I didn't feel completely comfortable with Alice's strategy, but recognized that she and Tamamo knew more about these things than I did. My instinct was to rush to the aid of anyone in trouble, no matter what. I couldn't complain too much about prioritizing the last spirit. They were incredible force multipliers, even while weakened by the worldwide seal. Undine was especially important because she could assist me in the use of my power. Once I had all four again, I could fully concentrate on helping with the war effort.
I can't say enough great things about Galda. As high and as fast as she flew, she made interception nearly impossible except for angels, and the enemy had lately become wary of sending angels to challenge me directly. Arrival at the volcano took only two hours. Those two hours were spent mostly with Alice tutoring me in the use of my power. I could still only grab a little strand of it at a time, but it was something, and knowing that its uses were apparently only limited by my imagination meant that the solution to almost any problem was within my grasp, so long as it didn't require too much power. Since I wasn't all that creative, Alice would be essential for helping me use it when needed.
Oh, about that… When we arrived at the entrance to the volcano, Alice found that she couldn't get in. I could enter without any problem. I didn't even feel a barrier, but Alice assured me it was there. She also hadn't felt it before walking into it face first.
"I know this is stating the obvious, but this is a trap," she said. "The only question is, is it a trap for you or a trap for me?"
"Since I can apparently get in and out, I guess it must be for me," I mused. "For whatever reason, they don't want you getting in."
"Probably, but once you get deep into that volcano you won't be able to protect me if an angel or three comes down to try to take me out. I don't like this at all. I'm going to have to take Galda and fly off in a random direction. That leaves you even more alone."
"Well, we can't NOT get Undine, so….." I replied.
"That's the best trap of all," she said. "One you can't avoid, even if you know it's there. Just be careful, okay?"
She did not sound confident that I would do so. She hugged me goodbye, which I also didn't take as a good sign, and boarded Galda. She said she would return in thirty minutes, perhaps with help. I walked back into the entrance, not even feeling the usual tingle when I crossed some sort of magic barrier. At least I had one advantage: Salamander provided natural protection from this harsh environment. I wouldn't have to worry about being overcome by the heat if I got drawn into a long battle.
One hundred yards in, I found that I wouldn't have had to worry about the environment anyway. Something had changed here. Instead of lava pits and soupy air, there was lush vegetation and the sweet smells of a pleasant outdoor environment. More than merely pleasant. It brought to mind a garden. Whoever had done this didn't need to be immune to the environment. She had brought her own with her. This must be a powerful enemy indeed! I concentrated on grabbing as much of my power as I could. It wasn't much. The fact it was more than I'd been able to grasp yesterday was small comfort.
Deeper into the volcano, now turned tiny piece of paradise, I found the probable source of that powerful magic. The scene was not at all what I expected. An angel, the most beautiful angel I had ever seen, almost as lovely as the goddess herself, was sitting across a small table from Undine. They were having what looked to be tea and chatting like old friends. The angel was completely naked. She was on the large side as well, easily over six feet tall, perhaps six and a half. It was difficult to tell since she was seated. As I cautiously approached this odd scene, Undine spotted me first and greeted me.
"Oh, Luka, you're here!" she said joyfully, although she didn't move from her position. "Come sit with us! We have such wonderful news for you!"
Another chair emerged, made of vines from the surrounding vegetation. I noticed just then that both the chair the angel sat on, the table, and the bench Undine was reclining on were made of vines. I decided to sit down, wary of the trap being sprung. I should stress that this was only my brain talking. My instincts told me I could trust this angel. I could feel nothing but love and gentleness emanating from her.
She smiled at me warmly as I sat, and offered me a cup of tea. I didn't like tea, nor was I dumb enough to accept a drink from an enemy. At least not this time. She didn't insist or take offense. Instead, she got right to the point.
"I have such good news for you, hero!" she began. "Ilias has reconsidered her wrath and decided to forgive you!"
"Forgive… me?" I asked skeptically. "What do I need to be forgiven for?"
"For failing to do the task she assigned to you, of course," the angel replied.
Despite every fiber of my being other than my conscious mind telling me to trust this woman, that got my anger up. "It's she who needs to ask me for forgiveness!" I said hotly. "She forcibly brought me to this world-"
"A place you now wish to stay, from what I understand," the angel replied calmly, with a gentle smile.
"Well,,, yes," I said. "I do want to stay. Now. That still doesn't excuse her doing this to me. Putting me in all this danger without my consent."
"I completely understand," the angel said. "Perhaps I was too hasty. Let me introduce myself. I am called Eden. I am the only Seraph in heaven. I am second only to Ilias. I have been sent to persuade you to rejoin the side of right, the side of goodness. Ilias doesn't desire conflict between you and her heavenly host. She loves you. Do you not see the great gift she has given you by bringing you here? Who were you before you came here? No one! Here you found love. You found meaning."
"I found love with a monster," I pointed out. "I can't imagine Ilias can ever accept that."
"No," Eden replied. "she cannot. She has admitted to you that she is not perfect. Perhaps it was a mistake to arrange for you to travel with the Monster Lord. In light of that fact, she is willing to make you both a deal. You will surrender your power to me so that Ilias may make use of it. In exchange, she will return you, and the Monster Lord with you, to your world. The Monster Lord would have to permanently assume human form, of course."
"Alice would hate me forever if she had to abandon her people, her responsibilities," I said. "and I can't abandon her. Even if I didn't love Alice, I couldn't just let you return me to my world while Ilias commits genocide here."
"Oh, Luka," Eden said gently. "the Monster Lord doesn't love you. You were food to her, then a tool that she needed for a task. She gave no thought to how cruel it would be to force you to perform that task. Now you're just someone she needs to win a war. Now Luka, as a Seraph I can never lie. So I won't try to tell you that she's irredeemably evil and would betray you should she win this war. I believe she would treat you well and probably return you to your world. But love? The prejudices she holds against humans are just too deep."
"You say you can't lie, but that sounds an awful lot like a lie!" I argued. "Alice has worked as hard as I have to enable humans and monsters to coexist. A goal your goddess has not only never attempted to achieve, but has actively used the most brutal means to prevent!"
"The Monster Lord has indeed worked for humans and monsters to coexist," Eden replied. "that does not mean that she loves humans, or can love you. When she sees your face, she can only ever see the man who drove a knife into her mother's neck. I do not lie, Luka. You shall have your proof when you leave here if you want it. Simply ask her if she still holds prejudice against humans. The answer she gives will demonstrate to you that her affection for you can only go so far. What you have now with her is the most you will ever have. But Ilias… her love is eternal and without limit."
"I find that hard to believe given how casually she orders the murder of countless people," I countered.
"All Ilias desires is a better world for humanity to live in," Eden said. "With your power, she will create a better, stronger race of humans. Humans strong enough to resist monsters. As you've seen, the humans here are nearly helpless against even the weakest monsters. You, however, were able to fight weak monsters as an equal, and even the stronger monsters had to respect your strength. Imagine if every human was as strong as you! Do you know why Yamatai Village survived and thrived for hundreds of years? Because monsters couldn't simply abuse them at will. Of course, now, with their bloodlines weakened by interbreeding with the people of this world, they are not as strong as they once were. Yet they are strong enough still that Ilias has chosen to spare them for the time being. To give them a chance to be part of the new world she is creating."
"You make a good case, Eden," I admitted. "But I can't accept your arguments as long as the killing is going on. As we speak, heaven's armies are rampaging all over this world, killing who knows how many people? You even have monsters on your side! How does that fit in with Ilias' plans?"
"I admit that I do not approve of the goddess' alliance with Black Alice," she replied. "I also know, however, that I can never fully understand her wisdom. She must have her reasons. I only serve her. Although recognizing that she is not perfect, I fear for her. I do not trust Black Alice. I guess I don't need to. She is merely a Monster Lord. Ilias is the goddess. Nothing and no one can be more powerful than the goddess. Except for you, and only because Ilias allowed you into her world. So I ask a final time. Will you give me your power?"
I sensed no threat in her tone, and yet my brain was screaming that whatever trap was about to be sprung was imminent. She must be using a very subtle form of magic, one that didn't attempt to control or influence me directly. I'd been told I was immune to such things. I desperately wanted to please this lovely, kind woman. But giving her my power was a step too far. Ilias would only use it to kill everyone I loved.
"No," I said firmly. "I will not."
"Then I shall have to take it," she said regretfully. "This was never a negotiation. I just found it preferable to persuade you to give it to me willingly. You are a good person, Luka. The Monster Lord, I admit, educated Ilias on that fact. The goddess, in her great wisdom, chose someone whose light shines almost as bright as hers. In her zeal to protect humanity, she failed to see that. She no longer is angry at you for failing to kill the Monster Lord. Perhaps she has even learned something from you, a human. I know that I have. I will intercede with her to show mercy on this world, even on the monsters. Once I have taken your power, I will be her conscience."
I sensed that Eden was sincere. But I also got the sense that as powerful as she was, she was merely a lackey. However pure her own intentions, however much she could not lie, she was as easy to manipulate as I was. She truly seemed to believe what she said about Ilias. I very much doubted that anything she said would stay the goddess' hand.
"I guess that means we're going to have to fight," I said, reaching for my sword.
"Luka, no!" Undine protested. "You can't fight her! Not as you are now! Just let her take your power. It's not as if she's taking it away from you. That's impossible. You'll regenerate in a short time, I know that from having studied it while inside you. All she'd be doing is taking what you have now."
"Is that so?" Eden said, an eyebrow raised. "I did not know that. I guess I didn't need to know. Ilias only instructed me to take what you had. I must assume that is all she requires."
Eden stood up and approached me. She put her arms around me. The love that emanated from her was even stronger when she touched me. I had never felt such love, such acceptance, such gentleness. Undine was right. Resistance was futile. I would have to let her take some of my power. I would have to have faith that Eden's fundamental goodness would be enough to keep Ilias from misusing it.
Eden began kissing me, my face, my shoulders, my chest. She embraced me, letting her lovely brown hair fall over me as I sat in the chair. I never even knew how my pants got removed. They probably just disappeared. An angel like this wouldn't be so crass as to yank them off. Everything about her was perfect. As she pushed her vagina down on me and I entered her, I felt complete. There was nothing unusual about her physically. I'd gotten used to monsters, who had an endless variation of freakish ways to give pleasure. She felt human, except for her divine aura. There were no special sexual techniques. She moved slowly, confidently, as I sat in that chair, her sitting on my lap.
My first orgasm came quickly, but I barely felt it, so overwhelming was the feeling of love, acceptance, and completeness in her embrace. The sex was merely so that she could borrow my power. Her love and her embrace were the only thing that truly mattered. My brain even as this was going on was telling me that this wasn't completely real, and yet it wasn't completely false either. She was not deceiving me. She really did love me. Not solely me, of course. She loved humanity. She loved Ilias. She would do anything to serve them both, so long as Ilias' wishes and humanity's needs did not conflict. That was the ultimate caveat. My power would probably be used to kill people. The thought of resistance briefly flashed through my mind. My second orgasm put those thoughts aside again.
She had not reacted much to my first, but the second caused her eyes to widen and her breathing to quicken. "Such power! It feels… amazing! Give me more!"
She did not quicken her pace, but her eyes became more intense as she stared into mine, continuing to make love to me. I couldn't be certain, but it did not feel like I was in critical ecstasy. This was pure lovemaking. It was taking only my special power, not my life energy. Undine was simply drinking her tea, barely paying attention, although occasionally she would look my way and smile her approval. I was happy that Eden had made her comfortable after seeing how the other spirits had been made to suffer. It occurred to me just then that the spirits inside me had had nothing to say about any of this. They weren't normally talkative unless they felt I needed to know something. Perhaps that meant they felt this was right as well? Or at least that resistance was pointless due to Eden's overwhelming power?
My third orgasm caused Eden's eyes to roll back. I could slowly feel the lovemaking turn into lust, although she still refused to quicken her pace. However much she wanted my power, she was not going to cheapen it with tawdry, animalistic coupling. She was an angel. She was pure. She was the very essence of romance.
"It tastes good, doesn't it?" a voice said.
We both turned. In her lab coat, looking at us with a thin smile was Promestein. Eden had stopped moving.
"What brings you here?" Eden asked. "Ilias entrusted this task to me. You are not needed here!"
"No, I am not," Promestein replied casually. "I just wanted to see the entertainment. The hero, so loyal to his Monster Lord love, so easily seduced. In fairness, he never had a chance. I see that you even seduced the water spirit."
"I seduce no one!" Eden said, beginning to move again, slowly rotating her hips as I throbbed inside her. "I show them true love. Unlike you, I do not need to lie or deceive. I persuaded them to give me what I was assigned to retrieve."
"Ah, yes, that," Promestein said, chuckling. She gave a thumbs up. "Good job! You are correct, only you could have done this job. Well…. You and one other. Don't you wonder why she didn't do this herself?"
"Only you question the goddess," Eden said bitterly. "I just do as I am commanded."
"Even though you admit that she's not perfect," Promestein laughed. "In this case, her perfection isn't the issue. It's your gullibility. She didn't tell you about the side effects of taking his power that way?"
Eden's reply was cut off by my fourth orgasm, which caused her to moan in ecstasy. We were both glowing now.
When her own orgasm from receiving my power waned, she separated herself from me. Deprived of her touch, I saw more clearly what I had done. Waves of guilt washed over me. Had I really not had a chance of resisting her successfully? It hadn't felt like I was under mind control. I'd been assured that was impossible.
Eden advanced on Promestein, who didn't even bother to remove her hands from her lab coat pockets. "What do you mean, side effects? Do not play games with me, Promestein! If you know something, speak!"
"What I know," Promestein said, "Is that you two make an even cuter couple than the hero and the Monster Lord. Both of you just so needy! So pathetic! All you desire, all you've desired for countless millennia, is to be accepted by Ilias. To be her number one. But you will always be her number three. That's why she so casually risked you here instead of coming here herself."
"Risk?" Eden scoffed. "What possible risk could there be to me here? As you can see, I took the hero's power without a fight. I will bring it to Ilias and she will be pleased! I will use it as she directs. Do you know why, fallen one? Because she trusts me above all others. I hold within me the power to destroy even her! She entrusted this task to me because my loyalty is beyond question!"
"She entrusted the task to you because you're expendable," Promestein said.
"I have nothing more to say to you!" Eden snarled. "I'm leaving, and Ilias will hear of your disrespect!"
Something was definitely wrong. The feeling of love that permeated this entire environment was fading. The environment itself was fading. The heat in the volcano was beginning to rise again as the environment deteroriated. Undine seemed to be emerging from a trance. I myself was preparing to move, sensing danger. Even with Eden's aura fading, I sensed no danger from her. The danger was coming from somewhere else.
Eden made as if to teleport out. Nothing happened. "What is this? Promestein, what side effects were you speaking of?"
I saw another figure materialize behind Eden. In my still languid state, I could neither move fast enough nor shout a warning in time. The other figure pulled out a wicked looking blade and stabbed Eden in her side up to her hilt. Eden gasped and fell to her knees, then went completely prone. The figure standing over her holding the knife was Black Alice.
"The side effect of taking his power, which you would have known had you read my reports that I so laboriously wrote, is… mortality," Promestein said, kneeling before Eden's prone and writhing form. "I took a sample when we were still back on his world. I was still working on a way to enable divine beings to assimilate his power. Don't worry, aside from your mortality, the power is not dangerous to you. In fact, you can still use it. Once expended, you will regain your divinity in a fairly short time. But as a mortal power, governed by the rules of his home dimension, you can only hold it if you're.... like him."
"How?" Eden gasped. "Tell me how to use it! Please!"
"The same way he does," Promestein replied with a smirk. "just ask him. Or maybe he can heal you. I don't really care. Your wound is mortal. But it will take you quite some time to die. Perhaps hours. It will be incredibly painful. Oh, but you've never experienced pain, have you? Not in hundreds of millennia. Such a new experience, isn't it?"
"You're a fool, Promestein!" Eden gasped. "When I die… I will… ascend to heaven and regain my form! You will.... pay for this. Both of you will!"
"Oh, I'm not too worried about that," Black Alice said. "By the time you regain your power, heaven might not be as you remember it. Should I kill the hero, Promestein?"
"No," Promestein replied. "He's not in critical ecstasy. It would take too much time and the risk to you would be too great. We need to seize this moment while we can. As long as the seal is in place, the hero is no threat to our plans."
"Oh well," Black Alice sighed. "At least I get to taste you later, hero. Stabbing you to death would have been fun, but a bit of a waste."
The two of them vanished. Blood was pooling on the ground around Eden. She was still very much conscious and in tremendous pain. Her gasping was starting to turn into screaming. I rushed to her side. "Please!" she screamed. "It's so horrible! Please stop the pain! I'll do anything if you'll just make it stop!"
I felt for the strand of power. I'd never tried this before, but there was no other way that I could think of. I briefly thought of sealing her, but feared that the results would be unpredictable. It remained a second option. No one deserved this level of suffering. Grasping that strand of power as best I could, I placed my hand on the wound, imagined her wound closing, her pain being relieved. Her screaming stopped, replaced by soft crying. My power expended, I removed my hand from her. The wound was not fully healed, but it was at least closed.
Eden stared at me. In a rush, she embraced me, burying her face in my shoulder and weeping. "It was so horrible! How do humans endure it!?"
I held her and tried patting her on the back to comfort her. Undine, by now completely aware of her surroundings, was having none of it. "How do humans endure it?! How many humans have you caused to suffer pain like that? Pain greater than that! What you received was just a small taste of the pain you've inflicted on humans and monsters alike! He should have let you experience it until you suffered an agonizing death! A death all the more sweet because you'd be born again to remember it when you returned to heaven!"
"Oh my goddess!" Eden gasped, pulling away from me. "it's true! I never imagined… so much suffering! I can never atone for that!"
"This entire world consists of people who have much to atone for," I said. "join the club. Learn from this. The goddess you serve is insensitive to the suffering she causes."
"No!" Eden said. "I cannot believe that! I will not believe that! Everything she does has a purpose!"
"Luka, please seal her!" Undine said. "even after all she's learned, even after her own goddess put her at risk, she can't change. Trap her in that sword of yours until we can win this war. Then maybe, just maybe, we can consider releasing her when her goddess is no longer around and she has to think for herself!"
"I can't," I said. "She's mortal. I guess that means human. At least for the time being. I'm not sure what sealing her would do. It wouldn't trap her, I know that much. That particular power of Angel Halo only works on angels."
"Then at least have her look away while we recontract," Undine sighed. "Assuming you have any semen left for me."
Eden understood the request and went to go sit against a wall, clutching her knees and sobbing. She obviously had a lot to process. I truly did believe that she was good at heart. Ilias, whatever she was in her heart, had created an angel of purity out of the better part of her. Eden's only flaw was unquestioning faith and loyalty to one who did not deserve it. Maybe that would change now. I had to believe that.
As I was gazing at her and feeling sorry for her, Undine angrily pushed me down and poured herself on top of me. "She did do one nice thing for me," Undine said. "the heat had been so uncomfortable. I was literally melting. She restored me. In my weakened state, I was so grateful to her. It's really not your fault. We were both affected by her seeming kindness."
As Undine spoke, she began to swirl her slime around my penis. After the gentleness and love of an angel, this was a jarring return to the kind of pleasure monsters gave. The contrast made it feel even more intense than usual. Despite the fact I'd already had four orgasms, I barely lasted a minute. Undine didn't feel like taking any more from me. Without another word, she completed the contract. Now all four spirits were inside.
"Yay!" Sylph cheered. "We're all together again!"
"Hmph…" Undine said.
"Luka," Salamander said. "Don't blame yourself for that. She's a Seraph. You truly never did have a chance. Even I couldn't speak up to warn you. I wanted to believe her."
"I'm not really convinced she was lying," I responded.
"Perhaps she wasn't," Undine said. "She may very well believe everything she told you."
"Let's just be thankful her objective wasn't your death," Salamander said. "you had no chance of defeating her had that been her goal."
It was probably past time to leave the volcano. I went to Eden and helped her up. The two of us walked out of the volcano. The volcano's full heat had returned, her garden wilted completely. Her wings were shriveled and faded. Her halo was gone. For the time being, she was fully mortal. I pulled a blanket from my backpack and wrapped it around her, since she was completely naked and her divinity no longer protected her from exposure. I dreaded telling Alice about what had happened here.
When I arrived outside, Alice was not alone. Granberia was with her. "Who is this?" Alice asked suspiciously.
"This," I replied. "Is Eden. She's an angel. Although mortal at the moment."
"Eden?!" Granberia said, drawing her sword. "Do you know who that is?!"
"How did you turn her mortal?!" Alice asked. "There's no way you had the power to do that from just that little bit you can control!"
"She probably made him angry enough to get access to all of it," Granberia mused. "She is after all the commander of heaven's armies."
I turned to Eden. "Is that true? Are you responsible for all those massacres? Ilias Village? San Ilia? Grand Noah?"
"As I told you, I cannot lie," Eden said sadly. "it is all true. I am the commander of heaven's armies and I carried out the goddess' orders to destroy all the humans and monsters in those places. I also carried out the slaughter at Remina."
"Kill her," Alice ordered.
Granberia raised her sword. I stood in front of Eden. "No!"
"Luka, this is not the time for your compassion act!" Alice raged. "Her crimes are too great! She killed people you loved! People you were willing to die for because you owed them a debt! This is now your only way to pay that debt back! Their lives demand justice!"
"If you kill her, she just goes back to heaven and regains her form," I pointed out. "She's no threat to us as long as she's mortal."
Granberia lowered her sword, seeing the wisdom in what I said. "Then we'll take her prisoner. We have powerful seals in the castle. They won't hold a Seraph, but until she regains her power, they will suffice. Eden, do you know who I am?"
"You are the Heavenly Knight of Fire, Granberia," she replied.
"Then you know that my word is my bond," Granberia said. "Though our legends say that you serve Ilias unquestioningly, you yourself also keep your word when it is given. I pledge that no harm will come to you while you are in my custody. I need your word that you will harm no one in the castle when you regain your power and are able to break the seal on your prison cell."
"Since I'm mortal, won't I also need food?" Eden asked.
"It's more than you deserve, but you will be treated well in every respect," Alice said. "All your needs will be taken care of while you are our guest. But you will face justice for your crimes when this is all over."
"I accept that," Eden said. "I give you my word. Although it is doubtful that you'll ever get the chance to bring me to justice. You oppose a goddess. She is the ultimate arbiter of justice in the world she created."
"Wow," Alice said. "You even believe that lie. So old, and yet so naïve. Granberia, please remove her from my sight."
Granberia took Eden's arm and they both vanished. That left me awkwardly alone with Alice. This was not going to be a fun tale to tell. I have to say, however, she took it surprisingly well. She had to take a few breaths and calm herself to avoid strangling me, but stressed that she understood. If even the spirit of water couldn't resist Eden's charms, how could a mere human? She speculated that this would never be a problem again, since I already didn't trust Ilias any further than I could throw her, and I had already been exposed to Eden once. She was willing to forgive me. She was not willing to forgive Eden, and spent the rest of our trip to her castle promising dire consequences for the angel when the war was over. She wondered if I was talented enough to make angel liver taste good.