When I woke up, there had been a change of plans. Our intent had been to go to the Sealed Sinner's Prison to attempt to download the data on the seal there, but the kitsunes had run into some snafus overnight, which had required Tamamo's attention, which in turn meant Tamamo was still asleep. That ended up working out fine, however, because the Queen Elf had felt very strongly about liberating her island. She had already assembled an assault force. She was waiting for word on when I would be available, since she expected angels to be among those occupying the island. Since the drain lab was a priority for us, that sounded fine by me. Erubetie wanted to participate as well, which surprised me.
"Plansect Forest is secure for the moment," she explained. "and I wish to do something more aggressive. I tire of being on the defensive."
Having gotten used to fighting on my own for so long, I was not about to turn down any powerful allies I could get. Besides, as Yao pointed out as we were leaving, it couldn't hurt monster/human relations for monsters, especially a Heavenly Knight, to be seen rescuing humans.
Alice and I hopped on Galda, while Erubetie teleported to the approximate location of the drain lab. We estimated our arrival at about two hours.
"Hey, Alice," I said. "how come you've never teleported me? Are you worried about your control?"
"It's complicated," she responded. "teleportation, at least the way we do it, isn't simply the physical transference of our bodies from one place to another. I've heard of devices that can do it more simply, but I've never trusted those. The portals Promestein is using work on that simpler concept. There are also rumored to be spells that use a different method as well, but we've always just done it our way. The reason I've never tried it with you is because it involves transference of the mind and soul as well. Using magic on you that involves your mind could be unpredictable. Mind magic tends to either not work on you at all, or provoke a violent response. In any case, I can't teleport in this body. So whenever I've had to move you while you were unconscious, I've just flown or stayed on the ground, carrying you with my tail."
As we flew over the island, I saw dozens of small boats ready to transport the elven army to the island. So it's going to be an amphibious assault, I thought. Alice said we would time our landing for the arrival of the elven force. Erubetie was expected to arrive on the island then as well, although not in the sector Alice and me chose. Rather than concentrating our strength, I guess we were going to hit them from all sides. Flying over the island, it looked heavily defended, although I could see no evidence of defense works. Just a lot of chimeric beasts. The elves seemed more numerous, so unless there were a lot more hidden elsewhere, such as in the drain lab, the attack seemed to have a high likelihood of success.
Upon seeing Galda above them, the elves began to push off towards the island. Elven archers were already readying bows and beginning to lay down fire in order to force the beasts off of the beaches. As a little experiment, I tried grabbing the strand of power I'd been playing with for the past couple of days and tried firing a small energy bolt from my finger. It hit a beast in the backside and caused it to run around in a panic, but hadn't seemed to do any real damage. Well, that was disappointing, I thought.
Actually, all the beasts seemed to be running around in a panic. There was no evidence of any leadership. There was no organized retreat from the beaches due to the elven hail of arrows. The beasts were just running around randomly like cockroaches. If there are no angels here, I thought, this might be easy.
We landed with the first wave of elven soldiers and quickly advanced inland. I summoned Gnome, prioritizing strength since these beasts were strong but didn't seem to have any other qualities. Despite the lack of organized resistance, there were so many beasts that it took quite awhile, so I ended up going through all four spirits over the next two hours. Since I could only summon them one at a time, I just used whatever advantage each one brought to me. The elves were masterful at supporting each other and working as a team. I didn't see a single elf die, although I'm sure there must have been some casualties. It took time, but the entire surface of the island was secured, with every beast destroyed, within hours.
Alice, Erubetie, the Queen Elf, and I met near the center of the now secured island. I was euphoric due to our first real victory. Now we just had to find that drain lab. This was where having a lot of boots on the ground was very helpful. With the surface of the island secured, the bulk of the elves performed a sector by sector search. It wasn't long before they found a hatch. The entrance to the secret lab in Remina had been a hatch, so that sounded promising.
The four of us walked the short distance to where the hatch had been found. Erubetie announced that she was going in first, as she was the toughest to harm. I would go in behind her, in case she encountered an angel, or even worse, the Next Doll assigned to kill her. Alice would follow behind me, followed in turn by as many crack elven soldiers as could comfortably enter the drain lab. It wouldn't do to have a mass of soldiers crowded into a confined space.
I felt foolish after we planned all that, just for me to go and open the hatch only to find it locked. Alice sighed and yanked the hatch entrance off its hinges. Geez. How strong was this lady that she could do that in her child form?
I saw the first problem right away. There was a lift instead of a ladder. The enemy could foil us temporarily by stopping the lift, or they could ambush the few of us who could fit inside when the lift door opened. Alice and Erubetie and I would go down first. Alice ordered me to stay behind Erubetie. Good thing, too, because as soon as the lift doors opened we were hit by a hail of bullets. Trooperoids! These must be the constructs that Granberia had been talking about in her briefing. Erubetie's body protected me from most of the rounds, although some passed through her body, but at much reduced velocity. My high quality shirt that Alice had insisted I buy way back when prevented any from actually piercing my skin. The rifles the roids were using did not appear to be particularly high velocity. They had the efficiency and rate of fire of early 20th century firearms, but the muzzle velocity seemed to be low. Some rounds hit Alice but none penetrated her skin, although they looked like they'd leave nasty looking bruises.
Erubetie surged forward, drawing most of the roids' fire. Within seconds, she had dozens of rounds floating around in her body. Suddenly, those rounds exploded from her body like shrapnel, shredding the roids. More entered from other corridors, but they were apparently smarter and more autonomous than the beasts had been, because upon seeing Erubetie and her handiwork they decided to withdraw.
The entrance to the lab secured, elven troops began to descend using the lift, several at a time. I attempted to gather up whatever working firearms there still were, but was disappointed to find that they were part of the roids' bodies. Alice helpfully ripped a couple of them off for me. While we were waiting for reinforcements, I tried to figure out how to use the weapons in the hopes of arming some of the elves. I didn't have much luck. The firing mechanism must have either been in another part of the roids' bodies, or I just couldn't figure it out. Alice thought they'd be useful as clubs and decided to take one, then decided she liked a leg even better and ripped one off another fallen trooperoid. Yikes.
Once we had some decent numbers inside, we advanced. The trooperoids decided not to put up resistance as long as Erubetie was taking point, which allowed us to reach a draining room fairly quickly. What we saw was horrifying. Men were being kept in pods, floating in liquid. Some of them were young teens. We wasted no time cutting them out. That's when the trooperoids decided to take some potshots at us, and felled a few of the elves, as well as a few of the men we'd just rescued. Erubetie's reaction was swift and lethal. Tendrils of her slime reached out, grabbing several of the roids and smashing them against the walls. They retreated once again. She was proving incredibly useful!
I was proving useful as well, if I do say so myself, using my newfound healing ability to treat the wounds of those who could be saved. It was very inefficient. I still found it difficult to use my power, but I was encouraged by my progress and figured that practice could only help.
Unlike the previous lab Alice and I had been in, this one had several branching paths. By this time, we had a pretty large force of elves inside the lab, so we decided to split our forces and move off in different directions, prioritizing speed. Erubetie led a force where the most resistance was coming from, while Alice and I led small forces in other directions. The Queen Elf, now also inside, decided to accompany me, stating bluntly that I would need the most help, being a mere human and all.
The real reason we needed her was that she knew a little magic. We encountered some trooperoids guarding a door. They fired on us, but the Queen elf put up a magical shield that lasted long enough for us to get close and battle them hand to hand. They were no match for elves in that method of combat.
The room they were guarding was a horror. Inside was a massive roid of some sort that was draining several boys at once. We charged it. It dropped the boy it was draining and used its multiple arms to swat at attacking elves. Me, it took a different kind of interest in. One of its many arms restrained me while another removed my pants, while another extended some kind of device that clamped onto my penis and started pumping. I guess that must have been its programming. Kill anything that didn't have semen, harvest anything that did. While it was pumping away at me, it continued to battle the elves. The Queen elf ended that problem with one swing of her sword, separating the human head from the construct's body, deactivating it.
Embarrassed, I put my pants back on. Some of my elven comrades resorted to catcalling, asking if I needed to be finished. They were only half joking. I checked on the men and boys. Many were weak. That machine was a lot rougher on them than the pods had been. Within another hour, the entire lab had been secured.
Erubetie's force had encountered the brains behind the lab, an even weirder construct that seemed to be controlling it centrally. It appeared that no angels were present. The beasts had been allowed to roam the surface, while the trooperoids had been commanded by an artificial intelligence. Once it was destroyed by Erubetie, the trooperoids ceased functioning. It also began a self destruct sequence which caused us all to rush madly to the lift. Fortunately, we all made it out in time, although Erubetie expressed confusion about why the self destruct hadn't been immediate.
We'd done well. Dozens of boys and men saved, an important energy source of Ilias' forces destroyed. The elves and fairies even had their island back, although they were reluctant to move back to it until the threat had passed. In the meantime, they would reinforce the Sabasan forces. The rescued humans would be sheltered in Sabasa as well for the time being, until it was safe for them to return to their own homes. Assuming there were homes left to go back to.
It was afternoon by the time we returned to the castle. I'd hoped that Tamamo would be ready, but they were still working out problems, whether technical, magical, or both, I wasn't sure. It took another couple of hours to get rolling, which meant we'd get to the Sealed Sinner's Prison shortly after nightfall. I didn't like that. The place had been creepy enough in the already low light of Hellgondo. I didn't like the idea of going at night. Tamamo and Alice, however, seemed unconcerned. Alice teased, me asking if I was afraid of the dark. Only when I'm going to a place where a 500-year old soul is kept!
Oh well, I guessed that must be the downside to working with a team. You go when everyone is ready. I was so used to working alone or just with Alice, that I felt entitled to dictate when we did stuff and when we rested. But I had to admit I liked being part of a team now. Alice had taken my lonerness and shoved it down my throat at the beginning of our journey, to the point where I'd longed to have allies. Now I had tons of them, so I would have to be patient.
Rather than teleport, Tamamo chose to fly with us on Galda's back, because as she put it, it was fun. We arrived at the Sealed Sinner's Prison within an hour. It was even creepier at night, as I expected. The place had the opposite effect on Sylph.
"Hey! Can you break the seal so we can see Heinrich again?" she asked.
"Well, we're going to be messing around with it, so I'd imagine it's a possibility," I said. "I'm not really sure what's going to happen here."
"Luka, you should know something," Salamander said. "When Heinrich defeated Black Alice, he ended his contract with us and went to battle the heavens. This was the result. I hope our contract with your is stronger than that."
"Hey, I'm not turning down any help I can get," I said. "Without you four, I wasn't doing very well. I used to think I was really something, but I was never able to truly compete with powerful opponents until you came along. Thank you for that."
"I'm glad you're not a fool like Heinrich was," Salamander replied.
They must have been speaking out loud somehow, because Alice heard. "The brave hero challenged the heavens in a lonely fight," she mused. "He lost. This was his punishment. There's a pretty powerful barrier here. Do you feel that?"
This time I did. This was god level magic, for sure. But where was the tech? I saw nothing. Was it inside the barrier? I tentatively tried to walk through the barrier. That proved… unpleasant.
"Oi, idiot!" Tamamo scolded. "Don't do that! Okay, since there's nothing science-y around here, we're going to try it this way, first. Alice, take one of these discs and place your hand on the barrier. Try a magic transference spell."
Tamamo handed Alice a disc and she did as she was directed. She concentrated for a moment. Lightning began to flash around the area almost immediately. The disc began to glow. Was moving the data by magic actually working?
"Guh…." Alice said. "This is… difficult. It's a lot of data, too. It's going to take awhile. I won't be able to move while this is going on. If I'm interrupted, it has to start from the beginning."
Ugh. I was kinda hoping I could just insert a flash drive or something. Not that there were any flash drives on this world, just those darn CDs, which each held only 700mb of data. Just how big was a holy seal, anyway? Tamamo and I stood guard next to Alice, ready for anything.
'Anything', in this case, proved to be Black Alice. "Hello, Tamamo," she said. "Been a long time."
"I would have hoped that longevity and barely avoiding death would have caused you to rethink your life," Tamamo said sadly. "It only seems to have made you crazier. What's with the teddy bear and the little girl appearance?"
"You're one to talk?" Alice shot back. "I'm not interested in you, though. I want that human's power. Or if I can't take it, I at least want to eat him."
"I would think you wouldn't want my power," I said. "given what happened to Eden. I'd imagine the last thing you need right now is mortality."
"You weren't listening, idiot," she replied. "it was foolish to try to take your power that way. I can't do it that way, anyway. I have a different method in mind. The way I see it, your power is the last ingredient I need for my plan. I won't even need a lot of it. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get a taste of you while I take it."
"As if I'm going to let you play around with him," Tamamo said. "you picked the wrong time to challenge him."
"You know the rules better than anyone, Tamamo," Black Alice chuckled. "it's my privilege to challenge the hero one on one."
"First off, I don't care about the rules while the world is burning," Tamamo replied. "Second, you no longer have that right. You're not the monster lord. You're not even properly a monster anymore. You're just a dead soul snatched from the afterlife by Ilias. You're her puppet and you play by her rules. If you want Luka, you go through me."
"No fair playing for time while my descendant works," Black Alice laughed, as her hair reached out for me. Thank goodness for reflexes again. I didn't always respond in time, but that time I did. Black Alice pouted as Tamamo advanced on her. Tamamo charged up an earth powered punch and swung at the former monster lord. With a laugh, Black Alice tangled Tamamo's fist in her hair. She then placed her hand on Tamamo's chest. Dark energy flowed out of her hand into Tamamo. The kitsune stiffened, her face contorting in agony. Black Alice released her as Tamamo staggered back, trying to stay conscious.
"Now, where were we?" Black Alice chuckled, this time catching me with her hair while I was distracted by my concern for Tamamo. She pulled me towards her and embraced me. I summoned Gnome and tried to break her grasp. I could not, although she had to make an effort. Maybe if I kept struggling….
She gave a long lick with her tongue, from my neck up to my temples. "Oh yes, you are high quality foreign food. I really must conquer your world and use the humans there as livestock. So much better than the weak cattle we have in this world."
She pulled out a syringe and stuck it into my arm. A strange glowing liquid filled it as she pulled the plunger back. "Now, if there's still time, I want a little more of you."
She pushed me down and hopped on top of me, hiking up her dress. "Fortunately, only high ranking angels absorb your power this way. I'm only going to take your life energy."
Ripping off my pants with one hand, she plunged herself down on me to the root. I only tasted her vagina for a second, however, as Alice's tail collided with her chest with the force of a jackhammer, sending her tumbling away. Tamamo had recovered as well and helped me up.
Black Alice rose to her feet. "You probably think I'm afraid to take on all three of you. I guess I am, if it's a fair fight. Time to show you three some of my magic."
Black Alice rotated her hands in a circle, forming dark energy into a ball, and sent it our way at blinding speed. With a shrug of contempt, Tamamo put up a magic shield and it dissipated. "Really, Alice? I know you have better tricks than that!"
"I do, but apparently we have interlopers," Black Alice chuckled. "I think I'll be going now."
As Black Alice vanished, angels appeared. A lot of angels. Powerful ones by the looks of some of them. I realized that we'd fallen into a trap. The only thing that had prevented them from doing this before was being unsure of where I would be. They must have anticipated that I would come here. This was very, very bad.
"Alice, please tell me that you finished transferring the data," I said.
"I did!" she said, handing Tamamo the disc. "Tamamo, you need to teleport him out, now!"
Tamamo moved to grab me. "No!" I yelled. "you'll have no chance!"
"Luka, this is the only way!" Tamamo shouted, grabbing me in one of her tails and concentrating. Nothing happened.
"There is no escape," said what appeared to be the lead angel. "A barrier has been placed around this area now. You cannot leave using magic."
The monument at the center of the Sealed Sinner's Prison was beginning to glow. Many of the angels were looking nervously in the direction of the glow. "Did you… break the seal?" the lead angel said accusingly to Alice.
"Oh? Did I do that?" she said smugly.
The light took human form, standing alongside me and my companions. It was a young man. Was this Heinrich? I'd expected him to be… taller.
"Are you Heinrich?" I asked in wonder.
"it's nice to meet you," he replied. "Yes, I am Heinrich. People call me the legendary hero or something like that. You seem… different, yourself. Are you a hero too? Wait, no, not quite. Yet you hold my sword. And wield the spirits. Intriguing. It looks like these angels don't like you. I guess that means I'm with you."
Heinrich drew a spectral sword. It lashed out in an instant at the lead angel. She was split in two and disintegrated. "Hmmm, let's see. One, two…. About two dozen? I'm insulted."
The angels weren't certain what to do, frozen with indecision. Heinrich's ghost waded into them, attacking with speed I couldn't have matched even with Sylph at full power. Eight of them were destroyed in seconds. "Wow. Five hundred years has really dulled my skills."
How was he able to touch angels? Did being dead give him that power? The angels' indecision ended as they drew weapons and attacked the dead hero. Five more fell to his spectral blade. My God. I was nothing compared to this guy. If Ilias defeated him, what chance did I have? Any chance I could take him with me, I thought?
As if in answer to that question, Heinrich turned to me. "Hey, can I borrow you for a minute?"
He merged with me and I felt that my body was no longer mine to control. Had this dude just possessed me? I wasn't complaining, if it got us out of this. "Don't worry, I promise I'll return this without a scratch. Just enjoy the show."
Now armed with a physical body and Angel Halo, he was even more dangerous. Angels fell like ten pins. To my dismay, more descended to join the battle.
"Wow, Luka," he said. "You're bigger, faster, and stronger than I was. I love driving this body! Not sure I like this muscle memory though. You've got some bad habits with your sword technique. Still, this is not bad at all."
He cut apart angel after angel. I was glad that they weren't being killed anymore. Angel Halo was sealing them. Heinrich was evidently a harder man than I was, despite his friendly nature. I imagined he'd lived a harder life to make him that way. Facing Black Alice must have been quite an ordeal, then to attack the heavens?
"Oh, what's this? This is new!" he said, raising my arms. Bolts of energy shot from my hands, decimating masses of angels. "Wow! Where'd you get that ability!? Hmph, looks like it's getting low. I'd better not use it all up. If I'd had that, I might have won!"
"But there's one area where you don't hold a candle to me," Heinrich said. "And that's in the use of the spirits. Come, Sylph, Gnome! Come Undine, Salamander!"
Despite the fact these spirits were supposedly sealed, they all responded to him at once. "Yay! Heinrich!" Sylph exulted.
"It's been awhile, Sylph!" he said, responding in kind. "Let's all dance together!"
More angels were sealed as Heinrich's attacks while driving my body became even more lightning quick.
"C'mon Gnome, I'm sure you can say something to your long lost friend!" Heinrich prodded. Gnome remained silent, but I could sense her glee. An Earth Rumbling Decapitation finished a particularly powerful looking angel.
The angels began to back off and fire arrows. With my own eyes, I could see the flow clearer than I ever had, even using Undine. At my peak, I would have been able to avoid most, but not all, of the hail of arrows that flew towards me. With Heinrich using the flow, I felt like Neo in the Matrix. None of the arrows touched us. He didn't even have to follow the flow back to attack them as I would have. It almost seemed as if the dodging was the attack. Several more were sealed.
An angel that appeared to be more powerful than all of them attacked. Heinrich leaped back and stood ready. "Shall we use it, everyone? Salamander, you still remember what to do, right?"
"You're the one who has been out of it for five hundred years!" Salamander retorted.
"I'll take that as a yes," Heinrich responded.
I felt all four spirits enter my sword arm. "This one's called Element Spica. It's similar to Quadruple Giga, except you infuse the spirits in your arm instead of the sword. Not quite as powerful, but it doesn't take as long to set up. Be careful when you practice this one. You can lose the arm if you do it wrong." The angel in front of Heinrich disappered in a flash as he executed Element Spica.
""Speaking of Quadruple Giga," There was one angel left. It was a powerful looking one as well. "Let me show you the right way to do this," Heinrich said.
It took only a little bit longer than the special move he'd executed before, but it was long enough for the angel to attack. Despite the fact he was infusing the elements into Angel Halo, he was able to avoid or deflect the attacks. I had to concentrate completely to do that move! He was able to do it with only part of his attention on the task! What's more, when he was finished, the sword didn't even buck or sway. He swung it down onto the angel. The angel never had a chance, sealed in an instant. The earth under the angel cracked open, leaving a fissure several feet deep and at least fifty feet long.
It was over. Alice and Tamamo, unable to assist, just stared. Heinrich exited my body.
"It's about time to say goodbye, Luka," Heinrich said. "After my long confinement, my soul is completely exhausted. That was the last genocide for Heinrich the angel killer. I sense that you don't like that. That's good. Don't become filled with hate and anger like I was. I thought it made me strong but it probably contributed to my defeat. Stay true to yourself, Luka."
With that, he faded away, his soul finally at peace. "Wow," Alice breathed. "Just when you think you've seen everything…. I was sure he'd be a huge guy with muscles and a big beard and a giant sword. He looked like you when I first met you. But his power! I never imagined he was that powerful. Now I'm not surprised he took down Black Alice. Did she ever even have a chance?"
I was just relieved that she hadn't fainted. Oh yeah, she said Heinrich wasn't a ghost, but a dead soul. I'd never figure out what the difference was. Tamamo got us back to business.
"You succeeded? We have a copy of the seal?" she asked, holding up the disc Alice had handed her when she thought Tamamo would have to make a hasty escape with me.
"Yep," Alice replied. "It took up almost all the space on the disc, but we have it. Now the kitsunes can make copies and we can turn this war around!"
I felt Sylph crying inside of me. "Don't cry, Sylph," Salamander said, trying to comfort her. "He died a long time ago. Now his soul finally knows peace. Be happy for him."
"Let's go back to my castle then," Alice said. "It's been another long day. Time to get some rest."
"Wait a minute," Tamamo said, listening to something. "We're not done yet!"
"Is someone contacting you?" Alice asked.
"Yes, it's Nanabi!" Tamamo replied. "she thinks she knows where your body is being kept and where the seal is!"
"She found something on one of the discs?" I asked eagerly, now full of energy. Getting Alice's body back would be huge!"
"I don't know," Tamamo said. "Telepathy isn't like having a normal conversation. It's more impressions and images. I have the location, though. Let's get going!"
The location, as it turned out, was in the Forest of Spirits, which was quite a flight. It was after midnight when we arrived. I couldn't believe what we were seeing. It was a huge mansion, right in the middle of the forest! How had this gotten here?
"This is some freaky magic," Alice noted. "This thing was here the whole time, but for some reason it's revealed now. Be ready for anything. I doubt they'd leave this place unguarded."
"Hmmmm," Tamamo said, feeling around. "No barrier. I guess whatever magic was hiding this place was enough."
We walked in. The place was huge. And severely damaged. There had been a fight here. Lots of them, by the looks of it. Who had attacked this place? There was no sign of anyone.
We entered a dining room. There was fresh food on the table. Even Alice was sure this was a trap. At least until she talked herself into trying to eat the food anyway.
"This is obviously a trap," she explained. "But the food, that's too obvious. So there's another kind of trap we need to be aware of here. It could very well be that the only way to avoid the trap, in fact, is to eat the food."
Alice advanced towards the table. Tamamo grabbed her with a tail. "Oh no, little lady! Not on my watch!"
"Awwww…." Alice said. "I'm hungry!"
"Your real body is probably even hungrier," Tamamo said. "Let's go get it and then Luka can cook us something. You did bring some food, right Luka?"
"I always come prepared in that respect," I said proudly. Even though we had Galda, I didn't like going hungry for several hours anymore than Alice did.
"Yay!" Alice cheered. "I've missed Luka cooking. Even with the food in my castle, I enjoy Luka's food because it's filled with his special ingredient."
"Love?" I asked.
"Basil!" she responded. "Rosemary! Thyme!"
We explored the mansion some more, still encountering no opposition, but plenty of destruction. Tamamo stopped us. "Did you hear that?"
"AAIIIEEE!!!" Alice screamed, hiding behind me. "is it ghosts?!"
Turns out that's exactly what they were. Two ghosts entered the room. Alice shrieked in terror. The ghosts shrieked in terror as well and fled.
"Are they gone?" Alice whispered. Tamamo sighed and nodded. "Yes! Fear the power of the Monster Lord, ghosts!"
The ghosts returned. Alice screamed again and hid behind me. This time they brought a companion. It was Chrome! Alice poked her head out from behind me and angrily addressed Chrome.
"Chrome! DIdn't I tell you to stop playing around with necromancy!?"
"These aren't new!" Chrome protested. "I've had these two for awhile! I needed them to help you guys out!"
That perked Tamamo's interest. "So I'm assuming you had something to do with all this destruction?"
"Yes," Chrome said. "it's a long, boring story, and I'll tell it to you when there's time. The short version is that there was even worse stuff than what I was doing going on down here. Stuff so bad it would have broken your heart, Monster Lord. I know it broke mine. I dealt with it for you. It was my responsibility. There's no longer a threat here. I knew once I revealed this place that you'd show up soon enough. I think I know what it is that you're looking for."
"My body?" Alice asked eagerly, stepping out from behind me.
"Yep! Follow me!" Chrome said.
"Ummmmm…." Alice said. "Could you ask those two to…"
"Oh, sorry!" Chrome said. "Spi! Rit! Go wait back in the other room!"
Chrome led us downstairs, to the basement. There we saw a device that looked similar to the one that had trapped the Queen Ant, but it looked much more modern and sleek. This had to be it. The fact that Alice's body was standing there, transfixed, was another clue.
"I haven't messed with it yet," Chrome said. "But I already can tell I wouldn't be able to do much, anyway. That thing is made of pure holy energy. The barrier around it is almost as tough, although I could probably get through that with enough effort."
"Then you're better at this than I am," Tamamo said. "Because I've seen this particular barrier before. I can't break it. We might need you to get us in."
"Even if she got us in," Alice pointed out. "If that thing's made of holy energy we can't do anything to it anyway."
"Luka might be able to," Tamamo suggested. "He has Angel Halo, and he can use a little bit of his power. Luka, try to pass through that barrier. It seems to be attuned to monster magic. A human might be able to pass through."
I tried. Much like the barrier I'd encountered in the volcano, it let me through, although I felt this one. It tingled uncomfortably as I passed through it. I walked over to the machine. I tried to touch it. My hand passed right through it.
"Go to my body," Alice instructed. "See if you can touch that."
I walked over to where Alice's body stood. The eyes were open, but staring at nothing. It was frozen in place. I tentatively touched the body's cheek. It gave a little as normal flesh would. It felt warm to the touch, although not as warm as a human body due to Alice's cold bloodedness.
"I can touch your body, Alice, but not the machine," I said. "Should I try hitting it with my sword?"
"First try having sex with it," Alice said.
"Your body?" I asked, disbelieving.
"No! The machine! Of course my body!"
Was that the answer to everything in this world? Was it their version of "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Have you tried having sex with it?
"No, that won't work," Tamamo said. "Luka, do this instead. When Alice uses Word of Dispel to take her body back for a few seconds, blast that machine with your power. I bet your power can touch it. Let me know when you've got a good hold on it."
Actually, Heinrich pulling my power up with ease, something which I didn't understand at all, but had felt him do, made it easier to grab onto it. Instead of the normal strand, I was able to grab a proverbial handful of the stuff. I signaled my readiness. Alice spoke the incantation returning herself to her original body. The body disappeared temporarily from the seal. In the next instant, I unleashed what I had at the machine.
The results were spectacular. The explosion sent us all sprawling, me worst of all, being the closest to the machine. I lost consciousness. When I awakened, we were already on the back of Galda, Alice looking into my eyes. The real Alice!
"You did it, Luka," she said, smiling. "I'm whole again. Just one more quest left."
I looked around. Tamamo was not with us. "She decided to teleport back to the castle," Alice said in answer to my unspoken question. "I would have done so as well, now that I can again, but like I said, it's a little risky to try that with you."
"it's gonna be almost morning by the time we get back," I said.
"Yes," she replied. "You'll get some rest as soon as you get back. Me too. After a nap, we'll make plans for our assault on the heavens. Hopefully we can implement those plans tomorrow."
"Alice? There's something I need to know."
"What is it?" she asked.
"Are you too prejudiced against humans to ever love one?"
"Where did that come from?"
"Eden told me that," I replied.
"How the hell would Eden know?" Alice asked angrily. Then she calmed. "Oh, I get it. Ilias is trying to play with your head. Eden doesn't lie, but Ilias does, and Eden believes and spouts whatever Ilias tells her. Ilias is projecting her own prejudices on me."
"So it's not true?" I sighed with relief.
"Well…" Alice's voice trailed off. "There's a grain of truth to it. You have to understand, my only experience with humans before I met you was seeing four of them standing over my mother's dead body. Tamamo tried to teach me that humans weren't all bad over the following years, but being told something isn't like seeing it for yourself. As I told you before, when I began my travels, I almost wanted humans to prove me right so I wouldn't feel guilty anymore about ruining Mother's plan. Of course, then I met you. So I guess I have to admit what Eden told you isn't entirely wrong. But her conclusion is still very wrong. I've seen so much, experienced so much, since then. I still can't make you any promises about… us. But I can promise you that my prejudices against humans aren't a factor."
"That's all I needed to hear," I said. "Thank you. And I'm sorry I let Ilias manipulate me. Again."
"Don't worry about it," she replied. "I'm not one to talk. I let myself get led around just as much. Let's put an end to her and reclaim our lives. Sound like a plan?"