Without rhyme or reason, White Rabbit descended down the Tartarus, reaching the bottom in mere moments. She could've used magic to get down there instantly, but she enjoyed the thrill of falling. Luka, who had been told about the rabbit's location from Amira, heard about her leap from those there to see it, most of which were local researchers.
The Tartarus' had been researched extensively ever since they appeared across the world. Expeditions inside were outlawed at first after the teams sent in never came back, and even now only very well-equipped teams could enter, and only for a short time. Luka and the others were not one of these teams, and they were far from well-equipped, though their new iron armour was a welcome upgrade.
To get past the crew surveying the Tartarus, who would surely stop them from entering, and who were now on high alert after White Rabbit's display, they decided it would be best to sneak past them. Thankfully, all of them were fairly small, so getting past the tents without being seen was easy enough, but the Tartarus only had one safe way down, through the rope ladder that had been set up long ago. Thankfully, it was night, and getting to it quietly was not overly difficult.
I don't know if I trust this thing... I can barely see where I'm placing my feet... And of course I had to be the one to go first...
Luka did his best to steady his nerves. When he was younger he was terrified of the dark, and although nowadays it was more of a mild discomfort, even the bravest of men would be unnerved by this descent. The rope ladder had a light sway to it, shaking a bit as each member of the group moved. It only got darker and darker as Luka got further down, and eventually he could no longer make out the sky above him. Surrounded entirely by darkness, he had no choice but to keep going down.
The hero's foot reached for the next rung in the rope, but his boot instead touched a solid surface. He planted his feet and stepped away from the ladder, using his sword to feel out his surroundings, as he had seen blind men do with their canes. Sonya was the last to reach the bottom, but Luka could only tell who each person around him was by their voice.
"Let there be light," Ilias said, casting a familiar spell. The ball of light was a bit brighter than when she last used it, perhaps a sign of the goddess's returning power, though she was still far off what she used to have.
"Thanks, Ilias." Luka sheathed his sword, only to draw it again moments later upon hearing a distorted groan echo through the chasm. "What the heck was that?"
"A monster," Alice informed, drawing her own weapon. Sonya readied her staff, while Ilias stood behind Luka. "Or no... Not a monster exactly. I... I have no idea what that thing is..."
"I concur... That creature is no descendant of Alipheese, nor is she human. She has a soul but... It seems to have been altered somehow... If I had my full power, I could identify her in an instant."
Luka readied himself. He had heard tales of what abominations called the Tartarus' their home. Hideous, shambling things that made even the most inhuman-looking monsters seem tame in comparison. Those who came back from the Tartarus' didn't speak much of what they saw, too scared to bring back those memories.
"Intruders detected," A distorted voice said. Luka felt a cold bead of sweat trickle down his face. "Four opponents… Weaklings… Commencing execution…"
Alice couldn't believe her eyes. This thing was no monster. There was only one word for it, a name Tamamo had taught her: Apoptosis. When she was still the Monster Lord, she had never dared to enter the Tartarus on Hellgondo, despite being so close. Tamamo had always warned her to never enter, as if she knew something she didn't.
"What the hell…?" Sonya's hand was shaking. The creature stumbled out of the darkness. Her eyes were dark green, her dress was as bright as fire in contrast. It was a beautiful shade of blue, but that was only part of her that Sonya could bring herself to describe as beautiful. The creature's face was misshapen, with cracks along the side. Her dress was torn at the hem, with dozens of metal limbs crawling against the ground as she moved. Green acid burned into the ground below as she walked past.
"It's an Apoptosis," Alice said. "Tamamo told me about them before. She didn't tell me how to fight them but… Well, just know that if we lose, it's over."
Luka had no intentions of losing. He stood before the Apoptosis. She had an odd smile upon seeing him. "Source of energy found… Moving to consume…"
The hero's sword was caught against the apoptosis' claws. Her metal was of a far higher quality than his. She was also physically stronger and taller. She had every advantage, and yet the hero was able to hold his own. Unbeknownst to him, his increased power was due to a spell Sonya cast.
"Alice, go behind her!" Luka said after dodging a particularly vicious strike. The Monster Lord nodded, slithering around in the darkness. She couldn't see much, but her hearing was above average, even for a monster. With it, she could sense what was around, a little.
The apoptosis loomed closer. "Who are you…?" She asked. "Who… am I? My name… what was it again?"
"What? What are you talking about?" Luka asked, ducking under another one of her swipes.
"I don't remember… I don't… No, my name was… Sheista… Or…" She said. Luka found his will shaken when he heard the tone of her voice. She sounded so sad. So worried. "What is this place…?"
"This… is a Tartarus," Luka answered. The apoptosis never stopped attacking, even as she spoke.
"Is that what you call it…?" The apoptosis attacks slowed, a sign of her dwindling energy.
Alice was swift and sudden. She thrust her rapier into the apoptosis' back, piercing her completely. The apoptosis didn't react. She asked Luka more questions, even as she collapsed onto the ground. Her acid well up around her, but its viscosity was not enough to melt the metal floor. She groaned as she tried to stand once more.
"Help me…" She begged, her voice hollow. "Help…"
Ilias stopped Luka from approaching. "Don't listen to her… It's a trap. She wants to grab you and force you into that pool of acid." She explained.
The hero hadn't thought of that. He backed off. Eventually, he and the others decided to leave the Apoptosis there. She was immobile, and despite Ilias' claims that she didn't truly count as a living being, Luka did not have it in him to end her life, not when there was no good reason to.
They continued to make their way through the Tartarus, this time free of interruption. Most of the rooms were pitch black, but some had their own lighting. The sources were like miniature suns, hidden behind a pane of glass. Ilias explained that they used electricity to function, a technology she had previously only seen in Remina's Laboratories.
"So…" Luka began. "Does anyone know what thing really was?"
Alice spoke up first with an eagerness that suggested she had been waiting for the question. "Tamamo didn't tell me much about them other than their name. I don't know where they came for or if they're really alive. But one things for sure, they multiply faster than a bug monster in a human village. I've heard tell of them in every Tartarus under my jurisdiction."
"All one of them," Ilias pointed out. "The only thing you ruled were a few islands and Hellgondo. Don't try to impress Luka with your exaggerations."
Alice frowned, but Luka interrupted her before she could say anything. "Do you know anything about them, Ilias?"
The goddess smiled. So he's finally started to rely on me over Alipheese…
"As a matter of fact, I do." She said proudly. "They're named after an effect: The Apoptosis Effect. They only appear when spacetime is damaged. They act as an immune system of sorts. They mutate organisms from their environment to repel foreign invaders, which means that one we fought earlier was a human at some point. Or a monster."
Alice cursed to herself. How could she let Ilias get the upper hand? She knew more than her… all because Tamamo hid things from the Monster Lord.
That traitorous little kitsune. I bet she knew more, lots more. She just didn't want to tell me… And now I'm suffering the consequences of that. Ilias is becoming more useful to him… Her magic is stronger, she has more knowledge than me, she can fly… Damn it. I need to do something before it's too late.
But… not right now. This area is dangerous…
The rest of the Tartarus was just as otherworldly as the start. It was as if they were in a dungeon of some kind, but from the future… Or from the past, depending on where you were standing. Luka lost track of time as he searched through the rooms. His eyes were glued to the walls as he walked past. He had never seen such finely forged metal before.
"This… Must be from the future… Or from Remina." Ilias reasoned. "How else could they get metal to be this pure, and to have the logistics to create a room out of it… It's a feat of engineering not possible right now."
Alice had to agree. Even her best smiths could scarcely forge something like this. And if they did, it would be used in arms and armours, not material for building.
"Is that what that rabbit wanted to show us?" Alice wondered. "It's like a whole other world down here…"
More sounds, each one more distorted than the last. Apoptosis, Luka knew. He drew his sword, ready to face them. Sheista alone had been difficult enough, but multiple at once? Luka would have to pull out every trick he had under his sleeve.
And there it came. Inexplicably, another Sheista, the exact same as the one from before. When she attacked Luka she asked the same questions, begged for his help in the exact same way. It was like she had been cloned, and she didn't even know it.
"How is there another one of you!?" Luka asked. "I just incapacitated you a few minutes ago!"
"Help me…" She swung at him again, her sharp claws cutting close to his cheek, but not quite touching it. "Help… Please…"
Again, she said the same thing! This can't be just some sort of coincidence! She's definitely the same person!
Luka, distracted by his mind racing to make sense of the situation, was unaware of his surroundings. He dodged another attack from Sheista, intending to swoop in and slice some of her claws off, but was stopped when one of the other apoptosis, a large bug this time, pulled him down with her tail and crawled all over him.
The hero had always been a fan of bugs. In fact, when he was younger, he collected beetles and prided himself on finding the largest ones around, much to Sonya's dismay. However, this fondness did not carry over to what was crawling over him currently. The apoptosis was a fifth the size of a human, but just as strong, if not more so. Luka struggled and struggled, but she wouldn't let him go.
"Keep fighting. I like that." She whispered, her mouth right next to Luka's ear. "I can't believe you came all this way down here just for me… Such a generous offering. I'll be sure to repay you in kind."
Her tail was unnaturally long. It wrapped around Luka's entire body, similar to how Alice wrapped around her opponents, when she had the chance. But unlike Alice's smooth, scaly tail, the apoptosis' tail was sharp and metallic, ripping into Luka's clothes as it tightened around him. This tail was not designed to give its victim pleasure, it was made only to constrict and attack its prey.
Needless to say, Luka wasn't pleased. He grabbed the tail with his gloved hands, enduring the pain as he pressed against the sharp metal edges. His hands were slick with blood as he pulled. The apoptosis fought back, but eventually, the hero won out, pulling her off of him.
Once he was back on his feet, a quick slice kept the apoptosis at bay. She was quick and small, which made her hard to hit. She was a third of Luka's height, meaning he had to aim low and hit fast.
I can't afford to miss. I don't have much experience with it yet, but the skill Ilias taught me might be the only way to hit her.
Summoning angelic power… Normally, it would only be possible for men who've studied the craft for years, but ever since the Great Disaster and the resulting surge of mana in the air, practising magic has become far easier. Along with that, Ilias said I have a lot of natural talent for this… I can do it! I've done it before! I just need to focus…
Luka calmed himself, shifting his stance to the one Ilias taught him. The tip of his blade began to glow with a subtle light. He jumped forth, straight at his opponent. While midair, he did a quick spin, slicing into the apoptosis before she could react in time.
I did it! It hit her too! I knew that would work…
Luka twirled his sword confidentially, which almost resulted in him dropping it after he fumbled. He took a deep breath, happy with the results. His opponent was still standing, but the attack had done considerable damage.
Alice was flung back into a wall, her rapier dropping onto the ground and rolling away. Luka looked behind him while keeping his sword pointed at the apoptosis. Ilias and Sonya were battling yet another Sheista, and they were losing. He had to wrap his fight up fast and help them.
This bug is tougher than she looks. But she should go down soon… One more hit, that's all I need.
Luka went for a low sweeping strike, which the bug was able to hop over. She smiled as she latched onto the boy's face. "You're pretty cute. Hey, boy. What do you think about staying here with me? I'll treat you well…"
The hero couldn't open his mouth to refuse. Her tail wrapped around his head in a way that constricted his jaw from moving. He made some muffled noises as she stared at him, waiting for an answer.
Luka gripped her body, which was even sharper than her tail. His hand still ached from earlier, and the blood had only just clotted. Nevertheless, he pulled at her once more, anticipating the pain. But this time, she was ready. "I'm not letting go. You don't belong here! I'll make you pay the price for intruding on us!"
Luka wanted to say he had no choice, but his mouth was still blocked. He instead spoke with actions, pulling out his final trick. If the Apoptosis was so intent on sticking to his head, then she could stay there. The hero intentionally slipped on the floor, leading to his head crashing straight into the ground, but he felt little pain. The Apoptosis took the brunt of the impact.
"Oww…" Still, she did not let go. And so, Luka did it again, this time against one of the walls, made of the same solid metal as everything else, bashing into it as hard as he could. The Apoptosis shrieked out in pain, eventually letting go of the hero. Unfortunately, Luka didn't realise this until it was too late. He hit the wall, hard. Collapsing onto the ground, the battle quickly turned into a three-on-three, but Luka wouldn't be awake to see it unfold.
"Marcellus, where are you going?" Lucifina asked. "You… You already went everywhere—Explored everything. There's nowhere left to go."
Marcellus paused for a moment. He was but an arm's length from his wife, but she felt as though he was a mile away. "…The darkness is approaching, corrupting or otherwise destroying everything it touches. I can't stand by and wait for it to come to us."
Lucifina grabbed his hand. "Then let me help you! My sister too, she can lend a hand. And Luka, in time. You don't have to do this alone."
"…You wouldn't understand. This is bigger than us." He said, gently letting go of her. "I must do it alone. Nobody else is strong enough… Not even… Not yet."
Luka wasn't even old enough to walk when his father left, yet he had often dreamt about the day regardless. He had never seen Lucifina cry before. Her tears remained long after Marcellus left. Years after. All the way until her death. The boy was six at the time, barely old enough to understand what was happening.
She wanted him to become a hero, like his father was. But his father left him, and her. And now she was leaving him too. She had been struck by a sudden illness no doctor could heal, nor any priest or mage or healer. All of them tried and failed.
"And… After you become a hero… Find him. Find your father…" Lucifina said, her voice sickly and quiet. "He's out there somewhere. Fighting the dark… Just like he said he would… I know it."
Luka wanted to refuse, to say that his father was wrong to leave them, but the sight of his mother stopped him. Her skin was pallid, with red marks along her shoulders and elbows from her ferocious scratching. Her sunken eyes had lost most of their colour. "I know you… resent him for leaving us. But he had his reasons… He loved us, Luka."
"But… What reasons could possibly excuse what he did!?" Luka asked.
"…You'll have to ask him yourself. I don't know what this… darkness he speaks of is… So you'll have to find out for both of us." Lucifina explained.
The boy said nothing. He didn't want to talk about his father anymore. He had spent enough time thinking about him. Lucifina passed on not long after, still holding Luka's hand.
Alice was sharpening her rapier as she followed Ilias' light. The Apoptosis were numerous, but they weren't particularly powerful. Most of the time they only had a single opponent, which made each battle a four versus one—Or it would be, had Luka not knocked himself unconscious.
Luka's eyes opened groggily. His whole body felt sluggish as he did a small stretch, and his head hurt a great deal. It was dark and quiet. From what little he could see he was in some sort of chasm, with Alice and the others around him. The only oddity was that they were all upside down.
Or no… Perhaps they're right-side up, and I'm the one upside down?
Luka quickly deduced that he was being carried. Sonya must've picked him up after he fell asleep. But how did he fall asleep in the first place? Luka did not remember.
"Em… Could you let me down?" He asked. Sonya did not realise he had awoken.
"Oh, sure." The priestess gently put him down on his feet.
"Thanks… How did I…?"
"You hit your head against a wall, a metal wall," Alice explained. "Not the greatest idea in hindsight. That was about… four minutes ago? Being unconscious for that long probably isn't a good thing…"
"Well it's not like he had much going upstairs in the first place," Ilias remarked. She was leading the group, now radiating light from various parts of her body—Both of her palms, her halo, her wings and her feet—To combat the ever increasing darkness.
"It was a tough enough battle, but we managed without you," Alice said. "That bug Apoptosis was all but incapacitated, so it was really more of a three-on-two."
Luka rubbed the front of his head. Even just touching it hurt… but not as much as one would expect. Sonya must've healed him too, Luka concluded.
I owe her a lot… When she first decided to join me, I thought she'd be dragging us behind a little, but she's the most versatile member of our team by far. She's strong too, almost as strong as Ilias. But her healing alone is amazing. She must've tried really hard to become a good priestess.
"Look, there," Ilias said, pointing. There was a light at the end of the hallway. A few candles, the wax half melted. Someone must've put them there recently.
White Rabbit, perhaps? If she's trying to lead us here it must be important… or a trap. Then again, if she wanted to get rid of us, she would've done it a while ago.
"Let's check it out," She said. The group approached cautiously. Alice double-checked that no Apoptosis' were following them. They had already fought eight of them since they got here, and she had had just about enough of it.
Ilias' hand brushed against the large door gracefully. It had a thin layer of dust built up above the metal. This metal was even tougher than the walls. Its composition was something Ilias had never seen before, even in Remina, even in Heaven itself.
"What the…" Ilias used a fairly powerful on the door, strong enough to blast through stone, but the door didn't even budge. Even in her true form, the goddess knew that she had no chance of breaking through the door with force. "How could it be this powerful…? Who or… what made this door?"
No… wait, I do remember something like this… It's…
"It does look pretty sturdy," Luka said. "So what's up? Do we need to go through it? Where does it lead?"
Ilias pondered the situation for a moment. "It's… a door to another dimension. I remember something like this… Nothing can open them, except for perhaps White Rabbit… We're stuck. Let's try to find a way around this door, and if we can't, we'll just get out of here from the same way we came in."
Luka nodded. The symbol on the door was oddly familiar… He had seen it before, but where? Perhaps…
On the door, the one leading to Reaper! That's right… Then, does the key work on this one too?
The hero looked around for a keyhole in the door, but there was none. There was a handle, however. He grabbed it, trying to check for a keyhole under it, when suddenly the door opened.
"…How can…" Ilias had no words. "I checked, it was locked. I'm sure it… How can you open it…?"
Alice too, couldn't understand. "No human can open a door like that. Tamamo told me all about them. Not even Alipheese the First could open the gateways to other dimensions. Luka… what are you?"
"Eh? I'm a human," Luka answered honestly. "Sonya, you can vouch for me."
The priestess didn't really get what was going on. "Luka's as human as I am." She said. "Let's just get going… Come on, there's no point standing around here doing nothing."
Ilias begrudgingly agreed. She walked through the door with her arms crossed. "Ridiculous… You're always an oddity in every world," She muttered to herself, though Luka couldn't help but feel it was directed at him.
Alice slithered next to hero, whispering into his ear. "Luka, are you sure you're a normal human?" She asked. "I get why you'd keep it from Ilias, but you know you can tell me, right?"
Luka shrugged. "I'm serious, there's nothing special about me. Or…"
Reaper did say I was more significant than I thought, and White Rabbit did give me that key for a reason…
Alice was staring up at the hero impatiently, waiting for an answer. "Well?"
"No… It's nothing."
Alice didn't really believe him. She gave him a quick suspicious look before giving up.
I'll get it out of him later, he knows something…
Ilias was glad that she didn't have to provide light for the group anymore. Though it was still dim, it was enough to see. Her mana had been drained, and it would take a bit for it to come back naturally.
The hallway opened up into a large room, with shining bright lights coming from seemingly nowhere. There were houses lined up along a street. Each house had a corroding purple substance covering it, some of which was on the street itself. Ilias decided it would be best to avoid it.
"What is this place…?" Sonya asked. "How can all of this be down here?"
"I don't know…" Luka said. He followed Ilias as they made their way through the strange place. There were holes in the ground that seemed to have no bottom. Luka did his best to make sure he didn't accidentally fall in.
This is so weird… Who made all of this, and why?
Even the air was strange. There was very little oxygen down here, so Luka and the others had to take deep breathes. There was a foul smell coming from the purple goo, which gave Luka even more reason to avoid it.
"Ilias do you know anything about this place?" He asked.
The goddess was lost in her own thoughts. "Hm? Oh… Well, it seems to be the lands between dimensions. But I don't know what all that purple stuff is, or why it looks like something taken out of a human city."
Sonya lifted her staff and pointed towards a nearby house. It was nearly completely taken by the purple corrosion. "Hey, let's check that place out." She suggested. "We might find answers there."
"Or we could find a horde of Apoptosis'." Alice pointed out. "Best to place it safe and get through here as fast as we can."
Ilias disagreed. "No… We might as well look around while we're here." She reasoned, though Luka felt that she only agreed with Sonya because Alice disagreed with her. He followed her inside, his sword at the ready.
The room was of an average size, had no windows and had little surfaces not covered in the purple goo. There was lots of furniture inside, and overall Luka felt as though someone had lived there before—A family perhaps. Sounds came from the corner, behind a half wall. Clattering sounds, like someone was rummaging through a cupboard.
Luka took the lead, crouched down low. He peaked around the corner. The culprit was a purple Scylla, with eight tentacles which seemed to double as her hair. She had a red bow at the back of her head, along with a mask coloured purple and light grey, much like the monster was. She wore a large red jacket, which covered her generous assets.
"Well, who is it?" Ilias asked, a bit too loud. The Scylla turned towards them, stared for a few moments, and then went back to rummaging. She eventually got her tentacles on a fresh apple. She wiped it clean with the non-sticky side of her tentacles before devouring it in one bite, pulling down her yellow scarf to do so.
"Yeah, let's just get out of here," Luka said, backing up. He had done enough fighting for one day, and the Scylla wasn't hurting anybody.
"Ow!" He said as he fell on the wooden floorboards, face first. He looked back at his leg. The Scylla had wrapped two of her tentacles around it and was slowly pulling him closer. She dragged him until their eyes met, face to face. She started curiously.
"Kyu, Kyu," She said, in a language Luka didn't understand.
"Let go of him!" Sonya shouted, bringing her club down on the Scylla with all of her might. The Scylla absorbed the blow with her squishy outer layer and counter-attacked with her spare tentacles. Luka was still bound to the ground as the others all went in for the attack. He managed to get a hold of his sword and jabbed the Scylla with the hilt, so as not to accidentally kill her.
"Kyu!" The Scylla groaned, trying to fend off her many attackers. She was forced to give in after suffering one too many blows, finally releasing the boy under her. Luka wiped the sticky substances off of his clothes as he rose.
The Scylla had backed up against the wall, with each of them surrounding her, ready to continue the fight. "Kyu…" She said, signalling that she had given up, or at least Luka inferred it as such.
"Phew… Alright, let's go for real this time." The hero once again tried to walk out, but the Scylla still followed behind. Even when they left the house, even when they did their best to ignore her. She moved by sliding her tentacles across the ground, using the suckers to pull herself along.
Luka knew he would have to be the one to address the Scylla in the room. "We can't just ignore her forever," He said, turning around. "What do you want with us?"
The Scylla cocked her head sideways. "Kyu?"
"What the heck does Kyu mean?" Luka asked.
"If you wanted to come with us you could've just said that instead of attacking Luka like that," Sonya said.
"Kyu, Kyu… Kyu." The Scylla explained. "Kyu. Kyu Kyu."
Sonya nodded. "Well come on then. I just hope you can put up more of a fight than you did earlier…"
"Sonya can you… understand what she's saying?" Luka asked.
"Eh? You can't?"
Ilias shook her head. Enough strange things had happened for one day, she thought. She simply wanted to be done and over with this excursion. Though she had initially forbidden Luka from bringing monsters along with them, she had long given up on enforcing that rule.
The group left the area hastily. Nuruko, as Sonya took to calling her, was the slowest member of the group. Neither Ilias nor Alice wanted to slow down for her, but Luka and Sonya did, which meant they had to too. "Enjoy your stay in the Pocket Castle," Ilias muttered. "You won't be seeing much action outside of it at this rate."
Once more, Ilias was forced to be the glorified torch for the group. She put extra power into her right palm and used it as a sort of magical flashlight. "This area is even darker than the start…"
All of them huddled close to the goddess, which didn't give her much freedom of movement. She rolled her eyes as they made their way through. Eventually, they came to an end.
"Eh, what's that pattern in the ground?" Alice asked, using her rapier to point at it. It was a circled star, scratched into the hard soil below them. The surface they stood on stretched out into the void, not unlike the place where Luka met Reaper.
Ilias had seen it somewhere before, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it. "Let's stand on it, I'm sure this is… What was it again… Oh, right. It's a portal. This will lead us to the other dimension."
"Shouldn't we turn back?" Sonya said, the worry evident in her voice. "White Rabbit might not even be in there."
"We've already gotten this far," Luka said. "Let's just finish it."
The hero patted the priestess on the back. "It'll be fine, we'll stick together and help each other out if we get into trouble, like we always do."
Sonya nodded, getting courage from Luka's words. The group stood on the portal. Five people were too large for the pattern, and so Nuruko, despite her desperate Kyuing, was forced to wait in the Pocket Castle. The four of them closed their eyes as the air around them shone blindingly bright.
The morning air was a welcome relief for the young boy, it smelled of wet grass, flowers and dried blood. It was bright and sunny with a cloudless sky. Luka estimated that they had been in the Tartarus for only an hour or two at most, and yet in that time it had somehow become past noon. Ilias told no word of a lie; This was a different world.
"This… I know where we are, just south of Iliasville." Luka said. "It's only a few miles north."
Ilias' eyes widened suddenly. "This energy… It can only be… Angels, powerful ones… There's dozens of them, all around us."
Alice drew her rapier. "Seriously!? W-We can't take them all on! Hell, I doubt we could beat a single one…"
Ilias nodded, taking a deep breath. "It'll be alright… Just follow me, we can go around them. But… This is crazy, how… Why are they on the surface? There's a few cherubs even."
Sonya knew the hierarchy of Angels well. At the top stood the Goddess of Creation herself, at the bottom were common angels, with archangels and the principalities just above them. Cherubs weren't far off Seraphs, who were only below Ilias. They were a force to be reckoned with, and Sonya knew they stood no chance against one in a battle.
And so the group followed Ilias, staying low and moving slowly. They passed through fields of tall grass and stepped carefully over shallow streams, correcting their course whenever they strayed too close to an angel. Ilias recognised some of them: Principality Nagael, Archangel Ranael, and even Cherub Wormiel. The goddess wanted to avoid that one especially.
I just hope they can't detect my presence as I can theirs. I'm doing my best to hide it… If what I think happened did, they've probably been patrolling this area for a long time. I'm sure they've become lax in their duties, as they always do… my disobedient children…
Before long, Iliasville was within sight. Luka couldn't believe it. His hometown had been reduced to a smoking ruin. Half of the buildings had been burnt down to the ground or had their roofs caved in. There wasn't much left standing, besides Ilias Temple. Even that had its fair share of damage, with many of its pillars collapsed.
"How could…"
Ilias put a hand on his mouth. "Shush… They could hear you," She whispered. "Let's take a closer look…"
They carefully stepped down towards the village. The scent of blood and death was everywhere. Skeletons littered the streets, long dead. Swords had melted into the rubble, their metal now useless. Luka's own house was nothing more than a pile of shattered wood and stone. Thankfully, no angels patrolled the village, to Ilias' surprise.
The graveyard had grown immensely. At least seventy new graves had been made, according to Luka's count, meaning that over a hundred people were now buried in the village. The boy walked towards his mother's grave, as he had done a thousand times before. Weeds covered it from the base to the top, her name no longer visible, but the boy knew it was hers.
Beside it was another member of the Hein family: Luka himself, with Sonya on the next grave over. His legs turned to jelly as he read his own name. Sonya soon followed, leaving only Ilias and Alice standing. The Monster Lord didn't know what to say.
"The culprit is obvious," She said, after a long silence. "Ilias… From another world. The angels must've done this."
The goddess did not deny it. She picked up a dusty old journal, kneeling in the dirt as she read it. It was Luka's diary. She spent a while reading it.
"…Alice is right, this was the work of another me." She said softly. Luka turned to her with sullen eyes. "…This is a world in which you gave up on your journey after losing to Granberia, the Heavenly Knight of Fire… That's what this diary says, at least. It seems my angels attacked after some time, laying the world to waste… You tried your best to hold them off, but died nonetheless."
Luka said nothing. Sonya stood, snatching the book. She read it far quicker than Ilias did. "It's true…" She murmured. "How could this be… Why would you do this, Ilias?"
The goddess turned away, ashamed.
"I know why," Alice said. "This is the real Ilias. This is what she's always wanted. Look around you, this is all her work, her legacy. Are you proud of this, Ilias?"
Luka rose after a while, sword in hand. Ilias feared his gaze, so she stood far away from the others. Her heart throbbed painfully, as did his.
"…Let's just get out of here," He said quietly. "…I don't think we come back from where we came. There was no ladder."
"Just use a feather," Alice said.
Luka looked in his pouch for one. "I don't have one on me," He said. "Where's the one I gave you two?"
Alice looked visibly concerned. "W-We used it to get back to Iliasville."
"Then…"
"We're stuck."