Mitsuko closed her eyes as she slowly exhaled. Focusing herself, her body split into an identical copy that acted on her very thoughts, as if it was an extension of her own body. She breathed out again, and two more copies appeared. When she opened her eyes, her body felt slightly heavier but it was nothing in front of the feeling of power that came with controlling four versions of her at the same time. She then focused her spirit in her tentacles, and after accumulating enough energy, the four versions of her launched a devastating barrage of attacks against a thick wall. The stone block shattered apart under the intensive assault, leaving only a scattered heap of dust behind. A small silhouette by her side coughed a few times.
"As you see…" Gilgorn coughed another time before taking an imperial posture again. "As you see, you are extremely more powerful than what everyone gives you credit for. Calling in on your slime characteristics allow you to duplicate your body a number of times, while calling on your scylla heritage allow you to increase the power in each version of you tenfold!" Gilgorn browsed through a thick volume. "I heard that the angel scientist had broken the barrier between races which could be useful to you to further increase your offensive power. And if you exploit some of the skills acquired through mastering different jobs, you could cover your defensive weaknesses just as well!"
Mitsuko nodded and grabbed the paper Gilgorn was showing. She remembered learning how to hold on even after taking a hit that could be fatal to most, and even learned how to use her latent psychic abilities to raise a shield to protect herself in her spare time… Gilgorn distractedly kept talking while she was browsing through her book. "Of course, if another companion of the hero supports you with existing magical skills, you would then be even more powerful… Although you can only do so much alone, with support you will even make the gods tremble!"
Gilgorn unleashed an evil laughter that Mitsuko ended up following. The Honey Pot wasn't interested all that much in that game between gods. However, she did know who she would make tremble…
"Thank you for your lessons. I will make sure to put them to good use."
The small yoma was beaming with pride at her pupil as the latter kept talking.
"I was getting tired of being attacked by people who were scavenging for small medals or because they were surprised the pot they tried to loot included a monster…" Her voice suddenly became a booming shout. "It's time for payback, won't you agree?! Maybe we will show them a piece of our mind!"
Gilgorn felt puzzled for a short moment as to why Mitsuko suddenly started talking so loudly. Then she felt her confidence waver when she noticed that several containers in the basement -no, it was actually each and every one of them- were Honey Pot monsters. Most of them weren't half as strong as the one she taught her tricks to, but if they all were… Then the gods would tremble indeed. Just like her.
"Mitsuko…" One of the Honey Pot got closer. "You trained a lot with the hero, which is why you're able to use those powers in the first place… We would need weeks of training to reach your level, currently our greatest strength is the effect of surprise each time we catch a hero checking a pot…"
Inwardly, Gilgorn felt relieved. However, this apparently didn't deter her trainee in the slightest.
"We have seeds available in Mimic Island to accelerate our training, haven't we? We'll make a small detour by there, and we'll even get more support there from our Mimic and Box Girl friends…"
Gilgorn gulped. Her pupil was carrying her ideas further than she expected. She thought that the Honey Pot mostly followed Luka out of simple curiosity, and didn't expect her to show any ambition. She realized how much she screwed up a second later.
"…Then we'll take care of every one of those damn adventurers that attacked us, human or monster."
The Honey Pots started agreeing. Timidly at first, then more affirmatively before proudly acknowledging Mitsuko as their new leader.
"Wait! You'll have everyone opposing you before you know it!"
Silence fell, and the Honey Pots hesitatingly looked at each other: Twenty of them were certainly not enough to take care of all those damn adventurers. However, if they got their vengeance before anyone realized it and left no witness, then nobody would come after them. And the only current witness at hand was…
Mitsuko realized she was grinning when she saw Gilgorn stumble around, trying to escape a circle of Honey Pots that was getting tighter and tighter.
"No… No! Nooooo!"
"You're very weak to pleasure, aren't you?"
Mitsuko's tentacles struck the small demon lord like so many obscene snakes before the latter could consider raising a barrier. It took her less than a few seconds to reduce the small yoma to a twitching mess. Once done with her work, she turned back toward her fellows who were expectantly looking at her, and felt elated by their attention: they were ready to follow her to the end.
"Does anyone have a harpy feather? It is time for a little payback…"
When Mitsuko and her companions arrived on Mimic Island's coastline, they instantly prepared themselves for a fight: a decent-size ship was anchored in one of its small bay under the clear sky, and a rowboat was beached nearby. She could see obvious footprints in the sand turned toward the forest that made for the monsters' home. She gestured for her partners to take care of the ship while she would take care alone of whoever was in the forest. She moved surprisingly silently with her metallic container, and silently thanked her decision to train in the thief jobs for a small while, allowing her to make herself unnaturally discreet.
When she entered in the forest, her blood started boiling: several mimics, honey pots and box girls were lying around, battered and unconscious. The monsters had clearly been deliberately mugged for their possessions. As she progressed, she eventually arrived in sight of a small group of adventurers made of a mix of humans and monsters camping in a small clearing surrounded by the knocked out cold bodies of more monsters. She shed a single tear.
Why are those… those bastards attacking us? We're not like most monsters, we don't raid humans, we just want to be left alone… even this location is isolated, far from everyone…
…Only deliberate monsters would come here to attack us.
She edged closer and closer to the group, using the cover of the trees to make herself even more invisible to their senses than she already was. She only stopped when she could listen to their conversation and fully identify each and every one of them. The first one she heard was a wolf girl wearing a revealing breastplate and distractedly juggling with a saber.
"So how many more before we're good to go? It's getting a bit boring around here, and most of those monsters are hiding by now."
A male voice answered her. "We need five small medals for that legendary magic sword that seem to interest you so much. I want to remind you that you're the one who wanted to come here, I wanted to do nothing with this place."
"Actually…" A succubus nun raised an arm. "I also wanted to come here to get the experience in learning white magic while getting some additional seeds for the predictable future."
A hoarse, old voice continued. "It is the same for me… And I do remember someone wanting to collect some money they owed far from everyone's eyes?"
The first man raised his hands with a small smile. "Alright, alright, we all agree then… We rest a few more minutes, and we resume farming those mimic monsters afterward, deal?"
Mitsuko's felt her rage reach a new peak once again at their words. They were talking of her fellow monsters like one would talk of harvesting crops. She focused herself, and started splitting into several bodies just like Gilgorn taught her before focusing her power into her tentacles. She then rapidly moved in the line of sight of the group without a care for the noise she made, attracting their attention.
"Hey, it looks like a few of them are SWEET ILIAS HAVE MER-"
Mitsuko and her copies simultaneously launched a storm of tentacles into the direction of the party. The four adventurers were knocked out before they could even react or understand what was happening. She was still panting in rage when her copies returned back to her, and hesitated for a moment to finish them off before realizing that numerous fellow mimic monsters were throwing afraid looks in her direction.
She looked down on her victims. Killing them would send the wrong message, and would make her a murderer, worse than them. However, taking back what they stole from her fellows and take their own belongings as extra would only be sweet karma…
As she was busy emptying their pockets, the Honey Pots she sent earlier came back to her empty-handed but beaming with pride.
"The ship is now clear, and there are no other adventurers on the island."
"Good. Help me take their belongings. They came here to do the same, it's only justice." Mitsuko nodded and noticed that the local mimic monsters were now coming out of the forest, probably reassured by the fact that she was talking on friendly term with other monsters. A mimic girl stopped right by her side and looked down.
"Thank you for coming to our help. We're eternally grateful to you!"
Eternally grateful…
Mitsuko felt once again intoxicated by everyone's attention and their declared loyalty. She had killed two birds with one stone, and now it was time to teach her fellow monsters how to exploit their latent power…
"It is natural. I'm getting tired of them myself… Now, maybe it's time we get a payback on all those that wrong us, wouldn't you agree?"
The local monsters looked confused at each other, but her followers were all claiming their support. After a short moment of confusion, the mimic in front of her sighed.
"How are we supposed to do that? We're quite strong, but we're not very numerous, and our biggest strength lies on our ability to surprise those idiots that try to open chests or check pots. We can't take on bigger and more powerful monsters on our own…"
Mitsuko grinned. It was just like back in the old tower… She talked about her plan to use power seeds to have everyone able to dig in their reserves, with Honey Pots acting as the warriors with their fellow mimic monsters using their own ghostly powers or entrapment skills to support them. This time, however, the support was slightly more reserved.
"…We won't have enough seeds to make everyone powerful enough. I'm not even sure there are enough in the world to empower so many of us… And we would need better equipment as well."
Monsters started discussing these problems left and right, and Mitsuko felt overwhelmed by how quickly the situation slipped out of her control. Most mimics were clearly hesitating to follow her in her quest for justice. However, one of them made her way to her side with a certain spark in her eye.
"I know where we'll get the seeds! There will be more than enough for everyone in the Monster Lord's Castle!"
If her first sentence had fanned the flame of ambition in every one of her fellows, the second one had completely drowned it under an ocean. Mitsuko was afraid to have lost every one of her supporter in the silence that ensued before one Box Girl eventually decided to express what everyone was thinking.
"This is impossible… There's no way in, their treasury is too heavily guarded, and those Lilith Sisters will torture us if they find us there."
The mimic laughed. "You really think those succubi care about us? For them, we're just one mimic amongst the others! We can spend years in the treasury, and they won't notice the difference! And I know from first-hand experience! I even know how to easily get in without raising suspicion!"
Mitsuko herself looked at the mimic with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she couldn't tell if the spark in the monster's eye was ambition or actual madness, and infiltrating the Monster Lord's Castle sounded incredibly risky in any case. However… The perspective of accessing all those treasures, all those seeds to make her plan come to fruition and return those adventurers the pain they had dished to their species for the past years was simply too great to pass up.
"Very well… What do we have to do exactly?"
The mimic pointed at Mitsuko and at herself.
"It is a two-monwtser job. It will be as simple as making people think that you're going where you have to be. Now let's grab a harpy feather…"
When the small group of mimic monsters ended in front of the Monster Lord's Castle, Mitsuko felt oppressed by its very presence. While the castle was impressive in itself, she was also concerned with the very real possibility of getting captured in an unfamiliar territory. Before all this, she had spent most of her time dwelling in the basement of the Administrator Tower or in the Pocket Castle. She had only accompanied the hero sporadically, and often preferred those missions from Amira and Mephisto that consisted in spending days in a large city and keeping her ears open for anything interesting.
She was surprised by the lack of guards at the entrance, and followed the mimic as the latter made her way around the castle. They eventually entered through a subtly hidden servant backdoor unimpeded and ended in a barely-lit hallway. The monsters carefully progressed through the corridor before stopping themselves as they heard the sound of steps getting closer. They froze and fully disguised themselves as furniture, looking perfectly identical to the clay pots and chests one could find around. She regretted having taken such a huge risk as she recognized the aura of an elder succubus getting closer and closer… her only luck was that it wasn't one of the Lilith Sisters.
Even as the monster was getting critically close, she calmed herself: she had the power to deal with a flimsy opponent like that, and maybe there would be no need in the first place if she just passed by… However, the sex fiend stopped in front of the chest, and Mitsuko discreetly peeked to see a disappointed frown covering the face of the succubus.
"Come on, I know it may be boring and dusty down there, but the maids are doing quite the effort to make sure it's comfortable for you."
The mimic briefly opened and closed.
"I'll make sure they bring you back and don't say a word to the Lilith Sisters, but you better show them your appreciation afterward."
Mitsuko was aghast as the succubus left. Did her partner actually guarantee them a free ticket straight to the treasury of the Monster Lord's Castle? As if to answer her, a pair of scylla maids showed up and seized one of the mimic monsters each. The Honey Pot remained slightly afraid that the gig could end up anytime soon with the Lilith Sisters discovering them and deciding to turn them into their playthings. This idea was enough to fan the embers of rage in her heart.
No. I'm now powerful, and I don't have to be afraid from old succubi hags. If anything, they should fear us instead!
Eventually, the scyllas placed them down in a secure storage room and started leaving when one of them called out to her partner.
"Wait, don't we have more mimics than usual? I think some counts may be wrong…"
"Forget it, Yao is the one who keep track of those things, and she left after the Lilith Sisters shouted on her because of something that happened in Grangold about which nobody cared… Wanna score some guys?"
Mitsuko finally emerged with her allies after the maids had locked the door. They had indeed ended in a secure armory filled with chests and racks covered with powerful equipment like she had only seen a few times back in the Pocket Castle. Most of it was locked behind barred doors, but she had the skills, and, more importantly, the time to open those… The only apparent threat was the three other mimics guarding the place, but her partner had no difficulty convincing them to join them and take revenge on those that had wronged them.
The mimics started thoroughly looting the place, getting their hands on anything that they could come across including an impressively large number of experience seeds of all kind. The Honey Pot remained nervous all the time. She expected the door to burst open at any time either because the Lilith Sisters or their goons were aware of their plan, or, more likely, because a monster would have decided to have her fun in all the wrong places.
Once they were sure they had gotten most of the valuables, the mimics unlocked the treasury door and started leaving as stealthily as they could. Mitsuko kept her breath held even as they reached the small passageway used by servants, and only allowed herself to unwind when she was surrounded by the moonlight-bathed forest of Mimic Island thanks to a harpy feather.
Once the plunder was shared, Mitsuko started giving accelerated training and the details of her plans to Mimics, Honey Pots and Box Girls alike. Thanks to all the seeds accumulated, less than an hour had passed between the moment she returned and when her fellow Honey Pots could split themselves in several copies to ruin a target's day with a powerful barrage of tentacle strikes while other mimic-type monsters used powerful enchantment to boost their allies. Each time, they looked in awe at their newfound power and congratulated each other before thanking Mitsuko.
The instant the Honey Pot raised her hand in an attempt to protect herself from the cacophony, all monsters instantly fell silent. When she understood that they did so out of respect for her, she felt swept by a wave of vertigo at the sheer realization of her sudden power growth: Not so long ago, she was just a Honey Pot that got disturbed occasionally and sometimes beaten down. Then she had trained while accompanying the hero to become as tough as any of his companion. And then, in less than a day, she learned how to exploit her potential to become more powerful than a Demon Lord from another world and gained a loyal army of monsters as powerful as her. This very army could fulfill any of her wish… Why didn't the hero use his own one to do the same?
Why didn't he have his allies help me?
…It was because he was too busy collecting small medals after small medals. For all his words of being open, he's no different than any other plunderers…
…But first, I'll take revenge on those that had inflicted me those latest nightmares!
"Fellow mimics!" She stifled a mad laughter. "It is time to show that we are done with adventurers who assault us after trespassing in our home for the sake of a small medal! We will give them their piece of money back, and plunder their home for a change!"
Each of her sentences was drowned under acclamations. "We will get back every last small medal that they stole us, and make sure they'll never come back!" She extended an arm forward. "Go! Go share sweet justice with them… and those that will it, follow me! I will personally show those monsters that claim themselves as the strongest that they're wrong! That they're delusional!"
Mitsuko nodded approvingly as groups of monsters teleported away to make right on those that had attacked them, although a large number of them remained with her, looking at her with the gratefulness one would only give to the physical incarnation of their god.
She smiled. It was time to show up to those damn succubi…
But first, she had to dress up for the occasion.
Lilith groaned when she was woken up in the middle of the night by a ringing alarm. The legendary succubus hadn't gotten much of an opportunity to rest since she arrived in this world, and, of course, someone had seemingly decided to attack the castle one of the rare times she could afford some sleep. She cursed Tamamo for creating a system that made so much noise, even if said system allowed her to identify the assailants currently at the entrance. Those mimics would pay for disturbing her…
She got up and dressed herself in her usual attire in the blink of an eye. Even if the guards in the castle were the strongest amongst the world, she was going to give them a hand if it meant stopping this buzzing ever so slightly faster. However, when she arrived in sight of the entrance hall, she had the displeasure to see them struggling against the current invaders... Why those shy mobs did come here to attack the castle in the first place was a mystery. As she analyzed the fight with an experienced eye, she realized that those monsters were unusually powerful, creating copies of themselves before launching salvos of attacks powerful enough to destroy pillars with their tentacles. The strange spectacle made her aghast before she heard Astaroth's venomous voice by her side.
"So they're the ones who plundered the armory." The red-haired succubus spat on the ground and cracked her knuckles. "Whatever. I was starting to feel rusty anyway."
"Let's just get this over with… Lilith Orgia!"
While the powerful spell dazed a few of the mimic monsters, Lilith was dumbfounded to see that most of them were protected by a familiar magical barrier.
Psychic walls? There were no records of monsters using psychic powers in this world for the past thousand years! What does it mean?!
Lilith gulped when she felt the attention of all those mimics focusing on her and her sister. Astaroth threw herself at the monsters with a powerful war cry and started striking the supporting mimics in the back row while dodging the numerous tentacle strikes at a lightning-fast speed. However, she needed to strike each monster several time before their barriers collapsed, and even then they took several more hits before hitting the ground. In the meantime, the Honey Pot's assaults started connecting to the succubus even while Lilith was raining spells on them.
They're using ribbons or pleasure resistance jewels as well… The same ones that come from the treasury… Are they really going to beat us? Why are they even attacking us?!
Lilith got the answer to her first question when she saw Astaroth getting thrown into a wall by the combined assault of several Honey Pots. While the pair of succubi had incapacitated quite a few mimic monsters, they were at a clear disadvantage. The red-haired succubus slowly got up, stumbling slightly before Lilith healed her.
"This is a joke… we prepared for everything, and a plan supported by the Founder herself will fail because of a bunch of uppity mimics?"
The apparent leader of the Honey Pots growled. Lilith focused her attention on how she could incapacitate her, but she couldn't find a way as her target had a ribbon and a wind resistant armor to protect herself against everything the succubus could throw in her direction.
"Uppity mimics? We're tired of getting attacked by humans and monsters who intrude on our premises and attack us while making themselves at home! We will no longer suffer from your games! It's time for justice!"
Lilith raised a confused eyebrow. "Wait… What are you even talking about?"
"Attack!"
This time, the two Lilith Sisters took the full brunt of the assault, their wind abilities unable to fully protect themselves. The two succubi were thrown like ragdolls by the tentacles and knocked down. While Astaroth instantly fell unconscious, Lilith felt her mind waver back and forth as she hardly hanged on. They had been defeated, completely taken down by a threat they never even considered… However, not all was lost for them.
Come on… I need to at least send her a message. Let's hope she's bored or asleep and not in the middle of something… She's there, let's tell her as much as possible, maybe her or the hero knows what's happ-
A tentacle hit her in the temple, knocking her unconscious while she whispered her last thoughts out loud.
"Morrigan…"
Mitsuko looked at the succubus with a displeased expression. If she had contacted her little sister, then taking everyone by surprise would be much harder. Besides, said little sister was another companion of the hero. If she attacked her, he wound undoubtedly react very poorly, maybe even disavow her…
No. It didn't matter. The succubus was a cruel, nymphomaniac piece of crap that served a hero who wasn't better in the slightest. She could as well pay her a visit and share a piece of her mind with her, nobody would mind…
"Bwuaah?!"
Morrigan catapulted herself awake from the table she was currently resting on and checked around her. She massaged her face as the vivid dream mixed itself with the present to form a confused picture that danced in front of her eyes for a few seconds before she could finally properly catch back to reality: she was resting in the darkness-filled Night Flower, while Barbun and Nabisu were discussing in whispers at the bar's counter, the bunny girl mixing drinks for the happy nurse. Morrigan groaned as the picture of Lilith getting knocked out refused to leave her head.
Huurgh… I need a freaking drink.
The succubus got up and appropriated herself a seat at the counter near the two other monsters. They stopped their conversation and Barbun steadied herself before taking her order.
"What will it be bo- mistress?"
"One Gold Cocktail, and please call me Morrigan, I'm not so much your boss rather than the current owner of the place."
Barbun shrugged as it was pretty much the same thing in most cases, but she decided that making the mood of the succubus better by diligently serving her while not bothering her was the best possible action she could currently undertake. Less than a minute later, the drink was ready and Morrigan started taking small sips in an uncharacteristic manner before striking conversation.
"It's pretty calm tonight, isn't it?"
Barbun nodded. "Yes… The business is a bit slow… there are rumors that Est is offering everyone vivid dreams of pleasure in Grand Noah, and a lot of people want to taste those." Barbun sighed. "They're also more open than in this city where the faith in Ilias is still strong. Maybe less people came because it was a church day today. It's so frustrating…" The bunny girl gritted her teeth.
"Actually all of our rooms are full, it's just that people booked them for the whole night rather than for quick sessions because everyone's out of energy after hearing the priest preach the whole day." Nabisu's wings were flapping happily. "A few people also requested to be auscultated in their home."
"Ooooh, now I get it…" Morrigan grinned. "And someone's a bit frustrated after having to keep the bar for the whole day while her coworkers were getting busy."
Barbun huffed and turned away. The succubus had hit the bullseye and decided to push. "You know, if it gets that unbearable, you just have to ask me and I will gladly liberate you from this frustration…" Morrigan showed one of her glowing hands.
Barbun crossed her arms under her chest. "For a city where everyone is supposedly tired, they're making a lot of noise outside." Her long ears were periodically shaking.
Morrigan's grin disappeared. "Huh. True. I can even hear them… Actually, it's weird, it doesn't sound like quite a party…"
The succubus closed her eyes and focused her senses on the streets around her business when she heard Barbun greet a new customer.
"Good evening Mitsuko, you wouldn't happen to know what's happening outside?"
Morrigan couldn't tell what triggered her reflex between hearing the name of the Honey Pot or the sheer killing intent aimed at her. In a heartbeat, her tail wrapped around Nabisu's waist and her arm around her neck while she used her aura to push Barbun on the side. The instant she jumped sideways as far as possible, a pillar made of tentacles struck her sitting place, completely destroying the wooden counter and the bottles behind it in a deafening sound of crushed glass.
As she rolled behind a thick bench, she gritted her teeth and released a stunned Nabisu. She slightly stimulated the succubus nurse to wake her up, and summoned her sword.
Ok… Of all people attacking me, it's one of the few I'm sure I never actively piss off… So what the fuck?
That wasn't a dream… It was a message from Lilith, they got attacked by those damn mimics.
Doesn't matter. First, that bitch is going down! Going from her fight with Lilith, she has a psychic barrier, a ribbon and enough training to hold on even after taking a Lilith Orgia face first… Gotta ruin that barrier before anything. A flurry of small attacks should do it.
Before she could come out with a more detailed plan, she heard the sound of an elemental arrow being unleashed. The powerful attack didn't hurt Mitsuko who was protected by a barrier. However, the Honey Pot switched focused and started moving toward the counter where Barbun was located. Morrigan grimaced and used her free hand to launch a series of rapid stimulations that surprised the Honey Pot as her barrier broke apart.
Mitsuko started dividing her body in two, then in four when Barbun shot her again with another elemental arrow. This time, the mimic monster was tossed back by the full brunt of the assault and Morrigan jumped from her hiding spot her sword ready to strike. Luckily for her, Mitsuko was still focusing her power in her tentacles when she reached her. Morrigan struck at her body like a gust of wind, and the Honey Pot faltered before the succubus struck her head with the pommel of her sword.
As the adrenaline rushed off, Morrigan checked her surroundings. The scuffle had lasted less than a minute, but it had been enough to reduce most of the room into a ruin, as benches and tables had been utterly wrecked while a few flames licked the counter. Her two companions were still recovering from their shock and were slowly stepping out from her hiding place. Barbun was slightly stumbling as she examined the unconscious Honey Pot with Nabisu. She looked at the crater in the wall and the floor covered with broken bottles where she had been a minute earlier. The attack would have obliterated her.
"T-thank you for saving me."
"Hey, you got my back, I got your." Morrigan used her aura to extinguish the few flames around and continued. "If only because nobody came here to talk about the visit of my sisters. And besides for all we know she came for me. So don't sweat it." She cracked her knuckles and glared at Mitsuko. "So let's get down to the bottom of this."
Nabisu stepped in. "She's already unconscious. This would be murder!"
"Wha- I'm not going to kill her, only check her memory! I want to know what's going on in her mind just as much as you!"
And if I discover that an angel brainwashed her to kill me and my sisters, it will give me a legitimate reason to remove a few of those ass-licking chickens from existence.
Nabisu and Barbun stepped away, allowing Morrigan to reach for Mitsuko. The succubus placed her hands on her victim's forehead and focused on her memories. Reaching for those took her a small moment, but she eventually managed to find what she wanted: She saw by herself what the Honey Pot went through those last weeks. Most of it was uninteresting, as the Honey Pot had spent most of her last weeks lazying away in the basement of the infamous Administrator Tower until Gilgorn attracted her attention. Then Morrigan saw the Honey Pot training herself. Then her army. Then she assisted to the assault on the Monster Lord's Castle after she plundered the chest. All the while, the succubus could feel her heart beat faster and faster.
Oh fuck. Ooooooh fuuuuuuck. I definitively won't be able to handle that one alone. Gotta make sure Luka is at least warned. Maybe a few more of those heroes could give a hand as well.
"Watch out!"
Morrigan only had the time to jump back before a magical maw pulled Mitsuko back while another attempted to chomp on her. She searched for their source, and could see several Mimics and Honey Pots at the entrance. They were all equipped differently, but had two things in common: They looked extremely powerful, and were glaring with a lethal hatred at the trio of monsters in the middle of the room.
"I'm not as good as Lilith in that regard, but I suppose we can't talk that one out?"
The closest Honey Pot pointed a rage-filled arm toward them.
"They harmed our leader! Kill them!"
Morrigan, Barbun and Nabisu prepared their weapons. However, for the elder succubus, this fight could only have one issue… She nodded toward Nabisu, who answered in kind, and the two of them grabbed Barbun before blasting the building's roof to escape.
"Let's get the hell out of there!"
As she took to the sky, Morrigan briefly saw lights flicker across the city. She understood what Barbun said earlier when she was talking about the ruckus. It was as if people had decided to throw every single piece of furniture outside their house.
After depositing her two companions of misfortune in the relative safety of the woods and telling them to try regrouping with others, the succubus focused on searching the hero or any other high profile figure. During her search, all cities she came across were faring just like Iliasburg or even worse. San Ilia had turned into a warzone. Finoa had been set on fire.
"Holy crap… This would be impressive if they were on our side… Is that Alma Elma?"
As she approached Grand Noah, she recognized the aura of the Succubus Queen. She hesitated to approach her for a second during which her quarry dived to the ground and disappeared.
Luckily, she felt her teleport to Yamatai. Now she only had to go to the oriental village, and with a little luck…
"So here is the whole deal! There's an army of overpowered mimics out for revenge wrecking havoc in most of the world, and they won't stop if we simply take out their leader!"
Morrigan leaned back on her chair while munching on a dumpling, satisfied with her story as well as being the center of attention. The large group had descended from the Shrine Hill to the restaurant as the stomachs of several people had interrupted the succubus's first attempts at counting the event.
The reactions in the assembly were mixed. Luka was looking down in the dump, unenthusiastic at the prospect of yet another crisis to solve. Kazuya himself was repeatedly shuffling, although it might have more to do with how Lampas and Mukuro were sticking close to him. Confused and concerned whispers ran amongst the remainder of the assembly, although Tamamo found the time to sneer at Morrigan.
"It is impressive. I leave the impregnable Monster Lord's Castle in your hands for a few months and you manage to lose it."
Morrigan shrugged. "Yeah, sorry, I guess we were busy with those angels and that Land of Night while you were busy not defending Izumo Village!"
Tamamo got up and glared at the succubus while her tails started waving threateningly. "Why you brat…"
"Oh, you wanna go? I'm sure my sister would still like a nice carpet after what you did in Grangold!" Morrigan herself elegantly got up in a smooth motion like a gymnast.
Alma Elma rushed by the kitsune's side to calm her while Mephisto and Sonya did the same with Morrigan.
"Good grief, people, this crisis is hitting everyone, can you at least not make it worse by going at each other's throat?"
The two opponents remained still before eventually sitting down to everyone's relief. Tamamo groaned and looked down in shame for letting her temper get the better of her.
"Morrigan's findings are in phase with what I found myself anyway… They do focus on small medals owners when they find them, but they mostly lash out at anyone they can. And with their power, they're quite the threat. If only that damn Demon Lord hadn't taught her how to exploit their skills..."
Mephisto started nervously fiddling with her wand. "It would be easy to pin Gilgorn as the responsible of our current predicament for the sake of finding a scapegoat, but this conflict wouldn't have happened if SOMEONE hadn't destroyed the Pocket Castle."
Everybody turned toward Daji. The towering Kitsune was slumped on a table surrounded by empty bottles, inelegantly snoring and completely ignorant of anything that had transpired for the past hour. Alice sneered.
"It looks like nine-tail kitsunes don't change from one world to another."
Tamamo threw her fan at the small Monster Lord like a boomerang, slapping her target in the face before the projectile returned in her hand. In a small click, she opened it and started fanning her face.
"Neither do impulsive Monster Lords if what I heard about this Gilgorn is correct. Now, does anyone happen to have anything actually constructive to add on the matter?"
A whistling voice answered her. "All of this is false! I am telling you, this is all a scheme organized by the Grand Noah Queen to get every small medals in the world to-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP, AMIRA!" The gust of wind created by everyone's combined shouting ended being enough to knock the reverse lamia away. An exhausted Alice massaged her face as she considered the situation.
"First things first, we need a large table and a map… Which area remain spared besides Yamatai?"
Luka and the remainder of the heroes appreciated the opportunity to rest as the more strategically-minded people worked on a plan. His own thoughts were far from the current conflict occupying everyone's attention.
Daji sure is sexy, it's no wonder Kazuya keep her around even if she would need a leash… Actually doesn't she have a beast form? I remember him saying something about her changing form, but I forgot the gist of it… That could make for some more fun each night…
And now I regret rejecting Est's offer. At least I would be comfortably enjoying myself instead of dealing yet again with the mess left by someone's fun… He glanced at Morrigan as he ended his sentence.
The sun was starting to get high in the sky when Alice finally announced the discussed plan. Whatever it was, the Monster Lord didn't look to enthusiastic.
"Alright, we found a solution. It's clear that nobody is coordinating the mimics in the slightest, so it will be easy to catch them small groups by small groups. Since they seem to focus on adventurers that collect small medals, we will bait them one group at a time with rumors that some adventurers that collected a large number of medals are waiting for them close by, and then ambush them with a burst of attacks designed to break their barriers and resistances."
Sonya raised an eyebrow. "This is a bit… blunt. Do you really think they will fall for an obvious trap?"
Alice closed her eyes and answered. "It will work because it will actually be true. Sorry, we all came to the same conclusion. If there's one group that they will want to destroy, it's the one that collected hundreds of small medals. Namely, us."
…I should have stayed in bed yesterday.