity enjoying the finest pleasures you could ever dream of… A reward fitting for a hero who saved the world and who suffered through so much pain…"
Luka sheathed his sword. A part of him wanted nothing more than to accept Est's offer and enjoy himself to his heart's content after all those adventures. On the other hand…
"Thank you, and I might consider your offer later. I have other tasks to accomplish first, namely making sure that everyone is aware I'm fine."
"Awwww…" Alma Elma pouted for a short moment before she made her way to the hero's side. "Actually, if you don't mind, I'll come with you, Luka-boy. Tamamo will undoubtedly be glad to hear that you are doing fine."
In the meantime, Nemea smiled at Hakunen in a last ditch effort to beguile the monk boy to stay or to at least get invited, but he only returned a hard glare and she eventually resigned herself.
"I wish you luck then… Don't hesitate to come back for me, okay?" She blew a final kiss in the wind that the men carefully avoided. She pouted and returned back to her meal.
As they turned their back on the obscene party happening behind them, Luka heard Est's good bye.
"I wish you farewell, heroes. In a dream or in this place, I will always be waiting for you. Even after your adventure is over, even after you finished it twenty times, I know you will come back to dream of me..."
As he stepped closer to the crystal, Luka slightly hesitated to turn back and indulge himself in his fullest. Only the thought of getting more companions pushed him forward. Daji was waiting for them, eagerly licking her lips as they got closer.
"Not a word, Daji."
"And it applies to you too Alma Elma."
"I only want to point out that I politely waited for you when I could have run away."
"I'll ask Papi to forge you a medal with has been decent exactly once written on it."
"I deserve that too I guess."
"Could you please at least introduce us to your new companion down on the ground? I have a hunch that she has an interesting history..." Alma's tone felt like a cleaver when she pointed to Cassandra.
"Once we're back home. I don't want to repeat it twice."
Alma Elma whined. "Are you saying that I would forget it because I'm only thinking about the opportunity we missed?"
"Yes, I am." Luka focused his attention on getting back to Grand Noah.
When the familiar air of Grand Noah filled his lungs, the hero finally felt himself relax for the first time for what felt like days. His mind still occasionally drifted toward Est's offer, but it was the only good memory he had of the last days. He now wanted nothing more than a meal, a shower, and -maybe- some company before going to sleep. Even the empty streets currently illuminated by the moonlight seemed to agree with him. Only Lest expressed an unrelated reserve.
"Wait, we didn't even ask Est who made that request to bring Luka to the Land of Night."
Luka threw his arms backward as he answered. "It's not important, I don't care much, and besides, I already have a good idea who did…"
"Would the hero of this world happen to hide something from his companions?" Daji emitted a small, raspy laugh.
"It's even weirder than that, you can't even imagine… As far as I'm concerned, this day is over, and I'm off to sleep."
"I'll pass the news to Tamamo and I'll be right by your bedside!" Alma's tone became as cold as ice. "Oh, and you better stay here… She'll definitively want to see you again too…"
Daji sighed, but relented, slowly perambulating around while waiting. Luka and Kazuya kept an eye on her while Lest and Hakunen kept their focus on the unconscious Cassandra. The kitsune grinned as she basked in their attention.
"Enjoying the view? If you want, you could enjoy my flesh too… I can show you more than a glimpse of Heaven... You would ascend in a raw pleasure your mind wouldn't be able to understand."
While Kazuya was gritting her teeth, Luka gauged the kitsune in a seemingly disinterested way. Daji herself felt destabilized by his expression. Ultimately, the hero shrugged and turned away.
"I already heard that one too often in the past to take it at face value. It's getting boring after a while…"
Daji's jaw hanged open in shock for a short moment before the purple-haired kitsune exploded into a raucous laughter, attracting everyone's scorn. After calming down, she slowly clapped at Luka.
"Bravo… Bra-vo. This might be the first time someone turned me away like that even as their lust for me burns as bright as day… Oh, don't try hiding it, I'm sure your succubus friend noticed too."
Alma Elma frowned, a hand still raised to her ear. "Yes, I did, and be quiet, I can't reach little Tamamo…"
As he heard the succubus queen utter those words, Luka's worries started rising for a different reason.
"About being quiet, the city's a bit too silent as well… Grand Noah isn't exactly a place that sleeps at night, and even if it did, I would have expected someone, anyone to yell at Daji after that ruckus."
Kazuya started nervously scanning around with his gun while his companions were just as worried as them. Only Alma Elma was too focused on her communication to care.
"Hang on, I'll fly a little higher to try catching more."
As the succubus disappeared, Luka felt horribly vulnerable: While they were four heroes that could each hold their own, it was visible that they were tired of their adventures, and they had to deal with two not-so reliable monsters, including one who was unconscious. A more serious threat like the Lilith Sisters or one of Black Alice's goon could be an issue.
"I don't remember the street looking like like such a mess…"
It's only when Lest pointed at the pots lining one of the end of the street that Luka noticed them. He checked at the other end of the two-ways street, and, unsurprisingly, the way was blocked by pots as well. The hero carefully remained at a long distance from them.
"They're Honey Pots… Mimic type monsters, but they often live secluded in dungeons. I'm surprised to see so many of them here."
As if on cue, the monsters revealed themselves, looking salaciously at the heroes as tentacles came out of their pot to help them silently progress toward the party.
"They look… different than usual." Luka frowned as he prepared for a fight. "They often keep to themselves until disturbed and… something's off."
Daji grimaced. "You might not see it under the cover of the night, but their tentacles are digging through the pavement like butter. They're also multiplying again and again!"
Luka blinked, and indeed, he could now see that the street was almost flooded with Honey Pots. One of them split from the group as she charged the party as a vanguard. Before the heroes could react, she duplicated again and each copy launched a barrage of tentacles. Luka summoned the power of the wind to dodge them, but their sheer number made this task difficult. On his side, Lest and Hakunen barely managed to counter the first ones before being stunned by the assault, joining an already unconscious Kazuya. Luka felt a flash of magic on his side, and saw several honey pots looking disoriented for a moment.
"I really regret not asking that Queen of Dream for some care, I could definitively have used additional energy right now!"
"Don't you dare teleport away!"
"I can't even transform right now! And certainly not fight with this load."
A tentacle hit Luka in the temple, making his ears ring as he tried to keep fighting. As the Honey Pot in front of him sadistically smiled, the hero grimaced.
Seriously… I traveled through dimensions, fought world-ending threats, slept with monsters that reduced most of their partners to dry fish, and I'm going to die against mimics on steroid because…
Why are we fighting them again?
I need a miracle to get out of that one. GAAAH!
Luka felt a cripplingly pleasant sensation run through his whole body before he felt something grab him. Only the familiar lavender scent of Alma Elma prevented him from struggling.
"Sorry Luka-boy, I made a mistake, now if you would hold still for a minute while I grab everyone…"
The hero felt himself go limp. He had died, and would know if he ended in heaven or hell in a few minutes depending on the whim of his tormentor. He felt himself being dragged through worlds before ending in the middle of a stone plaza surrounded by Yamatai-style buildings with a cute witch in front of him while the sun started showing on the horizon. Luka groaned as he felt the first rays of the day warm his body.
Wait… I think I'm actually still alive…
…I have the feeling I'd have preferred being sucked dry by Alma Elma repeatedly.
His feelings were almost confirmed by an all-too familiar jaded, raspy voice behind him.
"I'm not even going to ask how you did this at that point… Who is our new companion by the way? She looks quite familiar."
Before Luka could even sit himself, he heard Daji answer.
"A complete bitch… If you don't mind, I know it's the early morning, but I intend to drink myself asleep after those latest adventures."
Luka could only hear her taking a few stumbling steps before he heard a shrill cry followed by a crashing sound. Still lying, he turned around to see the small figure of Tamamo holding a kanabo twice her size. The small kitsune was visibly panting in rage.
"Enjoy your current bed. I'm going to make suuuure you stay in that one!" Tamamo turned around and examined the pile of unconscious people for a moment. Luka could see relief, confusion and then cold rage succeed one another on her face.
"…Who's that bitch? I have a feeling she has a lot to talk about."
"Luka! What happened?! Are you hurt again?! Why did nobody heal you yet?!"
"Well-"
The hero felt pain wrack his body for a short moment while Mephisto was talking. Right afterward, he felt Sonya's arms wrapped around him as she was tightly hugging him.
"Oh sweet Ilias! I heard that you had disappeared in another of those horrible Tartarus!"
"Well, when I returned with some help-"
"Kazuya! You're there!" A doll and an alraune rushed through and almost pushed Mephisto on the ground. The yoma managed to remain standing while the two monsters were trying to get Kazuya up. At the same time, Tamamo had managed to wake up Monster Lord Cassandra, and Luka only heard a few words here and there as the kitsune showed her distaste of the monster's story.
"As I was trying to say, when I returned with help, the vortex had disappeared, but before we could try investigating, we got attacked by unusually aggressive mimics."
Luka tried to blank the background sound as Alma Elma had now joined Tamamo against Cassandra in their colorful exchange while Witch and Sonya were taking care of Daji.
"We also got attacked in Grand Noah."
"Yes, it wasn't an isolated attack. They're randomly happening everywhere, but we can't find rhyme or reasons to those assaults. At first, I theorized that it was related to the possible damage their island sustained because of chaosization, but-"
"Don't listen to her! Only I Amira know the whole truth!" Mephisto gritted her teeth and pinched the bridge of her nose as the reverse lamia waddled near the group. "This is a ploy started by the Grand Noah Queen to get all those mimics exterminated and get all their small medals at the same time! That way, she will have the sole control over their value and rule the world!"
"Too bad that they have no actual use… They're only worth what she's willing to trade."
Luka felt a gust of wind close to him. "Huh, you're all there. That's convenient. So-"
"Tch! You're contracted to her! She would bring ruin to this world, you would support her shamelessly!"
Mephisto rolled her eyes. Luka could barely hear her answer as the mess behind him intensified.
"Good grief, I only follow my contracts, and I also know that she's considerate enough to not do anything so reckless and stupid. I do not think that she would consider genocide and accidentally start a mimic uprising. It will be over not before long."
"Yeah, no, it won't. I should warn you that-"
"You're the worst monster to have ever walked this world!"
"I swallowed you once, pathetic whelp, I could swallow you again and- !"
"EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP BEFORE I FRY YOUR BRAIN!"
"DO YOU KNOW WHO- Glrhlllrhh…"
Luka turned around to see Morrigan fuming, a hand surrounded with her signature aura pointed toward the unconscious Monster Lord Cassandra.
"That's a bitch if I know one. I guess we'll have to bear with her from now on?"
"Morrigan…" Tamamo assumed a fighting stance. "You are not welcome here."
The succubus made a dismissive gesture. "Oh shush you kitten, I came here because I have something important to say, I'm not looking for a fight, and contrary to you I'm officially a companion of the hero. So unless you know the ins and outs of this mess, I'd ask you to use those fluffy ears of yours to listen."
Tamamo kept her eyes on Morrigan, but relaxed her stance none the less.
"Very well. I'm surprised that you actually gathered enough brainpower to keep track of relevant information, so it should be worthy of our attention."
Morrigan flipped Tamamo the bird while showing her teeth. However, her shoulders slumped and she sighed right afterward.
"You have no idea how bad this shit actually is. Let me tell you what the FUCK is happening."