It was a cold night. The moon faintly glowed in the dark blue sky accompanied by the freezing wind, signaling the middle of winter. The presence of snow in the surroundings and the vast amount of sleet in the air were proof of the manifestation of such a weather condition.
But the status of the weather was of no concern to the woman walking on the pavement. For all she knew, it wasn't supposed to be snowing this month but given the abnormal conditions of the world, this was normal.
Truthfully, her physical body can withstand the cold and she'd even be bold to consider not wearing any clothes at all. At least, that's who she once was, but she was different now.
Strolling through the empty streets, she passed by numerous dilapidated buildings, rusted vehicles, remnants of radioactive wastes and Aresian presence, and various forms of wreckage. What was once a prosperous city filled with life was now a desolate landscape, a sight she knew all too well.
The woman continued her silent walk on the road. Her long black hair danced with the blustering winds but she was undeterred. She reached for a futuristic kiseru in her pocket, activating it before placing the mouthpiece to her lips.
Then she stopped, sighing in distress while puffing smoke. Immediately, she used the kiseru she held to deflect a speeding energy-based projectile that would've hit her face.
"Your reaction time is truly impressive. I wonder if it's from the Aresoid or something else."
The woman narrowed her eyes and without glancing back, she spoke in an annoyed tone. "May I know what you are doing here, Colonel?"
"I should be asking you that question, General," the voice revealed to be from another woman who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, wearing winter clothes on top of her Cosmoknight uniform.
The general turned around to face her. Following the colonel behind her was a small group of lower-ranked Cosmoknights that also appeared out of thin air holding energy rifles as if they had previously been invisible. However, a closer glance at their M.A.D.s was enough for the general to discern how they got here.
"What are you doing out here in this barren wasteland? You're aware that Cologne has been abandoned for decades and no one even dares visit this place, right?"
"What I'm doing here is none of your business."
"I think it's very much our business. A very important figure of the second highest division is somehow wandering in an abandoned city without providing any of her subordinates or fellow officers any details as to why seems suspicious, no?"
The general clenched her fists but held back despite her head aching in frustration. She wanted to get to where she was heading already and she didn't have time to deal with the colonel's usual antics.
"If you don't have an actual question for me to answer or anything important to report, I suggest you leave me alone and continue with your duties. And if I recall correctly, Colonel, the Space Marshal urgently wants those records on the test subjects. I received news that one of your battalions had just recently returned to the Warpgate so I'm fully aware that you are not done with your task yet."
"Don't dodge my question! You're clearly onto something and I want to find out why or else I'll—"
"You'll what? Report me to the Space Marshal for wandering on the planet during my scheduled leave?"
When the colonel didn't respond, the general continued. "Yes, I submitted a leave request for a few days or so. I figured I could use a break from your usual bullshit to stay healthy. It's called a day off, maybe you should try it sometime."
The tension between the two high-ranking officers was very perceivable by the other Cosmoknights. They felt like they were witnessing two fuses connected to a single bomb that could explode at any moment.
Eventually, one of the Cosmoknights spoke up, stammering nervously. "G-General, i-it's just t-that the umm... the research team representative has requested your approval for the Warpgate operation at—"
"I'll take care of that matter soon. Dismissed."
"Hey! We're not done yet—"
"Sie können wegtreten," the general's voice was laced with silent rage, narrowing her eyes at the stubborn colonel. "I said, you may leave. Dismissed. Fuck off. Mind your own business and do your job like you were ordered to do instead of bothering me on my day off, capiche?"
The colonel had nothing to say back and just clicked her tongue in irritation. She gestured to the small unit behind her to transport back to HQ and with one last hostile glance at the general, she left through a light beam that descended from the sky along with the other Cosmoknights.
Once the general saw that they were gone, she scanned the area with her M.A.D. to ensure there were no hidden personnel in the vicinity. When her device confirmed that there was no one else around her, she let out a heavy sigh. She took another puff on her kiseru as she headed to her intended destination.
She went through one of the back alleys and arrived at a small space that was in the center of multiple buildings. From there, she approached the nearby wreckage of rusted iron plates.
She then typed something in her M.A.D. before a tube-shaped sensor with a sleek design rose from the ground through a mechanical compartment, performing a full body scan of her. After the scan was completed, two sliding trapdoors disguised as rusted iron plates moved to opposite sides, revealing a platform with a control panel.
The general stepped onto the platform, glancing at her surroundings one last time before operating the control panel. The platform then whirred to life, exuding condensed steam as it descended underground before the disguised trapdoors closed, fully concealing her presence from the outside world.
The platform eventually stopped its descent, arriving at an underground base. As she stepped off the platform, lights illuminated the space, revealing a decently sized room.
There were a bunch of wrecked parts, unused gizmos, old furniture, and stacks of books and papers all over the room. Whoever owned the place did a horrible job of maintaining it but the general had no time to think about that stuff right now as the throbbing pain she felt in her head earlier was getting worse.
She quickly dashed to the sanitation quarters, nearly collapsing on the sink. She clutched her head in pain, feeling it pulse in agony while she used her other hand to stabilize herself on the damaged metal sink.
She glanced at the mirror, noticing how haggard she looked. She set aside her kiseru, quickly removed her winter clothes, and then reached for the necklace that was hidden under her uniform. Seconds later, her appearance changed entirely.
Her black hair was replaced by an even longer dichromatic hair of sky blue and light fuchsia pink. Her eyes were crimson red, two large horns manifested on her head, and at her back were three pairs of giant bat-like wings.
"Gugh, it's happening again. Fucking headaches..." Minagi growled, clutching her head in pain.
The Succubus Ancestor slammed her fist, creating a larger dent on the metal sink. She gritted her teeth, frustrated at the pain she was feeling. But underneath her vexation was a subtle feeling of fear.
Usually, she could withstand these migraines that she always had but there were times when it was just too much. And what always followed these migraines were horrible experiences from the past that she didn't want to see anymore but were always there to haunt her.
"Just... grr... fucking stop!"
She clutched her head with both hands as flashes of painful memories bombarded her thoughts like a hurricane. She then reached for the medicine drawer beside the mirror, reaching for one of the tubes filled with a blue-colored liquid inside.
She stared at the tube with hesitation, her hand shaking with unease. She didn't want to do it but she had no choice. She grabbed a jet injector from her pocket and inserted the tube into the device before pressing it on her neck.
She let out a loud exhale after administering the medication. She could still feel the painful ringing in her head as images of past events flashed through her mind. But the pain had slowly subsided, leaving only a slight irritating sensation on her forehead.
Minagi panted heavily, staring at her reflection through the mirror in front of her. She was a complete mess and she knew that the pain would just return to bite her back later. But the pain she felt alongside the poignant flashbacks was not her only concern.
"Oh, you're back."
The Succubus Ancestor nearly jumped from having been startled by the unexpected newcomer's voice. She turned around, shocked to see who was now in her room.
"W-wha... M-Morrigan? How did you... how did you get here?"
"You left the door open."
True to the blue-haired succubus's words, the door was indeed opened. And it seemed that she had also forgotten to close the door in the sanitation quarters as well.
"H-huh... seems that I did."
"You okay? You looked pretty startled back there."
"Y-yeah, I-I'm alright..." Minagi replied with a slight hesitation in her voice, rubbing her temples while attempting to collect her thoughts. "I'm just... tired and I don't think I can afford to think about a lot of things right now."
"Well, if you say so. I understand that you're stressed from work... like always. Just don't overwork yourself, okay?"
Minagi felt the urge to smile from her daughter's genuine concern but for some reason, she couldn't. Instead, all she could muster was a nod, feeling her chest slightly tighten.
"I was gonna ask how your day was but I suppose I already know that it was bad," Morrigan stated as she leaned on the wall. "But did anything interesting happen at least? Oh, was that colonel... uhh... what was her name again? I only know her surname. Cromwell, right?"
"Tiffany?"
"Yeah, Tiffany. Was she—"
"Being a total pain in my ass again? Yes. Yes, she was."
"Damn, still a bitch, huh? You should like... totally put her in her place... turn her into an actual bitch!" Morrigan declared with a smirk.
"Heh, is that so? Unfortunately, I can't really do that. Protocols and all."
"How boring, following those protocols!"
The Succubus Ancestor just sighed. She glanced at her youngest daughter, who was now on the bed, reading a book with a curious smile on her face. As she stared at her, she felt her chest tightening, a wave of regret and longing washing over her.
She wished things ended differently but there was nothing she could do now. She was powerless over her situation and she feared that things would only go worse from here on out. She shook her head from her bothersome thoughts before turning on the tap water to wash her face so she could at least feel somewhat refreshed.
"So... did you find them?"
Minagi froze. Her entire body suddenly felt like it couldn't move. She knew exactly what Morrigan was pertaining to and she had been dreading that question ever since she came into the room.
Her breathing grew shallow as she felt a lump forming in her throat that made it feel like it was difficult to swallow. However, she eventually managed to compose herself.
"No. Not yet. But the research team said that they are close to breaking through the dimensional barrier."
"I see," gone was Morrigan's smile from earlier and was replaced with an unreadable expression. "Well, that's good news then, right? It means that you can finally get those accursed books."
"They're journals... his journals."
"Well, whatever they are, the sooner we get our hands on them, the sooner we can get out of this hellhole. I mean, honestly, if they were so important why did he leave them there in the first place?"
Minagi knew the answer to that but she just kept it to herself and pretended she didn't know the answer.
"And why did he write so many journals anyway? I can guess some of the few important details but I don't actually know what's in them. Like how can the information written in those things solve all our problems? Also, even if you were in the position, would the Space Marshal let you have them?"
"I... I don't know."
"You can be pretty intimidating towards your co-workers in Alpha or in any of the other divisions, but the Space Marshal, she scares you, doesn't she?"
That question struck a nerve, leaving Minagi visibly uncomfortable.
"Yes."
When she didn't hear anything from Morrigan, she washed her face in the sink once more. She grabbed a nearby towel to wipe her face before clutching the necklace she wore. She pushed a small button on the side, revealing a small space inside the necklace resembling a locket.
From the small space was a picture of a young-looking man in his mid-20s with his signature purple hair, wearing a lab coat. Minagi had a wistful expression as she stared at the man in the picture. She then held the necklace closer to her chest, closing her eyes while clutching it tightly.
I wish you were here.
"Demon Skull Beheading!"
Luka declared his attack, performing a mighty swing on the large book monster in front of him. The attack made the book monster stagger upon impact as the aspiring hero landed on the floor. He huffed as he tried to catch his breath after the strenuous effort of performing such a move.
To his misfortune, despite the heavy attack he dealt, it only managed to annoy the book monster. Her hair had already been undone due to Luka's attacks and now her glasses fell off, upsetting her further.
"To think you would go that far."
The book monster stretched her body, her entire form growing. Luka widened his eyes in both shock and fear when he noticed that she looked larger than she was before with her tentacles wriggling menacingly in the air.
Page 65537 used one of her tentacles to grab a book from one of the shelves before holding it close for her to read while the other tentacles resumed their assault on the young hero. Luka continued to fight back but the mental stress was getting to him due to how long the fight had been going. Eventually, Page 65537 tossed the book she was reading aside and glanced at the fake hero with a wicked smile.
"I'll end this nonsense with this."
Page 65537 gazed at Luka intensely as her eyes flashed a strange magical glow. Luka immediately felt her gaze's effects as he suddenly felt restrained by an invisible and powerful force that he couldn't defy nor get out of.
It felt similar to the paralysis spell that she conjured on him as he couldn't move. But this time, he felt weaker and he felt like his mind was under someone else's control.
"So you noticed, hmm? Yes, you are now under my control and you will obey every order I give you. Now, shall I humiliate you as you die?" Page 65537 giggled maniacally. "I order you to stroke yourself for me."
The young hero was now under her influence and he couldn't resist her words. There was only the tiniest hint of resistance and hesitation within his mind but his body was completely enslaved to her will.
"Y-yes..." Obedient to her command, Luka gripped his already-exposed penis and started to masturbate. "Auuu!"
"Haha... disgraceful, no? Being forced to masturbate like that. Don't stop your hand. Keep humiliating yourself for me~"
"Yes..."
Luka continued to stroke himself, moaning as he felt more and more of his energy being depleted in the process. The fact that he was jerking himself off in front of a cruel book monster that would later kill him made the experience more degrading and humiliating.
"Haha! More, more! Be defeated by your own hand!"
The poor hero was completely at her mercy. Page 65537 just watched with amusement as Luka masturbated himself, feeling weaker and weaker with each stroke of his own hand. There was nothing he could do as he felt too powerless to resist her influence.
"Ughh..."
Eventually, he regained his senses. The effects of the book monster's Eye of Submission finally wore off as Luka shook his head to compose himself. Thinking quickly, he tried to meditate but the book monster used his weakened state as an opportunity to strike at his most vulnerable.
Page 65537 used her tentacles to grab Luka, restraining him completely in her grasp. Luka yelped, struggling to break free from her tentacles but to no avail. He had been severely weakened from the humiliating masturbation he performed on himself while he was under her control and now he was unable to meditate because he was bound by her tentacles.
"Oh, you think I'd let you fight back after the effects of my spell are gone?" Page 65537 tightened her hold on him, earning a cute feminine moan from the boy. "I must admit, I do enjoy listening to your cute pathetic voice. Keep moaning as I squeeze you in your final moments~"
Luka panicked, doing everything he could to struggle out of her binds but he was too weak and exhausted. The long battle had taken a toll on him and his inability to meditate left him helpless in the situation.
He could do nothing but squirm and moan as Page 65537's tentacles continued to caress him all over, playing with his exposed member vigorously. He tried to move his arms and legs but aside from his apparent fatigue, the pain and pleasure from being squeezed by her giant gray tentacles rendered his efforts useless.
Fear and despair started to take hold of him as recollections of his first humiliating defeat from those women in uniforms back at the ship flashed in his mind. He could still see the haughty eyes and cold smiles of those women as they restrained him in a milking machine and proceeded to extract his essence.
It was happening again, where he was bound, too weak to fight back while his opponent defiled his body. He was close to submission, his mind and body succumbing to the immense pleasure from the book monster's tentacles. He was about to suffer another humiliating defeat. And unlike those women he encountered on the ship, this one had intentions to end his life.
"Hmm? You're close, aren't you? I can feel it throbbing intensely~"
"W-wait... p-please! Y-You d-d-don't have to do this," Luka pleaded, a desperate attempt to save his life. "T-The M-Monster L-Lord herself t-told me that I can read the book to know more about the F-F-Four Spirits. I-I'm s-s-sorry if I had to fight you and t-t-the others."
"The Monster Lord, huh? Even your excuse is pathetic. No human has ever seen the Monster Lord and I highly doubt our Lord would accompany someone like you," Page 65537 replied with an unamused expression. "You even have the gall to apologize for starting a fight you cannot finish. But I understand. A trapped prey would do anything to flee its captor, even resorting to begging and lying just to save his life."
"N-no, p-please, I'm telling the truth! I can go call the Monster Lord right now to prove it!" Luka's voice sounded more desperate as he began calling for Alice, hoping she could help him and convince the book monster to let him go. "Alice? Alice! Alice, can you hear me? Alice! Please, I need you to—"
"Silence!" The book monster declared as she tightened her hold on him even further. "I will not listen to any more of your pitiful excuses."
Luka felt disheartened when Alice did not heed his cries. He acknowledged that the lamia would not directly help him in his battles due to her status as the Monster Lord. With Valon not being able to help him directly since he's not with them anymore and with Alice still refusing to help him, despair started to form in his mind.
"A-A-Alice... V-Valon... someone..."
Tears fell from Luka's eyes as he recognized how helpless he truly was. He could no longer move his body and his mind was drowning in pleasure from the book monster's tentacles as he moaned submissively. He could no longer think straight and he was close to shooting out his proof of surrender.
"Oh, you're about to ejaculate, aren't you? Go on then. Show me your pitiful defeated expression and submit to—gahhh!"
Luka then groaned in pain as he fell down the floor with a thud, confused about what had just happened. Realizing he was free from Page 65537's grasp, he stood up albeit with difficulties as he still felt weak and exhausted from almost experiencing Critical Ecstasy.
He was still trying to process what happened, glancing at the book monster who now had a scowl on her face. But a closer look at her expression made him realize that he wasn't the one she was looking at. Luka then turned his attention to where she was looking, a shocked expression forming on his face at what he saw.
"You dare...?!" Page 65537 growled at the unexpected visitor who was responsible for the burnt mark on one of her tentacles.
"Valon?!"
"Luka, watch out!"
Luka was still trying to stabilize himself but found it difficult due to his exhaustion. Fortunately, Valon was quick enough to push Luka away to safety from a large grey tentacle that would've grabbed him.
"Valon! Y-you're here! How—"
"I know you have a lot to say. And I would like to start by saying how deeply sorry I am in advance, for everything I did," Valon quickly replied. "But let's deal with this monster girl first. Can you stand up?"
"I... ughh..."
"Okay, meditate first and recover your energy. I'll try to hold her back."
Luka didn't have time to react as Valon rushed in to deal with the book monster. The technician threw three different mini-bombs at Page 65537, bombarding her with smoke, foam, and a bright flash of light that disoriented her senses.
The young hero stared in awe, still surprised that his former companion was here. But he quickly shook his head, realizing that now wasn't the time to space out as there was still the threat of the powerful book monster that was preventing him from reading the book that contained information about the Four Spirits.
He sat down and meditated, recovering his energy before joining Valon to fight the monster girl. He slashed at the book monster with Angel Halo, inflicting a considerable amount of damage.
Page 65537 attempted to grab Luka with her tentacles and bind him again as retaliation but Valon's exoshield blocked her attack and pushed them back with his gauntlets. Luka then quickly used the opportunity to attack her again.
"Grrr... how annoying. Now I have to deal with two impudent fools?!" Page 65537 fumed. "I will not allow any of you to read this book! I will drain the both of you dry!"
The book monster resumed her tentacle onslaught while the two of them fended off her attacks side by side. Page 65537 used her tentacles again to try to assault Luka but Valon was quick enough to block or parry her attacks with his gadgets. And whenever she tried to go for the technician, he'd push her tentacles back or evade them completely.
Luka focused on the offensive; using his Angel Halo to strike when there was an opening. While Valon focused on the defensive; blocking, dodging, and parrying whenever her tentacles got close. As the battle progressed, Luka felt this strange sensation within him—the same one he felt when Valon was fighting alongside him against the Queen Harpy.
There wasn't a sense of inferiority or slight feelings of envy but something else that ignited his resolve. He didn't know exactly what it was, it felt somewhat foreign to him. There was no feeling of weakness despite the additional support but a feeling where it was like he was fighting in a team.
The duo was actually doing well but due to the number of tentacles the book monster had, Luka and Valon were still at a slight disadvantage. Page 65537 tried to strike Valon once more and as she expected, the agile young man avoided it. But Valon knew something was wrong when the tentacle didn't try to pursue him any further and that was when he noticed that multiple tentacles grabbed onto Luka.
"Luka!"
Valon threw a flashbomb right at her face. The explosion disoriented her senses, making her drop Luka on the floor. The technician rushed towards Luka, helping him to his feet.
"She's still not sealed yet despite how many times I attacked her."
"We just have to keep weakening her. Then maybe using a powerful move of yours can seal her."
"Okay!"
Luka charged back at the book monster with Valon following closely behind. Given the current situation, the technician thought that it'd be safer if he was close to the young hero and offered him direct support, either by defensive maneuvers or using his armaments to counterattack.
Whenever Page 65537 managed to grab Luka and bind him with her tentacles, which happened occasionally, Valon would just throw a flashbomb at her face to disorient her. Luka would keep attacking and Valon would try to cover any position that would expose a vulnerability.
At one moment, a tentacle tried to grab Valon but he punched it back with his gauntlet. More tentacles followed in pursuit, forcing Valon to resort to an evasive approach. He tried to steer clear of the pursuing tentacles by using the bookshelves while trying not to go too far which would leave Luka isolated.
Things didn't work well in his favor as despite his dodging capabilities, the tentacles were just too many and they proved too much for him to avoid. He felt something on his foot before he was pulled away. A tentacle coiled around him, limiting his movements.
"Huh? This is...?"
Page 65537 tried to tighten her hold but there was this weird and solid transparent layering surrounding Valon's entire body that made it difficult for her to squeeze him tightly. Not wanting to repeat what happened with the Roper Girl, Valon reacted quickly and threw another flashbomb on her face before he was dropped down. Luka then quickly ran towards him, feeling concerned.
"Valon! Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine."
"I-I'm so sorry, I let her get you. I should've been faster."
Valon frowned at his negative comment. He felt worse knowing he had something to do with what the young hero was feeling but a loud feminine roar diverted his attention, acknowledging that the fight wasn't over yet.
"We have to keep attacking!" Valon declared as he punched another tentacle that tried to grab him.
Luka nodded as he slashed his sword at the book monster as much as he could while Valon focused on supporting him. After taking some damage himself, the young hero meditated once more before charging back with renewed energy. He continued swinging Angel Halo while performing the Cursed Sword Techniques he learned from Alice.
Spotting an opening, Luka lunged at Page 65537 with great speed. Knowing what he was about to do, Valon capitalized on the opportunity. He threw a foambomb on the tentacles that tried to hinder Luka, the expanding foam making it hard for the book monster to move her tentacles.
Luke then jumped on top of one of the shelves before taking a huge leap downwards with his sword above his head. At that precise moment, Valon threw a flashbomb at Page 65537's face, disorienting her.
"Demon Skull Beheading!"
A giant slash carved through the air before Luka landed on the floor. The young hero was panting, feeling slightly lethargic from the fierce attack he pulled off. He quickly glanced at his surroundings, wondering if the giant book monster was still around.
"Is it over? Is she sealed?"
"Seems that way," Valon replied, pointing at the normal-looking book that was on the floor.
Though I feel like I'm forgetting something...
"Alright! That's... great then..."
Luka was initially enthusiastic about his victory over such a difficult battle but with the conflict dying down, he remembered the young man, who left him a few days ago, was now standing before him. He didn't have the time to strike up a conversation earlier because they were busy fighting the angry book monster but now that they defeated her, there was an awkward silence in the air. And glancing at Valon, he saw that the man was feeling it too.
"I... didn't think you'd be here, Valon," Luka initiated, still unsure of what to say.
"Yeah..." Valon replied awkwardly before sighing. "Listen, Luka, I... I understand if you're upset. You have every right to be angry at me."
"Well, I m-mean... I'm not upset or mad at you... I'm just... I... I don't know. I guess... I was hurt not purely because you left but because you were right that I was weak and that I needed to learn how to handle things on my own."
"What? Y-You're not weak. I-I never said—"
"But, I am, Valon. You probably just didn't want to hurt my feelings too much that time but the fact is there, I'm weak. I mean... I couldn't even handle this monster by myself. You told me before that I can't keep relying on you. That I have to learn to be independent. But if I can't even beat a powerful monster on my own, how would I get stronger so that I won't longer need to rely on others?"
"Luka, listen, I made a mistake. I made you believe that—" Valon immediately stopped his statement when he heard something. "Wait, do you hear that?"
The technician thought that it was just Alice doing something while in hiding. And come to think of it, he was sure that the Monster Lord was supposed to be doing something chaotic that was relevant to this point in time.
But despite having played the game and acquiring great knowledge from it, he couldn't remember all the exact details that took place. Then the normal-looking book on the floor glowed, floating in the air as it suddenly transformed into a giant figure, resembling the same book monster they had fought a few minutes ago.
Oh yeah... crap! How can I forget that she can't fully be sealed by Angel Halo?
"Huh?" Luka felt confused about how the book monster became unsealed. "W-What's going on?"
"Because of my special body, I can resist the sealing effects of your sword," Page 65537 answered with a smirk. "You won't be able to seal me like what you did with the others. All of your efforts were wasted!"
"N-No way..."
"Now, why don't you two just surrender?"
"Guh! W-What do we do?" Luka replied in a panic, raising Angel Halo.
Wait... I... I forgot! Wasn't Alice the one who defeated this monster? I recall that she did... something. But I don't remember what she did!
Valon cursed to himself for forgetting something vital but he didn't have time to think about anything as the book monster was immediately on the offensive. The technician pushed Luka away, narrowly avoiding another tentacle.
Guh! I guess we just have to keep holding her back until I remember what Alice did. But if it's magic-related, then...
"We try to fight her off again until we figure something out."
"O-Okay..."
And so Valon and Luka fought against the book monster's onslaught. They carried on with the strategy they used before where Luka would be dealing the massive hits with his sword techniques while Valon would focus on blocking the attacks and supporting Luka.
Luka used Angel Halo to weaken the monster girl and Valon concentrated on protecting Luka from her attacks. The strategy proved to be effective until the book monster changed her methods of attacking after receiving another flashbomb to the face.
"Graghh! If you continue to be this infuriating, I'll beat you both first instead before raping you!"
Page 65537's tentacles suddenly became more aggressive. Instead of focusing solely on pleasure attacks, the book monster used her tentacles to violently attack the duo. Her change in attack methods made it difficult for Valon to remain close to Luka without running the risk of getting caught in her tentacles.
The two of them were eventually bombarded by a swarm of tentacles from multiple directions. Valon fended them off with his gauntlets while his exoshield protected him from those he couldn't directly deal with. He also fired binding rope shells at the other tentacles that got close.
Though Valon was faring well, the continuous bombardment of attacks made it difficult for him to be near Luka. Some of the tentacles caressed Luka with pleasure attacks while some were hitting him physically. The attacks felt like powerful punches and blows on his body. A forceful tentacle slap then knocked him down to the floor.
"Luka!"
Valon tried to get close but multiple tentacles quickly attacked him. He used his gadgets to repel the tentacles and fortunately, his exoshield protected him from taking further damage from the violent appendages.
He helped Luka up to his feet before launching a binding rope shell on multiple tentacles, tying them together to stop their pursuit. Valon was starting to get frustrated as still hadn't remembered how this particular monster was defeated in the game. Settling on a temporary plan to stop her, he formulated an idea. He threw another flashbomb at her face to disorient her.
"Luka, I have a plan."
"Okay, what do we do?"
"We need to split up."
"What? Split up?"
"Yeah. We need to divide her attention."
"Huh? Why? We were doing so well fighting side by side."
"I know but our strategy earlier won't work as effectively anymore because she's being more violent. That and also because we're in a library," Valon explained. "I want you to go to the other side of the room and lure some of her tentacles. I'll lure the others on me. Once you got them following you, just run and keep attacking and then lead them to the center where we'll meet up."
"Run and attack? I-I'm not sure if I can fight her and avoid her attacks at the same time as well as you do."
"We don't have too many choices left but we have to try. You can do this, Luka."
The technician then launched his grappling hook, pulling himself at a good distance away from Luka. He swiftly determined the distance from the center and the route he needed to take before calling out to the book monster.
"Hey, ugly book monster!" Valon shouted, making sure that the monster girl could hear him from afar. "Your ears look long. I bet you heard my insult from all the way over there before I even said it!"
Page 65537 felt this indescribable pain in her body (or was it her dignity?) that made her stagger back for some reason. But afterward, she felt this unbridled rage brewing inside her.
"YOU DARE INSULT ME?!"
Oh crap, I think I pissed her off too much.
Valon had to duck when a tentacle speedily made its way towards him, puncturing a wall. He was horrified at the amount of damage the monster girl did so he started running away.
He began carrying out his plan as he made his way through the narrow aisles and bookshelves while the monster girl's tentacles relentlessly followed him. Valon blocked, dodged, and parried the incoming appendages with his gauntlets.
He also used his foambombs to halt their movements for a few minutes and his binding rope shells when the tentacles got too close to each other. He jumped and slid between the shelves, hastily avoiding obstacles in the way.
Valon tried to cover as much area of the library as possible, not only for the main objective of the plan but also to search for Alice. He hoped he could convince her to help but he couldn't see her at all in the area he was at.
He continued running, making turns and zigzags around the shelves while the tentacles continued their pursuit. He went to an elevated area so he could take a look at how Luka was faring and to his relief, he seemed to be doing fine on his end.
Compared to his situation, Luka was only dealing with a few tentacles. Though he knew that was because he insulted the monster girl, but that was probably for the best. And Luka was fighting well with Angel Halo while he was running towards the center so at least he knew that the plan was working.
The technician slid down to a lower position, narrowly avoiding a tentacle overhead. He resumed his sprint towards the center but with how much he had been exerting himself, he started to feel tired.
The moment he slowed down, he was quickly overwhelmed by the tentacles. The exoshield protected him from their violent assault. But then one of the tentacles quickly coiled around his waist and started flailing him wildly in the air, the speed of the movements making him dizzy.
He started receiving the Loki treatment as the tentacle started ramming him on the floor multiple times in an arc-like motion. The exoshield somewhat protected him from physical damage.
And the helmet he was wearing prevented him from receiving a concussion. But the speed of the book monster's tentacle repeatedly slamming him on the floor still hurt like hell.
"Agh! Oof! Ugh! Gah! Eughrk!"
Valon groaned in pain from the painful tentacle torture. The tentacle then stopped but it still held him tightly in the air. The technician felt extremely dizzy as he started seeing stars and there were visible small cracks in the exoshield due to the amount of damage it sustained.
"Valon!"
Without thinking, Luka blindly rushed towards Valon to help him out. The tentacles behind Luka were starting to tangle themselves through the bookshelves as Valon intended. But Luka's impulsive decision to take a misdirected route to quickly help Valon negated his plan.
"No wait, Luka, the plan! I can free myself, don't worry about—"
Luka failed to see the tentacles rushing behind him from multiple aisles. Though he was quick enough to free Valon from the tentacle binding him by slashing it with Angel Halo, one of Page 65537's tentacles caught the young hero in her grasp before pulling him towards her.
"So that was your plan, huh? You were running around the library in separate directions, hoping to entangle my own tentacles. I admit, that's very clever of you. But I will not fall for that."
With another flashbomb to the face, the book monster was forced to drop them both to the floor as the tentacles staggered from the disorienting effects of the explosive.
"Stop doing that!" Page 65537 was aggravated by Valon's repeated attempts of flashing blinding light to her face that kept messing with her senses.
I'm more surprised she isn't blind or deaf yet from all the flashbombs I threw at her.
Luka then meditated so that he could recover more energy. But the furious book monster didn't give him the chance to as she quickly bound him again in her tentacles. Valon threw another flashbomb aiming for her face but one of her tentacles blocked it before it could hit her.
Seeing as how that didn't work out, he tried to throw a foambomb at her face instead. But once again, Page 65537 used one of her tentacles to block the explosive, though the foam covered the entire appendage, making it hard to move.
Valon ran towards Luka to help him escape his restraints while throwing as much of his mini-bombs at the book monster. Tentacles swarmed over him as he punched his way through with his gauntlets. The monster girl's gray appendages were much more reactive unlike before, catching and blocking the explosives that he threw at her.
But he found a small window where he could aim at her face. Instead of throwing a mini-bomb, his gauntlet shot a binding rope shell towards her. The projectile was too fast for her to react as the rope coiled around her face. Page 65537 quickly tried to remove the rope off her face but the moment she did, a familiar orb-shaped object was flung right in front of her and what followed was another blinding flash of light.
"Graghh!"
Luka was dropped down to the floor as Valon rushed towards him to help him out. The aspiring hero then quickly meditated before standing up.
"W-What do we do? I don't think I can keep this up any longer."
"Well, our first plan failed and I highly doubt she'd let us do it again. But... I did have another idea that I don't really want to do."
Luka wondered what it was until he looked at where Valon was staring at. He suddenly widened his eyes at the absurd idea.
"Wait, y-y-you don't mean..."
"Look, I'm kinda out of ideas. And she's going to rape us both anyway. We don't exactly have the right to feel bad."
"I-I... I suppose so..."
"Besides, you don't have to get too close. We'll just try to fight her off until I can throw an explosive."
"O-Okay."
Valon and Luka rushed towards the book monster with a not-so-pleasant plan but they were desperate. Page 65537 was also starting to feel fatigued but her determination to protect the book against these humans and also to beat them up after what one of them did to her burned strong.
"Try to fight off half of her tentacles again."
Luka nodded as he proceeded to attack. He slashed her main body with Angel Halo, making sure that her tentacles were after him. Valon then attempted to throw an explosive dud at her and as expected she caught it with her tentacle. He then held onto a foambomb in his hand before charging at the book monster.
Some of Page 65537's tentacles charged back at Valon and in no time, they managed to overwhelm him, binding his limbs. Meanwhile, Luka was fighting off on his end when he saw Valon being restrained by the tentacles.
"Valon! Hold on!" Luka declared as he rushed towards the technician to free him.
Valon then manually activated the foambomb in his hand. He let the mini-bomb go and pulled his hand away as quickly as he could before the explosive was wrapped in one of the tentacles. The mini-bomb exploded shortly after, the expanding foam halting the appendage's movements.
More tentacles rushed towards Valon but he was prepared to counteract with another foambomb on hand. What he didn't expect was for Luka to appear beside him, swinging his sword at the tentacles that were after Valon.
"What?! Luka, what are you doing here?"
"The tentacles got to you, I-I rushed in to help."
"No, I got this under control! You must focus on the other tentacles!"
The tentacles that were originally after Luka were now rushing in towards the both of them. Valon quickly reacted, pushing Luka away, narrowly avoiding a tentacle that sped between them.
With Page 65537's tentacles surrounding them, they struggled to fight back. Most of the tentacles were violently assaulting them while some were waiting for the opportunity to bind them.
When the tentacles started to restrain Valon's movements again, he fired a binding rope shell at Page 65537's main body. That was until Luka ran at the projectile's line of sight and was instead caught by the rope.
"Luka, what are you—"
"Valon! Behind you—ah!"
The tentacle then struck Valon, knocking him over while Luka was caught by the binding rope that the technician fired. Valon quickly stood up, noticing more visible cracks on his exoshield before freeing Luka from the rope coil.
Still going with the plan despite having been slightly compromised, Valon jumped on one of the chairs until he reached the top of a bookshelf. He used his gauntlets to keep the tentacles away from him until he could get a clear view of the monster's main body.
He reached for his laser rifle but he immediately retracted his hand back after remembering what happened to the berserk tiny lamia he fought a while back. He also thought about using a kaboomerang but having it explode inside a very delicate organ would probably not end very well.
He quickly glanced around the library and found a less painful method. While Page 65537 was more focused on Luka, Valon fired a binding rope shell toward the book monster.
She caught the rope with her tentacles but Valon immediately launched a grappling hook towards a bookshelf that was beside the book monster before pulling it with all his might. The bookshelf then fell off balance, landing on Page 65537's large sexual organ.
The book monster's pained scream made both the young hero and the technician shiver in discomfort. Even if she had killing intent and was ruthless towards Luka from the game, Valon couldn't help but feel somewhat regretful for doing that. Somewhat.
Come on, Alice. You're supposed to be dealing with this! What the hell did you do that managed to seal this thing?!
"Enough of this!" Page 65537 roared with burning ire. "I will crush you both with all my might! Even if I have to break all the shelves here!"
Her tentacles retracted to her side before spreading towards multiple bookshelves. She grabbed three books with strange-looking hardbacks, pulling them towards herself as she began reading them.
"Luka! We have to stop her from reading those books!"
Valon threw multiple mini-bombs at once but Page 65537 blocked and deflected them all with her tentacles. Luka lunged at her with his sword but the book monster simply slapped him with a tentacle before he had the chance to attack, hurling him into the air.
At this point, I might run out of bombs.
Valon fired two binding rope shells with both his gauntlets, knocking two books away from her tentacles. He quickly threw foambombs on the two books, covering them in the expansive foam before Page 65537 could get them back.
He fired another shell, aiming for the third book but Page 65537 quickly reacted, the binding rope targeting one of her tentacles instead. The technician then rushed towards Luka, using his gauntlets to punch his way through the tentacles. He then activated the cylindrical object from his belt as it expanded into a bo staff. He spun the staff and used it to fend off the gray-colored appendages.
Valon saw Luka meditating but as he was ready to fight again, the tentacles quickly restrained him. Before the technician could reach him, Page 65537 threw Luka towards Valon with her tentacle, knocking the both of them at a far distance. The two were sent flying as they crashed on a few bookshelves, the impact breaking the wooden furniture.
She really was willing to break the shelves.
Valon groaned in pain, feeling disoriented from receiving a human-sized attack on his body. When he saw the book monster's tentacles rushing towards him, he fought through the pain to stand.
"Luka, can you get up?"
"Y-Yeah..."
Valon helped Luka up but the book monster didn't want to give them a chance to recover. The technician told Luka to meditate while he warded off the aggressive tentacles with his staff.
Luka assumed a meditative stance, recovering his energy. Just then, two tentacles latched onto Valon's staff while he tried to pull the weapon out of their grasp. However, the tentacles proved too strong for him as they successfully yanked the staff away from him before the tentacles struck him, making him stagger to the floor.
The aspiring hero then lunged back with his sword but one of the tentacles speedily struck him violently before grabbing him and Valon. The gray-colored appendages spun them in the air before hurling them away once again.
"I will end you with this!"
Before Valon and Luka could get up, Page 65537's eyes glowed menacingly as a strange light filled the entire library before disappearing. Suddenly, both Luka and Valon cried out in pleasure.
They couldn't move their bodies as if they were frozen in place. Then there was this weird and powerful sensation coursing through them that felt like they were being caressed all over. The magical pleasure they felt overwhelmed their bodies, making them unable to do anything or fight back.
"A-ah... w-w-what's happening?" Luka moaned, his eyes getting hazy from the unknown pleasure enveloping his body.
"Hmph, while the influence on the mind isn't as potent as the Eye of Submission, this will be enough to defeat you two," Page 65537 spoke scornfully. "The effects also last only for a short time. But to make sure you don't escape..."
The book monster grabbed the aspiring hero and the technician with her tentacles, binding them securely in her grasp. To make sure they couldn't escape after the effects wore off, she used her other tentacles to restrain their limbs.
Page 65537 tightened her hold on the two men as she pulled them closer to her. She reveled at the sounds of their pathetic moans, struggling in her grip as her magic did its work for her.
"Yes, keep moaning for me. In no time, you might even ejaculate from the pleasure spell itself," Page 65537 stated before glancing at Valon with a smirk. "You, especially. Moaning and squirming in pleasure like that. A fitting outcome for someone as vexing like you. A pest that needed to be dealt with."
"N-No, s-s-stop. P-Please d-don't hurt hi—ah!" Luka pleaded, his voice shaky as he struggled to hold back his moans due to the immense pleasure from the monster girl's spell.
"Hmm... while the spell is taking effect perhaps I should start violating you two myself with my tentacles," Page 65537 smiled haughtily, her eyes landing on the technician. "For me to give you pleasure before your inevitable demise even after everything you did to me. You should feel honored."
The book monster used her remaining tentacles to caress their bodies. The tentacles easily wriggled through Luka's clothes as they touched him all over. The same couldn't be said for Valon, however, as Page 65537 noticed that the exoshield was making it difficult to touch his skin.
Though Valon's limbs were restrained well in her grasp, her tentacles couldn't pass through his clothes and it was challenging for her to tighten her hold on him compared to the young hero. Page 65537 started squeezing him tightly as more cracks appeared on the blue layering.
"Tch. What sorcery is this? Some kind of protective spell? Bah, no matter, you can't seem to free yourself from my tentacles anyway. I will keep squeezing you until I break this barrier of yours. And perhaps, I can give you a more deserving treatment. I know a book where I can learn a certain spell that I'm dying to try out on you. But with all the mess here, it might take me a while to find it. Oh well, I don't have to worry about the effects wearing off. You won't escape my grasp anyway."
Page 65537 slithered in the library, looking for a certain book with Valon and Luka behind her, still bound in her tentacles.
"Hmm... where could that book be?"
As Page 65537 began her search, Luka and Valon were struggling against the monster's tentacles. The tentacles were caressing Luka's body while Valon was being squeezed, making it slightly difficult for him to breathe or speak properly. If it wasn't for his exoshield, he'd quickly be suffocated.
"V-Valon! I... I c-c-can't b-break free... ah..."
"A-A-Activate... gahh..." Valon tried to speak but struggled to complete his words due to being tightly squeezed.
"V-Valon, I-I'm s-s-sorry. T-This is all my f-fault..."
"Huh?" Valon was caught off-guard by what Luka said. "W-What... a-agh... w-what are you talking about?"
"I... I messed up. I messed up the plans. I m-messed up twice. I-If only I-I listened to you and f-focused on my part, w-we probably would've t-taken her down already. I... I messed up. I failed to do my part. I'm a f-f-failure..."
"Luka... that's not... agh... that's not true! A-And I know you were o-only looking out for m-me. I-I don't blame you for that."
"B-But i-it's my fault we're like this now. I... I can't do anything right. I'm not strong enough. I-I'm n-not fast enough. And even now, even after you helped me all those times... even after I t-told you how I felt before... I-I... I still can't help but feel jealous. Jealous t-that you're s-so much better than me. You're stronger, faster, a-and smarter. But even so... you risked your life time and time again just to help me out..."
"Luka... I—"
"A-And every time your life is at risk or you get hurt for my s-sake... I-I feel like the worst person in the world. That even with you fighting by my side, I'm too weak to h-help you back. Because I-I'm weak. I-I'm pathetic. Isn't that why you left? Because you wanted me to be strong on my own? B-But I couldn't be strong, Valon."
"That's not—"
"You told me that you were holding us back, t-that's why you left b-but the t-t-truth is, I'm the one h-h-holding us back. I-I'm the burden in the group. A-And h-h-here I am... venting out about how jealous I am o-of you instead of t-t-thanking you for saving me a while ago. I got us both into this mess. A-And n-now we m-m-might die h-here... b-because of me. W-Why did you even come back for me, Valon?"
Valon felt his chest ache as he listened to Luka's self-deprecating words. Because in his perspective, it was his fault that Luka was acting like this in the first place.
"I-I'm n-no h-hero—ahhh! A-ah... n-no..."
Luka panicked as he felt himself nearing his limit. He was barely holding on as he struggled to endure the pleasure he was experiencing from Page 65537's spell alongside her tentacle assault.
Eventually, the pleasure spell wore off. But the book monster's tentacles continued to molest Luka's body. Meanwhile, Page 65537 was busy scouring through the massive pile of books that were scattered all over the floor.
"Ah, found it. This grimoire contains the spell I'm looking for," Page 65537 stated as she grabbed a dusty old book from the pile. "If I perform this alongside Eye of Pleasure, the victim will experience both excruciating pain and blissful pleasure at the same time."
"A-A-Activate... aghh! A-Activate... s-shield b-b-burst!"
"Activating shield burst module."
Valon's M.A.D. confirmed its owner's voice before his exoshield emitted a bright blue glow. Just before it could receive more pressurized damage from being squeezed too tightly by the tentacles, the exoshield around Valon dispersed outwards as energy, creating a powerful shockwave that shook the library.
The shockwave sent everything around the vicinity flying. Luka and Page 65537 were hurled away by the powerful force as Valon merely fell downwards. The book monster was flung towards the wall, knocking a bunch of bookshelves from the impact as they all fell on her. Luka was also flung away at a distance but didn't suffer as many injuries as the book monster did.
Valon groaned in pain, struggling to stand up. Despite only falling on the floor after the shockwave, the intense pleasure he felt from the pleasure spell and from being squeezed by Page 65537's tentacles rendered him extremely weak and exhausted.
Shaking his head, he tried to assess his surroundings while he was trying to stand up. The effect of the shockwave from the shield burst seemed to have ravaged a large part of the library. Books were littered all over the floor, some were even torn apart completely.
There were destroyed bookshelves with pieces of wood lying around as well as broken furniture. The technician glanced at the book monster who was lying under a large pile of books and broken bookshelves. He couldn't tell if she was unconscious as she lay face down on the floor under the rubble, motionless.
"Luka!"
Valon called out to the young hero when he spotted him lying on the floor. Upon closer inspection with the aid of his helmet, he felt relieved when Luka only suffered light bruises that were barely visible but he still felt bad.
"Luka! Can you hear me?"
"V-Valon? Y-Yeah, I can h-hear—agh!" Luka groaned in pain, falling back when he tried to stand up. "I... j-just can't seem to stand up."
"Heh, me neither. Sorry for doing that. I didn't want to do it because you were nearby but I didn't know what else to do."
"T-That's alright. But hey, at least, you got us out of her tentacles. I... I couldn't even do anything. And now she's probably going to kill us while we both have no strength left."
"She hasn't recovered from the shockwave yet either," Valon replied as he tried to place his palms on the floor to push himself upwards. "W-We can still try and fight her off or think of something else before she gets up."
"I... I don't know Valon. I f-feel... too weak now. I can't even stand up or meditate. Alice was right... maybe I really am a fake hero. You made two good plans for us to take her down and I blew it, I... messed up. I-It's all my fault we're like this now. I'm... I'm... no hero. I'm just some weak person trying to swing a sword."
"N-No, Luka. You're not weak. You just... need more training. And if anything, I... I owe you an apology. I'm the one who should be sorry. I was the one in the wrong for leaving you."
"You... you were just helping me, Valon. You wouldn't have told me to learn how to handle things on my own if you didn't imply that I was weak, which I was."
"Well, you just started, on this journey and on using a sword. No one automatically becomes good at something that they just began doing. Obviously, you'll start off as a novice but you become stronger later on with practice and experience. But instead of helping you become strong, I left you. I abandoned you. I could never forgive myself for doing that to you."
"But... you were still right. I can't keep relying on you or Alice. You... you were just trying to help me stand on my own. And didn't you also say that you wanted to learn how to be independent too? That you wanted to be strong enough to find your brother on your own?"
"I know that... which is why I made the mistake of leaving you. I made you think that letting you do things on your own would make you strong. And you might start thinking that you can find strength if you do not rely on others for help. No one becomes strong overnight, but no one should have to do it alone."
Valon managed to finally stand up, uttering a soft groan when he felt a painful jolt in his back. He made his way to where Luka was, offering him a hand which the young hero accepted. Valon then helped him sit down so that he could meditate to heal his injuries and recover some energy.
"And I suppose, when I told you that I was an obstacle in your journey, I was afraid that if I helped you, I'd make things worse or that I'd mess up as well."
"What?"
Luka was surprised to hear his words. But before either of them could say anything else, they saw the book monster finally move. With a pained roar, Page 65537 rose from the rubble with a disgruntled expression.
She looked haggard, her hair was a mess, and she had bruises all over her body. Her tentacles suffered the most injuries undoubtedly from all the times Valon attacked them with his armaments.
"Y-You...!"
"S-She got up! I... I don't know what else to do. Even if my sword can seal her, she'll just come right back anyway!"
Grrghh... if only I remember how she was beaten in the game. Seriously, where the hell is Alice?! She was the one who beat this thing. Did she use her magic or something? And if not, how the hell did she beat this stupid... book... monster... holy crap, I'm so stupid!
"Luka, I got another plan," Valon spoke, quickly grabbing his collapsible bo staff on the floor. "But first..."
The technician threw multiple mini-bomb duds at the book monster and as expected, she deflected them with her tentacles. He then fired two binding rope shells, tying some of her tentacles together.
He threw another set of duds as a feint and a few foambombs at the incoming tentacles, halting their movements and restraining them. Once he found an opening, he aimed a flashbomb at her, disorienting her senses before firing two more binding rope shells at her face so that she couldn't see.
"Alright, we need to grab as many books, papers, or pieces of wood in this library as we can. Then try to surround her with all of the materials."
"Uhh... okay?"
Without questioning the technician's plan, the aspiring hero helped him gather as many books, papers, and pieces of wood from the broken bookshelves and furniture. Then they laid them all around the book monster while she struggled from Valon's arsenal barrage earlier.
The effects of the flashbomb wore off quickly as Page 65537 tried to get the double rope coils off of her face. But with her tentacles still trapped in the foam, she had to use her hands to get the coils off.
Upon seeing this, Valon immediately threw another flashbomb at her face plus two more binding rope shells to buy them some time while they set up the plan. Finally, Valon instructed Luka to stop.
"Okay, this should be enough. What I'm going to do next is potentially going to be the dumbest thing I've ever done but I'm literally out of options here so I'm just going to apologize for doing this in advance."
"What? Why? What are you going to do? Especially with this pile of books and wood around her."
"I'm gonna light this all on fire."
"W-What?!"
"Don't worry, she won't burn alive. With her weakened state, she's just going to be sealed because she won't be able to maintain her form when exposed to fire. I read that about book monsters... somewhere," Valon assured him with a serious expression to really sell that excuse which wasn't technically a lie. "Too bad about the damages though but I'm just... out of ideas, okay?"
Valon didn't wait for Luka's response as he quickly grabbed his welding torch and set the books on fire. Immediately, he instructed Luka to follow him and run towards the far side of the library.
By the time Page 65537 broke free of her restraints, it was already too late. The fire had spread itself throughout the rubble surrounding her until it became big enough to create a sort of flaming spiral barrier.
"W-What?! No... this flame! I can't maintain my body. Aghhhh," Page 65537 panicked. "Monster Lord, I'm sorry I failed you..."
Those were Page 65537's last words before she was sealed. Fortunately, the floor wasn't made out of wood and they made sure to keep the spiral of rubble isolated from the other wreckage in the library. Though, the fire could still potentially spread and get worse and Valon had no way to extinguish such a giant flame.
"Uhh... yeah... this is bad. Umm... I'm really sorry about all this."
"W-Well, it looks like she really was sealed like you said, Valon. That's good... at least."
"Honestly, resorting to setting the place on fire? How barbaric."
Luka and Valon jumped out in surprise when they saw Alice behind them. She was in her human form and she appeared to be holding a book in her hand before eventually throwing it away.
"Alice?!" Luka exclaimed. "Where were you? Where did you go?"
"I was on the upper floor at the other side, reading."
"The library is in a complete mess and you were... reading?!" Luka sighed, rubbing his temples. "N-Nevermind that. We need to do something about this fire before it spreads even further. W-Wait, you're the Monster Lord. Can you use water magic or something?"
Luka then proceeded to ask if Alice could use water magic to get rid of the fire before it spread since she was the Monster Lord. But Alice replied that it was difficult to limit her magic and that she might submerge the entire castle underwater if she used her powers.
Luka was bewildered by her response to which the disguised Monster Lord eventually admitted that she wasn't very good with water magic. Their discussion continued until it was cut short when the guard captain of San Ilia arrived.
"Are you finding everything alright, Lu—what the hell is this?!"
"Umm... this is..."
"A book monster appeared from one of the books and set the library on fire!" Valon suddenly uttered, finishing Luka's statement.
"A-A book monster?! First, the Monster Lord destroyed the holy sword. Then one of the Heavenly Knights appeared and attacked the guards. And now a book monster just set the library on fire?!" The guard captain stated in frustration. "Anyway, we have to rescue the books! First, put out the fire! We can't let it spread!"
The guard captain started to issue orders to the guards rushing into the library. Alice, Luka, and Valon then used the opportunity to slip out of the library amid the confusion.
The trio exited the castle, heading to the town surrounding San Ilia. They made their way to a street corner where the benches were. There weren't a lot of people where they were but they figured that it would be a suitable place to take a break.
"Well, that was quite... something," Luka spoke, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, I... I'm sorry... again, for doing all of that," Valon replied, feeling bad for having to resort to such a reckless action. "I just... I didn't know what else to do anymore."
"I-It's alright, Valon. I think they were able to save most of the valuable books from the fire. Besides, we've probably already caused a lot of damage during the fight itself. Though, I think I left the book in the library! I wonder if—"
"Here," Valon handed the book with the title 'Four Animists and their Sources' to Luka. "I was able to get it before I started burning the books."
"Oh, thanks! You... actually got it."
"Y-Yeah. Listen, Luka, about earlier, I probably said sorry for like six times now, and I'll say it again. I'm sorry for what I did, for leaving you. I did mean what I said about becoming independent and handling things on your own but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for help or that relying on others is a sign of weakness. And again, I should've helped you become strong, instead of just leaving you."
"But... earlier, you told me that you were afraid to help me because you think you'd make things worse."
"I guess… I was scared. Scared that if I stayed, I might make things worse for you. That my decisions, my involvement, would somehow lead to you getting hurt, or worse. I thought that by leaving, I could avoid being the reason for something bad happening to you. And in return, you wouldn't have to keep worrying about me. That you won't have to be concerned for my well-being and only focus on your own while fighting. In a sense, I did think that I was holding you back."
And that if I stayed, you would no longer be the same Luka I know from the game. You, Alice, your journey for coexistence, and everything else in this world will be different now because of my involvement. Everything I know from the storyline will change. And that eventually, I might be compelled to reveal to you everything I know about this world, about you—that this world is all just a video game and you are merely characters in it.
"But I took the coward's way out and ran away. And I didn't fully consider that whether I help you on the sidelines or I interfere directly, the risks will always be present anyway. I can understand if you're upset at me for abandoning you and I don't expect to be forgiven. I know that I hurt you because you desperately did not want me to leave that day, and I'm sorry."
Valon finished his statement, sighing exasperatedly. He was feeling a lot of conflicting and troublesome emotions, not just from hurting Luka because he left him but also because he was still doubtful whether what he planned to do from this point on was a good idea or not. His previous encounter with the cloaked figure left him extremely clueless about what to do.
"Damn right, you should be sorry for what you did."
Alice finally chose to speak up after she attentively listened to the technician's yapping. She had this urge to slap him in the face but she composed herself.
"Deciding to leave us—Luka like that unexpectedly, leaving him as a crying mess for two days straight like a baby who had not been fed yet," Alice huffed, crossing her arms while her eyes were closed.
"H-Hey!" Luka interjected, blushing faintly. "I-I did not cry for two days straight!"
"You have the audacity to show your face to me after you turned me into a goddamn babysitter. And can't you make up your mind? You're always hesitating, standing around, or hiding like some indecisive fool while this fake hero struggles. And then only when things start to spiral out of control, you swoop in like you actually care. If you're going to help him, then do it! And if you truly give a damn about him, then you never should've left!"
Valon didn't say anything. He chose to be silent and let Alice continue speaking while he acknowledged her words.
"A-Alice, Valon already apologized. You don't have to—"
"Shut up. I'm not done talking, you idiot," Alice silenced Luka before facing Valon. "I know you care about him as much as this poor excuse of a hero cares about you. Which is why I know that there's more to your reasons, that there's something you're refusing to tell us, am I right?"
That's what Valon was afraid of. He knew that the moment he started opening up in his apology they, specifically Alice, would pry further for more information regarding his actions. It was already bad that Alice was suspecting him of something right from the beginning, and now after doing various things and being involved with strange occurrences lately, such as the incident back at the ship, he knew that he would be interrogated... again.
"But I understand if you have your reasons that you can't tell us as to why you left. If you do not want to disclose them to us for whatever reason that seems important to you or because you're not comfortable sharing them then I will not pry any further, especially if it's personal."
"H-Huh?"
"Oh, don't act so surprised. What, you think I'm some nosy quidnunc? Well... only if the matter is of interest to me, sure. But if it's something personal or heavy, I'm not above one's boundaries. And yes, I believe in everything you said while you were apologizing. But honestly, if only you told him about how you felt early on instead of just being quiet and distant like you always were, the issue wouldn't have escalated further like this. We wouldn't have this kind of misunderstanding."
"Y-Yeah... I-I suppose you're right..." Valon replied, acknowledging her words. "I'm... I'm sorry again..."
"Geez, I swear, despite your intellect, you're just as idiotic as this fake hero over here. So, now what? Aren't you going to go search for your brother by yourself now?" Alice inquired. "Did you just come back to apologize? Or did you have something else to say? Perhaps, you think after that sappy heartfelt apology, we'd consider having you back with us?"
"W-Well... if you'll have me, again. But I can understand if you don't want to anymore..."
"Aren't you just one sad pathetic wimp, so desperate for approval," Alice huffed, closing her eyes and crossing her arms. "Well, don't look at me. Ask the fake hero if he wants you back. I have no say on who he takes with him in this journey of his anyway."
"I... o-of course!" Luka quickly replied, a small smile forming on his face. "I'd be glad to welcome you back, Valon!"
"Well, thanks. But are you sure? Even after I left you?"
"Of course! I mean... yes, I was hurt when you left, but I was never mad at you Valon, even if I said I was jealous of you. I just—"
"Felt like you weren't good enough because you've always held yourself with high expectations? That because you want to be a great hero so badly, you wanted to be strong and powerful?"
"I... y-yeah..."
"Honestly, that's also part of the reason why I left, so you'd stop looking down on yourself. But it's okay to mess up and feel weak sometimes, Luka. It's part of growth and improvement. I mean, you wouldn't train so hard if you're already the best in what you do. And even if you're already good, you'll still train. Because there's always something to learn."
"Y-You're right... a true hero never stops training to become stronger. I should've known that. But I know that I can't always rely on you. You won't always be there to help me at every moment, Valon, even if we fight together."
"I know... and there will come a time when you'll have to handle things on your own. But right now, you still have a lot to learn and that's okay. It's a learning process. I have a lot of things to learn and improve too," Valon stated. "But as I said before, you don't have to learn and do this alone."
"You mean, you..."
"Yeah, Luka. Let's do this together."
Valon then held out his fist which confused Luka as he wasn't sure what Valon was trying to do. The technician mentally slapped himself, forgetting that he was offering something that he knew the characters wouldn't know anything about. But he couldn't back out now, else he'd look like a complete idiot.
"Uhh... why are you holding your fist out like that, Valon?"
"It's a uhh... a fist bump."
"A fist... bump?"
"Y-You know... I uhh... hold my fist out and then you bump it with your fist. It's like a high five but... but with fists. You know... because it's... cooler?"
Valon just held his fist out awkwardly, waiting for Luka to reciprocate. After a few aggravating seconds, Luka slowly raised his fist to meet Valon's. The entire gesture itself was very awkward and cringeworthy to look at.
"Did I do it right?"
"Yeah... maybe we can also practice doing that some other time."
"Heh, well, I'm really happy that you're back with us, Valon," Luka said with a genuine smile.
"Oh, really? Is that so?" Alice interposed. "You, who cried like a baby for two days straight because this idiot abandoned you, and now you're all happy and forgiving just like that?"
"For the last time, I didn't cry for two days straight! And at least, Valon actually helped me... again! Unlike you, who just read in the library somewhere we couldn't see and didn't bother helping at all!"
"I said I was reading some... books. Also, why would I help you? Don't you remember what I told you when we were in that Treasure Cave? Besides, Valon was already there to help you out. And why are you taking his side all of a sudden?!"
Alice tried to hide it but she felt her cheeks redden slightly. Truthfully, she did plan to help Luka when he started calling for her, and for reasons she didn't like to admit out loud. But because of the current situation and with Valon swooping in to help Luka anyway, she just let the situation play out.
Meanwhile, Valon couldn't hold back a smile from seeing the two main characters argue with each other like they always do. It seemed that despite everything that had changed, some things remained the same.
And he felt somewhat relieved that Luka was willing to have him join back in the group even though he left him. Though, now that he was back with them, he could no longer just leave them whenever he could. He also had a lot to think about.
"Hmph, so you apologized and you plan to join us again. But you are still not in the clear," Alice suddenly spoke, her voice slightly menacing. "With how much you are keeping things from us, it's difficult to trust you. You have a lot to answer for, especially with what happened back there at the ship as we were crossing to Sentora."
Valon sighed. He was not in a good position to just outright refuse to say anything or make up another somewhat convincing excuse, forcing him to reveal more of his forbidden knowledge and information. But the technician already predicted this outcome and had prepared the words he was going to say.
"I can understand if you have personal issues or secrets to keep. But since you are willing to join us right after your sincere apology, we have the right to know important things that you are hiding from us, especially if it means you might pose a threat. If you are involved with a group of mysterious individuals that are harming people or capable of dealing with powerful monsters, then I demand to know why."
"Alright. I will tell you. But, maybe we can talk about it when we leave town? I just... I don't want anyone to hear what I have to say. I will only share the information I know with you guys and not with anyone else. I know I'm asking for a lot and I know you have every right to not trust me, especially with everything that has happened. But please, this is my only request. The things I will say must not leave your ears."
Luka and Alice glanced at each other briefly before turning to face Valon, nodding in agreement.
"Very well, we accept your terms," Alice replied. "But you better hold your end of the bargain. And your explanations better be good. Or I will use necessary force."
"Y-Yeah... I-I understand," Valon replied, shivering slightly in fear when he saw the subtle menacing glow in Alice's eyes. "I guess I should start by saying that there are things that I really cannot disclose to anyone, not even to you guys, because they are classified information. But I promise it's for a good cause and I will explain more later on the way."
"Fine," Alice grunted. "But you also better explain why they're 'classified.'"
"I will..."