I awoke in bed, the pain gone. I moved. Nope! Pain still here! Especially in my head, which pounded like crazy. I put my head back on the pillow and waited for the throbbing pain to subside. I didn't see anyone in the room with me. That was a bit of a surprise. I would have expected someone to be by my side in case I awakened, not that I demanded it. The mission couldn't necessarily wait for me. If I'd been out days, my companions might be doing the Magical Girl competition without me.
I heard the door open, and turned my head as gingerly as I could to see who it was. It was Sonya.
"Luka, are you awake?!" she exclaimed. "Oh my Goddess, how do you feel?"
"Fine, if I don't move," I said. "You two did well."
"Thank Promestein too," Sonya said, sitting down on the bed. "Shockingly, no vital organs were damaged, which is… impossible. Her sword went right through your heart and your brain."
"Her sword is magic. It can only kill if she wills it. No matter how grievous the wounds, they won't be fatal if she doesn't want them to be."
"That's great and horrible at the same time. Luka, what you must have gone through…."
"It's not the first time," I said. "It went sort of how it did in my first adventure. If that was the correct history, it came pretty darn close to repeating."
"I can't even imagine what your life has been like. Luka, I'm so sorry. I should have been there."
"There was a barrier you couldn't pass. Don't feel guilty. You helped heal me when I got back. That's what matters. Besides, my life has actually been great. All the difficulties, they happened in a pretty short period of my early life. I had many centuries of nothing but relaxation. It's part of why I'm so much less effective than I was at my peak. I used to laugh in the face of Ancestors and considered gods to be my equals. And they acknowledged me as their equals. Then I spent the next several centuries being lazy. I thought I'd earned a good, stress free life. A lot of my loved ones agreed. But I paid for it in that volcano. I just hope no one I love has to pay for it."
"Well, speaking as your expert healer, you're fit to move around the castle as much as you're able. Between Ilias, myself, and Promestein, we did pretty well. It helped that none of the wounds were even potentially fatal, as ugly as they looked. But you still had a sword through your brain, your heart, and your intestines, not to mention several other cuts. You can't further injure yourself by testing your limits, but it might hurt. Alice ordered no painkillers. She doesn't want you pushing past those limits until you're ready. Listen to your body. If it hurts too much, try again the next day."
"How long was I out?"
"Not long," Sonya answered. "A day. Less than a day, actually. I'm going to tell the others that you were awake. Sorry there was no one here when you awakened. At least two of us were by your bedside the entire time you were asleep. We'd been having an important meeting when you woke up."
"What about?"
"I'll let Alice or Ilias explain. For now, I'm going to let everyone know you up, okay?"
"Sounds good."
Sonya kissed me on the forehead and left. I didn't have to wait long. Alice stormed in minutes later.
"Luka! I was so worried!" Alice exclaimed. "When I get my body back, I'm going to give Granberia the worst thrashing-!"
"Alice, no," I said. "She feels as bad about it as anyone. She thought she was doing the right thing, but I think she was shocked by her own brutality and the fact that she couldn't actually kill me."
"Salamander told me all about what happened. Luka, that's so horrible!"
"At least I didn't die," I said. I didn't tell Alice that I wished I had at the time.
"Ilias has been inconsolable. I had to practically drag her away from your bedside to have that meeting. Ever since she learned what pain was, she's been horrified at what happened to you. If the spirits hadn't stopped Granberia…."
I didn't even want to think about that. How many times would she have tried to kill me before realizing that she couldn't, at least not with Ares?
"What was the meeting about?" I asked, trying to change the subject. I made a mental note: as soon as Ilias gets her true form back, I need another purification. Badly.
"We discussed how we were going to handle the Magical Girl competition if you couldn't fight. It was a vigorous debate. Some of us thought that the ceremony has to be stopped at all costs. But others pointed out that my mother will be likely to intervene. Maybe we should just stay out of it. Then there was an argument about how we should handle things if we did intervene. Who should be the magical girl candidate? We settled on Sonya."
"Sonya's too innocent to take on the grudges," I weakly protested. "Why not you, Alice? You have the maturity and just enough darkness in you already. And you could use the power boost."
"True," Alice admitted. "But a Magical Girl Monster Lord? I can't see it. Personally, I wanted you to be the Magical Girl."
"Me? Please tell me you're joking."
"I'm dead serious. Think about it. You're experienced, but you still have a surprising innocence for all that experience. You relentlessly see the good in everyone, no matter what. You would be able to handle the grudges while not letting them corrupt you."
"I'm not going to be a Magical Girl, Alice. I'm putting my foot down. As soon as I can put my foot down, that is."
"Take all the time you need," Alice said gently. "Nero paid us a visit. He checked on you as well. He told us that thanks to what happened in that volcano, the rate of decay has slowed drastically. The situation isn't urgent anymore. Except for that Magical Girl competition, which we can ignore if we have to, we have time now. I just worry about Cassandra."
"There's still the ship poaching monsters. And the Beelzebubs. I don't think they are supposed to be running around. That's not the correct history."
"Meia and Cindy are looking for the poachers, and the Fishy Pirates have also been informed and are heading towards that area. And you know Alma Elma is working on those fly girls."
"I'll be ready for the Magical Girl competition," I promised. "I have two days. No problem. Granberia did something like this to me the first time."
"How long did it take you to heal?"
"A week," I answered.
"So you're going to recover from those wounds in two days?! Good luck."
"Luka!" Ilias shouted, running into the room. "Oh, Luka, I'm so sorry I wasn't there! Don't you ever scare me like that again! Next time you see Granberia, you vaporize her!"
"I kinda tried," I replied. "I wasn't trying to vaporize her, but I did use my power, pretty strong too, and she had a counter for it."
"Salamander told us," Ilias said. "You have to start thinking more creatively."
"That Quadruple Giga variant was a pretty creative idea," Alice noted. "It didn't work, but if the spirits practice, I bet it can. It was the first time they'd ever tried it that way."
"Something to consider," I said hopefully. Now that Alice mentioned it, it was a pretty good idea. I'd never practiced the technique because it was so impractical. But if it could be used in the middle of combat….
I managed to stand up and use the restroom, slowly and painfully, before I went back to sleep. I didn't have long to rehab. Only one full day, then maybe a half day. Tomorrow I'd have to work hard, pushing through the pain. I decided to go to the gym and work with any monsters present. I'd have to be sure to tell them to not take advantage of me in my state.
I awoke stiff, but with a lot less pain. I shuffled to the kitchen to make myself breakfast, which loosed me up a little. After eating, I headed over to the gym. Nanabi and Sonya were sparring. I felt bad for Sonya. She was clearly outmatched, but Nanabi was clearly trying to help her and holding back significantly, almost like an adult playing with a child. But Sonya, to her credit, was determined, going at Nanabi as if Sonya could save the world all by herself if only she could get past those tails and club the kitsune on the head.
"Hey guys, can I join?" I asked, getting their attention.
"Oh, hey, Luka," Sonya said. "I was just training for the Magical Girl Competition. We assumed you probably wouldn't be ready in time."
"Oh, so you've decided to participate even if I can't?"
"Yeah," Sonya answered. "There was a lot of debate, but there was a consensus that Cassandra must not get that power. So we have to take the risk even if it means you can't help us."
"Well, I'm helping," I said firmly. "I don't hurt that much anymore, I just feel a little stiff. You and Ilias did a magnificent job of healing me. Maybe a workout will loosen me up."
"I don't know…."
"Didn't you and Luka spar while you were growing up?" I asked. "Just pretend it's the old days."
"I don't know that you'd call it sparring," Sonya said dubiously. "More like…. Beating. He could be annoyingly oblivious and insensitive at times so I used to lose my temper and beat him up. It's actually pretty incredible how much more sophisticated you are, yet you still have that classic Luka obliviousness sometimes."
"Yeah, I read about that in his diary. He regarded it as sparring, sort of. Considered it a good opportunity to practice. He always lost, though. It made him think he wasn't ready for adventure."
"I can relate," Sonya said, sighing. "I really want this Magical Girl power. At first I thought I was helping, but the enemies we're facing now are just so powerful! I need to upgrade my abilities! In the fantasy novels the heroine always finds a way to get better. Maybe a legendary magical weapon, or she gets super powers, or she has this hidden magical talent, or it turns out she's not who she thinks she is."
"And I can relate to that," I replied. "I don't know that the Magical Girl thing is right for you, but it's your decision to make. Just understand that it will change you."
"I'd lay down my life for this world, Luka. If the highest price I have to pay is that I have to carry around some witches' grudges, I'll pay that price gladly. I've already almost died twice."
"Well, if we want to beat Cassandra and whoever else is in that competition, we both have to get better than we are at the moment."
"I'll ref if you guys want," Nanabi offered.
I thought that would be great and said so. Sonya brandished her club at me, waiting for me to signal that I was ready. I drew my sword. Looking at it, I reconsidered. Angel Halo might do no real damage to Sonya, but it did hurt, and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt Sonya. I thought about my shadow version of the sword that I used to summon, many centuries ago. In theory, I should be able to use it, since I was once again intimately familiar with the feel of the sword in my hand. I put Angel Halo back in its sheathe.
"Why'd you do that?" Sonya asked, then grinned. "Did you want to wrestle?"
"I doubt the Magical Girl competition will involve much of that," I chuckled. "From what limited knowledge I have of Magical Girls, mostly from works of fiction, they do most of their attacks at a distance. No, I'm trying to do something I used to be able to do. I used to be able to summon this shadow copy of Angel Halo, except it was even better. It could seal in one hit if I wanted it to, or it could even be a training sword, not even hurting my opponent when I struck them with it. Angel Halo, the real version, may not do any real physical damage, but believe me, you don't want to get cut with it. It hurts. A lot."
"More than a normal sword?" Sonya asked.
"For an angel, certainly. Humans, probably not. I've been cut with both a real sword and Angel Halo and I think it was a similar feeling. Here, let me see if I can do it. I have to concentrate. It's been awhile."
I tried to remember how I used to do it. Imagine Angel Halo in my hand, even though it's not in my hand, I thought. Just open my hand. Okay, now close my hand, and expect the sword to be in it. My hand closed on empty space.
"Maybe it's tough for you to do if you actually have Angel Halo," Nanabi theorized. "When you did it before, did you have the real version with you?"
"No, I didn't," I admitted. "After my first adventure, Alice took the sword back, only lending it to me a couple of times afterwards. Hmmm, you may be onto something there."
"We don't have a ton of time, Luka," Sonya pointed out. "I'm a big girl. You say it doesn't actually damage me, so it won't impede my ability to fight in the competition. I can take a little pain. Use the sword."
Reluctantly I drew my sword again and signaled that I was ready. Sonya's face changed the way it always did when she was swinging a club. Why did she look angry even when it was just a sparring session? Actually, why did she always swing that club as if she was trying to pulp her opponent? I ducked under her attack and thrust forward with my sword. Sonya was good with that club. She almost wielded it like a sword, fluidly getting her club back into position to shunt my sword aside, then getting her weapon back up for another strike.
She only needed one. I didn't need more blows to the head after Granberia's sword took up residence in there, but I took one, her club impacting solidly with the side of my head. I saw stars and went down hard.
"Your reaction times are way down," Sonya observed, bending down to check on me. Seeing no real damage other than my bell getting rung, she didn't bother to heal me.
"Yeah, I'm pretty stiff," I said.
"Sonya, how about you let me work with him?" Nanabi suggested. "My tails can be as lethal or as harmless as I desire. I can harden them so they are as solid as your club, I can harden the tips of my tails into spearpoints, or I can simply make them as soft and fluffy as I desire and caress my opponents with them. I think getting caressed by my tails would be much safer and more fun for Luka than getting his head and ribs bashed in."
"I agree," I said ruefully. "But this is just sparring, right? No…. extracurriculars after you beat me?"
"As much as I'd enjoy that," Nanabi said. "The last thing you need if you want to get ready is to be put out for hours again. The competition is the day after tomorrow."
So for the next two hours, with Sonya observing, I battled Nanabi and her seven swishing tails. Nanabi was holding back with me even more than she had been with Sonya, but the workout was doing me good. I was glad that my cardio was still good. I'd been worried about that since my heart and lungs had been pierced by Granberia's sword. Nanabi's tails constantly caught me, briefly holding me, caressing me, and occasionally slipping down my pants to tease me. She avoided going too far, however, not wanting to inflict critical ecstasy on me, which would keep me down even longer than if she beat me up. As I keep saying, there's a reason most monsters favor pleasure attacks against human males rather than physical attacks. Pleasure attacks are just more efficient.
I'd like to say I got better as the session wore on. I'd be lying. For awhile It seemed that I was loosening up, and I came close to striking at Nanabi's naked and exposed torso several times. But about halfway in, I was feeling stiffer than ever. I kept going out of stubbornness and determination, not wanting to leave my friends in the lurch against an opponent as dangerous as Cassandra. But after another hour I realized the futility of continuing and halted the session.
"I'm impressed, Luka!" Salamander said in my heart as I sat down and drank water from my now always full canteen. It was nice to finally find an everyday practical use for my power. "You have heart. Your skill is incredible as well. For a human, anyway. You and I, we'll go far!"
"You know, there are four of us here," Undine pointed out.
"Yeah, you guys have your role as well," Salamander said dismissively. "Luka, you're not going to be ready for that competition without a little help. And I know just the girl!"
"Girl?" I asked. "What did you have in mind? You're not trying to get me laid, are you?"
"Not today, although I can't guarantee you won't ejaculate. Actually, the others here tell me you're pretty quick triggered."
"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking," Undine said. "He's definitely going to ejaculate. A lot."
"Oh well, it can't be helped," Salamander said. "Luka, you've done all you can do today anyway. While I'm not crazy about putting you in critical ecstasy, loosening those muscles is more important. Romi! Get in here! She'll be here in a few moments. I just contacted her. She's elsewhere in the castle, but she's on her way."
"Romi?" I asked. "Is that another imp?"
"Imp? Ha ha. She's a lava girl."
"Lava girl? When did we get a lava girl?"
"When I invited Romi to accompany us, of course! I wanted to bring Grande too, but she's agoraphobic. Romi's always wanted to see the world, though, so she was pretty happy to be invited."
"Didn't the Monster Lord say all new monsters had to be vetted?" Undine asked.
"We're spirits, we don't answer to any Monster Lords!"
"If you vouch for Romi, I'm sure she's fine," I said. "You four are basically a part of me. You've been a part of my life for centuries."
"Awwww!!!" Sylph said. "I wish I could remember! You seem really nice."
"So weird that Sylph is the only one to not be receiving visions or dreams," Undine said.
"Aw, that's because she's an airhead!" Salamander exclaimed. "She probably did and just forgot."
"Chi pa pa!" Sylph replied. "Gnomey, while we're waiting for Romi, let's sing a song!"
Gnome slapped Sylph.
Romi showed up a few minutes later. I'd only seen a lava girl once. They were quite lovely, but rather frightening. Humans don't like being burned, and lava girls have a mostly unearned, but frightening, reputation. It was rumored that they poured their magma all over a man's body, burning him to death in seconds, then absorbed him for nutrients. It was one of the few deaths by monster that wasn't pleasurable. But it turned out that lava girls didn't usually kill that way, or even kill at all. While I wouldn't exactly call them kind, gentle monsters, they usually let their prey go after squeezing him dry. The real problem was that the environments they called their habitat were too hot for humans to remain in long, so if she squeezed him dry and left him, he usually died of heat stroke. But if Romi was Salamander's friend, she was probably not that kind of lava girl. I was curious as to what Salamander had in mind.
"Romi," Salamander greeted the lava girl. "The hero we've contracted with got a little roughed up by my former student. He's just had a long workout and he's stiff all over. Would you mind giving him that special massage?"
"My special massage?" Romi asked, then smiled. "With pleasure."
"Wait, you're made of lava!" I objected. "Not that I don't trust Salamander, but for obvious reasons I'm not really interested in getting wrapped in molten rock."
"My body isn't actually made out of rock," Romi explained. "I'm related to slimes, but adapted to hot environments. My body is similar to molten rock, but I control its temperature and can reduce it so that it doesn't burn you."
"In addition," Salamander added. "She's like myself and Granberia in that there's magic behind our heat. It can't hurt you if we don't want it to."
"Mine isn't as fullproof, though," Romi clarified. "I have to actually cool myself to be safe, whereas Salamander can let her fires rage and not harm you."
"All right," I agreed. "I trust you, Romi. If this massage will help get me ready, I'm all for it."
"Very well, then," Romi said. "Remove your clothes and stand before me."
I looked around to make sure Nanabi and Sonya had actually left the gym. While this wasn't technically a sexual encounter, I knew that if I was wrapped in that body of Romi's, that I would probably come and that would be embarrassing, even if both Nanabi and Sonya had already seen it before. Satisfied that it was just me, Romi, and my four spirit friends, I removed my clothing and stood in front of Romi.
Romi moved forward, her magma starting at my feet and moving steadily up my legs. She was right that her magic wasn't as foolproof as Salamander's. I was sure I was getting burned a little and it was quite uncomfortable, but I could already feel the muscle in my legs relax as she began kneading them. I began to grow more used to the heat as she continued to move up my legs.
When her magma enveloped my penis I grew rock hard. Since she couldn't help herself, she began massaging that as well, all the while continuing to do my legs and feet. The feeling of the heat along with the molten lava moving all around my dick caused me to suddenly ejaculate without even the feeling of an impending climax.
"Already?" Romi asked, amused. "I'm not complaining. Give me as much as you want. I will consume it all."
I collapsed, causing me to sink into her lava up to my chest. She began to massage my torso, the combination of the heat and her technique feeling wonderful rather than uncomfortable. Finally, the magma moved up to my neck, where it continued to work. I had another ejaculation, causing Romi to stick her tongue out at me.
"You're delicious," Romi said. "Salamander, you didn't tell me he was such a prime cut."
"How would I know?" Salamander asked. "I haven't tasted him. I'm not technically a monster like you. For me, semen is just energy. I don't enjoy it in the same way you true monsters do."
"You don't know what you're missing," Romi laughed, as the magma around my penis began stroking with more intent, causing me to erupt a third time.
I looked down as she continued to massage me. I noticed that the character of the lava had changed. I was encased in solid rock up to my waist.
"Is that supposed to happen?" I asked.
"As I said, the magic is not fullproof," Romi explained. "I have to reduce my temperature in order to use it on a man. With real lava, you would be burned badly no matter how low its temperature, because any temperature that can turn rock into liquid is too high for any human to stand. My lava is special, however. I can reduce its temperature, as well as protect you with my magic, well enough for you to experience it for a short time. But eventually it turned into rock, albeit organic rock, since it is part of my body. Don't worry. You still feel that softness, don't you?"
"Y-Yes," I gasped.
"Under the rock I'm still molten. I'll heat it up enough to return it to liquid form when I'm done with you so that you can be free."
With that, she continued to give me a whole body massage. When she was finished, I felt as relaxed as I'd ever felt. Since I was also in critical ecstasy, Nanabi returned me to my room.
I woke up to Ilias rousing me in her usual gentle way.
"Wake up, motherfucker!"
"Wah?" I asked blearily, sitting up. I was relieved to feel a lot less stiffness, although I knew I was still far from one hundred percent.
"Do you know how wrong that sounds coming from an eight year old's mouth?" I asked.
"Since Micaela gave me what was left of her power, I'm at least nine and a half, physically," Ilias corrected me. "I grew two full inches! You didn't notice!?"
Ugh. I remembered that prior to Micaela's death, Ilias had stood about an inch or two shorter than Alice. But once she had changed slightly after Micaela had given her what little power she had left, Ilias was still a bit shorter than Alice. Then I remembered that Alice preferred to be taller than whoever she was talking to. In her diminished form, that was impossible. She'd have to balance too precariously on a section of her tail not designed to support her weight. But she could certainly be taller than Ilias. Thus I hadn't noticed the difference.
"So why am I up?" I asked. "Are you going to work out with me?"
"Physically you're as good as you're going to get before tomorrow," Ilias replied. "Working out hard now would just set you back when you have to go into battle tomorrow. I have something else in mind. Drain your little lizard, get dressed, and come with me to the magic training room."
Ever the obedient hero, I did as I was ordered, reminding myself that I was the boss, supposedly. I didn't take it personally. Alice and Ilias were take charge types, but couldn't cede leadership to each other. So I was nominally in charge, with the emphasis on nominally.
I trekked to the magical training room, where Mephisto and Ilias awaited me. Seeing Ilias standing next to Mephisto, who stood about five feet six inches, Ilias did seem a little taller.
"Since you won't be at your physical peak tomorrow," Mephisto explained. "It's more urgent than ever that you have your power as a fallback."
"As much as I'd like you to just smite those girls competing in that sinful competition, I know you won't do that, so you need more subtle uses for your abilities," Ilias added.
"Did you two have something in mind?" I asked.
"Are you familiar at all with magic missile spells?" Mephisto asked. "Those are usually the first offensive spell any magic student learns."
"I don't know about magic missiles, but I used to be able to do something with my fingers. Let me see if I still can."
I held my hands out and aimed at the well protected wall, which was designed to take pretty powerful spells without being damaged. Nothing happened.
"That was so subtle I completely missed it," Ilias observed.
"That's because nothing happened," I said.
"Oh, do you think?"
"Ilias, please do not berate him," Mephisto admonished. "If he is to learn something today, he has to be calm and confident."
"I'm sorry, Luka," Ilias said. "It's just that I'm so mad about what happened to you! I wasn't there, and that dragon bitch hurt you so badly! I don't want that to happen to you again! It shouldn't ever happen given your power! Do you think anyone hurt me when I was at my peak?"
"Aside from me?" I asked.
"And that's why you shouldn't lose to a weakling like Granberia!"
Granberia a weakling? I almost had to laugh, except laughing hurt a little. But Ilias was right. Granberia had beaten me by using her head and nullifying my greatest strength while exploiting my biggest weakness, my physical endurance. If I faced her again, and I knew I would, I'd have to have something new for her.
"What is it that you were trying to do?" Mephisto asked.
"I knew this trick for a brief time," I answered. "My previous teacher taught it to me. She'd throw up some marbles and I'd hit them with small little bullets of my power. They never used to miss. If I willed them to hit, they always hit."
"That's very useful, and even better than your basic magic missile spell! Hold on, let me conjure something."
Mephisto conjured a few grapes in her hand. Ilias snatched one from her and popped it in her mouth, grinning sheepishly.
"What?!" Ilias said. "I'm hungry! Luka hasn't been able to cook in awhile. Luka, the food your 'help' makes is just not acceptable fare for a goddess. If I didn't need you to fight, you'd be on kitchen duty all day, every day."
Mephisto gave Ilias a sideways look, then held out the grapes. "Your spell probably didn't work because you needed targets. I'm going to throw these grapes in the air. Don't think, just react, okay?"
I nodded and Mephisto tossed the grapes in the air. Four of them. I pointed my fingers at them and four thin bullets of energy struck each one, sending the grapes flying in different directions. One of them went towards Ilias, who caught it in her mouth, thus enjoying a second grape.
"No real power there," Mephisto said. "But that's a good thing. You need a low setting since you value the lives of your enemies. Now I'm going to fire my version of magic missiles at you. Use a little more power and shoot them all down."
I could have simply put up a shield, since Mephisto's "missiles" were more like bolts of dark energy. But this was a lesson, and doing the same thing I always did wouldn't teach me anything. I was quick, and effective. No sooner did the bolts leave her hand than my own struck hers and negated them.
"Excellent!" Mephisto exclaimed. "While that is not a new power, it is useful. Now let's do a variation on it."
Mephisto spoke and incantation and the room vanished. We were outdoors. Several mean looking orcs with clubs stood looking at me hungrily a few dozen yards away.
"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "Did you teleport us outside?"
"No, we are still in the training room," Mephisto explained. "The training room is built to accommodate very sophisticated illusions. Those orcs are also illusions. In a moment, they will charge at you. Take them down, but don't use your usual power blast or even your missiles. Instead, do both."
"Both?"
"Fire those little bullets above their heads, then make the bullets explode above them. The concussion should neutralize them without hurting them too badly."
The first try was a bust. Since I failed to stop the orc, Ilias gleefully blew the illusions away with holy fire. For my second attempt, Mephisto marked targets in the sky for me to aim at. Those I hit unerringly, but failed to make my bullets explode. Ilias destroyed the illusions with arrows that time. She seemed to be enjoying the workout at least.
I finally got it on the seventh try, my little bullets exploding spectacularly, obliterating the orcs and a good portion of the countryside. Ilias cheered and clapped, then stopped.
"Oh, that's NOT what you wanted?" Ilias asked with confusion.
She knew very well that's not what I wanted, so I kept practicing. I was at it for a couple of hours before I finally calibrated it to just the amount of force I wanted. The simulated orcs were knocked down hard, but Mephisto assured me that monsters of their toughness would have definitely survived. I would have to learn to calibrate the correct amount of force for each series of opponents, just as I did for my brainless power blasts.
"That power will come in super handy when the Monster Lord attacks," Ilias noted. "That's a great battlefield spell."
"But it doesn't really help with Granberia," I groused.
"You want to beat Granberia?" Ilias asked. "Do more cardio."
The day of the Magical Girl competition had arrived. Of all the places to hold it, I wondered why a poisonous swamp was appropriate. Sonya speculated that perhaps it was a way to weed out the unserious. Lots of girls wanted to be a Magical Girl, but not all girls were willing to fight in a poisonous swamp. I made sure that Sonja brought a lot of herbs. Walking in a poison swamp was bad enough. Fighting in one would result in people falling down and ingesting the waters. That could get people killed. I was beginning to see why the Monster Lord had outlawed this practice, although I wasn't exactly sure why she felt she had jurisdiction here. This was Grangold, not Hellgondo, and the vast majority of competitors as far as I could see were human.
Cassandra and Emily had shown up early and taken up residence on high ground to give them an advantage. Cassandra boasted that her and her daughter would be the first mother/daughter magical girl duo. I wasn't sure that's how it worked, but what did I know?
Despite the danger to Sonya of taking on the witches' grudges, I strongly supported her. I knew she wanted to contribute more to our quest, and that there would be no success on our quest without sacrifice. But Alice and Ilias for some reason wanted me to be the Magical Girl, although Ilias conceded that perhaps she might volunteer since she already had plenty of grudges and wouldn't be changed by taking mere earthly grudges into herself. I was also beginning to suspect that Ilias was becoming protective of Sonya, and of me. She also wouldn't complain if she could get more power.
"So what are the rules and when does this battle royal begin?" Sonya asked.
"I don't think there are any rules," Alice answered. "As for when it begins, it begins when Mari-chan shows up and says so."
I recognized one face among the competitors, another who had shown up early and occupied a nice piece of high ground. Succubus Witch. While I didn't remember her face very well, I vividly recalled her outfit, which was actually pretty modest for a succubus. Calling herself simply "Witch", she was a student of magic and a very good one at that. She was a little old, however, which Ilias commented on snidely.
"I'm here, and I'm a boy," I pointed out. "She's a lot closer to being a Magical Girl than I am. Especially since she's already got the magic part down pat. And the girl part. Even if she is a little older."
"I don't think there are any limits on who can participate," Alice observed. "For very strong monsters, there's just no reason. And how many men want to be a Magical Girl? I count none. Unless we count you, Luka."
"I don't want to be a Magical Girl!" I reiterated. "I'm just making sure that the grudges don't fall onto an innocent teenager. As well as keep Cassandra from gaining that power."
"Yeah, I think I prefer Cassandra in a weaker form," Alice muttered.
"So when the fuck is Mari-chan going to show?!" Ilias demanded to know.
Suddenly, someone teleported in, with in feet of us. I thought it might be Mari-chan, but it was not. It was Granberia! Everyone drew their weapons.
"Calm down!" Granberia ordered. "I'm not here for you! I'm only here to stop the competition!"
"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here after what you did to Luka!" Sonya yelled.
"Yes, I do have a lot of nerve," Granberia retorted. "That's why I was sent here by the Monster Lord."
"Given your standing orders to kill Luka," Alice noted. "I'm curious as to why you're not here to finish the job."
"My orders have changed. Your mother and I had a… talk. Luka apparently knows me well. Much better than your mother does, in any case. I respectfully took issue with her sending me to kill a good man in cold blood when I was not the kind of person who could easily do such a thing. As it is… I am ashamed. Luka, I offer you my deepest apologies. I was prepared to take your life, but not to subject you to prolonged suffering."
"Do you really think that apology means anything!?" Sonya raged.
"Thank you, Granberia, I accept your apology," I said.
"What!?" my companions all said in unison.
"I know you were just following orders," I replied to Granberia. "The death blow you struck me was supposed to kill me instantly. It only didn't because your heart wasn't in it and your sword knew that even if you didn't."
"You shame me with your forgiveness," Granberia said, looking down. "But I will not dishonor you by rejecting it. I am grateful. And full of admiration as well. Never have I met a human who could stand up to me in battle."
"If you like him that much, why don't you join us?" Alice asked. "Why are you recognizing my mother as Monster Lord anyway? You've never served anyone but me before!"
"I would like to serve you!" Granberia said defensively. "But in the current crisis, the world needs a strong Monster Lord! And your mother, based on everything you've told me, has your heart! Why would I not follow her?"
"Because she's obviously being brainwashed!" Alice shot back.
"Alice…." I said, trying to remind her of what we discussed about her mother's possible intentions.
"Even if she's not brainwashed," Alice backtracked. "She's not in her right mind! She's got all sorts of crazy ideas! You need to think for yourself like Tamamo and Alma Elma did!"
"Perhaps you are right," Granberia conceded. "I would not have obeyed an order to kill the hero after our ordeal in the volcano. But this…. I can agree with stopping this competition. It is dangerous!"
"Actually, Granberia," Ilias said. "It might be more dangerous to NOT let it happen. It turns out this competition has a purpose: to prevent the loosing of the witches' grudges all over the world. In better times, I might agree that maybe we should let it happen. Eventually the grudges would dissipate. But in these dark times, they would make our situation so much worse."
"Hmmmm…." Granberia thought. "What you say sounds reasonable, goddess. Alipheese, do you concur?"
"Reluctantly, yes," Alice answered. "I don't think this, but I have to concede that especially in the current situation, the competition is necessary."
"Then have you decided who will be the next Magical Girl?"
"Luka," Alice answered.
"Me!" Sonya answered.
"Me!" Ilias answered. Sonya gave Ilias a dirty look.
"Whatever," Granberia said. "I guess you can figure it out after we've eliminated the other competitors."
Finally, Mari-chan warped in, with spectacular, sparkly effects. She briefly addressed the competitors, explaining the big responsibilities involved with being a Magical Girl, although no mention was made of the grudges.
"So immoral," Ilias complained. "Some poor girl is going to find out the hard way if we don't win."
Mari-chan finishes speaking and signaled the competiton to begin. Granberia was the first to act, drawing her sword and roaring. She actually had a very impressive roar, not surprising since she was a dragonkin. The roar alone caused about half of the young human competitors to decide that perhaps they didn't want to be a Magical Girl after all. Granberia began stalking around, yelling at everyone. Nearly everyone she came within twenty years of turned tail and ran, leaving the field of battle. Granberia had eliminated two thirds of the competition without even swinging her sword.
Not all of the human girls were afraid, however. Some had dreamed of becoming a Magical Girl for all of their short lives. One young girl who looked to be about twelve punched Granberia in the chest. Granberia just stared at her. The girl then executed an impressive roundhouse kick that actually snapped Granberia's head back, although she barely blinked and stared the girl down even harder.
"You should go home now," Granberia said threateningly. "And tell the tale of a girl who struck the Heavenly Knight Granberia twice and lived to tell the tale."
Deciding that she had enough of a heroic story to tell, the young teen decided to quit while she was ahead and ran away.
Fortunately I saw no girls getting seriously hurt. Alice decked a rather strong looking girl who had obviously worked hard to prepare, but caught her with her tail before she could fall into the poison muck. Sonya was manhandling a small girl who couldn't have been older than ten, trying to restrain her and convince her she didn't belong there and that she should go home to her parents. Ilias was firing small bolts of holy energy by competitors' heads, and laughed with sadistic glee as she stung their behinds with the same bolts as they fled.
Some of the older, braver, more strategic competitors attacked the greatest threats that they thought they might have a chance against, as in anyone who wasn't Granberia. Cassandra and Emily were showing surprising restraint, favoring pleasure attacks. Cassandra would simply catch girls and make them come with her soft, slimy body, while Emily would restrain them with one tentacle while playing with them with another. Succubus Witch wasn't even touching anyone, bringing opponents to their knees with magical spells designed to overwhelm the targets with pleasure. Since she was on a hill, above the poisonous waters, the girls fell before her onto soft grass, safe and sound, quivering from the best orgasms they'd ever experienced.
Within ten minutes, all that was left was my group, Cassandra and Emily, and the lone Succubus Witch. Sonya, doing her job as a healer, began carrying defeated girls to safety, two at a time, one over each shoulder.
"Luka, Granberia!" Alice shouted. "You two take Cassandra and Emily! Ilias and I are going to take on that witch!"
That sounded reasonable. I was weak to pleasure attacks, as was Granberia. Ilias was probably weakest of all, but someone had to support Alice, who probably couldn't match Witch spell for spell at this point.
"It is an honor to fight at your side, Luka!" Granberia said. "Now let us go and trounce those two!"
Drawing my sword, I charged up the hill with Granberia. Cassandra and Emily seemed surprisingly unconcerned, waiting for us patiently. When we were within range, Emily's tentacles lashed out. One swipe of Granberia's sword taught her the futility of such a strategy. Cassandra decided to direct her attack at me, transforming more than half of her body into goop, which spread out on the ground, trying to snare me. I knew that if I got caught in there, that goop would probably move quickly up to my groin and finish me. I leaped over it and brought my sword crashing down on Cassandra's head. I connected hard with the Earth Rumbling Decapitation. Cassandra was already almost defeated.
Despite being dominated by Granberia, Emily still rose to the defense of her mother, devoting a tentacle to slapping me away from Cassandra. Cassandra returned the favor, catching Granberia in her goop, limiting the Heavenly Knight's movement. Quickly, Cassandra and Emily switched places.
I kipped up immediately and swung at Emily, but her tentacles were fast and unerring. My sword arm was caught and I was brought close enough that using my sword would be impractical. Emily slipped her hand down my pants.
"It's okay to come all over Emily's hand," she said, a sadistic grin on her face.
"It takes a lot more than that," I said, summoning Gnome and breaking her hold.
A duel began, Emily's tentacles and fists flying, alternately attempting to soften me up by beating on me, and occasionally trying to bring me in close again. At one point she lifted me off the ground, ripping my pants off and wrapping tentacle around my penis.
"No man can last more than a minute with Emily's tentacles stroking them," she said. I had to give it to her, she had unique tentacles. The undersides were much softer than most tentacle monsters I'd experienced, with suckers that added to the stimulation.
It was time to quit holding back, lest I lose embarrassingly with Granberia right next to me. The best remedy for tentacle monsters was Undine, who could help me track where all the tentacles were going, so that I could dodge among them. I broke free, summoned Undine, and one minute later Emily signaled her surrender rather than be sealed.
My companions had already defeated their opponents. I imagined I was going to get a scolding for playing around too much. I hadn't really been playing. I just had always liked Emily. Unlike Cassandra, she was eminently reformable, so I tried to refrain from hurting her badly. Cassandra on the other hand had turned vicious with Granberia, who gave her viciousness in return. Granberia's armor steamed from Cassandra's digestive juices, her skin burned in places. Cassandra was having bodily integrity issues. She could barely hold her form together. She looked as if she'd had Vaporizing Rebellion Sword used against her, or at the very least Death Sword Chaos Star.
Succubus Witch had put up a much better fight than Ilias and Alice had expected. Ilias had been disabled at some point during the battle, forced to orgasm by Witch's hat, which sported a huge tongue that had licked Ilias into submission, but not before Ilias had softened Witch up with lightning that Ilias had called down from the sky. That had staggered Witch enough for Alice to squeeze her into a surrender, although it had taken a lot of grappling to secure the hold and Alice had been enduring pleasure attacks the entire time. Wrestling with a succubus is not easy even for a monster.
"We won!" Sonya exclaimed, having evacuated all of the fallen competitors while the fighting was going on. "So who is going to be the Magical Girl?"
"Who indeed!" Mari-chan shouted gleefully, warping in, in her adorably sparkly manner. "Since you've decided to end the fight without a clear winner, seeing as how you're all allies, it's up to the wand to decide!"
Mari-chan leaped in the air and swung her wand in a wide arc, causing pixie dust to fall on all of us. I cringed, hoping that I wouldn't become a Magical Girl. I looked around. Alice and Ilias didn't seem any different. Neither did Sonya. I turned to my right to look at Granberia. Oh my.
Granberia had been transformed, wearing the most adorable white dress, with a huge pink bow in her hair. I remembered how Granberia had sworn bloody vengeance at my wedding due to being forced to wear a dress. This dress was a thousand times more girly. Everyone was speechless, including Granberia. Finally, she found her voice and rounded on Mari-chan, drawing her sword. Which turned out to be an umbrella. Granberia quickly sheathed the umbrella.
"What is this!?" Granberia raged. "I wasn't a candidate!"
"Sorry," Mari-chan said apologetically. "You were in fact competing, and the wand chose you. Probably because you defeated by far the most opponents."
"Restart the competition!" Granberia demanded. "Luka, strike me down!"
"Sorry, it's done," Mari-chan shrugged. "You're the Magical Girl now."
Ilias stifled a laugh. Granberia gave her a look that promised copious amounts of pain.
"Can I at least return to my previous form?" Granberia asked. "I don't have to go around looking like this all the time, do I?"
"Just dispel the Magical Girl form," Mari-chan replied. "Say, 'Magic Outfit, deactivate!"
"Magic outfit, deactivate," Granberia repeated. Nothing happened.
"You have to say it like you mean it!" Mari-chan scolded. "Everything a Magical Girl does, she does with spirit!"
Granberia sighed and worked up her courage. "Magic outfit, deactivate!"
The outfit disappeared, leaving Granberia in the combat outfit I knew and loved so well. She looked at her sword, relieved to find that it was no longer an umbrella.
"Let us never speak of th-" Granberia began, as her Magical Girl outfit popped back in.
No one dared say a word as Granberia's face showed a mix of rage and embarrassment.
"I…. I'm just going to go now," Granberia said, and teleported away.
"Luka," Alice asked. "Was that the correct history?"
"Not even close," I answered.