Chapter 5: Touch Fluffy Tail
They traveled back to Iliasburg, stocking up on some supplies that they'd need. Giorno took this time to pick up his now repaired suit from the Granberia incident, thanking the Sutherland Inn owner for her recommendation.
He was surprised to see a rudimentary pizzeria being constructed in the city, under the Sutherland Inn namesake. He couldn't help but feel a bit of pride, managing a faint smirk as he passed by the construction.
Alice instantly chose that time to ask for more Ama-ama Dangos, delighted to see normal deliveries of Happiness honey were taking place as a result of their actions in Happiness and Harpy Village.
When all was said and done, they left the town for good to pursue their goal of leaving the continent for good.
Naturally, they couldn't travel anywhere without being assaulted by a monster…
Such as the Leech Girl who was currently engaged in battle with Luka, though it wouldn't be fair to call this a conventional battle. At the moment he was waist-deep inside of her leech mouth, with his pants off to boot.
"I'm f-fine! I can handle this!" He assured, moaning as her mouth constricted around him.
"Are you sure?" The gangstar asked, anxious at having to just watch this encounter. It irked him that Luka wanted to fight a battle by himself, refusing his help. But he did need the experience, and it's not like he wouldn't intervene if things got bad enough.
"At this rate, I'll suck everything out from you in no time…" The leech girl chuckled, licking her lips as her prey was about to climax.
Luka had finally broken out of her mouth and managed to get a grip on Angel Halo, swinging at her neck. The dissolving particles her body released were the indicator that the fight was over.
"N…No way…" The Leech Girl stammered, being overcome by light and shrinking into a small leech. She wasted no time in making her slow escape, crawling away in a panic.
"Finally finished?" Alice asked with disinterest, reappearing from her hiding spot.
"Yeah… Don't you think I've gotten pretty good?" Luka commented, hoping for some positive reinforcement.
"What were you looking at, you idiot? What was with those pathetic attacks?" She criticized.
"Eh…? I thought they were pretty good." He protested, looking at the blonde for some praise.
"You are ending fights much easier; I'll give you that. But you shouldn't be caught in a grapple like that, you might not escape next time." Giorno pointed out. "Again, do try dodging when possible." He added.
"By the way, Alice. When I'm fighting, where do you go?" Luka suddenly questioned.
"Hmm? I walk around, have some tea, and maybe catch a bug or two. Lots of things." She replied in an uninterested manner.
"…What do you do with the bugs?" Giorno inquired, likely knowing the answer.
"N-nothing…" She quickly responded, obviously lying.
Her nerves were completely shot through, watching the two of them work on their dinner at the campfire. They'd gotten some flour and made a small indent in the pile, breaking a few eggs and pouring them into it.
With steady hands, they began to mix the two together to create a dough. Were they going to make bread of sorts? Maybe some more of that delicious cheese bread?
The answer to that was no, because they'd rolled that dough into a flat sheet. Followed by folding it into flaps. Luka then cut the dough into strips, before throwing them into a pot of boiling water that had been prepared earlier, still cooking over the fire.
A variety of vegetables were promptly cut and sliced into small bits. It was kind of funny to think that Luka had more skill with a kitchen knife than with a blade, and sort of attractive… Not that she'd ever admit that.
Her attention to that fact was swooped away when the ever-cautious blonde of the group added the vegetables to a pan, along with some finely chopped beef. Her stomach had chosen that time to rumble in anticipation of her meal, not that the two others seemed to care.
The fake hero lifted a small pot, filled with freshly made tomato paste, and poured it over the slowly cooking mixture. Then came the salt and pepper, as well as some strange, crushed herbs she'd never seen before.
The now-boiled pastries were added to the mix and stirred until the entire clearing smelled of the gravy-like dish. She could barely hold back the urge to leap at the pan, watching the two of them dish out the meal into three bowls.
Obviously, she received the largest portion. Despite the food being hot, she wasted no time in immediately scarfing down the new delicacy.
*Munch* *Munch* *Munch*
*Slurp*
"…" She glanced at her now empty bowl, sad that the meal was now over.
"Alice… Are you still hungry? We have more if you want…" Luka graciously offered, filling her bowl with the remnants of the dish.
"Delicious…" She complimented while eating her dish, her snake tail wagging in the air as she relished the rich flavors.
"I must say, you have a profound gift for cooking. For a first-timer, this tastes even better than the Tagliatelle Ragu I usually got at home." Giorno praised, eating as slowly as possible. It wasn't every day he got reminded of Naples.
"Haha… It's not like I did everything myself. You're a pretty fast learner." Luka blushed, happy to get some kind words from Alice. "You know… A nice story would go great with this meal…"
"Mmm… *nom nom*" Alice ate, prompting him to begin his tale.
"Alright then… this story is about Heinrich." He started.
Many minutes later…
"And that's how Heinrich defeated the Monster Lord and brought about world peace… And everyone lived happily ever after." He concluded, putting his bowl on the floor.
"What do you mean 'everyone lived happily ever after?', you idiot. I'm a monster. Did you really think I'd enjoy a story about a human killing a Monster Lord? Do you want me to tell you a story about a monster killing a human King?" Alice said in disgust.
"I wouldn't exactly call this 'world peace' either." Giorno added.
"Ah… Yeah, that's right." Luka suddenly realized that was the point of this whole adventure anyway.
"If you want to build a peaceful world where everyone can coexist, you'll need to have some delicacy about that." Alice lectured.
"Sorry…" Luka apologized.
"Well… Heinrich defeating that old Monster Lord is indeed worthy of some praise. She only cared about destruction and chaos. Perhaps being defeated by a hero was brought about by herself." Alice explained.
"Brought down by her own mistakes… That's a cutting remark." Luka observed.
"Trying to rule by power is a savage act. You should expect some savagery back." Alice declared, looking frustrated.
Giorno could see where they were coming from, violence begets violence. But that violence was a stand-user's daily life, it was fight or die for them. His existence meant strife and constant savagery.
It was quite interesting to hear that the Monster Lord before him despised ruling through fear. She didn't seem all that cruel right now, maybe she did care more than she ever let know…
Or maybe she was one of those things? Mista imported a manga from Japan, and he wouldn't stop going on about a tsundere of sorts. A girl who'd insult their love interest at every point, just to hide their true feelings. It was a shame that it was a harem work, consisting of four main girls… Mista shot the book straight up.
"You're right. I wonder how the current Monster Lord is…" Luka wondered aloud. "If they've declared full-scale war with humans… I guess they're the villain after all? I wonder if the slaughter of Remina was by her instruction as well… She must be a horrible person after all, don't you think Alice?" He questioned, much to Giorno's dismay.
"I think you're making her into a boogeyman, maybe she isn't as bad as you think." Giorno interjected.
"Who knows..." She neutrally said. "Maybe she just lost her way."
"Alice, do you know the Monster Lord!? Don't tell me… You've seen her!?" Luka suddenly accused.
"Yes… I know the Monster Lord. She may be closer than you think…" Alice not so subtly teased, smirking a bit.
"To me? But I grew up in the countryside. I've only seen my first monster only recently too." Luka confusedly said, pulling a face as he thought about the meaning of her obvious words.
"Man, you're really dumb, you idiot. Well, changing the topic…" She insulted before standing up straight.
"It's time for more training. Seeing your pathetic fights made me disappointed. If you try to fight the Monster Lord like that, it would just be a miserable sight." She declared.
"You don't have to have to say it like that…" Luka protested.
"Now, pick up your sword! I'll show you how you should fight!" She concluded, before looking down at the still-sitting Giorno.
"Get up, you're part of this training session too." She reminded, trotting off to a nearby clearing with Luka in tow.
Whilst she had some negative traits, being a bad instructor was not one of them. She provided almost encyclopedic knowledge and theory about the stances she taught him; she'd even been very strict with his application.
Seeing this side of her was a complete 180 from her usual carefree demeanor, and only served to push the fact that she was much more powerful than she let on.
Sadly, his lack of prior experience meant that he could only receive the bare minimum amount of time learning the skill he'd wanted, Demon Decapitation. That and the fact Alice split her time with Luka meant he was experimenting with its usage while Luka pushed ahead to learn a new skill.
This was for the best in Giorno's opinion, his friend of a year had no other option but to play into using his rather excellent capacity for learning swordplay. It wasn't purely necessary for Giorno to do so, only being a fallback option in the event they ran into something he couldn't reliably punch or utilize his stand on.
He also made an agreement with Luka, about refraining from using lethal force if it wasn't necessary. So, he couldn't be as gung-ho as Luka was with his skills.
He glanced over at the purple-haired man in question, being instructed by Alice on a new skill. Supposedly belonging to Bloody Fernandez, Bloody Fissure Thunder Thrust.
'What a mouthful that is, I couldn't imagine a stand name being that long…' Giorno thought to himself.
While they were distracted, he called on Gold Experience. The stand materialized itself within the body of its user, amplifying the strength of his body. With the blade he purchased not too long ago, he positioned himself according to Alice's instructions.
"Demon Decapitation…" He called out, swinging the blade at high speeds and effectively slashing a tree in half. The striking range of this attack exceeded his usual attack range, leading to him slowing down drastically in the final impact.
"Woah… That's pretty impressive for your first try." Luka gawked, finishing the training session with Alice.
Besides being impressed, however, he felt quite worried. Giorno would certainly employ that attack on any monster who defeated him or proved unbeatable by his current means. That thought pushed him to want to do better in his fights, lest some poor monsters be subject to a death sentence.
"Your speed and power dropped off sharply… You should deal with that." Alice pointed out, curious as to why that happened.
"I prefer keeping engagements at that range anyways… Not much I can do about that either." Giorno explained, most stands didn't have the capacity to grow. Unfortunately, his stand fell into that class. Even Requiem needed to keep within a two-meter range when he actively engaged.
"Hmm… Then seeing how both of you are finished, we should call it a night." She concluded, wrapping herself around a nearby tree.
The two men of the group followed suit and made their way into their respective tents to get some rest, and to prepare for the next day.
"Ilias?!" Luka yelled as he jolted awake, waking up the hidden Monster Lord in a bad way.
"As usual, you're so noisy in the morning." Alice complained, groggily wiping her eyes.
"Ahh… Ilias… Thank you for giving me a revelation!" Luka prayed as he left his tent. He got onto his knees and silently paid his respect to the Goddess he worshipped.
"Praying right as you get up… You're like some old man." Alice mocked.
"Even young people give their gratitude to Ilias. Do you want to pray with me, Alice?" Luka offered.
"Ha! That's a laugh. I'm a monster! Why the hell would I pray to your god!?" Alice roared, laughing at the absurd question.
Luka frowned, embarrassed by the current situation when he finally realized that they were one member short.
"Hey… Where's Giorno?" He asked, putting down the kitchen utensils he was about to use.
"Muda!" A war cry rang out as a tree in a nearby section of the woods was cut down.
"Oh… he's taking that training quite seriously." Alice remarked, slithering to sit on a log to wait for breakfast.
"Ah… Hopefully he'll be here to join us soon." Luka said, getting the ingredients ready for a quick meal.
Along the way to the port city, they once again ran into a monster. This time being ambushed by a Rafflesia Girl, which looked utterly horrific. Two female upper bodies with no arms surrounded by plant petals.
The reason he could identify this monster was the fact that she smelt atrocious, along with the characteristically large size of her petals. He wouldn't be surprised if one of her abilities involved some gaseous element, he'd read that men in Malaysia used the flower as an aphrodisiac back in his world.
"Watch out for any gas attacks, and steer clear of her petals." Giorno warned.
"Okay…" Luka assured, before blitzing the monster with a Thunder Thrust. He'd moved so fast that the monster had no time to prepare her resolve or defense.
To his credit, he followed Giorno's advice to the letter. Her petals were avoided or outright cut by Angel Halo, and he'd had the sense to use his scarf to cover his mouth and nose when the monster inevitably tried to gas him.
The result was a monster who dealt minimal damage to the short hero and got utterly trounced by a final Demon Decapitation.
"No… My body…" She stammered, dissipating into particles as she was turned into a normal flower.
"Fuu… That was pretty good. Thanks for the tip, Giorno!" He commented, smiling at his performance.
"Don't get too overconfident, you'd have had a lot of trouble if that flower expert wasn't here to give you insider information." Alice lambasted, looking at the sealed flower with a hunger in her eyes.
"…" Giorno stared at her, knowing the look in her eyes couldn't be good.
"Are you going to eat her?" Luka worriedly asked.
"What are you saying?! How could I eat a fellow monster!? I just wanted a taste of the petal…" She defended.
"…Are you serious?" He questioned in disbelief.
"It's a plant, so it would grow back… Besides, it was just a passing thought." She argued.
Another encounter with a Roper Girl ended largely the same, except for the after-fight banter.
"Phew… That was a dangerous opponent." Luka sighed as the sealed Roper wriggled her tentacles at him and scurried off.
"If you took too long to finish her off, she would have taken her time finishing you off." Alice agreed.
"Hey, Alice. Even if a monster was going to eat me, would you sit and watch?" He inquired.
"It would be unfortunate, but I'd sit still and watch. Due to my own reasons, I won't give special support to a human." She confirmed, shrugging as she spoke.
"Unfortunate?" Luka exclaimed, hurt to hear that piece of news.
"It would be better being eaten by me than a monster like that… Don't you agree?" Alice teased, licking her lips in a sultry manner. Luka blushed heavily in response.
"Oh…" He moved off, still red on the way to Ilias Port.
The port was completely lifeless, nearly devoid of all people. The few that remained looked rather depressed about their impoverished town.
Upon questioning the locals, they had been told of the existence of storms which had destroyed most of the ships trading and providing transport across the two continents.
The poor-looking man in front of them vented about rumors of a strong monster purposely creating these storms to kill off the port completely. Giorno couldn't help but feel disdain for whoever was responsible, watching firsthand how their actions had financially ruined an entire port and its innocent residents.
"Hmm… I see." Alice trailed off, deep in thought after speaking with that man.
"…Do you have anything to share? Perhaps you know something about this mess?" Giorno asked, furrowing his brows.
"Mm… A little…" She almost squeaked.
"What does this mean? Can you explain it?" Luka insisted.
"A strong Yoma might be blocking the ships from crossing. Their goal is to block pilgrims from making it to the Ilias Temple." She explained.
"Then… We must beat them." Luka concluded, looking at the dying port.
"You wouldn't even be a match." Alice flatly admitted.
'Tch… Another Heavenly Knight it seems… And this one may have to do with the wind or water element, given the storms this place faces.' Giorno analyzed.
… Granberia held back lethal attacks, but this Heavenly Knight may certainly not. And given Alice's confession, it looked like they had no way to approach this mess without significant strife or-
"There's a way, my Hero!" An annoying voice sounded, prompting Giorno to turn his head to the side.
…! A snake monster?!
He immediately punched the monster in the head, knocking her out on the cold ground in a rare moment of panic.
"…You know… I think that was the right call." Luka said, showing an uncharacteristic support for his violent actions.
After a lengthy explanation and some apologies by Giorno, they made their way to the East of the port. The snake girl had been useful, confirming the existence of a bell that could disperse the effects of the storms. She'd also declared her love for Luka, which irritated both him and Alice. That was quite interesting to see.
But she had failed to adequately describe the distance to said hiding spot for the bell. This meant that they would have to spend the night in the wilderness…
"It's a lot further than I thought. If I knew it would take so long, I would have spent the night in Iliasport." He sighed, looking up at the stars.
"What a haphazard idiot. Pick up the sword, we're training again." Alice ordered.
"I'll do my best!" Luka smiled, eager to learn some more.
Giorno picked his blade up, wanting to advance in skill too.
Luka collapsed on the ground, drained from his training regime with the strict monster. He'd been insulted some more before being instructed to be more in tune with the elements. Not that he'd known what she meant…
Movements like the wind…
Body with the earth…
And fire in your sword…
Strange…
"Sheesh. First, you need to focus your mind. Cross your legs and try meditating." She ordered.
While that was going on, Giorno was practicing his newly learned technique. Zipping about with pinpoint strikes at a rapid pace, getting a feel for how Thunder Thrust would gel with his stand.
"Don't grumble, be calm. It is said that the fallen angel Erigora was able to immediately heal all their wounds by meditating. It's obviously a fake story, but concentrating your mind is still important." She recounted, catching Giorno's attention.
Erigora…? As in Eligor, one of the fallen angels who'd rebelled alongside Lucifer Morningstar and member of the Goetia. Something told him that this story wasn't exactly false.
Alice's disbelief soon proved him right, given the results of Luka's meditation training. A rush of light cascaded from his body, healing his body and returning his lost strength.
"What?! Is that even possible?! What the hell is wrong with your body?!" Alice questioned.
"Is it strange? Didn't you say that some fallen angel or something was able to heal their wounds?" He asked, using the newly learned skill again, a wave of light cleansing his body and rejuvenating it.
He proceeded to show it off again and again, scaring even the likes of the hidden Monster Lord.
But then she had raised a serious point.
"Do we still need Giorno at this point?" She asked, looking at the blonde.
"Alice… Don't say stuff like that!" Luka scolded.
The blonde in question did feel a bit hurt by that comment, but he was more concerned with what the purple-haired hero could achieve, and how boundless his potential seemed to be.
His mind did not allow him any rest that night, debating the true nature of the first friend he'd made in this new world.
They had reached the cave which housed this mystical bell the morning after that eventful night. Stepping inside of it, they were greeted by a cold and dingy environment. As expected of a cave…
"Hrm… It smells like a fox." Alice sniffed, pulling a face.
"…It smells like…" Giorno sniffed, recognizing the smell from his short time as a Japanese citizen.
"What does a fox smell like?" Luka questioned.
"Tofu…?" Giorno finally answered.
"Thin fried tofu…" Alice corroborated, growling a bit.
Luka tested the walls, cautious about a potential cave-in. However, the cave proved to be quite resilient, much to his satisfaction.
"If pirates did hide all their treasure here, there is sure to be a lot of traps." Alice warned.
"We'll have to be careful… It's odd… If so, many came in here without returning, where are all the corpses? Somehow, it seems like ghosts are going to come out at any second…" Luka trailed off, unintentionally discovering the Monster Lord's greatest weakness besides food.
"G…Ghost!?" Alice fearfully stammered, shaking violently.
"Something the matter?" Giorno asked, lifting an eyebrow. This sudden development presented some new opportunities.
"N…Nothing." She weakly stated, unconsciously slithering between the two of them as they walked further.
"Why are you so close to me?" Luka asked, blushing slightly.
"You…You're the one who's too close to me. Besides… Why would you think I'd be afraid of something like this? You know? I mean ghosts are so unscientific and everything. Just an ignorant product of foolish humans." Alice panicked, slithering right on top of Luka in her delirium.
"They're very real." Giorno confirmed, recalling his final moments with Bucciarati at the coliseum.
"No, they're not!" Alice screamed, about to cry. In her panic, she'd spotted a moving shadow in the corner of the room they stood in.
"Wha! What was that!?" Luka yelled, startled by a small shadow moving in the dark corner of the room.
Alice shrieked like a banshee, coiling around Luka to shield her from the supposed supernatural threat.
"Uwaa! Don't wrap around me!" The hero yelled, struggling to handle the lamia's weight on his body.
"It seems like something is here after all…" He continued, pulling out Angel Halo. Giorno mentally prepared himself for a fight.
"…This isn't a ghost." Alice suddenly realized, unwrapping from her shield.
"Ghost…?" Luka repeated, confused.
"Don't say that word! Finish this quickly!" Alice ordered, slithering off into the darkness and disappearing.
…Giorno wondered if she would have the same reaction to his stand, perhaps if he were to command his stand to move some objects, she would assume it was the work of a ghost?
…Anyways, he had already tracked the intruder using his life sense. She appeared to be more childlike, from how her life energy felt.
"I can see you… Reveal yourself now." He commanded, pointing exactly where she hid.
"Wawa! Humans appeared!" A little girl exclaimed, her head adorned with fox ears and a pair of tails on her backside. This was likely the source of the smell earlier, as explained by Alice's offhand comment about foxes.
"W…What should I do… I got separated from Tamamo, and now a pair of humans arrive." The child lamented, assessing the strength of her assailants. Her eyes were quickly drawn to the terrifying Angel Halo, wielded by the rather cute-looking boy wielding it. And the blonde man beside him, wearing a revealing suit.
…Giorno felt ill, she'd mentioned one of the most infamous evil figures of Japanese mythology, according to Japan at least. She most likely referred to Tamamo No Mae, the nine-tailed fox who'd led kings and emperors astray and caused hundreds if not thousands of deaths.
Given the literal nature of their namesake in this world, he'd assume those stories had actually taken place in this world. The pair of them would face a cunning strategist who was viciously cruel, was far older, and with much more experience fighting than both of them combined.
"She told me not to let a human take Poseidon's bell! I won't let you by me!" The silver fox declared.
"Who told you not to?" Luka interrogated, pointing his sword at her.
"That's a secret!" She quickly replied, nervously shaking.
"Your master is Tamamo… As in Tamamo No Mae. The nine-tailed fox…" Giorno answered, mortifying the poor girl.
"…She did say 'Tamamo', you're right." Luka agreed.
"How did you… Auu." She deflated, scared at how fast she got found out.
"I don't think we can negotiate if I have a good idea about your master…" Giorno proclaimed.
"Then… It's time for a match!" The silver fox concluded, giggling in a childish manner.
"Thunder Thrust!" He yelled, accurately and swiftly slashing at her. The sheer speed caught the monster off-guard, but she quickly shot a tail towards the hero.
Just before her tail could reach his pants, it was caught by the firm grip of the blonde man.
"Eh?" She dumbly said, before being pulled with a ridiculous amount of strength. Her feet lifted off the ground as her body flung to the pair of men.
"Muda!" Giorno screamed, punching her full force in her stomach, and sending her tumbling on the cold hard ground.
She struggled to get back up, breathing heavily to resist the urge to expel the tofu in her stomach. That blonde man hit hard and was way too quick to let her get a hit in normally.
"Damn you! Clone jutsu!" She screamed, creating multiple copies of herself around the men.
"What the…?" Luka grumbled, looking at each of the identical clones.
"Fufufu… Amazing right?! Now do you see I'm the real deal!?" She triumphantly asked.
Her confidence vanished when she realized the blonde man's eyes never left her true body, tapping his friend and pointing him in the right direction.
"Eeep!" She screamed as they rushed to her real body. She quickly raised her two tails to defend herself from the onslaught.
That didn't help when his fist glowed a golden hue, striking her tail and shattering her last line of defense. Time slowed down for her, rendering her body unable to react to the increase in thoughts she was having.
This gave Luka all the time he needed to spool up a Demon Decapitation, landing a critical strike and ending the fight altogether.
"Hyaa!" She shrieked as her perception returned to normal, being overcome by light and transforming into a small fox.
"You can't do anything bad anymore like that." Luka said, sheathing his sword and approaching the fox and attempting to pet her.
The fox hissed at him, biting down hard on his hand, and running away into the darkness.
"Are you finished…? But foxes are still infesting this place… That type of monster shouldn't live in this cave…" Alice thought aloud.
"Then where did she come from?" Luka questioned.
"Sheesh, those things are really annoying." Alice sighed, ignoring Luka's question entirely.
"Tch… They're after the bell… They don't want humans to overcome the storms. This Tamamo No Mae is working alongside the enemy Youma causing the storms!" Giorno declared.
"…How did you know her full name?" Alice asked, few if any humans could infer what Giorno understood so quickly. His intellectual ability was quite threatening if anything.
"You should know your enemy before you actively seek them out." He simply responded, looking to where the fox ran off to. "We should follow her, maybe she could retrace most of her steps and lead us to her master."
"I don't really get it… But let's hurry on." Luka concluded, moving deeper into the cave.
Along the way, they crossed over the remains of the traps the pirate crew of the legendary Selene set. Whatever triggered them had no meaningful reason to stop their rampage, leading credence to his theory of having a tough fight.
Giorno wasted no time in turning one of the corners, coming face to face with another monster. Yet another tentacle-clad creature, standing only centimeters in front of him.
Strangely enough, she did not attack him, despite having the advantage due to her number of appendages. He strained his eyes to get a good look at her face, seeing how they remained closed, confirming that she appeared to be visually impaired. That made sense if she lived in these caves naturally, her body evolved to mitigate the lack of eyesight.
"Something like this is here too…" Luka commented, initiating a thunder thrust out of nowhere and hitting the monster on the vulnerable side.
The Meda Girl responded instantly, shooting her tentacles at the attacker she sensed. When most of them were too far extended to be a threat to Giorno, he threw a life-infused punch at her.
Unsurprisingly, his attack landed without much issue. The effects of her overloaded nervous system became apparent when her tentacle attack slowed down to a crawl. This allowed Luka to easily weave between her appendages, and land a few more critical slashes on her main body.
By the time her tentacles made their way back to him, the fight had already been lost. Her body dissipated like many of the monsters before her.
"Ah…" The Meda girl said, turning into what appeared to be a sea louse.
"My, my… You sure are brutish. You say you want to create a world where monsters and humans can coexist… Yet you attack and seal monsters one after the other." Alice mocked.
"I'm only fighting monsters that are attacking travelers and can't get along with humans." Luka argued back.
"I fail to see what your point is here… We either fight…or die." Giorno added, not in the mood to deal with Alice's useless insults.
"What a selfish way of thinking… Anyway, let's keep going. We don't have time to kill." Alice reiterated.
"Yeah, we have to hurry!" Luka agreed.
"So… the monsters want the Poseidon Bell to make sure humans can't sail through these storms, right?" Luka asked.
"It's as Giorno said." Alice confirmed.
"The timing is too strange though." Luka pointed out.
"Oh… it looks like you aren't completely hollow up there. Most humans wouldn't ever try to venture to the very bottom of this cave. Thinking that nobody would try, they probably just left it where it was." Alice elaborated.
"But the citizens said that people were trying to go to the cave before… That means… They must have heard about me!" Luka concluded, enjoying that thought a bit too much.
"You're a real idiot. Do you think anyone cares about a fake Hero?" She questioned with malice.
"That…" Luka winced, hurt by her dismissal.
"No… He may be partially correct." Giorno interrupted.
"What?" Alice inquired, curious to hear his reasoning.
"From the looks of it, this operation was undertaken with great haste. Perhaps this Yoma always counted on retrieving the bell, but our presence must have accelerated that process." Giorno reasoned.
"Interesting…" Alice admitted.
"It's only a theory but… The Heavenly Knights must communicate well, given that they were chosen by yo-… the Monster Lord. It wouldn't be out of this world to assume that Granberia being driven away by a hero set alarm bells off in the rest of their heads." Giorno concluded, almost making a mistake with the identity of the Monster Lord.
"So they do know me?" Luka hopefully asked.
"Possibly…but I don't think that is a good thing. It's less likely that they will hold back after how we dealt with the Heavenly Knight of Fire." Giorno analyzed. "I certainly wouldn't take chances with us if I were them."
"Hmm… You'll need to be careful about them. I don't know if it's Tamamo or Alma Elma, but it's sure to be trouble." Alice warned as they approached two life signatures.
"Eh…? You know that Tamamo girl?" Luka asked as the trio entered a room with a large spider web, with the silver fox ensnared in it.
…Giorno froze on the spot, sensing their adversary on the roof above him. It seems their latest foe was a spider monster…
"What is that? Is that a monster's trap…? Why would it catch another monster?" Luka questioned, feeling pity for the struggling kitsune.
"Ever heard of a dog-eat-dog world?" Giorno asked.
"Indeed. Not all monsters consider each other allies. Like you humans, they fight each other sometimes. Especially the insect-type monsters, they'll make almost anything their feed. That kitsune was just stupid." Alice scoffed, disappearing from sight.
Giorno detected the hints of a grudge in that explanation… specifically the vitriol when she said 'kitsune'. That was very odd, given Tamamo was one of her Heavenly Knights given her earlier warning… She and whoever Alma Elma was.
That name didn't ring many bells… Although its Latin origin could be translated into nourishing… Which wouldn't be great for her victims, given that she probably eats them.
Before he could go on any longer, the Spider-Girl dropped down from her vantage point, eager to see her latest catch.
"Stop!" Luka yelled at her, interrupting her before she could eat the silver fox.
"Arara… Another stupid catch appears. Fufu… A delicious-looking pair of men too. I'll wring your semen out…" The monster maliciously threatened.
"Kuh! Let the Kitsune go!" Luka ordered, pulling out Angel Halo.
"Sure… If I can get a human boy, I don't need such a tiny monster. Instead, I'll eat you. I'll wind you up and suck everything out…" The Spider-Girl agreed, shifting her full attention onto the pair of them.
Luka once again opened up with his best surprise attack, Thunder Thrust.
"I'll wrap your whole body up…" The monster said, throwing webs at Luka's body to restrict his movement.
He responded in kind by cutting at the webbing, yet it refused to budge.
The monster gloated at his useless attempts to free himself, offering him the choice of his own demise in triumph. A fist to her face quickly changed that smug smile into a bitter scowl, along with a bruised cheek and pride.
"Muda!" He cried out, managing to stop her constant binding of Luka.
"Tch! I'll suck you out later…" She viciously bit down on her attacker's exposed wrist, managing to inject her venom into the blonde male. He was as good as dead now, doomed to liquefy from the inside out.
"Gah! Giorno!" Luka panicked, seeing his comrade's hand start to shrivel as the inside of his arm began to liquify and spread.
"Haha… Give up." The Spider-Girl mocked, watching what she thought would be the blonde's death.
Yet… he seemed too calm for someone who had a minute or so left to live. If anything, he was barely inconvenienced. Giorno lifted the sleeve of his left arm, observing the damage her bite seemed to do.
"Oh… How interesting… I suppose I should have been prepared to see this from a spider of all things." He commented.
"Why are you so calm? You're going to be my meal!" She questioned.
"I don't think so… Your useless venom means nothing to me, all I have to do is sacrifice an arm." He concluded, before unsheathing his sword and slicing his arm off at the elbow.
He'd acted just fast enough, preventing the spread of the venom to critical areas of his body. His arm flew off, along with a ridiculous spew of blood coating the floor and pooling at his feet.
"Aaaah! What the hell?!" The Spider-Girl shrieked, almost vomiting at the sight of the gore.
That left her completely vulnerable to a follow-up Demon Decapitation from Luka, sending her staggering backward and ending the fight with a critical slash to her neck thereafter.
Her body dissipated in a wave of light, transforming her into a small spider that scurried off into the darkness of the cave.
The webbing on Luka soon melted away, leaving him free to move. He immediately rushed towards his blonde friend, who still bled viciously, but had seemingly no reaction to the fact he sliced his own arm off.
"Giorno?! What the hell did you just do?! Why did you do that?! Oh Ilias…!" He panicked, his face losing all its color when Giorno used his remaining arm to throw some knives at the Kitsune trapped in the webbing, slicing them apart and freeing her. The fox girl looked just as horrified and ran off immediately.
Even when Alice reappeared, she did not have her usual neutral expression on. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she stared at the bloody stump that was once an arm.
"By the first…" She whispered, truly overcome by the situation she found herself in. Never before had a human willingly lopped off one of their limbs so casually, and with such incredulous pain tolerance.
Giorno picked up his old arm, looking at the liquified bits within. The arm was subject to a shining golden light, emanating from him. Once the light faded, it had been transformed back into a living and healthy arm. The limb was quickly reattached to the bloody stump, leaving Luka and Alice gaping in surprise.
"You… you just fixed it?" Alice questioned.
"…Thank Ilias…" Luka gratefully prayed, trying to calm his beating heart.
"You're unnatural… I've never seen that before. I can't believe your first instinct was to do that…" Alice complained, avoiding the pool of blood on the floor.
"Giorno… is this… normal for you? Losing an arm like that?" Luka asked, already having an idea of the answer he would get.
"It's happened before…" He confirmed, looking to the separate paths before the group.
"Don't act like that isn't insane! Even if you can heal yourself, you did that way too easily!" Alice yelled.
"The fox went that way…" He pointed towards the left path. "But I can sense multiple life signatures in the right path."
"So…going right is the way to go?" Luka asked.
"Hmm… Let's split up. I'll follow after her, you go after the bell." Giorno suggested.
"How pointless… Don't tell me you fell for this idiot's preaching?" Alice mocked.
"Take this… think of it as a good luck charm." Giorno said, giving Luka one of his broaches and planting it on his waist. "I promise that I'll be back." He concluded, walking off into the dark path.
"What is he thinking?" Luka worriedly thought aloud.
In truth, he felt no particular way about this fox. He merely wanted to use her for their benefit. Whether she could be used as a grateful monster or as a hostage to bargain with Tamamo remained to be seen.
Life sense showed him her accurate positioning, wandering around aimlessly in the dark. He could hear the whimpers she let out, struggling to find her way back to her allies.
Perfect… he could easily take advantage of this situation.
"Little fox…" He called out.
She froze in place, looking at him with great skepticism. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight.
"Listen… I'm not a threat to you." He unbuckled his utility belt, and dropped his knives on the ground, alongside the sword he kept on his back.
"See? I'm only here to help you. It would be in our best interests to work together, no?" He suggested, offering her his hand in a sign of peace.
"It would be useless to hurt you right now." He explained, as she slowly approached his hand.
She finally entered his range, willingly entering into his grasp. He lifted her as gently as he could, stroking her fur to get her to remain cooperative.
'Perfect, now to-'
As soon as he turned around, he tripped on a hidden wire. The way back to the splitting paths collapsed under a tsunami of rocks, effectively blocking their way.
"Tch… Tamamo didn't get all the traps… did she?" He asked, with the fox in his arms nodding in response.
"Looks like our only way out is forward then." He said, retrieving his weapons and moving on.
"Ugh… Giorno was kind of scary back there…" Luka mumbled as they traveled.
"I still can't believe it, even if I saw it with my own two eyes." Alice shivered. "What kind of idiot just does that? He didn't even scream or react to the pain…"
They suddenly arrived at a small room with a chest in the middle of it.
"A chest… What do you think, Alice? Should I open it?" Luka fished for any advice.
"How would I know? Do whatever you want. Just… if anything happens, I'll leave you without hesitation." Alice reminded him.
"Yeah… I know." Luka grumbled, before approaching the chest.
Once he got close enough, the Mimic sprung to life and jumped out of her box.
"Uwa! …Huh?" He stumbled back before the monster retreated into her lid.
He stood stock still, waiting for an attack. Yet the Mimic refused to act first.
He had enough of waiting around, attempting to just walk right by the monster.
"…Once you show me your back, I'm going to eat you." She threatened.
"That wouldn't be good… Alright, here I go!" Luka said, unsheathing Angel Halo.
The Mimic remained still, waiting for her latest prey to fall victim to her trump card.
Luka used Thunder Thrust, quickly landing a heavy blow to the monster. The attack did decent enough damage, but the consequences of his lack of foresight would rear its ugly head.
"Hahaha…" The Mimic giggled as she used his momentum against him and pulled him into her domain.
"It's over for you! I'll play with you plenty…" She drawled once she attempted to remove his pants. Her hands wrapped around what she assumed to be a belt, feeling a scaly texture instead of what should have been smooth leather.
The head of a snake peeked out from under his shirt, hissing threateningly at the Mimic. The shape of its head and long length showed it to be a cobra. It opened its mouth wide, showing off the long fangs it had.
"Aaaah! Snake!" She flailed as she threw him out, not risking an encounter with the dangerous animal. The snake quickly slithered off, towards a dark corner of the room to observe the fight.
"Oof!" Luka grunted as he landed on his backside, quickly pulling his half-removed pants back up to get ready for some combat. He silently thanked the snake for saving his life, even if he had no idea how it got in there…
Maybe it was divine intervention from Ilias herself.
Once again, the Mimic refused to move or show her true body. This time, Luka finally had the sense to not attack her while she refused to show herself.
"Tch… Not going to attack?" The Mimic sighed, revealing herself.
Once she did so, he wailed at her repeatedly, only taking a break to meditate once she retreated into her chest.
The fight went on in cycles like this until she eventually lost the battle with a final Demon Decapitation from Luka.
"How mean! All because of a snake!" She complained, as her body turned into a toy box.
"Whew… That surprised me." Luka sighed in relief, meditating again to recover his energy.
"You're ridiculously lucky… I thought you had a zero percent chance of winning. I thought you were dead when you actually attacked her in her chest form…" Alice commented.
"Yeah… That snake really saved me." Luka gratefully said, looking around the room.
He'd only managed to see Giorno's broach on the floor, which he quickly picked up.
"Maybe Giorno's broach really is a good luck charm?" He asked, attaching it to his waist again.
"As if…" Alice scoffed.
Luka stepped into a much larger room, well lit up in contrast to the rest of the cave. The door in front of him looked very important, and it was most probably the door to the treasure room.
That was great… if not for the centaur-like monster guarding the door and staring right at him. Upon counting her tails, he stopped at the number seven, indicating that this was a very powerful monster.
"Are you the ally of that kitsune!?" Luka questioned, sizing her up. Alice didn't enter the room with him, waiting out the inevitable confrontation.
"Yes… I am Nanabi." The kitsune spoke.
"You're not Tamamo… guess he was right about the nine tails." Luka commented.
"Past this door is the treasury… So I can't let you pass. If you choose not to return…" Nanabi started, getting into a combat stance.
"I'll advance, even by force!" Luka resolved.
"Understood… I'll show you the power of Tamamo's aide!" Nanabi declared, her tails rising.
"…" Luka grimaced, intimated by the enemy's intimidating presence as he unsheathed Angel Halo.
The rumbling of a nearby wall interrupted them before they could begin their bout, cracks spreading on the sturdy stone. It sounded like a flurry of hits from the other side, the structural density of the wall disintegrating under the punishment it was receiving.
"Muda!" A hole blew through the wall, revealing a familiar navy blue suit.
"Giorno…" Luka smiled, happy to see his comrade safe and sound.
The blonde man squeezed through the hole, joining Luka's side as he faced the seven-tailed kitsune.
"You… Tamamo told me about you." She recognized the blonde man, having been given an adequate description of the threat who'd managed to harm the likes of a Heavenly Knight.
"You know us?" Luka asked, almost sounding happy.
"Of course… two dangerous heroes cannot be allowed to succeed here." She concluded, her battle aura flaring up.
"Useless… Useless… Useless." Giorno muttered, squaring up on the beast before him.
Luka opened up with Thunder Thrust once again, only grazing her side as her superior speed allowed her to anticipate the strike.
Her tail countered by massaging the short hero's groin before that was stopped by the blonde man shoving it off of his comrade.
"I'll hold it in my mouth…" Nanabi said, shooting toward the blonde male. His left arm had successfully been restrained by a mass of tails and his body was being hoisted off the ground.
A few more tails moved towards his waist, forcing him to forgo his subtlety. He flung some knives from his free hand towards Luka and the path in front of him.
"Climb up!" Giorno yelled before the knives turned into a mix of trees. The trees themselves created stepping stones for Luka to climb, leading right to the monster's neck.
"Wha?!" The monster cried out in shock. She had just witnessed knives turn into natural trees, catching her by surprise.
Giorno tried his best to claw at the tails restraining his movement. This allowed the monster free reign to be the first foe to land an attack on him, her tails swiping along his groin.
He shuddered in response, a mixture of euphoria and disgust filling his body. This fuelled his desperation, pushing him to bash his wrist repeatedly instead.
Once the bones broke completely, he slid his way out of her grasp and allowed Luka to sprint up the tree branches and deliver a few slashes to her neck and upper body.
"Tch… Should I get a little serious?" Nanabi drawled, focusing her power. For some reason, this necessitated a change in her appearance. A leaf now sat atop her head, as she continued focusing her might.
Luka took the chance to retreat to safer ground, meditating to recover any strength. Giorno followed that same pattern, his broken bone fragments being given life energy and reforming with the main structure of his wrist.
Luka once again slashed at the still target, who didn't seem too worried about the weak attacks.
"Now… Prepare yourself!" Nanabi announced, her power finally at its peak.
Luka backed off, taking the best defensive stance he could. Giorno ushered him behind the formation of trees, much to his confusion.
"Go mad with pleasure! That tree won't protect you from my tails!" She yelled, as all her tails shot out towards the pair with incredible speed. She would just smash through these trees anyways and have her way with them.
They showed no signs of stopping when they intersected with the various branches, a grave mistake the monster would soon realize. The combined force which would have hit the trees reflected towards their attacker, punching a series of concussive blows into her abdomen, and forcing her onto the ground. Her most powerful attack did not have the intention of killing them outright, given the fact the reflected damage didn't kill her either.
"Gah! No… m-moonlight…" She coughed, as she tried her best to recover. Elements of panic etched on her face as her most dangerous attack was countered so easily.
Luka wasted no time in wailing on the downed opponent, slashing her tails and upper body in particular to deal critical damage to key areas of her body.
"S-shall we start again?" She winced, holding her chest as she rose. She would avoid that tree wherever possible from now on.
"Just give up… I'll give you pleasure that will send you to heaven." She promised, flinging her tails at them in seemingly random patterns.
She'd used these probing attacks to take note of her opponent's methods of battle. The small one didn't use any form of mobility, choosing to take the full brunt of her attacks head-on and healing later.
The blonde one always tried closing the distance to her main body, but quickly backed off whenever he felt overwhelmed by her tails. Frustratingly enough, he was very agile, choosing to avoid damage wherever possible. And from what she'd seen, he could heal himself too, annoying her even further.
The battle quickly devolved into one of attrition, with neither side doing enough damage to tip the scales in their favor.
Giorno saw the writing on the wall, at their current state they stood no chance against an adversary like this. That was only if he didn't reveal his ace in the hole, his most loyal confidant.
Luka and Alice would surely question what he did with that knife, and how it transformed into a tree. He didn't want to add the explanation of stands either.
He had no choice… It was either that or his eventual demise. He wouldn't let himself be taken prisoner and be subject to the punishment of the likes of a Heavenly Knight.
The choice in the matter was simple when he thought of it like that.
Just when Luka had taken a break in the fighting to heal, he'd silently summoned his stand.
"Gold Experience…" He softly whispered, allowing his stand to fully disassociate with his body and walk ahead of him. He tried his best to coordinate his attack while Luka concentrated on his meditation, unfortunately giving his opponent the best chance to end the battle.
"I won't give you time to heal!" She declared, her eyes flashing a magical light to her opponents.
Both of them had been staring straight into her eyes, falling victim to the battle-ending attack. The blonde had slumped over onto his stomach, while the short boy remained standing in his slumber.
"Guh…Sh…It…Guh…" Luka snored, stumbling about in his unconsciousness.
"…" Giorno remained still, body unmoving as Nanabi approached the pair. Gold Experience did not disappear, remaining at its user's side.
"I'll use my tail to make you come!" She gloated, smiling pridefully as her tails split apart and attacked both men at once.
She was caught completely off guard when the small one sidestepped her tail completely. His movements were graceful, far more purposeful than when he was awake.
He swayed from side to side as he stood, yet in a manner which seemed controlled. That couldn't be true... His eyes were shut, he had to be asleep. She backed off from the pair, wary of the situation.
"Are you mocking me?! No… He's asleep…" Nanabi confirmed, watching him avoid all her proceeding attacks.
"Zzz…Here… Go…" Luka mumbled before his sword flashed with an unknown energy. With unprecedented speed, he slashed at her multiple times. Each hit made the fox recoil in panic, her tails gradually being overwhelmed.
"Kuh... Impossible! It's as if he's an entirely different person!" Nanabi yelled as she was forced backward.
"In that case… How about this?" She exclaimed as two tails surged towards him.
He dodged the attack flawlessly, making her shriek in response.
"So full…" Luka mumbled, imbuing his sword with a bright light, and blasting the wave of light towards her.
She barely had time to react, dodging the light and watching it connect with the cave. The resulting explosion and tremors were a testament to his newfound strength and a grave reminder that any hit she received would be the end of it all.
Unfortunately, she stepped just a little too close to the unconscious Giorno. Gold Experience immediately shifted to the threat who'd entered its range, planting its feet down and rushing at her.
"What is with that power?! If I get hit by tha-" She yelled before feeling a fist smash into the side of her face.
And another…
And another…
And many, many more…
Her entire body was littered with a wave of punches, and they refused to stop no matter how much she resisted. The force of the blows managed to create small shockwaves, lifting her large body in the air as a result.
These punches hurt considerably more than anything else she'd ever felt, and they felt like an eternity too. It felt like minutes of torture, seeing time move in slow motion.
The rush of blows finally stopped when she was sent flying into the wall, dazed, and looking for whoever was possible. She had initially thought that it was the blonde man, but he remained motionless on the floor.
She barely caught a glimpse of a foot-like crater in the stone floor, which confused her greatly.
That couldn't have been possible… He was the only one in range of her, about 2 meters off from her location. What the hell was going on here?!
She held her aching head, cursing herself for her carelessness. She'd completely fumbled when she underestimated her opponents.
'Snap out of it, Nanabi! This is why Tamamo warned you about these two!" She recalled, getting her breathing under control, and facing the biggest threat in the room, Luka.
"Take this! My ultimate attack!" Nanabi screamed, sending her tails to swarm him.
Luka made no attempt to dodge, swaying while he chanted something in his sleep.
As soon as her tails hit him, he violently countered her attack with a devastating move.
He muttered a phrase only audible to himself, as a small star spawned out of nowhere and flung itself at his attacker.
The ball of energy collided with Nanabi, overcoming her defenses, and marking the end of the fight.
"Impossible… This…" The Kitsune stammered as her body dissipated into particles of light. Once that light had faded, she had been reduced to the form of a normal fox.
Luka swayed around for a few moments longer before he finally awoke from his forced slumber.
"Mmm…Nnn…Fwaa… That was a nice nap." He yawned as his eyes opened. The realization of what happened caught up with him when the fog lifted from his brain.
"Ah! That's right! Those weird eyes made me fall asleep! Hmm?" He exclaimed, looking down at his defeated opponent in her sealed state. She was joined by the silver fox, who'd emerged from the hole Giorno had made earlier.
She looked quite shaken and scared, specifically at Luka in particular and giving Giorno's body a wide berth as she walked by.
"Giorno?! You too?!" He questioned, looking at his still-sleeping friend not too far away.
"What's going on…?" Luka asked in bewilderment, if neither he nor Giorno beat her, who did?
"You don't remember? It looks like you were really asleep." Alice commented as she reappeared from her hiding place. Her eyes never left the spot where Giorno was.
"Alice… What happened?" Luka asked, wanting some clarification.
"You're significantly stronger when asleep, but I don't know why…" Alice elaborated.
"Eh… I am?" He inquired, caught off guard by that fact.
"You two should fight while asleep from now on. If you do that, it will be an easy trip." She concluded.
"I don't understand… But we need Giorno to wake up." He gave up, walking towards his blonde friend. Both sealed foxes rigorously shook their heads the closer he got.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Alice interrupted, confusing Luka even more.
"Huh? Why?" Luka asked as she pulled on his scarf to bring him back.
"Giorno has some strange abilities… I saw it earlier. A knife somehow turned into a tree… and whenever you approach him, you get pummelled." She explained.
Luka looked over to a formation of trees sprouting off the stone ground, that certainly was not there before…
Alice chucked a small rock at Giorno's head, testing her hypothesis.
The rock was smashed to pieces by a powerful unseen force, long before it ever reached its intended target.
"Woah… What was that?" Luka gasped, almost giddy and childlike.
"I don't know… But that seven-tailed kitsune got smashed by whatever it was. It's best not to disturb him for now…" She suggested.
"Giorno! Giornooo!" Luka shouted, trying his best to wake up his friend.
"Tch… What an idiot." Alice insulted, seeing how Luka immediately disregarded her advice.
A few moments later, his body stirred after he awoke. He groggily lifted himself and looked around. Strangely enough, his eyes widened after looking at an empty spot in the air.
"Hey… So you finally woke up… It turned out that we beat the Kitsune!" Luka joyfully exclaimed, pumping his fist up.
"How…? I assume we both got hit with that sleeping attack, right?" He correctly ascertained.
"Oh… apparently, we're really strong. Alice said so." Luka explained.
"Hmm… Unknown sword techniques and an invisible force. Can't say I've seen that before, much less in any humans." She added, staring right into his eyes.
The implications of that sentence worried Giorno, when he had been hit by that attack, Gold Experience had been summoned. So when he fell asleep, it was left to its own devices…
And nearly everyone in the room had seen the effects of Gold Experience in action. However, it was reassuring to see that no one here had the capacity to see it in action directly.
This was going to be a problem, but for now, he'd have to feign ignorance and shift the conversation to another topic.
"What about the treasure room? And this Tamamo?" He pivoted, making the cogs in Luka's brain turn.
"Yeah! Let's continue!" Luka enthusiastically agreed.
"It seems like you were too late…" Alice noted.
"No…" Giorno disappointingly reacted when the large doors in front of the group opened up.
The door slowly opened, revealing a small blonde girl with fox ears wearing some form of shrine attire. It wasn't a Kimono, but rather the predecessor Miko. If anything, that only spoke to how old this monster was.
That translated to roughly fourteen thousand years ago, at least in his world when the practice of Miko traditions was first recorded.
She held a white fan with red artwork present on it, along with her nine tails which prominently swung as she haughtily made her way to the pair of sealed foxes.
"She looks weaker than Nanabi…" Luka commented, sighing in relief.
"She may look like a child, but that is her trying to deceive us… She is more powerful than you think…" Giorno disagreed, wary of the fox.
"Idiot. Look at her tails." Alice pointed out.
"One, two, three… Nine? But that's only two more than Nanabi…" He said, looking rather unconvinced.
"No… I don't believe we'd win. Regardless of anything we do…" Giorno grimly predicted, staring the fox down and preparing an exit strategy if anything went badly.
"Idiot… Listen to us. Seven tails isn't even comparable to nine. She's one of the Four Heavenly Knights: Tamamo. One of the four top monsters, like Granberia." She introduced.
"What?!" Luka screamed in fear, his breathing picking up.
"Sorry, you two. You became like that as I moved onto the treasury." Tamamo said, patting the two sealed foxes.
"I'll give you a tiny bit of my power." She added, placing a palm on the silver kitsune.
The silver kitsune's body flashed and suddenly returned to her normal appearance.
"Wawawa…" The small kitsune yelped as she hid behind Tamamo's back.
"Nanabi… It will take me a little longer to return you. Sorry, but I'll have to do it later." Tamamo apologized, receiving a respectful bow from the sealed fox.
Thus, the leader of the kitsunes turned her attention to the two men who'd made themselves familiar to the likes of Granberia.
The first one looked quite young, having a head of purple hair and a very short stature. Only a few inches taller than her if she had to guess. He had the most adorable expression on his face when he attempted to look brave. And the smell he gave off was completely intoxicating to her. This must have been that Luka, as per Granberia's report.
She spied him carrying Angel Halo, a blade she'd given to Alice. She stood rather closely next to him, almost like she wanted to protect him. As usual, she had on her neutral expression and her arms crossed over her chest. It was good to see her after she left a few days ago…
Lastly, she looked over to the final member of the trio, Giorno…
Oh… Wow…
He had on a rather beautiful two-piece suit, which exposed his toned chest. The navy blue color and red accessories contrasted well together. She'd never seen anyone style their hair in such a manner before, but he made it work. And he looked so handsome too, with that fierce glare he was giving her.
She played with her fan as she gazed into those similarly green eyes he shared with her, trying to understand the type of person she was looking at.
"Hum… You must be Luka and Giorno. Defeating Nanabi… You must have some skill." She commented as she came even closer to them.
She stopped just out of reach to touch her, drinking in the details of them both.
Both Luka and Giorno's eyes peeled down to the bell she held in her other hand.
"Tch… The Poseidon's Bell." Giorno recognized, scowling at her now.
"No way…" Luka started, admonishing himself for taking too long.
"Indeed, this is the Poseidon's Bell. Crossing over to Sentora is so annoying, so I'm taking this. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me, But Alma Elma is so annoying…" Tamamo groaned.
"Alma Elma…?" Luka questioned.
"Alice said that name before… And if you're here because of her, she must be a Heavenly Knight too. And the one responsible for the storms affecting the port." Giorno deduced.
"Indeed…" Alice simply added.
"Do the Four Heavenly Knights have a reason to block the route…?" Luka asked.
"Probably to isolate the Ilias continent from Sentora. The faith here is the strongest in the world as a whole. And it functions as a way to reduce the amount of aid and personnel which can be sent to combat monsters." Giorno surmised, thinking about the plan of this succubus.
"Oooh… You're a smart one. Well, you're exactly right~" Tamamo winked, fanning herself. "Saying that… If you want this bell, what are you going to do about it?" She said, almost inviting them to attack.
"Uh… Defeat you and take it, I guess?" Luka tried, as he moved his hand to unsheathe Angel Halo.
"Stop… We can't fight her as it is. We need to think about this properly…" Giorno advised, grabbing his wrist to stop him from doing something stupid.
"She isn't someone you can face right now." Alice warned, shaking the short hero to snap him out of his false confidence.
"But…" Luka protested.
"Haha, that's surprising… That human caught your interest, Monster Lord?" She casually asked, noting how touchy she was with this human boy. Did she have a claim on him?
"Alice… You…" He stuttered, looking at the Lamia in question.
"Did you finally realize it, you idiot? I am the Monster Lord, Alipheese the sixteenth." She proclaimed.
"No way!" Luka exclaimed, taking a step back to his surprise. He had looked hostile and angry at her, something he'd never expressed before, except to that reverse lamia girl.
"Oops… Was I not supposed to say that? I spoke out of place…" Tamamo wryly said.
"Luka… I understand that this is a betrayal. But don't do something hasty in your anger." Giorno said, holding his shoulders as he looked him in the eyes.
"Did… Did you know?! You had to know!" Luka accused, shoving his arms off.
"…" Giorno kept quiet for a few moments before nodding his head.
"Why didn't you tell me?! I thought we were friends?! I trusted you!" Luka spat, genuinely hurt to be left in the dark over something so major.
"I only did it to protect you…" Giorno spoke, looking at him with renewed resolve.
"Huh?" Luka sounded.
"… I found out early on, back when she ordered Granberia to leave Iliasburg. I confronted her sometime later… But she made a valid point about keeping this a secret." Giorno started, before placing his hand over his heart. "Tell me, what is the reason that we are on this adventure?"
"…To beat the Monster Lord." Luka finally answered, understanding the point Giorno made. "You were worried that I would challenge her to a fight, even though we would have lost…"
"I'm sorry… I didn't enjoy keeping this a secret. But it was necessary for our survival." Giorno apologized, bowing slightly. "But still, you've learned a lot about the Monster Lord. She isn't the evil being you were led to believe; you've seen enough over these few days to know she isn't that bad."
"Yeah… And she is the one training us. I understand…" Luka relented, gaining a thoughtful look as he looked over at Alice.
The silver kitsune tugged at Tamamo's sleeve just after that little heart-to-heart conversation. She whispered something into her ear, before hiding away again.
"…Hmm…How interesting." Tamamo exclaimed, looking at both men with renewed interest. "You saved her life… And even escorted her to safety… Then, as the leader of the Kitsunes, I must thank you." She declared as she walked right up to them.
"Tell me… How would you like me to thank you?" She seductively asked, puffing her tails as she did so. "Thin fried tofu… Or would you like to touch my special fluffy tail?" She offered.
Luka and Giorno looked over at each other, thinking the same thing.
"Anything's on the table…right?" Giorno asked.
"Fufu… Anything for you~" Tamamo teased, winking at him as she fanned herself.
"I choose the Bell then…" Luka decided.
"Aw… Okay." Tamamo sighed, handing the bell over.
"But you're still free to choose, blondie~" Tamamo added. She wouldn't mind him picking the tail option… or something even more intimate.
"… I've been curious… I may as well try it." Giorno relented, reaching his hand out.
Oh, dear… Was he actually going to touch her tail? She presented it to him, anticipating the feeling of his hand coming into contact with her fluffy appendage.
Only for him to grab the pieces of thin friend tofu from her free hand instead.
This greatly wounded her pride as a monster, who'd seriously pick some tofu over a sexy kitsune?
"Oh… You w-wanted that?" She deflated.
"…Is it really ok? Handing it over so quickly?" Luka questioned, confused about her motives now.
"I don't really care. The traps in this cave looked fun, so I wondered in here." She shrugged, smiling all the way.
"Well, whatever." Luka dismissed.
"You're not going to fight the Queen of the Kitsune?" She haughtily offered, very interested in their combat abilities.
"Are you going to oppose us right now?" Giorno asked.
"Um…No?" She clarified.
"Then there's no reason to fight. I'll only fight those who try to stop monsters and humans from coexisting." Luka denied.
"Hmm… An admirable endeavor. However, we will fight eventually. After all, I am one of the Monster Lord's Four Heavenly Knights." Tamamo reminded.
"We'll deal with that later…" Giorno declared, put off by how different she acted compared to his prior assumptions.
"Well then… Farewell." Tamamo concluded, disappearing into a portal along with the two kitsunes.
The trio was left in an uncomfortable silence, each trying their best to deal with their feelings and how to get through with them.
"…So Alice, you're the Monster Lord…?" Luka asked, noting the sad expression on her face.
"…I didn't hide it. You were just too big of an idiot to realize it." Alice responded.
"It's true… It was obvious from Iliasburg and beyond." Giorno pointed out.
"Yes, isn't the only person who can give an order to the Four Heavenly Knights the Monster Lord." Alice deadpanned.
"So…why did you travel with me?" He asked after some deliberation.
Giorno tuned out the rest of that conversation as it heated up, with a full-blown argument erupting between the two.
He needed to get his story straight primarily, lest he wind up in a situation where everything had to be divulged. How would he realistically explain away the fact that he had a stand?
Luka was naïve and could be successfully lied to, but Alice was not gullible. He doubted he could use the half-monster excuse anymore, but he still had one last option. The only weakness of her character besides the gluttony she displayed.
He tuned back in to listen to their ramblings about the slaughter of Remina, the confusion that the event caused, and the so-called self-defense order Monster Lord implemented.
"But is it ok? Not fighting me." Alice insisted.
"I already told you, Alice. I only fight monsters who get in the way of coexisting. But…The Monster Lord's castle is still my aim. It also looks like the Four Heavenly Knights are going wild doing their own thing." Luka pondered.
"I can understand their viewpoints… Therefore I usually leave them alone. I have my viewpoint as the Monster Lord… All the monsters are my cute subordinates. No matter what you say, I won't lend a hand to defeat my cute little subordinates. You understand, right?" Alice asked.
"I won't ask for your help. You're traveling with me, but not my ally." Luka recited.
"Exactly." Alice said, smiling as they came to the same conclusion. "But…We do need to talk about our supposed half-monster friend here."
"Hmm…? What about him?" Luka asked.
"You idiot, I mean the knife… and whatever smashed that rock and attacked Nanabi." She insulted.
"Oh, now that you mention it, it is kind of weird when you think about it." Luka thought aloud. "Maybe it's just a power because of his monster blood?"
"Oh please… No such power exists for a plant monster." Alice scoffed.
"Eh…? But then…" Luka dumbly exclaimed.
"… I sense something more than human blood in that body of yours. But it is unlike anything I've felt before. You're not a descendant of a monster, are you?" Alice asked, sniffing the air around the blonde.
"You need to realize that this is something extremely dangerous to know." Giorno admitted, looking profoundly serious out of nowhere. "I lied… yet again. I am no half-monster. I've only hidden the truth of this curse to ease your mind."
"Oi… Why are you speaking like that?" Luka nervously asked.
"Hmm… a curse? Explain then." Alice gestured for him to continue.
"You see, there's a reason I believe ghosts are real." Giorno said, summoning his stand to do the unthinkable.
"… Don't speak such nonsense! Ghosts are not real!" Alice screamed, sweating bullets.
"Giorno, what are you saying?" Luka asked again, not following the leap in logic.
"Because… I'm being haunted by an evil spirit." The blonde confessed, moving forward with his plan.
Both Luka and Alice felt a phantom hand press on the side of their arms, making them shiver. The Monster Lord's expression shifted from one of strained nervousness to one of pure fear, with her breath quickly running out of control.
"Kyaaaaaaa!" Alice screamed, coiling her tail around Luka, and hugging him close to her body.
AN: Surprise chapter, had this one conjoined with chapter 4 but I was unhappy with the quality of the combined product. I also didn't want you guys to read a 21k chapter. I got some feedback about following the original game too much, which I agree with. So from now on I'm going to modify the the encounters and dialogue to incorporate Giorno/JJBA. I will still keep it as canonical as possible, given that Giorno is not the type of character to want to stand out.
Coincidentally, him discovering Alice's phobia of ghosts allows him to have the perfect alibi for lying to them. And will give him free reign to utilise his stand more often. I was waiting for this moment to justify that, as I didn't want Giorno to be boring and punch things all the time. I also incorporated JJBA body horror, as you can tell by Giorno slicing his arm off non-chalantly. There will be plenty more where that came from, and new techniques I want him to explore and experiment with.
All I can say is that he'll be more in line with his ruthless Part 5 self, especially when he believes they are in genuine risk of death or capture.
I'm really hyped to work on the next chapter, simply because of the Sentora continent and the monster they will soon meet.