Marco deactivated Kurama Mode and took heavy breaths, it was really exhausting for his mind to hold it, and that duration was about how much he can resist without falling unconscious.
Salamander fell down from the crater on the wall, and rubbed her chest with her trembling hand.
Salamander: ...Fuck… I was almost knocked out…
Marco: So…
Salamander: Yeah… You won…
*Ding*
*Special Quest[Successful]: Win against Salamander.*
Marco: Sweet.
Marco extended an arm to her, which she slowly grabbed and Marco helped her stand up.
Salamander: ...I'll entrust my power of fire to you. Oh potential warrior, accept my power!
She held her trembling palm out towards Marco, and in a flash of light, she vanished, while Marco felt the power over fire.
*Ding*
*Congratulations for Host to obtain the Special Enchantment: Fire Manipulation*
*Fusing with Support Feature…*
*Host will be able to fuse the Fire in the Nine Tailed Chakra Gates to increase your body temperature, going into a Semi-Berserk state, and use Fire Style: Bijuudama*
*Ding*
*Special Quest[Successful]: Make Salamander lend her power over the fire.*
Marco: 'Semi-Berserk?'
*Ding*
*Semi-Berserk: A status that cause the host to break his physical limits for a short time, however it consumes a great deal of stamina, but unlike the Berserk, host is still conscious.*
Alice came out from her hiding spot and asked.
Alice: You finally got Salamander's power?
Marco walked to the edge of the ground, and…
Alice: What the fuck are you doing!? Marco!
She saw Marco putting his arm in the hot lava and yelled in panic, then Marco slowly got back the hand and saw that it was still alright.
Marco: I'll take this as a yes.
Alice: …
Alice groaned in exasperation and didn't answered, then she said.
Alice: Let's go back to the entrance…
Marco: I'll take another way, that's too long. 'Not gonna fight with Granberia now…'
He said so because, based on the original version, after Luka picked up Salamander then Granberia would appear from the ceiling asking for a fight, but he didn't want to reveal anything about the Nine Tailed Chakra Gates to anyone of the Heavenly Knights.
Marco walked towards a wall and laid a palm over it, Alice looked curiously, then she saw a hole opening in front of Marco, before following him with a sigh, and left from the volcano safely.
Then they headed towards Gold Port, and Marco closed the hole in the wall.
Meanwhile, in a cave over the one where Salamander was, there was an armored dragonkin with a giant sword on her hand, she looked like she was waiting for ambushing someone, and got impatient.
Granberia: C'mon, when will he pass nearby… It can't be that he failed to gain Salamander's approval… Probably he is recovering there...
5 minutes later, she was still waiting, sitting on the ground.
30 minutes later, she was walking in a circle, around her giant sword.
1 hour later, she was headbutting a wall.
3 hours later, she was playing poker with a Cockatrice.
11 hours later…
Granberia: Alright, that's enough!
She crushed the ceiling with a stomp and grabbed her giant sword, she fell on her feet and looked around while handling her sword, which started to burn with her magical powers.
Granberia: Hey! Mar...co… Huh?
She didn't seen Marco anywhere, there still were traces of a fight, but there was nothing else.
Granberia: ...Salamander?
She yelled, but nothing answered, her eyebrow twitched and threw the sword at a wall in anger.
Granberia: THAT DAMN DICKHEAD ALREADY LEFT!!!
[Meanwhile]
Marco and Alice were sleeping in an inn at Gold Port, and under the moon, Marco had an interesting dream…
[Dreamscape]
?: Mother… Mother… I'm so sorry… Mother...
A little girl's voice sounded out in the middle of the nothing, Marco raised an eyebrow before he realized whose voice was that.
The nothing started to change, and in some seconds it turned into a prison, the walls were made of hard stone, the bars looked a bit rusty and the bed was connected with some chains at the wall.
Beside him there was a young purple-skinned lamia with white hair and a red vertical eye-shaped symbol over her hair, she was dressed with small black clothes, and her tail was red. She was Alice during her childhood.
Alice: Mother! Please let me out of here! Mother! Mommy!
She was pounding on the bars holding her, since she was stuck in a jail. But the rusty iron bars didn't give an inch no matter how desperately she slams into them.
Then Marco tried to grab the bars too, but his hand got through them, and so did his body. Then he looked at the other person at the other side of the bars, and was enchanted for a bit.
At the other side of the bars there was a monster that could be described as the Mega Evolution of Alice.
Her skin was purple like Alice's skin, she had a slightly more complex dark purple tattoo on her left side, she had long white hair, a young pure face, and had some green branches coming from her head that had some white flowers on them.
Like the younger Alice, she had the vertical eye-shaped red symbol on her hair, her horns were much bigger than Alice's ones and were colored with a streak of amber.
The size of her boobs were a bit bigger than her head, and her clothes covered only the nipples and the external sides of her breasts, she had a small leather cloth around her waist and a semi-transparent veil over her horns.
Like Alice, she had a pair of black gloves that covered half of her arms, and a red long tail, but unlike her, she had 4 pair of purple bird wings on her tail, and something that looked like giant amber horns coming out from her waist, pointing at her sides.
Alice 15th: Wait there for a while, and behave yourself. With your power, you won't be able to destroy those bars. Alice… You must live.
She took her last long, loving look at her daughter, stuck in the jail, and then she hurried away, with her back turned.
Marco followed her, it looked like he was intangible and invisible. The previous Monster Lord calmly moved through the corridor toward the throne room, where a single kitsune stood in her way.
Alice 15th: ...Stand aside, Tamamo. I must meet with them.
Tamamo: But Your Majesty…. Those Heroes came to take your life!
Alice 15th: Yes. That's why I must meet with them. Are you unable to trust in my power as the Monster Lord?
Tamamo: There is no one equal to your power as the Monster Lord. The sword of a mere human Hero wouldn't even inflict a scratch on you. But… If the Monster Lord intends to be killed from the very start, that's an entirely separate matter!
Alice 15th: ...As I expected from a trusted friend who has watched over me since I was young. Able to see right through me…
Tamamo: That's why I won't let you pass! Trying to end the strife between humans and monsters with your death is…
Alice 15th: Tamamo, look into my eyes. Do I look like one walking to my own death?
Tamamo did as she said and stuttered.
Tamamo: But… But…
However, she didn't expected that the Monster Lord used a spell to make her spell, intense drowsiness assaulted Tamamo.
Tamamo: ...D...Damn it…
Monster Lord: ...Sleep for a little while. Please, you must live for the sake of a peaceful world… And… Please… Support my daughter… She will need it after losing her mother at such a young age…
Tamamo: N...No…! Th...is…
*Thump*
She fell in the ground, sleeping with a frown. Slithering around the sleeping Tamamo, she continued to the throne room. To wait for the Heroes who have already invaded her castle…
Marco watched the Heroes entering in the throne room, and declaring things like killing the Monster Lord, and between the 4 Heroes, there were 2 who caught his attention.
The first was Lazarus, he had a full armor over him and a healthy skin, his hair were tied into a ponytail behind him to avoid that he would be blinded from his hair, he looked so normal and heroic… It was hard to believe that someone like him would turn into a madman.
And the second person had purple short hair, a well-built figure, a long cape, a iron gauntlet, and at his back he had a greatsword ready to drink blood.
Marco: ...Father…
It was Marcellus, and he looked just like he was when Marco was born, it made him think things like he was born just some weeks after this event…
Alice 15th feigned to fight seriously, but it looked really sloppy on his eyes, compared to his own fights with the Chakra Gate or the temporary Kurama Gate.
And after the last stroke of a sword, Marcellus stood before the Monster Lord, collapsed in a pool of her own blood. But his face wasn't filled with the joy of victory. At the final moment of his attack, he realized the Monster Lord's true intention.
Marcellus: It can't be… The Monster Lord also wished for peace between man and monster…?
Lazarus, near him, walked towards the corpse and said with a frown.
Lazarus: Damn it, what the hell…? How could it end up like this…
Then a old wizard, Merlin if Marco's memory was not wrong, said.
Merlin: The Monster Lord was not an evil being… In that case… Both us and the Monster Lord…
A female priest finished for him, she was called Karen. (AN: She's seriously called like that… Just forget about the mess at the Undine's Cave…)
Karen: The Monster Lord sacrificed herself for the sake of humans and monsters' coexistence. She entrusted us with her dream. Therefore, from now on we…
Marcellus laid an hand on her shoulder and whispered.
Marcellus: Wait… I hear something coming! Lazarus, Merlin, Karen! Don't let your guard down!
Then from the shadows… Alice appeared… Her empty eyes were fixed on the corpse of her mother, and tears slowly came out, she slowly slithered towards her mom, while the others started murmuring.
Lazarus: A girl…? No, a young monster…
Karen: We aren't enemies, girl. We don't want there to be any strife between humans and monsters any longer…
Alice: How… How dare you… Mother!!
She turned towards the 4 people with rage-filled eyes.
Alice: I'LL KILL YOU!
Then she started attacking the group, killing Merlin and Karen, while making Marcellus half-blind.
While Alice was owning the group of heroes like they were childs, Marco looked at the corpse with a look of sorrow, he crouched down and tried to caress her head, somehow being able to touch her.
Marco: This may be already scripted… But no one should have such an ending…
Then Marco noticed that nothing made a sound, he looked back, and found that Alice was still unleashing her magic and physical strength, his thoughts were interrupted when something touched his right cheek, and turned around finding the dead Monster Lord looking at him with a soft smile.
Alice 15th: Young boy… Take care of her… Give her the love that I couldn't give… And please… Finish the thing I started…
Marco's eyes widened, he wasn't surprised from her words, but from the fact that she was communicating with him.
The Monster Lord's arms reached Marco's back, and enveloped him into a hug, shocking him.
Alice 15th: Promise me you will… Marco…
Marco stood silent for a moment, before he said.
Marco: ...Yes.
*Ding*
*Special Quest: Make Alice happy.*
[SPECIAL QUESTS]
1st. Kick Gabriel's ass
2nd. Achieve coexistence between Monsters and Humans
3rd. Kill Illias
4th. Return to Lucifina's grave
5th. Visit every places in Illias Continent, Sentora and Hellgondo
6th. Turn back to Sabasa Kingdom
7th. Make Alice happy