After walking in silence for a while, as was becoming normal for the duo, the topic of the effects of Angel Halo came back up. After getting berated by Alice when it finally occurred to her that he needed to be punished for absorbing the literally priceless weapon, which ended with Kevin making a promise to make it up to her in the future in some way, they came to the topic of the sealing process itself.
"So, what happens to the monster after they're sealed? Do that just stay like that forever?" he asked as he kicked a rock off the side of the path.
"No," Alice shook her head. "They will gradually regain the energy they lost over time, and eventually return to their normal forms. Depending on how strong they are, it could take between a few days and a few years. It's also made faster if another powerful monster decides to lend them their energy."
"Neat. Does it work on humans too?" he inquired further.
"It works on everything that is alive. Why? Are you planning on sealing a few humans, too?"
"Eh, that really depends on how much they piss me off," he admitted. "They can be real assholes, after all."
Alice shrugged. "If you do, they will likely shrink in to a child, or maybe a dwarf."
"Anything else you can think of that it would be fun to try it on?"
"Well, it was made from the souls of angels, so they would be equally vulnerable to it."
"I'll be sure to try it out on one someday," the Eevee grinned.
'Speaking of those angel souls…System, what happened to the 666 angels from the sword?"
[The angels that once formed the blade Angel Halo have been harvest for their Psychic and Ghost energy to empower both the System and the Host. Their consciousnesses have been passed on to an afterlife where they will no longer be plagued with an existence filled with nothing but torture.]
'That's good for them, I guess,' he nodded to himself. 'No matter what they did, it couldn't be bad enough to endure hundreds of years of torment for it. Even I'm not that cruel.'
They were just passing by a large rock when, as she had done before, Alice disappeared. The teenager just continued to walk, though, pretending he wasn't prepared to dropkick whatever monster had decided to come at him this time.
'I wonder if I'll ever go a full day in this world without some creature trying to rape me?' he internally mused.
Hiding behind the rock, waiting for the boy with the monster-like ears and tail to pass by with his guard dropped, was a small girl. She was obviously a monster, with her greyish skin and the single horn growing out of her forehead, but she couldn't have been older than ten years old. Her horned helmet, short dress, and thick loves were all scuffed and dirty from her time in the wild. Clutched in one of her hands and towering over her was her weapon of choice: a hammer big enough that, if swung correctly, could kill a man in on strike.
This was the goblin girl, and her name was Gob. Sure, it wasn't exactly a creative name, but she'd picked it herself, and that's all that mattered! Anyway, she was currently eyeing her next victim, as well as the bag on his back, her young mind running wild with what kind of treasures could be held within.
When he was finally far enough away to give her space to jump out at him, she proceeded to do just that. "Yai! Give me you mo-"
Her genius plan of scaring him into dropping his bag and running away was suddenly interrupted by a foot to her face. In the time it took her to clear the space between them, Kevin had rapidly spun on his heel and kicked out with his left foot with enough force to break the poor girl's nose. This was quite an impressive feat, seeing as goblins were naturally incredibly durable and strong monsters.
Just like that, the battle ended before it could even start. The little girl was launched back into the rock, bouncing off it to land spine-first on the ground. She then proceeded to burst into tears from the amount of pain coming from her nose, rolling around in the dirt as her hands held her face.
Kevin stared down at her, taking a second to process what he was seeing. He had expected an adult monster intent on forcing him to mate with her, not this child. It hadn't even occurred to him until then that monsters of this world could even BE children, but he believed he could be excused for that. One doesn't look at a race of rape-happy creatures and think 'hm…I wonder what they're like when they're young…'
Well, some might, but Kevin wasn't going to open that can of worms.
He decided to approach the girl, crouching beside her sobbing form as she finally came to a stop. "That was really stupid," he stated blandly.
Let it be known that Kevin is not good with children, and none should be exposed to his personality without a responsible adult nearby.
"I agree," Alice stated, reappearing behind him as always. "Ambush tactics don't work if the victim is expecting it, after all."
It should also be noted that Alice is not a responsible adult, nor should she be considered one in any capacity outside of her duties as the Monster Lord.
Gob continued to cry. "Waaaah! Why did you kick me, you big meanie!" she sobbed.
"Because you jumped at me with a hammer," Kevin deadpanned. "Did you think I wouldn't?"
"Y…yeah…"
"Are you one of the bandits that have been terrorizing people around here."
She wordlessly nodded this time.
"I am suddenly very disappointed with the humans of this world," Kevin sighed. "Look, if I fix your nose, will you stop crying and tell me where your hideout is?"
"…yes…" she muttered.
He then turned to his lamia companion. "Alice, you got any healing spells?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you?" she asked back.
"Yeah, but do you really want me alerting every monster in a mile radius of my location just so I can transform and heal her?"
"…fine."
As the lamia went to work casting a healing spell, Kevin heaved a sigh of relief. He actually had no problems with using evolutions out here, but the only healing Moves he could recall off the top of his head that could heal enemies were Psychic and Fairy Type Moves; and, as amazing as the two evolutions corresponding to those Types were, he had some reservations about evolving into them.
No particular reason, though. It's not like he was worried about his masculinity or something silly like that.
He wasn't.
Shut up.
Back on topic, there was also the Normal Type Move Present, which normally would only be available to the pokemon Delibird, but that only had a twenty percent chance to heal. The other eighty percent was filled with various levels of fucking up the one hit by it. So, no the best move for the current situation.
Once the girl was healed, she knew that she couldn't back out of the agreement. So, she pointed at a specific mountain. "There's a cave over there," she said, still teary-eyed. "B…but …there are three more! A lamia, a vampire, and even a dragon! There's no way you can win." As she spoke, she seem to become more confident.
That is, until Kevin deemed it necessary to burst her bubble again. "…Are they all as young as you."
Her sudden drop into sad silence was all the confirmation he needed.
The Eevee shook his head, slightly disappointed. "Looks like this is just going to be a clean-up job then. Alice, you think you can hold her still while I go in there? Maybe catch any that decide to run out?"
"Fine," Alice agreed. "As long as you don't expect me to fight them for you."
"Why would I expect you do act as anything other than my monster warning system?"
She was about to protest, but realized that that was almost exactly what she was when it came to the fights he'd been in. Well, except for Granberia. Each time, he knew a monster was coming just from the fact that she hid herself before they got to close. She was glorified alarm system, and she knew she couldn't deny it.
She was still fuming about it when he entered the cave, leaving her coiled around the goblin at the entrance. The child was sobbing quietly again, this time over the fact that she was captured, but not loud enough to anger the large snake lady. Despite living with a lamia, the one holding her still was infinitely more scary, after all.
As for Kevin, he was still wallowing in disappointment as he delved deeper into the cave. Sure, he didn't want to do the job in the first place, but the hours walking over had ramped up the suspense. He'd already fought a dragonkin, and likely the strongest one in the world if Alice's explanation was correct, but he'd started looking forward to the challenge he'd be faced with in fighting a vampire.
Now, though, his hopes of a dramatic battle with a blood-sucking creature of the night were crushed by the knowledge he now held. How was he supposed to dramatically battle a child who wasn't even as tall as his Eevee form? He doubted they would be the overpowered lolis that some anime and manga contained, either. Honestly, this quest was already turning out to be a disappointment, and it had hardly even begun in earnest.
As he entered a large empty chamber, a young voice echoes off the walls. "Fufu…so you came. I shall be your opponent!"
Slithering out into the open from one of the other tunnels came the lamia. As expected, she was just as young as the goblin, though dressed more provocatively than any ten-year-old ever should be. The fact that her nipples were the only parts of her upper torso that were covered by strips of fabric and the only thing covering her privates was a sarong would cause most people back in Kevin's old world to call child protective services on her parents. Drawing his mind away from the legal nightmare that was her clothing, he finished up his examination by noting that her eyes were a light shade of blue, her longer purple hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her long snake tail was green with black stripes.
"I'm Teeny, The Lamia Bandit of the Water of the Four Bandits!" she proudly declared.
[Teeny]
[Type: Poison]
"…Look, kid," Kevin began, his voice devoid of all joy. "I'm just gonna say this up front: if you fight me, it won't be fun for either of us. You'll be beaten quickly and brutally, and I'll have to deal with another crying girl like the one outside." Though he said this, he doubted that she would listen to him.
Although she was slightly taken aback by how nonchalant he was acting, she didn't back down. "Ha! Gob was the weakest of all of us! You couldn't possibly beat me!"
"I can and will…but okay," he sighed.
"Why do you look so disappointed?! How can you have that face when facing me?!" she shouted.
Unable to take the indignity of being looked down on, she used her tail to launch herself over and tightly coiled around him. Although she squeezed him as tightly as she could, which would hurt most humans, he could barely feel it. Honestly, it was more akin to a soft massage than anything else.
"Hahaha! Wrapped by my powerful tail!" she laughed loudly and dramatically. "All that's left is to strangle my prey."
"…"
"Heeheehee! Let me hear you scream in agony!"
"…"
"Um…this is supposed to be the part where you scream."
With all of the finesse of someone who was done with this shit, Kevin effortlessly wiggled his arms free, lifted Teeny over his head, and unceremoniously dropped her on the cave floor.
"Are you don now?" he asked, his tone as dead as his expression.
Unsurprisingly, the act of proving her efforts useless was enough to make the little girl burst into tears. "Waaaaahhhh! Why didn't it work!" she cried.
"The fact that I'm stronger than you probably had a hand in it."
That was apparently the final straw, as she immediately took off in the direction of the cave's entrance. "Waah! I'll remember this."
Kevin didn't see any reason to stick around any longer, so he continued down the tunnel the lamia girl had come from. He still had two more children to crush the hopes and dreams of, after all.
Five minutes in, another childish voice sounded out all around him. "Kukuku…You're pretty good to beat the Earth Goblin and the Water Lamia. But I won't be so easy!"
'Now that she mentions it, that lamia did say something about being the bandit of water. She did cry a lot easier than the goblin did, so maybe that has something to do with it,' the teenager idly thought.
Low and behold, another parental nightmare appeared. From the two cartoonish bats floating beside her, and the bat-wing clips holding her blond hair in a pair of twin tails, it was obvious that this one was the vampire. What made her so difficult to look at was that the only things covering her decency were a large mantle that reached just far enough around her small body to cover her nipples, and the pair a pair of bat-themed panties. That was it. Honestly speaking, she was the least monstrous monster Kevin had encountered so far, if you ignored her pointed fangs and the oddly vertical pupils in her red eyes.
Just like Teeny, she announced herself. "I am the terror that flaps in the night!"
'No, that's batman you're thinking of.'
"I am Vanilla, the Vampire Bandit of the Wind of the Four Bandits!"
[Vanilla]
[Type: Dark/Flying]
'I'm starting to sense a pattern here.'
"Kukuku…tonight I shall feast on you."
There was a moment of silence.
"Are…aren't you going to prepare to fight me?" the little girl asked, a bit of her bravado slipping away.
Kevin shook his head. "No, not really. I mean, I get that you think you're strong because you've robbed a bunch of humans, but I've already bullied two children into submission today. The first time was disappointing, and the second time was just sad. It's already lost what little appeal it had to begin with."
"…"
"…"
"Here I come! I'll suck out all of your energy!" the little girl suddenly shouted, before dispersing into hundreds of bats.
As the bats swarmed him and tried to pierce his skin with their many teeth, the teenager just stood there and allowed it to happen. Once again, his increased durability made the efforts fruitless. They continued to nibble at him for a few seconds, eventually coalescing back into the small vampire who proceeded to jump on his back.
Just like with the lamia, he reached back and picked her up, but this time held her in front of him instead of dropping her on the floor. His expression was just as unimpressed as it was before.
"Hey! What are you doing!" Vanilla whined as she squirmed in his grip. "Waaah! Why are you being so mean!"
Yet another crying child was on his hands. Or rather, in his hands again. He set her on the ground, expecting her to run away like Teeny, but she gained an angry look in her teary eyes.
"I won't forgive you for that! If it's come to this…I'll show you my true power!" she exclaimed.
At this point, Kevin couldn't be bothered to feel anticipation. He simply took a step back and waved and arm at her. "Go ahead, then. I'm not stopping you."
"Just wait a second. I'll focus all of my magic! Once I'm done, just look at my eyes. Okay?"
"…no."
After a few seconds of powering up, the little her released her attack. "Now, look at my eyes!"
Kevin closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering how many people had fallen for this for the little girl to believe that it would work. He knew that children weren't exactly smart when it came to serious situation like this, but come on!
"Why did you close your eyes!?" Vanilla whined. "I told you to look!"
"…because I'm not stupid," Kevin tiredly answered.
"Waah! Why are you being so mean to me!?"
"Just…just run away like your friend. I'm this close to punting you into a wall."
And so, she did, crying the whole way.
As Kevin started walking further into the cave, a thought came to his mind. "Where in Arceus' name are these kids' parents?" he wondered out loud.
He didn't get an answer, though. Instead, what he received was another overly dramatic and disappointing entrance.
"Wahaha! Good job making it this far!"
What appeared was a dragonkin like Granberia, only much smaller and with miniature wings on her back. The scales coating her forearms, claws, leg, and tail were all grey and white. She had Purple hair up in a ponytail, yellow reptilian eyes, and pale white skin on the parts of her that appeared more human. Also like her friends, her decency was barely covered, with her non-existent breasts hidden by a single cloth band and her private parts concealed by a loincloth.
"I'm the last of the Four Bandits! Papi, the Dragon of fire of the Four Bandits!"
[Papi]
[Type: Dragon]
While Kevin could have gone along with what would have been another useless 'battle' with a child, he'd finally had enough of these kids. Instead of waiting for her to finish her overly dramatic monologue, he readied his Ice control.
"Coming so far into our hideout…you must – Wha?!"
She was interrupted when a wave of ice came toward her. She didn't have time to dodge or defend herself before she was frozen up to her neck in a solid block of ice. She tried to move, but even her enhanced monster strength wasn't enough to break out. If she was full grown, she might have been able to melt her way out, but at her current age she could only produce enough fire from her mouth get through a one or two layers at a time. It would take her hours to break free at this rate.
As expected, she proceeded to break down crying, unable to form words in her distraught state.
"…what was the point of coming here, again?" Kevin groaned, rubbing his glabella. "Literally anyone could have handled this. Even the useless guards from Iliasburg could've handled this, and they're practically useless!"
He didn't expect anyone to answer, but Alice's voice suddenly came from behind him. "Think of it this way: those same guards likely would've killed these girls instead of capturing them."
The Eevee turned to see his traveling companion coiled around the three little monsters he'd "defeated." She slithered forward to add the dragon pup to the collection, making sure to use weak fire magic to free her from the ice.
"That's true, I guess," Kevin sighed "What should we do with them?"
She shrugged. "You were the one who wanted to root out the bandits-"
"No, I'm the one who wanted Amira to go the hell away, so I reluctantly agreed to root out the bandits," he cut in.
"Whatever the reason, it's up to you. Sell them, violate them, kill them, or eat them. Do whatever you want."
"…Okay, what the fuck-" the Eevee began to say, before all of the little monster girls started screaming in fear,
"Don't eat me! Waaaaah!"
"I don't taste good! I swear!"
"I don't wanna be sold!"
"WAAAAH!"
"Great, look at what you've done," Kevin groaned. "You made them cry again. I know you're the Monster Lord and all, but do you have to act this evil?"
"I was just giving you options," Alice huffed. "No need to blame this on me."
A moment passed, the air still filled with the sounds of crying children, before the teenager spoke again. "Fine. You don't want to take responsibility for your actions? That's okay! I just hope you're fine with me lighting the next tree you try to sleep around on fire."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You wouldn't."
"Try me, bitch."
Their intense stare-down would've gone on for longer, but neither of them was particularly fond of the whining sounds the kids were making. You'd expect them to eventually run out of tears and tire themselves out, but apparently being monsters made that process take longer.
"Ugh. Let's just take them back to Iliasburg to apologize," he said.
"What are you going to do if the humans there try to lynch them?" Alice asked.
This brought forth another series of shrieks from the girls.
"…You know what? Make that the next FIVE trees you try to sleep around."
"What?!"
"And if anyone tries to hurt them, I'll just toss them out of the city," he stated.
"Literally, or figuratively?"
"Let's just say, I've been wondering for a while how far I could throw a human, and leave it at that."
***
"I'm really sorry for bothering you…"
"I'm so sorry…"
"I'm sorry."
"So sorry."
The four monster girls stood in the center plaza with a majority of the citizens gathering around them to hear their apologies. One or two of the guards looked like they were about to move forward to apprehend them, but a glare from Kevin was enough to get them to back off. He'd already grabbed the first one to try it by the face and launch him through the air and out of the city, after all.
"Geeze, the bandits were little things like this?" one of the men in the crown commented, just as surprised as the rest.
Another replied. "I saw them a few times, and I thought they might be kids. I guess it was true."
"We need to punish them."
Suddenly, the owner of the Sutherland Inn spoke up. "It seems like they're sorry, why not forgive them? They must have had it hard, too."
"Well," an elderly man said. "There were a lot of monsters in the forest twenty years ago. Once these bandits showed up, it looks like they fled."
"These bandits really didn't do much," the tool shop owners agreed. "We were just scared because there was a dragon and a vampire."
The owner of the Sutherland Inn smiled. "Well, it's like that then. Now, the four of you will put in an honest day's work."
"Hey dragon, can you breathe fire?" the owner of the weapon shop asked. "If you can, I'll give you a job."
"Hey goblin, you look pretty strong. Do you want to work in the warehouse?"
Kevin started tuning the event out at that point, determining that he no longer needed to kick the ass of whoever tried to mess with the girls. He walked away from them and through the crowd to the edge of the plaza where Alice was standing.
"Fumu…that was unexpected," she mused. "So, these humans were able to accept monsters?"
Kevin shrugged. "Eh, humans are adaptable creatures. As long as they know something isn't going to try to hurt them, they'll accept it into their lives. Well, most of the times. Sometimes there are some holdouts to progress, while other times there are morons who specifically invite nothing but harmful influences into their lives."
Although, he half-expected for the residents of a city named after a racist goddess to be more resistant the idea of letting the little girls stick around.
Before he could sink too deep into that train of thought, he felt a tugging on his sleeve. Turning around, he saw Papi standing there with a wide smile on her face, and holding out a solid red gem
"You helped us so much! Let me give you this!" she exclaimed, shoving it into his hands.
"Hm…where did you get this from?" he asked.
"Some rich people saw me by the hideout a few months ago and ran away. This was in the luggage they dropped. I think it's a very valuable treasure!"
Kevin nodded as he slipped it into one of the side pockets of his backpack. "As long as it belonged to someone rich, it's okay. They could stand to spread some of their wealth around, anyway."
"That thing in such a place…?" Alice mumbled, though not softly enough to be missed by Kevin's sensitive hearing. "It's too dangerous. I don't want a human to misuse. *sigh* Oh well, the blue and silver ones aren't here, so I guess there's no issue."
"I heard that," the Eevee told her. "I'm assuming that it has some sort of purpose, and you know what it is?"
She scoffed. "Of course. Who do you think I am?"
"A pain in my ass," he deadpanned. '"You gonna tell me what it's supposed to be used for?"
"After that comment? I don't think so," she huffed.
With that, they left the plaza and headed for the Inn again as the sun started to set. The round trip had taken the whole day, and they were both exhausted. Not physically, but mentally from having to deal with the four kids all the way back.