As they're walking along the road to San Ilia, Alice vanishes again. As Luka is tensing up for a fight, however, she reappears a moment later, her eyes closed in contemplation.
"Alice? What's wrong?" Luka asked. Typically, she would vanish up until Luka defeated the monster, reappearing to disparage or comment on his fight.
"Up ahead, a human and a Lamia are fighting."
"What?! I've gotta go help him-" Luka began, already beginning, but Alice placed a hand on his shoulder, staying him.
"He's winning." Luka froze, stunned. Never had it happened for him to see a human win a fight against a monster in his travels. He'd heard the stories, but... "While the Lamia did get a few good hits in, it's clear that if let to be played out, she will die. What are you going to do about that?"
"I..." Luka stopped, thinking about his reply as they jogged up the hill to approach the fight. What could he do? What should he do?
The human, one hand clutching a golden sword, leaped back away from the Lamia and pointed his sword towards her. "Pure lightning, rain down and banish the wicked! Mega Thunder!"
Lightning parted the skies, and the deafening screech it resulted in was second only to the scream of pain of the Lamia. After a moment of convulsing as the lightning hit her like Ilias herself had decided to judge her, she fell to the ground in a heap, twitching.
"Is she...?" Luka murmured, but Alice shook her head.
"Still alive. Not for long though, it seems."
The hero, panting after casting such a massive spell, took a few moments to recover before beginning to walk over to the Lamia. It appeared that he wanted to deliver the finishing blow.
"I... I won't allow that!" Luka said to himself, dashing forward. As the man's blade pulled back, keep on stabbing the snake woman in the heart, he pulled out Angel Halo. "Here I go! Thunder Thrust!"
Luka, stepping up right behind the man like the thunder that smote the lamia a second ago stabbed through the man's chest, Angel Halo running him through. The man gasped in shock.
"Wha-" was all he could get through before the technicolor wound, bleeding magical power, turned him to a child's size, dropping harmlessly to the ground as his sword clattered to the side. Giving him a side glance, Luka realized that it was the same man he'd helped stand up in Port Natalia.
Turning to the Lamia, he glanced at her, but it seemed that she was truly out for the count now. Just to be safe, he poked her torso with Angel Halo a few times as well- immediately reacting to the sealing power, the half-snake woman turned into a regular snake.
"Well, you did it. You managed to beat both of your opponents into submission." Alice muttered, looking bored. "Can we go now?"
"No! We need to figure out why were they fighting!"
As Luka says this, he can hear a child's groan behind him. Turning around to stare at the Hero, he can see him looking at himself in confusion. "Oh, Jesus fucking Christ, tell me I didn't get Neverlanded..." he muttered to himself, before turning around to stare at Luka. "Oh." he blinked, taking his hat off. The blonde man-turned-child was staring at him with large brown eyes. "Well, I'll be."
"Neverlanded?" Luka asked, helping the boy up.
"Neverland Frontier is a spell that some type of monsters use in order to seal a human's body into that of a child." Alice replied from behind him, already in human form. "What's more impressive is that he knows of it."
The boy turned to stare at Alice for a moment, before letting out a shudder. "The mermaids are... fond of smaller men." At that Luka could feel his own cheeks heat up in question. "Anyways... what happened to me?"
"My weapon seals those it hits in order to not have to kill them. I'm sorry, sir, but you were going to kill that Lamia, and I..." Luka trailed off, realizing that his dream of coexistence with monster probably didn't matter to the Hero.
The blonde stared at Luka, his stare turning half-lidded. "The Lamia who threatened to crush my bones in her coils before swallowing me and agonizingly digesting me? That lamia?"
"I... ah..." Luka trailed off, uncomfortable.
"Look, Luka." the sealed man pinched the bridge of his nose. "I won't lie and say I'm fond of monsters, because I'm not. But I don't make it a point to kill them unless they are psychopaths who view human life as toys to be broken before feeding on them. How many men do you think she killed before finding me? Two, three? That would be reasonable if the only thing she did was use their semen. But given that she swallows them whole and she looks like an adult, your answer is probably gonna be multiplied. 20, 30?" he turned back to stare at Luka. "If it was not me who fought her, it would've been you. You could have died."
"I... I don't know her side of the story. I'm sorry, but for all I know, you could be lying." Luka paused, finally centering where that feeling of wrongness was coming from. "Wait! How do you know my name?"
"...right. That is also a long story." The hero sighed. "Can we deal with the murderbeast first? Put her in a jar or something. All I care for is that she doesn't get to kill more people."
Luka turned to Alice for guidance. She simply stared back at him. "Rape her, kill her, do what you want; that is your right as the victor," she repeated the horrifying line she'd first dropped at the bandits' hideout. With a grumble, Luka scooped up the shocked snake and placed her into one of the empty jars he carried.
"Good." The man sighed. "At least she's not on my conscience anymore."
"So..."
"Well, first of all. Name's Noah." The hero reached up to shake Luka's hand. "I'd ask you your name, but I already know it." He closed his eyes for a moment, before muttering something under his breath. "Anyways... well, thanks again for the help at Port Natalia. And you probably saw me go after Lazarus, huh?"
"So you're a member of Ilias Kreuz too?" Luka grit his teeth. The man raised his hands in surrender.
"Do I look like a terrorist to you?"
"Yes." Alice butted in.
"...well, I'm not." He replied awkwardly. "Lazarus... he helped me when I was at my lowest. Gave me a place to stay and a shoulder to cry on. Without him, I'd be dead." Noah closed his eyes. "Do I condone him going after children? Fuck no. I couldn't kill him... but I made it so he's no longer in a position to be hurting anyone anymore. But I don't think that he has the wrong idea about a lot of monsters either."
"So it's fine for your buddy to go after children and get away with a scolding after attempting to kill more than a dozen children, but not if it's a monster?" Alice spat, rolling her eyes.
"...no. It's not fine. But I owe a life debt to the man- if he gets put to the gallows for what he did, the world will be better for it. I just don't have it in me to do it myself. Handed him over to be prosecuted for his crimes." Noah glared back at her. "And as for the monsters, a lot of them are merciless killers, and with the Monster Lord doing fuck all to police them, it's up to normal people like me to be judge, jury and executioner."
Luka felt a bit uncomfortable with the discussion, though a load had been lifted off of his chest at the knowledge that this man was not part of Ilias Kreuz and that, most importantly, Lazarus had been put behind bars for his crimes. Still, with Alice looked to be two seconds away from setting the man ablaze with her eyes, so he coughed and tried to get both of their attention. "As much as this is important, can we go back to how you know me?"
"Ah..." Noah deflated. "Look, I didn't lie when I said it was a long story. Considering we're pretty much right outside he gates of San Ilia, can we do this after we get back to my house? ...and maybe unseal me?"
"Alice?"
The woman rolled her eyes. "Fine. I guess I might as well do it, since I gave you that sword. But you owe me." A flash of Alice's eyes, and the previously child-sized hero returned to towering over Luka.
"Thanks." He paused, looking at Alice before shaking his head. "I assume you had business in San Ilia, so let's go do that first, and then we can get the explanations over with."
As they walked to San Ilia, Noah was in an awful mood. The only thing that made things better was the voice of Salamander inside of his mind.
'Even though you were stopped from delivering the final blow, you performed admirably against that Lamia.' Salamander commented. 'You've definitely grown from where you were two months ago.'
'Not enough to pull through when it mattered.' he mentally grumbled. Salamander shook her head disapprovingly.
'I won't say that she did not deserve her judgment. Defeating her alone would make you right in pursuing her death, especially since she struck first. But you mustn't let yourself be consumed by it. Fighting spirit and anger are not the same.' she chided. 'And besides, a strike to the heart will kill anyone, monster or man. You are not weak because you succumbed to a surprise attack. But still... how do you know so much about the two of them? I could understand Tamamo and Undine... I thought I'd recognized him but this young man has barely even begun his journey, and yet your memories paint him as the Monster Lord's consort.'
'I'll tell you once we get there. It's an even longer story than theirs.' he paused, turning to glance at Alice. 'I wonder why she didn't comment on our bond, though. Surely she can sense it?'
'This Monster Lord is young and inexperienced- you judge her too harshly for her deficiencies, in my opinion. But the reason she doesn't sense me, I believe, is the barrier of holy and dark magic that surrounds you.' He was confused by that. 'I do not know either. I could sense the presence of such magic in you when we fought, but it was almost like a candle. As time passed, however, it intensified and completely enveloped you like a shield that hides you- had a week passed, you might not have been able to contract me at all. It's only grown stronger since, enough for me to pick up on it.'
'That's... odd.' he mused, but before he could think about it more, they had reached the gates of San Ilia. A bunch of would-be adventurers were crowding in, as always, waiting for their chance to speak to the king.
Noah didn't necessarily want to abuse his status, but neither was in the mood to wait in line. "Make way," he said, weaving through the crowd. "Kingsguard here."
For a moment, the young soldier at the gate scoffed at him and rolled his eyes, but his companion slapped him upside the head and saluted. "Right away, Dark Avenger."
Noah cringed at the title, but nodded. "At ease."
And with that, they were allowed through the gates of San Ilia with no harm and no fuss, save for the booing of many an adventurer.
"Dark Avenger?" Luka asked from behind him. "Do you know what that is, Alice?"
"Why would I keep track of all the silly titles Ilias grants her army of idiots?" Alice replied.
"Still... this is exactly what I told you about, a Hero's entrance in the holy city! Do you think we could earn the same right, Dark Avenger sir?"
Salamander, knowing full well how uncomfortable Noah was with the title, burst into laughter inside of his mind as his face took on the same properties as though he had sucked on a lemon. "Do not call me that. Absolutely do not call me that. Just Noah Romero."
"Oh, I don't know," Alice smirked. "Dark Avenger does have a nice ring to it... do you have a state-mandated series of shadowed corners throughout the city to sulk into?" she laughed as she saw Noah turn physically sick at the idea.
"Let's just get going," he muttered.
"Where are we going?" Luka asked, and Noah shrugged.
"The p-king wants to see you, on account of a vision from Ilias herself. I just expedited the beaurocratic process."
With that, Noah led them inside the castle that was becoming oddly commonplace for him to just walk in and out of, where they had their scripted bickering about Ilias' commandments. Deviating from the game's story path was an odd occurrence. He'd already acquired the Goddess Sword for himself, which meant that, in theory, Alice would see no reason to assault an elderly man. Noah remained outside, not privy to the conversation, and saw that they walked in.
...now it was just a waiting game for Granberia to show up.
The goddess Ilias was many things. To the humans who revered her, she was a beacon of hope and compassion. To the monsters who feared her, she was a relentless force of divine retribution. But right now, due to the... vexations she had been put through recently through traitors and disappointing heroes, the goddess found herself in a peculiar mood. One that was both familiar and unsettling- she found herself contemplating the end of the human race she had put so much into.
Admittedly, a lot of that frustration had come in the form of Luka- she had to run her soul return twice with that bitch Tamamo, one of which was just him getting himself raped for the hell of it. And then there was Alma Elma... Ilias grimaced at the memory of just how creatively she'd been forced to witness Luka die five different times. And now, he'd laid with the Monster Lord. She would grant him that he had precisely zero chance of getting to say no to that cum-hungry whore, but still. It was the principle of the thing. He could have at least cursed her name as he got his dick sucked. But no, the whelp had to go and enjoy it.
Black Alice also continued to prance around, building her army, acting all cutesy while planning to stab her in the back at the nearest convenience... oh, Ilias so, so wanted to rip that stupid little head off her shoulders.
But at the very least, everything would be fixed when... no. Sue couldn't lie to herself. Everything would be fixed if Luka got it in his head to kill the Monster Lord at the end of his journey. The boy was a pervert through and through, and she couldn't be sure he'd go through with it.
It was kind of a litmus test, in a way. Yes, that made sense. She'd decided- if even her flesh and blood, her purest champion, couldn't bring himself to end this madness, then perhaps it was time to wipe the board clean. But she was a fair goddess. So she'd give him one last chance to prove himself worthy.
Conviction sealed, she turned her attention to other matters, her crystal ball slightly cracked from the frustrating experiences she'd endured. "Where are you, my newest headache..." she murmured, searching the vast plane of existence for the one that had thrown a wrench into her plans. She searched the vicinity of Port Natalia, where she was pretty sure he was supposed to be, but nothing.
"How could that boy be so hard to find?" she thought, her eyes narrowing in frustration. She understood, in theory, the why- his soul was wreathed in chaos, the mixture of light and darkness making his presence murky. That didn't make it any less frustrating when she needed to keep tabs on him. With a huff, she returned her attention to Luka... only to find him talking to the man she was looking for.
Ilias blinked in surprise, something not many mortals made her do. How had he gotten in San Ilia's territories? For once, she had no answers, but indeed, Noah Romero was there in the flesh and blood, talking to her Luka.
She didn't know what to make of the man. She'd contemplated smiting him once or twice, just so she could get rid of him and not have to deal with one more issue than she otherwise had to. But he'd slipped through her fingers each time, like a greased weasel. The man had torn the veil between worlds, and she had to admit, she was curious... initially, before he got himself raped and grew depressed for a few months. Who did a feat gods themselves couldn't manage and then proceeded to throw a pity party?
Still, he'd managed to pick himself back up. He'd professed himself a follower of hers- highly unlikely, given she'd not been offered a single prayer- but as long as he didn't cause trouble, she'd let him be. And... it had worked, sort of. Promestein was annoyed by his presence, so that was a win in Ilias's book.
She had been worried when he bonded with Salamander... but he was apparently some silly magician and never sought out the other elemental spirits, so it remained a one-time event. And yet here he was, talking to her own champion.
And, she had to admit... he hadn't given her that much cause for disappointment, since his arrival, beyond the initial fiasco with the centipede girl. He was resourceful to make up for his lack of innate power, and even though he had a penchant for the dramatic, he did get results. Watching him kick the shit out of a mermaid had been nothing short of delightful. And though she didn't bear witness to the battle where he even killed one of the Mermaid Queen's confidants, no easy feat even for a hero, she knew that it had happened, and considering that Promestein kept tabs on him, she could likely get ahold of the recording when she felt Luka was disappointing her enough to warrant some satisfaction.
...was that her Goddess Sword's energy coming from his sword? How had the whelp- he'd smelted it?! The audacity! The sheer disrespect! It was unbelievable, and yet there it was, the same glow that her weapon had when it was forged, mixed with elemental gold... and something else. The sword was a gift for Luka, for later down the line when he'd be ready to handle the responsibility of wielding such power. But here he was, playing with fire like a child with a magnifying glass on a sunny day.
Oh, she should just smite Noah right there and be done with it... but, she found it in her limitless reservoir of mercy to give him one last chance. One chance to prove that he wasn't just a nuisance, but a potential ally. Or at least a tool she could manipulate to her advantage.
As she observed them head back to San Ilia, she found that she didn't have to wait long for the chance to test Noah. As Luka spoke to the King of San Ilia, she spotted that idiot dragonkin, Granberia, preparing to leap down from the skies and cause havoc. It was clear what she was after.
As Granberia slammed through the roof of the castle, dust and debris cascading down around them, Ilias watched with a flicker of amusement, waiting for shock and bluster from the outerworlder... and, nothing. Noah Romero barely even flinched, his eyes narrowing as he took in the scene. His gaze flickered for a moment towards the King's room.
Did he know it was going to happen? Ilias's curiosity was piqued as she watched Noah's reaction to Granberia's dramatic entrance. His composure was unnerving; most humans would have been trembling in fear, begging for salvation.
It was decided. With a wave of her hand, a spark of divine power flitted toward the world, invisible to the human eye but not to the goddess's all-seeing gaze. It was a simple contingency- if he proved victorious, he would fade harmlessly. If he failed, the spark would turn into a bolt of lightning and smite him where he stood.
Yes. That was a reasonable decision.
The more time Noah spends in Alice's vicinity, the more she is convinced he is an edgelord.
Of course, she's right.
If you wish to support my writing, you can check me out on the place of patrons where I post five chapters ahead. Alternatively, you can always PM me in private if you wish to commission something written where we can hash out the details. Otherwise, a review is still more than enough, and I can't be thankful enough for it.
I now also have a Discord Server! If you want to come talk to me about anything and interact with other people reading my works, here's the link! /xuSVQY7bw3
Drink water, stay awesome. Nick of Name, out. :)