Chapter 29: The Many Establishments
Momo could count about a couple hundred of them in the sky.
This wasn't the plan, this was totally not the plan. The whole idea of bringing all of these fighter planes and the airship was to catch the Emperor of Flames by surprise, by having him deal with both the Japan Air-Self Defense Force and the members of Fuyumi's revolutionaries.
But it seemed like Enji Todoroki decided to throw that all out the window by sending his aerial army straight towards them. If his flight path was right, they would be heading straight to the Collibus Hills. They had no choice but to fight him head-on right here, right now.
"Melissa, think you can take them down?"
"They're wyverns. If true dragons are like peregrine falcons, then the bird equivalent for a wyvern would be a pigeon," the angel said. "The real problem is Emperor Todoroki."
"Understood," Momo said, as she turned on her radio. "Attention, all air units, this is Lieutenant Yaoyorozu! The enemy is here! Prepare for battle, and be ready to fire at my command!"
"SOUNDS AWESOME!" Yoarashi blared through the comms. "Ready when you are!"
Several more fighter pilots agreed with Yorashi's sentiments, while behind her, Fuyumi pulled out a small, wooden device. "Guess we were doing this early then… Natsuo, Moe, come in! Can you hear me? Father has just intercepted mine and Shoto's escort back home! We're about to battle him! Gather our allies within the city, and begin the revolt, now!"
"We read you loud and clear, sister! We're starting now!"
"Lieutenant Yaoyorozu, I just gave the signal for everyone in the capital to begin the uprising!" Fuyumi called out to her. "If we can defeat my father here, then our victory is assured!"
Yaaay, no pressure.
A few seconds later, Shoto scrambled out of the inside of the ship, his clothes half-crumbled, as he witnessed the massive wyvern army approaching their forces. "Oh, dear."
On that, Momo could agree. Quickly signaling Shield to advance, she grabbed her radio once more and said, "MEMBERS OF THE JASDF… ADVANCE ON THE ENEMY!"
The first thing Kota Izumi noticed when he opened his eyes was… how dark everything was. It wasn't pitch black, no. It was more like… he was inside a building with minimal interior lights, and there was no light coming through the windows because it was in the middle of a storm.
Or maybe a massive eclipse was blotting out the sun? Who knows?
The point Kota was trying to make was that it was dark as fuck, and not in the natural kind of way when it's night time. Wait… now that his eyes were adjusting… Kota could clearly tell there were lights in here. He could see his shadow. So why the hell did everything look so dark…?
The walls. They were covered in… obsidian? Some equally dark material? All the lights around the area were dim, too. Like, they were bright enough for Kota to see his own shadow, but not bright enough to make this place look like a normal room back home.
Where the hell was he?
"Eri, quid ibi habes?"
"O frater magnus! Kota haec est; eum servare possumus?"
Kota could feel his throat close up, as he heard a familiar voice. Looking up and to the closer end of this… grand hall thing he was inside… he could see Eri, once more in her "human" form (save for her horns), and she was talking with… a man sitting on a throne of bones.
No, wait, this was no man. He had two curved red horns on the border between his forehead and green hair. Not only that, but everything else about him also screamed "monster." Despite the seemingly harmless freckles on his face, those viridian eyes of his seemed to be cold and calculating, as if they saw everything; and the way he was sitting on that throne of bones as if he was an unruly teenager despite appearing in his mid to late twenties, combined with the fancy, yet dark clothes he was wearing, gave off the impression that he was above all this.
It didn't take a genius for Kota to know that this guy was some serious bad news.
"Hominem? Exspecta… Non iterum…" the green-haired demon said, as he stood up from his throne of bones, and approached the sitting Kota who tried to scramble away.
Unfortunately, the older man who was walking happened to be a lot faster than the teeanger who still had his ass on the floor, and quickly grabbed him. Kota wasn't sure what was gonna happen to him, but he was mildly surprised when the man just said, "Lingua adeptio."
The demon's green eyes suddenly glowed bright, as Kota somehow felt both sleepy and like he was having a headache for a few seconds, but then… it was over. "There, that should do it."
"Huh?" Kota looked up to see the demonic man as… slightly less intimidating.
"What's the matter? Elven cat got your tongue?" he asked.
"I can… understand you…" Kota slowly said.
"Yes, that is usually how that spell of mine works," the horned greenette said, walking away. "I am able to grant you full understanding of other languages, and vice-versa. Though, I must admit, this "Japanese" you speak is quite fascinating. And oddly familiar, too…"
"Uh-huh…" Kota nodded. "Right… Wait, who exactly are you?"
"Oh, right! Where are my manners?" the man said, slightly bowing. "Izuku Midoriya, crown monarch of the Kingdom of Daemonium… better known as the Demon King."
It was at that moment that Kota Izumi understood he was completely screwed. On the bright side, he now understood why this guy was ringing off so many alarm bells before. Dark castle? Check. Clear non-human lineage? Check. Both a nonchalant attitude and an aura of fear simultaneously? Check. Clothes that make him look like a royal edgelord? Double check.
Yep, Kota had seen enough anime to realize that this guy was indeed a Demon King, through and through. Well, mostly. The majority of classic anime depicted these kinds of guys as massive grotesque monsters, not as a medieval e-boys with horns, but, semantics.
Kota decided to play this one safely. "Uhh… Kota Izumi?"
"Well met. Anyways, now that we can understand each other, to business," Izuku Midoriya said, clapping his hands. "How exactly did you end up catching the eye of my little sister?"
"I'm sorry… your sister? You mean the… dragon?"
"Adopted sister," Eri cut in. "There's also Tenko, who is kinda older than us, but he's also adopted, so Izuku got the throne due to being the only actual blood heir…"
"Okay, I think I got the picture," Kota said. "Also, I have no idea."
Midoriya sighed at that, as he looked over to his little sister. "Well…?"
"Sooo… you remember how you gave me the mission to investigate Collibus Hills?" Eri said, immediately setting off several flags in Kota's head. "Yeah, I met Kota there, thought he was cute, and then the place suddenly got attacked, so I saved his life and brought him back here!"
That seemed like an extreme summary of those events, in Kota's opinion.
"You thought he was…?" the Demon King trailed off, as he suddenly put his hands on his face and groaned. "I see. So, you picked up another stray. Planning on expanding your collection?"
Kota was starting to get nervous. Stray? Collection? Am I some kind of pet for her?!
"I mean, I do want him as a friend, but I was thinking of… something more?"
Something more? What does she mean by…? Oh, my God…
This dragon… had a crush on him.
Kota was absolutely mortified. This monster that ripped apart a grown man in seconds, without needing to fully transform… was interacting with Kota, a completely normal teenager, as if she was some kind of blushing schoolgirl. This creature of legend, that could probably trample entire armies without unleashing whatever Godzilla breath it had… wanted to date him.
How the hell was he supposed to say no?! If he ended up rejecting her, she'd probably reduce him to nothing more than an etch mark in the sidewalk. And if she didn't kill him, she'd probably go crying to big brother, and then he'd have the Demon King on his ass! And what would happen if they went steady?! Kota could already feel the phantom pains of his crushed pelvis on his future wedding night. No matter what route he chose, he was already screwed.
"Something more…?" Midoriya, meanwhile, seemed to have understood what his younger sister was insinuating, and went into Big Brother Mode. "Eri, you're too young to have a boyfriend!"
Kota's eyes seemed to fill with hope as he pumped his fists. Yes, yes, yes!
"I'm a hundred and seventeen! I can make my own decisions!" Eri argued.
Kota shook his head vigorously. No, no, no!
"He'll be dead in a few decades from now! What will you do then?"
"I'll just find a spell that will change his race to a dragon!"
NO, NO, NO!
"Even if you managed to find it, eventually, he'll still be human before that!" Midoriya argued, waving his hand towards Kota. "You don't know what diseases he's carrying!"
Okay, wow, rude. It was at this moment Kota decided, "fuck it, he wasn't afraid of death" and raised his hand. "Uh, do I get a say in this? And if so, can I vote to go back home?"
Both the older and younger siblings looked back at Kota, before Midoriya remembered. "Right, Eri said the Collibus Hills were under attack. Hey, kid, what exactly happened?"
Kota was silent for a few seconds, trying to recollect his thoughts. "It… it all happened so fast. One minute I was walking down the street, the next, a bunch of explosions went off. There were people running and screaming, and I saw people dressed as our soldiers attacking. My aunt told me to run away, as fast and as far away as I could… I probably wouldn't have made it…"
The black-haired teen slowly stopped, as he realized that… he almost died. If Eri wasn't there, he would have been killed by that merc back there. Despite saying he wasn't afraid of death a few moments back, the truth was, Kota was still quite scared of it. He had already seen so many people die. His parents… all of those people… and now… his aunt might be among them…
Kota couldn't tell it yet, but he fell to his knees and began crying. The only thing that made him realize what he was doing was when Eri knelt down and hugged him. Midoriya, on the other hand, his face looked… sad. "I'm truly sorry for the ordeal you had to endure."
"I just… I just wanna go back home… I wanna see Auntie Shino…"
Midoriya nodded. "I understand. I'll… send someone there to investigate."
Kota looked up in tearful confusion. "What?"
"Young man, I cannot in good conscience send back a teenager to what has been described to me as essentially a warzone," the Demon King said. "I will send one of my subordinates there to give me a full report on the matter. If they deem that the situation has been resolved, then I will send you back. But until then, I insist that you stay here, as my sister's… guest."
"So, basically, I'm a refugee," Kota surmised.
"That is one way to look at it, I suppose," Miroiya said. "That being said, as long as you are here, you are entitled to the same rights as the rest of us. Tell me, what's your age?"
"Uh, I'm sixteen years old?"
"A late adolescent by human standards," the green-haired demon said. "I see. I'll go get the paperwork ready, then; you shall be enrolled at the Academy. Displaced or not, you are a young soul who still needs an education, and a place to establish relationships with your fellow peers."
"Academy?" Kota asked. "What, like, I'll be going to a demon high school?"
"Yes, well, while the majority of the school population is indeed my race, our doors are opened to all walks of life," the Demon King said. "Now, your age would put you in the same grade as Eri, and while I loath to do it, I believe that she can help guide you around your new life."
The hidden dragon's eyes widened at that. "Wait, really?! You mean it?!"
"Unfortunately, I do," Midoriya said, as he began to exit the throne room. "I'll pull some strings to make sure he's in the same class as you. From now on, he will be your responsibility, Eri."
"Oh, thank you, Nii-chan! Thank you!" Eri exclaimed, as she hugged Kota.
As the black-haired teen kept getting squeezed by her, Kota figured that, even if his life was kinda shit recently, he had to admit, he could have ended up doing a lot worse, especially given that this place was the home of the Demon King. Still, though…
He seriously hoped this didn't mean he was now engaged to their princess.
Melissa began to fly farther and farther from the side of the airship. By the time she was in front of the Japanese flying machines, she couldn't make out Momo's figure on the ship.
"This is Melissa Shield, come in, over" she spoke into her earpiece.
"This is Momo Yaoyorozu, I read you loud and clear, Melissa, over."
"Glad to hear it. I see the Empire's forces ahead of us, and closing in," she said, scanning the skies. "I can't make out where in the group Enji Todoroki is. What are my orders?"
"Lead the fighters and take out all of the wyvern riders, over."
"Understood, Momo. Over and out." Melissa quickly switched the channel to the open frequency. "Attention, all of you! We're about to engage the enemy. We hit them fast, and we hit them hard. Those knights on the wyverns are capable of magic, so be on your guard, over."
"UNDERSTOOD!" Yoarashi shouted. "LET'S SHOW THEM WHAT JAPAN'S MADE OF!"
Melissa nodded, as she kept her flying calm and straight. She didn't have any long-ranged magic herself. Her entire design was melee, more specifically, with her sword. All she could do right now was lead the charge, and then take out as many that were closest to her.
Steady… steady… wait for Momo's signal.
"MEMBERS OF THE JASDF… ADVANCE ON THE ENEMY!"
Now.
She launched herself forward, her wings propelling her like a shooting star. Several of the wyvern riders prepared their magic and fired, but she was too fast for them. Any of them who weren't chopped down by her blade ended up being shot down by the fighter planes.
It had officially begun.
She quickly made her way through more of the wyverns, as they began to swarm and scatter like a bunch of bees. Melissa knew their main method of attack was to magically bomb anyone down below; they really ever had to deal with an enemy from the sky. However, every once in a blue moon, the Todoroki Empire would have to deal with someone who could fly like them, and their main method of attack was to shoot them before they could even get close.
Against massive foes like dragons and airships, that tactic works, on paper. They would have to tweak their method during the real thing, dodging enemy attacks, but then keep blasting at the enemy until they plummeted to the earth. But the difference there was that, for as powerful as dragons were, one of them couldn't stand up to a thousand wyvern riders, no matter how strong they were. In the end, they would be overwhelmed by the enemy's sheer numbers.
"Death by a thousand paper cuts," as Momo would aptly put it.
However, in this scenario, their strategy was flawed. The enemy fighters were flying in F-15 Eagle fighter planes. These things were designed to fly fast, and carry lots of fire power. Not only that, but the pilots flying them were trained to know when to attack and when to dodge, and while the Todoroki Empire knew how to do the same, their methods were less advanced.
If Rin were with her right now, he would probably make an analogy to tuna schools. Tuna were some of the biggest fish in the world, and one of the top predators in the ocean. Yet, despite that, they still swim in schools. Naturally, there was safety in numbers, as the tuna could easily gang up against slightly smaller fish. However, those schools of tuna would be doomed if they crossed paths with a pack of great white sharks. The sharks were bigger and meaner, and enough of them would be able to destroy the tuna school, despite the tuna's numbers.
There were hundreds of wyvern riders in the sky. There were less than twenty F-15s coming in. If both sides were completely equal, then the F-15s would be screwed. However, wyverns were animals, small dragons with limits on speed, just like every other creature on the planet. The F-15s were machines that, while could indeed break down, would be able to reach speeds far greater than any wyvern could ever dream of. Additionally, while the wyvern riders could blast spells, they weren't as uniform as the weapons these fighter planes possessed.
All of these aerial mages had unique spells, which, while dangerous, also meant that each of their training had to be unique, and to a smaller degree, undisciplined. Earth's soldiers all had the same training, the same tactics, they all acted as one. Plus, with all of them being able to understand each other through radio, they could coordinate far better than Emperor Enji could ever hope to accomplish by screaming his orders. And while the Imperials might manage to destroy a few of the planes, they certainly wouldn't be able to get all of them.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
From behind her, Melissa could feel the intense heat of both magic and technology duking it out, as the F-15s dodged and blasted all of the front offense mages out of the sky. The uniformed rows of flyers had now been scattered in a panic, all of them trying to figure out how to deal with this new enemy. Which made them easy pickings for her.
She made her way towards the center of the army; the outside would be constantly bombarded by the F-15s, and Melissa figured that, as a close-quarters fighter, her talents would be far better used by causing a panic from the inside. Maybe some of the Imperials would get so scared that they'd fly out into the open. In the ocean, when a marine predator swims into the middle of a school, the fish in the middle of the school would panic, and make a break for it. They end up leaving the school, then they get snagged by any waiting predators. If the Imperials tried to do the same, they would be shot down the second they left their cluster.
Melissa quickly noticed one of the Imperials was getting wise to her and tried to snipe her with some stones he conjured from thin air. Child's play. She quilt deflected every single one of the stones, before piercing the mage right off of his wyvern. Now, who was next…?
Four wyverns were closing in on her, all of their riders shooting magic bullets. Pedestrian magic. A few more blocks from her sword, and then a quick dodge from one of them trying to spear her, and she was safe. The wyverns flew past her, leaving their riders vulnerable from the back, and… a quick toss of her sword bisected all four of them.
Quickly flying down, she grabbed her sword, somewhat annoyed by the fact that she couldn't just call it back to her. However, her emotions quickly changed when she had to dodge a giant fist of water, followed by a yellow circular light of death. Another dodge, and –
BOOM! BOOM!
"DON'T WORRY, SHIELD! WE GOT YA COVERED!"
…Yoarashi just stole her kills. Oh, well. Plenty to go around.
Despite the carnage and chaos going on all around her, Melissa was… excited. No, not just excited. She could feel her heart beginning to beat faster and faster. She knew it had been a long time since she actually put her back into a fight, in part because of how much her powers had been drained, but this… this fight… it made her feel alive once more!
As she kept on slicing apart more and more Imperials, she tried to remember when the last time her heart beated like this. And for the life of her… she couldn't. Sure, her heart had beaten fast before, but that was usually either due to the stress Momo's team caused her, or wherever she was thinking of her beloved, but… never during combat. The closest thing she could feel to this was the first time she sparred with her darling, and before that… before that…
She remembered it now. It was her last mission. Melissa Shield was one of the newest angels to be created by the gods, but she was one of their best works. While most of her celestial brethren were around as early as the first years of their world, she was the youngest amongst them, just a little under four hundred years old. She was basically a construct; angels didn't reproduce, despite the fact they were biologically capable of it. Each and every one of them was made. And they existed for one purpose: To carry out the will of the gods.
And she carried out every mission she was given to the letter. Annihilate opposing armies, lead those who were worthy out of disaster, announce the creation of new heroes, act as an executioner, save someone from certain death, she did whatever was asked of her, and she felt… nothing. She didn't feel any joy, or anger, or anything. Wherever she was assigned a mission, she went and did it, and then waited for her next assignment.
And then her next assignment came to her.
It was an assassination job. She figured it would be easy enough, she had killed others before. But she was informed that her target wasn't like anyone she had dealt with before: They said he was malevolent, ruthless, power-hungry, sinister, a psychopathic individual with twisted ideals. She was told that if he were to live, the world would be plunged into darkness.
So, under the cover of night, she flew down to the earth. There was a storm raging that night when she arrived at his fortress. Sneaking in and avoiding all of the guards was child's play for her. She quietly entered his bed chambers, unsheathed her sword, and then –
"If you're here to kill me, could you please do it quickly? I have a meeting in thirty minutes, and I'd prefer to skip it. Also, do whatever you wish to me, but please don't touch my family."
Melissa was confused on a number of levels. First, he knew that she was here, and not only that, but he was aware that she had been sent to kill him. He didn't resist, as she had seen so many others do before. No fighting, no pleas, no trying to bribe her. He just sat there.
The blonde angel tried to disregard the irregularity, as she approached him. She lifted her sword, ready to have it pierce his heart, but… she hesitated. Even in the darkness, she could see that his face looked… sad. And for the first time ever, Melissa Shield felt an emotion.
Sadness.
Melissa put her sword down, much to his confusion. He asked why, and truthfully, she didn't know. She didn't know why his face affected her as it did, but she wanted to know. Melissa asked him why he looked the way he did, and the answer he gave her… was saddening.
His parents had died recently, and now, he was forced to take their duties upon himself. An entire nation was looking up to him, to be some sort of larger-than-life figure, one that the entire world hated. He had the responsibility of reuniting his broken kingdom, having to walk in his parents' footsteps, despite the fact that he didn't believe he had what it took.
So many big things, all of them piling up. A normal person would have broken down a long time ago, and yet, he was still there, hiding them behind a facade of calm. That night, Melissa Shield didn't kill anyone… Instead, she held him for as long as the stormy night lasted.
When the morning came, the young man had explained to those in his castle that Melissa was his guest. Most of them were wary of her, but accepted their ruler's wishes. And then, when breakfast came, Melissa tasted the first delicious thing she had ever had in her life.
Angels didn't need to eat. Sure, they could do so, but there was no point for them. Melissa didn't realize how wrong that was until she took her first bite of the sweet and syrupy morning pastry she was offered. After breakfast, she was given a tour of the castle, and the surrounding areas around them. She was amazed; all of these people, working, living. Some of them did so for themselves, others did so for those they cared about, and some for the greater good.
Melissa understood how the government worked, but she never saw it in action. She never saw the people living their lives, she never saw the world outside of just being a place. She never truly experienced life, until the man she was supposed to kill showed it to her.
This man, who was so deep in his own despair, yet still took the time to show her all of the wonders of the world. He introduced her to so many wonderful people, he told her about the stories of this world, tested her skills in both the sword and in magic, and then, one day…
…he took her to see his parents' graves.
For as much light as there was in this world, there was darkness. For the longest time, Melissa had seen people as nothing more than objectives and obstacles. As just numbers and statistics. She never saw them as people who lived, who had their own hopes and dreams, their own fears and anxieties, opinions and emotions, stories to tell, and scars they had to carry.
In front of those tombstones, he told her everything. He came from a legacy of evil and zealotry, and for the longest time, his home was ruled by someone who was feared by all outsiders. His parents were killed in what the rest of the world believed to be an act of heroism. But to him, it was just another part of the seemingly endless cycle of violence. They may have been seen as monsters by the rest of the world, but for him, those were his parents, and he loved them.
That was why he wasn't afraid to die the night the two of them met. He knew that there was a chance someone would come to finish the job. And when that time came, he hoped that his life would be enough to bring about an end to it all, to usher in a new age of peace.
Somehow, Melissa doubted that, and she made it known. She told him that there would always be suffering in the world, and his death would have robbed his kingdom of their king. By the end of it, Melissa confessed that she was glad to have hesitated, because without him, she would never have experienced emotions, tastes, experiences, all of life, for the first time ever.
And most importantly of all, love.
By the end of their tearful confessions (followed by a few long sessions of crying and nights of passion), their love was official. This kingdom of his needed a queen, a symbol of unity, and while Melissa was more than happy to oblige, she had something to take care of.
She promised that, no matter what happened to her, Melissa would return to him, and she left. Melissa returned back to the heavens, to her angelic brethren and her creators, and told them of everything that had happened: How the man who she was supposed to kill was no great evil, how the world down below offered much for everyone, but… no one listened.
They called her a traitor for abandoning her duty, for laying with what they perceived as a monster. Some of them looked at her in pity, like she had been manipulated or brainwashed. The gods themselves had declared that they would have to try again.
Melissa was outraged, and she told them that they were all wrong. He wasn't a monster, her beloved was just a sad and lonely man who needed to let people back in. His people had committed acts of evil before, she couldn't deny that, but with him at the helm, she genuinely believed that they could become a force of good, she had seen it herself.
They shouted even more names at her, and it was at this point that Melissa realized the truth: These gods that had created her and her kind were merely insecure beings who sent out the angels to either eliminate what they perceive as problems, or to "help" those to keep worshiping them. They didn't care about her, or anyone but themselves. for that matter. The angels were merely slaves for the gods; immortal tools that would never understand the joys of life.
She damned the gods. She cursed them, renounced them, and warned them that if they ever dared take a hair off of her beloved, she would hunt them down to the ends of time.
In response, they deemed her "fallen," cast her out of the heavens, and slowly but surely, her wings would change from the bright glow of white, to those as black as coal.
But she didn't care. When she crashed back down into the dirt, she came across Momo and the rest of her new friends. Those amazing soldiers from another world had more virtue in them than all of the gods combined. She joined them on their cause, and with each adventure they had together, she could feel her powers slowly return to her, growing ever stronger.
As she chopped down more and more of these Imperial scum, Melissa Shield smiled. She was truly free now, and when she was reunited with her beloved, she would be unstoppable.
Momo let out a low whistle, as she witnessed the scene before her.
In just under a half hour, a small group of F-15s being led by a single angel managed to eviscerate over half of the aerial units that the Todoroki Empire had bright with them.
Meanwhile, Momo, and the rest of the crew just hung back on the airship, taking down the occasional stray wyvern with their massive harpoon cannon, or with Aoyama's lasers.
"This is going a lot smoother than I expected," Monoma said.
"Yeah," Kendo agreed. "Makes you wonder if the big guy even showed up –"
"YO, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
Tsuburaba's shout grabbed everyone's attention, as Momo ran to the front of the airship to get a better look at what was in front of them. Inside the massive dogfight of wyvern riders and jets, a massive yellow circle with… weird-looking runes… had suddenly appeared.
"No," Shoto whispered. "No, he wouldn't use that with so many –"
"What?" Momo looked back towards her boyfriend. "Shoto, what is that –?!
The next thing Momo knew, the entire sky was engulfed in fire.
Melissa could only watch in silent horror as half of the F-15s were reduced to moment slag and were sent down plummeting to the sky. It was nothing short of a miracle that she wasn't in the blast zone when it went off, as she was chasing around one speedy wyvern.
"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME WAS THAT?!" Yoarashi shouted into the comms.
Melissa already knew the answer to that. Scanning around the suddenly more clear skies, she found who she was looking for. And sure enough, he was staring right at her.
"Everyone," she called in. "Retreat to the outermost area of the battle, now. Focus on the wyvern riders, and if you value your lives, stay as far away from me as possible."
"What?! Why?! What's going on?!"
"It's the Emperor of Flames. He sees me, and he's closing in."
Melissa knew that she was in for a really bad time now…
Author's Note: The war between the JSDF and the Todoroki Empire ends in the next chapter. But that is for later. Now, we've seen the relationship of wyverns in this world, the first truly in-depth interaction with the Demon King, and Melissa's backstory!
So, lore time! When writing this, my friend was encouraging me to have Kota get enrolled at what he was basically calling an homage to Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, and eventually, I gave in. Additionally, I've seen a lot of anime where angels are capable of biological functions, despite the fact that such a thing doesn't make any sense both in D , and, I'm assuming, the Bible. So, I tried to make sense of how angels would actually exist, and my current theory is that most of them are made, not born. Essentially, an artificial species capable of expanding their numbers, allowing me to both have my cake and eat it, too. I might tell y'all more at a later time, but for now… comments!
Shin: Thank you for your words of encouragement. I got the Fifth Edition Starter Set back when I was in middle school, but I never got into Magic: The Gathering. I also noticed the various races you were talking about, so I gotta ask, would you know the names for every kind of race out there, specifically the animal-themed ones? Because I can't just call them all "lionmen" this, and "pandafolk" that; that can only work for so many races before it starts getting redundant. One more thing, I have never seen a single episode of Yu-Gi-Oh, much less played the card game, but I understood that reference. Nice going.
valkrus: If I ever get one chapter where I'm in the clear, I think I'll die happy. And I'm not angry with you, it's more of a… competitive rivalry. Think of me as MatPat and you as Scott Cawthon, and you've got a pretty good idea. Anyways, ahh, you got me again! And with a familiar word, no less! Oh, well! Mark my words, I'll win one of these days!
MostOfYouNeedTherapy: In my mind, each of the dragons looked slightly different, but now that I looked it up, it's kinda thrown me off by how similar they all look. But if it's that much of a gripe, you can just focus on the fact that Eri's appearance as a dragon looks like a Seath the Scaleless who isn't blind and horribly mutated from the waist-down.
VinHD15: I mean, I get the reference (probably), but I didn't see you post it anywhere. I searched the words "cursed," "speech," and "user" in both the Writing Trio and our direct line, but nothing. Did you maybe post a gif that I don't remember seeing?
DarlingSherlock: The bad guys always seem to show up at the most inopportune time. A quick question, when you said "King Explosion Murder Bakugou," were you referring to one of the things he did during the previous chapters, because he was barely mentioned in the last one, much less do anything noteworthy. Ah, well. Hope you liked this chapter!
Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…
I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.
If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules.
Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore